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simplystefanie-rae · 5 years

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Frozer is a Heaping Pile of Garbage

Hi. I made another essay.

You can alternately call it, ‘How a single episode somehow encompasses everything that’s narratively disturbing about this show.’

But if you’re feeling frisky, feel free to call it, ‘How a show about a girl for young girls thinks that said girl is the Worst and needs to be Better. Or Else.’

I’m done joking. Let’s get (semi) serious.

If you watch ML casually or say, with a bit of a bias towards a certain blond character, it might be easy to miss the issues I often talk about. They tend to center around Marinette and her treatment in the show, but it’s hard not to always talk about that when it has a tendency to be a certain way with her. I’m going to focus on just one of those ways for right now, but just know ahead of time that there are a multitude of issues with how the writers treat her, such as her lack of major plot involvement, her parents being one dimensional and barely involved in her life, and how the writers praised her for being a biracial french/chinese heroine yet seem to have no interest in actually showing that on screen.

Lately I’m finding that something stands out exceedingly, and the more I think it over the more unnerved I get. Marinette is a nice girl, a hero who other little girls are suppose to look up to. She should be flawed but she should overcome those flaws and for the most part be a positive force in people’s lives, both in and out of the show. And she is, but to a downright punishable degree. This isn’t to say she’s very flawed, because she’s not. That’s not the problem. Overall she’s a sweet, strong character who has some problems with emotional stability. I’d call it anxiety if I knew the writers of the show cared to really delve into her problems all that much, but I digress. It’s not that she’s flawed at times that’s the issue, it’s how she’s expected to make up for those flaws with either apologies, sacrifices, or kicking herself when she’s already down, and being the only character (with a small exception(1)) in the show who is expected to repent at all, let alone to this degree of punishment.

It stands out even more when we put her mistakes next to the deuteragonist, Adrien, and compare how they’re both expected to handle them. To put it bluntly, Adrien isn’t expected to handle them. Adrien can be moody, say something rude, do something dishonest, and the end of the episode will wind up favoring him with sympathy instead of even so much as suggesting that he was ever in the wrong and needs to fix something. Before I really tackle Frozer, let’s look at Copycat and Volpina, episodes where Adrien and Marinette respectively get jealous and act out of line, causing an akumatization.

In Copycat Theo is at first upset when Ladybug doesn’t show up to the statue unveiling because she ran late doing her own thing, and that is something that was a mistake on her part and that she should make up for. It’s a good lesson to keep your promises for these things and not skip out on them for a selfish reason, I just question why it was necessary to have in the first place. The inclusion surely wasn’t necessary if Chat Noir was the actual cause of Theo’s akumatization by implying that he was already romantically tied with Ladybug and rubbing it in his face about it. That’s what set Theo off, and it’s Chat Noir he goes after, not Ladybug. I suppose writing this now, they needed someone to apologize to Theo, and it wasn’t going to be Chat Noir. Not to get into it in depth here, but having Marinette make a stupid little mistake in an episode she has to learn from is something they do often, even when it doesn’t fit in with the plot.

I’ll just say it; Chat Noir’s behavior in Copycat was deplorable. Not just because of him acting on his jealousy, but because he went through the entire episode with almost no guilt for his actions. Plagg points his jealousy out to him and he’s brushed off. Ladybug asks what happened and he rebukes with a ‘you would know if you were there!’, pushing guilt onto her. He decides it’s in Ladybug’s best interest if she just doesn’t know what he’s done and tries to handle things himself, which is about as far as his own guilty conscience gets, but it doesn’t go so far that he decides that it’s probably in poor tastes to push her towards Theo and tell her to take care of things since his ‘crush just got crushed’, making her think that the entire situation is her fault. So she apologizes, sweetly and sincerely, being none the wiser about Chat Noir’s fault in all this.

What’s even more sad about the situation is that Ladybug proudly exclaims that he would never lie to her. A line like that requires callback, it’s irony at its finest and would only have place in an episode where Chat Noir does lie to (and about) her if it was meant to be solved. But somewhere along the way a writer switched gears in the plot. It becomes about his crushed feelings and the narrative is suddenly putting him in a sympathetic light. The whole thing feels manipulative to me, and that’s something this show does in spades when it comes to his character. He can do something wrong, but he’ll always be given that sympathy angle so he’s not expected to actually make up for his actions.

