#Past Lukanette

[starlit-dreaming]

[ch2] élémentaire

Fandom: MLB Ship: Eventual Felinette, MarcNath & Chlogami, Past Lukanette TL;DR: HBIC Marinette + Rich Marinette + ML Salt Fic + Canon Divergence

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Note: another surprise update for myself!

also i’m thinking about making marinette be poly (i’m a multishipper. i like lukanette. i like felinette. and marigami and chlogami), but for the time being i’ll just focus on felinette (after this chapter). idk i might decide to go crazy, or maybe make a side story for my polyshipper indulgence while letting élémentaire be solely focused on the salt and felinette (felix will hopefully be here in the next chapter, whenever that may be) and imply lukanette happening later in life

this will be crossposted on ao3 under the same name

there is salt in this fic. idk how much yet, but please take care of your blood pressure–

NOTICE (PLEASE READ FOR CW): • EMETOPHOBIA and EATING DISORDERS

at the last scene of this chapter, there is 1 paragraph that mentions (for the emetophobia) and implies (for the eating disorder)

you can skip the exact mention of it by stopping at “I’m… I… I’m so sorry,” and continuing at “You’re okay,” -- truthfully you can skip the dialogue paragraphs altogether (there are only 2 paragraphs with dialogue in the last scene)

————————————————————

ii. les azalées magenta

————————————————————

Marc Anciel had always been a wallflower.

Not a lot of people ever noticed him — that was something that Marc very much appreciated, especially when he was a student at Notre Dame. He wrote his stories and kept to himself, and he would always quietly observe the world around him.

His grandpère had always been a wealthy man, but he always stressed the importance of never revealing the truth of their wealth. It was to prevent people from using them, he used to always say — his parents always agreed with him, and now that Marc was older, he understood.

When people found out that he wasn’t a girl, they feigned… kindness and had been rude to him behind his back. They mocked him for acting like a boy, claiming that he’s a freak.

That was how he met Marinette Dupain-Cheng for the first time. She confronted them over their mistreatment of him even when he hadn’t fully recognized it back then, and had told him that he didn’t deserve any of it, that he deserved to have friends who genuinely cared about him and to be happy. Granted, that was among the many things that Marinette Dupain-Cheng had done for him, but it was one of the most memorable.

Shortly after that, they went to separate schools, and it had been a coincidence that his family hired the Dupain-Chengs to cater for a business party. It was a coincidence that she remembered him and spoke to him.

It was another coincidence that he happened to transfer to Dupont, the same school where most students of Notre Dame had gone to.

And, when he offered to help Marinette whenever with whatever, as thanks for helping him talk to Nathaniel and for their blossoming partnership (which might even lead to more than just business), he never thought it would lead to this.

 ——————————

A few hours after the beginning of The Magentas, everything seemed… baffling, to say the least.

“Did Lila actually rip Marinette’s sketchbook?” Marc asked, feeling more and more horrified as he listened to Nathaniel.

Nathaniel paused from his sketching to give Marc a grim look. That was more than enough of an answer, but Nathaniel verbally confirmed it, continuing, “Yeah. She ripped all the pages out until everything was taken out. It wasn’t her commission sketchbook, but that doesn’t change the fact that Lila destroyed Marinette’s property. If anything, there’s more than enough evidence for Marinette to take to the Board of Education regarding how Dupont hasn’t been handling everything properly regarding bullying. Marinette could easily file a restraining order against Lila, too, but she hasn’t, even with cameras in the school to prove it.”

Well, he knew that Marinette had a plan — of course she did — but it didn’t seem like she was going to tackle that issue until later. Granted, that was assuming that she was going to do something.

Even Aurore didn’t know what was going on. All she knew was that Chloé — and he’s quoting Aurore on this — had the gall to tell her what to do after everything she’s done to her. The only reason why she was actually helping them was because she owed Marinette a favor and because Marc’s one of her friends.

Hearing a confirmation of their friendship was nice, he had to admit. Still, he doesn’t understand why she carries around that old yellow parasol if she’s not happy with Chloé.

(Actually, she’s been wearing an awful lot of blue sundresses nowadays. It’s possible that she’s now a neutral party or decided to change factions… then again, that wasn’t any of his business.)

Nathaniel sighed.

“Did… Marinette, um,” Marc fumbled, unsure of how to say it without sounding accusatory. “Did she… tell you anything?”

“Huh?” Nathaniel blinked, looking at him owlishly — that was so cute.

“You were part of Le Jardin back then,” Marc rubbed the back of his head, the uncertainty creeping in as his cheeks started to feel warmer than it needed to be. “So… I was wondering if Marinette told you anything apart from what she told all of us?”

“Oh,” Nathaniel awkwardly said, seeming a bit, well, he didn’t want to say disappointed, because it felt almost as if Nathaniel found the question to be more off putting and uncomfortable than anything else. “She didn’t really tell me anything yet. She wanted to make sure that everything was falling into place first before confiding in us. If anyone knew anything, it might be Alix.”

“There’s definitely more that we don’t know,” Marc nodded, calming a bit as he resumed his work on his computer. “I’m really curious about what she has planned.”

“You and me both,” Nathaniel nodded. “I already tried asking Alix after she left the bakery last, but she told me that Marinette didn’t say much. Assuming that Marinette even said anything to her, Alix is our best secret keeper; she would never budge, even when she got in trouble back in élémentaire.”

“Really? Nothing?” Marc slumped his shoulders, feeling a tiny bit frustrated from his curiosity.

At this, Nathaniel stared at him, so much that Marc felt a little too tense and nervous and couldn’t focus on writing anymore. He could feel Nathaniel’s stare, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he ought to feel guilty for trying to pry so much.

Alix may have been the closest person to Marinette back then, but Nathaniel was pretty good at keeping secrets too…

(The thought of Nath keeping a secret from him hurts more than Marc would like to admit.)

“The only thing that Alix told me was that it depended on what Rose and Nino would do,” Nathaniel admits after what seemed like hours — three minutes, actually, Marc’s brain unhelpfully notes as he glanced at the time on his  computer screen. “She told me that Marinette will tell us the full plan either by the end of this month or the first week of next month.”

Huh… that really didn’t make sense. Rose and Nino betrayed Marinette and were no longer part of her inner circle, right? And yet the plan depended on them?

It didn’t seem that Nathaniel knew what she was going to do, and that fact comforted Marc more than it should.

Maybe it was just one of those things that Marc will just have to patiently wait for.

. . .

Still, he does wonder why Marinette wanted them to make a blog similar to the Ladyblog.

 ——————————

Luka and Juleka Couffaine could’ve easily been mistaken to be twins, however, Luka was a year and half older than Juleka. He was in the same grade as Félix and Claude, and he was the son of Jagged Stone — the last part had been a well-kept secret that Marinette hadn’t even known until she herself started working with Jagged.

Most would never expect the rockstar to let his kids attend a rich kid school, but they did. Penny Rolling — now Penny Rolling-Stone — made the recommendation, as many French celebrities chose to send their children to this private school in particular. 

While Anarka Couffaine and Jared “Jagged” Stone had broken up, they both decided to give the school a chance for the sake of their children, no matter how snooty the rich kid school seemed.

They were both creative children, and got along better with the creative bunch of kids than the others.

However, they both chose different factions for different reasons.

Fondamentaux for Luka, Méticuleuse for Juleka.

 ——————————

Stitch the needle and thread in. Stitch the needle out.

Pull the thread by the needle.

Repeat the process.

Repeat.

Stitch in. Stitch out.

Pull. Repeat.

Repeat.

For the first time since they’ve broken up, Luka Couffaine was standing at the entrance to Marinette’s room. He wasn’t here as a friend, nor was he here as her ex-boyfriend. That was a rather obvious fact that needed no words, yet Marinette couldn’t help but take note of it.

Because it was quite simple: Luka Couffaine was here as an older brother.

Stitch in.

“Juleka is being manipulated,” were the first words that came out of Luka’s mouth, his usually calm demeanour being a touch panicked. His shoulders were tense, his mouth in a firm line, and his eyes seemed to be searching for something.

She’s not quite sure if he’ll ever find what he’s looking for — well, only if she doesn’t help him. That was the real question, wasn’t it? Should she help him before everything is set into place? It’s only been several days since her meeting with The Magentas. She still had at least two more weeks before she could safely tell anyone about her plans.

Stitch out.

Luka is a kind-hearted soul, and he would easily have been a perfect match for her own, if only she could tell him the full truth. Their relationship was a cruel thing, in a way. It was a glimpse of a happiness she had never anticipated in her life, a calm happiness that lingered with affection that could be mistaken for love. On one hand, that affection had the potential to blossom into a love that Marinette’s heart had always yearned for.

On the other hand, it was a relationship built half-heartedly around lies and kindness. Complications will inevitably arise left and right, and if she hadn’t known any better nowadays, if she had stayed naïve, she would’ve deemed it as trials that lovers must overcome to have their happy ending. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, however one might see it, she was merciful, but not naïve.

At least, not until Lila showed up.

Pull.

Marinette doesn’t respond, nor does she shift around in her seat on the chaise to look back at him properly. She merely glances up at him with a brief flicker of her eyes before looking back down at the black leather jacket in her hands.

A mere look had been more than enough, but she needed to hear more if she were to answer him.

And perhaps by then, it will be enough.

Stitch in.

“I know that’s no excuse for being a bystander,” he continues, taking her silent cue to continue — he was always good at that, at knowing her silent cues. Most would’ve found him annoying for reminding her of her stuttering whenever he greets her, but everyone knew she stuttered, even in the past. “But Juleka shouldn’t be punished for being swayed by a liar. She’s already hurting herself for listening to the liar’s advice.”

That was certainly true, and it really is unfortunate that Juleka was getting dragged into everything. In fact, the last thing she heard regarding Juleka was that she was starting to lose hope in her dreams of becoming a model.

It was fairly obvious who was at fault for that, too.

Stitch out.

Marinette resisted the urge to let out her bone-weary sighs. She manages to remain still, calm and composed.

“Juleka plays a vital role in my plans regarding Lila. If you’re asking me to exclude her, then I’m afraid that’s impossible. Even before I started planning, it was always going to be impossible to keep her out of it.”

Pull.

Marinette already knows that the statement crushes him, and still her gaze briefly flickers back up to him before refocusing on her work. That glimpse was enough for her to see the desperation in his eyes, the worry for his sister, the frustration in being unable to do anything for his little sister.

“Is it because of Rose?”

Stitch in.

An accurate assumption — Juleka and Rose had always been attached to the hip. Whatever plans Marinette considered for one of them, it always factored in the other. This situation was more or less the same. Rose was an undeniable part of her plans, and therefore, Juleka would naturally be involved.

Marinette considered him for a moment. It would seem her silence for that moment was enough of an answer for Luka.

“Melody, please,” he quietly pleaded. Despite their relationship not working out because of Ladybug, he did have a very special place in her heart. “Will you not reconsider?”

It was a shame that she couldn’t do as he asked just this once.

Stitch out.

“If you’re concerned for Juleka, then you have no reason to be,” Marinette stated, the sewing needle firmly held between her thumb and index finger. “This is a matter involving Méticuleuse, Luka. No more, no less. You’re very dear to me, but when it comes to the factions, you made your choice a long time ago.”

The statement did little to reassure him, but it was the truth. He has no reason to be concerned for Juleka, just as much as he was an outsider to the issues of Méticuleuse.

Pull.

She is Marinette, his ex-girlfriend, she is also Dupain-Cheng, a renown baker’s clumsy daughter. She is MDC, a rising fashion designer known only in the fashion industry. Above all else, she is Ladybug, the Hero of Paris and the Guardian of the Miraculous.

Now, maybe it was because Marinette couldn’t be at peace with herself that they didn’t work out as boyfriend and girlfriend. Perhaps it was because she didn’t know who she wanted to be, and only knew who she was and is, for that matter, but that was that.

Despite everything that she — is, was, will be — at the end of the day, she is still Marinette, the Mirthful Majesty of Méticuleuse, a faction leader who knows exactly how to prioritize everything that matters most.

It was for that exact reason that he came with the intent to negotiate, rather than make outright demands.

“Is there really nothing I can do? Nothing at all?” Luka asked.

Stitch in.

Marinette was not at all like Chloé or Félix, who placed the importance of their status as faction leaders. She knew that colour was typically a matter of preference, she knew that there would be people who dyed their hair regardless of its brightness and saturation.

