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flightfoot · 3 months

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ML Fanfic Recs for 2023: 10K - 20K Words

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

Chat Noir and Marinette decide to fake date in order to get Buttercup jealous enough to confess. Why won’t that boy make a move on such a wonderful girl as Marinette? And why is he beginning to hope that Buttercup stays blind?

Adrien wakes up in Nino’s arms. Neither of them have any explanation for this, considering they were nowhere near each other the night before.

Marinette and Zoe uncover a ring stashed away in a closet. Why does it have an unusual effect on Chloe?

Felix isn’t careful enough when he goes snooping around the Agreste Mansion. Gabriel decides that he can’t let him roam free.

Kim bets Alix that she won’t be able to attend all of her friends’ weddings in a row. She has never been one to turn down a challenge.

All this and more below the break!

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May I Introduce Myself, Your Highness? by @chocoluckchipz

Whether picking up a stray animal off the streets or saving a dying child at the market, Adrien had always strived to be the best version of himself. Truly, he would've been the perfect candidate to be snatched up by a kwami, were he an orphan, dying somewhere remote after a short life full of nothing but suffering and misery. Yet as it stood, the sole heir to the French throne had little to complain about. Apart from, perhaps, a complete absence of a love life. That is until a mysterious girl, wandering around his gardens at night, catches his attention.

I love Fantasy AUs. It’s a bit unclear what’s happening at first, but it all gets explained in the last chapter. Also don’t worry about the age gap between Marinette and Adrien at the start of the story, I promise it’s not a problem in the end.

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do you think I have forgotten about you? by @roseinaugust

Based on the song 'About You' by The 1975. Memory Loss. Told in alternating time lines, one leading up to and one dealing with the aftermath of Marinette relinquishing the Miracle Box and the guardianship. Marinette struggles with her life after losing her memory, though there is a persistent voice that calls to her that always seems just out of reach in her memory.

Beautiful memory loss fic here, with seeing Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s relationship before she gave up the Miracle box, juxtaposed with the present day, when Adrien is only a stranger to her. I could really feel how Marinette was struggling with navigating these new circumstances, with her friends seeming to expect her to remember, to be who she was to them, to Adrien especially, before, and her just... not knowing whether she can do that. It’s got a happy ending though, for those who are concerned about that.

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Creative Lies and Destructive Truths by @azuriteartist

Alya and Lila are two sides of a never-ending fight. The fight between truth and lies, between honesty and deception, between justice and personal gain. And now they have the powers to elevate that fight to a city-wide level.

Can Alya stop the deception before it destroys the city? And can Lila stop the truth before it destroys her?

So everyone who’s been around my blog for awhile knows how much I love Alya getting the spotlight (I mean my sideblog alyaappreciation is dedicated to her, because frankly, she needs it), and azurite’s lovely fic here is no exception. Fu ended up giving Tikki to Lila and Plagg to Alya. There actually isn’t tension between them at first, they get along well to start with, but Plagg knows Lila’s lying about things and eventually pushes Alya to take action once they grow alarming, until the two of them are both accusing each other of being liars as superheroes, and the public doesn’t know what to believe.

I’m betting there’s more of this AU to come. I hope so, I love the consideration and agency it gives to both Alya and Lila.

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How Marinette Learned to Stop Worrying And Love The Ball by @rosie-b

Hidden from the crowds thronging around the busy fairy portal in Paris's town square, a fae gate sits at the edge of the forest, locked, rusty, and full of ancient magic. Marinette thinks that this abandoned gate must not work anymore... but one day, a fairy disguised as a black cat steps through it.

Ah, Fantasy Soulmate AUs, my beloved XD. This ain’t the only one of this fic type I’m gonna be recommending. This is just a cute fluff fic without much strife. I love Marinette and Chat Noir being able to be childhood friends via his visits, even if he has to pretend to be her cat whenever he comes over, and I ESPECIALLY adore Alya being his chaperone and quickly becoming friends with Marinette in her own right. It ain’t a complicated plot, but it is a nice and warm fic.

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Vengeance Noire by @phiellydinyia

After a horrific argument with his father, Adrien escaped from the mansion with his heart in pieces. In hindsight, it made sense why an akuma was sent his way. He shouldn't have let his emotions get the better of him.

But he never expected Plagg to be even more upset than he was. He never expected his own kwami to be akumatized. To become the threat of a city he swore to protect. And what's worse is the fact that Chat Noir can't jump in to save this one.

But Ladybug can. And that's why he has to find her as quickly as possible, suit or no suit.

I love some good Adrien angst, especially with a delicious side order of Plagg and Adrien’s bond with each other. Even as Adrien’s barely functional, though, he’ll do everything in his power to save Plagg, even if Plagg wishes he wouldn’t go quite that far.

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the best laid plans (of bugs and bakers) by @mexicancat-girl

Paris is buzzing with the appearance of a new ladybug-themed hero, Scarabella.

Alya decides to use her second hero identity to help her best friend Marinette. A bit of her flirting with Marinette is bound to make Marinette's crushes jealous and finally ask her out! Her plan is fool-proof…!

Except when it's not. Not enough people are talking about Scarabella flirting with Marinette. How can Alya properly help her best friend if the news can't be bothered to cover Marinette's budding romance with Scarabella and only posts things about Marinette with Chat Noir?! So Alya puts her all into her plan, upping up her flirting each time she appears as the newbie hero Scarabella.

This totally does not backfire in any way.

I adore fics that center on Alya, I haven’t exactly been shy about that fact. This is a nice one for some Alyanette adorableness! (And some Scarabella and Chat banter, I really enjoyed reading that as well). “Fake” flirting to make crushes jealous tends to turn real very quickly, and this is no exception. It’s hilarious, Alya’s the last one to figure out that her romantic relationship with Marinette is very much real XD.

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Control by @generalluxun

A fun and rebellious gesture by her friend Zoé leaves Marinette accidently in possession of something more precious than she ever expected to hold.

It's a blessing. It's a curse. It's life itself.

She has no idea what to do. There is so much wrapped up not only in WHAT, but also WHO. Her friends and partners can offer advice, consolation, and support, but in the end when you are both Ladybug and the Guardian you are the one in control.

This is a fantastic SentiChloe fic. Marinette ends up with Chloe’s amok and isn’t sure what to do with it, whether to try to give it to Chloe, whether to try and use it to make Chloe a better person, or whether to just hold onto it secretly. Along the way, she ends up getting into Chloe’s head, getting a better idea of Chloe’s mindset, what she thinks and feels when she does the things she does. I loved seeing her struggle with figuring out what to do, it ended up being a great character study for both Marinette and Chloe!

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Within Your Heart by Inkyibis

It's Valentine's Day and Ladybug just wants to her superhero partner to find his love.

And what she wants, the Lucky Charm will create.

If only she could remember what it is she did last night.

Adrino fic here! Marinette’s drunk and feeling awful that her superhero partner is alone on Valentine’s (she’s in a loving and committed relationship with Alya), so she creates a Lucky Charm to help Chat find love! In this universe, Ladybug’s Lucky Charms have the power to create new rules for the universe to follow, such as making one that demands that if you have any magic in you, you have to tell the truth or else you’ll freeze. Or in Adrien’s case, that he has to wake up in the arms of his true love every day XD. It’s very sweet and I love both Adrien’s and Nino’s relationship, and the relationship between the rest of the Miracuteam members as well, even though that’s not the focus.

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This Distance Between Us by @coffeebanana

After defeating Monarch, the search for the Peacock Miraculous brings Ladybug and Chat Noir to a hotel room in London. But it's hard to enjoy the victory when Ladybug can't figure out why Chat's been so quiet, why he seems so sad. How's she supposed to help if she has no idea what's wrong?

This is a great Sentiadrien fic, with Chat freaking out about it and feeling like he’s not worthy of Ladybug’s affections, but not telling her what’s actually wrong because he thinks she won’t want him anymore if she knows. Of course, he’s wrong about that.

Also there’s a pretty intense confrontation with Felix, pissing Chat Noir off is a bad idea.

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Auspicious by The_Rabbit42

Entry #6 for AU April 2023: Reverse-Crush Kwami-Swap

Adrien is quiet and reserved whenever he's not consumed by stress. And between extracurriculars and modeling and his responsibilities as Mister Bug, he's often stressed. He appreciates his kitten, but he loves his bright and outgoing classmate. Not that she knows that.

Marinette's parents have always allowed her a good deal of independence, but she's felt her confidence skyrocket since getting Plagg. Simply being Lady Noire allows her to be more flirty and free. She likes her friends, but she loves her stoic and heroic partner. Not that he knows that.

This is just a lovely fic that’s exactly what it says on the tin. I like how Rabbit goes into what Lady Noire’s and Mister Bug’s dynamic is like here especially.

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Of Crisp Days and Crispier Cakes by @scribeofrhapsody

Gabriel wants to not be sick. Adrien wants to make a cake. Nathalie wants a chill birthday. Maybe they can help each other. Maybe it'll be a disaster.

So this starts off as just the cute fluff fic of Adrien and Gabriel attempting to make Nathalie a birthday cake that the summary indicates, but soon evolves into a more action-filled drama fic when Gabriel makes the terrible decision to akumatize a cashier while sick... a cashier who happens to be in the same shop as Nathalie and Adrien. Who are willing to put their secret identities at risk in order to save each other.

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After Irritation Do Us Start by @scribeofrhapsody

It was the most difficult decision of his life, but Gabriel did it. He let go of Hawk Moth. He moved on from Emilie. Now, all he wants is to enjoy life with his son and new wife. Unfortunately, a certain nephew of his seems to be determined to unearth what Gabriel needs to remain buried.

I love this look at what could have happened if during the season 3 finale, Gabriel had decided enough was enough and given up on being a supervillain, moving on with Nathalie instead. How much better things could have been if he’d just decided to stop - though Adrien still wouldn’t be happy to discover why Hawk Moth had suddenly stopped attacking.

Oh yeah, there’s an OC here called Gerald who Adrien’s puzzled by, since he’d never heard of this guy before the past year. At the end of the story you find out why he’s included in the story. It’s not a major thing, but it is kind of funny and fits well with the rest of the story.

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Rocking the Cat-Eyes by @buggachat

“I like being a girl.”

“That’s the alcohol talking,” Marinette snorted.

“I’ve always been a li’l jealous,” Adrien admitted.

“... Of what?”

“That you get to be a girl,” Adrien murmured, “and I don’t.”

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When Marinette and Adrien host Girls' Night at their apartment, Adrien is easily welcomed to attend as "one of the girls"... but has a bit too much to drink. Some drunken confessions are spilt, some assumptions are made, and most of all...

Adrien is confused.

This is a great Genderfluid!Adrien fic. Marinette actually figures out that Adrien’s not entirely cis before he does, and tries to let him know she’s supportive... but unfortunately Adrien comes to some incorrect conclusions...

Anyway it’s a lot of fun, and Adrien rocks a dress and makeup!

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Desperation by OuzoAthena11

Marinette is at the end of her rope. There seems to be no hope for defeating Monarch, not now that he has most of the Miraculous and has figured out how to transfer their abilities to others.

Tikki has an idea: Awaken the memories of who Marinette was in the past to see if any of their knowledge across time and the multiverse could help.

But this means that Marinette might forever be changed, and so will Chat Noir, if he should choose to do this.

Little did they know that they knew each other in their past lives, and how frequently they crossed paths and even were a couple... well, that meant that they are soulmates.

Star Wars crossover fic here, with Marinette as Obi-wan and Adrien as Quinlan. I like how the reincarnation aspect was handled here, with Obi-wan’s and Quinlan’s memories being prominent and them “waking up” in a way at first, but those settling back down after a bit and Marinette and Adrien going back to being mostly themselves, but with a lot more life experience under their belts and some cool new abilities - which comes in handy for taking down Monarch!

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Family by @unecoccinellenoire

“You know,” Nino grins, “if you need advice on being a big brother in a year or two I’m sure I could help.”

The bottom of Adrien’s stomach dropped out.

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Adrien struggles with the concept of his father and Nathalie having children.

So this is a world where Adrien and Marinette managed to defeat Gabriel, taking his Miraculous, with them giving him an ultimatum: they won’t out him as being Hawk Moth so long as he doesn’t cause any more trouble and does right by Adrien. Gabriel does, in fact, move on finally to Nathalie, giving Adrien a lot of mixed feelings to deal with. He still loves them both despite everything, but he’s also angry at them and he definitely does NOT want them to have children, both because he thinks they’d like any biological child they had more (he’s also harboring guilt from indirectly being the cause of his mom’s death), and because frankly, they screwed up too much with Adrien for him to want them to inflict that on another child.

And then there’s also Adrien dealing with the realization that he’s a Senti on top of that and wondering why he and Felix look the way they do, what Emilie’s reasons were.

It’s mostly just Adrien getting to talk things out, navigating this emotionally fraught situation he finds himself in now that the dust is settled.

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Galaxy In Your Eyes by @liiinerle

Arriving in Paris, Kagami almost immediately finds herself assaulted by a dark, infectious butterfly. When she wakes up, a ladybug-themed superhero is standing over her, and her eyes are like holes into an empty, vast, and incredibly alluring universe...

An AU where the two main Miraculous function differently from the norm.

Nice Marigami fic here! Or should I say, Ladygami - technically Marinette doesn’t exist, only Ladybug, who’s an immortal creation goddess, or something like that. But she still fights to protect Paris from Hawk Moth alongside Chat Noir, who is still a normal, squishy human underneath the suit.

Anyway, there’s a but of inspiration from Nimona here, with a lot of people being scared of Ladybug because she’s a bit... out there, especially when she shapeshifts to have like, 6 extra arms and a lobster tail. Kagami’s into it though XD

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Stay Weird, Ladybug by @diadraws

Ladybug receives an invitation at the end of a patrol!

Contains some of my own headcanons, most notably: MIRACULOUS HOLDERS ARE CREATURES!!! They get actual animal traits when transformed instead of just a costume. My tumblr is diadraws where I elaborate some more on my headcanons which may add some additional context to this fic if you are interested!

CONTENT WARNINGS: *major* depictions of panic attacks, discussion of child neglect/abuse, and a minor emetophobia (vomiting) warning towards the end.

I’ve loved the comics and fanart I’ve seen dia create for this AU, with Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s more animalistic designs, so reading a fic set in that AU was a real treat! It’s mostly just a Ladrien sleepover at Adrien’s house, but it’s very nice and cozy, with some good character development of Adrien helping Ladybug with panic attacks she keeps having.

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Trapped by @consistent-chaos-corporation

Felix asks to visit Adrien as soon as his father is gone. Gabriel catches him snooping, looking for Adrien's Amok.

Everything gets worse from there.

Damn, poor Felix. He came to try and help Adrien, but instead Gabriel stole his Amok, forcing him to obey his commands, holding him prisoner in his basement for months. If you want some quality Felix whump, this is the fic for you!

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When Secrets Come Undone by SortaArtsy

Ladybug promised not to tell Adrien... but she never promised not to confide in Cat Noir. What happens when Ladybug unintentionally vents to the one person who wasn't meant to know any of it?

****MAJOR SEASON 5 SPOILERS WARNING! ****

May not be season 6 compliant when it comes out.

This is a “Adrien finds out what everyone’s been keeping from him post-S5″ fic, and I think it’s handled really well! He feels very hurt, betrayed, and disbelieving initially about being a Senti and his father being Monarch (...mostly being a Senti, it ain’t that hard to believe that Gabriel was a supervillain), and is angry at everyone who kept it secret from him, but he still handles it well, going and talking to the people involved, getting their reasoning and perspective.

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Wanted: Catnap by SortaArtsy

Adrien Agreste has barely been sleeping, trying to be everything expected of him. What happens when he spreads himself too thin? Sick!Adrien/ Cat Noir

Adrien’s just pushing himself so hard, trying to do his regular duties, until his illness forces him to rest. I love how concerned everyone is over him - even GABRIEL eventually relents and wants him to rest. It’s just cute and nice and fluffy.

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Felix is Fine by SortaArtsy

Felix wakes up sick, but is determined to keep it under wraps. Kagami refuses to be fooled. Feligami fluff. Implied past trauma/ abuse, though nothing explicit. Set post S5 so there are SOME SPOILERS!

If you want a Felix sick fic, this story’s the fic for you! I like how Felix and Kagami actually talk about why Felix is so determined to keep the extent of his illness hidden, what caused him to feel like he needs to do that, and Kagami’s understanding about it. Colt sucks.

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Our Tales Are Endless (That’s Why I Tell Them) by @joonapeach

Marinette lives a simple life - one surrounded by pretty dresses, fresh macaroons, and the calming view of Paris. It's a life she thinks she has always fit in.

And yet sometimes, when a certain boy comes by her shop with a flower and a new adventurous story, she can't help but wonder if there's something else she's missing.

This was a truly gorgeous story. It’s the classic “Marinette gives up the Miracle Box and loses her memories” storyline, exploring her life two years later. Even though she’s had time to heal and recover, she still feels like she’s missing something, something big. At least Adrien’s stopping by regularly to tell her stories about Ladybug and Chat Noir, even if she doesn’t understand why they resonate with her so well.

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a winter so warm by @rosekasa

winters were hard for even the best of vampires, but at least adrien had marinette to keep him warm with her cuddles.

december was going to suck without her. so it was only to be expected to get extra cuddles in before she left, right?

(well, not really, considering those heating supplements he was taking, but she didn't need to know about that).

This one’s mostly just cute cuddly adorableness! It’s basically like all those “Marinette gets the Ladybug trait of needing to cuddle up to someone for warmth”, but with Adrien instead. And of course featuring Marinette being a very talented witch who just wants to help Adrien stay warm when she isn’t there XD.

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The 8 Weddings of Alix Kubdel by The_Rabbit42

The bet is simple: with the Rabbit Miraculous, Alix will be speaking at all of her friends' weddings. No matter what age they tie the knot, she'll be there looking the same. From Alix's perspective, she's going to each ceremony and reception one right after another in a nonstop bender.

This fic’s a lot of fun! I loved seeing all the different weddings, as well as how Alix slowly felt more and more out of place, with going forwards in time. Some of the weddings could get, uh. Exciting as well XD. And while there’s been years in-between Alix’s appearances for her friends at the wedding, for Alix, it’s only been a few hours, if that...

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and I thought I heard you sing by @into-september

When Hawkmoth has been defeated and unmasked, Marinette is left with two problems and no solutions.

First, that Adrien is further out of her reach than ever before, and no-one can tell her how to get to him.

Second, that Cat Noir is far more troubled than she knew, and the only thing she can do is wait for him at the place they agreed to meet.

It’s your classic “Hawkmoth’s defeated and taken into custody but that means Adrien’s in for a rough time” sort of fic. Everyone’s worried about Adrien and wants to give him what comfort and support that they can, but he’s being hidden away from everyone (which I mean, honestly that’s a good move), so that’s not really possible. Plus, Ladybug’s noticed that Chat’s having a tough time in his civilian life, which worries her.

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Time Locked AU by PumpkinPatchworkQuilt

In Time Locked, instead of just fixing the damage it puts everything post akuma back to exactly how it was, people, buildings, memories, time. Since it’s more extreme than in canon it requires both The Cat and The Ladybug to complete the Cure,(and visually contains both as well). Because of this only those with a miraculous can recall the events and only those who cast the Cure will have any lasting effects from the fight and even then it’s limited to scars, phantom aches, getting a tad more muscle definition and of course spatial displacement in extreme cases.

Since technology is slightly resistant or incompatible with the miraculous magic, footage of right after the akuma attack will survive, on a technicality and as such only reappears when the time catches up the the recorded time, that could be minutes, hours, or days depending on how long it took to defeat the akuma.

First story: Alya’s Guide to Surviving a Magical Terrorist Which You Can’t Remember

In a world where the fight against Hawkmoth is kept secret from the public, one Alya Césaire sets out to bring the whole thing to light, (and possibly win a journalism award while she's at it)

This was an interesting AU, I loved the focus on Alya especially and her investigative abilities, figuring out that there was a battle between good and evil taking place in the background of everyone’s lives even though most signs of it are wiped clean after the battle’s over. And Adrien and Marinette pick up on her cleverness and want her to help! I love how much appreciation this fic shows for Alya.

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Stitched Together by @nedjsmlfavs

Stitch Witch Marinette was just supposed to be having a nice, terrifying outing with her best friends. She never expected to find a magically trapped kitten, but here we are! Whatever happened to this poor little guy?

Poor Adrien, being transformed and chained up for ages, having no idea that he was gonna be rescued. But at least he got to have fun at Marinette’s place as a cat!

Most of this fic is adorable, though with some dark undertones lying in wait. After all, SOMEONE chained up that poor little kitty...

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Love Remains by @kasienda

Marinette stood in the center of her own room. The pink walls were adorned with sketches and photos, and other unfamiliar souvenirs of her life. Her eyes jumped curiously from a hand made purse to a bowler hat decorated with a feather to a cork board covered in pictures of her friends.

She loved her room. Which made sense, she supposed. She had theoretically been the one to decorate it, but she didn’t remember decorating it. And now, the room was like a cave filled with treasure.

Because each little piece of it held a secret - some part of herself that meant something to her, a clue to what her life had been like before…

Before she had woken up in the arms of a boy wearing a magic black catsuit. His heartbroken sobs had caused something in her chest to twist painfully. She hadn’t understood why then, but from that very first moment she knew she had wanted to make things better for him.

She had no idea how to do that now that she understood what she had lost.

Sixteen years worth of memories.

The echoes of which were papered onto the walls and notebooks of her room just waiting to be rediscovered.

No one else seemed to share her excitement.

Unlike most “Marinette loses her memories” fics, this one isn’t super angst for Marinette - she takes it in stride. Now, everyone else, not so much. It’s really interesting seeing her contrast who she appeared to be before with who she is now, particularly when it comes to her previous self being in love with Adrien and not Chat, while she’s in love with Chat and not Adrien. Of course eventually she finds out certain things that makes that make a lot more sense. She isn’t so different from how she was before after all...

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Betrayal by @jennagrinsoverml

MAJOR EPHEMERAL SPOILERS!!

Ladybug planned to use Viperion's power of Second Chance to get Chat's identity to Su-han without Chat knowing or agreeing.

Of course, then the world went crazy, and she didn't go through with it.

But when an akuma exposes Ladybug's plan to Chat, he doesn't know that. He just knows that his Lady betrayed him.

He deals with his feelings in the best, most mature way he can think of.

He disappears.

So I, like a lot of others, wanted more follow-up on Ephemeral, and particularly on the betrayal of trust it was for Marinette to try to trick Chat Noir into giving up his identity to a third party without his knowledge or consent (I wrote my own take on that at the time, called Transcient, that I’m proud of). This fic did a good job of exploring that, with Adrien reacting in a manner that made sense to me (repressing his negative feelings about the situation as much as possible and trying to justify it to himself, but still feeling terrible despite his own best efforts), and how Marinette realized that she messed up, since Luka keeping it secret that he knows hers and Chat’s secret identities caused her to be upset as well. It did a great job of exploring those negative feelings and letting everyone talk things out, explain their viewpoints, and rebuild their relationships afterwards, which is something I really value.

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Swimming in Circles by @generalluxun

Life has moved on for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She's not where she thought she would be seven years ago, but she's still in a good place. Classes, hobbies, friends, her life is full despite the lingering shades of her faded yet sweet middle-school romance. Then just as quick at the first time, someone drops into her life and turns her into an absolute mess once more.

