#this is my adrien and alya scheme fic

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Baseball Episode!?

I decided, while I was readying myself for the finale and Chloe's character death, why not write one of the Miraculous ideas buzzing in my head not related to my fic? This one's a baseball episode because I like baseball episodes.

In terms of background plot, the Peacock Miraculous is fixed and Hawkmoth (no, not Shadowmoth, this is my canon,) has whittled down the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir to being in Mme. Bustier's class. He doesn't immediately think Ladybug and Chat Noir are the only two students unakumatized in class because he knows Miraculouses can be swapped around, and Miraculous wielders can change their appearance. As for the episode prior,

Ms. Bustier's class is playing baseball for whatever reason. Gym class or something.

Hawkmoth, knowing Ladybug and Chat Noir are in the group, decides to strike, but instead of the overdone and constantly-failing akuma method (not to mention no one's having that bad of a day,) he decides to get creative.

Hawkmoth shows up at the baseball field the Miracuclass is at, in full baseball gear as well? The exits are blocked off by a mass of mold created by the peacock Miraculous, and Ladybug and Chat Noir have trouble running and transforming due to said mold having eyes everywhere, including, yes, the toilets.

He's also created a full robotic baseball team with the peacock miraculous, with 7 basic robot players, 1 armored catcher, and 1 pitching machine on wheels. The latter wields a bat by having it duct-taped to its "head," btw.

Hawkmoth merely wants to wager a game of baseball. If the home team wins, Hawkmoth will leave the class alone. No more akumas or amoks targeting them. However, if Hawkmoth wins, and he might, he gets to take all their accessories! Necklaces, Bracelets, Jewelry, Earrings, Rings, etc.

After the initial cries of shock, confusion, and "Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!", the class decides on what to do. Some members see this as a low-cost high-gain game, not to mention they were already playing baseball in the first place.

Marinette and Adrien, being Ladybug and Chat Noir respectively in the first place, realize Hawkmoth's plan and are not for playing, although they have problems explaining why for reasons that don't expose themselves. Same with the classmates that have figured out their identities (Ivan, Nathaniel, Juleka, and Max,) although they fare a bit better in the reasoning department. Also Chloe is on team no for obvious reasons. As is Sabrina.

Lila's with team 'no' at first for the same reasons as Chloe, but changes sides when she figures out Hawkmoth's scheme and comes to the same conclusions as him.

Ultimately, not willing to risk what would happen if they said no, the Miracuclass takes up Hawkmoth's offer. Also they have uniforms now. From the power of baseball or something.

Since a baseball team only needs nine players and Ms. Bustier's class has fifteen people (six too many,) Chloe, Sabrina, Rose, Mylene, Lila, and Marinette form a cheer squad instead with uniforms as well. Very modest uniforms. Like at the lightest no sleeves and yes modesty shorts.

In terms of positions (because I care deeply about this,) Alix is the pitcher (a great one at that!), Ivan is the catcher, Nino looks over first base, Max looks over second base (he can catch and throw well by calculating the trajectories), Adrien looks over third base, Alya, the girlboss that she is, handles Shortstop, while Kim, Juleka, and Nathaniel are all outfielders. While Kim's highly athletic and a runner and Juleka is frequently at the right spot to catch the ball in midair, Nathaniel is an art kid that wants nothing to do with this and would rather doodle comics.

As for batting, it's as you'd expect. The students that are muscular, sporty, or have spent time as superheroes (mainly Alya and Nino for the latter,) bat better. Ivan's a bit on the slow side and Juleka's a deceptively fast runner, however. It helps that her girlfriend's cheering her on.

Finally, the cheer squad. Chloe, being a talented gymnast and Mean Girl, kills it as a cheerleader, with Rose and Sabrina not being too far behind. Mylene's doing her best, Marinette keeps on tripping over her own feet, and Lila's doing the bare minimum and using faked health conditions as excuses. She also tries to take the other cheerleaders' earrings and rings in case they're Ladybug or Chat Noir, and makes more fake excuses when noticed. At one point Chloe and Lila start fighting. Sabrina tries to break it up.

Hawkmoth's really getting into the sport, by the way. Yelling, telling the enemy team what to do when they mess up, getting mad when his robot baseball players try to cheat, etc. Mostly because some of Gabriel's best times with Emile were at baseball games. He even proposed to her after a game!

Adrien, sweating a bit: "Why does Hawkmoth keep on looking at me? Has he figured out my identity?"

Hawkmoth, looking at Adrien: "My son isn't doing as well as I'd hoped. A pity. Is he not interested?"

Also the bleachers are filled up with some audience members, let in by the Mold. Not a full crowd by any means, but there's people! It helps Nadja is broadcasting the game as well. Marinette's parents are there. The Gorilla is whistling in support of Adrien and has a foam finger. Nathalie isn't there, though. She was never into the sport.

Of course, a bunch of middle schoolers don't fare too well against a team of lifeforms designed to be good at baseball. Alya, using her own form of Ladybug vision (or whatever it's called,) on the cheer squad, determines that Marinette should join the team in place of someone else. Nathaniel seems like the best choice due to being the worst player.

Nathaniel: "NO! I am not becoming a cheerleader! Can't I just sit on the bench or something?"

Alya: "We need six cheerleaders. We can't have a full pyramid with only five!"

Murmur of agreement from the others

Nathaniel: "...Well can't you get someone else to be a cheerleader instead? Why can't it be someone like Jule-Gets hit by a thrown baseball mitt and shoe-OW! Hey!"

Adrien: "Everyone, calm down. I'll be the cheerleader. I've never liked competitive team sports like baseball anyways. I'd rather be my own rival."

Adrien walks over to Marinette and hands her his hat and baseball mitt

Adrien: "Win the game for everyone here, okay?"

Marinette: (Internally) Adrien's counting on me. I can't let him down again! I'll win this game not just to keep my Miraculous, but so I can rebuild Adrien's trust in me!

For the record, I decided in my canon this episode takes a while after Marinette and Adrien got together before having a horribly messy break-up three episodes later, and in general this is meant to be platonic, but if you make art of this and change that dialogue a little for the sake of Adrienette, I won't be cranky.

But yeah. The entire cheer squad welcomes Adrien in with open arms because they're nice girls, Lila, Chloe, and Chloe's girlfriend. Also maybe I'd have Adrien in a skirt but I'll need consultation on that.

As for Marinette, her passion and muscle give the team the nudge and morale to outplay Hawkmoth's team and ultimately win. Taking the pitcher position from Alix, she throws fast, unpredictable balls to strike out the basebots, and she manages to outbat the pitching machine and hit a home run at the ninth inning while three of her teammates are on each of the bases.

Hawkmoth is a man of his word, thankfully. A pretty good sport, too. Very impressed. He dispels his baseball team, skedaddles away, and finally dispels the Mold so Ladybug and Chat Noir can't immediately chase him.

At the ending part, in the Agreste Manor, Gabriel goes over to his son and said he heard all about his game, including what he said about competitive team sports.

"Did you mean all that?"

"Yes, father."

"Would you rather be a cheerleader than be in the basketball team?"

"Yes!"

And so Gabriel puts Adrien in the cheer squad instead of playing basketball and the two of them play a game of catch because Gabriel realized he's never done that with his son.

With baseball mitts and a baseball.

[trainsinanime]

WIP reblog game

I got tagged by @chaos-has-theories and @into-september. Sorry for the delay in doing this, I just forgot about it.

If you're like me and you have a million WIPs and are anxious about updating them, play this game!

List the titles your top five priorities for WIP updates (link your fics for new readers!)

An upcoming scene, event, or detail in each fic that you're looking forward to writing

Bonus: make a poll for your followers to vote on which top 5 WIP they are most excited to see an update on!

Then tag 10 writer friends!

Let's start with the stories. So, I don't trust myself with multi-chapter stories, it takes me forever to write one-shots already, so (almost) none of these are out yet. You can read the ones that are out over here.

Operation Multifail. Three-chapter story where Marinette tries to convince Chat Noir to stop thinking about Multimouse by fighting as Multimouse, badly, on purpose, so he'll think she's incompetent. It doesn't quite work out.

Kwamidaddy Adrien. Assumes Marinette is the guardian. For reasons, Chat Noir has to take the Kwamis for a while. They all promised not to tell him anything about her private life. Shouldn't be a problem, right? This one may also end up being like three chapters

Chlogami Sabrina's Wedding. I think I posted a rough outline for chapter one here: It's Sabrina's wedding, and drunk Chloé confides in also-drunk Kagami about her complicated relationship to Sabrina, how she's happy for her but also jealous but also knows that because of their baggage, it could never work, while Kagami also has feelings about Adrien's and Marinette's upcoming wedding. I have like half a first draft of a first chapter here and absolutely no clue where this might go next.

Wings AU - Learning to Land. So there's a wings AU concept for Miraculous that keeps coming up every now and then. A bit too angsty for me, but when I first heard it, I thought it was a fun idea to talk about aerodynamics and world building in that context, specifically where Marinette teaches sheltered Adrien how to fly.

Plagg Interview. Now we're deep in the dregs, I picked a folder at random. Alya publishes interviews with someone close to Chat Noir's thinking. That someone: Plagg, who has been bribed with cheese. Marinette is not happy, but she can't say anything because Alya can't learn she's Ladybug. Yeah, this one's been sitting in my folder for a while. As have the others. Probably a one-shot.

Stuff I'm looking forward to in each fic:

The whole thing is based around big action set pieces. Three big Akuma fights, one in each chapter, which Marinette tries to fail at in different ways, and fails to fail, so to speak. I have no idea how to write these well, but I think that can be fun. Super-unpopular opinion: Fanfiction has way too much angst and romance and not enough action, and I'm definitely part of the problem myself.

Adrien interacting with the Kwamis who imprint on him as their father should be really adorable. As should the Kwamis trying their best to get Adrien and Marinette to marry (without revealing too much (they will reveal too much)).

Writing the banter between Chloé and Kagami is fun. I want to write more of it. I can definitely see someone taking that concept and turning it into, for lack of a better word, "normal long fic"; you know, thirty chapters, misunderstanding, they take a trip for a few chapters and return, so on and so forth. I'm not doing that, I don't have the work ethic and it's not actually my favourite genre of fanfic anyway. But what else could this story be? Figuring that out is an interesting challenge.

Aerodynamics! Learning to land! How do you learn to fly in a Wings AU? What does "rich kids aren't allowed to fly" mean for the world building? I don't have a story here at all but I do like the setting.

Plagg and Alya scheming together should be gold. Plagg trying to barter with a Marinette who can't reveal she's the Guardian has also a lot of comedic potential. Plagg trying to teach both of them how much Adrien needs them could be very emotional. Just Plagg.

Also, do you have any title ideas for any of these? I think Operation Multifail is good, the rest are just literally the file names I chose when I started with these projects.

I am tagging, very much at random, @sizzleissues, @pauliestorylover, @oblivionhold, @wrw47, @precious-notes, @kyuunonana, @aidanchaser, @aanabear2803, @valtionrautatiet-official and @cosmiccarrotcake. The requirement for inclusion was "I found you in my activity view in the past three months", so if you don't know what fanfic is, or don't feel like doing this, do feel free to ignore this.

