sucker for the foil, misunderstood (typically fanon version) characters. continually exploring the fandom seas with all the multiships and otps. highlighting miraculous ladybug, harry potter, atla, jelsa and helsa, and sailor moon. oh, sometimes i write, too.
They were best friends. Clearly. Undoubtedly. No matter what would happen, that would always stay true. Never mind the lingering looks or unnecessary touches or the innocent cuddles. Those were normal, natural, nothing to bat an eye at. And if those things happened with other people, well, it wasn't as if they were exclusively dating so...
A story about push coming to shove these two idiots into one direction or another.
Preview of chapter two:
Luka set his helmet on the seat basket behind him before retrieving his phone. A few quick swipes and repeated glances from his screen to the storefront proved he was indeed in the right place. He dismounted his bike and looked around, running his fingers through his damp hair. He’d have to walk down the road to the nearest bike rack. Sighing at the extra effort, it was a few minutes before he was back.
Taking a peek at his watch, he was still a few minutes too early, given Chloe’s penchant for being ‘fashionably late’. Suppressing a sigh, he took a deep breath instead and pulled on the heavy doors to the suit shop.
This was certainly a place Chloe would choose. There were high end and luxury pieces lining the walls. He perused the tables adorned with cuff links, ties, even socks. Near the back of the store, there were many varieties of dress shoes that Luka didn’t realize was quite possible. But such was the world of high fashion, and such was the world of Chloe. Lucky him to be part of it.
“Hello Monsieur, how may I help you?”
Luka turned to see a thin, tall man with grey peppering his hair, “Uh, yes, I have an appointment,”
The man appraised Luka’s nicest dress shirt and the only pair of jeans he had that wasn’t ripped, “Fantastic, name?”
“Couffaine, Luka Couffaine,” They stepped closer to the register off to the side.
Anyways, in a surprising turn of events (now that I've gone without my anti-depressy pills for a bit, which wasn't supposed to happen), I've written more! To a story I only wrote one chapter for! Two years ago! 🙈 (So Close and Yet So Far, by the way)
Gotta get my main squeeze to approve (because anxiety) and I should be posting a chapter within the next few days!
And in case you don't believe me, which...fair, here's a random excerpt!
It only seems like a filler, but it's completely necessary.
In other news, I started writing more to a Jelsa fic I started in like 2016! 😱 you can thank my feverish joining of discord servers for that, ha. If anybody has any suggestions of a miraculous discord, please let me know, send me an invite 😁
I've been off Tumblr since the slew of episodes came out and am now just catching up.
I don't know if a post like this has already been made, but if it has, please direct to me to it. But in any case...Crocoduel spoilers ahead...
EXCUSE ME.
Since when in the hell are Luka and Juleka TWINS?!
Like wtf.
I thought Astruc had said Luka was older by like two years?! That's why he's not even in Françoise Dupont! That's why we didn't get him til Captain Hardrock!
I get that Astruc can have his artistic vision and can do whatever the hell he wants with his show and not having everything predefined is part of the magic or whatever shit he spouts. It's, frankly, just lazy and poorly thought out. He's probably all like PLOT TWIST. But really...he kept Luka hidden til halfway of season 2, revealed Jagged as Luka's dad at the beginning of season 4 and insinuates that Luka and Juleka have different fathers, and then magically they're twins in Crocoduel?!
I'd like to believe that the unaired episodes will shed light but with the pattern this show has, this will be all we get. Until he decides to "shock" us again. Astruc is just ridiculous at this point, utterly ridiculous.
Can I just say I felt really bad for Chloe in this episode? I know she really, REALLY isn't the nicest person on earth but thinking about what Zoe told her at the end... Maybe that was the very first time in her life that someone told her they would love her unconditionally.
Like, no matter what she did and how she behaved she would be accepted and loved. Remember, she became like that in the first place to gain her Mother's affection and because of maternal negligence, of course! She never even dared to step out of this mean girl persona, since she knew that's not what her mother would see as "acceptable". That's the case even today. Her father isn't completely innocent either naturally, since he probably never had time for her during childhood as he was running for mayor, I don't believe he played a big role in this, though.
