#tell me again adrien she just a really good friend huh

[kasienda]

Why I love Marinette Dupain Cheng

So, I just watched the London Special and I have feelings!!

I want to preface this by saying that I very much didn't resonate with the second half of season five for a lot of different reasons, but that the special really worked for me, gave me what I needed to get to a place to be excited about the potential of season six.

Marinette is a 14 year old superhero who is fundamentally a good person. She tries to do right by others, and when she realizes that she's done harm she genuinely tries to fix it. Now, her character is often portrayed as someone with ADHD. She is subject to tunnel vision, hyperfixating, anxiety spirals, and not always being great at taking other perspectives into account. She's never been good at anticipating how her actions and choices might hurt someone else.

And I LOVE that about her!!!

You know who else is not great about taking other people's perspectives? Fourteen year olds!! Developmentally, they're LEARNING THIS AT THIS AGE!! They're also LEARNING to make decisions and accept responsibility. And they are NOT good at it!! Take it from someone who works with fifteen years olds DAILY!! Even the most "good" well behaved teenager does and says thoughtless harmful things that hurt others sometimes in excruciating ways. And you ask them, "What were you thinking?" after it's blown up in their face and the answer is ALWAYS, "I don't know" OR "I wasn't thinking."

Developmentally, middle school is about fitting in. It is not easy for kids at this age to stand up for what is right, to make decisions that are healthy, to communicate in healthy ways. Marinette's whole character is about learning to do that! And to showcase that you have to show her making mistakes, sometimes even big ones, and learning to take responsibility for those choices.

Marinette salt hurts me so much because the salt seems to paint her at this malicious manipulative girl who wants to control Adrien and the world on whole. That she's malicious in the choices that she's made.

Meanwhile, the narrative is not framing her as in the right when she makes these choices. Kagami told her she disagreed in almost the first scene. Nathalie told her it was time to tell the truth. Throughout the whole special, it's obvious how much the choice she made is weighing on her, how much she's wondering if this was right. She seems to know on some level that it isn't.

THAT IS SO RELATABLE!!!

Have you ever lied to a friend or to your parents? And then, realized huh, I probably shouldn't have done that, but now you're in too deep and don't know how to take it back? Have you ever NOT told someone about a hard truth about themselves or about you because you didn't want to hurt their feelings, and then have to watch as they get hurt or rejected again and again because they just don't realize what the problem is??? Or confronted with someone around you who has lost a lot and just not sure at all what to do in the face of all that? And then to be given the choice to maybe ease the hurt of that loss with a lie? You think you WOULDN'T at least CONSIDER doing that for someone you love??

Do I think it will bite her in the butt? YES!! AND I AM HERE TO SEE IT!

Nathalie tells Marinette they should tell the truth. And Marinette's like, "but you'll go to jail." And Nathalie nods, accepting this. "But then Adrien will be alone." And Nathalie responds with "he'll have you."

DO YOU KNOW HOW TERRIFYING THAT WOULD BE TO HER??

If she does tell the truth, Adrien DOES lose Nathalie. That would hurt him too. Adrien DOES have to deal with the backlash of being Hawkmoth's son both inside his own head and with the world at large. And maybe in the long term, that would be the better choice. But how many of us choose what's better in the long term??? (THE ANSWER HERE IS ALMOST ZERO! I DON'T CARE HOW OLD YOU ARE!)

Bunnyx tells her there will consequences good and bad to every decision she makes. And what matters is how she faces the consequences. How she tries to take responsibility for them in the future.

Marinette is not trying to hurt Adrien here. She's not trying to manipulate or control him. It also doesn't mean she thinks what Gabriel did was right or that she condones his actions. It certainly doesn't mean she's okay with abuse. Everyone saying that she is has the benefit of the global perspective of knowing everything in the show! Marinette does NOT have that perspective.

Does that mean she isn't causing harm? No! She IS probably causing harm here. As so many of us do unintentionally, or sometimes even knowing that we're doing it because doing something else feels impossible to face in that moment.

And when the truth comes out, and I do think Gabriel's identity will come out (I'm less confident about the senti reveal, but that's more because they're literally not allowed to say the words), Adrien is going to have a LOT to work through. But the thing about Adrien, that all of his defenders seem to misunderstand, is that HE IS FORGIVING! If she explains it all to him, he will be angry and maybe hurt, but he is also going to be the first to understand. He's been the one right there next to her with a front row seat to all the pressures she had to face often completely on her own. I think she will be way more angry and hard on herself than he will be on her. That's kinda who his character is. He's NOT VENGEFUL.

This whole show from the beginning has been about characters making mistakes, sometimes learning from them, and being forgiven for them!! And it's the FORGIVENESS AND UNDERSTANDING given to each other after the fact that has brought the characters together time and time again. Watch origins and look at the class dynamic. Then watch guilt trip. The class has come together in a way they absolutely were not in the beginning! Because they have gotten to know each other and forgave each other. Watch Alya apologize to Marinette for telling Nino about still being the fox, and watch Marinette smile and say she knows what it feels like to need to share your secret with your best friend! Watch Ladybug ask Chat Noir if he understands the weight of a secret, and have him dryly agree that he is familiar with the feeling.

They are all flawed characters who make mistakes, who do things that hurt each other even when they're are trying SO HARD to do the opposite, and that's why I love them!!

I like characters making mistakes! I like there to be conflict in my stories.

And what I love about miraculous is that so far, the resolution to conflicts has always been one of listening to each other, and coming to a place of understanding and forgiveness.

[sariahsue]

Wherefore Art Thou (My)stery Lady

When a failed attempt to let Chat Noir down easy ends with Ladybug learning his name, she does what any lovesick teenager would do: teases him mercilessly. Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3

Chapter Four

“She really hasn't given you any more hints?” Nino asked. “It's been five days!”

Adrien loved group projects. It meant that there was a chance that he could visit with friends outside of school hours. And given how lucky he had been over the past few days, it didn't even surprise him when Ms. Bustier partnered him with Nino on their history project. 

They sat on his floor together, taking a much-deserved break. Adrien was rereading his texts from Ladybug again, looking for any clues he might have missed. 

Nino was right. It had been five days. Five long days of torture. He hadn’t seen her since their rendezvous on top of Montparnasse Tower, but she had seen him. She’d sent three pictures she’d taken of him when he wasn’t looking. He had his back turned in each one, and he’d been in large crowds as he walked in the hallway in between classes or at the end of the day. Times where there were so many people around that he couldn’t narrow down who she could be, which was deliberate on her part, he was certain. 

They were so close, and he still couldn’t find her.

His phone buzzed with an incoming message.

My Lady – I accidentally called you Kitten in front of my best friend this morning. So embarrassing!  My Lady – I told her I chose that nickname because of all the stupid cat emojis you send me. Adrien – Is that permission to keep sending them to you? My Lady – No.  Adrien – Too bad. Adrien –  ���😽😸

Nino shuffled over, and Adrien scanned the message quickly. Nothing that would arouse suspicion if read. 

“‘My Lady’?” Nino said, reading the contact name at the top. “Getting a little possessive already, huh?”

“No!” Adrien flipped his phone over to hide the messages. “Uh, ‘My’... is short... for ‘mystery.’ She's a mystery lady, but that was too long to fit. So, My Lady.”

“I don't believe you at all, dude, but I'll give you full points for that excuse.” Nino returned to his spot on the floor and started scrolling through his own phone, which he kept hidden from Adrien's view. “You like her already, huh?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said. He and Nino hadn't talked much about it, aside from that first day. Adrien had been too busy trying to piece together who Ladybug was, and he was getting frustrated. All he'd done so far was eliminate everyone in the school. Realizing he missed her on his first pass, he tried again. He looked at the yearbook, made a list of everything he knew about her, spent almost all his time in class puzzling over her, and he'd still come up empty. 

“You should ask her out,” Nino said. “I've known her for a long time, and I think you two would be good for each other.”

Adrien nodded. He'd always thought so. “I asked already.”

“You did? Why didn't you tell me?”

“She said yes, assuming I could figure out who I'm asking!” Adrien flipped onto his back and stared at the high ceiling above him. “You’re not allowed to give me any hints, but what is she like?”

“How's that not a hint?”

“Because I already know what she's like.” He raised the phone, implying that he’d gotten to know her through texting and not midnight rooftop strolls. “I just want a different perspective. Maybe I just need the same information from a new angle.”

“If she gets mad at me, I'm blaming you.”

“But she wants to go out with me, right? So you're really trying to help her.”

“How about this,” Nino said. “I won't tell her if you won't.”

“Deal.”

Nino had been typing away on his screen, cap hiding his eyes, through the whole conversation and finally lifted his head. 

Adrien listened intently as Nino started listing Ladybug's familiar traits.

“She's very creative and sweet, but still tough when she wants to be.” 

Adrien knew both of those well from fighting alongside her. She could come up with the most ridiculous plans and execute them flawlessly. She'd stare down a monster and then turn around and help someone who'd been trying to kill her moments before. 

“She's good at video games.” Another one that he knew, but had forgotten. He'd have to write that down on the list.

“And she can be pretty shy and nervous sometimes. It took her forever to tell you that she likes you.” 

Adrien hadn't thought about it like that. She'd admitted to being anxious and awkwardly obvious about her crush (not that he'd been able to figure out that clue either), but he hadn't mentally added that trait to his image of her. She always seemed so confident and self-assured, and he loved that about her. He'd only ever seen her truly nervous on that first day. 

“That's all you're getting.”

“None of it was really new information,” he said. “But thanks for reminding me of some things.”

“Sure, dude.”

Adrien's phone alerted him to another message. 

My Lady – So... Mystery Lady, huh?

Adrien turned to Nino. “You texted her about that? Since when have you had her number?” 

“Since the day she got her phone.”

My Lady – That was smooth. Plus, now you can use my favorite nickname! Adrien – I could just break into Nino's phone and check his messages, you know. My Lady – That would be cheating! Don't you dare!

“Am I going to do this project by myself?” Nino asked. “Or should I call your girlfriend and ask if I can borrow some of your attention?” 

“Sorry, sorry.” And he was, until the next text from her came in. Nino sighed but didn’t complain as Adrien reflexively reached for his phone.  

My Lady – Kitten, my homework is boring, and I don't want to do it. Talk to me.  Adrien – What do you want me to say? My Lady – I don't know. Anything. Adrien – Okay... 

He searched the room for inspiration but found none. The first thing that caught his attention on his phone was his name for her.

Adrien – What did you name my contact? My Lady – Uh...  My Lady – …  My Lady – Nothing...  Adrien – Nothing as in just a blank space, or nothing as in something that you don't want to say? My Lady – NOTHING Adrien – Uh huh. So what is it? Adrien – Hm? Adrien – Aren't you going to tell me? My Lady – No.  Adrien – Why not? My Lady – I'm going to delete your number if you don't stop asking! Adrien – That won't do anything. I'll just text you again, and then you'll have it again. My Lady – Please unsubscribe me from your mailing list.  Adrien – Is it just a string of hearts or something? My Lady – The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Adrien – Or maybe it's “Hot Stuff”? My Lady – New phone. Who dis? Adrien – Wow. It must be reeealllly embarrassing if you don't want to tell me this badly.  My Lady – FINE! My Lady – When I found out who you were, I changed your contact to “Future Husband.” OKAY?!?!?!

If Plagg could see his face right now, Adrien was sure the kwami would gag. He was probably smiling like an idiot. She really thought that it was a possibility?

“You good, dude?”

Adrien only nodded because how was he supposed to explain? Ladybug - LADYBUG - really had decided that she wanted to marry him?!

She was also still waiting for his response. Probably anxiously. Should he gush about how much he loved her or continue with his teasing?

Teasing won out.

Adrien – Oh, Bugaboo, you didn't even buy me a ring yet! My Lady – SHUT UP I'M GOING TO CHANGE IT Adrien – Please don't. Adrien – My ring size is 29, in case you were wondering.  My Lady – That's not even a real size. Adrien – Oh.  Adrien – Father doesn't sell jewelry, so I don't know anything about it. Haha. My Lady – Average sizes are usually between 5 and like 10 or 11. My Lady – In case you were wondering... My Lady – Mine’s 4 and a half.

---

Adrien walked into school the next morning (on time, thankfully! The photographer had been 10 minutes late to the shoot and traffic was horrible all morning) ready to watch the front door for any stragglers who showed up late. He still didn't have any ideas about who Ladybug could be, and he was starting to think he was missing the obvious. So he stood in the middle of the courtyard and scanned faces as they trickled in, but no one in particular stood out to him. No girl was the same height, looked just right, sounded like her, or moved the same way. Over several minutes, the courtyard started filling up. Starting from the doors, he slowly rotated until he’d done a full circle, double checking if someone had slipped past him. Nino was the only one in the crowd who caught his attention.

“Hey, bro!” Nino said, waving as he approached. “You look distracted, which means you haven't figured it out yet.”

“No! And she still won't give me another hint!”

“That's because you have enough to figure it out with, man. You're trying too hard.” He swung an arm over Adrien's shoulders. “Just look at your contact list and find the hole. Should be obvious, my dude.” It was easy for Nino to give advice. He had found out who she was the easy way ages ago.

But Ladybug kept telling him that, too. Plagg, when he didn't avoid the subject entirely, said much the same thing. 

Adrien reached for his phone, but his scroll through his contact list was interrupted by an incoming text image. 

There he and Nino were, in the middle of the crowded courtyard, looking at his phone. Adrien's head snapped up. The photographer had been directly in front of him on the upper level, but that area was now deserted. 

“Come on,” Adrien said. “Maybe we can catch her.” 

He took the stairs two at a time while Nino hollered for him to slow down. Adrien had no plan to do anything of the sort. His Lady had been there just a few seconds ago. She couldn't have gotten far. 

Reaching the top step, he took another look around. There were a few corners that she could be hiding behind, or she could have ducked into a classroom. He debated for only a second. What would Ladybug do if she was trying to trip him up? Probably go where the most people were so she could hide in plain sight. He poked his head into the nearest classroom. A few people waved to him, but no one he knew well enough to have traded phone numbers with. 

He tried a few more, then doubled back and checked the alcoves. There were a lot of people that he knew, and because he was in such a hurry, all of them seemed to want to say hello to him. He stayed only long enough each time to give a very hurried explanation that he was looking for someone in order to excuse himself before running off again. 

“Hey!” Nino said, finally catching up with him. “Will you slow down?”

“Did you see her anywhere? Please tell me that much. Did I overlook her again?”

“I haven't seen her,” Nino said, taking off his hat and fanning himself with it. “What did you eat for breakfast, man? Rocket fuel? I haven't seen you run like that since the last akuma. Or…” Nino put his hat back on and smiled, “do you really just want to find her that bad?”

Two minutes after running out of the courtyard, Adrien found himself up at the top of the stairs overlooking it. He walked to the railing, where Ladybug had been standing when she took her picture of him. She'd been so close, and she'd slipped through his fingers again. He needed to figure her identity out soon, or she’d be the death of him (in the best way possible). 

The courtyard was emptier than it had been a few minutes prior. The flow of students through the front doors had been reduced to a trickle. Only a few stragglers remained at the bottom of the stairs, waiting to go to class until the very last second.

“I think the bell's about to ring,” Nino said, tapping him on the shoulder. “We should go.”

Adrien sighed. Another attempt to find her had ended in failure. 

