Fanfic / Tendencies

Tendencies is a fanfiction series based on Miraculous Ladybug, written by Kryalla Orchid and published at Archive of Our Own. The series began with Obsession, which revolves around Chat Noir forming a relationship with Marinette after he develops a cat-like addiction to petting and finds himself drawn to her hands. The story spawned two, much longer sequels, Glaze and Quiver, a shorter epilogue called Score, and an ongoing collection of side-stories.

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Tendencies contains examples of:

General

• Alternate Universe: The series was conceived and mostly written during the break after the first half of the series, and as such contradicts the canon origin episodes in a few respects. Rather than receive their Miraculous on the same day, Ladybug was working alone for over a year before Chat Noir showed up, and Alya's friendship with Marinette goes back to primary school.
• My Instincts Are Showing: The series is built around the premise that Miraculous holders pick up traits from their respective animals. In particular, Adrien's displays of cat-like behaviour out of costume and Marinette's reactions to cold weather.
• Unreliable Narrator: Plagg and Tiki both have a tendency to hide things from their partners in these fics, and sometimes it comes to bite Marinette and Adrien in the worst way. To be fair, they have their reasons for doing so most of the time.

Obsession

• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Moments before the Dream Twister attack starts, Chloe is seen mocking Rose's belief that dreams have hidden meanings, but it takes most of the following chapter before Adrien makes the connection, thanks to the below-mentioned Red Herring.
• Foreshadowing: Elements central to the plot of this fic series are mentioned from the very beginning, but never in any detail until the end.
• Get Out!: Adrien's furious reaction when Ladybug shows up in his bedroom after learning his identity and apparently ready to return his affections, right after he's decided to move on with Marinette.
• Intoxication Ensues: During the Tiger Lily attack, Cat Noir ends up High on Catnip, though it ultimately affects Plagg more than Adrien once the fight is over.
• Lame Pun Reaction: A few of these from Ladybug, though as the stories go on she starts punning back more often, saying that he's grown on her. Also one from Chat, in a display of Hypocritical Humour, when he tells Tiger Lily her, "Poor little sap" pun was "a-pollen."
• Loves My Alter Ego: Played with: Chat Noir makes it clear that he's in love with Ladybug, and he knows that Marinette is in love with someone, but from the opening chapter it's clear that they're on the verge of moving on with each other.
  Marintte: Does she know?
  Chat: She wouldn't understand.
  Marinette: She might, if you told her. She could do this for you. Then you wouldn't need me.
  Chat: Do you not want me to come anymore?
  Marinette: No. I just think Ladybug could give you what you need if you asked her-
  There was a reason he'd never asked his lady. He was certain she'd oblige him, but it would be out of duty. She'd roll her eyes, scoff and make a witty quip and he'd feel his heart shredded beneath her candour. Marinette never made him feel that way.
  Chat: My lady couldn't feed me macarons and chocolate milk. My lady wouldn't wait up in the rain to make sure I'm okay. My lady's smile doesn't light up her face when she sees me. Yours does. She can't give me what I need, Marinette. What I need, my Princess, is you. And a princess is far brighter than a lady.
• Metaphorically True: When Alya sees Marinette looking up cat toys online, Marinette tells her classmates that she's been looking after a stray that's been hanging around and has come in her window a few times. Adrien overhears this and he and Marinette both have rather hilarious reactions to Juleka's suggestion that she get him neutered.
• Motor Mouth: Ladybug's panicked response to Adrien's Get Out! (see above):
  Ladybug: I wrote it all down so I wouldn't forget. I practiced and I couldn't tell you before but I can now! I have to! I can't do this anymore.
  Adrien: What?
  Ladybug: The minute you walked into school I knew. It bubbled up inside me and I did nothing to stop it. I wanted to be infatuated because it was me, as myself, not Ladybug. And that was okay because teenage girls are supposed to get crushes. We're supposed to be gawky and awkward and pine from afar. Gorgeous eyes and hair that can't be tamed. And then I discovered how kind you were and I knew- but I couldn't even talk without spluttering and being stupid. So I never really had a chance to know you as you. And then you came in, swinging and purring and smirking and flirting with me and I... didn't know what to do with you. You are my partner. I'd waited so long for some help and I need you. I can't lose you. I didn't know how to turn you down without breaking your heart, so I ran. I never let you confess. I couldn't.
  Adrien: Ladybug-
  Ladybug: Then you fell out of the sky and landed on my terrace in such a state. You came to me, not Ladybug for help. And I helped you, because you are my partner and I care about you. When you hurt, I hurt, but I can't tell you that because I don't know if it's me or the stupid pheromones and Tikki says it's not.
  Adrien: Wait, I never came to you-
  Ladybug: She swears it's not but- I see! It's everywhere. Men with their glazed eyes and women with their smiles. I draw them in, I make them feel comfortable and safe, just by being around them. It's part of what it means to be Ladybug. But it never affected you as Adrien, because you were never near Ladybug but you were as Chat and- (gulps for breath) -you came and I could pat you and be friends with you because I thought; no it's the cold I can't deal with as myself, not the pheromones, so it'd be okay, right? To pat you and get to know you without that getting in the way.
  Adrien: What pheromones-
  Ladybug: It was only supposed to be once but you kept coming back and it was like you were obsessed with pats but that's okay because it meant you weren't obsessed with me and I knew it couldn't be them and then- then I got to know you. And it suddenly wasn't about Adrien anymore because Chat was taking up my mind, but I couldn't kiss you as Ladybug because that would've ruined everything-
  Adrien: Slow down-
  Ladybug: So I kissed you as me and you wanted to be with me, not Ladybug and how could I tell you then? Someone finally picked me over her and it was you and then you- you breathed me in and I knew. I knew it was the pheromones. Not me. It would never be me. And then Adrien's being nice and I don't know what I'm doing because all I'm thinking about is Chat and then you purred and... everything fell apart. I was happy watching Adrien and knowing he was so far out of my league it would never happen. I was happy dancing across the rooftops with Chat. I didn't want the two lives to mix. But they did and I got so confused. They got tangled up or untangled or criss-crossed or... I don't know. All I do know is I can't possibly love you any more than I do right now and I can't tell you that, because I don't know if it's me or Ladybug or... Both? And look at you! Being a big dumb boy with your dumb boy face and yelling at me before I can explain because you're waiting for me to explain and here I am telling you everything I practiced and I'm still getting it wrong because you're just sitting there with your dumb boy mouth open and not kissing me and Tikki, Spots Off!
• Plot Allergy: Adrien's allergy to feathers comes up a couple of times. Marinette mentions Chat's allergy when talking about the stray cat who's been visiting her, leading Adrien to wonder how she knows about it. Later subverted when one of Adrien's photoshoots goes badly because he has a cold, but the photographer doesn't listen to him and blames it on the florist, getting her akumatised.
• Red Herring: The akuma attack that starts at the end of Chapter 7 is initially assumed to be Marinette, as a result of learning Adrien's secret. It instead turns out to be Rose, the result of Chloe mocking her belief in Prophetic Dreams.
• Something Only They Would Say: Adrien gives himself away to Marinette after he purrs in front of her.

