#adrien is just dumb mostly

[snitchesnsneeds]

First Half of Miraculous Season 2 Done. Here's my thoughts:

The Collector: A pretty good start! They made the teens smart while still being dumb teens!

Despair Bear: Chloe needs a therapist, arguably moreso than a redemption arc and especially a downward villainous spiral. Also Dangit Grandpa

Prime Queen: Wow, this was a lot more chill than expected. Even Cat Noir was left aghast at what Nadja was doing, Nadja seemed to be pressuring Ladybug and Cat Noir more for views than anything else, and I'm not entirely sure Akuma personalities can be trusted.

Befana: Fun fact: This was the episode that got me into Miraculous in the first place because of how shocking it was. And then I discovered even more. In hindsight from watching the other episodes, it was relatively darker, but mostly because it's Marinette's friends and family that are getting G-rated killed instead of random civilians like every other episode.

Riposte: Kagami is here! I don't see too much chemistry with her and Adrien yet, but she's cool and I like her and feel like I could be friends in real life. Also this feels like a relatively uncommon trope, but I wish "X is blatantly a woman but no one notices" was spedran through by someone with brains.

Robustus: Pretty good, all things considered. From what I've heard about Miraculous lore, creating sapient or at the very least semi-sapient AI isn't that uncommon for weirdness hotspots, and I'm putting Max in the list of characters I think should have figured out Ladybug and Cat Noir's identity. (There's four now!)

Gigantitan: It turns out my favorite parts of Miraculous are the slice-of-life bits instead of the superhero bits the show is about! We got to see more of Marinette's friends! Alix! Mylene! Julie! The Eeby Deeby herself! Also it was really sweet to see Adrien's bodyguard calm down just by looking at the kid. Adrien's true daddy.

Dark Owl: No wonder these two aren't allowed to know eachothers' identities, considering how much of a loose tongue Marinette has!

Glaciator: Alright, it's finally time to talk about the sins of Marinette and Cat Noir, considering the fan content I osmosed before watching the series was heavy salt stuff, and I wanna see how much it holds up. So far Cat Noir has acted as if he's already dating Ladybug previously, and in this episode he got mad at Ladybug for not showing up at a date when she herself said she might not come due to having other plans. Isn't he supposed to be used to not-showing-up disappointment as Adrien due to his dad? Is it different because he's Cat Noir? Is this a breaking point? No matter, he eventually calms down and is ultimately the less bad member of the relationship. Marinette, meanwhile, doesn't have as many misdemeanors to her name but they're a lot worse. She stole Adrien's phone to get rid of an embarrassing message and got away with it too, what the hell, and also owns the schedule. Although I don't believe she stalked Adrien and made it herself due to how busy she is as both Marinette and Ladybug, that's just weird and wrong. I'm reluctant to call her a stalker, but her actions are still wrong. Ultimately, this relationship is going to need a lot of therapy and counseling to not crash and burn. What were we talking about again? Oh yeah. The ice cream episode. I think the ice cream guy can be wrong and he doesn't understand that.

Sapotis: Silly little fun episode, also it introduces the first new Miraculous holder! I'm honestly fine with it so far if it means more screentime for side characters. I honestly really like seeing Marinette's classmates. They're neat. Also I was this close to putting Alya on the list but she proves time and time again that she doesn't actually know Ladybug's identity.

Gorizilla: In this episode we are introduced to Adrien's deranged parasocial fanbase. I'm starting to understand some of his father's decisions at this point. This is what I was talking about with the schedule, by the way. These obsessive stalker creeps make Marinette look reasonable, and I wouldn't be surprised if the one guy who I'm pretty sure becomes Party Crasher discreetly stalked Adrien to get his schedule. Restraining orders need to be filed.

Captain Hardrock: One of the funniest episodes, up there with Dark Cupid. Also Luka is here! And he already has great chemistry with Marinette! And more Rosie and Julie content even if it's crumbs!

#miraculous ladybug #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #ml salt #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #nadja chamack #kagami tsurugi #max kante #alix kubdel #mylene haprele #juleka couffaine #rose lavillant #alya cesaire #luka couffaine #lukanette

[zoe-oneesama]

ONE MORE EPISODE LEFT TO WRITE! CONGRATULATIONS!! 🎉🎊 Based on everything we’ve seen up to this point in-show, what are your thoughts on Nathalie, her Catalyst akuma and Mayura villain persona, and the Heroes’ Day Season 2 two-parter after your fresh rewatch of the episodes?

I'll be watching both parts at once, but since I'll probably have to rewatch part 2: "Mayura" when I finish my own part 1, I'll mostly focus on Part 1: "Catalyst", with some bleed in from Part 2. I'll be taking a linear critique of the episode in a stream of consciousness way.

To start, "Heroes' Day" is not a real French holiday, yet Marinette's parents say it's come again "just like every year", implying that this has been going on for multiple years? Implying that a Hero Day based off your local superheroes have been happening for YEARS while Marinette and Adrien are in the same class, in the same school year....make it make sense.

Of course, this could be a totally in universe regular holiday that USED to be about just doing good deeds for a day that they adopted to theme around their superheroes, what do I know.

About those good deeds...Marinette deserves slack here. She does good deeds for her friends all the freaking time, but the first part of the two episodes puts a lot of pressure for her to not only do a Good Deed but a Good Enough Good Deed, which to me defeats the purpose of a good deed. You're supposed to do good deeds for the sake of being kind and improving the world, not for...recognition. Or maybe they're being graded...

This feels like a dropped plot line, which is a shame because this was actually a decent lesson for Marinette for once about taking on too much and pressuring herself. Except for Chloe, Marinette is the only person demanding Marinette do a Good Enough Deed, to the point of making a promise she couldn't keep. (Though it's dumb she feels pressured thanks to CHLOE of all people, when all the richest girl in Paris is offering is her own autographs). Yet they only go part way and nearly completely drop this plot line in the second half.

You know, instead of that scene of Adrien meeting Marinette on the steps and assuming he's not invited, they could've used that time for Marinette to admit to Adrien that she panicked and is struggling to keep to her word. Marinette could've actually confided in Adrien, showing their friendship by allowing her to be vulnerable with him about how she was feeling inadequate compared to everyone else and how these feelings spurred her into trouble. This also would've been a great lead in for the end of the two parter:

In Part 2, the picnic/taste testing that Marinette promised but had no time for? It still happens. How? According to Adrien at the end of his speech, the class "jumped at the chance to help". Would've been nice to see any of that, or see any REAL conclusion to Marinette's issue in these episodes, which was putting too much pressure on herself and not telling the truth when it became overwhelming. Even her mom tells her that bravely admitting when you've messed up is heroic, but...Marinette never tells anyone.

On screen anyway.

By having Marinette tell Adrien, Adrien could've rounded up the class to make the picnic happen. And Marinette should've been distraught - this was supposed to be HER good deed yet THEY did all the work! She failed! And then the class disagrees. She does good deeds all the time! Checking in on Ivan after he was an akuma! Breaking Juleka's picture curse! Bringing Marc and Nathaniel together! A single day can't compare to the number of things she's done for everyone here! And now it's their turn to do something for her!

And then she's brought to tears and kisses his cheek in thanks blah blah blah you've seen canon. Instead it's treated as a "oh yeah, we did that thing with Marinette in the first part, uhhh, that's resolved now, okay?" What a waste.

Actually I'm sure this is a completely dropped plot line because Adrien says "Like Rose said earlier" when she didn't say anything.

Where were we? Oh right, Lila's first sighting in a whole season.

Alya here says Marinette is jealous of Lila for trying to hit on Adrien (or in the French, "seduce"~ lol). I'd just like Alya to remember that for later when she actually believes Lila when she says she doesn't have feelings for Adrien, but we all know continuity doesn't live here.

Speaking of, I'm not surprised how many salt fics paint Lila's (first) mom as an idiot. Right after Lila tells her mom that Principal Damocles is also stuck as an akuma thanks to Ladybug's "incompetence", a giant floating balloon of Ladybug floats past her bedroom window.

