#adrien believes his mother left them

[aloeverified]

au where emilie doesn't "go missing." gabriel fully believes in his plan to bring her back with the black cat and ladybug miraculous, so he doesn't want to fill out a police report and label her as missing as it would both put more attention on him as well as make it more difficult to explain her disappearance when he brought her back.

instead, he stages a tour for her. she's taking a break from her acting career to focus on the gabriel brand, traveling the world to learn about different cultures and their clothing for a new line they'll be releasing.

the press is excited, conspiring and making predictions about which countries will be included. many people wonder why emilie decided to make such a stark career change so suddenly, but no one really questions it as suspicious.

except for adrien.

adrien, who has seen his mother less and less over the past few months. adrien, who has been nervous to speak to his father ever since his irritation has spiked. adrien, who can't remember the last time he had a meal with both of his parents. adrien, whose only friend is chloe.

he begins to think. all the times his mother left for months to film a new movie, his father burying himself in his work for days on end, adrien being left in the care of his parent's assistants while they filled their schedules as much as possible — keeping busy and far away from one another.

he wonders if he's just be oblivious this entire time, if his family has been drifting apart and he's been forced into photo shoots and advertisements as a way to keep him distracted from it all. he notices the way his father looks longingly each time they pass a portrait of his mother, as though he's lost something, and the way natalie's eyes soften when she notices as well.

he stops asking his father why he didn't tell him about the new line. he stops asking his father why he can't call his mother, why she won't call him either. when he comes across his father sitting at his desk, holding his wedding ring is hand and looking at a framed photo of their family, he stops asking questions all together.

adrien doesn't know much, but he has a strong feeling his mother isn't coming back.

[adastra-rising]

I’ve been rewatching episodes of miraculous because I finally got the family Disney Plus Password (was too lazy to ask) and I’ve been struck with thoughts.

I desperately want to rewrite the season 3 episode “Felix” because OH DEAR GOD I HATE IT. You only get the good shit when you read between the lines, what’s actually shown is ass.

So here’s my ideas for a rewrite

- Adrien definitively knows Colt Fathom was abusive, and alludes to it vaguely. He switched identities with Felix as a kid and has a good idea of what he went through at home.

- Adrien is less condescending in his taunts during the battle and shows a little more empathy towards his cousin. Less “boohoo bozo you have no friends” and more like, “dear god what happened to you bud?” Like he’s genuinely concerned over his wellbeing. Angry over what he did but genuinely concerned. Angry that his cousin never got a therapist lol.

- Marinette doesn’t try to confess her love to Adrien on the anniversary of his mother’s death because that’s literally so stupid.

- Felix is a bit more straightforward in his goals here, in that the audience is not led to believe he’s straight up evil. His behavior and general demeanor are more in-line with how he’s portrayed in season 4. He’s less obsessed with the GDV rings and more focused on outing his uncle as Hawkmoth or catching him in the act.

- He specifically chooses to mess with the videos to not only lure out Hawkmoth but because he’s extremely lonely and jealous. And that’s shown via subtle facial expressions and visual cues.

- His attempts to get Hawkmoth’s attention are more clearly shown to be an attempt to double-cross him and not just for the lols. Like, there’s certain things he does in the OG that are literally pointless, like the shit with Plagg’s cheese. Why? just, why?

- He is shown to be super competent at physical things (beating people up lol) but his social ineptitude is more clearly alluded to.

- No more SA scene I will burn that scene.

- Amelie actually gets to do stuff. She’s more straightforward about needing the GDV rings and actually makes an attempt to steal them herself. Auntie on a mission,

Canon Divergence Territory (aka rewrite)

✨MLB S3 Episode 23: Zelus✨

- If I wanted to do a bit more canon divergence, I’d shift focus from Felix being a trouble maker for the lols and instead focus on his jealousy. The feeling of being left behind by your only friend.

- His attempts to sabotage Adrien’s relationships is not to bait Hawkmoth but instead because he’s overcome with jealousy that Adrien has all these friends supporting him through his mothers passing, when Felix has never had anyone, both when his dad was dead and when he was alive. Nobody came to save him when he needed it and he’s gonna make that everybody’s problem.

- He thinks it’s unfair that Adrien seems to be so much happier than him and gets all of the things Felix wants (companionship) all the while getting to avoid the abuse he went through.

- Bro is genuinely super bitter and emotionally broken but hides it under a facade of showing no emotion at all until he snaps and gets akumatized into Zelus.

- Zelus (more commonly known as Phthonus) is the Greek personification of Jealousy.

- Maybe the ending could parallel the ending of Perfection, where other characters make an attempt to reach out and say “ur not alone <3” and while it works to defeat him, the message does NOT reach Felix and he goes home outwardly seeming better (it’s an act. One that Adrien believes) but remains just lonely.

- Like Kagami his trust issues run deep and one single episode is not gonna fix them. (They’ll heal together though, trust me!)

- His experience getting Akumatized proves to him that his uncle is Hawkmoth, he swipes the GDV ring on his way out to please his mother, and season 4 proceeds as written.

Dialogue Changes

Adrien: Listen, Plagg. Félix lost his dad not so long ago, he's probably not himself.

Plagg: I'm sorry, but there's just no excuse! You never touch my cheese, and yet, you just lost your mother not so long ago, right?

Adrien: My mom and his dad were nothing alike. It’s totally different.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Adrien’s villain alternative versions are fascinating to me, because how easily he could fall and become them.

Chat Blanc: Being unable to choose between those he loves and that mental strain caused calamity.

Claw noir: Being unable to move on from the loss of his mother causing him to become bitter at the world.

Ephemeral: Being unable to escape his father’s control.

Anti Noir: The inability to control his powers causing the destruction of everyone.

All of those iterations stem from his inability to have control.

Therefore the final and his villain counterpart would be.

Calamity Noir.

An Adrien that has lost all control, and simply destroys. No emotion, no feeling, only destruction. Adrien has given up trying to stop himself, believing he is alone and lost. He is helpless and all that is left is for the world to feel the same way.

[astracora]

Masterlist

Corrupted Taxionna AU

The Godkiller The stained glass is cracked, and the multi-coloured lights dance across the floor and across the Godkiller's face. The Corruption of a God Their eyes roved over him for a moment, like he might be a meal, and damn him if he didn't fight the urge to let himself be. Focused Pain (NSFW) Gods and damn him, there is the song. Rough and sullied, but he notices some of the notes.

Ten Moments Fragments between Taxionna and Kieran on a long road and longer life.

One (Expectations) Two (Debate) Three (Wounds) Four (Despair) Five (Yearning) Six (Mistakes) Seven (Commitment) Eight (Imposter) Nine (Sickness) Ten (Family)

Lost Letters

One He knows what's in that letter like the back of his hand, much like he can recall the words on every single other one of these letters.

Euphoria

Quinn's Lament She cares for the man he is in the moment with her, and he hates that he allows her to believe that lie. Jealousy Guilt hits him, lighting his face in a soft orange glow. One he hopes is weak enough to be invisible to her in this light. Broken Robot No matter what he says, he cannot fix what he has done, and no matter how much he has changed… how much he has tried to change… The Bet "I am well aware of how a gamble works, Cipher, I just do not understand why we would make such a bet." Colours His heart aches and his fingers flex. "It's beautiful." He agrees, not entirely sure he means the view.

The Eternals

Fleeting Dream The two stand in the shadows, shielded from eyes, and he notes how much steadier they feel already. Dreams "I'm here, I'll always be right here. When you wake back up, I'll still be here." "I can never stop loving you." He can’t fight the returning smile, even if he wanted to. The light in their eyes is so compelling, he knows he’d follow them anywhere. "Can't we just have a romantic moment for once?" He grumbles as they duck round a pillar. Twirling his dagger round his hand, and looking out at the masked Godgiven. Fake Dating His hands are around their thighs, fingers digging into their skin, trying to hold them far enough away they can't tell the effect they're having. Wearing Each Other’s Clothes He wasn't aware he was possessive before he met them, but they spark a need for them to be his, and he theirs. Home He can picture them, home with their children, likely covered in paint from a new project. Eyes sparkling, teeth bared in a wide grin. Purring Sometimes they remind him of a large cat. They’re graceful, dangerous and fickle.

The Inquisition

"Why are you so nice to me?" It’s eaten away at what little they have left. The guilt, the loss, the fear, the chains around their throat and wrists…

Wyvern's Rest

Wake up They wish someone had warned them, that even if they never meant too, loving someone would shatter them a thousand times over.

Novus Theus

Scared He voiced it, voice trembling and words shaking. Fragile like they were made of glass already broken.

Character Exploration

Epona There are times when that realisation stings like a papercut, angry and bitter. They do miss it, they miss her. Leonidas A monster, to be forgotten and lost. Hidden in the shadows, surrounded by books, so that he might never hurt another person. Eden Her heart is often full, for she is lucky. She is alive, and she is happy. Surrounded by love, and adventure. Oisín He also knows it won't stop him, the next time the voices get loud and he needs them to stop. Gavroska A Drakonian with no wings, however, has no family, no loved ones, no one to return to. Croix He tells himself many lies and twisted truths in the darkness of night, when he holds her heart to his, as pain twists his gut. Adrien The bow is too heavy in his hand, though, and when his mother commands, it feels stitched to his skin. The Kitsune For now, however, they are content to watch. After all, there's still some blood to shed.

