#marinette finally admits she loves him

[mochinek0]

Family Secrets

Damian couldn't believe his eyes. He had seen pieces of that costume when he lived in the League, but never did he expect to see his mother, disguised, in Paris! He carefully kept an eye on her as she walked into a bakery. He felt his own breath hitch as a young girl came and hugged her.

"Nonna!" she cried.

'Grandmother?'

"Hello, My Leetle Fairy." his mother replied, hugging her back.

"Are you having fun on your travels?" the girl questioned, "Where did you go this time?"

"Egypt." his mother declared.

The girl smiled, "Did you see the pyramids?"

His mother brought out a keychain of a pyramid and handed it to the girl.

"It's great!" the girl smiled, "I'll keep it on my desk so when I see it, I can think of you."

"I wish you could come with me." the disguised Talia declared.

"Maybe when I'm older?" the young girl answered.

Talia tapped the young girl's nose, "Possibly, but we know very well how hard you work."

"Mom!" announced a man, who seemed the size of Bane, "How are you?"

Damian watched on in shock. He was aware that his mother was much older than she appeared. Hearing someone around his father's age, refer to his mother as a maternal figure was unsettling.

"I'm fine, Tom." she answered.

"Would you like to put your bag down and rest?" he asked.

"Nonsense." his mother replied, "I may look older, but I'm fine. I wanted to see if Marinetta would like to take a ride around the city with me."

"Yes!" the girl cried.

Damian watched as they both got on a motorcycle and drove off.

It took awhile, but Damian finally spotted them near the Seine, eating ice cream. The girl was looking down at something, in her lap. His mother's eyes connected with his and he knew he had made her.

"I'll be right back." Gina spoke, kissing Marinette on the head.

Gina walked in Damian's direction.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Do you plan to kidnap her, Mother?" Damian questioned.

"Of course not!" Gina snapped.

"Who is she?" he asked.

Talia sighed, "Your niece; she's your age."

"So the man who called you mother-"Damian began.

"Your grandfather wanted me out of the way. He was looking for a male successor to take over." Talia began to explain, "He kicked me out of the League, briefly, and I had some semblance of a normal life. I fell in love with a baker. Tom is our son, before I ever met your father. Essentially, he is your older brother."

She sighed, "Everyhting was fine and I was happy, until he sent someone to exterminate us. Before I killed him, I learned my death was a test. Kill me and become successor to the League. I returned with his head and threw it at your grandfather's feet. He looked at me and said he would allow me back on one condition."

"What was it?" Damian asked.

"I had to leave my family." she admitted, "I said I understood and would be back in three months. I knew he would never stop coming after us."

"Why three months?" her son questioned, "You were already there. Did they not know of the League?"

"Tom was getting married and no, my family knew nothing about the League. I returned and told my family I would be 'traveling in my old age'. A few years after he got married, I came back to a three year old granddaughter. Your grandfather found out and forbid my return."

"Grandfather is dead." Damian spoke.-changing subject

"I've been stopping in more." she declared, "They aren't like us. They're not like your father. They know nothing about my past, aside from divorcing a man, who made me happy. I tell them I'm traveling around the word. I wear a wig and makeup. At some point, I will have to stop visiting all together since anyone else will grow old and pass on. The League........you lose sense of time when there. Two years ago, I thought she was still three. She was turning fourteen."

"What about the man?" her son asked.

Talia smiled, "Reminds me of your grandfather, actually. He's all about 'traditions', so perhaps it was for the best."

"Nonna!" Marinette cried out.

"Please, Damian, leave them alone." his mother whispered.

Damian watched as his mother walked away. He had never known her to beg for something.

"My Leetle Fairy, are you ready to go back home?" Gina asked, "Do you have new inspiration for your designs? I can't wait to see the clothes you create this time."

Damian watched as the girl put her sketchbook away.

'Clothes? Designs?'

He smiled softly. She was an artist, like him. He watched as his mother got on the motorcycle with his niece. What surprised him was seeing his niece glare at him. Damian chuckled.

'Mother may not see it, but she is a lot like them. A little fairy.'

"Damian, a Fairy is someone who helps people who are lost in the dark. It's not always in a literal sense; it can be figurative."

The young Al-Ghul turned and walked in the opposite direction.

'Fairy is a suitable name for my niece. I wonder how Mother would feel learning her true nature? A Fae who lures in her prey.'

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[aphroditelovesu]

Yandere Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Adrien Agreste Headcanons (Poly!Romantic)

❝🐞 — lady l: hi!! I finally wrote this and it's set in an au where they eventually discover each other's identities to make more sense. I hope you like it and forgive me for any mistakes! ❤️

❝tw: obsessive and possessive behavior, stalking, polyamorous and unhealthy relationships.

❝🐞pairing: yandere!adrinette/ladynoir x gender neutral!reader.

Everything was always very complicated between them. Marinette in love with Adrien and Adrien in love with Ladybug, both unaware of each other's identities and feelings.

Marinette always remained hiding her feelings for Adrien, too embarrassed to say anything and Adrien continued to yearn for Ladybug. This continued for a long time, until your arrival in their lives.

You were a new student and felt out of place after leaving your old school and your friends. You hoped to make friends at this new school, but you were afraid you wouldn't be able to do so. But luckily, or unluckily, you met Marinette first and she introduced you to her friends, who immediately liked you.

Marinette liked you, at first sight, you were so kind and sweet. She almost fell right there and it confused her, but she couldn't help but admire you.

Adrien became interested in you after a few conversations, and you caught his interest and attraction. He had something about you that made him attracted, and curious, an unknown feeling that he wanted to feel more of.

It wasn't difficult to notice their interest in you, Marinette constantly stuttering and blushing when you were around and Adrien, although shy, loved flirting with you and seeing you blush.

It wasn't easy to admit their interest in you, Marinette was still in love with Adrien but she really was in love with you, therefore, she didn't know what to do. Adrien was more resolute and acted in the way he knew how wanting to declare himself because he could no longer keep his feelings to himself.

Adrien was the one who first noticed Marinette's interest in you and he was surprised to notice that he didn't have a problem with it. If it were anyone else, he would have, but not with her. Because Marinette had a habit of stalking you incessantly, it didn't take long for her to realize that Adrien liked you. She was curious and excited, not jealous like she thought she would be.

They talked and decided to act quickly, both confessing to you. You were surprised and flattered and accepted, and finally, a romance happening.

Marinette is very jealous and overprotective, always wanting to know where you are and she will be very worried if she doesn't know. She will go so far as to use her Miraculous to look for you, even knowing the consequences.

Adrien is possessive, getting jealous very easily, and doesn't react well to it. He doesn't like it when you're with someone other than him and Marinette and will use intimidation to make someone stay away from you, whether with money or even his Miraculous.

They have always been very protective of you and at any sign of danger you will be quickly hidden and protected. They already talked about giving you a Miraculous, but Adrien considered it too dangerous. There was always a chance you could get hurt and he wasn't going to allow it.

You are spoiled intensely, clothes made by Marinette and bought by Adrien, jewelry, food, expensive and extravagant gifts to the simplest ones, like roses. You will never lack for anything as long as they are by your side.

They want to see you happy more than anything and will do everything to make that happen. They can't even think about the idea of ​​you being akumatized, the idea alone sends them into a frenzy at the thought of it happening to you. No, they have to be sure that this will never happen.

Marinette is very kind and soft, a mask of her true stalker and extremely jealous side. Adrien is kind and calm, always with a smile on his face and ready to make you smile, but he acts very strangely when you don't do what he asks.

They know they shouldn't use Miraculous for selfish reasons but when it comes to you, they won't care. Marinette doesn't care about ruining herself for you and Adrien has been ruined for a long time.

You are theirs and anyone who tries to get in the way will suffer the consequences. After all, you didn't just belong to Marinette and Adrien, but also to Ladybug and Cat Noir.

[starsfic]

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Girlfriend of Ladybug

Summary: During another invasive interview pushing her towards Chat Noir, Ladybug panics and claims that she’s dating someone. Who? Oh, just her civilian identity. Dominos unexpectedly topple.

Ko-Fi

-_-

It was a heat of the moment thing.

Ladybug really couldn’t blame herself. Well, technically she could, considering she had agreed to another hour-long interview with Nadja and Chat Noir. Where, of course, the topic inevitably turned back to the nonexistent romantic relationship between her and her partner, not helped at all by the fact  that Chat kept egging it on and nobody seemed to notice or care about her discomfort. The moment Alya appeared on screen and asked “So when are you going to admit your feelings for each other?”

She snapped.

“I have a girlfriend.”

Dead silence encased the studio. Chat gaped at her, Alya gaped at her, Nadja gaped at her, everyone gaped at her. It was only until a hand reached out of the audience that noise came back in. “Excuse me?”

“Yes, I have to agree,” Nadja said, a flustered blush making her cheeks red. “Excuse me?”

Welp, she had already said it, so might as well. “I have a girlfriend,” she repeated. Chat and Alya continued to gape at her. She took a deep breath in and plastered on a stern look. “Nadja, did you ever think the reason why I don’t confess my feelings for Chat is because I don’t have any?”

Silence encased the studio, but it was the silence where people were muttering to each other. Ladybug waited. Chat continued to gape, but Alya shut her mouth and made an odd squeaky noise.

Nadja finally took a deep breath in. When she opened her eyes, she seemed to be staring at her in a different way. Not as an icon or an idol or a celebrity, but as if Ladybug was a real person. She hadn’t even realized that she hadn’t been looking at her that way. “No,” she said. “I’m…so sorry, Ladybug. I hadn’t considered that.” Ladybug nodded but didn’t say a word. “May I ask who it is?”

Well, crap. She hadn’t expected that. She was tempted to say, “No comment,” but then it would be possible that people would catch on to the fact that she was lying. She needed someone. Ladybug thought for a moment and then prayed Tikki wouldn’t be too mad.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Once again, the room descended into muttering silence. Chat was pulling out his staff with the angriest look she had ever seen on his face. Ladybug couldn’t help but raise a brow at that. But then Alya spoke with a “NO WAY!”

Ladybug raised a brow. “Are you calling me a liar?”

“Yes!” Alya said, seeming to not care about the fact that she was being televised live. “She’s in love with Adrien Agreste! He’s her soulmate, I’m sure of it!” Geez, Alya, thanks. Chat’s muttering stopped. “She’s been struggling to confess to him since the attacks first began! He’s-”

“A boy, Miss Cesaire,” Ladybug cut her off, keeping her voice bored. Yes, she did have a crush on Adrien once. But her feelings had faded over time, especially when she thought of how he reacted to Chloe and Lila hurting her. “A boy that is well-known and popular with the female population of Paris. A boy that would be expected if a person asked about a celebrity crush.”

