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aliensunflower-fics · 1 year

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CHANGING FACES Chapter 1: How We Got Here.

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After years of dealing with each other Lila Rossi win's when she convinces Hawkmoth that Marinette is Ladybug. In order to throw off suspicion and keep the Miracle Box safe Marinette and her supportive parents leave Paris and head to Gotham of all places. In this new place away from her friends and her unhealthy routines Marinette is forced to confront herself and change for the better. Helping her on her journey is a surprising new friend and potential ally. When Alya missing her friend learns about the chance to win a free trip to Gotham she convinces the class to work hard to qualify. When her new life clashes with her old one will Marinette be able to hold on strong to her new confidence or will she crumble under the pressure?

( This fic will be for the most part comedic, fluffy, and sweet, with only a bit of seriousness to tie it together. With only the mildest salt because I don't think the class or Adrien are bad people just that they can be naive and selfish thanks to the canon writing. I hope you enjoy reading this work and have fun with me on this journey. )

Marinette felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched onto her parents and sobbed. She felt like her world was collapsing and yet she desperately held herself back from despair. The bakery that had once made the best pastries in all of Paris bringing smiles and warmth to those who needed it on rainy days, the house that had carried Marinette through her youth with her ever changing height etched into one of the doorways, the pink room that held precious memories of friends and fights and tears and laughter, the balcony that had seen many a hero visit it. All of it was gone. The wild flames devoured every bit of the precious structure. Worse still this was not the work of an akuma, not something that could be undone with a magic swarm of ladybugs, but worse than the permanence of this act was the person behind it. As Marinette’s parents pulled her closer comforting her and themselves the young hero wondered how she was supposed to tell them that Hawkmoth was targeting her?

CHAPTER 1:

How We Got Here

Lila Rossi had always been an ambitious girl, she knew she was beautiful and prettier than other girls when her father got her that first modeling gig at 6 years old for a well known children's brand. She knew she could act and get what she wanted at 8 when she starred in several commercials, she wowed those behind the camera with her poise and charm!

Lila knew she just KNEW that she was born to be a star! When at 10 she won a National beauty pageant and they placed the massive sparkly crown on her head while her father stood beside her beaming with pride. Sure the gems were fake but someday she vowed to get real ones!

Her father always told her how much better she was, he never disciplined her, never worried about her grades, he only expected her to be her best whenever a camera was pointed her way. He treated her like the Princess she was. And shielded her from her mom's constant criticism about her ‘academic’ performance and her concerns over Lila ‘being too thin for her age’ and her constant whining about being ‘kinder’ to her annoying ugly classmates.

His most important lessons were not the ones about her stance, walk, or looks. No, the most important lessons he taught her were how to use those around her, common people were just tools designed and made to be useful to those better and smarter than them and if they were not useful? Then they had to be removed.

Her father had ‘removed’ many useless people from her path. He had blackmailed, scared, and tricked those around him his whole life all while wearing a dashing smile on his perfect handsome face. Beautiful clever people like them were meant for better lives, he told Lila, building her dreams for fame, fortune and a life on an easy street. Grades and hard work would never get her anywhere in a world that valued connections, beauty and money.

And for years Lila followed her father without hesitation, she lied and schemed and made connections. And whenever she messed up her daddy was there to fix it with a well placed lie and some cash. Lila had hardly needed to try in school for years with her fathers help and a few well placed lies the gullible idiots were always there to help! Teachers and classmates were always a sucker for her story of how ‘she never had many friends due to her mama's career’. Her life was easy, and the fact that her mothers job made the family move so frequently only helped Lila get away with everything after all teachers notes about her behavior got lost between borders and languages easily!

Life was great, and it would have stayed that way if she hadn’t made a mistake. At 13 Lila was living in Gotham, a disgusting place full of horrible people and a penchant for crime. But under all the grit and grime of the city was a gem Lila quickly set her eyes on. She went to the right school, studied her target carefully, and then she played the perfect role until her prey was caught. Her father had burst into laughter with a proud grin on his face as Lila told him of her glorious success. If they played their cards carefully they would be living the easy life soon enough.

But Lila had slipped up, she had thought her victory was assured and let her mask slide at just the wrong time. The result was a messy breakup with her golden ticket, one Lila did not take well she bit off more than she could chew and next thing she knew there was a lawsuit. It should have worked out like everything always did, her dad should have fixed it with money and a charming smile. But that didn’t happen, instead her father's lies were exposed. His several illegal get rich quick schemes were brought to light along with his bribery and blackmail.

Lila’s mother was horrified and in order to survive the scrutiny that became aimed her way Lila had no choice but to fake her shock and horror as well, leaning on her mothers trust to sneak through. She had to bite her tongue as her father was dragged to jail and her mother divorced him and applied for a transfer. Lila’s life fell apart and her dreams of fame and fortune were severely set back with her fathers connections severed. But Lila was not so easily defeated. She always wins in the end ALWAYS. So as her mother ushered her onto a plane set for Paris France Lila schemed.

France as it turned out was perfect for Lila, the presence of Hawkmoth meant that most people acted extra gullible and ‘kind’ and with a weakness that big all Lila needed to do was find the right people to exploit and she’d be back on track. A quick look at the biggest fashion brands with headquarters in Paris soon led to one of her favorites Gabriel, one of the best of the best, and a quick look at the Gabriel’s brand on the internet led to his teenage son. A blonde boy that was JUST Lila’s taste and just her age, from Adrien Agreste’s instagram she soon found his school and classmates and it was the perfect jackpot.

Adrien attended an extremely exclusive school the cream of the crop attended, the students were either rich or talented enough to earn scholarships. Lurking through Adrien Agrestes pictures Lila learned about his classmates and it only got better. Nino Lahiffe a musician and wannabee film director who had won a few amateur competitions getting his name out there. Alya Cesaire, a teenager running the most successful blog in Paris with one of the few exclusive interviews with the hero Ladybug. Chloe Bourgeois the mayor's beloved daughter. The rest of the class was just as impressive, a few sports fanatics, a couple musicians, some super nerd who made a sentient robot, some loser who was making superhero comics? Apparently they were popular so whatever. Some girl who apparently won a hat competition with a hideous bowler hat with a feather? A wannabe model who had pictures of herself wearing clothes from a photoshoot she did that Lila would DIE for. But most infuriating was the up and coming actress of the class she had starred in several commercials after Nino’s award winning amateur short films had her starring in a leading role, Lila had to take a deep breath and remind herself that if things went the way she planned that would soon be HER and not some chubby little charity loving wimp.

Getting her mother to agree to enroll her into Collège Françoise Dupont was easy, if anything her mother was delighted and happy to see Lila taking her education so seriously that she’d looked into schools all by herself. Lila only put on a fake smile and told her mother that she needed a good education if she was going to become a woman half as impressive as her mom. That got Lila’s annoyance of a mother to fold like a deck of cards and she called the same day to book a tour of the school and a meeting with the faculty to discuss her daughters placement and safety after all the whole ‘akuma’ situation bothered Delia Rossi greatly when it came to the safety of her daughter.

Getting her mother to take her to the school tour and meeting was just as easy as getting her to call and the second they arrived Lila began hunting for the teacher who would help get her what she wanted. While she could still access Agreste and his classmates from another class it would be easier if she could be in the same class and for that she needed to find and meet with his teacher a woman mentioned in a few of his and his classmates posts for being the ‘best’ teacher they apparently even through her parties to celebrate how kind and great she was. Gag. But hopefully if she was as sweet as she said she’d also be just as stupid. Kind people were ALWAYS stupid.

Luckily sneaking away wasn’t hard. The second they entered their meeting with the Principle Lila knew she’d thrive in the school. The fat man was clearly nothing but a bumbling fool and the way he bent over to try and please Lila’s mother due to her status and wealth made it clear he was someone easy to use. However when he introduced Lila’s teacher a Ms. Mendeleiev Lila could tell she would only give her trouble. The woman was stiff, serious and oozed no nonsense this would not do at all so Lila acted fast, batting her eyes and asking in an excited tone if she could explore the school while her mom and Damocles continued talking.

The second the office door closed behind her Lila dropped her fake smile and went on the hunt. No way was she going to Ms.Mendeleleiv’s class. Luckily Adrien Agrerste and his classmates loved posting pictures on there stupid little instagrams and using them she quickly tracked down the classroom. Luckily she had gotten her mother to plan the meeting for the lunch period of a school day which meant that the person Lila wanted to see was in her class eating lunch. Now all Lila needed to do was convince Caline Bustier that Lila Rossi should be in her class. Putting on an innocent smile Lila shyly knocked on Bustier's open door.

Getting the redheaded teacher on her side had been easy. Almost TOO easy. It was like the whole of Paris was filled with gullible morons just waiting for Lila to give them a proper use. By the end of the lunch period Caline Bustier had gone back to the office with Lila to talk her mother and Damocles into putting Lila into her class. And all Lila had to do to get Caline to dance to her tune was play the role of the shy sweet perfect girl who had just lost her father and moved to a strange new city, slipping in how she was the daughter of a powerful woman and sprinkling in details about her many accomplishments in the acting scene as well as her hard won pageants only seemed to make Bustiers eyes gleam with greed. Lila soon figured her out, it seemed Caline Bustier liked to collect the cream of the crop for her class and now she wanted to add Lila to her jewel set. It worked out well so Lila let it happen.

With everything set up Lila waited eagerly for her first day of class ready to take a seat on her new throne and command her new subjects to help build her an untouchable career filled with fame and wealth. Even if she was using them they should thank her after all by helping her with her career they would be helping their own careers after all Lila needed them to succeed so that she could succeed. If anything they should thank her for selecting them. As Lila headed to bed that night she could not help the grin that slid onto her face. Losing her dearest father had been a blow but Lila would still conquer the world. Just like they had always planned.

Sadly. In every kingdom there is a fire starter. Someone who doesn’t know their place. Lila had met many of them on her journey to the top. In the past her father would have taken care of them but now Lila was on her own and she wasn’t dealing with just one but two.

Ladybug, the local hero who Lila should never have had the displeasure of meeting face to face, had ruined her shot at wrapping Adrien Agreste around her finger. Worse still Lila’s mother had dragged her back to italy after learning of Lila’s akumatization. It had taken Lila awhile to convince her mother that she was not only safe but remembered nothing of the incident. She also needed to lie about the real reason for the incident claiming that she’d been akumatized after she lost her fathers gift necklace. Luckily while she convinced her mother to head back to Paris Caline Buster the gullible woman that she was let Lila video chat with the class and weave them a pretty lie about her mothers work taking her somewhere much more exotic then her grandparents stupid apple tree farm.

However during her second ‘first day’ at her new school Lila met her second rival. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Lila was shocked by the influence she held over the others in class. Her social media profiles made her seem like a nervous shy wreck who could trip over her own feet any second. Yet apparently she was some fashion designer wannabee and class president. Lila soon learned that Marinette held power and popularity and Lila knew she needed her GONE asap if she was going to succeed.

But things just kept getting in her way, after getting Marinette booted out of the school Adrien had interfered he’d offered Lila a good deal, worse she still had hopes of making the blonde idiot her’s and since he was ALL about friendship and forgiveness she needed to play the part for him. So she let Marinette slink back to school and prepared herself for their battle. Lila would get rid of Marinette and Ladybug one way or another.

It took years to hatch the perfect scheme. As seasons changed and Lila got older, her brilliant plan had half succeeded. Now at 16 years old if you looked in magazines or out your window at billboards it wasn’t just Adrien Agreste’s face anymore. No Lila was there too now acting as THE face for Gabriel’s young womens fashion line. Her mother had stopped complaining once Lila’s grades went up which was easy to achieve when she could pay, guilt, or manipulate someone into doing her homework for her or worse come she could use Bustier and Damocles to fix her grades. After all having a supermodel with a mother in Politics looked good for the school and helped bring in donations from wealthy parents so her grades should reflect that.

But despite how well things were going the thorn in her side had remained. Ladybug continued to be an annoyance that dominated Adrien’s focus. While Marinette continued to ruin her schemes. When they were 13 Lila had tried spreading rumors and lies but Marinette kept disproving them with her perfect little good girl act. At 14 Lila upgraded to sabotaging Marinette making sure she missed parties, deadlines, she even destroyed a dress commission Marinette claimed was for some big shot called Penny Rolling? Yeah Lila had never heard of a Penny Rolling in rock music, what a pathetic lie. Annoyingly however Marinette bounced back when she missed parties the class waved it off as Marinette being busy being ‘awesome’ when she missed deadlines she somehow still came through and the big dress commission Lila destroyed? Marinette somehow salvaged it and Lila saw it on a magazine cover a week later.

At 15 Lila and Marinette entered a cold war period. Lila had one to many close calls where Marinette almost exposed her and with her job at Gabriel Lila wasn’t going to risk it. However that didn’t mean things were peaceful. Lila had learned she could weaponize her classmates. They were kind gullible idiots but if there was something Lila had learned it was that they were all a little selfish. All of them had big ambitions and goals in life and the talent to back them up its why Lila had chosen them in the first place as thanks to their talent she’d appeared in a few of Nino’s award winning short films which got her commercial work, she’d also used Alya’s blog to create a booming social media presence for herself, through Kitty Section Lila got to meet several music people. But in order to be as successful as they were, the class sometimes made selfish requests of each other and Lila was able to manipulate that. Marinette was crushed under the weight of demands she could never bring herself to say ‘no’ to. Lila even heard from Alya that Marinette had closed her websites commissions just to help her class. The stupid designers dreams got stalled thanks to her ‘kindness’ while Lila’s career took off toward the stars.

But now at 16 Lila was done playing with Marinette she needed her GONE. Marinette was a threat to her career and her kingdom but the real straw that broke the camel's back was when Marinette used one of Lila’s own lies against her forcing her to back down from starring in one Nino’s newest short films, and giving the role to that dumpy little goody brat Mylene. The film had gone on to win international awards and Mylene had been given a job offer for a tv show. Lila had seen red at that and knew that she had been playing nice too long Marinette needed to go.

Luckily Lila had learned a few new tricks. Getting rid of Marinette directly would endanger her if things went wrong. She’d seen that first hand with her father. No, the best way to get rid of a threat was to have someone else do it for you and luckily Lila had made friends in very high places. Hawkmoth was a pathetic villain with a losing streak so long it was embarrassing to call him an ally but, Lila found it handy to keep the butterfly obsessed villain on her side.And now he was going to help her greatly. Lila had for years noticed the similarities between Ladybug and Marinette mostly in how they kept interfering in her life. Now did Lila actually believe they were the same person? No, Marinette was too much of a cowardly little mouse to be the bold Ladybug not to mention they looked nothing alike… Not that Lila could actually remember what Ladybug looked like when she tried to think about it. But whatever the point was, Hawkmoth was desperate and Marinette was the perfect person to point his way.

