#Chameleon salt
Note
Do you think people cling on too much to Adrien's high road advice as a reason to salt on him?
Yes, especially when there are plenty of other reasons to salt him that have previously been ignored. But to that end, it DOES serve as the final straw for people after a SERIES of problems that had previously gone unaddressed.
Much like many aspects of the show, Adrien has displayed problematic behaviors that have been overlooked and waved off in the earlier seasons. This is likely or especially due to the way how in each and every incident, Adrien was narratively shown to be correct. In his stance. In his choices. In his behaviors. He was always right. It doesn't matter if he shouldn't be, because he is.
Now unless you're a hater or anti or salter or whatever negative name people tend to get for not liking a story as it's presented, readers and watchers tend to follow along with the narrative as it presents things and how it presents things. It's a common setup in any story. Protagonist Centered Morality, I feel framed best by Susan in the Discord series:
Susan: ...and then Jack chopped down the beanstalk, adding murder and ecological vandalism to the theft, enticement and trespass charges already mentioned, but he got away with it and lived happily ever after without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done. Which proves that you can be excused anything if you're a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.
Pretty much this. Most people will follow what the narrative says because it's the narrative. If the narrative wants you to focus on Marinette being embarrassed, you're going to focus on how much she's cringe. And if the narrative wants you to view Adrien as a perfect sunshine boy who never does anything wrong, anything he does is going to be framed through that lens and it's difficult to break from that view and call out the times when he is wrong. Not unless he does something particularly severe.
It should be noted that outside of Chameleon, Adrien had, among other things: lied to his partner, caused someone to get akumatized and had his partner take the blame, was messing around during life-threatening and city-threatening situations, did nothing as Chloe tormented people right in front of him, DEFENDED Chloe after she tormented people right in front of him, bailed on an event with friends to set up a date with someone who said she had other plans and then got mad at HER for it, tried to flirt or confess in the middle of an active crisis which took necessary attention away from said crisis, caused himself AND his partner to get hit by akuma powers and needlessly be taken out of commission.
And yet people could mostly overlook these instances. They weren't his fault. Chloe is his friend. Marinette is worse. He's just a kid. He has a tragic backstory. So on and so forth. Easy to overlook. Easy to ignore in favor of the Sunshine Boy setup people were given and want to believe in.
But there were three major instances that really grabbed people's attention and stayed:
His attitude in Frozer. It probably wouldn't have been so bad except this rejection already happened in Glaciator, where he was supposed to have learned a lesson and accepted just being Ladybug's friend and now apparently didn't, despite it happening earlier that very season. Then in response, he decides to date Kagami as a rebound, drags Marinette with him on his date (without realizing how he's asking his friend to be a third wheel on a DATE) and focuses on her when he's supposed to be with Kagami, throws another tantrum in the middle of an akuma fight and refuses to work with his partner when the city is literally frozen, and requires Ladybug to apologize to him for hurting his feelings before he finally working with her. Again. But okay, he's a teenage boy in love. Not used to rejection and got his feelings hurt. Lovesquare is endgame so of course it'll work out anyway, so it's not like this bump in the road is really going to matter long term so we shouldn't hold it against him. Fine. Dumb, but fine. We've forgiven it in other shows and other poorly done teen romances, we can forgive it here.
His behavior in Syren in which he demanded to know secrets from people when the secrets were not theirs to tell him, and went so far as to attempt to blackmail his kwami (which was funny) and threaten to quit and abandon the Ring that the big bad is after while the city is flooded and people were trying to not drown (which was decidedly less humorous). But it was played for wholesome when Plagg reassured him and he got what he wanted by Fu revealed himself even if Adrien did nothing to actually show he earned it, so all's well that ends well, I guess? And people could justify it because "they're partners" and "part of a team" and "she should trust him" and "it's not fair he's the only one left out of the loop" and "he has a right to know" and just general "Fu is an idiot" (which is admittedly hard to argue). So people were disgruntled, but most were willing to overlook it.
His holier than thou lecture to Marinette in Maledictator over everyone being happy Chloe was leaving. When all Marinette was doing at the time was watching everyone else have fun. When Adrien specifically guilted Marinette and not any of the other actual partiers involved who were literally throwing a party over his friend leaving and probably should have warranted a lecture more than the girl just standing there. When the girl in question was also Chloe's main target and out of everyone had valid reasons to be happy that her bully won't be around to bully her anymore. When Adrien himself has historically been present to witness Marinette being targeted including twice he witnessed Chloe attempt to steal from Marinette, once he witnessed her try to blackmail Marinette, and numerous other times when she actively caused harm to Marinette and others. When Adrien then proceeded to sit in a corner and pout rather than do anything else or just leave if the party really bothered him. When Adrien, if he really cared so damn much, could have gone after Chloe himself! Or y'know...have stood up for Chloe earlier when she got upset in the first place. But fine, okay, Chloe is his childhood friend. So maybe he's just being biased and oblivious to the fact that his "friend" is a horrible person. But people can excuse and justify it in that they are friends and friends support each other, and the longer someone is friends with someone else, the harder it is to break from them. And that Marinette was probably just the target of his lecture because she was the one there in the moment (and the only one who would listen without arguing). And her calling Chloe useless was "mean" despite it being quite frankly the least of what she could have said about her in the moment (coughcough theft cough blackmail cough punished the entire school cough TRIED TO CRASH A TRAIN AND NEARLY KILLED HER AND HER PARENTS COUGH-FREAKINGCOUGH). Fine. Childhood friend means Adrien supports her in all her horrible and even deadly actions. Frustrating, but again, able to be explained and you can see where he's coming from.
These are all things that definitely got Adrien some side eye at best and some detractors at worst.
BUT if you really think about it, all of these examples are objectively worse than his lecture to Marinette in Chameleon. Not accepting being told "no" and continuing to chase a girl who isn't that in to him (while leading on another). Putting lives at risk over personal wants that could quite honestly wait until AFTER the crisis is over. Defending someone who is harmful and guilt tripping the victims. Compared to those, telling someone to leave a liar to their lying seems relatively minor.
So why this? Why here? Why is it Chameleon that has people saying enough is enough? Why is it this episode that is causing the sunshine boy to be so tarnished and the subject of salt in fan fiction?
Because this is the time when it couldn't be rationalized. There wasn't even a valid sensible canon-based reason for his stance. The arguments that Adrien "knew confronting her wouldn't work" or that he "handled her like paparazzi" or that he "knew Marinette previously failed when she tried" (even though he wasn't there and didn't know) or that he "didn't think anyone would believe him" don't come from canon. Those were fan arguments made after the fact to justify him after the base was broken and the outcry became too much to ignore.
This case didn't have any of the ties or rationales of the previous incidents. Adrien wasn't defending himself or his place in a partnership. He wasn't fighting for his love or his dream or an outcome he wanted and that we all knew was coming—if anything, he was fighting against her. He wasn't defending a friend like he did with Chloe—I mean, it's pretty evident he doesn't even really know or like Lila at this point, and for all intents and purposes, this is apparently only the second day he actually had any interaction with her. There was no notable reason Adrien really had for why he essentially chose to protect Lila over literally anyone else as she wasn't a friend and it wasn't in his interests to protect her from a consequence that wouldn't hurt her short term as much as it would likely harm everyone else long term.
And yet, he still defended her and her freedom to lie. Over Marinette. Over Ladybug. Over his friends. Over any sense of right and wrong he seems to have no problem throwing around when it comes to Marinette/Ladybug. Which seems like he targets her 9 times out of 10 compared to pretty much anyone else by this point. So it's little wonder then that people who didn't already hate the lovesquare because of the cringe factor from Marinette started to hate it for being incredibly unhealthy given that their relatively limited interactions tend to involve him lecturing her for failing to live up to his double standards that only seem to apply to her in any given situation.
