#Mrs bustiers class

[natedogx15]

Miraculous Descendent Chapter 51: Show and Tell

Previous Chapter

The next day, Marinette and Nate are peacefully resting in their beds before there's a knock at Marinette's door. Marinette doesn't react to the sound, causing Sabine to open the door and walk toward her daughter.

"Marinette, we have to get up. It's time for school. We're going to be late if you don't get up." Sabine shakes her daughter awake.

Finally, Marinette opens her eyes and sees Sabine's smiling face.

"*yawn* What are you doing here, Mom?" Marinette asks in confusion while trying to wake up.

"Can't a mother wake her daughter up instead of their butler? You never had a problem with it before." Sabine says with a giggle at her daughter's reaction.

Finally starting to wake up and have her mind catch up with her, Marinette's eyes widen as she realizes what today is and immediately sits up.

"Ah, school." Marinette panics as she gets out of bed to get ready.

Sabine smiles and shakes her head at her daughter's antics as she rushes toward her closet to get ready for school.

She quickly leaves the room to let her daughter get ready and heads toward Nate's room. She knocks on the door. Luckily, Nate comes to the door in his video game pajamas.

"Morning. Time for school, I'm guessing." Nate says while rubbing the sleep from one of his eyes as he looks at Sabine.

"Yes. I'll be walking to school with you two." Sabine tells him with a smile.

"Alright." Nate nods before closing the door to get ready.

After that, Sabine heads toward the hotel lobby to wait for the teens. After a few minutes, Nate is the first to come down in a dark blue hoodie with blue jeans and his usual sneakers while carrying his school bag.

"Good morning, Sabine." He says with a smile as he walks toward the waiting woman.

"Good morning, Nate. I see you're the first one down." Sabine says with a smile.

Nate says nothing and shrugs before sitting in one of the lobby seating areas to wait for Marinette. It takes a few minutes, but she finally comes down with her signature ladybug-themed jacket over a pink short-sleeve shirt with white pants. It's a reversal of her usual outfit. She even has a bracelet with a sunflower-shaped ornament on her wrist.

"Sorry, it took me so long. I wanted to try out a different outfit." Marinette apologizes as she does a little twirl to show off her clothes.

"It looks lovely, sweetie," Sabine says with a smile as she looks over Marinette's outfit.

"Thanks." Marinette beams at her mother's approval.

The trio leave the hotel and walk toward school. The walk there is silent for a while before Sabine looks toward Marinette.

"So, how is getting Ladybug to talk to us going?" Sabine asks Marinette.

That question causes Marinette to freeze and awkwardly stare at her mother as she tries to say something.

"W-well. S-she usually comes to me for information. I don't really have a way to talk to her." Marinette awkwardly tells her mother.

"I see." Sabine hums while keeping a close eye on her daughter.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Nate looks for a way to change it and notices they're near Agreste Manor.

"Hey, Sabine. Do you know the stories around Agreste Manor?" Nate asks his new aunt while hoping it'll be enough to steer the conversation away.

Sabine blinks in confusion before looking at Adrien's house.

"No, I don't think I have. Why? What are the stories?" Sabine asks him with a raised eyebrow.

"They say the place is haunted. That something walks through the halls in search of something. They also say that Gabriel is studying black magic to find a way to bring his missing wife back." Nate explains as he walks backward while talking to Sabine.

"Really?" Sabine asks in surprise, not expecting those kinds of rumors.

"Yeah, I told this to Marinette at the beginning of the school year. Apparently, the stories started from some cleaners or other employees that worked in the mansion." Nate explains with a smile as he makes spooky movements with his hands for emphasis.

"Well, those are some interesting rumors. I'm sure they're just that, though. People will make up all sorts of different rumors." Sabine tells him while rolling her eyes at how people can blow things out of proportion.

"True. But it's pretty interesting to think about. I mean, we know magic is real. So, it's not like it's something impossible." Nate says with a shrug.

"I suppose that's true. But it's rude to say those things about someone who misses their other half. Losing your partner can be a painful experience, and it can take a long time to get over it. People also grieve in different ways. I'm sure Mr. Agreste is just trying to get over his wife in solitude." Sabine explains while looking toward Agreste Mansion as they walk past it.

The two teens don't say anything and look at the mansion with some looks of pity.

"So... how's it feel to be married to Uncle Tom?" Nate finally asks to change topics again.

Sabine gives him a good-natured smile before saying.

"It's wonderful. He's so charming. I wish I could do more to help him, though." Sabine says while putting a hand to her cheek as she worriedly thinks about Tom.

"Yeah, Uncle Tom hasn't been looking the best lately. Hawkmoth is putting him through the wringer with everything he's doing." Nate sighs as he thinks about the times he's seen Uncle Tom. Quite a few times, Tom didn't look like he got a lot of sleep.

"Yes. I'm worried about his health." Sabine sighs.

"I'm sure Uncle Tom will be okay," Nate says optimistically.

"I hope so." Sabine nods.

Marinette listens to their conversation and bites her lip.

"Hopefully, we'll find Hawkmoth soon to help Tom." Marinette thinks as she follows the two.

"Are you okay, Marinette? You've been quiet." Sabine says as she looks toward her daughter in worry.

"O-oh, I'm fine, Mom. I'm just thinking about what you guys said." Marinette says while nervously waving her arms toward her mother.

"Sorry if we're worrying you, Marinette." Sabine quickly apologizes when she sees her daughter's state.

"Oh, no. It's fine. I'm worried about Tom, too. I was trying to figure out how I can help Ladybug figure out who Hawkmoth is quicker before you said something." Marinette explains to calm her mother's worries.

"Alright then. Hopefully, you'll come up with something." Sabine tells her daughter.

The trio later arrives at the school and enters to see a couple of different pairs of students and parents heading toward Miss Bustier's class. Following them, the trio enters the room. After getting in the room, Marinette and Nate take their seats while Sabine stands on the side of the room next to Marline, Alya's mother and the head chef of Samuel's hotel.

As time goes by, more parent and child pairs enter the room until the room is eventually filled up. A few students' parents are missing, such as Juleka, Nathaniel, and Kim. However, there are still a fair amount of parents for today.

While everyone in Miss Bustier's class is preparing for their career talks, Mr. Damocles is in his office, taking a few deep breaths, hoping nothing goes wrong today.

"Albert, open up my email." Mr. Damocles orders his computer A.I.

"Please repeat. I was unable to understand." Albert requests.

"Open my email, Albert." Mr. Damocles says in a louder, more forceful tone.

"Please repeat. I was unable to understand." Albert requests again.

"Open my emails, Albert!" Mr. Damocles shouts at the A.I.

"Pl-please re-repeat-" Albert begins before his icon glitches, and his speech breaks apart.

"Oh, not again." Mr. Damocles groans as he realizes Albert is malfunctioning.

With a heavy sigh, Mr. Damocles shuts Albert down and peaks at his programming to try and figure out what went wrong.

"The comics make creating an artificial intelligence look so easy." Mr. Damocles sighs as he looks at the programming.

As he does this, he daydreams about a fully functioning Albert backing him up as he helps Ladybug and Cat Noir fight an Akuma in an Owlman costume, giving him information and activating equipment in his suit.

Somewhere else within the school, Aurore sits quietly in class in the corner of the room. Ever since she got hired as Mireille's co-host, her old haughty attitude has returned somewhat. But she still feels uncomfortable about being in school while everyone knows she's been turned into a villain by Hawkmoth. So, she usually keeps to herself or talks to friends during school.

However, today is going to be different from her usual school routine. In Hawkmoth's secret base, he is watching the girl through the glass bulb on the top of his cane.

"We'll see how today goes for you, Damocles. Especially since one of my butterflies is more than ready to possess one of your students without a catalyst." Hawkmoth says as he observes Aurore taking notes.

He's decided to wait before doing anything to the school and let events play out.

Later that day, the class watches as Chloe's father walks up to the front of the room with a cloth-covered tray.

"Chloe, please pass these out to your classmates and their parents. They're freshly baked croissants. I made them this morning for you all." André tells the class kindly as he gives Chloe the tray and unveils it for everyone in the room to see over two dozen croissants and some tongs.

Chloe doesn't look happy with having to give her classmates her father's food but doesn't say anything against her father. Reluctantly, she begins passing her classmates and their parents the food.

Some of the more abrasive students give Chloe smug and amused looks as she does this to irritate her. She finally hesitates when she reaches Marinette and Nate's desk. With a scowl, Chloe is about to refuse before.

"Chloe, is everything okay?" André asks her daughter worriedly, not wanting her to cause any trouble.

With a huff, Chloe gives Marinette, Nate, and Sabine their croissants but doesn't hesitate to whisper something to Marinette as she walks by the girl after handing a croissant to her mom.

"Enjoy your food." She aggressively whispers to the girl.

"Thanks, I will," Marinette says in faux happiness as she looks at Chloe with a closed-eye smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Bougeois." Miss Bustier thanks the man.

"No problem, Miss Bustier. I'm happy to give them some of my bakery's treats. Maybe I'll get a few loyal customers out of today." André jokes with a good-natured smile, getting a few chuckles from the adults around the room.

"I'm sure you will. Now, let's move on to Alya's mom, the head chef at the Le Grand Paris, owned by the father of our very own Nathanial Dupain and brother of our mayor, Samuel Dupain." Miss Bustier says as she motions toward the woman standing next to Sabine.

The students and parents clap toward the woman as she pushes past Sabine and takes André's place in front of the room.

"Hello, I'm Marlena Césaire. It's a pleasure to meet my daughter's classmates and their parents." Marlena says kindly with a welcoming smile.

"Unfortunately, I didn't bring you any treats like Mr. Bourgeois. Did you, Sabine?" Marlena asks the other woman jokingly.

"No, I'm afraid I didn't." Sabine shakes her head.

"I guess I'll just have to talk about what I do instead." Marlena fake sighs before looking toward the class.

"My job is to make sure everything in the kitchen of Le Grand Paris runs smoothly. I have to go over our menus and control the food preparations. I also have to deal with complaints from customers sometimes." Marlena explains.

"It's a rather difficult job. But luckily I have the help of a capable staff. Such as Sabine over there." Marlena says as she motions toward Sabine, who smiles toward the class.

"It feels like things have been going a lot smoother ever since she started helping in the kitchen, and I'm happy to call her a co-worker and friend," Marlena explains while smiling at Sabine.

"Happy to take some of the stress off, Marlena," Sabine tells her with an equally radiant smile.

"How nice. It must have been awkward to work with the wife of your boss' brother, though." Miss Bustier says while looking between the two women.

"It was a bit awkward, but she soon proved she was just as capable as my other chefs. In fact, she's come up with quite a few new sweets for our hotel's menu." Marlena nods.

"Wonderful." Miss Bustier claps happily upon hearing Marlena's words.

"Well, thank you for your time, Mrs. Césaire. Let's move on to our next parent, Mr. Roger Raincomprix." Miss Bustier says before motioning for Roger to come on stage

As the class continues their career day, Hawkmoth decides that now is the time to strike.

"It's time for round three. You know what to do, my little one."  Hawkmoth says as a butterfly forms in his glass bulb before flying out of it and through the stained glass window.

"We'll see how the heroes handle this next set of Akumas," Hawkmoth says with a smile as he can feel the butterfly heading toward Aurore.

Not knowing what's to come, Aurore is taking notes in her class with an umbrella-shaped pen. Eventually, the butterfly arrives and phases through the window toward her. It flies toward her writing tool, and Aurore only has a second to notice it before it possesses her pen.

"Hello, Stormy Weather," Hawkmoth says as the butterfly outline appears on Aurore's face.

After this happens, Miss Mendeleiev and her eyes widen in shock.

"Everyone out! I want you all out of this classroom now! It's an Akuma emergency! Evacuate the classroom immediately! Leave your things and leave!" Miss Mendeleiev orders as she desperately tries to get her students out of the room and to safety, while Aurore has a look of fear and horror on her face as she converses with Hawkmoth.

"Why? Why are you doing this to me? How are you getting to me? I'm not feeling negative about today?" Aurore asks in fear as she tries to figure out why Hawkmoth keeps going after her.

"Unfortunately, I have more than a few tricks up my sleeve and am not completely limited by who's feeling negative today. As for why you, you just drew the unlucky card." Hawkmoth explains as Aurore's mind starts to go blank while she's forcibly transformed.

"Hahahaha." Soon, Stormy Weather's cackling can be heard within the classroom as her transformation is complete.

Meanwhile, Roger is finishing his talk about his job as a police officer.

"And that's the basic idea of my job. It's quite dangerous, especially with Hawkmoth running around." Roger finishes as he looks at the room with a smile.

The students and adults clap their hands after his talk while Sabrina has a proud smile while standing next to him. After the applause, Kim raises his hand toward Roger.

"Yes?" Roger asks.

"Do you have an idea who Hawkmoth might be?" Kim asks curiously.

Roger blinks in slight surprise but not too much since he expected someone to ask that question.

"Well, I'm not allowed to talk about that publicly right now. Rest assured, though. The police are doing their best to figure out who Hawkmoth is with our limited information to put you and the rest of Paris at ease. He's our highest priority target right now." Roger tells Kim with a kind and comforting smile to try and put everyone in the room at ease.

After he says that, though, he and the rest of Miss Bustier's class can see Miss Mendeleiev's class running through the halls in a panic.

"What's going on?" Miss Bustier asks in worry when she sees the students running toward the stairway.

Right as she says that, Miss Mendeleiev opens the door toward her classroom and shouts.

"Aurore was turned into a villain again in the middle of my class! Quickly follow the school procedures!" She orders as she looks at the people in the room before exiting the room to try and help her class get to safety.

Everyone's eyes widen in shock and horror when they hear this, and Roger quickly takes action.

"Alright, everyone, please listen to Miss Bustier's directions. " Roger orders before grabbing his radio.

"This is Officer Roger. We have an Akuma at Lycée Françoise Dupont. I need backup." Roger says as he heads toward one of the classroom doors to get a better look at what's going on.

He rests a hand on his taser while peaking out the door to see what's happening outside. When he does, he sees a cackling Stormy Weather fly out of her classroom and into the sky above the school.

"It's time for round three, heroes! Let's see how you do this time!" Stormy Weather cackles while holding an umbrella.

It seems Aurore's umbrella pen changed with her and became an umbrella that matches her color scheme.

After she says that, Roger sees Hawkmoth's butterfly outline appearing over her face. After a few seconds, Stormy Weather's smile turns even more malicious.

"Good point, Hawkmoth. I should make a spectacle to get the heroes' attention." Stormy Weather says before aiming her umbrella toward the ground.

Roger's eyes widen, and he quickly shuts the classroom door while turning toward the room's occupants.

"Everybody take cover!" Roger orders as he tries to get away from the door.

As soon as he says that, a giant glacier appears in the middle of the school's courtyard, and ice starts to run along the entire school, freezing the doors and windows facing the glacier. The ice also slid under the door into the classroom, trapping Roger's leg slightly.

"Dad!" Sabrina shouts in worry as she sees her father's foot frozen in ice.

She quickly runs toward her father to see if he's okay.

"I'll be fine, Sabrina. We need everyone to evacuate, though. It seems like she plans on making this a battleground against the heroes." Roger tells everyone.

Everyone looks either anxious or excited when they hear this, Marinette, Adrien, Nate, and Sabrina especially so, as they glance around, or in Nate's case, glance at Marinette in worry.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Marlena asks as she looks at the children worriedly.

Roger points toward the outer windows of the room that haven't been frozen.

"Evacuate through the windows. Everyone needs to climb down and get to safety." Roger orders.

Hearing this, André and Miss Bustier head toward the windows and see if they can open them.

While the class is trying to figure out how to get out of the room and to safety, Mr. Damocles is trying to get his office door to open. But it's frozen over.

"Come on. Open up already." Mr. Damocles desperately says as he tries harder to get the door open.

Unfortunately, his desperate attempts to open the door cause the doorknob to break off and send him tumbling to the ground. He winches as he holds his hip while lying there, having landed funny.

"*Groans* It's on days like these when I wish I was secretly a superhero." Mr. Damocles groans as he rubs his hip, feeling a growing sense of helplessness and worry.

Unfortunately for Mr. Damocles, he forgets the phrase, 'Be careful what you wish for.' when he mutters this.

"There's the emotion I was looking for, Damocles. You'll be perfect for me to make a new villain." Hawkmoth says as he senses Mr. Damocles' emotions.

