#and miraculously the same ones will be posted on the same people's blogs 5 minutes after me and it's just so childish | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

miraculousbelladonna · 4 years

Text

Exposed

A little something based off this salt prompt by @miraculoussweettea

also posted on AO3

(and yes, part 2 of The Edict is coming! I’ve been traveling a lot for the holidays recently and my brain is fried but she’s coming!)

***

Alya is shaking with excitement as she uploads the video to her blog. She can’t believe she got this scoop. She can’t believe she’s the first one to expose Ladybug’s identity.

She’s a little upset that Marinette never told her, but she did pick her to be Rena Rouge, and even though it’s been a while, she guesses it kind of balances out.

She is still absolutely going to have words with her bestie later, but she doesn’t think twice about posting the life changing video onto her blog.

All she’s thinking about is how it’s so cool that she’s the one who found Ladybugs identity. It’s so cool that she’s the one who’s revealing it. It’s so cool that her best friend, Marinette, is Ladybug. Her views are going to go through the roof. Television channels are going to be talking about this, they’re going to be calling her and asking to use her footage.

And of course, Lila and Marinette can be besties! Marinette doesn’t have to pretend to hate her to protect her identity! Everything is falling into place.

This is the true beginning of her long illustrious career as a reporter. She has stars in her eyes as she publishes the video, and she turns her notifications off before she goes to bed. It’ll give her something to look forward to in the morning.

***

Adrien gets the notification that the Ladyblog has posted, and he’s clicking it before he even reads the update.

As soon as he finishes the video he feels sick.

He should’ve read the notification.

Alya has exposed Ladybug’s identity.

Ladybug is Marinette.

But that’s not why he’s so appalled, sickened even, by the video.

It makes sense for Marinette to be Ladybug, now that he’s thinking about it. She’s creative, she’s strong, a quick thinker, and an amazing leader. He already calls her their ‘everyday Ladybug’ as it is, she must’ve been laughing inside every time, knowing he didn’t even know how right he was.

Of course Marinette is Ladybug.

But her identity has been exposed. It’s been exposed in such a crude, callous way. A shaky video taken by someone clearly crouched behind a trash can in an alley. Marinette’s privacy, her personhood, has been stolen from her by the one person who should’ve been protecting it. By her very best friend. By Ladybug’s self proclaimed “biggest fan.”

Ladybug never wanted to reveal her identity, and as much as he’s given her flak for it, as frustrating as it is, she’s right. It’s dangerous. And knowing who she is, knowing her family, how many people are out there that she cares about and who care about her, it makes even more sense. Adrien has no one. But Marinette, God. Marinette has everyone. She has a heart full of love and no qualms about giving it out to anyone she meets.

Marinette is so, so good. So kind. So caring.

Hawkmoth has no problem using and abusing the emotions of even babies in order to get what he wants.

It would be so easy to use Marinette’s heart against her.

He dry heaves into the trash can beside his bed as Plagg hovers frantically around his head.

He has to see her. He has to check on her. If she hasn’t seen the video, he’ll be the one to break it to her, and if she has, well. He’ll reveal himself if he has to, to even the scales. To make her more comfortable. This kind of imbalance is never what he wanted. He never wanted to know who Ladybug was unless she wanted to tell him. This is not a win. This is not a happy moment.

“Plagg. Claws out.”

Marinette has had something stolen from her that she will never get back. He’s holding back tears the entire way to her house, and as he lands on her balcony, and hears her crying, the dam breaks. He starts crying too.

He doesn’t think he’s ever felt worse in his life. He can’t even begin to imagine how she’s feeling.

***

“Oh no. Tikki. What am I going to do? What - what happens now? Am I going to lose my miraculous? Hawkmoth is going to come after me for sure, but how soon? Can we tell the guardian to wait until he does to take the miraculous back? Tikki - I just - I don’t. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. How could Alya do this? How could she do this to me?”

Marinette is a wreck. She’s on the floor in her room crying, sobbing, and she’s thankful her parents had already gone to bed when the video went up. She’s thankful she has one night alone to break apart in silence before she has to face the world.

Tikki’s face is solemn, and angry. She can’t believe her chosen has been violated like this, and by her supposed best friend no less.

“Marinette. Everything is going to be fine. You’re an amazing Ladybug, your miraculous is not going to be taken away for this. It was not your fault. You did nothing wrong. Now, you sit here and feel whatever you’re going to feel. Do not shove these emotions down. Do not block them off. Feel sad. Feel betrayed. Disappointed. Angry. Don’t worry about Hawkmoth, not tonight. I’m going to go up to your balcony and if any akuma comes within as little as 5 feet of this house … it’ll wish it hadn’t.” She wipes her paw under one of Marinette’s eyes to wipe her tears, and it just makes the girl cry even more.

“You are Ladybug, and an amazing one, but you’re also Marinette. Both are necessary. Both are immeasurably strong, but you don’t need to be strong tonight. Do whatever you need to do to reconcile what’s just been done to you. Take your time. Take the night. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

Marinette just nods and sighs, more tears running down her face as she whispers, “Thank you, Tikki.”

“Anytime, Marinette. You are strong and brilliant and amazing, even if you don’t feel like it all the time. Even if not everyone sees it. Call me back down whenever you’re ready.”

Tikki floats through the floor and hovers over the balcony, keeping a keen eye out for any akumas, or even suspiciously dark butterflies. She’s so focused on the minute details she doesn’t see Chat until he’s landed on the balcony, until she hears him crying.

Her heart breaks a little more at the sight. She knows how he’s feeling. They’re both feeling the same things. Adrien is young, and soft, so he’s feeling more sad than angry, but Tikki is as old as time. She has had her entire existence to be sad. Tonight, she is angry.

He looks at her and his face crumples even more. His voice cracks as he says, “I didn’t read the title of the post before I watched it, if I had, I wouldn’t have. I swear on my life, on my miraculous, that I wouldn’t have. I never wanted to find out from anyone but her.”

Tikki closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

“I appreciate the sentiment, Chat, but I’m not the one who needs to hear it. Wait here. Watch for akumas.”

His eyes widen as he nods rapidly, and he turns around immediately to stand guard as she phases back through the floor.

“Marinette, I know I said I’d give you as long as you need, but there’s something you need to know.”

“I heard him land. I know he’s here.”

“Do you want to see him right now? And don’t tell me what you think he or I will want to hear, because what we want is what you want.”

“How does he … seem?”

“He’s sad. But not for the reasons you think. He’s sad for the same reason that I’m angry, and I think you should hear it from him, but only if you want to.”

She nods once, face steely with resolve even as tears are still streaming down her face, and Tikki goes back to deliver the verdict.

“You can see her. Just, give her what she needs. Give her a hug. This form is useful for many things but comfort isn’t one of them. Be there for her. As long as she needs. I’ll be standing watch.”

He’s still crying as he nods at her and opens the door to enter Marinette’s room.

He doesn’t leave until the next morning, right before school starts.

***

Adrien orders the Gorilla to drive by the bakery to pick Marinette up before school. They talked a lot last night, and he did end up revealing himself, which Marinette only agreed to after he admitted how imbalanced he felt.

Either way, they talked a lot. They got through a lot of things, cleared up a lot of issues, and their relationship is solid. Their friendship is solid. Their partnership is solid. She admitted to him that Lila threatened her, and after he got over the anger he was trying not to feel (she reminded him Tikki was still standing sentry on her balcony after she saw his face go from white to red to pink in anger in the span of only 2 seconds) he apologized, and let her know he has her back. He is going to have her back today and every day after. For however long they live.

She marches out of the bakery with her head high, expression cold and distant in the way it is often when she’s Ladybug, and he steps next to her with his arm out for her to hold onto.

She gives him a smile, which he returns, and he maneuvers her through the paparazzi and reporters and random citizens trying to get a look at Paris’ very own hero.

“Don’t react to anything they say, don’t look at them, try not to even think about them. They’re only here for a story and unfortunately everything you do now is being recorded and broadcast.”

She doesn’t respond but she squeezes his arm in acknowledgement, and as soon as they get into the limo, she lets out a huge sigh.

He puts up the privacy screen and Tikki and Plagg immediately fly into sight.

Plagg plops himself onto Adrien’s head and simply says, “You did good, kid.” Adrien flushes at the praise, especially when Tikki and Marinette quickly nod their agreement.

“I didn’t even think about the fact that paparazzi and reporters could come to the bakery for me. That was some really valuable insight. Thank you.” Marinette says, and it has him flushing even more.

They pull into the street in front of the school and Marinette pulls her Ladybug persona up again. She puts her shoulders back, head up, and lets her expression go cold and distant.

Adrien feels himself doing the same, face going stony as he takes his cues from her.

He gets out first, puts his arm out again for her to take, and when she does, everyone all but riots.

There are even more paparazzi than at the bakery, there are reporters, parents, students, strangers, there is a mob of people and it has Marinette stalling for a moment, so he takes charge and starts pulling her through the crowd again.

He ignores everything everyone is saying. He doesn’t react. He doesn’t blink. He doesn’t flinch. He is a rock. Marinette is clutching his arm like a lifeline, and her knuckles are white, the only outward sign that she is anything but remarkably and completely composed like her face suggests.

They make it into the school, up the stairs, and into the classroom, Adrien glaring at anyone who so much as blinks in Marinette’s direction, and they can finally breathe.

Except they can’t. Because the classroom is full of bullies and traitors and liars. They aren’t any safer here than they would be lying on a bed of broken glass.

Marinette looks at him, eyes widened a little in desperation, and Adrien pulls her up to her seat in the back, and sits down next to her. He’s glaring at the class the entire time, daring them to speak.

Alya, of course, is the first.

“Hey girl!” She walks up to the side of Marinette’s table, leans onto it like they’re friends, like she’s owed something, and Adrien’s hackles raise instantly.

“So, why didn’t you ever tell me?”

Marinette’s face goes white and then red with anger, and her fists are clenched so tightly that Adrien has to wrap his hand around hers to get her to unclench them. He glares at Alya who is ridiculously, blissfully ignorant, still smiling wide at Marinette with her phone out to record the answer she’s expecting.

He turned to the class and realized that they’re all staring at her expectantly, every single one of them looking like they’re owed something. and anger burns through Adrien like he’s on fire, how did he never notice how disgusting and selfish these people all were? How did he never see it?

Marinette finally turns on Alya, gaze colder and harder than vibranium as she says, “I never told you, Césaire, because you’ve proven time and again that you cannot be trusted. Your little stunt last night is just the latest proof. Did you get what you wanted? Did you get the attention? The views?”

“What! Girl! -“ Alya stutters, shocked. “I didn’t do it for attention! Or views!”

“So the views on the Ladyblog haven’t gone up at all.”

“Well of course they have! But that’s because Paris wanted to know! The world wanted to know!”

“And it didn’t matter that I didn’t want them to. That I didn’t want to share my identity. That it puts me in danger. That it puts my family, my friends, and anyone I have ever, or will ever care about, in danger. That I will be targeted by Hawkmoth, and so will everyone I have ever interacted with in my entire life.”

“They deserved to know! And come on, nobody’s in danger! Hawkmoth isn’t gonna do anything!”

“No one deserved to know anything about me that I didn’t want to share. That I didn’t choose to share. And that decision did not belong to you. It belonged to me. You took that from me. You betrayed me and endangered my life and the lives of countless others. Did you even think twice about it? Did you for a single second think about me, your supposed friend, Marinette?”

“But you’re Ladybug! That’s all that matters! And besides, you can stop pretending to hate Lila now!”

Chloe has been silently fuming during this entire exchange, because it is not her place to step in for Marinette, not after everything she’s done to her, but Marinette is Ladybug. Marinette is Ladybug and has shown her more genuine kindness than both of her parents have in her entire life, especially when she didn’t deserve it. She is an absolute saint amongst mortals, but even saints have their breaking points, and she’s surely hit hers or will soon. Chloe can’t stand by and just watch this happen. If nothing else, then for her own sanity. Césaire is not listening. Something in her brain just isn’t clicking. It’s pathetic, and ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.

“You’re either delusional or very, very, stupid.”

Alya gasps as she turns to glare at Chloe.

Chloe nods at Marinette, “Dup - Marinette. Thank you for giving me a second chance. For giving me any chance. I didn’t deserve it, and you know it. I’ll never be able to pay back the kindness you’ve shown me even if I live to be a thousand years old. I’m sorry you have to deal with all of this shit, and I have a team of lawyers ready to sue for slander and invasion of privacy at your say so.”

Adrien beams at her, proud of this new leaf she’s turning, of the actual effort she’s putting into being good, and Marinette is stunned as she nods in assent and says, “Thank you. I - you have no idea how much I appreciate that. I’ll take you up on that offer. We’ll talk during lunch.”

Chloe nods resolutely, glares at Alya who is staring with her mouth gaping open in shock, and scoffs. She immediately pulls her phone out and starts making calls to her father and his many associates, and Sabrina is next to her doing the same with hers.

“What do you mean, lawyers! You can’t sue me! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Lila and I are not friends. Ladybug is not her friend. Marinette is not her friend. She is a liar. She’s been lying since she got here, which I told you countless times. You dismissed me and belittled me and called me jealous and stupid and selfish, when you were the ones who cast me aside for someone who could spin a few pretty stories. So yes, I’m Ladybug. No, I didn’t tell you. You are not trustworthy. There’s a reason Rena Rouge and Carapace haven’t been called on in the past year. You, Alya Césaire, are not worthy of a miraculous, and will never wield one again. You’re not a bad person, but you aren’t by any means a good one. You only care about yourself and your blog, with no regard for the truth or for anyone but yourself, and that is dangerous. You never consider the consequences to your actions. You are not someone I’ll be associating with any longer, and you have no one to blame but yourself for whatever happens next.”

***

It turns out there’s a lot of big name lawyers tripping over themselves to do pro bono work for Paris’ magical hero. She has her case set and served to Alya before lunch is over.

***

After three days with no akumas, Marinette checks the mail to see that she’s received an unmarked envelope with the butterfly and peacock miraculous inside. There’s no address or name, and inside is a printed note that just reads, I’m sorry.

tags: @mikantsume @aestheticnpoetic

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jesus-otaku · 3 years

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Title: Peculiar Familiarity (part 6)

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug

Pairing: Marichat

Word count: 2241

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

A long-overdue update for a giveaway prize for @kwiibi-blog. I feel so bad about this just sitting in my folder for so long. (I typed this part up like 2 years ago during the time I was away from Tumblr and completely neglected to post it.) I really hope the long wait has been worth it.

I mentioned this when updating the fic on AO3 so I’ll mention it here as well: I am no longer nearly as active in the ML fandom as I used to be. There is so much fandom salt and drama that it has been hard to find the same initial joy I had for creating ML content. Most of my writing lately has been for original projects rather than fanfic. But because I hate leaving things incomplete, and I think everyone reading my fics deserves to get the endings they’ve waited for, I am trying very hard to regain my lost motivation. My goal is to at least wrap up the multi-part fics I started, even if I don’t necessarily write the other fics I originally had planned. Any questions about this can be directed to my ask box!

“Something about Marinette was off tonight. Something beyond the mess of deciding whose hand he was going to kiss.”

________________________

“You've been keeping secrets from me, Princess,” Chat Noir sang as he dropped through the trapdoor into Marinette's room.

She whirled away from her desk to look up at him, and her face was white as a sheet. “S-secrets? What secrets?” Her lips were twitching up in an attempt at a smile, but it was very obviously fake. “I—I'm not keeping any secrets, don't be silly! I mean, why would I not have told you that I was—I mean—that is, if I was—I mean—nope, no secrets here!” She broke into nervous laughter. “None whatsoever.” Then, hesitantly, she asked, “Why do you say that?”

Chat was a little taken aback. That was a much more…intense reaction than he had been expecting. He climbed down the loft ladder to join her at her desk. Leaning on the desk with one hand, he replied, “You never told me you and Ladybug were in touch with each other.”

Marinette gaped at him. It must not have been what she had thought he was going to say, because some of the color slowly started to return to her face. “That's—I—you never asked.”

“No,” he agreed, “but when you said I should talk to Ladybug about the whole hand-kissing thing, that—you could have just told her yourself.” It would have spared him a lot of embarrassment, that was for sure.

She fidgeted uncomfortably. “I think it was better that she heard it from you,” she replied. “Otherwise it might have made it seem like you were avoiding her.”

He hesitated. She did have a point there. And embarrassment or not, his conversation with Ladybug had cleared up a miscommunication he hadn't even realized they'd been having. “Still,” he said, “you could have at least said something.”

“You never asked,” Marinette countered. She leaned forward, propping her hands on her knees. “So, um, what did I—I mean, Ladybug say? About the hand-kissing thing, that is?”

Chat gave her a thumbs up with a smile. “She gave it the all-clear. Hand kisses are now exclusively yours, Princess.”

She grinned back at him. “Lucky me. But that wasn't exactly what I meant.”

He frowned in confusion. “What?”

“I never said you had to ask her permission,” she pointed out. She folded her hands in her lap. “I just said you needed to tell her you were going to stop kissing her hand. Did she say anything about you stopping?”

Great. Not only was Ladybug going to kill him by asking about his relationship with Marinette, now Marinette was going to kill him by asking about his relationship with Ladybug. He was so, so doomed. “She said I didn't have to,” he answered slowly, watching her to see her reaction. “She would have been okay with me kissing both your hand and hers. But I didn't want to do that to you after saying I would make it a you-and-me thing only.”

All of the color had returned to Marinette's face now, and if it hadn't been for the fact she had been so white just a minute ago, he would have thought he saw a dusting of pink on her cheeks. He quashed it instead as the act of an overactive, hopeful imagination. She'd been so pale that the natural flush of her face probably just looked overly pinkish by comparison. “Thank you,” she mumbled. A little clearer, she added, “It means a lot, you know. That you would change your dynamic with Ladybug just for me.”

Feeling suddenly very embarrassed, Chat looked around the room at just about everything except for Marinette. His eyes locked with the little black stuffed cat that perched on the shelf above her desk. He rubbed at the back of his neck. “You don't have to thank me for anything. It's not like things are going to change between me and Ladybug, not really.” But then he remembered that odd look of resignation that had been in Ladybug's eyes last night, and he had to wonder if things wouldn't change even the tiniest bit. She'd almost seemed upset.

As if she could read his mind, Marinette asked, “Are you sure about that? We—You two seem pretty close.”

“We're still going to be friends,” he replied, hating that word—friends—just a little less than he would have expected to. His friendship with his lady had always come first, no matter how badly he wanted to be something more. That priority had somehow become clearer the more time he had spent with Marinette. He waved a hand dismissively, as if her concern were a minor one. “A little thing like kissing your hand won't change that.” Oh, but that look in Ladybug's eyes last night…

A tiny smile made its way onto her face. “Ladybug is really lucky to have a friend like you. I would've been a lot more worried about things changing than you are.”

He braced his baton against the floor and leaned forward on it. “Maybe you can put in a good word for me, then, Princess. Since you're friends with her, too.” God, what was coming out of his mouth? He was going to be the end of himself, pursuing a conversation like this. But still, he couldn't stop himself from continuing. “I'm sure if you sing my praises, she'll reconsider my romantic advances.”

The statement startled a laugh out of her. “Okay, I take it back,” she giggled. “She's lucky, but she's not that lucky.”

Well, ouch.

