#Amelie is the only one who didn’t want kids and is also the only one who raised her son right. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sassyduckqueen · 3 years

Text

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 67

Firstly, I am sorry this took so long to do but it's finished now and hopefully it is a good read. Anyway, this was really fun and hard to write but I enjoyed it. I tried to make it quite light hearted compared to the others I've wrote recently and this officially marks the Lukanette part of the story. Like i know these two blueberries have been dancing around each other for a while but now they are finally on the same page on each other's feelings. However, Anatis won't be telling Lady Noir about it and vice versa. The reason is because they could work out each other's identities. Anatis thinks if he tells her, she realize he's is Luka from it as he wouldn't want to be with anyone else then Marinette and Lady Noir is still Marinette so she figures that if she tells him, he realize that both her and Marinette had the same thing happen to them at the same time and from that, he realize they are the same person. So I will be working on the Halloween Special for the Specials section and Crescendo next so I'm pretty excited about them XD

Also I changed Heureux Fin's powers a bit. He has a dust that turns people into fairytale characters that makes them not worry as a side effect. It can also change objects and places into fairytale scenery. Fairytale can shape-shift into fairytale creatures aka a fairy, a shadow and a wolf. It can also produce a dust in it's fairy form that turns Adrien's friends into the lost kids, making them think they were always lost kids while forgetting who they really are. Their canon hero names are inspiration for their lost kid names. For example, Kim is just monkey as a lost boy. Another reason why I decided to give it that power is because Neverland has that effected on the characters in the book.

Oh and for the fairytale characters that the characters became check the end notes :)

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

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Heureux Fin

~Agreste Manor~

"Thank you all for coming," Gabriel stated as he looked to his guests. Audrey and her husband were sat close to him on the right side of the tablet while Tomoe was sat next to him on the left. She was still gripping her cane. XY had come in place of his father and Amelie Graham de Vanily was sat opposite him. The only person who hadn't turned up was Alim Kubdel but this did not surprise him as Alim had walked away after the birth of his son. "As we all saw the temple of the miraculous has returned,"

"Is that why you called us here, Gabriel?" Audrey asked, making him look at her as she glanced at her nails. "I already did my part for the order,"

"Yes and your daughter was a wonderful contribution but now we must focus our efforts on the true goal of our organization," He stated, making almost all of them look at him. "Finding the mage's latest form,"

"We have been looking for years," Tomoe replied. "We even hoped our own children would be him reborn and when it wasn't the case, we gave up or did you forget that?"

"Of course, I remember that but I have reason to believe he must be here in Paris,"

"Why on earth would the mage come here?" Amelie asked with disgust. "This rat hole is not worthy of his presence,"

"Because of Hawkmoth," Gabriel stated, causing everyone to look at him. "Hawkmoth is currently misusing a miraculous and trying to steal more. It would make sense that this would draw the mage to Paris. In fact, I believe he might even be the one responsible for giving Anatis and Lady Noir their powers,"

"So you're saying the mage has already been reborn?!" Amelie gasped, standing up. Gabriel nodded in reply. "Well, that simply won't do! How are we suppose to control him now?! He could be older then all of us,"

"Relax, my dear. I have reason to be believe that he isn't that old," Gabriel replied, making her frown. "As for controlling him, there is plenty of ways to indoctrinate him into our way of thinking... as I'm sure Audrey will testify with her daughter,"

"Yes, Zoe is doing wonderfully at her current school. By the time she is 18, she'll be a perfect fit to take over my position as both the Style Queen and Queen of the underworld," She smirked, looking at her nails. "Shame that Chloe is such a broken child though... however, I'm surprised none of you decided to put your child into the program,"

"The Tsurugi family never let anyone dictate how they see the world," Tomoe declared, making Audrey frown deeply. "We are as elusive as the wind, as powerful as the flood, and as swift as lightning. We never let anyone rule our hearts or control us,"

"Yet you're one of the most controlling parents here," Audrey pointed out, making Tomoe frown. "So much for not letting anyone control you,"

"At least, my family understands honor," Tomoe retorted back. "Yours only understands money,"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Audrey laughed. "Money is power. We all know that,"

Gabriel clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention.

"As much as I would love to see this continue, let's focus on the subject at hand," Gabriel stated, making everyone look at him. It took a lot of mental strength for him not go to his secret garden and akumatize the room but having said that, they would make great akumas. He would even akumatize Amelie despite the fact that she was technically family. He cleared his mind of those thoughts as they began to talk about how to track down the mage's latest form and how they would take control of him. Of course, Gabriel had no intention of letting the others have him. No, he would take the mage for himself and akumatize him. He would be the perfect akuma to finally take down Anatis and Lady Noir. They wouldn't know what hit them.

~Feng's Hut~

"Su Han used the wish?!" Luka gasped, pushing his fingers through his hair. "Why? Why did he do that? Why did he kill Toutai?"

"Because he wanted the title," Feng replied, making Luka frown. "Su Han believed it was his destiny to become the Celestial guardian as soon as he found out about my existence but when Toutai was revealed to be my most recent incarnation, Su Han became jealous. That jealousy was left to fester and grew, turning into resentment as the years passed. It did not help that both were in love with the same woman,"

"Mulan," Luka muttered, causing Feng to nod.

"When she chose Toutai, it added salt to an already infected wound and the resentment that Su Han had for Toutai turned into a cold, deep hatred," He stated, making Luka frown. "From that, things just got worst. Thanks to his hatred, Su Han fell victim to the dark spirit I mentioned. This dark spirit influenced him with promises of power and his 'rightful' destiny. He tried to get Su Han to murder Toutai but when he wouldn't, he suggested using the wish to claim what he called Su Han's destiny but as you know, the wish requires a price in return for what you wish. Su Han wished to be the celestial guardian and so Toutai lost the title but even with the title, it didn't change that Toutai was the rightful guardian. Su Han only wished to be have the title. He should have wished to have been born as my reincarnation but he did not. He thought just having the title was enough. He thought that he would become the best celestial guardian there was and that Mulan would rush to his side as his bride. Of course, she didn't rush to his side and stuck with Toutai. The two of them intended to leave and rebuild else where but the dark spirit whispered in Su Han's ear, making him believe they intended to usurp him. He made a special dagger and confronted them but he did not expect Toutai to challenge him for his betrayal. They got into a fight and as a result, Toutai was murdered and the dark spirit was freed,"

"That's when he possessed Su Han," Luka stated, making Feng nod. "Tell me more about the dark spirit,"

"His name is Simme. He was born of humanity's cruelty and feeds off negative emotions. Feelings such as anger, jealousy and resentment are what he is drawn t. He is also drawn to those who's hearts are darker then others. Just been around him will bring these negative emotions to the surface but it goes much far then that," Feng replied, making Luka frown. "Simme is what the kwamis call Móguǐ or Devil in your tongue. He inspired the stories of Lucifer, Satan and most devil figures in mythology and religion. He is a trickster and a deal maker but those deals never go the way people want them to. They only work in his favor,"

"How did he get trapped?"

"Another spirit fought him and trapped him in Jīngshén, an area in the spirit realm," He replied, making Luka nod before he frowned. "Luka?"

"Wait... if he escaped from there and possessed Su Han at the temple..." Luka muttered as the color drained out of his face. "I restored the temple! That means he's back!!"

"Yes and no," Feng replied, making Luka frown. "Simme is a spirit, meaning it is rather difficult for him to interact with the physical world so while he is technically back, he can only do so much right now, especially with the fact that his host is weak... but should there be an event that creates enough negative emotion or if he was able to find a dark soul and use it as a host, it could be enough to allow him to break through the spiritual barriers and manifest a form in the physical world,"

"Great... wait what's a dark soul?" Luka asked, frowning.

"It's a form of a pure soul but one that is born pure evil," Feng replied. "It is rare but what's even rarer is a light soul, which is one born pure good. You see most souls are a mix of good and bad. It's very rare for someone to be born pure evil or pure good,"

"And I brought this thing back?!" Luka gasped, running his fingers through his hair. "I've made a huge mistake! I should have given up been Anatis and then-"

"Simme would have returned regardless of your choice. Whoever defeated Feast and cast the miraculous cure would have brought him back," Feng replied, making Luka at him. "But regardless, this is what was meant to happen and your choice has been made. You are Anatis and Simme is free but that doesn't mean you are helpless against him. As my reincarnation, you can use a spell to trap him back in Jīngshén,"

"Wait... I can?" Luka asked, making Feng nod. "How? I don't know magic... or at least not that type. Obviously, I know how to project my emotions... but casting spells... isn't that evil?"

"No, a spell is neither good nor bad. It is the intention of the caster that makes it either," Feng replied, making Luka nod. "As for learning, I can teach you. Of course, you won't be able to cast that spell yet. It is a very powerful spell and you must first learn to channel magic, which is why we have the tests,"

"Tests?" Luka asked, confused.

"Yes, tests," Feng replied, making Luka raise an eyebrow. "These tests are required to prove you are worthy of magic as well as the title of Celestial guardian,"

"Whoa, whoa... Celestial guardian?!" Luka gasped, making Feng chuckle. "I'm not celestial guardian material! I'm barely guardian material, Feng!"

"Becoming a celestial guardian is your destiny, Luka," He explained, making Luka frown. "Think of it as you are my heir and I beg to differ. You have already ticked a number of the boxes to becoming a celestial guardian and passed one of the tests,"

"I... have?" Luka asked, surprised.

"Yes," Feng nodded. "You lead a team of heroes, you have the trust of a civilization, you restored hope, the kwamis you have met love and respect you and you are willing to fight for the right. As for the test, you passed the test of determination... my test... when you continued to fight, despite having a chance to walk away. Whether you see it or not, you're on the path of becoming the next celestial guardian,"

"What do you mean your test?"

"Each test comes from our different lives," Feng replied, making Luka frown a little. "Me and Khnurn came up with them after he showed determination in saving Egypt despite having a strong dislike towards most humans,"

"...Why does he hate people?" Luka asked, making Feng sigh.

"It is not really my place to save but let's just say for now that Khnurn has seen how cruel humans can be," Feng replied, causing Luka to frown. "He'll tell you in his own time but for now, let me explain more about the tests,"

"Ok," Luka nodded. "Why is your test determination?"

"It is what I represent," Feng replied, making Luka give him a confused look. "Hmm... how to explain this? Well, I guess you could say we're the closest thing to a spirit a human can be,"

"Wait... that does mean we're not human?!" Luka gasped, concerned. Feng chuckled a little and shook his head.

"No, we're still human... we're just part spirit too," He replied, making Luka frown. "Well, you know Kwamis are born from concepts and Renlings are born from values. Well, spirits are born from traits,"

"Traits?" Luka echoed, making Feng nod. "I'm not sure I fully understand,"

"Ok," Feng replied, making a thinking face. "Well, a good example is Simme and his opposite,"

"His opposite?"

"All things have an opposite, Luka. Where there is light, there is always shadow and where there is evil, there is also good. The world is of balance and Simme is no different," Feng replied, making Luka blink as he stopped talking and took a drag from a pipe. He rose an eyebrow as he was certain that Feng didn't have it a moment ago. However, he blew smoke out of his mouth and to Luka's surprise, it formed shapes that resembled men. He frowned as he watched them hurt and kill each other as a new form shaped. It resembled a snake with a grin. "Simme was born from the cruelty in the hearts of man and as a result, he can influence it,"

Luka frowned as he watched the smoke snake whisper to the men, causing them to be cruel and evil but the smoke changed and showed a smoke person offering another food.

"But where there is cruelty, there is also kindness," Feng replied as Luka watched. "Not all humans are evil or cruel. There are kind and it was from this kindness, Simme's opposite was born,"

From the smoke people, a new shape formed but this one resembled a bird.

"Finni, the spirit of kindness.... you met him during the mob boss situation. It was him who guided you to safety," He replied, making Luka blink. He did remember seeing a bird but he had no idea it was a spirit. "And it is him that we owe our long lives and immortality to. He is why we are part spirit,"

The scene changed, showing a boy in a temple surrounded by others but what made them stand out was they didn't look solid. Instead, they appeared to transparent but the boy in the scene looked solid. Luka realized the boy was Feng.

"I was born with the gift of foresight and I have always been able to see spirits..." He replied as the smoke changed. It now showed the boy but he was alone in the temple while others whispered to each other. Luka knew they were whispering about him. "Other humans believed I was mad. Even my parents. I never fitted in and the other children thought I was weird,"

The scene changed to the boy, walking through a forest before he stumbled on the kwamis.

"Then one day, I met Tikki and the other kwamis. I invited them to live with me, finding that I had more in common with them then other humans," Feng replied as the scene showed him laughing and playing with them. However, the scene changed to him trying to tell his mother something during a thunderstorm. "But then I had a vision of death and war,"

The smoke changed to Feng talking to a girl in a village before it showed him running from her.

"I tried to warn my family but they did not believe me so I ran away," He replied as the smoke showed him going deep into a forest and crying to himself. As he did, the grinning snake approached him. "That's where I met Simme. He tried to tempt me into using my gifts for evil but I refused him and found Finni,"

The smoke showed an injured bird and Feng trying to heal him.

"I tried to help and my kindness saved his life but he was still weak. I took him home with me and for a small amount of time, I was happy again but my vision haunted me and one day, it came to be," The smoke changed into a scene of carnage as a village been attacked by men on horses. Luka covered his mouth in shock as he watched Feng been cut down then attacked by Simme. Before he could kill him, Finni flew in and attacked Simme to protect his friend. He used his magic to banish him, sending the snake away and tried to heal the boy's wounds with his tears. When that wasn't enough, he possessed a nearby body and lifted Feng into his arms. The smoke changed and showed Finni's host taking a dying Feng back to their temple and to the other spirits who surrounded the dying boy. The other kwamis and Finni discussed something and then the scene showed them surrounding him and singing as Finni turned into a ball of light before it covered the area. When it disappeared, the smoke showed Feng sit up, alive. Finni had sacrificed himself to heal him.

"That war drained Finni's power a lot and he used the last of it to merge his soul with mine and save my life," Feng explained, making Luka blink as the smoke showed Feng placing his hand where his heart was. "That was the moment I became the spirit of Determination. Up until the very end, I tried to warn my family of the attack and when Finni merged his soul with mine, it made me into a spirit... well, the closest thing to a spirit a human could be. That is why my test is the test of determination and each time I have been reborn, I became a new spirit with a new trait but the same soul. Each of my tests is based on those traits,"

"What is my trait?" Luka asked, looking at Feng. "Did you know straight away?"

"No... and I don't know what yours is either," Feng replied, making Luka frown. "But you will find out,"

"Can I know what the other tests will be?" Luka asked, making Feng nod.

"You will be tested on honesty, loyalty, courage and compassion," Feng replied, making Luka nod. "But I can not tell you when you'll be tested or how. Only that you will be and what their traits are,"

"Four tests? That's it?" Luka asked, a little surprised. "What happens if I pass them? I mean I don't feel any different from passing yours..."

"Oh, you are different since you passed mine. You're stronger and I know you felt it," Feng smiled, making Luka remember how he felt when he transformed after reclaiming his miraculous back. He had felt stronger. "As for rewards for passing, I can teach you how to farther your magic and how to channel mine. You also unlocked one of the locks,"

"Locks?" Luka asked as Feng gestured towards the door of the hut, the one that never opens. "There's locks on it?"

"Yes, five all together," Feng replied, making Luka blink. "One for each trait and once you have passed all of them, it will open the door, allowing you to join me and the others in Shangi-La both spiritual and physically,"

"Ok... cool..." Luka muttered, not entirely sure how to feel. "I am here physically?"

"No but this is still real," Feng replied, making Luka nod. "Anyway, do you understand spirits, our lives and the tests a bit better?"

"A little... yeah..." Luka admitted. It kind of did make sense. He had to admit he was interested in learning how to channel magic. "So you can teach me to channel your magic? Does that mean I can have visions? And will that help with learning to cast spells? Also what spells can we do? Is it like Harry Potter? Do I need a wand?"

"Luka, calm yourself," Feng stated, making him blink and grin in a sheepish manner. He did get a bit excited. "No, you don't need a wand. It isn't like Harry Potter. We can cast any spells but certain ones need certain things and power level so you'll be learning basic spells and yes, it will help with casting and you will be able to have visions but learning your own magic will help too and most things can be a spell. We just need to work out how you cast,"

"Ok!" Luka grinned, making Feng smile. While part of him was kind of weary of it, a bigger part of him was excited. After all, he just got told he could do actual magic and it wasn't like Issac was in his life anymore. He didn't need to be afraid of been a witch plus Feng had explained that it was his intention that determined what the magic actually was so as long as his intention was good, his magic would be too and this was a chance to learn more about his empathy. "When can we begin?"

"Now if you want,"

"Yes!!"

~A Few Days Later~

"Urg, I can't believe we're back at school," Alix groaned as a number of students walked back to the school grounds. Summer holidays were over now, meaning it was back to the humdrum routine of studying and akuma attacks but the children were back, heading to the school. Felix had returned from London and was talking to Aurora and Mireille while they waited for Jean to turn up. Nino and Alya were similar in the sense they were waiting for Adrien and Marinette. Nathaniel was already at the school and in the art room, discussing the new ideas for the comic that he and Marc came up with during the holidays. Marc was also there. Alix would have joined them but she wanted to wait for Kim and Max. Mylene and Ivan were stood with the others, waiting for Juleka, Rose and Luka. "Why couldn't the summer holidays last longer?!"

"We had two months off, Alix," Max stated as he walked up to her, making her groan before she grinned. "How was your holiday... other then... you know?"

"History Keepers," Alix replied, rolling her eyes. "It's been fairly good. Dad's still embarrassing and Jalil is still a history geek. When's Kim gonna be here?"

"Oh, he is currently stuck in traffic," Max replied, pushing up his glasses. "Mr Pigeon has been trying to get rid of cars. I'm surprised Alya isn't on the scene,"

"Eh," Alya shrugged, making Nino snigger. "It's Mr Pigeon's 60th time as an akuma and it will be over soon anyway. No one wants to watch that,"

As if on que, the miracle cure rushed throughout the city, fixing any issues the akuma had caused. The students grinned as they saw it before beginning to chat about the recent akumas and how Anatis and Lady Noir saved them. A few of them had been akumatized before going back to school. Nino had been one of them. He had been re-akumatized into the Bubbler as he wanted Summer to never end so he tried to get rid of the adults again to allow the summer holiday to continued. Fortunately, Anatis and Lady Noir had dealt with him pretty quickly. A few minutes after the cure had been cast, Juleka and Rose walked over, followed by Luka. At the same time, Marinette had rushed out of the bakery, holding a croissant in her mouth. She had ran over and hadn't seen Luka, who had been jogging to catch up with Rose and Juleka. The two of them knocked into each other and fell on the ground with Marinette landing on Luka. She jumped up and helped him up as he laughed it off.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have looked where I was going!" She gushed, making him chuckle.

"It's ok, Marinette," He replied, smiling before he pulled a face as a limo pulled up. "I was rushing too so I should have been more careful as well,"

"Did I miss something?" Adrien asked as he climbed out, followed by Kagami. He smiled at her as he held her hand, making her smile back as she linked their fingers together. Instantly, Marinette cooed at their action, making both Adrien and Kagami blush a little. Alix laughed and moved her arm around Marinette.

"Just Marinette and Luka falling for each other," She grinned, making both of them blush a little bit too. However, the mood soured as they heard the screech of none other then Lila Rossi. They all looked over as she waved at them before she walked up to them, instantly making a number of them feel uncomfortable.

"Hi everyone!" She grinned before turning to Luka. "Hi, Luka! I'm so glad you decided to take the restraining order off me! I hope we can be friends,"

"I didn't take it off. It was granted on a temporary basis and I'll be in court tomorrow afternoon to get it reinstated," He replied in a calm but cold voice. "So no, we won't be friends. Just because it is currently inactive doesn't mean you can come near me so I suggest you back off, Rossi,"

Lila gave him a look before huffing and walking over to Alya.

"Can you believe his attitude?" She asked, rather loudly. It was obviously to make Luka hear. He took a small breathe and ignored her, turning back to Marinette. "I just want to fix where we went wrong and he won't even give me a chance,"

"Lila, you didn't exactly treat him nicely," Alya muttered, making Luka roll his eyes. It was more then that. "I mean you kissed him without his permission,"

"I misread the situation!" Lila gasped.

"Still..." Alya stated as Nino started to berate her, saying it wasn't cool to kiss people even if she thought it was but Marinette took Luka's hand and led him inside the school, making him smile a little as they walked over to the benches. They took a seat as he let out a sigh.

"You ok?" She asked, making him nod. "How come the restraining order ran out?"

"The court granted it on a temporary basis," He sighed, making her frown. "If the problem still occurs, we can get a fresh one which we'll be doing tomorrow. I asked if we could get it renewed before but apparently it needs to run out first and they review the case before granting a fresh one which can take up to two weeks to grant depending how bad the case is. There is a chance they won't grant a second one against her,"

"They should," Marinette stated, taking his hand in hers as he looked at her. She gently moved his hair, causing him to close his eyes. "Are you sleeping ok? You look tired,"

"Hmm... my nightmares aren't as bad," He muttered before a yawn escaped him. "But I'm not getting a lot of restful sleep. Music's been on my mind,"

"Oh, you writing some new songs?" She asked, making him smile before he shook his head. "Oh?"

"I've been practicing for that violin contest," He admitted, making her grin.

"You're entering it?!" She gasped, clearly excited. "Wait but weren't auditions for it a couple of days ago?"

"Yeah... I'm just waiting to find out if I got through to the next stage," He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He hadn't even told his ma or Juleka that he had entered yet. He didn't want to disappoint them if he didn't get through. There had been a lot of entries for it and a lot of talent. Luka wasn't sure if he could get through to the next stage so he decided to keep quiet about it until he knew for certain. "I don't know if I'll get through and I don't want to disappoint anyone if I didn't so I figured I'd tell Ma, Juleka and you if I got through but I guess you know now... sorry for not mentioning it,"

"Hey, it's ok," She smiled, making him smile back. "I get why but you're gonna get through to the next stage and blow those judges away!"

"Thanks, Melody," He smiled as the first bell rang. "We better go to classes,"

The two of them got up and walked over to the locker room as the other kids headed inside. Luka completely ignored Lila, who shoot a glare at him when she thought no one was watching before he put his stuff in his locker and grabbed what he needed for his class. Once that was done, he locked his locker and headed over to Marinette's locker as she put her things in and grabbed what she needed. The two of them left the locker room with their friends and headed upstairs to their classes.

"See you at Lunch?" She asked, causing him to nod before she gently kissed his cheek, making him blush. He smiled dreamily at her as she waved to him before heading into her classroom. He turned and walked over to Mrs Mendeleiev's class as Aurora hooked her arm with his and grinned.

"So you and Mari are an item?!" She grinned, clearly excited. He blushed a little. "Oh you are, aren't you?!"

"W-We're taking it slow," He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Like we're not exclusively dating... just enjoying each other's company,"

"Oh my gosh! You're courting her!" Aurora grinned, making him blush as she giggled before she leaded against him as they joined the rest of their class. "I'm so proud! Our Lu is a true gentleman!!"

"Have you told her that you love her yet?" Mireille asked as Aurora let go of his arm and took her seat next to him. Luka rubbed his neck again. "You haven't, have you?"

"I mean we're taking it slow..." He mused, looking to the side. "And I know she likes me but I'm still unsure if it's just because I'm her friend or more... I'm probably just a friend to her..."

"More... it's definitely more," Marc stated, making everyone look at him. He was scribbling in his notebook but he looked up to address everyone. "She flutters to you like a bee to a flower... I would use a butterfly as an example but... akumas..."

