Fanfic / Crimson and Noire

Marinette never asked to be a hero. Especially not one feared by the city of Paris for her destructive power. But at least she has her Kwami Plagg and her partner Crimson Beetle to help her.

Adrien jumped at the chance to be a hero, though finds that being in the spotlight as the leader of the duo and savior of Paris against Monarch and her akumas is different than what he expected. Thankfully he has Tikki to guide him through this.

Crimson and Noire is a Miraculous Ladybug Role Swap AU by 11JJ11, following the pair as Crimson Beetle and Lady Noire as they face off against Monarch and her akumas, all while dealing with the struggles of both their hero and civilian identities. Can be read on Archive of Our Own or Fanfiction.net.

See also Mother Hen, another Miraculous Ladybug fanfic by the same author.

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Crimson and Noire provides contains examples of:

• Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
  • In the show, people who are akumatized are treated no differently than they were before they were akumatized. In contrast, the victims receive a lot more scrunity from the public after their akumatization in this fic.
  • Plagg in the show never seem to have any issues in his past minus a few disasters like sinking Atlantis or killing the dinosaurs, though even then he's generally unfazed. In the story, he spent centuries seeing his wielders being mistreated and distrusted by the public and even their partner Ladybugs, making him very jaded and overprotective by the time he ends up with Marinette.
• Adaptational Context Change:
  • In canon, Max becomes the Gamer when Marinette beats him in the school's Mecha Strike tournament. In Chapter 20, he gets akumatized after Adrien beats him, and Marinette, who had been Max's partner for years, agrees to partner with Adrien, making Max believe that she had "betrayed" him.
  • Nadja in canon becomes Prime Queen when her talk show gets canceled after her attempts to talk about Ladybug and Chat Noir's relationship fall south. In chapter 27, Nadja was pressured by her boss Arlette to ask Noire if her destructive powers make her a potential threat to the city, which causes Crimson to cancel the interview since they broke the promise to not treat Noire poorly, then Arlette fires Nadja even though she forced Nadja to do the interview and ask the hurtful questions. This leads Nadja to get akumatized and expose Arlette's actions.
  • In "Volpina", Lila was akumatized after Ladybug calls her out for lying about the two being best friends. In chapter 28 of the fic, it is implied she was akumatized after Adrien calls her out for trying to claim the fox-theme necklace from the Gabriel line (which was also one of his mother's favorite necklaces) was the Fox Miraculous.
  • Alya in the episode "Lady WiFi" is akumatized due to her search for the heroes' Secret Identities leading her to suspect Chloe, break into her locker, and get suspended. In chapter 32, an unknown culprit had vandalized Marinette's desk with torn flowers and raw eggs, leading Alya to be akumatized to hunt down the culprit and make them pay for hurting her best friend.
  • Marc became Reverser in the show after Nathaniel accused him of using a fictional journal of Ladybug to prank him. In chapter 34, their first visit to the school's art club ends up with black paint spilling on their journal, and their own self-doubt pushes them to get akumatized.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Kagami (who in canon appeared in season 2) appears in chapter 24, before the equivalent events of the season 1 penultimate episode "Volpina" and the season 2 premiere "The Collector".
  • Zoe, Chloe's half-sister that debuted in season 4, arrives in Paris during chapter 40 during the events of season 2 after Gorizilla's debut.
  • Luka (who appeared in season 2) appears in chapter 21, before equivalent events of season 2 take place.
• Adaptational Gender Identity
  • Marc, who is cis male in canon, is non-binary with they/them pronouns.
  • Nathaniel reveals that he is a trans male in chapter 13.
• Adaptational Name Change: Jagged Stone’s akumatized form goes by Molten Rock rather than Guitar Villain, as he found Monarch’s akuma names not rock-and-roll enough.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • While showing some of the same Knight Templar Parent tendencies as canon, Gabriel slowly becomes more open and connected with his son, likely since he is not active as Hawkmoth here.
  • Subverted with Lila. While they are acting nicer to Marinette than in canon, it’s frequently hinted that they are the same Bitch in Sheep's Clothing they were in canon. It’s also implied that Lila wants to have Marinette for herself.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul:
  • The love square between Marinette and Adrien is reversed, with Lady Noire having feelings for her partner Crimson and Adrien having a crush on Marinette.
  • Due to the kwami swap, Tikki is now the caring Parental Substitute for Adrien while Plagg is the snarky but protective partner for Marinette.
  • On a general basis, past Ladybugs had often mistreated or distrusted their partner Black Cats. This not only causes Plagg to be very protective over Marinette, but also suspect the worse out of Crimson Beetle despite evidence to the contrary, something he never showed to Ladybug in canon.
  • In canon, Kagami had feelings for Adrien and had a tense Love Triangle with Marinette before they became friends. Here, Kagami has feelings for Marinette and eventually asks her out in chapter 38, while she and Adrien have a Friendly Rivalry for Marinette's heart from the start.
  • Luka and Adrien were just friends in canon, while here they enter a romantic relationship in chapter 41.
  • Adrien and Chloe have a Like Brother and Sister dynamic instead of Chloe wanting him romantically like in canon. She even finds the suggestion of any sort of romance between them ill.
  • While in canon Chloe had admiration for her mother (despite how she often forgets her own name), here Chloe outright loathes Audrey for cheating on her father.
  • While initially as cold and hostile to her half-sister Zoe like in canon, this time because she associated her with her mother's affair, Chloe in chapter 41 starts to bond and form a healthy relationship with her sister.
  • Thanks to never finding out that Lila is a liar, Marinette starts a friendship with the seemingly friendly transfer student. Likewise, Lila never targets Marinette as a threat and instead wants the other girl all to herself.
• Adaptational Sexuality:
  • Marinette and Adrien are implied to be at least bisexual rather than straight as in canon, with Marinette being open to going to the school dance with Kagami and Adrien developing a crush on Luka while in Kitty Section.
  • Word of God says that Luka is pan.
  • Kagami is attracted to girls, notably with a crush on Marinette.
  • Gabriel Agreste is also bisexual, having dated Harry Clown when they were in college
  • It’s implied that Lila is now lesbian, or at least interested in girls, given her Clingy Jealous Girl tendencies towards Marinette.
• Adaptational Superpower Change:
  • Marinette is chosen for the Black Cat Miraculous instead of the Ladybug Miraculous like in canon, and vice-versa for Adrien.
  • Master Fu wields the Fox Miraculous instead of the Turtle Miraculous.
