#((and Ladybug and Chat think that Mayura is still a thing.))

[strangeandhollow]

Antagonists

Relationships:

Gabriel/Nathalie: It’s complicated.

Hawkmoth/Mayura: Also complicated? Public suspects they may be sleeping together.

Fun Facts:

Chloe: Still not redeemed, kinda has a soft spot for her sister? Still thinks her and Sabrina are besties, kinda delulu. Didn’t get shipped off to New York.

Lila: Trying her darn best to get people back on her side after she was exposed by Marinette and Sabrina.

Gabriel: Massive douche but is trying to gain the public’s interest by joining twitter. (Instead people realize how fucking crazy he is).

Nathalie: Is getting sick from the broken peacock miraculous to the point people are beginning to notice. She blames it on the stress of running the public relations for Gabriel and Adrien’s twitter (which is partially true, both tend to say really outta pocket things).

Hawkmoth: Joined twitter the same day he saw Ladybug join. Honestly resembles Chat Noir levels of menace. Surely that’s just a coincidence.

Mayura: Also joined the same day Ladybug did. Simps hard for Hawkmoth. Thinks he’s her soulmate (secretly falling out of love).

Previous / Next

[imthepunchlord]

I always felt that Nathalie always had more potential as a villain than Gabriel. Not only was she portrayed as more competent than him (she had a lot of better plans than he did, like using a fake ladybug to manipulate Chat Noir and using a sentimonster to spy on the exposed heroes), patient, and stealthy, she was also seemingly more calculating and manipulative than him. Plus she was also a lot more athletic and a better fighter, she was able to hold her own for a while against three different akuma at once (and also season 5 showed that she used to be a treasure hunter so she would probably know more about the miraculous than Gabriel (she was the one that found the butterfly, peacock, and grimoire)). Plus, I don't know if it's just me, but I always got a femme fatale vibe from her, especially as Mayura.

Well, if Nathalie was always planned to be Mayura, it'd make sense.

Mayura was initially built up as THE big bad, that she was HM's boss and "would make him look like a baby". Being his boss suggests he got the Butterfly from her, and I think there was lines in Origins where Gabriel is double checking information fed to him, which can back he knows less and is potentially a pawn in comparison.

And yeah, how Nathalie works as a villain, it could make sense if she was a bigger bad. Though I feel that potential was ruined by her being "in wuv" with him. And largely following him and his agenda (until he was a big enough idiot that she got over him; shame she wasted her time and got sick for him).

Biggest thing that bothered me about Nathalie being Mayura is that she's just another addition to the Agreste plot, semi meant to be a sort of mother figure in Adrien's life (though it does vary certain eps), and Marinette still lacks her own villain. Which is a wonder what's the point of applying the villain plot to Adrien if he's not even going to be involved in his own plot? Additional frustrations that she actually was a great visual counter to Ladybug: bright red vs dark blue, dark spots to light (pink) spots, bright pink eyes against dark sclera vs dark blue eyes against white sclera.

First time seeing her, I actually wondered if Mayura was going to have some sort of familial relation to Marinette on her mother's side, since at the time we had nothing of the Cheng side of the family and it was largely just Agreste focused so far.

But nope.

We needed more to the Agreste plot I guess. For 5 freaking seasons...

To add to the topic, I do wonder if Nathalie is one of those characters that has two earlier character concepts mashed together. It does seem like Gabriel was going to be working with a woman (who was probably early concept Emilie), and was presumably his wife/in love with him.

Mayura though, by how Zag built her up, didn't match up at all for what we got. She felt like a big upcoming threat who was going to shake up the status quo. Bring in that needed edge that HM just wasn't delivering.

But I guess that shook things up way too much. Can't have that.

So yeah, it feels like they wanted femme fatale Mayura but also lady in love with villain and doing evil because it's what he wants and mashed the two concepts together.

Not to say it couldn't work but man it was awkwardly done. And frustrating.

[dust-jacket-analysis]

Watched the London special, and now I'm going to word vomit here, to then eventually (potentially) refine this post into some solid analysis. (Spoilers for the special, obviously)

First off, holy fuck that was brutal. I mean, Marinette?? Girl??/ Get therapy??? I don't think there was a moment I stopped crying. Even when things weren't necessarily sad, I was still crying?

Just the whole scene of Marinette telling Adrien his father died, and that he was hero (tf he was *eyebrow raise*) was soul-crushing. Him lashing out was so... so good. Good writing genuinely. (Also everyone who got mad at Adrien for jumping the gun and blaming Marinette, fuck off *crafting a future post in my mind as we speak*).

The fight scenes were top tier. The part where Marinette leaps through two of the little time tunnel portal things, dodging Lila, was BRILLIANT. Her sass while doing so? God she's so cool.

Also Lila's breakdown was wild. No analysis, just shock (as if there's any semblance of analysis in any of this post).

The end scene was amazing! The little hug and then the "pound it" at the end had me legitimately bawling like a baby. Rip current animation.

Now, I loved the special. But I have BIG grievances. Well, just one big grievance.

WHERE TF WAS ADRIEN THIS WHOLE SPECIAL?

Like why did the writers, once again, backseat him? The thing I wanted most was to see Adrien grieving and coping with the death of his father and how that would impact him as Chat Noir the whole time. I wanted to see him talk more about it, and see him and ladybugs interactions the whole movie.

Instead, It was the fucking Marinette show the whole time. This is not Marinette hate, she is my daughter and I will protect her from all the haters. No this is "hate" to the writers.

They do this constantly and it pisses me off. Because the show started with them clearly being co-leads. Yeah, Marinette was a bit more focused on, but it was clearly supposed to have some semblance of balance. And then season five hits and *boom* Adrien's screentime (Correction: His quality screentime) plummets. And it's never been more clear than in this special.

Like the entirety of this whole arc plot revolves around Adrien. His father is the main villain, his father's motive is to revive his mother, who died using the peacock miraculous. which was used to create him because he's a sentimonster. Mayura is Nathalie, his sort of surrogate mother who is in love with his father. His house is literally the location of that final battle.

WHICH HE"S BENCHED FOR WHAT THE FUCK

And now, in the aftermath of all that, he's benched too. No participation, hardly any screentime. It's sad, disheartening.

All in all, this special has summed up the last couple of years of the show/franchise pretty well. Great emotional impact, more plot, and more intense themes. But also the disproportionate amount of focus on Marinette and the disservice to Adrien, all at the cost of good writing.

Still, I did love the special. It was good. I just think it had the opportunity to give fans what (I think) they wanted and could've been great.

[kawaiichibiart]

....fuck it, here's more stuff in my AU where Felix becomes Argos as early as S1/S2:

He talks his mom into letting him transfer to DuPont. So what if he's already graduated? This way he and Adrien can bond!!

Kinda a repeat of when Lila joins the class, he's just not lying (much) to people. (By not lying much, I mean he pretends to be a nice, good, boy, but he's secretly enjoying bidding his time to be an absolute menace, bonus points to him if he can get Adrien in on it).

Nino likes him instantly after he hears Felix refer to his uncle as "that whiny, candy cane, little bitch? What about him?"

Lila returns and immediately believes Felix is Adrien but gets surprised when Adrien walks in a few minutes later. To her further surprise, he pulls his "twin" away from her and takes him to the back, to their seats (another thing she was unaware of). Nino is sitting with Marinette and Lila has to sit with Alya.

Felix, indeed, managed to get Adrien to act like a little menace (there are his bonus points). The rest of the class doesn't know whether to feel proud or betrayed.

People send the Ladyblog pic after pic, video after video, of Chat Noir and some guy (?) dressed like a bird. Some have even captured a clearly mad Ladybug in the background.

Argos makes his "official" debut after that.

Reporter: Chat Noir, why have you been patrolling less with Ladybug? Are you replacing her with Argos? Chat Noir:...he knows things about me, I know things about him. It's complicated but only to people who aren't....us. Reporter:... Are...are you not concerned? If he knows things, he could risk your identity!! Chat Noir: Nah, it's fine. He loves me too much. Argos, in the distance: FUCK YOU!! Chat Noir: See? (:

Fast friends with Kagami. Neither have any understanding of social cues.

Unsure where he stands with Marinette. On the one hand, she seems to genuinely care about Adrien and wants to see him happy. On the other hand, where the fuck did she get his schedule? He doesn't believe she uses it for all her friends/classmates. He's calling bullshit on that.

Gives Nino free ammo to use against Gabriel.

Ladybug still tries to get him to hand over the peacock Miraculous, or at least tell her who he is. He continuously tells her to kiss his ass.

He's also done that to Hawkmoth.

Akuma of the Day: HAND OVER THE PEACO- the peacock Miraculous?? But, don't you- Hawkmoth: YES, YES, I WANT THE LADYBUG AND CAT MIRACULOUS, BUT THAT, THAT- Argos: Go ahead, take your time. What am I? Hawkmoth: HE STOLE IT FROM ME, I WANT IT BACK!! Argos: let me think about it... No. Hawkmoth: HAND OVER YOUR, I MEAN MY, I MEAN MAYURA'S MIRACULOUS!! Argos: You can join Ladybug (Ladybug, knowing what's he's about to say: Hey!) and the Guardian in kissing my ass, this Miraculous is mine. Argos: bitch.

[lukaslosteyelashes]

I really wanted to post this before the London Special, also I’m sorry in advance if anything is incoherent or not grammarly correct. I had a bit of a trouble collecting my thoughts and write this but I tried my best.

Anyways, let’s go!

*Edit: I was wrong lol

Tomoe Tsurugi was the main reason why people now view Gabriel Agreste as a hero of Paris

At first I haven’t thought much about the season 5 finale, overall I liked it, but then it started to bug me: why was it necessary to make Gabriel Agreste the hero of Paris, how did it happen and whose idea was it, who would benefit from it?

Ladybug/Marinette

She probably had to make a public announcement to the media at some point that Monarch was defeated, that’s a topic that cannot be avoided after all, and there is also the fact that Gabriel Agreste died at the end of that fight.

Gabriel is a famous fashion designer, a public figure who, even though spent the last bit of his life basically isolated, is known far and wide. His death would be something that shakes the rich and the poor alike. So what would happen if Marinette would reveal that their adored fashion designer was also the villain that kept the entire population of Paris in terror? Nothing good and his son, Adrien would suffer the most because of it.

If we’re at Adrien. There is also Gabriel’s final wish, which was to keep this a secret from his son, so Adrien could only remember the times when he was trying to be a good father to him [which happened like once or twice during the 5 seasons].

Would Ladybug call Gabriel a hero to the press?

I don’t think so, maybe not intentionally, the press could put a lot of pressure on people. I can imagine that Ladybug being confused of what happened and also distressed that she couldn’t find the butterfly miraculous, so she might said something that she didn’t meant or the press made her say things.

Marinette probably fulfilled Gabriel’s final wish because she wants Adrien to be happy and free and spilling the beans about everything would achieve the opposite. With Gabriel’s death there’s no Monarch anymore either, that’s what matters no one really needs to know that the two were the same (not even his son). It’s an end of an era and the beginning of a (not so promising) new one.