This incident by itself doesn't seem like much, but when looked at as part of the series as a whole, it's when people couldn't keep overlooking this trend. Where he seems to admonish the wrong person. Where he acts like a mouthpiece rather than a person. Talks like he’s wise in a situation he seems to have a childish and one-sided view of. Acts like a brat but is treated as though he has no accountability in the situation he causes. Where he is wrong but no one and certainly not the narrative acknowledges it (not until season five and two seasons too late when it doesn't matter and he's still not the one facing consequences for it).
And it's not like he actually follows the stances he himself promotes. In Chameleon, canon presents him with this idealistic stance that Lila could change if given a chance, except he doesn't give her a chance. He doesn't push her to be a better person. He doesn't support or in any way help her to be the better person he insisted to Marinette she could be. He also doesn't do anything or warn anyone when she keeps lying and actively harms the people he says he cares about. He doesn't do anything one way or the other other than some lackluster encouragement to stop lying and a warning that goes nowhere. It just further gives credit to the argument that Adrien either simply doesn't care about other people, or that he doesn't care for Marinette specifically. Neither is conducive to the lovesquare or the increasingly tarnished view of the "sunshine boy".
And it could have worked. Canonically and intrinsically to his character. His idealism and trust in the wrong person comes back to bite him. He learns and grows from it. Except that, much like with nearly everything he does in canon, Chameleon set it up that Adrien was the writers' mouthpiece and thus was not "wrong". I'll grant that they did have him admit it and apologize to Marinette for it two seasons later, but it is pretty evident that during Chameleon, they intended his lecture to be right, with no foreshadowing and no implication otherwise. And I'm fairly certain they only backtracked and had him do that much because of the amount of fan outrage over the episode.
So yes, I think his lecture in Chameleon was really a final straw since unlike Chloe, Adrien has NO relationship with Lila to justify his defense of her. Especially when the argument is in favor of letting her lie to the people he's supposed to care about. That combined with how jarring it was how most of the class just sided with Lila over the seat issue in the first place, and I think people were less inclined to just ignore the problems in the episode specifically and with the series as a whole as they were compared to the first and second seasons. Not just with Adrien, as we see that Alya also started getting more callout and salt since then as well as more retrospective scrutiny over her behavior in earlier seasons.
But yeah...Chameleon was where things seemed to take a 180, so it's bound to be the deciding episode and deciding incident that sticks out in people's minds with these characters. That's probably why it ends up the go-to for salt and complaints on the characters involved instead of any of the other incidents that would arguably warrant it more.
#ml salt#adrien salt#chameleon salt#season 5 salt#ml analysis#ml essay#yes it's a lot of salt#yes i am doing this again
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I’ve seen some people say “Well, Ms. Bustier’s class has met a lot of famous people, even some of their classmates are celebrities, so the things that Lila said wouldn’t really seem like too much of a stretch.” and you know what? Fair enough.
When you take into account everything that these kids have seen and all of the celebrities that they’ve met, it’s not entirely unbelievable that Lila would’ve too.
However, even if you do get past the absurd idea that they would all believe every single thing she says. Even to the extent of believing her word over everyone else’s, including Marinette’s, who is arguably the most well meaning student in the entire class despite her own issues. That still leaves one problem:
If they really are just kind of used to it by now, to the point where they believe these things without question. Then why are they so enthralled by everything Lila says?
Yeah it’s still cool, but they’re all constantly surrounding her and hanging on to her every word as though the very concept of someone knowing this many famous people is just absolutely mind blowing to them.
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter and I’m just getting upset over something that happened a long time ago. But I just wanted to get this off my chest.
This show is going to be the death of me.
Anyway, happy 4 year anniversary of Chameleon being released.
#honestly I don't even hate lila anymore#I'm just mad that anything interesting they could've done with her was ruined by all the bullshit they had to pull to get her to this point#lila rossi#miraculous#miraculous ladybug#ml#ml salt#lila salt#chameleon salt#ml chameleon#miraculous season 3#ml spoilers#miraculous spoilers#miraculous season 3 spoilers#chameleon salt train#media analysis#cartoon analysis
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Poorly explain Chameleon pls!
(Oh I have been WAITING FOR THIS ONE)
Gale Poorly Explains: CHAMELEON
Marinette: Hey where's my seat
Alya: Uhhh okay so ummm
Lila: Surprise bitch bet you thought you saw the last of me.
Marinette: Oh f***ing hell
Lila: (Blatant lies that a google search could prove wrong)
Marinette: You all cant seriously believe what she is saying.
Nino: Sorry Marinette but right now every character except for you, adrien and Lila have the collective IQ of 1 until the plot says otherwise.
Marinette: (sarcasm) I can see the fans loving this episode
____________________________________________________________
Marinette: Look, I know Lila is lying because I followed her
Alya: Marinette! That is not cool. Even though I have seen you do this and probably encouraged this behavior several times in the past.
Marinette: Watch I can prove she is lying
(Does the one thing that cant prove her point)
Marinette: Are we sure I am not also dumbed down here?
___________________________________________________________
Marinette: Lila, stop lying. You are being a butt
Lila: Listen, If you mess with me. I will turn everyone you know and love against you and watch as they tear you apart and as you crawl on the ground and beg for mercy I will personally END you. My Villain sue powers make me invincible
Marinette: (Horrified) What the f***?
(Lila leaves)
Hawkmoth: Oh damn I sense a depressed child. Lets do this
Tikki: No marinette, you are too much of a boss to get akumatized
Marinette: Tikki you are right!
Hawkmoth: Damn! I just got A-blocked.
__________________________________________________
Lila: Hey adrien I
Adrien: Listen, could you please stop lying. If you keep it up, you will start acting like a butt.
Lila: Shook I am gonna go cry and get akumatized
(she finds the akuma and gets akumatized)
Adrien: Oh no, this is my fault
(gets kissed and left in a locker)
_____________________________________________________
Chameleon: YOU DONT DESERVE FRIENDSHIP! I STEAL YOUR HAT
Nino: (Inconsolably crying)
Marinette: Thats clearly not adrien
_________________________________________________________
Plagg: True love's kiss might wake him up... (knows he loves the boy and goes to do it)
Adrien: (Wakes up) What happened?
Plagg: Oh thank God. Lets go and never speak of this
(the pladrien fans screeching)
_____________________________________________________________
Ladybug: I know how to beat Chameleon. We will turn her into a clam
(They proceed to have her turn into a clam AND defeat her)
Ladybug: Look, we got off on the wrong foot. We cool
Lila: Yea (she said like a liar)
______________________________________________________________
(Marinette seeing Lila lying)
Marinette: Im gonna expose her
Adrien: Wait. Let me tell you something that sounds REALLY awful out of context.
Marinette: Thats really bad advice even with context
Adrien: Everyone in this episode has the intellect of a stale corn chip. I think we are lucky no one committed an accidental racism
Marinette: Lets not jynx it
_____________________________________________________________
Adrien: I am gonna sit in the back with Marinette.
Marinette: OMG this is amazing, now to not f*** it up
(proceeds to mess it up by not paying attention once)
Ms.Bustier: Everyone go back to your original seats
(And nothing was gained from this episode)
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Kill Em With Kindness CH7
Posting a wee bit early. I’m eager to finish this one XD I’ll see you all on Friday-ish with the final chapter! I pinky promise none of you will guess the ending to this one. I came up with it years ago, and it amused me so we’re going with it. It’s not exactly the Lila downfall you might be used to in these types of fics. You’ll see.
Read on AO3
Chapter 7
Lila jumped when the door to the bathroom opened, relaxing when she saw Nathalie. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a hip.