Alya stared at her. She could practically see her put the pieces together. “What about Luka Couffaine? She dated him for…a few months!”

“Her and Luka Couffaine, I have discussed with her,” Ladybug said, keeping her voice calm. Her mind raced- she would definitely need to talk to Luka after this. “I will not pretend to be a good girlfriend, Miss Cesaire. Marinette does not know who I am under the mask- if anyone says that they do, they are lying-” Hopefully, that dealt with Lila. “Our relationship had to be kept secret. I cannot take her out on dates or meet her parents. So, we agreed to an open relationship.”

Nadja cleared her throat. “She does not know who you are?”

Ladybug shook her head. “No. We agreed that, after Hawkmoth is defeated and I can retire, I will reveal myself to her and discuss our relationship from there. I’m only being open with my relationship now since she knows I am uncomfortable with people trying to ship me with Chat Noir-”

“Because they know we’re meant to be!” Chat burst out. Honestly, she was surprised that he hadn’t spoken up sooner. He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her close. “My Lady, think about it! We have so much more in common than some random civilian!” His eyes were dark, sending shivers up her spine. “You’re lying about Marinette, right? There’s no way you could fall for some random person-”

“Hey!” Alya spoke up, her voice bordering on fury. “Marinette’s not just some random nobody!” The camera shook as something slammed, most likely Alya’s fist slamming into the desk. “Marinette is the smartest, most creative person I have ever met! She’s probably the greatest actress of all time, and I would say that she has done so much more for Paris than you ever have on your own!” She took a deep breath. “Ladybug, you have great taste.” And with that, Alya’s camera cut short.

Nadja nodded. “Okay, next question,” she said, her voice still a touch strained from the bombshell that was just dropped on her.

Hopefully, this didn’t blow up.

-_-

It blew up.

Tikki, thankfully, didn’t seem mad. “It was clever,” she said before encouraging Marinette to go to bed.

When Marinette woke up surprisingly early, it was to a ton of messages on her social media and email. By the time she left for school, it was a flood that she was too afraid to look at. Her parents were surprisingly happy for her, with her dad apologizing for blowing up in such a way on Chat Noir. “It’s okay,” she said, hugging him. “It was awkward, but it kept Chat from following Ladybug.”

“Which I can’t believe he did!” her mother groused. “You think he would know better!”

“Yeah,” Marinette sighed, old annoyance flaring up. “Me too.”

Thankfully, there wasn’t a crowd of reporters- yet. So Marinette wasted no time in rushing over to school before one did form.

Once she was there, she found herself pausing. A large portion of the people she saw were wearing Ladybug’s spots or LGBTQIA+ merch, from full outfits to just hair clips. Several stopped to smile and give her friendly waves, while others looked starstruck. This was a bigger reaction than she was expecting.

She waved back and headed to her classroom. She sent another prayer to the surprisingly quiet Tikki that nothing happened and opened the door.

The classroom was surprisingly quiet, with Lila sitting in the back looking like she had all the life drained from her, until Marinette stepped inside. “Marinette!” Alya said, jumping to her feet. She had switched her orange flannel for one bearing the pan colors. She wasted no time in rushing up and practically scooping her up in a hug. The shock meant that it took a second before Marinette realized that Alya was apologizing into her hair. “-so sorry, I should’ve thought more about Ladybug’s feelings, I never meant to hurt her, swear-”

“It’s okay,” Marinette said, pulling away to smile at her bestie. “I know how people can get with superheroes, I think Ladybug forgives you.” She poked Alya’s nose. “Although I’m annoyed that you tried to air out my crush on Adrien to all of Paris.”

Alya sighed, nodding. “I know. Now that I think about it, it was super not cool.” She tried for a smile. “I’m sorry, girl.”

Despite herself, Marinette couldn’t stay mad. “I forgive you. But, don’t do it again.” Alya nodded and with that out of the way, she could move on. She looked around and couldn’t help but raise a brow. “But what’s going on? Why is everyone either wearing Ladybug stuff or pride stuff? If I had known, I would’ve dug my pride stuff out.”

“Oh, haven’t you checked online?” Nino called, his headphones decorated with bi stickers.

Marinette shook her head. “I’ve been too afraid to,” she admitted. “My social media has been flooded with messages and emails.”

“Oh, I can sort those for you, dudette.”

“Thank you,” she sighed, handing over her phone. “The code’s still the same.” Nino nodded as he began to fiddle with her phone.

“Anyway,” Kim said, wearing a transmac hoodie instead of his regular red hoodie. “The entire queer community adopted Ladybug as a queer icon after her interview last night. People have been debating for hours whether she’s a lesbian or bi.”

“Uh huh,” Well, at least the community was supportive. “I’m glad people are supportive.”

“Of course they are,” Alya said, leading her to their seats. “It’s Ladybug and you, the biggest sweethearts in Paris. If anyone isn’t, they look-”

“RIDICULOUS!” Chloe stormed in, wearing her normal clothing. Her gaze could’ve set Marinette on fire as she marched up and slammed her hands on her desk. On closer inspection, her eyes were rimmed red. “Break up with Ladybug.”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you deaf?!” Chloe shrieked, slamming her hand down. “Break up with Ladybug! There is only one girl that is perfect enough for her to date, and it’s certainly not you!”

“And I’m guessing that’s you?” Alya scoffed before Marinette could figure out a proper response that wasn’t not in your life. “Please, everyone knows Ladybug hates your guts.”

“She does not!” Chloe shrieked, tears beading up in the corner of her eyes. “She thinks I’m great! She chose me to be a hero! She knows I’m great! She-”

“Lost the Miraculous by accident, and you refused to give it back.” Marinette interrupted. Chloe’s jaw dropped, and she gaped at her. “Yeah, she told me about that. She thought you would do better, be better if you understood how your actions affect Paris. But you didn’t.” She leaned forward and that angry spark in her, the one that had been burning in her since Adrien pouted and moaned, burned. “Your actions are why people were celebrating that you were leaving Paris when you decided to go to New York.”

“Marinette!” Adrien called, also dressed in his normal clothes, but she held her hand out.

“You are nothing to Ladybug. Just a hazard and a safety risk.” Marinette leaned back in her chair. “The only reason I made that party for you is because Adrien asked. Nobody else.”

Chloe shut her mouth. She looked around the room. Sabrina looked away. Nobody else did, staring her down, bonded in silent agreement. Marinette expected her to rage, to scream, to throw a fit. Instead, she straightened up and walked to her seat. The moment she sat down, she hid her face.

“Marinette!” Adrien barked. “That was horrible! You-”

“Told her what Ladybug thought of her and what she needed to hear,” Marinette said, interrupting him. She leaned forward, allowing the anger brewing in her at him to burn in her eyes. “And if you don’t stop and think about your actions, so will I.”

Adrien stared with wide eyes. Without another word, but a nasty glance back, he turned and sat down. Nino scooted away from him before turning and holding up her phone. “Here, Nette,” he said. “There was some hate mail from people like Chloe,” Chloe flinched. “But a lot more of people supporting you.”

“Oh, that’s sweet,” Marinette said, taking her phone back.

The rest of the school day passed in silence. Twice, Adrien tried to get her alone, apparently undeterred by her threat, but Alya and the rest of the girl squad made sure there was a bodyguard nearby until Adrien had to leave for a photoshoot. (Rose was tiny but fierce in her desire to protect Marinette.) The rest of the school left her alone, excluding a few people who asked for her autograph and pictures and a whole bunch of gifts and letters in her locker. Marinette tried to ignore the heat in her face with all the love and care. 

Finally, the school day was over. Marinette walked out and breathed a sigh of early relief. She could see a few news vans waiting outside the bakery, so she had that to stress about, but she had gotten through the school day relatively unscathed.

The sound of a guitar met her ears and she paused, coming to a stop on the stairs.

Right. Luka.

She meant to talk to him after the interview, but Chat Noir had been following her, insisting to talk more about them, that she hadn’t been able to. So, here she was, standing on the steps, trying her best to not be seen by the musician as he strummed his guitar, probably waiting for Juleka.

It was tempting to run. But Marinette had to be braver than that. 

She took a deep breath and marched down the stairs, coming to a stop right next to him. Luka paused in his playing, staring at her. Marinette couldn’t look him in the eyes. Instead, she found herself staring at her feet. “Hi, Luka,” she said and immediately wanted to facepalm. Hi, Luka? Just that? Not, hey Luka, did you see the interview where Ladybug revealed I was two-timing you with her even though we’re the same person-

“You should’ve given me a heads up that we were poly,” Luka’s voice broke through her haze. She glanced up. Luka smiled at her, although it was edged with something. “I have a cute boy in my class, his name’s Felix, and I think you two would love each other.”

Marinette’s mind blanked, at first wondering what he was talking about, and then realization. “You…you aren’t mad?”

“I…I don’t know how to feel,” Luka admitted, and it was strange to see him admit that. Luka was the only boy she knew who was best in touch with his emotions. “On one hand, it makes a lot more sense than you pining over Adrien like everyone thought. On the other-”

“I lied,” Marinette admitted. “I lied, a lot, to you and everyone.” She gripped the edge of her shirt. “I kept ditching dates for something dumb, not related to her,” Luka raised a brow, but she continued on. “Sometimes I wished she didn’t exist because I trust you, Luka, I trust you so much but I keep having to lie because I care about her too and hurt you and and and-” Warm arms engulfed her but she couldn’t allow it, she needed to say it. “I’m so sorry, Luka.”

Luka didn’t say a word, just held her. Finally, he sighed. “I’m sorry too, Marinette,” he admitted. “I should’ve been better, maybe then-”

“No!” Marinette shoved him away. Luka stumbled back, looking hurt, but Marinette wasted no time in gripping his shoulders, staring him down. “You were wonderful,” she said, making sure he understood. “You were wonderful. I was the one who should’ve been better. I should’ve communicated better, I should’ve explained better about why I was leaving you in the lurch.”

“I was the one who got akumatized,” Luka said, staring back with wide eyes. “I went after you.”

“It was my fault you got akumatized in the first place!”

“No, it was not-” And now Luka was holding her shoulders, making sure she was looking at him. They probably looked strange, gripping each other’s shoulders like this, but Marinette didn’t care. “It was not your fault. It was Hawkmoth’s fault.” Right, right, Marinette needed to remember that. He was the one who took advantage of people. “We’re both crappy at communicating. We can work on that.”

Wait…

“You…want to try again?”

Luka paused and then nodded. “Now that I know more, enough to possibly understand some things,” He took in a deep breath. “Only if you want to?”

