#ml youtuber au

[sadelizb]

inspired by this post by @buggachat !!!

[gryficowa]

Let's be honest, Marinette and the rest of the characters put more effort into trashing Chloe herself than into actually helping (And they still have the nerve to say they were trying to help when in reality all they said was "Be nice" and nothing else, it's a strong attempt to avoid making an effort to help, which the person needs)

Yes, I'm pissed, that's why there are so many posts, but seriously, the fandom still believes that the characters tried to help Chloe and it's all her fault because she didn't accept "Help", too bad it wasn't even help (This song fits so well)

Yes, I get annoyed with people in the fandom who say that the characters tried, it's bullshit, they didn't do anything to help her (And that's why they put more effort into destroying her than actually helping her), and empty words are things anyone can say

[official-vampire-business]

yesterday i wrote 1,500 words in one sitting and today i wrote... hold on let me check my notes... 14 words. i hate it here:)

[pythagoras180]

Canon is Better than Scarlet Lady

I while ago I read a post where someone said that they don't like fanfiction because "Why would you take someone else's story and butcher it?" When I read that, I thought "Isn't that harsh? Most fanfics are made out of people's love for the source material." Well, I think the Scarlet Lady AU by Zoe-Oneesama is exactly the kind of fic this person was imagining when they said that. "Scarlet Lady" is a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic/saltfic/fixfic that fundamentally misses the point of pretty much every character and major plot point in it. And since it recently ended, it's time for my comprehensive review of it.

Just a few things before we begin. I'm going to assume that everyone reading this has read "Scarlet Lady", so I'm not going to recap the story. I was originally planning to write this on the day of the last page, but the final page was honestly such a nothing burger that I thought it wasn't the final page initially.

Some people may have a problem with the very concept of this review, saying its not fair for me to criticize a non-professional fanfic with this much scrutiny. I think that's an opinion Zoe herself holds. First, I think nothing is above criticism, especially not something that is claiming to be better than the professional product. People didn't hold back against "Spiderman: Lotus", did they? Even within this fanbase, people had some pretty harsh words for "Karma of Lies". Second, I think any discussion of non-professionalism went out the window the moment Zoe stated her intention to sell hardcopies of "Scarlet Lady". This arguably is professional. Third, I wouldn't be making this review if I this was a fanfic made out of genuine love and passion, and simply missed the mark. No, "Scarlet Lady" is in fact created out of nothing but spite and contempt, and I feel that makes it pretty fair game for criticism. So, without further ado, let's begin.

Why is Canon Better than Scarlet Lady?

In "Scarlet Lady", Emilie Agreste was woken up with no consequences, no buildup, no emotion, and no meaningful consequences. In canon, Emilie's loss was accepted by the characters and she died. I'm pretty sure that automatically makes canon better than "Scarlet Lady", so you don't even need to read the rest of this review! In all seriousness, this is genuinely some of the worst writing I have ever seen, and it is what made me decide that "Scarlet Lady" was a bad story, so I decided to just mention it on its own.

To be clear, I think Miraculous Ladybug is a poorly written show. "Scarlet Lady" is just worse. And since I used to enjoy Miraculous Ladybug, I'm in a good position to compare the two. When I read the ending of Scarlet Lady, what I though about canon was

I think that writing the middle part of a story is relatively easy. The audience is already hooked from the beginning, and they are intrigued for what might happen, so they'll keep reading even if not everything is great. I think the beginning and ending is the hard part. "Scarlet Lady" didn't have to worry about the beginning and getting people interested because it's piggybacking off of an already successful show. And since the ending of "Scarlet Lady" was so awful, it's clear to me that it was always badly written.

I'll now be analyzing "Scarlet Lady" in terms of its tone, its various characters, and more.

Tone

Every single potentially powerful moment in "Scarlet Lady" is played off as a joke. This may be in part because of the format, with it being released 8 panels at a time, so the audience has to be given something to be entertained by in every page. The thing is, I don't think that's true. I have seen plenty of webcomics where a situation is spread across multiple pages, and the audience doesn't instantly lose interest when one page is for setup purposes.

The consequence of this unserious tone is that the entire story is an emotional flatline. There's no moments that make you sad, no moments that make you happy, nothing that makes you scared or invested. Nothing feels like anything, because everything is a joke.

The season 2 finale of canon is actually really good, it feels like a real challenge with both sides giving it their all. In SL however, the same battle feels about as challenging as a stroll through the park.

I've seen a lot of comedies, and most of them still have a strong emotional core that isn't made into a joke at every turn. So arguing that SL is a comedy doesn't really help.

The problems with this unserious tone run deep, and you will see that as I explore the various characters.

Characters

I don't even like most of the characters in ML, but I could see the absolute downgrade they are in SL.

In general, I just wanted to say this: almost every character in this story is a sarcastic smartass. This makes them rather monotonous and uninteresting. Also very generic considering how common this archetype is these days.

Wait a second. Every serious moment is undermined by a joke, and all the characters are sarcastic smartasses. Was Zoe secretly an MCU writer this entire time?!

Chloé

I figure we should start with the titular Scarlet Lady. I actually think that the idea of a superhero duo where one of them is extremely lazy and unhelpful, but still necessary, is an extremely interesting idea for a dynamic. The problem is, there is no dynamic. Scarlet Lady and Chat Noir have no relationship, they just talk at each other constantly. And the result of this is that basically every interaction is the same: Scar does something selfish, Chat gets mad, rinse and repeat. It could have been interesting to explore different scenarios and ideas with these two, but no they just do the same thing over and over.

There is a pretty big plot hole here once Marigold is introduced. Why don't the heroes just take the Ladybug Miraculous back? It would be rather easy. Well, the explanation is that since Scar is still popular with the public, its best to keep her around for public cooperation and morale. Okay, I can accept that. Except, only a few episodes after this explanation we get "Zombizou", an episode where Scar straight up attacks Marinette in the middle of a battle, which causes Chat to get infected and them to very nearly lose. After that, there is no excuse anymore. Scar is clearly too dangerous to keep around, take her Miraculous now. But no, they actually don't even talk about what happened at all.

One particular episode where I have a problem with how Chloé is treated by the writer is "Silencer". In this episode, Chloé helps Bob Roth and XY with their plagiarism scheme. In canon, she had nothing to do with that. Now, yes, this is a different story and the writer can do whatever she wants. And this also gets Chloé more involved in the story. However, doing this just gives me a feeling that Zoe is blaming Chloé for something she didn't do. I don't know, it's just a vibe.

Anyway, throughout the story Chloé gets worse and worse until it culminates in her working with Hawk Moth and betraying everyone. And what are her consequences for this?

I mean, except for her father making her apologize (offscreen). So ultimately this plot feels like such a letdown. Chloé is the titular character that this fic's whole concept was started by, and yet it ends with her character just fading away with a whimper. What a letdown.

