#mlbigbang2022

[ladyelainehilfur]

the s in adrien stands for sentimonster btw, if you even care

These were my pieces for the 2022 ML Big Bang @mlbigbang! You can find the accompanying fic here

[ink-ubusart]

For a fic coming soon to Archives near YOU!

via @mlbigbang

Info

Ship: ViperMouse/Lukanette (Luka/Marinette)

Side ships: Felix/Kagami, Luka/Lila(but not really), Sabrina/Lila, Sabrina/Chloe, Adrien/Alix, Nino/Alya (most of these won’t be focused on, but are mentioned/in the background at some point)

Rating: Explicit

Fun tags: Slowburn, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Identity Reveal, Marinette as Multimouse, Alternate Universe, Mating Cyles/In Heat, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Felix Graham de Vanily as Marinette’s BFF

Major Content Warnings For Fic: Major Character Death (outside of main pairing), PTSD, Trauma, Jealousy, Yandere type character violence, medical malpractice, infertility scare, infertility issues

Thank you again to all my amazing

The blonde is put up with a beautifully leather bound book between his fingers, and despite his lack-luster tone, Felix looks surprised to see Viperion at his window, “To what do I owe the pleasure?” The thick English accent drawls in the space between them.

Viperion has to physically restrain himself from rolling his eyes, “There’s a girl, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

That gets his attention, silvery green eyes lock onto Viperion, “Is she okay?”

The question lingers between them, soft. Quiet. Because Felix is over analyzing everything. How sweaty Viperion is, the smell of omega slick coating this suit’s thigh, how his normally composed face is just slightly flushed—

Felix is sure that if Viperion didn’t have the suit on he’d be reeking of rut pheromones and alpha-laced-anxiety alike.

Felix takes a few strides forward and snaps his fingers to catch the other man’s attention, “Viperion.” For an omega, Felix certainly has an unyielding bite to his tone, “Is. She. Okay?”

Viperion glances back up with golden tinged eyes and lets out a shaky breath, “She needs your help.”

I hope to see you all on Monday, January 9th! :D

[purrincess-chat]

Fashion Faux Paw CH2

As promised here is chapter 2! Thanks as always to @avrilmaria for being my beta. The next chapter will be out on Monday, so I hope you all enjoy!

Read on AO3

Chapter 2

The next morning, Marinette’s phone threatened to vibrate off of the shelf above her bed. She pawed for it groggily, squinting at the flood of notifications spanning the top of the screen. Hearts, follows, shares, comments — her blog was blowing up. She shot up, flipping through all of the alerts.

“What’s going on?” Tikki floated beside her, rubbing her eyes.

“Those Chat Noir photos brought in more attention than I thought they would. Alya was right — people really do love superheroes.” Marinette smiled.

The comments section was bursting at the seams, complimenting how cute Chat Noir looked in her hat, and Marinette stifled a laugh. Chat Noir’s fangirls were a different breed. She could already hear him boasting about all the attention on their patrol later. Still, she did owe him for helping her out. Maybe she’d ask her papa for help preparing him a special treat when he came by again. What kind of pastries did cats like?

Her phone lit up again, Alya’s picture flashing on the screen, and Marinette barely got two words out before she dove straight into her questions.

“Girl, how did you land Chat Noir? Do you have his number? What can I do to convince you to give it to me? Never mind, we’ll talk about that later. Your blog is blowing up!” Alya squealed.

“I know!”

“But seriously, Chat Noir?” Alya quirked a brow.

Marinette fell back onto her pillow with a smirk. “I don’t know. He just kind of showed up and started modeling. Apparently he’s a fan of mine.”

“So, since he’s a fan of yours… Is there any way you could convince him to give an interview to a certain aspiring reporter with a very popular blog that could benefit from interacting with heroes live instead of chasing them around the city where it’s dangerous?” Alya asked not so subtly.

“I can ask.” Marinette rolled her eyes.

“You’re the best! See you at school.”

Marinette hung up and rubbed her eyes as her phone pinged with more comments. Her silly kitty’s pictures were just what her blog needed. Maybe she would ask him to model again. He was sure to love the attention, and she wanted people to see her designs. Should she model a few herself as Ladybug? She shook her head. Nah, too risky. Chat Noir would do perfectly fine for the time being.

Her classmates ambushed her when she entered the school, asking similar questions about how she got Chat Noir to model for her, were they friends, would he be modeling for her in the future? By the time she made it to Mlle. Bustier’s classroom, she remembered why she kept her two lives separate. All of the attention was overwhelming, but if it got people looking at her work, she supposed she could live with it. She’d have to get used to it if she wanted to be a designer for real.