It only took 30 minutes for Lila to convince Hawkmoth to look into Marinette between the girls track record at never being akumatized her constant absences whenever Ladybug was around. And all the other lies Lila came up with to make Marinette seem more suspicious then she was Hawkmoth was convinced to check in on Marinette. After that Hawkmoth and Lila met a few more times each time Lila pushed him a little farther and whispered in his ear some more fake evidence until finally she got him right where she wanted him. It was a simple suggestion, an idea she acted like she’d only just had and not one she’d been plotting for months.

“Why not burn down the house? If she is Ladybug and hiding the other miraculous there she will have to reveal the hiding place in order to retrieve them from the rubble?” When Hawkmoth answered in silence before pulling back his butterfly from Lila breaking there connection and conversation she knew she’d made her mark.

Sure enough a few days later Lila turned on the news to be met with a delightful sight. The best bakery in all of Paris was burning down to the ground in an uncontrollably wild blaze. For the next few hours firefighters fought back the fire but by the time it was done burning there was hardly anything left. The family was sadly unharmed as it turns out Marinette and her parents were having a family night which included a trip to the new horror movie hitting theaters. Lila bit her lip annoyed as she’d hoped Hawkmoths unhinged frame of mind would have him remove Marinette permanently as with her home burned there was still a chance she would return to school and continue being a pest.

The following monday however Lila learned her plan had still worked just fine as a heartbroken Alya sobbed into Lila’s shoulder that Marinette’s parents had decided they could no longer handle the stress of living in Paris and were moving back to Tom’s childhood home in America. Lila had to fight to keep the grin of victory off her lips as she rubbed Alya’s back and made fake promises that it would all be okay and that surely her and Marinette would stay bff’s even with the distance. The look of Adrien looking confused and heartbroken only delighted Lila more. With Marinette gone Lila would finally be able to do what she set out to do 3 years ago. She would replace her and become the one everyone loved and listened to.

Lila had finally won.

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( Life’s been stressful and busy but I’m happy I can finally post the first chapter of this big dumb stupid idea. I hope you guys are eager for more! )

#daminette #salt fic #lila salt #lila bashing #class salt #but its mild trust me #class redemption #Marinette deserves better #adrien salt #miraculous fanfic #marinette x damian #maribat #my fic #Changing Faces Fic

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simplyanotherartist · 7 months

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How do you manage not to give up on writing your salt fics? I mean, writing every single character to be an unredeemable horrible person has to get tiring after a while.

For some characters, yes. It can get tiring and I will mostly only do it to move along in a plot or to make it seem like there are less good people around to help when needed.

However, there are some characters that I just can't help but see more and more salt in. My main victim: Adrien.

I'm sorry, but I can't help it. There are so many things wrong with this boy and the things he does/says in canon, that how am I not supposed to write Salt about him? It's usually more of an annoying hassle to give excuses for him and make him seem redeemable for how he's been.

#adrien salt #mlb #mlb salt #fic #salt fic

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jasmine-the-fox · 3 months

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May the spirits spare your soul

And at long last... I present to you all a new salt fic! So sorry for the wait I didn't mean to take this long to write anything... I have been trying to limit when I use my laptop and so I forgot to even make any fics for you all. Anyways this is my salt fic and I hope you all enjoy!

The time has come for the students at the Light academy to summon a spirit and see there soulmate thread to find the one they were meant to be with for all eternity. Jasmine and Marinette were very excited about this event, the two of them have talked about all of the spirits they could summon and they imagined who there soulmates could be in the end. Mari believed her soulmate would be charming and protective of her.

All the while Jasmine believed her soulmate would be loving, caring, strong and many other things... But at the end of the day she just wanted someone who would love her no matter what happens, as a result they were waiting in line for there turn to summon there spirit and soulmate thread... All of a sudden they heard laughter and looked to find ahead of them was Lila Rossi, she is a liar and still was able to get people around her to believe everything she claims.

"Don't waste our time you losers! We all know that neither of you will get anything so just go back to your rooms" she said making Mari want to smack her but Jasmine stops her "You know she will make us look like the bad guys if you try anything. It's for the best to ignore her for now and wait for our chance to take her down" she explained making Mari sigh but nod in agreement.

They stay where they were which angers Lila before she looks forward and keeps moving as time slowly moves for her to have her turn to summon her spirit and get her thread to her soulmate... She couldn't wait to shove it in Jasmine and Mari's faces when she get's one and they don't in the end, she smiles as she walks to her spot in her white dress and gives her name so she can be marked as her turn being done. She recites the incantation that is required to summon the spirit... And nothing happened which shocked her, she was about to try again but the dish that to reveal her thread was brought to her.

She dipped her hand and nothing happened again... She was angry and stormed over to where the others who had there turn were talking to there spirit or there friends. Time goes by and soon it's Mari's turn, she takes her spot and just as she was about to give her name Lila speaks "Don't bother with her or Jasmine. They won't get anything at all" she claimed but was ignored as Mari gave her name. She then spoke the incantation and all of a sudden lightning began and before Mari was a little storm... That revealed her spirit. He was a boy that looked around her age with blonde hair and green eyes, he also had black markings on his body.

"Hello my dear Soulmate. I am Adrien the God of Destruction and i am here to serve and care for you" he said making Mari look at him in shock, when the dish was brought to her she trembled as she placed her hand inside and the liquid began to glow. She pulled her hand out and just like he said her thread connected to him... They were soulmates, she opened her mouth to speak only for there to be a shriek "You thief! You stole him from me! He's my spirit and soulmate so give him back now!" Lila ordered only for an elder to speak "you should know Rossi that it is impossible to steal a spirit or even a soulmate from another" she claimed making Lila get looked at in confusion.

Of course she felt shame and so she ran away to her room, Jasmine then walked to her spot to speak her name... Only for two things to happen before she could: A tree sprouted before her and a fire tornado formed... Both of them revealed two beings that made many gasp in shock. The one in the tree was slightly shorter then Jasmine but not by much, he had curly green hair and bright green eyes, he had freckles all over him and was clearly an elf if you could tell by the clothes then by the ears... The other was taller than the both of them, he had spiky blonde hair and sharp red eyes, he also had dragon wings and a tail.

"Hello soulmate! I am Izuku elf God of the forest! I am so happy to finally meet you!" Izuku said making Jasmine smile "And I am Katsuki Fire dragon God" Katsuki claimed making Jasmine nod, the dish was brought to her and just like for Mari... It glowed and her threads connected to her two spirits. Everyone was shocked by this as they had never seen someone with two spirits who were also there soulmates, Jasmine soon walked over to Mari and Adrien "Why hello there Jasmine. Marinette has told me about you... But would it be alright if I could look around before we go somewhere to relax and talk?" Adrien asked making Jasmine smile and nod.

They then walked around so the three Gods could be shown around, Adrien would keep an eye out for anyone who might try to hurt Mari... All the while Katsuki had his tail around Jasmine's waist and Izuku spoke to some of the plants around him. When asked about it, he explained that it was to connect with the area so if he wasn't with Jasmine... He would at least know where she was and if she was alright, after awhile they split ways to show there respective soulmates there room, Adrien began to bring his things to decorate the room and to replace some of Mari's old things with new ones.

Izuku and Katsuki on the other hand... They completely took over the room, stuff was thrown out to be replaced with better furniture, decorations were added, jewelry was presented to Jasmine as gifts, plants were added for Izuku and that was just the tip of the iceberg on what they did to her room. A month goes by, and the two girls are bonding well with there soulmates and while some agree with Lila about her claims about it being unfair she didn't get anything... Others disagreed with her and began to stay away from her, this angered her as they shouldn't be leaving her like that.

Lila was so angry but determined to get back at the two... She was the winner in this place and there was no way she will allow them to win even once while she's around... So she began to form a little plan, this however was sensed by Adrien, he looked over to find Lila heading somewhere and he could tell she had a plan in mind "Adrien? Is something wrong?" he turned back towards Mari and smiled towards her "Sorry love... But I think it would be for the best that we go inside now" he explained, this of course confused the two girls but they both nodded as Jasmine offered they go to her room.

Mari nodded in agreement and they all headed inside to Jasmine's room, they slowly walked over and Mari was surprised that she moved "Katsuki got into a fight with a girl next to me because she was being too loud with her potions... Then she made a hole in the wall and almost hurt me so he went to attack her" she explained making Mari gasp while Katsuki grumbled about how he had warned the girl to be careful. They walk into the room to find it much larger than her old room, she had a large bed, a chair swing, a table to read and drink tea on, a large bookshelf and so much space to do her own thing, they all sat down at the table while Izuku went and made them all some tea.

They talked for a while as they relaxed until there was a knock on the door, Izuku goes to open it and finds Lila who looked sad and teacher Bustier who looked displeased about something "Now Jasmine, I know your happy with your situation but it's not fair at all to Lila that you summoned two spirits while she didn't. So it's for the best that you hand one of them over to her" she ordered. They were all shocked by her words as she then grabbed Izuku to force him by Lila to follow her... He wasn't the one she wanted though since she would rather have Katsuki by her side but she was happy to have still won... But Adrien stopped it "Miss, while I understand you wish to make her happy... You are wrong to force a soulmate to be with another who isn't there soulmate or master" he explained.

This of course angered Caline, she tried to force what she ordered to happen... But then teacher Mendeleiev came over "What is the meaning of this Caline! You know that a spirit or even a soulmate can't be with another as they are bound to there summoner and soulmate no matter what!" she screams, Caline tried to explain but she and Lila were dragged by the woman to be spoken to... leaving the group alone for now as they were certain that Lila wasn't done with them just yet. Izuku who had been terrified from the situation quickly ran to Jasmine who held him close to her side, Mari feeling like it was for the best to leave said her goodbyes and left with Adrien for her room, later she received a letter explaining that she and Jasmine were excused from classes for the entire day after what happened to them thanks to Lila.

She didn't know what Jasmine had planned... But she knew that she wanted to go to the market and get to know Adrien a little better today, while she was out and about... Jasmine didn't leave her room, Izuku needed her and Katsuki went out for her to get them food after making sure that the seal around the room was there and active so no one could try to enter. Later, during the night he didn't sleep... Instead her kept himself awake to watch over his soulmates and to keep them safe... And warm as they both despised the cold. As for Lila and Caline, Lila was given a warning for her actions while Caline was pulled out from her classes for a week even after she focuses on writing 300 times that she couldn't force a spirit to be with another student or a soulmate to be with someone else.

They of course hated this... But those were there punishments for there actions, the worst part was that all of the students found out what she did... Turns out Jasmine's neighbour was in her room and heard what happened... She was the reason Mendeleiev came and also told everyone what happened... Resulting in Lila being hated and ignored while Jasmine was asked how Izuku was doing. Lila of course tried to save face by lying to her old followers... But only the three who were loyal stay by her side which upsetted her as she wanted more of them by her side... But they snapped out of her lies and went to apologize to Mari and Jasmine for there actions, after that things went back to normal.

Jasmine and Mari went to there classes while bonding with there soulmates, many students praised them for there strength while some went to them for help which resulted in them becoming popular, this caused Lila to want what they have back... And then she got a plan. One day everyone began to talk after the first class of the day about how Lila didn't come to class and no one knew why, but then... They were all in a panic when an explosion happened outside, Adrien claimed that Lila was the reason for the explosion and when asked why... Everyone felt fear "She summoned someone by force... And it's not a spirit or a god" he explained.

The teachers rushed outside with some students' including Mari and Jasmine followed them... Sure enough Lila was where they do the annual spirit summoning with a bright smile "I did it! I summoned my spirit and soulmate!" she claimed... everyone gasped in horror as she didn't summon a spirit... But a high ranking demon "I am Tomura... A pleasure" he said, teachers screamed that they needed to send Tomura back and cleanse Lila after what she did which was against so many laws but she refused and screamed that they were trying to tear her from her soulmate. Tomura made things worse when he claimed that they were being rude to him and his soulmate... And then... He noticed Jasmine, he grinned and pounced to attack her, she screamed in horror as Mari called out to her but luckily Izuku and Katsuki moved quickly enough to protect her while Adrien went to attack him and move him away from everyone.

Lila tried to stop Adrien, but teachers take her back inside by force making her scream for Tomura... only for Adrien to succeed in sending him back where he belongs... However he turned in horror to find Jasmine on the ground in pain, in the end Tomura had been able to lightly touch her and as a result his powers were slowly killing her from the inside and outside, unable to keep watching her suffer... Katsuki and Izuku move and give her some of there blood and begin a binding incantation. This will bind her to them and she will live as long as they do, unable to die and unable to age anymore... As a result the attack Tomura did on her disappeared and she woke up fully healed, Mari cried tears of joy at this and held her friend close to her side, after that, they watched as Lila was punished for her crimes by being sent to the shadow realm.

This realm was a prison to make the criminals suffer by either going mad... Or end there own life, Lila tried to fight back but failed and was sent to the shadow realm, Jasmine was offered some time out of class and she accepted to return home with Katsuki and Izuku to inform her family and friends there of what happened to her... Many cried but accepted in the end that she would watch them all die in the end which hurt her greatly, she stayed there for a few days before heading back to the school to continue with her studies. Mari does check on her at times because she still worried about her friend, but Jasmine always smiled and told her not to worry about her and to focus on herself... Adrien ended up explaining to her that Jasmine needed time to accept that she might never die.

This broke Mari's heart... But she accepted this and allowed time for her friend to heal from this new life she was to live, of course it wasn't easy on Jasmine either as many of the students began to ask her questions about being immortal... She tried to turn them away but most of the time she would return to her room tired and drained from answering there questions. Katsuki and Izuku try there best to help her but most of the time... She simply wanted to sleep, one day Katsuki and Izuku took her away for a few days, she was of course confused until they took her to a lovely house that was by a gorgeous lake. They revealed how they built it for her to relax and be able to heal from what happened to her because of Lila... Jasmine cried that day for the first time after she was told she wouldn't die as long as Katsuki and Izuku live.

She looked around the place and slowly adjusted to the place with them showing her around, she returned to class much better then before and even spoke to Mari with a bright smile... This made her friend so happy that she was doing so much better now. Time went by and soon they graduated, Mari returned home to her parents to be with them for a while while Jasmine went back to him to celebrate with her friends and family before she goes back to the home her soulmates built for them to live in together. Years go by and now Mari is also immortal and is a teacher at the academy, Jasmine on the other hand is the mother of five kids: two forest dragons, two fire elves and one dragon elf with great magic... the five will attend the academy when they are older but for now learn from there parents while Jasmine carried there younger sibling.

Mari and Adrien visit when they can and are always happy to see them, currently Mari and Adrien's daughter Emma wasn't with them as she had to study for a test so they only had Lucas with them... But they promised she would be with them next time, Jasmine simply smiled as she greeted them and had the two join her while Lucas went to play, they talked for a bit until Mari went to join the kids in there little game "Adrien? Are you happy?" Jasmine asked making Adrien look at Marinette "Yes. Being with my soulmate at long last makes me so happy... Just like i believe Katsuki and Izuku are happy to be with you" he said making Jasmine smile and nod as Katsuki came over to carry her over to the others with Adrien following.

Yes... Adrien was very happy now... He wait 300 years to be with Mari once more and now he would never let her go... He knew that Katsuki and Izuku on the other hand... Waited five thousand years to be with Jasmine once more...