It’s the exact opposite with Marinette, so let’s get into Volpina now. It starts off much the same way. Her jealousy completely overtakes her, but instead of having a private moment where she acts out that bears no other witnesses, Adrien is there. Her partner is allowed to see her at her lowest and call her out on her behavior. Just take that in for a moment. Ladybug, who proudly proclaimed her trust for Chat Noir, was never given any type of a clue that he lied about her and blamed her for Theo’s akumatization. She has no idea about his disrespect, so isn’t given an opportunity to show hurt or disappointment. Adrien is there to witness Ladybug blowing up at Lila over something that’s not even technically about him as far as he knows, and he’s allowed to sit atop that high horse and be ashamed by her actions.

It extends further into the episode. When they’re fighting Volpina, Chat Noir has misgivings listening to Ladybug’s assumptions about Volpina being shady because of how she acted previously. It’s a mild distrust he’s being granted. Which by itself I’m a little okay with if it’s him being cautious (though I still maintain he should trust his partner’s logic not just because it’s sound, but because one mistake by her shouldn’t be such a make or break situation), but when we take in how Ladybug is treated in Copycat by comparison you realize that the expectations and leniency for each character are not equal in the slightest.

Ladybug is allowed to make a humiliating and shameful mistake in front of her partner and be chastised for it, Chat Noir is allowed his privacy. Ladybug offers her complete trust in Chat Noir despite him lying in that episode, but he doesn’t offers Ladybug the same trust in her instincts because he was allowed to see her really angry one time. Ladybug tells Chat Now right away that Volpina is her fault, Chat Noir tries to fix things himself and discloses nothing(2). Ladybug apologizes to Lila in the end, is not forgiven, and makes an enemy who’s hell bent on destroying her life in and out of the suit, and Chat Noir doesn’t apologize at to Theo at all. Ladybug does.

To sum up why this is a problem, Ladybug/Marinette’s mistakes are humiliating and are given harsh consequences and she has to make up for her actions, but Chat Noir has no consequences, no expectations, and he’s often made out to be a sympathetic player in the mess he winds up making or in a situation where he’s being rude or stupid as hell (see Glaciator and Syren).

I say all this, yet Frozer is just so much worse. Depressingly worse. I talked about it at length before, but I don’t believe I ever really got into the detrimental effects it can have (should, rather) on Marinette’s character or the people watching. But let’s just dive in.

Frozer is an episode that gives us a problem both our main characters have concerning their love life, or rather the lack of it. They’re not making headway, Adrien because he’s been rejected twice and Marinette because the narrative says that her stuttering and inability to confess is causing there to be a wall between her and Adrien. Already there is an issue with the setup, as it’s presenting both situations as something the characters need to overcome. Marinette needing to be more courageous in how she approaches Adrien to me is debatable since half the time she’s not allowed to be around him more than 5 minutes when she does make attempts, but for the sake of argument right now I’ll go with it. If she doesn’t ever confess then he can never know her feelings and nothing will change. That’s her obstacle, an honest problem we should be rooting for her to overcome. With Adrien, we’re expected to do the same thing. Except his need to keep pushing his romantic feelings onto Ladybug is presented as a sympathetic one when it isn’t, and it’s offered a solution that’s wildly inappropriate and does nothing to fix the real problem we’re shown on screen.

So let’s talk about Kagami for a moment. She’s used as the character in this episode who gives our mains some advice that they need, at least according to the show. How it’s presented to the both of them are starkly different in tone; she’s gently encouraging with Adrien and upfront and cold with Marinette. You can’t blame the character so much, as she’s friends with Adrien and is under the impression that Marinette is fickle with her feelings, though again I question the intent of the writers with this. The only reason Kagami has this low opinion of Marinette in the first place is because of this weird misunderstanding caused by Adrien, the boy who thinks it’s fine to invite another girl on a date. I can’t see the point of it except to cause friction between the two girls later in the future, but to what end? And if that was really the case, Kagami’s attitude towards Marinette wouldn’t be presented as something she needed to suffer through for ‘growth’, unless Kagami’s entire purpose for Marinette’s character is to keep giving unsolicited, harsh advice because the show knows no other way to help Marinette grow.

