All rights to Miraculous Ladybug belong to Zagtoon, Method Animation, Thomas Astruc, and Disney. This is my own creative work.
Even Adrien's large teen boy fantasy of a room glistened in his eyes after the day he had.
The boy posed and strutted in every color, style, and stitch of his father's new young male tuxedo collection throughout the daylight hours. On top of that, the cameraman he worked with was from out of the country and unused to working with young models and was totally indecisive on top of it. The man had been over the moon with Adrien's 'youthful joie de vie' as he had put it and could not decide between shots.
That led to a lot of retakes, and a lot of yelling. Definitely a lot of yelling. The man was very loud. So by the time it hit 5:00 and the sun set leaving a nightly stage for Paris and its lovers to play, all he had was hurt cheeks, ringing ears, and limbs feeling full of starch. He rolled his shoulders and craned his neck with a crack popping from every bone.
"Well, that felt like three shoots all in one. Father should be satisfied." Even with his weariness, a smile spread on his face. "But it's all worth it. The Ball should be starting in an hour. It's all been worth it."
The door opened again. Natalie appeared from the other side and stood in the doorway. "Adrien, the car will be around to take you to the park in an hour. Please finish your preparations."
"I'll be ready. Thanks, Natalie."
His father's assistant nodded and turned back to the door. To anyone else she'd have looked as empty as a statue. But Adrien knew he saw the ghost of a smile on her face before she turned away.
Adrien jogged to his closet near the bathroom. He pushed the racks of designer casual wear to the side. All that was left was to grab his outfit, get a quick shower, put on some cologne and be ready to wow his lady and friends. If only he could find his costume; all he saw was racks and racks of Gabriel-brand jackets and shirts and…
He did get a costume, right?
"Oh, no…" Adrien's face paled. "No, no, no, no!"
All those long hours – the Chinese, the fencing practice, the piano lessons, the blur of endless photoshoots, and he didn't even think-
"PLAGG! I don't have a costume!"
The black Kwami phased through the nightstand by his bed, rolling his eyes. "Gee, what a tragedy. Oh, well. No Heroes' Ball for you, kid. Might as well stay home, put on a movie and enjoy some nice gooey cheese."
As usual, Plagg's sarcasm and obsessions with cheese was no help. But Adrien had been forced to admit, neither was tearing through his closet and piling his clothes on the floor like a maniac. "I was looking forward to this all week! How did I not think to at least ask somebody to get me a costume!?"
"Got me." Plagg swallowed his twentieth piece of Camembert that day whole. "You'd think living here for fifteen years would teach you how to think like a rich kid."
"Maybe my father has something I can wear."
"Right, and maybe Ladybug will fly through your window with a pumpkin carriage."
Though he could have done without the overpowering sarcasm, Plagg had a point. On both ends.
His father's brand was one of designer formal and informal wear, with various accessories and the like. A longstanding theme across each new collection he unveiled was 'power' and 'perfection.' All Adrien knew as the wellspring behind each Gabriel original that ended up on the shelves and flew off it moments later was it was based off of the Miraculous. The one piece of knowledge he had regarding his father's climb to success, and really, about him at all. He highly doubted a hero costume meant for outdoor public parties would ever be the trend of tomorrow.
That still left him up a creek without a paddle to wear.
"Now you're really letting loose." Plagg cheered, bouncing into the clothes pile. "Be a dude and toss stuff on the floor."
Adrien ignored him. He reached for his phone in his pocket, near tearing at his jeans. Switching the screen on he ran a search for the nearest clothing, costume, or party stores near him. It was tricky basing his mental list off whatever names Nino had tossed out in texts. Fingers typing with the speed of lightning, he checked every one for its hours.
"No good, no good." Adrien gritted his teeth. "Seriously!? All the stores are closed at five!?"
He called the number for good measure. Maybe his lady's luck could rub off and he'd catch an employee before they left for the day. Luck had to be a black cat in his case, though. The same message came with each dial after four or so rings.
'We're sorry. Our business is closed early for the day due to the Heroes' Ball. Please call again tomorrow during our normal business hours. Merci, and have a good day.'