Chloe adapted this horrid behavior after being neglected throughout the years and that's also why being Queen Bee and getting recognized for it meant so much to her, even if the act of heroism itself wasn't her motivation. Considering all these factors, she never really had a good role model and the one person she looked up to, Ladybug, neglected and left her in the end too. This poor girl was basically destined to turn out this way. But what makes Queen Banana even more soul crushing is the fact that in this episode she has really lost everyone and everything at one point (maybe except Sabrina lol). She lost her childhood friend, the trust in her father, her powers/identity as Queen Bee and the people who had already left her were emphasized on again like Ladybug and her Mother. And of course some of these losses were justified, since Chloe pushed them away herself, but not only are we trying to see things from her perspective, nobody ever taught her different.
This may just be a valuable learning experience for Chloe, especially now that she has the confirmation from her half-sister that she can be vulnerable and can be her true self (which we saw in Malediktator already) without being judged and that her emotions are valid. Actually, now that I'm typing this, maybe Zoe's character arc somehow also translates to Chloe's. Maybe that will be the point in all of this: Zoe helping Chloe to turn the tides, because she understands how it is to pretend to be someone you are not, even if one of them did it consciously and one of them does it subconsciously.
There is good in Chloe. We have seen it, Marinette has seen it, all of Paris has seen it. And before you come here saying that "Adrien didn't turn out this way and he has a neglectful father" - Gabriel became like this only one year ago, when Emilie died. EMILIE "DIED" ONE YEAR AGO CHLOE'S MOTHER HAS NEVER ONCE EXISTED IN HER LIFE SINCE THE DAY SHE WAS BORN.
Not only that, but there is still hope for her. I think I need to remind some of you of the fact that one of the best redemption arcs in the history of animated television didn't have a smooth ride at all. Zuko from ATLA basically murdered all his development from the second season in the finale of Book Two. Or at least it seemed that way at first... Just like Chloe threw all her work from more than one season away in "Miracle Queen". (Or at least it seemed that way at first?) But here comes the whole "role model" thing again: Zuko had Iroh, whose guidance stuck with him even until after his betrayal and which ultimately led him to the right path. Chloe never had an Iroh. However, who knows, Zoe could just possibly be her Uncle Iroh.
And, by the way, as long as we are talking about ATLA... Chloe could have turned out a lot worse. I believe many of us know another, only 14 year old girl, who believed that her mother didn't love her. Actually, who believed NOBODY in the world loved her. And we know how she turned out to be in the end.
Yeah.
All I'm saying is, please don't be too harsh on Chloe. Yes, the hurt she has caused is definitely inexcusable, but at least there is an explanation and there is hope. Maybe like Mr. Bustier, we should try to see the good in her and all people.
[this was also probably her first hug and show of affection from any sort of motherly figure]
A couple thoughts since this whole Optygami clip/trailer came out...
Might this be the episode where certain characters are not introduced because why would they in the same place for the first time? Namely Luka and Chloe? (Miracle Queen doesn't count in this instance, as Luka was not conscious of his surroundings.) Also, Luka and Zoe?
(I assume Luka is somewhere near Kagami in the back.)
Would we be seeing any direct interactions? Conversations?
I mean, this is episode 13 so a multitude of things could have occurred prior to this, but Luka isn't seen in the spoilers we've gotten for Sole Crusher and Queen Banana and who knows what those other episodes consist of. And I realize Chloe is on the video call in Felix while they're on the Liberty and Luka is right there but we didn't have the opportunity to explore that.
Obviously I'm looking into this too much but...what else is a shipper to do?
And on a separate note...DOES CHLOE KNOW ABOUT ZOE ALREADY?! THATS WHAT IT SEEMS LIKE IN THE SOLE CRUSHER TRAILER?!
What I wouldn't give for these episodes to get, like, an hour air time each.
This has been sitting in my drafts since September 2019, waiting to be turned into a full fledged story. This scene is an angsty Lukanette situation, not happily ever after. It was meant to be the backstory for a Lukloe/Chloluka story. So if you're looking for some grey clouds today, here's some.
-----
“It’s because I’m in love with you!”
Marinette’s head whipped up suddenly, her face paler than he’d ever seen, “What?”
Luka took a deep breath through his nose, accepting that he’d spoken the words at long last, and he released his breath, words slipping softly through, “I’m in love with you,”
“Since when?” Marinette asked after a few tense moments.
Luka scoffed as he ran a hand through his hair, “Since the beginning, Marinette, since the beginning.”
“But you never…”
“Oh, but I did, Marinette, you just, I don’t know, wrote it off, pretended you didn’t see it? Hell, I don’t know.”