Even though he knew Marinette meant it only in good fun, and that she would never intentionally say something to hurt someone else—out of all the people he'd met, she was one of the most well-attuned to preventing akuma attacks—her reply stung. So much so that his heart may as well have physically ached. The amusement he'd allowed to creep onto his face was gone in an instant. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Her expression dropped into horror. Had she not realized what she was saying? “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like that—I was just—you're great, but—um, you and Ladybug are—we're—I mean—ugh, I don't know what I mean anymore.” She buried her face in her hands, and there was a definite pink tinge to her cheeks now beneath her fingers.

Something about Marinette was off tonight. Something beyond the mess of deciding whose hand he was going to kiss. He was stunned it had taken him this long to realize it. Chat Noir tucked away his baton and went to kneel in front of her chair.

“Hey, Princess,” he coaxed softly. She peeked out at him from between her fingers. That much, at least, was encouraging. “What's wrong? Forget about me and Ladybug for a second. Did something happen?”

Her eyes scanned his; for what, he wasn't sure. Slowly, her hands slipped away from her face, and she set them back in her lap. She sighed as if resigning herself to something. Her gaze dropped to the floor between the two of them. “It's just—well, I have this…friend. And he's a great friend, don't get me wrong,” she added hastily, before he could have even thought to comment. “I'd trust him with anything, no matter what.”

“But…?” he prompted. There was obviously a “but” coming.

She gave a halfhearted sort of shrug. “I don't know. It just feels like things are…weird between us right now.” Her eyes were still glued on the floor as she began twisting her fingers around each other in her lap. “Like he's…I don't know, distant?”

He hoped she wasn't talking about him as Adrien. He'd done his damnedest to get closer to her, to make her feel more comfortable around him, to see at least some inkling of the way she acted around Chat in her interactions with Adrien. Those attempts had so far only ended in more pronounced stammering and occasional awkward laughter. It wouldn't have entirely surprised him if she was referring to him as Adrien.

He just really, really didn't want to be the one she was referring to.

Marinette seemed to take his pensive, anxious silence as a sign to continue, because she kept talking. Almost like she couldn't stop herself. “And I guess I just can't help wondering if maybe there's something that I did, or if there's something else going on in his life that I don't know about, or if he's just sick of hanging out with me.”

Chat took one of her hands in his before she could wring her fingers white. Her eyes finally snapped up to meet his again. “If he's sick of hanging out with you, then he's an idiot,” he said, with far more feeling than he had originally intended to put into his sentence. “You're amazing, Marinette. Anyone would be lucky to call you their friend.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “I know I am.”

That tiny little smile made its way back onto her face, just enough to lift the corners of her lips out of miserable worry. So gently that he almost thought he imagined it, she squeezed his hand back. “Thanks, Chat Noir.”

Kneeling there with her hand in his, he almost kissed her hand before coming to his senses and shooting her a wink instead. Even with both her and Ladybug's permission, he couldn't just go around kissing her hand willy-nilly. “Anytime. It's a knight's sworn duty to protect his princess, even from her own self-doubt.” The comment made her smile spread wider, and the weight of worry lifted from his chest.

And it was strange, how much this reminded him of another time, with another girl, begging her to believe in him and in herself when she hadn't thought she could be enough.

Then Marinette was getting to her feet, her hand was sliding away from his, and the moment of familiarity was gone. “So,” she said, “are you up for being walloped at Ultimate Mecha Strike 3 tonight?”

He wanted to say yes so very badly. Wanted to prove that he'd meant what he'd said, that anyone who didn't want to hang out with her was an idiot. But curse it all, he had a photo shoot tomorrow morning at eight and he would never hear the end of it from his father if he showed up at his photo shoot with anything less than a full night's rest.

“I wish I could stay,” he said, trying to infuse as much regret into the words as possible. Her smile still dropped. He cursed the name of photo shoots everywhere in his head. “Unfortunately, I have a prior engagement with my bed. I've got someplace I have to be early tomorrow, and I need my cat nap or I'll never make it through the day.”

Her nose scrunched up in distaste at the prospect of getting up early during a weekend. “On a Saturday?” she asked incredulously. “That just sounds like some form of torture.”

Chat grinned. At least they were of the same mind on that point. “It probably will be, but a commitment is a commitment. I'm a cat of my word.” He stood and began to back his way towards the ladder to the trapdoor. “I can come back tomorrow night,” he added hopefully. He didn't usually visit two nights in a row, but since this visit was so short, maybe… “And you could wallop me then.”

“Bring plenty of fighting spirit, because I've been practicing,” she replied, smiling once again. He was struck for the hundredth time by how very familiar the teasing tone of her voice was, and not because he had heard it from her so often now as Chat. When he took another step back towards the ladder, she asked, “Aren't you forgetting something, Chat Noir?” Her smile had turned impish.

It took him an embarrassingly long moment of staring to realize what she was referring to. By the time he had put two and two together, she had already stepped closer to him and offered her hand. “Oh. Right. How foolish of me.” He took her hand in his and couldn't help marveling at how well their hands fit together. Almost exactly like his and Ladybug's did.

But Marinette wouldn't push him away from the gesture, not tonight and not in the future. That wasn't who the two of them were together. Marinette wasn't Ladybug, and he was a little bit of a different Chat Noir when he was with her. Not as flirty, not as hopeful, not as self-aggrandizing.

If he thought about it, maybe he as Chat Noir acted the way he wished he as Adrien could act with Marinette.

Minus the hand-kissing, of course.

He pressed his lips to her hand, lingering just a moment longer than was really necessary. Her skin was warm beneath his touch, and there was the faintest scent of the bakery clinging to her. It almost made him not want to pull away.

He did still have to get up early in the morning, though, so he forced himself to straighten and release her hand. She had already agreed that he could come back tomorrow. This was only goodbye for a day. He'd survived longer than that without her before. Chat swept her a bow. “Until tomorrow, Princess.”

Her smile spread into that glimmer of sunlight that had nearly made his heart stop last time. It almost made his heart stop again now. “Until tomorrow, Chat Noir. And thank you.”

#drabble #drabble prize #kwiibi-blog #miraculous ladybug #marichat #otp #miraculous fanfic #peculiar familiarity

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edorazzi · 4 years

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It’s the post everyone’s been waiting for!

It’s taken a little while for me to get around to this, but it’s worth it for being able to make a full reaction post. This is really long so I’ll put it under a cut, but check it out for my complete scene-by-scene reaction of Miraculous’ “Felix” episode! (´∀｀)♡

Okay, I’ve been putting this off for days now so it’s time to finally get to it. I’m comfy and undisturbed and have my supplies ready to go.

I know next to nothing about what I’m going into. I’ve seen a little bit here and there because some people haven’t tagged their content properly, but I haven’t watched either of the trailers. I haven’t even looked directly at the images of Felix which have been going around. I’ve tried to stay as blind as possible, so as a result I’m pretty excited but also very anxious. I’ve taken two beta blockers today and I’m considering taking a third.

I usually liveblog episodes on our Ladybug PV Discord server (message me for an invite!) but this time I’m making a proper post out of it. I’ll be typing up my reactions as I go then cleaning everything up a little bit afterwards. I think it’s the first time I’ve done something like this on my blog so here goes!

- “Script: Thomas Astruc” NO. HE REALLY COULDN’T JUST STEP AWAY FROM THIS EPISODE GRACEFULLY, COULD HE. HE HAD TO GET HIS HANDS DIRTY. I’m not going to say “fuck this man” but, you know, identical sentiments. I’m opening my chocolate bar.

- God, Emilie looks more like ET every time I see her. Such an awkward model.

- Oh but wait, Sébastien Thibaudeau was on the script? That does actually give me some hope! Next to Zag himself he’s the only writer on this mess of a show I trust. HE FIXED WAYHEM, CAN HE DO FELIX A SOLID TOO? PLEASE. PLEASE SÉBASTIEN OL BUDDY OL PAL OL FRIENDA MINE

- Does Gabe have anything else to say to his wife other than monologuing his Miraculous plan over and over? They say people in comas can still hear things but Emilie’s probably double unconscious from how boring her husband is.

- DON’T LIKE THAT KNIFE SOUND EFFECT FROM THOSE RINGS. Am I supposed to find it sweet that Gabe’s taking such good care of their wedding bands or is he about to use them for evil? Also where’s Felix.

- ADRIEN SWEETHEART. I maintain that it’s weird to have a statue of your wife/mother/self in your own garden but it kills me that he’s just sitting there in front of it like a lost kitten.

- “Of course, someone will get you right away.” IS THAT FELIX. WAS SHE ON THE PHONE TO FELIX. WHERE’S MY SON, NATHALIE HAVE YOU SEEN MY SON

- That wide-eyed look Adrien turns up towards the window is killing me even more. I’M SO SAD. I see he also hasn’t noticed he’s sitting in the middle of a giant butterfly circle, unless he’s so used to it being Gabe’s logo that he’s just not paying it any mind. When was this all built? Has Gabe always used a butterfly motif even before he got his Miraculous and it was just a great coincidence, or did he commission this whole garden area after Emilie went missing? I guess you could pass it off as eccentricity but in the real world that would be a HUGE red flag that Gabe murdered her. I dunno man.

- DON’T WAVE AT HIM LIKE THAT, NATHALIE. YOU RATTED HIM OUT IN 5 SECONDS IN THAT THEORETICAL FUTURE WHERE YOU DISCOVERED HE WAS CHAT NOIR. YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT THIS BOY. >:V

- “It’s been one year.” HAS IT? Hasn’t Adrien been at school for at least a year now? Didn’t his mom vanish two years prior to that?! Maybe she’s talking about how long Gabe has been fighting Ladybug and Chat Noir but knowing this show’s messy timeline it could be anything. WHERE’S FELIX.

- That’s the song from Chat Blanc! Was that something his mom taught him? OH NO, I’M EVEN SADDER NOW. This is what I mean about Sébastien’s writing, we’d never get this kind of focus on Adrien from Garbage Man Astruc. This kind of character exploration does wonders for ML whenever it’s brought up so I hope this is consistent.

- SHIT, GABRIEL’S OUT OF THE HOUSE. SOMETHING’S WRONG. THOSE EXPENSIVE LEATHER SHOES HAVEN’T TOUCHED ACTUAL GROUND IN YEARS. ADRIEN GET OUT OF THERE.

- I do like that Adrien doesn’t get up when his dad comes to stand right next to him like that. It’s just informal enough. He’s waiting for Gabe to make the first move this time and that’s nice development considering how stiff and cold their relationship was in S1.

- OOOOH GABE THAT’S AN AWKWARD CROUCH. Any lower down and his back is going to go. He’ll be stuck there. I do LOVE that he’s trying though, I don’t even know what he’s going to say to Adrien but this is already SO good.

- “There’s something important I have to talk to you about.” Finally time for The Talk, huh.

- GABE PLEASE. ADRIEN’S WAY TOO CHIRPY TO HAVE ACTUALLY CAUGHT ON TO WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO SAY. HE THINKS YOU’RE TRYING TO SAY YOU LOVE HIM OR SOMETHING ELSE RIDICULOUS

- “I’ve noticed how close you and Nathalie have become!” CLOSE ENOUGH. Still in the ballpark of Adrien thinking his dad has real human feelings!

- “HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY THINK SUCH A THING??” I GENUINELY LAUGHED OUT LOUD AT HOW ANGRY GABE WAS ABOUT THAT. I’m not sure what to think of the “Nathalie replacing Emilie when Emilie’s technically still alive” plot either but GABE’S DECIDED FOR ME. Also good job yelling in your son’s face when you were JUST having a moment, good luck getting back up off your knees in order to storm away, old man.

- Oh alright, he did get up, but it was with a strange angry bow-legged prance. I think he still had trouble.

- I love the way Adrien just kinda wide-eye-blinks at him, like Gabe’s emotional outburst is going totally over his head. He’s been dealing with akuma FAR too long to be bothered by this.

- Guests, plural? I’m guessing Felix is one of them but is he with someone else? That makes sense given he’s (as far as I’ve gathered) the same age as Adrien so he wouldn’t be running around far from home unchaperoned, but OHHH this is so interesting.

- So they ARE claiming it’s been one year since Emilie vanished! This just doesn’t work as a Season 3 episode, especially with Nathalie and Gabe’s romantic development being as far along as it is. Emilie’s been gone for at LEAST three years by this point! Read your show bible once in a while you horrible garbage man!!! Also ADRIEN SWEETHEART THAT’S A LITTLE PREMATURE. You can say “went away forever” when you’re three years into her disappearance, the anniversary of one year really isn’t long enough to claim she’s never coming back!

- OH NO, IT’S THE GIRLS. I’m already bored. Unless Luka is here I really just do not care what they’re all up to. I haven’t missed Marinette at ALL in the first two-and-a-half minutes and I don’t want to see her now. WHERE’S FELIX.

- I’m sorry, how are Lila, Chloé AND Kagami all on a video call together without any blood being drawn? Also for god’s sake PLEASE leave Adrien alone, you want to ask first if he’d LIKE some company or if he’d prefer a quiet personal day to think about his mom? OF COURSE NOT MARINETTE, YOU WOULDN’T WOULD YOU.

- Okay, a video message is definitely a better idea than trying to break into his house AGAIN. At least then he can watch it whenever he feels up to it. The first good, safe, noninvasive idea Mari’s had for SEVERAL episodes when it comes to Adrien.

- I’M REALLY TORN WHEN IT COMES TO THE ENGLISH DUB. On one hand I hate how little screentime Nino has when he’s not just being Alya’s fashion accessory, but on the other hand I’m so glad they switched scenes the moment Nino started his video because I CANNOT handle his dub voice. Nino just deserves better in general really.

- HE WAS CRYING. MY BOY WAS CRYING AGAIN. I’M NOT COOL WITH THIS. IT’S NOT ABOVE YOUR PAYGRADE TO GIVE HIM A HUG, NATHALIE.

- ALRIGHT HI ELSA. IS THIS HIS AUNT? THAT’S SPOOKY.

- Her name is Amelie? So their parents had twins and named them Amelie and Emilie, and they turned out the same right down to the over-the-shoulder Dead Anime Mom hairstyles? That’s lazy parenting down to a tee, can’t mix your twins up if you never have to learn the difference between them in the first place! But that’s INTERESTING that Felix is (I assume, still haven’t seen him yet) from Emilie’s side of the family, I’ve always had the impression he was a petit Gabriel.

- OHHH THAT’S MY BOY! I CAN SEE MY BOY IN THE DOORWAY!!! OH MY GOD GIVE HIM TO ME. GIVE ME FELIX. GIVE ME MY SON.

- ADRIEN IMMEDIATELY JUMPING ON HIM IN A HUG IS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. WHILE FELIX’S HAND IS STILL OUTSTRETCHED FOR A HANDSHAKE. I know this episode is going to go downhill because there’s no way it won’t, but this one single moment is EVERYTHING I WANTED. I should just close the tab now and leave it at this, I really should.

- “Do you remember when they used to have so much fun pretending to be each other? Once they had you and Emilie fooled for a whole weekend!” WHERE HAS THIS BEEN FOR MY ENTIRE ORDEAL GETTING THROUGH THIS SERIES. I don’t even care if this Felix is a stone cold bitch, it’s enough to know he and Adrien were besties when they were kids and Adrien still wanted to hug him the second he walked through the door. AMAZING.

- “I WON’T BE FOOLED A SECOND TIME.” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, GABE. THEY WERE PROBABLY TODDLERS. ARE YOU JUST SO USED TO GETTING YOUR ASS HANDED TO YOU BY CHILDREN THAT YOU’RE SUSPICIOUS OF EVERY SINGLE ONE NOW

- Aww, Felix is American (dubbed, anyway). I was really hoping he’d be British with all the references to London over the last season. He does have a nice voice though! I can tell he shares Adrien’s actor but he’s got the softness I’d have expected from his character. There’s kind of an interesting look about his face though, I wish they’d tweaked it a bit to give him a sharper look but I guess he IS like 14, he can afford to still have a bit of baby-cheeked roundness. I’m going to find the positives in every part of this because I will NOT give Garbage Man Astruc the satisfaction of being disappointed like I know he wants me to be. It’s been a fucking war from the moment I saw his name in the writing credits and my best weapon is being pleased about everything in this episode.

- Okay, he looks a little better in the following closeup where his eyes are slightly narrowed. I think it’s the slightly-below-the-chin angle which doesn’t really work for his character model with his soft cheeks and high collar. FELIX IS A BABY.

- WHY WILL NOBODY SHAKE HIS HAND. Adrien hugged him instead and Gabe is ignoring him completely, Felix is clearly so perplexed and I love it. He’s fourteen! He’s fourteen and doing his best with social graces but NOBODY WILL HELP HIM.

- “Felix, you know your uncle’s never been the physical sort!” HE KICKED HIS OWN SON RIGHT ACROSS PARIS IN THE LAST EPISODE BUT SURE, IF YOU SAY SO.

- “Oh, how sweet! You’re still wearing your wedding band!” YEAH? IT’S BEEN LIKE A YEAR?? Again this would make more sense if it had been around three years like we KNOW Emilie’s been gone for, but picking someone out for still wearing their ring after 12 months?! And why isn’t Amelie more emotional about this anyway, isn’t it her sister who’s missing? I wouldn’t be poking fun at MY sister’s husband for keeping his ring if SHE went missing. No wonder Felix seems like he turned out weird.

- I CAN’T MAKE OUT THE NAME OF HER BRANCH OF THE FAMILY AND IT’S KILLING ME. SOMEONE LET ME KNOW WHAT THAT WAS. Graham de Vanily? I can’t place the words. I mean I’m going to keep calling Felix “Agreste” no matter what but I’d like to know what canon is trying to get at.

- “It’s been a long journey from London” I KNEW IT, I FFFFFFFFFUCKING KNEW IT. SO THEY ARE BRITISH?! BUT THEY HAVE AMERICAN ACCENTS?! I mean I guess they’re French first and foremost, but what the fuck is with the American accents if you’re making a POINT about them being from London?! I can’t wait for the French audio to be released, I really want to know what Felix sounds like there. Regardless AAAH MY SON IS FROM MY CITY, I’M SO PLEASED.

- “TakeFelixtoyourbedroom.” EASY GABE THEY JUST MET, ALSO THEY’RE COUSINS

- Poor Felix looks so depressed being saddled with Adrien. Sweetie it’s okay, think positive! You could be stuck with Marinette and THAT would be a true nightmare.

- Now why does Felix keep glancing at Gabe? Is there something going on there? Is he suspicious about what happened to his aunt? I can’t imagine he knows anything about the Miraculous so what’s the deal here?

- UuuuuUUUUGH we’re back with the rest of the gang. I’M NOT INTERESTED, SHOW ME MORE FELIX.

- “Help me Tikki! What would you tell a Kwami friend who’s lost their mom?!” You’re talking to a 5000-year-old demigoddess, Mari, I don’t think she’s gonna relate.

- MARI YOU CAN’T CONFESS TO ADRIEN. NOT AFTER CHAT BLANC. GABE WILL LOSE ALL HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TO WRECK THE LOVE SQUARE AND ALSO THE MOON’S GOING TO EXPLODE. WHY ISN’T BUNNIX HERE TO SLAP THE TABLET OUT OF YOUR HANDS

- Should Tikki really be encouraging this?! I have no idea where in the timeline this is supposed to be. Maybe this is at a stage where she doesn’t know Adrien is Plagg’s chosen so there’s no reason to steer Marinette away from bonding with him. Or maybe every episode just plays by its own rules and there’s really no such thing as continuity in this series. I want to see Felix again.

