Lowkey Highkey Obsessed With This Love Square

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“Don’t be mad ok?”

Marinette peered up at Alya from the other side of the table. She frowned around the straw of her milkshake, letting it go with a light pop and sitting back upright.

“Why would I be mad?” she asked, eyes narrowing at the guilty-yet-proud look on her best friend’s face and oh no she did not like that expression one bit. It meant Alya was surprising Marinette with something; something Alya most likely thought she’d like.

“Well I invited Nino here too,” Alya explained, glancing out at the rainy Parisian sky and taking a sip out of her freak-shake (Marinette had tried one once, and the resulting sugar high had made her promise Tikki to never have one again).

When Alya didn’t elaborate, Marinette slumped back in her seat with a relieved sigh. “Oh,” she shrugged. “That’s fine.” And it was. Their Friday Milkshakes were often reserved for just the two of them, checking in on each other, keeping up with the gossip. But exam season was upon them and they were all seeing less and less of each other. Marinette couldn’t blame Alya for wanting to see as much of Nino as she could. They were together after all.

She didn’t factor in that Alya could be lying to her by omission.

The next few minutes were spent caught up in the latest school scandal (Kim deciding to put his flip flops up on the table by Alix’s food which began the start of what now looked to be another Great Prank War) when the bell above the door rang and a rush of cold air swept through the cafe.

Two people, not one, quickly shut the door behind them as they shook off the remnants of the dreadful weather.

Nino and Adrien wiped off the raindrops from their coats, playfully flicking them at each other and laughing the way teenage boys do over things others find completely incomprehensible. Alya waved them over, and Adrien’s eyes met Marinette’s.

He froze.

All at once, Marinette’s afternoon went from mundane to downright unbearable.

Her fingers gripped her milkshake so tightly, she was surprised the glass didn’t shatter. Furious, she tore her gaze away from Adrien towards Alya. “Just Nino, huh?” she hissed between her teeth as the boys approached. “Why would you do this to me?” she meant it to sound more threatening, but instead it came out more like a pathetic whine.

Alya grinned, tapping her nose. “Because I see the way you look at each other. You can cut the sexual tension with a knife. Girl I know all that ‘I hate him’ stuff is for show, you’re fooling nobody.”

A wave of pure, unadulterated outrage stunned Marinette into silence. Sexual tension? SEXUAL TENSION?! As in tension of the SEXUAL variety?!

Marinette wanted to scream. No! No, it wasn’t sexual tension! It wasn’t that at all! It was regular-freaking-tension! It was the tension between two sworn enemies! Sexual tension?! Was Alya insane?!

She didn’t have time to respond, as Nino leaned down to kiss Alya in greeting, sliding his arm around her and flushing when Alya whispered something in his ear. Marinette couldn’t even tease them, she was so rocked by the revelation that Alya thought her and Adrien’s tension was- was-

UGH.

“Is this seat free?” Adrien asked quietly.

Marinette scowled at him. “You think everything is free, might as well take it like you do everything else,” she snapped under her breath, sliding across the booth so she was pressed right up against the window, as far away from Adrien as she could possibly be.

She missed the way his face fell. Wouldn’t have cared if she had seen.

The table fell into the kind of awkward silence only achieved by people trying to pretend that everything was normal and that absolutely nobody present wanted to commit homicide.

Marinette, in all her stubbornness, refused to say one word. She had a few pretty choice ones that were unbecoming of a superhero such as herself, and it was upset Tikki if she were to use them. So, she kept quiet, staring out at the rain instead. Her mood worsened with every moment and whatever waves of anger and betrayal she was giving out must have been felt by everyone at their booth. Especially with Nino, who was trying to make jokes in an increasingly high-pitched, hysterical voice.

“So…this weather sucks huh?” Alya tried, and got the sound of Marinette slurping her straw loudly as a result.

“It kind of sucks, yeah but also doesn’t. Father had to cancel my outdoor photoshoot today, which is why I get to hang out here, which is…good,” Adrien replied, sounding cautious, sounding like he didn’t want to offend. Which was ridiculous. His very existence was an offense to her- at least his alter ego was.

