#Miraculous Ladybug ableism

[pythagoras180]

TW: Ableism

[soullessjack]

idk i just think it’s a little weird that almost every character who gets the “innocent baby” / “little ray of sunshine” treatment usually ends up just having neurodivergent traits and actual negative traits in the show that nobody pays attention to. like idk man it just feels like diet infantilization to me and it’s a teeny weeny bit uncomfortable to see all the time

[velvet-vox]

You know, the day I realised "Yo! Children/Teenagers can actually be evil" when I was a child, I thought it was the coolest, most innovative thing in the world, I want more evil children/teenagers so that we can delve deeper into the ways the human psyche can break even in the young, developing mind;

Then, as time went on and I learned about my autism, I realised that it's more common than I thought and harder to write since writers don't have as many excuses to point towards their character being "unredeemable" and "too evil" besides, you know, ableism.

[gryficowa]

Many people in the fandom suspect that Chloe has ASD

It may sound crazy at first, but when we analyze Chloe's actions individually (including the way she cuddles with her teddy bear), it makes sense and what Thomas has done to her (And the Twitter fandom) makes it even worse than before, but she's white and rich, so ASD isn't an argument, right, ableists in the fandom?

Many people with ASD have trouble understanding what is morally acceptable (Which may explain her racism in certain episodes, but Thomas fucked it up, so yeah), and because of having the mother and father she has (Who is known to have been victim, isn't it, Thomas?), plus many things that "Defenders of Justice" do not consider violence, from the perspective of someone with ASD, that's what it is, and it's terrible

Yes, I am a person on the autism spectrum and the standards in the fandom piss me off, we are supposed to love Marinette because she is neurodivergent, but we are supposed to bash Chloe because she is neurodiverse

But if Thomas and the assholes on Twitter said something, it must be true, right?

Yes, people with ASD can do a lot of nasty things (Because when parents are nasty, like in this case, it's unfortunate, but for children with ASD it's an abstraction to understand a different perspective, Chloe needs help, not what the toxic fandom would like and this is terrifying because they want the suffering of a person with ASD for their own satisfaction)

The fact that Chloe has ASD may explain her stubbornness, because people with ASD are often stubborn and when you tell them to do something, they don't always do it (Rebelliousness is in the blood)

However, people with ASD can be submissive, this can be seen when Chloe interacts with her mother, unfortunately, close people are more terrifying because you have some bond with them

So congratulations fandom for championing one neurodivergent character at the expense of another neurodiverse character, you don't look ableist at all, no, not at all

[rjalker]

"OMG, it's a kids series, why are you criticizing the bigotry in it? That's so cringey!

"Who cares if a show aimed at little kids is teaching them that it's romantic for boys to sexually harass and assault girls?

"Who cares that this kids book series with over 60 entries is defending slavery and genocide??

"Who cares if there's victim blaming and rape apologism in just the second book??

"Who cares if [insert children's series] is teaching kids horrible, cruel, bigoted ideas that they will absorb and reproduce in real life?

"Who cares that the media we show to kids plays a massive role in shaping our society?

"It's just a kids series! Stop criticizing the blatant bigoted propaganda being fed to kids by conservatives who want little kids to think that being abused by their partner is the height of romance!!!"

[ID: The Garfield "you are not immune to propaganda" meme, with Garfield the orange cat's head smiling on a blue background, with the text now reading, "Children are especially susceptible to propaganda.". End ID.]

[taldigi]

Even though I really do find Felix being Richard's som great angst, character development, and drama fuel, I am curious what do you think Felix would have been like with just normal parents who were rich?

I want to preface: A lot of Felix/Adrien's leg issues are incredibly ablest. They try really hard to frame it as "He's just him! Just has a damaged leg! He plays it off cool!" But a LOT of his problems, goals, and issues stem pretty heavily around his leg as a problem. His personality gets grim, he consistently is frustrated he cannot do sports, and his whole goal of being a doctor and mistreatment of himself and the things he loves to do is centered almost entirely around his leg being damaged. In fact, a lot of why he enjoys being Chat so much is because BEING Chat gives him relief from his disability. This.. isn't really interpretation, this is HOW he was written in the bibles- and it's really bad.

Its important to show that characters with disabilities are just normal people who have to approach the world differently. Precanon does not show that, and I wouldn't trust TA to be able to explore that genuinely.

That being said, the bible does give us insight into what the character was like. So, as (Adrien) Nanty, Felix' parents are absent but doting, and his parents consider him "fragile" after his accident, which is suffocating. He, however, has his bodyguard as his confidant and as a solid, adult presence in his life.

His story also centered very very heavily around being "good enough" for Ladybug to not take his kwami away. It wasn't just love. His desire to be, and stay, Chat is a freedom to move without pain. He was also super obsessed with sports and "good at everything".

I don't like this very much, especially since I very much prefer the Richard-Felix conflict (emotions as a problem to overcome vs emotions as normal and healthy to experience. aka a "toxic masculinity" narrative which meshes well with a ML narrative about emotions and all) as opposed to him being a bad disability rep w/ his whole personality & the way others treat him soley pivoting around his angst about him being disabled and all.

So that's my opinion on it. I think it could work, but a lot needs to be reconsidered and pivoted away from.

[howhow326]

Funk Up The Night

Miraculous Ladybug salt fic (Felix salt, Lila salt, Gabriel salt, Nino salt, original character protagonist, Alya sugar, tw: racism, torture, sexism, ableism, teens assaulting other teens, suicide mention, p*dophilia). (This fic is a sequal to another fic I made before that got hidden because it's a reblog and my third fanfic)

Narrator PoV

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In the dark of night at a secret government base, Felix Fathom is using the powers of the stolen peacock miraculous to infiltrate the facility. The boy snaps all of the guards into his Red Moon, a fate that he has no intention of freeing them from. However, Felix can't shake the idea that someone is watching him...

After a few minutes, Felix finds his goal: a safe full of hoards of wealth and confidential information kept secret by his late father. As Felix opens the safe he feels a strong gust of wind move past him, but he pays it no mind. After all, isn't Felix invincible?

Felix takes a few steps into the safe before he senses someone watching him again. This time, Felix catches his stalker standing behind him. From far away, Felix thought the mysterious person was some type of dirty peasant: he was wearing a baggy black shirt, a tattered navy cravat that layed untucked, and a black newsboy cap that covered his coily black hair. But closer inspection made Felix doubt that assumption: the boy in front of him also had black, knee-length boots that covered his black pants and elbow blue gloves. Felix tried to focus on his face, but it looked like he painted himself with grey make-up. The mystery boy also had a trail of floor length blue feathers popping out of the sections of his arms that weren't covered by his gloves. Before Felix could insult his fashion choices, the stalker finnaly spoke:

"Fancy bumping into you here." the boy said while placing his hands on his hips. "Out to find some answers about your father, are we?"

His golden eyes reminded Felix of someone he met in France, but he couldn't place it.

"You have quite the familiar face and I assume you are using the same powers, but you will have to forgive me; do we know each other?" Felix demanded.

"Same powers? Don't make me laugh! Your espionage skills back there looked a bit rusty."

Felix snickered at the peasant's insult. "The only rust on me is from the lack of any real challenge. Perhaps you are up to the task?"

"You already disappointed me." The boy said as he held up Felix's ring between his fingers. Horror dawned on Felix's face as he realized that his ring was stolen. Then he pounced on the assailant.

"Stop." With one word, Felix fell to the ground one foot within the thief. "Quite the peculiar object, this ring. According to my sources, all I need to do is snap my fingers and you would vanish without a-" "What do you want?" Felix asked.

"I love it when people get straight to the point." The mystery boy joked. "What is Hawkmoth's secret identity?" "Gabriel Agreste." "Hmm, and here I was thinking it wouldn't be so obvious."