He quickly creates another butterfly and sends it after Mr. Damocles. It soon arrives at the school and heads toward Mr. Damocles as he sits at his desk while frantically typing something on his computer.

"Come on, how do you get out of a locked room?" Mr. Damocles asks as he types into the computer.

Due to being so focused on what he's typing, he doesn't notice the butterfly heading toward him and into his computer.

"Hello, Dark Owl," Hawkmoth says as his butterfly outline appears over Mr. Damocles' face.

Mr. Damocles' eyes widen in shock before he grabs his head.

"Get out of my head! You won't have me hurting anyone! While you're at it, release my student!" Mr. Damocles shouts as he tries to get Hawkmoth out of his head.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. But don't worry, I won't make you hurt anyone other than the real villains." Hawkmoth promises.

"Real villains?" Mr. Damocles asks in confusion as he holds his head in pain from the mental connection between them.

"Yes, Ladybug and Cat Noir. I simply wish to use their Miraculous to save someone important to me. I am desperate, and that's why I'm doing this. I have tried to get them to give me their Miraculous, but they refuse and have tied my hands." Hawkmoth explains in a faux sad and regretful tone.

"That doesn't give you the right to harm the children like this." Mr. Damocles says as he starts to feel his vision blackout.

"Don't worry; you'll be allowed to make sure your student doesn't hurt anyone else. I'm giving you the power to be the hero you dreamed of. You can get your students and staff to safety while ending my reign of terror. Won't you be the hero Paris deserves and put an end to those fakes?" Hawkmoth questions as Mr. Damocles finally succumbs to his will.

"Yes Hawkmoth." Mr. Damocles says with a malicious smile as his body is covered in black smoke.

Back in Miss Bustier's classroom, some teens are climbing out the windows down toward waiting adults, ready to catch them if the teens fall. As Rose climbs down, she slips and falls. Sabine rushes toward her to try and save her but doesn't have to. Someone else swoops in and snatches the teen before letting her down gently.

"Hoo, hoo, are you alright, young lady?" The person asks in a somewhat baritone voice.

"Yes, thank y-" Rose starts to thank the person until she gets a good look at them.

The person who saves her is the Akumatized Mr. Damocles, whose Akuma form seems to take the form of a darker version of his secret Owlman costume.

The costume consists of a black and dark brown full-body costume with metal stub areas on his chest, shoulders, elbows, and inner thighs and a golden owl symbol on the center of the chest. He also has pale brown padded gloves that stop before his elbows and matching boots with black soles and an orange stub at the tip. Around his neck is a black cape with a similar metallic design on the inside of it. Around his waist is a matching utility belt with different owl-themed equipment in pouches. Over his face is a half mask that covers the entire upper part of his face with tuft-like orange extensions going from above his eyes like eyebrows and extending toward the sides of his head while pointing backward. His physical appearance has also changed. He's become more muscular with a long orange mustache that matches the tuft-like extensions. His beard also changes to a defined brown one with two black marks. His eyes are yellow and owl-like with orange outlines around them.

"No problem, young lady. Now, let's get the rest of you to safety." Dark Owl announces as he looks toward the teens trying to climb down and those looking out the windows.

He pulls out four owl-themed boomerangs and throws them toward the ground under the students. The boomerangs expand to reveal tarps inside. The four corners stick into the floor and extend to create trampolines for the students.

"Use those to evacuate your class while I help others evacuate." Dark Owl orders the group before saying.

"Albert, activate flight mode."

Mr. Damocles' office was dark, and various computer monitors were hanging from the ceiling by their wires. On the screens are yellow pixels with Albert in the center of them. His appearance has also been changed by the Akumatization, with a more defined and human-like face that is a man with a black mustache.

"Of course, Dark Owl," Albert says calmly in a slight nasally tone.

Dark Owl's cape suddenly turns into a winged jetpack, and he flies off.

"Was that an Akuma?" Nate asks, baffled by what just transpired.

"I think so." Sabrina agrees, equally confused.

"We can figure that out later, everyone down." Roger orders while motioning for the others to get down.

Those left in the classroom or on the walls quickly use the trampolines to jump down until everyone is safely on the ground. Different parents then start taking their kids away from the school to safety.

"Uh, Mom. I've really got to stay." Marinette tries to excuse herself as Sabine pushes her and Nate away from the school.

"Nathalie, I want to make sure Nino gets home safely," Adrien begs the woman while motioning towards a running Nino.

Sabrina looks toward her father worriedly, but Roger gives her a hesitant nod to go ahead. Sabine and Nathalie are putting up more resistance, though.

"Absolutely not! I am not allowing you to stay here with two villains around." Sabine tells her daughter in an authoritative tone.

"He'll be fine, Adrien. It looks like Stormy Weather is keeping to the school. Right now, we need to worry about getting you to safety." Nathalie tells him while she leads him away from the school hurriedly.

"But/But-" The two say before being cut off.

"No buts/No Adrien, Nino will be fine." The two women cut them off.

Both heroes look nervous while hoping the other can handle the two until they get away from their guardian. Not knowing the other is in the same situation or that someone else will be fighting the villains in their stead.

Sabrina runs between a gap between two villains, and Barkk appears in front of her.

"Looks like it's time for your debut, Pup. Let's show them the ferocity of a pack of wolves." Barkk tells her with an excited grin, happy to be back in the action after so long.

"Right. Barkk, let the hunt begin." Sabrina commands, causing Barkk to fly into her collar, causing it to lose its camouflage mode and reveal its true form as she transforms.

Hawkmoth and the heroes are in for a surprise.

Finally, I have debuted all the abilities of the Butterfly Miraculous' second Akuma ability. Now, I can talk about it.

Hawkmoth's ability is called Lepidopterarium. How it works is that it puts a fragment of the magic used to create an Akuma into the glass bulb of Hawkmoth's cane so that Hawkmoth can create a second Akuma. Unlike his regular power, this one is limited to the ones he's already created and can make it more difficult for him to use.

While Hawkmoth doesn't need negative emotions as a catalyst to create Akumas, he needs them to make strong villains. This is more true for Lepidopterarium unless it manages to escape. Every time one of these butterflies returns to Hawkmoth after controlling someone, their magic will grow slightly stronger. It's basically a superficial version of Hawkmoth's regular Akumatization power. It has the same mechanics but on a much weaker scale.

Also, when Hawkmoth loses the butterfly made from the fragment of magic, he's unable to use that Akuma with Lepidopterarium again until he recreates that Akuma with his regular ability.

Also, Dog Sabrina, my readers. I'm excited about introducing her to the story. I plan to have this story focus on more than just Marinette and Adrien from the get-go. So, be excited about who else appears and gets a Miraculous.

Next Chapter

[zoe-oneesama]

You know, I think for someone who is meant to be Adrien's childhood friend, Chloe doesn't seem to know him all that well. What's up with that?

Straight up, until Origins dropped, I thought he was just her classmate that she'd staked a claim on and he was just too nice to tell her off. I mean, she describes him to Ladybug as the "hot guy in her class that's totally into her" in "Dark Cupid", and she introduced herself to his dad as if they'd never met before in "Mr. Pigeon". That does not scream "Childhood Friend" to me.

I think that's why when they started to lean into it in Season 2, I just didn't care. Because they didn't set it up before hand; if anything, they UN-set it up before hand. Origins is, like, the only point in all of Season 1 that even alludes to them being friends before the start of the show, and even THAT backtracks because Adrien claims to Marinette's face that he's never had friends before! And Chloe tells her mom that besides Sabrina, she ALSO doesn't have friends in "Queen Wasp"!

It's a near impossible sell by the time they try to sell it. It would be better imo if Chloe was just another classmate who happened to be into Adrien for his status, fame, and looks. I'd look kinder at Adrien because then there wouldn't be this lingering feeling that if anyone should be taking responsibility for helping Chloe, it should be him, her childhood friend, especially as he's the one going around telling people not to be too mean to her. Just drop the friend angle and suddenly him not trying for her doesn't make him look like a bad friend and sanctimonious hypocrite who expects more out of others than he does from himself. It makes more sense that he's not getting involved, and he can still be perturbed by his classmate's over-the-top celebration of her departure if they still want someone to be a downer. (I think Bustier would fit the role better though).

But this is Miraculous Ladybug, where "friendship" can refer to anyone from Besties to Passing Acquaintances. There are no in betweens, a childhood friend is just as important, or not important, as a new classmate you have nothing in common with when it comes to this show. We, the audience, who know that certain relationships just have more history and importance than others, so we're the ones putting importance on the title "Childhood Friend".

But that importance just...doesn't exist here. Well. Until the writer's decide it suddenly does.

[amethyst-geek]

Attention ML fanfic writers

Regardless of whether or not you give Chloe a redemption arc in your fanfics, Chloe should always among the characters who raises their hands when someone asks for ideas, only for Chloe to be among the people who has to put their hand back down when the idea-asker specifies "that DON'T involve murder."

Scenario 1- AU where Chloe gets an actual redemption arc and remains Queen Bee

Ladybug: in light of Rena Rogue's research suggesting Hawk Moth may be Gabriel Agreste, do any of you have any ideas on how to go about investigating this theory or reclaiming the butterfly and peacock miraculous in the event of the theory turning out to be true?

(half of the team, including Queen Bee raises their hand)

Ladybug: ...that DON'T involve murder?

(Queen Bee, Ryuko, Carapace, and Purple Tigress putting their hands bacck down)

Scenario 2- AU where in season 5, instead of melting all of the stolen miraculi into rings that transfer power to akuma, Gabriel instead hands otu the stolen miraculi is lackeys, including Chloe, who assists the various akumas.

Mr. Pigeon: thank you all so much for coming to assist me. Unfortunately, one can only be akumatized so many time before running out of fresh ideas. DO any of you have any suggestions regarding how to give Paris to the pigeon or taking Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous?

(Turtle!Chloe, Goat!Lila, and Rooster!Bob Roth all raise their hands)

Mr. Pigeon: that DON'T involve murder?

(Turtle!Chloe and Goat!Lila both put their hands back down)

Mr. Pigeon: Nevermind. I'll just have the pigeons take the Effiel Tower into space again. Third time's the charm.

Scenario 3

Bustier: Do any of you have an idea for what to do for the fundraiser?

(half the class raises their hands)

Bustier: that DON'T involve murder?

(Chloe, Lila, and Juleka put their hands back down)

Bustier: and people wonder why my canon self decided to switch over to politics.

[miraculousystuff]

hi there! I have a request. Since it’s spooky season,my request is that Mrs.Bustier is on maternity leave and the class has a substitute. They are to be going on a class trip with Mrs. Mendeleiev’s class to Salem to study the differences between the Salem witch trials and the witch trials in Europe at the time, however lila starts her usual crap like trying to get Marinette to give up her first class seat or get her left behind with a sudden “disability” but the teacher isn’t taking any of her crap despite the class’s protests and objections.

The sub scolds the class and especially Lila, then the scolding continues when Lila continues lying and trying to get marinette into trouble.

however Lila messes with one of the historians, who happens to be a descendant of one of the accused. The worker, placed a “real curse” on the liar, making her have unfortunate accidents.

she tries to blame Marinette but Adrien shuts her down and tells her off.

soon the accidents get to her and she gets revealed as a liar. The class tries to ask for forgiveness but marinette brushed them off. And transfers to Mendeleiev‘s class.

Thank you @animechefgirl454 for the amazing request! I hope you like what I wrote!

The Corey Curse

Marinette Dupain Cheng was not in the mood for this. It was the 19th of September, or in other words, the day her class went on an expensive trip to Salem, all the way out in Massachusetts, USA. And of course, she had been peer pressured into organizing the whole trip, from the plane tickets to the destinations they were visiting. After about a month of sleepless nights (Hawkassmoth) the trip was finally here. And after multiple consultations with Tikki and Master Fu, she figured there was no way out of it. Anyone else would be jumping at the opportunity to go. But Marinette had a feeling that Lila would certainly ruin the trip for her, especially through the rise in snide remarks and bathroom death threats in the past few weeks. Thankfully, they hadn’t done anything physical recently, but that was mainly because Ms Bustier was on maternity leave, and had been replaced with a sub, Miss Fournier. She was a young, dark haired and sharp woman in her late twenties, and held a no-nonsense classroom. Marinette was still wary, because she had never openly discouraged Lila, but at least she hadn’t forced her into fake apologies or sympathy, a major level up from Ms Bustier. 

She trudged to school with her pale pink suitcase. It was adorned with elegant roses across it, along with a rose vine curling across the handle as a finishing touch. Her style had changed after most of her class had abandoned her, and she began finding the Marinette beneath the social mask she put up. Her hair had grown out to her mid back and she usually just left it out. However, today was a special day, or special enough that her mum had convinced her to tie it in a braid, draped across her shoulder. Her usual outfit had changed too, from the boring pink white and black to a more colorful range. Today she adorned a blue, spaghetti strap sundress with a floral pattern across it. Her ears adorned gold hoops and matching jewelry, along with a pair of white converse. In other words, she looked stylish, and as she reached the massive group outside the school, a certain liar, unfortunately, was the first to notice.

Lila let out a loud squeal and gasped. “MARINETTE HOW COULD YOU!” she yelled out, and Marinette’s eyes widened in response. “Me? I’ve been here for like 30 seconds!” she sputtered, her face heating up as all eyes glared at her. Lila ignored her however, and continued yelling. “You stole my suitcase!” she wailed loudly, huge tears welling up in her eyes. The whole class immediately went to comfort her, except for Alya and Adrien. Alya was the first to speak. “HOW COULD YOU MARINETTE! Stealing Lila’s suitcase is NOT COOL!” she yelled, and stormed up to the bluenette. She grabbed her and hissed “This is jealousy to a whole new level. Apologize to Lila!” Marinette stood, shocked. “Wh-I-but-” she sputtered, the utter stupidity was astounding. Nino was quick to agree with his girlfriend. “Yeah dudette, not cool!” he yelled, while comforting Lila. Soon, the whole class was bombarding Marinette with insults. Through the cacophony of it all, another voice cut through the crowd. 

“That’s Marinette’s suitcase.” Adrien said, stepping forward. All eyes turned to him in shock, including Marinette’s. Adrien, unphased, continued. “Marinette had the same one in the first class trip to London, before Lila came. Remember?” Slowly, the class began to nod, they yells dissipating into murmurs. Lila’s eyes widened before stammering out an excuse. “Oh, umm, sorry Marinette, you just had a suitcase that looks really similar to the one I got from Switzerland when I…” she stammered, continuing on to a story about rescuing the Duke’s puppy. Marinette was no longer listening however, staring at Adrien with wide eyes. “Wh-what happened t-to taking the high road?” she stammered, a faint pink dusting her cheeks. Adrien brought his hand to the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. “Well I’ve been meaning to talk to you about th-” suddenly, he was cut off by Miss Fournier, yelling at the class to line up in front of the bus that goes to the airport. 

*time skip brought to you by Lila’s sausage hair*

After going through security, it was finally time to board the plane. As they reached their seats, Marinette realized she had a window seat, and smiled widely. She had only ever been on a plane once before, and had always adored the beautiful sky outside. She grinned as she got in, and immediately took out her headphones. Just then, someone sat beside her, and she was about to move away when she realized who it was. “A-Adrien?” Marinette squeaked, and said Adrien just laughed. “That’s me.” he said, and Marinette almost melted on the spot. The bubble was ruined, however, when none other than the devil herself plopped down in the aisle seat next to Adrien. “Hey babe…” she started, already pouncing on Adrien, who immediately pulled away in disgust. “What do you want, Lila?” he said through gritted teeth, and she was about to reply when she noticed Marinette. “YOU!” she screeched, and the whole plane turned to look at her. Lila blushed and coughed loudly, before making a fuss again. “I-um-yes-uh-I need the window seat!” she blurted out, before recovering quickly. “I have this skin disease, which requires me to sit on a window seat at all times. Could you switch seats with me, Marinette?” she simpered, garnering the attention of the rest of the class, who immediately took Lila’s side.

“Switch seats with her!”

“Don’t be mean!”

“Hurry up Lila could die!”