Adrien pulled his hairs out slumping in defeat. He dragged himself to his piano seat and collapsed. The discordant, deep tone rumbled in the large room. It was followed by another when the boy's head fell to the keys.
"Aw, poor little well-dressed boy with no costume." Plagg cackled. "Try one of your normal outfits. Look out, here comes Tuxedo Man! Hahaha!"
"Helpful as always, Plagg."
"I do try my best. But my services do not come cheap, kid."
Adrien groaned and turned his head to the door, triggering a few more sour notes. At this point he might as well dress up as a formal-wear hero meant to save the world from poor fashion sense. It would still draw a crowd, and Chloe would likely make him her sidekick and latch onto him all night. It was practically her own role in life with her own designer wardrobe and the nation-sized bank account to buy it all with.
Adrien loved her as a friend. But he'd prefer she kept her distance.
His left hand moved to the end of the keys and played a few deep notes, the final death knell for his dream of one night as a normal kid. His right hand reached for the head of his piano. The Miraculous ring shone a pure silver along its razor-edged rim. Its brilliance was almost mocking him for a quick defeat. He was smarter than this.
He wasn't defeated yet.
He still had one option.
Marinette was at the end of her rope.
Somehow, her parents had managed to get everything in order and send the large group home with the pastries they ordered. Marinette had slumped to the floor mumbling and babbling gibberish now that her short-term dream had been ended in a strawberry and cream cheese-flavored explosion. The parents gave quick apologies and pulled their kids away before they could try and lick the cloth clean. That would have just made her crack in half.
In the back of her head, somewhere where the sane part of her remained, she felt bad for stressing her parents more and made them do all the work. Her legendary klutziness was behind many of the bakery's more off days, after all. But as her parents cleaned up and dragged her up the steps back to her room, she was in no mood or right mind to pay attention. That of course, only made the spiral of guilt churn faster and bubble. Her parents must have been relieved that somewhere between then and now, her babbling started to include coherent words.
Now back in her room, her mumbles alternated between 'sorry' and 'Adrien' and 'over.'
"Oh, honey, we're so sorry about your outfit." Her father set his hands on her shoulders, which were a third of his palms' size. "We've seen how hard you've been working on it."
Her mother kneeled by her side close to the outfit sprawled on the chaise by her desk. "Yes, but we've warned you not to bring your outfits to the bakery before. For this exact reason."
The girl gave a moaning sob and bowed her head, now back to solely muttering Adrien's name.
"I've never seen her this bad, honey…"
"Do you think we should do something a little more drastic?"
"Maybe we should try shaking her or something?"
"Tom!"
Sabine led her husband down the trap door, both hands wrapped around one. She turned back to her daughter as soon as his head was the only part in the room. "Honey, we'll be heading down now. We need to clean up in the bakery before we get ready for tonight. We'll let you take a break though."
The woman gave her daughter a quick kiss to her head. "Chin up. You'll find a solution." With that, her parents left.
Leaving Marinette, still snapped and oblivious to the world, alone in her room. Save for her now reappeared Kwami.
"Marinette, please! Get a hold of yourself! It's not the end of the world." Tikki yelled. When her owner still did not respond, she had no choice but to give her a pinch.
The girl yelped. For a moment, she was out of sorts, staring around at her reddened room walls and sunset light on her photos and books blinking. The entire afternoon was a giant blank in her head. Her outfit was still fresh off the mannequin, the ball was still hours away, time was slipping fast but everything was still in order. Her mother still needed help in the bakery and that got the girl startled – she must have been waiting for hours. But then she saw the splatter all over her outfit and screamed again.
"This is a disaster, Tikki! A disaster! A disaster of epic proportions!" She babbled clutching her head.
"Marinette, please don't start this again!"
"Tikki, look at this!" She yanked the outfit, or rather, the victim of a sweet-tasting murder, with the carnage area before her Kwami's eyes. "How can I start anything, when it's all over!?"
"It's going to be alright. You have lots of other clothes, you can wear one of them."
