#character: Alya Césaire

[booksrbetterthanpeople]

AU based off a project I did for English class! And got an A on. (My professor watches MLB by the way, and has a Fox miraculous necklace!)

My asks are off, so any questions you have, put ‘em in the replies or reblog

[a-chlolix-blog]

Can we talk about how these two sisters are when it comes to certain super heroines?!

Chloé's over here not throwing a single insult at Bunnyx despite KNOWING she's Alix...

Then you got Zoé/Kitty Noire flirting Scarabella ON LIVE TELEVISION!

[movie-characters]

Alya Césaire -Rena Rouge

Alya, Miraculous serisinde önemli bir karakterdir. Marinette'e en yakın arkadaşı ve müttefiki olarak destek olur.

Uğur Böceği Alya, Miraculous: Uğur Böceği ile Kara Kedi adlı animasyon serisinde yer alan hayali bir karakterdir. Alya Césaire, Marinette Dupain-Cheng’in en yakın arkadaşıdır. Cesur, meraklı ve araştırmacı bir kişiliğe sahiptir. Marinette’in süper kahraman kimliği Uğur Böceği’nden haberdardır ve ona “Rena Rouge” adında bir süper kahramana dönüşen sihirli bir tilki mucizesiyle yardımcı…

[thecapturedafrique]

The “propaganda” is actually a wonderful analytical essay of how unjustified (and racist) the majority of Alya’s salt treatment is by the fandom along with how the narrative’s use of her character fits into the Black Best Friend trope.

Carl Grimes (The Walking Dead) vs. Alya Cesaire (Miraculous Ladybug)

Y'all Hate Kids: Screwed By The Writers

Propaganda below the cut

-

Carl Grimes (The Walking Dead)

He’s literally blamed for doing stuff that any kid raised in the apocalypse would realistically do. He literally had to shoot his own mother and watch two of his friends get killed with a baseball bat. Fans call him “stupid” for killing specific people, but when he doesn’t kill other specific people, he’s blamed for that too. Fans also seem to hate his actor’s acting, even though Carl is meant to be emotionally-stunted due to the severe trauma he’s faced. It doesn’t help that the show runner himself seemed to hate Carl enough to [spoiler alert], and it derailed the entire show as a result. Carl literally is just trying to survive in a world he’s forced to grow up in. He’s lost so many adults in his life and can’t let himself just be a kid because it’ll prevent him from staying prepared.

Alya Cesaire (Miraculous Ladybug)

Cw: racism

"The amount of hatred Alya gets in the fandom is absolutely insane. There are over 800 fics tagged with ""Alya Cesaire Bashing"", and that's just the ones that actually TAG it - many of them either use a a non-canonical tag or just take their demonization of her as canon. It's not just that a lot of fics bash her either, but that the fics that bash her are disproportionately popular. If you go through the ""Miraculous Ladybug"" tag on AO3 and sort by kudos, I'd say around a third of the top 500 most popular fics use this gross caricature of her in order to justify inflicting some sort of insane punishment on her, or at least replacing her with ""better"" friends and leaving her to wail in despair.

Basically, Alya is the best friend of the main character, Marinette. She's really into superheroes and aims to be a reporter someday, to the point that the first time a supervillain cropped up in the series, she immediately got out her bike and cycled after him so that she could be there when a superhero showed up to fight him (Lois Lane would be proud). She runs a blog called the ""Ladyblog"" which reports on what the superheroes are doing, and sometimes makes some fun videos, like about the most impressive feats of one of the superheroes. 

More relevantly though, she acts as Marinette's support a lot of the time, often being the one to push her to confess her feelings to Adrien, to help her with plans she comes up with, to talk things out with if she's having trouble processing something, and trying to act as the voice of reason if Marinette's gotten to into her own head. It can sometimes head into Black Best Friend territory of having her mostly stick around to support her bestie, but she DOES get a decent amount of screentime and focus at least.

Then the first episode of season 3 aired, and the fandom went BALLISTIC.

This character, Lila, debuted back at the end of season 1 as being this attention-seeking liar who pretended that she knew a lot more famous people than she actually did, including being best friends with Ladybug. Alya, being a naive 14-year-old, believed her and put Lila's interview on her blog. Since Marinette IS Ladybug, she knew this was not true, though she was initially more freaked out about the possibility that Adrien (the boy she has a crush on) would find her supposedly amazing life to be entrancing and that Lila would steal Adrien away from her, to the point that she actively wanted to stop Lila and Adrien from spending time together to prevent Adrien from falling for her.

Fast-forward to Chameleon, the first episode of season 3, and Lila's back and lying some more, this time about having Tinnitus (which would mean that she needs to sit at the front of class, next to Adrien). The class has a whole seating rearrangement in order to accommodate the move, and because some of them just wanted to change seats. Since Marinette was late that day, she didn't get to give input, so she wound up sitting alone at the back of the class, instead of next to Alya like she usually did. She's upset by this, but can't prove that Lila doesn't actually have the disability (she doesn't even have evidence that Lila doesn't have hearing problems, it's just that her story of how she supposedly got the disability is suspect), so she puts up with it for the class period.

Then lunch time rolls around and Marinette tells Alya and Alya's boyfriend, Nino, that Lila's a lying liar who lies. Alya asks why Marinette hates her so much, since she barely knows Lila (this isn't the first time that Marinette's nitpicked at Lila's stories, but she's never actually managed to prove that Lila's lying, Lila's good at coming up with explanations for any hole Marinette exposes in her tales). Marinette tells her how, after Lila first arrived at school, she followed her and Adrien, eavesdropped on them, and then saw Ladybug show up and tear into Lila for not knowing her. (Presumably that's what she says, the episode skipped past her actual recounting of what she saw). Alya and Nino are more concerned with the fact that she stalked Lila and Adrien, with Alya also being skeptical that what she heard might have been out-of-context, given how common out-of-context eavesdropping is in fiction for causing issues, with Alya saying, ""A good reporter always verifies her sources. Can you prove she doesn't actually know Ladybug?""

Since Marinette can't actually prove anything without revealing that she's Ladybug, she decides that the sane and reasonable thing to do is to throw a wadded up napkin at Lila while she's eating lunch, and when she catches it (Lila's pretending to have a sprained wrist), to loudly declare that she obviously doesn't have a sprained wrist. Lila quickly pretends that catching it did actually hurt, the classmates Lila was sitting with scold Marinette for hurting her, and then Marinette goes off to seethe in a bathroom, where Lila finds her and threatens to turn her friends against her if she continues trying to expose her lies. 

Then at the end of the episode, Adrien goes to sit with Marinette at the back of the class to keep her company, the teacher thinks that Marinette ALSO has hearing issues so she's brought back to the front (and away from Adrien again), Lila pretends that her hearing has been fixed so she can sit at the back with Adrien, and Alya spots that Marinette looks miserable about sitting alone at the front, so she chooses to sit next to Marinette to keep her company and everyone ends up going back to their old places, except that Lila's sitting at the back of the class now.

And that's it. That is, for the most part, what kicked off the entire Alya hatred and demonization onslaught. While there ARE more things that happening in following episodes, they have a pretty small effect on the demonization Alya's put through, almost all of it is derived from Chameleon and hasn't changed much since then.

So for starters, in fanfics Alya is often made to ditch Marinette constantly to hang out with Lila instead. This never happens. She's often exasperated when Marinette starts talking about how Lila is awful and points out that she doesn't have proof of that, but she doesn't avoid Marinette, and the closest she ever comes to hanging out with Lila outside of class events is when she called Lila over to babysit hers and Nino's younger siblings when Marinette canceled at the last minute.

But most Alya-bashing fics don't just leave it there. Oh no. If you look through a bunch of the most popular Miraculous fics, you'll see Alya made out to be some sort of ringleader for the class in bullying Marinette, hitting her, pinching her, poisoning her, destroying her things, saying nasty, heinous things to her, the works, and inciting the rest of the class to do the same, sometimes to the point that even LILA is shocked at her cruelty. Usually in these cases, Chloe, who is canonically the class bully (and Marinette's bully in particular) is inexplicably Marinette's primary protector against the eeeeeevil Alya, becoming Marinette's best friend and support and basically taking on Alya's canon role and some of her personality traits, despite the fact that canonically, Chloe's as susceptible to Lila's lies as anyone else, and that in season 5 Chloe actually became Lila's partner in crime in trying to hurt Marinette in particular. (I don't like how Chloe's treated in canon, but that's a different story).

I've never even seen any justification given for why Alya's so frequently made to be outright violent or cruel towards Marinette, it's just widely accepted in fiction now, even with nothing pointing to her ever being malicious like that. There ARE other things Alya canonically does that I see her taken to task over though, but that fall apart when you examine them.

One of the biggest offenders is criticism towards Alya over how she handles babysitting. In Christmaster, Alya and Nino pick up Nino's little brother after Marinette babysits him for them while they're on a date, in Timetagger, Marinette's slated to babysit for them while they're on a date but cancels at the last minute, so they call Lila over instead, and then in Simple Man, Marinette books herself to babysit Alya's and Nino's younger siblings and the daughter of one's of her mom's friends, a little girl named Manon, all at the same time.

Alya receives heavy criticism for not paying Marinette for her babysitting, for having Marinette babysit for her secretly behind her parents' back without their knowledge, and for pressuring Marinette to babysit for her even though Marinette's so busy.

A few problems with this.

1. We see babysitting happen several times, sometimes with Alya helping Marinette with babysitting Manon and sometimes with Marinette just babysitting Manon without anyone else's involvement. At no point is payment brought up, and yet the absence of such a discussion is only ever used to demonize Alya.