Marinette nodded back. “We can try,” And isn’t that what they all could do? “Maybe you can introduce me to Felix, and I can introduce you to…” She held up her hand at the sight of a familiar red car. “Hang on real quick.”

Luka blinked but nodded. Marinette smiled as they released each other before she turned and marched up to Kagami, who paused with a raised brow. Much to her delight, she wore gloves marked with the queer pride flag. “Wanna go on a date?” she asked promptly.

Kagami blinked. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then hummed. Marinette waited patiently. If Kagami had to think about it, than she was willing to wait. “Yes,” she finally said. “If your girlfriend is alright with it?”

Marinette nodded, feeling her face heat up. “Luka and I are trying again,” she admitted. “So he’s introducing a friend of his on our date. I wanted to introduce you to him, because I think you guys would be good friends, if not datemates.” She wanted to be honest where she could.

Kagami’s eyes brightened at the mention of friendship. “Then I certainly will come,” she said. “You have my number, so let me know the details.”

“I will.” She held out her hand and Kagami didn’t hesitate in giving it a squeeze. “Maybe after practice today, we can have our first date? At our usual spot?”

Kagami smiled. It was awkward, but it was sincere. “I would love that.” With one last squeeze of her hand, Kagami marched into the school.

Luka was chuckling when Marinette returned. “I guess we’ll have a full table,” he said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll talk to Felix and figure out a good time for us.”

Marinette nodded. “Let me know the details.” She paused. “And, thank you, Luka.” Before he could respond she took off running.

Lying about her girlfriend went better than expected!

[tanoraqui]

Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: Kill a Dragon, Rez a Falin

I just like when they're friends like this :)

This, too, is taken from another post, but truly this dynamic is sooo funny of

Chilchuck: I am not a fighter!

Chilchuck, any time he has any sort of ranged weapon: [aims with pinpoint accuracy]

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This is just literally that moment in every Miraculous Ladybug episode where everything goes gray and the things Marinette is about to use for a Plan "light up" one by one in red with black spots. Please someone draw fanart of this. And maybe an entire Miraculous Ladybug AU. Yes I think Kabru would have to be Chat Noir - in terms of deuteragonist-ness is SHOULD be Marcille, but she and Laios just doesn't have enough of a bizarre push and pull Dynamic. We need real character foils to pull off that relationship square.

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Raw fucking dialogue.

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THE PERIODIC ADS ON THIS SITE FOR PRINTING OR CLOTHING OR SHOES REALLY ADD TO THE EXPERIENCE.

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Agh agh agh, looking at this, thinking about Namari's explanation of how much body mass you can lose before resurrection gets harder...

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Carving this tunnel into the dragon and physically walking in emphasizes how big it was much more than anything we saw while it was alive, and it's sooo cool.

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This ad was a great millisecond of cliffhanger, unironically.

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These opening pages of the next chapter are so devastating. After all the movement of the fight, this simple layout and minimal dialogue make the grief and horror and just emptiness, emptiness where Falin should be, where hope for Falin should be, ring like a low and broken bell. Driven in just a little deeper by Laios admitting he doesn't know a monsters fact (warg bones vs human bones) - there is helplessness, too. He's just doing the only thing he can, which is so little, in all this terrible caesura.

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And then this! Marcille and Laois don't have the messy meatiness of relationship to carry and Miraculous Ladybug love square, but they are JOINTLY the parallel to the Mad Mage, and that's fascinating. They're on the same page here: Laios's "No" isn't just the denial of grief, it's a flat "That's not what we'll do." This is Laios - of course he's already thinking about how the red dragon is perfectly functional meat. As is Marcille, at last 100% in-step with him re: monsters = meat, here in the final steps to save Falin. With magic and drive and an absolute determination to save Falin, they're going to walk hand in hand into the darkness, and if something in their devours them (or their party, or the surface world...) - well, it'll have to beat them first, because throughout this world it's eat or be eaten, and those who want it most, win.

(And it IS fascinating that they do this while, so far as I've seen, basically remaining at the relationship tier of "good friends/in-laws." This isn't Found Family, it's Found Really Good Co-Workers; and I LOVE that.)

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THE PARALLEL COMPOSITION AND DIALOGUE TO THE ABOVE SCREENSHOT WHEN LAIOS WENT TO KILL THE DRAGON THOUGH!! I'M FERAL!!!

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Obsessed with the decision to frame this as a monster meal.

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Blood! In! Hair! Blood! In! Hair! Man, when I saw that post saying this wished this show was in the show, I vaguely assumed her hair had gotten messed up in the fight but she didn't bother to fix it for the ritual; but in fact her hair was braided literally 1 panel ago - she undid that and DELIBERATELY (or at least uncaringly) ran her bloody hand through it.

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YOU WISH YOUR GIRLFRIEND WAS AS COOL AS THIS PANEL! Oh fuck yeah, eyes went white. That's when you know the magic is awesome.

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HUNGER AND EATING AS A SIGN, SYMPTOM, STIPULATION AND SYNECDOCHE OF BEING ALIVE!!!

Alas, but with good okay slightly postponed and belated timing I must now go to bed.

[ninadove]

Lukadrinette kids

Because I can. Enjoy these silly little thoughts.

📝 General notes:

Marinette, aka Maman, started out as a very successful and very stressed out fashion designer. She ends up retiring at 35 to take over the bakery and finally learn to chill (it’s going… better than expected).

Luka, aka Papa, is a guitarist with a very niche following and is perfectly happy with that. He’s very present in his kids’ lives and the easiest parent to open up to, because of course he is.

Adrien, aka Dad, is the stay-at-home parent and could not be more stoked. And scared. Someone help them

Emma and Hugo are twins, but look nothing like each other, which baffled Adrien and Felix when they were born; Adrien will never admit it, but he was a tiny bit disappointed they weren’t identical.

To help the kids connect with their heritage, their parents speak French, English and Mandarin Chinese at home. Despite it all, Louis’ first words were a full sentence in Japanese — more on that later.

It’s very common for French kids to have two “middle names” (deuxième et troisième prénoms), so I have planned accordingly. Enjoy!

🐍 Emma

Her full name is Emma Sentibug Alya Dupain-Cheng. Adrien would not have it any other way.

She’s the oldest by five minutes and she takes it very seriously. Too seriously, even.

Emma inherited Gabriel’s grey eyes, which will have no influence on her perception of herself at all, no sir.

Like Marinette, she feels responsible for protecting everyone and everything around her, which is why she was blacklisted from using the Ladybug Miraculous before she reached the tender age of five.

As luck would have it, she ended up with the Snake, which is even worse for her mental health. For maximum dramatic irony, I think I’ll call her superheroine persona Aspik.

Aroace and sad. It’s already hard enough to be aspec as it is, but given the importance romance played in her parents’ lives… you get the point.

🦋 Hugo

Aka Hugo Felix Tom Dupain-Cheng. Yes, Felix cried upon learning his name. A lot.

🎶 Bi bi bi bi BI 🎶

Inherited Mari’s talent for arts and crafts and Adrien’s dramatics. Despite being very similar to them both, he often finds it difficult to talk to them.

Uncle Felix, however, is his absolute favourite adult in the world, and regularly knocks some sense into him.

Adrien and Nino were so excited for their sons to be besties! So naturally they hate each other’s guts

They end up kissing about it, though, so it’s fine.

Butterfly holder. Very purple 💜

🐈‍⬛ Louis

Aka Louis Nino Jules (after Juleka)

Because twins were a lot to handle, Louis only came along six years later.

When he doesn’t get his way, he turns petulant and grumpy, which makes him Plagg’s absolute favourite. Luka finds it endearing and jokes that they rub off on each other. This stresses Adrien out, though, as he fears it might be an early sign of Gabriel Behaviour.

The truth is that Louis just has these huge feelings that he doesn’t know how to handle… and you know who relates to this? KAGAMI. She’s the only one who can get him to calm down once he starts crying. She will pick him up, he will cling to her jacket and suck on his thumb, and she will carry on with the conversation as if nothing happened.

Originally Very Small, he gets a HUGE growth spurt and ends up built like Tom, which is very unusual for Cat holders.

🐞 Sabine

Aka Sabine Amelie Rose

The surprise baby of the bunch. She looks just like her grandma Sabine!

A total ray of sunshine. Also very gay.

As the youngest and eventual holder of the Ladybug Miraculous, she triggers Mari’s overprotective tendencies the most. Adrien actually had to step up and get her to back off as it was starting to stir up bad memories.

Because Rose was very ill when the twins and Louis were young, she and Juleka didn’t get to watch them as much as she would have liked. They made up for it by spoiling their younger niece beyond reason.

The most musically inclined of the kids. Her love for punk rock and metal clashes hard with her cutesy vibes. Rose couldn’t be prouder. 💖

[marinettesaltprompts]

Here's an idea for a salt prompt:

When CatWalker replaces Chat Noir, Ladybug is initially ecstatic. He seems perfect. A total upgrade from Chat Noir.

The only problem is...

Well, she's on the other side of the unrequited love barrier now.

CatWalker is polite, but professional. He doesn't joke around. He doesn't make friends with anyone on the team. He does his job as efficiently and effectively as possible and goes home. He's not rude and he is an attentive partner workwise but he's not someone to do more than provide token comfort when needed or to hang out for the sake of it like Chat Noir once did.

Even when Ladybug carefully probes for the possibility Catwalker is quick to shut any possibility of a closer relationship down. Even Viperion can't get through the model-professional mask.

Meanwhile at school Adrien seems to be quietly withdrawing as well. In truth it took them a while to notice, but lately Adrien's always had a thing he had to do at home or for his Father when Nino asked. He hasn't even really been going to band with Luka and his group anymore either. There's no sign of sadness or stress though. Just that same model smile as always.

Finally the story goes to Adrien's perspective and the truth is revealed. The day that Plagg came back with the ring they had a hard conversation about why Adrien really gave it up: the disregard. The double standards about the identity rules that apparently on he had to follow. More importantly they discussed how the increasingly one-way affection and care in the relationship between him and Ladybug was hurting him. Once upon a time Ladybug had been his first friend outside of the house. Now he felt like her pet or worse.

He *knows* that whatever she called him to talk about before time was broken had been important. And he's pretty sure there was no good reason for Viperion to have been down there having *activated second chance* when he and Ladybug were supposed to have just been talking.

Plagg then spilled something that poisoned any chance of Adrien returning as Chat Noir. During the night that Ladybug had spent trying to figure out how to get a new Black Cat, Plagg had spoken with the other Kwamis and Sass let slip the truth about why Ladybug had called Chat Noir to the tower that night.