"Tikki, all my other outfits are formal or casual wear. I haven't made any other costumes!" The girl began to pace the room speaking. "The costume stores are all closed now, so I can't buy one either! There's no time to wash the stain out and, what am I saying, this was made with silk! Silk, Tikki! There's no way I could get this thing clean!"
The little spirit tried to keep in time with her. "Do you have to wear a costume? Maybe you can go in regular clothes."
"It's a masquerade ball. The whole point is to go in a costume."
A vibration came from her side. Marinette pulled her phone from her coat pocket. "Great, I got a text from Alya. Chloe's there. Now I have to bring a costume or neither of them will ever let me hear the end of it!" She rolled her eyes.
That, of course, was a bad move. With her bluebell pupils looking to the ceiling, her feet lost track of the steps. It caught a snag of the outfit and stepped on it hard. In seconds, the girl saw the room spin and stop with her on the floor, one leg kicked up. Her mouth caught the taste of dirt, wood polish, and humiliation.
"Marinette, you can't let this distress you too much. You might just attract an Akuma."
Marinette groaned from the floor. An Akuma was the last thing she needed to make this any worse. With the way things were going, one might have been perched on her windowsill looking to make mischief, for all she knew.
But what else could she do? The only way to fix this was to make a costume magically appear from thin air at this point…
..Wait.
No, no waiting. It was stupid, irresponsible, insane, pointless and all other words under the no-go rainbow.
But her hands were reaching for her black earrings before common sense could catch up.
Tikki still caught on. "Marinette, no! Absolutely not!"
"Why not?" Adrien lifted his head from the piano. His Kwami perched on his ring hand, keeping the sheen out of his view. "I literally have no other option. I am not going to miss that ball!"
"Are you kidding me!?" The black spirit crossed his arms glaring. "What happened to 'No, Plagg. Everyone's gonna realize that I'm the real Cat Noir?'"
"What happened to 'No way. People are blind?'"
Plagg flew up and leveled himself, whiskers bristling. Glowing green slits leveled up to emerald green pupils. "That was when your dad made a dumb knockoff and you got away with it when your bratty friend shut down a whole production number! It's a different matter when you go and say the magic words! You know you're supposed to be more careful with the Miraculous than this!"
"Believe me, Plagg. I know this is stupid and it's for a selfish reason." Adrien spoke softly. The boy cupped his hands to let his tiny friend gently float down into them. "But maybe it won't be that bad? Up to this point, no one's been able to figure out it's me. Everything should be fine, right?"
"That doesn't change the fact that it's still dangerous!" Tikki shouted.
She was now in Marinette's hands. The girl was kneeling on the floor, wrapped in a whirlpool of her ruined evening wear. Her owner was wincing at the harsh tone her Kwami used to scold her, not that she could fault her. There was desperate, there was outright stupid, and then there was desperate and stupid, and this was definitely option three.
"I'm not blind to the threat, Tikki." Marinette soothed. "But it's not like I can spend my entire life being worried about it. My life is crazy enough as it is."
"And you don't think this could make things even worse?" Tikki pointed out. "You could attract all kinds of unwanted attention. You're not supposed to use your powers for personal reasons like gaining status."
"This isn't gaining status, it's just a party."
"A party where they're expecting Ladybug and Cat Noir. It's not the first one."
"That doesn't change the fact you're using your powers for personal gain!"
"All my friends will be there. They want me there." Marinette pleaded a little harsher.
"You're not going to be 'you'. Or rather, the everyday you." Tikki floated up in rejection. "Again, you'll be attracting all kinds of attention. Worst case scenario, you could be putting your friends and family at risk!"
"But that's the thing," Adrien smiled, rising from his seat. "I won't be 'me!'"
"Yeah, 'cause you'll be Cat Noir!" Plagg quipped.
"No, I'll still be Adrien." The model gave a signature teen heartthrob wink.
"… Uh, say what?"
The boy pulled his phone and switched to a photo of Cat Noir. He was giving a salute in a picture ripped from an internet article raving about one of his rescues. Adrien copied the same pose while holding the screen to Plagg's face. "It's simple, I'll be me dressed as me!"