The mystery boy began pacing around in a circle thinking to himself. "Why haven't you told anyone else?" "I was going to deal with him myself." "Of course. So that's why you've been hiding in Britain for the past month?" "I couldn't let Ladybug take my miraculous!" "The miraculous you got making a deal with Hawkmoth in the first place?"

The mystery boy finished his thinking and turned to face Felix. "Well, let's make a deal since you love making those. I'll give you your ring back in exchange for the peacock miraculous." "NO!" "You are in no position to refuse me." The boy thief used Felix's ring to make him feel intense pain, causing the blond to whimper in agony. "Make no mistake, I won't hesitate to end your existence after you helped the terrorist that tried to cause WW 3. My deal is the only scenario where you walk away alive." "Fine!" Felix spat.

"Fantastic!" The mystery boy took off Felix miraculous and used it to transform himself. He then tossed Felix his ring, giving him back his freedom. "And before I forget... Red Moon, I release you from existence!" "NOOO!" Felix screamed. But before he could stop him, the boy snapped his fingers, killing Felix's 'sister'. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT!" "You used your powers to create a living weapon. You shouldn't had created her." Felix once again tried to jump the murderer, but he knocked the blonde out with a back hand slap.

Having gotten what he came for, the mysterious boy left Felix in the facility where he would no doubt be arrested by the guards... or worse.

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Timothy PoV

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Timothy Cesaire was having an amazing day. It wasn't often that he didn't have to fake being in a good mood, so he made sure to enjoy it as long as it lasted.

Last week, The Raptor annihilated Techno-Pirate during combat. The villain had an uncomfortable amount of civilian hostages during the long battle, so Timothy weighed his outcomes and decided his solution was for the best. The boy thought that making the 'ultimate choice' for the first time would be bad for his mental health, but it ended up doing the opposite; Timothy felt a weight lift off his shoulders as he realized New York was finnaly free of a blight like Mike Rochip.

Of course, not everyone agreed with his actions. While the hostages defended the Raptor and thanked him for saving their lives, the United Heroez used the incident as evidence that the Raptor had to be taken down. A part of Timothy agreed with them, after his fist time he wondered how many problems he could solve using his new 'solution'. But their criticisms didn't matter to him, Timothy was the one who saved innocent people's lives not the Heroez and their dumb sidekicks. Perish the idea that the aggressors life is equal to their victim, Timothy thought.

But all of that is in the past right now. The Raptor is on hiatus, and Timothy Cesaire is in France to visit his favorite cousin Alya. Of course, Timothy is really here to get rid of Hawkmoth before he makes the earth explode on accident, but that dosen't mean he can't have fun!

As Timothy opened the door to his temporary classroom, he was overwhelmed by a massive sense of déjà vu.

Alya, Marinette, and Adrien were all sitting in the back corner of the class. A boy, Kim I think, threw a paper ball at Marinette's head. The raven haired girl's expression suggested that was normal. When Timothy looked to his left, he expected to see the same orange haired witch that he got fired last time. He expected that he was in a nightmare or some horrible time loop.

Instead, Ms. Mendeleiev, the teacher that Timothy planted into this class, yelled "No throwing things in the classroom, dog boy!!!" What the heck just happened??? "My last names not that kind of Chien!" The jock yelled at the teacher. "And now you're talking back to your teacher? Go to the principles office, now!" "Excuse me-"

The familiar voice filled Timothy's heart full of dread. There's no way that b*tch came back here, Timothy thought to himself. Low and behold, that b*tch was sitting right there. The last time Timothy was in France, he broke Lila's reputation, relationships, and her ankle as revenge for bullying Alya. She was supposed to be in jail for working with Hawkmoth. And yet, there she was. Her hair style was different, and her eye color changed, but it was the same girl. Sitting in the front row. A boy in a trashy outfit, Nino?, was currently throwing himself all over Lila, but Timothy could care less.

"-Kim was only trying to give Marinette his notes for class." Lila lied. Timothy expected the teacher to call her out, but- "You can't keep covering for trouble makers, Iris, but I'll let it off the hook just this once." Ms Mendeleiev stated. WHAT THE WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE??? No matter how Timothy tried to rationalize the situation, nothing in front of him made any coherent sense.

After the disastrous class, Marinette filled Timothy in on the situation. At first, everything seemed to go back to normal after Lila was exposed and Ms. Bustier let go. Then Iris Verde showed up. The new girl charmed every member of the class, including the teacher, into thinking she was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Then, just like Lila before her, Iris accussed Alya/Marinette/Adrien of bullying her. The akuma class just got done giving apologies to the three of them for helping Lila, but they all fell back into their old roles after Iris restarted the whole song and dance. Iris even manipulated Nino to break up with Alya and to become her boyfriend days after Alya and Nino got back togather.

"And that's not even the worst part," Marinette exclaimed over lunch, "I caught Iris kissing Kim, Ivan, and Nathaniel outside of school! She's a liar AND a cheater!" The raven haired girl was discussing ways to expose the new Lila, which caused Adrien to sigh. "Marinette, we showed them a recording of Iris threatening us last week and it didn't work. Nothing's working!" The blonde exclaimed.

Timothy shifted at the sound of Adrien's voice. While he hates to admit his opinion was biased, Timothy didn't like Adrien when he first met him. He didn't like that Adrien associated himself with Lila, even though he was forced to by the Italian's manipulations. Timothy always sought to defend the weak, a category that definitely included Adrien, but he was always close to being strong. The friend of an rich idiot, the former boyfriend of Liar Rossi, the cousin of the boy who helped Hawkmoth, and apparently the son of Hawkmoth... but Adrien was different from them. After realizing that taking the high road dosen't work, Adrien began to proactively defend Marinette and Alya. Sure, it had consequences. Adrien became a social outcast along with the two girls, but if being popular meant hurting two of his closest friends, then he would make the same choice every time. If only every rich kid could be that altruistic.

"Your being quiet, Alya." Timothy changed the conversation. "Oh, I'm sorry I-" before Alya could finish her thought, a voice so loud it sounded like screaming shouted into everyone's ears. "HEY ADRIAN DUDE!!! LET'S HANG OUT AND DITCH THESE LOSERS!!!" Nino shouted. "Agh, Nino I already told you that I can't be your friend if you keep being mean to Marinette and Alya. Also, please keep it down." Adrien politely asked Nino. The loud boy looked hurt by Adrien's words, but then his expression changed to one of rage. "Tch, well I don't want to be your friend as long as you keep hanging out with that ho." Nino direct his insult at Alya. Timothy summoned every ounce of his willpower to restrain himself, who the hell does he think he is???

"Nino, we already told you that Alya never cheated on you!" Marinette said in her friends defense. "LIARS!!!" Nino shouted. After a huff, he left the group to go hang out with Iris and her zealots.

When Timothy and Alya made it to her parent's house, Timothy pulled Alya aside for a talk. "Alya, what the heck! Why didn't you tell me that all of these people were bullying you again!!! I could have-", "Could have what? Break people's ankles!" Sh*t. "Uhh, Alya what are you talking about haha?" "Don't play dumb with me, I already know your secret-" Timothy was dreading when this day would come, when someone close to him would discover his secret identity. While The Raptor has the power to move faster than the eye can see, he dosen't have the power to erase memories... Unless, I give Alya a concussion? But doing that could hurt her really badly, Timothy thought. He felt a cold sweat trickle down his back... I have to do what I must.

"-you are in contact with The Raptor!" Alya wrongly concluded. Timothy breathed a sigh of relief and told Alya what she wanted to hear, "You got me... I'm sorry Alya, but I just couldn't stand to see you hurting like that. That's when The Raptor made an offer to help me in exchange for information from the science lab I have an internship at." Timothy wanted to eat his heart out for lying and manipulating Alya. It's for the greater good, Timothy thought to himself... but he knew that his actions barely made him different from horrible people like Lila.