“It’s terrible,” Marinette grunted. “I hate the rain,” she added pointedly, her voice littered with subtext. Alya kicked her under the table, mouthing be nice around her fist, which rested against her chin, effectively blocking her lips from view of the boys.

Marinette wanted to laugh. Be nice? Oh, if only Alya knew they were sharing their booth with a wanted criminal. She was sure she’d be singing a different tune if she’d been able to get the scoop on that hot gossip.

Nino, in the mall: What was that?

Adrien: It’s probably just Marinette getting excited about pockets.

Marinette, holding up a dress: LOOK, ADRIEN, IT HAS THREE!

I’m going to be honest with you, I haven’t been watching the new episodes, and I don’t really plan to until everything’s out, specifically because all the episodes have been airing out of order. I really don’t like the statue scene however, because you know… it was impossible not to get spoiled on that.

I really, really hate that Marinette is always the one to get majorly embarrassed when in regards to her crush. I keep hearing people excuse it by saying ‘We’ve all had embarrassing moments from teenaged crushes!’ and here’s the thing… that’s not my problem with it.

My problem is that Marinette is the ONLY ONE ever humiliated for having a crush. 

Literally there is NEVER a Ladrien or Ladynoir moment where Adrien/Chat Noir severely humiliates himself in front of Ladybug as a result of his crush. Adrien almost never acts like a truly awkward and smitten teenager and that’s, in my opinion, completely unfair. (Any moments he DOES have where he’s being weird are pretty unmemorable, so no, they don’t count.)

The embarrassment Marinette is put through is legit severely traumatising. I’m speaking from experience, these are the types of incidents you will remember well into your adulthood, and no, it’s not always something to laugh about when you’re older. 

Marinette’s crush was outed on live television to the entirety of Paris without her consent, for example. That is not something you forget about. That’s going to be something so mortifying that she’ll have anxiety-induced dreams about it for years. That’s going to be something that she’ll remember right before going to bed, and it’ll still be so humiliating that it’ll keep her up at night dwelling on it. (How the FUCK was she not the one to get akumatised?)

Furthermore, any and all attempts Marinette makes in making her feelings known always come back to bite her in the ass. It’s exhausting to watch, and I can only imagine how exhausting it would be to live with. I can’t find myself rooting for it anymore. I sincerely just want her to give up on him at this point.

Also… you know what really bothers me?

Chat Noir is implied to be able to confess to Ladybug without anything seriously straining their friendship, even if she were to reject him. Which she did. With the way the writers keep avoiding Marinette the chance to confess, it seems to imply to me that her and Adrien’s friendship is, in comparison, really fragile. That if she were to confess, it would crumble. That’s… unbalanced. And makes no sense because they keep going back and forth between ‘Marinette has perfectly fine moments around Adrien without any stuttering and they’re super great, close friends!’ and ‘Marinette is entirely incapable of forming complete sentences around Adrien and cannot be in the same room with him at all!’

What the fuck?

I’m getting sick of this. Everyone keeps saying Adrienette is endgame, but here’s the truth for you guys: It’s Not. You know what is endgame? Ladynoir. Because with the way things are going, it’s entirely obvious that Marinette is not even on Adrien’s romantic radar. But you know what, Chat Noir is on Marinette’s. She’s already openly admitted that if it weren’t for Adrien, she may have really considered Chat Noir. We’re shown time and time again that Ladybug does, indeed, have a soft spot for Chat Noir. 

But for some reason, Adrien can’t do the same for Marinette. This isn’t about loyalty to one’s crush, because you know, Adrien’s been flat out rejected twice now and has even attempted to date another girl. No, this is what they’re telling us: Adrien isn’t interested in Marinette at all. She is LITERALLY the girl behind the mask, the very woman he said that he’d love, but he doesn’t feel anything romantic for her. Clearly he thinks she has all the good qualities that Ladybug has! After all, he compliments her all the time and has even called her an everyday Ladybug! But, no, he still doesn’t like her. Why is that?

