#bad dad gabriel agreste

[ajwinter-is-a-nerd]

Le Chat Et Le Serpent - Chapter 60

Please note that the entirety of this story is a ****TRIGGER WARNING***** - mentions of child abuse, graphic violence, alcohol use, mental health, suicide, suicidal ideation, self-harm - basically a constant blow of pain towards the characters - as well as some "steamier" moments.

Chapter Summary:

The battle against Ladybug takes full swing.

Chapter song (included in body) - Glory and Gore by Lorde

“TRAITOR!” Ladybug cried as she whipped her Yo-Yo against the walls surrounding her. The lime prison Shell-ter shattered with ease. 

The onus’ they had already prepared for were Ladybug’s extended experience and that her power was expected to subjugate the lesser Miraculous’. Their unforeseen handicap was the lack of edge the counter Miraculous would carry; Luka was far too fresh a holder to be an even opponent. Unfortunately, the carry-over experience in between the Miraculous’ was minimal, particularly in regards to Creation and Destruction. 

The weakened walls of Carapace’s Shell-ters were an extension of himself. He’d already been emotionally drained from Rip Off Sandboy’s vivid hallucinations, physically exhausted by the length of the battles himself, and was tapping on the edge of his tank with repeated exertion of his power. 

Without proper pockets to tap out his anxiety, the inner skin of Serpent Noir’s cheek had gone raw from compulsively gnawing at it as he struggled to break down the problem. Ignorantly, he believed that sheer numbers alone would lead to a rudimentary takedown. The second error was the fact that he miscalculated the unified front; there was constantly someone requiring a pause from battle to de-transform. 

Tapping his fingers along the heel of his palm he contemplated using the power of destruction, but he knew there would be no going back if he did. Would the others ever forgive him if he went rogue? If he Cataclysmed the last breath from Ladybug? 

As tempting as it was, he knew that the cost of any life could not be underestimated. Beyond the judgement of others, he realised he could never live under the weight of that sin.

Once again, translucent green shards hailed from Ladybug. Knowing that Carapace was out of juice, Serpent Noir attempted to divert the exertion. With their current modus operandi, Carapace was the most befitting holder; therefore, it was imperative that Carapace was performing at the highest possible calibre. 

“Vesperia! Stun her!” Serpent Noir instructed as he bitterly kicked the Shell-ter fragments before him. 

Ladybug’s face cringed as Vesperia’s stinger sunk into her shoulder. Her iced expression of contorted discomfort sent a jolt of hope through Serpent; he finally had a brief moment to disarm her. Before his fingers could brush the edge of her Yo-Yo, the venom dissipated. 

Vindictively, Ladybug spun backwards to smash her Yo-Yo against his face. Covering his throbbing cheek with one hand, he flailed backwards onto the tilt of the roof. His body spiralled tumultuously down the roof, his protective palm shielding his face numerous times. A spur of luck enabled him to catch one of the divots of the roof before continuing his descent. Blood spat from his mouth as he shrieked in desperation at the sight of Ladybug shrinking. 

“PEGASUS! STOP HER!” 

Igniting into action, Pegasus took the offensive lead by tossing a portal while Carapace crouched beside a chimney. 

Rena blanketed Carapace with a Mirage as she knelt to the ground, attempting to reserve what energy she had left. She watched helplessly as Ladybug escaped every portal. Even if Pegasus dropped her directly into Serpent’s arms she could wile her way out of it. The portals were dispersed so expediently that Pegasus was nearly depleted before Serpent even had a chance to formulate a plan. 

Recalculating, Serpent modified from grapple to strike; he shot his baton out, effectively jamming her ribs the moment she materialised through the portal. With a breathless grunt she halted mid air and plummeted to the roof below. 

Extending his baton further, he slammed it against her torso while shouting towards Vesperia. “Stun her again!” 

Ladybug was a rabid dog thrashing against Serpent’s baton. As he approached, he increased pressure against her hips. Her detainment was nearly palpable until the cursed call echoed through the streets. 

*Lucky Charm!* 

A pebble fell from the sky. Confused, she rolled it around in her fingers, it looked like a mechanism of some sort. Vesperia’s venom stunned her once the charm was safely clenched in her fist. 

What the hell is that? Serpent attempted to analyse the glimpse he’d seen of her charm as the group closed in on the stilled, fallen hero. Maybe the Charm is starting to falter because she’s going against the team? Maybe we have something on our side from within Ladybug’s power. 

Feigning frozen defeat, she laid limply against her entrapment; she needed them with their guards down and as close as possible. 

Crouching to grasp Ladybug, Serpent’s baton slightly angled upwards from her hips. Her hair ran through his fingers as she spun out from under the weapon and smashed her pebble towards the ground. 

Ominously dense smoke misted around the holders, completely whiting out their vision. Quick-wittedly, Carapace threw a domed Shell-ter over them. Though he would imprison the entire team; Ladybug would be imprisoned with them, her powers already exhausted. 

Serpent watched as smoke swirled against the glassy edges of their confinement. His jaw clenched as a brief flash of red shot from the other side; she’d already made it past the edge of the Shell-ter before it was raised. 

“She escaped.” Serpent growled. 

Irritated, Carapace dissipated his field of protection. By the time the dome fell, Ladybug had fled from their field of vision. 

Relying on her transformation still being up, Serpent Noir swiped out his GPS from the top of his baton. Ladybug was far closer than he thought. He barely saw her location pin by the time a zipping noise reeled from behind him. 

A booming crack resonated as Ladybug’s Yo-Yo struck the back of Serpent’s skull. For a brief moment, Serpent’s vision flashed to black while he collapsed to his knees. 

“How dare you? You steal my Kitty’s power and then go after mine?” Ladybug seethed as she threw another Yo-Yo, striking Vesperia. 

“Ladybug, your time is OVER!” Purple Tigress screamed as she threw her clout. 

As Ladybug toppled to the roof, she entangled Purple Tigress into her weapon. 

“I made you.” She spat towards Tigress before she swung her in the air and whipped her across the city.

“NO!” Pigella shrieked in horror as Tigress spun through the air, flailing out of sight. 

A paralysing level of panic pumped through Serpent Noir. His plan was crumbling, and the ones he loved were paying the price. Gears were jamming in Serpent’s foggy mind as he struggled to consider any form of strategy. 

*Lucky Charm*

“Agh!” Serpent Noir couldn’t mute his rage. He hadn’t even considered that the smoke bomb would have given her a chance to recharge her powers. 

Maniacal laughter emanated from Ladybug as she caught her newest charm. It was poetic, in a way, that she’d spent so many years fighting Papillion and his illusions to get this charm. An identical charm had been held by several of Papillion’s villains; it had even been held by Chat’s personified nightmare. She bit her lip in exhilaration, sharing the same conclusion as Serpent, as she gripped the infamously enormous red and black spotted jagged sabre. She’d become the monster she’d worked tirelessly to battle. 

Terror and anger fueled the wind summoned by Ryuko, tearing shingles off roofs and swinging the hoods off the tips of chimney ends. Ladybug’s balance barely wavered as the attack struck her. 

Stunned, Serpent watched as Ladybug started charging forward with her deadly weapon in hand. 

What do we need? What are we missing? We need a - oh god dammit. 

Serpent Noir frustrated himself with his own obliviousness. 

*Second Chance* 

Strumming his harp, Serpent crouched to analyse the scene. He decided that surveying the attacks would be the best method to find the crack, the flaw, the missing link they needed to win. 

Ladybug bound forward towards Ryuko but, to Serpent’s surprise, Pigella was the first to intercept her trail. She was fighting for Tigress, who was still out of sight. Smothering her vindictive urge to vault Ladybug across the roof, Pigella attempted to use her power of gift to distract Ladybug. 

The iridescent white box had barely cracked open before Ladybug sliced her Charm through the illusion. The great size of the knife maimed more than the projection, striking Pigella who stood defenselessly behind it. The sabre slid through Pigella’s skull with abhorrent ease. Pigella’s decimated body hadn’t even struck the roof by the time Ladybug spun for her next opponent. The game was easier when they came to her, it meant she didn’t need to exhaust herself, merely pivot in a circle to remind them who was the most powerful. 

While Serpent called on his Second Chance , he gulped in horror. Ladybug ported a joker’s smile while blood dripped from the tip of her blade as Pigella’s body sagged against the roof.

*Second Chance* 

Steadying his voice, Serpent rolled his fingers along his harp’s string as he dictated the battle forward. “Pigella, stay back. Someone else try.” 

Accustomed to working together, Pegasus portaled Vesperia and King Monkey behind Ladybug. They thought they may still have the element of surprise as Ryuko shot towards Ladybug.

Again, they were fighting the strength of Ladybug’s experience. Instead of sneaking up, the hushed crackle of the portal told Ladybug their exact location. Her psychotic gaze didn’t falter from Serpent as she swung the sabre behind her. The weapon effectively beheaded them before they could step forward. 

Pausing, she grinned up to Serpent. Her eyes glinted in amusement as she challenged him to call upon another Second Chance. Her eyes told the story her mouth did not, ‘keep trying, I’ll keep tearing them down.’

Incensed, Serpent spun his bracelet again while internally yelling at their villain. This is not a fucking game, Ladybug. Jesus Christ. 