Love and Deepspace

A Mandated Holiday Break (Poly LADs, Sylus-Centric)

Chapter One Why Sylus doesn't send them messages in any normal way, they'll never understand. He enjoys phone calls, texts them constantly, but whenever he wants to be dramatic, in flies Mephisto with a letter or a note, on a blaze of feathers and metal. Chapter Two His steps falter, looking at you, hearing his name. So warm, so sweet, so perfect. As you drift back off, he is walks down halls that aren't long enough. Into his lair and to a place he can't be disturbed with you. Chapter Three Calmed and riled and fragile but so warm and safe. The feeling is chaotic and terrifying but if he could spend his life feeling it, his very very long life. That only you can end, and when you choose to, he hopes it's alongside yours. Chapter Four What dragon is not greedy? What dragon would not want his greatest treasure at his side always? Chapter Five He refuses to let you think he is not earnest. Never to lie, never to flatter. You will never doubt his affections, he promises. Chapter Six You smell like his last meal in every life. Like he could bite down and die happy, your blood in his mouth and your soul in his chest. Chapter Seven He's sure if he were better practiced in his emotions he'd cry. Instead he just encompasses you in his body, squeezing and holding and drowning in you. Chapter Eight If he wakes up tomorrow and you are not here, he will find you anywhere. He has done it before, and he will do it for the rest of time, because you are the one who sees him. Chapter Nine You bite his nose and then his neck, but there’s no venom in it. He becomes far too busy squeezing your legs and kissing, open mouthed up your neck, to really care either way. Chapter Ten Sylus isn't used to people touching him. If anyone does, it's often sharp, and jagged and with intent to harm or kill. No matter how far back he thinks, he's known very little contact that hasn't come at a price. Chapter Eleven You're so smug, wearing a smirk he knows is an impression of him. All canines. He loves you, irritable little kitten that you are, because you're as smart as you are curious. As feisty as you are gentle.

The Cat Curse - MC Edition (Poly LADs, Sylus-Centric)

Chapter 1 A dragon does not love lightly. Though you don't remember the depths he has gone to for you. This is an easy act of devotion. Chapter 2 He tilts your head to look at him, and presses his fingers against your closed lips. “If you want the mark to stay, you have to bite harder.” Chapter 3 You think about his hand clasping yours in front of the datura, pulling you back despite the deep pit of yearning in your heart to bury yourself amongst the bright red flowers.

One-Shots

The Morning After Sylus Qin is a greedy man. As gentle as he is starving, treating you like an oasis in a desert. It’s both a terrifying feeling and an incredibly thrilling one. Reckless Fool The snarl is unbidden and unfamiliar, like you’ve grown fangs, become a beast with scales and horns. Happy Newdawn Day (Poly!LADs!) You’d been decorating all morning. Flowers, bunting, balloons. Tables set up with food, drinks and an entire section set up with photobooth equipment and props. After all, you’d spent far too much of this year taking photos, what better way to commemorate the end of it. The Nightmare The beast moves, uncaring of you, through the remains of what had been your home. Through memories you'd wanted to cherish more than you had.

Turning Point (Poly!LADs - Pre-relationship)

Part One Sylus feels like he should be making notes, these people are the closest people to his kitten, other than the other hunters you're closest to. Every bit of information he has about you, builds that puzzle up, but he notices blood on the floor. Part Two You'd spent this whole time ignoring it, like if you ignore it, it won't turn into a monster and rip you apart. It sits there, silver metal and black leather. The urge to throw it doesn't come back, which surprises you. Part Three It is not just Zayne that tethers you to the hospital, it is the heart in your chest, the illness in your life, the injuries from your job, and now the prosthetic on the bench. Part Four WIP

Poly LADs Group Chat (Fluff unless stated otherwise)

Cookie Thief The Struggle of Cat Boys Cheater Dancing on Tables ft Simone + Tara Dog? Dog? Part 2 You good, Pipsqueak? (Pre Game) It's Cold!!!

Asks

Boys with Chronic Illness!MC

Headcanons (Poly!LADs)

Home Edition

Saniwa #022 (Aru)

Choosing a Right Hand. 'Yamanbagiri Kunihiro has been assigned to Citadel #22-84-AX'. The Invasion - Chapter One As he falls, he sees them smile one more time… and the barrier falls. The Invasion - Chapter Two (Lost) But maybe the connection between Saniwa and Touken Danshi doesn’t work that way, maybe the breaking pain only goes one way. The Invasion - Chapter Three (Memories) There’s an armoured hand on their shoulder, they can see a small corner of dirty white fabric, but when they turn it's gone.

[fabseg-creator]

Miraculous rewriting: Chloenette AU (Prologue)

This is a Chloenette image and it exists in two versions (left: Normal version; right: lipstickprint/post-kiss version).

I think about an AU that diverges from the canon (Miraculous but Chloé is one of Marinette's love interests (alongside with Adrien and Luka and Zoé)).

Season 1 rewrite

Season 2 rewrite

Season 3 rewrite

The Story and its changes:

Prologue/Before the Season 1:

Marinette and Chloé are childhood friends.

Chloé is still a bully. She keeps her rude tone (Chloé being Chloé) towards the Miraclass but with a moderate level (drastically less bully than her canon counterpart during the pre-Queen Bee period (Season 1-2) and the Derision flashback).

Chloé commits some bad actions against random teens for fun (roasting language, pranks, school expellement threats) but she makes these at the low level, She is a "semi-bully".

Identically to canon, Sabine is still worried about Marinette and sees Chloé as a bad influence on her daughter. She calls Soqueline for care/protect Marinette.

Effectively, Soqueline knows Chloé is a problematic case at the Françoise Dupont school.

Soqueline wants to get Marinette away from Chloé for bring the former to the good path (even if Marinette is globally preserved from the Chloé's bullying if it was a little bit of).

Marinette has issues with her mother when Chloé is the subject of the conversation. Meanwhile, Sabine respects Marinette's choices.

Chloé is attracted by both Marinette and Adrien (Sorry, Sabrina ! 🤷‍♂️).

Following the next years (prior to the Season 1), Chloé develops a crush to Marinette and she gradually expresses that with her own manner. But Marinette misunderstands her. She just believes the "bully" is joking.

Marinette already knows Adrien but only from Chloé's words.

Adrien hears about Marinette but she never met before (because of the education his father imposes to him)

Chloé sees Sabrina as her associate (not yet equal friend but not sidekick).

Marinette is aware Chloé has a questionable behavior but she continues to hang out with her. She is hoping the blondie can be improved into a good girl.

At the classroom, Marinette seats with Chloé. But she switches places with Sabrina, her second friend (a more normal girl than Chloé in the beginning). That depends of Chloé's decisions.

In the beginning, Marinette's and Sabrina's relationship is a normal/classical friendship (not besties but equal).

In this universe, Marinette has no reasons to run away from Chloé because they are already "friends". So, she doesn't need any protection and she hasn't any interest to Kim. She just considers him as an ordinary trustful friend.

In this AU, the events of Marinette's flashback from Derision (5.14) never happened too (no trauma).

But Marinette will eventually suffer a love incident: It will happen at the Grand Hôtel when she finally accepts Chloé's feelings. The date will be supposed to be an experimentation for Marinette. It would be perfect for the two girls until someone comes to mess it all.

The person who will ruin the Chloenette will be not Sabrina, neither Kim (who dates with Ondine), neither Audrey (Chloé's mom who is still at New York in this moment) or neither Adrien (who is mourning his mother's "death"). It will be Socqueline.

Socqueline will have decided to secretly follow Marinette in mission of protecting her after she will have seen her to enter to the Grand Hotel (Chloé's home). Worried, she will come to thé Chloé's bedroom and she will surprise the two girls kissing each other on the bed (interupting them).

That will be enough for Marinette. Ashamed by the situation, Marinette will become mad, upset and angry towards Socqueline because of her overprotective behavior. It would have enough. And a infuriated Chloé will yell both Marinette and Socqueline to go out of here.

Marinette will eventually end up her friendship with Socqueline next to the incident. The latter will be sad and remorseful after the incident.

The last day of school, Chloé will announce to Marinette she breaks up considering the idea of romance between them as a ridiculous "mistake". By circumstance, the incident has affected the two girls. 💔

Marinette becomes the protagonist we know as in Canon.

Chloé remains the classical bully from the show. Despite she is still attracted on Marinette, she represses her feelings by turning her interest to Adrien.

End of the Prologue.

Bonus: Extended (sorry for the design of teenage people but it was fast)

From left to right:

Socqueline silently objects the cursed odd ship. She is resigned to respect Marinette's feelings.

Sabrina is heartbroken. She just wanted to confess her love to Chloé since the previous years but Chloé always didn't have cared about.

Zoé feels like troubled and sad about seeing her love interest and her half-sister dating each other. She is supposed to confess to Marinette.

Adrien feels like ignored while he sees his love pretendants making their date. In this AU, he can be used to be single. Plagg is hidden behind his holder's back.

Alya is confused. Her best friend dates her "bully".