But maybe I’m wrong.

The advice Kagami gives Marinette upsets her and she goes to the bathroom to reflect on it. Self reflection is something Marinette does quite often, while Adrien doesn’t, and in this particular instance she puts herself down while doing it. After learning that Adrien is taking someone else on a date, she self deprecatingly says that she can’t even talk to him half the time so she should just be friends with him. Marinette is willing to at least try and let go in order to help Adrien out when he asked. So she tries. Granted, she’s not the best at it. She blurts out accidentally that he should drop Kagami, she brings along Luka as a buffer while not realizing the feelings he has for her, and her confusion over everything creates a bit of an awkward atmosphere overall. But she is trying, she’s just hurt and confused by everything happening around her. Adrien is on a date with another girl, there’s this other boy she might like but she’s unsure of what’s going on with him, and she’s trying to navigate all of this as smoothly as possible. So it becomes unclear and downright unnerving to me why the narrative is just so unsympathetic towards her situation. No one is there to comfort or encourage Marinette when she’s talking about her situation with her girlfriends. Tikki is oblivious for some reason (‘Why are you sad, Marinette?”). Kagami reads the situation wrong but still is blunt to the point of being hurtful when she tells Marinette to stop hesitating or she’s going to fail. Chat Noir is just rude as hell to her because he can’t get over himself, and he doesn’t even seem to think this was a problem. Luka’s really the only one that’s allowed to speak to her like an actual friend the entire episode, which I am thankful for, but coupled with all the knocks Marinette’s self esteem takes it doesn’t equal out. Add in how Adrien is treated in comparison, and you have to wonder if the writers seem to think that only Marinette is this really flawed mess of a person that’s required to improve herself under harsh circumstances or else.

But maybe I’m like, wrong.

As per usual, Adrien goes about the episode being coddled with no amount of growth at all despite being the one that needs it the most. When he was rejected by Ladybug in Glaciator and he made it seem like he was happy with her friendship as it was, it should have ended there. I was even okay with that bit about him wanting to wait and see if she’d ever return his feelings one day, because wanting to be hopeful at least for a while is something that’s understandable. The problem comes in Frozer when he is suddenly very pushy with his feelings and unaccepting of her answer. Being hopeful and patient for a little while is one thing, but continuing to actively pursue her and persuade her to give him a chance is just disrespectful and annoying. Only it’s not treated that way.

I’m just going to say it, this show makes Kagami give awful advice. She was slightly more on point with her advice to Marinette, but she was rude about it. She was sweet with Adrien, but what she suggests to him is not to move on for the sake of letting go and respecting this mystery girl’s answer, but to just ‘change targets’, meaning that he should push his pushy feelings on some other girl instead who actually wants it. That isn’t getting to the heart of the problem, it’s just advice that’s saying he should pursue someone that likes him. Adrien’s lesson is that he deserves something out of all this, that Kagami could be his reward if he moved on. He’s not required to reflect on his awful behavior to his partner, just that maybe if he changes his methods up he’ll actually get what he wants in an unexpected way.

Throughout this entire episode Adrien is just acting like an idiot. He’s way too pushy with his feelings, he invites Marinette out to third wheel on his date with someone else and thinks nothing’s wrong with that, it’s because of him that Kagami was side eyeing Marinette at the end of the episode in the first place, and Kagami’s advice was apparently such a boost to his ego that he felt like he could be rude to Ladybug and completely dismiss their friendship to her face because ‘he deserves a girl that likes him’. This kid was a grade A brat bordering on Nice Guy in Frozer, yet the episode offers his narrative nothing but sympathy. Feel bad for him, his love was rejected. Encourage his desires, whether that’s letting go of Ladybug to pursue Kagami or deciding to stick with doggedly pushing his feelings onto his partner. Plagg is the only character to question an ounce of his idiocy (“You take Kagami on a date to get over Ladybug but now you go after Marinette?”) and he is ignored for the tired and downright insulting as hell by now ‘She’s just a friend’ joke this show likes to play.