Honestly, at this point the only conclusion I can come to is that there’s just something inherently about Marinette that he just doesn’t like. He’s already shown that he’s capable of looking towards other girls, so I don’t want to hear the ‘loyalty to Ladybug’ excuse. The fact of the matter is that there’s something about Marinette that rules her out as a romantic interest to him.

Which, uh, is bad. At this point, the only way I can see them getting together is either is Ladybug finally decides to return Chat Noir’s affections, or an identity reveal happens. (And sorry guys, I can NEVER see Marinette using Ladybug to date a civilian, so I don’t see Ladrien happening either.) 

I’m gonna be honest with you, as much as I like Ladynoir, I’m going to be upset if this is how it happens. That Adrien is rewarded for continuously attempting to capture Ladybug’s heart despite her repetitively telling him no. Like, did you guys see what happened with Oblivio? He got them both into serious shit because he was busy lounging around trying to flirt while Ladybug was doing all the work. Like, I’m not messing with you, he got them both hit by a memory wipe akuma because of his bullshit. 

Unless Adrien learns about the concept of ‘time and place,’ and unless Adrien learns to respect boundaries and take a solid ‘no’ for an answer, I’m going to be FURIOUS if this is how Ladynoir happens. 

And if they get together because of an identity reveal… No. I’m not going to be happy. Y’all can say whatever you like, but unless Adrien acknowledges that he COULD at least see Marinette in a romantic light, their relationship after an identity reveal would essentially boil down to this: Adrien’s only dating Marinette because she’s Ladybug. Before he had discovered her being Ladybug, he wouldn’t have even considered it, not for a moment. 

You can understand why that really upsets me, right?

(I have SO MUCH MORE to say about this, but I’m gonna wrap this up.)

In conclusion, I sincerely hope that they don’t get together by this season. Or, at least, not unless some of the upcoming episodes have Adrien and Marinette go through some serious development. AKA, Adrien accepting Ladybug’s responses, and Marinette, if not outright letting go, calming down her crush enough that it no longer results in her dignity getting sacrificed. 

…

(Also, I DEMAND we have scenes where Adrien embarrasses the FUCK out of himself in front of Ladybug, now. Both as his civilian self and as his superhero self. It’s EQUALITY! HUMILIATE THE RICH BOY, YOU COWARDS.)

“You want me to do what?”

Marinette’s vaguely aware that her voice may have been a tad too loud, especially considering the fact that Alya had been attempting to whisper to her just moments ago. She’s also vaguely aware that’s she’s attracted the attention of most students currently walking up the school steps, including that of her crush, Adrien Agreste. Surprisingly, she finds herself unbothered. And more than a little distracted.

“Alya, you’re joking, right? You have to be.”

“Girl, shush,” Alya hisses out, wrapping an arm over Marinette’s shoulders and taking glances around them. It seems a little on the paranoid side, but Marinette isn’t one to judge.

“Listen, my grandma has to go into surgery, so me and my family have to take off for a week. I really, really, wish I could do this myself, but I’ve got no other choice right now. I know you’re busy with all your commissions, and the bakery, and class president stuff, but Nino sucks at talking professionally, and Adrien’s, like, never allowed out of the mansion.”

“What makes you think I’d be a better choice in comparison to literally every other student in our class?”

Alya rolls her eyes at all.

“Marinette, I’ve heard your customer service voice.”

“Ah.”

Right. Helping out her parents at the bakery meant an awful lot of occasions where she’d had to deploy the infamous customer service voice. After all, they do own one of the most popular bakeries in all of Paris, which meant attracting quite a lot of tourists.

Unlike America, the Dupain-Cheng bakery doesn’t take bullshit. She makes sure to let rude customers know that just from the tone of her voice.

If she tells you to leave, you leave. She only needs to say it once.

“Besides,” Alya continues on. “If you do this for me, you can consider all of your IOUs paid off.”

“Do what?”

The two girls look away from each other in surprise, now noticing they had the attention of their resident model. Despite teasingly calling out Marinette as an eavesdropper, everyone’s rather aware of his nosy tendencies. (Not many can blame him, though. He’s not socially incompetent, but boundaries are still not his strong point. Really, considering his only friend for years was Chloé, well… It’s understandable, to a point.)