Marinette

This one will be quick. Zoe says that Marinette is her favorite character in ML, but I don't think she understands her at all. Remember what I said about every character being a sarcastic smartass? Well that is most prevalent with Marinette, and that is just fundamentally not who she is as a character. Marinette is someone whose is unabashed in her kindness and compassion. That's why plenty of people like her. If Marinette was in canon like she was in SL, she would be an extremely generic protagonist with almost no fans at all. The only reason anyone likes her in SL is because they relate her to the canon version.

I will say, I do like the idea of her being such a hero at heart that she'll run into danger even without powers. But this is completely diminished by her basically being invincible and having plot armor in her civilian form.

Adrien

Adrien in canon is one of my least favorite characters of all time. And yet, Adrien in SL is even worse. I'd go as far to say he's an anti-character. He has no growth, no arc, and no real personality.

The reason people like Adrien in canon is because they perceive him as someone who is treated very badly by his father and by others, but is still a kind person regardless. Well, in SL it's hard to perceive any poor treatment considering how he's only ever seen disobeying his father. And he's really never done anything kind throughout the entire comic.

Do you know the only reason people like Adrien in SL? Because they see him as who they wanted canon Adrien to become. Someone who can stand up to his father, who is useful in battle, and who doesn't put up with Chloé. But since SL Adrien was that way the entire time, there is no growth at all. Again he piggybacks off of his canon counterpart. If canon Adrien didn't exist, nobody would give a single crap about SL Adrien. None of the traits people liked about him in canon are present, and there is nothing new added to replace it. He is nothing.

Speaking of Adrien and Chloé, isn't it kind of weird that Adrien ended his friendship with her twice? In "Despair Bear" he ends his friendship with her and this is played as a big moment, even though he already basically ended their friendship all the way back in the pilot. There is not a single moment in the entire comic where Adrien treats Chloé like a friend.

As I mentioned earlier, Adrien has no emotional reaction to his mother coming back. In fact, I think it's fair to say that Adrien never loved his parents. And the reason for this is because Zoe hates his parents and she just imposed her feelings onto him, just like most bad fanfic writers do.

In terms of Adrien having no arc, there is one moment I wanted to talk about. During the final battle, he gets a power upgrade when he's talking about how he doesn't understand Hawk Moth's perspective, and he doesn't want to because Hawk Moth is so awful. This moment is played as if it's character growth for Adrien, but I want to ask, in what way? Well, I guess it does make sense because Adrien always gave his father the benefit of the doubt, stuck by Chloé even though she's cruel, and defended Lila. All those things could be considered him trying to understand a bad person. Too bad that none of that happened in SL. Adrien always hated his father, he ended his friendship with Chloé day 1, and he never defended Lila. Zoe was so focused on removing all of Adrien's flaws that she left him with no starting point for this supposed arc. In general, flawed characters are more interesting than perfect ones. Again, the only reason people liked this scene was because they subconsciously associated SL Adrien with canon.

Also, Zoé adds in her headcanon that Emilie was a bad parent. This headcanon only exists because people are incapable of imagining Adrien being anything other than a victim. I call it my "Perpetual Victim Theory". Anyway Zoé just makes up a bunch of random crap that has no basis in canon just to make Adrien more of a victim.

Gabriel

At first, "Scarlet Lady" looks like a Chloé saltfic. Well, that's only partially true. It's actually mainly a Gabriel saltfic. It honestly seems like Zoe hates Gabriel so much that she can barely think when he's involved. Gabriel is always portrayed as a complete moron with absolutely no humanity at all. He honestly seems more like a caricature in a political cartoon rather than an actual character. I actually find it hard to believe that his motivation is to bring back his wife considering how devoid of human emotion he is. Because the main villain of the series is a buffoon who can't be taken seriously, there is never any actual threat or tension. People criticize canon Gabriel for all his bad decisions, which is absolutely fair, but there are at least a few moments where he is genuinely menacing, and some moments where he is human. But writing him that way would require Zoe to let go of her hatred for a few minutes, so that's clearly not an option.

Nathalie

To put it simply Nathalie is a Mary Sue. She's a "girlboss" that does a bunch of horrible things she's not punished for. She can create a sentimonster to solve all the show's problems, she can decode an ancient book without a reference (Some people have defended this by claiming that the book was decoded IRL. IRL it was written in Engish in a different alphabet. That's not true in-universe). She's so much smarter and cooler than everyone else. Mary Sue, plain and simple. Oh, and she hates Gabriel because of course she does. She's a character written by Zoe after all.

In canon, Nathalie has some complexities. She's not great, but she's certainly better than this.

The Male Classmates

I'm just going to say it. Almost every male classmate was character assassinated in "Party Crasher". In canon, Nino lists his female friends to Gorilla and tells him to not let them in the mansion. This is because he assumes that if they find out that they ditched tree planting, they'll stop the boys from hanging out with Adrien. Is it a jerk move to ditch their plans in order to spend time with Adrien and not tell the girls? Yes, but it's understandable and they have limited time with Adrien. In SL, Nino tells Gorilla to keep all girls out of the house, which instantly imposes a sense of underlying misogyny to the situation. Oh, and they let Marc in even though Marc is nonbinary in this story, which implies that the boys went full Royce Du Pont, which is unintentionally hilarious.

I have no idea what motivated Zoe to change the boys from regular flakers to misogynists, maybe she just misunderstood the original episode, but it's still bad. Also, the SL episode goes out of its way to say that Adrien isn't at fault. No, he was completely complicit in the blatant sexism as well. So yeah, pretty much all the boys are instantly made worse by this one episode.

Zoé

In these previous cases, I have been making comparisons to and defending canon characters that I don't even like anymore. But Zoé Lee is my absolute favorite character in Miraculous Ladybug, and I was not happy with how SL handled her.

So a pretty important question right off the bat, how does SL Zoé exist? Zoe said that since canon didn't explain Zoé's existence, neither will she. But the thing is, what is there to explain? Chloé's parents have been married 20 years. Chloé's mother lives in New York, away from her family in Paris. Chloé's mother also has a daughter in New York with another man, much younger than 20-years-old. I don't think it takes a genius to figure out what happened there. But I'll spell it out anyway: extramarital affair. In fact, I think the whole reason the writers of canon made Zoé Chloé's half-sister was to hint why she hadn't been mentioned before: because Audrey was ashamed of her, and Chloé didn't know abut her.

On the other hand, "Scarlet Lady" never mentions Zoé's father, has her refer to Andre as her parent, says Zoé lived in New York, and never implies that Audrey is ashamed of her in any way. How does this make sense? Well, maybe Zoé is the older sibling in SL, and Audrey and Andre met and got married after Audrey was already pregnant, and Zoé's biological father isn't involved in her life. It still seems weird that Zoé was living in New York instead of Paris (why not live with her stepdad that she's close enough to call a parent, and how did they form such a strong relationship long distance?), but this does make most of the situation make sense. Except for one little detail: Why on Earth are Chloé and Zoé only now meeting for the first time? It makes absolutely no sense that their parents would not even tell these two about each other. How was Zoé so close to Andre to call him her parent, but didn't meet her sister until she was a teenager? None of this adds up. And honestly, it seems like after a certain period of time Zoe just straight up forgot that Zoé only arrived recently. In the therapy scenes, she acts like they were always one family. When canon gave Chloé a sister, they gave a reason why nobody knew about her until now. When SL gave Chloé a sister, she just suddenly has one who isn't explained and they act like she was always around. In fact, the only part where they acknowledge her showing up suddenly is when Adrien hasn't heard of her, but SL actually just implies that this is because he was never actually close with Chloé.