  • In chapter 33, Nino is temporarily given the Fox instead of the Turtle Miraculous.
  • Nathalie and Emilie have both wielded the Butterfly Miraculous rather than the Peacock Miraculous. It's also implied that Gabriel has used the Peacock in the past instead of the Butterfly.
• Affably Evil: When Alec Cataldi is akumatized into Mulitman, he mainly uses his power to handle the various shows he was tasked to host while also spending time with his daughter Manon. Even after being exposed as an akuma, he remains polite and requests Crimson Beetle and Lady Noire to come to the studio, only wanting to take their Miraculous to uphold his deal with Monarch.
• Always a Bigger Fish: After she is outed as an akuma rather than the Fox Miraculous wielder, Volpina becomes a tough challenge against Crimson and Noire. She is soon outmatched by the true Fox Hero Citrine Húlí, who has far more powerful illusions.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In chapter 26, after Alya and Marinette tell Kagami about the old fox hero Citrine Húlí and how he's based on the Chinese fox spirit Húlijīng, Kagami and Marinette start listing the different Asian Fox Spirit from Japanese and Chinese mythology respectively, which finishes with Alya saying Feunard^note The French name of the Pokémon Ninetales. Marinette finds herself bursting out in laughter.
• Ascended Extra: Marianne Lenoir is now a fellow Guardian alongside her husband Fu. She also wields the Tiger Miraculous.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: In chapter 17, Plagg confirms to Marinette that William Shakespeare was the previous Black Cat, while his wife Anne Hathaway was his Ladybug. Though given the dark tone Plagg had when mentioning her, it's clear they didn't have the same comradery compared to Lady Noire and Crimson Beetle. Word of God confirmed that Anne had distrusted the Black Cat as modern Paris does with Lady Noire.
• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • During Marinette and Adrien's Guardian training, Plagg reveals that a past wielder of his named Henric wanted to permanently protect his village from dragon attacks. So he steals his Ladybug's earrings, then fuses Plagg and Tikki together to make the Wish. His wish is granted by wiping out every dragon on the planet.
  • For a non-Miraculous example, Alec Cataldi wanted to reduce the work-load from hosting so many shows so he can rest and finally have time with his daughter Manon, which leads him to be akumatized into Multiman. Once he is purified, the anti-akuma sentiment causes him to lose his job and his ex-wife Nadja reducing his contact with Manon out of fear of him. His boss Lucien lampshades this when he fires him.
  Lucien: Well, Alec. Your wish will be honored. There will be another host on this show, because ratings are going to plummet if your face so much as shows up again."
• Because You Were Nice to Me:
  • The Love-Square between Marinette and Adrien starts because of this: Lady Noire has a crush on her partner Crimson because he treats her kindly and stands up for her when most of Paris sees her as a destructive menance. Likewise, Adrien's admiration and later feelings for Marinette started because the latter was willing to give him a chance despite his friendship with Chloe and called out her classmates Kim and Alix for trying to intimidate him because of said friendship.
  • Kagami's feelings for Marinette are because the latter admitted not being the best judge for the former's fencing match with Adrien and encouraged her to accept a rematch between them.
  • Ivan is one of the few people that sees Lady Noire as a hero because after he was deakumatized, she came over to check if he was doing better.
• Big Damn Heroes: In chapter 12, just as Speedstar is about to take down Crimson Beetle and Lady Noire, Cottontail and Bunnyx arrive in time to save them and defeat the akuma
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Plagg isn't happy finding out that Adrien is not only Crimson Beetle but also has feelings for Marinette, and wants to keep them apart outside of working together to stop the akumas. This behavior stems from past Ladybugs treating their partner Black Cats poorly, and Plagg thinks that Adrien will end up doing the same to Marinette.
• Breaking Speech: In chapter 45, to keep Alya from reconciling from Marinette in spite of her efforts to tear them appart, Lila accuses her of being a mere Attention Whore that only wants to be friends with Marinette right when the latter of famous. She threatens that if Alya even steps foot in the bakery, she'll let everyone know that "truth". The self-doubt and threats are enough to break Alya's resolve.
• Brick Joke:
  • In chapter 18, when Tikki gets sick she instructs Adrien to take her to a Massage Parlor where the Guardians Fu and Marianne were working, knowing that they will heal her. Since he didn't know the old couple knew about the Kwamis and didn't think Tikki's excuse of a cat would work, he introduced her as his pet naked mole rat, much to Tikki's frustration when she gets better. Eleven chapters later when Crimson Beetle and Lady Noire properly meet the Guardians, Fu describes Crimson's Miraculous as the Miraculous of the Naked Mole Rat. Tikki tells him not to bring that up again.
  • In chapter 41, Plagg remarks that Kagami would be at the top of a list of most tolerable people he knows, and decides to make such a list so he won't be bored without his cheese while Marinette is at the dance. In the next chapter, he shows the list to Marinette.
• Caught on Tape: After the events of Reverser in chapter 34, Lila claims that two of Reverser's paper airplanes, which cause their targets to become the opposite of themselves, both hit Kagami when she stood to protect Marinette and made her terrified and scared, with Lila volunteering to keep watch over Kagami while the other students search for the heroes. When Alya reviewed the footage of the akuma attack at the end of the chapter, she finds out that Kagami was hit by a single airplane, and it was more than likely to Alya that the second plane hit Lila instead and made her act like the opposite of her true self.
• Cartesian Karma: Compared to canon, the former akumas faced this even after Crimson Beetle and Lady Noire told the public that they were made to do so by Monarch. Many former victims like Ivan, Aurore, and Mylene are ostracized due to actions committed outside of their control. Both Marinette and Adrien are taking steps as both heroes and civilians to put a stop to this victim blaming.
• Caustic Critic: Plagg becomes this once he gets access to the Internet; he has no affection for Alya or her Beetle Blog after the things she wrote about Lady Noire, so his only motivation for getting an account is tearing her articles to pieces. Coincidentally, this happens around the time Alya was realizing that she needed to be less biased in her reporting, but that doesn't stop Plagg. He does note that it's harder to find points to criticize after he's banned from the forums 24 times but "he would find a way."
• Childhood Friends:
  • Adrien and Chloe have been friends since they were babies. Both of them have their odd traditions like exchanging a pinecone and an acorn during their birthdays. Unlike canon, Chloe sees Adrien as only a friend and gets ill at the idea of dating him.
