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Butter @flyingbutter
OMGGGG did you see the latest #LadybugandChatNoir interview??? i’m squealing!!!!!!! #Ladybug #lgbt #Ladybi
Marinette felt awful. And she felt awful for feeling awful, because she didn’t want to be ashamed.
She wasn’t ashamed.
Being bisexual was awesome, she loved that part of herself. But the minute people found out that Ladybug was bi, it was all they cared about. She didn’t want to hide it, but damn, it wasn’t the only thing about her. She’d pin a flag to her backpack, she’d rewatch Olivia Rodrigo music videos too many times, but those weren’t the only things she did.
And of course people were shipping her with Rena Rouge, and she hated that. Alya was her best friend. It just felt… wrong. With “Ladynoir,” she’d gotten used to it and been able to block it out. When she did feel uncomfortable, Chat was an expert at making jokes about it and helping her laugh it off. She was sure he’d come up with something for this, too, but it being Alya made it worse. How was she supposed to talk to her friend when “Bug Rouge” had flooded the internet?
Maybe it was a novelty thing. It was new information, it was exciting. People would calm down in a few days.
bold move bitch @that1lesbian
okay no offese but why r people so caught on ladynoir? like ladybug has said she doesn’t like chat AND she likes girls. so maybe,,,, dont? #girlslikegirls #BugRouge
↪ magical @heybabyyyy
@that1lesbian lmao ig ur tag is right… she’s BI, idk what you’re on about liking girls meaning no one should ship ladynoir #Ladybi #bisexualityisvalid
It took longer than Marinette had hoped, but things did calm down. Ladybug wasn’t being hounded with questions about her relationship status after akumas anymore, and #BugRouge had retreated to a far corner of the internet.
And besides, she had bigger things to worry about.
Like how after her break up with Luka and swearing off dating, she’d only noticed someone else more. He was either the best person she could date right now as someone who understood the superhero thing—or the worst.
“Ladybug.”
She turned around, Chat’s hand caught on her wrist.
“Can we talk?”
“Let me go feed Tikki.”
A few minutes later, Tikki recharged, and retransformed, Ladybug met Chat in a corner of a near-empty park.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Are you flirting with me?” Chat blushed at her reaction, then backtracked. “I meant, um, you’re sort of returning the stuff I say during fights? And I know it might be our ‘witty banter’ thing, but I’m not sure anymore cause it’s less, ‘shut up haha,’ and more ‘you’re cute when you’re being a dork.’ I just wanted to make sure I’m not misreading that, or what’s going on.”
“Oh,” Ladybug said, blushing, “um, I don’t really know if you’re misreading that. Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“I think maybe I do like you.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded.
“Take your time. I’ll be here.” Chat kissed her hand and leapt away.
Alya @ladyblog.official
Did you know that ladybugs come in all sorts of colors? Even blue, the rarest color in nature! Which is part of the reason I’m so happy to announce a collab with @Stickers’nStuff for pride month! (yes it's still March, no I don’t care). We’ll be releasing the designs soon, and they go on sale May 31 #Ladyblog #LadybugandChatNoir #Ladybi #pride #lgbt
↪ Sammi @Stickers’nStuff
I am soooo excited for this!!!! breaking out the watercolors today to start designing! #artist #smallshop #pride #Ladyblog #Ladybi
For Marinette, the next month passed in a blur of school, akumas, and flirting with Chat Noir. Yes, actually flirting. If someone had told her last year she’d be flirting with Chat, she’d laugh at the sheer outrageousness of her successfully flirting with anyone.
It was fun. It wasn’t like her crush on Adrien, which had been scary because he was a celebrity and she was too obsessed with him. Or with Luka, where there’d been so much pressure to like him she wasn’t even sure if she did. No, Chat was kind and funny and they got along. They made sense together.
“Are you going to tell him your identity?” Tikki asked one evening.
“Not yet. I like things the way they are. We aren’t even dating yet.”
And then Chat took her on a date. She agreed to it, a little night-time rendezvous on their favorite roof. Chat brought snacks and a movie, on one of those little DVD players she hadn’t seen in years. They cuddled up under a blanket, passing the snacks and the bag of pastries Marinette had brought back and forth,
It was casual and cozy, and being with Chat made Marinette feel comfortable. Maybe she should be worried about their identities. But she found it hard to worry about anything when she was with him.