People dye their hair in this world. It was a natural part of this world, just as how it was natural for people to wear the same colours aligned with a faction.

Stitch out.

For the former students of Notre Dame, who took part of the unofficial factions with a gleeful joy that always comes to the children younger than ten, it wasn’t that simple. Colours were everything. Ranging from hair to the outfits they wore, just one item was considered their chosen symbol, one article of their outfit to declare their choices.

It didn’t matter if it was the shoes they wore, the accessories they keep, or even their hair.

The former students had been dedicated to their faction colours.

Pull.

For Rose, it was a pink ribbon. She always wore pink casual dresses that matched with it, or if she felt like changing things up, she would use that ribbon as a headband. Sometimes she wore it wrapped around her wrist, or had it tied around her neck. She was never far from anything cute and pink.

Nino had always been a casual wear sort of person, but he was firm in wearing a red baseball cap. He felt that pink was a little too confining, that it claimed people. (Case in point: Rose in her pink, pink, pink outfits.)

The more surprising of them all had been Alix. She dyed her brown hair a dark pink — pink so that it wasn’t exactly red, but dark enough to not be mistaken for Rose’s pink.

Nathaniel had also dyed his hair red, and it suited him perfectly well that most wouldn’t think anything of it. It suited him, more than people thought it would.

Others were simple — Ondine didn’t dye her hair, but she was happy to think of it as her symbol. Marc always wore red hoodies, and Juleka had dyed her hair pink at the time.

Stitch in.

Despite wearing different colours in most of their cases, they consistently wore the same colour to signify their faction. Nino had always been the most subtle about it, while Rose was always obvious.

A handful of her classmates knew nothing. Adrien, Ivan, Alya, Mylène, Max, and Lila. Six of her fifteen classmates. And an additional three of the fifteen who weren’t a part of Méticuleuse.

Kim and Sabrina had always been a part of Charmante. Kim was one of her close childhood friends, much like Nino, so Marinette had been a little miffed that he picked Chloé over her back then.

(Granted, the Valentines incident painted a clear picture as to why he picked Chloé.)

Stitch out.

Luka Couffaine still wears a blue jacket, but now old and worn down, its colours muted.

But as always, Luka still had blue highlights in his hair.

Pull.

She was half-tempted to tell him to dye his hair pink just to see how he would react, but it would be rather cruel of her to do so.

“Not even Maman could change my mind,” she stated.

He says nothing.

Stitch in.

Marinette sighs, quiet and weary, as the silence stretches on. For a moment, she halts, contemplative as she stares at the black leather jacket in her lap.

“I won’t involve you in my plans, nor will I tell you anything except for the matter regarding your sister, Luka. Juleka will be safe. I haven’t forgotten that she did nothing as I watched my sketchbook get torn to shreds, but I acknowledge that she’s stuck in Lila’s clutches, and I am considering whether or not to forgive her because I know she’s already remorseful.”

Stitch out.

He says nothing, but there is a relieved sigh.

A pause.

“But wait… why would Juleka be involved in your plans? You just told me that you know she’s actually remorseful over…”

He froze.

Pull.

And that was it, wasn’t it? How could she know that Juleka was remorseful for doing nothing about the sketchbook?

Stitch in.

Tucking the needle into her light pink pin cushion, she places her latest sewing project off to the side.

“Wherever Rose goes, Juleka follows. We both know this,” Marinette stated, her eyes remaining on Luka, mirthful at his shock. “Rose used to be a very close friend of mine, and Juleka joined Méticuleuse just to be with her more easily. Unlike you, however, Juleka doesn’t constantly get pink highlights in her hair anymore.”

He remains silent.

“I’m not like Chloé. I don’t want to dictate a person’s fashion choices, but that doesn’t mean I won’t critique and criticize the abhorrent colour combinations and outfit choices I do see. However, I have to admit that the faction colours can be pretty handy to have,” she smiled sweetly at him. “After all, the former students of Notre Dame can be very… dedicated. Juleka may not have that same level of dedication, but her girlfriend does, don’t you think?”

He blinked, before his eyes widened in realization.

“I know that she’s very sweet, but did you know that excessive sweetness can’t always be good? It could drastically change a baking recipe after all. That’s why measurements have to be consistent, otherwise the end result can be too much.”

“What…?”

“See, you’re worried that Juleka would be hurt because of Rose’s actions — or rather, inaction — against me. I’m not the one that’s hurting your sister, and I won’t be if I can help it because she is somewhat of a friend. Frankly, Juleka is at her safest by Rose’s side.”

 ——————————

Rose knows that she had the most charm within Méticuleuse, only second to Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Past or present, she was a social butterfly, and she had always been firmly aware of the role she’s expected to play.

From the beginning of their first meeting, she knew that it was a lie when Prince Ali finally responded to her text messages stating that he only worked with Children’s Hospitals. For a while, Juleka took the liar’s words with a grain of salt, and Rose simply went along to keep the peace, because surely everyone else knew about the lies.

She’s had enough time to regret the decision in letting it go. Ever since Lila became an actual model, Juleka started to think her words had merit to it and started listening to the liar’s harmful lies. She didn’t know what the hell Adrien was thinking, letting a snake model with him. It took everything in her not to tear into him for letting Lila gain fame and influence, no thanks to their modeling shoots with the Gabriel brand.

But Adrien was a problem for Nino to deal with. She agreed to that, just as much as she agreed to wait.

That didn’t change the fact that this was by far the most painful thing Rose had ever dealt with in her life. It broke her heart, seeing the love of her life hurting herself like this. She knew that Juleka was starting to listen to Lila’s lies about being a model, and only recently did Rose realize the extent those lies had been affecting her.

“I’m… I… I’m so sorry,” Juleka hiccuped, hunched over the toilet in the girl’s restroom, choking out apologies in a sobbing mess. Her eyes were red, from lack of sleep or from the crying, she didn’t know. “I’m sorry, Rose.”

“You’re okay,” Rose stated, reassuring as she gently rubbed Juleka’s back. “You’re not alone, Juleka. I’m here for you.”

She held Juleka’s hair back, murmuring words of comfort as she tried not to cry. There was nothing Rose could do against Lila having some form of credibility by being a model. Not yet, not right now, not while Juleka is trying to achieve her dreams in the worst way possible.

Right now, she’ll get Juleka the help she needs later when they see Anarka. She’ll stick to Juleka’s side more than before, making sure she won’t keep listening to those poisonous lies.

And later, she’ll cry when it’s all over, but for now, Juleka needed her the most.

#hbic marinette #fic: elementaire #fic: élémentaire #rich marinette #wynter writes #past lukanette #marcnath #ml salt fic

[writer-rider-flirty-thirties]

Juleka is upset. 87/101 of Fanfic Wars (2022)

#Fanfic Wars 2022 #Bre's Fics #juleka couffaine #luka couffaine #heart brake #Marinette salt #past Lukanette #End of the World #miraculous ladybug #canon salt #What Could Have Been by Sting

[rainbow-arrow]

wato is getting worked on so hard bc in theory it’s post season 5 so i can pretend it’s a future fix-it fdslkjdsalkfdj

#let's go #wato #not fix it in the sense it's broken #in the sense it's Incomplete #i do think and know the l*vesquare deserves a chance #nd it's canon endgame #but never is it endgame in my heart #i am simple. i watch my new episodes where they get together #i fast-forward six years #also big con #if you write about a ship you don't like #even as a past relationship #you have to consider they were happy at some point #i knew this and was fine with lukanette in untitled #and ofc lovesquare in wato #i forgot and did not consider #the same thing to happen to lukzoe

[zoe-oneesama]

Not to say either of them is right here, but what's wrong with the ice cream guy? I haven't kept up with the show proper in several seasons, so I'm probably very out of touch.

He is The Villain of ML in my heart.

His magic ice cream is wildly inconsistent. It's Soulmate Ice Cream! Except when it's Just Friend Ice Cream! Well, until he ONLY gives ice cream to lovers, NOT good friends who have fun together! But sometimes he gives ice cream to couples that DO break up! What are the rules? WHO CARES, CERTAINLY NOT ANDRE! I can't even put stock in his ability ACTUALLY being magic when it's constantly contradicting itself. I'm pretty sure he's just convinced himself that he has magic when he doesn't and his ego is easily bruised if anything pulls him out of his fantasy.

Plus he inexplicably always blames Marinette every time he's akumatized, no matter how far he has to stretch to do so. Once when she didn't even interact with him directly!

The first time because she went home without eating his "Soulmate Ice Cream(tm)" by herself as a 5th wheel. Because, what, her leaving meant his ice cream "failed"? Wasn't the point that two people are supposed to share the ice cream for the magic to work? But because she was like "no thanks", he swears revenge on her???

The second time because he was so invested in shipping two strangers that he got mad at Marinette for...being seen in public with one leg of the ship? After Ladybug had made it perfectly clear that she and Chat Noir were NOT a couple and so Chat Noir has the right to have fun with whoever he wants to???? Because "my ice cream is never wrong"?!?!

It didn't seem to work out for Lukanette or Adrigami so I don't know where you get the gall to even continue to make that bullshit claim, but OKAY.

And the third time, HE had the audacity to blame HER for making him "lose faith in ice cream and love" when he REFUSED TO SERVE HER! He flat out denied her and Chat Noir ice cream because he doesn't make "good friend" ice cream despite them BEING ON A DATE, and then has the GLUTEN FREE AUDACITY to be mad when tHEY are UPSET by it!

Oh but that wasn't a problem in "Wishmaker" when it was Marinette sharing with Luka, but sure, make up new things just so you can get mad about it, that makes sense.

I also have a personal vendetta against him for being the one to out Marinette's feelings for Adrien to Adrien. After 4 seasons of build up, this is how Adrien finds out? Horrible, vile, detention, exile, I hate him. I mean I've been done with him since "Heart Hunter"/"Miracle Queen", but they just loooooove to PILE IT ON.

Like, wouldn't it make more sense for Andre to have been the one person to see through the Love Square? Even if he didn't fully understand it, since Ladybug = Marinette and Chat Noir = Adrien, wouldn't it just make sense for Magic Ice Cream to be able to see past that because They're Soulmates(tm)? But he's only invested in ONE of the pairings, not even like two of the pairings that are seemingly unrelated. He is NEVER as passionate about Adrienette as he is about LadyNoir...but why???? Why is he so blase about Marinette going with Luka or Adrien being with whoever when he can't even handle Chat Noir LAUGHING with a girl who Isn't Ladybug?

They never even have fun and explore what he'd do if he caught a Ladrien date, would he be angry at Adrien like he is with Marinette, or does he just have it out for her specifically?

At this point I'm just convinced he's only so invested in the LadyNoir pairing because he's publicly endorsed them so much and if they don't end up together he'll be outed for being a Hack Fraud. His fixation on two teenagers becoming a couple as a grown adult and falling to pieces just because Marinette has other ways to have fun instead of eating Ice Cream she doesn't even get to choose the flavor of...

Yeah, throw him in jail Chloe.

#also he's a cryptid and I hate that I ever had to draw him #an essay by zoe #andre the ice cream man #andre salt

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Hello. I've been binge reading your meta post an I loves all of it. I have one question, though I don't know if you had the same question or not. If you had I'm sorry feel free to ignore this but if you hadn't, this is my question. Many people said Adrien as sentimonster is a good plot and the other said it's also good metaphor for abuse children. But what do you think about the senti plot? Is it necessary? And what do you think the writer is trying to achieve with the plot if Adrien doesn't even allowed to know about what he is?

Thank you! I'm glad that you've been enjoying my rambles! I don't think I've touched on those aspects of the sentiplot, so here goes!

Is it Necessary/What's The Goal?

I don't think that the sentiplot is even remotely necessary. My two cents is that it reads like something that was added relatively last-minute in order to add some cheap drama to draw the plot out because they didn't have enough content to organically fill seven seasons. Part of the reason that I'm comfortable saying that is because we've seen the writers do this type of move many times before. I don't wanna get too into the weeds on this, but a good example is the love triangles with Luka and Kagami.

Luka and Kagami are never treated as real alternate love interests. They're just road blocks on the love square highway that allow for seasons three to end on a cliff hanger. The fact that season four opens on two episodes meant to reassure the audience that Lukanette and Adrigami are doomed to fail is proof of this. No one is actually supposed to ship those ships. There's no Team Luka vs Team Adrien. It's just cheap drama.