  • Marinette, Nino, and Kim were all been friends since they were little kids. They know a few private facts between them, like Nino passionately learning violin and a few embarrassing stories from Marinette's sleepovers.
  • Alix and Nathaniel had been friends since their first year in primaire.
• The Chosen Many: The Ladybug and Black Cat wielders are always selected as a pair. This gets deconstructed since if one can no longer fight then the other must relinquish their Miraculous. Adrien finds it unfair that Lady Noire would have to step down if he ever quits or if his identity is exposed, while Plagg is annoyed that he only be with his chosens like Marinette if they had a Ladybug with them (especially since past Ladybugs often mistreated their contemporary Black Cats).
• Commonality Connection: Back when anti-akuma prejudice was high, former akumas like Ivan, Aurore, and Mylene got close because of their past as Monarch's brainwashed minions and since they were ostracized by their classmates because of what they did while Brainwashed and Crazy.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Trixx doesn't like Wayzz being close to his partner Fu or even fusing with him because he thinks that Wayzz will try to take Fu from him, especially since Wayzz was Fu's original choice of his Kwamii partner. This is in spite of the fact that it was Wayzz that suggested that Fu partner with Trixx instead of him centuries ago.
• Crying Wolf: Plagg frequently makes snarky critiques of his partner Marinette's friend. While these stem from genuine concern for her well-being and his need to protect her, he often blows things out of proportion or projects the past issues that his previous users went through. So when Plagg tries to warn her about Lila, who is not only clingy to Marinette and tries to take up her free time but also viciously jealous of anyone getting close to her, she dismisses his concerns as him being overdramatic since he never seems to like any of her friends anyway.
• The Cynic: After centuries of people mistrusting and mistreating his partners, it's safe to say that Plagg does not have the highest opinion of human intelligence or kindness. In his quest to protect Marinette, he prefers to try shoving away anyone who has unknowingly hurt her- or, in the case of Crimson Beetle, could potentially hurt her- rather than hope that they might learn with time and effort. This stance is shown to have its drawbacks as the story progresses; for one thing, Plagg can come across as a bit ungrateful for the support Lady Noire does receive, since he maintains that Marinette’s friends are "cowards" for not proclaiming their support from the rooftops. For another, months of complaining about everyone around Marinette has compromised his ability to warn her about legitimately bad people like Lila; Marinette simply assumes that no one is up to Plagg's high standards.
• A Day In The Lime Light: Just like the main series, Marinette and Adrien’s classmates will often get their time in the spotlight
  • Chapter 21 sheds light on Juleka and Rose, specifically on Juleka’s feelings for Rose and fear on acting on them.
  • The second half of Chapter 25 gives focus on Kim and Alix.
• Denied Food as Punishment: Played for Laughs. In chapter 41, When Plagg is being too lazy to teach Marinette about the other kwami of the other box, she threatens to trash the camembert cheesecake she's making him and make a passion fruit cake for Crimson instead, at which Plagg immediately starts telling her about the other kwamis.
• Description Cut: In chapter 25, Tikki tries to encourage Adrien to confess his feelings to Marinette and check if she feels the same, suggesting that the latter is too nervous to reveal her feelings like he is. Adrien points out that Marinette isn't the type to get nervous about anything. The scene changes to Marinette catastrophizing about how nervous she is to make Crimson Beetle a Valentine's card.
• Does Not Like Magic:
  • Gabriel Agreste hates magic after Emilie fell into a coma using the damaged Butterfly Miraculous. Becoming the akuma Protector and triggering his son's Claustrophobia ^note specifically cleithrophobia only reinforces this, and he tells Nathalie he won't a volunteer champion again.
  • Kagami's mother Tomoe views magic as a curse, and sees Crimson and Noire as no different than the akumas they fight.
• Dragon Rider: Lady Noire manages to get through to Fang after Jagged Stone gets akumatized and the crocodile gets turned into his dragon. And with Crimson's Lucky Charm giving them a harness, the two ride Fang towards Molten Rock to take him down.
• Dramatic Irony: In chapter 35, Gabriel calls out Nathalie for sending an akuma after Adrien on the suspicion that he was Crimson Beetle just because he started wearing earrings the same time that Crimson appeared. Neither of them know that Adrien is Crimson.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Marinette’s sweet and kind demeanor earns her plenty of admirers of both genders, Kagami being the most prominent of the fairer sex thanks to the former convincing her to accept a rematch with Adrien despite her perfectionist belief.
  • Kagami also suspects that Chloe’s abrasive attitude towards Marinette might be her way of covering up her own jealousy and admiration of Marinette.
  • While Lady Noire is a Hero with Bad Publicity in Paris, Juleka has a big Celebrity Crush on her, though her heart belongs to Rose.
  • For a darker take of this trope, it's implied that Lila has a Villainous Crush on Marinette.
• Everybody Has Standards:
  • While Plagg has a strong disdain for Ladybugs thanks to past wielders mistreating their partner Black Cats and assumes Crimson Beetle will do the same despite evidence otherwise, he is glad that Lady Noire saved Adrien from falling to death during the Gorizilla event. This is on the basis that, one, Adrien is still a kid; two, he hasn't done anything to Marinette yet; and three, he knows that losing a chosen so young would devastate Tikki.
  • Even though he was the reason she was akumatized in the first place, Aurore takes no pleasure over seeing Alec being mistreated by the people in Paris over his akumatization.
  • While Gabriel will blacklist and sue anyone that made homophobic comments towards his son dating Luka, he turns down Nathalie's suggestion of akumatizing a supporter of the couple to get a voice out, partially out of fear that lingering anti-akuma sentiment could lead to a backlash against the LGBT community.
• Exact Words: When fighting Copy Cat, Lady Noire teases them for being a crazy fangirl of Crimson Beetle, and Copycat yells that they aren't a fangirl. Copycat is the male Theo.
• Excellent Judge of Character: Kagami is shown to be very insightful when it comes to people she meets.
  • When she meets Chloe and learns that she dislikes Marinette, she asks if Chloe can give a reason that she doesn't but the latter deflects her question. It lets Kagami know that Chloe feels insecure around Marinette, causing the blonde to lash out.
  • In chapter 34, she makes sure not to let Lila near her art notebook, recognizing that she isn't trustworthy compared to Marinette. Two chapters later, Kagami confines to Alya on how she noticed how jealous Lila was when Kagami was taking up Marinette's attention, with the former making it clear how she disliked the fencer.
