Fanfic / Mother Hen

Mother Hen is a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic by 11JJ11 on Archive of Our Own.

Miss Bustier accidentally discovers that Marinette is Ladybug, and as a teacher she can't help but be proud — and worried. Whose idea was it to let children fight super villains? Master Fu will have some explaining to do.

Caline quickly finds herself pulled into the world of superheroes and Miraculouses, more deeply than she ever intended.

See also Crimson and Noire, a Role Swap AU by the same author.

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Mother Hen provides examples of:

• Adaptational Badass: In canon, Caline Bustier was a normal teacher. Here, she becomes the holder of the Rooster Miraculous. Having a Miraculous also gives her the confidence she needs to be a more effective teacher, and handles Lila's threats towards Marinette much better than she did in canon (being one of the main reasons why Lila's Karma Houdini Warranty runs out).
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: Caline's superhero identity is themed after roosters and hens.
• Appropriated Appellation: At first, Caline can't decide what her hero name is (only knowing that it is not Chicken Lady). During a fight, Hawkmoth (after realizing that the Rooster hero is an adult) jokingly asks if she thinks that she's their mother. Not only does she proudly say that she's willing to defend the teen heroes from him, but decides to take up the name Mother Hen.
• Armor-Piercing Question: At first, Caline struggles with believing she's cut out to be a superhero. Orriko responds with a question that hits home:
  Caline: But I'm going to have to do it again!
  Orriko: Are you going to let Marinette go out there alone again?
• Child Soldiers: After learning that the heroes of Paris are young teens, Caline starts to see them akin to these, and will always voice her disgust with the idea of children fighting a magical terrorist.
• Comeback Mechanic: This is essentially how "Re-talon—te" functions. It allows the user to restore their allies' energy using the energy they’ve built up from moving around. However, its effectiveness is dependent on how exhausted said allies are, if used when they’re in top form it’ll barely have an effect.
• Continuity Nod: When Sentibug summons a huge, bazooka-like gun with her Lucky Charm, Ladybug mutters "at least it isn't that stupid sword again", referencing how the many evil versions of Ladybug would always summon the same giant sword with their version of the Lucky Charm.
• Deducing the Secret Identity: Orriko helps Caline learn to see through the Glamour by using this trope, which helps her learn that Max is Pegasus.
• Didn't See That Coming: Did anyone expect Markhov to get the Mouse Miraculous?
• Dramatic Irony: Following their encounter with the Ladybug doppelgänger, Mother Hen uses her special ability to restore Ladybug and Chat Noir's stamina before the trio fights Hawk Moth and Mayura. Hawk Moth (believing that Mother Hen is a teenager like the other Miraculous holders) smugly tells Mother Hen that since she used up her special ability, she only has five minutes until her transformation wears off. Of course, since Mother Hen is an adult and not a child, this rule doesn't apply to her.
• Gathering Steam: This is how the Rooster Miraculous's power works, the more Mother Hen moves the more energy she gathers.
• Glamour: The Miraculouses have this effect on their wearers, making them unrecognizable except to those who already know their secret identities. After learning Marinette's secret identity as Ladybug, Caline notices how the two look identical to each other and wonders how she hadn't noticed before. At the same time, Caline still can't recognize Chat Noir because she still doesn't know his secret identity.
• How Do I Shot Web?: Master Fu, when he gave Caline the Rooster Miraculous, told her the activation phrase ("Orriko, cry out!"), but not the deactivation phrase ("Calm down.") Caline figures it out on her own, by accident, when trying to tell herself to calm down. Everything else, however, she's able to figure out with Orriko's (telepathic) help.
• Idiot Ball: The way Marinette accidentally outs her secret identity to Caline definitely counts. She uses her phone to text on a group chat to the other Miraculous holders in the middle of class. Naturally, Ms. Bustier confiscates Marinette's phone and discovers that she's Ladybug by skimming through her texts.
• In-Universe Nickname: Before she settled for Mother Hen, people refer to Caline as the Rooster Miraculous Holder as "Chicken Lady". Understandably, she considered it an Embarrassing Nickname.
• Insult Backfire: Hawkmoth attempts to insult Caline's hero form by referring to her as a "mother hen". Caline ends up taking that as her superhero name, and takes his insult as a compliment.
• Internal Reveal: Caline learns that Adrien is Chat Noir in Chapter 15 when she sees him talk to Plagg, Mullo, and Kaalki (she had previously entrusted Chat Noir with returning Mullo and Kaalki to Master Fu). She in turn reveals her identity as Mother Hen to Adrien when an excited Orriko flies out of her purse.
• The Joy of First Flight: While not a flying example, Caline's first time out on a patrol goes like this, with her feeling exhilarated at the speed and strength her Miraculous gives her.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Marinette has no idea that the new rooster-themed Miraculous holder helping her and Chat is her teacher Caline Bustier.
• Mama Bear: Caline's natural protectiveness of children, especially her students, is what makes her an effective superhero. It's also what puts her at odds with Master Fu for sending young teenagers into battle.