Love and crushes might be her undoing, but she's got a little more experience this time to weather the storm. This fateful stranger stirs memories as well as emotions inside of her, and with a forthrightness her old self would be jealous of, Marinette takes the plunge.

So this is a Trans fic, with Marinette’s new crush being a trans version of a certain classmate who she doesn’t recognize, who’s changed a lot, for the better. I like how it deals with the baggage she has with that person, has her think that through.

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Three’s company by @torvalvt

Kagami has been doing her best for years to ignore her feelings for her friends. It doesn't help that Adrien and Marinette insist on spending as much time as possible with her, even going so far as inviting her along on their dates together. If only the affection she felt for them wouldn't get in the way of their relationship. Because it is growing harder and harder to tamp down her feelings with how close they are getting to her.

This is adorable. Adrien and Marinette really want Kagami to join their relationship and she just doesn’t dare hope for it. If you want some adorable Adrigaminette from Kagami’s perspective, I recommend checking this fic out!

#ml fanfic rec #miraculous ladybug

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justrandomfanfictionskh · 1 year

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We Should Have Stayed in Gotham ch5

(Almost every Maribat fic I read has the akuma class going to Gotham. But tell me which is more likely, a class touring the city of crime, or a class touring the city of lights? So here it is, the Daminette fic that only I asked for, where Gotham goes to Paris, and the poor students have to grapple with the fact that they have competition for the most dangerous city in the world. I wonder what will happen?)

ao3 Beginning Previous

Everyone froze when the Akuma Alert sounded and looked at their phones. However, this time the information provided was significantly less helpful than the first time.

ALERT UNKNOWN AKUMA

Possible Level: 1-3

Location: 15th Arrondissement

Suspected Power: Transforming Victims into Teacups

Avoidance Protocol in Effect

Ladybug: MIA

Chat Noir: MIA

(If you have more information on the akuma submit it here: Link)

Damian looked around and saw the Parisians visibly relax, and then move about their day as if nothing was happening. Which made sense. This was a low level akuma on the other side of town, the odds of it affecting them were decidedly low and, according to the government site, simply turning around when you see the akuma would keep you safe.

Still Marinette stood up. “I’m going to check with the teachers, make sure this doesn’t interfere with our schedule,” she said before leveling a finger at her friends, and for some reason Damian, saying, “No killing. I’ll be right back!”

She wasn’t even gone five seconds before, Chloe steepled her fingers like a Bond villain and said, “So we’re killing Lila. Who’s in?”

“Chloe!” muttered the silent Juleka who had joined them with her GA partner, Matt, a few minutes ago. “Marinette said–”

“That we shouldn’t kill anyone,” Sabrina said cheerfully, “She didn’t say anything about planning to kill someone!”

Juleka muttered something as she hid behind her hair, as if that would abscond her from their criminal ways. But before any real murder plans could be concocted Kathryn asked, “I don’t get it. I mean if everyone knows she’s lying, and only the Enablers are pandering to her then what’s the big deal? She’s not causing any serious harm, is she?”

“It depends on what you mean by serious harm,” Sabrina said gently.

“Example!” Alex shouted, “Here, she said this literally five minutes before you all turned up.” Alix cleared her throat dramatically and then clasped her hands together, and in a voice reminiscent of a 1950s Disney princess said, “‘Oh you know, I spent a summer in Gotham! Yeah, I helped Batman stop the Riddler by solving one of his puzzles. It was so hard. And afterward Batman and Robin invited me back to the cave for a tour! It was so cool, and Robin was so sweet! I’d talk more about it, but I’m so parched. Alya can I have a sip of your coffee? I’d ask Marinette, but you know how selfish she can be.’”

She turned to Sabrina who giggled and mimicked Alex saying, “‘Oh, of course Lila! Here just take the whole thing. I’m finished with it. So, what did Batman say when you solved the riddle?’”

Every single Gothamite at the table cringed, and Damian scowled deeply, but it was Alice who spoke, “If you guys had come to Gotham, and she had said that, then she would have gotten killed!”

Alex waved her hand dismissively, “Lila’s not an idiot. If we had gone to Gotham, I doubt she would have said anything that would have put her in danger. Unless…Damn it! Why couldn’t we go to Gotham?! We could have gotten one of the Rogues to do the dirty work for us!”

“The point,” Chloe said pointedly, “Is that Lila reinforced the idea that Marinette, who is an angel, is selfish and hates her. And Alya gives Lila her coffee every morning, and today Alya was using her limited addition Heroes Day Travel Mug. They made a hundred of them, but only twenty were sold due to…complications during the celebration.”

“Akuma,” the other girls said in unison.

“Level ten,” Juleka muttered.

Chloe moved her phone so that they could see a picture of said mug, and she continued, “Resell price is €100, but would go for three times that at auction.”

“But Alya’s mug would start at €10,000,” Sabrina said, “And go for five times that, because it was signed by Chat Noir and Ladybug. We don’t know how she managed that because Ladybug almost never gives autographs.”

“And Chat Noir?” Damian asked.

“Hands them out like candy,” Chloe said reclaiming her phone. “The point is that mug was irreplaceable. And because Alya idolizes the heroes, to her it’s priceless.”

“And she’ll never see it again,” Alex supplied, “And probably get akumatized when she realizes it’s missing. She probably didn’t even realize that she had brought it today. I’ll bet you five euros, Lila only ever asked for Alya’s coffee so that she could get that mug.”

“No bet,” Chloe said as the Akuma Alert pinged to let them know that Ladybug and Chat Noir had arrived on the scene, “I’d rather bet on this akuma. Ten euros says it’s a little girl whose tea part got canceled.”

“Mm,” Alex said, “No, I bet that no one showed up to her tea party.”

“The parents of Paris know better by now,” Sabrina cried, “Fifteen says someone at her tea party said something mean.”

Juleka muttered something, about them all being awful which was quickly echoed by Alice crying, “Seriously? That’s a little girl! You people bet on this?”

“Oh!” Chloe scoffed, “Like you don’t bet on which Wayne gets kidnapped every time they have a Gala!”

The Gothamites blushed and very pointedly did not look at Damian. He just rolled his eyes, “Of course we do,” he said, “In fact Todd owes me ten dollars, from the last Gala. But I am more curious about Hawkmoth’s obvious idiocy. I mean, does he truly believe a little girl turning people into teacups is going to achieve his goal? It is ridiculous!”

“Utterly ridiculous,” the Parisians cried giggling, but Chloe just rolled her eyes.

“It’s not ridiculous,” Chloe scoffed, “When you consider the numbers.”

Damian raised an eyebrow and Sabrina explained, “Year one of the Miraculous War saw Hawkmoth akumatizing one person per week, with a level 10 happening every other month. Year two, one akuma per day and a level 10 occurring every other week. We are now on year three, and on average there are two level 1-5s every day, and one level 6-10 every week. Although if there is a level 10, we only get one akuma the next day.”

“He’s wearing you down,” Will said, “Wearing the heroes down.”

The Parisians nodded their exhaustion seeping into their expressions. It was Juleka who spoke, “Ladybug and Chat Noir are getting stronger, but so is Hawkmoth. Every now and then he’ll enact a plan that almost succeeds. Queen Wasp, Heroes Day. But when those plans fail, he goes back to torturing the city. In the end, something will break.”

There was a silence until Marinette returned with the good news that the day would go on as planned. But as she ran over to them, she tripped on a crack in the sidewalk. She would have face planted if Kim, who had just left the Museum, had not caught her, before joining his own friend group as if this was a perfectly normal occurrence.

“That necklace,” Damian said, pointing to the smooth, grey, circular stone pendant with five mice icons on it. “You weren’t wearing that before.”

The Gothamites ignored him, but the Parisians narrowed their eyes. It was strange, But Marinette just brushed it off, “I got it in the gift shop on the way back. I thought it looked nice. So, what did I miss?”

They didn’t have time to answer her questions however, as the last pair left the museum. It was time to return to the school for the “Getting to know you party.” Damian was not looking forward to the mundane and trivial socializing that this would entail. So, he stayed close to Marinette and her friends, whom he deemed to be of adequate intelligence. And it was a good thing too.

For some reason, Marinette had suddenly become dangerously and inexplicably clumsy. She still had that spark of intelligence and competence that had convinced Damian that she was worth the time spent getting to know her, but every third step she seemed to trip on her own feet, fumble her phone, or run into a random object or person. It would have been humorous, if Damian had not seen her racing through the Louvre, dodging classmates and artifacts with almost inhuman grace and skill. In the end, it just made Damian suspicious.

But he did not have time to dwell on it too long, because they separated to drive back to the school. Once there, they were led into the art room, where banquet tables of Paris’s finest pastries and sandwiches were prepared, and popular music was playing. The teachers stepped to the side so that the teens could mingle. And once everyone had their food the party began.

Damian turned to Marinette hoping to engage her in conversation when their phones went off. The green letters read.

AKUMA DE-EVILIZED

Akuma: China Doll

Threat Level: 2

Power: Turning enemies into China Cups and friends into China Dolls

Akumatized Object: A Decorative Spoon teaspoon.

Damage: None

Transformed: 50

Injuries: None

Casualties: None

Action Caused: No one came to victim’s tea party.

Akuma Prevention Note: Parents should encourage proper and healthy socialization in their children. Teachers should prevent alienation and bullying in school. No Tolerance!

Damian turned to discuss this with Marinette, but she just smiled and set down her plate. “I’m sorry,” she said. “But I have to get something from my locker. Excuse me.” And with that she was gone.

Damian sighed, and prepared himself for a tedious afternoon as the Parisians exchanged the bet money, and the Gothamites exchanged the new information about the akumas and the class. Damian turned to disappear into a corner of the classroom, or perhaps examine some of the students’ projects, when he came face to face with the last person he wanted to speak to.

“Hi,” Lila said holding out her hand, “I’m Lila Rossi. You’re Damian Wayne, right? Oh my gosh, I’m such a fan. Alya told me you speak French. Please say you do; my English is dreadful!”

Damian narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance, but said in French, “I do. Please excuse me.”

“Whatever Marinette told you,” Lila said stepping in front of him, her pinch faced in simpering embarrassment. “Please know it’s an exaggeration. It’s true I do have a lying disease, but I am trying to get better. It’s just Hawkmoth, you know. He makes everything so hard.”

“Perhaps,” Damian said his scowl deepening, “But that does not mean that I must listen to your useless drivel. Please, excuse me.”

He shoved himself past her, but before he could even make it three feet away, a second annoying voice shouted, “Hey!”

Damian silently groaned, as he turned to face the scathing voice of Alya Cesaire. She stormed up to Damian, slinging her arm around Lila’s shoulders and fixing him with a glare, which might have been threatening, if he hadn’t been so assured of her incompetence. “She was just trying to say hi! No need to be rude!”

Behind her several Gothamites shook their head in exasperation. Even the students who had never seen him before, were well aware of his reputation. Chad stepped forward giving the girls a smile that would often get him slapped or fawned over (depending on the girl) and said in French, “Oh don’t bother with the Ice Prince. He’s always like that.”

“Just because he’s ‘like’ that is no excuse!” Alya cried. “He should apologize!”

“Ten euros on Alya getting akumatized,” a harsh whisper reached Damian’s ear.

“No way, do you see his face, fifteen on the Gothamite.”

“Oh, you’re on!”

“Guys! It hasn’t even been ten minutes!” A third voice whined.

Damian’s scowl deepened. This was ridiculous! But he was better than that. He was better than them. The moment he had decided that the akumas were real, he had resolved against ever joining their list of victims. His training and obvious risk aside, the idea of someone controlling him was grating. So, he attempted the deep calming breath he had seen Marinette and her friends do and tried again.

“I have no need to apologize,” Damian said icy but calm. “I did nothing wrong. It is your ‘friend’ who cannot take a hint. I suggest she leave me alone. I have no interest in engaging with liars and manipulators.”

“You jerk!” Damian turned toward the new, slightly squeaky voice stomping up to him. A small girl in pink was storming up to them in a fury, and Damian thought she looked like a small kitten for all the good her threatening expression was doing for her. “Lila has a disease!” She cried. “You need to apologize! Can’t you have compassion for someone who is sick and unable to help themselves?”

Damian scowled, as Sabrina and a tall blonde boy dashed between them. “Everyone—" the boy began, but before he could continue, Damian sneered,

“If Miss. Rossi was incapable of helping herself then she would only just be above the rat she actually is. However, since she is completely capable of controlling her own actions, I think it’s fair to say that she’s not even worth the consideration of a rat.” Everyone gasped as Damian fixed the full weight of his glare on the small blonde girl. “As it is, her ‘disease’ is inconsequential.”

The small girl’s gasped, her eyes watering as Lila began to cry into Alya’s shoulder. Damian tilted his chin up in victory, but then looked around to see everyone else, including the teachers looking at him in absolute horror. Marinette was standing in the doorway, fixing him with a look that could only be translated as, “Seriously!”

Damian was confused only for the five seconds it took for a purple butterfly, that glowed with its own dark light, to fly through the window and vanish inside the blonde girl’s bag. “Right,” Damian thought, as a glowing butterfly mask appeared over the girl’s face. “Emotional Terrorist.”

“Run!” Someone shouted, and the class dissolved into chaos. Damian took a defensive stance. He had caused this akuma, it would want him. He needed to face it to keep the others safe.

He watched in horrid fascination as the girl’s soft features transformed into a scowl. “Yes Hawkmoth,” she hissed, as the teachers violently began typing something on their phones. She reached into her bag and pulled out a perfume bottle that was glowing the same, purple black as the butterfly. A hand grabbed Damian’s wrist and pulled him away with a force that had Damian stumbling, even as he turned back to see a black and purple (for lack of a better word) goo encase the girl.

All around him people’s phones were going off with a notification that read,

AKUMA ALERT: LEVEL 4

Akuma: Princess Fragrance

Gas Mask Protocol and Local Shelter Protocol in Effect. Everyone within the 12th Arrondissement put on gas masks and evacuate to the nearest Akuma Shelter. More instructions to follow.

Ladybug: ON THE SCENE

Chat Noir: MIA

Damian turned to the person who was dragging him through the school. The young woman was dressed in a black body suit with red body armor covering her torso, arms, and legs. The red was patterned with small black polka dots, which should have looked ridiculous, but was somehow natural. Her black almost blue hair was done up in pigtails, which had screamed innocence in her pictures. But when she looked back, she fixed Damian with such a scathing glare, the Demon’s Heir flinched. But he understood.

He had been hoping to contrive a way to meet Ladybug during this trip, but he had not wanted it to be like this, running from an akuma of his own making. But he had no time to process the implications of that as a strange noise started echoing down the hallways behind them. It was the sound of a dozen voices singing, “At your service Princess Fragrance!”

Damian looked back to see a pink cloud chasing them down the hallways. The shapes of students and teachers, bent down to a distorted silhouette of a girl. Her maniacal chackling sent a shiver down Damian’s spine and spurred him to run faster, even as the cloud surged forward with quickening speed.

“Brace yourself!” Ladybug cried, and Damian barely had time to snap his head forward, before she had pulled him against her, and thrown them out the window in a shower of glass and metal.

If Damian had been anyone else he probably would have screamed. But since he was him he only hissed, as the spotted hero swung them on top of a nearby building. “Ok,” Ladybug said. As she released him, she flicked open her yoyo and began typing hurriedly on it. Damian stumbled as he regained his balance and focused on his savior.

The way she stood made her seem taller than she actually was, which surprised Damian. All of the pictures of her were all from a distance, or from bellow, so to see that the “Savior of Paris” was actually quite short threw him for a moment. Especially since, her face was still fixed in that withering glare that honestly could have rivaled the Batglare. It made him pause and reevaluate all of his opinions on her. But it was her eyes that gave the look potency.

Her eyes were so blue they practically glowed. No, they were glowing. It was clear to Damian, that the miraculous had given her some enhancements, but even with them she was still probably physically weaker than other meta he knew. And yet her eyes glowed with a power that she did not use, fixing him to the spot. And yet there was still something about her that he could not comprehend. She was young.

Damian was certain of it, Ladybug could not have been three years older than him, if not younger. And yet here she was leading a team of heroes in the protection of her entire city. As the Demon’s Heir it grated on his pride, that someone of his age with less experience was in a position of power, when he was not. But as the Son of the Bat he respected her all the more for it. It was a strange war in his head, that he had been fighting for a long time. But for today, he felt that it would be best for Robin to win, so that he wouldn’t get in Ladybug’s way or alienate her completely.

“You do realize,” Ladybug said in perfect English, obviously annoyed but not angry, “That it hasn’t even been ten minutes since the last akuma? What did you do?”

Damian stiffened. If he was going to convince this woman to let him help her fight Hawkmoth, he had to make a good first impression, “A liar in our host class attempted to manipulate me against my associate. I put her in her place, and her friend was akumatized.” Damian paused tilting his head. “How did you get here so fast?”

Ladybug sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, “I was on my way back home, when I saw the butterfly. I would have purified it immediately, but I had to recharge…ok, we need to move before Princess Fragrance sends her zombies after us. Once I get you somewhere safe, I’ll be able to stop the akuma. Are you ok with me carrying you?”

“I’d prefer to run on my own,” Damian said. Hoping beyond hope that she would not force him to endure that indignity. His brothers would never let him live it down.

To her credit, Ladybug just raised an eyebrow and said, “Are you enhanced?”

“No, but I do have training in parkour and martial arts,” he said.

“That may be, but unless you have enhanced strength you won’t be able to keep up with me. Especially when I’m swinging and you’re just running.”

“I’m from Gotham,” Damian insisted.

“That means squat here,” Ladybug said with a furrowed brow. “Haven’t you talked to your hosts. Surely they would have instructed you on that by now.”

Damian opened his mouth and then closed it, remembering the images that Marinette and Chloe had painted in his mind. She was right, him being from Gotham was worth about as much as the air he used to say the words. So, he closed his mouth and glowered, which for some reason made Ladybug smile and say,

“You’re quiet a prickly one, aren’t you. I think I’m going to call you Spikes.”

“Spikes?” Damian demanded with a raised eyebrow.

“Yep,” she said, “Like your hair. You’re spikey.” As if to prove the point, she reached up to ruffle, Damian's carefully gelled hair. He reared back from her in complete bafflement which caused her to laugh, and shake her head. “Look Spikes, Princess Fragrance might just be a level four, but that’s one level away from being deadly. I need your complete cooperation on this, if you don’t want to get brainwashed and forced to do whatever twisted deed she has in mind.”

Damian sighed, “Very well, but first—”

He never got to finish that sentence, as Ladybug slung him over her shoulder like he was a bag of flour and took of across the city. Damian growled but didn’t fight her, as the sound of singing zombies grew louder and louder and the pink fog spilled out of the building. But before they were too far away, Damian looked up to see a girl with long pink hair, green skin, and a black dress march out of the building with a perfume bottle in her hand. She laughed shouting something that he couldn’t hear. But then a horde of brainwashed citizens spilled out of the building, smiling like they were on Joker venom and chasing them through the streets of Paris.

Ladybug didn’t set him down until they were completely out of sight of the zombie army and their Princess. She did have the grace to put him down on his feet, and so he easily turned to see that they were on top of a skyscraper. Based on its billboard, this particular building was dedicated to a news station. Ladybug flipped open her yoyo again, but she closed it as three new heroes jumped up onto the roof.

Viperion and Ryuko were both tall and imposing figures, but one glance told Damian, that they were just as young as Ladybug. As young as him. But they all carried themselves with a presence that Damian only saw around the adult heroes. It was something that Damian associated with true power and responsibility. It cloaked them, as it cloaked Ladybug, and there was no doubt in his mind that these were members of a coherent and well established team. Even their costumes had a uniform like quality to them as thy all fit into the same style as Ladybug's. Monochrome body suits with patterned body armor styled after whichever animal their Miraculous was named for.

Viperion’s suit was black, and his armor had a teal scaled pattern, with a yellow diamond on the chest. Meanwhile, Ryuko’s suit was red, and her armor had black scales. A golden symbol of the three elements water, wind, lightening was embossed in the chest piece, and she had two golden horns, to complete her dragon look. Compared to them, Chat Noir looked very decidedly out of place.

His suit had not changed one bit in the three years he had been active. It was still the same leather black cat suite with the strange golden bell at his neck. And though his green cat eyes glowed with the same power that Ladybug had, there was something in his relaxed and easy posture that made him seem separate from the others. He was tall and obviously strong. But he clearly did not have the presence that the others carried.

Ladybug, Viperion, and Ryuko had the dignity of leadership and strength beyond their age. Chat Noire seemed obviously hindered by his. This fact seemed to be proved when the cat hero snorted at Damian and said,

“So, this is the one who caused Princess Fragrance. Looks like we got another Chloe on our hands, milady!”

“That’s enough Chatton,” Ladybug said stepping beside Damian. “We do not judge, remember.”

Chat Noir seemed properly chastised as the other two stepped forward. “What happened?” Viperion said calmly, strumming a…was that a lyre?

Ladybug sighed, “Lila.” All three heroes nodded understandingly, and no more questions were asked on the matter. Damian gritted his teeth at this reaction, and his hatred for the liar only grew. But he remained silent as Ladybug outlined her plan.

He listened intently as they spoke, half expecting that he would need to interject, point out a flaw in their plan, or come up with a better one. But no. Ladybug was clearly very strategic and experienced as she laid out a plan that was both simple and fool proof, provided that everyone did their part.

Damian’s eyes trailed to Chat Noir. He was clearly the weak link, but if the hierarchy of Miraculous that the SpotsOn blog detailed was correct, then Chat Noir was supposed to be equal to Ladybug, her partner and balance. Instead, he acted like a side kick, lazily swinging his leather “tail” and giving Damian narrowed looks. When he did speak it was to make a pun or joke, and Damian had a hard time figuring out what exactly he added to the group, except a place to fill. One thing was clear to Damian, if anyone was going to break ranks and cause the plan to fall apart, then it would be Chat Noir. He did not want that to happen considering it was his neck on the line.

Damian cleared his throat drawing all of their eyes towards him. “Your plan is good but it’s going to fail.”

“Excuse me?” Chat Noir demanded.

“What do you mean?” Viperion asked.

“It is too reliant on individual members. If so much as one person breaks rank, then the whole thing falls apart, and you will have to use your luck charm…is it wise to use two lucky charms in a day?”

Ladybug tilted her head examining him carefully, “So long as Cataclysm is used to act as a balance it's fine. Besides I need the charm for the cure, it's part of the spell. How do you know one of us will break rank?”

Damian looked Chat Noir up and down, and couldn’t help the sneer at his blatant childishness before facing Ladybug and saying, “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Hey!” Chat yelled and tried to charge Damian, but Ryuko held him back.

“Ladybug,” Viperion asked with a hint of amusement, “Where’d you find this one?”

Ladybug sighed, “Imagine if Ryuko and Bumble Queen were the same person and male, that’s him.”

She jerked her thumb at Damian as she said this, giving Damian a strange sense of déjà vu, but he shook it off as the boys nodded their understanding with soft “Oh’s” while Ryuko studied Damian far more carefully than before. Finally, the Dragon Hero said, “What exactly do you have in mind?”

“Your lucky charm,” Damian said turning to Ladybug, “Does it only work for specific situations, or will it always work no matter what?”

Ladybug smirked at him placing her hands on her hips. “Specific situations,” she said, “And if the situation randomly changes than it can become worthless.”

“Then—”

“Wait!” Viperion cried and then did something to his bracelet so that the snake carving on it began to glow. He then nodded for Damian to continue.