They trudged back down the stairs to their first class. A few of their friends were ahead of them in the hallway, including Alya and Marinette, who were whispering together. He heard Alya congratulating Marinette about something. He heard only a few words, “likes you a lot!” and “interested.” What were they talking about? He picked up his pace, hoping to get close enough to catch more of the conversation, but Nino called out to them over the crowd to get their attention before he reached them.

Alya cut off her next sentence abruptly and spun around, eyes going to Adrien first before landing on Nino.

“Good morning!” Marinette said, eyes shining. Was he imagining it, or was her gaze lingering on him longer than it usually did? “What have you two been up to this morning? Looking for that mystery lady of yours again?”

“You know about that?” Adrien groaned. “How many people know?” 

A few people shoved past him to get to their classrooms. He hadn't realized they were blocking the traffic.

“Nino told me about it,” Marinette said, starting to walk forward again. “He said you were having some trouble figuring out who she was. Do you want some help?” Behind her back, Nino and Alya exchanged deadpan looks.

“Yeah,” he said. “That would be great. I've tried everything I can think of.” 

Marinette thought about it for a few seconds, tapping her finger to her lips in a slow, exaggerated movement. He glanced down at the finger briefly before turning his attention back to her eyes. 

“Have you tried tricking her into giving you more information? Like ask her about something that happens at school today that only some people know about. Then, if she sees it, you have fewer people to guess from. Maybe you could cat-ch her that way?” She put more emphasis on the first half of the word “catch,” but he wasn't sure why. “What about the assembly today?”

“That's a great idea, Marinette! Thanks!” That was a fantastic idea. The assembly was only for their grade, and if she saw it too, that would really narrow down the pool of candidates. And even if she didn’t, he could exclude an entire grade from his search. He would have to word his questions just right, so she wouldn’t think he was asking for another hint. If she knew he was looking for a way around the rules of her challenge, she might not answer. Or worse, be unhelpful on purpose.

“You're welcome,” she said. “I really hope you find her soon.”

Adrien blinked, surprised to find himself and Marinette alone in the hallway in front of their first period class. His mind was still thinking up exactly how he would pose his questions to seem the most innocent. 

“Really, Marinette. Thank you. I really want to find her.” 

She beamed at him as the bell rang, and they both ran for the classroom door. 

With Marinette’s help, and a little bit of his Lady’s luck, he might know was behind the mask by the end of the day. And he couldn’t wait.

Chapter Five

---

Tag list: @eclipsesmoonshine14, @alittlewolf2, @mlbigbang

[mc-lukanette]

Luka groaned into his pillow as his phone started to ring. Most rock stars would probably be up by now, but Luka was not one of them. He appreciated the sound of nighttime but not quite that much.

Blindly reaching for his phone, his fingers came across the familiar shape and tightened around it. He managed to just barely lift his face from the pillow so his voice wouldn’t be muffled, then tapped the 'accept call' button and brought the phone to his ear.

"H'llo?" he mumbled.

"Luka?" the female voice on the other end called in reply. "Wha—were you napping?"

"'M in America," he responded, only semi-coherent at the moment.

"Huh? Then—wait, I woke you up!" the voice panicked. "I'm so sorry! I wanted to call to see how you were doing, but I didn't realize that you'd be in another timezone! This is a disaster, I should go, I—!"

Something clicked in his head, triggering him more awake as he registered the familiar way of rambling. "Marinette?"

She stopped, confused even as she confirmed, "...Y-yes?"

His body protested, but he pressed his hand into the mattress to push himself up. "It's alright. I'm up now anyway, and I always have time to talk to you."

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly.

He pulled the phone away, staring at the giant 2 AM on-screen in big white letters. Throwing care to the wind, he threw the covers off of himself and got up out of the bed, assuring, "Let me just get something to drink."

"Oh... okay, I'll wait."

She stayed on the call as he headed into the kitchen to start up the coffee machine. It was a minute after the fact when he realized that it wasn't fast enough, so he opted for a glass of cold water instead, hoping that it might hold him over until the coffee was brewed.

"Marinette?" he called into the phone, checking if she’d hung up or not.

"Mm?"

"Okay, I'm not dreaming then. I had to make sure." He was only half-joking.

She giggled. "Yeah, I’m here. Still, I feel a little bad. If I knew it was so early for you..."

"Don't worry about it, really. It's just—it's been so long. I'm happy to hear your voice again." He paused, considering, "Sorry, is that weird to sa—"

"No, not at all! I mean, if it's weird, then at least I'm also weird? Because I'm happy too!" She took a breath to calm herself down. "It's... nice to be on the same page. I don't really have anyone else like that."

He almost blurted out 'what about Adrien' but bit his tongue to stop himself. He knew better than to so randomly bring up Marinette's husband at a time like this, as well as question what she says. He could understand and acknowledge the idea that she could have a stronger wavelength with someone she was friends with rather than her spouse.

"Me neither," he admitted, leaning against the counter and pulling the phone away briefly to hide his yawn from her. "So, how have you been?"

"Better than I have been in a long time, but I'm still tired. I only just got a moment to call you after all the chaos settled down." She sighed, but he could tell that she was smiling. "What about you? How has music been?"

He chuckled. It was adorable that she referred to "music" as if it was a good friend of his. "Do you mean the tour?"

"Not exactly? Just—" She whined. "Never mind. It's a silly question."

"No, please. Go on," he urged gently. He really wanted to know.

He could almost sense the pout on her face.

"I guess... is it still as important to you as it was before? You used to play music for the sake of music, but now it's your job. It—it's not like I'm doubting your choices or anything, of course! I just... I worry about you."

That coffee really needed to get done. He wasn't awake enough for this.

Face flushed pink, he turned away from the counter and paced, trying to focus on the rhythmic sound of his footsteps.

Marinette continued, "I never said anything because it didn't seem like my business, but music's such a big part of you—" She halted. "...Luka?"

She must've heard him.

"I'm okay, sorry." He cleared his throat. "It's... different. I like it enough, but there are deadlines and contracts, so there's pressure that wasn't there before."

And I wish I was there with you, he didn't say.

"I know what you mean," she said sympathetically. "Things change."

"Yeah. What about you?" he questioned in return.

"Me?"

"Your career was really taking off around the time I left," he recalled. "I remember it being a lot too. Did you get used to it?"

"Oh, yeah! I got used to... it."

There was something unspoken there, but Luka could sense that it wasn't something that should be explained in a call at such an early hour.

"Honestly, compared to that, the move was nothing," she said idly, "but I had other things to deal with so I still couldn't call you until now."

"You moved?" That was news to him, though not in a surprising way. They hadn't caught up in so long, after all. "When?"

"A while ago? I mean, I realized that the house I used to be in was still too close to everything after the divorce, so I wanted more distance."

Luka stilled. He ran that sentence over in his head, then again, then once more for good measure. The coffee had finally finished brewing, so he took a large sip whilst ignoring the way it tried to burn him.

Nevertheless, his comprehension of the word - divorce - remained the same, and it was only when he realized how long he'd been quiet that he managed a weak, "W-whose divorce?"

"Mine, of course." There was a pause, after which she said, "Wait, Luka, you—you didn't hear?"

"No." He'd heard nothing of the sort. He didn't have a lot of friends back in Paris, much less ones who would talk about something like this, and the news hadn't reached America. "When did you...?"

"A couple months ago," Marinette replied casually.

Months. Luka gulped down the rest of his coffee in sheer disbelief, making a hissing sound when the heat was still a little much. Setting the cup aside, he admitted again, "I really had no idea."

"Good to know that you're not perfect and not as observant as you thought," she said with a chuckle. "Anyway, it was a long time coming. I had to get out."

He was silent, waiting for her to elaborate while his brain was rebooting.

"It was... stifling. Suffocating. I couldn't handle the paparazzi and everyone just seeing me as Adrien's girlfriend while he was practically basking in it. Maybe it seems weird that I didn't notice for a long time, but when I really thought about it, it made sense. Back when I was a teenager, everyone was pushing for me to get together with him, and after that, everyone started pushing for us to get married. Then, after that, there was no next step, which is what being with Adrien had always been about. We were married, we were living together, but then I finally got to take a look around and realized that I wasn't happy."

"I—" His throat felt dry. He had no idea she'd been feeling like that, and he hadn't heard about it or been there either. "I'm sorry that happened, Marinette."

"No, I needed it. Now I can focus on myself and..." She swallowed audibly, adding in a softer tone, "the people I hold the closest to me."

He was torn, happy to hear her again yet upset at everything she'd been through to make such a heavy decision. He'd never imagined the actual pressure in such a relationship, having the eyes of everyone on her and knowing that breaking it apart would mean “wasting the efforts” of all who tried to make it work.

He tried to find comfort in the knowledge that she was at least alright now, not wanting to drag down the mood further.

"...Luka," Marinette uttered, as if she’d been mulling something over, "maybe it's weird to say it now, but—"

Though still recovering from their previous topic, Luka put on a smile even if she couldn't see it. "Now I'm curious. You can't leave a string unplucked when your hand's already on it."

She snorted in amusement. Good, he'd brightened the mood. "Just... I missed you."

Ah. Luka almost criticized her, wondering how it was fair to call him in the middle of the night, tell her that she was single, and casually throw out an 'I missed you' like it was nothing.

"I missed you too," he said instead.

"I'm glad. Not that I'm glad you've been missing me, because that would mean you've been sad, but—" She groaned and it became clear that she'd been trying to lead into something. "What I meant to say was... do you think—or, I don't know how busy you are, but..."

"What is it?"

"Would it be okay if I called more...?" she asked hesitantly. "You'd have to let me know whenever you change timezones, but—"

"Why wouldn't it be okay?" He spoke perhaps a bit too quickly to be casual, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He'd blame it on the coffee (that clearly wasn't doing its job anyway) if he had to. "I'd love to talk to you more."

"I'd be keeping you," she said as if it was a bad thing.

You can keep me forever. "I'm not busy enough where I can't talk to you, and I don't get that many calls from anyone else."

"But what if they were frequent? So I called you all the time?"

"What do you mean all the time?" he wondered, still not understanding the problem.

"...D-daily?"

He nearly laughed, stifling the noise he made with a hand and being glad that he’d set his cup down earlier. He might’ve dropped it otherwise. "Daily sounds great. I can even call you instead if you want."

"Oh. Oh!" She gasped excitedly. "Yes! Yeah, that'd—that'd be great!"

Conversation from there went smoothly, Luka's brain constantly buzzing from the sheer joy of what was happening. There was music coursing throughout his entire body, but he settled for jotting down notes over playing his guitar, not wanting to risk waking the whole city up. He didn't consider himself a needy person, but he was already craving those future calls with her.

And if they went on talking for over an hour, neither minded.

[marcmarcmomarc]

Miraculous

Chapter 12: Getting Nowhere

(Adrien and his group are now in the midst of fleeing from Marinette and her new friends again.)

(They get back to Marriott’s Grande Vista and barely escape with their lives again.)

LUNA-TK: Dang it!

MARINETTE: Again?

(In their villa, the gang sits around as Adrien paces.)

MYLÈNE: We can’t get anywhere near those hardcore protectors!

MARC: Can we even get near Marinette?

LUKA: Apparently we can’t.

NADJA: As long as she’s protected, we are hopeless!

MANON: But I want her back!

ADRIEN: We need to be faster than them!

ALYA: How?

IVAN: She thinks too fast.

SABRINA: She doesn’t let anyone get a word in before she gives the order.

ADRIEN: I believe we can. I just need to think.

(In a montage, Adrien presents the group with plan after plan, and the gang barely escapes from Marinette. This happens three times before we catch up with them returning to their villa out of breath after their latest escape.)

SABINE: This is hopeless.

KAGAMI: Marinette is too good.

ADRIEN: I’m not giving up hope just yet.

ONDINE: You sure? I don’t know how much I can keep running.

CHLOÉ: Come on, Adrien. If we go out there again, Marinette will probably get the police on us.

SABRINA: If only my father were here. He’d probably be able to vouch for us.

JULEKA: These guys would treat us like we aren’t even human.

ROSE: Cops in the US do get pretty mad, huh?

LUKA: And for what, a group of people trying to apologize to someone feeling mistreated?

ALYA: Exactly!

ADRIEN: Then we need to show them. See, cops believe what they read in the papers about anyone. So we need to give them something good to believe in.

(Sabrina starts mimicking a policewoman.)

SABRINA: Hey, you!

ADRIEN: Who? Me?

SABRINA: Yeah! Give me one reason why I shouldn’t throw you in jail right now, you punk!

ADRIEN: (SINGING) Dear kindly Sergeant Raven, you’ve gotta understand We want to bring back a friend, not to get out of hand We don’t want any trouble, we just want to undo Golly Moses, we don’t want to harm you

(Alya and Nino join in.)

ALL: Gee, Officer Raven, we’re very upset We never gave the love that Marinette should get We aren’t delinquents, we’re misunderstood Deep down inside us, there is good

ADRIEN: There is good

(Chloé, Kim, Ivan, Mylène, Juleka, Rose, Nathaniel, Alix, Max, Kagami, Marc, and Ondine join in.)

ALL: There is good, there is good, there is untapped good Like, inside the worst of us is good

(They all dance around gleefully.)

SABRINA: Aw, that’s a touchin’ good story.

ADRIEN: Let me tell it to the world!

SABRINA: Just tell it to the judge!

(They take Adrien to the kitchen. Kim assumes a stern judicial mien, using his shoe as a gavel.)

KIM: Court is in session. Will the defendant step forward?

ADRIEN: Dear kindly judge, Your Honor, my father locks me up Because I’m camera fodder, he acts like I’m a pup He never wants to let me leave the freaking house Leapin’ lizards, it’s like I am a mouse

KIM: Right! Officer Raven, you’re really a square He doesn’t need a job, he needs an analyst’s care It’s just his neurosis that’s gotta be curbed He’s psychologically disturbed

ADRIEN: I’m disturbed

ALL: We’re disturbed, we’re disturbed, we’re the most disturbed Like, we’re psychologically disturbed

(The gang mimics psychologically disturbed behavior.)

KIM: Hear ye, here ye! In the opinion of this court, this youngster is depraved on account of having a troubling home!

ADRIEN: Hey, I’m depraved on account I’m deprived!

KIM: So take this nut to a headshrinker!

NATHANIEL: We’ll take it from here.

(Nathaniel and Marc take Adrien to the living room table. Marc pretends to flip through a notebook in “analyst” mode.)

ADRIEN: My father lost my mother, my mother did please me My grandparents, no other, they’re unable to see My cousin is a trickster, puts me under much stress Goodness gracious, that’s why I’m a mess

NATHANIEL: Yes! Officer Raven, he shouldn’t be here He doesn’t need a couch, he needs a useful career

MARC: Society’s played him a terrible trick And, sociologically, he’s sick

ADRIEN: I am sick

ALL: We are sick, we are sick, we are sick, sick, sick Like, we’re sociologically sick

(The gang mimics sociologically sick behavior. Resuming their analyst roles, Nathaniel and Marc approach Adrien.)

NATHANIEL: In my professional opinion, what we’ve got here is a run-of-the-mill juvenile delinquent. And juvenile delinquency is a social disease!

(Everyone recoils in disgust.)

KAGAMI: Adrien, you have a social disease?

MARC: Bring him to a social worker!

SABRINA: Can I catch it by touching him?

ALIX: I’m on it.

(Alix takes Adrien to the table, playing the social worker.)

ADRIEN: Dear kindly social worker, they say go get a job Like be a soda jerker, which means I’d be a slob It’s not I’m anti-social, I’m only anti-work Glory, Osky, that’s why I’m a jerk

ALIX: Officer Raven, you’ve done it again He doesn’t need a job, he needs a year in the pen

(Alix slaps Adrien across the face.)

