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kasienda · 5 months

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Aftermath - Ch 5: Reason to Live

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

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Chapter 5: Reason to Live

After their unplanned disaster sleepover, Marinette and Adrien fell strictly back into their routine. She came over six days a week, and stayed home for one. She didn’t risk any more late night visits, and he didn't ask her to stay. And he hadn’t mentioned her slowing down or stopping her visits again even though he could take care of the place and himself almost on his own now.

He really didn’t need her.

But as long as he didn’t send her away, she was going to keep coming. The guilt for taking advantage of his kindness, for making him put up with her usually only haunted her as she was falling asleep or while she wallowed pitifully during her seventh day of “rest”.

But every time the guilt became almost unbearable he would ask her to teach him something new.

First, it was laundry. She taught him all the basics of washing, folding, and ironing in an afternoon, though she insisted most people their age didn’t bother with ironing. Modern fabrics and detergents didn’t need it nearly as much, especially if you put things away right out of the dryer. Nino still came over to take care of the chores, but now, the three of them tended to do it together, which made the folding and stowing parts way faster, and more fun because neither one of them would stop cracking stupid jokes.

Adrien’s sense of humor was far too reminiscent of a certain cat.

She quashed that thought before it could sour her mood, instead trying to savor every bout of unrestrained laughter shared between them.

Then, Adrien suggested out of the blue that they go for a walk.

“Like outside?” she asked.

He visibly swallowed and then nodded. “Yeah, outside.”

He held her hand so tightly when they stepped over the threshold into the complex’s hallway that Marinette almost asked if he wanted to change his mind.

The hallway was deserted. Marinette had made sure beforehand as she knew it was the fear of running into a person who recognized him that triggered his panic, not the being outside itself.

They didn’t stay out long. They just walked a single loop around the building. Adrien kept his gaze on their feet, and nearly strangled her hand when they passed by a woman walking two dogs.

“Can we go back home?” he asked after she passed in the smallest voice Marinette had ever heard from him. And when the front door had closed behind them, Adrien collapsed to the floor immediately like his legs were made of jello.

She sat beside him, and rubbed what she hoped were soothing patterns into his shoulders and neck.

She wasn’t sure if the outing had been a success or not, but then four days later he wanted to try again.

The second attempt went better. When he made it all the way around the building without panicking, Marinette led him to a nearby park and watched a group of children playing. They managed to stay for about twenty minutes. They might have lasted longer except when the two adults clearly responsible for the children glanced their way Adrien had bolted as skittish as a squirrel.

She brought him oversized sunglasses and a bright orange sun hat to hide his most recognizable features, which helped a ton. Before she knew it, a half hour walk became a part of their daily routine. Every day, no matter the weather, after lunch they’d go for a walk, always in a different direction.

They were getting to know the neighborhood pretty well.

Adrien avoided the most crowded areas and he never wanted to stop for tea or ice cream, but he didn’t visibly flinch when someone crossed their path anymore either.

He was clawing his life back bit by bit. She was so proud of him for that, and a little jealous as well. With every bit of independence he regained, she felt left behind even as she walked at his side, holding his hand. How long would it be before he could go for a walk independently without her?

She hated herself for wishing he would continue to struggle. He shouldn’t have to keep hurting just so she didn’t feel alone.

She was supposed to be helping him, not weighing him down or holding him back. She was supposed to be happy for him. She wanted to be happy for him. He deserved to get his life back.

She forced herself to be his biggest cheerleader whenever they were together and she tried to save all her other feelings for her days of “rest”.

Though that wasn’t ideal either, as she often ended up snapping unfairly at her parents or Alya.

“Would you stop? I don’t need you to do my hair!”

Alya’s hands fell from her neck. Marinette missed her soothing ministrations immediately, but she didn’t deserve Alya’s care and attention anyway. Not after snapping at her day after day.

“It’s not like I’m going anywhere today anyway,” Marinette offered more meekly.

“There’s nothing wrong with getting dolled up purely for yourself,” Alya countered, completely unperturbed by Marinette’s waspishness. But she didn’t pick up the hairbrush again.

Marinette didn’t know how to ask for Alya to come back or how to apologize. Instead, she flopped back to the bed and just lay there, feeling as limp and useless as a severely overcooked noodle.

It didn’t matter, she tried to tell herself. Marinette didn’t feel very pretty these days anyway. And Alya probably wouldn’t have to put up with her for much longer at the rate that Adrien was healing.

“Looks like it’s time for lunch anyway. I’ll be right back.”

The hatch door closed behind Alya. Marinette’s shoulders immediately sagged. She was so tired of pretending. But with Alya’s absence the silence stretched until it became unbearable and she flopped onto her side. Every limb felt like lead. She might just sink into the mattress and never arise again. She was tired of pretending, but she didn’t want to be alone. She was terrified of being alone.

A single tear leaked from her eye, but her hand was too heavy to do anything to wipe it away.

She didn’t understand why it was so much easier with Adrien, and nearly impossible with Alya and her parents. It shouldn’t be such a chore to hang out with the people she loved. What was wrong with her?

Why did she keep hurting the people she loved the most?

The creak of the door hatch rising from the floor sounded through her room just moments after Alya had left. And she huffed a sigh.

“I’m not hungry,” she called down petulantly.

“Well, it’s good I didn’t bring any food then.”

Marinette scrambled to an upright sitting position, suddenly hyper aware of her unfinished hair, the fact that she wasn’t dressed, and the dirty laundry that cluttered the floor in haphazard clumps.

“Adrien! What are you doing here?” She winced the moment the accusatory words were out.

He frowned. “I was trying to surprise you. Your maman said I could come right up. I don’t mean to intrude. I thought… I thought you’d be impressed that I managed to make it here on my own.”

She tucked a tangled loop of hair behind her ear and tried for a smile. It felt forced.

“I am super impressed. I just… wasn’t expecting you.” She couldn’t meet his eyes, not when every part of her burned with shame.

“Are you sick?”

She wanted to take the out he offered and run. But she couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to lie to him.

But she couldn’t admit the truth to him either.

Her chin trembled.

He climbed up to her loft and took a seat beside her on her bed. “You’re not okay, are you?”

She hung her head, tears burning at the edges of her eyes. “I didn’t want you to know.”

He slipped an arm around her waist, and pulled her into his chest. “I understand. Before you visited me that first time in the hotel, I didn’t want you to know about me either,” he admitted.

She sobbed and laughed at the same time. “We make quite the pair don’t we?”

He didn’t say anything, just held her tighter with his head resting on hers. She felt so warm in his hold.

She didn’t deserve it though.

“You don’t have to stay,” she told him. She didn’t want to become a burden for him the way she already was on her parents and Alya.

“Marinette, you’ve held my hand through every part of the disaster that is my life since my father was taken down. May I support you in the same way?”

She wanted to argue.

She didn’t deserve him. He was only struggling because of her - because she had single-handedly shattered his whole life and never had the courage to tell him even when his circumstances were so much worse than her own. Every time he wanted to get up, to do anything for himself, he had to break away from the gravitational black hole left behind by his father, a hole that she had torn open unknowingly.

But his eyes sparkled with so much hope - more hope than she had seen from him in a long time, so she couldn’t fight him on this.

When he pushed her back into bed, she let him. He climbed down her ladder and returned a moment later with a book. A book of poetry her mother had given her a few weeks prior that Marinette hadn’t so much as cracked open. He settled in next to her, their sides pressing against one another, and started reading out loud.

She didn’t hear the words, but there was a rhythm to his voice as he read. She found herself crying into his shoulder as his free hand stroked her hair.

“What is it?” he asked.

She shook her head. These tears were the good kind of tears. The kind of tears she thought she had forgotten how to shed. “Nothing. I’m just really glad you’re here.”

His answering smile was blinding. “I’m glad, too.”

The hatch door flipped open.

“Hey kids!” Alya greeted brightly. “I brought lunch!”

Normally, Alya would have stayed and ate with her, but this time she just smiled at the two of them curled up, laid the tray over their laps, and disappeared back the way she had come.

It was like she knew that with Adrien there, Marinette wouldn’t refuse food.

And she wasn’t wrong.

…

Marinette couldn’t get out of bed the next morning.

Her maman came in, surprised to find her still buried in blankets, but when she immediately moved to haul Marinette out of bed as she had so many times before in weeks past Marinette didn’t take her mother’s offered hand.

“Marinette, Xīngān Băobèi, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t!” Angry tears fell down her cheeks.

Her maman frowned. “Why not?”

“He knows now.”

“Knows what?”

Marinette clutched her knees to her chest. “That I’m in just as bad of shape as he is. He knows that I can’t help him now.”

“Why does your struggling mean you can’t help him anymore?”

Marinette turned away, fighting tears. Her maman didn’t understand.

“Alya and you have both told me that Adrien’s been struggling really hard with his own inner demons. That didn’t stop him from helping you yesterday, did it?”

Marinette furiously wiped her tears away even though it was pointless because they just kept falling. Her maman didn’t understand. Adrien had been the only one in her life who had still viewed her as whole, that still seemed to have faith that she could do anything. The only person in her life where she was adding some benefit instead of weighing him down.

Surely, that illusion had been shattered.

Now he would hesitate to ask her for help, feel guilty for putting things on her plate, or just not trust that she could be what he needed.

And he would be right.

Her phone buzzed.

Adrien:

If you’re up for it, I have something big I need your help with. If you’re not up for it, tell me, and I’ll try to arrange it for another day. Excited to see you in any case. 🙂

Her eyes blurred reading the message.

He still thought she could help him. That idiot boy.

Now, she had to go. Now matter how big the task, she needed to help him to make up for the energy that he spent on her the day before.

She took her mother’s offered hand, pushed herself through her morning routine, and followed the familiar route to Adrien’s apartment with her stomach writhing the whole way there.

His concerned gaze at her arrival made her want to bolt immediately. As it was, her gaze remained locked on the floor, and her heart felt stuck up in her throat somewhere.

He cleared his throat. “I umm…”

Goodness, she had made things so awkward. Had she ruined everything between them in one afternoon?

“I’m sorry that I didn’t notice… that you were hurting.”

She shook her head rapidly, looking up at him. “No, Adrien, no. It wasn’t your fault. You had your own things, and I… I didn’t tell you.”

He rubbed the back of his neck as she came in. “It just seems obvious, looking back. I should have seen it.”

“It’s fine!” she insisted, pasting on a smile. She didn’t want to talk about it - it was all too close to things she couldn’t tell him. “You said you needed my help with something?”

He hesitated a moment and then allowed the subject change. “Yes, I was hoping you could help me run an errand today?” It sounded like a question.

“You mean out and about?”

He nodded.

“Yes, of course. I thought Nino was running all your errands.”

“He is. Or Alya sometimes, but this is more personal. I can’t ask him for this.”

“Okay. Where are we going?”

He gave her an address.

“This is a busier part of town,” she observed. “Is that going to be okay?”

He laughed nervously. “Well, we’ll find out, won’t we?”

She reached for his hand, and he took it gratefully. “I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

He squeezed her hand. “Thank you. I figure it makes the most sense to go after lunch,” he said.

The ensuing morning felt almost normal. He played video games, they made lunch, and ate it together. They chatted throughout all of it. The only difference was he was more affectionate.

He leaned into her while playing, squeezed her shoulder when she was setting the table, and he just seemed to smile at her more across the table. Or at least he would smile whenever she looked at him. A few times, she had caught him looking at her with a more searching or contemplative look.

She couldn’t decide if she loved or hated the development. Their time together was supposed to be about him , and she despised that he was worrying about her now, but she had always wanted to be close to him.

That had never changed.

But it was exhausting bouncing back and forth between delight to have his care and attention and overwhelming guilt that he was putting any energy into her at all. It was almost a relief when it was time for them to go. She didn’t even ask what they were doing.

Adrien drove for the twenty minute commute and parked his car in an underground garage. It was only when they reached the ground floor, after he led her two blocks north, when they were standing in front of a familiar building that Marinette realized she had been tricked.

The Center for Occupational and Lifestyle Redesign.

Marinette glared at the blue lettering. “Alya put you up to this?” she demanded harshly.

“Sabine actually,” he whispered.

She froze. “You’ve been talking to my parents?”

“For a few weeks now. Since our accidental sleepover.”

No no no! This was all wrong. He hadn’t just figured her out yesterday after all. He had known the whole time?!

But then, why was he being so worried all morning?! That was definitely new!

Maybe her maman hadn’t told him everything.

She searched his face, and he was clearly as anxious as she was.

“Mari, I’m sorry if I’ve overstepped. I think Nino gave them my number, but it was only because you were spending so much time here with me. And apparently they were really worried about you. I don’t know why I didn’t realize that something deeper was going on.”

Her chin trembled. He felt so guilty. He wasn’t supposed to feel bad - not on her account.

“Yesterday was my test run, to see if I could go out by myself. I didn’t realize you were hurting. They didn’t tell me that though I wish they had. They only told me that you stopped going to your appointments. That you insisted I was more important.”

His gaze turned down, and his eyes glassy.

No no no! He wasn’t supposed to cry. Not for her. She didn’t matter.

He held his hand out. “I made an appointment for you. Will you come inside with me?”

And his eyes were shining. They were so bright. She couldn’t say no. She could go to therapy if it was helping him .