The other reason that I feel comfortable calling the sentiplot cheap shoehorned drama is because the sentiplot has no teeth. A big reason why I refused to believe that it was going to be a thing was because it's an extremely serious plot that has no place in a Y-7 show. The wielder of raw destruction can have his free will overwritten at any time! The show has made jewelry theft a common teenage past time! This is bad!

And yet, once it's introduced, it goes nowhere. Gabe gives the most lackluster commands humanly possible and Nathalie undoes every one of them before they have a chance to meaningfully impact the plot. The biggest fallout of the sentiplot was that the Adrienette kiss got delayed a bit. How terrifying.

If the sentiplot had the weight it deserved, then it would have destroyed Adrientte in a big, dramatic fashion. Gabriel would have commanded Adrien to date Kagami and Tomoe would have done the same for Kagami re Adrien. But that's too serious, so we don't even get Gabe telling Adrien to break up with Marinette. He just tells Adrien to not see her and Marinette never has any clue that something went wrong there because Nathalie undoes the command two minutes later.

The Sentiplot's and Emilie

You may have read the previous section and thought, "But wait, doesn't the sentiplot give an explanation for why Emilie used the peacock? Didn't we need that?"

No, we didn't. Felix's little play and Gabe's memory of the night they used the peacock both heavily imply that no one knew that the peacock would kill you. It's why Felix exists! His father did not willingly give his life to have a kid and neither did Emilie. It was an unknown side effect.

Imo, it would have actually been better if Emilie hadn't used the peacock for such obviously selfish reasons. I mean, is anyone really saying, "Oh no, the rich lady used forbidden magic (and possibly killed some people?) to get a designer baby, then faced unexpected consequences! How awful for her! She didn't deserve that!"

Wouldn't it have been a far more interesting and complex story if Emilie used the peacock because she wanted to help someone else? If she was an unambiguously good person who suffered for doing the right thing or even just a morally gray thing? Wouldn't that make Gabriel's quest feel more righteous and less like a temper tantrum by a rich, entitled white guy who used his wealth in a morally dubious manner and paid for it?

The Sentiplot as an Abuse Metephor

I don't think that the writers meant for the sentiplot to be an abuse metaphor. In fact, I sincerely hope they didn't because it's a terrible one! Or, at least, a depressing one.

Abuse - especially childhood abuse - is something that sticks with us. A lot of victims will be forever scared by what they went through. But just because they bare scares doesn't mean that they're trapped by their abuse and can never break free. This is true even if the abuse caused mental health issues like PTSD or CPTSD, conditions that can never be cured because you know what they can be? Controlled and mitigated to the point where the victim is no longer ruled by their condition.

There's also the fact that abuse victims - especially child abuse victims - can and often do reach a point where their abusers no longer have any power over them. I have personally seen a child abuse victim go thought the process of realizing that their parent is just another adult now. All the power that the parent once held is gone. The child doesn't depend on them for food and shelter anymore. If the abuse starts up again, then the child can just get up and walk away.

That's not true for a sentimonster. Sentimonsters don't grow up and get more agency/power. At any point, their abuser can get ahold of their amok and override their free will, taking away the sentimonster's freedom even if the sentimonster is on another continent! There is no means of true escape.

No abuse victim will ever be that powerless. Abuse victims can escape abuse and they do have true free will. Sentimonsters will always be sentimonsters.

Is the Sentiplot Good?

No. It's too serious for a kids show. In fact, now that it's canon, here's my two cents: all of the sentikids are massive liabilities to the team who need to give up their miraculouses immediately because they can never be truly trusted. Felix has shown us time and time again how easy it is to steal an amok and replace it with a fake, so we must always assume that the sentikids are compromised because to assume otherwise is to invite the miraculouses to fall into the wrong hands. It's just not worth the risk to trust a senti.

Along the same lines, the love square should never be canon unless Marinette gives up Guardianship because Adrien is a liability to the safety of the miraculouses even if he didn't wield on himself. The only way to get around this issue is to use the wish to make the sentikids human, but Gabe failed to even do that one kindness for his son, so here we are. Season six will either drive this point home by having Lila use the amoks to mess with Adrien or it will drop the sentiplot forever, proving just how cheap and poorly thought out it was.

Other issues I think I've already addressed in other posts, but that are still a problem that make the plot bad:

a sentimonster's creator defines the sentimonster's worth, thus there being no issue with Felix making sentimonsters and then killing them or the heroes destroying them, but it would somehow be wrong if we did the same thing to any of the sentikids

any command you give a sentimonster can be overwritten and sentimonsters can't resist even if they know they're being controlled, so there's truly no hope to free them

giving your leading lady anxiety issues and a boyfriend whose free will is constantly in jeopardy is cruel and unusual punishment

an insane number of lore issues like why is it impossible to destroy other sentimonsters, but Adrien can be destroyed in akuma fights? Cataclysms are pure destruction! It makes no sense that akumas can do what a cataclysm can't. And is Adrien able to die a natural death? What happens to his amok when he does? Will his children be able to be controlled by his amok too since they're part of him?

the lore around Gabe & Emilie finding the miraculous makes no sense and should not be possible. That's another rant, though.

#senti salt #ml writing salt #ml writing critical #ml season 5 salt #adrien deserves better #this plot is only suited to an angsty or bittersweet ending #I don't know how you can hope for a happy ending when Adrien is forever a slave

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic Recs for 2023: 40K - 60K Words

So I’ve been going through and adding particularly good fics I’ve read throughout the year. Only Complete fics, of course. Enjoy!

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The Two Worlds of Marinette by Liquifiedstars:

Marinette discovers a watch in her attic that allows her to travel back in time. Soon she is torn between her life with her rising star fiancé, Luka, and a romance with the enigmatic Adrien Agreste, who knows nothing of the fate that awaits him.

This fic is an AU based on the film The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan, which I’m afraid I’ve never seen. Still, I quite enjoyed this fic, with Marinette spending more and more time in the past, and trying to figure out the truth behind Adrien’s eventual death, and how to prevent it.

Fair warning to Lukanette fans though, Marinette does cheat on Luka during the fic, it comes with the AU. He takes it pretty well though.

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Stone Streak by kingxuppu

Ladybug and Violet Tigress had been fighting the mysterious Duskwing for eight years now. Through the years, the two have grown stronger together and even gotten married, they are waiting until they finally beat Duskwing to start a family. At least, that was the plan. When Juleka gets confronted with the realization that her friends are starting families of their own, she realizes just how badly she wants to be a mother.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Juleka and Marinette get the chance to adopt Juleka's young modeling friend Adrien.

Maybe they aren't quite a traditional family, but with magic, rockstars, and fame, normal was never an option.

Via Discovery: There are actually two terms of venery for tigers, depending on the makeup of the group. The first is a streak of tigers and this refers to a female tiger and her cubs.

Now this is a rare pairing, there’s not a lot of Julenette fics! Adrien and Rose actually have some ship tease going on, the whole kid group in canon got broken up into two groups here, one that remained around canon age (so like 13) which notably consists of Chloe, Rose, and Adrien, and then I think everyone else are adults in their mid-twenties. It’s weird seeing Adrien as Marinette’s and Juleka’s son, but hey it works! I love how Juleka really showed Adrien the ropes on modeling and became a Mama tiger for him, the fic’s mostly just very sweet, though with a surprisingly dark final act. 

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The Parable of the Caller by @nemaliwrites

A week after Hawk Moth’s identity has been revealed, Adrien finds himself with nowhere to go, nothing he can do, and worst of all, strange gaps in his memory he can’t explain. In a stroke of luck, he stumbles upon a burner phone filled with voicemails from one of the Saviors of Paris: Chat Noir himself, who disappeared following Hawk Moth’s arrest.

But with each new voicemail Adrien listens to, he’s forced to confront the fact that there might be some kind of connection between himself and Chat Noir — and discovering it might leave him more broken than before.

I absolutely adore this fic, it’s a fantastic character study for Adrien! Basically in this universe, Ladybug and Chat Noir talked about who should be Guardian, with Chat eventually convincing her that he should be the one to take it on, primarily due to the whole “the Guardian gets amnesia about Miraculous-related matters” situation, and wanting to protect Ladybug from that. Then he finds out Gabriel is Hawk Moth, they take him down, and he relinquishes the Miracle Box and his guardianship to Su Han - all without having a Reveal with Ladybug, since well, he’s not in the greatest shape mentally at the time.

It’s a real treat to see Adrien’s thoughts and feelings about one of the Heroes of Paris leaving him all these voicemails, treating him like this close friend for reasons he doesn’t understand, and just seeing Chat Noir as this outside person. He’s got a very different viewpoint on Chat when looking from the outside than he would from the inside, with being able to see his heroic and good qualities far more easily when he doesn’t know that he is Chat.

Also Marinette’s struggling in the background of the fic with the loss of her partner and guilt over sending Adrien’s father to prison. It gets touched on at various points, and you can tell that she’s having her own story off to the side that we’re just not entirely privy to, what with this tale being told entirely from Adrien’s perspective.

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Miss Dial by @mysticraven20

Adrien Agreste has always considered Marinette Dupain-Cheng entertaining. Whether it was the endless back and forth of their banter, the clumsiness he found so cute or the fact her anger levels could go from 1-100 in a mere millisecond; he always found there was something about her... if only he could get to know her better.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has always considered Adrien Agreste a pompous, arrogant asshole. From his constant teasing of her, to the obnoxious laugh at her discomfort and the way he could anger her quicker than any other human being; she knew she hated Adrien Agreste with all she was worth.

But what happens when Adrien accidentally sends the wrong text to the wrong person and a new friendship blossoms - a friendship deeper than either have ever known?

Will Marinette choose to stay faithful to the budding relationship with the boy on the other side of the phone?

Or will a new job with an old foe fill the loneliness in her heart?

Great Adrienette enemies au here! I thought Mystic did a great job explaining how Adrien could be under the impression that he and Marinette were at least sort-of friends, while Marinette hates his guts. Adrien’s not great at understanding social nuances. 

Most of the relationship-building here is actually between Adrien and Marinette in the real world, with Marinette gradually learning that she had the wrong idea about Adrien. Turns out, all their friends really want them to get alng (and maybe smooch XD).

Oh yeah, while the summary doesn’t mention this, this fic IS still set in the canon universe, so they’re juggling identities as Ladybug and Chat Noir on top of everything else. Monarch’s been pretty quiet though.

---

Every Heartbeat by @epcot97

Reeling from a brutally difficult day, Marinette finds her life becomes amazingly complicated after impulsively inviting Chat Noir to spend the evening with her. But when the suave feline begins to weave his way into her heart, she realizes rather quickly just how conflicted her feelings for her partner truly are. (part of MariChat May 2021)

Okay so I’m cheating on this one just a little. This story was originally uploaded in 2021, but was taken down and then reuploaded in 2023. I didn’t read it the first time around, and I really enjoyed it and this is my list, so screw it, I’m including it.

Really lovely Marichat fic here! Gabriel fires Marinette from her designer job for unfair reasons, so Chat goes to comfort her and help her set up her own fashion business, becoming closer and closer as they do so. 

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Midwinter Serendipity by Cakedecorator

Marinette is a normal woman living in her parents' bakery with her parents, and they have a monthly tradition: they take their bakery leftovers and any handmade clothes that Marinette has made and bring them to the local homeless shelter.

To paraphrase a common idiom, the best laid plans of people often go awry. In this case, they have to stop in the middle of everything when they find a young man lying out cold while IN the cold.

After they bring him to the hospital and he wakes up, they realize that he has a huge problem: he can't remember anything other than his first name! What will the family do?!

This is just a really comfy fic for most of it, though with some angst thrown in too. Adrien adores getting to spend time with the Dupain-Chengs, and honestly doesn’t WANT to remember his past, since the glimpses and memories and emotions he has recovered have indicated to him that they aren’t great, and he’s happy with his current situation. 

Unfortunately, just because he doesn’t want to forget his past, doesn’t mean his past will just forget about him.

---

The second Multimouse gets the Chat by charliepoet13

After a harshly fought battle Ladybug and Chat Noir have claimed the Mouse Miraculous. Obviously Marinette needs to test the strange new ring, and obviously the best way to do that is patrols with Chat. No, she will not be taking comments.