Woman, how you gonna believe that Paris' heroes are incompetent on the word of your daughter while Paris throws a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in her honor? (I also assume this woman doesn't talk to anyone other than Lila despite apparently being out of the house so often that they don't even share breakfast together. Sure ZAG.) But at least I get to enjoy Gabriel deliberately poking the bear by bringing up Volpina when she was completely and utterly irrelevant. That did in fact make me laugh.

Oh, this is something that I only just put together, but Alya says her good deed was going to the Mayor and getting him to sign off on making the school accessible for disabled students, and we see in this episode on-wards that the school has a ramp. I HAD noticed the ramp in Season 3, but I had completely forgotten that Alya talked about it here at the end of Season 2. So, wow! Good continuity detail, Zag! You get one gold star. ⭐

(though that ramp is hella steep)

I was about to also praise the continuity of Gabriel bringing up financing a Ladybug movie, since that seemed to be setting up "Animaestro"...but then he says it's playing that day (on EVERY tv channel?!). But..."Animaestro" was the movie's premiere...So I guess there's another in universe Ladybug movie ( funded by a fashion director?) that we'll never see. U_U

Damn, I was gonna point out the nepotism of hiring your primary sponsor's son to voice act the male lead, but I guess I can't anymore, bummer 😗

I do make a mental note of the things Lila is calling Ladybug as she's cycling through news coverage. "Liar. Traitor. Coward." Just...interesting. Where did Ladybug lie? Where did Ladybug betray Lila? Where did she run and hide? Interesting, interesting, interesting.

And betrayals only happen when there's trust between you, in order for Ladybug to "betray" Lila she would've had to have Lila's trust or loyalty to begin with.

Even here she didn't accept the akuma as willingly as she did in "Chameleon", but she still greeted Hawkmoth like an old friend, and is DELIGHTED to ruin everyone's Heroes' Day and traumatize them with her illusion for a chance to help Hawkmoth succeed, just to get back at Ladybug. Yikes.

Lmao, not the unfinished png photoshop background on the flute. Great quality check, guys.

I do think this is the first time I actually thought Hawkmoth did something smart. After putting all his eggs in the Audrey/Style Queen basket and then handing the basket to Chloe/Queen Wasp, I wasn't too impressed with him, but this plan was actually good. (I mean it should've PARTIALLY fallen apart once people saw both the Unakumatized Ladybug AND Chat Noir now that we know people can reject their akumas, but sure. We didn't know it at THIS point, so it seems smart.)

But all this energy could've just been channeled into making the ultimate doctor akuma. I mean, you literally made a Miraculous Holder Power Booster with Catalyst, so I'm just saying what we've all been saying~

"I know, it wouldn't be very heroic to use my powers on my personal business" - GIRL at this point YOU'VE EARNED IT, SCREW what Tikki says!

This does make it the second time someone's told Marinette to just come clean to her friends. Why did they drop this plot line after pushing it so hard?!?!?!

"You don't have enough cake for me, do you?" Sir, did you pull a muscle with that leap?! I guess the intention of this scene was that Marinette was ABOUT to come clean to her friends but Adrien's excitement put the pressure for her to pull off the picnic back on. Again, there is no solid conclusion for this part of the story, Marinette just festers on it until there's akuma stuff to deal with. Wait, maybe the mass akuma outbreak is how she really got out of it... "Sorry guys I TOTALLY had this whole thing planned, but, you know. Akumas. Lots of them. Couldn't do it."

How satisfying. 🙃

"Heroes' Day is now...meaningless!" This is like in Christmas movies when people say Christmas is RUINED because a tree caught fire or Santa didn't come. Did the Whos in Whoville teach you nothing, that's the not the true meaning of Christmas and Superheroes are not the true meaning of Heroes Day when you set it up as a reoccurring holiday where people go the extra mile to be kind to one another!

Sorry, this is nit picky, like really nit picky, but don't create a fictional holiday that's about joy and kindness and then "ruin" it by something only tangentially related. I know it's totally just to get the plot going forward, but I'm too old and have seen this too many times (mostly in Christmas media) and it starts to grate on you. Just make the holiday a new one in tribute TO the heroes, then it can be ruined by the heroes turning bad, otherwise you're killing your message about the Everyday Heroes doing Good Deeds to Keep the World a Kind and Happy Place by putting all the weight on the SUPERNATURAL EXTRAORDINARY FIGURES THAT NORMAL HUMANS COULD NEVER COMPARE TO!

*huff huff*

So...Sabrina should know what's up with Lila at least a little, right? Since Ladybug firmly believes Volpina was involved, right? Well, based off some spoilers, MAYBE (strong maybe, this is speculation entirely), Sabrina might finally be using this knowledge. You know, 3 Seasons later. Maybe. They've been doing pretty decent at pulling stuff from earlier seasons, even if it DOES feel too little too late, so it's possible that Sabrina will FINALLY remember this moment with Ladybug.

"You're Rena Rouge and you didn't tell me?!" You didn't tell her you were Carapace either, but I see this is where it freaking starts with you young man. I remember this being a funny moment but hindsight has ruined it, so, thanks for that "Rocketear". 🙃

See, THESE are the Adrien/Chloe moments that I wanted: annoying sibling energy 100%. But alas, this is ALSO ruined. Chloe is calling it her Miraculous, give me MY Miraculous, putting down Chat Noir as Ladybug's "underling". This was never going to work.

Wow, Nora totally nailed it: "If he's talking to Ladybug, then Ladybug and Mr. Whiskers are still on the good side!" I thought she was supposed to be the dumb one?

Anyway, that's part 1 (or at least most of what I have to say about it). As a stand alone, this feels like a huge lead up, which I think gets mostly paid off on the akuma side of things...and definitely not on the Marinette side of things. Wah wah.

I don't have many feelings on Nathalie, Catalyst, or Mayura since they're barely in the first part (or not in it lol) and when she is in it she feels very OOC - smiling a lot, shy glances to the side, all in to go full Team Rocket with Hawkmoth. Up until now she's been so peripheral that seeing her main stage (though again, just barely) is so jarring.

Well, we'll see her "shine" in the next part I guess.

#heroes day #catalyst salt #catalyst #my opinion #ml salt #writing salt #always writing salt #lila salt #an essay by zoe

[internetgiraffekid1673]

Miraculous Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Drawings

I drew a lot of Marinette Dupain-Cheng from Miraculous Ladybug. I have the same love hate relationship with this show that most of the active fandom has. I may repurpose the time lapse from this drawing to use as visual while I rant about it and turn that into a YouTube video.

This is technically a redesign of Marinette, except I mostly like her canon design, so it’s actually just putting her in a bunch of different outfits to fit the occasion.

I started by tracing a picture of her and starting to adapt it to my style, thence freeform drawing her canon design in my style, then went from there.

Imagined context for each one:

Canonette Trace: Marinette at a regular school day.

Canonette Freeform: Marinette attempting to greet Adrien like a normal human being and mostly succeeding.

Girlboss Marinette: She had a big presentation that she wanted to look professional for.

Bakinette: It’s 2 a.m. and she’s making brownies for some reason.

Dancinette: She’s ballet dancing alone in her room, cuz she’s not confident enough to dance in any public capacity.

Grouchinette: She hasn’t slept in 3 days and someone just asked her a really dumb question.

Fashionette: Showcasing her newest design

Pridenette: It’s a pride parade and she’s having a little too much fun.

