#maybe the cat and ladybug can never be together?

[adaobiiii]

────────── adrien x gentle!reader ⋆｡𖦹°‧★

Prompt : Head cannons of Adrien and his gentle partner

Pairing : Adrien Agreste x Reader, Adrien x Reader

Warnings : None, Fluff, no-magic!au

A/N : Reader is mainly referred to as “you”. Can be read from any perspective (but i wrote it with a female reader in mind). This is a long one (1670 Words so get ready). Divider is from @diviniyae

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Relationship Information

You were a new student and Marinette adopted you into her friend group before anyone else could. One day you were all hanging out, Marinette had told you another one of her friends would be late and that’s when you met Adrien.

He had just come from a photo shoot and was chatting up with Nino when he saw you.

You both smiled politely at each other and that was it.

At first, you just saw him as this kind, well-mannered boy. Someone who smiled at everyone but never seemed to let anyone in. 

This was until you noticed a few things.

His smile wavering when no one was watching

His laughter often felt forced

There was this dull sadness in his eyes that no one else seemed to point out

You were always kind to him, even when others treated him like a celebrity instead of a person. That’s what caught his attention.

He fell for you slowly, finally realizing it when he started looking forward to every moment with you, no matter how small.

Confessing to you was terrifying because he was worried that he’d ruin the friendship you guys had but when you held his face and whispered, “I like you too,” he nearly melted on the spot.  

“You… you do? Really?” His voice cracked, and you giggled before nodding.  

He hugged you so tightly, burying his face in your shoulder because he couldn’t believe he was this lucky.

You never expected him to latch onto you so quickly, but when he did, you knew you were in trouble.

Daily Life and Couple Things

Being with Adrien is like having a delicate flower in your hands.

You’re careful, gentle, always making sure he doesn’t feel pressured or overwhelmed.

At the same time, he makes you feel safe too. Despite his own struggles, he always checks on you and making sure you’re okay.

As we know Adrien is STARVED for affection, and you give it so effortlessly. 

He lives in your arms (not because you won’t let him go but because he won’t leave.)

He melts when you run your fingers through his hair, especially after a long day. 

You’re constantly taking care of him in small ways. Fixing his clothes, reminding him to eat, rubbing his hands when they’re cold.  

“You’re too good to me,” he sighs, kissing your forehead.

He absolutely loves soft physical contact. Like when you brush your pinky against his, forehead touches, lingering hand-holding, he loves it all.

The first time you held his face (before you got together), he was so incredibly flustered he nearly malfunctioned.  

If you give him handwritten notes or small gifts, he keeps every single one.  

The way he looks at you sometimes, like you’re the only thing in the world that makes sense, it makes your heart ache in the best way.

You feel like the only person he can truly be himself around, and you cherish that.

Adrien as Cat Noir

You definitely know about his superhero identity.

At first you didn't and things didn’t make sense. He’d seem so tired sometimes and like his mind was somewhere else. 

And sometimes… he’d have this confidence that doesn’t feel like him. A flirtatious smirk, a playful wink—things that remind you of the cat-themed hero.

I feel like one day he was just so done and tired, maybe this is like after Chat Blanc and Marinette (one of his best friends) is just straight up avoiding and acting weird around him. Then it gets worse because Ladybug is also off and not allowing him to do anything during missions and he feels so angry and upset. 

And he tries to do something helpful but she straight up flinches away from him like he’s dangerous or something (cause she’s still traumatised by chat blanc).

He reaches his breaking point and completely screws ladybugs whole ‘secret identity’ rule, shows up at your house one day, still transformed and completely breaks down in your arms.

You're shocked but it makes sense. The pieces of cheese left around your house, his feline tendencies, his constant disappearances. 

After you both get over the awkwardness (there was barely any) He gets so protective of you, even when you don’t need him to be.

If there’s ever an akuma attack near you, Chat Noir is IMMEDIATELY by your side, no questions asked.  

When he’s exhausted from hero duties, you always notice, his tired eyes, the way he zones out, etc.

There are definitely times where the fights or just mental exhaustion is so bad that it physically hurts him to explain. 

You never pry, but you always offer comfort. “You don’t have to tell me anything,” you say, running your fingers through his hair. “Just rest.”

If you ever put a hand on his cheek and tell him, “You don’t have to carry everything alone,” he might will actually cry.  

Fighting

You don’t fight often, but when you do, it’s never explosive. It’s quiet and emotional. 

Adrien is bad at confrontation, as a result of his father, but he can’t stand upsetting you, so he always tries to talk things out. 

At first it was difficult because when he’d tried to talk with his Dad he’d constantly be blown off, but you actually choose to listen to him so it makes it easier.

The day you cry in front of him will actually be the day he dies.

You do your best to regulate your emotions, which is why people are often to attracted to you because of your calm aura.

For you to get emotional enough to cry??? you must have been very hurt.

He does everything in his power to make sure you don’t cry but if it ever gets to that point, he’s already rushing to cup your cheeks, wiping away your tears while whispering apologies.

He hates the idea of you being upset with him, so he always makes it right.

His love language in apologies? Forehead kisses and whispering comfort. 

“I don’t want to fight. I just want you.”  

Vulnerability

Your biggest struggle in the relationship however, is feeling helpless. 

Adrien has so much weight on his shoulders, and you can see it, but there’s only so much you can do.

You worry about him constantly. Whether it’s school, his father, or just his tendency to overwork himself, you always feel like you need to look out for him.

Prior to him revealing his identity, you felt as though he was keeping a secret (and he technically was. not because he didn’t trust you, but because he wanted to protect you.)

That thought hurts more than you’d like to admit.

When you found out his identity, you felt a bit guilty for being upset about the whole secret thing but he's quick to clear it up cause he understood.

The first time Adrien opened up about his mother, it was late at night while you were lying next to each other.  

He didn’t mean to talk about it, it just slipped out, and before he knew it, he was venting all his emotions.

You listened without judgment, holding his hand and squeezing it gently.  

“I just… I don’t know if I’ll ever be enough,” he admitted, voice barely above a whisper.

You placed a hand over his heart. “You are more than enough, Adrien.”

He swore he fell even harder for you in that moment.

Couple Things

He loves the way you always seem to understand him, even when he struggles to express himself. He feels safe and warm around you, like he can finally breathe.  

The way you instinctively fix his hair or adjust his clothes, not because you care about how he looks, but because you care about him.

Loves how you always remind him to take care of himself when he gets too caught up in pleasing others.

Loves the way you whisper 'I love you' like it’s the easiest thing in the world

And you completely adore him as well.

At times he feels like he isn’t doing enough cause he’s so emotionally stunted but you get it.

You find his social awkward nature adorable.

He might have the miraculousness of the black cat but I believe he 100% gives golden retriever energy. Always there when you need him and super hyper.

He’s an incredibly good listener (cause he spent 80% of his life listening to orders from everyone around him) So if you ever need to vent he’ll be there.

He remembers EVERYTHING. Your favorite snacks, the songs that make you cry, the exact way you like your tea.

You love the fact that no matter how much he’s been through, he’s still so full of love.

Around Others

Plagg LOVES you. He complains that you’re “too nice” and “too good for this cheese-obsessed idiot,” but secretly, he appreciates the way you care for Adrien. Sometimes, he even cuddles up to you when Adrien is asleep.

Marinette adores you and Adrien together. She was one of the first to notice the way he lights up around you, and though it stings at first (her long-time crush and all), she quickly realizes that you make him genuinely happy and supports you 100%.

Nino is beyond relieved. He’s seen how much Adrien suppresses his emotions and is grateful that you’re someone who gets him. He also teases Adrien constantly about how soft he is around you.

Alya was suspicious at first but once she realized how deeply you care for him, she became your second biggest hype-women (Marinette is the first).

At school, people were initially surprised because how did this gentle person who’s been in school for like one month end up with ADRIEN???

But once they see how you interact together, the surprise fades cause it makes sense.

Lila HATES it. She tries to spread rumors that you’re using Adrien or that he’ll get bored of you. But every time she tries, Adrien shuts it down immediately.

The fangirls are devastated, but they can’t even hate you because you’re too sweet. A Lot of them start respecting you once they see how well you treat Adrien.

Luka knew before anyone else (adrien most definitely went to him for advice on how to confess to you)

[ct-multifandom]

Big day for annoying people (me)

The two new eps of ML were good? Like wow it’s been great so far except ep 3 was comparatively a flop imo. Werepapas was so, idk, enticing lore-wise but I don’t have much to say that other people haven’t except that they’re clearly NOT neglecting past plot points, making the tone too silly goofy all the time, nor retconning important stuff like some people worried they would. We have been FED. I’m sure Felix is involved in that ring bs somehow, but idk if his intentions are pure or not.

Warning for the only salty thing I’m gonna say on this post: I’m so tired of going into the fandom tag and seeing people whining about “bad writing” problems that literally never happened based entirely on their own incorrect predictions they made up to make themselves mad. Ugh anyway. This post is gonna be about small details I latched onto in Daddycop!

We got to see glimpses of Sabrina and Max’s rooms this ep! Max’s room looks like a Star Trek spaceship but the books on his bookshelf are kinda giving those reference books at the library of like, archived government documents or research papers iykwim whereas the books in Alya’s room look like manga. An interesting thing I noticed in Sabrina’s room is that she has a line of framed certificates on the wall, maybe academic awards or something similar

Did they ever say if Markov can see Kaalki or not? I’m sure they will eventually but idk which option I like better. It’d be cute if they were friends but it’d be pretty funny if he had to watch Max talk to the secret floating ghost who lives with them now and not question it

List of things Sabrina dumps in the trash: yellow nail polish, the brooch Chloe gifted to her/bribed her with in season 1, the cat ear headband from her Chat Noir cosplay when she and Chloe were roleplaying as him and Ladybug in season 3, a beret, maybe the one Chloe tried to bribe her with in s1, Chloe-style sunglasses, a Queen Bee doll, a photo of them together in the old animation, and a mug/tumbler? Maybe a gift from her as well idk maybe they’re selling Queen Bee-themed Stanley cups over there.

:((((( Aw Sabrina nooo I hate seeing her so sad and the way she lied to her dad so he would think she’s happy and has friends

I think this might be the first time the show referred to Fire Captain Hessenpy by name?

Marinette’s scooter has the T+S logo on it and a sticker that says Boulangerie Paris

Between eps 2 and 4 I’m getting the sense that Sabrina uses Miss Hound as an escape kinda like CN where she feels like she can become instantly likeable, trustworthy, helpful, and useful through the inherent credibility of being a superhero. She has anonymity, can sort of start over on a blank slate, and is automatically implied to be a good person since Ladybug entrusted her. I’m guessing we’re gonna see more of that blank slate idea with other characters and what they’ll do with it, but it’s telling that Sabrina decides to transform to resolve people’s minor inconveniences, especially when she’s feeling bad about herself. It’s like she’s proving a point to herself but also giving herself something productive to do.

The GIRLS Ahhhhh let’s go lesbians

Noticing a clear absence of Alix. Ik the special implied she has to keep hiding in the burrow from Lila but she’s all normal-looking in the intro and they can’t shelve her forever. I feel like something is gonna change to make her be able to return.