• Monster Roommate: At first, Caline has... issues accepting that being a permanent Miraculous holder (as well as the host to Orriko) is part of her life now.
  She was now roommates with an ancient chicken-ghost-thing that had an endless stomach– that was perfectly normal, right?
• One-Handed Zweihänder: As Mother Hen, Caline's weapon of choice is a giant cleaver which she can wield with a single hand. The blade is wide enough that she can use it as a shield (which is usually how she chooses to wield it).
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Caline gives a few of them:
  • Due to her protectiveness of children and fury that teenagers are being entrusted with the safety of Paris, she goes off on Master Fu.
  • As mad as she is at Fu for sending teenagers to fight, she's even angrier at Hawkmoth for likely realizing that he's been fighting literal children and still trying to kill them for their Miraculouses, and goes off on him for it.
• Secret-Keeper: At the start of the story, Caline becomes a secret keeper for Marinette after discovering that she's Ladybug.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Adrien suspects that The Gorilla is this to him as he mentions during a talk with Ladybug when she is stressed about Bustier learning about her identity.
• Shout-Out: While trying to think of a superhero name for herself, Chat Noir suggests that Caline call herself Blaziken.
• Spot the Imposter: Like in canon, Ladybug and Chat Noir fight a sentimonster doppelgänger of Ladybug. However, since Caline can see through Marinette's glamour, she quickly figures out which one is the imposter simply by looking for which Ladybug still has her glamour working.
• Team Mom: Invoked by Caline, who chooses the moniker "Mother Hen" for the Miraculous team.
  Hawk Moth: Who are you? Their mother? So worried about the little children who decided to play vigilante?
  Mother Hen: If that’s what they need me to be, then that’s what I will be. Their real mothers may not know they’re out here fighting, but I’m not going to leave them alone as long as you’re forcing us to fight this pointless war.
• Territorial Smurfette: Gender inverted with Orikko, who hates the idea of sharing his space with any other male, regardless of species (leading to him becoming the Sitcom Arch-Nemesis of the dog Caline watches sometimes). He even admits to Caline that he prefers female holders over male ones.
• Token Adult: Caline becomes the sole adult member of the Miraculous team.
• Took a Level in Badass: Canon Caline Bustier (Depending on the Writer) ranges from Cool Teacher to Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher (or some combination of the two). Here, due to accidentally learning that Marinette is Ladybug, she ends up as the holder of the Rooster Miraculous of Vitality and is essential to helping her and Chat Noir defeat Fatigue and the reakumatized Dark Owl.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Orriko explains to Caline that this trope is necessary for kwamis, as they each have a favorite food that helps them to recharge faster than if they ate other foods (i.e. Tikki's love for chocolate chip cookies). He spends most of his time in the fic looking for his new favorite snack (with him leaning heavily towards fruit snacks).
• Trespassing to Talk: Master Fu introduces himself to Caline by breaking into her apartment and waiting for her to arrive. He does it again when Caline goes to him for help dealing with Dark Owl.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Because she's an adult, Mother Hen is able to use her special ability multiple times and is able to fight Hawk Moth on even ground. However, she lacks the experience that Ladybug and Chat Noir possess and is still fairly new to the whole superhero business.
• Vampiric Draining: The first villain that Caline fights as Mother Hen is Fatigue, a vampire-themed akuma who has the power to drain people of their stamina and energy.
• Weak, but Skilled: It turns out that Ladybug and Chat Noir are this by the standards of most Miraculous holders. Master Fu explains to Caline that Miraculous holders are normally able to use their special powers multiple times without transforming back into their civilian forms. However, because Marinette and Adrien are teenagers and not adults, their bodies can't handle using their special powers more than once. Despite this, they have the most experience with wielding their Miraculouses and have taken down numerous akumatized villains on their own.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Chat, Ladybug, and Mother Hen are all left stunned and/or traumatized when Mayura heartlessly kills Sentibug shortly after Ladybug granted her impostor her freedom.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Upon meeting Master Fu, Caline calls him out for choosing teenagers to fight what is basically a super-powered terrorist.
• With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: When Master Fu offers Caline the chance to give up her Miraculous after hearing her complaints about being made into a permanent hero against her will, Caline declines, since she feels she can't let a bunch of children fight Hawk Moth on their own, even if she doesn't enjoy being a superhero.
• Younger Than They Look: An in-universe case. Thanks to the glamour obscuring their identities, most of Paris assumes that Ladybug and Chat Noir are adults. Even when Mr.Ramier overhears the two of them talking about getting back to class, he assumes they’re talking about university.
• You Wanna Get Sued?: When Chat Noir suggests that Caline should call herself Blaziken as her superhero name, Ladybug shoots the idea down because of this trope.

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