#uptoolateart

[yunyin]

Quick doodle in tribute to @uptoolateart's fic "Finding a Way!" I really enjoyed it and wanted to at least scribble something. I figure Plagg has enough tact not to bring it up in front of the kids after what they've been through, but I totally think he'd tell Tikki.

[iamthejags]

Broken Road Chapter 5: MariChat

Chat Noir is feeling very lost and alone. He goes to visit the one person that he feels is his friend.

Written for @mlbigbang2024. Snippet below the cut.

Also, check out the artwork made for this chapter by the amazing @uptoolateart!

“Why wouldn’t I be sweet to you?”

“Again, just ask Ladybug. All I’ve ever done is try to be good to her. I always jump into battle with humor, trying to keep things light so she doesn’t feel as much pressure. I take every beating the akumas want to dish out so she doesn’t have to. Do you know how much pain I’ve suffered to help her? I’ve died for her. Over. And over. And over. But despite everything I’ve sacrificed, I’m still just a tool to her, something to be used. So, yeah. I do have a hard time believing that anyone could be kind to me.”

“You’ve been a good partner to her. I’m sure she appreciates it.”

“If she does, nobody would know it,” Chat said bitterly. “Especially not me.”

Marinette didn’t know what to say. She toyed with the idea of telling him about her identity, but she ultimately decided against it. Chat was vulnerable right now and he needed someone he trusted. If she told him that she was Ladybug, that trust would evaporate, which would probably make things worse. But at the same time, it might really help him if he knew that Ladybug did appreciate him and did care about him. However, he probably wouldn’t stick around long enough for her to tell him if she were to reveal herself right now.

Marinette sighed unhappily. She felt trapped, caught in a catch-22. Chat needed Ladybug’s reassurance, but she couldn’t give that to him without revealing herself. If she revealed herself, though, he wouldn’t stay for her to give him the reassurance that he needed. 

[fabseg-creator]

Gabriel is crazy. 😅

He could kill Marinette too.

Poisoned Pancakes:

They laughed at him before – but never again. This time, Gabriel was going to prove them all wrong. This time, he was going to make pancakes to die for.

He’d carefully studied the recipe. He’d researched each and every ingredient. He knew the difference between bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. And he understood abbreviations for teaspoon versus tablespoon.

He’d done his pancake preparation.

Humming to himself, he ladled the mixture into the frying pan – a sweet melody Emilie used to love and sing to Adrien as a child. As the batter sizzled, the humming turned into words. The edges of the pancake bubbled, and the words gained volume. He gave the pancake what he liked to think was an expert flip, did a sexy little twirl, and belted out the song, using his spatula as a microphone.

His mood was nothing short of ecstatic, his mind an orgy of pancake praise they were all sure to dish out when they tasted this next batch.

‘Oh, Gabriel, these are delicious!’ Nathalie would declare, her expression orgasmic as she swallowed down the first mouthful.

‘These are the best pancakes I’ve ever tried!’ Adrien would exclaim with that brilliant smile of his. ‘I’m going to tell all my friends!’

That’s right. They all thought he couldn’t cook. Well, they would all eat their words…and his pancakes.

It was time for one of his maniacal evil villain laughs. ‘Muahaha!’

No, not quite good enough. ‘Muahahahaha!’

Hmm. He could still do better. ‘MUA – ’

The sound of the doorbell made him jump, just as he was flipping over another pancake. His hand jittered and the precious pancake went flying into the air. With a yelp, and probably an unflattering cartoonish face, he leapt for it, catching it just in time on the tip of his spatula and dropping it oh so elegantly into the pan again. Never mind that hot butter flew up into his face. He had poise.

Pancake poise.

The kitchen door opened and the Gorilla pushed his hulking head through it. ‘Mngh,’ he grunted.

Gabriel’s shoulders fell. Great. Just what he needed. Lila Rossi. ‘Okay, I’ll come out and see what she wants.’ Hmm. Maybe she’d like to taste his pancakes. Maybe she would appreciate them.

With a grin, he hurried out of the kitchen to greet his unexpected guest.