^^^ ALSO she’s the only hero with zero design updates and my theory is that the purpose of that is so she can do contrived time nonsense like going back to earlier seasons and going forward without contradicting anything or revealing which time period she’s actually from

I gotta say the side character writing has progressively been better and better throughout the show. Atp they really feel like actual people with their own opinions and motivations. In the early days they felt more like lovable NPCs who talked occasionally but now they’re real characters? With free will? I feel like I just watched Pinocchio get turned into a real boy

The pro-healthy eating censorship/propaganda/whatever in this show is so funny omg. Juleka: I brought fruit tea Mylene: wow that’s so much better than the sugary soda we had last time LMAO. To balance out Rose holding a bag of popcorn they gave Zoe two burlap sacks full of oranges which tbf I’d rather snack on those during a movie than popcorn but still. I saw a vid recently about gravity falls adding random bowls of fruit next to characters eating junk food because they were getting flagged as promoting unhealthy habits. I keep thinking about that moment in Ikari Gozen when Mari asks Kagami out for “juice” when any normal teen would’ve said “coffee” like nope no caffeine in my good Christian miraculous

Love Kagami being a pretentious film nerd go hang out with Nino

RED ALERT YOU GUYS Mylene has an inclusive pride flag pin on her overall strap. Like the rainbow flag with the trans triangle and the black stripe. It’s not subtle or anything it’s just right there wow. Damn

The pin above it reminds me of Timebreaker’s logo. I wonder what some of these pins mean

Ok last season they seem to have established that Sabrina became friends with Marc and Nathaniel who were both explicit Sabrina Supporters since their akuma episodes, so it feels sort of convenient that they were written out of the narrative for this ep. I do see the whole Girl Squad thing and how she feels excluded when all the girls in the group hang out together without her, doing traditional girl things like movie night sleepovers, so I do think it’s totally valid. Her having absolutely zero friends is hyperbolized though.

On that note I have to wonder if the school might have several lunch periods because none of the male characters expect Adrien and Nino were there. Or maybe they just stage the scene with whoever is convenient. They might have flexible lunch schedules and all the other characters are off somewhere else.

Rose mentioned a girl whose name I didn’t recognize and after rewinding i can’t tell what she said. Aglie? New character? Maybe she’s that black girl with pink hair who was sitting with Adrien, Nino, and Sublime at lunch

KAGAMI AND ONDINE ARE CANONICALLY FRIENDS this is like the Superbowl for me. I’m so excited for Sleeping/Princess Syren I need to see her.

God the girls were so messy in that scene where they didn’t want to invite Sabrina lol I kinda love it I can’t even be mad

Zoe, your lab safety is atrocious. Not only are you taking your goggles off while still in the lab, but then you *leave the room* and *touch someone* with your gloves still on?! Diabolical. What are they even doing, soldering computer chips?

Marinette when I catch you Marinette

Roger’s relationship with Sabrina is actually so cute even though he’s kinda misguided as a person GOD when he’s on his way to console his crying daughter and Lila enters his mind space and he’s cradling his arms like he’s clearly seeing her as his baby 🥺 nobody talk to me

Alexa play I bet on losing dogs by mitski. Myyyy baby my baby…

We got a glimpse of the baddest bitch in Paris Xavier Ramier I’m so happy

Sabrina shapeshifted her necklace into a brooch. Huh. I guess you can just do that

The power of believing in herself allowed her to yassify her own character design into a cuter and more fashionable superhero! This is basically just like real life if you think about it

Her ball has a doggy nose on it awww

Lila telling Roger to turn around so she could back him up and fire the anti akuma was badass okay

I’m not sold on the loud ass makeup they have a lot of the characters wearing so I’m glad we got to see the girls with clean faces at the end there. Wow they look so normal! I’m also loving the pajama designs. I had to pause and look at all of them.

Zoe had to stop and hit Sabrina with that rizz stare to make sure Sabrina wouldn’t be coming up with any platonic explanations for her behavior

I never thought I’d say these words, but I think a love triangle between Sabrina, Zoe, and Max would be fun. Imagine Zoe is into Sabrina, Sabrina isn’t exactly catching the hint and sees Zoe as a really nice friend, Sabrina kinda likes Max, and Max is like damn these bitches gay. Good for them.

The end card is so baby omg

I TOLD YOU GUYS Sabrina was gonna get a makeover and people were like uH No iTs JUsT An aNimATioN eRroR oF a ScRApPEd DeSiGn girl why the hell would they leave a scrapped design in the intro, and there’s no way they would accidentally not notice that much less repeat it

Mark my words white haired Caprikid is not an error either he’s real and he’s gonna collect all the chaos emeralds to get that way

A new diabolical twink has hit the scene. Ray’s pompous ass immediately reminded me of Preminger from Barbie. He looks like he rides horses. Like he tells people he’s into sports but then you find out the sport is just horse riding. Immediately invested. Who is this diva. I want him to get hit by a bus.

Ooooo Zoe was up to some Delinquent Shit in America this is so juicy. I looove when suspiciously perfect characters get revealed to be secretly fucked up that’s the best. I’ve always loved those types of headcanons, that she was expelled from her last school and moved to a different country all of a sudden for her mom’s PR. If you think about it, that’s exactly what happened to Chloe damn. Daughter commits PR disaster, do zero parenting about it, relocate daughter far away to start over with little consequence! I wanna see some parallels. I feel like she made it sound like she moved because she was getting bullied at her old school, but what if that was a lie, or at least a partial lie? You know shit’s serious when the exposition is in the post-post-endcard scene

The pacing of these episodes has been satisfying compared to previous seasons, especially 5. They aren’t trying to shove too much in, but there’s still a lot happening and fiiiinally a nice mix of plot and fighting. I was getting irritated by how rushed a lot of the fights were last season like might as well just not have them at all

Late edit: back to the pajamas because I forgot to analyze them, I have noticed that Juleka’s pants have bats on them :) frickin bats. They also have like… a crescent moon with something sitting on it? idk what that is. It’s like a pattern of cute spooky Halloween imagery. But the pants and her black lace tank top versus Rose’s sparkly pink unicorn onesie is adorb.

Zoe has a yellow tank and seems to be wearing her usual leggings under running shorts um? Outside clothes in bed? And her pink slides give the whole thing a sans undertale vibe. Oh what the fuck why do the feet of her tights have individual toes lmao. The horror. I hate it.

I can’t tell what Mylene is wearing except a black t-shirt that might have something white on it. OMG EDIT 2 ITS IVAN’S T-SHIRT FROM HIS OLD DESIGN YOU GUYS SHES WEARING HER BF’S OLD BAND TEE AS PAJAMAS. This is headline news myvan nation. She has maybe pink shorts and her slippers look like Uggs.

Kagami’s silk pjs look luxurious. I love how her clothes this season went from just preppy to being very obviously EXPENSIVE like she’s blending in with the gang but she’s still clearly rich af.

Sabrina’s pjs are a classic set with her usual argyle pattern on them. 10/10 would give her a warm glass of milk and read her a bedtime story. I wonder what she needs eye drops for because she told Roger she needs to pack them.

Excited to see more yay! I love the little details. It’s kinda a bummer that Sabrina spent most of her hero focus ep sobbing but we ball (see what I did there) and the end was so cutesy. So excited to probably watch episode 11 before episode 6

[thequietkid-moonie]

Can you do Adrien agreste x y/n who is a childhood friend romantic headcanons?

Childhood friend to loves w/ Adrien Agreste

[ HEADCANONS ] [ Miraculous Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir ]

Hehe ~ I like this prompt quite a lot, I just find it pretty cute 🤭 thanks for requesting it! Hope you like it

Want to know something interesting? My bestie is living her own childhood friends to lovers in real life (me envy)

To be friends with Adrien since he was a child it has to be because your family is influential or part of the fashion world, or even has to have a really good relationship with his own, otherwise Gabriel won't allow you to be friend of his son (unless is while Emily is still alive since she is more willing to let you two be friends)

Is probably that you were friends with Cloe too, however she will either don't like you much or think really high of you and think you are above everyone else (like she does with Adrien)

Adrien will appreciate a lot if you treat him as just a friend and not as the son of a famous fashion designer and, later, a model (and, actually, that is when his feelings for you start to grow), he likes just being your friend, for him it doesn't matter much if you are more the shy or introvert type, or if you are more extrovert and energetic he will be more than happy to spend time with you and, at the end, is more likely that he just get used to your own rhythm

As he grows up Adrien tries to stay with you and Cloe as much as posible since you two are his only friends, however once his feelings start to grow as an innocent crush he will just mistook them as enjoying a lot your company and tries to be even more close to you (and it could easily go unnoticed for you two being friends for so long)

Is probably that Emily would notice but decided to don't say anything and just cheerish for you two. Is also probably that Natalie notice his growing feelings for you too, but she doesn't say anything about it neither, mostly because she isn't sure about what to do in that case

As time pass his desire to go to school grows more, one of the reasons is also because he wants to be able to go to school with you (specially if you tell him stories about what you and/or your classmates have done or what you do in school, even if for you is boring for him it isn't). Adrien wants to go to the same school as you and constantly express that to you but is probably that he won't tell you when he finally tries to sneak to go to school since it could be a good surprised (although his excitement won't allow him to hide it for too long)

Once in school he is pretty excited for everything and to make new friend and yet he can't help but be a little clingy with you (as long as you allow him to)

After a while of being in the school and with his new friends it could become more obvious his interest on you, and depending in how you are (how affectionate or just by how comfortable you are around him) people could even start thinking that there is something between you two. Nino, being his closest friend, will probably the one bringing the topic, asking him to already spit it out and say if you two are together or not (followed by Alya and all the rest of his friends if they heard), Adrien insist that there is nothing between you two since in his mind is actually like that, maybe knowing that your friendship is really stronge but he thinks is because is for how long you two had been friends

After that, and since Adrien don't seem to fully identify his feelings, his friends will make their personal goal to push you two together (what doesn't seem too difficult according to them), by trying to help him understand his true feelings and trying to put you two together

From his part, once Adrien finally undestand and accept his feelings he will try to win your heart in the right way, he won't asume that you feel the same and will never dare to force his feeling on you, so, for him, the only right thing to do is court you and try to win your heart (even if his friends insist that you feel the same). He tries to be romantic and affectionate (even if he was already affectionate now it goes with a new meaning)

At the end, for him it doesn't matter much who confess to who, what matter is that you reciprocate his feelings and being able to be in a relationship with you make him feel like when he was a child, like when you used to play together and forgeting about the rest of the world, he feel incredibly happy

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Wait, so apparently you can just train to learn how to not transform back after 5 min? It has nothing to do with personal growth or age? That sort of cheapens the whole process LB and CN went thru in S5 to unlock their “adult powers”

For those who are done with canon, anon is referencing the start of Revelator which sees all the new heroes earn "adult" status via a generic pep talk:

(Ladybug and Cat Noir watch their allies attempt to stop detransforming. Each one of them is in their own one side open cubicle) Ladybug: You can stop transforming back. Cat Noir: There's always room to evolve. Ladybug: Each one of you has already accomplished so much. Together we foiled so many threats Cat Noir: You'd be able to resist the temptation of evil. Ladybug: I entrusted you with your miraculous because I know you're good people. You're heroes!

This is incredibly lackluster, but to be fair, Ladybug and Chat Noir's "maturation" was also just them willing themselves into "adulthood" via a pep talk. They didn't go through some deep, personal journey. They just decided they didn't want to detransform anymore and the miraculous said, "Sure thing! Why not?" Seriously think about the following and see if you can think of a reason why this scene needed to wait until season five. Add far as I'm concerned, you could put this in season one and it would feel just as valid:

(Some people get encapsulated, but some fight back against the robots by pointing one of them at the other robots) Ladybug: Cat Noir, we have to do like them! We have to keep fighting! Cat Noir: They're not giving up, and we're not giving up! Ladybug: We won't de-transform back! Ever again! Cat Noir: Never again! (And with their efforts finally paying off, as Ladybug and Cat Noir regain both their powers back and transform back into their superhero identities, as well as fully charging their Miraculous)

I'd hardly call this a moment of maturity and personal growth. Nothing about this episode made them feel like they'd become better people. They didn't even learn a new lesson here! The civilians rising up was used for inspiration back in the season two final! Would the adult pep-talk have worked then if they'd thought to do it? All signs point to yes! I read this scene and think, "oh, right, this wasn't a careful and beautifully crafted character beat. This was random crap you threw in because you wanted Ladybug to have infinite lucky charms in the season five final so you just randomly upgraded her here."