#miraculous ladybug #fanart #marinette dupain cheng #redesign #miraculous redesign #soft redesign #look it’s not really a redesign #it’s putting her in different outfits and hairstyles and also I draw her bangs different #I hate her bangs #they’re so hard to draw! #and they don’t even look that good! #I’ll probably draw more actual redesigns later #draw in my style #I just think Marinette is pretty solid #except her bangs #character wardrobe update #character wardrobe expansion #chinese marinette #can you tell I really like putting her in clothes that showcase her Chinese heritage a little? #marinette is bi #baker marinette #fashion designer marinette #bi marinette #grouchy marinette #dancer marinette #I don’t think she dances in any official or public capacity she just does it alone for fun #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #miraculous ladybug fanart #miraculous

[goldenlaurelleaveswrites]

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!!! 💖💖💖💖

__________________________________________________

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

[princess-of-the-corner]

AU Idea

What my friend and I are calling Mob-verse

Based on Adrien’s fangirls in Gorizilla

The first few weeks of Adrien attending school go mostly ok (bar the Akuma attacks). He’s starting to settle in, get to know people. Sure, he’s still not super close to anyone - apart from Chloe - but Nino is already shaping up to be one of his best friends, and everyone else has been very welcoming.

Then his fangirls catch wind that he’s attending school, and where it is.

During final period, everyone can hear the clamour of the crowd outside, and a quick scope out of the situation reveals that a full on MOB of Adrien’s fans have gathered outside the school. They have homemade tee-shirts, signs, and are in a few cases blocking traffic. Adrien takes one look out the window, and they all start screeching like seagulls. A few even make for the doors, clearly intent on storming the building, and Mme. Bustier has to go help the other teachers keep them from getting in. Adrien ends up hiding under the sill, dreading trying to go home and knowing that his father will try to spin this to get him to stay home.

The rest of the class is various levels of confused, bewildered, sympathetic, and annoyed on his behalf. I mean, they don’t know him all that well yet, but they like him well enough, and they can see how this is effecting him. Chloe, however, is livid. She’s having very similar thoughts to Adrien about how Gabriel will react and is determined to not have that happen. She spent weeks, MONTHS, working to get Adrien into school. She is NOT going to let these- these OBSESSED PEONS ruin it.

She grabs Adrien and calls for Sabrina, already planning. They’ll go out the back, call her driver to bring the car-

Kim stops her. Before she can snap at him, he tells her there’s sports practice today, loads of people by the back entrance. They’ll be seen for sure. Chloe falters, when Alix mentions she knows how to open the side entrance. Then Marinette pipes up that Adrien and [insert a few classmates here] are roughly the same clothing size. 

Without really discussing it, the whole class kind of nods and starts working together. Adrien and [classmates] change clothes so Adrien is wearing completely new outfit. Juleka digs out her makeup to give Adrien a makeover. Nino gives Adrien his hat. Rose gives him a scarf, and Kim donates his hoodie. A few classmates even help Chloe get covered up, on the chance a fangirl recognizes her and deduces she’s with Adrien. In the end, Adrien is basically unrecognizable, and he, Chloe, Sabrina, Nino and Alix sneak out the side entrance, while the rest of the class heads out the front. When confronted by the crowd, they all play dumb, pretending they have no idea what these people are talking about. By the time they all fight their way through the crowd to go home, the police have started showing up, and Nino has texted everyone that they’ve successfully gotten away.

Everyone’s feeling pretty good about themselves, until they show up for school the next day, and most of the mob is either back or STILL THERE. There’s no way to warn Adrien, and he has to sprint for the doors while his bodyguard holds back the mob. When they get to class, Adrien looks utterly miserable, and says that if this keeps up, his dad is definitely going to pull him from school.

At that, all of them are pissed. Oh hell no. They’re all involved now - it’s PERSONAL. Those nutcases aren’t getting anywhere NEAR Adrien.

What follows is basically the whole class working together to get Adrien too and from school without being mobbed. They get most of the other classes in on it, or at least to promise to stay out of their way and keep their mouths shut. Mostly it’s just comedy, but there are some sweet moments. People bonding and having fun coming up with increasingly silly ways to get Adrien out without being spotted. Some rough ideas:

Chloe and Marinette are at the forefront with ideas and determination - several classmates note that this is probably the first thing they’ve ever (publicly) agreed on, and it’s kind of terrifying. This is the start of Chloe becoming a better person, as she beings to bond properly with her class.

The whole class now has a group chat dedicated to planning how to get Adrien into and out of school. The Gorilla is part of it. He doesn’t talk much, usually just sending emojis. (None of them know his real name, he won’t tell them. This has not stopped most of them from guessing)

Early on, someone at their school tried to sell out Adrien. This person ended up staying home for two weeks and then transferring to a different school. No one has exact details, but they know it involved Chloe, Marinette, Nino, Alya, one of the storage closets on the second floor, a macaron box, and the rolling chair from the nurse’s office. The only response they got from any of them was from Alya - “Oh, we didn’t threaten anyone. Just made some … promises.” This reassures no one.

Alya and Max become their people monitoring social media. They each have several fake accounts they use to “catfish” Adrien’s fans on his whereabouts.

The best plan they have, that usually works, is the first one they tried - dress Adrien up and sneak him out whichever entrance has the least people. As an odd result, most of the class have started bringing changes of clothes - nothing new or brand name - purely so that they can disguise Adrien. There’s now a box in the back of the room, basically just filled with spare clothes.

Mylene, after the class discussed wigs, came in with an entire array of hair extensions in really bright colours. There’s a set of green ones that Adrien adores.

Marinette becomes the person in charge of dressing Adrien for his disguises. If she isn’t available, it’s Sabrina or Rose.

Juleka and Rose are the best at getting Adrien into school without getting caught. Nino and Marinette are the best at getting him out.

Juleka and Chloe quickly become the makeup masters. Ten minutes, and they can have Adrien looking like an almost completely different person. Nathaniel also becomes pretty good.

The class has a list of dedicated names they can call Adrien when he’s disguised. Adrien came up with the first half of the list, but once Chloe realized it was all puns and anime references, the class got Mylene to do it.

If he ever gets caught, they have a whole list of places he can hide. At one point, when Adrien couldn’t get away, an Akuma showed up. (Surely this in unrelated)

Ivan’s pretty ideal if they want Adrien to go out an entrance that has a few people around. He’s big, has an unfortunate case of “resting bitch face”, and wears a lot of dark clothing. The Gorilla has been giving him pointers on how to appear stoically intimidating.

Most of the class has used their own homes as temporary “safe houses” for Adrien to hide from his fans. The various parents are a little bemused, but completely willing to let Adrien hide out. 

The best place for Adrien to hide is usually with the Couffaines on the Liberty, mostly because Anarka will move the ship.

You know that scene, “Is (X) here?”, *person dives out window*, “You just missed him.”? That has absolutely happened.

At least one plan has involved exiting via the roof. Alix was particularly proud of that one.

Adrien’s favourite places to hide out are Marinette’s, Juleka’s and Nino’s.

When Felix comes visit, while he’s pissed on Adrien’s behalf, he refuses to be involved with anything that could put him directly in front of Adrien’s fans. He does, however, dress up as his cousin and hang out on the opposite side of town just long enough to be photographed to confuse others.

Gabriel eventually, when someone tries to bring the whole thing up in an interview, says that he has no clue what these people are talking about. His son is homeschooled. This sends loads of rumours around, and does kill most of the mob that hangs around, but some of them can be pretty stubborn, so the class keeps it up. (Plus, at this point, it’s just fun).

Feel free to add your own!

-

This? This is fucking beautiful.

#submission

[generalluxun]

My Hero -MLBFemSlash Feb Fic

Full Text below the cut. Link to AO3 in my bio.

Ship: Chloé Bourgeois x Alya Cesaire

One shot, Fluff!, Established Relationship, reformed(in progress) Chloé Bourgeois.

This fic is posted in full on AO3, as is the chapterfic that contains the context for how things got here from Canon.

tl;dr: Something seemingly insignificant changed on the first day of school, and things snowballed from there. The two became seatmates, then friends, then girlfriends, while tackling a threat that by its very nature Ladybug and Cat Noir could not even confront. The threat was ended, and this is just a cute little post-threat slice of life.

“She’s the smartest person I know; also sometimes, the dumbest. She’s brave like you wouldn’t believe. Paris owes her so much. She’s kind, confident, and a horrible dresser. On the surface she seems too good to be true, and when you dig down you realize that no, this is just who she is. She’s been putting others first ever since Hawkmoth first attacked, and probably even before. She’ll work herself to collapse. She just cares so much about everyone, except the one person who matters most.