ADRIEN: Ow.

ALIX: It ain’t just a question of misunderstood Deep down inside him, he’s no good

ADRIEN: I’m no good

ALL: We’re no good, we’re no good, we’re no earthly good Like, the best of us is no dang good

(The group roughly shove Adrien into each other.)

KIM: The trouble is he’s crazy!

KAGAMI: The trouble is he drinks!

CHLOÉ: The trouble is he’s lazy!

ALIX: The trouble is he stinks!

IVAN: The trouble is he’s growing!

NATHANIEL: The trouble is he’s grown!

ALL: Raven, we’ve got troubles of our own Gee, Officer Raven, we’re down on our knees

ADRIEN: ‘Cause no one wants a fella with a social disease

ALL: Gee, Officer Raven, what are we to do? Gee, Officer Raven, Krup you!

ADRIEN: Alright. Let’s get to planning.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: ML Season 5 episode 15 Intuition

Spoilers below (And we are finally all caught up so the episodes can be watched in order from 1 to 20th

-Glaciator again?

-DID HE GET BEAT BY A GIANT BELL AND FIRE CRACKERS?

-Wait is this Elation?

-Oh he is using the snake to guide his akuma. That is clever. But with that ability he should be able to win

-WAIT the lucky charm changed! OH SNAP! THE lucky charm changes to be exactly what is needed for the situation. So even with the snake miraculous... IT GETS HARD COUNTERED BY THE LADYBUG!

-I WAS RIGHT! IT IS ELATION! ... Why would he choose the ice cream man of ALL People though. Granted I love Elation so I wont complain

-So Gabriel realizes that the snake wont work against Lucky charm.

-So I really like how it is show all the OTHER ways the akuma got beaten. Implying that Gabriel was using the snake to advise his akuma in the most optimal way.

-So if it isnt lucky charm that stops him, its Chat noir's unpredicatability. Or... BAD LUCK

-So it confirmed that the user doesnt get rewinded by the time shift. MEANING. When Adrien used the rewind 25,913 times. Which means Adrien spent at most 3 months time doing that. So Adrien is 3 months older than he should be

-Gabriel has a weird ass heartbeat from cataclysm. So he has accelerated his death basically. AWESOME.

-Damn so Gabriel has only a few weeks left at most and Nathalie isnt fairing much better. Nathalie is telling him they need to think of a way that Adrien wont be left on his own when they die.

-For once, I almost pity him. Mainly cause Nathalie is there to make him TRY and change.

-Marinette is so adorkable.

-Gabriel is litterally dying right behind adrien and the boy is to engrossed by his cute girl friend to notice. Maybe he really is Gabriel's son XD

-It took him falling for him to actually hang up. I know I should feel bad... BUT its gabriel.

-Gabriel using the miraculous like a junkie.

-He is using the snake to talk with Tomoe to convince her. TRUELY he is sacrificing everything

-SHE CAN HEAR HIS WEIRD HEARTBEAT!? Well i guess the lesson is HONESTY is what is needed when you want to make an evil scheme

-You already know this is going to become f***ing horrible because they are livestreaming a space launch.

-Huh... lila isnt there. How weird.

-ADA! Adorable. Markov has a little sister AI. Cant wait to see her get akumatized

-Kim your your dumbassery is no longer charming to me.

-Gabriel jealous of Ms.Kante's healthy heart.

-She is so cool.

-Oh no! He just removed the sensors so she cant sense her.

-Monarch you evil bastard.

-Ada got depressed

-Markov in the french dub is adorable

-Monarch is preping for war right now.

-He made an ASTEROID!

-What is he doing!?

-Okay see, this is devious. I like this plan.

-Adrien saw an opportunity to be a good boy friend AND get out of class. That is Prime behavior

-Monarch knew they would split up

-He akumatizes his SECOND ai

-OH that looks so slick! its a giant robot!

-OH DAMN! he trapped her in space!

-Wait... if the miraculous gets removed.... OH S***! SHE GONNA DIE

-Oh damn!

-He timed it right this time.

-Chat noir you absolute TROLL! He used the second chance against him by grabbing his ring hand.

-Well now chat noir is gonna get stunned! Oh no!

-Monarch was too hyperfocused on Chat noir to come up with a convincing lie, Thus bugfighter learned the truth.

-Monarch didnt think this through. How many restarts is it now

-He couldnt think of a successful idea and had to give up.

-So he collapsed and Nathalie found him.

-Gabriel told Adrien he would try and spend more time with him it would be sweet if I didnt know it was a LIE

-Ladybug asking chat noir if its weird Monarch never uses Second chance... while Chat noir is like "We lucky he doesnt."

______________________________________________________________

I think if there was an episode that would make me feel sympathy for Gabriel... it would be this one. Too bad I still dont.

Its a solid episode, explaining the actual negatives of the snake miraculous in his condition. Gabriel so desperate to win that he failed to see the obvious solution.

He is so obsessed with the miraculous he is like a drug addict unable to stop his addiction.

8.5/10.

I think this is the best episode I have seen in terms of writing on the later half of season 5 so far.

[awholelotofladybug]

Bygones: A Stammering Adrien AU Moment

Based on This AU

Marinette and Alya head to the fabric store. Little do they know they’re about to run into an old friend.

Alya: I can't believe you ran out of fabric. You NEVER run out of fabric. 

Marinette: I know, and I'm kicking myself for it, believe me. Anyway, this shouldn't take long. I just need to get some pink and white. 

Alya: Of course. 

Marinette: What's that supposed to mean? 

Alya: Girl, if you could recolor the world, it would pink and white. 

Marinette: *blushing* Not true. *bumps into someone*

Socqueline: Oops. Sorry about that, I was... Marinette? Alya? 

Marinette and Alya: Socqueline? 

*silence* 

All three girls: SQUEEE! 

*all of them hug* 

Socqueline: It's been FOREVER! 

Alya: Girl, where have you BEEN?! 

Marinette: We missed you SO MUCH! 

Socqueline: I missed you too! I'm so sorry. I lost touch after I switched schools! 

Alya: Don't worry about it. Just give us your new digits. 

Marinette: It'll be great to catch up. I can't wait for you to meet all of our new friends. 

Socqueline: That sounds... Uh oh. Heads up, girls. She-beast at 12:00 

*the girls turn to see Chloé and Zoe* 

Socqueline: Wait here, girls. I think it’s time I gave that brat a piece of my mind. *goes towards Chloé*

Alya: Wait! Socqueline, don’t!

Marinette: Not good. Definitely not good.

Chloé: *to Zoe* So does the fabric have to be a certain type of green to work?

Zoe: As far as I can tell, no. The software should be able to do its job.

Socqueline: Hey! Bourgeois! 

Chloé: Huh? Me?

Socqueline: Yeah, you. *shoves Chloe*

Chloé: Hey! What gives?! What’s your... Socqueline Wang?

Socqueline: That’s right. And I have a bone to pick with you.

Zoe: Hey, hold on a second. That’s my sister, and you... *sees Socqueline up close and blushes*   You...

Socqueline: Stay out of this! *back at Chloé* Chloé Bourgeois, you are the absolute worst person. Ever. You've bullied, harassed, tortured and tormented me and my friends for years. I don’t know what it is that makes you think you can just treat other people like rubbish, but if you haven’t changed by now...

Marinette: Socqueline, stop!

Alya: Chloé has changed!

Socqueline: *looks at them* What?! No, th-that can’t be right! *looks back at Chloé* Can it?

Chloé and Zoe: *nod*

Socqueline: *gulp* Uh, about what I was saying earlier...

Chloé: *puts up her hand* Don’t apologize. Honestly, I had it coming. *sigh* I’m really sorry, Socqueline. I never should have done all those terrible things. To you, Marinette, Alya, or anyone else. I have no excuse. Can you ever forgive me?

Socqueline: *sigh* It’s... It’s not gonna be easy. You did a lot of awful things. *looks at her friends* But if they can forgive you, I guess I can too.

Chloé: *relieved sigh* Thank you. And you have my word. I will never bully anyone ever again.

Zoe: So, um, is that it? Because we still need to buy fabric

Marinette: Oh yeah, us too.

Socqueline: I was on my way there. Follow me. 

Later

Zoe: *carrying a bag of green fabric* Who was that?

Marinette: *carrying a bag of pink and white fabric* Socqueline Wang.

Alya: Old friend of ours. The three of us were inseparable back in the day.

Chloé: I’m glad we met her today. It felt good to apologize.

Alya: You’re doing great, honey. Really.

Marinette: I’m glad we’ve reconnected. It’ll be great to hang out with her again.

Zoe: Um, Marinette? About that. Could I get a small favor?

Marinette: What is it, Zoe?

Zoe: *blushing* Could you, maybe, put in a good word with her, you know, about me?

*everyone looks at her*

Chloé: *smirks and elbows Zoe* Oh La La. Does my big sister have a crush?

Zoe: *blushes deeper and shoves Chloe* Chloe! Shut up! 

Alya: Aw, Zoe, don’t be embarrassed.

Marinette: Yeah. I’m sure Socqueline would be flattered.

Zoe: *covering her face* STOOOOOOP!

[familyagrestefanblog]

Huh, this is an excellent point. I'm also noticing more and more how ableist Marinette is consistently written to be. I kinda kept from looking further into it cause it's one of those things I can't come back from in how I view Marinette once I saw it, but honestly, that barrier was already crossed once I rewatched Chameleon and Revelation. I might as well just do it properly.

Ngl, I'm bumped to realize that "Guilt trip" ties into this, but you are correct, the message of Rose's "my disability doesnt stop me from living my life to the fullest or change anything about how I live" really gets a nasty undertone when you realize that this means Rose is a "good" disabled person who doesnt NEED anything and is only here so others get virtue points for being well-meaning people (interesting how it was Adrien specifically who handled Rose's situation the best).

It's the narrative opposite to Lila in "Chameleon". Rose is a GOOD disabled person for not asking for any help or accommodations and instead explicitly ask her friends to not do anything whatsoever to possibly make even the tiniest accommodation for her disability in their dynamic with her. Unlike the awful LILA who's actions said that making accommodations for disabled people is normal and kind, but the show's message is that this is taking advantage of people and every claim should by default be questioned and tested.

Besides, of course, for Maribug. She's the only character who is portrayed as unconditionally entitled to support and accommodations and its outright abuse of the worst kind to npt always put her feelings, comfort and benefit first. Whereas Adrichat, Chloe and Lila/Cerise are primarily used to get the message across that thinking others could need it too is offensive and wrong. So again, only Marinette gets to have it.

And it really sucks that Rose is now part of this message too because while her friends were too overprotective in "Guilt trip", it's not like they had fundamentally bad instincts. Especially when you put the bathroom scene into perspective. The day prior her friends found out that Rose didnt just go to the school nurse, she straight up ended up in HOSPITAL. Their instinct to keep track of the time Rose took in the bathroom is not at all bad in my opinion, it just needed better guidance. The episode even has Max explicitly bring up that they waited until the average time people spend in the bathroom was over and then Kim added that he was 5 seconds away from breaking down the door.

For the love of God, Rose was in the HOSPITAL one day ago and not for no reason. It feels pretty awful now that the episode had Max and Kim say those two things in particular just to have the message be "dont do that for your chronically ill friends". In my opinion, the only things wrong about that instinct was that everyone got involved and Rose didnt got a saying in how long her friends are supposed to wait before checking on her in the bathroom. Cause this is the kind of stuff that goes well 200 times until it doesnt and then you wished someone would be checking on you.

That's actually a pretty dangerous message to send to kids. And I hate that it is very obviously always in service of pushing the narrative that ONLY Marinette should be given support, care, and accommodations for whatever she wants and needs next. Everyone else just needs to get over themselves and stop being selfish so people instead have the time and energy to devote themselves to Marinette.

I'm being harsh on this now because I have no faith in this Rose situation not ending up in a disaster in Ladybug's full-time team now in the new arc. You cannot tell me it's in any way out of character for Marinette to mid-battle completely forget about how serious Rose's illness can get and her then demanding of Pigella to push herself too far despite Rose trying to tell her that she needs a break. I have NO faith that Marinette will handle that well and I wouldnt be surprised if Marinette afterwards awkwardly attempts to safe face by asking Pigella "why she didnt tell her about her serious illness, then she would have taken it into consideration for the mission" to which Rose will then have to take the blame and be thankful that Ladybug still views her as worthy of being in her team despite her illness that can get in the way.

Call me a hater however you want, this is perfectly in line with Marinette's writing. I would be surprised if the show doesnt have exactly THIS happening once Rose's illness is an inconvenience to Ladybug's leadership. No way in hell is Marinette gonna remember shit about the dizzy spells, but at least it's by now very plausible to expect ADRICHAT to then be the one to take perfect care of the whole disaster to make up for Maribug's lack of consideration.

New challenge. Watch Guilt Trip Of ML Season 4.

I did?? Like a while ago?? Did you not read the disclaimer orrrr

Also. In all seriousness. Guilt Trip also isn't done very well in terms of dealing with a character having a disability, with it being like "yeah, she doesn't NEED all this help even though she has a disability cause disabled people aren't fragile and helpless" which is a good message but it's not done well. And it also just makes Marinette look like more of an ass in retrospect because she was only willing to accommodate rose cause they're ~friends~ and rose is good so she can't be lying about her disability! Unlike that super liar Lila who is definitely lying >:( because she's evil >:( (and yes she was lying and the only reason why is so Marinette can have an excuse for her horrible behavior)

Also juleka tells rose's secret without her consent to the entire class (not cool) and rose is also a common archetype of a character who "has a disability but that won't stop me from living life to the fullest!" Except it's only brought up in this episode and never acknowledged again because MLB doesn't know how to write characters with disabilities.

Oh and also they do that stupid thing where they only really focus on how sad their poor loved one must be, having to worry about them all the time :( /s which is a very common and quite ignorant thing that always happens when writing disabled characters.

It's not a good episode. Like. At all. The only thing it does is make Marinette look like the worst type of ableist person and prove that the writers should not be allowed to touch this topic ever again.

I'll be honest I don't think it's marinette or juleka's fault that they do such fucked up things because it's obvious that the writers are trying to frame their actions in the right and act like what they're doing isn't fucked up.

The problem is the writing not the characters themselves. Their personalities get pushed and pulled in the direction that the plot needs to move forward. I know I sound like I think Marinette sucks but it's not her it's her writing. Does that make sense

Edit: Juleka actually only told Marinette and Adrien about rose, so she didn't tell the whole class, it was Marinette who had notified everyone of rose's condition, contrary to what i remembered. Apologies on my part

[jennagrinsoverml]

Hey, I love your recs sm thank you for them :) I was wondering if you could rec some fics where Marinette tells Chat Noir the boy she loves is Adrien or that he (as Chat finds out)? I don’t really care how it happens but i just want a scene where Marinette as herself tells Chat that Adrien is the boy she loves or something like that. Thank youu <3

Anon, you have NO IDEA of the rabbit hole you sent me down. So first I thought of one specific fic and was going to rec it and a few others and call it a day. But then I had trouble finding the other fics I was thinking of. And then I went on a reading spree. And, anon, these fics are SO GOOD! I loved answering this request 💖 (And thank you! I love that people enjoy my recs 😊😊😊)

Jealousy by @sariahsue

"If it weren't for that other guy, do you think you would have fallen for me?" "Please, chaton," Marinette said. "Don't do this to yourself." "I just want to know." Softly she said, "It would have been so easy."

