#obviously I don’t think chloe PAID sabrina to do her homework at a

[literaphobe]

random but that episode where it’s revealed to ms bustier that chloe’s been having sabrina do all her homework for most of their lives -> i truly do not believe that they were trying to make fun of chloe for having a learning disability. in fact I don’t think they were trying to assert that she had any sort of disability at all, to me it was more so commentary on like. corruption. aka how the Rich have so much money and power that it ends up shooting themselves in the foot and they and their children and generational wealth pushes out people who don’t apply themselves. because if you can buy up the inventions of smart poor people, why bother being smart yourself? many easy irl examples that parallel the situation here but yeah I felt marinette standing up being like hey why the fuck are we going out of our way for her is essentially them saying we shouldn’t make excuses for how the 1% operates, and give them concessions when the 99% who actually need it get overlooked. obviously you don’t have to interpret it that way but ngl take one look at astruc’s retweets (or idk the state of society) and tell me he wasn’t trying to make a comment about capitalism

#text #miraculous ladybug #mlbposting #I saw someone make a post about mlbs writing #and honestly. lots of valid viewpoints #I agree that their approach to seasonal arcs and overarching themes #has not been as entertaining or strong as it could be #there’s some stuff that just doesn’t work or could’ve worked equally as well if they did it a different way #didn’t really care #but I saw something about the chloe scene and I was like um #I don’t think this is about learning disabilities actually #and this is coming from someone w a learning disability who had it overlooked for VERY long #obviously I don’t think chloe PAID sabrina to do her homework at a #$10 per essay rate #but a lot of how she manipulated sabrina #had to do w her money and access #and she wasn’t being kept in check BECAUSE of her family’s political and financial power

[purrincess-chat]

To Tame a Queen CH11

Oh, or I guess you can read it below too if you’re impatient like me which is why I’m posting a day early! It’s like 9:40PM so close enough. It’s tomorrow somewhere. Hopefully this chapter makes you feel things cause it tickled me a little bit and I’m coldhearted as they come, so.

FF | AO3

Chapter 11

There were a lot of emotions Marinette expected to feel when she was finally free of Chloe’s ball and chain of servitude. Relieved, being one of them. Happy being another. She hadn’t expected to feel empty or to miss her, and yet somehow what she had and hadn’t expected got flipped backwards without her realizing until she woke up the next morning feeling unfulfilled and lonely. It wasn’t logical. She’d done her job, and there was no other reason for her to associate with Chloe. But she still wanted to. There was literally no reason for her to feel guilty for walking away. But she did.

She told herself that it would go away eventually and went through each day normally. School, homework, patrols, the occasional akuma here and there, hanging out with her friends… But no matter where she went or whose company she found herself in, there was a tightness in her chest that just wouldn’t quite loosen its grip, a gaping hole that left her feeling unsatisfied and empty. Chloe wouldn’t look at her or speak to her, which she had expected when she agreed to help her, but somehow this silent treatment felt different than she’d thought. It was as if she were…hurt? Both of them seemed to wear melancholy expressions those days, and Marinette couldn’t seem to grasp why.

Why did she feel so guilty? Why did she think back over the past two months every night when she laid down to sleep? Why did her stomach turn in nots every time Chloe refused to meet her eye? Why was she so plagued by this confusion? It was how things were meant to be, how they were always meant to be, but it wasn’t good enough all of a sudden. She felt like she could do more. Like they could do more.

But they were finished. There was nothing left for them anymore, and she knew it. She ended their association on her terms before Chloe could to save them both some grief, so why did it feel like they were both so much more miserable?

“You’ve been really down in the dumps lately, Marinette,” Tikki pointed out later that week as she scribbled in the corners of her notebook absentmindedly. “Is everything alright?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Tikki. I thought that ending things with Chloe would return everything back to normal, but I feel…weird.” She leaned back in her chair with a sigh.

“Why did you end things? You two were getting along so well,” Tikki asked, slowly floating down onto her desk.

“I thought it’s what I wanted – what we both wanted, but I can’t help but feel like Chloe is upset with me over it. You don’t think she actually wanted to be my friend, do you?” She leaned against her fist and gave her kwami a questioning look.

“You two spent a lot of time together when you were helping her, and I think she was just as surprised as you were by how well you two get along when you put your past behind you, Marinette,” Tikki said.

“I guess, but it just feels weird to consider Chloe a friend. We’ve spent so much time hating each other that the thought of being friends is…odd, but also kind of nice I guess. It’s been great not having to argue with someone every day,” Marinette replied with a small smile. “I don’t know, Tikki. My mind is so jumbled and confused.”

“Why don’t you try talking to Chloe?” Her trusty companion suggested, and Marinette drummed her pencil on the page, pursing her lips in contemplation.

“I don’t want to make things worse,” She murmured finally.

“Marinette! Dinner’s ready!” Her mother called up the stairs, and Mari stood up.

“Coming!”