“I owe her a lot, probably even my life at this point. She was the first person to believe in me, even before I did. She’s scary at times. She’s not mean, she’s just… so much. That’s what heroes are supposed to be though, right? They’re bigger, stronger, faster, brighter. They’re amazing, but you also just feel a little nervous in their presence too, just a kind of ticklish energy that makes you want to do your best too. That’s really what it boils down to I guess. She makes me want to be a better me. I can’t think of anything more ‘hero’ than that.”

Chloé raised her gaze from the paper, fifteen pairs of eyes stared back. Thirteen burned. Stupid, ridiculous, looking at me like I’m stupid. Judging me, like they have any right! I did this ALL myself, and it’s better than any of their dumb presentations. Oh look, another speech about Ladybug.

Waspish thoughts circled and buzzed in her head. She focused on the one thing, the one pair, that mattered above all others. It helped quiet the buzzing. Chloé gripped the paper and read the last line.

“That’s why… my hero is Alya Cesaire.”

Silence. Deafening silence followed for what felt like an eternity inside. Fear turned to uncertainty turned to anger in a familiar parade. Chloé bit down on her lip to keep venom from spewing venomous barbs in self defense. She bit harder and harder. The paper crinkled, she was going to-

Loud clapping from a single pair of hands broke her spiral. Sabrina was sitting proudly, hands working overtime to make up for in enthusiasm what was lacking in support. That support did follow, though, First Dupain-Cheng began to clap, sidelong glances showing it was more peer pressure than real affection. Then is spread down to Nino and Adrien, and across the class. It was mostly intermittent, but no one said anything, and that was just enough to allow Chloé to wobble back to her front row seat when Ms. Bustier’s ‘That was… very nice… Chloé. Thank you.’ dismissed her.

Chloé immediately sprawled across her desk, face down.

The object of her presentation laid an arm across her shoulders, “Oh it wasn’t that bad was it?”

Sweat. Just a light hint of the smell always came with her closeness. Sweat was something icky, unfashionable, unladylike, anathema to everything Chloé had been raised to value. Yet that scent was inextricably linked to Alya Cesaire in Chloé’s mind, and the feelings that flowed from it were warmth, safety, and something deep inside that Chloé didn’t have a name for. Maybe it was because much of their first physical contact was Alya putting Chloé into headlocks, or the fact that Alya never stopped moving, never stopped working. Whatever the reason, Alya’s sweat-scent didn’t feel icky, it felt… honest.

Chloé had stolen one of Alya’s shirts from her laundry basket during a visit. She put it on Mr. Cuddly. She hid him whenever Alya came to visit now. Not that she really expected Alya to not figure it out, but if it wasn’t just… out there… she wouldn’t have to be embarrassed.

Taking a deep breath through her mouth, Chloé tasted that light tang along with a hint of citrus and cayenne. Those wouldn’t come from perfume, they would come from home. It was Au de Cesaire in its purest form. “You could have clapped, you know,” she murmured.

Alya laid her head against Chloé’s, Auburn cloak a shield against the eyes Chloé could still feel, real or not. “If it was about anyone else, I would have. How would it look, clapping for something that praised me though? I’ll let you know exactly how it made me feel, later.”

Chloé had an answer for that. Not an answer, she corrected herself, an insecurity. She just absorbed some of Alya’s warmth for a few seconds, letting it build up her nerves. “They’re all going to laugh, after class.”

Alya snorted, “No, they won’t. If anyone does though, Sabrina will give them a stern talking to… then I’ll punch them.”

Habit made Chloé try to stifle a laugh. When she was feeling miserable, she tended to want to stay that way. Old habits died hard, and tried to take you down with them. It was still new, having friends. No, it was new letting people be her friends. She’d had Sabrina forever, without letting her in. Alya didn’t wait to be let in though. She had kicked down the door and shoved all Chloé’s Gucci baggage right out the window. Habit meant Chloé kept trying to bring it back in. Though she hoped, a little less each time.

She shifted, just enough to let Alya know the collapse was past. Alya would lay on Chloe until she felt better otherwise, Ms. Bustier be damned. “You would.”

Alya let her up. Both girls touched themselves up. Juleka was walking down to the front of the class to deliver her speech. Alya murmured under her breath, “What else are girlfriends for?”

Chloé melted a little inside.

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

The time between classes still had Chloé feeling raw and exposed. She was sure people were waiting, ready to ridicule her speech. It’s what she would have done in their place. Stomp on the first sign of weakness. Chloé followed in Alya’s wake, envious of the easy way she chatted up everyone she passed. She exuded that simple strength that was so…

I need to do something. I can be strong too. Show them I’m not scared. Show them I pay attention too. Show her I’m not lame. Show them I’m strong.

A target presented herself, dark and quiet while waiting for a blonde of her own.

“ You !” Chloé stopped in front of Julka and transfixed her with one sharp nailed fingertip. “Your presentation was severely lacking…”

Juleka cringed.

Too strong! Too strong!

Chloé kept her face even, that mask of calm even as she panicked inside. Don’t let them see. She held out her other hand, even as attentions turned towards her. “Sabrina! Clip!”

A hairclip appeared from Sabrina’s oversized bag and was pressed into Chloé’s hand. Frowns were forming around her. She didn’t dare look to see if one was Alya’s, she couldn’t handle even the thought of  that right now.

Chloé moved with a viper’s speed. Thrust, slide, snap, she caught the curtain that hid half of Juleka’s face and drew it back, trapping it over her ear, revealing her hidden eye. Juleka was a deer in headlights.

Chloé spoke in a rush, “You only gave half of yourself. Always use every bit you have. Don’t hide, be proud. Otherwise you’re just telling people they’re not worth your best.”

Juleka’s two eyes presented twice the shock. She started to shrink. Chloé was acutely aware of how this would look. She tried to glare strength into the other girl. For once, it seemed to work. Juleka stopped mid-shrink and slowly unfolded, raising herself silently up to her full height, daring to be taller than Chloé. After one more hesitation her chin lifted too, rising to the challenge.

Now what? Chloé hadn’t planned this out. What did you say next after something like this? A heavy arm across her shoulders made Chloé stumble and break the stare off.

“You’ve been in my comics again haven’t you?” Alya drawled, the  planted a kiss on Chloé’s cheek.

“I ah- what? No- I mean yes but you brought them-”

Alya dragged her out of the tableau before giving her another kiss, this one below the ear, then whispering, “That was sweet. You know you don’t have to try and impress me every day, right?”

Again, the panic receded before Alya like the tide. A shiver ran through Chloé from the warmth breath against her ear, and she felt brave enough to admit. “I have to impress them though.”

“Mmmm,” Alya purred, “I can see why you’d think so. Don’t feel like you have to do it all at once though.”

Chloé sighed, leaning into the other girl, “It was easier when that stupid Director was messing with everyone. I had an excuse for why no one liked me. Now it’s just me.”

Alya loosened her grip, turning to lock eyes with her. “Not quite correct. It was you. It’s was that is the problem, not is. Is is just fine. You need to believe in is and not let was get in the way of letting you be is.”

Chloé stared, “I have no idea what you just said. Who’s ‘is’?”

Alya grinned, “You is.”

“Me is what?”

Alya kissed her on the nose, “You is my girlfriend, and also cute when you’re confused, and doing a better job than you give yourself credit for.” She caught Chloé’s hand and laced their fingers. “I know it can be hard, but don’t confuse struggling with failing.”

Chloé still didn’t quite understand it all, but she understood enough to squeeze Alya’s hand, “Thank you.”

They were at Ms. Mendeleiev’s room when Alya piped up, “Hey, I think you need some of that relaxation time you pushed on me, remember?”

How could I ever forget that night? Chloé bit the tip of her tongue, “What? I do what I want all the time.”