Keep reading at Ao3

[bonesbugs]

Sketch snippets from the FANTASTIC camp cretaceous AU fic ‘Finding a Way’ by @uptoolateart; I highly recommend it if you like peril and crack treated seriously and dinosaurs <3

[mysticraven20]

Shattered Virtue

Memories:Shattered

Artwork: @verabraun-art

Beta: @uptoolateart

@mlbigbang2024

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61996306/chapters/158539792

[trinketsinthesun]

The long wait is over. Chapter 1 is being posted on AO3 TOMORROW! 👀

Gorgeous artwork above by @curlyheartart

Written as part of @mlbigbang2024

Amazingly beta-ed by @uptoolateart

[ohwwhuvcreations]

Here is a preview of my piece for the @mlbigbang2024!! I am looking forward to sharing it alongside @uptoolateart's fic, Catlantis!

[sizzleissues]

Spoilers for @uptoolateart’s fic All the Missing Pieces (which I highly recommend you read)

Had to draw art of the final chapter because oh my gosh!!!!!

Hugo’s expression is - Wtf my parents are superhero’s and also in a fight and also akuma’s are back fuck shit balls crap

Took some liberties with the adult versions of their costumes because we haven’t gotten much details yet.

Also I’m trying to be quicker with colouring because it’s my least favourite bit so things are a bit messy until I figure it out (:

[cardiac-agreste]

The Demon Takes Two Chairs (Ao3)

Après moi, le déluge.

I'm excited to announce the release of chapter one of my new Miraculous longfic for @mlbigbang2024.

First, I want to thank @uptoolateart for generously beta reading this story. @supergirl9130 has provided art for the first chapter (click through to the work to see it!).

Thanks to @amarilke for some last-minute help as a fact-checker on ch1.

The story is canon divergent, but also somewhat canon adjacent given that much of canon has happened, but some of it in different ways. But, crucially, most of the identity reveals have not happened. I'd rather do those myself :) Think of it as Justice League meets Twelve Angry Men. Superheroes weighing the fate of the accused, except they all have reasons to resent each other (when you start thinking about it, there's a shocking amount of reasons in canon for there to be grudges and grievances!).

Blurb

Nathalie Sancoeur has turned on Gabriel and gave information to Ladybug that led to his downfall. Now, her ragtag team of Miraculous holders must decide what to do with her while she is being held prisoner by Bunnyx in her time burrow.

Ladybug feels overwhelmed by all her allies’ differing opinions and by the revelation tonight that her boyfriend is a sentibeing. She sets out to convince them that Adrien Agreste’s closest quasi-family should be shown leniency. As the team debates Mme Sancoeur’s fate, old wounds are re-opened, and the team feels like it's falling apart.

Most painful of all is that Ladybug hasn’t seen Chat Noir in days.

Image: Mahna no Varua Ino (The Demon Speaks) [verso] by Paul Gauguin, 1893–94

[mlbigbang]

2023 Adrinette Fic Rec List

It’s the end of the year which means it’s finally time for the ML Big Bang’s yearly fic rec lists! We’re really excited to bring you our contributors’ favourite fics started this year to supply you with plenty of reading material while you’re waiting for the Big Bang fics’ publication in January.

Fate, Destiny... A Hamster by @mostmagical

After finally moving into his very first apartment per Ladybug’s suggestion, Adrien discovers something no movie or TV show could have ever prepared him for: someone else's hamster. Marinette was so excited to have her first pet. If only it would stop escaping! At least now there’s an excuse to talk to the new neighbor. (Adrinette Never Met AU)

This fic is peak adrinette identity shenanigans! Adrien and Marinette star as the next door neighbors losing and finding the titular hamster, falling in love, and avoiding an identity reveal like the plague.

If I Let Myself Love You by @uptoolateart

It’s hard to be a normal girl with a normal life when your mother has terminal cancer. And when fashion model Adrien Agreste moves back to Paris and wants to be Marinette’s friend – or maybe even more – her life is turned upside down again. How can she risk opening her heart to love when her whole world is falling apart? Especially when Adrien is hiding a dark secret of his own…. - COMPLETE FIC – updates on Sundays *** No kwamis AU - 100% Adrinette. About half of it is fluffy and half heavy. Please read tags for trigger warnings. ***

It is such an incredible balance of beautiful, heart-wrenching and funny! I adored the relationship between Adrien and Marinette, how it developed throughout, how natural it was, how they both helped each other through their grief. Just beautiful.

hearth by @asukiess

Because how do you describe a dream once you wake up, when it’s fleeting and slipping through the cracks in your mind like it’s a sieve? You can barely wrap your lips around the concepts and words before you realize it has slipped through like water, and what lay in your hands is just a pang in your chest? When every moment away from it clouds your mind just a little more, until the memories are threadbare? or: Adrien understands what it means to have a home.

call it even by @sha-nwa & @anna-scribbles

After a year of dating, there is one thing Marinette knows for certain: it's her and Adrien against the world. Through it all, Adrien is kind, patient, and endlessly understanding—even as she tries her best to keep her secret superhero identity hidden from him along with the rest of the world. Nothing could ruin it, not even the supervillains of Paris: Hawkmoth and Chat Noir. (adrinette dating // ladynoir enemies au)

A really well-written Adrienette fic featuring Ladynoir as enemies.