  • In chapter 40, Kagami notes that Zoe tends to act as cold like her mother Audrey when she is by her but she acts more open towards the amicable Andre and the sociable and friendly Marinette. This leads her to reason that Zoe is acting as a mirror toward others to help fit in.
• False Friend: Lila to Marinette, thanks to Marinette never finding out that Lila is a Consummate Liar. Lila maintains the image of a friendly transfer student as she takes up as much of Marinette's free time as possible and gets passive-aggressive against others that try to get near her like Kagami. Plagg suspects that Lila might want to have Marinette for herself for romantic reasons.
• Foreshadowing: In regards to Monarch's identity as Nathalie Sancouer.
  • In chapter 3 Gabriel notes it would be more efficient for someone besides Nathalie to teach him, this is likely because she will now be busy as Monarch.
  • In chapter 11 Nathalie bursts into Adrien's room after he made a public post in favor of akuma victims. It is noted that there is an annoyed look in her eyes, which is probably related to the fact that she is Monarch more than Adrien's public image.
  • In chapter 19 Nathalie seemingly knows that Adrien is missing before anyone goes to his room to find out. This is because she doesn't sense his presence with the Butterfly Miraculous.
  • In chapter 24, a scene plays out of Kagami being akumatized as in the episode "Riposte", only for the akuma to be recalled. It's revealed that Nathalie did so because Kagami would have targeted Adrien
  • In chapter 26 Nathalie apologizes for the lost of Adrien's mother, who notes how genuine she sounds with the apology. Later we find out that Nathalie blames herself for Emilie's coma, which is what prompted her to become Monarch.
  • In chapter 29, when Gabriel is about to be akumatized he speaks as if he knows Monarch personally.
• Friendly Rivalry: Kagami and Adrien's dynamic in regard to both their fencing and their feelings for Marinette. In chapter 38 when Kagami asks Marinette to the school dance, Adrien gives his support because Kagami is one of his closest friends and he wants to respect Marinette's decision. Likewise, Kagami checks up to make sure if he is alright with the decision and advises him to be more proactive with his feelings, which he takes to heart when he asks Luka to the dance.
• Gift-Giving Gaffe: Alix will often give gag gifts to her friends on their birthdays. In return, they all get her similar gifts on her birthday. For example, a bag of rocks from Nino, a "You Must Be This Tall to Ride" sign from Kim, a handmade girl skirt from Marinette, a plush unicorn from Rose (the last two mismatching against a tomboy like Alix), and a makeup kit from Juleka (which Alix doesn't know how to use).
  • Since he is a newcomer, this gets Subverted on both sides by Adrien. She gave him a makeup gift as a joke for his birthday, but he thought it was genuine since it had a concealer that matched his skin tone. And for her birthday, he got her a pair of rollerblades he heard her want during a basketball game, but she freaks out since they were expensive and is worried she can't get a matching gift for his next birthday.
• Godzilla Threshold:
  • Gabriel almost crosses this in chapter 42 when Style Queen captures and dissolves Adrien and he decides to use the Peacock Miraculous to save him. Nooro is barely able to talk him out of crossing the Threshold by reminding him that not only the Guardians could have warned the heroes about his Alter Ego Cobalt Plume but that the Peacock Miraculous now carries the same damage the Butterfly Miraculous used to have. Gabriel relents when Nooro convinces him to let the heroes rescue his son rather than let the latter see his father suffer the same illness that his mother suffered before her disappearance.
  • In the following chapter, two thresholds get crossed. The first is Tikki using Miraculous Cure without Crimson Beetle to mitigate it, which comes with the risk of turning Paris into a naturalistic and wild state. The second is having Lady Noire absorb the corruptive energy of the akuma empowering Style Queen, then unleash it as a Black Storm without any prior training with energy bending, with the plan being to balance the storm and the cure to revert Paris right before the akuma attack.
• Guilt by Association Gag: Plagg, being a rather cyncial Papa Wolf for Marinette, prefers her to avoid anyone that has hurt her (intentionally or otherwise) or could potentially hurt her. This also extends to anyone that associate with the previous categories. In chapter 34, he mentions that while Nino isn't annoying, he considers him having bad taste for dating Alya^note who he hates for writing articles that portray Lady Noire as dangerous and being friends with Adrien^note Who Plagg distrusts for being a Ladybug, who have a history of mistreating their partner Black Cats, despite Adrien supporting Lady Noire in both identities and in his list of tolerable people in Marinette's life in chapter 42 he puts him in the category of people he prefer she avoids but can't due to circumstances. In the same chapter, he also ranks Luka lower than the rest of Kitty Section simply because he's dating Adrien.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Lady Noire aka Marinette is viewed with distrust by most of Paris after she inadvertently destroyed an entire stadium while trying to slow down Stoneheart, with most people seeing her as a Destructive Savior or a menace herself. She does have a few supporters like Crimson Beetle, Ivan, and Juleka, but the bad publicity does take a toll on her self-confidence. But as the story goes on, her reputation improves as she continues to stop the akumas and shows better control and use of her Cataclysm.
• Hypocritical Humor: During the "Zombizou" event, Tomoe Tsurugi scolds her daughter Kagami for not improving her fencing skills enough to fend off the kissing zombies like she could. Anarka Couffain teases Tomoe by bringing up how when she fought off the zombies, she ended up falling into the Seine and the former had to fish her out.
• I Choose to Stay: In chapter 45, Zoe asks her stepfather Andre if she can stay in Paris, wanting to be with her half-sister and new friends rather than return to her lonely life in New York. Andre admits that decision is up to her father and mother, but he will try to convince Audrey to let Zoe move here.
• Incompatible Orientation: Played for Drama. Alix is Aromantic and said as much as to Kim prior to the story. Unfortunately, Kim back then thought she meant "arrow" instead of "aro" since he never heard of the term, and later tried to ask her out for Valentine's Day. Alix, so frustrated that her friend was seemingly ignoring her sexuality and how it brought up old memories of others doing the same, get akumatized into Aro Dynamix, who has the power to remove romantic feelings from others to try and get people to understand what's it like to be aromantic. After Alix is cured and Kim is told by Aurore what Aromantic means, the two agree to continue being Vitriolic Best Buds.
• Innocent Bigot: Adrien had never been educated about the aro/ace community, so he gets his first lesson alongside Kim when Alix is akumatized into Aro Dynamix. Since he had always dreamed about finding a romantic partner and raising a child together someday, his first, thoughtless comment was how horrible it must be to not have a chance at romance. Aurore, who is aroace herself, is quick to inform him how hurtful and misplaced that sentiment is, and going forward Adrien makes sure to treat Alix respectfully. He also seeks out Aurore later to properly apologize for his ignorance.