Putting all that aside, SL also sucks out everything interesting about Zoé. Gone is her cleverness or willingness to lie for the right reason. In fact, the defining characteristic that SL gives Zoé is that she has no personality. I've seen some people claim that SL had Chloé and Zoé having more of a sisterly bond, but I actually don't believe that Zoé actually loves Chloé. During the final battle, Hawk Moth has basically poisoned Chloé, and for all Zoé knows, it could be fatal. If I were in Zoé's shoes in this situation, I would be furious with Gabriel. But is she? No, she just has the same jokey, ironic disgust towards him that all the characters do. Yeah, this is one of the moments when the comic's insistence to turn everything into a joke hit critical mass. Doing that ends up damaging the characters.

One last thing. In canon, Zoé was pretty cool as Vesperia. She helped out a bunch of times, and she was one of the only heroes to demonstrate unique skills in how she taunted Queen Banana into anger. Not in SL though. Vesperia achieves nothing, she could have been cut out entirely and nothing would change. That actually transitions nicely into my next point.

Because Canon Did It Too

Zoe has said that she wants to keep the lore consistent with the show. Even though she didn't like the name "Venom" for that power, she kept it for consistency purposes. I can respect this idea, but there are multiple parts of this story that would have just been better if it diverged.

For one thing, having 19 Miraculouses and as many superpowered characters. I can understand why canon did this: because they clearly want the show to go on forever and they want as many characters as possible to fill that time. SL on the other hand was only planned to last a certain number of episodes, and yet Zoe crammed in as many heroes as the original did. This leads to a lot of time setting up these characters that leads to nothing, because they're all barely in the finale and contribute basically nothing. It would have been so much better to simply limit it to the 7 main Miraculouses, that's so much more manageable.

Another thing is the Rabbit Miraculous and time travel. Zoe acknowledged how OP it is and how it can instantly solve the conflict. She might not want to change its power because of her lore rule, but if she had just ignored its existence entirely, that would have been totally acceptable. But no, the final battle has Master Fu using the Rabbit Miraculous, which instantly makes the stakes even lower than they already were. It wasn't even necessary, Master Fu is shown to be faster than he looks, he could have just delivered the Miraculouses the normal way. Oh, and there's also the fact that Zoe looked at the insanely OP Rabbit Miraculous and said "That's not OP enough." She also gave it the power to teleport to other universes. To be clear, this completely contradicts canon. ML is not the MCU, alternate universes are not alternate timelines. Changes to the timeline just overwrite the old one, and you can use the Rooster Miraculous, not the Rabbit, to visit other universes. So yeah, despite Zoe saying she wants lore consistency, SL actually doesn't fit into the Miraculous multiverse that canon established.

Also, let's talk about the romance. Like canon, there's a love square that doesn't get together until way later. But it seems like Zoe forgot about an important rule of romance: if the characters aren't together yet, why not? In SL Marinette and Chat clearly like each other, and unlike canon's Ladrien, they talk quite a bit. So why don't they get together? Canon actually has a really great episode "Elation" where Adrien decides that he can't date a civilain as a superhero if she doesn't know his identity. But nothing even like this is remotely acknowledged in SL (Sidenote: The writing of "Elation" is better than the entirety of SL). Also, Adrien doesn't confess for most of SL, I assume because Marinette didn't confess in canon, but this is just so out of character for Adrien. He's not the kind of person to hold his feelings back. In canon, he confessed to Marinette only a few episodes after he started liking her. He claims that he doesn't want to date until Hawk Moth is defeated, but then he starts dating her before he's defeated, so this is a BS excuse.

When Chloé snaps away her sentimonster, Zoe copies the line "How could you?!" from "Ladybug" in canon. This is a completely soulless copy though, because that episode made it clear that Sentibug was sentient, and Chat Noir was genuinely angry in this moment. None of that same substance applies to SL, it's just a meaningless copy of a better scene.

In canon "Reflekdoll", Adrien and Marinette are modeling her designs, and they take their Miraculouses off in order to wear the earrings and ring she made. When Reflekdoll attacks, they try to get their Miraculouses back but end up switching them. In SL "Reflekdoll", Marinette and Adrien are wearing each other's Miraculouses during the photoshoot for no discernable reason. Both versions have a Miraculous swap, but the original earned it and SL absolutely did not.

Zoe and Thomas Astruc are on the Same Wavelength

Zoe has made it clear that she's not a fan of ML's creator, Thomas Astruc. And yet many of her ideas ended up being the same as his.

In both Canon and SL, Chloé publicly commits a bunch of serious crimes, but faces no legal consequences. Instead, she is taken to another country where she can resume her life as a rich brat because she's learned absolutely nothing. Yeah, Chloé's ending in both is basically the same.

In the season 5 finale of canon, there's this huge fight between the side characters and an evil army. This fight has absolutely nothing to do with the actual important fight between Bug Noire and Monarch, so the side characters are completely wasted. In the final battle of SL, the other superheroes contribute nothing and are completely wasted. Chat Noir basically took care of Hawk Moth all by himself. So both finales involve wasted side characters that should have just stayed home. Less time would have been wasted.

Zoe actually says that she added Marinette calling out Gabriel in response to the canon finale. This is absolutely hilarious considering it's still Marinette calling out Gabriel, which basically did happen in the canon finale. Adrien still just stood there and didn't say a word!

Conclusion

"Scarlet Lady" is absolutely worse than canon Miraculous Ladybug. And I think there are a lot of lessons to learn here.

First, don't be so angry and hateful. Zoe basically ruined any possibility of a decent ending simply because her hatred of Gabriel made it impossible to write him like an actual person or a good villain.

Second, any story written in bitterness or spite will be bad. That might not be totally true, I haven't read every story. But I feel that every fanfic I read where the author clearly hates a character has everyone behaving OOC and the story being meanspirited and bad.

Third, don't be arrogant. Just because you can recognize flaws in a story doesn't mean you can do better. Maybe just make some posts calling out those flaws.

Fourth, the way to fix a bad character is not to simply remove all their flaws. Acknowledge those flaws and do something with them.

Fifth, while fanfics do often build off of the original, they can't depend on elements from the original when they contradict those elements. Again, the only reason people like SL Marinette and Adrien is because they associate them with the originals, even though their personalities do no match up.

All in all, I think the world and characters of "Scarlet Lady" will be forgotten only a week after its over. There is no actual substance to them. The only purpose of this fic was to bash somebody else's story, and yet it ended up being so much worse than canon in almost every way.

[fabseg-creator]

Lilanette: Bad Romance

This is the sequel of the Lilanette from the Cerisette previous post.