Lila Cerise discretly watches the scene from afar with a sadistical gratification. She is planning to ruin the Chloenette couple for enact revenge for her exposure as "Lila Rossi". What girl do Cerise could destroy her life first (Marinette or Chloé) ? Or what girl do Cerise could seduce first ? (attempted Cerisette plan) 😈

The basis for this post:

[theerurishipper]

I’m gonna wait to see the special before drawing any more finale conclusions but for the moment everything we got from the leaks is just so… weird? and nonsensical? 

So the only reason why our Marinette didn’t turn evil was because of Alya. Which contradicts everything TA and his team have been saying about abuse. Why does Alya being a positive influence for Marinette works but Audrey being a negative influence for Chloé doesn’t? They had Mylene say, “Having a bad mother doesn’t justify your actions” so neither should bullying. The lesson with Chloe is that abuse is ok and children that turn out ‘wrong’ because of it should just be left alone with their abusers because they somehow deserve it by not being able to turn out perfect on their own. Why shouldn’t the same logic apply to Emonette and Emodrien? (I believe they’re the names the fandom’s been using but I’m not sure) You’re being bullied? Doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t lash out and become evil. It’s 100% on you now. Like seriously, am I missing some piece of information here? If I am please correct me! Because as of now it just doesn’t make sense to me. The lessons TA wanted to teach its fans is that sometimes people are just bad and no amount of tragic backstory justifies their actions, but every single choice he’s done from season 3 is just proving over and over that this logic only applies when it’s time to diminish Chloe. Chloe is 14 and has decided to be evil. Emonette and Emodrien are 14 have decided to be evil. “But they tried to show Chloe the right path and she didn’t take it, she’s evil” Gabriel seems to be a good father in the other universe, so shouldn’t be this the same for Emodrien as well? How did he even end up being a ray of sunshine with an abusive terrorist father but ends up being a villain with a good father? How does that even work? I really hope there’s more to the special because if they’re really going for the message that somehow Gabriel’s abusive parenting was a good thing for Adrien… I’m going to scream. 

Like, I understand the story they were going for with Chloe. Unfortunately, it's true that some people don't change. But then they began stating that she's not an abused child and it's not the influence of her mother that made her this way, it's just that she's Evil™. And her "consequences" ended up being more abuse. It's so fucked up.

And you're exactly right about Chloe being exempt from the justifications and explanations that the rest of the cast receives. Emonette gets to commit terrorism, and all this can be explained away by her having been bullied by Chloe, but Chloe isn't influenced by her mother's abuse, oh no, she's just born evil and is unworthy of change! The Chloe equivalent of Emonette's story would be for her to be sent back in disgrace after committing all her crimes to be bullied by Chloe some more, but you just know that ain't gonna be how it goes down. The characters are going to downplay Shadybug and Claw Noir's crimes, offer them compassion and insist that they are good people, and they're gonna get off scott-free. And of course, Emonette wouldn't deserve more bullying as a consequence, and that's the truth. But apparently Chloe's deserved ending is more abuse? It's horrid.

And the Gabriel-Adrien implications are a step further into the abuse apologia category. I just wrote a whole post about it, but you're right on the money about the implications. And I really think that's what's going to be portrayed, unintentionally or not. It sucks.

Thank you for your ask!

[the-delta-42]

Damn

A/N: Had to repost because I forgot to do a few things.

Damn

Marinette exhaled quietly as the last customer left the Bakery, three hours non-stop, which was preceded by another three hours before she was forced to take a break. The usual help hadn’t shown up that morning and both Marinette and her mother had been swapping over at set intervals, while her father kept an eye on the oven.

Marinette had recalled hearing her parents complain about Jonathan before, but this was the first time he hadn’t shown up for work. Marinette heard the bell over the door go, before putting on her ‘customer service’ face, which quickly broke when she spotted her grandfather.

“You look dead.” Came his blunt statement.

“Jon didn’t show up this morning.” Said Marinette, “Normally, we’d contact his wife, but neither are picking up.”

Rolland was quiet, “He’s the one that’s older than me.”

“Yeah, I think he’s supposed to be retired.” Remarked Marinette, “Papa and Maman are in the back, I think I heard them arguing about the consistency of some icing for a cake.”

Rolland shook his head, before walking into the back. Marinette sighed, before the bell over the door rang again. Marinette took a deep breath in and looked ahead.

“Welcome to Tom and Sabine’s Bakery, how may I help?” Said Marinette in her ‘customer service’ voice.

“You didn’t turn up for Orange Juice.” Said Kagami, making Marinette slump forwards.

“I knew I forgot something.” Groaned Marinette, “First Jon didn’t turn up and now I forgot about our drink, what’s next, Adrien telling me I forgot some project?”

There was a stiff silence, before Kagami looked to the side. Marinette groaned and dropped her head against the counter.

“Kill me now.” Groaned Marinette, “Of course things are going to shit, Jon doesn’t turn up, then I forget about our drink date and the class project and Luka saying that we ‘need to talk’ tomorrow.”

Kagami frowned, her head tilting slightly, “Is wanting to talk a bad thing?”

“Kagami,” Said Marinette, through her hands, “when one party in a relationship says, ‘we need to talk’ nothing good is going to come from it.”

Kagami was silent.

“Whenever Adrien says we need to talk, he shows me cat pictures.” Said Kagami, Marinette stared at her friend.

“Either Adrien is adorably naïve, or he doesn’t know what that phrase is used for.” Said Marinette, after a second.

Sabine poked her head out of the kitchen, “Marinette, go upstairs, you’ve done enough for today.”

Marinette smiled, until she decided to stand up, when her legs couldn’t take her weight and promptly collapsed onto the ground.

“Are you okay?” Asked Kagami, as Marinette hauled herself back up.

“I’m. Fine.” Grunted Marinette, as she made her way to the stairs.

Kagami watched her fall three more times before walking over, picking her up and carrying up the stairs.

D

“Can I have a kitty, Maman, pleeease?” Pleaded Manon, giving her mother the puppy’s eyes

“No, Manon,” Sighed Nadja, looking away from her computer, “having a pet is a big responsibility, and you can’t have one until you’re older.”

“B-b-but,” Manon whimpered, getting a sigh from Nadja.

“Manon,” Said Nadja, firmly, “I’ve said no.”

Manon burst into tears and ran off, getting a dejected sigh from her mother.

‘Stupid Maman,’ Thought Manon, not noticing the Akuma, ‘I am old enough.’

“Grown Up, I am Monarch. Your Mere believes you are too young for any responsibility, if you bring me Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s Miraculous and you’ll get what you want.”

“Okay.”

D

Marinette stretched as she stood up, carefully adjusting the table. Kagami glanced at the clock.

“I have to go, Mother is expecting me home soon.” Said Kagami, getting up, “Same time next week?”

Marinette nodded, “Want a lift? I’ve told Maman I’d deal with some of the deliveries today.”

“That would be nice.”

Five minutes later Marinette was driving her moped with Kagami and some deliveries.

“Why’d you retry things with Luka?” Asked Kagami, as they rounded a corner.

“I thought I needed to work on me,” Called Marinette, “I thought if I became a better version of myself, things would be easier with Luka.”

“Are they?”

“Nope.” Answered Marinette, as they stopped at Kagami’s home. Frowning, Marinette looked at her phone, “Hold on, did your Maman order from my parents?”

“She tried one of your family’s pastries and enjoyed them.” Answered Kagami, as Marinette pulled a bag from the case on her moped.

“Right, give me a moment.” Marinette hopped off the vehicle, and walking up to the door with the bakery bag.

“I’ll take it, Mother’s going to be in a meeting.” Said Kagami, taking the bag from Marinette, “See you next week.”

D

Marinette sighed, rolling her shoulders as she remounted her moped. She’d just finished her deliveries and was about to head home, part of her wondered why it was so quiet, before she shook her head and drove home.

Meanwhile, Grown Up ran across the rooftops, revelling in her freedom.

D

Yawning, Marinette looked around, before crossing the road. She smiled as Alya waved at her, before she heard someone shout.

“I AM GROWN UP, I WANT THE MIRACULOUS!” Alya and Marinette were hit by a beam of light, before Grown Up ran away.

“What the hell?” Asked Alya, before looking at Marinette and gasped, “Girl, look at you.”

“Look at me?” Marinette pointed at Alya, “Look at you!”

Both girls were at least ten years older, Alya was wearing a suit like the one Nadja Chamack wore when she was working, while Marinette was wearing a dark blue pant suit.

“Whoa.” Said both girls.

D

Adrien gulped as he looked at Marinette, thanks to the Akuma that aged anyone hit by their ray, Marinette and Alya had been hit and aged up to at least 25.

Adrien was quick to notice that Marinette looked 'smoking hot', as Kim put it, and had certainly gotten bigger in the chest and hips. He didn’t look at Alya, but he felt Nino was thinking the same thing.

It certainly didn't help when Adrien suddenly blurted out,

"Please step on me." Blurted Adrien, before he clapped his hands over his mouth. Adrien just wanted to die. He decided he would do it himself if he had to.

“Please do it. I wanna see what happens.” Said Kim, laughing as Adrien and Marinette’s faces went red.

“Shut up, Kim.” Said Alya, taking control of the situation. She removed her blazer and dropped it on top of Marinette’s, “We need to focus on more important things.”