He also knew that Lila who was stuck in the shadow realm... Was praying for the spirits who live there... To spare her soul... Even though they have waited centuries for her to finally be in there grasp...

#miraculous salt #salt fic #crossover #miraculous ladybug #bnha #no miraculous au #soulmate au #Spirit au #Magic au #lila salt #adrienette #oc x katsuki x izuku

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yamagotchii · 1 year

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Marinette meets a past Ladybug holder. Things don't go as planned.

Trigger Warnings in tags

Marinette's dreams have been odd lately.

She's in an odd fuzzy near sleep state before she drops.

Drops right from a fuzzy liminal space a dark void. Except voids shouldn't have floors. Voids shouldn't echo and their shouldn't be anyone else in them. Theirs a red spot somewhere on the horizon. She can't make out any features the closer she gets until one night the spot morphs into a person.

A ladybug; or more specifically, a Ladybug holder.

"H-hello?" She says, but the user doesn't turn. "U-um, L-Ladybug?"

The holder scoffs. "Try again, soldier."

"Um, I'm sorry I don't know-"

"Don't you ever say that again. To me, or yourself, and especially in the heat of battle, don't you ever let them question your control." The holder turns and Marinette's eyes widen.

Before her is a petite woman, no taller than her mom, with curly hair cut into a bob with one part of her bangs clipped back from her face. She bares a small cape in the shape of ladybug wings and thick pads of armor on her elbows and knees. Her eyes are brown and firm with determination and confidence, she can't be much older than Alya's sister, but with the way she carries herself you'd think she'd been arounds for decades.

"On and off the field I'm to go by the Red General. Nothing more nothing less. Are we clear?"

"O-oh, yes ma'am!"

The Red General nod and turned back around, fiddling with something she couldn't make out before screens shot up from below; footage of past battle surrounding them with the audio cut off.

"I'm here to talk about your performance on the field." The Red General says. "Past holders are too cowardly and forgiving to say anything, but I refuse to stand back and watch this mockery any longer."

"W-what are you-?"

"I'll only be saying this once, so be sure to take what I say to heart, understood?"

"..."

"I said, do you understand, soldier?" She repeat, eyes hardened.

"Y-yes, ma'am!"

"Good." The Red General pulls up footage she'd filed away. "Kuro Neko. A mess, an absolute failure of a mission with no redeeming qualities. Your partner made a fool of you and of your mission. He abandoned his post, gave the enemy a weapon of mass destruction, left said weapon on a civilian rooftop for anyone to carry, and had the audacity to play victim. And what did you do, soldier?" She asked. "Through all of that unnecessary drama how did you respond?"

"I-I apologized because-"

"Because what, soldier? Because you felt bad for him? Because you felt guilty for ignoring him in the line of duty? You reward him for throwing a temper tantrum and allow his unprofessional and disrespectful behavior to continue?"

"That's not far, Plagg-"

"Plagg is a immortal entity that has no concept of running an army let alone a team of heroes against a terrorist. He had to right giving you orders like that and you had no reason to yield to his demand. Do not become some Gods plaything."

She took a step forward and on instinct Marinette stepped back, somehow feeling pressed against a wall by her gaze.

"You have been entrusted with beings of vast unimaginable power. You make the calls. Do no sit back and allow them to disrespect you like this. In my army it was ship up or ship out. You earned your miraculous and at a moments notice that privilege can and will be taken away the second you prove yourself unworthy. I've sat by and watched countless Ladybug holders navigate the trials that come with yielding such power, but I refuse to sit by and watch you bend and fold to such injustice."

The Red General stepped once more, but Marinette couldn't find it in her to step back, locked in place by the commanding air surrounding the holder.

"My time has passed. I have no intentions of returning to the field. My troops, my comrades, my friends are waiting for me beyond this world, but mark my words, if you continue on this path towards self destruction, you won't have to worry about the pressure of the ladybug miraculous much longer. Are we clear?"

Marinette nod.

"Good. Then at ease, soldier. It's time to wake up."

#miraculous lb #miraculous fanfic #salt fic #kuro neko salt #chatnoir salt #adrien salt #past ladybug #dreamstate #i wrote this instead of focusing in class #mlb season five #mlb spoilers

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airi-p4 · 1 year

Text

The choice

Summary: After sharing her secret with Luka and getting back to dating again, Marinette's boyfriend informs her he has decided to leave Paris because it's dangerous.

Now she has to choose: stay with her family, friends and superhero duties or leave Paris with Luka? The choice is easier than expected.

Warning: salt 🧂🧂🧂

AO3

___________________________________

The choice

Marinette gulped when she saw the new message her boyfriend Luka had sent to her a few minutes ago.

'Marinette. I have to talk to you. It's important'

She couldn't deny she was worried, anxious, and a little scared.

She knew that she didn't need to be. That now that he knew about her being Ladybug and that they had started dating again, that she had nothing to worry about. She knew she could fully trust him, and that he gave her all the love and comfort she could ever ask for.

She was happy with him, even with those akumas messing with their dates.

But since when have good things lasted for her?

There was a glimpse of worry she couldn't ignore.

"Luka! Sorry for the wait!"

"It's fine, Marinette, I saw the akuma on the news. Good job" he praised, kissing her check rewardingly. She felt her cheeks warm up at the contact.

"I didn't want to keep you waiting, so I handled it as fast as I could" she bragged and he smiled fondly at her.

"Thank you. You're amazing"

She blushed at the compliment. She was so glad she found the courage to tell him about her secret, even if he already knew. They had just started dating again and she couldn't be more thankful to have him in her life.

"And what did you want to talk about? You said it was important…"

"It is." Luka held her hand gently. "Listen Marinette: I want to leave Paris"

"Eh?" She jolted in shock. "Why?"

"Because-" he looked down as he talked. "I was almost akumatized the other day and I realized I was putting you in danger. I can't stand the thought of me betraying you under Miss Butterfly's influence, so I decided it was best to leave"

"But Luka-! I'll protect you!"

"I know you would, Marinette. I have no doubts about that" he reassured her, caressing her hands in his. "But there are things that go beyond our control and I don't want to risk your safety"

"But…" she shrugged sadly.

"But-" he interrupted. "There's something I want to ask you"

"What is it?" she looked up at him again.

"Would you come with me, Marinette?"

"Eh?" Her eyes glowed in awe.

"We're adults now, and we can freely decide what to do with our lives- and I know I want you in mine" he spoke softly and honestly. "But, for me, your safety will always come first" She listened, fascinated and moved by his concern and care. "I'd really love it for you to come with me, Marinette. But I know it's a difficult choice to make and-"

"Yes"

"Huh?" He blinked, surprised by how quickly she answered.

"Yes, I want to go with you, Luka! Wherever you go," she grinned lovingly.

"Are you sure?" He blinked twice. "We are talking about choosing between me or your city! With your family, friends and superhero duties, Marinette! If you need time to-"

"Gosh- It makes it even easier when you say it like that!" She laughed at his seriousness and confusion.

The question sounded ridiculous to her, choosing between…

On one hand: her family, friends, and Ladybug duties…

Her family? They hadn't been very supportive of her. Sure, they cared and loved her, but they never really checked on her despite knowing what was going on at school with Chloe and even sided with Lila when she was almost expelled! Their bond wasn't as strong anymore, not since then…

Her friends? She wished she could still call them that, but they had turned their backs on her in favor of Lila. It hurt her deeply, especially Alya. She had very few people left who she could call 'friend'.

As for her duties as Ladybug… She had been doing it for years! The thought of getting rid of Chat Noir's uncomfortable advances for once sounded like a dream come true. Of course she wanted to quit!

And on the other hand, there was Luka.

Her loving, caring and reliable boyfriend who she loved deeply. Her best friend, cool and talented, who always checked on her to make sure she was doing well. The one who welcomed her with open arms to comfort her anytime she needed someone. The person she trusted the most, even with her life, who was always so protective and always put her first (which was apparently the reason he decided to leave and ask her the question)

So yes- choosing between Luka or the rest, seemed like a joke.

"Marinette?" Luka called, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"It's not a difficult choice at all, Luka. It's easy, in fact" She smiled happily at him. "I love you and I want you in my life. I want to be with you and I'd rather take you than a bunch of people who don't fill me with joy anymore. Or anything else, really"

She loved when he stared at her with those glowing eyes of his, filled with love, fascination and adoration. Even when his mouth was absurdly open, lips curved upright.

She loved it when Luka was happy. But she loved it even more knowing that it was her that made him happy.

"So you're really coming with me? Even though I haven't told you where we're going?" Luka asked with joy and a bit of disbelief.

"Yes, I am! I want to be with you. Anywhere. Always"

"Always" he smiled like the lovefool he was. "What about your earrings?"

"I think Socqueline could be a great Ladybug. She was my inspiration when we were at school together. I learned a lot from her and I know I can trust her" she pressed their hands together.

"Sounds like a plan" he leaned in to kiss her forehead and she giggled, content with the contact. "We can leave tomorrow. Or next week, if you need more time"

"Tomorrow sounds perfect" She grinned. "Thank you for taking me with you"

"Thank you for choosing to come with me" he smiled, caressing her hands softly. "I love you, Marinette"

"I love you too, Luka"

They melted in a tender kiss, needy but steady, losing themselves in their mutual love.

It was the best feeling in the world, they agreed.

____________

Years later, and away from Paris, they cuddled happily together on the sofa of their living room. Wedding bands on their ring fingers and toddlers running around the garden. They thought fondly over how thankful they were for all the choices that lead them to that precise moment.

The choices to their happiness.

The end

#my fic #salt fic #airip4 #lukanette fic #endgame lukanette

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broadwaycutie16 · 5 months

Text

Sequel to The Karma of Lies by CartoonAddict564. Also inspired by Karma Overbalance by Shadymissionary and Tales of Karmic Aftermath by Cornholio4

#miraculous ladybug #ml salt #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #miraculous salt #the karma of lies #salt fic #sequel fic #marinette salt #adrien sugar #chloe salt #miraculous #ml fandom salt #adrien deserves better #fandom salt #ml the karma of lies #salt fic sequel

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aikoiya · 9 months

Text

What if it was the 6 Human Souls that are somehow controlling Frisk to destroy Asgore’s Kingdom in REVENGE for their deaths as well as prevent the war/genocide against Humanity?… That would be an interesting tragic story, and it would be KARMA at it’s finest! 💖

(I used the brown heart for patience, cause I couldn’t find the light blue heart…)

~~~

💚 Frisk (Kindness): Why, Toriel? Why didn’t you go with us? Why didn’t you protect us?

Toriel: Wha-What?

💚 Frisk (Kindness): You knew that the King, YOUR HUSBAND, wanted to do with us. You knew he wanted to use us to hurt our own people. To start a war that would wipe out everyone, including innocent families. You knew that after one final soul, he could actually commit genocide… And yet you did nothing.

Toriel: I…

💚 Frisk (Kindness): You did nothing to stop Asgore or your Kingdom from destroying our bodies and ruining our souls.

Toriel: There wasn’t anything I could do to stop-

💚 Frisk (Kindness): YOU WERE THE QUEEN OF THE KINGDOM! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE BRAINS! YOU DIDN’T EVEN TRY TO COME UP WITH A BETTER SOLUTION!… But if you had to abandon your Kingdom and betray your people, at least have the guts to do it right… But you didn’t have the guts, did you Queenie?

Toriel: …

💚 Frisk (Kindness): You left us alone, in the cold…You left us to rot… You left us to die…… At our most vulnerable moments… Y… you… really hatedus that much for wanting to leave?

Toriel (tearful): I’m so sorry, my child…

💚 Frisk (Kindness): Now I see who you were truly protecting by staying here, in the Ruins. Not us…But yourself!… To think I once saw you as better then my original mother… Eheheheh!!! But you really are no different than her!

Toriel (crying and sobbing): I’m so very sorry, my little ones!

💚 Frisk (Kindness): Every monster inside this mountain had celebrated the deaths of children… Yet they say that they’re the compassionate and merciful ones, while humans are the true evil demons… Well, if they want us to be the demons, we’re gonna grant their wish!

Toriel: No! Wait my children, you don’t have to do this! We can still make things right, I-

(Frisk strikes down Toriel with one strike.)

💚 Frisk (Kindness): Too little, too late.

~~~

Papyrus: I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!

🧡 Frisk (Bravery): …Are you serious?

Papyrus: WELL, YES I-

🧡 Frisk (Bravery): You seriously want to hug someone that you know has killed everyone in their path, instead of running away to safety? I know that you’re naive and childish, but this is just straight up stupid!

Papyrus: B-BUT EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY TRY!

🧡 Frisk (Bravery): That’s the thing though, WE ALL TRIED! The problem is none of you cared! You monsters still hurt us!

(Frisk then strikes down Papyrus.)

🧡 Frisk (Bravery): So, why keep trying to please you?

~~~

Undyne: This isn’t just about monsters anymore, is it?

💙 Frisk (Integrity): What?

If you get past me, you’ll…You’ll destroy them all, won’t you? Monsters… Humans… Everyone…

💙 Frisk (Integrity): You’ve gotta be kidding me!

Everyone’s hopes. Everyone’s dreams. Vanquished in an instant.

💙 Frisk (Integrity): Oh, NOW you care about a human’s hopes and dreams!

Undyne: But I WON’T let you do that. Right now, everyone in the world… I can feel their hearts beating as one.

💙 Frisk (Integrity): It’s almost hilarious how arrogant and delusional you are. You make Papyrus look humble!

Undyne: And we all have ONE goal. To defeat YOU.

💙 Frisk (Integrity): I’m not even gonna dignify you with a speech about how much you suck, because your whole ‘heroic’ speech already reeks of hypocrisy!

Undyne: Human. No, WHATEVER you are. For the sake of the whole world… I, UNDYNE, will strike you do-

(Frisk strikes down Undyne, before she could reform herself.)

💙 Frisk (Integrity): You were saying, UndyingUndyne?

~~~

Mettaton: COME ANY CLOSER, AND I’LL BE FORCED TO SHOW YOU… MY TRUE FORM!

💜 Frisk (Perseverance): …Okay.

Mettaton: FINE THEN!… RRRRREADY? IIIIIIIT’S SHOW-

(Frisk strikes down Mettaton, before he could finish transforming.)

💜 Frisk (Perseverance): Show’s over.

(Frisk then turns his head to the wall and finds a camera.)

💜 Frisk (Perseverance): …How disappointing Alphys, you didn’t even try to protect your friend.

~~~

Sans: so, i’ve got a question for ya. do you think even the worst person can change…? that everyone can be a good person, if they just try?

💛Frisk (Justice): You never tried to be a good person, Sans. So you have no right to judge us or humanity, or anyone for that matter. You are nothing, but a selfish coward.

Sans: heh heh heh heh… all right. well, here’s a better question. do you wanna have a bad time? cause if you take another step forward… you are REALLY not going to like what happens next.

💛Frisk (Justice): Neither are you.

Sans: welp. sorry, old lady. this is why i never make pro-

(Frisk then strikes down Sans.)

💛Frisk (Justice): That was more pathetic then I expected.