"It's not their fault," Luka pointed out, making everyone look at him. "Hawkmoth uses the butterflies, just like he uses people,"

"Hmm... that is a good point," Marc smiled, writing something down. "Anyway, Marinette definitely likes you. She moves her hair, blushes and she also shows you her wrists and 'vulnerabilities'... which means she trusts you,"

"Trust and liking someone isn't the same thing," Luka pointed out but he couldn't help the smile on his face. He liked that she trusts him. "Still... it's nice that she trusts me,"

"She's also open with you, has a genuine look in her eye when she looks at you, she mirrors you a little bit and when you two talk, she leans towards you and acts like it is only the two of you in the world," Marc pointed out, making Luka blush. "All signs that at the very least, she has a crush on you,"

"How do you know this?" Luka asked, making Marc blush a little as he begin to fidget. "Not that it's a bad thing... I'm just curious,"

"I wanted to show that Lady Noir has feelings for Anatis in the comic so I researched body language for it plus it helps Nathaniel with expressions when he's drawing," Marc replied, playing with his hands. "I'm sorry if I crossed a line. I just think you should know that Marinette likes you a lot and definitely as more as a friend,"

"No, it's cool," Luka smiled before looking down. "I just guess... I like that she might like me but I'm just Luka so I guess I don't really see why..."

"Stop second guessing yourself, Couffaine," Felix stated, making everyone look at him. He was so quiet they had actually forgotten he was there. "Dupain-Cheng likes you. You like her so just date already,"

"Felix! Be nice!" Aurora gasped, causing him to give her a cheeky grin before she turned to Luka. "But he's right. Oh, you should ask her out on an actual date and make sure she knows it's a date date!"

"I don't know, Aurora..."

~Meanwhile in Miss Bustier's Class~

"You look happy," Alya grinned, making Marinette jump a little as she had been day-dreaming about watching Luka playing violin. Alya grinned, making Marinette look at her. "So you finally asked Luka out on a real date?"

"W-What?! No!" She blushed, covering her face with her hand. She wanted to but they were taking it slow. However, when she thought about it, she did want to been more then just what they were at the moment. She liked the idea of been his girlfriend. She liked the idea a lot. She really enjoyed going on their little dates and she had thought about kissing him a few times but hadn't done so because she wasn't sure if he wanted to. It seemed like he did but she didn't want to assume. She loved and respected him too much to do that. She looked up from her hands as Alya grinned at her. "I... I want to... but I'm not sure if he likes me like that. Like I know he likes me but I'm not sure if he likes me enough to want me to be his girlfriend,"

"But you want to be his girlfriend?" Alya asked as Rose gushed, leaning against Juleka who gave Marinette a small but happy smile. Everyone knew she shipped what they had dubbed 'Lukanette'. Marinette slowly nodded. "Girl, you need to ask him out,"

"I bet he would say yes!" Rose gushed, making Marinette blush even more.

"Luka definitely likes you," Mylene agreed as Alix rolled her eyes.

"I don't get the whole dating thing but you like him and he likes you then you should go for it," She added in, making Marinette smile. Even Chloe encouraged her in her own way. However, Lila kept to herself, digging her nails into her hands as she listened. She wanted to destroy Marinette and take everything from her but taking Luka from her will be really hard since he knows what she is like. Somehow, that freak had seen through her facade extremely quickly. Even Marinette hadn't seen through it straight away. It was only after Lila slipped up that Marinette had realized that she was lying and tried to expose her. As annoying as it was, Lila was partially glad because she couldn't stand the baker girl but she had to pretend to. Sure, she still had to pretend but before she couldn't do anything about it. Now, she could mess with her and that's exactly what she did. In fact, that's what she'll do. She might not be able to turn Luka onto her side but she could at the very least make Marinette asking him out impossible. Hell, Marinette or Luka might even get akumatized out of it. She could then claim that they hated her and it would be especially funny if Luka got akumatized. If it succeed, he would have to fight his friend for Hawkmoth and if it didn't... well, he'd be sick for a few days and out of her hair. She held back a smirk to herself as she pretended to listen to Miss Bustier. The day moved on and soon enough, it was lunch time. Marinette was getting her food and Lila was watching her, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Seeing Marinette walking towards the lunch table, she tried to trip her up but much to her annoyance that failed so she moved onto the next plan. She tried to get Marinette to call her out by saying something clearly false. Instead, Alya told her she didn't need to lie again and Marinette ignored her. She didn't even notice Nino rolling his eyes. After a few more attempts, she saw Luka walking in with his friends and annoyingly enough, his expression lit up when he saw Marinette. It was so obvious he had feelings for her that it sickened her. However, she also noticed a number of students looking at him. A few girls were looking at him with a dreamy expression but a couple of guys were glaring at him. Lila smirked as she saw one of the boys who she knew had a crush on Marinette, not that she understood why. She didn't know his name either and it didn't matter but luckily enough, he looked like Adrien and most of the school knew Marinette had a crush on a boy with blonde hair and green eyes. She could use that to ruin Marinette's chances with Luka by getting this boy involved. She excused herself from the table, not that Nino or Alya noticed and walked over to the boy. He looked up at her with mild surprise.

"Hi, I have a message from Marinette for you," She smiled, making him frown.

"Um... what is it?" He asked, a little confused.

"She asked me to tell you that she has a crush on you but is just too shy to ask you out," She stated, making him blink.

"Uh... isn't she with Couffaine?" He asked, making Lila mentally smirk. She knew they weren't together.

"Oh, no they're not actually dating," She stated, making him raise an eyebrow. "She sees him as a brother and really likes you,"

"Right... but aren't you that liar?" He asked, making her frown. "Doesn't Marinette hate you?"

"Look, I have an illness that makes me lie sometimes but I'm currently in therapy for it and it's helping so much," She replied, making him nod. "Besides, I don't lie about crushes and I want to make up for my behavior towards Marinette so I figured getting her with the guy she likes. Anyway, you should totally ask her out. I'm sure she'll say yes,"

"Well... I do like her..." He admitted, making Lila smirk. Though she morphed it into a friendly grin. He got up and walked over to Marinette, who was chatting to Luka. Lila returned back to her seat, just as Alya looked up and the guy talked to Marinette. He frowned as she gently let him down and asked her why she got her friend to tell him otherwise. Marinette looked at him confused as he pointed out Lila. She frowned and apologized to him before she walked over.

"Why did you tell that boy I like him?" She asked, crossing her arms. Lila gave her an innocent look.

"Oh, I thought you did," She gasped, making Marinette grit her teeth. "I'm so sorry. I thought that's who you were talking about in class today when you were saying about having a crush on a boy called Luke was it? Or was it Luka?"

Marinette's face went red as Lila gasped.

"Oh, no! I must have got the names mixed up," She gasped in fake regret. "I hope I didn't embarrass you! I was just trying to help you out... I mean you suffered so badly with your crush on Adrien that I didn't want you to suffer in the same way with your new crush but I should have known it was Luka you were crushing on. I just hope you're not stalking him like you-"

To everyone's surprise, Marinette slapped Lila across the face before storming out of the room. Lila held back a smirk but instantly started to cry. However, no one jumped to her defense. Instead, Luka rushed outside to check on Marinette and Alya leaned over to her as the rest of the room glared at her.

"Lila, girl, I know you were trying to help but you shouldn't have done that," She gasped, making Lila frown. "Everyone knows that Marinette has a thing for Luka and moved on from her crush on Adrien. You didn't need to lie to get her to ask Luka out. We don't do those sort of plans anymore,"

"O-oh, I thought it would be ok since you and the other girls have come up with plans like that before," Lila gasped, tears rolling down her face. "I didn't mean to embarrass her. I guess I deserved that slap..."

"Damn right!" Alix growled as the class glared daggers at her.

"I get it, Lila but Marinette was getting there," Alya replied, causing her to grip her fist. "It's not nice to reveal a crush like that and that poor guy... I get you were trying to encourage her but you shouldn't have told that other guy she liked him? What if he hadn't take no for answer?"

"Oh, no! I didn't think of that,"

"Yeah right," Nino muttered, making both Alya and Lila look at him in surprise. "It's clear you did all of that on purpose,"

"W-what? No!" Lila gasped as Alya looked shocked. "Why would I?"

"Because you hate Marinette and probably want Luka yourself," He pointed out, making her blink. She would have to be careful with Nino. "I mean all you do is lie. You lied to me about having a crush on Adrien, you framed Marinette and you lied about been friends with heroes,"

"Babe, that's enough," Alya gasped, making him look at her. "I get she lied but she's trying to be better and she did it to help Marinette, right Lila?"

"Of course," She lied, making Nino glare at her before he suddenly got up and walked off. Alya sighed and went to follow but Adrien stopped her.

"I'll go talk to him," He stated before walking away. Alya nodded and sat down as Lila mentally frowned. Her plan didn't go the way she wanted but at least, she embarrassed Marinette enough to make it awkward with Luka.

~The Art Room~

"Hey!" Adrien called out as Nino stormed in, slamming the door. He ran up to him and gently grabbed his arm. "Nino, calm down,"

"How can I?" He asked before sitting down and taking off his cap as he ran his hand over his head. "I had to say something, dude. I wasn't there for Marinette when Lila caused her to become Princess Justice. I actually believed her until Anatis exposed her and then this whole thing Alya still believing in her. It nearly drove us apart and I keep telling her that Lila isn't a nice person and is lying to hurt people but Alya still wants to see the best in her and I love that because it's sweet but it's wasted on someone like Lila. She doesn't want to be nice! She didn't do that to make amends with Marinette. She did that to hurt her and Alya can't or doesn't want to see that. I love her but she is acting dumb around Lila!"

"Whoa, it's ok, Nino," Adrien gasped, kneeling down as Nino tried to calm down. "I get it. You just want to look out for your friend and your girl. And someone like Lila is nasty but Alya has to realize that herself. You just need to be there for her when she does,"

"... you're right, dude," Nino replied, nodding. "I'm sorry... I just... I just don't want Lila to destroy her faith in people but I also know she needs to realize Lila isn't the person she thinks she is,"

"I know," Adrien stated, sitting next to him. "I wish I had realized sooner myself but if you want, I can try and talk to Alya bout Lila,"

"That be cool," Nino sighed. "I wish I had known before Anatis exposed her. I can't believe it took that for me to see the truth,"

"I know the feeling," Adrien sighed, looking down. "I never realized how damaging her lies could be before Anatis called her out... I really thought she was like a tabloid and that she was just doing it for attention but after he pointed out that she was hurting myself as well as others, I realized how damaging lies can be,"

"Yeah," Nino replied before he suddenly looked up. "Wait... Anatis called her out in front of you?"

"Y-Yeah, like a few hours before he exposed her online," Adrien replied. He was sure he had told Nino about that. "She had tried to claim she was a descendant of a superheroine and that Marinette had threatened her into blaming Chloe,"

"Y-You knew before the rest of us?" Nino asked, making Adrien frown. "Did you know before Anatis called her out? She use to claim that she knew Aspik and Ryuko and you always seemed to ignore that..."

"Well, I thought at first she was telling the truth but then she said something that I knew was a lie..." Adrien admitted, making Nino start at him. "I asked Nathalie about it and she just said to ignore her like a tabloid and that she would expose herself..."

"You knew and you didn't think to warn us? Me?!" Nino gasped, surprising Adrien. "Did you not think that we wouldn't realize?!"

"I honestly thought she would expose herself and I didn't think she would go so far," Adrien gasped as Nino looked at him with hurt, making him realize how wrong he had been. He should have exposed her straight away and he would if he could go back in time. "I'm sorry, Nino. I wish I had told you and the rest of the class. I could have saved everyone so much pain but I really thought she would expose herself and disappear like a tabloid paper,"

"Well, she didn't!" Nino gasped, pinching his nose. "God, Adrien! This isn't a fairytale! Things don't just randomly fix themselves! You should have told us! I... I don't know how I can trust you anymore..."

"Nino!" Adrien gasped, surprised but Nino walked out of the art room, causing Adrien to follow. "Nino, wait!"

Nino ignored him and kept walking, failing to notice the akuma and amok heading towards him but Adrien did. He gasped and suddenly pushed him out of the way, causing Nino to turn around in anger.

"What the- Adrien?" Nino gasped, feeling his anger melting away as he noticed Adrien gripping his head and stepping backwards towards the wall. A purple butterfly mask appeared around his eyes as he tried to fight off Hawkmoth's control. Nino gasped and reached out his hand as he realized that Adrien had taken an akuma meant for him. He gripped his shoulders as Adrien tried to fight off Hawkmoth's influence. "Adrien, dude! Fight him!"

"I'm not going to listen to you!" He gasped before groaning. "I won't be one of your puppets, Hawkmoth!"

"That's right, dude!" Nino gasped, trying to encourage him. "Think only positive thoughts! You've got this, Bro!"

"I won't do evil for you!" Adrien gasped but his eyes widen as Hawkmoth spoke to him. Nino slowly let go as he remembered what it was like giving into him. Hawkmoth had a way with words that made it seem like the greatest idea of all time. No one could resist for long, even Adrien and both of them knew it as Adrien's arms fell limp to his side. A single tear slid down his cheek as he gave one last look of desperation towards his friend. "N-Nino... run..."

"Adrien!" Nino gasped as the purple smog engulfed him and a small blue smog appeared next to him before it disappeared, revealing his akuma form. He actually didn't look much different or scary at all. His outfit had changed into a green tunic with leaves on his sleeves and he had matching green pants. Material shoes were on his feet and he had a dagger attached to his hip, along with a pan-flute. His hair was still blonde but it was messier in style and he had a green mask across his eyes. The only thing that he could see right now that was unusual was his ears that were now pointed. In fact, Adrien actually reminded Nino of Peter Pan. Nino stepped forward, unsure what to do but maybe he could find the akumatized item before Adrien did anything. He went to reach for him but Adrien snapped open his eyes, revealing that his scleras were now green and his irises "A-Adrien?"

"Not anymore," He replied, smiling as Nino stepped back in fear. Adrien took out a small bag and reached in it before taking his hand out and blowing the dust in Nino's face. His eyes rolled up into his head as he fell down onto the ground. A golden glow surrounded him as Adrien grinned. "Don't worry, Nino! You'll be seeing me soon... but first, I have a game to play! Come on, Fee!"

He flew up into the air and laughed happily before he flew off with his sentimonster following him.

~In the Courtyard~

"Marinette!" Luka gasped as he rushed out of the canteen after her. He frowned as he looked around but he couldn't see so he took a small breathe and closed his eyes, listening for the familiar song. He picked up on it and luckily it was close by so he followed it, coming to one of the staircases. He stopped and looked underneath. Hugging her knees while sitting underneath it was Marinette. He crawled next to her and sat down, making her look up from her knees. Her eyes were bloodshot and her tears were tear-stained. Luka gave her a soft look before he opened his arms. Instantly, she crawled into them and wrapped her arms around his torso as he hugged her. "Are you ok?"

"E-Embarrassed," She mumbled, looking up at him. "N-Not of my feelings for you but just how it came out... I don't make you uncomfortable, do I?"

"No, you don't," He replied, moving part of her hair out of her face. "If you did, I would have told you already but I like been with you. Lila was just been a bitch because she is a black hearted coward,"

"But... now you know I like you.." She mumbled, looking down as she pulled away.

"Well, I hope so... we have been going on dates with each other..."

"Yeah but only like small dates. They're practically friend dates," She mumbled, pressing her fingers together as she still felt embarrassed. She really liked Luka but she hoped he liked her but they were probably just really close friends... even though she wanted to be more. She would love to be his girlfriend but there's no way he would like her that much, especially after Lila's stun. "Lila meant that I like you... like really like you... and I'm sure you don't like me. I mean I'm sure you like me enough to go on a few small time dates but I don't think you like me as more then that. We're just friends... right?"

"Marinette... I-"

"Marinette! Luka!" Adrien's voice stated, causing Marinette to gasp and bring her hands to her face. Luka looked behind him as Adrien walked over. Before he could reach, Adrien suddenly blew a golden dust in his face, causing Luka to fall to the ground as he heard Marinette shout before he heard a thumb as well. He tried to look over and saw Marinette laying on the ground as Adrien grinned to him before he looked over at Luka. "Don't resist it, Luka! This is your happy ending!"

Luka felt himself getting heavily before he fell into darkness...

~Hawkmoth's Lair~

"Dusuu, fall my feathers," Mayura declared, turning back into Nathalie. As soon as she did, she felt dizzy and began to cough. Hawkmoth went to see if she was ok but to his surprise, she pushed him away. He gave her a puzzling look as he turned back into Gabriel. "I'm fine, sir... but why didn't you recall the akuma? Adrien-"

"It would have been too suspicious," He replied, making her frown. "That friend of his is the boyfriend of the lady blogger. If he tells her then she'll publish it and it will end up in Anatis' hand which could lead him to find out that I am Hawkmoth. I have managed to keep his investigations at bay but that would only fuel his belief that he is correct,"

"I see, Sir," Nathalie replied as they made their way back to the lift. It took them a few minutes but once they were back in his office, she took a glass of water and sat down. Gabriel frowned to himself as he began to work on designs while keeping an eye on the news. As soon as Anatis and Lady Noir were on the scene, he would transform back into Hawkmoth but right now, Heureux Fin was wreaking havoc across Paris so he might as well do some designs while observing the situation. It also gave Nathalie time to rest. He glanced over to the news as Heureux Fin burst into the news reporter. He transformed Alec into one of the ugly step-sisters and turned Nadja into a version of the boy who cried Wolf before he addressed the camera.

"People of Paris! I am Heureux Fin, bringer of happiness! I invite all of your to the grandest ball in the whole of Paris, brought you to by me and to be hosted at Agreste Manor!!" He declared, making both Nathalie and Gabriel to stare at the screen before he grinned and flew out.

"Wait what?!" Nathalie gasped before the doors suddenly burst opened and Heureux Fin flew in landing on the table.

"Father!" He declared, grinning as Gabriel stared at him. "We're having a grand ball and I've invited everyone in Paris!"

"Absolutely not," Gabriel declared but he regretted it. As soon as the words left his mouth, Heureux Fin's expression turned dark and his sentimonster, Fairytale, transformed into his shadow before it wrapped around Gabriel, trapping him in place. Nathalie jumped up in shock as Heureux Fin walked across the table towards his father. "Adrien, stop- hmm!"

The shadow covered his mouth.

"I'm not Adrien anymore! I'm Heureux Fin!" He declared, taking out his bag of dust. "We're having a grand ball and all of Paris is going to come whenever you like it or not!"

"Hmm!" He declared as Heureux Fin took a handful of dust and blew it in his face, causing his shadow to let go him as he fell to the floor and began to glow gold as well. Nathalie rushed over to the door but the shadow got there beforehand, causing her to back up from it. She felt a tap on her shoulder before she turned around. Heureux Fin was hovering right next to her.

"Adr-" She started but he grinned and blew the dust in her face, causing her to collapse to the floor as well. Heureux Fin turned to his shadow and grinned. "Go and bring our Princess Charming. She can help us set up the ball with her skill!! Oh and why you're at it, spread this all over Paris,"

The shadow grinned and nodded, turning back into it's fairy form before it took the pouch that Heureux Fin handed to it. He had already transformed those who he needed to. Now he just had to set up the ball. He was even willing to let the cat and the beetle come to the ball. Though he will take their miraculous from them before the clock strikes Midnight.

~Back to the School Yard~

"Luka!" A voice echoed as he slowly came around. He slowly blinked and opened his eyes, causing him to notice that he was laid on the ground. He slowly sat up and looked around as he recognized his surroundings as the school yard. Tikki flew in front of him and let out a sigh of relief. "You're ok,"

"What happened?" He asked as he looked around. He remembered been in the courtyard with Marinette. He was making sure she was ok after Lila pulled one of her tricks and was about to fully confess to her but then they got interrupted by Adrien, only he didn't look like himself. In fact, he looked like he had been akumatized. Luka's eyes widen as he looked around and saw Marinette was gone. "Where's Marinette?!"

"She was taken by something that looked like a shadow," Tikki stated, making Luka look at her. "I think your friend was akumatized.."

"We have to transform," He declared, standing up. "Tikki, sp-"

"Luka!" Juleka's voice echoed, making him stop and turn to Tikki. He went to open his hoodie, only to find that his clothes had changed. His new outfit resembled the waiter outfit Marinette had made him but it was more ragged and wore out. He blinked before pointing to his hair which was messier then usual. Tikki got the idea and hid in his hair as Juleka rushed over to him. Like himself, she was wearing a different outfit too. She was wearing a white dress with a blood red overcoat, matching red shoes and a ruby and gold circlet. Her hair was her natural color, which like himself was raven brown, almost black and her lips were blood red. As soon as he saw her, he realized she was suppose to be Snow White. Following her was Rose, who was wearing a pink dress in a style similar to Juleka's. "Are you ok?!"

"I'm alright," Luka admitted. "Just confused about the new outfit,"

"Oh, Luka must be Cinderella!" Rose gasped before yawning. Of course, she would be sleeping beauty. "Sorry!"

"What's that?" Juleka asked, making him frown and look down. She was pointing to a golden envelope on the floor, causing Luka to pick it up and opened it. "Well?"

"It's an invite to a ball at Agreste Castle," He stated, making him frown before he read it out. "Citizens of Paris, I, Heureux Fin, am throwing the finest ball in all of Paris! Everyone from all walks off lives are invited so they find their happy ending and forever after! Even the beetle and his cat are invited as long as they promise not to cause a fuss and hand over their miraculous! The ball starts at 7pm tonight at Agreste Manor..."

"That's in half an hour!" Rose gasped, making him blink as she yawned. "Sorry! I'm just really tired,"

"No worries, Rose," He replied before continuing to read. "The Dresscode is Fairytale theme. Though that shouldn't be a problem for anyone in Paris..."

Luka's eyes widen, along with Juleka's and before anyone could say anything else, the two of them had ran out of the school. They came to a stop as they looked around. There were a number of giant beanstalks, thorn bushes and trees, making them realize that Heureux Fin had transformed the city into something out of a fairytale. The Grand Paris hotel was now a huge castle, there was a number of smaller castles and huts around. To Luka's surprise, the bakery had been transformed into a tower. Luka rushed over and made his way inside, finding Tom and Sabine had been transformed into a king and queen. He wasn't sure what fairytale they were from but he was more concerned about Marinette. They looked up at him and rose an eyebrow at his outfit.

"I see you got hit as well," Sabine sighed, making him nod. "Are you ok? You look pale, dear,"

"Is Marinette here?" He asked, making the two shake their heads as they looked at him with worry. "She was with me at school but the akuma ambushed us and when I woke up, I was dressed like this and Marinette was gone,"

"We can help you look for her," Sabine stated, lifting her dress a little and following him outside with Tom. Luka nodded and led them to where Juleka was. He frowned as he noticed she was staring. He followed her look, causing him to stare at the floating ship. For a second, he thought it was Guard-O-War again until he realized it resembled the Liberty. A rope was thrown down and Anarka swung down, making them look at her. She was wearing a red captain's coat, black pants and boots but the most interesting thing was her right hand was replaced with a hook. She grinned at them.

"Ahoy, Me Hearties!" She grinned as a crocodile jumped down and landed next to her. Weirdly enough, they could hear ticking coming from it. "I see that scallywag hit ye all with his cursed magic,"

"I'm afraid so," Sabine answered as a puff of glitter appeared next to Anarka before it reformed into Penny. She was wearing a silvery suit, had fairy wings and was holding a wand. "Oh, Miss Penny, you look lovely,"

"Thank you," Penny smiled before turning to the kids. "Everyone ok?"

"Well, no one's hurt but we've all been turned into something out of a fairytale," Juleka muttered, gesturing towards the school where a giant version of Ivan stood. Luka rose an eyebrow as he smiled and waved at him. He waved back before turning to the others. "At least, Anatis will be able to fix this,"

"Have you seen Marinette, Penny?" He asked, making her frown as she made a thoughtful face.

"No but I have an idea where she might end up," She stated, making Luka raise an eyebrow. "At the ball. Everyone in Paris is invited and Marinette is friends with Adrien,"

"She's also the class representative," Rose gasped before yawning again.

"And she's the best at making parties and organizing things," Juleka pointed out, making Luka frown before his eyes widen.

