#except for nino definitely thinks about this all the time

[generalluxun]

Sort of random musingbased on an ask I sent ages back about Ladybug!Nino & Black Cat!Chloe but...

OK so i think their dynamic would be kind of an interesting but familiar spin on the canonical dynamic of Ladybug & Chat, hear me out.

On a default level, Chloe does the fighting, while Nino observes and tries to puzzle out the lucky charm.

Similarly, I imagine when first going out Nino was nervous as hell about fucking up, frightened of the danger and all too aware of the burden on his shoulders. Meanwhile Chloe was more "Yes, excitement, action, a chance to show I am exceptional, direct and simple problem solving!"

But this is also where the contrasts come in.

Rather than being directly encouraging, Chloe more just kind f goes in swinging on her own and Nino may even think like "OK she seems confident, she can handle this."

But then Chloe's more destructive side causes an issue cos she like, let's say only managed to erase Ivan's arm, not the Akuma, or Ivan all together, so now she's on a timer.

Thus establishing their early issues to overcome, Chloe her recklessness with her powers and Nino his fear of taking action.

Beyond that, as said I think there'd be similarities to canon.

We know Nino can be a bit "This is my vision" about things but Chloe's not going to be as "Game for anything milady" as Chat is. Plus Nino's "Vision" is a bit more... Flexible than Marinette's, different types of artists after all, while Chloe has a more demanding and commanding presence that cannot be ignored.

In this regard I imagine them finding some degree of balance and a way to cooperate would be the lynch-pin for their first major arcs so to speak with their early ventures being rather haphazard and chaotic.

Aye that reads as a good summary of their dynamic to me. There's definitely a different LoveSquare Vibe all around though. They wouldn't have the will they/won't they nonsense.

Cat!Chloé flirts not because she's in love, but because he's cute and flirting is an expression of power.

Bug!Nino isn't resistant due to a hopeless crush, but because he can never tell if she's sincere or not(she doesn't even know) and she's a bit scary.

Civilian side they butt heads somewhat, both being friends with one side of the adrienette mess(yes it is still a mess!) They do each want what is best for their own half of that ship, but blame the other half for it failing to sail. 🤣

Nino is more outreach in this side, and Chloé overprotective of Adrien. Nino parses her fear of losing/protectiveness and tries to integrate her into the larger friend group, and in doing so develops a soft spot for her ad he peels back layers.

Chloé is more avoidance because emotional sincerity is terrifying. Classism is still in full effect but it is very obviously a sword-shaped-shield this time.

Alya and Sabrina collab to work on these two which gives us the amusing(and unique?) double-layered 'two people working together to get two people together who are working to get two people together'

That's gotta be some romcom gold.

[maspers]

Ranking the Miracucast by how willing they are to attempt bingewatching the entirety of One Piece in one sitting.

(Disclaimer do not actually attempt this unless you have zero regard for your health)

Marinette: She wanted to when she heard Adrien was going to be there. So she's willing. But she just doesn't have the TIME. Between school and heroics and helping out at the shop and commissions and literally everything else ever, watching One Piece in one go doesn't have a chance of ever happening. 3/10

Alya: She and Nino are the ones who set up the bingewatch party, but a reporter's work is never done so she just kind of has it on in the background while she works on her latest post. It's on continuously, but she's definitely not there for all of it. 5/10

Adrien: Yes. 10/10

Nino: See Alya, except he actually tries to watch it because he wants to ensure all his friends are having a good time. Of course, the group lasted about a day before they gave up, but the attempt was there. 6/10

Chloe: Two options: she thinks the whole idea is ridiculous and isn't watching (0/10) OR she thinks the whole idea is ridiculous but also wanted to join Adrien. She makes the mistake of watching a few episodes and now she's INVESTED (8/10). Could go either way. 4/10 on average.

Sabrina: This girl watches so much anime in her downtime. Look at her. You know it's true. She would never tell Chloe, but after the great Boss/Minion Breakup of Season 5 Sabrina has all the time in the world and she is using it to watch One Piece. 8/10

Mylene: Thinks the show is charming but not all that interesting to her. But can bingewatch it with Ivan and cuddle up against his giant teddy bear body while basically ignoring the show and that's fine with her. 4/10

Ivan, Rose, Juleka, and Luka: Kitty Section as a whole loves this show to bits and when they all realized they had a two-week vacation they knew what they would be doing. Anarka basically had to host a One Piece summer camp on the Liberty for the six of them (including Adrien as part of the band, and Mylene as Ivan's +1), and they slept in shifts to ensure that they didn't have to stop the show. It was a whole fiasco. They will never do anything like this ever again. They returned to school tired and sore and in agonizing pain. Luka's hands are in excruciating pain because he just HAD to play along with the sheer emotion of the show, Ivan accidentally passed out and crushed his desk, and Adrien's modeling shoots had to be postponed until he could fix his posture after sitting so long. Even Juleka looked tired, and she never looks tired. Mylene was fine because she basically slept though most of it, but Rose is somehow still bursting with energy. "We should do that again sometime! That was really fun!" Cue a chorus of groans. 11/10

Kim: I'm not sure if Kim knows what anime is. Like, I want to say he knows, but at the same time, does he really? I genuinely have no clue. Can someone please help me here? The mind of Kim is a mind I don't think anyone can truly decipher. ?/10

Max: He has done the math. He knows how long it would take. He's not suicidal. But he does like the show, and will make token appearances at his friends' watch parties. 2/10

Alix: Sorry Alix, this is not a situation you can cheat your way through using time travel. No, Alix, having each episode open on a different viewing port playing simultaneously does not count. No points for you. -Alix/10

Nathaniel: Tried to get Marc to do it. Marc thankfully talked him out of it. Nath still dreams of doing it one day. 4/10, potential to eventually reach 9/10 if he can wear Marc down.

Lila: Says she's done it. But the entirety of Kitty Section knows she's lying. That kind of thing leaves a mark on people. 0/10

Kagami: Adrien told her where he learned most of his Japanese vocabulary from and she just facepalmed. And then sat down to watch it with him. She'd definitely not watching all of it, but she'll enjoy some in her free time? 5/10

Marc: He can see the hunger in Nathaniel's eyes. He can feel it emanating. The One Piece fan in Nath wants to come out and stay out. Marc will not let it. He will hold the line. He will never give up, never surrender. But he can feel the power, clawing at his brain. The secret feelings, deep down. "Don't you want to see if you COULD do it?" He shoves those thoughts deeper. Nathaniel can never know. Must never know. Because then the battle will be lost. 1/10

Ondine: Actually knows what anime is, and probably has the physical fortitude to make it through a One Piece marathon with minimal physical backlash. Unfortunately her actually doing that would be dependent on Kim (see above) so I hope you understand why this ranking isn't a certain as I would like. 7/10

Aurore: Not on your life. 0/10

Felix: He would never marathon the whole thing himself, but he did provide Adrien and the rest of Kitty Section with their sleep schedule for their marathon. 2/10

Zoe: She has dreamed of marathoning an anime her entire life, and now she has friends to marathon anime with! But she's not doing One Piece. That would be an absolute nightmare, only insane people try to marathon all of One Piece. Instead she has Plans. One Piece is cool tho. 4/10

[glorifiedpigeon]

Mako Island except they're french now—

I actually did think about this au a little bit! While Marinette has the ability to manipulate water into shapes and things, Alya has the power to boil water and Kagami has the power to freeze water. They're not based off the original H2O girls themselves, but I thought the powers fit their vibes pretty well.

I imagine Marinette just wants to forget about all the mermaid stuff. It's stressful! Ya girl just wants to design clothes and help her parents bake! She doesn't want to have to worry about this big mermaid secret, or like the government coming after her, or people experimenting on her! That's a lot!