Marinette and Lila are going to kill each other instead of kiss each other. Mari has a gun and Lila has a knife. What happened to the two archenemies ?

Flashback:

Marinette has a date with Cerise since the beginning of high school (Post-season 5). They hang out together.

One day, Cerise spend the time with Marinette and she wears familiar clothes.

First time, Marinette nearly believed she was seeing Lila (her nemesis from the François Dupont collège) in front of her.

Another day, Cerise joins Marinette for a bike ride but her eyes were olive instead of hazel. That confuses Marinette.

When Cerise has got green eyes ? Aren't supposed to be hazel ?

Marinette is going to have doubts about Cerise and she has a bad feeling about that. Cerise looks too familiar.

With the help of Tikki, Marinette spies her 'girlfriend' and finds out Cerise is in fact Lila Rossi. The latter has multiple identities, multiple disguises and she still lies to every person she interacts with.

Present:

It's time for the confrontation. The two girls hold their respective weapons.

Marinette: Do you planify to try to destroy my life again, 'Lila' ?!

Lila/Cerise: I tried to change for you and it's not a lie, Marinette. But I has always been aware our romance would be impossible.

Marinette: By manipulating other people under multiple disguises, under fake identities. I've underestimated you, Cerise: You are really more insane than I had imagined.

Cerise: And lying to everyone by telling Gabriel Agreste has died as an hero ? That's a good example from you, Ladybug.

Marinette: I noticed you the fact you are Chrysalis, the new Butterfly villainess.

Cerise: I would have liked our romance could last longer but it's endgame. The time has come to end this once and all, my Lady.

I will let you imagine how to end this Lilanette story.

My personal reaction:

More Cerisette posts here

[ambipotent]

idk what to do with my croissant png anymore

[celestiall0tus]

Unifications in Bloody Bug

Alright, let's crack into this.

Unifications in Bloody Bug are fusions of kwamis, powers, concept, and tools. Unlike the show where it's something like Pegabug who is basically just thr ladybug and horse mixed together and she gets both powers. That won't be what's going on here.

A pair of examples:

Now, here we have Blood Reaper and Resplendent Queen.

The tools became something of a fusion. Blood Reaper's yoyo and flute became a wind harp while Resplendent Queen's fan and pen became a calligraphy brush.

The powers are fusions with Blood Reaper being able to cast hallucinations, illusions that looks, sound, and feels real, while Resplendent Queen will have something more along the lines of either sharing emotions, feeling emotions, or both.

The animals will be... an interesting rule and where I'll pull a touch from Steven Universe. If two of the same species, like two birds like with Resplendent Queen, the fusion will be a bird too. In Blood Reaper's case, something entirely new was created. In addition to that is I'm running this as they don't create that kwami, but a variation.

Remember this scene:

I'll be running off this idea as the fusions aren't the actual kwami. So, Blood Reaper isn't THE crow miraculous, but a crow. Same with Resplendent Queen that she's not THE quetzal miraculous, but a quetzal.

This is mostly due to me wanting to continue this into season 6 (once we're graced with it) and should they introduce any new miraculous with animals I've used in fusions.

Other things to know:

Unifications are possible once a holder consumes an upgrade potion, making Bloody Bug the only one capable of unifications at this point in time.

Unifications allow the holder to use their power for however many kwamis are in the fusion, up to five.

Unifications with 2-3 kwamis will result in mundane animals, 4 will be a mythical creature, while 5 will result in an Eldritch creature (earning the title Amalgamation like Velze)

That is all for now. Will add more when it comes up.

[doodlegirl12345]

Doodle’s Anthology: Winter Things {3/3}

Last but certainly not least as it’s common knowledge that sometimes the best things come in threes. Hello my Miraculous Lovelies, this is the last part of my first set of anthology entries. If you have read the previous parts I hope you enjoyed it. If this is your first time encountering one of these parts then welcome.

This is the last installment and other parts links will be provided below. Due to all the entries length I had broken up into three sections and will place links below to make everything easier here:

Section 1. Section 2. Section 3.

I hope you enjoy what I have been working on. So let’s continue with the third story: Winter Check In.

Winter Check In

Theme: Winter Things

Winter, just like any season, has many of its gifts that do not last forever. Time marches on no matter the placement of the year. Within the air, a wintery chill still permeated throughout the formerly snow draped Paris. For the past couple days, layers of snow began to dissolve little by little. Only a few spots appeared to be untouched. A natural closure to one of life’s many chapters.

Tonight, the city was gifted with a starless sky leading its glow to become a guiding light for those above it. Night had fallen quickly, like a thick stage curtain. A little cover was given to a certain black cat. However, this was no mere cat, instead it was Astrocat: the flying suit version of Chat Noir. He glided through the air while carrying a filled brown paper shopping bag by the handles. Each second that passed his mind continued to become more and more within a stir.

He wondered about the relevance of tonight. It wasn’t like he had seen her yesterday when plans could’ve been verified. It was all based on the assumption. Something he had learned multiple times was not always the best indicator of the truth. His curiosity had peaked about the state of everything. But he would rather have pure intentions rather than retreat due to the fear of looking foolish.

A few moments went by as the airborne feline passed over a few blocks taking advantage of switching from his usual tread on the rooftops. Astrocat had learned that lesson this time last year after slipping on an unsuspecting patch of ice. Almost falling off the rooftop in the street during the process. Once he had gotten close to his destination the cat made his descent, swooping down before landing. His boots hit against the gray wooden floors of the lavish rooftop patio before scanning the area. Not much had changed since the previous month that he was here. Two gray L-shaped couches still sat parallel to each other.

Although this time they were covered with about ten winter themed pillows each and thick fluffy gray blankets. Replacing the autumn themed pillows and macaroon blankets from the previous visit. Between the couches was an built in gray wooden table with a rustic black tray that had an array of lit plastic LED tea lights. The patio’s safety railing around the perimeter was wrapped with white string lights giving the patio a snowy glow look. In the middle of the table was a long flat rectangular box wrapped in blue and white snowflake wrapping paper, tied with silvery ribbons.

Nestled between the ribbons and the wrapped box was a white notecard with red ink scribble across it. The cat picked it up reading the words:

Hey, I got your note and gift. Here’s a late holiday gift for the both of you. Thanks for everything.

Sincerely,

-Ms. M

He couldn’t help but smile before placing the card back between the box and the ribbon. After reverting back to his default suit, Chat Noir started to unpack. He pulled out of the brown shopping bag a few plastic food storage containers that consisted of pretzels, crackers, pre-sliced cheddar cheese and grapes. Before taking out a box of assorted winter themed sugar cookies. Plastic wrap was peeled off the large black thermos of hot chocolate in the cat’s hand as he had sat it on the table with the others. Followed by a can of whipped cream and a bag of mini marshmallows. The pang of worry still ran through as he pulled out a bag of disposable to-go coffee cups.

It had been nearly two weeks since he had seen her.