This is as adorable a fic as it sounds like! Marinette refuses to look into WHY, exactly, she really likes running around with Chat as Multimouse, even when she really needs a break. 

---

Ladybugged Series by RillRull

Summary of the first fic in the series, Ladybugged:

In which Ladybug accidentally gets turned into a ladybug, and it’s up to Chat Noir to fix it.

It turns out potion making is really hard when your best friend is a bug and you’re just some guy in a cat suit.

If you like “the heroes turn into animals” stories, this series should be right up your alley! The first one features Ladybug accidentally turning herself into a ladybug and Chat trying to figure out how to turn her back, the second fic follows up on some plot threads from the first fic, and then the final fic in the series, Catified, has Chat intentionally turn himself into a cat for the weekend (after making sure that everyone thinks that he’s at Nino’s place and that Nino will cover for him) because he thinks it’ll be fun, and him staying over with Marinette! I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories so they were a real treat to read XD.

---

I (Wish I) Knew You by @buggachat

University has been hard on Marinette. Making new friends and maintaining her grades is a lot easier said than done when she has to disappear at odd times to fight akumas. She's struggling, and with Alya away with family and Adrien painfully out of reach, she's never felt lonelier.

If only she could talk to someone who really understood her struggles... but it's not like Chat Noir would know anything about loneliness. Right?

Nice aged-up Ladynoir fic here! Marinette’s struggling with losing friends and lovers because of her flakiness due to her superhero activities, until at last she breaks down. Thankfully, Chat Noir’s there at least - and it soon turns out he’s got problems of his own that he’s been hiding.

There’s some fluff and angst, it’s mostly just the two of them navigating life, dealing with their feelings and talking things out.

---

Found by @trishacollins

Chat Noir and Ladybug need to tie up some loose ends. Unfortunately, one of those ends is Felix.

This is a fantastic fic! It’s part of a wider series wherein Adrien and Felix were friends with Nooroo and Duusu from a younger age, but Adrien’s memory was wiped of it by his parents, but this is the first fic you really need to read. Basically, after the events of Emotion, Chat confronts Felix about what he did, and Felix confesses to being a Sentibeing, and Duusu reveals to Chat that he is one as well, leading to Felix cooperating with the heroes. 

Of all the fics I’ve read that tackle the subject, this one does the best job of giving Felix a redemption arc for his actions in the season 4 finale, focusing not only on how he hurt the heroes, but the kwamis. I loved that he truly understood how much he fucked up with the situation he put the kwamis in, how much suffering he put them through, and that the kwamis were allowed to be angry at him for awhile afterwards, to be suspicious and untrusting towards him at first (and that Marinette was allowed to do the same). Felix screwed up and hurt people, and he had to really show that he understood what he did was wrong, why it was wrong, and try to help the people he hurt.

---

In Direct Opposition by @generalluxun

Alya Cesaire is a brand new student to Francis Dupont, to Paris even. The first student she meets is one Chloé Bourgeois, and Alya is determined to make a friend. Things advance Chaotically. Her new 'friend' is definitely a handful, and suddenly Paris has a supervillain and two brand new superheroes! Alya finds herself balancing a lot of things, trying to live up to her ideals and those of her icons.

And then reality seems to contradict itself.

As time progresses it seems to happen more often. Becoming a hero, battling villains, staying alive, working through friendships. Something is lurking, tweaking events at times, changing them, and no one seems aware. Alya will need all her wits to get to the bottom of this. Her investigative mind can only get her so far though, and then she needs to rely on her friends. This is not a foe you can beat head on.

I betaed this entire fic, it’s really good! I adore the focus on Alya’s philosophy here, her determination to be a hero, to help people and defeat evil - and that defeating evil means trying to reform the people doing bad things when possible, to try to save EVERYONE, even the “villain”. I thought it was really clever the ways Alya would redirect Chloe and subtly encourage her to be a better person, while also trying to get the people around her to give her a second chance and keep an open mind. 

Also Alya and Chloe are an adorable sapphic couple XD.

---

Chemistry With Him by @bbutterflies

It kind of sucked Nino was taking chemistry, but classes had filled up fast and he needed to take something and his advisor had said the credits would, somehow, count towards his major. It really sucked he was taking it first thing on a Monday morning (and Wednesdays, and Fridays, unfortunately). But he could get through it. He knew he could.

So no more boys. No distractions. He could do this all on his own.

“Is anyone sitting here?”

Nino looked up to find the source of the voice. A blond, green-eyed, absolutely beautiful someone.

Okay. Maybe one distraction.

Ah, adorable Adrino. This is a universe where Adrien never went to public school, so while Chat Noir, Ladybug, Carapace, and Rena Rouge all know each other (and Marinette, Alya, and Nino all know each other’s identities) they’re unaware that they are all already friends with Adrien. I loved seeing Chat and Carapace excitedly tell each other about their awesome crush/boyfriend, not knowing they were talking about each other XD.

#ml fanfic rec #miraculous ladybug

[airi-p4]

Sweep Sweep

Hi! New short lukanette fic!

Summary: Marinette is surprised to see that Luka doesn't know how to clean so she offers him her help (and something more).

AO3

(Thank you @celestiall0tus for checking it for me!)

Enjoy?

_________________________

The first time Marinette saw Luka cleaning, she hadn't been paying much attention: she had been distracted and embarrassed by the turnout of Adrien's boys party and her stupid crush on the blond boy to notice anything else. 

The second time she saw it, it was at the Liberty. Her past crush on Adrien forgotten, Marinette greatly enjoyed hanging out with her favorite band’s friends. And sure, she couldn't deny the growing affection and the fastening heartbeats she had started to notice around Kitty Section’s guitarist -the butterflies on the stomach made her feelings quite obvious to her, too. 

New. Refreshing. Happy.

That time, their first official concert had ended, and fireworks were displayed afterwards for the celebration party. By the evening, confetti was all scattered on the deck, along with used paper cups, pizza boxes, empty snacks bags and candy wrappers- which meant cleaning time. It was very convenient that the captain was distracted (being scolded and fined) by agent Roger- because yes, you can't fire ship cannons (or cannons in general) in Paris, even if it's only fireworks.

So meanwhile, everyone diligently got to work, their cleaning tools and trash bags ready as they paired up and took their positions. There was a broom on Luka's hands and- Oh, clumsy her!- Marinette accidentally stepped on it, her body spinning and falling on the blue-haired boy, who hit the floor on his back. Her heartbeats were loud, the proximity of his face to hers made her fluster with red, and she had no doubts that reaction was most likely noticed by the observant boy lying down under her. Despite the warmth on her cheeks, she couldn't help it but to glance at his lips and stare in his eyes and, lost in them, she leaned closer towards him. Seeing him move too just before closing her eyes, she had expected to meet him halfway, but before that could happen… 

*beep beep* 

She had to run because of an akuma. Just her luck. She cursed, and with one of her unbelievable excuses, she left in a rush. She hated the thought of her friends thinking that she just left because she didn't want to help with the cleaning- but on the next day, she found out Luka covered for her lie and had protected her from getting a negative impression. In result, she was charged with more tasks than usual (such as baking cookies for the band) as a “penalty”. She didn't think it was possible, but she fell a little more for Luka that day.

And then, the time she actually saw it for real arrived.

It was the third time Marinette saw Luka cleaning, the first time she actually looked -no accidents, no unwanted boys or akumas- and she couldn't believe her eyes. 

They had been at the bakery, baking cookies together, and playfully painting each other’s faces with flour and chocolate. Marinette had to admit the chocolate at the tip of Luka's nose looked adorable, almost as the heart shaped chocolate mark on her right cheek. Fun. Cookies were a success but the kitchen a messy flour disaster… 

Which meant time to clean up.

She had been wondering: why did Luka have a  “penalty” too if he was there to clean? Was it solidarity? Pity? Or maybe he wanted to spend time with her…? She had blushed at the thought. But then, looking at him in her house’s kitchen she understood it: Luka couldn't sweep. Well- sure, he did sweep, but the way he held the broom, the way he grabbed and moved it… everything was JUST WRONG. Wrong and inefficient. Embarrassing, even. No wonder she had tripped on it that past day! And no wonder he had a penalty too! What a disaster! After a minute, she couldn't bare to watch anymore.

“Luka! That's not how you do it!” Marinette finally squeaked, almost scandalized. “You have to-'' she took the broom from Luka's hands, pretending their fingers didn't brush while doing so so she could focus on her task and show him how to do it properly. His attentive eyes on her as she moved were making her a bit nervous.

“Okay” Luka nodded. He took back the broom and tried to imitate what Marinette had done as she observed. He needed practice. Okay-a lot of practice. How can anybody be so bad at sweeping the floor!? She wondered.

“Luka. You don't know how to sweep at all…?” Marinette finally asked. And the boy blushed bright red (an extremely rare sight!) and nodded as he sank between his shoulders. “What!? How!? Why!?”

“Sorry. I- You know my mom, Marinette. She has never taught me or Juleka how to properly do it. She even scolded us when she saw us clean. And with no one else to ask… Of course Jules and I do some cleaning, don't get us wrong! We both take turns to clean whenever mom isn't home. Juleka has learned a bit from Rose but I've always been embarrassed to ask for help so I just know the basics…”

‘You can't call that “the basics”!’ Marinette thought. But well, that made sense. She knew how Anarka did clean the kitchen, do the dishes, the laundry and the bathroom. But she loved chaos and freedom, so she was against cleaning when it came to dust and reorganizing, sweeping the floor included.

“Do you want me to teach you, Luka?” Marinette offered.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Of course!”

“Oh but- there's more than sweeping, Marinette… Certain cooking tools or persistent dirt- or worse, the clothes’ colors or sizes changed after doing the laundry!”

Marinette started laughing loudly. “As far as I know how, I can teach you anything you want. And if I don't know, then we can learn together” her excited smile made him smile too.

“That sounds great, Marinette. I'll repay with guitar classes. Or pizza. Or anything you want”. 

“You don't need to repay me for this, Luka! But I'd really like that” she beamed. More time together? She didn't mind it. At all.

“It's settled then” he smiled back at her.

Then, she took another broom and started to sweep too. Each one started from one corner of the kitchen, slowly getting closer as she silently taught him while exchanging shy gazes. A moment later, they finally met and the top of their brooms bumped together. Face to face, blushing, with the sole sound of their fastening heartbeats, she looked down at the floor, feeling his eyes on her. Their bodies were close as their brooms tangled together- not working anymore at that point. 

“Marinette… there's chocolate on your face. Can I clean it?” Her heart skipped at the feel of his warm breath on her forehead. All she could do was shyly nod and suddenly, his hand was on her cheek, warm, caressing there tenderly- the rub of his thumb too soft to clean anything at all, she knew. Was he actually trying to clean it or maybe he- Could it be that their feelings were really mutual? She wanted to see- to know- his facial expression. 

Curiosity became courage, and Marinette raised her face up until their eyes finally met with the most adoring, bittersweet and loving gaze she had ever seen on Luka. And that was all she needed to know. Her blush and bewilderment didn't stop her getting on her tiptoes and raising to give him a peck on his cheek- a peck too that lasted too long to be expected to have a friendly meaning, she knew and he suspected. How she blushed even more and avoided his eyes seconded his suspicions for him. 

“Marinette…” he said in a whisper. And without words, only with his fingers, he encouraged her chin to raise up again. His face was even closer now, a questioning expression on him which she had no trouble to understand. In response, she lifted her chin even more and closed her eyes, finally offering him his answer and what both of them had been waiting for a long while- too long. 

Slowly but surely, he moved. His free hand impatiently moved to her back, raising to secure her in his arms and making both brooms fall to the floor with the movement, at the same time she raised on her tiptoes and their lips finally met at last. Their kiss was everything they wished for, and surprisingly better than they could have ever imagined. Only their smiles and happy faces topped such brightness as they hugged tenderly before kissing once again.

From then on, the cleaning teachings continued. And if Luka was doing it bad on purpose to spend more time with his girlfriend, he didn't say. And Marinette definitely didn't complain either when she realized what he was doing, especially when those lessons always ended with lots of kisses. 

Sweeping their love inwards home- both benefited from it.