Kagami loves her new tail. Screw you Mom, I'm gonna go swim in the ocean and abandon my land life, except for the parts where I wanna spend time with my land friends. Of course living underwater indefinitely is... well, there's a lot to figure out and Kagami isn't sure she's down for that. But at least swimming is an easy get away!

Alya is obsessed with the way the mer stuff works. She does a lot of experimenting with her powers, testing the limits. After the first full moon, she also does a lot of limit testing for that too, trying to see what all she can still manage to do on the night of the full moon.

The first person to find out about their tails is definitely Nino, and Marinette freaks out about it and makes him swear to silence. Nino ends up using them to get cool underwater footage for him with his underwater camera, since they can dive longer than he can. He also helps Alya experiment with her powers and keeps notes for her. He keeps suggesting they bring more friends in on the secret but Marinette keeps panicking about it and Kagami insists no one can know about her secret escape from her mom's pressure.

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episode 3-21: The Puppeteer 2

Alright, this is a big episode! Maker-breaker! Do Alya and Nino care more about eachother than babysitting kids? Should Marinette date Adrien (definitely not, but I know damn well the statue scene is here.)

Oh my god! Pianist Plagg returns!

Alright, so Adrien tries to bring his best friend Nino to the wax museum with him, but Nino is currently on a date with Alya and so he has to bring his girlfriend along (must be a while after the Party Crasher incident. Alya didn't talk to him for a week!) and then Alya decides to bring Marinette along for the sake getting her and Adrien together (although she didn't want to, that's kinda rude.)

No. Please no. Marinette just babysit Manon. Say no. Be strong. Be resilient. Imagine it like if you go there Adrien will end up marrying Chloe.

Also Natalie's so understanding and lets all Adrien's friends and Manon come along! Points for her!

Thank you, Manon. Your innocence and bluntness will save this world from the calamity that is the Love Square.

Oh god. The spades thing was a good lie. She's getting better at this and I think Adrien's buying it. Bimbo.

The Adrien stalkers have gotten to the point of stealing his parts at the wax museum. At least it was just his arms. I could think of a lot worse parts to steal.

Ah yes, the wax museum. Where character models can be reused and not have to move!

The rewind was a nice transition, I'll admit.

Well, at least Alya's giving Marinette the choice.

Thanks for keeping Adrien company, Plagg. Even when Alya and Nino kinda ditch Marinette like that and Marinette panics, you're here for him.

Adrien cares so much about his friendship with Marinette. I love him.

Goddamn idiot teenagers forgetting about Manon.

So that was the statue scene. Marinette keeps on touching the fucking art. That's not allowed in museums. You'll smudge up the art. Except this time it was Adrien posing as a statue. Just more proof Marinette may not be the worst of the Adrien stalkers, but she's still an Adrien stalker.

They really didn't hesitate in that wax boss rush. Swag.

It feels like these resolutions are too short. Or maybe not. Iuno.

Honestly I won't just take Lukanette at this point. I'm fine with Kagaminette too. It'll take a lot of work and character development, but it'll be worth it if we get Lukadrien. Whatever. I would've preferred if this show was Miraculous: Tales of Crimson Experience and Nekokage. Or Miraculous: Tales of Tentomushi and whatever Luka's Black Cat name would be. Or just keep Chat Noir. I'm just tired of Marinette's shit. Maybe if she got consequences for her actions or something I'd be happy.

[lostloveletters]

hiya battie! for sleepover weekend...anything you've listened to or watched or read lately that you'd recommend? — @shoshiwrites

Hi Shoshi! I definitely have movie recommendations, I watched a lot over the last month or so!

Wings (1966) I know I just mentioned this one to you, but for anyone else, I highly recommend watching in the wake of MotA. It's on Criterion Channel!

Mystic Pizza (1988) I'm not typically a fan of rom-coms, but this one was fun (except Kat's storyline, which was pretty sad)

Gun Crazy (1950) One of my all time favorite film noirs! I can't recommend it enough🖤

Late Night with the Devil (2023) Pretty good horror movie with cool 70s aesthetics!

Rocco and His Brothers (1960) Definitely a time commitment since it's about 3-hours long, but an incredibly devastating family drama! I remember the first time I watched it thinking "This reminds me of The Godfather..." and then reading that it did influence Francis Ford Coppola in making the first movie (Nino Rota did the scores for both films, which is why they even sound similar)

🦇 Battie

[yuseirra]

**Onk spoilers**

Ah, I saw 160 in full....;; HAHAH omg I got spoiled haha sooo, Vagueposting? a bit here.

It's a very interesting chapter, and I'm pretty content upon seeing how it is.

But I'm really, really confused on where this is going to head, this particular one is definitely the one that has me shook, either this, or all the depiction in the entire movie arc is wrong. On that regard, I feel there is higher chance that the previous chapters are right and Kamiki's being a really, really good actor right here. It's about time we see him being a genius liar and an actor that's taught Ai all about acting.

If that isn't it, then I'd have to know just what is this guy's motive. If what he's doing in 160 is an act, he's making it seem so convincing. He does look very evil, but I have no idea just why he would do all this if what Aqua accuses him's all true. For what reason would he be doing what Aqua says he's done? That's never explained, so we're stuck and we STILL have to wait.

I really don't think his past were all lies... And I don't think 154 would have been a lie either. But I can accept it if the story somehow makes sense out of it, I WOULDN'T like it, and my ship will totally flop, and I don't think the story would have a better message like this, but if they do a good job with the story and make a good development SOMEHOW, then sure. I'm not sure how that can happen, but if they can.. Then I can live with it, but I would like it better if this is all an act.

My guess is that Kamiki's lying out of love the way Ai's done, trying to make it seem like he's a monster beyond redemption but it does make it SO confusing. Because he's not the one doing most of the talk, Aqua is. So it's really hard to make out what this guy's feeling. His expressions do not change as much except for one really...strong panel he gets and that does look pretty powerful. Is he trying to make himself seem like the bad guy or is this really his true colors? If it's the latter, then just what was him in 154? 154 is not the lie. That's... Just a hunch I have.

But no worries, no matter what happens, I think Ai will get what she wants. She's the one that'd have all her wishes come true! So Ai will be fine, I really wonder just what they will do with Hikaru. If what Ai's wanted for him still stands(he's really scary in this chapter) then he may be saved.

Is what's been claimed real though? How DOES Aqua know what's happened? Is that an imagination of his, or what's REALLY that's been taken place? This is so weird...I mean, the chapter itself looks good, but I'm not sure where all this is coming from. I'm really not sure whether to believe this entire chapter or not. I need like 4 more to decide what's right and what's false, and I don't think 154 is one that can be overruled no matter what in terms of the entirety of the message of onk as a whole(that's just my take) sooo,

Very interesting. So confusing as well. Episode Aigis came by at just the perfect timing. I'm going to consider my thoughts a bit and watch from afar...

But I think I can still indulge drawing cute hikaai stuff till things clear up for the best. If what's discussed in this chapter is true, then he IS irredeemable, (and everything I drew could be way off, sure, I can take that) but I feel like that's just what kamiki wants to appear as anyway. Aqua'd be playing into his hands since Kamiki wants to die in Ai's place if what I've speculated about him's true.

One more thing I want to say: no matter what the heck Kamiki did(or not), Ryosuke and Nino are irredeemable freaks, I don't want to see any of what they've done be justified in this piece of work. That is not the way to go...and I'm sure the author would feel so too. Please don't make them look like the victims?? It's so wrong!;

[grace-below]

Okay, here me out:

Miraculous, but everyone’s allowed to swear. As much as they want and whenever they want.