One-shot. This is the fic I thought of right away. It’s a half-reveal fic where Chat knows Ladybug’s identity, but she doesn’t know his, and he’s obviously very interested in the identity of the boy she loves. And then she tells him and his reaction is eeeeeeveryyyyythinggggggg. I love this fic!

Crushed by @p-artsypants​

Stuck under a collapsed building together, Chat Noir and Marinette have a heart to heart.

One-shot. Another Ladybug half-reveal, but this time they’re trapped together. It’s a pretty rough situation, but the way they open up to each other is really beautiful. And, of course, in opening up, Marinette reveals to Chat that she’s in love with Adrien. This one gives me allll the feelings!

Loopholes by @gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights

Chat Noir doesn't get why Ladybug gets to be the best-behaved kid in the world. 

She isn't.  She's too good at finding loopholes.

(Marichat identity reveal fic, set after the episode Christmaster)

One-shot. This fic does feature an identity reveal, but Marinette telling Chat the identity of the boy she loves comes before any of that! They’re ADORABLE and so in character, and I loved Marinette being both embarrassed and embarrassing, and of course the identity reveal was perfect.

The Perks of Anonymity by SydelleRein

Fed up with her inability to string two coherent sentences together in front of a certain schoolmate, Marinette confides in Chat Noir.

Multi-chapter. Like many marichat fics, this one assumes an existing friendship between Marinette and Chat. And when Adrien takes advantage of that friendship to try to figure out why Marinette’s so uncomfortable with Adrien (does she secretly hate him?) she confides in him about her crush. Their characterizations are amazing, and Chatdrien’s reaction to the crush is even better, and there’s an eventual reveal, which is fantastic.

Banter by @sariahsue

Ladybug expected Chat Noir to try to get closer to her once he discovered she was Marinette. That was what all the Ladynoir fanfiction she'd ever read had prepared her for. What she didn't expect: Tips on how to ask Adrien out, support for her crush on another boy, and whatever other crazy things were happening right now.

"Pay attention, M'Lady. You're breathing all wrong again."

Three-part series. Another half reveal. We don’t actually see Marinette tell Chat she’s in love with Adrien as the focus here is all on the aftermath, but omg it’s so, so good and I love it so much! In case you haven’t yet, I highly recommend @sariahsue’s fics. So many of them have Marinette admitting her feelings, but I limited myself to just the two here.

One Life, One World by @komorebirei​

“So, beads, huh? For… a lucky charm?” Chat guessed.

Marinette nodded. “Two, for my friends.”

Her dispirited tone caught Chat’s attention. Marinette was usually more cheerful—but then again, it was past midnight, and she must be tired.

“There’s a secret in the design,” Marinette said with a faint smile that Chat thought looked a little forced.

One-shot. Marinette’s trying to get over Adrien now that he and Kagami are together. But when she says as much to Chat, his reaction gives away more than he intended. I love that this one has a different tone than the others, but it’s still really sweet. (This one is also unusual in that at no time does Adrien learn that Marinette is Ladybug.)

Smile & write: 31 & 32 by @emsylcatac​

Collection of short stories from a game on Tumblr in which people sent me their last five emojis with two characters. Sometimes contains a bit of love, some fun, lots of dumb, and overall a bit of everything.

Lastest updates: Chapter 32: Part 2 of Chapter 31: Marinette & Chat Noir. Chat Noir knows Marinette's identity and is wondering when she'll be brave enough to ask her not-so-secret crush out. He also wants to tell her his identity, too.

Two-shot, part of a collection. Another half reveal starting immediately after Chat learns that Adrien is the boy, and dealing with Marinette telling him the hearts all around his pictures were reversed spades. This one is funny, but also so soft, and the reveal is super cute.

tell me you love me (pls, i beg u). by @theanxiouscupcake​

Adrien’s patience was hanging by a thread. Wearing thin, rapidly dissipating, dissolving, the way his father claimed teeth dissolved in aerated drinks, take your pick. He loved the girl, he really did. But as he watched her stutter a little before she let her head fall on her desk with a wince-worthy thump, before she asked for his physics homework going off their (very, very well-rehearsed) script again. All he wanted to do was take her by the shoulders and shake her while screaming, “Tell me you love me, I beg you. I can’t stand waiting around this way!”

And then maybe kiss the hell out of her.

Hell, he wanted to kiss the hell out of her right now, but he couldn’t because there was The Bet™ that he now felt, in hindsight, was stupid. Not that he would ever admit that to Plagg or to his Princess, of course.

One-shot. Pre-reveal but after Adrien’s fallen for Marinette. This one is after Chat’s learned that Adrien is the boy Marinette loves, but Marinette and Chat have entered into a bet: Chat can’t ask out the girl he’s in love with until Marinette confesses her feelings to the boy she loves. It’s exactly as ridiculous as it sounds with all kinds of mutual pining.

[raeuberprinzessin]

Good for them!

AO3

"Feeeelix," Adrien whined and gave his cousin the most pitiful look he could muster, but the other boy wasn't impressed. Instead he put the small cup down and moved on to the next stall offering test samples of their coffee.

Adrien gave a muffled groan and tried to keep up with his cousin. He was tired after walking around this food fair for hours. He wasn't even sure what his cousin was looking for. He stopped at every stall selling coffee beans, sure, but Adrien knew that his cousin's preferred beverage was earl grey tea. He also couldn't be looking for a gift for aunt Amelie, since coffee didn't agree with her.

And Adrien didn't know anyone else his cousin would be willing to run around for hours to find the perfect gift for. Honestly, his curiosity to find out was the only reason he hadn't made up an excuse to leave and join Marinette at her family's stall.

He could really do with a croissant right now. Or a pain au chocolat. Or some macarons. Or all of those! He had been running around for so long, he surely would have earned some sweets, right? Some sweets and a hot chocolate and a nice, comfortable chair to give his poor aching feet some rest. As long as Nathalie and his dad wouldn't know, it would be fine.

Half an hour of sulking and pouting, which was handily ignored by his heartless cousin, Felix stopped and gave the cup of coffee he was sampling right now a thoughtful look.

"This one," he stated, although Adrien had no idea what he was talking about. "I would like a pack of these beans and two cups to go."

His cousin gave him a questioning look, but Adrien shook his head. The only things he wanted were somewhere to sit down and something to eat. Today he had had enough coffee to not sleep for the next decade!

After purchasing the coffee he followed Felix again and was surprised that they ended up at the stall of Marinette's family. He sunk on one of the chairs next to the counter and watched his cousin waiting a few meters away.

"Could I offer you a croissant, son? I just came back with a fresh batch," a voice next to him offered and he looked up to see Tom Dupain smiling down at him. He nodded and eagerly bit into the soft, fluffy, buttery heaven of a pastry.

"Please, can you adopt me?" he asked, giving the big man in front of him his kitten eyes. M. Dupain just gave him a deep chuckle and gently patted his back. He seemed to think this was a joke. Adrien wasn't joking. He loved his dad, but if Marinette's family would be willing to adopt him, he would be gone faster than his dad could tell Nathalie to tell him to not be ridiculous.

The next moment he got distracted by a loud enthusiastic shout. He looked back and noticed that Marinette didn't stand behind the register anymore, her father had taken over for her.

Now she stood next to Felix, one of the travel cups in her hands. She beamed up at his cousin as if he had just saved her from months of torture, a blindingly bright smile on her lips and stars in her eyes. Adrien watched as Felix gave her the beans he had bought and Marinette rambled her thanks and hugged him.

And Adrien also noticed the faint blush colouring the tips of his cousin's ears, the adoring look he gave the girl, the way his everlasting smirk had softened into a small genuine smile and the pride swelling his chest.

Huh. Maybe his cousin wasn't quite as heartless as he had everyone believing. On the other hand, this was Marinette, if someone would be able to charm his standoffish cousin, it would be his sweet, talented friend. Good for them!

Adrien decided to give them their privacy and focused on his beloved croissant again.

[miraculouscontent]

“Sentibubbler” summary? “Sentibubbler” salt?

Why not both at the same time?

Something a little experimental, though also somewhat reminiscent of some of my past videos. Calling it “summasalt” for now, based on the word “somersault” because this episode was an exercise of my patience.

It’s basically just me going through the episode with my usual episode summary, but salting along the way instead of making you guys read a wall of text without any images or clips or me making snarky comments.

(By the way, yes, I did in fact have caffeine before recording.)

script below for anyone who wants/needs it:

"Sentibubbler" begins with Marinette having food with the Cesaires and I already know this isn't real because Marinette is actually getting to interact with her best friend's family. That's only happened, like--when, two episodes of Season 2? [”Sapotis” and “Anansi”]

Marinette sees Trixx and points out how they're supposed to be a secret, and Alya asks why while calling Marinette "Ladybug." Marinette plays dumb but is told by Nino that everyone already knows her secret. Chloe is also there, chiding Marinette for her identity rule - it's not Marinette's rule but after "Reflekdoll" I've just gotten used to Marinette being blamed for things she didn't do - and Marinette goes to question Chloe's apperance when there's a knock on the balcony door. Alya invites Shadow Moth in and--[Shadow Moth has to duck to come inside]--huh, I thought Sole Crusher was seven episodes ago.

Anyway, now obviously, Marinette is just being ridiculous and overemotional as usual, because why would Marinette ever think that Alya would reveal any information to--["Feast"]--oh yeah, that's right.

Tikki doesn't transform Marinette and says that Marinette shouldn't have trusted Alya with her secret. Enter Chat Blanc, who says that they can be together now without any secrets. Not really sure what this episode is aiming for with the mixed message of "your identity rule sucks" but also "your fault for trusting someone instead of having a mental breakdown," but a’ight. Trixx also gets another dig in on Marinette for giving Alya the fox miraculous.

Marinette wakes up from her nightmare and panics, but Tikki reassures her that Alya is loyal. [”Chameleon”] Mm. Also, that kind of support might've been nice from Tikki literal seasons ago when Marinette could've used a confidant.

Wayzz - I swear, they've had eyelashes more often than not in this season - points out that Trixx is mischievous and Xuppu talks about Trixx being the cause of the Loch Ness monster rumors, which worries Marinette further. Marinette runs out in her pajamas and I can already predict that neither Tom nor Sabine are going to check on her later or care.

Marinette finds the Cesaires looking for something, their words vague enough for Marinette to think that they're talking about Trixx. Alya brushes Marinette off and tells her to help with looking instead of lecturing her.

Marlena makes a comment that reminds Marinette of her nightmare, only increasing Marinette's stress. A tarantula crawls up a ladle and Marinette freaks out when she sees it, which Marlena has a laugh at because Marinette's anxiety, fear, and panic is hilarious, guys!

This is my laughing face. [not a laughing face]

Nino exits, having been too afraid of the spider to leave the room, so Nora compares Marinette to him. Nino tries to play it cool, then changes the subject to point out Marinette's pajamas. Alya wonders aloud why Marinette showed up and Marinette tries to act casual, but Alya sees through it and states that she doesn't usually lose things when someone lends them to her.

I presume the exception is Marinette's trust. OH-HOOOOHHH, we'll get there.

Nora takes a jab at Alya for losing the spider and Marinette drags Alya away to talk. Nino tries to join but Alya states that it's between her and Marinette, which makes Nino sad.

Nino, does the phrase "guys' time" ring a bell by any chance?

Marinette is explaining her nightmare and is simply told to calm down by Alya, though Marinette is briefly startled by a phone ringing. Marinette puts together what she knows that Shadow Moth knows, including that Alya is Rena Rouge, adding on that Shadow Moth could steal the fox necklace if he figured out that Alya has it permanently. Alya reassures her that no one will ever know and Marinette states that this must include Chat Noir. Alya agrees and brings attention to the fanny pack around her waist, which Trixx has been hiding in, and Marinette has Trixx promise not to show up at the dining table like in her nightmare. Tikki tells Marinette that everything will be fine and Marinette admits that it was silly of her to worry, which it was! ...If you ignore all the anxiety, mental scarring, and constant pressure to be perfect or risk Paris lighting itself on fire, much like I presume they accidentally did with their original script for this episode.

Alya tells Marinette to trust her and also herself - I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Alya, thank you - then Alya loses her temper at the phone continuing to ring. She leaves to find an empty living room, then answers the phone only to hear Shadow Moth on the other line. Alya turns upon hearing Marinette scream to see that Marinette has been trapped in a bubble. Cue the reveal/return of the Bubbler, who is definitely Nino akumatized and not--like--a sentimonster, because the episode didn't spoil it at all with the title of Sentibub--

show, this is freaking embarrassing. Why even bother akumatizing someone when you can mold a sentimonster with the exact power you want?

At least they reveal it quickly, though that also means I have to live with the knowledge that Shadow Moth wINKED AT ALYA, NO.

Anyway, Shadow Moth tells Alya that he wants her to betray Ladybug. Marinette, meanwhile, is panicking over being unable to transform while in public, whereas Tikki remains calm and reassures her that Alya will figure something out and it's why Marinette gave Alya the fox miraculous in the first place.

Weird, I thought it was for the show to continuously validate Alya as a worthy choice for a confidant despite repeatedly covering up her sINS and so the show can push for more anxiety on Marinette's part while simultaneously not having to make a new hero model for Alya, which they would have to do if the realistic decision had been made to give Alya a different miraculous due to Shadow Moth knowing her identity as Rena Rouge.

Marinette texts Alya to inform her that the Bubbler is a sentimonster and so Rena can tell Chat not to use Cataclysm on him or the bubbles will burst due to the sentimonster's lack of control.

Hate to burst the show's bubble but Alya could literally see Nino up in the sky and they could see her; the bubbles are in viewing range. Did this even go through a quality check?

Alya goes to look at Marinette's text, but the phone is bubbled away by Sentibubbler. Marinette sees the phone floating by and panics, only to be reassured again to trust Alya and at this point I vaguely wondered if I was watching this episode on repeat. Tikki also adds that Alya has never let her down - [”Ladybug”] MMMM - and Marinette agrees, also certain that Chat Noir will show up soon.

Oh yeah, he exists. Oh no.

Cut to the Agreste mansion where Adrien is watching the news - dude, how is there never anything better on when you need to be told that there's an akuma? here, look, I'll show you [”Silencer” Lukabug clip] there, much better, see? - and it's pointed out that the bubbles are identical to the ones Bubbler had, yet Nino is in one of the bubbles. Adrien readies himself while Plagg is - for once - okay with leaving since his cheese isn't "edible" yet.

I feel like he should be a little more concerned about Marinette being in a bubble.

Meanwhile, Shadow Moth is explaining to Alya that Ladybug will come to give her the fox miraculous due to the bubbled people in the sky - plenty of other choices that aren't within breathing range of the obvious danger zone, but a'ight - and SentiBubbler will catch Ladybug. Alya brings up Chat Noir saving her but Shadow Moth states that she'll create an illusion of Ladybug and Rena to lure Chat Noir, who won't see Sentibubbler coming, at which point Rena will hand Shadow Moth her miraculous. He adds that her loved ones will only be returned once all three miraculouses are in his possession, though if she tries to warn the heroes then Sentibubbler will send the bubbles into space, too far for any hero to save them.

[clip of space power-ups] Hm.

Also, I would've just let her keep the miraculous as an extra bribe since he doesn't need the fox and she wouldn't have time to recharge anyway - at least to his knowledge - but that's just me.

