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miraculouscontent · 4 years

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Askplosion #12 2/4:

.:New Miraculous Asks:.

Anonymous said:

Can people just STOP calling Marinette a "stalker"? Like, seriously? Especially TV Tropes. They have her listed under the trope for "Stalker With A Crush" and even have a video source of her(from Copycat) which was taken WAY out of context. They also listed her under "Stalking Is Funny If It Is Female After Male", which IS an existing double standard, but Marinette is still not an example and wouldn't be even if she WERE a stalker, because Wayhem's stalking actually WAS played for laughs!

Granted he was stalking another male and we don't know if he has a crush on him(but if he did it would be...unfortunate), but it's still an example. Plus, they claim that Volpina is about her learning her lesson regarding her stalker tendencies, but that no matter how many times she learns it, it never seems to stick. Yes, because everything is Marinette's fault and she's the stubborn shallow bitch who needs a kick in the ovaries, it's not, you know, the writers making her look bad/OOC!!!

THIS. ALL OF THIS.

Oh my god, I cannot tell you how infuriating it is to see “stalker” get thrown around like that. I would need two hands to count the amount of words that have lost meaning to me because people throw them out wildly and without any self-control. Stalkers engage in far more aggressive and obsessive behavior than Marinette, and usually also feature them harrassing whoever they’re stalking (such as calling them a lot), and they also never stop when they’re asked to. Marinette doesn’t fit the description of harrassment at all; Chat Noir does more than her and I don’t even call his behavior “harrassment” because that’s another word that’s lost all meaning by now and I wouldn’t use it in the first place.

Anyway, I think the Wayhem example is valid because Marinette’s crush on Adrien is written very much like a celebrity crush, so it’s similar territory.

On the note of “Volpina,” I do not understand it considering that Tikki was all on board with Marinette following Lila for the sake of getting the book back; that was one of the cases where there was an alternative motive out of just “follow Adrien” (which is not really something we see Marinette frequently doing; usually when we see her watching Adrien, it’s because she wants to approach but can’t bring herself to).

And yeah, most of the time, it’s just the narrative. The show basically puts it all on Marinette to solve all her personal problems (while constantly piling more stuff onto her) instead of getting active encouragement (no, eye rolls, verbal jabs, and groans do not count) from her friends and Tikki.

Like, what am I supposed to expect from Marinette when her friends still actively support Adrienette? By supporting Adrienette, regardless of the comments they make, they’re supporting Marinette’s behavior. Same with Tikki.

Anonymous said:

Have you noticed that with love interests of Marinette and Adrien, it's always the girls who like Adrien who are shallow, mean bitches and competition to Marinette(like Lila, Chloe, Kagami at first), while the boys who like Marinette are nice, friendly, and have no competition between each other whatsoever, sometimes not even knowing there IS competition(Adrien, Luka, Nathaniel). It's just really unfair and sexist because it's like girls can't be civil/friends and must fight over a guy.

That’s been a common topic of salt for a long while, yeah, I just don’t talk about it much.

It’s a difficult subject because I’m the type who can’t hold it against the guy characters (so I won’t dislike Kagami for “being similar to Chloe/Lila in terms of aggressiveness,” for example) because it feels wrong to, but I can hate the trend itself.

It’s also doubly unfair because Marinette’s crushes blip away quickly (like Nathaniel and Nino) while Adrien’s crushes stick around specifically to upset Marinette, so it’s like the show is saying, “if there’s a character who loves/supports Marinette, they gotta either stop or leave” (I’m pretty sure I got a “Didn’t Need Burrow” about the narrative sending Luka away and I don’t doubt it).

Anonymous said:

Personal Heacanon: Marinette and Chloé used to be friends until Marinette found out what Chloé (and Sabrina) has been using her commisions (mostly elaborate traps "to guard off thieves") for. This is why Chloé has it out for Marinette specifically. This is why everyone stood by as it happened. This is why she hates liars. This is why her "friends" are so casual at making jabs at her self-stem (they never believed she never knew what Chloé was truly up to). And also why Lila had it so easy at gaslighting everyone againts her (she's "relapsing" and it's easy to think she "deserves it").

Dang. That’s intense.

Yeah, Punch has given quite a few ideas about Marinette and Chloe previously being friends if I recall correctly. I like the idea even if I never use that kind of idea myself.

Anonymous said:

I feel like Adrien could be a really cool character if they focused less on romance? If that wasn’t his only motivation, and they developed his friendships more, and they didn’t have this entitlement. I also would like more actual friendship in regards to adrien & marinette? And him actually having interest in her but denying it bc he thinks he can only like ladybug. I feel like the sexism of the creators/writers are seeping into the character a lot and ruining it, too... It makes me really sad.

I’m hoping Adrigami will help adrien sort out a lot of his stuff bc Kagami doesn’t take any crap, and I actually really like their relationships, but I don’t have much hope. I would love for the show to use her and this relationship as a way to call out and develop adrien, but I doubt that will happen bc that would mean acknowledging his flaws. It’s just disappointing, really....

Yeah, Adrien could’ve been interesting, especially if they used Adrimi to its full potential, but they don’t. The show also has a history of letting Chat Noir get away with things and not punishing him so I wouldn’t be surprised.

Anonymous said:

Honestly, I don't even ship the love square anymore, but Fanon Adrienette is a thousand times better than canon Adrienette(the same goes for every other side of the love square, obvs). It's what the canon should be but we fans can only wish. Take, for example, the whole "she's just a friend" statement. In canon Adrien makes it because he genuinely sees Marinette as that and nothing more(which of course isn't bad, it's just sad when Marinette's always humiliated for the sake of getting his love).

In fanon, he makes it because he's actually in denial about his feelings for Marinette(which reminds me of a definition for "just a friend" on Urban Dictionary, which had Adrien drawing her name with hearts and flowers around it, and yet, when Nino asked if he had a crush, he STILL insists she's just a friend!), but realizes his mistake later.

In canon, Adrien thinks Marinette is Ladybug only because it's convenient for him since she's in love with him. In fanon, he actually does notice things about her that make her similar to Ladybug, and falls for her BEFORE knowing their identities because he sees the same qualities of bravery, strength, and femininity that he sees in Ladybug(I remember one fanfic where Marinette stood up to GABRIEL'S overprotectiveness, and Adrien could only admire how much she resembled Ladybug in that moment).

In canon, Chat is ignorant of Ladybug's feelings and agency and doesn't comfort Marinette when she's sad; instead, she has to comfort him. In fanon, Chat Noir cares about how Ladybug feels and values her agency, his jokes are genuinely funny(although canon Chat can be funny too, it's just the where and when), and he backs off when Ladybug is uncomfortable. In fanon, Chat Noir genuinely helps Marinette when she's sad and sometimes comes to see her just because, not out of plot convenience(and calls her "Purrincess" a lot more, why did the English dub just change it to "little lady"?).

It makes me think, maybe, just maybe, if these things were canon and the world was fair to Marinette, I might actually ship it; it might actually have a fighting chance against Lukanette and Adrimi. But while all these things are cute, it only makes canon more disappointing. Fanon is doing what canon should be doing. Fanon is supposed to build off of what canon gave us and expand on it. Fanon shouldn't create its own alternative because canon isn't giving us enough to chew on, it shouldn't have to.

Sadly, I think most of the fans, including the Adriennette-shipping ones, should be on some level in charge of the show; things would be SO MUCH better for the main ship(which isn't even progressing that far) and SO MUCH fairer to Marinette if that were so.

I feel this very much so. The show has been around for a long time and fandom can shape a lot of things. I think the love square wouldn’t be as beloved as it is if not for the fandom expanding on it and making it better (obviously, in some cases, they don’t make it better, but the love square is plentiful so there has to be some good takes out there).

Some shows do in fact let the fandom build off the foundation it makes and then you have things like Astruc outright lying and saying that Chat apologized in “Frozer” when he, in fact, did not, which makes everything more muddled.

maxwaspace said:

What is your opinion of the Scarlet Lady webcomic by Z.O.E?

I’m not into the love square no matter how better one might do it (it’s been soured too much for me in the show), but I do get happy seeing Zoe’s art and wondering how she’ll change/expand on the plotpoints in certain episodes.

Anonymous said:

Not sure it anyone's already said this but-

Canon Audrey: you're fired!

MC Audrey: you're hired!

Okay but hear me out.

Canon Audrey being put in charge of dealing with Miraculous’ writers, MC Audrey put in charge of hiring new ones.

Anonymous said:

Something the genuinely scares me is how close some people’s predictions where for miraculous I just saw predictions people made for season 3 and it’s worrying that the worst possible scenario for them ended up happening beat for beat.

The show can be very, very predictable that way. The way I’d describe it is that I do expect these bad things to happen in really convoluted and dumb ways, but it still surprises me by exactly how predictable it ends up being. I mean, I catch certain things really easily and the phrase, “the whole episode just flashed before my eyes,” is something I commonly say.

Predictability isn’t entirely bad, but when the prediction is unwanted? Yeah, there’s a problem.

Anonymous said:

You could basically summarize the difference between what Miraculous fans want and what the Miraculous writers want by using the John Mulaney "Delta Airlines" bit as a template.

I had to get said bit explained to me since I haven’t seen that one, but yes, now I can confirm.

Anonymous said:

How do you think Chat Blanc would play out if Marinette and/or Adrien were already dating other people? Like if Marinette had already moved on, do you think the narrative would punish her for it?

I imagine it would have Adrien still be crushing on Ladybug and he’d break it off with this other person when he realized that Ladybug is Marinette, which the narrative would then promote as “the correct decision” because they’re soulmates and such. If Marinette has moved on, she probably won’t care about his advances, which would lead to Adrien getting upset and maybe being convinced that an identity reveal would solve the problem and/or speeding up getting Hawk Moth defeated/arrested.

Marinette would probably be blaming herself for not being “sensitive enough” to Adrien/Chat’s feelings, which is what led to him being akumatized.

I could also see the girl squad forcing Marinette to give Adrien the present similar to canon, but maybe the beret doesn’t have a heart and Marinette isn’t actually interested, but rolls with it because the girl squad insists on it (probably convinced that she’s denying her own feelings).

Anonymous said:

What do you think constitutes as a "strong female character"? Do you think the girls and women in Miraculous Ladybug are "strong female characters"? Why or why not(I'm sorry if this sounded like a school assignment, by the way!)? Because to me I feel like a lot of them are given depth and focus, but they're often forced into stereotypes, and let's not forget how the show derail's Marinette's character for a joke. But lots of people think a strong girl has to be boyish or else she's weak somehow.

“I'm sorry if this sounded like a school assignment“ dfhgkfdgfg

I guess it depends on what you consider a strong female character. Like, can a shy female character be “strong” if maybe she holds firm to her morals or can fight people off?

I think Marinette has the potential to be a “strong female character” but the show nerfs her using her crush on Adrien (which raises so many red flags that I can’t cover here) and all it’s really done for her is get her laughed at and humiliated. If her life didn’t revolve and get ruined so badly due to her crush on Adrien, I think she’d be a strong female character (I know what the Season 3 finale did but I’m not buying any of it until we see proper results in Season 4).

That’s not to say that characters with crushes can’t be “strong” but it has to not control their life. I mean... okay...

Would Sabrina be considered a “strong female character” if she recognized Chloe’s treatment of her and worked hard to get out of it? Is the want and attempt to move on from something what constitutes “strength,” or do they have to succeed?

My conflict is always... I want to give Marinette credit for trying to move on from Adrien, but I know that it’s just the writing trying to make things seem tense/strained just to make it feel “better” when they actually get together. You see it all the time in anime/manga where a misunderstanding/self-doubt ends up hurting the relationship of the main ship; it’s to force conflict and separation, giving the ship something to overcome so they can get together.

I will say though that shy characters can be strong, physically strong characters can be weak, and so on. What defines a “strong” character may be vague to me, but I take it as I go. I would like to say that Marinette is a strong character on her own because she wants to improve even if she fails, but I also don’t want to give the writing credit for something that ultimately means nothing. I want to say that she’s strong but the narrative seems to do everything in its power to tell me that she’s weak.

Let me give a non-Miraculous example: say that you have a pacifist character, but there’s a villain who has done terrible things, cannot be redeemed (plz do not swarm my inbox with “anyone can be redeemed” comments, this is a hypothetical), and any method besides killing them right there and now would lead to more destruction/lives lost.

You might say that that the pacifist character would be “strong” in sticking by their morals and trying to find another way even if they ultimately would fail and the villain would get away, but an argument can also be made that the pacifist is being stubborn and letting people die because they are unwilling to rethink the morality they’ve chosen. Is a pacifist a pacifist if they’re letting the blood of other people spill because they themselves aren’t willing to have the blood be on their own hands? Are they “strong” because they stuck by what they believe in or are they “weak” because they refused to expand what they believed was “right”?

You could apply that to Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender (I know he’s not female but stick with me here). He was faced with having to murder the Fire Lord to the point where a past reincarnation who was raised on the same values as him didn’t agree with him. I think it was acceptable for him to try and stick to his morals and find another way, but he came up empty and the show had to give him a way of taking away the Fire Lord’s power so Aang didn’t have to make that choice in the end (there’s also that thing with the rock to his back and having to give up Katara but we’re not getting into that).

People could argue that, “oh, he admitted to himself that he’d have to kill the Fire Lord and then he got the Deus Ex Machina so it’s okay!” but the problem there is that the narrative basically gave two options: Murder or Take Away the Guy’s Bending, but there was incredible risk involved in the latter option. Aang almost lost himself against the Fire Lord and risked everything so that he would not have to kill him.

I would argue it makes him weak. I would argue that needing the narrative to favor him makes him weak (which is one plus for Marinette I guess the narrative is usually against her???). The lack of ability to understand his past lives and see things from their perspective made him weak for me, as him holding so stiffly to his values made it appear that he felt his ways were “better” than everyone else’s (which had been a long-standing problem for me and I never forgave him for “The Southern Raiders”).

Anonymous said:

What do you think of adriens mom Emilie. Like what do you how do you feel she wound up using the peacock miraculous personally I’m leaning into her being a villain due to the fact that there aren’t any stories of a peacock hero (unless they retcon that) and that her husband is well freaking Gabriel who has no real form of morals. Also I can’t help but think of how they got the miraculous in the first place. Anyways overall what do you think they will do with her or think of her right now.

I see her like I see any dead mom in media (I know she’s comatose, not the point); a tool for angst. Her reasons for using the peacock could be anything (might even be that she was given it and simply wearing it was damaging to her, or she transformed once to try it out and that was that), but I just don’t feel strongly about her because I’m not invested in the Agreste plot.

Me personally, I headcanon that she’s kind of like Bustier where she appears good but is actually very damaging. Instead of the generic “good mom who tried to do good things for her son but folded to angry dad’s demands,” I would like to imagine that she’s selfish in her own right and was part of the reason for Adrien never going to public school; she’s possessive herself (a contributor to why the Agrestes are so wealthy) and wants her son to remain close to her even if she genuinely cares about him and should want him to be able to go and learn from the world.

But I imagine they’ll probably make her either “pure good mom” or “villain like Gabriel where she’s ‘sympathetic’ but also evil.” The show has never been good at doing gray morality (see my MC Audrey for example) and usually messes things up if they try.

Anonymous said:

Honestly, I don't like Mme. Bustier, but if they DARE pull the pregnancy jokes with her--and I don't mean "pregnancy puns", like those would be ACTUALLY funny without offending anybody, but "ooh, she's pregnant so now she's moody and has wacky cravings and screams at everybody and is a nightmare to be around" and other things that just scream "male writer who mocks female biology and doesn't understand women", I'm going to cry. We already don't like Bridezilla, and this isn't any better.

Ugh. I don’t even like pregnancy plots in general or anything related to pregnancy (my followers who have been around forever and know of my hatred towards babies: wow what a shock!!), so adding on “jokes” like that?

Hard pass. I already don’t like Bustier so the mere idea of her potentially getting any focus there--

Anonymous said:

What do you think of the Alyanette ship? Personally, I'm ambivalent to it, but I can sorta see Alya being bi and having a crush on Marinette but Marinette doesn't like her back. Or she could have a crush on Ladybug. But I don't like the idea of it being mutual, considering how pushy and invasive Alya is. It also doesn't make sense for her to so insistently push the love square if she likes Marinette. But perhaps that's where some of her sarcastic quips come from: jealousy(cliche I know).

I’m always here for bi representation (no one can take my bi disaster headcanon’d Nino and Kagami away from me), but I actively dislike the Alyanette ship. I was okay with it back in Season 1 but it started to fall off in Season 2 and officially die in Season 3.

I don’t judge people by what they ship (...much; there’s obviously that little part of me that can’t help giving the side eye) but yeah, not for me.

Anonymous said:

As a different flavor of angst: Can you imagine Marinette’s class going to Riverside park in NYC and Tikki spotting the Jeanne D’Arc statue? I always wondered what it would have been like for Tikki to see Jeanne burned alive by the people she swore to protect. I think Nobody briefly touched on this for Witch Hunter, but not many people I have seen (probably missed something) talk about it. What do you think?

I’m indifferent to past holders getting mentioned and acknowledged; not sure how I feel about them given specific names and such (I kinda like seeing their designs and such but making them actual people from the real world? mmmm not here for that as much).

I like the idea though of addressing those real world things and having the kwami reacting to them. Like, it did make me genuinely sad in the New York special to see Liiri come out and call out Gilbert’s name, only to see this other guy standing there and we know that this Gilbert guy is very much dead by now.

On a related note, I’d be all for a special getting into a kwami’s problem and not making everything Marinette’s fault, so having Marinette maybe helping a kwami through theri issues and it leads into getting more lore on the kwami.

Anonymous said:

I just had an epiphany today: People who hate on Marinette for being "mean" to Lila/teachers telling Marinette to ignore Chloe and Lila and treat them nicely are the equivalent of real adults telling girls who are being bullied by boys that "he does it because he likes you." Ladies, raise your hands if something like this has ever happened: "Jamal tried to cut my cheek open with a razor!" "Oh, Aaliyah, he's only doing it because he likes you." Now that I've seen it I can't unsee it. Disgusting.

“Marinette, they’re just jealous of you, that’s all! Can you really get angry at them for that??”

us: yes

Anonymous said:

Thinking about Puppeteer 2 and how Marinette's identity could have been blown if she had talked to Tikki because of Plagg's incompetence angers me beyond belief because I know, just KNOW, if that had actually happened, Marinette would take ALL THE BLAME for it like there's no tomorrow. It would never occur to anyone that she normally talks to Tikki while she's alone and had no idea that the "statue" in front of her was a real boy AND her partner, or that Plagg should have said something. Ugh.

I KNOW, RIGHT????

That was such a big annoyance to me in that episode. They literally neglected the actual reality of what would happen (”Oh, Tikki! No one’s here, I could practice on this Adrien statue!”) for the sake of humiliating Marinette... again.

Anonymous said:

Your comment about how Ladybug always says she's "in love with someone else", as if that should matter diddly squat when the problem is with Chat not respecting her feelings on their own without another guy in the picture reminds me of a #YesAllWomen post I saw on Twitter. It read: "'I have a boyfriend' is the easiest way to get a man to leave you alone. Because he respects another man more than you." It's just like this except without the dating and the fact that Chat DOESN'T leave her alone.

And then you remember that the “someone else” she’s in love with is the exact person who’s disrespecting her feelings and you proceed to hate everything.

Anonymous said:

The statue scene in Puppeteer 2 could've easily kept its humor by having Adrien fall over when Marinette puts her weight on him and almost kisses him, then Marinette goes "Gasp! You're not a statue!" Marinette is always being forced to humiliate herself in the name of "love", even when she doesn't deserve it, so for once, let Adrien be the one utterly humiliated of his own doing. Then they could have a sad scene where Adrien ACTUALLY comforts her and...wait for it...LEARNS A LESSON.

Alternatively, someone who works on the statues comes in and, also mistaking Adrien for a statue, tries to do some sort of work on him.

Anonymous said:

Since we can all agree that this show is sadly not very good at girl power/inclusivity, how would you tweak the show to make it more genuinely female-empowering/inclusive(can include racial/sexual inclusivity)? Besides the obvious(including more female and/or POC writers on board).

Orientation-related inclusivity isn’t even that hard. Have a character get a call from someone and just be like, “oh, it’s my boyfriend/girlfriend,” and then other companies can just dub it if they’re so afraid of characters who like the same gender.

Firstly, I’d have Marinette learn and become more of a mentor character to other characters (male and female), lean more into more “females in power” (like Mylene showing genuine interest in being the next mayor), either less focus on the “girl antagonists are evil/unredeemable” plots or at least make them legitimate threats that don’t need the narrative to cater to them to make them threatening.

Secondly, Adrien needs to STOP being the one to keep telling Marinette/Ladybug what’s right or the way to do things. I can’t stress this one enough.

Thirdly, maybe not having a season dedicated to three guys getting miraculouses while all the girls are either questioned, self-reveal, or get their miraculous revoked. That might help. :P

Anonymous said:

The saddest thing is that I can see ML going through a "Fate: The Winx Saga" in the future and having an awful, edgy reboot to appeal more to adults.

Different writers probably but at what cost.

+ more sexualization obviously since that’s usually what “more adult” means; Audrey gets the cleavage that her design clearly calls for at least, but again, at what cost

Anonymous said:

I hate what TheOnesWhoMustNotBeNamed have done to the Love Square but I also don't like Lukanette and Adrigami (nothing against the characters themselves). This is going to be one of those shows that regardless what ship wins is going to disappoint around 90% of the fans.

No hate for not liking Lukanette/Adrimi, I understand that.

And yeah, there’s a <1% chance that they can pull out anything satisfying.

Anonymous said:

Off topic, but I realized why I don’t like Clara Nightingale’s design, there’s no light to her eyes, makes her look kinda dead, kinda evil.

DQ tend to do that when they’re the ones animating. I remember “Christmaster” doing particularly well with the eye highlights.

Anonymous said:

What do you think about the future Miraculous specials (Africa, Japan, Rio, Shanghai, London)?

Will be happy to see a new setting because it shows different cultures (though there’s always the chance that the culture is poorly-represented) but that’s basically it. Specials are usually just a cash grab that are just there and any expansion on lore and such is shunted to the side for the sake of love square drama, judging by the New York special.

Anonymous said:

I haven't watched the New York Special yet, don't think I can bring myself to tbh, but this whole time I thought Aeon was the name of the superhero persona, and that the fandom was collectively calling her civilian identity Uncanny Valley bc her model was that bad.

I was genuinely shocked to find out that her civilian identity is named Aeon and that her hero name is Uncanny Valley bc that is not only a stupid name, but kind of insulting since she's an android character of color. (Well, she's a character of color except for when shes running around as a pale naked superhero. Majestia, give your kid some pants!)

oof

Yeah, the Uncanny Valley thing threw me off too. “Aeon” really does sound like a superhero name.