Side note: Do you remember that in "Conformation" Ladybug sent a message to Chat Noir that Gabriel Agreste is Monarch? Adrien still can learn about the truth from her IF the message came through.

Nathalie

She was Gabriel’s accomplice from the start who would have helped him as Mayura until the end if he didn’t went off from his original plan. But as Gabriel went more and more crazy and the videos about Emilie waked her up. Also during the time she was bedridden she had plenty of time reflecting on her wrong doings as well.

Although, she wasn’t able to do much to stop Gabriel because of the state that she was in near the end and if she revealed the truth about Monarch then she would also get found out.

Natalie was definitely shocked and confused but also happy to learn about Gabriel’s final choice, still she wouldn’t declare him as a hero after everything that he did, and she definitely feels guilty of what she did as well, but would play along for the sake of Adrien’s happiness.

Lila (or whatever her real name)

Since we yet to learn what her true motives are, I don’t have much of an idea what she would do and why, but she’d definitely benefit form this situation.

Lila figured out Hawkmoth's true identity much earlier than Marinette and she was also able to collect informations about him and his past and most certainly knows that Adrien is a sentimonster as well. And let's not forget that she was able to seize the butterfly miraculous and rumored to be the next Hawkmoth. Because of these she has some advantage and could reveal the truth to Adrien, to Paris and to the World at any moment. And for this reason, Gabriel being a celebrated hero, comes in handy for her.

Just imagine this situation: Lila wants Marinette to loose everything and become pitiful. And what would make Marinette more distressed than seeing her beloved boyfriend being miserable? So Lila would reveal the truth to Adrien with showing all of the information that she collected as a proof, Adrien starts to loose all trust in his late father and Nathalie, maybe even in his late mother as well. He had already shown signs of being emotionally unstable before and this would be the last straw, not even Marinette would be able to comfort him. Lila, of course would observe the situation carefully from afar, waiting for the right opportunity. Adrien because of all of this, became so careless that he transforms into Chat Noir which Lila saw and akumatize him. Then BOOM... Chat Blanc became the future that Ladybug wanted to avoided at all cost...

That’s one hell of a scenario, but seeing how Lila became so obsessed with completely destroying Marinette, I think she’d do something like that. Also with having an as powerful akumatized ally as Chat Blanc on her side she'd be unstoppable.

So what’s the deal with Tomoe Tsurugi?

At first I thought that she would be furious about Gabriel messing up their whole plan about gaining Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s miraculouses to create a new world with a wish, but Tomoe likely realized that she could very well use this to her advantage and created this image about Gabriel as the hero of Paris. But why would she needed to do that?

The Alliance rings

The Alliance rings basically were one of the biggest main issues in the 5th season. They were created by Gabriel and Tomoe which was known all across the Globe, there was a whole marketing campaign about it, featuring Adrien and Lila, later Kagami.

When the Alliance rings started to turn almost every users into a Ladybug and Chat Noir hunting robot, every sane person instantly thought about Monarch making all the mess. But how come no one seems to connect the whole ruckus to Gabriel and Tomoe? [It shouldn’t be a surprise since the majority of the characters are blind.] Even if no one suspects either to be Monarch, the happenings should connect Gabriel and Tomoe to him in some way.

So I think, Tomoe wanted to avert suspicion by creating this hero image.

The head of the Tsurugi Industries probably wasn’t pleased that her partner in crime changed his mind last minute, had a different wish than they agreed on and Ladybug was able to get back all the miraculouses (except Nooroo). Now she also has to face the possiblity of getting caught, that people would slowly [really slowly] start to realize that she also had something to do with all of this. So how could she be able to avert the suspicion?

By playing the victim.

Deceiving the public by saying that her and Gabriel were both used by Monarch and that they couldn’t do anything because they were threatened with Adrien’s and Kagami’s life, so their only choice was to help him hijack the Alliance rings. With that it was easy to see Gabriel’s action as heroic because in the eyes of the people he just wanted to save his son by sacrificing himself, and Tomoe is also able to continue her pursue for the miraculouses without people suspecting anything.

To make things worse, she’s now taken over the Agreste brand, and it also looks like all those inventions, to make Paris more eco friendly [you can see them at the end of the season 5 finale] are also products of the Tsurugi Industries. And let's be real, I'm certain that she wants to control Paris from the background by swamping the city with her machines. The statue of Gabriel, which was created from the remaining Alliance rings, looks suspicious as well.

I hope it's not a complete bs theory

[tumblingxelian]

Alternate Season 3 ML Ending

I have been musing on an alt Season 3 finale that could catch the same general vibes while also perhaps serving as a culmination of Chloe's redemption arc efforts, Lila's whole 'thing' and while still shaking up the status quo as canons kind of did, here's what I have:

Post Ikari Gozen, there's a minor subplot in Party Crasher of Chloe trying to get in contact with Kagami who assumes its to shout at her about hero stuff. She's half right as at the end of the episode Chloe uses Adrien's mobile to lure Kagami in & says they need to talk, hero to hero.

Post Party Crasher, through The Puppeteer 2, a spin on Cat Blanc (Maybe) and Félix there's little scenes of them meeting to discuss their findings. These relate to feeling like Akuma are around them at night, finding Lila suspicious as fuck cos either Ladybug's bestie is too loose with details or Lila knows way too much and is trying to make Akuma happen.

They agree to keep watch over Marinette. Barring Chloe & Kagami, she seems to be her main target.

The next three episodes all fit together, with Heart Hunter first.

Heart Hunter changes:

Lila cuts the Bee Signal before the Akuma arrives, negs Chloe & then stalks Marinette, Adrien & Kagami.

When Kagami speaks to Ladybug she figures out its Marinette & while hurt at the sabotage date she still shares what she & Chloe think & they both realize today is an ambush.

Not having seen Ryuko, Chloe's not totally given into despair & upon claiming Pollen tries to fight Hawk Moth. She but gets injured reclaiming the Miracle Box & has to be saved by Kagami.

Hawk Moth & Mayura retreat with the tablet and Fu gives up being Guardian due to the strain of the battle nearly killing him.

Chloe's hospitalized as she tried to use Venom more than once. Ryuko is still upset with Marinette, Chat's upset about Chloe, Marinette is upset about Fu & feels incredibly alone.

A terrified Lila assures Hawk Moth she knows 'another' Miraculous Wielder and this one will break, Marinette.

Ladybug

Marinette tries to adjust to having all the Kwami with her & with translating the book.

Chat & other heroes are cycling in and out of Chloe's hospital room where she remains unconscious.

Despite going through a day from hell, Marinette still has to go to school the next day cos she can't even tell her parents what's wrong.

At school only Alya is present (She did her shift) Adrien's visiting Chloe as a civilian and Nino is (Sick) guarding Chloe.

Then everything goes to hell when Lila presents a video of Marinette stealing from her locker. They are sent to the principle.

Alya realizes something is sus.

Marinette 'can' get super jealous and see the worst in people but she isn't a thief. So Alya follows them.

She arrives in time to see Lila reveal an Akumatized appendage that jabs a needle into Marinette & sends her into a nightmare (Basically the rest of the canon episode) then tries to steal her ear rings.

Lila only gets one before Alya tackles the fuck out of her and then Lila starts vomiting up an Akuma that infests Marinette's remain ear ring much to her despair.

"I needed that!"

Cue half transformed, fully Akumatized Ladybug, partialy trapped in a nightmare despair mode going on a rampage.

The Battle of the Miraculous:

Lila flees, carrying Alya & a fading Tikki who explains Lila's being turned into an Akuma, & that they need to call in 'everyone', revealing IDs.

Hawk Moth sends Mayura and a fake Sentimonster Ladybug to get the Miraculous (Having realized Lila was covering for having figured out Ladybug's identity to steal the miraculous for herself) While he takes Marinette towards the hospital to kill Chloe & lure out Chat Noir.

Ryuko, Alya & a partially feral Lila defend the Miraculous Box, with the other heroes showing up to help after Mayura is driven off.

Lila also reveals Hawk Moth's identity, so Chat knows via phone call.

Chloe awakens in time to finish her redemption arc by basically goading Marinette & HK into focusing on her over Chat.

Nino catches Hawk Moth in a bubble shield and Chat has to destroy the ear ring to free Marinette & everyone gangs up on Hawk Moth.

He is un-masked publicly but manages to escape, despite Chloe's murder effort, thanks to unleashing a swarm of Akuma from Lila.

The Akuma are captured and purified before they can do much harm, but the Miraculous Cure is not working properly. The ear rings are only half usable at best. Worse, if they want to avoid Lila becoming a permanent Akuma she needs the remaining one to stay herself.

The heroes get Marinette out of the public eye before her ID can be revealed & she's allowed to have a good fucking cry. Adrien reveals his ID & he probably has a small breakdown too. But everyone resolves to go to the Agreste Manor & end things.

Sadly, Hawk Moth has fled, blowing up the manor and sending an Akumatized Gorrila to collect Adrien. Leaving behind only a weird basement ruin with no sign of his plans.

Epilogue:

Because of this, the Miraculous are divided up with their various users, though some are likely swapped or have other security precautions.

Until Marinette decodes the book & fixes Tikki's Miraculous she is left as Multi-Mouse and with a half functional Miracle Cure courtesy of Lila who 100% cannot fight but is hiding out with their crew anyway.

Hawk Moth is shown repairing the Peacock Miraculous and unveiling his Unification/Rebrand. Though where he is or who is harboring him is still a mystery. His identity may be publicly unknown to protect Adrien who has moved in with his aunt and cousin.

This leaves us with a massively shaken status quo, a full hero team, an empowered but no longer anonymous and much more personal villain, no more school rivals and no more mentors or secret identities among friend or foes.

[tricksterly-conduct]

Paon gets two pictures so everyone can see his vest.

Yapping under the cut

So Paon is Papillon's passenger princess. I loved Mayura's concept art and was sad that they got rid of her long coat in the show. I understand the animation bullshit but still.

Paon is Chat Noir's older sibling. (lmao i didn't even notice that I made the "cant drive" thing genetic) The reason that Chat Noir teamed up with Ladybug in this au, was to get out from underneath their family's control. However, Paon is the eldest child, and sees every "problem" that Chat Noir causes as a reflection onto themselves.

Obviously, Paon has to go out and drag Chat Noir back. Papillon sees this and says, "Oh??? New servant- i mean bestie."

I absolutely hurt my wrist drawing and coloring in all of Paon's feathers, but like...A PEACOCK HAS SO MANYYYYY. I WILL ABSOLUTELY GO ALL OUT. MAXIMUM EFFORT!

Papillon's back seat is COVERED in feathers. It's like pet hair.

Paon is a bit high strung and has a tendency to put Chat Noir down to get them to listen. Their parents weren't often there emotionally, so Paon felt the need to "step up" and teach Chat Noir how to behave "properly."

Of course, this put a strain on their relationship and Chat Noir eventually ran off to save the universe with Ladybug.

Paon is a bit innocent in that they think they're always right about things, and should be listened to. This leads to them digging their heels into the ground and refusing to budge if someone tries to convince Paon that they're wrong.

[mcheang]

Spot the difference

When Zoe and Alya become replacement heroes, Marinette could have told the kwamis to pass on the message to avoid wearing the rings! Except she was kinda depressed and their decision had been a shock to her.