Every other word Alya says is “fuck”, except when she’s reporting. She keeps the swearing to a minimum when she’s live. Nino might swear on occasion, but only if he has a really good reason. Chloe never swears, except in front of Sabrina, and Sabrina only swears when she’s NOT around Chloe. Luka’s never sworn, except one time when he got REALLY mad about something that he was very rightfully mad about, and afterwards he probably apologized to whoever it as aimed at- unless they still deserved it.

Marinette would only swear as Ladybug, and only when Chat is the only one there. Not in public, definitely not in front of any reporters. But Chat knows when it’s coming, and he’s learned to steer her away from the public when it seems like she needs a good screaming session.

And Chat Noir/Adrien?? This boy will go as FAR out of his way as he needs to NEVER swear. He’s the “what the friddly frack tic tac was that” kind of guy. It could be such an easy reveal scenario- Ladybug is used to turning around and reminding him that he can just swear, and she does it all the time. So one day, when Adrien’s talking to Marinette, and my boy comes out with another abstract way to get around swearing.

And poor, tired Marinette hasn’t slept in three days and isn’t thinking, and she doesn’t even look up from her phone when she says

“Just say fuck, Chat”

And everyone just FREEZES.

Just. Miraculous but with swearing. There are so many possibilities.

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

And if this world won't write me an ending

How can I write love into reality?

(read tags for tws)

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up, and she was a normal girl, with a normal life.

She got ready like every other normal girl. She would tumble out of bed, eat a banana, brush her teeth, do her homework minutes before she had to leave for class, do her hair…

She hummed to herself as she brushed her hair, forcing it into her signature pigtails, tying little ribbons around them and smiling at the way the bows bounced, at the way they stuck up like miniature antennae.

She turned her head to the side, her mouth opening, ready to ask for another opinion…

But there was no one there.

Of course there was no one there. Why would there be someone in her room?

She shook her head to herself, frowning, feeling lonely for a reason she couldn’t quite place.

Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out, expecting a text, and a tiny gasp left her when she realized that it was her alarm going off.

She yelped and started scooping everything from her desk into her backpack, not even bothering to try and keep the papers unwrinkled, and rushed out the door, zipping it closed as she went.

She was late, of course, how could you expect anything different? She was always late, she always seemed to get caught up doing other things. Or, at least, that was what she claimed, terrible excuses spilling out of her mouth with reckless abandon so she wouldn’t have to admit the truth. Not because it was bad, just embarassing. In reality, she often found that time slipped by her for no reason at all. Sometimes, she wondered just how long she could go on, sitting and doing nothing, letting time pass her by.

The doorknob to the classroom clicked, and she was jolted back into her body at the unexpected sound. The door was new, or at least it was supposed to be, it had been destroyed recently, though she couldn’t exactly remember how. It shouldn’t have clicked – never had before – and she took this as a sign to pay more attention to her surroundings.

What was she thinking?

She shook her head to herself. There she went again, always thinking about something else.

She slipped into the class, sending her teacher a halfhearted excuse about her alarm that was only met with an exasperated smile, and then headed to her seat. She sent Nino a wave, and he glanced up from where he was totally not playing on his phone in the back of the class briefly to send her a smile.

She took her usual spot by Alya, and pulled out her things. Her eyes flicked to see what page of the textbook they were on, and it didn’t take long before she was dragged into the monotony of a normal school day.

Her fingers tugged on her earlobe as she listened to her teacher explain Shakespeare book #61255, playing with the place where she had had her ears pierced as a toddler, wondering why she was bothered by the fact that she hadn’t opted to wear any earrings that morning.

A boy with blue hair made his way into the room, and she swore for a moment that her heart might just beat out of her chest.

She had been dating Luka for ages now, but he still gave her butterflies.

How could he not, when he smiled at her so dopily? When he took the time to give her a quick kiss before taking his usual seat in front of her? When he made bunny ears behind his sister’s head just to make Marinette smile?

Of course, he could definitely try putting in the effort to get to school on time, but she didn’t mind. She, of all people, could not judge him.

Not for that, at least.

She watched him, a smile playing across her lips. He was much more interesting than her literature lecture. She rested her head in her hand.

Alya punched her in the shoulder, and Marinette looked over to see her making a gagging gesture.

Marinette snorted. “It’s payback.”

Alya grinned. “Oh, yeah? For what?”

… for what?

Marinette looked at the seat in front of Alya for a second. It was just Juleka.

As always.

Except… Juleka hated sitting up front. Almost as much as Nino did.

Why was she sitting there? Because of Luka? Luka could have been convinced to sit in the back, he shouldn’t have cared…

She was starting to feel a little sick.

“For being evil, of course,” Marinette decided.

Alya laughed a little, rolling her eyes with a fond smile tugging at her lips. “You need to work on your comebacks.”

She searched through her pencil bag, in search of that singular red pen that she had to use for corrections, only to pause. Because it had a strange set of lines written into the inside of the canvas. And that, on its own, didn’t mean much. If you leave pencils in your pencil bag, it is pretty much inevitable that you will get some marks on it… but these lines were too dark, too deliberate.

They spelled something:

WRONG.

A minute shiver ran through her.

It was undeniably her own handwriting, though it looked rushed, frantic. Like that time she had realized ten minutes before class had started that an essay was due and had spent the next several minutes frantically scribbling down anything she could think of. But why would she have done this?

Why was that in her pencil bag? Had she gotten too sleep-deprived one day and, in a fit of rage over getting a bad score on something, scratched it in there? She didn’t think she would do that, but what other explanation was there?

What was wrong?

She could agree that something was off. She had felt strange all morning. But what was it?

A hand wrapped itself around her wrist in a vice grip, and she suddenly became all too aware of Luka’s face, so close to her own. He was her boyfriend – was he? since when? – she should be happy about this, but she couldn’t bring herself to be anything but utterly terrified. Her stomach twisted, bile rising in her throat.

Blue eyes were just a smidge too sharp as he stared at the word. His gaze cut to hers, and for just a second she realized that his face looked wrong. That his eyes were pupilless, yellow things, and if she really concentrated she could see two tiny clocks dancing in the irises, ticking down time she didn’t have.

“I have to give it to you, Marinette,” Luka said, his lips curling into a wry little smile that made her feel like ants were crawling up the back of her shirt. “You really are… smart.”

She tried to pull away from him, but his hand held tight.

She screamed, but no one seemed to hear, and she was left to try and wrestle away from him. But her body didn’t feel like her own, and she felt weaker than normal, and everything was wrong, and she knew, somewhere, somehow, that it was all for naught, anyway.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up, and she was a normal girl, with a normal life.

She got ready like every other normal girl. She would tumble out of bed, eat a banana, brush her teeth, do her homework minutes before she had to leave for class, do her hair…

She tilted her head this way and that in the mirror, looking for a hair out of place. She couldn’t see the back of her head, so she wasn’t sure how that looked, but the back of her head was the epitome of ‘out of sight out of mind’ in her not-so-humble opinion.

She nodded once to herself, deeming herself ready for the day.

And then glossy lips pulled into a frown.

When had she put on her clothes?

She squinted down at her usual outfit. She swore she hadn’t yet changed, she certainly wouldn’t fall asleep in jeans no matter how tired she was, she should not be in her clothes yet.

She… must have forgotten. Done it without thinking, as one normally does with things you do habitually. Like putting on clothes.

Except, Marinette put a lot of thought into her outfits. She was a future fashion designer, of course she put time and effort into looking good. It only made sense.

This… didn’t.

She ran a hand through her hair, pushing her bangs up and out of her eyes.

And then she headed to school. The traffic she sprinted past wasn’t quite as congested as it usually was. Despite all of the slowed cars, she didn’t spot a single wreck to cause them. The tardy bell didn’t sound quite as needlessly loud and annoying as she rushed to class. The doorknob clicked more than it was supposed to when she finally managed to fumble her way into turning it, her sweaty hands sliding right off. Nino was in the back, and Juleka was in the front.