I can’t believe they made her a robot and were like, “mannequin robot design.” I question so many things about the decisions made around Aeon fdkjgjfdg.

Anonymous said:

Do you think they’ll ever leave DuPont college, since it’s a middle school (essentially) and go to a lycee (high school)? I think they’re in their second year of four at DuPont, judging by the previous class picture.

I doubt it, unless we get more seasons? It would mean having to model a whole new school.

Anonymous said:

So I was reading again tikki brand boyfriend and this come to my mind and I have to share it with you.... Tikki is the mother in law of marinette in the future lol (sorry if this isn't the right blog to ask this) (I love yours au, you are amazing!)

(this is the wrong blog, yes, you’re looking for mc-lukanette, not miraculouscontent)

Thank you though! i agree, that’s cute, ahaha~

Anonymous said:

Did you know that there's a TV Tropes page for LadyBugOut?! And someone even left a review there saying they liked it and that they were sick of the Marinette embarrassing and wanted some Lukanette. They say your au is their favorite au in the fandom! Isn't that just swell?

Yes! And the TV Tropes page is fantastic! Thank you!

Anonymous said:

OMG IVE FIGURED OUT WHY MARINETTE IS UNABLE TO GET OVER ADRIEN!!! She’s under the influence of a love potion called Amortentia, which causes a powerful obsession from the drinker (it’s from Harry Potter). That’s why she’s so obsessed, and that’s why she can’t get over Adrien! She literally can’t while under the influence of the potion! She just needs to drink the antidote, and then she can finally be free!

Oh no!! Someone get this poor girl an antidote, STAT!

Anonymous said:

I was just reading your review of Silencer(which I totally agree with by the way), and when I got to the part about how Ladybug lost her voice and her powers are voice-activated, it got me thinking about how annoying Chat was being(as another anon noted, which I also agree with), and then it hit me. While it may just come off as his usual flirtatious banter that's innocent, the fact that he doesn't even seem to mind Ladybug not being able to detransform because then he gets to "be with her" forever and ever and ever amen just proves your point about Chat Blanc. He cares more about being with Ladybug than Ladybug herself, so long as she gets to keep being Ladybug "for him", that's what matters. Remember that the girl he fell in love with was the superhero persona and not the girl under the mask. He couldn't care less about who that actual girl is so long as she's his "lady" and loves him back. He just wants her to uphold the image of his strong and powerful "lady" that he admires.

(Glad you enjoyed the “Silencer” review! Thanks!)

Full agreement here! Chat isn’t really in love with Ladybug; he’s in love with the image he’s made of her and wants to keep it that way, no matter how much he may suggest otherwise.

Anonymous said:

Luka is soooo much more interesting with Marinette like, why isn't he the love interest? Same with Kagami for Adrien. To be honest it would be cool if the show set up the love square at first but then slowly started to change to Lukanette and Adrimi once Marinette and Adrien realized their crushes were just not working out. They can still have an identity reveal, but they'll refreshingly stay friends. But the writers don't have the ovaries to do that, I get it. -_- Such wasted potential.

They could’ve done a really interesting bait-and-switch but they decided not to. The love square is full of holes and flaws that they’re very likely never going to address (outside of anything used for that “gAsP maybe they won’t get together???” drama), so having it actually be addressed and be like, “okay, we’re better as friends,” would’ve gone over so much better.

Anonymous said:

I hear people complain all the time that Lukanette is toxic because Luka is merely the "second choice" for Marinette, and that she just uses him as a rebound when she fails to get Adrien's attention. But the truth is, that's not how it is at all. Luka's not anywhere near her "second choice". He gives her tranquility and stability, and she helps him loosen up and have someone to express his creativity towards. Plus, it's totally normal for teens to have two crushes whom they can't choose between.

THIS

ALL OF THIS

I am so tired of people saying that Marinette is “using” Luka in someway as if it’s a conscious decision on her part to take advantage him.

Luka makes her happy. That’s it. Luka is aware of how she feels and respects her space, but I guess that makes him a “pushover” and “he lets Marinette walk all over him” because he didn’t get upset with her and embarrass her in “Desperada” by calling her out over her Adrien blindness.

Anonymous said:

People who say "I like Marinette but she's getting to be pretty embarrassing sometimes" really don't get that the show constantly forces her into situations where she's embarrassed and made out to be incompetent. Like, it's not her that's embarrassing, it's the show that's always embarrassing her. Kind of like Serena/Usagi in the (shitty)DiC English dub of Sailor Moon. It's getting irritating to hear people continually rag on Marinette as if SHE'S the clueless idiot, rather than the writers.

There are some things that happen to her that she literally could not have predicted. Like, just saying, if I had someone claiming to be my friend, I would expect them to know I’m anxiety-prone and not pretend to be a statue just

Anonymous said:

Remarried Empress Anon: I can see Felix as the Duke and maybe Jagged Stone as Kosair (but an uncle and not her brother).

I agree with both of those! Jagged Stone as Kosair/Koshar, omg.

Plus, the idea of Luka and Felix being “friends” amuses me.

Anonymous said:

You know, I find Felix/Marinette content to be really funny. Because, Felix in fanfiction is a completely different character than his canon self- with a different personality, background, and maybe even last name. So, the entire Marinette/Felix fandom is literally just Marinette/oc except it's always the same oc

I struggle to get fully behind Felinette because so much of it does rely on fandom interpretation and playing with fanon in general (plus, having to clarify “I ship fanon Felinette” is weird).

I do however agree that it’s interesting that it ultimately comes to a character built on fanon grounds, and how much more acceptance characters get when they’re based on “canon”/originally canon characters.

Anonymous said:

How would you write the Miraculous PV version? Just wondering.

I don’t think I could without drastically changing characters and at that point it’s not really the PV anymore. “Bridgette“ and Felix’s relationship is the exact opposite of what I like to watch/read about so yeah, changing both of them to what I like would either be too severe of a rewrite or me working too far within the restrictions set out for me.

Anonymous said:

There's a YouTube video claiming that someone will figure out that Marinette is Ladybug and that she will suffer...I mean, yeah? Isn't that what we've already been getting? I mean, not the first part, obviously(and when we have, it's been undone), but the second? Have we been watching the same show? No, have we? Because Marinette suffering, sadly, is not anything new.

lol “Marinette will suffer!” and us like “did you seriously use future tense as if Marinette isn’t already suffering??”

Anonymous said:

Am I the only one who feels like Miraculous Ladybug is feeling less like a magical girl show and more like just another superhero show? This isn't even because of "girl power" or anything like that, or the fact that there are male Miraculous wielders like Chat and Carapace and(long dreamy sigh) Viperion. This is because the outfits don't really resemble magical girl outfits at all and, after watching various magical girl shows both in and out of Japan, Miraculous is starting to feel like its genre is shifting from magical girl to that of "superhero" in its broadest term. And I know I said I wouldn't bring up "girl power", but the fact that so many of the girls aren't treated respectfully by the narrative and are pitted against each other, to the point where they're more likely to lose their Miraculouses or reveal their identities(which often culminates in losing their Miraculouses), only adds to this because the Magical Girl genre is about female empowerment and solidarity.

It's sad because I really don't want this show to become one of those shows where "there might be one or two girls, and she might even be the lead, but it's still mostly guys who are front and center doing the heavy lifting" that we get all the time. Things are starting to change for the better and I want Miraculous to capitalize on that emergence of female empowerment as much as possible. Plus, with the New York Special, the magical girl aspects of the show have been toned down if not obliterated entirely: the transformations for the superheroes only last one minute, and they feel more like the Avengers than Sailor Senshi(which I don't mean in the most literal sense, of course, I am in no way saying that none of them can be male.). Plus they pulled the whole "Samus is a Girl" thing TWICE! TWICE! Come on, if you're show is really about girl power, it shouldn't come as a surprise when girls are, well...powerful! And especially not in Magical Girl for obvious reasons.

So while I'm not saying it's bad for a show to shift from the original genre it was meant to be in(although it must be done carefully, otherwise it looks like you don't know what you're doing), and there is of course no wrong way to do Magical Girl(except for Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna, do NOT go there!), it does make me wonder. And it's kind of disappointing, because I really love Magical Girl and I feel like shows like these could introduce the genre to a wider audience and could renovate it as well. But unfortunately they're going a different direction, and that makes me sad. If not for the transformation phrases/sequences and the fact that they have animal companions, I imagine most people would be totally clueless as to how on Earth this show counts as Magical Girl. It still counts as such for me, but it's deviating farther and farther away from the genre to the point where it becomes nigh unrecognizable, or like even the show writers forgot what genre it's supposed to be. Sadly.

Yikes.

Yeah, I can’t imagine how seeing this show must be like for people that are more savvy with magical girl shows. Me personally, I had to be told that it was a magical girl show because it honestly just gave off the “superhero show” vibes even with the magical girl-esque transformations.

Plus, with magical girls, you usually expect a group of girls? Here, we have Ladybug and Chat Noir, who the writers keep being like “they’re equals” which... yeah, that’s fine but it doesn’t really work with the idea that this is a magical girl show? I mean, “Party Crasher” was basically Ladybug and her reverse harem of superhero guys who just got out of a “males-only” party.

I dunno, coming from someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with magical girl shows, it just doesn’t have what I would expect when I think “magical girl show featuring a healthy dose of girl power.”

Anonymous said:

I was once reading this review of Miraculous Ladybug called "Miraculous Ladybug is a Hot Mess: A Rant", and while it's a good video and you should watch it and I totally agree with everything she said(plus, it made me laugh a few times!), I had a huge issue with the way she made Marinette's stammering around Adrien to be ALL HER FAULT since he's never mean to her and is always patient with her(yeah, more like oblivious), but that "she's incompetent" and "cockblocks herself", which annoys me because Marinette on her own is not the incompetent one here(I also don't like the term "cockblock", like, can we not? But anyway...), rather, it's the writers who make her incompetent for cheap laughs and don't allow her to improve or let anyone(but Luka, bless his kind soul!) truly be on her side. She then had the nerve to say "Marinette needs to learn to define herself outside of who she's crushing on", when, NO, once again, the WRITERS are the ones who define her by her crush on Adrien.

It's one thing to blame a character for something even when she's clearly written by a writer, because characters are supposed to be consistent yet flexible and have free will in-universe. But when she's written this inconsistently/it's obvious the writers have it out for her(to the point where they even say it) it is nigh impossible to pretend it's an aspect of the character herself and not the writers at fault. THAT'S where you draw the line between blaming the character vs the writer.

In fact, speaking of Luka, she also said that she wants the show to get rid of Luka because he's just a "plot device" and has no reason to like her beyond the fact that she's a "funny girl". She also said that Luka is a stereotype of the "cute bad boys who are emo", when that's blatantly untrue. She's allowed to not like Lukanette but all the things she's saying really ignore the point of his character and that his life DOESN'T revolve around Marinette; the writers simply don't respect him.

Even worse, she contradicted herself by saying that Lukanette is pointless because "we all know that Marinette is going to get with Adrien; it's endgame so why does the show even bother with Luka?" Then right after that says that Kagami's okay and that it's okay for Adrien to move onto Kagami because Ladybug has rejected him as Chat so many times(which is apparently not the case for Adriennette because "MaRiNeTtE's JuSt InCoMpEtEnT" right?). So teenage girls aren't allowed to like other boys or date more than one boy, yet teenage boys can date as many chicks as they like. Nice.

And apparently, any problem in a relationship or potential relationship is the girl's fault no matter what. She can't approach him because Goddess forbid girls not always be perfect and capable? She's incompetent and it's all her fault she can't properly talk to a perfectly nice, cute, FAMOUS boy. She rejects him every time he confesses despite him knowing it will fail. Her fault for being mean and not giving him a chance. She gets tired of chasing him and decides to look at someone else since it's not like she's legally married to Boy #1? She should stick with the original boy since they're gonna get together anyway. He gets tired of chasing her and decides to look at someone else since it's not like he's legally married to Girl #1? She should've realized his feelings for her and returned them since they're gonna be endgame anyway. Has this lady ever even been a teenage girl?

Plenty of teenage girls get tongue-tied around the one they love even if he or she is a perfectly nice, sweet person, it doesn't mean they're incompetent(especially when the girls are fictional characters in a world set out to punish them for not making progress and for trying to make progress at the same time, and the fact that the boy is a celebrity who is always made oblivious and kept distant enough from the girl so she can keep putting him on a pedestal and never truly get to know him). Plenty of teenage girls lose interest in one boy and so fall for another. Yet it's somehow only okay for boys to do it? Seriously?

And then for the episode "Ladybug", the reviewer continues to rag on Marinette, blaming her for the fact that her reaction to getting expelled was "I can't let that nasty Hawkmoth win", claiming she wasn't reacting like a normal teen or human in general would react in that scenario, completely ignoring the fact that it's TIKKI who doesn't comfort Marinette and forces her to focus on her duties as Ladybug and almost getting akumatized. She's right about the plot moving too fast, but she doesn't take into account WHY it's moving too fast, because the show doesn't focus on Marinette's inner struggle and what she has to go through. Instead of giving her time to process her thoughts after all that goes on and providing Tikki as a source of comfort and support(which she's, you know, SUPPOSED to be), they make Tikki berate her and force Marinette to push it to the side.

She's never allowed to feel. And that's why it hurts all the more when this woman insults Marinette for her perceived ineptitude, and she's fully allowed to dislike Marinette, critique her behaviors, dislike Luka, critique his role in the story etc., just don't reinforce a double standard as you do so and look closer: ultimately most of Marinette's problems are due to her not being permitted to FEEL. She's not allowed to be nervously in love, or be calm, or be offended, or be just not ready.

The writers keep pushing her in one direction, to be emotionless, to be selfless, to be nice, to be honest, to be "the mature/responsible one" to be a perfect little "Purrincess", to not push for or want anything for herself, even though the show is supposed to be about girl power! She does somewhat touch on that by saying that Ladybug never gets to "take a hit" and that the Marichat scene in Glaciator was too short, but she never goes into why everything is too-fast paced. And if she did, she wouldn't be saying everything she does about Marinette and Luka. Because Luka is more than just the "plot device" she dismisses him as.

He's like a calm oasis, the apple of the hurricane who keeps Marinette calm and just lets. her. breathe. He's possibly the only person who doesn't berate her, who doesn't mimic her, who doesn't insult her, who doesn't ignore her. And the one time he does, he apologizes RIGHT AWAY when he sees how sad she looks. And the funny thing is, I used to hate that scene, because when I first saw it, I thought "Oh man! Luka did the same thing as everyone else did once!" But now I see that it serves as a contrast, whether intentionally or unintentionally, to the other characters in the show. Whereas they never apologize for how they treat Marinette(and often she somehow ends up apologizing instead, sadly) and in fact seem oblivious to it at times or just don't care, Luka notices, Luka cares, and Luka apologizes. That shows that he cares about her and her feelings, unlike the rest of the characters in the show.

And while they do care about her, they're never held accountable for how they treat her. Anarka and Plagg are probably the only exceptions that I can think of(who contribute to the plot of course), but they're obviously not love interests, and the video doesn't talk about them, so I won't talk about them either. But my point is that this review, while good in other ways, is still problematic in this regard, for how it completely ignores Marinette's struggles and how they affect her, as well as the value of Luka's character(even if the show doesn't recognize it at times) and the POSITIVE effect they have on each other(especially since he actually, genuinely, wholeheartedly loves her and is patient with her, since Adrien is barely even her friend and Chat is pushy and entitled. And he has a life outside of her too, which this video chooses to ignore.)! So yeah, I'm sorry this took so long, but I just had to protect my favorite characters because that video did them so dirty. Thank you for coming to my Lukanette Ted Talk! Have a miraculous day! ;3

...Wow????

Can I just say wow??

Firstly, kudos to you for having the patience to not only write all of that, but simultaneous deal within Tumblr’s limitations while doing so? I almost wish I had a video detailing all of these topics (not exactly a video response to that person, but just detailing all of this without explicitly calling people out).

Secondly, I absolutely, 100% feel you on the double standards. I have seen so much hypocrisy in my experiences and it’s insane how people will bash Marinette relentlessly and then let Adrien off with a bunch of excuses, or hate Luka for essentially existing and then accept Kagami.

I also hate the idea of disliking Luka because he’s there to make Marinette feel better, and then liking Kagami because she causes conflict, like the implication is that conflict equals good and things that make Marinette feel loved and cared for are bad because love square endgame, I guess.

It’s exhausting, especially when Marinette is fourteen, clearly tries, but is getting no support. Like, have you ever thought how weird it was that Tom and Sabine seemingly knew back in “Gamer” that Marinette was crushing on Adrien, but in “Weredad,” they don’t worry about the fact that Marinette is into someone else or wonder what might’ve happened with Adrien, like if he might’ve hurt her in some way? If the assumption is, “oh, they just think that’s a teenage thing, flip-flopping between love interests,” well... Tom clearly takes what he thinks to be her current crush very seriously, and even if it was true that they presume she’s just flip-flopping, that really doesn’t show them to see Marinette as more than just a clumsy teenager-in-love stereotype.

So yeah, the characters who are meant to be there to support her ask no questions, but here’s Luka with his sweet “you can tell me everything or nothing, you can be yourself around me,” line, and yet... Luka is the problem???

Sure, how dare this sweet boy NOT cause Marinette more stress. He makes Marinette feel better about herself and therefore he’s “pointless” (which, really, is the true mark of someone who doesn’t care about Marinette).

Ugh.

But yeah, in conclusion, people can have insane double standards when it comes to Luka and Marinette, and thank you for the Lukanette Ted Talk, this was a really good piece! You have a nice day too! ;3

(note: the below ask seems to cut short at the end and I didn’t get a message back about it but I at least wanted to have it here so the anon has (most of?) their story heard even if I can’t properly comment on it:)

Anonymous said:

Relating to the ask about Marinette imagining the events of the series. For me it would be realistic as I sort of see myself in her position for some parts, especially how her friends are represent (mainly Alya) and I can see myself picturing the events of the story (surrounding them) to some extent.

I'm continuing on to explain and rant about how I relate to Marinette. So about Alya's pushiness with Marinette's crush and how she won't let her move on. I used to be sort of friends with this person and one day we hanging out at school and she started badgering me to tell her who my crush was, even though I told her I didn't have one (I didn't have one but even if I did it wasn't her business, especially because we hadn't really interacted for a couple years).

She pressured me enough that I felt the need to make up a person, then she called me out just after I did it because she knew I was lying but didn't realise how uncomfortable I was lucky we were by ourselves so no one could hear how embarrassing it was. It still is but I sort have gotten over it (that's why I'm hear complaining). For her being made to sit by herself because everyone else paired of, I can relate.

I have never been the person who is really close with the friend group (probably because I'm quiet and struggle to interact with others), but I still I hang out during class time, but there have been times when two of the friends sat together and the other friend chose not to sit with me but just in front of me (the tables can fit two people at them) until one friend I went to primary school asked "what about [me]", so them she sat next to me.

The person I went to primary school with also has chosen to sit with the person who was not to sit with me so she could sit closer to the other two friends diagonally across from me on the table next to mine. I can understand Marinette in The Chameleon for how she would of felt when her friends turned in because I am left wondering if my friends even like me, although primary school friend sometimes tried to get to wait with them when we were waiting for the teacher to show up.

As I mentioned earlier I anxious when trying to interact with people who are even considered my friends so I wait for them to invite me to hangout with them. And for the ending of The Chameleon when everything went back to normal, in primary school we had this task we were told research a person and write a biography on them so as the teacher told us we were writing a good copy and the work in our books was a rough draft.

I wrote the information down as I would the good copy to make sure I was happy with it. When we were writing the good copy, I started to worry I had done something wrong as I had seen my friends work and they bith had just written down the facts. So as my friends and I kept having arguments and fights so I told them that I hoped I remembered to spell all the names correctly because they were not names I was knew how to spell which was true so they didn't question it as I could tell they did

#category: salt #character: Marinette Dupain Cheng #relationship: love square #character: Adrien Agreste #category: fandom #MC: Audrey Bourgeois #episode: Chat Blanc #character: Emilie Agreste #character: Caline Bustier #relationship: Alya Cesaire & Marinette Dupain Cheng #episode: The Puppeteer 2 #MC's Adjustments #adjustment: romance #category: staff #character: Clara Nightingale #episode: Silencer #relationship: Luka Couffaine & Marinette Dupain Cheng #relationship: Felix Graham de Vanily & Marinette Dupain Cheng #other: askplosion

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aceofpandas · 4 years

Text

What-if for Season 4

So at the end of season 3’s episode “Ladybug” we see that Adrien "asking” Lila to get Marinette back in school and what not. Words are spoken and wow just look at how they’re spoken:

That line right there! Okay so I watched this episode in English and in [Latin American] Spanish and wow the way that line is spoken. Both voice actors really conveyed how Adrien would channel his anger. It’s not an emotion we really got to see in Adrien before but in both languages the barely contained anger is something I feel is in line with what we know about Adrien who controls and is conscious of his emotions. It got me thinking about how passive aggressive this boy really is and man oh man how I wish that it get’s worked into season 4. Passive aggressive Adrien Agreste vs. resident liar/manipulator Lila Rossi. Yaaaas sign me up.

Hopefully, this side of him is explored next season and we can finally give Adrien some rivals who can help us explore his character a little more. This ending suggests that Lila is completely in Adrien’s danger radar and he’ll be in Protect Marinette Mode (similar to his Protect Ladybug Mode). In fact, the scene pictured above aligns with his self-sacrificial tendencies that he has as Chat Noir. Lots of people have mentioned that agreeing to the photoshoot is him selling his soul, but he also establishes that he won’t ever have a genuine friendship with Lila. Bring on the war!

I personally think that Adrien, who we know isn’t too confrontational, will take a subtle approach. And how can he do that? Well, he could channel his inner actor where he can certainly play the part of “friend” while simultaneously working to discredit Lila.

Like you can not tell me that Adrien, who’s enrolled in a bunch of activities, was not enrolled in acting classes at some point in his homeschooled life. His mom was an actress, so it’s not like his parents would be against the idea of acting lessons. He was even the VA for his own superhero persona in canon’s LB+CN movie lmaoooo. Yes, he’s a model and very much loved by the people of Paris so perhaps being chosen for the role isn’t too surprising, but that also doesn’t mean he has no talent or training for it. Let’s be real, modeling could be the compromise to his parents wanting their son to follow in their footsteps. Modeling is the fashion from his dad and the art of perfecting his facial expressions from his mom.

And like even if acting lessons were never a thing, his mom was around in his life. We know basically nothing about the woman, so really we can speculate that she showed Adrien a thing or two about acting. Let’s say it was through her that Adrien learned to be expressive, to be not expressive, and to be anywhere in between. His mom could have taught him to roll with what life has to offer through ad libs and improv. Adrien we’ve seen to have a dramatic flair as both Adrien and Chat Noir, and he honestly controls his temper waaaay better than we give him credit. Sure he makes mistakes, but really he’s human and he does learn from them (now if only the writing could keep character development for its characters but yeeaaaah).