She took his hand.

…

“Hello Marinette. My name is Juliette. It is very nice to meet you.”

Marinette made herself smile. “No Camille?” she asked. She wouldn’t be surprised if her old therapist had given up on her. She would have, in the same position.

Juliette smiled and gestured for Marinette and Adrien to follow her. “She’s out on maternity leave, but I have her notes here. Shall we get started?”

“Sure,” she agreed, following Juliette to a table set up with putty, a pegboard, clothespins, stacks of folded white towels, and various contraptions that Marinette remembered using at her last appointment months prior to stretch and strengthen her hand. She didn’t remember what most of it was called.

“How often are you doing your stretches?” Juliette asked as she took Marinette’s hand, gently urging her locked fist open with firm, yet gentle ministrations.

“Umm… not very often,” she admitted, feeling small and like a failure. Camille had only wanted her to work on it for ten minutes a day, and Marinette hadn’t been able to keep up with even that much.

She would’ve lied, but Adrien was right there listening to them talk. And she still didn’t want to lie to him .

Juliette smiled. “I appreciate your honesty. When patients lie, it makes it difficult to know if something is not working or if it’s just not being done.”

Marinette’s shoulders relaxed, relieved that Juliette wasn’t going to lecture her. Camille would have.

Juliette pressed on different points on her palm and wrist. “What do you want to be able to do with your hand?”

Marinette bit her lower lip. She didn’t have any desires or goals. “What do you mean?”

“Like, what are the activities that you want to be able to participate in your everyday life?”

Marinette shrugged.

“Cooking?” Juliette suggested.

Adrien shook his head. “She manages quite well in the kitchen already. What about sewing?”

Juliette looked at her for confirmation.

Marinette hesitated. She didn’t really care about sewing anymore. Fashion design wasn’t going to happen. She glanced at him, and he smiled brightly. He had been thrilled when she gave him her old quilt. She might not ever be a designer, but she would like to be able to make something else for him again.

She nodded.

Juliette smiled and moved her attention to assessing each of Marinette’s fingers.

“The tendons that move your fingers are very stiff and too short from your injury, but you still have a good range of motion in your thumb and ring finger. I’d like to show you some new stretches that target the other fingers to see if they can catch up.”

“Can you show me as well?” Adrien asked.

The therapist smiled. “Of course! I want to ask, what do you think you’ll actually do at home?”

“How much does she need to do?” Adrien asked.

“Ideally, you’d spend ten minutes stretching, and ten minutes on another exercise I’m going to show you, but if giving you that much homework means it feels impossible to start, it’s counterproductive. Any stretching will be beneficial, even if it’s just two or three minutes a day, so I recommend starting small until you’ve successfully established it as part of your routine.”

Juliette looked to her. “Which is why I asked what you think you can do? I won’t give you more than that.”

Marinette didn’t know what to say. She had never been able to get herself to do the stretches before, and she didn’t think that was likely to change.

Except Adrien was there. She wasn’t willing to admit to him that she didn’t think she could pull off even the shortest of routines.

“Can we start with five minutes?” Marinette asked.

Juliette nodded, and then gestured for Marinette to follow her. She opened a closet that was overflowing with cutlery, paintbrushes and paint, pin cushions and spools of thread, and so many different kinds of scissors. And was that a fishing rod?

Juliette hands her a piece of cardboard with holes punched out and an oversized plastic needle.

“We’ll start with this,” Juliette explained, “and work our way down to the scale you need. Next time, you can tell me more about the type of sewing projects you tend to work on, and I can create some individualized activities to help you work towards that. It looks like you might benefit from some adaptive scissors as well.”

Marinette glanced at Adrien who gave her an encouraging smile, and took the offered tools. She felt like a child with the needle fisted in her right hand.

Juliette opened her fingers firmly. “Place the needle here,” she directed, slipping the needle between her pointer and middle fingers. “And approach the hole with the back of your hand. It will feel awkward at first, but the key is just to practice with it here.”

The holes were large enough and the needle long enough that Marinette could string the yarn through as long as she went slowly. It wasn’t even close to what Marinette needed to be able to do to be able to sew by hand again, but it was already more than she thought she could do.

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She blinked them back. Adrien’s hand was on her shoulder an instant later and she leaned into his support. Maybe it wasn’t so bad to let him help her, too.

“You can make your own lacing card. Just punch holes in some laminated paper or cereal box cardboard. Then you can thread yarn through it. This will develop the right muscles you need. Precision will come in time.”

“Thank you,” Marinette said. It didn’t seem like enough to say.

But Juliette smiled brightly. “Of course! Happy to help! Does this time work well for you? Adrien said he wasn’t sure what worked best for your schedule.”

Marinette glanced at Adrien. “You’ll come back with me?”

He smiled, nodding. “As many times as you want.”

Her assigned exercises became a part of their routine. Right before they made lunch together, Adrien would walk her through each stretch. With him holding her accountable, she probably could have committed to the twenty minute routine, but it was just as well because her hand often felt tender and sore.

He made her three different kinds of lacing cards in the first week, and any time he played video games, she would sit next to him working on threading a skein of neon green yarn through the overly large holes.

He took her to her next therapy appointment where she experimented with several different types of adaptive scissors. Adrien absorbed all of Juliette’s advice and directions when Marinette herself was feeling overwhelmed.

She had gone to the bathroom once, and she came back to Adrien geeking out over various pieces of adaptive equipment.

“That is so clever! I had no idea any of this existed!”

Another week went by, and specialized cooking utensils that could be used in a closed grip and cutting boards that suctioned onto the countertop started popping up in his apartment. Every week, he kept adding little things that made the space more accessible for her.

She suddenly loved cooking when she was in his kitchen. She rarely needed his help to cut things up anymore, though he was always standing right beside her anyway.

She blew her hair out of her face for the third time with a sigh. Her mother hadn’t had time to put it up for her that morning due to an early morning appointment. He slipped in behind her and tied her hair into two pigtails. They’re not perfectly even, but this time the hair style didn’t bother her. In a weird way she feels like herself again.

She smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

Two months into weekly therapy, Adrien started coming over to the bakery on her seventh day of “rest”. Then he started coming over to the bakery on her seventh day of rest. And he started adding the same modified tools to her family kitchen the same way he had already modified his own.

She felt guilty that he was spending so much money on her. The specialized utensils weren’t exactly cheap, and he just brought it and installed it without any fuss or fanfare, especially when she was only home one day a week.

“Have you tried using this knife, Marinette?” her father asked.

“Yes, papa! Adrien has a similar one in his apartment. It’s really easy to use.”

“I’ll say! My wrist hasn’t felt this good in years!”

Her eyes watered again. Maybe it wasn’t a waste afterall. “I’m glad!”

She and Adrien made dinner for her parents once together. It wasn’t anything fancy - just a ratatouille stew. Her parents ate with enthusiasm and didn’t remark on the lack of sides. They never said anything to her, but she caught her mother clutching Adrien to her chest that evening in tears.

The next time he came over, Tom had invited Adrien into the back of the bakery. He taught Adrien to make bread. Just ordinary white bread.

He brought her the first slice.

“What do you think?”

It was soft and airy. A bit inconsistent in texture, but she probably wouldn’t have even noticed had she not grown up in a bakery.

“It’s really good, Adrien. Thank you!”

“Do you think we could come back tomorrow?” he asked her.

“Why are you asking me? You can go wherever you want on your days.”

“Your dad said he would show me croissants next, and I honestly don’t want to wait a whole week.”

His excitement was infectious. Soon they established a new pattern - where they spent every other day at Adrien’s apartment hanging out just the two of them, and then the other days at the bakery where Marinette watched her father teach Adrien the finer points of baking.

Soon Adrien was making baguettes, sourdough bread, cookies, and tarts, though he still struggled with pie crusts and macarons.

“Do you like it?” she asked him over dinner.

“Like what?”

“Baking?”

He grinned. “I love it! It feels good to create something for a change. And maybe to feel a teensy bit useful if only a few hours a week.”

She smiled. “I’m glad.”

“Do you think I could ever be as good as your dad?”

She grinned. “Maybe. He insists it’s all about practice, patience, and love. Those are all things that you are very good at. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

She realized with a start that she wanted to be there to see it. To see him.

“You okay?”

“I think I’m better than I’ve been in a long time.” She smiled. “Thanks to you.”

…

#miraculous ladybug fanfiction #adrinette #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #pre reveal #post Hawkmoth defeat #suicidal ideation #severe depression #disable character #hurt comfort #codependency #healing journey #happy ending #things are about to get a whole lot better #aftermath #my own content

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monarch-maelstrom · 1 year

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Headcanon that Adrien actually really wants to play the ukulele instead of the piano. So when Hawkmoth is defeated and he finally has some freedom he decides to start learning how to play it.

And for anyone wondering the songs I drew him playing are songs from Steven Universe and Adventure Time Distant Lands. Image one at the top is Escapism from the episode Escapism from Steven Universe.

Image two in the middle is Change your mind from the finale episode of Steven Universe, Change Your Mind. All of these songs sort of had a reason for why I chose them but this one was the most thoroughly thought through. I chose this one thinking it could be pretty close to Hawkmoth’s defeat and he’s just trying out the ukulele and he decides to sing about how his feelings on his dad.

Image three on the bottom of the page is Monster from Obsidian in Adventure Time Distant Lands. I really like this song and think it’s cute so I drew it of Adrien singing it to Marinette <3.

#headcanon #miraculous headcanon #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #post reveal #post Hawkmoth defeat #pre relationship #probably #ukulele #I’ve had this headcanon for so long XD #I also thought that Adrien could sing Peace and Love on the planet earth with Marinette #<3

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galahadwilder · 1 year

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After Hawkmoth is defeated, the other Miraculi go inactive.

There’s no warning. The Kwami didn’t know it was coming—they couldn’t warn anyone because it wasn’t precedented. So Chat Noir and Ladybug were caught completely off-guard.

They never revealed their identities.

Marinette is devastated. Chat Noir was such a massively important part of her life, and now he’s been ripped from her without even a goodbye. She’ll never know who he was, who his friends were. She’ll never hear his goofy puns again, never feel his lips on her knuckles, never hear “My Lady” again.

She posts on her official Twitter account about how much she misses him, how much she hates that she’ll never be able to contact him again, how much she wishes she could see him one last time.

He replies to her thread on his official account and tweets, “??? I’m right here, I’ll send you a DM”

#miraculous ladybug #angst #crack #ladynoir #Marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #chat noir #post hawkmoth #Hawkmoth defeat #pre reveal #original content

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ladybeug · 1 year

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For Tinder Chat Noir x Chat Noir Au, consider this possibility - Tinder bans both accounts for impersonation.

Good news, I’m at an airport, and my favorite thing to do at an airport is draw comics for good asks I receive

#the stupid version of ‘we defeated hawkmoth and didn’t exchange identities before we had to give up our miraculous’#which is a trope I love actually #my art #that’s 2 posts now does this need a tag #…. nah :)#actually its 3 posts now sooo #tinder chat noir au

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anna-scribbles · 1 year

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New here! What is Metamorphosis about? I only saw the description on AO3 talk about Marinette and life after Ladybug, but your tags about metamorphosis Adrien have got me so curious about what's going on with him specifically in that fic 👀

these are the things i can tell you about metamorphosis adrien

#to actually answer your question: metamorphosis is a post-hawkmoth defeat enemies story.#in which adrien is uniquely sad and pathetic and morally ambiguous #he’s. well. he’s got a lot going on #metamorphosis #asks #also this was just me searching the phrase metamorphosis adrien in me & peach’s discord server. don’t worry about it

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coffeebanana · 2 years

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Indirect Kisses On Not So Lonely Rooftops

A little something I wrote to procrastinate for @ladynoirjuly day 6. (prompt: breathe)

CW: depression, dissociation

As night falls, the rooftop is lonely. There’s an unexpected chill to the summer air, a breeze that goes bone deep. It might just be Chat’s imagination. Far away and blurred like the city lights are cries of celebration, but they only sound like more lies. Chat can remember a night months ago when the rooftop was filled with life. It was cold enough to see his breath, but that never mattered in the suit. That never mattered with Ladybug lying beside him, her laughter warming him the way thermal energy never could. He remembers seeing her breath too. He remembers how, if they turned their heads towards each other, their separate clouds would mingle in the air before dissipating. He remembers how he teased her, calling it an indirect kiss. He remembers her eyeroll and her gloved hand pushing against his face and the way they both laughed until his sides seized in protest. Now, he can’t even see his own breaths for company. Now, he’s not even sure if he misses her. But it doesn’t take long for her footsteps to find him, even though he told her not to look. He can’t move as she walks towards him. He can’t breathe. He can’t really see beyond the tears that are starting to form again. Ladybug crouches beside him before he’s fully processed her arrival, and it’s only when her hand cups his cheek, turning his head slightly, that he really remembers. He remembers the angle at which their breaths mingled and his heart beat to the tune of forever and the gleam in her eyes twinkled with every colour like a streetlight blurring in the rain. He remembers, but he can’t quite feel it. Because his body might be in the exact same position, but Ladybug’s isn’t. His mind is light years away, the gleam in her eyes is too hard to reach, and the tune of forever is stuck in yesterdays. “Chaton?” He closes his eyes, but that makes it worse. It twists the sensation of his thoughts tumbling into a physical thing, and he can’t handle that for long. He pries his eyes open to see Ladybug stretched out beside him, but she’s still wrong. She lies on her side, her breath warming his cheek as she leans in closer. She’s supposed to warm the air. To make it sweet and light and enticing. Instead, she weighs it down with a question. “What are you thinking?” There are no ways to put it into words, not exactly. So he settles on, "That I wish I could see myself breathe.” She smiles. “Like an indirect kiss?” “Yeah. Exactly.” She shifts over a bit and rolls onto her back. Then she glances his way, and he catches a glimpse of her forever. It seems to get lost before it finds his heart, but it’s still something. She remembers. The rooftop. The warmth. Before. She can probably still feel it, too. Maybe Chat can learn again. The night goes on, and he can’t see their breaths mingle. But their fingers weave together, and later on their limbs. They talk about stupid things like they did that night--or Ladybug talks, and Chat tries to listen. They ignore the rest of the world. And somehow the noises of the city sharpen and the lights come into focus. The air is thick and stubborn, still hiding their indirect kisses. But little by little, Chat realizes they’re still there. And when Ladybug’s lips press against his cheek, he finds a new kind of warmth.

#miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #ladynoirjuly2022 #ladybug #chat noir #post hawkmoth #post reveal #cw: depression #cw: dissociation #i imagine this is like heroes day a few weeks or months after hm's defeat?#i really said like two days ago i'd be writing less love square and this is how i procrastinate #i save my weirdly flowery present tense snippets for tumblr #and i pretend they make sense #no really i just throw words together sometimes and call them metaphors but half the time i'm convinced they're just nonesense #it's really fun though so i think i'll keep doing it

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passionfruitbowls · 2 years

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it’s funny how whenever i write out some bullet points to try and plan a fic they quickly become extremely detailed and unhinged

#now if only those bullet points could magically alter themselves to form a fully coherent story #i would get sooo many fics finished and posted regularly rather than once every two months lol #last night i came up with an outline for a post-hawkmoth defeat ladrien fic and it is. 437 words long already #pfb talks

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buggachat · 1 year

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Bakery “Enemies” AU, a Miraculous Ladybug fancomic

Years post-Hawkmoth defeat, Marinette comes home from a New York internship to Hawkmoth’s son working in her parent’s bakery. With the peacock miraculous user having never been found, and Tikki and Chat Noir unreachable, how will Marinette deal with this new threat in her home? (Oh, and they’ve never met before. )

Start Here / All / AO3 / Masterlist (described) (thanks to @iveofficiallygonemad & @princess-of-purple-prose !)

Kofi

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #marinette dupain cheng #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #adrienette #adrinette #bakery enemies au #my art

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rainbow-arrow · 2 years

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can only wonder how people are gonna react when they find out wato is getting an E rating bc of later chapters........

#let's go #it gets.#p smutty okay #wato #it's only a few chapters okay #it's like a whole lotta early adult identity crisis ordeal #friend and family and identity drama #they don't transform that much either #since it's post-hawkmoth defeat

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zivazivc · 1 year

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obsessed with the idea that adrien post hawkmoth's defeat becomes just some dude, just some bro. fashion? don't know her.

#and marinette continues to be absolutely adorable and rocking pink #ml #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #adrinette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #older adrien #patchy baby stubble and untamed eyebrows my beloved #older marinette #older adrinette #i really tried with the angle #and i'm proud of the result but it still feels a little off #adriens head doesn't look like it's lying on the ground #but it was awkward to draw his face even at this angle #my art

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kasienda · 8 months

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Aftermath - Ch 4: Not Okay

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

Read on Ao3

Chapter 4: Not Okay

Adrien was especially quiet today, but he was also out in the living room, which was usually a good sign. Marinette wasn’t sure what this new combination meant.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Do you think you could give me some cooking lessons?” Adrien asked in response.

Marinette blinked at him from across the tiny white table. “What do you want to learn to cook?”

He laughed. “Anything! I don’t know how to do any of it. We had a professional chef my entire life. I’ve never so much as boiled water.”

“Are you sure you want to learn from me?” she asked, keeping her gaze on her own hands. “Alya is a better cook.” But that wasn’t her real objection. She wasn’t sure how much cooking she could still do, and she wasn’t keen on finding out what she was capable of with an audience even if that audience was as kind and patient as Adrien. Adrien was one of the few people in her life that seemed to forget that she was disabled now - she didn’t want to spoil that image he still seemed to have of her.

“I was hoping if I learned how to make a few staples, Alya wouldn’t have to spend quite as much time preparing meals for me.”

Marinette made herself smile. “Okay. Let’s make a list of some simple things, and then text Nino all the ingredients we need.”

Marinette relaxed as she learned exactly simple the things Adrien wanted to learn were. He apparently didn’t know how to make sandwiches, boil eggs, and how to cut cheese, of all things.

“You don’t need me to teach you how to make a cheese plate,” she insisted.

“Nathalie paid a lot for some very small cheese plates at various events. Seems like some skill is involved.”

Marinette giggled. “The skill is in picking out the cheese, and in presenting it in an artful way - not in cutting it so you can eat it for your own consumption.”

His green eyes narrowed in clear suspicion. “It can’t be that easy.”

“Gah! Give me my phone,” she said, gesturing to the device she had left on the counter behind him. “I’m going to text Nino now to prove it to you.” He slid the device over to her and she slowly plucked out her message with her left hand. “What cheeses do you want? Comté is my favorite, but I suppose we should get some Roquefort and Camembert as well for variety.”

“Not Camembert!”

“I thought you loved Camembert. Didn’t you always have some in your locker in lycee?” She looked up from her screen, and was startled to see Adrien’s face was pale and waxy, his earlier good humor gone. She frowned. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away. He was clearly not alright. “Just… no Camembert. I uh… it gave me food poisoning once, and now I can’t stand it.”

“Okay then,” Marinette conceded, burying her gaze back in her phone’s screen, though she wasn’t looking at anything. The atmosphere between them was suddenly thick in a way that it hadn’t been in weeks, and it was just so hard to reach through it.

“We can replace it with Brie,” she offered meekly.

The silence was deafening and she wanted to look up at him, but she was also afraid to. She startled when she felt his hand and hers.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“For what?” she asked, her brows furrowed in genuine confusion. She still was unable to look at him, uncertain as to what she had said wrong.

“For putting up with my inexplicable moods.”

She squeezed his hand. “Your moods are not that bad.” They really weren’t. Between the two of them, she was the basket-case.

He shook his head in disagreement, but didn’t argue. “For agreeing to teach me. I’m not a quick study.”

“What? I don’t believe that!”

She was half right. He wasn’t kidding when he said he had never boiled water. He had no kitchen skills to build on, but he had some experience with measurement and following a procedure from chemistry lab. He was also incredibly enthusiastic about learning.

“So, how do I do this?” he asked, having unwrapped the block of pale cheddar and placed it on the cutting board.

“There’s not a whole lot to it. You place the block of cheese on the cutting board, and you just slice through it with a knife. There are actual cheese cutters, but you don’t buy them unless you love cheese and are going to be doing this all the time.”

“Will you show me?” He offered her the knife from across the counter.

She took it from him with her good hand, trying so hard not to show how nervous she was with the sharp blade in her left hand.

She felt so imprecise placing the sharp edge against the cheese block. And of course the second she applied any pressure, the cutting board itself slipped away from her, and towards him. The cheese remained uncut.

She wanted to cry. He had chosen the wrong person for this. He should have asked Alya. Marinette couldn’t even cut cheese, which she had insisted to him was stupidly easy. She couldn’t even do easy things anymore.

“Oh!” he said, realizing the problem immediately. He slid the cutting board closer to him, and she held out the knife, grateful that he realized he needed to take it from her.

Only, he didn’t take it from her. Instead, he held the board with one hand and the block of cheese in place with the other. “Go for it.”

She stared at him for a moment. It never seemed to occur to him that she was disabled. He always seemed to think she could do anything.

"You sure you trust me that close to your hands, with a knife?" she asked.

"I trust you with my life," he said with an easy grin.

She blushed. "It's like you don't remember how clumsy I used to be."

He smiled. "I always thought you were graceful when you needed to be."

Once upon a time, that comment would have sent her soaring for days. Now, she just wanted to hide, terrified of the day he realized she wasn't half as amazing as he had always assumed.

At least, not anymore.

But with his help, she was able to cut the slices. They weren’t as even as they would have been in the past, but she also wouldn’t have cared if they hadn’t been. She explained her approach, how she kept the slices relatively even as she cut a handful more slices before handing the knife back to Adrien.

Adrien quickly took over the task, careful to cut slices to an insanely consistent thickness. He was just as serious about learning how to present it on the tray. She didn’t have a lot of experience on the presentation part, but it wasn’t that different from sketching out a design or decorating a room. And Adrien had also done a ridiculous amount of research on what cheeses to combine and what hors d'oeuvre to put on the side. He insisted it was fun to feel a bit fancy by adding a few garnishes and olives, and that made her smile.

When it was finished, they took pictures of their masterpiece alongside a single glass of wine, which they shared, neither of them wanting to risk getting even a little bit tipsy, but wanting to pair the flavors the way they were apparently supposed to according to Adrien’s research.

“So what do you think?” she asked him, halfway through a wedge of brie placed on an artisan cracker.

Adrien froze, his mouth clearly full. He dramatically swallowed and then offered her a smile. “It’s good! I had no idea there was so much thought that went into pairing and matching things.”

“There isn’t necessarily. You can just buy a few different cheeses you like and cut them up.”

“You’re right that it wasn’t that hard to actually do. I don’t know why people don’t take the time to make stuff like that - that’s delicious and pretty.”

She grabbed herself a piece of Roquefort. “I think often it’s just not having the time or the motivation.”

Or a stable mental state, but she didn’t need to say that out loud.

Having a success under his belt, Adrien didn’t do research on their next culinary adventure - and instead opted to trust that Marinette did in fact know how to make ham and butter sandwiches. It had been awkward to butter the slice of bread while Adrien had been the one holding it, but it had sent them both into giggles, so Marinette considered it a win.

Then, she taught him how to boil eggs and plain pasta.

He wanted to make ratatouille next, which she thought was definitely doable. He hadn’t believed her when she insisted that cutting vegetables was actually easier than cutting cheese.

“You thought cheese was going to be hard! We’ve already established you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Marinette enjoyed the cooking sessions more than she thought she would. They were surprisingly well matched in the kitchen. She had the experience and the knowledge for what recipes were talking about, and he had all the fine motor skills. She usually could show or mime to him what he needed to do. And if that didn’t work, she knew what to look for to find him a video that demo-ed what they were trying to do better.

He somehow made it okay that she couldn’t do so many simple things. Maybe because he couldn’t do a lot of simple things either. He absolutely never made her feel less than and often his teasing succeeded in getting her out of her own head.

With lessons and practice, Adrien could now make sandwiches, pasta, several different kinds of eggs including omelettes, crepes, ratatouille, and quiche lorraine, in addition to the cheese plates they had started with.

The quiche had just come out of the oven. Marinette had barely helped at all, and it was perfect. The crust was golden and flaky, and it smelled so good. Marinette felt like a proud mother.

“Adrien, this is so good!” she gushed after her first bite. “You’ve come such a long way!”

“Thank you,” he said. “Which reminds me. I’ve been wanting to tell you that you probably don’t need to come every day anymore.”

She froze - her next bite hung still in the air.

She had known that he wouldn’t need her one day. That was the whole point - her whole plan! And of course now that he was doing better he wouldn’t want her to be there invading his space every single day. And no doubt he would feel that even more strongly if he knew she were Ladybug as well.

“Thanks to your tutelage, I’m no longer in any danger of starving.”

She struggled for breath. He didn’t need her anymore.

He was doing better, so much better, and that meant he didn’t need her anymore.

Her chest was tight and her throat closed off.

Where was her purse? She needed to see it. She fumbled away from the table.

Why couldn’t she breathe?

Her panicked gaze shot off in every direction. Where was her purse?! Were the earrings even still there? She couldn’t remember the last time she had checked! What if she had lost them?

“Marinette?” His voice dripped with concern. He had dropped his fork and rose to his feet coming to her side. “Are you okay?”

“Can you grab my purse?” she choked out.

“Are you leaving?”

She shook her head violently, incapable of more words.

When he handed her the pink purse she clutched onto it like it was a lifeline, but she still couldn’t breathe. Her hand slipped inside and she fished for the secret side pocket in a panic, her heartbeat roaring so loudly in her head. Only once the earring posts were cutting into her hand did the tension fade from her body.

She squeezed harder until she hissed in pain, but her heartbeat slowed, and she managed a breath and another breath.

“Marinette?”

She glanced up into his face - his expression twisted in concern. The expression was the mirror to what she had seen on her parents’ faces, and on Alya’s. She was becoming a burden for him the same way she was with everyone else.

Her eyes welled with tears. She tried to blink them back. She couldn’t let him see her cry. He couldn’t know, she didn’t want him to know how broken she was.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She took a single deep breath and offered him the brightest smile she could.

“Sorry, I just panicked. They sometimes happen out of nowhere.” She was lying, but he couldn’t know that his words had set her off. He didn’t need that burden.