Everything was wrong. Just ever so slightly off.

She wanted to go home, but even her home wasn’t safe, because her parents hadn’t been behind the counter, serving customers, when she’d left. Instead, they were having a ‘lazy day’, the sign in the bakery window declaring them ‘closed’. Not a single person paid the sign any mind, nor were any of the other bakeries in the surrounding area more full than usual.

Her hands gripped her hair, pulling, almost tearing it out at the roots. Alya was trying to talk to her, asking what was wrong in that concerned tone she always used, but was this actually Alya? Everything else was wrong, why should she believe any of it was real? Maybe this was just more of an accurate ruse than everything else.

The door opened, and Luka strolled in, heading towards his – it wasn’t his – seat.

Their eyes locked.

Her heart thudded in her chest, beating against the bars of her ribcage, as if trying to escape.

Luka tipped his head back in a groan.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up and she was a normal girl, with a normal life.

One who smiled when she saw that a contact in her phone, labeled ‘bf<3’, had sent her a good morning text.

Only to find that the text didn’t have the usual paw print beside the words.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up.

And.

She.

Was.

A.

Normal.

Girl.

With.

A.

Normal.

Life.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up and hissed out a curse when she saw her alarm hadn’t gone off. She glanced out the window to check the time.

There was nothing to see out the window. Just a pure white expanse.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up and laid there, not wanting to get up, dread unlike any she had ever felt before clinging to her, dragging her back into her too-plush bed. She didn’t know why she felt this way, but she did, and she wanted it gone.

What she wanted didn’t matter.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

And she woke up.

She always woke up.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up and she was a normal girl with a normal life. Her head was buried in her arms, trying to ward off the hot sun and the even more scalding metal of the table she was leaning against. If she wasn’t careful burns would form even through her long sleeves.

Not that this was the biggest of her problems.

Her problem was –.

A finger poking her shoulder relentlessly. She lifted her head just enough to glower at the offender.

It was Alya, grinning widely at her. “Hey, sleeping beauty, we were gone for ten minutes.”

We? Marinette thought, her mind sluggish thanks to a bone-deep exhaustion that was less than normal, looking around to find Nino and… Luka?

No. It shouldn’t have been Luka. Who was it supposed to be?

Who was he replacing?

Either way, he was – he was wrong, and dangerous, and she needed to run.

The world whirled out of color before she had even gotten out of her chair. The last thing she saw was his frustrated expression.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up to something touching her cheek.

She peeked an eye open and found Luka standing over her, offering a bowl. She rolled her eyes just slightly at the offered food, taking the silverware. She shouldn’t be handling the hot plate with her bare hands, but it wasn’t like it mattered.

Because she was a baker’s daughter, and her hands were already hopelessly covered in callouses. A few more wouldn’t hurt her… or, well, they would, but she didn’t care enough to prevent this.

And the burns would be gone by the next reset, anyway.

She pulled it into her lap and smiled when he took a seat beside her with his own meal. If it could even be called that.

“Oh, wow, thanks for the gourmet meal,” she joked, twirling the ramen around her fork.

She hadn’t eaten in so long. Even this looked like heaven.

She didn’t need to eat at all.

He took a seat beside her, chuckling lightly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and dragging her into his side.

She sunk her knife into his eye.

Her last thought before his soft expression fell away, disappearing with the rest of the world, was wondering why he had even given her the stupid knife in the first place.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up and –.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette was –.

What was Marinette again?

【H】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

【L】⩇:⩇⩇【P】

【M】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

Did it really matter if she woke up again?

She would always wake up again.

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

“Why?” Luka hissed, his fingers digging into her shirt, his nose so close to her own that she could feel his breath wash over her face. Despite the fact that he was practically panting in his rage, it was cold. “Why do you insist on making things difficult?”

She thought it over for a long moment.

And then she spat on his face.

“Spite.”

He lifted a hand to rub it away, scowling.

“We can keep doing this forever, you know. No one is coming to save you – they couldn’t even if they tried. Everything you do, every breath you take, that all belongs to me, and I can take it away.”

“Do it, then,” she said, and she couldn’t help the way her voice cracked just slightly when she said it. Not because she was scared, but because she was only a step above begging. “Just… kill me, if it’s so difficult.”

He set his jaw.

And then he sighed, his forehead coming to rest against hers.

“I just want us to be together. And happy. Don’t you want to be happy?”

“I… I want to go home. That will make me happy.”

He closed his eyes, and he looked much more human like this. With the clocks in his irises hidden by long lashes.

It didn’t last long. He opened them again, a steely look on his face.

“We will be happy, I promise.”

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

【H】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

【L】⩇:⩇⩇【P】

【H】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

【L】⩇:⩇⩇【P】

【H】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

【L】⩇:⩇⩇【P】

【H】⩇:⩇⩇【E】

【L】HELP【P】

【H】HELP【E】

【L】HELP【P】

【H】HELP【E】

【L】HELP【P】

【H】HELP【E】

【L】HELP【P】

【H】HELP【E】

【L】HELP【P】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【HELP】HELP【HELP】

【PLEASE】PLEASE【PLEASE】

【┘】⩇:⩇⩇【┘】

Marinette woke up, and she was a normal girl, with a normal life.

Well, she wasn’t, but there was no point in saying otherwise, anyway.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 34 – Defekt by Nino Cipri

This is the second book of Cipri’s I’ve read, and I enjoyed it significantly more than Finna. Which still isn’t falling in love with it, if I’m being honest, but I’m not at all annoyed I read this one. The overall impression is kind of like watching the kind of rough pilot to an indescribably cheesy by fun adventure serial? Up to you how harsh a discretion that seems.

The story shares a setting with Finna – as in, it’s set literally in the same story, less than a week after. It follows Derek, a special exempt employee of the suspiciously Ikea-like retail megacorp who started a few weeks before, lives in a shipping crate behind the store’s loading dock, and has no memory of ever leaving store property. After he calls in and takes his very first sick day (a coworker saw him basically collapse while assembling furniture and browbeat him into it), his extremely disappointed manager has him come in late to help the outside team with a ‘special inventory’. The outside turns out to be, well, alternate universe versions of him – variations on the same mould, all mass produced in some of the controlled alternate realities the company’s insourced its production and logistics hubs too. The ‘special inventory’ likewise turns out to be a bug hunt, hunting down and killing all the products that have mutated or come alive due to glitches in their production before they have a chance to escape or damage company property.

The plot goes more or less how you’d expect – the alternate Derek’s are a queer and quirky band of likeable misfits (one might even say a found family!), except for their leader who is a monster convinced that if he’s enough of an abusive hardass to the others corporate will see ow valuable he is. The Defekta turn out to be basically benevolent, and Derek turns out to be defective himself, with literal magic empathy and enhanced senses and an involuntary sort of broadcast telekinesis when he’s dealing with strong emotions (which sounds like literal actual hell to me, for the record).In the end the shitty direct supervisor is trapped in an alternate reality, and everyone else unionizes and holds the store hostage until the company caves to their desired reforms Happy ending for everyone!

I’m not sure if it’s intentional or just an artifact of how Cirpri came up with the idea, but the whole ‘taking place literal days after the last book’ thing very much does make it seem like either this one Midwestern store in particular or possibly the company as a whole is like 90% of the way there to spiralling into a complete metaphysical collapse and possible destroying the world. The one scene with Jules at the start of the book also honestly made me like her more than the entire previous book where she was literally the second most important character and on like every other page.

