#Day 5: Other kwamis

[lc-holy]

Thomas Astruc and Sébastien Thibaudeau were interviewed on Catboat's Twitch channel. A 5-hour interview in which they talk about their careers, the 5 seasons of miraculous and a little about the seasons to come. (There are no spoilers about season 6, only a few teasers).

The interview will probably be available with English subtitles.

In the meantime, here's a summary of what was said in the interview about season 6 and other Miraculous projects.

Thomas has always loved SAMG's work, and it was he who strongly suggested working with them on the series. But unfortunately, they will no longer be able to work with SAMG for future seasons of Miraculous. Episode production has changed and is no longer compatible with SAMG. However, he remains open to working with them on other projects.

Miraculous will be produced entirely in France from season 6 onwards.

The interviewer asked Thomas if an OVA project with Toei was still planned. But Thomas didn't want to answer the question.

Sébastien explains that they always plan the scenarios well in advance. For example, what happens in season 6 was already planned when season 3 was written. They've already written two pages of ideas for the Season 7 finale.

Thomas says they have ideas to go to a season 12 but it will all depend on the success of the series.

It's impossible for them to have one season too many, because their work is very emotionally demanding, and if they feel that what they're doing is no longer interesting, they stop.

Sébastien hopes that Season 6 will appeal to new viewers as well as those who have been following the series since the beginning.

Miraculous will never evolve into an adult series, it will remain a children's series. But they will always try to satisfy the fans who have been following the series for years.

They also wrote the series to appeal to parents who watch Miraculous with their children.

Sebastien teased us that there will be a song in season 6.

Thomas sincerely believes that season 6 is better than season 5, which was off to a bad start because he wondered how they were going to do better than season 5.

They had a lot of fun writing this new season, and the new writers who joined the series brought a lot of good ideas.

As season 6 begins a new arc, they consider it a season 1.

And with the new animation style, season 6 will bring a lot of new storytelling. It will be different. The stories won't be like the other seasons.

Some people will probably complain that it's different, that it's not like before. It's a question of adaptation.

Sebastien says we'll appreciate season 6 even more when season 7 comes out.

They don't know yet whether the theme song will change. Thomas would like to change, but he knows the fans love the theme song so they don't know yet.

Thomas hints that he didn't write the Shadybug and Claw noir universe to exploit it in a single special. But he remains very vague.

Thomas explains that there are many details in previous seasons that fans didn't understand, but which will make sense in later seasons.

There's a reason why Lila is a mythomaniac, and they'll tell it one day in the series. Thomas even says they've already told it in the series, but we haven't figured it out yet.

Thomas says that Chloe will remain an important character in the coming seasons, as she has always been in the series.

They have clarified that the new animation for the new seasons will have nothing in common with that of the Miraculous movie. Because the movie and the series are not linked.

They will soon be meeting to decide whether Miraculous will be made into a live-action series or not. It will be different from the series. Thomas mentions kwamis in particular, which are complicated to integrate into live action. Thomas has already written the concept. For the series to see the light of day, it will mainly be a question of budget.

[grilledcheese-savage]

Opposites Detract AU part 2

I left some things out but here’s a clearer picture of what the rest of the story would have been like.

Pls read the og post right here

https://www.tumblr.com/grilledcheese-savage/763805500110487552/new-au-idea-opposites-detract-i-came-up-with-this

For some reason it won’t let me link it normally

Ok so as you can see in the picture, Marinette is Multimouse… but is that all she is?

For the first “season” or less, she is a civilian. She is free to live her life normally without having to take any unnecessary risks. Until she runs into this old man (master fu) and helps him out. I always thought this would be during feast or a situation like that, where either he’s in turtle hero form and she acts as a shield for him, or helps him like the first episode as a civilian. Either way, Master fu remembers this. He tests her more than he did chat noir and la coccinelle because it turned out pretty poor last time. He has paranoia. But Marinette is a pure soul so he leads her to his shop and reveals the miraculous to her eventually, UNBEKNOWNST TO CHAT NOIR AND LA COCCINELLE. Because while he was hoping the next guardian would have been ladybug, he needed a person he could truely trust. And that turned out to be Marinette. She becomes the guardian for the same reasons in the original, it becomes to dangerous for him to continue and he loses his memory. But Marinette continues to work in his shop (a cover for guardian duties).

Lila and Adrien also “work” at his antique shop but neither of them know she’s the new guardian (yet) I’m not sure if they’d find out immediately after master fu has to quit, or Marinette keeps up the charade a little longer. I think it’s more fun to imagine her knowing more than she let on.

When she meets master fu at first and starts training under him, she doesn’t get to keep a miraculous. She works under a lot more conditions than the others do since her job keeping secrets is incredibly important and fu still struggles to trust her. Eventually she proves herself of course, but the pressure of being guardian is so much to handle.

Adrien was going to be a guardian at first since he gained more of Fu’s trust than Lila, but since he has the Kwami of destruction, just like that other guardian man that I can’t remember the name of, they all have some kind of bias against them. He couldn’t trust him not to take the miraculous of the ladybug and grant a wish, even if he kept that from him. He also just doesn’t get along with La coccinelle at all, so he couldn’t have someone with a bias be guardian (he’s hypocritical).

More about Adrien: As cat noir he doesn’t get to be his flirtatious persona he originally has, instead he takes on a more serious altruistic approach since he is pretty hated unanimously by the public. His persona becomes more of a lie, as he tries to undo all of the hatred that came from the destruction of Paris that first day. Think of goro akechi in persona 5; he learns to distain his constant visual presence, the fact on and off the job he is constantly being watched. There’s not a moment that either one of his selves is on tv. And because he’s being filmed there are quick moments the news capture of him being kind to the public and turning around with a resentful face on. He doesn’t totally get to enjoy his freedom as chat noir since the police always try to capture him. But they fail to, and there’s a still a small few of fans of theirs that defend them.

Basically he gets cancelled a lot. 😅

La coccinelle is allowed to pick a miraculous to help her ONE TIME by Master fu, and she picked Chloe Bougeious with the bee miraculous. Chloe accepted and caused a lot of mayhem. Which was fixed. But after that was when he met Marinette and started planning defense and strategy with her. So the next time they needed help, he sent Marinette as multimouse which pissed Lila off because it made her think master fu still didn’t believe she could handle it. When really it was a mix of both not trusting her, and the fact that Marinette was prepared for a lot longer then she was.

This makes lila have a one-sided beef with multimouse, even though she’s secretly her civilian crush Marinette. Love square? Ehh. What Lila doesn’t realize is behind the scenes Marinette doesn’t hold any ill-will for Coccinelle. In fact, she defends her to master fu and convinces him to give Lila more freedom more often. But of course, doesn’t know this. And the unspoken beef continues.

Now, for Kagami and Luka’s place in this story.

While Marinette is a civilian she meets Luka and they become friends very quickly. Same with Adrien and kagami. But at this point in time, Adrien doesn’t really have a crush on kagami, since the slippery slope of coincidences caused Adrien to have a crush on Marinette first. Kagami however seems to be the only one who sees this darkness brewing in Adrien (emo I know, but I digress) Kagami, does in fact, gain a crush on Adrien because she thinks he’s like her- lost in this world, without a lot of friends to help.

Luka and Marinette however, still get together but after Marinette becomes a guardian. They don’t last very long because of this, because her constant work between the bakery, the antique shop, guardianship etc. makes her late to everything they plan to do together. Luka ends things believing that Marinette only likes him as a friend and that’s why she puts work ahead of him everytime. This breaks Marinette’s heart, even though she understands, so she accidentally ends up saying in front of Adrien that she’s not dating anymore, and is focusing on her career. Marinette is oblivious to the fact that both lila and Adrien have a crush on her.

Marinette sees that Luka is responsible and puts his feelings aside for the greater good and chooses him to have the snake miraculous part time. When she is multimouse, she’s pretty awkward around him since things left off kind of sad, but since Superion doesn’t know that Marinette is multimouse, he just assumes she’s shy or doesn’t like him. This is obviously not true. In fact, Luka becomes the more “chat noir” type in this, teasing the group and very lightly flirting with her. BECAUSE IT WOULD BE FUNNY AND UNPREDICTABLE. I see him being very suave with his harp. Like every musician is lol.