Damian arched his brows at that but continued anyway, “Then set the trap in an area completely under your control. But do not give specific instructions until Princess Fragrance is right in front of you. Once she is, command everyone as you see fit. It is the most efficient way to use your Luck Charm.”

“Ladybug!” Chat Noir demanded, “Are you going to let him talk to you like that?”

Damian sighed in exasperation but said nothing as he met Ladybug's gaze. He understood where Chat Noir was coming from. There was something in his tone of voice, that had most people believing he was arrogant and entitled. Which to be fair, he was, or at least he used to be. But he had lived six years with his father, three older brothers, two sisters, one almost brother, and one technically sister. And though he would never say it to their faces, they were all incredible warriors who had put him in his place as soundly as any of Ra’s trainers.

The arrogance might still be there, but the entitlement had been drained out of him with every spar lost, every prank war engaged in, and every birthday celebrated. But that didn’t stop people from hearing his tone and assuming the worst. He could only hope that Ladybug would look past this and see the logic of his plan, even if he was offensive about it.

The hero in question just looked at him with those glowing blue eyes, that seemed to pierce him even without the power behind them. A sly smile played on her lids as she shrugged, “I don’t know what you mean Chatton. He’s right. The only problem is our time limit. Once my lucky charm is used, we will only have fifteen minutes to defeat the akuma, and purify it.”

Damian blinked in confusion, “The Government site said your limit was five minutes.”

Ladybug’s smile became a smirk as she said, “And you think I tell the government everything? Viperion, what do you think?"

The snake hero paused for a count of three before grinning slyly and saying, "We didn't need second chance."

'The follow me," she said, and before Damian could protest, Ladybug slung him over her shoulder again.

@spicemallow @night-ngale @annastasha @ev-cupcake @hammalammadamdam @laydeekrayzee @itsemmylie @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks @doglover82 @raven-ette @atiredartistandacat

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celestiall0tus · 2 months

Text

Tales of Bloody Bug and Chat Noir - Chapter 12 - Pharoah

Beginning || Previous || Next

Alix ran around the new Tutankhamun exhibit in the Louvre. Jalil followed her and explained each display. She took notes before he started in on his theories to the next. She made her way to Tutankhamun’s specter as their dad joined them.

“How’s everything going, you two?” Alim asked.

“Amazing. I’ll have the best project for History yet,” Alix beamed.

“And you, Jalil?”

“It’s unbelievable! You managed to get everything I need,” Jalil exclaimed.

“Need for what?” Alim pressed.

Alix rolled her eyes. “Oh, here we go.”

“Indeed. I want to direct your attention to the scroll on this wall.”

Alim and Alix followed Jalil as they approached an adjacent wall.

“So, Dad, you know this, but for Alix, the one with the scepter is Tutankhamun the First. There, opposite, is Nefertiti, his princess. There are exactly one hundred mummies beside them. She died several years before him and the sun god, Ra, took her as his goddess.”

“Get to the point,” Alix said.

“I am. Tutankhamun wanted to bring his princess back to life by offering the sun god a new wife. The scene illustrates a ritual he devised. However, nobody has ever fully deciphered the hieroglyphics, but I have. It’s a magic chant that needs to be recited in order to complete the ritual. I’m sure of it. I just need the scepter and I can carry out the ritual.”

“I mean, that’s cool and all, but it looks like you need a human sacrifice for the ritual. Aren’t we long past that?” Alix asked.

Alim sighed. “Jalil, I love the interest you take in your study, but even if it were to work, I can’t allow you to do that.”

“Yeah. And the human sacrifice thing again. Who would you even use for it? Did you even think of that?”

“Indeed, I did. The lucky sacrifice I picked is none other than Chloe Bourgeois,” Jalil announced.

Jalil pulled out a crudely drawn imitation of Chloe. Alix snickered while Alim scowled.

“Alix, don’t laugh at that.”

“I mean, it’s kinda funny,” Alix admitted.

“No, it’s not, young lady,” Alim scolded.

Alix pursed her lips as Alim stepped closer to Jalil.

“As I’ve said, I admire your dedication and passion for history and the supernatural aspects of it, but I cannot allow this. Not only because I cannot stake my entire career and our livelihood on a potential legend, but I will not let you indulge in these murderous fantasies.”

“Don’t you see it’s perfect? We could discover the secret to resurrection and keep Alix safe. No more anger, no more worries.”

“How would this help her?”

“Because Chloe is clearly a focal point for a lot of Alix’s anger and stress. We remove that and-.”

“Absolutely not. Jalil, do you hear yourself? We should be helping Alix work through it to the point. Not eliminating the cause without knowing the reason why. Without getting rid of the roots, it will spread. If not Chloe, it’ll be someone or something else.”

“But-!”

“Enough! I won’t hear of this anymore. I want you to take the day off, Jalil. I need you to get your head on straight before you even consider coming back here.”

Jalil opened his mouth but closed it and stormed off.

“Dad, you’re not upset that we aren’t making progress on my… issues, are you?” Alix asked.

“Alix, honey, no. You are young and going through a lot of change in your life while dealing with a past trauma. It is a challenge, but we’ll handle it at the pace that you’re comfortable with. That is what matters most.”

“But what if we never find out? What if I don’t get better?”

“Sometimes that happens. Which, we just need to learn to adapt, just as our ancestors did. We are still human and capable of so much. Even if you never find the source of your anger and trauma, you’ll learn to adapt and live around it. Sometimes it’s all we can do. Much like your mother.”

“Was she hurt?”

“Well, let’s just say she didn’t have the upbringing you and Jalil have. Far from actually. It made her very slow to trust and guarded. I’m still amazed I got through her walls, but I’m glad I did. I got to be with the most amazing, flawed woman and human I’ve ever known. On top of that, we had two equally amazing and flawed children, just like we are.”

“Is that why you push me to make friends?”

“It is another reason, yes. I know it’s cliché to say love saved us, but it really did. I wasn’t half the man I was before I met your mom. She made sure to toughen me up and in return, I softened her. With me, she was able to open herself up, even if it was just a little.”

“Did Mom have trouble too?”

“Oh, yes. And I’d get to hear all about it, but that was all part of the process. It’s a slow and painful one, but one that must be taken at your own pace.”

“Excuse me, but are you the Director of the museum?” Nathalie asked.

Alim and Alix turned to the entrance where Adrien stood with Nathalie and Gorilla. Alim stepped forward.

“I am. May I help you?”

“My boss’s son heard about this exhibit arriving and wanted to visit it to gather information for a school project. Is it open?” Nathalie explained.

“It may not be open just yet, but I can allow this. After all, my own daughter has been doing the same. Uh, Alix?”

Alix stepped up beside Alim. “Yeah?”

“Would you assist him while Jalil is out for the day?”

“Do I have to?”

“No, but I would appreciate it.”

Alix considered, approached Adrien, and gave him her notes. “Give these back to me or you will hurt.”

“That’s not what I exactly had in mind,” Alim remarked.

“Sorry, Dad, but I do have to get to roller derby.”

Alim’s eyes widened. “I forgot about roller derby! It’s not a match today, is it?”

“No, just practice.”

“Thank goodness. Do you need a ride?”

“Nah, I’m good. Thanks though.”

“Stay safe, Alix. See you for lunch!”

Alix waved goodbye and headed for the museum exit. She stopped when a tall, muscular man with roseish black skin, blue glowing eyes, and decked out in gold Egyptian jewelry, shendyt, and mask. She eyed Jalil’s scarab necklace in the collection of jewelry.

“Jalil?” Alix asked.

“Jalil is gone. I’m the Pharoah!”

Alix grimaced and ran. She headed back to the Tutankhamun exhibit. She made it down the steps when Pharoah blocked her path. She skidded to a stop and scrambled back.

“You’re fast, Alix, but not fast enough.”

“Enough, Jalil! Cut the fucking crap!” Alix roared.

“Alix?” Alim called.

Pharoah turned where Alim’s voice came from. Alix took the opportunity and ran to hide. She transformed into Bloody Bug and ran back to the exhibit. She spotted Pharoah approaching Alim while Adrien, Nathalie, and Gorilla made their escape. She chunked her yo-yo in, and it wrapped around Alim. She pulled him out of Pharoah’s path.

“Go! I’ll keep him busy!” Bloody Bug yelled.

Alim hesitated, then ran.

Bloody Bug turned as Pharoah closed the gap. Her eyes widened to see his mask had shifted to a lion’s head. He landed a blow on her side and sent her into the wall. The impact created a crater with her plastered to the bottom of it. She took a sharp breath as she felt the pain through her suit. He reached in, grabbed her face, and lifted her up.

“Fucking bastard! That hurt!” Bloody Bug roared.

“Then let’s make this easy for both of us. Give me your earrings.”

“Over my dead body! Lucky Charm!”

Ladybugs swirled and created an unassuming box. Pharoah laughed and picked it up.

“Is this the best you can do, little bug?”

Bloody Bug snarled and swung her legs up. She hit the corner of the box and it exploded. Pharoah yelled as she was propelled back. She rolled and staggered to her feet. She headed out of the museum as she heard his furious screams. She got as much distance between her and Louvre as possible. She slipped into an alleyway and de-transformed. She leaned against a wall and groaned.

“That hurt.”

“This is bad. We should go see Master,” Tikki said.

“My thoughts too, Tikki. I think we should use elation. What do you think?”

“Maybe call Bomb Bee back too?”

Alix nodded. She stuck Tikki in her cap and headed for Wang Fu’s massage parlor. She headed in and found him finishing with a patient.

“Ah, my next client. I’ll see you next week,” Wang Fu said to the patient.

Alix slipped past the patient and shut the door. “I’m going to need help again.”

“Twice in a row? It’s not that one girl again, is it?”

“I’d rather that. No, my brother was akumatized into this demigod thing. He had a normal mask, then it was a lions, and then I was seismic punched into a wall with my own impact crater. Still feel the sting of it.”

“Not to mention she blew up the exhibit and scepter that Jalil wanted to use to perform an ancient sacrificial ritual. So, he’s going to be coming right for her,” Tikki added.

Wang Fu’s eyes widened. “That’s… concerning to say the least. Alright, one moment.”

Alix took a seat while Wang Fu retrieved the Miraculous Box. She lifted her shirt to check for bruising, but didn’t’ see anything. She had expected to see a massive black bruise of Pharoah’s fist in her side.

“Don’t worry. So long as you have me on, you won’t sustain any injuries, though you’ll feel the pain still,” Tikki reassured.

“Fucking lovely,” Alix groaned.

“Alright, here we are. Make your choices,” Wang Fu said.

“How many am I allowed?” Alix asked.

Wang Fu considered. “I’ll lend you three this time. Just as before, they are to be returned immediately after.”

“Well, I know I want elation and action, but what would you suggest for a third?”

Wang Fu considered, then took off the turtle shell bracelet he wore. “This belongs to the kwami of protection. I think you can guess what it does.”

Alix snorted. “I don’t know. It might take a lot of guesses. Oh, you have anything I could give Tikki to recharge?”

Wang Fu nodded. He left and returned shortly after with a plate of store-bought cookies. Tikki munched on a few before she flew up.

“All good.”

“Good. Saddle up, it’s going to be a long run,” Alix said.

“We aren’t transforming?”

“You said it yourself. He’s coming for Bloody Bug. It’d take longer, but we’d keep the others safe until we get the jewels to them. Now, in the cap.”

Tikki giggled and hid under Alix’s cap. Alix messaged Marinette, asking where she and Alya were. She waited a minute when Marinette said she and Alya were at Places des Vosages. She put her phone away and headed to the location. She spotted them with Nino, sitting on the fountain. She slipped into an alleyway, transformed, and lassoed the three of them. She pulled them into the alley with her.

“Woah! Bloody Bug? What’s up, dude?” Nino asked.

“No time. I need help. I decided to pick a fight with a god and pissed them off. You three are going to help.”

Alya squealed and jumped forward. Bloody Bug handed Alya the bee comb. Alya bounced, put the comb in her hair, and transformed into Bomb Bee.

Nino’s jaw dropped as he pointed at Bomb Bee.

“Surprised? You should be.”

Bloody Bug snapped her fingers, getting Nino’s attention. She held up the panja bracelet for Marinette and the shell bracelet for Nino. “You two have the same deal as Alya. You get these for one time, help me, and give them back. Marinette, prove yourself strong and not too soft-hearted by accepting elation. Nino, you’re just here, so congratulations.”

Marinette put on the panja bracelet while Nino put on the shell bracelet. Orbs shot out and circled them before they morphed into a magenta tiger kwami and a green turtle kwami.

“Alright, make this snappy you two. We have a god hunting me,” Bloody Bug urged.

“Oh my. Very well. I am Wayzz, kwami of protection. Pleasure to meet you, young man.

“And I’m Roarr! Kwami of elation at your service, girlie!”

“Tell them what they can do and how to transform,” Bloody Bug interjected.

“Right. You can generate a shield saying ‘Shelter.’ To transform, say, ‘Wayzz, shell on.’ To de-transform, say, ‘Wayzz, shell off,’” Wayzz explained.

“And for me, when you say ‘Clout,’ you can deliver a devastating sucker punch! Oh, and “Roarr, stripes on,’ to transform and ‘Roarr, stripes off,’ to de-transform,” Roarr yelled.

“Be careful with these powers. One per transformation and then you have five minutes before you turn back. Now, suit up,” Bloody Bug ordered.

“Wayzz, shell on!”

“Roarr, stripes on!”

“Sekhmet, give me your strength!” Pharoah demanded.

Chat Noir ran in as Pharoah’s mask shifted to a lion. Pharoah clapped his hands together that sent a shockwave that repelled Chat Noir. Chat Noir scrambled to his feet as Pharoah grabbed his face.

“Where is that wretch, Bloody Bug?”

“Couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to, which I don’t.”

“You’ll soon change that tune when I-,” Pharoah started.

“Hey, ugly!” Bloody Bug yelled.

Pharoah turned to see Bloody Bug standing atop a nearby building. He laughed and dropped Chat Noir. He stepped forward when Bloody Bug jumped down and approached him.

“Bug, what are you doing?” Chat Noir asked.

“Oh, you know. The same thing as before.”

Chat Noir raised a brow as Bloody Bug didn’t move. He stepped forward to intervene, but she held up a hand and counted down from five. He tilted his head when she got to one and used her Lucky Charm that created a simple book.

“A book? That’s just as useless as your bomb,” Pharoah mocked.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. The book is a trident true that’s never failed me before.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Pharoah reached for Bloody Bug, but she jumped back. She hurled the book at his head that staggered him. Chat Noir jumped in and knocked Pharoah off his feet temporarily. Pharoah got back to his feet as a massive spinning top slammed into him. Bomb Bee and a cerise tiger heroine stood atop the spinning toy.

Chat Noir’s jaw dropped, and eyes widened seeing the tiger girl. He was captivated by her simple, yet beautiful tiger-themed suit that was cerise, the perfect blend of red and pink, of femininity and aggression, accented elegantly with bronze stripes. Her deep magenta hair was pulled back into a pair of high pigtails that whipped wildly in the wind. All that paled in comparison to her savage, orange tiger eyes that shone with a wild delight.

“Cowabunga, my dudes!”

Chat Noir snapped out of his trace as a guy in a turtle themed superhero suit shield surfed past him, pulled along by Bomb Bee. He tilted his head at the nagging familiarity of the turtle hero’s voice.

“Curse you, Bloody Bug! Too cowardly to face me alone?” Pharoah roared.

“Aww, is the cowardly lion too scared to face us?” Bomb Bee mocked.

“Excuse me?”

“C’mon, meow meow. Let’s see how those tiny claws compare to a real wildcat.”

Bomb Bee gestured to the tiger hero, who stood ready to fight. Pharoah shook his head and went for Bloody Bug, but the turtle hero cut him off as Pharoah’s attack bounced off the turtle shield.

“I don’t think so, my dude. You want Bloody Bug, you’ll need to defeat me. Before you defeat me, you’ll need to beat them.”

Pharoah roared and reared his arm back for another attack.

“Shelter!”

A dome-like turtle shield covered the turtle hero, Bloody Bug, and Chat Noir. Pharoah pounded on the barrier, but it wouldn’t relent.

“Anyway, will he does that, name’s Carapace, dude Noir.”

“You… seem familiar. Have we met?”

“Can’t say we have. If we have, hit me up. I wouldn’t mind this hero gig again.”

Chat Noir hummed as he looked back at the tiger hero. Pharoah finally turned away from them back to Bomb Bee and the tiger.

“Fine. I’ll squish you two first.”

“Let’s test the strength of your claws, kitten. Clout!” the tiger exclaimed.

Chat Noir watched as the tiger and Pharoah’s fists connected that sent shockwaves out that ripped apart the street. They stood even for a brief second before the tiger pushed back against Pharoah. He struggled to fight against her when Bomb Bee snuck around and used Venom to paralyze him.

Carapace dropped the shield, allowing Bloody Bug to take the necklace and break it. The Akuma flew up from the broken pendant. She caught and purified it, then grabbed her book and threw it up.

“Miraculous!”

The book burst into a swarm of ladybugs that repaired the damage done while Pharoah reverted to Jalil.

“What happened? Where am I?” Jalil asked.

“You were akumatized. I had destroyed the Tutankhamun exhibit and painted a target on myself. Now, any reason you went into that exhibit?” Bloody Bug asked.

“I… wanted to used Tutankhamun’s scepter to perform a ritual. I hoped to prove one of my theories true, but also protect my little sister.”

“Little sister?” the tiger asked.

“Yeah. She had a foul run-in with that awful Chloe Bourgeois and was nearly consumed by her rage. It sent her spiraling and I just… I wanted to keep her from that happening. She was so scared of it and I hated seeing her so broken down. I felt like I couldn’t do anything when I should be able to. I’m her older brother, and I can’t do anything to help her. What good am I to her?”

Bomb Bee started towards Jalil when Bloody Bug knelt.

“Your sister sounds like a hard case to crack, which I can relate to. It’s not easy going through life with those challenges. She’s going to have her highs and lows as we all do, but the biggest thing you can do is just be there for her. As long as you do that, you’re doing great.”

Jalil’s eyes widened as Bloody Bug saw a flash of recognition. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. “Thank you! Thank you so much! I promise I’ll be there, always!”

Bloody Bug chuckled nervously. She patted Jalil’s head, then pushed him away as her earrings chirped.

“Bug, you’re about to change back,” Chat Noir said.

“Fuck. Cat, get this man back to his home. Carapace, Bomb Bee, and Lady Tigress, move it.”

Chat Noir watched the four of them all head in different directions. He watched the tiger, Lady Tigress, vanish before he scooped up Jalil.

“Where am I taking you?” Chat Noir asked.

“Uh, the Louvre.”

“Right-o! I’ll have you there faster than you can say ‘meow.’”

Alix returned home after she gave the miraculous jewels back to Wang Fu. She managed to swing by roller derby, but she had missed practice. Her coach would have laid into her, but she explained Jalil was akumatized and she didn’t want to put the team at risk, which shut her coach up. She had checked her phone periodically on her way home to see Chat Noir had eagerly messaged her, asking about Lady Tigress. She had put her phone on silent as she ignored him, not wanting to indulge his curosity.

Alix headed for the stairs when Alim called to her. She turned as he grabbed her shoulders and looked her over.

“Are you ok? Are you hurt? Any injuries, bruises, or anything?” Alim asked.

“I’m fine. It was just practice, Dad. We don’t actually hurt each other until match time.”

“You’re talking about… derby? No, Alix, not that. I’m talking about your fight with Pharoah. You’re not hurt, are you? I saw the impact and the overall destruction of the exhibit, but-.”

“Wait, Dad, you aren’t saying I’m Bloody Bug, are you?”

“Alix, you can’t fool me. Well, maybe. I didn’t recognize you immediately. It was like I saw you, but it wasn’t you. It was… such a strange feeling not being able to recognize you from your face. As your father, I should, but I couldn’t. I likely wouldn’t have until you spoke. I didn’t place the voice immediately, but I know your tone and speech patterns. They’re just like your mother’s.”

“Yeah, you can’t hide the truth from us, Alix!” Jalil yelled.

Alix glanced over as Jalil ran down the stairs and joined the conversation.

“I heard it too. It was harder for me to place, but I caught on once I recognized where I’ve heard such a tone before.”

“Ah, fuck it. Fine, yes. I’m Bloody Bug,” Alix admitted.

Jalil gasped. “We knew it! How do you do it? Did you gain them from some ancient ritual or a blessing from an old god?”

Alix rolled her eyes and took off her cap. Jalil and Alim looked at Tikki, who was curled up taking a nap.

“Interesting. Looks like Jalil’s theory of magic creatures might have some weight after all,” Alim mumbled.

“Does that mean you’ll-,” Jalil started.

“Absolutely not. Jalil, we have to keep this secret. That means no interrogating whatever this creature is or revealing any information regarding Alix’s superhero identity.”

“So, wait, you’re not mad? And you’re not going to tell me to stop?”

Alim sighed. “I would like to, but I know you. You listen when you want to but have developed a habit of disregarding the rules. Not all, but a lot of them. I know if I told you to stop, you’d just keep doing this. It’s how you are and how your mother was. You both are the types to learn by doing. It won’t matter how much I warn you otherwise, you’ll still do it to find out for yourself.”

“That’s not always true. I listen to you sometimes.”

“Yes, but would you listen to me on this?”

“Probably not.”

“Exactly. I don’t necessarily like it, but I can’t stop you. I want to keep you safe, but I can’t always. You’re in those stages where you are becoming your own person. As much as I’d rather shelter you, I know she wouldn’t want that. She’d have encouraged and supported you, so that’s what I’ll do. For you and for her.”

Alix took a shaky breath. “I appreciate it, but you don’t have to do everything for her if you don’t want to.”

Alim chuckled as a tear fell. “Well, maybe not, but it’s how I can honor her memory and wishes. To see you both happy and strong, just like she will have always wanted. For you both to live a life where you could be yourself. If being Bloody Bug is part of that for you, I will support it and you.”

Tears fell from Alix’s eyes as she hugged Alim. “Thank you.”

Tikki yawned and sat up. “What’s going on?”

“Ah, she’s awake. Greetings, little creature. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Alim said.

Tikki blinked. “Uh, Alix?”

“They know. My voice gave it away,” Alix said.

“Oh. Yeah, the glamor isn’t the best in this age, but we’re also not designed for this kind of environment. So, yeah,” Tikki remarked.

“What’s the glamor do?” Jalil asked.

“It masks our holder’s identity. The appearance is the big one, except it can’t mask the immutable like body mass and height. It can also hide the voice, but not necessarily the tone and speech. Which, I guess that’s how you figured it out, Mr. Kubdel?” Tikki asked.

“Yes, but please, call me Alim.”

“Well met, Alim. My name’s Tikki.”

“Likewise, Tikki. Are you by chance hungry? Is that something you can do?” Alim asked.

“She can and probably is. I didn’t have any extra snacks packed, so, yeah.”

“Not to worry. I’ll help you with that. What do you eat, Tikki?”

“Sugar. Preferably sweets.”

“Well, that would explain the boxes I’ve been seeing from that one bakery run by Tom and Sabine.”

“Yeah, I’ve been treating Tikki a little more. Plus, I had received a free box of macaroons from Tom last week for when Cat and I kept Marinette safe from Evillustrator.”

“Treating me or yourself?” Tikki grumbled.