Marinette is relieved that Alya still hasn't been captured--TIKKI, I KNOW, YOU'VE BEEN PARROTING THIS ALL EPISODE, I KNOW--but Marinette changes her tune when she sees Alya blindly calling out for Ladybug's help, unaware that Alya is buying time. Marinette laments the idea of transforming there and having using the rabbit to go back in time to reverse, as that's never a good thing (seconded), but gets the idea for Tikki to take her miraculous to someone else. Tikki rejects the idea, as the earrings won't go through the bubble, and Marinette realizes that Chat Noir is their only hope.

I mean, it was nice knowing them. Sure is interesting how Marinette has only been getting herself into these situations where she requires saving when the show needed to present Alya as a valid choice for a confidant.

Meanwhile, Chat Noir is leaving a message for Ladybug about the bubbles in the sky, saying that he'll wait for her; I already see where this is going and I don't like it.

Alya mutters to Trixx about how they need a plan to release Marinette. Through Alya Vision, we're shown Sentibubbler, a bowl of fruit, and the bathroom door. Alya tells Sentibubbler that she needs to go to the bathroom and - wow, we're really doing this, aren't we? - which Shadow Moth rejects. Shadow Moth is also on top of a building holding a coffee cup which honestly makes about as much sense as the rest of the episode, so whatever. Alya claims that she can't wait and that it'll be awkward for Ladybug to find her like that, which gets Shadow Moth to relent but also remind her of what's at stake if she tries anything. Alya states that she can't do anything without a miraculous anyway, then purposefully falls onto the table, concealing her long enough for her to transform and allowing an illusion of herself to go to the bathroom while she escapes. She detransforms in the twins' room and feeds Trixx with some grapes that she'd picked up.

Alya explains her plan to trick Shadow Moth and Sentibubbler since they don't know that she has a miraculous, though she also has to make sure that Chat won't ruin things. Rena then proceeds to call Chat Noir and claim that Ladybug wanted her to call him with her plan, but adds that it's a two-person plan and Chat himself isn't needed, so he needs to wait for further instructions. Chat demands that Ladybug call him to tell him herself, but Rena insists that she can't, as Ladybug is very busy. She warns him not to use Cataclysm if he sees the Bubbler, as he's a sentimonster, then promises to talk to him later before hanging up.

She uses Mirage again, making the Alya illusion reappear as well as creating a Ladybug. Chat Noir, infuriated at being left out, destroys part of a building with his baton. He then dismisses the action because Miraculous Ladybug will fix it.

Spoiler alert, it will, which is a very fascinating detail! I mean, I can't imagine another situation where a hero did something while there was an akuma going around and Miraculous Ladybug decided to help 'em out, but it just goes to show what happens when you're the writers' pet. Just look a little pitiful and they'll give you all the sympathy in the world.

By the way, didn't expect them to actually confirm my theory that Chat Noir does Chat Noir things because he knows that Miraculous Ladybug will fix it anyway, essentially allowing him to earn brownie points from Ladybug via sacrificing himself regardless of how it affects her mentally, yet here we are and I don't know whether to be sad, angry, disappointed, or a mixture of all three.

Chat Noir sees the Ladybug illusion jumping off and gives chase, refuses to stay where he is. Marinette, seeing that Rena Rouge's illusions are active, panics at the sight of Chat Noir, as the illusion will vanish if Chat touches it.

I like to imagine the immediate concern is the idea that Chat Noir will try to take Ladybug's hand while trying to flirt.

Anyway, Marinette flails inside the bubble in an attempt to reach Chat Noir, while illusion Alya and SentiBubbler get into position. Chat Noir watches what he perceives as Ladybug heading into the Cesaire house with Alya, but Marinette gets to him in order to tell him not to go anywhere. Chat complains about everyone telling him to stay put, but Marinette explains Rena's plan to him. Chat is skeptical of how she knows that, to which Marinette insists that she saw it from where she was. Chat Noir relents with a sigh and stays where he is.

SentiBubbler watches as the illusion of Alya and Ladybug talk to each other, Rena making it look like Ladybug is piecing together what happened and refusing to give Alya a miraculous ever again due to Shadow Moth knowing her identity. She claims that she'll find another holder and give them an even more powerful miraculous, which interests Shadow Moth and gets him to follow after the Ladybug illusion. Once Sentibubbler leaves as well, Chat sees this as his chance to stop the sentimonster, as the Ladybug illusion will vanish if it's touched. Marinette strokes his ego for the token love square moment of the episode, and Chat Noir fights SentiBubbler while Shadow Moth goes after the Ladybug illusion.

I'm noticing a real lack of tension in this episode. Once Alya has her plan, it's kind of a clean sweep from start to finish with no interference or unexpected roadblocks in the way. Even Shadow Moth following the Ladybug illusion goes fine, with Shadow Moth even punching a building thinking that Ladybug actually got away from him.

Dude, it's fine, Miraculous Ladybug will fix it, just put on your best sad face. Maybe Chat Noir gets it from you actually, is treatment from the writers a hereditary thing?

Sentibubbler and Chat Noir are still fighting. Shadow Moth shows up and Marinette tries to warn Chat, but Chat gets caught in a bubble and Marinette apologizes; she doesn't have anything to apologize for but after "Reflekdoll" I--wait I already did this.

Chat Noir uses Cataclysm to escape, only to get caught in another bubble. I'd just like to throw out there that this guy's a hero three seasons going and the love interest for the main character, yet his role in the episode has amounted to complaining about the authority of a hero Ladybug chose, throwing a property-destroying tantrum over being excluded, and wasting his power without a single thought which just got him captured again.

Chat, does the name "Syren" ring any bells by any chance? I'm just sayin', you could always quit. In fact, wasn't it you literally one episode ago saying that you understood if Ladybug couldn't always come get you? Then, after seeing the jump from "Glaciator" to "Frozer," I'm about as shocked as rubber.

Back with the competent one, Alya notes to Trixx that Rena Rouge can no longer be seen by Shadow Moth or else the jig is up. She transforms and texts Marinette to be ready, creating an illusion of Marinette that simultaneously hides the real version, allowing her to transform into Ladybug.

Chat Noir's bubble gets dragged down and Shadow Moth gets SentiBubbler to mute Chat Noir's bubble.

[clip from “Silencer” where Ladybug takes amusement in Chat being muted]

Ladybug uses Lucky Charm and receives a pot, her Lucky Vision spotting Shadow Moth's coffee cup, then SentiBubbler, then the tarantula trapped in a bubble. Ladybug deduces that the cup is the sentimonster's object, then pulls the horse miraculous out of her yoyo and unifies it with the ladybug--oh.

Oh my.

You know, it's times like this where I'm reminded that the show knows nothing about fashion... or girls... or good writing actually--there's just a lot of stuff they don't know.

Sentibubbler does a countdown, then starts sending the civilian bubbles up into the sky. Chat Noir is about to de-transform while PegaBug notices of Shadow Moth's two miraculous, up for grabbin'. She notes that she won't be able to catch everyone, so she forms a portal behind Shadow Moth and goes for the coffee cup first, thus putting her in control of SentiBubbler, who happily brings the bubbles back down at her command.

Shadow Moth erases SentiBubbler from existence though, causing everyone to fall, but Chat and PegaBug manage to catch them. PegaBug de-transforms and presents the Cesaires with the tarantula, which had been trapped inside the lucky charm. Ladybug and Chat Noir watch Shadow Moth escape and Ladybug laments that it could've been the end of Shadow Moth once and for all because it's not a Miraculous episode without Marinette being at fault or feeling guilty in some way! Chat Noir reassures her [*by “reassure,” I mean he might as well have said, “Well, you saved ME, so you did great!”] - wow, that's two token love square moments for the price of one episode, don't I feel spoiled - and Ladybug leaves to retrieve the tarantula's tank.

Rena Rouge is waiting for her and they hug, with Rena repeating that she doesn't lose something that someone gives her. Ladybug states that she never should've doubted the idea of giving Alya a miraculous and Imma just give you guys a counter real quick. [counter that shows that Tikki has complimented Alya four times, Alya has complimented herself/told Marinette to trust her thrice, and Marinette has said that she was wrong thrice]. Miraculous Ladybug is cast and everything returns to normal, with Alya explaining what she did and Marinette being relieved that Shadow Moth won't be going after her anymore. Alya confidently asks if she was smart and Marinette is happy to praise her, confirming it and stating that Alya is a real superhero and honestly? If the narrative wanted to marry Alya this badly, they should've just used some of the budget to buy a ring instead of projecting onto the other characters.

Then again, the apparent budget can't even afford a new hero model nor new akuma to a very noticeable degree, so I guess they're taking what they can get.

Alya praises Marinette as well for her work as PegaBug and they do a fistbump, thus ending the episode. There's also this ever-so-lovely post-episode scene with Gabriel and Nathalie where Gabriel laments the fact that Ladybug never makes mistakes which--I... has he even watched the series at all? Gabe, babe, Babriel Agreste, it's literally part of the show's formula that Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and she felt guilty like a minute ago over not yoinking your miraculouses when she had the chance, where have you been?

But, yeah, anyway, the episode.

Needless to say, not a fan. Like I said, the show seems so intent on immediately validating the choices they make with Alya in order to make her look like a better character. "Gang of Secrets" basically replaced her with someone different at the end of the episode, and the episode immediately afterwards in chronological order, "Mr. Pigeon 72," did everything it could to push Marinette out of her guardian position long enough for Alya to figure out the grimoire despite having zero onscreen experience with it, the episode even trapping Ladybug in a situation that forced Rena Rouge to come into play to validate that decision as well.

And now we have "SentiBubbler" here following immediately after "Optigami," desperate to reassure its audience that Alya is cool, smart, truthworthy, and that not needing to make a new model--sorry, I mean Alya continuing to have the fox--was a good decision. All the while, they continue pushing Alya's flaws under the rug [Note that it’s not even considered that Alya is even remotely at fault for Shadow Moth going after her specifically after her stunt in “Optigami” when no one else but Ladybug and Chat have ever given out a miraculous], hiding them instead of Alya actually acknowledging them, the only reason she did so in "Optigami" being the same as in "Gang of Secrets"; to make her look good while Marinette makes a big decision in their relationship.

The episode tries so hard to drill in this idea that Alya is a good friend who can be trusted, and I'm just not here for how much they try to hammer it in. Marinette's very real anxiety over Shadow Moth's power and ability to plan things is played off as her being silly instead of something to be concerned about, and instead of giving her a hug and trying to help her calm down - [clip from “Heart Hunter” of Luka hugging Marinette] I miss Luka - she's just told to trust and believe and hAVE fAiTh in Alya.

Shadow Moth is an adult; he has abilities that the teenage heroes don't. I'm not even saying that Marinette isn't overreacting [Basically, her concern about Shadow Moth is valid, especially after “Optigami” where her identity was almost found out], but she has anxiety and some obvious trauma over "Chat Blanc." I was already upset that Alya got a free pass to Marinette's identity, but the constant stressing over how much Marinette should trust her just doesn't affect me when I know Alya and I know the kind of stuff she's done that the show blatantly ignored in favor of pushing for her.

But okay, show, I'll give Alya the benefit of the doubt that she doesn't deserve. Let's say that she's turned a new leaf, and has become the reliable, trustworthy, and loyal partner that Marinette deserves. I'm sure that Alya has Marinette's back, and will never go behind said back in order to do something completely unsurprising and wholly indicative of the character I actually know her to be.

Especially not a mere three episodes later...

[liquid-luck-00]