*Second Chance* 

“Pigella, Pegasus, Vesperia, and King Monkey, you’re out. Someone else try to take bat, please.” Serpent started to chew at his thumb. They were quickly running through options. The sheer amount of names he had to spit out alone built fear within the holders while bolstering Ladybug’s confidence. 

Facing her fears, Polymouse scurried around her. She thought that with so many pieces of herself, she could have an advantage against Ladybug; especially when working with the contrasting power of Minitorax’s growth. 

Ladybug hopped over her knife as she spun it below her, effectively hitting each mouse that was trying to climb to her feet. Minitorax bellowed as he recoiled to strike her. 

Ladybug’s fatal flaw was assuming her power would override Minitorox’s. She’d become too confident. Once her sabre slammed into him, he grew larger. 

A flash of panic backed Ladybug’s eyes as Minitorax teetered towards the ground. His pain was from loss, but she knew it wouldn’t last. Ladybug knew Serpent had witnessed the same result as she did. 

*Second Chance* 

Optimistic energy fueled Serpent as he set aside his harp, he was confident they were going to be able to make it through. 

“Pegasus, grab Minitorox and bring him to Ladybug!” 

The familiar tone of the portal alerted Ladybug, to which she cockily threw the sabre behind her. The halt of the blade forced her to spin towards her attacker. 

Minitorax stretched out his arms to pull her into his hold. She frantically struck him repeatedly, causing him to grow with each hit. Minitorax would be effective, but if she kept attacking him, he would become hazardously oversized.

Okay… Serpent thought as he observed Ladybug thrashing. We will still need the team working to subdue her and we want to get the knife from her. We can keep using Shell-Ters and Vesperia… but the damage…

Each time Minitorax took a step, houses crushed beneath him. There surely wouldn’t be a Miraculous Ladybug to fix everything this time. How were they going to take down Ladybug and keep the city safe?

They needed to be able to clean up; they needed another power. 

Serpent’s face lit up as the idea struck him. Pressing the communicator, he spoke to Rena. “Rena! Do you know where Ladybug’s Miracle Box is?” 

Rena was standing in a fighting position beside Carapace with her flute in hand. Not taking her eyes off the enemy, she nodded. “Yeah, what are you thinking?” 

Instead of answering her, he ensured to address everyone. “Who knows where Marc is?” 

“He’s in Japan finishing up his degree with Nathaniel!” King Monkey responded. 

Serpent Noir scanned the group again, putting the plan together in his head before he called again for a -

*Second Chance!*

Wind lifted Serpent’s stray hairs as he stood gallantly atop a chimney. It was time for Ladybug’s demonic reign to come to a close. 

“No one except for Minitorax can touch Ladybug. NO ONE ELSE is to get into striking distance. Pegasus, Rena, King Monkey - I have a different plan for you.” 

Holders immediately threw their attacks towards Ladybug, doing their best to keep her subdued. 

“Pegasus- take Rena and King Monkey to get Marc. Rena, we need Rooster Bold, but take any other Miraculous you think we may need.” Serpent nodded towards Rena. He wanted to be as covert as possible, praying that Ladybug would not hear them and empty out her Yo-Yo. 

As the holders slipped into the portal, Serpent relayed another message. “This plan will expire my Second Chance , everyone please keep this in mind. We only have one shot at this.” 

The three of them took a moment to feed their Kwamis as Alya unlocked the Miraculous box. Pushing the button at the top, she watched as the small drawers popped out. Before the drawer could fully open, she grasped the golden claw from its place. 

Orikko jumped in joy. “Alya! It is so good to see you! What plans do we have today?”

“You will see,” Alya promised as she scanned the remaining jewels. 

Barkk smiled at Alya as she slid the thin necklace against her throat.

“Alya! We hurry, we don’t have much time!” Pegasus beckoned her as he held open his portal. 

Not yet… I’m missing one… Alya rescanned the nearly empty box; her adrenaline was causing her to miss the simple objects in front of her eyes. 

Exhaling in relief, she pinched the black horned jewels. Ziggy bounced up beside Alya. Before Ziggy could ask Alya any questions, Alya nodded towards Pegasus. “Ready!” 

She’d taken two steps before turning backwards, grabbing the last Miraculous just in case, the Miraculous of the Peacock. 

Barkk would help them get the sabre. And she couldn’t imagine that Marc would want to come without Nathaniel and vice versa. Plus, the more holders in the battle, the better. 

She clung to Pegasus’ and Kim’s hands for support before they stepped in unison into the portal. 

-

Ryuko used her power of water to throw Ladybug to the river. Minitorax was rapidly running after her as she collided against the surface of the Seine. Without Peagus’ portal, Ladybug was perpetually just beyond Minitorax’s grasp. 

Gamifying it, Ladybug turned her attacks against the team. Carapace struggled to return to his exhaustive play of reanimating Shell-ters in an attempt to protect the others. 

“Come on.” Serpent Noir whispered to himself, trying to will the same advanced cataclysm that Chat Noir had been able to conjure. 

Carapace was offered a momentary respite as Ryuko returned to the offensive line. 

-

Don’t be bemused, it's just the news! Breaking news, something seems to have gone awry in Paris’ favourite Superhero team! Chat Noir is nowhere to be seen, but we believe that Viperion now holds Chat’s power. Is Ladybug fighting to protect her fallen partner? Or has Ladybug upset the team? We can’t tell for certain, all we know is that today is a dark day for our heroes. 

The TV played in the background of Marc and Nathaniel’s apartment; they often kept it on to keep them close to home. 

The mention of Ladybug broke Marc’s attention from his project. Furrowing his brow, he watched the screen. He couldn’t fathom a reason that his friends would all go against Ladybug. The fact that Chat was gone incited an additional layer of tumultuousness.

“Nat, look at this.” Marc tapped Nathaniel out of his daze. 

Nathaniel’s eyes shot up as Ryuko blasted Ladybug into the Seine. 

“What the?” Nathaniel’s brows furrowed as he stepped closer to the screen. “Do you think she’s Akumatized? And… it looks like Luka came home from his tour…” 

Nathaniel pointed towards Serpent Noir in recognition and bewilderment. 

“Why would the whole team go against Ladybug?” Marc tilted his head as he struggled to understand the broadcast. 

They were so enthralled, they did not notice the three new people standing in their apartment. 

“Because Ladybug got involved with some real bad juju.” Kim announced their presence. 

“Real poetic King Monkey.” Pegasus rolled his eyes. 

“The team needs you.” Alya held out the jewels in her hand. “For Adrien, for Ladybug, for the world. Please help us.” 

The men shared a look of consideration to each other. “Hey, at least we’ll have a chance to get some new content!” Marc smiled towards Nathaniel. 

“I don’t know.” Nathaniel bit his lip as he studied the jewels in Alya’s palm. “We let go of the responsibility because of the stress. Fighting Ladybug seems like the epitome of stress and trauma.” 

Marc caressed Nathaniel’s cheek. Nathaniel was mixed to leave their Miraculous world behind; Marc understood that his fiancées trepidation was based in fear for Marc’s own health. 

“This is the final boss.” Marc whispered before brushing a kiss against Nathaniel’s lips. 

Running his thumb along Marc’s temple, Nathaniel gazed into his eyes. He wanted to read the certainty behind them, the stress when they were younger had nearly destroyed Marc.  “Are you sure you want to go back?” 

“Of course! This is just like our last issue, calling upon an old friend to take down the evil villain!” Marc reassured him while turning towards Alya. “Let’s put things straight.” 

The jewellery had barely passed his second knuckle by the time Orikko was spinning in elation. 

“Oh, it is so good to see you again, Marc!” Orikko smiled in elation. “You’d never believe what has happened!” 

“It’s good to see you too, buddy!” Marc grinned before calling on his transformation. 

Nathaniel fastened his jewels while smiling towards Ziggy. “I thought I’d never see you again, Nathaniel! Oh my, so much has happened, it was horrible!” 

“We’ll have time for that later Ziggy! Right now, we have a battle to get to.” Nathaniel called upon his transformation, ready for action. 

-

Pegasus opened the portal out of Ladybug’s sight, but within earshot of the team. 

“We’re here.” Pegasus announced to Serpent Noir. 

Excluding Ladybug from the group comm, Serpent Noir made his announcement. 

“Rena, cover anyone who needs to refuel. Rooster Bold, call on the power of restoration, we need to fix the destruction. Caprikid, we need something to shut her up.”

Serpent checked his GPS for Purple Tigress. His stomach churned as the map came up blank. 

If she was in a grave state, Roaar would tell us, right? A memory was triggered of Anarka attempting to apply pressure to Juleka’s wound, only to have her hand sink into the depths of his fading sibling. 

Shaking off the thought he hid with Zoe as she fed Pollen. 

“How you doing?” She asked with a weary glow.

Sass and Plagg were basically having a competition to see who could eat the fastest. 

“Fine.” Luka dropped his head as he stuffed a gummy worm in his mouth. “It will be worth it once we’ve won.” Sass finished his meal even before Pollen, knowing that he could give Luka an additional edge no Cat Miraculous holder had yet thought of. 