Here’s a scenario where Adrien can start his stop Lila campaign:

Adrien and Lila are interviewed about the recent shoot and you know questions roll around about how was it working with together, they’re classmates right, are the two dating, yada yada

Adrien answering and not even trying to let Lila get the first word in because the boy is on high alert and knows this girl will try to spin it in her favor

“Oh, it was surprising my father even thought of letting one of my classmates model with me. In fact, I didn’t even know Lila was interested in modeling. Still, it was interesting to work with someone new to the field.”

Which on the surface seems like an ordinary, polite response; appropriate of Adrien but it’s also everything Adrien needs to corner Lila.

In all of three sentences Adrien says he played no part in making the photoshoot happen, effectively shuts down the possibility of dating Lila, and establishes to the public that Lila is nothing more than a classmate, one he doesn’t even know well.

Lila is annoyed but she’s not giving up because she’s under the impression that Adrien is far too agreeable and spineless therefore she writes him off as Not a Threat

Hahahaha jokes, Adrien plays on people underestimating him

“Well, I didn’t want you to think that I wanted to make it seem like I was using you because we’re friends and friends don’t do that.”

Or something along those lines I dunno

“That’s the great thing about our class everyone is so nice that we can all be friends. Lots of us are so creative and I love getting to know everyone. Nathaniel, Lila’s desk mate, is a great artist; sketching, painting, he’s your guy. He’s currently working on a superhero comic with Marc from the other class and I can’t wait for what else they come up with for the sequel. Ivan, who sits in front of Nathaniel, he’s a rockin’ drummer, and Rose, she’s another one of our classmates, killer voice and awesome lyrics. Her best friend, Juleka plays bass and I’ve actually modeled with her before. Nothing official, but since I know Juleka wants to be a model I honestly thought she was going to be the one I was modeling with for this shoot. Sure it wasn’t a huge shoot, but Juleka did such a great job. And the clothes we modeled were made by our everyday Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Marinette, she’s also our class rep by the way, is such a brilliant designer! Did you know that she actually won one of my father’s contests? Her hat was adored by Audrey Bourgeois AND she was offered the chance to move to New York. And you know…”

Basically, Adrien ends up spending the rest of the interview talking about how much he knows about his friends and “gee it’s such a shame I don’t really know much about you Lila.”

Read: you aren’t special, I have more friends, and I actually pay attention to them.

Bonus point: Alec is the one who interviews them and he picks up on Lila becoming more and more frustrated with Adrien.

Pretty in character for him to poke the bear *cough* Stormy Weather *cough* so for him to let Adrien take the reins of the interview for the sake of drama isn’t that much of a stretch.

Alec: What about Lila?

Adrien: I don’t know, I really don’t want to get anything wrong so she can answer

The next day, the interview is the only thing anyone can talk about

Adrien’s classmates gushing about how sweet Adrien is because he literally showed them that he really cares about them.

Adrien remembering all this information about all of them and hyping everyone up on TV!!

Friends know each other’s dreams and likes and dislikes and Adrien isn’t known to have lots of free time, but him making the effort to remember all that about each person is flattering to the class

Let Adrien show how much he appreciates and admires his friends pleeeeeeease

Lila can be in the background plotting how to paint Adrien in a bad light

But uhhh the class is going full Protect This Precious Boy at this point so your plan has to be fool-proof Lila

Bonus point: the class is now more sus of Lila after the whole Marinette-got-expelled-and-then-unexpelled (which is still fresh in their minds).

No one get’s an expulsion reversed unless they’re innocent

And dude Lila was in the middle of that whole mess.

Whatever Lila did shows she has the power to get any of them expelled.

If the kids aren’t at least wary of Lila in season 4, then the writers really be tripping because too many red flags around Lila for people to just wave them off.

In other news, Marinette starts to trend after enough of Adrien’s fans connect the dots that she’s the same girl who they chased around that time she and Adrien went to the movies

If the majority of Parisians weren’t convinced they were dating back then, oh boy they at least ship it by this point hahahaha

#miraculous ladybug and chat noir #adrien agreste #what if scenario #ml theory #marinette dupain cheng #lila rossi gets a new rival #let other characters have rivals that arent romace based you cowards!!#adrien gets a new rival #my one wish is character development #oops this got long #ml spoilers #maybe?#my headcanons

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princess-of-the-corner · 3 years

Note

What changes do you think would happen if Lila's and Zoé's introduction episodes were swapped? (Z end of season 1 and L start of season 4)

Hm.

So one thing that might change is how Mari ends up with the book since Lila doesn't steal it. She probably has Tikki encourage her to take it, and Mari pulls herself together around Adrien long enough to ask to borrow it.

Back to my girls!

Zoé herself would still be be acting just as much, and putting up the main "gotta be mean for mom" thing that Chloé does. The class would write her off as just another Chloé.

Chloé would still be in her "finally having a positive role model in Ladybug" phase. So even though she's still far from her redemption arc, she's on the right track.

Zoé would initially throw a wrench into that because like. It's a reminder that she has to esrn her mother's love. But as time goes on...

Zoé gets more tired of being mean. Chloé gets more desperste for just anyone's love. And they kinda... Connect.

Realize this is fucked up. And that maybe the whole "being a nice person" thing could at least make them happier.

Neither really knows how to do it naturally. But Zoé is an actress. She knows how to play the part. Pick... Someone and act like how they would. Chloé picks Ladybug, Zoé picks Marinette. Because irony.

The switch is kinda jarring to the classmates. And they're suspicious to say the least. And both slip. But it's better than they were before.

When Audrey comes, they really slip back into being mean to impress her. But... They can see eachother as a mirror. How it's just as unnatrual to be like Audrey as it was to be like Ladybug/Marinette. But they know which one people like more.

Chloé still finds thr Bee in the aftermath of the fight.

And Audrey starts praising Marinette. And offering her an internship in New York.

Both sisters are pissed. Chloé was never allowed to go to NY. Zoé had to jump through hoops and trick her dad into letting her come to Paris. Audrey didn't love them when thry imitated her, and imitating Marinette(or LB in Chloé's case but she might have connected thr dots), also didn't make Audrey love them. And there's still the "what do we have to do to make you love us??" Thing. And Audrey does that "the only thing exceptional about you, is your mother".

Chloé is ready to use the Miraculous she found, but Zoé mistakes her body language for "about to start a fight" and drags her off.

Instead of Queen Wasp, we get both as a double Akuma. Not sure on their powers/look but it's definitly anger at Audrey combined with desperate to be loved.

Mari visits them afterward but she doesn't jump to "go back to your abusive mom and imitate her". Mostly because fuck that but also because she listens.

Listens to how they'd been trying to get Audrey's love by imitating her, and it didn't work. When they tried imitating Marinette, it also didn't work.

Mari tries the "be yourself" advice. And both girls hesitantly admit that they're not entirely sure who "themself" is. And Mari assures them that while she would like them to continue being nicer, and that she thinks the "real them" might be nice or else they wouldn't be conflicted, she is there if they want to try and figure it out.

After Mari leaves, Chloé shows Zoé the Bee Miraculous. Clearly a sign from the universe for a fresh start. She suggests they share it, but Zoé thinks that since it came to Chloé first, it's hers.

Next fight, Queej Bee shows up to save the day. And Lb and Cn are so confused and panicked.

Ladybug asks that Queen Bee give the Miraculous back. And she hesitates. Because Queen Bee is that new chance, but... She is trying to be better. And being better would include handing it back.

She does so under one condiontion: that she can see Pollen again sometimes because her and Zoé got used to having someone genuinely... Motherly around. Lb and Cn aren't entirely surprised that it's Chloé, but are proud that she did the right thing. And Lb will work on getting Pollen to see her sometimes.

Next time they need the Bee, it's back with Chloé. And as Marinette grows closer with both girls and they work on being their better selves, Zoé ends up with one of the Zodiac set next.

Things continue to get better from there. Miracle Queen would probably be sidestepped because Hawkmoth can't use Chloé, and Lila isn't here yet.

Speaking of, jump to season 4 and we have Lila.

Lila does her usual "I'm friends with the Heroes" thing. She can't claim to be th Fox, because Rena is taken. But she can at least talk up her friendships.

Mari knows she's a liar. Alya does too because "bitch I'm ladybug's bff!". Adrien also clocks her as a liar because he knows Ladybug much better than that so even if she had told someone it would be someone who didn't immediately blab it.

Marinette, however, has learned from Chloé and Zoé. Some people need a chance. So she confronts Lila more quietly.

Whether or not Lila takes that advice is left to be seen...

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andromeda612 · 4 years

Text

The writer vs the liar

So, remember the prompt from a few days ago? You can chek it here

Well, I made a draft for what would be the whole fic, I'm gonna start it soon and will post it in Ao3, I would make a post when is ready and with every update, if you are interested make me know, so I can tag you.

I apologize for any mistake, english is not my first language, I hope you like it!

After Mari is expelled Nathaniel and Alix are worried and confused, because there is no way Marinette did those things (Alix defended Marinette in Reverser and I like to think that Nathaniel learned his lesson, so they are less likely to believe that Marinette would do anything of what Lila said) but all the mess is confusing. They talk but can't get a good answer. They decide to relax a little in the art club, they can't.

Marc noticing their mood ask what's wrong. So they tell him, and Marc is fast to point out all the wrong things with the whole situation. The "evidence" is circumstancial, superficial and easily planted, Damocles should have called Lila's parents too, no just Marinette's, Lila should had at least some bruises but there is no one, the protocole says that they needed to make an investigation, Mari has the right to prove her innocence, but Damocles just expelled her then and there. So yeah, the school messed up, because that failure in protocole and lack of professionalism can be addressed as neglect.

Thinking a little more they come to the conclusion that Marinette had been framed, but by who and why? If you think about it the only suspect is Lila, after all she was in the middle of the fire, but why would she did that? Marc asks for more background about this girl, because he only knows her because he had seen her sometimes in school and because Rose mentioned her once or twice, Nathaniel nor Alix have ever talked about her, Marinette either (and that interview on the Ladyblog is not that famous, so he missed it)

Alix explains the drama between those two, the seats thing (Marc tells them that it was wrong to move Mari to the back without asking her, maybe Nathaniel never had problem with being alone but he is not Marinette, they admit it was thoughtless from them and make a note to apologize later) and Marinette claming that Lila is a liar.

That catches Marc's atention, he knows Marinette, for him she is like a sister in everything but blood, after all she was the first person who was nice to him in school and despite not knowing in the time being that he has social anxiety she always was patient and kind with him until he was comfortable enough talking to her. Misunderstanding aside, she was the one who introduced him to Nathaniel and the rest of her friends from the art club, and they introduced him with the rest of their friends. Now he has two best friends (Mari and Alix) is dating his other bff (Nathaniel) has other good friends and is working in what he loves with his partner, all thanks to Marinette, so is no wonder that the two of them grew closer.

He knows that Mari hates liars, so if she thinks that this girl is a liar she must has a very good reason. Then Alix says that it just her being jealous because of Adrien. And yes, that may be true, Marinette tends to get jealous of any rival for the boy's affection, and can do crazy and, honestly, pretty bad stuff for him but again, he knows her and knows that at the end Marinette always admits her wrongdoings, apologizes and does better. He also knows that jealousy for itself is not a strong motive for dislike someone that much, because Chloe? is a brat, Kagami? He knows that Marinette actually helped Adrien in a date with her and now both girls are very good friends despite her knowing that Adrien actually is interested in Kagami, so if this Lila is really that good of a person then why Marinette seems to dislike her and think that is a liar? She has to has a reason.

When he says this Alix and Nathaniel have the decency of look ashamed, Marc is right, they (Alix and the girls the most) should have asked for her reasons instead of brush it off as simply jealousy, Marinette is better than that.

With his point clear, Marc asks for more details, maybe they can discover why Marinette thinks Lila is a liar. Again is Alix who talks (Nathaniel never had been one of Lila's admirers and he pays not much attention to the drama) and tells every story Lila told them (I'm not including the napkin incident because either Nathaniel nor Alix were there, Nathaniel was alone in another table and Alix wasn't in the cafeteria at all) and once she is done Marc is fast to point every single hole, contradiction and nonsense in Lila's claims.

Being a writer and a very active reader makes this kind of thing easy for him, it also helps that some of Lila's claims can be debunked with a little knowledge (arthritis doesn't work like that for example) and him has plenty of that, he likes to read about different topics, not just stories and comics, also is the fact that he makes lots of researching for his stories (the comic is not the only thing he writes for) even if they are about fantasy he likes them to be coherent and solid, so if he is going to use some topic he research to support his writing, so yeah he knows a little of many things. He also points out all the times Lila manipulated them so they did things for her, and how.

Now they know the truth, Lila IS a liar and a manipulative one.

HOLY SHIT MARINETTE WAS RIGHT! First they feel bad, they should have listened to her! They are also ashamed because now that they think about it most of the lies are dumb! They are idiots!

Marc is fast to comfort them, after all some of her lies are believable at least from their point of view, their class is not a normal one they have some famous people like Adrien a famous model, Chloe the mayor's daughter, Nathaniel is the ilustrator of one of the most popular comics in Paris, Marinette is Jagged Stone's favorite designer and has been prized by Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgois, Max is a genius with his own AI, there is Kitty Section and the list goes. So, one more student with conections and awesome claims is not that difficult to believe. Also, they are being manipulated, Lila use pity to make herself look vulnerable and fragil, so they would not question her or her claims, she also takes advantage of their kindness. Being fooled and manipulated is not a crime, they are victims too.

That make them feel better, but now they are pissed, because THEY ARE BEING FOOLED, MANIPULATED AND TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF! AND MARINETTE IS EXPELLED AND ALL IS THAT WITCH FAULT!

Marc is pissed too, being the patient and quiet person he is there are just a few things that makes him trully angry, but messing with his loved ones is the top of that list, and that little bitch is messing with all of his friends and his boyfriend! She is not just liying, manipulating and using them, she also gives them false hope with all the false promises she made, they are gonna be hurt once she fails in fulfil them. And MARINETTE IS EXPELLED so yeah, that brat crossed many lines.

For now they decide to talk to Marinette, Alix and Nathaniel need to apologize, and to make her know that the three of them know the truth and are by her side.

Later they discover that Marinette's expulsion is revoked, aparently all was a huge misunderstanding and Lila herself clarified the mess. Yeah, something is off here and they are not going to let their guard down, but at least Mari's name is clean.

The next day they are in the bakery with Marinette's favorite ice cream and two draws made by Alix and Nath, a -forgive-us-for-not-listened-you-and-for-being-bad-friends- gift. Marinette is relieved and actually cries of joy for having her friends by her side and free from Lila's claws, and of course she forgive them, after all they admitted their errors and apologized, also despite the evidence against her they gave her the benefit of the doubt, and for that she is grateful.

They talk and Marinette tells them how she found out the truth the same she told Alya and Nino (Marc tells her that it was not ok to follow Adrien and Lila but unlike them he still listened to her side of the story) she also point out that she ACTUALLY KNOWS Jagged Stone.

But hey! That doesn't mean that Adrien also knows the truth?

Yeah, she also tells them that Adrien is aware of Lila's true nature and also talks about the 'high road' advice. "HE TOLD YOU WHAT?"

But before any of them could get angry with Adrien she explains that he really thought her lies were harmless, also he believed that expose her would be bad because he called her out in a friendly way and still she was akumatized, but now that she was expelled he recognized that his advice was a bad one and that her lies can hurt people, he already apologized to her, and explained that he made a deal with Lila, he will be her friend and she will be a model and in return she will bring Mari back to school. He also admited that the best is to expose her, becasue netiher of them actually believe that Lila is going to let Marinette alone.

That makes them calm down, and forgive Adrien, he apologized to Marinette too and admited his error, also they think that a deal with the devil is punishment enough, and if they think about it, probably the poor boy didn't knew better, but he does now, so it's ok.

Then they learn about the threat in the bathroom and her almost akumatization. And they are even more pissed HOW DARE SHE? They apologize again for making her believe that she couldn't trust them with that. She says is ok, that she didn't take her too seriously, and she has faith in them, and so far they proved her right. Though, Marc wish that she could have talked to him at least, maybe they would have prevented all of this, but it doesn't matter.

Well, now they have one thing clear: they need to take that bitch down. But how? Lila could lie her way out, or twist the situation in her favor, they are trying to come up with a plan, but Marc is quiet, his mind working and then he has an idea.

With a calm and cool tone he says them "Just help me with some research, I'll take care of the rest" and replacing his usual sweet and shy demeanor there is a smirk and a cold determination and confidence in his face that surprise them (Nath actually finds it kind of hot)

They don't know what is he thinking, but they have seen him angry before (and thank god they have never been the cause of it, because Marc is a cinnamon roll but is very scary when is angry) and they know what his wrath is capable of. Whatever his plan is, they know is gonna work and dammit if it doesn't. They almost feel bad for Lila. Almost.

The next days they spend time together doing the investigation (they have some fun time and an awesome sleepover too), and finally they get solid proof to expose Lila, thanks to Marinette they get a video interview with Jagged Stone where the singer claims that he never had met Lila, and thanks to Marc's general knowledge in health and some help from Nathaniel's parents who both are doctors, they also get proof to debunk Lila's claims of illnes or other disabilities (specially the lying disease bullshit) and since Marc is a good researcher they manage to find some interesting stuff, like Mrs. Rossi contact information, is all in the embassy page.

With the investigation done, all what they need to do is wait for the perfect moment to expose the liar, and the oportunity comes two weeks later in the form of a picnic that Bustier's class organize just to hang out together, naturally Marc is invited and helps to organize said picnic, almost all of the class consider him a friend and one of them despite him being in Mendeleiev's class. Mari, Alix and Nathaniel still don't know what is his plan exactly, but they trust him. Adrien is aware of his plan but he doesn't know what exactly is either.

So here they are, in the park, in a cute blanket, with some delicious food and with great company (that doesn't include certain people, aka Chloe and the liar) and of course Lila is charming their friends with other of her lies, it takes all of their willpower to not roll their eyes. And then, listening carefully Marc takes the perfect moment to interrumpt the tale, social anxiety or not, that witch is hurting his beloved ones and he is not going to tolerate it, so even if he never has talked to her, fuck his shyness, that girl is gonna face the consequences for her actions. (It also helps that he is already friends with the rest of his boyfriend's class)

So, to everyone suprise he interrumpts Lila in middle sentence to point out the holes in what she is saying.

Alix, Nathaniel, Marinette and Adrien froze in panic, what is he thinking?! A direct confrontation was a bad idea, wasn't it? Marc locked eyes with the four of them and give a look thay says 'I get this' so they let him be, but now they are really uneasy.

What they didn't know is that the last days until now Marc has been doing more than just research, he was studying his enemy. Marc is a good listener, and being someone who likes to go unnoticed he became a very good observant too, he can notice little details and patterns, also he is a sensible and sympathetic boy so is easy for him to put himself in other's shoes, that combined makes him very good at reading and analysing people. He also made extra research in psychology and behaivor. So now, he knows how Lila works, he knows what to expect and how to answer. It also helps that he is very good with words, not just the ones he writes for his stories, but the ones he says and also he is very good with other's people words, he knows how to use them. That is his plan, he is going to use all his skills and knowledge to trap Lila, she thinks that she is smart and can control the situation, but Marc is going to prove that she can and will lose in her own game. Her lies are gonna be her downfall.

Lila of course tries to make an excuse or another lie to save face, but Marc refutes her again and again, and the rest of the class? Some are confused and others seems thoughtful shit! She is losing control! She tries but this black haired boy seems to be smart, he gets her cornered until the point that she can't lie her way out, and her classmates are starting to look suspicious. She tries to change tactics, the tears worked against Marinette, they will work now. She hides her face in her hands and starts to sob.

"I just was trying to share some of my wonderful experiencies with my friends, so I could give them some advice to help them in the future. Why are you being so mean? I haven't done anything to you! " That make people like Rose or Mylene to softened and go to comfort her, and between her hands she can see Alya ready to confront the boy, but Marc is ready for this kind of tactic, is his turn to make a move.

"I'm sorry but, How does this make me mean? I just pointed some facts because honestly, I'm a bit confused. At first I thought that you just made a little mistake, but then you just said another nonsense! Why would YOU do that?"

And then she is losing the little control she manage to regain. Because no matter how much they want to comfort her, Marc has a point and what he said so far actually makes sense, at least more sense than what she said. The others start to look torn between comfort or question her.

"Well... how would you know that what I said is wrong? Where is your proof?" Lila crosses her arms and look to other side, just to hide the smirk in her face, that would be enough and that annoying nobody will learn to not get in her way.

But, much to her surprise Marc actually has a good answer to that.

"Uh... comon sense? I mean, If I'm being a little honest if you think about it, some of the things you said have no... logic. Also I like to read a lot and about different things, including what you were saying so I know for a fact that some of the things you said are wrong. And my proof? Well a quick search in google is enough to prove me right"

Lila pales, she was not expecting that answer, and to her utter horror she can see some of her classmates typing in their phones, probably fact checking for once, she need to fix this now! She looks around trying to find some sympathy or something that would help, but she only see her classmates reading something in their phones and some of them are starting to frown, then she looks to Marinette and has an idea, this would break her little deal with Adrien but is ok, she wasn't planning to leave the brat alone anyway and her model career is in his father's hands, and she already has him tied around her finger.

So, before anyone could say something she sobs more louder and points a finger to Marinette.

"This is because of Marinette, isn't it? She put you into this! I-" but she couldn't finish because Marc interrumpts her, he also is ready for Lila trying to blame Marinette and he is not having it!

"And what does she has to do with this? Is not her fault that you have your facts wrong" and now the others are starting to narrow their eyes towards her, Damn it! Well she made the baker a threat, is time to fulfil it.

Lila makes the best she can to look pityful and scared. "Well... I didn't want to say this because I thought that nobody would believe me but... Marinette threatened me in the bathroom the day I came back from Achu!" She cries to everybody's shock.

"WHAT?!" Everybody screamed that. Marinette and her we-know-the-truth squad are frozen and can't believed it, THE NERVE OF THIS GIRL!

The rest to their friends are equally stunned, because they just can't believe what Lila said.

Lila using the shock continues with her sob story.

"She cornered me in the bathroom and told me that she would turn all of you against me! And all because she is jealous! And now she is using this boy to make you think that I'm a liar, just like she said!" Lila hug herself in an attempt to look small and is crying full force now.

Marc has to use all his willpower to not scream and call her a hypocrite, but he has a perfect answer for that too.

"Marinette would NEVER do that!" And to Lila's surprise and Marinette's glee is not Marc who says that, is Alya.

"Marinette is the sweetest girl, and she is not a bully!" That was Rose, who walked away from Lila like she burned her. And the rest of the class make their agreement known.

Lila really did NOT expect THAT reaction! They are supose to be comforting her and screaming to Marinette, not defending her! It's ok she can fix it.

