Collected But Not Calm
is an Alternate Universe Fic made by RockSunner, for Miraculous Ladybug. Part of the Smart Adversaries AU for Miraculous Ladybug on AO3, in which Ladybug villains make smarter decisions. The series has a tropes page here.
This is a six-chapter work and it is now complete.
This fanfiction series contains examples of:
- Adaptation Name Change: Previous fics in the series call Ladybug Adrien "Manbug", while the canon name for him is "Mister Bug". This fic gives him the name "Lad Bug".
- Alternate Universe Fic: A What If? with the change that the Collector notices that Ladybug is starting to use her Lucky Charm to make a trap for him and he collects the Foosball table before she can use it. The result is that both Ladybug and Chat Noir get collected into the Book.
- And I Must Scream:
- Ladybug and Chat Noir face the possibility of being trapped in the Book forever, while still alive and conscious.
- Emilie Agreste also has an evil plan for Marinette, leaving her dream form Bound and Gagged in Emilie's comatose body so that Emilie can take over Marinette's youthful one.
- Emilie ends up in a worse mental state, more completely trapped and cut off from her senses. This is the state in which she tried to leave Marinette.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Emilie Agreste is much less sweet and kind than the impression Adrien had of her.
- Bittersweet Ending: Hawk Moth is captured, Emilie gets consequences for her evil, but Adrien is left without parents and Marinette will suffer ongoing physical problems from the backlash of the damaged Peacock Miraculous.
- Calling the Old Man Out: Adrien confronts Gabriel with accusations, some true and some not.
- Continuity Nod: The address of the Agreste Mansion, 1841 Rue Morgue (which is a Shout-Out to Edgar Allan Poe), was first invented for this series in Butterflies Aren't Free.
- Didn't Think This Through: Gabriel did not consider how much being an akuma victim would change his thinking.
- Driven to Suicide: Once Chat Noir realizes using his Cataclysm within the Book would kill them both, he suggests it as a Suicide Pact of last resort rather than being stuck forever.
- Genre Savvy: The Collector has witnessed dozens of akuma battles as Hawk Moth. He is hyper-aware of the danger of letting Ladybug use her Lucky Charm.
- Grand Theft Me: Emilie Agreste's intention with Marinette, youth upgrade style.
- Heel–Face Turn: Nathalie turns against Gabriel after nearly being caught in the Book forever. She also wants to protect Adrien from being the one who wishes his mother's curse on someone else.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: As Adrien expected, his reputation with the class suffers when they find out his father is Hawk Moth. Marinette comes to his defense.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Chat Noir destroys the cover of the Book with himself on it, in order to release the akuma butterfly and let Ladybug do a World-Healing Wave which will restore everything to normal and bring him back to life.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: By using the Peacock Miraculous selfishly again, Emilie receives an incapacitating backlash. In the end, she suffers the same fate she intended for Marinette.
- Imposter Forgot One Detail: Emilie forgot how difficult it is to carry on a conversation when you don't have any of the memories of the person you are supposed to be, or even background knowledge that anyone would know if they hadn't missed a year.
- Logical Weakness: Sentimonsters (the creatures summoned by a Peacock Miraculous holder) are empowered by the emotions of another person. If that emotion is drastically changed, the creature is weakened.
- Mercy Kill: Suggested by Emilie, to Adrien, when Marinette is in her comatose body. Refused by Adrien and Marinette, when Emilie is back in her own body.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Nathalie isn't pleased to be stuck in a book, potentially forever, and backstabs Hawk Moth.
- Monologuing: The ploy that Hawk Moth set up to put himself above suspicion instead exposes him when the Collector monologues in front of the heroes he has captured, unaware that they can hear him.
- Ontological Inertia: Erasing an image from the Book does not restore the object to the real world: it vanishes from existence.
- Parental Abandonment: Emilie's plan to hijack Marinette's body would necessitate abandoning her duties as Adrien's mother and leaving him to the tender care of the foster system and the court of public opinion.
- Pyrrhic Victory: The victory of the Collector in getting the images of Ladybug and Chat Noir into his Book comes at the cost of Gabriel losing his wish, the chance to save his wife, and his secret identity.
- Pulling the Thread: Once his suspicions are roused, Adrien asks more and more questions of the impostor Marinette until her lies are exposed. (Too bad he had already given her his Miraculous before he caught on.)
- The Quest: Marinette volunteers for the dangerous mission of getting Adrien's mother out of Dream Land with the help of the damaged Peacock Miraculous.
- Ridiculously Difficult Route: Ladybug and Chat Noir have to move page by page through the Book, as images, in order to escape.
- Shout-Out: The awkward two-dimensional maneuvering that Ladybug and Chat Noir have to do on the pages of the book reminds Ladybug of the book Flatland.
- Split Personality: The Collector's akumatized persona is at odds with Gabriel Agreste's plan. Collecting the heroes contradicts getting their Miraculous for a wish.
- Spot the Impostor: Adrien figures out that the mind of Marinette has been replaced with that of his mother.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Marinette takes up the busted Peacock Miraculous and embarks on a rescue mission to save Emilie purely for her and Adrien's sake. Emilie thanks her by trying to trap her in her comatose body so she can hijack Marinette's.
- The Unmasking: The Collector reveals that Gabriel is Hawk Moth to the heroes during a monologue, Chat Noir outs himself to his father and partner when he blurts out that Emilie is his mother, and Ladybug reveals herself to Adrien to offer him emotional support.