Kagami and Adrien don’t work out either, because deep down, even if he is getting more resentful of being pushed around and molded into a person he doesn’t know, he still is naturally kind hearted and knows that his resentment won’t last….. hopefully. And Kagami only has that, and fencing in common with him, at least in this universe so they stay friends. Plus she meets Felix anyways.

Speaking of Felix. He.. generally stays the same? Here’s the difference, when he say them on the news on day he judged them. Then when he saw/ met more of chat noir, he started to believe that they were like him and saw the world the same way as he did and starts to commit similar atrocities in the show with the peacock miraculous in hopes that since they were the same, they’d leave him be.

Since chat noir is growing increasingly disdainful, he more or less does want to leave him alone, but the part of him that knows it’s his duty wins every time since he is , still, a little more responsible in this than the show.

Also a reminder, Adrien doesn’t start out like this, he’s still the show’s version at the beginning, he just changes with every situation they find themselves in. So when Felix eventually comes to meet him, he assumes Adrien is the same as always- a goody two shoes who does what he’s told. That couldn’t be further from the truth 😂

Adrien is similar to Felix but still mostly tries to act like his old self, since it’s easier and gets him places. But when Felix comes over and is cold, Adrien gets frustrated and his resentful, chat noir self comes to life. Felix was so stunned by the slip up that he just, shut up. And left. Very confused.

Anyways I have many different ways of imagining Felix seeing the more contemptuous Adrien. He becomes much more interested in him. He wants to learn more, because maybe he’s not alone.

Idk what do you guys think? Should Adrien be the guardian? What would Alya’s role be? Pls reblog more ideas and add on to the AU!

Thanks!

[love4ng1e]

༄ Some of the stuff I've manifested for 2025.

1. Unlimited money in my bank account.

My card never declines regardless if I spend millions basically.

2. Name never gets mispronounced.

My actual name gets mispronounced way too often, and I got sick of correcting people, so now I don't have to anymore.

3. Ability to read people's minds.

I don't even know how that works. I just know what people are going to say before they say it and I'm always correct.

4. Knowing how to Ice skate.

I didn't know how to ice skate, and now I can, and I can damn well too.

5. A Kwami.

My Kwami is named Lilaa, and she listens to me yap and fits in my pockets. Kwamis are from Miraculous Ladybug if you are wondering.

6. Long natural nails that never break.

I used to have very long natural nails, but they got damaged because of acrylics, so I manifested those back plus that they never break or get damaged.

7. Everyone in my family being kind to one another.

Self-explanatory. Also that we never argue because I'm tired of arguments.

8. Always having yummy food in the fridge.

I grew up in an ingredient household, and I was always starving so I manifested that there is always food in my house.

9. Racist, sexist, and homophobic people not exist in my school or my erea.

Self-explanatory. Eventually, I will manifest that they don't exist in the whole world, but I like starting off small so I can see the progress.

10. Ability to see people's auras.

It's cool. Also, I can see who's having a bad day so I can comfort them, and they hit me with the "how'd you know?"

There's at least quadruple more this list, so let me know for part two.

༄ How I personally did it.

Step 1: Scripting.

I used Notion, but you don't have to. Google documents, a piece of paper, or the Notes app is perfect too.

I didn't do anything fancy. Kept it simple. Feel free to do it the way I did it if you want to.

Step 2: Choosing an affirmation.

Next, choose an affirmation that would represent your whole script. Can be anything.

Step 3: Repeat that affirmation.

I repeated my chosen affirmation whenever during the day, but especially before sleeping.

Step 4: Assume and persist.

The way I assumed was that during my sleep, I was taking the train. The train from my current reality to my desired reality.

The way I persisted was if I woke up and I "didn't" have my desires, then the train just had a malfunction, and I'll arrive shortly.

Smart? I know 😉. Feel free to assume and persist the way I do or any other way you want.

Step 5: Celebrate!!

That was about it. I got my desires. If I can do it, you automatically can too. Just because it's 2025 doesn't mean it's too late, so go manifest!!

Also, let me know if you guys like the new theme for 2025.

[maddascanbe-blog]

Huh, I expected to get my drawing of Teen Zoé done for the redesigns first. Oh well... Only Kwami-swaps of the Lifeswap AU!

Meet Amaranth and Cerastes!

For no reason at all I decided to give Swap-Zoé long hair and Swap-Chloé shorter hair. Which is the exact opposite of my normal redesigns for them.

André won the custody battle for Zoé, and put his best foot forward into raising her and Chloé. Zoé is similar to how she is in cannon, late season 5. But she still learned how to mirror people, convincing them to lower their guard around her. She is a politicians daughter after all, and having people on your side is most important when convincing people to follow you. Zoé ultimately wants to do good for Paris, and is good friends with Ivan and the other members of Kitty section due to their activist mindsets.

Zoé's biggest fear is the secret of her being not André's biological daughter coming to light. He told her when she was 13 because he worried her biological father might try and regain custody in order to extort André for money. He made it clear in no uncertain terms that she is Zoé Bourgeois, the youngest of the family, Chloé's sister, and his daughter.

While she is happy André won't give her up for anything, she finds a new resentment for Audrey. And lives in fear this will harm her father's reputation, change how her relationship with her sister works, and effect how her friends see her, should it ever come to light.

Chloé's know for years that Zoé was the result of Audrey's cheating, she knew that one of the contentions during the divorce was that Audrey was barely in Paris the entire first 2 years of Chloé's life. The math didn't math, so she pieced together the truth. This only added fuel to her burning hatred for Audrey, Zoé is her little sister.

As Amaranth, Zoé makes her voice Heard! There is no stopping her once she's set her mind to it. I based her outfit on a womens power suit, and those asymmetrically colored biker jackets.

Juleka meanwhile, grew up with Anarka. She remembered her brother from when they were little, and is a tad horrified at who he's grown up to be. With Luka gone, Juleka lost her spark and her voice. She almost never talks, and doesn't stand up for anything. She just goes through the motions most days. Anarka tried to bring that light back to her daughters eyes, but every step forward has two steps back taken by Juleka's bullies. Being a quiet kid, who's mom can't keep a job, wears hand me downs, and whose dad ran off didn't leave much to be desired when it came to options of being harrassed.

Finally Anarka broke and asked Jagged to let the twins reunite. She hoped this might be a chance for Juleka to find herself again. And while Luka had changed too much from her caring and strong twin, she did find Zoé, Marinette, Adrien, and the members of Kitty Section.

Do you remember Juleka helping Zoé dye her hair in Sole Crusher? Well this time it happens in reverse. After getting comfortable with the group, she approaches Zoé about getting her hair colored. Naturally, Zoé's gotta help her girly out.

After Luka is deemed no longer suitable to be a miraculous holder, Ladybug and Chat Noir decide to give Juleka a chance. Cerastes isn't flashy, or confident. She's stealthy, sharp, and attentive.

Juleka's spent years just adapting to new situations and learning to read people for the sake of surviving, and it comes in handy when it comes to figuring out Akuma's.

Unshockingly, Luka isn't happy to see his miraculous used by someone else, though it does take a while to get there since Cerastes doesn't even get properly seen for ages. She's very good at disappearing.

Anarka is so relieved that Juleka finally found her people, that she's even willing to stay in Paris to keep her close to her friends. She still struggles to keep a normal job, but anything to see her little girl smile again.

[ilikekidsshows]

Not to sure how to phrase this in a way that doesn't sound like Marinette salt, but I was curious about the morality of this option.

Since the show since s4 goes on and on about how unbearable every walking moment as Ladybug is now for Marinette to the point where she can do awful things to people and abuse her powers without ever being asked to finally learn from it and improve bc that's too stressful and horrible to Marinette

Well, at what point is it just the reasonable thing to do to propose Marinette giving up her Guardianship so she can go back to being a normal girl with a normal life?

It would be a loss, but let's not pretend like Marinette is gonna loose 90% of her life. She would loose A YEAR which was supposedly so torturous to her that she now thinks she's the embodiment of Truth and the Queen of Reality?

Just go to Suhan, tell him her job was defeating Hawkmoth and that's done now and she doesn't feel like she's suitable anymore to continue. She wants her normal life back, all she's asking for is that she gets to tell her parents first so they can properly go about this.