2. There is no evidence that the babysitting Marinette does for Alya's sake is done behind her parents' back, the only thing pointing to that is a lack of Alya ever flat-out saying that she has her parents' permission to have Marinette babysit for her, but there's no evidence of sneaking around. MARINETTE, however, DOES canonically ditch her babysitting duties by having Alya babysit for her without the parent's knowledge. In Prime Queen, Marinette accidentally double books herself to do an interview as Ladybug at the same time that she's supposed to be babysitting Manon, so she calls Alya over to watch the interview with her, lies to her that she's just gonna go downstairs for a few minutes to talk with her parents and for Alya to please watch over Manon while she does that, and then leaves to do the interview while Alya watches over Manon the whole time. Nadja definitely didn't know that this happened, because she was surprised and worried when Alya and Manon called in during the interview with Marinette nowhere to be seen. In addition to this, in Simpleman, Marinette foists off all the children she's babysitting onto her grandpa against his will so that she can run off and help with Adrien's photoshoot after he calls her. The people demonizing Alya for supposedly having Marinette babysit for her secretly are not upset about the examples of Marinette canonically doing these things.

3. Of the three times that Marinette has, to date, been scheduled to babysit for Alya's sake (Christmaster, Timetagger, and Simpleman), for Christmaster she spent the next several hours after finishing with babysitting making Adrien's 50th birthday present (he's currently 14 years old), so I wouldn't say she was pressed for time, for Timetagger, she literally called Alya at the last minute to say she was too busy to babysit and Alya said it was no biggie and made other arrangements, and for Simpleman, Alya offered to cancel her date and take care of her younger siblings herself the instant she saw that Marinette was already babysitting Manon, and Marinette told her to go ahead and go on her date and that she'd look after her siblings.

So clearly, the people clutching their pearls about how horribly irresponsibly Alya is handling babysitting and how she's wronging Marinette in the process don't actually care about babysitting ethics here, because otherwise, Marinette would be getting the brunt of the hatred, not Alya. Despite this, I've seen a fair number of posts in the past tearing into Alya's babysitting for the reasons I already gave, and a bunch of fics that make it so that Alya pressures and guilt-trips Marinette into babysitting for her when she's struggling to keep up with all her work, only to have her parents find out and be horrified by how Alya's lied to them about who's been doing the babysitting and that Alya's been getting an increased allowance because of that, so they pay Marinette out of Alya's allowance and ground her, take away privileges, just have this be used as an excuse to punish Alya for supposedly wronging Marinette.

And then there's the subcategory of Alya demonization towards her for putting up Lila's interview on her blog without verifying that Lila was telling the truth. Admittedly, this was foolish, but she's 14. Retractions exist for a reason. And yet, fics frequently have her reputation be completely destroyed because she put up one interview that had a false statement by the interviewee in it, and sometimes even to be completely blacklisted from ever being a journalist in the future, things that are completely insane and would have even the most storied and well-respected of reporters be unable to ever get a job. 

She also frequently gets demonized and bashed for ""believing Lila over Marinette"". My major issue with this: what she's specifically believing Lila over Marinette for is on the topic of ""is Lila an awful person"". I don't think it's unreasonable to have a higher standard of proof for believing that someone is an awful person than for believing that your friend might just have some biased interpretations. Alya thinks that Marinette doesn't like Lila mostly because Lila has hit on Adrien, Marinette's crush, before. This isn't unreasonable considering that Marinette's first reaction to Lila is to freak out about her stealing Adrien away, and that when this other girl, Kagami, started hanging out with Adrien, she freaked out about that too. Specifically, she called a meeting of all her female friends to try and stop Kagami and Adrien from going away together to London for the weekend in Backwarder, helped Chloe in trying to get Kagami covered in food at a fancy red carpet movie opening in order to drive her away and steal her seat next to Adrien for the movie, and when she and Kagami were paired up for a ""friend-making game"" where the goal was to locate where Adrien was in Paris and the prize was to spend time with him, she pretended to genuinely want to be Kagami's friend so she could sabotage both of them and prevent Kagami from spending time with Adrien. So it's not like the belief that Marinette might be unfairly biased against Lila because she's made moves on Adrien is an unfair assumption.

In addition to that, on the occasions when Lila HAS tried to frame Marinette for something, Alya hasn't believed it, or hasn't been shown to believe it at least. In Ladybug Lila tries to frame Marinette for cheating on a test, for stealing a necklace from her, and for knocking her down the stairs. Despite the evidence Lila planted, Alya doesn't believe it and investigates to try and find out what really happened. She doesn't uncover any solid proof, but she still believes in Marinette. She doesn't believe that Marinette's assumption that Lila's behind this is necessarily correct, since Marinette's leaping to that without presenting proof, but she doesn't believe that Marinette's the culprit either. And in the two following cases when Marinette's framed, Alya never actually gets a chance to say what she believes after the accusation is made against Marinette.

Just... the amount of demonization towards Alya TO THIS DAY, often for things she NEVER EVEN FREAKING DID, is absolutely insane. Even over 5 years since Chameleon aired, fics with Alya being made into this malicious, awful bully so that Marinette can get some new friends to publicly denounce her, get her arrested, or otherwise be punished are frequently on the front page of the most recently updated fics on AO3, and are often some of the most popular ones. If you go to ""Fandom-Specific plot"" on Tvtropes, saltfics like these have multiple files going through all the common salt tropes. When looking through fics, I frequently search for Alya's name because she's often the first person to be unfairly demonized, so if she's safe, then everyone likely is. 

I suspect that racism plays a major factor in this. It doesn't make sense that Alya's often painted as being a violent, malicious bully and leader in getting the rest of the class to physically hurt and terrorize Marinette, I haven't even seen analysis arguing that she'd do that... but it tracks with the ""Black Brute"" archetype. This becomes even more obvious with Chloe, who's white and canonically DOES do some of this stuff, taking on Alya's canon role and some of her personality traits in these sorts of stories.

Then there's the standard Alya's held to for how she handles her blog. It's way higher than anyone would hold real-world reporters to, much less 14-year-olds. But it makes sense if you factor racial bias into account, and how Alya, being Black, is going to be held to a higher standard than anyone else, and be punished more for failing to meet that standard.

For things like the babysitting double standard, it makes no sense if you're actually looking at the stated criticism, given that the same criticism isn't leveled at Marinette... but it makes perfect sense if you're going off the assumption that Alya, as Marinette's Black Best Friend, is supposed to solely function as her support and that she's simply fulfilling her duties by always being there for her when needed, including for babysitting, but that if Marinette ever attempts to repay in kind, then Alya's being unfair towards her because Alya's obligated to always support Marinette, but that relationship is supposed to be a one-way street. Alya is supposed to function as Marinette's support, never the other way around.

And as for the way Alya's demonized for asking for evidence before believing that Lila's lying, well... again, Alya's expected to act as Marinette's support, and her ""failing"" that in any way, even if it makes sense from her point of view, is viewed as a betrayal. She's supposed to be loyal to Marinette, and only to Marinette, not to think for herself or to have multiple other friends or values that she needs to weigh. And anything that she does to go against that ""justifies"" Marinette intentionally trying to hurt and punish her for failing to live up to her role.

In conclusion, the way Alya's treated by the salt side of the fandom is grossly unfair, often has little connection with anything she canonically did, and has some gross racist implications, and is likely at least partially spurred on by racism, especially with how common and popular it still is to this day."

"(Note: This is an addendum to my earlier essay about the fandom's mistreatment of Alya. Here, I'm focusing more on how the writers' treatment of her helped to exacerbate that, since I saw that this version of the tournament had more of a focus on that. Please add this on at the end of my previous essay).

While Alya is primarily screwed over by the fanbase, there are some aspects of the writing that exacerbate her ill treatment. In season 4, Marinette confesses her secret identity to Alya, letting her know that she is Ladybug. Despite now knowing why Marinette was so convinced that Lila wasn't friends with Ladybug, and that Lila's interview stating that she's best friends with Ladybug is a lie, the subject just... never comes up, even when Lila starts being important again. It's not that Alya's ignoring what Lila lying on those subjects means, it's more like the writers just completely forgot that Lila told those particular lies, since Marinette doesn't bring them up either. This creates an inconsistency with the fanbase, who really, really, REALLY haven't forgotten those lies. 

There ARE ways to explain this - Lila lying about being friends with Ladybug in order to try to boost her reputation, especially when she's the new girl, isn't really all that heinous. Marinette lies a lot as well, even if you don't count lies told to protect her secret identity or other ""necessary"" lies, sometimes out of embarrassment, sometimes to to try and prevent someone's feelings from getting hurt, and sometimes because she thinks it's the fastest, easiest, or most certain way to get the outcome she wants. And yet, even though Marinette lies a lot, she's not ostracized for that since it's usually not for malicious reasons - foolish reasons at times, but rarely malicious. It would make sense that Lila too, wouldn't be thought too badly of for merely lying in an attempt to make friends.

None of that actually comes up though. Alya later, in Confrontation, states that, ""Marinette, you know we'll always believe you. But every time you've accused Lila, there's been no evidence. And at worst, it was just a misunderstanding."" Marinette doesn't say anything about the previous times Lila has been proven to lie, so it seems like either it was decided offscreen that the more understandable lies she's told don't matter, or that the writers just plain forgot about them.

There were other opportunities created by Alya knowing Marinette's identity that were ignored. Alya concludes that Adrien backing up Marinette's statement that Lila's bad news was just due to him wanting to defend his girlfriend. This is also a bit of a writing flaw, while wanting to back up his girlfriend's stance IS a decent reason for Adrien to be biased against Lila, this is Adrien we're talking about here. He's nice and understanding to a fault, and is known for giving people the benefit of the doubt and second chances. It makes far less sense to believe that he'd believe the worst of Lila, even if Marinette does, than it does for Marinette to be biased against Lila. That being said, Adrien wouldn't have been present for Lila's more indisputable threats and statements directed against Marinette, so he can't actually verify for sure whether or not there could've been some misunderstanding.

There WAS, however, someone who was always with Marinette, and who could actually back up Marinette's statements more definitively. 

Tikki. She was present for every threat Lila made, for everything she ever claimed. While it's possible that both Tikki and Marinette may have misunderstood Lila in the same way, it's far less likely, especially since Tikki would have had different biases from Marinette. Tikki could be an important witness. Yet that never comes up, is never proposed, because that would end the plotline too quickly. 