[literaphobe]

[while speaking i'm pacing the room and walking up the walls and ceiling like a spider] i'm obsessed with the way you so successfully and compellingly create sexual tension. it's truly insane how good you are at creating that dense atmosphere, and i'm just scrolling my phone peeking and reading line by line waiting for the bubble to pop. you've heard of sexual tension you can cut with a knife, now get ready for "sexual tension so palpable that you need a diamond drill to even make a dent." that is tvl to me. you have to have a master's degree in yearning with a concentration in pining to write something half as magnetic as this. your brain is so big. reading this fic is like watching a beyblade battle, watching the two of them spin around each other in rapid circles at mach speed, like you KNOW it's going to end but how messy will the final blow be??

i also really appreciate how the majority of this fic is from adrien's pov! i feel like i don't see a lot of that (in the fic i'm finding anyways), so to find one with it, and one so well written and well characterized at that, is like striking gold. every line has me going "they WOULD fucking say that !" i also love how you make sure to specify that though alya, out of love, pushes marinette out of her comfort zone, she stops it all once she gets the sense that marinette is genuinely uncomfy. bc they r besties!!! and alya cares about marinette more than proving that she knows what's best for her!!

im showering you in flowers and giving u the big bouquet cn gave lb except you can keep all the flowers mwah!!!!!!!

anon I need you to know… this ask blew me away in ways that are barely comprehensible like just WOW. WOW!!!!!! thank you so much and also you have SUCH a way with words this is SUCH high praise but it’s also being delivered so eloquently and I am just SO CHARMED

thank you thank you THANK YOU so much for real. ive reread this ask multiple times and I know i will continue to do so in the future, along with all the amazing anons ive been getting recently 🥺🥺🥺

it’s genuinely SO nice and heart wrenching to know that all the love and yearning and tension and emotions and complicated feelings I put into tvl can be felt this palpably… thank you for understanding and FEELING and seeing my vision… gives u a diamond ring

also HEHEHE im so glad ur enjoying the adrien pov!! for tvl i just felt like it was apt and also i like the adrichat pov ^_^ its fun and cozy and silly! also functionally tvl!maribug has far more secrets and Knows more so having the audience spend more time w adrichat makes it easier to maintain the suspense HEHEHEHEH also im so glad u are enjoying the characterization!!!!! and also tvl alya’s nuance. i wanted to make it very clear that while she’s been acting up and scheming and unwinding -> because she’s being kept in the dark about a bunch of stuff too!! and as we know it DRIVES HER INSANE when marinette keeps secrets from her… still. i wanted to show that when push comes to shove she’s able to take a step back and protect marinette…

[purrincess-chat]

Fashion Faux Paw CH1

It’s time! I wrote this story for @mlbigbang this year against all odds. I haven’t written anything for MariChat in a long time, so I wanted to do something light-hearted and fun. It’s set in s3 between the episodes Reflekdoll and Ladybug and is just a cute little story with the two of them (and Alya) that’s silly and fun, so I hope you guys enjoy it! 

I worked with my ride or die @avrilmaria who has put up with far too much of my shit over the years, so thank you for betaing bby! I also worked with two artists Boots and Megan/Shellie whose pieces I will be sharing when those chapters come out. Thank you both for your incredible work! 

I plan to update this fic every MWF until it’s finished. Chapter 2 will be posted later this evening, and the final chapter (chapter 6) will post Monday, January 23. Please show support not only for me, but for everyone who participated in the event as well. There are a lot of great stories and art in the collection to enjoy, so please show your love for the other participants and the mods for keeping everything organized! Now, I’m going to shut up and let you all enjoy!

Summary:  When Marinette’s fashion blog has a slow start, she finds publicity in an unexpected place, but will her friendly feline’s ego get in the way of her success?

Read on AO3

Chapter 1

“Alya, I need your advice.” Marinette hugged her arms to her chest.

The locker room bustled with students transitioning between classes, the casual chatter a hum of noise just loud enough to keep their conversation between the two of them. Her bff quirked a brow as she exchanged textbooks in her locker, red curls pulled into a high ponytail skimming her shoulders as she turned to Marinette.

“What’s up?” she asked.

Marinette shifted her weight, chewing her cheek. “Well, you helped me set up my fashion blog a few weeks ago, and all of our friends leave nice comments on my posts, but I’m still not getting any new followers. You’re a blog expert. How do I get more people to notice me?”

Alya shut her locker with a smile, and they headed up the aisle toward the door to the courtyard.

“Building a following takes time. Keep posting, and I’m sure more people will trickle in. Your designs are really good, M,” Alya said.

Marinette threw her head back with a moan. “But your blog got like a billion followers overnight.”

“The Ladyblog took off overnight because everyone wants to hear about superheroes. It’s a hot topic, but not all of my blogs are that popular.” Alya put a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “Look, you’re not very well known yet, so making a name for yourself is going to take time. Just be patient and keep working, you’ll get there.”

“I guess.” Marinette sighed.

Alya pursed her lips, flicking her gaze around the courtyard. A sly smile curled on her lips, a look Marinette knew all too well — her scheming face.

“I know an easy way to get more followers and spice up your love life.” Alya turned her around, pointing to where Adrien and Nino were standing across the courtyard. “It would totally help your follower count to have a handsome and already famous friend model your designs.”

Marinette’s cheeks burned, and she spun back around with a squeak. “No, no, no! I can’t ask Adrien! You know I can barely get two sentences out around him. Besides, he already models for his dad, so it’s probably illegal or something.”

Alya cocked a hip and gave her a stern look. “Come on, Marinette. Just think about it. You can help him with his outfit at the shoot and spend a lot of time with him. Plus, you’ll have brand new pictures to put on your wall.”

New pictures of Adrien were enticing, especially because she’d have the only copies. Plus, it wouldn’t be weird because it was for her fashion blog. Ugh, no! What was she thinking? She couldn’t ask Adrien! Knowing her, she’d probably lean in to fix the stitching on his jacket and stab him with her sewing needle, then he’d think she’s unprofessional and a terrible designer. News would spread about her incompetence, and her career would be over before it began!

“You’re spiraling, aren’t you?” Alya sighed. “Okay, fine. He doesn’t have to model for you, but he could at least give you a shout out. You two are friends, ya know, and friends support friends.”

“Yeah, but I can’t ask him to do that.” Marinette hid her face in her hands.

“I can.” Alya grinned, grabbing Marinette’s wrist and tugging her over to the boys. She stretched to kiss Nino’s cheek, wrapping an arm around his waist and turning to Adrien. “Have you two checked out Marinette’s blog yet? She posted some really dope designs last night.”

Marinette’s cheeks burned when Adrien turned to her with a smile, and she offered a tiny wave.

“I didn’t know you started a blog, Marinette,” he said.

“Oh, uh, yeah. It’s got fashion and designs that I came up with and posted myself. It’s no big deal.” She winced. At least it was a full sentence.

“That’s awesome. I’ll check it out tonight,” Adrien said.

“Ya know, it would be really awesome if you gave Marinette a shoutout on your Instagram. It would help bring traffic to her blog and be a big help to a friend.” Alya shot Marinette a knowing look that made her cheeks burn hotter.

“I could probably-”

“Adrikins!” Chloe materialized at his side and latched onto his neck, planting kisses on his cheeks. She leaned her head back, looking down her nose at Marinette. “Do my ears deceive me? Don’t tell me you’re trying to get Adrien’s endorsement on your pathetic little blog. There’s a reason no one’s sharing it. Your designs belong in the trash just like you.”

“Chloe!” Adrien chided, gently pushing her off. “Marinette is my friend. I’m more than happy to-”

Chloe pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t be modest, Adrikins. You don’t owe these losers any charity.” She turned back to Marinette and cocked a hip. “Don’t waste Adrien’s time with your cheap scraps. He has much better taste.”

“Oh, really? Is that why you stole Marinette’s designs to try and impress Gabriel Agreste?” Alya shot back.

“Technically, Sabrina stole them, and I just wanted to get Dupain-Cheng kicked out of the competition for cheating.” Chloe flipped her ponytail over one shoulder.

“Chloe, that’s enough.” Adrien sighed. “Look, I’d love to help out in any way that I can, but-”

“It’s fine,” Marinette said. “Thanks anyway, Adrien.”

Alya’s eyebrows knitted together when Marinette smiled and dragged her off. When they were safely in the locker room, her best friend gestured toward the courtyard in bewilderment.

“What was that? Adrien was willing to help. Don’t let Chloe running her mouth talk you out of it,” Alya said.

Marinette fell onto a bench with a sigh. “Something in me just doesn’t feel right using Adrien like that. If I use him to boost my popularity, then I’m no better than Chloe.”

Alya sobered, shifting her weight. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it that way.”

“Like you said, it’ll take time to build up an audience. I’ll just keep working,” Marinette said.

“Aww, girl.” Alya sat beside her, pulling her in for a hug. “I’ll do whatever I can to help. I’ll promote you on the Ladyblog, help you do research, and I’ll even help you craft posts that are sure to get attention.”

Marinette squeezed her shoulders. “Thanks, Alya. You’re the best.”            

***

Adrien stared up at his ceiling that evening, twisting back and forth in his computer chair. Marinette’s pink blog glowed on the screen, a picture of a stylish jacket with a cute message in the caption pulled up. Of course, he wanted to help, but his father was strict about that sort of stuff. The last thing he wanted was to invoke his father’s wrath upon Marinette and get her blog shut down. Her designs were really good, and they deserved to be seen by everyone.

“You’re looking more glum than usual. Did you eat some bad cheese at dinner?” Plagg floated down, cradling a wedge of Camembert.

“No.” Adrien rolled his eyes. “It’s Marinette. Did she seem sad earlier today when she left? I’m worried she’s disappointed I didn’t help with her blog.”

“Maybe she’d get more traffic if she put out a cheese-themed line,” Plagg said.

“Somehow I doubt that.” Adrien smirked, scratching between his kwami’s ears.

Plagg shoved his cheese down his gullet and crossed his arms over his chest. “If only us kwamis could be photographed. One shot of my handsome physique, and the followers would come pouring in.”

“Plagg, you’re a genius!” Adrien shot up.

“I am?”

“Adrien may not be able to help Marinette out, but there’s an even bigger celebrity who can.” He grinned.

Plagg slumped over with a sigh. “Why do I feel like I’m going to be involved in this plan?”

“Plagg! Transform me!”

***

Marinette adjusted her newest hat on the mannequin head, trying to salvage the last bit of natural daylight peeking over Notre Dame for a quick photoshoot, but none of her photos were coming out right. With a frustrated sigh, she deleted another failed attempt and shifted the mannequin again.

“Good evening, Marinette!”

She jumped, nearly knocking the hat over the edge of her balcony. Securing it back in place, she turned to meet two mischievous cat eyes perched on the chimney. Her spine stiffened, but there were no obvious signs of screaming or distress.

“Chat Noir? Is there an akuma nearby?” she asked.

“No.” He hopped down to her balcony railing, balancing perfectly on his hands and feet like a real cat.

“Oh.” Marinette relaxed. “So, what are you doing here then?”

“I was just stretching my legs when I saw you out here. I wanted to come over and compliment you on your new blog. I really like it,” he said.

Chat Noir followed her blog? She didn’t know whether to be flattered or mortified that he paid attention to her civilian side. What if she let something slip that gave away her identity? Argh! Why couldn’t he just ignore her?

“Wow! The hero of Paris follows my blog? I’m so honored!” Marinette cupped her hands to her face with a gasp. Ugh, he was never going to let her live this down if he ever found out who she was.

Chat Noir grinned, no doubt soaking up every bit of her excitement. Boys and their egos. He’d probably brag about all the ladies fawning over him on their next patrol in an attempt to make Ladybug jealous.

“You’re really talented, Marinette, but I think your blog might get more traffic if you have a live model,” he said.

“Wouldn’t that be nice,” she grumbled.

“What was that?”

“Uhh, I said I’d love to have a live model, but I don’t really know anyone who could.” She shifted her weight. “All of my friends are busy, and the one friend that’s really good at it is… unavailable.”

“Well, if you want, I could model for you. I’m sure having one of Paris’s superheroes wearing your stuff would attract a lot of attention,” Chat Noir said.

She cupped a hand over her mouth to catch her laugh. Undeterred, he picked up her hat and rested it on his head, striking a pose. His eyes hooded into a picture-perfect model pout to rival even Adrien.

Marinette’s eyebrows raised. “Wait, you’re for real?”

“Yeah, I’ve got time. Besides, we’re friends, so I’m happy to help.” He pointed to her phone. “Take them from this angle — it’s my good side — and it will capture the light without washing out the colors on the hat.”

Marinette blinked, biting back a smile when Chat struck another pose. He was surprisingly knowledgeable about photography, and even more surprisingly, an excellent model. She’d always known Chat Noir to be dramatic, but she never would have guessed he could use that to his advantage. What did he do in his normal life?

Ugh, no! She couldn’t think about that. His civilian identity was his business, and she definitely didn’t need to speculate. Speculating would lead to theorizing, which would lead to looking for evidence, which would lead to her finding out who he really was. It was out of the question! Still, he did take good photos. Maybe dealing with press as a superhero taught him a thing or two — it certainly taught her a lot.

“That should be good, don’t you think?” He plopped the hat on her head with a wink. “If this works out well for you, I’d be happy to come back and be your meowdle any time.”

“Thank you so much, Chat Noir! You’re the best.” She threw her arms around his neck. It was mostly for show, but she did appreciate his help. Her kitty could be really sweet when he wanted to be.