“Hey! I get hungry too and they do have the best pastries in all of Paris. So, I’m allowed to indulge too,” Alix remarked.

Alim chuckled. “Alright, you two. I can swing by and get some pastries for Tikki. Let you use your money on other things, Alix. Just make sure you’re still careful out there, ok?”

“Always. Thank you, Dad.”

Alim smiled and hugged Alix. “Always, Alix. I love you.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

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motherofplatypus · 10 months

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Miraculous Finale Review: Part 1 (Conformation)

I've been holding this one back for a long time, but at last, with Conformation and Recreation aired, season 5 has finally ended. Its been a journey, watching it from the first episode until now, going high and low, and we finally reached the grand finale.

Who am i kidding?

High and low? Get real. Everything is just going low and low that we met Hades and he asked what were we watching that he met us in his bathroom.

What in the absolute fuck did we just watch? This is just a whole bunch of retcon that makes every single episode for the last 4 seasons redundant, irrelevant, pointless, and stupid. It makes us question if the show is written by a bunch of toddlers who just learned the word "tremendous". Just...dude, you're lucky Disney don't own you, because this show gonna get butchered hard just for the writing skill, let alone the Bustier's kissing scene.

Speaking of Bustier, let's talk about the campaign for mayoral election. So they do have it. I mean, they showed us election in Season 1, but i thought that was the writers making a mistake, like making Chloe having humanity in early seasons. And speaking of Chloe, mind telling us why she becomes the mayor in previous episode? Oooh, that's right, plot convenience.

Second, and i shouldn't be surprised at this point after what happened to Alix and Luka, but holy bolognese they literally take Adrien out of the finale. The main character himself. The character whose name is on the title of the show. The one person who already has the front seat of the whole shenanigans, was written off and out of it. He's completely out out.

Can any of you who have Twitter do me a favor and ask That Guy just what in the absolute butt joke was he thinking for doing this? I know the risk is getting blocked by him, but just imagine getting blocked by a child who somehow got access to the internet.

I mean, that's literally what it is when dealing with That Guy. And I'll let others to make Adrien salt out of it, I have enough salt just from these two episodes.

Then we get to Marinette's dream sequence, where's she's the knight, saving the poor and fragile Princess Adrien. They're not even trying to pretend Adrien isn't a damsel in distress here. She panicked, worried that Adrien is in trouble, and wanted to go to the Agreste Mansion to ask if he's okay.

Hey, remember literally last episode Felix told Marinette Gabe is Monarch? Yeah, neither do the writers.

Anyway, there's the Perfect Alliance thingy, and man was it creepy, in a positive way (surprisingly). The negative way (unsurprisingly) is the inconsistency of it.

Plagg called Alya and did everything to get her attention to no avail because she's basically hypnotized by it, but somehow Mylene could get Rose and Ivan's attention when standing away from them? So can you or can you not get their attention? Go with one or don't go with either of them.

And then the Miraculized. Miraculizer? Whatevs, Walmart Squid Game. Just how did this happen? This is not akumatization, mind you. Akumatization requires the butterfly miraculous to empower a butterfly and send them to someone else. There's no butterfly being sent whatsoever. Unless, of course, another plot convenience that we all oh so familiar with.

And they have multiple miraculous powers. What happened to the whole "One ring, one power" system, huh? Another plot convenience?

More so, they have an innate ability to track down Ladybug and Chat Noir, and boy oh boy, was I smacking my head.

Hey, writers, what happened to the whole "Quantum Mask" rule BS? Thrown out the window seasons ago? Another plot convenience! Who woulda thunk?!

"Oh, but they have the quantum imprint added to them, that's how." Yeah, I ain't buying any of that shit. You have one rule that you make and you can't even stick with it.

And even worse, the whole "Track the heroes but not their civilian identity." Again? Really? How can you bend a rule to one side while bending it to another side? Get a grip, dammit.

Also also, this plan requires Gabe to akumatize himself and give everyone nightmare, which makes them feel negative emotion. Not gonna lie, it's a smart plan coming from someone who thinks turning a baby into a villain multiple times is a good idea, but the fact you never abuse this to get endless supply of akuma victim is beyond stupid. A familiar kind of stupid, but still, it's stupid.

And the ride continues.

Tomoe turned off all the Alliance rings and everyone became frantic because "Ladybug and Chat Noir kidnapped Adrien and Kagami". Like, folks, they're avatars. They're not real. They all know that the ones on the ring is not real. This is not like how Hoaxer did, because in her case, that's her power; to make everyone believe her BS. So unless everyone's brain cells suddenly went off to a vacation here, i ain't buying any of this. But of course, we're digging again.

And then Bugnoire.

Sigh.

Bug-fucking-noire.

While I must admit that the design looks cute and i love the black and green yoyo, it's nowhere near enough to calm me down.

You're saying we were robbed of having Adrien figuring out HM's identity, the angst of seeing him having to fight his own father and learning the condition of his mother, and the long awaited final fight between LB and CN vs HM, just so that Marinette could steal all the spotlights from Adrien and show how amazing she is, how she is "the best miraculous holder to ever exist" once again? Are they serious?

Well, they did make several episodes emphasizing Chloe as satan incarnate, so yeah, they're serious.

Hey, remember the "You and me against the world" line? Yknow, the one that means they're a team, one that's said at least once every season finale? One that gets the fandom crying in tears? Yeah, neither do the writers.

Dude, seriously, wtf is Adrien's purpose? Last season he's got sidelined so much his entire role is irrelevant. Now he's not even in the finale? What is he? A trophy to be won? A "perfect love interest"? Just delete his character altogether, my lord.

If I want a love interest that's being treated this badly, then I'll just have Marinette X Lila at this point, because they might as well just went all out for it and do all side dirty.

I have never seen any show, even the worst one i could think of, that deliberately take their main character out of the finale. Miraculous is surely something.

All in all, 2/10, and the points all go to the animators and VAs, especially the animators because my lord it is indeed looking beautiful. They throw so many things they've established out the window, I don't even know what this finale even stand on.

Aaaand that's all...is something i wish i could say. But no, we have Recreation. The ride to the abyss is not finished yet, and it only get worse. I'll give you some times to recover first because the next one is a whole essay.

So buckle up. Sit back, relax, and I'll see you in part 2.

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goldenlaurelleaveswrites · 9 months

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Juleka vs. the Forces of the Universe

Ch16 Juleka vs. the Forces of Alya Césaire

Juleka vs. the Forces of the Universe (AO3)

There are a couple of people I need to thank for this chapter.

First of all, a big thank you to @mintaka14, for letting me borrow Roarr's name for makeup from Living Arrangements (It's such a good read and I highly recommend it).

And a huge thank you to @verfound for helping me through the crisis of confidence this chapter gave me, and for beating some sense into me (with love and giggles as you pointed out all my dumb typos 😂). I would still be spinning myself in circles if it weren't for you, so thank you for beta reading this!!! 💖💖💖💖 And for letting Dingo and Bri stay when they insistent on being mentioned in this chapter 😂

Finally, a huge thank you to all of you for the ongoing support and kindness. It really means so much to me, and I can't thank you enough.

A little bit of house keeping now. The next chapter is likely going to take quite a bit of time, especially because I have bits and pieces of it written and it always takes longer to write a chapter that already has pieces I need to integrate in.

Also, I'm issuing a content warning for this chapter. Juleka's anxiety is very prevalent in this chapter. I don't describe it in detail, but it is present in the majority of the chapter. Please use your best judgement when deciding if this is something you're comfortable with. I would much rather you take care of yourself and skip a chapter than read something that might upset or trigger you. 💖

With all of the being said, I hope you enjoy the chapter!!! 💖💖💖💖

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The classroom was warm, just shy of uncomfortably so. And Bustier’s voice was nothing but cloying white noise; she had no idea what her teacher had been droning on about for the past half hour, and she sincerely doubted anyone else did either.

All of their year end tests were written and done. Their projects submitted. Their lockers mostly cleared out.

Now all that was left to do was make it to the end of the second last day of classes.

Sleepily, she blinked her eyes and let her attention wander to the rest of the class. It seemed they were all paying as much attention to Bustier as she was. Ivan was drumming out a beat on his desk with his fingers, bopping his head along to the nearly indecipherable sound. Alix was leaning back in her seat, and was barely making an effort to hide the fact that she was playing on her phone. Kim was out cold, and Max and Markov were reading something on Max’s phone. Nathaniel was drawing, and beside her, Rose was doodling.

She let out a sleepy sigh as her gaze drifted towards the front of the classroom. Chloe and Sabrina’s seats were empty; apparently they were skipping again. It wasn’t like they were missing much. She propped her cheek in her hand as her gaze travelled across the aisle.

Adrien had been in a funk all day. He had tried to hide it, but little cracks in his facade had let it shine through. But it seemed everyone had assumed it was because the school year was almost over, and he wouldn’t see them every day anymore. At lunch, most of the class had tried to console him, assuring him that when he wasn’t busy or travelling over the summer that they would all hang out and that they would call and text. Maybe that was contributing to his funk. But given the argument he had had with Ladybug last night… well, her money was on that.

She was still on edge from last night.

And given the look Chat had given her last night… In all honesty, they were just lucky Shadowmoth needed time to recharge between akumas. That, and that—according to Roarr—wearing a miraculous provided some protection against akumatization. Otherwise…

Well, they were all lucky they were just dealing with a moping classmate. That, and…

Marinette had been uncharacteristically quiet today. Her mind had very obviously been elsewhere for most of the day. She assumed everything that had gone down last night was what had Marinette so preoccupied. Pensive even.

During morning break, after Marinette and Nathaniel had gone to the art room to discuss some costume ideas for the comic with Marc, when she had been coming back from the washroom she had overheard Alya telling the rest of the girls Marinette was obviously thinking about summer break and Adrien.

She turned her attention to Alya and Nino.

They were very obviously texting each other. Which, to be fair, wasn’t exactly uncommon. Or something to be suspicious about. But considering the way Alya had been acting the past couple of weeks…

That, and every so often, Nino would sneak a glance back at her.

Well, sneak was being generous… It was obvious he was either trying to be subtle, or that he thought he was being subtle. Either way, he wasn’t. M. Damocles always gave her grief about her hair, asking her how she could see with her hair covering half her face. What he—and many people for that matter—seemed to forget was that hair was hardly a brick wall. Sure, it obscured her vision a bit. But she could see through her hair well enough to see Nino glancing back at her over his shoulder every time he thought she wasn’t looking. Just like she saw Alya kick the back of his bench every time she caught him looking back at her.

Really, it was a wonder Bustier hadn’t noticed what was going on.

Honestly, she had to wonder if Bustier had noticed her class wasn’t paying attention and was letting it slide, or if she actually was that oblivious.

She stifled a yawn as she directed her gaze to the clock. The time was crawling by. She could swear that clock had said twenty after three for the past half hour.

Sighing, she dragged her gaze away from the clock. It seemed a watched clock didn’t move anyways….

Her frown returned as her eyes settled on Adrien once again.

The past few weeks had been hard, having to be civil to Adrien in class when she knew he was Chat. When he was making her life a headache with his constant whining and tantrums. But coming into class this morning… it had been really hard to act normally towards him. Thankfully, he never really interacted with her all that much anyways, but he hadgreeter her along with the rest of the class when she had come in.

And she had done her best.

She really had.

But she had maybe been a little… cool with her greeting. Which was frankly way more than he deserved. The good thing about being quiet was that people generally didn’t take note when she was extra quiet, and they didn’t tend to pick up on the nuances of her voice. Rose would have, and so would Marinette. But neither of them had been there when she had entered the room. So no one had really seemed to notice.

Except…

Alya’s eyes had narrowed as soon as she had mumbled her reply to Adrien. It was hard to tell if Alya knew she had seen the way her eyes had narrowed, given she had caught it out of the corner of her eye herself. But she knew she hadn’t imagined it, because as soon as she did look directly at Alya, her expression had shifted into a casual smile.

But she had felt eyes on her as she had made her way back to her seat.

She didn’t like it. All the hidden looks and glances from Alya. Coupled with those messages- the curt and deleted ones, And the pushiness and insistence on her voicing her support for the schemes…

It was weird.

But Nino…

She cast a surreptitious glance down at Nino. He quickly turned away, his hat slipping with the movement. Subtle indeed. He couldn’t have been more blatant if he had tried.

As weird as Alya had been the past couple of weeks…well, it was even weirder coming from him.

She sighed. There was no real point in dwelling on it though. Alya… she didn’t like to think about it, but Alya was definitely getting suspicious. That was the only explanation- though if Alya was suspicious, why was she still insisting on her helping with the schemes?

It didn’t make sense.

Regardless, if Alya was suspicious, well, it was safe to assume she had shared her suspicions with Nino.

This… complicated things.

She would need to be even more careful going forward.

Sighing to herself, she folded her arms on her desk and rested her chin on them. At least, if she was deep in thought, she would look like she was paying attention if Bustier clued in to the fact her lesson was going unheard.

***

They were gathered at the base of the front steps to the school, a little off to the side so as not to end up trampled by the steady stream of students emerging from the building, clearly excited by the prospect of only one day left in the school year.

“And you’re sure you don’t have time for ice cream?” Alya wheedled. “I can text Nino. He and the guys were going to shoot some hoops, but I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a change of plans. You know Adrien loves Andre’s ice cream.”

She had to fight to keep herself from rolling her eyes.

Even if that particular ploy was weak by Alya’s standards, Alya was never one to miss an opportunity…

Marinette shook her head, and she could have sworn she caught sight of her rolling her eyes… “No, I need to head home. I still need to finish my dress.”

“Are you going to finish in time?” Mylène asked worriedly.

Marinette nodded. “It’ll probably be cutting it a bit close, but I’ll have it done.”

“I can wait to see it,” Rose sighed dreamily, “I can’t even imagine what you’ve cooked up this time!”

“Neither can I,” Alya agreed. “And it doesn’t help that my bestie won’t even give me a sneak peek,” Alya added in a playfully pointed voice.

Marinette let out a semi-exasperated sigh. “I told you, it isn’t ready to be seen yet. Besides, you’ll all see it tomorrow.”

“Fine, fine. But you can’t blame a girl for trying,” Alya laughed. “But you’re going to look amazing, I just know Adrien won’t be able to take his eyes off of you!”

Marinette’s smile faltered for a second at Alya’s words, before returning. But it was tighter than before. Less genuine.

“I’m just looking forward to wearing it,” Marinette said noncommittally.

“I sure hope so, given how much time you’ve been spending on it. You missed one heck of a race last weekend. You should have seen how close-”

“I’m sure there will be plenty more races for Marinette to watch,” Mylène said, gently cutting Alix off before she could get too far into regaling them with every detail of the race. Again.

“When’s the next one?”

“Third day of break,” Alix grinned, “We both figured we would want to sleep in after the dance and Max has a dentist appointment the second day of break.”

“I think that should work! We could do a picnic?’

“A victory picnic, I like it!”

“You haven’t won yet,” she mumbled with a chuckle.

Alix stuck her tongue out at her. “Yet.”

“Anyways, I should get going…” Marinette said, taking an awkward little half-step back. “The dress won’t finish itself after all.”

“Of course. Text if you need anything?” she asked.

“Or if you’re bored!” Rose added as she stepped in to hug Marinette as well.

“I will,” Marinette promised; there was a hint of laughter in her voice. She may have have been responding to Rose… but Marinette’s eyes were on her. With a smile, Marinette stepped forward and hugged her goodbye.

Over Marinette’s head, she caught what looked like a frown flickering across Alya’s face. But then Marinette was pulling away, and once she had stepped back out of the hug, the look on Alya’s face was gone.

Once all the goodbye hugs were exchanged, and Marinette was out of sight, Alya turned to the rest of them. “Ok, since ice cream was a bust, we can head straight to my place. It’s probably a good thing anyways, we have lots to get through.”

She fell into step with the rest of the group as they made their way towards Alya’s place, though she lagged a little behind Alya, Alix, and Mylène. As they made their way through the streets, Alya began going through a list of things they would need to prepare for one of the many plans they had cooked up for tomorrow.

Because of course it couldn’t just be one plan.

Alya had insisted that they plan multiple schemes.

Each of which, of course, had a ridiculous name.

“So for phase ‘Belle of the Ball,’ we’ll need to make sure…” She only listened with half an ear as she followed along behind the rest of the girls. They had spent the past two weeks cooking up all of these plots, she knew them like the back of her own hand. They all did, as Alix had pointed out when protesting to this last scheming session.

But Alya had insisted.

As Alya had pointed out—while casting a glance in her direction—something always went wrong with the plans. And that meant they had to be ready.

Under other circumstances—before she had found herself going toe to toe with Alya—she found Alya’s tenacity and determination admirable. She was bold and willing to do whatever it took to reach her goals. She was the very definition of if at first you don’t succeed…

The thing was, she couldn’t help but wonder… it wasn’t just that Alya’s scheming was bad for Marinette… at times… most of the time, the more she thought about it… it felt like it was bad for Alya.

Alya was tenacious. Determined. Though some people might say headstrong or even pig-headed. Alya wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted. And, despite what her actions may have screamed, she cared about her friends’ happiness.

The problem was, Alya had something of a tunnel vision problem. She was so fixated on the idea of Marinette liking Adrien that she couldn’t—or maybe wouldn’t—acknowledge the fact that Marinette had moved on. Just like how she was so caught up in the pursuit of Ladybug’s identity, and the idea of Ladybug and Chat Noir being destined soulmates that she couldn’t see what was staring her straight in the face.

“You ok?” Rose’s voice jolted her from her thoughts. She looked down at Rose, who had fallen into step beside her. “You looked far away,” Rose said as she slipped her hand into hers.

“Yeah,” she tried to muster a smile. The feeling of Rose’s hand in hers made it much easier, despite the dour thoughts clouding her mind. “Just thinking,” she said as she laced her fingers with Rose’s.

***

She sat in silence as Alya stuck a pin into another colour-coded scrap of paper to fix it to her cork board. The cork board was covered in a rainbow of scraps of paper, each colour indicating a different person, with the scheme name, details, and phase number outlined on them.

It was a technicolour disaster.

And the more of the schemes—which were all phases in the ‘Operation Fairytale Ball’ plot—Alya added to the board, the more she could feel a headache brewing.

It was honestly impressive how Alya managed to keep track of all the details of the various schemes and plots. If journalism didn’t work out for her, Alya had a bright future in tactical mission planning ahead of her.

“…so then when he sees the punch ladle is missing, he’ll have to ask her where the spare ones are. And then when she offers to go, Rose, you mention we need more napkins too and suggest Adrien help her.”

Rose made a sound of agreement, not looking up from the plethora of nail polish bottles she had spread out on the floor in front of her.

“And then Juleka, while they’re gone, you’ll find Luka and keep him busy. By the time they get back, we’ll be ready for Phase: Glass Slipper.” Alya finally peeled her gaze away from the cork board to stare at her. Hard. “You’ll be able to do that, right?” There was a challenge in the way Alya was staring at her. It was almost like… like she was testing her.

“It’s a plan,” she murmured. It was a plan. A terrible one. One she had no intention of carrying out. But it was a plan.

Alya’s eyes hardened at her words. She had been careful to phrase it as the truth. Well, a half-truth. The words were true. But the intention behind them had been a lie.

And Alya did not look satisfied: her eyes were hard and narrowed behind her glasses.

Alya opened her mouth to say something, but Mylène of all people interrupted her. “And that’s where the faux flowers come in, right? And what flowers were you thinking?”

She could have answered those questions: yes and red roses. Because they symbolized ‘true love.’

At least all the other colours of roses hadn’t been ruined for her…

Alya shot her one last look before turning to Mylène. “We need red roses; they’re the most romantic flowers. And yeah, once they come back they’ll…”

She fought back a frown as best she could as Alya launched into going over every excruciating detail of the next phase of the operation.

After the countless hours they had spent cooking up and reviewing these schemes, how could Mylène not remember the flowers? The flowers she was in charge of?

She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts. But as Alya continued on her tirade of the operation, her mind couldn’t help but wander.

And it seemed she wasn’t the only one…

Alix was paying barely—if any—attention to the whole conversation. She was flopped out on Alya’s bed with her legs up the wall and her eyes glued to the screen of her phone.

Rose was on the floor, surrounded by an army of nail polish bottles. All in varying shades of pink. It seemed she still hadn’t decided on which shade of pink would go best with her outfit for tomorrow.

Mylène was sitting beside Alix on the bed, though she wasn’t upside-down. She was sitting cross legged, with a pillow in her lap and her chin propped up in her hand, a bored look on her face.

“And then you’ll keep Luka occupied so he doesn’t interrupt them, right, Juleka?”

She jumped at the sudden sound of Alya—very pointedly—saying her name. “Sorry, what?”

“You’ll make sure Luka- or anyone else for that matter, doesn’t ruin the moment.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Alya didn’t look satisfied by the answer, but she continued on. Time seemed to drag by as they went through the next four phases of the operation. And it didn’t help that it felt like Alya was asking her something every other minute.

And she did not like how loaded the questions felt.

She did not like it one bit.

“…and because Nino isn’t doing the music, you’ll probably need to stall for a while, Alix, while I-”

“Y’know, I really don’t see the point of this,“ Alix groaned.

“What? What are you talking about?” Alya demanded as she turned to look at Alix as she crossed her arms.

She followed Alya’s gaze, and watched as Alix rolled to right herself and sit up. “We’ve been over these plans a billiontimes, Alya,” Alix complained before looking back down at her game.

“We have been reviewing them a lot,” Mylène quietly agreed.

“But we have to!”

“Do we?”

Alya’s gaze snapped to her so quickly, it was a miracle she didn’t have whiplash. “Of course we do. Don’t you want Marinette and Adrien to be happy?”

She hesitated; it suddenly felt like she was standing in the middle of a minefield. She needed to weigh her words carefully. “Of course I want Marinette to be happy. But she’s already going with Luka. Can’t we just let them enjoy the evening? Can’t we just enjoy the evening? Without scheming?” She certainly wouldn’t object to a scheme free evening.

“Juleka does have a point-“ Rose started to say.

“You’re only saying that because she’s going with your brother.”

Back before she had seen Marinette transform, had she found herself on the receiving end of such a glare, she would have shrunk in on herself. She would have faded into the background. Even a month ago, before she had become a tigress, she probably would have. It was the easy thing to do. Far easier than standing up to anyone.

But she was a tigress now.

And tigresses knew how to fade into the background. To move about unseen and undetected.

But they also knew how to roar.

“No, I’m not. I just want her- everyone to enjoy the night. I want Marinette to be happy and-”

“And that’s what I want!”

“That’s what we all want-” Rose started to say, only to be cut off again.

“After all the time she’s spent pining over Adrien, trying so hard to get him to notice her, you just want her to give up?” She met Alya’s glare with stoney silence. But before she could muster up words to redirect this conversation, or at least stall it, Alya’s eyes narrowed even further. “I knew it!” she hissed. “I knew something weird was going on-“

“Oh not this again,” Alix groaned.

“Not what again?”

Mylène—who at some point had gotten up—stepped forward tentatively, hands held out as if trying to placate. Though she wasn’t sure if it was her or Alya she was trying to calm. “Alya thinks-“

“I know-“

“Alya thinks you’ve been messing with the Adrien plans…”

Shoot. “What?”

“I told you it was dumb, Alya,” Alix said pointedly before looking up from her game to look at her. “She thinks you’ve been plotting against us.”

Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot.

“We told her it was just little miscommunications and accidents-“ Mylène started to say, only to be cut off.