Fin

#airip4 #my fic #lukanette fic #endgame lukanette #pro lukamari

[lovebugs-and-snakecharmers]

LBSC Secret Admirer Valentine's Exchange 2024

It’s that time of year again! Time for the 5th annual LBSC Secret Admirer event!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

The usual reminders:

This is a Lukanette event! We encourage everyone from all sides of the fandom to join us, but the pairing of Luka and Marinette MUST be the focus! Background pairings are allowed, as well as mentions of past LS.

Fics must be at least 1500 words. Anything over 1500, go wild!

Art must be at least flat colors.

NSFW MUST be tagged properly and characters must be of age!

Sign ups close 1/10/24

Emails with your secret admirer’s wishlist will go out on 1/13/24.

If you need to drop out, please let us know by 2/05/24 so that we have enough time for a pinch hitter to take your place!

Submissions will need to be uploaded to the AO3 collection no later than 2/13/24 (link will be provided soon for the early bird finishers)

All submissions will be made visible on 2/14/24

Here's some FAQ.

If you have any additional concerns, please don’t hesitate to drop us a message or ask here! Reblogs are very welcome!

Please tag @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers so we can reblog your work!

Thank you!

#event: lbsc secret admirer 2024 #lbscsecretadmirer2024 #lukanette #lukanette event #lukanette endgame #endgame lukanette #luka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng

[mintaka14]

Chapter 8 of Living Arrangements (Lukanette And They Were Roommates! AU) is done. It's been a longer wait for it than I had anticipated, but I hope you enjoy it.

Living Arrangements

A Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction

By Mintaka14

Chapter 8 – Music Again

There had been many moons before I met you

And I don’t know when (I last put paper to pen)

And now you give me back my raison d’etre

And I’m inspired again

[Music Again: Adam Lambert]

Luka flexed his hand against the frets of his guitar, stretching out his stiff fingers. He squinted down at the pages of manuscript and scribbled notes in front of him, and realised that the quality of light in the room had changed. The dark sky outside the windows had picked up a faint stain of rose and gold, lightening with the first hints of an autumn dawn.

As the creative rush wore off, Luka came back to an awareness of the room around him, and the way his back was aching from being hunched over his guitar for so long. He ran a hand through his hair and yawned hugely.

He leaned back, staring down at the scatter of pages all over the coffee table and the floor under it. They were thick with musical notation, and ideas for lyrics, that might develop into something, but one or two of them were… something good.

Luka could hear the alarm go off in Marinette’s bedroom, followed by a thump and the flustered noises that meant Marinette had just woken up. He couldn’t help smiling, even as he struggled to keep his eyes open. Carefully, he set his guitar aside, pulling himself to his feet, and another stray manuscript page fluttered from his lap to the floor as he shuffled towards the kitchen.

By the time Marinette had emerged, yawning and rumpled, the kettle had boiled and the coffee just finished brewing.

“Coffee, Melody?” he asked her, and the nickname rolled off his tongue without a thought. He grinned as she stuck out both hands to take the mug he offered her. The grin morphed into another yawn.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Marinette scolded. “Luka!”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “And what time did you turn out your light?” he teased her back. “I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one on a creative kick.”

She glanced at the living room, and the pages he’d left strewn everywhere. “You were writing?” she asked, in a softer voice, and he shrugged self-consciously.

“Just… tinkering with something. So what was keeping you up last night? Working on your finals?”

He looked up to find Marinette’s eyes on him, her mouth parted a little. She jolted a little as their eyes met, and abruptly dropped her gaze. Behind her coffee mug, Marinette flushed pink.

“No, just… something I’ve been tinkering with,” she echoed his words.

Her eyes drifted back to the piles of music manuscript, and Luka waited for her to ask the questions that he could see chasing themselves across her transparent features. Instead, Marinette turned back to her mug. She buried her face in the steam, and took another sip of coffee. Luka couldn’t help the soft little chuckle at her heartfelt sigh.

“Well, hopefully, it was a productive night for you, too,” he said. “Sounds like you need that coffee this morning.”

“Thank goodness I don’t have any classes today,” Marinette mumbled into her mug. “I’m not sure I could stay awake.”

“What are you doing up, then?”

“Meeting Alya for early lunch at Café Calibré. I have to do a few things on the way, though, so…” she waved at her pyjamas and messy hair, and wrinkled her nose. “At least I’m used to running on three hours’ sleep and caffeine.”

“Not sure that’s a good thing,” he told her, as she finished her coffee. Marinette stared down at the empty dregs, and Luka’s smile grew at the mournful little sound she made.

“Want another one?” he offered, but she shook her head, and moved past him to wash her mug in the sink.

“I wish I could, but I’d better get going. If I can make it as far as the café, I’ll get another one then. Alya owes me at least that much.”

“Good luck,” he said, and she must have heard the hint of dry humour that he couldn’t quite keep out of his voice at the mention of Alya, because she turned and flashed him a mischievous grin over her shoulder before her bedroom door closed behind her.

~~~~~

The moment Marinette closed her bedroom door, an assortment of kwamis emerged from whatever corners they’d been hiding in. Some of them paused in their antics to regard her curiously, but Marinette’s attention was riveted on the half-finished coat for Luka that she had stayed up to work on until way later than she should have.

She was happy with the way the cut of the coat hinted at presence without flash, and the way she’d hopefully managed to give it an easy style without sacrificing comfort. The embellishment was exactly the subtle depth with a fluid movement and a hint of humour that she’d been trying for, but she frowned at the embroidered snakes twining down the face of the  coat. The whole design, she decided, was missing something. It needed something more intense, something like the heart of a blue flame…

“Marinette?” Tikki asked, drawing closer to hover beside her shoulder. “Is everything alright?”

“Luka’s… I think he’s writing music again,” she said absently, and Sass reared up from his nest near the window to eye her with interest.

… maybe those deep blue glass beads that she’d been saving for the right project, the ones that sparked like fire when the light caught them…

She could hear a soft little hiss of satisfaction from Sass, and one of the kwamis whispering, “But I don’t get it – he’s always playing music, isn’t he?”

“Luka is creating his own music again,” Tikki explained, and did a happy little spiral in mid-air. Creation always spoke to her, and a smile tugged at the corners of Marinette’s mouth in response, even as she subjected the coat to a measuring stare.

Her fingers twitched towards the jars of beads above her work table, but she curled them tightly against the impulse, and reached for her own clothes to change into instead. Luka’s coat could wait, but she needed to get moving if she wanted to run her errands and still make it to the café on time.

Dress and leggings went on quickly enough, but she gave up trying to get her hair to cooperate, and bundled it into two hasty pigtails, and then grabbed her handbag for Tikki to hide in.

“Be good,” she admonished the roomful of watching kwamis, without much hope that they would pay attention to her.

The living room was still covered in a snowfall of manuscript as she passed it, but there was no sign of Luka. His bedroom door was closed, though, and Marinette could only hope that he’d decided to get some sleep. The mug of coffee he’d made for her was definitely wearing off by the time she made it to the café where she and Alya usually met, and she spared a longing thought for her own bed as she pushed open the door.

She wasn’t late, but Alya was already waiting. Alya looked up impatiently from her phone as Marinette came into the cafe amid a flurry of jangling from the bell over the door.

“Girl, what’s been going on? I’ve been trying to get hold of you all week, and you didn’t even answer my texts,” she was saying before Marinette had even reached the table. “I wasn’t even sure you were going to turn up today.”

“I’ve been busy,” Marinette said, and leaned down to give her friend a quick hug, before she dropped into the seat opposite Alya. She’d started to answer Alya’s messages several times, and ended up overthinking every word until it had felt a little late to send anything at all. Here in person, though, Alya just swept past it all without a mention of their fight, and Marinette felt a little silly for putting off talking to her best friend. “Don’t you have finals coming up too?”

“That’s nearly two months away. There are much more important things to think about.” Alya leaned in, fixing Marinette with a triumphant eye. “Guess who called Nino last night?” she demanded.

“Oh my god, that producer he’s been trying to contact?”

Alya checked at that. “No, but this is almost as good. Adrien! And he’s coming back to Paris!”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

“Nice?” Alya stared at her as if she was waiting for something more, and then, when nothing was forthcoming, she said drily, “Yeah, it’ll be really nice to see him again. Nino’s planning to try and get everyone together for a sort of reunion or something.”

“That sounds good.”

Marinette was distracted when the waitress arrived with the coffee she desperately needed to stay awake. When she looked up, her friend was subjecting her to another speculative stare, but then the waitress slid the second cup and a plate of pastries in front of Alya.

“He asked about you,” Alya said, reaching for one of the croissants. She took a bite, and added casually, “So I gave him your phone number.”

Marinette almost spilled the coffee in her lap.

“Alya! You said you weren’t going to do that anymore.”

Alya raised an eyebrow at her over the remains of the pastry. “Do what?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“He’s an old school friend,” Alya said innocently, but the gleam in her eyes almost dared Marinette to contradict her. “I thought you said you’d been over him for years, so why would it be a big deal if he gets in touch with you?”

“Alya –“ Marinette groaned.

“It’s just catching up with an old school friend. Did you really want me to tell Adrien that you don’t want to see him, when he asked about you specifically?”

Marinette spent too long trying to process through the things she wanted to say, until eventually Alya leaned back with a  smug smirk.

“Fine, then, just tell him you don’t want to meet up when he calls,” she said with a shrug.

In spite of Alya’s insistence, Marinette wasn’t seriously expecting Adrien to actually call her, and two days later when her phone rang with an unfamiliar number she answered it without thinking.

“Marinette?” an oddly familiar voice said, and Marinette nearly dropped the phone.

The voice was a little deeper than she remembered, and different, too, to the way it sounded in the media soundbites, but it sent her straight back to her flustered, awkward collège years.

“Adrien?” she squeaked, and tried to cover up the embarrassing sound with a cough. There was a soft chuckle on the other end of the phone call.

“It’s been too long,” the voice said. “How have you been?”

~~~~~

Luka could hear Marinette and his sister in the living room as he pulled off his headphones and shoved aside the thesis he’d been working on. He got to his feet and went to join them, desperate for a break, and maybe a chance to get down the melody that had been teasing at the back of his mind for the past fifteen minutes. It was hard to focus on papers and exam prep when several years’ worth of unwritten music was flooding through his mind all at once.

He came into the living room to find Marinette in the middle of getting ready to go out, and Juleka watching her from the depths of an armchair with a look of judgement on her face.

“It’s not like I could tell him I didn’t want to see him,” Marinette was saying defensively. “What would you have said if he’d called you and said he wanted to meet up?”

Juleka scrunched up her face like she wanted to argue the point, but couldn’t without being hypocritical. He could still remember his little sister hiding behind her curtain of hair, shying away from conflict, growing up. She’d gotten better at holding her own, but confrontation was never going to be easy for her.

Unless it was him. Juleka had no problem with telling her big brother to shove off, and Luka took that as the gift of trust that it was.

It occurred to him, as he watched the girls bicker while Marinette located her bag and her sketchbook, that Juleka was quite happy to argue with Marinette, too.

“And you’re wearing your lucky shirt,” Juleka pointed out accusingly.

Marinette glanced down self-consciously at the delicate pink top she was wearing. “I’m meant to be a fashion designer here. I’m not going to turn up for coffee with the son of one of Paris’ top fashion houses in just any old thing. This blouse got me into the summer designers program last year,” Marinette shot back, her colour heightened.

“I can see why. It’s gorgeous,” Luka said from where he was leaning against the doorframe, and Marinette’s head jerked up at the sound of his voice. “You’re incredibly talented.”

She bit her lip at the compliment, but a pleased and proud little smile teased at the corners of her mouth.

“Is this for a job interview?” he asked, wondering about her reference to a fashion house.

“Just an old school friend,” Marinette said, but Luka could see the flush deepen on the curve of her cheek as she turned away and grabbed her keys from the bowl.

Juleka gave an inelegant snort.

“I’ve got to get going, otherwise I’m going to be late,” Marinette said, dropping her keys into her bag.

“Yeah, you don’t want to be late for Adrien,” Juleka muttered under her breath, and Luka shot his sister a warning glance as he bent to scoop up his guitar from where he’d left it beside the couch.

“Have fun,” he said mildly, and Marinette threw him a grateful, slightly embarrassed smile. He waited until the front door closed behind her before he asked his sister, “What was all that about?”

“Adrien’s back,” Juleka said sourly, and slumped lower in the armchair, “and practically the first thing he does is call Marinette. I’d bet my favourite camera that Alya had something to do with that.”