“How could you let Adrien lock me in here? He ruined everything!” Lila huffed.
Nathalie turned the tablet she was holding to reveal M. Agreste on a video call. Lila stiffened and cleared her throat.
“Adrien ruined our plans again. Marinette’s influence over him has caused him to act out,” she said.
“I thought you told me you could handle it. You’re supposed to be shielding him from bad influences, are you not?” Gabriel said.
Lila opened her mouth to retort but bit her tongue. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders. “I know a way to ensure Marinette stays away from Adrien for good. I won’t let you down this time.”
“This is your final chance. Disappoint me again, and you can consider our agreement terminated.” The screen went dark, and Nathalie tucked the tablet back under her arm.
Lila stormed out of the boutique, hands balled into tight fists. Adrien wanted to fight dirty, so she was going to drag him through the mud with her.
***
“I propose a toast,” Alya said later that evening, holding up a glass of sparkling grape juice, “to Marinette for totally crushing it today in front of the Clara Nightingale and becoming her personal stylist.”
“Cheers!” The girls clinked their glasses together and took a sip.
Marinette bit back a smile. The day was certainly a victory for more than just impressing Clara. Lila fought hard, but Marinette fought harder. She owed a lot to Adrien. If it wasn’t for him getting rid of Lila and talking Clara into picking her, Marinette might feel a lot different. He was so protective of her amidst everything, a fact that made her heart skip. Could he be any more amazing?
“Now, onto our next order of business… Becoming Clara’s stylist is huge, but I couldn’t help but notice a certain handsome blond speaking very highly of you at the boutique this afternoon.” Alya nudged Marinette with her elbow. “You two have been spending a lot of time together as of late. I think it’s time for you to confess how you feel about him.”
“Yeah, you totally have a chance!” Mylene agreed.
“Adrien adores you,” Rose added.
Marinette’s cheeks burned, and she took a sip of her drink to cool off. “I mean, I don’t think he- We’re just, it’s not like that. We… Do you really think so?”
“Yes!” All of the girls said in unison.
“It’s totally the perfect time to tell him how you feel,” Alix said.
“We’ve got your back, right, girls?” Alya patted Marinette’s shoulder as the others chimed in their support. “Now, let’s talk strategy.”
“It’s such a shame Lila couldn’t be here tonight. She gives such good advice,” Mylene said.
Marinette sipped her drink to hide a smirk. “Yeah, it’s a shame she was too busy cleaning kennels at the animal shelter tonight.”
“We’ll be fine without her. She has way more important stuff going on than setting her friends up on dates. She can celebrate with us after Marinette finally asks Adrien out,” Alya said.
“True.”
“That’s fair.” The girls nodded in agreement.
“So, what’s the plan this time? Do I need to rip up a bouquet of roses again?” Alix asked.
Alya drummed her fingers when everyone turned to her expectantly. “Alright, here’s what I was thinking…”
***
Marinette burst out of bed the next morning, a smile stretching her cheeks. Today was the day! She was finally going to tell Adrien she loved him. They’d start dating, Marinette’s career would get off the ground after killing it as Clara’s stylist, they’d get married, buy a big, beautiful house to raise their three kids in, and Lila would spend the rest of her life cleaning fake animal kennels. Everything was coming together.
Breezing through her morning routine, Marinette skipped down the stairs to the kitchen. Her mother arched a brow when she took her seat at the table, humming jovially while she tore the lid on her yogurt.
“You’re in a good mood today.” Her mother stooped to kiss her forehead. “That popstar picking you to be her stylist is really exciting.”
“It’s a dream! I stayed up sketching tons of new designs. I can’t wait to show her,” Marinette said with a dreamy sigh. “I feel like everything is falling into place.”
Clara, Adrien… Life was perfect. Well, perfect outside of Lila, but after Marinette confessed to Adrien, Lila wouldn’t be an issue. They’d find a way to take her down together, then they’d get married and be together forever in their beautiful house with their pet hamster named-
“Surprise, my little fairy!” The front door swung open, and Marinette’s nonna strutted in. “I heard the exciting news about the famous superstar, so I flew out to celebrate.”
“Nonna!” Marinette jumped up from the table and rushed to hug her.
“I brought you presents, and tonight I will cook all of your favorites.” Her grandmother pinched her cheeks. “We’ll have a big Italian family feast.”
Marinette beamed and eyed the suitcase on the ground. “You said you brought presents?”
“You can have them after school, which you will be late to if you don’t hurry up,” her mother said pointedly.
“I’ll be here all day, my fairy. Have a good day at school.” Nonna kissed her cheek.
Marinette bounced upstairs to finish getting ready. Her day kept getting better and better!
The girls were waiting when she arrived at school, and a flurry of anxious butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she approached them. Confessing her feelings to Adrien was exciting in theory, but in practice, she was just as nervous as ever. But the girls were right. They had been spending a lot of time together, and it was the perfect opportunity to tell him. At least, that’s what she chanted to herself over and over while she got into position.
She held her breath when Adrien’s blond hair appeared over the stairs to the front entrance, heart hammering. Wiping her palms on her jeans, she made her move. His face brightened when he saw her, bringing a warmth to her cheeks, but as she opened her mouth to speak, another voice called out to him first.
“Adrien! There you are.” Lila strutted up to him, placing a kiss on his cheek and wrapping her arms around his neck. “It’s not nice to keep your girlfriend waiting.”
Girlfriend!?
Marinette’s blood ran cold, everything around her moving in slow motion. The girls stood in their positions dumbstruck as their plans grinded to a screeching halt. Marinette anticipated pushback for upstaging her in front of Clara, but this was low, even for her.
Aborting their mission, the girls moved to circle Marinette, while their other schoolmates congratulated Lila and Adrien. Adrien shot Marinette a panicked look, silently pleading for help, but Lila had them right where she wanted them. It was the ultimate challenge to their nice scheme. Would they go along with it or call her a liar? The glint in her eye said that she was ready for either.
Marinette’s mouth was too dry to speak, all of the water in her body bubbling in her eyes. Lila could take a lot of things from her, but she wasn’t going to let her take Adrien lying down. But what could she say in front of everyone to prove her wrong? Everyone would just think she was jealous, and Lila would probably expose her crush on him. That wasn’t how Marinette wanted Adrien to find out.
“So, when did you two… start seeing each other?” Alya asked, flashing Marinette a wince.
“Actually, we’re not really-”
“Last night.” Lila cut Adrien off. She retrieved a Gabriel-brand necklace from under her shirt with a smile. “Adrien gave me this necklace when he confessed. He told me it’s one-of-a-kind, like me. You really wanted me to know how special I am, didn’t you, darling?”
Adrien squirmed, biting his lip. “Uhh, yeah. You definitely have a special place in my heart, Lila.”
“Yo, congrats, dude!” Nino punched Adrien’s arm playfully, but Alya swatted his shoulder, shaking her head.
“Have you two kissed yet?” Kim asked.
“Well, not yet. We were saving it for a special occasion, but I’m too excited to wait. Aren’t you, my love?” Lila batted her eyelashes at Adrien.
“No, I can wait. I’d much rather do it in private.” Adrien removed her hands from around his neck.
“Aww, don’t be shy.” Lila giggled.
Marinette turned and stalked off to the locker room, hands balled into tight fists. Her eyes stung, hot tears trailing down her cheeks as she kicked open the door to the bathroom.
Vile fox! Ladybug should have exposed her in front of the whole school when she had the chance.
“Marinette!” Alya and the girls piled in after her. Her best friend pulled her in for a tight hug. “Come here, girl.”
“We’re sorry, Marinette. We didn’t know about Adrien and Lila,” Rose said.