“But I know it’s been more than that!”

“But Juleka wouldn’t lie to us!” Rose cried out indignantly, knocking over one of her bottles on nail polish as she stood up.

“Everybody lies. Right, Juleka?”

Alya was right. She would lie. She had lied to them. For months. But she had done it for Marinette’s sake!

And now this left her with a dilemma…

Was it better to come clean and tell them? Or was it better to stay quiet?

If she told them, she would have to tell them that Marinette had told her that she wanted to be with Luka. But Marinette had sworn her to secrecy, and she couldn’t betray Marinette’s trust. But if she didn’t come clean, she would be lying to them, which, granted, she had been doing every time she meddled with a plot… but those had always been little white lies!

Hadn’t they?

What was the right thing to do?

She could hear the blood rushing past her ears. It was the only sound she could hear. Everything - everyone - was silent. They were all just… just silent. Staring at her, waiting for her to- were they waiting for her to respond? Were they waiting for Alya to say something?

She was suffocating in the weight of the silence.

What was she supposed to do?

How did she get herself out of this?

“Come on Alya, that’s enough,” Mylène reprimanded. Her usually quiet voice was like thunder in the silence room. Suddenly, they were all talking

“Just let it go, it’s a stupid thing to fight about-” Alix added, only to be cut off.

“It’s not stupid! It’s-”

“Bijou, it’s ok. Just breathe…”

All of their voices were overlapping. Blending into each other until they were an almost indistinguishable cacophony. All muffled by the blood rushing past her ears and the thoughts ricocheting around in her head.

What was she supposed to do?

She needed quiet. Peace. To think.

She needed to get away.

But how?

For once, Shadowmoth was her saving grace.

The akuma alert blared from all of their phones. She jumped at the sound. Alix was the only one who hadn’t, actually. Then again, Alix had been the only one to be somewhat disengaged in the growing tension over the Adrienette plots. As Alix had said when they had settled into the meeting, she had mostly been there for the snacks.

Quickly, she scanned the akuma alert. There wasn’t much information about it, but it was by the tower.

Why was it always the tower? It was like akumas and tourists thought that was the only important place in Paris.

But it didn’t matter.

She needed to leave. She needed to be somewhere Ladybug could easily find her if she needed help with this one. And given last night… it was a pretty good possibility.

She froze when she looked up from her phone, her words dying on her lips. She could also see Alya’s desperation to go to ground zero of the akuma battle.

But Alya also looked like she wasn’t done arguing yet.

As it was, Alya was at an impasse. Both with herself and with her.

Because Alya couldn’t stay to argue with her and go get footage for her blog.

Or at least, she would be at an impasse with Alya. If she wanted to continue arguing with the equivalent of a brick wall that was.

“I gotta go. Need to check on Luka and Ma.” The lie was bitter in her mouth as she dashed towards the door.

“But bijou!”

“I’ll be careful!”

She was already out the door before Alya’s spluttered protests could reach her ears.

***

Her feet pounded against the pavement as she ran towards the Liberty.

If Ladybug needed her, she needed to be somewhere she would be easy to find.

At least her story- her lie about needing to check on Luka and her ma was believable. Of course, neither Luka nor her ma were supposed to be onboard right now. Luka was hanging out with his friends at Aimee’s place, and her ma was staging fight choreography at a community theatre in a completely different arrondissement. None of the girls knew that though. And the Liberty was docked close enough to the tower that, while not directly in harm’s way, was close enough that under other circumstances she would be worried.

But Juleka wouldn’t lie to us!

Rose’s words echoing in her head almost brought her to a halt.

She needed to keep going.

But the words weighed on her.

Rose had been wrong. She had lied to them. She had been lying to them for months now.

It had never felt great to lie. But they were harmless, small little lies. Or at least…

It had started with little lies. Little white lies. About texting the wrong time or texting the wrong person…

But the lies… they had become bigger.

And so much easier.

And the more she lied- whether by omission or fabrication, the harder it was to tell where the line between a half-truth and a lie lay. Was it even really a line anymore?

Had there ever been a line?

And with how easy the lies, the half-truths, the misdirections… how easy it had become to lie to her friends, her family… how easy it had all become…

The fact that she had so easily brushed off all of her lies until now… until she had been confronted and questioned point blank…

What kind of person did that make her?

She needed to keep going.

She didn’t have time for this.

But how was she supposed to move forward now?

She pumped her arms and legs even harder. Her lungs were starting to burn as she sprinted along the sidewalk, dodging dawdling tourists and ambling people left and right. With every step she took, the same question pounded through her head. Echoing the sound of her feet against the pavement.

What was she supposed to do now?

Finally, the Liberty came into view. She had barely made it on board when she saw a flash of red drop from the sky, down into the clutter of the meeting place they had hidden amongst all her ma’s chaos.

She darted over just as Ladybug peeked out from behind a crate.

“Good, you’re here. Are you free to help?”

“Always. So what are we looking at?” she asked as Ladybug pulled the bracelet from her yoyo.

“Not sure yet, I wanted to see if I could find you on my way there.”

“Well, glad that worked out,” she chuckled as she slipped the bracelet on. “Yeah, I’m free. Roarr, stripes on!”

***

She stared in disbelief as the ‘akuma’ was loaded into the back of a police car by an officer.

“…came all the way here, and decided he wanted to pull a prank,” Officer Roger groaned as he watched the door to the police car slam shut. “The embassy will have to deal with him. Tourists,” he added under his breath.

“Well,” Ladybug sighed as she massaged her temples, “at least no one was actually akumatized. I might need to do a press conference or something to remind people akumas aren’t something to joke about.”

“I’ll talk to the Commissioner and Mayor about it” Roger sighed before turning back to face her and Ladybug. “Good to see you, Ladybug. Purple Tigress, always a pleasure.”

“Take care,” she said with a nod before Officer Roger turned and headed back towards the cluster of police cars. “Talk about a waste of time,” she grumbled as she watched the cars drive off.

“You’d think they’d learn. C’mon,” Ladybug said, nodding towards the rooflines. Wordlessly, she followed Ladybug up. Once they were balanced on the roof, Ladybug turned to her with a wry smile. “Well, I can’t say I’m sorry it was just a tourist. You’re still ok for patrol later tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. Thank you, Juleka, you’re really saving my butt right now. Hold onto it until the end of patrol,” Ladybug added before she could finish undoing the clasp on the Miraculous.

She nodded. “I’ll just message you a good place to meet up once we’re done?” she asked as she fiddled with her Miraculous. Ladybug still took it back most of the time after patrols, but she had gotten to hang onto it overnight a couple times. And she would be lying if she said she didn’t mind relinquishing her hold on it. She was going to miss hanging out with Roarr and patrolling the city.

“That sounds perfect.” She glanced up at Ladybug to find her smiling thoughtfully at her.

***

She went halfway towards home as Tigress before she ducked into an abandoned back alley. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she dropped her transformation.

“I was looking forward to a good fight…” Roarr complained as soon as she was out of the Miraculous.

“I know,” she murmured, holding out her hand to the disgruntled kwami. “But it’s just as well. Ladybug doesn’t have much time left to work on her project, and I’m all out of emergency candy.”

“I guess…” Roarr mumbled as she settled into her palm. Despite her obvious disappointment at the lack of a fight, the kwami seemed unable to stop herself from purring as she stroked the soft fur on her head.

“I need to stop by the store on the way home and pick up some more eyeliner-”

“Your war paint,” Roarr corrected.

“Sure, my ‘war paint,’ but I’ll get you some more emergency candy. And…” she said, a smirk drawing across her face as Roarr’s ears twitched at the shift in her tone, “I’ll get you some anchovies too.” She couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose at the thought of the smelly, canned fish that Roarr adored. “Would that make you feel better?”

“I suppose…” Roarr said, her purr slipping into her voice.

“Come on then,” she said, gesturing to backpack. As soon as Roarr was safely hidden in her pack, she shrugged it back onto her shoulder and slipped out of the alley.

Once she stepped into the store, she made her way to the cosmetics aisle. Listlessly, she began perusing the display racks. Normally she enjoyed shopping for makeup—especially when her favourite eyeliner was on sale—but the deal on her favourite brand of eyeliner didn’t muster the usual excitement it would have.

Getting excited over a good price on eyeliner felt trivial compared to everything that was going on right now.

“What’s wrong, Juleka?”

She jumped at the sudden sound of Roarr’s voice in her ear.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “Get back in my bag before someone sees you!” She cast a glance around the aisle, but thankfully no one else was browsing the cosmetics.

“It’s fine, your hair is so thick no one can see me when I’m hidden in it.” She let out a sigh of exasperation, but Roarr continued on, undeterred. “So what’s the matter? Usually you’re happy when you’re looking at all this stuff,” she felt Roarr’s tail flick against her ear, “but you aren’t today.”

“Well,” she said slowly as she picked up a random lipstick off the shelf and made a show of looking at the packaging. Hopefully, if anyone came into this section of the store, it would look like she was just mumbling over the packing of the lipstick instead of talking to her hair. “Alya caught on to what I’ve been up to…”

As she continued through the store, she filled Roarr in as quickly as she could, pausing in front of random displays under the guise of browsing to give herself more time to explain everything. Or at least, everything she could. But even that was only half the truth. Roarr still didn’t know that she knew Marinette was Ladybug, only that she had been interfering with the plots to get Adrien and Marinette together.

Even confiding about her dilemma was a mockery of it.

“…and it’s just a huge mess now,” she groaned as she dropped another bag of Roarr’s favourite candies into her shopping basket.

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t want to keep lying-”

“I didn’t ask what you didn’t want to do. I asked what you’re going to do?”

“I don’t know. I mean- Bustier is always drilling it into use that lying is wrong, and they’re my friends…”

“But…?”

“But if I tell them, they’ll ask questions. Alya will demand answers. Answers I can’t give without betraying Marinette’s trust. And I would never do that.”

Roarr let out a satisfied purr. “A good tigress protects her own, and you’re a great Tigress. This Marinette girl is lucky to have you.”

She bit back a wry smile at the way Roarr distanced herself from Marinette. “But what should I do? What’s the right thing to do?”

Roarr let out something that was a cross between a yowl and a sigh. “You’re asking someone who’s kept her existence a secret from the world for millennia. As for the right thing… you mortals have such rigid understandings of what those concepts mean. There’s right and wrong, and there’s right and wrong.”

“So… you think I should lie?”

“A Tigress fights her own battles, whether with her claws or her head.” Roarr nuzzled against the back of her neck. “Trust your judgment. You may not realize it, but you know what you’re doing.”

***

As she began making her way back home, she tried to think of how she would do her makeup for the dance. She already had a pretty clear idea, but there were still a few details she needed to decide on. Same with her hair. And her nails.

Really, she tried to think about anything except what had gone down during the meeting. But as hard as she tried, her mind kept finding its way back. Relieving every moment of it.

And dwelling on all of it.

‘I told you it was dumb.’

Except, it wasn’t…

‘We told her it was just little miscommunications and accidents.’

There had been nothing accidental about any of it…

‘But I know it’s been more than that!’

And the one time Alya was right…

She could tell them. She could come clean and fess up. Tell them- not everything. But she could tell them she had been sabotaging the schemes.

Except she couldn’t.

Lying was wrong.

But right now, telling the truth didn’t feel right either.

And while Roarr’s advice- well, it felt like a stretch to call it advice… but while Roarr’s words had comforted her, they hadn’t really given her an answer.

If anything, Roarr had only given her more food for thought. And it was tough things to chew on.

By the time she was trudging across the gangplank, she was still no closer to an answer. If anything, it felt like she had spiralled further away from one.

“Hey, Jules,” she looked up from her feet, where her gaze had drifted at some point during the walk home. Luka was sitting on the edge of the stage, his guitar in hand.

“You’re back already?”

“Yeah, Nadine had an audition tonight and Bri had a shift, so we packed it in early. Captain called by the way, she’s going to be later than she thought and the crew is all grabbing a bite so it’s just you and me for dinner. We’re doing takeout, anything you feel like?”

“I’m good with whatever. Just no-”

“Olives. I know,” he chuckled as he idly strummed his guitar. But then he frowned. He strummed the same notes again before he looked up from his guitar to meet her gaze. “Is everything ok? You sound a little flat.”

She hesitated. Luka was always the first person she turned to for advice. But he was… well, he was honest. And she knew honesty and lies were a bit of a sore subject for him, given their ma’s refusal to tell him the truth about his father.

“C’mon Jules, you know you can talk about anything with me,” he said as he set his guitar aside and patted the empty stage next to him.

She sighed as she sat down next to him. “What are your thoughts about… about lies? And lying?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is the truth always better than a lie?”

He turned to her with puzzlement and concern written all over his face. “What’s this all about, Jules?”

“Say you weren’t being… entirely honest about something to a friend.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And you were doing it because at the time, it seemed like the right thing to do, even though you didn’t like it. And now some people think you’re telling the truth and others think you’re lying and you suddenly aren’t sure-”

“Jules,” Luka’s voice was quiet and gentle, but firm. “Take a breath.” She did as he told her, and once he seemed satisfied that she was at least a little calmer, he continued. “Now, why don’t you tell me what this is all about?”

She sighed. If there was one person she could be straight with about her recent involvement in the Adrien schemes, it was Luka. “You know how the girls and I used to plot all those schemes to get Adrien and Marinette together?’

“Yeah I- used to? I thought those were still happening. Or did they stop when I asked-”

“They are. Like Alya would give up.” Luka snorted at that. “But… but I’ve maybe been kind of completely sabotaging them for months now.” She spat the words out as quickly as she could, and she suddenly felt so much lighter.

“Really? You don’t say…” The sarcasm was practically dripping from his voice. “What?” he added when she snapped her head to stare incredulously at him. “All those times you found excuses for me to spend time with Marinette? You know Couaffines can only be so subtle.” He had a point: she was still her mother’s daughter after all. And maybe subtlety had gone by the wayside when she had been dealing with him… but subtlety only went so far when dealing with her brother’s particular brand of idiot…

“And you’ve been telling me to ask her out for months. Remember?” She rolled her eyes, but allowed herself a wry smile at the memory of the multitude of headaches he had caused her. “So I take it you’re asking me this because the girls found out?”

“Alya suspects. The rest of the girls think she’s being paranoid.”

“And you don’t know if it’s better to come clean?” She nodded glumly. He sighed as he leaned back on his hands. “Honestly, I don’t know, Jules. It sucks being lied to, and they’ll probably find out eventually.”

“But if I have a reason not to tell them?”

Really, it was a matter of reasons.

“It would have to be a pretty good reason. At least, I think so. And I guess that’s where it gets more complicated. Is it better to hide the truth because it hurts? Or will it hurt more when they find out you’ve been lying to them? Will the lies even protect them from the hurt?”

Her gaze dropped down to her lap.

They would be hurt.

If she told the truth now, they would be hurt. But they would also be hurt if she told them the truth later.

If she didn’t tell them, if she kept lying and they found out, they would be hurt.

But if she told them the truth, Marinette would also be hurt.

She would be going back on a promise.

And if she kept lying and they all found out she had been meddling, would Marinette be hurt then too?

No matter what she did, someone could end up getting hurt.

She saw Luka shift out of the corner of her eye. She turned in time to see him shift to gaze down at his bracelets. She watched as he flicked listlessly at them. To anyone else, it would look like he was just fiddling with his jewelry. But the way he was flicking at it… it was obvious he was thinking about a particular bracelet.

“But I think… well, there are some lies that need to be told. I made you promise not to tell anyone about how I felt about Marinette-”

“Which I didn’t.”

“But I’m guessing you had to tell lies to keep it a secret?”

She had certainly been… creative with the truth. “It wasn’t my secret to tell.”

He turned to her with heavy eyes and a grateful smile. “And I think that makes things more complicated too. Keeping secrets but also being honest.” He had no idea. “Honestly, Jules, I don’t think I have an answer for you. I don’t think it’s an easy black and white problem.”

“I figured as much.” With another wry smile, she stood up. “I’m going to go chill for a bit, and then I have to go out again. Are you ok if we have a late dinner?”

“Works for me. Tom and Sabine sent Aimee home with a ton of stuff and Nadine brought falafel and fatayers-”

“Did you bring me any?”

“You really think there was any left by the time everyone had their fill?”

“Dingo ate most of it, didn’t he?”

“Of course he did.”

“You owe me then.”

“Wouldn’t Dingo-”

“Well, better you had all of that today.” If she was going to bring a dour mood to the boat, it was also up to her to break it. “Wouldn’t want you to have garlic breath for Marinette, now would we?”

“Jules!”

She smirked as she walked away; she didn’t need to look to know his ears were probably glowing bright red.

“Coast is clear,” she murmured once she was in her room. Roarr zipped out of her bag to hover over her shoulder with wide, pleading eyes as she unpacked her shopping bag. With the emergency candy stashed in her backpack and purses, and her new makeup carefully arranged on her dressing table, she rolled her eyes affectionately and pulled out the can of anchovies with only a little disgust.

“And you said I could watch videos on your phone while you read…” Roarr wheedled, giving her her best puppy—kitty?—eyes as she clutched the unopened can to her. She liked to use her claws to open them. Or, as Roarr called it, delivering the killing strike.

She pulled her phone out of the depths of her bag; just as she was passing it to Roarr, her stomach plummeted to the bottom of the Seine.

Two missed texts from Alix.

Five from Mylène.

Thirteen from Rose.

Between the false alarm, her shopping expedition, and her rather preoccupied walk home, she hadn’t thought to check her phone…

Rose 🌹💗: I wanted to say sorry

Rose 🌹💗: I feel really bad about not telling you

Rose 🌹💗: I didn’t think Alya would be so intense

Rose 🌹💗: I thought it would be better to just go along

Rose 🌹💗: that she would realize sooner or later she didn’t need to worry

Rose had sent those messages ages ago.

And she hadn’t responded.

Quickly, she began typing. She just hoped Rose didn’t think she was mad.

Queen of Darkness 🦇: I'm so sorry! I got home but the akuma was a false alarm so I went out to get more eyeliner for tomorrow and I didn’t check my phone! I promise I wasn’t ignoring you

It wasn’t the full or exact truth. But she had picked up eyeliner. And hadn’t been ignoring Rose—or the rest of the girls—on purpose.

But it still felt like a lie.

Dots appeared on the screen immediately.

Rose 🌹💗: It’s ok!!!!!

Rose 🌹💗: I wanted to say sorry

Rose 🌹💗: actually

Rose 🌹💗: can I call you????

Rose 🌹💗: I want to say it properly

She pressed the dial button, and Rose picked up before the first ring could even finish.

“Angel, I’m-”

“I’m so sorry, bijou!” The anguish in Rose’s voice was palpable. “I should have never let things go so far! I should have told you right away! Or at least sooner! Before it ever came to this! But I thought it would be better to just try and go with it. That maybe she would give up? Or see reason- I don’t know but the point is-”

“Rose. Rose. Slow down. Take a nice deep breath for me,” she waited while she listened to Rose inhale deeply and then exhale. “Can you start at the beginning? Because honestly, I don’t really know exactly what it is you’re apologizing for.”

Rose sniffled. “Yeah, I can do that. I just, please don’t be mad at me,” Rose’s words tumbled out in an almost incomprehensible stream.

“Take another breath.” She waited while she again listened to Rose’s breathing. Usually, it was Rose telling her to take a deep breath. “Ok?”

“Yeah.” Over the line, she heard Rose take in a shaky breath, like she was trying to work herself up to say whatever it was she was apologizing for. “Ok, so you remember when we went shopping? And Luka bumped into the guys while he was out buying guitar strings? And he joined us all for lunch, and asked Marinette to the dance and sat beside her during lunch?”

How could she forget?

“Well, Alya thought that you had made Luka come. That you had ruined her plan on purpose.”

Which she had.

“And- well, she told us that she thought it was weird how the schemes with Adrien seemed to be going worse and worse the last few months. And she thought… well, she made this chart…”

Of course she had.

“It started with that time you texted Marinette the wrong time for the movie. And, well, she was just so sure that you were trying to ruin things with Adrien. We all tried to tell her how ridiculous it was! You would never do anything to ruin Marinette’s love life.”

Technically true. Just not in the way Rose thought…

“But you know how Alya can be sometimes…”

Try always.

“And she was so sure that you were sabotaging things so she set up secret meetings without you to plan other schemes that you wouldn’t know about.”

So was that what the unsent message had been about?

“And she said that if the schemes we planned at the meetings you were there for went wrong, that would be proof that you were meddling.”

“But the plans always go wrong.”

Sometimes, they just needed a helping hand.

“That’s what we all told her. But she was so insistent. She wouldn’t listen to reason! And we- well, we went along with it. The secret meetings, I mean. The day I said I couldn’t go to lunch…”

“There was another meeting after the one I went to.” It wasn’t even a question at this point.

“I didn’t like it. None of us did. But… I guess we thought that maybe we could get her to listen if we humoured her for a bit? Help her realize how silly she was being about the whole thing. I think we all hoped she would realize herself. Beforeshe could make any accusations like she did. That’s what we wanted to avoid. None of us liked it. Leaving you out that way. Lying and going behind your back. I wanted to tell you. We all did. But- we…” On the other end of the line, Rose descended into a fresh wave of tears and sniffles.

“Shhh, it’s ok,” she murmured gently. It took a while, but after several minutes of offering quiet, and what she hoped were soothing and comforting, words of encouragement, Rose was able to talk through her tears again.

“I didn’t like lying to you. But I thought it was the right thing to do. Please don’t be mad at me- you have every right to be- but at least let me make it up to you. Please?”

Her heart twisted at Rose’s words. At the tears in her voice.

How could she be mad at Rose? Especially when she had been lying for far longer.

She hesitated.

She could tell Rose. She could tell her that Alya was right, and that she had been sabotaging the plans the whole time.

But not without going back on her promise…

“I know,” she said quietly. “And I’m not angry; I understand why you didn’t tell me.” The words tingled on the tip of her tongue. But… she couldn’t. “Your heart was in the right place. It always is.” Rose sniffled at her words. “I love you. Ok?”

She just hoped she was making the right choice.

“I love you too, bijou.”

***

She flew across the rooftops; the speed with which she was running and leaping, it felt like her feet didn’t even touch the ground.

It was a sharp contrast to the heavy thoughts warring inside her head.

She should have known going into all of this that it would only be a matter of time before Alya got suspicious. If not of her specifically then at least of all the ways the schemes went wrong that didn’t have to do with Marinette getting flustered or Adrien’s scheduling. She should have suspected this would be a bridge she would need to cross sooner or later.

But she hadn’t realized later would come so soon.

And now that she was here…

She had never enjoyed lying to the girls. But it had been so much easier when they had no idea what was really going on. It had been easy enough to brush off the feeling of the lies in her mouth and the pangs of guilt that echoed in her chest.

And she had never lied directly.

Or at least, not often.

She had just… misdirected and misrepresented with her words.

She came to a halt at the end of a block of row houses, catching herself against a chimney.

Wasn’t that the same thing as lying, really?

If she told the girls the truth—well, part of it—now, would they understand? Would they forgive her?

Would they believe her if she said she had seen the way Marinette was reluctant to participate in the plans she knew about? That she had noticed how uncomfortable Marinette was around Adrien? Or would they chalk that up to Marinette’s nerves?

Rose, Mylène, and Alix might- they probably would… but she couldn’t see Alya believing her. And even then… would Alya just take that as an admission of guilt anyway? For meddling? Would her friends be hurt?