I can't even think of a simple fix for this episode outside of reworking it to have something to do with showing sympathy for Chloe. Like maybe Marinette and Adrien are blaming Chloe for everything that's happening, but come to see her as a victim of Gabriel's plan and blame him instead. That's a sign of maturity so they upgrade.

I don't love that path since it doesn't feel tailored to their characters, but at least it's something! If you wanted to do this right, then season five needed to pick a major flaw or issue for Marinette and Adrien to overcome. Ideally they'd each have a unique character arc around the chosen topic(s) and earn their adult status in their own unique moment.

For example, it would make way more sense if Adrien got his upgrade after he stood up to his father in Representation, the episode directly after the one where Ladybug and Chat Noir upgrade to "adult" status. I'd rework this dialogue to be a lot more punchy:

Nightormentor: I will free you from your nightmares once I've found my son and your friend! Cat Noir: You really can't be trusted. What kind of father are you? (charges in) Nightormentor: Voyage! (escapes through a portal)

After this moment, Chat Noir upgrades, then goes to fight his father in earnest. It's not the best fix since this is:

Adrien confronting his father without Gabriel knowing that's what's happening

Adrien thinking he's dealing with a brainwashed version of Gabriel not fully-aware-and-in-control-of-his-words/actions Gabriel

The very next episode sees Adrien give into his father's control, severely undermining this moment (see my power of love rant if you want some nuance around that statement)

But at least this fix is something that feels unique to Adrien and fits the general themes of his character. The scene we get in canon could apply to any of the heroes which is why the rest of the team gets basically the exact same scene just slightly less dramatic.

If season five had actually let Marinette and Adrien earn their upgrades, then season six could have taken a page from shows like Winx and focused on the individual miraculers earning their upgrades, too. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, I believe that most seasons of Winx saw the characters get a new power and earning that new power was one of the main ways the writers padded out the run time. Every one of the main characters got an episode focused on them earning their newest power-up. It wasn't anything amazing, but it did flesh out their characters a bit, giving each of them a moment to shine.

[ilikekidsshows]

I keep seeing people saying Adrien disregards Ladybug’s boundaries and if we call Marinette a stalker, then we have to call him a harasser too. What do you think?

---

I'm not gonna let people with the opposite priorities to mine tell me what I should be doing, but, like. Let's pretend this request is done in good faith for a moment, that the Marinette stans posting stuff like that are just asking for what they think is fair play instead of this kind of thing being a distraction from the issues being discussed.

No. I don't think we need to discuss the harassment with the stalking if we're discussing the show past the first three seasons, because these things stopped being equal with the retool, and before the retool I did, in fact, treat them equally by ignoring them both. I kept ignoring the stalking for most of the retool too. I ignored Marinette ignoring Adrien's boundaries as she dug into his personal business, as she tried to control who he spends his time with, as she couldn't stand being “just” his friend until it all led to her picking his abuser over him.

Surprise! It's about the abuse apologia! That shouldn't be a surprise, I say it a lot, but I don't say it on every line on every post so some people miss it. Do I need to type “the stalking that’s a part of a larger pattern of dehumanizing Adrien that led to the abuse apologia” every time I mention the stalking? Maybe then people would get the hint.

Because that's the problem with the stalking: it's actually a symptom of a larger problem in the show. The show constantly and consistently dehumanizes Adrien, most often through Marinette. Marinette drooling over his pictures and her being unable to say more than that he's “pretty” to tell us why she likes him is presented as true love. She treats him very similarly to the mob mindlessly chasing him around in ‘Gorizilla’ so it blurrs whether or not the way he gets mobbed is wrong or not. Marinette's love for Adrien is depicted through her not caring about what he's thinking or feeling, but trying to trick him into being with her and stopping him from being with others like he can't have his own opinion on that. When we get to the abuse apologia at the end of season 5, many Marinette fans first defended it with how in character it was, like that made the situation better, instead of making everything she's done in the series up until then worse.

The retool retroactively makes the stalking lead up to the abuse apologia, because it's part of a pattern of dehumanizing Adrien. Because the writers think dehumanizing Adrien is okay because he's the “love interest”.

So, in order to treat Cat Noir harassing Ladybug with the same severity, we need

a consistent and constant pattern of behavior where Catdrien ignores Maribug's boundaries in different ways that are presented either completely uncritically or very vaguely critically 

it all to lead up to a scene of Catdrien ignoring Maribug's boundaries in a way that's unforgivable and ruins the entire relationship retroactively while they stay together and pretend everything is fine

Considering how the canon Adrinette is specifically written so that Adrien respects Marinette’s boundaries so much she gets to decide everything that happens in the relationship, I highly doubt that's gonna happen. So, no. I won't be discussing the harasser allegations unless I’m, like, gonna do a post specifically about how bad this romance show is at romance.

Also, I’m gonna be honest: I look at these whataboutisms that Marinette stans throw around and all I see are distractions. They make it sound like a genuine question, but instead it's actually just making people who want to criticize Marinette jump through arbitrary hoops before they can be “taken seriously”. It's another thing from Astruc’s playbook, where he says only people who’ve also made a successful TV show can call his show hot garbage. I have never seen an Adrien salt blog get told: “you should criticize Marinette too to keep things balanced or you're a hypocrite.”

[rjdurr]

THE RULER IS BY FAR MY FAVRIOTE EPISODE!

I have been a Marcaniel shipper since 02x20 (on netflix) Reverser.

I never thought that they would become an actual canon ship, i thought id have to focus on the fandom for them... BUT NO!

Not only did the animation get better, I GOT A FULL EPISODE FOCUSED ON MY BOYS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP; (iDK how they are only in a situationship... but its ok... they will be together soon enough.)

Nathaniel having horrible parents was something i predicted.... im so impressed with myself...

AND THE REVEAL?! OP! IT WAS THE BEST REVEAL SO FAR....

unlike Ladybug and cat noir, Them knowing each others identities isnt going to be as a big of a problem... its gonna probably be a nino x alya situation with Mari being upset...

But idk how she exspects the holders to hide their identities from each other (The couples)

Unlike her; NO One should know shes ladybug (even tho Alya, Alix and Luka Do) and no one can know that Adrien is cat noir (Only Alix knows)

I know so many people wanted it to be Adrien and Marinette...

BUT THERE ARE 2 EPISODES THAT SHOW YOU WHY THEY CANT YET.

Even tho its not gabriel, we have Lila..

and it would be Mari akumatized instead of Adrien.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BACK TO MARCANIEL

Marc and Nathaniel now know about each other, so they can be more like Alya and Nino and team up, and knowing each other will help. (Unlike Mari and Adrien, they havent been working together as long) Plus no needed love square.

I think this will be usefull knowlage in Marc's episode as well, where maybe Ladybug finds out that They told each other

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic Recs for Completed Fics 70K+ Words

13 fics here in all! 8 of them are even above 100K! That's some impressive dedication.

All of these fics will be in my Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2024 Collection, and if you like that, please consider checking out my other collections, Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2023, Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics Of 2022, and Keyseeker's Choices For Best Completed Miraculous Fics - Misc. Years.

---

Open My Eyes by @buggachat

Adrien smiles as he eats breakfast with Nathalie, smiles as he walks through the halls of his new lycée, smiles as people stop him on the street and tell him time and time again what a "hero" his father was. (Adrien wishes he could've been a hero, too. He should've been. Maybe then his father would still be alive.) (But he's surviving. Everyone may be treating him as though he were made of glass, but he can still go through the motions, he can prove them wrong, he can still smile.) “And you’re… happy,” Marinette spoke carefully, a nervous tilt to her voice, “... right?” (Adrien has some things to find out.)

If you want to see Adrien's response to finding out - well, everything - then this might be the fic for you! He's breaking down pretty badly even with just being an orphan now, so finding out all the awful truths? It's a lot. If you want to see some major emotional reactions and blow-ups, this is the fic for you! Though of course Adrien's put back together at the end as well, buggachat isn't the sort to just leave Adrien to flail without support for long or to have Adrien's and Marinette's relationship remain super strained.

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The Course of True Love by @nedjsmlfavs

Dark Cupid haunts Marinette. Do the events of that fateful day mean that Adrien isn’t her True Love? With a little help from Chat Noir - who has absolutely no personal stakes in this matter - she’s sure to find out. She’ll also learn the unfortunate truth: the course of true love never did run smooth.

So this is adorable, there's some nice Ladrien dating in here! Though also some angst, Chat Blanc still takes place in this storyline, as does a Hawkmoth takedown, and all the angst and trauma that goes with those things. But with Marinette and Adrien together, the two of them can handle anything.

---

Finding A Way by @uptoolateart

Collège is nearly over! And what better way to celebrate than a class trip to Costa Rica? But with only a month left to tell Adrien she loves him, Marinette is feeling the pressure. Then – an accident at sea leaves them stranded together on a tropical island…alone. Or are they? Because those footprints in the sand don’t resemble any bird they’ve seen before. And what’s that roaring sound coming from the jungle? ‘Adrien…where ARE we??’ ***** A Jurassic Park / Camp Cretaceous AU that’s been kicking around in my head for over a year

I love the sense of danger permeating this fic, it really feels like Adrien and Marinette are stranded on Jurassic Park (well it's called something else in order to integrate it better into the ML universe, but it operates like Jurassic Park). They're making the best of it though, doing their best to survive - and along the way, getting closer together.

I like that it's not JUST them though, Gabriel and Nathalie find out where they ended up pretty early on and go to rescue them, with Alya and Nino stowing away. It was cool to see that side of things as well.

Oh yeah, this fic is rated M for violence and gore. It's because dinosaurs eat people alive and leave their body parts everywhere. If you can handle the Jurassic Park movie (or presumably the book the movie was based on, but I haven't read that), then you should be just fine.

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Symbiotic Whiskers by B1ackout

Adrien Agreste aka Cat Noir was given the cat ring miraculous to help Ladybug in protecting Paris. But something had found him first, a silent companion that granted him strength and power he never knew existed. Bonded with a symbiote, Cat Noir faces Paris alongside Ladybug without even knowing that someone left a magical ring in his room. (Canon Divergence)

This is a phenomenal fic that deserves more attention. It's kind of funny how he just goes "hey I've got superpowers, she says that the thing we have that gives superpowers is called the Black Cat Miraculous and that the being that gives them is called a kwami, obviously that must be what I have!" though that gets stretched more and more as Adrien's experiences with the symbiote contradict what he's heard about how kwamis work, and Tikki gets increasingly worried about "Plagg's" weird behavior. It's a dark, somewhat brutal fic (people die permanently, and they're not always villains), and it's absolutely worth a read, this is an excellent crossover!

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Perfectly Platonic (Unless...) by @frostedpuffs

After accidentally revealing their identities in less than ideal circumstances, Adrien and Marinette must navigate their newfound relationship as both partners and friends. Becoming best friends was a quick process, but when romantic feelings begin to bleed into what's supposed to be a platonic connection, their friendship starts to change in more ways than one. Surely it can't be that hard to hide their feelings from their best friend? (A post-reveal, pre-relationship fic full of romantic crushes, best friend shenanigans, and a whole lot of dumbassery.)

If you just want a straight-up romance slowburn with these two just somehow being convinced their relationship is platonic (or that the other person wants it to be platonic at least), you'll find little better to scratch that itch than "Perfectly Platonic (Unless...)". It's a little smutty and definitely earns its M rating because of that. If you want mutual pining, there's a ton of that here!