Alya was also screwed over in the immediate aftermath of Lila being exposed, though not by the writers per se? There was a short scene planned after Lila's exposed where Alya apologizes for not believing Marinette about Lila being a liar and generally an awful person, we've even got leaked footage of it, but it appears that it was cut somewhere between being written and voice acted, and the episode being aired. 

All of this only really affects detailed arguments about how well (or poorly) Alya's story arc with Lila was handled, its affect on the actual fanfiction produced about Chameleon salt was minimal, I saw no change in its frequency, severity, or general handling of the characters with any season after season 3. I highly doubt that even the changes I suggested here would have done much to persuade the saltdom against Ron the Death Eatering Alya, especially since a lot of the hatred against her has so little to do with the show.

There IS some hatred thrown at Alya for non-Lila related reasons - well, reasons that aren't DIRECTLY Lila related, most of that hatred still stems from people hating her for Chameleon stuff and then retroactively justifying it by looking back at other things she did that irked them. The most common one (that actually has some sort of argument to it, not the ""Alya's a horrible babysitter and is abusing her friendship with Marinette"" nonsense I listed in the main essay) is that Alya's pushy about getting Marinette together with Adrien. 

This is more a product of Alya's usual role in the story than anything. I mentioned in the main essay how Alya sometimes falls into ""Black Best Friend"" territory, and this is one of the biggest examples. One of her most common roles throughout the series is as the person who pushes Marinette to actually confess to Adrien, to hang out with him, to pursue her romantic desires even with her anxiety holding her back, and to be honest with herself during the times when she's trying to deny her feelings for him. She's Marinette's sounding board whenever she's having an anxiety spiral about... actually, just about anything, and acts as the voice of reason when Marinette gets in her own head too much.

Thus, Alya sets Marinette and Adrien to end up somewhere alone together, or tries to push her to talk to him, or to be honest during the times when she tries to ""move on"" from Adrien by denying that she still has feelings for him (which is blatantly untrue). She IS okay with Marinette dating someone else though, if she honestly seems to want to do that. She had no problem with her dating Luka, for instance. She DID protest Marinette's seemingly sudden interest in Chat Noir, but that was mostly because Marinette seemed to be grabbing at her new attraction as an attempt to run away from her feelings for Adrien, something that Tikki ALSO noted.

That's another thing - Alya's the character who's most frequently thrown into this role, but she's not the only one, nor even the most extreme one. A new character that was introduced for the Miraculous New York Special, Jess, observed how Adrien and Marinette acted around each other, and decided to try to get them to confess their love by faking a supervillain attack on them, with the supervillain kidnapping anyone that no one loves in order to compel Marinette to FINALLY confess to Adrien. (Alya thought it was stupid, but agreed to help since it might actually work). When Marinette, Adrien, Luka, and Kagami went out to the wax museum together, Luka intentionally locked Adrien and Marinette in a room together so that Marinette would stop running away and would be forced to talk to Adrien. Marinette is written in such a way that other characters are compelled to meddle in her lovelife, because otherwise she'll continue making her own extreme plans and pining away, but never actually confess her feelings. 

So while Alya could be said to be ""pushy"" to an extent, it's mostly for Marinette's benefit. I would like if this was a less frequent role for Alya - I think it does her a disservice, since it locks her firmly into Marinette's orbit rather than emphasizing who Alya is as her own character. Most of the hatred towards Alya for this is tied up in ""Die For Our Ship"" being directed at Adrien though, with Adrien bashers hating that Alya's trying to set Marinette up with what they see as an inferior option. Ironically enough, while Alya's role in this situation is one of the primary examples in the show of her being treated by the writers as a ""Black Best Friend"" who exists to serve Marinette's character, it's actually one of the cases where I think racism is a pretty minor part of the hatred by the fanbase over it, since I think that's mostly motivated by hatred towards the Lovesquare.

In conclusion (again), there is an issue with the writers bending Alya's character in order to tell a particular story, particularly a Marinette-centered story, while ignoring how little sense that makes with what happened earlier on in the plotline, or how it centralizes Alya's role and character around Marinette in ways that exacerbate already existing writing patterns in media.

[papyrusgayfont]

* oh the movie is finally out I can now do this

* here’s the first post of all the show characters and locations that are in Miraculous Awakening or whatever it’s called because i was bored (spoilers, obviously). Starting off,

* Marinette Dupain-Cheng

* Adrien Agreste

* Alya Césaire

* Nino Lahiffe

* Chloé Bourgeois

* Sabrina Raincomprix

* Rose Lavillant

* Juleka Couffaine

* Ivan Bruel

* Mylene Hapréle

* Lé Chiên Kim

* Nathaniel Kurtzberg

* Alix Kubdel

* Max Kante

* and that’s it because tumblr won’t allow me to upload more photos lol so I’ll just make another post

[overhatedcharacterspoll]

OVERHATED CHARACTERS POLL: Alya Césaire / Rena Rouge (Miraculous Ladybug)

Feel free to explain your position in the comments or tags, but any harassment, over-the-top fighting, or personal attacks will result in you being blocked. Do not attack real people, be they fans or creators, over fictional characters.

[bakawitch]

Overcome The Thorns (and insomnia)

With a new passenger aboard the Astral Express, everyone has to get adjusted to the new circumstances and make an occasional sacrifice for the benefit of their new guest. Especially Sirius.

Overcome The Thorns (and insomnia) is a Siriel/Sulliel au comic inspired by Sunstelle, Galladay and Claudrien and is based on @wisteriasymphony 's Honkai: Star Rail X Miraculous Ladybug au

Table of Contents

《PART 1》 《PART 2》 coming soon...

Miscellaneous

The Crew

Siriji kiss + Ariel meltdown, Ex-in-law, Rules are made to be broken!

Cast

Claudia Perreault as Sirius/Stelle

Adrien Agreste as Ariel/Sunday

Cynic as Sullivan/Gallagher

Bellamy Laframboise as Dan Ji/Dan Heng

Élodie Desrosiers as June 6th/March 7th

Roxanne Verona as Hikari/Himeko

Welt Yang as Himself/Welt Yang

Lucky Lucky Ladybug as Junebug/Robin

Chat Noir as Leira/Wonweek

Young Lydia as Anita/Misha

Lydia Perreault as Anastacia/Mikhail

Gabriel Agreste as Aleppo Wood/Gopher Wood

Lila Rossi as Mirage/Sparkle

Luka Couffaine as Pan Flamel/Sampo Koski

Nathalie Sancoeur as Styx/Acheron

Emilie Agreste as Mandela/Black Swan

Alix Kubdel as Marbletown/Boothill

Felix Graham de Vanilly as Lapis Lazuli/Aventurine

Chloe Bourgeois as Zircon/Topaz

Audrey Bourgeois as Pyrite/Jade

Kagami Tsurugi as Dr Axis/Dr Ratio

Rose Lavillant as Rosefinch/Firefly

Nathaniel Kurtzberg as Edge (Dao)/Blade (Ren)

??? as ???/Kafka

Max Kanté as Creamello/Silver Wolf

Zoe Lee as Crystallis/Argenti

Marc Anciel as Jing Ming/Jing Yuan

Socqueline Wang as Kusa/Rappa

Alya Césaire as Ms Reco/Mr Reca

Tomoe Tsurugi as The Haruta/The Herta

[The planned cast as of now, the roles with ??? are not secret, they're just yet be cast... Suggestions are welcome for those characters (be it canon or oc) since I have no idea what I'm doing! (*￣∇￣) Do keep in mind that this comic deals with suggestive themes on occasion, and all characters are 18+ here!]

[speakingofdoorknobs]

Explanation: I had a really weird dream where I made this poll, and I want to see if the real-life results match the results in my dream

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Given everything that canon has currently given us about their actions, thoughts, personalities and personal histories, how would you arrange all 15 of Miss Bustier’s students in order from Most Worthy of a Miraculous in General to Least Worthy of a Miraculous in General and why for each character’s placement?

The inconsistent characterization and other writing issues make this a hard ask, but I'll do my best. I'm not going to do a true ranking, though. Instead, we're going to do a combo ranking and tier approach since there will be a lot of ties here and I also want to draw some clear lines between the different groups.

The Hero Tier: characters who are ready to be heroes as-is. They may need to do some growing to feel like a full fledged hero, but that growing can be done as a newly hatched hero.

The I Guess? Tier: characters with nothing to qualify or disqualify them from being a hero. They don't necessarily feel like a bad fit, but they probably need a character arc to truly feel like a good fit.

The Disqualifying Episode Tier: characters who would be in the "I Guess" Tier if it weren't for that one really bad episode that makes them look terrible. (Note that I'm reserving this for minor characters who don't give us much to go on. Characters without a strong core for me to lean on, making it hard to ignore these bad episodes as there's nothing to contradict the bad characterization.)

The Needs a Redemption Arc First Tier: characters that are not suited to the hero role in their current form, but that could be if they went through a big personal journey

The Hero Tier

1 - Marinette Dupain-Cheng

While the writers have done Marinette dirty in a thousand ways, I will give them full credit for her base character design. She has an excellent setup for a hero. She's a quick thinker who takes charge in a crisis and who cares about doing the right thing. She's willing to make major sacrifices for the good of others and has a strong sense of justice. While I'm obviously biased by her role as the lead, there really isn't a character I'd pick over her for our leading lady. She is the character best suited to leading the team in battle.

2 - Alya Césaire

Alya is in the same category as Marinette. Someone who the writing has done dirty, but who still screams hero potential. Her take-charge attitude and willingness to brave akuma fights for her blog make her feel like someone who could grab a miraculous an go. This is extra true because her core character feels such a strong balance to Marinette. Because Marinette is good at reactive thinking, she needs a teammate who is good at proactive thinking to help figure out how to locate and reclaim the butterfly. That teammate should have been Alya, but alas, we will never get it in canon. The only reason Alya wasn't tied for first place is that she feels ill suited to solo work. She needs someone to make her pause and think things through when she gets overexcited.