“And what makes you think that’s your business, Agreste?” Alya smirks, placing a hand on her hip and using the other occupied one to pull Marinette closer.

She’s been doing that around Adrien a lot, testing some theory about Adrien and his touchy-feely habits. Marinette decided she didn’t want any part of that and didn’t ask any further.

“Well,” Adrien playfully smirks back. “I overheard―”

“Eavesdropped,” Alya loudly whispers into Marinette’s ear, who giggles in response.

“Overheard,” Adrien corrects, though he’s clearly smiling. “You pressuring poor Marinette into doing something that she doesn’t seem to want to do. So I was just curious, is all.”

He pauses, glancing back and forth between the two girls.

“This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with Lila, would it?”

Alya bursts out into a short laugh, not realising the fond look Marinette shoots Adrien’s way or how his shoulders are tensed, maybe even worried.

“No way! This is way more important than that! Marinette’s just filling in for me for one of my, uh… Ladyblog duties.”

Adrien relaxes, then smiles almost knowingly.

“Ah, I see. Nino said you’re going out of town in two days, right?”

“Yup! But you’re not getting any more than that. Now shoo, we got a lot to talk about.”

“Wait, hey,” Marinette protests. “I didn’t agree yet!”

“So you’re not going to take the opportunity to pay off all your IOUs in one sitting?”

The designer snaps her mouth shut and stares off into space for a moment, brows knit together and cheeks puffed up in what seems to be intense consideration.

“… Okay, deal.”

“Yes! Let’s go, then! Bye, Adrien!”

And with that, Alya drags Marinette away before the poor girl realises who she was standing in front of, and accidentally makes a fool of herself as a result.

———————————————————————————————————–

Alya had given Marinette most of the material she would need to do the job. Not only that, but she had coached Marinette through lines and responses, and how to use her customer service voice and morph it into a similar but distinctly different interviewer voice.

With all that, you would think that Marinette would be prepared for what she was about to do. But the truth of the matter is that no, she was not prepared. In fact, she was the opposite of prepared. While, yes, the chairs and cameras were all set up, and everything looked neat and tidy, and she was wearing her best professional clothing— a ruffled pink top and grey pencil skirt— Marinette was…

Well, she was freaking out. She had never practiced with the blinding light fixtures or with a camera pointed directly at her face. She never practiced her lines with anyone other than Alya. She only learned how to turn the cameras on today, right when Nino had finished up putting the cameras in place and was about to go home before curfew. 

It was just the push of a simple button, so that shouldn’t be something to worry about, but the fact of the matter was that she hadn’t even considered she would be the one responsible for the cameras. Which left the question― What else was she responsible for, that she hadn’t even anticipated?

“Well, this is a surprise.”

Oh god, he’s already here.

Plastering on a forced smile, Marinette turns her attention to a silhouette crouching on a high window. The crescent moon is hovering just behind his head, and his eyes seem to glow in the darkness of the corner he was in. He’s clearly already putting on a show, and Marinette realises with some panic that she doesn’t have a camera lined up in that direction.

Was… Was she supposed to move it? No, no, what if she accidentally breaks it? No, she can’t move it. But what if Alya wants this footage?

“Hello, Chat Noir,” Marinette forces out, stopping herself from prematurely pressing the record button. She… She’s supposed to do something first before doing that, but she’s forgotten what.

The superhero jumps down from his perch and walks into the artificial lighting, smiling easily and swinging his lower body over the back of the velvety red armchair, sinking into the seat cushions. 

“I was under the assumption that our favourite ladyblogger would be conducting the interview.”

“She had a family emergency, so I’ll be taking her place this time.”

His smile twitches down a bit, then completely fades away. His gaze grows more intense.

“… I see.”

An awkward silence stretches between them, and Marinette feels her face gradually heat up in embarrassment. Her mind is completely blank. 

“Marinette, are you alright?”

