Hi.

So. Less free time = NOT GOOD FOR UPDATES. But no yelling at me about that unless YOU'VE babysat a 4yo for 21 hours a week before. Sweet kid, but honestly exhausting. (September was worse. September I was doing a full 40 hours a week just babysitting and driving. Now it's 21 hours babysitting, 3 hours bookstore job, half a day visiting my dying great-grandma, and probably at least 5-6 hours driving, and I'm tired ALL THE TIME. :p) Still, I'm so sorry this took so long! Most of it was just procrastination, so I really have no excuse. Except that I've been trying to get out on the interwebs more (b/c publicity is something you need to get published?).

My blog is up and running! and I have a 1 week old DeviantArt (fanart, OCs, a couple cat pics)! If you want to follow me anywhere, my blog is world of Dedanan dot WordPress dot com, my DA is TamaraADuncan, and I have a couple public Spotify playlists as World of Dedanan. Also I'm thinking of getting a Tumblr? Maybe TikTok too? It/they would probably be something like World of Dedanan or Tamara Duncan. Would you follow either of those? Thoughts?

(Please please please visit my blog/DA! I got rejected from a writing mentorship program, Pitch Wars, for the second year in a row, which I moped about for a couple days but at least it helped me finish this chapter? and it doesn't help my mood that my sister and brother are my only blog followers and I had to Very Strongly Hint to my brother that I wanted him to follow. :( Also probably going to post the next chapter of LJ on there up to a week before I post it here, so there's that. Follow maybe?)

TL;DR: I suck but also I rock, and my sister rocks too so go read her ATLA fanfic (on my account).

crushes

[[[[[[[[[[adrien]]]]]]]]]]

I spend the rest of my day staring at girls' bodies.

Aagh! Not like that! Not….in a pervy way or anything! Just….comparing my classmates to a photo of Ladybug.

Juleka is taller than Ladybug. Rose and Alix are far shorter. Alya's hips and… er… chest are wider. Myléne is shorter and rounder. Chloe has a similar body type to Ladybug, but she didn't even look quite like her when she dressed up for Clara Nightingale's video. Plus, none of them except Juleka have the right color hair. Lila….oh God no. Ladybug hates Lila, everyone would know if Lila was Ladybug, and there is no way I've had a crush on her. Marinette?

….she's slender, like Ladybug….

….about a head shorter than me, like Ladybug….

….has black pigtails, like Ladybug….

….has long legs and thin fingers, like Ladybug….

….has surprisingly muscular arms, for a designer….

….surprisingly good reflexes, for a clumsy designer….

….sounds like Ladybug….

My God.

Do I have a crush on Marinette Dupain-Cheng?

{{{{{{{{{{marinette}}}}}}}}}}

Adrien keeps staring at me during lunch. He thinks he's being subtle, but every time I look at him I can see him whip away.

Has he finally figured it out? Have Sabrina and Tikki and Plagg given him enough clues?

Does he know I'm Ladybug, or is he finally starting to notice Marinette just after Ladybug started noticing Chat?

[[[[[[[[[[adrien]]]]]]]]]]

How bad would it be, really, to have had a crush on Marinette this whole time? Would it be bad? I mean. Marinette's nice and all, but would I ever have liked her if she weren't Ladybug? That is, assuming she is Ladybug. She is remarkably like LB, but my school's only one school. There could be dozens close enough for Ladybug. It could be only a coincidence.

...but it's not. I'm sure of that.

Clumsy, awkward, shy, sensitive Marinette Dupain-Cheng is the same girl as graceful, confident, self-assured Ladybug.

How can I tell Ladybug I know without revealing I'm Adrien?

{{{{{{{{{{marinette}}}}}}}}}}

With timing as impeccable as ever, my phone buzzes with an AkumAlert at the tail end of lunch. Across the table, Adrien checks his phone.

"I should be getting home," he says, getting up. "Father will worry."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sabrina slip away.

"I need to go to the bathroom," I say.

Alya's too busy running off with Lila to film the attack to care. I do my best to shrug it off.

I find Coccinelle just outside the bathroom. "I think he knows," I tell her. "Don't push it. Just tell him he needs to move fast."

"What have you got planned now?"

I hold up my phone, Ladyblog opened and live stream playing. "You should hurry. Chat will be there before you."

So yeah this is winding up because I couldn't think of a plausible way to keep Adrien oblivious. But let's see how long I can keep him from confessing!

Quick question: should the story end when LB and CN get together, or when they defeat Hawk Moth, or with a Lila takedown (god I hate that girl)? (Also: Chat and Ladybug, or Chat and Coccinelle?)

Tysm for reading!