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut and was about to give in when a savior came in an unexpected source, “What is going on here?” Miss Fournier yelled, cutting through the crowd. Alya was quick to respond. “Lila has a skin disease and she has to sit on the window seat, and Marinette refuses to give up her seat!” she says, and to her surprise, Miss Fournier sighs. “And why should Marinette switch with Lila? It is not her duty to accommodate Lila’s needs. In fact it is Lila’s.” she says, shutting down the whole class as everyone gapes at her. She continues. “And seeing as Lila has failed to do so-” she pauses to give a sharp glare to the liar “It is now my duty to ensure Lila is safe. There is a window seat next to me. You will sit there for the remainder of the plane ride. Get up, let’s get going.” Lila slowly got up, burning with shame as she stormed to the seat next to Mrs Fournier. The whole class was bristled and annoyed, but left it at the fact that Lila was now ‘safe’.

To say Marinette was overjoyed was an understatement. She was beyond herself that not only one, but two people had stood up for her today. She put her headphones in and began to drift to sleep. Meanwhile, Adrien was going through an inner battle of whether or not to take back his high road advice to Marinette. “What if she hates me?” a voice whispers in his head, contradicting “She could never hate me…right?” Finally, he gathered the courage to turn around and speak to her, when Marinette’s head suddenly dropped on his shoulder. He turned rigid until he realized she was asleep, her small, steady breathing sending flutters down his chest. Adrien pulled out his phone and took a photo of them together, smiling softly. He then glanced at Marinette once more and moved his hand to brush her hair, and that was how they remained for the rest of the ride.

*time skip brought to you by Adrien’s obliviousness*

After they got off, their first destination was the Salem Witch Museum. It was based off the witches of Salem, exploring the 20 people who were executed for supposedly practicing witchcraft, one of whom was accidentally killed through torture. Needless to say, this gave Marinette chills, and as they reached the brown bricks and iron gates, she gulped. Lila however, didn’t share this sentiment, and had no problem yelling about the place, complaining about its structure, color, everything. Marinette was just about to yell at her to stop when someone else beat her to it. “Miss Rossi. I take it you have not learnt obvious respect in your old schools, however this is a place that deserves to be preserved and not be hurled upon by insults, especially by you.” Miss Fournier barked sharply, leaving the whole class silent once more. “I see that your friends are having an influence on your tongue, so until the tour guide shows up, you will come stand by me.” Lila’s face turned red as she glared at the teacher, but begrudgingly did as she was told. Marinette stared in awe as Lila was put in her place, and completely ignored the daggers the lying fox sent her way. 

Marinette soon realized how no-nonsense Miss Fournier truly was. As soon as the tour guide showed up, Lila didn’t hesitate to go back to Alya, and began rather loudly criticizing the poor woman’s outfit choices. She hurled insults like “Her clothes must have been dug out from a trash can!” and “Are those shoes fresh out of the 1700s?” The tour guide looked like she was going to cry and Marinette was about to fight when Miss Fournier stepped in once more. “That’s enough Lila. How dare you disrespect this incredibly well dressed woman who has the effort to put up with you? And let’s be honest, Miss Rossi, your outfit choices aren’t exactly flattering enough to be considered better than her’s. Apologize to her immediately and then come walk with me AGAIN.” she’d said sharply, leaving Lila humiliated and the class astounded. A while after, Lila began moaning about how boring this whole trip was, and how Marinette couldn't even plan something decent. The substitute once again came to the bluenette’s rescue. “Well Miss Rossi, I’ll make sure you plan the next trip then? But while we are here, I suggest you pay attention to the trip that Marinette has graciously planned for us and worked hard for while you have done nothing. Apologize to her now.” This continued on for the whole trip until they reached a historian, Molly.

Miss Fournier suddenly spoke up. “Excuse me students, I need to pop to the restroom for a moment. Please behave.” she said, giving a very pointed glare to Lila before disappearing. Molly gave her a smile before turning to the class. “Hello. My name is Molly. So boys and girls, I’m sure you have been waiting for this moment. I’m here to talk to you about what can be considered the most horrible death throughout the Salem deaths: The murder of Giles Corey.” she stated, and immediately the class broke out into whispers. Marinette froze at her word; she had learnt about this in history, and it wasn’t pretty. Adrien seemed to notice her state and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, to which Marinette flushed bright red. Lila noticed the interaction and her eyes burned with jealousy. Desperate to get the attention of her boy toy back on her, just as Molly was about to speak, she yelled. “Did you guys know that I actually know Giles Corey! He was a great friend of mine!” she yelled proudly. The whole class froze, and Molly full on flinched. Just as they began gushing over Lila, Marinette spoke up. “Lila, Giles Corey died in 1962, before you were even born. How could you have known him?’ she stated, hands on her hips. The class looked at her confused and expectant and Lila shrunk under their gaze before stuttering out an excuse. “Ah-uh, silly, silly me, umm, I mean, I’m-i’m-I’m related! That’s right, I'm related to him. My Alzheimer's acts up sometimes and I forget things, but that’s right, Giles Corey is my great grandfather.”  Marinette rolled her eyes, knowing there was no way to convince the class otherwise as they  once again crowded around Lila and gushed over the fact. Lila continued on a rant about him.

 “...but good old grandpa Giles was really an asshole in reality. He had a lot of money but he practiced in…” she dropped her voice to a not so quiet whisper “...unholy practices, so he was killed obviously, and he gave his money to his daughter and none to my grandpa because he was sleeping with her.” The whole class gasped. That was the final straw, Molly spoke. “I’m sorry, does Alzheimer's cause you to lie as well?” The class turned to her, and Alya immediately started yelling. “How dare you accuse Lila of lying?” she screamed, but Molly remained calm, a small smirk playing at the corner of her lips, but her eyes betrayed her anger. “I know Lila is lying because my name is Molly Crosby.” she stated, and the class stared at her blankly. Suddenly, Marinette gasped, eyes wide. “Oh no..” she said, pale. Adrien stared at her in worry, but Alya grew impatient as Molly grinned at the realization. “So what, you have a weird last name? Your point is?” Molly smirked and stepped closer. “Alya…” Marinette warned quietly, but as usual, she didn’t pay attention as Molly spoke again. “I’m Molly Corsby, granddaughter of Deliverance Corsby and direct descendant of Giles Corey.” she stated “Also known as the lineage of the most evil witches in Massachusetts.” The whole class was shocked into silence, gaping and staring. Nino was the first to get his wits about him. “So…Lila was lying.” Silence hung over the air as everyone turned to Lila, shock in their eyes. Lila laughed nervously and played it off. “Sorry guys my lying disease must be acting up again.” she stuttered, and everyone seemed to accept it soon enough, though a hint of doubt lingered. As everyone faded back into their own conversation, Molly walked up to Lila. “You know, Giles Corey was said to have put a curse on a town that lasted 300 years. I wonder what would happen to you.” she whispered and clicked her fingers. 

Suddenly all the lights flickered and died. The people in the room screamed. They came back moments after as staff reassured everyone it was just a technical issue. Even after they had recovered, Lila was still pale, with Alya and Rose simpering over her, asking if she was sick. The remainder of the tour continued on peacefully, in comparison at least, as Lila didn’t say a word the whole time. It seemed she had genuinely been shocked to silence. This peace didn’t last for long and after they reached their hotel rooms, Lila was already spinning a tale of how Marinette had used Molly to threaten her, but she had been subdued by Miss Fournier enough to not say it to Marinette herself. However, inside, a storm brewed inside of her as she watched Marinette and Adrien bid each other good night. She was going to make her pay, and with that thought she entered her hotel room, scheming.

The next morning, Marinette woke up feeling more refreshed than ever. The feeling of her teacher not being a complete pushover and at least one person on her side made her significantly happier than when she started her trip. Lila however woke up feeling crappy, with a sore throat and a headache. After they got ready, they were meant to meet Miss Fournier in the cafe for breakfast. Marinette had chosen a blue halter top and bell bottom jeans with a delicate scarf draped over her neck. Lila on the other hand, has on a bright orange latex too and orange checkered shorts along. Just to copy Marinette, Lila decided to wear a tacky orange scarf. As they entered the cafe, Adrien immediately complimented Marinette’s scarf. As usual, she flushed bright red. “I-uh-oh th-th-thanks, I actually, um, made it!” she squeaked out. Lila saw red as she stared at the scene. How dare Maritrash interact with Adrien. She immediately stormed up to them and flashed her scarf at them. “Hey Adrien! Do you like MY scarf?” she simpered, and Adrien recoiled. “It’s okay Lila.” he said uncomfortably. She continued showing off. “You know I actually made it.” she said, fluttering her eyes annoyingly, Adrien rolled his eyes. “The tag is still on it.” he stated, unimpressed. The liar immediately began crying huge tears, and though the class immediately comforted her, it wasn’t enough for her. She needed to make a certain bluenette pay. The room was very hot, and as Marinette got up from her seat, she placed the scarf on the table. Big mistake. Lila pounced almost immediately, grabbing the scarf, then walking back to her table nonchalantly. Just as she was about to sit down, someone bumped into her, sending her falling to the floor. They also, unfortunately, were carrying multiple glasses of juice, which all spilled over Lila, her clothes, her shoes, her hair. Miraculously, the only thing that remained untouched was Marinette’s perfect;ly stitched scarf. Speaking of the scarf, Adrien came and picked it up, smirking at her. “Lila don’t you know it’s rude to take things without the owner’s permission?” he mocked before walking off, leaving a soaked and sticky liar sputtering on the floor,

After Lila had cleaned up and changed into a clean pair of clothes, even though she got sympathy from the class, she couldn't stand the fact that Marinette got away scott free, and with Adrien at that. And that smirk. It looked like Satan’s grin himself, and she shivered at the thought as the image replayed in her head. There was no way Maritrash was going to get away with this. Today, they were going to the Salem witch Trials memorial, and it cost $25 to enter. Which means that if someone’s money just happened to go missing, they would be left out of the destination, and she would get Adrien all to herself, Perfect. As they neared the brick walls of the area, Lila smirked. Marinette, ever so forgetful, had left her wallet on the bus. And Lila, ever so thoughtful, was the only one left on the bus, and simply took out all the cash she could find in it before walking out and stuffing it in her pocket. Grinning widely, she walked up to Marinette and handed her the wallet, making a big show of giving it back to her in front of the whole class. “Here Marinette. You forgot your wallet.” she purred ‘innocently’ as the class cheered praises.

“Oh my god girl, you are such a good citizen looking past her bullying and still being kind!”

“Damn dudette you are a literal angel!”

“Yeah Lila, I could never!”

However soon, the comments dissolved as Marinette gave Lila a tight lipped smile. “Thanks Lila, but that’s not mine.” she said, and Lila turned pale. “Wh-what do y-you mean it’s not y-yours?” she sputtered as the whole class looked at her in disbelief. “I mean that that’s not mine. Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s Miss Fournier’s.” she stated calmly, and Lila paled even more if that was possible. “Oh no-” she breathed as she turned around and came face to face with the teacher. “Miss Rossi, that is in fact mine. Thank you for collecting it for me. In fact, your mother has actually entrusted the fees for your memorial with me, so_” she dug through her wallet until she came with nothing, pretending not to notice Lila’s shocked expression. “Oh, it seems I don’t have it. Did you see it anywhere?” the teacher asked, glaring at Lila. Ashamed, Lila had two choices: she could admit she had taken it and blame it on some disease or fault the teacher. Of course she chose the one with the least effort. “M-miss, how could you lose my fees!” she wailed, and the class came to her defense, criticizing Miss Fournier. “Actually Miss Rossi, I think that if we look in your left pocket we can find the fees.” Lila stopped crying and gaped as she pulled out the money and smirked. The whole class gasped, and while still defensive of Lila (claiming it was her lying disease or Alzheimer’s) were more subdued, some even giving sneaky doubtful looks. Meanwhile, Adrien and Marinette were having a ball, laughing with each other and entering the memorial. Miss Fournier was also giving her smug looks (even though she would deny it vehemently.)

These kinds of incidents continued on throughout the day, First, Lila tried to trip Marinette up as she moved past grave stones, but unfortunately, golden boy Adrien was in front of her, ready to catch her, Even worse, Lila had stuck her foot out too far, resulting her to fall forward, face flat onto the ground. Then, as Miss Fournier asked questions about the history, Marinette answered. Lila had tried to claim that she was wrong, and of course the teacher had said that the stupid bluenette was right and she, in fact, was wrong. It was humiliating to say the least. Then, as they stopped to eat food, Lila gathered up a bunch of dirt in her fist and dropped it in Marinette’s juice cup. But for some reason, as she brought her mouth to her own, there was disgusting mud in it, so bad that she spat it out. Right onto Miss Fournier’s face, who once again made her sit next to her for ‘disrespecting the area.’ To rub it even more, when Marinette drank her juice, she was perfectly fine, and not only that, but Adrien even wiped some of it from her cheek as she grumbled next to the teacher. The icing on the cake however was when they reached the hotel again. They had to cross the road, and Lila had the perfect plan. She was going to push Marinette into oncoming traffic. And sure enough, just as a giant black SUV began speeding down the road, Lila’s hands found the bluenette’s back and gave her a hard shove, throwing her onto the road. However, instead of getting pummeled, Marinette recovered even faster than the car and moved out of the way at the speed of light, earning loud cheers from the crowd. The SUV had even stopped and apologized to her profusely, and of course the owner had to be some rich guy driving by for a history tour, and oh of course he also knew the OH SO FAMOUS MARINETTE DUPAIN CHENG LIGHT OF LIFE EVERYDAY LADYBUG. AND Adrien had witnessed the whole thing, so he was even more clingy and protective of Marinette. It was the final straw when they were relaxing in the lobby and Marinette gave an AUTOGRAPH to someone. “THAT'S IT!” Lila screamed, stunning the whole room into silence.

“YOU!” Lila screeched and pointed to Marinette, who stood with eyes wide open, gaping. “YOU HAVE BEEN RUINING THIS WHOLE DAY FOR ME!” Alya stood up in an attempt to end this before it started. “Now Lila, I know she’s been bullying you, but I’m sure-” Lila held up a hand to shut Alya up before advancing on their ‘Everyday Ladybug’. 'FIRST IT WAS THE STUPID HAND MADE SCARF, THAT FOR SOME MAGICAL REASON COULDN’T GET SOAKED EVEN WHEN I DID!” she screamed “THEN IT WAS THAT USELESS TEACHER’S WALLET. THE MONEY I STOLE WAS MEANT TO BE YOUR MONEY, DUPAIN-CHENG, BUT OF COURSE, SO CONVENIENTLY IT WASN’T EVEN THE TEACHER’S MONEY IT WAS MINE!” she ran her fingers through her hair as Mylene put the pieces together. “Wait so, when you took the money…it was on purpose? To sabotage Marinette?” she gasped, her eyes wide, but Lila wasn’t done. “OF COURSE IT WAS! AND THEN SUNSHINE OVER HERE WAS SO READY TO CATCH THAT BRAT WHEN SHE WAS MEANT TO FALL WHEN I PUSHED HER, AND THEN, I FELL! HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN?” she squealed, aggressively pointing at Marinette, her hair a mess, ignoring the class’ shocked looks. “AND THEN, OF COURSE YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT THAT STUPID QUESTION ON MARTHA WHATEVER, AND YOU JUST HAD TO SHOW ME UP! AND THEN, YOU WERE COMPLETELY FINE WHEN YOU DRANK YOUR JUICE, AND MY JUICE HAD THE DIRT IN IT, BUT IT WAS MEANT TO BE YOURS!” she screamed, and this time Nathaniel stepped in. “Wait so you purposely tried to poison Mari-” he was cut off by Lila once more. “SHUT UP TOMATO. AND OF COURSE, WHEN I PUSHED YOU ONTO THE ROAD, YOU COULDN’T JUST DIE, AND YOU HAD TO BE AN INSUFFERABLE HUMAN BEING AND BE ALL NICE ABOUT IT!” she finished, yelling at the top of her lungs, breathing heavily. Dead silence. Everyone stared at her as she exposed everything, including her attempted murder. Suddenly, a voice was heard deep and dark. “Lila, it sounds to me like Marinette is the victim here. You tried to destroy her property, poison and murder and you think YOU”RE the victim.” Adrien hissed, softly, but it cut through the silence like butter. “How dare you try to blame MY PRINCESS when all your friendships are based on lies, and when all you care about is hurting others. You are a disgusting, lying cockroach, and I hope you rot in juvie.” he finished, loud and clear, then gestured to the security cameras. Lila visibly paled as chaos resumed, the whole class turning on her, bombarding her with questions.