- YANKING AT AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE ON THE OUTER EDGE OF A BOAT ISN’T GOING TO END WELL. DON’T. I do love how :D Alya is about it though, if nothing else I love what a supportive friend she is.

- Oh, the tablet didn’t go into the water! I’m genuinely surprised by that. Though I imagine Felix is going to fuck things up in some way so he’ll probably be the one to destroy the video somehow. We all know the relationship development isn’t allowed to move forward so SOMETHING’S going to happen to it.

- Thank god we’re back to the mansion. I’m surprised and pleased that (for now at least) we’re only getting the girls in small doses and the plot is mainly focused around the Agrestes. Gorizilla is my favourite episode to date and it did a similar thing with allowing Marinette to be a side character for once along an Adrien-centric plotline, so hopefully this episode will be similar. I’m liking its odds so far but who knows what Horrible Garbage Man Astruc has up his sleeve.

- “I’m really sorry I didn’t come to your dad’s funeral.” I’M SORRY WHAT? PARDON ME? THAT’S AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM I DIDN’T EXPECT. As a side note I love Felix being killer at basketball for some reason, he doesn’t look like the athletic type at ALL but he still made that net over his shoulder without even LOOKING. Goddamn. Can everyone please appreciate how cool my son is!!!

- “My father thought it would be too hard on me, considering everything that’s happened this year.” So Felix lost his dad VERY RECENTLY. OUCH. DON’T LIKE THAT. Or I DO like that because it’s already giving his character some extra depth when we’re still only just getting to know him, but on an emotional level I don’t like that.

- “He’s very... protective of me.” CHAT BLANC REALLY WAS A HOT MESS OF AN EPISODE WASN’T IT.

- Now Felix is giving Adrien a hug?! I didn’t see that one coming. My canon Felix would mean it but I don’t quite trust this new Felix yet, he’s probably up to something.

- WHAT A JARRING PIANO TRANSITION. Also why?! What does he have to gain from swiping Adrien’s phone? He’s probably got a terrible roaming plan on his own mobile, that’s always my problem when I go to France. If you truly loved your cousin you’d let him browse Reddit on your phone, Adrien. This is worse than not coming to his dad’s funeral.

- PLAGG KNOWS SOMETHING’S UP. He ought to, in another life he and Felix are STILL dealing with each other.

- Okay I take back what I said about Felix’s voice. Bryce Whatshisface isn’t doing a very good job separating the tones. I can buy that Adrien and Felix sound very similar but their delivery should be completely different! I really do want to watch this in French, I get the feeling it’ll sound much better.

- AH YES, HERE WE GO. I’m getting the feeling this is Garbage Man’s part of the episode. Squished cheese aside, I do like the implication Felix does (or did) card magic and karate. I’m thinking of that Mickey Mouse episode where he vanishes Donald’s car keys with a hand trick except it’s Felix vanishing Marinette’s phone when she’s about to text Adrien or something. I’ve got to draw that.

- “Mind if I take a shower?” WHY, FELIX. I mean I’d probably want to shower too after the London-Paris commute (and I’m sure he’s only going in there to wreak havoc, put food colouring in Adrien’s shampoo bottles or something) but what a weird time to ask!

- I mean Plagg has a point about difficult home situations not justifying bad behaviour (and I feel like that’s not what’s going on, with how he was glaring at Gabe I think he’s behaving like this for some other reason), but Felix’s dad LITERALLY DIED. Like they had a funeral and everything. Emilie is just “missing”. They’re SIMILAR but that’s still a false equivalence because Adrien’s got hope to hold on to and Felix doesn’t.

- So we’re not going to talk about how Felix got into Adrien’s passcode-protected phone? I guess he could have done the fogging-up-the-screen trick from Oblivio. Standing around in a steamy bathroom in three layers of clothing is a great way to sweat yourself out and ruin your hair though, way to get even more gross than a five-hour commute between countries.

- “Of course that idiot has a crush on a superhero!” EASY THERE, MR HOWLING-ON-A-ROOFTOP-BECAUSE-HE-SAW-THE-GIRL-HE-LIKED. WE’VE ALL SEEN THE PV.

- I’ve just noticed Felix has a ring too! I don’t know how I missed that before this scene! That’s NICE. He’s still not allowed to have it on his middle finger (LET HIM SWEAR) but that’s a nod back to Chat Noir which I really appreciate!

- ROSE HAS BEEN ON THE HELIUM. SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT THERE.

- FELIX KNOWS CHLOÉ! THAT’S NICE, THAT’S GOOD. I LIKE THAT. That’s also a really nice little video from her, I love the few small moments we’ve had that affirm she and Adrien really ARE friends, whether she wants to date him or not.

- OOOH HE DELETED THE VIDEOS. I’m curious about him borrowing Adrien’s clothes too, are they going to dress the same? You’d think Adrien wouldn’t give someone an exact copy of the outfit he’s currently wearing but I genuinely don’t know if he owns anything different. I hope they don’t just use two Adrien models for the rest of the episode, please let me see Felix properly :/

- WHY. HONESTLY, WHY. CAN I PLEASE GET AN EXPLANATION FOR WHY FELIX IS DOING THIS.

- OOOH MARI YOU’RE NOT GONNA LIKE THIS. I can imagine Felix is going to say something nasty and that’ll set the girls off and bring about the akuma of the week. I’m mildly entertained but I’m still not engaged with this idea without any proper explanation. We’d better get something by the end of the episode which justifies what’s made Felix do this, because “he’s just evil lol” would be a reeeeally low move from Garbage Man Astruc.

- MARI SWEETIE. YOU’VE GOTTA LEARN TO CHECK A ROOM IS EMPTY BEFORE YOU RUN INSIDE AND START FREAKING OUT VERY LOUDLY. LUKA’S HEARD ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.

- Luka is such a nice character. Why does he get to be so high quality when Felix has been turned into a cheese-smashing phone-stealing gremlin? I mean I KNOW why, but I’d like to think the showwriters are better than this. They’re not, but I’d like to think they are.

- WHAT A VIDEO MESSAGE. I love how Luka’s just sitting there grimacing while Mari speeds off into battle, he doesn’t know what she’s about to do but he knows better than to try stopping her.

- Back with Gabe and Nathalie. Is this what was being foreshadowed when Gabe claimed he wouldn’t be fooled by the boys’ identity switch twice? Is he GOING to be fooled again or will he be the one person who can tell immediately that this isn’t his son?

- “FELIX.” WOW, HE REALLY WASN’T FOOLED TWICE. RESPECT. He may have trouble getting up off the ground if he sits down too low but he can at least identify his child in a difficult situation like this, props to Gabe this week.

- “All this disappointment might just help us get rid of our unwanted guests!” SHUT YOUR MOUTH, FELIX IS A DELIGHT. The only unwanted guest here is Astruc on the writing team.

- “Felix... I told you that you couldn’t fool me twice.” Way to blow your identity in five seconds Gabe. I guess he hasn’t sent out the akuma yet so this might just be a personal monologue, but he starts addressing his victims directly so often at this stage that I’m really not sure what they can or can’t hear. SHIT’S RISKY.

- OH OKAY, SO HE’S SENDING THIS TRIPLE AKUMA AFTER FELIX? AND/OR ADRIEN, DEPENDING ON HOW HARD IT IS TO TELL THEM APART? I guess that’s what he means by getting rid of their guests, if the house is attacked by a monster (or monsters?) they aren’t going to want to stick around, but I REALLY HOPE YOU’RE TAKING ADRIEN’S WELLBEING INTO ACCOUNT HERE GABE OL BUDDY :/

- “TIKKI, SPOTS ON! MNUURGH” ME TOO MARINETTE. I’M REALLY ONLY 12 MINUTES INTO THIS.

- I’m gonna be honest, I’m not really interested in the girls. I was hoping for a real triple akuma (like Oblivio was apparently Alya and Nino together) but they’re all just villains we’ve seen before. There’s stuff I could comment on here but I just want to see more of Felix, that’s what I’m here for.

- “Nathalie, get Adrien to a safe place far from his cousin!” YOU’RE REALLY JUST GONNA SACRIFICE FELIX LIKE THIS. I guess that makes sense, I WAS complaining during Chat Blanc that Adrien is Gabriel’s weak point, so all things considered I’m not surprised that he’ll protect Adrien but just flat-out wants Felix dead. Fair enough.

- WOW. I THOUGHT ADRIEN WAS GOING TO BE HEROIC AND DEFEND FELIX BUT HE WANTS HIM DEAD TOO. Or was that a double bluff to make the akuma think he MUST be Felix so he can lead them away and keep his cousin safe? He’s just run off with a wild cackle so I’m thinking it’s the latter. HE’S A GOOD BOY AND A TRUE HERO.

- I also find it kind of funny how Nathalie will jump in harm’s way to defend him when there have been INNUMERABLE other episodes of Gabe just setting an akuma directly on Adrien for the hell of it. Maybe because there isn’t really any ‘harm’ here to start with; the three girls’ powers are probably the least violent of all the akuma we’ve seen so far.

- AM I REALLY ABOUT TO SEE FELIX DRESSED AS ADRIEN DOING KARATE. I HOPE HE’S GOOD AT IT.

- OH MY GOD HE IS GOOD AT IT. That’s cool! I was expecting him to totally flop considering how badly his imposter trick went down a few minutes ago, but it’s nice to see he’s as capable at fighting as he is at basketball. When do I get to see his magic card tricks?

- YEAH I FEEL THE SAME PLAGG. WHAT’S EVEN HAPPENING. Not that I think Adrien shouldn’t save Felix, I just want to know WHY Felix felt like he had to do this in the first place! I feel like “can I PLEASE get a waffle” except instead of watching the employees fight I’m watching this episode careening away with no pauses to explain what’s going on.

- FELIX C’MON. STOP CAUSING PROBLEMS ON PURPOSE. I can tell Garbage Man Astruc still has the reins here because causing even MORE trouble even AFTER Adrien saved his ass is a completely illogical course of action. PUT SÉBASTIEN BACK IN THE WRITERS CHAIR.

- “WHICH PART OF THE WORD ‘NO’ DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!” Oh perfect, great, can’t let this episode end without accusing Felix of not respecting consent! That’s a hot button issue and if Garbage Man Astruc can get him on that bandwagon then fans HAVE to hate this character! Great move! Fucking pillock!

- WOW CHAT THAT’S MEAN. I guess accusing Felix of having no friends is justified in the context of the episode but yikes :(

- Was that a flash of humiliation from Felix there? God will one of the writers PLEASE save this character, PLEASE don’t let this episode end without someone getting him out of the Garbage Man’s big meaty claws.

- Excuse me WHAT? Felix is talking directly to Papillon?! So he knows about all the Miraculous stuff?! Oh NO, is this about getting his dad back? I don’t know whether the One Wish is common knowledge (I don’t think it is?) but maybe Felix put the pieces together on his own back home, so all his behaviour here has been trying to incite an akuma that he can take advantage of to appeal to Papillon?! Or he could just be a bitch all on his own, which is probably what the Garbage Man would prefer, but this makes a lot of sense all of a sudden.

- BRO HE NEARLY DIED. BRO. BROOO.

- “I hope you’ve learned your lesson!” YOU’RE NOT EVEN GONNA ASK ABOUT THE PAPILLON THING? YOU CAN’T JUST TREAT THIS AS A REGULAR DISTURBANCE, FELIX KNOWS SHIT ABOUT THE MIRACULOUS YOU GUYS--

- FELIX’S MOM IS REALLY GOING TO BLAME HIS DEAD DAD FOR THIS? HARD YIKES. NO WONDER FELIX IS WEIRD.

- I’m expecting this isn’t over, because Felix still clearly wants something specific that he didn’t get, but I’ll take this cute hug for what it is. He didn’t have an evil expression behind Adrien’s back this time either and the music is all soft and nice, plus he FINALLY got a handshake from Gabe, but I absolutely do NOT imagine this episode will end without getting an extra shot in at the PV fans somehow. We’re not getting off this easy.

- Why doesn’t Gabriel want Adrien to go after Felix? Is he scared he’ll try to run off, or ask them to stay longer when he really wants to get rid of them?

- AHAHA FELIX STOLE GABE’S RING. WHAT A BRAT. Was that the “jewelry” he mentioned wanting in return for helping Papillon? I figured it was a Miraculous thing but maybe not.

- OHHH, look how much Felix loves his mom! This is such a sweet scene. I particularly like the idea that Amelie was trying to get the rings back to give one to Felix because the way she was speaking to Gabe made it sound like she wanted them Just Because. But you can’t mention some wild story connected to the rings and then not explain it! I want to know what that is, I want to know why Felix is so fascinated with it!!!

- ALSO, FELIX GETTING A BIG KISS RIGHT ON THE FOREHEAD. EXCELLENT. I’ll fucking BET this is another scene Sébastien sneaked in because it’s such an emotional quality shift from the whole clone mess. Like what the fuck even WAS that.

- Yep, Felix is still evil! WHY THOUGH. WHAT’S GOING ON. CAN I PLEASE GET A WAFFLE

- I was expecting a worse ending, but “Felix can’t ever come back to Paris because Gabriel will kill him with his bare hands if he does” is decent enough. If there’s no further confirmation (and NO, anything Garbage Man Astruc tweets later on does NOT fucking count so don’t try me) I’m going to take it that he WAS actually sorry for what he did to Adrien. That’s better than nothing.

WELL THAT WAS AN EPISODE. That actually wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be - it could have been a lot better but it could have been a lot worse too. The beginning and end were nice enough even if the middle part was Garbage Man Astruc’s usual atrocious mess of self-service, though I do particularly despise the hamfisted consent issue shoved in there just to generate extra reasons to hate the character. WE GET IT, YOU DON’T LIKE FELIX. OFF YOU FUCK.

I’ve slept on this next paragraph to give myself time to formulate some concrete thoughts about the plot, so... Well, it was a mess, that’s for sure. They spent way too much time establishing how oH sO eViL Felix was and not nearly enough time actually explaining his character.

Why is he acting out like this? What has he got against Adrien in particular? Is he really sore about Adrien not supporting him at his dad’s funeral or is that just what Adrien thinks is his problem? What was his relationship with his dad before he died? Was his troublemaking all about trying to provoke an akuma and ask Papillon to help him get his family rings back (which he was clearly trying to steal from the moment he walked through the door, only Gabe wouldn’t shake his hand the first time), or was that just a side effect of causing shit for no reason? Did he mean his apology to Adrien at the end? WHAT was the deal with the rings and the story attached to them? There’s a whole interesting story buried in here which just got completely overlooked by the emphasis on how terrible he was and that’s really disappointing.

I did like his damaged-but-still-good relationship with Adrien though, there’s still hope there and maybe Felix (if he ever shows up again, which I only hope he does if it’s NOT another excuse for Garbage Man Astruc to shit on the PV fandom again, for the love of FUCK don’t give this guy multiple opportunities) will start coming around and making the effort to be a better cousin since Adrien’s given him a second chance. I don’t know. What I liked just as much was Marinette actually barely being in this episode at all, for the first time since Gorizilla she’s ALLOWED to be the supporting character again and that’s GREAT.

I don’t really know what else to say. I’m exhausted. Adrien’s a darling and I think I prefer my Twin AU, though canon Felix being a delightful little gremlin who causes problems-on-purpose is something I can work with in the future too.

Thanks for coming on this... interesting journey with me! I posted a set of tweets last night which I’ll leave here to finish up:

#josie's art #josie talks about things #miraculous ladybug #felix agreste #this can go in my felix tag for organisation's sake #and NO i'm not going to start calling him felix vanillagrahams or whatever his canon name is; leave me alone #anyway here's the post everyone wanted; it got VERY LONG but i ain't even sorry #i usually liveblog on the PV discord server but i felt this deserved its own post of basically-the-same-thing-but-neater

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samgiddings · 3 years

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Check-In Tag

Stole this from @cluelesslesbian bc it looks fun and i'm bored >:)c (yes I should be doing homework, no don't worry abt it)

anyone who wants to do this, go ahead and say I tagged u bc i'm officially tagging u mentally rn <3

1. why did you choose your url?

LOL because I came back to tumblr solely to be an Until Dawn blog. When Rush of Blood came out I was lucky enough to snag a canon URL so I've held onto it ever since!

2. any side blogs? if you have them: name them and why you have them

Um ok like a million. I'm not going to tag them all but I have one that's just for random posts I want to find later/don't feel like tagging, my old art one (rip), my miraculous ladybug one, my total drama one, my art archive one, uhhhhhhhhhh a vent one, ummm idk probably a lot more i'm forgetting :')

3. how long you’ve been on tumblr?

too long LMAO. This blog was made in 2016 but my original blog was made in March 2013!

4. do you have a queue tag?

yesssss #nice queuein' tex

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

This one I really only started because I got this URL, but when I started my OG, it was bc I had a couple friends telling me to get tumblr :)

6. why did you choose your icon?

Aughhhh it's my FAVOURITE THING EVER!!! I commissioned it from @reallyhardydraws and I'm not sure I'll change it bc I'm obsessed w/ it. Plus it matches the url haha.

7. why did you choose your header?

I think I've had the same one since I first started this blog? It's just a random picture I took a long time ago while going through the mountains.

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

The cinematic parallels one LOOL. I think it's at 145k as of today? And then after that it's that name one at around 115k I think. I'm still holding out for orple juice though 😤

9. how many mutuals do you have?

44, not counting doubles :)

10. how many followers do you have?

26k (as far as u know 😘)

11. how many people do you follow?

107!

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

um when have I not. lbr that's this blog's legacy. even when I was solely an until dawn blog, I was popular for memes and shit posts.

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

usually once in the morning, once or twice in the afternoon, then twice in the evening. idk bc I don't follow a ton of ppl I usually catch up with my dash in like 10 minutes tops.

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

yes <3 i used to get into a lot of until dawn drama bc I was fed up with the tag being exclusively ppl hating on ashley and/or emily. now i'm old and don't really care enough to, plus the fandom is practically dead. in those cases idk if anyone won bc usually both sides were too stubborn to change their opinions.

15. how do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

hate them. if a post says that I will not reblog it. I hate the guilt-trippiness of it. I don't rlly care when ppl I follow rb them tho, it's more just the person who says "you need to reblog this" that gets on my nerves lol.

16. do you like tag games?

yes bc I love talking abt myself!! <3

17. do you like ask games?

see above! <3 <3

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

me <3 um jk that doesn't count. i'd say mel or ciaran strange probably??? lolol

19. do i have a crush on a mutual?

hahahahahahahahahaha 🤩🤩🤩idk maybe but @alternative-girlfriend is cute 😳

#med mumbles #friends and fans #tag game #abt me #did not proofread so!

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zevlors-tail · 3 years

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I’m glad you at least got lunch! Maybe try eating again if it’s not too hard? And I understand that family can suck sometimes, maybe straight up try telling them some stuff to clear things up a bit at first! Like set boundaries? Other than that, I do hope Thanksgiving isn’t a bust for you. Only eat as much as you’re comfortable with, but remember your definition of a lot is kind of a mind trick, so try to eat a bit more if you can. Overall, you’re very valid, and you deserve to have a good week

LIFE UPDATE

First of all, thank you for this whole thing, it’s very sweet and caring of you. I really appreciate people taking the time to reach out and make sure I’m okay and telling me to have a good week. <3 That means a lot to me that you guys do that.

Second, I’m just gonna make this my life update post since it kind of ties into everything I’m about to spill so uh.