-

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this.” Rooster Bold felt his power growing weary as Minitorax continued to destroy the landscape around him. Ladybug was putting on a performance akin to Harley Quinn, taunting and acrobatic. 

Caprikid eagerly wanted to help, but all he could do was chase them around, holding the ball gag and rope in his hands as he went. 

“Kitty Thief is so scared he had to drag himself all the way to Japan, hey Caprikid?” Ladybug jeered from her momentarily seated position; it was more satisfying teasing from a still position while they stumbled over each other to get to her. 

Growling, Caprikid sped up, aiming directly towards the mocking pest. Rooster Bold intercepted him, panting a warning, “she’s too powerful, wait for the rest of the team.” 

“Better listen to your girlfriend!” Ladybug cackled at her mockery as she rolled forward from her seated position, holding the sabre above her head as she fell towards the couple. 

Throwing Caprikid to the ground, Rooster rolled them out of the way; she’d been close enough that a few of his sliced red hairs took flight as he shielded Caprikid. 

Sneering at the panic she induced, she seized at the knife that had lodged deep into the ground from where they were standing. Though Minitorax was exhausted, he was only a few moments away, she couldn’t relish in the moment as she’d hoped. 

Nearly pushing herself off balance, relief flooded her as the weapon slid from the ground. Her moment of victory quickly faded as Rena’s smug voice carried through the wind. 

“Fetch.” 

Before the weapon had left her palm, Ladybug spun to her escape. 

“Go refuel, Minitorax.” Serpent Noir commanded before beginning the charge forward. 

“TRAITORS!” Ladybug screamed as she ran atop buildings. 

A blip distracted Serpent as he ran forward; Purple Tigress was back online and was almost directly in Ladybug’s path. His eyes shot to the roof she hid on, noting the edge of her tail flickering from behind a chimney. 

“Tigress, if I send her your way-” Serpent couldn’t finish his sentence, because Tigress was already stalking her prey. 

“I’m ready.” 

“CATACLYSM!” Serpent shouted, a small ball of death bouncing above his open hand. 

“Hah! Like you could catch me!” Ladybug spat behind her as she confidently stride forward. 

Her earrings rang as a pipe beside her descended to dust. Nearly frozen in place, she craned to Serpent, who already had another weapon in hand. 

“That was a warning shot.” Serpent slowed as everyone else kept hounding forward. 

“How? It took Chat years!” Ladybug stumbled backwards, falling onto the roof by Tigress. 

“I had a bit of extra time.” Serpent winked at her as he threw another, forcing her to dodge closer to Tigress. 

Ladybug didn’t register the flash of violet until a thin cord coiled around her. Tigress winced as she pulled her tail tighter. Recognizing his cue, Caprikid bolted to shove the ball gag in her mouth. Serpent watched menacingly as the additional rope was tied around her; the rope’s threads were bursting as Tigress’s tail was chinking. 

“Fuck!” Carapace had no more vernacular left as he joined the hogtie.

Calmly, Serpent hovered over her, resting a knee on the ground to either side as he slid off his own belt. The rest of the crew stepped back from their attempts to subdue her. 

Disquieted bluebell eyes voiced what Ladybug was working to deny; she knew she’d been defeated. As he knotted his belt, he smirked. “Your reign is over, my liege.” 

Her erratic movements stilled as her stomach flipped. Serpent’s eyes were vicious. They were a far darker green than Chat Noir’s were and the flecks of gold flickered with ire. He unabashedly lowered himself to her ear, nearly completely on top of her.

Frantic heartbeats pulsed through Ladybug. It had been years since he’d been this close; the only times they had been in such a compromised position he was always exceedingly gentle and compassionate. She would have never believed that Luka would be the one to enact vengeance against her. 

His lips brushed her ear as he hissed. “Never. Fucking touch. My boyfriend. Again.” 

Stupified, she hadn’t noticed his hand lower to her hip, easily pulling off her Yo-Yo. Enraged at the rueful incapacitation, Ladybug released another wave of fervently tossed limbs, landing a solid knee between Serpent’s legs. 

Serpent dropped to the ground beside her, giving her the chance to jolt to her feet; but Rena had already begun swinging the spotted Yo-Yo. Ladybug was helpless as she fell to her own weapon. 

Groaning, Serpent attempted to stand through the throbbing pain that had surged into his lower stomach.

Ladybug’s snickers at Luka’s grunts rolled around the gag in her mouth as her earrings frantically beeped. 

Carapace’s fingers nearly grasped the jewel as Serpent staggered upwards. 

“Wait.” Serpent gulped down the urge to vomit. “Rena, please *uggh* protect - hide - fuck.”

Ladybug’s laughs masked the frantic increase of her beeping Miraculous as a protective mirage covered them. Leaning against Vesperia, Serpent’s hand rolled for Carapace to continue as he pretended to regain composure. 

The last beep timed before his fingers touched the jewellery. 

“WAIT!” Tikki shrieked, protecting Marinette’s lobes. 

Other holders Miraculouses were beeping as an orchestra of groans responded to Tikki's plea. 

-

Adrien tapped the letters along the piano before setting them down. It was strange the decisions that seemed to plague him at this moment. Should he stack them? Put them side by side? He decided that laying them on top of one another and letting them naturally slide was the best decision. 

The piano, however, always felt like the right place. It lived as his symbol of heaven and hell.

Disclaimer * The characters and original plot were written and created by Thomas Astruc. This writing is merely an interpretation in a sad gay type of way.

[bigfatbreak]

The Charity Ball Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Part Four // Part Five

Goliath Viceroy's powerups:

aaaand a play by play down below if the animatic doesn't slap for ye. it's been heavily cut because there are CLEARLY more than 30 frames in this animatic, so its just the main meat of the matter

[miraculously-quality-content]

What if Gabriel couldn't control Gimmi?

Idea that's been rattling in my head since the finale of season 5

"Tikki, Plagg, unite!"

He had done it! He had finally gotten both miraculous! Now, he could make his wish a reality!

As Gabriel thought this, Plagg and Tikki merged into one, forming the true form of Gimmi.

The massive purple kwami stared down at him, then spoke.

"We are Gimmi, the kwami of reality. What is it you require of us?"

Gabriel smirked. "I want my greatest desire to be granted." Gabriel bowed slightly. "With the cost of my life."

Next thing Gabriel knew, he felt extreme pain in his head. Worse than the effects of the Cataclysm.

"We decide the price of the wish, mortal!" Gimmi yelled, seemingly from all around him.

After catching his breath, Gabriel spoke.

"I summoned you! I control you!" Gabriel glared at Gimmi.

Gimmi gave an unimpressed stare back.

"You use our power, yes. But holding our miraculi does NOT give you the ability to say how they work." Gimmi rose so they were not eye level anymore. "The universe requires a balance. So, the price is something of equal value from you."

Gabriel glared at the Kwami. "The grimore-"

"The grimore says a kwami is summoned with a miraculous. And yet, we require 2 miraculi. So, clearly, we are the exception."

Gabriel wanted to say something, but he started going into a coughing fit.

"You may want to stop arguing, as you do not have much time left."

Gabriel pulled his hand back to see that Gimmi was right. It wouldn't be long before the Cataclysm took his life.

"Fine, what is the price for my wish?"

Gimmi raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "Be more specific, everyone has many desires."

Gabriel growled. "My greatest desire, of course!"

Gimmi tilted his head. "Which one? The real one, or the one you claim?"

Gabriel's confusion was visible. "What?"

"Your desire to win in all things, that is your truest desire."

"What? No! That's not-!"

"Lie all you want." Gimmi interrupted Gabriel's response. "But that is your greatest desire. It can be seen in your actions." Gimmi leaned down and got in Gabriel's face, causing him to step back.

"That is why you sent your son away for being unruly. That is why you didn't save Emilie when you had the Rabbit miraculous. That is why you get pleasure in defeating a child." Gimmi used one of their many hands to gesture to Marinette, who has been watching this all happen, while still frozen from Venom.

Gimmi then turned back to Gabriel. "So again, claim all you want that your greastest wish is for Emilie's return, but you and I know the truth."

Gabriel, throughout Gimmi's examination of his character, was silent. Then did his best to look imposing. The way he did when ever someone challenged him.

"Fine, but seeing as how I was able to summon you, I think we can agee I've already achieved that dream. So, another wish is in order."

Gimmi rose back to their full height.

"I wish for Emilie's return."

"We cannot do that for you."

Gabriel physically recoiled. "What!?!" Gabriel scowled at Gimmi. "Is this some kind of rebellion? Because-!"

"We are not rebelling. The problem with that wish, is you."

Gabriel, still furious. "Explain. Now."

"Even when we ignore the fact that the Emilie you think you know and the real person are different, you still do not have anything that would be equivalent."

"Of course I do! A life for a life! I offer my own for hers!"

"Those are not equivalent." Gimmi pointed at Gabriel. "The life must equal in your eyes. An eye for eye, a loved one for a loved one."

Gabriel sputtered as Gimmi rose again. "No loved ones? I have a son!"

Gimmi stared down at Gabriel with thinly veiled contempt. "The fact that you are even considering sacrificing him shows you do not love him the way you love Emilie."