“Marinette.”

Her heart skipped, cheeks warming when Adrien smiled up at her from his seat.

“Oh, Adrien, good aftermorning- mornight- morning. Morning. Good morning!” She cleared her throat to stop herself.

“I checked out your blog last night. Looks like you didn’t need my help after all. I’m sure Chat Noir is bringing way more traffic to your designs than I ever could,” Adrien said.

“Uh, yeah! It was really lucky that Chat Noir stopped by.” She tugged on her pigtail. “N-Not that I think he’s better than you! I mean, he’s awesome and all, but you’re way cooler than he is.”

Adrien chuckled. “You give me too much credit. I know when I’m beat. I’m just really glad people are starting to notice your designs. You’re an amazing artist, Marinette.”

“Thank you.” Marinette melted against her fist as Mlle. Bustier waltzed into the room to start class. Chat Noir’s treat needed to be extra good for getting Adrien’s attention. Maybe she’d give him a big hug from Ladybug and a scratch behind the ears for good measure.

That afternoon, Marinette climbed up to her rooftop balcony with a plate of fresh cat-shaped macarons made special for her kitty. It wasn’t long before his bell jingled above her head as he hopped down to greet her. She stretched up to kiss both of his cheeks, hugging his neck with an elated squeal.

“Your blog really picked up after you posted those photos of me,” he said.

“Thank you so much for your help! I totally owe you.” She offered him the plate of macarons. “For lending me your image.”

His face brightened, and he popped one in his mouth whole. “So, got anything else for me to model today?”

“Well, I do have a few jackets made if you’re up for it…” Marinette pursed her lips.

“Definitely, show me what you’ve got,” Chat Noir said.

She smiled, beckoning him to follow her down to her room. He flopped into her desk chair, helping himself to more cookies while she set everything up.

“So, I think these two will fit you the best. Your shoulders are broader than mine, and I made these two slightly bigger than me.” Marinette presented him a faux-leather biker jacket and a cozy blue sweater.

“Sounds good.” Chat Noir stood up, slipping his arms through the sleeves of the jacket. He placed his hands on his hips, green cat-eyes scanning her room. “We’ll need better lighting if we want the pictures to come out right. Let’s move that lamp over here, and maybe we can open the windows for a bit more natural light.”

“Okay…”

As it turned out, Chat Noir knew a lot about staging a set for photos. He probably had an Instagram for his civilian side full of photos of himself flexing in front of a mirror or something. All of his directions were helpful, but Marinette needed reinforcements to help. Luckily, she knew just the person that would love to have one-on-one time with a superhero.

“You rang?” Alya burst through her trap door, waggling her eyebrows.

“Oh, good thinking, Marinette. Alya can hold the light,” Chat Noir said.

“I’ll hold anything you want if you answer a few questions.” She winked. “So, what’s the scoop on you and Ladybug? Any closer to making LadyNoir a reality?”

Marinette nearly dropped the trunk she was moving on her foot. “LadyNoir?” She tilted her head to the side.

“It’s our ship name on the all the fan forums.” Chat Noir smirked. “Sadly, the only person in Paris that doesn’t see how perfect we are for each other is Ladybug, but I’m sure she’ll come around one day. If the reaction to Marinette’s blog is any indication, my cat-like charm is meowgnetic.”

Marinette rolled her eyes behind his back. The only way she’d fall in love with him was if he was secretly Adrien Agreste under all that black leather — a possibility she highly doubted.

“Ya know, if you want some advice, I happen to be in a steady relationship. I can give you a few pointers to win her over.” Alya offered.

“Okay!” Marinette cleared her throat. “Why don’t we start the shoot now?”

“Marinette’s right. We should focus,” Chat Noir said, but he shot Alya a wink. “We’ll talk later.”

“Promise?” Alya held up her phone.

Marinette sighed. Invite a friend over to hang out with one of her idols and get stabbed in the back. She didn’t know what was worse — the fact Alya shipped her with Chat Noir or that Chat Noir frequently browsed their fan forums enough to know their ship name. Who was she kidding? He probably came up with it. They’d have to talk about the whole LadyNoir situation later.

“Okay, so I was thinking we could run through a few different poses from the front and the back to show off the different elements of the jacket.” Marinette directed, pulling up the camera on her phone.

“Like this?” Chat Noir leaned against the wall, bending one knee and striking the perfect model pose.