It takes her more than a couple seconds to process that question, and when she does, her embarrassment increases tenfold.

“I’m fine, sorry about that. Just got lost in thought. Anyways, are you prepared for the interview?”

Apparently, her response displeases him, because he stands up and walks around the table between them, stopping just beside her. His eyes never leave her face.

“… Marinette, I think you’re either having an anxiety attack right now, or you’re dissociating.”

“Am I,” is her automatic response. He doesn’t say anything, only frowning as though he was given a rather unfortunate answer. He reaches for his baton and opens it up, kneeling down beside her legs. He takes several minutes to check something up, reads through it, then puts the baton away.

“Okay, definitely dissociating,” he mumbles to himself. He stands up again then goes over to the equipment, and Marinette doesn’t do anything to stop him from messing with it. 

Abruptly, the lights shut off. 

“Marinette, you okay? Do you hear me?”

His voice is soft in the darkness, which is comforting, but it’s still distressing that she can’t see. Yes, the lights were horrible, but now the only thing in her vision is the imprint of a bright, blueish hue, fixed in place no matter how many times she blinks or where she looks.

“Marinette?”

His voice is closer, now, but even softer, just shy of a whisper. She hums in response, then blinks a few more times. One of the light fixtures is moved out of the way, allowing for moonlight to splash over the table and chair in front of her. Her shoulders untense, just a little. There’s still spots in her vision, but she can see now, so it doesn’t matter.

“Do you want me to keep talking?”

Yes, yes, she would very much like that. Her body is beginning to feel a little shaky, but she manages to give the voice a sharp nod. The voice? Who was she talking to again? She couldn’t—

“You know, I lied when I said I was surprised,” the voice says, interrupting her spiralling thoughts. “I knew that Alya was gonna be out of town, I had overheard about it. I also know you’re her best friend, so I kind of expected to see you. I was really excited about it.”

A figure moves in front of her, briefly, before once again getting comfortable in the plush red seat. His lips move in time with the voice.

“I really enjoy talking with you. It’s really easy to trust you with things I wouldn’t tell others, because you’re very respectful and kind. I’m honestly amazed that you never told Alya about that whole balcony thing, the day Glaciator attacked. I didn’t even have to tell you not to say anything, you just naturally understand boundaries like that.”

Chat Noir smiles in a way that’s nothing like all the previous smiles she’s ever seen on his face.

Right. Chat Noir. She’s talking to Chat Noir, because she was supposed to be filling in for Alya, who is out of town, for an exclusive one-on-one interview with Chat Noir. And she…

And she already messed up.

“Oh, God,” she says with sudden realisation. She quickly raises both hands to squish them against the front of her face, covering up her burning cheeks. “Oh, God, I can’t believe that just happened.”

“Hey, it’s alright—”

“No, it’s not alright, because I promised Alya I would get this done, and that it would be perfect, but I totally messed up everything because I couldn’t keep my stupid feelings in check, again, and Alya had worked so hard and deserves—”

“Marinette, stop.”

She flinches back, and sees Chat Noir now seated down on the table, his knees just barely bumping into hers on either side. He leans forward and takes hold of both her hands, placing them on her lap.

“You need to stop thinking about what Alya will think or how she would do this. You’re not Alya. You may be the stand-in journalist, but that doesn’t mean to have to do everything by her rules.”

“But, no, this is Alya’s interview, she—”

“She’s not here right now. You are. Listen Marinette, you can’t do this by pretending to be some imitation of Alya. If you want an authentic, smooth-going interview, you’ll need to go about this your own way. Everything you learned from Alya is going to be your base template. A resource for you to borrow from. You with me so far?”

Marinette presses her lips together and nods. Chat smiles and cups her cheeks, using his thumbs to brush away tears she hadn’t even known she’d shed.

“Good. Now then, tell me how Marinette Dupain-Cheng would interview a superhero.”

———————————————————————————————————–

The light fixtures were back in place, now at a much lower level than they were previously. The table had been moved out of the way, allowing for the chairs to be close enough that either one of them could stick their leg out to kick the other, easily. The cameras were rearranged to film at different angles, now, and no camera view excluded either of the two out of the shot.