“Kind of. Don’t think I haven't noticed how each of our little excursions lately have had someone else at the center. Gaulywood tours for Nino and Sabrina, Le Figaro for me, inside a Gabriel factory with Marinette dragged along… you’re not all that subtle.”

Chloé blushed and fussed. She had thought she came up with good enough excuses for the little outings.

Alya shoulder bumped her in their way to their lab desk, “It’s cute. Seriously though, what’s something fun we can do, just you and me, that you haven’t done in a while? Something you miss.”

“Well, I haven’t had a yoga night in forever.”

“Yoga night?” Alya’s voice rose in a startled crack that tickled right up Chloé’s spine and grabbed hold of her animal-brain.

“Yoga night.” She confirmed with a growing smile.

Alya was suddenly interested in her bag, “I didn’t know you did Yoga.”

Chloé was forever tuned into the nervousness of others. It had been a weapon in the past. Now however… She scooted onto her stool and leaned over, dancing her fingers across the top of the bag Alya was seeking refuge in.

“For years. It  helped with ballet. You have to be limber…”

Alya swallowed audibly, “Is it really that relaxing though?”

Others were funneling in. Chloé couldn’t have cared less. She ducked her head, putting herself in Alya’s skittish line of sight. It was her turn to purr, “oh very. Candles, incense, music, warm oils, and of course, being deliciously wrung out.”

Alya’s eyes darted away again.

“Oh uhm, that sounds nice but, I haven’t ever done um, yoga.”

Her hands gripped the edge of her bag and as Chloé watched her face… the subtlest change. Most people would miss it. A lifetime of working with more hues than all the artists in the Louvre combined had left Chloé specially equipped to appreciate the ever so slight darkening of the cheeks that was Alya Cesaire’s blush.

It was intoxicating. It was the flash of a red tail before a hound. It was the skitter of a mouse before a cat. It was this wonderful,  powerful woman, undone.

Chloé reached out. She caught Alya’s chin with the tip of one finger and turned her gaze back. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll be safe in my hands. I’ll bend you in ways you didn’t know you could… but I won't hurt you.”

Alya let out a barely audible whine, “You’re doing that on purpose.”

Chloé leaned further, blue eyes to hazel, lips in a full smirk, inches from Alya’s. “You did say, ‘fun’.“

She could feel the ragged breath Alya let out as it washed over her skin. Alya’s first word turned into a hoarse sound. She wet her lips. “Okay, you’re on.”

And with that the prey became the partner again. Both girls took a cleansing breath as something akin to a laugh passed between them. Chloé spoke first, as she settled back into her seat. “Don’t worry, no armada of tailors this time.”

Alya blew out another breath and settled in her own seat, asking, “Don’t want to squeeze me into designer yoga pants?”

Chloé dropped her phone. Scooping it up quickly she conceded, “One tailor,” and began composing an email to book an appointment.

Alya’s gentle nudge to her elbow was the simplest of affections, “Hey, feeling better about yourself?”

Chloé lowered her phone. That warmth rippled along her limbs and back into her chest again. It was a feeling she felt she should know, something long forgotten, but coming alive again. She still couldn’t name it, but she could very much enjoy it.

She looked Alya in the eyes again as Ms. Mendeleiev called the class to order.

Chloé answered, “With you around, it’s hard not to.”

@mlbfemslashfebruary

#mlbfemslashfebruary #ml fanfic #chloe bourgeois #alya cesaire #Chloalya #ao3 fanfic #fluff #so much fluff #these two

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

s2ep3 glaciator

ah an episode for the marichat shippers. actually, i guess for all the love square shippers except for ladybug and adrien (whatever that ship name is called, i've forgotten--no wait, is it ladrien?)

anyway it was a dumb episode. but andre is the most french character i have ever seen lol. i unironically love how he mostly talks in rhymes. i'd sure like to see what kind of ice cream he'd give me, an aroace.

but anyway, the fact that adrien lies to his friends and ditches them to plan a "romantic dinner" with ladybug, showing that chat noir doesn't listen to ladybug really annoyed me. like plagg is right! she said she had other plans, she was letting him down gently. and he completely ignores her!! and then he's hurt by her???

like i guess i'm okay with him putting his feelings aside to be able to deal with glaciator, bc that's the most mature thing chat noir has ever done to date, but it feels hollow bc chat noir doesn't listen to ladybug. and adrien is convinced that he still has a chance--that she'll just change her mind about him despite telling him outright that she loves another boy and only sees him as a friend. it gets extremely weird after a while, and steers far too close into very worrying behaviors.

and his heel-face-turn doesn't feel earned. like i was annoyed at first that he just put his feelings aside so quickly.

but i was also annoyed with the whole set-up of why he was annoyed. i had a reason i didn't like his sudden shift, but it's gone from my brain, so i'll move on.

the thing is, what really frustrates me about the love square is how much it doesn't work. adrien doesn't listen to marinette. chat noir doesn't listen to ladybug. and marinette gets too flustered around adrien to properly pay attention to what he's saying. like maybe it's just me being an adult, and this being a kids' show, but it is annoying that they're "meant to be" when they can't even communicate. communication is key to a good and strong relationship. not feelings. not destiny. communication!

i hate to say this, but there is a universe where i could see the love square working in a way that doesn't feel contrived and hinges on the fact that they always talk past each other. but under better writers. in a show with a solid writing team, i could actually see the set-up working really well. bc miscommunication is a common trope used to create drama. i don't prefer it, but that doesn't mean it can't work under the right--or write, get it?--circumstances.

likewise, marinette being a dick sometimes is fine narratively speaking. that's allowed, that's fine. it creates conflict and shows that she's flawed. but under this set of circumstances, i found it really frustrating that 1) she doesn't want anyone knowing she has a huge crush on adrien even tho everyone knows and 2) that's the set-up to her being a dick.

and listen, under better writers, i don't think it would've bothered me that much. points 1 or 2. bc ppl do do weird, irrational, and downright mean things when they're stressed or scared. but again, adrien doesn't listen to marinette, and everyone knows she likes adrien anyway. why try to hide it?

i mean i know why. i saw the post about the creator apparently stating somewhere that the reason she gets so flustered about adrien is because she confessed her crush to kim once (wow, real original, put the two asian people together bc they're both asian) and apparently got embarrassed by chloe. but, and i cannot stress this enough, the audience doesn't know that at this point. so we have no idea why she acts the way she acts, nor why she doesn't want ppl to know (even tho they already know!!).

i don't know, i just feel like i'm criticizing things that can't actually be criticized, bc in a better written show, i could see them working. unfortunately for me, this is not a better written show. it's barely a show.

#chirp.ml #chirp.txt

[miraculous-pyxie]

adrien headcanon time

when adrien was little, his mom would take him to chloe’s hotel and they would run around and play while their parents would talk

once adrien bumped his nose playing outside and gabriel completely over reacted, never letting him out again 💀

adrien’s mom secretly taught him english from time to time so they could share secrets and not have Natalie or Gabriel pick up on them 

Adrien noticed Natalie looking at his mother a little too long sometimes but never knew why (it only got more frequent with her sickness)

Adrien always considered Natalie a second mom but she had to act a certain way around him so he never expressed those feelings to her

Adrien had a lot of chat noir’s goofiness when he played with his mom and Felix. he never showed that side publicly after his mom passed away.

Adrien internalized a lot of the delicate treatment he always gets, so when he found out the chat noir suit is indestructible, he became very reckless and threw himself everywhere just because he could. mf turned into a bouncy ball

Adrien’s mom taught him everything he knows about being a proper gentleman but learning how to mix it into his personality through anime

His favorite animes growing up were sailor moon and pokémon (his favorite characters were Brock and Sailor Mercury)

his mom would sometimes secretly clear his schedule and take him out on errands with her and they would go to his mom’s favorite coffee shop (he would get hot chocolate)

Adrien doesn’t mind the taste of coffee but he’s not allowed to drink it

Adrien figured out how to bypass the monitoring software on his phone

when Adrien first met Marinette, he thought she was out of his league and he was being put in his place like those high school movies

he thought there would be more musical numbers at school :/

Adrien eventually found out that Marinette has ADHD (refer to my Marinette hc post) and he became very understanding and considerate of her all-over-the-place nature. a lot of things about her started making sense and he got less confused about any mixed signals.

he did some innocent research on the subject one day and found links to delayed sleep phase syndrome (which explained hee always being late in the morning), hyper focus, and rejection sensitive dysphoria (in my little world this detail makes sense later)

in my mind, he’s not actually that oblivious. he likes to play dumb to avoid either explaining himself or just so he can watch something play out. he’s actually a little too aware. however, he is so focused on all his extracurriculars, that he does fail to notice marinette’s state of being head over heels for him.