Gabriel, unbothered by Gimmi's accusation, defends himself. "He's a sentimonster. Now that the Peacock is fixed, we can just make another. I'm sure Felix would agree to do so."

Gimmi closes all their eyes as they shake their head. "Do you hear yourself? How can you claim to love your son, when this is how you talk about him? Like he's a thing to throw him away when your whims desire?"

"We're a family! We-"

"We require the bond to be present. And that bond does not exist for you. Nor does anyone feel that way for you, for the matter."

Gabriel gave a bewildered look. "No one feels... again, I have a son, Adrien. He loves me. I'm his father."

Gimmi gave Gabriel a withering look. "There was a point when Adrien loved you. But in your haste to make sure you always win, even against your son, you snuffed out any and all affection he had for you."

Gimmi looks off into the distance. "Maybe in another life, one where you loved your son like you claim to, HE could have made the wish." Gimmi turns back to Gabriel. "And do what you originally intended when you summoned me. Sacrifice you to bring her back."

As Gimmi laid out the consequences of Gabriel's actions, he seethed. "Stop this stalling!"

Gabriel went into another coughing fit as Gimmi gave him a pitying look.

When stopped coughing, Gabriel continued. "There has to be for-"

"There is no way for to bring Emilie back for you"

Gimmi leaned their cheek on the back of their hand. "Nor can I give you eternal victory, as the only way to do so would be to grant your other desire."

Gabriel snarled, with a trail of ash going his face. "Then heal me of this!"

He gestured to the part of his body that was Cataclysmed.

Gimmi shook their head. "The price would either to give you an equally bad condition-"

"I want to be healed! Not obtain a new condition!"

"-or to give it to someone else you care for." Gimmi continued without pausing when Gabriel tried to interrupt them.

"But as we established, you have no one you care for. So again, we cannot do that either."

Gimmi stared down at Gabriel, as he finally realized what they were saying. "You can't mean..." Gabriel, for the first time in a long time, was feeling dread.

"Yes Gabriel," Gimmi leaned over him, "you have nothing to lose, and as such, nothing to gain."

[maribatshipper]

Hey, hey, hey, we all know Maribat/Adribat/Miraculous-Batman-DC crossovers, right? The very Popular Damianette ship?

Okay, and we all know John Constantine making deals with all sorts of demons and monsters, sleeping with them, missing pieces of his soul, snorting Santa's bones, we all know John Constantine, right?

Okay... Now, I give you...

Blond Flirty Cat-boy...

Blond Slutty Trenchcoat Man...

And make John think he screwed some French chick because, Damn, THIS KID REEKS OF MAGIC!!!!

Why? Adrien's a Senti-being, AND the Ring of Destruction. It takes a while for John to figure it out, but when he realises this kid wasn't made from sex, he thinks, "Shit, did someone make a magic golem with my DNA?!"

By the time he finally gets the rundown on THE PEACOCK MIRACULOUS, he's too reluctantly attached to Adrien and Adrien is somehow clinging to this Much Better than Gabriel Father Figure despite all the red flags because "This Dad Taught me stuff I can use! And let's me do things I wanna do!"

Okay, but why is John in Paris, you may ask?

Magic People can Sense big things happening. Like a magic tear in reality. And the Wish in the end of Season 5? Yeah, that set off EVERYONE'S alarm system, but nothing seems to be going wrong in Paris, or it isn't going wrong anymore, and the timeline seems the same, no one can figure out what changed, but SOMETHING did, because they sensed it.

So John goes there for some reason or another, to grab whatever caused that magic surge and hide it, to use it for himself, whatever John is more likely to do.

Only to bump into this kid with his date that looks like a *Happy, healthy* version of a younger him, making both of them stare at each other in shock. The biggest difference being the eye colour difference. But John can sense magic *radiating* from the kid. But it's like he can't pinpoint where, if it's the kid or something he's carrying. (Quantum Masking magic, New York Special.)

The young girl that looks like Bat Adoption Bait on the boy's arm notices the way they're staring at each other and moves in front of the boy protectively.

"Excuse us, Monsieur." She says and tries to move the boy away, but John has to figure out why he's like that.

"Do I know ya, kid?" John asks, directing his gaze to the boy again.

The boy laughs, speaking in relatively okay English, "It'd be hard not to recognise me. But I quit modelling."

He gestures to a billboard with "Adrien: The Fragrance", with the boy's face.

John is definitely surprised as he looks at the poster, but before he can turn back, the girl has already led Adrien away.

He knows he probably looks like some sort of creepy older guy, especially to young kids like them, but he has to find out exactly what is going on with this "Adrien Agreste."

Meanwhile, both of the children have been warned by the Kwami's that something is off about John (reveal or not, up to you), Plagg saying, "Eh, his soul smells like a bunch of guys took a bite out of it" while Tikki says, "He's missing pieces of himself, of his soul. Be careful."

Marinette is Paranoid and Adrien is surprised as the older man offers them both cigarettes.

John somehow finds Adrien seperate from Marinette and explains that he can sense the magic on Adrien, and Adrien gets awkward. John knows he has to be delicate, but delicate is not his forte, so he's straightforward. About the magic pulse from Paris. Not why he's here, but that he can definitely sense something about Adrien.

[httyddragonfox]

The Bad writing of Miraculous Season 4 & 5

Is it just me, or did the writing of Miraculous go down after season three? Chat blanc did so well that they tried to make every episode similar to it, but in doing so they completely changed the format of their writing.

For starters, Adrein is a sentimonster. That's alright, but their little to no hint before hand. Gabriel didn't even use the amok to keep Adrien in line, just scolded him. If he was so against it he could've done that, or if he had his suspicions he could've demanded Adrien tell him the truth with the amok.

Second, Gabriel is suddenly much worse of a parent. At least he had his morals in the first three seasons, and could be slightly reasonable, but now he's completely overriding Adrien's life. It's also inconsistent, sometimes he's completely aghast at the idea of Adrien being Cat noir, sometimes he's like "Yes, evil plan!" Sometimes he's against akumatizing Adrien, others he's "Yes, let's akumatize my son!"

Third, Suddenly 'Kagami is a sentimonster?' This isn't confirmed, but it's heavily implied. Gabriel suddenly has an arrangement with Tomoe. Almost as if she was aware of this the whole time. There was no hint before hand. When the ring is akumatized and broken, Kagami is fine, just like she was before when it was akumatized, Yet suddenly it's a big deal if it is.

Forth, what are they doing with Felix? In the third season, he was introduced as a horrible person who could pretend to be nice. Yet in the fourth and fifth season, it's a bit confusing what they are doing with him. He seems to be obsessed with going against Gabriel, that's consistent. Yet they have him appear in season 4, and "have him controlled by the ring?" In season 5, they have him be horrible in making everyone disappear, Kagami calls him a monster, and he sympathizes with the sentimonsters. Next time, he kidnaps Kagami and she loves in love with him, which is problematic. Then showing the truth to Marinette, he gets rid of the sentimonster even though he cared before. They made him horrible and then they redeemed him, but I'm not sure if he should have been redeemed, especially after the big win he gave Gabriel.

Fifth, the turned Chole into an irredeemable person. Yeah, she was bad before but at least she had her morals. She was somewhat kind to Sabrina, and she had insecurity issues. I don't disagree with the fact that she was selfish in her heroics and that made her a bad person, but I would've liked her continue to have a bond with Sabrina even as she was tormenting Marinette.

Sixth, Lila just seems a little ridiculous in how much she gets away with everything. They were trying to set her up as the next big bad, but in doing so she doesn't even have a set character. It turns out even the character of Lila is a lie and she has three moms, who just believe her lies whole-heartedly. Marinette told Alya that she was Ladybug so Alya should know that she is not Ladybug's best friend or maybe trust her friend a little more, but even she believes Lila!

Seventh, why is Natalie still working for Gabriel when she told him he didn't deserve her help?

Eighth, Kagami and Adrien are supposed to be together according to Gabriel and Tomoe. They never mentioned this before, heck, they weren't even paying attention when they were dating. Suddenly in season 5 it's super important that they end up together.

Ninth, They keep playing around with cataclysm. Cat noir was hit with a Cataclysm before and shattered his ribs but that was it. I thought his suit protected him, they're supposed to be near indestructible. Suddenly they act like if Cat Noir is hit with it he dies, if Monarch is hit with it he'll die.

Tenth, Gabriel destroyed the miraculous like it was nothing. They're supposed to be indestructible to the point that only cataclysm can destroy it.

Eleventh, the alliance rings are supposed to be made of metal, but they're also made of plastic and they're easily broken, yet they turn the alliance rings into a statue.

Twelfth, Tomoe easily gives up on the goal as soon as Gabriel is gone. Yet they wrote her as helping him to achieve her goal.

Thirteenth, Suddenly they're living in a utopia at the end of season 5, even though realistically it's not that easy to turn the world around. What about that school that's not really a high school? It didn't really sound to have that much structure to it. It sounds more like an activities center. Everything just sounds a little too good to be true.

Fourteenth, Gabriel got what he wanted, even if the world being destroyed and being remade is portrayed as a bad thing. Also, he's portrayed as a hero to the public even though he was horrible. Adrien even sees him as a hero, despite being the frontal victim of his abuse. That's problematic writing.