Most importantly, Marinette had ditched the file Alya had provided her. She already knew the questions by heart, anyways, in case she needed to use one of them.

“You ready to begin?”

It’s funny, really, that the interviewee was asking that, and not the interviewer. 

“Yeah,” Marinette responds. “Let’s get this show started.”

And with that, the cameras start rolling. Marinette grins at camera A, placed to have a perfect side-view recording of both parties from a distance.

“Bonjour, Paris! I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and while I’ve literally never done an interview in my life, Alya Césaire decided that I would be the purrfect replacement in her absence. So, really, you should blame her for this.”

Chat snorts loudly at that.

“Continuing on, today we’ll be asking our favourite feline superhero, Puss in Boots, a few questions. Say hello, kitty!”

“Oh, God,” Chat says in-between a short bout of laughter. “Bonjour, Paris. Just so you know, I did nothing to deserve this blatant mistreatment.”

“Hush,” Marinette says, giving him a light kick in the shin. “I punned for you. I get a pass.”

“What? No way, you can’t get passes for animal cruelty.”

“Oh, you’re an animal now? Way to start this interview off strong for your lady fans, Chat Noir. Please, do go on.”

The interview goes by smoothly. There’s never a lull in conversation, boundaries remain untouched, and the atmosphere remains playful, warm, personal, and overall enjoyable.

But, it isn’t the end.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Marinette?”

She sighs, picking up the file she had previously discarded, squinting due to the bright lights. 

“I won’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy doing things my way, but I did promise Alya that I’d do it the way she planned it. So, we might as well film this version as well, right? She can decide for herself which one she likes better. Besides, I…”

She smiles.

“I feel a lot better now. I think I can do this.”

“Alright then,” Chat concedes. “Let’s take it from the top, then.”

———————————————————————————————————–

Alya has watched both videos at least ten times each, and she has to admit, the superior one is rather clear. As much as she doesn’t like it, Marinette was clearly more in her element in the first one filmed, which went on to further charge the chemistry between her and Chat.

And boy, was there chemistry. 

That leads to the next problem. If she posts the first video, Paris would practically erupt, a new brand of shippers will jump into the scene, and Hawkmoth may very well place a target on her best friend’s back.

If she posts the second video, her followers would find the interviewer rather lackluster, and possibly make a lot of rude comments that she doesn’t want her best friend to be subjected to.

… Really, the answer to her dilemma would be pretty obvious. Marinette can handle a few internet jerks. It’s no big deal, and, most importantly, it won’t get her targeted by Hawkmoth. 

But the thing is… Marinette and Chat Noir want her to post the first video. They wouldn’t have filmed it and given it to her if they hadn’t wanted it to go public.

The ladyblogger leans back into her desk chair and sighs, glancing towards the bedside digital clock while biting down on her thumb. 1:53. She really needs to make a decision, otherwise she’ll never be able to actually go to bed.

Her sleep deprived mind suddenly gets an idea. She latches on to it, posting both videos with different captions, then collapses into her bed with a sigh of relief. She’ll deal with the consequences tomorrow.

———————————————————————————————————–

Chat Noir is a little shit and he’s going to pay. 

She feels fooled. Bamboozled. A few nights ago, he had been gentle and kind, had given her good advice, and encouraged her to do her best without sacrificing the way she is. That Chat Noir was an inspiration. A friend and an ally. Someone she trusts and could count on. 

The Chat Noir of today made her realise that, yes, while he can be all those things, he’s still a little storm of trouble, mischief, and utter bullshit. 

And she was not prepared for this. 

It’s only been a day since the interviews have been posted, but almost immediately after they had gone public, Chat Noir decided to post a link to it on his social media and make comments.

Ones specifically made to rile up every shipper, analyst, and hero fan in Paris.

If she gets stopped one more time by some creepy adult fan who thinks it’s perfectly okay to grab a little teenager by the wrist, she’s going to kick their fucking ass. 