“My lady?” he murmured, brushing his hand across her cheek.
“Mm?”
“I thought you fell asleep.”
She opened her eyes. “Not quite. Just thinking.”
“About?”
“You.”
He laughed. “Good things, I hope.”
“Very good things.” She didn’t even try to hide her glance at his lips.
Chat pulled her closer, a smile in the shape of a question left between them. Marinette closed the distance. He tasted like the kouign-amanns she’d brought, sweet and gentle and something she would never get enough of.
raspberry babe @rememberwhenrosegoldwasgay
ladybug to the interviewers after todays akuma 👀 i feel her tho #bicon #queer #sapphic #wlw
There was something inevitable about their relationship. Maybe Chat had been right; maybe they had been made for each other. There wasn’t pressure on their relationship, though, they just worked. She wasn’t scared of being rejected like with Adrien, or uncertain like with Luka. This might be what people meant when they said to be friends with someone first.
They’d learn each other’s identities eventually. For now they were more concerned with sneaking out to meet up late at night, finding places in the city to hide from civilians and cameras.
“You can’t seriously be a dog person,” Chat gasped, a hand on his chest.
Ladybug laughed.
“And laughing at my misery! This is betrayal.”
“I can like both, you know.”
Chat pouted. “Yes, but I’m supposed to be your favorite.”
She patted his head. “Well, you’re my favorite human, minou .”
“Was that a pun?”
Ladybug kissed him to shut him up.
gay zebra @gay.zebra.01
you have got to be kidding me. @ladyblog.official GET ON THIS!!!! #Ladybug #Ladynoir #queerbaiting
pinecones @thatcraftyone
AHHHHHHH LADYNOIR HAPPPENED
phacebook @phoebebebe
god bless whoever took that photo of ladynoir kissing #Ladynoir
evelyn @eviethebeaver
lmao and i actually thought ladybug was queer #queerbaiting #LadybiIsOver
So that was it. A picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir kissing was all over the internet, and millions of people were weighing in on her sexuality.
Tikki took her phone out of her hand. “Let’s not look at this right now.”
Marinette flopped onto her chaise. “I can’t believe people think they have a say in my identity. Also, liking boys is half the point!”
She didn’t know how long she lay there. The wave of online judgment was physically exhausting. What would happen during the next akuma? Would civilians listen to her directions? And kwami, she didn’t even want to think about the onslaught of questions the moment a reporter saw her.
She and Tikki both stared at her phone when it started ringing.
“I’m taking that.”
“Girl, you are not going to believe this,” Alya exclaimed.
“If this is about the Ladybug thing—”
“You know I’m not like that. No, Chat Noir is on Twitter.”
“He’s what?”
Did Marinette have a cat to skin? She logged onto her computer, and sure enough:
Chat Noir @thechatstail
I can’t believe you’re so quick to dismiss Ladybug. Firstly, bi girls like boys. Bi definition. And also, she’s the one responsible for protecting you all from Hawkmoth. Trust me, you don’t want to make her mad.
“Of course he included a pun.”
Tikki looked over her shoulder. “But he’s defending you. That’s good.”
gnocchi girl @umbrella.duck
okay but @thecatstail are you dating???? #Ladynoir
pinecones @thatcraftyone
yessss chat noir defending his lady!!!!!!!
bold move bitch @that1lesbian
um, yeah. but everyone knows girls are better anyway #sapphic
↪ Chat Noir @thechatstail
Given that ur tag says lesbian, I’m not surprised you think that. But different sexualities exist.
↪ ↪ bold move bitch @that1lesbian
whatev, shes still not actually gay
It took Marinette three minutes to make Ladybug a Twitter account. She’d just delete it later, anyway. She followed Chat’s account and Alya’s first, hoping to give the handle some legitimacy.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Tikki asked.
“I need to tell these people to shut up. And not let Chat get too carried away.”