Overall, making it happen that the people in Marinette's life think she had some sort of accident (maybe even through being the victim of magic) that left her tragically without memories of the last year is doable. Anyone who claims otherwise is just making up excuses.

What would she even loose besides her status as the new anti-hero Queen of the Galaxy (that is 10 seconds and one disagreement away from her villain arc)? She will keep all her friends, her family will be in the know and take care of her, she will keep Adrien, she has a promising and bright future ahead of her anyway, and she only lost ONE year. Not a lifetime. One year.

The only 'loss' she would have is Cat Noir but season 4 and 5 made it very clear that he has no room in her life beyond being her battle care taker and pet to sacrifice. We saw it the entire time that he and his presence mean very little to her in her real life and she doesn't want him to be part of it. She has no interest in getting to know him either. We saw it in Kwamis Choice, this is not a real loss for Marinette. She'd get over it in a week at most.

So what exactly is stopping her from dipping out when apparently every breath she takes is torture now so she "gets" to take that out on everyone else to make sure SHE is fine before all else?

Just leave. You HAVE the option of leaving it all behind you! Tell Suhan and Alya to watch out for the new Butterfly wanting to drag Marinette back into it and call it a day. At that point Marinette would be of no use for Lila to target anyway if she actually wants to accomplish something with the wish. If Marinette isn't Ladybug anymore and has no memories of anything then Lila will never accomplish anything by going after her. Just LEAVE. At what point is that just the logical thing to propose when Marinette herself has no connection to shit and only makes it worse for the victims?

I don't mean this in the salty way, that's a genuine question. Marinette is not owed to reign the universe as Ladybug and have victims because she had a shit year. And very obviously this role is VERY BAD for her mental health since that's her never-ending excuse for making things worse for other people and not doing her actual job as Ladybug.

Yes she's 14 years old, but that's also it. She's a 14 year old in a position that's now clearly doing herself and the world more harm tham good because she's not cut out out right now to be a super hero guardian leader who has to take care of PEOPLE and VICTIMS before herself. There is no reason for her to continue staying in her position that'll only make things worse. Just leave. UNLIKE MOST OTHERS YOU HAVE THE OPTION.

---

The only thing I can think of is “people are counting on me!” but, like, girl, you're not irreplaceable. Anyone somewhat heroic could be Ladybug and would be more motivated to do it than Marinette “I knew Gabriel was Hawk Moth and intended to ignore it” Dupain-Cheng (although, I’m pretty sure that writers will retcon that dereliction of duty by the time season 6 airs). She only hangs on to her position because it's a pattern for her to just whine about how badly she has it while doing nothing to try to change things even when she's the one with all the power and control.

Marinette clearly doesn't want to be a superhero, she always has complaints about her job and "saving people" isn't exactly a passion of hers. She's far more enthusiastic about doing more mundane favors for people, which is why she actually wants to be and likes being class president. The difference between how Marinette treats her class presidency and how she treats her roled as Ladybug/Guardian couldn't make this clearer. Even pre-retool, Marinette never voiced any kind of enjoyment towards her role as Ladybug, and post-retool, she only brings up having superpowers and the Kwamis as a perk to Alya. Basically, the thing she gets out of being Ladybug is feeling special.

The reasons we can come up with for why Marinette has to keep going on as Ladybug while it's clearly ruining her mental health are all pretty self-centered. She thinks she's so much better at being Ladybug than anyone else that she's irreplaceable. She can't stand forgetting a year of her life because that's her life and her remembering it is more important than the people she's harming, including herself, by upholding the status quo the way she does. That's her title and she should get to keep it because it's hers. She's so important, valued, appreciated and celebrated as Ladybug that she couldn't possibly go back to being just plain Marinette, because she's so blind to how beloved she is and how much people celebrate her mere existence that she probably thinks she’d be left with nothing and no one.

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Fic Prompt: Hawkmoth Gets Owned By Various Fictional Detectives

Basically I want to see Hawkmoth/Shadowmoth/Poopmoth/Monarch fail more since he kinda sorta won last season. And it's also crossovers where different fictional detectives (or just people on the Kira case square,) out Hawkmoth as Gabriel Agreste once and for all and hopefully do similar stuff such as outing Lila as a liar, dragging down other corrupt adults like Tomoe and Audrey, etc. and also just various funny moments with these characters interacting with the Miracucast. Here's some ideas I have from characters I know or are just interested in:

Lieutenant Columbo. I already made a post detailing it.

L from Death Note. I haven't watched Death Note, but if the memeposts are to be believed, he would outthink Gabriel Agreste at every turn. Probably ask him to show what's behind his ascot.

Shuichi Saihara from Danganronpa V3. Aside from him deducing Gabriel as Hawkmoth with the help from his friends, imagine the shenanigans. Gonta being ecstatic for the bug-themed heroes and how nicely they treat the purified butterflies. Kokichi takes down Lila by being Kokichi. Tenko is aware of the plot and tries to get Marigami together and make them kiss, alongside getting an Julerose kiss. Kiibo and Markov bond. So do Kaito and Rose. Kirumi somehow becomes mayor of Paris.

The Scooby Gang. In general I like the concept of silly guys managing to defeat Hawkmoth. They would accidentally find the secret elevator to Emile's pod and manage to use Ladybug and Chat Noir as bait for a trap and at the end, (since I like to imagine they're meddling adults at this point,) Gabriel Agreste grumbles that "at least it wasn't those meddling kids Ladybug and Chat Noir." They also take down the rest of Paris's elite because that's who the villains of Scooby Doo are.

The Duwang Gang. I think Kwamis and Miraculous heroes can see stands, but I'm unsure about akumatized people. Maybe. It turns out Crazy Diamond can heal people wounded by the Peacock but they pull the plug on Emile for the health of everyone. Rohan Kishibe uses Heaven's Door on the Miracukids and gets into accidental meta commentary upon discovering the full love square. He also uses Heaven's Door on Luka and it's sheet music. Maybe let Yukako join in too because of how much of a romancefest this show is and also because I like her and she had such a big presence in Great Days. Gabriel Agreste ends up with a similar fate to Yoshikage Kira, being surrounded by our heroes and helpless to do anything.

Sam and Max. I don't know much about them other that they're 1. funny guys, and 2. might just end up hitting Gabriel Agreste with their car.

Steve from Blue's Clues. Aside from the inherent humor of an educational kids show host taking down a terrorist supervillain, it also implies Blue knows who Hawkmoth is. Steve sits on the thinking chair to deduce Hawkmoth's identity and where he's hiding.

Courage the Cowardly Dog. Maybe Muriel and Eustace are dead and he was sent to live with Mylene and her dad. I feel like they'd get along well. Or maybe they're still alive and just visiting Paris and Muriel and Eustace are staying with Mylene and her dad. Either way I think this should take place around season 5 because the alliance ring works well with Courage's themes of paranoia over something supernatural putting your family at risk.

Agent P. Maybe Hawkmoth gets so desperate he gets Doctor Doofenshmirtz to build a wife-revive inator only for Emile to end up in another coma after accidentally pressing the self-destruct button on said inator. No one recognizes Agent P without his hat because this is Miraculous and people are dumb. Perry gets to beat the stuffing and tar out of Hawkmoth. Doof betrays him when he learns about how shitty of a dad he is. The miraculous heroes are allowed into OWCA on account of the animal theming.

The Smiling Friends. It starts off with a mission involving all of the main four helping Marinette smile and spirals down from there.

Not Batman. I've had enough Miraculous-Batman crossovers for one eternity.

[flightfoot]

recs for older/future ladynoir/time skip post show? like early to mid 20s where they're still ladybug and chat noir, i keep looking but can never really find anything except where chat noir goes off grid, but i think i'm just bad at it haha

Hm... yeah there are definitely some out there, though most of them are post-reveal. I dunno if that's what you're looking for, but I'll just see what I can find. I'm assuming, based on this description, that you're looking for something where Ladybug and Chat Noir are superheroes, and not a No Powers AU.

---

Boulangerella by @aidanchaser

Once upon a time, magic was wild. The two princes of the kingdom have been tasked with choosing their brides by the end of their 21st birthday celebrations. Crown Prince Adrien Agreste will have to choose between a woman who can protect his kingdom, a woman offering the power to wake his sleeping mother, and the woman he has loved and admired for the past year. Then there's also the seamstress that he is suddenly falling for. By the time he realizes he doesn't have the power to choose at all, it may be too late.