~~~

Asgore: Now, now. There’s no need to fight. Why not settle this… Over a nice cup of tea?

🤎Frisk (Patience): …’There’s no need to fight’… Isn’t that interesting?… I remember those being my last words to you, before you ended my life…

Asgore: What?

🤎Frisk (Patience): Do you know who I am?

Asgore: No… I’m not sure.

🤎Frisk (Patience): Oh, you better remember me like your life depends on it! Why don’t you take a closer look?

Asgore: Why… You… Yes, yes, I remember you now… You’re one of the fallen human children… The patient soul…

🤎Frisk (Patience): You’re wrong, Asgore. I’m not the one with the patient soul…

Asgore: What? Then who are you?

💖 Frisk (ALL): WE ARE ALL THE INNOCENTS YOU DESTROYED!

💖 Frisk (ALL): WE ARE ALL THE CHILDREN YOU MURDERED!

💖 Frisk (ALL): WE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE YOU HARVESTED FOR POWER!

(Asgore could only silently look at them with horror, terror and guilt.)

🤎Frisk (Patience): You convinced everyone that we’re the villains… You want us to be the bad guys?… Fine.

(Frisk strikes down Asgore with one strike.)

💖 Frisk (ALL): Now, we’re the bad guys!

---

Aikoiya: Okay, this is freaking brilliant. *claps* Bravo.

I can’t help but wonder how Chara & Asriel would react though. I can’t help but feel like they’d in some way also blame them. Because if nothing else, none of this would’ve ever happened if they hadn’t done what they did.

Though, I can’t help but feel like Frisk is being sidelined here. Maybe have Frisk in control, but have them/her (I’ve always hc’d Frisk as she) be guided by the souls instead of flavor-text Chara. Mainly a corrupted Justice, because the corrupted version of Justice is Wrath or Vengence.

Just an idea.

#submission #ut #undertale #salt #salt fic #very cool #very cathartic

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starfinss · 2 years

Text

Coup de Grâce — Miraculous 1/2

𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮: Miraculous Ladybug

𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir + Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug

𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨: SFW

𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 6,469

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺:

Coup de Grâce (Noun) A final blow or shot, given to kill a wounded person or animal.

When Adrien starts to put two and two together, he realizes Lila Rossi’s treatment of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng is far worse that he’d ever imagined, and the high road is no longer (and frankly, may have never been) an option. He decides to take matters into his own hands. Game, Set, Match.

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴: Partially inspired by “Best (fake) Smile by Reiaji, over on Ao3! Seriously, dude, your fanfic is amazing. I adore that story, I’ve read it like, four times. Go read that fic, I highly recommend it. I’m so sorry, I stole some plot points, but I wanted to do it with my own twist.

It all started at breakfast.

Adrien had a fairly uneventful morning before this. He woke up at six, did a short morning workout, then took a shower, listening to the newest Jagged Stone single as he got dressed and ready for school.

A knock on the door prompted Adrien to turn off the music, half leaning over to tell the person outside to come in.

“Breakfast is on the table, Adrien,” Nathalie told him, tilting her head out the door and into the hall, telling him to come to the table when he was ready.

Adrien smiled warmly at her. “Thanks, Nathalie. I’ll be there in a minute.”

He finished up with tying his shoes, then made his way to the dining room, taking his seat at his usual spot.

“Good morning, father,” Adrien said, and his father looked up from his laptop for a split second, grunting an acknowledgement, before going back to whatever he was working on.

Ignoring the sting, Adrien picked up his utensils, slicing into the pancakes on his plate.

“As you know, Adrien,” Gabriel Agreste said, “I’m hosting a charity gala tonight.”

Adrien nodded, placing the slice of food into his mouth. He knew where this was going. He was already dreading having to get dressed up, swarmed with stylists as he was fitted with a suit, airbrushed and tailored to perfection. He tried not to let his dread show on his face.

“Yes, father, I know.”

“Good,” Gabriel said, eyes still fixed on his computer screen, “I expect you to make an appearance.”

Adrien bit back his protest. “Yes, father, I know that, too.”

This was normal. He usually had to make appearances at these sorts of things, dressed to the nines in the brand’s best menswear. And sometimes, if he was really unlucky, he had to bring along a date. Usually, it was some daughter of whatever designer his father was working with at the time. That was a mixed bag. Sometimes, the girls didn’t want to be there just as much as Adrien, and the two of them made a mutual, pleasant agreement to avoid each other for the night. Sometimes, they got along, and became friends. And sometimes, if Adrien was really unlucky, they got handsy. What was lucky, however, was the Gorilla taking one look and prying whatever girl tried to shove her hand up the front of Adrien’s shirt off of him and tossing her out on her ass. Even if she was sneaky, all it took was a single frightened glance at the bodyguard and there would be absolutely no more of that.

Adrien didn’t mind parties. He enjoyed talking with designers, and other celebrities that made appearances at these things, and many of the guests had known him since he was a young child. But he did mind when his father picked a date for him. He’d much rather take Nino and hang out, eating fancy hors d’oeuvres and just being regular sixteen year olds.

“Can I bring any guests?” Adrien asked, hopeful, but not expecting a yes.

“You are to bring a date.”

Ah. There it is.

Adrien’s shoulders slumped. “Do I get to choose this time?”

If Adrien did have a choice, and if it was a perfect world, he’d bring Ladybug. Just the thought of her, dressed to the nines, was enough to make his heart do backflips in his chest. Hell, just the thought of her had that effect. But, this wasn’t a perfect world, and Ladybug had a more important job than being his date to a silly gala. But, he could always take Marinette. His fondness for her ran bone deep, and her nervous smile and pretty, melodic laughter warmed his heart. It gladdened him that they’d been growing closer, and he enjoyed her company. She, the creative and bright baker’s daughter, was one of his very first friends, and he treasured that more than anything he had, treasured her.

“I already have a date selected for you.”

Adrien ignored the frustration bubbling up inside of him, pushing it down with as much force as he could, instead opting to nod passively, the only hint of his annoyance in the tightness of his polite smile.

“What’s her name?” He asked, reaching for his glass of orange juice, taking a drink.

“You may already know her, she’s one of your classmates. Lila Rossi.”

Adrien almost spat out his juice.

He sputtered inelegantly, forcing himself to swallow, but the juice got caught in his windpipe, making him cough roundly. He could feel Nathalie patting him on the back, offering him the glass for another sip, which he took, gulping down another mouthful of liquid.

His voice sounded strained when he spoke. “Lila?!”

Gabriel looked surprised at his son’s outburst, the lack of his usually impassive expression reflecting this. “Why, yes. She’s a good influence, and since you already know her, you’ll get along quite well.”

Adrien was incredulous. “Father, she lies— about everything.”

“Adrien, honestly. It is very unkind to say such things about your friends. You will be taking Miss Rossi to the gala, and that is final. I have already informed her mother, and Signora Rossi agreed. I will hear nothing more about it.”

Adrien wanted to say that he and Lila weren’t as close as his father thought, and that he’d appreciate it if he didn’t just set up dates without his say, but he also had enough sense to know that argument wouldn’t make a dent in his father’s decision. Adrien didn’t like liars, and he didn’t like how Lila treated people, but if his father said it was happening, it was happening.

As much as all of this irritated him, and as much as he thought that Lila might be involved with this decision, Adrien wasn’t going to do anything. There wasn’t anything he could do. He’d just have to endure her, glued to his side all night, lying about everything under the sun as she giggled and smiled and charmed everyone like a siren, worming her way into Adrien’s life even further.

Oh God, he was going to die tonight.

Without much more chatter, and a frosty silence, Adrien finished his breakfast and retreated to his bedroom to gather his school supplies. Tonight was going to be exhausting.

“Adrien!”

There she was, the second Adrien was stepping out of the car, running towards him with a bright, wide smile. She had obviously dolled herself up, dressing in a pair of white skinny jeans, paired with a pretty orange blouse with long sleeves, tied at the throat with an elegant bow. On her feet were a pair of soft brown ankle boots with a slight heel.

Adrien sighed, plastering on his best friendly smile, waving at her.

“Good morning, Lila.”

He tried to walk past her, searching the throngs of students entering the school for someone, anyone he knew, even an acquaintance, but there was nobody. Nothing at all this morning was going Adrien’s way. He took a deep breath in, walking on, and not pausing even when he heard the clack of Lila’s heels on the pavement as she tried to follow him.

She eventually caught up, grabbing onto his arm, forcing Adrien to give her his attention. He tried his best to give her a smile, and she smiled back, bouncing on her heels.

“Aren’t you excited for tonight?” She gushed, “it’s so awesome of your dad to ask me to be your date, do you think I’ll be able to wear a Gabriel Original to the gala? Have I ever told you about the time I exposed a store selling fakes? The real designers were kind enough to send me some originals because they were just so grateful.”

Okay, so Adrien was half right. He had no idea why his father had decided this, but he hardly had any idea why he did anything, even if predicting his changes in moods was like sixth sense to Adrien. It was hardly any use arguing with a brick wall, though, and that was something Adrien discovered long ago.

“That was kind of them,” Adrien said simply, not believing a word she’d just said, “and sure, tonight will be fun. I must warn you, though, these parties are kind of stuffy. I wouldn’t blame you for backing out.”

Lila scoffed, waving him off with a smile. “Of course I won’t back out, silly, and miss the chance to spend time with some of the biggest names in fashion? And most importantly, you.”

Adrien didn’t like the way she was looking at him, like he was a prime cut on display, or how close she was to him. He swallowed thickly, extracting himself from her grip.

“W-well,” he said, looking at an invisible watch, “we’re gonna be late to class.”

That was nowhere near true, but unlike Lila’s lies, a little white one like that was hardly anything to talk about, especially to get himself out of an uncomfortable situation.

Adrien took a deep, cleansing breath as he entered the courtyard, but he nearly toppled over when he bumped straight into Marinette.

She yelped in surprise, toppling over in a heap, peering up at him through tangled limbs. Her eyes went wide, a luminescent blush spreading across her cheeks as she scrambled to sit on her knees, rapidly straightening her clothing.

“Adrien!” She cried, “I’m sorry so— I mean I’m so sorry, I—”

Adrien chuckled, leaning down to pick up her dropped backpack, passing it back to her and offering a hand to help her up.

“My fault,” he said, “I wasn’t watching where I was going. Are you okay?”

Marinette’s expression was a little dreamy as she took his hand. “Now that you’re here— I mean— I— I’m fine.”

Adrien chuckled awkwardly, endeared by her, helping her to her feet.

She was dressed warmly, for the changing fall weather, in a blue sweater dress that brought out the vibrant cerulean of her eyes, fitted snugly at her narrow waist with bishop style sleeves, cinched tight at her slender wrists. On closer inspection, he noticed that there were little white ribbons, hand stitched at the collar of the dress. It was unique enough in its design enough that Adrien knew she herself designed it. It was paired tastefully with white leggings and pretty blue and white flats that matched her dress.

As always, she looked perfectly adorable. Adrien felt his heart warm at the sight of her. She looked nice like this, he noted, not that she ever didn’t look nice. Her hair was in twin braids instead of pigtails, fastened with little white ribbons. She was the picture of softness and beauty, and Adrien felt himself smiling, his heart fluttering in his chest.

A guy can platonically admire his friend, right?

…Right?

“You look pretty today,” he said, before he could stop himself, and he watched her face get so red he was afraid she’d combust, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

Good going, Adrien.

“Y-you look pretty— pretty today,” she replied, as if on autopilot, “I mean, handsome— u-unless you wanna be pretty, you can be… pretty.”

Adrien smiled. “Thanks.”

A few, awkward beats of silence passed, and Adrien was about to excuse himself to go find Nino when she spoke.

“So,” she said, voice tight, “Lila.”

Adrian sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You heard that.”

Marinette panicked, shifting from foot to foot nervously. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to listen— I was just here, you know?”

Adrien waved her off. “No, no. Not your fault. It wasn’t a private conversation. And like you said, you just happened to be nearby. Also, just between you and me, I’d rather not be going with her, but it was my father’s idea.”

Marinette seemed puzzled by this. “Since when has your father even liked Lila?”

Adrien shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. They had some kind of chat, or something about something or other, but now she’s welcome in the house any time. I guess he started liking her after the whole Kagami incident. Or maybe it was after she charmed her way into the house to help me study. I haven’t really asked.”

Marinette nodded, her expression oddly sad, her arms wrapping tightly around her backpack.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said, her eyes staying glued to her feet, “you should be allowed to choose your own date.”

Adrien scoffed. “Yeah, well he doesn’t see it that way. I’d rather be taking anyone else.”

You, he wanted to say, but that wasn’t an option, because she was one of his dearest friends, and that would definitely send the wrong message, right?”

Marinette cracked a smile, laughing ruefully. “If I had to spend an entire evening with Lila, I think I’d combust.”

“Oh, come on,” Adrien said, “she isn’t that bad. Y’know, once you get past all the lying. I think she’s just… misguided.”

Adrien noticed, for the first time, that Marinette’s face was paler than usual. Hidden by her makeup, sure, but where her foundation cut off, her skin was a touch paler than it usually was, and her eyes were tired. Furthermore, at his frankly weak and half assed defense towards Lila, she reacted in a way he didn’t expect.

In that she didn’t.

Usually, Marinette would say something about how Lila was a liar, or get at least somewhat annoyed or angry. That was to be expected. Marinette was an emotional girl who wore her heart on her sleeve. It was almost unnerving to see her not react at all to something she normally would’ve.

Instead, her gaze remained on the ground, expression tight, her shoulders rising and falling shallowly in an apathetic shrug.

“Have you been sleeping well?” Adrien asked, suddenly concerned at her unusual behavior.

Marinette blinked, finally looking up at him. “Huh? Oh, yeah, fine.”

Another beat, and she shifted uncomfortably. “W-we should class get— I mean, get to class.”

And with that, she turned on her heel, disappearing into the crowd.

Something was off with her. Adrien contemplated following her, but he refrained, watching her retreating figure. Her shoulders were hunched, making her look smaller, and it made Adrien’s heart hurt. She seemed even more nervous than usual, almost jumpy. She was usually jumpy, if something involved him, but never to this degree. There was something else going on.

Adrien intended to find out what that was.

And it wasn’t long until he did.

Talking to Alya, which was Adrien’s first plan of attack, went with little success. Alya told Adrien that Marinette was fine, just tired and stressed with new designs and schoolwork, though she did admit that she noticed something was off. However, she also said that when she confronted Marinette about this, the girl had simply brushed her off, assuring her that she was fine. Alya was worried before, but even more so now that someone else had noticed Marinette’s strange behavior. She agreed she’d keep an eye on Marinette, and that was it.

But it wasn’t. Adrien knew it wasn’t. Alya was smart, and she had the makings of a cutthroat journalist, so Adrien knew that when she said she was going to keep an eye on someone, she would do just that.