“Any time, Marinette.” He retrieved his staff from his belt. “I’ll keep an eye on your blog for those photos.”

Marinette waved as he vaulted off, shaking her head the moment he disappeared over the rooftops. What was that crazy cat thinking? Even still, his photos were way better than any of the ones she took earlier. Plus, he did volunteer to help…

Why not? She’d upload them and hope for the best. Chat Noir was extremely popular on the internet between the catsuit and his boyish charm. His help could be the break she needed to get her designs out into the world.

[cloburon]

When Push Comes to Shove

When Adrien first formulated his, ‘get Lila to leave Marinette alone and eventually expose her’ plan, he knew there would be a lot of risk involved. He had to keep a balance in place. Placating Lila and his father were on one side, and on the other side was his devotion to his friends.

In other words: The fic where Adrien gets epic revenge on Lila and loses his friends all in the same month.  https://archiveofourown.org/works/28941447/chapters/71013003  (rest of fic under the cut!) 

When Adrien first formulated his, ‘get Lila to leave Marinette alone and eventually expose her’ plan, he knew there would be a lot of risk involved. He had to keep a balance in place. Placating Lila and his father were on one side, and on the other side was his devotion to his friends. Normally this balance existed on a slight skew, always tilted towards his father’s side. That was how it had to be, at least, that’s what he thought it had to be.

So, his plan took longer to execute. He couldn’t do what Marinette did, no matter how admirable he found her actions to be. He couldn’t call Lila a liar to her face, or point out how manipulative she truly was. Adrien had to play a baited game, he had to fake everything, which sucked. He was good at it, but it didn’t make him feel any better. If he was lying to his friends, was he really any better than Lila?  

“You look distracted tonight, kitty. Is everything okay?”

He sighed through his nose, he probably shouldn’t be thinking about such personal matters while they were patrolling. He couldn’t help it, Lila was consuming every thought in his head. Maybe that wasn’t healthy..

“Yeah, everything’s fine just.. Got some stuff going on outside of this, you know how it is.”

“Oho, the elusive Chat Noir has problems in his civilian life?” Ladybug sat down next to him, and he couldn’t help the way he deflated.  

He couldn’t even keep up his persona with the mask on. He really needed to get Lila done and over with, if how he felt outside of the mask was affecting him as a hero- that was a recipe for disaster.

“Chatton?”

“Sorry, m’lady, spaced out for a second.”

“This must be worse than I thought.”

He nodded, “It’s a lot, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Do you wanna talk about it? I’m always here if you need me. You know that, right?”

“Of course I know that,” he laughed, looking out across Paris. The sun had set hours ago, and the lights of the city winked up at them as they watched from above.  

“Soo..?” Ladybug pushed his shoulder gently, and he shook his head.

Really, he wished he could tell her everything. Ladybug was the closest friend he ever had, the only person that truly knew and understood him. He wanted to explain everything, about Lila, his plans, the stress his father was giving him. But he couldn’t,

“I’m afraid that could run the risk of you figuring out who I really am. As much as I wish I could tell you what’s going on…”

“I understand,” Ladybug smiled at him and put her hand on his knee. He let himself smile. He couldn’t help it when he was with her. “But if there’s anything I can help you with, please let me know.”

“You’re too kind.”

He laughed when she booped his nose with her finger, “Don’t make me take it back now.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. We should probably start actually patrolling the streets,” He needed to get his mind off of things, do literally anything else. He pulled himself off the ground and stretched, “Before it gets too late, at least.”

“Is that a challenge, Chat?”

He grinned cheekily, extending his staff, with a hardy laugh, “Yup!”

“You-”

“Catch me if you can, m’lady!”

Why couldn’t he be like this all the time?

***

Adrien sighed, blowing some hair out of his face as he wrote down notes in class. It was easy to get caught up in the memories of the previous night’s patrol. They were far more interesting than the repetition he was going through at public school. Don’t get him wrong, he was seriously grateful for the experience but as of late, everything Madame Bustier was teaching was something he had learned years prior.

He didn’t realize how ahead he was compared to the average student, oh well. He would use what he knew to help his friends out. At least he could use his smarts that way. They were coming upon final exam season, and he knew how both Nino and Marinette stressed about it last semester. Maybe he could tutor them? He needed to bring that up to his father, too. With exams coming up, he would need to lessen his work schedule.

Which meant, Lila would be doing shoots on her own. He straightened his posture. There was no way this opportunity was going to fall in his lap and he wasn’t going to take it. This was his chance to take the separation from her that he needed to figure out what to do about her or-

No, he had a better idea. He could cut her off now, his father wouldn’t think twice about it if it was for the sake of his schooling. He had to bet on that. He looked back up at Madame Bustier as she sat back down at her desk. Cool, that meant they were supposed to revise notes, answer questions in the packet she provided, and in his case, raise his hand to ask a question,

“Yes, Adrien?”

“Would it be okay if I stepped out in the hall to make a phone call? It’ll only take a quick second?”

He felt Nino’s elbow catch his side but he ignored him as he reached into his bag for his phone.

“Of course, than you for asking. Take three minutes.”

Adrien smiled, “Thank you, Madame,” with his phone in hand, he slid out of his desk and out of the room. He kept his promise to his teacher and stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall as he dialed Nathalie’s number.

He knew better than to try and call his father in the middle of a school day. He wouldn’t waste precious time waiting for his voicemail. God forbid if there was an emergency. He felt himself roll his eyes. God- his time with Lila was seriously making him jaded.

The phone rang twice before Nathalie picked up, and Adrien spoke before she could,

“Hi, Nathalie, I only have a few minutes. I just wanted to ask what the soonest date would be for me to have a sit down conversation with my father?”

“Is it serious?” Nathalie kept her voice as even as possible but Adrien could pick up on her slightly confused tone.  

“Uhm.. yeah, it really is.”

“Okay, give me a moment.”

“Thank you,” he tapped his fingers against his thigh, looking back at the classroom door. He probably had 90 seconds left, and he could see the shadows of someone trying to look through the window. Probably Alya- maybe Marinette, he couldn’t tell.

Nathalie was quiet for exactly ten seconds,

“You can speak with him tomorrow morning at breakfast. Does that work?”

“That’s perfect, thank you Nathalie. See you soon.”

“Ah- see you soon, Adrien.”

He hung up the phone quickly and walked back into the classroom. Maybe, luck was finally on his side.

Before he took his seat he looked up at Lila as she glared daggers at him. How nobody else noticed was beyond him but it didn’t take long for him to sit back down and return to his notes.

He was one step closer, his plan was finally settling into place.

[yandere-daydreams]

okay season four of miraculous is down so i'm just gonna spit out a few random thoughts in prepration for my annual cringe tolbacn fic. if you don't watch the show, read this anyway and try to guess what any of it means. it won't make sense, but y'know, good luck.

~why does literally no one talk about the fact that alya's the first person marinette confides in??? their friendship during season four is literally so sweet and it's absolutely what marinette deserves after having the world's roughest time for the past seven years T-T

~chloe 2.0 is everything i thought she would be and more. she's just,,, her sister, again, but only a bitch when she needs to be for plot reasons. love that for you girl. she's here for the color scheme and the role call and i love that for her.

~glad to see juleka/rose and nathaniel/marc are still going strong. as they should be.

~also because juleka only gets to be in like two episodes per season: i cannot describe the visceral reaction i had when she used her power for the first time and it was,,, it was literally just this little goth girl shouting 'CLOUT' and punting her dysfunctional parents into the stratosphere. as she should be, but, like, still.

~love to see luka rounding out the world's most bisexual duo-love-triangles. if this show was a little braver, he'd be able to date adrien, marinette, and kagami but alas.

~chat walker. chat noir. kuro neko. can't believe ladybug's resolution was just going 'no, i need to be mildly annoyed for this to work, you're going to have to leave' but of course we continue to stan.

~adore that the dog miraculous had, like,,, three different holders in four episodes. more like miraculous of the slut am i right.

~do you think felix gels his hair down into that helmet-look or does adrien style it specifically so it doesn't look like that? felix seems like he'd care more about that kind of thing, but adrien is a model, so i'm sort of at a standstill here.

[jennagrinsoverml]

do you have any favorite miraculous ladybug rewrite fics? hope you're doing well ♥

Hmm, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by rewrite. I don't read fics that try to rewrite the whole show "better" because they're inevitably salty and honestly inferior to canon. However, I've read some really great fics that deal with alternate takes on how canon could have gone, especially in the context of certain episodes. (I've previously recced Episode-based Fics and there's some rewrites of the NY Special in my NY Special Adrienette list.)

Transcient by @flightfoot

Everything was fine now, right? She’d assured him that she wasn’t mad about Su-Han knowing his identity, and he sounded like he was feeling better. She’d fixed the problem.

So why wasn’t the lump in her throat disappearing?

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

Chat's worried about how Su-Han managed to learn his identity. Marinette re-examines her "Obtain Chat Noir's identity" plan.

One-shot. This is an angsty alternate take on how Ephemeral could've gone, really delving into the issues with Ladybug lying to Chat to obtain his identity. There isn't a romantic resolution here, but the ending is hopefully and the fic is really well done.

Partners by @karkalicious769

"Um." Alya fidgeted nervously as her earrings beeped their countdown. "Ask me a question that only Ladybug would know the answer to."

Chat Noir barred his teeth, and— Were they always that sharp? At least he wasn't growling again. "You are not Ladybug," he snapped.

"Just do it!"

It was all Alya had to go off of and she really needed to pull this partnership together before the akuma got any worse. She wasn't deluded enough to think that she could do this without Chat Noir.

One-shot. This is an angsty alternate take on Hack-san, really going into the angst of the ladynoir conflict and its impact on Adrien, especially in light of Gabriel's treatment of him. And also how scary it must've been for Alya for him to attack her like that! The fight is pretty much the point of divergence. Nothing's really resolved at the end, but there is a bit of hopefulness.

Roses and Cream by @tsuki-chibi

What would've happened if Adrien had overheard Plagg talking about how Ladybug and Marinette were the same girl?

One-shot. An alternate take on Weredad where Adrien's hearing is just a little bit better, and instead of the ridiculousness we got in canon, we get a different kind of ridiculousness (with an identity reveal and get together!)

now this one sits here (whispers things to me) by noirshitsuji

Adrien has been staring at the ceiling for at least half an hour already.

“Not knowing won’t make your life easier, huh.”

His eyes track to the right, but he doesn’t move his head. Plagg’s shape is blurry above the couch.

“Is that what I said?”

“Essentially.”

“Huh,” he replies, eyes drifting towards the ceiling again.

(Or: Marinette tells Chat Noir who she’s in love with.)

One-shot. A Glaciator 2 rewrite where, in practicing her confession on Chat, Marinette tells him that Adrien’s the boy. I really loved Adrien’s reaction and then the end is just perfect.

On the Other Note by @thenovelartist

In which Marinette gives Adrien the right note from her purse. Backwarder AU

One-shot. Exactly what it says on the tin: a Backwarder rewrite where Marinette gives Adrien the right note. And then we get to see how it all plays out! I love this fic, especially some of the later bits that I don't want to spoil, but read this!!

Fool Me Twice, Shame on YOU by @gentil-minou​

Based on a tumblr ask: "Ephemeral AU: what if Adrien had thought Ladybug was acting out of character by asking for a reveal, and came to the conclusion that she was a sentimonster sent by Hawkmoth (like in Ladybug) to trick him into revealing his identity?"

AKA: Adrien discovers Shadowmoth's next nefarious scheme, and he ain't having it.

One-shot. This is an Ephemeral rewrite and omggggg it’s HILARIOUS. I seriously could not stop laughing as I was reading it, as it keeps going more and more off the rails.

How Miraculous Should Have Ended by CodenameJD

Inspired by the youtube channel/show How It Should Have Ended, we're going to rewrite the ending of each and every episode of Miraculous.

Sometimes, episodes just miss a few tricks. Sometimes, they're just illogical. And sometimes, episode endings are just bad, wrong, or harmful.

Some new endings will be fun takes, while some will seek to correct those moments that had us all seething.

Multi-chapter. This does get a little salty at times, but mostly it’s just silly and I don’t take it too seriously. It’s just fun! Reading multiple takes on how different scenes in different episodes could have gone, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. I really enjoy these! It’s technically a WIP since it’s ongoing, but there’s no plot, just rewrites of different episodes, and you can pick and choose which episodes you want to read based on your preference.