2 - Adrien Agreste

I actually debated if Adrien deserved the hero tier because the writing has done so much to make him feel ill suited to the hero role. I ultimately decided to keep him up here because he has a strong core character that's incredibly easy to work with, making it feel wrong to put him anywhere else. A quick fix to his motivation and he's good to go because he's generally a selfless, kind person who is willing to put his life on the line for others. Ladybug truly would struggle without someone in his role and no one else really feels suited to it. Much like Alya, Adrien only works in a team setting, so he ties with her for second place.

3 - Alix Kubdel

I wasn't totally sure where to put Alix because she's one of the show's least developed teen characters. A lot of the things we know about her come from watching her adult self, which isn't really fair as everyone else is getting judged based on their behavior as a young teen. However, in spite of all the bad writing, Alix does come across like someone who would be ready to fight at a moment's notice and who has a strong desire to do good, so into the hero tier she goes!

4 - Rose Lavillant

While Rose's character doesn't scream hero, positivity and kindness are good traits for a hero, so I can see why she'd be picked to be one. Her recruitment episode was one of the strongest ones because she didn't need any sort of arc to be ready. She's fine as-is and fit her role perfectly, which means that it feels wrong to put her in another tier. I do worry about her ability to handle a major crisis since she's quick to cry and can come across as a little oversensitive, which is why I put her at the bottom of the list. You could convince me that she should be moved down a tier.

The I Guess? Tier

5 - Juleka Couffaine

Juleka a nice person and a good friend, but nothing about her screams "hero." At the same time, nothing about her screams "no good, very bad choice." I can see a story where she becomes a hero, but it doesn't feel like a missed opportunity if she stays a civilian because I don't think that she's ready to take on the role as-is. She's got some growing to do to really earn her stripes. It's why her hero debut is a little awkward. They tried to speed-run a character arc about her gaining confidence only for that development to disappear afterward. I'm not even sure why they needed her in that episode.

5 - Ivan Bruel

Ivan is basically a male Juleka and his recruitment is even more speed-run. It really feels like he only got a miraculous so that no one was left out. Nothing about his story feels like he earned his spot. If anything, it feels like he was done dirty and robbed of a character arc. Just look at this recruitment!

Ivan: What if I hurt someone using my superpowers? Ladybug: It's good to be careful, Ivan, but remember, you'll be on a team of superheroes facing supervillains! No one can be hurt. (Ivan, reassured, smiles)

I'm sensing some Stoneheart trauma here or maybe even something more complex, but of course, we're never going to dig into that. Boo, writers. Boo! Either have him ready to go or give him a story. Don't half-ass it!

6 - Mylène Haprèle

I almost put Mylène in the Hero Tier because her activism shows that she's willing to stand up and fight (Ivan didn't get that grace because it feels like he only does it for Mylène's sake). Then I thought about her hero debut and decided that Mylène belonged here because it was yet another hard-to-buy speed-run. I even put her below Ivan and Juleka because Mylène is the only character to give a truly compelling argument as to why she's not qualified:

Mylène: (interrupts) No, Ladybug! I can't be a superhero. I'm scared of everything. Look, I have a badge for my fear of water, one for my fear of beasts. I need a necklace to help me get over my fear of badges!

This is not someone who's ready to go on a solo mission after a minor pep talk, nor was she the obvious choice for the mouse, so her refusal should have been respected. Not everyone is qualified to be an action hero and it's a sign of strength to know when you need to say "no." Much like Juleka and Ivan, Mylène is begging for a stronger character arc or even for a story that shows that there are different types of heroes.

7 - Max Kanté

Max literally only got a miraculous so he didn't die because they were in space, so it's really hard to call him a good hero candidate who was well chosen for his role. At the same time, I can't call him unqualified. His strong analytical skills make him feel like a character who could be a good addition to a hero team, though only in a supporting role. They haven't done anything to make him feel like he belongs on the battlefield. He doesn't get a spot in the hero tier though because the Lila stuff and his behavior in Gamer are enough to make him feel like he needs to do some growing up before he's truly suited to a miraculous.

The Disqualifying Episode Tier

8 - Nino Lahiffe

I'm sorry, Nino. I love you, but your behavior in season four and five was appalling! You outed your girlfriend's identity without her permission, antagonized your best friend's abusive parent for no good reason, and demonstrated a total lack of faith in Ladybug's ability to regain the miraculous, making it impossible to put you in a higher tier because, unlike Adrien, Alya, and Marinette, you don't have a strong core character that I can use to argue away these flaws away. I literally had to redesign your character to write you! So into this tier you go since you actually have several disqualifying episodes.

9 - Nathaniel Kurtzberg

Nathaniel generally comes across as a nice guy, but Reverser totally ruined his character for me. Since the show has given me nothing that I can use to argue that Reverser shouldn't count, into this tier he goes. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then read the Marc section of this post to see why Nathaniel needs anger management classes. It's why he's going below Nino. Nino just feels like he needs to be a little more thoughtful. Nathaniel feels like he needs serious work.

9 - Lê Chiến Kim

Kim has never screamed hero to me and his actions in Derision are hard to ignore, especially since they match his bullying behavior in Origins. I want him to be our silly dumb jock, but canon apparently doesn't, so into this tier he goes. I actually almost put him in the bottom tier because the bullying thing bothers me so much. It really does feel like he needs at least a minor redemption arc, but he's got several episodes that paint him as fine, contradicting the episodes that make him a bully, so it feels unfair to put him in with the true bullies who cannot be characterized in any other way without going against their core character.

The Needs a Redemption Arc First Tier

10 - Chloé Bourgeois

Full thoughts here, but the short version is that baseline character establishment is not the same as a character arc. The show made Chloé sympathetic and showed that she had some actual depth, but those things were presented in a way that made them feel like they were just basic elements of her character. Things she'd always had. Her character never had any sort of meaningful growth, so it never felt like she should be a hero. It just felt like her story had the potential to go that route if the writers wanted to take her there.

11 - Sabrina Raincomprix

Sabrina is a bully who delights in tormenting others and who never gets a glimmer of potential like we saw with Chloé back in seasons two and three, meaning that Sabrina is totally unqualified for a miraculous. I was appall that she got one without even a hint of a redemption arc first. All we got was confirmation that Sabrina cares about her best friend which we always knew. At least Chloé only got hers by accident. Sabrina gets handed one like she's qualified to be on the team! Terrible writing. 0/10 stars

12 - Lila Rossi

We might as well put Lila in this tier since I'd like to think that any 14-year-old could be helped to be a better person, but it's hard to have any hope for her. The writing has failed her by every conceivable metric outside of maybe her core concept. Even then, she has no place in a formula show for kids. She belongs in a teen drama.

[booksrbetterthanpeople]

I was bored a while back and made the MLB characters using the Black OC maker on Picrew

Marinette: Proud to be Blasian, still tense when she gets weird looks/Dyed her hair because she wanted to be Coraline for Halloween, now she just likes the color

Adrien: Black mom, white dad, identity crisis/Gabriel’s still a dick and wants Adrien to be a “Good Black.”/Usually always on the receiving end of light skin jokes

Alya: The same, just with bigger hair/The Queen of Hoop Earrings/One TikTok account for general stuff, the other just to post videos of her and her friends dancing and stepping

Nino: Undoing Gabriel’s influence on his bro and helping him embrace his blackness/You did NOT hear him listening to Robin Thicke/Starts every Shabooya Roll Call

Chloé: Bad and bougie/Identity crisis on a count of she was adopted as a baby to make her white parents look good/Will only let Marc and Juleka style her hair

Sabrina: Only knows English because she listens to Megan Thee Stallion religiously/Scarily good at break dancing

Juleka: So goth, she was born black/Favorite movies in order: Get Out, Candyman, The Blackening, Us, Karen, and Ma/A pro at doing hair

Rose: Will punt you if you make a “Not Black enough” comment/Not fond of how hospitals treat black patients. She’s had first-hand experience, and it wasn’t great/Excited for the Tiana series

Luka: Doesn’t say much, but when he does, it’s insightful as hell/He can’t see, but it adds to the mystery, so he keeps his hair like that/Imagine Johan from Black-ish

Nathaniel: Black Panther, Storm, Spider Man, Cyborg, Vixen, Bumble Bee, and Static Shock comics lining his shelves/The definition of Blerd/Surprisingly good at stepping

Alix: “Scar twins!” “But your scar is-“ “Shut up! Scar twins!”/Classroom solidarity by shielding her from others when her hijab slips off/She and Nath tag the city by putting stickers with images of historical women of color everywhere

Marc: He’s the one braiding his classmates’ hair/Hates how black people are written in most shows and movies/Scarily good at rapping. Do NOT try to challenge him to a rap battle, you will be humiliated

Kim: Always swimming, so he constantly has his hair braided or in twists/“Yes, I’m black and I can swim.”/Worships Beyoncé in his spare time

Max: The same, but with vitiligo and a fancy tie/Not selling the patents for any of his inventions. He’s not risking any companies purposely leaving out that he’s the brilliant mind behind any of them

Lila: She will never lie about Oprah. That’s where she crosses the line/Competing for Alya's title as Queen of Hoop Earrings

Ivan: You know those videos where the white baby leans over to see what the black guy is watching on his phone and then holds his hand? He’s the black guy/Worried about looking too "threatening"

Myléne: Constantly promoting black-owned businesses on her socials/Most likely to lead a protest/HATES Rachel Dolezal… Actually, they all hate her

[a-chlolix-blog]

Scarabée and Kitty Claws AU

The Bubbler. The birthday boy's benevolent bestie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been a whole week since the whole Stormy Weather situation happened.

Not only was it announced that Aurore was the true new weather girl, but Adrien's birthday was pointed online.

Of course his MANY FANS went crazy over getting this information.

Some even found out ways to directly message him, which obviously creeped him out.

Adri&Me112: Happy birthday, my Prince!

AdriensPrincess: I wish I could be your present!

MrsAgresteAlarie: IF YOU THROW A PARTY PLEASE INVITE ME!? I LOVE YOU ADRIEN!!!