However as she went to visit Alya to congratulate her, she also had a list of things to beware and avoid, among which was the alliance ring.

Alya dismisses Marinette’s concern, reluctant to give up the latest technical fad and unable to think of an explanation for even doing that. Besides, does Marinette know how much these things cost?

After the events of Deflagration, Marinette, Alya, Tikki and Plagg are curious how Monarch discovered their secret identities so quickly.

What is the difference between Marinette and Alya? Could it really be the alliance ring?

Plagg: actually, now that you mention it, Chat Noir doesn’t wear an alliance ring, but Kitty does.

Everyone is stunned.

Alya hesitantly says, “And Kouki wore 5 alliance rings on his hands, Nora was complaining to me about him being such a spendthrift. That was the only time we faced an akuma with the powers of 5 miraculous. Did the other akumas wear multiple alliance rings?”

Marinette: no.

Alya said what everyone must be thinking. “So the alliance rings are how Monarch transfers the powers of the kwami.”

Tikki: you think Gabriel might be Monarch after all?

Marinette: i don’t want to think it could be true, but we can’t discount the possibility. I know he was the Collector before but the arrival of Mayura means he has at least one ally who could akumatize him on his behalf.

Alya: it is too much of a coincidence that Gabriel should be akumatized right after he loses the grimoire, the most incriminating clue that would lead to Hawkmoth.

Plagg: if Gabriel really is Monarch, there’s only one way to know for sure. He’ll have my mark on him after the wax museum.

Alya: right…how are we going to see Gabriel’s arm? A vaccine?

Marinette: not to mention, i am certain that Monarch would want to hide such a clue with makeup.

Plagg: there’s only one way to know for sure. A spy mission. Send me Marinette, no offense but out of all of you, I blend in the most easily.

Alya: right, then how do you explain kwami buster?

Tikki, who knows Plagg knows the Agreste mansion best of them all, speaks up. “No, he’s right. We need to send in Plagg.”

Marinette twiddled her fingers. “Especially since the Resistance’s last plan with Gabriel epically failed.”

Plagg avoids meeting Adrien, knowing he won’t take kindly to his father being accused again. But he really goes all out in exploring the house. He does more than sneak into Gabriel and Nathalie’s rooms, he searches for hidden lairs and vaults. He finds Monarch’s lair easily enough, and his captured friends!

Plagg reports this to Marinette. Grimly, she starts planning. “Gabriel must be hiding the rings under his gloves.”

Alya: what are you going to do now?

Marinette: I’m going to arrest Monarch in the last place he expects. When do you think Gabriel is making his next public appearance?

Alya: uh…no clue. I’m still surprised he went to the parent teacher conference.

Marinette: we need more heads. Plagg, you can go to Chat and-

Plagg: actually, it might be better if you leave Chat out of this.

Marinette: why?

Plagg: I can’t say.

A pause before they move on.

Alya: what if Adrien has his friends over, is that enough of a public setting for you?

Marinette nodded. It will do, but I have to ambush him easily.

Alya: you can count on the resistance.

Sure enough, Alya knocks Gabriel unconscious and lets Ladybug in through the window. Adrien is stunned when Ladybug exposes his father as the villain.

As the resistance stands watch over the bound villain, Ladybug summons her lucky charm to find his lair.

She frees the kwamis. Gabriel is arrested but there is still the question of who Mayura is, either Tomoe or Nathalie. Anyway, they are both taken into custody where Nooroo happily outs them.

Adrien then has to move away to Paris after the public backlash and stay with his aunt. Plagg offers the miraculous again but Adrien politely declines, instead promising to help recover the Peacock from his cousin should he show his face again.

[theerurishipper]

Real question tho. Was there ever an episode where the moment Alya was in anyway involved in the hero plot as hero herself Marinette DIDN'T treat her inherently more like a genuine partner and MUCH better than she treated/ treats Chat Noir?

The only episode i can remember where this doesn't happen is in "Mayura". But every other time?

S4 needs barely any explaining, Alya and Adrien were at the complete opposite extremes of partnership treatment from Marinette. Alya got the partnership deluxe on easy mode basically handed to her and Chat had to tank all the downsides, she got every promotion possible bc she is Marinette's civilian best friend while Chat was most of the time more of a "beloved" pet and scapegoat or punching bag than an actual partner which he had to learn to accept that he doesn't deserve any better under Ladybug's leadership. If Marinette even rememberd thinking about Chat at all.

Even s5 still keeps it consistent that Alya would be Marinette's actual partner now if only she still had her Miraculous. I don't think there has been a single time where Marinette has not explicitly chosen Alya/ Rena over Chat Noir in terms of actual partnership. "Revelation" even had Ladybug deceive Chat again, sending him out as bait, so she can get Alya involved as Scarabella so Marinette can try to trick Lila into admitting out loud that she's indeed a liar and Alya finally believes her. There was nothing noble about that. She was SURPRISED that Lila immediately deakumatized herself.

Great, and tahts what Marinette abandoned Chat Noir for on the battle field with only a hidden Scarabella who could have NOT helped him in any way if he had DARED to need help against Lila and the whole city after him.

I will never ever get over Marinette in Hack-San just not remembering Chat's existence at all besides telling Alya to try laughing at his jokes. Since day 1 Hawkmoth is after their Miraculous but apparently Marinette couldn't possibly imagine taht Chat suddenly seeing a new Ladybug holder out of nowhere is a bad thing.

But hey, SHE was taken care of, and apparently that's all that matters in her head. How wonderful that the episode basically said that if Adrien had given someone else his Miraculous before this without telling her, Marinette apparently wouldn't have feared for Chat's life at all. No concern spared for Chat Noir's survival, it's a miracle she remembered him at all, I guess?

This is not the Ladynoir I once signed up for.

Seriously, Season 4 was literally about Marinette pretty much replacing Chat Noir with Alya, and the only reason he got to be her special partner again was because Gabe stole all the Miraculous, not because she realized that the partner she wanted and the one whom she wanted by her side was Chat Noir. And apparently she didn't bother to tell him anything in Season 5 either, considering she's still ready to go behind his back (though this isn't as egregious) and lie to him. Like, the Season 5 finale has her tell Alya the secret about Gabe and that he was Monarch, but not Chat Noir (I don't mean Adrien, I mean Chat Noir), her partner who has been by her side the whole time. Like, Alya gets all this special and secretive information, and Chat Noir gets nothing, even the information he is entitled to. She hasn't learnt a damn thing. And I know, it's the fault of the writers, but it's so deeply entrenched into her character at this point that I'm finding it difficult to make that distinction.

Thank you for your ask!

[princess-of-the-corner]

So, I know you have an AtLa au for Miraculous Ladybug, but do you have the reverse? Like.

(THIS GOT LONG SO)

Aang is Ladybug. Zuko is Chat Noir. Ozai is Hawk Moth. Azula is Mayura. That kind of thing. cause my brain wouldn’t stop spinning this idea around last night, so like. All the random shit I came up with:

- Gyatso, who here is actually an old member of the Order that dipped out cause the Order kind of sucked, actually. He found and adopted Aang. Owns his own bakery. Also does martial arts. Is less than thrilled that his kid was chosen to be the Ladybug.

- half-baked idea that Gyatso replaces Fu here? But like. Still raising Aang. Also, he’s a touch less paranoid? Maybe?

- or, we have that random monk who was supposed to help Aang master the Avatar State be Fu? Or Roku, Roku could be Fu.

- Toph kind of has Corner!Chloé’s Aura Vision. She gets the Turtle.

- Toph’s dad is the mayor. Her mom runs a charity.

- Sokka gets the Fox. The flute doubles as both a boomerang and a sword.

- so like. By process of elimination, Katara SHOULD get the Bee? But. I know I said “Azula as Mayura” but instead, I think Azula should have the Bee & Katara should get the Peacock. Like. Either there’s a swap at some point, or the Bee got lost instead of the Peacock. Bee lost instead is probably easiest.

- You could also do Sokka as the Ladybug, Aang as the Fox.

- Or Aang has the Cat, Zuko the Ladybug. So many options.

- Suki with the Tiger? The Dragon?

- Sokka with the Dragon?

- ZUKO WITH THE DRAGON.

- Zuko with the Dragon. Sokka has the Ladybug. Katara has the Cat. Aang has the Fox. Toph has the Turtle. Suki has the Bee?

- Ty Lee and Mai are here, what Miraculous do they get?

- wait, Yue wouldn’t be dead, she’s here too. The Rabbit?

- Or Teo, the Kid with the flying wheelchair.

- the match-ups are too many.

- … in so many ways, actually.

- no one is straight.

- Zuko absolutely still has the big, F-off scar. It was absolutely inflicted by Ozai.

- Piandao as the school’s teacher, also coach of the local fencing/sword-fighting club.

- Pakku’s the principal.

- Bumi’s the gym teacher.

- Hakoda, Kya, and Bato live together on a boat in the Seine. Katara and Sokka have grown up on the water. I see boat tours, or maybe their job is to clean the river? Fishing? (Can you fish in the Seine?)

- Katara wants to be a doctor. Or therapist? No, Doctor.

- Sokka will probably be an engineer? Inventor isn’t a profession, is it? He’s also the DM anytime they do a D&D campaign.

- Iroh has a roving tea & pastry cart. He’s well known for giving out delicious tea, and sage advice. He has an ongoing rivalry with that annoying ice cream man, who Iroh is CONVINCED hasn’t ever heard of a health inspection, and who he constantly gets into fights with about his supposed “soulmate ice cream”.

- Azulon knew about the Miraculous, spent most of his life hunting for them. Imparted the knowledge and desire into his kids.

- Iroh and Ozai spent a lot of time when they were young adults looking for the Miraculous, but eventually Iroh met someone, fell in love, and had Lu Ten, so stopped caring as much for the Miraculous. When a car accident killed his wife, and crippled his son, Ozai tried to dangle the possibility of bringing Iroh’s wife back, or healing Lu Ten, to get him to help again, and Iroh shot him down. The pair are now quite tense with one another. (other idea, wife dies, so Iroh DOES agree to try and search for the Miraculous, but the resulting search ends with Lu Ten dying, so Iroh gives up the Miraculous entirely)

- (if we don’t go with option two, or sort of combine them) Lu Ten is still around here, he’s in a wheelchair from a car accident. He can TECHNICALLY walk, but it causes him so much pain if he tries for long periods, the wheelchair is easier.

- this is definitely a Team Miraculous Sort of vibe.

- Azula has a heel-turn, obviously.

then, I can’t decide between:

- Ursa and Ozai are divorced, which was a HUGE scandal for Ozai’s company. Ursa took Zuko, and tried her best to get Azula too, but Ozai “Won” that one, so Zuko and Azula don’t see each other much. Ursa and Zuko live with Iroh, who supported them during the divorce. Ursa has since remarried, and had another child, Zuko and Azula’s half-sister.

OR

- Ursa is dead, it’s a tossup whether Ozai killed her or not, but he wants to revive her, so is seeking out the Miraculous. Azula eventually either gets told, or figures it out, but Zuko doesn’t. Ozai’s desire to revive Ursa is less “I miss my wife” and more “How dare you try and get away from me”/Show of power. He’s used the Butterfly for years to make his company blossom, but he wants more power.