[miraculouscontent]

Anonymous asked:

Had a funny idea for a crack fic where Ladybug "appreciates" CN so much that she won't fight without him. So CN doesn't show up for a fight and Ladybug tells the akuma "Chat isn't here yet we need to wait for him or he'll cry" and the akuma's like "yeah understandable" so they just sit around and vibe with each other until CN shows up hours later and starts attacking but LB stops him bc the akuma is her new bestie now and she doesn't want to fight (Bonus if the akuma is Luka)

HJGHKFJGHDFGFDG

Incredible.

Hawk Moth is so done but he does technically need Chat anyway (and doesn’t want to risk accidentally commanding the akuma to go on a rampage and unknowingly hitting civilian!Chat), so he eventually moves his office into his lair so he can do his work during the wait.

And okay, but if the akuma is Luka then imagine that Ladybug is making out with him by the time Chat shows up.

Anonymous asked:

Adrichat finding out Viperion is Ladybug's past lover, but also, she only broke up with him because of her hero duties.

Adrichat: Oh, no! Luka was the one my lady loved all along! I must hook him up with Marinette again to avoid him to be bugaboo's lover once again!

Then, we have the catboy playing matchmaker while ruining Alya's Adrienette schemes. Plagg is lovin' the drama.

Oh my God, the insanity that would ensue.

Alya fighting for Adrienette and Chat fighting for Lukanette. Even if Alya reveals Marinette’s crush on Adrien, Chat insists that “he just knows” that Adrien isn’t interested so Alya should give up.

He has zero idea how badly he’s sabotaging himself.

[trickstermiraculous]

Another AO3 Fic Rec

Lila Salt

Unexpected Help - General / Complete - Marinette reflects on the past few months since Lila came to her school and threatened her. She didn't actually expect her to make good on her threats. As she lost all her old friends to Lila, she made a new one she never expected, who vows to bring down Lila Rossi once and for all.

Adrien and Marinette - Frickin Couples Goals  - General / Complete - 

A dash of crack 1 teaspoon of class salt one grain of background character development 1 cup of Lila salt 1/2 a backbone for Caline bustier A hint of Gabriel redemption A pinch of Chloe redemption 16 ounces of Adrien declaring his love for Marinette Bake it for 15 minuter at 360 degrees Remove and let cool Ice it with A BuzzFeed - "10 times Adrien and Marinette were couples goals" Et voila! A quality, fluffy (little bit bitter) Adrinette fic.

Basically Lila pulls some shit, it backfires cuz she’s dumb, and lots of adrinette cuteness.

Best Friends - Teen / Complete -  Dating your best friend is the best thing, especially when they defend you.

Her Boyfriend, My Girlfriend  - General / Complete - Marinette's class is insistent on her turning up to a date with Adrien that Alya prepared.What they don't know is that she already has a date, with a boyfriend that none of them would expect.

Jagged Stone - General / Complete -  Different Lila Rossi exposes. From various celebs to some of her own classmates...

Grudges Can Last A Life Time - General / Incomplete -  Three Kwami hold grudges from their one of their chosens death. What will happen when they realize the current Miraculous wielders have been reincarnated each time and were always their chosen?

Chloé Bourgeois: HBIC - Teen / Complete - Now, Chloé Bourgeois may be a “Queen Bitch”, but these students were her subjects. And Lila was on her turf, dammit.

Remember, the Hive protects the Queen - General / Complete -  The class has no idea that you don’t mess with the Queen if you don’t want to be stung by the hive.

Success is Sweet - Teen / Complete -  Lila may still be out for Marinette's guts. But Marinette has a plan, friends to help her, and a good lawyer.

CONSEQUENCES - Not Rated / Incomplete -  Where Lila suffers for the crimes she commits. Some she's done on the show, others will be scenarios of my own invention.

Fashion Upgrade - Teen / Complete - After the events of Ladybug, Lila goes to Bustier and Damocles with a sob story about how she's afraid Marinette will retaliate against her. Bustier and Damocles decide to move Francois Dupont's "Everyday Ladybug" to a new class where she won't be a discipline problem any more.The lucky teacher? Mendeleiev.New class, new friends, old schemes and a group project worth twenty percent of their yearly grade.

Other Character Salt

Opportunity - General / Complete -  Marinette has gotten the biggest commission in her young career so far. She’s willing to share the spotlight with Alya, but the blogger needs to do one little thing first.

Home Support - Not Rated / Incomplete -  Marinette decides to prioritize herself after her class isolates her, turns out it's the best idea she's ever had.

Marinette Refuses - General / Complete -  This was it. If they didn't read her proof then let them get hurt later. It won't be Marinette's fault.

Baby Bean - Teen / Complete -  Marinette Wayne has recently been adopted, but old habits die hard. Luckily, her new siblings are there when she inevitably crashes.

Was it Worth it? - General / Complete -  Marinette's been bullied by most of her classmates for months, and has only been hanging on due to her remaining friends and her girlfriend, Kagami. On the day before she's set to transfer out of her class, her classmates come to her with demands for new clothes for an upcoming dance. Marinette snaps.

Extra Fics

Atlas - Teen / Incomplete -  Burdened with the memories of Chat Blanc, Adrien dating Kagami, Chat becoming distant, losing her allies’ identities to Hawkmoth, finding herself alone and on the receiving end of Lila’s schemes over and over again, fending off akumas that keep targeting her and now finally becoming the Guardian, Marinette is forced to take a step back to re-evaluate her feelings and prioritising some things in her life, and she finds her feelings for Adrien the easiest place to start.

You May Feel Alone... - General / Complete -  Ladybug comes across a young kid crying, kicked out of his home because he is trans, and attempts to comfort him.

So late the party has left - Teen / Complete -  While on the hunt for Gorilla Grodd, The justice League learn that Paris is not what they thought it was.

[inner-sakura]

Hypothetically Ever After

[childhood friends AU, adrienette, slowburn, fake/pretend relationship]

Trying to make the most of their annual two-week long family holiday, Marinette enlists her best friend Adrien’s help with a task of utmost importance:

Snagging the boy of her dreams, who just so happens to be his older brother.

But as it turns out, she’s not the only one with schemes at play this summer, and if she’s not careful, she might wind up getting far more than she bargained for in the pursuit of her storybook romance.

Of course it could never be simple. This was Adrien and Marinette, after all.

Only they could manage to find the most circuitous route towards falling in love.

a fic inspired by jennifer echols’s the boys next door, and starrycove​’s Brothers AU (where PV Félix is Adrien’s older brother) because both of them have lived in my head and my heart for many years.

read the rest: AO3 | ff.net

epilogue

One year later  

-x-

Marinette lay on her back, staring up into the canopy of leaves above her head, cataloguing all of the different shades of green she could see. There was Kelly green, and spring green, and the yellow-green of the leaves when the sun hit them just right.

A face appeared above hers, with eyes that were as green as the trees above them, and her most favourite shade of all.

“Marinette?” Adrien asked. “Were you listening to me?”

She hummed, stretching with the satisfaction of a well-fed housecat.

“Sorry, I think I fell asleep for a second there. I was very comfortable,” she reached for him, pulling his face down so she could kiss him. It was tender, full of all the warmth of a lazy summer afternoon.

Her fingers carded through the soft hair at the nape of his neck, and Adrien shivered, pressing her down more insistently into the blanket they were laying on.

He pulled back after a moment, blinking down at her as though in a daze. Then his face broke into a wide grin.

“You’re forgiven.”

“Glad to hear it,” Marinette laughed, pushing herself into a sitting position. “What were you saying though?”

Adrien sat back on his haunches. “I was asking whether you thought I should invite my friend Nino to come and visit for a few days.”

“Oh?” Marinette straightened, her full attention on him now. “I mean, I think it’s a great idea. But do you think your dad would go for it?”

“That’s the craziest thing,” Adrien was practically bouncing with excitement. “My dad was the one who suggested it! He said that since Félix wasn’t going to be able to come and visit this summer after all that I could invite one of my friends to come and spend a weekend down here. He even gave me money for the ticket!”

Will the wonders never cease… Marinette mused. Gabriel Agreste actually not being a complete dick for once? Never thought I’d live to see the day.

“That’s great!” Was what she said instead, not wanting to rain on Adrien’s parade by voicing her opinions of his father when he was so excited at the prospect of finally being able to do something normal like having a friend come and stay over. In fact, other than when they were little, she wasn’t sure if Félix and Adrien had ever been allowed to have friends stay over. “You should invite him to visit the same weekend that Alya is coming down! Then we can all hang out together.”

After having missed out on all of the so-called excitement last summer, Alya had told her in no uncertain terms that there was no way she was going to, quote: “miss out on another summer full of hotties.” And so her best friend was coming up the following weekend, and staying for the remaining week after Marinette’s parents returned to Paris. Alya had been going on for weeks about how much she was looking forward to getting out of the city and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

And by beautiful scenery, Marinette knew she was mainly referring to the hot rich people that seemed to exist in abundance around the lake in summertime.

Adrien’s friend coming to join them would be perfect, because then Marinette wouldn’t have to feel quite so guilty about making Alya third-wheel her and Adrien whenever they went out.

“Awesome!” Adrien grinned, before his expression dimmed slightly. “I hope he comes. Nino’s been really down in the dumps lately. He hasn’t told me much about it, but I know he and his girlfriend broke up not that long ago... I think it would do him some good to get away for a while. Take his mind off things.”

Marinette nodded sagely. “Alya always says that the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”

And then she had An Idea.

An awful idea.

Marinette had a wonderful, awful idea.

Adrien’s eyes met hers, widening slightly as he took in the look on her face. She watched as he ran the numbers, arriving at the same conclusion she had moments prior.

“Oh no,” he said.

“Oh yes,” Marinette knew her eyes must be lit with a maniacal glow, but she couldn’t help it. She loved a good scheme.

“This is a bad idea.”

She scoffed. “Oh, pish posh. It’s just a little summer romance. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Adrien gave her a flat, unimpressed look.

Really? His expression seemed to say.

“Oh. Right.” They had been down this road once before. Still, she waved off his concern. This and that were not the same thing at all.

Things would be much more straightforward this time around. There wasn’t nearly as much at stake, not to mention the lack of history between Nino and Alya. Setting them up should be a breeze.

“Don’t worry, handsome. I’ve got it all under control,” she assured him, jumping to her feet full of vim and vigour. She even threw him a wink for good measure.

Adrien paled slightly.

“And that right there is exactly what I’m afraid of.”

“Hey!” She pouted at him in mock offense. Adrien gazed back at her, his expression fond and mildly exasperated.

After a moment, he let out a sigh.

“Fine. Fine!” He threw his hands up in the air, the universal gesture of surrender. Marinette smirked. Gotcha. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you. And when this blows up in our faces, I fully reserve the right to say I told you so.”

Marinette gave him a sly look.

“Oh, you know you secretly love it,” she singsonged. Adrien’s lips twitched.

“I admit nothing.”

“And you love meeee…” She was just goading him now, but he was so much fun to tease that she couldn’t help herself. When he got especially riled up, his ears would turn the most darling shade of pink that it made her want to nibble them right off his head.

Marinette blushed at the direction her thoughts had taken. She cleared her throat.

“Yeah, I do,” Adrien admitted with a bashful smile, his eyes softening in that way that always made her all warm and gooey inside.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Do not jump your boyfriend’s bones on this picnic blanket. You both have places to go and things to do today. And your parents could look out the window at any moment!

“C’mon,” she said, deciding it would be wise to heed her inner voice’s advice this one time.

She extended a hand to Adrien, and he allowed her to haul him to his feet, his fingers assuming their rightful place in between each of her own.

Besides, there would be plenty of time for that later.

Marinette beamed at him, swinging their joined hands between them.

They had nothing but time now. Time and each other.

“We’ve got planning to do.”

-x-

 FIN.

[mintaka14]

This is the start of my newest multi-chapter Lukanette story, and a Dammit Quick! fic. To the LBSC crowd - you’re all a pack of enablers, so have some Disney music-nerd angst/fluff with a Julerose wedding for good measure.

See the Light

A Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction

By Mintaka14

Chapter One – All Those Years

 Luka Couffaine got the shock of his life when, six months before his sister’s wedding, his past walked onto the boat. She moved with an assurance that she’d never had at fourteen. A little older at twenty-four, a little less arms-and-legs and a little more rounded curves, but still with those same devastating blue eyes.