Overall, they tried to create a more serialized writing for seasons 4 and 5 whilst forgetting their writing for the first 3 seasons that were more episodic. It's a complete 180, shocks the audience, and feels sloppy.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

I would be very interested in seeing more of your bad man, good dad au. Would probably give him a better cover

-The way I see it is like this

-Gabriel still is processing from losing Emilie and he knows that the villain method MIGHT not work. So he will not get adrien involved. He will not say or do anything to involve him. That's what he promised himself.

-When Adrien snuck out to try and go to school the first time, Gabriel talked to him and said no. (Mainly because he didnt want his son going out when he was about to go all villain)

-This gabriel actually talks to his son, and shares meals with him at the start of the series. They actually talk.

-So Bubbler is different. Gabriel realizes his mistake about the birthday thing and allows Adrien to have one, after. The episode ends with everyone having a party at adrien's house. Nino even admitting Adrien's dad isnt so bad. (Though he is hehehe)

-Gabriel will check in on his son, and naturally starts to suspect something it up. He HOPES secretly his son isnt chat noir, even if it would make his job easier, because he doesnt want to involve adrien or use him for this.

-In Chat blanc, there is a whole scene where Gabriel processes that Adrien is chat noir and almost thinks of giving up. But realizes that this might be his best chance. So the method that occurs is not Hawkmoth beating the s*** out of his son. Its him trying to convince him earnestly. Using the emotions and the fact they can fix the family as a tool.

-This causes chat blanc to be split and the explosion that occurs. Making it all the more depressing.

[theerurishipper]

[ijustliketoreadstuff]

Gabriel was a monster to them now.

When Felix brought up ending Gabriel's reign of controlling other people, he mentions his mother as well as himself as part of the list of people Gabriel was turning into what he wanted them to be, and no wonder. Aside from hiding the existence of the peacock miraculous from Felix, the very jewel that controlled Felix's entire existence in the world, Gabriel was deliberately trying to make sure Felix and Amelie remained as naïve as possible, unaware of his true nature and the secrets he hid from them.

Ever since Amelie's first introduction in "Felix" it was obvious she had a lot of love and care for Emelie's family, wanting to be there for them even in their darkest times, but Gabriel for one could not care any less for Amelie.

Amelie may be Emelie's only sister, but Gabriel viewed her and the rest of her family as more of a nuisance. He hated Colt, Felix's dad, to the point of not attending his funeral, hated Felix for everything he did that led up to their confrontation in "Strike Back", where Felix threatening to expose his secrets if he didn't give up the peacock miraculous. And while Amelie made past efforts to keep their families close by visiting, Gabriel for one disliked having her around.

(Back in "Felix", Amelie planned a surprise visit to the Agreste' mansion, hoping they could all be together on the anniversary of Emelie's disappearance, something Adrien greatly appreciated, but not Gabriel.)

Aside from her timely visits, it was Amelie's willingness to confront Gabriel’s lack of attention over important matters within their families that only ever wound up clashing with Gabriel's secrets, such as the subject of returning his and Emelie's wedding rings, the very items containing Adrien's amok, but were rings that were still very important to her too as they were originally part of the Graham De Vanily family, not the Agreste's.

In "Emotion", Amelie did eventually questioned why Gabriel had become so cruel after Emelie disappeared, but she never imagined he actually cared so little about her and Felix.

When Felix set out his plan in "Emotion" to create a world free of anyone like Gabriel who would control others, it's shown at the end of the episode that he wanted his mom to open her eyes and realize that the people she thought were her family and friends, were all just monsters.

Back in "Multiplication", when it was shown that Amelie was secretly hiding Felix at home after the events of "Strike back", Amelie never told anyone that Felix was never missing, and yet despite the heroes questioning and regardless of his actions in "Emotion", Amelie never saw Felix as the bad guy, partly because she was his mom, but also because she had a great deal of trust in knowing that whatever her son was doing, he had his reasons for doing it.

Of course, Felix's past actions would not be easily forgiven by the heroes, he still had to face the consequences when the time came for him to return to the public eye, but Felix's willingness to reveal his identity as Argos to his mom, likely meant that Amelie was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust her son on the matters of questioning who she was committing her life to.

When Amelie showed up to the Diamonds Dance, Amelie pointed out that a search had taken place for Felix after he went "missing", but despite her hopes, Gabriel and the rest of his friends never reached out to her to offer a helping hand. It's unknown how much Felix told Amelie about what happened in "Risk" and "Strike back", but regardless, Amelie got the point of why her son wanted her to question Gabriel's lack of effort in helping her. Amelie made a lot of effort to show she still cared for Gabriel and Adrien, even after Emilie disappeared, but it was Gabriel's, and the rest of his club members, lack of compassion towards her struggles in "loosing" her son that finally made her realize she had wasted much of her life caring about members of a high society who never cared about her.

Felix's decision to show his mom the reality of her connections, and thereby ending them, might have been crushing for his mom, but odds are, the final straw Felix had in continuing to stand by and watch his mom waste her love on people who did not deserve it, was the secret hiding under the Agreste mansion, Emelie.

(The shock of finding Emelie's body under the Agreste mansion, was enough to nearly make Felix blow his cover when he was pretending to be Adrien in "Risk")

In "Risk", Felix found Gabriel's secret underground lair, the very place Emelie's body was being contained, but at the time, Felix was only searching for the peacock miraculous, he never imagined Gabriel was secretly hiding Emelie's body under his mansion, and this was of course extremely horrifying to discover, because he and his mom thought Emelie just straight up disappeared one day, that no one, not even Gabriel, knew what happened to her. Adrien, Gabriel and Nathalie went through their own grief after Emelie was no longer able to be part of their lives, but for Amelie, that grief would have been just as terrible to bare when she found out she had lost her only sister. Much like Adrien, Amelie had to live with knowing that she had to accept that Emelie was just gone, she would never know what happened to her, and Felix was there by his mom's side when it all happened. It doesn't seem like Felix told his mom the truth about Emelie, but given the severity of it all, he didn't want her to suffer anymore grief over the truth about his aunt.

Felix holds a great deal of respect for his aunt Emelie and obviously would have had his share of grief when he thought she was gone forever, but to know that Gabriel hid the truth behind Emelie's disappearance from his mom, along with everyone else, never giving her the chance she needed to know what really happened to her only sister and say goodbye before she finally succumbed to her illness, must have infuriated Felix.

But to know that Gabriel would even go as far as making threats to get rid of him and leave his mom to suffer the loss of another loved one ("Gabriel Agreste"), all to obtain the ring that controls Adrien, and dissuade him from further pursuing his secret as Shadow Moth, only further convinced Felix that Gabriel was the one who had to disappear, before he made things any worse for his mom, himself and Adrien.

(In "Gabriel Agreste", Gabriel spoke through his sentiGabriel to threaten Felix. In this moment, Gabriel was no longer an ordinary uncle to Felix, he was a monster)

[into-september]

Haven't watched the London special but have two observations on when we'll see Adrien learning the truth

DIEGETICALLY: The butterfly miraculous is still lost by the time Alix is in her twenties

ON THE META LEVEL: People talk a lot about Adrien being denied the truth about his dad but I haven't seen anyone bring up Cat Noir being denied the truth about Hawkmoth's demise.

Between "your dad was the supervillain who wanted to change history so your mum never died" and "your dad spent his last months in agony and died by literally rotting to pieces because of the magic that it was your job to use responsibly", we all know which is the worse news. The Movie showed us the first being overcome even after said dad had laid Paris in ruins; the NYC special showed us Adrien's collapse after less than half of that happened to a stranger and then was fixed.

From the way people are posting about the London special, I have the distinct impression that it was also not the part of the problem that the writers were interested in milking for angst. The real focus of this episode should've been Plagg, Alix and Tikki dealing with the aftermath of "Destruction", but instead the fandom is here discussing whether or not we should absolve Marinette for being used to strip the flooring after the writers painted themselves into a corner. The show asks us to pass our judgment on Marinette's choice, but claiming that this is Marinette's choice to make is a fallacy.

Let's be clear on this: "Destruction" exists because there had to be an in-story explanation for why the show won't deal with Adrien learning Hawkmoth's identity. There is a pretense of discussing the morality of Marinette's decision to heed Gabriel's wish above Adrien's autonomy, but per the genre and the tone and the focus and the target audience, there was no other option.

Because here is the truly wild part of this whole debacle: Marinette isn't even making an informed decision. She doesn't have an inkling of what Hawkmoth's identity would do to Adrien. Only when The Reveal happens will she know the gruesome extent of the tragedy that is Adrien Agreste and the true weight of the secret she opted to keep; if she hadn't decided to hide the truth on her own, Plagg/Tikki/Alix would be forced to interfere. Yes Marinette's actions are terrible horrible no good very bad, but if stopping Cat Noir from activating his cataclysm in the wax museum would inevitably lead to Gabriel reviving his angelic wife (which was somehow a worse ending than him reviving his supervillain secretary???), then the solution should be to go back to "Origins" and make sure Master Fu gave Plagg's miraculous to literally anyone else than his son. The real question left by the S5 finale isn't "should Marinette tell Adrien", it is why it was a cosmic necessity that Gabriel Agreste was killed by his own son when Ladybug's team has access to the miraculous who could prevent that tragedy.