Marinette and Alya stopped in their tracks.

“What?” He cocked his head to the side.

“No, nothing. That’s great,” Marinette said.

Alya held the light while Marinette snapped the photos. Chat Noir didn’t need very much instruction at all, transitioning between poses smoothly and even giving them some directions himself. Within an hour, Marinette had plenty of photos of both jackets and even another hat to choose from.

Chat Noir helped himself to the last of the macarons while Alya and Marinette reviewed the photos in awe. He retrieved his staff from his belt and gave a two-finger wave.

“Thanks for the cookies. I look forward to seeing how the photos turned out on your blog,” he said.

“Uh, yeah.” Marinette blinked, shaking her head. She paced over to hug him. “Thanks for doing this for me again. It really means a lot.”

“Any time. I’m happy to loan my killer bod to help a friend.” He flexed his biceps. On his way up to her skylight, he turned over his shoulder and called to Alya, “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about those tips!”

Marinette suppressed an eye roll at Alya’s grin. He was so full of himself. LadyNoir? Please, in his dreams.

When Chat Noir’s footsteps faded from the roof, Alya turned to her and cocked a hip. “Okay, seriously, girl. How did you land Chat Noir?”

Marinette looked back at the pictures on her phone and shook her head. “I have no idea.”

[justajuicyfan]

“This will likely be a long-term mission,” Mendeleiev continues. “At least six months, if not more.” She glares at Aurore. “I know you aren’t…overly fond of Mireille. Your hatred of her is both unhealthy and one-sided. I hope this mission will push you past it.”

“So that’s why we in particular are being assigned to this,” Aurore says. “You want us to get along, and you’re putting us in an apartment together and asking us to…” She looks down at the file. “…go undercover as a romantic relationship.”

“That’s exactly what I’m asking,” Mendeleiev says. “You’re a professional, Aurore. I’m sure you can do it.”

Illustration for an upcoming chapter of theriveroflight's Aurore/Mireille spy AU fic, reason will not lead to solution.

I adore gals and fake dating, so getting to dress these gals up for a date night For The Mission ;) where they realize some things was a treat! Thank you for writing, @theriveroflight

[ayoitsabi]

Here’s my preview of this year’s ML Big Bang 2022! I got to work with the amazing ASadWeeGhostie! The first chapter is now up so go give it a read!

can't commit to a thing (be it heart) (2848 words) by ASadWeeGhostie Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Félix (PV), Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Félix (PV), Luka Couffaine/Félix (PV) Characters: Félix (Miraculous Ladybug PV), Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Césaire, Sabine Cheng, Bridgette (Miraculous Ladybug) Additional Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Luka Couffaine, Omega Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Daddy Kink, Sugar Daddy, Explicit Sexual Content, Switching, Hand Jobs, Emotional Manipulation, Friends With Benefits, Other Additional Tags to Be Added Summary: "And how did you lose this job?" Kagami sounds bored, waiting for a regular answer when instead: "Made a customer go into rut,"

Second art work preview is a bit spicy so if you’d like to see it, click keep reading 👇🏼

@mlbigbang

[writer-rider-flirty-thirties]

Can Life Be Beautiful (Instead of Big Fun)?

I’m super excited about this fic that I’ve been working on with my artist, @uptoolateart​, and my beta, @jesuis-melodrama​ for @mlbigbang​! So here’s some basic info and a preview:

Ship: Lukadrinette (Luka/Marinette/Adrien)

Side ships (all very minor): Alya/Nino, Mylene/Ivan, Alix/Kim, one sided Lila/Marinette

Rating: Explicit

Fun tags: Heathers AU, Based on Heathers the Musical, Vengeful Plagg, Vengeful Tikki, Underage Drinking, Drug Use, Kwami Swap, Love at First Sight, Lots of Curse Words

Major Content Warnings: Major Character Death, Bullying, Non-Con, Violence, Suicidal Ideation

The beeping of a cell phone rings through the room and then another and another. Excitedly, teens pull out their phones to check the latest news on the anonymous school blog. No one knows who created it, but no one really cares because it is the best place for gossip and updates on their fellow classmates... one in particular.

Screens light up with the following message:

The message is accompanied by a picture of Marinette Dupain-Cheng digging into the trash bin outside the school, face red and jaw set.

It seemed the school was filled with laughs as phones pinged as more and more comments were added to the thread. Laughs that only got louder as many caught sight of the same pig-tailed girl clutching her bag to her chest and bolting out the front of the school.