Adrien didn't really like waking up to these notifications on his PRIVATE Instagram.

But he did wanna celebrate his birthday for the first time with his classmates.

Though he knew his father would NEVER agree to letting him throw a party at their home.

Everyone in class found out it was Adrien's birthday through Instagram, but Chloé was only reminded that she forgot.

Chloé: I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT ADRIEN'S BIRTHDAY!!

Plagg, jokingly: Well, you were quite busy drooling over Scarabée's pictures on the ScaraBlog.

Chloé: I'M GONNA GET HIM THE MOST INCREDIBLE PRESENT!

Chloé managed to come up with the perfect gift before being drove to pick up Sabrina and then taken school.

Even Marinette, Alya, and Alix were talking about Adrien's birthday.

Alya, annoyed: I don't see the big deal about today. Thanks to those Fangirls, I can't even promote my ScaraBlog without one of them commenting "Is there Adrien content tho?" Agh!

Marinette: I don't know much about Adrien, but what I do know is the actions of his fans aren't his fault.

Alix: Some of those chicks sound unhinged too! Aurore's been following Adrien since she became the rightful Weather Girl. Look at the stuff they sent her just from him following her! *shows Marinette and Alya her phone*

Marinette and Alya, shocked: WOW!

As they looked at the screenshots of the unhinged messages, Adrien's limo pulled up in front of the school.

Nino then quickly ran up to him and put his arm around his shoulder.

Nino: Happy Birthday, Dude!

Adrien: Thanks Nino.

Chloé then runs outside with Sabrina right behind her and hugs Adrien.

Chloé: Happy Birthday, Adrien!

Adrien, whispering: Chloé, it's okay if you forgot. I know how you are with birthdays-

Chloé: And I promise to change that starting now!

Nino: ???

Alix, shouts over to them: Hey Adrien!

Adrien, quickly turns to her: Yeah?

Alix: Happy Birthday!

Adrien, caught off guard: T-thanks!

When Alix starts walking into the school, Marinette and Alya quickly follow her.

Marinette: That was sweet of you Alix.

Alix: If I had fangirls as crazy as his, I'd want to be reassured that SOME people are sane.

Alya, jokingly: Let's hope none of his fangirls saw you talking to him!