I do think the kind of absurdist corporate horror setting worked better in this book than the prequel, if only because it was a bit more restrained and picked the one aesthetic/setting to actually develop a bit. Having a little bit more edge helped too. Reagan as the polished-until-she’s-glass always upbeat and friendly corporate upper management definitely worked as a more sinister and threatening figure than absolutely anyone in Finna, at least. I do still think the corporate jargon was like 20% too over the top and obvious to really work as satire or horror and just, well, not really funny enough to work as comedy. But that’s probably just a matter of taste

Speaking of funny – I’m not sure whether the megacorp in this is transparently specifically Ikea instead of something more generic (or, like, Wallmart) – Cipri spent some shitty years working at one, maybe. But given literally everything else about the book’s politics, it is kind of surprising how many times the books go back to the ‘look, this thing’s name is a funny-looking foreign word!’ well for humour. Or, well, ‘humour’.

Derek’s whole character arc from enthusiastically brainwashed retail drone to radicalized monster-whisperer was perhaps a bit abrupt, but it worked for me overall. The rest of the inventory team were all pretty much just archtypes with character designs attached, all basically being exactly what you would expect – the only real ‘reveal’ is that Dirk the supervisor isn’t the longsuffering professional leader trying to wrangle the rest of them and get the job done, he’s just an abusive piece of shit the rest of them actively fantasize about murdering – but none of them are, like, offensive.

The themes are, look, they’re really on the nose. There’s no way around it. Derek is so repressed and out of touch with/incapable of expressing his real emotions that his throat splits open and grows a second mouth that starts psychically broadcasting them. There are multiple conversations where people just explain their characters. There’s an interstitial bit of corporate propaganda between chapters about the risks of employees being radicalized by alternate universes into union organizers shortly before the main characters force the company to give them better treatment by sitting down and threatening to hold the store hostage the night before a big product release. And so on.

Still, I honestly enjoyed the read? Very possible my expectations were just lowered enough enough by the first one that I could just take this as it was, honestly, but still. Largely insubstantial popcorn, but not popcorn I regretted spending a few hours on.

[mlb-a-rewrite]

Miraculous Ladybug: A Rewrite; Episode 2

The Mime

Synopsis: After school, Kim, Chloe, Adrien and their posse go out shopping and walk by a street performer who is miming, something not very common in France anymore. They (except Adrien because he’s a good boy) decide to mess with the mime, mocking him and kicking his donation box, and thus, The Mime is made, determined to terrorize all those who mock him and other street performers.

Villain: The Mime

Bowler Hat

He can mime invisible objects into existence

Conflict: Defeating the Mime + Adrien has to confront the fact that Chloe is a bad person, ultimately resulting in him ditching her to spend the day with Nino, Alya, and Marinette.

Key Events/Scenes:

Adrien discovers his Hex ability, hexing Kim or Chloe by accident causing them to like, trip into a trash can or something later.

Notes:

Chat Noir is more assertive in this episode, arriving on the scene first and initiating the fight. He is still a bit timid, not speaking much are LB (definitely not flirting/bantering with her) but he is much more confident in his actions.

Natalie is seen picking him up after everything. A small short conversation where we see Adrien think about opening up about Chloe and co but decide against it, Natalie noticing but not saying anything.

The black cat miraculous’s second ability (See post Miraculous Make No Sense for more info) is “Hex”

When activated, the first person Chat Noir touches with his baton will be “hexxed” for some time. In that time, one randomly unlucky thing will happen to that person. This could be that they trip and fall or that they don’t catch something they normally would have

“Hex” doesn’t cause severe, permanent damage. At most, it might bruise someone or scuff up their hands or something but that’s it.

Also, Adrien can’t control what the unlucky thing is or when it happens. With time he can manipulate the time slot (so if the default is in the next 10 minutes something unlucky will happen to the person, he can change it to 5 minutes or 15), but can’t decide when it actually occurs. Again, with training, he could also make it so multiple unlucky things happen from one touch, but again, can’t control exactly when they happen

Adrien discovers “Hex” on his own accidentally when accidentally hexxes Kim or Chloe or someone while trying to defeat The Mime. They aren’t badly injured, just annoyed.

[pretty-idol-hell]

Finally playing Idol Land and being able to buy/collect all these coords again has finally made me want to do something I haven't wanted to do in a long, long time. And that something is...

At long last, reopen up my old PriPara binders, the ones which have been gathering dust in a corner for three years, and take a trip down memory lane. To look at all of all my old favorite coords, and remember all the struggles I've had collecting them.

And now, I feel like I need to explain a thing. For all the people joining promises with me and judging how much money I'm spending haha ha...

I said in a previous post that once I bought Yui/Nino's Yume Rares I'd be basically all set with all the coords I really really wanted to buy (except for Shion's SCR). But honestly, I was afraid that after looking through my binders that feeling might change. But actually it did not. There were a few coords I'd forgotten about which I'm hoping get re-released, but actually I'm honestly shocked at how many of my favorite coords have been released already such as the Paint Bat coord and the Marching coords, Aroma's initial PR, Hibiki's coords, etc.

But anyway.

I also found all my old tickets for all the coords I bought today and yesterday.

Remember, on the arcade game you could not directly buy coords. It was GATCHA. ONLY.

First up is Nino's team Yume Rare.

This one actually wasn't that bad.

I got the shoes on January 6th 2018, the accessory on January 18th, and the onepiece on January 26th. All with Luna.

(This is with spending at least one day a week most weeks like all day at the arcade tho.......)

Now let's look at Nino's initial Yume Rare.

First, I actually got the onepiece on August 16th, 2017. Then I got the shoes on August 25th.

I then got the accessory... on OCTOBER 3rd.

And it wasn't even while I was playing Luna! That's a Hinode ticket ahaha.

And as for Yui's initial Yume Rare. Umm...

I NEVER GOT IT.

It looks like Hinode got the accessory on June 25th 2017 but the other tickets are from randos. I bought it online way after the gatcha ended.

I definitely remember the struggle with this coord. I remember thinking the design was a total mess and convincing myself I didn't want it. It's not Luna's style.

But the more I stared at it. The more I just... noticed how complex it was, and all the little details here and there and I just... I dunno!

(Spongebob voice: I don't need it... I don't need it....)

I nnEEeeeeEED iiIIIT

And finally after months, MONTHS of pining, at some point I finally caved and bought it online through nefarious (unofficial) means. Because the arcade game wouldn't take my money to give it to me. (Okay no, no, it DID take my money but--)

Flash forward to today. Here's my character wearing the full coord on Idol Land.

Here it is, I bought it, done.

It is far more anticlimactic this way. But then again, would I have wanted to gatcha for it again? No no no no nooo.

I really do love this coord so much and I'm so happy to see the new version of my character in it. It looks even better on her now.

[meaningofaeons]

this is oi anon

COUNT OF MONTE CRISTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO>>>>>

it may be long af but it's so good zlcvhdfrgbjml

blade fits the part of dante being thrown in prison for almost a decade and still being vengeful, but it's more yandere-y. jingyuan fits the part of dante acting as the mysterious sponsor/person behind the scenes with a shitton of money, especially that part where i think dante's actions ends up driving someone to suicide (it's been like 2-3 years since i've read it, so my memory is a little fuzzy). sampo probably fits the best overall - doing stuff behind the scenes, making a bunch of fake aliases and identities, inviting people to do drugs in his hidden castle, all of that, i can see sampo doing.

anyways do you have any other books? i highly recommend the eighth life by nino harastischwili, it's my Favourite of All Time it's so good

OI ANON!!!! HI!!!!!!! （ฅ＾・ﻌ・＾）ฅ（ฅ＾・ﻌ・＾）ฅ

OMG ILY YOU ARE MY MANHWA OI BOOK SOULMATE HELLO?!?!?!?!? and oh my god wait now that you put it that way you are SO RIGHT.... sampo would actually be so good for it, if not just in a less edgy and more like I'll-laugh-at-the-world-now-that-I'm-above-it kind of way than dantes (although I suppose dantes does exhibit this as well if you think about it! I think it really depends from movie to book to musical)

YOU ARE SUCH A GENIUS !!! I must admit I'm more acquainted with the musical/stage performance count of monte cristo, but I definitely LOVE the book, there's so many amazing takes on the story and I love it

unfortunately I'm actually not much of a physical bookworm!!! count of monte cristo was kind of the rare exception for me a few years back SDSKDK (=〃ﻌ〃=) but if you recommend that book oi anon I will DEFINITELY look into it!!