“This doesn’t make sense. Lila swore to Nino that she wasn’t interested in Adrien.” Alya’s eyebrows knitted together.
“She lied,” Marinette said. She rubbed a tear from her cheek, grinding her teeth together until they hurt.
“Maybe she just didn’t want to make things any more awkward between you two. You guys were finally getting along, so maybe she didn’t want to cause any more trouble.” Mylene suggested.
“Either way, there’s not a lot we can do about it now. I’m really sorry, girl.” Alya rubbed her back. “You gonna be okay?”
Marinette shrugged.
The bell rang, and the girls all gave Marinette reassuring pats as they left. Alya was the last one out, hesitating in the door way with pursed lips before following the others. When the door shut behind her, Tikki floated out of Marinette’s purse.
“I can’t believe Lila told everyone she and Adrien are dating,” she said.
Marinette flicked on a sink, gripping the cold ceramic with white knuckles. “I can. She’s relentless. She won’t stop until she has everything she wants. I should have expected her to do something like this. I’m so tired of her pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes!”
“Well, you did provoke her by being petty. If you would have left her alone, she wouldn’t have fought back,” Tikki said.
Marinette opened her mouth to retort but slumped over with a sigh. “I know. I shouldn’t have played her game — she’s way too good at it. Now, poor Adrien is suffering the consequences. We need a way to fix this, but Lila’s too crafty.”
“If you expose her, she could become a very powerful opponent for Ladybug. It could be dangerous.” Tikki pointed out.
“Ugh, you’re right.” Marinette splashed water on her face with a growl, and Tikki passed her a paper towel. “I wish there was a way to deal with her that didn’t involve her becoming akumatized. I don’t suppose we could take down Hawkmoth in an afternoon?” Her kwami gave her a disapproving frown. “Yeah, yeah, I know.”
“I’m sure you and Adrien will figure something out together. He’s still on your side no matter what Lila says,” Tikki said.
“I hope so. I feel like we’ll never be together at this point. It’s like something keeps pulling us apart every time we get close.” Marinette sighed, opening the clasp of her purse for Tikki and heading for the door.
“Hey.”
Marinette nearly collided with Adrien on the other side of the door. She jumped back reflexively, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw who it was, and at his sullen expression, her countenance sank.
“We got played,” he said.
“Yeah.” She pursed her lips. “What should we do now?”
Adrien shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I’ll give it a day, then announce that my father broke us up. No one will have a hard time believing that.”
“And then what?” Marinette asked. “Lila made it clear she intends to fight back, and she’ll keep fighting until she gets everything she wants.”
“So, let’s tell everyone the truth. She more than deserves it now,” Adrien said.
His eyes were desperate, pleading. He wanted out of this as badly as she did, but it was no use. Lila had their kings cornered on the board, and they were running out of moves.
“I don’t know if that will help.” Marinette hugged her arms to her chest. “Maybe we were wrong to play her game thinking we could win. Lila will never stop.”
“Yeah, you’re right. We’re in over our heads. Maybe we should call it quits.” He flicked those green eyes up to hers, hopeful and timid. “Just because we’re not plotting anymore doesn’t mean we can’t still hang out. I’ve been having a lot of fun spending time with you lately.”
Marinette flashed him a weak smile. “Me too.”
The late bell chimed, and they both sighed. Adrien beckoned her to follow, and they headed to class, dejected. Even together, they were no match for Lila. She had won.
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This is something I’ve been writing since December 2018 when “Chameleon” aired. It went through several drafts, and the first eight chapters have been on my Instagram since October 2020.
Miraculous Chapter 1: Dilemma
(Now, our view lowers from the star-filled night sky down the brightly lit Eiffel Tower. This is the world of “Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir”. Civilians mill the city. Couples purchase ice cream at the stout ice cream vendor, Andre’s stand on the Pont Des Arts.)
ANDRÉ: (SINGING) My name is André, André, glacier, the sweetheart matchmaker
ZAG Entertainment presents
(More civilians crowd the Louvre. Customers crowd the exquisite restaurant at Le Grand Paris. A line stands before the front desk at the Boulangerie Patisserie. The owners, Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng, attend to the customers. Our view takes us further in. On the third floor, Marinette Dupain-Cheng works on a design.)
Miraculous
(Her ladybug-like kwami, Tikki, watches her. Taking her eyes off her sewing machine, Marinette looks at us.)
MARINETTE: Oh, hello. I didn’t see you there. I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng, former student at Françoise Dupont. These earrings? They’re my Miraculous. The Ladybug Miraculous, to be exact.
TIKKI: Ahem!
(Tikki sits, arms crossed, and one brow furrowed.)
MARINETTE: Oh. Her? She’s my kwami, Tikki. Attached to the earrings. She's the reason become Ladybug.
(Now, a glimpse shows Marinette transformed into Ladybug, swinging with her yo-yo across the city.)
MARINETTE (V.O.): She’s a super-heroine with probably the most powers of any Miraculous.
(Back in her room…)
MARINETTE: I’m sure you all know my current friends, who are starting to hate me, all because of Lila Rossi!
(Lila laughs in a flashback.)
MARINETTE: Her lies are turning everyone I know and love to her side and off of mine! And I’ve been expelled from school because of her! (WHISPERS) And I have an plan on how to get out of here.
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Trivia
Originally, Marinette was going to be ogling her Adrien screensaver before noticing us. I cut it because Marinette wouldn’t start the story liking Adrien for not standing up for her against Mr. Damocles.
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Cast
Ezra Weisz as André
Cristina Vee as Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Mela Lee as Tikki
Lisa Kay Jennings as Lila Rossi
#marinette dupain cheng#tikki#tom and sabine boulangerie patisserie#lila rossi#miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir#miraculous fanfic#marinette deserves better#marinette sugar#chameleon salt#Spotify
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It was the day after the class seats had been swapped around, Marinette having since resigned herself to being moved to the back. She wasn't happy about being alone, but everyone else was with their own seats and the last thing she wanted to do was stir up a fuss again just to have it turned against her.
Making a case would've been less of an issue had she told everyone that she was actually no longer into Adrien and had an entire boyfriend to show for it, but Alya was too unpredictable in how she might react to that and the others hadn't seen her and Luka together long enough to understand. She loathed the fact that an infatuation of less than a year was what people were basing her character on - nowadays, she looked back on it like an artist who grimaced at their week-old work - but her private life was no one's business but her own. If she had to reveal it to convince people that she wasn't an evil person going after a "perfectly innocent" girl over a crush, then—
Well, normally she would say that it was her fault, but Luka had been firm about her not blaming herself for everything under the sun and she was really trying to stick to that.
Maybe being in the back won't be so bad, she thought, attempting to calm her mind. I feel, um... taller? That's something.
It wasn't helping.
"Alright, class," Miss Bustier called out, clapping her hands to earn everyone's attention, "before we start today, we have a new student who just transferred to our school and I'd like you all to give them a warm welcome."
A new student? Marinette shut her eyes and held back a groan, thinking that the current "new student" was already more than enough. If it was another Lila or Chloe, she might have to seriously consider bribing Master Fu for the fox miraculous so she could Mirage herself into class to avoid them altogether.
Also, as she was quickly realizing, the only available seat was next to her. This was a disaster, an absolute disas—
"Luka?" Juleka blurted out, uncharacteristically loud in her shock.
At the name of her boyfriend, Marinette's head jerked towards the classroom door, seeing him standing next to Miss Bustier like he belonged there. She blinked, glancing out at the hall as if the real new student would come in, but nothing happened. Even when she looked back at Luka, he met her gaze as if to wordlessly tell her that yes, he was there.
Just to make absolutely sure, she dropped her arms to her lap and pinched her forearm until it hurt.