The rest of their conversation became a blur before they both went to off to bed. Timothy still felt guilty that he could even dare think about hurting his favorite cousin in the whole world. Even back in Martinique, Alya was still the nicest, bravest, greatest person he knew. Meanwhile, I'm... Timothy stopped that train of thought. Right now, he isn't important. What's important is helping Alya and her friends.

The day after tomorrow, Timothy managed to convince Alya and her friend's parents to get the principal to switch their homeroom classes. Alya hated the idea, but her parents and Nora refused to let her go back to the class she was being bullied in.

After Alya was safe, Timothy began to work his magic on the class. Kim, Ivan, and Nathaniel all got exposed as cheaters to their significant others, which tanked Iris' reputation. Then, Timothy convinced Rose and Juleka, the two least evil girls in class, of how evil Iris was. Those two especially felt bad that they isolated Mari and Alya twice, and decided they would switch schools to make it up for betraying their friends trust. When those two went, Mylene and Max followed them. Timothy then convinced Chloe and Sabrina that Iris was a threat, which prompted them to begin bullying Iris and Nino. In one week, Iris power had faded just like Lila had. Now there was only a few things left to do...

Nino received a text from a secret admirer that wanted to meet up. Knowing that his girl was always having flings, he decided to try it out for himself. The location on the text led him to an allyway where a boy stood. "Huh? You're a dude, not a girl!!!" "I can't believe you're this stupid." "Wait, you're that filthy cheaters cousin! What do you want!!!" "This."

Before Nino could react, Timothy sprinted up to him and kicked him in the gut. As Nino layed on the ground in pain, Timothy stomped on every part of his body until he became black and blue. "Believe it or not, this is nothing personal." Timothy lied. "I just needed you out of the way so I could get to Lila." Nino tried to speak, but it came out as grunts because Timothy had stomped on his throat. "Oh, and by the way... this is for Alya!" Timothy said as he kicked Nino hard on his forehead on last time. The loud boy fell unconscious, but not dead.

And now, the real fun begins...

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Lila? PoV

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Angela Diavola was surely having the worst week of her life! First, the black kid from America came back to bother her right after she worked so hard to get back into Ms Bustier's classroom. Did he even know how much work she put in to fix the problems he caused??? "Lila Rossi" was in jail, so Angela had to discard that identity along with that girl's mother. Luckily, Angela tricked one of the crazies into thinking she was "Lila Rossi" and escaped from her prison. Now she was "Iris Verde". But when her "Iris" came back home, her dumb cr*p mom started asking too many questions. Angela had no choice but to get rid of her like all the moms that get too curious. So far a missing persons report hasn't been filed yet, but eventually "Iris Verde" will have to take the fall for the murder after disappearing. Ugh, I'm too stressed to plan! Nino was supposed to go out with me an hour ago but he missed our appointment! Right when Angela was getting ready to leave her ultra secret hideout, the lights went out. "I told you that if you tried to bully anyone in your class again I would come back!!!" an invisible voice spoke, but Angela knew it well. The Italian woman ran to the drawer where she kept her emergency handgun. This time, that dumb islander won't walk away from me! As soon as Angela pulled the gun out the drawer, the lights flicked on and The Raptor appeared behind her. Eat lead, Angela screamed at the him. She fired all of her shots at him, but he dodged each one. Angela then threw her handgun at him, but he caught it. "Where did you even get a gun from?" Before Angela could run away, The Raptor threw her handgun at her head, knocking her onto the floor. Im not going to let him ruin me again, Angela frantically thought. She reached into her back pocket to grab her emergency knife, already coming up with a devious plan. "Ohh, what ever will I do with you..." "Wait! I confess, I'm not 15. Im a 33 year old from foster care with a hormon disorder and I just pretended to be younger to feel safe!!! I promise I won't do it again!" Ha, bird brain dosen't even know that when he drops his guard, I'll stab him in the throat! Angela thought. The Raptor didn't drop his guard. "... It all makes sense now. This whole time, you were an adult manipulating teenagers... YOU WERE DATING TEENAGERS!!!" Angela only then realized that the superhero didn't figure out her secret until she told the truth just now. "Oh, uh, I was just lying!"

The Raptor lunged at the woman. She took out her knife to stab him, but he grabbed it from her and tossed it aside. He then knocked her out. The Raptor considered ending her miserable existence, freeing the world from her blight... but he decided there was a better way.

He tied her up and called the police. When Angela Diavola came to, she was in a max security cell for serial killers like herself. During the investigation, it was discovered that Angela had "disappeared" at least seven different woman who adopted her from the foster care system. Additionally, she left a long string of bullying and, in the worst cases, students taking their own lives from the schools she attended.

Ladybug wanted to feel happy that she was finnaly gone, but knowing the evil depths "Lila" sunk to shook her to her core. "M'Lady, there's a note here." Chat Noir's words brought Ladybug back to reality. As she read the note, she felt a chill go down her spine. Lila's exposure wasn't a happy coincidence.

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Ladybug PoV

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"I stole the Peacock miraculous from Felix. Come to the Agreste Mansion if you want it back." Was all that was written on the note. Normally, she would think it's a trap, but her instincts were telling her to follow it's order. Whatever is happening now, is The Raptor's doing.

Ladybug, followed by Chat Noir, made it to the Agreste Mansion. The front door being open made Chat Noir uneasy. Inside, there was a trail of black paint that lead into Gabriel's work room. "Ok, this is clearly a tra-" before Ladybug could finish her thought, Chat Noir made a bee line for the room. Normally, Ladybug would yell at him for being so boneheaded, but something was telling her that Chat was being dead serious right now. "What?" was the only word needed to make Ladybug's skin crawl. Inside the work room was a secret elevator in front of a painting. What Ladybug and Chat Noir discovered at the bottom of that elevator would change their lives forever.

"I see you lot are unfashionably late." The Raptor announced to the duo while facing Hawkmoth. Hawkmoth?! Hawkmoth's here?! Why is Hawkmoth down here?! This has to be some kind of trap or- "Mom?" Chat Noir called out while looking at a casket behind Hawkmoth. "... Adrien?!" Ladybug hid her gasping mouth with her hands. It's happening again. "no." "Adrien, I am your father! Give me Ladybug and your miraculous so I can wish your mother back to life!" "NO!" Hawkmoth then threw out an akuma at Chat Noir. Ladybug wanted to intercept it, but her body refused to move. He's going to turn into Chat Blanc! The world is doomed again and it's all my fault...

At the last second, a hand reached out and crushed the akuma. "Ladybug, now!" The Raptor cried. Without thinking, Ladybug threw out her yo-yo at Hawkmoth's chest, cracking his miraculous. "Nooo-" Hawkmoth collapsed onto the floor coughing. The superheroin ran to the villain and took off his miraculous, which reverted him back to Gabriel Agreste. "Father, how could you do this!" Chat Noir screamed at him. "You ungrateful brat, I could have saved your mother! Saved our family!" Chat Noir slowly walked towards his father, his eyes full of hatred. "Mother's death didn't break our family... you did! You were the one who shut me out! The one that choose not to eat dinner with me anymore! You're the ungrateful one! You don't deserve this house! You don't deserve mother, or me, or Nathile, or anything... cataclysm." "Chat Noir no! Doing that will just make you as bad as he is." Before Ladybug could stop her partner, The Raptor held her back. "It's his choice."

Adrien held his father for the last time.

[voicesagainstliars]

Phantom Theives of Japan and Paris is it bad to ignore bullies? I have been picked on for being autistic and called the R word in front of a class

Author B: I want their classmates' blood too, but put the weapons down.

Angry grumbling is heard from the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

Seriously, though, kid, you deserve better than those schmucks. I'm so sorry that's happening to you. If you can go to a trusted adult, I implore you to do so.

... please don't murder your bullies.