Marinette turned crimson and turned her gaze to her shoes before a horrified look crossed her features, “Adrien…”
Luka nodded, a bitter smile on his lips, “Yeah, Adrien,”
Her hands covered her face and her mumbles for a moment, “Luka, I’m so, so sorry,”
“Me too,”
“How have you put up with me so long? How could you love someone who had no regard for you? All I’ve done over the years is pine after him and now…”
Luka took a few steps toward her and reached a hand to cup her cheek, “It’s as I said: because I love you. I held out hope that maybe, one day, you might…but here we are…”
Glassy blue eyes looked up at him as his hand slipped away from her. The shame in her expression was confirming his deepest fears: she didn’t feel the same, not after everything he’d ever done, anything he’d ever said, after all these years.
“This might be selfish, but I’ve always wondered,” she started slowly, “because I have had feelings for you, it’s just…Adrien, but…Luka…can I? Um, can we try?” his heart leapt up to this throat, “Can we…kiss? I came back here because I have always had doubts with him because of you and so now, I wonder how I’d feel, how you’d feel, maybe it could change-“
His hands gripped her face firmly seconds before his lips crashed down on hers, cutting off her rambling. He stepped closer and let one hand fall to her waist, pulling her toward him. Her lips were soft and warm, tasting of the strawberry lip gloss she wore on her days off. Luka’s mind reeled with the realization that he was finally kissing her. Years of wondering, of hoping, of dreaming. He was finally here. The blood pumped loudly through his ears for the few seconds he spent the closest he’d ever been to her before he felt the figurative bucket of ice water washing over him. He was kissing her, begging her to get even closer in all but words, and she didn’t move. Her lips worked slowly before they stopped altogether. The strawberry flavor was washed away with salty drops of water. Steeling his emotions, Luka broke the kiss and pulled away.
He didn’t dare open his eyes as he heard her unsteady breathing, “Luka, I’m so-“
“Save it.” He turned away from her.
“Luka,”
The seconds felt like hours, the minutes felt like days before he looked at her, “I’ve always been here for you, Marinette. You’re someone I’ve admired and cared for for such a long time. I promised you years ago that you could always count on me,”
Her voice came out uneven, “Luka,”
“I want to still be here for you, but I can’t do this right now,” He saw her come closer before she touched his arm gingerly. He pulled away from her as if she’d burned him. The hurt expression crossing her face was almost enough to stop him, “I think it’s best if you go. Go to Milan, or London, or New York, or wherever he’ll take you to make your dreams come true,”
“Paris is a fashion capital, too,” she whispered, “I could stay,”
“Why? If you stay, I won’t be here,” He pushed through the words, his voice trying to seize up, his eyes burning with unshed tears, “I need time and distance and honestly, to be done with this conversation.”
He turned away, afraid seeing her face would break down the walls he was scrambling to build.
“Where would you go?”
“Anywhere. Anywhere that’s not in the same city, preferably not the same country as Adrien fucking Agreste and…well,” they both knew he meant her, too.
After months of internal work (and Viperion's good word), Ladybug has granted Chloe Bourgeois the bee miraculous, much to Viperion's surprise. Sequel to Call on Me
Or read it here: on AO3 (Call on Me)
Chloe stared at the simple box in front of her, seemingly innocent against the expensive fabric of her duvet. She didn’t know which was racing faster: her thoughts or her pulse. She didn’t actually think she’d be here again, no matter what her wildest fantasies contained, no matter how much it was talked about within herself, between her and him, between them, between any combination of the other holders. Yet, Ladybug had come and gone with a promise, and perhaps a warning, that she’d be back. The weight of it all sat heavily on her shoulders. Steeling herself, she reached for the box and opened it.
A golden glow swirled, then suspended in the air, was one of the beings she had hurt the most, “How may I serve you, my queen?”
The tears she hadn’t realized she’d been holding back sprung from her eyes, trailing down her face. Blue eyes followed their paths with concern, “Don’t cry, my queen,”
“Oh, Pollen,” Chloe whined, arms wrapping themselves around her legs, “I'm so sorry for everything I put you through,”
The yellow kwami floated up to her, wiping away a tear, “Oh, Chloe, I’ve been around a long, long time. I’ve seen many things, I’ve done many things. While it doesn’t justify any of it, I understand. I’ve seen the fear, the insecurities overcome my own holders and holders of the other miraculous,”
“It doesn’t make it...I shouldn’t have...I’m so sorry. I know words won’t ever be enough,”
Pollen smiled at Chloe, “Then show me with your actions, with changed behavior,”
“You’ll really give me another chance? Will you really forgive me?”