The whole situation is very offensive. Chat Noir was hurtful to Ladybug, has been hurtful to Ladybug on more than one occasion, and he’s never expected to feel guilty about it let alone make an decent apology. Do the writers think his ire towards her is deserved? I’m really starting to think so, since it’s not like Ladybug is ever give an opportunity to actually feel hurt by the things he says to her. In Glaciator we’re made to think she deserves it because she all but says so, in Syren his attitude and poor handling of a messy situation is completely ignored so she can sooth his hurts by giving him everything he wants, and in Frozer Chat Noir basically says ‘fuck our friendship’ and bounces before Ladybug would even have time to process this. She’s not given the chance to feel any type of way about it before he comes back with a smile and they just start working together like nothing’s happened. As usual, Chat Noir isn’t made to reflect on any part of his behavior, he’s not humiliated or forced into saying sorry or has to suffer from someone else’s shame in him. As usual, Ladybug isn’t given a chance or space to feel upset about something that probably should put her in tears. The writers strip away all her self respect because to stand up for herself would mean that Chat Noir would have to face his actions in the same manner she does, with shame and regret, with a realization that he needs to improve something about himself, and we can’t have that.

But maybe I’m like, super wrong about this or something.

These tweets are important because they’re a insight into what the writers (or Astruc at least) think about their own characters, and I have to say, how Astruc talks about Marinette and Adrien is perfectly reflected on screen. His harsh, blunt language when talking about Marinette when discussing her flaws vs. how he waxes poetic or insist on things that aren’t true with Adrien’s behavior is telling.

‘Marinette has poor control of her emotions’ vs. ‘Adrien is perfect, He’s innocent and vulnerable, the outside world is what’s flawed.’

‘Marinette needs to move her ass she’ll lose Adrien’ vs. ‘Chat Noir sulked but apologized (what’s left unsaid is ‘so it doesn’t matter)’.

There is an insinuation that Marinette has deeper flaws and needs to be better or else, while Adrien is perfect, but when he’s not it isn’t his fault anyway so he doesn’t have to bend over backwards like Marinette to improve.

His actions, however confusing they are,

are what counts.

Astruc’s insistence that Adrien apologized when he actually didn’t shows their typical lack of awareness when it comes to their own show. You’d think there’d be a point from the writers in having Adrien refuse to move on by the end of the episode while Marinette was so willing to let go of her feelings for the sake of her friend’s happiness. He doesn’t even try to move on by the end, he doesn’t want to let go. And the narrative treats it like it’s fine, even in spite of Marinette and Luka both being willing to let go of their own feelings in the same episode. I just don’t get the intent, except that as usual Adrien can get away with awful behavior with a pat on the back (or in this case, a potential girlfriend who will probably give him everything he wants) while Marinette is just made to feel bad throughout the entire episode even though she is beyond selfless and patient.

The only saving grace in the entire episode for her was Luka, someone who had no expectations of her and is kind when he sends her off to Adrien so she can make some type of confession. I do think in the end she will also get a temporary honey in Luka, what I don’t like is the amount of internal and external punishment it is taking to get her there. She starts off by thinking she should just be friends with Adrien since she can’t even talk to him properly, she’s anxious and clearly hurt during the date except when Luka distracts her, Kagami is there to tell her to ‘move her ass or else’, Tikki offers no comfort, Chat is a rude bitch and she has to take it like a man, and in the end she’s made to try and confess to Adrien but her stuttering, something she felt incredibly bad about earlier in the episode, prevents her yet again. And it’s for the laugh. Luka’s involvement is a reprieve but it’s not enough, especially when you compare it to Adrien’s journey, which amounts to him sulking a bit only for a pretty girl to steer his gaze towards her instead because he deserves a girl that likes him, and he decides he’s going to keep pursuing Ladybug anyway for right now, at least until Kagami comes back and insists even more that he deserves better, probably. At this point ‘Adrien Deserves Better’ could probably be the show’s marketing campaign slogan(3).