Adrien scrapes the dirt from under his nails as a nervous habit along with rubbing the back of his neck.

there have been several times Adrien has been fed up with somebody whether it’s modeling, his classmates or his father, and he just wants to turn into chat noir in bonk them on the head with his staff. The idea of that makes him laugh on the inside so his irritation never shows on his face or voice.

this is (mostly) a standalone post, but can be read as a part 2 to my marinette headcanon post :)

#miraculous ladybug #mlb #mlb fandom #mlb adrien #adrien agreste #mlb headcanon #mlb leak free #adrien agreste headcanons #love this guy tbh he’s a lil man

[jacquesthepigeon]

Re the Nino thing: He's definitely NOT irredeemable. His actions are just him being a very dumb teenager, but like you said, they made him feel completely unsuited to the miraculous of Protection. For example, him deciding to help Ladybug and Chat Noir by trying to get his best friend's father akumatized even though he knows how strict Gabriel is and there was an entire city of alternate targets? Those aren't the actions of a protector.

Same goes for casually dropping his and Alya's identities to Adrien and Marinette. That wasn't needed for him to make a resistance. He just did it, acting as if Ladybug would never get the miraculous back and call on them again. (I can mostly forgive him for rocketear because he was emotionally compromised and the situation did call for him to give someone the full detail so they could understand, but really don't like how he went from "I shouldn't tell you this" to "Ladybug said identities are no big deal". But that's more bad writing then Nino acting poorly)

Season 4 and 5 Nino isn't a protector, he's an impulsive teen who shouldn't get a miraculous. All he should get is a good tongue lashing on responsibility and thinking before he acts. That's why I consider it character assassination. It didn't really ruin Nino, it ruined Carapace.

Yup yup yup

#anon #ask

[xxxcertifiednerdxxx]

Ok i have so much fanart and fanfic i already want to make, but i have to put this au out so I don’t forget it bc it’s BRILLIANT

Barbie as the princess and the pauper au for ML

Adrien is the princess obvi, and chloé is the pauper. Stay with me for this

Gabriel is the king and i guess this is a matriarchal kingdom (queendom? I am listening to Queendom by red velvet rn sooooo) bc the man needs to marry a woman to rule. He’s not a total Buttface in this au but he is annoying for trying to force adrien into marrying the queen

Nathalie is Preminger, still a gay icon, she was definitely having an affair with Emilie before Emilie died

Adrien is besties with Nino, and Nino is in love with Adrien. This is obvious to everyone except Adrien and probably Gabriel. (I was originally gonna make it Marinette, but I think this is great adrino material) (alyanette is def in the background) (luka is a minstrel even farther in the background lol)

Adrien and Nino basically act like a married couple, and Nino is going insane bc he knows Adrien is oblivious to what it’s doing to him. Adrien is just like “wow Nino is the best I would sell my soul for him and I think his lips would feel great he’s my best friend :)”

Chloé works at a dress place. Idk who runs it. She works with Marinette tho and they actually don’t hate each other. Chloé was sold by her parents bc her parents still don’t care for her in this au :p sorry chlo

Adrien and chloe happen to meet and bond quickly. Adrien is like I don’t really want to rule the kingdom. I care about the people but I’d rather help out in a low key neighborly way and not a I’m in charge of the kingdom way. And also I’m not into arranged marriage I want to get married to my true love whoever that is.

chloé is like I have a million ideas for improving the kingdom what are you talking about? And I would love to be ruler and be waited on hand and foot (bc she’s still a brat in this au at least at first) and love is for dumb dumbs but you do you I guess

But then they realize wait other than one of us having badonkadonks and longer hair, we kind of look the same

so a brilliant plan hatches

they switch places. Chloe gives Adrien a wig and and a peasant dress and stuffs a bra for him, and Adrien gets alya to cut her hair (Adrien would cut it himself but chloe didn’t trust him lol) and they wrap her so she looks flat chested and give her princess clothes. They let Nino in on the plan of course

Adrien is supposed to work for a little while in Chloé’s place while chloe gets to try out being a princess for maybe a few days

During Adrien’s time at the dress making place he talks to Marinette about his love problems. Marinette is like “dang do you know what kind of person you would fall in love with?” And Adrien starts listing off traits “like Nino, kind of like Nino, oh Nino is like that” and Marinette is like um… I think you might be in love with nino

Adrien is like omg I’m in love with Nino *gleeful squeal* i must tell him immediately

Adrien also realized he likes being a girl.

Nathalie preminger stuff goes mostly like in the movie. She kidnaps Adrien yadda yadda

Chloe finds out she has to court the queen, so Nino teaches her how to act like a man princess or whatever. Chloé is like yeah yeah love him and leave him (aka win him over for Adrien so Adrien can get with him for kingdom wide prosperity) and they kind of become friends

then Chloe meets the queen. Kagami.

they bond for real. Kagami is a capable queen and thinks Chloe has good ideas. She is captivated by Chloe’s additude and determination and strong will but also the quiet and steadfast love she has. (Kagami still thinks Chloe is Adrien tho) (I haven’t thought about voices it’s like 2 am don’t come at me)

Chloe loves how straightforward Kagami is but how she is still caring. Also Kagami is a great swordsman and Chloe is hit by the gay panic ok. And Kagami is like the king from the movie in that she’s great at disguises too

Nathalie reveals Chloe and has her arrested and offers to marry Gabriel for the throne. It seems like all is lost

but Nino saves Adrien, they confess their love and Adrien tells Nino he thinks he wants to be a girl. Nino is cool with that. They rush to save Chloe and kagami

Kagami busts Chloe out of prison and is like “I was wondering why I, a lesbian, was falling for a man. Of course you’re a woman” they confess their love. Chloe is secure in her womanhood but she enjoys a more masculine presentation

they stop Nathalie’s and Gabriel’s marriage and expose Nathalie who is arrested

Chloe and Kagami get married and rule the kingdom. Girl Adrien and Nino get married settle down as normal people but are still close to Kagami and Chloe and Gabriel I guess. Marinette and alya get married and are just vibing. Idk

#sorry this was just a lot of rambling BUT I HAD TO MAKE SURE I DIDNT FORGET THIS 1000 IQ IDEA #ml #ml au #the princess and the pauper #barbie #barbie as the princess and the pauper #barbie preminger #preminger #marinette dupain cheng #marinette dupain-cheng #alya cesaire #alyanette #nino lahiffe #nino best boy #adrien agreste #adrinino #adrino #chloe bourgeois #chloé bourgeois #kagami tsurugi #chlogami #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #nathalie x emilie #i didn’t mean for this to be so gay but I guess that just happens sometimes #trans adrien agreste #trans!adrien agreste #nerd out #nerd-out #millie does stuff

[willbyersboy]

Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington, and Eddie Munson with an affectionate!male!reader

Nancy Wheeler

She acts like she hates it but she loves it.

Eventually she gets used to it and gives you some affection as well

Nancy LOVES to hold your hand and loves when you wrap your arms around her.

Secretly loves to be shown off when you guys are dating.

If you’re clingy she loves it even more

You take her to a ton of horror movies just so she gets scared and hugs you

Nancy helps you with homework and you help her, and most nights are spent laying in her bed with Nancy on your lap while you both are studying.

Nothing sexual, just cuddling.