He didn’t look satisfied, but he didn’t push either, for which she was grateful.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he offered.

She shook her head rapidly. “It’s just a symptom from my injury. The episodes have become really rare. I’ve pretty much got it under control.” She squeezed the earrings in her hand again. She had everything she needed.

There was still worry in his eyes, and it killed her that she had put it there and couldn’t seem to wash it away with her words. He shouldn’t have seen that. She should have been able to keep it together.

He had been having such a good day too. Of course, she had ruined it. He spent the rest of the afternoon walking on eggshells around her, asking if she needed water or something to eat. He stayed on the same page of his manga for far too long, constantly looking up at her, only to look away when she tried to meet his gaze. He wasn’t even smiling as much.

And no matter how many times she tried to convince him she was fine, it seemed to fall on deaf ears. Unable to stand it, she left an hour earlier than usual.

The next morning, Marinette wasn’t even sure she should go. She paced her room back and forth, her purse slung over her shoulder. Maybe she should just head to the tower and get it over with.

Adrien:

Hey! If it’s not too much trouble, I’ve been craving some chocolate croissants. Your dad makes the best ones. But only if it’s no trouble. You know what? Forget I said anything. Excited to see you.

Well, if he wanted her to bring him croissants, he couldn’t be that sick of her yet. And the rest of the day was blissfully normal. They cooked lunch, played video games, and reminisced about lycée.

He didn’t bring up her not needing to be there, even though they both knew he didn’t need her anymore, and she didn’t mention anything about her panic attacks.

He did bring it up again the next time Alya came over to drop off a week’s worth of food.

“Like I told you last time, Marinette‘a been teaching me to cook,” Adrien said. “You guys don’t need to come so often anymore.”

Alya smiled. “You can just freeze what you don’t use for the next week or so. And if you end up with an overly full freezer, I can stop coming by as often, but I don’t want to pull the rug out from under you all at once if it’s all the same to you.”

“Unless you don’t want us to come,” Marinette made herself say, careful to not look at his face when she did so, but her nails were digging into her thigh painfully where neither of them could see.

She heard more than she saw Adrien’s head whip towards her.

“Of course I want you to come! I love it when you’re here. But I… I’m doing better now, and I figure you have other things, too.”

She didn’t, but she didn’t want him to know that. He shouldn’t have to keep serving as her crutch.

“How ‘bout a compromise?” Alya chimed in.

Marinette narrowed her eyes at her best friend.

“Marinette and I can each take off one day a week.”

Marinette wanted to object. Alya only offered that so Marinette would take a day off.

“But why?” Marinette had asked later. “You know I’m useless at home.”

Alya nodded. “Because you need to rest. And there should be someone caring for you, too. You may not feel that you need it, but when you leave and go home, you collapse. You need that vegetable time. I know you don’t like it, but it’s important for healing.”

Spiraling in her head did not help her heal.

“And maybe Adrien needs a day to practice being independent.”

And Marinette wasn’t sure if Alya believed that or if she just knew that Adrien was always the winning argument with Marinette.

“Okay,” she relented.

But on her day at home, Marinette just stayed in bed. She hated it. And neither Alya nor her mother could really get her to talk consistently, though her mother could get her to cry.

But Alya didn’t care - she stayed for hours every day Marinette spent at home, babbling about her latest university classes or Nino’s most recent movie idea. She brushed Marinette’s hair, got her dressed like she was a child, and made sure she ate.

And when Alya wasn’t there, her maman was.

Marinette hated it, even as she loved them. They shouldn’t have to do this. Alya could have been spending the time with Nino or studying for her University classes. Her mother could have been teaching her usual weekend classes, or practicing yoga. Those things wouldn’t make her mother cry. They might even make her happy.

Really, anything would be better than sitting with Marinette.

She was only a burden on them.

…

After she and Adrien had finished making dinner, Marinette was packing up her things to head home like normal.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you have to go right away?”

She stopped and offered him a smile. “Not at all. What’s up?”

“I… just…” he seemed frustrated and nervous.

“Whatever it is, it’s okay,” Marinette assured. “You don’t even have to explain. Do you want me to stay a bit longer?”

His whole form visibly relaxed. “Yes, please.”

They ended up watching a movie while snacking on cookies - Tikki’s favorite macarons, though Marinette pushed that thought away.

Marinette couldn’t follow the story - it was like the sound and visuals went straight through her. Instead, she watched Adrien. Expressions danced across his face easily - laughter one moment, and wincing in solidarity another. Whereas, weeks before he had been stone-faced and trapped within his own head, now, he had the full range of human emotion.

He really was doing so much better.

He really wouldn’t need her soon.

And for once, the thought didn’t fill her with panic. It would be okay because she still had her earrings. Now, she only felt peace. Soon, she would be free.

They would all be free.

So content and comfortable curled up next to him wrapped in a puffy blanket, she didn’t want to move. She should haven’t been surprised that she fell asleep. But she woke up to total darkness.

She needed to go, but when she tried to slip away, Adrien held onto her tighter.

“Stay,” he urged.

“I can’t. Maman will be so worried.”

She untangled herself from him, and he let her. She scrambled through the dark for her phone and her purse. She winced at the number of notifications that lit up her screen. She had missed calls from both her parents, Alya, and even one from Nino.

“I have to go,” she insisted, scrolling through the dozens of missed calls and texts.

“Marinette, it’s the middle of the night. The train isn’t running. Just call them and stay.”

It sounded so reasonable when he said it.

She called her maman. She answered on the first ring.

“Marinette! Are you okay?”

“I’m okay!” Marinette assured. “I’m sorry. I just fell asleep. I’m still at Adrien’s. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

Her mother took a breath. “It’s okay. I was just so scared with the way things have been that you—” her maman’s voice cracked, and she broke off.

Marinette squeezed her eyes closed. “I’m sorry,” she choked out.

“It’s okay,” her mother said again, her voice clearer. “I just… I don’t know what we’d do if we ever lost you.”

She was bringing them so much pain. They deserved better.

“Next time, please keep your ringer on, okay?”

“I can come home,” Marinette offered.

“No, it’s late. Stay there. We will see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yes, maman. Try to get some sleep, okay? And give papa a hug for me?”

“Love you, Xingan.”

“Love you, too,” she said. She hung up the phone, and started crying.

“Hey,” Adrien interrupted, reaching out for her hand and pulling her to him. She leaned against his chest.

“It’s okay. Nothing bad happened,” he said.

“I didn’t mean to make them panic.”

She didn’t want to keep hurting them. She worries them so much and she wished they didn’t have to waste their worries on her. She wished she could be the daughter they deserved.

Her sobs intensified.

“Shhh,” Adrien soothed, rubbing her back. “It’s okay.”

Marinette wished she could believe him.

But she couldn’t. She wasn’t okay, and she didn’t know if it was possible to be okay again.

…

#miraculous ladybug fanfiction #adrinette #love square #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #post hawkmoth defeat #pre reveal #suicidal ideation #severe depression #disabled character #hurt comfort #codependency #still dark #not to the super fluffy part yet but some fluff here and there #happy ending #my own content #aftermath

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ggomos-maribat · 11 months

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Secrets, Masks, and Family Gatherings

Cross posted from AO3

It had been nearly a year since she moved to Gotham City, but the skyline seemed new each time she went out for night patrol. Ladybug zipped to another building with Red Hood to gain a higher vantage point. Her wings fluttered slightly with the breeze behind her.

"All clear here." Red Hood pressed on his comms.

"Okay. We'll wait for an update from Robin and Spoiler then we're finished for tonight if there aren't any problems," Batman replied.

"Yeah, it's a miracle we get to finish up early." The vigilante rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms. "So LB . . ."

"This small talk again?" Ladybug groaned.

Red Hood put his arms up. "Hey, I'm just curious."

"What is it now?"

"I was just wondering what made you transfer to Gotham." He perched on the ledge right beside her. "You defeated your city's villain, right? You had nothing to do anymore."

He's not wrong. She often thought about it herself. Her past and responsibilities clung to her like unshakeable nightmares. Ladybug knew the moment she gained guardianship that her life had no chance of reverting back to 'normal'.

"I think you know how it feels," she said.

"How what feels?"

Ladybug sighed, slumping. "When we defeated Hawkmoth, I thought we could finally rest easy. But I couldn't. I was restless, and between that and taking care of the aftermath, I realized I was missing the superhero life." She shrugged. "That's why I'm here now---it's inescapable. As the guardian, I decided it was better for the Miraculi to be used for good instead of sitting unused."

"Ah, classic PTSD like all the Bats." Red Hood nodded.

She snorted. "But that doesn't mean I still live a restless life. In fact, I've gotten used to life in Gotham."

"But why Gotham of all places?"

"The Miracle Box told me something. I can't divulge anything more."

"Just like you don't divulge anything about your civvy life."

She rolled her eyes, elbowing him on the side, which caused him to flinch dramatically. Bats and their nosiness. "Hey, we're not that close yet for me to reveal my identity. And it's a fair game. I don't know any of you either."

"I'm surprised B hasn't dug up anything on you. And he has contingency plans for all the JL members."

"I told you, the glamor protects us."

At first, she'd been hesitant to work with the vigilantes and at the same time, Batman had been wary around her especially when she was entering their territory. But she had gotten to know them well over time, despite not knowing who were behind the masks. She could also tell they'd grown to trust her like one of theirs.

"All clear near Crime Alley," Spoiler reported over the line.

"Good. Thank you for your help tonight, Ladybug. Everyone else, back to the cave."

Ladybug stood up abruptly. "Thank you too. I'll join the Signal during the weekend. He mentioned he might need some help."

"Oooh, you seem in a hurry to get back home." Red Hood tilted his head.

"No, I'm not spilling anything about my plans for the night," she huffed. "And I need to go because I'm hungry and my timer's running because you forced me to use my Lucky Charm to win that bet with Red Robin."

"The look on his face was priceless."

Ladybug threw her yoyo. "Good night, Hood."

After double checking that none of the others had followed or tracked her, Ladybug detransformed and walked back to her apartment building. She could practically hear the coffee calling to her; she'd drown in it endlessly whenever patrol nights ran late and she needed commissions to finish afterwards.

In the empty elevator, Tikki hovered up to her shoulder. "It's a good thing patrol ended early, Marinette."

"It's not a good sign, Tikki." She smiled grimly. "I think something big's going to happen. A massive breakout or a big plan by the Rogues."

The kwami hummed. "You can try to get plenty of rest before that happens."

"No promises. I have twelve designs I have to submit to Audrey by next week."

Just as she headed to her apartment door, her phone rang a familiar customized ringtone. Tikki also gasped in excitement upon seeing the caller's name.

Marinette tucked her phone between her ear and shoulder while jamming her keys through the doorknob. "Hey, Adrien. What's up?"

"Hey Nette. Done with patrol?"

"We finished early tonight. The Rogues are suspiciously silent. How are you? How's Plagg?" Marinette stepped into the room and Tikki turned on the lights.

"Currently pigging out on cheese. As always." She could almost see her best friend's eye-roll. "Anyway, I called to tell you that I'll be visiting Gotham on Friday. Wayne Tech is partnering up with our brand and Chloe and Kagami are coming with me."

"That's great news, Adrien! I'll bake something special---or should I take you out to a restaurant? I know some good ones near my place."

Adrien chuckled. "Pick anything you want. I'll tell Chloe to send you our schedule so we can reserve lunch or dinner with you and----no, Plagg! I'm not telling her to buy extra cheese!" He heaved out a breath. "At night we can have a short . . . run. You can introduce me to your new partners."

"They're not my partners. It's just you, kitty cat," Marinette said pointedly. "We're just allies."

"You gush about winning prank wars against them."

"It's fun being around them but that's it!"

He laughed. "It's okay. I'm glad you're enjoying your time over there. Send my regards to Damian."

A knock suddenly sounded on the door.

"Speaking of Damian, I think he's here. Gotta go, and say hi to Plagg and the others for me!"

"Pfft, you keep stroking his ego."

With one last goodbye, Marinette threw her phone on the couch and ran to the door. She hadn't expected her boyfriend to drop by, but she was glad he could make time for her. She knew Damian was as busy as her and she was worried he'd end up not taking care of himself like she always did.

"Dames, I thought you had work at the company for the whole night." She gave him a tight hug and a light kiss as soon as she opened the door.

Damian pecked her cheek, winding his arms around her waist. "They let us go early and I thought I should surprise you."

"Good, because I'm surprised," she beamed. "Are you staying the night?"

"Of course, habibti."

Damian Wayne had been an unexpected addition to her Gotham life. They had met in the park while they were working on their sketches---him, a portrait drawing and her, an inspired dress design. Before she knew it, she was with someone who she believed she could spend the rest of her life with. Damian was her support, her confidant in all aspects except her secret identity (though the thought of finally telling him had crossed her mind too many times).

"Are you hungry? I haven't had dinner yet and I was just thinking of cooking instant ramen . . ."

"We can have dinner together, but . . . there is something I need to talk to you about." Damian rubbed her arms, gazing at her intently.

Marinette's heart quickened as she subconsciously thought about all types of bad news. Did he get hurt? Did I do something? Is he going to break up with me?

"Habibti, love, I can already read your thoughts." He kissed the tip of her nose. "It's not anything terrible."

"What is it?"

Damian took a deep breath. "I think it's time for you to meet my family."