This is now 3,500 words deep but I really do think this is important for everyone to understand if they actually care about this being a show about a girl for girls(4), because they just keep perpetuating these awful societal norms that you see all the time. Marinette is the main protagonist, the girl that younger girls are suppose to look up to, right? She’s certainly the only one learning lessons in this show, so it needs to be realized how damaging this could potentially be to someone watching. Here we have Marinette and Adrien, a girl and a boy, but only she is expected to reflect on her actions and improve her behavior, sometimes to a self-punishing degree. Only her mistakes are called out by other characters shamefully. Adrien (as Chat) can hurt her, but she’s expected to just keep taking it and instead has to consider his feels and make him feel better in any way that she can. When she is given natural emotional responses to a situation, the narrative doesn’t sympathize with her but demand that she rise about it (see Zombizou), but Adrien can throw a fit and get his way. These higher and harsher expectations girls have to live up to is an unfortunate reality for girls everywhere and it’s abhorrent just how blatantly encouraging ML and it’s writing staff are with it.

___________________________

Nathaniel is one of the only other characters to acknowledge his behavior towards Marc, feel bad about it, and make up for it.

Remember folks, Astruc believes that Chat Noir not wanting to involve Ladybug in his fight with Copycat is an acceptable apology. Also, for all fandom insists Ladybug doesn’t trust Chat Noir, the reality is fucking cute ain’t it.

Adrien deserving better in the context of what the show wants for him means that the writer’s think he deserves what he actually wants, which unfortunately for some of you, does not include getting a ‘proper akuma fight where he can outshine ladybug.’

If you don’t actually care this is a show about a girl for girls and are thinking of responding with a ‘shut up it’s a kids show’ or any variation of ‘marinette sucks’, rethink your life choices and just, don’t.

#miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #ladybug #chat noir #ladynoir #adrienette #frozer #my writing

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sodokachi · 7 years

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A Beautiful Winter Night

This was originally written for MariChat May 12th: Sleepover. This got away from me a bit. haha. ha. 3k words. That's not a drabble at all! So this is now a stand-alone one-shot. Go figure.

(ao3)

Summary: Chat's great night is interrupted. Will his perfect night be ruined? Or will Marinette be able to salvage it? Maybe a sleepover will be just the thing Chat needs.

Warning: this summary is only technically true.

Tonight was a great night for Chat Noir; he was on solo patrol and loving every second of it.

He really enjoyed solo patrols. He loved spending time with his lady, but there was truly something special about letting loose by himself. At night time he could truly be free.

So as he darted from rooftop to rooftop he couldn't help but grin and laugh. It really was a beautiful winter night. Pars was quite the sight and he couldn't help but take it all in.

It was quite cold, what with it being nighttime during the winter, but it didn't bother him much. The constant movement warmed him as he made his way around to the Eiffel tower. Soon he would have to return home, but first he ascended the tower. Slightly out of breath he still managed to cheer as he reached the top. He took his time as he admired the most wonderful view of Paris there was at night. The view from the top of the Eiffel.

After a couple more moments enjoying the sight he descended the tower and started heading towards home. He grinned when he saw Marinette's balcony. It was too bad that it was so late or else he could have seen her tonight. Still, He would get to go right over her home to get back to his.

He was still panting a bit from the climbing and running when his feet touched down on the rails of Marinette's balcony. Unfortunately, it was a bit colder than he thought and the rails were covered in a very thin sheet of ice. The moment his feet touched the rails he slipped and fell. He let out a very loud yelp as he did so. He tried to stop himself from hitting the ground by planting his right leg down first, but instead of stopping his fall his leg twisted harshly. All of his weight pushed down on it and for a second his vision went white.

A moment later Chat found himself staring into the night sky as his right leg throbbed with pain. He decided this night had been good, but was getting worse with every throb of pain. Really, things could be worse right?

Groaning Chat tried to stand, but immediately yelped again when he tried to put even the slightest weight on his right leg. He leaned against the railing as he took deep breaths.

"This night might not be the best anymore..." He grimaced.

Glancing around he realized he had no way of getting down from Marinette's balcony.

"...How in the world am I going to get home?" He muttered.

Marinette woke to a loud yelp and a thump coming from above her.