Adrien thought he saw Nino covering his nose, while Marinette folded her arms across her chest.

“Yeah,” Said Alix, pointing at Nathaniel, “Like why does Nath look homeless?”

They glanced at him, Nathaniel was hit by Grown Up as well, but while Marinette and Alya looked healthy and well dressed, Nathaniel was filthy and unnaturally skinny.

“I don’t know.” Rasped Nathaniel, before he hacked up a cough.

“Hold on.” Lila, who’d also been hit by Grown Up, grabbed a torch from her pocket, she had a doctor’s coat on and a hospital ID, she crouched in front of Nathaniel, “Open up.”

Nathaniel grimaced, but slowly opened his mouth, Lila visibly recoiled and nearly dropped her torch.

“Well, that’s something you don’t see that every day.” Muttered Lila, as Marinette crouched next to her.

“Is that a…” Marinette tilted her head to the side.

“There are a couple of masses, one at the back of your throat and another on your gums along your molars.” Said Lila, frowning, “But…maybe you should cut back on the cigarettes.”

“How can you tell he smokes?” Asked Marinette, as Alya joined them.

“Staining on his fingers, his cough and the state of his teeth and gums.” Answered Lila, before stiffening, “How the hell do I know that?”

“I’ve got some news headlines on my mind and Marinette’s got some meetings on hers.” Said Alya, before glancing at Nathaniel.

Marinette groaned, “We’re getting off subject, sorry Nath, but I think we can focus on our future problems when they actually happen.”

“Right.” The others nodded, as Nathaniel reached into his pocket for a pencil, before he frowned and pulled out a syringe.

Lila quickly took the syringe from him and put it on Bustier’s desk.

“We need to find the Akuma, get all this fixed and go back to hating each other.” Marinette glanced at Lila and Chloé, who’d also been hit by the beam, “So, what do we know?”

“She calls herself ‘Grown Up’.” Said Lila, “So, it’s likely that she’s a small child that’s been told she’s too young for something.”

“Okay, so if we can figure out what she wants, we could distract her with it.” Said Alya, shifting.

“But, to do that we’d need to know who she is.” Said Marinette, getting a scoff from Chloé.

“Out of everyone in the city, the first two she targets are you two.” Said Chloé, “Most people target people they know, so, do any of the brats you baby sit want something they can’t have?”

The class watched as Marinette frowned, before her jaw dropped, “Oh my god.”

Marinette ran out the room, leaving everyone at a loss.

D

Marinette carefully put the box on the table, getting frowns from everyone.

“What’s that?” Asked Alix, as Marinette reached into the box and pulled out a kitten.

“Someone dumped an entire litter in my family’s bin.” Said Marinette, as the other kittens started mewing, “I showed them to Manon and she’s been besotted with Tiny since she met her.”

Alya raised an eyebrow, “Tiny?”

“Because she’s small.” Answered Marinette, before heading towards the door, “Hopefully, finding Manon will be easy.

D

Grown Up was running around the park, despite her name, she looked more or less the same, with ‘grown up’ make up on her face. Marinette wanted to coo at how adorable it was, while another part of her wanted to roll around laughing at how ridiculous Manon looked.

“Manon.” Said Marinette, getting the Akuma’s attention, “Come here.”

“Marinette!” Grinned Grown Up, running toward Marinette, “Have you got Kitty?”

Marinette nodded, “But, if you want her, you need to give me the Akuma object.”

Manon rapidly nodded, all but throwing a sheet of paper at Marinette. She handed the kitten to Manon, prompting the animal to start purring. The sound of someone skidding got Marinette’s attention, turning, she found Chat Noir. She smiled and held the piece of paper out to him.

“You might want to get this to Ladybug.” Said Marinette, before heading off, “Could you watch her for me, please? I need to do something.”

Chat absently nodded, allowing Marinette to slip into an alley way, she saw a guy sitting amongst some bins, but quickly noted that he was asleep.

“Tikki,” The Kwami appeared out of Marinette’s pocket, “Spots on!”

A flash of light woke the man from his sleep, seeing an Adult Ladybug swing out of the Alley, he looked down at the bottle of whiskey and started to pour it away.

Ladybug landed next to Chat and took the piece of paper from him, “Thank you.”

Chat stared at her dumbstruck, as Ladybug tore the piece of paper and purified the Akuma. Pulling up a lucky charm and casting the cure, Ladybug found herself back at her normal height. Chat almost looked disappointed.

“We better get going,” Said Ladybug, drawing her arm back, “I’ll make sure to point Marinette back this way.”

“Okay.” Said Chat, quietly as Ladybug left, “I’ll see you in a minute.”

Marinette skidded to a stop in front of Chat, “Sorry, I had to move my moped.”

“Okay, M’Lady.” Marinette’s eyes got impossibly wides.

“Wha-” “Marinette!”

Marinette looked at Nadja, who was running up to her, “I can’t find Manon! Her father thought she was with me and I thought she was her and…”

“She was Akumatized.” Said Chat, pointing toward Manon and Kitty, “It was dealt with.”

“I should’ve said,” Said Marinette, “we had some low-life dump a litter of kittens in our bin. I’ve been cleaning them up and nursing them until we can rehome them. Manon saw Tiny and, well, fell in love with her.”

Nadja gnawed at her bottom lip, watching Manon play with the kitten.

“She’s helped me with feeding them and playing with them.” Continued Marinette, “She’s also calmed down easier when the kitten’s with her.”

Nadja walked up to Manon and looked at the cat, before looking at Marinette, “She is house trained, right?”

Marinette nodded, “They know to use a litter tray or to go outside. I’ve actually had to go on my balcony wearing gloves because of them.”

“What does she eat?”

“Normal cat food, but she is partial to a piece of salmon every so often.” Answered Marinette, “Of course, she still needs to be chipped and spayed.”

“I’ll handle that.” Dismissed Nadja, as she picked Manon up, “I’ll drop around later to hash things out.”

Marinette smiled and waved Nadja, Manon and Kitty off, before whirling around on Chat, “How do you know?!”

“Both you and Ladybug were older.” Answered Chat, as Marinette gaped at him.

“So was Alya!”

D */Ten Years Later/*

Marinette quietly hummed to herself as Felix and Noir rolled around the room, she heard Hugo and Louis fighting over a toy and Emma gurgling up at Adrien.

“How’re things turning out with Nath?” Asked Adrien, looking up from their daughter.

“Lila’s managed to get him the medical care he needs,” Answered Marinette, as she flipped through her designs, “I think Alix is trying to get in contact with Marc, and Chloé and Sabrina are trying to get access to his home.”

“What about his problems?” Asked Adrien, as Noir barrelled into his leg.

“They’ve confiscated all the drugs he had on him,” Marinette sighed, “but he might have to be admitted to a Rehab facility.”

Adrien sighed through his nose, looking down at the cat clawing his way up his leg, “Plagg, a little help?”

“I keep telling ya, Kid, I don’t speak Cat.”

[fu-cough]

Adrien always believed that his father loved his mother extravagantly, and loudly.

It was like a performance, except the look of their eyes and the redness of their cheeks were all genuine.

He would bring her flowers every Sunday morning, placed in a vase with her breakfast tray. He would catch their silhouettes slowdancing to her favorite classical pieces, illuminated by the moonlit sky by the window. He would kiss every freckle on her cheeks, and accompanied her to movie premieres to show the world their love.

And this love became their home, embracing the mansion with warmth and the smell of pancakes every morning (his mother's favorite breakfast dish, his father used to cook for her).

Adrien grew up witnessing this love.

And then his mother fell ill. And his father started to look at him with utter bitterness. Like his mere existence was an offense.

It wasn't long before she passed away (disappeared), and it was as if all of the warmth in the mansion was taken with her, sucked into oblivion, and existing only in memories.

His mother took his father's humanity with her too.

He tried to reach out, he really did. His mother would want him to.

But every way to his father's heart was a dead end. And every day the distance between them grows wider. His father became more visibly irritated with him, treating him more like an employee than a son to love. He avoided him, buried himself with work in every chance he gets.

Suddenly, there were no more Christmases. Or pancakes. 'I love you''s were replaced by stern warnings and orders. No one sings him happy birthday anymore. His father doesn't smile anymore.

His father didn't love him anymore.

Words were left unsaid, but the message was clear:

'It should have been you, son.'

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

A lot of stories focusing on Lila getting too close to Adrien depict him as being very naive about consent and personal boundaries because of how he was raised. Do you think that really makes sense based on what we know about Adrien?

Adrien's upbringing - including what Emilie was like as a mom let alone a person - is so vague and Gabriel's characterization is so all over the place that I have no issue reading stories that use this premise. Adrien not realizing that he's being harassed or even being told that he has to put up with harassment for the sake of his public image does fall in line with the little we know. This is especially true after the utter disgrace that was Gorizilla. Aka, the episode where Adrien was chased across the city by a stranger who he then became friends with??? Writers, what are you doing? Whatever happened to stranger danger?