Marinette felt her jaw drop. "Your . . . your family? Are you sure about this?"

For the longest time, Damian had expressed his distaste at the thought of her meeting the Waynes. At first, she'd thought that it was the status difference, but he seemed more worried about his father and brothers doing something crazy.

On the other hand, they had both flown to Paris four months ago for Damian to officially meet her parents and friends. It had gone smoothly, and Damian was convinced that the opposite would happen if she met his family.

"Yes. I've thought about it." He sat down with her as she ran her thumb over the back of his hand. "They're already asking about you and if I stall for any longer, I know they will start prying into your life."

"Oh . . ."

Damian had talked about his brothers before, and Marinette saw them sometimes in news and tabloids. In her impression, they didn't seem too bad.

"But don't worry," he assured her, "I will be with you the whole time. We'll have lunch at the manor tomorrow---"

"Wait, tomorrow?"

"Is it too sudden? I worked with your free schedule and---"

"No, no, I'm definitely free tomorrow." Her eyes widened. "Let's meet them tomorrow. It just caught me off guard. I have to prepare my outfit and buy a gift and----oh no, what would your brothers like? What about your father and Alfred?"

Damian smiled gently. "You don't have to concern yourself with that. You’ll make a wonderful first impression."

"But---"

"I have to warn you about my brothers instead." His lip curled. "They will be a handful."

She laughed a little. "You already warned me a million times."

"Because I can't overstate how troublesome they'll be."

Instead of her reply, Marinette's growling stomach echoed in the room. She blushed as Damian pulled her from her seat, kissing her cheek. "It seems that we have an emergency to take care of first. I'll help you cook."

---

Marinette smoothed down the remnant wrinkles on her skirt. She'd chosen a simple pleated dress to wear to her first family lunch with the Waynes. At the same time, the car pulled up in front of the Wayne Manor. It was just as intimidating as she remembered---she'd only ever been to the manor once, to wait for Damian.

"Nervous?" Damian touched her hand.

"Should I be?"

"Never," he replied firmly. "If anything, I should apologize ahead of time. Also, there is no reason to be nervous. If they aren't busy acting insufferable, they'll be impressed by you."

Though the words were warm, they did little to calm her heart. These were the Waynes, royalty of Gotham. She even found it hard to believe that she was with Damian in the first place.

"Come on." Damian helped her out of the car and guided her to the front steps. He pushed through the large wooden doors and they were both met with a broad-shouldered man rushing down the main hallway.

"Todd," Damian called out. "Where on earth are you going?"

The man---Jason, she assumed---stopped, glanced at them, and gave her a quick once-over. Marinette noticed the motorcycle helmet he held on one hand.

"Demon brat." Jason tilted his head. "I have work to do."

"But lunch---"

"I promised to drop by. I didn't say I'll stay." He gave Marinette a single nod and went off.

"I bet he had another fight with Father," Damian muttered under his breath. Marinette squeezed his hand.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Don't apologize. Let's go," she told him softly.

Damian led her to the dining hall where the others were already sat around the table. Curious stares burned through Marinette, making her duck her head away. Damian himself was unfazed, wearing a half-scowl as he helped her to her seat.

"Master Damian, Miss Marinette, welcome." Just in time, Alfred strolled in with the food. She gave the butler a meek smile.

Then, she took a look at the Waynes one by one. The poised Bruce Wayne was at the head of the table, his presence the most prominent in the room. Across from her was Dick Grayson, who looked like he was studying her. Positioned beside him were Tim and Stephanie, both whispering to each other. Finally, Barbara was at her other side, offering her a small smile of comfort.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, Marinette," Bruce greeted. "Damian talks a lot about you."

Marinette momentarily eyed the array of silverware near her plate which she did not know how to use. "The pleasure is all mine . . . sir."

"Please call me Bruce." He gestured to the food at the center. "Go ahead and help yourself. Alfred cooked a feast for us."

She cleared her throat. "Thank you, Bruce."

"How did you both meet?" Tim questioned.

"In the park, Drake. We were both drawing. I already told you," Damian butted in.

Tim waved him off. "I want to hear it from her, not you."

"I---"

"It's okay, Damian." Marinette nudged him a little. "I was sketching in the park when Titus came to me. Damian was drawing a picture of me while I was absorbed in my designs and accidentally let go of his leash. Titus led me to him and it all started there."

"You design?" Barbara asked.

Warmth crept to her cheeks. "It's my dream to become a fashion designer. I just do a few commission pieces here and there. I'm trying to take small steps to reach my goal."

A quick glimpse at her boyfriend told her that he was radiating all the pride in the world.

"Little D mentioned you came from Paris?" Dick sipped on his drink. "Why did you decide to leave?"

"Oh, please don't get it all wrong. I know Paris earned a bad rep after the Hawkmoth fiasco but that was years ago. I just decided to move here to find more opportunities for myself," Marinette answered smoothly.

"Why Gotham of all places, if I may ask?" Bruce chimed in. "Admittedly, this isn't the friendliest city in the country."

"Father, stop with the interrogation," said Damian.

"It's okay, Dames, I don't mind. Promise." She squeezed his hand under the table.

"Fine. But do not answer anything if you're not comfortable."

Marinette looked at Bruce. "One of my friend's parents who works in fashion suggested Gotham. There's a low competition among the designers here so it might be easier for me to make a name for myself."

"That's not a bad move actually," Tim remarked.

"So back in Paris, did you get to meet any of the heroes?" Dick leaned in.

"Grayson," Damian warned.

"That's---"

A sharp ring blasted out, cutting off her statement. Bruce fished out his phone, a muscle on his face twitched, and he abruptly stood up. "There's an emergency at WE."

"Emergency?" Tim peered at his phone as well.

"Yes, Tim. You're needed. Also Stephanie." The eldest Wayne looked around the table and uttered monotonously. "I apologize for cutting this short. We have an urgent matter at the company---"

"Father."

Bruce shook his head. "This absolutely cannot wait, Damian."

The three filed out of the room in a flash. Marinette, stunned at the sudden interruption, saw Dick also checking the emergency.

"Sorry, Babs and I need to go." He stood up and picked up his coat, going around the table to help Barbara. "It's nice to meet you, Marinette."

"Let's go out for drinks sometime, okay?" Barbara reached over and patted her shoulder before they left.

The disappearance of the Waynes left her fidgeting with her fingers and wondering what the big emergency could be. She peeked at Damian hesitantly. "Do you need to go too?"

His jaw clenched. "I think so."

"You can go." She cupped his cheek, pecking the other.

"I can't tell you---"

"I know. I won't ask, I promise," she assured softly. He didn't have to explain anything to her; she'd gladly wait for him to open up. "Go."

"I'm sorry."

"Damian."

He pressed a firm kiss on her forehead. "Alfred will drive you to your apartment. I'll come to you later, alright?"

"Okay."

She could hear Alfred offering her food to take home and guiding her to the car, but it was all a blur. Marinette knew she had nothing to do with what happened yet she was afraid that it would sour Damian's relationship with his family. Her fists clenched around her skirt as she looked down, feeling Alfred's keen eyes checking on her through the rearview mirror.

"Please do not take it personally, Miss," Alfred said softly.

"Yes. Thank you," she whispered.

Finding nothing better to do than to check her phone, Marinette noticed the numerous alerts plastered all over her screen. Arkham breakout. Fuck. No wonder it was so quiet last night. There were a number of messages from Red Hood (which was directed from her burner phone), asking her if she could help.

Marinette looked out the window. Sure enough, there seemed to be a racket coming from the other streets.

"Umm, excuse me Alfred?" She searched for a safe alley to transform. "Can---can you drop me off at the cafe over there?"

"Are you certain? There are Rogues running around the city at this time."

"I'll stay inside. Don't worry."

Fortunately, the butler did what she asked and she made a beeline to the cafe as soon as she stepped foot out the car. Transform. Connect comms. Head to the upper east side. The same words ran through her head.

Her phone rang suddenly right before she could say her transformation words.

"Adrien! Can't talk right now. Arkham breakout. Big emergency," she said hurriedly into the phone.

"Oops. Need backup?" He asked.

"Maybe not. I don't know." She massaged her temple. "Can I ask you guys to standby? You can take your power-ups just in case."

"That's fine. Stay safe," Adrien said, "How did lunch go by the way?"

"Gah! Not now, kitty!"

"Right, right, right. Emergency in Gotham. I'll hang up now."

Marinette sighed. "It was a disaster, by the way. I'll text the details later."

"Aaaand Chloe's yelling at me to spill right now. You should go."

---

Ladybug swiftly landed beside Nightwing when she arrived and the Bats had just finished capturing Penguin and his men. On the next rooftop over, she could see Robin with Batman---they were loud enough for her to deduce that they were having an argument but she couldn't make out the exact words.

"What's up with them?" Ladybug frowned. She had always known Robin as the cold, closed-off one in the group but it was her first time encountering a complete outburst.

"Personal stuff. Happened earlier," Nightwing replied briefly. "I'm surprised you came. I thought you had an appointment today."

She bit her tongue. "Uhh, it got cancelled."

Batman told Robin something which had him storming off, grappling away to another direction. Their comms buzzed to life.

"Ladybug, team up with Robin. The Riddler's in the next avenue," Batman ordered curtly.

Ladybug turned to Nightwing with wide eyes. The stress was obvious in the sag of his shoulders and tight grip on his escrima sticks.

"He's mad at all of us," he explained. "It's better if it's you who joins him."

Ladybug only nodded, throwing her yoyo to follow Robin. Her curiosity was growing by the minute, but she focused on thinking of ways to calm down her fellow vigilante. If he became too riled up, he could lose focus and get injured.

She followed him close enough for him to hear her. "Robin, you have to slow down."

"No, I have to get back as soon as possible."

"Get back to where?"

She only received silence.

Frustrated Robin equals not a good Robin. Ladybug leapt to match his pace and blocked his way. He glared at her. "Move."

"Look, this is the Riddler we're facing. He's still dangerous and if we're not careful, we'll get caught in his traps."

"I don't care. I just need to get this over with. Stay out of my way."

When he pushed past her, she had half the mind to wrap him in her yoyo and deliver him back to Batman for a time-out. She huffed as she followed him. You're not the only one having a bad day, grumpy boy. Robin anchored his grappling gun to a faraway building and at the second he jumped off, he careened to the side, swept away by an elaborate trap by the Riddler.

Before she knew it, Ladybug was after him. Her teeth gritted and her legs ran a mile as she groaned out loud. "This is exactly what I was just talking about!"

They were trapped in an empty little box with a puzzle lock on its door.

Ladybug released a shaky breath.

The worst argument I've had with one of the Gotham vigilantes was when I interfered with Red Hood's mission and he got overprotective. She stared at Robin, who was relentlessly kicking the metal walls. But that might change today.

"Robin," she called out. "I understand that you're mad at the others but it doesn't mean you can act reckless while you're in that suit."

"No. You don't understand." He raked a hand through his hair. "I told them. I already told them and they still . . .Do you know what they did?"

She opened her mouth to reason with him again but he beat her to it. "I only wanted at least an hour. No interruptions." Robin clicked his tongue. "For them, there is nothing more important than capturing these criminals even if there are other heroes who will help. And Father had to be the first to run out."

Ladybug gaped. She knew the Bats were somewhat of a family but it was Robin's first time referring to Batman as a father. "Are you sure you should be telling me---"

"Yes, so you know how unfair they acted earlier." He twirled his katanas, looking for a simple way out. "I only wanted them to meet my girlfriend. I brought her home. And they all left for this. Father didn't give a sincere apology and my brothers either don't care or are suspicious of her."

Wait . . .

She thought she'd stumble back, but her feet were surprisingly still planted on the ground. Lunch. Earlier. Girlfriend. Shit. Her breath was knocked out of her lungs as she processed Robin's words.

Damian's words.

She wanted to laugh. All this time, she'd been anxious about telling him the truth when he was already living the same life as her. The Waynes, the sudden emergencies, staying out late. Merde, it all makes sense now. It was ridiculous how she didn't recognize her own boyfriend.

"It was a mistake after all. I shouldn't have invited her to come," Robin sighed. "They're wary because she's a civilian---she'll be my weakness if anyone finds out about our connection. They know that, which is why they don't approve."

Her first instinct was to tell him that it wasn't true, but an identity reveal would be too much given their current situation. Ladybug pieced her words with care. "I'm sure they'll listen if you tell them how you feel. Your girlfriend will understand too."

"We don't communicate healthily, in case you haven't figured that out."

Her heart was still drumming against her ribcage. Damn it. Marinette would work better in consoling him. Ladybug's just a colleague. "I know. But a few words can go a long way. Tell them you'll be careful. Ask them to help protect your girlfriend if anything ever goes wrong."

As Robin lowered his gaze, an urge to come up to him and hold his hands washed over her. She counted the seconds of silence that passed. It looked like he was thinking deeply about it.

"I apologize for getting you involved," he said. "And for mindlessly telling you about my personal life."

She laughed nervously. "Ah . . . it's okay to vent out sometimes."

Yeah, and your story definitely did not reveal your whole identity.

Robin turned towards the puzzle lock. "Should we attempt to crack the code in his puzzle?"