I love a good fairy tale AU, and this is no exception. Aidanchaser started writing it before Season 5 came out, so it's wrong about some things. Most notably, Felix's posthumous father was a good and decent person here, and one of the twin rings is Felix's Amok while the other one is Adrien's Amok, instead of both of them being Adrien's Amok.

This was a well-crafted tale, with kwamis operating as Fae: they can give power, but only if the wielder gives something up to pay for it. For temporary usage of their power, it can be something small and innocuous, such as giving Plagg cheese in exchange for his help. More expansive uses of their power requires greater sacrifices however, even sacrificing more nebulous things such as memories or hope.

The kingdom's currently being terrorized by this unknown villain, Hawk Moth, as in the show. Ladybug and Chat Noir emerge to battle him, but for some reason (*cough, cough*), King Gabriel isn't fond of the superheroes and wants them captured.

Gabriel isn't the only threat out there, Lila's skulking around, hinting that she knows how to wake up Emilie from her mysterious illness, if only Adrien marries her. And she's not about to take no for an answer.

If you've been wanting a fairy tale/fantasy Miraculous AU, I recommend giving Boulangerella a shot!

---

Through Yellow Eyes by @echo-has-queries

"Nooroo bleeds and Paris drowns in his blood." The day of the Blight, Paris bore witness to a horror too grand to comprehend. Only Chloé Bourgeois bore witness to a miracle. Marinette, Alya and the rest of Paris will need more than faith in Gimmi to survive. As the city's sanity hangs by a thread, bodies, minds, and souls are traded with the unknown in order to hold on to the things they each treasure most. Written for the AU Roulette Challenge 2024 with the prompt: Cosmic Horror AU

If you like Cosmic Horror (Lovecraftian I think? Though this isn't really my wheelhouse), then this is the story for you! I love seeing how Paris copes with the madness seeping through its streets, somehow going about daily life despite it all.

Kwamis here are more inhuman, more separated from humanity. There's no cute little miniature form to help bridge the gap. While humans can still meld with kwami, it's not all quite as firmly in the human's control as it normally is, and the side effects are worse. It doesn't help that the kwamis can't fully understand squishy little humans' wants, needs, or morality.

Like, as Ladybug, Marinette can't remember her human name, and her human concerns are somewhat muted. While as Marinette, she can't remember certain aspects of her time as Ladybug, and only regains those memories when she transforms again. She also has to be careful about restoring everything, as she can't just give Tikki a cookie and call it a day. Instead, she herself needs to eat enough to compensate for the lost energy, which can be a substantial portion of the goods in her parents' bakery.

As for Adrien... well, this is still going off of Sentimonster Adrien, though the ritual to create him went differently... and went wrong. But he is still Adrien.

Chloe's interesting as well, she's this sort of priest, this missionary for the kwamis, but her methods are... well, not the best. She still has a bunch of her canonical hangups, even though she IS somewhat helpful.

I love Alya in here, she's just desperately trying to figure out what's going on so that she can try to fix it, especially since Nino's one of the people who's been driven mad by the Blight. She does find some answers, and even ends up being partially responsible for Ladybug's creation and Chat's and Ladybug's subsequent fight against the worst effects of the Blight, but the risks, danger, and side effects she suffers are still significant. Though some of those side effects can be used to her advantage.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this AU and thought it was an interesting take on the subject, I highly recommend checking it out!

---

Mamma Mia! by @ladynoirfanao3

When Marinette discovers she is pregnant, she is distressed to realize any of the three men she slept with in the recent past could be the father; Chat Noir, Ladybug’s partner and ex with whom she had gone through a tearful breakup - the mysterious Cat Walker, Ladybug’s rebound - or Adrien Agreste, Marinette’s current boyfriend. Bit of a twist on the base concept of Mamma Mia, where she doesn't realize all three potential fathers are, in fact, the same man.

So this is a fun little fic. I loved seeing Adrien and Marinette independently wrestle with the situation - Adrien, with maybe being the father of his former girlfriend's children (but maybe not), and Marinette, with needing to tell her former and current boyfriends that they might or might not be the father, and having to deal with a potential change in their relationship because of that.

Oh yeah, this fic is rated M, but the sexual content is relatively mild. The foreplay is detailed, but the actual sex is just implied.

---

Fate, Destiny... A Hamster by @mostmagical

After finally moving into his very first apartment per Ladybug’s suggestion, Adrien discovers something no movie or TV show could have ever prepared him for: someone else's hamster.

Marinette was so excited to have her first pet. If only it would stop escaping!

At least now there’s an excuse to talk to the new neighbor.

(Adrienette Never Met AU)

Funnily enough, this is based on a true story. Specifically, the author’s own experience of having her hamster run out and be found by a neighbor.

Anyway, this is adorable! Marinette and Adrien become smitten with each other extremely quickly, with Marinette’s hamster keeping giving them reasons to talk. Very effective wing-hamster, that one XD. 

---

I (Wish I) Knew You by @buggachat

University has been hard on Marinette. Making new friends and maintaining her grades is a lot easier said than done when she has to disappear at odd times to fight akumas. She's struggling, and with Alya away with family and Adrien painfully out of reach, she's never felt lonelier.

If only she could talk to someone who really understood her struggles... but it's not like Chat Noir would know anything about loneliness. Right?

Nice aged-up Ladynoir fic here! Marinette’s struggling with losing friends and lovers because of her flakiness due to her superhero activities, until at last she breaks down. Thankfully, Chat Noir’s there at least - and it soon turns out he’s got problems of his own that he’s been hiding.

There’s some fluff and angst, it’s mostly just the two of them navigating life, dealing with their feelings and talking things out.

---

Tell Me Why You Love Me by @linnieluna

“Anyway, that piece of paper contains the name of this texting app. It’s completely anonymous, so you can download it, make your account with no attachments to your personal life, and communicate with me outside our suits. I included my username on the paper, too, so you can add me once you’re done."

Her partner skimmed through the words on the paper and nodded his head. “Brilliant as always, M’lady. I’m surprised we didn’t figure this out sooner within our superhero careers.”

“Yeah, it would’ve been nice to have this before, but hey, better late than never. Make sure not to have your phone screen on the messages if you’re going to leave it somewhere. We don’t want anyone reading our texts. Also, this is for emergencies only. No jokes or puns. I can only deal with you for so long.”

“I don’t know if I can agree to that last one,” he said.

Now 22 and working full-time, Marinette and Adrien seem to be getting busier and busier, which means fewer opportunities to keep track of akumas and show up on time. With the idea of using a messaging app to communicate with each other without revealing their identities, their lives immediately grew to be easier... until it wasn't.

This starts off as a mostly slice-of-life fluff fic, but about halfway through things turn dramatic when Monarch learns some things he really shouldn’t and takes action. I had a lot of fun with it as it was coming out, it’s worth a read.

---

Wedding Belle by Ilioneththird

Monarch is gone but the Butterfly has taken his place. When an old schoolmate of Marinette’s from her Francois Dupont days gets upset that a couple who have been engaged for a long time still aren’t making any wedding plans, the Butterfly akumatizes her into Wedding Belle, a supervillain with the power to force couples to get married. Guess which other longstanding couples and “just friends” she will target 😉

---

Love is Blind by @jennagrinsoverml

Tired of all of his potential girlfriends being blinded by his face, his fame and his name, Adrien takes a chance to compete on Love Is Blind: France, where he hopes that dating without seeing each other—or learning each other’s names—will finally help him to be lucky in love. What will he do when he realizes that his Lady is one of the contestants, however? And will he be able to win her heart where he’s never succeeded before? Meanwhile, Marinette is looking to meet the right guy after years of pining away for someone who has only ever seen her as a friend. She’s not entirely sure if she can fall in love with someone without seeing them, but the things that have always mattered to her most are the kinds of things that can’t be seen. What will she do when she realizes her heart is being pulled in two directions? And will she be ready to make a decision in time?

---

Remember That Time When by @mostlovedgirl-writes

Twenty-two-year-old Marinette Agreste was looking forward to the anniversary trip she would be taking with her husband Adrien that weekend. Those plans are derailed when she wakes up in her old bedroom... and she’s seventeen again.