• Internal Reveal: In chapter 20, Tikki and Plagg find out the identities of the other's holders.
• Impeded Communication: In chapter 6, Marinette learns that she hasn't been getting notifications from Alya's BeetleBlog, which the latter attributes to a bug on her site. After school, Marinette finds out that Plagg had been deleting her notifications because he doesn't want her to read articles that portray Lady Noire as more dangerous than she really is. Marinette is annoyed at his actions because it could make it look like she was deliberately ignoring her best friend.
• Insult to Rocks: In chapter 44, while trying to cheer up Chloe after a harsh confrontation with her mother, Adrien and Zoe try to console her by bringing up that living in New York, Audrey must be stuck with rats as her roommates. Chloe replies that the rats shouldn't be insulted that way.
• It's All My Fault: In chapter 39, it's revealed that Nathalie as Monarch is motivated by this. Nathalie was the one who found the Grimoire originally and gave it to Emilie. Emilie would use it to find and use the broken Butterfly Miraculous with Nathalie as her Champion, eventually falling into a coma. Nathalie wants to get the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous so Emilie can be brought back.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In chapter 38, after Kagami asks Marinette out to the school dance, Adrien wants to be supportive of the couple and congratulates the two at school. Internally, he is still upset that his crush is going with someone else but hates that he feels that way because he wants to respect Marinette's choice. Tikki tells him it's normal for him to feel upset, but assures him that acknowledging his emotions while honoring Marinette's feelings is the best thing he can do.
• I Warned You: During his "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Gabriel in Chapter 35, Nooroo tells him that he and Emilie were repeatedly warned that the Butterfly Miraculous was damaged by both the last user and the Guardians, but Emilie continued to use it until it damaged her into a comatose state. And after fixing the Miraculous, Nooroo warned them it still wasn't safe but Gabriel allowed Nathalie to use it as Monarch. Nooroo tells him that Nathalie recent actions, including setting Ezra to be akumatized and putting Adrien in danger under suspicion that he was Crimson Beetle, are just as much Gabriel's fault as it is Nathalie's.
• Jerkass Has a Point: In chapter 34, Alya has been receiving harmful comments from a CamembertKing^note implied and later confirmed to be Plagg lashing out in "defense" of Marinette from her earlier articles about how she wrote Lady Noire. Alya believes this trope is in effect because those articles were very biased and unflattering toward Noire. Kagami Deconstruct this, pointing out that if CamembertKing had an issue he could have had a civil conversation, and his statements are no different than harassment and spam. Since Alya is going to improve how she sees and writes about Noire and delete her early articles, Kagami tells her she should also block CamembertKing from bothering her again.
• Jerkass Realization: By Chapter 34, Alya has come to one of these. She admits to Kagami that when the heroes first debuted, she was so excited about having the chance to report on real-life superheroes, she forgot for a while that they were real people, not characters from her comics. She ended up posting speculation about Lady Noir being a reformed villain who once worked with Monarch, or only being held in check by Crimson Beetle's presence, without much evidence, because that's how things would typically work in comics.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Abrasive and snarky Plagg might be, but he's always protective of his "kittens" like Marinette.
  • Chloe might act like a dramatic Alpha Bitch, but she's also shown to care deeply for Adrien, Sabrina, and eventually her half-sister Zoe.
• Lady and Knight: As the akuma Knight Skies, Juleka becomes the dark knight for Rose's bright lady,having the courage she wanted to both protect Rose and declare her love for her. She even entrusts Rose with the name-sake flower that contains her akuma.
• Letting Her Hair Down: In chapter 40, Marinette is told that she looks much more beautiful and mature with her hair down instead of in her pigtails, and gets convinced to wear down for the school dance. However, the fact that it's Lila telling her this makes it Played for Drama, especially with the undertone of a controlling girlfriend pushing her partner into dressing how she wants.
• Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: Played With. Alya cares greatly for Marinette, enough to get akumatized trying to hunt down the culprit that vandalized Marinette's desk. However, she tends to find Lady Noire intimidating and assumes she's dangerous because she thinks that the situation is like a comic book regarding Bad Powers, Bad People, though in chapter 34 she comes to realize that she has been judging Lady Noire poorly. Regardless, the trope gets deconstructed on Marinette's ends, since the contrasting treatment (particularly since as Lady Noire she tends to be a Hero with Bad Publicity) makes things tense for her.
• Literal-Minded: In chapter 4, when Nino jokes that Adrien has joined the "Has a crush on Marinette Club", Adrien thinks that Marinette has an actual fan club and worries she has fans that would harrass her like some of his fans do to him. Nino has to explain that there is no club and it just mean it's really common for people to have a crush on the kind-hearted girl.
• Manipulative Bitch: Lila Rossi as in canon, though this time with Marinette as her target. Lila tries to take up the other girl's free time as much as she can, and if she tries to decline Lila would say that she doesn't have much free time to spend to guilt her into agreeing. She also uses these means to try and turn Marinette against anyone that she perceives as an obstacle between them.
  • In chapter 38, after learning that Kagami had asked Marinette for a date and to go together for the school dance, she brings up that Kagami could be connected to the person that vandalized Marinette's desk in chapter 34 to a put a stop to it. Thankfully, Marinette knows Kagami isn't the type to be so underhanded.
  • In chapter 40, when Alya asks Lila about how she has a recording ofwhen Reverser hit her with his personality-reversing paper airplanes, Lila takes advantage of how Alya doesn't want to make an impulsive report like she had with Lady Noire in past, including bringing up how she doesn't want any bad news online that could affect her diplomat mother. Later in chapter, she describes the event to Marinette as Alya being more pushy and nosy than she actually was and try to sow seeds of discontent between the pair.
• Mirror Character: Plagg and Lila both try to get Marinette to avoid some of her friends in her lives. But while Plagg does so out of a cynical response to protect from people he think will hurt her like others had hurt his past wielders, Lila is actively ruining relationships so she can have Marinette all to herself. It says something in Plagg's ranking of people Marinette should trust, Lila is at the bottom with a rank of -10,000,000, as he recognizes how manipulative they really are.
• Mistaken for Related: Due to the Glamour covering the Miraculous wielders and believing that their powers are inherited, Alya thought that the Fox Heroes Citrine Húlí and Foxglove are grandfather and grandson, unaware that they are actually Wang Fu and Nino Lahiffe respectively and don't even look alike as civilians, much less are even related.