At the same time, I don't think that I'd ever write a story with this element because I have a hard time believing that Adrien wouldn't be given sexual harassment training both in terms of what not to do and in terms of what people aren't allowed to do to him. His father works in the fashion industry, his mother was a professional actress, and Nathalie's really good at the non-emotional aspects of running Adrien's life. It's hard for me to buy that all three of these adults would happily throw Adrien into the deep end of an industry that's known for sexual harassment issues. Especially when there's no concern about him failing to make money since it's not like he's a child star whose parents have no wealth of their own. He's literally working for his fathers company and seemingly no one else.

Keep in mind that I'm also a fan of the broken happy family backstory in which Adrien actually did have a happy and loving childhood. I generally write Emilie as being at least a decent parent and come up with different reasons to justify Adrien's sheltered upbringing. For example: Gabriel having to travel a lot for work, so Emilie home schools Adrien so they can travel with Gabriel. I actually know a family who does something similar because the parents love to travel and have work from home jobs, so they just travel and work from wherever they currently are, bringing their kids along for the adventure. I'm not sure if it's the best thing for their kid, but I certainly can't call it abusive. The kid seems very happy with this setup, so I sometimes use that as inspiration for the Agrestes.

If you go the route where Adrien had a terrible childhood - a route that does have backing in the show based on things like Adrien being locked up for 13 years for no reason - then it's a lot more plausible that Adrien would be naive and/or forced to put up with things that he absolutely shouldn't. Canon has left a lot of wiggle room for writing these characters while still giving them a characterization that feels reasonably authentic to the source.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Not sure I'll write even the whole first chapter, but tinkering with the Sabine!LAdybug & Chat!Chloe fic with some Origins material.

Specifically, this is post Stoneheart running wild & al the students being evacuated to that big arena to wait out the problem.

Sabine Cheng = Madame Vermilion Chloe Bourgeois = Catastrophe

The names don't come up but I wanted to share them, now behold my 1 am musings! XD

-

Adrien found himself leaning against the wall of the grand stadium, Nino & Marinette to one side, Sabrina, and Chloe to the other. No one was really talking even as teachers and other students stretched and theorized or tried to create distractions.

Marinette was dialling her mother over and over again but receiving no response; Nino had a hand on her shoulder even as he occasionally glanced at his own phone.

‘Should I call father?’ Adrien shook his head, ‘No, that would just be… That would just lead to a lecture and him calling me home.’ The last thing he wanted to do right now was make this mess about himself.

He glanced to his side where Chloe was leaning against the wall and scowling out like the entire world was heckling her. It was the sort of aggressive prickliness she usually reserved for well, people she or Adrien didn’t like.

‘I guess the monster attack is getting to her,’ he mused. Or maybe it was that the mayor had delayed an emergency broadcast, not to check if Chloe was OK, but to run his speech by her, because: “I can’t trust the staffs opinion!”

Adrien pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth; fingers gripping the inside of his pockets as he desperately resisted the urge to try and do something… Anything…

Then Sabrina let out a whimper, “My dad won’t pick up.”

“He’s probably been called to daddy’s side; you know how he liked to keep Roger close at hand.” Chloe said with a disinterested air that she… Probably meant to come off as reassuring.

After all, if she wasn’t worried you shouldn’t be either.

Sabrina nodded slowly, “You’re, you’re probably right Chloe- Dad!”

All four of them turned to Sabrina as she dropped down into a squat, eyes wide as she stared at her phone, a grainy recording showed a red headed officer being held up by his peers as he was pulled off the street shouting in agony at his twisted-up leg.

Adrien shot Chloe a glance and he did see the blonde unfold her arms and start making a move before freezing up. Face contorting between a myriad of hard to read expressions as she remained frozen in place unable to act before growling, “Daddy will have him turned into rubble before this is done.”

Adrien could practically feel the glares Nino & Marinette were sending Chloe, at her failure to be there for her friend who was now quietly crying over her phone. Chloe couldn’t look at her, nails digging into her palms she sent Adrien a wide-eyed almost panicked glance before turning her head away.

‘I can’t blame you; I know this is beyond you.'

Adrien dropped down and gently placed a hand on Sabrina’s back, “He’s alive, just focus on that for now,” Adrien said softly, slowly slinking his arm around Sabrina’s shoulder and letting the girl fall against him.

“Yeah, your dads tough right?” Nino said awkwardly, but still putting some heart into it.

Marinette dropped down at his side and took Sabrina’s loose hand in her own, the redhead squeezed back and nodded weakly. Even still her gaze drifted to Chloe who finally bristled and barked, “I’ll be back in a moment!”

She practically launched herself off the wall and didn’t so much as tear through the crowd as she did project so much presence everyone got out of the way with the understanding that if they didn’t, she’d walk over them.

“I can’t believe she just left,” Nino whispered, too quietly to be heard by anyone but Adrien and even then, only barely.

Adrien didn’t say anything, but he didn’t agree at all regardless.

He knew Chloe, knew how she struggled to understand or be understood by other people; how much of a strain her clumsy attempts at comforting him had been on her.

No, he didn’t blame Chloe for knowing what she simply lacked the capacity to do, anymore than she blamed him for never really standing up to his father.

They were a package deal, so he’d comfort Sabrina and she’d go and do all she could to force the world to be what they needed it to be.

____

Chloe slammed the bathroom door behind her and locked it tight.

A quick scan showed she was alone, and so Chloe kicked an erstwhile bin and sent it shattering against the bathroom wall before stalking up to the nearest mirror. Seething, she scowled at her reflections.

Hair subtly askew, a sheen of sweat, breaths too heavy, she was a wreck!

‘Pathetic, weak, unexceptional! You are a joke!’

Nothing was going right, she couldn’t even think to put her hands around Sabrina like Adrien had, her promises of retribution apparently meant nothing and now Marinette was closing in on her friends and monsters and-

Chloe slammed a flat palm against the mirror, a shot of pain ran through her arm as the glass cracked ever so slightly. The burning ache running through her fingers forced things back into sharp clarity, at least for a moment as she pressed a hand against her chest and made herself breathe deeply.

‘I am a good friend!’ At least...

Insomuch as she knew how to be things like good or friend.

Fighting back a snarl, Chloe tore open her purse and began tossing anything and everything from its confines into the sink. Intent on finding her phone to demand her father bring in tanks and bombers to finally end this insanity. Then she could fix her hair.

OOF GIRL

[beezonia]

Sentitwin week - Day 2

Grave -

(A little beetlejuice au for you guys because I’m in the mood for angst and feelings.)

(Mentions of suicide so please don’t read if that makes you uncomfortable.)

——

Emilie Agreste - Dear wife and beloved mother

Those words haunt Adrien if he was going to be honest.

He was an honest person, too honest at times so much so that his father expected him to be so so perfect even if he was filled with grief.

Even if he knew Adrien’s true feelings (he’d been so vocal, so upfront about not wanting to move on as quickly as Gabriel Agreste did)

Honesty came naturally, much like sadness in the Agreste household.

Sitting in front of his mother’s grave made him wish he had more time with her.

Made the teen wish he’d cherished those memories they had made more and more as they days after her death fly by.

But he can’t, he’ll never see her again. Never smile with her, never ever hear her bell like laugh again.

His shining light, gone. His guide in life gone.

All that’s left of the star Emilie Agreste, is the memories her son cherishes more than ever now that she’s gone.

Adrien wishes he was gone with her at times, that he could jump from the mansions rooftop and join her wherever she was.

Just to see her emerald eyes shine bright, as she smiles at him, praising Adrien for how strong he’d been.

To the teen, it would be bliss.

To leave a life where his father was a soulless bastard, and didn’t even care that his own son was in so much pain.

Bliss indeed, all Adrien needed to do was grab a knife and stab it right into his already broken heart.

That is until Adrien stumbles upon a small gravestone right in the corner of the yard, he doesn’t see the name (it’s covered in dust) but he sees the figure, casually laying upon it.

“Oh, so you finally made it to good old Felis’s grave! I was wondering how long you were going to be moping there for, your mother right?”

What the fuck? Adrien nods just to stop himself from spouting some brutally honest shit.

But the blonde in front of him looks almost identical (except from the soulless grey eyes and painted eyelids and absolutely gaudy outfit)

“Thought so! The name is Felis, Demon extraordinaire! I can help you wreak havoc on your dear old dad, and help you see your mother again.”

Okay, now double what the fuck, they were obviously a figment of his wack imagination!

Which had now decided to come alive.

It was tempting, just the mention of fucking over his father, seeing his mother made Adrien want to believe in this guy.

However, Adrien knew it wasn’t a good idea to put faith in a person who called themselves a demon.

“Sorry, but I’ll have to decline.”

Felis almost looks shocked at his words, but Adrien pays them no mind.

He has bigger and better plans to be getting on with.

——-

Don’t really like how i ended this but I do hope you liked it.

——

[flightfoot]

Miraculous Fanfic Recs for ongoing Miraculous fics

So I got an ask requesting me to give some ML fic recs, so I decided to focus on some ongoing Miraculous fics! All of these have updated within the past two months. Feel free to tag anyone who I didn't know the tumblr username of!

Boulangerella by @aidanchaser

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

Kind of a Medieval Fantasy AU here, though with more resemblance to regular Miraculous than I normally expect with such AUs. Kwamis are actually fae, but aside from needing some sort of "deal" in order for humans to draw out their power, they function mostly the same, with Ladybug and Chat Noir being activated in order to help fight against Hawk Moth, even.