[celestiall0tus]

Bloody Bug Kwami Factory Reset - New Concepts, Powers, and More

Alright, with the reset chapter 68 of Bloody Bug, there has been a major change with the kwamis. I will still detail it in the story, however I will also put it here as a reference to fall back onto for those that like this stuff when it comes to my AUs (looks over at the Holder Powers master list). Alright, let's crack into this.

The Reset:

For those that haven't caught up, or haven't read it but are just here, the kwamis were reset to their original states when they were created by the Mage. It was discovered the Order had put limitations on the kwamis because they believed them too dangerous to leave as is and changed them. However, with the help of Tikki, Adrien, and Kagami, the kwamis have been returned to that state. With this comes some other big changes.

What was Lost:

The protections and limitations the Order of Guardians had created are gone. This means the following:

There is no safeguard to protect a holder's identity

There are no safeguards to keep a holder from using their powers as many times as they want, much like Shadybug and Claw Noir. However, unlike them, the holder isn't damaged, but like in Paradise AU, they lose lifeforce. It grows from seconds, to minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and finally years. This can be offset by the tier system that remains in place.

Kwamis are no longer subservient to humanity. They cannot be ordered to do anything, cannot be commanded so easily, and can straight up refuse to comply.

Kwamis can choose their own holders, for better or worse. In some cases, a kwami can override a person's consent and take them as their holder regardless, leading to its own consequences. They aren't bound to the holder either and may leave whenever they please.

The kwamis now embody their original concepts or the full range of their concepts. As such, many of their personalities and other aspects will be far different from canon.

Bad things don't happen when kwamis use their powers without holders.

What was Gained:

With the kwamis returned and fully embodying their concepts, the tiers of holders have been expanded with their new abilities. However, as it was stated, the higher up they are in these tiers, the less human the holders become and the harder it is for them to exist without kwamis, and for the kwamis to let them go. This was seen a little with Mayura and how inhuman she was, but will be driven home soon.

Kwamis have gained the ability to shapeshift, be it into their animals or humans. How they look as either is purely cosmetic to them. Their memories and experiences have been returned, including the ones that had belong to Velze. They are once again able to speak freely of him.

Now, the tiers reworked with the changes:

Tier 1: Baseline Holder. These are the very basic, very human of the holders. They still don't retain any special abilities and can only use their one power about once before they start drawing on their own lifeforce.

Tier 2: Enlightened Holder. These are the holders capable of 2-4 kwami unifications. They also gain another power, another use of their powers (2 max), and have a couple of passive abilities related to their kwami's animal.

Tier 3: Awakened Holder. These are the holders capable of amalgamation unifications/Velze unifications/5 kwami unifications. They also gain a couple of passives related to their kwami's concept along with another power, plus two more charges (making it up to 4 charges total). This is when holders have their strength, speed, and agility boosted in and out of transformations.

Tier 4: Mythic Holder. These are the holders that are capable of fusing with kwamis, allowing them access to primal forms. They gain a pair of passives related to both animal and concept. And gain another boost to strength, speed, and agility in and out of transformations.

Tier 5: Ascended Holders. These are the holders that are more kwami than human. They experience a small fraction of human needs such as hunger and sleep (Ie they get hungry about once a day, and need only sleep for 4 hours max). Their powers and charges are maxed out at 6 and they no longer need to speak to use their powers. They are deadly to holders lower than them with their attributes maxed out, in and out of transformations, making them closer to demigods. Paled in comparison to only one tier.

Tier 6: Mantle. The final and deadliest of tiers. No elixir exists to elevate a holder to this state. A holder must have a perfect bond with a kwami, then ingest the kwami. If they survive the process, they become the kwami, giving them access to all powers, near unlimited uses, disease immunity, can transform at will, and shapeshifting. However, the holder becomes their kwami's personality, relationships, and more (ie Duusu's Mantle becoming more emotional and sensitive, Tikki and Plagg's Mantles taking on their more romantic bond, etc). In addition, if there are other Mantles, they are able to fuse with other kwamis or Mantles. The only death for a Mantle is another Mantle, old age, or overusing powers.

Now the biggest of them...

Holders, their powers and weapons:

Let's get this started. You'll get the activation phrase, powers (listed by tiers), tools/weapon, and whatever else I may forget to mention. I will also only be doing the holders that have made it to this point. Sorry to Badb, Porcelet, Fennec, and Bomb Bee.

We start with the leading lady herself, Bloody Bug. Let's crack into this:

Concept: Creation

Tool/Weapon: Yo-yo

Transformation phrase: Tikki, spots on

Power phrases: Create (Object Creation), Form (Matter Creation), Walk (Construct Creation)

Tier 1: Power allows her to create objects.

Tier 2: Passives gained are walking on walls and ceilings (like spiderman) and hovering (which she does with her "skates"). Power gained is Construct Creation.

Tier 3: Passives gained are passive creative aura and Recreation. Power gained is Matter Creation.

Tier 4: Passives gained are Advantage Creation and Flight.

Next, the leading guy, Chat Noir.

Concept: Destruction

Tool/Weapon: Staff

Transformation phrase: Plagg, Claws Out

Power phrases: Cataclysm (Object Destruction), Ruin (Irreversible Destruction), Erase (Erasure)

Tier 1: Power allows him to destroy objects.

Tier 2: Passives gained are night vision and scale vertical surfaces. Power gained is Erasure.

Tier 3: Passives gained are passive destructive aura and destabilization. Power gained is Irreversible Destruction.

Tier 4: Passives gained are Decay and Claw Damage.

Chloe Bourgeois as Gallic Chick

Concept: Ambition

Tool/Weapon: Feather Pen

Transformation phrase: Orikko, Sunrise

Power phrases: Sublimation (Power Choice), Read (Attack Predication)

Tier 1: Power allows her access to any power to achieve her goals not governed by another kwami.

Tier 2: Passives gained are rooster crow that can be heard for miles and rooster spurs. Power gained is Attack Prediction.

Mylene Haprele as Hydra

Concept: Nature

Tool/Weapon: Sword and Shield

Transformation phrase: Longg, Ascension

Power phrases: Nature (Nature Manipulation), Water (Water Manipulation)

Tier 1: Power is nature manipulation.

Tier 2: Passives gained are breathe underwater and frightening roar. Power gained is water manipulation.

Max Kante as Apollo

Concept: Augmentation

Tool/Weapon: Grimoire

Transformation phrase: Mullo, Get Squeaky

Power phrases: Strengthen (Physical Augmentation), Boost (Power Augmentation)

Tier 1: Power allows him to enhance the physical capabilities of a single target.

Tier 2: Passives gained are enhanced hearing and able to scale surfaces quickly. Power gained is Power Augmentation.

Le Chien Kim as Minotaur

Concept: Willpower

Tool/Weapon: Warhammer

Transformation phrase: Stompp, Charge Ahead

Power phrases: Superior (Superiority), Unyielding (Power Invulnerability)

Tier 1: Power is Power Invulnerability.

Tier 2: Passives gained he has a higher pain tolerance (allowing him to take more hits) and can do a bull charge that cannot be interrupted. Power gained allows him to become greater than his opponent.

Marc Anciel as Ouroboros.

Concept: Clairvoyance

Tool/Weapon: Crystal Ball

Transformation phrase: Sass, Scales Slither

Power phrases: Foresee (Prophecy), Overlap (Astral Vision)

Tier 1: Power is Prophecy.

Tier 2: Passives gained are infrared vision at night and can glide. Power gained is Astral Vision.

Rose Lavillant as Pom Pom

Concept: Protection

Tool/Weapon: Throwing Knives

Transformation phrase: Barkk, Let's Play

Power phrases: Safeguard (Defense Augmentation), Break (Defense Weakening)

Tier 1: Power is Defense Augmentation.

Tier 2: Passives gained are enhanced smell and enhanced hearing. Power gained allows her to weaken defenses.

Ivan Bruel as Crimson Tiger

Concept: Power

Tool/Weapon: Gauntlets

Transformation phrase: Roarr, Stripes On

Power phrases: Clout (Super Punch), Copy (Power Mimicry)

Tier 1: Power is Clout.

Tier 2: Passives gained are night vision and claw damage. Power gained is Power Mimicry.