"You don't think Adrien has taken her to help set up the ball, do you?" He asked, making everyone look at him.

"It makes sense," Penny stated, making him frown. "We should attend the party then,"

"Aye!" Anarka grinned as Penny cast a critical eye towards Luka, making him blink.

"Something wrong?" He asked, making her look in his eyes.

"Marinette would never forgive me if I let you go to a ball dressed in rags," She pointed, making him blink. "And since I've been turned into what is clearly the fairy godmother... it makes sense that I have the ability to do this,"

She waved her wand at Luka, causing a silver mist to move around him, causing him to shield his face as it changed his outfit. Once it disappeared, he lowered them and looked at his new outfit. He was now wearing a light blue vest with dark blue detail and silver buttons with matching light blue pants. There was a blue ruffle tie around his neck and he had a light blue gloves on his hands that only covered part of his hands and middle fingers. His boots were a dark crystal blue and sparkled like they were made from glass. Over his shirt, he had a silver tailcoat with a small amount of frills on it. It felt like it was made from the finest silk there was and his hair had been tidied up but remained in his normal style.

"Ok, now you can definitely go to the ball," Penny grinned, clearly enjoying herself. Luka would have to find a way to sneak away from them at some point during the ball so he could transform into Anatis but at least this way he could get in there without been spotted. Now just to get there. Maybe he could get close enough to Adrien to find out where the akumatized item is.

~Agreste Castle~

"Are you coming to the ball as well?" Luka asked as the ship came to a stop outside the castle. Penny looked over and shook her head as Anarka walked over and handed her a bottle of rum. "I'll take that as a no,"

"Well, I am a pirate, Lad," Anarka grinned. "We'll just wait here until Anatis fixes everything. Now go have fun at the ball!"

"Right," He smiled before Penny lowered a plank for them to walk. Juleka and Rose went first before Luka followed. He felt nervous as he walked through the gates with a number of other people that looked like something out of a fairytale. Once he had located Marinette and made sure she was fine, he would find a way to transform. While his mother was flying them to the castle, he took a moment to check on Tikki. Luckily, she hadn't been affected by the change of clothes but gushed over his outfit. She was now resting inside his jacket, waiting for him to find the perfect moment to transform. He hadn't seen anything on Lady Noir yet so he guessed she was in a similar situation to himself. He took a deep breathe and followed Juleka and Rose in. The ball room was the grandest room he had ever seen. It was clearly based on an enchanted forest and hundreds of people there including a number of his classmates. Luka rested his hands on the edge of the banister and kept himself hidden a little as he looked around and observed the room in his luck vision, noticing the amount of exits in the place before he turned his attention to the guests. Rose and Juleka had joined the others and started to dance but Luka was observing everyone. In the back of the room was two golden thrones. A woman dressed as a queen but with a pig's nose was sat one. Judging by the color of her hair, it was Gabriel's assistant Nathalie. He noticed a frog king sat next to her that looked a little bit moody and he suspected it had seen better days. Judging by the smirk on Nathalie's face when she looked at the frog, it was Gabriel. There were other fairytale themed characters to. A lot of the guests were transformed into one might reference to as stock characters such as royalty and witches but it seemed that Adrien's friends were themed around main characters from fairytales. There was a wooden puppet next to his maker, making Luka realize it was Max and Marvok as. Alya and Nino had been transformed into Beauty and the Beast only Alya was the beast. Kim resembled a mermaid and seemed to be holding something in his hand while he sat in a bathtub. That made Luka assume he was the Little Mermaid. Near him was Alix who was talking to Aurora. Both appeared to be characters from Alice in Wonderland. Alix was clearly the white rabbit and Aurora herself was Alice. They were also talking to Nathaniel, who was Red Riding Hood, Marc who looked like a warrior, Mireille... she was the blue fairy and Jean who was dressed as Aladdin. It took Luka a second but he realized Marc was Atreyu from the Neverending Story. He took a deep breathe as he looked over the remainder of the guests, hoping to find Marinette. The Bourgeois family were there. Audrey was the Queen of Hearts and Andre was the cowardly lion but Chloe was dressed in a beautiful dress that resembled a Swan. Clara Nightingale was nearby. She was dressed as Clara from the nutcracker by the looks of her dress and she was talking with Felix who resembled a pixie. In the far corner of the room was an old witch, which he realized was Lila. Luka wasn't surprised that she had been turned into that. He moved his eyes from her and scanned the rest of the room until his eyes landed on Marinette. She was dressed in a pink tail coat with a golden waist coat and matching pants. Her boots were dark brown and her hair was tied into a loose ponytail. She had a ruffle tie around her neck and a pink rose pinned into her hair. It was simple outfit but she looked very beautiful. However, she seemed to be look around. Her eyes moved over to where he was and a look of relief came onto her face as she saw him. A blush crept over his cheek as that look turned from relief to awe. She must have spotted his outfit. Alya was next to her and said something to her but she shook her head as Luka took a deep breathe and walked over to the staircase. He descended down them as Marinette pushed through the crowd, causing people to look at her as she moved over.

"Hi..." She smiled shyly as she met him at the bottom of the stairs. "You look amazing,"

"T-thanks..." He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck as well. "You look beautiful,"

"Really?" She asked, making him nod before she moved closer as if to inspect him. "I'm glad you're ok. I was really worried when I woke up and you weren't around. I thought Adrien had hurt you. He assured me that he didn't and that he needed my help to set up this. I was gonna post on the akuma alert app but Adrien seems harmless and the heroes haven't turned up yet,"

"I know," Luka replied, nodding. "I think they might be stuck in their civilian forms and haven't had the chance to escape yet,"

"That makes sense," Marinette replied, nodding before shrugging. "Oh, well,"

Luka nodded in reply and looked around as the music changed. It was the same song they danced to at Chloe's party and in the moonlight. He had a feeling Adrien was behind the song choice. Marinette smiled as she looked around too before Luka cleared his throat nervously.He knew he should make some excuse to get away so he can transform but it would just seem odd to just sneak off. Besides, Adrien seemed harmless as an akuma and he could fix everything later. He should be able to enjoy himself, especially since he was with Marinette.

"W-Would you like to dance? It's our song... You know... never mind it's stu-"

"Yes," She stated, making him look at her. "I would love to dance with you,"

Luka broke into a smile as she grabbed his hand and lead him to the dance floor. The two of them moved together, ignoring everyone else as they just danced and zoned out into their own little world. Luka couldn't help but smile when Marinette leaned against him as they swayed. The more they danced, the more a fog seem to cloud their mind, making them forget as they continued to enjoy each other's company. Around them, the same thing seemed to be happening to everyone else. Nino, who wanted to talk to Adrien and apologize to him, decided he could just do it later. After all, he was having a good time and it was thanks to Adrien. The other guests were the same. Aurdey didn't care what people thought about her, Chloe was complimenting Sabrina and others and Marc wasn't hiding behind his hair. He was laughing and happy. Lila was talking happily to people as if she wasn't a malicious witch. Her lies and fake personality forgotten by both herself and everyone else. Even Gabriel had forgotten that he was Hawkmoth and that he was after the miraculous to bring back his wife. Instead, he was sat in Nathalie's hand as they danced, all of their worries forgotten. Luka smiled as he swayed with Marinette. His own worries lifting away and been forgotten as they danced.

"I love you..." He whispered, making her suddenly look up at him with surprise in her eyes. A blush crept over his face as she searched his features. A smile broke through as she looked at him as well.

"I love you too," She stated, making him stare at her before he grinned like a love struck fool. She smiled back and gently leaned on her head against his shoulder again as they swayed. Luka smiled and pulled her a little closer to him as he rested his chin on top of her head before closing his eyes as they swayed on the spot with their friends grinning and whispering as they finally confessed their feelings for each other. However, their peace was short-lived as Heureux Fin flew in and landed on the stairs case, crowing as he did.

"Hello, Paris!!" He shouted, grinning before a fairy like creature flew over, trailing dust over everyone. "Let's get this party started!!"

He laughed and flew up into the air as everyone cheered before the party kicked into a swing. Everyone laughed and danced without a single care as the castle shifted into a real forest. A huge roaring fire was created in the middle, causing everyone to dance wildly around it including Heureux Fin. It was like something out of a fairytale with wild fae and characters dancing around. Sure, it would be a mess in the morning but Luka couldn't bring himself to care. Just like everyone else, he knew Lady Noir and Anatis would fix it, even if the heroes hadn't turned up yet but that didn't matter. Now was the time to have fun. The music changed into a fast paced song, causing everyone to clap and dance faster as the evening went on. Song after song, played and Viper laughed as he spun around arm in arm with Ladybug but he suddenly stopped when he saw someone standing in the crowd, watching. He let go out of Marinette's arm as he stared towards the figure but Carapace knocked into him, making him look over.

"Everyone ok, dude?" He asked as Viper blinked.

"Oh, I thought I saw someone over there," He replied, looking over again but the person was gone. "Huh... guess they went away,"

"Ah don't worry too much!" Carapace laughed, joining the party again as he howled and danced around the fire with Rena and the others. Frowning to himself, Viper glanced over to where the person had been. He felt like he knew that person and something had changed but he couldn't place his mind on it. He shrugged and turned around to dance again but something inside his mind niggled at him. Something felt wrong. Very wrong but he didn't know what it was. It just felt like he had forgotten something. He groaned a little as he felt his head ache and very slowly, the fog began to lift. It still wasn't clear what he had forgotten but it was definitely something. He moved to the side and sat down as he held his head. Ladybug moved over and leaned down in front of him. He looked up at her and frowned. Was she always dressed similar to Rena? For some reason, he was sure she was dressed as a princess before.

"Hey, you ok?" She asked, making him look over. "You look pale,"

"My head hurts," He replied, frowning. She frowned back and sat next to him, gently rubbing his back. "I feel like I've forgotten something important,"

"Really?" She asked. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know," He replied, looking down. He frowned as he noticed his outfit had changed as well. Like Rena, Carapace and Ladybug, he was dressed in what he could only described as ragged clothing. He was in a teal green tunic with dark teal breeches and material shoes but he was certain he hadn't been wearing it before hand. He was sure he had been wearing something similar to Cinderella. That's what his fairy godmother put him in. Wait... not his fairy godmother but Penny! His eyes widen as he remembered her and his family. She had been transformed into the fairy godmother and his mother had been transformed into Captain Hook by an akuma. His eyes widen even more as he remembered Juleka and Rose. They were Snow White and Sleeping Beauty respectively and Marinette... Marinette had been Princess Charming. He glanced over and saw Rose and Juleka dancing by the fire. They were dancing as if there was no care in the world. He turned to look to Marinette, who was looked at him with worry and fear. He stood up as she watched him. "There's an akuma.. we have to get out of here,"

"What's an akuma?" She asked, confused before gasping. "It is to do with that nasty pirate-"

"Marinette, listen to me," He gasped, cupping her face. "Do you remember who your parents are?"

"I don't have any, silly and my name is Ladybug," She giggled, making him frown. "We're the lost kids, remember? Part of Fin's crew. We never grow up and we get to play all the time. You know that, Viper,"

"Viper?" He asked, frowning.

"It's your name," She giggled, tapping the side of his head. "You came here with Tigress and Pigella,"

"Tigress and Pigella?" He asked, causing her to point to Juleka and Rose. He frowned and shook his head before gently grabbing her shoulders. "Listen to me. None of this is real. It's the effect of the akuma,"

"Viper, you're scar-"

"My name isn't Viper, it's Luka," He gasped, making her frown. "And your name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Your parents are Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng. You're 15 years old and a fashion designer..."

"This game isn't funny, Viper,"

"It's not a game," He gasped before he took a deep breathe. Something told him he needed to wake her up as well. "Remember what I said to you just before Kitty Section played live. You are an extraordinary girl, Marinette. Clear as a music note, sincere as a melody. You have been the song I hear in my head since we first met..."

Recognition flowed into Marinette's eyes as the fog began to lift for her. She gasped and looked around, panicked.

"Luka?" She gasped, making him let out a sigh of relief. "What happened? My mind feels foggy and confused,"

"There's an akuma but I can't remember everything. I just know we need to get out now," He gasped, grabbing her hand and leading her away from the fire. Everyone else was having too much fun to notice. The farther they got away from the fire and the others, the clearer their minds got until they fully remembered everything including that they are heroes and that they needed a chance to escape and transform. Luka turned to Marinette, making her look at him. "I'm going to see if I can find Anatis. He might have been affected by the spell as well,"

"Right," She nodded. "I should find Lady Noir as well,"

He nodded before they were their separate ways. He slipped into the garden and hid behind a rose bush before letting Tikki out. He found her in his pocket asleep. He poked her and woke her up, making her yawn.

"Luka?" She asked, making him slight in relief. "What happened?"

"You feel asleep and I fell under the akuma's spell but now it's time to rewrite this story," He stated, making her nod before he swiped his earrings and transformed into Anatis. The rest of the fog completely cleared. He took out his yoyo and made his way back into the forest to fight Heureux Fin. He spun his yoyo when he came to the fire as all of the 'lost kids' looked at him with annoyed expressions. Heureux Fin got up from his throne and flew over, landing in front of him.

"So you finally turned up, Bugboy," He declared, glaring at him as the lost kids sneered and shouted. "You know I'm just trying to let people have fun and helped everyone get their happy endings,"

"By forcing them to forget who they are?" Anatis replied back, shaking his head. "That isn't how to help people... Adrien,"

"My name is Heureux Fin!" He shouted back, taking to the air. "Besides, you can't catch me! Unlike me, you can't fly,"

"He might not be able to fly but he isn't alone!" A voice shouted, causing Heureux Fin to look behind him as Lady Noir jumped on him. He managed to throw her off, causing her to land next to Anatis. "Got a plan?"

"Not yet," He replied as Heureux Fin laughed and taunted them. "We need to ground him so we can find the akuma,"

"Ok,"

"You can't catch me!" Heureux Fin shouted before whistling. The fairy like creature flew over to him. "Fairytale, deal with this losers!"

Fairytale turned into a giant wolf and landed on the ground, making Anatis and Lady Noir stare at it.

"Great, he has a sentimonster," Lady Noir gasped as the wolf changed at her. She hit it with her baton as Anatis threw up his yoyo and summoned his lucky charm, which was a shoe and a sock. Anatis rose an eyebrow at it with confusion but before he could work it out, Heureux Fin tried to grab it off him. He jumped out of the way and stepped back, dropping the sock in the process. However, he was grabbed by the lost kids as Lady Noir was knocked back by the sentimonster. Anatis struggled against the lost kids as Heureux Fin flew over.

"Now we can finally finding out who's behind that mask," He stated, reaching for his earrings. Anatis' luck vision kicked in, highlighting Heureux Fin himself, the shoe and the trees as a plan formed in his head.

"None of this is real!" Anatis suddenly shouted, making Heureux Fin stop reaching for his earrings. "It's all a lie created by your powers. You're not Heureux Fin, you're Adrien Agreste! And this isn't a forest!"

"You're lying!" Heureux Fin shouted but he lowered closer to the ground again, causing the lost kids to look at him with a little confusion. Seeing his chance, Anatis yanked him self free and threw the shoe, causing everyone to gasp it flew towards tree tops. Heureux Fin gasped and went to fly after it but Anatis stopped him, using his yoyo. The shoe hit the top, shattering one of the skylights before it fell down with shattered glass. The lost kids gasped and realization appeared in their eyes, causing Heureux Fin to realize. He fell down to the ground, allowing Anatis to recall his yoyo. Heureux Fin yelled out and charged at him but before he could hit, Lady Noir got the upper hand on the Sentimonster and threw it into him, causing it to fall on top of him before Anatis threw his yoyo, tying Heureux Fin and the Sentimonster to one of the trees with his yoyo. "Let me go!! Fairytale, atta- hmm!"

To everyone's surprise, Nino shoved the lucky charm sock into Heureux Fin's mouth, cutting him off and causing Heureux Fin to look at him in surprise and slight betrayal.

"I'm sorry, Adrien," He stated, taking the ring off and turning to Anatis, holding it out to him. "The akuma and the amok are in there. He took them to stop me from been the victim,"

"Thank you, Nino," Anatis replied, taking the ring. "Kitten, would you mind?"

"Cataclysm!" She called as he flipped the ring, tossing it towards her. She caught it and it rushed in her grip, causing the akuma and the amok to escape. Anatis recalled his yoyo, causing Heureux Fin to fall to his knees as Fairytale disappeared in blue smog before he threw out his yoyo and captured the akuma and the amok in it before releasing them. Lady Noir picked the shoe and handed it to him, causing him to smile as he took it. "Should I get the sock as well?"

"The shoe will work fine," He replied before tossing it up in the air again. "Miraculous Ladybugs!!"

The shoe burst into the cure and spreaded throughout the forest, getting rid of the trees and fire as it turned back into Agreste Manor. It washed over the party guests, turning them back to normal and restoring them to where they had been originally before bursting through the windows and spreading across Paris, turning it back into the city they loved. Heureux Fin turned back into Adrien and looked up confused as the heroes fist-bumped each other. Gabriel and Nathalie also looked around confused.

"How did I get here?" He asked, confused before he noticed them. His eyes widen in realization and dread. "Oh, no! I was akumatized, wasn't I?"

"Yes but I know you took it to stop Nino from been the akuma," Anatis stated, helping him to his feet as Adrien stammered an apology, "No need for an apology, Adrien,"

"But I hurt people!" He gasped, making the heroes look at each other. "I did hurt people, didn't I?"

"Adrien, you threw a massive party and turned people into fairytale characters," Lady Noir explained. "The most trouble you caused was causing them to forget their troubles. You didn't hurt anyone,"

"But Nino... he must hate me," Adrien groaned, covering his face. Anatis frowned. "I... I should have never trusted Lila! All she does is hurt people and she upset my friend Marinette and Nino got upset with Alya because even though she told Lila off, she thought Lila was trying to help and fit in, just like I did. I offered to talk to her, to help her see the error of her ways like I did but in the process, Nino discovered I knew about Lila before anyone else and got upset that I didn't tell him like I should have!! I upset him and I saw an akuma coming for him! I couldn't let him down or fail to protect him again so I pushed him out of the way but the akuma and amok got in my ring and I tried to resist I swear. I-"

"Adrien, calm down," Anatis stated, making him look at him. "Yes, you made a mistake with the whole Lila thing but that doesn't make you a bad friend. Talk to Nino and get him to help you with understanding social situations. None of this would have happened if you were taught how to interact with people your age and allowed to interact with them,"

He shoot a look toward Gabriel, who looked at him with shock.

"How dare you suggest that I'm the cause for this?!" Gabriel gasped. Anatis was ready to chew him out but to everyone's surprise, Nathalie stepped forward.

"Anatis is actually correct, sir," She stated, making Gabriel look at her. "While his grades are excellent, he does lack in understanding normal social situations due to his isolated upbringing,"

She turned to look at Anatis.

"Which is we will work on," She stated, making him nod before she lead Adrien out, promising to get him some ice cream and to clear his schedule for a couple of days. Both Gabriel and Anatis stared in surprise as she lead him out before Gabriel turned to Anatis and held out his hand.

"A thank you is in order," He stated as Anatis looked at it with distrust. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm sure you saw how I call out a number of people for their behavior," He stated, making Gabriel retract his hand. "Well, you're heading to the top of the list, Mr Agreste. Adrien isn't some puppet or property. He is your son and if you keep going down this path you have chosen, you're gonna end up losing him forever,"

"Is that a threat, Anatis?" Gabriel asked. He was certain the young hero didn't know he was Hawkmoth but he suspected the boy still suspected him. "Or a promise?"

"Neither, Mr Agreste," He replied, making him raise an eyebrow. "It's a warning and if I were you, sir, I would heed it. Let's go, Kitten,"

The two heroes walked out of the door, making Mr Agreste frown in a dark manner.

"Soon enough, Anatis, I will crush you like the insect you are,"

~A Couple of Days Later~

"So Adrien's schedule is been relaxed a little bit and he's asked me to help him to understand social ques," Nino explained as he and Marinette walked up to the school. "Though he won't be back in school for a couple of more days. Apparently, Nathalie is letting him have sweets and watch whatever he wants,"

"That's good," Marinette replied before seeing Luka sat on one of the benches, listening to music. "Hey, would you mind going ahead? I need to do something,"

"Sure thing, dudette," Nino smiled as he saw her looking at Luka. He grinned. "Go get him, tiger,"

"Nino!" She gasped, blushing as he laughed and walked off. Licking her lips, she began to walk over. Since been restored, she hadn't had a chance to talk to Luka. She had tried to text him but he barely answered and she had a feeling is because of the party. She wasn't sure if it was the affect of Heureux Fin but Luka had said he loved her and she told him she loved him back. She did but she wasn't sure if he knew if she was been sincere. She had a feeling that he thought it was because of the effects of the akuma and in a way, she thought that might be the case as well. She stopped in front of him, making him jump a little and take out his headphones. "Hi..."

"Hey," He stated, looking down at his hands. "Um... how is everything..."

"G-Good," She mumbled, feeling her face heat up as he looked up at her. "How are you?"

"I'm... good..." He muttered, though he didn't seem ok. In fact, he seemed surprised. Marinette rose an eyebrow. "I... I got through to the next stage for the music contest..."

"Oh my gosh! That's great!" She gasped, going to hug him but she stopped and rubbed her neck, making him frown. "Sorry,"

"It's fine," He replied, making her smile. "But are you ok?"

"Um... actually, I wanted to talk to you about... the party and what you said..."

"Oh god," He muttered, making her frown as he looked down in embarrassment. "Marinette, I am so sorry... I don't know what came over me with that. I know you don't like me in that way at all. I mean if you did, you probably would said already and you're out of my league anyway. I mean why on earth would a beautiful symphony like you want to be with a sour note like myself? You deserve better then me..."

Marinette frowned as he looked down before a wave of clarity came over her. Luka didn't think she meant it but not because he didn't love her. He did but because he thought he wasn't good enough for her.

"Luka," She stated, making him look at him. "You're an idiot,"

"That's mean, Melody," He stated, making her giggle "Why am I an idiot?"

"Because I like you," She stated, making him blink at her in surprise. "I meant what I said during the party. You're amazing, funny, brave and creative. You mean everything to me and I'm so sorry it took me a while to realize it. I was so blinded by my crush on Adrien that I didn't even consider that someone else could be the one I want to be with but with you... there isn't any of that. Everything is so easy and simple with you. I don't feel like I have to be something I'm not. When I'm with you, I'm happy. Luka, I know I'm not perfect. I'm clumsy, stupid and I'm sure there's tons of girls that are way better then me but... I like you, Luka as more then a friend. I really like you and I..."

She took a deep breathe.

"I want to be your girlfriend," Luka's mind went completely blank as her words sank in. Marinette... liked him. Like actually liked him in the same way he liked her and she wanted to be his girlfriend. Marinette, the most beautiful girl in the world, wanted to be his girlfriend. He must be dreaming. There's no way this could be real but when he looked up at her, she was still there and he hadn't answered yet. He needed to say something before she thought he didn't like her. He opened his mouth as she looked down. taking his silence for rejection but before she could get up and leave, Luka gently took her hand, making her look at him. The way he was looking at her made her cheeks heat up.

"I don't think you're clumsy or stupid. I actually think you're brilliant, beautiful and gifted," He stated, making her cheek heat up even more. "And there might be tons of other girls but they don't hold a candle to you. Marinette, I meant what I said when I said you were the song in my head. I still mean it and I always will. I... I love you..."

"Luka..." She gasped, blushing. "I-Is that a yes to been my boyfriend then?"

"Yes, it is," He smiled before blushing as well. "I-If you'll have me that is. I mean I'm not perfect and I'm certain gonna mess up but I love you and if you'll have me, I want to be your boyfriend..."

"Yes, absolutely!" She gasped, making him blush. "Sorry, too much?"