Plagg rolled his head and his eyes followed suit. "You wanna show me a road map, 'cause I still have no idea where you're going with this, kid…"
"We both know I act totally different when I'm Cat Noir – it's me but, you know, cooler." Adrien admitted. Certain people might disagree with that, but Cat was his own vision of an ideal hero. "So, I'll just be normal me. Adrien in a Cat Noir costume. It's psychology at its finest!"
Plagg hummed. The Kwami was still not impressed. Then again, the only thing that could do that was a hunk of cheese the size of his mansion.
"Remember Copycat? That Akuma that showed up and pretended to be me? All of a sudden, everyone thought Cat Noir had tuned into a bad guy!" That day, honestly, still stung with unpleasant memories of everyone thinking the worst of him. But if it worked to his advantage, he'd live with it. "All you have to do is put on a show and act like you're a different person, and people will believe it!"
Plagg sighed. "I'll admit. You ARE good at pretending to be something you're not.
Adrien blinked. There was some hidden point in the black Kwami's words as usual. He paid it no mind. "I know it's a risk. But also, think about Ladybug. This is my chance to show her another side of me. Maybe I'll finally get her attention…"
"It'll also give me a bit of extra confidence, you know." Marinette muttered clasping her hands together. A rosy blush came to her cheeks. "Ladybug is me, but you know, better… With this, maybe I won't stutter around Adrien so much."
"You don't need magic or a suit to be more confident, Marinette."
"Tikki, please! This is all I have left to salvage this night!"
Marinette skidded to the floor. It was foul play, but she gave her Kwami the most soulful, broken-hearted puppy dog left in the rain eyes she could. The Kwami gave the most exasperated groan Marinette had heard in her time with the little spirit.
"I would like to once again make it perfectly clear that I do not approve of this in the slightest."
"I know, Tikki. I don't have the best thoughts about it either." She kissed Tikki's large head and smiled the best she could. "I promise, I won't let my guard down for a second. It's too late to cancel anyway, and with everything that's happened this month, I've had to ditch Alya too many times. I don't want to do it again."
Her last bit of energy every night over the month was spent staring at her messages and seeing endless unanswered replies from Alya. At that point, Marinette was surprised she hadn't called the National Guard as she threatened a near week ago. Tikki could see the guilt pooling in her eyes. Marinette hoped she could. Only her Kwami understood her that well.
"Marinette!" Her mother called from downstairs. "We're heading over to the park soon to set up! Join us whenever you're ready!"
"Okay, mom!" She yelled back.
They crossed glances one last time.
"There's no way to convince you otherwise, is there?"
"…I'm really sorry."
Tikki flew to embrace the girl's chest. "Promise me you'll be careful. You're my best owner ever."
"Tikki, SPOTS ON!"
"Just… watch yourself, kid. I don't get many Cats like you." Plagg said with his back turned.
Adrien smiled. He gave his Kwami's head a rub with his finger.
"Plagg, CLAWS OUT!"
Her stomach was feeling like the washer cleaning her old costume behind the door. For about as long as the sun took to go down she stood at the doorway to her bakery.
This was a terrible idea, an awful idea. A terrible, awful, dimwitted, thread-for-brains idea. She was covered head to toe in a brown cloak with the hood pulled way down. Not a trace of skin could be seen from her, so the only way anyone could know this mysterious stranger was quirky little Marinette Dupain-Cheng was if she said as much and divulged she was head over heels with one Adrien Agreste.
Still, when Tikki told you something was dumb and reckless, you listened.
At this point she put the marathon-ready energy in her legs to good use and headed over to the park.
It was a hop and a skip from her house. Tonight, the normal little patch of nature in their hustling and bustling city had become a setting from a storybook. From the tip of the carousel drifting on air and laughter to the nearby trees beside the fence were strings of light like little stars. The fountain water gleamed with kids nearby reaching out past the edge hoping to catch magic itself in their hands. The guests were dizzy with laughter and movement as if in a waking dream.