Adrien tried to keep his worry from his thoughts while he was in class, which had the usual banter throughout it, and there, Marinette seemed a little better, but she was still withdrawn. She spoke when spoken to, and didn’t even respond with her usual snark towards Chloé, but she answered questions when called on and smiled at jokes made by her classmates.

And, unusually, when Nino brought up going to the movies, Marinette declined.

It was during break that Adrien found out what was really going on.

He was passing the locker room when he heard voices. One of them was clearly Marinette, he knew her voice well. And the other was none other than Lila Rossi. She sounded nothing like she usually did, all sugar sweet; well meaning and pleasant. She sounded different.

“—that gala.”

“I know, Lila,” Marinette said, “he told me.”

“Oh, did he?” Lila replied, “then you know he’s taking me, as his date. He asked me himself, you know.”

Adrien felt his fist clench. Liar.

“No, he didn’t, Lila, stop lying. He told me that his father asked you to go with him.”

Lila laughed. It wasn’t a kind laugh. It was cold, unfeeling. Mean. “I’m sure he’s just saying that so he doesn’t hurt your feelings. But like everyone else, he likes me much better than you.”

“Why are you doing this to me, Lila?”

Adrien’s heart broke at the sound of utter defeat in Marinette’s voice. But mixed with the heartbreak for his friend, he was angry.

“Because,” Lila said, smugly, “I told you what would happen, didn’t I? I’d make sure that your life was miserable, that you’d have nobody left, and that you’d end up alone. After tonight, Adrien will be mine. And if you do anything about it, you’ll have more to worry about than just being alone.”

Adrien decided he was an idiot. All the signs were there. Withdrawn, poor sleeping, avoidance of social situations. Marinette was being bullied. How long had this been going on? What else had Lila done to Marinette? Why hadn’t she said anything?

Then, it occurred to Adrien that she had. Multiple times. And nobody listened. Everyone believed Lila instead of Marinette, calling her jealous, even when Lila lied more and more outrageously. It felt like a puzzle was piecing itself together as Adrien stood, thunderstruck, listening to one of his dearest friends get bullied.

She’s busy.

She needs to help her parents at the bakery.

I dunno, her grandma is in town.

She’s busy, Adrien.

I dunno, she said she was busy.

Adrien should have realized this so long ago. He should have put two and two together when she made an excuse and vanished after Lila was invited (or, rather, invited herself) to Alya’s party, or how she made every excuse under the sun not to even be in the same room as Lila when she could help it, keeping her head down when she did have to be within the other girl’s vicinity.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was being bullied by Lila Rossi.

Adrien felt like a horrible friend.

Fury was beginning to bubble up inside of him, threatening to spill over as he tried to even out his breaths, listening to Lila verbally abuse Marinette, his anger reaching an all out rolling boil when he heard Lila use an insult.

“You really think he’d want you? Stupid bitch.”

Lila’s venomous words rang out inside Adrien’s head, reverberating like a shout in a cavernous tunnel, only stoking his building fury.

“Um,” came Plagg’s voice from within Adrien’s jacket, “you’re really gonna let her talk to your friend like that?”

Adrien said nothing, ignoring the Kwami as a plot began to formulate in his head. Most of the people at this gala were probably people Lila had told lies about in her life. Adrien knew for a fact that Jagged Stone would be in attendance, much to his excitement, since Gabriel Agreste had designed many of his last tour outfits. And Lila loved to lie about Jagged stone.

But, unfortunately for Lila, Jagged Stone had a particular fondness for Marinette.

In one night alone, Adrien knew he could do a lot of damage.

At the sound of Lila’s approaching footsteps, Adrien hid behind a corner, out of sight as she exited the locker room. After she was gone, he slipped into the room himself.

Marinette was sitting on the floor, her head in her hands, narrow shoulders shaking with sobs. Adrien felt his heart crumble, dreadful worry and horrible, horrible sorrow overtaking his anger as he rushed to her side.

She started at the sound of his footsteps, scuttling back, but when she saw it was him, she was launching herself into his arms, desperate for human contact of any kind, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, tucking her head into the crook of his neck as he rubbed soothing circles into her back.

When Adrien found his voice again, he spoke softly, gently. “I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“Y-you heard—”

“All of it. She won’t get away with this, Marinette.”

“No, no,” Marinette said, tearfully, “you don’t understand, she always does. She won’t leave me alone, and I can’t stop her. I’m gonna— I’m gonna lose everyone.”

“No,” Adrien said, a little more firmly than he meant to, but he was angry. “no, no, you are not. You aren’t losing me.”

Marinette buried her face in his chest, and Adrien made a promise, both to her and himself.

Lila Rossi was going down.

“So, what’s the plan of attack?”

Adrien glanced over his shoulder, his fingers sliding down the length of his necktie as he fastened it to his shirt with an ornate silver tie clip. “Huh?”

His fingers found the buttons of his vest, doing them up, then straightening the lapels of his jacket. His hair was perfectly styled, his face airbrushed and made up flawlessly. He looked like a walking magazine cover, and he smelled like designer cologne, as well as far too much money for one person to have. From the tips of his shiny black dress shoes to the top of his preened head, he looked perfect in only a way a team of stylists could make a person look.

“I said,” Plagg groaned, “what’s the plan of attack? C’mon, kid, I live for pettiness. You know that. Now spill.”

“Is it petty to get back at the girl who’s been bullying my friend?”

Plagg was silent for a second. “That’s the definition of pettiness. But justified pettiness. You get me?”

“Okay, then I guess I’m petty,” Adrien said, then paused, “wait, when have I been unjustly petty?”

The kwami scoffed. “Seriously? Anytime someone has the hots for Ladybug, you’re the king of petty.”

Adrien considered a response, but gave up. “Point taken.”

A knock at the door prompted Plagg to zip into Adrien’s suit jacket with a snicker, and Adrien had a feeling that Plagg was going to be enjoying this more than he was.

“Adrien,” came Nathalie’s voice, “Miss Rossi is waiting for you.”

Adrien took a final look at his flawless reflection, reaching up to tousle his hair, just a little.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

He followed Nathalie from his dressing room and into the sprawling ballroom of the Paris Le Grand, smiling politely at guests as he passed them. Lila was waiting at the refreshments table, a flute of sparkling water perched between her manicured nails.

She was dressed in an evening gown the color of a fresh peach. It was made of flowing crepe fabric, cinched tight at the waist. The neckline was low, revealing a tasteful amount of skin, with spaghetti strap sleeves, undoubtedly crossing at her back in an x-pattern. There was a slit on either side of the skirt, revealing her legs when she stepped forward, just a flash of them; hiding enough to be modest, but still revealing enough to be a little bit sexy. She wore strappy white high heeled sandals on her feet. Her arms were left bare, and her hair was fastened into a long French braid, worn tossed over one shoulder.

Adrien had to admit she looked lovely, even if his distaste for her had grown into detest in the last twelve hours.

Absently, he wondered how Ladybug would look in a gown like that.

“Adrien, hi!” Lila said, dark burgundy stained lips stretching into a grin.

She hurried towards him, catching his folded arm and tucking her hands against it. There was nothing wrong with the gesture, especially if she was there as his date, but the way she was standing so close showed a form of possessiveness Adrien wasn’t comfortable with. It told anyone who looked that they were a couple, which they most definitely weren’t.

Adrien forced a bit of distance between them, just enough to be respectful and impersonal, repeating the action when she tried to steal closer, after which she got the message.

“You know,” Lila said, taking a drink of her sparkling water, “the last time I was at a gala was when I was in Achu. It was Prince Ali’s birthday, and I was invited as his honored guest. He called me when he knew I’d be awake just to invite me, even though it was like four in the morning in Achu, then flew me in for the party.”

Adrien knew that was a lie. It was too tall of a tale not to be one, and it enraged him that his classmates would lap that right up. But Adrien wasn’t his classmates. Regardless, he forced a smile.

“That’s great, Lila. What’s a price’s birthday party like?”

Lila’s face lit up, undoubtedly thinking she’d snared him with that lie, her grin resembling a cat that got the cream.

“Oh my god, it’s incredible, especially as an honored guest. I got to wear the traditional dress of Achu, eat the food, and even dance with the prince. His other guests gave him all sorts of gifts, but he said he liked mine the most. It was just a handmade scarf, but he still appreciated it since I made it while doing all the traveling I was. He even gave me a gorgeous emerald necklace because he said it went with my eyes, as a thank you.”

Another lie. What kind of person gave gifts to someone else on their own birthday? And why would the prince of a tropical kingdom need a scarf? Adrien’s mouth twitched, but he hid it with a smile.

“That was so generous of him! I’m surprised you don’t wear it more.”

Lila chuckled. “Well, it’s so expensive that it would probably get stolen right off my neck if I did that.”

Adrien didn’t think the necklace even existed, but he didn’t let his doubt show. “So, your dress. It’s not a Gabriel, is it?”

Lila shook her head. “No, it’s a Lili Toussaint. She designed it specifically for me, you know.”

Adrien hid his grin. Bingo.

“I didn’t know you knew Madame Toussaint.”

A giggle, and her head fell to rest on his shoulder. Adrien tensed up.

“Oh, yeah, I did a summer internship as a model for her. We became great friends.”

“I see. How did that go?”

Lila leaned more heavily on him, and Adrien shifted uncomfortably. “Amazing. She’s super nice, it was a joy to work alongside a fashionista like her. She was even kind enough to design me a wrist brace to go with my outfits when I sprained my wrist while chasing down a thief that stole a poor old woman’s purse.”

That almost made Adrien laugh. Madame Toussaint was a dear friend of his father’s, who had practically watched Adrien grow up. She was like an aunt to him, and treated him and his father like family. But, unfortunately for Lila, Madame Lili Toussaint liked very few people outside of a collection of individuals Adrien could count on one hand, one of which included her purebred Pomeranian.

“Oh, really? I’ve worked with her as a model, too,” Adrien said, giving nothing away.

“I figured you probably had,” she said, “you’ve probably worked with so many more designers than I have.”

“Well,” Adrien said, “your career is still young. I’ve been modeling since I was a kid.”

Lila seemed to like this answer. “Yeah, you’re right. One day, I’ll be at your level. Maybe you can introduce me to some of your favorite designers?”

Not a chance, Adrien wanted to say, but he simply nodded.

Suddenly, Adrien’s bingo turned into a jackpot. Because there, standing in a sweeping, pale silk evening gown, absolutely dripping with what were undoubtedly real diamonds, was Madame Lili Toussaint herself. Her broad, elegant shoulders were wrapped in a faux fur shawl (she hated cruelty to animals, and went great lengths to make her brand cruelty free), her hands encased in long, silk gloves. Her hair was done up in an elegant French twist, pinned in place with large lilies, made up of silk petals.

Adrien said nothing, simply leading Lila along by the arm as she blathered on about how she had many interested parties regarding her potential line of handmade jewelry, so wrapped up in her lie and continuing to have Adrien’s attention that she hardly even noticed they were moving.

The very second Madame Toussaint saw Adrien, she broke away from her conversation to approach him, her lips stretching into a friendly grin.

“Adrien, darling,” she cried, eyes glittering, “you’ve gotten so tall! My goodness, you so look like your mother.”

She leaned down to plant a kiss on each of Adrien’s cheeks, chuckling merrily as she examined his appearance, brushing invisible lint from the lapel of his jacket, straightening his tie.

“Good evening, Madame Toussaint,” Adrien said, and she huffed.

“Bah! None of that formal nonsense, Adrien, you know I’m Lili to you. How is your father?”

“He’s well,” Adrien said, smiling, and he was genuinely happy to see Madame Toussaint. He just wished it could have been in circumstances not involving Lila.

Madame Toussaint clapped her hands together, smiling widely. “Oh, wonderful. I’m gladdened to hear that.”

“Yes,” Adrien said, then turned, gesturing with one hand to Lila, “surely you remember Lila Rossi. She modeled with you last summer, as an intern?”

Her smile dropped as she turned to take in Lila, her eyes calculating, then she turned back to Adrien.

“Adrien, you know as well as anyone I don’t take intern models,” Madame Toussaint said, “furthermore, I have never seen this girl before in my life.”

Adrien looked at Lila under the guise of seeking reassurance, but had to hide his smile when he saw her expression. If she looked like the cat that got the cream before, now she looked like the cornered mouse. Her shoulders were tense, her eyes wide, her cheeks pale. Adrien almost wanted to snap a picture, but that would be too cruel.

“Well,” Lila said, “I-I’m sure you just don’t remember me. I’m sure you worked with—”

Madame Toussaint scoffed. “Are you deaf, girl? I don’t take summer intern models, or whatever nonsense you told Adrien. And believe me, I never forget a face.”

She turned back to Adrien, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, all smiles again. “Adrien, my dear, you should seek better company. This young lady seems to have a penchant for lying.”

Lila looked like she was about to combust, but she quickly composed herself, slapping an obviously fake smile on her face.

“It was amazing to see you, Lili,” Adrien said, “will you be visiting us later on?”

“Why, of course,” Madame Toussaint said, laughing richly, “silly boy, thinking for a mere second that I wouldn’t.”

The conversation wrapped up shortly after that, with Madame Toussaint excusing herself to go find Gabriel Agreste, leaving Adrien alone with Lila once more.

“So,” Adrien said, “I take it she didn’t design you that wrist brace?”

“I-I’m sure there was a mixup,” Lila sputtered, but it didn’t look like even she was buying that, “I remember now, it was her representative, since I couldn’t work remotely. You know, with all the traveling. She traveled with us.”

Adrien knew for a fact that Madame Toussaint preferred to work personally with her models, and that the representative in question was, in fact, male, but Adrien said nothing. Lila wouldn’t be able to keep lying for much longer.

Because now, Adrien had Jagged Stone in his sights.

He was dressed in a sweeping leather trench, dripping with chains and dotted with glittering gold studs, worn over a deep royal purple pinstriped suit. On his feet were steel toed wingtip shoes, lined with studs along the edges of the metal plating. His hair was slicked back, his face made up even more extravagantly than it usually was. His entire ensemble was awesome, Adrien thought, but then again, he did have a particular fondness for black leather.

Jagged Stone was holding a smartphone in one fingerless gloved hand, speaking animatedly towards it, undoubtedly on a live stream. This couldn’t have been more perfect if Adrien had set it up himself.

“Lila, look,” Adrien cried, “it’s Jagged Stone! I’m a huge fan. We’ve gotta go over and talk to him. You know him, right? Will you introduce me?”

Lila’s complexion turned absolutely chalky as she took in what Adrien said, but she hid her unease with a woolly smile, which looked borderline alarming when her eyes were wide with panic.

“Of course, Adrien,” she croaked, “but— he might not—”

Adrien bounced on his heels, giving her a smile. “Really?! You’re truly the best, Lila.”

Before she could say anything else, Adrien was dragging Lila across the ballroom towards the rock star, even as the girl tried to protest.

“He looks like he’s busy, Adrien, maybe we should come back later.”

Adrien scoffed. “I’m sure he won’t mind.”