"N-No... I like your enthusiasm," He replied, causing her to squeak and throw her arms around him in a hug, making him chuckle and hug back as the bell rang. "We should go to class,"

"Ok but meet me at lunch! I want to spend it with my boyfriend and hear about the contest! Ah, I can't believe I can say that!!" She grinned, making Luka smile back. Her song was louder then it had ever been. The second bell rang and she jumped. "Right! Gotta go!! See you at lunch!!"

She blew a kiss at him before running off to her class, making him smile dreamily before he headed to his own lesson. He couldn't wait for lunch.

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

Miss Bustier’s Class:

Marinette- Princess Charming/Ladybug Nino- Belle/Carapace Alya- The Beast/Rena Nathaniel- Little Red Riding Hood/Red Rose- Sleeping Beauty/Pigella Juleka- Snow White/Tigress Ivan- The BFG Mylene- Little Princess Max- Geppetto/Pegasus Marvok- Pinocchio Kim- The Little Mermaid/Monkey Alix- The White Rabbit/Bunny Sabrina- Rapunzel Chloe- The Ugly Ducking/Swan Princess/Bee Lila- The Evil Queen/Hag Miss Bustier- Mrs Darling

Mrs Mendeleiev's Class

Felix- Rumpstileskin/Chat Luka- Cinderella/Viper Kagami- Puss in Boots/Dragon Marc- Atreu (Neverending story)/Horns Aurora- Alice Liddle Mireille- Blue Fairy Jean- Aladdin Ondine- Thumbelina Mrs Mendeleiev- Unaffected

Other Characters:

Audrey Bourgeois- Queen of Hearts Andre Bourgeois- The Cowardly Lion Nathalie- The Pig-faced Princess Gabriel Agreste- The Frog King Anarka- Captain Hook (didn’t attend the party) Jagged- Tick-Tock (didn’t attend the party) Clara Nightingale- Clara from Nutcracker Penny Rolling- Fairy Godmother (didn’t attend the party) Jean (Butler)- Knave of Hearts Mr Damocles- the Piped Piper Nadja Chamack- The Woman who cried Wolf Gorilla- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Officer Roger- The Huntsman (didn’t attend the party) Master Fu- Wizard Of Oz (didn’t attend the party) Master Mila- Snow Queen (didn’t attend the party) Tomoe- Mother Gothel (didn’t attend the party) Emile- The White Queen (didn’t attend the party)

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

Next Chapter: Coming Soon

28 notes · View notes

moonlightchild-otome · 3 years

Text

the real story of amélie from arthur’s route

hey hey! it’s been a long time! i have been quite busy these past weeks with finals and the summer break.

i also want to start writing hcs, so if you have any requests don’t hesitate to send them to me!

today i wanted to write about a story that i read not too long ago that really coincides with the evil character of amelie in arthur’s route.

a lot of people might have actually already heard of it, she is known as history’s most cruel murderer.

the person we are going to talk about lived in the period of victorian england and was sometimes suspected to have a link with jack the ripper, the serial killer who terrorized the inhabitants of whitechapel.

in other words, she is called the ogress of reading or the victorian ogress and the trial of these murders has been the subject of much attention, especially because she preyed on very young children. Let me tell you the terrifying story of a monster who disguised herself as a warm and loving mother figure

the story of the infamous amelia elisabeth dyer

an ordinary family

our story begins in 1836 in the port city of bristol in england. the hobley family welcomes the arrival of a fifth child, a lovely little girl called amelia elisabeth. the little amelia is very lucky, in a time when poverty reigns in the united kingdom she knows a respectable education, learns to read and to love poetry. however the luck ends quickly as amelia’ mother caught typhus, an illness that showed her a lot of psychological problems. amelia had to take care of her mother until she passes away from her illness. after her mother’s death, the girl loses contact with most of her family members. meanwhile, amelia starts seeing george thomas, a 59 year old man, much older than her, who was only 25 at the time (long live the sugar daddies!). they planned to get married and to avoid gossip, they both lied about their date of birth on the day of the ceremony. (amelia pretended that she was 32 and george 48)

during her marriage, amelia learned to be a nurse but she doesn't have time to forge a real career as her husband dies leaving her alone with their children who are still very young. it's already not easy to raise a child alone nowadays but imagine what it was like at that time when england was in the middle of the victorian period, the industrial revolution changed the shape of the cities and saw the emergence of new social classes. in london and other major british cities, poverty has invaded the neighborhoods and the poor have few options to get by. some live in workhouses which reduce them more or less in slavery for a mouthful of bread while others choose criminality to support themselves.

however, amelia remembers ellen dane, a midwife in her building with whom she got along quite. she had told her that to earn more money she had become a baby farmer.

it is a profession which does not exist any more today but was rather widespread in the 19th century. now, it should not be forgotten that this england inherited puritanism and considered that to have a child out of marriage was a horrible sin. if that came to be known, the young women concerned risked big and could lose their reputation and their work. especially that, at that time, one did not consider that the father had a role to play in the event of unwanted pregnancy. also, it was obviously out of question to abort except clandestinely which was at the same time illegal and very dangerous. all that to say that when an unwanted child came to the world most women preferred to give it up rather than risk public humiliation. but abandonment was also illegal, and none of them wanted to risk the death penalty if their actions came public. this is precisely where the baby farmers intervene. when a woman fell pregnant and did not want to keep the child, she had to put an ad in the newspapers and leave her child to a farmer.the baby would be taken care of and fed until the farm finds a new family. it was a sort of clandestine human trafficking, and sometimes the farmers even housed the mothers in their homes during their pregnancy in order to hide their big bellies.

the birth of the monster

soon, the ogress settles in reading close to london and publishes advertisements where she presents herself as a respectable woman to marry, capable of providing a healthy environment and filled with affection to the children that she intends to collect like the other farmers. she asks for money to be able to look after them. amelia quickly realizes that it is much more profitable to keep the money rather than to use it for feeding and educating the children. and so little by little the treatments that she inflicts on the children become more and more dire (spoiler: she doesn’t take care of them anymore). and even worse, she even drugs the children to prevent them from crying because of hunger. the kids often die of malnutrition and infantile diseases. it is absolutely terrible and yet it is far from being unusual, in fact orphans were very often victims of abuse and many of the baby farmers were far from being trustworthy people. a lot took advantage of the distress of the mothers ready to do anything to keep their secret and these so-called “baby farmers” would leave the children to die in order to pocket the money without any effort. when the mothers asked for news of their children, they often got no answer and when a family wanted to get a child back, the farmer gave them another one instead.

amelia very quickly became addicted to the drugs she used on the children as she couldn’t stand the crying and the presence of the orphans anymore. she decides to move on to a more radical option: directly eliminating the children she is entrusted with.

at first, she will choose to poison them and claim an infantile disease, but the doctor who came to attest the death of the infants shows himself a little suspicious (at the same time, she gives him a case every week or so :/). in short, the guy warned the authorities so that they could investigate on amelia. but no luck, she manages to get away with negligence with a simple sentence of forced labor. and moreover, she decided to opt for a more brutal method for her future murders. that is to say, she was going to strangle them as soon as she was allowed to keep them, pocket the money and look for a new child to start all over again. and this will go on for years, sometimes at the rate of six babies a day, no need to declare the deaths, she got rid of them herself, wrapping them in cloth or old clothes, and then she left to burn them in an isolated place to hide them or throw them in the thames. and when she felt that the authorities could trace the dead children back to her, she simulates a nervous breakdown and suicidal desires and runs off to a psychiatric hospital. she even tried to kill herself once by overdosing to escape an overly suspicious mother who was asking for her child. except that by consuming opiates she had become hyper resistant and the dose that she took was not enough to kill her. she then moved often and took on different identities to prevent the police from finding her and understanding who she really was and this little merry-go-round worked for a long time, a very long time, even, but not indefinitely...

ambush and arrest

in january 1896, a waitress named evelyna marmon gave birth to an illegitimate daughter named doris. she was looking for someone to take care of her and very soon she came across the ad of a certain mrs. harding who wrote "married couple, without children, want to adopt a child in good health in a beautiful country house, price: 10£”. necessarily for this young mother, it is a godsend and the two women contact each other. and here is what mrs. harding replied, "I would be happy to have a dear little girl, one that I will be able to raise like my own. we are a united couple of fairly good conditions. I do not want a child for the lure of gain but to accompany the comfort of the house. my husband and I love children but we do not have any. with me, this child will have a good house as well as all the love of a mother". at this stage you can guess that mrs. harding is in fact amelia dyer who took a false name and who continued with her macabre activities. doris gets taken from the waitress by “mrs. harding” who confirms by letter that the child is doing well, after that she doesn’t give any more news. spoiler: the child did not have more than a few hours to live. once the crime is committed, because yes, it’s done already. amelia covers the body of doris with another child in fabric and travels to the edge of the thames to throw them under the eyes of a man who seemed to observe her but who didn’t address a word to her.

in this kind of case, one wonders “where tf is the police??” well they were on the point of starting a very interesting investigation... on march 30th 1896, the police force finds the lifeless body of helena fry, a baby of hardly 15 months who floated on the waters of the river wrapped in a brown cloth. for the authorities, it is obviously a murder since the child was strangled. they later found on the cloth, a half erased writing which resembles an address. this address is amélia’s, who is now 58 years old; the police then trace her and set up a trap.

basically what they did was to use a young woman as a cover, she pretended to need a farmer to look after her child and as expected it was amelia who answered her directly. so that's how the police organized an ambush at the murderer's house. what first shocked the policemen was especially the unbearable smell which reigned in the house because of the decomposition of certain corpses, they also found meters of edging tape which she used to strangle her victims, and also telegrams testifying of all the adoptions made as well as letters of mothers who asked for news of their children. so yes, there is a lot of evidence to charge her for, especially as they found at least seven more bodies by dredging the thames after her arrest. the bodies clearly had a white mark around their neck probably because of the tape she used to kill the children with. we also know that about twenty children under her care at that time were missing but for the rest it's impossible to know the exact number of amelia's victims. in fact, it is estimated that in 20 years she would have killed between 200 and 400 newborn babies, that's why she is said to be the most prolific serial killer in history.

her sentence and death

in spite of this very important number of victims amelia will be accused for only one crime, the one of the little doris. except that she very quickly confessed a quantity of other murders and tried to commit suicide twice while she was incarcerated. the defense pleaded madness and because she had spent time in asylum the doctors that she had managed to manipulate were able to confirm that was unstable. she herself said that the children she had killed died peacefully; that they were called back by God who was someone who could love them more than anyone on this earth, she said that she had simply made angels and that one day she would sit beside the Lord Almighty. her breakdowns of madness always coincided strangely with the moment when the police approached, so we can think that it was more of simulation and calculation than true dementia. the jury took hardly five minutes to return its verdict, the crimes were so horrible that her mental state could not do much anyways.

amelia was thus condemned to the death penalty. on june 10th 1896, amelia dyer walks towards the scaffold, she decided not to appeal by hearing her verdict and wrote herself five notebooks of confession before her execution that she entrusted to a priest. she tells inside them to have taken pleasure in seeing her victims dying. before her execution, one asked her if she had any last words to pronounce but she answered that she did not have anything to add. at 9 o’clock sharp, the woman who was called the ogresse of reading was hanged. following these tragic events the controls of the adoptions and the activities of the baby farmers were reinforced, new laws were also put in place to protect the children and the mothers and the advertisements in the newspapers were supervised. that said, it still took a certain number of years before child trafficking was seriously supervised…

that’s all for the story! it is a very horrific case and i can’t even imagine what the children must have gone through. i also think we can all agree with the similarities with the character of amélie in arthur’s route.

#ikemen #Ikemen Vampire #ikemen games #ikemen series #ikemen arthur #arthur route #ikemen vampire arthur #IkeVamp #amelia dyer #serial killer #victorian england #victorian #victorian era #ikevamp arthur #ikevam #ikevam arthur

27 notes · View notes

immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

Text

#10: Felix, Part Two: The Episode Itself

Here’s Part 1

So, uh... here's the thing. I was going to divide this post into three parts, but I had to cancel the third part where I analyze the stuff involving Astruc defending the episode on Twitter, specifically a certain scene that really showed off some serious double standards in regards to the way Adrien is being written, because Astruc deleted most of his tweets regarding the episode. I wonder why he did that? I thought he wanted to expose himself publicly and interact in a peaceful way.

So yeah, instead of a big three-parter, this is going to be a two-parter, and I apologize for that. I might be able to do a third part if anyone has any screenshots of some of the tweets Astruc made after “Felix” aired. If you did, I would really appreciate it, but if not, it's fine.

Either way, let's just get this over with, because I have SO MUCH to talk about. My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts about Season 3, Episode 23 of Miraculous Ladybug, “Felix”?

So we start off with what Gabriel does for half of his scenes when he isn't Hawkmoth, monologuing to his (possibly) dead wife, Emilie about how Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous will soon be his and all that crap. Sure, he's sent God knows how many Akumas after Ladybug and Cat Noir, and they've all failed miserably, but I'm positive he's getting close to his goal.

After he finishes cleaning his and Emilie's silver wedding rings that sadly don't allow them to transform into Ultraman Ace, Gabriel goes to check on Adrien, singing to a statue of Emilie (glad to see the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree), intending to tell him that he is Hawkmoth.

Gabriel: There is something important I have to talk to you about. I think about telling you every day, but I don't know how to find the right words.

Adrien: I think I already know, father.

Gabriel: But, how?

Adrien: I've noticed how close you and Nathalie have become. If she can make you happy again, then... as far as I'm concerned, she's already part of our family.

youtube

Yeah, apparently it's obvious that Gabriel and Nathalie are close or something, with how casually Adrien assumes they're planning on starting a relationship. I mean, it's not like Nathalie is close to Gabriel because she's his secretary or something like that.

Gabriel's response isn't any better, as he immediately jumps down Adrien's throat for daring to assume he might try to move on from his wife.

Gabriel: How could you possibly think such a thing?! Nobody could ever replace your mother! As long as she is still in our hearts, she lives on!

Even Adrien's face shows he's a little taken back by his father's brief outburst.

Part of me likes to assume that Plagg is trying to not break out into laughter at how crazy Gabriel sounds, while Nooroo is mentally questioning the sanity of his master.

Plagg: Wow! Your father's like a piece of tomme cheese, where the rind's so thick it's almost impossible to get inside the center.

Adrien: Don't be so hard on him, Plagg. It's been a year today since Mom... went away forever.

Oh my God, just say she DIED already! Why are so many kids' shows afraid to say the D-word? How can I cite an episode of Caillou of all shows as something that that actually talked about death to it's audience in a nuanced way?

It turns out that Adrien's aunt is visiting for the day, as it's the one-year anniversary of Emilie's “going away forever”. We also learn that the gene pool in Adrien's family is so shallow, a toddler could swim in it, because Emilie's sister looks exactly like her.

Even better, her name is Amelie. I bet the parents thought naming their kids Emilie and Amelie was hilarious for like three minutes.

And of course, she also brought her son, the asshole of the hour.

Someone cue the Imperial March.

So Felix is finally here, and of course, he looks just like Adrien. It's almost like the animators didn't want to create any new character models for this episode, so they thought nobody would notice if they just reused a few. Seriously, towards the end of the episode, we see Felix wearing the Cat Miraculous on his hand, and none of the animators noticed it.

So while Adrien is happy to see his cousin, Felix isn't. I'll talk more about it in a minute.

Amelie mentions that the wedding rings are actually heirlooms in her side of the family, so she naturally wants them back. Of course, Gabriel, being Gabriel, responds accordingly.

Gabriel: These rings are obviously very special to me.

Amelie: And they're very dear to me too, Gabriel. Those jewels have always been in the Graham de Vanily family, not the Agreste's.

Gabriel: We'll discuss it later.

“Yeah, yeah, these rings are priceless family heirlooms or whatever, but why can't you think about how important they are to me?”

Meanwhile, Marinette and her friends are planning on recording some messages for Adrien to cheer him up on this day, but Marinette isn't sure what to say before she decides to confess her love to him. I'm sure Adrien will get the message and return Marinette's feelings this episode... and Cliff Hanger will finally escape that cliff he's been hanging from for years.

Speaking of, Adrien and Felix are hanging out in the former's room where we learn that Felix's father passed away recently. We don't know how long, but with the way they talk about, it's clear the funeral wasn't too long ago. Keep this in mind.

So while Adrien leaves the room to get a chess board for the two to play a game of, Felix, for no reason, decides to search through Adrien's things and crush a piece of cheese that Plagg had been aging for two weeks. And here is the interaction that helps this episode go from mediocre to aggravating, just because of what they imply here.

Adrien: Listen, Plagg. Felix lost his dad not so long ago, he's probably not himself.

Plagg: I'm sorry, but there's just no excuse! You never touch my cheese, and yet, you just lost your mother not so long ago, right?

youtube

Yes. The show is actually implying that Adrien is better than Felix because Adrien isn't acting out because his mom “went away forever”. Keep in mind, we know that Felix just lost his father, while Adrien has had a year to cope. I'm not saying he can't be sad anymore, as everyone processes grief differently, but you can't set up Felix as a foil to Adrien just because they both lost a parent, as their situations are entirely different.

Oh, and when Plagg's statement upsets Adrien, it isn't because he's angry at Plagg for making the comparison, it's because he mentions Emilie. And this argument is never brought up again.

I still can't believe this episode is basically saying that even if you lose a loved one, that's no excuse to get emotional. This isn't just a horrible lesson to teach children, but it pisses me off on a more personal level. Why?

My grandfather died last year after a long battle with lung cancer.

He had been in and out of the hospital for a few years at this point, and part of me was relieved that he was finally free of the pain. I tried not to let it bother me, as I had already mentally prepared myself for the day he would die whenever he was readmitted to the hospital. But it was still painful to go through because he was so important to me. Instead of simply telling someone how I was feeling, I threw myself into my schoolwork in an effort to distract myself from actually confronting my emotions. After seeing A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a movie where the main character made peace with his father on his deathbed with some encouragement from Mr. Rogers, it made me think about how unhealthy it was to bottle up my emotions, so I started to open up more about how I was feeling. When I told my mom (who was his daughter) about why I was so conflicted regarding his death, she said it was completely understandable, as she had been an emotional wreck as well. I also talked with my therapist about how this was affecting me mentally.

What does this have to do with the episode? I don't think Felix had access to this kind of emotional support when his dad died, or that he tried coping the same way I did initially.

And the worst part is that this could have been used to teach people a lesson on how to cope with losing a loved one. Maybe Adrien could have helped Felix find a healthier coping mechanism, or simply help him open up emotionally, teaching him that it's okay to be upset when someone close to you dies, but that you just need to be honest about your feelings.

But no, rather than portray Felix's actions as a troubled youth lashing out because he's angry at the cards the world dealt him, Felix does several awful things this episode for no other reason than because he's evil, even though he has a good reason to hate Adrien and Gabriel.

So the very next scene, we see Felix has stolen Adrien's phone and is going through the messages that Adrien's friends sent him, but not before insulting his crush on Ladybug. I'm not sure if that's supposed to reflect the fandom's criticism of Adrien's crush on Ladybug, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Nino's Message: Hey, my dude! I'm not quite sure what to tell you, except that, you're my man, dude! And bros are always there for their guys!

Felix: (Mockingly) “Bros are always there--” blah, blah, blah! Moron.

Rose's Message: Unicorns have a saying: even when there's nothing but gray skies and rain, all it takes is one little sunbeam for a rainbow to appear!

Felix: Loser.

Max's Message: It's one hundred percent proven, you should feel fifty-two percent happier with a healthy dose of laughter. So Markov has uploaded a few jokes for you! Starting with--

Felix: Freak.

Chloe's Message: When my mother left for New York, I felt so sad. It felt like she was... (sighs) She came back, and I know how lucky I am. So, you can count on me, my Adrikins.

Felix: Chloe. Just as annoying as usual.

And that line right there is the only time Astruc actually liked writing Felix, as it gave him the chance to satisfy his need to insult Chloe.

And then when he sees Marinette's message, he deletes it because... hell if I know

Again, this scene could have worked if it was interpreted as Felix saying stuff that he wasn't dependent on others for support and that he could easily power through life on his own, but nope! Instead, he hates Adrien's friends and only deletes Marinette's message instead of all of them simply because he's evil, heart blacker than Don Cheadle.

Felix continues to show how awful he is by dressing up in Adrien's clothes and—Oh, son of a bitch, SERIOUSLY? This is the SEVENTH evil doppelganger plotline we've had in THREE SEASONS! You're telling me this isn't doing the same thing over and over again, Astruc?

Yeah, so Felix records some messages to send to his friends that, once again, could have worked if this episode was actually teaching a lesson about dealing with grief.

“Adrien's” Message: First of all, thanks so much for all your messages, guys, really. Sending me messages on today of all days... (angrily) to remind me how sad I'm supposed to be feeling? Why, that's great! Really, Thanks a lot!

But because nobody ever considers how Felix is feeling, it's never acknowledged, because that would actually involve writing him with complexity.

Gabriel gets a message from Lila, who recently became one of his confidants to spy on Adrien, tells him about the fake message, and decides to use the negative emotions felt as an excuse to get rid of his in-laws. No, seriously.

Gabriel: All this disappointment might just help us get rid of our unwanted guests.

To be fair, I'd probably do the same thing just so I wouldn't have to talk to some of the people I hate at my job.

And so, Hawkmoth akumatizes Alya, Juleka, and Rose into the Punisher's Trio, who are basically just their previously akumatized forms Lady Wifi, Reflekta, and Princess Fragrance. Because why would you expect anyone to use an original character model for this episode?

All joking aside, this development raises several questions. First, why wasn't Nino one of the Punisher's akumatized? He's Adrien's best friend, so shouldn't be just as upset as everyone else? Hell, the whole reason he was akumatized into the Bubbler in Season 1 was just so he could throw Adrien a birthday party after Gabriel said no. Then there's the fact that Chloe could have also been akumatized because she's just as close as Adrien, which is another wasted opportunity here.

Second, why bring back Reflekta and Princess Fragrance of all villains? It doesn't even make sense when you consider their motifs are based off of the circumstances that led to them getting akumatized in their respective episodes. Juleka became Reflekta because of her anxiety over easily blending in, so she got the power to turn everyone into an exact copy of herself so they could understand the feeling. Rose became Princess Fragrance when Chloe destroyed her letter and perfume bottle dedicated to the prince of a foreign nation, so the perfume bottle was the basis of her powers. At least Lady Wifi makes sense as the akumatized object this episode is a tablet used to record the messages to Adrien, but Reflekta and Princess Fragrance have nothing to do with the plot of this episode, and just feel tacked on. If it was just Lady Wifi or the Bubbler, I'd get it, but this just doesn't work.

Third, what exactly is this show's obsession with Reflekta? We saw in Reflekta's first episode that her powers had a huge drawback as if either of the heroes is zapped by her, she can't get their Miraculous, like what we saw happened to Cat Noir. Yet, this is the second time this season that Hawkmoth had the bright idea to bring back Reflekta (even giving her a giant robot to amplify her powers). At least Lady Wifi and Princess Fragrance's powers worked together well (Lady Wifi could freeze someone in place, while Princess Fragrance can brainwash them with her perfume), but Reflekta just feels like the odd one out here.

Fourth, and most importantly, why did we only get to hear the line “At your service, Princess Fragrance!” A single time this episode?

So the Punishers head to Adrien's house to take their revenge, but see Felix, still dressed in Adrien's clothes, and are naturally confused. Adrien pretends to be Felix by running away while laughing evilly (so not too far off from how Astruc sees Felix), while the real Felix and Nathalie put up a good fight against the Punishers.

And then... here is the moment that shows just how skewed Astruc's view of Adrien really is.

Felix pretends to confess his love to Ladybug as Adrien, trying to force a kiss on him, making Ladybug punch him in the face by claiming that the real Adrien “would never be so pushy”.

youtube

BULL. SHIT.

Yes, Ladybug doesn't know that Adrien is actually Cat Noir, but it's clear that this scene is meant to solidify just how Felix is far worse than Adrien because according to Astruc, he would never do that.