This is why they all liked the blog. It was never wrong and it always showed them exactly what they wanted to see:

A bully getting what she deserved.

Chapters 1 and 2 will be out January 8, 2023!

[sunfoxfic]

I finally get to tease my fic for the @mlbigbang! It's called Miraculous Academy and I'm very excited for it. The fic will be released probably weekly starting in January with artwork to accompany it. Also, it maybe has a couple spin-offs in the same AU in the works.

Alya unlocked their room and Marinette instinctively sat down at her desk.

"If I don't get the Mouse, then I want the Fox," she said.

"Girl, you have negative musical ability."

"I know, but I can't stand the thought of not rooming with you anymore."

That was the other thing. With being placed in streams, the students were being moved from dorm rooms to suite-style living. They'd have their own kitchens and living areas to share with other students on their stream, and a private bedroom to go to at night. Lots of people were anxious for the private bedroom, but Alya and Marinette had been rooming together for years; she didn't know what it would be like to fall asleep to silence instead of Alya's heavy breathing.

If Marinette couldn't get the Mouse, then at least she could stay with Alya.

She opened up the envelope, clumsily tearing the edge with so much less grace than she anticipated.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng,

As per the terms of the scholarship awarded to you which funds your full tuition to Miraculous Academy, you are required to choose the stream which we deem best suited to your skills and ability. Using several measures, including a personality test, intellectual placement test, and recommendation from the staff at Miraculous Academy, we've

"Holy shit," Alya muttered, and Marinette jumped. She'd been standing right behind the chair silently.

"What?" Marinette asked.

"Just... read."

She went back to the letter.

...we've come to the conclusion that you are best suited to succeed in the Ladybug stream.

Marinette's eyes went wide and she spun around, leaving the letter on her desk.

"No."

"Girl —"

"No. I am not getting put in the Ladybug stream. That's — That's so —"

"It makes total sense, though! The Ladybug is the leader of the group. Usually they're the one who coordinates the superhero and gives them assignments. You would be good with every Miraculous, which makes you perfect for the Ladybug!"

Marinette buried her face in her hands. Alya quieted down, and in a moment Marinette's chair was being pulled to Alya's bed until they were both sitting, facing one another.

"You know that the Ladybug stream always has the most students," Alya said. "And that they wouldn't make you use the scholarship on the Ladybug stream unless they thought you had a real chance of getting through it."

Marinette nodded. She knew that. Didn't make it true, and it certainly didn't mean that she wanted it to be true.

"You'd make a great Ladybug Miraculous holder. That's an awesome choice! Plus Tikki is so nice —"

"I just... I'm stressed, okay?" Marinette said. "Can you leave me alone and go to dinner without me?"

Alya nodded and stood, leaving Marinette in the room alone. Neither had turned any lights on, and the sun already set, so she felt surrounded by gray.

Good.

[purrincess-chat]

Fashion Faux Paw CH6 (FINAL)

The final chapter is here! Thank you so much to @avrilmaria for betaing for me and for the mods of @mlbigbang​ for hosting the event! The art for this chapter was done by @miraculousshellie on Instagram! Please send her lots of love. I had a lot of fun working on this story, and I hope you all enjoy it!

Read on AO3 

Chapter 6

Marinette braced, clinging close to Chat Noir as he flipped to take the brunt of their fall. He cradled her head as they rolled, and she found herself looking up into his desperate green eyes.

“Plagg, transform me!” The dark suit materialized over his clothes, replacing his makeshift mask and cat ears with the magic of his Miraculous. Green sclera twinkled with worry as they scanned Marinette. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine.” She nodded.

Chat Noir sat up, brandishing his staff in a defensive stance in front of her. Five angry fangirls now adorned in black cat suits outfitted with an assortment of cat-themed weapons to rival Chat Noir stood at the end of the hall. The one at the front of the pack wore a black helmet with two cat ears sticking out of the top, clearly distinguishing herself as the leader.

“Step aside, sweet kitty. The Felines are going to teach that brat how to treat you,” she said.

“That’s not necessary. Marinette and I had a little misunderstanding, but we’re fine now. Don’t let Hawkmoth take advantage of your anger.” Chat Noir shot back.

“You’re the one being taken advantage of by that nasty girl, my prince! It’s up to us to make sure she receives justice.”

Marinette stifled an eye roll and surveyed her exit options. She needed to slip away to transform, but something told her that would be easier said than done with multiple akumatized victims chasing after her.

“Do you think you can cover me long enough to get away?” she asked Chat Noir.