Was there even a right answer?

Her talks with Roarr, Luka, and Rose had just given her more to chew on.

Roarr had said she knew what she was doing.

But obviously she didn’t.

And the kwami’s stance on what the right thing was… was less than helpful. She wasn’t even entirely sure she understood what Roarr had meant.

Luka had said there were some lies that needed to be told. He had obviously been thinking about his duties as Viperion.

She had never questioned lying to keep Ladybug’s secrets…

But Marinette’s secrets were just as important as Ladybug’s.

And how could she live with herself if she only protected some of those secrets?

And Rose…

She wasn’t mad at Rose. How could she be? All Rose had been trying to do was protect her feelings.

And Alix and Mylène… they had both confessed the truth- the full truth of what had been going on behind her back. They had confessed. They had apologized. And they had checked in on her too, to make sure she was ok after the way the meeting had ended.

She still wished Rose- that all of them had just told her from the start.

But that just made her a hypocrite. Her hands weren’t exactly clean…

She had told Rose her heart had been in the right place. And it had been.

She liked to think hers was, too. But she had also become so accustomed to lying. To secrets. And everything Rose did was paved with good intentions.

Would the rest of the girls be as understanding? Would they see things the same way?

And worst of all…

Was she only feeling this way now… questioning all of this now because Alya had called her out?

Would she have crossed—or, more accurately, gotten stuck on—this bridge eventually?

Or would she have just continued to lie?

Guilt and indecision weighed down her otherwise light footsteps as she bounded across the rooftops towards her meeting place with Ladybug. Usually patrol was a good way to blow off steam, but she felt just as tense as she had when she left for patrol. Maybe even more so, knowing she wouldn’t have Roarr curled up under the covers with her tonight.

Even if the kwami’s advice hadn’t been helpful, the cuddles always made her feel better.

By the time she had made it to the top of the south bell tower of Notre Dame, Ladybug was waiting for her.

Ladybug was sitting on the edge of the roof. One of her legs dangling over the edge, the other she was hugging to herself, resting her chin on it as she stared out absently over the city. The sun was still in the sky, but it was sinking towards the horizon.

“Ladybug?”

Ladybug turned, but didn’t stand. “Yeah?”

“You ok?”

“Oh, yeah. I just… I have a lot on my mind. I’ve had a lot on my mind for a long time. But especially after yesterday…” Ladybug trailed off, her face flushed with the same shade of embarrassment as last night, when she had collected the Miraculous and apologized profusely for having such a heated argument with Chat in front of her. “You look like you have a lot on your mind too.”

“Yeah,” she mumbled, kicking a stray pebble, “you could say that.”

Ladybug offered her a half smile and patted the empty roof beside her. “Maybe we can have a lot on our minds together for a bit? I…” Ladybug smiled shyly, “I wouldn’t mind having a break with a friend.”

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

They sat in silence for some time. Ladybug had gone back to staring pensively out over the city, her hands uncharacteristically still in her lap. An errant breeze ruffled their hair as she turned her own attention out to the city below her.

It was almost comical, really.

That after dealing with countless schemes, ad campaigns, and even akumas, this was what she was getting hung up on. Lying and secrets.

How could she be a hero if she didn’t even know what the right thing to do was?

She sighed. They never showed this in the movies, and none of the interviews with the American heroes that Alya always watched ever talked about this. There wasn’t a guidebook on how to deal with this.

But… if there was one person who would understand lying and secrets better than anyone she knew…

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course!” Ladybug said, angling to turn to her. “I’m always here if you need to talk.”

She smiled gratefully at Ladybug, before taking a deep breath. “How do you deal with it?” she asked quietly. “The lying, I mean?”

“…the lying?”

“You know, the lies. Akuma attacks, well, they happen without warning and I figure you’ve got to have a life outside the mask so I assumed you must have to make up excuses to slip away.” It wasn’t quite the kind of lying she was grappling with. Though, to be frank, she still wasn’t all that great at coming up with excuses to slip away in case Tigress was needed, too. But it felt close enough.

Beside her, Ladybug shifted, then sighed. It was a heavy sigh. A sound that expressed the weight of magical jewelry and everything it entailed. “I hate it.” Ladybug admitted quietly.

Ladybug had her arms wrapped around her knees, hugging them close to her chest. Her eyes were fixed on the horizon, but her gaze was far away. Like she was trying to see something just out of sight.

She let her own gaze drift back to the sky in front of them as she waited for her friend to gather her words.

“I guess… I guess it helps that I know I have to. To keep them safe. Telling people, it would put them at risk. And it’s my job- I want to protect them. So I lie. I lie to my friends. To my family. To Lu- lots of people.”

She nodded solemnly, her gaze fixed out on the city below. Somehow, they had come to the silent agreement that this conversation was easier to have without looking the other in the eye.

It… it was different. Maybe. But it also wasn’t.

Marinette lied to the people she loved to protect them.

She lied to the people she loved to protect Marinette’s happiness.

Sure, she wasn’t exactly out there saving lives with her lies. But wasn’t misery just as much a threat? Especially with Shadowmoth?

“How do you… how do you know when it’s the right time to lie?”

“It’s always felt like lying was the only option. Sometimes it’s just a little lie. Y’know, ‘oh I have to go to the washroom’ or something. But sometimes I need to make the lies bigger. And when I do, well, I try to only do it when I need to. When I need to do or say something, even if it’s hard, to protect someone.”

“I see.”

“It never goes away though.”

“What?”

“The guilt. Knowing I’m lying to people I care about and that I’ll keep lying. Even though I know it’s the right thing, I still hate it. But in some ways… I think the guilt is good.”

“How so?” The guilt that had been eating away at her all afternoon and evening… how could such a horrible feeling be good?

“If we feel guilty about lying, that means we’re still good people, even if we can’t be honest. Or at least,” Ladybug sighed, “that’s what I tell myself to try and stay sane.”

She frowned. “I… I never really thought of it that way.”

“I don’t know if it’s true, but it helps to tell myself that, at least.”

“Whoever you are, Ladybug, you’re a good person.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small smile creep across Ladybug’s face. “So are you, Tigress.”

They settled back into silence, though it was a somewhat lighter silence this time. The only measure of time was the sun continuing its slow descent towards the horizon.

“I’m tired of lying. I want to tell… people the truth. But I guess I’m so used to keeping secrets- and it’s such a big secret and it wouldn’t just change things for me-“ Ladybug cut herself off abruptly. Tigress turned to look at her friend, who flashed her an embarrassed smile. “I’m sorry. You asked me- you asked for advice and here I am blathering about my own problems. But I wanted to ask… you asked about the lying… is it too much? It know how hard it all is, and if this is getting to be too much-“

“No, no. It’s fine. I- I like being Tigress. And I don’t mind you talking about your stuff. Actually,” she said slowly, “it helped. A lot. And for what it’s worth, I think if there’s someone you trust enough with your secret, I’m betting they’d be happy to help you share the burden.”

“Maybe…” Ladybug said thoughtfully.

“I guess it’s a good thing I had patrol tonight.”

“Oh?”

She smiled wryly. “Misery loves company, especially when it’s over the same problem.” A look flashed across Ladybug’s face that made her pause. “Or… did you have something else on your mind? You know I’m here to talk too, if you need it.” The fury in Ladybug’s eyes from last night flashed in her mind. “Yesterday…yesterday was a lot. Are you doing ok?”

Ladybug’s face softened into a smile. “I know. And I am. Doing ok, that is.” She must not have looked particularly convinced because Ladybug chuckled. Enough so that the corners of her eyes crinkled, warping the spots of her mask. “Really, I’m fine. I promise,” she said before turning back to look over the city. “Last night was hard. Lying is hard. But sometimes…sometimes… well, I think it’s good. To do the hard things, that is. Even when you really don’t want to.”

That did not sound… reassuring.

Maybe it was good to do hard things sometimes, but Chat had made things harder than necessary yesterday. He had been for a long time.

There was still a hint of a smile onLadybug’s face, but it was caught somewhere between wistful and wry. And the look in her eyes… it wasn’t unlike the look Marinette got when she was studying a piece of clothing, trying to figure out its construction and such. Then the glint in her eyes was gone.

She shifted beside Ladybug, opening her mouth to say something. But before she could figure out the words, Ladybug broke the silence.

“I promise, I know what I’m doing. Trust me.”

“I do.”

She did. She just hoped Ladybug wasn’t going to make things harder for herself than they already were.

Speaking of which…

“I’m sorry for keeping you so long. I know you’re working to a deadline.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was probably due for a break anyways and…” Ladybug smiled softly, “it was nice. Talking about all of this. I’ve never really had anyone who got it.”

Ladybug- Marinette should have had someone who got it. She deserved someone who got it. She should have had someone from the start.

And she… she hadn’t realized it until now. But she hadn’t really had someone who got it either. Not all of it. Luka… there were some things she couldn’t tell hm. Some things he couldn’t get. But even if she couldn’t talk to Luka about everything, he was always there. And just knowing he was there made all the difference. But…

She hadn’t truly realized, hadn’t truly appreciated how much it meant to have someone who got it. And it made her heart ache that Marinette had been without someone for so long.

“I may not get all of it, but I’m here. Whenever you need me.”

***

“Get all your errands done?”

“Yep. Get all your love songs written?”

“Nope,” he half sighed. She could hear the eye roll in his voice. “Food should be here soon. I ordered sushi.”

“Did you get-”

“Yes, I got spicy tuna. And spicy salmon.”

“Good. I’m going down below for a bit. I need to figure out how I’m doing my nails for tomorrow- yes, you can borrow my good black nail polish.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know when the food’s here.”

Once she was back in her room, she spread her nail polish bottles out across her dressing table. She probably wouldn’t do a manicure, given she had the lace gloves, but her shoes were open toed so it would be nice to have her toenails painted.

Plus, she could really use a nice, relaxing pedicure.

Honestly, she could do with a whole spa day. But that would have to wait. For now, an at home pedicure would have to do.

She had just gotten her choices narrowed down, and was trying to decide which of the two deep plum shades would better match the lipstick she was planning on wearing when Luka’s voice floated down from above deck.

“Jules.” She frowned at the sound of his voice. It was… it wasn’t… usually, when he called her to let her know their food was there or he needed her help with something- “Alya’s here to see you.”

She almost dropped the bottles of nail polish.

She should have seen this coming, what with the way they—she—had left things at the meeting earlier. Really, when she thought about it, it was suspicious that Alya hadn’t shown up earlier. Like right after the akuma was declared a hoax. Although… maybe there had been another meeting, like the ones Rose had told her had been going on…

But Rose hadn’t said anything about another meeting taking place after the one she had run out of. And based on the timestamps, Mylène, Alix, and Rose had all started texting her almost right after she had bolted out.

Grimacing, she set down the bottles of nail polish. Alya was probably the last person she wanted to talk to right now. Except maybe Adrien. It was probably too late to pretend she was in the shower or something…

But even if they didn’t have… whatever this talk was going to be now, she would only be delaying the inevitable.

Sighing, she got up.

It seemed the time had come for her to cross this bridge.

She just hoped it wouldn’t end up burnt…

Luka was standing with his guitar slung over his back and his hands shoved into his pockets. Most people found Luka hard to read; people said he kept his cards close to his chest. Maybe it was a Couffaine thing, or maybe it was just a sibling thing, but she had never had trouble reading her brother. And she did not like the look on his face.

What most people would mistake for his resting face, she recognized as guarded. And there was something in his eyes- annoyance. And a sudden fatigue.

Alya was standing across from him. She looked like she was ready for battle, with the tense way she was holding herself. Like she was ready to spring into action at a second’s notice. To say nothing of the hard and determined look on her face. The same look she had whenever she…

What had she said to Luka?

They both turned to look at her as the top step squeaked under her foot.

Alya’s eyes narrowed behind her glasses, the lenses flashing in the dying light.

The tension in the air was palpable.

Luka looked at her with a silent question in his eyes. Luka was perceptive—about most things—and the vibes Alya was putting out right now? Well, Kim would have picked up on them…

A few months ago, she would have asked him to stay. She would have needed him to. Part of her still wanted him to. But she also wanted- needed to do… whatever this was going to be, on her own.

She squared her shoulders, and nodded. He gave her one last questioning and concerned look, which she returned with another nod. He nodded and left with a promise that he was close by if she needed him in his eyes.

As she watched Luka warily head down the stairs below deck, she steeled herself for the oncoming storm.

“I would have come earlier,” Alya said. It was a good thing she hadn’t come earlier, especially as she had come with no warning. “But I got held up.”

Alya didn’t offer anything more, which left her with the distinct feeling she would not like whatever it was that had held Alya up.

If she had to guess… her money was on a new set of schemes.

Part of her wanted to ask, but there was no way Alya would tell her if her suspicions were correct. Not after this afternoon. Especially not, given the way Alya was watching her, with her arms folded across her chest and her eyes boring into her.

“Just as well,” she said carefully, “I was out earlier. I had errands to run.”

“Oh?” It was impressive how Alya could make it sound like both a question and accusation.

“I needed to pick up some more eyeliner for tomorrow.”

Alya’s eyes narrowed even more, and her mouth twisted into a tight line. Part of her couldn’t help but wonder if Alya was about to demand to see her literal receipt. “Speaking of tomorrow, I don’t know what you’ve been- what you are playing at, but it needs to stop.”

“I’m not playing at anything.” That, at least, was the honest truth.

When it came to Luka and Marinette’s happiness, there was no playing.

Alya raised her brows. “The movie incident?”

“I texted her the wrong time for the movie we were going to go see.”

Technically true.

“The time we tried to get her to the park to see Adrien and she was out without her phone? You were slow to reply. And your messages never agreed to the plan! I went back and checked.”

“I was on the way home from the laundromat, I had my hands full! And Marinette forgets her phone at home all the time!”

“And the photoshoot?”

“Marinette made an outfit specifically for me to model, and I had the makeup masterclass starting the next weekend-”

“You were supposed to bail because of the class!” She and Alya both froze at the outburst; Alya’s eyes went wide, like she hadn’t been expecting to start shouting. She folded her arms across her chest as she watched Alya take a breath like Bustier always told them to. Though her exhale was still more of a huff than anything. Alya’s gaze refocused on her. “Luka asked her to the dance.”

“He did,” she agreed carefully.

“Adrien was supposed to ask her when we all met for lunch.”

“I didn’t know that.” That was the honest truth. Alya hadn’t told her about that particular scheme. Not that that would have changed anything…

“You should have known,” Alya snapped, a note of desperation making its way into her voice. “And Luka looked at you before he asked her.”

“So?”

“You put him up to it. You told him to ask her, even though you know Adrien and Marinette are meant to be.” Alya stepped towards her, a hiss slipping into her voice as she pointed an accusatory finger at her. Pain flared in her hands as her nails bit into her palms from how tightly her hands were balled into fists. But she refused to shrink. She refused to back down or balk. “You’ve been ruining the plans to get Adrien and Marinette together. Admit it.”

Alya was staring her down. Hard.

Months ago, she would have wilted under such a look. She never even would have made it far enough into a conflict to reach this precipice.

But here she was.

And she was not happy.

Alya had shown up, unannounced. She had said only the Universe knew what to Luka. Although she had her suspicions.

And now, Alya was flinging accusations.

Yes, those accusations were true.

Yes, she had been meddling and sabotaging at every turn.

But she had done her best to listen to Marinette and Luka.

She had respected what they wanted.

She had never picked a fight over any of this.

And now?

She was not happy.

Familiar heat was bubbling up in her stomach and coursing through her veins. Tension was seeping into every inch of her body. She pressed her lips together as tightly as she could, biting down on their insides to keep herself from saying something she would regret.

Alya looked just as tense: her chest was heaving and all her weight was on her toes. Like she was ready for anything. And she was staring hard at her.

It would be so easy to give into the white hot anger running through her right now. The anger at being confronted in her own home.

At having accusations, as true as they were, flung in her face.

At having to even be in this position in the first place…

But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

She had decided a long time ago that she never wanted to be Shadowmoth’s puppet ever again. And now that she had been given responsibilities, had protected Paris, had worked alongside Ladybug?

Well, that only strengthened her resolve.

She refused to be used like that to hurt her friends, her family, her home, ever again.

And part of those responsibilities- part of protecting everything she held dear, was not just fighting akumas.

It was preventing them too.

She took a breath to steady herself. “We both need to take a breath,” she said as calmly but as firmly as she could. “Neither of us wants to akumatized.”

Alya stumbled at her words, like she had been broken from some sort of trance. She shook her head and then blinked at her, like she was startled by the notion that either of them could be at risk of akumatization.

Without waiting for agreement��or protests—she let her eyes slip shut and began to inhale deeply. A moment later, she heard Alya join in with her.

She let herself focus on the steady rhythm of her breathing, and the slowing of her racing heart. Once she felt calm enough, she opened her eyes again.

Alya was staring at her once more.Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, and there were still hints of a glare in her eyes. But at least it seemed her anger had melted back into suspicion. “Thanks,” Alya said quietly. “I needed that.”

“Me, too.”

“But you never admitted to it. To any of it.”

Right…

The truth was a tricky thing. And lies were just as difficult.

If she told Alya the truth about her interference, maybe it would help Alya step back and look at things for what they truly were. Maybe it would help Alya let go of her fixation on making Adrien and Marinette happen.

But she had made a promise.

And if she told Alya the truth, she would have questions. Questions she wouldn’t be able to answer. Not without breaking her promise and betraying Marinette’s trust. And she would go to her grave before she did that to Marinette.

Which meant that the truth would just lead to more lies anyways.

‘I think there are some lies that need to be told.’

‘I thought it was the right thing to do.’

‘I guess it helps that I know I have to. To keep them safe.’

Under the guise of taking another calming breath, she steeled herself.

And lied as honestly as she could.

“I didn’t tell him to ask her out the day we went shopping. I haven’t done anything to hurt Marinette’s happiness.”

Alya’s frown deepened as she left out a huff. Behind her glasses, her eyes were once again narrowed with suspicion. For her part, she did her best to look cool and collected. She forced herself to stand tall, but she couldn’t keep herself from fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

“I don’t believe you-”

“-and if you see the dry-cleaners, then you’ve gone too far.” Luka’s voice and footsteps floated up from the stairs, and suddenly he was standing beside her—but a little ways off to give some semblance of privacy—his phone pressed to his ear. “Sorry,” he mumbled, covering his phone, “delivery guy got lost.” Alya’s face turned to disbelief before settling back into a suspicious glare pointed her way. He shot her a look with a silent question, to which she nodded. “Yeah, Darrel? Yeah, I’m still here. So if you take the next right, you should be on the North bank. We’re the houseboat with the huge stage. I’m on deck, just look for blue hair.” Luka started waving; she and Alya both looked in the direction he was looking. A tall, lanky guy with a phone pressed to his ear glanced at them and his face brightened.

They watched as the guy—Darrel—bounded down the steps and approached the gangplank.

“I have no idea how I missed it the first time,” he said as he ambled across the deck, completely oblivious to what he had just walked in on. How he couldn’t feel the tension in the air, thick as pea soup, was beyond her. “Not many houseboats have stages. Anyways, sorry for the delay. That looks like a wicked set up, I bet you could put on a pretty awesome concert…”

Alya eyed her suspiciously as Luka began to talk shop with Darrel.

Would Alya want to keep going in circles with her after Darrel was gone?

Would she- who was she kidding? Alya was not one to give up-

“I should get going. Let you have your dinner.”

What?

She snapped her gaze away from Darrel and Luka to look back at her friend. Alya was still watching her through narrowed eyes. But the heat that had been behind Alya’s eyes was gone. Replaced by a coolness.

What…

“Uh- yeah. Sounds good…”

“I’m sure tomorrow will be the night. The night Marinette’s dreamed about? The night she finally gets together with Adrien. Right?” Ok, yeah. Alya was definitely not giving up.

As admirable as her tenacity was… it was just as much headache inducing.

“Yeah,” she said slowly.

With one last look, Alya turned on her heel.

She watched as Alya made her way across the gangplank. Just one misplaced step… that’s all it would take…

If she were a better person, she wouldn’t be having these thoughts.

If she were a worse person, she probably would have already given into the temptation and pushed her into the river.

But she wouldn’t. No matter how tempting it was… Sure, out of the girl squad, Alya was the one she was the least close with. And the past couple of weeks—months for her—had certainly put a strain on their relationship it seemed.

But Alya was still her friend.

And it was the Seine.

She watched as Alya, now across safe and sound, headed towards the stairs that led to the street. As if feeling her eyes on her, Alya stopped and turned around to meet her gaze. It was hard to tell with the last of the evening sun reflecting off the lenses of her glasses, but based on the way Alya’s mouth was screwed into a tight line… She felt pretty safe on betting that her response to Alya’s parting words had done nothing to quell her suspicions.

Screwing her courage to the sticking place, she returned Alya’s gaze measure for measure. They stared at each other, caught in a silent showdown. And it seemed neither of them wanted to swerve first.

Would it be better to just give Alya the win?

Let her think she had called chicken first? Try and get her to lower her guard?

Or would it be better to hold firm?

Stand strong and not shrink back into the shadows?

Before she could debate herself into any more circles—she had had more than enough of that for one day—the sound of Darel's voice broke the air.

“Thanks for the tip, man,” Darrel said. She turned just in time to see him pass Luka a large paper bag filled with their dinner as he shoved the cash into a bag clipped to his belt. “Have a good one,” he said as he turned and headed towards the gangplank. Still seemingly blithely ignorant of the showdown he had interrupted.

Her gaze followed his movement, and then drifted past to the stairs to the street. But there was no sign of Alya.

“Watch your step,” she half-mumbled, half-called after him absently as her brows furrowed. She jumped at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. When she turned, Luka was giving her the very definition of a ‘concerned older brother look.

“Everything ok?”

She looked back to the empty stairs, and then nodded with a sigh. “Yeah. Let’s eat.”

As she and Luka headed towards the stairs down below deck, she looked back one last time.

#cw anxiety #cw - anxiety #endgame lukanette #juleka vs the forces of the universe #juleka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng #luka couffaine #alya cesaire #alya salt #adrien salt #chat noir salt #rose lavillant #mylene haprele #alix kubdel

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trashyangelic · 1 year

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I need someone to do this MLB Prompt its basically Akuma Class Salt & Lila Gets Busted...

How about when the class decides to be aggressive on violence they hurt Marinette when Lila isn't present but to think they thought Marinette is still bullying Lila will teach her a lesson?

But what they don't know that they had people witness this by doing video recording and photo shot for proof to hand it over to the authority.

As for Marinette she is with Chloe this time around when this happen. While Chloe struggle with Kim and Ivan who is holding her down while the rest beat up Marinette in front of the bakery where Tom and Sabine can see their daughter getting hurt.

+ Sabrina isn't there she is with her father working on how to investigate people manipulation and put them in their place. + Nino isn't there he is taking care of his younger brother while his parents went to buy groceries for their dinner and lunch. He even broke up with Alya the minute he saw Alya hurting Marinette at the school courtyard. + Juleka & Rose isn't there they are at Juleka's place with Alix, Max, and Nathaniel apparently they don't wanna deal with Alya and the others who is with it.

So its only Alya, Kim, Ivan, and Mylene who has been bullying Marinette while Chloe was hold back by Kim & Ivan. But at the end the parents were called by Sabine and Tom telling them that their kids are hurting her daughter for no reason the moment Lila's Mother came to the bakery she saw what is really happening.