TW: Eating Disorder and Covid mentioned under the cut in case anyone wants to scroll past or doesn’t want to read, which I understand. But here’s a lengthy life update that no one asked for.

TLDR: I’m moving soon, going on a mini hiatus, have been exposed to Covid, and generally not well but surviving.

I’ve been on an upswing today, so I’ll try to get this out rationally and coherently while I can. If you don’t know by now or you’ve somehow (luckily and miraculously) managed to not catch any of my stupid vent posts, hello! I’m Sweater, I’m 23, and I run this blog! I also have an eating disorder that I am actively trying to battle, and at this point I am in what I would call a full scale relapse for me.

Holidays this time of year (or any time really) are especially hard for me since food is a big factor in them. Without getting too much into specifics, restriction of food is common for me and often it just doesn’t feel or taste right. Eating can make me feel nauseous, disgusting, and ashamed, while not eating causes the exact same effect, except with the added point of apathy. Mostly this is an addiction that I have been fighting on and off since high school (a little over 5 years), but for me it’s also about punishment and control, and so when things get chaotic in my life, I tend to relapse habitually, sometimes without even realizing it. This can happen when I’m extremely stressed, when I feel out of control over my life, or just forget to take care of myself in general, whether that’s working through my lunches and breaks or sleeping too much or too little through meal times.

Right now, my life is really hectic. Covid has really upended everything for me, made me question my sexuality, my gender, and pretty much my entire identity. If you haven’t caught on by now, I’m also married, and this was a very recent thing that happened just this year in July. Unfortunately, things have not worked out, and since I’ve changed a lot as a person, my current living situation and relationship are on the line, and I’m having to go through the stress of figuring out divorce and an apartment in the middle of a pandemic.

This is definitely not where I saw myself in just a year. I’m actively pursuing therapy, I’ve just gotten my own car, and I’m on track to get better, but things aren’t that simple and it’s really just taking a toll on me both physically and mentally. I was not looking forward to Thanksgiving and eating in front of people this year anyways, but now I definitely can’t go since there are people in my specific department at work who have Covid. We just found out today that someone who I was in close contact with all the time has it, and so I’ve been exposed for a second time. Because of this I’m not attending my family’s dinner, so I don’t have to worry about food anymore, but I do have to worry about whether I have Covid or not.

I am under a tremendous amount of stress. I have about a month of crunch time to get a new license plate and title for my car, find an apartment that I can afford that allows pets, get a divorce, and start therapy (hopefully). My family has been unsupportive for the most part and mostly just frustrated that I don’t want to stay with my spouse. But I have to say, I think the most frustrating thing in all of this is the ED and the symptoms that come with it. I mentioned above that I feel apathetic when I don’t eat. That gets in the way of me doing other every day things like work, being active at home, writing, taking care of myself, and giving attention to others. I lose motivation at work, I can’t focus on anything (my brain often feels foggy and hazy and it’s hard to remember anything; it all blurs together for days, weeks, sometimes even months), and I just feel drained and exhausted 24/7. So I feel stressed, yes, but I also don’t care about it and I do care about it at the same time.

I have okay days, and that almost makes it worse, because on days I do eat I end up with huge mood swings right after having been apathetic, and honestly it’s like giving myself emotional whiplash. One minute I’m having intrusive thoughts about how i’m certain negative words and phrases, the next I feel nothing at all and can hardly bring myself to walk around (often it’s a feeling of “what’s the point in existing?”), and then after I eat something I feel high in a sense, or lethargically warm and upbeat at the same time. It’s exhausting, really. To feel everything awful all at once, and then go from feeling absolutely nothing at all to the most upbeat positive things ever. It’s almost like false hope, if that makes sense? When I eat something and feel better, it’s easy to tell myself that things will be okay, that the ED isn’t real anyway, that I don’t have a problem and that I can feel normal. And if there is one, I’ll be fine, I don’t need help, etc.

I’m dealing with all of that combined into one giant mess that is my life right now. That being said, this blog is my escape. I’ve met a lot of cool people here, gotten to know some really lovely friends, and I’ve written really cool things that people seem to really enjoy. I want to continue to write, but that requires focus and time, both of which my ED is actively taking from me. I’m doing my best to be here as much as I can and I will still continue to work on requests and writing, because it’s a way for me to cope and escape. But I do need to acknowledge that my life is out of control and I need to do something about it.

I’m doing my best to stabilize myself and work on things. I think a mini hiatus at some point in December will be inevitable, however, especially considering there will be a point in time where I will not have access to an internet router/the internet for my laptop to write. So I’m not sure when exactly, but it’ll probably be towards the end of December.

Anyways, this is not a post asking for pity or attention, just a post for me to process some things and give a life update. You are in no way obligated to respond to this or to comment on this unless you really feel the need to. I just wanted to be open and honest about where I was and what was going on with me. I understand if you don’t want to follow me after this or if you just want to scroll past.

Just know that I’m working on myself, I’m trying really hard, and it’s really difficult for me sometimes to get a grip on my writing and my own sense of self because of this. If anyone needs anything I’m usually always here! But again, all of this is the reason I don’t always respond to messages. It’s nothing you’ve done or said, I just literally can’t remember that I was having a conversation sometimes, or I can’t focus enough to type out a reply, or I’m sleeping through the day or just dissociating and feeling apathetic. But I love you all, and I’m thankful for your support, and I want to be better.

Much love and care,

-Sweater <3

#life update #sweater rambles #sweater rambles A LOT #tw: ed #tw: eating disorder #tw ed #tw eating disorder #eating disorder #tw covid

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petalsbloomed-a · 3 years

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itaru talks about noah - part 2.

1. does the mun give out personal info? like birthdate, first name, age, gender, etc? he’s pretty liberal about the things he shares, to be honest. he shares everything listed here, as well as his myers-briggs type and other personality stuff, and his blood type too, miraculously. however the name he goes by is not his legal name, even if it is what he goes by in real life, and he would never share his surname on a platform like this.

2. does the mun have any learning disabilities? he struggles with a bit of dyslexia at times.

3. what irritates the mun? whenever he misplaces something he thought he knew where it was, and whenever he just can’t get something so minimal right. when he’s practicing and just can’t get something down, he has a habit of just quitting out of frustration and saving it for a later time. i think in some cases, saving it for a later time is the right move.

4. does the mun have self-esteem issues? if so, has this caused any problems? oh yeah, he definitely does. a lot of it may be connected to his body dysmorphia and dysphoria, but he often thinks lowly of his skills and his musical abilities often. i don’t think it’s caused any relationship problems, but sometimes it makes him run away from practicing or completing schoolwork.

5. is the mun easily nervous? if so, why? it really depends, but a lot of his nerves may come from the fact that he has an anxiety disorder. he gets nervous before a solo performance, and sometimes if he has the urge to pull a prank he may chicken out due to fear of rejection.

6. does the mun have a habit that’s annoying? he bites his nails and licks his lips a lot, and it makes kind of...unconventional noises when he does this. he also jiggles his leg and fidgets in his seat a lot.

7. does the muse think the mun is intimidating to approach? not at all, actually. because of his fashion sense, he may come off as a bit unapproachable, but he’s actually a very warm and open person.

8. is the mun easy to talk to? i think so, yeah. he’s a pretty good listener and is down to discuss pretty much anything.

9. what’s the mun’s favorite thing to drink? he literally always asks for a root beer whenever he’s at the dining hall. so i’m gonna say that.

10. what food does the mun like to eat? noah’s a bit picky, but he does like a lot of food. he enjoys breakfast and comfort foods a lot, like mac and cheese and cheeseburgers, but he also really likes pineapples and the dining hall’s marble cake.

11. what do they like to use for communicating, ims or discord? he uses both, but he prefers discord since it’s less messy.

12. does the mun like talking to people? or are they shy? he likes talking to people, but he does have his moments. i think it’s less shyness and more anxiety when it comes to talking to others, especially if they’re new to him.

13. does the mun believe in the supernatural/paranormal? not really, no. he does think that paranormal movies and tv shows are cool, though.

14. what’s the weirdest thing the mun has said? “his face looks like an asshole that was destroyed by fifty cocks.” i shit you not, he said that last year in college when he was hanging with his friends at the dining hall.

15. if the mun could choose one person to meet, who would it be? probably ariana grande. he’s a huge fan of hers and has bought pretty much every album and single that she’s released digitally.

16. has the mun ever pulled an all-nighter before? not officially, but he has stayed up until like five in the morning just doing stupid shit when he was home over the summer.

17. would the mun make a call-out post if they had to? probably not? he doesn’t really like getting involved in drama, so he’s not really aware of the things that a particular individual has done unless if he’s talked to about it or sees call-out posts that others have made.

18. does the muse like how the mun writes? yeah, it’s pretty easy to understand, but every now and then he throws in some complex emotional shit that my brain has difficulty deciphering. noah operates more on emotion than i do, so some of the things he writes doesn’t interest me, but generally his style is easy to interpret.

19. what song does the mun think fits them and what does the muse think? what song does the muse think fits the mun and why? he doesn’t really have a specific song he think fits him, but he often talks about how songs about courage and finally finding your place really resonate with him. i think that any song that has an r&b vibe to it or somewhat of a slow-moving orchestral background really fits his personality.

20. does the mun want to learn a different language? he’s currently learning japanese right now, and is interested in korean and spanish too. i’ve tried teaching him some stuff but he often gets fidgety and loses focus within ten minutes.

21. if the mun could move to a different country, would they and why? he’s said he’s fine where he is right now, but he has expressed interest in moving to japan or south korea. i think it would be a good idea to at least visit and see how things are for yourself before making such a rash decision, and i do have concerns that it may be tough for him living somewhere where people don’t speak english as a primary language.

22. does the mun like to play games? he absolutely loves mobile anime games, and he’s also a bit of a sucker for minecraft as well.

23. has the mun told anyone about the muse(s) birthday? will the mun tell anyone? oh yeah, he’s been pretty open about the fact that he and i actually have the same birthday. the other folks he plays also have their birthdays listed on his blog, so he’s pretty open about sharing birthdays with others.

24. does the mun evens or odds? i’m not sure what this question is referring to, if i’m being fairly honest...

25. what makes the mun happy? socializing with friends, writing, listening to music, watching his favorite content on youtube...a lot of things.

26. does the mun have any secrets? i don’t think he has any interesting or juicy ones to share, to be honest. maybe except for some aspects of his mental health and some family issues, but i’d refer to those as private information other than secrets. overall he is a pretty open person, though.

#itaru: ic #munday

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miraculouscataclyyysm · 4 years

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Seating plan au part 11

Shorter update as Iv been really busy this past week but really wanted to write something

Link to part 10

Lila and Chloe have at least 5 blow up in class every week, on one particular day (at the start of s3) Mari walks into class to find Lila hiding behind her desk as Kim and Sabrina hold Chloe back “she’s a liar I’m telling you l! This ridiculous! Sabrina grabs her bag it’s in there!” Sabrina goes to grab Lila's bag but Alya stands in front of her friend “you can’t just go threw people’s personal property, Chloe, not everything belongs to you” “you utter imbecile! Are you completely blind? You really can’t see what's right in front of you? Where you even listening? She took my personal property, she stole my bee clip! This is utterly ridiculous!” Marinette scoots past the scene and asks Felix “what’s going on?” “The usual drama” Alix leans forward “but with an added twist, apparently Lila is a liar and a klepto” Felix- “you believe Chloe?” Alix- “over lie-la? Hells yes, Chloe is a nasty sneaky over the top drama queen but I’d believe her over Rossi any day” Felix nodes agreeing

Chloe starts going red in the face from yelling, yelling that finally wakes up Adrian from napping at his desk (he's sleep-deprived from the ridiculous number of photoshoots he’s been doing lately all thanks to dad of the year Gabriel) he nudges Nino “should we really be letting them go at it like this? What if they attract an Akuma?” Overhearing this Mari stands up “erm guys? Mabey we should all calm down and wait for miss bustier?” Alya- “no offence Marinette but stay out of this” Alix-“don’t talk to her like that!” Felix-“seriously?” Chloe- “I can’t believe I'm actually saying this but Dupain-Cheng‘s right so let’s go find Miss Bustier so she can go threw your bag lie-la” quickly thinking Lila jumps up from her hiding spot and says “we don’t have to do that” everyone turns to look at her “I’m sure nobody wants to bother her with this silly misunderstanding right? I’m sure you just left you bitterly pin at home” boiling over Chloe screams “ITS A BEE CLIP YOU PSYCO” And then she launches herself over the desks to slap Lila

The fight gets broken up and both Chloe and Lila get sent to the principal's office but on the way there Chloe is akumatized into Queen Wasp (again) and she’s out for blood, Lila seeing Chloe transform runs for the hills realising she’s definitely chloes target

Queen wasp tales Alya as leverage to bring Lila out of hiding, she makes Alya record a video and post it on the lady log, the video is basically Qeen wasp demanding lady bug and chat Noir being her “the evil criminal Lila Rossi” and she’ll let Alya go, cut to Lila locked in her bathroom refusing to leave and help out lb and chat

Chat-“please Lila we need your help” “I’m not an idiot you stupid cat you don’t want my help you want me as live bait, well guess what? That’s ain’t me” lb mutters “well you sure seem like it” *chat looking at lb pleadingly for help* “look lie...erm Lila don’t you wanna help your friend? We only need you for 2 minutes to distract queen wasp, I promise you won’t be in any danger” “why the hell would I trust you?!? Your both complained useless SO GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!” *lb eye twitches*

chat- “please Lila, Alya needs you right now, we need your help, trust me, we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t, I know deep down you know helping us is the right thing to do, please do the right thing” Lila-“the right thing is me staying right here away from you useless disasters, I’m not getting my self killed for you idiots or that wanna be reporter” “really? If we’re so useless why do you run a blog about me? Or claim to be my best friend wh-“ chat cuts her off and pushes her out of the room, he really hates missions that involve Lila

Chat ends up breaking down the bathroom door *the miraculous cure will fix that...right?* and Carrys Lila our of the house kicking and screaming *LB smirks* “oh so you changed your mind? Thanks, Lila, looks like you’ve already cough Queen wasps attention” screaming “YOUR BOTH CRAZY PUT ME DOWN” *lb muttering under her breath* “I wish” then chat drops her “oops”

They beat Queen wasp pretty easily, and after LB and chat take Chloe and Lila back to school, and just to spite Lila because she’s gotten on lb/Mari’s last nerve that day she asks Lila to empty her bag on her desk and magically chloes bee clip is there “I TOLD YOU! You're all utterly ridiculous, this is why you should all listen to me I’m always right! Sabrina call my father right now and tell him to get this obsessed freak out of this school right this second” Marinette instantly regrets helping Chloe...these girls will be the death of her

“Well, that was a mistake” chat-“helping Chloe? *smirking* or getting one over on Lila?” “Honestly...all of it, Chloe is frustrating but that Lila...she gets under my skin...I don’t trust her” *chat looks concerned* “I know, I don’t trust her either, but there’s nothing we can to bugaboo, all we can do it try our best to keep her on the right path...even if she fights it” “what if it’s already too late?” “Then we fight back” *lb smiles at chat* “I gotta go kitty...but thank you, it helps to know I’m not the only one concerned” “I’ll always have your back bugaboo, were a team!”

The next day when mari walks into class it’s a lot calmer, she takes her seat next to felix and is about to ask him if he remembered to bring the scarf she forgot at his when she hears Lila talking to Alya and rose “I’m basically on the team now, ladybug said if she wasn’t so worrid for my safety she’d give me my own miraculous, she even said she knew one that would be the perfect match for me” Rose-“really?!? Did she say what it was?!?!” Lila-“unfortunately no, she was to distracted trying to figure out who would set me up like that, it’s scary, why would someone put chloes clip in my bag? I honestly don’t feel safe anymore” Rose hugs Lila and Alya says she’s alredy on the case “as an investigative journalist I’m sure I’ll figure it out”

*Alix groaning* “can you guys believe there actually buying this bull?” Kim-“people believe what they wanna believe” felix-“or there just idiots” Kim-“Yeah, or that” Mari crunches yo her nose looking concerned, Felix notices and puts his hand on her arm “your thinking too hard” Mari blushes “sorry, I just don’t trust that girl” Felix-“well if it helps I happen to believe you won’t need to worry for too long” Mari-“ominous” Felix-“I’m just saying, Ladybug seems to have the same feelings towards Lila as you, she’s smart, I’m sure she’s already thinking up a plan to save Paris from its resident Compulsive liar and Akuma causer” Alix was totally eavesdropping on the conversation and interjects Alix-“and if She Doesn't iv already dreamed up multiple ways we could get rid of her...there mostly legal” *Kim looking concerned* “you really scare me sometimes” Alix-“good”

Tags-

@loveswifi @lunar-wolf-warrior @bamagirl513 @persephonebutkore @charlietheepic7 @7-sage-7 @spicybelladonna @akana-sama @goggles-mcgee

Link to part 12

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pandawritespoorly · 4 years

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A Shy ‘Sparrow’: Chapter 3 - Caught On Camera

Author’s Note: Aaaaaah! It's been so long I'm sorry! The chapters I wrote are directly related so I didn't want to post one without the other, but somehow my mind forgot the fact that those chapters are 4 & 5, and I've only posted 1 & 2, which leaves 3 available to me to post.

I just realized that, and I felt bad, so I'm trying to post it now, though I've got to go somewhere quick so I'm on a bit of time crunch.

Chapter Summary: Sparrow's existence is finally confirmed publicly.

First | Previous | Next

Another akuma attack over. The hooded heroine follows her usual routine at this point. She brings back her crane sentimonster, waving as it goes to fly over the city as usual. The girl floats across the rooftops as she makes her way back home. She does her best to stay out of sight.

She doesn’t see the blogger on the streets below her, camera raised.

---

Attention CatChroniclers! I have some big news!

We’re all aware of the theories regarding Chat Noir’s potential partner. People have been insistent that the distractions that have been appearing during battles are the work of someone behind the scenes, despite the fact that Chat Noir insists he knows nothing about them.

I myself certainly think that many of these occurrences seem almost too convenient.

Well, after today’s battle, I saw a brown figure jumping away on the rooftops. I got a clear picture, and I personally think that they look like they could be a hero!

Clearly they aren’t Ladybug themed, as the prevailing theory claims, but the animal theme is there!

Paris, I’d like you to meet Sparrow!

(Name open to change once they give me an interview 😉 ).

“Plagg? Alya posted something about me having a partner?” Adrien calls to his Kwami cautiously. He’s not sure what to make of this.

“And? What’s new? That’s all those morons talk about on there anyways,” Plagg retorts disinterestedly from where he’s eating his camembert.

“No, like, she got a picture of some bird person jumping across the rooftops.”

“Bird person…?” Plagg floats over to sit on Adrien’s head, he reads the accompanying text quickly. “Pull up that picture, kid.”

“So, like, I know you mentioned that a Ladybug hero might join me, but is there a Sparrow miraculous…?”

“No, but…” Plagg narrows his eyes suspiciously, “Zoom in on the thing holding their cape together.” Adrien does as he’s told, “What is it?”

Plagg shoots forward, hovering in front of the screen before turning to Adrien seriously, “That’s the Peacock miraculous.”

“What? But I thought that was lost! And peacocks are blue!”

“I guess someone found it. Peacocks are blue, yes, but peahens aren’t. See how their neck is blue? Definitely a peafowl.”

Adrien frowns in confusion, pulling up an image of a peahen to compare the two’s coloring.