“I don’t think running is the best idea. You’ll be safer next to me where I can protect you,” he said.

Oh boy.

“You’ll be able to focus on defeating them if you don’t have to worry about taking care of me,” she said.

“This isn’t a negotiation. I don’t want anything happening to you, so just-”

Marinette pulled him out of the way of another cat-shaped projectile, much to the annoyance of his fangirls.

“How dare you touch him!” the Felines shrieked.  

“I was saving him from you!” Marinette huffed.

“Oh! Kitty kitty, we don’t want to fight you.”

“Just hand over that girl, and we’ll leave you alone.”

“We don’t want you getting hurt again because of her.”

“Not gonna happen. I won’t let you take her.” Chat Noir pulled Marinette close.

She sighed. It looked like she was going to navigate this fight on the downlow as she doubted Chat Noir was going to let her out of his sight. He was a good kitty, but his protective nature was incredibly annoying when he was preventing her from transforming.

“We’re not in a good position in the hall, they have a straight line of fire at us. We should move back to the showroom where it’s more open.” Marinette suggested.

“Got it.” Chat Noir nodded.

He twirled his staff, deflecting weapons and attacks as they backed up the hall toward the showroom. With more room to maneuver, Marinette ducked behind an overturned table, while Chat Noir tussled with the Felines. There weren’t a lot of escape routes that didn’t cross paths with one of the Felines or Chat Noir, but if she ducked behind the curtain, she could transform without being spotted. Crawling on her hands and knees, she skirted for the safety of the curtain, but before she could issue the command for Tikki, she nearly collided with a set of wide hazel eyes.

“Alya!” Marinette gasped.

Alya squirmed with an annoyed grunt, her hands and feet bound by cat-ropes and mouth gagged with a black cat cloth. Marinette set to work untying her, and her friend let out a breath when she was free of her gag.

“Sorry, girl. I would have warned you, but they ambushed me the second I came back from the bathroom,” she said.

“No worries. I’m just glad you’re okay.” Marinette hugged her. “Chat Noir has his hands full out there. We’ve got to help him before they take his Miraculous and expose his secret identity.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Ladybug to show up?” Alya asked.

“Uhh…” Marinette winced. “We don’t know how long that will take, so we need to act now before it’s too late. Come on, haven’t you ever wanted to be a hero?”

“You know I have,” Alya said pointedly. “Alright, so what’s the plan?”

Marinette peeked through the curtains, surveying the room for anything they could use to defeat the akuma. If she couldn’t have a real lucky charm, she was going to have to make do with what she had, which wasn’t much.

“Hmm…” She hummed.

“Hey, watch it!” one of the Felines growled.

“You watch it! You almost hit his face with that last punch.” Another one shot back.

“I would never!”

A smile broke over Marinette’s lips, and she turned back to Alya. “I have an idea how to defeat the akuma and rid myself of my Chat Noir curse, follow my lead.”

Slipping back through the curtain, Marinette crept over to an overturned display table where a pile of cat berets lay abandoned on the ground. Taking a bundle in her hands, she stood up and tossed one across the room at one of the Felines.

“Ya know, I think it’s kind of funny. You five claim to be Chat Noir’s biggest fans, but I bet I know more about him than any of you.” She taunted. “After all, he and I spent a lot of time together creating these hats.”

Chat Noir spun on her with wide eyes. “Marinette, I don’t think that’s the best-”

“How dare you!”

“You don’t deserve to be close to Chat Noir.”

Marinette dodged a kick that destroyed her easel of designs, throwing hats as she backed toward a set of mannequins. The Felines ripped through the hats with ease, stalking toward her.

“I bet you don’t even know what his favorite snack is.” Marinette smirked, pushing the mannequins into one of the Felines before she could pounce.

“It’s croissants!” one Feline declared.

“No, it’s macarons!”

“Ooo, sorry, Felines.” Alya hissed. “The correct answer is chouquettes.”

“What?” The Felines spun on Chat Noir who shrank with a sheepish wince.

“They’re right.” He confirmed, flicking his gaze between Alya and Marinette.

“See? You can’t even answer a simple question about Chat Noir,” Marinette said. “And even if you could, there’s no way Chat Noir could be with all five of you, so which one of you will get to be with him? I’m sure one of you is a bigger fan than all the rest.”

“Me!” all five Felines answered at the same time.

“No, I am!”

“No, me!”

“Are you kidding? We all know it’s me.”

The Felines turned on each other, claws barred and weapons drawn.