There is no universe where the thematically coherent and narratively satisfying climax of the story about Cat Noir and Hawkmoth is "Adrien confronts his girlfriend about lying", and the bitter comfort is that it won't be. If the truth of Hawkmoth's identity ever were to reach Adrien, his girlfriend lying about it would be the least of his sorrows, because those sorrows would be so grotesque that there is no way the show will ever acknowledge them; closure to this storyline was made impossible the moment it was decided that Gabriel would take his death at Adrien's literal hands. When "parents go to jail" was too dark for the networks, I somehow don't think they'll be interested in doing the first ever production of Oedipus Rex for the 4-10 audience.

[ajwinter-is-a-nerd]

Le Chat Et Le Serpent - Chapter 50

The Mirage Known as Fashion Week

“You do this for all your employees, Mr. Agreste?” Luka’s dry tone was particularly nasally.

Adrien held Luka’s fingers flat against his palm. Jolts of electricity surged through both of them, their cheeks simultaneously reddening. Both pretended not to notice.

Disclaimer:

Please note that the entirety of this story is a ****TRIGGER WARNING***** - mentions of child abuse, graphic violence, alcohol use, mental health, suicide, suicidal ideation, self-harm - basically a constant blow of pain towards the characters - as well as some "steamy" moments.

Chapter Summary:

Before Luka leaves to search for answers, he must fulfil his contractual obligation of fashion week. Putting on a fake smile is a lot harder when the love of your life is within feet of you and you can't touch them, you can't hug away their pain...

The buzz of people blurred past Luka's vision. Slight nods of assent or the restringing of an instrument blended into the mirage known as Fashion Week.

"Doesn't she, Luka?" Rose's eyes vibrated as she waited for him to answer. Luka hadn't realised she'd been speaking.

"Huh?" Luka half sparked to consciousness, not fully aware that he was in the process of working on the strings of a dress.

"Doesn't Juleka look gorgeous?" Rose nosed in closer to Luka's face, trying to analyse his emotional state.

"Oh, uh, of course." Luka agreed, knowing no matter what his sister would be draped with pride and beauty.

"Is he awake now?" Juleka chuckled, shaking the strings in Luka's fingers as she did.

Sighing, Luka continued his work. He didn't know how he missed the fact that he was working on Juleka's dress.

"We might have woke him up too soon." Rose whispered. After years, Rose had still not learned that whispering was ineffectual around Luka. His ear was too trained from living with Juleka to not understand hushed voices.

Adrien was making one of his routine visits, ensuring everything was in order. From a standing position, he was pushing his palms against the table, reviewing a document with Marinette. His perfectly golden hair had grown out, the sides were shaven, but the hair on the top was spun into a bun that slightly bounced as he spoke.

The violin string snapped as Luka saw what Rose was talking about. Jade eyes shot in his direction, reacting to the sharp noise.

Luka grimaced under the gaze of Adrien, well aware of the light red mark on his face from the pressure of the string.

"You alright, Luka?" Adrien politely inquired.

"Fine!" Luka dug in the pocket of his bag for his arsenal of back-up strings, hoping Adrien's glance would drop by the time he pulled out an a-string.

The serious watch continued as Luka's fingers trembled while spinning the peg. He realised he should have taken out the broken string first. His shakes increased as Adrien left his post, stepping towards them.

"Take five, Couffaine." Adrien ordered as he took over the removal of the snapped string from the violin.

Clenching his jaw, Luka passed the string to Rose before storming out.

"Fashion week is crazy!" Adrien beamed as he put his hands in the air, still riding off the high of his second Paris fashion week.

"Oh yeah? It can't be any crazier than an Akuma battle." Luka brushed his lips against Adrien's neck.

"You would be surprised. At least you have an idea of what to expect in an attack. Plus, any mistakes you make are fixed by magical insects." Adrien giggled at the comparison. "Everything is so intense! Time goes by so fast and it feels like people never stop yelling. The first Fashion Week I headed after my father, I thought I was going to die."

"Mmm... we can't have that, now can we?" Luka pulled Adrien in closer, adoring the light twinkling in his eyes. Most of the business bored Adrien, but the hectic moments of bustle seemed to energise him.

"I'm so happy you're going to be there for the next one. It will be way better with you there." Adrien kissed the tip of Luka's nose. 

"I can't wait." Luka ran his fingers through Adrien's hair as the sweet taste of euphoria caressed his tongue.

Luka stormed out the propped door to join the other disgruntled staff inhaling the brisk autumn air with a crisp backing of nicotine. Shoving the soft filter in his mouth, he watched the flame suck into the tip of his smoke.

"My boy! When did you pick up this nasty habit?" A familiar voice beckoned to Luka across the smoke pit.

Of course you're here. Why did I not assume that you would be added on to the crap pile I already have to deal with?

Pulling the smoke out of his mouth, he rested his hand on his jeans. "Seemed like a better vice than opioids."

Their relationship had been getting progressively better, but today was not the day to test Luka's luck.

"Ouch," Jagged Stone held his hand that carried his smoke over his heart as he walked to Luka. "I've been clean for years now, Luka. Trust me, this," Jagged waved his smoke, "is nearly just as bad. You're too young to throw your life away."

Snarling, Luka spit towards the ground. "Little late for advice, don't you think?"

Jagged's shoulders relaxed as he reevaluated his approach. "Luka, your mum and I are really worried about you. She says you've taken the break-up really badly."

Taking another drag, Luka shook his head. "Don't voice my shit here. It's no one's business," he inhaled again, "not even yours."

Defeated, Jagged nodded his head. "I get it, Kid. Just know that I'm here for you if you need. Oh- by the way, I love the new do!"

Jagged held his middle and index fingers on both hands together as he motioned towards Luka's hair. He was still sporting a similar hairstyle to their last night in front of the mirror, the night where Adrien stood iced on the dock of The Liberty. Maybe it was his form of the classic break-up chop, or the fact that it was time for a change. He didn't think the shag worked the same without shots of colour. Now, the sides had a fade shaved into them, the hair on the top of his head was longer and pushed back. The look was maintained partially by gel and partially by a nervous smoothing back of his hair in a constant need to control something. There were always some hairs that would jet forward, but he wouldn't feel like himself if there wasn't at least some disarray. Though seemingly contradictory, it was a form of controlled chaos.

Finishing up his smoke, he returned to the mad house.

"Take five, Couffaine." The words felt cold as they left Adrien's lips, but it was how he would approach any other employee that was clearly on edge.

"You know how to string one of these?" Juleka mocked as Adrien pushed the edge of the string through the peg.

"Juleka," Adrien once again leaned towards a formal dialect, "I've spent almost every day for nearly the past three years with your brother. Do you really think I wouldn't have learned to string a violin by now?"

He wove the string with a steady hand and expert capability, silencing Juleka's teasing.

Not wanting to make his model uncomfortable, Adrien continued speaking. "You're leaving for another international shoot soon, right? Are you excited?"

"I'm scared to leave Luka." Juleka admitted, her brother was making a rapid downward spiral.

"Yeah, but he's going to be going on tour, so there's not much you could do anyway. I wouldn't worry too much, things are looking up in his life." He tightened the peg, finishing the task. "Plus, I heard he finally shed off his drama queen of a boyfriend."

Juleka chuckled, effectively soothed by Adrien's self-deprecating humour. "Yeah, I don't know how Luka could handle such extensive hair care seminars!"

"Hey, obviously it worked! He's going to have to be batting away all the men and women now that he's looking so sharp." Adrien briefly smiled at his own comment.

"I think he needs a slut phase." Juleka stated confidently.

Adrien was scanning her dress for any imperfections as he responded. "Ew, too far Jules, too far."

Rose smiled sheepishly at their back and forth, it was comforting to see their friendship shining through the post-break-up tension.

Adrien repositioned a few strands of hair before resting his hands on both of Juleka's arms. "You're good to go! See you in half."

"Adrien?" Marinette called. "Can you grab me a coffee?"

Confused as Adrien stepped away, Rose peeked towards Marinette. "Don't you guys have people specifically for that?"

"Yeah, but I like it better when Adrien gets it." Marinette nonchalantly replied as she called the next model in.

"Oh, I would have gotten you a coffee too if I knew you needed one." Luka furrowed his brow at Adrien standing in line.

"Next!" The clerk called.

"May I have a large chai tea latte with coconut milk, please?" Adrien ordered before turning his attention to Luka. "It's fine, I wasn't expecting to grab one."

"That's not your regular order." Luka chose to drop the second half of his line, 'you would normally say it has way too much sugar and not enough caffeine.'

"Yeah, I already have one going. This one's for Marinette." Adrien tapped his card before walking to stand by Luka.

The lid popped off Luka's drink, sending nearly an ounce of hot liquid down his fingers. "Ow - fuck!" He rushed to the counter to pull out napkins. As he tried to wipe himself and the cup, Adrien was tilting over the counter's edge.