But before the burden of this thought could leave much impact, his cat ears perked up. A familiar zipping sound filled the perimeter. Followed by a soft thump behind him. Chat Noir turned around to greet the familiar presence behind him.

Ladybug.

The cat smiled as his worries had been dispelled. “Hey Ladybug.”

“Hi Chat,” the bug greeted while wrapping the yoyo around her waist. “It’s been a bit. How are you?”

“I’m fine. But I’ll admit that I was wondering if you were going to show up.”

“And miss our monthly check in? At this point it’s better to assume that something horrible happened to me before I willingly flake on you. But maybe I shouldn’t tempt fate like that.”

“Agree. I know that it’s just been almost two weeks since Shadow Moth has done anything. But it did not stop me from missing one of my closest friends.”

Ladybug gave a gentle smile. “I missed you too.”

“Yeah, there’s nothing like going without the fun of several near death experiences and violent explosions for over a week to make the heart grow fonder.”

“Leave it to you to say that’s fun. You’re always been the risk taker between the two of us. And that’s saying something.”

“What can I say, it’s part of my charm.”

“I thought you had said it was telling jokes?”

“Well, that too.”

“Is that all for us?” the bug asked while her eyes lingered over the table.

“Yep after the stuff you bought last month,” he told her. “It’s only fair that I stepped up.”

“It wasn’t that much,” she waved her hand nonchalantly. “It’s just the stuff I had put together that night. It would’ve been better if I didn’t have other commitments.“

”So you don’t think the Christmas tree cupcakes, the eggnog, peanut butter fudge, chocolate chip cookies and that cracker candy wasn’t a lot? Not that I’m complaining.”

“Well, that was the holidays. It’s never been a competition.”

“You still raised the bar but before I forget,” the cat reached over to pick up the wrapped box. “Look what I found when I got here.”

Ladybug looked over the box in his hand reading the card. “Aww from Ms. Marseille. She must’ve liked the flowers that we left last time for a thank you for letting us use this place. Do you know what it is?”

“Nope,” Chat Noir shook his head. “I was waiting for you.”

Both of the heroes started to undo the ribbons and tear at the wrapping paper to reveal a white box with a brown cursive font : Houde’s Assorted Chocolate Sampler.

“A box of chocolate,” Ladybug announced. “From the size I’m going to guess that there are about fifty to one hundred chocolates in here.”

“That’s sweet,” Chat Noir smiled.

“Pun intended?” Ladybug asked.

The cat’s eyes widened, completely baffled. “Actually no, but that was so oblivious. Why didn’t I think that? Wow, I haven’t been out of the suit that long and I’m already rusty.”

“As long as your fighting skills aren’t rusty, the bug plucked the card from the wrapping paper pile. “You’ll be okay.”

This had no intention of this becoming a habit, meeting up like this. It had started a few months ago when Chat Noir had noticed his partner suffering from another round of serve burnout. Instead of her liveliness she could be easily described as weary, stressed and paranoid. He had tried to approach the topic a few times as time sailed by but it seemed that she became more and more sealed off. However, there was one attack that made all his concerns impossible to ignore. It seemed that day Ladybug was suffering from a creative block as she was struggling to find a use for her lucky charm.

Their time crunch had almost become disastrous as their opponent had geared up for his final attack while his partner’s timer was running out. Instinctively, Chat Noir snatched the cinderblock from her hand and chucked it at the villain knocking him out. Before pushing the bug into a nearby alleyway to prevent her from revealing her identity. Crisis was averted but clearly something had to be done for the benefit of everyone. So the same night instead of doing patrol he led her to the patio so they could talk. This wasn’t an intervention but to have a conversation partner to partner, friend to friend.

Ladybug admitted that multiple people in her personal life had already asked the same thing. She had still been reeling from losing Master Fu and stumbling through not only her guardian duties atop of everything else on her plate. That she had been feeling like a lost soul. After their discussion, it felt nice to bring those feelings out in the open. The next patrol night Ladybug had given him a bag of chocolate chip cookies as a thank you. This became a pattern of them meeting up and talking. At first, it seemed this was a way for his partner to air out some grievances.

Eventually it had gotten to the point of becoming therapeutic for the both of them. Chat Noir had opened up about a few things himself. Not having the fear of what he would say would tarnish the Agreste brand. Or even worse, it somehow got back to his father. It had turned into a monthly custom coming here with permission from the apartment building’s owner Ms. Marseille. Chat Noir had met and struck a deal with her a few months ago after falling asleep on the patio due to exhaustion.

The heroes communicated with her through a string of notes, giving her as little information as possible for everyone’s safety. If she fell under Shadow Moth’s influence there would not be not much to tell. The point of this was not about romance although a version of himself from not so long ago would have jumped at the opportunity. Instead things had changed, starting with his partner’s unceremonious shift to guardian.

“So…do you think he’s hibernating?” questioned Chat Noir as he sat on one of the couches. He had finished up the sugar cookie he was eating in one hand while holding a cup of hot chocolate in the other.

Ladybug looked up from the cup of hot chocolate in her hand. She had wrapped herself in one of the fluffy blankets. “Who…wait are you talking about Shadow Moth?”

“Well we haven’t heard from him since a few days before the snowstorm,” he said. “Maybe that’s why we haven’t heard from him lately.”

“It’s not like he’s a bear, Chat. If he was it would be some shapeshifter bear,” she told him. “We have seen him in person multiple times and he looks human.”

“You seem to be forgetting that we live in a world where magic beings can grant people superpowers through jewelry. That with one word I can automatically destroy whatever I touch. You can fix millions of euros of property damage and heal the injured by a magical swarm of ladybugs.”

Her eyes shifted to the side. “Well, when you put it like that.”

The cat’s lips spread into a smirk. “So a shapeshifting bear doesn’t sound so crazy now, does it?”

Ladybug shook her head. “I don’t know if I can accept that without legitimate proof. Even if you might be right. Remember the last time that I had jumped to conclusions. Does Gabriel Agreste ring a bell?”

Chat Noir’s smirk tightened into a lip bite. “Yeah…it’s good we realized it was a dead end before accusing him. He definitely would’ve taken offense.”

“Who wouldn’t? It’s not like it’s a compliment. I thought it made sense at the time. But the truth is it really could be anybody and that is what makes it scary.”

“Have you ever considered that it could be someone that we actually know?”

“It has crossed my mind a few times,” the bug took a slip of her hot chocolate. “I also would have passed him on the street. My earrings could be taken anytime if he knew. It would become the beginning of the end. There was even a moment when I thought it was.”

“Wait really? When did this happen?”

“A few weeks ago. It turned out to be a false alarm so that’s why I didn’t bring it up sooner. I wouldn’t have kept it from you if it was serious.”

“Can you still tell me?“

“Sure, I went to that popular burger shop downtown with my friends. When it was my turn to order and pay, the cashier who looked around his forties asked me where I got my earrings. I just froze, since no one really comments on them.”

“What happened next?”