Kagami Tsurugi as Serow

Concept: Devotion

Tool/Weapon: Prayer Beads

Transformation phrase: Ziggy, Bleat it

Power phrases: Obey (Command)

Tier 1: Power is Command

Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ao

Concept: Philosophy

Tool/Weapon: Shield

Transformation phrase: Wayzz, shell on

Power phrases: Judgement (Character Judgement Mastery)

Tier 1: Power is Character Judgement Mastery.

Nino Lahiffe with the Bee, and I like @nocturnal-notes suggestion of Killer Bee, so we going with that.

Concept: Life

Tool/Weapon: Spinning Top

Transformation phrase: Pollen, Buzz On

Power phrases: Sting (Heal)

Tier 1: Power is Healing.

Zoe Lee as Rascal

Concept: Deception

Tool/Weapon: Flute

Transformation phrase: Trixx, Let's Pounce

Power phrases: Mirage (Illusions), Trick (Subliminal Messaging)

Tier 1: Power is Illusions

Tier 2: Passives gained are enhanced hearing and night vision. Power gained is Subliminal Messaging.

Felix Graham de Vanily as Llameri

Concept: Space

Tool/Weapon: TBA

Transformation phrase: Kaalki, full gallop

Power phrases: Voyage (Teleportation), Defy (Gravity Defiance)

Tier 1: Power is teleportation

Tier 2: Passives gained are enhanced hearing and night vision. Power gained is Gravity Defiance.

Now for the Villains, starting with Luka Couffaine with the Peacock (Name TBA)

Concept: Emotion

Tool/Weapon: Fan

Transformation phrase: Duusu, Spread my Feathers

Tier 1: Power allows him to induce/create emotions in others.

Tier 2: Passives gained are a spectral tail to distract opponents and powerful kicks. Power gained is Emotion Constructs.

Tier 3: Passives gained are emotion reading and behavior manipulation. Power gained is Emotion Augmentation.

Tier 4: Passives gained are emotion locking and glide.

Tier 5: Powers gained are Emotional Healing, Emotion Separation, Emotion Restoration

Last (for now) LIla Rossi as Chrysalis.

Concept: Transformation

Tool/Weapon: Cane

Transformation phrase: Nooroo, wings rise

Tier 1: Power allows her to transform objects.

Tier 2: Passives gained are able to create a chrysalis as a shield and walking along surfaces (like Bloody Bug). Power gained is form manipulation.

Tier 3: Passives gained are energy conversion and reshape. Power gained is Restoration.

Tier 4: Passives gained are remolding and flight.

Tier 5: Powers gained are Amalgamation, Overhaul, Petrification

Alright, that should be everything. There are two holders to be added, but they'll be added once I have their designs done and posted. Anyway, enjoy this for the time being.

[pisoprano]

pisoprano's Loveybug AU Week Fics

In case you missed something, here are the links to my Loveybug AU fics, all in one place for your convenience. (see also the series page on Ao3)

Marinette contemplates moving to Mexico. Tikki has other ideas. A Loveybug origin story.

Loveybug introduces herself to Chat Noir and they tackle their first akuma together.

Loveybug is the best idea Marinette has ever had! She can now love Chat Noir all she wants! Wait, where did he go?

Marinette doesn't know what happened to Chat Noir, just that Catwalker had replaced him immediately after she became Loveybug. She wants to hate Catwalker for replacing her partner, but when the green-haired hero shows up on her balcony, acting like a friend might be the only way she can get answers.

Adrien and Loveybug hold hands.

Catwalker asks Loveybug about what happened to her predecessor.

Adrien realizes he has some feelings for Loveybug. Loveybug realizes that Adrien still misses Ladybug.

Catwalker and Loveybug swap miraculouses, only for a familiar face to show up. (currently unfinished)

Marinette loses the ability to become Loveybug.

Catwalker and Loveybug go into the final battle. MAJOR SPOILERS for Miraculous Season 5 finale.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Grim realization but one could argue that while unintentional, there is an underlying theme across the ML series that the reason things steadily get more and more dire for the heroes is because they don't adapt.

Hear me out.

S1 Hawk Moth just grabs Akuna & throws them at people, some aren't even useful for fighting!

S2 Hawk Moth empowers himself via Catalyst & engineers pandemonium to make an army!

S3 Hawk Moth orchestrates specific Akumatization, creates fusion Akuma & presumably has been observing Ladybug's trek to collect Miraculous to at least narrow down the Guardians general vicinity.

Even just with the three seasons I watched, Gabriel cotninues to experiment with the powers, expanding on them and adjusting his methods to become ever more personal and dangeorus.

In contrast, the heroes keep defaulting back to the status quo of Ladybug & Chat fight the Akuma of the day & never adjust from Fu's mandates even when said ideas shift from useful to harmful.

Like, one Fu had lost his home base, I'm sorry he needed to be splitting up the Kwami between himself, Marinette & Adrien at the very least, or accept some other permanent heroes after Heroes' Day.

The characters acting on the assumption that a given Akuma will just be another day another Akuma situation and not really pressing against this emerging status quo could be a key reason things get worse.

I mean. Yeah.

And then ofc Season 4 has both uping Gabe's actions by using both Butterfly and Peacock, which LB and CN do nothing to counter. But then we head into Season 5 with Gabe having all the Miraculous and able to do so much more while LB and CN are forced to their original status quo of just them regardless of if they want it or not.

[coffeebanana]

Hi! ♡ Top 5 miraculous AUs?

aaaaaah this is hard! i'm not a huge AU person in ml actually (although i devour AUs in other fandoms...). i think just because... i love the OG identity shenanigans so much omg. but. i can do this! in no particular order...

kwami swap AUs i mean, this is a classic ml AU! and there's so many ways to play with it!!

loveybug AU this AU is SO COOL because of like. how much has been done with it. and because it's another layer of identity shenanigans. AND ALSO i adore how collaborative it has been since the start... like aaaah that's the magic of fandom that right there!!

adrien never went to school AU this can be really fun on so many levels! having adrinette meet in different ways, established or all-but established ladynoir... YUM

roommates AU OKAY IT'S PROBABLY A BIT OF A STRETCH TO CALL THIS AN AU BUT. I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT (also it CAN be an AU but i feel like. it has to start off that way for it to be a true AU. cause otherwise its just canon-divergent and yeaaaaah sure that's an "AU" as per ao3 tags but. is it? is it really?)

sapphic love square AU i read this fic that did such a good job of it. and i need more. i should probably try to write it one day too but--glances at WIPs in a panic--ANYWAYS NEXT QUESTION!

thanks for the ask!! 🩷💜

[aalissy]

Red String

Anndddd here's the final chapter for today. I hope you like it! It was really fun to mess around writing this AU bc I don't think I've written anything like it before haha. Lemme know what you think <3

AO3

There were days when Marinette positively hated the red string wrapped tightly around her finger. Those were the days when she was forcefully awoken by the slight tugging of her string at 5 in the morning from whatever it was that her soulmate was doing. 

How anyone awake that early could be her soulmate was beyond her. She much preferred her sleep, thank you very much. And, one day, when she met them, she was going to give them a very stern talking to. One about the importance of sleep and the health benefits it provides.

Even still, some days, when Marinette did wake up at an ungodly hour, she would spend that early morning simply staring at it. Watching it twitch and jerk ever so slightly. Knowing that somewhere, some one out there was her soulmate. And, one of these days she was finally going to meet them.

When she made it to high school, she couldn’t help but feel a slight tug of jealousy at how easily Alya and Nino had found each other. Their strings finally met up when Alya first came to the school.

But, most of the time, she was truly happy for her friends. Hopeful that someday she would share the same fortune as them. 

Oftentimes, she and Alya would theorize about just who her soulmate was. Some of the theories were crazy, like her soulmate being someone who had to work early in the morning. Whoever that was, sounded much too old to be Marinette’s soulmate, thank you very much. 

Other times, the theories were more plausible, like her soulmate being from a different timezone. That theory did cause a subtle twinge in her heart. The thought of her soulmate living in a different country made it feel like they would never meet each other.

Today, however, as Alya, Nino, and Marinette slid into their seats at the cafeteria, a different theory arose. One that was certainly inspired by the new superheroes that arrived in Paris. 

Marinette barely managed to hide the small smirk that tugged at her lips as Alya placed her tray down on their table. “I’m just saying, what if your soulmate is Ladybug or Chat Noir? I know those two just have to be up early saving the day.”