[demigodseameg16]

Because it's according to Astruc "Marinette being silly Marinette! Teehee!" As if half of the young generation isn't influenced by the media they see today. And to him, disabled people obviously don't have feelings so it's fine. Show it to the children, what could possibly go wrong?

Bro as someone who uses a walking aid (a cane) and is disabled seeing the new trailer for Miraculous Ladybug makes me absolutely furious. I have never felt so much hatred for a fictional character before and yet here we are. I didn't like Marinette before but like, this just. This hits way too close to home and I know Astruc is going to frame it in a way that makes Marinette the good guy. But NOTHING excuses touching a disability aid without permission, especially fooling around with it and sabotaging it. And the fact that a younger generation is going to see this, I absolutely can't. I feel so bad for disabled children who will see this scene on TV and have their feelings be in the wrong, shown that they are the bad guys for getting upset, or heavens forbid being disabled. Screw you Astruc.

[killervelveteenrabbit]

Reaction to "Sublimation" (S6 E3)

"Illustrhater" running ahead of this episode spoiled us slightly, but at least we still got to wonder who this new girl was. So no harm, no foul.

Marinette's reaction to Sublime recalls her reaction to Adrien in the earlier seasons: someone she wants to get closer to but can't because of her insecurities and overthinking their interactions. Sublime herself is very much like Adrien in that despite appearing perfect, someone who has it all and can do it all, she suffers from unseen challenges complicated by parental expectations.

Marinette's usual brand of cringe is especially painful in this ep as it appears tinged with underlying ableism. She assumes that Sublime will need her help at some point, even though it's obvious she doesn't and won't. Many people with disabilities deal with this same condescending and unhelpful attitude from others, and mainstream media rarely addresses it. I appreciate the writers tackling this subject by giving the episode's idiot ball to Marinette, our designated hero who means well but ends up interfering and nearly causing irreparable damage.

Caroline gives off vibes of a former athlete living vicariously through her daughter. She's so insistent on success that she can’t engage constructively with her child's emotions and anxieties. But more than that, she's controlled by a toxic perfectionism that Chrysalis easily exploits. As Sublimation, she's a unique adversary, someone with "good" powers who uses them wrong.

Once again, the heroes are forced into the undesirable position of protecting Bob Roth. Congratulations, Bob--with Gabriel and Chloe out of the picture, you're now officially the worst identifiable person in Paris.

Chrysalis can not only dispatch “ultakumas” that establish connections with victims, but she can also create “antikumas” that neutralize a Miraculous holder's powers. We knew the Ladybug Miraculous granted its user to create new powers for themselves. Similarly, the Butterfly's ability to grant superpowers to someone else can be used on the holder themselves. Chrysalis has found a way to counteract Ladybug's power of creation, something not even Gabriel realized he could do.

The reappearance of Tomoe Tsurugi falls in line with my earlier prediction that she would cause problems this season. Remember, she's publicly sworn to carry out Gabriel's legacy, although only a few people understood the subtext. Also, she's the only person involved in Operation Perfect Alliance who didn't get what she wanted, whatever that was. Could a collaboration between Tomoe and Cerise be in the works?

[orfisheus]

An elaborate thoughtpiece on the recent state of EW

With the recent Youtooz announcement, I've been having a lot of thoughts regarding Eddsworld and the rumors about them returning Tord back to EW canon, so consider this a dump?? (For clarity's sake, the IRL people will be referred with their name and last initial. :])

I'd like to preface this by stating that I wouldn't mind the character coming back, as long as there's consent with Tord L. I'd assume that they would do this with the full intent of respecting his boundaries, so I'll give that the benefit of the doubt.

My issue, however, comes with HOW they're doing it. We are all aware that they've been teasing the episode, first with their post teasing their scriptwriting, and then Matt H. on Twitter confirming something big is coming with whatever they're working on next. Along with the YouTooz release and the removal of the Tord FAQ, it's very likely that this is what they're teasing. And yeah, that's fairly big news. The return of a fan favorite character who had a major impact on the plot? That would shift the current trajectory of their presentation and of the fandom. But, in regards to the fandom, they're aware he's a fan favorite. Want a quick buck? Be it for a charity or for themselves, he's the perfect tool to weaponize. Especially with a prevalent neurodivergent population in the fandom, he's especially easy to use. These fans will be dedicated, and they will buy it. I've seen multiple people say that they would for this sole reason. In no way is this a jab at any neurodivergent folks. I hope y'all enjoy your figurine. I would too. However, it ties into my next point. The dedicated fanbase that Eddsworld has isn't all too dedicated to the actual episodes. Look at content creators on tumblr. A majority have created their own elaborate AUs or headcanons so estranged from the own canon that the real canon holds little value. As each episode comes out, it will gain minute traction, only to swiftly be buried in the sea of fan-derivative content. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't aware of this. In their comment sections on Instagram, oftentimes people will post GIFS of older episodes. Nothing to say about current content. Just GIFs. There's no drive for people to consume this media outside of their already preestablished footholds. So, how can people say something? How to bring in the quiet masses? Give them what they want. Give them Tord.

I made a theory a few days back with my friends. If a piece of media's lore has people begging for more, you'll likely see more AUs, more explorations of the characters outside of canon. I've seen this frequently when shows were coming out. The Owl House, for example, had budding fan theories and prevalent fan works and creators, such as moringmark, who played with fan theories as the show came out, exploring the potential the narrative had. However, by the time it ended, and the story was satisfactorily brought to its conclusion, this content diminished. Audience members felt fulfilled. When people aren't fulfilled, they ask for more. They make more. In this vein lies Miraculous Ladybug, a show known for egregious writing, to the point where content creators have basically transformed the entire show, disregarding a lot of the lore and establishing their own. Unfortuantely, with Eddsworld's current trajectory, the trend of AUs and headcanons feels more aligned with the latter rather than the former.

Another issue that's been plaguing my mind is narratively how his return would work. From the fandom, I've seen a few conflicting perspectives. Some people enjoy him as a villain/antagonist, whilst others prefer him as a member of the main crew. It would be impossible to satisfy both sides. Do they regard The End or not? And if so, how would they treat his facial scars and potential amputation? Ableism has been a plaguing issue in this fandom, and it makes me weary to see it potentially play out in the biggest form of media that Eddsworld uses. And I don't think people would be 100% okay if it was ignored, either. It's an extremely strange gray area where, no matter what, the consequence will be that someone will end up disappointed. To pull it off, they'd need a much more stable foundation and reputation. By the way the last few episodes have gone, I'm not too confident that they do.

After all, they've used this big episode so far to address a few criticisms I've seen for previous episodes. Aside from Tord's presence, they've teased the episode, which many had previously criticized Matt H. for his lack of transparency with the fandom upon production. The same goes with making it a sort of big episode. Beyond's episodes so far have been tamer and less narratively focused in comparison to later Classic and Legacy. That isn't a bad thing, but it's a major tonal shift that has felt awkward. Going back suddenly to the old formulas of narrative also feels a bit strange. The new narrative hasn't had success, sure, but every new creator will always have things to improve upon. Using what made Classic and Legacy successful in an era more focused on simpler narratives makes it seem like the showrunners don't know how to run in their own shoes, so they need to use someone else's to be successful. Here's the thing, you don't gain merit from being derivative, you gain it from making your own stuff work. Beyond wants to focus more on comedy than storytelling? That's great! That's what I've felt like those episodes were focusing on. Improving in that department will help overall. But changing something entirely because it wasn't working feels less confident, less focused on growth, and more on personal achievement. Especially when they have to use a fan-favorite character to get there. They couldn't make it on their own, so use what they know the people love.

I was discussing a book in one of my classes earlier, White Noise, when my teacher brought up how he wants us to constantly be aware of our society after reading this book, and how consumer culture greatly impacts our day to day lives. That's what the author wanted his readers to get out of it. Awareness. Every good work comes with a goal. What is Eddsworld Beyond's goal? What do they get out of bringing Tord back?