• Mundane Solution: Marinette is commissioned by Penny Rolling to design the next album cover for Jagged Stones. She later gets an email from Jagged's producer, Bob Roth, providing the visuals he wants her to use despite it conflicting with Jagged's style. As Marinette freaks out about the conflicting requests, Plagg tells her just to email both of them about the different emails and ask for further clarification. She then gets confirmation from Penny to just communicate directly with her and ignore Ross since he isn't her employer, allowing the designer to focus on art that matches Jagged's theme and that he'll enjoy.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • After being treated with scorn after her akumatization, Mylene is ashamed over how she treated Ivan after he was akumatized himself and apologizes to him when he goes to comfort her.
  • Nathalie in chapter 42 when the akuma Style Queen petrified and captured Adrien to lure out Gabriel while ignoring Monarch's orders to let him go. Made worse as Nathalie is unable to remove Style Queen's power or undo what the latter's power has done.
• Named by the Adaptation: Adrien's bodyguard is given the name Ezra, named after his voice actor in the show.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: In chapter 42, Adrien stands up for one of his father's employees when Audrey tries to fire her just because she isn't seating in the front row for the fashion show. This ends up making him more a target when Audrey gets akumatized into Style Queen, who turns him into glitter and dissolves him to lure out his father.
• Noodle Incident:
  • Chapter 25 has Apex being frustrated that Cottontail bought pastries while visiting the present day, as she doesn't want to fix a French economy crash he caused again. Cottontail points out that the economy collapse was caused by different factors, not just by him buying lunch at that time.
  • In chapter 32, when Kim brings up some of Marinette's embarrassing sleepover stories, she tells him to be quiet or she'll bring up the noodle incident. Whatever it was, it got Kim to be quiet and she and Nino to share an amused look between themselves.
• Not His Sled:
  • Chapter 24 plays out like the episode "Riposte", with Kagami and Adrien having their fencing match, Marinette asked by D'Argencourt to pick the winner of the match, and Marinette hastily picking Adrien as the winner since she didn't know the rules and he was her friend. Marinette goes to explain the situation to Kagami only to find her about to be akumatized... then the butterfly pulls away. After that, Marinette, Adrien, and D'Argencourt convince Kagami to try a rematch and join the fencing club. It's later revealed that Monarch/Nathalie recalled the akuma because Kagami would have targeted Adrien.
  • Chapter 31 starts the same as the episode "Zombizou", with Marniette's gift for Ms. Bustier's birthday being vandalized and Chloe accused as the culprit... except Chloe protests that she didn't do it, and both Adrien and Kagami point out that it doesn't seem like her^note Adrien pointing out that Chloe isn't someone to lie about her actions, while Kagami points out that while Chloe might be jealous of Marinette, she doubts she'll be destructive due to her hidden admiration. At the end of the chapter, Ms. Bustier reveals that Ms. Mendeleiev saw Chloe leaving the locker room right after Marinette and the other girls did, meaning she wouldn't have enough time to ruin.
• Not Hyperbole:
  • In chapter 39, when telling Adrien about his own LGBT-experience, Gabriel states that his former boyfriend is a Clown. Adrien at first thinks that his father is insulting his ex-partner, only for Gabriel to clarify that his ex-partner, Harry Clown, actually is a professional clown.
  • In chapter 41, Plagg mentions to Marinette that Kagami would be near the top of the list of most tolerable people he knows. He then decides to Invoke this by writing an actual list while Marinette is at the dance with her, and shows it to her in the next chapter.
• Not Quite the Right Thing: In chapter 40, after her own realization about how badly she's been writing about Lady Noire due to being Wrong Genre Savvy, Alya decides to be more cautious about her role as an Intrepid Reporter, particularly in avoiding making a classmate uncomfortable when asking them about an unusual behavior when they were hit by Reverser. The problem is that said student is Lila, who takes advantage of Alya's hesitation by bringing up how much trouble it would be for her own parents if unwanted news came on the internet to keep her from digging deeper. And that doesn't stop Lila from identifying Alya as a threat to her goals, intentionally sowing seeds of discord between her and Marinette to make it harder for Alya to warn Marinette about Lila's true nature should the former find out.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: In chapter 38, Adrien learns that his father has suspended Nathalie from work thanks to her sending a message to Ezra that made him think he was fired and led to his akumatization, which nearly got Adrien killed. Adrien tries tell Nathalie that it wasn't her fault and that it was Monarch's fault for akumatizing Ezra, though that doesn't help since unbeknownst to Adrien, Nathalie is Monarch. He does recognize that his words made things worse, though he doesn't know why they did.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Played for Laughs. In chapter 29, Trixx and Roaar tease Fu about the time when he tried to leave Marianne behind to protect her, which they recall with dramatic fervor.
  Trixx: What about that one time you abandoned her to 'protect' her?
  Fu: Trixx.
  Roaar: It was too dangerous, you said! 'She could have gotten hurt!'
  Trixx (Quoting Fu): We have to go on alone, as always!
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • In chapter 38, Marinette notes that while Adrien is friendly with many of his classmates, including Chloe, things are quiet and distant between him and Lila. Though at that point she attributes it to Lila suspecting Kagami, a mutual friend of Marinette and Adrien, as someone that had asked Marinette to the school dance only to hurt her later.
  • In chapter 42, Marinette realizes the situation with Style Queen is much direr than it first seems because Plagg is frantically telling her to head to the Guardians immediately when he usually tries to avoid them. That's because Plagg knows that with Adrien captured and dissolved by Style Queen, they won't have Crimson Beetle to help them against the akuma.
• Out-of-Character Alert: In chapter 42, Nino brings up to Alya that it doesn't sound like Marinette would just give her the Silent Treatment even if Alya did something to upset her. He offers to investigate the situation and figure out what is going on.
• Parental Neglect: Both of Zoe's parents were this to her for her entire life. Her mother Audrey left her with her father since Zoe was an illegitimate child, while her father would send her to boarding schools or summer camps for the majority of the year.
• Parental Substitute: Between Gabriel's distant behavior and Emillie being gone for around a year, Tikki takes up the role of a maternal figure for Adrien.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Lê Chiến Kim and Alix Kubdel are the Vitriolic Best Buds version of this trope. They often compete and challenge each other, but they still remain friends regardless. While Kim did have feelings for Alix, he recognized that Alix is aromantic once he learned the meaning of the term from Aurore, and tells her that before he confessed he didn't expect their friendship to turn awkward if she turned him down. Their Future Badass selves, Cottontail and Apex, are still this trope after many years together, working together to protect the timeline.