"See? Is this why I didn't want to say anything! You don't believe me!"

Marc takes the word again "We know Marinette, we know she has flaws but she is one of the best people we know" again everybody agrees with that.

Lila is getting desperate, this is not what is supose to happen! And where is an akuma when you need it?! But Lila refuses to lose!

"Look I know you all thougth that you knew her and that she was your friend, but the truth is that Marinette is not what she seems to be, she is a manipulative liar and is just using you!"

Again, is not Marc who talks, this time is Kim

"No, you look Lila, I have known Marinette since diapers, and I know she has flaws but she is NOT a bad person"

"Yeah, and using us? She is the one who goes out of her way just to help us! She is a caring friend! Heck! We actually had to convince her that it's ok to pay to her everytime we comission something from her!" That was Nino

"And still, she gives us discounts everytime she can, but jus for the record, we have no problem in paying the whole price, Marinette, your job is awesome and you deserve to be fairly rewarded" that was Ivan, and Marinette gives him a very grateful smile, the rest of her friends agree with him and she smiles to them too.

"But-but" Lila is in trouble, she tries to think fast, but then Max just dig her hole deeper.

"Also, what Marc just said about your story is also true, all the wrong facts and holes, I asked Markov to fact check and the evidence supports Marc, the only conclusion is that you were lying to us!"

Nonononononono NO!

"And since you told us this lie like you did with any other of your stories I wondered What else was a lie? I also asked Markov to confirm every thing that you had said to us, and nearly the 86.65% was a lie"

Marc smiles, the game is going exactly according to his plan, even some of his moves were made by others, he is happy that Marinette has friends with such a faith in her, ready to stand up for her just like she does for them. But he knows that the game is still on, Lila still has some pieces, but Marc already steal her big ones, she just has some pawns to defend her King and Marc has his army intact.

Well fuck, she is doomed, the rest of the class looks ready to attack her... and then she remember her last card, it's a wild card, her lies will not work the same way anymore but she could save face, she will, eventually, come up with something to regain her control.

Well it seems that there is a limit, so I make a part 2

140 notes · View notes

mcheang · 5 years

Note

I'm back and with an idea i just had to share with you a fic with Alya knowing Lila was lying but wanted to knock Marinette down because he felt jealous and inferior to Marinette who had talent and headstart to her carreer and celebrity connections (she was still friends with her cuz Mari had a lot of perks )so she has an excuse to lash out her frustration and Mari calls her out saying Mari has been nothing but a good friend and she's been nothing but a bad person bcuz of her insecurites

Jealousy doesn’t become a hero

I very much prefer writing Lila and/or Bustier salt. But I hope this draft satisfies you.

When Volpina had been defeated, Marinette went to check the Ladyblog and was relieved to have found the interview deleted. Adrien must have informed Alya.

Imagine her surprise when Lila kept lying about her time with Achu. Despite her evidence, Alya dismissed it as jealousy.

Um...maybe Lila decided posing as her BFF was a bad idea and asked Alya to take the video down?

When Chameleon came about and was given the most embarrassing defeat of all time, Marinette sat watching Lila give her class a full-detail tall tale about how she rescued (defeated) her.

Then, struck by inspiration, Marinette went back to class, a triumphant air about her, her smirk barely repressed.

Adrien saw but shrugged it off. He figured Marinette realized Lila would get caught sooner or later. He joined her at the back later and soon their old seating arrangement was back.

That night, Alya was surprised when she heard a voice in her bedroom window.

“While I am glad that you don’t run after every akuma now, I hope you still check your sources, Alya.”

Alya turned and beamed. “Ladybug! What’s up? Do you need me for another Mission?”

Ladybug leaned against the wall. “No. I’m here regarding Lila. I’ve been hearing rumors that you posted an interview of her claiming to be my BFF- without checking with me.”

Alya blinked. “Oh. You think I’ve been suckered. Don’t worry, Ladybug, I know Lila’s nothing but a liar.”

Ladybug blinked. “But your interviews?”

Alya nodded and went to open a page on her laptop. She figured one of her classmates must have spread the rumor until it reached Ladybug’s ear (she doesn’t know why Lila was akumatized into Volpina). “I did post her interviews. But do you know how you can control who sees what you post? I made sure those interviews could only be seen by our class. And I have to approve what comments appear on every post. The comments you see are made by our classmates solely, but Lila doesn’t know all that because of their usernames. Like I’m going to ruin my journalistic career for a tabloid post!”

Ladybug blinked again, confused. “But why indulge Lila? Why let her lie to your friends?”

Alya shrugged. “It’s a weird way to make friends, sure. But maybe once Lila realizes how cool we are, she’ll learn she can trust us with the truth.”

Ladybug narrowed her eyes. Manipulating their classmates to serve her food is not a way to make friends. (And dismissing her was not very friendly of Alya either!) “You are lying to me, Alya Césaire.”

Alya started backward, and started to get nervous. Ladybug was the reason her blog was so popular, and her only chance to become a hero. She was the smartest girl in Paris and could see through lies like glass.

Alya had 2 choices. Lie again and be exposed (and never be a hero again or granted interviews), or tell the truth and never be a hero again (but at least Ladybug is more likely to forgive her)

“Fine. I indulge Lila because it’s nice to see someone else in class get the spotlight.”

Ladybug tilted her head. “I’m sure Chloe has been improving.”

Alya shook her head. “No, not her. I mean Marinette.”

Ladybug was shocked. “The bakers’ Daughter?”

Alya wasn’t surprised Ladybug knew Marinette, not when she was the one who arranged her first official interview with Ladybug.

LB: How is she in the spotlight?

Alya sighed. “She’s the most popular girl in class. She gets confessed to on a regular basis. Even my own Boyfriend was interested in her before me. She knows Jagged Stone, which is probably how she knows Lila is lying. Marinette even got her designs praised by Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeois. Her parents are owners of the most popular bakery in Paris. Clara Nightingale and Adrien Agreste both think she is star material, and worthy of being called Ladybug.”

Alya kept going on, noting that Ladybug’s surprised face wasn’t exactly discouraging her. In fact Marinette was still too stunned to react.

“I just wanted someone else to be in the limelight. And if it couldn’t be me. I’d rather it be anybody else, even a liar.”

Ladybug gathered her thoughts. “So you’re just jealous? That Marinette is popular? But you’re popular too.”

Alya gave a bleak laugh. “Hardly. In class, I’m dismissed as the obsessive and nosy reporter. I don’t know any celebrities and they certainly don’t follow the Ladyblog. More people download apps for akuma alerts and hero sightings than subscribe to my blog. I’ve been dismissed for proposing crazy theories, which in hindsight is reasonable.”

LB: I’m assuming you didn’t tell Marinette you know Lila is lying because of that.

AC: Obviously. Because then I’d have to back her up and she would be the hero again. I used the excuse that she was jealous, and she was. But I knew Marinette is above jealousy. It’s annoyingly. She was ready to give Adrien up to an ice queen.

LB wrinkled her eyebrows, drawing on her professionalism and burying her own hurt for later. “If you are upset by Marinette’s success and annoyed by her attitude, why befriend her?”

AS: Because of her connections! Thanks to her, I got to star in Clara’s music video. She somehow got you to agree to do an interview with me. I persuaded her to take over as class president so I didn’t have to do the real work and Chloe wouldn’t be in charge anymore. She gives me free custom designed clothing. And no offence to my mum, but Marinette’s pastries are the best breakfast in the world.

Ladybug finally stood up tall. Alya had been so lost in the relief and satisfaction of finally venting out her jealousy and frustration that she had momentarily forgotten that her listener in the shadows was a very influential idol whom she wanted to make a good impression on.

Ladybug said coldly, “From what you are saying, it sounds like Marinette has been a better Friend that you have ever been. You are as bad as Lila Rossi. You lie for your own gain. And if there’s one thing I despise above all else, Miss Césaire, it’s liars.”

As Ladybug launched her Yoyo out, Alya rushed to make her plea. “Wait! Please wait! I’m sorry!”

LB: No, you’re only sorry you got caught.

ALya cried out, “what can I do to make it up to you?”

Ladybug gave her one last impassive look. “For starters, I’d say tell the truth. To everyone.”

Ladybug left Alya in horrified and torn silence.

As Ladybug returned home, she detransformed and wept on her balcony, amid the perfume of flowers. She could finally face the betrayal and sadness she had kept away in front of Alya.

Tikki sadly cozied up to Marinette’s neck, trying to offer comfort.

Hawkmoth was alerted by a teenager’s despair, agony and betrayal.

Hawkmoth: Hooray, I get to akumatize Marinette after all!

He doesn’t. Adrien saw Ladybug outside and went out to join her. As he searched for Ladybug, he saw the akuma heading for a weeping Marinette.

“Marinette, move!”

Marinette looked up in surprise (Tikki quickly hid among the flowers) “Chat?”

“Cataclysm!” He destroyed the butterfly in front of her face.

Marinette gasped.

Chat quickly steadied himself on the balcony. “Marinette, are you alright? What’s wrong?”

Because she was definitely not alright. Those were tear tracks on her face. Chat felt sad that his princess was sad, and wanted to rip out the face of whoever made her cry.

Marinette shook her head. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Chat was doubtful. An akuma appeared. Clearly she couldn’t handle it. “Are you sure? I’m here for you, you know.”

Marinette finally burst into sobs. She leaped into Chat’s arms. Chat held her close as she confessed the source of her troubles.

“I just learned that Alya wasn’t really my Friend at all. She was just using me.”

Chat was confused. What was she talking about?

Marinette saw his confusion and explained. “I was the one who told Ladybug about Lila first. She got mad and went to confront Lila, i assume that got her akumatized. When Lila got akumatized again today, Ladybug went to visit Alya to make sure she knew Lila was a liar.”

Ok...Chat guessed that explained Marinette’s attitude just before lunch ended.

“And it turns out Alya knew Lila was a liar all along. She never really posted her interviews to the public. She’s just been indulging Lila because she wanted to knock me down.”

Chat was shocked. “And Ladybug told you all this?”

Marinette let out a bark of laughter. “She didn’t have to. I heard Alya myself. I was near her bedroom door when I heard voices saying my name. Once I heard what Alya had to say about me, I didn’t bother knocking or to announce myself. I doubt Nora would bother mentioning me since she was preoccupied with the twins and her parents weren’t home.”

Chat guessed Marinette had new evidence that Lila was a liar and wanted to show it to Alya. But instead she happened to hear a conversation that revealed Alya’s true colours.

Marinette wiped her cheeks bitterly. “She did everything today willingly. She left me to sit in the back alone, without consulting me. She dismissed me and accused me of being jealous. All along, she was the jealous one, and I actually thought she was my Friend!”

Marinette buried her face in her hands.

Chat rubbed Marinette’s back consolingly. “Cheer up princess. You still have the rest of your friends, and me.”

Marinette sniffled. This was not comforting to her. Her friends weren’t much better. And she didn’t see Chat regularly.

Chat sensed he was failing at comforting her and tried again. “So what are you going to do tomorrow. Will you confront Alya?”

“I don’t know. I sit next to her and she is the first person I talk to every morning at school. But I can’t see her face without wanting to shout Liar now. And if I do, she’ll just turn the whole thing against me, like Lila did. (Lila did what now?) I don’t know what to do.”

Chat’s heart broke at how lost Marinette sounded. He tiled her chin up so she would look at him.

“Tell you what, princess. Tomorrow, you are going to walk with your back straight and head proud into that classroom. You are going to give Alya Césaire a polite greeting and ignore her. Talk to your other classmates. Listen to music. Write in your notebooks. Revise old lessons. Do whatever. But don’t give Alya the time of day until you are ready to face her.”

The next day, Adrien was prepared. He ignored Lila and gave a confused and sad Alya the cold shoulder.

When Marinette arrived, Adrien was all sunshine and immediately invited her to a conversation.

Marinette gratefully accepted. And though she stumbled, she kept Chat’s advice and ignored Alya’s nudges and comments.

They kept talking until class started. The girls were thrilled to see progress.

Throughout the first half of the school day, Alya kept trying to talk to Marinette or slip her notes. Marinette ignored her.

Alya guessed what had happened and braced herself. She had to tell the truth. She didn’t want to know what Ladybug would do otherwise if she didn’t.

When Lunch came and Adrien invited him to join her; Alya firmly grabbed Marinette’s hand and said in a low voice. “I need to talk to you. Now.”

Marinette reluctantly followed. Unbeknownst to her, Adrien and Lila decided to eavesdrop, for different reasons. Adrien wanted to be there for Marinette and Lila wanted dirt.

In a deserted classroom, Alya finally said the words. “Ladybug told you about last night, didn’t she?”

Marinette’s answer was vague. “She didn’t have to. But she did give me a brief warning this morning. I connected the dots on my own.”

Alya laughed bitterly. “Of course, even Ladybug chooses you over me.”

Marinette stayed silent, waiting for Alya to continue.

“Let me be clear, Marinette. I’m only being honest because of Ladybug. I’ve only been your Friend because of what you do for me.”

Even though Marinette was expected it, it still hurt. Thankfully, her only controlled response was an audible exhale.

Adrien: How could you Alya?

Lila: oh snap!

“I know Lila’s lying but I indulged her because I wanted someone else to take the stage instead of you.”

Lila: she knows?

Marinette raised a brow. “Even at the risk of your blog’s reputation?”

“The interview is only seen by our class. The public can’t access it.”

Lila fumed. She had been played. Alya had used her instead of the other way around. Silently, Lila brought out her phone to record the conversation. Despite Adrien shaking his head, Lila glared at him, daring him to lecture her now.

Lila got the whole juicy bit. Alya admitted what she was jealous about, her betrayal to Marinette. And at the end of it, Marinette was still composed. Adrien had to admire her for it, standing strong in the face of such betrayal.

Marinette: you did all of that just to hurt me? Out of petty jealousy? That you accused me of envy- you resented me that much? and you only used me for free stuff and have been my friend when it's convenient? (This was part of the request) you know, I actually felt hurt that you were just taking advantage of me Alya. But now I just feel sorry for you. Some people like Chloe and Adrien are lucky, they are born with opportunities we can only dream of. But the rest of us, like Nathaniel, like Kitty Section, like myself. We work hard. Sure we have help from our friends, but we never take advantage of them. We have struggled and yes, we do face setbacks, but throughout it all, we have stayed true to ourselves. But you, the moment you see someone thriving, you don’t focus on improving yourself, you just try to leech off that person, like you did to Lila, and like you did to me. You can’t think of safer methods to record akuma fights. You never listen to anyone’s reasoning and criticism of your theories. You are stuck in your own entitled world, that you can’t see the bigger picture. You’re a parasite, Alya Césaire. So...I won’t expose you, because I have no doubt you’ll turn everyone against me. But I won’t be your Friend anymore.”

Alya wasn’t bothered. “Fine. So we agree to never speak to each other again unless necessary?”

“Yes.” Marinette walked out first. Adrien and Lila scattered before she could open the door.

Adrien immediately went to grab Marinette for lunch and did all he could to distract her from her recent ordeal.

Meanwhile, Lila edited the video to avoid incriminating herself and sent it to the class group chat.

She hates Marinette sure, but no one plays Lila for a fool and gets away with it.

The class is shocked and angry at Alya, who tries to claim that Lila is lying. She runs away from the mob and returns as Lady Wifi to punish Lila.

Ladybug defeats her but Alya demands a question if Ladybug is friends with Lila. Feeling sorry for Alya, Ladybug announces that her only Best Friend is Chat Noir. She does not befriend civilians.

Alya is sentenced to switch seats with Nathaniel. Adrien takes her place as Deputy. Nino dumps Alya. Lila and her new desk mate keep sabotaging each other.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #adrienette #marichat #lila karma #lila is exposed #lila salt #lila gets exposed #ml salt fic #alya salt

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ladyanput · 5 years

Note

Alya salt Alya married Nino at 19 after high school and had a kid but after a year they divorce bc of Lila. 18 years later Alya (time hasn't been too kind to her) is walking around Paris looking for a good story, sees Nino in a red carpet event and beside him is a 36 year old Marinette who looks no older than 26 with a 19/20 year old girl who turns out to be her daughter who was adopted by Mari once she married Nino a year after he divorced Alya and her daughter calls her out in front of paps.

I love me some Ninette

---

"Alya-"

"No, Nino, I'm done!" Alya snapped slapping her husband's hands away, a snarl clear in place. "You cheated on me, so you don't get to talk!"

"I didn't cheat on you!" In the next room, their newborn daughter was crying from the screaming. "Alya, Stella is a girl I work with! She's a fellow DJ, but she's ace! She has no interest in me whatsoever!"

"Like ace is an actual thing." Alya snorted scornfully, crossing her arms, her eyes narrowed. "Lila told me she saw you two kissing. I am your WIFE! I should be your first priority, not some hussy!"

"Lila?! You are still listening to Lila?! Did you learn nothing in collège?! Lycée?!" Nino thundered out, the crying in the other room getting worse. He tried to get himself to calm down by breathing out through his nose. "Get the hell out."

"What?" Alya sounded scandalized, before poking him hard in the chest. "You can't give me out of our apartment-"

"MY apartment!" Nino snapped back, pushing her hand away, before grabbing her arm and dragging her towards the door. "You don't pay for a single thing here, you can't keep a single job because of the tarnished reputation you caused yourself from believing in Lila!"

Nino shoved his wife out of the apartment and shut the door after her, locking it swiftly. He ignored the banging and screaming from the other side, instead running into the bedroom, scooping his wailing daughter into his arms.

"It's okay, starlight, it's fine.." He whispered as he rocked her, holding her close to his chest. "No one will hurt you, you'll be safe."

---

It had been a rough divorce. Alya had tried to get half of everything he owned, but her relentless screaming and cursing made the judge rule in his favour.

But what really egged him was that she never asked for custody of their daughter. Nino had known Alya hadn't been exactly thrilled at being a mother at nineteen, but no one was! No one was ready for that kind of responsibility, but he had vowed to stay with her, that he'd love both of them, he'd provide the best that he could. And he had, he was taking off as D J, his music was already getting huge hits and he was even getting revenue from his songs.

But that never seemed to be enough for Alya. She was blacklisted from most major news agencies, but never held any job she got for long. It was all because she was jealous of the grand things Lila said she had.

Lila. Fuck, Nino hated that woman. She had been the source of all of this. He remembered when Lila had first met his daughter. She had not so subtly said that now Alya's life was over with a baby, and it was a pity she hadn't aborted their daughter when she'd had the chance. Nino had screamed at her and had banned her from the apartment. But Alya kept going out and meeting her, eating up her bullshit.

Perhaps he was better off without Alya. Nino sighed and he walked through the city park, carrying little Daphné in her stroller. He had wanted out of that apartment, out of the place where he and Alya had planned their life together.

He was nineteen and already divorced. How sad was that?

"Nino? Nino Lahiffe?" The voice broke Nino out of his thoughts and his gaze settled on a young woman not standing far from him. Her large blue eyes met his, and he felt a tug of familiarity. "I can't believe it! Nino, it's so good to see you!"

Marinette. It was Marinette. The sight of her brought a smile to his face. She rushed over to hug him, but stopped sort when she saw Daphné.

"Oh! Is she yours?" Marinette cooed, looking so amazing with her dark hair pinned up and a pale rose pantsuit. She looked to well out together, the complete opposite of how he was feeling.

"Yeah. This is Daphné. Daphné, meet Marinette. I've known her since I was a kid." Nino smiled down at his daughter. He knew she couldn't quite understand him yet, but he liked to be polite afterall.

"Oh Nino, she's precious! Where's Alya at?" He saw the hesitation in her eyes when she asked that question, but she too had been raised to be polite.

"She..." Nino's voice trailed off before he cleared his throat. "She left me. She's not in our lives anymore."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Marinette instantly took his hand in her own and squeezed it. "If you ever need anything, I'm here, Nino! Don't hesitate to call me."

And he knew by looking at her, she meant it.

---

In the three weeks, Marinette came by every day to help the best she could. And she was the best Nino has ever seen work with kids.

It took a few months before Nino could get up the courage to ask Marinette out on a date. He took her to a nice restaurant. He learned that she was about to launch her own brand, thanks to the help of Audrey Bourgeois.

He soon gained traction with his music. He even managed to film a few short films, when Marinette could baby sit for it.

It took him a year to finally kiss Marinette. She tasted so sweet.

It took him a month after that for them both to say 'I love you'.

It took him two years to ask her to marry him. She, of course, said yes.

Marinette's brand took off, Nino's music and directing was a hit. They were content, with their beautiful daughter, Daphné.

---

Alya scowled as she checked her phone. Why the hell wasn't Lila texting her back? She had promised Alya tickets to this premiere.

At the age of thirty eight-thirty, Alya still had little to no patience. And very little in ways of reining in her temper. Not that she really had to for anyone; her family wouldn't talk to her, neither would any of her old friends. All of the jobs she got were so jealous of her, they always found faults in her and fired her.

Whatever. She'd make it big. When she heard about this new upcoming director, she knew she had to try and score an interview for the blog she still kept. Then people would be begging to hire her.

But Lila never replied.

With a huff of frustration, Alya adjusted the tight black dress she wore. It was from when she was nineteen, but she was blind to it being far too small, it hugging her body in a very unflattering light.

She pushed her way through the crowd lining one side of the red carpet before the theatre. She glared at one of the security guards keeping her behind the velvet rope, before taking out her phone. She just had to get an interview!

She watched as the actors in the movie strode by. She called out their names, but didn't get a response.

Then the director stepped out from a stretch limousine. And Alya felt her heart skip a beat.

Nino looked so handsome. So tall and professional in his suit. With a stunning woman on his arm, dressed in a floor length, body hugging gown. She looked perfect, and it made Alya's jaw clench in jealousy.

She recognized the woman. It was Marinette. Of course it was Marinette, it was always Marinette, the liar...

Her heart stop at the next person to leave the limo. A young woman with long, dark wavy hair and golden eyes. She looked to be in her late teens, and beamed at her parents with obvious joy.

"D- Daphné!" The name was out of Alya's mouth before she realized. Her daughter's golden eyes landed on her birth mother and her brows drew together in confusion, no recognition flashing in them.

"Daphné, hurry up, we can't be late!" Marinette had stopped with Nino, and was smiling brightly at her daughter.

"Coming Maman!" Daphné rushed over to catch up, and the family of three posed for a few pictures, before heading inside.

And Alya stood there, shellshocked. And she stood there, even when everyone left. Even when the movie started inside. Even when it began to rain. And she began to cry.