Connections 13

Chapter 13

this is based on @thepeacetea daminette soulmate au

MasterList *** First *** Previous *** Next

~~~~~~~~~~

Soon Marinette and Damian found themselves starting high school. So much had changed while so much stayed the same.

In the span of four years, Mari started going out with her uncle and brothers at night.

She and Tikki decided not to use the typical ladybug patterns, instead opting to use pinks and black with no spots. She went by the name Rosefinch and even joined the Teen Titans.

But that wasn't what was relevant at the moment. You see right now she was standing in front of Collège Françoise Dupont reading a text on her phone.

Mon Sol: This is such a drag

Mon Sol: I don't think I can survive this week

Qamri: I'm just a call away

Mon Sol: I know

Mon Sol: Good Morning

Qamri : Good night

With that Mari slipped her phone in her pocket and climbed the steps. Easily found her homeroom and sat in the back of the classroom.

Damian may have been sent on a week long undercover mission but she was still in Paris, as a transfer student.

Slowly the class filled before the bell rang, she however didn't notice. A combination of jet-lag, unpacking, and choosing an outfit. A white t-shirt under a black and pink blazer was paired with a pink skirt and black sneaker heels. Her long blue hair faded to purple then pink at the ends fell around her face. (Combined with her nose in her tablet she was blocked from the blonde who sat in the front row, as well as the brunette on the second row.)

"Where is he?" A voice she knows well spoke up amidst the chatter. "Ridiculous. Utterly Ridiculous." Queenie finished.

Mari turned off her tablet, set down the pen, folded her hands and rested her chin on them.

"Who would that be, Chloe?" A be-speckled girl asked from the second row.

"If you must know, Césaire, Adrikins is supposed to start today." Queenie pouted.

"A friend of Chloe's. Ugh." A girl a few benches down with bright pink hair gagged. This caused Chloe to turn her attention behind her.

"Adrikins is the nicest, sweetest person in the world, Kubdel. You'll see." She stopped her foot.

"The nicest, sweetest person in the world, really Queenie?" She finally spoke, quirking a brow in the process.

"Second." She amended, surprised by her appearance.

"Uh-huh." Mari hummed turning back to her tablet.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming!?" The heiress stomped and pouted again.

"Because I knew this was how you would react if it fell through." Mari shrugged never once looking up.

"Who are you?!" Someone asked but she wasn't bothered to find out.

She would have answered had the teacher not finally made her entrance. "Alright class take your seats. Roll call." The teacher started without even introducing herself.

"Adrien Agreste." She shook her head sadly but continued. It wasn't until she called a name she didn't think she'd ever hear again did she tune back in. "Lila Dupain-Cheng."

Mari’s attention hyper focused when she heard that name. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and when she opened them her compound vision was activated. With it she was able to perceive every detail without being obvious. Meaning she noticed the sausage haired liar before she even spoke. She closed her eyes and dropped her compound vision.

"Present." The girl answered.

The teacher marked and continued. "Damian Grayson."

"He is dealing with a family emergency and will start next week." Mari answered in order to avoid further disruptions.

"How do you know this?" The teacher noticed her.

"Damian and I are friends and are both exchange students from New Jersey for the year." She shrugged.

"Ah. Thank you." The teacher pursed her lips. She continued the roll call.

"Marinette Rolling."

"Here." She rose her hand. Chloe had been watching her, light confusion flicked behind her icy blue eyes, before realization struck.

Soon after class finally started. The teacher introduced herself as Mlle. Bustier. But nothing ever goes to plan when Damian isn't their to counter her luck.

A boy in red snatched a paper from the taller boy in front of her.

"Give it back! Kim!" The taller one jumped from his seat.

"Ivan!" Mlle. Bustier pointed at the door.

"But!" Ivan protested to no avail. He made his way out of the classroom but not without snatching the page from Kim.

Mari rose her hand and was quickly excused to the bathroom. She had expected to see Ivan in the hall but hadn't.

She untucked her antenna from behind her ears, still hidden in the longer sections of her bangs. She may have not been paying close attention to roll call, but that was because she was memorizing everyone's scent. She separated Ivan's from the others following it to the locker rooms.

"Ivan." She called, tucking her antenna back behind her ears.

"Go away." He called before seeing her. "Really, leave. You're friends with Chloe."

*Sigh* She walked closer.

"I said leave me alone!" He threw a wadded up paper at her, which she caught. She undid the ball and read it. "No don't!..."

"This is sweet." She cut him off.

"What?!"

"It's sweet. Who is it for?" She was sitting on the ground next to him. "You don't have to tell me."

"Mylène." He answered timidly after a moment.

"Tell her." She was now watching the outside, to not pressure him.

"But Kim..."

"Doesn't matter in this.There's no use dwelling on what if's and opinions of other's not relevant."

"You're nothing like Chloe."

"She's my oldest friend, sure, but this life is mine. And I won't ever be conquered or chained to another in servility."

"You're weird." He laughed. "Thanks."

"No problem." She smiled leaving the locker room. After that the day seemed to settle. She couldn't catch up with Chloe, because she got three calls she couldn't not answer during her lunch break.

It wasn't until last period, back in Mlle. Bustier's that she could feel a shift.

When she reached the door started humming, loudly. The reason, well she could tell some one on the other side was on the verge of a panic attack, and she didn't want to startle them. She reached into her book bag and Tikki handed her a cookie. (She keeps several freshly baked cookies, individually wrapped, in her backpack for Tikki.) Which she placed in front of the girl. The girl seemed to stop and watched her take her seat.

"Why?" She finally spoke.

"Why, what?" Mari asked.

"Why are you being nice?" The girl, Mylène she finally placed, asked. "You're Chloe's friend."

"Seriously." She shook her head. "I know Chloe is a brat, but that doesn't mean I can't be nice."

"I guess that's true." Mylène laughed taking the cookie. "Thank you."

"No problem." Mari smiled. If you need an unbiased ear, I'm here."

"It's nothing. Ivan was trying to tell me something, just he started yelling, and I got overwhelmed and ran here." She spilled, without meaning to. "Oh gosh. I didn't mean to dump that on you."

The girl seemed to start spiraling.

"It's fine." Marinette waved off. "I offered an ear, anyways."

Soon after the class filled in and class started.

"Ivan Bruel."

Roll was being taken when a giant rock monster barged in.

"Present?" The monster responded.

The class froze, but the Ivan monster didn't. He walked straight towards Mylène.

"Ivan?" She asked.

"No Ivan." The monster answered. "Stoneheart!" He grabbed Mylène, pounded on his chest, grew larger, and jumped out the window.

"Oh My God!" A be-speckled girl jumped from her seat. "A real life super villain."

"Alya don't..." A boy with headphones shouted after her.

"Class." Mlle. Bustier clapped her hands. "Class dismissed go straight home."

Mari gathered her things, and as she exited, she sent a text to her second (read hero)/Tikki's phone.

Coffee Plz: Was that what I fear it was?

Cookies Plz: Akuma

Came Tikki's response.

Well looks like she is needing to debut a new suit.

And of course she doesn’t have her cat anywhere near her.

Next

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[zoe-oneesama]

How did you feel about Queen Banana? (If I’m being honest Chloe made me angry in that episode)

I'll kind of go in a Stream-of-Consciousness style: The episode by itself I really liked so I'll start with what I liked. Chloe was hella annoying but it's not anything new - if anything it was like being Season 1 again, which is the version of Chloe I've always liked (in that like to hate way). Particularly in the akuma fight, I think the VAs went really hard and the animation on Queen Banana was funny and over the top, I loved it.

Adrien coming to tell Chloe she should be the one to apologize was *chef's kiss*. Glad to see that some of that "she'll never change" nonsense from the end of Despair Bear is wearing off and he's standing up for his friends. It's an important lesson for him to learn that yeah, sometimes standing up for what's right might cost you but it shouldn't stop you from doing the right thing. This is a good step forward. Additionally I love seeing a bit of Andre's spine too. Now just extend that to how Chloe treats people who aren't in your family...

The banana thing was shoehorned in the beginning, but honestly, I was here for the banana ride all the way to the banana end once it was there.

They really put all the effort into Zoé and Mylene's makeup, but still put them in painter smocks and called them "capes", huh? lol, but that make up was F I R E 🔥

It's nice to have actual proof that the Magic Charms are working against reakumatizations instead of them just saying it does. Lol, even Marinette seemed surprised.

Vesperia kicked ass. That is all.

Now what I'm concerned about/didn't like:

I don't like Chloe's hair down. It looks like Laurie from That 70's Show.

I'm seeing a concerning amount of parallels between Zoé and old Marinette (Marinette before she got the earrings). My feelings about it really depend on what they do with this: are they going to have Marinette see Zoé have the same self-destructive behaviors that she does and realize that actually she doesn't deserve to have the bad end of the stick and needs to treat herself nicer? Or is Marinette going to give Zoé confidence and "heal" her trauma with absolutely zero self awareness?

Also with Zoé, I see a strange amount of parallels with Lila. This also goes with Sole Crusher, but she did come in lying about who she is, but because she does it with self-defensive intentions it's okay? It's to the point where I can't tell if her ending speech in Queen Banana where she mirrors her movie lines about "loving you even if the world hates you" was genuine or just part of her manipulation to trick Chloe into taking the Magic Charm. If it's genuine, then this is going to be Zoé "redeeming" Chloe (which is it's own can of worms) and if it was part of her trick, that means she's lying. I would assume this is nuance, but in this series, I can't be sure if this intentional or an accidental mixed message.

And about that little speech at the end...I probably would be less up in the air about it if they didn't have Tikki come in to convieniently say "maybe now Chloe'll learn to be better". Um, haven't we done this song and dance before? Am I supposed to take this seriously now?! Is this another tease or are they actually going to pull through with it this time? I have nO IDEA!

Ultimately, I take Tikki's quip more as "if Chloe doesn't change after this she has no one to blame but herself."

[apricotgojo]

Could I please request Felix x reader please? Maybe where she’s friends with Adrien and meets Felix and he’s really soft with her and everyone’s really confused lol. Super fluffy please😌🙈

Hi! Sorry for the long wait i was super busy hh :(( but here it is! It’s not as fluffy as intended but i think that’s because i’m not good at writing fluff but nonetheless i hope you enjoy it. I love felix with all my heart so this was a treat to write <3

Pairing: Felix Graham de Vanily X Reader.

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol and swearing !

Tags: Fluff, Pls felix deserves the world thku very much.

Luka’s boat party at the Seine, something you’ve been looking forward for the past week.

Well, It’s not really a party.

A small get together with great people, good music and drinks.

This is the first time you’ve been invited to one of these parties and Marinette has told you many times that it’s going to be one to remember, even if it is lowkey.

Plus, you could warm up to more people other than the small circle of friends you have at college.

“Woah.” You say without even realising as you look around at the balloons and fairy lights all over the place.

As soon as you enter you see the place peppered with a few people, some people you’ve never seen in your entire life and some familiar faces from college.

Marinette and Alya were by your side, you walked to the boat with them.

“Juleka and Luka live here?” You ask.

“Yeah but Luka’s trying to find a new apartment right now.” Marinette says.

As if on cue, the blue haired boy makes his way over to you guys.

“Welcome ladies.” He says and smiles at all of you. “As usual, make yourselves comfortable, get some drinks and enjoy yourselves.”

“Hey look there’s Adrien!” You say and you were about to go greet him until you felt someone grab your hand, stopping you.

“Thanks Luka, the party looks amazing.” You compliment.

Your eyes fall onto a familiar blond and you smile.

You turn around and see Marinette, shaking her head. “That’s not Adrien, that’s Felix.”

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Alya asks, gasping.

Marinette shrugs. “I have no clue, Adrien probably invited him.”

“I swear to god if that little blond bitch tries me again I won’t hesitate to kick him in the balls this time.”

“I think Alya needs a drink.” Luka chuckles and Alya nods angrily.

“Who’s Felix?” You ask and the three turn to look at you.

You look at them confused as to what they were talking about.

You could’ve sworn that he was Adrien, he looks exactly like him except his hair was straighter and neater. He reminded you of Draco Malfoy from Harry potter.

“The spawn of satan.” Alya mutters, rolling her eyes and sipping on her drink.

Marinette sighs and steals Alya’s drink from her hand.

“Hey!”

“That’s Felix, Adriens cousin. He’s kind of the complete opposite of Adrien.” Marinette explains.

“Meaning…?” You trail off.

“Meaning he’s a douchebag.” Alya states.

“Alya come on.” Marinette groans.

“Nope, she has a point.” Luka intervenes.

“Listen girl, when we were in middle school he sent us a video of him pretending to be Adrien and telling us how much he hates us.” Alya tells you and crosses her arms over her chest. “And last summer Adrien invited him to the beach with us and he didn’t even talk to us or swim because he’s worried that his pretty porcelain skin will get burnt. Trust me, the last thing you want to do is talk to him.” Alya says and snatches her drink back from Marinette before walking off.

“What Alya is trying to say is that yeah, he’s rude and yeah, kind of a douche too but don’t worry about him too much, he doesn’t really talk to any of us.”

He honestly sounded horrible.

I mean, not talking to them is one thing but almost ruining Adriens friendship with everyone is something else.

“Yeah because he hates us.” Luka says and Marinette glares at him which causes Luka to chuckle.

“Hey guys!” finally, the actual Adrien Agreste has come to talk to you guys.

“Hey Adrien.” You say and smile at him before giving him a friendly kiss on the cheek.

Marinette does the same to him and before quirking her eyebrow up. “Kagami isn’t here?” She asks.

“No she has to study for her exam tomorrow.” Adrien says and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Uh-huh.” Marinette narrows her eyes at him suspiciously but doesn’t say anything more.

“Oh yeah, guys, Felix is here.” Adrien laughs nervously.

“Adrien.” A voice chimes in.

It belonged to the notorious Felix who was now standing behind Adrien.

“Hey Felix.” Marinette says, smiling at him.

The blond furrows his eyebrows at her and rolls his eyes. “Adrien can we-“ He stops when he looks at you.

“Hi.” You say your name and hold your hand out. “It’s nice to meet you.” You say and he walks closer to you.

You gulp and chuckle awkwardly.

Knowing this guys attitude, you were scared about what he would say about you.

He takes you hand and shakes it. “I’m Felix, it’s nice to meet you too.” He says, a small smile on his face.

Everyone around you widens their eyes at the sight before them.

You look down and notice that he was still shaking your hand, looking at you, dazed.

Maybe he had too much to drink?

He removes his hand from yours quickly and you notice his cheeks tinting red. “Nothing.” He says and walks away.

Adrien clears his throat and pats him on the shoulder, snapping him out of it.

“What did you want to tell me Felix?”

“What. The. Fuck.” Marinette gapes. “I swear, when I met him for the first time he didn’t even shake my hand let alone smile at me.”

You felt like you were on the spot and ultimately it made you feel uncomfortable.

“Maybe he’s drunk or something?” You say and shrug.

“Felix doesn’t drink.” Adrien states.

You gulp. “Well I do.” You chuckle nervously and walk away from them to get a drink for yourself.

You move past people, muttering ‘excuse me’ as you walk to the little table where the drinks were. You pour yourself a drink.

“I’m not Adrien you brat.” You hear someone say and you instantly turn around.

“Ohhhhhhh…” A girl slurs. She was laughing against Felix, who looked incredibly uncomfortable with her presence. “doesn’t matter, we can still have a good time together.”

You watch Felix look around him and sigh, he didn’t even know what to say to her.

“I don’t want to.” He states.

“Why you got a girl or something?” She asks, sipping on her drink and hopping to the beat of the music.

You didn’t even realise that your body moved on it’s own.

“Yeah he does.” You say and walk over to Felix, kissing him on the cheek. “Here’s your drink babe.” You say and wink at him.

The colour of his face matched that of a tomato right now and he slowly took the drink from you, laughing nervously. “T-thank you.” He stutters out.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know.” The girl apologises.

“Are you okay?” You ask him, slightly smiling. “I could tell you were uncomfortable.”

“You’re good.” You shrug and grab Felix’s hand, “Au revoir!” You wave before dragging Felix elsewhere.

You found a secluded area on the boat near the railings. You figured he needed some air.

“Yes, I appreciate it.” He says, looking at the sea. “Thank you.”

You stare at him.

Since you’re getting a closer look at him you realise that he actually has different features from Adrien which you don’t notice at first.

His nose was a little longer with a few freckles peppered across it.

His skin was fairer, in fact it was so fair that every time he blushes you can see it evident on his cheeks and the tip of his nose.

His eyes were more narrowed but still held the same beautiful green, maybe felixs’ was more vibrant.

“What the hell did you put in this?” He asks.

You watch his long fingers curl against the cup tighter before sipping the drink.

His face contorts after.