“Uh, ladies, I hate to break it to you, but-” Alya stuffed a literal sock in Chat Noir’s mouth and shook her head.

One Feline pounced on another, the two tumbling to the floor in a heap of hair and claws. Two more grappled with the leader, swinging elbows and legs in a chorus of, “He’s mine! No, he’s mine!” After a few minutes of squabbling, one of the Felines ripped the helmet from the leader’s head, but in their struggle to assert power over the group, the helmet was ripped in half, freeing the black butterfly hiding inside. The five girls reverted to normal, the remnants of a torn beanie in their hands.

“Chat Noir, the akuma!” Marinette pointed as it fluttered higher.

“On it! Cataclysm!” He leapt up, catching the butterfly in his grasp and reducing it to a pile of ash.

Marinette approached as he landed, holding up a fist, but Chat Noir glanced around at the shambles of her display.

“Ladybug never showed up. I wonder what kept her,” he said.

“Uhh, maybe she was busy,” Marinette said too quickly, then after a beat added, “I mean, if I had to guess anyway.”

“There won’t be any magic ladybugs to repair all of the damage. I’m sorry, Marinette. I know how hard you worked on everything, and now, it’s all ruined.” His ears drooped.

Marinette glanced around with pursed lips and shrugged. “It’s okay,” she said. “I don’t want my name associated with you forever. It’s better this way.”

“It’s just a shame the people who were supposed to see your work didn’t make it down here before everything happened. This was supposed to be your shot to show the big wigs in the fashion industry what you’re made of,” Alya said.

“I’ll have other opportunities to show off designs I’m really proud of.” Marinette shrugged. “Really, I’m fine.”

Chat Noir searched her expression with a frown. “Don’t you have anything else you can show them today?”

“We do still have all the stuff from your original display in the back. If we hurry, we might be able to clean all of this up before the important peeps make it down here.” Alya suggested.

Chat Noir smiled, turning to his fangirls and crossing his arms over his chest. “If you girls are really my fans like you say you are, then I assume you won’t mind helping me with a little project.”

“Omg, we’ll do anything!” The girls cried.

In a matter of minutes, Marinette’s display had been cleaned up and rid of any traces of Chat Noir merch. Alya wheeled out the racks of Marinette’s original designs, and Chat Noir took one from the rack as his transformation dropped, eyes sparkling behind her makeshift mask. He disappeared behind the curtain and reemerged a few minutes later in a pink pantsuit, garnering squeals of delight from his fangirls. They set the last hat in place as Mme. Lemieux approached with a group of other stylish adults.

“What’s all of this?” she gasped. “I thought you agreed to swap this trite out for the Chat Noir line?”

“Well, I did, but then I decided that if I was going to present something, I wanted to present the designs I’m most proud of,” Marinette said. “Don’t get me wrong, the Chat Noir stuff was fun, but it’s not me, so if you want to know who I am as a designer, this is me.”

Mme. Lemieux exchanged looks with the others in the group, noses wrinkling as they examined her work.

Marinette’s heart hammered in her chest, but she held her head high. She’d rather be rejected for ideas she was proud of than accepted for ones she wasn’t.

“If you’re having doubts about her, let me help you get over them,” Chat Noir spoke up. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Marinette is one of the most incredible designers I know. She works insanely hard and is more talented than any other designer here today. This is her moment, not mine, and I’m happy to endorse her brand the way it is.”

Silence stretched on for several beats before one woman in the group said, “You know, I do quite like that jacket.”

“Yes, I was just thinking it would pair nicely with this dress,” another piped up.

Mme. Lemieux shot Marinette a curious glance as the crowd spread out across her display. “Perhaps we can consider a spot for you next year, if you’re interested, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng?”

“I’ll consider it.” Marinette nodded.

Mme. Lemieux flicked her gaze between Marinette, Alya, and Chat Noir, then sauntered off to join the others with a grunt.

“You did it, girl!” Alya nudged Marinette with her elbow.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.” Marinette turned to Chat Noir and smiled. “Both of you. Thank you for all of your help, kitty.”

“I’m glad everything worked out in the end. I promise not to steal the spotlight next time,” he said. “Actually, you should probably just fire me and burn the rest of the Chat Noir stuff.”

“I don’t mind designing things after you, but I was thinking of expanding into a full heroes line on a side blog. What do you think?” Marinette asked.

“That sounds great.” Chat Noir smiled, then more timidly asked, “So, are we still partners, then?”

Marinette held up a fist and bumped it against his.

“Yeah, partners.”