“So they’re a girl?” “Not necessarily, they just… don’t want to attract attention,” Plagg pauses, thinking, “Alright Kitten, there’s someone you need to meet.”

---

“Plagg, this better not be another cheese shop.”

“Kid, as much as I love tricking you into taking me to cheese shops, this time I’m actually taking you somewhere miraculous related,” Plagg assures his chosen.

Adrien mutters under his breath bitterly as he knocks, “If you tell me that that their cheese is a miracle I’m throwing out your camembert.”

The door opens, revealing an old man in a hawaiian shirt, “How can I help you young man?”

Adrien tries to think of a way to respond without revealing too much to this man. He’s not sure if this stranger knows about the miraculous or not.

Before he can answer, Plagg shoots out of his pocket, “Ugh, we are not doing this whole thing. Adrien this is the Guardian of the miraculous, so you don’t have to worry about revealing things, and Fu my kitten is here because I’ve decided he’s ready and blah-de blah all that jazz.”

A turtle Kwami floats into view, “Plagg, there is nothing wrong with being cautious.”

“It always takes forever though, we’re here because we found something important,” Plagg groans.

The Guardian (Fu, Plagg had called him?) leads them into what is presumably the main room.

“Before we begin, Adrien, I’d like to introduce myself. I am Master Fu, and, as Plagg stated, I am the Guardian of the miraculous. This is Wayzz, he is the turtle Kwami.”

“The Guardian?”

“Yes, I am in possession of every miraculous, and am in charge of distributing them as I see fit. That said, the Butterfly and Peafowl were lost long ago, so finding out that the Butterfly was in Paris was quite the relief, if only it weren’t being used for evil,” the man shakes his head regretfully.

“Actually, we found Duusu,” Plagg interrupts, “She’s in Paris too.”

“What? Where is she?” Wayzz asks excitedly, leaning closer.

Adrien pulls out his phone, showing them the photo he had saved. He passes the device to Fu so that the pair can get a closer look.

“My friend Alya posted it to her blog. She said that they were leaving the attack after the akuma was defeated,” Adrien adds, “I’m pretty sure they’ve been causing distractions during the fights and healing the damage.”

“Healing damage to that extent must be tiring. On top of assisting during akuma attacks, it is impressive that they have been able to keep out of sight,” Fu remarks.

“What should I do? Should I try and get the miraculous back?”

“No, that won’t be necessary yet. For now, they are not a substantial threat - especially in comparison to Hawkmoth. If they continue to assist you, there is no harm in allowing them to continue. Perhaps you should speak to them though.”

“I tried to once, but they ran away.”

“There’s no reason not to try again,” Wayzz comments, “It is good that you have assistance now.”

“Yeah, I want to know why you decided to send out my kid alone,” Plagg glares at the two.

“Ah, yes, that. I apologize,” Fu frowns, “I did not want to send out both of Hawkmoth’s desired miraculouses-” “So why not a Bug?”

“I incorrectly assumed that once Hawkmoth saw that the damage to the city was permanent, he would stop, or perhaps calm down enough to be reasoned with.”

“Yeah, ‘cause when I think of Hawkmoth, I think ‘reasonable’,” Plagg drawls.

---

“Nooroo?” Gabriel summons his Kwami from its hiding place, “I have some questions regarding the peacock miraculous.”

“Yes, Master?” it doesn't meet his eyes, bowing as it is supposed to.

Gabriel enlarges the image on his screen. It’s a zoomed in portion of who is supposedly a new hero. ‘Sparrow’. It looks as though they have the peacock miraculous, but that doesn’t make any sense.

He has the peacock miraculous.

“Is this the peacock miraculous?”

“It certainly looks like it, Master.”

“Explain to me how someone else has it, when I have been under the impression that it was safely locked away?” he snaps.

“Perhaps there was robbery, Master. Someone could have taken it from you. I do not know how that person got it,” it answers meekly.

“Hmm,” the man accepts this answer, “We’ll have to draw them out. I assume it is still broken, so if I can wear them out…”

He trails off, a plan forming. If he increased the amount of akuma attacks, and targeted this ‘Sparrow’ specifically, it wouldn’t be long before the side effects started getting to them. With them in a weakened state, he’d be able to retrieve it easier.

Perhaps Chat Noir would become distracted if his fellow hero began being sick, which would be even better.

Whoever this is must think they have the upper hand, having stolen a magical artifact from under his nose.

How very wrong they are.

---

The hooded girl quickly ducks behind a chimney, head spinning. Definitely an akuma. She’s confused, there’s usually 2-3, maybe 4 attacks a week, but now there’s another. The last one was only 2 hours ago. What’s going on?

“Chat Noir! Sparrow! Give me your miraculous!” the akuma calls.

She frowns, murmuring to herself, “Sparrow? Who’s that?”

“You’re Sparrow,” a voice says from beside her, “Did you not know?”

She startles, which doesn’t really help her lightheadedness. Chat Noir is sitting on the roof, looking at her carefully, his face guarded.

When she recovers from her surprise, she hesitates slightly before speaking, “I-I am?”

“Yeah, Alya Césaire got a picture of you after the last battle.”

Oh. That’s probably why her phone had been blowing up. She had wanted a break after the battle and ignored it.

“Oh dear.”

“I’d like to speak with you.”

The girl can translate that - he has questions and he wants answers. It’s really only fair.

“Uh, yeah. Give me a minute,” she plucks a feather from her fan, concentrating to make it an amok. She holds it out to him slightly, “Uh, can I…?”

He looks confused, so she elaborates, “I uh, was going to make a sentimonster, to distract the akuma, but I wanted to make sure you were okay with it? I didn’t want to make you think I was threatening you...”

“I-”, he clearly hadn’t been expecting this, “Uh, okay.”

“It’s not dangerous or anything” she assures him. It’s only half a lie. It’s not dangerous to anyone but herself, seeing as using it on herself will tire her more.

She can feel the sentimonster beginning to form, but she interrupts it. She has a specific way she wants it to look, so it can’t just go the natural route.

Closing her eyes, she concentrates on the intended form. She doesn’t notice the way her hands close into tight fists, or the way she begins to sway slightly.

Chat frowns. He has expected their meeting to be odd, but this is kind of worrying.

The thing he assumes to be the sentimonster is forming slowly, taking shape in a cloud of dark bubbles eerily similar to akumatizations. It didn’t seem to be making much progress, and Sparrow seemed to be struggling? In pain? He isn’t entirely sure.

The bubbles fade, revealing a perfect copy of himself, and at the same moment Sparrow collapses.

He catches her instinctually, but before he can wonder what he’s supposed to do, her eyes open and she sits up.

“What…?”

“Are you okay?” He may be somewhat suspicious of her, but she’s still a citizen of Paris, which means she’s under his protection. She clearly isn’t entirely well.

“I- uh, yeah. Just tired,” she smiles awkwardly. He’s not convinced, but doesn't say anything, “Okay, what do you want to know?”

He frowns, “Shouldn’t we deal with the akuma first?”

“He can do it,” she gestures to the copy.

Copycat gives a two finger salute and jumps away. It’s a strange feeling.

“...Alright then?”

Chat turns to the girl, trying to think of how to go about questioning her. She sits before him stiffly, and with the social circles he grew up in, he’s well versed in the look of someone who does not want to be here. She’s fidgety, and her smile is too wide.

“So, who are you? What do you want?” He’s direct, not well versed in how to question people.

“I want to help my city. I’m not going to let Hawkmoth come after my city and not do something when I can. At first… I didn’t want to, but she wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer. At this point, I wouldn’t pass this off to someone else,” she looks off to the side, thinking for a moment before continuing, “I’m not going to tell you who I am. I understand that you’re the real hero here, and I’m not going to try to replace you or steal your miraculous, but you need help, and I can’t not provide that.”

Chat Noir keeps his face emotionless, but can’t help the warmth that fills his body. It’s not often that someone is so willing to help him just to help him. People that help Adrien in shows are paid to do that, and he’s only recently made unconditional friendships.

He doesn’t comment on it, trying his best to seem like someone who knows what he’s doing. Someone in charge - a leader. “When you say ‘she’ wouldn’t take no for an answer, you mean your Kwami, right?”

“Uh, yeah. Duusu.”

“My Kwami recognized the miraculous in the picture,” he adds, seeing her confusion, then he comments “I don’t get how your Kwami could stop you from giving it up.”

“She uh- I don’t know. She just has more backbone than me I guess,” she can tell he finds her answer odd, but it’s honestly the truth.

Of course, there’s also the whole ‘slowly-dying-from-the-damage’ factor. She doesn’t want to pass that on to someone else.

“Where did you find the miraculous?” After they had talked longer, Fu had brought up the possibility that where the peacock came from could be a clue to Hawkmoth. “How did you get it?”

“In my room. It was in a pile of papers I hadn’t touched in a while-” she pauses, something occuring to her, “Actually, I’d last touched them the day the akuma attacks started.”

That strikes him as odd. Sure, his miraculous just showed up in his room that day too, but that was because Fu gave it to him. Fu could not have given her the miraculous, and Hawkmoth certainly wouldn’t have.

“That’s… strange,” he considers his next question for a moment. It’s looking less likely that he’ll get a useful answer, “What about Nooroo?”

“Hawkmoth’s Kwami? Duusu has mentioned him before, but I don’t know where he is. I think they used to be together, but they’ve been separated, o-obviously.”

“And, just to be sure, how have you been using your miraculous to help?” He’s careful not to provide the answer in the question.

“I’ve, uh, been trying to make distractions during the attacks, or other things to maybe make it easier. I’ve been making sentimonsters to repair the damage too. Duusu says it’s because I’m a Bug, and I’m not really using it the way a natural peafowl would. Though she also says that it’s for the best in this situation. No Bug helping you, and all that.”

She avoids mentioning the fact that this extra healing is damaging. It’s only her, so it’s worth it. This is her city, and there’s no way she’s going to let it be ruined.

He nods, accepting her story. Standing, he says, “I’m going to go deal with the akuma now, maybe we’ll talk another time.”

Sure enough, the akuma is soon defeated. As usual, she makes a sentimonster to clean up and heads home, ignoring the bone-deep exhaustion.

---

“Marinette! What were you doing yesterday, you missed my biggest scoop yet!” Alya rushes up to her as soon as Marinette is on school grounds.

Feigning ignorance, Marinette responds, “Really? I just got so caught up in a project. What happened?”

Alya rolls her eyes fondly. “Oh course you did-”

“She got a pic-” Nino is cut off when Alya covers his mouth.

“My story! I got a picture of another hero! My theories were correct!”

“Congrats!” Marinette cheers.

Adrien joins them, fist bumping Nino as usual. “Yeah, congratulations, Alya!”

They make their way up the steps, but Marinette isn’t really paying attention anymore. Everything is spinning, and it’s taking all her concentration to stay upright and walking.

She misses a step, and it all comes crashing down - or rather, she comes crashing down.

“Mari!” Strong arms catch her before she makes contact with the ground, and she blinks a few times to clear her vision, putting her hand to her head.

“Are you alright, girl? That could have been a really bad fall!” Alya checks. Everything comes back into focus, and she sees her three friends standing around her, looking concerned. Adrien is the one holding her, and when he sees her eyes focus on him, he lets go of her carefully.

“Y-yeah. I just tripped.”

“You sure, ‘Nette? You can go t’ the nurse…” Nino assures her.

“No, I’m good.” She smiles awkwardly.

“Okay…” Adrien concedes.

---

Author’s Note: There!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in my ask box, in replies or through reblogs. I love seeing what you think!

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#miraculous ladybug #a shy 'sparrow'#fanfic #marinette dupain cheng #Miraculous Swap #peacock miraculous #peacock!marinette #chat noir #adrien agreste #Nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #kwami swap #i just found out that I didn't tag the previous chapters with the title #oh dear #duusu #sparrow

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agreste-image · 4 years

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laem’s blog timeline placement

the short version:

this blog takes place in a more drawn-out timeline in that there are sometimes months between ‘episodes’, so adrien and marinette are 17, and miracle queen hasn’t happened yet/ may not happen because damnit that’s just a mess (albeit a cool one), and as this blog is already AU, miraculous will operate a little differently than in the show.

the long version:

marinette and adrien became ladybug and chat noir in about 2015-2016. they’ve been superheroes for roughly four years now. the same goes for the other miraculous users in their class.

so far, they haven’t discovered any additional powers, but they can stay transformed a little longer than before, about 10 minutes instead of 5. i do plan to give adrien some additional powers later on as he grows.

miraculous are very adaptable to alternate universes on this blog, and their transformations will change appearance depending on universe. the longer theyve used the miraculous, the more complex these transformations can be, to the point of actually changing their body’s form while transformed! think like how sora’s appearances change per world in kingdom hearts. theyd still have other things that make them stand out, like chats bell/batons and the domino masks, and the extent to which it goes depends on the universe/rp.

miraculous can have lasting effects on their users relating to the behaviors of the animals theyre themed after, but its a user-by-user basis. adrien shows some feline tendencies, but marinette may not at the moment, and may never! who knows.

my adrien has figured out that his father is emotionally abusive, and is currently figuring out how to get the hell out of gabriel’s house the second he turns 18. however, he doesn’t really want his dad to stop him, so he’s acting as though he isn’t aware of this until he can get out.

sometimes, ill end up writing for other characters in the miraculous universe, such as marinette/ladybug and various classmates. i have tags for those instances; #marimuse for mari/ladybug, and #classmuse for anyone in their class in canon, like alya, chloe, kim etc. i do this because im an indie blog, and dont have anyone RPing those characters directly with me. (if you wanna, though... hmu....)

this blog is singleverse. adrien WILL make references to other characters hes met in various threads. i wont force you to go singleverse for me, but im not going to do additional universe tags on this blog.

i dont speak french sorry im a filthy monolingual american that wasnt ever taught another language cause i was homeschooled and my parents didnt know other languages either

i’ll probably add onto this in the future, so i’ll keep this post linked on the blog for people to check. sorry if any of it is confusing; you’re totally free to send me a message asking for clarification.

thank you for reading this!

#laempost #important #headcanons

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votederpycausemufins · 5 years

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Red: ch 5 Blankets

this is cross posted on Ao3 (my user name is causemufins)

discussing Spot-light and sleepovers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Spot-light?”

“Yes.” Chloé pulled her phone back after showing Marinette the blog title. “Alya only got her blog famous because you gave her an interview. Other than that, she’s barely a journalist. I’m not going to use this to be popular, though maybe that would be nice.”

“Chloe, you can’t use Ladybug for popularity!” Marinette exclaimed.

“I know! You wouldn’t like that and it would also make me like Lila.” Chloé waved her hand to brush the comment off. “Anyway, It would be a factual website. It can have videos from you. News about you can go through you and Tikki. And maybe it can help in other ways.”

“Like how?” Marinette raised an eyebrow.

“Well you know how the Louvre has a thing it does when there’s an akuma and gets an evacuation thing, what if the blog helped with alerting people of akumas?”

“Well, the Ladyblog and the news normally do that anyway.” Marinette shrugged. “So I guess, but it wouldn’t be that special.”

“Well we could have people who follow the blog help with that. They give a location and a picture if they can so people know where to stay away from, or get to if it’s you, Chat, or emergency services.”

“That does sound more helpful.” Marinette agreed.

“This is great!” And of course I have the money needed to run the website. I’ll set it up tomorrow.”

Marinette put a hand on Chloé’s shoulder. “Just be careful. What if someone tracks it back to you?”

“It won’t put me in too much more danger.” Chloé reasoned. “I’m already Queen Bee and everyone knows it. You saw how I was targeted by Hawkmoth and Mayura.”

“Yes, I was impressed to hear you managed to reject the akuma!”

“Well I am that great, huh?” Chloé said standing pridefully. “But that shows I can take them on if they come after me again. And any relation with you can be brushed off as me being Queen Bee, not from knowing your identity.”

“I guess you are right.” Marinette agreed. “Just be careful with it.”

“Oh my gosh stop worrying. I’m good at planning! Being the mayor’s daughter I go to so many events I need a plan. I’m used to it. Unlike you, who’s always late, even before becoming Ladybug.”

“Hey that’s-” Marinette started, but realized Chloé was right. “Okay it’s true, but I’m getting better!”

“Is it because of Tikki?” Chloé gave a playful glare.

“Yes. I do my best to help her out!” The kwami replied in Marinette’s stead.

“Where did you go?” Marinette asked Tikki, having only just realizing Tikki had been missing.

“I went to the guardian.”

“Woah, wait. Who’s the guardian?” Chloé asked.

“He’s the one who has the miraculouses that don’t have permanent holders.” Marinette began to explain. “He gave Chat and I our miraculouses in the first place.”

“Well he obviously made a mistake with Chat Noir.” The blonde complained.

“Chloé, he didn’t know. Anyone can make mistakes.”

“Except me.” Chloé stares before noticing the look she was getting from both Marinette and Tikki. “Okay, fine, I’m not. But anyway, if he has the miraculouses, does that mean Pollen is there?

Marinette nodded. “If you want, we could visit him at some point tomorrow. I know I will be visiting since you know who I am.”

“I would love that. But are you sure it’s okay?”

“The guardian is really nice. When it’s not being used to help fight an akuma, he has the turtle miraculous.” Marinette said, holding back a yawn.

Chloé led Marinette back to where the bluenette was planning on sleeping. “You can tell me more in the morning. You have enough of a habit being late that you better sleep now or else.”

“No I can stay awake.” Marinette tried to say but it was hard to understand with her second yawn.

“Just sleep Dupain-Cheng. If an Akuma shows up on the night, we don’t want you passing out while fighting.”

“Okay, okay.” Marinette conceded. “I’ll sleep.”

With that, the two of them went to bed, and to Chloé it seemed like she just closed her eyes for a moment before they were open again and it was morning. Of course Marinette was still asleep, so Chloé did her best to get ready. Unfortunately she didn’t have a second set of clothing so unfortunately she was going to have to wear the same clothes.

Chloé thought about waking Marinette, but that was what Tikki was for, so instead she pulled out her phone. It was going to be complicated to do on a phone, but now was as good a time as any to work on Spot-light. She first bought the URL she wanted. Or she tried. Spot-light.com redirected her to something else so she tried spotlight-lb.com, which worked. A few moments later and she owned the website and started to create the blog.

After a few minutes, Chloé was proud with what she had accomplished. For now it was only one page, but visually it looked nice. Well other than the logo, which was a simple white text title. She hoped that Marinette with her artistic skills could help with that part. Otherwise she was able to upload videos, make quick text updates and people should be able to comment on posts.

Chloé was about to do her best to test the site when she noticed Tikki flying over to Marinette and waking her. Unfortunately the Kwami didn’t seem to be having much luck so Chloé reluctantly got up and shoved Marinette out of her blanket pile. “Get up Dupain-Cheng!”

Marinette jumped up, still covered in some blankets, just making her look like a red form. “Guh, ‘m up!”

Chloé yanked the blankets off Marinette. “Come on! We’re talking to that guardian guy today and you need to help me with Spot-light!”

“O-okay! You don’t have to be so pushy! What time is it anyway?” Marinette looked around to find a clock.

“A reasonable hour to be awake if you were someone other than you! Now get dressed!”

Marinette quickly grabbed some clothes, then looked over at Chloé. “Wait, you didn’t have any clothes packed, what are you working?”

“Please don’t ask.” Chloé gritted out. “The moment I can get home, I won’t be wearing this anymore.”

“If you want I can-“ Marinette tried to speak, but she was cut off.