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Dreaming Wide Awake by @uptoolateart

Gabriel died a hero. He sacrificed himself in the final battle against Monarch. Or so Adrien's been told. At least he has his mother there to help him through the grief. So what is this niggling feeling that this isn't how the story was meant to go? And why does he keep having flashes of another world that lies just beneath their own? --------- A follow-up to the Season 5 finale because I am inexpressibly disappointed by what happened in Re-Creation.

So if you wanted an exploration of what could happen post-season 5 and a fix-it for that season's finale, I highly recommend checking out this fic. I love how it explores Adrien's deteriorating mental state over time, how much he's struggling with what he's heard about his father and reconciling that with the abuse he's gone through at the man's hands. And then there's "Cerise" showing up, who rubs him the wrong way for reasons he can't fully lexplain, even to himself...

Pay attention to the title, it's not just there for flavor, it means something.

This fic is rated Mature, but I have no clue why. There's no sexual content and there's pretty minor amounts of violence or gore. I guess Adrien's not in the best place mentally, but it's nothing worthy of an M rating.

---

Boulangerella by @aidanchaser

Once upon a time, magic was wild. The two princes of the kingdom have been tasked with choosing their brides by the end of their 21st birthday celebrations. Crown Prince Adrien Agreste will have to choose between a woman who can protect his kingdom, a woman offering the power to wake his sleeping mother, and the woman he has loved and admired for the past year. Then there's also the seamstress that he is suddenly falling for. By the time he realizes he doesn't have the power to choose at all, it may be too late.

I love a good fairy tale AU, and this is no exception. Aidanchaser started writing it before Season 5 came out, so it's wrong about some things. Most notably, Felix's posthumous father was a good and decent person here, and one of the twin rings is Felix's Amok while the other one is Adrien's Amok, instead of both of them being Adrien's Amok.

This was a well-crafted tale, with kwamis operating as Fae: they can give power, but only if the wielder gives something up to pay for it. For temporary usage of their power, it can be something small and innocuous, such as giving Plagg cheese in exchange for his help. More expansive uses of their power requires greater sacrifices however, even sacrificing more nebulous things such as memories or hope.

The kingdom's currently being terrorized by this unknown villain, Hawk Moth, as in the show. Ladybug and Chat Noir emerge to battle him, but for some reason (*cough, cough*), King Gabriel isn't fond of the superheroes and wants them captured.

Gabriel isn't the only threat out there, Lila's skulking around, hinting that she knows how to wake up Emilie from her mysterious illness, if only Adrien marries her. And she's not about to take no for an answer.

If you've been wanting a fairy tale/fantasy Miraculous AU, I recommend giving Boulangerella a shot!

---

If I hold you too close by @bbutterflies

Paris didn’t come to a screeching halt for akumas anymore. They were so commonplace, so frequent, no one stopped their lives unless they were in danger. They trusted the heroes to fix everything if something did go wrong, save them if they got hurt. Adrien was still fighting the urge to find Plagg and go running into battle. Plagg wasn’t here, though. --- Post-season 5 where Adrien got sent to London sooner and gave up his Miraculous to keep Paris safe.

If you know this author, then you've probably already guessed that this is an Adrino fic (seriously if you like Adrino, check out bbutterflies fics, though honestly if you ARE an Adrino fan, you probably already have).

So in this scenario, Adrien was sent to London and didn't get to return, so he gave Plagg the ring so he could find another Holder. In this case, Nino. After a few years, once he's an adult, Adrien manages to come back from London, but he's in ROUGH shape. He drinks a lot, he has a reputation for partying hard and causing disruptions, and is really depressed and hates himself, and hates Felinoir (Nino's Black Cat form) even more, for having what he lost.

But even while Adrien's pushing everyone away to protect himself, his old friends refuse to give up on him, even though he's given up on himself.

While Adrien's problems are the primary focus of the fic, they're not the entire focus. Nino gets a POV, and he has personal issues and insecurities of his own. He has trouble holding down relationships, he doesn't have a lot of close friends these days, and he's struggling to keep up in school with all the akumas he's had to fight. He and Ladybug are fine coworkers, but they aren't much more than that - they aren't friends like Chat Noir and Ladybug were.

Oh, also, Nino's a transman. That's also caused some issues in making and keeping friends.

It's a beautiful story of one person hitting rock-bottom and gradually being pulled back out of it again, until they can stand on their own and push themselves up the rest of the way, and of a friend who discovers their childhood best friend (and crush) has changed enormously since they last saw them, and not in good ways - only to find that their friend is, at their core, still there. They just need help seeing it themselves.

---

A Small but Stubborn Fire by @cardiac-agreste

What if you were the parent of a teenage superhero, but didn't know they were? All you know is the nightmares, the panic attacks, and the bruises. She's missing school, she's disappearing on you, and she's not telling you anything. So you assume the worst: Assault. Depression. A permanent rift in the family. And what do you do when you realize you weren't thinking dark enough? Because your fourteen-year old daughter is the hero who flirts with death on the nightly news. -- Come inside and read about one mother's struggles to raise her daughter in a dangerous world while avoiding the mistakes her own mother made with her.

This is a more serious take on the consequences of Hawk Moth's war on Paris, with actual bloody, painful deaths as a consequence of many akumas, and Parisians developing PTSD because of what they've gone through. Ladybug can fix all the physical scars, but not the mental ones, including her own.

I love the focus on Sabine here. She's not just presented as being a mom - though of course that IS an important role she has. But she's explored as a character in her own right, one with a lot of emotional baggage as a result of her abusive mother, and trying to not fall into her mistakes, but sometimes doing so anyway out of fear for Marinette's safety. She's a really fleshed out, humanly flawed character, sometimes admitting that she would do something selfish if it means protecting the people she cares most about, like her daughter, even if its at others expense. She grows and changes a lot throughout the course of the story, her perspective on many matters changing multiple times as a result of getting new information or seeing the consequences of her previous approaches, and adjusting as a result.

If you want a fic that more realistically explores the dark consequences of Miraculous's setting, that fleshes out Sabine, or just develops a character in a complex way, then I highly recommend you check "A Small but Stubborn Fire" out!

---

Made Miracles series by InkyIbis

A rewrite of Miraculous Ladybug (specifically with the miraculouses lore) with endgame Adrino! It mostly builds off the beginning canon and loosely off the later seasons with a lot more consequences than what the show has for when a magical terrorist shows up out of the blue. In that way, each book is considered like a season with the chapters being the episodes.

First fic in the series: Awaken

The previously white butterfly, now oozing black and purple as a conduit of the butterfly miraculous powers, flutters softly within the silvered-gloved hand. It sits there for a long time. "Go, my akuma," The soft sigh pushes the butterfly, the akuma, out towards the despair of a love not returned. The same ache within his chest. On a level so great that he's willing to sacrifice the city to mend it. It's okay if he's the villain for now. He'll force the miraculous of creation and destruction to be revealed, and once he gets his hands on them, none of this pain, none of his loss, will ever happen.

I put the first fic on my reclist for 2023, and now that the series is completed, I'm putting the whole thing on my reclist for 2024. If you want a rewrite of the series that gives Adrien top-billing, evens out Ladybug's and Chat Noir's power dynamic, is darker, and has Adrino as the main ship, then this series should be right up your alley.

---

To Catch A Thief by @jheqiawrites

As a newly minted agent of INTERPOL, Marinette Dupain-Cheng scores the catch of a lifetime - nabbing the infamous thief and con artist Cat Noir. However, she's the only one who knows that he let her catch him. Soon her life turned upside down by a handsome, not quite reformed, thief who says she is the only person he trusts and they have bigger fish to fry: a secret criminal organization called AKUMA. Together, they solve cases and follow the illusive whispers about a man calling himself Monarch who never leaves a trace. What all is Cat Noir hiding? Will they expose the criminal underworld to the searing light of justice? And will Marinette fall for the man behind the masks?

This fic is inspired by a tv show called "White Collar", about a criminal informant and his handler solving cases. It does not follow the plotlines of that show, however, just the basic concept. While this is a No Powers AU, so there's now superpowers, the kwamis are human, etc, characters' personalities are still pretty intact.

Anyway, it's a lot of fun! I loved seeing Adrien's and Marinette's relationship develop, and the bureau slowly growing to like and trust Adrien, to want him to be safe and happy and to help him with his problems (it helps that his problems tend to be their problems as well, AKUMA doesn't like Chat Noir much.)

---

A Breach In The Brooch by @piromina

Ladybug and Chat Noir are the heroes of Paris. Hawkmoth is Chat Noir's father. Chat Noir is aware of this. Hawkmoth is not.

So this is an interesting spin on the classic "Gabriel recruits Adrien early on to help him" plotline. Mostly because Adrien is still Chat Noir in this AND still helping Ladybug as a superhero - Gabriel has no clue about his secret identity.

Plagg, unsurprisingly, isn't thrilled about Adrien refusing to tell Ladybug what he knows about Hawkmoth's identity, and that Adrien keeps following Gabriel's orders, even when he knows they're wrong. Though he figures out before Adrien does that Adrien's compulsion to follow his father's orders isn't just a psychological thing...

I really love Plagg in this especially, he's the MVP. He knows what it's like to be compelled to do or not to do certain things, so he's good at comforting Adrien over it and at finding loopholes for him.

---

Withered Wings by @11jj11

Nino wasn’t sure if anyone had ever willingly took the akuma butterfly before him, but with his mind completely open to this apparent son of Hawk Moth he knew that he couldn’t turn him away. Not someone that was so afraid, not someone who would be left at the mercy of Hawk Moth.

This fic is amazing! Just... some absolutely stellar Adrino, with some nice Alyanette on the side, AND it's one of the best Enemies AU (well, sort of. Adrien's on Hawkmoth's side, but Nino isn't, exactly), in the fandom! I love how much we get of Nino's perspective, his determination to save this boy who's been thrown into these battles, who clearly doesn't want to hurt people but is compelled to do so, while balancing it with trying to prevent damage to anyone else as well. He has to be the one to look after Adrien, because no one else will do so.

I also love the focus Alya gets here, as Marinette's partner. She does an amazing job in the role, with every Miraculous she gets, even though she isn't a perfect wielder.

That's something else, I like the bits of worldbuilding this adds in, with people who fully embody the aspect a kwami represents being able to transform more fully. That does not mean, however, that an imperfect match is a bad thing, the kwami and wielder can still be very strong together and get along well, even if they don't perfectly align.

I adore how Nino had to balance his roles in this, helping Adrien without hurting others, even fighting back against the heroes as needed, as much as he didn't want to. And how understanding people were when they found out the full story of what was going on. It's a truly fantastic story that anyone who likes Enemies AU, Adrino, or just want to read a good Miraculous fic should check out.

I do want to warn that Gabriel and Nathalie are significantly OOC in this. Gabriel's even more abusive and colder than he is in canon, and Nathalie is WAY worse. This fic started before season 5, so it wasn't known what Nathalie's red line would be. As a result, Adrien's more downtrodden than he is in canon, since the consequences of disobedience are worse than being cut off from friends, or even being made to sit in a blank white room indefinitely.

[generalluxun]

The Obliteration of Self

Adrien Agreste is a boy going through it right now. For years of his life he was simply what his parents wanted. What made his mother smile was his only desire. What made his father nod was his greatest achievement.

Then his mother stopped smiling. She stopped doing anything. She was gone. His father didn't smile, his father didn't nod. What was Adrien without these things?

He ran off to school, taking with him all the things that had made his parents smile and nod. School was confusing though. There were so many people, pleasing them all was hard! It turned out the person who he knew from childhood was hated here, so how did he please her AND those who didn't like her? and... now she hates him too? Why? How? Is he broken?