Her hand curled on the rail, and he realised he was staring.

“Luka,” she said. “Hi.”

“Ma-ma-marinette,” he managed, and that mouth of hers lifted in a tentative smile. “It’s been a while.”

“It’s been a while,” she agreed softly. “How are you?”

He said something, he wasn’t sure what.

“I take it Juleka didn’t mention that I was coming,” she said. “I’ve offered to design the dresses for the wedding, and she suggested I come round today to talk about them. Are you… is it okay that I’m here?”

At that, Luka jolted out of his distraction and offered her a more genuine smile.

“Marinette, it’s more than okay. It’s good to see you again. You’re looking well.”

Her own smile grew a little brighter, and she flicked a quick glance down and back up to meet his eyes again. “So are you.”

“Marinette! You made it!” Rose’s shriek cut off any response he might have made. Rose barrelled up the steps from the galley and past him to engulf Marinette in a tight hug, with Juleka not far behind. Luka had a moment to collect himself while they caught up. All in all, he thought he’d handled it pretty well. He hadn’t actually swallowed his tongue.

Marinette flashed a brief, rueful smile at him over her shoulder as Rose towed her below deck, leaving Luka to pull his scattered thoughts together. He hadn’t seen her in ten years and she could still bowl him over at first sight. He turned absently to the stack of papers he’d been working on when she arrived, barely seeing them.

He hadn’t made much progress half an hour later, and gave up, heading down to the galley. A burst of laughter drew his attention and in the other room he could see Marinette wielding a tape measure around his sister with brisk efficiency, while Rose sat on the table, swinging her legs as she flicked through a plain black sketchbook. He’d seen plenty of the same type of book back when he’d been spending a lot of time with Marinette all those years ago. He leaned in the doorway, unnoticed, watching Marinette at work.

It had always been hard to define exactly what made Marinette so overwhelming whenever he saw her. Maybe it was the sense of intensity and creative fire, as if her skin could barely contain everything that she was, or the fierce, giving heart that shone within her. Maybe it was the endless blue of her eyes that spoke to him of a limitless horizon. It seemed like none of that had changed.

What had changed was the dizzying rush he felt as she bent to pick up something and he found himself following the tight curve of her jeans and the contour of her strong, lean legs. He jerked his wayward gaze away, trying to fight down the heat in his cheeks and the fleeting speculation about what it might be like to have those legs wrapped around him, and those beautiful eyes of hers on him while he … God, Couffaine, get your mind out of the gutter! It had been ten years since he’d last seen her, and these were not appropriate thoughts to be having barely thirty minutes and less than a handful of words of conversation after she’d turned up in his life again.

She had always been a pretty girl, but that was nothing to the gorgeous woman she’d grown into.

He would have bet money that the jeans hugging those legs like a second skin were her own design, and the silky red shirt sliding artfully off one shoulder but never quite falling looked like it had come straight from the fashion week runway. The way Marinette filled it, though, was far more distracting than any model could have ever made it.

The pigtails were another thing that was gone, but he didn’t spare them more than a moment of nostalgia, because the blue-black satin of her hair was caught up in a knot that left the smooth line of her neck bare, and that was a whole other train of thought that he cut off quickly. He looked up to find that she was watching him with a quizzical expression, and he managed to answer it with a smile of his own before Rose noticed him standing there.

“Luka!” she called out. “You have got to see what Marinette’s come up with for us!”

She was practically bouncing, and shoved the sketchbook at him. He looked at Marinette, one eyebrow raised in a question, before he opened it.

“If Marinette’s okay with that,” he said. Marinette’s mouth lifted in a smile at that.

“Marinette’s okay with that,” she told him, and he opened the cover. The slim book was full of designs and scribbled ideas and notes on wedding dresses. He’d seen her fourteen year old designs, and been impressed by them, but this… this was a whole other level, which, he supposed, wasn’t surprising. He turned through the pages slowly. He paused on one that was clearly meant for Juleka.

“Wow,” he said softly.

“That’s one of my favourites, too,” Marinette said. She’d come to look over his shoulder, and he was finding that rather unsettling for some reason. “Juleka’s so elegant, she could wear just about anything, but I like that structure for her.”

“It feels like her.” He glanced up at Marinette. “Dangerous edges, with just a bit of sweetness underneath.”

Marinette turned another few pages, and waited for Luka to find it.

“Rose,” he grinned back at her. “Channelling her inner Disney princess?”

“The brief was Sleeping Beauty, live action, but more -” Marinette gestured extravagantly, opening her eyes wide, and from the table where she was perched, Rose stuck out her tongue at them.

“It’s my wedding, and I’ll princess if I want to,” Rose sniffed.

Luka glanced back at the sketch, and was impressed all over again. Marinette had somehow turned flowers and glitter and pink and Rose into a few lines of charcoal and caught it on the page. Her own special brand of magic.

On the other side of the room, Juleka looked up from her phone.

“I’ve just ordered takeaway, and Ivan and Mylène are on their way,” she told them, and levelled a look at Marinette. “You are staying, aren’t you?”

By the time Marinette had been talked into it, and Ivan and Mylène had turned up in a bustle of exclamations and hugs and chatter, Luka had recovered something of his equilibrium. As darkness fell over the river and the lights strung up across the boat spilled a soft light over the deck, Luka handed Marinette a glass of wine and settled into the deck chair beside her.

“You’re wearing a tie these days,” she said with a hint of mischief, and he glanced down at the shirt he’d rolled up over his tattooed forearms and the tie he’d forgotten he was still wearing. “I never pictured you in the kind of career that would need a tie.”

He pulled himself together enough to smile easily back at her. “Well, it’s been a while. A few things have changed. I see you’re not wearing those pigtails anymore,” he teased her, and her hand went to the soft satin twist of her hair.

“No.” Marinette leaned back in the chair, her wine glass in hand, and her eyes were on Rose and Ivan arguing amicably about something. There was an indefinable sense of distance in her that had never been there when they were kids, and he wondered what had happened to put that there.

“So when did you get back in touch with Jules? She didn’t mention that she’d seen you.”

“I was showing a couple of pieces at something Juleka was modelling at a while ago. We bumped into each other backstage, and when she mentioned that she and Rose were getting married I offered to make up the dresses for them. My wedding present to them,” she said with a self-conscious smile, and Luka couldn’t help a soft laugh.

“Only you would do that for someone you haven’t seen in years.”

“They’re still friends.” She rolled her eyes at him. “Like you wouldn’t do the same.”

Rose was standing on a stack of crates now, singing something about rainbows, while Juleka hooked an arm around her to keep her from overbalancing and Mylène snorted with laughter. Marinette looked over at them a little wistfully.

“It’s nice to be back in touch with the old Kitty Section crew,” she admitted. “It was nice to reconnect with Juleka… and you. I’ve missed that.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Luka said quietly. “Do you see much of the old school crowd?”

Marinette shrugged. “Not really. I run into Adrien from time to time. I see him at the fashion shows sometimes, but honestly, once we get past the awkward reminiscing about collège, and industry stuff, we don’t really have a whole lot to talk about these days. I’ve sort of lost touch with everyone else.”

“How about Alya?” he asked. Luka had never really warmed to the brash journalist-in-the-making, with all her Adrien-schemes, but she’d been best friends with Marinette back in the day.

“No.” The one word was oddly expressionless. “I haven’t see her in a few years.”

There was a heartbeat when he thought she was going to say something else, then those lashes of hers dropped. Instead, when she looked up again there was that mischievous spark in her eyes again, and she said, “So what convinced you to put on a tie? Although I notice you didn’t get rid of your blue hair.” Was that an approving note in her voice? He ran his hand a little self-consciously through the longer, teal-tipped sweep of his dark hair, rubbing at the shorter hairs at the back of his neck. “What are you doing these days?”

“Playing the occasional gig whenever I get the chance, selling my music from time to time, teaching…”

“Teaching?”

He named the lycèe.

“Lucky students.” Marinette tilted her head to regard him speculatively, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth. “I’m having a hard time seeing you as M. Couffaine, though.”

“Just Luka. I’m the cool teacher that half the faculty hates because I undermine authority.”

“And the other half madly crush on,” Marinette suggested, and Luka felt himself flush. She could still throw him off-balance, all these years later, although it was in a different way now. The fourteen year old Marinette he remembered would never have been able to say something like that without self-combusting, but here she was, watching him with that mischievous glint in her beautiful blue eyes, and it was just another reminder that things had changed.

“What about you?” he deflected. He gestured at the sketchbook she’d left on a nearby table with her handbag. “Following the dream?”

She gave a wry little smile. “Oh, I got through my degree in fashion design somehow, and I’ve been running a bespoke atelier out of my bedroom. It’s not huge, but it pays the bills, and at least it gives me a certain amount of … flexibility.” Luka couldn’t understand the slight twist of her mouth at the word, but she had it smoothed out before he could be sure he’d really seen it. “And Ja… a few high profile people have been very kind and sent work my way.”

Luka felt certain he knew who the celebrity had been. For that alone, he could forgive his father a lot. There was a long silence while Marinette contemplated her empty wine glass, then she met his eyes.

“You have no idea how sorry I am that I broke up with you like that, right when you were going through everything with... I just made everything worse, and it wasn’t fair on you. I never really found a way to tell you that I was sorry for everything.”

“Marinette, no!” Luka straightened in his deckchair, a faint frown crossing his face. “We were kids. I’ve always felt badly that I put you under more pressure when you were clearly having a hard time with something.”

“There was a fair bit of that going around,” she conceded, and let out a shuddering breath that he didn’t realise she’d been holding. “But you have nothing to apologise for, you had every right to be upset about how I treated you. I regret a lot of things about back then.”

“I don’t regret that we tried,” Luka said with unintentional intensity, and Marinette’s eyes widened a little. “But I do regret that I lost you out of my life altogether. You always had the most fascinating way of seeing things, and I missed just hanging out and talking to you.”

“I didn’t think you’d want to see me after all that. And I thought it was saf -“ she cut herself off abruptly, changing what she’d been going to say, “- better if I stayed away.”

He shook his head, but didn’t say anything in response.

She gave him a sidelong look. “I never really got the chance to ask you, did you… how did things go with Jagged in the end? Do you talk to him?”

Luka’s expression turned wry. “It’s complicated. It’s always complicated with Jagged, but we talk a bit. He’s going to be there for the wedding. Not sure how that’s going to go.”

Marinette made a sympathetic noise. He thought for a moment that she was going to ask him for the details, but instead, with another swift, perceptive glance from those blue eyes of hers, she changed the subject.

“So what’s teaching like, M. Couffaine?” she asked lightly, and he settled back to tell her some of his stories, enjoying the ripple of laughter he drew from her over his students’ antics, and the chuckles she surprised out of him with her own tales about clients and their most outrageous demands. He had no idea how late it had grown when the conversation was interrupted by a chorus of phones chiming all at once from various corners of the Liberty. Ivan was the first to reach his.

“Akuma alert,” he sighed. “Aw, man, they’ve shut down septième. Traffic getting home is going to be hell.”

“What’s the bet that it’s the Eiffel Tower again?” Juleka muttered.

Mylène was shaking her head. “Hawkmoth, and now Swallowtail, and there was that weird thing with the rats a few years ago, and the government keeps pretending that there’s nothing they can do as long as they can just dump it all on Ladybug and Chat Noir to deal with the problem. We’re still working on getting subsidies for mental health therapies, but they keep stonewalling us.”

Marinette was getting to her feet.

“I really should go,” she said reluctantly, and Luka stood as she gathered up her bag and sketchbook. “It was… really nice to catch up again, Luka. It’s been far too long.”

“Oh, but you’ll be back again soon, right?” Rose cut in before Luka could say anything. “There’ll be fittings for the wedding dresses, and we’re not letting you lose contact again like that. We’ve missed you, right, Luka?”

Luka ignored Rose’s unsubtle nudge, and Marinette said her goodbyes to the rest of their friends.

“It’s good to see you again, Marinette,” he told her, and accepted the light bise she brushed against his cheek. He caught a hint of vanilla and sugar as she leaned in, and oh hell, it suddenly hit him why the smell of cookies had always left him with a faint and peculiar sense of homesickness when his mother had never baked a cookie in her life. He closed his eyes briefly, and let Marinette go before he could do something stupid.