Oh yeah, this fic was written pre-S4, so there's some oddities because of that, like Felix actually having a good father, for instance. Adrien and Felix are both still sentimonsters though.

---

Lows And Highs (Of Adrien Agreste) by @blackcatsbutterflies

Adrien Agreste- Teenage supermodel, son of Gabriel Agreste, hero of Paris... Type One Diabetic. When Adrien is diagnosed with a chronic illness, he goes through the mental struggles of dealing with this new life. Nothing will ever be the same again, and if anyone were to find out, he'd be humiliated. The world would find him repulsing. Who would want to love someone who was constantly giving themselves shots? Marinette would. (Based off my real life, when I was diagnosed at 13 years old.) TW: Mentions of drugs (no one does them) and the following stuff that will appear in chapters: - Needles - Blood - Paralysis - Seizures - Fainting

Oh man this one is a real treat! I know some basic stuff about diabetes, but not so much what people's day-to-day lives are like, so it was interesting watching Adrien go through this, what he has to do nowadays in order to, well, live. And since he only just got diagnosed, he's going through major lifestyle changes which is pretty overwhelming, and he's feeling pretty awful about it because well, this is gonna hit hard. Though thankfully, Marinette is able to help quite a bit.

---

Bell the Cat by @heartfulselkie

Ladybug is the Miraculous Hero of Gallia. She has spent the past number of years fighting the minions of the tyrant Hawk Moth, only for the war to come to an abrupt end. News reveals that Hawk Moth was brutally slain by his own champion and captain of his own elite guard - the infamous knight Chat Blanc, known to wield pure destructon itself. With the disintegration of Hawk Moth's army, Chat Blanc is captured and imprisoned until his certain execution. Being a beloved hero and instrumental in the realm's defences during the war, Ladybug is offered a reward of her choosing. Instead of choosing a title or luxuries as expected she chooses...custody of Chat Blanc??? A new threat is rising in the chasm Hawk Moth left behind, and Ladybug believes Chat Blanc's knowledge and skill will be vital in what's to come. And perhaps he could also answer some questions that have plagued her since even before the war with Hawk Moth began..

This fic is awesome so far, I adore a good enemies AU and Fantasy AU, so both of them together is great! There's a lot we don't know yet, like the specifics of how akumas work in this AU, but I'm eager to know more. Just as Ladybug's eager to try to find out what happened to an old childhood friend of hers who vanished around the time Hawk Moth rose to power...

---

Madness series by @consistent-chaos-corporation

Summary for "Found", the first multichapter installment in the series:

Chat Noir and Ladybug need to tie up some loose ends. Unfortunately, one of those ends is Felix.

I've really been enjoying my time with this series, and if you like Felix-focused fics, you might too! In this universe, Nooroo and Duusu actually used to play with Felix and Adrien when they were little, but Gabriel made Adrien forget that happened - Gabriel and Emilie edited out a lot of little inconvenient things from Adrien's memory, as it turns out.

Anyway, we mostly follow Felix post-Strike Back as he figures out what to do now that he has the Peacock Miraculous. The heroes bursting in and confronting him about it kinda forces his hand.

He goes through a lot of character development here, which I adore, especially when it comes to realizing "oh crap, I sold out living beings to someone who I knew would mistreat them." This series tackled that subject better than any other fanfic I've seen, with Felix directly helping to recover the Miraculous and free the kwami, feelings guilty upon realizing how badly Gabriel had hurt them, and having to deal with a lot of the kwami not liking or trusting him for very justifiable reasons - though they ARE willing to understand why he did what he did.

---

Kintsugi - The Beauty in Broken Things by @xaran-alamas

When freed from Mayura's control, and given a chance at a normal life, the Sentimonster clone of Ladybug must learn what it is to be not only a hero, but also a human being, and part of a family. Meanwhile Marinette needs to figure out what to do with a hyper-energetic Kwami with a broken Miraculous. Updates Sundays and Wednesdays

I've always loved Sentibug Lives AUs (as you might guess from my having written two fics where she gets to stick around), and this is one of the best ones I've seen, and certainly the longest.

I love how we get to follow Centi (as she names herself) as she tries to figure out what to do now that she exists and is likely to stay that way, and as she tries to cope with the knowledge that her creator controlled her and when she disobeyed, tried to kill her. She's a nicely developed OC, her feelings are really delved into!

---

Not Part of the Plan by @kasienda

“What’s wrong, Marinette?” Marinette wiped her tears with her sleeve, and pulled away just enough to reach into her pocket. She gripped the pregnancy test and held it out to her mother. Sabine’s eyes widened as she took in the results of the test in her hand. Her gaze flashed back up to Marinette’s. “You’re pregnant.” And it wasn’t a question, but it was enough to send Marinette into devastated tears once again. Her mother pulled her back into the hug and just held her. “It’s going to be okay.”

Teen pregnancy fic here, which I know isn't everyone's cup of tea. I love how everyone comes together to help figure out what to do and to offer support - and not just to Marinette either, since Adrien's about to be a father as well.

---

True Blue by @rosie-b

Golden Bug and Chat Grise are the heroes of Paris, fighting to protect civilians from Hawk Moth and his akumas. Marinette is Gabriel Agreste’s young apprentice, training under the famous designer to become the next big name in fashion. But one day, Marinette finds an open safe with a beautiful peacock brooch in it... and suddenly, she’s not sure who the villain is anymore.

I love Enemies AU, as I've already mentioned. This is a more unusual one, with MARINETTE being the one on Hawk Moth's side instead of Adrien. I love how Rosie painstakingly weaves together Gabriel's manipulation and lies so you could actually believe that Marinette might be willing to help him - maybe not very enthusiastically, but believing that it's the best option she has. It's pretty impressive!

---

The Beauty of a Rose by properjitterbug

In the small town of Bellerose, Marinette and Adrien are childhood friends while secretly pining for each other. They lead happy lives until one day a long, forgotten promise is stirred awake; changing their lives in ways they couldn't imagine. With time marching on, Marinette is left to chase after ghosts of her past as a strange creature appears in the depths of the mysterious forest. Arc 1: Chapters 1-11: Complete Arc 2: Chapters 12-?: In Progress -- Werecat!Adrien x Marinette

Fair warning, this is an M-rated fic, and it earns that M rating, given it has several extensive sex scenes.

Anyway, I love a good fairy tale AU, and this is one of the better ones I've seen. I love how it's clearly inspired by Beauty and the Beast, but doesn't constrain itself by it. Adrien is not a jerk nor does he capture Marinette. Instead he randomly changes into a Werecat and is abandoned by his family, mistaken for a lumbering beast by the townsfolk, left alone for a year - until Marinette comes to visit the Agreste mansion, the home of her friend who just suddenly left one day, and she sees him in his werecat form...

I love this, Marinette is drawn to Chat, even with him looking pretty terrifying. Adrien's pretty insecure about his whole situation, but slowly opens up as he gets to reconnect with Marinette.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: Miraculous: Ladybug & Chat Noir. The Movie

Welp I finally got the miraculous Movie so now I get to review it.

So For this review, I plan viewing this SOLELY on the movie. I will not be judging it completely based on the show. This is Zag's take. (The view on who did it better will be for another Post)

(Thanks @knightsweeties for the picture)

How I will be reviewing it.

Plot

Characters

Lesson

Animation

Music (Because yes, this is a Musical and should be judged)

Final Thoughts.

________________________________________________________

Plot

So its pretty simple. A villain named Hawkmoth appears that wants to use the power of the butterfly miraculous to get the two miraculous he needs to attain his goal. But two heroes will rise in order to fight him, Ladybug and Chat noir. We will see another take on the show that inspired the movie. A new world for Ladybug and Chat noir.

Overall, this movie's plot is pretty generic, its not going to be winning anything for originality. BUT it sticks to the script and does everything it needs to do to set up Ladybug and Chat noir's respective character arcs and setting up one heck of a final confrontation with hawkmoth. The emotional drama is there and mostly hits the points it needs to. And while not everything got a laugh out of me, some things did.

It also ties up a good amount of loose ends while leaving Sequel bait.

For the most part. 7/10 for non-fans

9/10 for fans.

Its engaging enough and does what it needs to do.

______________________________________________________________

Characters:

Marinette: She is likable and you do enjoy seeing her on screen when she starts getting confident. I do think the pacing of the movie does impact her a bit, but its never to the point where its unbelievable. Also as Ladybug, her banter with Chat noir is top notch. There is some really good chemistry there. That being said, I find it harder to believe that she fell in love with Adrien over chat noir. But its a nit pick.

Adrien: I admit it took a bit for me to actually like this adrien, but I think thats intentional. Chat noir starts out arrogant and annoying, while Adrien starts shut off and quiet. He is a boy mourning the loss of his mother and his father is so distant that he seems gone to. But then he meets Ladybug, he sees this girl and how incredible she is. He finds someone he can relate to and his heart opens. Its beautiful seeing him fall in love with her and pull out all the stops opening up to her. He even gets to confront his father. Its quite a biting scene. I must say this maybe my favorite iteration of Adrien. (Careless whisper is the only song he listens to.) I do wish he was in it a bit more as adrien, but its not that bad.