LB @TotallyNotLadybug
Alright. im bi, so stop saying im not. whoever took and posted that photo, that was an invasion of @thechatstail and my privacy. and stop going nuts over Bug Rouge (no offense Rena) or Ladynoir for that matter. relationships 1/
↪ LB @TotallyNotLadybug
are complicated. Chat and i are starting to figure things out between us, but seeing all this meddling, we need to have a serious conversation about how that would work. i have people picking apart my relationship and sexuality 2/
↪ LB @TotallyNotLadybug
before i’m even sure of my relationship. im not lying about liking girls and i don’t need to prove that to anyone. my sexuality is not reliant on your approval. but i also like boys, and i happen to really like this one. 3/3
DM— @TotallyNotLadybug, @thechatstail
LB: hey, tysm for defending me earlier! I’m gonna log out soon and maybe delete this account later, idk. but can we talk soon?
Chat Noir: Of course, anything for you <3 Eiffel in 30?
LB: see you there
“Ladybug, I’m sorry, today must have been awful,” Chat said, skipping any greeting.
“It’s not your fault.” She dangled her legs off the beam they sat and looked down at all the people. From here they looked like figurines. “I hate that this is happening when our relationship is still so new. I don’t want this stuff to break us.”
Chat laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. “Please, my lady. If Hawkmoth can’t break us, nothing can.”
“You have a point.” She settled into his side, blushing. “I guess, well, I just wanna be your girlfriend.”
“Yeah?”
“Without all the cameras and social media and superhero drama.” She brought a hand up to his cheek. “Without the masks.”
He took his arm back from her shoulders. “I do, too. But I can’t really do all that? I’m sort of… famous, as a civilian?”
Ladybug laughed.
“I’m not kidding.”
“Oh. I do know a strange number of celebrities,” she teased.
“Maybe we’ve met before.”
“As long as you’re not Chloe Bourgeois.”
He said something else, but Marinette was no longer listening. All of the information she’d just been given hit her. Chat Noir was a blond-haired, green-eyed, teen celebrity.
She fell off the Eiffel Tower.
The next few seconds were a blur of lights around her, Chat Noir’s shout, and fumbling for her yoyo. She landed somehow in Chat’s arms, in the center of the tower, surrounded by Parisians and tourists gawking at the heroes.
“Well,” Chat said, adjusting his grip, “it’s not every day you can say it was raining cats and bugs.”
Alya @ladyblog.official
I’m 100% in agreement with @TotallyNotLadybug. Her sexuality doesn’t need your approval. #Ladybi isn’t up for debate. That being said, the pride collab with @Stickers’nStuff is still on!
↪ gnocchi girl @umbrella.duck
yesssss, i’m so looking forward to seeing Sammi’s designs i love their art <3 <3
↪ raspberry babe @rememberwhenrosegoldwasgay
okay but we’re all ignoring them falling off the eiffel tower??? #Ladynoir #couplegoals
↪ ↪ phacebook @phoebebebe
falling off the eiffel tower is couplegoals?
“Are you okay?” Adrien asked once they were away from the crowd. He tried to set her down, but Marinette held on tight.
“I know who you are.”
His arms tensed.
“It’s okay. But I need you to know who I am, too?”
“You’re sure?”
“Mmhm.” Marinette let him put her upright and immediately grabbed his hand. “Let’s go back to my place and get some treats, we definitely deserve it.”
“I still don’t know where we’re going.”
She smiled. “Dupain-Cheng Bakery and Patisserie.”
He froze. “Marinette?”
“Yeah?”
“It really is you.”
“It is.”
He pulled her in for a kiss, and Marinette felt dizzy. She was kissing Adrien Agreste. Who was Chat Noir! Who was her boyfriend!
“Wait,” she said. “We are a couple now, Right?”
“If you still want to be. I’m sorry I can’t get you out of the spotlight.”
Marinette smiled. “It’s alright. I like you too much to care. And clearly, the world could do with more bi girls dating boys in the spotlight.”
LB @TotallyNotLadybug
i really thought i’d be deleting this account today. so imagine my surprise when i saw the replies to my post yesterday! thanks for the support, it’s nice to see that biphobia isn’t the only thing out there. i think i'll be sticking around longer than i planned #bisexualityisvalid #Ladybi
↪ LB @TotallyNotLadybug
(and yes, @thechatstail and i are together)