OR

- Ursa is either dead or missing, and Zuko lives with Iroh rather than Ozai. Iroh filed for custody after the Scar Incident, but while he managed to get custody of Zuko, he couldn’t get custody of Azula. 

Thoughts, feelings, Opinions? New Ideas?

-

Okay okay okay:

Love the idea of Gyatso taking Fu’s role. I think he wouldn’t choose Aang at first but Aang would get involved later.

Sokka as Ladybug is 100% perfect and beautiful.

Zuko I feel comfortable narrowing down to the Cat or Dragon. I think it kiiiiinda depends on where his mindset is at but we’ll come back to that because I did have Thoughts™ on a S1/2: Atla Edition before so I have ideas on the family.

obvs Ozai has to be Hawkmoth but I think his motives are more pure wanting more power. Maybe add in like. Instead of ruler of a nation he’s just head of a company. The family business he ‘inherited’. Except he’s running it into the ground because he fucking sucks at making good business decisions. I’ll come back to my thoughts on Ursa later.

Toph as the turtle seems like a decent idea, but idk if it fits her right. I think the Ox would be better for her.

Aang with the Turtle though! Both in reference to the Lion Turtle but also how he’s very protective?

Katara has to get involved…. hm. I’m not sure there’s a Miraculous that would fit her. I think having a sibling LB/CN duo could work if I don’t give Zuko the cat. On the flipside the Dragon could ironically work as the ML Dragon is more Water than Fire.

Suki, on the other hand, has so many options. The Tiger if Toph doesn’t get it. I could see her with the Snake (she’s a leader and good strategist in her own right, so she’d do well with it.). Tempted to leave the Peacock on the Heroes’ team and give it to her because ya know fans but idk how she’d handle the Sentis.

Yue 100% gets the Rabbit. Both have Moon Connections™

Azula - I get where you’re going with Bee and that works but she’s also on board for the Dragon. Or the Monkey because she knows the art of Derision.

Ty Lee - BEE. Hands down she gets the Bee. Paralysis motherfucker!!!

Mai - I actually think I’d give her the mouse? Like, her hair. Quiet as a mouse. She’s the one person on this crew with multiple tiny weapons.

I’m bringing Jin back in and giving her the Pig!!

I love how we’re letting most people live lmao. But yeah without a war or spirit nonsense our only options are like. Gang violence? But yeah anyway

Gyatso is being low-key. Idk how exactly he got Aang. Like Aang probably has less trauma in that I’m not gonna be like ‘ah yes he was in an orphanage that was victim to arson’ but like. Does he have parents that he lost and were presumably friends with Gyatso to leave Aang in his custody, or did Gyatso just find an abandoned baby on the doorstep?

Aang could actually have the Adrien plot of wanting to go to school! Like, he was homeschooled by Gyatso for most of his life because while Gyatso isn’t /as/ paranoid as Fu, he’s still a touch ‘let’s err on the side of caution’. But Aang decides he wants to socialize more and school is a great place for that!

I think most of the various leaders are going to be part of the City Council. The Earth King is the City Mayor, and yeah he’s being manipulated by half the council. Long Feng is chief of police ofc. While I have Ozai as owning some mega company rather than directly in politics, he does fund the city to get what he wants and has Mai’s father on city council to essentially be his proxy as he can’t be bothered. Tbh probably the only sane and good council members are Hakoda and Arnook like bruh. The other good but not sane one is Bumi and no one’s sure he’s actually on the council he just shows up to meetings and the mayor counts his vote.

the Kya/Hakoda/Bato polycule? Beautiful. And yes they get the houseboat lmao. You mentioned cleaning the river so I think I’m gonna give Hakoda a bit of a lean into trying to make environmental changes to the city.

Toph’s parents are still rich af. And yes they still both baby her and want her to be this demure debutante when she’s here to throw hands with anyone and everyone. Does trade Earthbending for Magic Synesthesia

Okay now the Fire Royals because let’s have fun with them:

Search for the Miraculous probs started with Sozin. Passed the torch and the company to Azulon.

No idea why Ozai and Ursa married but it probably wasn’t a good reason.

Switching up the stuff with Lu Ten so he’s alive. But he’s in a coma and the doctors know that even if he does recover he’s not going to go 100% back to normal. (he wakes up after a few months. And while physical therapy goes well, he’s mostly in a wheelchair. Can use a cane for short distances if needed.). But yeah while it’s unsure if he’s gonna make it Iroh’s a wreck.

Which leads to a similar to canon thing of Ozai going ‘hey how about I inherit the company instead?’ and then having Ursa kill Azulon. Still similar in part of the deal is her leaving and Ozai tries to have her killed but she disappears too well.

With Ozai getting all the inheritence, Iroh just low-key cuts all losses in the family and  opens his own tea shop. Technically he could retire and live a grand lifestyle, but he likes doing things. So Jasmine Dragon it is!

You know that post like ‘you correct your dad on his zoom meeting so he kicks you out and says you can only come home if you find Bigfoot’? That’s kinda what goes down for the Agni Kai situation. Zuko gets burned and Ozai throws him out. 

Zuko goes to Iroh’s place because he has nowhere else to go. Due to this being  a modern au thing there’s some of a custody battle deal. But like. Ozai  is a manipulative little shit who frames it as ‘oh I didn’t kick him out, he ran away! such a bad kid. If he wants to live with an uncle that coddles him then fine!’.

I’m gonna shift from canon slightly in the sense of that Zuko and Azula never cut contact. It’s easier because they’re still in the same city, in the same school, and have technology. Ofc Ozai forbids it, but while Azula is scared of him the differences in the AU mean that she’s not fully cut off from them regardless of anyone’s wants. (this gets even easier with the Miraculous when they can hang out as Heroes together)

Neither Zuko nor Azula know about the Miraculous stuff in the family history. Because Ozai either doesn’t think they’ll be helpful, or doesn’t want to risk them double crossing him. He does use Azula to set up secnarios for Akumas tho

I don’t know why Iroh wouldn’t go ‘oh a butterfly villain? Probably Ozai being a fucker’.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Adrien's feather allergy as foreshadow of his status as sentimonster is reaching on fandom part. But fandom claimed Felix being one isn't. His name being the episode name definitely foreshadowing his status as sentimonste, considering in s1-3, the episode always named after either akuma or sentimonster bar the Origins. That's what I call foreshadowing. Not whatever feather BS people like to claim.

Felix being a sentimonster is just make senses, always make senses for me, considering he seems harbor a jealousy toward Adrien especially at his remark "You always do everything your father tells you to do?" Considering as sentimonster he couldn't disobey whoever had his amok while human Adrien can disobey anytime he want yet choose not to, in his view.

Then come s4 and 5 with a huge retcon.

Also prior to s4 I don't believe the rings is amok, Felix want it because his mother want it since it's her family heirloom. Again, make senses that she want one of it considering Emilie is dead at this point. She has the right to own one of her family heirloom, Gabriel don't.

One of the episode in s5 implied that Felix always know that the rings are amok and this doesn't make senses if we were to connect back to his debut episode where he just give the ring he stole to his mother, even if say Amelie is a better parents/human than Gabriel, Felix who claimed to love his cousin and want to free him, should know better than to give his cousin's amok to his mother. The math is just not mathing, unless Felix doesn't know the rings are the amok in his debut episode and only know later which is a huge plot hole.

The retcon isn't inherently bad per se, in initial plot Luka is supposed to be Juleka's brother older by two years, s4 retcon him to be her twin. This isn't a problem because it's a minor thing that people either doesn't notice or doesn't care. But when what retconned is almost about the whole world building and lore, that's when it become a big problem. S4 onward doesn't seems like the same series as it's prior season.

,

Would you also argue that Nathalie is a sentimonster given the name of the final episode of season two?

[Image showing that episode 25 of Miraculous season two is named "Mayura"]

And what about the first episode of the origins two parter? Does this mean that Marinette and Adrien are both not humans?

[Image showing that episode 11 of Miraculous season one is named "Ladybug & Chat Noir"]

In seasons 1 to 4, episodes were mostly named for akumas and sentimonsters, but it wasn't a hard rule, so that's a pretty weak argument for Felix being a sentimonster. Even if he was human, he's still the episode's main antagonist, so naming it after him isn't weird even if he was fully human. This is extra true since Chat Noir was originally named Felix, so calling the episode "Felix" apparently drove up hype from fans who were saddened by the change. People wanted to see Felix make at least a cameo and would even pester the head writer about it prior to this episode. A lot of people wanted him to be a former Chat Noir or Adrien's older brother or something like that. You can find a lot of fanfics that did this long before season three was even airing.

Plus what else would you call this episode? There wasn't a single akuma, there were three, and "Princess Fragrance, Lady Wifi, Reflekta" is both an awkward name and something of a spoiler since I think this was the first time that we saw one item lead to multiple akumas.

ALL THAT BEING SAID, I would actually buy that Felix was planned to be a sentimonster from the start. That doesn't feel like a retcon in the same way that Adrien and Kagami do because there is some setup for Felix. The "always do what your told" line fits him being a senti and evil "twins" are often revealed to be magical in origin in these kinds of shows. Plus sentimonsters were a thing at this point, so yeah, I'd totally buy it.

The big reason I still call it a retcon is because of the issue you bring up about the rings. The way they're handled in that episode makes no sense if they're supposedly Adrien's amoks because how would Felix even know that? Who told him? Amelie?

I mean, I'd buy that Amelie knew because it's implied that she was somewhat close to her sister, but that just raises more questions! Why is she demanding her nephew's amok? Why does she give it to Felix? What does she think he's going to do with it? What is going on here?

And, of course, there's the biggest issue of them all: why is Gabriel only mildly annoyed that Felix and Amelie have Adrien's amok? If that was me, I'd be demanding it back! I'd be sending akumas! I'd go to war! You are not controlling my kid!

But Gabriel does nothing. He just waits for Felix to bring it back in the next season. Like this is how he greets Ameilie the next time he sees her:

Amelie: Gabriel! I'm so happy to be able to thank you in person for giving our family's ring (kisses his cheeks) back to Félix. Gabriel: It was the sensible thing to do, Amelie. Adrien: That was very thoughtful of you, Father.

Dude, what are you doing? Why didn't you just tell her that Felix stole the ring? What is going on here? Why does this episode (Gabriel Agreste) end will Gabriel totally fine that he didn't get the ring back because he finally got his hands on one of Ladybug's magical charms? It seriously comes across like he the completely forgot about the ring even though this is the season where Adrien is finally foreshadowed to be a sentimonster! Writers, what are you doing???

A better version of the episode Felix would see Felix show up with the goal of learning if Adrien is also a sentimonster and - if yes - figuring out what the amok is. Have Gabriel give Adrien a command to be nice to Felix so Felix is a total brat to see what his cousin will do. This would be excellent foreshadowing because you could do all of that without directly stating what Felix is doing, but once the reveal happens, it would be a major "oh!" moment on a rewatch.