“Liquor.” You state, chuckling. “What you can’t take the alcohol Felix?” You tease.

He scoffs, “Of course I can. Watch me.” He says and downs the rest of what was in the cup.

He looked really cute when he’s laughing.

He starts coughing after he finishes and cusses under his breath.

“That was strong shit.” He says and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

You start laughing, clutching your stomach as you do so.

You hear him slowly join in on your laughter soon after and you slightly open your eyes to see him.

“you know…” He says, wiping some lose tears from his eyes from the laughter “I don’t have many friends so I’m not really used to laughing like this.”

“Why don’t you try making more friends?” You asked him.

“Why am I any different?” You ask. “I mean, you barely talk to Marinette or any of Adriens friends.”

He shrugged at you and leaned against the railings.

“I don’t particularly like being around a lot of people, nor do I really enjoy people in general.” He mumbles, looking down. “But that’s just how I was brought up I guess.”

He stares at the floor boards and sighs. “When I saw you, my first thought wasn’t “oh she’s just one of Adriens friends” or “she’s probably going to talk to me because has to because ‘hey I’m known as Adriens spoiled rich cousin’” my first thought was ‘wow, she’s absolutely beautiful and she’s new around here, she doesn’t know of who I am so maybe I actually have a chance with someone. Even if it’s just a friend.”

You cut him of by getting on your tip toes and giving him a small kiss on the lips.

His comment made your cheeks heat up and a small smile twitch on your lips.

“Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, it’s probably the damn alcohol, I have no idea what shit im spurring out let alone-“

His mouth parts and his eyes were wide. “Maybe it’s the alcohol too or maybe I just wanted you to stop talking.” You whisper.

“I will kiss you again, only if you stop thinking that Adriens friends talk to you because they have to. You’re a sweet guy and you shouldn’t feel left out.” You tilt your head and place a hand on his cheek.

He was frozen. It was a cute sight but you were scared that you terrified the poor guy.

Suddenly he leans in for another kiss but you place a finger on his lips to stop him.

He stares into your eyes for a moment, as if trying to look for something other than the truth.

You could see the green properly, his eyes were glistening, like he had stars in them.

Felix cups your face with both hands and pulls you into a kiss, a deep one.

You may not know him very well but this moment with him felt right, you didn’t see him as just Adriens cousin. He was more than that.

He was Felix and right now with every movement of his lips against yours, you felt butterflies fluttering around your stomach.

“Hey guys.” You wave awkwardly to them and chuckle.

You hear someone clear their throat which makes you pull away from the kiss. You turn around and see your group of friends staring at you.

Alya had her hand clasped over her mouth.

Nino was wide eyed.

Marinette was smirking at you.

Adrien was smiling awkwardly.

“We’ve been looking for you everywhere girl! We didn’t know you were sharing spit with Felix.” Alya exclaims walking up to you.  “Is he forcing you into doing something because I swear to god I will-“

“no no Alya, I’m the one who kissed him.” You say, smiling sheepishly.

“Why?” She deadpans, looking at you confused.

“Cesaire.” Felix says walking up to Alya. He clears his throat. “Are you still running that little blog of yours?”

Alya narrows her eyes at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “Yes.”

“It’s…” He stops and looks at you, as if for a moment, he’s remembering what you were talking about before. “It’s great. Even people In England are talking about it.”

Alya’s jaw drops. “Holy shit, really?”

Felix nods and you smile at him, knowing that he’s really trying.

“Nino! The ladyblog went international!” She exclaims and goes to hug her boyfriend.

You mentally thank him and he sends you a small wink before holding your hand.

Maybe you were the key to him finally being himself in front of others.

Maybe you could even become his everything.

[mochegato]

Even the Losers

Chapter 18

Chapter 1     Chapter 17

Mari waved up at Nightwing before turning toward the café.  He grinned and waved back.  No sense of embarrassment at getting caught like Red Robin had the day before.  She didn’t know enough about him to know if it was because he wasn’t hiding, Red Robin had given him a warning that she knew someone would be there, or because he had no sense of embarrassment, or most likely, a combination of all of those.

Adrien looked up and grinned too.  “What time did he take over?”

Marinette shrugged and cut through the café’s outdoor seating.  “Later than yesterday.  When did Dick leave?  It was some time after that.”

Adrien looked at him for a moment and shook his head. He looked back at Marinette before the memory of sleep deprived Marinette hit him.  He grimaced.  It was hit or miss whether she would be funny, emotional, or a danger to herself. If Batman was the same… “I really hope Batman doesn’t have a day job because with all the all-nighters he’s pulling, he would have to be a zombie at work.”

Marinette giggled at the idea.  “Can you imagine Batman with a day job?  What do you think he does?  Like, could you imagine him as a kindergarten teacher?”  Marinette’s giggles grew into full blown laughter. She finally was able to gasp out, “Batman complimenting some little kid’s rainbow and assuring them that making the entire rainbow the same color was extremely creative and beautiful.  Or trying to guess what animal they drew.”

Adrien laughed and patted her arm to get her to stop.  “Wait, wait. Batman crouching next to a toddler and explaining for the eighth time in the last three minutes that Pete the Cat is in fact a cat, not a dog before patting them on the head and walking away to scream into a nap mat.”

Marinette Laughed hard enough she almost missed the door handle.  She jumped when Adrien suddenly grabbed her arm.  She turned to him wide eyed but she immediately relaxed.  He was bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement.  “No, no, no.  A PA to some… NO, to M. Wayne!  Batman as M. Wayne’s PA.  Oh my God, can you imagine?”

Marinette giggled and shook her head at him, pushing through the door.  Well, that would certainly explain why the bats seemed so close to the Waynes.  She spotted Duke and waved.  He jumped up and waved them over.  “Hey, Duke.  I hope you don’t mind that I brought Adrien.”

“Not at all,” Duke gave them both a hug.  He looked toward the bathroom with a smile. “Good to see you again, man.  I hope you don’t mind that Cass and I both brought someones too.”  Cass and Stephanie were walking toward them with a red headed woman in a wheelchair. Duke leaned toward them and lowered his voice so the women approaching couldn’t hear him.  “Brought is a really liberal term for what happened.  I am so sorry.  I knew we shouldn’t have mentioned meeting with you in front of Stephanie.”

“Hey Cass,” Marinette called out.  She and Adrien waved at her.  “Good to see you again, Stephanie.”

Cass waved back and nodded with a wide smile. “Marinette!” Stephanie chirped. “I’d say what a coincidence we ran into you guys here…”

“But that would be a lie,” Barbara finished for her. “Hi,” she held out her hand for them, “I’m Barbara.”

Marinette smiled and stepped forward to shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.  I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Well yeah we crashed,” Stephanie rolled her eyes and dropped into a seat across from Marinette.  She sent a playful glare toward Duke.  “You guys have been keeping her all to yourselves all week.  It’s our turn to hang out with her again.  Not to mention I wanted to catch up with the woman who fed the Riddler’s own balls to him for everyone to see.”

“And we wanted to see how you’re doing after it,” Barbara added with a chastising look to Stephanie.  She turned to side eye Duke.  “We tried to check with the boys but they were less than helpful.”

Marinette shrugged and leaned back slightly, not enough for anyone else in the café to notice but everyone else at the table picked up on it.  “I’m fine. It wasn’t bad.  More embarrassed he caught me in the first place.”

Stephanie waved her off.  “Please,” she scoffed.  “He had to knock out like an entire block just to get you.  That’s better than some of the bats.”

“Well, you look like you’re healing well,” Barbara nodded with a supportive smile.

Marinette smiled as naturally as she could and tried to control how much she was shifting in her seat.  She really, really hated talking about the whole thing with not only people who didn’t know she had been a superhero, but with the Waynes after that dinner, so that was two strikes against discussing this right now.

She’d been able to joke about it and moan about how contrived the whole setup with Alya and Nino.  They’d laughed all night about the audacity.  Not only had he thought he could stump her with a question about Chat Noir, he thought he would win against her in a game that relied on luck or rather bad luck not striking.  It was almost enough to make her forget the way the dinner had ended.  It was exactly what she had needed.  But she couldn’t do that here.

“Yeah,” she chuckled anxiously.  “My cheek seems to be doing well.  I’m hoping I can cover it with makeup by next week.”

“How’s your shoulder?” Duke asked motioning toward the shoulder she’d rammed into the doorframe when she was running away.

Marinette blinked at him a few times before she quirked her head to the side, her face scrunching in confusion.  “How did you know about that?”

She could see the rest of the table tense up, Adrien included but for the same reason as her, confusion on how he’d known. She had no idea why the rest were tensing up.  Duke chuckled awkwardly, sending looks over to the women at the table.  “He’s covering for me,” Barbara finally spoke up.

“Why is… what is he covering up for?” Marinette asked cautiously.

“My father is the police commissioner,” she said quietly.  “I may have snuck a look at the police report… slightly illegally… and read about your injuries.”

Marinette shook her head.  “But, I didn’t tell them about that.”

“No,” Barbara acknowledged, “but Signal did.”

Marinette nodded, trying to process that information. “Huh,” was all she managed to eke out. Her mind raced trying to figure out what to say next.  She was saved from trying to figure out how to move the conversation along by the waiter. The topic seemed to fade away naturally as everyone put in their order.

As soon as the waiter left, Duke clapped his hands with a bright smile.  “So, Steph, you said again.  I take it you guys have met before?”

“At the gala,” Adrien nodded.  “Only briefly though.  We,” he motioned between him and Stephanie, “spoke for a little bit, but Marinette only spoke with her for a few seconds.”

Stephanie grimaced at the reminder.  “Yeah… not exactly the ideal meeting.”

Marinette waved her off.  “Not your fault.  Don’t worry about it.”  She sent her a sincere smile.

“No,” Stephanie agreed.  “It’s Bruce’s.”

Cass pulled out a credit card with a wicked grin. “On Bruce.”

Barbara nodded.  “Exactly.  Therefore, this lunch is on Bruce.  Maybe we should go shopping after this too?”  She raised an eyebrow at Marinette.

Marinette giggled and shook her head.  “No, thank you.  That’s okay.  I’m good.”

Stephanie’s eyes lit up.  She leaned closer to Marinette like she was sharing a secret. “Speaking of the gala, how did you get tickets to the gala anyway?  We never figured it out.”  Barbara groaned lightly and smacked her on the shoulder.  They had just changed the subject.  Marinette probably did not want to talk about the gala, where they raved about their family and the newest member, which was not her and did not did not include her.

Instead of freezing up or withdrawing, like Barbara worried she would, Marinette started laughing.  Her eyes were sparkling with mirth.  She leaned closer to them over the table and lowered her voice. “I pimped out my friend,” she confided with a smirk.

The rest of the table froze until Adrien groaned and Stephanie and Duke started laughing loud enough to draw disapproving looks from neighboring tables.  Cass raised an eyebrow, but her lips were quirked up in amusement.  “Say that again,” Barbara prompted.

Marinette shrugged and took a sip of her drink.  “I don’t know if it counts as pimping if he did it willingly.  He was willing to do it for Max.”

“Oh my God, Marinette.”  Adrien ran his hand over his face in exasperation.

“What exactly was he willing to do?” Barbara’s voice was now less amused and more wary.

“That was the worst possible way to say it,” Adrien groaned.

“You know, maybe I don’t want to know the answer to that…” Barbara hedged.  She leaned away from Marinette cautiously.

Marinette laughed at Adrien’s frustration and bumped his shoulder with hers.  “I offered up a date with Luka Coffaine to Audrey Bourgeois’ PA in exchange for the tickets she turned down,” she explained.

There was absolute silence for a few seconds until Stephanie broke the silence.  “You know Luka Coffaine?” she yelled.  

Everyone in the café turned slowly to look at them. Marinette’s eyes widened and looked around at them.  She gave them an awkward smile and a wave before turning back to the table.  Before she could chastise Stephanie, Cass was already on top of it.  She pointed sternly around the restaurant and back at Stephanie.  Stephanie nodded guiltily.  “Yeah, yeah.  Sorry.” She turned back to Marinette excitedly. “I just…” she lowered her voice and leaned closer to Marinette.  “You know Luka Coffaine?”

Marinette rolled her eyes at her excitement.  It was always so bizarre to see people’s reaction to Luka.  It was Luka. Just Luka.  Calm, reserved, laidback Luka.  The hysteria around his name just never seemed to fit.  “Yeah, I mean, we dated for a while so… yeah.”

“You dated Luka Coffaine!” Stephanie yelled again, receiving glares from everyone at the table.  Marinette shrunk down in her chair and gave a strained, apologetic smile to the rest of the café.  Cass slapped Stephanie’s shoulder and shook her head.  Stephanie waved her off and focused back on Marinette.  “Yeah, yeah.  Discretion.  Whatever. She dated Luka freaking Coffaine,” Stephanie insisted, motioning to Marinette.

“You dated Tim Drake,” Duke pointed out.

Stephanie snorted.  “That’s just Tim.  He’s just a big dork.  She dated…”

“Yeah we got it,” Barbara cut her off.

“Really, so is Luka,” Adrien shrugged.  “Probably more so, just about music.”  Marinette cocked her head to the side in thought for a few seconds before nodding in agreement.  He really was.

“Holy shit.  Did he introduce you to his dad?”  Stephanie was bouncing in her seat at the idea and the potential for an inside scoop on Jagged Stone.

“No,” Marinette answered.  She smiled internally at the way all their faces, except for Adrien’s fell, just a bit, almost imperceptibly, as if trying to hide their disappointment.  “I already knew him.”

“You know Jagged Stone?” Stephanie yelled. Marinette cringed as she sent the other patrons another apologetic smile.

Duke leaned over closer to her so he could whisper in her ear, though his voice intentionally carried across the table. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this anymore.”

“No!” Stephanie screeched, before catching what she did and settling down, a mask of composure settling on her face.  “I’m fine now.  I just needed to get that out.  I’m calm.” She stared at them for a few seconds before almost lunging across the table.  Adrien deftly moved his and Marinette’s drinks before she knocked them over in her zeal.  “Please tell me more.”

Marinette’s eyes widened and she started laughing.  “You realize you’re basically a daughter to the richest man in the world.  If you wanted to meet Jagged Stone, you could.”

Cass shook her head.  “Different.”

Barbara nodded.  “She’s right it is different.  You dated his son.  That’s a different type of knowing someone.”

“So you met Luka through Jagged?” Stephanie pressed.

Marinette suddenly looked uncomfortable.  She was not really excited to talk about their family dynamic and secrets.  It was a little too close to her own and she really, really wanted to move past that, not dwell on it more.  “No… I met Luka through my friend Juleka, his sister.  We went to school together for ages.  They’re both some of my best friends.”

“And she introduced you to Jagged?” Duke asked curiously.  He could tell something was off about this based on the way Marinette responded, but he wasn’t sure what.

“No… um…” she stuttered.  “I met Jagged through a school project.  Designed some sunglasses for him and we’ve been close ever since.”  Adrien grabbed her hand and squeezed it under the table

Stephanie looked between the two of them and plastered on a bright smile.  “So what I’m hearing is you can hook us up with some tickets next time he comes into town.”

Marinette laughed lightly.  “Either one of us could, yes.”

“Or for Clara Nightengale,” Adrien added in. “She loves Marinette, too.  She wanted her in one of her videos.”

“She wanted you in it too,” Marinette reminded him.

“No,” he corrected her, “Gabriel got me into it. She just had to deal with it.  She didn’t choose me.  She chose you.  She worked to get you in the video.”

Marinette opened her mouth to refute that but snapped it shut quickly as the words resonated in her head.  She meant more because Clara chose her.  He was thrust on Clara.  But it didn’t mean he was unwanted.  She looked down at her food and took a bite, trying to cover her sudden inability to breathe.  Trying to give herself time to process.  She needed to pack that away for later when she could properly unpack that statement, deconstruct it, and then finally reconstruct it in some skewed, perverted version of the original situation.

Adrien immediately froze seeing her reaction. He opened his mouth to say something but Marinette squeezed his hand under the table before he could, a silent message they could talk about it later, when they were alone, or at least not with an audience comprised of Waynes.

“So how did you meet Mons…” she stuttered.  It felt strange to call him M. Wayne when everyone else at the table was calling him Bruce.  Should she call him Bruce too?  Like they did.  Like Dick did?  Or B, like Jason did?  “…M. Wayne?” she finally settled on.

Duke grimaced.  They had a cover story, but was he really going to give Bruce’s daughter the cover story?  The truth involved Batman.  But Bruce hadn’t told her about that part of their lives yet, and even if he had told her, he certainly hadn’t told Adrien.  “It’s a long story…”

Marinette smiled encouragingly at him.  “We have time.” She saw him falter and felt her own smile falter.  She took note of the way the women had frozen up as well.  God, what was she doing?  M. Wayne had said how they met.  Why was she bringing that up now?  What was she thinking?  Even if he was okay discussing that trauma, he probably didn’t want to open up about it with a stranger.  