Luka watched her safely down to the dock, and he absolutely was not fixating on the sway of those jeans as she walked away, holy crap, and turned back to meet Rose’s hopeful and utterly transparent look.

“So-oo,” his future sister-in-law said with overdone nonchalance. “You and Marinette looked like you were having a good time together.”

“Don’t go getting ideas, Ro.”

“Rose,” Juleka muttered warningly from the bench where she was sitting, but Rose ignored her.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said innocently. “I just want you to be happy Luka. It looked like you were really happy tonight. And it was great to see Marinette again.”

“No ideas,” he repeated, and Rose gave him a look of deep disappointment. She started collecting the empty takeaway containers, while Luka rounded up the glasses. Rose dropped a kiss on Juleka’s mouth on the way past, and flitted down into the galley. Juleka heaved a put-upon sigh, and swung herself gracefully to her feet, scooping up a couple of stray cushions.

Luka picked up Marinette’s wineglass, with the soft pink imprint of her lipstick.

“You didn’t mention that Marinette would be coming round,” he said, his back to his sister. “You didn’t mention that you’d been in touch with her again.”

Juleka shrugged, and dumped the cushions in one of the storage boxes on the deck. “Didn’t think it mattered. It was ten years ago. You’re not still hung up on what happened back then, are you?”

“No, of course not.” And he was pretty sure that was true. This felt like he’d been blindsided by Marinette Dupain-Cheng in a whole new way.

[2manyfandoms2count]

Poisson d'avril

Here, have a half-baked April Fool’s Day fic my brain decided to wake me up for. For context, one of the most popular jokes for April 1st in France is taping paper fish to each other’s backs, the more original the fish the better (my childhood is filled with trying to sneak behind teachers' backs to tape one on them; they were very chill about it, tbh). Poisson d’Avril is also what you say at the end of a joke on that day (think "sike", but festive). More about this great tradition that apparently dates back to at least 1466 here.

Hope you enjoy!

Read on AO3

---

Marinette loved April Fool’s Day at Françoise Dupont. The school was always buzzing with little pranks at that time of the year, the blooming spring giving a wonderfully cheerful backdrop to the shenanigans the collégiens were up to.

These were all very light-hearted, if sometimes a little elaborate.

As usual, some students had been found early in the morning in the classrooms, thwarting their attempt to recreate the legendary horizontal fiasco of 20XX, where everything had been set up to look like the rooms had been flipped by 90°. Mr Damoclès had let them go mercifully, thankful that the students hadn’t been tempted to glue everything to the ceiling in an effort to one-up their predecessors. Somehow, he wouldn’t have put it past Kim and Alix to try and coordinate the project, as a last hurrah before heading on to lycée.

There were also seemingly well-meaning classmates offering chouquettes or donuts in the courtyard, which Marinette knew to stay well away from, knowing the former were likely sprinkled with coarse salt, and the latter filled with the likes of mayonnaise instead of jam. She’d been in their shoes a couple of years prior, building her classmates’ trust by bringing them the sweet delicacies every day for a week, and switching on April 1st as a joke.

Heading to class, she heard a lot of laughter, people telling jokes, or trying to see how far they could take a story without it being called out on it (this year, Nino had Kim panicking over a brevet exam part they supposedly had, which was a step down from the previous year, where he’d convinced him that everybody needed to come in dressed up in medieval costumes, and that he’d landed the court jester role; his friend had turned up the next day in a full outfit, complete with bells on his hat and shoes, and upon discovering the deception, had decided to make good use of them and make the joke everybody’s problem).

However much she enjoyed those kinds of pranks, though, Marinette’s favourite remained the classic poisson d’avril: taping paper fish to people’s backs. It was something anyone could take part in, as a predator or a prey, with or without premeditation. You didn’t necessarily need scissors and tape, if you managed to steal some from somebody else’s back.

Marinette liked to take it seriously. Done right, the exercise demanded stealth she’d had even as a little kid, and had honed ever since being chosen to become Ladybug, as well as creativity she had piles of. She’d stayed up the previous night, making plenty of fish varying in size and colour, some tailored to her friends, like the Rena Rouge and Carapace ones that were intended for Alya and Nino respectively. She’d of course also made the rest of the Miraculous team, as well as some other designs based on Kitty section, her classmates, or celebrities.

As always at the end of the day, Rose walked around with a whole school on her back. It wasn’t clear if she was completely oblivious to it, or if she knew what was going on but enjoyed the giddy giggles of the people who managed to add an extra fish in, or take one off.

The only person who’d managed to escape the prank so far was Adrien, and it wasn’t for lack of trying. Kim, Alix and Nino had gone to great lengths to get at least one fish on his back, even recruiting Markov to sneak behind him, but the boy seemed to have a sixth sense.

No sooner did he hear the faintest of ruffles, that his head would jerk up, eyes darting around to figure out where the sound had come from, thwarting any efforts, no matter how elaborate they’d been.

Marinette had been reluctant to target Adrien, despite having a special fish for him, complete with his stripes and an orange-tipped tail, but as the day went by and more people joined the challenge to trick him, she felt the urge to compete rise in her chest and started unwillingly tracking his every movement, trying to find a breach in his focus.

It was a fastidious process, even for someone who enjoyed watching Adrien happily live his life, but it paid off around the end of the day, just after the last bell.

Marinette noticed that Adrien’s shirt looked a little rumpled around the back as they were retrieving books from their lockers, and approached him calmly.

“Adrien?” She announced her presence when she was right behind him, surprised that he hadn’t turned around yet. He almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of her voice.

“Marinette!” He yelped, a hand flying to his heart. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you approach.” He chuckled nervously.

“No, I’m sorry I scared you!” Marinette looked down, apparently sheepish. In truth, she was cursing inwardly at the missed easy opportunity. Adrien had been at ease with her coming closer, which she assumed was because it was the end of the day and he’d started letting his guard down; she could have gone about her business and he would’ve been none the wiser. She shook her head; it didn’t matter, she’d just go on with her original plan. “It’s just that… well, it’s stupid, but the back of your shirt is a little creased, and I know how important your appearance is to your family so… Do you mind if I fix it?”

“Thanks Marinette, that’d be awesome.” He smiled at her in a way that would have made her lose her cool, had it been any other day. But she was on a mission, and there was no way she was letting the opportunity of pranking Adrien when nobody else had managed the feat go by.

“Okay, let me just…” Marinette reached into her purse and took the first piece of paper she felt, before gently taping it to Adrien’s shirt, making sure to smooth the fabric at the same time so he wouldn’t realise what she was doing.

“There, all done!” She smiled when she was satisfied the tape had adhered well enough.

He smiled back at her, but was interrupted in his thanks by Nino and Alya calling for them to hurry up.

“Today was really fun, I’m so glad I got to experience it first hand,” Adrien beamed as the group walked out of the building, Nino and Adrien a little ahead of the girls. “And I’m really proud that I survived it without getting pranked!”

Marinette bit back a laugh, eyes darting to his back.

“I wouldn’t be so confident, Sunshine,” Alya replied, untaping the fish from his back and handing it to him.

“What…” Adrien stopped in his tracks, looking at it, and particularly Marinette’s signature on the back of the piece of paper, in disbelief. He turned around with a look of mock betrayal. “I can’t believe you’d do this to me!” He pouted.

“I couldn’t just let you off the hook,” she shrugged with a small smile, making a mental note to reuse the phrase with Chat Noir when she saw him later. He’d enjoy the pun.

Adrien let out a small chuckle as he turned the fish around, but the sound died as he saw the pattern. The colour drained from his face and he froze as he took in the black and green colour scheme and the fish’s whiskers.

“Adrien? Is everything okay?” Marinette frowned, noticing his change in body language.

“Yeah, um… Can I talk to you for a second?” He looked up at her.

“What a great idea!” Alya pushed Marinette towards Adrien before hooking her arm through Nino’s and starting to go down the stairs. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow!”

Marinette thought she heard her add “Can you believe they might get together over an April Fool’s joke?”, as she waved them off absentmindedly, but her gaze met Adrien’s troubled one and she decided she’d deal with her best friend later.

“What’s up?” She asked, feeling a blush creep up her cheeks; the adrenaline from succeeding her challenge was evidently starting to wear off.

“What’s this?” Adrien asked cautiously, handing her the fish.

Marinette took it cautiously, saw the pattern, and smiled. “It’s a poisson-chat noir,” she said proudly. It was a bit of a shame she’d picked that one for Adrien, but she guessed she couldn’t have kept it for her partner anyway, given that she’d signed it. Still, she thought he would have liked the joke. Especially if it came from Ladybug.

“How did you know?” he murmured, looking at her incredulously. She tilted her head, raising her eyebrows at his cryptidness. He explicited his thoughts. “I saw the fish you gave Alya and Nino, and the one you managed to pin on Chloé; they were all references to their superhero selves. And now you get this one right as well… How did you know?”

It was Marinette’s turn to freeze and feel the colour draining from her cheeks. “I… I didn’t. I picked one randomly when I saw an opening.”

“Oh.” She saw the cogs turning in Adrien’s brain while she felt her own shut down, still processing one important piece of information.

“Adrien… Are you Chat Noir?”

“Um… Poisson d’avril?” He ventured.

“Adrien.” She repeated sternly.

“Okay, fine, you got me.” Adrien huffed, raking a hand through his hair. “Please, don’t tell Ladybug.” He pleaded.

“Too late, I’m afraid.” She dug out her poisson-Ladybug and taped it to herself. She saw Adrien’s eyes grow as wide as his smile before being engulfed in a hug and feeling his lips on her forehead. “Kwami, we really might get together over an April Fool’s joke,” she muttered against his chest. If the heat she felt at the tip of her ears said anything, she probably was as red as Ladybug’s costume, and it probably wouldn’t go unnoticed.

“What was that?” Adrien pulled out a little from their hug to look at her.

“Nothing.” She smiled, and took his hand. “Now come on Chaton, we have some things to discuss, and we should probably go somewhere more private.”

“You know I’d follow you anywhere, my Lady.” He picked their entwined hands and kissed hers.

Really, she thought as they made their way towards her parents’ boulangerie, she loved poissons d’avril.

[purrincess-chat]

My Chosen’s Keeper CH3 (FINAL)

Here is the last chapter of the petty kwami AU. I have basically this whole week off because of Hurricane Sally, so I decided to go ahead and post the last chapter since I finished it up. I’m so happy you all enjoy this fic, and I hope you like the conclusion!

Read on AO3

Chapter 3

After a week, Lila stopped scheming against Marinette. In fact, she’d stopped doing much of anything. Every so often she’d look over her shoulder as if expecting someone to be following her, and she flinched every time she opened her locker or her bag.

Tikki was satisfied enough with their efforts, though she worried they’d gone too far when Lila spun around on poor Nathaniel walking behind her to his seat. Her goal was to inconvenience Lila, not scare her out of her skin, and now her stomach was churning too much to enjoy her morning macaron. She popped into Adrien’s bag where Plagg was dozing in an empty Camembert carton and shook him awake.

“Plagg, do you think maybe we went too far with all of this?” She asked, but Plagg simply shrugged his shoulders and burped.

“Relax, sugar cube. That girl got what was coming to her.”

“Yeah, but she’s petrified now, and people are starting to notice,” she said with a nervous glance up at the open zipper. “I think we should stop.”

“Fine,” Plagg yawned, and Tikki prodded his side.

“I’m serious, Plagg. No more pranks.”

“Okay,” he said, and she sat back, antenna pressing low against her head.

“Good,” she said with a nod.

As the bell rang, Tikki slipped back into Marinette’s bag before her owner noticed her absence. She tried to push the whole situation from her mind, but when Alya leaned against Marinette’s neighboring locker, her nerves only worsened.

“Lila’s been acting super paranoid today. I wonder what’s bugging her,” Alya whispered, casting a glance at their classmate across the room.

“Nathaniel told me she thinks she’s being haunted,” Marinette said. Even she seemed concerned, and Tikki shrank deeper into her purse.

“I mean, a lot of crazy stuff has been happening to her, so maybe she is,” Alya said with a wince.

“I wouldn’t doubt if she’d made a spirit angry,” Marinette mumbled, and Alya leaned in closer.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“I feel kinda bad for her. I saw her dozing off in class earlier. She must not be sleeping,” Alya said, biting her lip. “Hey, why don’t we all plan a sleepover? Maybe if a group of us supports her then she’ll feel safe enough to sleep.”