She eyes the expensive fabric scissors with an expression that screams murder. She wonders if it could tear through a magical catsuit. Probably not. Besides, she’d have to pay for it if she gets blood on it, and she only brought enough money to get herself some fabric.

Ugh.

She feels her hands twitch as her phone dings with another update on Chat Noir’s twitter. Begrudgingly, she shoves her hand into her purse and fishes it out, wondering what he could possibly be saying now. Seriously, how has he not exhausted himself yet? Wasn’t he awake at, like, 2 in the morning?

Marinette is not a toy. Quit grabbing her and asking her questions on the street. She’s a person. I SEE you, lady in the blue cardigan at the fabric store. She’s 13. Back. Off.

Quickly, she whips her head around to look over her shoulder, catching sight of a middle-aged woman in a navy blue cardigan. The woman is looking down at her phone, silently walking away in embarrassment.

Her phone dings thrice again.

Hey Paris, remember when I DIDN’T need to play bodyguard because you guys were respectful towards teenaged girls who were lucky enough to interact with superheroes? Let’s go back to that.

Seriously, I only noticed like 30 minutes ago when I saw some university guy corner her on the street. What the hell’s going on? @ladyblogger Was this a normal occurrence and me and Ladybug just didn’t know?

I admit I was joking around and maybe fueling some ship wars but I didn’t expect grown adults to take that as a sign to harass a young girl. Knock it off and wake up, real life isn’t the internet. 

…

Well, Marinette decides. She supposes the cat will live to see another day.

Ding!

To the TV crew hanging out at the entrance of the fabric store: Filming and interrogating a 13 year old without parental consent is illegal. I WILL apprehend you. Leave.

A minute later, Marinette hears about a dozen curses from multiple people at the front of the store, and the rushed packing of equipment.

With a smirk, Marinette sends out a tweet of her own.

Wassup, Paris, thanks for landing me my very own furry stalker, @therealchatnoir. Much appreciated. Always wanted one of those.

Ding!

?!?!?!? FURRY?!?! EXCUSE ME?!?!

Marinette cackles and pockets her phone, ignoring the resulting dings.

DON’T PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY ON ME, HEY!!! HEYYYY!!!!

I’M NOT A FURRY TAKE YOUR PHONE OUT YOU COWARD

dcvgthgrfCFRVGTBHYGVRFCDEX F I G H T M E

I’LL SPAM YOU DON’T THINK I WON’T DO IT. HEY LADYBLOGGER GIVE ME HER NUMBER I JUST WANNA TALK

Marineeeeetttteeeeee don’t ignore me pleeaaaaseeee ;(((((

He’s a dork. He’s sweet and kind, but ultimately he’s a total dork. 

And maybe a little her type.

…

She buys black fabric, that day.

———————————————————————————————————–

“Please? Pleaaase?”

“No, Alya.”

“Oh come on, just one with Ladybug!”

“I can’t, Alya. I’m busy that day. Ask Adrien to do it or something.”

“Why are you all fawning over this Lila chick? Didnt that Marinette girl in your class design Jagged Stone’s album?

’‘Well yes but-”

“And his favorite sunglasses”

“True but-”

“And he picked her bakery to do that episode on TV”

“Sure but-”

“Didnt Clara Nightingale practically dance with her before basically begging her on a knee to be her Ladybug?”

“Now you’re just exaggerating-”

“Didnt she also win a Gabriel Agreste contest before Adrien Agreste wore her design? And that she even impressed Chloé Bourgeois’s fashion critic mom.”

“How did you-”

“I also heard her world famous chef uncle named his soup after her”

“Well great-uncle but……”

Damn did i forget any of her notable accomplishments because these are all news worthy, like they were actually the news. I’d that she babysits for Nadja but i dont think that’s common knowledge. And also she was everywhere on the news as Adrien’s girlfriend. Like how could anyone look at this girl and think she was jealous. And also how is nshe ot being mobbed at school like Adrien was at first. How could Lila not know about this (oh yeah because she aint clever and only cares about her own news)

And on that note:

Marinette froze, icy horror spiking through her veins at Adrien’s voice.