Gabriel: I dont know how they did it, but they managed to make Gabriel sympathetic. Showing the lengths he is going, how lost he is, the survivor's guilt he has. He blames himself and wants to bring his family back together again. And Hawkmoth they made wacky and yet TERRIFYING. And we see this especially in the finale and the moment we think he wins, he sees his son. He sees it was Adrien, the one thing left in his life that he wants to protect him. This is a gabriel that deserves some sympathy but doesnt shy away from the fact he committed crimes.

Alya and Nino: Now they are both not in this as much as the actual show, but they are great supports and some of the changes done to both of them are wonderful. Alya being supportive of Marinette, Nino being such a bro to adrien while also simping for Alya (Chef's kiss). I do wish Nino and Adrien's meeting but their friendship is good.

Chloé: This chloé is exactly what she needs to be. A bully character but never so excessive that it detracts from the plot. She is spoiled and she is probably the funniest character. (For those that know the show, think Season 1 chloé with a dash of season 2) I think they got a different english VA for her, and honestly it works.

Plagg and Tikki: I found Plagg a bit annoying with the fart jokes, but outside of that he is pretty similar to his canon counterpart. Tikki on the other hand SHINES in this movie. This is what I wanted from Tikki, motivational, curious, fun loving. this is what I picture with the kwami of Creativity.

Fu: He is the mysterious old man character. He plays it well, though he is hardly in the movie. But at least he actually shows up for Ladybug and Chat noir almost right away, instead of just hiding.

The other characters play their roles and there are some funny bits, the akumatized villains are fun and play their role. Lady Magician and the Mime are both phenomenal.

Also the Gargoyle, I feel so bad for him. He wins the award for most Tragic akumatization.

Overall Solid 8.5/10

I do wish we got more Alya and Nino, and less fart jokes from Plagg

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Lesson

There are 3 lessons to take away from this movie.

The first one "Stronger together"

Having help and working with those around us can help us grow, we have to be willing to let others in and help us be our best selves.

The second is "Believe in yourself"

Marinette's main character arc is coming to terms with what she can do and finding the inner strength that she always had, even without powers. (Done better than a chunk of films these days)

The Third lesson, "Power of Love"

It was love that helped stop Hawkmoth, it was love that helped chat noir and ladybug overcome their weaknesses and fix paris. It was even love that helped them at the very end.

That being said... the execution on all of the lessons was not perfect, the first one sort of fell off by the end, but the second one and third lesson still applied. There could be some work but I still enjoyed it.

6/10

___________________________________________________________

Animation:

The Animation looks great, the character designs look great, and while I was originally iffy on them, after seeing it I must say the designs work.

The Lighting in itself if Heavenly to say the least. Whoever was in charge of the lighting needs to be given a deep tissue massage and a raise.

It does feel a bit Disney for my personal taste but I cant complain with how crisp the fights look. Great Choreography and it really sells the intensity of the scenes. The details and call backs, the foreshadowing.

Its solid animation, I would say that it is missing a few bits to really make it stand out, some sort of Stylization. But outside of that. Its good.

The scenes that they want to focus on look great, the imagination bits are grandiose. There was care put into this and not just a cheap cash grab.

9/10

_______________________________________________________

The Music

This movie is a musical, very disney-sque.

And as a courteous, I listened to the songs in French and english. I know the english VA's arent the one's singing. And I have to say, it feels SO WEIRD for Marinette in the english dub. But Its not that bad. I think the French one is just more consistent sounding. But english and french both sound fine. Also Chat noir's VA isnt singing, but I think the singing voice for him fits him a bit closer but the french is still the best. "My Lady" is a great song for Chat noir.

The songs are fine, nothing that really blew me away, but they were fun. "I believed in me" fits Marinette well as an opening song.

Tikki's rapping in english is surprisingly decent. But SO WEIRD.

But Gabriel's singing voice, THAT through me off.

Villain song 101. Love it in the english dub. "Chaos Reigns"

But the song "Stronger together." That hit me. The duet in both iterations are great.

The Background music always seems to fit the mood... Except Careless whisper (But that was always used in amusing ways). The BG should be praised

7.5/10

_____________________________________________________________

Final Thoughts

Overall, if I had to rate it objectively, without knowing the show or series. 7/10. Nothing ground breaking but its a good film in itself, its entertaining and fun, and it has some good moments. Pacing is a bit all over but it’s under 2 hours so it’s more of a pick your battles thing

If I had to rate this as the Show fan that I am and my personal enjoyment.

8/10

It does nearly everything I wanted it to do, and added to flair and changes.

Now not everything is perfect, since limited time to tell a story. But its coherent and cuts some of the bloat that was a problem in the OG series. Now some things I enjoyed were also cut though.

I like how it isnt a 1 for 1, it changes some things and gives a fresh tale.

Now which one is better I will address in another post

[mcheang]

Breakfast with a stranger

Thanks to his karate skills, Felix was able to knock his cousin unconscious.

As they are eating lunch after Kagami was reunited with Tomoe, Gabriel breaks in the bad news about the move to London

Felix: Adrien would be heartbroken if he knew the truth, uncle.

Nathalie and Gabriel stand up. “Felix!”

Felix holds up a finger. “Do you really want to make a scene to draw Ladybug to your own house again? She is ever so keen to confront Monarch, even more than me now.”

Nathalie: what do you want? Where is Adrien?

Felix: sleeping. And soon, he’ll be free of the both of you. I’m aware that you still have parental authority over Adrien, but if you’re in prison, I believe custody goes over to my mother. Especially since Nathalie doesn’t have long to live either.

Gabriel: then why haven’t you reported me in?

Felix: for some reason, Adrien actually loves you. But if you were to send him away from his girlfriend, I imagine he’ll get over your secret identity.

Gabriel: blackmail

Felix: you have such little time left uncle, try not to waste it making Adrien hate you.

Gabriel looked down and was shocked to see one of his gloves missing, exposing his blackened hand, without the rings.

Felix held them up. “It’s a pity I can’t save the kwamis too. But this will have to do.”

Gabriel: how dare you! Everything I am doing is to save your aunt and Nathalie.

Felix: you could have just gone back in time and fixed the broken peacock miraculous.

Nathalie: thank you! See he gets it!

Gabriel bared his teeth. “I will think on it.”

Felix: see that you do. Duusu, spread my feathers.

Gabriel slams the table in anger and calls Tomoe to report Felix’s threat.

Tomoe: get Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous and it won’t matter because then we will win the war

Meanwhile, Argos visits Marinette and asks her to give Adrien his amok back in disguise so Gabriel can’t demand it back

Marinette asks why she would ever trust him.

Argos gives her Monarch’s stolen rings. “Is making his future akumas less powerful enough? Even if you don’t want to help me, we both want set Adrien free. These rings literally contain Adrien’s free will.”

Marinette sinks as the reality sets in. “Adrien is a sentimonster?”

Argos: please don’t call us that.

Marinette: sorry.

She looks down at the ring. “I’ll…do it. But only because Kagami recommended I give you a second chance if I should see you again.”

Felix smiles. “she really is special.”

Adrien happily wears his new ring and tells Marinette his father gives them his blessing.

[rachelsshowerthoughts]

I know its been awhile but I had some thoughts about Fable, namely their introduction after being Akumatized.

Assuming anyone saw it and given the students & maybe Caline were listening in, they may have burst in when the fight broke out only to see them Akumatized.

If the whole of Paris isn't swept up instantly by sheer emotional gravitation, I imagine its a bit like:

Chloe - & so the true villain of the piece is born!

Kagami - & so it was, three folded souls united in grief and rage became one, the Akuma, Fable.

Adrien - & so our dear narrator forgot to mention out stunning sense of style; I guess this story really will be a tragedy!

Chloe (muttering to herself and flickering between different faces & persona, rage, grief, ego, he/ro -Error- as she's forced back down)

Kagami - As ever, your bid to inject humor into agony fails to stem the tide.

Adrien - As ever, there was never anything to be done.

Chloe - As ever, its our time, time to at last to bring about everyone's Happily! Never! After!

All three place their hands on the desk, each chanting one of the words as the power builds and swells.

People begin running but there's no escape.

The last thing anyone of the class hears before being subsumed is Adrien's amused intonation of:

"That's right, its a play on words."

NOTE:

I considered having Chloe ranting, Its time, its time, its time! to show her changing faces, but I really liked the thing I accidentally started with all three starting their sentences with the same thing words to create a sense of narrative and thematic cohesion between their roles.

So, first thoughts. Yeah, Caline opening the door, seeing the Akuma, and trying to get everyone to run.

(Though, the first thing that occurred to me was - open door. See monster. Close door. Calmly turn to students. "Right. Everyone, run for your lives.")

I like the repeating sentence starts!

I think when I first thought of the "changing masks" it was. Like. Literal masks? Cause I was thinking of their costumes in terms of ballet, masquerades, Cirque du Soleil, stuff like that. So, the Masks are literally hovering around Chloé, like a swarm of angry bees. Cause, again, all of the kids, besides their role as Narrator/Playwright, Minstrel/Editor, and Chronicler/Critic, besides their roles as Storytellers and Hosts, they are also cursed "royalty" waiting to be rescued. And the "curses" represent their relationship with their parents, both how they and others see them. 