She probably would have panicked more if Chat Noir didn't regularly come by. As it was she just stared at her trap door and proceeded to wonder if she could go back to sleep. As the seconds ticked on she slowly started to drift back into dreamland until suddenly she was startled back awake by another yelp. This time she could hear the pain in it.

Frowning Marinette brought her hands to her face and rubbed her eyes. If Chat was anything other than hurt there was going to be hell to pay for ruining her sleep.

She took her time sitting up and stopped after pushing her covers away from her. She yawned cutely as she considered the hatch above her. She stood and opened it and then climbed out of her room and into the cold.

Her eyes burned a bit from the cold as her eyes glanced over her balcony. Chat Noir blended in as he leaned against the rail straight across from Marinette.

He hadn't seemed to notice her yet. For some reason, maybe due to just being woke up, his inability to notice her irritated her. So instead of quietly announcing her presence she loudly coughed to get his attention.

Startled Chat forgot himself as he tried to move into a fighting stance. Instead he yelped again as his right leg collapsed under him. As he lied on the ground he grit his teeth and bit back tears at the renewed pain.

Marinette, meanwhile, gaped at the boy. She wasn't actually expecting him to be injured and was now at a complete loss.

"Are... you just... going to... stare?" Chat managed to get out as he hissed in pain.

Shaken out of her shock she quickly moved forward and wrapped her arms around the young superhero. She went into her Ladybug mindset as she helped get him up. He started to let go of her so he could to try and lean on the rail again.

"Hold on to me Chat. Let's get you into my room."

He immediately complied by holding onto her left side as they both wobbled towards the hatch. As they reached it she gently sat him down.

"How am I getting down with this-" He gestured to his leg. "-thing stopping me from landing?"

"I'm going to catch you." She didn't wait for an answer as she slid through the hatch. She turned back towards him as soon as she was down and held out her arms.

"Talk about trust falls." He muttered to himself. "Hopefully this cat won't land on his feet."

Chat grit his teeth and braced for the pain as he slid himself down the hatch. Marinette caught him by wrapping her arms around his waist. They both let out an oomph as they fell onto Marinette's bed.

Marinette had to get off him quickly when she heard him grunt in pain.

"What's wrong with your leg?" She demanded.

"I don't know." He bit out.

"What do you mean you don’t... never mind. How did you hurt it?" She cut herself off.

"I slipped on the rail of your balcony. Next thing I know my leg is hurting and I'm on the ground."

She sighed. At least it wasn't an akuma. "Can I see?" She asked her tone much gentler than before.

Wordlessly Chat stretched his right leg out across her bed. She quickly kneeled down next to him. She glanced over it and didn't see anything obviously wrong.

"I'm going to try and see if anything feels out of place." She glanced up to see if he had any complaints and was surprised by the fearful look on his face. "If, um... that's okay with you?"

His mouth set itself into a line as he nodded at her. She frowned as she realized he was bracing for pain. She really needed to check though.

Marinette was as gentle as she could possibly be as she pressed down on different parts of Adrien's leg. Surprisingly he didn't seem to be feeling any extra pain from her hands.

"I think you may have just hurt the muscle." Marinette gave her best smile. "Better than breaking something right?"

"Tabby honest the pain is bad enough that I'm having trouble looking on the cat side of life."

Marinette stared at his deadpan expression and wondered if he always made puns when he was hurting. Her kitty was strong she knew, but this was a whole other level. Hopefully this hadn't happened before without her knowing about it.

"Can I stay for now? I can't really go anywhere so..." He looked hesitant.

"Of course you're staying." She rolled her eyes.

"Thanks Marinette." He said softly

She frowned. He wasn't acting the same as he usually did. All of this hesitance and softness was not what she expecting from the normally boisterous boy. His vulnerability just made her want to protect her partner even more than before.

"You can take the bed since it would be seriously hard to move you. I don't mind sleeping on the chaise." She nodded down towards where she was going to sleep. She almost expected an argument. Instead he merely said thanks in that softer tone and she found herself blushing.

"Your welcome!" She squeaked. What was wrong with her?