About her scummy plan. About how she'd chosen to manipulate him over trusting him in the slightest. About how in the end all Ladybug had to do was just yell at Su-Han to make him cave.

About how Viperion hadn't even said a word to try and convince her to stop but just when along with everything. Sure the other Kwamis aren't that bothered about it- human things aren't their specialty so it's not like they care that much when it's not a holder they like getting hurt- but the implications are clear.

And just like that something in Adrien finally breaks. The scales fall from his eyes and the desire for a bond between him and Ladybug withers away. The same for any idea of a friendship between him and Luka.

And from there so to do the other threads connecting him to others. Nino had *hated* Chat Noir. Sure a lot of it had been grief, but the contempt towards Chat Noir was real. Would they really still be friends if Nino knew who he really was?

Probably not.

Alya and him were only friends by association of Nino. And no one else in class was closer to him than that. Even the others in the band were people he'd gotten closer through Luka.

Marinette... well. He'd *thought* they were getting closer, but any time it seemed like they were making progress she'd act out and... well. He'd been trying to ignore it for a while but if he was honest he knew what a fangirl looked like. He just didn't want to admit what he saw in Marinette.

Even Chloe and Felix had fallen away in their own ways.

Maybe it was time to let them all go. It hurts to accept but less than he expected. It's kind of a sad relief. He'd dreamed of making friends and a life outside of the manor but much like being a superhero, things were harder in real life than in his fantasies.

But Plagg was different. Sure he wasn't perfect. He'd kept things from him, but they'd bonded. Adrien honestly couldn't say there was anyone closer to his heart than the little Kwami, not since Mom had "disappeared".

But he lose Plagg forever if he stopped being Ladybug's partner. And Plagg doesn't want to say goodbye to Adrien either- but he has responsibilities as well. He can't just stay with Adrien and ignore the fight in Paris- even if he didn't care much about humans he cared about poor Nooroo and Duusu!

So they concocted a way for them to stay together. Being Chat Noir had been freedom once, but it had been becoming more of an obligation to Ladybug anyway. Besides, he was decent at escaping now anyway and he could only really have fun with Plagg in the privacy of his room anyway. The relationship between him and Ladybug was a source of more pain and trouble than it was worth at this point, Adrien just couldn't be her emotional support anymore. So the new Cat would be strictly polite and distant with her to avoid even the possibility of that happening again. Chat Noir had been widely mocked and devalued for his approach, so his replacement would be a calm professional who never let his personal feelings touch his work.

And so Catwalker was born.

He's easy for Adrien to slip into. He's just the same model personality he practices every day after all, only now the distance between him and others is enforced. He's the perfect fighter. The perfect soldier. No one can fault him, and no one can say that he doesn't fit on the team even if he's not part of their friend group. Adrien's heart is protected, Ladybug the partner she wanted and Plagg gets to keep his favored holder.

Catwalker is perfect.

Too perfect really. He knows what a fangirl looks like after all, and the "subtle" looks Ladybug gives him when she thinks he won't notice tug at him with a mix of bitter longing and disappointment that she's infatuation by the same hollow mask as the rest of Paris. But Catwalker also doesn't owe Ladybug his shoulder like her 'friend' Chat Noir felt like he did when she's down, she has an entire team for that- when the job's done he can just go home instead.

And Adrien? It's all too easy to slip back into a comfortable loneliness. In hindsight, a lot of his relationships at school were shallower than he thought. Nino was nice enough guy, but they'd never been able to fully bond in the way he'd wanted- and Nino's priority had been Alya for nearly as long as they'd known each other anyway. Luka and the band were circumstantial friends and the others were less than that really.

But was comfortable. Familiar to be alone in a crowd. To put on a mask of friendliness and have nothing deeper than passing acquaintances. He'd been on sports teams growing up, fencing, basketball, Karate and yet he'd never been allowed to get close to anyone but Chloe and Felix. It was normal for him to be in solitude, it hurt less than he expected to let the others go.

But maybe that was because he still had a true friend now. A little, rambunctious Kwami who would deceive his own Guardian to stay with him. Someone who actually, fully accepted him in his entirely and who he could actually trust. The very kind of friendship he'd always dreamed of.

And that'd why he's able to live like this.

It wasn't the life he'd imagined or wanted as Chat Noir. But both Adrien and Catwalker found themselves content.

I love this Idea, but I also wanted to that it's perfectly ironic. Everyone in his class and life, from Marinette to Kagami, always did say that Adrien the Model is perfect, so he gives them exactly what they wanted. A flawless model that stands alone, away from them all.

Thank you for the prompt! New post should be coming soon!

[generalluxun]

MLS6 Sublimation

An analysis of Marinette's behavior/reactions (by request) Salt-Free.

This post is in response to an ask, because tumblr ate that reply and posts save drafts!

The ask was in regards to my statement in another post that Marinette's actions were a 'control' move, asking me to clarify what that meant. I'm going to break it down here, referencing (but not quoting I do not have transcripts) on screen statements and behaviors

The goal is explaining, not vilifying.

I don't blame anyone for missing some of this, the messaging was very muddled in this episode and you could easily lose things in Marinette's breakneck word-vomit as well as some mixed messaging later in the episode.

You can break down Marinette's behavior re:Sublime like this:

Motivation:Fear

Response:Control

Tool:Friendship.

Early on we establish that Marinette is afraid. She's 'not jealous'(she claims) but she very much is catastrophizing. She envisions Adrien liking Sublime better than her and deciding to go out with her. We'll put a pin in this for later but for our purposes now this admits her emotion: She is afraid.

Her response to this fear is an attempt to gain a level of control over the situation. If she has control, she doesn't need to be afraid!(She thinks) She goes right back into her (worst) habits of the previous seasons. She gathers intel, follows/stalks/spies on people, and forms elaborate plans.

All of these are bent to trying to befriend Sublime- but friendship isn't the real motivation, just the tool. I have no doubt Marinette would like to be friends with Sublime bit in this instance that is not *why* she is going to these lengths. Marinette believes if she is Sublime's friend that somehow she(Sublime) won't want to date Adrien, or maybe just that Marinette could spot anything forming and head it off. -She will have more control.

And that's it really. I'm not going to dig into Marinette's specific behaviors as I think they were done 'for the show' you *could* make the final talk with Sublime into being a control move too (guilt/pity so that Sublime would feel bad 'stealing' Adrien) but I think that was more about shoehorning in a 'lesson' while not wanting to address the lesson set up at the start(for unknown reasons)

Now I am going to get into *why* what Marinette is doing is actually worse than what she has done before. If you can't stomach even a well intentioned critique of our protagonist, this is your warning.

In Sublimation Marinette is treating Adrien as an *object*. From the very beginning her fear discounts his agency. Marinette us afraid Sublime will be better and so Adrien will leave. It's 1+1 to her.

The fact that Adrien has openly and repeatedly professed his love for her doesn't seem to weigh for anything. Are we to assume her own love is so mercenary? If someone just slightly 'better' than Adrien came along, would she jump ship? I'd like to think not.

Now, this is a common (and very tired) romance trope, but it is one that needs to die, and it feeds poorly into Marinette's other behaviors. It also shows a regression. It was one thing to worry that an Adrien who she wasn't dating, who hadn't told her he loved her, might be wooed by someone else amazing(Kagami). It is something else entirely to consider him fickle and a mere creature to be dazzled by a new and shiny thing.

Her approach -inserting herself into Adrien's friendship- also disregards his autonomy. Her little 'my future friends' speech might seem cute, but with the knowledge of her fear and the lengths she goes to, it is clear- Adrien can't have female friends who Marinette doesn't have an eye on.

A healthy response is to wait to be introduced. It is good to have friends who are 'yours' outside of who you are in a relationship. Each party should know people who are not beholden to the other.

If she couldn't wait(which we will allow for, anxiety exists) ask to be introduced. Keeping Adrien in the loop and letting him have agency in the hows, whens, and ifs of things is still reasonably reapectful.

Going behind his back to forge a connection without his involvement and 'usurp' the friendship is is just flatly unhealthy. Yes Adrien makes light of it, but this is the abused boy who has been told the person who abused him was a hero. His ideas about autonomy and self-worth are a bit sketchy at the moment.

This is not all to say Marinette is a 'bad person'. It *is* to say what she is doing here is bad, top to bottom. Marinette behaved terribly in this episode. Do not do anything remotely resembling what she did. Do not take away any of her justifications as valid. They are the same logic that an alcoholic uses to say 'Just one won't hurt'.

Here's to hoping this particular arc of Marinette's journey ends quickly. It feels like a real step back for her.

[echo-has-queries]

Miraculous Ladybug Marigami AU where Adrien and Felix are literally just cats:

They are both rescues, of course. Adrien is a little shy at first but once he gets to know a person he is the cuddliest, most affectionate, most adorable little bean. He never misbehaves and he learns tricks happily and quickly. His owner, Marinette, loves him so much she is fully delusional about all cats surely being like this as well and Alya regularly has to stop her from getting more.

Now Felix on the other hand is a menace. A gremlin of epic proportion, he is constantly doing exactly what he knows he isn't supposed to and uncannily good at it. He won't just get into the stash of cat food, he'll get into the whole fridge somehow. Simultaneously he is completely unwilling to perform tricks no matter how you try to motivate him and he will scratch the fuck out of anyone who tries to touch him except for his owner: Kagami. Inexplicably he loves Kagami and Kagami only. For her he's cuddly and cute and loves riding on her shoulders or being carried by her but she need only point him at someone else and he starts hissing.

This is all well and good until Marinette and Kagami's relationship goes to the next level and they move in together.

Thinking Felix is like Adrien (they do look identical after all) Marinette tries to befriend him and gets shredded for her troubles. Kagami tells her to be careful with Felix: He just doesn't like anyone, it's not about her and she doesn't want Marinette getting hurt. Marinette says: "Of course, of course! Don't even worry about it!" But secretly she is determined to befriend that cat. That cat is her girlfriend's cat and it is going to love her too or clearly she is a terrible girlfriend and not worthy of Kagami. She goes through her typical Marinettesque schemes to befriend him: Food bribary, catnip perfume, stealing Kagami's perfume and clothes, buying him toys, letting him get away with his mischief - nothing works. He stays aloof and hostile, Marinette ending up with more scratches than healthy skin. She excuses them as sewing misshaps, but Kagami isn't stupid.