After giving a general introduction that Marinette processed none of, Miss Bustier turned to Luka to ask, "Would you be alright sitting in the back next to Marinette?"
He nodded, not waiting to start heading up the stairs. Eyes, either curious or puzzled, followed him as he went, but he had his own eyes on his decided-upon seat.
Marinette could only continue gaping at him, even as he sat down and made himself comfortable. He eyed her, smiling softly, then reached out and slowly closed her mouth. The cheek caress that followed was so subtle and quick that no one could've caught it even if they were looking, but it finally brought her back to life.
Leaning towards him, she whispered in a panic, "Luka! What are you doing here?! How are you here?!"
He took a single glance at Miss Bustier, who was turned towards the chalkboard, then leaned in and whispered back, "I didn't want you to have to do this alone."
"But—!" Her face scrunched, mind racing in an attempt to understand. She'd told Luka about what happened with Lila, but that was only yesterday. For him to have found a way to transfer between then and now was—was— "That's crazy!"
He shrugged, unphased.
She gripped the table, as if it would give her the mental support needed to juggle the thoughts in her head. "You didn't have to go through all this for me! It's too much!"
That finally got a reaction out of him, but not in the way she suspected. He frowned disapprovingly, leaning in further and raising a hand between them to further muffle his words to others' ears. She felt his breath against her ear as he explained, "You're my girlfriend, Marinette; my girlfriend and my best friend. It's not 'too much' if it's what I wanted to do."
He left it at that, straightening up again and putting his focus towards the front of the class. She could only pout at him, hoping no one saw the blush on her cheeks.
It felt wrong, somehow. It was Ladybug who was supposed to swoop in to save people, not the other way around. She was the one who had to make choices on the fly to help others.
She could already hear Luka's voice in her head, shooting that idea down: "Ladybug can't be the savior all the time. Someone has to look out for Marinette too."
It was almost frustrating, losing a battle of words in her own head, but she'd be lying if she said that it didn't make her feel relieved to have someone who would back her up no matter what. Whether she chose to go after Lila or not, he'd be behind her the entire way.
She couldn't help herself. Checking to confirm that there still weren't eyes on them, she leaned up towards Luka and imitated his gesture, raising her hand between their faces. He'd seen the gesture out of the corner of his eye and tipped his head to listen better, but she kissed his cheek instead.
Pulling back quickly to look normal just in case the pecking sound had been caught, she dared only a single peek at Luka to catch his reaction. He was trying and failing not to grin, probably looking as if he was just very interested in the lesson to any outside eyes. It occurred to her then that, had they been in the front or middle rows, it would've been impossible to not be seen by anyone behind them.
Letting an imaginary Marinette in her mind cheer and jump around for her due to being unable to do anything even close to that in class, her thoughts screamed, Being in the back is the best!
#queuekanette#lukaneventte: No Context November#Flower Arrangement Shipping#Pro LukaMari#Lukanette#type: salt#episode: Chameleon
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So like a minor pet peeve of mine: when people say that Marinette should've told Adrien about being threatened by Lila in the bathroom, his advice isn't coming from nowhere and isn't ignorant... because he was calm with Lila and she assaulted him as an akuma anyways, so Marinette being brazen makes him think that Lila would do something even worse to her.
I feel like people should acknowledge more that both of them were hurt by Lila in Chameleon.
Yeah. There’s also Adrien’s abusive upbringing to consider. But the problem I have with people saying that his high road advice is stupid and completely and obviously flawed logic is that Marinette tried to use the direct approach, and as we can see, IT DID NOT WORK. Going after Lila directly just gives her the opportunity to make herself look like the victim. I don’t care how popular or nice you are to people, you don’t just point the finger at someone for lying and give the justification of “because I said she’s lying, that means she’s lying”. Adrien clearly saw the way Lila was able to turn the tables on Marinette whenever she spoke out, so it’s not all that dumb for him to decide that waiting until her lies caught up with her was the better, more effective approach, as to not prolong the exposure by casting doubt with baseless accusations.
#miraculous ladybug#marinette dupain cheng#ml salt#adrien agreste#miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir#miraculous salt#adrien sugar#ml chameleon#ml chameleon salt#lila rossi
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Watching Chameleon again after the entire salt phase in 2019/2020 is crazy because after all the fics demonzing Alya and Nino for not believing Marinette, it's then shown that Marinette. Literally doesn't tell them any proof besides "She said she's friends with Ladybug" in a city where EVERYONE has a parasocial relationship with a teenage boy. Like she doesn't even mention that Ladybug herself showed up?? Do you know how insane Marinette looks in that scenario
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One of my worst fears as a Marinette fan is people thinking just because I like her means I must be an Adrien and Alya salter, when I actually HATE the salt the latter two get.
#c's thoughts#chameleon salt paved the way for the worst kind of discourse#and led to Marinette getting loved for all the wrong reasons#I'm not surprised the recent hate she gets is because of then being bitter#thanks to the mischaracterization and treatment she gets from Saltinette stans#even though i hate the salt she gets#ml fandom salt
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a fictional character believing a compulsive liar being treated as the same crime as the actual compulsive liar consistently irks me so much
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Some Thoughts on ‘Chameleon’ and Why They’re Both Right
(and wrong)
I missed the initial ‘Chameleon’ drama and I feel very lucky for that. But now with Lila becoming plot relevant again, I fear the fandom is in for Chameleon Part 2. I wanted to explore and validate both Marinette and Adrien’s approaches and why their weaknesses are also their strengths.
Firstly, there is Marinette- who decides it’s best to expose Lila for her lies and manipulation ASAP. Lila is a personal thorn in Marinette’s side. Marinette and Ladybug are nothing but a roadblock to Adrien in Lila’s eyes and she treats them as such, slandering Ladybug’s name increasingly and inconveniencing Marinette to be closer to Adrien.
In defense of Marinette, this isn’t just personal and her position is understandable. She has watched Lila steal, lie to manipulate those around her, throw Ladybug under the bus to appeal to Adrien and toss his belongings in the trash. All valid reasons not to trust Lila and to be concerned about her classmates.
Her main purpose for exposing Lila is not to make Lila suffer, be ridiculed and dragged through the streets. It’s because she sees someone actively manipulating her friends and classmates, knows what they are capable of and wants to prevent further harm. Notice she doesn’t stop trying to reveal Lila once Adrien understands she is a liar or when he isn’t present. That wouldn’t be the case if all Marinette cared about was her personal Adrien-related vendetta. Marinette cares about her classmates and she knows Lila is taking advantage of them.
Marinette feels that she, the only one with this knowledge, has a responsibility to speak up and to share it- a value that her parents have no doubt instilled in her. This is also in line with her finally taking a stand against Chloe after so many years. Marinette is in her “take no shit” phase and nothing in the way she was raised has ever suggested to her that she should have to stand for/cover for a malicious liar.
I’ve seen Marinette be called an intrusive meddler for this, but people who speak up when they know something is potentially harmful instead of standing on the sidelines, squirming and waiting for crap to hit the fan are a necessity. And Lila brought this on herself by lying in the first place- it was bound to catch up with her.
But... Marinette isn’t thinking her actions through either. Her intent is understandable, but her approach is heavy handed and worsened by her initial anger. She doesn’t try to approach Lila person to person first, rather she barrels through and calls her out as Ladybug- a mistake that follows her throughout the series because Lila holds a mean grudge. She doesn’t consider quietly informing her classmates and instead gets ahead of herself and jumps to make multiple attempts at publically exposing Lila- which only makes her look like an ass and makes a strong enemy out of Lila. She doesn’t even consider building a case against Lila first because- as it is- she doesn’t have adequate proof. She and Adrien only have personal experience to go off of. Anything else is their word against Lila’s.