Glaze

• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Chat Noir has his own version of Miraculous Ladybug, and Plagg really didn't want to tell Adrien about it. When Adrien's forced to use it, it almost kills him.
• Forceful Kiss: Chloe pulls Adrien in for one for a photo opportunity at her father's Christmas party, which Adrien proceeds to ruin as best he can.
• Hurricane of Puns: Frequently, between Chat Noir, Ladybug and later Tom.
• Mistaken for Cheating: After Alya figures out that Adrien is Chat Noir, her immediate reaction is to call him a lying cheating asshole for two-timing Marinette with Ladybug. It takes Adrien a minute to realise she hasn't made the connection that Marinette is Ladybug, which happens after Marinette comes in and addresses him as Chat.
• Never My Fault: After Chloe has been turned back to normal, she blames Adrien for getting her akumatized and by extension the snowstorm, while downplaying what she did at the party that caused him to end their friendship. She then follows that up with flippant forgiveness.
• Not What It Looks Like:
  • When Alya takes the first photograph of Ladybug and Chat Noir kissing and posts it online, it draws a backlash because it looks like Chat is coercing a distressed Ladybug into it. Alya uploads a second picture with the context that Chat had been injured protecting her, but it still gives Chat a brief Memetic Molester reputation.invoked
  • Later, Chat Noir is caught in Marinette's bed by her parents, though to his very slight relief his transformation runs out soon afterward.
• Pseudo-Crisis: Chapter 5 ends with Chat Noir being surrounded by his classmates in their old akuma forms, thanks to Liberator. The next chapter quickly reveals that, while they have their akuma powers, none of them are possessed. And as a result, Rose quickly uses Dream Twister's power to put Liberator to sleep and end the fight for them. However, before Chat Noir realises this, Alya has already used Lady Wifi to abduct Ladybug and take her somewhere they can sort out their conflict over the secret identity issue.
• Revealing Injury: Adrien's injured leg matching up to Chat Noir's is one of the clues that Alya uses to figure it out, though she doesn't immediately notice it.
• Red Herring: When Chloe is found in her bedroom frozen in ice, she's assumed to be just the first victim of the akuma causing the prolonged snowstorm. It takes Chat Noir a while to figure out she is the akuma.
• Secret-Keeper: Alya as of Chapter 6, Tom and Sabine as of Chapter 12.
• Something Only They Would Say: Alya figures out Adrien's secret from, among other things, his snarled delivery of "That's enough, Chloe", echoing what Chat Noir told her the night of the Walker attack.
• The Talk: Gabriel gives Adrien an exceptionally awkward version of this, much of which is focused on the possibility of Marinette being a Gold Digger or otherwise using him for her career. When he suggests bringing in a banana so they can practice putting a condom on, Adrien interrupts and tells him that his mother already gave him the talk.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Alya angrily calls out Marinette a couple of times for keeping her secret identity from her for so long, until she turns on her and points out how reckless she was being with the Ladyblog: "You tell me, Alya. Tell me how I was supposed to trust you. Tell me what sign you ever gave me that you would keep this a secret."

Quiver

• Gender Bender: Shait's power, first used on the guys (Results in Man, I Feel Like a Woman from Nino and probably others), then on Ladybug, quite painfully. This also leads to Plagg messing with the Chat Noir costume to give Adrien high heels, then trying to give him a skirt, then tricking him into asking for his normal outfit before Ladybug points out that he still needs support. He does end up giving him a pink ribbon around his neck in place of the bell.
• Gondor Calls for Aid: The heroes plan to re-akumatize Juleka into Liberator (with permission), and have her turn as many of their classmates as they can gather back into their akuma forms, creating an army to take on Hawkmoth.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Starts coming up for Adrien, exacerbated by his cat-tendencies: at one point he caught himself growling at Nino just because he handed Marinette a book at the library.

Score

• Their First Time: Between Adrien and Marinette.
• Troll: Plagg, specifically when he texts Gabriel a photograph of a condom on a banana. He also claims that Tikki was in on it.