To me, it's the epitome of the current state of the entertainment industry. In Hollywood, where the animation corporations don't trust risk or exploration, they remake the old movies or produce soulless sequels. Kung Fu Panda 4, Megamind's sequel, every single live action Disney remake. And yet movies that take risks, like Strange World, no matter the quality, are shoved aside with little marketing. Cash grabs are easy ways to garner attention. They ensure profit. But they never garner the same soul as the original. To me, at least, the showrunners feel less confident in their own works because they've garnered little success from the 3 major episodes they've released so far, not including the shorts. Compared to Legacy and Classic, current Eddsworld has had nothing to say and very little gains from it. Legacy is a bit of a stretch for a standard, but it is a standard previously set by the show. This inflation is something so hard to achieve when a majority of fans have moved on, so I can't entirely blame them for potentially wanting to achieve this same success. It's just an empty way to do it.

I want to see this show succeed. I have a lot of love for it. I know there's a lot of love being put into it by the crew, and in no way do I want this to discredit their work. I see it as a current work in progress that's working out its kinks to reach its true potential. I just don't believe using the character of Tord is the right way to improve and garner traction. This is more of a critique on the writing and overall direction. Please understand this. I hope that, in the future, stuff starts going right for Beyond. Someday it'll succeed. But potentially using, for the lack of a better word, cheap tricks in order to obtain this is not the way to go as a creator.

Feel free to share your own thoughts. I'd love to hear what y'all have to say. And feel free to give helpful critiques as well! I'd love to make more elaborate writing pieces like this, so anything helps! Thank you, and farewell.

[vague-humanoid]

miraculous ladybug's (and tyler perry's) issues with ableism.

[secretly-a-catamount]

Kind of like an introduction post, but I’ve actually been here for a while.

Hi, I’m Secretly-A-Catamount!

I have ASD, SPD, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and anxiety: so no ableism, or I’ll punch you in to the sun.

I’m aro-ace, but not an arrow-ace, which is upsetting because now I can’t be a Hunter for Artemis.

I live in somewhere in the good ol’ USA (not sure how accurate that is sometimes) with my family and pets.

My Ao3 account

Here’s my fandoms (in no particular order, will be updated as I consume more media):

The Serafina Series

The Willa Series

The Shadowhunter Chronicles

The Chronicles of Narnia

His Dark Materials

The Book of Dust

DC Comics

Marvel Comics

Wings of Fire

Warrior Cats

Phantom of the Opera

Newsies

Wicked: The Broadway Musical

The Wicked Years

Six of Crows

King of Scars

The Magisterium Series

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (plus all of the other Rick Riordan book series in that universe)

The School for Good and Evil

Ever After High

The Villain Series

Doctor Who

Hamlet

Twelfth Night

Anthony and Cleopatra

The Hunger Games

The Inheritance Cycle

The Land of Stories

A Tale of Magic . . .

The Legend of Zelda Series

The Pokémon Series (particularly Pokémon XY)

The Legend of Korra (NOT ATLA)

Merlin

Star Wars

Miraculous Ladybug

[gryficowa]

Hey guys, I watched the review of "Horseland", didn't I?

And suddenly I hear that the twins' names are Chloe and Zoe, it blew me away so much

So I entered the name of the cartoon and the names of these two and this is what I found

The question is whether Thomas did it by accident or, as usual, he stole ideas from better creations than his series

Although it's hard for me to say whether "Horseland" is better than what Thomas did, it probably has similar problems to Miracolous, but in a slightly different way (I happened to watch the series itself, but with Polish dubbing, it was probably less stiff than the English one, which it amuses me)

But let's be honest, at least "Horseland" didn't have a theme with a terrorist getting a redemption arc and the mayor taking bribes (And there wasn't a guy like from fandoms when there's a ship war who sells ice cream without permission)

Seriously, I didn't pay attention to the character names until I watched the review of the entire "Horseland" and found out about the names of the twins

What was my point about this show having similar problems to Miracolous but in different ways? Well, miracolous has a lot of problems with sensitive topics and, ironically, it does worse than a series about a girl in a latex suit who saves Paris from black butterflies

Ableism, i.e. a scene where mean characters run over a blind girl and laugh at her, ok, they could have made it interesting, but this character has no reaction to Ableism towards her, which gives the message that Ableism is ok

There's a lot to unpack here, and the main cast is too overprotective of this girl So yes, the moral is that ableism is ok and you have to prove to able-bodied people that you are worth somethingBecause she's blind, you know she can't cope on her own)

As a person on the autism spectrum, I feel this too strongly and I don't really need to explain where the problem is

The character is dyslexic and well, the episode could have worked, but the attack of the mean girls (Even though all the characters are mean, but strangely only the twins are considered mean, which is strange) and the lack of awareness of where the limits are when writing ableism is quite sus

There was also the topic of racism, but funnily enough it is criticized more often on the Internet than ableism, so this is quite an interesting fact about children's series

Damn, even in the case of miracolous, more people talk about racism, but they don't say anything about ableism, and this series also has problems (The fact that Kagami's mother is the only character in the series with a disability makes me feel a bit disgusted)

The trope of a disabled villain is unfortunately common, but also ableistic, ok, it may be less so when there are characters with disabilities in the group (It's like a non-white villain, if the main characters are white, it's racist, but if they are same origin as the villain, one has a much different feeling)

And well, I don't need to tell you what the connotation of miracolous is

Both series have problems with this topic, but in different ways, Horseland tries to tackle a difficult and delicate topic, but it comes out so bad that it hurts, no matter what group you are from, you will feel it

Miracolous, on the other hand, rarely tries to touch on a sensitive topic and it comes out differently, you can see it with racism that wasn't done very well, or the topic of parental violence (Chloe, Adrien, Felix and Kagami are the main topic here), but compared to Horseland it is more difficult to estimate, because many episodes don't try to teach a lesson (Maybe it's better, I don't know what other shit Thomas would do if he gave more lessons on a topic he knows nothing about)

Although the only explanation for Horseland is when it was created, while Miracolous is already a rather new series, so we should look much more critically here

So yes, this is the paradox of it all, I have classically written too much, but you see, the paradox of the characters' names led to this rethinking of all this.

[idontknowanametouse]

Miraculous Rewrite AU. Chapter 1: Origins

(character redesigns are based off @aoberiart work)

(long post under the cut)

(tw/cw: slight mention of ableism, alcoholism, child neglect, child abuse, anxiety crisis and manipulation)

-

Gabriel takes the grimoire in his hands. He looks at the container in front of him. It comes close to exploding, the being whose pure essence is the concept of transmission trying to break free from the technological prison created by the Tsurugi Industries.

Taking a deep breath, he reads the spell in the grimoire, which unites a kwami ​​with a human, forming a miraculous, and connects the device that binds the cosmic being to the bionic syringe. It takes no more than a few seconds for the needle to pierce through his skin and the light to leave the inside of the mechanical box.

Gabriel lets out a howl of pain, feeling something inside him almost shatter. However, keeping his goal in mind, he persists. He can't let that destroy him, not if he wants to get her back.

It seems to take a thousand years and one second. And when he least expected, it stopped.

Gabriel flexes his fingers covered in a mesh that wasn't there before, feeling his body, which no longer burns in pain. He focuses on his veins and feels the power coursing not through his physique, but through his soul. He feels the creature tied to him and its insistence on trying to escape, completely in vain.

He turns to the mirror, until he realizes that, in the midst of his transformation, he broke it. Looking at the shards on the floor, he notices his reflection in them. Despite the fragmented appearance, he can see the outward representation of his power.

Gabriel gets up to tell Nathalie that it worked.

-

-Plagg.

They get up, alarmed, until he sees her.

-Tikki?

-There is something happening.

That's when Plagg feels it.

-Nooroo.

-This happened before. With Duusu. And with you.

-…Yes.