“Uhh, yeah, sure,” Marinette said, sounding anything but willing. “You plan it, and I will definitely not think of an excuse not to go.”

“I’ll ask her this afternoon. It’ll be fun.” Alya nudged her with her elbow before they headed to their next class.

To Tikki’s horror, not only did Lila accept the sleepover invitation, but somehow, she managed to convince them to host it at Marinette’s house. Lila had a way of backing people into corners, and Marinette didn’t really have a choice in the matter. Tikki was equally as unenthused. Just what she needed—another reason to get involved.

“Plagg, what am I gonna do?” Tikki asked that afternoon in art class. “I know she’s up to something!”

“Do you want me to leave stinky cheese in her locker again?”

“No!”

“Good because it’s a terrible waste of perfectly good cheese.”

“Plagg! I’m serious. What if Lila does something to my owner tonight?” Tikki said, tugging his arm. “Help me!”

“I thought you wanted to be done with all of this? No more pranks?” Plagg said, and Tikki averted her gaze, antenna lowering.

“I do, but she’s coming into her personal home. What if she finds her diary and learns that she’s Ladybug? Or what if she just so happens to steal her earrings? Or what if-”

“Don’t worry, sugar cube. I’ll help you tonight. Lila won’t get away with anything, okay?” Plagg said, patting her head.

“You mean it?”

“Have I ever lied to you?” Plagg asked, and Tikki’s eyes narrowed. “Okay, bad question. I promise I won’t let you down—this time.”

“Thanks, Plagg.”

Later that evening, Tikki chewed her lip as Marinette tidied up for her guests. She’d helped remove any lingering Adrien pictures despite her friends all knowing about her crush, but Marinette was just as wary of having Lila over as Tikki. As a result, she was taking a few extra precautions like hiding her diary and anything else Lila could use against her. It eased some of Tikki’s worry, but not all of it.

“Are you really going to have that girl over?” She asked as Marinette locked her important belongings in her chest.

“I couldn’t exactly say no. Lila is too good at manipulating everyone. If I had said no, she would have made it seem like I hate her,” Marinette said, leaning against her fist.

“But you do hate her.”

“Yeah, but I can’t prove why I hate her to everyone, so I don’t have a choice,” Marinette sighed. “We’ll just have to be extra careful tonight. I doubt Lila will try anything with all of the girls over.”

“Yeah. Hopefully.”

Thankfully Alya arrived first to help set up because Lila was the first after her. She seemed surprised and slightly annoyed to find Alya there as well, and Tikki’s blood boiled at the sight of her. She popped up to the roof, tapping her paws together as she peered out over the street. The night was calm and quiet—a direct contrast to the storm brewing inside her. Where was Plagg?

“Ya know, you really worry too much.”

She spun around to see him lounging on the chair with a cheese danish from the bakery. Relief flooded her mind, but it was quickly replaced by annoyance. “Where have you been?”

“Relax, sugar cube. I was doing some important reconnaissance,” he said around a mouthful.

“You mean helping yourself to whatever your greedy stomach wanted?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You are so selfish!”

“Oh, then I suppose you already know that Lila has a lockpick in her bag?”

“She- you- oh…Well, then we should-”

“Already did. And her toothbrush just for fun,” he snickered, and Tikki lowered onto the chair beside him. “I’m a little insulted that you don’t believe in me.”

“Dinosaurs, Atlantis, the Black Plague…”

Plagg bit off a chunk of his pastry and chewed it grumpily. “We never talk about your mistakes.”

“Thank you, Plagg,” Tikki said, and he blinked, swallowing the rest of the danish whole. “For everything.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get all sappy on me.” He turned his back to her and waved it away, but she could see the smile tugging on his lips. “Now come on. We’ve got work to do.”

The girls were gathered in Marinette’s room when Tikki and Plagg snuck in and took position on Marinette’s bed. Marinette had strategically positioned herself on top of her locked chest, and partnered with Plagg’s disposal of Lila’s lock pick, it eased some of Tikki’s nerves. At least her secrets would be safe, but that didn’t mean Lila didn’t have other tricks up her sleeve.

After a while, they moved downstairs to watch a movie, and Mr. Dupain brought up homemade pizza. Plagg groaned beside her as the girls pulled apart stretchy strips of cheese, and Tikki restrained him from flying down and helping himself.

Halfway through the movie, Lila got up to go to the bathroom, and Tikki followed. Just as she feared, the moment the door closed, Lila set to work silently opening cabinets. Tikki had half a mind to spray her with the sink nozzle again, but after a few minutes of searching, Lila found what she was looking for—a metal nail file. She pulled a bobby pin from her hair and tucked them both into her pocket.

Back out in the main room, she announced that she was going to go upstairs and call her mom who was traveling overseas on some important ambassador thing, and she only had a short window in the evening to talk to her because of timezones or something. It didn’t matter the reason because it was a lie. Marinette’s glare followed her up the stairs with Tikki right behind it.

“Plagg?” She hissed, glancing around for that lazy black cat, but she didn’t have to guess where he was. “I told you not to touch the pizza!”

Plagg clung to the piece he was greedily stuffing in his mouth as Tikki tugged on his tail. “Oh come on! Mr. Dupain makes his own mozzarella. I couldn’t resist!”

“Lila is on the move! She took a nail file from the bathroom, and now she’s upstairs! Come on!”

Plagg caressed his slice of pizza one last time before Tikki dragged him up the stairs. Lila was already kneeling beside the chest, nail file and bobby pin at work.

“Come on, stupid chest. I know Marinette is behind all of the weird stuff happening to me lately,” she grumbled. “I just need something to blackmail her with to make it all stop. Just open!”

“Plagg, what are we gonna do?” Tikki whispered, and Plagg was already surveying the rest of the room.

“Follow my lead,” he said, darting for the nearest mannequin.

Lila nearly had the lock open when a stack of shoeboxes toppled over, and she jumped. Seeing that it was only boxes, she took a deep breath and turned back to her work.

“What?” She gasped when her makeshift lock picks were no where to be found.

“Lila…”

She startled, jumping up and spinning around, but no one was in the room. No one she could see anyway.

“Liiiila…”

“Very funny, Marinette. I know it’s you. It’s been you the whole time. I don’t know how, but you won’t beat me,” she said, but the way her eyes flicked frantically around the room betrayed her true fear.

“Leave her alone…”

The mannequin by the chaise, surged forward, and Lila’s scream filled the house. She scrambled for the trapdoor, but it wouldn’t budge no matter how hard she tugged. The girls rushed up the stairs, Marinette at the front. She pushed the trapdoor open easily to find Lila curled into a ball on the floor, tears streaming down her face.

“What are you doing?” Marinette demanded, and Alya crawled up to wrap an arm around Lila’s shoulders.

“The mannequin!” Lila wailed.

“What about it?” Marinette asked.

“It-It talked and moved and-and-” She pointed across the room, but the mannequin had returned to its original place. Even the shoeboxes had righted themselves. “But…”

“Maybe we should all just go to bed,” Alya suggested, and Lila grabbed her shoulders.

“But it did move! I swear I’m not making it up,” she said, gripping her shirt so tightly that Alya swatted her hands away with a hiss.

“I think you’re just tired-”

“Or crazy,” Marinette mumbled, masking it with a cough.

“Sleep deprivation can make you see weird things,” Alya said. “Come on. Let’s get you some sleep.”

As the girls moved downstairs again, Marinette eyed her chest, but her secrets were safe. Tikki still stayed up all night to make sure Lila didn’t try anything again, but their ghost stunt seemed to have scared her off the idea.

When morning light streamed in from the windows, Tikki sat back with a yawn. Curling in next to Plagg snoring loudly on Marinette’s chaise, she slipped off into sleep with the reassurance that Marinette was safe.

***

The Monday after the sleepover, Lila entered the school on a quest for vengeance. Dark bags hung under blood-shot eyes, and her whole demeanor was slightly unhinged as everyone hung out in the courtyard on break. Tikki knew she was going to target Marinette again, so she lingered close by—waiting.

Marinette was sketching on a bench by herself while a maintenance man repainted the railing to her left. When he reached a stopping point, he scooted the ladder next to the bench and took his break, but Marinette never looked up from her drawing.

“Hey, I heard about the sleepover. What happened?” Adrien materialized at Marinette’s side, startling her out of her skin. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Marinette relaxed. “I don’t know. I knew she was up to no good, and while we were all watching a movie, she went up to my room to ‘call her mom’ then she just started screaming and freaking out,” Marinette said, shooting her a glare across the courtyard. “I don’t really know what happened, but she swears my mannequin talked to her.”

“Do you think she’s doing it all for attention?” Adrien asked, but Marinette pursed her lips.

“I don’t think so this time. She seemed really freaked out when we found her. I think she’s actually losing her mind,” Marinette said.

“You don’t think she’s really being haunted, do you?” Adrien’s green eyes clouded with worry.

“I don’t know,” Marinette said with a shrug. “Maybe she is making it all up for attention, or maybe all of her lying is finally catching up to her.”

“Let’s hope this convinces her to start telling the truth whatever it is,” he said. “I’m just glad she didn’t do anything to you. I was worried when I heard she was coming to your house for a sleepover.”

Marinette’s cheeks flushed at that, and she took her eyes off Lila. Adrien was the perfect distraction, but Tikki wasn’t so easily deterred because Lila was watching them too. Their friendly smiles and close proximity drove her over the edge. When she dashed toward them, Tikki braced herself, but Lila wasn’t aiming for the bench.

Tikki glanced up at the paint can resting precariously on the top of the ladder beside them, recognizing the intent in Lila’s eyes.

“Oh no you don’t,” she said, flitting up to the bucket.

Lila rocked the ladder, but against the laws of natural physics, the can twirled around and dumped on top of her. The courtyard fell silent as the can clattered to the ground, and Lila wiped green paint from her face.

“That’s it!” She screeched, pointing a finger at Marinette. “This is all your fault!”

“Lila, Marinette didn’t do anything. I was talking to her the whole time,” Adrien said, holding up cautioning hands.

“No! Everything is her fault!” Lila stomped a foot. “I don’t know how you keep doing it, but I know it’s you!”

“Lila, what are you-” Alya started, but Lila lunging at Marinette cut her off. Nino and Ivan caught her, and Adrien took a defensive stance in front of Marinette.

“How did you do it, Marinette?” She growled. “I put those test answers in your schoolbag, but they weren’t there when Mlle. Bustier checked! I planted my necklace in your locker during lunch, but somehow you put it back! How did you do it?”

Marinette and Adrien cupped hands over their mouths as the weight of those words settled among their classmates. Confusion and anger snaked its way onto every face, and more classmates joined Adrien guarding Marinette.

“Wait, you tried to frame Marinette? But why?” Nathaniel asked, and Lila shot him a glare.

“Because I hate her! She’s always getting in my way and ruining my plans. I’d have you all eating out of the palm of my hand if it wasn’t for her!” She said, shoulders heaving. She ripped away from Nino and Ivan and kicked the paint bucket with a shriek.

“Whoa, so all those times Marinette said you were lying…” Nino said, lowering his gaze.

“She was right,” Adrien spoke up, and all eyes turned to him. “Lila is a liar. Nothing she’s ever said is true. She just wanted to use all of you for attention.”

“So, you’ve never met Jagged Stone?” Rose deflated.

“And let me guess. You’re not really bffs with Ladybug,” Alya said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Of course I’m not friends with that stupid insect! I hope Hawkmoth takes her Miraculous and rids the world of her stupid face!” Lila shouted.

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Damocles demanded as he and Mlle. Bustier approached.

“Karma,” Marinette said with a grunt.

Lila glanced between each face glaring back at her, the rage-induced fog clearing enough for her to see the damage she’d inflicted. Her eyes widened, and her shoulders shrank. For the first time since she’d stepped foot in their school, Lila was exposed. Powerless. Small.

“My office. Now.” Mr. Damocles barked through gritted teeth, and Lila followed behind him quietly. She had nothing left to say. No more lies to tell.

“M, are you okay?” Alya pulled her best friend in for a tight hug. “I’m so sorry I never believed you.”

“Yeah, we should have known better. You never trip out over anyone unless there’s a reason,” Nino said, ruffling her hair.

“We’re sorry, Marinette.”

“Yeah, we shouldn’t have doubted you.”

“It’s fine,” Marinette said, cutting everyone off. “Really. I’m not mad at you. Lila manipulated all of you. It’s not your fault she can’t tell the truth.”