As she lay on her chaise with a couple blankets she had dug out of her closet she had to consider what they were going to do when morning came. Chat Noir would need to return to his home before anyone found out he was gone. That was a tall order when the boy couldn't even stand. This was really a bad situation identity wise. If she couldn't figure out some way to get him back his identity would be compromised. Worse, it wouldn't be to her, it would be to Chat's parents.

She couldn't allow that. It was one thing if she found out due to this stupid accident, it was an entire new problem for Chat's family to know. She wasn't sure she even trusted the people Chat called family to keep his secret like she would. He always seemed so lonely after all.

This line of thought wasn't really helping though.

"Can't sleep Marinette?" Tikki spoke softly from her place on the back of her chaise.

"I can't figure out a way out of this for Chat." Marinette worried her lip. "I don't want him to be in danger just because of a stupid accident." She whispered.

Tikki nodded in understanding. "What are you going to do then?"

"What am I going to do?" Marinette looked confused.

Tikki just smiled at her.

"I know that would work but...!" Marinette sighed.

"You always protected your identity for Chat and your family’s safety." Tikki floated in front of her. "If Chat's safety is at risk doesn't that supersede needing to protect your identity?"

"Super-what?" Marinette's face scrunched up cutely.

"Isn't Chat's safety more important than your identity?" Tikki bopped her nose and giggled.

"Of course." Marinette murmured.

"Then you already know what you're going to do." Tikki smiled widely her eyes shining with pride.

Marinette nodded. Tomorrow was going to be difficult, but she would do anything to protect her partner. Even if it meant compromising her identity.

Morning dawned on the Dupain-Cheng house. Chat Noir hadn't got much sleep. He had spent the night wondering how he was going to get back to his house. Of course even if he could get back how in the world would he explain his injury? Or the fact that the only way he could sneak out was to transform and go through his window. He was glad that he ended up getting hurt on Marinette's balcony instead of some horrid place in the middle of Paris. That would have been far worse.

At least here he had a friend to help him. Even if said friend only knew him from his occasional visits to play games and steal her cookies. Marinette was amazing enough that she hadn't even hesitated to help him. Honestly the girl was too much for him. He had no idea how he was ever going to thank her for all the things she constantly did for him.

Though that was all pointless considering the fact that he was probably going to be outed as soon as his father realized he was missing. He would never get to thank her if his father locked him inside his room for the rest of his life.

As the sun finally rose high enough to shine through the hatch above Marinette's bed he decided there was no better time to start freaking out.

He would have to if it wasn't for Marinette climbing the ladder to the loft and sitting down next to him. He would have said something if it hadn't been for the expression of nervousness on her face.

"You need to get home right?" Marinette gripped her pigtails as she spoke nervously.

Chat nodded.

"But you can't get home because of your leg?"

Chat frowned and tried to stand. Marinette quickly put her arm around his as he tried to. Chat didn't immediately topple over this time, but he did grimace a little as he gingerly tried to shift his weight.

"I don't think so... no." He glared at his leg.

Marinette giggled at his expression. "I'll help then." She said with determination.

"Um... not to be rude or anything, but how exactly are you going to help me get back home?"

Marinette just chuckled nervously. "Well, you see... I'm going to take you there!"

Chat stared at her. "But... How though?"

She stared back at him and tugged one of her pigtails again. She got even more fidgety and started shuffling her feet as she tried to tell him.

"Marinette, not that I want to rush you, but I really need to get back soon. So if you have a plan I'm all ears."

Marinette stared at him with her eyes opened wide. She took a deep breath, smile, and then- "I'm Ladybug." -she looked expectantly at him.

Chat Noir wondered if he had hit his head instead of his leg when he had slipped. Why else would Marinette be confessing that she was Ladybug? Though that did make way too much sense.

Oh, Marinette was Ladybug.

"Erm, surprise~" Marinette smiled wide at him.

"You're Ladybug?" He asked to make sure he hadn’t misheard her.

Marinette nodded.

"Wow. I'm blinder than a bat."

She frowned. "I don't think so. I mean, I managed to stop Alya from figuring it out too and she's pretty sharp."

Chat winced.

"What's wrong?" She asked in concern.