-And you know what that means.

-…sometimes, it's not good to be the strongest.

-It's our duty, Plagg. Destruction and creation, remember?

-I was talking about our miraculous.

-…in fact, it will be bad for them.

-Do you know someone? Do you have a person in mind?

-Yes. But…

-But?

-She is only fifteen years old.

-…I see.

-Do you have someone who can do this?

-Yes. He's… also a child.

-We shouldn't do this to them.

-But there's no one else in this city, right?

-No. Not someone who has such a connection with us.

-Let's take care of them. I, at least, know that I will take care of mine. And you?

-I already take care of her. And now, I will care like I never did before.

-See you around, sugar cube… or Thérese.

-Likewise, stinky cheese… or should I call you Paul?

-You know you can call me whatever you want.

-Fool.

-There are no foolish cats, my dear ladybug.

-

Marinette thought a lot about her first school day outfit. After all, it will be the outfit she wears for class for most of the year. Finally, she manages to make up her mind, after a long time of doubt.

The shoes are black and doll-like, covering the instep engulfed by white striped socks. The skirt is also black, with pleats, and the light pink dress shirt has a red bow at the neck, complemented by black suspenders. She chooses to leave her hair loose, as she got tired of the pigtails.

They get dressed after breakfast, picking up their backpack and going down the stairs to the bakery and the street. They cross the intersection quickly, then enter the school gate and head towards what they were told to be their class.

As always, because she likes to get there early and lives close to the school, she is the first to arrive, seeing, little by little, her classmates fill the room. Taking out her notebook, she starts drawing sketches of her friends' clothes, after all, she always likes to sew new ones for them and has to know what kind of things they like to wear.

Nino greets her by kissing her on the temple, to which she laughs, looking at the bell-bottom jeans, the light green t-shirt with a sunflower print, the white and green striped long-sleeved blouse, the red headphones and, of course, the occasional flowers in their hair. People say the flower shop smell on him is as strong as the bakery's in Marinette.

Nathaniel blows her a kiss from afar, which she reciprocates. He wears a burgundy jumpsuit over a white long-sleeved shirt, his hands wrapped in black fishnet gloves and, on top of his head, a gray beanie. They also got a new piercing in their eyebrow, and the jumpsuit, despite being new (after all, Nath always repeats his clothes and Marinette has never seen that one before), already has small drops of dried paint noticeable on it.

Juleka gives a slight nod when she sees her, and Marinette waves her hand. Juleka's style has been the same since she was eleven years old: fishnet tights, black boots, a black pleated skirt (like theirs!), a purple off-the-shoulder sweater over a black top, silver necklaces and bracelets and black spiked chokers. Despite her appearance, Juleka has always been very kind, just like her brother.

Rose, on the other hand, comes in already hugging her. She doesn't mind Marinette hugging her back awkwardly, because, in her words, "a hug is a hug." She wears a short jeans jumpsuit over a pink blouse, with white socks and pink boots with a flower print, accompanied by a daisy in her hair.

Sabrina waves at Marinette, receiving the same gesture in return. Her white stockings are long, reaching halfway down her thigh, and a daisy adorns her hair, and she looks beautiful in the short white lace dress under a green sweatshirt. On her lap, she carries a photography camera, the same one she always carries with her.

Alix high-fives them, calling her, as usual, “the radest designer ever”. They wear a gray shirt accompanied by a green crop top and a green and black coat with a snake pattern, in addition to their pants having various designs, and their gray, black and green sneakers are highlighted by black socks. And, as always, there's their trademark gray and black cap along with their skates and magenta hair.

Kim and her also high five, which looks a little strange from the outside, given their height difference. He always has the same style of clothing, and it's always simple, which isn't a bad thing: a red sports sweatshirt over a black blouse, with black pants and wristbands, complemented by red sneakers.

Max gives her a categorical nod, to which Marinette responds with a wave of her hand. Like Kim, he doesn't tend to change his clothes much, not that this is a problem. He wears a green blouse accompanied by brown pants, a black belt, a brown tie and dark suspenders.

Ivan hugs her silently, without much force, but lovingly. He is always misjudged because of his appearance, despite being one of the sweetest people Marinette knows. Today, he wears black shorts accompanied by white socks and brown boots, as well as a black blouse with crossed bones under a black coat.

Myléne gives her a typical handshake, which Marinette responds to enthusiastically. She has dreadlocks this year, apparently differentiating herself a bit from last year. She wears a brown skirt with a white dove design next to a wide green blouse over a black top, the blouse with some buttons, some necklaces on top, several bracelets on her arms, pink sunglasses on her face and a pink band holding her hair back.

Finally, Alya arrives, also hugging her and sitting next to her, just like she did last year to start their friendship. Her best friend wears ripped jeans, an orange sweater with white details, several bottons on her chest and her typical fox pendant necklace, as well as earrings, rings and bracelets.

Marinette is relieved that her entire class is there. She knows that it is likely that new students will enter the class, but she thinks it will be okay, since she has known the majority of that class since childhood and they are friends, being the most constant things in her life besides her parents and her home.

That's when, just before the bell rings, the two enter the room.

The girl appears to be wearing designer clothes, with a white coat resting over her elbows and showing her shoulders, a yellow high-necked and sleeveless blouse with black details, black pants, white boots and a black beret on her head, as well as light golden makeup. The boy has much simpler clothes, with just black pants and shirt under a light green coat.

The two stop in front of the room and the girl whispers in the boy's ear. He nods and they separate, taking the only two free seats: the girl is next to Sabrina, who immediately starts to chat with her, and the boy is next to Nino, just in front of Marinette.

Before the teacher enters the room and the class begins, Marinette frowns, smelling a faint smell of… camembert cheese?

-

Adrien wakes up at five in the morning, so anxious is he. He packs his backpack and his own clothes several times, barely able to wait until Chloé comes to pick him up. Don't get him wrong, he loves Placide, but he really needs to go to and from school with Chloé. The reason? Simple: he has no experience with going to school and Chloé has to teach him how to behave. Ok, her entire life's experience was at a military school, but still, it's better than nothing, which is his case.

Seeing the morning sun begin to rise, Adrien heads to the living room, but not before leaving some camembert cheese in his bedroom. In recent months, a stray cat has come into his room to eat, and it seems to especially like that kind of cheese. Adrien has no reason to send him away or stop feeding him, so he takes care of him when he comes there. And, just in case, he leaves the cheese there in case the cat comes over during the day.

-Adrien – calls Nathalie, at the bedroom door. – Come and have breakfast. Your father…

-…he's not there, right?

-…no.

-Ok…

Honestly, today, Adrien is relieved that his father isn't there. Most days, he would be uncomfortable and then conform, but since Gabriel was very reluctant to honor his agreement with his son to let him go to high school, it's good to avoid that situation and leave without being noticed by him. Even more so because he plans to use his crutches at school, as he wouldn't be able to spend so much time without them, and his father… wouldn't like that…

Chloé arrives soon, and Adrien is able to take a deep breath and relax in the presence of his best friend. At home, even when he knows his father isn't there, he can't help but think he's being watched. Being away and by his best friend's side is a relief.

-What is it? – Chloe asks.

-Hmm? Nothing.

-Why that face? It looks horrible. Did you put on makeup?

-No. I do not know how to do it on my own, you know that.

-You should learn. At school, appearance is everything.

-Wasn't your school military?

-And?

-They banned makeup.

-I would pass some that no one would notice, just so I'd not have that horrible sleepy look like that one in your face. Now, ready for class about school?

She talks a lot in those fifteen minutes they stay in the car, and Adrien understands almost nothing, but thanks her anyway at the end. Chloé said he can sit next to her in the room, which relieves him, since it seems like this sitting next to someone thing is important.