“Marinette…” Alya cooed, and all of their classmates huddled around her.

When the bell rang, they all dispersed, heading to their next class, but Marinette excused herself to the bathroom. Tikki slipped back into her purse, relieved that it was finally over and that she hadn’t been caught. Or rather, she thought she hadn’t been caught until Marinette ripped open her purse and dumped her out into her waiting hand.

“I thought kwamis weren’t supposed to meddle,” she said, quirking a brow, and Tikki shrank guiltily.

“I’m sorry, Marinette! I just knew she was up to no good, and I couldn’t let her frame you,” she said, pressing her paws together.

“Putting the test answers back and moving the necklace are like you, but exploding milk cartons and mannequin ghosts?” Marinette cocked a hip. “Plagg, I know you helped too.”

A sinister chortle echoed above them as Plagg floated down beside Tikki. “I couldn’t let sugar cube have all the fun.”

“We’re really sorry,” Tikki said, lowering her head.

She braced for her punishment, but instead, Marinette lifted the two of them to her lips and planted a soft kiss on each of their heads. “Thanks, you two.”

“You mean you’re not mad?”

“Nah, Lila deserved it,” she said with a shrug.

“I’ll accept my reward in the form of one of those tasty cheese danishes your dad makes,” Plagg said, puffing his chest out, and Marinette scratched under his chin with a giggle.

“You can have all the cheese danishes you want,” she said. “It’s nice to know you two have my back.”

“Of course,” Plagg said, draping an arm over Tikki’s shoulders. “If someone wants to mess with the Bug, they’re gonna have to go through us.”

“We’ll always make sure you’re safe,” Tikki added, and Marinette held out a pink with a smile.

“Bien Joué!”

[cloburon]

adds slight angst into my adrien getting revenge on lila fic.

[alyasgf]

She

mlb masterlist

ao3

Summary- she by dodie alyanette songfic!

alya has a huge crush on marinette, like huge, but she knows it’s unrequited.

Word Count- 1354

Notes- kinda short, but im trying to get alyanette out of my system because i have like twenty other prompts i want to get to :’)

Begin

Am I allowed to look at her like that

Could it be wrong when she's just so nice to look at

When Alya first saw her she couldn’t help but stare. She was beautiful. With her mesmerizing sky blue eyes and dark blue pigtails, Alya couldn’t help but stop in the doorway to admire her. After watching her for a minute she noticed the blonde girl beside her who seemed to be yelling.

It was only then that she took the chance to make her first impression.

“Hey! Who elected you Queen of Seats?”

Okay so maybe not her best line, but it seemed to work. As she pulled the girl away she could feel the nerves seep away. The blue haired girl seemed clumsy, but good natured. She learned the girl’s name, (“Marinette.” She told her as they shared a macaroon,) and even after the absolute insanity of the day, over superheroes and villains, all Alya could think about was her.

And she smells like lemongrass and sleep She tastes like apple juice and peach

You would find her in a polaroid picture And she means everything to me

After months of sharing secrets and sharing time, Alya and Marinette were easily each other's closest confidants. They’d spend almost every spare moment together. Marinette would groan and complain about her boy problems and Alya would scheme with her on new ways to finally catch Adrien’s attention.

Sure, at first it hurt to hear the girl she had a massive crush on talk about the boy she was in love with, but once Alya accepted that her feelings would never be reciprocated, it became easier.

Still, there were moments when Alya swore they could be something more.

It had only happened a few times. Only late into their sleepovers, and always platonic to Marinette. Small kisses that were followed with giggles and jokes.

“Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to kiss a girl? “ Marinette asked one night, after hours of movies and sweets.

Alya choked. “What?” She sputtered. She had to be dreaming, surely Marinette hadn’t just said what she thought she said.

“You heard me.” She replied, laughing. “Not that I’ve spent too long thinking about it, or like specifics or anything, but I don’t know, it's an experience?”

“Sure, I’ve thought about it.” Alya said absentmindedly, brain replaying each and every one of the fantasies in which her best friend featured in. “Just a few times.”

“Well, would you want to? Y’know, with me?”

Again, Alya lost control of her breathing. Her heart began to race and palms began to sweat. Was this really happening?

“Oh c’mon,” Marinette laughed again, now at her friend’s shocked expression. “It doesn’t have to mean anything, it’s just if I were to have my first girl kiss with anyone, I’d want it to be you.”

Alya tried not to focus on how she worded that question. ‘First girl kiss.’ Would there be more? More importantly, would Alya share the experience with her more than once?

She looked at her friend. She was red, and where there was once a playful, curious expression there was an unsure one, red from blushing.

“I’m sorry. I probably made you uncomfortable, didn’t I?” Marinette rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, face getting impossibly more red. “It’s fine, you don’t have to, I-”

“No, I want to!” Alya blurted out, worried she had ruined her one chance. “I mean, I’m not uncomfortable with it if you aren’t.” She added hastily. A million thoughts ran through her head at once. ‘Am I actually going to kiss Marinette? Is this a dream? Dear god tell me I’m not dreaming.’

“Okay!” Marinette said excitedly, as her expression changed to one of excitement. Alya nearly swooned at that. Marinette looked that way at the prospect of kissing her. She could barely breathe.

Alya’s brain short circuited. She wasn’t sure how it happened, one second she was gazing into Marinette’s eyes, the next there was a quick press of peach flavored lips on hers. It was over in an instant.

Marinette laughed while Alya attempted to draw out her usual confident self amidst the red cheeks and lingering taste of fruit.

They always laid close at the end of each sleepover, Alya’s face buried in Marinette’s hair as the smaller girl snored lightly on her chest. She smelled of strawberries and pastries always, but in moments like these it was so strong Alya couldn’t help but be reminded how deeply she had fallen in love.

She was picture perfect in every light. Eyes always so full of hope and a creative glint. Her smile and willingness to help nearly everyone made her personality that much more magnetic. Her hands were always warm, always soft, save for the occasional cut or two from her clumsiness while designing.

Alya couldn’t remember life before her, and couldn’t begin to imagine being without her. She was like a drug, so immersive and addicting that Alya would never be able to stay away for long. She was her best friend, but more than that, she was her soulmate, and if that had to be platonic, so be it. Marinette was just like that, so appealing that people wanted to be around her in any way they possibly could, in any form they possibly could.

I'd never tell

No I'd never say a word

And oh it aches

But it feels oddly good to hurt

Love. Even though she felt it so strongly whenever Marinette was near, she was content in keeping the emotions to herself. Marinette was frustratingly straight, between Luka and Adrien, she didn’t stand a chance. The only thing that would result from a confession would be confusion and unrequited feelings.

So instead Alya stole moments when she could. A few long glances, kisses in the dark, hugs that lasted a second longer than normal, these were what she could get, this was what she lived for. The rush she would get from it, for just a second tricking herself into believing that they were anything more than moments between friends.

But then the second would pass, and all she would be left with was a dull aching in her chest to pull her back into reality. It hurt, hurt more than anything in the world sometimes, but she would never trade the feeling, it reminded her she was alive, reminded her how colorful the world could be by Marinette’s side.

and I'll be okay

Admiring from afar

Cause even when she's next to me

We could not be more far apart

Cause she tastes like birthday cake and storytime and fall

But to her

I taste of nothing at all

Sometimes the feelings would overwhelm her, late at night long after Marinette had wished her goodnight over the phone, with an ‘I love you’ that stripped Alya’s heart down to it’s core knowing it would never be meant in the way she always dreamt it’d be. She’d clutch her pillow, tears streaming down her face.

Deep down she knew it was all a lie. Of course she wasn’t content with keeping her feelings bottled up, but what choice did she have? Marinette would never feel the same way in a million years, no matter how much she loved Alya, it would always be through the lens of friendship and nothing more.

As close as they were, there would always be a disconnect. Miles and miles of unspoken words, longing stares, and kisses that ended far too soon. Marinette would always see these at surface value, with nothing more to be discovered.

For Alya, Marinette was a warm bed after a long day, a warm cup of tea in a furious winter storm, a bright spot in an otherwise dull world. For Marinette, Alya was just a friend. A close, irreplaceable friend who she loved more than anything, but a friend nonetheless.

Alya would drift off to sleep with dreams of firsts with Marinette, while Marinette dreamt of another.

She was meant to be with Adrien, and Alya was meant to watch from afar, forever dreaming of a love from a girl that would never see her in that light.

End Notes- btw marinette totally likes her but repressed sapphic vibes, yknow? sorry they didnt end up together but if you want some resolution i have a fic where they are happy together that you can find here!

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

Okay right-o here’s @https://princess-of-the-corner.tumblr.com ‘s Rwby au, I made them designs a little while back and I’ve been working on fic based on their au as well. I’m just gonna copy paste my in depth reasoning behind their designs here:

Chloe: I looked up a lot of references for Weiss and Winter for her design. She’s from Atlas so I wanted to tie that in and who else to use as a reference but the Schnee sisters? Her glasses are supposed to look kind of ‘buggy’ in their own way. Her design is very symmetrical in its own way. ‘Perfect’. I wanted her design to look cold, but I added an addition of warm colors she shares with Adrien to tie them in with each other, along with Adrien being her soft spot. Her coat is very tight, along with her other clothes. Very closed in for many reasons. This was the first design I made of the group as you can see.

Adrien: As much as I wanted to give him Chat Noir’s usually black and silver suit, I wanted him to.. well.. not look like Chat Noir. This isn’t the Miraculous universe, he gets more colors. Sense I didn’t want to use black, I used brown instead cause I thought that looked good with green, which was an aspect I didn’t want to loose. The gold was something I originally only added to the bell collar, but then kept adding it cause it complemented the green and brown nicely and matched his hair. Thought it was nice. Also yes he has green eye shadow. Chloe totally put it on him. His design isn’t completely asymmetric, but it’s definitely not symmetrical. The offset.. what’s it called? The jacket collar thing? I forget. That’s offset and only one side and those buttons. Same with the jacket that pools over his shoulders. It’s little rebellions like that. Probably the most fun to color. The little cat toe beans I added to his boots and the Chat noir belt tail were last minute add ones that I wanted to call back to Chat Noir

Marinette: okay- this was fun. Originally I had her antenna tied in with her ribbons but I wanted them to poke out cause that’s her trait! Even though she hides them I didn’t want her to for the sake of the drawing. I gave her a ton of freckles. Her jacket was hard cause they’re actually two jackets layer on each other. The silver on it was something I decided on mid way that helped decide the rest of the colors. The weird open window thing on her chest was a last minute decision I made mid coloring cause I didn’t like how much chest she was showing but I didn’t want to loose all of it either. Her little bags were fun to draw, but Her little breast plates hurt me physically, cause I drew her a little cherry blossom tree as her shirt and I loved it, but then I had to cover most of it, so I added more of the design on her pants which I’m rlly proud of. Same with the boots. Also Marinette absolutely made her clothes.

Nino: his design was interesting cause he shares a lot of colors with Adrien, that being brown, gold, and green. So I did a few things. I used the gold as a more embroidery/third color, the primary being green instead of brown, darkening the brown, and then adding silver as a secondary color. I did this to not only tie in Marinette- but give him a different kind of armor color. Kim most likely has silver in his design as well. Their trio shares silver as their color. Halfway through I realized Nino had glasses in his original design so I gave him goggles to tie in Carapace. His scales were fun too, like green freckles. However as you can see- his trait is not a shell. Felt like it was too generic, and that Nino already has his shield, it’d be awkward to put a shield on a shield.

Alya: Not much to say actually about this design. I was running out of room on the page so I made her bending down like the feral child she is, BUT I WANTED THST BIG FLUFFY TAIL SO I MADE IT COME OUT BEHIND HER. I had to physically stop myself from giving her gold as her armor color. I reshaped her face and teeth multiple times before settling. Her glasses her doing the anime shine thing and she too- has eyeshadow. I also had to stop myself from giving her knee high boots. So I stole Blake’s and gave them a brown and gold look.

So their color schemes are basically Chloe(Blue, yellow, red), Adrien(Brown, Green, gold), Marinette (Blue, red, silver), Nino (Brown, green, silver, gold), and Alya(Brown, Red, Gold)

anyways though, I have a second design for Chloe underneath here, but it involves spoilers to the actual fic. People on Corner’s tumblr already know about it though so skip ahead if you don’t care:

Yeah she faunus