How nice, because for her it was quickly turning into a nightmare.
"Maybe it's not too late to change," Marinette mumbled in her cloak. "There's no way this is gonna work. They'll see who I am and they'll put two and two together and know who I am. I'll be a fraud. Children all over the world will hate me and their parents will send us hate calls and sue me for being a poor role model. Then the mayor will call for my arrest and they'll hold a public exhibition where they'll burn me at the stake at the top of the Eiffel Tower and-"
"…Marinette?"
The girl in question yelped. Her foot caught a snag in her coat and she toppled into the other person.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm such a klutz, I-"
"Marinette, it's okay." The voice called again. A boy's voice, she guessed…
An utterly perfect, melodious, kindhearted voice. The voice of an angel. It could only be-
"A-A-Adrien!" She bounced back. "Nice to evening. You're good. I-I mean… You're a good evening. No, I mean, you're nice to see! Wait, no, I mean… well you're not NOT nice to see, but, um, that is-"
Someone stop her please.
Adrien obliged, laughing. "Good evening to you too. I was hoping I'd get to see you."
Marinette laughed, hard. While his laugh was a harmonious song, hers was a trumpet hitting all the wrong notes. Loudly. "Me too. I always want to see you. Wait, WHAT AM I SAYING!? I mean I always want to see… food! Yeah, food! Nothing like seeing food! You're so tasty. WHAT, NO! I mean, food's so you! I-I-I mean…"
Adrien laughed again. No matter how much mincemeat she made of her words, he'd always make her feel good. This boy was just too wonderful. He put his hand to her shoulder, and she tensed. The word vomit stopped immediately.
He was scanning her top to bottom, and the chills started again. "Huh, looks like we had the same costume idea."
She highly doubted that.
But now that she was looking more closely, she had expected to see his jewel green eyes staring back at her, peering into her soul. Instead his entire face was covered by the shadow of a hood like hers. He was wearing a big brown cloak just like her. Did that mean they had the same taste in mysterious formal wear? They had so much in common!
"D-D-Do we? Um, that is, your cloak is a lot f-fancier than mine, I'm sure. You, you have such great taste in-"
"Whoa, dudes? That you?"
They turned to the open gate. A boy Marinette guessed was their common friend Nino came out in a greaser-style outfit with a turtleshell backpack, green undershirt, and googles. It was like a 50s take on his outfit as Carapace, in Marinette's opinion. Beside him was a girl in a spy outfit with orange lines running down her body, with fur along the collarbone, arm-length orange gloves, fox ears and a tail. The secret agent fox was, Marinette's best guess, Alya.
"There you guys are!" Alya shouted. "Everybody's been waiting for you. Makes sense for the designer and model to be fashionably late, I suppose!"
"Yeah, we actually just got here." Adrien laughed, rubbing his neck. "We literally bumped into each other."
Thank god no one could see her face. It hid the fierce red blush as well.
"Fancy you two showing up at the same time." Nino laughed. "With all your disappearing acts I was putting down money for you two not coming this time either."
"By the way, hun, you owe me a few euros." Alya smiled. "Now come on!"
Before any more embarrassment could be had at her expense, Alya dragged both her and Adrien through the gate into the grounds. Everything looked so much brighter when you were on the spot. Marinette almost thought a light had drifted down to where she could catch it in her hand.
Other guests at the gate ran up to the four of them all at once. She recognized them all as her classmates from school: Mylene was in a wolf-girl costume, Kim was a super athlete with a cape, Max was some robo-hero, Rose was a fairy and Juleka was a dark amazon queen. There was Nathaniel and Marc in their hero outfits from their comic, Ivan was some rock-guy with spikes, and Alix was a cyborg skater. Everyone's costume was so well thought out and fit them to a tee.
"Marinette, glad you could come!"
"You and Adrien, together? That's so wonderful!"
"The evening will be 93% more enjoyable now that you're here!"
"Who's up for a class costume contest?"
"About that, actually." Alya stopped Kim and Alix before things could get crazy fast. "Didn't you have a really great costume you were raving about all week? Waiting for the big reveal, girl?"