The Miraculous shows up, and now he can be something new, something different. He finds a partner who needs support and gives it. He finds a partner who needs to laugh and he is her clown. She smiles at him. He isn't broken.

Then the ring is stolen! He can't be the person who makes Ladybug smile. He's let her down. She doesn't say it. She says she is the one worried about him, but he can see sadness when she doesn't think he is looking.

He is broken again.

Another chance! Ladybug gives him the snake, he can get the cat back, he can *make it right again!*

He goes after the new holder of the cat, the thief who stole it, his childhood friend, and she trounces him for loop after loop. He fails, he fails, he fails. He tries until reality itself frays under the strain. He loses. He falls.

He gives the snake to Nino. Nino helps Ladybug. They defeat the akuma. Even the cat holder helps.

Adrien can't help.

He's broken.

A little fox spirit comes to him on its own. Trixx is his name. Trixx offers a bargain and a new path. It feels weird, it feels wrong, but Adrien listens. He listens and something goes right for the first time.

He is broken, but maybe he can be put back together better?

Adrien's arc involves his self-identity. As both Adrien Agreste and Cat Noir he was defined externally, by the needs of others. Unlike canon Adrien who has time to grow organically into a new shape. This Adrien is striped of the chance early on(S1) and that loss sends him into a panic.

When he gets a second chance with the snake, he wastes it bashing his head into an unwinnable scenario. He is so desperate to reclaim his lost identity that he pushes, fumbles, and fails.

When Trixx finds him he is willing to do anything, but Trixx doesn't offer a quick fix. He will show Adrien an indirect way to get what he wants. In that slow burn Adrien will have to come to terms with having no identity to call his own. He will have to find a way to build up who he is, not what people want.

Outfox, Adrien's Fox!identity reflects this. Outfox is not him. Outfox is not her. Outfox is Outfox, and no one is sure quite who that is. Are they an illusion? Are they tall? Small? Thin? Thick?

Adrien will have to fill out who Outfox is without someone to please. In time Outfox will be more true to what Adrien is than Adrien Agreste. Radiant? Carefree? Those are already things in the past. What the future holds is unknown. It might even be something Adrien Agreste could never have imagined...

Trixx will absolutely bully his holder if they start to simp for anyone too much. This is an *arrangement* not a 'chosen one' situation.

[fayflutter]

Was this an excuse to use the Barbie Prison meme for this AU?…maybe. (Yes, I know I’m extremely late to the party for using this, shhhhhh)

VIGILANTES AU

-Over dinner, Officer Roger complains to Sabrina about the increase in criminal activity (breaking & entering, stealing, vandalizing, etc.) during akuma attacks and how the officers never seem to be able to catch it all or the perpetrators because of akumas constantly disrupting the normal lives of citizens.

-As Miss Hound, Sabrina has concerns, wanting to do more as a hero (especially for her father who’s drowning in paperwork). Hawkmoth is their biggest threat, but how could she be a hero if she lets the smaller crimes slide?

-After an akuma, Miss Hound brings it up to her leader, Ladybug. She thinks they can help the police with all of the crime that goes on during akuma attacks. She suggests that some holders are delegated to assisting with the police.

-Ladybug who’s under too much stress with Hawkmoth (and trauma, the girl desperately needs therapy) doesn’t want miraculous holders to involve or intervene themselves in ordinary police matters. Such powers should be used against Hawkmoth and the akumas, not normal human criminals. Sabrina’s idea is shut down by Ladybug.

-So Sabrina decides to go to the next best person for advice; Ladybug’s partner, Chat Noir.

-Meanwhile, Chat and Ladybug’s partnership has been deteriorating, Ladybug’s been keeping him at a distance and been leaving him in the middle of a fight then bringing in new miraculous holders. He’s starting to feel like she doesn’t trust him anymore. Chat begins to wonder if he’s even needed anymore.

-Miss Hound comes to Chat with her ‘helping out with the crime/assisting the police’ idea and he surprisingly agrees to it. Chat definitely thinks it’s a great way to help Paris and wasn’t even aware of the crime that goes unnoticed during akuma attacks.

-But they know Ladybug won’t agree just because Chat does. So they decide to go on their first mission (Cue the Stake Out!!). They’ll be sneaky and quick and Ladybug won’t even notice.

-Soooo, Ladybug may have noticed (the cataclysmed building didn’t help). But they caught the criminals and Sabrina’s father could finally get a night’s sleep for once!

-Miss Hound is ready for the scolding…except Ladybug directs all of her anger on Chat. At first she just freezes up, not sure what to do or what to say, while Chat just stays silent, just taking it. It hurts Sabrina to see him like this, to see the black cat hero look so much like her.

-The spotted heroine says something that’s hits too close to something Chloe once said to Sabrina and the girl just SNAPS.

-She calls Ladybug out on all of her crap and defends Chat (“This was all me, if you want to shout at someone, then shout at me, not Chat!”). Ladybug can’t even get a word in, just staring at her.

The heroine says how disappointed she is in Sabrina and asks her to meet her later to give her back the dog miraculous.

-Sabrina doesn’t give the dog miraculous back to her later, she just stays home and panics over how she shouted at Ladybug, THE Ladybug. She doesn’t regret it, but she’s still worried. 

-Sabrina anonymously contacts Chat (through the miraculous heroes’ group chat) and they meet in incognito (with help from miraculous magic).

-They immediately apologize to each other, both feeling guilty about dragging the other into this situation.

-But neither of them actually regrets it and want to do it again. Only they know they can’t do it again with Ladybug wanting Sabrina to give back the dog miraculous and watching over their every move.

-So they make a decision: They’re splitting from the Miraculous Team and forming their own duo.

-If Ladybug doesn’t want them, then what’s stopping them from leaving together? 

-So they split from the Miraculous Team and begin their own missions of combating crime across Paris! It’s not perfect, not like how Chat was with Ladybug, but it works! It’s awkward and they’re clumsy at times, but they communicate and keep each other in the loop. 

-Maybe they get their own rogues gallery of non akuma related criminals/gangsters, maybe they find other holders of new miraculouses who are using their powers secretly to commit crimes or elevate their status in the Parisian criminal underworld.

-Both of them may also be catching feelings with their new…partner? Friend? Neither of them haven’t quite figured out what exactly their relationship is.

-The only one not happy with this is Ladybug.

(That’s as far as I got in this for my notes, just a silly little AU idea)

[dansconcepts]

Pink-Tipped Locks And Guitarists Rock

Or Adrien gets his hair dyed by everyone's fav guitarist (this is shamelessly Lukadrien fluff).

|◁ II ▷|

"Are you sure about this, Adrien?" The blonde nods. Luka continues to strum his hands through his (soon to not fully be!) blond hair, humming his acknowledgement. He chuckles under his breath.

“What’s so funny?” Adrien asks, but his smile is wide. It’s silent for a few minutes, with Luka grabbing a fistful of his hair gently, before replying, “I was pretty surprised by how soft your hair was.” He confesses. 

Adrien shrugs. “I’m a model. Not that it’s a requirement, but too many ads seem to emphasize how soft my hair is or whatever, so it is what it is.” 

The musician hums once more before he feels the bristles of a comb being moved up and down rhythmically. 

“I think it’s kind of strange...?” Adrien continues, “I don’t mind though. I do like my hair looking and feeling nice. But…” He motions his hand in a circle around his face. “I think it would look nicer if it was a little messier, you know?” 

He can’t help but grin a little evilly at that one. An inside joke only he and his kwami would have. 

A soft pat on his head is his only warning before his head shakes under the weight of Luka’s hand. He can feel the laughter welling inside him as he chuckles loudly, feeling light even as his product-filled hair is un-modelfied. Hell, if anything, that’s probably his favourite fact about all this. 

“Lu-ka!”  He yelps, but he’s grinning wildly. 

At the sound of his name, he’s suddenly turned around by the shoulders and held under the scrutiny of Luka’s gaze and his calloused hands. 

Blue eyes meet green. “...Interesting.” Luka murmurs. 

His hands rub his neck almost instinctively under the sudden spotlight. “Is that a good thing?”

Luka’s serene smile widens. “It’s different.”

“I ask one question and get an unrelated answer.” He teases playfully. “What, chat got your tongue?” He almost purrs, lips spilled out in a manner almost vindictive, if it weren’t for the creases along his eyes. 

He gets a surprised expression as a response, and he pulls away immediately. 

Sorry. Is ready to spill from his mouth. 

Why did he think he could get away with acting like that? 

“You know,” Luka interrupts. He looks more pensive than upset, but he can never be too sure. His pale lips are pressed together in this way he’s sure meant something. Impatience, maybe? 

“You sounded almost exactly like Chat Noir there.” Teal eyes roam over his body from head to toe. Luka nods to himself, affirming something with the quick check. “Look like him, even.”

He can say does that mean I look pawsitively handsome? 

Instead- because unlike Ladybug thinks, he’s not entirely impulsive- he spits out, “What can I say? I’m a fan.” which, okay, not that much better, but better than nothing. 

Luka seems to step out of his stupor and nods at him. He takes a few seconds to just blink at him, for another reason he doesn't know yet. 

“I am too.” 

And Adrien's cognizance has left the station. He laughs nervously, and he hopes the half-baked "ha. Ha. Ha." doesn't show through, but he does sound like he's uncomfortable. He instinctively winces. Luka seems to take pity on him and softens. Gently, he twists Adrien back around before chiming, "Now time to get your hair tipped and you can tell me all about being such a Chat Noir fan, Adrien."

He could not be any more glad he wasn't facing the musician anymore. 

It would've been too dist-cat-ing. 

He could hear Ladybug's familiar groan in his head and even he could concede that one was pretty clawful. 

"What's there to talk about? I just think he's the cat's meow. Wouldn't you agree?"

Luka gently massaged his hair and if he were Chat, he swears he would've started purring. Instead, he leans into the soft touch. 

"Adrien." Luka calls out, soft, but firm. "I'll need you to be a little more still than that so I can apply the bleach." 

The boy in question turns around slowly to notice black-painted nails dangling a brush a few centimetres away from a dish. He chuckles, embarrassed.

"Oh, sorry."

Luka chuckles. "It's cute. You're like an affectionate kitten. But do try to keep your head facing the front, hm?" 

He nods a little too enthusiastically on his part, and the chk-chk-trk of the foil around him gave him all the warning he needed not to melt. He did want to get that tipped hair, after all.

Even if father won't approve. 

But he trusts Luka. It’s only temporary, even if it lasts a while. At least he could do his own hints of rebellion the Adrien Agreste way (since he certainly won't be telling his father about Chat Noir’s way...). 

Almost too soon, it’s over. His hair was painted and it was left to dry after a whole blow drying session. And good riddance, he's gotta admit. He was kind of getting a little antsy, because even with modelling he can at least have some sense of mobility, but really, one hour compared to a few and a cool new look? Definitely one of the better trade offs he's ever gotten out of sitting still. 

"There. It's not completely dry yet, but what do you think of it so far?" His temporary hairstylist of the day asks.

"Hmm. I don't know. Think you have a mirror I could use to actually see it?" He replies snarkily with a shit-eating grin. It just came out, but he doesn't try to hide it anymore. He catches Luka's eye briefly as Luka steps around him, his lips pulled into a smirk. 

"Gotcha. Just give me a sec!" The musician yells out as he rummages through his cupboards, before finally pulling out a quaint mirror with a black cat-themed rim.

"Huh. You really are a Chat Noir fan." Adrien muses nonchalantly, but internally preens at the sight.

Luka laughs it off easily with a fond look at the object (or at least, he's pretty sure that was what it was) before explaining, "Heh. Juleka got it for me as a joke." 