Additionally, it’s true that Lila is a little psychopath in the making, but Marinette doesn’t know that. If Lila truly was just a lonely girl seeking attention, public exposure wouldn’t be the best route. Public exposure gives Lila an easy deflection tactic, putting the blame on her “mean classmates who humiliated her” instead of herself. It also never extends a hand to say “Hey, what you’re doing is wrong, but it’s not too late to stop. You can still be welcome here.” As we’ve seen, Lila is too far gone for the latter approach, but Marinette didn’t know that when she jumped on the offensive. If the series went in a different direction and Lila was successfully exposed and received a saltfic worthy shaming, I doubt Marinette would feel very good about herself once she settled down. Even in ‘Volpina’, she admits she was too harsh and apologizes.
Speaking of the more gentle approach...
It’s important to note that Adrien and Marinette occupy very different places in relation to Lila. Marinette is a roadblock. Adrien is the objective. Lila has made it clear that she wants Adrien to like her from day one. He’s in a position of power here and, being who he is, he’s decided to use that for good. Adrien wants to be a voice of reason to her and set an example.
Adrien takes a very humanistic approach with people. He doesn’t stop at their actions or take them at face value. He looks for the ‘why’ and what makes them tick. He looks for underlying reasons and he often leans toward the more vindicating ones. He concludes that she is the lonely new kid in need of attention- something he can relate to- and resolves to address the problem with an offer of support and friendship.
I wonder why Adrien defaults to being the example and the healer when someone wrongs him, even when all signs point to a red flag the size of Antarctica...
Adrien believes that shitty behavior can be repaired if you just love someone hard enough. That’s clear in relation to his father and, while we don’t know a lot about Emilie, we can ascertain her influence on him through the snapshots we get of her through out the series and how Adrien grieves her.
In the Christmas Special, Chat Noir is angsting so hard, he is about to catacylsm the city Christmas tree out of pure spite until he thinks of his mother.
Everyone views Emilie as practically an angel- someone who holds everything together. She strikes me as a ‘smile though your heart is breaking’ type of person, a person who projects encouragement and positivity. She puts that pressure on herself and, in turn, puts it on others.
In ‘Passion’, we learn that Emilie saddled Nathalie with the heavy task of keeping Gabriel’s focus off of the Miraculous and becoming a mother to her son. That’s a lot of pressure. I would not be surprised if she signaled to Adrien at some point that he was responsible for keeping positivity alive in that house and for his father’s happiness.
With this kind of upbringing, is it any mystery why Adrien constantly considers others at the detriment of himself and avoids conflict like the plague?
He doesn’t need to “suffer for his crimes”. He needs therapy and healthy boundaries. Adrien clearly doesn’t like Lila lying or invading his personal space.
He is not Lila’s therapist. He is entitled to set boundaries with her, refuse her friendship and even warn his closest friends about her. His choice to placate rather than act here isn’t necessarily a good one and is representative of how self sacrificing or passive behavior can often negatively impact those around you.
But... he’s not all wrong. His unique humanistic perspective is incredibly useful and, had Lila been that lonely girl, his approach would have been the right call. You can argue that it was still the right call regardless just from a logical standpoint. Marinette didn’t have adequate proof and she made more trouble for herself by attacking Lila head on without thinking her actions through.
Empathy and diplomatic approaches are the answer sometimes- often even. It is trendy nowadays to throw an entire person away for one slight, to see them suffer and pay publically. This trend just begets more bullying and horrid actions. Adrien is able to look outside of actions and see the humanity motivating them underneath. This is likely part nature and part survival tactic. This is what’s keeps him from turning into a more bitter, hardened person.
He slips sometimes like anyone does, but his empathy is powerful and I hope never loses it, but rather learns how to balance it with more healthy habits and boundaries. He’ll need his humanistic approach for when he faces his father’s true nature, not for Gabriel’s sake, but so that he doesn’t let his anger eat him alive.
Let’s also remember that Adrien doesn’t know everything Marinette does. He doesn’t know Lila stole his book and threw it away. He doesn’t know she threatened Marinette in Chameleon. He wasn’t even in the cafeteria to see her manipulating the class into being her personal slaves.
What’s important is that, once Marinette and Adrien see that there are problems with their original approach, they adjust, taking on aspects of the others’.
Marinette takes what Adrien says to heart and didn’t try to publically expose Lila after ‘Chameleon’. Adrien reached his limit once he realized Lila was being malicious, setting boundaries with her at the end of ‘Oni-chan’ and making the deal with her in ‘Ladybug’ (which was still pretty self-sacrificial but... he’s on a journey).
It’s funny that people give Adrien such a hard time for his lack of action in Chameleon or with Chloe when it is that exact empathy that allowed him to understand and support Ladybug in the Season 4 finale.
The Adrien who would easily yell at and expose Lila after Volpina/Chameleon is not the Adrien who would easily forgive Ladybug for keeping him in the dark all season. It’s just consistent characterization.
#miraculous ladybug#ml analysis#ml chameleon#adrien agreste#marinette dupain cheng#i just realized i spent more time on adrien but let's be real he gets way more salt for this
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My Chameladeer by @cleversclay is the best little assistant! 🦎🦌✨
They wrap all those boxes up in their tail and fling ‘em over to the post office in one fell swoop. That’s why I have to pack everything so carefully. 📦🦓
#chameladeer#cleversclay#assistant#post office#order packing#handmade art#sculpture#clay#commission#zebra#salt and pepper#chameleon#deer#handmade
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So... If all your friends turns against you because of someone that they barely know, you will be okay with that? Wow. Just, Wow. That's what I call having low self-esteem.
That's vastly exaggerating what Lila was actually able to accomplish.
In Chameleon:
She lied about needing to sit up front due to having trouble hearing, so it made Marinette look bad when she objected to being moved, especially since Adrien offered to move to the back instead and both she and Lila objected to that plan. The class glared at her for appearing to not agree to a small inconvenience in order to help someone with a disability - basically the equivalent of being glared at for refusing to stand up on a bus so that someone who's pregnant, who generally would need the spot more, can sit down instead.
Lila lied about her wrist being injured, so Marinette decided to prove it to Alya - who was mostly just puzzled why she appears to have it out for this girl she barely knows - by throwing a napkin at Lila, which she caught, in an effort to demonstrate that she was lying about spraining her wrist. And then laughing and telling the rest of the class that Lila was obviously faking. Lila subsequently faked being hurt as a result of catching the napkin, which caused the rest of the class to glare at Marinette and scold her for throwing a napkin at Lila and trying to "prove" that she's faking an injury, especially since it appeared to just hurt Lila more.
And you know what? From what they know of the situation, that was a fair reaction. If some girl you only know in passing says that she has an injury and then one of your friends, without evidence, begins accusing them of faking it and attempting to "prove" it by throwing things at her and getting that girl hurt in the process, yeah, I'd expect you to at least take your friend aside and say "hey, what's your problem, quit it."
But it never went beyond that in Chameleon. Marinette's friends glared at her a few times when she appeared to be against helping someone with a disability, and scolded her when she appeared to outright hurt the girl, but that's it. They were still friends with her, and they never tried to do anything but get her to do, well, what you're supposed to do when someone asks for reasonable accommodations.
And in Ladybug:
Marinette was framed for cheating on a test. Notably, several of her classmates immediately defended her, even though there was evidence that she did (the test answers had been placed in her bag) and said she'd never do that. Marinette immediately accused Lila of placing them there, but she didn't have any evidence to back it up, and since Lila flunked the test, most people thought that was unlikely.
Lila subsequently faked Marinette pushing her down the stairs, and framed her for stealing her necklace, by placing her necklace in Marinette's locker. It's only at that point, with a lot of hard evidence pointing to Marinette's guilt, that some of Marinette's classmates start glaring at her.