"Sorry, still hurts a bit, even when I'm not moving." He smiled to show he was fine. "I guess I'll take you up on that offer then."

"Aha, yeah! I'm going to have to know who you are as well you know."

"Yeah." He grimaced. "Probably best if I detransform now."

"Yeah." She replied somewhat breathlessly. Should she be this excited? She suddenly really wanted to know who her partner was under the mask. Could he be someone she knew? Maybe he was-

"Plagg, Detransform me." With a flash of light Adrien Agreste took the place of Chat Noir.

Marinette sat there stunned. Her partner... and Adrien???

Adrien and Plagg both watched the girl for an entire minute as she sat there frozen in shock.

"Sooo... cheese?" Plagg begged.

Sighing, Adrien handed Plagg the small piece of camembert he usually kept on him. Just then a small red and black spotted creature similar to Plagg appeared he almost expected her to demand cheese he didn't have.

"Hello, my name is Tikki. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Chat Noir, Adrien." She smiled at him and held out a paw in greeting.

"It's nice to meet you too." He said softly. He shook her small paw with his fingers.

Meanwhile in Marinette's head things were not going quite as smoothly.

She should have figured it out sooner! Chat had been so kind to Ladybug when they were fighting Stoneheart! She had kissed Adrien during Dark Cupid! That valentine must have been for Ladybug, which was still her, but the mask part made so much more sense now! Adrien always vanished when Chat needed to be somewhere! The sneaker! For Pete’s sake that was a horrible excuse. Adrien was her partner! Hers! Not Chloe's! Ha!

Her thoughts continued in that same unproductive grain until Adrien finally gave up on waiting and prodded her gently in the side. She jumped.

"Adrien Agreste is Chat Noir!" She shout-whispered.

Adrien nodded in agreement. "I am. Now how about we get going before my father figures out I'm missing?"

She gaped at him for another moment and a half before finally pulling herself together. She could freak out more when Adrien's identity wasn't at risk.

"I think you need to be transformed...?" Adrien suggested hesitantly.

"Right!" She nodded. "Tikki, Transform me!"

Adrien watched in awe of her transformation. She had just supplanted every other magical girl transformation in his book.

Ladybug flushed at Adrien's awed look. She clasped her hands together.

"So... we should get going yeah?"

"Yeah." He smiled at her.

The trip was full of awkward compliments, shock, and awe. The two of them couldn't really handle the fact that the person they liked most was so close to them the entire time.

Still, as Ladybug gently let Adrien go after she landed in his room they hadn't fixed the most glaring problem. His leg.

"I might be able to skip talking to Nathalie and get to the car, but once I'm at school..."

"Well, I'll be helping you there. So don't worry!" Ladybug grinned at him.

Adrien blinked. "I don't want you to have to-"

"Nonsense! We’re partners and that means you can rely on me whenever!" Ladybug couldn't stop grinning. Adrien was her partner. She couldn't believe she was this lucky.

Her enthusiasm was contagious as a grin spread across Adrien's face as well. ""If you're sure."

"Of course." She nodded.

"I'll see you then, my lady."

She flushed at the endearment and almost tripped because of it on the way out.

Plagg floated up beside Adrien.

"Wow. I think you’re getting some serious karma payback here."

"You think so?" Adrien’s voice had a dreamy quality to it.

Plagg made a noise of disgust.

"You're going to be even more insufferable now that you know aren't you?!"

Adrien hummed happily. "Probably~"

Plagg shook his head. What did he do to deserve this? Oh well, he would always have his cheese. With that he went to go procure some more.

School went well with Marinette covering for him. They had to use an excuse for why they were so close though. He wasn't sure if Marinette was conformable playing his pretend girlfriend, but he sure couldn't complain. Well, he could complain that she wasn't his actual girlfriend, yet.

As he got home he texted Marinette that he had arrived safely. Soon he got a text back saying she was happy to hear that he was fine. Adrien smiled at the concern. Maybe last night went better than he had thought. In fact he decided that the night before had indeed been one of the best. He had truly met his lady for the first time after all.

#chat noir #marinette cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #miraculous ladybug #marichat #marichat may #adrinette #ladrien #fanfic #Aww this was fun to write!

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