‘Oh no, no no no noooooo-’

All these jokes and the internet trying to make her popular, she’s going to look like CHLOE to him! An attention seeker making up ridiculous stories about herself and-

“I’d believe it! She’s amazing!”

Alya smirks, turning to face her friend. “You hear tha- Marinette?”

Her concerned tone caused many to turn, only to glimpse a frozen Marinette; a glazed look on her face and a near luminescent blush on her cheeks.

“Marinette, are you okay?”

The blush only got worse as Adrien got closer, himself oblivious to the giggling and chuckling of his classmates and friends.

If only he had paid attention, then he would have noticed Helen with a truly evil smile on her face, one that stretched her cheeks to the limit and showed off all her teeth.

For it was the smile of the damned. A smile from the deepest, darkest sections of the internet, fueled by madness and an unholy urge for adorable. It was the smile…

OF THE SHIPPER!

A blog post, made a mere hour later, unleashed chaos upon both the Internet, and Paris itself!

FashionableFanatisism37 posted:

“Why are you all fawning over this Lila chick? Didnt that Marinette girl in your class design Jagged Stone’s album?

’‘Well yes but-”

“And his favorite sunglasses”

“True but-”

“And he picked her bakery to do that episode on TV”

“Sure but-”

“Didnt Clara Nightingale practically dance with her before basically begging her on a knee to be her Ladybug?”

“Now you’re just exaggerating-”

“Didnt she also win a Gabriel Agreste contest before Adrien Agreste wore her design? And that she even impressed Chloé Bourgeois’s fashion critic mom.”

“How did you-”

“I also heard her world famous chef uncle named his soup after her”

“Well great-uncle but……”

Damn did i forget any of her notable accomplishments because these are all news worthy, like they were actually the news. I’d that she babysits for Nadja but i dont think that’s common knowledge. And also she was everywhere on the news as Adrien’s girlfriend. Like how could anyone look at this girl and think she was jealous. And also how is nshe ot being mobbed at school like Adrien was at first. How could Lila not know about this (oh yeah because she aint clever and only cares about her own news)

And on that note:

Jagged joined in on the forum shortly after meeting Marinette because it seemed funny initially. Then he came to actually know her and it stopped being funny and started being hilarious.

Adrien: I can bat my eyelashes at her.

Adrien:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

@starlightky was looking for some quality Lukanette, so here are some of my favorites.  This list is not exhaustive, so feel free to add your faves in the comments or reblog with them. I expect we’re going to get to see some more quality Lukanette in the near future.  :)

Sweet Fluffy Stuff

“His Heart Song” by @thenovelartist This is probably my all time favorite Lukanette piece.  It’s a one-shot that follows them from their first meeting, through a tight friendship, to eventual mutual love.  It also plays with Marinette’s ability to see what Luka hears.

“Happy Surprise” by @universeenthusiast Sweet happy fluff flash piece.

“You Think I’m Really Into Fashion” by JjdoggieS Pre relationship/first date? Adorable kids

“Crush Crush Crush” by HappeningHepster Luka POV, he’s got it bad for that sweet girl, and he accidentally tells her so in a song

“If she said YES” by Arolla Picks up at the end of Frozer. There’s a hint of some sadness that is offset by so much sweet and wonderful fluff.

“I believe in You” by BlehBlahBluh Picks up after Chameleon so there’s some slightly salty hurt Marinette, but Luka makes everything better.

“Notes and Sweets” by @imthepunchlord Small collection of super fluffy Lukanette/Lukabug drabbles.

“Tune” by catherineduchessofvineyard Sweet pre-relationship fluffiness

“My Favorite Song” by Alya29 Marinette has been hanging out with Luka ever since she was rejected by Adrien.  Sweet pre-relationship confessions.

“Chai Tea and Fresh Starts” by @freedom-shamrock Yeah.  I’m pitching my fluffy Lukanette fic here in case folks haven’t seen it.

Fluffy Smut

“I’ll See You Backstage” by Bitten_Lovebug Explicit – starts strongly Lukanette and eventually becomes Lukadrienette (but you can quit before then if you prefer