"Do you treat it as a joke?" He replies. He swallows, hoping to ignore how his voice sounded like a kicked puppy just then and the thought of the object being used to make fun of his superhero persona. 

"Of course not. It's probably one of the silliest gifts, but not meaningless to me." The mainly-black haired boy defends immediately. The now-partly blond boy's shoulders relax at the quick admission. "Although, the green doesn't match my aesthetic nearly as well as the black does."

"I don't know, I think black, blue and green could go really well together." 

He thinks of Viperion's costume, and despite the blazing face he gets whenever he thinks about it, it's an image that supports his argument well.

"I suppose you're right. But pink and yellow make a beautiful combination too, Adrien. You were right to pick it." 

Jade eyes dart toward the mirror. His eyes settle on the foreign colour in his hair and his heart stutters.

"Whoa..." He exclaims, openly admiring how his yellow locks are complimented nicely by the soft, strawberry pink Luka picked out.

"This is awesome, thanks Luka!"

"No trouble at all, Adrien. This was… calming... to do."

[mostmagical]

writing year in review

one excerpt from each month of the year. tagged by @bittersweetresilience. hehe. I can post this now that I shared pitfall.

I THOUGHT I filled every month using my drabbles, despite my two mass effect playthroughs-sized gap, but I forgot May. which is, yeah. yeah. the month I played ME3 for the first time. head in my hands.

01 JANUARY

Consequences of Dating Blindly (Miraculous Ladybug - 4,078 words)

A chorus of giggles broke her concentration, drawing her eyes to a gaggle of girls a couple tables over. They were whispering excitedly and pointing in the direction of the same mop of blond hair, all with cell phones raised. A sudden wave of heat ran up Marinette’s spine as she realized they were ogling him. She wasn’t surprised that girls were looking at him. Chat Noir was the cutest, most handsomest boy in the world, so of course they would. But that was her cutest and most handsomest boy in the world.

02 FEBRUARY

tear-stained (Miraculous Ladybug - 100 words)

Marinette shot up from her bed with her heart in her throat. Bile threatened to make its way up, up, and out, but she pushed it down against the klaxon blaring in her head.

03 MARCH

magical (Miraculous Ladybug - 100 words) my favorite drabble btw

Her throat grew tight as she realized where they were standing. Their rooftop. It was shielded well from the street, providing asylum, but it drained poorly due to the raised gutters. Chat Noir was always apologizing, always covering it with torn blankets and tarps. She never cared, of course. He was there, and they were together, and they were safe.

04 APRIL

Can I Just Kiss You (Miraculous Ladybug - 4,218 words)

The liquid in his delicate cocktail glass was dyed pinker by the spotlight he stood under, so she couldn’t tell if he was actually drinking anything as passion fruit-flavored as the color, or if it was just straight liquor. Her breath caught as he removed his hand from the water-beaded surface, lifting it to adjust the thick-rimmed specs he wore and reminding her of the sparkling green eyes she’d spied earlier. Blond hair. Green eyes.  She wondered if it was some cosmic joke that this always happened to her. Even the cat ears were suspect, but she was trying her best not to acknowledge that.

05 MAY

*loud sobbing*

06 JUNE

Bridges (Miraculous Ladybug - 430 words)

Adrien glanced over his shoulder only briefly, quickly turning his gaze back to the skyline. “I like watching the moonrise,” he answered, shrugging. “I usually– well, I usually don’t have the opportunity to see it from down here.” Félix cast a slow step closer. “Moonrise?” he repeated. “Not the sunset?” The corner of Adrien’s lip twitched in secret humor. “I’ve become a bit of a night person.”

07 JULY

crescendo (Miraculous Ladybug - 100 words)

Chat Noir’s laughter reaches crescendo as Ladybug reaches the end of the block. It echoes off the walls and traces the smile on her face.

08 AUGUST

Get A Little Lonely (Miraculous Ladybug - 2,422 words) technically... this was a zine piece posted on the 1st... so I did not write any of it in August... but shhh

Adrien had once gone on a hike in the French Alps with his mother and Nathalie—before the illness had riddled Maman bedridden. He had marveled at the way Nathalie had used nothing but a compass and a map to chart their course as they went, carefully noting landmarks and any elevation. He had watched with curious eyes, hanging onto every word as she’d explained how she did it. Watching Loveybug fall apart felt like trekking over that terrain with a broken compass. Everything was uncharted territory. Cat Walker hoped he could figure out how to cover it.

09 SEPTEMBER

Heartbeating (Mass Effect Trilogy - 3,600 words)

She fit into Garrus’s angles like a puzzle piece, twisting and turning until they lined up, just right. Maybe the edges had to be folded over a little, but they always fit, eventually. “You know, you humans are bonier than you look,” Garrus commented, wincing as her elbow pressed against an unarmored hip. A smile curled her lips. “Just trying to make you feel more at home,” she teased, a playful lilt to her tone as she finally found her previous position against his chest.

10 OCTOBER

waiting room (Mass Effect Trilogy - 6,565 words. to be cont.)

Shepard watches Kahlee’s rounded fingernails trace over the grooves in the book’s cover. They’re neat. Clean. No trace of dried blood in the nail beds like she knows her own do. The leather must be well-loved, soundlessly absorbing every scratch.

11 NOVEMBER

can't breathe (Mass Effect Trilogy - 629 words)

“Garrus!” he thinks he hears, somewhere over the ringing in his ears It’s hope, he knows—but he shouldn’t have let himself hope He didn’t deserve to get that second chance Why, when they can’t? His lungs’d filled with hope, now he can’t breathe

12 DECEMBER

pitfall (Mass Effect Trilogy - 805 words)

“Wish you’d stop looking,” Garrus sighs, but she can’t stop; she never could. His eyes ask the words he still won’t: Please, Shepard, doesn’t it hurt? Of course it hurts; that’s the point. She’s earned each and every prick, for every unit’s soul she couldn’t save, and for EDI, lain in an imaginary crypt.

if you opened my read more and you're reading this right now, 🫵 you're tagged. gotcha.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

What if Ladybug had managed to recover the luckycharm when Monarch escaped from the trap set by her and Cat Noir?

So this is actually kind of an interesting Since this would change the trajectory of the show.

(What if Ladybug cast Miraculous Healing in Destruction?)

-So the events that occur in Destruction Still happen. Ladybug set the trap. The Lucky charm rope is in Place. And Monarch still has himself get cataclysmed.

-But after that occured, he uses Orikko (rooster miraculous) To Phase through the rope. Then used Kaalki to make a portal and escape.

-With that, Ladybug is mad that she couldnt bet the kwami back. But they cast Miraculous Healing. Which undoes the damage done to Monarch.

-After Monarch's escape, he comments how close he cut it with that trick. And he would need to be careful in the future. He was fortunate.

-The Paris special with the multiverse occurs. Nothing changes there.

-But without being Cataclysmed, Monarch isnt in such a rush. He still has time. But he does realize Nathalie is still sick.

-I think Gabriel would not make Alliance. The only reason he made it was because he was desperate. So I think he wouldn't have that made yet.

-He would be attacking the city. He wouldn't have been taking a break like he did in Multiplication

-Though he is learning the consequences of using this many Miraculous so often and is thinking about a potential work around.

-The akuma wouldnt be having the additional effects of the miraculous. Since he hasnt figured out how to transfer it yet. But he is learning all the tricks with the OTHER miraculous. Including how to best utilize their powers.

-And with the snake miraculous he can retry with Zero limits now thanks to not having a timer from the cataclysm.

-But even still Ladybug and Chat noir are still succeeding.

-I imagine the episodes are still similar but with less powerful akuma.

-Monarch would also not be working towards his big finale plan. So that would be different. And without the Alliance... Monarch never realizes the identities of the new miraculous holders when Kwami's choice happens.

-So Scarabella and Kitty Noire stay as the ladybug and Cat hero of Paris a lot longer. I would even say like 3 or 4 episodes. Until Monarch appears to fight the more inexpreienced heroes. Marinett and Adrien working together with La Resistance to stop him.

-Monarch retreats, and Ladybug and Chat noir return.

-Monarch's Final play of the season would be akumatizing himself and then putting on all of the miraculous. Maybe calling himself Miracle Monarch. And him using ALL the powers at once.

-Giving himself Near godlike power in which Ladybug and Chat noir using their full power (now matured) are able to finally defeat him. BUT the Butterfly miraculous still vanishes.

-Now without the desperation or need to send Adrien away, Marinette never feels the need to confront Gabriel.

-Or maybe Felix does reveal Monarch as Gabriel, But there wouldnt be the need. Alliance likely didnt happen. Or if it did not at such a speed.

-In the end, Gabriel probably ended up arrested or maybe sacrificing himself to make sure Nathalie is cured or something

[mc-lukanette]

"You want me to patrol?" Luka asked, staring down at the snake miraculous being held out to him.

Ladybug nodded. "Yeah! Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be great at it!"

That wasn't what he'd been thinking about, actually. Taking the miraculous from her hand and putting it on - something she looked oddly pleased about - he pressed, "I don't mind, but why do you want me to do it?"

The miraculous shifted into its disguised state, a light coming off to bring Sass back into existence. The kwami reclined back like he was lounging in an invisible chair, then waved a paw and replied, "Public opinion."

Luka stared, still feeling lost.

Ladybug tilted her head in Sass's direction, continuing, "It's hard for snake heroes to gain any favor from the public. Real snakes are scary for people and no one can understand your power more than you can."

He vaguely understood that. To everyone else, the snake's powers weren't particularly flashy and the only one who got to experience the reset timelines was him. He'd never particularly considered how people thought about it as he didn't really care, but he acknowledged that the two were making sense.

"I care about all my heroes," Ladybug added, putting her hands on her hips, "and I want the public to care about them too. I'm sure all you need to do is go out there, put on a little snake charm, maybe tell a few stories about your timelines, and everyone will get that Viperion does great work just like everyone else, if not greater."

He couldn't be sure if she'd added on the end because she meant it, or because she could only gauge his success rather than his time and effort. The thought that she considered him a hard enough worker that he could outpace others made him smile.

"I'll do it. Thank you, Ladybug."

She beamed. "No, thank you." She took his wrist with the bangle in both hands and lifted it to her chest level, as if reciting a prayer to it. "I have my own things to do, but I know you'll do a good job with or without me!"

He nodded obediently. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"No! Or—" She paused, pursing her lips. It was the face of someone who felt like they were forgetting something. "Mm, not know, but..."

She pulled out her yoyo, popping it open and slipping her hand inside. Her tongue stuck out to the side as she searched for whatever she was looking for, at one point putting her whole forearm in. When the movement stopped, she lit up with a delighted, "Aha!" and lifted out a folded sheet of paper. She unfolded it to give it a quick check, then happily handed it over to him.

It was a map of Paris, lines snaking across with numbered indicators and circled locations. He would've assumed it was Ladybug's that she was letting him borrow if not for the "Property of Viperion" written in the corner, both 'i's dotted with hearts.

It was cute.

Ladybug sidled up next to him, pointing to the various parts of the map to explain, "This is the quickest way to get around the city while still making sure you're being thorough. The circled spots are where you can meet with a lot of people at once; great for public image. Even Chat doesn't know these."

"Really?" Despite the teasing tone in her voice, he knew she wasn't lying.

"He doesn't need it. He's a cat and people love cats." She rolled her eyes in faux exasperation, then nudged him with a playful smile. "We snakes and ladybugs have to stick together, right?"

He smiled back. He had no idea where this whole conversation of hers had come from, but he nodded and agreed, "Right."

And with that, she was ready to go, stepping away and waving him goodbye before heading off. Luka waved back, but felt eyes on him and turned his head to see Sass staring at him with a knowing expression.

"...What?"

He learned that day that Sass hissed when chuckling.