She talks about you on the phone with Barb (before barb died lmao)

Walking her to school while you guys are holding hands, hugging while you’re waiting for class to start, sitting right next to each other at lunch

The whole school knows you guys are together

Whenever Mike sees you guys he yells about how it’s gross.

Dustin will tell you guys to get a room

Her favorite thing to do with you is go to a drive in movie so you guys can lay down and cuddle

But really she loves it so much, the affection makes her feel so loved and cared for.

Steve Harrington

He gets a little embarrassed being seen with another guy and having him constantly hugging and holding his hand

but eventually Steve grows to love it and hates not being held by you

Robin teases him about being gay

Steve crawls into your window such as he did with Nancy

Instead of having sex he just cuddles with you and listens to music

He seems like a picnic dude

So during the summer lots of cuddling and having picnics at night

Idk he’d take you in his car for drives because you guys can hold hands and he can put his arm around you and it won’t seem suspicious or people won’t notice

It’s kinda hard to be affectionate with Steve because he’s so worried about what other people will think about him liking men

Around the kids and Robin he doesn’t really care as much though

Eventually he’s more worried about your guy’s safety than his popularity when it comes to liking guys

😱🏳️‍🌈 (idfk how to end this one)

Eddie Munson

Eddie is not like Steve at all

He will be very open with affection towards you

Um but Steve would probably fight off any homophobes, as Eddie would mostly grab your hand and run from them

Everyone knows you guys are dating, he won’t be able to hide it for long

Eddie loves hand holding and cuddling

Lots of late night drives to beaches and hills to smoke weed and cuddle

You guys say dumb shit, listen to music Eddie likes, and end up falling asleep extremely high

Eddie does not give a shit about people knowing he likes guys

He will be pretty open with affection

Wants to play dnd with you

If you know how to play he wants to play with you all the time

If not he would be happy to teach you

Eddie gets you rings just like his so he can play with them when you guys hold hands

Plays his guitar for you

Lmao he really doesn’t mind the affection he loves it so much

I LOVE NANCY THANK YOU 😍

Request

Tags: @sir-d0ll @adrien-dot-png @aether1al

#Stranger things #Nancy Wheeler #Steve Harrington #Eddie Munson #Nancy Wheeler x reader #Steve Harrington x reader #Eddie Munson x reader #Nancy Wheeler x male reader #Steve Harrington x male reader #Eddie Munson x male reader #Nancy Wheeler x you #Steve Harrington x you #Eddie Munson x you #Nancy Wheeler hcs #Steve Harrington hcs #Eddie Munson hcs #Stranger things x reader #stranger things x male reader #stranger things x you #Stranger things hcs #Nancy Wheeler headcanons #steve harrington headcanons #eddie munson headcanons #stranger things headcanons #x reader #x male reader #x you #hcs #headcanons

[jennagrinsoverml]

I've been through your rec lists already, do you have any more funny stupid ladrien recs? Or in general?

Usually I don’t revisit lists that I’ve already made, but I haven’t recced ladrien in a while and I love them and I do, in fact, have a couple of other fics in mind! Not all of these are funny, especially because I find that the ladrien pool of fics is already on the smaller side, but hopefully you still enjoy these!

(I have, of course, previously recced ladrien: hidden gems ladrien and funny ladrien and ladrien fake masks and flirty Ladybug/Marinette (which featured a lot of ladrien))

Bedroom Talk: The Awkward Edition by @botherkupo

“Do you want to come in?” Adrien had blurted. Yeah. He should have kept his mouth shut.

One-shot. These two are so crazy for each other, and I do mean crazy. Watching them bumbling around like two awkward, enamoured beans was so much fun. I seriously cackled through the whole thing.

identity crisis by @e-milieeee​

Chat Noir discovers that despite wearing a supersuit, it’s still possible to get a concussion. He also discovers that after hitting your head hard enough, it’s practically impossible to keep a secret identity.

Ladybug is not sure what to make of concussed-Chat-Noir, who is either suffering an identity crisis and thinks himself to be Adrien Agreste, or is Adrien Agreste.

The first option seems more believable.

One-shot. (This is actually part two of a loosely connected series, but it can be read as a standalone.) This one is so well done with the way Ladybug’s distracted thoughts are interwoven with the akuma battle. But more importantly, these two are just SO DUMB. (Though at least Chat has the excuse that he’s concussed haha)

œuf ouch owie by @ominousunflower 

Chat Noir enlists Rena Rouge's help to create an Aspik illusion. Absolutely nothing goes wrong.

Ladybug smiles. “I wanted to drop by and welcome Aspik. I know it must be a little intimidating, being surrounded by so many veteran heroes…so, welcome! We’re glad to have you on board.”

“I look like an egg!” Aspik announces, T-posing.

Chat turns to Rena, feeling like he has been punched in the solar plexus. What the hell? he mouths.

Rena grimaces, her eyes wide with panic. Stomach sinking, Chat remembers one of the first things he learned about the Fox Miraculous: that if Rena Rouge isn’t focused, her illusions go haywire.

Oh, no.

One-shot. This isn’t ENTIRELY ladrien, but it definitely hints at Ladybug’s feelings for Adrien and illusion!Aspik makes some comments about his feelings for Ladybug. Mostly I’m reccing it because it’s hands down the FUNNIEST fic in the entire fandom asdfghjkl like I have read this fic at least 50 times and I still laugh out loud every single time. If you have somehow failed to read this fic before, read it now. You won’t regret it!

Resolution by @thelibraryloser​

Ladrien: New Year's Eve Resolutions and also... another Ladrien specific bonus trope which is a surprise and I will give you a hint: it isn't gratuitous blushing

One-shot. Yes, it’s a seasonal fic, but don’t let that stop you! Besides, I think we’re close enough to the holidays now to break out the seasonal fics! (Real talk: I never stopped.) This fic is so lovely. I love all the little reminders of how well Adrien knows Ladybug, and then oh my gosh there’s so much YEARNING here. The dynamic between these two is so perfectly done with all of the little hints that Adrien’s feelings are requited, even as he thinks it must be wishful thinking, and then that ending 😍😍😍 This fic hasn’t gotten nearly as much love as it deserves, please read it!!

Hold Me Close by @ck2k18

Alya has a plan to get Marinette and Adrien together, and the result is Adrien is spending a lot more time in Ladybugs arms. But what happens when an akuma shatters the illusion?

One-shot. OMG the premise is so ridiculous and these two three are so stupid and I love them so much!! Alya is the wingwoman to end all wingwomen, Ladybug came around awfully fast, and Adrien is just living his dream! Seriously, this is so cute and funny!

scales and steps by @settledownsummer

Adrien left something behind while running from an Akuma. Ladybug has a five-step plan to return it to him.

One-shot. This is adorable. For once one of Marinette’s plans re Adrien actually works! It’s so cute being in her head as she works her way through her plan, and Adrien, of course, is super responsive, and the whole thing is just so sweet and pure.

Sleepless in Paris by @2manyfandoms2count

Adrien receives a relationship-threatening text from Ladybug. A sleepless night later, his overthinking is bad. Thankfully Ladybug comes over and puts him out of his misery.

Or, Adrien is a drama queen (affectionate).

One-shot. This one starts a little sad with Adrien freaking out over the text from Ladybug and while we all know he’s being stupid, I still felt for him! And then it just leads into utter ridiculousness that makes me so happy with a nice happy ending.

Operation Marichat by @coffeebanana​

When the news gets out that Ladybug and Adrien are an item, Alya and Nino make it their life's mission to comfort Marinette. Because obviously she'd be sad that Adrien's off the market, right? (Never mind the fact that Alya knows exactly who's underneath Ladybug's mask.)

And if Nino's plan to cheer up Marinette involves setting her up with Chat Noir...what could possibly go wrong with that?

One-shot. This one is just so much fun! EVERYONE is stupid and meddling and asdfghjkl Just FANTASTIC shenanigans and the whole thing is hilarious and the identity reveal is awesome.