“I thought Alya had backed off on the matchmaking schemes.”

“Alya doesn’t just give up – she changes tactics.” She tilted her head, obviously subjecting that to some consideration, then added, “Although I don’t think even Alya could bring Adrien Agreste back to Paris just to get Marinette a date, but she’d be more than capable of taking advantage of it once he was here.”

“This is the model you used to go to school with, that Marinette liked? He’s back in Paris?” Luka said slowly, as he tuned his guitar and let his fingers wander idly over the strings.

“She says they’re just catching up for a coffee,” Juleka said, her voice as dry as sand.

“Then that’s what she’s doing,” Luka said without looking up. He drifted into the melody that had been distracting him. The stark chords weren’t quite right, but modulated into a descending minor seventh… he tried it again, testing the feel of it.

Juleka eyed him. “You are such a dumbass.”

He could have pretended he didn’t know what she was talking about, but it felt like an argument he didn’t want to have. Instead, he focused on his fingering.

Juleka stayed in her armchair, listening to him for a while, and then said abruptly, “So, Dad’s been calling you again?”

Luka grimaced at her choice of subject change, but kept playing.

“He’s been trying to get me back into the studio. He’s got some new idea, and wants to get me involved.”

“Well, I wish you’d answer your messages, because he’s calling me now,” Juleka said sourly, and Luka sighed.

“I love Jay, I really do, but –“

“I know.”

“I’ll talk to Penny.”

“I don’t think Penny knows about this. I suspect she wouldn’t be too happy about it.” She gave him a sidelong glance. “Does he know that you’re writing again?”

“No, and he’s not going to.”

He kept tinkering with the tune he was hearing in his head. There was another long, pointed silence from his sister until eventually, with a heavy sigh, she levered herself out of the armchair.

“Have fun wallowing,” she told him.

Luka ignored her until she’d disappeared up the stairs, and he frowned at the minor fifth he’d just played. He modulated it into a major, and tried again, but the upbeat key was jarring. It needed… damn.