As-is, the episode is just weird. It may have been intending to set Felix up as a sentimonster, but why? What was the plan? What's with the rings? Why did Felix try to take away all of Adrien's friends and ruin his reputation? There are just so many questions raised here that - sentimonster or not - Felix was still massively retconned.

I will also agree that a retcon isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the writers claim to have planned everything out which is why I will point out every one as it clearly refutes that claim. Plus most of them aren't minor things like the weirdness of Luka's age. It's big stuff like all of the above, which does negatively impact the show. Everything about Felix is extremely unsatisfying and I don't think we're getting answers to any of the questions I asked in this post.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Fighting Game Special Quotes (Into the Re-Verse)

Ladybug: Taking my miraculous wont change things for you. Only you can do that. Shadybug: Dont act like you know my pain! You know nothing! Ladybug: I know that you are so much stronger than you think. ___________________________________________________

Chat noir: I know you miss your mother, I understand that better than anyone Claw noir: Then you know why I need your miraculous Chat noir: The price of the wish is too great, I wouldnt wish that pain on anyone else ___________________________________________________ Betterfly: So you are the butterfly miraculous holder of this world, what made your heart grow dark? Monarch: I dont have time to talk with hopeful fools. Tell me where Ladybug and Chat noir are? Betterfly: Dont let your goal turn youre heart evil like the Supreme. ____________________________________________________ Shadybug: Found you, now hand over that miraculous and we can end this game Betterfly: Please Shadybug, the Supreme is using you. You can do so much good if you changed your ways. Shadybug: (laughs) As if I could oppose the Supreme ____________________________________________________ Claw Noir: If you want to be left in one piece, hand over your miraculous Betterfly: Please Claw Noir, The Supreme is using you. Imagine the good you could do if you joined the resistance. Claw Noir: (Laughs) You really think your resistance could fight the Supreme if I cant? ____________________________________________________ Ladybug: Betterfly? Nice trick Monarch, I know its you Betterfly: Monarch? I dont know who you are talking about Ladybug: Hand over the miraculous you stole! ___________________________________________________ Chat noir: I will admit monarch you do look less stupid. Betterfly: Monarch? I dont know who you are talking about Chat noir: Enough games, hand over the miraculous you stole from Ladybug ____________________________________________________ Mayura: Gabriel? What is that new costume? Betterfly: You know me? Wait... are you Emilie? Mayura: ... Im sorry, but she is not with use ___________________________________________________ Monarch: Give me one reason why I shouldnt simply take your miraculous instead? Shadybug: Trust me, I already tried the wish thing. Doesnt work with mine Monarch: What a shame, now you are completely useless to me ______________________________________________

Monarch: Give me one reason why I shouldnt simply take your miraculous instead?

Claw Noir: The Bug of my world tried the wish thing. Doesnt work with ours

Monarch: What a shame, now you are completely useless to me

__________________________________________________________

Shadybug: The Supreme will only spare one of us. Claw Noir: We are still doomed either way Shadybug: Yea... guess its just who gets to live longer then.

[imthepunchlord]

What's your opinion about the temporary heroes?

I think they're VERY unnecessary,especially once the unification being introduced as literally as a way to use 2+ powers at the same time,not mixing the powers to create other one,some just have miraculous bc yes(half of them,actually),if there's going a actual miraculous i think it should be the top 5(7 at the end)to keep the things okay,season 2 baby,yk you are the best?

I do agree. Ultimately, they were pointless to do and were the wrong choice of direction.

A big part of it is that unification reveal, all those Miraculous Fu has could've been shared between Marinette and Adrien. Also, Hawk Moth is not a big enough threat to the heroes to warrant expanding the team. Why, the one time they did a "Miraculous Team" it fell apart in minutes. And it still came down to Marinette and Adrien to save the day.

By this narrative, there's no good reason to share Miraculous with others and do temp heroes as Marinette and Adrien are confirmed by the narrative is that they themselves are all they need. And a lot of the episodes with temp heroes getting focus, could be solved by the heroes doing a unify instead, like Pegabug could've appeared in... what Startrain? Marinette could've become Dragonbug to fight Hearthunter, there was no need for her to go out of her way to go get Kagami.

Also some temp heroes were pointless. You could cut Carapace out of Anansi and not miss much. He's also not the only solution to Anansi's web. A burning candle could've taken it out, or Chat could've Catacysmed the web. Ladybug's yo-yo could've been sharp enough to cut it.

Carapce wasn't really all that needed for Anansi.

From what I remember, Vesperia was also pretty pointless in her intro ep, especially as she got knocked out pretty quick. You take her out, only thing you miss is Chloe getting upset that someone else has the Bee, which isn't going to be exclusive to Zoe.

If they were to expand the team, they need to up the threat. And as HM himself doesn't cover that, that could've been done with Mayura.

The other factor is that, doing temp heroes, skips out on needed character growth, and skips out on kwamis being characters. Like, if Alya was a full time hero instead of temp, there's a lot you could do with that.

You can cover Alya struggling to juggle her now double life, cause she's living the dream as a hero! Why would she want to go back to the dull, drab civilian life? This could be a better way to work off Lila alienating Marinette at school cause Alya is living the dream as a hero and isn't paying attention to her civilian life too much. It could even explain her being dismissive of Marinette and her views of Lila cause she's not there enough to see the details.

You can also cover the risk vs reward of reveal vs secrecy, as both sides should have pros and cons to them. And it is a canon issue with Alya that she wants to unmask the heroes, and she's up for a reveal and share that she's a hero. If Marinette represents the pros and cons of secrecy, Alya can cover the pros and cons of a reveal.

And there are other aspects that canon has introduced to work off of. Like, Alya trying to pick the perfect hero name during an akuma attack, showing she's not taking things as seriously as she should. There's her eager for public attention. That being a hero is more for ego and glory, and she can learn that being a hero is a lot more serious and harder and to see if she has what it takes to step up to the plate.

And of course, what Miraculous and kwami she's paired with can influence how she could've grown.

Mindful, all Miraculous by default would work off that secrecy vs reveal, but Fox would specifically really cover that as it's tied to deception and secrecy. It's also set to be a struggle for Alya because she WANTS to be in the limelight, she aims for leadership and to be directly involved, and Fox isn't built for that, it's built to be in the background. Which can help her growth, but can also clash with where she wants to be.

Bee meanwhile has a good few similar appeals for Alya as it does for Chloe. Alya does have similar issues to Chloe in being literally pushy, taking over projections, pushing her agenda, aiming for leadership but not always being the best leader, and can be oblivious to others, their feelings, and any backlash she's causing. Bee ideally could help her learn to ease back, be a team player; and it has the bonus of allowing Alya to be where she wants to be, and can offer some leadership skills to develop, and work on communication and listening.

Over all, the temp heroes were a bad and pointless choice. The narrative doesn't warrant expanding the team as Marinette and Adrien hardly struggled against HM, and the s2 fianle actually discourages it. It skips out on needed character development and allowing kwamis to be characters. And, honestly, not all characters warrant getting a Miraculous.

Max I could get cause he did step up in Robustus. Juleka I can get cause she's set up to learn confidence, find her voice, and has a lot of bottled up emotions to let loose. I could even get Ivan as in Origins, everyone is kinda terrified of him because of his size, so there could've been an arc to change that view, someone who's feared to becoming a hero, become associated with safety instead.

But what's up with Alix to really warrant a Miraculous? Mylene didn't want one and yeah I don't think she really needed one. It's even more wild as I feel like the power to shrink down would just make her anxieties worse. What about Marc who's barely a character? Is the bar so low that you just have to be good at sports?

Yeah, temp heroes aren't worth it nor were they needed. They were a bad choice of direction.

[nixthelapin]

Am I tripping, or did Lila not show up for almost the entirety of season 2, only showing up in the 2-part finale (Catalyst and Mayura)? Because I thought she had more of a role than that, but when I went though the episode list, I realized I was misremembering stuff that actually happened in season 3 instead (where she does have a much more promenant role).

Here’s the episode list:

(Side note: I think it’s weird that Santa Claws is at the end of season 2 since it came out almost a whole year before The Collector lol but whatever)

I haven’t watched most of these in a while tbh, so I could just have a faulty memory, but I don’t remember Lila being in any of these pre-finale episodes. Honestly, the only reason I even remembered she was in the finales was because of that thumbnail in Catalyst- I’m pretty sure that scene is when the class is having a video call with Lila where she’s making up a story to excuse why she’s not in class, which let me remember her part in the Heroes’ Day thing with the illusion of Ladybug killing Chat (I think I keep mixing that up with season 3 because Natalie does briefly become Catalyst to make Gabriel Scarlet Moth again, even though that plan didn’t work out).

But if I’m not wrong about that being her only appearance, does anyone else find that to be super strange? Her first appearance at the end of s1 hyped up an important role, but then she just vanishes? Then after being gone so long she suddenly has an important role again? I don’t mind her being important, I think her role in Catalyst was clever and interesting, but it feels a bit jarring to suddenly have her back after almost a whole season without her. Then to have her with an even more promenant role in season 3. Maybe that has something to do with why her character feels so weird to me. Idk in still thinking over this information.

Unless I’m forgetting she had other appearances. In which case, please correct me lol.

[celestiall0tus]

Tales of Bloody Bug and Chat Noir - Chapter 40 - Regrets

Beginning || Previous || Next

            Adrien cleaned up his room as he checked his phone every minute. He paced around once his cleaning finished as he continued to check his phone. The whirl of a yo-yo sang outside his window as Bloody Bug landed in his room with a tablet in hand. She transformed back to Alix and held out the tablet.

            “Alright, as requested.”

            Adrien snatched it and jumped excitedly. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

            Alix smiled, sighed, then sat down.

            “Are you staying? You’re not going to the twin’s birthday party?”

            “I’d rather not. I’ve sorta been keeping an eye on Marinette since giving her the goat miraculous, and I need a small break from it.”

            “How’s that going? Chloe sorta filled me in, but not really.”

            “I don’t know. If she’s trying to convince us, she’s doing her best. I really want to believe she is better, but something feels off. It still feels like, well, an act.”

            “Do you think Mayura got to her again?”

            “It wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t see her on patrol, but I see moving shadows. The others have too. No akumas, no Mayura, just shadows. I’d ignore it, but this silence from both Hawkmoth and Mayura is putting us all on edge. I know Marinette isn’t helping certain people like Juleka, who just looks ready to absolutely tear Marinette apart.”

            “Is it really worth trying to help her? You know, considering all that she’s done.”

            “I… ok. I’m going to level with you. I didn’t want to at first. I wanted to write her off with everyone else. However, I spoke with the paradox me, Dad, and the old man.”

            “What did they say?”

            “Dad believes that everyone deserves a second chance. Which, fair. He was the one that gave my mom that second chance no one else gave her. He was also quick to remind me that Marinette did take a chance on me, which may have ended badly, but did open doors for me. I hate that fact now, and that he’s right. The old man is willing to see where Marinette stands but is doubtful of her given what we’ve told him. But… the older me, the paradox me… she warns me to be careful.”

            “Careful of what?”

            Alix sighed. “I haven’t told you yet because, well, never seemed right. But everything we have now, that we are, is because of the paradox me. She wished for this. For me, us, to be the ladybug holder… in place of Marinette.”