While Sabine explain everything to Lila's mother who looked absolutely pissed that her daughter LIED to her about Marinette bullying her when its the other way around.

#mlb prompts #prompt request #writing prompt #akuma class salt #good parent sabine cheng #good parent tom dupain #marinette deserves better #good chloe bourgeois #lila rossi mother #lila gets busted

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imsparky2002 · 9 months

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I just saw this post from Weeby and had to ask you, what are the best deeds for Class Of Villainy. Even though they're bad, they surely must've done something notably good in their lives.

Mari DeVil: While she usually degrades kids for their seemingly inferior fashion sense, Marinette did give some small advice to a neutral student on one occasion.

Jafardrien: The sorcerer has saved his father from several assassination attempts. After all, if anyone's going to kill the man, it'll be him.

YzAlya: Some older boys were picking on Ella and Etta, and were turned into ferrets by Alya as a result. Only she's allowed to make their lives hell!

Honest Nino: The conman's got a soft spot for kids, and teaches them how to wheel and deal on the streets. He's also very supportive of his little brother.

Maxdrome: Max got revenge on those who attempted to steal his father's work. Max may be a villainous mastermind, but he loves his parents.

Alix Khan: The future Queen of the Jungle protects her villainous hybrid friends from other students, even if they are weaker than her.

Kimton: He remembered Ondine's birthday once, and got her a nice gift (though her friends told him what to get after twisting his arm.)

Mylensula: The sea witch is protective of not just her lovely aquatic minions, but all sea creatures. The ocean is her home, after all.

Ivan Oogie: Ivan scared away kids who were bullying his underlings, and he is a genuinely loving big brother to Sasha.

Juleficent: Juleka saved her old friend Reshma from walking the plank after Captain Anarka found out about her failed invasion of Neverland.

QRC: Sometimes, Rose lets her fellow villains win when she races them. Sometimes.

Nath of Hearts:He once spared a child from execution due to his fiery nature reminding the King of himself.

Lady Chloe: While she may be a cold and ruthless girl, she always had love and support for her half-sister, bonding over their love of cruelty.

Madame Sabrina: She once donated to a charity she sympathized with. A very small donation, but it was a good deed nonetheless.

King Marc: Marc has a lot of love in his heart for his little brother, and teaches him everything he knows. He also helps his friends to feel beautiful.

ZoeHans: She is very warm and caring for her half-sister, and makes sure that she'll always be a member of high society.

Kagami Yu: If she feels that her opponent is a worthy fight, she will give them a quick and painless death.

MimRore: While she doesn't intend to do good, occasionally her spells will accidentally improve someone's life, which she hates. She did help her girlfriend take revenge on those who abused her.

Mireides: The goddess of death gives abused kids a second chance at life, due to knowing what it's like to feel unwanted.

Jeanatoa: They will share his bling with friends occasionally, but usually just his wolfy boyfriend! 💖

Cosetteweather: She has helped their parents pass hybrid-friendly laws via promoting them on social media, albeit so that it gets more support for her evential campaign as President of France.

Doctor Cabello: Occasionally has let people out of deals, if they feel that the person has done enough already.

Simon Frollo: He saved his father's life from an attacker, declaring it a sin to try and kill a man of God.

Reshma Hook: The pirate defends her friends from bullies, like Juleka when they were young.

IsmaScar: The King of the Savannah treats his hyenas like family, knowing that if he abused them, it would bring about his downfall.

Lacey Gothel: She once stabbed a man who was about to rape a woman. Evil as she is, she's not evil enough to let that slide.

And there you have it! They may be villainous monsters, but they aren't always cruel! Thank you so much to Weeby for helping with the reasons. Make sure to reblog, reply, post and ask for more. @artzychic27 @msweebyness

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #class of villainy #disney #disneyau #akuma class #science kids #answered #ask me things #ask me stuff

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msweebyness · 9 months

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Class of Heroes AU: Worst Deeds

Today I have a bit of a special treat for you all! As wonderful as our hero kids are, no one is perfect! Detailed below are the least virtuous deeds ever performed by our heroes, both in their personal views and objective standpoints! As always, credit to @imsparky2002 and @artzychic27! (TW: Mentions of some unpleasant things, mentions of violence)

Marilan: Marinette still feels incredible shame for the way she embarassed herself before the matchmaker, considering it a dishonor to her family. She also carries great guilt for the fact that she deceived and ran away from her family to attend the school.

Adripunzel: As much as he despises Gabriel, the man still raised Adrien, who at times, though he wouldn’t realize it, would use emotionally manipulative tactics to get his way. He always catches himself quickly though, and hates himself for it afterward. He’s working hard to curb this habit completely. He also will never get over the guilt of failing to heal Ondine when she was crushed by that pillar.

TiAlya: On a day when Alya’s mind was in a very dark place, she found herself in a shady part of town, talking to the Shadow Man about how unfair it was that other people had it so easy. She nearly made a deal with him to achieve her own dreams, but was able to refuse when she realized how disappointed her loved ones would be.

Fairy GodBro: Nino tries his best to be a good and peaceful fairy, but there are times when everyone snaps. Which was what happened when Nino became so angry with Gabriel after meeting Adrien that he placed a bad luck curse on him. He was, of course, punished for this and had to earn back his magic.

Roselle: Rose is one of the sweetest and most kind-hearted people in the world...but even she has her limits. Xavier's...persistence in pursuing her is well known, and one day, before coming to the school...Rose just had enough. She blew up at him and brutally told him off in front of the entire village, topping it off by tripping him into the muddy streambed. While what she did was completely understandable, she still feels guilty for her harsh conduct.

Julebeast: Being transformed into a beast by a dark spell is bound to have some side effects, which Juleka quickly found out as she would spiral with her dark thoughts and descend into destructive rages. But her darkest moment was when she was first cursed, when she was so consumed by fury that she legitimately considered hunting down the sorcerer and killing him for what he had done.

Maxiro: Max takes a lot of pride in the majority of his technological work...but he does have some less ethical items on his resume. When his family was especially strapped for cash, Max entered a bot-fighting circuit, and won quite a bit of money. He knew it was illegal, but he felt like it was his best option. He donated it anonymously to his mother's bank account, but the guilt still haunts him.

Kimules: Kim’s worst nightmare is to harm others and cause damage. One of the worst days of his life happened just before he was invited to the school, when, in an attempt to assist one of the shopkeepers, he managed to demolish the entire town square. This was the final straw for the citizens, who decided the ban the boy entirely.

Aladdix: Alix has always been one to hold grudges, though she acknowledges that this is a problem. She has never been able to fully forgive Chloe for her past behavior, and will still antagonize her if the mood hits her right. She carries a lot of resentment for the wealthy due to past treatment, but even she admits that she goes too far at times. Such as when she stole a family heirloom from a noble in Agrabah, though she returned it once she found that out.

QuasiIvan: Ivan is a gentle soul at heart, but he can be pushed to the breaking point over those he cares about. One such instance when he was twelve haunts him to this day. Upon seeing a soldier assault Esmeralda, he completely lost control and nearly beat the man to death before his sister was able to bring him back to his senses. Though his reasons were noble, the reality of what he almost did still terrifies him.

Snow Mylene: Mylene is gentle and kind by nature, but she is also highly protective of those she cares for, particularly her gentle harmony. She is guilty in the past of calling in some of her aggressive animal friends to 'teach a lesson' to some of his royal tormentors. She also carries a great deal of guilt for hiding from her stepmother and leaving her people to suffer under the cruel woman.

Chloéstasia: Chloe knows well that she was not the nicest person freshman year, harming most of her classmates in some way or another, and never accepting responsibility for it. Not to mention her abuse towards Zoe and of her wealth and status. She knows her behavior will follow her for a long time, but she is willing to work for forgiveness.

Sabrinocchio: Sabrina has always been looked at as a 'goody-two-shoes', a little teacher's pet who never does anything wrong. Having that kind of reputation can weigh heavily on a young child, and these feelings of stress led Sabrina to take some advice from a less than reputable source and go to a party on Pleasure Island, against her father's wishes. Thankfully, she realized when things were getting dangerous, and called for Aurore.

Sleeping Nath: Nathaniel's curse weighed heavily on him throughout his life, and one of his darkest moments came when he first learned of it from his mother at the age of eight. He was so upset and consumed by despair at feeling that he was already doomed to die that he exploded at Queen Aya and fled from the palace into the woods, where he remained throughout the night, leaving his mother to fear for his safety.

MarcElsa: Though it was an accident and no permanent damage was done, Marc is still haunted by accidentally striking Kiran with his magic as children, Su-Han being no help at all, of course. Living with these self-deprecating thoughts for years got to Marc, and one day, he was in such a dark place that he was nearly pushed to the brink, so convinced that everyone was against him, that he sincerely contemplated freezing the kingdom and running away. He stopped when he thought of how Kiran would be hurt.

CinderZoé: No matter how kind and gentle they may be, a person can only handle being abused and mistreated for so long. On a day when Zoe had been locked in her 'punishment closet' for three days, she was so furious with her mother that she grabbed a mildly poisonous and sickening herb from the woods and slipped it into her mother's tea. Audrey became violently ill and was bedridden for two days.

AriOndine: Despite knowing it was the right choice to come to the surface, Ondine still deeply regrets the way she left things with her family, never giving them a proper goodbye and likely leaving them worried sick for weeks before they learned of her whereabouts. She knows she could have at least left a letter, and the guilt of feeling she abandoned them haunts her. (She also feels pretty bad about ditching the concert and leaving her sisters hanging.)

Kagamerida: Kagami has never liked having decisions made for her, especially by her mother. So when Tomoe announced she had plans for Kagami to be betrothed to the son of a nearby clan...the princess snapped. She was so angry that she slashed the family tapestry in half and fled the castle. She ended up at a witch's cottage, and came incredibly close to using a spell on her mother to escape her arranged marriage.

Blurore: Aurore prides herself on her morally upright behavior and for doing the right thing, but there are times even she can fall off. In her younger years, after having rescued Sabrina from Stromboli's clutches, she was so incensed with the man that she used her magic on the coach's wheels, causing it to crash and leaving him devastatingly injured. She was, like Nino, punished for this and had to earn back access to her wand.

Miremba: While, despite feeling to the contrary, Mireille is not truly responsible for the death of her mother, she knows she was still wrong in avoiding the Pride Lands and confronting their uncle for as long as they did. Seeing her home left in ruins while she was absent left her with a great deal of guilt. There was also, of course, the Elephant Graveyard incident...

Jeanzco: Jean is by no means a malicious person and never means to cause harm, but his bluntness and lack of foresight can at times cause…issues. Such as when they quite abruptly fired Yzma from her position, which unleashed a hellstorm on the empire. Not to mention his, erm, spending habits as emperor, though they’re working on managing this better.

Robette: Cosette prides themselves on being able to keep a cool head in most situations, but it has its limits, like when those that she loves are uncomfortable or put at risk. On one occasion, while Cosette was trying to enjoy a date with Zoe, a paparazzo was so persistent and rude towards the blonde that the young singer snapped, ending up striking him and breaking his camera. They later issued a public apology, though their fans were sympathetic.

Demolition Denise: While the denizens of their own game know Denise is no bad guy, and have always treated them with kindness, the treatment they received outside of those safe walls has lead them to consider abandoning the game world entirely and never coming back. They ultimately stayed, not wanting to endanger their game. But then they were fired... They also have an infamous temper, which can lead to some unplanned demolition.

Simon Pan: Simon will concede that he may have gone a bit too far with cutting off Hook's hand and feeding it to a crocodile, but after an attack by the pirate on the Lost Kids left one of the children with permanently crippling injuries, he was too blinded by fury to be fully aware of what he was doing and the ramifications of it.

IsmaGenie: Though he acknowledges that he really had no choice in the matter, Ismael is still deeply affected by his time serving under less than morally sound finders. He had to grant a number of wishes that did harm to others, and the guilt from this follows him even now.

Reshmabela: Anyone who knows Reshma knows how much she loves her family, and she will go to great lengths to protect them. But there are times when she can take things a bit too far. In her hometown, there was a boy who never stopped harassing Mithra for her lack of a gift. Reshma got so fed up with his actions that she filled his room with poison oak, and was rewarded by a harsh scolding from her grandmother.

Lacey Bell: Lacey has always been headstrong and likes to do things her own way, and at times this can be to the detriment of others. When she thinks something can be done better, she will go to great lengths to prove it. Like when her attempts to speed up the Spring preparation process with her inventions ended up going haywire and destroying most of what was already done.

Even heroes aren't perfect! Leave your thoughts in the comments and reblogs!

#miraculous ladybug #class of heroes #disney au #mlb ocs #worst deeds

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gibmb · 2 months

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In a new skin ch9

Chloe sighed as she let her head fall back against the door to her room. She had returned home later than she had planned, it had been surprisingly fun with Marinette and her friends. She was pretty sure they still didn't trust her, which she couldn't complain about. A few days of being nice with a touch of unhinged bravery does not undo years of being, well, Chloe, but it was nice. Especially the compliments about her art and when she looked at the canvas her smile widened.

She had drawn some more while hanging with them and as she did her rustiness faded. She drew Marinette geeking out about Adrian, Nino and Ayla laughing, Alix smirking that damn smirk of hers. One piece in particular had emerged while concentrating deeply again, though it baffled most of the people around her. She had started imagining how the dog-headed messenger might have looked fighting the sand wraith. She had even added color to it.

She finally pushed off the door and walked to her bed, setting the canvas on the table as she did. Naje and Haje exited her ring, slithering up her arm as she reclined on her bed.

“Well that was an eventful day," Haje said with a hint of annoyance about having to be near a kwami.

"That it was. I was worried you and Tiki were going to start a fight," Chloe responded, teasing them only for them to hiss at her.

"Unlike a kwami, we are divine and ancient. Childish behavior is beneath us," Naje said, which made Chloe snort, recalling how they had barely been able to keep from lunging at Tiki. "But now that you've enjoyed your day of relaxing and dealing with that miraculous wearer, I think we should get you back to training so that the next task isn't such a mess."

"How do you expect me to train this late at night? If I go on patrol I could run into Cat Noir and Ladybug," Chloe said as she placed Naje and Haje on her bed so she could change.

"You needn’t go on patrol to train. You can just train with the previous users."

At that, Chloe paused and looked at them

"How do I do that? Can you contact them or do they have a phone number or something?" she asked.

“Every wearer of the ring has the culmination of their knowledge during their time as the wearer stored within. We can access that knowledge while you sleep and create a dreamscape for you to interact with. Thus you may train with them and benefit from their experience,” Haje explained.

“It won’t leave you as refreshed as normal sleep and any injuries suffered in the dreamscape, while not real, will leave you with the memory of the pain,” Naje cautioned.

“After two days of sleeping, I’m sure I won’t mind being a little tired,” Chloe said as she went back to changing. In short order, she was ready for bed and settled in with Haje and Naje curled up beside her.

Sleep didn’t come as easily as Chloe would have liked. Perhaps the thought of this strange training gave her a bad case of the nerves, but she found herself fidgeting and tossing and turning for some time before she finally closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she was standing in the desert. The sudden change left her in a state of shock before she was overwhelmed with awe at how vast the desert was. As she tried to truly take in her surroundings, the desert changed from rolling mounds of sand to a lush forest with what looked like a ruined castle in the distance. Before she could grow accustomed to the forest, it switched to a snowy mountain top with a temple before her. She spun and found that she could look between the different environments, each seamlessly bleeding into the other in a way that didn’t seem jarring.

"Glad to see you here, Chloe." At the sound of Naje’s voice, Chloe turned to look at him only to jump back startled. No longer the size of a normal snake, Naje and Haje were instead a massive beast with scales darker than the blackest night with streaks of golden scales so brilliant it hurt to look at. Their eyes gleamed like brilliant rubies that left Chloe fighting an instinctive urge to run. “I can't tell you how good it feels to be relatively back to normal," he said, slightering past her and coiling while Haje looked on quietly in amusement. "So Chloe, are you ready?"

"Ready to never question people's fear of snakes? Yes, yes I am," Chloe joked. From behind her, there was a laugh and she quickly turned to find a woman dressed in what looked like rags. Her skin was tanned from long years of sun exposure and Chloe would have bet good money she was from Egypt. The woman sat on a mound of sand as she cast a weighing look at Chloe.

"Who-?" Before Chloe could continue, the woman spoke.

"What a shame. From the lowest in the slums who understood the dark truth of life, now the snake resides with a golden spoon that knows little of truth and even less of sacrifice," the woman said sternly, causing Chloe to swallow nervously. "So tell me pale skin, what is your name?"

"It’s Chloe Bourgeois and yo-"

"I'll tell you my name when you've earned it, pale skin. Until then, you're here because you're worthless in a fight and need to learn what it truly means to be a Numinous wielder," the woman continued as she stood up and dusted off the sand from her raggedy clothes.

Chloe’s face flushed with heat that had nothing to do with the desert sun.

"Hey, I know how to fight! I used to use a Miraculous and fight villains all the time before I had Naje and Haje!"

At that, the woman snorted, "That's a shame for Naje and Haje, but I guess if they chose you then there's something worth seeing. Very well pale skin, I'm the first user and I'll only say this once, attack me."

Chloe was at a loss for words, the woman was just saying to attack her? Letting herself become distracted by her thoughts proved to be a grave mistake. The woman leapt at her, causing Chloe's eyes to bulge before a hard roundhouse kick connected with her face. She was sent sliding across the sand and as she picked herself up she saw what looked like blood in the sand as well some teeth, but when Chloe reached up and checked her face it was completely fine.

When she got up and looked at the woman, she was waiting with her arms crossed and frowning.

“I can’t kill you here, only make you wish you were dead,” the woman said as she took up another fighting stance. “Try again.”

Chloe didn’t hesitate this time as she rushed at the woman. She threw a punch only to hit air before the world spun as she was flipped. Chloe blinked as a shadow fell over her before her eyes went wide and she rolled away from a foot slamming down where her head had been.

“What the hell?!” Chloe demanded as she struggled to her feet only to have the woman’s knee slam into her gut. Chloe retched as the air was driven from her and she collapsed to her hands and knees.

“Truly pathetic, but what should I expect from someone who was handed all their skill by a Miraculous?” she said as she paced around Chloe.

“Wh-what?” Chloe struggled to get out as she slowly made it to her feet.

“The Miraculous are a crutch, child. A Numinous grants you strength and powers, but without honing your body, those will only take you so far,” the woman said as she lashed out with a quick punch that Chloe just barely managed to avoid. “Your powers rely on your body’s stamina and as you are, I’m surprised you can last more than ten minutes wearing the holy armor.”

“I did just fine against a Sand Wraith, thank you very much!” Chloe snapped before she felt a wave of nausea sweep over her and her knees wobbled.

“Lie.” The woman spat the word as she watched Chloe falter. “Do not try to deceive me while you wear the ring, girl, especially not here.”

Chloe straightened up and raised her hands hesitantly. In truth, she really didn’t know how to fight but she didn’t want to give the woman the satisfaction of admitting it.

“If you try to use your powers too much, push yourself too far, you’ll burn yourself out,” the woman continued to lecture as she threw a series of punches and kicks at Chloe. Chloe managed to avoid some but most landed with brutal power and the woman continued to talk without a sign of being winded, “It won’t kill you, but you’ll slip into a sleep so deep that you won’t awaken for months, and that’s if no one slits your throat in the meantime.”

"So what? You kick my ass until I can fight?" Chloe shouted back as she blocked a punch that sent her to the ground. She hugged her wrists to her chest, they felt like they had been broken from the impact. She saw more blood in the sand and realized that this woman had indeed been beating the lesson into her.

“We will spare until I deem your skills sufficient, and only then will we move on to weapons and powers,” the woman said as she took a more relaxed stance.

Chloe managed to work up the nerve to look at her wrists, but they were fine, though the memory of pain persisted.

“But what if I get another mission and have to use my powers?” Chloe asked, trying to take her mind off the odd sensation.

“Experience is the greatest teacher, pale skin,” the woman said. “Besides you will have Haje and Naje to continue to instruct you while you are awake. For now though we shall take advantage of another benefit of this place. Here you do not experience time as you do when awake. So," the woman cracked her knuckles loudly, "I can take my time breaking you in."

Chloe groaned as the woman closed the distance between them once again.

***

When Chloe awoke, it was accompanied by the slightest moment of relief until she tried to sit up. Every part of her hurt and she felt like she hadn’t slept in days.

“Haje, Naje,” Chloe called out with a groan.

“Yes?” the snake called out in unison.

“What the fuck?!” Chloe asked weakly as she closed her eyes and tried to push the memory of the ‘training’ from her mind. “That lady was trying to murder me!”

“The First was merely setting her expectations of you,” Haje said.

“She is harsh but fair,” Naje followed up.

“Fucking monster is what she is,” Chloe groaned as she managed to roll onto her stomach and burried her face in her pillow.

Unfortunately, Chloe didn’t have the luxury of staying in bed and licking her figurative wounds. It was time to get ready for school.

Chloe did manage to pull herself together but it was a near thing, and there was something about being achy all over that felt weirdly familiar but she couldn’t place it. She pushed the thought from her mind as she trudged up the steps to school, barely mustering the strength to acknowledge the calls from other students.

“Gee, Chloe, are you sure you’re feeling better?” Sabrina asked as she appeared beside Chloe.

“I’m fine, Sabrina. Just maybe pushed myself too hard yesterday after being in bed for two days,” Chloe half-mumbled.

“Sorry I was busy,” Sabrina said with a quick duck of her head. “I could have made sure you got your rest.”

“It’s fine,” Chloe said, hoping to head off Sabrina’s self-flagellation. “I ran into Marinette and some of the others.”

“That’s…surprising,” Sabrina said after a moment.

“You and Adrien weren’t the only ones I owed an apology to,” Chloe said as she put an arm around Sabrina in a partial hug. Chloe had to bite back a groan as the motion reminded her of all the aches across her body, but the look on Sabrina’s face made it all worth it. They made their way to class and as Chloe was about to take her seat, an arm wrapped around her waist, making her twinge in surprise.

“How heavy were those art supplies? You look like you ran a mile with weights on,” Alix teased as she went from one side of Chloe to the other.

“More like I got my teeth kicked in by someone who takes way too much joy in physical fitness,” Chloe groaned, which garnered an odd look from Sabrina.

“Sounds fun. Why don’t you invite me to your next work out session?” Alix said with a smile.

Chloe felt her cheeks grow warm, especially as Alix’s hand lingered on her waist. A cough from Sabrina broke her from her mental freeze.

“Miss Bustier is coming,” Sabrina said, and Alix’s hand slipped from Chloe’s waist as she hurried to her seat.

Chloe took her seat stiffly, her posture nothing to do with how sore she was all over.

Edited and Co-written by GrayNeko

#chloe bourgeois #miraculous ladybug #miraculous fandom #miraculous fanworks #writing #fanfic #story

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maspers · 5 months

Text

Ranking the Miracucast by how good of a Doctor Who Companion they'd be.