Marinette and Alix: *laughs*

~~~~~~Back outside~~~~~~~

Nino: That was cool of Alix.

Adrien: I know right? I haven't talked to her since later last week when we ran into each other after the fencing tryouts. So I was abit caught off guard.

Sabrina: Alix may be quite intimidating, but she's also quite the softie once you get to know her.

Chloé: Yeah... *faintly blushes*

Sabrina: *smirks*

Nino: So Adrien, what are you doing for your birthday?

Adrien, abit upset: Not much... but I'm use to it.

Nino: I'm sorry... WHAT?!

Chloé: Mr. Agreste has always been against Adrien having fun like a normal kid. It was always just me, him, Sabrina and his utterly annoying cousin. We weren't allowed to do much on his birthday despite being so excited to celebrate.

Nino: It's Adrien's birthday! He deserves so much for doing EVERYTHING his old name says! Which should include an actual birthday party!

Adrien: *cries tears of joy* I always wanted a big party...

While in school, Chloé and Sabrina were planning on what to do for Adrien's party while Nino mentally prepared himself to ask Gabriel to let Adrien have a party at the Agreste home.

Sabrina: If we can't have the party at Adrien's place, we can ask Alix-

Chloé: NO! I sure Mr. Agreste will let us have the party at his place if he'd agree to it. Gotta keep him close.

Sabrina: *sighs* We both know you don't believe that... one of these days you and Alix HAVE to talk about this.

After school, Nino gets to the Agreste home before Adrien does and begins his talk with Gabriel.

Nathalie: One of Adrien's classmates are here.

Gabriel: Adrien's not home yet.

Nino: I'm actually here to see you, Sir!

Gabriel: Explain.

Nino: That's right! I heard from Adrien that he really wants a party and I'm hear to ask on his behalf!

Gabriel: No. That's final.

Nino, getting angry: That's messed up! He does EVERYTHING you tell him to do and you can't give him this one day to have fun?!

Adrien, walking through the door: Nino? You're actually here?!

Nino, turns to Adrien: Of course! Anything for a friend! *turns back to Gabriel* shows some awesomeness, Sir!

Gabriel: *glares at Nino*

Adrien: Forget it, Nino. It's fine.

Gabriel: Young man, I decided what's best for my son. And I've decided that you're a negative influence on him and aren't welcomed in my house ever again. Leave now!

Adrien, getting very upset: Father please! He was just trying to do something cool for me!

Nathalie: Goodbye Mr. Lahiffe.

Nino: *angrily leaves*

Adrien: Nino wait! I'm sorry about my father, he’s always such a stubborn-

Nino: It's not fair, Adrien! You don't have to apologize for how awful you're dad is!

Adrien: Thanks anyway...

Chloé and Sabrina were waiting for Nino to call to tell him about their party plans, but he didn't.

Sabrina: I hope we get the call soon...

Chloé: I should've gone with him, but my present's almost done! Let's now worry, we gotta believe in him.

Sabrina: Nino? Or Mr. Agreste?

Chloé: Obviously Nino!

Little did they know, the next time they'd see Nino, he would not be himself.

Nino: Why can't the awful parents just go away?!

Hawkmoth: Such a good friend, desperately trying to help his friend, but feels powerless? How frustrating. Let's turn that frustration into anger. Fly away my little Akuma and evilize him!

*After the akuma enters the bubbles*

Hawkmoth: Hawkmoth is my name and Bubbler is now yours! I'll give you the power to get rid of all of horrid parents and other bad adults out in the world. All you have to do is bring me Scarabée and Kitty Claws' miraculous!

Nino: I'm gonna need an extra power, Hawk-Dude.

After awhile, Chloé and Sabrina finally got the text from Nino, telling them to meet him in front of the Agreste home.

Sabrina: I got the party supplies and my gift for Adrien. Chloé, is your gift done yet?

Chloé: Yeah, let's go!

After being quickly and safely getting to Adrien's place by limo, Chloé and Sabrina go inside.

But instead of seeing Nino or Adrien, they see the Bubbler.

Chloé, internally: Oh SHIT!

Sabrina: NINO?!

Bubbler: I'm Bubbler now! And I need your help, my party planning Dudettes!

Nino then uses his added ability to trap Chloé and Sabrina in fogged up bubbles.

But instead of the two flooding away, he pops the bubbles, revealing the two to now be dressed up in pretty party dresses that have the same color scheme as the Bubbler.

Bubbler: You two get the party ready, I'll go give out the invites. And don't tell Adrien, it's a surprise! *flies off*

Chloé and Sabrina: ...

Alix was finishing touching up her hair dye when a knock on the door was heard.

Alim goes to open the door and is very surprised at what he sees.

Bubbler: Mr. Kubdel! What's up?

Alim: ... NINO?!

Bubbler: It's Bubbler now. Is Alix home?

Alim: What do you want with-

Alix, runs between Alim and Bubbler: WHAT'S GOING ON?!

Bubbler: I'm invited you to Adrien's epic birthday party!

Alim, pulls Alix back: Do you think I'd allow-

Alix: Yeah, I'll be there.

Alim: WHAT?!

Bubbler: Awesome! Make sure to dress nice and bring a nice gift! *leaves*

Once Bubbler was gone, Alim let out his angry coated fear.

Alim: THERE'S NO WAY I'M LETTING YOU GO TO THAT PARTY! ISN'T THIS THE THIRD TIME THAT THIS HAWKMOTH MONSTER TARGETED KIDS FROM YOUR SCHOOL?!

Alix, quickly hugs him: Dad, it's gonna be okay. He most likely invited the other kids from class as well. Scarabée and Kitty Claws will show up, save the day, and then we'll leave.

Alim: Okay, but I'm driving you and your friends there though.

Right after Alim says this, Alix hears her text notifications from the bathroom.

She goes in, picks up her phone, and reads each message quickly.

💙Mari-Caroon🥐: NINO'S BEEN AKUMATIZED!!!

❤Best Blogger📱: I know! This is insane!!

📽Mylegend♻️: Are we really gonna go?!

🥇Alix💥: Of course we are!

🎨Nate🖌: We are?!

While the group texted each other, Alix quickly got ready for the power and left with Alim.

Alix: Tells stop by my favorite sports store really quick, dad.

After he leaves the Louvre, Bubbler sees Nathalie walking up to a store and quickly bubbles her.

After Alix bought what she needed, Alim drove her to Marinette, Alya, Mylène, and Nathaniel's homes to pick them up and drive them to the Agreste home.

Thanks to Alix's text notifications, she found out the rest of her classmates were already there before they all got out of the car and got their presents out of the trunk.

Alix: See ya later, Dad!

Alim: Please be careful Alix... *drives off*

Once Alim was out of sight, the Bubbler appears before the five.

Bubbler: Hey dudes! So happy you made it! The party's in the back! Adrien should be done with all those "Father-Approved" activities for the day and will be here soon, so hurry up and go.

Once the five of them got to the back, they saw that almost all of their classmates were there in their own very unique and nice outfits.

The only two that stood out were Chloé and Sabrina, who were wearing dresses with colors similar to Bubbler.

Nathaniel: Do you think they were akumatized too?

Alix: If they were, they'd probably have the same powers as Nino...

Mylène: What do we do now?

Alya: I guess we act like nothing's wrong until Scarabée and Kitty Claws get here.

Marinette: I bet they'll be here in no time.

Alix takes this time to walk up to Chloé and Sabrina and ask the two of them a few questions.

Alix: Why are you two dressed like that?

Sabrina: We were made into Bubbler's Party Planners. He used foggy bubbles to give us these outfits.

Alix: You're not under some sorta mind control, are you?

Sabrina: Nope, just Bubbler colored dresses.

Alix: What got Nino upset upset enough to be akumatized?

Chloé: *sighs* He asked Mr. Agreste if Adrien could have a party. Given how we didn't see or hear of him until after he's been akumatized, he obviously said no. Mr. Agreste knows I'm friends with Adrien, so I should've went with Nino!

Seeing how upset Chloé is, Alix decides to comfort her.

Alix: It probably couldn't be helped. From what I heard about Mr. Agreste from my dad, he'd probably say no if Scarabée and Kitty Claws themselves asked him.

Chloé, giggling: Yeah...

Sabrina, looking at the two: *thinks to herself* Am I witnessing ACTUAL progress?!

Bubbler then appears and tells everyone that Adrien's coming.

Once he makes his way to the back, everyone shouts out "Happy Birthday, Adrien!"

While Adrien is happy to see his classmates throwing him a party, he’s also obviously quite concerned by the fact that his new friend has indeed been akumatized.

Bubbler: Enjoy you party, Birthday Boy!

Since Bubbler was now quite distracted with the party, Alix decides to go transform.

Chloé figured that she should do the same, but needed an even bigger distraction so Bubbler would worry about her being gone.

Chloé: Hey Bubbler! Why don't we get the party games ready? I got a list of Adrien's favorites! *quickly gives him the list*

Bubbler: Awesome idea, dudette!

While Bubbler was getting the party games ready, he noticed Chloé walking towards the door.

Bubbler: Where are you going?

Chloé: Alix has been gone for quite awhile. I'm just gonna make sure she's okay!

Bubbler: Just make sure you're both back before the next game!

When Chloé runs inside, she literally runs into Scarabée and lands on top of her.

Chloé, blushing hard: SCARABÉE?!

Scarabée: Keep it down please. Bubbler doesn't know I'm here.

Chloé: Right! *realizes she's still on top of her and gets up* Well, I'm gonna go hide now! *runs off*

Chloé quickly finds her way to one of the bathrooms, goes inside, and locks the door.

Plagg then flies out of her ponytail, wearing the same dress as her.

Plagg: Please transforms so I can get outta this dress.

Chloé: Plagg, Claws Out!

While Chloé transformed into Kitty Claws, Scarabée was getting ready to sneak up on Bubbler.

Once the time is right, Scarabée makes herself know to Bubbler.

Scarabée: Party's over, Nino!

Bubbler: For the last time, it's THE BUBBLER!

Kitty Claws, running up to Scarabée: Did I miss the party, Itty-Bitty?

Scarabée: I'd say it's just getting started, Kitty.

Bubbler: Let's take this somewhere else, so the birthday boy can enjoy his party. Like the sky!

Scarabée and Kitty Claws popped every bubble he sent their way with ease, when caused their classmates to cheer loudly.

Bubbler: NOT COOL, DUDES AND DUDETTES!!

Instead of trapping the others in multiple bubbles, Bubbler manages to get the drop on the two heroines & traps them in a giant bubble before kick it into the air.

Hawkmoth: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET THEIR MIRACULOUS!!!

Scarabée was kicking at the bubble while Kitty Claws was quite stunned by how close they were in the bubble.

Scarabée: Damnit, this isn't working! KC, use your cataclysm!

Kitty, quickly composing herself: RIGHT!

Kitty Claws then uses her cataclysm on the bubble, which causes the bubble to pop and for the two of them to fall towards the ground.

As if the heroine knew what the other was thinking, Kitty Claws throws her baton into the Eiffel Tower, Scarabée grabs her hand before she hooks the yo-yo to the baton and swings them to safety.

Scarabée, pulls Kitty Claws' baton back to her: We gotta get too the Bubbler!

Kitty Claws, hears her ring beeping: Unless you wanna see how hot I am, we gotta hurry.

The two then race back to the Agreste Mansion.

Once they get there, everyone (including Adrien) happily and loudly cheers for the two heroines.

Scarabée: Sounds like everyone wants this party to over!

Bubbler: Come on, Adrien! We don't need to deal with these haters!

Adrien: Wait, what?

Bubbler then traps Adrien in a bubble and flies away with him.

Not only did they have to stop the Bubbler, but they had to save Adrien as well.

They chased the Bubbler all the way to the Eiffel Tower.

Once they got close enough, Bubbler starts launching exploding bubbles at the two, which they quickly dodged.

Kitty Claws: I'm almost out of time, Itty-Bitty!

Scarabée: Don't worry, KC! I got this!

Scarabée then uses her summons her Lucky Charm and gets a large wrench.

Kitty Claws: I didn't know you were good with tools. I'm learning more and more about you every week!

Examining the area around her, Scarabée spots an HVAC and takes it apart.

She sends a pipe with air spewing out of it to Kitty Claws, who uses it to deflect the bubbles.

Adrien was absolutely impressed as he watched.

Adrien: AWESOME!

Bubbler raises his bubble wand, about to take another swing, when Scarabée catches it with her yo-yo and wrenches it out of his grasp.

Breaking it in two, she captures the akuma and cleanses the city, bringing back the parents he bubbled and freeing Adrien from the bubble. and returning Nino back to normal.

After Kitty Claws takes another after battle selfie, Adrien walks up to the two of them.

Adrien: Thanks for saving me and Nino.

Scarabée: No need to thank us.

Kitty Claws: I'm about to transform back. Make sure Adrien gets home safe.

Scarabée: No problem, KC.

Defeated, Hawk Moth vows to capture and crush Scarabée and Kitty Claws as his window closes.

Once Nathalie returned from being bubbled, she had the party guests leave immediately.

Just as the final guest left, Scarabée lands in front of the Agreste Mansion with Adrien in her arms.

Adrien: Thanks for the lift, Scarabée!

When Adrien goes to back, he’s disappointed to see that everyone left, but became quite happy when he realizes how big the pile of presents is.

Nathalie smiles as Adrien eagerly and carefully took his gifts upstairs.

Gabriel, over the phone: Did you get my gift for Adrien?

Nathalie: It's been handled, Mr. Agreste.

He didn't need to know the details. As long as Adrien was happy.

The next day, Adrien shows up to school wearing a light blue scarf (Marinette's gift) and showing off a new case for his phone (Alya's gift).

Chloé Sabrina and Nino quickly ran up to him.

Nino: Dude! I'm so sorry about yesterday!

Adrien: You don't have to apologize, Nino. That was Hawkmoth's fault.

Chloé: You managed to have more tact and grace than his rapid fangirls though!