But maybe I'm being too hard on him.

It's not like Adrien has ever forced himself onto Ladybug, right?

I mean, imagine if the show just ignored something like that.

All while trying to teach kids the importance of saying no when someone harasses them.

Can you imagine if someone was that oblivious to their own hypocrisy?

I'm not saying that the lesson is a bad one, but you can't call someone out for doing something bad, and then ignore one of your main characters doing the exact same thing!

Even in the context of the episode, the comparison doesn't work. We know that Felix is only doing this to make Adrien look bad, and has no romantic feelings towards Ladybug like Adrien does. Felix knows what he is doing is wrong, while Adrien doesn't. Whenever Cat Noir tries to kiss Ladybug, he is never aware that what he is doing is wrong, and while he is almost always stopped from kissing Ladybug for one reason or another.

Like when the episode tried to compare two different characters reacting to losing loved ones when there are different circumstances regarding them, the comparison DOESN'T WORK.

And to add insult to injury, Cat Noir shows up just to insult Felix by implying he doesn't have a lot of friends because of the way he acts, because why would he? After all, he's a complete loser that nobody would want to be friends with, and if you like him, you're an idiot for thinking so! At least, that's probably what Astruc was going for.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, leading to a brief Mexican standoff, until Felix steals the tablet containing the Akuma, making a deal with Hawkmoth that he'll help out the Punishers as long as he gets the wedding rings. Do you hate Felix yet? Come on, do you hate him? WHY WON'T YOU HATE HIM, GODDAMN IT!?

This whole bit is completely pointless as Ladybug immediately finds a way to stop all four of them and de-evilize the Akuma.

And when it looks like Felix is actually apologizing for his actions this episode, it's naturally a ruse he put on to steal one of the wedding rings from Gabriel to give to his mom. Because why would Astruc even think of portraying him sympathetically, or at least have him learn a lesson?

So Felix stares out the window with an evil look in his eye (possibly foreshadowing another appearance), as Gabriel takes Emilie's wedding ring to wear for himself, and the episode mercifully ends.

It also means that I never have to watch this episode ever again.

Do you understand why it took so long for me to fully analyze this episode? Hell, it would have taken longer if Astruc didn't delete his tweets defending the kiss scene and how Cat Noir is totally a gentlemen unlike Satan, I mean Felix.

What else do I have to say about this episode that hasn’t already been said? Well, I do have one thing.

I’m not that big a fan of Felix.

I think he’s an okay character in fanfics, but I’m more indifferent to him and fanfics that ship him and Marinette together. I don’t know, maybe that’s because there are so many Felinette fanfics that are heavily seasoned with salt, or it could just be because I’m complete Love Square and Lukanette trash.

But just think about the fact that the scathing criticism of this episode was delivered by someone who isn’t that into Felix. That is how bad this episode is.

In addition to being an obvious mouthpiece for Astruc to yell at fans why they’re idiots for actually liking Felix, it does so by touching on delicate subject and trying to act like it’s easy to tell how Felix is worse than Adrien when the circumstances are nothing alike.

But the fact that Astruc takes a popular character just to portray him as a complete menace just to antagonize his fans is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

275 notes · View notes

giuliafc · 3 years

Text

Feeling Clowned

Ao3|| FFN

RATING: M for very mild sexual references

TW: PPD (Postpartum Depression)

It was a year since the defeat of Papillon. A year since Chat Noir had vanished. Left pregnant, alone and heart-broken, when Marinette solves the puzzle and discovers Chat's identity, she feels clowned. (Snippet July and LadyNoir July Day 6: Silence/Clown. Story wordcount 999 words)

Written by: JuliaFC

Beta: KhanOfAllOrcs, Agrestebug

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Written for the "Snippet July" challenge of the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server @miraculousfanworks AND for LadyNoir July @ladynoirjuly Day 6 — Silence/Clown. Let me know what you think!

oOoOoOoOoOo

It was Nino's fault. He returned from a trip from London, and handed her a copy of Vogue. Marinette looked at the magazine. A pair of forest-green eyes looked back.

Adrien.

Today marked a year since they defeated Papillon—a memory that would live forever in her nightmares.

——- Flashback ——-

After handing over M. Agreste and Mlle. Sancoeur to the authorities, her heart had broken for Adrien. It broke even more when they saw why Gabriel was fighting. Chat… had gone berserk. His fighting skills had gone through the roof the very moment he'd seen the coffin.

But in the end, he hadn't wanted to 'pound it' with her. The desperation that seeped through him was only comparable to her own elation, which died when their gazes met.

"What's wrong, Chaton?" she asked, but Chat Noir stayed silent. Instead, he hugged her so tightly that she couldn't breathe. She didn't know why, but that night more than any other time, he needed her. And she gave in to him. She felt the burning desire in him and, finally, she matched it with her own. She guided him to a dark corner, and they detransformed. One kiss led to another, clothes were thrown off, limbs became tangled, climaxes were reached in a synchrony of moans until they both collapsed in an ecstasy that didn't cure the pain, but maybe, just briefly, helped them forget it.

They dressed again, re-transformed, and with more kisses and promises of love, separated. That night had been the single happiest night of her life. But it didn’t last. A couple of days later, Marinette was listening to Chat Noir's message of goodbye. On her Bugphone's Voicemail. "Something's come up in my civilian life and I won't be able to transform for a while," he said. "But I'll keep an eye on the news and if you need me, I'll be right back. I love you, ma Buginette."

——- End of Flashback ——-

He hadn't been there for her. True, the news had been eerily quiet since Papillon's defeat, so Chat Noir didn't really break his promise, but… where was he the day two lines appeared on the stick? When all her dreams shattered, when she felt ashamed of her growing belly, when her mother started asking questions because of her morning sickness? When she moved out and begged Alya and Nino to take her with them? When she gradually isolated herself from human interaction? She left COUNTLESS messages to tell him how she was doing. What she was feeling. That the baby had kicked. That it was a boy, and healthy. That she'd seen him on the screen. That she was going into labour.

To make things worse, Adrien had also gone. The morning after Gabriel's arrest, his aunt put him on the first flight to London, without even a goodbye. So, in one day, she lost both boys she loved.

And now she knew why. As she skimmed through the interview in Vogue, it became clear as day.

"Adrien Agreste reveals about the Lady who stole his heart."

"Sorry, ladies, this heart is already under Agreste."

"I may never see M'lady again, but I'll never stop loving her."

Marinette looked at the word 'M'lady' on the paper in horror. Adrien was Chat Noir. Now it all made sense. His desperation. His disappearance. His silence.

She exploded in a low-throated laughter, her eyes shining with a light full of madness.

"What's so funny, Marinette?" asked Tikki.

"What's so funny, you ask?" she uttered between croaky laughs. Baby thought it was an amazing moment to start crying, and she stood up, picked it up and started feeding it, her frame still shaking from the laughter she couldn't contain. "’What's so funny’?" Marinette repeated in a baby-ish voice, her finger gently poking Louis's nose. "Maman's been clowned, baby."

The confusion in Tikki's eyes enraged her further.

"You all clowned me," hissed Marinette. "Master Fu in primis. But even you. And Plagg. You KNEW it was him since the day we faced Dark Owl. WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" She shouted, and Louis grabbed more strongly at her breast, as if looking for comfort.

"Tell you what?"

Marinette laughed again. "That Chat Noir was Adrien fucking Agreste!" Tikki gasped and Marinette's laugh hollowed. "Why didn't you tell me when he disappeared, Tikki? I blame you and Plagg the most. And Adrien right after."

"Adrien didn't know," said Tikki quickly. "He still doesn't."

"Oh, he doesn't know?" she muttered mockingly. "He raves in a fashion magazine about how much he 'loves M'lady' and doesn't think to transform to check his messages. Not even once, in a year! I could have died, and he wouldn't know!" She groaned at Tikki's frown.

"Yes, I blame him. Fuck his life, fuck Gabriel being Papillon, fuck his busy schedule. One. Full. Year! He hasn't transformed ONCE!" She looked at 3-month-old Louis nursing on her, and for an instant, her gaze warmed up, to then harden again. "He has a great life over there, everything that he wants. And instead, I'm stuck with THIS! And it's all his fault. Why didn't he reveal himself to me? Why did he leave me alone?" Tikki tried to pat her head, but Marinette pushed her away. She sat in her nursing chair, sobbing. She sang a lullaby, using the words 'maman's been clowned' instead of the rhymes. Then, when Louis fell asleep, she put him in his carrycot and sat at her desk.

The gleam of madness in Marinette’s eyes scared Tikki. "Please don't do anything rash. I told you already: you're sick. You need to see a psy—" But Marinette interrupted her:

"I'll make him pay for what he's done." She wrote something on a piece of paper and didn't give Tikki time to argue. "Tikki, Kaalki, unify!" she shouted.

Just wait, Agreste. I'm coming for you. And you won't like it. Not one little bit.

"Voyage!" She grabbed the carrycot and jumped through the portal.

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

Author's Note

*ehrm* Hi!

Uh, er, about this story… This comes from a MUCH MUCH LONGER bunny that has been screaming into my hidden bunny trapping basement for about 3 or 4 months. This is a sort of prequel to it, because the story would start with the following scene.

It's a REALLY delicate subject, because some of you who had babies may have recognised it: Marinette in this story suffers from PPD (Postpartum Depression). She went through a lot since Adrien was literally abducted by Amelie. She loves her Chaton, but now she feels betrayed and 'clowned', especially by his silence, and feels trapped.

The story planned after this is quite long and painful (although there would be lighter moments as well), but I don't know how something like this would be received by the fandom, so if you want me to write the sequel, leave me a comment and let me know. I won't take the subject lightly; I had two kids and a miscarriage in between and I was at the brink of falling into depression myself, having been left alone with them, and with a husband who would make things worse. I know how important and serious this subject is.

I hope you liked the story anyway and will leave me a comment, even if you don't want a sequel to it. You know that comments are my bread and butter!

Until (hopefully) tomorrow, bug out!

29 notes · View notes

p-artsypants · 3 years

Text

The Ghost of Smokey Joe (6)

St. James Infirmary

Adrien Agreste was acting bizarre. Before she can get the truth out of him, Marinette finds herself as the sole heir to the Gabriel brand and the mansion, following the murder-suicide of both Adrien and Gabriel Agreste. The mystery continues as Tikki explains that Adrien was Chat Noir...but if Adrien is six feet under, why is Chat Noir still running around?

Relationships:

Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe

Characters:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth

Additional Tags:

Temporary Character Death, Murder Mystery, off screen murder, Ghosts, Supernatural - Freeform, Haunting, Horror, Psychological Thriller, Eventual Happy Ending, I promise, Song fic, Halloween Flavored, Identity Reveal, Aged Up, Canon Universe, Mabel Voice: He's Resting, SPOOOKKKYYYYYY

Ao3 | FF.net

The night of the visitation, it rained. Like a kick to the gut, a painful reminder of what it was like to fall in love…now was only a soothing presence to losing love.

The old umbrella in her hand didn’t help either. It was his. Adrien’s. The very same he gave her that day over ten years ago.

Marinette had agonized over what to wear for too long. It was a wake, so black, right? She had this outfit picked out and everything. A sharp blazer over her little black cocktail dress, with black pumps. Even though it was a wake, it was a wake for her boss, one of the most influential fashion moguls in the world, and she would be taking his place. She had to look her best.

But then, she changed her mind. It was a social event, yes, and she would be in the public eye and representing the brand, true!

But it felt gross.

The cocktail dress was too sexy for a wake, and wearing that much black made her look goth.

It just wasn’t right.

Then she saw the dress. A rose pink, knee length dress that flared out as it went down. It had little black polka dots on it.

And it was Adrien’s favorite. He said so every time she wore it.

Too peppy for a wake. Too casual, too fun and flirty. But a black cardigan over it, and she felt perfect.

She could almost hear his voice as she posed in the mirror.

“I love that dress on you. You look so cute, Marinette.”

It made tears spring to her eyes.

So no makeup then. Because she knew she would be crying a lot more tonight.

“Don’t forget to pack tissues,” Tikki reminded, helpfully.

“Right, thank you, Tikki.” She tucked the little package in her purse.

With one last pass of the brush through her hair, she was ready.

So now she stood outside of the manor, the gate open.

Well folks, I'm goin' down to St. James Infirmary

See my little baby there

She's stretched out on a long, white table

Well she looks so good, so cold, so fair

The paparazzi stood nearby with their cameras, ready to swoop in like vultures.

She must have paused for too long, because they descended on her quickly, shoving mics in her face and asking questions.

Didn’t they know why she was here? Didn’t they know what she was going through?

An arm reached around her shoulders and started leading her forward. “Alright everyone, that’s enough! Can’t you see she’s not in the mood?” Her rescuer shouted.

The reporters didn’t pass through the gate, as that would have been trespassing. So thankfully, the crowd was left behind as they moved forward.

“Thank you,” she said to the unfamiliar man.

“Of course, Miss Dupain-Cheng.” He nodded.

“You know me?”

“I know of you. Head intern to Gabriel Agreste himself, if I’m not mistaken. I’m from Harper’s Bazaar.”

“Oh...a reporter.”

“Yes, but I really was just here as a guest to pay my respects. I’ve interviewed both Gabriel and Adrien a few times.”

“I see.”

He led her into the house.

Let her go, let her go, God bless her,

Wherever she may be,

She will search this wide world over,

But she'll never find another sweet man like me.

She was early, as Nathalie had instructed. No other guests were here. Just funeral staff, some family, and two steel caskets.

Two steel closed caskets.

Might make retrieving Adrien’s ring a bit of a problem, but not seeing his face…cold, motionless, and waxy would keep her somewhat sane.

The man walked with her right up to the casket, the one with Adrien’s picture next to it.

“It’s a shame. That much skill, the absolute genius spread between the two of them. The world as a whole will never be the same.”

“Yeah.”

“Any idea what’s going to happen next? Not that this is an interview, I’m just curious.”

She shrugged, “well, I’ve been offered the position, and everyone wants me to take it...but it’s so…”

“Overwhelming?”

“Yes.” She rested her hand on the casket. “I wish I could have a moment alone with him.”

“Let me see what I can do.” He smiled, then he called louder, to the room. “The lady would like a few minutes alone, if possible.”

“Is she family?” A staff member asked.

“This is Madam Dupain-Cheng, she’s the successor to Gabriel’s empire. She’s practically family!”

There was no arguing with that, and the group of staff members filed out into the adjacent dining room.

“Thank you,” Marinette called to the man, still not getting his name.

“Don’t worry about it darling.” And he followed them out.

Marinette glanced around the room, just to make sure she was alone. “Tikki?”

“I’m here!”

“I need you to keep watch.” The casket had two doors, one on top that would have been open if this was a regular visitation, and one over the legs. She slid the flower arrangement on top over to the bottom section and ran her hand over the edge. She pulled up slightly, and as she feared, it was sealed.

“It’s locked,” she lamented.

“Let me try!” Tikki zipped around the casket, and a moment later, it clicked and the cap opened ever so slightly.

Marinette took a deep breath as her fingers curled under the lip.

“What are you waiting for?”

“Just…I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to see what he looks like. I don’t want to…” but she put her reservations on hold, and pushed the lid up.

She choked out a startled gasp. “Oh no…”

Now, when I die, bury me in my straight-leg britches,

Put on a box-back coat and a stetson hat,

Put a twenty-dollar gold piece on my watch chain,

So you can let all the boys know I died standing pat.

Instead of the mangled body of her true love, there was only a pile of sandbags.

Tikki, also horrified, went over to Gabriel’s casket and phased inside. Then she popped out, “this one is the same!”

Marinette closed the lid and moved the flowers back into place, her mind moving at a mile a minute. Vaguely, she heard the click of the casket as Tikki put it to rights.

Marinette was panicking, but quickly calmed herself down. This didn’t mean anything malicious, not yet. Maybe they were cremated and the family wanted to keep it a secret. Or because there’s no graveside service, their bodies had already been buried.

Who was she kidding, something was definitely going on.

A mystery that was just aching to be solved, but her first priority was to retrieve Adrien’s ring.

“--A moment alone!” A voice shouted from the dining room.

Marinette whirled around in time to see Felix storming towards her. Did he know? Was she caught?

He brushed past her, “move.” And went directly to the casket, grabbing the lip like she had.

“Please sir! You’ll damage the casket!” One of the funeral home staff rushed and grasped Felix by the shoulder. “It’s shut and locked, it can’t be opened again.”

“I didn’t get to say goodbye!” Felix snarled. “Look at him!” He pointed at the photo on display next to the casket. “He has my face! I deserve to see him one last time!”

“Sir...he doesn’t look like that anymore. It would be very disturbing to see his remains.”

Disturbing indeed, considering Adrien wasn’t in there at all.

Amelie was quick to join the group and she consoled her son. “We talked about this. You knew it was going to be a closed casket.”

“They said the family had time alone. I just...wanted to say goodbye, face to face.” He shook his head and scowled. “He deserved that, at least.”

Marinette made herself small, feeling like an intruder in this family crisis. But Amelie still saw her and brought her in for a hug.

“How are you holding up, dear?” She asked, pulling away slightly.

“I’m…I’ve been better.”

“Of course, I’m so sorry for your loss.”

Marinette had met Amelie and Felix more than a few times working at Gabriel. As the years went on, they came to visit more and more often. Amelie was always insistent that she call her ‘Aunt Amelie’ like Adrien. It felt weird to break the habit now.

“Isn’t pink a little too festive for the occasion?” Felix bit. The red from anger in his cheeks had faded. Now he just sounded bitter.

It was Adrien’s voice…but not. It was a shame Felix sounded so much like him.

He looked just like him too, minus the slicked back hair and glasses.

“Adrien really loved this dress,” Marinette whispered. “I know it’s not—I just—“

His face softened slightly, relieved that she had Adrien in mind, and not fashion. “Sounds fine to me.”

Even after the disastrous first encounter they had, Felix and Marinette never became friends. He and Adrien certainly got along, or at least appeared to, but Felix and Marinette were only ever cordial.

It was a wake, after all. He should be nice. He gave her a small smile, one that looked eerily similar to Adrien’s.

Before she could stop herself, she was hugging him.

He didn’t smell like Adrien at all. He smelled like clean cat litter and laundry detergent, not spicy cologne and the smallest hint of cheese. Belatedly, she realized the cheese smell was probably Plagg’s doing.

“Uh…” He said awkwardly, before sighing and patting her on the back.

“I’m sorry,” she pulled away. “Even though…” she trailed off with a blush, embarrassed with what she had done. “You just look like him.”

“I know,” he shrugged. “I worried about coming. I’m prepared for people to see me and burst into tears. Or hug me, like you did. I get it. As much as I would like otherwise, I’m willing to tolerate it for today.”

“That’s kind of you.”

His face softened further. “You loved him, didn’t you?”

Amelie gasped. “Felix! You can’t just ask things like that!”

“It’s okay,” Marinette assured, hugging herself. “You’re right. I was—am. I still love him, even though he’s gone.”

“And…you know what happened?”

She nodded. “It sucks. And I really wish I could allow one terrible action to wipe everything away…but I knew him. These last two weeks he wasn’t himself. He was cruel to me in a way I had never seen. It just…it wasn’t Adrien.”

Felix gave her a critical look. “I always assumed my cousin couldn’t hurt a fly. It’s…bizarre, what happened.”

“It’s not public knowledge,” Amelie reminded. “And it should stay that way.”

“Who are we protecting by lying about it? The ‘Brand’? The family? Adrien himself?”

“What are they saying, anyway?” Asked Marinette.

“They’re saying both Adrien and Gabriel died from an in-home accident.”

“Vague,” said Felix. “Suspicious.”

“But better than ‘unknown causes’ at least,” said Marinette. “Maybe it’s selfish, but I want Adrien to be remembered for all the good he did…” As Chat Noir, her brain added, “and not the demons he faced in the end.”

“Still, I can’t help but wonder what made him snap,” he mused, looking at Marinette. “Do you have any idea what may have caused it?”

Her mind went back to two weeks, when he had asked her to dinner. He was nervous, and told her he had something to tell her.

And then that phone call a few nights ago. What had he said? Something about the basement?

“I’m…not sure. I’d have to think about it.”

“Perhaps you two could consider this mystery another day? Not during the visitation?” Amelie urged.

“Sorry mom, you’re right.” He glanced back at Marinette. “If you have anything on this, I’d love to hear it. I care deeply for Adrien, and honestly, I’m highly suspicious of these circumstances.”

Amelie huffed. “Darling, you heard Nathalie, what she saw, what the police found, it’s pretty cut and dry…”

“People don’t just murder their father’s for no reason! Especially with supposedly flawless mental health!”

The room grew quiet, as Felix’s outburst was louder than intended. Thankfully, guests had yet to arrive.

“Sorry. This whole thing…I’ve had enough of death in this lifetime.” He cleared his throat. “I need some water.”

When he left, Amelie squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t let Felix get to you. It’s just hard for him. He has so much in common with Adrien, it’s a little scary for him.”

Oh. That made sense. Fear he’d snap too?

“It was sudden for everyone. We’re all going through it.”

“They said you were having a moment alone with Adrien. I'll let you get back to it.” She squeezed her shoulder and left her in peace.

So now Marinette was left to wonder what she could possibly do. Where to even start? She didn’t need anymore time with an empty casket.

An' give me six crap shooting pall bearers,

Let a chorus girl sing me a song.

Put a red hot jazz band at the top of my head

So we can raise Hallelujah as we go along.

There were a few more guests now, but it was still a little early. She saw a man in a suit arranging flowers. He had a name tag on his lapel.

As casual as she could, she snuck over to him. “Excuse me, are you the funeral director by chance?”

“Oh? Yes I am. Bill Hunkerson, at your service. How can I help?”

She had to phrase this very carefully, to not be suspicious. “I’m a very close friend of Adrien’s. He was wearing a silver ring when he died. It doesn’t actually belong to him, and I was wondering if I could have it back.”

The man turned pale, but plastered on a smile. “Well, he’s probably wearing it now. Unfortunately, after we close the casket, we can’t open it again.”

She knew that was a big fat lie. And Marinette hated liars.

She lowered her voice. “Well, since his body isn’t actually in the casket, it shouldn’t be that hard, should it?”

The man stared at her, wide eyed, no longer smiling. “How did you—“ He frowned. “Look miss, I’m just doing what I’m paid for. I don’t know anything. That ring is probably gone forever, and I’d stop this search now.” He straightened his tie and bowed his head slightly. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Marinette opened her purse when she was alone. “I don’t know about you, Tikki, but I’ve got a bunch of red flags and alarm bells going off inside my head.”

“This isn’t good! We need to get that ring!”

“We need to find out what happened to Adrien’s body!”

“Yes, of course, that too!”

Marinette gnawed at the inside of her cheek. “Hey, no offense to Plagg, but wouldn’t he know to bring the ring back to me? If he can’t remove it, then wouldn’t he come tell me about it?”

Tikki’s eyes widened. “You’re right! If he died under normal circumstances, yes…but if he was transformed when he died…”

“Then what?”

“Plagg probably would be forced back into the ring. That’s probably why he didn’t come!”

“Now I’m even more worried and confused.” Marinette crossed her arms. “What if Adrien isn’t actually dead?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if…he ran away? And Gabriel made it out like he died? What if Gabriel’s still alive too?”

“It’s a theory, but I don’t know how well it will hold water.”

She studied the room again, trying not to draw attention to herself. She was supposed to be grieving after all.

Felix sat in the chairs over by the stairs, his back to the growing crowd.

Even if they didn’t really get along, two skeptics working together would be better than each on their own.

“Do you mind if I join you?” She asked.

“I suppose not.” He sighed.

Marinette sat in the chair next to him, and sat quietly for a moment, trying to decide how to proceed. She didn’t want to reveal her whole hand, but maybe playing a few cards would be to her advantage.

Felix beat her to it. He let out a weak chuckle. “I hate this family.”

What an awful thing to say at wake. “Why’s that?” She asked calmly.