[blckwhtepersona]

I have mixed feelings about this. I'm glad Marinette isn't the only one going through the super-talented completely-gifted virtuoso shtick, but I'm also kind of disappointed that there really isn't anything except the aforementioned plot device ice-skating and talking to Adrien.

But I definitely agree on the whole take of MLB trying to be both episodic and serialized (which was a take that I bitched about but didn't actually have a solid name for it, so thank you for that 😅) and how it screws up the writing.

Marinette's capabilities are never brought up again despite being featured in previous episodes, and teens like Kitty Section, Alya, Nino, Max, and all the others get their brief spotlight before they get plopped onto the shelf to wait again for their moment.

The whole virtuoso trope isn't inherently bad in and of itself. It's actually a frequent trope used in lots of serialized literature or media featuring kids or teenagers (manga/manhwa/anime come to mind) especially in fantasy settings, and can be used well when done right. Lots of content with super-cool-can-do-anything characters—an apt description for this trope—usually highlight this ability and make use of it to not only add substance to the character, but to also add depth to the story and further the plot.

For this, I think Kiki Strike (book series); Dress-Up Darling (anime/manga); I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit (manwha—might be debatable since it also includes isekai themes); and many characters of the Marvel/DC universe (Batfam, Spiderman, etc.)

The OC I mentioned, (as awkward as it is for me to use my own character as reference), not only get highlighted because of her genius, but it's also given focus in the story and used to give depth to her character and influence the plot into challenging the limits of said genius.

But you hit the nail on the head, as sad as that is to me (sometimes, I wish this show could prove me wrong on some areas). They basically use certain virtuoso abilities like Kitty Section being a phenomenal band or Alya being successful enough to be interviewed on TV or Nino's music catching attention on a popular gameshow or Max being the next Albert Einstein, just to make episodes, and then the rest of the writing fails to reflect this later on. These skills get ignored or receive fanfare for only that one episode, and is abandoned both in story and writing.

Or in Marinette's case, it's used as example as to how amazing and cool she is.

Like I said, this kind of makes me sad. I thought the bar couldn't get any lower for this show, but then it just shows me how naïve I am.

On a side-note though, really cool that you actually fenced for a few years! At least you know your stuff, so you can be the resident expert on the sport that Adrien is supposedly the best student at (have my doubts on that one now, since you just said MLB is laughably bad at portraying fencing), but I'm low-key disappointed that the show is also shitty at portraying fencing.

Curious, but do you know of anything Marinette is bad at? I didn't realize this until before, but Marinette always seems to be presented as amazing at everything. Like, I can get baking and designing, since they're things she's had personal experience in, but everything else? She's either super amazing or she needed five minutes of instruction and she's incredible.

Gaming? Absolute pro. Art? Amazing. Fencing? Just a little help from Adrien, and she's so good. So far, the skills she's presented to be absolutely amazing at: gaming, fencing, art, fashion, costume design (surprise surprise, fashion and costume design are two different avenues), baking, DIY, mechanical engineering (Miracle box hiding place and snapping diary box), fighting, leadership, decision-making, Guardianship, school (somehow straight-A student despite her tardiness and Ladybug issues).

And that's all I can get off the top of my head. I'm scared that there might be more. The only things I can think of that she's bad at is ice skating (which feels like a plot device for the Frozer episode, since she adapted so quickly to ice-skating as Icebug) and talking to Adrien.

I have a character (non-MLB) with the kind of genius that lets her master anything if she's seen it two or three times, but that genius has limitations itself that later compels her to actually think and work hard to master said subject. But Marinette is never even implied to be similiar to this, and everything she's good at is just passed off as "Amazing Marinette" and then left alone.

What do you think? If there's any other examples of things she's bad at, clumsiness nonwithstanding, please tell me, because this thought is driving me bonkers.

Nothing comes to mind, though I will say that Marinette wasn't a very good fencer. Then again, the show is actually laughably bad at portraying fencing, so I guess we just have to take Adrien's word for it that she was good. (I fenced for several years. May even have my old meddles somewhere as proof, though I doubt it.)

This isn't unique to Marinette, though. Most of the teen characters are absurdly talented. Kitty Section was so cool XY stole their music and their look. Alya runs a blog that's so successful that she was interviewed on national TV (end of PrimeQueen). Nino got to be on that TV competition in Simon Says. Max has tech in a literal space ship. The list goes on and on. Marinette just has more than most because she's the main character.

This isn't necessarily a flaw. It's normal for kids shows to have kid/teen characters who are super cool and talented because the goal is to inspire real kids to try things. The only reason it feels like a flaw in Miraculous is that this type of super-cool can-do-anything character is usually reserved for low-stakes episodic shows. Serialized shows (aka, shows with an overarching plot) will still have kid and teen characters who do the things adults usually do because that's what the target audience wants to see, but these kid and teen character will be a lot more nuanced and flawed. They're allowed to fail because their stories can take multiple episodes to resolve whereas characters in episodic shows have to have everything figured out and wrapped up in 20 minutes, allowing for way less nuance to their characters.

Because Miraculous is trying to be both an episodic and a serialized show, you get a lot of awkward characterization and writing. Sitcom drama with prestige TV stakes. We want Miraculous' cast to feel like they belong in a serialized drama because Miraculous has a serialized plot, but the individual episodes must stand alone, so the characters can't have the depth they need. It's messy, ugly writing.

[ladyofthenoodle]

still obsessed with the idea of alya & adrien fake dating for PR reasons post hawkmoth defeat… they gotta establish adrien’s public image as being anti-gabriel. marinette obviously suggests ladrien but this is regarded by everyone as too dangerous (except adrien who thought it was a great idea). so it falls to alya, the ladyblogger, to convince everyone that adrien is Definitely Not the Next Supervillian. she thinks it’s hilarious at first and plays it up. calls him embarrassing pet names in public. makes them wear matching ladybug shirts (they already own them but she makes adrien wear his at the same time as her). generally is a nuisance to everyone involved except plagg who also thinks it’s funny. nino knows it’s fake but he’s still annoyed. adrien is still processing his Big Trauma so he’s just kinda. going with it. he wishes marinette was the one calling him dumb pet names instead even if it’s fake but mostly he’s just glad his friends still want to be around him. marinette is obviously WILDLY JEALOUS. she is aware that it’s completely irrational but unlike nino, marinette has never been chill about anything in her entire life, so instead of being mildly annoyed she tells everyone that she’s “VERY HAPPY FOR THEM ISNT IT GREAT” while smiling in a way that scares off any passing small children or animals. and then she plans all their dates and gets upset that she’s not going on the date herself.

but then at some point adrien has to go to some Very Fancy Galas with alya as his date at which point this stops becoming fun for alya because she hates wearing these dresses and all these people are so boring and every time she tries to start an interesting conversation people think she’s being rude and none of this music is fun to dance to. adrien of course also is bored out of his mind and they start to actually bond a bit and have some fun and maybe this isn’t so bad. but then they learn that marinette and nino are hanging out while they’re out at these galas and adrien thinks maybe this IS bad because he and alya are spending time together for fake PR reasons but marinette and nino just want to hang out together and one day he and alya come home to find nino and marinette cuddling asleep on the couch and adrien is freaking out because he’s worried that marinette and nino are falling in love because of this stupid plan and he doesn’t understand why alya isn’t also freaking out. alya of course is not only secure in her relationship but also well aware that marinette is still completely bonkers for adrien and there is zero chance of that changing anytime soon.

anyways i just want post hawkmoth defeat to be exactly as ridiculous as they’ve always been thanks

[kasienda]

Adrino Fic Recs - Part 2!!!