Taglist: @vixen-uchiha @ravennightingaleandavatempus @2sunchild2 @crazylittlemunchkin @bee-wrecker @souleateralicestein @loysydark @kceedraws @virgil-is-a-cutie @sidessunnybumblebee @persephonebutkore @18-fandoms-unite-08 @suzen23smith @luciferge @theelventhgod @noirdots @space--butterflies @ghostglaceon @magicalfirebird @goggles-mcgee @chocolate1721 @realrandomposts

#alya salt #miraculous salt #ninette

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aravenwriter · 4 years

Text

My Chemical Romance Lyrics Prompt List Part 2

We are so far from you

Here's what I've got to say

Tomorrow we'll do it again

Where were you when all of the embers fell?

Well if you wanted honesty, that's all you had to say.

Killjoys, make some noise!

Would I lie to you?

You don't know a thing about my sins

I lost my fear of falling

Let me be the one to save you

Oh baby, let me in

Do you wanna hold my hand?

Well, there's no way I'm kissing that guy

Can I speak?

It's not your fault that no one ever does

Girl, you've got to be what tomorrow needs

I'm drunk, I suppose

Gimme more, gimme more, gimme more

Do you remember that day when we met?

I can't control myself because I don't know how

Your life will never be the same

I gotta shout this out so everybody knows

Please understand it has to be this way

This planet's ours to defend

You said you read me like a book, but the pages all are torn and frayed

This ain't about all the friends you made

You left my heart an open wound

Now will it matter after I'm gone?

I miss you more than I did yesterday

We ain't gonna be the ones left standing

Do you care at all?

Stop asking me questions, I'd hate to see you cry

I'd like to learn your name

I hope you're ready for a firefight

I'm just the way that the doctor made me

Don't walk away

If life ain't just a joke then why are we laughing?

You won't like where we'll go

Don't let them see your back

I'm who I've got to be

Can you hear me cry out to you?

I am not afraid to walk this world alone

I'm not o-fucking-kay

Can't find my way home

We could be in the park and dancing by a tree

They got methods of keeping you clean

We're not working out

We are all a bunch of liars

I sleep in empty pools and vacant alleyways

I don't love you like I did yesterday

I'm taking back the life you stole

Shut up and sing it with me

I think they never liked you anyway

I think I better go now

If you marry me, would you bury me?

It's death or victory

Late dawns and early sunsets, just like my favorite scenes

I hear you've been bleeding

Things are better if I stay

Do or die, you'll never make me

You are never coming home

Everybody hide

Ah, nobody knows all the trouble I've seen!

This never meant nothing to ya

You like D&D, Audrey Hepburn, Fangoria, Harry Houdini and croquet.

Will you pray for me?

Someone get me to the doctor

We got innocence for days!

So, I can't hurt you anymore.

Now I'm gonna show you how much I love you

Is this what you always want me for?

You're so cool, you're so cool, so cool!

Well, don't I look pretty walking down the street in the best damn dress I own?

Hey you look like somebody I used to know

Can we settle up the score?

It's really quite pleasant except for the smell

When I grow up I want to be nothing at all!

I’ll turn it into some facts

Give me a reason to believe

The lights are out and the party's over

Take my fucking hand

You're never gonna fit in much, kid

I fought them all off just to hold you close and tight

It was the worst thing that I'd ever done

Could I? Should I?

Tell me I'm a bad, bad, bad, bad man

I'd end my days with you in a hail of bullets

I’m so fucking alone

We'll fly home, you and I

We'll show 'em what we all mean

It's just the hardest part of living

Well I sure like the way you're looking at me

I'll make you understand and you can trade me for an apparition

I'm just a man, I'm not a hero

Tell me where we go from here

We'll shoot back holy water like cheap whiskey

How could you cry for me?

Let me break this awkward silence

You'll never take me alive

So long and goodnight

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stellarlex · 5 years

Text

Why Lila Apolgists Make Absolutely No Sense

*SIGH*

You know, typically, I honestly believe its fine to like a villain’s character. They can be interesting, and so does their progression. Perfect example of this is Chloe Bourgeois. Don’t get me wrong, I hate Chloe with a passion. She’s entitled, an elitist, a spoiled brat, a vicious bully, and an even worse superhero who frankly shouldn’t have been given another chance since she squandered it by still being a bully after being trusted with the Bee Miraculous.

However, we do see her character change a bit once we see how her mother is. Frankly, her mother’s abandonment of her is still no excuse. Especially since now that her mother is staying in Paris, Chloe and her mother delight and even bond over being as mean as possible to others. Chloe does gain some insight but has trouble learning from her mistakes.

Chloe apologists make excuses for her because of her mother, but they have no leg to stand on because while Audrey Bourgeois is mean, treating her daughter meanly didn’t turn Chloe mean. I say that because Audrey Bourgeois was absent from Chloe’s life, so she had no real influence on Chloe. Chloe just likes being mean, and so does her mother and they bond over it.

Which brings me to Lila Rossi.

Lila Rossi is a flagrant, vicious, unrepentant liar and a bully. From the very first episode that she appears in, it’s clear the only purpose of her lying is to make herself look better to get people to like her, and so that she could possess Adrien Agreste.

Some Lila apologists, (I’m not gonna @ anyone because quite frankly some people are literal infants who can’t take when someone criticizes their fave character and feel the need to insult people when they were in fact not insulted at all. News flash majority of the fandom hates her and if you don’t want her to be criticized in your posts, turn off the fucking comments.) wholly believe that Lila was just lonely and is a “teenage girl who makes dumb decisions like every other teenager.” “Just wants people to like her because she moves around so much.” “She’s being manipulated by Hawk Moth.”

OH. FUCKING. PLEASE.

First of all, Lila doesn’t want friends. She wants fans. There’s a big difference. Lila didn’t even tryto be honest when she first got there. She just immediately came in and started lying about knowing all these famous people and making promises she couldn’t possibly keep to make herself look good. News flash, there’s no fucking excuse for her to lie like that. Was it dumb for her to lie like that? Yes. But for those apologists that say that she’s just a teenager and that teenagers make dumb mistakes, the point of negative consequences is that you LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. She had negative consequences when she got caught by Ladybug and chewed out.

And before people come on my post and whine about how Ladybug shouldn’t have chewed her out like that, lemme break that interaction down a bit:

_______

- Lila used a superhero’s name to make herself look good, but not only did she make herself a target for Hawk Moth, she jeopardized Ladybug’s standing in Paris. What would happen if Lila’s lying made citizens view Ladybug negatively, which considering how easily Lila turned Marinette’s classmates against her, isn’t a stretch.

- Ladybug had been jealous, there’s no doubt about that and I don’t condone her jealousy. Jealousy however is NOT the only reason she followed Lila. It stopped being about Lila the moment Marinette saw Lila steal that book. I say that because Marinette was clearly afraid that Adrien would believe Lila’s lies since Lila had worked hard to make herself look like a real superhero in Adrien’s eyes in order to gain his affection. Marinette was also angry because Lila, who she doesn’t know from a can of paint was disparaging her superhero persona in order to manipulate Adrien into liking her.

_______

Now that I’ve broken that interaction down, I can say that Ladybug had absolutely EVERY right to chew Lila out like that. Ladybug softly taking her aside wasn’t gonna help Lila. Lila would have just kept lying because it works for her. Lila needed to be exposed and embarrassed about being caught, because those are adequate consequences to being a liar. Consequences are a learning tool for when you do something wrong. Yeah she made a “dumb teenager mistake”, but when she was caught she felt embarrassed and should have learned not to lie like that anymore.

Instead, she blames Ladybug for outing her, which is absolutely stupid.

Lila has no one to blame but herself for her actions. Ladybug isn’t the one who lied, Lila did. Ladybug wasn’t the one who stole Adrien’s book, got a fake miraculous to impress him, and toss his book in the garbage. Ladybug also didn’t lie to her parents about school being closed because of akuma attacks, and lie to her classmates and teacher about traveling to these exotic places. Ladybug didn’t willingly work with Hawk Moth on Heroes Day to get multiple people akumatized by making Ladybug look like a villain. Ladybug wasn’t the one who lied about having a disability to sit next to a boy, nor did she threaten a student in a bathroom and then again willingly work with Hawk Moth. Ladybug didn’t lie her way into the Agreste mansion in order to spend time with Adrien, or give him an unwanted kiss, take a picture of it, and then send it out to everyone she could in order to make it seem like she and Adrien were together. Nor did Ladybug willing team up with an akuma and lie about being injured so that the heroes of Paris would lose the battle. Ladybug also didn’t willingly go after Chloe Bourgeois so that she could break the connection that Chloe and Adrien have.

No. Lila did all of that.

Which is why it baffles me that Lila apologists makes these excuses for Lila like she’s some little lost lamb who’s just so lonely that she can’t help but lie in order to make friends, or that she’s being manipulated and groomed by Hawk Moth to act that way.

BOO. FUCKING. HOO.

Nobody told Lila to lie to people. She did that all on her own and she guards her lies viciously. She was a liar before Hawk Moth ever targeted her, and judging by how good she is at manipulating others, she’s been doing this long enough to be good at it. Being the new student is no excuse to lie to make friends. The moment she was caught by Ladybug she should have learned her lesson and confess to her classmates. If she were repentant about it, it’s more than likely that people would forgive her. Maybe not everyone, but that’s still a consequence she should experience for lying.

Even if she really was that lonely, she’s only going to be more lonely once she gets caught by everyone. And then she’s back to her supposedly lonely status with the added consequence that no one trusts her.

But Lila’s own willingness to do anything to guard her lies by isolating and bullying someone makes the entire argument that she’s lonely unfounded. In fact, Lila’s loneliness works to her advantage because without her mother there to dispute her lies, she can lie all she wants and manipulate people to her side to her heart’s content. If she was really just some teenage girl who was lonely, why would she make someone else feel isolated and lonely? That entire argument is BOGUS.

As for being manipulated by Hawk Moth, I will say that he is manipulating Lila, but not NEARLY to the extent that Lila apologists make it seem like she is.

Let me explain:

_________

Hawk Moth didn’t manipulate Lila into going after Marinette. Lila did that all on her own. Hawk Moth did however make a public statement to piss Lila off in order to akumatize her on Heroes Day…..

The first time.

The second time was absolutely her own willingness to work with Hawk Moth, a terrorist, in order to take down the heroes of Paris. Once he took those powers away, he was no longer manipulating her through magic. She looked more than happy to continue working with Hawk Moth. I will admit though, after seeing Troublemaker, that it may be possible to still be in the villain mindset even when the item is broken and the person returns to their regular form without being cleansed by Miraculous Ladybug. The majority of those who didn’t do that, for example Weredad, where Tom went back to his human form and didn’t still act like a villain despite not being cleansed by Miraculous Ladybug, proves that it is more than possible for a person’s akuma powers to be taken away and they return to their normal mindset.

I fully believe the latter example is what happened to Lila.

Her continued hate of Ladybug is proof enough that she willingly helped Hawk Moth the second time he akuamtized her on Heroes Day. She didn’t regret anything she did.

_________

Lila is more than willing to work with others to achieve her goals of bringing down Ladybug and having Adrien for herself. Gabriel however, doesn’t manipulate Lila much. He doesn’t have to. All he does is point her in the right direction with some comments like he did in Miraculer when he spoke about Chloe and Adrien’s friendship. All he said was:

“I don’t think Adrien is completely indifferent to Chloe, they’ve had a very strong friendship ever since they were young. A relationship that no one can ruin.”

Everything that Gabriel said about Chloe and Adrien’s friendship was the absolute truth. Did he know that it would rile Lila up? Absolutely. Did he make her go after Chloe? Absolutely NOT. She did that on her own out of jealousy and the need to have Adrien all to herself. Gabriel in fact hadn’t said a word to Lila before she started ranting about Adrien’s friends. She did that all on her own. He didn’t offer her anything to go after Chloe. He didn’t lie to Lila about Chloe and Adrien’s friendship. He hadn’t even been the first one to mention Chloe, Lila did that.

Like I said, Lila wasn’t manipulated much by Hawk Moth. He doesn’t need to do that. In Chameleon he certainly didn’t manipulate her into taking the akuma. She akumatized herself and was all to willing to do it. In fact, Hawk Moth sent Oni-chan after Lila to keep her away from Adrien, and it was after Oni-chan that Gabriel saw a way to concurrently benefit from Lila’s manipulative ways.

Sorry Lila apologists. You can’t claim that Hawk Moth is the reason she acts this way or that he’s consistently grooming her. Because if you look at all the facts in canon, he isn’t. He doesn’t really need to. He didn’t manipulate Lila into hating Chloe because she already hated Chloe before Gabriel ever mentioned Chloe and Adrien’s bond. All he did was tell the truth. He didn’t make Chloe out to be some big bad villain that Lila needs to save Adrien from. He just said that they were friends for a long time. And for that reason, Lila went after Chloe.

Is Gabriel a manipulative prick and terrible father? No doubt about it. But surprisingly enough, despite how he already dislikes Nino, he never made Adrien break off their friendship. In fact the only reason he mentioned Chloe’s friendship with Adrien in the first place was because he wanted to get Chloe to be his ally and to steal the Bee Miraculous. He doesn’t want to Lila to isolate Adrien from his friends. He could have done that himself.

Lila however DOES want to isolate Adrien from his friends. I can think of no other reason why she would want to separate Nino and Adrien other than to keep Adrien completely to herself and isolate him so that she is the only one he will turn to for comfort. Sociopaths and psychopaths will act charming in order to get someone, and then they will convince or bully their significant other or friend that they don’t need their friends or family until they have no one else to turn to.

She wouldn’t mention Alya because Alya has no romantic interest in Adrien and needs her in order to have internet fame on the Ladyblog. Nino however is someone that Adrien would gladly spend time with without Lila, and people like her can’t stand that. They are so jealous that they won’t even tolerate the object of their affection to have friends.

It may seem out there to Lila apologists, but here’s something that they cannot deny that is absent in canon.

Gabriel in canon never mentions his dislike of Nino to Lila.

Not. Fucking. ONCE.

EDIT: (I can’t believe I forgot to add this the first time.) What proves my theory about Lila’s dislike of Nino is in Chameleon. What I forgot about was that after Adrien told Lila to stop lying, she tried to do to Adrien what she threatened to do to Marinette, to turn his friends against him. That part is important not only because of how she tried to punish Adrien for going against her, but also because of who she tried to turn against him first. And the person she immediately went for was NINO.

That destroys any possibility that Gabriel told her his dislike of Nino for her to exploit, and that’s important because it means that she really is trying to break up Adrien and Nino’s friendship. It’s also important because if she destroyed their friendship, she would then be able to control Adrien through that friendship.

All it would take are a few words about how Nino should be friends again with Adrien and Adrien would have his best friend back. But that also means that if Adrien didn’t fall in line to what she wanted, she can destroy that friendship again. And we all know how much Adrien treasures his friendships when he’s not sticking his head in the sand.

So what reason would she have to hate Nino and insult him besides her own interests in Miraculer? Oh yeah.

NONE.

It’s not far off from what she’s trying to do with Gabriel. She’s trying to control Adrien’s life through his father who everyone knows is really strict. A word from Lila would tip things in her favor, and it benefits Gabriel because her lies are a chance to akumatize someone. Just like we see in Miraculer, Lila is all too willing to badmouth anyone in her way to Gabriel in order to manipulate Gabriel into isolating Adrien from his friends.

In conclusion,

Nearly everything that Lila apologists make excuses for in regards to Lila’s behavior can EASILY be debunked by canon. She’s not truly lonely because her efficiency in lying depends on her being the only one that spreads information. And she clearly likes to lie.

Lila needed to be exposed in the way Ladybug did it because she needs consequences to learn not to lie. Instead she just blames everything on Ladybug instead of herself because she’s a narcissist, and a sociopath who refuses to take the blame for anything she’s done wrong.

Gabriel isn’t manipulating Lila into the way she is or nearly as much as apologists make it out to be. She was lying before he ever akumatized her, and he’s never made her believe that the people she hates are evil. Not even Ladybug. She already hated Ladybug, and she already hated Chloe before Gabriel ever mentioned the truth about Chloe and Adrien’s friendship.

The arguments that Lila apologists make in order to justify Lila’s behavior in the show is mostly unfounded. Now, I love Marinette, but I will absolutely openly criticize her behavior when she screws up. And she has screwed up plenty of times. But Marinette learns from her mistakes and actively tries to make up for what she’s done wrong.

Lila has absolutely done none of that. At least Chloe has tried, and as much as I hate Chloe, that makes Chloe better than Lila in my book.

Before I end this, let me give this one last piece of criticism for Lila apologists, or just people in general who do this:

Calling people names and insulting them for having a differing opinion is absolutely juvenile and people who do this should be ashamed of themselves.

For Lila apologists in particular, It’s also really funny how they talk all this shit about a person who has a differing opinion about Lila by saying “you’re hating on a teenage fictional character” when they will openly insult anyone who hates that “teenage fictional character”.

I often post on Lila and even Chloe, Kagami, and Adrien apologist’s posts because I want to have a discussion and see the reasons why they believe certain behaviors are okay. My intention is to offer a differing opinion so that people can stan less and think more. I don’t always go about it correctly and I tend to use sarcasm sometimes. That’s my fault and I will admit that. But I have never insulted anyone. My purpose isn’t to pick a fight. It’s to discuss canon and trade theories. I look at things unbiased based on the facts that I am given from canon. We’re all fans of this show, not competing houses in fucking Hogwarts. We’re allowed to have differing opinions and we’re certainly allowed express our differing opinions if the comments are open.

I once told a Lila fan that she should stay in her lane and not comment on people who hate Lila’s posts. Honestly, now that I’m writing this, I feel a bit like a hypocrite in regards to that time. There is however a difference. They were basically demanding that everyone tag their Lila hate, and I had to explain that Lila as a character was meant to be hated, and it wasn’t fair to make the majority who hate Lila tame their opinions of her in order to make the small amount of people who like her happy. I suggested that they tag in a way that is welcoming to Lila fans.

That’s totally fine to do and I still suggest people do that.

I also suggest to Lila fans, apologists, etc., that you should be prepared to accept criticism if you decide to leave the comments open on any post, and not just posts about Lila. If you can’t take that, turn off the comments or make a place where you can do that. But remember this:

You don’t get to insult people and act fucking immature just because you can’t take criticism about a “teenage fictional character”. Or any character.

The comments are open and I eagerly await a rebuttal.

#miraculous ladybug #ml salt #anti lila #lila rossi #lila is not a good person #lila salt #lila apologists #yall don't make any sense #tea #that's the tea #spilled tea #lila apologists don't be scared to comment #the floor is open for #but if you don't come with the facts from canon don't bother trying #because I will slay you with canon facts #court is in session and I just put out exhibit a #canon facts and theories based on canon facts ONLY #don't come crying to me about sympathy for Lila and nothing to back it up #be prepared to debate or be prepared for me to defeat you with facts

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prcphcts · 5 years

Text

ELLE FANNING / CIS FEMALE. — henrietta prophet is really making a name for themselves as a tier 6 shepherd. i think that she is studying economics + communications in their sophomore year at lockwood, living in omega mu. originally from darlington, south carolina, henri is known to be ritzy & magnetic, but can also be intractable & guileful. — james / 20 / est / she/they.

aaaaaand that’s 5/5 intros done !!! woo !! realizing tht henri’s might be my longest as well :/ sry abt that ... all of that just 2 say she’s chaotic evil n a liar ... god ... anyways !!

TW ANIMAL CRUELTY, VOMIT MENTION, BULLYING, VIOLENCE, HIT & RUN, MURDER, DEATH, BODY IMAGE.

a e s t h e t i c s

the struggling flicker of a diamond-encrusted lighter, puppy dog pouts and crocodile tears, a mother’s pearls and her earrings to match, tarnished tennis bracelets soaked in vinegar and baking soda, baby pink stiletto nails, baby pink stiletto heels, furs and leathers and snakeskins, body glitter, reapplying lip gloss three times within ten minutes, biographies of famous war generals, twelve rings and ten fingers, persistent nosebleeds, the twirl of a tennis skirt, swan imagery, marble floors and chandeliers, fuzzy sleeping masks, long sheer robes, each lock of blonde hair methodically curled, practicing expressions in the mirror, spinning many webs.

general info !!

full name: henrietta eloise prophet

nickname(s): henri, etta, hen.

b.o.d. - august 13th, 20 yrs old.

label(s): the baby doll, the hellion, the icarian, the minx, the prevaricator, etc.

height: 5′9″ n she’ll stomp you out with her hooves

hometown: darlington, south carolina

sexuality: mostly straight :// tragic. but she’s also chaotic evil so :/

stats

biography !!

born in a city entirely too small for her, in a hospital in which she never cried in, and brought home to a four white columns exterior and a perfectly maintained lawn to two, normal, average, relatively well off but nowhere near millionaire status adults.

her father, william, was a simple man who has spent years climbing the ladder as a car parts salesman, only to stay stuck in the same position - same roll, same paycheck - for the past however many years. her mother, audrey, was an accountant at the same bank she visited as a child with her own mother, tiny fists balled up and tugging at the hem of her dress as she made withdraws.

there are no more prophet children, at least between william and audrey - henrietta’s an only child and a spoiled one at that. her parents showered her in gifts and affections - a desperate attempt to subdue her toddler terror years, a plan that worked most occasions.

she’d always been particularly bossy, particularly bratty - in her pink ribbon’d dresses and too puffy skirts, hands on hips and an awfully demanding voice to anyone that dared displease her - whether they were classmates, friends, family, teachers - waiters at restaurants, mommy and daddy’s coworkers. it had once been considered cute, in a way. nothing too concerning.

then she started ripping the wings off of butterflies, sticking them beside her eyes and prancing about - announcing herself the butterfly conqueror. not the butterfly queen, or princess - conqueror. vanquisher. defeater. victor. winner. champion.

she’d play by herself, often - partially in fault to the butterfly accident, which happened at another child’s birthday party - which had her dismissed early from the event, which had henrietta snatching back her carefully wrapped present (and a few, smaller bags - shoved right inside her barbie purse) and stomping out of the backyard.

it was easier to command an army of stuffed animals and barbie dolls than other people, but it hadn’t ever felt the same. playing pretend was never as good as actually doing. she minded being alone. hated it, despised it. so she’d learn to draw people in - small promises of homemade snacks and wearing her favorite tiara instead of herself - little white lies intended to draw people near and dear to her.

an awfully demanding, awfully conniving child whose personality only worsened as she got older. clawing at kids who wanted to be ‘queen’ at play time in kindergarten turned into getting sick, so very unfortunately, onto the dress of another girl for her third grade talent show who dared pick the same song as henrietta.

in middle school she became part of her school’s ‘peer mediator’ program - in which students deal with other student’s conflicts - a terrible, horrible idea. a terrible, horrible idea that henrietta had loved, fed off of. peers came to her, and days later - rumors were spread about the very people seeking comfort.

nothing has ever been off-limits to henrietta. if she wants it, she gets it.

history class entranced her - from the moment she had begun to learn about wars, she’d been obsessed. on her own, she’d research them - the strategies war generals had used, and which ones failed - which ones succeeded. she took the strategies to heart.