But, heedless of what Lila said, Jagged Stone seemed pleased to see Adrien, his heavily lined eyes lighting up as he merrily walked over the rest of the way, draping a leather clad arm over Adrien’s shoulders. Adrien had to remember to breathe, taking two manual breaths and reminding his heart to keep beating.

“Adrien Agreste! You’re a friend of Marinette’s right? That girl is so rock and roll. If she’s a fan of yours, well, I am too. Say hello, kid, you’re live!”

That made Adrien’s stomach do backflips, since Jagged Stone had just said he was his fan, but he was here on a mission. Regaining his composure, Adrien waved to the camera, watching the chat function of Instagram Live go insane at his appearance.

“Marinette is awesome,” Adrien said, “I loved her design for your last album cover, I even got her to sign it.”

Jagged laughed merrily. “Did you now? I may have to get her to do that for me, too, yeah? I’m thinking of asking for her to design the next one, too, you think she’d do it?”

“I don’t think she’d let anything stop her,” Adrien confessed, and Jagged grinned widely.

The rock star straightened up, still resting a hand on Adrien’s shoulder as he hand turned, taking notice of Lila. He looked at her blankly, without any form of recognition, but still, he smiled politely.

“And who’s your friend, Adrien?”

Jagged turned the camera towards Lila, who was now white as a ghost, looking supremely uncomfortable. She waved to the camera anyway, trying her best to smile.

“Oh, don’t you two already know each other?” Adrien asked, feigning innocence, “Lila Rossi, she saved your kitten from an airplane runway, even though the jet engine burst her eardrum and gave her tinnitus.”

Jagged looked deeply puzzled, staring at Lila for a good few seconds in a mix of astonishment and confusion.

“Well,” he said, with an awkward chuckle, “deeply sorry ‘bout your ear, love, but Penny’s deathly allergic to cats, even though I do love the little buggers. I’ve never owned a cat in my life, ‘least not since childhood. Fang’s all I need now, yeah? You must be mistaken, Miss Rossi.”

Lila swallowed thickly, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to calm her breathing. “E-excuse me, Adrien, I need to… t-op off my drink.”

With that, Lila turned unsteadily, heading towards the refreshments table.

Adrien pretended to be shocked, watching her leave with a dumbfounded expression.

“Well,” Adrien said, coughing, “I must’ve misunderstood her. I’m sorry, Mr. Stone, I didn’t mean to—”

Jagged chuckled, patting Adrien on the back. “Oh, no sweat, kid. Some people like to lie because they think it’ll make people like them. Don’t hold it against your friend, there, she probably just wanted to seem impressive to you, yeah? Besides, no trouble to me, I’m glad to meet you, and your… misguided friend. On the bright side, she can say she met me now and have it be the truth, hey? I wish her no ill will.”

He turned, winking at his camera, pulling Adrien in against his side for another shot together.

Adrien thanked him, promising to return later for an autograph, and then turned to go after Lila. He found her, hiding by the chocolate fountain, freezing like a deer in the headlights when she saw him coming.

“You feeling okay?” Adrien asked, and Lila didn’t answer for a second, busying herself with downing the contents of her drink.

“F-fine.”

Her voice was tight, barely controlled panic laced throughout it. She knew what had just happened. She’d been exposed, by a celebrity the entire class— no, the entire world loved, as a complete and utter liar. On a livestream. Adrien would be surprised if she even showed her face at school tomorrow. And if she hadn’t realized what Adrien was doing now, she would, without a single doubt, later.

“I think,” Lila said, “I’d like to go home now.”

Adrien pretended to be disappointed. “Oh, really? I mean, if that’s what you want.”

Lila forced a smile. “I’m a little tired. Maybe partying just isn’t for me, y’know? Pretty stuffy, like you said this morning.”

Adrien nodded, sympathetically as he could, before going to find Nathalie, who called a car to bring Lila home. Adrien waited with Lila for the car, and she was uncharacteristically silent the entire time, simply fiddling with her skirt, buttoning and unbuttoning her coat, and shifting her weight from foot to foot. Adrien played the attentive, chivalrous date when the car arrived, opening the door for Lila and bidding her farewell with a soft, easy smile.

The second she was gone, Adrien pulled out his phone. His Instagram followers had grown substantially, even from that one livestream, but that wasn’t important. What was important was that the tabloids were eating what had just happened up.

Who is the girl who lied about Jagged Stone?

And, to Adrien’s pleasure:

French Teenager to design Jagged Stone’s next album cover. Learn more about Marinette Dupain-Cheng here.

Adrien knew what he was doing the second he saw Jagged Stone live streaming. Was it petty? Sure it was. Was it a bit much? Yeah, probably. But nobody would believe any of Lila’s lies after all of that.

The damage had been done, irreparably.

With that, as if nothing was even wrong, Adrien tucked his phone back into his pocket, ignoring the raucous laughter from Plagg from his jacket. Shushing the Kwami, Adrien stepped back inside, intent on enjoying the rest of his (rather stuffy) evening.

Checkmate, Lila Rossi. She was finished.

#miraculous fanfic #miraculous ladybug #Adrien agreste #marinette dupen chang #adrien salt #salt fic #miraculous ladybug salt #lila rossi #adrienette #My writing #not a reader insert #adrien x marinette #fanfiction #fanfic #mlb plagg #alya cesaire #cross posted on ao3 #lila rossi bashing #adrien has had enough

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holyghostbelle · 4 months

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Call the shots part two

Oliver quick x fem!reader

TW:DUBCON? DARK!OLIVER(it's literally him though so idk)slight reader x felix, but also oliver pinning over felix because no ones mentioning that??? reader and Oliver lowkey hate each other I guess, SMUT, ORAL(fem) (a/n, Thank you!!! thank you so much for the attention the last part received, I haven't written in forever and ever and salt burn just reeled me in like a fish. there's going to hopefully be a third part to this to end the lil series,/// wish men actually kissed like this gif 😔)

if you haven't read the first part to this click here!

my master list

The first time you had met Felix Catton you were eight, your first summer at the Saltburn estate and after meeting Venetia at an all girls private school you had been introduced to her older brother by one year. Felix was mesmerising, he was like a prophet, everyone loved him, and you felt yourself fall in love with him deeply, of course at first Venetia hated it, you were hers, you belonged to her. But years after spending summers while your own family spent summers in Venice and Paris for business you had become Felixs as well. No jealousy had become between either of them. You had lost your virginity to him, smoked your first cigarette with him, your first line of coke, your first shot. All of your firsts and now.

None of your lasts.

The air was heavy with grief as the Cattons to give the farewell to their beloved. Tear-streaked faces and her eyes swollen, Elsebeth stands stoically, hands gripped with Venetias. The service wasn't beautiful, but nothing could live up to Felix.

You stand opposite Oliver, his face crumpled, gripping the white handkerchief from dinners ago. The room echoes with muted sobs, you stand in disbelief, the last you had seen Felix his gold wings loomed over you, and now they hung from his bed untouched.

His grave now laying in the estates graveyard, six feet under with people who he hadn't met, you run you hand over the temporary wooden cross, his bracelets hanging from the oak, you taste the tears on your cheeks and Venetia clutches at your arm, mascara running over her cheeks, just like yours.

It's raining and the Cattons and you throw Felix's rock in the river before returning to the house. Oliver stays behind and returns with muddy knees, his shirt see through. When Venetia excuses herself to her room that night, you find yourself wandering saltburn in the dark with a glass of deep red wine in your hand, all you can think about is Felix's swollen blue face lying in a pile of puke. There was no beauty in his death.

Clad in a white night gown and Felix's jumper you find your self in his room.

It suffocates you with the smell of cigarettes and cologne. the smell of Felix prevalent in his sheets comforts you. closing your eyes you begin to believe he's still there.

Suddenly you hear a sloshing of water. Deciding that Oliver must be taking a bath you think to yourself, a few minutes go past and Oliver enters the room. He's clad in blue boxers and a red robe, you can hardly remember the timid boy with frameless glasses at the beginning of summer. Silently, you observe Oliver as he moves with a heaviness in his step.

“What are you doing in here?” you ask, you smooth down the covers with your hand, rings catching on a bare thread, the duvet is lumpy and you assume it's from the socks Felix would shed off in his sleep.

“I should ask you the same thing” He questions back.

“Felix was mine first, I saw you crying at the funeral. Like you had known him for years and it's been six months, pathetic really."

You stare at him as he bends to meet with you at eye level, he leans on to his knees with his hands as you turn from his glare. He feels the heat radiate from your cheeks. They're wet, his hand meets your face wiping the salty tears with the back of his hand, rough against your skin.

“Stop it, Stop it Oliver” you cry, your hand meets the small of his wrist pushing it away from your face. They fall to your lap, your gaze following.

And suddenly “Apologise to me” he orders, his thick fingers grip at your chin, forcing you to look up at him. You stare through your lashes, one eyebrow raised at him.

“what? Sorry for what?” you question, your head tilts, hair following.

“Say sorry for being such a bitch to me, such a bad girl” he coos. His other hand stroking at the wetness of your face.

And you whimper at him. It's so delicious, he feels himself harden.

His eyes darken, pulling his hand back. You begin to think he's going to leave but your face is smacked to the left. Heat rushing to your cheek.

“ow, what the fuck Oliver” you clutch at it.

“I said apologise, tell me your so sorry for being a rude brat this summer, make me believe it”

“You're joking,” your eyes widen.

He grips at your chin again,you think it might bruise this time, and as your eyes meet you feel something you haven't felt in forever, fear. Your heart thumps against your chest.

“I'm so sorry that you think i’ve been a bitch to you this summer Oliver,” your chest heaves. Teeth gritting at him.

Oliver, however, doesn't seem satisfied; his grip on your chin loosens only to be replaced by a vice-like hold on your hair.The room feels like a confined space, trapping you in a twisted dance.

“Again” he commands with venom. You feel the grip on your hair tighten and you are pulled back in submission, reminded of the bruise on your arm from him.

You hiss at him as he holds your head up by your hair. “ I'm sorry!” you sigh “im sorry ive been a rude bratty bitch, i'm really sorry” you comply and his hand once cruelly knotted in your hair loosens.

His head cocks to the side, cooing at your disgruntled face “ Got there in the end didn't we?” he smiles looking down upon the soft of your faces, smoothing your hair down.

You nod at him quickly, and your body stills, eyes flickering down, you refuse to hold gaze with him. He still stands above you.

Lips trembling you stutter,“Venetia was right.”

“Huh?” he interrogates, eyebrows rising, intriguing him.

"You really can make people do whatever you want," you murmur, a bitter realisation lingering in your words, the taste of imbalance still fresh on your tongue. Oliver smirks, a perverse satisfaction radiates from his gaze upon your body. You squirm underneath him.

"Then kiss me," he commands, his tone laced with an arrogant confidence that sends shivers down your spine. It hangs in the air, an unspoken challenge that demands submission. He bends to meet you once again.

You push your morals aside. Leaning in and allowing your lips to meet his in a forced union. His hand cups around your neck and tightens as you murmur against his grip. He parts your knees with his own. The oak bed frame digging into the flesh of your thigh as he runs his cold hand against it.

“Fuck” he grunts. Your breath catches as Oliver's grip tightens around your throat. In that moment, something shifts, and his lips crash onto yours. Oliver's lips mold against yours; it's cruel and leaves you breathless, but it's too harsh to feel like Felix, and the breathlessness makes you panic, not giddy. Oliver is every bit harsher than Felix and it reminds you of how fleeting of a memory he will be. His weight presses into you as you paw at his chest, mewling against him you breath against each other in open mouthed kisses , he licks up into your mouth, thumb pulling your bottom lip down and watching it bounce back in satisfaction he smirks as he peers down on your body hand gripping at your thighs you whine.

He pushes your white silk nightgown up over your hips revealing your pussy, smiling to himself and dips a finger in your wetness.

‘Hate me and yet you're soaked’ he grins up to you, his cheeks just at your knees, eyes looking so sweet.

He bites and sucks into the succulent flesh of your thighs, you gasp as his lips meet your cunt and indulges himself in you. You mewl your juices dribbling down his chin and creating a wet trail on his face.

“Fucking slut, could Felix make you come?”he questions.

You nod at him.

“how sweet, too bad ill fucking ruin him for you” his hands traces at your thighs wandering up to your hips,

“Actin’ all innocent under me now, i know what girls like you are like ,your a fucking tease is what you are”

He dives in once again and your hand grips at his hair, it's gotten longer. He's every bit rougher than Felix, choosing to pinch and suck rather than kiss. You gasp and whimper as he eats you like his last meal, hands tightening on his hair.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck” you moan, he smirks under your hold, hands grasping at your hips to pull you towards him, you hump at his face and he drinks you up like nectar, feeling the pressure build.

“Mmm, close Oli” you whine.

He goes everybit harder and faster than before, and you feel the pressure snap, you convulse under him. Moaning and overstimulated, you whimper as he laps you up.

His head leaning against your thigh, he looks up at you, bright blue eyes smiling up at you. Realisation settles in.

"You alright?” he strokes the length of your arm.

You look away from him, biting down on your lip before slipping the covers over your body, now cold in the ridiculously big house, he joins you in Felix's bed.

“yeah, no, I'm fine.” you smile at him. Laying down and turning your body away, you feel his hands snake around your waist, you close your eyes, you feel so dirty.

Guilt pools in your stomach.

The light filters through the dark curtains, a curse of being south facing. Oliver lies there cocking his head, you pull on the red robe, smoothing back your hair. as you scurry to the bathroom to wash your face. Hand on the golden door knob you hear something smashing to the marble floor. Your eyebrows furrow, the door swings open and the maid in front of you releases a guttural scream, the bathroom floor is filled with murky red water and your eyes meet hers. Venatias head floating out of the bath, her blood spilling over the bath. You fall backwards, hand clutching over your mouth, Oliver peeks his head round the corner, his eyes widened. You push the door closed.

Eyes flickering to the floor. You swallow. “I think you should go back to your room Oliver.” your hand reaches out for his arm, “ i think it's best i tell Elsebeth”

He nods,you choke back tears. Flapping your hands over your face before calling an ambulance.

Oliver is gone, he left in the morning shortly after Venetias funeral, you assume James had paid him off.

You pack your things, one week of summer left and then oxford university, you look into the room adjoining yours. Venetias, she won't be coming to Oxford with you and neither will Felix, you begin to wonder if you'll see Oliver and how best to avoid him, not wanting to get into the complications of things, hoping you would never run into him.

When your luggage is piled up by the main door, Elsebeth and James stand next to you, smiling.

“You will join us for the ski trip this winter won't you, dear?”

You smile at her, head nodding “ Mum and Dad said they would be coming, i think it would be best if we all spend christmas together”

James nods at you, “maybe we could share the chateau with you, there's loads of rooms”

You smile “of course, i'll let them know, thank you for this summer, amid everything it was lovely” you hand clasps around Elsbeth's shoulder, but she pulls you in for a quick hug, James taking to patting you back.