“You don’t have to tell me,” she assured him.  “It’s… it’s fine.”  She looked around desperately for something else to talk about, a change of topic to make the conversation not so awkward.  “You graduate from school next year, right?”  Duke blinked a few times before he let out a breath and nodded.  She let out a breath as well when the rest of the table seemed to relax at her question.  “Do you have plans for after you graduate?  Are you going to take a gap year or go to university or get a job?”

“I haven’t really decided yet.  Go to Gotham University, I guess,” he shrugged.

Marinette smiled disarmingly at him.  “You don’t have to decide now.  You have time.”

The waiter interrupted Marinette’s response with their food.  They gave their thanks and started eating.  “So what have you missed the most while you’ve been here?” Barbara asked.

“My parents’ cooking definitely,” Marinette grinned as she looked at her food. It didn’t look bad, but compared to her parents’ cooking… well not much compared.  “And the atmosphere.  Gotham is…” she looked around them as she thought of an unoffensive way to end that sentence.

“Dreary as Hell,” Stephanie finished for her.  “Yeah, we know.”

“I swear you guys have more gargoyles than we do though, which is just strange to me,” Adrien added.  “We were supposed to have the market cornered on gothic architecture.”

“Oh, you still do.  We just took the most depressing, dismal, gloomy, nightmare inducing parts and ran with it,” Duke grinned.  “But I would like to see Paris sometime.  Go see the Eiffel Tower… and jump off it.”

Barbara, Stephanie, and Cass all groaned at him.  Barbara gave him a stern look and pointed a warning finger in his face. “Not during the day.”

Duke laughed at her.  “Well I’m not going to do it at night.”

“Do it at sunrise,” Marinette advised.  “Less gendarmerie around then and if you angle it correctly, you get the most gorgeous view of the sunrise.”

“Bring sunglasses if you jump that way though.  I didn’t and I saw spots for hours.  Oh, and stretch first too,” Adrien added.  “You’re going to have to parkour for quite a while to try to ditch the GN.”

The rest of the table stared at them, jaws dropped in shock.  There was absolute silence at the table except for the sounds of Marinette sipping her drink and Adrien chewing his food. “You’ve…” Duke started almost too in awe to be able to finish the sentence.  “You’ve jumped off the Eiffel Tower?”

Marinette nodded and motioned between the two of them.  “Both of us have.  Both during an akuma attack and not.  Not was much preferable to during.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Stephanie asked slowly.  She was like 90% positive it was but during akuma attacks, who knew what was legal anymore and Hell, maybe they had days where they gave exceptions. Stranger things have happened.

Marinette speared a bit of food and pointed it at her.  “Only if you get caught.”  She popped the food in her mouth with a triumphant grin.

Barbara blinked at her a few times and shook her head because dear God, there was another one.  She was going to fit right in.  No wonder she and Duke got along so well.  Both creative, smart, kind, thrill seeking, dumbasses.  “I’m pretty sure that’s not how that works,” she deadpanned.

Adrien shrugged and took a sip of his drink.  “I don’t know.  We didn’t get arrested, so I’m pretty sure it is.”

Duke and Stephanie started laughing hysterically.  They looked over at Cass with raised eyebrows when they settled down. Cass stared intently at Marinette and Adrien for a few seconds, staring into them like she was reading their souls. Marinette and Adrien looked at each other with identical unsure looks and subconsciously leaned back at the same time, shuffling in their seats.  Cass stared at them for just a few more seconds before she nodded.

“Holy shit,” Duke muttered in awe.  “You were telling the truth.”

Marinette looked back over at Adrien for an explanation he clearly didn’t have, judging by the blank look on his face before looking back at Duke.  “Uh… yeah?”

“What just happened?” Adrien asked tentatively.

“Sorry about that,” Barbara sent them a disarming smile.  “Cass is kind of like a human lie detector.  She is exceptionally good at telling if someone is lying.  She just confirmed that you two were not.”

Marinette blinked at Barbara a few times before turning to Cass and blinking at her.  “Huh… good to know,” she nodded slowly.  Her eyes stayed on Cass but it was clear her mind was running a mile a minute behind them.  After a few seconds she spoke up again.  “Can you tell the lies people tell themselves too?”

Cass quirked her head to the side and studied Marinette for a moment and shook her head.  “Have to know.”

Marinette nodded and silently took a bite of her food. “Well, that has to come in handy,” Adrien chirped.  “Remind me to take you with me when I meet people.”

Marinette could feel eyes boring into her.  She looked back over at Cass and raised a curious eyebrow at her.  “Hero,” she finally said.

Marinette coughed for a second and looked back at her with her most convincing blank look.  “I’m sorry.  What?”

Cass nodded toward Marinette.  “Eiffel Tower.”

Marinette chuckled disarmingly and shook her head. “You think I’m a lot more honorable than I am.  You think it’s more likely that I was a hero than that I knowingly, intentionally, purposefully violated the law for fun.”  She leaned closer to Cass with a smirk.  “But I can assure you, I regularly did.”

The others at the table looked to Cass.  She quirked her head to the side and gave a small smile before nodding.  “Truth.”  Cass pointed to herself.  “Next time.”

Marinette grinned and nodded excitedly. “Absolutely.”

Duke cleared his throat.  “And Duke,” Cass added.

Marinette chuckled.  “Of course.  We can make a New Kids Club event out of it.”

“And me!” Stephanie chirped.

Barbara sighed and turned to Adrien.  “Dick said you had a job interview yesterday.  How did it go?”

Marinette beamed at Adrien as he responded. Adrien’s face lit up.  “It went well I think.  I think I’d really enjoy working there!  I met the department chair and other professors.  It looks like a really supportive department and University, very research oriented.”

“Where is it?” Duke asked between bites.

“Metropolis,” Adrien answered, his fondness he’d already developed for the city bleeding into his tone.

“Oooh, Conner lives there.  If you’re still deciding if you want to live there or if you need a tour guide, or recommendations on where to eat, he��d be more than happy to help,” Stephanie offered.

Marinette’s smile turned into a pointed smirk and Adrien groaned quietly.  “Conner, did you say?”

Stephanie looked between them, her brow furrowing in confusion.  “Yeah?”

“That wouldn’t happen to be Tim’s single friend would it?”  Her eyes never left Adrien as she asked, her smirk somehow getting even sharper.

Adrien groaned even louder when he looked over and saw Cass’ smile matched Marinette’s and Duke and Stephanie both had devious, familiar looking glints in their eyes.  This was clearly payback for all his attempts to set Marinette and Chloe up with different people.  “Why yes, yes it is.  How about that,” Duke grinned.

Cass pulled out her phone and moved her finger around the screen for a second then finally looked up with an innocent looking smile.  Adrien groaned and dropped his head into his hands.  “I’m not even in this family.  Why am I being punished?”

Barbara laughed and popped a bit of food in her mouth. “That’s funny.  You think just because there’s no paperwork, you haven’t been adopted already.  I made that mistake at first too.”

Chapter 19

Tags:

@maribat-bdbwm @jayjayspixiepop @redscarlet95 @alice-hazelwood @deathssilentapproach-blog @unoriginalmess @alyssadeliv @emotionalsupportginger @frieddonutsweets @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks @toodaloo-kangaroo @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @iloontjeboontje @wolf-for-life @maribatserver @aespades @prettylittlebutterflie @imarivers8  @ certainmuffinbagelcalzone @ritacrow-blog @unoriginalmess @demonicbusiness @kking13 @lady-bee-fechin @blur-of-colours @kittenmywaythrulife @kashlyn @loysydark @nerd-nowandforever

[tsuki-chibi]

MayBee Queen 2022 Day 2: Bee

Read on AO3 instead 

---

“What are you doing?”

Chloé opened an eye at the slightly incredulous question, squinting up at the person who dared to interrupt her quiet, peaceful rest. But she couldn’t look for look. The sun was extremely bright today, and Nino was perfectly framed in the bright golden glow. She ended up closing her eye again and sighing.

“I’m resting,” she said.

“In the sun? Aren’t you worried about getting a sunburn?”

“I’m wearing sunscreen,” Chloé muttered, because the question was unfortunately a fair one. She sunburned almost as easily as Adrien did.

“Oh. Well, that’s good.” Nino evidently took that as permission to join her, because he sat down and then stretched out beside her with his hands behind his bed. Chloé briefly contemplated protesting his presence before giving up. Nino was too stubborn to care whether she wanted him here or not. Besides, at least Nino knew how to be quiet.

Most of the time, anyway.

Nino’s alarmed yelp alerted Chloé to a potential problem long before she heard the buzzing. She opened her eyes and sat up, irritated, only to realize that Nino was trying to swat away a bee. Chloé sighed again and reached out a hand. The bee swerved away from Nino’s outstretched hands and landed lightly on her finger.

“Don’t hurt it,” Chloé scolded him, shielding the bee with her opposite hand. “It’s not going to hurt you. You’re just laying beside a patch of particularly delicious marigolds.”

Nino blinked at her, and then looked down at the patch of yellow flowers that was right beside him.

“Move away,” Chloé ordered, glad when he obeyed. He scrambled around to her other side. Chloé extended her hand towards the flowers and watched as the bee flew from her finger to the flowers.

“Huh,” Nino said after a moment.

“What?”

“I just never thought that you could be gentle with anything,” Nino said.

Chloé glared at him over her shoulder.

He just grinned back at her, completely unrepentant.

“I like bees,” Chloé said, deciding to ignore the comment. “And I guess they like me now too. I blame Pollen.”

“Yeah, Adrien keeps telling me that half the cats in Paris like to follow him around. I’m kind of glad I don’t meet up with turtles on a regular basis.” Nino reached around her and grabbed his backpack, dragging it over to him. Chloé watched, bemused, as he pulled a bottle of bubble solution and a wand.

“Do you just carry that around with you all the time?” she asked after he’d blown a few bubbles.

Nino nodded. “Yup. It’s my way of getting rid of frustrations. Crappy mark on a test?” He blew a bubble. “Gone. Argument with my parents?” He blew another. “Gone. My brother getting on my nerves?” And another. “Gone. It’s much more cathartic than stewing over whatever’s bothering me.”

Chloé considered that for a moment, pulling her knees up against her chest. She had to admit that the more bubbles that Nino blew, the more relaxed that he looked.

“Can I try?” she asked finally, bracing herself for Nino to say no. They weren’t really friends, after all. Teammates, sure, given that they both had a miraculous and worked on the same team. But friends was a stretch.

However, Nino looked over at her with a smile and nodded. “Sure! Have you ever done it before? Adrien hadn’t.”

“… No,” Chloé admitted reluctantly.

“Okay. Just blow gently. Not too hard.” He dipped the wand into the bubble solution and then extended it out towards her. Chloé formed a ring with her lips and then blew gently. The bubble formed slowly before popping free and rising above them. She watched it, delighted, until the bubble floated too close to a flower and popped.

“Thanks,” Chloé said, realizing that she did feel a little better, and Nino grinned at her.

“Anytime.”

[quixotin]

hi i come bearing humanitarian relief from optygami

so like, yikes huh?

I didn't expect all the angst and that last scene absolutely DESTROYED me in the worst possible way. Anywhoo, I was so unwell that I dreamt a follow-up. This is a new level of brainrot. So, without further ado welcoome to another edition of

bullet point fics that i'll probably never write but I need to get out of my system: post-Optygami edition

After Optygami, Chat pretends he's ok but he's actually quite sad that Ladybug didn't need him to defeat the Akuma. Even more so, that instead of going for him, she went for Rena and Carapace.

lol Milk Bar scene 2.0.

He tries to hide it, but unlike other things that make him sad like oh idk, his entire family life, this is new. And he can't hide it because Ladybug was the one person that never failed to make him feel needed and wanted.

So, he's at school and he's looking sad and Marinette notices. She kicks into Supporting Friend Mode the way she's done with Zoé, Juleka etc. and asks him what's wrong. Adrien at first doesn't want to say, but Marinette gives her one of her Motivational Speeches™️ and convinces him.

Adrien says that it's hard to explain, but he feels like someone really loves is pushing him to the side and he feels like he is not needed anywhere.

Marinette will very much Not Have That

So she starts telling him all the good things she sees in him and how everyone, especially her, is lucky to have him around. And girl ain't even blushing or stuttering.

"Adrien you're always so kind and compassionate to everyone, you always make time for us even though your Father is so strict with you. You're always willing to give everyone the benefit of doubt, even when they don't deserve it. You're a great friend"

Adrien high key is tearing up btw

And my boy is so starved for affection that he's just. He falls for her immediately??? He never realized Marinette saw him like that??

He feels so acknowledged???????

also Nino sees and he reassures him as well.

"Whoever this friend is can go take a hike if they don't value you, dude. smh I'll throw hands for you."

appreciate the i r o n y

THEN...

Alya figures out Adrien is Chat Noir and she has that oh no moment. Without telling Mari why, she is ADAMANT that she tells Chat immediately about everything that has been going on with the guardianship.

"Trust me Marinette. Just trust me. You NEED to tell Chat about these things."

Marinette confesses she had not told him because she knows he's going to be very angry at her that she relied on someone else in her hour of need and she's scared she might lose him because lesser things have made him doubt himself to the point of returning the ring.

"Alya you don't understand," she says crying. "I know him. I know this is is going to hurt him so much."

Alya, out of curiosity, asks why she came to her and not Chat when things got too heavy and Marinette explains the incident in Chat Blanc and how absolutely scared to the bone she is that it might happen again. Not because she wouldn't be able to fix it, but because she couldn't bear seeing Chat being hurt like that again.

Eventually Marinette gathers the courage to tell Chat Noir and of course he's sad, heartbroken, angry and no matter how much Ladybug tries to apologize or reassure him that she trusts him, he simply can't.

Chat says he understands that she needed to lean on someone and it's her right to choose who that is.

"Don't worry m'lady, I understand. But... I need some time off. After all, something tells me you'll make do even if i'm not there."

BIG OUCH 😃

Marinette is devastated and recognizes her mistake and understands she is in no position to ask Chat to be there but that doesn't help the fact she's absolutely heartbroken.

As a civilian, Adrien notices Marinette is sad and talks to her. Mari cries bc she says she made a terrible mistake and she managed to really hurt one of the friends she loves the most and is scared she lost them for good.

Adrien consoles her and tells her she did the right thing by coming clean to them, and that she should have faith in her friend bc "friends fight sometimes Mari, it's normal, right? They will come around. You were honest with them, and that's what matters. They'll appreciate it eventually."

"Besides, e-even if they don't... I-i'll always be here for you"

"And if they don't, I'll personally go and punch your friend in the face"

aaaahhhh adrinette fluff.

And so, while ladynoir is crumbling to pieces, adrinette is like, VERY close to becoming canon but bc of what happened in ladynoir they refrain from showing their romantic feelings but are like, "No way I'm making the same mistakes again" so they become each other's closest confident (sans the whole Miraculous thing of course)

Adrien starts telling Mari about "this friend" and the problems in his family. Marinette start tellings him about "these responsibilities" and "this friend I have" and they unintentionally coach the other through how to proceed to heal the ladynoir partnership.

Simultaneously, Adrien's help lets Marinette understand how very much she loves Chat and him taking the break from Ladybug's company and replacing it with Marinette, lets him know how head over heels he had been for her all this time = tada! reverse love square.

They become super, super close friends. Like deadass ppl think they're dating (but what else is new smh)

"Ha ha, no. We're Just Very Good Friends™️" *they say as they're literally holding hands or snuggling on a bench*

Eventually Chat Noir comes out of his little break and Ladybug and him meet up to talk and it's like, an ugly crying sobfest ahaha :)

LB apologizes again and begs him to forgive her, she promises she'll do better and she'll show him how much she need him and--

"M'lady, stop. I already forgave you. It's all water under the bridge so--

"No! No it's not, because I can't believe I made you think you're dispensible. Chat Noir you're my partner and you'll always be my partner and I treated you like you weren't but I just... I couldn't tell you, Chaton. I couldn't--"

"But why? What couldn't you tell me, m'lady?"

LB breaks down and explains the Chat Blanc incident to him

"I was so scared. I was so afraid for you and so terrified that I wouldn't be able to bring you back. I'd never be able to forgive myself if one day I cannot bring you back, Chat. I want to know who you are but if knowing puts you at risk, then I won't do it. I love you more than I want to know your identity."

ajgkfahgfak gajfkk UGLY SOBBING.

"Then... that means we cannot be together... ever?" Chat asks and his voice is cracking because he's doing all humanly possible not to cry too.

"Not until Hawkmoth is defeated. I promise minou, as soon as we defeat him, we can be together. In the meantime, we have to keep the secret."

Chat Noir gently wipes off the tears from Ladybug and steps closer to her and goes "Then, m'lady, if you'll allow it, I'd like us to keep one more secret."

He leans down slowly, to give LB a chance to say no if she doesn't want it to happen, but she doesn't stop him. They kiss.

"This one stays between us," Chat mutters and then smirks at her. "See you in the next Akuma, m'lady."

The end.