because henrietta had never felt like she’d been enough - not in a way that she loathed herself, no - henrietta loved herself. still does. but because her life had never felt enough - her parents were never enough, with all their affection - she always wanted more. more clothes, more toys, more friends, more control. more more more more more.

she always wanted to lead the narrative, to shape her own path - to shape other’s paths, always imagined things different - how she’d change things, if she could, whether they were classroom rules or real life situations. insatiable.

moved to rochester, new york the summer before her freshmen year at high school due to her father switching territories in a desperate attempt to up his paycheck. with her stained reputation ( known for biting classmates, throwing major tantrums, starting rumors, once gave the first clarinet chair bad sushi so she’d be sick during a winter concert in the 7th grade - leaving henri no choice but to take her place as best clarinet player, and other unsettling behaviors ) - henrietta thought it was an excellent decision.

spent the majority of that summer practicing how to speak without her southern drawl - it was cute, she’d admit, but far too predictable. never wanted to be known as a southern belle - just a gal with impeccable taste.

frequented new york city often within that time span, often with her dad’s credit card, and often buying well-made fakes so that she could build upon her identity as someone rich. someone important. someone influential. they couldn’t afford the real deal - so she made do, maxing their card along the way.

got introduced to the internet at a relatively young age, but she never utilized it in a way that benefited herself until she reached high school and realized she wanted to be bigger than big. better than all the girls older than her, a force to be reckon’d with.

got involved on kik in a bout of boredom and spoke to strangers often, mostly ridiculing them as she saw fit. made friends with a few - but enough of them to introduce her into a culture of scamming the creeps she’d run into on the app. how to promise them photos of herself and meet-ups, if only they sent a little bit of cash to aid her.

the money was good - but not consistent, and she’d only been so young - there was more to learn. she needed someone to teach her. and then she met tatiana samuels.

henri doted on tatiana, when they met. a few grades apart - tatiana was in her own world, a world that henri wanted in on - desperately.

she told tatiana many things - told everybody who would listen, many things. how her parents had died a few months previous ( & left her a hefty inheritance ) and she had moved in with her uncle, who she hated, and how she wanted to believe that there was still something good in the world after fate had been so cruel to her family.

tatiana took her under her wing. showed her the ropes, how to lure boys in and how to ignore the taste of certain liquors, and how to leave some stores wearing more layers than you had on going in.

henri still wanted more - and she had formed her own group of friends, twisted them around her finger so they’d never question her. still itched for something grand. something tatiana couldn’t give her. she could shoplift as much as she’d like, steal from her friends and seduce creeps online - but she was bored, and restless, and desperately trying to plan her next steps.

they stopped talking as frequently once tatiana had graduated - and then, they stopped speaking all together. this never bothered henri.

then during henri’s sophomore year came the whispers of something new. something that sparked her interest - something that she hadn’t been meant to overhear, but she had, and wanted in on.

watershed.

she wasn’t a coder, had no part in programming the app - she hadn’t even been one of the originals behind the app, just a girl in the right place at the right time - with the right ideas and the ability to be underestimated - an ability that was more often than not useful. it became another obsession of hers - much like wars, it captivated her interest.

she’s been involved with the app since 2016 - mostly out of self-interest, as she’s a girl with a lot of secrets, and a lot to lose.

the rest of high school was a blur - she’d gotten a lead in the musical after an unfortunate accident involving the lead, leaving her in a neck brace and henri, her dutiful understudy, to take on the role herself. a nasty rumor had spread about the head cheerleader during henri’s senior year - causing the girl to transfer and henri to take her place, as what was only right. both merely just coincidences that had worked in her favor.

( one fateful spring break, her senior year - henri and her gal pals had gone on a trip to california to shop, party, and celebrity hunt. all expenses paid via credit card. it was cut short after a particular accident which involved attempting to break into a celebrity’s home and fleeing the scene - henri taking the wheel and maybe, just maybe, committing an awful hit and run - and them all leaving to new york the next day. as far as those girls know - they were blackmailed into silence by someone on the app. and maybe henri has something to do with that, as well. )

lockwood was the obvious choice for her. tatiana died her freshmen year - and it was tragic, truthfully - and she shed a tear at her funeral, after all of it had been done, but no more than one, and no more after that.

personality !!

she’s an economics / communications major though she takes a lot of business / political / history related classes as well on the side. she likes to be well-rounded and educated.

still pretty obsessed w/ wars … has two twin balinese cats named napoleon & hannibal and they roam around omega mu.

a cheerleader, on the student government council, in debate, a newspaper writer, and in several sports (tennis, for one). she likes to be very involved - and likes to be very in control of what she’s involved in. needless to say she’s got a major role in each extracurricular of hers.

puts on a very kind, very friendly - helpful, maybe, if not a little eager to please personality. polite and the tiniest bit stern when it comes to school. she’ll walk you to your classes if you’re new, and leaves with fifty new facts about you while you know nearly nothing about her.

just … very clearly magnetic & charismatic & able to captivate and hold someone’s attention for a long while. rly charming :/ i guess :/ an interesting person to talk to b/c she always has a story to tell.

but she has motives for everything she does and it’s all an act - she’s very ambitious, very manipulative, and very well known for being just the opposite of that.

if anything - she tries to come off a little ditzy at times - a little giggly, while still retaining some semblance of elegance and respect. tries to radiate warmth without actually having to be so.

she’s often distant - very emotionally unavailable, none of her relationships have been long term - but there’s a lot of them, and if there is a social event then she will be there, undoubtedly, with a date on her arm.

learned from tatiana herself how to lead others on - she’s very good at making others feel important and like they have a place in her life - when henri often feels the opposite about them.

somehow manages to be seen doing charity work, or helping with fundraisers, and generally being a very involved student - whether it’s written in the college newspaper or photographed - without doing much work at all.

speaking of the college newspaper - she has an anonymous advice column where she gives purposely terrible advice under the guise of being something helpful, and well-meaning. her name is miss antoinette.

likes to be in control, and when it’s taken from her it’s always a shock - puts her on edge, and though she tries very hard to keep things under control, she’s frequently brimming with anger.

kind of person to scream when she’s alone - throws & breaks shit, a full out violent display - a tantrum meant for a toddler, in the body of a twenty year old.

the closer you become to her - or the closer you think you’re becoming - the more unsettling she seems to be. how unrealistic, almost. if you focus, you can start to pinpoint where her real laugh ends and her fake laugh begins.

has had … moments that were not her proudest - that involve her threatening someone with a sparkling pink pocket knife. mostly irritants, and after much provoking - and thankfully not in public.

she’s also incredibly stubborn - it’s near impossible to move her, or shift her opinion. always has to have her way and hates being told no.

looks out for only herself and no one else. if it comes down to it - she’ll gladly leave everybody else in the dust, especially if it means she advances.

very destructive - doesn’t hesitate to use gossip or rumors against others. has blackmailed others via the watershed app before, and will likely do so again. tends to end up using the things people tell her against them. very prone to guilt-tripping and turning tables.

her favorite color is pink & you won’t forget it. essentially evil elle woods. only wears shades of pink, and cream & white. & champagne & rose gold & metallics. will only resort to other colors in moments of absolute desperation - and even then, they’re always pastels.

big fan of fur and diamonds and pearls - everything finer in life. owns mostly designer items & flaunts them while trying to look like she’s not flaunting it.

like … she wears a lot of fur coats, and shawls ?? and dresses & skirts and heels, like she’s always dressed like she’s going to go to some big event sometime soon.

sleeps with an eye mask & a white noise machine. insists on getting 9 hours of sleep and will be incredibly grumpy without those 9 hours. spends a good amount of time on her skincare routine - like how in the marvelous ms. maisel, maisel would wake up before her husband to do her makeup and her hair and then go back to sleep right before he woke up ?? and how she’d measure herself constantly ?? that’s sort of how henrietta functions. cue american psycho morning routine monologue.

speaking of sleep … she has really weird n bizarre n frankly. just. off-putting dreams that feel like glimpses of a different reality but they just so happen to be her favorite part of her day. :/

is just … really obsessed with herself. huge ego - if she catches herself in the reflection of anything, whether it’s a window or a mirror, she’ll spend some time looking at herself for … longer than she should.

still has a nasty habit of scamming men online, though she’s delved into other websites & uses a few of the watershed functions to her benefit. pretty much constantly has money because of it.

very big into parties, though she tries her hardest to not go overboard. prefers to be able to make thought out decisions - though there have been times where she’s gone too far.

as i’m sure you can tell by now - henrietta is a very big liar. a hypocrite, too. will tell people not to do things for their best interest, then goes and does them. still tells people her parents are dead when they’re ?? very much alive ??

frankly just lies about her childhood a lot in general, even though it wasn’t terrible.

does this … thing … where if she catches wind that someone has lived close to her hometown she’ll :/ harass them on the watershed app and basically :/ just spread gossip about them until they’re firmly ostracized & away from her.

hooks up with quite a few guys but she has this … thing where she makes them think they’re special because she’s letting them sleep with her and she’s ‘very selective’ but frankly. she both is, and isn’t.

admittedly the jealous type, but also overall avoids catching feelings because she hates the distraction.

she has … emotions, somewhere, but she’s always been the type to bury them and pretend they don’t exist, even when she simultaneously acts like she does have them ??

just … a mess, overall !!

i’m sure there’s more abt her bt frankly i’m tired JSNDKFG

connections to the victims !!

tatiana samuels / her mentor. they met when henri was a freshmen in high school & tatiana was a senior, and tatiana was the one who showed henri the ropes. some of her best tricks are because of tatiana. they became distant after tatiana’s graduation, however.

george craig iii / close friends during high school, if only because of tatiana. but like her, their friendship also became distant once george had graduated high school and they hadn’t spoken much after that.

hana williams / one-sided hatred, henri hated hana and didn’t believe she was a genuine person due to hana’s outright cheerfulness. hana didn’t know this.

christoph wainwright / fellow shepherd, they knew each other almost exclusively through the app. he did her dirty work for her.

wanted connections !!

alright … friends. particularly friends who don’t suspect her to be anything other than who she portrays herself to be ( a very school-involved, well-rounded, friendly gal ).

but then … a close friend, near and dear to her, who has seen the considerably … worse parts of her, but not all of it. who knows that she’s not just another giggling gal pal - but not the full extent of it.

someone who just. gets on her nerves & annoys her to no end. someone she’s threatened with violence before.

fwbs & one night stands - casual hook-ups.

party buddies.

people she went to high school with & are familiar with her past involving tatiana.

someone from her childhood :/ just one person who knows that henri is not all sugar & spice.

others who are suspicious of henri’s supposedly good nature - whether they’ve witnessed something they shouldn’t have, or they think her vibes are off.

fellow shepherds. shepherds she’s using. any fellow tier 6s out there ??

teammates from tennis, or cheerleading.

or others involved in the same extracurriculars she’s in.

someone she’s manipulating for whatever reason. maybe multiple people.

full blown enemies where she just can’t hold back.

someone who is just as destructive as she is & they wreck havoc together when they’re off campus.

a good amount of her exes ?? nothing long term.

her dealers :/ mostly … weed & pills.

rly anything else !! whatever u want !! do it !!

#wshintro #animal cruelty tw #vomit mention #bullying tw #violence tw #hit and run tw #murder tw #death tw #body image tw

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hunterartemis · 5 years

Text

The Assistant : Chapter 11 : Midnight in Paris

Chapter Summary: (not much of Maxine X Newt sorry), but what happens when you put two ex-aurors and a magizoologist into the most dangerous prison in all of Europe? There will always be consequences when something involves a Scamander--or two.

Please enjoy these guys, I have put a lot of thoughts in composing the details

Word limits: 6173 (woo my highest)

Chapter Theme : Scotland by The Lumineers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1fGkB9B0eQ

Newt’s eye opened with a start to the usual cacophony of alarm and he sat up to see that it is nearly nine. Surprisingly he found himself at the bottom of his sitting room sofa with his Lanvin couture still on. There was the half eaten bowl of stone cold soup and some vomit and blood on the floor, but nothing else—what a weird dream, he thought he had been arrested for bringing Maxine in his house.

Hurrying to freshen up and dress, he made himself tea and some toast and decided to jot down some ideas that he got from Romania, Dragons—what a wonderful creation he thought. Between the bites and scribbling his eyes fell on the opposite wall next to him—there was a big damp on the wallpaper that needed fixing, he wondered about how he didn’t noticed it earlier.

Maxine walked inside in all punctuality, like always and after her usual crooked smile and a polite greeting of good morning descended downstairs to change into the tunic. Newt was relieved to see her absolutely cherry—but there was something forcefulness about it, and then he remember how strong and optimistic Maxine is, she trying to cope with such a difficult situation with a forceful smile, although it broke his heart, but he was certainly happy that she was trying her best.

“Good morning, glad to see you decided to join me—I thought what happened yesterday,” Newt halted to euphemise the uncomfortable and unpleasant details “you and I won’t be in same terms anymore--” Newt asked her out of the blue.

“What, what happened yesterday? Do you want me out of the job?” Maxine answered with a snap, which obviously disarmed Newt, “No, no... Nothing happened, just—I saw you at the end of the party—you seemed pretty drunk and nearly fainting--”.

“Are you saying that we did something we shouldn’t have--? Merlin, I would have loved to see your face--”Nope, She was definitely his assistant. Without further ado, Newt resumed his days work and for some reason, the whole day he couldn’t concentrate a single bit—in that flawless familiarity of his underground basement, something was off; he couldn’t point it out whether it was the smell of the animal’s excrement or the flowing sound of the River Beauly where the Kelpie splashed and dived once in a while. When it became too unbearable, Newt took a breather upstairs to sit himself down and have a cup of tea.

Suddenly his eyes fell on a rectangular object sitting on his table. Last night he didn’t get to open Dumbledore’s letter so he decided to open the letter now.

My dear friend Newt,

I received the letter the night you posted it from the Leaky Cauldron, the aroma of their pea soup still lingered on the envelope, but I was astonished to see your request. The thing is Newt, the woman working for you is no ordinary one, I have to admit I have seen many complicated student, but Maxine Valois still intrigues me. Really advance for her age, came at Hogwarts at 14, and her intellect compelled us to admit her in the sixth year. I doubt that anyone will exceed her level of excellence, both mental and academic, but her past is completely shrouded by mystery. She took almost half an hour to be sorted, and when she was sorted in Ravenclaw, I was frequently getting other sixth years complaints that something sinister was about her which scared even the older students; but all their complaints were cast aside because I refused to believe them and there were no proof against her. They claimed that they didn’t felt safe around her. As it was a troubled time, I often set up her interviews with ministry officials, highly trained in Legillimency, but no one could penetrate her mind. They claimed she was hiding something but couldn’t say what. It got to a point whenever her interviews came she would lie outrageously to the Legillimens and immediately after that either a student or a teacher would get hurt. Three students failed their OWLs despite being best of their years; although they claimed that they aced the exam, but the papers were found blank. They immediately committed suicide. Of course Miss Valois denied them, but the patterns were conspicuous and no one could prove anything.

When things got out of control, I took matters in my own hands and I am not proud of what I learned. I don’t know either it was my skills or her own willingness but I was able to look into her past. I recognised her mother Audrey Page immediately, as she shared some facial and cerebral features with. Before Maxine came into Hogwarts she was admitted in Durmstrang at the age of seven, and she was already in seventh year of the school when she was thirteen—ready to awarded as the youngest graduate of all times. But the regime of Durmstang was not suitable for a tender aged girl like her, and soon she made a habit out of the Dark Arts and with a prodigious mind such as hers, she slid into completely dark path—and soon it consumed the whole of her mind. An unloving family, a matchless brain, constant evil influences and surrounded by peers who are far older than her forced her easy maturity into a perverted distortion—however no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get the specific details. But in the midst of all the negative, a single positive thing happened in her life, she made a powerful bond with one of her classmate (who was, in actuality four years older than her), someone named Anatole Malfoy—

“Anatole—that makes sense—he sounded like someone who knew Maxine beforehand--” but then Newt continued to read

--who apparently attempted to understand her and supported her uniqueness, but then something awful happened between them, something brutal or shameful, which despite of tireless coaxing I couldn’t get it out of her system, and it caused her expulsion from the school. Apparently the incident was so shameful that it was far more choicely for Hrothgar to out her blood secret which was placed as the excuse for which she was expelled from Durmstrang, instead of the incident that took place as the real reason.

Another conspicuous thing about her was that the younger students were awfully fond of her, and she for them. In fact many younger students spoke that if it wasn’t for her, they would have felt lonely .Most of the teachers maintained a distance from her. However the moment I got to see a glimpse of her true nature I couldn’t help but to feel a little sad about her; she smiled relentlessly when she wanted to but I couldn’t help but to feel that it was her greatest lie. I never saw a better liar than her whose sadness rocked my core. So Newt my friend, whenever you see her smile, just look into her eyes to check if it is real—I hope for your and her sake that it is, because I know someone that reminds me of her.

Albus Dumbledore.

Newt came downstairs with a heavy heart and tried to recall every time she smiled; her smile that felt cold now had a reason. It was made of stainless steel that armoured her heart from the world. Between all those lip and attitude, resided a deeply lonely woman—she was indeed very similar to Leta, but Maxine knew how to mock grief and despair with her crooked sarcastic smile, Leta didn’t.

At the end of the shift, he saw Maxine packing—strange how the time flies; in fact time just vanished in a few moments. He hid himself behind the shed and watched how Maxine stripped off her outer tunic and was wearing her leather gauntlet gloves. Newt came out of the shed and walked towards his assistant.

“Leaving early today--” he commented casually, “makes sense—if I was you, I would have taken a day off, quite a drink you had last night--”

“—what early, it’s nearly 7:30—I think you should check your watch” Maxine tied her buckles of her gloves, and as Newt went to check his watch it looked that it was stopped at 4Pm. He again looked at Maxine, who was humming along as she dressed herself, and that send Newt’s nerves in fire with a frustration of knowing something was wrong but not finding it. He took a deep breath and as gently as possible he asked,

“How’s Anatole?”

“Why did you ask that?” Maxine answered almost promptly, and when she looked at Newt’s face, Newt stomped towards her and grabbed her wrist so harshly that was unlike himself. He could feel the heat slowly building up in his face as a result of the outburst of frustration. He looked at Maxine’s face again and this time, for the first time in his life—Maxine looked at him with alarm.

“What’s the matter with you today—you are behaving oddly...!” Maxine got herself off with a jerk and started to massage her wrist and eyed Newt suspiciously, “you are behaving like a bloody moron you are—why, why are you laughing at me—Newt, you are scaring me, stop doing that--” Maxine took out her wand and pointed at him with her shaking hands

“Give it up now you imposter and tell me who you are--” Newt spoke in a low threatening voice and took out his wand out of his pocket, he was constantly pacing forward, leading his assistant to pace steadily backwards, who tentatively answered, “don’t be absurd, I am Maxine, your assistant--”

“Lie--” Newt spoke steadily, because he now could understand what was wrong with this place, ‘I was sure that something was wrong with this place the moment you entered the building—it was not you who was wrong, but something about that rhythm of yours that was off, turns out, I was so hyperaware that I had been hearing the sound of the watch ticking—not mine, since it is stopped, but yours—it’s not going tick-tock, but tock-tick—like a time turner, very subtle, but why would you disguise a time turner under my roof, the only answer is, I am currently stuck in a limbo, like a ghost condemned to repeat myself over and over again.’ Newt said almost breathlessly, ‘and I also have a theory about the death of my watch—you see, the moment I surprised you, if you were real Maxine, you would have exclaimed in French or spoke a bit in French, since it is only natural that alarm effects the basic instinct, to scream and to exclaim—but everything around me including you are a poorly constructed shadow of my memory—since I don’t know or understand French, a replicator of my memory cannot recreate it--’

Maxine, who was standing in front of Newt lowered her wand and with an almost-Maxine-like smirk she looked at Newt’s way, “well done--” he voice sent a chill to Newt’s spine because whatever spoke underneath Maxine’s mask, if it were remotely humanlike, Newt would not like to meet it. The ice-cold indifference and glassy shrill resembled Banshee’s screech, but there was a melody that reminded Newt of the church organ that plays ominous and awe inspiring tone to the unbelieving public to portray there was something wrathful that could destroy them.

“What are you?” Newt asked, but the creature that had Maxine’s shape laughed sardonically, completely ignoring the question. When its laugh stopped, it looked at Newt with its angular black eyes and said “took you 1789451254422269 times to go through the same day to understand—but remember human, you only made it worse. I could have kept you happy until the job was done, but you had to poke your nose into this business--”

Suddenly everything darkened around Newt, like it does after a play or an opera just ended in a theatre, and he felt that the room shrunk itself around him and all the six walls barricaded him into a small, cemented coffin. The condensed darkness sucked all the air out of Newt’s lungs and within it; he struggled like a fish freshly out of water. However his endless screams and struggles were not in vain—something collapsed near his foot, and a speck of the less dark intruded through it. Newt, with all his energy crawled on his back towards his leg and the space slid him into open.

His eyes were adjusting into the darkness and he found himself a circular shaped hollow, and except the space he just slid from, as he went around, feeling the wall around him blindly, there was no single hole or crack there—the wall felt exceptionally smooth, like solidified butter or rosin, but there was no stickiness of it—Newt’s memory that had been altered in the hallucination was coming back now, he was deported into French soil with Tina and Theseus to be imprisoned in the Geolier Tower of Silence, and right now he must be inside of it—but how is it possible that he was ‘buried’ inside a solid wall which didn’t seem any harder than damp wood, then again—the hallucinations must have been in operation until he was dead. The mere comprehension made his skin crawl—if he was buried inside the wall, so are Tina and Theseus.

So with his bare hands he went thudding and knocking about all around the wall, and when he was about to give up, he heard low and muffled thumps, like that on a damp wood and then with two thuds and groaning, he was sure that his female ‘friend’ and his brother was retrieved.

“Good bloody blooming, this place is dark--” a grumpy male voice spoke out of annoyance, and Newt silently laughed at his brother, “I am glad you are alright Theseus--”

“That was horrible--” Tina squirmed, “I was dining with my dead mother and father, they were about to approve Jacob and Queenie’s marriage--”

“You must be one mean son of a nutter then--” Theseus spoke with a bit of humour.

“Don’t try and sound so smart—it was horrible when I realised my parents are dead and Queenie and--”

“Question is--” Newt interrupted the flow of conversation to know what was going on, “how are we going to get out of here—we don’t have wands--”

“First rule of the book Newt, if you want to get outta here, you first need a good strategy, cannot fight them dementors like naked wee balmies, right?”

“Did you hit your head or something—you sound all weird--” Tina commented out of the blue, but there was one person was not really responding, Newt. He was pondering all by himself, sitting in the dark and suddenly he had a realisation.