“No! Guardian now, clothes later! Let’s go.”

“Alright, alright. Just, let me change.” Marinette grabbed her clothes and went to a place she could change in private. “There, now we can go.

Chloé nodded as Tikki flew into Marinette’s bag and they left down the ladder and out of the bakery to the guardian.

#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #chloe bourgeois #miraculous ladybug salt #tikki

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tsukiyaki · 4 years

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2020 LC: Prologue

Sometimes, dreams come in whispers, and those whispers don’t stem from selfish desires, but rather God’s promises. When that happens, God can answer even the prayers that you didn’t have the guts to put words to or wrote off as impossible or wishful thinking. His timing is perfect, so trust Him in the waiting. The days, months, or years it takes Him to set up the dominoes in your life are so worth it. When the time is right, everything falls into place in a way that will leave you in awe and unable to do anything but worship Him.

Tomorrow, I set out on a journey that He has been preparing me for over the last 3 years. It’s hard to surprise me, but God gets me every time--I was clueless to what He was up to until I found myself in front of an open door I never had to fight for.

Pray for me, that I would take all that I learn from this leadership cohort and be fruitful, gladly yielding to His pruning throughout. Celebrate with me, for God has been good beyond measure. Read on if you want to know the full story!

November 11, 2016, I met A. Until the last year or so, I called him “Pastor A” (and sometimes referred to him half-jokingly as “Father A”), as most contexts in which I encountered him were within the church, with him at the pulpit.

In 2016, he spoke at a youth leadership retreat. The way he taught and spoke blew my mind--it was his understanding of how humans work, his uncanny ability to read all kinds of people and really get through to them, the way he ended every message with practical application exercises that grew all of us, students to young adults alike. Away from the pulpit, he was incredibly down to earth. I will never forget wondering, should I be concerned that the same man who left me awestruck moments ago with his preaching seems to have a lot of creative ideas about how to break into a car? Nah, this is way too entertaining. (Context: A was helping an uncle try to get into his locked car after said uncle lost his car keys.)

April 28-29, 2017, I couldn’t contain my excitement being under A’s tutelage again at counselors’ retreat. It was during this retreat that I learned about the company he works for, and the tools and models he uses to build leadership pipelines and empower people across all kinds of institutions, not just in the church. I was deeply unsatisfied by my career at the time. I felt lost and aimless in life. A shined like a beacon of hope, living proof that there could be something professionally worth doing in this world that actually connected to my passions. And then was born my unspoken prayer: How I would love to learn from him and do what he does one day.

But you see, A doesn’t live in California, and I wasn’t planning on leaving. The competency gap between us was daunting. I had no reason to believe that out of all the people he met, he would take notice of little old me. Even if he did, why would he choose to invest in me? I decided to know my place and be grateful for the fact that he even remembered me and was willing to spare a few minutes of his precious time to check in on me over the upcoming years.

At one point, he made me cry in public, and I thought it might be nice to not have that experience again--all the more reason to move on with life. (Context: He rebuked me for undermining my influence out of false humility as a group of friends standing to the side couldn’t help but listen in because what he was saying was that convicting, and it was the most loving correction I’ve ever received from a human being, but also embarrassing and really hard because criticism of any kind makes me initially feel like a failure.)

May 4, 2018, after a grueling 6 month interview process that in and of itself was a miraculous work of God, I signed the offer letter to my current company. Finally, I was a full time employee who would soon experience the full force of imposter syndrome and fear of selling out. But I also had the most clarity at this point in time that I was excited for this opportunity because I knew my purpose was to proclaim the gospel and establish His kingdom at work.

January 24, 2019, A somehow found my number (probably through my work profile) and texted me about coming to my company to start a leadership pipeline. He invited me to come to the introductory workshop on the 30th. I went. Even though it was material I’d already seen multiple times before, it still deeply impacted me. However, I decided not to join the 2019 cohort, and fell out of contact with A after February.

February 22-24, 2019, Ignite retreat. Pastor D, whom I also deeply respect and adore, returned for a second year as our speaker. I left retreat with 2 major takeaways: I need to journal, and I need mentors (plural). Pastor D taught me that mentorship comes in different forms, and paying to be part of a cohort or to take a leadership class is an option that I ought to be open to. The first thing I thought of was A’s leadership cohort, and I wondered if I had missed out. But I knew I hadn’t made a mistake, because I had no motivation to join that cohort, given that it was aimed at the specific context of developing me as a leader at my job, which was the last thing I wanted to invest more time into. Nonetheless, the importance of self awareness and guidance sat at the forefront of my mind for the rest of the year.

June 11, 2019, I won’t explain in detail how serendipitous it felt on this day when God once again by no accident brought about a major turning point in my career. But this was the day that hope broke through. My manager started the process of helping me switch to a product I love. The transition happened officially on September 3rd. For the first time in 5 years, I actually found my job life-giving. I started to see a future here that I wanted to invest in.

October 7, 2019, I don’t remember exactly how this happened, but I suddenly realized I really missed A. I texted him to check in, half expecting to be ignored because of how long it had been (clearly, I still had issues believing that he cared about me, which now that I think about it, was probably because I hadn’t been useful to him for months, and my core Enneagram fear is that nobody would want me around if I’m not useful). I happened to check in right after he had completed his 2019 cohort, just in time to be invited to another kickoff meeting. The thought of mentorship was swirling through my mind again, and I realized I was in a place of genuine interest in joining the 2020 cohort. However, the financial barrier was holding me back. I was planning on buying a new car, I’m still paying for my Invisalign, and I just didn’t know if I was willing to take another hefty sum out of my budget.

November 13, 2019, I missed the entire kickoff meeting due to work, but I dropped by at the end to say hi anyway. All my fears and anxieties about being forgotten or unwanted melted away, and I realized on this day how much of a mentor figure A already is in my life. I told him afterwards that ever since I met him, he has shown up consistently at key moments/turning points in my life and given me the push I need to move forward. His existence reminds me that God sees me and takes care of me. He told me he’d be around again in December and actually have time to catch up, which is rare, given how packed his schedule usually is. He also encouraged me to consider joining the cohort this time. I promised to think about it.

December 10, 2019, we caught up over a casual dinner, during which A learned just how ridiculous my work life balance has historically been, how I believe that my experience has been unique because God has graciously given me all the time I need to fulfill His missional purpose for me at work, and how my passion lies in championing the people around me. Having heard my story, he went full big picture mode and basically told me to not only join the 2020 cohort, but to do so as his apprentice, that he may raise me up to one day be able to do what he does. He addressed every barrier I once had, and they were no longer an issue. The dominoes fell.

My mind short-circuited as it took some quantum leaps down memory lane (imagine all the details in this blog post and more crashing into my brain at the same time). A stared at me expectantly, slightly amused but mostly confused as to why I was not visibly excited, but rather either at a loss for words or spewing nonsensical protest coming from a place of not feeling worthy of this offer. Honestly, I was in extreme shock that God would not only do the bare minimum of turning my unspoken prayer from years ago into a possibility, but that He went the extra mile to meet every condition that I added on top of that prayer before making it a reality.

I helplessly looked to my friend sitting next to me to help me make sense of what just happened. He said something along the lines of, “Why are you looking at me? I think this is a great idea!” I still hit the brakes as gently as I could and told A I needed time to process, and I would officially confirm my participation with him only after I talked to my manager.

I got manager approval the next day.

Tomorrow, January 29th, will be our first cohort meeting. I hope to document this journey, my lessons and takeaways, so I don’t forget them, and so that I have a record of God placing down the next set of dominoes in my life.

#dominoes

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megatentious · 5 years

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Megami Tensei where u at??

When you are down in the dumps about your favorite video game franchise and the future of a series that is special for you, sometimes you end up seeking it out in places that are … unexpected. I’m going to talk about how, over the last couple years, I ended up seeing three different flavors of Megami Tensei in three different games, and maybe by the end of this we can all end up feeling like it’s okay to move on with our lives. Just keep telling yourself that your favorite games are not your identity and it’s not that serious bruh but also tell yourself that it is therapeutic to collect many paragraphs of thoughts you have had about this to write at length about in your blog.

First up is a game that many many people have noticed is very Megaten and that is the Digimon RPG, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. There was no reason at all for this to be as good of a game as it is. I have no special affinity for the cartoon show. I do not like the Devil Survivor character designer even a little bit. I do not find grinding and monster collecting for the sake of monster collecting entertaining. But from the very first trailer something seemed compelling, and as good word of mouth spread I decided this was going to be a game I needed to play.

Again, everyone has already commented on how Megaten this game feels, and for me the closest specific analogue is actually Raidou Kuzunoha. From the first extended trailer I noticed the jazzy main theme, the detective agency conceit, the visible partner monsters appearing in a Tokyo with bold camera angle choices, and felt a weird familiarity. Digimon also function very plainly as Megami Tensei demons in multiple ways, not only mechanically but also through their story roles. And the somewhat arcane stat manipulation needed for high-end Digivolving scratches the exact same itch as high-end Megaten fusion from previous SMT iterations, which is both a dangerous (100 hours of playtime good lord) and wonderful (100 hours of playtime good lord!) itch to scratch.

You need to put up with some annoying characters and prattling dialogue, but unlike other games there is no pretense here which absolutely helps. Also, re-interpreting traditional Japanese folklore through the lens of the Digimon world is something that never stopped being fascinating for me even amidst a sub-par localization, and as someone with low familiarity with the cartoon, the Digimon designs themselves were alternately hilariously bizarre, bafflingly stupid, and straight up awesome. They even have their own Lucifer!

By the time you get to the second half of the story where the game completely changes and becomes about alliances and faction-building and what happens to a city facing apocalypse, when you take in the incredible atmosphere in Odaiba all buoyed by a soundtrack that has no right to be as good as it is, you start to feel optimistic about how Megaten influence can live on even outside of the series itself.

Next up is an entry from another series that is occasionally compared to SMT, but this one in particular feels like it was only played by two or three people at all when it was miraculously released earlier in 2019 for the Nintendo 3DS. I’m talking about Yokai Watch 3. Arriving close to three years after its initial Japanese release to utterly resounding indifference, this game’s hook is that you get to play in “America,” but as you can tell from the quotes around America this is actually much more complicated than it seems in a way that specifically draws comparison to my beloved Revelations: Persona. You see, the very Japanese Yokai Watch series city location of Sakura New Town, Japon, was localized here for us as Springdale, Springdale back in the first game. This decision has led to many wonderful incongruities moving forward that are honestly identical to those in the Lunarvale of Revelations: Persona. Gotta love these small American towns with Shinto temples in em!

With Yokai Watch 3’s plot focusing on the family moving to actual America though, and the cross-cultural hijinks that are meant to ensue, things quickly get even weirder and more strained. Protagonist Nate Adams complains about the difficulty of understanding southern accents while slurping down sukiyaki. Shopkeepers with tempura-based hairstyles serve traditional Japanese dishes in the quaint American township of St. Peanutsburg. Huge timezone differences between America and “America” are introduced. And all of this is refracted through the even more convoluted localization prism of this game about two versions of America being scripted by the British, leading to children aspiring to be “basketballers” and restaurants having “oriental” atmosphere.

I’m barely scratching the surface of the dissertation-worthy unpacking needed for all of this, and it’s difficult to describe just how deeply weird the vibe can get in this game. In just the first twenty minutes of Yokai Watch 3, you have 1) a purely nutso anime opening featuring scary demonic folklore-based yokai, robots, and cat mascots 2) Mulder and Scully very seriously discussing mysterious “Y Files” 3) a rhythm game where your very American family devours an enormous amount of sukiyaki 4) the same very American (or in the game’s terms, “Springdalian”) family leaving their home to move to the state? country? of “BBQ” and 5) suddenly you are an otaku girl going to a figure shop in “Sparkopolis.” This is just as delirious as it sounds.

Revelations Persona’s uncanny America atmosphere may be one of a kind, but Yokai Watch 3’s frequently insane scenarios can sometimes recall a similar sort of lunacy that leads you to end up fighting a giant mechanical rat while a song with the track name “Child Abuse” plays, or chatting up a populace of mole-covered rainbow afro’d citizens in a locked down mall. At one point after returning from one of Yokai Watch 3’s various alternate dream worlds (very Persona!) my game was even afflicted with a commonly reported glitch that caused the environmental textures to not load, leading to a flat polygon world and some authentic PSX Lunarvale vibes. Throw in all the folktales and mythology involved in the yokai themselves and straight up demon fusion in a cathedral and suddenly you’ll end up experiencing more Megaten than you’d ever expect to see in an RPG targeted to young children.

Last up is an all-time classic that actually predates Shin Megami Tensei entirely, making it temporally impossible for any influence to show up, which muddles the entire concept of this essay but please roll with it you guys this is just how I feel. I’m talking about the seminal Phantasy Star, for the Master System, which I played through M2’s loving, impeccable SEGA AGES port on Switch. This game, which was released in 1987, is simply incredible. Right off the bat you’ve got genius-level programming from Yu Suzuki himself, which allowed for the first person dungeons to scroll so smoothly that posting a snippet of directly captured footage from the game can still lead to semi-viral tweets. It’s these extremely cool boldly colored first person dungeons, along with the expansive feeling of the several worlds you visit that led me to feel some of the spirit of Megami Tensei 2 specifically in this game.

“oops i accidentally phantasy starred for four hours” is how I put it playing through this game for the first time, and it’s a given that a non-fantasy setting RPG where you can talk to the monsters would be appealing to me. Phantasy Star as a series was in fact deliberately conceptualized as a rebellion against the many fantasy RPGs of the time, and the developers have talked about this in a way that is practically identical to early staff interviews about the goals for Megami Tensei. Director and gaming luminary Rieko Kodama has remarked that the choice of a female protagonist was also considered rebellious, even though it felt like a natural choice for her on a personal level.

Megami Tensei 2 is the game that builds the structure for Shin Megami Tensei as we know it today, moving away from Megami Tensei 1’s single full-game dungeon format to a world map with numerous discrete dungeons and eventually, paths to alternate worlds. Phantasy Star shares this exact design format, which still feels so expansive and impressive to this day. It’s a treat to get to experience a game like this over 30 years after its release on current hardware and still feel such an impact, and all of you need to go out and buy buy buy this game, seriously give M2 your money.

I’ve taken it as a given that everyone shares my perspective on where Shin Megami Tensei is at these days as a series, and it’s obviously never a good look to come across as an over-dramatic scolding bitter old who has retreated into pure irrelevance. But by documenting all of these observations down for myself, I can at least feel better about finding bits and pieces of various Megaten strains in the games of today. The lesson learned is that even if you feel your favorite franchise has lost its way, you may be able to find parts of it in the places you least expect.

#megami tensei #shin megami tensei #optimism???

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real-fakedoors · 6 years

Text

under leaves so green - Chapter 5 - Miraculous Ladybug

After the Dupain-Cheng family purchases a flower shop around the block from the Agreste mansion, Chat Noir frequents the spot in search of company from the manager-but-not-really Marinette. Beneath the mask, Adrien starts to struggle with how cute she looks in that green apron. (AKA: the not-really flower shop AU where basically everything is the same, but Marinette is extra stressed by her job and Adrien tries to be supportive)

Cross-posted on AO3 and FF.net

Chapter 5: Lucky Little Lantanas In which Alya questions Hawk Moth's activity, Nino is a good sport, Marinette accepts her insanity, and Adrien makes a sale.

Growing up, Marinette had a lot to be thankful for. She was healthy, studious, and she tried everyday to embody the manners bestowed upon her by her loving parents. They were in a happy marriage, which was rare these days. With a every part of her heart, Marinette loved her friends, fashion, and despite some frustrations, her flowers, too. Never was there someone the Dupain-Cheng’s wouldn’t go out of their way to help if they could, and the family’s only daughter was no exception. She was compassionate, giving, thoughtful and, she liked to think, humble, too.

That being said, there were some things Marinette allowed herself to be proud of, and even the most modest bone in her body would tingle at the call.

One of those things happened to be patience.

It was being tested, right now, and she was flipping between being madly in love and succumbing to true, straight-jacketed madness.

“Mmm,” Marinette hummed into a large slice of her favorite veggie pizza, using the food to keep her tolerance in check.

“Okay, okay, here’s another one –” Adrien began, earning him a groan all around.

Between this boy and Chat’s antics, Marinette felt deserving of a medal.

He pushed on, obstinate against their collective disapproval. “Why did the cell phone go to the optometrist?”

Silence.

“C’mon,” he looked around, almost bouncing from excitement. Nino mentioned he had coffee today, and oh boy, did the caffeine hit him.

They were seated at small stone table, huddled around a pizza box, laughing and sighing to the sounds of summer. To Marinette’s immediate right was Alya, on her phone, texting or blogging some secret goldmine of information, no doubt, and beside her was Nino, behaving just about as indulgently as Marinette, savoring each slice. That left Adrien, occupying the seat to Marinette’s left. He had accepted one piece in good graces, but otherwise merely feasted on the company.

“I don’t know, man,” Nino eventually conceded. “Because he wished he looked this good in glasses?”

Marinette covered her mouth to giggle, watching Nino use his hands to present Alya like she was Miss France. The girl in question smirked but continued to type into her phone.

“No,” Adrien shook his head. He had clearly given up on Alya’s participation, so there was only one person remaining to antagonize.

A halo of blonde hair sidled up beside her, brushing Marinette’s arm against his own. He was grinning just about as stupidly as Chat did sometimes, green eyes dancing as he tempted her to indulge in his horrible humor.

Marinette wrinkled her nose. “Um… something about service carriers, maybe?”

Adrien sighed and shook his head, but leaned close so he could whisper the answer to his terrible riddle into her ear.

“He lost his contacts.”

How could someone so pure, so kind, and so smart be such a…

“Dork.” Marinette snickered and shook her head. “Very funny.”

It was a joke bad enough that she might expect it from her partner, but who knew? All it took was a little caffeine to turn Adrien into a total dork, too.

Adrien, still concerning close, slouched over upper-body on the table. His head was still turned in Marinette’s direction, and she felt her cheeks grow ever warmer despite the darkening clouds that rolled in above.

He presented an angelic pout. “At least you appreciate my comedy, Marinette. Nino will hardly even humor me anymore.”

The girl had to bite her lip to keep herself from sighing. Was she really starting to enjoy the puns, or was the speaker just that charming? She patted Adrien’s hand on the table in comfort but met eyes with Nino.

“It’s a thankless job,” she offered solemnly, and Adrien beamed. He rather didn’t mind or didn’t notice the tiny jab at his taste in comedy.

In truth, Marinette didn’t mind. She and Adrien had grown closer, their conversations more natural and less awkward with time, but this was a more playful side of him than even she was used to. Chat must have worn her nerves down over the years for blondes with budding smiles, because she couldn’t be the one to damper Adrien’s pure, caffeine-fueled mood.

Alya looked up from her cell phone at that point and claimed the final piece of pizza, her mind clearly on other things.

“I’m convinced there’s something going on with Hawk Moth,” she paused to take a bite, and Adrien’s attention moved to the reporter-to-be. Alya’s eyes flickered down at the table in their direction, and Marinette felt her stomach flip. Her hand was still softly cupping Adrien’s in the earlier gesture of comfort, and rather he didn’t mind, or hadn’t noticed.

Nothing ever escaping Alya’s trained, investigative eyes, and she smirked knowingly at Marinette. She gulped and tried to focus on her friend, but the jackhammer pounding within her ribs was fairly distracting.

Should she pull away? Maybe… maybe he wanted her hand to stay there?