I’ve been promising this for months, and I’ve been struggling to finish any of my fics, but I figured this was something I could definitely finish! And share with you all. 

Here’s is Part 1 if you missed it the first time. I was in search of romantic Adrino when curating this list, but a few of the ones that made the list might be a bit ambiguous and could be interpreted either way.

Here we go again in no particular order:

(Actually, I lied, the multi-chapters all ended up at the end):

1) In which Adrien braids his boyfriend’s hair by @ck2k18​. The title says it all. This is a little tiny one-shot, and it packs an emotional punch of pure sweetness. And I can’t say more than that. It’s just perfect. You should read it!

2) Blindsided by Leisey. Nino has figured out Adrien’s identity, so despite his own feelings, he’s determined to set Adrien up with Ladybug, but Adrien isn’t cooperating. I positively adore the narrative voice the author has written for Nino in this one. It’s just delightful and fun and hilarious all in one. Longer one-shot.

3) Corrupt you on the dance floor/take you home by Reiaji Nino doesn’t fit in Adrien’s crazy life. But somehow he’s still in it, and he’s not letting go. This is the same person who wrote “whose woods these are (I think I know)” so you know they just have a way with metaphors and imagery and making your feel things, and this one-shot is no exception to that.

4) Would you Rather? By SiderealSandman The class is having discussions on who they would rather kiss. Ladybug or Chat Noir. Nino and Adrien are both super embarrassed. This is just mostly miracuclass shenanigans in an au where Nino is Ladybug. One-shot.

5) Emotional Support Turtle by Distraught_by_your_Love Nino figures Adrien out and then helps him run away from home. This one alternates between narrative scenes and text fic, and I love it. This writer really did capture Nino’s voice in both dialogue and text. Platonic longer one-shot.

6) Chit-Chat by MuseofWriting Chat Noir keeps visiting Nino to hang out, and Nino has no idea why, but he doesn’t want it to stop. Again, more platonic, but it hints at something more developing. One-shot.

7) Your Secret is Safe by WoodenSuitcase When Ladybug lets it slip that she told her identity to Alya who is her best friend, Chat comes to the conclusion that Ladybug is Nino. This setup is borderline crack and requires a bit of suspension of disbelief, but the concluding conversation about pronouns is just so wholesome and made me cry the first time I read it. One-shot.

8) How We Began by Heart With A Vacancy Adrien tells the story of how he and Nino began to their child. Beyond precious. Established relationship. Short one-shot.

9) I can think of something better by @ladynoirist Chat has a tendency to come visit Nino after Nino’s had some rough days. Nino starts to notice some patterns. They’re kinda dating in this one, but it’s never actually acknowledged. Super cute! One-shot.

10) Antihero Adrien WIP Two: Carapace Edition by LoganLight (@chronicallylatetotheparty​) Look! I can read this one over and over again, and it makes me feel things. This writer is kinda my idol for fight scenes with emotional subtext that just makes everything feel raw. (The Adrigami part one of this is also amazing). Little tiny one-shot. But it’s intense.

11) Off the Mark by @buggachat Nino vents to Adrien about Chat being weird, so Adrien keeps changing Chat’s behavior to make Nino happy, which just makes Nino feel even more weird. Both hilarious and sad. Ultimately cathartic. Platonic longer one-shot.

12) Out of Your Orbit also by @buggachat Buggachat apparently is in the habit of dropping multi-chapter fics all at once out of friggin nowhere (in addition to almost daily comics). This particular fic is amazing!! The characterizations are perfect. There is longing/pining, core four shenanigans with so much hilarity, but also feelings, and definitely lots of romance. Features Alyanette throughout the fic, but this story is ultimately about Adrino. I’ve already reread this one like three times. No powers au. Multi-chapter.

13) Best Friends and Boyfriends by Kasienda More shameless self promotion, and I feel less awkward this time because there’s so few multi-chapter stories with this pairing. But basically, in this incredibly self indulgent fic, Chat and Carapace are dating pre-reveal while Adrien and Nino are talking to each other about their boyfriends. Also features background Alyanette. Mostly fluff with a little bit of disagreement thrown in for depth. I find the make up (and make out) scene and reveal in this one to be SO SATISFYING. This is my comfort fic. I reread it when I’m sick. Hope you enjoy it!

And that’s part two of my recs! Hope you enjoy them!

[miraculouscontent]

“Sentibubbler” summary? “Sentibubbler” salt?

Why not both at the same time?

Something a little experimental, though also somewhat reminiscent of some of my past videos. Calling it “summasalt” for now, based on the word “somersault” because this episode was an exercise of my patience.

It’s basically just me going through the episode with my usual episode summary, but salting along the way instead of making you guys read a wall of text without any images or clips or me making snarky comments.

(By the way, yes, I did in fact have caffeine before recording.)

script below for anyone who wants/needs it:

"Sentibubbler" begins with Marinette having food with the Cesaires and I already know this isn't real because Marinette is actually getting to interact with her best friend's family. That's only happened, like--when, two episodes of Season 2? [”Sapotis” and “Anansi”]

Marinette sees Trixx and points out how they're supposed to be a secret, and Alya asks why while calling Marinette "Ladybug." Marinette plays dumb but is told by Nino that everyone already knows her secret. Chloe is also there, chiding Marinette for her identity rule - it's not Marinette's rule but after "Reflekdoll" I've just gotten used to Marinette being blamed for things she didn't do - and Marinette goes to question Chloe's apperance when there's a knock on the balcony door. Alya invites Shadow Moth in and--[Shadow Moth has to duck to come inside]--huh, I thought Sole Crusher was seven episodes ago.

Anyway, now obviously, Marinette is just being ridiculous and overemotional as usual, because why would Marinette ever think that Alya would reveal any information to--["Feast"]--oh yeah, that's right.

Tikki doesn't transform Marinette and says that Marinette shouldn't have trusted Alya with her secret. Enter Chat Blanc, who says that they can be together now without any secrets. Not really sure what this episode is aiming for with the mixed message of "your identity rule sucks" but also "your fault for trusting someone instead of having a mental breakdown," but a’ight. Trixx also gets another dig in on Marinette for giving Alya the fox miraculous.

Marinette wakes up from her nightmare and panics, but Tikki reassures her that Alya is loyal. [”Chameleon”] Mm. Also, that kind of support might've been nice from Tikki literal seasons ago when Marinette could've used a confidant.

Wayzz - I swear, they've had eyelashes more often than not in this season - points out that Trixx is mischievous and Xuppu talks about Trixx being the cause of the Loch Ness monster rumors, which worries Marinette further. Marinette runs out in her pajamas and I can already predict that neither Tom nor Sabine are going to check on her later or care.

Marinette finds the Cesaires looking for something, their words vague enough for Marinette to think that they're talking about Trixx. Alya brushes Marinette off and tells her to help with looking instead of lecturing her.

Marlena makes a comment that reminds Marinette of her nightmare, only increasing Marinette's stress. A tarantula crawls up a ladle and Marinette freaks out when she sees it, which Marlena has a laugh at because Marinette's anxiety, fear, and panic is hilarious, guys!