It wasn't a simple coded lock---it was a six-wheeled puzzle that was embedded onto the door. "By the looks of it, it will take us hours if we go through that route. I think I have a better idea. Are there any cameras here?"

He surveyed the small enclosure. "I see two by the corners."

"Good. Break them and cover the lens." Ladybug touched her earrings while he did what she said. I have spare cookies in my purse. That should do. "We can't unlock the door by ourselves, but Tikki can phase through and let us out."

"The tiny god-being in your Miraculous."

"Yeah, that's Tikki." She smiled. I'll have to introduce them sometime. "Close your eyes?"

After making sure that the cameras weren't functioning and he couldn't see her, she detransformed, motioned to the puzzle lock and sent Tikki out.

"Before we were trapped, I saw other civilians captured in similar boxes," said Robin. "Riddler should be camped east."

Marinette crossed the gap between them and tapped on the back of his hand. GOOD. RIDDLER FIRST THEN FREE OTHERS.

"Morse?" Robin scrunched his nose. "Are you also cautious about revealing your voice?"

YES.

"Tt. That is too much. Most of us don't even use a modulator." He shifted. "I doubt that I will be able to recognize your voice."

She pursed her lips. We'll see about that.

---

Ladybug was lounging on the top of Wayne Tower as the vigilantes finished up catching the remaining inmates. She used the time to fully wrap her head around her discovery. Damian. Robin. One by one, she also pieced together the identities of the others. It was so stupidly obvious all this time.

She heard a familiar zip of the grappling gun. It wasn't Red Hood who she expected to check on her but it was Robin.

"The Rogues are secured. There are rumors that the Joker orchestrated the entire thing but he wasn't around during the attacks," Robin reported. "The injured civilians are being rushed to the hospitals. No deaths."

Ladybug didn't break her gaze at the horizon. "That's good."

". . . Ladybug?"

"Yeah?"

He sat next to her. "The people in Paris . . . did they get used to these kinds of incidents as well? When Hawkmoth was active?"

"With an akuma attack nearly every week, yes you can say we had no choice but to get used to it."

"Was there a lot of animosity towards Parisians after the truth got out?"

"Only a little." She looked down at her hands. "Mostly we receive pity. The press made it clear how the akumas affected everyone's lives."

"My girlfriend . . . came from Paris too. I always wonder what it was like but I never wanted to pry."

Damian . . . She bit her lip. She had been dodgy about the topic, but she should know better than to withhold her feelings about it. Damn it, this will be so awkward when he finally finds out.

"You're worried about her safety," she said.

Robin nodded. "I wonder if she feels afraid during Rogue attacks. Or just living in Gotham. I never want to find out that she was in a dangerous situation and I wasn't there to . . ."

"You don't have to worry. If she's from Paris, then she's strong. Everyone in my city had been on the edge of death one way or another. Our instincts were sharpened. We can block out our fears and emotions." Ladybug looked up at him. "I'm sure she can handle danger."

"But it's different here. There's no magic to bring things back to normal. It's permanent." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I won't know what to do if something happens to her because of me."

"I think . . . you should ask her first---"

"I should break it off with her."

"What?!"

Ladybug nearly slapped a hand over her mouth. I said that too quickly. Thankfully, Robin didn't seem to notice anything.

"I've been thinking a lot," he continued. "I can't bring myself to tell her about this. About me. The mere fact of her knowing puts a target on her back."

Dear kwamis, please keep me from pushing my boyfriend off this rooftop before gets the chance to find out about me.

"Wait." She began slowly. "Don't you think she deserves to know before you try to make that decision for her?"

"What am I supposed to do?" His eyebrows furrowed. "I . . . I expect her to react badly. I've learned from today that I should keep her from getting involved any further. It's either I drag her into this dangerous life or I keep hurting her with my lies."

"You shouldn't start assuming things without trying first. I'm sure she trusts you and she'll come to understand everything in time. There's always a compromise." Her lips spoke the words before she could think. "You're not doing any good by cutting yourself off all of a sudden."

"If I end it now, she can eventually move on and stay safe. Nevermind how I feel," he argued, "I can let her go and she'll be safe."

"When I told you about how Parisians are strong, that's not what I meant." Tears pricked the back of her eyes as she raised her voice. "She can stay in a relationship with you and keep herself safe because she's strong. Can't you trust her as much as she trusts you?"

"I can't risk it. She's important to me."

"If she is, then talk to her. If you don't give her a chance to decide, you're not any better than your father or brothers."

"How would you even know how she feels?"

Ladybug's face contorted into a sharp glare. "I just know. I know better than anyone, Damian."

Anger morphed into shock as he stared at her. ". . . What did you just call me?"

She made a quick sweep of the area to make sure that they were in a blind spot. Then, she wasted no time standing up on the ledge, shuffling until the balls of her foot touched the edge. Then, "I'm not defenseless, merde. And I really wanted to wait until the end of the day but . . . Tikki, détransformation."

Marinette watched Robin's face go through a storm of emotions. His jaw hung slack and his fists uncurled while he stood up to look at her.

". . . Marinette?" he breathed out.

She gently touched his cheeks with both hands, peeling off his mask to reveal his glistening eyes. "I can't believe you wanted to break up with me."

"Marinette . . ." He pulled them both away from the ledge and held her, mumbling 'I'm sorry' over and over again. His head was buried on her neck, with his hands pressed against her back.

"You. It's you," said Damian. "Of course it's you."

"It's me." She rubbed down his back. "For record, I only found out because---"

"Because I told you what happened."

She chuckled. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, habibti." He pulled away a little to touch her cheek. "I was going to make a stupid decision."

"Are you upset that I kept this from you?"

He shook his head, kissing her head. "I can't and I don't have the right to be. I was keeping my secret from you as well."

"Come on, let's go home first. Then we can talk about . . . everything."

---

Ladybug swung into the night with a weight lifted off her chest. She and Damian had a long talk about their identities and relationship. They'd both agreed not to tell the other heroes until they were ready to. For her, it was better that they kept their secrets between themselves first and slowly ease into revealing the truth to her friends and his family.

She breathed in the breeze. Robin wasn't anywhere to be seen, but a group of vigilantes were. Nightwing. Hood. RR. What are they doing there?

The three immediately fell into a hush when she landed next to them.

"Hey, LB," Red Robin greeted.

She put her hands on her hips. "What are you doing?"

The brothers shared a look before Red Hood spoke. "Robin told you about his girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah . . ." she trailed off, dragging the syllable.

"We think something's up with her," said Nightwing.

"I'm sorry?"

"Sketchy stuff," Red Robin explained, shifting on his feet. "Well, we can't tell you who she is---secret identities and all---but she's from Paris. She's friends with Hawkmoth's kid."

Ladybug scoffed. "Adrien? He's not like Hawkmoth. I know him personally and he had nothing to do with that man's crimes. Trust me."

"Hmm, yeah but she's also close with the mayor's daughter. That one who also sided with Hawkmoth."

"You mean Chloe Bourgeois? She's proven that she's changed." And unbeknownst to the public, she was a hero again, this time under another alias.

"But she's so secretive. There's definitely something going on with her." Nightwing rubbed his chin. Ladybug wanted to bang her head in the nearest wall or groan to the heavens.

"What's wrong with being secretive? Aren't you guys the same?" she narrowed her eyes.

"That's not the main cause of our suspicion," said Red Hood.

"We weren't convinced about her reason for moving to Gotham, so we dug around," Red Robin continued, "She said something about more career opportunities but that's just a cover. We found classified files on superheroes in her apartment, including info on Justice League members. I bet she already knows about Robin's identity."

"You snooped in her apartment?!"

"It was an investigation," Nightwing snorted.

Her eye twitched. A secret had never felt so difficult to conceal. "I can't believe you'd break the privacy of a civilian just because you had baseless assumptions."

Red Robin winced. "Uhh . . . if you put it that way . . ."

She crossed her arms. "No, I know what this is really about. You're being overprotective of Robin; you can't accept that he now has a significant other and you think he's being naive about his choices. You think he's going to get hurt badly." She paused for effect. "Because you don't want him to repeat the same mistakes as you all did."

The look on their masked faces told her that she had hit the target better than any therapist they might have encountered.

Red Hood was first to deny. "We're not protective of the brat. We're trying to eliminate a potential danger."

"His harmless civilian girlfriend?"

"Think about it, LB. Why would she have sensitive files on the heroes?" Red Robin asked. "You can't deny that that's suspicious."

I don't know, maybe because she's a hero herself?!

Ladybug sighed heavily. Damian is really going to kill them when he finds out. "Does Batman know about this?"

"Nope, but we'll tell him when we gather enough evidence," Nightwing answered. "We're just trying to get Oracle to crack into her laptop. The security on it is so heavy, it's insane."

Why is it a curse that I asked Max to protect my laptop? There are files on the Miraculi in there!

She discreetly took her yoyo and put it on the recording function. "Let me get this straight. So you're all investigating and prying into the life of Robin's girlfriend without the knowledge of Batman even at the cost of your identities and everyone's safety?"

"We're not risking anyone's safety---"

"It's more of research but---"

She pursed her lips. "And you broke into her apartment, went through her things and currently you're trying to hack into her personal computer?"

"Regular vigilante work---"

"Good, we're on the same page then." She smiled widely. Sinisterly. "Tikki, détransformation."

Pale. Pale faces were all she could see as the three vigilantes were engulfed in utter shock. Marinette held her smile, clasping her hands together behind her back. I can't wait to see how they try to make it up to me. Mon dieu! I'm going to mess with them.

And as a cherry on top, Robin arrived at the scene, immediately putting her behind him when he saw that she was in civilian form. He directed an accusatory glare at his brothers. "What is going on here?!"

#maribat fanfic #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #maribat #maribat fic #daminette #established daminette #damian x marinette

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ninadove · 8 months

Text

As a (very niche portion of the) fandom, our collective attention has been captured by how much Felix adores Kagami — which is true and good and beautiful and pure. But we’ve been sleeping on how much she loves him, and today, I want to shine a spotlight on her side of the most beautiful love story ever written.

Before we begin, let me get the obvious out of the way: yes, she did try to crush his skull with a chair in Pretension, and she was iconic for that.

HOWEVER.

This is only how their relationship started. What truly matters is how the story unfolds from then on.

And boy does it unfold fast. By the end of the episode, Felix has shaken Kagami’s worldview so much that she:

Stands up to her own friends and fellow heroes in an effort to not only protect him, but also ensure that he can keep the Peacock Miraculous;

Actively challenges her mother’s teaching that emotions (in this context, romantic love) are a weakness that should be eradicated from the face of the Earth;

Is planning secret dates with Felix, even though as far as she knows Tomoe has her amok (because you can’t tell me this little genius didn’t figure out the entire Sentilore in the sewers);

Trusts Felix with said amok despite his extensive criminal record, as illustrated by how quickly and firmly she takes his hand — with a little sigh if happiness, might I add. This is especially significant compared to previous instances of hand holding between the two, when he had to make all the effort while she remained completely limp.

And then Representation rolls around. And oh, boy.

Kagami instantly calms down from her TV-induced rage upon seeing her boyfriend on her balcony — a major improvement when you consider how big of a role anger and frustration play in her akumatisations.

Tangent 1:

Something similar happened in Ikari Gozen, when Mari protected Kagami from her mother, causing her to narrowly escape Hawkmoth’s influence. More on the Marigami-to-Feligami pipeline in another post, coming to your dash someday in the not-so-distant future.

Not only does Kagami instantly relax in Felix’s presence, but she laughs — something that previously only happened in the context of Adrigaminette, and we all know how that ended. Felix is the one to mend her heart and make her laugh again, for the second time since the dance.

Our two lovebirds proceed to straight up RUN AWAY INTO THE SUNSET. Kagami presumably spent the following 350 km (300 miles) cuddled up in Argos’ arms, admiring how handsome he looks in his glittery cosmic suit which we don’t get to see because budget.

Later on, they casually discuss Ladybug’s identity, while fireworks go off in the background. Let me rephrase this: Kagami trusted the person who stole the Miraculous with her best friend’s most burning secret, not because she wants to defeat Hawkmoth per say, but because Gabriel has been getting in the way of their make out sessions and she can’t have that.

Tangent 2:

Also coming to your dash in the not-so-distant future: an analysis of Kagami’s relationship to the concepts of truth and lies, and how dependent it is on what serves her and her loved ones in the moment.

Then, of course, the core of the episode: Kagami actively participates in the play, helping Felix tell his story in a way he feels comfortable with.

Tangent 3 (lots of ‘em today):

This part is extremely important to me, because I’ve seen So. Many. People. complain that the play could have been boiled down to two lines of conversation.

And like.

No???

Firstly, this is a show, not real life: we as an audience needed the confirmation to be as climactic as possible. If it hadn’t been, I can guarantee the exact same salters would be crying about the story’s “WaStEd PoTeNtIaL”.

But let’s delve into the real life implications of the Sentiplot for a second.

Abuse survivors do not owe you a brief, comfortable explanation of what they went through, neatly wrapped up with a pretty little bow.

The play is a beautiful illustration of how art can be cathartic and therapeutic, and I need you guys to understand that this sequence means something to many, many viewers — most of them children in similarly terrible situations. If I were to bet, I would say it very likely speaks to one or more members of the writing team on a personal level as well.

So you can pry these scenes from my cold, dead hands.