“Oh my god, Jagged Stone doesn’t have a cat, and would never write a song about a teenage girl!” “I literally know Ladybug, she would never be friends with a random civilian!”| “That rare fox necklace that Marinette stole is $5 on ebay!”

At the mention of Marinette’s name, it was like someone pulled a switch, and everyone turned to Marinette, apologizing profusely.

“I’m so sorry Marinette, we should have believed you!” “Yeah we’re so sorry!”

“Please accept our apologies!”

Marinette raised her hand to silence everyone. “I understand that you’re sorry. Believe me, I do. But it hurt. My friends for years betrayed me over an orange clad liar. Who threw away years of trust for something better. So, I accept your apologies.” audible sighs of relief could be heard from the class “...but I don’t forgive you. And I don’t know if I ever will,” The apologies started again, Alya being the loudest one. “PLEASE GIRL. WE’RE SORRY! THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS FORGIVE US!” Marinette turned to her former best friend sharply. “The least I can do is forgive you. No. The least I can do is damage your things-” she gave a glare to Ivan and Nino “humiliate you-” she faces Alya and Sabrina “hurt you." She turns to Kim and Alix, then swivels to face Alya. “Believe me, I know the least I can do, because I’ve been facing it for the past 2 years. It would be a miracle to ever gain forgiveness from me, Alya Cesaire, or the rest of you.” Marinette finished, leaving the room in dead silence. She then straightened up and spoke in a clearer tone. “Actually, I’m planning on getting rid of this toxicity forever. I’m transferring to Ms Mendeliev’s class, straight after this trip, along with Adrien. I hope I never see any of you again. And I hope you suffer.” she finished before stalking off, Adrien at her heels. Leaving the class in chaos.

Let me know if you guys want an aftermath with Lila justice and Adrienettte fluff ❤️❤️❤️.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Collusion and Revolution

Well, the final confrontation with Lila was a bust, but maybe Chloe's swan song will be bett----HAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry, I couldn't even finish that sentence without laughing.

Let's get into the twenty-second and twenty-third episodes of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Collusion and Revolution

“Collusion” starts off with... oh, for God's sake... Gabriel monologuing to Emilie's body for the umpteenth time, only now, we see just how bad his Cataclysm wound has gotten, now making his entire hand black.

Marinette and Adrien wake up and we get a pretty cute scene of them talking on the phone while getting ready for their respective days. Afterwards, Gabriel talks with Adrien about being sent to London, and is somehow aware that Adrien hasn't told Marinette yet. Even when Gabriel tries to use his ring to keep Adrien under his control, Adrien still shows signs of resistance.

Later at school, Chloe walks up to insult Marinette and Adrien as usual, but Marinette has a little rebuttal of her own.

Marinette: Be mean while you still can, Chloe. I'm gonna let you in on a secret. Remember your friend Lila who used to hurt everyone with her lies? See her anywhere in this classroom? No, because I put a stop to her nastiness and I'll do the same with you!

Yeah, and you were only able to do so because one of Lila's minions decided they didn't like being evil, and had no plan of your own prior to that.

It's revealed that not only is Lila (I'm not calling her Cerise to make things easier for myself) still in contact with Chloe through their Alliance rings, she also somehow got her own supervillain lair. How did she set up here, much less find the resources to do so? You guessed it, never explained!

And yeah, let's just get this out of the way. I hate what they're doing with Lila here. For reasons I'll get to in a later review, it's clear that there had to be some changes made so Lila remains a key player, even after the events of “Confrontation”, so they decided to make Lila manipulate Chloe as part of her plans. For a pair of episodes that are meant to show Chloe at her absolute worst, it devalues her status as a villain if she's just going to be used as a glorified attack dog for bigger threats like Lila. Remember, we've seen Chloe come up with her own plans before (Mr. Pigeon, Dark Cupid, Darkblade, Kung Food, Antibug, Despair Bear, Zombizou, Frightningale, Queen Wasp, Queen Banana, Gabriel Agreste, Penalteam, Determination, Derision), and we know she's not a complete idiot. She doesn't need Lila to hold her hand and tell her what to do to get what she wants. I get that it's supposed to be ironic that Chloe, for all her bluster, is ultimately a pawn in a larger scheme, but it just doesn't gel with the whole “irredeemable monster” stuff the show has been going with whenever Chloe has been on screen for the past two seasons. You could easily take Lila out of these episodes and not much would really change.

During class, Chloe makes a scene by blasting some music and dancing on her desk, and we get what has to be the most unrealistic thing this entire show has done for the past five seasons: Assuming kids still care about school when the year is almost over.

Rose: Chloe, quit it! We wanna hear the lesson, we care!

When Ms. Bustier tries to send Chloe to the principal's office, Chloe calls Ms. Mendeleiev (who is the new principal after Mr. Damocles resigned), and essentially forces her to change the rules to music is allowed. After Chloe taunts Ivan, just as Marinette tries to stop Ivan from hurting her, she uses the opportunity to frame Marinette for hitting her. Oh, sorry. I mean Lila uses the opportunity to tell Chloe to frame Marinette for hitting her.

In the principal's office, Ms. Bustier tries to reason with Chloe by showing her the present she got her all the way back in Season 2's “Zombizou”.

Ms. Bustier: Chloe, do you remember this gift you gave me on my birthday? To me, that is proof that you're a fragile teenager who doesn't know love and is simply looking for attention. And... we all tried to help you. So, please, whatever it is you want, ask yourself if it's worth all the suffering you're causing.

Chloe: Did you hear that? A homeroom teacher using a student's feelings to blackmail her. This is inappropriate, utterly inappropriate! My father, the mayor, would never tolerate this in a school.

Remember kids, FUCK showing compassion to your enemies! Everyone knows Gandhi was a loser anyway.

The negative emotions attract an Akuma to Ms. Bustier, but she manages to resist Monarch's influence for now. Monarch transforms back into Gabriel, who has a meeting with Tomoe and Andre to discuss the state of Paris' law enforcement.

Tomoe: Your policemen mostly get paid for doing nothing. It seems that Ladybug and Cat Noir are the ones who have been enforcing the law in Paris the last few months, wouldn't you agree?

Because I guess Ladybug and Cat Noir have also been stopping drug rings off-screen or something.

Chloe storms into the office, and even though Lila has no idea what's going on, she tells Chloe to record the conversation. Once again, Lila has to tell Chloe just how to be mean and selfish while she chews out Andre, and that if she was the mayor, she'd ban superheroes, right before Chloe learns Adrien is going to London next year.

After a scene that's only there to remind the audience that Adrien hasn't told Marinette about London yet, we see Gabriel talking with Andre about replacing Paris' police force with robots... even though this should really be more a discussion for the commissioner. I guess the writers didn't have enough money for a commissioner model because they had to allocate resources for Ms. Bustier's baby bump.

Andre: Seriously, Gabriel, what's this whole police robot idea all about?

Gabriel: Have I ever offered a single bad idea to you, Andre? We've always helped each other, haven't we?

Andre: Remember when we were young and penniless? When Emilie, you and I would make the world right from our little attic room? You made me my very first suit so I'd feel confident and Audrey, whom I'd fallen in love with, would finally notice me? Don't you think we were much happier back then? That our lives were more beautiful, more fair?

Gabriel: Come on, you have everything to be happy, Andre. Your wife, your daughter, Paris City Hall...

Andre: A woman who barely respects me, a selfish, heartless daughter, and a City Hall that I never wanted. I only got into politics like dad to impress Audrey, you know that.

Gabriel: I have no idea what you're talking about.

Andre: Look at me, Gabe. All my life I've lied, I've cheated and I've abused my power. I used to be a dreamer, an artist, I wanted to make movies! Now I've become a tyrant in servitude to my family and friends...

Aw, poor baby. Did someone condition their daughter to develop an entitlement complex while refusing to divorce your abusive wife?

I'm sorry, but I don't feel bad for Andre at all here. While I'm happy to see that the show is trying to teach kids that male mental health is important too, it doesn't really earn him a lot of sympathy considering a lot of this is his own fault. Sure, we don't know what Audrey was like when they were younger, and she could have gotten worse as time went on, but considering how rich he is coupled with the fact that Audrey spends most of her time in New York, he doesn't really have much of an excuse to not divorce her. As for Chloe, he has even less of an excuse, since he was responsible for her upbringing. He spoiled her rotten, he refused to properly discipline her, and he failed to teach her the slightest bit of humility. I'm willing to accept that Chloe is a lost cause by the show's standards, but I can't accept the fact that Andre had nothing to do with how she turned out. He's as much of a failure as a parent as Gabriel is.

As Lila somehow finds where the two are talking so she can overhear their conversation, Gabriel secretly records Andre, altering what he says to make him look bad. While I can't exactly describe it through text, this clip from The Simpsons should summarize it.

Ms. Bustier sees the video of Andre, and this time, she fails to resist an Akuma, turning into Wonder Woman—I mean, Miss Sans-Culotte.

Miss Sans-Culotte has a okay design. I like how it's meant to have a more patriotic theme with the color scheme, and the fact that it's based off some of the people in the French Revolution, aptly named the Sans-Culotte, is a nice way to teach kids about history. The problems I have are the golden armor, which goes against the fact that was previously mentioned in this very episode that the Sans-Culotte wore more simple clothing. That, and the guillotine blade for a weapon, which gives off some uncomfortable implications. The Miraculous power this time involves the Pig Miraculous' Gift, which somehow allows her to transform anyone her blade touches into balloons... even though the Pig never had that ability, and we saw what it really did just earlier this season (Jubilation).

Right when it seems like Adrien is about to tell Marinette about London, the two learn about Miss Sans-Culotte, and split up to transform into Cat Noir and Ladybug respectively. Meanwhile, Chloe hears the news about Andre before getting a call from Gabriel, who offers to “give her Andre's power”. Even though Chloe always uses her dad's power to get what she wants, she literally has to be told to accept the offer from Lila because she didn't think of the political ramifications. You see what I mean about Lila adding nothing to this episode? It'd be like if Thanos kept in contact with someone who had to tell him how to get the Infinity Stones at every step. As for Gabriel, I'll talk about his plan next episode.

Ladybug and Cat Noir confront Miss Sans-Culotte, demanding to know what she's doing.

Ladybug: Terror isn't a solution!

Cat Noir: There are elections to make your voice heard.

Miss Sans-Culotte: Or a revolution when everyone is corrupt. Nothing can stop freedom!

Because it's not like the video of Andre confessing to abusing his power, tampered or not, is an open and shut impeachment case, right?

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm and gets a crown. After focusing on Miss Sans-Culotte and City Hall, she gets an idea.

Ladybug: Mayor Bourgeois is acting like the king of Paris, and maybe he should be removed from office after all.

Cat Noir: Are you saying we should give this villain free reign?

Ladybug: I don't know... I feel like that's what the Lucky Charm means. You're right, it's not up to us to decide who gets to be the mayor and who doesn't. An akumatized villain just needs to be deakumatized.

Yeah, remember how Ladybug said it was too risky to forge a temporary alliance with Matagi Gozen in order to stop the person who stole almost every Miraculous she had last season? Well now, she's saying they should essentially let this Akuma force the sitting Mayor of Paris out of power, which is all kinds of illegal. Now this might just be because I'm not French, and don't understand how politics work over there, but here in America, the last time some people stormed a major government establishment to protest a fair election, they were seen as fucking lunatics.

Zoe tries to reason with Miss Sans-Culotte, but she's still in favor of using that guillotine blade in ways that don't involve balloons. They try to reason with her and convince her to reason with Andre... right as Andre is about to resign himself, so this whole conflict was pointless. Still glad to know Ladybug and Cat Noir are now willing to let Akumas use their powers to get what they want when that was almost always seen as taboo.

Miss Sans-Culotte once again rejects the Akuma with ease, Ladybug uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage... only to be cornered by several police robots, and ones that look really stupid at that.

Remember, Gabriel and Tomoe wanted taxpayers to pay for these.

Yeah, somehow, the Lucky Charm was actually meant for Chloe, because, well...

Cat Noir: A crown for the queen of brats, of course!

What, did calling her the literal Antichrist not do well with test audiences?

Yeah, this makes no goddamn sense. Why was the Lucky Charm prioritizing Chloe of all people instead of the Akuma as usual? What was Ladybug even supposed to do here? Yeah, she really should have stopped Miss Sans-Culotte, but was she expected to know about the police robots or something?

Chloe tells the press that Ladybug and Cat Noir helped an Akuma force the current mayor out of office. This is all part of Gabriel and Tomoe's plan, but once again, she's not wrong. The two still helped a dangerous supervillain force a major political shift, and the resulting power vacuum that allowed Chloe to rise to power is really their fault. After Cat Noir uses his Cataclysm to free himself and Ladybug from the nets the robots used to trap them with, we get the start of a running gag where Chloe struggles to say the word “democratic”, because remember, she's blonde, and therefore stupid. This happens several times across both episodes, and none of them are actually funny.

The episode ends with Chloe unlawfully taking control of Paris as the new mayor, which is totally different from Miss Sans-Culotte unlawfully forcing Andre to resign. The last time I saw double standards this blatant, I was watching RWBY.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... CHLOE

If there's one thing I love about my irredeemable villains, it's that they're so stupid, it's impossible to take them seriously. Not only did Chloe need Lila to hold her hand through every major decision she made throughout this episode (and by extension, the next), she failed to understand her dad's political career falling apart and needed to be told to take an opportunity to own an army of advanced robots, and couldn't even say the word “democratic”, which isn't that hard of a word to say even if you're borderline illiterate.

“Revolution” starts off with Chloe essentially declaring martial law in Paris for the time being. Once again, Cat Noir says the sane thing for once and suggests they go and beat up Chloe themselves. Well, I say that, but somehow, Cat Noir contradicts himself in his very next line.

Cat Noir: We can't let Chloe make up the rules.

Ladybug: If she were akumatized, it'd be easy. Find the object, break it, de-evilize her.

Cat Noir: But there is no object, and we can't attack someone who isn't akumatized, or we'd look like the supervillains.

I think you forgot something, guys...

THE ENTIRE FUCKING REASON SHE'S MAKING THE RULES IN THE FIRST PLACE IS BECAUSE YOU HELPED A SUPERVILLAIN IN THE LAST EPISODE! HOW DID YOU FORGET THIS VITAL INFORMATION?!

What the hell is with the sudden change of pace? They were willing to let Miss Sans-Culotte have her way by making Andre resign, so why can't they stop Chloe when she's already taken over Paris by force? I don't think you'd really look like supervillains if you stopped a tyrant instead of a democratically elected mayor. All you need to do is stop Chloe from controlling the robots, and you're golden.

In fact, where the hell is the rest of the Parisian government during all this, much less the French government? Why aren't they doing anything about this? We don't even get a throwaway line that explains it like Chloe bribed some politicians to keep quiet about the whole thing. Instead, despite an obvious violation of democratic rights, nobody outside of Paris is even bothering to stop this.

After a brief scene where some citizens are interviewed about Chloe, we see Adrien once again angsting about going to London. Like what Lila did with Chloe last episode, Plagg has to outright tell Adrien to talk to Marinette about this, because I guess this show has a really low opinion on the intelligence of people with blond hair. Also, good to know that even though Chloe is currently ruling over the city with an iron fist, she's still allowing air traffic to flow normally. Good thing too, as it's almost tourist season. Adrien tries to tell Marinette through a call, but she talks to him about Chloe, and how they can protest her regime.

Meanwhile, at City Hall, Chloe has already gone mad with power, as she orders her new box robots around, while Gabriel calls her to praise her for how she's been doing. Afterwards, Gabriel transforms into Monarch and absorbs the powers from a few Kwamis before Voyaging to City Hall. Chloe orders her robots to arrest Monarch, unaware than Tomoe is the one actually controlling them, only for Monarch to offer a deal... which Lila once again has to tell Chloe to listen to even though Chloe has worked with him in the past. Monarch offers to akumatize Chloe in a way that makes it look like she's not working for him. She accepts, and becomes Queen Mayor.

Queen Mayor's design is pretty simple, but I guess it works for the plan. It's just Chloe in an admittedly nice-looking jacket. Not sure if she can actually take it off like her other clothes or not, though. As for the Miraculous powers, Monarch transfers five of them to her robots, the Turtle Miraculous' Shelter, the Horse Miraculous' Voyage, the Ox Miraculous' Resistance, the Bee Miraculous' Venom, and the Rooster Miraculous' Sublimation, which gives her an unclear power. Given what she subjects her victims to later on, I guess it's the torture chamber she creates? I also don't get how the robots are capable of using the Miraculous powers when earlier episodes established you needed to have multiple Alliance rings to use them (Transmission, Pretension).