• Point of Divergence
  • The first major nail is that the Butterfly Miraculous was damaged instead of the Peacock Miraculous while in canon. Emilie is still in a coma since she used the Butterfly Miraculous, but with Gabriel developing a hatred of magic, he has Nathalie use the Butterfly Miraculous once it was repaired.
  • The second nail is that Master Fu was given the Fox Miraculous as a child instead of the Turtle Miraculous. Having Trixx in his life leads him to not leave Marianne behind like in canon, but recruit her as a fellow Guardian. It also makes him more favorable to a Power Stereotype Flip approach to the Miraculous, with Marinette chosen to use the Black Cat Miraculous as Lady Noire and Adrien chosen to use the Ladybug Miraculous as Crimson Beetle.
    • This preference also inspires Adrien to pick Nino to be the Fox wielder instead of Alya... that and Alya was akumatized hunting down the culprit that left an insulting message on Marinette's desk.
  • The third major nail is that there has been a history of past Ladybug treating their Black Cats poorly or the Cats being distrusted for their destructive powers. This not only makes Plagg greatly protective of Marinette, but also shows a distrust of Crimson Beetle he never showed to Ladybug in canon.
  • The starting events of "Riposte" happen around the time of season 1, though because Nathalie as Monarch is avoiding akumas going after Adrien, Kagami isn't akumatized from Marinette confusingly calling Adrien the winner in their fencing match. Marinette talks Kagami into taking a proper rematch against Adrien and D'Argencourt asks her to join his fencing team. Because of this, Kagami develops feelings for Marinette and becomes a Friendly Rival with Adrien in both fencing and for Marinette's heart.
  • Since Lila never claimed to be either Crimson Bug or Lady Noire's friend, Marinette remains in the dark about Lila's true nature. It's also hinted that Lila has feelings for Marinette, so now her actions are aimed to having the designer for herself.
• Power Stereotype Flip: The decision on Marinette's and Adrien's Miraculouses are based on this trope. According to Master Fu, users with personalities that contrast their Miraculous's concepts tend to have the best outcome, since the opposite natures create a good balance. This is why in this universe, the creative and sharp Marinette is partnered with Plagg to temper his destruction, while the bold and impulsive Adrien is partnered with Tikki to act as a drive for her creation.
  • Fu speaks from personal experience as he, back when he was a cautious young boy, was partnered with trickster and The Gadfly Trixx. Trixie even jokes that it was better that Fu didn't get partnered with Wayzz like in canon, since he would have just reinforced their similar personality traits.
  • The role attached to the Rabbit Miraculous is to maintain the Best of All Possible Worlds, with the decisions ranging from alternating small things to even choosing to do nothing. Apex describes it as a confusing ordeal and explains that's why Cottontail, AKA Future Kim was the best choice for the Miraculous because he won't ask Fluff too many questions and he's too much of an idiot to question the infinite lack of logic when it comes to time travel.
• Psychological Projection:
  • Past Ladybug wielders frequently treated their Black Cat partners poorly. Plagg assumes that Crimson Beetle/Adrien is exactly the same; despite his staunchly supporting Lady Noire as both her heroic partner and a civilian, he continues to expect an inevitable betrayal. After Tikki calls him out on this, he decides to give Crimson a chance but makes clear that if he ever hurts Marinette, he will never forgive or forget that betrayal.
  • In chapter 45, Lila tells Kagami she shouldn't be pulling Marinette around while she is evidently doing just that, which Kagami briskly points out.
• Rage Breaking Point: Tikki was willing to put up with a lot of distrust and jerkish behavior from Plagg towards Adrien in the months following Monarch’s debut. Aside from the fact that the two of them have known each other since the beginning of time and understand each other perfectly, she's seen the way previous Black Cats were treated and knows why Plagg can't bring himself to trust people to treat his partners well. But when Plagg immediately responds to Crimson Beetle's offer of a gift by saying the best gift would be never speaking to him again, Tikki loses it and tells Plagg he has no right to treat one of her kindest partners in centuries that way when Crimson Beetle has always unflinchingly supported Lady Noire.
• Raised by Wolves: Trixx boasts that he was the one to raise Fu to adulthood after the Order of Guardian vanished.
• Relationship Upgrade:
  • In chapter 38, Kagami asks Marinette out to the school dance along with a date.
  • In chapter 41, Luka and Adrien become a couple following the school dance.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In Chapter 42, Chloe delivers a well-deserved and long overdue one to Audrey.
• Role Swap AU: Marinette was given the Cat Miraculous to become Lady Noire, while Adrien uses the Ladybug Miraculous to become Crimson Beetle.
  • Later on, the future versions of Kim and Alix are revealed to have also swapped their Miraculous. Kim becomes the Rabbit Hero Cottontail and Alix becomes the Monkey Hero Apex.
  • The time and general themes of Alix's and Kim's akumatizations are swapped. On Alix's birthday, Kim is akumatized into Speedstar after losing a race to Alix and her new rollerblades, with the power to drain the movement of his targets. On Valentine's Day, Alix is akumatized into Aro Dynamix when she thought that Kim was deliberately ignoring her being aromantic, with the power to make others aromantic.
  • After some Foreshadowing, it's revealed that Nathalie is the weilder of the Butterfly Miraculous in place of Gabriel. It's also revealed that Gabriel's wife Emilie had used the Butterfly Miraculous before.
• Running Gag: Kagami pointing out that Chloe's vocal disdain of Marinette is actually her covering her own admiration and envy towards the other girl, with Chloe denying it and their classmates finding it hard to believe.
• Secret Test of Character: In chapter 10, for the bowler hat contest Marinette uses a real feather for her entry since she couldn't make a synthetic one in time. The feather triggers Adrien's Plot Allergy, and Gabriel decides not to have him model the hat for the upcoming summer fashion show even though Marinette won the contest. Rather than panic, Marinette explains what happened to led her to using a real feather, and she points out that since the show isn't for a couple of months she can develop a suitable synthetic feather in time. Gabriel replies by saying that was the answer he was expecting, and allows Marinette's hat to be used in the show since he was impressed by her creativity and professionalism.