Juleka was right.

~~~~~

When the sound of Rose’s video call chimed, Juleka was busy screaming into her pillow.

“Jules?” Rose’s voice was muffled by the padding over Juleka’s face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she grumbled, and pulled the pillow down. “My brother’s just an idiot.”

Rose laughed and cast her eyes up. “Well, yes, but you love him anyway. What’s he done now?”

“He’s downstairs writing sad music because Marinette’s having coffee with Adrien Agreste, and I swear, if he tells me one more time he’s happy for her I’m going to –“ she broke off, unable to think of anything dire enough for the moment. The camera swooped at the other end of the call, and when Rose righted it again, her blue eyes were wide with barely suppressed reaction.

“Adrien’s back? Wait… did you say writing music?”

“Yes, and yes,” Juleka confirmed, slumping down in her desk chair. “My life is hell.”

“I… don’t even know where to start,” Rose squeaked, and Juleka heaved a put-upon sigh as her girlfriend vibrated on the spot. It almost looked like the screen was blurring, then the image steadied and Rose scooted closer, until her face filled the screen.

“Tell me everything,” she demanded.

#lukanette #pro lukamari #and they were roommates #living arrangements #ml au #they're idiots your honor

[verfound]

I noticed in "Coffee Shop Soundtrack" Luka calls Marinette "darning" a lot. Is that supposed to be "darling"? Because while "darning" is fabric-related I guess, it sounds kind of weird as a nickname.

Sorry, I don't usually message authors about typos but it's been used a dozen times in this story so far and I wasn't sure if you are doing this intentionally or not.

...it is not, in fact, a typo. 😂 It's a nickname I picked up from mc-lukanette ages ago, and it appears in most of my established relationship fics. I even play a bit with its development/backstory in "More Than a Checkbox" (ch7):

“…absolute worst timing ever, Jagged, I swear!” shouted a harried voice he had only heard through phone calls during the past month and a half.  His eyes found her soon enough: there, standing behind Jagged and rapidly working a needle through the sequin-studded coat he’d commissioned specifically for this tour.  Marinette looked…incredible, completely stunning, knock-out, drop-dead gorgeous – but she also looked pissed, and it was so classically Marinette that Luka couldn’t stop the stupid smile from splitting his face.  “I’m here to surprise Luka, not you, and if I miss him because you –” “You’re not gonna miss anything, beautiful,” he whispered into her ear, wrapping his arms around her middle and tugging her against him.  She squeaked and fumbled her needle, but it was still connected to the thread and just dangled behind Jagged as she turned to return his hug.  He sighed as he pressed his face against her neck, breathing her in.  He glanced up to see Jagged smirking at them over his shoulder, and he rolled his eyes as he flipped him off.  “You should probably finish up with the needle before I stab him, though.  Trust Jagged to need something darned when I want your attention instead.” “…right!  Right!  Darning first – darling later!” she said, getting back to work.  He blinked at her and clapped a hand over his mouth, trying not to snort at what she’d said, but if she realized her words or noticed his reaction she gave no sign of it.  She just continued stitching, the tip of her tongue poking out as she concentrated,  By the time she secured the fix, they had a song and a half and maybe six minutes before Luka had to join the rest of the band back on stage.  He had so many questions, but when Marinette turned away from Jagged and back to him and tugged his mouth to hers they all flew out the proverbial window.  Jagged started laughing at them, but when they continued to ignore him (when Luka tugged Marinette closer and stepped forward, rattling the makeup vanity behind them as her butt knocked into it) he just coughed awkwardly and made himself scarce.  Marinette was beaming when he pulled back.  “…hi, rock star.” “…hey yourself, darning fairy,” he teased.  Her eyebrows soared, and he chuckled as he kissed her again.  She groaned into his kiss. “N-no,” she whined, patting his shoulder to get him to move back.  “That is not becoming a thing, you dork.” “It’s totally becoming a thing,” he chuckled, darting in to kiss her again, “darning.”

Marinette calls Luka "Star", short for "rock star". He calls her "darning", a play on "darning fairy" (and bc it can easily be misunderstood as "darling", and if anyone questions him on it he gets to brag on his amazing girlfriend/wife).

#ver asks #nonny asks #coffee shop soundtrack #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #nicknames #terms of endearment #it's been a while since anyone's asked about this I forget sometimes people don't just know 😂

[pro-bee-sisters]

Update on some Miraculous Stories

Hey y'all, Muggle here again! Just wanted to say a few updates on some of my Miraculous stories.

First off, I wanna say that I'm gonna be permantely scrapping or replacing some, if not, most of them. I'm really sorry, but after being in this fandom for about 7 years, I don't think I have the time and energy to really be focusing on writing for it anymore.

NOW

That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm permantely done writing for Miraculous for good. I'm just getting rid of the ones I either have no desire or interest to write anymore or I just don't see myself writing anytime soon. Some of them include 2 Lukanette stories (Sorry, but you can blame Truth, Wishmaker, and Migration for this one), a JuleRose Love Square AU one (If there's one thing the show taught me: Even writing for the Love Square in fanon is pure bullshit), an Adrigami one (Sorry, but you can blame Lies, Pretension, and Representation and basically Feligami's existence for this one), a Brelix one (Does anyone even fucking remember Bridgette aka Marinette's protrotype? Plus, I fucking hate Felix. Bite me.) , and an Adrienette one (Again, If there's one thing the show taught me: Even writing for the Love Square in fanon is pure bullshit).

Other than those, I'm good to go forthe other ones I'd mentioned before in the past. Including the AUs I still wish to do such as The Queen Bee and the Vesperia, A Fox and Her Club, The Lost Miraculous, among others.

I'll keep you all update once summer comes and goes, but for now, that's all I wish to say.

BUG OUT EVERYONE!

#miraculous ladybug #blog update #not bee sisters #miraculous rewrite #miraculous AUs #The Queen Bee and the Vesperia #the lost miraculous #a fox and her club

[howhow326]

Some of yall bout to be real mad at me...

Breakdown under read more.

Percabeth Energy: True love, made for each other, perfection, flawless, wholesome, zero bad vibes (Note: I planned to leave this part empty, but changed my mind when I saw these two ships)

Julerose is like a star in the void. In a show full of weirdness, these two are proof that an unproblematic relationship trumps all! For that, I give them the honor of Percabeth energy.

Tom and Sabine are just straight Julerose with the added bonus that Tom kicked his racist dad to curb and never looked back. Of only Marinette never found that guy again.

Lumity Energy: Full love, realistic problems but like not in an abusive way, the only reason these ships aren't giving Percabeth is because the show ruined them, yes that is what I'm going with, No I don't think Lumity is bad the name is just a joke

Alya x Marinette is a goated ship, fight me! "bUt WhAt AbOuT lIlA", everyone is an idiot in those episodes! Forgot Lila and remember that Marinette and Alya have a very supportive relationship that's mutual. Although, I couldn't completely forget about Lila which is why it's down here.

Lukanette was robbed. Luka x Adrien was also robbed.

So I don't dislike the gay boys but that one time Nathaniel ripped Marc's sketchbook just sticks in my head even tho he said sorry. It's not even in character for Nathaniel to do that! Oof. Still goated in the sauce.

I used to hate Marichat but then it went on to become the best side of the love square because it got so little focus?! More is less, and Elation is better than three thirds of the love square episodes.

Marinette and Kagami used to be such a wholesome relationship but then season 5 kept dragging out Kagami's kiddie pool sized jealousy for bad Lila episodes. At least I can pretend they don't exist.

Nooro and his only friend in the world. And now they've been separated 😭

BMBLB Energy: Not half bad, just not for me, may or may not be canon/developed well, I'm not criticizing BLBMB its just a joke

Adrien x Juleka could be cute, but it's one of those things that you have to accept will never be canon or even get episodes for it.

All of the other Lovesquare ships got dropped down here because of Arc Fatigue. Ladrien didn't even get a kiss!

Marinette and Marc got better development in Reverser than Nathaniel and Marc did.

"Back in my day, we used to ship Marinette with Nathaniel!" "Sure grandpa, let's get you to bed."

Ivan and Mylene wishes they could be the straight version of Julerose. These two are just weirdly codependent to the point that Ivan's last focus episode was like... season 1?

Skip

Adrien/Chat Noir and Alya/Rena Rouge had more chemistry with each other in two episodes than Alya had with Nino in the last 5 years (Yall bout to be really mad at me)

Adrien x Nathaniel could be cute, but it's one of those things that you have to accept will never be canon or even get episodes for it. Huh, deja vu.

Adrien and Nino had more chemistry with each other than Alya had with Nino in the last 5 years. Now I'm just doing it on porpoise.

"Oh look, a boy and a girl being friends? Not in my Westboro baptist church cartoon!!! They need to be married and have 8 children now!!!" Is the vibe this ship gives.

Past this point I don't really care about kwami shipping.

The only reason these two are up here is because the darkest skin background character managed to snag some sense of relevance. Good for him.

Klance Energy: waif like and blind, child like and bitter, guant visage, smoking mirrors, you have erased yourself, you learned to hate yourself, burning on the inside, he's tried so many times to take my life away, but he'll be the first to die tonight, I promise my dear

Remember when Chloe actually cared about Adrien before Astruc retconed her to be his spin on Marie Antoinette?

I stopped shipping it after Lies and you should too. Adrien was horrible to her.

Remember when Chloe actually cared about Sabrina before Astruc retconed her to not care about Sabrina at all and then he executive producers had to rerail her character by showing that she did care about Sabrina in her final moments?

GIRL, WHY ARE YOU WITH HIM???

Dosen't exist in canon, poor man's Lukanette in fanon.

Reread the last sentence. Also, I dislike the pare the spares thing.

Just wait until I get to Dj wifi.

GIRL, WHY ARE YOU WITH HIM???

Plagg/Tiki x Adrien/Marinette would be a good ship if half of the pairing weren't Fire emblem dragon wifu's that are 7,000 years old... but that's not going to stop some of yall, is it 😞

Skip

Reylo energy: forbidden, horrifying, abusive, wtf, GIRL WHY ARE YOU WITH HIM, unlike the other names I actually do hate Reylo

I do not ship canon Lila with anyone except the devil because she belongs in Gehenna. Reread this every time she shows up.

I do not ship canon Kim with anyone except his right hand because he deserves a kick in the teeth. All of the fanfictions that made him a mean jock were basically right. Reread this everytime he shows up.

Hi! It's me! I'm the guy who wrote Nino salt, it's me! I made a fic, where Alya punches him in his teeth! He should have never stalked her and assumed she was cheating on him; He should have never revealed her cover without her consent; why dafaq is Alya even still with him?

I refuse to ship Chloe with her victims.

Again, I refuse to ship Chloe with her victims.

Chloe is too toxic to be with prince Ali (Sabrina is also toxic so it balances out).

Kagami is too good for Chloe.

Three times the charm, I refuse to ship Chloe with her victims.

Max is Ace Me being an idiot

Does anyone even care about this AU anymore?

I am a big dumb dumb that confused Asexuality with Aromanticism. Whoops.

Marinette x Max does have some chemistry in the Gamer episodes. Unfortunately, Max stopped having episodes with her for some reason, and I blame the robot.

Boring

Do these two ever talk, or...

Well apparently the writers do because we're getting a special about them.

WTF IS THIS PICTURE???

WHY IS LUKA CHOKING NATHANIEL??????

#miraculous ladybug #ml salt #miraculous ladybug salt #ml writers salt #thomas astruc salt #alya sugar #nino salt #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #chloe bourgeois #nino lahiffe #lila rossi #kagami tsurugi #luka couffaine #juleka couffaine #rose lavillant #max kante #le chien kim #sabrina raincomprix #gabriel salt #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #ship wars #ship wank #julerose #rolland dupain #nathaniel kurtzberg #gabenath

[starlit-dreaming]

[ch4] élémentaire

Fandom: MLB Ship: Eventual Felinette, MarcNath & Chlogami, Past Lukanette TL;DR: HBIC Marinette + Rich Marinette + ML Salt Fic + Canon Divergence

0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | [4] | 5

Note: ngl, this chapter kinda took my ideas and ran it through before i even realized it. i had only 2 main ideas and it ended up getting better than expected -- it even fit the theme of the chapter LMAO

4 words: karma is a bitch

ALSO I DIDNT FORGET THE TAGS THIS TIME!!!!!!!

Tags: @jjmjjktth @smolplantmum @always-on-a-sugar-high @fan-written @vixen-uchiha @fanfics-and-fangirling @marvel--unsolved @starlightshield @lady-bee-fechin @draco-kasai @weirdo-with-no-beardo @idontwannaexistsopleasekillme @blep-23

————————————————————

iv. jacinthes bleues

————————————————————

Even though they’ve been classmates for years at Dupont, Nino couldn’t really consider himself to be friends with all of them. Maybe the guys, but certainly not the girls.

So, despite how friendly Rose has always been even when they were attending Notre Dame, he didn’t actually know her well enough to feel comfortable calling her a close friend despite their shared circles. He knew nothing of her involvement in any of Marinette’s plans unless Marinette or Alix talked to him, and apart from info gathering, he couldn’t think of any other reasons on how she factored into Marinette’s plans. An insider job, perhaps?

Rose still wore a pink ribbon, her unspoken sign of her allegiance to Marinette, so… they were in the same boat. They both fell for Lila’s lies and were trying to make it up to Marinette. Rose was a much better actress than he ever realized.

“What a screwed up situation we’re in, huh?” Nino asked wryly, leaning back into his seat. They were both in the library, working on their assigned project for their history class in the peace and quiet.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Rose said with a smile, though her eyes narrowed at him. “If anything, it’s a minor setback.”

“If that’s how you wanna call it…” he frowned, trailing off as he looked at the textbook. “Y’know, there’s no shame in admitting—”

“We are both in very different situations, Nino,” Rose sharply stated in a sweet tone of voice. “You let yourself be fooled. I let myself be complacent. There’s a difference.”

He didn’t get why Rose seemed so on edge, but it was probably for the best if he let the conversation drop. Out of everyone, Rose was the worst person to be stuck in an argument with, especially because she had that effect on people in making them feel as if they kicked a puppy.

It didn’t seem all that different to him, though. They were both in the same situations, just different end results.

Still, Rose was also the most observant person in their group who could easily pick up on a wide range of information, and her grudges were long-lasting. He’s not gonna argue about technicalities.

“You’re slouching,” Rose started frowning.

“I know,” he awkwardly admits.

“You can’t avoid it forever,” she gently said.

“I know, Rose.”

At this, she sighed, “If you don’t do anything about it, I will.”

It wasn’t a threat; it was a promise.

He doesn’t say anything in response to that, because he knows. Everyone is doing their part, no matter how hard it might be, and he’s been stalling.

But what he’s about to do is going to hurt either way.

His relationship with Alya is on the line — if she doesn’t believe him then… they might break up. He knows that the likelihood of their relationship surviving into adulthood is pretty slim, but he doesn’t want to lose her over a liar, he knows that much. If he says nothing, he’s letting her be manipulated; if he says something, it’s over even if he doesn’t want them to be. The only possibility of it going great is if Alya hears him out, which is definitely going to be a 50-50 chance.

And if Adrien doesn’t believe him, he might go crazy, but it’d be bearable — Adrien and Lila kinda have a thing going on. Adrien’s already pretty clueless about a ton of stuff, even more so when it comes to girls flirting with him, but with how he lets Lila hang off of him all the time, he wouldn’t be surprised if he was blinded from infatuation.

“If I were you, I would talk to Alya first,” Rose smiled sweetly. He’s not sure if it’s genuine kindness or if it’s part of her own plans, because it’s Nino’s problem to begin with, but it’s good advice nevertheless. “It’ll be easier to convince Adrien, but harder with Alya. If you do end up arguing or breaking up over this, then she’ll have time to come around and apologize.”

Adrien would be easier to convince.

As much as he thinks his feelings for Alya might be tipping into love, his girlfriend’s got a short temper and he can’t deny it. She was easy to rile up, and it does get hard to communicate with her when she’s adamant about being right.

“…yeah, you’re right. Thanks, dudette.”

—————————— 

“For the record, this is a terrible idea.”

Alix knew that her words would do nothing to deter Marinette from seeing this meeting through to the end, but she has always been her right-hand man and stating the obvious is her job. Honest to a fault, some might say, but frankly that’s the way Marinette prefers it. Despite their past disagreements, it will always remain the same.

Despite what happens, Marinette leads, and Alix follows.

“Oh, believe me,” she dryly chuckles, shooting Alix an amused look. Alix didn’t see why this was so amusing to Marinette, but maybe her suffering was the funny thing here. “I know it is.”

Standing tall before them was a very familiar building — a rather sizable hotel. It was overly fancy and had long since lost its charm, and yet it was the only place that Dupont could get a free field trip at on short notice: Le Grand Paris.

Despite knowing that it’ll be far from pleasant, it was necessary. There was no set precedent when it came to disbanding a faction and rebuilding it in later years, but this felt like a matter of formalities.

It was during the faction meeting that Marinette disbanded Méticuleuse, and so she herself needed to correct her past action — even if it never really stopped her followers from still following her unofficial guidelines.

The first step of doing so was holding a faction meeting, and that required a proper apology to Chloé Bourgeois (yeah, the irony of this fact wasn’t lost on Alix — Mme Bustier has consistently been badgering Marinette to apologize to Chloé despite being innocent, and here she was, doing exactly what Mme Bustier would be ecstatic to hear). Before they could move forward, they all probably need to air out their grievances, which was going to be the worst.

At least it was only Chloé who was going to be complaining.