            “Marinette? What?”

            “I know. Crazy, right? And I can’t help but feel… bad. I explain things to this other me and I just… I see the regret and guilt in her eyes. She, I, whatever, didn’t want to do this already, but did to avoid a catastrophe. One that was called Chat Blanc.”

            Adrien stiffened. “C-Chat Blanc? Was it… me?”

            “Yeah. You were akumatized and it warped you, turning you into a mindless monster that killed everyone. All the heroes, most of the population, just anyone that opposed Chat Blanc.”

            “How did it happen?”

            “Your love with Marinette.”

            “What? You mean… there was a time when I… we… were in love? How?”

            “I don’t know. But don’t you see? This is all because of me.”

            “What? Alix, no. You didn’t-.”

            “I became the ladybug instead of Marinette. I got in the way of her being a better person. I stopped her from being a hero like she was meant to be. It doesn’t matter how anyone paints it. I’m the reason for all of this.”

            Adrien opened his mouth but was cut off by Tikki.

            “Alix, we told you. You didn’t cause this. Not you or your paradox self. That world was destroyed by Chat Blanc, who was created by Hawkmoth. If you must blame anyone, blame Hawkmoth.”

            “I agree. We’ve seen what our Hawkmoth can do or has done. Which isn’t anything grand, but now we have Mayura. If she’s anything like the previous Hawkmoth from this other timeline, we need to be cautious.”

            “We already are, but we can’t do anything. She’s out there right now, doing whatever the hell she’s doing, and we can’t do anything about it. I’m ready to abandon caution at this point if it means finding her.”

            “Alix, there’s no need to be hasty. Only fools rush in, and I know you’re not a fool.”

            “Yeah, well, desperation makes fools of us all. If we don’t do something soon, find her, whatever, she’ll come for you again and what then? What if she creates more nightmare creatures and causes us to lose more team members? What if she actually harms you? What can we even do without even a hint of what she’s even up to?”

            Adrien frowned and looked away. He glanced towards his door when he heard a knock.

            “Come in!” Adrien called.

            Adrien’s eyes widened as Felix strolled in and stopped. He beamed as he ran over and tackled Felix.

            “I can’t believe this! What brings you here?”

            “Mother came to talk with Uncle. They sent me up here while they handled the business.”

            “Perfect! We’re about to sit in on some friends’ birthday. Come on!”

            Adrien dragged Felix over and sat him on the couch, then sat between him and Alix. He grinned as an incoming call came and accepted it. Juleka and Rose peered back at them as they set up their tablet, then waved.

            “Hey, guys. Can you hear us alright?” Juleka asked.

            “Loud and clear,” Adrien confirmed.

            “Yay! We’re about to do cake now that everyone is here,” Rose cheered.

            Adrien wiggled excitedly as he set the tablet on a stand, so Alix and Felix were in frame. Rose gasped when she saw Alix.

            “What’re you doing there? Why aren’t you here?” Rose asked.

            “A long list of reasons with a certain someone at the top.”

            Rose grimaced. “Yeah. Yeah… that’s fair. Uh, lucky you’re not Luka, right?”

            “How’s he?” Adrien asked.

            Rose pursed her lips. She turned the tablet to face Luka and Marinette. Marinette was smothering Luka in affection as he looked miserable and exhausted. Alix looked away, Adrien grimaced, and Felix raised a brow. Rose turned the tablet away before she ran off with Juleka.

            “Are those two dating? The boy with blue hair and the pigtail girl?” Felix asked.

            “Uh, yeah. Don’t they look happy?” Adrien attempted.

            Felix snorted. “He needs to learn to accept that affection. Girls can be so touchy and loving.”

            “Even Kagami?” Alix shot back.

            Felix flinched and sighed. “I wish.”

            “How’s that going for you, Felix? I know you are head over heels for her,” Adrien commented.

            “It’s… it’s difficult. I try to be with her. I’ve asked, but she never answers. She just… freezes up… then runs away. I may have given up, but then she comes back and continues like nothing happened. When I try asking why she doesn’t give me an answer, she still freezes up, then runs. At least until a few days ago when she just… broke.”

            Adrien gasped as his eyes darkened with concern. “Is she ok? What happened?”

            “I don’t think she’s alright. She confessed that she likes me and wants to be with me but can’t. That she is supposed to be with you because of an arrangement that her mother made with Uncle. I let her go after that, but when I told Mom, well, why else do you think we’re here?”

            “Is Aunt Amelie trying to convince Father to break the contract? Why?”

            “Because Mom and… and Colt were arranged just as you and Kagami. Mom hated the arrangement the entire time and wouldn’t want that for any of her family. She won’t stop until she frees you and Kagami of this obligation.”

            “Maybe then you can tell your father about your girlfriend,” Alix remarked.

            Felix gasped. “Hold up. You have a girlfriend and didn’t tell me? Why would you do that? I thought we were cousins!”

            “I’m sorry! I… with well… everything… I just… forgot?”

            Felix huffed, crossed his arms, and turned away.

            Adrien sighed and looked back at the tablet. He watched as Juleka and Luka stood in front of a beautiful cake with everyone gathered nearby. Anarka, Juleka and Luka’s mother, counted down to start singing when a guitar riff blasted. Everyone flinched as Jagged Stone sang Happy Birthday to Juleka and Luka.

            “Oh no,” Alix said.

            “Oh no?” Adrien and Felix echoed.

            Rose dipped from the crowd and turned the tablet, giving Alix, Adrien, and Felix a better view. They watched as Jagged Stone serenaded the twins as he stepped foot on Liberty. Anarka grabbed a nearby guitar and held it at the ready.

            “What are ye doing here, scoundrel?” Anarka demanded.

            “What? I’m not allowed to celebrate my kids’ birthday?” Jagged Stone countered.

            Everyone gasped, Juleka and Luka’s jaws dropped, and Alix sucked in a breath.

            “I was hoping I was wrong. Fuck,” Alix whispered.

            “You knew about this? How?” Adrien asked.

            “The concert. The pieces were all there and, well, difficult to ignore.”

            “They aren’t your children, Jagged. Ye didn’t help raise them!” Anarka roared.

            “You never told me!” Jagged Stone yelled.

            “And? What difference would it have made? Ye were devoted to your career! Ye’d never have given any of that up for some nobody groupie.”

            “Nobody? Anarka, do you hear yourself? After that first concert when I met you, I looked for you before and after every performance. I admired you. No, I loved you. But then after one performance, you got mad at me and were ready to kill me. I never saw you again after that, only to find out I was possibly a father, and then to find out that I am.”

            “And? So what? It doesn’t change anything.”

            “It changes everything! I have a family. I have a daughter and son that you never told me about. Why didn’t you tell me?”

            “Because I didn’t want ye in my life after that night! I didn’t want any part of what was expected of me! I fucked up, I gave them what they wanted, but I wouldn’t chance having you around just to become what I was brought up to be!”

            “Uh, Mom, what do you mean?” Juleka asked.

            Anarka paled as she dropped the guitar. “Shit! I… I can-!”

            “Regret runs deep, doesn’t it, Anarka?” Mayura cooed.

            Adrien and Alix gasped as they started to stand. They watched as Mayura strutted into view in a strapless, dark blue dress with a split clear up her left side to her hip and a long skirt that dragged on the floor with the signature fuchsia peacock eyes. Fuchsia eye beads draped around her torso and arms from her brooch and choker necklace. Her skin was a lighter blue than before with dark purplish-blue gloves and thigh-high boots. She ran her free hand through her slicked back hair as she fluttered her fan with the other. The fan had an open eye on each fold with a few eyes closed.

            Felix grabbed Adrien. “That’s the peacock brooch! That’s what I’ve been looking for!”

            “Yeah, I kinda figured already from before.”

            “Before?” Felix hissed.

            Adrien flinched as he messaged the hero chat about Mayura’s appearance. He turned back to the tablet as Alix stood up. He grabbed and held her back. She snapped at him, but he shook his head and pulled her down.

            “They need help,” Alix hissed.

            “This is a chance. Gallic Chick and Porcelet will be on the way to help. Let us see what she does, please,” Adrien insisted.

            Alix huffed and sat down.

            Adrien turned back to the screen as Mayura raised her fan to Anarka. One of the eyes lit up as a shadowy orb left Anarka and entered the eye, closing it. Anarka let out a breath as she collapsed onto the deck.

            “What did you do?” Juleka demanded.

            “Helping your dear mother. Poor thing suffered from so much regret. Can you blame her? Look at the life she was trapped in and the burdens she was shackled with,” Mayura remarked.

            Luka winced and hid behind Juleka, while Juleka snarled and glared down Mayura.

            “You aren’t fooling anyone here, bitch! I know my mother better than some harlot stripper peacock bitch!” Juleka roared.

            “Do you? Why don’t we test that, shall we?”

            Mayura closed her fan to a fold with a closed eye. It opened as a bright orb shot out. Mayura took it and shaped it into an ethereal, ghostly copy of Anarka. It hovered above the deck as it emitted a beautiful blue light. Adrien and Alix watched as nearly all in the light fell to their knees save for Juleka and Rose.

            “What’s going on? What did you do?” Juleka demanded.

            “Curious. Do you not feel regret, little ones?” Mayura cooed.

            “What? What does that matter?”

            “Fascinating. Here I thought little monsters like you were riddled with regrets. Or perhaps I’ve been around the older fools too long. No matter.”

            “Will you answer me? What did you do?”

            Mayura chuckled. “Not what I did. What your mother is doing. This regret, it’s all hers. Though I’ll take some credit in sharing it with everyone else. Let them know how her regrets… and their own.”

            Juleka’s eyes darted around before they widened. She looked back at Luka, who was curled into a ball behind her, tears gushing from his eyes. She snarled and turned back to Mayura.

            “Stop this! Can’t you see how much you’re hurting them? Don’t you care at all?”

            “I could care less about creatures here, save for you and the littler one. Tell me, how have a pair of children lived so far without regrets?”

            “Wouldn’t you like to know,” Juleka hissed.

            “Yeah! We aren’t telling you anything!” Rose added.

            Mayura hummed, then smiled. She opened her mouth when a rooster’s crow pierced the silence. She looked up as Gallic Chick and Porcelet leapt down from a nearby building. She watched as Gallic Chick entered the area first and immediately dropped to her knees. Porcelet gasped as she entered the area and fell to her knees with Gallic Chick.

            “No!” Adrien screamed.

            Mayura’s head snapped to the tablet as she grinned. “Look what we have here. Adrien Agreste. It’s been too long. Where’ve you been? Hiding from little old me?”

            Adrien refused to answer.

            “My, allow me to rephrase that. Tell me where you’ve been.”

            Compulsion fell over Adrien. He opened his mouth when Alix slapped her hand over his mouth. He gave a muffled, unintelligible answer that satisfied the command.

            “Nice try, bitch. You aren’t going to get anything so long as I’m here,” Alix hissed.

            “Or me!” Felix added.