Eventually Kagami catches on to her girlfriend's suffering and asks her what's going on. Marinette breaks down and admits what she's been trying to do but that she's failed. That Felix still hated her and so inevitably Kagami would come to hate her too because if she doesn't get along with her cat then how could Kagami ever love her? Kagami tells her she's being stupid, shocking Marinette out of her anxiety attack. Kagami reassures her that Felix hates everyone and Kagami knows this. She would never require for a girlfriend of hers to befriend him because that would be impossible. Yes, Felix is important to her but Marinette is too. She wants to stay her girlfriend and the only thing she needs Marinette to do in regards to Felix is live comfortably in the same flat as him. If she can do that without constantly being attacked, without suffering - which Kagami is willing to help with, she doesn't want to put Marinette alone through trouble to make this work - then that's all that matters.

Marinette apologises for going behind her back with this whole thing and not just being honest from the start and they finally settle into cohabitation. Marinette loves Kagami so much it's easy for her to put up with needing to avoid Felix and simply ignore the cat. Adrien and Felix get along fine with each other, surprisingly. They don't cuddle often but Felix does seem to take some form of liking to the other cat, often mirroring with him and sometimes even playing. It takes a few more instances of getting scratched or hissed at until Marinette can tell Adrien and Felix apart on sight and from then on she simply enjoys having her own cuddly kitty and her wonderful girlfriend.

Felix is not happy about this. He does not like sharing his owners attention and the at first only annoying new human in his territory becomes his enemy. He lingers and watches at first, always a far too clever cat. Her room is locked to keep him out but doors have never stopped him for long. He has a secret way outside that the goodie-two-paws Adrien never uses but Felix is braver than him and so he waits for his opportunity. One day Marinette leaves her bedroom window open while she's rushing to buy another stretch of fabric, the deadline of her newest and most complex project yet looming, and Felix strikes.

Marinette comes home to find the dress she was sewing in tatters, her room in utter disarray and having been stressed out of her mind already completely breaks down. Kagami comes home to find her girlfriend crying curled up on the floor, surrounded by the evidence of Felix's crime. Now Kagami would see how useless this human was and go back to paying attention to only him.

Except that's not what happens. When Kagami goes to him and picks him up it's to drop and lock him in the bathroom. It's trivial for him to escape but that she put him there in the first place is irreconcilable. And freed all he can do is watch as Kagami holds and comforts the other human, petting her head the way he should be getting petted. No! This is wrong! He has to do something! He tries to go to Kagami pretending to be Adrien but the other cat is already curled supportively in Marinette's lap and Kagami would have recognised him anyway and she says: "Felix, no! Bad cat!" He is sent away, out of the room. Away from his beloved owner. And just like that Felix's world crumbles. He was a bad cat? His Kagami had called him a bad cat?? All because of that girl!? It was all her fault! Except, no. Felix was a smarter cat than that. He knew that it was his own fault.

Kagami asks for an extension on Marinette's project for her and the client is only too happy to allow it. Marinette's work is so excellent, they say, that any wait is worth it. "See?", Kagami tells her. "It's going to be alright. I'm sorry about Felix I don't understand what's gotten into him. I'll take him to the vet tomorrow." Marinette asks her what if he just hates her? What if he will always hate her? "He won't", Kagami promises her. "Nobody could ever hate you forever, Marinette. Not even Chloé Bourgeois did, remember?" And that did cheer Marinette up because it was funny to think of a cat as a bigger diva than Chloé Bourgeois. "I love you", Marinette tells Kagami. "I love you too", Kagami responds. And in Marinette's lap Adrien meows his own agreement.

The next day Felix is taken to the vet but other than extreme grumpyness nothing seems to be wrong with him. The vet says if he had a few more symptoms like lack of appetite he would say he's depressed but it is likely he is simply acting out because he does not like a recent change in his environment. Kagami is down her whole way back home and so is Felix. "I don't want to give you up", she tells the cat, having always felt that he could understand her. He is such a smart cat, sometimes to his own detriment. "But I'm not giving up her either. Please don't cleave my heart in two, Felix." And Felix responds with a miserable little mewel.

Things are calm at the flat for the next few days. Marinette is busy with her project and Kagami takes Felix to her room most days, still worried he'll act out again. This is what Felix wanted but somehow it doesn't feel like a victory. He doesn't like it when Kagami is sad like this and he doesn't like that he is the cause of that sadness.

When Marinette is finally done with the dress she collapses into Kagami's arms for the next few days. She's overworked herself as usual to make up for the therefore minimal delay. Kagami thinks it's admirable and cute but since meeting Marinette and falling for her she's also realised the toll of excellence and recognising that in Marinette made her rethink those values. Now she takes it easy from time to time and wishes Marinette would push herself less as well. But that is a problem she can adress another time. For now she is happy to cuddle and comfort her girlfriend as long as she needs it and longer. Adrien comes walking up then, meowing politely as he always does before jumping up onto the couch with them to support his Marinette. Kagami adores Felix but she has to admit Adrien's more generous affection has grown on her. He cuddles up to Marinette and is happy with Kagami's headscratches, purring contently as Marinette stroked his back and held him close.

Then Adrien walks into the room, meowing politely as he always does before hesitating as he sees there is already a cat on the sofa with his owner. Marinette and Kagami both look at him in wonder, then down at the cat they were already petting, then at each other, then back at the cat. "Felix?", Kagami asks and he meows, seeming to still as if anticipating trouble. Marinette has frozen up too, hand hovering over his back. He'd never let her pet him before. Not even a little bit. Carefully Marinette resumes her strokes and after another moment Felix resumes his purring, seeming to never break eye contact with Kagami. Kagami looks at her cat and her girlfriend and can't help but smile. When Marinette looks back up to her it is with tears and glee in her eyes. With the hand not petting Felix she pulls Kagami into a soft kiss. Adrien, finally seeming to decide that any lap will do, jumps up and cuddles into Kagami, prompting a bit of a chuckle from Marinette. She scratches him under his chin with her free hand which requires some contortion as she avoids having to move Felix. Then she contently leans into Kagami, feeling entirely at home for the first time.

Felix is still a beast, still more likely to misbehave than to not. But he knows to leave Marinette's room alone and doesn't scratch her anymore. The degree of affection from that one night stays a novelty, but Marinette can give him a pet or two without him fleeing or complaining. Now the only ones at risk of falling into the trap of thinking they are approaching Adrien and instead get four sets of claws of Felix are Marinette and Kagami's guests. Alya simply learns not to approach and let Adrien approach her instead. Juleka gently stops Rose from trying to cuddle Felix despite his protests. Alix makes it a challenge for herself to pet him and retreat fast enough so he can't scratch her in time. Kim launches little balls of paper at both cats until Marinette and Kagami tell him to stop, despite neither cat exactly hating the experience. Chloé was never interested in pets, saying she hates to get fur on her expensive clothes, though one day Marinette catches Chloé petting Felix anyway and Felix letting himself be pet by her. Marinette can't decide if it's a miracle or an omen but either way, Chloé doesn't hear the end of it for weeks. Max just has Makov pet Felix which also works, somehow. Nino is far too busy playing with Adrien every time he comes over to even notice Felix glaring from one of his high perches around the house.

Marinette wants to build him a cat wall. Kagami wants to buy them all a whole house before they drill into a rented apartment wall. Marinette doesn't want to ask for such a huge investment from just Kagami until they're married. Kagami's response of: "Alright, then let's get married", leaves Marinette bright red and in a state of mania for three days.

They compromise on some renter friendly cat accomodations for now.

[wisteriasymphony]

whats the second ending for tweos like?

Someone's been looking through my posts I see....

Okay! I'll admit that i forget which is numbered which, but TWEoS has two possible endings, due to the fact that I was, well... persuaded... into not making it a huge tragedy.

Succession is the ending where Adrien accepts his fate. After a heartfelt reconciliation with Ladybug, he returns to his post as Chat Noir. Now that Ladybug is on good terms with him, Paris as a whole is on good terms with him, as the Influence that keeps the city at her beck and call favors those she likes and shuns those she doesn't. Adrien continues to model and keep up the persona of Adrien Agreste, slowly retreating further into it to please Marinette. Their identities have been revealed to each other, and there is no other option but to get together.

They get married, have kids, and live in the Agreste Mansion.

Adrien, fundamentally changed by the experiences he was not supposed to have... is left forever unfulfilled. Him and Marinette may be soulmates, yes... but Marinette's soulmate is Adrien Agreste. And because of how the love of another person changed him, that is no longer truly him.

Exile is the ending where Adrien escapes his fate. After the successive murders of Emilie and Gabriel, the two people who abused him the most in his life, Adrien sees that the only way to fully escape their influence is to leave Paris entirely. The Adrien of Exile knows that he has not just been exploited by his parents, but by The Narrative. Rather than say goodbye to Claudia, he renounces his miraculous (bringing the initial premise of the alternative, much longer Kuro Neko to a close), fakes his death, and leaves the city.

What Claudia and Adrien do afterwards fundamentally does not matter*. As they leave The Narrative, they are free to do whatever they want.

The downside, of course, is that there is no way for Adrien to escape his role in The Narrative without fucking over the people around him. While Kagami was ahead enough of this to find comfort in Felix, Marinette is sent to "finish" the plot of "Season 5" alone—Her unification of the Cat and Ladybug is seen not as a triumph, but as a last ditch effort to fix a story crumbling apart at the scenes.

Her and Nathalie, masquerading as a Monarch pro tempore, are left to have a final confrontation. No wish is made, because no wish can be made. It was all just a lie, built on a lie, built on a lie.

...The beautiful part about this is that they are both tragedies, in a way. The noble figure (Adrien), after all, who at the end of the story experiences some sort of death (the death of his fledgling 'new self' in Succession, the death of his 'old self' in Exile). Succession plays more into the inevitability of tragedy, and how even despite all he worked for Adrien was never able to escape his own fate, whereas in Exile the story plays more into the idea that the death of Adrien is also the death of the world around him, and that is disappearance drives it into chaos and ruin.

Of course, they're both sort of meant to sound royal because many great tragedies involve kings and Adrien's fame as Adrien Agreste is practically like royalty if we want to go there, etc etc etc. All very fun all very cool NOW I JUST HAVE TO ACTUALLY WRITE IT DOWN

*But if we really must know... the idea is they elope to Madrid with Claudia's kwami, Karra, and live out a just-okay-but-never-perfect existence. If that's what you actually wanted me to talk about you can send in another ask, I just got carried away lolol

[ilikekidsshows]

Ladynoir is so dead, it's starting to get really funny watching people try to hype up every little moment they share because they don't wanna accept that the real partnership has been changed to Alyanette.