Notably, not Alya though. She still believes that Marinette's innocent, even with all the evidence against her. She's not convinced that Lila's responsible for Marinette being framed, but she IS convinced that Marinette didn't do what she's been accused of.
And that's it. That's what Lila was able to do. Manage to either take advantage of Marinette's actions to make her look bad or plant enough evidence to get her classmates to glare at Marinette briefly.
As for what I'd do if my friends turned against me? That would depend on the exact circumstances, but... I mean if they did so with no evidence to back it up but someone else's word, I'd feel hurt. If the other person managed to fabricate or to take things I'd said or done out of context in order to make me look bad, then I'd probably understand my friends' reactions, even if it hurt. So long as they didn't go way overboard, anyway.
Here's the thing. The position you seem to be advocating for is "if your friend is attacking someone you and her barely know, with little solid evidence to back up her position, and that person she's attacking is able to produce some pretty solid evidence that your friend is purposely hurting her, then continue disbelieving the girl you don't know and side with your friend instead, attempting to harass or ostracize her until she stops with her apparent lies."
The class do not know that Lila is malicious. She's a con artist, and she's good at it. From an outside perspective, you can't really tell that she's the one who's fooling and tricking people, that she does, in fact, have it out for Marinette - Marinette's very obvious about having it out for Lila, while Lila's a lot tricksier about having it out for Marinette.
You've got to be willing to look at this situation from the perspective of the people Lila's trying to trick - the rest of the class - and keep in mind that you don't already KNOW that Lila's a liar and wants to hurt Marinette specifically.
Because if you approach real life situations from the position of "well, obviously I know who's right and who's wrong in this position, and obviously my friend is right, and this other person they're attacking is obviously wrong despite all evidence to the contrary" you may well end up hurting someone, while believing that you are righteously punishing someone who deserves it. Your friend may not even be lying, their view may simply be warped or they may be mistaken about things.
And sometimes, you may genuinely not know your friend as well as you think you do. That is a very real possibility. People who take advantage of others for sexual favors, who abuse their family? Yeah, most of them probably have friends, and most of them probably believe that they couldn't be capable of such things. It's part of why accusations against high-up figures in organizations may be covered up, because the people who know them don't want to believe that they could be capable of what they're being accused of.
So yeah. It would hurt if my friends turned against me for whatever reason. Of course it would. But I'd also want to try to understand WHY, and decide whether, honestly, if I was in their shoes, with the information they had, I would've done differently. They are probably victims as well, even if in this case, I would bare the brunt of the bad outcomes.
Assuming that they didn't attempt to do something awful to me, like send death threats or dox me or something, while they believed I was the villain of the story, I'd probably forgive them afterwards, because I couldn't say I'd do something different. And if they DID throw death threats at me or tried to do something truly awful... then honestly, even if it wasn't directed towards me, I'd probably want to distance myself from them, because I wouldn't want to be friends with someone who believed that was an OK thing to do.
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Kill Em With Kindness CH6
Soooo, I really thought I had posted this a long time ago lol. Shouts out to the person who commented on AO3 last week who made me realize I hadn’t XD For any of you who have been following this story from the beginning, you’ve probably already read this “chapter” because when I was rewriting MDCSP, I decided to come back and polish this one up too because my writing changed a bit during that rewrite, so I wanted this story to reflect that as well since I did intend to eventually come back to it. When I did that, I decided to split chapter 5 into two chapters iirc, and I think my intention was to finish the last two chapters and finish this out and post this chapter when I did that, but then I never did that. So, I did it now. Chapters 7 and 8 will also be out this week, and with the end of this fic, I can finally put my Chameleon salt days to rest.
Read on AO3
Chapter 6
Adrien stalked across the floor to where Lila was sifting through a rack. She didn’t look up as he approached, but an amused smile curled on her lips.
“Marinette has such strange taste, don’t you think?” She held up a bright green blazer.
“I told you to leave her alone,” Adrien said.
“And yet every time I mess with her, you do nothing.” She rolled her eyes, returning the jacket to the rack. “You could end this whole charade right now by telling Clara you didn’t really invite me, but you’re not going to do that, are you? Because that wouldn’t be very nice.”
“I mean it, Lila. You’re messing with Marinette’s dreams, and that’s not okay.” She examined his stern expression with an amused smirk.
“So, what are you going to do about it?” she asked.
“Mess around and find out.”
The confidence in Lila’s eyes flickered for a split second under his glare, a glint of worry that gave Adrien enough encouragement, but just as quickly as it appeared, the fear faded, paving way for Lila’s taunting once more. Adrien turned and stormed back to the dressing area, relaxing his shoulders as he rejoined the group.
Marinette was finishing her second outfit, and this time, she personally handed Clara the bag. Adrien stood guard by the curtain, shooting daggers at Lila when she approached, which only made her smirk when she thought no one was looking. He wasn’t taking any chances. Lila wasn’t going to ruin Marinette’s dreams. He’d see to it.
When Clara emerged, she skipped onto the platform and gave a twirl. “Now this is a party outfit that’ll make me dance! I’m so glad I gave you a second chance.”
“You look awesome, Clara. Marinette is super talented when you get to wear what she actually picked,” Adrien said pointedly.
“I couldn’t agree more. This outfit is one I simply adore!” Clara stepped down to take Marinette’s hands. “Your style is simply the best. When it comes to fashion, there’s no contest.”
“Thank you, Clara. That means the world coming from you,” Marinette said, that spark of confidence returning to her eyes.
Lila’s jaw clenched as Adrien high-fived Marinette. For added insult, he draped an arm over her shoulders while Clara tried on Lila’s outfit. It didn’t matter what Lila had picked; she was no match for Marinette when they were competing honestly.
“Hmm…” Clara hummed, twisting in the mirrors to see the dress from all angles. “A lovely choice, don’t get me wrong, but this outfit just isn’t my song. Your first choice was far more on the nose, but I’ve got to be honest, these shoes are hurting my toes.”
“That’s okay. Marinette is incredibly talented. The only reason I won the first round was because of that mix-up. I’m sure she’s got something amazing up her sleeve for this next round too,” Lila said, curling her shoulders in the fakest show of humility Adrien had ever seen.
“Then let’s not waste any more time. I can’t wait to try on an outfit so divine. Tonight I will be Nadja’s TV guest, so let’s see which one of you is really the best!”
---
As Marinette took off, Adrien shot Lila a warning look before following after her. It was cute that he thought he could intimidate her into being nice, but Lila had direct orders. Things were going exactly as planned, and those two idiots were falling right into her trap. Soon Marinette’s aspirations would be nothing more than a pipe dream.
When Nathalie emerged from the back with a garment bag, Lila sauntered over to meet her. “Is this my dress?”
Nathalie responded by offering Lila her phone, and Lila pressed it to her ear.
“Nathalie tells me everything is going according to plan,” Gabriel said on the other line.
“Of course, M. Agreste. Marinette thinks she’s getting ahead, but with your help I’ll make sure her dreams are crushed for good. Then she’ll be sure to stay away from Adrien,” she said like a dutiful student.
“Good. I’m counting on you.” Gabriel hung up.
Lila lifted the bag with a smirk. Marinette chose the wrong opponent to challenge, and Lila was about to prove that she didn’t lie about everything. She was going to take everything from Marinette. Clara was just step one.
---
“I still don’t trust Lila,” Adrien whispered while Marinette browsed the wall of shoes.
“Don’t worry about her. We’re onto her little game now, so it’s impossible for her to steal my outfit again, and we both know Clara prefers my picks to hers now without a doubt,” Marinette said, sounding confident.