“I will. Ladybug and I have spoken at length about you, as well as the other kwamis giving me updates from their perspectives. I’ve long since forgiven you, Chloe,”
More tears spilled with a chuckle, “You are truly miraculous, Pollen,”
An overexaggerated sigh escaped the kwami, “Puns? Have you really been hanging around that cat so much in my absence?”
“Oh, Pollen, I don’t even know who that is,” She wiped away her tears, “I still only know the ones from...that day,”
Pollen nodded wisely, “Ah, yes. How are things going with Sass’s holder?”
Chloe’s cheeks suddenly burned as she picked at the loose thread on her duvet cover, “I’m not sure I know what you mean,”
“You’ll tell me, sooner rather than later,” Pollen shrugged, “I thought I overheard Ladybug saying she’d be back to pick you up for patrol?”
Chloe nodded, cheeks still stained, “Yes, she should be back soon,”
“And we are surprising him, yes?” Pollen pretended to be looking at her nonexistent fingernails, much like Chloe used to do around her.
“Yes,”
“Just say the magic words then, my queen,”
Despite the lingering guilt, the bundle of nerves, the schoolgirlish glee, Chloe smiled brightly, “Pollen, buzz on.”
***
“The end of your sector will be just over there,” Carapace pointed into the distance, after consulting the map in his hands.
“Where that wig shop is?” Viperion clarified, eyes squinting trying to see it from their rooftop view.
“Right there, yes. I was trying to have it by the gelato shop you like so much, but Ladybug didn’t like that idea,”
“I let Chat convince me to take one break during some random patrol and now it haunts me all the time,” he waved around dramatically.
“To be fair, it’s probably more him than you. His sector is getting changed too,”
Viperion turned around, “Why all the sector changes? We just changed them a few months ago,”
Carapace shuffled his feet, “Reasons,”
“Reasons?”
“Yep,”
Viperion folded his arms and continued to stare, “Care to elaborate?”
“Nope,” the map of the Parisian streets was quickly put aside.
Before he could question Carapace any further, separate blurs of orange and black flew past them.
“And that is how the fox outsmarts and outruns the cat,” Rena Rouge announced, her face beaming with a triumphant smile.
“Cheater! There was cheating!” Multiple raised eyebrows fixed on Chat Noir’s face, “There’s no way you knew about the alleyway shortcut, unless...Carapace, you dared betray me?”
Carapace looked away from him as Rena Rouge hugged his arm, “It was well worth the betrayal. Sorry, Kitty,”
As Chat Noir continued his theatrics, Viperion heard muffled voices coming from the stairwell door. His furrowed brows were lost on his companions.
A loud groan of aged metal revealed Ladybug, a knowing smile on her face. It was when she stepped aside, that Viperion felt the breath get knocked out of him.
With the setting Parisian sun as her backdrop, blonde hair gently swaying in the warm breeze, stood a figure draped in yellow and black, gold and night.
“Chloe?”
“Tsk, tsk. You know just as well as everyone else, it’s Queen Bee,” her voice tinkled through the air.
The world blurred at the edges, the voices surrounding him were muffled as if underwater. The only sight he could focus on was the renewed Miraculous holder and she stared right back.
She drew closer to him and before his thoughts caught up with his limbs, he was holding her close. He could smell a faint floral scent, reminiscent of her perfume. Her arms wrapped around him, breathing a sigh of relief at the welcoming.
He pulled away after a moment, eyes taking in her features, missing the light freckles hidden underneath her mask. Amusement looked back at him.
“But how?”
Queen Bee shrugged a shoulder, “Something about patience, dependability, redemption. It seems to have helped to have someone on the inside speaking to my many, many virtues,”
Viperion was vaguely aware of a tension on his cheeks, a product of his grin no doubt.
Coughing rather forcefully, Carapace drew their attention, “Now you know the reason for patrol changes,”
“And I expect,” Ladybug’s blue eyes shifted back and forth between the pair, “that there will be no tomfoolery or ridiculous antics,”
“Of course, you don’t have to worry about any of that,” Queen Bee said with conviction, her posture much like that of a soldier receiving orders from a superior.