It was difficult to bite back her laugh at that. If Alya only knew that she was saying that Marinette could potentially be Marinette’s soulmate. How funny would that be?

Instead of giggling, though, she just shook her head. “It can’t be that, Alya. My string was tugging early in the morning before Ladybug and Chat Noir even existed. I’m certain it’s not one of them.”

Never mind the fact that her string disappeared entirely when she was transformed. It hadn’t been something Marinette had noticed during the first akuma attack, but when she had arrived home, she certainly freaked out at the lack of string tied around her finger. 

She had been sure she had broken something and had detransformed quickly, breathing out a quiet sigh of relief when the red string came back. When she questioned Tikki about it, the small kwami had explained that it was to protect her safety. That holders weren’t meant to be distracted by the tugging and pulling of their strings.

But Marinette couldn’t exactly tell Alya that. 

“Well, there goes that theory then.” Her friend leaned on her fist, blowing out a harsh breath. “I was really hoping you’d be able to score me an interview with one of them.”

She rolled her eyes at Alya affectionately. She had given the girl plenty of interviews as Ladybug. 

“Haven’t you gotten enough interviews from them yet?” Marinette couldn’t help but point out. “I thought you’d be sick of them by now.”

Alya gasped, a hand on her chest in mock offense. “One can never have enough interviews! You take that back!”

Before she could get out much more than a giggle, however, the akuma alarm began to blare around the school. She stood up with a jolt, her chair clattering to the floor. Shooting a quick look at Alya and Nino, Marinette took off ignoring their shouts. 

She dodged and weaved in between her panicked classmates, trying to find somewhere quiet to transform in. Marinette finally found a secluded spot behind the gymnasium, hidden from prying eyes. With a swift motion, she transformed into Ladybug, her red and black suit materializing around her. As she swung into action, the familiar weight of responsibility settled on her shoulders. 

This latest akuma was a disgruntled artist, set on bringing paintings to life. When Chat Noir arrived, the two partners quickly got to work, defeating the latest villain. 

Bumping their fists together in a job well done, Ladybug heard her earrings beep and waved goodbye, wrapping her yo-yo around a rooftop as she tugged herself away. Stopping at an abandoned alley near the school, Ladybug detransformed back into Marinette. 

With a quiet yawn, she fed Tikki a macaroon, stretching her arms above her head. She was positively exhausted. How was she meant to head back to class now? All she wanted to do was go back to bed.

Letting herself rest for just a few more minutes, Marinette fiddled briefly with the red string around her finger. A smile crept across her lips as she watched it slowly begin to twitch and move, grateful that it was back in its proper spot. Looking down at the piece of red fabric, she twirled it around her finger as she made her way out of the alleyway.

So focused on playing with the string, she didn’t notice the person she was heading towards until she had unfortunately crashed into him. She stumbled, almost falling to the floor when a firm grip grabbed her elbow, steadying her. 

Wincing, Marinette rubbed her head as she looked up into a pair of wide, emerald green eyes apologetically. He was cute too! Ruffled blonde hair and peach pink lips. Now she felt even more terrible. “I am so, so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going. So sorry again.”

Turning to leave, she stopped when she felt a harsh tug pull at her string. That was odd. She had never felt something like that before. Frowning down at her string, she jumped when it tugged forcefully once more. What was going on?

“It’s you,” the man breathed behind her. “Oh my god, it’s you.”

Those words had Marinette freezing in place. Slowly turning around, she followed her string with her eyes, feeling her heart begin to race uncontrollably as she noticed it wrapped around the ring finger of the man in front of her. Oh my god, it was him!  

All this time she had spent looking for him and only now did she finally find him. A joyful giddy laugh escaped Marinette’s lips and this time she tugged on the string, watching gleefully as the string also jumped on his finger. She found him! 

Wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug, she whispered, “We have got to talk about your sleep schedule, Mister! You need more sleep.”

A laugh rumbled from deep within his chest and the sound filled her with happiness. Marinette had finally found him! And, from now on, she was never going to let him go again.

[matt0044]

”Reverse Trinity Syndrome” or why “The Final Day” works.

One sticking point of the finale to Gabriel’s run as main antagonist was the absence of Adrien in the final battle. Fans felt cheated out of Chat Noir facing his father and learning exactly what he’d become. That said... I feel like it being Bug Noir vs. Monarch is inaccurate when it's more like Marinette vs. Gabriel.

Marinette fighting for the one she loves and finally had the courage to kiss before the Perfect Alliance outbreak. Gabriel fighting for the wish he's spent the better part of a year grasping for. Season 5 spent quite a bit of time establishing tension between them as civilians with a classic "rich boy's parent disapprovals of peasent girl" dynamic.

The Miraculous was just the icy on the cake.

There's also something about Adrien, the male lead, being in captivity while Marinette, the female lead, is the one to take on the big bad mano e mano that reminds me of this article a while back that discussed a similar plot beat but with the genders reversed:

We’re losing all our Strong Female Characters to Trinity Syndrome

by Tasha Robinson

Since Tumblr's crap with links, I recommending googling the article itself.

The gist of the article was criticism of action films be they live or animated where the third act would have the female lead or a significant female character benched for the rest of the climax. Examples include Valka from How To Train Your Dragon 2, Wyldstyle from The Lego Movie (The Second Part was totes underrated) and Trinity from The Matrix if the name didn't give it away.

For me, Chat Noir being benched hit differently since I often had this frustration growing up. Sure, it was about the male hero mostly buuuuuut the set up for the heroine to be this awesome-sauce mentor, friend, parent or love interest would often be met with a lacking pay-off.

Similarly, I had been viewing Naruto and certainly felt that Sakura lacked prescene in Team 7's battles. Especially one their first mission where she's guarding their escort but doesn't even get any mook to throw down with at least. It felt like the trio was Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke if anything.

So... having Adrien as part of the battle might've distracted from Marinette's part of the battle and SHE is the Guardian who lost the Kwamis.

This isn't to say one couldn't feel that Adrien risking transforming and flying to Paris was missing. Like Bug Noir could stay but Adrien flying off only for the Nightmares to get to him too much and have the Resistence bail him out.

Though, under that train of thought, I will admit that I wish that Adrien revealed himself as Cat Noir to Marinette before Monarch arrives to shoe him away. Evolve the love square at least a touch more as all.

Personally, I wished Alya transformed with Plagg.

In any case, I feel like Marinette and Gabriel have some parallels to each other with each other often pulling overt schemes to get the love of their life. Not in the same way of course but Marinette is still the one to overcome her more iffy habits and ACTUAL TRAUMA FROM CHLOE PUTTING KIM UP TO PRANK HER.

"Derision" was wild, y'all.

Thus not going the "I am your father" approach was valid.

[queer-froggit]

i had a dream about Miraculous Ladybug where Season 6 was just some slice-of-life film noir.

basically, instead of whatever happened at the end of Season 5 (i gave up watching it midway), Marinette and Adrien gave up their miraculouses, and now everyone knows their secret identities. so Season 6 was just the aftermath of that decision.

Adrien's life is even less private now that people know he was Chat Noir.

he has to deal with Paparazzi when he's walking to school. every interview he attends asks him about his experience. how did his powers work. who was his kwami. did his any of his friends know? what do they think? is he still in touch with Ladybug?

would he have gone crazy if he was Chat Noir any longer?

and he hates it. he tries to be nice- he is nice, but he could literally just be helping some old lady down the street and everyone would say "What a hero!" but he's not. he's just a decent human being like everyone should be.

and now no one wants to be. no one does anything to be kind, or make the world a better place, because they rely on him to do it himself.

he doesn't want that. it was the reason he gave up his miraculous in the first place- no one should have the power to manage the entire world in their hands. the responsibility of mantaining the cycle of creation and destruction, handed to teenagers? something bad was bound to happen.

and if he did destroy it all, even on accident, he would never forgive himself.