"Um, there was a bit of an… accident. I had to go with a backup."
"As what, the Grim Reaper?" Alya laughed. Soon Marinette and the other girls joined in.
"Seriously, dude, great that you're here!" Marinette overheard Nino and the boys surrounding Adrien. Though she couldn't see his face, she was sure there was a dreamy, happy smile there. "We haven't seen you in ages! Being a celeb's crazier than I thought! I do not envy you, bro."
"Yeah, I almost didn't make it." Adrien spoke. "I just managed to get myself a costume last minute."
"Hey, maybe the reason we haven't seen them is 'cause they've been up to some secret business." Alya quipped.
Marinette went rock stiff. Adrien did was well next to her.
"These two, alone together?" Alix scoffed. "Yeah, right. I think the rest of us all know how that would've gone down."
"Touché," Alya laughed. "But you gotta admit, there must be something going on behind closed doors. Our two missing classmates vanishing whenever, then showing up together, and with matching costumes at that? I am smelling one juicy scoop right here."
"What, no!" Marinette frantically waved her hands. She hoped they were going fast enough no one saw them. "I can assure you there is nothing smelly or out of the ordinary-"
A haughty cackle stopped her.
Oh, joy.
"Look who finally deigned to grace us with her presence!"
Chloe Bourgeois, with an ensemble that shrieked 'look at me' to everyone on the planet. She was dressed in a Victorian Ladybug garment with a dress so wide it had its own area code. More than enough frills to make you seasick were there, and the black spots over the red were onyx jewels gleaming a black-red glow. She held a spotted fan instead of Ladybug's signature yo-yo, and cast a glare from behind it.
Sabrina was behind her, looking more like a waitress than any kind of superhero. A Cat Noir-themed waitress, at least. For her, it was appropriate.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng! I always knew you had atrocious taste when it came to fashion, but this really takes the cake!" She folded the fan and gave a villainous cackle. "Though I must say, the fact that we can't see your face makes it a massive improvement over your normal trash!"
"Here we go, again…" Nathaniel mumbled.
"You know she's been waiting for over an hour by the fountain to spring on you guys?" Nino asked. Marinette face-palmed.
"That doesn't surprise me in the least." Marinette spoke.
"Why not take a look at a real fashion statement, and the message is 'I'm amazing!'" She twirled her dress around, which could make anyone dizzy. Sabrina herself nearly toppled over. "Made with 100% mulberry silk and perfectly cut gemstones. This just happens to be made by one of the best designers in Europe who works for my mother! I might just let you look at it up close if you get on your knees and beg! Be sure not to drool, though."
"Chloe, can you lay off for one night?" Adrien, ever the hero, stepped in.
"ADRI-KINS!" Chloe galloped, which was impressive in that small country of a get-up she had, towards Adrien. She made a running leap and latched onto him as always, trying to smother him with kisses. "Oh, really! Don't you think she looks horrid, too? Anyone with eyes could tell."
"I mean, we're technically wearing the same thing."
It was then Chloe scanned him and found the same cloak on her victim as well as on Marinette. "But it looks so much better on you, Adri-kins." She tried to kiss him again.
"What does it even matter? What's important is that we're all here together to have a fun night."
"Frankly, we could have a way more fun night without a certain someone playing fashion critic." Alya said, ignored.
"You're right, Adri-kins. So why don't 'we'," she said pointing to herself and him while he tried to pry her off, "have a fun night and the rest of these losers can go do whatever pedestrians do. This is a night meant for the refined."
"…Yeah, right." Marinette muttered. "Even looking at the ground, I can tell that thing you're wearing is just for looks with no substance whatsoever. A perfect fit."
"WHAT!?" Chloe shrieked marching to her. "I dare you to say that to my face, Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"
"Chloe, knock it off!" Adrien yelled.
The snobby girl's nails had caught her cloak, her nails tearing into the fabric. Internally, she panicked and clutched at the sore spot to keep it on. Adrien tried to knock Chloe's hand away and chide her for good measure as well. Everyone else was quick to protest as well.