#ml #miraculous ladybug #ml fic rec #ml fanfic #ml love square #ladrien #ml fic recs #jennarecsml

[seeasweetsmile]

To my miraculous fans followers

I'm sorry but more the serie continues, more I’m turning myself into the dark side (aka the ml salt).

Maybe you saw that I didn’t reblog gifs from episodes since S4 (just a few) like I did for S1-S3 and to be honest, the wait between seasons/episodes and the way I’m slowly detached myself from the show to discover others cartoons or animes didn’t help either.

For S4 and mostly S5, the traitement of the characters, the Ladynoir/Adrinette chaotic relationship, the way Lukanette and Adrigami were killed at the first two episodes of S4, Marinette’s hypocrisy, Gabriel’s madness and his growth grudge towards Marinette, Chloé’s caricatural treatment, Lila being mastermind, no adult has a brain anymore, even if there’s globaly good ideas and so much potential, the fact they were awkwardly or badly executed were a pain to watch.

And you know what is the most painful? I loved that show.

Because is that : I loved that show.

It’s been 7 YEARS (almost 8 years in september if I remember correctly) since the serie debut, and like so many fans, I grew attached to the worldbuilding, the characters, the bond between all of them, the humor or the banters, the lore about the miraculous, the design of the superheros and the supervilains, their powers and how complex/funny/interesting they were... and if you have the inevitable urge to read/write fanfics, look/create the fanarts, or even read analysis/meta post about the episodes, you grow even more attached to the characters and the show!

But when you watch from a objective point of view, you realize there’s so much problems consistency issues (I don’t list them, others fans on tumblr and salty hashtags do it better).

Like I said in a previous reblog, if the writers didn’t want to make episodes just for shocked the viewers (remember when they said each episodes of S4 were equivalent of Chat Blanc??) because all the excessive drama around ladynoir or adrinette, if they didn’t push these things to the extra way, if they didn’t get anyone involved (Alya, classmates, adults) to tell Adrien and Marinette what to think or what to do, it could have been so much better. I firmly believe that friendship is a fondamental piliar to any relation. Adrinette started with a good way (cf origines), but they shaped Marinette into another girl who idolazed Adrien without sincerly knowing him (and when they start to give Marinette some retrospective of her behaviour, what we got? we got Alya to tell her she kNoW AdRiEn instead of listening genuinely her best friend and step back), and Adrien, even though he sincerely liked Marinette and held her in high esteem, he ends up becoming the perfect boy madly in love with her who forgets everything as soon as she is in his field of vision or as soon she breathes. If the others characters had LISTENED to Marinette when she questioned herself and preferred to remain friends with Adrien because she realized she didn’t fully know him, and if the others characters had LISTENED to Adrien when he told them he wasn’t agree with their crazy plans (they didn’t listen and the MCs sighed, abandonned their spine column when the classmates insisted a little bit too much), I repeat myself ; it. could. have. been. so. much. better.

To leave Marinette and Adrien figuring out how to do the things at their own rythm. Instead of a healthy, good and solid friendship that transform into romance, we get a forced ship. Because “ThEy MaDe FoR eAcH oThEr” like everyone said in millions times (I was temped to rewatch since the beggining to counts exactly how much the characters say this stupid sentence but I’m not strong enough). And they say this as if we were dumb and we didn’t know Adrinette was the endgame since day one.

Also, another thing that bug me : since S4 to S5 –and I don’t know if anyone felt that– but I have this distrubing impression that Marinette and Adrien mostly  were just puppets in the theater/playhouse and they didn’t have a soul. Sometimes it push me out of the show when I watch the episodes.

Anyways, if you made it until here, thank you for reading my rant post. Two more episodes to left for S5 that will air early july (I read the script of the finale and boy...) and I still don’t know if I will watch the S6. With Gabe and Chloe out of the picture, Lila stepping as main vilain (still wait for her background) and Emilie being here, maybe they’ll do something correct ? But as I said in a previous post, if I watch the first few episodes and if it irrated me, I’ll stop.

I’m tired to hurting myself.

#ml salt #ml writers salt #ml spoilers #ml season 5 spoilers #adrinette salt #ml fandom salt #my post

[casadefreewill]

Daily Fics

(Fics I read throughout the day yesterday and enjoyed)

My Best Friend by LynyrdLionheart

It takes one injury for Marinette to have a revelation. What is she supposed to do when the boy she trusts with her life is the same boy she can’t even form a coherent sentence around?

Cute reveal fic were Marinette figures it out first and then asks Adrien to try to figure out who she is.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

Bare With Me by Freedom_Shamrock ( @freedom-shamrock )

Adrien just wants a shower. An akuma has other plans, and this time, Ladybug won't let him take the time to get dressed.

Haha! Oh this is some dumb fun. Mostly ladrien. Adrien finding himself in some compromising situations with both his Lady and his good friend Marinette, eventually leading to a ‘the butts match’ reveal.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

metamorphosis by peachcitt ( @peachcitt )

“I was thinking about that time you hated me.”

“Why?”

"I don’t know."

“I didn’t.”

“I know.”

or

three years after hawkmoth's defeat, marinette is still trying to figure out her version of normal. there's also sleepovers.

BRO!! ❤️🧡����💚💙💜💗🖤💕💚❤️!!! This is so good!

Aged up, Chat disappeared after the final fight with Hawkmoth (Adrien’s still around though). Marinette has emotions about that and is also figuring out her life three years later.

#ml #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #chat noir #lovesquare #My Best Friend #LynyrdLionheart #ladrien #Bare With Me #Freedom_Shamrock #metamorphosis #peachcitt #Daily Fics #fic rec

[marimbles]

i started watching ouran tonight and omg i can't believe i'm watching this show. it's ridiculous but so fucking funny. i'm on ep 3 at the time of writing this but i've silently scrumpt about 10 times - eg when hikaru and kaoru saying them and haruhi should take french together and the immediate cut to tamaki sulking by a tree, and tamaki being self-aware that he and haruhi are the main characters + love interests. him loudly announcing "you boys are the homosexual supporting cast!" nearly killed me

i could do without whatever the fuck hikaru and kaoru have going on but everything else is great. thank you for putting this on my dash and i'm now seeing why this would be adrien's favourite show 🌹

FJDKDKDKD I’m so glad you’re having fun with it. it’s such a good time. I’m obsessed. Truly isn’t this the greatest screenshot in anime history

Also it’s so funny to hear you call tamaki self-aware bc technically the declaration that he and haruhi are the main characters/love interests IS self-aware, but in like the least self-aware way possible. bc he spends the majority of both the anime and manga 200% convinced that his feelings for haruhi are “fatherly” and he loves her “like a daughter.” because of family trauma you will not learn about for a while but mostly because he’s the stupidest person who ever fictionally lived!!!! As proven in that same episode when he was so confident he could trick everyone into thinking he was haruhi by wearing a dark wig despite being like two feet taller than her. lmao

HDKDDKDK I feel u about the twincest angle but honestly it stopped bothering my after a while since Hikaru and kaoru are just pretending for an audience lol. they are successfully appealing to the Sam/dean shipping demographic 😂 They are both little trickster turds who are constantly picking on tamaki but also he deserves it bc he’s literally so dumb. And also they’d both die for him with no hesitation underneath their mockery. The twins actually have a really interesting character arc, even moreso in the manga, and they became my favorites after tamaki and haruhi! I love how they start as identical in both appearance and personality but as the show goes on you see how they’re actually very different people

Feel free to update me about your watch through whenever lol! Ouran is still very much on the brain and I’m excited to talk about it with anyone who is willing hehe

#anon #ask #ohshc

[princess-of-the-corner]

Part 2 was mostly just about how Chloé, when she shows up, keeps trying to get Adrien to be more himself, & how she initially dislikes Marinette, because she seems to be just another "groupie" enamoured with Adrien "sugar side". Adrien was still CN, & more or less the same, but his love for LB was partially motivated by the fact that, without the crush blindness, Mari saw through CN's false sweetness in a skinny minute. Just: *CN over the top pleasant* / LB:"Ok stop, you sound dumb." / CN:…❤️

OH GET HIS ASS