“Well, I'll message you how I get on at oxford. Gosh ten years have flown by havent they?”you laugh, eyes watering. “Well goodbye, I'll see you christmas.”

the next part

@callsignwidow (comment to be added to taglist)

#oliver quick #oliver quick x reader #salt burn 2023 #salt burn fic #saltburn 2023 #salt burn x reader #felix catton #barry keoghan #jacob elordi

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frummpets · 6 months

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latest SYONR news: Ming Fan was cursed with... OLD MAN DISEASE

MF, pinching the space between his eyebrows: you lot are gonna give me gray hairs, ugh. MF chapter 17:

from Shen Yuan of No Relation by @grubus !! MF design by @berriecherry <33

✦ TWITTER VERSION

EDIT: adding the versions with the extra dramatic lighting✨ cos theyre too funny; we love ourselves drama queen MF

#he couldve looked ethereal and fairy-like if all his hair turned white #or looked rugged and world-weary with salt and pepper hair like wqw #but nooooo all hes got are a few strands #skunky looking lmao #my stinky skunky boy >:]#svsss #shen yuan of no relation #syonr #art for fic #svsss fanart #ming fan #qingjing peak #art #my art #frummpets art #mxtx #tomato patch #fanart

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aliensunflower-fics · 1 year

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CHANGING FACES Chapter 3: Where Are We Going

[ Prefer to Read on Archive of Our Own? Link HERE! ]

[ Previous Chapter - Next Chapter ]

CHAPTER 3:

Where Are We Going

Marinette felt tired. Not the kind or tired that could be slept off but something DEEPER. It was an exhaustion that seeped deep into her bones and left her feeling heavy. Her limbs felt like rocks and her fingers ached. Her mind begged for the sweet escape of dreamless sleep. Yet voices tickled the edge of her conscious mind slowly leading her back to the waking world. Whoever was talking was trying to be considerate of her, speaking in hushed tones with all the lights but a small table lamp off.

Blinking slowly, Marinette’s groggy mind took in the hideous pattern on the hotel's cheap curtains and the smell of cheap greasy takeout pizza somewhere in the room. Finally her ears seemed to pop and the whispered voices of her mother and father hit her brain causing her muscles to relax. They were here, they were all safe, as Marinette’s eyes drooped she smiled contently ready to let her mind drift away to the black seas of sleep once more. That is until she heard Tikki’s signature squeaky voice thanking ‘Tom’ for the sugar cookies. All at once Marinette felt wide awake and bolted upright, shocking everyone in the room into silence.

There on the other side of the hotel room sitting in the too small, too cheap wooden chairs eating cheap pizza and terrible store bought sugar cookies and holding a conversation like old friends was Marinette’s dear parents, her kwami and Trixx who looked like they were delighted by everything.

The silence stretched for a moment or two before Sabine sighed, shook her head and smiled warmly at her daughter.

“I think we have some things to talk about mon petite choux, but first why don’t you grab a bite to eat you must be hungry and its going to be a bit of a late night.”

At her mothers words Marinette felt her breath hitch as she swallowed down her panic, with a small nod she inched closer to the end of the bed nervously taking the offered slice of pepperoni pizza. It was lukewarm and greasy but biting into it felt like heaven as her body finally registered just how hungry she was, as usual her mother was right. For a while Marinette just ate her pizza with her parents while the Kwami nibbled on their provided cookies. It was strange and peaceful. As Marinette finished up her second slice and reached for her third the silence was finally broken again by her mother who seemed to know what she said while her father still languished in uncertainty.

“Marinette… We… We just want you to know. How proud of you we are.”

Marinette swallowed hard and looked away, unable to make eye contact with her family.

“H-How did you figure it out? Kwami can’t tell others who there chosen are a-and… I thought- at least Fu told me that magic was protecting my identity?” Marinette heard her father’s nervous throat clearing as Tikki swallowed down her cookie and hovered up to Marinette eye level.

“They figured it out earlier after you fell asleep, Marinette. I let them see me and told them who I was. It all seemed to fall into place after that.”

“But…Tikki WHY? T-The rules w-we cant just… Have… Have I not been a good enough Ladybug? Are you leaving?”

Tikki gasped in horror and flew over quickly soothing Marinette by hugging her face.

“No, no! My little bug it's nothing like that I… I decided you needed some help. Marinette you have been doing such a good job and you have been doing it all alone for so long. Master Fu was foolish to think anyone could or should carry such a heavy burden without support and we should have broken the rules a long time ago!”

Marinette nodded numbly trying to process Tikki’s words. She did not want to admit it but she’d been drowning for so long that as horrible as it felt to have her identity exposed as terrifying as it was to go against the rules she felt relief flooding her system as she exhaled a shaky breath.

“How much did you tell them?” At this her father let out an awkward cough and shifted in his far too small hotel chair trying to get comfortable.

“She told us a lot. Marinette sweetie… We're not mad. We could never be mad, you’ve been so strong and so brave, your mother is right, we are so proud of you.”

Marinette felt her face flush and her eyes burn as hot tears gathered in her burning tired eyes. She had never once become Ladybug for the praise or fame she had never expected or wanted it, and in fact she had many times resented being Ladybug hated the lies and the act she had to put on each and every day to keep others safe and to keep them out. But hearing her parents tell her how proud they were felt like a weight being lifted off her heart. A broken hiccup left her body and Marinette realized she was crying.

“M-Mom Dad… I’m- I'm so sorry! I n-never wanted to lie I-I had to I-I’m sorry im so so sorry.”

“Oh non! No no no my little one my sweet pastry!” Marinette felt the warm heavy arms of her father envelop her as he moved to the bed, the cheap mattress dipping under his weight causing her to fall into him. “You don’t need to apologize for anything.”

“Your friend Tikki told us about the rules the previous master put in place. She told us about everything you have been through. Our big strong girl. If anyone should be sorry it's us. We should have known it was you, even with magic guarding your identity how could we be so blind.”

Marinette sobbed harder at her mothers words, opening her arms to accept her mothers embrace as she cried harder.

“B-But I’m the reason Hawkmoth burned down our home! I’m the reason the bakery is gone! I-Its all my fault!”

Marinette felt her mother stiffen at her words and was shocked when her mother pulled back and grabbed her face firmly into her calloused hands forcing Marinette to stare into the fiery eyes of her mother.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng none of this is your fault! That reject Disney villain has been tormenting Paris for years! He has killed people with his akumas and never once shown remorse or guilt for using even babies to achieve his goals! And you, our brave beautiful girl, you have saved people's lives over and over, you have given up hobbies, concerts, and your own peace of mind to be a hero. Your father and I are scared for you, were angry at Hawkmoth, we wish we knew sooner but angry? Never, not with you my beautiful little peanut.”

As her mothers words sunk in, Marinette felt a fresh wave of tears fill her eyes and she threw herself into her mothers arms while her fathers large warm hand rubbed circles into her back.

They let Marinette cry until she was done and had her breathing back under control at which point they gave her water and more food. While she drank and ate, a sudden thought hit Marinette.

“What are we going to do now?”

Tom and Sabine exchanged a look before nodding and smiling at each other. As Sabine got up to retrieve something from there meager belongings Tom beamed warmly at his daughter though Marinette did not miss the tired bags that hung under his eyes.

“Did we ever tell you about how we met my little choux bun?”

Marinette’s eyebrows creased together as she thought about it.

“You met… At college right? Dad was doing a baking course and mom was studying business. Mom had been working herself too hard and not eating so her blood sugar totally crashed and you found her half collapsed on a bench and offered her pastries right?”

Tom chuckled fondly at the memory and nodded.

“Yes, that's right. But do you know WHERE we met?”

“Where? … Dad, what do you mean? Wait… You didn’t meet in Paris?”

Sabine giggled at her daughter's shocked expression and sat next to her once more, opening the old family album that had been lucky to survive the fire in a fireproof safe. As she flipped through the pages Marinette took in all the familiar pictures of herself and her family, the bakery, and her childhood from her first time making cookies to her first tooth, but as they flipped to older pictures Marinette began to see more things she did not recognize. Her parents' marriage, a small private affair in some miscellaneous park. But then they flipped past even those going back to even younger images and Marinette realized quickly what her father was hinting at.

“These pictures… You guys met in… America?”

Sabine smiled warmly as she touched a picture of her and Tom’s first cake together. “We met in Gotham.”

Marinette sucked in a breath of air as her eyes widened. She looked between her parents' confusion and questions evident on her face. After a brief silence Sabine cleared her throat and flipped back to some older photos and began her tale.

“When I was little, your grandma had very big dreams for me. She wanted me to become a big shot business woman, make lots of money and take care of the whole family. She made me study endlessly and never cared about my own dreams and passions. Just like your great uncle I liked to cook but your grandma did not care. I worked hard and got accepted into an American college. I knew how dangerous Gotham was but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get far away from your grandma and your great uncle encouraged me. He told me I needed to free myself and learn what I wanted to do. The rest you know, I was studying so hard I never ate and then your dad found me.”

Marinette nodded slowly then looked at her dad curiously. He smiled and leaned over to flip the albums pages before pointing at a beautiful old building with a much younger Grandma Gina and Tom in front of it.

“As you know your Grandma Gina and Granpa Roland had a rocky marriage. Your grandma liked to go fast, and she liked to see the world and everything in it. Your grandpa thought moving that often wasn’t good for me so he refused to go, this made their relationship rocky, they were always fighting. Finally your god-father Alfred got in the middle, he suggested a compromise. A second home somewhere fun and exciting for Gina and we could spend our summers there. Grandma chose Gotham the same place Alfred lived and I spent my summers there growing up even after the divorce. So when it was time for me to go to college I decided I wanted to live in Gotham and attend the college baking course. And then I met your mother.”

Marinette mulled over the new information carefully taking in the photos carefully.

“How long did you and mom live there?”

Tom chuckled slightly and flipped through several pages until they landed on a photo Marinette had never seen before. She was a newborn baby in her mothers arms as her parents were posed in front of an old bakery. Marinette realized that it was the same building as the earlier picture with her grandma and her dad.

“I was… BORN THERE?” Marinette touched the image in awe and then felt a sting in her heart, “Why didn't you ever tell me? Why not talk about it? H-How did it never come up once when grandpa Alfred came to visit!?”

Sabine exchanged a look with Tom before she cleared her throat.

“We… Your father and I… We loved Gotham. It is a gloomy place with a lot of crime and problems but the people there are GOOD people. They protect their own, and they work hard to try and make their city better. It was the place where we met, the place we got married, and the place where we had you, our beautiful little girl. But…”

Marinette felt her stomach drop. “But?”

“It is dangerous there Marinette. And when you were still just a baby you and your mother got pulled into a bad attack, you both came out okay thanks to Batman but we realized then that our life wasn’t a safe one to raise a baby in.”

Sabine nodded gravely to her husband's words.

“Your father and I both knew how to defend ourselves. We even taught other people self defense on weekends at the local gym as volunteer work. But you were just a baby and we got scared about losing you. So we made the decision to abandon our lives in Gotham and come to Paris. We always told ourselves we’d go back to Gotham someday when you were older and until then we didn’t talk about it, not because we didn’t want to but because I wasn’t ready yet I got so scared remembering almost losing you and when we were finally ready to tell you and move back to Gotham you… Met Alya.”

Marinette blinked confused and furrowed her brows. “What does Alya have to do with this?”

“Well…” Sabine looked over at Tom who took over the conversation.

“You had been getting bullied by Chloe all those years. We were doing everything to get you out without pulling you from Dupont because we knew it was one of the best schools, but it wasn’t working. We saw how your confidence was dipping and how you were so unhappy so we thought that maybe it was time to make the move. You were 12 and knew how to defend yourself thanks to all your lessons with your mom and me. But then you came home from your first day of school and you were so happy.”

Sabine smiled fondly. “You had made a friend and you were talking about how excited you were, then you ran for your class president position and won and we saw how you were blooming and we could not take that away from you so we pushed Gotham aside.”

“But… But you both love it there?! Why would you do that why didn’t you tell me at least I-I don't understand-”

“We didn’t want you to make a decision for our sake.”

Marinette snapped her mouth shut, denial dying on her lips. She knew exactly what her parents were talking about. Since Lila had begun manipulating the class and having them ask more and more of her, Marinette had learned that she had a serious problem standing up for herself. If her parents had approached her wanting to move to Gotham when she was younger even with her Ladybug responsibilities she would have folded like a deck of cards and likely stretched herself thin trying to make everyone happy and do everything.

“We wanted you to have a choice about the move. And you have always been so caring and considerate of others and if you had known how much me and your father loved Gotham we knew you’d agree to move even if you didn’t want to. So we held off saying anything and we were just happy to see you become so confident and happy.” Sabine bit her lip and chewed at the loose skin. “Recently… We had seen how stressed you were becoming, and how your friends were treating you. Before all this happened we were planning on telling you again and asking you if maybe you’d like to move to Gotham, but now with everything… Well the conversation happened a bit sooner than we had planned. But what do you say Peanut? Wanna go on a new adventure and move to Gotham?”

Marinette nodded slowly and looked at Tikki and Trixx on the table who had been enjoying there cookies in relative silence the whole time.

“Tikki, what do YOU think?” At the name the small god blinked her antenna twitching.

“I think you need to be the one to decide Marinette this is your life, and you are our guardian. We trust you because you have always taken such good care of us all these years.”

Marinette flinched at Tikki’s words and dug her nails into her skin. She wanted to deny Tikki’s words but she knew the tiny god was speaking from the heart. Marinette often gave the kwami freedom, she talked with them, she was their friend and guardian and she valued them as people, something Tikki and the others had told her was rare so even though Marinette did not believe in herself she believed in the honesty behind Tikki’s words.

“I… I’ll need to use the horse Kwami Kaalki to travel back to Paris whenever an akuma happens.”

“That's not a problem, you have the same blood sugar problem as your mom so we can inform whatever new school you go to that you might need to leave class at times to take care of that.”

Marinette blinked, shocked at her dad's willingness to lie but then she snorted and smiled. It felt nice having someone to help her guard her secret identity.

“If Marinette leaves Paris Hawkmoth will stop suspecting me as Ladybug so that's a bonus, I’d be able to decompress after fights and let myself feel emotions without worrying about akumatization. I also won't have to worry about the bakery getting crushed by another toddler akuma.”

Tikki and her parents watched her in silence letting her talk herself through her thoughts and plan as she often did when processing her stress and fear.

“Gotham has some of the best schools, and I’d be living in Uncle Jagged city AND in grandpa Alfred’s city… But… But where will we live, how will we make money, and what about school and then there's Alya and everyone back home and what if Ladybug gets to Paris too late??”

Before Marinette could spiral further her mother took her hands and squeezed hard pulling Marinette out of her downward fall as she tools several deep breaths and focused on her mother who was guiding her through the breathing slowly.

“You don’t need to worry about all the details, Marinette. We still own the old bakery from the pictures, your father and I could never bring ourselves to sell it so we kept it. It will need a bit of paint and the Marinette touch but it's got good bones and it's a bigger building.”

“As for school, well… You may not know this but your godfather Alfred is the butler and in many ways the father and grandfather to a very rich and influential family He’s told us all about Gotham Academy and I know my beautiful incredible daughter will be a perfect fit.”