“It turns out that he was asking because his daughter’s birthday was in a couple weeks and thought they would be a nice gift for her. I told him that they were a family heirloom. I directed him to the Sparkle Boutique across the street as they sell a lot of pretty earrings. After I got my food I stayed close to my friends making sure I couldn’t be caught alone, just in case. Nothing came out of it but…”

“You can be too careful?” the cat finished her sentence.

“Exactly, after all we’ve been through,” the bug sighed. “All that we had lost… there is no such thing as being too careful.”

There was a beat of silence between them, for the oblivious.

“I know how you felt, a while back after getting my ring my father noticed and asked about it.”

“What did you say?”

“Something along the lines of was the only thing that he noticed about me. It’s been a while since it happened.”

“What about things with your dad? You mentioned last time we did this you were concerned about the holidays with him after an incident the previous year.”

“Things were fine, we had a holiday party. He was actually pretty involved in the planning. Something that he had never really done before.”

“How was the party?”

“It was fun but it didn’t go off without a hitch. Behind the scenes some of the presents had gotten switched around. So I fixed that before the gift exchange. The caterers came late so we had to eat later than planned. Luckily, there were snacks to tie people over until the food got there. However I had heard nothing but good things from my friends so it seemed that no one but us noticed.“

“That’s a relief right?”

“Yeah. But since then he has been nothing but closed off. I guess his work has spiked up after the holidays as he mostly stays in his office. There’s nothing much to report besides that.”

“Was it at least better than the previous year? From the tiny bit that you had told me it was pretty bad. Not only that but we also had to fight Santa Claws.”

“It was. Honestly, I was expecting to slip out at least once that night. I was surprised that I didn’t. Maybe Shadow Moth was able to spend time with some family or friends. Those poor souls.”

“Chat-“

“What? Considering all that he had done. Do you think that he’s a good friend? A nice uncle, a sweet grandson or a generous father? I don’t think someone like that can keep all that evilness in until putting on a mask.”

“It’s possible, don’t think that I’m defending him. I’m not, but it’s also possible that he was hiding in plain sight. A lot of people put on facades to hide their wrongdoings. For all we know he might be one of the sweetest seeming people around.”

“What would happen if it was someone you knew.”

“Huh?”

“When we eventually unmask Shadow Moth, what would you do if it’s someone that you know?”

“It depends on who it is. If it was someone that I liked or respected. I would be deeply disappointed especially if we were close. Or the only way that I know them is because they’re close because of someone like a friend. That would hurt.”

“What if it was someone you didn’t like?”

“It certainly will be a lot easier. Depending on who it is, everything might suddenly make sense. Either way the outcome would be the same. I can’t let that slide and they need to be punished for their crimes.”

“Even if it’s someone that you know?”

“All the damage and harm that’s been done doesn’t suddenly vanish because he was one of my school teachers or a friend of my parents. I already gave someone a second chance against my better judgment and we both know how that turned out.”

The cat’s eyes shifted to the side, aware of what his partner was alluding to. After the events of Miracle Queen and the fallout from it. It had made him question the legitimacy of second chances when it comes to this area.

“I’m not saying that people shouldn’t give others second chances. But I learned from what happened after the Miracle Queen incident to be more selective with them. In my opinion, Shadow Moth shouldn’t be allowed not to face any consequences for what he did. Why? Are you trying to tell me something?”

Chat Noir shook his head. “No, lately it’s just I’ve been wondering what could happen when we get to that point.”

“It probably won’t be happening for a good while.”

“How do you know?”

“Based on what we learned during the Time Tagger attack. It’s clear that we are going to be doing this for the next couple years.”

“That actually doesn’t sound so bad. Who wouldn’t want to be a hero for the next couple years.”

Ladybug seemed to slightly flinch. “So what about you? What would you do?”

“About what?”

“We haven’t really talked about this much as we don’t know how the scenario is going to play out. There’s a possibility that you might have to make the decision in retrieving the butterfly miraculous, alone.”

“Alone? What about you?”

“It’s not like I’m going to try not to show up. But depending on the situation. I might not be able to do it. So, what would you do if Shadow Moth is someone that you know? You think that you can put your feelings aside?”

“Of course,” he spoke brazenly before faltering. “I mean…I like to think that I would be. If not, that would mean what I’ve been doing for over a year would be for nothing.”

“It wouldn’t be for nothing. The city had been saved multiple times by us. Many times I would’ve been in danger if you hadn’t been there with me. You had stepped up the day I had trouble figuring out my lucky charm. So don’t base your worth on something that hasn’t happened yet.”

“You’re not the first person that has said something like that to me. But you’re right. I feel the same way as you. Shadow Moth has done so much for him not to face any consequences. How many times have we almost died because of him?”

“About two hundred and fifty times.”

Chat Noir’s eyes widened. “You actually counted?”

“Well…it’s a rough estimate,” Ladybug admitted. “So take it with a grain of salt. But I do have a knack when it comes to keeping records. Remember, I’m the one who put together the villain database for the reserve heroes.”

“Based on that fact alone, I would rather it be a stranger. That’s easier than knowingly fighting who I thought was good, at least deep down. But again, maybe it was fate for me to be picked to do this if that is the case. If it’s true then it’s really my responsibility to bring them in. At least that won’t have to be for the next couple years, luckily.”

“You didn’t seem bothered about still having to do this for the next couple years.”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? Are you?”

Ladybug bit her lip before putting the cup in her hands on the table, like she was stalling. “I should just say it. Especially since I recently had a discussion about not swallowing my feelings with important stuff like this.”

“With who? Was it Guitar Strings, Sneakers, Cap, Glasses…”

“Wow, when you list my friends’ fake names like that. It sounds like my whole social circle is made of things you find in a scavenger hunt.”

“You were the one that picked them for privacy. Which is fair as I don’t know anyone named Hand Sanitizer.”

The bug chuckled softly. “That’s why I chose it. But…I don’t like the uncertainty of it all. Naturally things are going to change in a few years. So what else that I might have to give up because I’m Ladybug? Even not hearing from Shadow Moth kinda has me on edge.”

“Really? I figured you of all people would have enjoyed the break.”

“I do, it’s nice to have a couple days off. To be able to rest and not rush through everything so I can drop it at a moment’s notice. But it gives me this uneasy feeling that this break is because he’s planning something big. I don’t plan to leave Paris hanging. It’s just the uncertainty that gets me. How does it not get to you?”

“It’s probably because of the life that I had. Before getting this ring I never had many choices. There were many times I wanted to get away from it. Where everything had been planned for me without my input. The next thing that I knew there was a random box in my room.”

“So it gave you a chance.”

“Exactly, for the longest time that I thought that would be enough. It wasn’t until recently that I realized there’s more than that. The problems don’t disappear once I put on the mask. In fact, more happens because of it. But me becoming Chat Noir was one of the few choices that I solely made on my own. So I would rather sit with uncertainty knowing it’s my decision rather than going back to structure without choices.”

“I never thought of it like that.”

“You don’t have to see it the same way. Those are my personal reasons. You just have to find your own way to make peace with the situation.”

“Hopefully I will, someday.”