Sabrina, noticing Adrien's scarf and phone case: I see you chose a couple of gifts to show off.

Adrien: Unfortunately I couldn't bring everything I got to school, or else I'd probably get sent home.

Chloé: What did you think of my gift!

Adrien: I love it, Chlo! *hugs her* Thank you...

Chloé, hugging him back: Anything for you, Adrien.

In Adrien's room, a photo collage of him and Chloé over the years was now hanging on his wall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inspired by: @emdoddles @princess-of-the-corner @muggle-born-princess @dcschart @justanotherpersonsuniverse @symphonic-scream

[fuckyeahladybug]

Who is this character? Let’s analyze, based on what we already know.

In the 24 hours we’ve had access to this image, courtesy of Jeremy Zag’s Instagram, I’ve done my best to follow all the threads of speculation. These seem to be the top theories, which I’ll analyze under the cut.

Nino Lahiffe

Alya Césaire

Max Kanté

A sentibeing

A past Miraculous holder

From this solitary image, it’s hard to prove or disprove the past Miraculous holder and sentibeing theories.

A senti Black Cat would be a fun parallel to Sentibug and would make use of the Peacock Miraculous, which the movieverse has yet to do much with. A past Miraculous holder could open new lore avenues. Either path potentially gives Adrien’s character a lot to do, which makes me happy. I can’t really delve further into these theories without descending into wild speculation, so I’ll move on to pre-existing canon characters.

There’s precedent for Miraculous transformations altering character’s hair color*, hair length**, height***, and skin tone****, but their basic face shapes tend to stay the same. So let’s look at images of Alya, Nino, and Max from the movie and study their face shapes.

Here’s a Movie Alya. She’s in light where the character above is in shadow, but we can see that her chin is a softer, more rounded point. I agree with the common sentiment that the mystery character looks fairly masculine and is probably intended to be a boy. I’ve seen some fringe speculation that it’s intended to be Nora, but if you look at images of Nora from the show, you’ll see that she has the same rounded chin as Alya.

Here’s a Movie Max, alongside a Show Max and a Pegasus for further reference. In all three images, his chin is once again more of a rounded point than the mystery character’s, and his nose appears less broad.

Here’s a Movie Nino, alongside a Show Nino and a Carapace for reference. His chin is closer in shape to the mystery character’s, and his nose is more similar, though it seems to have a wider bridge than the mystery character’s.

Of the three most popular pre-existing character theories, I believe Nino is the most likely candidate, though I think a new character is the most likely. What do you think? Reblog or comment and let me know!

*See Rena Rouge

**See Coq Courage

***See Hawkmoth

****See Pegasus and, less frustratingly, Mayura

[foxwitchaine]

Which is your most hated character in Miraculous Ladybug?

I wouldn't say hate so much as strongly dislike, as it takes a lot for me to outright loathe a fictional character. More often than not, I have better things to spend my energy on than hating a fictional character.

But if I were to answer that, five take the top spot:

1.) Lila Rossi

I know. Surprising, isn't it. Well, it's all fun and games until you actually meet one in real life. And it's frustrating as hell getting those with the wool over their eyes to listen until it's too late. I have to emphasize that it wasn't originally part of the plan to redeem her in the early drafts. It was thanks to Rafe that I even considered doing a Lila redemption.

Lila had a lot of potential in the early seasons. Of course, that was before she was turned into a one-dimensional villain with little in the way of making her interesting. It says something that I got the feeling the showrunners were trying to make her hateable without actually putting in the effort while reading the Chameleon transcripts. (I had to stop reading to settle my blood pressure)

All in all, Lila is just a symptom of a bigger underlying issue regarding the show's writing. I personally think she has a very nice design, but it looks better in 2D than 3D.

2.) Gabriel Agreste

He's a severely underwhelming main villain. At the start, he had potential. But as the series drags on, it's become painfully clear that the showrunners don't actually know how to make a compelling main villain. He was surprisingly much more intimidating and better-designed in the pilot PV.

Gabriel also lacks the charisma you would find with iconic main villains such as Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, the rogues gallery in the first Powerpuff Girls, Batman's rogues gallery, and so on. I could make a whole post about how to write Gabriel better, but I don't feel like resurrecting a dead horse.

3.) Adrien Agreste

The poster boy for wasted potential. When Rafe and I first started watching Miraculous Ladybug, Season 2 hadn't been released yet. He was nice, if a bit bland. Could have used some flavorblasting in both design and personality (he's a fashion model, for crying out loud. Where's his fabulous wardrobe?)

And then all the red flags in Seasons 3-5 started popping up.

As it stands, he's nothing more than a plot device to humiliate poor Marinette. And a mouthpiece for the writers' very skewed morality. We weren't going to redeem him at first, but then it occurred to me a fantastic way to strike a devastating blow against Gabriel. I won't say anything more since they're spoilers.

4.) Alya Césaire

Ohhhh boy. Where do I even begin with this one? Disregarding the racism allegations towards the writers regarding her character, Alya is just an awful best friend, plain and simple. While it's true that she's a go-getter who isn't afraid to go for what she wants, that same trait has pretty much been solidified into a toxic trait courtesy of her refusal to question Lila later in the show. Even after Marinette broke down in front of her and confessed her secret identity in Gang of Secrets.

I will forever hate that episode just for how entitled everyone was about Marinette's secrets.

When Rafe and I were brainstorming who to use as our civilian antagonist to fill in for Lila, it was rather telling that Alya was among our first choices. It wasn't our intention for her to fall as hard as she did in The Wolves in the Woods, but honestly? It was inevitable.

5.) Caline Bustier

She's a non-authority figure who coddles the troublemakers in her class. I'm restraining myself at the moment because I've had teachers just like her in real life. Who look good on paper and are the sweetest people on the outside. But their inability to discipline a class regardless of behavior does a lot more damage in the long run than many would care to admit.

Bustier is a character who I could have grown to understand if the writers handled her better. The biggest brat of the school is the daughter of the city mayor. That right there is a beautiful setup for interesting conflict. We could have gotten a plot where we had a good, caring teacher trapped in a terrible situation by her superiors. Which is unfortunately something that can and does happen in real life. Instead, we got an airhead who can't for the life of her understand this simple thing called nuance.

I find it very telling the fandom prefers Mendeleiev over her.

Honorable Mentions:

Principal Damocles: Too much of a spineless noncharacter to really care about

Tom and Sabine: I try to understand the parents' side of things given parenting is far from an easy task

Bustier's class: A mixed bag here, since I don't think they're necessarily bad kids

Mayor Bourgeois: Again, another mixed bag here since he's another spineless "parent"

Zoé Lee: Too much of a blank slate to have an opinion on

Félix Fathom: What kind of a name is that?

Master Fu: He was done so dirty in his backstory

Chloé Bourgeois: Another with wasted potential

[verfound]

FIC: Evening, Officer (MLB; Lukanette)

Characters/Pairings: Alya Césaire, Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng; Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Rating: Teen

Summary: It’s been years since Alya has seen her old best friend – since collège, she was pretty sure.  The last place she’d ever expected to run into her again was at the Rolling Stone Records office…in a police uniform…handcuffing her as she broke in for her latest scoop.  What the hell had happened to Marinette?

Author’s Notes/Warnings: Ages back I had this idea of Marinette going into law enforcement and what could lead to that, and this was just a way to explore that.  It’s still one of my favorite headcanons for a Marinette who ultimately decides to not go into fashion.  Can y’all just see the looks on Anarka and Roger’s faces the day she signs up for the police academy?

Anyway.  😂  This particular fic kinda veered into Alya Salt territory, and @rierse got me wanting to throw hands at Alya again with the Wanna Bet updates, and I’ve been needing a writing day.  I swear all the free time is going to the puppy, and I’ve been itching to get something out.

“Evening, Officer”

Alya Césaire was a damn good journalist, if she did say so herself.

She was tenacious.  And thorough.  And willing to do just about damn near anything for a story.  It was something that all of her journalism professors had drilled into her at university, and most of her bosses had valued over the years, even if it hadn’t always been appreciated by others in her life.

It was hard to keep people around when they knew you’d always put your job first.  When you weren’t above using them – your connections – to get a leg up in that job.  When you were…how had Etta put it the last time Ella had spoken to her?  Morally gray.

Lawful neutral, her first boyfriend had once said.  It was one of the reasons Ladybug had stopped trusting Rena Rogue, and it was also the reason that first boyfriend hadn’t been the last.

But Alya was fine with that!  She had made her choices, and she loved her life, and she was a damn good journalist.  She was living her dream, and being a journalist had always been her dream!

Even…even if ‘journalist’ was sometimes a title in debate.

[hyperfixated-fan]

Here is some of those wonderfully nostalgic girly-girl shows in vague order in which I watched/discovered them that no one asked for but I’m giving to you anyways.

1. First up, we’ve got the Horseland

Back in the day, I was a major horse girl (a part of me still is), but this show was so awesome and adorable. It’s just a bunch of gals riding their horses and hanging out at the barn. And their horses and other animals talk amongst themselves. It is all an animal lover like me could want. It’s just so cute and gives sweet life lessons. And occasionally, I found it interesting that they do touch upon some serious topics such as eating disorders and loss. The episode “Mosey” always makes me cry. All the episodes are on YouTube.

Overall, I have to say my favorite character is Alma Rodriguez.

2. LEGO Friends

The first generation of LEGO Friends is nostalgic, but I also seriously love the LEGO Friends: Girls on a Mission. It’s just a bunch of teenage girls getting up to shenanigans and being besties (Oddly, though they are high school age, we barely see them in school XD). I particularly enjoy Girls on a Mission (the episodes are on YouTube) because the episodes were so well put together and it fleshes out each girl a bit more uniquely. It’s a genuinely fun show though I generally am partial to LEGO shows. I am personally not a fan of latest generation of LEGO Friends. I’ve watched a few episodes and it’s just blegh. It might be the nostalgia talking but I just can’t get into it.

My fave character has always been Emma (she’s so adorable) and my fave ship is Emma x Ethan in the Girls on a Mission iteration.

3. Barbie Movies

Not sure if all the movies are pictured above, but there’s a good portion of them. I admit, I haven’t seen all of the Barbie movies (especially the good old classics mainly due to animation that did not age well so sorry) and did not really become a fan until later than most little girls. However, I still find the movies to be very enjoyable and cute. I think a lot of my affinity comes from many familiar Canadian voice actors being in most of the movies and I find it fun trying to pick out familiar voices.

A few of my personal favorite movies are “Princess Charm School” (it’s the first Barbie movie I ever watched with one of my best friends), “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” (so many voices and characters to listen to and try and remember), and “Mariposa” (I am rather partial to the voice of Chiara Zanni and loved her playing Barbie).

4. Ever After High

It is so sad that Ever After High ended after Epic Winter. I really wish we got to see more. I loved the imaginative twist on fairytale characters and the whole “facing your destiny” storyline. The princesses, knights, dragons, and wonderland were all great components as a lover of fantasy. Disney Descendants ain’t got nothing on Ever After. It was a very creative show and it was interesting to see all the characters that would pop up.

A few of my favorite characters are Rosabella Beauty, Ginger Breadhouse, and Lizzie Hearts. Call me basic but I really do like the ship Darabella (obviously the execution of it could’ve been better but I still like it.)

5. Miraculous Ladybug

Simply put, this show is a mess. Miraculous Ladybug barely made the list only because I have fond memories of it. I’m not caught up on any recent events and admittedly quit watching it after season 3 or 4 (I don’t exactly remember). The show had potential and many amazing fanworks, but after a while, the episodes just get repetitive. I still like the earlier seasons before things got too messy. As a lover of side characters, I also wish they fleshed out the side characters a bit more instead of keeping on creating more and more side characters. I still occasionally pop in to see what is going on and apparently Nathalie is dead?! Idk what’s going on and I love looking at spoilers with no context because it makes the show all the more funny.