But now's as good a time as any to discuss Gabriel and Tomoe's plan, and why is makes absolutely no sense. In case you got confused, here's a quick summary: Tomoe created an army of robots designed to replace the police, and when Andre refused to use them, Gabriel recorded a private conversation so he could edit it, then transform into Monarch to akumatize someone and hope Ladybug and Cat Noir would let her force Andre to resign, then talk to Chloe about taking over as mayor, hope she says yes while Ladybug and Cat Noir do nothing to stop her, then pretend to give her control over Tomoe's robots before akumatizing Chloe so she can actually control the robots, all while praying that Chloe doesn't find out the truth, much the government doesn't get involved with this.

Gabriel and Tomoe did all of this instead of just, you know, akumatizing Chloe like usual. If the plan was to akumatize her all along while making it look like she's not akumatized, why didn't Gabriel just do that from the start as soon as Andre resigned and Miss Sans-Culotte rejected her Akuma? Also, why the hell is Chloe so crucial to the plan anyway? Yeah, they plan to throw her under the bus once they win, but wouldn't it make more sense if Tomoe, the one whose company made the robots, was the one who took over as Mayor?

It feels like the show is trying to recreate the plan from “Miracle Queen” where Chloe teams up with Monarch, but that plan at least made sense, as Chloe was crucial because of her connection to Ladybug. Here, it just feels like the writers needed an excuse to actually make Chloe a threat, but just like when Felix gave Gabriel all of the other Miraculous last season, it's forced. I'm not really seeing Chloe as a threat when she needed Gabriel to hand her the keys to an army of robots, and I don't care if that's the point. If the show wants us to take Chloe seriously as a villain, it needs her actions to speak for themselves instead of turning her into a glorified attack dog for Gabriel, Tomoe, and even Lila to an extent.

But here's my biggest problem with this plan. Consider the fact that Gabriel put Chloe in a major political position, presumably in order to bank on the fact that Ladybug and Cat Noir wouldn't use their powers to beat up a civilian. Gabriel then transformed into Monarch and akumatized Chloe into a form that would make it look like nobody would even tell she was akumatized in the first place. So let me ask this: If Gabriel's plan involves making it look like Chloe isn't akumatized, how is this going to actually attract Ladybug and Cat Noir so you can get their Miraculous?!

Yeah, Ladybug and Cat Noir eventually decide to fight Chloe anyway, but they don't learn she's akumatized until she blurts it out, and that's well into their fight. The plan is to turn the local government against Ladybug and Cat Noir and discredit in a way that prevents them from taking action against an obvious threat, but that just doesn't gel with Monarch's goal of getting their Miraculous. Did Gabriel and Tomoe assume that Ladybug and Cat Noir would just have no qualms with presumably beating up a civilian? If so, why even bother hiding the fact that Chloe was akumatized? This is a problem the plan faces no matter who the mayor is. Hell, if anything, it would be better if Chloe was akumatized from the start, as no matter how long she hides it for, she still has control over an army of robots armed with Miraculous powers, which wouldn't decrease the threat she poses in the slightest. This isn't even the first time an Akuma has hijacked the position of mayor (Rogercop), so it's even less excusable!

The next day, the students stage a protest at their school to get Ms. Bustier her job back, where Chloe (I'm calling her that instead because nobody else calls her Queen Mayor) questions why they're using their right to protest. She also plans to tell Marinette that Adrien is moving to London (something Gabriel told her earlier), but once again, Lila tells her not to. Also, you want to know how stupid the whole “Chloe can't say the word 'democracy' right” gag is? In the same scene where she struggles to say the D-word, Chloe uses the words “Libertarian”, “negative”, and “influence” correctly. It's hard to really buy Chloe as this illiterate moron while you still have her use words like this.

We get what can barely be considered a montage of Chloe abusing her power, but it's only like, three scenes before the plot kicks back in. We get a scene of Chloe screwing around in a private one-on-one class, an admittedly funny bit where she had a golden statue of herself commissioned to rest on the Arc de Triomphe, and then a scene where she shows Andre the ice cream man just how unfair her rule is.

Chloe: Did you pay the permit fee to sell your ice cream?!

Ice Cream Man Andre: I don't need a permit to sell love in Paris!

Chloe: Well, now you do! Otherwise, you'll end up in detention!

I mean, she reasonably calls out Andre for not having a permit to sell ice cream. How... evil of her?

Marinette goes back to her place, only to learn Chloe abducted her parents and placed them in “detention”, before doing the same to her thanks to one of her robots using a combination of Venom and Voyage. We do get an admittedly decent scene of Chloe threatening to tell Marinette about Adrien moving if Adrien doesn't become her deputy mayor, only for Adrien to vow to tell Marinette himself... even though he kept trying to tell her earlier in the episode, so this moment feels a little hollow. But hey, it's not like the finale will make this scene seem even worse in retrospect, right?

Adrien is sent to detention, a torture chamber where footage of Chloe mentally conditions the prisoners into believing that they're ridiculous or that they can always count on her, all while the prisoners are told to find a chair in an endless maze. Again, another decent visual I'll give the episode credit for. After Adrien, Marinette, and Alya escape detention, the former two transform into Cat Noir and Ladybug respectively and get ready to finally do something about Chloe.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, a bikini bottom, and gets ready to stop Chloe alongside Cat Noir. Okay, Chloe has an army of robots on her side alongside the public's favor, so they'll need to come up with a really clever plan in order to—they're just going in guns blazing even though that's a terrible plan in a situation like this. Unsurprisingly, the two heroes immediately get trapped by a combination of Shelter and Resistance, nullifying the Lucky Charm and Cataclysm. Only now do they figure out Monarch is behind this, even though both of them saw the robots use Venom and Voyage to send them to detention, yet when Chloe actually says it, Ladybug is still shocked by this.

As Ladybug and Cat Noir start to detransform, they encourage the public to take action once they lose their Miraculous, even though Monarch will have won by then. As they do this, somehow, they stop detransforming until they manage to recharge their Miraculous by the power of because the plot says so. How did they do this?

Gabriel: I am an adult! Not transforming back is a power belonging to grown-ups!

Nooroo: I guess they must have grown up, Master.

Yes. Seriously. Even though there's been nothing else to signify that Ladybug and Cat Noir have matured this season, they now have the full power of their Miraculous at their disposal because now, they're adults. If you have to tell the audience that your characters have developed, then you've done a poor job at writing character development. Ms. Bustier takes the sash containing Chloe's Akuma while Cat Noir uses multiple Cataclysms to destroy the rest of her robots.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, oddly enough, doesn't use Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, doesn't give Chloe a useless Magical Charm because Andre says he's going to “correct his own errors”, and after being convinced by her students, Ms. Bustier decides to run for mayor.

We then cut to a private jet where Audrey is chewing her daughter out for failing, even though she supported her earlier when she was mayor. Yeah, you know how it seemed like Andre was finally going to properly discipline his daughter. Dream on! Instead, he just decided to send her away with Audrey, someone who he knows is a terrible person, and lets her deal with Chloe in a way that heavily implies she's going to put Chloe through hell when she isn't at school.

Audrey: Because of you, we've lost face! You've ruined our name and our reputation! You had all the powers in your hands and you foolishly lost them! Bourgeois do not raise losers. You think you're going to London on vacation? Dream on! I'm going to take control of your life again, starting with your education.

This is seriously meant to be an appropriate punishment for Chloe while Andre gets absolutely no consequences for being responsible for his daughter turning out the way she did. I have only one thing to ask.

WHAT THE FUCK, ASTRUC?!

How the fuck did anyone involved with this show think any of this was okay?! How did Andre think this was okay when in the previous episode, he pointed out how awful Audrey was?! Why the fuckare both Andre and Audrey, the two people who helped make Chloe the person she is, getting away scot-free while Chloe gets condemned for everything?! Why the fuck are we supposed to be happy Audrey is diciplining Chloe when we know she's worse than she is?! WHO THE FUCK THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE OKAY TO GREENLIGHT?!

I can either interpret this scene in two ways.

The first way is that, like he's said for a few years now, Astruc still doesn't see this as child abuse, and that Chloe is being punished like any other misbehaving child is.

THIS IS WHAT THOMAS ASTRUC ACTUALLY BELIEVES.

The second way, and I consider this to be the worse option, is that Astruc's team is fully aware that this now qualifies as child abuse, and that Chloe deserves this treatment. Put aside the fact that a common mentality of abusive parents is that they believe they're helping their children by “toughing them up”, this is still a demented way to punish any character, no matter how bad they are.

“But IOTA! Chloe needs to be punished for what she did!” Yeah, she does, but not like this. Hell, you don't need to do a lot to change the ending and avoid the harmful implications. Just have Andre be the one to move out of Paris with Chloe with the intent to send her to boarding school. Also, rather than say he's “going to take control of Chloe's life again”, have him explain that while he still loves Chloe, he isn't mayor anymore, so she can't use his name to get out of trouble, meaning that like it or not, Chloe will have to grow out of her bratty attitude or else she'll get in even more trouble. That way, we see Andre actually taking responsibility for how bad of a parent he was, Chloe realizes her old tricks won't work anymore while the door is open for a redemption should you choose to bring her back next season, and most importantly, there's no implications of child abuse here.

But believe it or not, things were even worse for these episodes initially. As detailed in the Season 5 scripts, there was originally a scene in “Collusion” where Andre used his powers as mayor to divorce Audrey and steal custody of Zoe while leaving her to deal with Chloe herself, officially joining Jagged Stone in the Rich Deadbeat Dads Club.

And Astruc wasn't even aware it was taken out, not being told this until he found out on Twitter.

Because somehow, he considered Andre walking out on his family and leaving his biological daughter in the hands of an abusive bitch crucial to the story.

And do you want to know the worst part? No matter how you view this scene, either way, it's portrayed as Chloe getting punished, but the next scene plays Gabriel abusing Adrien straight, ordering him to pack his things as he'll be heading to London that night. The show literally can't make up its mind on whether child abuse is bad or not. Why is it okay for Chloe to be mistreated by her parents while we're supposed to sympathize with Adrien? No matter who the victim is, CHILD ABUSE IS STILL CHILD ABUSE.

I don't care how bad Chloe is, child abuse is NEVER justifiable, and it's disgusting that the show seems to take that stance, whether they intended to or not.

Let's just get the last few minutes out of the way so I can end this. Adrien is forced to pack for London, Nathalie does nothing to stop Gabriel from doing this, Lila steals one of Tomoe's computers, Gabriel tells Tomoe about keeping Adrien and Kagami safe in London while they execute “Operation: Perfect Alliance”, Marinette and Adrien have their first kiss for the third time in five seasons, Chloe calls Marinette to tell her about Adrien, but Marinette tells her to piss off, and Chloe ends the episode crying because Astruc thinks she deserves to suffer. THERE. I'M DONE.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... GABRIEL

Gabriel joins Marinette in earning the Biggest Idiot Award for the third time this season. He had no reason to include Chloe in his stupid plan, he was essentially banking on Ladybug and Cat Noir choosing to do nothing, and tried to create a scenario were Ladybug and Cat Noir wouldn't be able to lose their Miraculous. At least you could argue that Ladybug and Cat Noir needed to stay on the down low at first. Gabriel doesn't get that excuse.

These episodes sucked, but I honestly thought they were slightly better than the last two.

Yeah, all joking aside, I thought these episodes had more positives to them than “Revelation” and “Confrontation”. Where those two episodes were insulting and confusing respectively, these two episodes were the kind of bad I've come to expect from the show. There's plotholes, bad morals, and characters acting like idiots, but it's par for the course. I was far from a fan of these two episodes, but other than the ending of “Revolution”, I was nowhere near as angry I was with “Revelation” and “Confrontation”.

Surprisingly, I was more upset rewatching “Collusion” than I did “Revolution”. Yeah, “Revolution” was bad, but at least Chloe was supposed to be a bad example of how lead a city, unlike what Andre and Ms. Bustier were doing. Those characters both taught bad morals, intentional or not, and just like Ladybug and Cat Noir, were never called out for unintentionally leading to Chloe's rise to power. With Andre, we were supposed to just be expected to be okay with all the times he abused his power as mayor while cheering when he quit with no negative repercussions, and with Ms. Bustier, we were supposed to be okay with her attempting to stage a violent coup against Andre, the character the episode is already trying to make us sympathize with.

Between these two characters, along with Sabrina and Felix, the show really loves operating on the “There's Always a Bigger Fish” rule. It doesn't matter how many bad things you do, if someone else is pulling the strings, you won't get in trouble at all... unless you're Chloe, so, in that case, BURN IN HELL. Like I mentioned earlier, you can acknowledge someone only did bad things because they were pressured to while saying they should at least be held accountable for their actions in some way that doesn't involve kicking them out of the country.

The moral of when it's okay to use violence was pretty confusing, and not just because this is a superhero show where almost every problem is solved by fighting it. Ladybug tries to convince Miss Sans-Culotte that political conflicts shouldn't be solved with violence, but even if she didn't convince her to change her mind, Andre was already ready to resign as mayor, and Miss Sans-Culotte still angrily demanded he resign in a way that sounded like a violent threat. There's also the fact that despite saying that violence isn't always the answer, the conflict that was sort of resolved with no violence ended up making things worse as Chloe was able to seize power once Andre resigned.

Also, it's pretty funny how absolutely nobody ever tried to reason with Chloe after she became mayor, not even Ms. Bustier. In that case, violence was obviously the answer, but the show never really tells us what makes Miss Sans-Culotte better than Chloe. You can't teach an anti-violence moral in one episode and then lead into an episode where violence solves the problem instead of diplomacy. And I'm not one of those saints who believes that every conflict should be handled nonviolently. Sometimes, people won't listen to words, but will at least hear you out if you use your fists. I'd personally argue the conflict of “Revolution” would have worked if had this kind of lesson. Just have Ladybug and Cat Noir tried to solve things with Chloe diplomatically during the first act, only to realize that Chloe won't budge, so they have no choice but to take her out of power themselves. It'd make a hell of a lot more sense than having Marinette and Adrien do nothing while Chloe makes everyone's life miserable because the writers need to pad the runtime.

I already mentioned this, but for an episode that tries to show how awful Chloe is, she barely does anything on her own. She needs Lila to tell her to go along with Gabriel's plan, she needs Gabriel and Tomoe to pretend to give her an army of robots, and she needs Monarch to akumatize her to make the robots even more dangerous. If you need another character to do something to make Chloe a threat, why should we only see Chloe as the threat? These two episodes keep going back and forth on whether Chloe is the worst or not. When they're not showing her taking control of Paris on her own like should be doing, the writers take the time to remind the audience that Lila and Gabriel are pulling Chloe around by telling her what to do, all while they each muse about how this is all going according to keikaku. If you want to make Chloe a threat and have her live up to her reputation as a terrible human being, she should actually have agency and should be cunning enough to be a dangerous villain in her own right.

Unlike with “Confrontation”, which gave more focus to side characters for some reason, “Revolution” actually focused on the main characters and their conflict with Chloe, like we should have gotten with Lila. Yeah, Ladybug and Cat Noir wait far too long to stop her, but unlike with Lila last episode, they at least had a semblance of a reason for hesitating to beat up a civilian. Either way, it felt like an obstacle that Ladybug and Cat Noir actually overcame together instead of someone else helping them out at the last second. Yeah, the Miraculous boost was a glorified deus ex machina, but it was at least a thing established in the show since Season 3.

Even the stuff with Chloe actually felt like stuff she would do, unlike in Season 4, which tried to give her an interest in bananas and soccer for the sake of giving her screentime as a villain (Queen Banana, Penalteam). When Chloe had free reign of the city, she actually did stuff on her own that was clever, like the detention setup. We really needed more of this Chloe for the past two seasons if the writers wanted to make her work as a villain, yet they waited until the end of the fifth season to actually do something interesting, and that was after she was told what to do for most of the episode.

And then there's how the conflict was resolved. It's really hard to buy Ladybug and Cat Noir “growing up” and unlocking the full power of their Miraculous, because just like when it was first established in Season 3, it's such a vague term, and only leaves you asking more questions. Neither Marinette or Adrien really had a big moment of personal growth this episode. Yeah, Adrien wanted to tell Marinette about London, but he had been trying to do that since Chloe first took over as mayor. While it's a decent piece of character development after keeping it secret for the past few episodes, it doesn't really do a lot to justify Adrien “growing up”.