X  X  X

Chloe sat on her bed, her ladybug pillow in her lap as she stared at the wall. She picked at the threads nervously, a frown sagging her features for what wasn’t the first time that week. Her life had grown painfully dull since Marinette left, and she was embarrassed to admit that she missed her. Something had changed between them in the past two months since she asked Marinette to help her out, or she thought that things had changed…but just when she was starting to like how things were, Marinette ripped everything out from under her like a rug.

Marinette had been her biggest enemy for as long as she could remember, but somehow she was glad to be on good terms with her for a while. When they laughed together, it felt comfortable and natural. Neither one was competing with the other for once, and it made Chloe feel at ease for probably the first time in a long time. Since her mother died. She picked up the small frame standing on her bedside table and gazed down at her mother’s portrait, eyebrows knitting together in a grimace.

“I don’t know what to do, Mom,” She choked, breath hitching in her throat as tears bubbled over in her eyes.

She wanted to tell Marinette that they could still be friends. That she wanted to be friends, but she was afraid. Afraid of being rejected, afraid of confirming the reality that she knew was all but certain. Afraid of finding out that Marinette still didn’t like her after everything they’d done together. That it was all in her head. She couldn’t bear the thought of that.

Of course, she couldn’t really blame Marinette for walking away. She’d never said nice things about her before even if she thought them, always only the bad. Being nice made people vulnerable and weak and left them open to be hurt, a notion that was only confirmed more firmly for Chloe now that she sat in her room crying alone in the dark. It wasn’t fair. Everyone else was so capable of making friends, but her whole life she’d been nothing but bad at it. No one ever wanted to hang around her for too long, even when she tried her hardest to change.

Every person she’d apologized to rejected her. Every compliment she paid was met with skeptical glares and accusing eyes. All she had was Sabrina and Marinette, but Sabrina would always love her no matter what. Marinette on the other hand…Marinette had a mind of her own, and she obviously still bore a grudge for all those years of torment even after she put in all this work to prove that she could be better. She just wished that she had apologized…

Chloe shot forward in her bed, heart speeding up erratically. How could she have been so utterly stupid! Marinette helped her so much, and she’d never even apologized to her for how she acted in the past. She’d made amends, or attempted to anyway, with everyone in school except the one person who needed it most. The one person she’d taken for granted the most… Shooting out of her bed like a firework went off under her, Chloe slipped her shoes back on and ran downstairs to the lobby.

It was a long shot, and it probably wouldn’t change anything, but Chloe had to try. She had to at least clear her conscience of all the terrible wrongs she’d committed and let Marinette know that she wanted to move past it. To be friends and put an end to the feud between them. She knew that Marinette would probably slam the door in her face. That she was probably done with Chloe, but she went anyway because it’s what she wanted. Marinette needed to hear those words, needed to know that she was sincerely and wholeheartedly…

“Sorry,” She breathed when Mrs. Cheng opened the door. “Um, I’m sorry to bother you. Is Marinette home?”

“Of course, dear. Marinette!” Mrs. Cheng called over her shoulder, stepping aside as Marinette crept over curiously. Chloe’s breaths came in ragged spurts, and her hands shook by her sides as Marinette stepped into the doorway and eyed her up and down.

“You alright?” She asked a little worriedly.

“No.” Chloe shook her head, lip quivering against her will. “I’m not.”

“What’s wrong? Is it the press-”

“No.” She cut her off. “It’s you, Marinette.”

She pursed her lips at that and dropped her gaze to her feet. Chloe felt the pressure building in her lungs as those precious words hid on the tip of her tongue. But she was done hiding how she felt. Done saying cruel things to get the upper hand. These words needed to be spoken, and they needed to be spoken now.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered, voice cracking. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry.”

“Chloe-” Marinette’s eyes widened in shock as Chloe balled her hands into tight knots at her sides.

“I’ve always been mean to you. I’ve never said nice things about you even when I wanted to. I was so afraid of what you might think of me, and I wanted you to like me. But I didn’t know how…” She let her face fall as all of her fear and insecurity poured down her cheeks. “And I’m sorry! I never said it before, but I am. And I just wanted you to be my friend like everyone else.”

Marinette’s eyes searched her expression in a panic as if she were unsure of what to make of her, but after brief hesitation, she stepped forward and pulled Chloe into a soft hug that grew tighter and tighter as they leaned into each other, soaking in each other’s burden until they found a balance. Chloe buried her face in Marinette’s shoulder, sobbing pitifully while Marinette smoothed her hair. It was the first time anyone had hugged her, really hugged her, in a long time. She’d almost forgotten what that warmth felt like, and she wanted to cling to it for as long as she could because she didn’t know when she’d ever feel it again. But Marinette was kind and patient and showed no signs of pulling away anytime soon, so Chloe drank in that feeling, gulping it down like a wanderer who had been lost in the desert for many years only to discover a rainforest lurking where they’d never bothered to look.

Chloe wasn’t certain how long they stood like that, and she didn’t care. It washed away her hurt and breathed new life into her core, and then Marinette tilted her head just slightly so that her lips touched Chloe’s ear where she whispered three simple words:

“I forgive you.”

And they set her free.

#chlonette #chloe bourgeois #marinette dupain-cheng #miraculous ladybug #to tame a queen #my writing