Why does she have to do this shit? Luka screamed internally. This whole fucking show she keeps demeaning him with trivial requests. 'Adrien, take this to the garbage', 'Adrien, get me some 4-ply toilet paper', 'Adrien, can you bend over so I can show off the seams on your butt'. How is no one else calling her out on this shit? It's not a good look to have the CEO fucking bending over for a cackle of ogling models.

His infuriated line of thought was broken by Adrien's touch. Wordlessly, he took the paper towel wetted with cold water against Luka's skin.

"It's okay, I like taking care of you." Luka reassured his Prettyboy while he ran a damp towel over his face.

Adrien groaned. "I feel like a damn damsel in distress when you dote on me like this."

"You'll always be my damsel in distress," Luka teased. "Plus, you have a weird way of always missing some. You'd think after this long you'd know how to wash your face."

Giant emerald eyes glared at him in feigned irritation.

"Like I said," Luka smirked at Adrien's childish grimace, "I love taking care of you."

Adrien's face blushed as he got lost in Luka's smile. 

"You do this for all your employees, Mr. Agreste?" Luka's dry tone was particularly nasally.

Adrien held Luka's fingers flat against his palm. Jolts of electricity surged through both of them, their cheeks simultaneously reddening. Both pretended not to notice.

"It doesn't look like you suffered any significant burns. Your skin might be a bit sensitive, but nothing requiring additional attention." Adrien lowered his hand, signalling Luka to hold the weight of his own fingers. "It's a good thing your drinks are overflowing with sugar or it might have been worse."

"Large chai latte with coconut milk!" The barista set the cup on the counter.

Lifting the cup to Luka, Adrien bid adieu. "I'll see you back in there, Couffaine."

Luka swore he used his last name on purpose. Twisting the knife already lodged in his stomach.

When Luka reentered their area, Adrien was in the process of finishing an imitation of Chat's moonwalk.

Well, this can't be anything good. Luka controlled the urge to squeeze his cup, not wanting to invite the same fate as two minutes ago.

"That was so good, Adrien!" Marinette clapped.

"Whatever brings the mood up, right?" Adrien beamed. "All I have left to check is the piano piece, are you okay to confirm that one, Marinette?"

"Absolutely!" Marinette hopped up, genuinely thrilled.

As Adrien walked towards the door, his face dropped. Luka watched as Adrien's jaw clenched and his eyes grew jaded. He paced by Luka with such speed it lifted the stray hairs off Luka's forehead.

Setting down his coffee, Luka looked towards Marinette, who was happily humming as she verified each hem. He scanned to see if there would be anything instrumental that required his attention. Deciding he should be clear, he spun to follow Adrien. He could tell when the man was attempting to manage a panic attack.

Dropping his head to the ground, Luka checked to see if there were any other feet besides Adrien's in the stalls. Confident that they were the only two in there, he dead bolted the door behind him.

"Who's there?" Adrien's back straightened, still with one hand on the toilet bowl. He heard the locking of the door and was understandably on edge.

"Thought you might want the extra privacy." Luka leaned against the blue painted stall.

Adrien scoffed as he rested his head on his forearm. He wanted to sound strong, to seem resilient. This was extremely hard to convey when struggling to breath and crying non-stop between spouts of puking. "Thought you would give me privacy by locking yourself in with me, because that makes sense."

"I know you don't want anyone seeing you like this." Luka flatly responded, nuzzling his head against the door.

"How did you know I w-was-," Adrien's breath hitched, devolving into sobs.

Adrien was gasping and twitching as a nightmare overcame him. Luka tried to calmly talk him through it, to let him know that he was there.

Luka felt helpless as Adrien ran to the bathroom. Part of Luka wanted to believe it was only this bad because of Gabriel's memorial that day, but Plagg's expertise in care demonstrated otherwise.

Adrien didn't want Luka seeing him like this, he didn't want Luka to know how broken he was. But Luka was there to stay.

Luka's palm was lifted by the seizing of Adrien's back, but his touch seemed to provide soothing relief. He kept rubbing his back and whispering that he was there.

Adrien used the back of his hand to wipe the bile from his lips. He rested his face on his forearm against the toilet seat, wanting to fade away completely.

Instead of fading away, warm hands circled his waist. The pain melted as Adrien allowed himself to fall back into Luka's hold. Tears still trickled, but the intense emotion had changed. As Luka rested his nose in Adrien's hair, Adrien stopped caring about his sweat, his clammy skin, or his drooping posture.

Plagg welcomed Luka to 'la maison Agreste' as he dropped off a bottle of water.

As Adrien gulped the water, Luka ran his nose in the crook of Adrien's neck. He could feel Adrien's pulse stabilising.

He wanted to say it then, he was ready for it, but he knew the moment wasn't right. But he was certain, he loved Adrien.

Setting the bottle down beside him, Adrien backed further into the blue haired man behind him. Even the man's breath was calming. It made his existence tangible. 

Adrien had no idea what he had done to deserve this man, but he thanked the universe for bringing them together. He brought his hand up to push Luka's face harder into his temple. 'This,' he thought to himself, 'must be what love feels like.'

"I've known you for a long time, Adrien. I can tell when you're trying to subdue a panic attack." Luka's hand pressed against the stall door.

"I- I don't understand what's happening." Adrien's sobs fell harder, encouraging another fit of vomit.

"You've got this, Adrien. You've been to hell and back. This is nothing but a hiccup." Luka tried to reassure him.

"No! This is hell!" Adrien's back arched as he pushed his forehead into his arm, desperately wanting his torture to stop.

"Adrien~," Luka elongated his name.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE, LUKA?" Adrien shouted in fury.

"I... I just wanted to help." Luka bit his trembling lip.

"Don't lie to me." Adrien allowed his body to limp around the porcelain. "You made it pretty clear you have no interest in me anymore."

Luka's palm against the door turned to a fist as tears fell against his restraint.

Thumbing his own tears, Adrien fired one last shot. "I'm sure Zoe, or whoever else you're fancying nowadays, needs your attention more than I do."

Not wanting to leave, Luka counted down from ten. Once he reached one, he would force himself to leave.

Trembling, Adrien listened to each of Luka's receding steps.

-

I'm caught in a hurricane I'm leaving here dead or alive And I know that I'd be willing to feel the pain If it got me to the other side 'Cause it only hurts, hurricane Yeah, I can feel it hurt, hurricane

Hurricane by Theory of a Dead Man

Author's Notes:

Going back through this story has been a journey of itself. I think this is my favourite chapter in this entire series. Trying to get better, but everything is getting worse.

Originally this was wrote with "Hate Me" by Blue October in mind - but it just didn't end up being the right quote, and it broke my heart 😭

Here's a line for you anyway, "An ounce of peace is all I want for you; will you never call again?"

The only flashback that is a direct retelling of a scene from the story is the last one. The first time that Luka sees Adrien's bad panic attacks in action. The one where Plagg thinks this kid's not half bad.

Disclaimer * The characters and original plot were written and created by Thomas Astruc. This writing is merely an interpretation in a sad gay type of way.

[gryficowa]

Although it would be interesting if this version of Gabriel adopted Adrien from the show's canon

Let's be honest, a loser is better than a terrorist who got a monument and was called a "Hero"

the dad adrien deserves ngl

[imthepunchlord]

Just wondering, how do you feel about Marinette keeping Gabriel's identity a secret from Adrien in the S5 finale of Miraculous?

Be mindful, I didn't watch it, so I'm answering with limited details that's just based around what I've gathered from hearing and seeing from the fandom.

And I will give it, I do think that is something Marinette would do. She is someone who has a history of doing things for others for their own happiness, like her cheating to help Nino in Anansi, or her stealing Alya's phone to rerecord a video she accidentally deleted a video recording of Ladybug.

I can see her thinking that she shouldn't tell Adrien this, that this would upset him. She's paid attention to him for 5 whole seasons, she knows how much he loves his dad. So the choice I feel is in character.

But I do hate that she's even in that position at all.

I hate that Adrien's in a position of never being involved in his own plot.

Seriously, what's the point of him being the son of Hawk Moth if he's never going to be in conflict with his dad? If he's never going to find out? We got all that built up angst and no pay off. It feels like we had our time wasted with Adrien being the son of HM. They did nothing with it.

And it's bonkers as you can do something with it.

You got your angst options:

Adrien is going to fully commit to being a hero he was chosen to be and him and his father will be enemies

Gabriel reveals to him what he's trying to do, and Adrien now has a chance to have his mom back, and he joins his father

You got your hopeful Agreste family option: take the route that the movie did, Gabriel realized his son is Chat Noir and he's like, oh no, I can't hurt my own son. And so he stops. Technically happy ending but they're going to need some family therapy.

And you got your comedic route, playing off that HM is meant to be a campy villain instead of a serious one: Adrien finds out, and he just doesn't know what to do, so he doesn't do anything but try to appeal to his father's goodness, just as Gabriel is trying to appeal to Adrien to join him. But neither of them get anywhere, and it delves into them getting passive aggressive with each other, especially as for once, Adrien has some power in this household as he can out his dad's the villain. Adrien drops little hints about his dad not being so great or toes the line of making the Agrestes look bad, and Gabriel starts sending akumas out during major tests or when Adrien has plans to hang out with friends. And they just proceed to annoy each other until it escalates outside family.