“No akumas in 12 days?” Alya continued after a brief moment of silence. “That’s the longest break in almost two years. I wonder if Ladybug and Chat Noir, you know,” she glanced over at Nino, who was listening with interest. “Finished him off?”

Adrien grimaced and adjusted his slouch, and his hand stiffened slightly under Marinette’s.

Ah. He had just been listening to Alya and just realized what I was doing.

This, her heart pined. This is why you don’t hope.

Just as her fingers started to pull away, a tense grip squeezed her hand. Adrien’s fingers were soft but steady, and he continued to hold her hand in place.

Eyes wide, Marinette was glad at that moment for Hawk Moth’s conspicuous absence, because he probably could have akumatized all of Paris and she wouldn’t have been able to get up and interrupt this moment.

“I doubt it,” Adrien eventually offered, and Nino nodded seriously.

“Yeah, I mean, don’t you think it would have been a big public thing if they did?”

Alya’s brow furrowed. “Maybe. I mean, of course I hope that’s the case for the sake of the blog. But…” she paused, tapping her chin as she put her phone away.

“We don’t know much about Hawk Moth, still. Who knows if he’s the ‘you’ll have to kill me if you want to defeat me’ type? I have hard time imagining Chat Noir coming to the press saying he and Ladybug murdered someone.”

Marinette started coughing on her final bite of crust, having inhaled too sharply at Alya’s gruesome suggestion. To be fair, Nino and Adrien looked almost as horrified, but everyone’s attention turned towards the sputtering girl.

Adrien patted her back lightly as she turned away, trying not to hack all over the group, and Ayla threw her a bottle of water.

She drank greedily, liquid mercy releasing her from the rasping of stress within her windpipe.

“Okay, that’s a little unfair,” Nino pointed out as Marinette massaged her chest and thanked Adrien for his comfort. “I mean, even if that did happen, in theory, I don’t think people would see it as ‘murder.’ This is Hawk Moth we’re talking about.”

It was a minute change, but Marinette noticed Adrien tense at the suggestion, a slight dip in his brow, a shift of his jaw. She probably wouldn’t be able to notice such a subtle shift on anyone else, but she had memorized just about every angle of this boy’s face. This was an expression he seldom wore.

Alya was frowning. “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t like the idea either, but there was a discussion post about it on the community Reddit about it, and now it’s kind of stuck in my head. Like, I would never frame it like that if I were reporting on it, but I’m one person. There are just as many people out there who would dig their talons into either one of them - Ladybug or Chat Noir - just for their fifteen seconds of fame.”

“Ugh.” Marinette’s face was twisted in disgust. “I don’t know what’s wrong with people. Even if it ever came down to something like that, which I highly doubt anyways, why would people go on and villainize them? I mean, take Chat Noir for example. - he’s sweet and brave, and how many days and nights has he spent defending those same people? Just for them to turn their back the second it’s convenient?”

They all looked at her for an extended pause, clearly a little surprised that she came in with such a strong opinion. Marinette did not back down, however, face set firm as she met each of their eyes.

Well, she may have wavered just a little when she looked to her left, still plenty aware that Adrien was still sitting quite close. During her coughing fit, their hands seperated, but he had angled his seat to be almost directly beside her.

His green eyes were fixed to her face, his brow suggesting confusion but the pools of emerald that were central to his features were sparkling entirely with admiration.

Marinette nodded seriously at him, as if answering an unspoken call. “Chat Noir would never hurt someone like that. And if something terrible happened that forced his or Ladybug’s hand, I’m sure they would be honest about it.”

Eventually, Alya sighed and shook her head. “Ya’ll are probably right, I don’t know why this has been bothering me all day. I think I’m just on edge, since it’s been so long it’s bound to happen soon? Let’s forget about it.”

Marinette had to drag her eyes away from Adrien’s own, wondering desperately what he might be thinking about. He was looking at her strangely, and it was making her feel self-conscious, so she felt compelled to get up.

Slowly, she stood from her rickety chair and began to gather their napkins and the greasy remainders of their lunch. The others began to follow suit, taking her hint that break time was over.

“Besides,” Nino said in a lighter tone. “Isn’t it more likely that, I dunno, there’s just no one to akumatize when it’s summer? There’s no one made miserable by having to see Chloe throw a fit every morning at school over her Adrikins.”

The bespeckled boy lolled himself all over Adrien with sickening sweetness to demonstrate, causing Alya and Marinette to laugh heartily. Adrien just gave Nino an awkward pat-pat and caught eyes with Alya.

“This is what you meant by bromance, isn’t it?”

“Yep,” she chirped, and Marinette giggled even harder as the boys began to untangle themselves.

“It was nice of you all to stop by, but I should probably get back to work,” Marinette said as she stretched her arms out and over her head, but there was a sickening pop that caught all their attention.

“Oh, god,” Marinette squeezed her eyes together as her right arm gripped desperately at her left shoulder, doubling over in the sudden throbbing pressure.The general soreness from her earlier tumble had faded since she had remained sedentary for the last half hour, but whatever she had just done reignited the sharp pain that flared castrated her nerve-endings. It was like an airlock released, inviting a crushing force against her joint from all sides, smashing her bones together.

“Marinette!” Alya and Adrien called in unison, each of them rushing to one side.

She dropped the garbage uselessly onto the ground, and some of it caught in the growing there wind accompanying the afternoon storm, Nino moved to capture it all before it blew away.

“Marinette, what happened?” Alya tried to rub comforting circles against her lower back.

With grit teeth, Marinette slowly regained her posture but did not release her arm. “I just, ugh, I think I dislocated my shoulder? Maybe? It’s never happened before so I don’t know what that’s supposed to be like.”

Adrien pursed his lips. “Slowly try to lower your arm to your side, but stop if it hurts. Okay?”

Marinette felt guilty for making them worry, Nino rejoining their huddle as she tried to comply with Adrien’s suggestion.

She made it about three-fourths of the way before her grimace turned into a full scowl, wincing at the sensation. Alya had gone into full “World-War I nurse in the trenches” mode, brushing the hair from Marinette’s eyes as the girl hissed through her teeth, walking her towards the back of the store and barking orders to the boys.

“I’m calling your parents, Marinette. You can’t work like this.”

“What? No!” She shot up a little straighter, gnashing her teeth together in an effort to keep a straight face. “They can’t just leave the bakery, and the delivery guy is coming in a few hours. I need to finish the - ah,” she flinched as Alya made her to sit at the desk.

Adrien appeared beside her, kneeling so they were almost at eye-level. “Alya’s right, Marinette. If it’s dislocated, you’ll hurt yourself worse if you try to work through it.”

Nino crossed his arms, standing next to his girlfriend. “Yeah, seriously, ‘Nette. At least let Alya call your parents and tell them what happened.”

Sucking on her teeth, Marinette was prepared to protest but Alya was already walking out the back, phone at her ear.

She sighed, defeated.

“Well, fine. Can one of you go take the sign off the front door and unlock it? If there’s anyone waiting, tell them I’ll be just a minute.”

Nino straightened and saluted, receiving his marching orders with a good-humor about him. Marinette smiled in appreciation as he went, but she could feel another, more urgent set of eye’s studying her face.

“I’m sure I can sleep it off, like Alya said, I can take a hit or two.”

Marinette’s voice was an impressive masque of reassurance, but with a quick glimpse at Adrien, it was evident that he wasn’t convinced. She felt her cheeks burn under his gaze, and she glared daggers at the floor in frustration.

“Marinette?” Adrien called, voice serious. The girl continued to study her shoes, preferring not to look at him. Adrien decidedly took that option away from her, needing her to hear him. He lifted Marinette’s chin, turning her porcelain features with just the lightest touch towards him. Marinette could feel her skin tingle along her neck, his hands like electricity - her pain was utterly forgotten for a moment.

“You’re working yourself too hard,” he murmured, eyes never leaving her face. “Just relax for a few minutes. Okay?”

She nodded mutely, smiling.

In fairness, Marinette would have protested if her voice hadn’t evaporated. He was so close, and she could smell his shampoo, or cologne, or whatever his natural scent was that made her head dizzy. His gaze was endless and pure, and it simultaneously tore down all of her will only to rebuild it twice as strong, the structure sturdier with his reassurance. The moment was oddly intimate, to be only inches away, both their faces battling a blush, sincerity coloring every gesture. The whole moment passed a beat later, but he was like a rush in her bloodstream. Intoxicating, comfortable - he took the edge off and made her feel more herself.

He smiled back.

“Okay,” a crisp voice announced, Alya entering from the courtyard. Adrien leaned away in time with the bell, and Nino returned to the back before the door even closed behind Alya.

“Your parents said you’re to stop working right away. Your mom is coming to take over for the rest of the day, but…” She hesitated, which made the others a little anxious. “She’ll be a little bit. Apparently there’s something going on with a ‘caterer in crisis,’ so she won’t be here for about two hours. Also, your dad says stop being stupid and stubborn.” She paused, face severe. “Okay, I might have taken some creative license there, but the sentiment was basically the same.”

Marinette frowned. “What time is it?”

“Um, fifteen ‘til one,” Nino answered.

“By the time Maman gets here…” She did a quick calculation in her head. It would be 2:45 when her mother showed up. That left fifteen minutes to complete eleven more orders, only six of which were started. It was hopeless; Marinette couldn’t even pull that off, and she was superior to her mother when it came to all things botanical.

“Ugh…” she glared at the pile of unfinished work, kicking herself for letting this happen. Even if Marinette couldn’t blame herself for the fall, which she was already set on doing, the fault for slacking was totally her own.

Above her head, Alya and Nino looked ruefully at one another, moving towards the desk where Adrien still knelt, only looking at the girl seated there.

“Hmm…” The blond hummed through the tension, tapping fingers along his knee. Marinette, against her better judgement, let herself look his way again - now it was he who was glaring at the ground, though.

“What if we helped you until your Mom shows up? We could just do the orders and run the register.”

“Oh, no, I can’t ask that of -- ”

Alya wasn’t even going to let her finish.

“That’s a great idea! Not bad, blondie.” They grinned at each other. “Marinette, just tell us what to do.”

No way - that would be beyond unfair to them. They had come today to spend leisure time, Marinette wouldn’t put them to work. These were her friends, and this was her problem.

She leaned back and adjusted her apron.

“No, guys. This really feels like something I should take responsibility for. I can call Dan our delivery guy and explain -”

Nino looked skeptical and lowered himself to a crouch, his arms extending over his knees. “C’mon, ‘Nette. You literally help everyone all the time - I probably owe you times a thousand by now. Put us to work.”

Biting her lip, Marinette appraised the three before her, taking care to linger on each of their faces. Each one wore a smile, and their expressions did not hold an ounce of contempt. So why did it make the pit in her stomach twist ever the more shamefully?

“But if you guys hadn’t been here and I fell, I’d still have to… I can’t accept, I’m sorry.” She was embarrassed, the urge to cry clasping down on her throat. Why? Why couldn’t she get it together?

Alya sighed slowly and opened her mouth to argue, but Adrien spoke first. “Well, fortunately, that’s only a what if. It doesn’t change anything right now, and we’re here, and you’re hurt. You could see it as really bad luck that you fell, or that you’re just really lucky that we were there. Either way, we’re helping.”

Marinette blinked a few times, taken aback by his brusque tone. It didn’t leave room for questions, but was still somehow kind enough not to make her guilt worse. For some reason, she thought she recognized that inflection, but Marinette couldn’t recall from where.

Still, it put her disquieted consciousness at peace enough to comply.

“Okay, fine…” She crossed her arms, uncharacteristically petulant. The others beamed at her.

“Grab an apron, there are some extras in that cabinet.” Marinette pointed behind Alya’s head, so the girl did as she bid.

One by one, Alya distributed the dark green fabric and each of them tied their respective “uniform” in place. Thankfully, they had all decided to wear more-or-less appropriate clothing, besides, perhaps, Alya’s tank top that showcased her, um… assets.

Marinette remained seated, using the armrest of the chair to sort of prop her elbow into place, keeping her shoulder fixed at an exact angle.

“So the big thing is these deliveries, I think -- ” Marinette began, grimacing when her voice was interrupted by the familiar ringing of a bell. Someone was here.

She cursed quietly, and all of her apprentices looked at each other.

“Someone come with me to the register,” she ordered in a low voice, scowling as she stood up. “The others stay. Wrap those.” She pointed towards a rubber-banded assorted bouquet of lilies and lotus blossoms and then towards a tray of plastic liners, praying they could figure it out.

Shaking her head succinctly, Marinette marched into the front, squeezing her left arm into her torso.

“Bonjour,” she greeted warmly, relaxing upon entering her private garden. The nerves melted off her beneath the familiar greens.

Even better, this was a customer she knew. “Ah, Madam Kleinstein! How nice to see you.”

Marinette’s feet guided her automatically, strolling right past the counter to meet the old, old woman at the door. While Marinette would never ask Madam Kleinstein her age, she knew the woman had to be getting up there. (Of course, she had nothing on Master Fu, but Marinette felt the man’s age didn’t really count for comparisons.)

They had made acquaintances under unfortunate circumstances, when Monsieur Kleinstein had passed away in December. That was to be expected, Marinette supposed, when you worked in the business of funerals and weddings.

Their family rabbi contacted Mo to handle the arrangement process, but Madam wanted to have a more active role in the plans than most widows. She monitored each selection for the shiva, down to the color of the vases and the font of the cards, so that it might be a perfect goodbye for her husband. Of course, the store took the woman’s mourning seriously, and worked to meet her every demand. Mo even called in his wife to help the day before the delivery was due.

Since the funeral, Madam came in frequently for houseplants and flowers, chatting with Mo or Marinette endlessly. From context clues, Marinette gauged the woman to be at least 85; some of her stories alluded to living through the Holocaust as a young girl. And while the years had clearly taken the vibrancy from her body, Madam Kleinstein made up for it with her youthful spirit.

Petite and whispy, the woman always dressed in long skirts and comfortable-looking jumpers, even in the summer heat - the fabric made her appear even smaller beneath the layers. Still, her short-cropped hair and colorful reading glasses made her dark eyes twinkle, and Marinette never tired of listening to her stories of the “wild years” she spent in Austria, or the day she met her late husband, or of hearing the woman’s barometer reading of French politics. (It didn’t hurt that she apparently loved Ladybug, either).

“Marinette,” the woman called as she approached, donning a crinkly smile. She lifted up one of her many-ringed hands and held Marinette’s own, patting the top with her other just-as-many-ringed hand. “How nice it is to see you, dear. I heard about Mo leaving.”

Marinette smiled warmly and tried to ignore her shoulder. “Oh, yes, it was hard for him to say goodbye to this place, but it’s in good hands.”

“I can see that,” she said, peering above her glasses. “And who’s this?”

“Huh?”

Marinette followed her gaze, having entirely forgotten about her earlier command for someone to follow her.

“Bonjour,” Adrien bowed politely with a smile that would put the portraits hanging in the Louvre to shame. He stood just a few feet behind Marinette, clearly courteous while remaining a respectful distance away.

“Madam Kleinstein, was it? My name is Adrien.”

The woman raised a brow, glancing between Marinette and Adrien with a puzzling look on her face. She seemed to approve of… whatever it was that she saw there, because her quizzical expression was replaced by a knowing smile.

“Well, it is a pleasure, Adrien. ‘Cecelia’ will do just fine. Madam Kleinstein was my mother-in-law.” She shuddered, and the teens chuckled. “When you get to be my age, you realize the best part about getting old is never having to deal with your in-laws again.”

She laughed at her own wit while Marinette and Adrien exchanged sheepish smiles. Their eyes met, and despite the woman’s pointed suggestion, Marinette could tell Adrien knew better than to call a customer anything but Madam. His confidence helped her to relax.

“Now,” Madam Kleinstein extended a hand towards Adrien. “Could you show me the seasons’ annuals? I need something just right for my planters.” He blinked at her like she had just spoken Portuguese, and Marinette considered slipping between them - she doubted Adrien knew perennials from annuals from shrubs.

But, acting the gentleman, he offered his arm to the tiny Madam - she only came up to about his waist.

“Well, of course. But I’m still training,” he emphasized the word, shooting a smile in Marinette’s direction. “So why don’t we let Mari show us both? I’d like the chance to learn a little more from the expert.”

Turning redder than a tomato, Marinette felt herself fluster from Adrien’s unexpected praise - she was sure he was only trying to moderate the situation with the customer, but she appreciated it all the same.

Marinette watched her feet shyly and beckoned for them to follow, leading around a display and two rows of pre-potted blossoms and coming to a stop at the western wall. Two shelves hugged the glass divider, one at about level with Marinette’s knees and another at her shoulder, and each were covered from edge to edge by her annuals. Each variety had at least two pallets, and each root system was secured by the cheap plastic planter liners that one could buy in bulk from garden supply stores. Draped above each shelf were a slightly lax piece of twine, tied to structural beams on either end of the greenhouse wall. Every few feet down, a small handwritten sign was clothespinned into place that spelled out each flower’s taxonomy and a severely simplified care guide.

She had been doing this for awhile now, even before the change in management. Mo’s handwriting had been atrocious, so Marinette insisted, and she thought the symbols made it easier on potential non-native French speakers: if there was a little yellow sun, the plant needed plenty of sunshine; if there was a cloud, the bud would grow best in the shade. One raindrop meant little water, two meant moderate, and three meant they were thirsty little buggers.

Waving her right hand, Marinette gestured towards the bottom of the two rows - there was no way tiny Madam Kleinstein would be able to see those on the top.

“Did you have anything in mind? The impatiens are coming along nicely, and they’re very low maintenance.”

The woman pursed her lips while she and Adrien both studied the sign Marinette had indicated. He cocked his head to one side and made a seemingly innocent remark. “You might even say, they don’t require a lot of patience?”

Marinette smacked her forehead with her good hand, too exasperated to regret it. The action jostled her torso, and she clenched her jaw through the sudden pain.

Madam Kleinstein, for whatever reason, seemed to find his joke rather funny.

“Not bad, Adrien.” She sniffed seriously, but winked up at him. He grinned smugly and looked pointedly Marinette, who rolled her eyes so heavily it was amazing she didn’t make herself dizzy.

“Yes, not bad, Adrien. Say, why don’t I leave you to it for a moment? I need to check something in the back.”

Adrien’s eyes became pleading the moment she started to walk away, his wordless struggle clear: Wait, I have no idea what I’m doing here! Don’t leave me with this woman!

A more responsible part of Marinette’s brain would have agreed that was probably not the smartest thing to do… but the look on his face paired with the instant gratification against his tireless puns? She couldn’t pass it up.

The store had grown humid, Adrien figured, because he felt a bead of sweat appear on his brow.

Now, that may very well have been the case - the storm due for the afternoon, damned be Parisian summer, had just started and the room reflected that. It was much darker outside, the pitter-patter of precipitation matched the rather frantic beating of his heart. The fluctuating heat and humidity could certainly be responsible for the perspiration.

Then again, he was also very stuck and very nervous. The adorable Madam Kleinstein was using his arm for support, and Marinette had just left him to the metaphorical vultures. The woman looked and sounded like the archetype of every grandma he had ever seen on television, and for some reason, that only made it more stressful.

Now, not only was he at risk of disappointing Marinette, but now it felt like he might also disappoint his own-but-not-really grandma.

Moving down the row of apparent “annuals,” she patted his arm, indicating they could stop.

“See something you like?” He asked, hoping he didn’t sound as anxious as he felt.