(Félix technically needed to be there as well, but he was a special case considering that he isn’t attending Dupont and wasn’t even in France to begin with.)

So, apart from Marinette and Alix, it was just Chloé and Sabrina, and Claude Sainté-Pierre who was acting as Félix’s proxy (as he always did) who would be in attendance.

‘She’s going to be insufferable,’ Alix sighed, already feeling slightly irritated at the thought. “Would it be too late to ask you to swap me out with Rose for the meeting?”

“Absolutely,” Marinette smiled serenely, looking at Alix with a clear statement of “you’re not getting out of this that easily” — which, fair. Alix knew what she was getting into when she agreed to remain as her second. “Besides, Rose has more pressing matters to attend to from what I’m aware of, while you just have your daily bets and competitions with Kim. Ondine can easily help you get out of that by asking to spend more time with him.”

Ah. An unexpected bonus. That was also the reason why Kim didn’t seem to complain too much when Alix told him she had to bail on their race for the day, if Alix put two and two together.

Alix knew that Ondine was popular and reliable, and they both get along well enough (and Alix can say for certain that Ondine’s too good for Kim), but she never really stopped to think of her beyond that. Kim and Ondine were still in that phase of figuring out their maybe-relationship, so Alix did actively try to avoid thinking of Ondine more often than not purely because she wanted nothing to do with that.

‘It sure is convenient that Kim’s definite-girlfriend is in our group,’ Alix nodded. ‘I’m tired of all his demands for a rematch.’

“We should probably go in now,” Marinette sighed, sealing Alix’s fate for the next few hours.

‘On second thought… never mind.’

—————————— 

‘I would do anything to get out of this,’ Claude Sainté-Pierre thought, a fake smile plastered on his face as takes a sip of water.

They were sitting at one of the private tables of Le Grand Paris — something normally offered to celebrities and VIP guests. Chloé’s butler had assured them at the start that no classmates of theirs will be allowed to take a foot into the building before bowing and taking his leave.

The butler and the whole secret meeting was a bit much, but Claude was somewhat used to it. His parents were on the wealthy side, yet his family didn’t have a butler or anything — a regular cleaning service and security system, yes, but not their own wait staff. Allegra’s family had no qualms about employing maids and their own personal chef, and Allan’s family may have been similar to his, but Allan’s family had their own home studio and an indoor cinema.

Marinette’s probably the only one who would get it — Félix had the chance to go to her house when they were younger, and they didn’t have any hired help. At the bakery, yeah, but not within the house.

The sound of a glass cup thumping against the table brought him back to the conversation at hand.

Or rather… the lack of conversation.

They were seated at a table for six, with Claude kinda sitting across from Alix. Chloé was unfortunately next to him, while an empty chair remained on his other side. Empty seat, Claude, Chloé, Sabrina, Marinette, and Alix — the typical setup to prevent a faction leader from sitting next to another leader. It was mostly to prevent them from being fixated on the other person, since it often led to distractions.

Marinette and Chloé argued, Chloé and Félix would make snide comments against each other, while Marinette and Félix would, well… Claude’s not sure what to call it, exactly. It wasn’t flirting, but it also wasn’t really arguing or getting along.

Just talking, he supposes, which would make this meeting far less awkward.

“I believe you have something to say to me, Dupain-Cheng,” Chloé stated with sharp narrowed eyes, smiling.

Everyone knew that Chloé only stopped referring to Marinette by her first name ever since she stepped down from her position. Claude was under the impression that it would’ve changed once he heard from Félix that Chloé finally won.

Marinette maintained her smile, her lips twitching just the slightest bit as she relaxed her shoulders and fixed her stare on Chloé.

“Congratulations, Bourgeois,” Marinette stated. “You were right; I was wrong. You won.”

He expected as much.

For reasons beyond his comprehension, the Akuma Class believed the liar girl over Marinette for the better part of the year or two — he wasn’t paying too much attention to them, just Marinette given how haggard she was from overwork. It was even more noticeable with how their peers on the student council would always talk about her worriedly.

“I know I am,” Chloé had scoffed, leaning back into her seat as she regarded Marinette with a rather cold look. “That’s not what I was talking about.”

“And what exactly do you want to hear?” Marinette asked incredulously.

Looks like he wasn’t the only one who was confused — even Sabrina and Alix seemed surprised over the statement. Sabrina should’ve known everything about Chloé, and for her to be thrown off by this just goes to show that Claude really was wrong about the Charmante Faction Leader.

“What I want,” Chloé seemed to glare, “is an apology.”

“For what?” Marinette’s brows knit, clear confusion on her face. “For being naïve by not believing you?”

“That, and for your deplorable behaviour,” Chloé practically sneered. “It was disgusting, watching you act beneath your station.”

Alright… now she was definitely matching Claude’s memories of her. Claude was starting to think that maybe Ladybug was actually making a bigger and better positive impact than Adrien Agreste, but he stands corrected.

“Right,” Marinette dryly stated. “You’ve always been the type for extravagance like all the others who prefer to indulge in their wealth. How dare I show such a shameful side of me, for preferring to disregard status. I’d prefer to call it moderation, however. Ah, what was it again? Moderation is key, isn’t it?”

“Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous,” Chloé wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Moderation,” she scoffed, looking at her nails as if to ignore Marinette. “Well, look where moderation brought you. Acting like a mere commoner, lowering yourself as if you were a feeble servant to our peers, becoming not only a doormat, but also becoming a stalker!”

Oh… oh.

Claude suddenly had a feeling that maybe, just maybe, this was becoming personal. It was no wonder why Chloé wasn’t finding delight in Marinette’s defeat right from the get go — something that all of them had been expecting — she was pissed because of Marinette’s former fangirl crush on her friend.

Judging from the look of dawning realization on Marinette’s face, she got the memo.

“I’m sorry,” Marinette stated, looking away from Chloé. She was ashamed, he could tell that much. “I shouldn’t have let myself get so obsessed with the idea of Prince Charming. For what it’s worth, I have made strides to improve myself for the better.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” came Chloé’s clipped reply. “Adrikins is innocent and naïve — he needs someone to snap him out of it like I tried to do for you. I’m waiting until he finally opens his eyes on this whole Liar Rossi thing, because with how much he cares for the simpletons of our class, he’s going to realize that she’s the worst type of person to associate with. What he doesn’t need is to get dragged into your fantasy and unresolved issues — despite the distance, he is still my childhood friend.”

“I get it,” Marinette stated with gritted teeth. “When I realized how kind he was, he…” she sighed, shoulders slumping. “He matched my idea of a perfect prince.”

At this, Chloé leaned back into her seat once more, giving Marinette a glare. “You weren’t using him to get back at Félix for leaving, were you? Considering how similar they look.”

Oh, jeez… Claude didn’t want to hear any of this conversation for plausible deniability, but now he has no choice. This was definitely going to bite him in the ass later, because, well, for starters he’s the only guy here and if Félix says anything, it’ll get traced back to him. Sure, Alix was nonbinary and didn’t care about pronouns, but she was loyal to Marinette to begin with so no worries about breach of privacy there. Félix was unaware of the Marinette’s crush on him from back then, but there’s no doubt he knows now.

(It didn’t help much that Claude was probably the only one in the Quantic Kids who picked up on this whole crush situation. He never said anything to avoid getting on Marinette’s bad side, besides, he thought Félix was only nice to Marinette due to being all businessman-like.)

“Of course not,” Marinette huffed. “Yeah, I wanted to forget Félix, but I didn’t even realize that they were cousins until he came back. Félix is a common name, and I didn’t remember his last name beyond Graham until I saw the film with Adrien’s mother.”

“Hmph. Fine. I’ll accept that for now,” Chloé said, pursing her lips. “I won’t apologize for my words and actions. I’m still far too upset at what you’ve done to him under the guise of friendship to even want to.”

“As long as we’re done airing out our grievances, that’s fine with me,” Marinette smiled. “Now, can we finally move onto what we’re really here for?”

“Hold it,” Chloé cut in. “Sabrina, call our guest.”

“Yes ma’am,” Sabrina complied to the command, pulling out her phone.

“A guest?” Marinette blinked. “You never mentioned that another person was joining us.”

“Why would I waste my time on that when you’re going to be meeting them anyway, Marinette?” Chloé rolled her eyes. “Just wait.”

Claude, who left one of his hands in his hoodie’s pocket with his phone, finally ended the call with Félix before Sabrina could call him herself.

——————————

Nino’s not sure if it’s because he knew, deep down inside, that this was going to happen, but it’s a strange feeling nevertheless. He thinks that maybe he’s heartbroken, maybe numb, but he knows that he’s upset because he did cry in the restroom for several minutes after it happened.

Like ripping off a band-aid — hurts and then it’s fine for a while. Not great, not terrible, but fine.

As much as he didn’t want to, it’s either stick with the herd, or save the rest of his class from further manipulation.

It does hurt, though, knowing that he and Alya won’t be spending time together any more, that she’ll give him back his stuff and he’ll give hers back as well. He’s going to get bombarded with questions from the guys, and he’s not sure if that’s something he’s capable of handling emotionally at the moment.

“Nino…?” Adrien hesitantly called out, frowning with his brows pinched in concern. “Are you okay?”

He doesn’t think he is. On the bright side, he won’t be akumatized until maybe later. Can’t really say the same for Alya who just stomped off, but he expected that.

“Alya and I broke up.”

It was a quiet statement, simple, straight to the point. For the past several minutes, he’s been staring at his phone, trying to decide whether to actually drop Alya’s number like she yelled at him to do.

Huh. How long did he keep Adrien waiting? He hopes it wasn’t too long.

“What?!” Adrien shouted, eyes blown wide as he was very obviously taken aback by the news. “Why?! Don’t you two love each other?”

“We… had a fight,” Nino admits, not really wanting to rehash the last 15 minutes of his study period. But Adrien was his best friend, and he was also Alya’s friend, and Nino wasn’t gonna blind side him by making him feel awkward about hanging out with one over the other. “Rose and I finished our project early during our study period, so I went to go look for Alya.”

He should probably thank Rose for pushing him into doing it, otherwise he wouldn’t have, and then it’d be too late to do anything. She did look worried about him, when she caught sight of him heading towards the restroom, but she was with Juleka who’s been looking really pale lately.

Rose definitely knew how the conversation with Alya was going to turn out, and while he is upset at her for that fact, he knows that it’s not actually her fault.

“Uh huh…” Adrien nodded, looking increasingly worried. “What’d you two talk about?”

“It was about Lila,” he breathed, and he could see Adrien perking up at the mention of the girl. It made him feel terrible, having to break the news that Adrien’s crush isn’t as great as everyone thinks she is.

“What… uh, what about her?”

Like ripping off a band-aid, he had to remind himself. Taking in a deep breath, then letting it go as he steeled his resolve.

“I told her that Lila’s been lying to us. To all of us,” he looked away, not wanting to see Adrien’s heartbroken face. “And Alya… she didn’t believe me. She accused me of still liking Marinette and that’s why I’m siding with her. Stuff about how…” his eyes burned with unshed tears. “Lila’s been telling her a bunch of lies. About how I’m always looking at Marinette when Alya wasn’t looking, that she thought she saw me talking to Marinette after school the other day, that I was standing really close to her, like we were gonna…”

Nino took in another breath, letting it out with a sigh, willing to keep the weight of the heartbreak off his shoulders. He didn’t want to deal with getting akumatized for the day — it always made him feel worse in the aftermath.

It’s already been a bad day.

“What…?” he regrets looking back at Adrien, seeing a look of horror crossing his friend’s face. He hopes it’s for the situation that Nino’s in and not because of Lila’s lies. He didn’t know if he could handle something like that so soon after the breakup with Alya.

“I didn’t expect it either,” he smiled wryly, feeling all the bitterness bubbling up in his chest before suppressing it with a tired chuckle. “I thought that maybe…” he shook his head, his vision blurring. “Well, I guess Lila’s lies were stronger than our relationship, stronger than everything we’ve been through together, apparently.”

And oh, did that admittance hurt. Alya chose to doubt him over Lila, choosing a liar over her own boy—ex-boyfriend. She didn’t want to hear him out, claiming that he wanted to cover his unfaithfulness by throwing Lila under the bus.

“Nino, I’m… I… I know that’s not true—”

“Thanks for believing in me,” Nino gave his best friend a pat on the shoulder. “But I kinda expected this would happen if I talked to Alya about it,” he shot Adrien a weak smile. “I know you like Lila, just… be careful, yeah? I just… I don’t want you getting hurt like I did.”

Adrien said nothing. Nino didn’t blame him. Poor guy was still in a state of shock from what Nino could tell. It did make him feel better, knowing that he still had Adrien on his side if not Alya.

“Thanks for not calling me delusional. I… I know I said that I’d come hang out with you and Kitty Section today, but uh… I’m… not really up for it right now,” he gave Adrien a side hug. “Kinda don’t want to be around anyone from school.”

Maybe he’ll stop by the Dupain-Cheng Bakery on his way home. He could really use the warm hugs he’d always get from Sabine and Tom, and maybe a warm, freshly baked chocolate croissant. They always knew how to make him feel safe and at home whenever he’s had a bad day, and maybe they might have some advice for the heartbreak and—

Ah shit, Nino was definitely crying now.

“See ya tomorrow, dude,” he tugged his cap down and headed off.

Breakups are the worst.

#wynter writes #hbic marinette #fic: elementaire #fic: élémentaire #rich marinette #ml salt fic

[adrinoir]

Andre’s Ice Cream - is it actually magical?

I wanna go a bit more in depth about Andre the ice cream man, because I think he’s kind of an interesting character (and also I love ice cream and romance too lol).

I first questioned in this post if his ice cream is actually magical like he claims. But, let’s rewind a bit.

I think there’s some retcon happening. Think back to how in the first Glaciator episode, in the end, despite Adrien not being masked, Andre still gave him a Ladybug themed ice cream. The red, the blue, the nuts on top (indicating spots, in this case). He’s well aware of Adrien being in love with Ladybug.

Also think back to Wishmaker when Marinette received Cat Noir themed ice cream - green, nuts on top (different than her Adrien themed ice cream in the past and colors that don’t match Luka who approached her after). Andre knew then, too. So with that being said, he shouldn’t have been surprised by Marinette and Cat Noir being together. He should’ve been able to sense they like each other.

“Strawberry and cherry for the indecisive lady! Pistachio and pecan for the clear-sighted young man!”

How would he have known in the past that Marinette would realize she has feelings for Cat Noir and that Adrien likes Ladybug? Marichat has been a duo he’s seen on three different occasions but turns into Glaciator because he doesn’t think they’re a match and that his ice cream magic isn’t working. And, Ladrien has had so few interactions. Adrien only blushes a little those times and then, additionally, just secretly keeps photo albums of her on his phone and computer.

His colors are also different with Lukanette and Adrigami in the season 3 finale. When he gives each sundae to Marinette and Adrien they don’t match Luka and Kagami’s color schemes. So he knows neither of them are matches.

We can assume maybe his magic doesn’t work on the heroes because of the magic in their disguises. If you watch Timetagger, their ice cream doesn’t even have colors.

However, how would he know Cat Noir’s love is Ladybug? That probably sounds stupid, but think about how in the first Glaciator episode, Marinette didn’t even know Cat Noir’s love for her was serious. He’s flirty but that doesn’t necessarily mean he has serious feelings.

So if his magic doesn’t work with them, that means he’s just assuming Ladynoir is a match based on what he sees (ie them being named Couple of the Year). But, again, in Elation and Glaciator 2, he should’ve at least realized Marinette has feelings for Cat Noir because she’s out of suit. There wouldn’t be any magic working against her emotions.

Is she only allowed to love one person, Andre? Do you think she doesn’t love Cat Noir, that it’s just “silly” as you say? Something isn’t adding up.

So, I guess we as the audience have to decide. It’s either the magic works against Ladybug and Cat Noir’s disguises. Or, overall, he’s just going off of the bits of interactions that he sees and there’s no actual magic in his ice cream, he’s just marketing it that way. And/or he has preferences on who to ship with who. It’s too hard to tell.

All the magic aside, I really do love Andre’s backstory. I’ve said that in many posts of mine lol. I can relate to working an awful 9-5 office job and wanting to make a career out of something you’re passionate about.

You can’t go wrong with ice cream and matchmaking. Going on ice cream dates is something that appeals to a lot of couples and Andre being able to determine matches makes them even happier. It’s a good moneymaker that makes him different than other businesses in Paris.

#miraculous ladybug #tales of ladybug and cat noir #miraculers #miraculous #adrien agreste #chat noir #ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #ladynoir #Marichat #ladrien #adrigami #lukanette #andre the ice cream man #ml glaciator #glaciator 2 #ml wishmaker #ml elation #ml love square #ml s5 spoilers #ml spoilers #ml analysis

[mlwritersguild]

#ML Writers Guild #MiaBrown #Writer Spotlight #♥ #LoveSquare #⚤ #R:Teen #MLB #Reveal Fic #No Powers AU

[taulun]

Music AU: Lukanette dating in the past, Mari and Juleka as high schoolers, and Ladybird's first promotional photoshoot.

#miraculous ladybug #music au #marinette dupain cheng #luka couffaine #lukanette #juleka couffaine #miraculous #taulun #the sims 4