Then again, at least Adrien actually got a moment to show his growth compared to Marinette. All she did before she “grew up” was tell the citizens of Paris to keep fighting, but it was such a vague speech and doesn't really scream becoming an adult. If she was going to sacrifice her identity or do something dangerous in order to stop Chloe, that could have worked. Instead, what I can assume was her big moment came after she defeated Chloe, the call at the end, and even then, it was just her telling Chloe how much she sucks, something she's never been afraid to say since the show started. Once again, if you need to tell the audience your show has character development, you're not good at writing character development.

Overall, while these episodes were both really bad, I still think they're at least more tolerable than the previous two.

And with that, I am officially done with the poorly written Chloe episodes. Sure, I still have three more episodes until I finish Season 5, but least this means Astruc will hopefully stop using her in the show, or at least ranting about her on Twitter. Maybe I'll make a character analysis post about her or talk about her during the overview post, but for now...

[sturchling]

I have a request. How about Lila’s mom comes to school because Lila forgot something. And she comes to class only to see them screaming at marinette to stop being “jealous” and stop “bullying” because of another lie Lila told. Lila’s mom also sees mrs. Bustier not doing anything to stop it. So she steps in and Lila pales at the sight of her mom. Then she sets things straight and goes off on Lila for lying again. In the end Lila and the class get punished. And lila gets held back a year.

Mrs. Rossi was already in an annoyed mood. She had already been running late this morning, and needed to get to work. But right as she went to leave, she saw that Lila had left her homework binder on the counter.

She was irritated with her daughter for being so irresponsible. Part of her considered just leaving it there and letting Lila face the consequences. She left it, she can take the bad grade. But then Mrs Rossi remembered that this assignment was worth a lot and if Lila got a bad grade, it would really affect her overall grade.

Mrs Rossi decided to just take it to the school, and she would deal with her daughter later. Little did Mrs Rossi know, Lila would wish her mother had left it alone. She had left the binder on purpose. Lila had planned to blame Marinette for the missing assignment, saying that the girl had wanted Lila to fail so she stole the assignment from her on the way to school.

Mrs Rossi strode into the school and up the stairs to her daughters class, texting on her phone to try and explain to her boss why she is late. Her focus was glued to her phone, that is until she heard the yelling. When she looked up, Mrs Rossi saw the entirety of her daughter’s class, standing and yelling at one girl in the back of the class. They were yelling at her for “bullying Lila” and “stealing her homework” so this girl would have a better than Lila.

But none of this made sense. Lila’s homework wasn’t stolen, Mrs Rossi had it in her hand. Why did the class think this girl stole it? And why wasn’t her daughter correcting them? Surely she knew about her homework, so this girl couldn’t have stolen it. Mrs Rossi felt her stomach twist. She had seen her daughter finally, and she was smiling maliciously.

Then Mrs Rossi understood. Her daughter was lying again. She had done this at every school in Italy. She always lied to everyone, about everything. Fake conditions, fake achievements, anything she could think of. And she had also previously used those lies to target specific students and make them miserable. She had been expelled from several schools for this behavior, but Lila had seemed better since moving to Paris. Reticently, Mrs Rossi realized that Lila had seemed better, because Mrs Rossi had been willfully ignoring it. Now the lack of the communication from the school, and several “school closures” seemed way more troubling.

She glanced at the teacher, Bustier, but Bustier wasn’t doing anything. She was just watching the chaos, like it was some twisted show. Mrs Rossi couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Well, if she wasn’t going to stop this, Mrs Rossi absolutely would. Her daughter wasn’t going to ruin another girl’s life.

Mrs Rossi stormed into the classroom, yelling, “LILA ROSSI”. The entire class whipped around at the sudden intrusion and stared at her. Most looked confused, but Lila didn’t. She looked terrified, and paled almost instantly upon seeing her mother.

“Mom… what are you doing here?” Lila glanced around the room, completely panicked. Especially when she spotted a certain binder in her mother’s arms.

“It doesn’t matter why I’m here. What matters is you are lying again! You told your class that this girl stole your homework? You know good and well that you left it at the house. It’s right here! I thought you had gotten over this lying phase of yours, but clearly not!” Mrs Rossi threw down the binder on the sad excuse of a teacher’s desk, angry beyond measure.

Lila was stuttering, trying to think of someway out of this, as she felt the stares of her class on her. This was very bad, Lila had intended for this lie to fully turn the class against Marinette. She hadn’t expected her mother to see the binder and bring it to the school. “Mom it’s not what you think, Marinette, she… she threatened me. Told me not to bring my homework or I’d be sorr-”

Lila couldn’t even finish her lie, her mother’s anger growing with every word until she exploded. “ENOUGH! You did this in every school you went to in Italy, and I thought I got the lesson through your head this time! Clearly not! I didn’t warn this school because you seemed to understand it this time, I guess that was my own naivety. Get up, you are coming with me to the principals office! I’m willing to bet he has some interesting stories to tell me of what you’ve been up to! I wonder if you have that lying disease again, or the one about saving some random celebrity pet. It’s the same nonsense every time and I’m sick of it!”

Lila tried to stammer out protests, she really did not want her mom to talk to Damocles. But deep down, she knew it was pointless, her mom was furious and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She felt the betrayed looks from the class on her back, as they realized Marinette had been telling the truth. Lila was a habitual liar, and her own mother was confirming it right in front of them, even referencing specific stories Lila had told them.

Lila reluctantly left the classroom with her mother, dreading this conversation and the after effects to come.

And man the after effects were more brutal than Lila expected. She wasn’t expelled exactly, but she almost wishes she was. But her mother had advocated against expulsion, but not for the sake of her daughter. She did it so her daughter couldn’t pull this again at another school.

Instead, Lila was suspended for the rest of the year and as a result would be held back a year and need to repeat it. When she was allowed back, she would be closely monitored by teachers, to make sure she couldn’t get away with anything or trying to bully any students. And a note was placed in her permanent record, so that if she ever did have to transfer for some reason, her next school would be warned.

As for the rest of the class and Bustier, they didn’t escape unscathed either. Most of the class was suspended as well, just for shorter periods of time. The school was a bit more lenient with them, since their actions were based on manipulation and lies, so they wouldn’t be suspended long enough that they would need to repeat the year, but they would be suspended for a few weeks and when they got back, they would have detention for the remainder of the year.

Finally, Bustier was also given an unpaid suspension. To come back to work, she had to complete several hours of retraining on class management, anti bullying tactics, and a wide range of other subjects. Her class got a long term sub in the meantime.

Mrs Rossi may have been annoyed about bringing that binder, but she is glad she did. It opened her eyes to her daughters continuing lies. She was able to put a stop to it this time, and she would make sure her daughter would never be able to pull this nonsense again. 

[starsfic]

Punished

So I was re-reading LadyBugOut by @miraculouscontent and I had a thought that occurred to me when I was reading this chapter. In the very next chapter, it's mentioned that people could hear Miss Bustier and Marinette arguing and the class jumping to the latter's defense. It wouldn't surprise me if this got reported to Mr. Damocles, even if said reports didn't come from the class (which some probably did, let's be honest here, someone told their parents).

Caline had been what had been best described as a rough two days.

First had been her attempt at regaining peace in her classroom by asking Marinette, very politely, to delete BugOut, followed by the confrontation by her students. Second had been Ms. Mendeleiev’s rather harsh pointing out of her faults. After all that, Caline had tossed and turned all night, trying to decide what to do.

She wanted to deny that Mendeleiev was right. Her methods had worked for years, after all, at least from what she saw. She wanted to believe that she was wrong. Marinette was just lashing out, acting out, definitely not acting like the wonderful good example Caline knew she could be. But the thought of that brought up the memory of her students’ angry faces and Max’s cold words, and she felt sick to her stomach.

She still wasn’t sure what to do now that she was back in school. She still felt sick, although that might’ve been the lack of sleep in general. Caline glanced up and felt her stomach twist at the sight of her classroom door.

First, she needed coffee. Next, she needed to at least teach for the day and then figure out what to do.

However, her plans were stopped by a clearing of the throat.

Mr. Damocles hovered behind her, staring at her. “Ms. Bustier, can I have a word with you?” He sounded strange, almost angry.

“Oh,” She forced down the twist in her stomach and tried for a smile. “Of course, Mr. Damocles-”

“In private.”

Her stomach twisted even harder but she managed a nod. “Of course, sir.” Hopefully, this wasn’t what she thought it was. Maybe he just wanted her thoughts on something? The school dance was due to come soon and God knew how many emotions rose up during that time.

Damocles led her upstairs to his office. He opened the door for her and Caline stepped inside, sitting down. She faintly tasted bile at the back of her throat as the door shut, and he walked past her to his desk. There, he folded his hands, staring her down.

“May I help you with something?” she had to say then, praying that it wasn’t what she thought it was.

“No.” Mr. Damocles frowned, unfolded his hands, and then refolded them. “Ms. Bustier,” he finally said. “I recently received some reports from students’ parents.” Oh no. “I must note, none are from the parents of those in your class.” He pulled out a folder and set it down. It made a small thunk and Caline felt sweat start to bead up. “However, they are all concerning a fight-”

“I wouldn’t really say it was a fight,” Caline had to speak up then. “I was just trying to-”

“Make Ms. Dupain-Cheng delete a blog that has developed into an important resource?” Damocles flipped open the folder and turned it to her. Caline reached out, flipping through the pages. Through most of them were the words that had come from her:

“I advise that you take it down.”

“I’m positive you could take it down with one click if you had to.”

“The blog itself going down would have the best chance of fixing things. It will make it feel like this whole thing has been a mistake.”

“...I can explain-”

“I must advise you that, if it were more than a simple public blog, I would have to go to the police for this,” And that made her freeze. Mr. Damocles stared at her, his brows furrowed tight, and Caline realized that, no, he was actually angry. “However, as far as I know, BugOut does not have any special government protection. It is, however, an important resource.” His hands clenched tighter together. “That does not even mention that you crossed a line by telling a student what she can and cannot publish on her own social media.”

The sweat rolled down her skin. Was it just her or was it hot in here? “I felt like it was more important to protect my students,” she said, her claim sounding weak even as she said it. “Alya and Lila were being hurt by what it was saying.”

“Was Ms. Dupain-Cheng threatening them? Posting humiliating pictures of them? Doxxing them?” Damocles shook his head. “No. Ladybug was simply posting the truth, as she has the right to do. Her intention was not to harm, but to protect herself.” His brows furrowed tighter and tighter. “Next time, I would consider what it was actually doing before speaking up.”

Caline looked down at that, feeling her face grow hot. “So, am I being punished?” she said, gripping her knees and forcing back the bile in her throat.

“Yes. I want you to apologize to your class, especially Ms. Dupain-Cheng,” Well, that took the choice out of her hands. Something was pushed into her vision, and she looked up. It was a brochure for some kind of training. “This is for a training course on setting boundaries between educators and students,” Mr. Damocles said. “I would recommend you take it.”

Bustier was almost impressed. A few months ago, he would be trying his best to not make waves, at least with Chloe. She just wished it wasn’t aimed at her. “Thank you, Mr. Damocles,” She took the brochure and took in a deep breath. “I… apologize.”

He opened his mouth, probably to say that she didn’t need to apologize to him, but Caline was already up and moving. The sooner she moved, the sooner she got away from his anger.

The sooner she could forget the hot shame that welled up, deep inside.

[fuckyeahladybug]

Nino the Shield

Thinking about Nino today, as I often am.

How he steps in the way of Monarch’s venom. How he challenges Anansi, unpowered. How he takes a pivotal role in resistance movements in (at least) two universes.

On the first day of school, Mrs. Bustier forces him to sit in the front. The implication is that he doesn’t tend to participate in class, that he’s maybe a loner. When he meets Adrien, he’s quick to reach out to him.

Early show Nino is defined by his chafing against (adult) authority. We haven’t seen his parents, but we have seen his little brother. It feels important that Nino is an older sibling.

Today I’m thinking about Nino the shield. Nino the big brother. Nino the resistance fighter. Nino, who organizes his friends for movie shoots and parties and anti-supervillain efforts. Nino the DJ. A good DJ has to know how to read a room, to gauge the mood of a crowd.

Nino’s a character who comes into his own right before our eyes, blossoming through his friendship with Adrien, his relationship with Alya, and his new role as a hero. I cant wait to see who he becomes in S6.

[marinetteplztakeabreak]

The arc with the resistance in ml season five???? Is so good????????????? The way that???? Its been going on low-key for a while????? But theres this Massive Shift this season where literally the entire miracuclass stops running away from akumas or hiding???? And its like???? The fear is GONE by the end of the season???? Theyre not scared anymore theyre just pissed off????? At the system???? Not at the akumatized victims???? But also its not a “babying the akumas” thing either like when gabe is akumatized theyre like “WRONG BAD” at him????? Same with chloé???? But like the entire class will see a butterfly and start running TOWARDS it because theyre like “oh no someone needs help goddamit i gotta get there before hawkmoth” and they dont always win and they dont beat themselves up about it???? Like in confrontation, Juleka got akumatized despite their best efforts and theyre all like “ugh this sucks” but no one’s giving up hope or anything???????

And!!!!! The way that the anti-akuma charms work in that episode??????!?!??!?? The way the fandom has this trend of thinking like,,,, the only way to escape akumas is to push emotions away deep deep down,,,, thats how marinette and adrien have kind of been operating?!???? But then it’s revealed on no uncertain terms that the powerups of the anti akuma charms are reactive to emotions?????!?! That pushing things down doesnt help?? you have to Fight Back and FEEL on your own terms and accept others’ help and feelings?????

Juleka shutting down and curling up into a ball and trying to disapear didnt work!!!but her yelling about how its not fair and shes proud of mr damocles despite it all???? like??? Catalyzed the entire anti akuma charm shield thing???????

The way that this season has shown time and again that it’s okay to be mad and frustrated and hate the system and its okay to feel trapped and scared but you have to learn to reach out and find a good outlet for those emotions even if that outlet is yelling with your friends???? instead of isolating yourself and pushing away people who have your best interest at heart????? And lying and pretending it’s okay doesn’t help but looking for bits of real joy and support amidst the chaos does???

The way that ladybug and chat noir started this season as The Most Alone Theyve Ever Been with the miracle box stolen??? and realized by the end that no one needs powers to be heroes??? they just need to be able to trust each other and take turns carrying Hope for the group and remembering whats worth fighting for!? and as long as theres a drive to fight theres always little victories to celebrate??????????!??

(Also the way that Nino—who heads the resistance—literally calls everyone in his group including Bustier Comrade and the way that they talk about how sometimes it feels like no one’s listening and revolution is the only way?? and the way they address fears about spyware and technology only benefitting the elites and the school system being designed without students’ well-being in mind and environmental terror and the police being corrupt and they take all of that and they say “it is Still a worthy battle and it sucks but you are going to be okay,,, just do not give in to hopelessness… find the people who will help you keep fighting and keep believing in a better future and Cherish Them”)

People complain about this show going “off the rails” as it’s switching its target audience and addressing more “mature” themes or whatever but like do you guys understand how much every single narrative decision makes me scream

[maestro04yayyy]

https://www.tumblr.com/maestro04yayyy/762341715456688128/random-dialogue-exchange-idea-for-like-1-year?source=share

Expansion on the "Drip Fed Poison" exchange/idea; just assume that Lila never found the butterfly or what have you so there can be focused family drama lol.

Its been a little over a year since the resolution of the Hawk Moth 'incidents' and Zoe would like to think her life had been going great. She finally had a parent who loved her and was invested in her, she was a burgeoning actress, she had friends she didn't need to compromise her values for. & hey, being rich was still ya know, nice.

Unfortunately there's been a blooming undercurrent of wrongness she's not quite able to put a name too. Its a lot of different little things.

She's found herself a bit more inclined to how around Andre's money & name to get things (but for nice reasons & her friends) But also sporadically had this blow up in her face. Usually not long after she had some kind of disagreement with Andre about a picture or event, or shot in a film.

She's also found her schedule often conflicting with her friends unless she obscures it from Andre or lies to him, almost like he doesn't want her hanging out with them. & he's very twitchy about her possibly dating, though he says its just to avoid paparazzo.