“Hmm,” she took back her hand and leaned over a clustering of some of the most shockingly pink flowers he had ever seen.

“These begonias are lovely,” she paused to adjust her glasses. “But I planted begonias last season and they didn’t do very well. Stunted little things. Too much sun, perhaps.”

“Mmm…” Adrien hummed, not really sure how to respond. He was way out of his comfort zone.

Madam smirked, looking back in the direction they came.

“You know, this is usually the part where Marinette shares some fascinating fact or story about begonias, and I’m so blown away that I just have to buy them. She’s a natural salesperson,” Madam Kleinstein mused, bending to waft some aroma from the pink blooms.

Adrien snickered in spite himself, fiddling with his apron. “Yeah, that sounds like Marinette. That’s how I feel just about every time she tries to teach me something here. She’s pretty amazing.”

“Yes,” the woman agreed, slowly straightening while rocking her head from shoulder to shoulder, demonstrating her indecision.

“Hmm…” Adrien looked at the shelf above, still a head too high for Madam Kleinstein, and paused upon the sign.

He was surprised to find an adorable little leprechaun, smiling back at him.

“Lantanas?” He blurted aloud, frowning at the neat script above the caricature.

“Oh?” The woman turned, peering up at him. “May I?”

“Umm…” Adrien paused, literally not sure what he was getting himself into. Thankfully, Marinette’s labeling helped, but he rubbed the back of his neck and would not meet Madam Kleinstein’s eye.

“There’s um… sure, let me…”

He didn’t have to reach, as the shelf was at level with his chest, but it was sort of awkward by default since he didn’t know how to handle the plants. Probably more slowly and more carefully than he had to, Adrien pulled forward the first tray on the palette and brought it down to viewing height for the woman.

Madam Kleinstein beamed.

“Oh, I haven’t seen lantanas like these in years.”

Adrien, not having a frame of reference, could only politely nod. That being said, he still managed to appreciate how strikingly beautiful the cluster of buttery yellow flowers were. Tiny things, the sort of star-shaped petals seemed to him so fragile, but they formed floral spheres that made them appear mighty in congregation. Given the dreary turn the day had taken, between the weather and Marinette getting hurt, it made these blossoms seem that much cheerier. The bitty buds were like little balls of sunshine, refusing to be snuffed out by the clouds above, and they brought a smile to his face.

“How are we doing?” Marinette came around while Madam studied, and Adrien felt himself both relax and tense at the same time. He was glad Plagg abandoned him already, because the kwami would certainly be jeering in his pocket if he hadn’t vanished into the bushes the moment Marinette left him.

“Oh, the Little Lucky Pots of Gold? What a good choice, Adrien.” She smiled at him.

“Thanks!” He chirped happily, though he was certain both women were able to hear his heart for how loudly it was beating. Had he not been hyped up on caffeine, he probably could have stopped the absolutely goofy, proud grin from spreading across his face, but that chance passed this morning when he skipped the decafe.

Madam Kleinstein agreed. “They’re lovely, Marinette. Were these your’s or Mo’s?”

“Mo’s pick of course, but they’ve really only come in during the past month so they sorta feel like they’re mine.”

Moving closer, Marinette still gripped her left shoulder tenderly, but her eyes were sparkling.

“I do love lantanas, so I can imagine why they caught your eye…” She paused, rubbing her chin. “Don’t let the name deceive you, though. They might be rumored to bring good luck, but I wouldn’t bet on it if you plant them in Paris. That might be dangerous.”

Adrien and Madam shared a wistful smile while Marinette admired the tiny petals, almost smug in acknowledgment of Madam Kleinstein’s accurate portrayal of Marinette’s pattern in sales. She had a formula, tittering and bouncing through words and secret lore if someone got her started on a subspecies, Adrien had started to learn, and he didn’t mind a bit.

“What’s their story?” Madam eventually questioned.

Marinette responded by walking to the end of the row and retrieving a rolling cart she used to move cumbersome palettes or pots, and offered for Adrien to set the tray down.

Adrien watched her wheel the battered, plastic carrier closer, appreciative for the help. The tray wasn’t heavy, exactly, but it was awkward to hold and his arms were starting to cramp.

“Well, Lantanas are almost stubbornly resistant to damage - great in heat, not much watering, not really affected by soil pH,” Marinette explained, brushing some of the leaves as Adrien set the tray down. “And the Little Lucky Pots of Gold are one of my favorite varieties - the color is just so vivid. But, all Lantanas attract every sort of pollinators, which is the part get you into trouble.”

“Like bees?” Adrien questioned, bending to examine the blossoms. They were lively against the gray backdrop of the cart and with overcast skies, and he found it hard to believe something so tiny couldn’t possibly be “dangerous.”

“Sure,” Marinette nodded. “That’s one possibility. But there are others, too, like hummingbirds, even ants and beetles. But most of all, they’re known to attract Papillon - butterflies.”

She was smiling devilishly now, and recognition registered after a puzzling passing seconds.

Papillon - butterflies?

Hawkmoth.

In truth, Adrien found that information more disconcerting than it was amusing, but then, it’s not like normal, non-magical butterflies were dangerous. Akumas were dangerous, and the idea that little Madam Kleinstein would be attracting akumas to her garden with a planter full of these innocent little buds did make for a rather funny mental image.

“Hmm,” Madam mused. “Now that doesn’t sound very lucky to me, does it, Adrien?”

He snickering and bit his tongue. Now this woman knew how to appreciate a good pun.

“Do you think this means Hawkmoth is a leprechaun?” He countered seriously. “Theoretically, Ladybug and Chat Noir would find him if they merely found the pot of gold.”

“At the end of the rainbow!” Madam Kleinstein finished for him.

Adrien laughed openly, while the petite woman covered her mouth and chuckled.

“Madam,” Marinette whined. “Don’t encourage him. Please.”

“Oh, don’t be a Dismal Dolly, Marinette.” The woman clicked her tongue, but both were smiling. “Adrien here just sold me on these, what with that quick wit!”

“Well,” he flustered slightly, blushing at the compliment. “I guess I’m just lucky.”

“Oh my god,” Marinette’s head rolled backwards, but she led them all to the register.

Once the purchase was finished - Madam bought two whole trays worth, which Marinette said was rather unprecedented - Marinette and Adrien thanked her repeatedly for her kindness and, in the case of the latter, for joining is his jokes

Marinette was hovering steadily towards the back as they said their goodbyes (likely anxious to check on Alya and Nino), but their salutations were interrupted by a rather aggressive clap of thunder.

“Oh,” Adrien blinked once his eyes readjusted - it was weird to be in a glass castle during a storm, each rolling cloud or zip of lightning that flashed across the sky was visible from within the transparent walls. They were really more of windows than walls, and Madam paused at the door.

“Ahh… Madam Kleinstein, perhaps I could walk you to your car? The storm is terrible and your flowers…”

She raised a hand to her cheek, tapping a finger there. “Hmm… No, I should be fine getting to the car. It’s just right in front here, but…”

Her eyes moved around the store, seeking a set of twin braids. Marinette was halfway leaning through the back, whispering imperceptibly, when Madam Kleinstein called for her.

“Marinette?”

“Hmm? Oh - oh, I’m sorry, Madam. Was there something else?” She dashed forward, standing just beside Adrien in front of the counter.

“Could I have my nephew come for these tomorrow? Transporting in the rain seems…”

The girl nodded, and smiled. “Unlucky?”

Madam beamed. “You could say that.”

Adrien simply admired the girl, the woman, and their humor quietly, filled with a warmth he hadn’t felt in years.

They waved a final goodbye as the woman hobbled through the rain, and true to her word, she made it to the car without issue. Still, Adrien’s chivalrous instincts were tingling, so he turned towards another lady to whom he could still offer to help.

Marinette was already in the back, so he waltzed after her to the familiar sound of Nino and Alya’s bickering.

“No, you, Marinette said like this.”

“That’s what I did.”

“Mmm…” Marinette squinted at the creation by her feet as Adrien entered, Nino and Alya sitting crossed leg on either side of an arrangement, soft orange blossoms he didn’t know - lilies, maybe? - accented by little white buds and a large ribbon of the same color.

“It’s actually rather nice, although I would suggest some… ahh,” she sighed, sounding more annoyed than anything as she reached out and invited another stab of pain.

“Wow,” Adrien commented, crossing the room and sitting on the chaise. He unintentionally sank comfortably - too comfortably - into the light cushions. “You guys made that?”

“Yeah, I know right?” Alya nodded proudly in his direction, before gesturing towards her partner-in-crime. “I’ve seen Marinette do it a dozen times, but Nino here actually has a natural talent for this, I swear it.”

“You’re definitely good for this being your first time,” Marinette nodded her agreement, though her voice was lacking its usual radiant positivity.

“Thanks,” Nino bashfully fiddled with his borrowed apron. “I mean, it’s sort of like composing a song. Just with sight instead of sound, got to pair what works together, you know?”

Adrien had started to recline further into the cozy, familiar fuzziness of the chaise. How many times had he stretched out here and nearly fallen asleep as Chat? This afternoon was starting to catch up with him, the rain only adding to the ambiance.

“Really cool,” he murmured, resting his eyes for just a minute.

There was a brief pause, broken by the distinctive bzzz of a vibrating cell phone. All of them instinctively felt for their pockets, but Marinette was the one to silence the call.

“Hi, Maman,” she answered with reluctance. Adrien peeked open a lid as Marinette sat at her desk chair.

Alya pulled out her own phone, doing whatever it is that she does on that thing, and Nino sort of plucked and primped the arrangement, adjusting and re-adjusting the silken bow that tied it together. This was a stand-alone piece, by the looks of it, since none of the deliveries really matched.

“Yes, I know but, um, I actually didn’t need to close it. Did Alya…?” Marinette half-asked the question into the device at her ear, half-directed it towards her friend. Looking up from her phone, Alya frowned and shook her head.

“Um, well… some of my friends from school stopped in, just to visit and --”

Huffing, Marinette looked at the ceiling and spun away from the group. Adrien could still see her profile from his spot on the couch, and she was rather pink in the face.

“I know, Maman, but this was just to drop off lunch for me. They were here when I fell and offered to help until you got here. I really couldn’t say no, there are a lot of deliveries due before… yes, exactly. ”

There was a pause, the tittering voice of Mrs. Cheng on the other line, before Marinette inhaled sharply.

“Maman!” She snapped, voice accusatory. “That’s not - I mean, no, Maman! No.”

Adrien and Nino locked eyes, both looking uncomfortable. They hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but being here now felt rather invasive.

“Sure… I know, just… bad timing. I thought the same thing. I’ll be sure to pay them.”

Another pause, before an exhausted sounding Marinette turned back to them all. “Yes, Maman. See you soon. I love you too.”

“I’ll accept payment from you when I’m dead,” Alya said flatly, not even waiting for Marinette to breathe once the call ended.

Nino’s brow furrowed. “Wow, Queen of Darkness over here today.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just being honest. If honesty and darkness are the same to you, maybe you need to re-evaluate some of your own views.”

The boy hissed and leaned away. “Yikes.”

Marinette just sported a frown, looking between the two before eventually turning to Adrien.

“I agree with my Mom on this, guys. If you won’t let me pay you, at least let me do something for you? Maybe I can bring you some desserts from the shop the next time we hang out? Maman insists.”

Adrien sighed contently just from the suggestion. Marinette was absolutely right; in no stretch of the imagination would he have accepted money from the Dupain-Cheng’s, but he was happy to be bribed with their food.

“Uh, better idea,” Alya stood and dusted herself off. “How about, we all get to pick the next thing we do as a hangout. And you can’t say no, no matter how much you don’t want to do it.”

Jumping in, Adrien sounded more defensive for food than was probably normal. “I don’t know, I was sort of okay with the pastry idea.”

“Nah,” Alya dismissed his suggestion. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, but your parents refuse money anytime - everytime we try to pay. That’s like ‘paying’ us with something that was already free.”

“Didn’t you say you weren’t accepting payment?” Marinette remarked, raising a brow. She was met with a devious grin.

“I did, as your best friend. But your Mom insisted, and that overrides my authority as BFF.”

Nino sucked his teeth. “Ehhhh… she’s got a point, ‘Nette.”

Marinette seemed to struggle for a moment, but settled on a pout. “Ummm, I don’t know... I guess that’d be okay. Just, it can’t be anything embarrassing. Okay?”

“Drat,” Adrien sighed. “There goes my idea for us all to go out for a day on the town in full cosplay.”

They all let that sit for a beat, before laughing and sputtering and shaking their heads.

“Weeb,” Nino said under his breath.

Adrien had accepted that.

“Yep.”

Alya went to Marinette’s side and rested her head against the girl’s uninjured shoulder. “I was thinking more of like, you take a day away from work and actually do something with us for a change?”

“Oh.”

It saddened him to watch her face flicker with excitement, only to fall with twice as much disappointment.

“I would actually love that,” Marinette said slowly, maneuvering herself away from Alya. “But you know I can’t. There’s no one who can cover for me.”

“I know.” Alya sounded uncharacteristically sad, and it made Adrien’s heart hurt worse to hear. He was prepared to say something, sitting up from the chaise when it was his phone’s turn to interrupt.

“Ahh…” he cursed under his breath. “Sorry. Just a sec.”

Standing, Adrien approached the glass that overlooked the courtyard and watched the slowing storm. He cleared his throat and accepted the call.

“Hello, Nathalie.”

She greeted him as warmly as ever. “Adrien.”

“Was there something you needed?” He tried not to sound irritated, but it was hard.

“Yes, actually,” she paused. “How is Mr. Lahiffe?”

“Oh,” he glanced at Nino out of instinct, who had curled up next to Alya when the reporter sat back down again.

Not wanting to lie, he decided to stay vague. “He is well. The cafe was nice.”

“I’m glad.” Her voice was like ice.

Adrien did not respond.

“Well, it is time for you to come home. Your father has something he would like to discuss.”

Pressing his lips together, Adrien felt his eye twitch. That was it. The unsaid threats again, but this time, it was a bit more fatal. Nathalie knew he had misconstrued his day, and if his father had specifically requested to talk, that meant he knew, too.

“I understand.” He ground his molars together, ever so slightly. “I’ll be home immediately.”

The line went dead, not bothering with real goodbyes.

Adrien was suddenly lamenting not walking Madam Kleinstein to her car. She had been so kind, it would have been the least he could do.

Taking a steady breath, he tried to put on a convincingly sheepish look. “Nino, I have to go. Do you want a ride?”

The DJ peered at his girlfriend, who gave him a very “hey, don’t look at me” look, so he shrugged.

“Yeah, I probably should. Will the lovely ladies be okay without us?”

“Frankly...” Alya began with a smile as Nino helped her to stand, but whatever cheeky remark she had prepared went unsaid. “Actually, nevermind. Why don’t you help me put the stool back up front?”

Nino blinked in confusion. “It’s a pretty small stool,” he commented, bending to scoop it up off the ground.

“Great, let’s go!” Alya made a demonstration of grabbing the other end and leading herself and Nino out of the back.

That left him alone, save for…

Marinette smiled weakly, examining the floor off to one side. Standing very still, one arm cradling the other, her blue eyes were unseeing. It was clear there was something wrong, and just as Adrien’s words of concern started to form, she spoke.

“I’m sorry about everything today.”

Adrien shook his head and chuckled. “You are something else, Marinette.”

Her head shot up in his direction, looking hurt. Adrien moved forward, verbally backpedaling against the faux pas. “I meant, you shouldn’t be apologizing for anything. You work so hard to make sure everything is perfect here, but you’re human. It only takes one little slip up for things to unravel. I’m just glad we were here to help, at least to make things a little easier.”

She looked at him curiously for a moment, the sparkle of her eyes returning, and she smiled.

“Was that a pun? Slip up?”

Adrien bit his lip through a smile. “I thought that one was subtle enough you might not notice.”

“Nothing slips by me, I’m afraid.” Her expression was comically stoic.

“I believe it,” he said honestly. They looked at each for a moment, and Adrien felt like he could run a marathon with all the adrenaline pumping in his veins.

Nino’s stupid, stupid voice was playing in his head.

“It’s a coin flip. You should already know.”

No, Nino, Adrien fumed internally. He didn’t “already know.”

It’s not like he had been half-tempted to ignore Nathalie’s call, just so he might stay a little longer. That would have been irresponsible. In fact, it’s not like at that exact moment, he was considering crossing the length of the office, to brush the hair bangs from her face just to better drink in her features, to memorize the melodies that composed her patient, confident voice, or to decipher the world behind her aquamarine gaze, always fiery but filled with compassion. It’s not like, if he was already that close, it would be anymore difficult to lean down and breathe in that wonderful mixture of flour and chocolate that always clung to her porcelain skin. It would be easy. She was like muscle memory to memories he didn’t have and muscles he couldn’t move.

It’s not like, if she was just a little closer, he might be able to kiss her.

He definitely wasn’t imagining that happening, looking across a vast emptiness that was only three feet but felt like three years, come and gone since he’s known her, and yet she was this close the whole time.

It’s not like he realized all of this the moment he laid eyes on her a few hours ago. He hadn’t even flipped a real coin, but then, why did this feel so different?

Here he was, locked in a silence of only thirty seconds that was so much harder than it had to be. Adrien wanted to be disappointed, or angry, or irritated that he had to go. He really did. With Marinette so near, however, he couldn’t seem to muster more than a sad smile.

Marinette blinked once, then twice, and a third time before speaking.

“I ...w-would offer you a hug, but I think it would hurt.”

Adrien’s smile grew, but only a bit. “That’s okay, I wouldn’t want to you to mess up your shoulder anymore.”

“Well…” She bit her lip, and Adrien wanted so badly to know what she might be thinking.

He had to get a grip. “I guess I should go.”

“Yeah. Thanks again for all of your help, really. I would have been really…”

She paused, brow furrowing but she dispelled it with a quick shake of her head. “Really out of luck if you all hadn’t been there.”

Adrien gulped and began to walk towards the front of the store, not sure his voice would work or if his brain could handle a reasonable response.

One foot into the front, and he recalled a memory with such intensity it almost made him waver. A rainy day. Marinette. Russian Snowdrops. Kindness, compassion, and that same inability to speak. She knocked the wind right out of him with her simple words, but when he breathed in again it was all refreshing and new, all over again.

Not again. He wouldn’t walk out like that, on her, again.

Adrien ran a hand through his hair.

“Marinette?” He spun on the spot, and she looked up.

“Thanks for… helping me with Madam Kleinstein. I was really out of my element.”

Real smooth, Agreste. Real smooth.

She giggled, and it was beautiful.

“You were the one who made the sale. I should be thanking you, but, I guess you did have a pretty great teacher.” She winked. “ But, yeah, it was… fun, working with you. I hope you’ll come by again.”

The words were confidence and his heart was hook-line-and-sinkered. Before he could stop himself, Adrien walked briskly towards Marinette and kissed her on the cheek. His actions caught up with his brain after a beat, and with the realization came with a rush of color to his face.

He smiled anyways, because that’s what this was all about. Marinette made him happy.

“Goodbye, Marinette.”

She took two shallow breaths, and he was happier than he should have been to see that she was blushing too.

“B-bye, Adrien.”

#miraculous ladybug #miraculers #tales of ladybug and cat noir #ladybug and chat noir #adrinette #adrien x marinette #marinette dupen-chang #marinette dupain-cheng #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #so many puns #miraculous fanfic #ml fanfic #ml fandom #fanfic #ao3fic #flowershop au

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