——

Patrolling was entirely different from fighting akuma, Viperion learned. There wasn't any real tension so long as he didn't find anything, and it felt like it served a nice role in getting him further acclimated to his hero self. He could jump and travel around easily enough when he was called upon, but it didn't escape him how his jumps grew more confident and his landings more solid as time went on.

Whenever he came across a circled area on the map, he would do as Ladybug had recommended and talk to the various civilians he'd find there. Unlike what he imagined would happen with Ladybug or Chat Noir, he had to check on them first rather than being called over for pictures or comments. It didn't bother him beyond the concern that he wasn't doing as much as Ladybug asked, but he couldn't verify until he went back to her.

Time passed smoothly enough, Viperion mentally checking off the map's numbers as he went. Near the end of the patrolling path happened to be around Marinette's house too, so he was in a good mood.

He was within eyesight of the place when someone suddenly called out, "Hey, Viperion~!"

He almost faltered, looking out towards the familiar voice to see Marinette on her balcony and excitedly trying to wave him down. He smiled unconsciously, feeling the natural pull she always had on him that urged him closer, but snapped out of it when he remembered that he was Viperion at the moment. He was supposed to be a stranger to her.

Taking one more look at his map, he noted the circle - oddly enough - right around the bakery. He supposed it could've been referring to the park nearby, but regardless, he was meant to be talking to civilians and Marinette was indeed a civilian.

If it wasn't what Ladybug had in mind, he'd twist the rules just this once.

Giving Marinette a look to convey his intent, he waited for her to step back before leaping towards her, allowing him enough space on the balcony to safely land. It was equally helpful that some of the various things on the surface had been moved in such a way that he'd had a clear place to drop onto.

"Hey... citizen." Wow, that sounded bizarre. "Can I help you?"

She giggled - cute - and nodded at him. Beckoning to him, she stepped back towards the entrance to her bedroom. "Yeah. Come with me for a minute."

She was so forward about it that Viperion genuinely wondered if this was just something that happened with heroes, or only with Marinette specifically. Perhaps Ladybug had even been invited inside before?

He couldn't bring himself to refuse her, so he followed her down onto her bed, then down the stairs to the main part of her room. He watched her walk across and bend down to the chest near her chaise lounge, her hands fiddling with the latch to open it. She reached inside and pulled out something teal, but he couldn't quite see what it was with her body obscuring it.

Marinette, careful not to show him what was in her arms, walked over to a full-body mirror nearby. Finally turning to him, she held up the object and asked, "What do you think?"

Viperion's jaw dropped. There in her arms was a Viperion plush and, judging from his own reflection in the mirror, she'd even gotten the smaller details right. He got the distinct feeling that she had looked at him more than he'd looked at himself just to ensure that the plush was accurate.

"Wow, it's..." He approached, reaching out but not feeling able to touch the plush, as if he wasn't worthy of it. At Marinette's encouragement, he gingerly held one of the little arms and gave it a squish to test its softness. "This is incredible work."

"Thanks." She beamed, swaying her hips and looking pleased with herself. "I try to make one of everyone, but this one's my favorite."

He looked at her questioningly, touched yet confused, but she wasn't meeting his eyes anymore. Her gaze turning back at the chest, she gently placed the plush in his arms and returned to her collection to start pulling more of her work out.

Viperion glanced at the stuffed imitation of him, unsure of how to handle it but doing his best to give it support. Marinette must've seen him at some point while setting out plushies, given the otherwise random giggle she'd let out.

After roughly a minute, she'd finished, sitting in the middle of the two groups she'd set out and spreading her arms out above them. Indeed, there was a group of plush superheroes to one side of her and even a group of plush akuma to the other. If he really eyed their details, he could tell which had been made when she was just starting out and which she'd done recently once she had experience, but it was all equally impressive to him.

Bringing the plush with him, he sat down in front of her and let it sit on his lap. He couldn't care less what he'd looked like, too busy admiring her work. His face must've shown it without him saying anything, as she puffed her chest out like she was basking in the unspoken praise.

Then, his eyes locked on something purple, black, and out of place amongst the heroes. In any other circumstance, he probably wouldn't have focused or commented on it, but it was also of him: specifically, Silencer, his akumatized self who had relentlessly chased down Bob Roth and stolen the voices of multiple people, including Ladybug herself. Bitter memories rushed back to him of waking up after the fact and fearing what might've happened while he'd been under someone else's control, the worst being if he'd hurt Marinette in some way

"That's an akuma," he said flatly. His own tone caught him off guard, but Marinette either didn't notice or didn't mind his disdain for that particular plush.

She followed his gaze to the mini Silencer in question. Rather than realizing that she'd made a mistake, she smiled, picking up the plush and setting it on her lap. Hand resting on the soft helmet on its head, she looked at him and explained, "Yeah, but... he's a hero to me."

She couldn't keep saying things like that to him without elaboration. He could only take so much without letting his civilian self show.

Thankfully, she elaborated this time, "People at my school get akumatized all the time; sometimes right in front of me. I have to run away from them as fast as I can, because even if they're not after me, I'm still another potential target for them." She turned the plush so she could look at its face, her eyes going soft as she continued, "Silencer was the first time someone got akumatized to protect me; when I felt honored to be protected. He didn't want my attention either, he wanted to get revenge because of what Bob Roth did."

Viperion hadn't known that. He'd had a brief discussion with Marinette about something he'd apparently said, but he'd been needed on stage and couldn't finish any sort of conversation with her. It warmed him greatly, knowing that she appreciated him even as an akuma.

"Sure, he was still another one of Hawk Moth's akuma, so Ladybug had to take care of him," she acknowledged, "but I think he's a little misunderstood, like you."

"Like me?"

She nodded, bringing back her point from earlier. "That's why the Viperion plush is my favorite. You're the least popular out of everyone, but I bet you do so much work during your Second Chances. Even though you should be getting more credit for it, no one notices until you're going around—" She gestured between them, indicating their current situation. "—like this."

He grew quiet, already seeing the connection. His heart sank at the thought.

"...It's relatable," she whispered with a sad smile, her fingertips trailing across the top ridge of the plush Silencer's helmet, "not being noticed for what you can do, people seeing you at your surface level..."

Shifting, Viperion held his plush self to his chest and moved within arm's reach of her. With his free hand, he reached out, cupping her cheek to tilt her face up to him.

Quietly, but firmly, he told her, "For what it's worth, I think you deserve to be noticed for all of you, not just the part that people decide to see."

It was definitely pushing the boundaries of what he should be "allowed" to do as a hero, but at its core, Viperion thought that that's what a hero was meant to do. Saving Paris was only the surface level of what people saw heroism as: the deeper, more important part was to care for the emotional well-being of the civilians.

He'd already gone through akumatization once and he'd never wish such an experience on Marinette. Keeping her happy was a top priority for him, both before and now, regardless of how she felt about him.

Her mouth curving back into the smile he'd missed in its short time away, Marinette reached up and placed her hand over his. "Thank you. Sorry if I brought the mood down."

"This is my job—" It wasn't, not in the way she'd be thinking of anyway. "—and it's not much compared to what you did. Thanks for appreciating me."

She nodded, eyes shining with her own gratefulness. There seemed to be more that she wanted to say, but she dropped his hand and shook her head to rid herself of it. Regretfully, she admitted, "I shouldn't keep you any longer."

He nearly blurted out that she could keep him forever if she wanted, but he held back. Equally as regretful as her, he returned the Viperion plush to her waiting hands.

Marinette took it, taking the plush in her free hand and scooting out of the way. The movement left a Marinette-sized space where she'd been, which is where she decided to set the plush down. Putting the Silencer plush back where he was before, she also took the Ladybug plush and let it settle next to the Viperion one.

It left the two as the only ones in the once-empty spot.

"They look good together," she commented, looking over her shoulder at him.

He stared, not sure how to feel about his crush having an opinion on his relationship with someone else, but he didn't express it. She clearly thought highly of his partnership with Ladybug in a way no one else did, which he considered a positive.

"...Yeah." He grinned at her. "I think so too."

——

"So?" Ladybug clasped her hands together, curiosity in her eyes. "How'd it go?"

"I got to talk to people," Luka replied vaguely as he handed the miraculous back to her. His visit with Marinette had made everything else fuzzy by comparison. "There was no trouble, but there was only one person who wanted to see Viperion."

"I'm sure that'll change!" she assured, her blinding confidence thoroughly astounding him. Leaning in and grasping his shoulders, she insisted, "You deserve to be appreciated, whether that's as a civilian, a hero, or an akuma."

He went to thank her, practically overflowing with all the affection he'd received at that point, but he paused when her words truly registered with him.

Ladybug, however, didn't give him a chance to respond. She stepped away, stashing the snake miraculous into her yoyo and making her escape back out into the city with her usual wave of good-bye.

Luka was certain that he'd heard properly: she'd said akuma. He supposed it could just be a coincidence that Marinette and Ladybug had both happened to reference his akumatized self, but Ladybug's expression had hinted to him that it was more than that. It had been strange to him that Marinette's balcony had been open for him, and even more so that Marinette happened to be there like she was waiting for him. If both she and Ladybug had wanted him to feel appreciated (mission accomplished on that one, obviously), then it was possible that they'd teamed up to give him a double dose of gratitude.

Or at least, that must've been the reason, because the only other option was—

Ah.

Just like that, Luka blushed a deep shade of red, the memory of Marinette placing the Ladybug and Viperion plushies together burning itself permanently into his mind.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

So, the Miraculous Ladybug TV Tropes page recently added this under the Broken Aesop section on the YMMV page:

Adrien/Cat Noir had many instances where he could have discovered the identity of Ladybug/Marinette, but always respected the private life of his beloved, despite knowing that learning it would bring them closer (The only time when he learned it accidentally, Adrien was punished with the apocalypse, no less, and a Retcon.) His attitude was presented as the right thing to do. In the meantime, Alya has been akumatized on the fact she wanted to know Ladybug/Marinette's secrets. Both times, she tried to violently force the issue with her powers and the second time was after she tried pressuring her into revealing them. But, as a reward for her pushy behavior, Alya has been entrusted with Ladybug's identity and the secrets of the Miracle Box. And Adrien's reward for respecting her privacy? He's still (and more and more) left in the dark, and will very likely be the last one to know.

Any thoughts?

I don't fully agree, but it's also not exactly wrong.

I love Alya, but I've never been a fan of the fact that she learned Marinette's secret identity, especially because the episode where it happens - Gang of Secrets - really failed to make the confession feel like a wise move. It's one of the many episodes with a wacky moral.

For those who don't remember, the episode has most of Marinette's female friends worrying about her. They know that she's keeping secrets because, for some reason, Marinette didn't tell anyone about her breakup with Luka:

Rose: They were so cute together! Alya: Yeah, except they broke up. Juleka: He was like super sad when they did. Alya: But the real problem here is that Marinette never told us anything. If Luka hadn't told Juleka, who told Rose, who told Mylène, who then told Alix, who finally told me. Then I, her BF in the whole world would still be in the dark! Yesterday I was in the restroom and I heard her crying.

This is... really weird. Why didn't Marinette tell them? The episode never explains and I can't figure out her logic because they'd obviously learn the truth. There's no way that Juleka wouldn't know!

My best guess is that the writers wanted a conflict over secrets, but they didn't want to have Marinette's girl friends pick up on her Ladybug-based lies as that would invite a level of complexity that they really can't resolve. But that's a meta reason. As far as the actual text goes, there's nothing to explain this baffling choice.

What's even more weird is that making it about the Ladybug secrets would have worked if Alya was the only one worried because the episode ends with Alya learning the truth. Having the episode only be about Marinette and Alya would make a lot of sense. Instead, it's about the whole, rarely-seen girl group so we're stuck with the Luka conflict. Yay.