“Gotham Academy? Are you sure we can afford it? And don’t tell me your gonna have grandpa Alfred ask his employers for a favor! I don’t need or want the help of some rich people we don't know.”

Sabine laughed openly at Marinette's pouty face. “My daughter? Need a hand out? No, but Alfred has told us all about the scholarships there. You are as brilliant as you are talented even if it is a bit past the start of the school year I’m sure we can get you one and if not we will find another school that recognizes what a talent you are.”

Marinette’s cheeks flushed red at her mothers teasing proud words and she pulled nervously on her long dark hair as she bit her cheek and thought about it.

“What about… Alya and my friends? Moving it sounds so amazing, a fresh start, somewhere new, the ability to let myself feel, and the distance from Hawkmoth it all sounds incredible but… What if I lose everyone here?”

Tom squeezed his daughter's leg comfortingly and smiled at her warmly. “Do you think Alya and the others are the type of people who will just forget you?”

“... No… I trust Alya. It's… Someone else I don’t trust and I’m worried what that person will do.”

“You're talking about that Lila girl again aren't you?” Marinette nodded stiffly, leaning into her mother for comfort.

“If she hasn’t succeeded yet, then I don’t think you need to worry. BUT if she does succeed then painful as it may be you will learn who your real friends are, but what you need to decide now is where you trust Alya to be your friend even if you're across an ocean.”

Marinette took a moment to think, letting her mothers words hit her fully. Alya was her friend and despite all the damage Lila had done and all the problems shed created Marinette still cared about Alya and valued her friendship and she knew despite everything that Alya felt the same. They were bffs and for now Marinette was willing to trust in the bonds she’d made and believe that Alya would be there for her ocean or not.

Marinette took a deep breath and felt her heart and mind settle. She knew what was best now, for ladybug, for the kwami, for her family, for paris, but most importantly what would be best for herself and who she wanted to become moving forward.

Looking at her family, Marinette smiled warmly.

“Gotham, sounds perfect.”

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( I hope I’m releasing the chapters at a good steady pace and that you guys like it so far feedback and comments are always appreciated and thank you for your patience with my spelling and grammar english is not my first language! )

#daminette #salt fic #class salt #alya salt #alya sugar #alya redemption #adrien salt #lila rossi gets exposed #lila salt #lila bashing #class redemption #Marinette deserves better #BAMF Marinette #miraculous fanfic #marinette x damian #maribat #my fic #Changing Faces Fic

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simplyanotherartist · 1 year

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How much salt do you think a salt fic should have before it becomes too unpleasent to read?

Hmm, I think it all comes down to the delivery really. I don't care for salt fics much with they just dump a whole truckload of backstory salt on us- Like a few fics have told how terribly Marinette's been treated, but they explain it all in one or two sittings? Like- okay, yeah, it's terrible that they abused her trust and used her to get free stuff, but could you wait a bit before telling us about the very-detailed 13 times they've physically abused her? It kinda takes away from whatever else you were trying to tell us before.

I get the need and want to just get the backstory over with to show readers just what the characters have been put through, but most of the time, doing that just feels wordy and takes away from good writing.

For instance; in my Mar'inette story, I didn't just tell people right off the bat how horrible Adrien was. I hinted to some of the things he'd done, and presented his actions in flashback chapters(I find it important to limit flashbacks to full sized chapters so that people don't confuse if it's happening at the present when it hops back and forth in the timeline). I took the Adrien salt, and I drew it out over the course story.

Sometimes, it works well with the fic if you put it all into a singular description but most of the times I've seen this, it's kinda turned me off from the fic. "Great! Now I know how horrible these salt characters are; I don't expect anything from them then." If you draw it out longer, then it makes readers more interested to see just how far these characters will go, and let us wonder about redemptions(if you tell me right at the start that they broke Marinette's hand by slamming her locker on it, I'm not going to buy it when it says they looked at her with worry or guilt or possibly wanting to be friends again).

So yeah, I think salt fics are nice, but only when they're written out well. If they squish the salt into a little ball(think of playdough or bread dough) and set it in only a few chapters in giant lumps, it won't look so good. The salt ball needs to be flattened out and spread over the course of the story, you know? I'm not saying the fic has to be centered on the salt, but it should still let it be its own side plot at least, rather than just a character description on peoples personalities and lack of braincells.

#okay not sure if I made much sense there but I tried describing it to the best of my ability #fanfic #archive of our own #salt #salt fic #mlb salt #writing mlb salt #Amiya Lanway

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vicsy · 4 months

Text

this Fernando with this Lance together, potent sugar daddy and sugar baby energy. i stand by my words without shame.

#the salt and pepper in Fernando’s hair…. Lance’s smooth flat chest… his freckles…..#I need to be put down like a rabid dog #Strollonso nation brought to its knees in a single day #Strollonso #fernando alonso #lance stroll #1814 #fernando/lance #alternatively this is Briony and mine camboy Lance fic LITERALLY

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airi-p4 · 2 years

Text

Postponed plans

Hi! I wrote this story a while ago and I forgot to post it... So I’m posting it now because I’m feeling short of salt. And sugar. Especially SUGAR. I needed a dose of Lukanette FLUFF. So here’s a fic that have both sweetness and a pinch of salt. Enjoy?

Summary:

Luka invites Marinette out, but she already has plans with-…

Ladybug?

(Or why Marinette isn't allowed to have the peacock Miraculous)

Warning: Chat Noir salt

AO3

__________________________________

Marinette checked the time on her phone screen. Her university classes were finished for the day. If she hurried she could make use of some spare time to work on that secret project of hers… she was so lost in thought she didn’t notice the person she was thinking about coming from behind until he tapped her shoulder.

“Hello, Marinette”

She jumped from the surprise, but when she turned and Luka was still there after she rubbed her eyes a few times, she beamed and enthusiastically jumped to his arms. “Luka! You’re back!”

“I’m back”, he reciprocated the hug.

“I didn’t expect you until next week, but I’m so happy to see you!” she said. “I missed you so much”

“I missed you, too. I got impatient to see you and came back earlier” he confessed.

“You should have told me!” she pouted.

“That would have ruined the surprise, wouldn’t it?” he winked teasingly.

She couldn’t disagree. And gosh- he really looked handsome. Better than in those posters, TV, magazines or even in those video calls. Suddenly, the present she was working on for him didn’t matter anymore.

Luka was back. And he said next time he came back, he would be staying. In Paris. With HER.

‘ And that’s all that matters ’, she thought while melting in his warmth.

“I know it’s sudden but can I take you out tonight, Marinette?” Luka asked, his arms weaker to give her some space to look at him. She gave him an apologizing smile.

“I’m sorry, Luka, but I already have plans tonight. I promised a friend…”

“Oh. Well- I was aware it could happen with how popular you are” he kissed her forehead with a chuckle before she could protest. “May I ask who is the lucky person?”

“Well… It’s Ladybug”

“Ladybug?” he blinked twice, confused, as she had expected him to react. “But you’re…”

“Shhh!! Not here!” her index pressed against her soft lips for a moment, but then her hand slid down to take his. “She raised up on her tip-toes to give him a quick peek on his still half-opened mouth, and it immediately changed into a wide lovestruck smile. “Come with me!” she pulled his hand and he was more than happy to follow her like a puppy.

“Ok- so…” she started, once they reached a quieter, more deserted, place. “You know how packed my schedule always is, right? How I always have to come up with excuses and leave whenever there’s an akuma and all the lies I have to take to protect my secret…” He nodded. He knew too well: it was what caused their break up some time ago. “Besides you know how Chat is…” she groaned. “I’m so done with him and I’ve been wishing I could relegate my work to someone else for so long now… Except I couldn’t! Because I’m the guardian and I have the responsibility to keep an eye on the Miraculous and Su-Han is pressuring me with stupid training and- Arghhh!!” She pulled her hair in frustration. “It was such a mess!”

“I can imagine…” he sympathized. His thumb caressing her cheek calmed her. “I wish I could have been here to help you earlier…” he lamented and she smiled at him with that look she showed him only.

“I know. You did a lot even before you knew, and I was the one who suggested you to stay away in order to protect you. If the villains had targeted you… I don’t want to ever think about it…”

“I know” he held her hands in ressurance.

“Everything has been much better since you’ve been supporting me, Luka. But with University and you traveling around the world, I came up with a temporary solution: I created a new Ladybug: a Senti-Ladybug”

“A sentimonster?”

“Yes. Convincing Felix was not easy, but I managed somehow. Then, I projected all my best qualities to the sentimonster, gave her the Ladybug Miraculous' powers and sent her to fight whenever I couldn’t or I didn’t want to deal with Chat Noir- which was, honestly, most of the time” she rolled her eyes. “She’s a great Ladybug”

“That sounds very helpful and convenient. And clever" he praised. "Are you inviting her to thank her for her efforts and good job?”

“Well- Not exactly” she smiled amusedly at Luka’s questioning expression. “I’m inviting her because I want to apologize”

“Apologize…?”

“Yes, you see?” her hands swinged rhythmically with his as she spoke. “I don’t want to brag but I did a very good job with Senti-Ladybug. So good that no one in Paris could tell she isn’t the real one! Not even Chat Noir!”

“No way!” Luka exclaimed, trying not to laugh.

“And poor Senti-Ladybug has been dealing with a lot of flirting and stupid jokes for a long while. Chat Noir even created trouble and willingly encouraged people to get akumatized just to spend time with her!” she groaned. “That’s without counting how he’s still insisting on revealing our secret identities to each other… As if he didn’t know where that led us before!”

“Wow… I knew he was bad- but I didn’t know it was this bad … I’m sorry to hear that” Luka’s fingers tightened support in her hands.

“Yes… That's why Sentibug talked to me last weekend. She said she rejected Chat Noir… more than 20 times!- and that she was tired"

"Tired? Isn't she supposed to follow your will?"

"That's right. Imagine how bad she must feel! Poor thing! She said that she can’t stand Chat Noir anymore and told me she wanted to quit- which I can’t blame her, since I did the same - so I decided to step in” Luka kept listening attentively. “Both of us met with Chat, and he was incredibly shocked and frustrated when he learned the truth about Sentibug. I thought Sentibug was exaggerating but he seriously had no idea or even suspected that Sentibug wasn't me all this time! He’s unbelievable! We’ve been partners for years and yet- It’s disappointing, really…” she sighed tiredly. “So yes- I’m apologizing to Sentibug for having her go through all the trouble she's been enduring for so long. Mostly Chat, because she deals with akumas very quickly and efficiently”

“I think inviting her is a wonderful idea, Marinette. She seems to have worked very hard so far,” Luka kissed the back of her hand and she blushed. “What are you going to do about Chat?”

“Well- I think he’s reflecting on his actions after we called him out... Knowing him, he’s probably still in shock” Luka nodded in agreement. “If Sentibug doesn’t want to work with him anymore, I think I’ll take his ring for good” there was another deep sigh from her. “You know? even despite everything, I’m not happy with the idea… He's been my partner since the very beginning and it was Master Fu who chose him… Looking back, that's most likely what's been stopping me until now, I think." His head lowered as she shrugged in nostalgia. "But he’s had a lot of time to change after I first warned him, and he didn’t…. Besides, it’s not like he's been very helpful recently- no, he isn't most of the time-, so… It feels like I have to do it this time”

Luka couldn’t disagree with those last statements. Flirting, joking, exposing himself directly to danger, self-sacrifice, wishing for people to get akumatized so he could meet with Ladybug…Yes- Paris sounded much safer without him around.

“Yes. I think that’s the right move, too” He said, and Marinette let out a relieved sigh. She was always happy to have Luka’s wisdom backing her decisions up. And if he ever thought there was something uncertain in her plans, they would debate it and come to the best possible solution. As they caressed each other's hands, they smiled at each other. Luka continued. “I think you really owe her dinner after all, yes” he chuckled.

“Right!?” She jumped. “I feel so sorry for having her go through that! She’s been very helpful and I want to be a better friend to her!”

“Sentibug sounds amazing, Marinette,” Luka chuckled. “Do you think I could join you? Maybe just to introduce us?”

“No! Impossible!” Marinette loudly protested. Luka stared at her confused and her cheeks turned red at her own reaction. Her hands finally left his to cover her face. “I mean… I projected a lot of myself into her- my best traits: Ladybug’s traits. She’s like… a perfect Ladybug. No clumsiness, no rambling, no panic or accidents… But what if I projected too much of myself into her? What if my love for you found its way through her, too!? Or maybe you'd prefer her since she’s a better me!? I can’t risk it!”

There were a few seconds of silence.

And Luka burst out laughing.

“What!” her face reddened, but he didn’t stop laughing for a minute.

“Gosh Marinette! You’re so funny!” he said, straightening up from being bent double. “I would never not know you. And I would never not love you” She relaxed at his loving expression, but her redness didn’t fade off her face. “I love you as you are: with clumsiness, rambles and everything” He assured. “A Marinette without those traits wouldn’t be the Marinette I love. I wouldn’t change you for anything or anyone, melody”

It didn’t seem possible, but Marinette blushed even more. She moved closer to rest her face on his chest, breathing his cologne and enjoying his warmth. She surrounded his torso with her arms and he gently returned the gesture.

“I don’t know how I’m so lucky to have you in my life. You're the best boyfriend I could ever ask for, Luka” she pulled even closer, enjoying a kiss on the top of her head and his fingers playing with her loose hair. “I love you so much”

“I think I'm the lucky one, Marinette” she melted as he whispered in her ear. "I love you too"

After a long tender moment enjoying their closeness, while keeping her arms around him, Marinette pulled slightly apart and raised her face to meet his, almost knocking his chin with her sudden move. Their eyes met.

“Let’s go out tomorrow! To make up for today!” She suggested. He smiled lovingly at her glowing, enthusiastic eyes.”Or maybe we can go enjoy the night view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower after my plans with Ladybug are over tonight!”

“OK then- let’s go out tomorrow. And we can go to the Eiffel Tower after our date, if you still want to” he replied with a smile. “Oh, and I’m the one inviting” she pouted at that but he kissed her before she could complain. A long, loving, sweet kiss that made them forget about the rest of the world. He pulled her into a hug again. “I’ll be looking forward to it”

“Me too” She beamed, and sank her face on his chest once again to muffle her happy squeal. After months and so many fiascos, a proper date with Luka sounded too good to be real…

She couldn’t be happier.

“Have fun and enjoy your time with Ladybug tonight,” She nodded, snuggling even closer, to his contentment. “And if you need me… I’ll be close by, in my room, composing a thousand love songs for you”

“Then I’ll make sure to listen to all of them tomorrow” she hummed happily.

She rose once again on her tip-toes to give him a soft kiss on his lips and he took the chance to surround her with his arms, raise her light body up and spin her around before giving her one more long, loving, and long-awaited kiss with a taste Marinette decided to call ‘ Happiness ’.

FIN

#my fic #airiP4 #lukanette fic #endgame lukanette #Pro LukaMari #salt fic #chat noir salt

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