The kisses… All of them… During the firework show. As the sun rises to signify a new beginning. Disguised as Adrien’s parents. For context, this is the same girl who previously found a hand kiss to be too much for her broken heart to bear.

And of course, there’s the way she looks at him like he is her entire world, like she cannot understand how anyone could ever call him monstruous. Because Felix doesn’t get the monopoly of heart eyes.

Finally, in Recreation:

THE LIES CALLBACK. THE MIRACULOUS TEAM TOOK THE TIME AND MADE THE EFFORT TO PUT A LIES CALLBACK IN THE FREAKING FINALE. You guys know I’m insane about this scene already.

So what’s my point.

Because yes, I do have a point, apart from “KSSGDJDKSS Feligami SGDHDKLS 🥰🥰🥰🥰” (which, by the way, is a completely valid meta post in itself).

While we joke that Kagami is so far out of Felix’s league in every aspect — she doesn’t perceive him that way in the slightest. As far as she’s concerned, she has achieved every fourteen year old’s dream: dating the perfect cursed prince, tortured artist, evil-genius-on-a-redemption-arc combo.

She is just as enamoured with him as he is with her, and I think it’s beautiful. 🦚🐉

#In case you’re wondering if I’ll ever stop being insane about these two #The answer is: of course not. You guys should know me better than that by now #miraculous ladybug #felix graham de vanily #argos #kagami tsurugi #feligami #mlb spoilers #mlb recreation #random ramblings

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howhow326 · 8 months

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Anyway, I just know Shadybug is going to be the best villain this show has and the baddest bitch alive because she's Marinette.

Hawkmoth? Played out.

Chloe? Boring.

Felix & Lila? Awful writing.

Villain!Adrien? We have like 10 of those.

But Villain!Marinette??? We have never seen that before because she's too powerful. The show would end if Marinette even got akumatized, according to Astruc. Marinette never gives up. She always wins, and now she's the villain. And if Shadybug's world is anything like the main universe, then all of the other villains must have been defeated by her by now. If this Marinette is anything like our own, then she probably doesn't even see herself as in the wrong.

Shadybug is the ultimate threat, the strongest antagonist that Marinette will ever face because she is her.

Shadybug is canon Saltinette.

Top ten posts that aged badly

#miraculous ladybug #ml salt #miraculous ladybug salt #ml writers salt #marinette sugar #shadybug #saltinette #villain marinette #marinette dupen chang

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flightfoot · 1 year

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Miraculous Ladybug Fanfic Recs for 2022

As a lot of you know, I read metric butt-ton of Miraculous fanfics, so I wanted to share with you 19 multi-chap fics, and 16 Miraculous one-shots (I just went through all the ones I really wanted to rec people instead of trying to fit a particular number) that I think y’all should take a look at. I tagged people’s tumblr blogs when I knew them, but I may well have missed some, especially if their username was different between AO3 and tumblr. Feel free to tag authors who I missed. Note that I’m only counting fics that were completed in 2022, so no ongoing fics. Enjoy!

Multi-chap fics:

When The Morning Comes by @into-september:

Gabriel Agreste has been unmasked as Hawkmoth, and the girl who was fighting him all these years turns out to be Tom Dupain's daughter. And standing between them is Adrien Agreste with his life in shatters that Tom Dupain has no way of piecing together.

But baking is at least a place to start.

I love how this not only digs into Adrien’s character, but Tom’s as well, especially how both of them have been estranged from their fathers. I haven’t seen that come up much.

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Walking That Mile by @nomolosk

Nino and Alya wake up in the wrong bodies. Several things result from this, including, but not limited to, identity reveals and a better understanding of what their respective best friends are going through.

Never knew I needed Nino!Plagg and Alya!Tikki in my life, but there you go XD. It’s not all fun and games though, this is a Hawkmoth Takedown fic as well, and dealing with the effects of that.

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The Sidekick Conspiracy by @bring-the-storm:

It's common knowledge among the heroes of Paris that their sidekick, the civilian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, is actually secretly their leader, pretending to be a normal girl who just ‘happens’ to show up at battles. Common knowledge to everyone except Marinette. What do you do when you're in the center of a conspiracy that doesn’t actually exist? In which Marinette is confused, Chat has no idea what's going on, Master Fu just wants Marinette to be safe, and everyone is misinterpreting the situation.

This one is just fun! Marinette has no idea she keeps on being given jewelry all of a sudden, and Fu’s frustrated that she won’t actually USE the damn Miraculous already.

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As the dust settles by @pengirl91:

After Ladybug lost everything and yet her partner stood by her, she realized what she had been trying to lie to herself about for months. She is undoubtedly in love with him. The only problem is that she's terrified of what that could lead to and there's a monumental task ahead of them before it might be safe to act on her feelings for him... more than she already has.

Post Strike Back with my hopes, wishes, and predictions for season 5 as I wait with great impatience. Now complete.

The meat of this story is mostly a SentiAdrien fic. Adrien discovers that Gabriel is Hawkmoth, so Gabriel orders him to stay silent about what he found out, as well as giving orders to help him with plans to obtain the Miraculous he needs. Luckily, he doesn’t know that Adrien is Chat Noir...

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A Little Fall Of Rain by @funnydoesntlookdruish:

Unable to transform in time, Marinette sacrifices her life to save Adrien from an assassin. With the help of the Kwamis, Adrien is able to bring her back to life, but it comes at a price. One that Adrien alone must pay. Now, Adrien is forced to keep even more secrets. The fact that Marinette is alive and that she has been his Lady all long. More than ever, they must defeat Hawkmoth. Only then can Marinette return to her life.

This one’s pretty angsty, arguably even more on Adrien’s end than Marinette’s. As part of their cover, Adrien has to be injured pretty badly, in ways that couldn’t be reversed if not for magic.

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Strangely Familiar by @sunfoxfic

Alya Césaire’s life is perfect. Indeed, between the success of the Ladyblog, how well she’s doing in school, and the fact that she’s a superhero who has never bore the weight of a crisis of epic proportions, her life almost couldn’t be better. Almost.

But Alya has always been a go-getter, and so she’ll chase after that perfect life if it kills her. Which is how she ends up rushing to move out of her father’s apartment and in with Marinette, Adrien, and a complete stranger: Nino Lahiffe. And in fact, her life does seem perfect — she and Nino are fast friends. They spend a lot of time together and get to know each other really well.

But in the end, fortunate situations will bear unfortunate truths, and she learns things about herself that aren’t quite comfortable. Like I said, though: Alya has always been a go-getter, and she won’t let new feelings deter her from chasing after her perfect life.

This is the single longest DJWifi-centric fic on AO3 (which is a travesty) and it is GLORIOUS. Alya and Nino are both well fleshed-out here, with their own problems and baggage they’re dealing with, but it’s easier together.

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final girl by @picayunearts:

Marinette has ninety-nine problems, and the superhero trio of Paris counts for a hundred.

[AU where Marinette follows through on giving up her earrings after Stoneheart, but becomes the Guardian to protect her replacement.]

This is just great. Marinette thinks she failed, but the other heroes wouldn’t agree. And eventually, she gains some confidence in herself as well.

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Over and Over by @stcrsquad:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has had the worst day possible. She's failed to confess to Adrien (again), made an embarrassment of herself, and got into a fight with Chat Noir.

Adrien Agreste has had the worst day possible. He is tired of being pushed aside by everyone, including his crime-fighting partner Ladybug.

Luckily, fate (and Bunnyx) works in mysterious ways because they wake up again on the same day. A do-over. Except it keeps happening. Can the two figure out what they need to fix to break the loop, or will they be stuck forever?

Look these two will sit down and has things out even if it takes being stuck in a time loop together to make that happen.

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When Bunnyx Brings A Baby by @funnydoesntlookdruish:

Marinette thought she was up to any challenge. She was Ladybug after all! But when Bunnyx arrives with a baby in her arms asking her to babysit, Marinette quickly learns that Akuma battles are easy compared to taking care of a baby. A baby that seems to know her and for some strange reason... Adrien?

Anentry in the “Lovesquare has to babysit their future children” genre! This is just adorable. Has an ongoing sequel too.

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The Call of the Running Tide by @nemaliwrites:

To escape an arranged marriage, Adrien runs away from home, leaving behind all that he has ever known. In search of easy transportation, he sneaks aboard a ship at the docks. Everything seems like it is going according to plan — until he finds out that the ship belongs to the fierce pirate captain Ladybug.

I’m amazed this isn’t more popular. I mean, Lovesquare pirates!AU, with the Miracuclass as Ladybug’s crew? Come on!

It mostly has Adrien trying to fit in with the crew, find his way, that sort of thing. Though there is a confrontation with his father at the end.

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metamorphosis by @peachcitt:

“I was thinking about that time you hated me.” “Why?” "I don’t know." “I didn’t.” “I know.”

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

This has been a very popular fic so most people probably at least know of it, even if they haven’t read it themselves, but in case someone out there hasn’t: basically, Chat runs off with the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses after Hawkmoth’s defeat and never shows up again, worrying Ladybug sick and making her fear that he died. But then a mysterious new Butterfly Holder starts attacking Paris, only he seems a lot nicer than the last one, more of an Anti-villain than anything...

A Major Test of Strength by @nemaliwrites:

There is only one thing in Paris hated as much as the akumas: Ladybug herself. In an effort to help the Savior of Paris, Adrien winds up on the wrong end of an akuma attack — only to find himself stuck reliving the same day.

With enough time, anyone can be a hero, and as he continues dying over and over, he is forced to confront the idea that these loops may be just as much of a blessing as they are a curse.

This is loosely inspired by “All You Need Is Kill”, but no knowledge of that manga is needed to understand the story. There’s a bit of a mystery element going on as Adrien tries to figure out why he keeps dying even when he takes steps to prevent it, how he keeps coming back, and what the deal is with Ladybug, anyway.

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Cataclysm by Lucid:

When Chat Noir uses Cataclysm on an akumatized ring that ends up being his amok, Marinette is left alone to solve the mystery of Hawkmoth's motives and bring back her missing partner.

This Sentiadrien fic does something I haven’t seen really explored before: it delves into what might happen if Adrien had to be recreated after having been destroyed, and the problems that might arise from that attempt. I love when we get to see Adrien’s perspective especially.

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in case you don’t know me tomorrow by @thelibraryloser:

“We live in a crazy world where pieces of our lives can be erased like they never even happened. I just wanted to memorize this moment so… so I could keep it, if that makes sense.”

Adrien's heart gave a little flutter. She wanted to keep this moment, meeting him. She wanted to keep… him.

“I understand exactly what you mean."

In a world that has created a way to selectively delete memories, no moment is truly safe. So how do you hold on to something when the memory of it is gone? And how do you keep fighting for someone when you're the only one who remembers?

This is a SEVERELY underrated fic. It’s got some shades of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” in the world, though the plot is very different - the memory erasure ain’t willing.

Basically, the first few chapters are establishing Adrien’s and Marinette’s romance, and then the rest of the fic is dealing with Gabriel being an absolute DICK and using any means at his disposal to break them apart. It’s fantastic and I highly recommend reading it!

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Shelltering Others by @rosie-b:

When Ladybug wakes Nino up in the middle of the night to scold him for revealing his identity, he thinks his career as a Miraculous holder is over. But instead, Ladybug gives him the opportunity to prove himself by becoming Chat Noir's confidant and learning his secret identity through a scavenger hunt of sorts. Will Nino pass Ladybug and Chat Noir's test, or will he fail to put the pieces together in time?

Quick disclaimer here: the first chapter looks kinda salty towards Nino, with Ladybug laying into him for revealing his and Alya’s secret identities to Adrien and Marinette. She’s mostly just trying to scare him into taking them seriously, though, since she herself has just proposed that Nino become Chat’s secret-keeper, and he can’t afford to be lackadaisical with that identity. I highly recommend getting through at least chapter 2 of the fic when giving it a shot, because this had some great character development and introspection for Nino, on Chat Noir, Adrien, Ladybug, and himself.

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run boy run by tinuviel_tinuviel

Nino was sprawled on the floor of his room with Alya when his phone chimed, in the quiet of a premature autumnal sunset. It was one of those lazy evenings that had become rare lately. Contrary to popular belief, he and Alya could get studying done when in the same room, and he was elbows-deep in late assignments, which meant his phone was on Do Not Disturb, which meant the notification could only have come from one person.

ADRIEN 🐈: cmoe ove rnow ADRIEN 🐈: like riggt now ADRIEN 🐈: plag NINO: that is literally incomprehensible NINO: wait is that you plagg ADRIEN 🐈: mov faster

So this is a “Adrien finds out that his father is Hawkmoth and consults with Nino about what to do” fic, with Nino throwing Hawkmoth off Adrien’s track, though inadvertently at his own expense. Love Nino’s perspective here, and I always enjoy a good Hawkmoth-takedown fic!

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Restorative Justice by @kasienda:

Chloé has never been a fan of Ms. Bustier’s community building activities. In fact, she detests them. She doesn’t want to learn about the drab boring lives of her peers. And she absolutely can’t stand it when their confessions make her feel things. Feelings that she doesn’t even have names for. But when Adrien unknowingly shares his struggles with his double life, Chloé vows she will do anything to get Ladybug to set things right. Even if it means pissing off the heroine. Chloé was already mad at her anyway.