Chloe just swatted his hand away like a gnat and reached for her again just as she let her guard down. He reached again as well and her clawed hand of doom caught both their cloaks. She ripped them away at last. Both at the same time. Marinette shut her eyes bracing for it.
The utter silence. At least silence from her classmates. A few songs were playing in the background for the party.
Still, no one said a word.
After all, it sounded like Marinette and Adrien. They talked and acted like Marinette and Adrien.
But standing there for all to see… were Ladybug and Cat Noir.
And that's another wrap. Two chapters in one week, and this one is the longest I've written in a while. I'm feeling pretty good.
I gotta say, the trickiest part is imagining how Marinette fumbles her words around Adrien. It's fun, but tricky. Leave it to Chloe to un-simplify things, though. How will Marinette and Adrien get out of this one?
I'll just address some reviews, first:
HopeGiver07: Glad to see you liked it. Hope to see you as a regular reader.
KaliAnn: Good to see you here. I saw you wrote some Miraculous fics yourself. I wouldn't say this is an epic story, more like something like an episode in the show.
Okay, so something I want to address right here, right now. I hope readers will hear me out.
I am aware of the major controversy regarding this show, namely the direction the writing has taken. I am also aware of, what I have dubbed, the 'Miraculous Twitter Wars' between creator Thomas Astruc and the fandom. In particular his handling of the male lead, Adrien/Cat Noir.
At first, I just posted to get the fires down, because things were getting heated and I do try to see both sides of an argument. Plus I am not the best critic or have the most discerning eye when it comes to reviewing. But I have seen videos from fans all over YouTube, read their comments, and looked back at some of the episodes. I have to say now, I see where those fans are coming from.
In a lot of moments throughout the show, Cat Noir is portrayed as outright incompetent compared to Ladybug – he is dumbed down for the sake of making her look good. He is beaten up, brainwashed, outright humiliated, and supposedly, Adrien is intelligent and resourceful. Even if Cat is a goofball, it doesn't make sense. He's just consistently reckless and goes in with the idea of 'beat it with a stick'. It doesn't make Ladybug look good either when she only succeeds when everyone around her is less than by comparison. Moreover, Ladybug is usually the one who finds all the lore while Cat is kept away from it for the sake of pandering to Marinette and showcasing her more. She's in enough danger of being a Mary Sue as it is.
When people bring these complaints to Mr. Astruc, though, he comes back with arguments like 'the show's for kids, don't read too much into it' or 'the show's for girls, don't be sexist.' Neither of those are valid defenses when placed under the slightest hint of scrutiny. Frankly, it makes him look like a first-time fanfic writer who can't take any criticism.
But I am not here to say I want to shove it in his face that I'm a better writer than him. You can't really compare a fanfiction to a TV show script, anyway. I've heard people have tried that and it didn't go well.
What I want to do in addressing this is to hear from people how I can make this NOT an issue in my upcoming crossover work. Thomas has said that Ladybug and Cat Noir are equal, but he hasn't done a good job showing that. I want to make them truly appear equal, because I like Cat Noir and don't want to reduce him to a mere sidekick. Let me bounce off some ideas as to how I plan to do that.
So Ladybug and Cat Noir are creation and destruction, yin and yang, balance. Cat/Adrien is supposed to be a skilled fencer, and from one line from an episode I can't remember, he supposedly knows kung-fu or martial arts as well. Okay, so Cat is the better fighter – he can think on the fly and act on instinct, and should be observant as well. Ladybug can still be the leader, but overall is the better strategist who comes up with the plans with her Lucky Charm to stop villains. They're both intelligent, which I tried to show here in this chapter where they both came up with the same idea to disguise themselves in their hero forms.
As for capturing Akumas, I like the idea one person said on YouTube, that Cat can capture and destroy Akumas while Ladybug uses her powers to reverse any damages done. It better showcases the powers of creation and destruction. Purification and cleansing should be an extension of destruction while healing and preservation stem from creation.
That's my initial take. Let me know in reviews or PMs what I can do to refine these ideas more.
As always, review, favorite, follow! Until next time!