“They die too quickly. It sounds so awful, I know. But it’s just my mother and I now. Grandparents are long gone, then my Aunt Emilie, then my father, and now them. It sucks and I’m sick of stupid funerals.”

“It must be hard. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well...I’m a pro at it now.” He was resting his cheek on his hand, and was staring at the corner of a wall, just pointedly avoiding eye contact. Still, she could see he had red in his eyes. Though she chose to ignore it. Felix seemed to be the type to hide his tears.

“You know...the last time I talked to Adrien, he told me to check the basement.”

This piqued Felix’s curiosity enough for him to look at her. “Basement? What basement?”

“I suppose here, but I haven’t had the chance to, since you know…all this going on.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. I used to come to this house all the time. It doesn’t have a basement.”

“So…maybe at the company?”

“Could be. I wouldn’t know.”

“Okay, I just wondered...since you were family…”

He growled. “Yeah, some family.”

“Do you...want to talk about it?” She offered, really hoping he would take the bait.

He chuckled again, no humor in his tone. “Might as well, no one around left to hide things from.” He leaned back in the chair. “Gabriel is...was a very private person. I tried to love him, since he was my uncle, but he did a very good job at keeping us at a distance. Adrien was the opposite. We talked often, even when his mom and my dad died and things got rough. Sometimes, it didn’t feel like we were welcomed here. But Adrien so wanted a connection. I could feel it in his hugs when we visited. He was starving, Marinette.”

Marinette willed herself not to start crying.

“Mom and I were told by Nathalie that Adrien and Gabriel were caught in a murder-suicide, as enacted by Adrien, early in the morning on the 23rd.”

“Did she tell you where the murder-suicide happened?”

“Nope, just that it happened in this house. As the only living relatives, she asked if we could come and help with the funeral arrangements.”

“Were you involved in all of it?”

“I thought mom and I did all of it together, but there was one thing that Nathalie insisted on and wouldn’t budge.”

“What’s that?”

“Gabriel is going to be interred in the Agreste family mausoleum, but Adrien…” he sighed with disgust. “As punishment, he’s getting an unmarked grave.”

“What!?”

“That was the compromise. The truth about the murder-suicide, which I am believing less and less, would be withheld from the public as long as Adrien was…effectively erased from the family line.”

She couldn’t help the tears that burst forth. “But that’s not fair! He didn’t do anything wrong! He couldn’t’ve!”

“Yeah kid, I know. I agree.” He scowled. “It makes me sick. I hate it. Adrien was suffering in life, and now he’s going to suffer in death.”

“You don’t think he did it?”

“Do you?”

She shook her head. “I can’t. I know what’s been said, and what people saw...but it just can’t be true.” And she had evidence to prove it, in the form of that empty casket.

“You won’t mention I said any of this to my mom, right? She’s also having a hard time, but she tells me I’m in denial.”

“I won’t say a word.”

Folks, now that you have heard my story,

Say, boy, hand me another shot of that booze;

If anyone should ask you,

Tell 'em I've got those St. James Infirmary blues.

I’m not sure about next week’s update. I’m going camping and I don't know what the wifi will be like. Fingers crossed!

#ml #miraculous ladybug #the ghost of Smokey Joe #fanfiction #adrienette #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste

17 notes · View notes

bowenandjohnson · 3 years

Note

hi, can you rank your favorite noora skam seasons? love your blog?

hi, sure! thanks for the love.

1. nora grace - skam españa

This is obviously the best Noora season for me, as it acknowledges the toxicity at the core of the Noorhelms’ relationship the most between her and Miquel. I wish other remakes had taken more care and creativity with their Nooras as Spain did. She grew so much in her season, and she’s so strong. I admire her greatly for being able to escape that relationship, and I’m glad she’s in a happier place and in a more stable relationship with Alejandro. I also really enjoyed her relationship with Emma, I wish Skam had more sister relationships. (ps: I was also born in Madison, WI where Nora lived before the series, so that endears her more to me!)

2. mia winter - druck

This is my second favorite Noora season, as like Spain, it chose to be somewhat original with its storytelling. It gives us background into Mia’s strained relationship with her parents in Spain, and it also gives us more layers into Mia’s ED (specifically the cabin episode) and her treatment (she went to therapy, which frankly all Skam mains need, why lie?) I’m also glad that the show tried to give further depth to the William character and his motivations, specifically his issues with his family and his panic attacks. I didn’t especially like Winterberg, so I’m glad the show acknowledged the issues in their relationship at the end of season 4, and broke them up. I’m also glad that Druck tried to be more inclusive by making Mia bisexual, which I know a lot of OG Skam fans wanted from Noora.

3. liv rejiners - skam nl

This Noora season will always be special to me, as it is the first Noora season I ever watched, and the first Skam season I ever watched live. Liv is the first (and only!) Noora of color, and I wish that had been further explored in her season. However, I feel like NL always did a great job of grounding the audience in their mains’ POV, and I always felt very connected to her. I like that NL also prioritized her relationships with the GS (especially Engel, one of my favorite Vildes!), the flat, and her parents. I also liked how they expanded their William as well. Noah had a different vibe, that wacky painter kid. Sadly, I believe that her season had 2 episodes cut from its order, which is why the pacing of her relationship with Noah suffered near the end. RIP Skam NL :(

4. noora amelie saetre - skam

Noora, Noora, Noora. She is the OG, of course. I enjoyed her season when I finally watched her season at the beginning of this year, but I just couldn’t connect with her and Willhelm :( He was nice, then he wasn't, then he didn’t support her at first during her SA, she told him she loved him, he said he didn't, and he left her at the curb for literally 2 minutes before deciding to come back. Their relationship was so tiring to watch. I also hate how performative Noora was in her activism during this season, and how she treated Vilde at times, but overall? She's fine. I don't hate her. Josefine portrayed the storyline as well as she could, and obviously, she’s so, so beautiful. Her storyline paved the way for Nora Grace’s, so I’m glad she exists.

5. grace olsen - skam austin

Meh. The second Skam and Noora season I watched live, and in my native language. Copy and paste most of what I said about Noora’s here. Austin didn’t change much from the original, but I’m glad Kelsey got to call Grace out about her behavior, and that Grace got to tell Daniel that her SA had nothing to do with his feelings ( “yeah, it sucked, for me.), and that she got to tell him to stop being “a little bitch!” I wish the storyline had delved into more concerning Grace’s abusive parents, as it was mentioned in her essay for that contest, and hinted at maybe one clip with Daniel. Also, Daniel hits way too close to home with a lot of the football assholes who went to my school, so. There’s that.

6. zoe loockx - wtfock / eleanora sava, skam italia

I’ve seen bits and pieces here and there. The actress seems nice enough, and most people seem to like Senne. I’ve just never seen the full season, and I don’t really plan to, sorry. Same goes for Skam Italia. Never seen it, don’t really plan to. People seem to like her and her William well enough.

7. manon demissy - skam france

I have never watched her season, so I don't really have an opinion on that. But I have seen season 3, so her saying Charles asked her to drop the charges against his brother because “he didn’t actually assault you?” Trash. I also don't like how she was also baiting Lucas about talking about his sexuality a lot? Like, let the man come out when he wants to. I don’t have anything against the actress. Manon is a lot like OG too, it seems.

#skam españa #druck #skam nl #skam #skam austin #wtfock #skam france #skam italia #skam rankings

62 notes · View notes

iamdunn · 3 years

Text

Miraculous Flash Forward part 2: Hei Mao

A Miraculous Fan-fic

Written By

AJ Dunn

Adrien went about his day grocery shopping and stocking his new home with personalized essentials. Something to make it more him and not as much Amelie, bless her heart fro trying. It had been nice having a mother even if it wasn’t his mother. Emelie remained in a coma in London. He had visited her everyday. It felt like he had finally healed from her loss only to have the wound ripped open again. The ache still seeped from his being as a dark shadow hung over him. Not only did he have to hide from the identity his father created for him, but also the bad publicity his father created as well.

With groceries put away, and Plagg fed, Adrien set about finally unpacking his bags. He could hear the television turn on as Plagg scrolled through channels. News reports still talking about the capture of Hawk Moth even though it’s been two years. A report came on their air and he recognied Feliz’s voice. He hung his shirt and went downstairs to see.

“I have been given full authority over the former Agreste Brand and we will be revitalizing this brand starting…” he stopped talking to the microphone at the podium to turn around. He was standing in front of the Agrest Building that Gabriel had built. Felix raised his hand as the blind covering the company name was removed and exposed the new name.

“Graham De Vanily”

“In honor of our beloved Emelie Graham De Vanily who was so terribly stolen away from us by the heinous villain Hawk Moth.” Felix’s fist clenched near his chest as he closed his eyes for a moment. Adrien was hurt hearing the words but Felix’s scheme was working. The crowd cheered. No one really knew exactly what happened to Adrien’s mother, but making her the face of this company’s new facelift, making her the victim in all of it, took the public's eye off of Adrien and showed the company’s sympathy for the victims rather than the villain.

Camera flashed as Felix reopened his eyes. Reporters pushing forward with their demanding questions and microphones ready to accept his answers.

“What about Adrien Agreste?”

“I’m sorry there is no Adrien Agreste.” Felix said sharply. It was what Adrien had asked him to do.

“Then who was the model Gabriel used?” This was the part that Adrien knew Felix could handle. He watched as Felix threw on his best Adrien smile and scruffed his hair into the shaggy mane that was Adrien’s trade hair style. He was good. Adrien missed the antics of their childhood with his twin of a cousin. Adrien snorted a laugh then shook his head returning to his chores.

“Is it dinner time yet?” Plagg complained. Adrien returned to the seating area. Plagg was still seated on his favorite armchair with a lump of cheese. It wasn’t Camembert but it seemed to satiate him enough.

“You're right.” he smiled realizing how quickly the day went by. “Let’s go.” Adrien walked to the front door. Looking back at Plagg wondering why the little guy wasn’t moving. Plagg stared at him stupidly.

“You're not planning on taking the metro again,” Plagg complained. “When we can take the quicker route.”

“It’s still light outside, I can’t risk Cat Noir being seen by the public.”

“He was seen last night by those guys?”

“But who is going to believe a bunch of criminals?” Adrien realized he would have to think of something to maintain his own cover of darkness.

“But you're not even Cat Noir anymore.” Plagg reminded him. “Just change the appearance of your suit.”

“Wait,” Adrien walked back into the seating area. “I can do that?”

“Kind of,” Plagg explained. “You will still be dressed in black, but you could… add a hoodie to cover your sunshine blond hair.” Plagg flew up and looked Adrien over. His tiny hand on his chin. “Maybe you could check out Marinettes’ website for some thoughts.”

“But when I transform it automatically puts this design on me.” Adrien was confused.

“It’s too basic,” Plagg complained. “Shadow Moth never wore a dress I can assure you but Mayura did. Polymouse looked nothing like Multimouse, and let’s face it, Luka was a way better holder for Sass than you.” Plagg was still sore about that one. Adrien thought about it. Sure a hoodie would help, but he didn’t want people to know there was A BLACK CAT superhero in Shanghai.

“I’ll think about it. For now, we take the Metro.” He grabbed his coat and key then opened the door.

Adrien got off the bus at the same stop as last night and went into the same store. This time he would grab something at random then head to the restaurant. He could smell something amazing coming from the restaurant down the street and it made him think of a seafood dish he had the last time they visited. Adrien found the seafood tanks in the back of the market and picked out 4 hairy crabs.

“Cheng Sifu, I am here,” Adrien said as he entered the kitchen. He handed the bag with the four live crabs in it to Cheng. His eyes widened in excitement as if he had hoped for this.

“This is a very fortunate fateful food, Adrien.” He dropped the four crabs into the already boiling pot. “I started this broth earlier for another crab dish but these are much fatter and tastier.” Cheng proceeded to show Adrien how to prepare the broth and they worked quickly as the crab's shells turned bright red before they used a wire scoop to lift them from the pot. Cheng strained the broth from the pot setting it aside as they rinsed the crab in ice-cold water so they could deshell them. Cheng flung droplets of water from his fingers as he worked so quickly. Splattering Adrien on the face. Adrien laughed like a little kid seeing the playful grin on Sifu's face.

“I give you Adrien Soup.” Cheng set a bowl down in front of Adrien.

“De Vanily Soup.” Adrien corrected him. The steam rolled off the bowl as chunks of crab bobbed in the bowl. The red broth with vegetables floating sent an aroma into Adrien's face. He was proud to be able to know how to make this. Cheng played the accordion as Adrien scooped the soup into his mouth. He lost himself somewhere in the memory as he looked to his side smiling expecting to see Marinette laughing at her uncle. She wasn’t there. The smile drained from Adrien’s face as he looked back at Cheng.

“We could call her.” Cheng set the accordion down then took a seat across from Adrien. He let his face fall back to his bowl as he continued to eat trying to regain his composure. He felt the burning in his eyes as the tears tried to well up but he swallowed them down with another bite of soup.

“Best not.” He said then looked at his watch. “You know, the time difference.” He shrugged then lifted his empty bowl. They returned to the kitchen to clean up but the kitchen staff took his bowl and there was nothing more to do. “See you tomorrow Cheng Sifu.” Adrien gave him a quick wave then headed for the alleyway. It was very dark now as clouds were rolling in. Adrien thought about what Plagg had said earlier and imagined what his suit would look like with a hood.

“Plagg claws out.” He said. Sure enough, as his suit covered his body from toe to head, a leather hood sprouted off the neck covering his head, his cat ears protruded from the top. It came down far enough over his eyes that while he could still see, it would make seeing his face that much harder. It was much different from the suit he wore as Aspik which completely covered his head, this one instead felt more modern and airy. He made his way back to Chao.

“It will rain tonight, Xuesheng,” Chao said as Mao landed on the ground before him. “We will start with a few small lessons, but you will need to rest your Kwami.” Mao had to take a minute to take in what Chao had said.

“Rest my…” his breath caught in his lungs. “Kwami?”

“You think me a fool? That I do not know what powers your ability.” Chao turned and headed into a side room of the temple. Mao followed him. There were many drawings on the walls, various characters that depicted magical beings. “Many believe them to be folklore. And to those who are not trained, they are.” Adrien sees a black cat adorned character from an ancient Chinese battle. “Many are taught here and sent to the guardian temple to become guardians. I was one of them.” Chao said.

“You were a guardian?” Mao asked.

“I was there when the temple was gobbled up by a sentimonster.” Chao turned to look at him. “It was you, and your partner that defeated it, and restored the temple.”

Mao was shocked as he stood before his Sifu. Chao turned and walked deeper into the temple down a flight of stone stairs to a large room filled with various weaponry, sparring dummies and in the middle of the room a large sparring mat. Mirror lined the four walls surrounding the mat. The torch-style electric lighting illuminated the room in an orange glow. There was a small table in the corner with a plate of cheese and crackers.

“I assume Plagg still eats human-sized portions of cheese?” Chao asked. Mao chuckled. He was still nervous at the prospect of exposing his identity to anyone but Master Fu. “I assure you, it is safe here.”

“Claws in.” He whispered. Plagg zipped out. His eyes exposing his shock as he found himself in a strange place. Until his eyes fell on the Sifu.

“Chao Sifu?” Plagg asked in surprise. He flew up to the old man gripping his face in his tiny hands. Chao chuckled at the action, bringing his hands to cup the Kwami.

“You seem… friendly.” Adrien felt a bit jealous as he watched his best friend warm up to a stranger.

“Plagg and I encountered much mischief.” He stared at the Kwami now sitting in his hands. “I was but a child when I went to the temple. I felt caged in. I did not want to be there.” he set Plagg down by the plate then brought his hands back together in front of himself. “Sometimes at night, Plagg and I would escape the temple and bound free through the mountains.” Adrien's jaw dropped as he heard the Sifu talk about his rebellious side.

“Sounds like someone I know,” Adrien said acting innocent.

“Cat Noir had plenty of freedom, while Adrien was locked in the best bedroom any teenage boy could want.” Plagg scoffed as he gobbled some cheese.

“Oh, is that so?” Chao asked.

“It’s a long story.” Adrien swung his arms in anticipation of his first lesson.

“We shall start with some basic steps.” Chao led him to the center of the sparring mat after they kicked off their shoes.

Adrien hurt so bad as he rolled out of bed the next morning. Not sure if he would be able to move. In the bathroom, he stripped out of his pajamas tossing them on the floor. He caught sight of his body in the ever-present mirrors that encircled the room. The main thing he hated about the bathroom. He was his own constant reminder of his father.

“Hmm…” he mused in the mirror. “At least now I know what father would have looked like after taking a beating.” he chuckled. Plagg droned on something about being awake so early and not having anywhere to go.

After soaking in the steaming hot jet stream tub Adrien sat on the couch with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. He had to lower the eclectic blinds on the windows to prevent possible sighting of the mysterious floating creature even though they were up high enough that it was most likely not a concern.

He opened his laptop and began searching through design pages looking for ideas for his Hei Mao suit.

“Nothing,” Adrien said frustrated after a while.

“What about Marinette. She could design something for you.” Plagg offered. Adrien shook his head, he wanted nothing more than to wear a Marinette design again.

“I can’t talk to her Plagg.” Adrien groaned.

“But Felix can, and if I remember right he is the CEO of a fashion company am I right?” Plagg was on to something. He picked up his cell phone and dialed up his cousin.

“Adrien to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” He sounded upset.

“What is it, Felix?” Adrien’s question could wait.

“I just got out of a meeting with public relations and they’re screaming for something to boost the community morale.” Adrien smiled. This was purrfect he thought.

“I think I can solve your problem and you can solve mine.” Adrien started. “Initiate a community-wide design competition. The theme is aged-up versions of Ladybug and Cat Noir in more… fitting attire.”

“It’s a competition?” Felix asked. “What would the reward be?”

“How about the winner gets to spend an entire day or week as a Graham De Vanily designer and their design is featured in the catalog, as say a costume.” Adrien grinned. “I’ll be the final judge, a silent Judge.”

“How,” Felix started, his voice sounding confused. “Does this benefit you?”

“Remember that girl, Marinette?” Adrien asked him.

“How could I forget,” Felix remember the beautiful girl from the video sent to Adrien.

“She’s a designer and well, I really want a costume designed by her.” Adrien wasn’t entirely lying.

“Let me guess, you want the Ladybug costume.” Felix scoffed.

“Exactly, well one of each. But the winner will be the one who designs the best of each costume, it’s a two for the win.” Adrien’s face beamed and he was glad that Plagg was the only one who could see it.

“I’ll put the word out,” Felix said coldly before hanging up the phone.

It had been nearly a month since the announcement for the costume design went out. He watched Marinette’s webpage and even found Alya’s blog. They definitely knew about it and even commented that Marinette would be entering her designs in as well. Adrien was so excited. His body was getting more accustomed to the beatings dished out by Chao Sifu, and his cooking skills got better with Cheng Sifu. During the day he often went past the temple to watch Chao Sifu teaching classes to groups of younger kids. They seemed to be far too young to learn martial arts but he was also forced to participate in far more activities by the time he was their age.

He spoke a number of different languages and played the piano. Adrien hadn’t touched one since he left his in his old bedroom. Felix said he wanted to move into the Agreste manor but felt uncomfortable with that idea given the current state of the public opinion regarding it. So he agreed to ensure the mansion was being maintained for when Adrien was ready to return to it.

Adrien felt a little stalkerish as he checked Marinette’s social media accounts daily, followed Alya’s blog, and even yes. The Lady blog. Marinette got more beautiful as she grew up. He had been watching his friends from afar. Nino seemed to be doing good. He even found Luka’s page. He wondered why Marinette hadn’t mentioned anything on her pages about her boyfriend or husband. Luka seemed happily married as he bragged about various things his twins were doing, never posting pictures of them though, or his wife.

Something tugged at Adrien’s heart as he scrolled through her pages. Juleka now served as her primary female model for her designs and even Luka joined in on occasion. He used to be Marinette’s model. As the contest date closed in, Adrien had to fight the urge to return to Paris for it. He wanted to be there, to witness Marinette winning. He knew her designs were going to be the winners. The days dredged by as Adrien maintained his covert agenda. His evening meals with Cheng Sifu, and his training with Chao Sifu. Two people that maintained his secrets. Even the grocery clerk aided him in his endeavors as she would help him pick out his fateful food items each day.

“So, are you planning on being here for the judging?” Felix asked.

“You know I can’t.” Adrien felt like his father, he had always had Nathalie walk around with the tablet showing him each of the designs. He didn’t even want to be that present.

“I have an idea,” Felix said. “I’ll call you right back.” A few minutes passed when Adrien’s phone chimed on his duo to pick up a video call. He saw Felix standing in a mirror wearing a pair of clear lens glasses. The image was coming from a micro camera in the frames. “This way, You can hear and see everything and no one will be the wiser.”

“How, can you hear me?” he asked. Felix reached up to the earpieces over both ears.

“The speakers are her like with earbuds only they don’t go in the ear. I can’t see you though unless I look at my phone.”

“This is purrfect.” Adrien beamed. He saw his cousin groan dropping his shoulders.

“Did you just make a cat pun?”

“Yep.”

“Are you blushing?”

“Pawsibly.”

“You’re encourageable.” Felix turned away from the mirror. He was in his suit at the Bourgeois Hotel. It was just like the one Chloe used to live in.

“I know.” Adrien fought back the urge to say something cattish.

“Goodbye, Adrien.” Despite his cold tone, Felix really did seem to enjoy their dynamics. He was the straight-laced one and Adrien, fun and playful.

“Could you imagine Plagg?” Adrien slumped back in his chair. “If Felix was given this miraculous,” he said holding up his hand. A look of terror crossed Plagg’s face as if he was threatened to never be given cheese again. Adrien laughed.

It was the day of the competition and Adrien watched as Felix straightened his tie. A chill running down his spine as he recalled how his father used to do it. Felix really was the younger version of his father. Sometimes he forgot that they had different fathers. Even though he looked nothing like his father, rather they both looked like Gabriel and Amelie.

Adrien shook the feeling off his shoulders as he watched his cousin leave the bathroom. The venue was set up at the Graham De Vanily building in the showroom. There were tons of people scattered about the room with various changing stalls set up using temporary wall structures. Felix walked through the halls slowly inspecting each station. Two models to each one in a Cat Noir suit, the other in a Ladybug suit. The gender specification had been an explicit requirement for the event.

Felix stopped by each inspecting the details and scoffed moving on to the next. Most of them were near replicas of the original suits.

“Is there just one person here who didn’t copy the original design?” Felix fumed.

“There,” Adrien said through the screen. He had to mirror his phone to the TV so he could get a better look at everything. His heart dropped when he recognized the old familiar midnight hair. It was no longer pulled into two down ponytails, instead, it was long and flowing. There was a bit of curl to it as it swayed back and forth with her movements. She was preparing her model already in costume. “I hope she’s not married,” he said before he realized his cousin could hear everything.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Felix said stepping up behind her. “What have you got for us this time.” He at least sounded pleasant. She spun around to face him. Adrien watched her face as it lit up in a bright red hue.

“A..A... Adrien?” Adrien could feel heat welling up in her heart even though she was, once again mistaking Felix for him. The fact that she was still thinking about him and tripping over her words at the thought she was in his presence made him wish he had gone.

“Felix, actually.” he took both of her hands in his looking down at them as he placed a kiss on each knuckle. “Adrien was a fool for letting a gem such as yourself slip through his fingers. Adrien fumed as his cousins’ obvious attempt to annoy him. Marinette’s cheeks returned to their normal hue as her face melted into sadness. Adrien’s heart broke for a minute.

“Do you need a tissue, Adrien?” Plagg asked. Adrien ignored him so as to not expose him to Felix who could hear everything except the Kwami.

“Show us what you have made for us.” Felix said. No one knew he was televising this for Adrien. Marinette explained in detail the design of this new Lady Noir Suit. It wasn’t all red as Ladybugs had been instead there was more black around the waist with a light red tulle skirting around the waist allowing for movement while offering a bit more coverage to the more sensitive areas. Another Tulle adornment lay over the breasts.