Kudos to those who at least acknowledge it while clinging onto some deeper interpretation, but them speaking is nothing to celebrate

Or Marinette laying a hand on Cat's shoulder as if that's some grand development and not the default since the start

No, this is not the inverse of season 4 just because the temps are not supposed to help with akumas right away. It's a tactical decision, not Marinette sidelining the team for Cat. The moment something happens to him she'll go right back to moving on from him as battle partner, leave him behind vulnerable and call in anyone else.

She didn't give him shit for not being there when no akumas were around because she wanted to see him more often, she tried making him out to be the one in the wrong again for HER behaviour. SHE decided to ditch Adrien at every chance and went against her word that the temps are supposed to help people outside of akumas to have an excuse for why shes faultless for treating her boyfriend like shit. Usual Marinette tactic of wanting to put the blame on Cat when shes in the wrong. At least he got to call that out, truly a miracle. Not that she ever acknowledged that and apologized for regressing in her treatment of him again. Of course not, sweeping under the rug as always.

I blame season 4 for making people believe that her being an aggressive power abuser was her being RIGHT and justified and kind. Now she gets praised for every little thing she does because in comparison to how she treated him in season 4 ANYTHING now looks like shes an loving angel. Bro, shes finally acting on basic decency. She doesn't need to be praised for FINALLY reaching that bar. It only shows how there is no bar at all for how she treats him. Very clearly, she can go right back to blaming him for her actions nd even go back to being aggressive and neglective and people just call it fine.

THAT'S the "normal" bar people are holding her to. "Normal" for her in Ladynoir is abusive and toxic, so any moment she's somewhat better than that is equal to her being a devoted saint.

How sad and pathetic is that. Girl is being praised for touching his shoulder because "normal" would be her hurting him. I would be insulted for her sake, but her writing has is the reason why people are so victim blamey in this fandom. The amount of times ive seen people blame Adrien for reacting badly to Marinette's shit treatment of him in Illustrhater is insane.

This show turns Marinette's fans into actual worse people. Thats WILD.

---

Yeah, like, when the protagonist not ignoring her oldest ally is treated as a sign of true partnership, it’s pathetically clinging to what used to be four seasons ago. When our protagonist admitting she's too childish to date someone is celebrated as a sign of her growing it's basically just showcasing that Marinette can do less than the minimum while still her stans insist she isn't in the wrong, because she's making and effort and had good intentions and she has such low self-esteem. I don't care how the asshole is feeling, because they have no intention of stopping being an asshole. Having poor self-esteem is not a get-out-jail-free card to trample on others’ feelings just because the character says they’re the worst while fully intending to do it again in the future.

The biggest lie Miraculous ever sold to the audience was that Marinette’s usually self-caused, petty problems were on equal ground with or even worse than the problems of all the other characters. After that first lie captured the audience’s sympathy, the rest was easy. The Miraculous fandom has been saying things like “let's not compare who has worse” and “misery isn't a competition” for years and it's obvious now that it's because a lot of other characters' problems, that they handle better than Marinette handles her own, are just worse. But, like, the show is the one comparing, and insisting Marinette making herself miserable because she acted without taking anyone else into account again is the greatest misery ever and the characters Marinette sidelines, treats unfairly and makes feel unloved don't matter, because Marinette feeling bad about causing that is the bigger suffering.

And, like, that's the thing with Marinette's now "better" treatment of Cat Noir. We're being told that everything is better now because Ladybug isn't as bad, and she isn't as bad because she isn't stressed anymore. The most important problem in the universe, Marinette being upsette, has been solved, so everything is perfect now! But, like, not a lot about Marinette's treatment of Cat Noir has changed, he just stopped complaining about it.

Ladynoir has been dead for a while now and yet the fandom cheers when its decomposing corpse gets strapped to a stick and touted around to pathetic applause.

[miraculousfanworks]

Writing Prompt: Sending your Father Down an Absurd Tangent 101

“So,” Father began stiffly, and Adrien perked up, giving his attention to his father’s uncharacteristic dinner time small talk, “is there anybody who has… taken your interest recently?”

Adrien shelved his curiosity about this most unusual question in favour for simply melting at the all-consuming thoughts of Marinette. Since he had finally acknowledged his not-just-a-friend feelings for her, he had fallen - and hard. He sighed happily.

“So there is someone, then?” his father pressed, and Adrien nodded.

“Yeah,” Adrien confirmed, with what he was sure was a dopey smile on his face.

“And who is this person?” his father coaxed.

“Multimouse.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. So did Father’s.

“Multimouse?” Father echoed.

Adrien gulped. He couldn’t correct Father now - that could give away Marinette’s secret identity! So he had no choice - he had to double down.

“Yep!” he said, and it wasn’t that hard to be convincing, after all, Multimouse was Marinette, and Multimouse was adorable.

“I don’t recall there being a Multimouse; do you not mean Polymouse?” his father asked with an even tone that probably would’ve made Adrien uneasy if he wasn’t already panicking.

“Nope, definitely Multimouse!” he confirmed. “She’s amazing!”

His father steepled his fingers under his chin, dinner long forgotten. “Can you tell me about this Multimouse?”

Adrien grinned. He could work with this, and for once, his father was interested in what he had to say! “Oh, where do I even begin?”

~/~

Gabriel felt like he was going to go insane. He had been up all night, and yet-

“Nathalie!” he roared, and she immediately entered the room, as stoic as usual.

“Yes, s-” her voice cut off as her eyes widened imperceptibly. “Sir, are you alright? You look…”

“I look what, Nathalie?” he snarled, breathing heavily.

“…unkempt,” she eventually admitted. “What’s wrong?”

“Who is Multimouse?”

She blinked, nonplussed, at him. How that infuriated him.

“Who?” she asked.

“Multimouse.”

“Don’t you mean Polymouse?” she asked.

“No!” he cried, anger, frustration, and sheer desperation spilling from him. “He said ‘Multimouse’ and described her as though she was real.”

“Who did, sir?”

“Adrien! Last night!” Gabriel exclaimed, running his hand through his hair for the umpteenth time. “We have dossiers on every single hero and akuma since the very beginning, and yet! No! Multimouse!”

“Don’t worry, sir, we’ll find her.”

~/~

Ladybug was having a most pleasant and akuma-free week, and it was a beautiful Saturday when she had decided to take a leisurely impromptu patrol around Paris during the gorgeous afternoon. After much interaction with happy civilians and being joined in her patrol by Chat Noir, nothing could’ve made this wonderful day turn sour… until Shadowmoth appeared.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were on immediate alert and battle ready, but something felt… off about Shadowmoth, Ladybug thought, almost manic.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir!” he called out. “Please!”

Ladybug frowned, but didn’t lower her guard. “What do you want?”

“Please!” he begged, collapsing onto his knees on the rooftop in front of them. “I need to know!”

“Know what?” asked Chat Noir.

“Who the hell is Multimouse?!”

(Pre-reveal, pre-season 5, possible identity reveal, fluff, crack, love square.)

Prompt by: SeasOfSilver. They've requested you tag them if you write a fic based on this.

[sparklycamembert]

i must preface that i LOVE adrinette

however. i think between all the secrets that marinette is keeping and adrien still learning to navigate his new life, it’s not so far fetched that they begin to drift apart, all coming to a head in a falling out as the two struggle to open up?

not that they’d be angry with each other, just that they’d feel… unsettled. mutual understanding that they’re keeping things from each other until they can’t take it anymore. even in the illustrhater, we already see how marinette and adrien maintain the illusion of communication without really communicating, what with marinette admitting that she “tries to control everything” when she’s around adrien, while still fully meaning to keep his secrets from him. adrien even says, in the same scene(!!), that he’ll understand if marinette “no longer wants to be his girlfriend,” almost as if foreshadowing something?

personally, i want an adrinette break up sometime this season and i want it to TEAR MY HEART OUT. i’m talking a ridiculously dramatic sequence with rain, tears, near akumatisations, make them inconsolable. because gabriel’s gone and they should finally be free to love each other, except they’re not, they’re just burdened by different things now. meanwhile, ladynoir could be heartbroken Together, and maybe even confide in each other. aside from the ladynoir agenda, i think that’s also what’s best for adrinette’s long term relationship health because man do they both need to let off some steam.

and a good place to put the break up could be the habitual mid-season 2 parter… episode 11 revelator anybody? albeit it might be a little early on in the season, the foundation for it to work is already there and imagine the transmission parallels!

[ximenostar]

“Is it.. time, Tikki?”

“What do you think, Marinette?”

What did Marinette think? What did she think? She thought a lot of stuff!

Like— Like, Chat Noir seeing who she really was underneath the mask, the shy, clumsy girl who couldn’t do anything right, and hating her. Chat Noir being disappointed that ‘Ladybug’ wasn’t real, but an illusion. That he was now stuck with… Marinette. An ordinary girl.

But what if?

What if he did like her? What if he was okay with the clumsiness, the weird behavior, the dorky girl she truly was?

Where did they go from there?

Marinette loved Adrien. That much was true. Even the thought of his name alone sent shivers down the girls spine, her heart palpitating wildly, her very being buzzing alive with the idea of dating Adrien Agreste.

But she wanted Chat to like her too. Because maybe deep down inside she also loved her partner in a way she promised herself to never admit.

It was selfish, she knew. She couldn’t have both and she made her choice. She loved Adrien.

But what if…

“I don’t know, Tikki… I’m scared. So many things could go wrong with revealing our identities. What if a new villain pops up and now we’re at risk? Or— Or we let it slip to other people or—“

“Marinette, relax.” The kwami of creation cuts off Marinette’s nervous rambling. Tikki smiles softly, trying to reassure the girl. “You’re trying to talk yourself out of it. You and Chat Noir defeated hawkmoth. Together. You’re capable of making your own decisions. You trust yourself, right?”

Marinette hesitates, chewing on her lower lip.

“Do you trust Chat Noir?”

The girl sighs. She knows this routine by now, they’ve done it so many times. When will she learn to just trust her own judgement?

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. And you trust me, right?”

“Of course, Tikki.”

The kwami giggles and lands onto Marinette’s open palm. “So what are you going to do?”

Marinette takes one last deep breath and sits up straight, a confident air about her.

“I’m going to tell Chat Noir that I’m Marinette… Or, uh, that I’m ladybug? But, no, I’m going to see him as ladybug, he already knows that, uh—“

“Oh, Marinette…”

The following week, Ladybug arrives early to her and Chat Noir’s designated meeting area for patrol.

She paces and then paces some more. And then some more for good measure, but it also never hurt anybody to pace some more—

“Good evening, M’lady.”

The super heroine jumps in surprise, her reflexes working faster than her brain. Chat Noir, who was once standing on his own two feet, now stood flat on his back.

“Oh, kitty! Oh my God- I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

“You always find a way to sweep me right off my feet, don’t you, bugaboo?” Chat Noir says humorously with a smile on his face.