However, his hope is shattered as soon as they reach the room and see that no two seats next to each other are empty. Adrien feels a slight nervousness inside him, but Chloé leans into his ear and whispers:

-Stay with that guy over there – and points to someone with headphones. – and I will stay there. – and points to a girl with a daisy in her hair.

-…alright.

Adrien feels a little uncomfortable sitting next to someone he doesn't know, and is surprised when the one next to him catches his attention.

-Hey there.

-…hey. – Adrien feels his face heat up. He doesn't really know what to do in that situation. This wasn't like the times his father took him to parties and events, where he memorized what to do. Here, he really has no idea how to act.

-What's your name?

-Adrien.

-Hi, Adrien. – he… doesn't recognize him? Internally, this brings a little relief to Adrien, because at least one person won't see him as his father wanted them to. – I'm Nino. – the boy next to him smiles. His clothes don't really look like what someone who knew his father's work would wear.

-…hi, Nino. – Adrien extends his hand, as he is used to always doing. The confusion on Nino's face leaves him panicking, thinking he's made a terrible mistake. However, Nino smiles and squeezes his hand tightly.

-Wanna be my friend?

-Huh? – Adrien mutters, the shock running through his body and almost paralyzing him.

-Sorry, was that too fast?

-Do you… really want to be my friend?

-You wanna?

-Hum, yes. – he murmurs, his eyes going to his fingers, full of cuticles from the times he pulls them. – I… would really like that. I… I've only had one real friend my whole life, so… yeah.

-Oh. I can introduce you to my friends if you want! – and smiles again.

-…thank you.

-

Ivan receives the call during class break.

-…ms Florence? – he feels his hands shake as he answers his neighbor’s call. Calm down, calm down.

-Ivan. Your mother left again. – he swallows hard. No, not again… – The smell of alcohol is strong. I… really don't recommend you go home now. There's a man knocking on the door, talking about your father.

He freezes. With a lot of effort, he manages to mutter:

-Thanks for letting me know.

-Take care of yourself.

He turns off his cell phone and puts it away. He puts his hands in his jacket pockets. He tries to pay attention to the ground and ignore how it's going round and round.

Ivan runs as discreetly as he can to the school basement. It's only used to store trash and useless things (just like him), no one goes there. Nobody will find him. No one will disturb him.

He sits in a forgotten, dusty corner and hugs his knees. His heart is racing too much. His breathing is shallow, and his eyes are blurring.

The extremities of his body are becoming numb, so much so that he may not even notice anyone touching him.

Ivan squeezes, his hand searching for the bottom of his jacket pocket, a small ball of paper. That, that little ball of paper that he keeps there, and that when he feels like screaming and breaking and crying, he squeezes and squeezes and squeezes.

Don't show that you are angry, you will be threatening. Don't show that you are sad, you will be weak. Don't show yourself to be anything other than a heartless and emotionless stone, it will be against everything they thought of you your entire life.

Don't feel it, don't feel it, don't feel it, you don't have to feel it, you shouldn't feel it, don't feel it, don't feel it…

“Stoneheart, I am Hawk Moth”

He suddenly feels an outside interference. No, it's not, it's internal, he knows it's inside, because he can feel all the barriers he once created, all the secrets and things he's kept to himself his entire life, falling before that interference. That presence.

The one which, suddenly, knows his whole soul.

“You feel fragile because of people who didn’t care about you”

The voice enters his brain like the flutter of a butterfly's wings, dripping through his neurons and flooding everything, making his thoughts more brittle and forgettable.

The voice… no, the butterfly says something that is true. To the surface of his consciousness come all the times his mother and the people who claimed to work with his father hurt him. All the times he couldn't get the smell of alcohol out of his nose, all the times he had to knock at Mrs. Florence because his mother kicked him out of the apartment.

All the times he wished he could just be strong enough to stop feeling all that pain.

“I can give you the power to leave any weak feeling behind and never suffer again”

Could it do this? Could it do this?

Of course it could.

The words of that butterfly are so true that they make everything else in the world seem like a lie.

-…ok… – his voice is hoarse and terribly broken. As soon as he utters that simple word, the teenager feels his body, mind and heart sink into darkness.

-

Marinette is inside the bathroom, washing her hands, when it happens.

First, it's something similar to an explosion, and the ground shakes. Then, an inhuman voice shouts something she can't understand, and a bizarrely loud sound of footsteps follows. The girl, with no understanding, quickly goes to the door, and can see, in the distance, someone running.

Something running.

It has a vaguely humanoid body, however, made entirely of rocks and absurdly large, in a way that no person could be. All the students scream and run away from the thing, which goes towards the exit and breaks down the school gate with a single punch, leaving it in the middle of the street and, with that, starting even more screams, along with the sound of cars braking and crashing.

What…?

Marinette's heart is so fast that she's afraid it will stop. The girl stumbles backwards, feeling her back wave until she touches the back wall of the bathroom, sensing her hands shaking and her breath failing. She screams and screams and covers her face with her hands, feeling the horror of something that should be impossible penetrating every inch of her brain.

-Marinette! Marinette, look at me! Look at me! Breathe deeply!

Her throat, at least, stops making sounds, but the girl is still shaking, her face covered by her hands and tears. The voice, which seems slightly familiar, says:

-Breathe with me. Don't think about anything else, just breathe with me, pay attention here and now. One two three. One two three. One two three…

With much effort and many minutes, Marinette manages to calm her breathing and heartbeat. Finally gaining courage, she opens her eyes, and sees…

Her psychologist.

-T-Therese? – she murmurs, her voice hoarse from the screams and tears. – Wh… what… what are you… I… that… that thing…

-Listen, Mari, I know it's horrible to be here right now. I know this is all horrible, and unbelievable, and confusing. But you need to focus on me, now. Only on me.

Marinette hesitantly nods her head. Therese gives them a gentle smile.

And then she turns into a ten-centimeter big-headed creature.

Marinette screams.

-

Adrien barely feels his body.

He just witnessed a giant creature made of stone run out of the school. He panicked and went into the bathroom to hide, and found the cat that always visited his room. It's not a similar cat, it's exactly the same.

Maybe the absurdity of that situation made his brain shut down. The fact is that Adrien is standing in the middle of the bathroom, staring at that cat.

And then the cat turns into a person.

The two pairs of green eyes stare at each other.

-What? – Adrien murmurs, fearing that he has finally lost his sanity.

The person, still sitting like a cat, mumbles:

-Hi, kitten. – and sighs. – We have a lot to talk about.

-

-You are a cosmic entity denominated kwami ​​and your name is Tikki.

-Yes.

-You are the representation of the concept of creation and have existed since the beginning of the universe.

-Yes.

-You choose people who have a strong connection with your concept and transform them into “miraculous”, giving them powers.

-Yes.

-There are other kwamis and one of them is forcibly being used in some way by a person who, through their power, created that thing made of stone that I just saw out of someone else's negative feelings.

-Yes.

-And you chose me to be a miraculous.

-Yes.

-But… but… but why me?! What's so special about me?! Why not literally anyone else?!

-I don't know why, Marinette. Connections are one of the few things in this universe I have no idea about.

-…do you really want this? Do you want me to do this?

-You need to accept it.

-How am I going to become, I don't know, a superhero if I can barely deal with my anxiety problems?!

-Marinette, you are one of the youngest people I have ever felt a connection with, but I know that if this happened, it is because you are capable. The choice is yours, but know that I believe in you.

-…alright.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Tikki smiled.

-You are extraordinary, Marinette.

A red explosion enters her soul.

-

-…what's your name?

-Plagg.

-…okay, Plagg. I'll do it.

-Really? Are you sure you're ready for this?

-I think this is the thing, the reason to my life, I've been waiting for for such a long time. I didn't know what it was, but now, it feels like that's it. Plus… it's nice to be able to choose to be something instead of being forced to for once.

Plagg lets out a sigh that sounds more like a chuckle.

-Kitten, you have much sharper claws than others may think.

His soul merges with the blast of darkness.