Marinette... is in a struggle, to say the least.

she doesn't get bombarded by Paparazzi, she doesn't have to sit through interviews, and she's pretty much living a normal life.

excpet, she's not.

people expect her to be some God with the answers to everything, but she's just clumsy, boy-crazy, fashion designer Marrinette Dupain-Cheng. when she trips delivering her parents macaroons, or accidentally comes to school in her pajamas, she's met met with a lot more scrutiny than before. this was Ladybug, our Ladybug, the one we trusted our lives and city with? how could someone like her have gotten power like that?

when really, she just happened to be nice to the right person on the right day.

she didn't want to be Ladybug. didn't ask for it or anything. she only kept it because she wanted to help people, and she got to be a better version of herself while doing so.

but now she's not. she isn't Ladybug anymore. she gave up her miraculous because she realized how much it was interfering with her everyday life. people shouldn't expect her to be a perfect hero in action, because now she's just a somebody, and nobody's perfect.

she should have her life back now. it almost makes her cry in anger that she doesn't. why doesn't she?

so Adrien and Marinette meet with each other, unwinding on their experiences as superheroes, and the new challenges they have to face outside of the suits. Adrien is only Chat Noir, but Marinette can't be Ladybug. why is that, and how do they fix it? is that even their responsiblity, to change the people's perception?

they're not superheroes. they don't have the same responsibilities as before. it's not like there's a Hawk Moth to save Paris from.

so what do they do now? where do they go from here?

they'll figure it out together. they may not be Ladybug and Chat Noir anymore, but they're still a team.

[redtippedfox]

Announcement for Timey Wimey:

Timey Wimey Uh Oh is currently still being written and is also currently going through some rewriting. In order for the story to flow and seem less jam packed with things that are not needed in the story some things are being removed.

Some unifications are being cut, Huntress and Pegabug along with Lady Fae and Lady Celine are safe! They will be in the story. But the butterfly/peacock unification is being cut and so are the water power ups. The ice power ups are staying but only limited to a few miraculous(cat, ladybug, butterfly, peacock). Other power ups are also being cut as well as they make no sense in the story. Some kwami swaps are also being cut too. The main seven and the Rabbit, and mouse are the only ones staying.

The chapter art is also done for chapter 5 and this chapter may be longer than the last one.

Also once we pass chapter six I will be posting a side story about Marinette’s time stuck in the past. This was supposed to be a part of the main storyline but I realized it would only ruin the plot and drag it out too much. So it will be turned into a side story. This side story will dig deeper into Marinette’s feelings of being stuck in a nostalgic time while we also get to see how Chat Blanc is doing without her.

Thank you all for your patience, this hobby of mine makes me happy and I’m so happy that my story is inspiring all of you. I have many responsibilities in my normal life(an adult needs money to survive) and sometimes I’m not great with writing at all but this story is one of my greatest works and I’m just so proud of how far it’s come.

I put my heart and soul into this story and the art. Heck if I posted all the unused sketches or designs on here it would seem like I’m working for the Miraculous studio itself! But I really do appreciate all the patience you all have for me.

Thank you so much! Please know that the chapter will be out soon!

Have a great day!

[theerurishipper]

What's ur opinion on the whole "Blame the writing not the character" thing for writing, cause I think miraculous and its Fandom is a weird case.

Normally I prefer approaching everything from the "Blame the character" angle because at the end of the day all a character is IS their writing (this also applies to good things oc, not just bad). Especially regarding their emotions I don't see much purpose in distancing everything one doesn like about a character from them by saying "Oh, it's just the writing. Disregard it, tahts not who the character truly is" cause at some point that just reads as.. kinda refusing to acknowledge who the character on screen actually is bc one doesn like it.

Miraculous is just a weird case. You can smell the meta decisions 10 miles against the wind - like Marinette and Alya for some reason being able to beat Adrien in battle and Cat Noir pre-s5 being "incompetent". You know exactly that this is not character based writing, Cat has to be weaker than Ladybug and Scarabella because they're girls and they have to look good. It's hard saying Adrien is a weaker fighter in all those cases, or when the temp heros need to be brought in, because you at some level know exactly that there is a meta reason behind it. And that makes it hard to discredit him for that just as much as it's harder to actually give the girls credit for their abilities. They shouldn't be able to beat him so easily, but they do because of their gender and this shows "rules". Just like there is no actual reason in-universe for why he's suddenly on Ladybug's level in season 5. It just is.

(kinda weird how the show also never gave Kagami credit for being a trained fighter either. I guess they thought they can't acknowledge her training either or else they couldn't get away with making Adrien weaker as Cat Noir. So they probably dead ass denied Kagami her special spotlight too for shallow reasons (but at least their consistent)

But on the other hand, I personally don't think Marinette and Adrien leaving in Kwamis choice without saying goodbye to each other is out of character the way most people say it and then just disregard it by saying "it's the writing, not the characters". Rewatching that two parter, it set up alot from the finale, and I don't think them leaving each other like that is out of character just a harsh reality check where we are at after s4.

They never came out of that season actually "better" partnership wise just because Adrien decided to stay by her side these two times and remained kind and supportive. That was decided to be the Cat's definitive job towards the Ladybug so that's what he's continuing to do but that doesn't really concern anything beyond that. In my opinion it is very much questionable how much Ladybug and Cat Noir are actually REAL FRIENDS and not just kind collegues the way Marinette wanted in s4 (with potential for real friendship under better circumstances).

That's also why Adrien gave himself up in the finale, no? If they were real friends he would have been able to ask for her help as she was the only one who could have kept him save because of her yo-yo. But they're just kind collegues, so he didn't.

And just because he stayed her teammate doesn't it mean he's still in love with Ladybug or that he still WANTS to be in love with her after all that pain it caused him. So he made a harsh decision thanks to Plagg and prioritized finally being happy and getting some stability, especially because Gabriel was being fake loving.

And Marinette's romantic feelings for Cat Noir and her acknowledgment of him all together have always been of shakey and chaotic nature. Her feelings for him really started whne she was at her lowest an thinking herself all alone while also being afraid of her feelings for Adrien.

This was from the get go an already dark orange sign for how genuine her feelings are (desperation is always an iffy foundation) and as others already said, she's never seeing more in him than the mask. How can you say you really love a person when you only acknowledge half of their personhood? Marinette only started taking interest in who Cat is when she started getting frustrated by him not reacting the way she wanted him to. If he had I don't think Marinette would have thought about wanting to know who he really is, it really came across like a frustration thing which explained why she was so reckless about it in Elation, and why she then left afterwards.

I don't wanna say she saw no purpose in him anymore after being rejected by him (that's too strong) but we already saw in season 4 that Marinette's treatment or acknowledge of Cat Noir very much reflects what use and purpose she sees in him, hence why he was basically reduced to an irrelevant footnote by the end of season 4. Yes, she wanted him there as teammate but thats it. It's still questionable in my opinion if she even noticed him not showing up anymore at the beginning of Kuro Neko since she reacts surprised when the reporter points out his absence and then claims towards Plagg Cat should be happy that he gets to have time off, as if she just convinced herself that she generously allowed him a week off instead of her having been so deep in team leader mode that she didn't even notice him not showing up anymore.

Marinette not noticing him having stopped showing up is a harsh characterization, but I wouldn't call it out of character in the broader sense.

So her leaving when he rejects her, because she doesn't want to be his friend and teammate but his girlfriend and he said no? Can't say thats out of character either because the show is also really consistent in her characterization that she doesn't see much value in being friends with Adrien either because she loves him, so being friends is the worst thing possible for her.

À décision being harsh and not what one likes doesn mean it's out of character and one should distance the event from the character in one's head.

I think Kwamis choice makes alot of sense, as does the focus on Adrinette instead of Ladynoir, and how the finale played out.

Which goes back to my original question. It's very obvious that there are 20. 000 meta reason controlling the narrative, but in my opinion only in a specific way. Everything still makes sense in my opinion, it just feels so CONTROLLED.

Marinette is a mouthpiece for the writers messages but even if I think the messages are fucked up and hypocritical, I can't say any of it was ever out of character for her?

You get what I mean?

Yeah, I get that. I myself approach it from the "blame the writers" way, but like you said, it's a blurry line. What tips me over ultimately is the fact that Marinette should have grown but clearly didn't. What she does isn't out of character for her for sure, but as far as the writers are concerned, she has grown and she is better, and all the stuff she's doing isn't really a bad thing. So, I can't in good conscience blame the character for being bad when the people who are bringing her to life are the ones who really believe all the stuff that's being said through her. She's supposed to have developed as per the writers' vision, but clearly, she hasn't. It's bad writing, and that really isn't the character's fault. That's how I see it.

Thank you for your ask!