She briefly floats the concern t Jean who has become an increasingly ever present confidant and enabler of her sneaking out. But he's monosyllabic. Merely saying, he cannot speak poorly of his employer and continue to do good work, while subtly hinting helping Zoe dip out on an event to see her friends is the good work.

Things, don't quite come to ahead so much as she quietly floats the concern at a small friend hang out and Sabrina looks distinctly... Panicked. Made worse, when in trying to encourage her to say anything Adrien get roped in and is also suddenly super uncomfortable.

At first they treat it like its cos discussing Chloe is uncomfortable and it is, but...

Neither one has the full picture, and both are a little uncomfortable as they feel like it may come off as advocating for her, or smearing Andre, and they had both kind of convinced themselves they'd read too much into the relationship and clearly Chloe had to be at fault, right?

Adrien obliquely explains Chloe regarded a lot of wat she did with or for her father as a form of work. He did too. She plays the role of darling, devoted daughter, babysits visiting rich kids and helps out with events and fundraisers and Andre covers for her expenditures and misbehavior. Not that odd... Right? Really the issue is that he enabled her being mean, right?

Sabrina's read is a bit different, with her noting the instances Chloe tended to come over to her place, or be extra foul usually coincided with Andre being particularly clingy or omnipresent. & that he could and would withdraw his patronage of Chloe if he felt she was not acting as her name befit. IE, he is the source of her classism and Audrey impersonation, but it was a mistake, right?

He's better and learned now right?

Well, maybe not, especially if him currently blowing up Zoe's phone with guilt tripping messages is anything to go by, but the only other person who might be helpful is Madame Bustier, who Sabrina says Chloe sometimes spoke with alone.

Zoe is hopeful that a trustworthy adult will help her put all this to rest.

So the fact Caline looks like she might throw up when Zoe broaches the topic and clearly both wants to offer a hug and is trying to make her not panic by getting to close does not fill her with confidence.

As it is,

Chloe only ever really broached things with her once, after a breakdown (Not meltdown, breakdown) in class that involved flipped tables and broken glass after a particularly 'stressful' few weeks.

She'd been oblique over it, names and issues and expectations oscillating wildly and even Mr Agreste somehow got worked in but al of it painted an unflattering picture. One that likely informed her decisions as an Akuma to "Take Andre out" in one form or another.

But ultimately, the only person who can give her any insight into what Andre is like with a daughter besides Zoe herself... Is Chloe.

Ohhhhh i love this!!!!! Well I hate how andre is to zoe!!! But I love her slowly getting more concerned and worried about the situation!!!!! And yeah that would be a really good set up to reintroduce chloe(so I am basically considering this an au now because it's awesome) maybe not phisically because she is in london i think? I remeber it being the usa but the changed it last minute i don't know i haven watched the last season but still as a voice on the phone and talk to zoe and maybe just maybe connect as sisters!!!!! I honestly just love zoe and chloe being good sisters!!!!

[natedogx15]

Miraculous Descendent Chapter 50: Bird and Dog of Justice

Previous Chapter

Within his office, Mr. Damocles looks out the window as the school's students enter the school at the start of the day, like an owl watching from its perch in the wild. His hands are behind his back as he watches them prepare for the day.

After a minute of watching, he releases a heavy sigh and walks toward his desk.

"Albert." Mr. Damocles says while looking toward his computer.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Damocles?" A robotic male voice asks from his computer.

Suddenly, a circular pixelated cyan face with a mustache, black eyes, and eyebrows appears on his screen, smiling at him.

"I'm fine, Albert. Just anxious about my students' safety. Did you send the staff emails like I asked?" Mr. Damocles asks.

"Please repeat. I was unable to understand." Albert tells the principal robotically.

"It wasn't a command. I asked if you sent the emails out to our school's staff like I asked." Mr. Damocles tells the computer program in a louder, more forceful tone to try and make the program understand.

"Yes, the email has been forwarded to the school parents," Albert states obediently.

"No, not the parents! I asked you to forward them to the staff, the staff!" Mr. Damocles groans into his hands at Albert's mistake.

Taking a deep breath, Mr. Damocles looks up while trying to calm down.

"I need to calm down, maybe escape from my worries for a bit." He tells himself before standing up and heading toward his office's portrait of the city.

Grabbing the portrait, Mr. Damocles takes it down to reveal a secret compartment containing various owl-themed superhero memorabilia, including a self-made autumn plaid-chest owl-themed costume with grey limbs, an owl-themed boomerang, a grey and dull orange grappling hook, and different comic books.

After grabbing one of the comic books, Mr. Damocles places the portrait back over the secret compartment and sits at his desk. Taking a deep breath before opening the comic book, Mr. Damocles mutters.

"Please give me the strength to get my students through this day, Owlman."

With the students of Miss Bustier's class. They're surprised when the by-the-book, responsible Sabrina walks into the room. 

She's wearing her usual clothes. A light blue blazer over a white short-sleeve shirt, grey jeans, and white shoes with black soles. However, some notice something new around her neck. It's a metallic orange collar necklace.

Alix, one of the more outspoken classmates, grins at Sabrina when she sees it.

"Where did you get the jewelry, Sabrina? Is there a special someone Marinette and I didn't meet while we were project partners?" She asks the girl goodnaturedly.

Hearing these words, Rose excitedly rushes out of her seat toward Sabrina. When she sees Sabrina's necklace, her excitement amplifies.

"It's so pretty! Where did you get it?" Rose asks her excitedly.

Blushing from Alix's earlier implication, Sabrina gives Rose a nervous smile while saying.

"Dad got it for me, saying it was to make up for not being able to get me much for Christmas last year," Sabrina tells them.

"Oh, that's so nice of him." Rose gushes as she continues to look at Sabrina's collar necklace.

"Thanks." Sabrina smiles at her.

"It looks lovely." Juleka quietly compliments Sabrina from her position next to Sabrina.

"Thank you." Sabrina thanks her, blushing at the attention she's getting.

At that moment, Marinette and Nate come running into the classroom.

"Phew, we made it," Nate says in relief as he takes a moment to catch his breath.

"Yeah." Marinette sighs in relief.

The two head to their seats before Alix calls over to Marinette.

"Hey Marinette, Sabrina's got a new piece of jewelry," Alix tells her while pointing toward the girl.

Hearing this, Marinette gains a smile and quickly rushes toward her friend to see what Alix is talking about.

"Wow, it's so beautiful, Sabrina. Where did you get it?"Marinette asks her with a sweet smile.

"My Dad got it for me," Sabrina tells her, blushing slightly again.

"Well, it looks amazing on you. It suits you." Marinette compliments her, causing Sabrina's cheeks to blush a darker shade of red.

"Thank you." She tells Marinette.

"What are you losers crowding around my desk for?" Chloe's annoyed voice rings throughout the room as she walks into class.

Hearing her voice, Rose and Juleka quickly shuffle back to their seats while the others either look away or glare at her.

"Oh, relax. We're just complimenting Sabrina on her new accessory." Alix tells her while glaring at the other girl.

Chloe raises an eyebrow before focusing on Sabrina and seeing her collar necklace.

"Hmph. Where did you pick that up?" Chloe asks her with a raised eyebrow as she walks over and inspects the necklace.

"It was a gift from my dad," Sabrina repeats for the second time, getting slightly tired and nervous from having to repeat herself.

Chloe doesn't say anything for a few seconds as she inspects the necklace with narrowed eyes. Finally, she scoffs and takes her seat while muttering.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous."

Things seem to calm down after that, with Sabrina receiving no more compliments and everyone taking their seats, waiting for Miss Bustier to arrive. But in Sabrina's bag, Barkk is smirking as she sees the various actions of her wielder's classmates.

"Ah, this is shaping up to be an entertaining ride. I wonder how many people from this school will get Miraculous?" Barkk idly wonders as she relaxes in Sabrina's school bag with a box full of strawberries under her.

Back in Mr. Damocle's office, the man is letting out a content sigh as he finishes his third comic book and finally seems to be calming down.

"Nothing puts me in a better mood than reading Owlman. Oh, how I wish I could follow in his footsteps like Knightowl." Mr. Damocles sighs as he sets the comic book down and imagines himself fighting with the heroes.

While imagining himself as a hero helping Ladybug and Cat Noir against Hawkmoth's Akumas, he suddenly gets a phone call.

"Who could that be?" Mr. Damocles absently wonders as he picks up the phone.

"Principal Damocles here?" Mr. Damocles answers.

"I think that title isn't quite fitting of you, Denis Damocles." Gabriel's cold voice states over the phone, causing Mr. Damocles to tense abruptly as he realizes who's on the phone.

"Mr. Agreste. What a pleasure to hear from you. What did you mean when you said I'm not fit to be called a principal?" Mr. Damocles asks nervously.

"I am saying that I find your abilities to watch after my son and the other students of Françoise Dupont questionable at best. If you haven't noticed, most of the Akumas Hawkmoth's created have been students at your school, whether school is in session or not." Gabriel's words cut through the principal, causing him to flinch.

"Well, yes. You are right about that. And I'm sorry we are having trouble keeping our students safe. We're doing our best, but we don't know how to protect them since Hawkmoth targets negative emotions. Children are very emotional and impressionable, you see." Mr. Damcoles nervously explains to the stern man.

"That's just an excuse. The bottom line is that you and your staff have failed to protect the children under your care." Gabriel tells Mr. Damocles sternly.

"I'm sorry, sir. Rest assured, we're doing everything in our power to keep the children safe. That includes your son and his friends." Mr. Damocles promises Gabriel, only to get a grunt in response.

"That is not a very comforting statement when you and your staff have no power," Gabriel Retaliates to Mr. Damocles' words.

Anger bottles up in Mr. Damocles because of Gabriel's words, but he manages to calm down before he can say something he might regret, and that anger turns to fear when he remembers the power Gabriel has behind him.

"Are you still there, Damocles? Do you have nothing to say for yourself or your school's failure to keep the children safe?" Gabriel asks over the line, his tone conveying his annoyance of possibly being forgotten.

"U-uh, sorry, sir. May I ask if there's anything else you need?" Mr. Damocles politely asks the man, wanting to end this conversation.

"We're not done here, Damocles. I want to know how you plan to keep the students safe from here. If my son wants to keep going to your school to be with his friends, I want to make sure it's somewhere they'll be safe." Gabriel orders the principal in an aggressive tone.

Mr. Damocles' eyes widen in surprise and panic. He doesn't say anything for a minute as he tries to figure out something to say. He then remembers something important about tomorrow.

Coughing into his fist to regain himself, Mr. Damocles finally answers Gabriel's question.

"Mr. Agreste. You know what tomorrow is for your son's class, correct?" Mr. Damocles asks the man.

"Yes, it's when the children will bring their parents in so they can talk about their careers. What of it? I will be having Nathalie go in my place." Gabriel states.

Coughing into his fist again, Mr. Damocles goes on.

"Well, maybe you could come to my office, and we'll talk about this face-to-face. This type of conversation is best done in person and not over the phone. Plus, it'll let you spend time with your son and his class after we're done." Mr. Damocles suggests.

"I have no openings in my schedule tomorrow. Unlike you, I am busy running my company and don't have much free time." Gabriel explains to the principal.

"I see. Well then, I suppose we'll have no choice but to reschedule this conversation for later, as I'm also busy." Mr. Damocles says nervously.

"Excuse me?" Gabriel asks the man, anger evident in his tone.

"I am sorry Mr. Agreste. But I have other business to attend to regarding my school and don't have enough time to discuss this with you today. But rest assured, we are doing our best to protect our students. We might be able to discuss this later if one of us makes an appointment with the other." Mr. Damocles nervously explains to Gabriel.

He then grows more anxious as Gabriel doesn't say anything to him. Finally, after what feels like hours, Gabriel says something.

"Very well, I'll see when my next opening is and inform you so we can discuss this then. I expect a satisfying answer." Gabriel tells Mr. Damocles.

"Of course. Keep in mind that even the mayor's stepdaughter goes here, and he hasn't pulled her out. I feel that proves our school is trustworthy enough to look after your son." Mr. Damocles promises the man.

"We shall see. Please know that despite my attitude, I am calling you as a distressed parent. I am willing to do anything to protect my son and will not tolerate incompetence with his safety." Gabriel states.

"Of course, Mr. Agreste. You're not the first parent to call me like this. I understand your and every other parent's worry for their child's safety. After all, the children are the future and proof of your love for each other." Mr. Damocles smiles into the phone.

"Yes, I'm glad you understand my feelings on this matter. I will see when we can discuss this later." Gabriel tells him before hanging up.

Upon hearing the click signaling the call's end, Mr. Damocles releases a breath he didn't know he was holding and falls back into his chair with his shoulders slack. After a few seconds, he lifts the phone and stares at it.

"He didn't even say have a nice day. How rude." Mr. Damocles mutters before going to his secret safe full of Owlman merchandise.

"I need another set of comics to calm my nerves. Hopefully, Miss Bustier's career day goes well and eases some of my worries." Mr. Damocles says as he pulls out a cloth and wipes sweat from his brow.

With Miss Bustier's class at the end of the school day, the teacher in question is bringing up tomorrow's event.

"You all remembered to tell your parents about what tomorrow is, correct? Be sure to let them know if not so they can show up and tell the class about their jobs if they have time." Miss Bustier tells her class in her usual kind and supportive tone as she examines the room.

After seeing no one speak up, Miss Bustier releases a happy sigh.

"I always love career days. I think having students learn about different jobs will do nothing but help their futures. Remember to keep an open mind tomorrow. You never know what kind of job might interest you. But no pressure. You're all still young and have plenty of time to decide what you want to do with your lives." Miss Bustier encourages them before letting them leave.

As the students are leaving, Alix calls over to Marinette.

"Hey, Marinette. Are you finally going to come to the art club?" She asks the other girl.

Marinette turns to ALix and gives her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I have to head straight home. I'm grounded, and my mom will kill me if she thinks I'm trying to avoid it by going back late." She apologizes to the girl.

"Ah, too bad. Welp, see ya tomorrow." Alix tells her before walking away to head to the art club, Nathaniel following after her.

"Bye." Marinette waves back before looking toward Nate.

"Shall we go?" She asks him with a smile.

"Yeah, we better. Before they get suspicious and send Jean-Yves after us." Nate faux shudders as he says this before leaving his seat to follow Marinette out.

The two walk silently for a while before they feel they've gotten far enough from the school and any prying eyes.

"So, how did your talk with your parents go? Did they do anything in particular with your punishment? Dad took away my video games and is having me work in the hotel without getting my allowance this month to teach me responsibility." Nate tells Marinette now that they finally have the chance to talk to each other.

They weren't able to talk about what they actually wanted to since there were too many people around them.

"I'm sorry you got in trouble too." Marinette winches and apologizes to Nate for causing him trouble.

However, Nate quickly waves it off.

"It's cool, really. I don't think there's a way I could avoid it even if I didn't know you were Ladybug. At least I know what you're doing to get me in trouble. Otherwise, you'd probably be dealing with me as an Akuma. I'd be so pissed if I got in trouble because of you, and you wouldn't tell me why." Nate tells her while giving a joking smile.

Marinette shudders at the idea of having an Akumatized Nate after her and being unable to transform to protect herself without Hawkmoth finding out she's Ladybug.

"Yeah, that's lucky." She finally agrees with him.

"Anyway, what did they say?" Nate changes the topic back to his original question.

Marinette winches and looks at the ground nervously.

"They said I'm grounded until I can get Ladybug to prove I'm not lying about helping her. If I don't, the punishment might get worse. Right now, I'm not allowed to hang out with you or our classmates." Marinette explains to Nate.

"Dang, that's rough. I guess if you do that, we'll get off scot-free." Nate says with a shrug.

"Yeah, but I'm worried they'll figure out I'm Ladybug while I talk to them," Marinette tells him with a panicked expression.

"That's true," Nate mutters as he thinks about Marinette's situation.

"This is so confusing. What should I do?" Marinette anxiously asks him.

"Why are you asking me? I would tell you to do it so we're both out of trouble. What did Tikki tell you? You did talk to her, right?" Nate asks her with an inquisitive expression.

"Yeah, she told me that the Miraculous should keep my identity a secret. I'm still worried, though." Marinette explains with the anxious expression still there.

Nate doesn't say anything, but he doesn't have to. Tikki appears from the earrings to smile at Marinette.