“Exquisite Marinette,” Felix said.

“Ask about the signature stitching.” Adrien chimed in quickly. He was nearly biting at the bit as he watched his cousin explore every detail of the suit.

“Ah-hem. Um, show me your signature stitching.” He looked up at Marinette who suddenly blushed.

“How do you know about that?” Marinette shrieked.

“Tell her Gabriel had made reference to it after other designs she had done.” Adrien threw in.

“I am the CEO of a fashion company, it is my job to know about that,” Felix smirked. Marinette pulled out another suit, it was designed for a man but she held up the collar piece showing the distinct gold embossed threading signing her name through the stitch.

“You did that with each of these designs?” he mused then moved on to the Cat Noir suit. Adrien swallowed hard when he saw Luka wearing the Cat Noir Suit. He almost didn’t recognize him with the hood pulled nearly over his face. The Ears protruding through the hood even seemed to have a little fluff to them. The hood flowed down the back with fine red lines detailing the changes in the material. The extra padding around the soft spots was highly more with the deep red. Felix walked around Luka slowly inspecting every detain including the attached belt that held a baton. The extra-long belt that also served as Cat’s tail dangled down to the floor. Adrien wondered if his belt was actually longer now than it was when he was a teenager, he was much taller now. “Why is this red and not Neon green as his ring?”

“This design is meant more for stealth. The red.” Marinette blushed.

“Ah, she’s so cute.” Adrien didn’t mean to say that out loud. Felix snorted.

“Who is Cat Noir without his Ladybug?” she finished. “I added more black to her’s to signify him on her so I thought I’d give him a piece of her.” Adrien felt warm at the thought. “As for the hood, Cat Noir has such bright hair, so this would provide him more stealth.” She scooped up the tail belt holding the end out for Felix to inspect. In fine detail along the edge of the belt was the customary Marinette signature.

“Very good Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Felix again took her hands. He flipped them over and even rubbed his fingers along the back of her hands. “Lovely, sure you didn’t make these by hands these hands are far too nice to have labored so.” Ooh, that smooth talker. Adrien was standing now anger fumed on his face. Felix turned away and began walking to another stall.

“Wait.” Marinette’s voice was small through the receiver. Felix turned around. Luka was holding her shoulders as she stood in front of him face Felix. She nearly shook as Adrien swore he saw a teardrop from her chin. “Can you tell him, if you see him…”

“What that you love him? I saw that video message you sent him. Was that your attempt to confess your feelings or just console a friend.” Felix seemed a bit harsh but Adrien bit back his words wondering what it was Marinette had said in the video.

“Tell him we miss him.” Ah there it was the fire in her eyes she was angry. “We miss our friend.” She turned away from Felix in a huff. Felix laughed.

“What are you doing Felix?” Adrien barked.

“Congratulations Marinette, I think you might just be our winner.” He scoffed then turned around.

“I just had to see her fire up, oh Adrien,” Felix whispered. “I can see why she means so much to you.” Felix tapped a button on his phone and disconnected the call. Adrien had recorded the entire video call. He replayed the video showing Cat Noir’s suit. He memorized every detail. Mulling it over in his head before setting his phone down and calling on his transformation.

He ran to the bathroom to examine his new suit. Every detail mimicked Marinette’s design. He suddenly realized and reached for his belt tail. It was longer. He studied the red stitching design and found it. Her signature was embedded into the magic suit he now wore.

#miraculous fandom #miraculous chat noir #adrienette #miraculous ladybug #miraculous world #felix graham de vanily #miraculous adrien #adrien agreste

9 notes · View notes

lewistan · 3 years

Note

🖤 + Edgar and Liv

SEND ‘🖤 + PAIRING’ FOR ME TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:

1) my muse’s initial impression of yours: spoiled princess. you know this. because of the circumstances of their initial meeting, edgar had preconceived notions about who liv was. she quickly dispelled them, but his first impression was definitely that she was the typical spoiled airheaded model. 2) my muse’s favorite physical attribute of yours: i can’t say glasses since that’s not technically a physical attribute, so i’ll have to go with: her lips. edgar seriously loves his wife’s lips. we’ve talked about how he thinks about kissing her when they’re arguing and who can blame him for being fixated really. 3) my muse’s favorite personality attribute of yours: she’s a fighter. livvy is so unexpected. edgar really expected her to be the stereotype he imagined, but she’s so much more. he lost half his heart in that bar fight and the other when she defended him from his father. edgar has always protected himself. the only other person who has ever tried to defend him against xavier is alex, so to have someone who isn’t blood related, who didn’t grow up knowing xavier’s cruelty, actually look that man in the eye without flinching and tell him how wrong he is for making his son feel worthless? how could he not love her? now he gets the honor of watching that fierce fighter become a mother which has made her even fiercer and edgar has no hope of getting his heart back. 4) a moment that made my muse realize how much they care about yours: edgar’s a bit slow on the upkeep. so he went through a process -- realizing that he didn’t hate her, that he valued her as a friend, that he didn’t absolutely abhor the idea of being married to her and having her in his space. it took him forever to realize he was in love and we all know how that made him react. liv realized she was in love when amelie was born and honestly, edgar realized he really cared about her, Liv, as a person -- outside of the fact that she was the mother of his child -- around the same time: when she went into labor early and all of their carefully laid plans went up in smoke. he had to face the idea that he could potentially lose his wife or his daughter or both and the idea of raising amelie without her made him feel sick. the possibility of losing her at all wasn’t something that he wanted to entertain. 5) something my muse never found the words to say to yours: honestly, something about the way she loves his scar. he’s attempted to joke about it on multiple occasions but the words never actually happen. the scar represents a lot of things to edgar, many of which he doesn’t like to think about (regardless of the fact that he has to face it in the mirror every day). so, livvy’s careful care of it makes him feel vulnerable and choked up, and he’s not comfortable vocalizing either feeling. 6) something my muse wishes they had never said to yours: lots of things, many of which happened directly after amelie’s birth. mostly, he regrets the way he told her he loved her that very first time. it should’ve been romantic, but instead, he threw it out in the middle of an argument like it was curse and then stormed out like a petulant brat. he thinks he made up for it with the sunflowers, but it’s still one of those things he wishes he could do over. 7) something your muse does that makes mine feel safe: all of the things with xavier are worth noting, but edgar feels most safe when it’s just the two of them. no kids. just edgar and liv, spending quality time together. also when he’s sick and she takes care of him. 8) something your muse does that makes mine smile: she falls asleep when he’s around. it may seem simple but it means the world to him. he knows how much she struggles when it comes to sleep. so the fact that she feels secure enough in his presence to fall asleep makes him feel like a superhero. also she makes macarons whenever he hasn’t been home for a while and she’s thinking of him and that’s damn sweet. 9) something my muse wants to protect yours from: edgar’s aware of liv’s past and the safety issues that have peppered it. he wants to make sure that she always feels as if he can keep her safe and that she knows that he’d die for her. so, he ensures that the house is something of a fortress. it’s for their kiddos, but it’s also so she knows that this is her haven. it’s why they made sure there was a pool installed indoors, and why he doesn’t complain when she rearranges rooms. he wants her to feel as if she has control in their space. 10) ways my muse says ‘i love you’ without saying those words: he reminds her that he promised to take care of her and their kiddos, he makes time for her that’s just liv and edgar time even if that means just sitting together and reading, he has her photo on his desk at work and as his phone’s wallpaper, he always reacts to the photos she sends him even if they’re inappropriate for him to receive while at work, he makes sure she knows that he loves her in glasses, he keeps his hand on the small of her back when they’re at events even though he’s not into PDA, he sends flowers (or entire flower shops when he knows she’s having business meetings with a certain idiot).

#ahh the brats #my beloveds #answered #edgar x olivia #tinyhousewrites #edgar yang

5 notes · View notes

goggles-mcgee · 4 years

Note

I’m the anon who asked about your other Adrien salt ideas. I would actually really like to see you describe all your ideas because I like the thought processes and concepts of salt ideas. I’m also really really interested in the high salt category.

Hohohoho boy alright High Salt Category, also known as the Dead Sea Salt Category. I hope you are ready for this list because as I recall I have stated before that I have around 12 ideas. I believe I have shared two on here already but they were kind of all over the place so I will refine them. Buckle up kiddos.

1. Double Take:

Tom and Sabine aren't dumb, they know something is going on with their little girl, but every attempt to get her to open up is met with over-enthusiastic reassurances and too big smiles. They hope that a surprise visit from her cousin Bridgette and her aunt, Sabine's sister, will help. When they were younger, Bridgette and Marinette were as thick as thieves and everyone thought the two were twins whenever they hung out. Even though they haven't seen each other in a year, the two still are close, that's why Bridgette knows that something is wrong immediately when she goes up to Marinette's room to support her.

It doesn't take long for Marinette to break and tell her everything. Everything about Lila, how she did turn everyone against her like she said, how Adrien said they were in it together yet he offered no help when he saw how her former friends were treating her, how Bustier kept lecturing her about how she had to be the example. Bridgette is furious but she convinces Marinette to tell her parents, when she does they are rightfully angry, and Tom becomes Akumatized yet again into Weredad. Bridgette and Marinette run when their mothers tell them too and in a fit of desperation Marinette tells Tikki she is sorry before telling Bridgette that she is Ladybug and she needs to transform as quick as possible.

Bridgette immediately is even more furious at her cousin's situation but understands, she comes up with the idea that the two of them switch clothes in case Tom goes searching for Marinette, he'll think Bridgette is her, Marinette agrees and they quickly do so. After Tom is defeated everyone sits down and has a long conversation about what to do. Sabine wants the school to pay for not taking action and her sister is right there with her but Marinette quickly points out they have no definitive proof to take to the board and Damocles would fight tooth and nail and would throw whoever he had to under the bus if they just opened up a case, not to mention if they went with no proof who knew how long it would take for the investigation to actually start. That's when Bridgette gets the idea that they collect proof themselves over a period of time and then go to the board. Marinette is on board the idea but Sabine really doesn't want Marinette to go back to that class or school, that's when Bridgette gets the idea for the two of them to swap places. It gives Marinette a break from the chaos and Bridgette can collect the proof.

Everyone is a little hesitant but after a longer talk everyone agrees. They wait two weeks before switching. That way Bridgette can cut her hair and have everyone get used to it before Marinette comes in, she let's her friends know what's going on because she knows they'll be able to tell that Marinette is not her so she tells them to make her feel welcome and help her come across as 'Bridgette.' They agree of course after she explains the situation. Then the switch happens. While Marinette is finally able to have a break and starts to enjoy her life once more, Bridgette is getting angrier as the days go on, horrified by what her cousin has to go through but she is dutifully collecting evidence and boy it wasn't hard at all. It's a wonder that the school is still open. It's hard not to call off the whole thing but she's going to be strong for Marinette.

Meanwhile Adrien doesn't understand why Marinette is acting so differently but he doesn't like it. Felix is intrigued by Bridgette's cousin and it seems like his friends share that sentiment as they are all trying to convince her to transfer after the whole investigation and whatnot.

[Includes New Chat Bridgette and Quantic Kids as the new heroes and Felinette, Felix Culpa not Felix Graham de Vanily]

2. Moving On, Finding Home:

Out of everything Felix expected his mother to do while in the stages of her grief, he never thought moving would be one of them. Now he is in Paris and hoping beyond all hope that he will not run into his cousin. Thankfully he is at a different school than his cousin, on the other hand his mother is all to eager to throw herself into work again and start on a new movie, and so are her employees. Felix is dreading the time when they will have to get costumes, since his uncle was always the one to provide them, and he is fairly certain his uncle would not be pleased to see him. It would seem that his mother shares the same thoughts as him and is also not wanting to ask Gabriel for help. That's when he gets an idea.

After his last visit to Paris and his...encounter with Adrien's friends, he had been keeping an eye on one of them, purely because they had piqued his interest. Marinette Dupain Cheng, the girl who professed her love to her cousin, though he never got to see it, also the very talented designer MDC. It wasn't hard to put two and two together, sure she posted on two different accounts but really the signatures on each commissioned piece were basically the same. Then he thinks about how thrilled his mother would he to work with her...the only problem is how will he convince the girl to help them out?

All the while Amelie decides to play matchmaker for her boy and Marinette while she commissions the young artist. It's great because it double as a big middle finger to Gabriel who is wracking his brain trying to figure out who this MDC is while simultaneously trying to steal Mlle Dupain Cheng from his sister-in-law. Adrien is just upset about his very close friend getting too close to his mischievous cousin. He will stop at nothing till he makes Marinette understand what a bad person Felix is.

[Contains new Chat Felix, as well as Felix redemption, school transfer for Mari, Quantic Kids, Lila Rossi's Lies Exposed]

3. Marinette, The Rolling Stone:

She didn't know how, but Lila had done it, she had successfully turned Marinette's friends against her. Not only that, but her lies had somehow made their way to and infected, Marinette's parents, making them lose their faith in their "once sweet daughter." They decide they no longer can care for her, seeing as she deceived them, they want to send her away or give up guardianship. Marinette tries to get Adrien to help her out but he is still on his high-road-horse and won't come don't even if it means she loses her parents. So she collects all her evidence and does her best to talk to them.

But Tom and Sabine don't want her to "take advantage" of their family members so they decide the best course of action is to have Marinette legally emancipated. Marinette tried, she tried so hard to get them to see her evidence and just hear her out but they think she is nothing more than a liar and manipulator. Before they have her emancipated, Jagged crashes back into her life and when he hears what Tom and Sabine are planning he is outraged and immediately offers to adopt Marinette. For Tom and Sabine, it's the out they needed, but they worry about Jagged, seeing as he obviously doesn't know the truth about their wicked daughter. But he stands strong and does not take no for an answer, and Marinette...she is hurt, yet happy that Jagged loves her enough to adopt her.

When all is said and done, Jagged and Penny get to work on being the best parents they can be. First things first. Getting their little Rolling Stone out of that hell-hole of a school and finding one better suited to her tastes. Or better yet, why not leave Paris as a whole?

[Includes class salt so much of it, Lila Rossi getting outed as the liar she is, Chat Noir aka Adrien salt and him losing his miraculous, new school, new friends, Tom and Sabine salt, some Master Fu salt, slight Tikki salt but so slight like a grain of salt, Marinette being loved, Jagged getting to be a dotting father, I don't know what ship I want this to be fyi]

4. Everyday Ladybug

After the events of Ladybug, Sabine and Tom have had enough. Marinette said she could handle it but she shouldn't have to, not to this extent, not to almost getting akumatized, so they decide to pull her from that problematic school and they reinstate her, and transfer her to a new school that would help cultivate her skills and passions. Marinette fully agreed, the expulsion had been the last straw for her, she couldn't take it anymore. She was ready for a change, but was Collège Françoise Dupont?

Once their little girl is free from the Akuma School, Tom and Sabine take their case to Board of Education. Because even though they got Marinette out of there, there was bound to be other students like her who thought they could and should stick it out and that just won't do. They hoped Principal Damocles was ready, because they were prepared to go to war.

[Includes the pairing Felinette, Quantic Kids, Uncle Jagged, Damocles Salt, Bustier Salt, Adrien and Gabriel Agreste salt, Adrien losing the Cat Miraculous, Class salt, Lila Rossi Salt, etc]

5. All The World's A Stage:

She had so many roles to fulfill, and at this point she couldn't keep track of them all. Marinette was being pulled thin and she felt as though there was nothing she could do to stop it. Lila knew this, had seen it coming, maybe even had been a small devil on people's shoulders to help it along, and she decides to take advantage of the situation to help Hawkmoth finally akumatize Marinette. The liar plans a party with the class, or well suggests they should throw a party. The class jumps on the idea and adds just that much more work onto Marinette.

She can't hold on and she needs help, but it seems like the only help she will get is from herself...many of them actually.

[My spin on the Many-nette akuma idea! Includes the pairing Lukanette, akumanette, Adrien realizing that actions and inactions have consequences, new Chat Noir, new Miraculous Holders, class salt, Lila salt, Adrien salt, Hawkmoth salt, happy ending]

6. Wish Me Away:

Chat Noir betrayed her. He took her earrings at the peak of the battle, she never even saw it coming, but she did see his look of surprise and his look of awe and love, and yet...not one apologetic look was given. She watched from where she was pinned under Mayura as Chat detransformed, she watched as he became Adrien, and she cried. She begged Gabriel Agreste not to make the wish, she didn't expect the slap from Adrien or the venom he spit out telling her he expected better from her, he thought she wanted him to be happy.

She watched in horror as Gabriel detransformed and told Natalie to do the same but not before tying Marinette to a chair. She watched as Gabriel happily took her earrings from his son and Adrien's ring before transforming into a being of Chaos and Order, she forced herself to watch as he made his wish and as the light swallowed her she finally closed her eyes.

Tikki and Plagg were furious, Adrien betrayed them and all of Paris, all of the Miraculi. But as they were joined to make the wish they realized that Gabriel hadn't been specific in his wish, which meant they could create something together, a loophole of sorts, all they wanted was to give Marinette a better life. One where no one from her past life would find her, and they wished that she would be placed somewhere she would be loved and cared for like she deserved.

Well...it worked...what they didn't understand was why their Guardian was currently transported to Gotham of all places, and why she was barely a year old!? At least she was transported to what seemed like a nice place. Wayne Manor huh? Well no matter they would make sure their little kit was cared for and make sure that no one from her past life found her.

[Includes Batfam! With Babynette! Marinette gets adopted into the Wayne family! Yes she is still the Guardian of the Miraculous. Karma is being served and it is delicious! No one is skipped, everyone gets a serving!]

7. Tattle-Tail:

When an Akuma catches the class off-guard and makes them tattle their truths on themselves nothing is the same. Marinette still had hope that her friends could return to their senses and come back to her side but after hearing what they think of her, really think, that hope dies. It turns to ash and ignites a fire she didn't know she had. She was done holding out for them. She was done being nice for the sake of being nice. And most importantly, she was done being the example.

Her class started the fire, and they were going to get burned.

[Includes class change for Marinette, Truth Akuma, Lila Rossi's lies exposed, consequences being learned, new friends for Marinette, class salt, no ship for Marinette or if there is it may be Kagaminette, New Chat Noir]

8. The Haunted Bride:

Marinette didn't know why, but ever since she was a little girl she was always fascinated with the famous Culpa Mansion in London. If she asked her parents where her fascination came from they always claimed it had to be from her Grandma Gina when she had given Marinette a book about the mansion. Gina claimed it came from her parents and that's why she bought her little fairy the book. All Marinette remembers is dreaming of the mansion, of living there, and when she found out the tragic history, she started to dream about being the Master of the Mansion's bride-to-be, Bridgette Chang. She dreamed that she might be the reincarnated bride and one day she would go to Culpa Mansion and be reunited with her love, but as she grew, that dream grew to be just that, a dream.

But fate works in weird ways and Marinette finds the chance to go visit like her heart has always yearned to, when she wins her class the opportunity to stay in the mansion. It should be the perfect trip, but between her friends believing the liar over her and her boyfriend, Adrien, still telling her to just take the high road and being everything else but her boyfriend, Marinette is finding it hard to be happy.

Then she meets the staff of Culpa Mansion and she can't help but feel right at home.

[My take on the Haunted Mansion AU made by @merry-madness I believe! Includes class salt, Lila salt, supernatural elements, ghosts!, Adrien salt, Felinette, Quantic Kids, Marinette being loved like she deserves, Guardian Marinette, Hawkmoth has been defeated]

9. Ivy's Sapling:

Pamela didn't mean for it to happen, she didn't mean to stumble upon a robbery gone wrong but she did. She was fully prepared to go about her business but then she heard a baby cry and saw the man with the gun point it at the bundle in pink and next thing she knew her vines and her lashed out and strangled the man. She was fully prepared to take the child to the orphanage but when she saw the child wrap a small chubby hand around one of her vines and give her a gummy smile, she made a decision that would change a lot.

Poison Ivy became a mother, and she loved her little Marigold so much, so when things became a little too much, a little too dangerous in Gotham she sent her little Marigold away with a dear friend who said her son and his wife would take care of her daughter.

Now her and Harley are getting married and she wants her daughter there, when she calls her to tell her the news she wasn't expecting to hear her daughter crying and asking to move back home.

[Includes Mama Ivy and Harley! Daminette pairing, class salt, of course Adrien Salt, new Chat Noir, Lila salt and her lies exposed, Mari moving to Gotham! Uncle Jagged! Batfam]

10. The Commission

Marinette had many noteworthy commissions, but she never bragged, and it's not like she had many people to brag to. So when she opened her business email and saw it full of requests she merely smiled excitedly at the promise of work and the opportunity to work with new people. She clicked the top email and nearly fainted, she read it once, twice, five times before she asked Tikki to read it for her, and after that yelling for her mom and dad to also read it for her. When they confirmed that she had actually gotten a commission from who she had read from she gave out an excited squeal. She had the opportunity to design a formal suit for Tony Stark and a wedding dress for Pepper Potts! Yeah no she was going to faint.

Tony had been a little reluctant to commission this MDC for his and Pepper's wedding attire but he couldn't say no to Pepper who had been a fan of the designers for a long time, so when he finally got his hands on the designers email he didn't hesitate to send an email for the designer to fly over to New York for a consultation and have them stay until their outfits were done. Was it over the top? Maybe a bit much? Was he more than willing to pay for their rooming and materials just to make Pepper happy? Hell yeah! Oh and maybe he could ask if they could make a suit for Peter, he loved the kid, really he did, but he wouldn't know a nice suit if it wrestled itself onto his scrawny body.

Adrien didn't know what Marinette's problem was, he told her to take the high road and she had been doing anything but! Their friends started to call her a bully and well Adrien could tell them that Lila was lying about the bullying but she wouldn't be lying about it if Marinette had just done as he said so he saw it as fine punishment. Well school was over and it was summer and he was planning on helping Marinette go back to the way she was. It was for the best really.

[Includes Spiderbug ship aka Marinette and Peter Parker, I also like to call them Lovebugs! Adrien salt and a new chat! Lila salt and her lies exposed, class salt, Uncle Jagged, the Avengers, the Avengers loving Marinette]

11. The Not-So Phantom of the Théâtre du Châtelet:

Marinette couldn't be more thrilled! She was hired to design and make the costumes for the Théâtre du Châtelet's performance of The Phantom of the Opera. She was less than thrilled at the fact that she would be working with Lila Rossi, her old bully from collège, and Adrien Agreste her ex-boyfriend. But this was a great opportunity for her and her company, Lady Luck Designs. When her and her team arrive to the theatre, she was expecting a little drama, what she wasn't expecting was the whole cast and crew to be on edge. Then she heard the whispers, the rumors, the show was haunted.

At first she thought it was just a little PR stunt, but then she realized that everyone was doing their best not to let the information get out. Then the whispers and rumors were more than just about little things going wrong, people were actually meeting the ghost,, the phantom they were calling him. Marinette didn't believe in it,, didn't want to believe in it, that is until she came face to...er mask? with the phantom.

She hoped Lady Luck shined on her for the duration of this project, she had a feeling she would need it.

[Includes: No Miraculous AU, Felinette pairing, big Lila Rossi salt and her lies finally being exposed as well as her facing consequences, Adrien salt big time too, Marinette's former friends salt, Quantic Kids, the Kwami as Marinette's design team, theatre kid shenanigans.]

12. Silence Can Be The Loudest Thing:

Marinette was fully prepared to find a place to transform in the studio, it shouldn't be hard, it was a big place, and she wasn't Luka's target, but she hadn't counted on Bob Ross. He kept using her as a human shield so it seemed like Luka...er...Silencer took it upon himself to be her protector, and apparently that meant carrying her around Paris as he hunted down Bob Ross so he could keep her safe. She just hoped Chat Noir would get there soon and distract Silencer long enough so that she could transform.

Once he does though she can't help but notice how reckless he is in the fight and how he reacts when he finds out Ladybug isn't there yet. Silencer doesn't take it well and seemed more determined than ever to guard her.