-

Marinette looks at herself in the bathroom mirror, shocked. It's exactly how she imagined. How she designed her magical girl dress when she was eight. The dress she never showed to anyone else.

The red tutu dress has three large half circles at the hem, with a black ribbon at the waist tied in a bow at the back, and the upper half of the torso is black with a V shape, covering her torax to her neck. The tights are black, the shoes are doll-like and red gloves cover their forearms up to the elbow, with their hands completely black and a black circle on their elbows. On their face, there is a domino red mask with a black stripe in the middle and two black spots on the sides. Her hair is tied with a black band in a bun.

Her fingers delicately pass over the mask, still trying to understand the situation. She feels something on her thigh, and, reaching for it, she notices something wrapped around it. She carefully unwinds the thread and feels the weight of the object at the end of it in her hands, revealing…

A yo-yo.

Tikki warned her that it would seem… unexpected, at first, but that it would work, like, in her words, “that Spider-Man thing that you youngsters like”. She also said that Marinette would have access to two powers, one of them being the Lucky Charm, which created a specific object that, in some way, would be able to save her from the situation she was in. The other power would be exclusive to Marinette, and there was no way for them to know what it was until it manifested. Also, after she used her powers, she would feel a great loss of energy, especially since she was a teenager, and would need to rest for a few hours.

A little excited and a little terrified, the girl comes out of the bathroom, and sees no one in the half-destroyed school yard. Then, she takes a deep breath, throws the yo-yo as far as she can and feels a pull, then being thrown towards the direction she launched her “weapon”.

The girl screams.

-

When Adrien looks at the mirror, he doesn't recognize himself.

It's different from basically everything his father wants him to be. It's different from what others expect from him. And it's exactly how he wishes he could be.

The black hood has a cat bell at the neck, one of the sleeves being short and the other long. There's a kind of… black belt (?) on his chest, and his sweatpants are wide, reaching down to his ankles. Around his waist, there are some wide black belts with one of them unbuckled, looking like there is a cat's tail behind him. He wears black gloves, one of them fingerless and the other with small claws, and black boots. On his face, there is a black domino mask and, from the middle of his hair, two black cat ears emerge.

Adrien moves on his crutches. They're also black now, with bright green accents, and both have a button near the rest area for his hands. Plagg said it would help him move around Paris faster, which is a relief, honestly (even though Adrien has no idea how). He also said that he had two superpowers, one of them being secret and only Adrien's, and the other called Cataclysm, which could destroy anything he touched.

Coming out of the bathroom, he finds himself next to an open window. Probably a student opened it to escape. Adrien, not quite sure what to do, tilts his crutches towards the window and, holding tight to the hand rest, presses his thumbs against the buttons.

He is launched upwards, through the open window and across Paris' sky.

-

Marinette holds onto the gargoyle tightly.

She is at the top of Notre Dame Cathedral. And trembling with fear, because if they slip, they could fall to their death. In fact, she spent the last five minutes clinging to the statue, eyes closed.

Why did she think she could do this? Why did she think she was good enough to be a hero? She's the opposite of functional in everyday life, for God's sake! How did she expect to be able to fly around Paris, let alone fight villains?!

Marinette is about to start crying when she hears the scream. Which gets closer and closer.

And suddenly, someone in a black suit falls right on top of the gargoyle next to them. A black cat costume. Someone Tikki talked about.

-H-hello? – Marinette murmurs, but the wind at that height makes the person, who clings to the gargoyle just like her, not hear her. Taking courage, she exclaims: – Hello!!

The person dressed as a cat was surprised and then turned to her, giving a slight wave:

-Hey!!

-Are you the cat Miraculous?!

-I am!! You're the ladybug, right?!

-Yeah!!

-I'm… – and he stopped for a moment, then exclaiming: – Chat Noir!!!

-Huh… – she stops for a moment to think, but no particularly creative option comes to mind. – Ladybug!!!

-Nice to meet you!!

-Me, too!!

-I would extend my hand, but we must be about five meters away from each other!!!

-How do we get out of here?!

-I don't know!! How did you get here?!

-With that yo-yo!! And you?!

-My crutches!! I think… there shouldn't be any limits for these things, so… maybe we just need to leave the same way we came?!

-Almost throwing ourselves out of the building?!

-Like that!!

-But shouldn't we fight the villain?! The akuma guy?! How are we going to find him?!

-Shouldn't the police be after him?! Or the army?!

-Yes!!

-Just go wherever they are going!!

She released the yo-yo and he pressed the buttons. They went, clumsily crossing the sky and howling, to the place with the most screams in the entire city.

-

People ran, getting away from the villain's enormous stony figure. The strange thing was that he didn't actually attack anyone, just the occasional police car that tried to stop him. In fact, he seemed to be trying to go to the least populated area possible.

And Marinette couldn't help but feel sorry, because… something about him reminded her of someone, but she couldn't tell who.

-We need to break… the “akumatized object”, right? – she murmured.

-Yes, but what object? He's not holding anything.

-His left hand doesn't open at all, while the other is almost always open… he must be holding the object there.

-And… how do we make him open his hand?

-I can use my power, but… I don't know how…

-What does it do?

-Um, Tikki, my kwami, explained that it creates an object that will help me in the situation, but I don't… know how to call it…?

-Try… to think hard, I guess? Try that.

Marinette then closed her eyes and imagined, with force, some object of an indefinite shape that would help her. A… lucky charm.

Something fell into their hand.

They both looked at the object in shock.

-That's… an inflatable mattress.

-…I think your power is a little broken or something.

-I… maybe I can create a plan, but… I think it's better if we attack him first? It is better.

It was a disaster.

When Adrien called the cataclysm, he accidentally broke a mailbox he was leaning on and, because of this, he could no longer use his power. When Marinette tried to wrap her yo-yo around the villain's arm and pull it away, he swung his limb and threw her away. And, what's worse, when Adrien tried to attack him with his crutches, as soon as he was hit, he got bigger.

And he was coming towards them.

It was then that the two realized it was time to get away. Quickly.

They moved as far away as they could and found an isolated building in the middle of a residential area, which they landed on. Both felt the weight of using their powers on their bodies, energy being drained and tiredness falling over them. Interestingly, as soon as they just wanted to detransform, it happened.

-…Hey you…

-…Me?

-Aren't you… one of the new students? The ones that started in class today?

-In… François-Dupont? Yes it's me. What's your name?

-Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

-Adrien Graham de Vanily.

-You… aren't you the model?

-…yeah, I am.

-Ah… now that I noticed… I sit… right behind you…

-…cool… where are our kwamis?

-There's a black cat right there, on the edge of the roof – and they pointed at Plagg. – and a ladybug that's hitting my head, so… maybe it's them?

-She told you about tiredness, right?

-Uhum… can we just… sleep? Until we recover?

-I think it's better…

They lay down on the concrete, and, with fear and worry still rooted inside their hearts, ended up falling into a deep sleep. The two cosmic beings remained on guard, waiting for the young ones to wake up.

-

I think it was a decent introduction. Probably won't take long until chapter 2 is out.

[variousbones]

Hey everypony

This is my intro post

You can call me bones

Pronouns are they/them, but gendered language in joking is welcome (example: “I know his ass isn’t making an intro post rn” or “go piss girl”)

Demographics: white, Jewish, trans nonbinary, bisexual/queer, extremely hot/gets bitches, 8’ 11” because I guess that matters, disabled, AuDHD

Interests: (in no particular order) My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, NBC Hannibal, Supernatural (gross), The Mentalist, She-Ra, sustainability, intersectional feminism, restorative justice, filmmaking (especially editing and sound), sewing, singing, Miraculous Ladybug

Anti: Racism, zionism, transphobia, ableism, etc

DNI: whatever idk. I will block at my own discretion ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I feel like the people who I’d list under here don’t give a shit about DNIs anyway lmao.