“I don’t think there is any dementor Theseus--” he said quietly, “first of all, the presence of the dementor keeps the environment very, very cold, which acts as an immobilizing agent to the prisoners who are lightly dressed—but here” Newt stopped as if to quizzically examine the musty darkness, “this place is warm—and—moist. Anyway—whatever is this place, it is not a prison for the ordinary—all our hallucinations, they weren’t a hostile thing—they were immobilising us, like anasthesizing, until we are done.”

“What do you mean... what do you mean by done? We were sent here to die?” Tina asked Newt, “but we are political prisoners, not murderers--”

“—I think it is apt to say that corruption is not really uncommon in any government in the world. They went on this far on a simple false allegation—the nerve of Maxine, cruel, cruel woman—what I didn’t do for her--”

“—I don’t think it was Maxine, Theseus. She might have been a Duchess and all but this kind of political power!—anyway, it is a matter for later, now we have to think how we are going to escape from here. Whatever was keeping here never had any escapee so I assume that we should think fast and faster because we haven’t our wands--”

‘Lumos’

A sudden burst of silvery wispy light illuminated Tina’s small pale face, and this little incident, no matter how mundane it may seem to the wizarding eye sent sparks of joy in the minds of Theseus and Newt. When they started to laudate Tina, she explained with full self satisfaction that she cleverly replicated their wands when they were being handed in the ministry, and hid the originals in the pockets of her knickers.

“But how did you do that? Moreover, you cannot just replicate wands... the cores and the wood are made in very different manner than the mundane objects--” Newt asked Tina.

“I had some inside help—remember the editor I spoke about? He bribed the prison guard that he would obtain the wands as soon as their cores and woods are checked for authenticity, and after applying some transfiguration charms on normal woods, the prison guard slipped me the wands and I got them in my pockets—oh and Newt, check yours also, I have a Christmas present for you--”

With surprise and humour Newt put his hands on his pocket of his suit, and he felt that the usual depth of his pocket extended far deeper than he expects, and after getting his hands quite down, something firm and leathery was felt under his palm, with immense difficulty when he tried to pull it out, the old familiar battered suitcase bounced from his pocket and landed on the floor of the prison tower.

“Porpentina Goldstein, you are a star--” Newt literally started to jump in his place in joy, and Theseus in all excitement grabbed the two of them hard and tight and gave them an embrace so tightly that they were in danger of dying with asphyxia. After a lot of struggle when he let them go, he sloppily kissed their foreheads and ruffled their unwashed and perpetually dirty hair with such undiluted affection that Newt and Tina both felt that they were, once again, kids—a joy, seldom felt in adulthood.

“I figured that there were no place better to hide Newt’s case in his suit pocket--” Tina elaborated, “I first thought that it will be kept safe in ministry when we are sent to azkaban, but when I turned on lumos, I saw that we were wearing the same clothes—guess they didn’t expect us to even scratch our noses. Makes me think what kind of danger we averted” Tina digressed from enlightenment to a bitter sombreness. Suddenly her eyes fell on Newt, and his blue-green eyes looked drenched in despair in the silvery light of the lumos. When she and Theseus followed Newt’s eyes and looked around to see that there were no single empty space or windows except the three narrow holes they have escaped, their smiles turned into grimaces. Newt rose from his place and started to look at the freshly broken holes in the circular chamber. Suddenly Tina’s scream made him turn towards her.

“What’s that on your shoes?” she pointed and screamed at Newt and both her and Theseus started to look at them. Parts of their clothes and shoes were decayed and something of dirty golden-brown coloured started to form on them like some mould, which broke down into white soft flakes when touched.

“Haven’t you realised?” Newt said sombrely, “they didn’t need any precautions because the moment we were put in here, we were designated to be buried alive. These substances on your body are wax--”

“Wax... how a human can form wax around them, unless--” Theseus started to argue and stopped midway, “wait... wait—wax. I know exactly what is happening. We were being embalmed when we dreamt, so that we couldn’t struggle—and when we will be truly dead, the embalming will be complete and our bodies will be a part of this place--” Theseus said ponderously, “I remember now, someone told me to run away inside my head when the lights went out—but I cannot remember who--”

“So this entire place is made out of human wax of dreaming dead people?” Tina asked with a sense of surprise, hatred, fear and disgust, “and I thought the Death Potion execution was bad--”

“Whoever made this place must have been either the kindest or the cruellest person in the universe—the best prison where you don’t even feel you are being imprisoned” Newt mused with a veil of unknown fear covering his eyes, “now c’mon—off we go”

Newt opened his case and drew out his nasty little buggers, the nifflers. He could have used a hippogriff or an erumpant, as Tina suggested him to use, since both were able to either bust out the prison or melt it down but Newt chose this overtly discreet method. Somewhere in his mind he didn’t wanted to burn the place down, because he felt that within the waxen walls someone was still dreaming—out of his body and out of his own mind—in dreams they were alive. A prisoner, no matter how hideous or cruel he may be in the government’s eyes, deserves at least one chance as a human being. Those unknown creatures that were ‘embalming’ them were not cruel, they were kind—they wanted the deaths of their victims as painless as possible, so they locked them in their happiest, most peaceful state. The prisoners were forsaken by the world, but those creatures didn’t forsake them—that is the reason this prison was so feared by everyone in the ministry, more than Axkaban. It was the place, from where no one ever returned.

They followed the trails of the niffler, in stealthy and gentle steps, through the endless halls of waxen grave, through countless memories, pains, suffering, happiness and victories, leaving behind the peaceful ones whose lives ended unknowingly, and their restless souls, trapped inside the waxen fort like some horcruxed soul in a cursed object. The ghostly paleness of wax hit a dead end from which they were able to burst free into a place that was as musty and wet as the bottom of a pond. After scourging through it, they were faced with a hard cold substance.

“That’s it. I think we are locked in, it’s the dead end--” Theseus inspected from the very front, and Newt looked at his niffler. “No, it isn’t—Theseus, listen” he gestured his brother to use the wand as an amplifier. One end of the wand was placed upon the wall above Theseus’s head while the other end was inside the ear canal. “You’re right...” Theseus said, “I can hear—water, splashing on the surface”

“Is it a roaring current like a river?” Newt asked curiously, because if it were then blasting out won’t be a good option and there was a chance of drowning and letting water in the prison, who knows if that happens the authority might surge into the place and shove them back where they were. However, Theseus shook his head and with an optimistic look replied, “No—it rather sounds like still with mild sounds of pop and crack—if that makes any sense--I don’t think it’s very alarming.”

“So what are we waiting for?” Tina exclaimed, “bombarda maxima”

The hard surface succumbed to the spell and with vigorous quake whatever was holding them and the outside world out collapsed at the bottom. With the effect they had to fall back, but then it gave them the opportunity to inspect what fell upon them.

“Blimey, 18th century marbles—and chunks of ice.” Theseus said disgustedly as he was drenched in ice water was shivering like a naked man in arctic, “of course—fountain! Water never freezes all the way through, when we exploded the bottom, the water collapsed and with the decreasing pressure from the bottom the ice on the surface came down as well--” Newt and Tina looked at Theseus with a stupefied expression, “I had an ‘Outstanding’ in Muggle Studies, professor Merryweather said I was gifted with Physics.” Theseus recalled proudly, and with that, all the three were able to climb up through the said fountain after sealing away the rift they caused in the rendezvous.

“We were under Paris all this time--” Newt exclaimed as he came out of the fountain with his niffler on his shoulder, and case on one hand. Theseus came out after pulling Tina and they looked around confusingly. “Where are we?” Tina mused in an annoyed manner, and in a rather unceremonious manner Newt mused, “it looked different in the daylight—oh yes Tina, I have been here before. Remember I told you I had to visit Romania with my assistant—yes, as a gratitude for this completely unauthorised trip, she showed me the city, her city, and right now we are standing at the Fountain of Innocents, which was formerly a massive gravesite called--”

“Cemetery of the Innocents--” Tina added, “I know this place—all no-maj papers in the US raved about this place because apparently, all European soap companies were scraping off corpse wax from this grave so the French authority had to shut it down, but they weren’t just from the corpses—the wax from the gaoler was leaking and they had to take charges—

“Okay, so a massive body dump in the center of the city, disguised as fountain with the most dangerous prison underneath it will place us in where in the city?” Theseus inquired.

“Why don’t you ask your tourist brother that?” Tina replied annoyedly, apparently she wasn’t pleased that Newt took a trip in Paris with a stranger more beautiful woman “... but what we are going to do right now? We have no money, and right now if we go into the wizarding community, they will hunt us down” she analysed, “if we make the papers again that we escaped the inescapable prison, no corner in the world will hold us”

They all sat down under the frozen fountain. As Newt tried to protect himself from the cold and tried to wrap the coat around him more securely, something rigid felt near his breast pocket. Out of curiosity he took it out. That was the virtue of a big city in the midnight, even with the scant population on, nobody paid attention to anybody. When Newt opened the rectangular piece of paper, it astonished him. It was the same letter by Dumbledore, every word, every punctuation, right from the cover to the back.

“But how is it possible? It was the same letter I read in my dreams--” Newt showed the letter to Tina, and in turns even Theseus had a glimpse of its content. “Perhaps they didn’t want you to go with unfinished business--” Tina replied softly while reading the letter alongside Newt, “they really sound like the Death in the Beedle—peaceful.”

“This fellow, Anatole Malfoy, I knew he was crook from the beginning.” Theseus spoke with disgust in his voice which was enough to attract the attention of the two, “I met him in the party and he didn’t sound like he was for British Ministry or anything of that sort.” Under the dim streetlights of downtown Paris, Tina’s black eyes glimmered with focus, “and something was off when he was announced the Junior Undersecretary—of course it was a position too advantageous to be rejected, and I didn’t know it was his dowry from the French Diplomat.”

“What do you mean by Dowry, he asked Maxine to marry him, didn’t he” Tina countered.

“Yes... and it’s not uncommon amongst British Purebloods, but inside my mind something was really off. So after the party, I went to the Archives Department to find his records, and it was too clean—too conspicuously clean. So I searched differently, and looked for him in the prison records, again, I found no one” Theseus’ face glowed with excitement.

“What do you want to say that he is innocent and you were a little drunk after the party?” Tina replied snappily.

“No, of course not--” Theseus interjected, “I was going in the right direction but didn’t know where to start, so I looked them all.” Theseus said in an accomplished manner “every prison record registered under European Magical Cooperation in the last thirty years, and I found someone registered under Vasily Malakov. The name found awfully familiar—I looked into it, and the papers were written in Russian, obviously. But when I finally decoded it” suddenly it dimmed into a grimace “It turned out to be him. There was no Vasily Malakov in reality; the truth was Anatole Malfoy was convicted under a pseudonym to ensure that he isn’t defamed. I looked into his records and Merlin’s beard it was dark. He has an extensive record of underage murders and rapes during his days in Durmstang, and guess whose name he was being operated by--”

“Who?” Newt asked out of the blue.

“Grindlewald you plum—he and his classmates were the earliest followers of him, the ‘cleansers’ arrested during their final year. Apparently there were five who were involved, but only four were found out—and who did Dumbledore said were in Anatole’s class that time who was expelled?”

“Maxine...” Newt huffed in desperation.

“Yes, she was thirteen or fourteen when she was involved in the incident. It’s wizarding law that a minor cannot be sentenced into Prison, instead their wands get snapped.” Theseus theorised, “but given the fact that she was the daughter of the Diplomat, she was somehow spared.” He paused for a second “but the question is, if Anatole is closely affiliated with Hrothgar, given the fact he must have known what he is since he was his daughter’s classmate—why he is letting Anatole marry his daughter?”

“’Seus, listen to me I have to tell you something--” Newt said urgently “I followed Maxine after the dinner—remember Tina, I disappeared for some seconds—she was afraid all evening, in fact, she had been acting weird since the party was announced—anyway, it seems that Anatole is operating on revenge and apparently he convinced Hrothgar that he is in love with Maxine--”

“__but why him, Maxine could--” Theseus gulped as if to swallow the words he was about to say, “—she could marry anyone she wants, she is a duchess and she is from the most prominent Pureblood family of all times.”

“She can’t--” Tina mused absent mindedly, “here—look, it is said in the letter... her mother’s name is Audrey Page--look” Tina pointed at her letter, “that means she cannot take the Pureblood title because she is an illegitimate—if her mother was married to Monsieur Hrothgar, then she would have been called Audrey Valois” Tina analysed, “even in Wizarding world, getting an illegitimate child married to a good family isn’t an easy task, and if she marries otherwise, it would put a dent on our dear diplomat.” Tina concluded and suddenly she wondered something and turned to Theseus “Theseus, you said Anatole was marrying Maxine for dowry, do you happen to know what he is getting?”

“Of course, the Junior Undersecretary post... why you ask?” Theseus stood up because the frozen marble was getting too cold for him. Tina pondered for a moment and then started to shake his head, “no, no—I think that is just eyewash, a bifurcation—there must be other things he is getting—URGH! This woman is making my life a living hell.”

“Just forget about it—what we are going to do? We don’t even know what day on earth is this, or how long we have been under there—if Maxine gets married to that man, British ministry will come under Grindlewald’s control overnight--” Theseus suggested, “no matter what we have to stop the wedding from happening and the worst this in this world that THERE IS NO ONE IN THIS ENTIRE WORLD WHO CAN TELL US WHAT TO DO!”

Newt was sitting ponderously till now, with Tina eyeing him frequently with an annoyed expression. Suddenly a spark flashed in his drowsy eyes and he started to walk towards the main street. When his brother and his other friend started to chase after him, there was one thing that he said before grabbing their hands and apparating into thin air.

“It is the universal rule of nature, when man does something two people in the world are aware of it—his accomplice and his brother.”

...

‘Where on earth are we?’

Tina, Theseus and Newt apparated in front of a five star muggle hotel, at the dead of the night; the sign told them they were still in Paris, which astonished Newt a bit. He knew there was portkey regulations and everything, and despite that he made a leap—he had no idea of location or proper idea, but there were few emergency exceptions of apparation that he remembered from his sixth year class, that was the specific name and identity of a person. He didn’t know that it would work, and he still wasn’t sure. Apparently this seemingly muggle hotel had some wizards’ suite and anti-apparation charm on effect that was holding them outside. So they stomped head-on and tracing remaining bits of magic with tracking spell, they reached the penthouse, where they knocked the doors down to find a puzzled platinum-blond middle aged man in his silk pyjamas.

“What the hell are you and what are you doing in my room?” he almost screamed at the three people pointing wand at him.

“It’s been a very long day... so start speaking, is you Anatole Malfoy’s brother?” Theseus asked, and with a flicker the lights in the room lit up, which caused the man a close call of cardiac arrest.

“But you’re supposed to be in the Tower of Silence, and dead! How did you--”

“Answer the question you bub!” Tina jabbed her wand into his throat while Newt bifurcated the wand under the pillow the man was discreetly reaching for, “are you Anatole’s brother?”

“Yes, yes... I am. I am his older brother Abraxas Malfoy.”

“Is he married?”

“Sorry?”

“Is your brother married?” Newt repeated his question with a threatening quietness.

“No... I mean not yet. He is getting married--” Abraxas checked his watch in a very nervous way, “—in about five hours--”

“Oh thank Merlin...” Theseus huffed, and gestured the others to turn, but Tina remained and asked the final question, “where?”

“Saint Chappell... I am sorry, but why I am telling you all these? You should be locked up for kidnapping the Duchess--” Abraxas said in an agitated tone, “you tried to sabotage my brother’s reputation--” before he could finish his sentence Theseus grabbed his collar and thudded him against the headboard of the bed, “let me tell you something... it was your responsibility to look after your brother in which you failed miserably. If you or your godforsaken parents had the leash tight on him he wouldn’t have become the son of bitch he is today. He is a fraud and a Grindelwald supporter and I am not letting a sick rapist near my friend or my country, and the best thing you can pray for that we kill him before the ministry does. As you know we are wanted criminals and we have nothing to lose, so stay put when we obliviate you--”

“Stop--” Abraxas put his hands up in a defensive manner, “please, listen to me... I am not proud of what he is today, but please I beg you, whatever you do—don’t kill him, he is my brother--”

“Thanks for the information... Obliviate” Newt whipped his wand swiftly and stomped out of the room. Abraxas remained sleepy and confounded, like they first found him. Theseus and Tina followed him as swiftly as they could. The curtain of the night was slowly lifting from the sky and the frost and snow started to turn brighter under the cold gray of the dawn. The clock was swiftly ticking towards the fall of the Western Magical Civilization and the fate of the Modern Wizarding Europe lied in the hands of three escapee convicts: two ex-aurors and a magizoologist, whose mind and wand was now pointing at the Isle of the City in the middle of Seine, where the tower of Saint Chappell was fearfully awaiting for the historic moment that was going to take place in about four hours and fifty minutes.

Tags: @my-current-fandom-is

I had to research extensively to make the Wizarding prison of France more terrible and different from Azkaban at the same time. I don’t know whether I had been successful or not, but here’s the history behind our fictional “Le Tour de Silence”

The Holy Innocents' Cemetery (French: Cimetière des Saints-Innocents or Cimetière des Innocents) is a defunct cemetery in Paris that was used from the Middle Ages until the late 18th century. Under the reign of Philip II (1180-1223) the cemetery was enlarged and surrounded by a three-meter-high wall. Les Innocents had begun as a cemetery with individual sepulchers, but by then had become a site for mass graves. People were buried together in the same pit (a pit could hold about 1,500 dead at a time); only when it was full would another be opened.

This practice continued upto five centuries when the mass graves (because they were buried so close and the body couldn’t rot properly) started to produce a thing called Adipocere or Corpse wax (basically human fat transforming itself into an wax like encasing preventing the rot forever). These corpse wax were scraped off and sold out to soap and candlemakers during the pre revolution era, and you can guess what happened. So it gave me a brilliant idea to construct the French prison out of it-- a place made out of Adipocere, and people who are sentenced to death are brought in here so that their life would be slowly extracted from the body, and when it’s done their body and soul will be trapped in the waxy architecture. How to prevent resistance? simple, trap them into their happiest state.

The fountain of Innocent, from which the three broke through was built over the real Holy Cemetery of Innocent by Louis XVI as a memorial, when he closed the unsanitary gravesite (good man he was!), I gave it a little bit symbolism. In Roman myths, when injustice reaches it’s peak, the Goddess of Truth, Veritas comes out of the well, naked to scream at people. So I used the same method with the three.

#newt x oc #newt x tina #newt x reader #newt scamander x oc #newt scamander X reader #theseus x tina #theseus x reader #france in midnight #paris in midnight #prison break #character rants #suspence #danger #les halles #fountain of innocent #midnight #cliffhanger

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popatochisssp · 6 years

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Fur a Good Time, Call... 13/15

Series: Undertale, Horrortale Relationship(s): HT!Sans/Reader, HT!Papyrus & Reader, HT!Sans & HT!Papyrus Chapter Warnings: discussion of past suicidal ideation

You work at an animal shelter. You love all your fuzzy buddies and can’t imagine a better job for yourself than looking after cats and dogs all day, even when the work is hard and often gross. What can you say? You’ve got a lot of love to give!

You’re just not quite sure yet how you feel about the new monster who’s been helping out these days, and this riddle wrapped up in an enigma is something you just can’t resist investigating…

AO3 Link

Heart

It’s far from the last time you go to Grillby’s.

Now that Sans has broken the metaphorical ice, he seems intent on keeping his promise to Grillby to do better. The cozy little monster pub quickly becomes a regular spot for you, lunch breaks and date-nights alike.

You meet the occasional human here and there, friends or dates of the regulars or just people lucky enough to have stopped in and gotten hooked on the fire elemental’s stellar cooking…but mostly you get to know the monsters.

Audrey’s fascinated by human cuisine and takes cooking classes with Burr every Thursday night. Apparently, it’s their designated couple’s activity, and they’re such a subtle pair you never would’ve guessed they were together until they told you.

Some weird cat guy whose real name you can’t get out of anyone for the life of you—surely he can’t actually be named Burgerpants?—loves coming in and getting really high in the corner booth. You’re not about to judge, though: he’s always wearing a retail uniform when you see him and however tense and stressed out he is on his way in, BP’s always chill and smiling on his way out, so whatever works for him!

The dogs are a hoot and a half, especially when they find out that you work with dogs for a living. They only get more excited to learn that you and Sans actually have a dog at home, which leads to Buddy coming to visit Grillby’s one night and…

Well…it’s a good thing that you’re already used to loud barking from your time at the shelter. Your ears didn’t stop ringing for hours after that night.

Dino gushes about his son, Franco loudly negotiates gigs over his bluetooth, and Grillby…

Grillby doesn’t say much, actually, but his warm and glowing presence behind the bar is steady and reassuring.

You love it.

You love Grillby’s, and you love all the incredibly sweet and fascinating people you meet there, but most of all, you love what going so often is doing for Sans.

He’s…lighter these days, a little more unburdened. He smiles easier, jokes quicker, laughs louder, and it’s delightfully different.

……No.

On second thought…it’s not different at all.

He’s still Sans—your Sans, all the way down to his marrow—but just…more.

It’s Sans the way he is when it’s just you and Papyrus around, but more often, even at work where he’s usually so closed off and shy, and it feels like the coolest damn thing to get to see other people finally getting to know the sweet and funny guy you care so much about.

Your relationship with Sans takes a nice, easy slide into the comfortable; so comfortable, in fact, that you manage to give poor Papyrus another conniption about it.

“What Do You Mean, You Don’t Have Anything Planned?!”

Silently, you and Sans share a look and shrug.

You know that you, at least, feel an awful lot like a kid being scolded by the teacher for not handing in an assignment. It’s hard not to feel that way with Papyrus looming over you, hands on his hips and impatiently tapping his foot.

“I Am So Disappointed,” he tsks, completing the illusion. “You’re Just Going To Sit Around The House Like Lumps—”

That had been your plan.

“—On Your Own Six-Monthiversary???”

“i don’t think that’s a thing.”

“Of Course It’s A Thing, Sans!” Papyrus snaps. “Human, Tell Him It’s A Thing!”

“……I…guess?”

“There, You See? They Agree With Me! You’re Being A Terrible Datemate!”

Okay, you can’t let that go unchallenged.

“I don’t think that, baby,” you say to Sans, quietly but Papyrus hears you anyway.

“Don’t Tell Him That! He’ll Never Learn Without Consequences!”

You raise your eyebrows. “He would learn with consequences?” you ask incredulously.

“………Stop Making Valid Points!” Papyrus demands in return.

“i feel so attacked right now,” Sans chimes in, but he’s laughing so you doubt his feelings are really hurt.

“Well, How Do You Think They Feel?! Look At Them!”

Sans looks at you and you smile up at him.

“yeah, cute as ever.”

“No! Heartbroken! Let Down! Devastated!”

You don’t really want to make Pap a liar… You frown, just a little bit, utterly fake and disingenuous.

“Yes, Perfect, Like That!”

It’s a struggle not to ruin the expression by laughing.