What's a bug to do.

[Includes a Silencer rewrite, lukanette, Adrien/Chat salt, new Chat Noir, new heroes, class salt, class picking sides, Kitty Section opening their eyes to Lila's lies, LIla salt, Alya salt]

842 notes · View notes

romxnticss · 3 years

Text

Here you can find a full biography for Mr Mackenzie “Loverboy” Walsh himself, but below you’ll find the gist of all that plus some more recent stuff!

Name - Mackenzie Leonardo Walsh

Nicknames - Mac, Mackie, Ken, Kenzie

Birthday - February 14, 1978

Zodiac sign - Aquarius

Hometown - Cherry, California

Current Residence - Cherry, California

Height - 5′8″

Sexuality - Bisexual

Birth order - Only child

Occupation - Sound Engineer at Maraschino Draft House

Character Inspiration - Nino (Amelie: The Musical), Jess Mariano (Gilmore Girls), Gordo (Lizzie McGuire), Phoebe Buffay (Friends)

TW: Child abandonment

Short Biography and Headcanons:

Mac’s parents were love and in love (and quickly not so in love) when he was conceived. They split before he was born, leaving his mom running to her older brother Leo for guidance. Leo took her in, but a few days after Mac was born his mom snuck out in the middle of the night and left only a note behind.

Mac’s mom floated in and out of his life for the next few years, but in his eyes Leo’s the only parent who’s ever mattered. Leo was only 25 when Mac was born, but he found a lot of happiness in parenthood. He also kept living his record-store owner, rockstar adjacent life (with Mac tagging along of course).

Like imagine those babies at concerts with noise cancelling headphones, that was Mac strapped to Leo’s chest in a little holder just vibing (or sleeping) like twice a month until he was old enough for Leo to hold him on his shoulders. Mac was that random kid sleeping under the coats at a party, you know? Leo and his friends also passed him around to attract girls, and it totally worked.

Naturally, with a record store owning Uncle, Mac discovered a love for music pretty early on. Leo taught him how to play guitar and the rest is history. He pestered Leo’s friends in bands to teach him any instrument he could get his hands on. He’d say he’s skilled at guitar and piano, but he’s never met an instrument he didn’t want to play.

He’s been attracted to great love stories for as long as he can remember. Music, movies, books, tv- it doesn’t really matter. Leo knew Mac was in trouble the first time they watched Say Anything, it was something about the look in his eye- like he was taking mental notes on how to get himself a girlfriend.

Despite the way Leo raised him, his Uncle disapproved of his decision to skip college. He believes in Mac, and thinks that his music career could really take off- but he’s concerned that he has nothing to fall back on. He’s seen it happen one too many times to risk it with his own Nephew. This opinion led to an argument, which eventually led to an ultimatum, which eventually lead to Mac moving out. The two of them aren’t exactly not speaking, but their relationship has been pretty rocky for the past year or so.

Above anything else, Mac wants to have a great love story of his own, though he’s never had a whole lot of relationship luck. He tends to get his heart broken... a lot, though it never stops him from brushing himself off and trying again. It does, however, lead to him writing a ton of sad breakup songs.

Since Lux’s death there’s been a noticeable shift in his demeanor. He’s lost the sparkle in his eye, the pep in his step, you get it. Something is just... off, he doesn’t feel like himself. The worst part is, he can’t get a handle on his emotions long enough to write them out. In the past when he’s had trouble understanding himself, he’s found the answer through writing, but whenever pen touches paper he finds himself writing another letter to Lux instead of a song. The last time he touched his guitar was Lux’s funeral, and he’s not sure he knows how to pick it up again.

#cusaintro #intro #i know gavin leatherwood is 5'5 but we're gonna ignore that ok

5 notes · View notes

salthaven · 4 years

Text

An Odd Day for a Normal Girl

@soap-lady I’m not quite sure I did this right, and I wrote this in an odd haze of ‘what’s the most ridiculous way Marinette could end up dating her crush, who is also a superhero, to the point where she questions life’ and this mess of like 3k words appeared so...here we go? Thanks for the prompt, haha!

An Odd Day for a Normal Girl

Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a normal girl with a normal life. She goes to school with her best friend who’s a model, she designs for superstars, and she’s head over heels for one half of the Parisian superhero duo that saves the city on a weekly basis. Just like any average girl.

Okay, so maybe that’s not quite normal. Maybe Marinette should explain a bit. Maybe…

So basically, there’s this crazy guy named Hawkmoth. He wants the Miraculous- those are magical pieces of jewelry, no she’s not crazy- of the Ladybug and Black Cat. Those two are in use, being held and wielded by Scarlet Lord and Chat Noir, two heroes who protect civilians from danger and stop the Akuma- Hawkmoth’s monster villain guys- from destroying everything. Understood? Great.

So Marinette may or may not have a crush on Scarlet Lord, but she has good reasons! The reasons: He’s kind, polite, charming. (Not to mention he’s literally saved her life over twenty times by now.) So maybe she’s a bit of a damsel in distress, she can’t help how she turns to mush when he looks at her! And God forbid if he protects her, her brain practically shuts off from the overheating of her face. She’s lucky that she doesn’t know the boy behind the mask, she’d die on the spot from embarrassment!

(It doesn’t help that all of her friends encourage her feelings. Even Félix, her normally calm- albeit rather easily flustered- friend when it comes to matters of the heart, encourages her ‘pursuit’, as he calls it.)

Speaking of the blond, Félix is the cousin of Marinette’s best friend- Adrien Agreste. Local heartthrob and Paris’s sunshine child, Adrien is the poster child of the perfect son. He’s smart, fluent in multiple languages, great at fencing, and has a natural knack for physics. He’s a model, with good looks and a father who is a king of fashion. He’s the stereotypical rich kid- until people look away. Then he’s punning away, sneaking off in little acts of rebellion to hide in Marinette’s house where they play Ultimate Mecha Strike and eat pastries until their fingers are sore and their stomachs are full.

Oh, and what’s more? Adrien is Chat Noir, holder of the Black Cat Miraculous. His ‘kwami’, as he calls it, accidentally outed himself when Marinette brought up cheese pastries for the first time.

Of course, this naturally means he’s become Marinette’s wingman, determined to get his best friend together with his partner in crime- er, uncrime? Partner in defeating crime? Marinette isn’t good at making up names...but she is good at designing.

Which brings up the last thing. Marinette wants to be a designer, that much everyone knows. She’s done work for Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, and a few others by now. She’s been praised by Audrey Bourgeois and Gabriel Agreste...and she works under Félix’s mother, Amelie, as an intern.

(She’s still not convinced that Félix didn’t pull a few strings. ‘A keen eye for talent’, sure. Marinette is still grateful and honored, of course.)

So yeah. A normal life, right?

But that’s enough about Marinette. For now, she needs to get to school. If she’s late,

Félix and Adrien will make fun of her for the rest of the day. “She can already hear Félix’s exasperated, “How can you even do this? You live right across the street!” paired with Adrien’s giggles.)

Luckily, Marinette gets to class a few minutes before the bell, giving her time to sit in her spot behind Adrien and pull out her stuff. Félix is already in his spot beside her, reading his book. He looks up at her with a small smile and approving nod before turning back to his reading. Marinette doesn’t try bugging him, she knows just how much the blond likes his quiet time before class starts.

The other blond, however, does not want quiet in the morning, and is quick to turn around in his spot to beam up at her, accidentally knocking Nino a bit with his sudden turn.

“Marinette!” Adrien cheers. “How have you been? How was your night? Anything interesting? Ooh, did you start working on that new design you were telling me about?” He’s practically bouncing in excitement, and Marinette can’t help but giggle as she nods.

“I’ve been good, my night was good, and yes. I’ve started gathering all of the fabrics that I’ll need for my Scarlet Lord design. I think I’m going to make it the dress, rather than the suit.”

Félix’s head jerks up at Marinette’s words. “You’re making a Scarlet Lord themed dress?”

“Yeah?”

Félix’s face turns oddly red as he nods stiffly. “I see. Tell me how it goes?”

“Sure?” Marinette blinks, confused by the sudden awkwardness in Félix’s posture, the stiffness that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

“Thank you,” he says, and then turns back to his book.

Odd.

“Anyways,” Adrien sighs out after a moment, cutting through the silence, “I still think you should make a Chat Noir design.

Marinette snorts. “Okay, Adrien. Maybe I’ll make a skirt one day?”

“Or a hoodie!” Adrien leans further over his chair, eyes bright. “You could give it little cat ears.”

“Absolutely not,” Marinette says teasingly.

“Why not?”

“Simple. I’m not a furry like Chat Noir is.”

Adrien sputters, face pink. “Chat Noir is not a furry.”

“He wears cat ears. And a tail.”

“That doesn’t mean-”

“Adrien,” Félix interrupts, setting his book back down. “He wears a bell.”

Marinette laughs at the wounded expression on Adrien’s face. “See? Félix gets it.”

“W-well, Scarlet Lord is a buggy, so-”

“A what?”” Félix cuts Adrien off again, nose curled in disgust.

“A buggy. You know, the insect version of a furry. Even weirder,” Adrien sniffs with disdain. “And you guys think Chat Noir is weird.”

“Scarlet Lord is not a buggy!” Marinette says with a huff. “He doesn’t wear fake antennas or anything! The guy doesn’t even have wings.”

Adrien smirks. “Marinette, you’re even weirder than Chat Noir or Scarlet Lord.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you have the biggest crush on a buggy.”

Marinette feels like her face is up in flames as she tries to respond. She’s too busy sputtering to see how Félix blushes and looks away.

Luckily for Marinette, the Akuma alarm goes off. (Okay, maybe that isn’t something to feel lucky about, but Marinette lives in an odd world!) With the alarm, Adrien jolts in his seat, quickly dashing out of the room with a rushed excuse of, “Gotta go bathroom bye!”

Marinette snorts, missing how Félix slips out right behind his cousin as she turns to face the class.

“Where’s the Akuma?” She asks Alya, who’s already pulling up the news. The aspiring journalist always seems to know what’s up, and clears her throat after a few seconds.

“Heading this way. Another love Akuma, apparently he got rejected and doesn’t want anyone else to feel the same. Name is Bleeding Heart.” Alya’s eyes widen. “Oh shit! Guys, he’s outside the school.”

Marinette gulps, hearing the sudden loud and heavy footsteps that only an Akuma can have. In a flash, she’s jumping up. “Everyone, we need to move,” she urges, but it’s too late. Suddenly, the door is being slammed open, and the class gasps.

Bleeding Heart smiles, and Marinette shivers at the pure glee on his face that contrasts with the dark blue tear tracks that fall down his face. He turns his head slowly, eyeing everyone in the room before chuckling.

“Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match,” he mutters to himself, then nods. “Of course! For you, I’ll find the perfect pairings. After all, nobody should ever feel how I have.” Nodding once more, the man lifts both of his hands, forms finger guns, and ‘fires’. Suddenly, red strings shoot from the tips of his fingers, one latching onto Max, the other hitting Alix. Bleeding Heart snaps his fingers, and the ends remove themselves from their fingers and fly to their other half, tying together in a heart-shaped knot.

Marinette feels her eyes widen as Alix and Max turn to each other with love-stricken smiles.

“Alix,” Max says, stepping closer, the string retracting with every move. “I know there is a ninety nine point nine percent chance that I feel this way due to Bleeding Heart’s attack, but the point zero one percent moves me to confess that I have fallen in love with you.”

Alix blushes, moving closer as well. “I love you too, nerd.” They’re right in front of each other, and then they’re leaning in and-

Marinette looks away as Bleeding Heart fires again, quickly latching Sabrina and Kim together.

“Brains and brawns, a perfect pair!” Bleeding Heart cheers as he snaps his fingers. Then he turns again, and his grin turns into a beam. “Oh, look at you two! You’ve already found your match, how sweet!”

Marinette spares a glance back, and sees how Rose cowers behind Juleka, the goth holding a protective stance in front of the blonde. Both blush, but neither correct the Akuma. Which is smart, because he quickly moves on to find a new target.

His eyes lock onto her, and Marinette tenses.

“Little dear, you’re so lonely! We simply must find you somebody to call your other half! Let’s see, who might it be?”

“I believe you should let her choose for herself,” Scarlet Lord’s voice rings clear through the air, and Marinette feels her heartbeat racing as he steps closer.

“You!” Bleeding Heart cheers. “You must be her other half!” He raises his fingers, and Marinette feels her eyes widen.

“Don’t waste your time, they’re already an item,” Chat Noir says cheekily as he tosses his baton at the Akuma.

“They are?” Bleeding Heart asks, eyes showing distrust and hope all at once.

Marinette freezes, mouth open but no response coming out. Part of her screams to say yes, because they can’t risk her being attached to Scarlet Lord. He’d be slowed down in battle by their string, and if he was forced to love her, that’d be a distraction. And yet another part of her yells no, because it feels selfish to force Scarlet Lord to pretend, to play into a false relationship with her. Because it wouldn’t feel fake, even just for the few minutes, for her. Marinette knows her feelings, knows she’d-

“We are,” Scarlet Lord says calmly. “And I don’t appreciate you threatening my dear.”

Marinette feels her face heat up at the gasps around the room, and shrinks in on herself.

“How precious,” Bleeding Heart cooes. “What a shame that I have to take your Miraculous now.” Then he leaps at Scarlet Lord, hand outstretched. Luckily, Scarlet Lord is as quick as he is smart, and jumps out of reach, swinging his yoyo to knock the window open before pulling Marinette to his side.

“Let’s go, love,” Scarlet Lord says, and then he’s racing to the window and leaping out, pulling them away from danger. The wind races through Marinette’s ears as the classroom becomes farther and farther away, and Bleeding Heart becomes a spec chasing after them, Chat Noir behind him, trying to distract the Akuma.

When they’ve gained enough distance, Scarlet sets her down. It’s only now that Marinette sees how red faced the hero is.

She has no doubt that her face is matching.

“Thank you,” Marinette breathes out. Scarlet, somehow, turns even redder.

“Of course. I couldn’t let you get hurt, my dear,” Scarlet says softly, and then he looks away. “Your...friend was live streaming, wasn’t she?”

Marinette blinks, then gasps. “Alya? Oh, oh no…” Knowing the journalist, Alya had likely started recording the moment Bleeding Heart entered the room...meaning the whole city would soon know of Marinette and Scarlet Lord’s ‘relationship’. “She probably was.”

Scarlet nods. “I see.”

“I’m sure that we can explain what happened later!” Marinette says quickly, although her heart squeezes. She tries to push away the odd hopefulness in her heart as she continues. “They’d understand! I mean, we haven’t been seen together in public often-”

“I’ve saved you at least twenty times by now, my dear,” Scarlet Lord corrects. “And you’ve helped me in battles with my Lucky Charm-” a flash of light, and a tube of spotted lipstick falls from the sky, “multiple times. Oh, shit.” Scarlet Lord glares at the object in his hand as if it offended him, then sighs. “I have a feeling that if we try to explain it away, the people of Paris will only believe I am trying to protect you from harm.”

Marinette frowns, eyes scanning the city. (It’s to watch for danger, she tells herself, not because she’s too scared to look into Scarlet Lord’s eyes and see annoyance or, worse, indifference.) “I suppose you’re right. So...what should we do?”

“Well, we can always pretend to be dating,” Scarlet Lord suggests. “And after a few weeks, if you’d like, we can break it off. Say that it was too dangerous, that it’s too risky to try.”

“Right. You’re right, it’d be stupid to continue,” Marinette agrees, and a little bit of her heart cracks.

“I’m sorry,” Scarlet whispers, so soft that Marinette almost misses it. “I know this must be...upsetting.”

Marinette forces herself to laugh, blinking away tears that spring forth as she thinks of the irony in her life, that she’d be stuck fake dating her crush, and accidentally rejected without ever confessing. “Why would it be upsetting?” Marinete asks, facing him with a forced grin. “I mean, who else gets to claim they’re dating the Scarlet Lord?” She looks away, the grin falling. “Let’s...let’s go defeat the Akuma. Maybe he’ll...maybe he’ll be distracted if he sees us acting like a couple?”

“Of course,” Scarlet Lord agrees, and then, as if in a story, his yoyo begins to ring. He answers it, Chat’s face filling the screen.

“Hey, are you two done talking or whatever?” Chat asks, leaping behind a building before glancing away. “Because Bleeding Heart is getting real pissed that I won’t stand still long enough for him to pair me up with anyone, and I don’t exactly have someone to claim as my secret girlfriend right now!” The words pierce Marinette’s heart, and she shifts uncomfortably as Scarlet Lord sighs.

“We’re on our way. Where are you, Chat Noir?”

“I’m on the- oh shoot!” Chat jumps out of the way as a red string flies past him. “Gotta go, check my location, bye!”

The call ends.

“Let’s get to the fight,” Scarlet says lightly, and then he pulls her to his side once more before swinging off…

Bleeding Heart is easy to deal with. Sure, Scarlet ends up having to run off and detransform right after they get there (thanks again, Lucky Charm), but when he comes back he’s fierce and fast, taking the Akuma down with ease. The moment Miraculous Ladybug is cast, Marinette finds herself backing away from the fight. Of course, life isn’t quite so easy.

“Miss!” A reporter cries out, darting over to her. “How does it feel to be dating one of the heroes of Paris?”

A second man shoves a microphone in her face, adding on, “How long have you been dating? How did he ask you out? Is it hard to date when one half hides behind a mask?”

“Do you know his identity?” A third person questions, more following suit, and Marinette feels herself freezing once more.

But then Scarlet lays a hand on her shoulder protectively, and Marinette leans into his hold. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interrogate my dear,” he says, voice icier than she’s ever heard, and the reporters freeze. “Our love life is private, and the details are for the two of us to know.” He glares at the reporters, then turns to Marinette. “Would you like me to drop you off at home, love?”

Marinette blushes scarlet, shaking her head slowly. “I, I should head back to class.”

“Of course. Allow me to be of service.” With a soft smile, he lifts her up gently before heading off.

Marinette tries to ignore how her heart sings while her stomach drops. It’s all too much.

He reaches the school too fast and yet all too slow, and sets her down as gently as possible, making sure that she regains her footing on the ground before letting go of her completely. Marinette backs up, trying to head back to class, to pretend that this day hasn’t been mortifying and painful, that she won’t cry from embarrassment and heartbreak later on.

“Thanks,” Marinette says, then rushes inside. She misses the look of longing on her hero’s face.

It’s worse at school, with her classmates over the moon by the sudden news.

“I thought you just had a crush on him!” Alya exclaims. “I had no clue you were dating!”

“We wanted privacy,” Marinette forces the words out, trying not to find joy. She’s disgusting, leeching happiness out of this mess, isn’t she?

Adrien smiles apologetically, and Marinette sighs. She can’t blame him, he was just trying to help. She smiles back as best as she can, and he seems to slump in relief. Then class resumes, and Marinette uses the last of her willpower to focus on the lesson and ignore the looks she’s getting from her classmates.

She misses the way Félix watches her, eyes soft and searching for the right answer. She just keeps her eyes on the board...

-----

Marinette sighs as she curls up deeper into her blankets, eating cookies as she tries to ignore the day’s events. But how can she? How can she, when her crush is being thrown into her face in the worst sense of irony to possibly exist? The world must hate her, if it’s playing with her head so cruelly.

A knock sounds through her balcony door. Huffing, Marinette rolls over in her bed. “Go away, Chat! I don’t want to talk right now.” She may have forgiven him for causing this mess, but she can’t just-

Another knock, this one louder. Eyes narrowing, Marinette shoves the blanket off and stands up. Pushing on the trapdoor, Marinette says, “Chat, I’m serious! I really don’t want to talk about this whole mess! Can’t you just-” Scarlet Lord’s eyes meet hers, and Marinette stumbles, barely catching herself. “Leave?”

Scarlet Lord smiles, albeit rather awkwardly, and holds out a hand to her. She takes it numbly, face heating up. “I figured that you’d like to talk about all of this. Unless you’d prefer that I leave you alone for now?”

Marinette lets go of his hand and leans against the railing, inwardly cursing her increasingly red face. “No! No. We can talk right now.”

“Are you sure?” he asks, eyes searching for any signs of doubt. “You seemed rather against the idea, although you did seem to assume I was Chat Noir...why is that?”

“Oh!” Marinette looks away, missing how his eyes follow hers. “Chat comes around a lot.”

“Does he?” His voice isn’t quite so soft now, almost… jealous? No, there’s no way. He’s probably just upset that Chat is wasting his time with supposedly random civilians...even if Marinette is their most common ally.

“Yeah. He, uh, he called me the little sister he never had,” Marinette says with a small laugh. “It’s odd, calling a superhero a sibling, but I guess I’ll be claiming I’m dating you, so it’s not that odd now?” Marinette sighs, wistful. “I never thought I’d end up fake dating someone.”

“Neither did I,” Scarlet admits. “But I’d like to talk about that.”

Marinette nods. “Right, of course.” She shifts, glances to him, then glances away once more. “I thought we figured it out back on the roof though? A,” she swallows, “a few weeks, then we’ll call it off publicly. Right?”

“Right,” his voice seems strained, probably from the tangible awkwardness Marinette is radiating. “I’d like to apologize. For all of this. I don’t know what Chat Noir was thinking when he suggested that.”

“He was trying to keep you safe,” Marinette says, pretending that she doesn’t know Chat’s real motive- being her wingman. “If you didn’t agree, Bleeding Heart would have tried to connect us together. You would’ve been stuck to me, and I would only slow you down.”

“I’m sure we’d find a way to beat him. Two heads are better than one, aren’t they?” Scarlet chuckles, then sighs. “No matter the reason, I am sorry that all of this has happened.”

“I get it,” Marinette blurts out, ignoring how his words stab through her heart. “Don’t wanna be stuck with the clumsy girl who always ends up stuck in battles, yeah? It makes sense, I understand completely. I should be the one apologizing.”

“Marinette,” Scarlet says, hand reaching out and grabbing her shoulder, turning her gently until she’s facing him. “I’m only apologizing because you’re in danger now. I would hate to be the reason you get hurt. You’re important to me, do you know that?”

Marinette blinks. “I am?”

He smiles. “It’s hard to see a pretty, talented girl and not fall for her.”

Alright, it’s official. Marinette has to be dreaming, or she’s stuck in some kind of story. There’s no way- what kind of- wha-

“Me?!” Marinette gets out, voice high and face burning.

Scarlet Lord nods, hand slipping down from her shoulder to take her hand instead. “My dear, I’m not blind, nor am I a fool. I know that Chat Noir has been trying to set us up...and I wouldn’t be against it.” He squeezes her hand, and Marinette’s heart jumps. “You’re a wonderful girl, Marinette. But…”

“But it’s dangerous. Because I’m a civilian, and you’re a superhero,” Marinette says, and Scarlet Lord nods. “So that’s it.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“Huh?”

Scarlet smirks, and oh mon Dieu Marinette is a goner. “Picture this. The next few weeks, we try to work things out in public. We make a big show of it, we’re not comfortable with all eyes on us. We break it off, deciding that it’s best to end things before the public becomes worse.” He chuckles. “And as the public tries to focus on the sudden breakup, they’ll become distracted when they see me flirting with a new teammate that I’m bringing in soon, and I’ll earn her love and we’ll make it very public. Since she has a Miraculous and a secret identity, everything will be alright.”

“I see…” Marinette swallows, unsure where the conversation is going. “And who...who’s the new hero?”

“Well, my dear,” Scarlet Lord says, and then he’s holding out a foxtail necklace, “if you’d truly like to try giving this bug a chance, then the new hero is you.”

-----

Marinette is a normal girl with a normal life. She goes to school with her best friend, who is a model and a superhero, she designs for celebrities, and she’s dating one half of the original superhero duo. Oh, and she’s now a superhero herself, but that’s just an average day in the life of Marinette “Kitsune” Dupain-Cheng’s life.

#ml fic #felinette #idek man i just vibed

618 notes · View notes