Seconds ticked by, as the two looked at each other with a new understanding with each other. The type couldn’t be achieved without taking heed of one another.

“Whoa, things got super heavy all of a sudden,” the cat quipped, breaking the silence. “So how about we lighten the mood a bit? I didn’t come here today just for the heart to heart confessions.”

“Really?” Ladybug raised a brow, almost if she sensed the direction her partner was trying to lead them. “What else did you come for then?”

Chat Noir reached forward grabbing the brown shopping bag on the table. He pulled out a deck of playing cards bound by a rubber band. “We have a score to settle.”

A smirk spread on the bug’s face. “You mean the score where I had beaten you 30-19 in cards?”

“That’s the one,” a competitive spark gleamed in his eyes. “You in?”

“Only if we can open up the box of chocolates from Ms. Marseille to share,” Ladybug bargained.

“Deal,” Chat Noir undid the rubber band. “By the way, nineteen isn’t so bad against a strategist like you. Have you ever considered that all this time I have been luring you into a false sense of security?”

“Well, let’s see. I’m always glad when we get to hang out like this. So you pick the game especially since you brought the snacks.”

“How about… the game of pure strategy,” the cat shuffled the cards. “But I must warn you that I have been practicing since the last time we played.”

“Bring it on,” the bug dared. “You’re not the only one around here who isn’t afraid of a challenge.”

“Good, I was waiting for this all week,” Chat Noir started to deal the cards. “There’s nothing better than checking in with a friend.”

It’s a suitable way to keep the light fading in the overwhelming darkness.

The End.

Thanks for reading! 😊

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

I hope you enjoy all the stories that I have written. I thought this was a nice story to have Ladybug and Chat Noir just simply talking like good friends. I have noticed in my recent works I didn’t have them really socialize. They interacted but it’s more like here what we do to reach our mission statement. So I had to fix that. They’re still talking about hero stuff but it’s in a more relaxed environment.

This story is also available on Wattpad.

Since this is the final part, will do the closing statements here. If you are reading this the day it was originally posted then you are aware that today is Saturday. After posting my previous story Promise? on Saturday. I realized that I like posting on that day gives me more time to put everything together. So my official post day will now be Saturday.

At least for now. Another change is I have decided to do once a month posting. I’m going to face big changes in my personal life soon. And while I don’t want to give up posting, it seems more fair for everybody to just post once a month. This way each story can get the proper time it deserves without me being overwhelmed by prior commitments. Readers won’t get large gaps between content.

I will still be on the platform reading and appreciating other people’s posts. But posting myself will be a once a month period now. For those who have been following me all this time. I really appreciate your patience and support.

The song for this week is “Winter Sound” by Of Monster and Men. I believe it gives an all encompassing feel of all three stories.

See you next time. 👋

[bowser14456]

The girls and me @ Chloé/Scarlet Lady:

You think you'll be recognized, Marinette? You really think so?

Episode 48 Part 7 First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47

Ko-fi | Patreon

[mukharnews]

सांसद मनोज तिवारी जी की जीत पर विधायक मोहन सिंह बिष्ट बोले | Mla Mohan Singh | Mukhar News

[starsfic]

Summaries:

When Bill brings back Stan for Ford after his sudden death, Ford is unsure whether or not Stan was brought back correctly. Would he even be able to tell with the years between them? (Spoilers, yes he is, his bullshit meter is just on.)

There is a thirst account for Qi Xiaotian, the Monkie Kid, and there is a thirst account for Red Son. Both men run the other account secretly, admitting their dirtiest fantasies about their rival to Twitter. And then Xiaotian slips up. Smut.

AU where to promote his garage chain, Wukong recruits his nephew Red to be a sexy model in the ads. Qi Xiaotian's YouTube recommendations are suddenly full of this one garage chain's ads.

The celebration of his and Penelope's anniversary is chaotic enough on its own, with it being the first anniversary in a long while. Adding the goddesses of love and marriage into the mix, plus your patron and your ancestor makes it even more chaotic.

Smut AU, where Shadowmane is going through a very rough patch in their marriage and, separately, ends up starting an affair with cute next-door neighbor Sun Wukong. Wukong is just assuming that they're poly and is excited for threesomes eventually.

Ghost AU where Chimera finds themselves the marriage counselors of Lionpeach- Azure killed Wukong and wants to win him back. Wukong just wants their drama to not affect the cute newlyweds.

AU where Sun Wukong is a new guard of the Jade Palace. It's a little weird that it seems like he's the only guard and he can't remember how he got the job, but it's fine. The emperor, Azure, hangs around a lot.

AU spin-off of Ladybug, where Sabine calls PIF to help her get revenge on the school. Marinette's whole expulsion was done improperly and reeks of issues that need some...discussion.

TMNT, my incarnation: In the wake of learning about Splinter's real identity, Leo and Raph struggle with deciding on how to handle it. (Or, according to @stylishbutdefinitelyillegal, Hamato Saki earns the Worst Uncle award.)

TMNT, my incarnation: After learning that Hamato Yoshi is their human DNA, Mikey sneaks to an art auction of Yoshi's work and ends up learning a bit more about Baron Draxum.

The anniversary of the founding of Frankie's cereal is coming up, and with the sudden boom in popularity, Frankie is determined to make it great, even with all the cartoon-y and horrific antics that the cast gets up to.

[emzurl]

The ML Office AU: Kid Mime Arc will Premiere July 30 at 3:00PM EDT on Youtube!

Come join me this Sunday for the premiere of the entire seventh arc of the ML Office AU series 🎉 The premiere page is up HERE, so set yourself a reminder. If you can’t make it, the video will be available afterwards for viewing at anytime!

Please be aware that this arc’s runtime is 20 minutes.

Need to catch up? Here are links to the previous arcs:

Arc 1 | Arc 2 | Arc 3 | Arc 4 | Arc 5 | Arc 6

[va-draws]

I'm just catching up with the fanfic and I just want to say. This clip has been paying on loop on the back my mind the hole time

Also great fic bugga, i already want to punch a hole on my wall (affectionate)

chapter 7 is up! we're at the halfway mark now!

[fabseg-creator]

Miraculous fan-ship: "Lovepentagon" (Marinette/Ladybug+Cerise/Lila/Chrysalis)

I've redrawn the Lovepentagon/Hatepentagon (between Marinette/Ladybug and Lila/Cerise/Chrysalis).

Marinette/Ladybug and Lila are enemies (until Cerise ceases to play her Lila role after her exposure)

Marinette and Cerise are friends but Marinette had doubts about Cerise while Cerise has a "crush" on Marinette

Marinette sees Chrysalis as a public danger for Paris

Cerise/Chrysalis seems to be "polyamorous" towards both Marinette and Ladybug (spoiler: she's aware the latters are the same person)

Ladybug and Chrysalis have Frenemy relations. Meanwhile, Ladybug keeps an eye on Chrysalis for make her become a superheroin while Chrysalis tries to corrupt Ladybug.

The name for this ship: Cerisette.