All the Missing Pieces by @uptoolateart

At 14, Adrien stepped into the time burrow and saw the truth no one could have guessed. When he came out, he was changed forever. And after defeating his father, he was finally free...or was he? At 37, Adrien has everything he ever dreamed of – married to Marinette, three kids, the hamster – but none of it has turned out as expected. Marinette’s career is such a success that she’s never home, Hugo is an angsty difficult teenager, and Adrien is still struggling with his secret identity as a sentimonster. And now, Lila Rossi is back after more than 20 years. But has time changed her? Or is she up to her old tricks?

It's my actual life (except I'm not good looking lol), and I vouch for how WILDLY accurate its treatment of the emotional issues of stay-at-home-dad stuff. I just cannot recommend highly enough how it handles jealousy, isolation, parenting struggles, etc. Not me in the comments every chapter telling the author how she got the feels so perfectly right.

If I Let Myself Love You by @uptoolateart

It’s hard to be a normal girl with a normal life when your mother has terminal cancer. And when fashion model Adrien Agreste moves back to Paris and wants to be Marinette’s friend – or maybe even more – her life is turned upside down again. How can she risk opening her heart to love when her whole world is falling apart? Especially when Adrien is hiding a dark secret of his own…

So absolutely sweet. So emotionally devastating. Gets meta by taking advantage of how AO3 works at one point. Next level in every way. I loved the developing Adrienette friendship. I loved Marinette and her father. I loved Marinette's feelings about her sick mother. Please everyone read this fic your face will melt with emotion, and you weren't really using your face, were you?

Our Tales are Endless (That's Why I Tell Them) by joonapeach

Marinette lives a simple life - one surrounded by pretty dresses, fresh macaroons, and the calming view of Paris. It's a life she thinks she has always fit in. And yet sometimes, when a certain boy comes by her shop with a flower and a new adventurous story, she can't help but wonder if there's something else she's missing.

you don't even know me at all (but i was made for loving you) by @ladyofthenoodle

They didn’t remember each other. The hospital told them there’d been an accident—brain damage—but Alya had told them the truth, later. Who’d they’d been to each other. What they’d given up, and why. But even with their memories of each other gone, Adrien and Marinette are still inextricably tied together—by law, by their social circles, and by their hearts. And in the apartment they share, there's only one bed.

If you like amnesia AUs, angst with a happy ending, married adrinette, and only one bed scenarios, you need to read this fic! It's beautifully bittersweet and will break your heart before putting it back together.

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic Recs for Completed Fics 70K+ Words

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

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

---

Open My Eyes by @buggachat

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

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

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The Course of True Love by @nedjsmlfavs

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

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

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Finding A Way by @uptoolateart

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

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

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

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

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Symbiotic Whiskers by B1ackout

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

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

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Perfectly Platonic (Unless...) by @frostedpuffs

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

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

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Dreaming Wide Awake by @uptoolateart

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

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

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

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

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Boulangerella by @aidanchaser

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

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

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

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

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

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

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If I hold you too close by @bbutterflies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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A Small but Stubborn Fire by @cardiac-agreste

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

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

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

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

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Made Miracles series by InkyIbis

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

First fic in the series: Awaken

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

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

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To Catch A Thief by @jheqiawrites

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

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

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

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A Breach In The Brooch by @piromina

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

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

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

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

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Withered Wings by @11jj11

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

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

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

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

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

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

[mlbigbang2024]

ML Big Bang 2024 Fic Recs

Miscellaneous

This collection of fics were recommended by the contributors of the @mlbigbang2024 for their favourite fics of 2024 (posted in between Nov 2023 and Dec 2024)

General and Teen and Up Fics

What If... Ladybug and Chat Noir had to go on a Miraculous scavenger hunt? (Rated: G)

By Booksforthelost

Tags: What-if, AU - Canon Divergence, Turtle Master Fu | Jade Turtle

Summary: When Master Fu is robbed, Ladybug and Chat Noir find themselves in a race against their enemies to recover the Miraculous.