• Simple-Minded Wisdom: After learning that Alix is aromantic, Kim takes it as a no to his Valentine's Day confession to her. When Alix expresses her surprise, Kim responds that it's her decision to say no regardless of her orientation and that he never expected their friendship to turn awkward if she turned him down. He even wonders if romantic confessions or being aromantic makes things not simple, with Alix answering that it is as simple as he thinks but most people never see it that way.
• Shipper on Deck:
  • Alya wants Marinette to be with someone who will make her happy, so she shows her support to both Adrien and Kagami when learning of their feelings for her.
  • In chapter 13, Alix finds out that Nathaniel has a crush on Marinette and encourages him to ask her out.
  • Rose finds Adrien's crush on Luka cute, and in chapter 39 she squeals in delight when the model asks the musician out to the school dance.
• Spotting the Thread:
  • In chapter 28, Adrien calls Lila out for trying to lie that she is connected to the heroes in the Grimoire, as he recognized that the "Fox Miraculous" she has is a necklace from his father's A Miracle in Paris line, which he guesses was based on the Miraculous in the Grimoire he had on hand.
  • In the following chapter, Noire figures out Volpina is an akuma because she says that her kwami's name is Duusu... which Marinette learned from Plagg a while back is the name of the Peacock kwami.
• Take That!: The author expresses a vendetta against Juleka's canon akumatized form as Reflekta, finding it a terrible design and unfitting for her. Instead, they replaced Juleka's akumatized form with Knight Skies, a dark knight dedicated to protecting her Love Interest Rose.
• Take This Job and Shove It: When Bob Roth threatens to fire Jagged Stone if he doesn't change his image, Jagged tells him that he'll just quit. After all, many record labels would be happy to hire the number 2 artist on the chart.
• Taking the Bullet: In chapter 12, when Speedstar tries to steal Lady Noire's speed, Crimson Beetle leaps in between them to protect her, only for Apex and Cottontail to show up and get the akuma away from them. While Cottontail is taking care of Speedstar, Apex calls Crimson out for putting himself in reckless danger, reminding him that he has to keep safe until the akuma is defeated so he can use the Miraculous Cure to fix everything. She tells him that in the timeline when she and Cottontail didn't show up, Noire was able to beat Speedstar but couldn't bring the frozen Crimson or the others back.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Plagg convinces Marinette that they alone can retrieve the missing Bee Miraculous from the new holder without anyone else getting involved. Even with Trixx assuring him that they Guardians would help and they wouldn't blame Marinette for what happens, he's insistent that he can handle this.
• Two-Person Love Triangle: Still present as in canon. Though this time Lady Noire is in love with her supportive partner Crimson Beetle, while Adrien is in love with his kind-hearted and sweet classmate Marinette.
• Victory by Endurance:Master Fu and Marianne's original plan against the Butterfly villain Monarch was to invoke this trope. The Butterfly Miraculous was damaged years before the story, so they selected Crimson Bug and Lady Noire to fight off the akumas until the Monarch suffered enough damage that she could no longer use it. However, in the six months since her debut, she had sent twice as many akumas compared to previous users who died after one or two years, and she shows no signs of slowing down. And with their aging bodies, Fu and Marianne have no choice but to prepare to pass the mantle of Guardians to the teen heroes in the hope they will find and defeat Monarch.
• Wham Episode: Chapter 29 has Fu make his public appearance as Citrine Húlí to help Crimson and Noire against Volpina, before bringing them to his shop and introducing himself and Marianne as the guardians. The chapter is also when they reveal that the Butterfly Miraculous was broken ages ago and usually kills their users in a year or two. But because Monarch has been sending twice as many akumas in less time with no signs of slowing down, the two offer to train the heroes as future guardians.
• What Does She See in Him?:
  • Platonic example, with Plagg wondering why would Marinette still want to be friends with Alya even after the latter wrote articles portraying Lady Noire as a dangerous hero.
  • Romantic example with Chloe not knowing why her father would welcome her mother back to Paris even after she cheated on him and started a new family in New York, especially when it's clear to her that her dad is hurting from the betrayal.
  • Inverted from Marinette's point of view as she has no idea why Plagg seems to hate Adrien despite the latter being a good friend and a vocal Lady Noire supporter from the start. She's unaware that Plagg ranks him low since he's Crimson Beetle, and even then it mainly stems from Plagg thinking Crimson will end up as bad as past Ladybugs who mistreated their Black Cats.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Apex to Crimson in chapter 12 when he stepped in the path of an attack from Speedstar to Noire, reminding him that as the Ladybug wielder he can't afford to let himself get hurt because he's the only one that can restore the damage caused by akumas.
  • Aurore to Crimson in chapter 25 when he first learns about aromantic and comments that not having romantic feeling would be horrible. She tells him that kind of thinking is what led Alix to get akumatized and that she would hit him if she didn't knew he only just learned about this orientation.
  • Chapter 37 have Marinette, Marianne, Roaar, and especially Tikki giving this to Plagg when he rudely responds to Crimson's offer of a gift by asking if he'll never talk to him again.
  • Tikki ends up on the receiving end from Plagg when he learns her plan to beat Style Queen is to have Lady Noire absorb the corruptive energy in the akuma and then purify her without Crimson channeling her power She's barely able to calm him down by explaining that the plan is to have Lady Noire release the excess energy as a Black Storm, which would also balance against her Miraculous Cure.
• What Were You Thinking?: In chapter 35, Gabriel yells this at Nathalie for sending a text to Ezra a message to deliberately akumatized him and sent him after Adrien, despite promising not to put him in danger. He decides to revoke the Butterfly Miraculous from her for going behind his back.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Adrien's cleithrophobia tends to rattle to ability to keep calm even as Crimson Beetle.
• You Know What You Did: In chapter 25, Aurore is furious at Kim for causing Alix to get akumatized because both girls thought Kim knew that Alix was aromantic. Kim is aware that him asking Alix out for Valentine's Day did cause the akumatization, but didn't know that Alix telling him beforehand that she was Aro meant she was aromatic (especially since never heard the term before) and thought she was calling herself an arrow because they were racing at the time, and thus unaware why asking her out was a bad idea. This causes Aurore to slightly calm down and explain to him and Crimson just what it means to be aromantic and how Alix has built up frustration from people denying her romantic orientation.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Apex (who came from a time when she and Cottontail had recently got their Miraculous) has this reaction in chapter 31 when she learns from Crimson that their future selves had to help Crimson and Noire a few months prior against Speedstar because Crimson tried to get in between the akuma and Noire, which is the exact same reason she and Cottontail came to help the heroes against Zombizou.

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