Ladybug sighs, at least her partner was being his usual, flirty self. “I suppose I do. Now get up!”

Reaching out her hand, Chat Noir gratefully grabs onto it and hoists himself up. He smiles brightly and pulls Ladybug into a hug.

“Chat..?”

“Sorry, just— We don’t have to, y’know? I like what we have now… and while I do want to know who you are more than anything, I understand the fear. This can wait.” He steps back to create some distance, and Ladybug finally notices it. He seems uncharacteristically nervous. The bright smile and the joking wasn’t just Chat Noir being Chat Noir, but it was him in his own way trying to reassure Ladybug.

Their reveal, or lack of one, wouldn’t change a thing. He was still her kitty and she was still his lady.

Why was she so anxious before?

“Let’s go somewhere private, kitty, okay?”

Chat’s eyes widen and he seems almost lost. “Are you.. Are you sure?”

“Would I say it if I wasn’t?” Ladybug responds cheekily. She doesn’t wait for a response before she’s off swinging to a more private location, and she doesn’t need to look behind her to know her Chat Noir would be following her.

[theerurishipper]

This is just an unstructured, incoherent vent post, but I've seen a few posts recently about how Adrien would definitely forgive Marinette for keeping secrets from him because he loves her, or that he would blame himself for not noticing what was going on and not her. And those aren't wrong, per se, but this is what I mean by the show taking away Adrien's agency. Ultimately his choices are allowed only as far as they do not inconvenience Marinette or anyone else the narrative cares about, like Felix or Nathalie. Which is why Adrien is not allowed to grow, he is not allowed to prioritize his own feelings and emotional needs. Any wrong done to him is resolved by him putting aside his own feelings to forgive the people who wronged him. And yes, he has been taught that his feelings don't matter by Gabriel and that he should bend over to the whims of everybody around him. And that kind of makes it worse, how the effect of Gabriel's abuse is used to convenience everyone around him. I think it's gross.

Just look at the Ladynoir conflict from Season 4. Adrien brings up his grievances with Ladybug's treatment of him a few times, but ultimately, he ends up putting it aside to focus on her emotional needs when she is at her lowest. Kuro Neko gave us the message that it wasn't that Ladybug was treating Chat Noir unfairly, but that Chat Noir should stop expecting to be treated with respect and should stop having emotional needs. And at the end of Strikeback, nothing is resolved, Ladybug hasn't apologized to him or resolved to do better by him, but he still shows up to her side to comfort her. No, she didn't apologize to him. She admitted her mistakes but did little to correct them even after the fact. That whole arc ended with Chat Noir being treated poorly over and over, and yet coming back to Ladybug's side because he's such a good partner and he loves her so much.

And Adrien, a character who has been forced his whole life to bend to the whims of others to please them at his expense is doing the same thing to Ladybug. Adrien exhibiting this behavior is 100% a trauma response. Ladybug is supposed to be his escape from his abusive homelife. And yet, the show writes him falling back into his trauma responses with her (Kuro Neko) and does jack shit to portray it as a bad thing. And the Season 4 finale is once again Adrien putting aside his feelings and showing up to support her. Adrien's emotions are not validated, they are tossed aside. Ladybug admitted her mistakes as she did several times through Season 4, but she still did little to correct them. That admission in Strikeback doesn't do much, because we never see her do anything to fix her mistakes after that. What happened was that Chat Noir saw her in distress and decided his feelings were unimportant because she needed support.

This is not healthy. Adrien should not be invalidating his own feelings so that he can offer comfort to others. He shouldn't forget and forgive so quickly without the other person doing anything to correct their behavior towards him. Once again, this is how Gabriel has taught him to behave, to stop "being so emotional" and to conform to his expectations. And Adrien continuously downplays his own issues for others' sake. And obviously, we would understand that he can heal from this, that he can learn to take care of his own emotional needs first.

And quite frankly, all the posts about how we shouldn't want Adrien and Marinette to break up, or how we shouldn't be so hard on Marinette, or that she is just a child in tough situation, or that she is doing it out of love and that Adrien would forgive her kinda make my point. Because let's be real. What Marinette did is a serious breach of trust. I do not understand how anyone could forgive something like that quickly. And I understand why she did it. I don't think she is a bad person or anything like that. But it's still an awful thing to do. And frankly, I don't see how Adrien could just... instantaneously forgive her without invalidating and downplaying his own pain and hurt. If he did, I would seriously question his self-worth. And while I don't think Adrien would never forgive Marinette or that he would stop loving her, frankly, I would like to see more acknowledgement of his feelings and his emotional needs both from the fandom and the show. I would like to see that his feelings matter, that he is allowed to be angry and that he is allowed to hold people accountable and call them out. I would like for him to not forgive some people. I would like for him to require distance and space from them. That would be development for Adrien, to let himself be emotional and not feel the need to put his own needs aside for others.

But for Adrien to prioritize himself, it would mean acknowledging the harmful things characters like Marinette have done to him. And that can't happen, because all the purpose Adrien serves is as a plot device to connect Marinette to Gabriel, and actually having her be held accountable by the narrative for her choices is a big no no. Growth for Adrien would mean that he lets himself be angry at Marinette for how she kept secrets from him, never apologized for it, and ultimately ended up keeping the greatest secret of all from him about his father and the fact that he is a Sentimonster. But as the writing to this point shows, Marinette isn't a safe space for him where he is allowed to be himself. She is someone who also elicits his trauma responses from him. He doesn't let himself be angry with her, he always puts himself last when it comes to her.

I am not saying Marinette is in any way comparable to Gabriel. She is nowhere as bad as him, she does not come close to that in any way. Marinette is a good person. But what she did in the finale, is explicitly something that Gabriel wanted her to do. Gabriel wanted to continue to dictate his son's emotions and perceptions, and Marinette helped him do it. That's not a healthy relationship. And looking at all the Marinette-Gabriel parallels in Season 5... it's not a good look at all. The show portrays Adrien as someone who has been denied autonomy his whole life, and as someone who is expected to cater to the desires of the people around him and be perfect for them while neglecting his emotional needs, and made his arc one of finding independence and his own identity and learning that his feelings and desires matter. But also, they only matter as far as they don't inconvenience Marinette. Adrien shouldn't downplay his feelings, but if doing so would help Marinette, then he should do it actually. And it's hard for me not to see it as Ladybug benefitting from his trauma from his abusive home. It sounds harsh, but that's how it feels.

And all the talk of how Adrien would never hate Marinette and that he would forgive her is... disappointing to me. Because I don't necessarily disagree, but it still is about prioritizing Marinette's feelings over Adrien's. What is focused on is not how Adrien might feel betrayed, but how Marinette might feel sad about Adrien feeling betrayed by her, and reinforces that Adrien is so good because he would not hold it against her. Even though he should, even though it means he would be downplaying his pain massively if he didn't blame her for that. If Adrien's character should develop, he should be allowed to realize that he has the right to get angry and that he doesn't have to downplay his emotions or feel like it's all his fault. He should be allowed to do that without people jumping to Marinette's defense and excusing her of blame.

Throughout the series, Adrien has been the person to help Ladybug through her problems, and the narrative has never allowed her to do the same for him. And I want to see focus on Adrien for a change. I want to see someone other than Plagg reassuring him and supporting him, especially his partner. I want to see the narrative be less about "oh, Adrien would never hold anything against Marinette because he loves her and would understand her always," and be more "actually Adrien is allowed to prioritize his feelings and want distance from Marinette after she betrayed him in such a personal way." That would be development. That would be reclaiming his agency. That would be free will and autonomy. I would like to see focus on this in the show and the fandom.

Adrien is not obligated to forgive Marinette. He is not obligated to understand her reasonings for why she did what she did. He is allowed to be angry at her and express his hurt because of her actions. Seasons 4 and 5 have regrettably established Marinette as someone else who denies Adrien's agency and around whom he reverts back to his fawning trauma response, and quite frankly the best thing for him to do would be to break up with her and go find himself on his own terms. I want his character to develop and grow, and unfortunately, Seasons 4 and 5 proved to me that it would not be possible as long as he is around Marinette, both from a character and narrative standpoint.

I just wish people would acknowledge and validate Adrien's perspective and feelings more. Even if it means calling out Marinette. Gabe is Adrien's abuser but he isn't the only one who has hurt Adrien in the story. Marinette is an incredible and amazing person but as far as we've reached in the show, she is hurting Adrien. And she has done many things across these two seasons that violate Adrien's trust. It's not even that this is a mistake she could learn from, but that she has done several such things over and over. From keeping secrets about the Miraculous holders' identities even though Hawkmoth himself knew, to Rena Furtive, to trying to trick him into an identity reveal in Ephemeral, and now keeping the fact that he is a Sentimonster and that Gabe is Monarch from him. It's gone from secret keeping to outright lying to him. It is not healthy. And it is a sign of stagnation and regression in Adrien's growth if he continues to keep forgiving her over and over again despite her never fixing her behavior.

If Adrien's arc is about finding autonomy, then he cannot be with someone who is complicit in denying him the ability to make his own choices. If Marinette was supposed to be the knight in shining armor, they shouldn't have given her the key to the tower and have her hide it away. If she was supposed to save him, they shouldn't have had her condemn him further. If Marinette was supposed to be the one who helped Adrien regain his self worth, the person whom he could trust and rely on the most, they shouldn't have made her side with Gabe, deny Adrien his agency, and violate his trust so many times.

It didn't have to be written this way, but these were the decisions made by the writers. They chose to portray Marinette like this for no discernable reason and refused to acknowledge it or deal with it meaningfully. Adrienette is so profoundly unhealthy now that if Adrien's character is to grow, the only way for him to do that is to break up with Marinette. But the show has also made it very clear that Adrien is only a plot device and a trophy for Marinette at the end. So I have no doubt that all will be forgiven in a matter of minutes, and the narrative will praise Adrien for being traumatized and denying his own emotional needs to comfort Marinette as she feels bad for hurting him. And it's sad, but I guess it is what it is.

[mochegato]

Out of the Blue

This is a fic about a latino and an immigrant, both of whom are treated respectfully and as humans.  If that’s a problem, I suggest you move on and please block me.

Marinette was enjoying a rare quiet day in Titan Tower.  Despite the massive size of the building, it seemed like there was always someone everywhere she went, her bedroom being the only exception, and even the sanctity of that was regularly violated by someone needing to talk about something that absolutely ‘could not wait’.  It almost always could.