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: It displays what happens when nobody knows each other's secret identity but work together to stop Hawk Moth. Also, scavenger hunts are very fun!

A Swing and a Miss (and a Kiss) (Rated: T)

By @coffeebanana

Tags: PRPR, mutual pining, canon divergent

Summary: Adrien derails a game of ping-pong with a single sentence: “If I make this next point, my lady, you have to kiss me.”

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: Just two kids being super awkward and kissy kissy meow meow.

The Terror (Rated: T)

By @gaussiansphere

Tags: psychological horror, la terreur au, using a miraculous has side effects

Summary:

Something is rotten in the city of Paris.

A general lockdown has been imposed as the entire world scrambles to make sense of the images of magic and monsters trickling out. Here, all powers have a price, whether they come from the ring on your finger or the voice in your head.

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: Based off the Tumblr comic by @sillysiluriforme , La Terreur, of the same name but in English. Fleshing it out and adding more psychological horror. Things are bad (but it’s okay! (I think))

Meditations (Rated: T)

By @bittersweetresilience

Tags: experimental style, poetry, epistolary

Summary: Félix reflects on fathers, and on monsters, and on dying.

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: I cry thinking about this. It’s so rare we have something so experimental in the fandom. Poetic, epistolary, reflective. It’s a treasure

The Best Worst Day Ever (Rated: G)

By @fandomofone

Tags: awkward flirting, Plagg is so done, fluff and angst

Summary:

Riding high after Hawkmoth’s latest defeat, Adrien’s promising day begins to unravel when he arrives at school and discovers that Chat Noir is apparently a laughingstock following the previous day’s fight against Malediktator- and he has no memory of it. Feeling somewhat hurt and embarrassed, Adrien questions Plagg and is shocked to learn that the source of all his woes may be… his Lady? As if that’s not bad enough, Marinette unwittingly gets roped into his miserable day, and a misunderstanding between them leaves Adrien anxious about the future of their friendship. Can this day possibly get any worse?

Well, there is still patrol duty with Ladybug to look forward to...

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: This is a cute little Adrienette fluff piece that fits snugly between episodes! It occurs after Maledictator, and I just love the adorable idiots. 

Not Quite Right (Rated: T)

By @ladynoirfanao3

Tags: Marichat, protective Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, identity reveal

Summary:

When Marinette wakes up one morning, she can’t help but feel that something is just a little bit… off. No one else around her seems to feel the same, however, and she is forced to shake off the strange feelings.

It proves to be more difficult than she imagined, especially when an akuma attack leaves her feeling helpless as she watches Chat Noir and Ladybug arrive on scene.

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: It's like it's on the tip of your tongue, but you can't tell what it is

Mature and Explicit Fics

Voyage! Tales of the USS Miraculous (Rated: M)

By @uptoolateart

Tags: AU - Star Trek Fusion, But can be understood even if you don't know Star Trek, PTSD

Summary: Almost four years since the brutal battle at Wolf-359, Captain Marinette Dupain-Cheng – one of the youngest Captains in Starfleet history – has been assigned command of the USS Miraculous.

Her first mission with her new crew is to investigate a distress beacon from the most dangerous region of the Alpha Quadrant – the Neutral Zone. But what they discover is just the beginning of an exploration into the strangest world Marinette has ever visited – her own heart.

* A Star Trek crossover written to be understood even if you aren’t familiar with the Star Trek universe *

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: Such a fun and clever crossover with Star Trek - it fits perfectly in the ST universe, and can also be read fandom-blind. The characters have such different histories but are still so clearly /them/. It's funny and cute, with a healthy dose of angst and hurt, too. There's a very interesting undercurrent of mystery, adventure, and discovery. 

Revealing Commission (Rated: E)

By @katieykat513

Tags: Aged-up, smut, identity reveal

Summary: Marinette: I'm poor! Adrien: I have money! Marinette: I can't take your money! what if I made fanart? Adrien: I can pay for fanart! Marinette: Uhhh what do you want? Adrien: NSFW ladynoir for no specific reason! Marinette: What is my life?

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: The premise alone is enough said, but it also had some sweet fluff mixed in with the hilarity.

Mamma Mia! (Rated: M)

By @ladynoirfanao3

Tags: Cat Walker, unplanned pregnancy, aged-up, identity reveal

Summary:

When Marinette discovers she is pregnant, she is distressed to realize any of the three men she slept with in the recent past could be the father; Chat Noir, Ladybug’s partner and ex with whom she had gone through a tearful breakup - the mysterious Cat Walker, Ladybug’s rebound - or Adrien Agreste, Marinette’s current boyfriend.