Adrien is a prince, cursed to have his vitality and love siphoned away by his dad, who doesn’t give anything back. Adrien thinks his dad will love him eventually if he just tries hard enough, but Chloé and Kagami both see it as him draining Adrien until he's nothing left. So, a gorgeous Prince, made weak by the vines digging into his skin, but who refuses to let them be removed.

Kagami is the warrior heir, cursed to be crystal, unable to hide anything, or do anything she wasn’t "made" to do. She believes her crystal form to be a sign of strength, of her ability to endure, but Chloé and Adrien see it as control, a puppet whose strings are restriction of movement. If Kagami moves in a way she wasn’t "designed" for, her crystal form cracks, gains impurities. The only way to keep it pristine is to conform to her mother's wants, which keeps the crystal clear - and empty.

Chloé is a princess who's "curse" is being whatever her parents want - a brat, a doll, a trophy, a pawn. Chloé has had to be whatever her parents want, because they didn’t want HER. Kagami and Adrien both have wildly different views on Chloé too, which doesn’t help. The Masks are her curse, but also her shield. Cause, oddly enough, I see Chloé knowing herself fairly well, she just also knows that herself isn’t what most people want. So, the Masks swarm her, pressing themselves to her face, but Chloé is terrified of not having the masks. It would be fairly easy to rip the masks off, or at least pick which one she wants, but she's too scared. So, she welcomes each mask, clings to it as long as she can, before it rips off and another takes its place.

@tumblingxelian

[ijustliketoreadstuff]

Kagami is struggling

Much like how Adrien lived most of his life shrouded in his fathers business advertising him as an image of perfection, Kagami had lived much of her life shrouded in the seemingly perfect legacy of her mother and the Tsurugi family name. Whatever goals her mother set, Kagami aimed to accomplish it, and whatever traditions and beliefs her family believed were crucial for their descendants (like her) to carry, Kagami made sure to always keep them in mind, because for Kagami, nothing should have been more important than learning to properly uphold the family name and to be as strong willed and well reputed as the samurai women she was descended from. Meaning that whatever she felt, and whatever her own dreams and opinions were, were simply things which had no place in the Tsurugi household if they did not fall into the legacy her ancestors and her family built. However, after Kagami arrived in Paris, things began to change. 

The more Kagami saw Marinette and Adrien together and with their group of friends, laughing and smiling and just simply getting along, was the more Kagami realized her curiosity towards the bonds formed between people who were not obliged to interact with one another simply because of their families names. Kagami had primarily lived her life in solitude, but knowing now of the life and the bonds others had by simply interacting with one another and getting to know each other, was enough for Kagami to take a chance and see if she could  experience it and accomplish it for herself.

In “Ikari Gozen”,  Kagami decided to take a chance and attended the "Friendship  Day treasure hunt" . Despite not fully understanding how to socialize with another person, let alone the correct process of connecting with someone to give way into forming a bond of friendship, Kagami knew fully well that the "Friendship  Day treasure hunt" would provide her the opportunity to meet someone , anyone, at a specific time and location, to test what she learned online about how to properly make a friend.

When Tomoe learned of her daughters willingness to make her own decision to participate in the " Friendship Day treasure hunt", she was at first surprised and angered to learn that Kagami did not abide by her word for the first time in years,  but was ultimately an experience she understood could not be denied from Kagami as she sensed her daughters anger in being restrained from the chance to learn to interact with others, something Tomoe understood was simply something Kagami had to learn to do, just as she had done throughout her own life. 

(Kagami explains that being friends with Adrien is not the same as being friends with other people like Marinette. Tomoe sensed her daughters frustration and permitted her to stay friends with Marinette)

However, Tsurugi's willingness to allow Kagami to make friends was not necessarily out of just understanding her daughters reasoning, but from her own beliefs that Kagami needed to learn that friends would only prove disappointing later. In Tomoe's mind, Kagami needed to learn from her mistakes and realize that her families way of life was the only way of life for her and would need to be upheld no matter what imperfect friends she came across. However, as the series progressed, their families way of life had ultimately proven more damaging to Kagami the more she found herself focusing on the pressures of their family tradition to strive for perfection.

For Kagami, failure was not something she was used to, it was not something her family was known for, and despite Ladybug explaining to her that everyone makes mistakes, and that her mistakes were just experiences she should learn from, it was the constant pressure to be perfect  that got the better of her time and again, because unlike most civilians, Kagami had been left in a constant state of mind where she would need to figure out what more she could do to obtain a sense of perfection, it was after all, the only thing her family ever taught her to do, but whether or not anything she was doing and anything she was saying was correct, was something she could not comprehend alone unless someone else told her.  

No matter who she met, Kagami could only ever feel fearful that she would not be accepted if she did not know how to be the perfect person for them. Fearful that she would make the wrong choices and say the wrong things, Kagami would often worry if she wasn't cut out to do what was needed to prove herself, and feared that she would just in general disappoint others and fool herself into believing that she managed to accomplish forging a bond with others who had no real intention of ever befriending her. If something, anything, didn't work out, Kagami would immediately pin the blame on herself for not knowing how to behave around other people, and not knowing what she needed to do to be considered worthy enough to be accepted by others.

(Kagami explains to Marinette that she has always felt pressured to be the perfect person, but because she had no understanding of how to be the perfect friend, let alone how to properly act around others, Kagami felt she was not good enough to be among others and had concluded that she disappointed Marinette after failing to prove herself to be a perfect friend )

Although Kagami learned that a persons imperfections were much more charming than what she was initially made to believe, and that people like Adrien were more complex and by no means the image of perfection she thought them to be(more on their relationship later), Kagami had yet to see that she was just as much a person with her flaws and complicated emotions, as she remained trapped in her families shadow of expectations and values. Despite rebelling in little ways to do the little things she wanted(like drawing in her sketchbook), all without her mother noticing, Kagami  quickly realized that so much of her life was far from what she had initially believed it to be.

When she heard her mothers harsh words, she only ever believed it was meant to push her to be better, and when she abided by the strict scheduling that was prepared for her, she only ever believed everything that was planned for her, was planned to lead her down a path of success, just as it had done for so many others in her family. But the more she saw others live their lives with the comfort of one another, happily expressing themselves and worked together to help each other, was all the more Kagami realized there were emotions within her that had been locked away as she  was constantly encouraged to find perfection and nothing more. 

As she gradually learned about her hidden emotions, her mothers words felt frustrating and controlling, her schedule made her feel trapped,  and her families way of life felt conflicting the more she realized it revolved around abandoning ones sense of empathy and sympathy for not just others, but for ones self as well, all for the sake of being like the warriors her mothers said their ancestors were known to be.

And so, in "Perfection", as Lila swayed her into believing that Marinette never considered her good enough to be her friend, Kagami did feel some disappointment towards Marinette, but she did not blame Marinette for not wanting her to be her best friend, let alone just a friend, instead, Kagami blamed herself for not knowing how to be the perfect friend and not knowing what to properly say or do that would convince Marinette, and everyone else she encountered, that she was up to the task to be part of their lives and part of their social circle.

When she was by herself, she never experienced doubt over what she was doing or saying, she never felt the pain of failing to be accepted by others, but believing now that she did not have what it takes to live up to others expectations and be that perfect person she thought everyone wanted her to be, Kagami could no longer push away her more conflicting emotions and had accepted that if she could not prove her worth and her place in the world among her family legacy and among those she aimed to befriend, then she had no reason to be part of that world anymore. Kagami had lived much of her life in solitude, but now, its all she believed she deserved if she would only continue to disappoint everyone around her.

As Ryukomori, Kagami could not hear or see anyone, providing her complete solitude from the world. However, the more she reminisced about the moments of her past, the more she interpreted her life as one shrouded in failure, and the more she favored her isolation, the more her body gradually disappeared from the world. But had it not been for everyone's efforts to gather together and create a giant banner to show how much they cared for her, Kagami would have likely disappeared completely.

(Kagami’s body slowly disappearing as Ryukomori)

Knowing now that there are people who are willing to put in so much effort to get closer to her and be kind and considerate to her, Kagami realizes that despite having previously lived a life of solitude, such a lonely way of life was not one she wanted to continue living, instead, she wanted to continue to change all that, especially now that she knew there were people who were willing to reach out to her. 

Despite having understood that Marinette and the others had always accepted her and held her in the same regard as every other friend they loved and cherished, the underlying problem to Kagami's conflicting emotions, is her mother's authoritative nature as well as the Tsurugi family legacy restricting her to strive for perfection, not for her sake, but for everyone else Kagami felt expected and demanded it of her.

Back in “Risk”, Kagami was upset with Adrien allowing others to pull the strings of his own life, rather than take control of things himself and cut the strings that are controlling him. Looking back on things now, her frustration towards Adrien's inability to face others( like his father, Felix, as well as her) and make his own choice to stand up for what he believed in, had likely additionally stemmed from her own frustrations of being constantly controlled by her mother in the same way Adrien was by his father and others. Kagami is more than capable of standing up to others, but when it comes to her family, she continues to struggle in separating herself from her mother as well as her ancestors, and accept that she needs to defy them all, not just for her sake, but for the sake of future generations of Tsurugis who will fall into the unhealthy tradition to strive to be what they consider is the perfect person to uphold their family name.