“Sans, Your Poor Human Naïvely Hoped Against All Logic And Reason That You Might Do Something Special For Them On This Most Important And Momentous Of Days! That You Would Go Against Your Very Nature And Find One Tiny Romantic Bone In Your Body— ”

“ouch, ‘tiny’?”

“—And Sh………You Are Vulgar, Oh My God! For Once In Your Life Of Laziness And Terrible Puns, Be Serious—And Don’t You Dare Say You Can’t Be ‘Serious’ If You’re ‘Sans,’ I Am All Too Aware That You Are Sans!”

You give up, you’re laughing.

Your boys are just too fucking funny, watching them argue is like watching the best improv sketch you’ve ever seen.

“Look, You’ve Made Them Hysterical!”

“oh no. i’m the worst.”

“No One Is Arguing That, And You Are So Lucky That I’m Here To Help You.”

You take a moment to try and get yourself together, deep breaths and not looking directly at either of these damn jokers.

“Oh, Good,” Papyrus grins at you. “You’re Coming Around To Acceptance! I Think You Skipped Over Anger And Bargaining Somewhere In There, But I Admire Your Efficiency!”

Pfft! “Thanks,” you eke out, just barely tamping down a giggle.

“Now, Then,” he says, very seriously, settling a comforting hand on your shoulder, “Sans Is Going To Make Up For His Grievous Oversight And Take You On A Lovely Six-Monthiversary Date.”

“i am? cool.” Sans slings an arm around you, gently pulling you out of his brother’s grip. “been dyin’ for some cheesy fries—”

“No!” Papyrus tugs you back, glaring at Sans. “No Grillby’s! It’s Bad Enough That That’s Your Usual, You Don’t Go To Your Usual For A Six-Monthiversary! It’s A Special Occasion!”

Sans frowns, but seems to take the proclamation in stride. “alright, so…what do ‘i’ have in mind?”

“That’s! ……” Papyrus squints down at you. “That Obviously Has To Be A Surprise.”

Without further ado, you’re nudged carefully yet forcefully to the stairs—shooed away like a too-curious cat from a museum.

“Wait, Pap, what—”

“Don’t Argue!” he chides, unmoved by your confusion. “Go Wait Upstairs For Awhile! Sans Will Get You When His Surprise Is Ready!”

You spare a last look at Sans, who seems only mildly amused by whatever is happening here. He gives you a little wave that makes you smile, and you willingly disappear up the steps.

Down below you, you can still hear a faint exchange, hissed whispers and murmuring, but you can’t make any of the words out, so you don’t bother to keep eavesdropping.

Besides, a romantic surprise sounds…kind of nice.

Whether it was actually Sans’ idea or not, a date with your funnybones was always something to look forward to.

You decide to go hang out in Sans’ room while you wait.

You suppose Papyrus’ room is also an option—you don’t think he’d necessarily mind you waiting there—but you feel a little more comfortable encroaching on your boyfriend’s space than on Papyrus’.

You hang out with him in there a lot, for naps and indoor tornado-watching and majorly nerdy (but interesting), casual geology lessons with his rock collection, so it seems like the best option for now.

The piney scent of air freshener tickles your nose when you walk in and you figure Sans must’ve cleaned sort of recently. He’s been pretty good about that lately, maybe especially because you’re in here more often, and it makes you happy that he has a mostly tidy area for himself.

You still remember how cluttered it used to be, and even with a stray sock or discarded t-shirt on the floor here and there, it’s a major improvement.

(You are…a big enough person to admit to some envy over it. Your own room could certainly do with some attention and you make a mental note to take care of that soon.)

Sans’ desk is, naturally, the most organized: it’s where all his rocks are, meticulously sorted and catalogued by means that are…probably very scientific and make perfect sense.

To you, it seems totally random, but you still like to look at all of Sans’ cool specimens and see how many of them you can remember.

Tiger’s eye is easy and so is jade. You remember that the purpley-green one carved into an obelisk is fluorite because Sans made a hilariously terrible pun about it one time that apparently burned it into your brain.

The smooth whitish one in the middle of the desk is harder. It’s iridescent, which you’d think would make it easy to identify, but apparently you were really bad at telling the difference between moonstone and opal.

Sans, being your oh-so-hilarious funnybones, loved to swap them out on you and snicker when you got it wrong, so you pretty much give up on that one entirely.

The polished purple ball is definitely amethyst…ooh, or is it charoite? It looks kind of squiggly and you can’t remember if amethyst is ever that squiggly…

You need more light.

You flick on the desk lamp and the rocks illuminate, sheens and glitter galore that make you feel like some sort of goblin with a primal urge to hoard the shiny, sparkly things before you.

The purple is charoite for sure, and you’re…roughly eighty percent certain that the other one is an opal today, too many colors in it to be moonstone.

But you’re also a little distracted by the weird glint the extra light is causing down by the floor, behind the desk.

You bend down to investigate and find a stray rock, wedged between the desk-leg and the wall. It’s the work of seconds to get it free and when you’ve got it…

Huh.

It’s a decently-sized black rock, dusty where it had been face-up and shiny where it wasn’t. It must have been stuck down there a good long while.

You take your shirt to it, carefully wiping it off and making sure to be mindful the places where it sharply curves into peaked edges, and soon it’s shiny all over, gleaming almost mirror-like from your hand.

You’d never been quizzed on this one before, but obsidian was one of the more recognizable types of rocks out there.

Volcanic glass, your brain helpfully adds and you feel a burst of excitement at knowing a rock fact Sans didn’t have to tell you.

You wonder if he’d be proud of you for that and shake your head, feeling silly for the thought.

Of course he’d be proud of you, and then he’d probably immediately find a way to make a pun out of it. You weren’t sure how, ‘obsidian’ didn’t seem like a very punnable word, but if anyone could find a way, it would be Sans.

You smile and go to set the rock back on his desk where it belonged, but pretty quickly realize there’s a roadblock.

You don’t actually know where on the desk it belongs. There’s clearly some sort of system but you have no clue what it is.

Messing up one of the few things Sans has bothered to organize, even in a tiny way, feels…kinda rude…

You elect to hold onto it until Sans comes to get you.

Since you have no idea what the surprise is and what the wait time on it is, you also plop yourself onto the bed and get comfy.

No sense standing around forever for no reason, right?

You intend to take out your phone and start playing games to pass the time, but you end up playing with the little obsidian chunk in your hands instead. It’s enticingly smooth beneath your fingers, cool but rapidly warming to the heat of your body as you keep stroking your thumb over its surface without rhyme or reason.

Its edges are a little sharp and kind of jagged, but they’re pretty easy to avoid once you properly map them out and besides that, you like the way they look. It…it’s got character, like a lot of your favorite things in this life.

A lot of your favorite people.

You start to wonder if Sans would miss this particular little rock if you just went ahead and kept it, like that shiny-hoarding goblin you felt like a few minutes ago.

…Nah, that would be pretty uncool of you.

You’ll give it back when—

“hey, babe, y’ready for, heheheh, ‘my’ surprise?”

You sit up, grinning and chuckling a little yourself to see Sans holding a blanket and a picnic basket, of all things. “Oh boy, am I ever! Papyrus…does know it’s nighttime, right?”

“………”

You follow Sans’ gaze when he doesn’t answer you right away. He’s looking at the obsidian in your hands and you scoff.

“Oh, right, I, uh…I found this! I wasn’t sure where it was supposed to go, so I—”

“where?”

“What?”

“where…was that?” The tightness in Sans’ voice makes you frown. You’re suddenly extra glad you didn’t just steal it because it seems…important, somehow?

You can’t read it all, but there’s a lot of emotion on his skull right now, more than there should be for just some average, run of the mill rock.

You wonder what the story is, but ultimately, you don’t need to know.

“It was behind your desk. It must’ve fallen off or something,” you say. You hold it out to him, smiling gently. “Here, you can put it…wherever it’s supposed to be!”

Sans reaches for it. He’s unusually slow in taking it from you, his bony fingers just…hovering over your open palm for a long moment.

You look up at him in surprise when instead, he closes his hand around yours, the obsidian still inside.

“keep it,” he says.

“What…seriously?” Your eyebrows knit in something approaching concern. “But…”

“but nothin’. ya’ like it, don’tcha?”

Damn him and his ability to read you like a book sometimes. “Well…yeah, but…”

You weren’t sure how, but…it was an important rock to him, right? It had to be! Some…some sort of memento or…stars, maybe a family heirloom or something!

“i want you to have it,” Sans says simply.

His tone is surprisingly firm. You’re not sure you’ve ever heard him speak so matter-of-factly, so you know he means it, but still…

“It’s…it’s not important…?”

“nah.” That feels like a lie, but he immediately follows it with, “it was supposed to be away, i must’ve missed it in the great rock purge of 20XX. doesn’t belong on the desk, anyway, you’d be doin’ me a favor if ya’ just took it. really.”

“……You just don’t want to dig out the shoeboxes for it,” you accuse.

Sans laughs, deeply amused…and maybe just a little bit relieved.

“ya’ got me,” he admits. “s’a lotta work for one little stone and, uh, between you an’ me…i didn’t really get’cha anything for our six-monthiversary.”

You give him an exaggerated gasp of shock. “No!”

“i know, i know” he sighs, just as dramatically. “m’a cad. a scoundrel. a ne’er-do-well…whatever that is.”

“Harsh, but fair.” Sans releases your hand and you look at the…your obsidian. “Well…I’m honored by your thoughtless, last minute gift of rock.” You grin at him a little slyly. “Great minds think alike?”

Sans grins back. “you know it,” he says, and out comes the convenience store paperweight from his pocket, the one you’d bought him all those months ago back before you’d even been dating. “take it with me everywhere.”

You know he does and that makes you feel stupidly warm and gooey.

“I guess I can return the favor, now,” you say, slipping the obsidian into a pocket of your own. “Couples’ pocket-rocks: we’re gonna start a new trend.”

“heheheheheheh, trendsetters, that’s us.” Sans leans down to nuzzle the top of your head, gentle and sweet as always. “just be careful with it, yeah? s’a little sharp—you’re squishy.”

“I choose to take that as a compliment.”

“good, ‘cause it is one.” You get another gentle bump of teeth against your forehead and Sans pulls you to your feet. “c’mon, let’s go, i’ll tell ya’ all about your present on the way.”

Sans surprises you by actually walking all the way downstairs with you instead of just shortcutting you wherever it was you were going.

True to his word, he gives you a whole miniature lecture in the course of the trip about the care and keeping of your new obsidian—you learn that you can wash it with warm water and gentle soap, but not to use anything abrasive on it because that could damage the polished sheen.

You cut in when he starts to say it’s formed from molten rock to tell him that you know it’s volcanic glass, and just as you thought, he looks both surprised and proud of you for already knowing a rock thing.

He also says your observation was ‘ingenious’ but his inflection makes it sound an awful lot like the word ‘igneous,’ so you were right on both counts.

You sure know your big dork of a skeleton.

You notice the conspicuous lack of Papyrus and Buddy as you walk to your destination and figure Pap probably made the both of them scarce to give you and Sans a little privacy for your apparently very important milestone date and the consideration is appreciated.

So is the big, fluffy blanket that Sans slings around your shoulders as soon as you step out into the moderately chilly backyard.

Winter is on its slow way out still, but by now all the snow is melted and the air is what you’d describe as brisk instead of outright cold. With the blanket, it’s more than bearable, which is probably a good thing.

With the picnic basket and the telescope set up in the middle of the yard, you think you’re probably going to be out here awhile.

“Stargazing?” you ask, unable to disguise the excitement in your voice.

“heheheh, stargazing,” Sans agrees. He waggles the picnic basket enticingly. “plus snacks. Pap snuck a couple thermoses in there, could be soup, could be tea…”

“Could be cocoa.”

“endless possibilities.” The red of Sans’ eye-light looks pleasantly soft and warm beneath the cold, white moonlight and you find yourself instinctively leaning in. “happy six-monthiversary, babe.”

You kiss him. You don’t think there’s anything else you can do.

It takes…longer than you’re willing to admit to get to the actual date part of your date.

It’s hardly your fault that Sans’ nuzzling is addictive, or that his big hands stroking your back and shoulders through the blanket is something you never want to pull away from.

Eventually, though, you pick at the snacks while Sans fusses with the telescope a little, telling you how to use it while he picks a good spot in the mostly cloudless night to settle it on.

You’re surprised that Papyrus just had something like this lying around, and Sans surprises you even further by admitting it’s his—the same one he once told you he rented out Underground.

“could only look at a ceiling back then,” he says, distractedly. “view’s way better up here. c’mon, take a look.”

You get up and wander over to the telescope, hesitating a second because the last thing you want to do is damage one of Sans’ older possessions.

“don’t worry, i wiped the paint off the eye-piece,” Sans promises. “Pap made me, you’re safe.”

You laugh. “God, of course you pranked people with it, I should’ve known…”

Still, you trustingly look through the telescope, hoping Papyrus really did have your back on this one.

You forget all about it when you see the stars, closer and brighter than you’ve seen them in a long time—maybe ever.

“Wow…”

Sans comes up behind you, helping you adjust and move the telescope around here and there to different corners of the heavens. It really is a view that’s just…

“beautiful…”

You pull away, tilting your head back to find Sans observing the sky with just his own eye-sockets.

The dreamy awe on his skull makes you feel even cozier than your blanket and you gently nudge him in the ribs. “You want a turn on your own telescope, or…?”

Sans doesn’t even look at you as he says, “nah, m’good. this is plenty for now.”

You huff out a little laugh, leaning back against Sans and just looking up with him. “You really love the sky, huh?”

“understatement,” he murmurs. “it’s wild that ya’ just…have this, all the time.”

You can’t imagine what living your entire life in a cave must’ve been like. You don’t care to, it can’t have been good, even before it got a million times worse with the famine and everything attached to it.

“What’s your favorite kind of sky?” you ask him, curious.

“what, ever?” You make a noise of agreement and Sans pauses to consider it. “sunrise, probably. all the colors…an’ the sun, that was a hell of a thing, that first time…”

Sounds right. You’d seen some truly incredible sunrises in your time on this planet and even when you took them for granted, you still always thought they were pretty.

“even…even this, though,” Sans says. “even when it’s night an’ the sun is gone, ya’ still get this. the moon, an’ clouds, an’…an’ stars, damn…there’s so many, i never…i never thought…”

He trails off and you let him. You can guess the ways he may have finished it and you don’t need him to say any of them.

Instead, you say, “There’s a million constellations, too. You know any? I can pretty much just point out the dippers, and that’s on a good day. Well, night.”

“heheheheh…funny you ask, i, uh…” he sounds a little shy as he admits, “i used to wanna learn about that stuff…constellations, y’know. …never got around to it.”

“How come?”

“……”

You can’t look up anymore when Sans settles his chin atop your head, hugging you closer to him.

“…never had much hope,” he says eventually. “lot of us did, i guess. even after the…the human.” He chuckles a little and it sounds tired. “Pap always believed…that we’d get up here one day, see the stars for real. but i…i dunno, it was harder for me to…to think that way. it didn’t seem like a thing that’d ever happen.”

“It did though,” you’re quick to remind him. “You’re here. You’re out.”

You get a grateful little squeeze for that. “yeah, i know. just…wasn’t always that way. didn’t see much point learnin’ stuff i was never gonna get to use.”

You reach up, idly petting at one of the arms Sans had wrapped around your midsection. The worn, blue fabric of his hoodie is much softer than the sturdy bones beneath it, but you find you love them both in equal measure.

“i, uh…actually, for awhile there…” Sans speaks haltingly, carefully weighing each of his words, and you keep quiet and let him. “when we…started collecting souls again…and seeing the surface seemed like it was actually gonna happen…i…i kinda hoped i…wouldn’t see it?”

“…What do you mean, baby?”

Sans takes a breath from behind you, holding it before letting it out in a whoosh.

“i…i used to hope i’d dust before we ever got up here.”

A bolt of fearful grief strikes through you, robbing you of speech.

Sans keeps talking, though.

“thought it’d be hunger,” he says, too casually for the subject matter. “always…i always felt it the most in between humans…hoped i would……an’ then i wouldn’t have to…to do it again. or maybe karma’d get me, one of ‘em would…would see me comin’ an’ fight back, dust me then.”

This wasn’t…entirely new to you. Sans had talked about this once before, briefly, telling you in passing about feelings like these.

It had come on the heels of so much other shocking information and it had been painful to hear then, but it feels so much worse now to hear Sans talk about dying.

You think you hadn’t loved him then, not the way you do now, and stars above, you do love him now.

The very thought of Sans not being around wouldn’t feel so much like losing a limb if you didn’t.

You’re not sure if you make a sound or if he can just feel that you’re upset, but Sans nuzzles at you, making hushing noises of comfort.

“s’okay, baby, s’okay, i’m not…you don’t gotta worry about me, i never… made an attempt or anything, i don’t…i don’t got that in me. s’just how i felt sometimes, on the bad days. i wanted…to punish myself, i think. for doin’ the stuff i did.”

His arms uncurl from your body and his hands are held out just in front of you. By the moonlight, you see the pale bones of his metacarpals, scraped and rough, and you don’t hesitate a second to fill them with your own hands.

“You don’t…” You bite your lip. “Do you…still think that way…?”

You’re a little afraid of the answer, but you need to hear it.

Sans spins you around to face him, your arms briefly tangling in your urge to not let go of Sans, but when you get it all sorted out…

He’s smiling at you, warm and real.

“no,” he says. “i don’t. not really.”

Your relief is so strong that for a moment, you feel weightless.

“got my bad days. happens, but…not bein’ around doesn’t really appeal the way it used to, y’know? got more stuff i wanna stick around for.”

There aren’t words for how happy you are to hear that.

“i got Pap, the guys at grillby’s, all those fluffy idiots at the shelter…” He chuckles a little and adds, “the fluffy idiot back in the house.”

“Hey,” you manage to say sternly, “that’s no way to talk about our son.”

One of his hands leaves yours, coming up to cradle your cheek.

“i got you, too,” he says softly, looking down at you with lidded eye-sockets.

For a second, you’re sure your heart is about to beat out of your chest, but he breaks your gaze to look up again.

“an’ i got the sky. there’s a whole lot of stuff for me to hope about these days, and...” Sans smiles just a little bit wider. “hell, i think i’d even say i’m…happy.”

Stars, you’re happy, too.

Here, in the arms of the strongest, most wonderful man you know, you don’t think you could be any happier.

You really do love him.

You press your face into his hand, turning just enough to be able to kiss it.

“Hey,” you say against his palm, “let’s learn constellation stuff.”

Sans snorts, building into a not-entirely-dismissive laugh.

“what, for real?” he says, like he can’t quite believe you said it. “you don’t think it’s, uh…heheheh, a little late for me to be learnin’ new stuff?”

He raps his knuckles against his skull with a hollow ‘tok-tok,’ but you don’t let it deter you.

“That’s why I wanna do it together!” you explain. “We can help each other out, it could be fun. Couples’ astrology!”

You see him trying and failing to hold back another laugh. “astronomy,” he corrects you. “unless you’re askin’ me what my sign is. real roundabout way of doin’ this, you’re supposed to ask my sign an’ then date me, what if we’re not compatible?”

“Pffff, shut up, we’re compatible,” you insist. “You know the right kind of star-charts to google, and me…” You smirk at him, a crafty glint behind your eyes. “I make some killer flashcards.”

Sans stares at you for a few seconds, processing.

You go on high-alert when his eye-light starts doing that shivering thing again, but this time… This time, it doesn’t stabilize into its normal, perfectly round shape.

Your mouth drops open when you see it.

“Sans,” you breathe, your eyes going wide. “That’s adorable, I didn’t know you could do that!”

“………do what?”

“…Oh my god.” Your hand comes up to cover your mouth. “You don’t even know you’re doing it…?”

Sans frowns a little, starting to look concerned. “doing what?”

It’s so, so hard not to squeal, but… “Your eye is a heart, baby.”

The big, red heart-shape taking up Sans’ eye-socket is the cutest, sweetest thing you’ve ever seen. You love it, almost as much as you love Sanswhich, as you’re starting to realize, is a hell of a lot.

Sans is maybe not quite as thrilled about his eye-light’s new trick as you are.

As soon as he realizes what you’ve told him, he’s practically blushing his skull off, hurriedly covering his face and whirling away from you like you hadn’t seen what you’d just seen.

Unfortunately for his pride or his ego or whatever was bruised right now, you aren’t exactly prepared to let it go.

You chase after him, trying to tug his arm away. “Come ooooon,” you whine playfully, “that was cute, I wanna see it!”

“no, nuh-uh,” Sans grumbles, trying to be gruff to scare you off, but he can’t fool you after that affectionate display.

He’s a softie, through and through, and you can’t get enough of it.

“Saaaaaans…!”

“no! quit it! it’s not, don’t!”

There’s a bit of a scuffle that’s about as one-sided as you could imagine: you’re a wily little human and he’s a gentle giant of a skeleton who’d never lay a hand on you.

Even when your blanket falls off and you both hit the ground on top of it, Sans manages to roll so that he takes most of the impact and you end up…well, exactly where you want to be—on top of him, bracing yourself against his rib-cage while he lies on his back beneath the moon and the stars.

You take a moment to catch your breath, winded from the little play-fight and your laughter. It’s a little disappointing to see that his eye-light is back to its normal shape, but you try not to get too down about it.

If you got him to do it once, you could get him to do it again. You’d just have to try harder from now on.

Sans is…very handsome from this angle, in this lighting. You think he’s handsome pretty much all the time, but right now especially…

You wonder if now would be a good time to tell him that thing you just realized, with that four-letter word that so many people were scared to say.

You open your mouth, ready to tell him.

“I—”

“y’shouldn’t play rough like that, that’s grounds for a break-up.”

“…snrk!”

So like Sans to break the tension with a shitty joke.

It’s part of the many, many reasons you love him.

You laugh and he grins proudly, his embarrassment easily forgotten and you’re happy to help it along by leaning down for a kiss.

“Stop trying to distract me,” you say against his teeth. “Let’s talk about those flashcards. Four-by-six?”

“ya’ gotta be kiddin’, with the size of my hands?” They land on your hips, holding your much smaller self steady with ease. “five-by-eight is barely good enough. lined or unlined?”

“Lined,” you say forcefully. “Don’t you ever suggest unlined to me again, I’m offended.”

Sans laughs. “offended over note-cards, an’ you call me a nerd?”

You hit him with the flattest look you can manage.

“Sans, you gave me a lecture on the care and keeping and properties of obsidian on the fly. No prior notice. Yeah, you’re a nerd!”

“that’s in these days, though, right? nerds are hot?”

Yours sure was.

“Eh, you’ll do,” is what you say.

It seems to be the right thing because Sans happily pulls you down for another nuzzle that you enthusiastically return.

All things considered, it’s probably the best six-monthiversary date you’ve ever had.

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#fur a good time call #undertale #fanfiction #sans #papyrus #sans/reader #horrortale #ht!sans #ht!papyrus #myfic

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