"You're at a difficult fork in the road on your path as a hero. Would you rather have your parents believe you're a lying delinquent by not doing anything? Or would you rather risk having your identity discovered so they'll believe a lie close to the truth?" Tikki wisely narrates as she smiles at Marinette.

Marinette digests Tikki's words and looks deep in thought as she tries to figure out what to do.

"Well, if it's any help. I think you should go through with it. I'd rather not get in trouble for you constantly disappearing. Plus, it'd probably make your life easier if your mom and Uncle Tom think you're trying to help one of Paris' heroes." Nate tells her with a shrug.

Marinette takes in those words with a slightly guilty expression before Nate decides to change the subject.

"Enough about that. Is your mom going to the career day tomorrow? Dad isn't since he's too busy, and I doubt Uncle Tom has time." Nate asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh, o-oh, y-yeah, she's going to be there," Marinette says, caught off guard and stuttering at the sudden change in topic.

"Cool. I think Alya's mom works with her in the kitchen, too. Maybe they'll do a demonstration together." Nate nods.

"Well, that should be interesting." Marinette smiles as she imagines her mom showing off her cooking ability to the class.

The two walk in silence as Nate lets Marinette think about what to do, though secretly hoping she'll go through meeting her parents as Ladybug so they don't get in even more trouble.

In his room later, Adrien and Nathalie have a similar conversation about career day tomorrow.

"So, I'll be the one to talk to your class tomorrow. I'm sorry, Adrien, but this came up too soon for your father to fit it into his schedule." Nathalie gives Adrien an apologetic and sad look as he releases a sigh.

"It's okay, Nathalie. I figured it would turn out like this." Adrien tells her in a defeated tone.

Nathalie's heart breaks slightly as she hears that from Adrien before she lets out a sigh of her own.

"I'm sorry, Adrien. At least you know your father cares about you and has me going in his stead. I hope you can find solace in that." Nathalie tells him in a comforting tone.

"I know, Nathalie. Thank you for worrying about me and deciding to come tomorrow." Adrien gives her an appreciative smile as he says this, and Nathalie returns it with a smile of her own.

"Of course. It's my job to help your family, after all. Plus, you know your parents and I have known each other for a while. It's my pleasure to look after you and them." Nathalie tells Adrien with a kind smile.

"Yeah." He says with a smile.

In Gabriel's office, he's working on a bag design while thinking about tomorrow.

"We'll see how safe your school is tomorrow when I'm done with you. You should be an interesting Akuma, Mr. Damocles." Gabriel smiles as he puts a hand to his brooch, which seems to glow slightly.

Next Chapter

[mcheang]

The return of Amy Squirrel

“When the superintendent personally asks you to work at one of the worst schools…you say yes.”

Not only is Amy a more suspicious teacher than Ms Bustier, but she will be taking over Ms Bustier’s class while the latter is on maternity leave.

Now Amy may treat everyone like they are in kindergarten, but she has a history. She was forcibly transferred after her rival framed her for being on drugs. Said rival Elizabeth was now a guidance counselor but it galled Amy to be sent to Paris, aka the emotionally troubled city, to teach the akuma class, under false charges. In hindsight, she really should have returned Elizabeth’s desk after stealing it to check for drugs.

The unfairness and humiliation made Amy reflect on the situation and she vowed to be smarter, more prepared to see through such tricks.

Naturally, when it comes to Chloe’s bullying, Amy puts Chloe in a time out. When Chloe calls her father angrily, but Amy scolds her for talking to her father as if he is her servant. And Chloe is making her family look bad. Audrey happens to be near Andre when Amy says this and hearing this, agrees Claudine should be disciplined and gives Amy free reign. Until she is respectable, she isn’t a Bourgeois. Chloe is akumatized except Amy has a solution for this. While the butterfly is happily accepted by Chloe, Amy punches her, knocking her unconscious while Alya posts on her blog about the akuma so Ladybug has an excuse to come purify the butterfly.

Chloe: You punched me!

Amy: Your mother authorised me to use any means to make sure you don’t keep embarrassing her. Frankly, you losing again to Ladybug would be humiliating since it just enforces to your mother that you are a loser.

Chloe is stunned to see she has lost influential power. Aka she can be sent to detention and her parents won’t help her.

Now, Marinette is holding a car wash for a future field trip. Seeing Marinette’s clumsy and efficient record (she was practically doing half of Caline’s work for the pregnant lady), Amy did not mind. She minded however when Lila, who did not show up at the car wash at all, said she felt bad about not being able to help and volunteered to help with the money arrangements.

Marinette and Caline: Absolutely not

The class was stunned. Marinette was not expecting someone to be on her side.

Caline: I know your reputation for being charitable Lila, unfortunately it is that reputation that leads me to mistrust you with this. Mylene told me how you had donated the money she organised to your fundraiser for the poor instead of her preferred save the earth charity. While the cause is still noble, the donators wanted the money to go to the earth. I cannot risk you donating our fundraiser trip money to another one of your noble causes. If you are that worried about their causes, you can ask your class to help with another fundraiser, except Marinette and Alya, they need to help me plan the field trip.

Lila gritted her teeth. This immature teacher was a hindrance!

Amy had done her research on Lila too. A disturbing number of ailments and disorders, long leaves of absences with parent approval, and she was not unaware how the class catered to Lila by helping her copy notes, buy her lunch, carry her backpack, etc. All in all, Amy would not want to look before she leapt and think Lila a liar but she finds her suspicious. When she confides to Damocles, he mentions Lila’s lying disorder.

Amy: THAT’S BONKERS! And if she is telling the truth, how can you know when she lies, we need a proper authority figure to guide us on how to help accommodate Lila’s needs. We cannot trust the poor girl whose ability to distinguish fact from fiction is so hampered.

Damocles: I have tried reaching out to her mother, but she’s so busy, I’m afraid emails are allowed. Rest assured they are detailed.

Having dealt with Elizabeth, Amy was not discounting the possibility that the email was a fake.

Amy: May I see Mrs Rossi’s occupation? What job is more important than being here for her daughter.

Principal passed her a paper. “She’s the ambassador of Italy.“

Amy: And what does it mean for Italy if she cannot even be there for her child?

Principal had no idea how to respond to that.

Amy personally went to the embassy to talk to Mrs Rossi and boy was there some clarifications to be made.

If Amy was immature, Diplomat Rossi was oblivious/ignorant. The diplomat readily agreed to come with Amy and see the principal.

The next morning, Lila was called to the principal’s office where she was roundly scolded for lying and framing Marinette.

Damocles: Lila Rossi, you are hereby expelled.

Lila promptly runs away, to become Cerise. She has 2 more mothers to financially rely on.

Mrs Rossi speaks to the class and tells them the truth about Lila. She apologises to Marinette. She also asks that if Lila should contact them, to call her.

Only, Lila isn’t answering any of their calls.

Marinette is so thrilled with Amy handling her bullies. She is so much more efficient than Ms Bustier!

Her efforts were enough to get her promoted from substitute to main teacher.

[sploopyghost]

The Class Were Always Friends

With the way Chloe would treat them it's no wonder they would find solace in each other. From making fun of them to even destroying their things, none of the teachers or the principle helped, instead whenever they brought it up they were brushed off or punished. They were each others support when they couldn't trust the teachers around them, they supported each other whether it was going to each others games, organizing fundraisers, or helping each other with their passions. They learned that Sabrina couldn't be trusted after she had told Chloe about a picnic they were planning and ruined it. When that happened Sabrina was kicked out of the group chat and everyone blocked her

When Adrien and Alya came along they were skeptical. Call them paranoid but they were reluctant to let them in until they had a better read on them. Adrien especially since he's friends with Chloe. Alya on the other had seemed to be a lot. Over time they learned that Adrien was nice but often excused Chloe's behavior, which definitely got on their nerves but still he was cool. Alya was a lot and not always in a good way. She was definitely passionate and head strong but she often steamed rolled over them and thought she knew best. In the end they settled for keeping them both at arms length and occasionally hanging out with them but never really accepting them into their group

Lila was interesting when she first came, she told lies about herself to them but they didn't know why. Rose had suggested that she may be doing it to make friends since she's new. Marinette didn't like that since that's a terrible way to start making friends but they all agreed to not say anything and nod their heads like they agree with her and maybe she would tone down on the lies and stop all together. Of course that didn't happen, as time went on it was clear that what Lila wanted was for them to treat her like some sort of celebrity, that and how she would try and paint herself as a victim and one of them as the bully when they didn't want to do something for her. They did notice that she would cling to Adrien and invade his space so they started inviting him with them so he wouldn't be alone with her. At some point Lila must have noticed that none of them believed her and that they were ignoring her because she started skipping school saying that she was on trips. They all rolled their eyes, they couldn't believe that Mrs. Bustier believed her story

When Chloe pulled the fire alarm and got them all in trouble they were livid, even more when she tried to blame it on Marinette. Everyone knew it was her even the principle but he let her get away with it like always. This time however it seemed like Adrien was standing up to her and threatening their friendship. They all thought it was in vein, though Alix was the one to voice that he wouldn't hold her to it. They were confused when they all got a text from Chloe inviting them to a party she was throwing since they never gave her their numbers. It didn't matter anyway since they weren't going, they wanted nothing to do with her. Adrien did confront them the next day to ask why they never showed and how they just had to give her a chance. They just pointed out how Chloe very clearly wasn't sincere and was just throwing the party to get him back

[msweebyness]

Sasha’s Cuteness Proximity Powers

What happens when you introduce the teens of Miraculous to a ridiculously adorable little girl? Moments like this! Featuring the Akuma & Theater Classes! @imsparky2002 @artzychic27

———

(Marinette’s Room)

(Sasha is getting fitted for the Polymouse hoodie Marinette is making for her)

Sasha: Marinette, look at me! I’m a fashion model!

(Mari looks over and sees Sasha wearing a big floppy hat that keeps falling over her eyes)

Marinette: (Immediately whips out her phone and takes pictures as she’s trying not to squeal from cuteness)

———

(On the Liberty)

Sasha: (Holding Juleka’s bass as she strums a few off-key notes) I’m doing it!

Luka/Rose/Juleka: *Trying not to cry tears of sheer euphoria*

Juleka: That’s perfect, Sasha. Let me just grab my phone.

———

(At the Pool)

(Junior swimming lessons are taking place, and Sasha is among the kids)

Kim: (On the phone) Omigosh…her little ducky floaties…she’s too precious, Dine, I can’t!

———

(Outside the School)

(Sasha darts up to Nathaniel)

Sasha: Hi, Mr. Nath! I drew this for you!

(She hands him a messy drawing of Mightillustrator fighting an akuma)

Nathaniel: (Definitely not crying)….I will treasure this for the rest of my days.

———

(School Gymnasium)

(The Akuma class is supporting Adrien and Kagami at a fencing competition. Ivan is babysitting Sasha so she came along.

(Sasha has a little toy magic wand that she uses to clumsily imitate the fencers’ movements)

Adrien: …Kagamiiii…

Kagami: I know. I have just met this child, but I would lay down my life for her.

———

(Ms. Bustier’s Classroom)

Sasha: You look pretty. (Runs off to join her brother)

Chloe: ….Th-thank you. (Also definitely not crying)

———

(Back-To-School Night)

(*Evie babysits Sasha from time to time when Ivan is busy)

Sasha: EVIE! (She runs over to hug her)

Evie: *Thoughts* I am blessed on this day.

———

(Sutcliffe Regional Animal Shelter)

Sasha: (Bringing a tray of food to some of the shelter dogs) Hi Puppies! I’m gonna feed you now!

Brecken: Ohmagod…so pure…(Crying into his hands)

———

(Place Des Vosges)

Sasha: You talk really pretty, I like you!

Anthony: ….*Thoughts* So this is why people embrace the light…

———

The power of the precious child! Leave your thoughts in the comments and reblogs!

[ijustliketoreadstuff]

Miss Bustier and the teachers responses to Marinette’s struggles with Chloe.

In the “Derision” flashback, we discover that throughout the school years, Marinette had faced a problematic dilemma where the teachers would side with Chloe in any given situation. Of course the biggest question in terms of this was why the teachers were not doing more to tackle the situations surrounding their students. Now, their lack of attempting to properly tackle such situations, had primarily revolved around fear and an unwillingness to spend more time to uncover the hidden truth as their lives revolved around managing numerous students, each one with their own individual issues.

 In the past, Chloe had ensured her actions remained as hidden as possible if and whenever she carried out a plan, something we have also seen her do throughout the series, in the new school year. 

(In “Mr. Pigeon”, Chloe attempted to steal Marinette’s hat design without anyone knowing, but was proven guilty as a result of Marinette sneakily incorporating her signature into the design. )

But in order to ensure the teachers would not consider Marinette’s word in the years prior, we discover that Chloe had spent time building Marinette a reputation where she would always be considered the tardy student who would be quick to disrupt class. Of course, Marinette was tardy and disruptive in class because she had trouble avoiding the pranks Chloe left her. 

(The principle, Mr. Damocles, and teachers like Ms. Mendeleiev, would only see and focus on Marinette, as well as her reaction in any given situation. Chloe would regularly direct the principle in Marinette’s direction anytime she knew her plans would stall Marinette long enough to leave her tardy.)

(Chloe’s pranks would delay Marinette from arriving to class on time while also prompting her to react and appear as the one who was insinuating conflict, leaving Chloe as just another spectator in the crowd for the majority of the time)

If any situation would result in a possible confrontation, Chloe was quick to make up any story necessary to make it seem she was being falsely accused and was not being considered in the matter, but on the chance the teachers did not comply, she was more than willing to threaten to call her father, the mayor, to have them fired through her word alone. 

Although teachers like Miss Bustier attempted to resolve any conflict between her students as best she could, her attempts to correct their behavior primarily revolved around being caring in any situation and finding the positives to things that would ordinarily be wrong through her students eyes. 

(Miss. Bustier  attempted to look at the positive in Chloe drawing on Marinette's handmade gift back in "Zombizou") 

Miss. Bustier is perfectly aware of Chloe's behavior towards others, however, she did not have the heart to be more commanding and strict towards others in order to enforce stricter rules and punishment, instead, her attempts primarily focused on attempting to teach her students compassion and finding a way to defuse a situation before things could spiral. Miss Bustier’s lessons would be upheld by many of her students, but were words Chloe was only rarely willing to take into consideration as she was not very interested in learning to uphold the lessons others taught her in her day to day life.

(In “Zombizou”, Chloe was willing to apologize to Miss. Bustier near the end, but her willingness to apologize to her, did not mean she was willing to do the same for everyone she wronged.)

Knowing that Chloe was not easy to talk to about her behavior and the things she did towards others, as Miss.Bustier explained back in "Zombizou" that people like Chloe only think of themselves and couldn't properly understand the meaning of love, Miss. Bustier had instead focused her attention on the people around Chloe, expecting students such as Marinette to be the bigger person in a situation by being the ones to set an example for others of how to properly behave in situations with people like Chloe. Miss. Bustier's attempts were to inspire students like Marinette to potentially show others like Chloe the wrong in their actions by simultaneously giving a little kindness their way, all in the hopes that people like Marinette could additionally set a good example to those like Chloe and help inspire them to acknowledge their own behavior and be willing to put in the effort and sacrifice to change themselves.

And as we saw throughout the series, Marinette would attempt to take Miss. Bustier’s words and believe in Chloe as best she could. 

Only to realize as time went by that she now faced the same struggles the teachers had as Chloe was not very willing to listen and had continued to prioritize herself despite her moments of good and despite everyone's willingness to give her multiple chances to better herself.

(In “Malediktator”, Marinette attempts to let go of her past with Chloe to give her a chance to better herself by throwing her a party to show her support and kindness. Those who attended were all willing to do the same. Unfortunately, Chloe had decided to  focus on the benefits of a hero rather than the the lessons the heroes taught her, having no interest in committing to the work and sacrifice needed to be better. Instead concluding that the power of the miraculous and her new title as a hero was something she was entitled to and was now her right to use whenever she wished)

For the teachers, Marinette was the easiest to correct and punish, however, Chloe's behavior had sadly become to difficult to correct on their own as Chloe had presented consequences to anyone who attempted to punish her and fail to meet her demands. While teachers like Miss. Bustier attempted to work around those consequences by providing as much love and compassion towards her students as she could, other teachers had accepted that it was simply out of their hands as their attempts to prevent and sort through such situations would only result in them suffering the consequences and potentially loosing their jobs.