Usually, the company was a good thing.  She absolutely loved her teammates… some more than others and in different ways, one in particular had become extremely important to her.  But occasionally, she wanted a bit of personal time outside of her room, a change of scenery to let her mind wander and create.  So, she was relishing this time and let her mind get lost in the peace.

But that was where she made her mistake.  Because peace never lasted long at Titan Tower.

She was just in the middle of a new design, an electric blue dress with black strips wrapping around from the back to the front, the strips tapering toward the end, allowing the blue to shine and evoking images of being enveloped in a protective shield, when she felt very real arms wrap around her.

She threw up her sketching pad and let out a shrill screech that was so loud, it echoed off the walls of the empty room.  It took a full minute for her thundering heart and gasping breath to calm enough for her to hear the rich, hearty chuckles behind her.

She tried to duck away but the arms tightened around her, preventing her from pulling away and bringing his laughter, and warm breath, directly against her ear.  As soon as she heard it, she relaxed into her favorite teammate’s grasp.  “Sorry, Mari.  Didn’t think you were that engrossed,” Jaime snickered.

Marinette let herself enjoy being cocooned in his tender embrace for just a few seconds before darting forward to grab her sketchpad so she could smack him with it.  He only half-heartedly attempted to defend himself, his laughter and smile increasing with each hit.  “Hey, you’re going to make the beetle think I’m getting attacked.”

“The beetle loves me,” she scoffed and harrumphed back into the seat, very intentionally focusing on her sketchpad.

It took a few seconds for him to respond, almost long enough for her to look up, but she refused to let him see the blooming color on her cheeks.  “Yeah,” he finally agreed softly.  “Yeah, he does.”  After a few more seconds, he collapsed next to her as obnoxiously as possible, draping himself over the back of the couch.  The dramatic huff he let out was almost as loud as his groaned words.  “I’m bored.  Let’s go do something.”

Marinette scoffed and rolled her eyes.  “Yeah?  What do you want to get out and do?”

His grin returned as he launched himself over the back of the couch in one deft, elegant move, settling so close to her, she could no longer had full movement of her arm as she sketched.  “I don’t know something.  Nothing.  Just out of here.”

Marinette let out a long, exasperated sigh as though he was wearing on her, despite both of them knowing she wasn’t.  “And who else?”

“Just us,” he shrugged but didn’t quite meet her eyes, instead trying to sneak a peek of what she was working on.  Her hand froze for just a second before continuing on the line she had been drawing.  He didn’t seem to notice she had stopped breathing.  “Plus,” he added finally looking up to meet her eyes, “Damian and Raven are doing that thing they do.”

She snorted and nodded in understanding.  “That weird dance thing they do there they won’t admit they like each other so they snipe at each other then get upset the other person was mean back to them and are in a horrible mood all week because of it and take it out on everyone around them?”

“Yes!” Jaime exclaimed bouncing up, “exactly that.  I can’t watch it any longer.”  He absentmindedly rubbed his arm.  “Or feel it anymore.”

Marinette looked down at her sketchpad for a few seconds, but she had already made up her mind.  Alone time was overrated anyway.  “Yeah, okay.”  She snapped the pad shut.  “Where are we going?”

His responding grin was heart-stutteringly beautiful.  “Trust me?”  He cocked head to the side an affectionate smile blooming on his lips as he waited for her response.

How was she supposed to respond to that except, “Always.”

And she meant it.  Of all her teammates, he was the one she trusted the most.  He was the one she understood the most.  The one she spent time with the most.  He never failed to make her feel better.  He didn’t even have to try.  Just existing out near her was enough to make her feel less stressed.  The nights they spent on the roof of Titan Tower, staring at the stars and talking about everything and nothing, were her favorite nights and she hoped he felt the same.

In fact, she REALLY hoped he felt that way because she was about to do something either very brave or very stupid.  But either way, she was tired of their dance.  While not as dangerous to the people around them as Damian and Raven’s, it was dangerous to her heart.

“Hey, I have an idea,” she stated, with a lot more indifference than she felt.

“Shoot, Cielo,” he answered without taking his eyes from the road.

She paused for a second to take a breath so she could continue as casually as possible.  “I want to try one of the Tik Tok challenges.  Park somewhere.”

He shot a questioning look her way but complied.  They’d done a few challenges and not one of them had actually worked.  Inevitably, she fell, he missed a cue, she didn’t follow the rhythm, or he messed up the words.  But regardless of how epically they failed, they always had fun.  But that was kind of the mantra of their entire relationship.  As long as they were together, everything felt right.

It only took another few minutes to pull into a garden parking lot, which was lucky for Marinette because her anxiety increased with each passing second until she couldn’t hide it anymore.  Jaime watched her, brow furrowed with concern.  She frequently got anxious before a challenge, but it was an excited energy.  This was something else.  It looked like she was scared, which made him scared.  What were they doing that she was scared about how it would play out?

Her hands were shaking so much, she dropped her phone a few times until Jaime had to set it up on the dashboard for her.  “Okay,” she started, her voice unsteady and breathy.  “Are you ready?”

Her apprehension ramped up his apprehension.  He nodded shakily.  How bad could it get?  They were still in the car.  The phone was pointed toward them, so they weren’t going to leave the car.  They wouldn’t be able to get enough momentum behind anything they did to cause damage… right?  He took a deep breath.  Oh God, he was about to find out.  “Yeah, let’s do this.”

She turned on the video and the song and kept looking at the phone while he looked at her.  She started mouthing the words of a song and looked over toward him shyly after the first verse.  He was so caught up, he didn’t even hear what the verse was, but his lips turned up in a soft smile, the same smile he always gave her when she wasn’t looking.  He felt the loss when she looked back toward the phone, but immediately felt the warmth in his chest again when she turned back toward him with another sweet smile, lips still moving in time with the song.  He really needed to listen to the lyrics.

As soon as the thought popped into his head, it was destroyed and all breath evaporated from his lungs when she leaned in close to him, her lips so close to his he could feel her breath against them.  But then as quick as she was there, she pulled away to sing the next lyric, “we should be lovers instead.”

He stared at her stunned for a few seconds before a slow smirk spread across his lips.  He raised a questioning eyebrow, his smile beamed when she bit her lower lip and nodded, but she was still too far away.  He pulled her back to him, his hand wrapping around her throat, his thumb grazing her larynx and fingers wound into her hair.  He paused just a second before crashing his lips to hers.  His hand moved up to cup her face as their lips melded together.

At some point, the song had ended, but he had no idea how long before they pulled away from their kiss, but when they did, it was silent in the car except for their panting breaths.  He grinned brilliantly, almost as brilliantly as she did.  “That was very unexpected,” he breathed.  “But so very, very welcome.”  His eyes drifted down to her lips moments before pushing toward her again, much slower this time, like he was savoring each millisecond of their contact.

They pulled away just as slowly, just enough to search each other’s eyes and get a bit lost in what they found there.  Her hand raked through his hair and settled on his jaw.  “That went so much better than I expected.”

He chuckled.  “I think that’s the first challenge we aced.”  He ran his finger along her jaw.  “I think we should celebrate.  Can I take you out to dinner, Cielo?  On a date?” he added quickly, just in case there was any confusion about the true impetus.

She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, but even that couldn’t stop her smile.  “Yeah, I’d like that.”

He grinned again and stared at her for just a few seconds before turning the car back on and pulling out.  “Best challenge ever,” he beamed.

[generalluxun]

Who do you think is more fitting to be “Creator’s Pet” of the show: Astruc’s virtual daughter Marinette or perfect and flawless Adrien?

Okay, before I start- I don't like the term creator's pet, it tends to suggest currying favor on the 'pet' part, and obviously Marinette or Adrien can't do that.

Perhaps 'favorite'? and let me lay some ground rules.

This is not character salt! Nothing here should be used to deride the characters. This is about the narrative woven with/around them. This is examining the external biases at play.

We must recognize that Marinette is the PoV character for the show. That is value-neutral. We can't hold screen time as evidence.

That said let's tackle Adrien being 'perfect' first. I know the show and creator use that word a lot but it is very clear in the show that ... He's not. He makes mistakes, he gets *called out* for his mistakes, he gets upset, he apologizes. He's not perfect.

So, why/how/what is the purpose of the perfect mantra in the show? It's because Adrien is a *trophy*. He was Gabriel's trophy, and now he's Marinette's. A trophy must be 'perfect', or how can it be a trophy? He makes no demands(his flirting as Cat Noir was shown as him being wrong and he corrected his behavior to be more perfect), he gives everything, he carries emotional baggage and costs nothing.

All of his perfection benefits *other people* in the narrative, not himself. Does that sound like a favorite? No it sounds like something you *give* to your favorite.

Because yes, I do believe Marinette suffers from an above-average attachment by her creator(and some fans) I say suffers from because I think it hurts her as a character. Superficially it seems to her benefit, but below the surface it's empty calories.

Marinette makes mistakes too, but they are always framed as best intentions. At the end of any disagreement she is the one in the right. Her pain is always the focus/valid one in any situation. S5 amped this up to the point I call it 'Poor Mari' when it happens. Any emotional situation must make you sympathize with Marinette first and often only. It doesn't matter what or who is involved. The entire Agreste Arc has been summed up by the emotional impact *Adrien's family being the villains and his father dying* have on *Marinette* not Adrien. Marinette gets the sympathy for someone else's crisis. How weird is that? It's not even that she did anything wrong (before the lie) but no one else seems to be allowed to experience more emotion than she does, no matter the situation.

That is a strange choice and one that hurts the narrative and her character. (As they find new/more/repeat ways to put her in emotional turmoil to keep her always center all the time)

As an example from before S5, we can look at how Luka/Kagami were handled. It's two parallel situations, handled at the same time. How they're handled gives the insight you are asking for.

Marinette's struggle is the first an foremost thing in Truth. Luka is the sweetest bean, and even when he's akumatized it is all about her pain the end and her having to break up with him. He's upset but he never blames her, never corrects her. After the breakup he is still completely supportive and always there. He works to find her happiness, even though he openly admits to still being in love with her. Marinette is handled gently and put on a pedestal.

Meanwhile, Lies focuses more on Kagami and her efforts to connect with Adrien who is pining for Ladybug( just as Marinette is pining for Adrien) She gets mad at him. She breaks up with him. She holds him accountable for his behavior. She gets over him. When she finally joins team Adrienette it is for *Marinette's* sake, not Adrien's. (MP72)

So yes, Marinette is favored heavily, beyond simply 'the main character' she is the center of this world physically and emotionally in a way that is only more noticable as time goes on.

Oh- and another easy metric: How many people have said Marinette is the best Ladybug ever vs. has anyone ever given Cat Noir the time of day except Ladybug when she felt bad about leaving him out of the loop?