Under normal circumstances, Adrien would have been proud. Lila, however, was not normal circumstances.
“I know you’re better than her, but I just have a bad feeling. I don’t trust her,” Adrien said, glancing at Lila in accessories out of the corner of his eye.
Marinette zipped her bag and turned to look him in the eye. “I’m not asking you to trust her. I’m asking you to believe in me.”
Her bright blue eyes glowed with determination, and although he couldn’t shake the sinking feeling in his gut, he nodded her on. Marinette was brilliant and amazing — Adrien knew that. She had a bright future ahead of her so long as nothing got in her way. And if Lila even tried, Adrien would make sure karma picked her up on the way back around.
“Alright, chickadees, let’s see what you’ve got for me,” Clara said, bouncing in anticipation.
Marinette didn’t spare Lila a single glance as she paced over to Clara, but Adrien hung back to make sure she behaved. Lila seemed to all but ignore him until the last moment when she shot him a playful wink that sent his blood boiling.
“Oh, Clara, since I know Marinette is probably going to win, will you try on my outfit first?” Lila requested innocently. “Naturally, mine will pale in comparison, so I want you to give it a fair shot.”
“Lila, that’s quite the humble stance. I’d be more than happy to give yours a chance.”
Adrien instinctively bristled when Lila passed off her bag. What was she up to? His stomach churned in knots, and he stepped closer to Marinette, gleaning comfort from close proximity as if he could protect her from whatever scheme Lila was trying to pull.
When Clara emerged again, every jaw in the room dropped, and Adrien’s mind whirled with a thousand thoughts at once. That dress wasn’t part of the normal collection — it was one of a kind. Adrien had seen it in his father’s office a few days prior. He wasn’t entirely sure how Lila got her hands on it, but it wasn’t by accident.
“This dress is so…so…” Clara gasped, abandoning her riddles and rhymes as she stared in awe.
Lila beamed, clasping her hands behind her back. “I really wanted to impress you this round, so I asked the staff if they hand anything special in the back. I truly care about your style, Clara, and I wanted to prove that to you.”
“Your attention to detail and willingness to go the extra mile certainly make you standout, Lila. I’d love for you to be my new style consultant,” Clara said, clasping her hands together over her heart.
Adrien’s heart snapped when he turned to Marinette, her once confident demeanor now shriveled in defeat. Lila caught his gaze, tilting her chin up with a smirk. I win. She seemed to gloat, and Adrien’s hands clenched into fists.
“Clara, I know this dress is beautiful, and I’m not entirely sure how Lila found it.” He shot her a quick glare. “But designing is Marinette’s true passion, and in my professional opinion, I think she would make an amazing personal stylist.”
“It’s fine.” The voice was Marinette’s, and she turned to Lila with a small smile. “I’m really happy for you, and I know you’ll do an amazing job.”
She held her head high and threw on a smile despite the anger and humiliation she must be feeling. They were committed to being kind to Lila in front of everyone, but Adrien didn’t care about that now. Lila had taken something from someone who deserved it, and more importantly, she’d done it to someone Adrien cared about. If Lila was going to ignore his warnings, then he’d have to repeat them a little louder.
“Clara, why don’t you try on Marinette’s pick just for fun. She worked really hard picking it out.” Adrien suggested.
“While my search has come to an end, I’d be more than happy to wear something picked by a friend.” Clara brushed Marinette’s nose with her finger and climbed back into the changing booth.
Adrien marched over to Gorilla, yanking his collar down to whisper in his ear. Lila was going to learn the price of hurting people precious to him. He didn’t care if it wasn’t nice. Lila wasn’t a nice person, so just this once, he wasn’t going to be either.
With everyone focused on Clara, no one noticed when Gorilla clamped a hand over Lila’s mouth and carried her to the back. A single employee followed, opening the door to the private bathroom as Gorilla tossed her in.
“What do you think you’re-” Lila’s voice trailed off when Adrien approached, hands shoved in his pockets. “Is this the part where you try and intimidate me? It’s not going to work. I know your little niceness scheme is all an act, and I’m about to leave you both in the dust.”
“Maybe.” Adrien leaned against the doorframe with a shrug. “But you seem to have forgotten where you are. Did you really think you had the advantage in a shop named Agreste? In case you didn’t realize, everyone here works for me.”
“You’re too late. I’ve already won.” Lila shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. “Clara picked me, and Marinette will never make it as a designer.”
“Marinette is going to be just fine. I’ll see to that,” he said. “Clara respects my opinion, so she’ll listen to me.”
“And why would you convince her to pick Marinette over me? Doesn’t that contradict your whole plan to nice me into compliance?” Lila sneered. “As soon as we go back out there, Clara will still have picked me, so this whole conversation is pointless.”
“Who said you’re going back out there?” Adrien quirked a brow. He shut the door, and an employee locked it from the outside.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Lila beat against it, furiously tugging the handle.
“It’s such a shame you’re so busy, Lila. Clara will be disappointed to hear that you’re too busy volunteering to clean public restrooms to devote time to being her personal stylist. I’ll be sure to send Marinette your best,” he called from the other side. “Don’t worry. Someone will let you out after we leave.”
“Adrien! Let me out!” Lila screeched, but he was already walking away.
Clara was admiring Marinette’s outfit in the mirror when he returned to the dressing area, and he draped an arm over Clara’s shoulders.
“Marinette did an amazing job, don’t you think, Clara?” He shot her a wink.
“It’s true that Marinette has good taste. Not picking her would be a waste…” Clara hummed, tapping her chin. “But Lila’s pick is still on my mind. A dress like that deserves to shine.”
Marinette’s shoulders slumped, and Adrien pursed his lips. “I know you picked Lila, but I think you should reconsider.”
“Where is Lila anyway?” Marinette glanced around.
“Oh, uh, you see, Clara, Lila has a very busy schedule. Her parents are ambassadors, so she is always traveling. She pulled me aside while you were changing and expressed worry over being able to devote the time to being your stylist.” Adrien explained smoothly. “She was absolutely thrilled that you wanted her for the opportunity, but she just has so much on her plate right now.”
“I see. Well, that’s a real pity,” Clara said.
Marinette eyed him curiously as Alya burst into the room.
“Sorry I’m late,” she panted, doubling over to catch her breath.
Adrien stepped down to retrieve the pink sketchbook tucked under her arm. “Designing is Marinette’s true passion, and while she is good at pairing other people’s designs, creating her own is where Marinette really shines.” He offered Clara the sketchbook and nudged Marinette forward. “I know you had your heart set, but Marinette is incredible if you just give her a chance.”
“Wow, Marinette, your skills are certainly plain to see,” Clara said, admiring her sketches. “So, what do you say? Will you design clothes for me?”
“I- Yes! I would absolutely love to! Thank you, Clara.” Marinette gaped as Clara took her hands.
“The pleasure is all mine. Your designs are so divine. This deal is all set. I’m so happy that it’s you, Marinette!” Clara gave her hands a squeeze.
“What’s happening?” Alya quirked a brow.
Adrien smiled. “Marinette just became Clara Nightingale’s personal stylist.”
#miraculous ladybug#ml salt fic#lila salt#my writing#kill em with kindness#chameleon salt#adrien said fuck around and find out
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Imagine this in "Chameleon": Lila: *threatens Marinette* Marinette: What liar does after losing conciousness? Lila: *confused* Marinette: *knocks out Lila with secret move she learned from Marster Fu* She lies still. *comes out of toilet with dark variant of her theme in the background*
Marinette: Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. *keeps walking* The credits roll as Rocky theme music plays.
#miraculous ladybug#ml incorrect quotes#Ml Chameleon#marinette dupain cheng#Lila rossi#Just in case#Lila salt#ask and answer#ml ask
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