But does she quickly discover all three potential fathers are, in fact, the same man? No, of course not; where would be the fun in that?

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: What a better way to play with all the different tropes! Identity shenanigans galore. 

What We're Made Of (Rated: M)

By @uptoolateart

Tags: I have spent the last two years thinking of nothing but sentibeings, I'm taking the sentibeing idea as far as possible

Summary:

Humanity has just survived the apocalypse – with a little magic, and the help of several hundred senti-soldiers. Now, they need to figure out what to do with them…and what to do with the news that the Mayor of London is a sentibeing himself.

Meanwhile, Hugo, the twins, and other children of sentibeings have developed magical powers. But with the trauma of the war still fresh in people’s minds, prejudices are forming and tensions are riding high.

Now, Adrien, Marinette and Felix – and some unexpected friends – must band together again to face old demons and find a way to move forward at last.

Read on Ao3

What we liked about it: Cerebral, emotional, inspiring, and always inventive. I love it when a well-written story expands the lore in a creative, yet plausible way. There’s a direct line from canon to what this story and its siblings in the Breaking Free series do, and it’s a gift to the fandom.

[jademoon2u]

Here is my first preview of the 2024 miraculous big bang ❤️

So excited for y'all to read the fanfic @uptoolateart wrote!

[mysticraven20]

This is so gorgeous and such a great fic!!! 😍😍

A Whole New World - Chapter 15

It's carpet ride time!! And, with special permission from the artist, I'm so excited to share the stunning artwork done by @yan-san-yan as part of the @mlbigbang!

(Chapter preview below the image)

As they rocketed up into the night sky, Adrien clutched at the princess’s shoulders for dear life – but it wasn’t enough. They were flying – like, in the sky – on a magic carpet!

Terror made his eyes squeeze shut, and he threw his arms around Marie’s waist, only half noticing the squeal she emitted as he pressed her close to his chest like a security blanket. Then they jolted in a way that told him they were upright again.

‘S-sorry.’ He loosened his hold on her but didn’t remove his arms.

‘That’s…that’s okay.’ Her voice sounded strangled.

His sinuses were itching like crazy. He peeked open one eye – then the other. They seemed to have joined a flock of birds going for a night fly. He sneezed hard and scratched his nose. ‘Sorry – I’m allergic to feathers.’

She twisted round to look at him, her expression worried. ‘You’re going to be okay, though?’

‘Oh, it’s worth it, I promise. This is amazing. Better than amazing! I don’t know what to call it!’

The carpet dipped, then, causing him to slide closer against her back, holding her tight as they dived down over a town. Again, he closed his eyes, his stomach flipflopping and his chin nuzzled into the princess’s neck. The shapes seemed to fit together. Like he was made to hold her.

When they’d levelled out again, he dared to open his eyes a second time. They were gliding over the gardens surrounding some stately home, grand enough to rival the palace grounds.

Overcome, he leaned a little over the side of their ride and plucked a flower – a red rose. He reached around to hand it to Marie, who flushed almost the same colour as the rose, before tucking it into her intricate hair, dark locks falling loose and framing her face.

Then they were zipping back up into the clouds. This time, it wasn’t so scary, though he still held her tightly.

‘Wow. Just…wow.’ It was crazy – like a whole new world, up here – a new, fantastic point of view.

Read at Ao3

[yan-san-yan]

It’s been a pleasure to make art for the fantastic @uptoolateart for the @mlbigbang event! I’m happy to present the scene the chapter that birthed this art piece! Thank you so much for writing such an amazing fic! It made me laugh so much and the scenes hit deep at times and it was overall a comforting and fluff read!

‘Wow. Just…wow.’ It was crazy – like a whole new world, up here – a new, fantastic point of view.”

[mysticraven20]

Miraculous Big Bang 2024

I’m excited to give you a teaser of my @mlbigbang2024 fic releasing 5th January 2025.

It’s with great pleasure, I announce my collaborator for this year @verabraun-art, and I would like to give a huge shout out to my wonderful beta @uptoolateart for helping me on this journey once again (especially after revealing my idea this year)

Get ready to search for hope:

Shattered Virtue: Part 1 - Memories

🐦‍⬛ Dystopia Paris

🐦‍⬛ Set after season 6

🐦‍⬛ Dark Fantasy

🐦‍⬛ Dystopian Romance

🐦‍⬛ Many variations of the love square

🐦‍⬛ Artwork