            Mayura tapped her fan against her chin with a contemplative look. She opened her mouth when Outlaw and Hydra landed on Liberty. She turned to face them as Juleka ducked away and Pom Pom leapt onto the back of Liberty. She hummed as Death Noire climbed her way up the side of Liberty and perched there. She glanced between the heroes, the sentimonster, and the tablet.

            “I see the fun is up for now. I’ll bid-.”

            The heroes rushed Mayura. Hydra shifted to cloud form and distracted Mayura, obscuring her vision. Outlaw lassoed Mayura, restraining her arms. Pom Pom threw her ball at Mayura’s fan and used her power, Fetch, to steal it away from Mayura. Death Noire used Cataclysm and destroyed the fan. They watched as orbs shot out from the destroyed tool and flew off. The sentimonster that Mayura had created from Anarka’s regret reverted to an orb that returned to Anarka.

            “Get Adrien’s amok and the brooch!” Felix screamed.

            The heroes exchanged confused glances while Mayura smirked.

            “Go on, little heroes. Let’s see you take either before I erase the amok of your dear friend… and his cousin.”

            Adrien’s eyes widened as he moved Alix’s hand. “Felix? You’re a sentimonster too?”

            “I… yes.”

            Adrien gasped. ���Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were cousins!”

            “I… I didn’t want you to know. I thought… I could get the brooch and keep us safe. So, you never had to worry.”

            “How sweet, but you’ll need this brooch. And you won’t get it unless you can give me the one I really want,” Mayura cooed.

            Felix perked up. “Which one? Tell me!”

            “Bring me the butterfly, and I’ll give you the peacock. Do that, and you’ll never have to worry about you and your cousin’s safety ever again.”

            “You promise?” Felix asked.

            “What? No!” Adrien yelled.

            “Adrien, we have to! She holds the power to control you, she could control me too, and if she wanted, she can get rid of us with the snap of her fingers. Just like… just like Colt always… it doesn’t matter. We have to.”

            “No! I won’t trust her. She kidnapped me, took control of me, and turned into this massive peacock monster. I’m not about to hand her this butterfly miraculous,” Adrien countered.

            “Not everything is about you, Adrien!”

            “And not everything is about you either, Felix!”

            “Clout!” Alix roared.

            Adrien and Felix raised their brows as they turned to the tablet. They watched as Alix, wearing a red ripped leather jacket, light red ripped, skintight jumper, red boots with black stripes, and black spandex under the ripped areas to give the illusion of stripes, ran into view. They gawked as Alix struck Mayura’s side and launched her off Liberty into the city. The other heroes surrounded Alix as she transformed again. They watched as her outfit became a black full body suit with red snakes spiraling around her legs and arms, sneakers, red snakeskin leotard, and a black crop hoodie.

            “Bloody Bug, what do we-?” Porcelet started.

            “Call me Blood Viper. Porcelet, Gallic Chick, I want you two to go to the Agreste mansion at once, protect Adrien. Death Noire, Pom Pom, recharge and we’ll pursue Mayura. Hyrdra, I want you to patrol the area. Outlaw, do as you see fit,” Blood Viper explained, adding the last part in English for Outlaw.

            “What? No! Don’t go after Mayura! You need to find the butterfly!” Felix yelled.

            “They aren’t doing that!” Adrien countered.

            “They should! She promised she’d leave us alone and give us the brooch if we give her the butterfly. Why wouldn’t you want that?”

            “Because we can’t trust her.”

            “We can’t, or you won’t?”

            “We can’t,” Blood Viper, Death Noire, Gallic Chick, and Porcelet answered.

            Felix sneered and turned back to the screen as Bomb Bee and Faun arrived.

            “Blood Viper, where do you need me?” Bomb Bee asked.

            “Me too,” Faun added.

            “Bomb Bee, you’re with me. Faun, you’re with Hydra on patrol. Now, let’s move!”

            The heroes dispersed. Adrien took the tablet and ended the call, then put it back down.

            “This is ridiculous. How could you be in favor of going against Mayura? She literally holds our lives in her hands. She literally took control of you! How can you be ok with this?” Felix demanded.

            “What reason do we have to believe her? What if we do give her what she wants, who is to say we won’t still destroy us?”

            “It’s not a risk I want to take.”

            “Well, it’s a risk I am. I will see Mayura stopped.”

            “Yeah? How? Didn’t you stop to think that even as Chat Noir you’d still be controlled.”

            “I’m not Chat Noir right now. Plagg was given to someone else in case you hadn’t noticed by Death Noire.”

            “That person has your miraculous? That wasn’t just some other one?”

            “No. And I have one that’ll keep me safe. And, if you want to help me, you can have one too, but only if you’ll help.”

            “Help with what?”

            “I can’t leave this mansion often. I do when everyone is asleep and I’m free to roam as Taureau, but I need help investigating Mayura. Bug can’t do it all on her own, and neither can I. I know I can still help, but I fear I’ll be caught and controlled. I would feel better if I had someone I trusted at my side.”

            “And you want… me?”

            Adrien nodded. He ran to his bedside and pulled out the horse miraculous. He returned and held it out.

            “What’s this?”

            “The miraculous of the horse. With it, you gain the power of teleportation. I figure we can uncover what Mayura really wants and foil her plans. Let the others fight on the frontlines while we do the detective work. That way we can be free on our terms, not on Mayura’s. What do you say?”

            “I… I don’t know. I still don’t want to go against her.”

            “You won’t have to openly. It’ll be our secret. I promise.”

            “You promise?”

            “I do.”

            Felix looked at the glasses. He sighed and took them. Adrien beamed and hugged Felix.

            “Don’t worry. We have each other. So long as we work together, we’ll be free of her,” Adrien reassured.

            “And if the worse should come to pass?”

            “Well… we’ll deal with it when it comes. Deal?”

            “Fine. Deal.”

            A knock came from the door. Adrien and Felix turned as Gabriel and Amelie entered the room with Nathalie behind Gabriel.

            “Adrien, we have some news,” Gabriel started.

            Adrien tilted his head. “What news?”

            “Your arrangement with Kagami has been nullified.”

            “Wait, you mean I’m not engaged to her anymore?”

            “Correct.”

            “Holy shit! That’s amazing!” Gallic Chick squawked.

            Everyone turned to see Gallic Chick sitting in the window.

            “What are you-?” Gabriel started.

            “Porcelet! Porcelet! I’ve got news for you! Porcelet!” Gallic Chick called.

            “Gallic Chick, wait!” Adrien called, but Gallic Chick had left.

            “Adrien, what is going on?” Gabriel asked.

            “Oh, uh, nothing?”

            Gabriel narrowed his eyes at Adrien when Gallic Chick returned. They all turned and gawked at her outfit change. Her superhero suit changed to a denim blue jumper without the right pant leg and a red top, auburn armored gloves, copper thigh-high armored boots, and a teal feather skirt cape with a plume extending up to her shoulders. Her blonde hair fluffed up and dyed red at the roots with the body of it a harvest gold.

            “Greetings, Gabriel Agreste. I’m Gallic Chick. We’re here to keep an eye on the area as we had a Mayura sighting.”

            “Who is we? And why the outfit change?” Gabriel demanded.

            “Oh, this? I mean, you are Gabriel Agreste, one of the biggest names in fashion. And I heard from some fellow birds what the mayor is planning. So, I thought it would be brilliant to have us all change things up. Give you fashion people some real inspiration. Maybe even strike up a nice deal for you.”

            “I don’t need-,” Gabriel started.

            “Imagine! Having Adrien pose with one of the heroes themselves in their stunning new getup. All the attention your brand would get. The fame, the money, the everything! You would be the brand for this whole Heroes Day stuff.”

            Gabriel hummed. “It is… tempting. You heroes are supposed to help us. What’d be better than a hero to keep an eye on Adrien?”

            “Sir, you’re not really considering this, are you?” Nathalie asked.

            “And why not? She makes a good point, and a hero would be an ideal bodyguard against a supervillain.”

            Nathalie frowned. “Gallic Chick, what is your angle? Are you trying to gain fame or something through this?”

            “Oh, no. I don’t need your crummy notoriety when I have my own. But I think it would be better for a pair of someones. Porcelet! Get in here!” Gallic Chick crowed.

            Everyone watched as Porcelet gingerly jumped through the window and landed. Adrien’s eyes widened and jaw dropped seeing Porcelet in her new outfit. Her white and pink magic girl uniform was changed to a black and pink mini dress with a big pink heart on the bodice and a section of pink down the middle to the skirt, ballroom black gloves and thigh-high boots with hearts at the hem of each accessory, and her hair grown out to long, thin pigtails that nearly touched the floor, but curled into a spiral at the end. She sheepishly approached Gabriel and held out her hand.

            “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Agreste. I’m Porcelet.”

            Gabriel assessed Porcelet before he glanced at Adrien’s awestruck reaction. His eyes darted back and forth, then he nodded and shook Porcelet’s hand.

            “Pleasure is mine, young lady. Tell me, would you be interested in being my son’s bodyguard?”

            “M-me?” Porcelet squealed.

            “Yes! Please!” Adrien yelled out.

            “Oh! Uh, I mean, I don’t…!” Porcelet attempted.

            “She’d love to!” Gallic Chick answered.

            “Wait! I’m… I’m not exactly the strongest hero. Maybe you should get someone else, like, Bloody Bug,” Porcelet pointed out.

            “I agree. If we’re going to trust Adrien’s safety to anyone, it should be Bloody Bug,” Nathalie added.

            Gabriel hummed. “Porcelet, what are your powers?”

            “Huh? Oh, uh, I can show people what makes them happiest.”

            “It saved that Chloe Bourgeois before. By the time I showed up, Porcelet already had the villain immobilized,” Gallic Chick butted in.

            “Well, yes, but-!”

            “None of that now, young lady. I say you should be capable to keep Adrien safe.”

            “Sir, please, reconsider. Bloody Bug would-,” Nathalie started.

            “Be busy enough dealing with that Mayura. Besides, she has a full team of heroes that she can send us where needed. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a hero being dedicated to keeping Adrien safe,” Gallic Chick countered.

            “Then it’s settled. Porcelet, I’ll be in contact with-.”

            “I can contact her,” Adrien butted in, cutting off Gabriel.

            “How do you have her contact?” Gabriel questioned.

            “Oh! Uh, well, you see, uh, I-.”

            Gallic Chick grabbed Adrien and placed him next to Porcelet. She put his arm around Porcelet and pushed them closer together. His and Porcelet’s faces flushed red as they looked at Gabriel with nervous looks and shrugged.

            “Uh, right, we’re, uh, dating?” Adrien said.

            Gabriel frowned. “We’ll be talking about this later. Now, Amelie, Felix, I’ll see you-.”

            “I want to stay here with Adrien,” Felix announced.

            “Excuse me? You don’t-,” Gabriel started.

            “Oh, what a wonderful idea! I’m not doing anything, and I homeschool Felix, it’s perfect. We can have a little holiday. Oh! What if we stayed until Heroes Day?” Amelie suggested.

            “Now, Amelie, that’s two months out. You can’t-.”

            “It’s settled then. Come along, Felix. We’ll go back home and pack, then be back in the morning. Come, Gabriel, show out your guests.”

            Gabriel sighed as he led Amelie, Felix, and Nathalie out of the room. Gallic Chick smiled and jumped up onto the open window.