Marinette: She'd be great at it, but she would also hate it and just want it to be over. She's tired and has no time for this shenaniganry. Please give her this chance to not be involved. 5/10

Alya: Would have SO MANY QUESTIONS. Could do very well, but I can see her veering dangerously close to Adam Mitchell territory. Careful there, Alya. 7/10

Adrien: Yes. 10/10

Nino: I think he'd be a decent TARDIS passenger, but he's the type that'd be part of an ensemble. Wouldn't work as well as a solo companion. 4/10

Chloe: Sorry Chloe fans, but no. The Doctor can pull a redemption arc out of anyone, but they also have no patience for bullcrap. It's just not happening no matter how much I want it to. 1/10

Sabrina: I think she would be great, but the fandom would not like her as a companion. 6/10

Mylene: Yeah, she would not like it. 0/10

Ivan: If Mylene isn't going, then neither is he. 0/10

Rose: Would be absolutely hilarious due to her name alone. Accompanying a Classic Doctor might be better for her. 7/10

Juleka: I don't care what you say she would be excellent and the fandom would love her. Ironically would probably fit better with a NuWho Doctor. 10/10

Kim: The Doctor does not want Kim in the TARDIS. Kim has been in the TARDIS at least once, and the Doctor has vowed that it will be the last time. They're wrong. 4/10

Max: The Doctor would ADORE Markov. Max would be Markov's plus one. 7/10 by proxy

Alix: Pretty sure she already is a companion. Like. In canon. We haven't seen it but it's definitely happened, fight me. Alix/10

Nathaniel: I want to say he'd be great but in my heart I know he would be Very Stressed. Definitely would not want to travel with the Doctor, but would keep getting dragged along by his friends. The fandom would love him though. 5/10

Lila: As she is now? Absolutely not. The Doctor would despise her. -10/10, BUUUUUUT if she was picked up before Volpina (or pre-Chameleon at the latest) I think she could be redeemed like in the Scarlet Lady AU. She would be hilarious. She gives me Turlough vibes. If the Doctor can deal with Turlough and Missy then he can deal with Lila. She has the potential to be unique and have an interesting character arc compared to other companions, and let's be honest NuWho needs something unique and interesting. 8/10

Luka: Like Nino, he works better as part of ensemble. Would be an excellent supporting character for Marinette or Juleka if they were companions, or maybe be a very cool Oneshot Companion like Wilf. 3/10

Kagami: The Doctor would have their work cut out for them, because Kagami is a "stab first ask questions later" person and the Doctor doesn't vibe with that normally. Neither The Doctor nor Kagami would be happy with this arrangement. So naturally Kagami's sole season would be one of the best in the entire show. 9/10

Marc: He would travel with either the Second or Thirteenth Doctors. He would do wonderfully, but his seasons would definitely be more focused on the Doctor than Marc himself. Sorry Marc. 7/10

Ondine: Is too busy keeping Kim out of trouble. And as stated previously, the Doctor does not want Kim in the TARDIS. 2/10

Felix: I just don't think it would work. Felix could definitely be a major recurring character, but somehow I can't really see him actually being a companion proper. He does get bonus points for being British. Perhaps instead of being a companion he spends his free time annoying Torchwood. 3/10

Zoe: She'd be great. But the universe would be Very Cruel to her. People will die, and she will not be happy about it. 8/10

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justanotherpersonsuniverse · 1 year

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CAP! CAP MY MAIN MAN LITERALLY SCREAMING YOU SURE DO FUCKING LOVE CLIFF HANGERS DON'T YOU? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

right. right. ok i'll have you know i made fucking notes as i read because i didn't want to miss out on things to scream about

first of all: writing style? yes it is a bit different (and you seem set on making metaphors about boats, i wonder why... has a certain cephalopod game influenced you?? honestly i loved them and it fits nicely because house boat) but i really liked it, dialogue flowed more naturally (not that it was bad in the slightest at all!) so it was interesting to read :))

NOW ONTO MY FUCKING NOTES!

(there is a fucking lot of text after this so be prepared, the "keep reading" thingy doesn't work in asks i checked)

(as a note, whenever i ask very direct questions i am not expecting too many (or any in some cases) answers cause yknow spoilers, i am just very enthusiastically showing all my thought processes because its fun)

"she could feel her powers growing ever day..." ?!?!??! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?? is there more side affects to the miraculous? is the fact that she literally has the god of destruction constantly near her constantly and uses his powers nearly every day changing how she views things? is she literally growing more powerful in terms strength? multiple powers eg another thing like cataclysm? there are so many things it could mean-

Juleka was legit so fucking sad? the entire time? she is so overwhelmed :( literally talk to someone about it- please- your entire family knows! aaa :(

"so much more than red glitter and black leather" is... is ladybug glittery? does she sparkle? this doesn't matter but i keep imagining her like bedazzled in rhinestones or something else and losing it a little

aww Alix taught small children how to skate! it was in this chapter! also: she swore in a presentation?? i literally cannot swear in front of a teacher, one time i did by accident in a hallway and she legit ran at me

loved Chloes little moment "Wait- was that mean? It was? Oh. I guess I’m- sorry" that was very cute

ah. to quote directly from my notes: "Gabriel used to be Nathalies "best friend" and Emily was her "dearest companion"? Yeah ok that's pretty gay buckaroo, polyamorous relationship, Nathalie and Gabriel are queer platonic, 200k prequel, angst, unhappy ending, major character death" so that amused me greatly

Crows keep showing up... and for a second i wondered if it was related to Rose and was a reference to OM since yknow rose is a grim and crows are also signs of death, but then they popped up again and i'm now suspicious, either i am reading too far into this or they could mean a few things: first thought was they could be related to Juleka and her powers, similar to how cats are attracted to her? or a few other things but i shall keep those theories to myself (see how you like not knowing cap /j) and wait and see for more

"apparently some floats were gonna appear of Paris's heroes. Ladybug, Rena, Queen Bee, Carapace, the lot" i am choosing to believe this is juleka being an unreliable narrator and not that they (the city) forgot about. because that makes me sad.

i also said: "i've decided alyas blog is on tumblr" and something about how that implies the majority of Paris has a tumblr makes me laugh so much

ha, Alix's "SCATTER!" was hilarious, she would do that at the first opportunity, i too would do so at the first opportunity presented

Juleka kicked Horrificators ass?? as Juleka did this with a guitar case?? ain't that thing supposed to be a massive fucker?? either this is just another case of juleka being stronger than she seems to be or this is related to her ominously put growing powers, its always interesting to see how she deals with fights when she isn't in costume, one of the reasons why the drama club chapters were so interesting because Juleka was fighting (maybe not physically all the time but she was fighting) Adam as herself the entire time

"something about it felt different now..." WHAT DO YOU MEAN? HOW DOES THE TRANSFORMATION NORMALLY FEEL VS NOW GIVE ME MORE the real question is it related to "growing powers" (i keep referencing it because it could mean literally so much or nothing) or her attitude, i don't have a direct quote but this isn't my english exam so its fine, it was implied that Juleka is slightly more accepting about the fact that she literally is Panthera (i mean she also said Panthera isn't a real person but like i digress) so maybe thats why it felt different to transform?

panthera just stealing Reversers transport is so fucking funny, all i could think of was the entire hero gang stealing something like idk RogerCops car and just going off in it

that was my last note because i was too invested in seeing what would happen to write thoughts at the same time

agh literally so hype to see what happens next, this chapter was already very action based and very very good :))

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IM SO HAPPY YOU ENJOYED!!! THESE NOTES BRING ME SO MUCH JOY!!!!

I love hearing your guys's thoughts, observations, and theories, it brings so much drive and inspiration in my heart. Thank you thank you thank you thank you.

#panthera noire au #sneak a cat

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sasuhinasno1fan · 9 months

Text

Wish come true - Adrien AUGreste Day 9+10

It took a while for this one to get written and I was a bit back and forth on letting Ameile get the ring just based on the reason for why Gabreil wanted to keep it. I never actually watched s4 and 5, just know from friends hatewatching, and I had assumed the rings had a bigger part in the story but so far, they just seem to be family heirlooms. But again, because it’s not cannon past s3, Felix actually has a relationship with his dad. Anyway, enjoy!

Friends

“Remind me never to do Student UN again.” Adrien said, dropping onto the deck of the Liberty.

It was the Saturday after their schools Model UN and while Adrien lucked out with Lila not participating, she was back in school and made it her mission to make his life difficult by being a nascence. it took the whole class playing shield to keep him from actually hurting her. Chloe surprisingly had been a huge help, giving her a dress down that honestly, was too good to describe. Obviously, the Mayor’s daughter hadn’t done a whole 180 but with most people remembering how her mother treated her and starting to give her the benefit of the doubt, she was coming out from her spoiled shell. She was still spoiled and self-centred, that was Chloe, but Adrien compared her to Cleo from Monster High. She cared and wanted people to know that, it just took a while for her to find the ways of showing it.

“No need to applaud, I’ve arrived!” Chloe announced, stepping onto the ship, stumbling when Sabrina tripped off the gangplank and crashed into her. Her best friend stuttered apologizes when she turned to glare but the blonde took a breath and asked if she was ok.

Baby steps, that’s what it was about.

“Look on the bright side, two days and a full party where we don’t have to deal with her.” Nino said. He was leaning against Alya’s legs as she sat on the stage with Marinette and Alix, still going over the story about the Miraculous and their secret society. She’d been even more into it when the news riel about the sudden return of the Temple, with a very familiar looking mark, ran.

“And even better,” Luka said, kneeling down next to Adrien, “You now have more free time and I’ve gotten ahead in assignments.”

Adrien smiled to himself. “I guess that is something worth celebrating. Other than actually pulling off the school’s first Student UN.”

“Oh my god. Chloe!” Alya called.

“I didn’t do anything!”

“No.” Alya got up, practically shoving her phone into Chloe’s face. “Did you know about this? that this was today?”

Chloe’s eyes widened. “Crap. I can’t believe I forgot. I didn’t think I’d forget.”

“What?”

“Lila’s mom disappeared a year ago.”

“Died.” Chloe corrected. “She died, I’m sure of it. she was really sick, dizzy spells, fainting, confined to her bed for days. I never liked Lila, but I liked her mom. I can’t believe I forgot.”

“It’s been a busy year, what with Hawkmoth and everything.” Sabrina said.

“Not to mention Lila suddenly showing up at school.” Marinette reminded. “I’m sure her mother knows you care.”

“She showed up at school?” Adrien asked.

“Lila was homeschooled. With her dad’s popularity, Emile didn’t want her being stared at. Not like she cared; she was always doing something to make a mess of things. She would be a clothing model for her dad for clothes for her age group and clearly, she loved the attention.” Chloe said. “it started small then, but she started lying to get her way. Emile would catch her a few times but she started to get better and then Emile got sick, so she hid better. All of a sudden, she walks into the classroom with this lie that her father hated that she was being locked away and wanted her to be normal and interact with the people who bought his clothes.”

“Which also brought in the lies she told us basically about how she was involved in all our favourite things.” Alya reminded.

“Which Alya here actually helped expose a little. Did you know she said Jagged Stone wrote a love song about her?” Alix said, putting a hand on the reporter’s shoulder.

“Jagged Stone, is in his 30s.”

“Her lies went crashing down pretty soon after he made a statement about it not being true. Didn’t stop her, but we knew to fact check and before you know it, newest big model on the scene is the biggest scandal no one wants to deal with.”

“But she lost her mom.”

Adrien thought about how she reacted the first day he met her. She had no standing, clearly grasping at anything to be seen. He understood it, keeping up a façade because it was easier, but she seemed to take singular focus on attacking him, insulting his mother and her love. He could blame it on Lila’s own mother and her disappearance, but he didn’t know. The popular kids he me at his schools, a lot were mad at their parents, but unless they were involved in some way with yours, your own parents never made conversation. Any cheap shot about them was about their looks or their jobs, not their ability to love you. he felt bad for her, but it didn’t justify her behaviour. He did feel bad for Chloe though. He wondered if Emile Agreste had been more of a mom than her actual mother.

“Chloe, did you want to go give your condolences?” Adrien asked. “To Gabriel and maybe Lila? I mean, I don’t like her, but if my mama disappeared?”

“We should at least let her know we’re thinking of her.” Mylene said. “But if we all went.”

“She’d lose her head. Or lap it up. Or, I don’t know, maybe be normal.” Ivan pointed out, all valid points.

“her dad wouldn’t want his daughter’s whole class coming by. He doesn’t even leave his house.” Chloe reminded.

“So only a few of us. Chloe, you and Sabrina. Maybe Juleka, since you model for him? And Marinette, since you’re working his internship.” Rose suggested.

“I will be working his internship. And honestly, if Lila hates Adrien the most, she hates me second. She constantly goes after me trying to get me in trouble.” Marinette reminded.

“I’ll go.” Adrien said, shrugging when everyone looked at him. “I don’t like her, but I mentioned to her dad that I liked Solitude. Feels like I should at least let him know how sorry I am.”

“So, Chloe, Sabrina, Adrien and Juleka?”

“Except, Juleka is practically becoming the new face of the brand,” Luka reminded. “I don’t know her well, but I know her enough. If we’re worried what all of us being there will do, do we really think sending her replacement is a good idea?”

“Chloe, Sabrina, Adrien and Luka? if only to stop Adrien when Lila undoubtly pisses him off.” Rose said, Adrien looking insulted.

“Hey!”

“Oh, you know she’ll do it. get filming, I’ll call the limo.” Chloe said.

________________

“Yes?”

Chloe tossed her hair, standing at full hight. Adrien would admit, it was impressive how easily she fell into being her snooty self when she wanted something. There was Chloe who held onto her self-importance and could still be ok to be around and then there was this side, who after a few minutes, you’d be tempted to throw her off the Eiffel Tower.

That was probably why any akuma she caused would take her there.

“We’ve come to pay our respects to M. Agreste.” Sabrina nudged her, leaving her to sigh and roll her eyes. “And Lila I guess.”

“We have guests Chloe.”

“Oh, let her in. I haven’t seen her in years!” that was a different voice, but one that perked Chloe up. She turned to Adrien, who was messing with the plastic covering the bouquet. She smirked in a way that worried Sabrina, who started tugging on her jacket to get her to spill.

The gate swung open and Chloe led them to the door. It was pulled open and Adrien had to remind himself that Emile Agreste had been missing for a year. The woman who stood in front of them was near identical though.

“Chloe!”

“Amelie! It’s so nice to see you again. How is it in London? Great, I’d like you to meet someone. This is Adrien.” Chloe dragged Adrien over, ignoring his questions of what she was doing.

“Um, hi?”

“Oh, my goodness. Felix, Felix! Come over here. Look at this.” grabbing Adrien, the woman dragged him in the house, Chloe still ignoring the questions over what was going on, smiling at the scene before them.

Amelie brought Adrien to stand in front of someone. Someone with the same shade of hair and eyes, near the same height and had the same expression Adrien tended to have when truly annoyed or angry.

“It’s this amazing? Felix, you two look exactly alike. Lila, you must have been so surprised when he came to your class. I hear you’re new?”

“Um, yeah. I’m Adrien Rossi…and this is a little strange.”

Amelie giggled, clapping her hands. “Oh, this is amazing! Emile and I always hoped our kids would look like this, near twins. I always wanted to play a trick on you Gabriel, and switch the kids for a day. Oh, the things the two of you could have gotten away with.”

Feeling a little awkward, Adrien gave the teen in front of him a smile. “Hi, and you are?”

“I’m Felix.” His accented French made Adrien tempted to switch to English, but he didn’t want to assume.

“Oh, and I’m Amelie. Emilie was my big sister. Chloe, why don’t you introduce me to your other friends?”

Adrien glanced over Felix’s shoulder to see Lila glaring at him. She seemed madder than usual, like she actually wanted to hurt him. Eager to get out, Adrien handed the flowers to him.

“Sorry for your loss.”

Felix looked at the flowers before looking back at him. It was strange, seeing such a proper picture staring back at him. Mylene, while waiting for others to finish their video, had braided his bangs into his hair and the fishnet poking out from under his oversized shirt was a definite contrast to his slacks and waistcoat.

“I know you don’t mean my father but thank you regardless.” Felix said.

“Oh, I didn’t know. I won’t say ‘I’m sorry’ because I know every kid who lost a parent never wants to hear that. So instead, I’ll say…I hope the important memories never fade and if they do, you never lose the feelings you had during them.”

Felix looked surprised and Adrien realised he was hoping for a reaction. Just not the one he gave. He took the flowers and handed them to Nathalie, who looked pained as Chloe held court with Lila’s aunt.

“If you don’t mind, Mlle. Bourgeois, this is a family occasion.” Gabriel finally interrupted.

“That’s fine, we just wanted you to know we were thinking of you. oh, and Sabrina.” The red-haired girl took out the SD card that they downloaded their video onto and handed it to Lila. “Just so you know we care.”

Lila dropped the SD card and stomped on it a few times. Whether or not it broke it, Adrien wasn’t sure, but they all got the message. She stormed up the stairs, ignoring her aunt’s yelling to come back and apologize, which turned into a near fight between her and Gabriel about Lila’s behaviour. Adrien took one look at Felix, who’s face still held the same expression, but with a bit of sadness and spoke without thinking much.

“Hey, Felix. Is it your first time in Paris? We’re having a party at Luka’s houseboat; you should come with us.”

A small bit of relief appeared in the green eyes as he turned to his mother. “Can I?”

“I suppose. How about you meet me back here at 4 so we can say goodbye and go to the station together?”

And with that, they had a new addition.

_________________

“Whoa. It’s like a funhouse mirror.” Kim said, looking Felix up and down, who looked annoyed at being gawked at.

“Except I’m sure his temper is the same. Sure, you remember that part, huh Kim?” Adrien said, smiling when the athlete got red and turned back to the party. “Sorry about him.”

“You didn’t have to do this because you feel sorry for me.”

“I only feel sorry you would have had to spend the afternoon with Lila.” Adrien said, taking in the same surprised look Felix had before. “If I felt sorry for you because of your father, then I’d feel the same about a lot of my friends. Lot of single household kids here. Fair amount due to a parent passing away but they have their ways of remembering them and it’s a reminder to us to always remember the important feelings. now, you hungry? Kagami is getting off training soon and she’s bringing freshly made mochi. It’s really good.”

Felix stared at him, like he was trying to figure him out before he turned away. “Not particularly hungry, though I am thirsty.”

It took some time, but Felix started to open up. He was sarcastic and a bit rude but they were all used to it with Chloe. When Kim’s teasing went to far, Felix shut him down with a rather well-timed insult that had the whole group laughing as Kim went red and pouted. His social skills lacked some, which made him bond with Kagami when she finally arrived.

“If they say something pop culture related you don’t get, just nod. They usually figure out we have no clue what they mean and explain to not look stupid.” She advised.

“Thanks Kagami.” Adrien said sarcastically.

Somehow the topic turned to the thing majority of their class shared in common, single parent households. It was a healthy debate of what they felt they missed compared to their friends and classmates with two parents.

“Twice as much worrying? That baby akuma accidently smashed through my room and my dad freaked out. I was in the bathroom, which is the furthest from the skylight so I was fine. but Papa lost it, trying to break in and check on me. Which is fine, I get it. but after Scarlet Bug fixed everything, he came by to check if I was ok while Catseye went to go drop the baby off and my dad’s first reaction is that I’m dating Scarlet Bug! Do you have any idea how mortifying that is? The poor guy didn’t get a chance to explain before my dad tried inviting him to dinner with us.” Marinette went.

“Please, you think that’s bad? Reminder that my dad became akumatized to keep me from leaving.” Chloe threw in. “Your dad got akumatized because he thought you were dumped.”

“Seeing how my dad won’t even talk to me since I came out,” Marc said, “I wouldn’t be too mad about him getting akumatized because he didn’t want to see me hurt.”

“At least your mother wasn’t akumatized because she wants to control you.” Kagami said, taking a sip of tea.

“Or akumatized because she doesn’t enjoy being control.” Luka said.

Felix looked confused. “Is this what we do? Talk about being akumatized? Wait, have all of you been akumatized?”

“Pretty much. I think Marinette is the only person who hasn’t been akumatized. Just all her friends and family.” Nino said.

“Besides, we’ve realised that talking about what happened and remembering the emotions we felt is a reminder that it’s ok to feel that way. If Hawkmoth didn’t exist, we could feel that without consequences. Our reactions would be different. We have to remind ourselves that while we try to keep a check on our emotions to keep Hawkmoth from taking us over again, feeling what we felt is normal. And one day we can feel those emotions without worrying about the really bad consequences again.” Rose explained.

“I think there are some consequences you should still feel worried about.” Felix pointed out.

“So, what would be your trigger?” Markov asked, hovering over the mochi to keep Kim and Ivan from having too many.

“My trigger?”

“A lot of ours was Chloe. Chloe’s was Scarlet Bug believe it or not.” Alya said.

“Mine was a grown man who thought it was ok to threaten kids and act like a child. But got us a contract out of it.” Adrien said. “It doesn’t have to be anything big.”

Felix’s gaze went to his cup, clanging his ring against the ceramic. “My dad. But not his passing. It could have been, he died in an accident but that would have been my mom’s. she lost her sister and the love of her life within a month of each other. My trigger would have been my uncle not showing his face at the funeral, but expecting us to come to his house to mourn his wife. I loved my aunt, but why should my father’s passing be brushed off? I can’t talk about it with my mother and I don’t make friends easy. Most just want something because our family is rich, but I wanted to mourn and because of my uncle I can’t. he doesn’t even seem to understand why my mother wants the rings back.”

“Rings?” Adrien asked.

Felix messed with the ring on his finger. “because my aunt was older, she got the family rings. Used to be told stories about how they had special powers and for a kid who grew up with his father telling him about fae and calling his wife Titania the fairy queen, I liked those stories. After my aunt disappeared, my mom wanted a piece of her back and that piece was the ring. They used them as their wedding rings and he doesn’t seem to get why my mom wants them back. He’s mourned her by hiding away. My mother’s hid her mourning to take care of the company and me. She deserves that much.”

Adrien looked at the ring, as Felix continued to mess with it. it was slightly big, a bit faded but Felix handled it like it was the most important thing in the world. Probably because it belonged it to his father. The ring could have gone to Amelie but instead Felix had it, to remember his father because she had him. and all she wanted was a way to remember her sister. He got why Gabriel wanted to keep the ring if it was his only link to his wife, but he wasn’t the only one who lost her.

“I think you should steal it.” Kagami said. “he lives inside his home, rarely coming out. I’m sure he has other ways of remembering her. The rings don’t belong to him, they did to her and now to your mother. But if you want to avoid getting in trouble, maybe convince your mom to have him sit down and explain her side. Guilt could probably work too if she adds how she can’t grieve her family with nothing to hold onto.” The whole group stared at her. “What?”

“You, are a terrifying person. Look, the point is, you have every right to feel the way you do. Tell that to your mom so she can take care of it. and if that doesn’t work, maybe steal the ring, but only if you feel like he’s saying no to be an ass.” Adrien explained.

“So, steal as last resort?”

“The guy is friends with the mayor of Paris. Try not to get banned before we can hang out again?”

“Again?”

“Well yeah. We’re friends now, you’re stuck with us.”

Felix took in the mix of faces, all – including Chloe – giving him looks that all said they were telling the truth. His usual personality turned people away, but these people were fine with it. he looked at Adrien, a wilder copy of himself and realised his original plan to be an ass wasn’t going to work. They were too stubborn and honestly, it was just easier to give in.

Later on, the train, he watched his mother smile softly down at the ring in hand.

“I have to say, I’m surprised Gabriel was moved enough to give me the ring. I’m sorry I had to use your father as an in.”

“It’s fine. I’m just glad you have it now. Besides, it wasn’t mainly my idea. Got it from a friend.”

“A friend?” she asked with a smile on her face.

Looking at his reflection, he spun his father’s ring on his finger. “Yeah. My first actually.”

#adrien august #adrien augreste 2023

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