My fave character list includes Alya Césaire, Nathalie Sancoeur, and Juleka Couffaine and I’m partial to the ship DJWifi.

6. Monster High

Since I was a fan of Ever After High, it was only inevitable that I would eventually become a fan of Monster High. It took a while but I eventually did fall in love with the show. And I fell hard. All the characters are so unique and while I absolutely love all the generation 1 content, I do not completely hate the g3 series. I loved the message of standing out yet belonging at Monster High, freaky flaws and all. The animation is very dated yet endearingly nostalgic at the same time. I love all the different twists on various monster creatures.

My favorite characters list gets pretty extensive, as I love g1 and g3 Abbey Bominable (I always love an ice queen), along with g1/g3 Cleo De Nile (bc she’s your typical mean girl/diva but truly cares for her friends), Robecca Steam (her steampunk aesthetic and little accent are adorable), Deuce Gorgon (a kind yet popular jockish character is rare), Jinafire Long (Chinese dragon is always a win), and Rochelle Goyle (she’s just neat).

Fave ships = Cleuce (CleoxDeuce) and AbbeyxHeath. I just love them okay!

7. Lolirock

I believe I discovered this show coming off of Storm Hawks and Steven Universe so the crystal motif and everything was already an intriguing concept for me (plus familiar Canadian voice actors drew me in). I just love the trio of girls trying to “secretly” protect earth with sparkles and spells while putting up the front of being a girl band (the songs are very catchy by the way if you can get past an ungodly amount of auto tune). The episodes gave me vibes similar to Miraculous Ladybug but somewhat better with less convoluted characters. Overall, it’s a very bright energetic show and I wish they would’ve delved into the backstories of the other princesses a bit more instead of focusing on Iris all the time. Here’s to hoping they eventually do come out with season 3. All the current episodes are on YouTube.

My favorite characters are the sisters Izira and Talia. They have so much power and the show needs to actually do them justice.

8. Mysticons

This one is definitely lesser known than most on this list. I found it shortly after LoliRock since it has similar features and characters. It’s a very simple show with simple characters but I am fond of it still (and I’m pretty sure it made me cry at one point. I don’t remember when but I remember something about it made me emotional). The fantasy magic of the world was definitely a big win for me. I think the creators did a decent job at world building. It’s your typical prophesied heroes must save the world from certain destruction but I found the show overall enjoyable and cute with a nice dose of found family thrown in.

My top favorite characters are Zarya Moonwolf and Emerald Goldenbraid.

9. DC Super Hero Girls

I started out as a G1 fan when it was still coming out and became a fan of the reboot as well. It was interesting to all these wonderful kickbutt superheroes placed in a high school -esque setting. The original series was very average with their shorts but it was such fun to see what characters would pop up to help (I even will tolerate and enjoy the LEGO specials). The reboot had better design and animation. I am sad it didn’t get a chance to run longer. My only qualm was that some characters had such a drastic change from their backstory and original character development that it moved from being whimsical and imaginative to simply keeping the name and having an entirely different character. *cough* Jessica *cough* They don’t get that she was such a powerful Green Lantern because she was bold but because most of the time she was scared out of mind due to her past trauma but still acted and pushed through the fear to save people.

Rant aside, my fave character is Jessica Cruz despite the reboot overhauling her character and erasing her backstory.

10. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Not necessarily my favorite glittery girly series I’ve watched but definitely an enjoyable series. True to my usual form, I unfortunately did not end up caring for most of the main plot and characters. However, the idea of this show was fun nonetheless and it had its nice moments, so I’m glad it got a decent number of seasons. The magic, weaponry, and elemental powers drew me to this show. I wish they delved a bit deeper into the true effects and trauma that fighting a war would have on all of the characters as they are leaders of their respective kingdoms.

My favorite characters include Entrapta (little nerdy characters are almost always a win for me), Mermista (Vella Lovell was perfect for voicing her and her character design is nice), Netossa (another awesome blue character; if anyone’s seen Six: The Musical, does she vaguely remind you of Catherine Parr?)

Bonus: Rainbow High

An interesting premise though it ultimately falls flat for me because I am not a fashion-oriented person in the slightest. However, I still like the show and all the drama that comes with it. I just overall find it hilarious to watch the squabbles that happen because everyone is just so high strung. (Why do all the guy characters literally look the exact same with that same stupid little hairstyle?) XD

Fave characters are Ainsley Slater and Jade Hunter.

Bonus: God’s School

Greek mythology! Need I say more? This is such an imaginative show. It is even more amazing considering one guy does all the animation. The webisodes that are out are great and I definitely recommend watching them on YouTube. Zeus looks like Disney Hercules and I find that hilarious. All the character designs for the gods are so awesome and I love the details that help indicate who they are. Ignore the fact that over half of them are related in some form or another and everything is fine.

Fave definitely has to be Athena! (…bad*** in the arena. Unmatched witty and queen of the best strategies we’ve seen.)

Bonus: Tinkerbell

These are just cute adventures. I wish the series could’ve continued so we could’ve gotten movies highlighting each of the fairies.

My fave is Silvermist.

Bonus: Steven Universe

I personally enjoyed this show and know it had a large fan base so I don’t get why so many people are going back and hating on it so fervently. It’s a flawed show like any but it still has it fine points and I have a soft spot for it. I heavily debated on whether this qualified for a magical girl show but I think it does. It’s nice seeing Steven grow alongside the gems and it’s a good show to put on in the background.

My favorites have to be Garnet and Sapphire.

Honorable mentions that I never fully watched but seem nice:

My Little Pony - I’m disappointed in myself for never getting into this show because it has all the right points for me to like it, including great Canadian voice actors and magic and ponies. I have watched some episodes and enjoyed them but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sit through and binge the entire show.

LEGO Elves - watched some but I never got truly immersed.

Totally Spies! - never really gave it a go but it seems okay.

Winx Club - I tried to like it but the characters just didn’t hit for me.

W.I.T.C.H. - watched the first few episodes but nothing made me want to continue.

[sandrasolos]

"Identity Tags" and You (on AO3)

Archive of Our Own (AO3) has been making some changes to the way fandom tags are organized--so now is a good time to take a look at using the additional tags (also known as freeform tags) in superhero fandoms, and how they can help you find the fics that you want to read, and help the readers who want to find your fics!

We Want That Batman Dick!

Example! In the Batman fandom, certain additional tags (I've been calling these "identity tags") help readers to find fics in which a specific character is the one using a shared identity.

-> "Bruce Wayne Is Batman", "Dick Grayson Is Batman", and "Terry McGinnis Is Batman" are examples of additional tags commonly found in the Batman fandom tag. Bruce, Dick, and Terry are different characters, and each of them has carried the Batman identity.

-> If I search the "Dick Grayson" character tag, then I'll find many different fics in which Dick is acting under many different superhero identities: Batman's sidekick Robin, Nightwing, Batman.

-> By searching for the "Dick Grayson Is Batman" in the additional tags, I could specifically find fics in which Dick Grayson is Batman across many separated yet related fandom tags. -> Some of these fandoms include: "Batman (Comics)", "Batman: Streets of Gotham (Comics)", "Batman Incorporated (Comics)", "Batman and the Outsiders (Comics)", "Batman: Death in the Family (Movie 2020)", "Batman: The Brave and the Bold". <- How nice! One tag can help me find fics scattered across different fandom tags! This is especially helpful because many of these separated comics fandoms actually star the exact same version of Dick Grayson as Batman.

-> Most fans do not bother using the "Bruce Wayne Is Batman" additional tag because Bruce Wayne is almost always Batman (although fans could use that tag more regularly if they want to). Most fans already expect Bruce Wayne to be the one with the Batman role in the overwhelming amount of canon and fandom so far, and they currently use the tags with that in mind.

-> It wouldn't necessarily be helpful to break up an entire fandom tag every time a superhero identity changes hands. For example, we don't need to split "Batman (Comics)" fandom tag into a separated "Batman (Bruce Wayne Comics)" fandom tag and a separated "Batman (Dick Grayson Comics)" fandom tag. The comic stories in which Dick was Batman were the continuation of the same series in which Bruce Wayne was Batman. Both comic eras were part of the same story, so there is no need for separate fandom tags. -> In fact! If we pretended these different eras in one story were instead separate stories with separate fandoms, then that would likely cause more confusion and difficulty in properly organizing fics.

Tags often also help to orient readers to a certain canon era or status quo.

"Dick Grayson Is Robin", "Dick Grayson Is Discowing", "Dick Grayson Is Nightwing", "Police Officer Dick Grayson", "Dick Grayson Is Renegade", and "Dick Grayson Is Batman" are all associated with different phases in Dick Grayson's life.

When we see a fic with one of these tags, we have some idea of the fic's likely time period and context. Of course, the summary as well as other tags like "Canon Compliant" or "Canon Divergence AU" will give us a better idea of the lovely fic we're getting ourselves into.

More examples of additional tags:

"Barbara Gordon Is Batgirl", "Cassandra Cain Is Batgirl", "Stephanie Brown Is Batgirl", "Reader is Batgirl (DCU)"

"The Doctor (Doctor Who)" has been "Second Doctor (Doctor Who)", "Third Doctor (Doctor Who)", "Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who)", "Thirteenth Doctor (Doctor Who)"

"Kid Peter Parker", "Pre-Spider Bite Peter Parker", "Teen Peter Parker", "Adult Peter Parker", "Divorced Peter Parker"

"Jon Snow is a Targaryen", "Jon Snow is Not a Targaryen", "Jon Snow is Lord Commander of the Night's Watch", "Jon Snow is King in the North"

"Alya Césaire as Rena Rouge", " Alya Césaire as Scarabella", "Alya Césaire as Rena Furtive", "Kittybella | Alya Césaire as Scarabella/Zoé Lee as Kitty Noire"

⭐ "Steve Rogers as Captain America (Marvel)", "Sam Wilson as Captain America (Marvel)", "Bucky Barnes as Captain America (Marvel)", "Steve Rogers is Not Captain America", "Pre-Serum Steve Rogers"

MCU Captain America fandom

Over in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain America fandom, fans have been discussing how to separate fics about Captain America (Steve Rogers, played by actor Chris Evans) and fics about Captain America (Sam Wilson, played by actor Anthony Mackie). The tag-wrangling team at AO3 has announced the change of the "Captain America (Movies)" tag into the "Captain America (Chris Evans Movies)", separated from a new tag for "Captain America (Anthony Mackie Movies)".

Sam Wilson's upcoming Captain America movie is the continuation of the same Captain America series led by Steve Rogers. Sam and Steve are separate characters, but they are part of the same story in a single continuity of movies. Sam Wilson has been a major character starring in the second and third Captain America movies, and Sam was ultimately the one entrusted with his friend's Captain America mantle in Avengers: Endgame back in 2019. Sam Wilson is now the protagonist of this movie series, but his story began back in the second MCU Captain America movie.

In this situation, rather than splitting the fandom tag into "Captain America (Chris Evans Movies)" and "Captain America (Anthony Mackie Movies)", it seems like a better idea to use the character tags and the additional tags to separate the different Captains America. There are already over 1,000 fics in the tag "Sam Wilson as Captain America (Marvel)"!

Splitting the fandom tag seems like treating one movie series as two different series, instead of what this series actually is: the same series in which a major character has progressed to the role of protagonist. The team at @end-otw-racism has put out a statement representing the fans concerned that Sam Wilson, a Black character, is being excluded from the decade-long story of his own journey.

As far as I can tell, DC Comics media and DC fandom has more familiarity with legacy mantles and sidekick graduations, whereas it seems Marvel fandom historically has less experience with legacies and sidekicks. There is already some use of AO3 tags for Kate Bishop as Hawkeye and Miles Morales as Spider-Man, and there is no time like the present to talk more about tag organizing solutions in fandoms for Wolverine, Venom, Iron Fist, Nova, and Ghost Rider.