And look. That's four options on what they could've done with Adrien finding out his dad is HM. Mindful, some of these do mean they needed to pick a lane with Gabriel, on what sort of villain he is, does he love his son or not; but defining Gabriel as a character would've been better for the show.

[marinettesaltprompts]

Hello Marinette Salt prompts!

After coming across a post that someone gave you an ask about the deconstruction of Maribat and how Adribat makes more sense, I (admin of Maribat Menagerie) took a look on the blog and wanted to commend you on the job you have done.

Maribat as a fandom tends to salt on Adrien's character a lot and make Marinette OOC. Adrien as a character already has enough parental trauma yet Marinette, who has a great home life, seems to get hers stripped away somehow and there are times when Adrien gets told off as if has no family troubles at all.

Adribat has a lot of potential for the Marinette salt lovers out there. For example,

Hawkmoth is defeated and is revealed as Adrien's father. Chat Noir holds onto the butterfly miraculous because Ladybug wants him to know that she trusts him. Ladybug and Chat Noir meet up to do their reveal. Ladybug goes on a tangent about how her parents could be as bad as Gabriel because of xyz from Lila. She claims that having Hawkmoth as a parent would not nearly be as bad as her parents believing a liar. Chat Noir is already disliking the comparison when Ladybug decides to reveal herself first. Seeing that it was none other than Marinette as Ladybug, Chat Noir's view shifts entirely. Marinette asks for the butterfly miraculous and tells Chat Noir that he does not have to reveal to her until he is ready. He refuses and backs away. Chat Noir pops off on Marinette for her dismissal of her parents and her audacity to say she would rather Hawkmoth had been her father. Once he has said all he has, he leaves Marinette up on the rooftop. Cue Adrien leaving Paris and ending up in some DC city with Marinette trying to manipulate the Justice League to help her get the Butterfly and Black Cat miraculous back.

There is other baseline potential for Adribat that feature Marinette salt.

Marinette Wayne (Bio-Dad Bruce AU) envies Adrien having a fashion designer father and says that Adrien should be happy about it

Justice League member of choice reaches out after learning about the Paris situation and only will talk to Ladybug because Chat Noir is not "mature enough" or "the leader" of the Miraculous so they only wish to talk to the one who has been through it all (aka Adrien relevance erasure)

Bruce Wayne comes to Paris undercover to investigate the situation and ends up trying to adopt Marinette because of a couple not-so-great Lila influenced moments instead of listening to his kid(s) that noticed the home life problems of Adrien (More of Bruce salt with added Marinette salt if she backs him up)

Ladybug gets offered a position on the Justice League, but Chat Noir is either not offered any spot at all or is designated to the Teen Titans/Young Justice instead

The classmates give credit to Marinette for Wayne Entreprises related events (class trip to Gotham, visiting Paris branch, etc) when Adrien is the one who reached out for Marinette because the Agrestes know the Waynes as well as Oliver Queen

Ladybug moves to Gotham, does vigilante type things, gets caught then tries to make it out to Batman and Co. that she was the only one to defend Paris, but little does she know that Adrien followed her (Perhaps Catwoman helps teach him how to steal stealthily and he gets a miraculous back from Marinette to make a point)

Apologies for how long this ask is. For those attempting to come up with a new way to do Maribat and make it flow a bit better, hopefully one of those helps.

Happy Creating Everyone!

P.S. I would love to hear the fellow admin's thoughts on any of these if they would like to. Adribat plus Marinette salt is always a sweet combination.

As someone who was cautious about any prompt involving Maribat, I (the admin of this blog) am grateful that you saw some of the prior prompts and chose to not come with pitchforks blazing, given the stance on this blog against the topic for salt-related reasons. And thank you for the commendations!

I do not know if I said this before, but I don't feel particularly against the idea of a Miraculous/Batman crossover. For what its worth the idea does have some merit, and despite the difference in tone and medium, I don't think that the idea is too far fetched given there has been more crazier crossover ideas than two franchises involving animal themed costumed superheroes.

However, I do take a strong stance against Maribat (as it currently is), due to the fact that the "genre" was created for, and is still strongly based on, the idea of creating salt against other miraculous characters one way or another. In all honesty, some if not most of the ideas created by Maribat creators do have some merit for interesting fanfic ideas, but they are largely utilised as excuses for salting on characters.

The idea of Maribat came across with the salty backlash against Chameleon, and the whole Damian x Marinette ship was made to cause as much Adrien salt as possible. Bio-dad Bruce Wayne is a bit out there, but it could at least be fun to read (especially if you consider they made a similar idea with Terry in Batman Beyond). However, the number of Maribat fics that take this idea without bashing against Marinette's parents (which itself makes no sense considering canon itself shows how much they care) can likely be counted on one hand. And that's assuming they don't go full on fanfic and make Marinette an orphan.

But back on topic, thank you for reaching out! I had a look at your own blog and I can appreciate the idea of taking the Maribat idea and trying to make it it's own thing rather than just another salt prompt. I appreciate your suggested ideas, and I hope that you will find much joy in my blog as I do in yours!

[nobodyfamousposts]

How does Littlebug even know how these men are Bad Dads?

I mean it seems, to me at least, that she learned about them before she went to their universes.

Another day, another upload from Littlebug.

No one knew how she or Chaton got the doll avatars to work or look so lifelike, but their avatars were adorable and THEY were adorable and everyone went nuts over them.

It was especially fun to be there for her livestreams. Sometimes she asked questions from the chat. It was pretty evident from some of these questions that she was quite young and some of the viewers were a bit worried about her being safe and what she could be exposed to, but most of the audience seemed on board with protecting the little virtual stars, so they all seemed to have made an unspoken agreement to avoid more mature or inappropriate things.

Not that they had much to worry about. Mama Noire had apparently set a filter on the chat to keep it child friendly. And anyone who started getting too mean for Littlebug's taste would be quickly booted from the livestream. For a kid, she certainly knew how to manage things. And she certainly didn't tolerate bullies.

Though it seemed there was something else she didn't like if her recent query to the chat was any indication.

hello Frends Outside! i hav a qestion?

She was adorable and still learning. And of course they all wanted to help where they could.

wat are some Bad Dads you know of?

The chat was confused, but of course wanted to help.

Loveybug997: Bad dads? Like real or not? DJhatman: If we're talking real, then Gabriel Agreste for sure. Captain56: Let's not go real or we'll end up in a flame war and Mama Noire will be unhappy. Nachohead: Yeah, Papabug JUST got released and is able to play Animal Crossing with the kids again! Don't take that from us! kimjustkim45: Are we talking like in cartoons and anime? Or games? ninjapaste2: Oh! Then Mr. Doofenschmirtz! Definitely! adrienagresteishawt00011: ooh ooh!! yeah he is the worst! insertnamehere2823: Ozai! From avatar! He burned his son's face in an "honorable duel"! SupermanFTW: Do they all have to be villains? Because I gotta say, have a bit of a beef with Son Goku for some of his stunts. I mean, throwing his son into a fight against Cell with NO warning? COME ON! Vladdyfan37: Jack Fenton!I mean he keeps making things that can kill his son! And was responsible for his son dying! # Vlad would never GokuIsBetter: @ SupermanFTW You just mad because Goku would kick his butt. AND be a better dad than he was to Superboy. Captain56: Guys no, this is the opposite of what we want. Let's just focus on the question.

And so answers poured in.

A List was forged.

And Littlebug smiled.

[bookishnewt]

Oh.... *realizing the music is Thunder Bringer from Epic* OH!

The Charity Ball Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Part Four // Part Five

Goliath Viceroy's powerups:

aaaand a play by play down below if the animatic doesn't slap for ye. it's been heavily cut because there are CLEARLY more than 30 frames in this animatic, so its just the main meat of the matter

[ja50nt0ddwa5h3r3]

Do you have any AlleyCat headcanons??

Yes, yes I do. Thank you SO much for asking!!! *realizes I don't remember any off the top of my head* Hold on one sec while I gather my thoughts

They. Are. Cat dads. A tabby here, a tux there, they have lots of cats in their apartment, and a few of them probably aren't even theirs. Jason's not sure if he's a fan, but he can live with a few cats if it pleases his favourite person. On the topic of cats, Adrien is Selina's favourite child, and Jason just absolutely looses it every time she brings him up. She's their Number 1 fan, but Adrien is canonically oblivious to EVERYTHING, and Jason straight up thinks this dude don't like him. Selina shakes her head because she's got dozens of cat friends, she knows their body language. They're head over heels.

Jason hates Gabriel (usually more angst if written in a bad dad Bruce fic), as he should. Has he tried to kill him multiple times? You can't prove anything. Has he had to lie to him to keep him away from Adri? Absolutely he has. Gabriel Agreste can go die in a hole for all he cares. Bring back good mom Emilie.

Sometimes Jason will have panic attacks in the bathroom, looking in the mirror, days where the Lazarus rage is boiling inside him, threatening to break through. Days where it's bad enough for it to show in his eyes. Those days, Adrien sits him down, tells stories about running across rooftops, bantering with his friends, helping people. Those days, Jason has to remind himself that it'll be okay, because Adrien has green eyes, and he's the kindest person Jason knows.

If you want more, feel free to hit me up :>