“I, also, expect that there will be no secret rendezvous for make out sessions or hero date nights,”
Though her mask hid her freckles, it did nothing to conceal the growing blush on her cheeks. Viperion let out a strangled cough as Chat Noir laughed in the background.
“Understood?” Queen Bee and Viperion nodded quickly, avoiding eye contact with each other, “Good. We need to take in these budding romances in stages after all. Well, Viperion knows the drill. You're free to go home once your sector is done, barring anything happening,"
With that said, Ladybug turned towards Chat Noir, spoke a few words, and soon he was chasing after her. As if on cue, Rena Rouge and Carapace nodded to them and ran off into the night together.
Soon, only the noises from the streets below sounded around them.
“I had no-”
“I must say-”
Both of them chuckled, finally looking at each other.
“You first,” Viperion whispered, eyes skipping across her features.
Queen Bee took a breath, “Thank you. I know that I’ve been trying for a while now, but I really don’t think any of this could have happened without you, your input, your kindness,”
He scratched the back of his head, “I only shared the truth when asked. You’ve done a lot of growing, Chlo, even I can see it,”
“Queen Bee,”
Viperion’s face darkened again, “Ah, yes, of course. It’ll take me a minute to get used to that,”
She reached out and touched his arm, looking up at him to make eye contact, “Thank you, really. I don’t know how to repay you,”
“I’m sure one of us will think of something,” he replied, his thoughts jumping to all the various ways that could happen.
Her features shone with a warm radiance as she stepped closer to him. She raised herself onto tip-toe, closing much of the distance between them. Queen Bee, who soon would be known for her impeccable aim, missed her target on her second first-day as a hero. Viperion, as if on auto-pilot, as if one of her facial features were a magnet, followed her. She leaned in, so did he. She leaned right, so did he. A simple kiss on the cheek was met with lips instead.
It was fleeting, a brief second, but blue eyes flew open when she pulled away. They’d never had a seemingly telepathic connection, not like Ladybug and Chat Noir. In that moment, though, their eyes searched one another and with the most discreet of nods, their lips met properly, purposefully. Viperion’s arms wrapped around her waist as Queen Bee pulled him closer to her. It felt warm, it felt dizzying, it tasted surprisingly sweet - her lip gloss, no doubt. And neither of them knew how long it might have lasted, this culmination of months and months of secret glances, lingering touches, but it was cut short, nevertheless.
A catcall and a forced cough broke them apart, the heat of Paris no longer being the only thing that surrounded them.
Ladybug raised an eyebrow at them, her face conveying all the words she wasn’t saying as Chat Noir made all sorts of jokes and puns in the background.
After the duo left, it was a minute or two before either superhero made any sound.
“So,”
“So?”
“Patrol?” Viperion’s voice cracked ever so slightly.
Queen Bee smirked, regaining control much more quickly than he, “Patrol. Come on Rumplesnakeskin, lead the way, it’s the only time you’ll get to,”
He looked at her, “Really? Rumple-SNAKE-skin?” She shrugged, “Anything but Rumple-SNAKE-skin, please,”
I have some thoughts on this whole Zoe/Chloe thing.
Took me way more by surprise that they're half sisters than when Marinette actually told Alya.
I saw somewhere that supposedly they are close in age and they're sisters through Audrey. Excuse me, ma'am 🤚🏼. Superfetation or Irish twins? Either way, my own girls are only 25 months apart and I cannot imagine Audrey being okay with that?
I'm wondering if we get Queen Banana because of Zoe, which whether or not Chloe knows about her, I can understand why.
(And WHAT IS THAT SKIRT FOR QUEEN BANANA?! like I get it, ok? Bananas. But like really? REALLY?!)
Hello slap-in-the-face that half-sister gets the BEE MIRACULOUS BECAUSE WHY NOT. Honestly, it'd make more sense for Chloe to be akumatized post-seeing Vesperia.
I'm curious to know how Zoe is "very sweet", especially compared to Chloe, if she was with Audrey this whole time. Perhaps she was off in a boarding school elsewhere?
On that note, will she be so sweet that it's almost to a Mary Sue level sweet?
I know Astruc hates Chloe, but damn, he loves doing her dirty.
I already know my Chloe ships barely float but Zoe is so going to sink my Lukloe one 😭
But think of all the fanfic ideas...
On a separate note, gotta get out my one-shot sequel to Call on Me before all my hopes and dreams are turned to dust...more officially anyway.
turnnoffyourmind
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
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