Alternate name(s): Lilanette, Chrysabug, Chrysanette, Ceribug, Ladycerise, Lilabug, Cerinette, Marise

The original post here

Bonus:

I've found this song as I've taken it as anthem

[iamsosmaug]

Miraculous Fic Recs

Recently I've been complaining a lot on the internet how sucky the recent seasons of ML have been, and how much better the old fanfics are; I'm going to prove my point by sharing my tried-and-true rec list. Here we go.

Back To Us - Written in 2017, so some things are inaccurate. Basically Marinette, as Ladybug, kills Gabriel Agreste on accident by pushing him off the Eiffel Tower and Adrien moves to Milan. Seven years later Marinette is a rising fashion designer, her long-lost partner comes back seven years later but hot, and a new Hawkmoth shows up on the very day Adrien comes back. Suspicious. INCLUDES: Antihero!Chat. Alternate superhero names for Alya, Nino + there are only seven miraculouses which honestly I like a lot better than Ladybug just busting another one out whenever she feels like it. At one point, it was the longest fic in the fandom but now it's not even close. 446k. Requires an Ao3 account to read.

Second Chances- Again, written fairly early in the fandom. Adrien is a single dad and Alya volunteers Marinette to be his daughter's nanny - the premise sounds like it could turn out really weird but I promise it's not. Adorable adorable. INCLUDES: Past ChloexAdrien and MarinettexNathanael, and Adrien never went to school. Reverse best friends (Alya + Adrien, Mari + Nino). 105k.

Whose Woods These Are (I Think I Know) - Ladrien Cinderella AU. Super well-written in a kind of fairytale style. I honestly love this fic. 105k.

Spotty Connections - Adrienette texting fic (no miraculous AU, but does incorporate LadyNoir). Tikki & Plagg are M&A's cats. One of my favorites ever. 66k.

Film It - Adrien is a youtuber! Soon all of Twitter ships #adrienette. INCLUDES: Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting. Endgame Adrienette. Superheroes exist, but LB & CN aren't a huge part of this. Also worthy of note: #thatfoursome and a decent amount of Twitter formatting. This has pretty much everything I want in an Adrienette fic. 56k.

Chasing The C/h/atwalk - Project Runway AU. Marinette is a designer and Adrien... is her model. Shenanigans ensue. INCLUDES: Some LadyNoir, mostly after the identity reveal. #MarinetteInDenial. 100k. I love this fic.

Lucky Us - No Miraculous email AU. See Spotty Connections: LadyNoir incorporated without the actual superheroes. Fluff with a tiny bit of angst but still happy ending. 136k.

Secret Santa - fluff. Pure fluff; classic in the fandom. A bit cheesy and very outdated but very nice. Time for a reread. It has a sequel called New Year's Ball. 52k.

Être Majeur - horror, AU, fairly short, creepy and strange but really well-written. 24k. M for horror elements.

La Pucelle Et La Coccinelle - Absolute favorite. Explores Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc in this story) with the Ladybug Miraculous. INCLUDES: Actual historical references, lore for the miraculouses, and a flashforward to the future at the end with Marinette. 38k. I have it printed out, I love it so much.

Pray For the Children You Lost Along the Way - Silent Hill AU (Emilie Anderson from the arcade game is Adrien's mom). It has been on hiatus since 2019, but is still worth a read because so many things tie together in a satisfying way. 86k. Rated M b/c of Silent Hill-type things.

Under Lock and Key - Huge classic also published on Wattpad. Author/artist collab with Maerynn & EdenDaphne - Maerynn passed away while the fic was being written and ED finished it. Very nice art by ED. I view this fic as the quintessential 2017 era Adrienette fic. Very sweet and fluffy. 34k.

Tripped at Fencing - Gabriel hits Adrien. INCLUDES: Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting. Accidental identity reveal (Marinette finds out first). Only 5k but a classic.

The Butterfly and Her Brother series (Generations Past and Future) - written c. 2016. Gabriel is NOT Hawkmoth; Gabriel is not a villian in the least so technically OOC. First couple are set in the 1990s, then a couple in ~2016 and the latest in like 2044. I haven't read the last one in the series but WHATHGAWAATG (Europe gets taken over), featuring the next gen of Agrestes, is really good as well. Many things are outdated/false as this was written based off of s1, but I honestly like this interpretation of the Miraculous much better than how the show does it. Mama Agreste's name is Adele (again, s1) and I quite like her character. I freaking LOVE this series. I have it downloaded to my phone and I reread it when I'm feeling sad. 340k in total, but the longest work in the series is about 166k. SO many kudos.

a fight that you were born to lose - "Adrien finds out that Gabriel is Hawkmoth, and Gabriel gets to bring his long-waited plan into action." TW abuse, emotional manipulation, forced dieting. Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting. Fairly short for how well-rounded it is - 17k.

An Impromptu Proposal - what it says on the tin. Reverse love square kinda: Ladynoir requited love bc Adrien never went to school. Includes identity reveal and Hawkmoth!Lila takedown. 33k.

On The Prowl - Criminal CN. Also on ffn.net. Good story and TOTALLY a classic, but also uses 'ravenette' and 'sapphire orbs' unironically. The writing is okay if a little melodramatic. 53k.

Chat Noir's White French Man Hit List For Feminist Purposes - pretty much what it says on the tin. Sentimonster!Adrien. 7.8k.

i think it's time i told you (i'm a fan of your universe) - ladynoir proposal. v v nice. Just 5k. Smidge of angst.

The Ladyblog Comment Section - what it says on the tin. 27k. Hilarity and crack.

spark - Tinder AU. Lots of Marichat. Angst with a happy ending. 49k. Slow burn w/ eventual identity reveal.

all dressed up and nowhere to go - No Miraculouses modern royalty AU - human Tikki and Plagg. Mostly DJWifi but a mild amount of adrienette and a smidge of chlogami. Includes arranged marriage Adrien x Alya but they don't end up together. "Twenty-five-year-old Marinette is a wedding dress designer, business blooming in her trusty shop, Ladybug Bridal. When the engagement of Prince Adrien Agreste and Ancient Princess Alya Césaire is announced, all she expects is an influx of work. What she gets instead is... a bit different." 35k.

tangled ribbons - Ao3. ballet/dance AU (no miraculous). Adrienette with some DJWifi and human Tikki & Plagg. "Marinette is a small studio dancer who wins a scholarship to a summer long ballet intensive. Adrien is a famous ballet dancer who would rather be at home than at said intensive. The end of the summer will bring about a showcase that could make Marinette's career, if she can ignore Chloé and focus on something other than Adrien." 82k. The slowest of burns.

Where timing is kind to us - Ao3. marichat discusses quantum physics. 4.3k. This is a beautiful one-shot with a one-sided reveal.

[yizukikhons]

Ty Lee once absolutely wrecked Sokka when he tried to fight her. She took out both his arms and left him unable to move. Chi blocking DOES work on non-benders, it's just more effective/more visible with benders.

Miraculous AU where everything is the same, but Marinette knows how to Chi Block like Ty Lee.

Chi blocking only works on bending.

So it wouldn’t change anything