I ADORE people talking out about what hurt them, with everyone growing to understand each other, and focusing on making recompense rather than just punishment, so this was fantastic. This isn’t all about Chloe either, Marinette, Adrien, Alya, and Nino all get to hash things out with each other as well in a group session, and it’s just really, really nice to read.

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48 Hours To Make You Love Me by @mysticraven20:

“When did you stop?”

“Stop what, M’Lady?”

“Stop loving me?”

When two heroes miss the minibus for their winter get away with the gang they have no other choice but to make their way to the resort by themselves.

After avoiding their feelings for years, a freak snow storm makes them reconsider more than just whether to carry on driving.

Luckily, they find a quaint little bed and breakfast where suddenly they’re thrown into a situation where their feelings can no longer be held back; but, is it too late?

The interference of an elderly couple after an eavesdropping accident helps both Adrien and Marinette come to terms with their feelings and their actions.

Through movies, hot chocolates and snuggling to keep warm, Marinette wonders if it’s possible to make Adrien love her again, and more so can she do it by the time they need to leave their little sanctuary?

This just has a lot of adorable Adrienette shenanigans, with a fun time travel twist that had me inwardly squealing XD. If you want some Lovesquare fluff, this is a good one.

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team is a four letter word by @ladyofthenoodle:

Alya didn’t want to come between Ladybug and Chat Noir. But she didn’t want to stop being Rena Rouge either. And if Chat Noir didn’t want to talk to her, then she’d need to find a different way to prove all three of them could be a team.

Her plan unintentionally brings a few secrets to light, which leads to even more secrets coming to light, which leads to... well, Alya is sure it'll all work out eventually.

This is a season 4 fic, with a heavy emphasis on repairing the relationships that were damaged, or could have been damaged, during that season. I love how everyone gets to really feel and react, be hurt and then gain understanding, with a happy ending to cap it off!

One-shots:

hella enchanted by @xiueryn:

Years ago, Marinette's father died and she was left with her awful stepmother. With magic forcing her to obey every command, she lived as a servant and gave up hope. When a man appears, searching for the very fairy that blessed her, Marinette decides to give life one more try. AU.

(a different ella enchanted au.)

Even though it’s a one-shot this one is pretty long, clocking in at over 30k words. Absolutely worth a shot, though. The first third is basically Marinette dealing with being pushed around because of her “blessing”, and the other two-thirds is just some adorable fluff of her and Adrien touring the country together.

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Is it cool that you’re in my head? by @bring-the-storm:

Alya stared at the picture plastered across the homepage of every single tabloid and news site, whispering every curse she could think of under her breath. SHOCKING SECRET ROMANCE BETWEEN LADYBLOGGER AND PARISIAN SUPERVILLAIN REVEALED!!! the headline announced, casually shouting the words she had been dreading for all of Paris to read.

--- Alya had always assumed that someday Paris would discover that she had secretly been kissing their most wanted vigilante, but she had never thought it would happen so soon. As the domino effects of her relationship with Ladybug go spiraling through her life, Alya turns her sights towards the one responsible: the elusive superhero Hawkmoth.

AKA Someone outs Alya and her girlfriend so she retaliates by deciding to take down Hawkmoth

I recommend this to anyone who either A. Loves Alya and wants to see more of her in a starring role, or B., wants to see an AU where Parisians could feasibly believe that Hawkmoth is the good guy, and that Ladybug and Chat Noir are, if not villains, at least reckless.

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We’re breaking free (there’s not a star in heaven we can’t reach) by @pauliestorylover:

Wing binding was a symbol of prestige in high society, but Adrien would much rather be born a pauper than be forced to bind his wings for another day. Becoming Chat Noir might be the chance he had been waiting for to break free and gain a taste of the heavens.

Meanwhile, Nino and Marinette were quickly learning the joys of the pastime called ‘hating rich old white men who moonlighted as supervillains’.

Excellent Wingfic here! It’s got some excellent worldbuilding in it. I especially like how it’s customary to exchange feathers with people you’re close to, and put them in particular places on your wings to symbolize what they mean to you, whether they’re friends, family, or lovers. That particular piece of lore is used to great effect in the story.

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How Could I Not? by SorryJustAnotherPerson

In fairy tale books, Princesses were saved by nights from ferocious dragons. Those books were not their story, but Rose was happy to flip over a new page with her Juleka every single day.

Many years ago, she was put to this tower by her parents and her kingdom, along with a fire breathing dragon, so she could find her prince charming one day. How foolish for them to not calculate her falling in love with the dragon. I mean seriously.

How could she not?

I love fairy tale type stories, especially fractured fairy tales. And Juleka being a dragon is awesome. This is just a fun and adorable story.

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Once Upon A Time by kao_rei:

"Humans fear wolves. I mean, we're horrible, sickening creatures, aren't we?" Adrien laughed.

"I don't think so," Marinette muttered. "Well, not anymore when I met you."

Marinette's days are all the same—she puts on her red cape, makes deliveries for her parents' bakery, and goes home to rest before another busy day. Adrien is a wolf-boy who watches her from afar, awaiting the day they finally meet to change their stories.

While falling in love may bring about some challenges, they're willing to fight through them together because they'd never settle for a "the end". They want a "happily ever after", too.

(In which Marinette is Little Red Riding Hood, Adrien is the Wolf, and they fall in love somewhere between deliveries, flower fields, and shiny red apples).

Did I mention I love fairy tale stories? Because I do.

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(pockets full of) stones by felledstar:

Even though he wants to be “normal” and go to a “normal school” and have friends just like everyone else, Adrien’s discovered that he’s… not very good at it. It isn’t that he’s a superhero in his nonexistent spare time, or that he’s got a job modelling for his father, or that he’s got so many activities that it takes a whole other person to keep track of his schedule. It’s that… he’s always tripping over things that everyone else seems to know that he… just doesn’t know.

First day of school and we already have two lovebirds.

But there are some things that he does know, no matter what anyone else—Nino, Plagg, the entire population of Paris—thinks.

How he feels is one.

Whatever. She’s just a friend. A friend.

He loves Ladybug. Marinette is his friend.

Why doesn’t anyone believe him?

This is an aroace!Adrien story, that digs into the effects of amatonormativity on people. Especially with how the class all assumes that Adrien would be romantically interested in Marinette, and tries to matchmake him and Marinette in order to make both of them happy, much to his frustration. Based on what the class did in Guiltrip, I could see this happening. They love and care about their classmates and want to help them as much as they can, but that doesn’t mean they always know how best to do that.

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Lady... bird? by @graaythekwami:

“Marinette!” Tikki called, flying towards the small room of water. “Marinette there’s an akuma– we need to transform!”

The parrot’s head popped up, recognizing these words. They were always said when the report came on TV– a routine he had come to know well. Akuma report, we need to transform, and finally–

“Tikki!” The bird cawed happily. “Spots on!”

This story is just hilarious. Tikki ain’t happy afterwards XD

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I Won’t Let You by @generalluxun

After Gabriel's defeat, two individuals not party to the celebration run into each other, and find each other.

The summary doesn’t give much of an idea of what the fic’s about. Post-Hawkmoth Defeat, Chloe and Felix run into each other at the celebration of Gabriel’s downfall, and vent about their problems. Neither of them think the other one has it too bad - Chloe’s worried about disappearing, since her worth was entirely tied to her family’s prestige and wealth, and being seen as friends to a terrorist is gonna cripple both of those, while Felix is on edge about Ladybug having the Peacock Miraculous, since she has the ability to kill him at a moment’s notice (yes this is a Sentifelix fic).

They both make each other understand the turmoil the other is going through in extremely visceral ways, showing the other what it’s like to be them, in the circumstances they’re in. I don’t want to spoil what, exactly, they do, but needless to say, it’s worth a read.

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don’t you worry child by kopycat_101

Marc and Nathaniel have a good life, married and living together in a cottage in the woods. But they consider having children at some point.

Marc in particular really wants to start a family with his husband. He knows the fey are real, so he goes searching in the woods to find one to strike a deal.

He may get a bit more than he bargained for in the process.

This is based on a tumblr post that’s been going around, which I think a lot of people will recognize as they continue going through the story. That post is credited at the end of the fic, so as not to spoil the plot.

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Chat Walker’s Trial by @pearl484-blog

Instead of Catwalker showing up to serve as her new Chat Noir, Ladybug is stunned to find that Chat Noir has returned to her, having "improved" himself by repressing his emotions, memories, and willfulness. Deciding that this will not stand, she organizes her teammates to convince Chat Noir that giving those traits up and becoming the perfect partner was not the right move, but how can she argue against perfection?

Adrien Augreste 2022 entry for the day 23-24 prompt: Swap

This is a really intriguing fic. Instead of becoming Cat Walker in Kuro Neko, Adrien instead runs across a mage who helpfully provides some spells to make him into the “perfect” partner for Ladybug, magically suppressing his emotions and urge to rebel, as well as his memories of being Chat Noir, in order to make sure he doesn’t love her anymore. Ladybug, naturally, is distraught about this, but since Chat did all of this of his own free will, she needs to actually persuade him it was a bad move, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s exquisitely painful at times with the amount of self-hatred Chat has for his previous self, and how the Miracuteam is divided on how bad these changes actually are, since he does seem more focused now - though the holdouts are a lot less on board when they think of someone who’s closer to them going through this process.

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disconnected by @just-an-ordinary-fan

Lady Wifi believes she might be the only one who does not want to obey Hawkmoth's orders.

When she sees another akuma hesitate in the battle, she finds she might not be entirely alone.

I actually wrote my own fic, Nullius in Verba, based off of this one. It’s short but has an intriguing premise, with all the akumas being transported to this warehouse after the fight’s over, having been basically forced to do Hawkmoth’s bidding. The akumas also don’t seem to remember who they were before, or even that they WERE ordinary people before, which is an interesting twist.

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Shadow of the Chat by @pearl484-blog

Chat Noir discovers that he has a living Shadow. Unfortunately for him, it is not fond of Ladybug.

Inspired by the prompt: 5 times Character A and B thought they didn’t have anything in common and 1 time they realized how similar they are.

I wrote a fic based on this one and @wackus-bonkus-maximus fic “One Does Not Love Breathing”, basically importing Shadow into odnlb in order to help take down Monarch. It’s called “One Does Not Love Shadows”, btw.

Anyway, I love how this one-shot uses some of Carl Jung’s ideas about everyone having “shadows”; parts of ourselves that we consciously reject or suppress, and using that to get Chat some help. If you’ve ever played a Persona game, this will be familiar to you, as those games are based off of Jung’s ideas as well.

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Day 7: Book by @andromeda612

During one of his works, Marc comes across a rather interesting book.

MarcNath AU fic here! Basically Marc is a super powerful warlock, and is brought in to help with the case of a lying witch who apparently caused a lot of problems for people, using her magic to help fool everyone. She’s actually dead by the time the story starts, and everyone’s trying to go back through and figure out what she’s done and why memories surrounding her seem to be foggy. Meanwhile there’s a book she left behind which appears to be sentient, and which Marc’s taken a liking too...

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Find the Sentimonster by @taketwoinink:

Nino has a lot of conspiracies. He watched one too many mystery movies and now fancies himself a detective. It's not often that he gets the entire class together for an interrogation, but it's never fun. Chloe makes everyone's life miserable and Marinette and Lila never get along.

And this time? Secret sentimonsters in their class? The fate of Paris hanging in the balance?

Mylene doesn't need this stress in her life.

This is based off of an episode of Glitch Techs, so if you’ve seen the show, it might be familiar. I just really enjoyed watching the class trying to puzzle out who the sentimonster spy might be, with all the wild accusations and theories being hurled around, especially knowing the actual truth.

Come Take My Hand by @carelisswriting:

Luka heard his soulmate for the first time when he was ten. All he knows about her is that she likes fencing. It's just a coincidence that Kagami likes fencing, right?

(Lukagami Soulmate AU, written for the Miraculous Ladybug Secret Santa Exchange!)

I’m a sucker for soulmate fics, and this had an interesting take on it, with your soulmate able to hear you thinking only about the thing you’re most passionate about. Loved Kagami’s way of showing Luka she’s his soulmate especially!

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When Feelings Are Too Big For Words by ClockworkCaptain:

When Luka takes a gig playing for a drag show he's falls hard and fast for the drag queen Buttercup who uses her performances to work through her own emotions. Meanwhile Adrien's been using drag to work through his own emotions and thinks maybe Luka coming back into his life and showing interest might mean a second chance.

Made for @mlsecretsanta 2022

Published on New Year’s Eve, this just barely makes it to the deadline for this list. I’m glad I don’t need to wait a year to talk about it though! One of the issues I tend to have with Luka shipfics, and with Lukadrien especially (though I think Lukanette actually has this problem worse) is how Luka tends to disappear within the fic and the pairing, feeling more like “The Love Interest” than his own person. Not so here! While most of the intrigue surrounds Adrien, I still got the sense of Luka being his own person, not just existing in the fic for Adrien.

I adored Adrien getting to display an aspect of himself through persona and performance - that does align well with how he approaches Chat Noir - and overall I just had a lot of fun with this fic!

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic rec #ml fanfics #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #Along with a lot of other assorted characters #But let's be real #Most of these are about those two #I do have others in here though

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