            “Let’s go, Porcelet. We have a job to do.”

            “Right. Be right there!”

            Gallic Chick nodded and headed out. Porcelet sighed and hugged Adrien, resting her head on his shoulder.

            “I’m glad you’re ok. I was worried Mayura came after you and we’d be too late.”

            “Not with Bug chasing after Mayura. I doubt she’d take that risk with so many heroes after her. At least, I would hope.”

            “Good thing she didn’t. I wouldn’t get the chance to meet the infamous Gabriel Agreste, or show off my new outfit. Like it?”

            Adrien blushed. “You look beautiful. Kinda like that magic girl show with the pretty fairies.”

            Porcelet giggled. “I noticed you loved all their designs whenever they transformed, so I took some inspiration.”

            “You wear it better than any of them ever could, Rin.”

            Porcelet blushed as she looked away. Adrien took her hand and nuzzled her. She smiled, stepped closer, and nuzzled him back. They giggled until they realized they were a breath away from each other. They stared into each other’s eyes before their gazes dropped to each other’s lips. They leaned in, their lips nearly brushing each other when unease and fear tore through him. He took a sharp breath as memories of Heart’s Design and Volpina filled his mind. He tore away from Porcelet with a panicked, frenzied look as he held up his hands to guard himself.

            Porcelet de-transformed and approached Adrien. “It’s ok, Adrien. You’re not in danger. You’re safe. Just breathe. In and out.”

            Tears sprung from Adrien’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

            “No, don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong. You’re ok. You’re safe. I promise.”

            “I… I just… I can’t. I’m sorry.”

            “Hey, it’s ok. I told you before, we go at your pace. Your comfort matters too.”

            “I know, but I hate this. I love you. I want to show my love, but I just… I can’t. I can’t stop… I just can’t stop them.”

            “Adrien, you show your love everyday we’re together. All the silly shows we watch. The little moments we spend in each other’s company. The conversations we have that make the hours fly by. These small things show me your love more than a kiss. Never forget that, Kitten.”

            “I know. I just… I’m sorry.”

            Sabrina sighed as she took Adrien’s hands and squeezed them. They pressed their foreheads together and stood in silence. She shifted and moved away, transforming into Porcelet.

            “I’ll be back after my patrol to check on you, Kitten. Please, take it easy until then. Ok?”

            Adrien nodded.

            Porcelet smiled and cupped Adrien’s cheek. “I love you, Kitten.

            Adrien smiled and pressed his hand against hers. “I love you too, Rin.”

            Porcelet hugged Adrien, then headed out. He sighed and sat down when Stompp plopped on his shoulder.

            “It’ll get better, Adrien. I promise.”

            “I wish it would be better already. I hate this.”

            “I know. Just give yourself time, keep your friends close, and the wounds will heal. Never forget Bug’s journey.”

            “Yeah, well, she had a family that loves her, which made a difference.”

            “So do you. And it seems like someone is trying to mend that bond. Maybe you need to heal what’s broken in front of you before you heal everything else.”

            “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

            “Sorry, Adrien. It doesn’t mean anything if I tell you. Like Alix, you’ll need to figure it out on your own. Only then can things get better.”

            Adrien opened his mouth, but Stompp moved on and turned on the game console.

            “Come. Let’s enjoy some silly games to help distract you. Yes? Yes!”

            Adrien shook his head and flopped onto his bed. He let out a deep sigh before he surrendered to the nagging thoughts that never left him alone.

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A Gabenath Fanfiction: Admiration in Disguise Chapter Two

Rated: T

Warnings: Minor Languge

Word count: 1,468

Link to Chapter One

Chapter Two

“Nooroo dark wings fall,” Gabriel intoned with a sigh, falling to his knees, his breaths coming out in labored heaves.

He had been kidding himself, for it was impractical to attempt an akumatization without Mayura by his side. Her skillset and ability to strategize was the sole component in their fight for the miraculous — without her agile mind he’d be lost. 

That being said, he could not pursue his conquest with Mayura any longer. Her use of the damaged peacock miraculous was ailing her immensely and Gabriel would not have that. It pained him to watch her diminish down to a weaker and weaker state as the days strung on. 

Sometimes he could make himself forget — forget that Nathalie’s days were numbered. He had to admit he often took all those moments for granted. Like all those mornings in which he could open his eyes to the warming sun, knowing Nathalie was there just as she always was, with his morning coffee in hand. 

Though the dark shadows under her eyes, no matter how much she tried to obscure them with makeup or creams, blatantly stood out like a sore thumb. Gabriel wasn’t unknowing to the fact that the light in her was burning out. She was ebbing ever so slowly, like a dying star, resulting in her being frail and unnaturally thin — bones jutting out from under her flesh. Her movements alone were unsteady and her distress seemed just as tainted as the peacock miraculous itself. 

Gabriel used to think he’d put nothing above Emilie — that he’d bring her back no matter the cost. And in his mind that still rang true, though where Nathalie was concerned he couldn’t fully say that applied. 

“Master?” Nooroo’s small voice chirped at his side. The kwami of transmission observed his holder, his expression worried. 

“Master, you should turn in for the night. It’s getting late.”

On any other given day, Gabriel would berate the kwami for attempting to divert his attention away from his goal but his exhaustion was taking over.  There was no point in akumatizing another random citizen just for Ladybug and Chat Noir to foil his plan once more. Also, to be honest, he couldn’t handle another failure — not tonight. 

“I will Nooroo.  I just…I thought…” he didn’t need to finish, as his voice faded. He pulled himself to his feet, his knees buckling out from under him. 

“Master, I’m sure Miss Nathalie and Adrien are already in bed by now and you should be too.”

Gabriel sighed. He was fairly certain that Nathalie was nowhere near even half asleep — probably staying up working on random documents that weren’t due until weeks in advance. 

“Nooroo?” Gabriel breathed, his eyes drawn to the bright orb of the moon looming outside the circular pane. “Do  you ever wonder if we are doing the right thing?” 

Nooroo paused, his eyes shifting, “Well…do you think you are doing the right thing Master?” 

Gabriel grimaced … considering — his mouth curving into a firm line. He wasn’t one to carry doubts. When he made a decision he was committed to all its aspects and consequences. 

Even so, his goal came with a damning price — a price he was not willing to pay. Nathalie had to endure the same circumstances as Emilie once had, which in turn meant she was destined to suffer the same fate as well. 

Just the mere notion of such a thing made his heart pick up. He couldn’t sacrifice one dearest person for another. Emilie was his wife, his love for her was infinite, but Nathalie kindled something inside him — something that held familiarity and yet made his middle foil with an ever present sense of vulnerability. 

He thought it foolish to call it love, for such a term seemed outdated and inadequate compared to the emotions that uprooted in his chest — emotions that had been so dormant in his life, yet he had managed to find them rekindling again with his very own assistant. They were frightening sentiments, sure but they were just as real as any other. 

Nathalie had stood by him through his highs and lows and even through all the madness that he himself created. She indulged it all, without a second thought.

“I don’t know what to think anymore Nooroo. Things have become…complicated.” 

Nooroo whimpered, disheartened, his little wings flapping at a fast patter behind him. Gabriel didn’t pay the kwami any mind, still lost in his own musings, until Nooroo spoke up again.

“Is that because of Miss Nathalie?”

Gabriel pursed his lips, looking as though he’d bit straight into the center of a lemon. He scowled at Nooroo, his gaze sour.

“What are you trying to get at, Nooroo?” Gabriel questioned stiffly. Nooroo bowed his head, as if flustered, his gaze unfocused. Gabriel felt a fiery warmth sear down his front at Nooroo’s superstitious attitude. He deepened his scowl, his eyes piercing through Nooroo’s small frame. 

Nooroo began murmuring plaintively, mumbling incoherently. Gabriel huffed, “Speak up!” he demanded, his tone like gravel. 

“I–I just mean…you seem to care a lot for her, Master—”

Gabriel scoffed, “of course I do!” he snapped. 

Nooroo flinched, “I just…I just feel she cares for you too, Master. Deeply.” 

Gabriel’s muscles loosened as he bit his lip in contemplation. Nathalie’s willingness to aid him was enough to show that he did in fact matter to her. Although, he figured her devotion was due only to their long term history of friendship rather than anything conspicuous. Nathalie’s boundaries with him were firmily set, if her use of traditional formalities such as, “sir,” or “Mr. Agreste,” were anything to go off of. 

“You fear losing her, don’t you Master?”

Gabriel tensed, Nooroo’s words like shards of glass stinging at his heart. 

“Yes,” he admitted thickly.

He’d never be able to blank out those sleepless nights — his mind replaying those sparse moments in which he truly believed he had lost Nathalie forever. It had been a Monday, like any other — she had brought him his morning coffee, took Adrien to school and assisted him in whatever tasks he had needed her to attend to. All was as it had always been. 

That is until the instant in which she had collapsed to the floor of his office, a shallow echo of what had happened to Emilie. Nathalie had been unresponsive and had color draining from her face, her body had been cooling at a rapid pace, as her eyelids drooped to a close.

Since that day Gabriel had forbidden her from any use of the miraculous, for he never wanted to feel the agony of nearly losing her again. That fear of loss made him realize that Nathalie took up a much bigger part of him — more than he had ever bargained for.

Nooroo rose up to meet Gabriel’s eye, his demeanor carrying a more hopeful tinge.

“You love her, Master. Right?” He teetered. 

Gabriel felt a vise tighten around his middle at Nooroo’s words. Hearing another say the sentiment aloud made his mind turn to a complicated sludge. He could feel the launch of a scolding on the tip of his tongue but he fought to refrain because for once he couldn’t disagree. His feelings for Nathalie were more than what they appeared.

But he digressed because even if he couldn’t do anything with his feelings, other than repress them. Nathalie’s feelings still were unknown to him and he did not dare try to unearth them, despite the circumstances. 

“I do,” Gabriel affirmed with a nod.

He’d only said those words once before, the time he’d spoken those two syllables to his wife at the altar. He never thought he’d ever utter them again. 

Gabriel sighed, his lungs saturating with air, “It does not matter my feelings Nooroo. She does not share the same sentiments.” 

Nooroo squeaked, piping up, “That might not be the case Master!” He began, his little body practically emanating enthusiasm, “Miss Nathalie has very deep complex emotions that she’s been—” 

Gabriel snapped his fingers and Nooroo was again silent. He didn’t need to hear the kwami’s foolish ideals. Sure, Nooroo could sniff out intricate emotions that were buried deep in the depths of people, however that did not guarantee that such emotions rang true in Nathalie’s heart and he did not need the pointless mirage of hope. 

Unspoken emotions and silent glances were not going to change the nature of their relationship. Their dynamic was a waltz he’d grown accustomed to, no matter how many more steps he’d like to add. 

At least he was able to come to acceptance, embracing all that Nathalie had to offer would be enough,  Even if that only entailed friendship, loyalty and professionalism. 

But most of all, the least he could do for her was put her first.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed the second installment of Admiration in Disguise! Chapter Three is already in the works, so stay tuned! Also if you have any more Gabenath fanfic requests let me know and I'll get to them as soon as possible!