Either way, I'm not wild about the actions Alya and Co take. Their first choice is to call Marinette. When she doesn't pick up, they leave a very sweet message. If things ended there, then we'd be fine, but right after that, we get this:

Alya: Maybe we should go to her house. What do you think? Mylène: We'll give her an eternal friendship bracelet so she never forgets that friends can tell each other anything and that we'll always be there for her.

This isn't a terrible idea. Checking on a friend when you're worried about them is a reasonable thing. The problem is the way that check up goes down. The girls basically invade Marinette's room and start messing with her stuff like this is some fun little hangout session, almost discovering the miracle box in the process:

Marinette: What are you doing here? Alya: We're just checkin' in on you, girl. Rose: Aw, it looks just like a real house, look how the roof comes off to show the inside! Marinette:(frantically) No! No, don't touch that! Move away! (As Rose opens the roof, Marinette gets down, pushing past through her friends and Rose as she hides what is inside of the dollhouse, while Rose accidentally drops the roof, which cracks. The girls gasp in shock.) Rose:(kneels to pick up the cracks) Sorry, Marinette! Marinette:(angrily) Will you please leave my room?! Alya: Chill out Marinette, it's just a doll house. We'll totally help. Marinette: No you won't, please go! Alya: Okay Marinette, there's clearly something wrong and we're not leaving you like this till you tell us what it is.

The scene goes on like this until Marinette lashes out and tells them to get out even if it means ending her friendship with them, which is a response that I find totally justified. Marinette is quite obviously very distressed by her friends' presence and they are refusing to listen to her pleas to leave. They're also giving that refusal in a highly confrontational manner, which is the completely wrong tone for conveying concern. They do not come across as caring. They come across as demanding.

Marinette has every right to be upset by that. It's okay to not want people to invade your room, touch your stuff, and demand to know you're secrets. It's also okay to get upset when people keep ignoring your clearly stated and perfectly reasonable boundaries.

While I fully support wellness checks, this is not how you do them. It's like a variation on the scenes where people confront Gabriel in Adrien's name. They're all impressively terrible examples of how you handle a very complex situation. Worst possible way you could go about it. Children, do not try this at home!

Of course, Marinette's justified reaction leads to the girls getting akumatized, leading to a fight, leading to Ladybug saving the day, leading to everyone being friends again even though the girls never apologize for how they went about their wellness check. Rose's quick sorry for breaking Marinette's doll house is the only one we get in the entire episode. Then we get this:

Alya: You go ahead girls, I just have one last thing to say to Marinette. (closes the door to Marinette's room) You didn't tell us everything, did you? A journalist and a BFF can tell these things. I won't try to figure it out or force it out of you. (sits beside Marinette) If you can't tell me what's in your heart, it's your right. Marinette: Will we still be friends? Alya: Marinette. I'm your best friend, and I'll always be. That's why it kills me that I can't help you with whatever's making you feel so alone. (Alya sighs, and is about to leave Marinette's room when Marinette grabs her hand.) Marinette: Alya, wait! Stay. You're right, I am alone. (grows increasingly emotional) More than ever before. I can barely take it anymore! You know why I broke up with Luka? Not because I don't like him, he's amazing! It's 'cause there's something that I can't tell him. You know why I have to forget Adrien? For the exact same reason! You're right, I keep secrets, I lie all the time! I lie to my friends, to my parents, to everyone and the worst thing is, I can't do it any other way! Alya: There's always another way. Marinette: No, not this time. I have no choice. All this is bigger than us, Alya. Way too big. Alya: If it's too big, two of us can handle it better than one. Marinette: If I tell you, things will never be the same between us again. (shakes her head) It'll mess up everything, maybe even destroy it. Alya:(voice breaking) Marinette, I'm your very best friend. Marinette: And I… I'm Ladybug.

Maybe this is just me, but this doesn't feel like Alya respecting Marinette's boundaries. It's certainly not as bad as the earlier scene. In fact, I like a lot of this in a vacuum, but because of that earlier scene, this one feels uncomfortable. Once again, Alya is so sure that she knows what she's talking about even though she really doesn't.

In the first scene, Marinette was right that they all needed to get out so that she could protect the Kwamis and in this scene she was right that the Ladybug reveal wasn't the kind of thing where sharing was the clear right choice. This would all play so much better if Alya said her first few lines and then actually left, only to be called back by Marinette several hours later. Then we'd really feel like Marinette was making an informed choice instead of revealing her identity in a panic.

Another option would be to have Alya offer comfort without needing to know what is upsetting Marinette, maintaining the secret identities while also giving Marinette some much needed support. Saying she'll support Marinette no matter what and then getting up to leave just doesn't feel super supportive to me. It feels like Alya is (unintentionally) making Marinette panic by saying one thing while technically doing another.

Remember, Marinette just had a really stressful day where she almost lost all of her friends, making this an incredibly charged moment that ends with Alya leaving while clearly disappointed. Of course Marinette would try to salvage that! Her brain isn't focusing on Alya's genuine words. It just sees Alya leaving and panics. It doesn't help that this opening line would put a lot of people on edge:

You didn't tell us everything, did you? A journalist and a BFF can tell these things.

"I know you're still keeping secrets, but I respect that" is not the best way to start a conversation with someone who is clearly struggling.

Because of these issues, I don't feel like Marinette truly decided to make this serious choice. I feel like she blurted it out in the middle of a panic attack, so this scene never gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. This is especially true because we never get to truly see the fallout of Alya processing the reveal and comforting Marinette. The scene just ends and the next episode has them back to their usual dynamic, just with the bonus element of Alya knowing the whole Ladybug thing.

To be fair to Alya, a lot of this comes back to our oft-discussed issue of Miraculous trying to speed run major story lines in 20 minutes because it's a formula show so it can't let things play out properly. That doesn't change the fact that this feels rushed and unsatisfying. It's not the natural conclusion to an episode where Alya learns to respect Marinette's boundaries, but I don't think that's actually the lesson here. The lesson seems to be that Marinette should share her secrets with her friends to lessen her mental burden.

Once again, that's a lovely lesson in a vacuum, but a really weird one for the show that gave us Chat Blanc and Miracle Queen in the previous season and that will include Sentibubbler, Ephemeral, and Nino accidentally outing Alya to Gabriel in the exact same season. Season five will even see Luka leave the country because he knows the secret identities!

Writers, when it comes to secret identities, you really need to pick a lane. Are they good or bad? Is sharing them a No Good Very Bad Thing, an act of trust, or no big deal? The inconsistency around this topic is a major issue for the show as the Alya reveal really undermines everything going on with Ladynoir. While there's solid logic for Ladynoir not sharing, similar logic applies to Alya at this point because Gabriel literally knows her secret identity! Through no fault of her own, Alya is not a safe person and that makes it really hard to watch Alya get the reveal while Adrien stays in the dark. I can justify him not knowing. I can't justify Alya knowing.

I'll wrap this up by saying that I don't agree that Adrien has respected Ladybug's boundaries to the point where it feels like he should have been rewarded (narratively speaking, of course. This is a story after all). He may not be all that pushy about an identity reveal, but he's pretty freaking pushy about Ladynoir becoming a thing, so Ladybug not being ready to trust him does feel earned. Plus, as I said above, it's not like there's no logic behind them keeping their identities a secret. We know that they're dating on the civilian side, but as far as they know, they're total strangers.

If you look at it from that perspective and ask, "what are the benefits of a reveal," you'll find that they're not overwhelming, especially when compared to the risks that come with a mind-controlling super villain on the loose. I totally get why Marinette isn't telling him a thing, I'm just not really sure why she needed to tell Alya. The more logical route here is for Marinette to keep her secrets and look for support on the Ladybug side of things. Ideally that support should be Chat Noir or Su-Han, but it could be Alya, too. I still think that's a bad call since Alya's identity is in the villain's hands, but it would still make more sense than Marinette telling Alya all of her secrets. Another route would be for Alya to learn by accident. She walks in at the wrong time and, ooops, no taking that back. That's the only way I'd personally write Alya learning at this point in the story.

Sorry if this one was a bit of a ramble, the writing around the topic of secret identities is one of the elements I truly don't understand. I have no idea what the writers are doing here. It's not even a "you didn't think this through" thing like the sentimonster stuff. It's a "you spent all of last season telling us that identity reveals are bad and you're about to spend all of this season also telling us that, so why do we randomly get an identity reveal that's magically okay? Rena Furtive doesn't even do anything useful for the plot, why make her a thing?? Are you even trying to tell a coherent story???"

[ilikekidsshows]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Because what the fuck, Marinette.

So yeah, I'm still bothered by Ephemeral.

---

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

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

[miabrown007]

post-Representation reveal for @ladyofthenoodle and @asukiess <3

Time stops when Chat Noir plummets from Marinette’s skylight. She stops in her tracks and stares at him, eyes blown wide behind the polka-dotted mask that sits snug over the mascara streaks on her face. Her heart skips to her throat, because she doesn’t understand. She doesn’t understand what Chat Noir is doing at Marinette’s right now, in this break of dawn, when she was just about to head out to purify the Akuma he and Alya captured. He has even left her a voicemail to cheer her up—he always had an innate talent to know when she needed some cheering up—and he sounded so calm and collected then— Face buried in her mattress, he sniffles now. And Marinette knows that her identity is at stake here, that she’s incapable of explaining away Ladybug’s puffy eyes staring at him from the end of Marinette’s bed, but Chat Noir’s crying. He came to her because something so devastating happened to him that he’s crying.  If there’s one thing Marinette knows, it’s that they have sacrificed enough. She gave up love and gave up her friends for the mighty cause, and in the end, it was her friends and their love that saved the world.  She won’t give up her partner. Never again.

She reaches out, stroking her fingers through his hair gently. “Marinette, I need to tell you that—” he starts, then looks up and his eyes go wide. She smiles down at him. “It’s okay, Chaton. I’m here for you.” His bottom lip trembles, and several beats pass until he finds the voice to whisper, “I love you, Marinette. I’ll never let anyone separate us.” And maybe that should feel like a surprise. Maybe his arms around her and his lips on hers should wreck her world. Maybe, once, they would have.  Now, they feel like a small sound of ‘oh’ at the back of her mind.  Of course, it’s him.  Of course, he’s hers.  Of course, it’s them until the end of the world. She cups his face and smooths the messy hair out of his eyes, kissing away the tears spilling over his black mask. “I love you, too, Adrien. I’ll never let anyone hurt you ever again.” And if he cries harder and buries his face in the crook of her neck, that’s alright too. She hugs him, rubbing his back and peppering kisses all over his face—his nose, his forehead, his crown and his little cat ears—and holds him until he needs her to. She would be his Atlas and hold him until the end of the world, but slowly, his breathing calms and Adrien draws away, wiping at his eye with the palm of his hand. “I need to— I’ll need to go back,” he stutters over a swallow. Marinette shakes her head firmly and holds him tighter. “You are not going back.” His face softens. “My lady,” he begs, and she thinks her heart might give in from the way he says her name alone. “You know I have to before he discovers I’m missing, otherwise—” She cuts him off with a kiss before he gets to finish that train of thought. It’s an option she isn’t willing to entertain. “Your cousin owes me big time. You are not going back. Never ever,” she confirms.  If the surprised fervour and gratitude he dives back in for a kiss with is of any indication, he believes her. Marinette isn’t delusional enough to think Félix would do her a solid as an apology for his theater kid nonsense, but she suspects a chance to be closer to Kagami in place of Adrien will do it. She laces her fingers with Adrien’s, as if gluing them together, but he doesn’t seem to mind. She smiles against his lips with confidence only his support can grant her. “Okay, Chaton. Here’s the plan.”