This is my laughing face. [not a laughing face]

Nino exits, having been too afraid of the spider to leave the room, so Nora compares Marinette to him. Nino tries to play it cool, then changes the subject to point out Marinette's pajamas. Alya wonders aloud why Marinette showed up and Marinette tries to act casual, but Alya sees through it and states that she doesn't usually lose things when someone lends them to her.

I presume the exception is Marinette's trust. OH-HOOOOHHH, we'll get there.

Nora takes a jab at Alya for losing the spider and Marinette drags Alya away to talk. Nino tries to join but Alya states that it's between her and Marinette, which makes Nino sad.

Nino, does the phrase "guys' time" ring a bell by any chance?

Marinette is explaining her nightmare and is simply told to calm down by Alya, though Marinette is briefly startled by a phone ringing. Marinette puts together what she knows that Shadow Moth knows, including that Alya is Rena Rouge, adding on that Shadow Moth could steal the fox necklace if he figured out that Alya has it permanently. Alya reassures her that no one will ever know and Marinette states that this must include Chat Noir. Alya agrees and brings attention to the fanny pack around her waist, which Trixx has been hiding in, and Marinette has Trixx promise not to show up at the dining table like in her nightmare. Tikki tells Marinette that everything will be fine and Marinette admits that it was silly of her to worry, which it was! ...If you ignore all the anxiety, mental scarring, and constant pressure to be perfect or risk Paris lighting itself on fire, much like I presume they accidentally did with their original script for this episode.

Alya tells Marinette to trust her and also herself - I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Alya, thank you - then Alya loses her temper at the phone continuing to ring. She leaves to find an empty living room, then answers the phone only to hear Shadow Moth on the other line. Alya turns upon hearing Marinette scream to see that Marinette has been trapped in a bubble. Cue the reveal/return of the Bubbler, who is definitely Nino akumatized and not--like--a sentimonster, because the episode didn't spoil it at all with the title of Sentibub--

show, this is freaking embarrassing. Why even bother akumatizing someone when you can mold a sentimonster with the exact power you want?

At least they reveal it quickly, though that also means I have to live with the knowledge that Shadow Moth wINKED AT ALYA, NO.

Anyway, Shadow Moth tells Alya that he wants her to betray Ladybug. Marinette, meanwhile, is panicking over being unable to transform while in public, whereas Tikki remains calm and reassures her that Alya will figure something out and it's why Marinette gave Alya the fox miraculous in the first place.

Weird, I thought it was for the show to continuously validate Alya as a worthy choice for a confidant despite repeatedly covering up her sINS and so the show can push for more anxiety on Marinette's part while simultaneously not having to make a new hero model for Alya, which they would have to do if the realistic decision had been made to give Alya a different miraculous due to Shadow Moth knowing her identity as Rena Rouge.

Marinette texts Alya to inform her that the Bubbler is a sentimonster and so Rena can tell Chat not to use Cataclysm on him or the bubbles will burst due to the sentimonster's lack of control.

Hate to burst the show's bubble but Alya could literally see Nino up in the sky and they could see her; the bubbles are in viewing range. Did this even go through a quality check?

Alya goes to look at Marinette's text, but the phone is bubbled away by Sentibubbler. Marinette sees the phone floating by and panics, only to be reassured again to trust Alya and at this point I vaguely wondered if I was watching this episode on repeat. Tikki also adds that Alya has never let her down - [”Ladybug”] MMMM - and Marinette agrees, also certain that Chat Noir will show up soon.

Oh yeah, he exists. Oh no.

Cut to the Agreste mansion where Adrien is watching the news - dude, how is there never anything better on when you need to be told that there's an akuma? here, look, I'll show you [”Silencer” Lukabug clip] there, much better, see? - and it's pointed out that the bubbles are identical to the ones Bubbler had, yet Nino is in one of the bubbles. Adrien readies himself while Plagg is - for once - okay with leaving since his cheese isn't "edible" yet.

I feel like he should be a little more concerned about Marinette being in a bubble.

Meanwhile, Shadow Moth is explaining to Alya that Ladybug will come to give her the fox miraculous due to the bubbled people in the sky - plenty of other choices that aren't within breathing range of the obvious danger zone, but a'ight - and SentiBubbler will catch Ladybug. Alya brings up Chat Noir saving her but Shadow Moth states that she'll create an illusion of Ladybug and Rena to lure Chat Noir, who won't see Sentibubbler coming, at which point Rena will hand Shadow Moth her miraculous. He adds that her loved ones will only be returned once all three miraculouses are in his possession, though if she tries to warn the heroes then Sentibubbler will send the bubbles into space, too far for any hero to save them.

[clip of space power-ups] Hm.

Also, I would've just let her keep the miraculous as an extra bribe since he doesn't need the fox and she wouldn't have time to recharge anyway - at least to his knowledge - but that's just me.

Marinette is relieved that Alya still hasn't been captured--TIKKI, I KNOW, YOU'VE BEEN PARROTING THIS ALL EPISODE, I KNOW--but Marinette changes her tune when she sees Alya blindly calling out for Ladybug's help, unaware that Alya is buying time. Marinette laments the idea of transforming there and having using the rabbit to go back in time to reverse, as that's never a good thing (seconded), but gets the idea for Tikki to take her miraculous to someone else. Tikki rejects the idea, as the earrings won't go through the bubble, and Marinette realizes that Chat Noir is their only hope.

I mean, it was nice knowing them. Sure is interesting how Marinette has only been getting herself into these situations where she requires saving when the show needed to present Alya as a valid choice for a confidant.

Meanwhile, Chat Noir is leaving a message for Ladybug about the bubbles in the sky, saying that he'll wait for her; I already see where this is going and I don't like it.

Alya mutters to Trixx about how they need a plan to release Marinette. Through Alya Vision, we're shown Sentibubbler, a bowl of fruit, and the bathroom door. Alya tells Sentibubbler that she needs to go to the bathroom and - wow, we're really doing this, aren't we? - which Shadow Moth rejects. Shadow Moth is also on top of a building holding a coffee cup which honestly makes about as much sense as the rest of the episode, so whatever. Alya claims that she can't wait and that it'll be awkward for Ladybug to find her like that, which gets Shadow Moth to relent but also remind her of what's at stake if she tries anything. Alya states that she can't do anything without a miraculous anyway, then purposefully falls onto the table, concealing her long enough for her to transform and allowing an illusion of herself to go to the bathroom while she escapes. She detransforms in the twins' room and feeds Trixx with some grapes that she'd picked up.

Alya explains her plan to trick Shadow Moth and Sentibubbler since they don't know that she has a miraculous, though she also has to make sure that Chat won't ruin things. Rena then proceeds to call Chat Noir and claim that Ladybug wanted her to call him with her plan, but adds that it's a two-person plan and Chat himself isn't needed, so he needs to wait for further instructions. Chat demands that Ladybug call him to tell him herself, but Rena insists that she can't, as Ladybug is very busy. She warns him not to use Cataclysm if he sees the Bubbler, as he's a sentimonster, then promises to talk to him later before hanging up.

She uses Mirage again, making the Alya illusion reappear as well as creating a Ladybug. Chat Noir, infuriated at being left out, destroys part of a building with his baton. He then dismisses the action because Miraculous Ladybug will fix it.

Spoiler alert, it will, which is a very fascinating detail! I mean, I can't imagine another situation where a hero did something while there was an akuma going around and Miraculous Ladybug decided to help 'em out, but it just goes to show what happens when you're the writers' pet. Just look a little pitiful and they'll give you all the sympathy in the world.

By the way, didn't expect them to actually confirm my theory that Chat Noir does Chat Noir things because he knows that Miraculous Ladybug will fix it anyway, essentially allowing him to earn brownie points from Ladybug via sacrificing himself regardless of how it affects her mentally, yet here we are and I don't know whether to be sad, angry, disappointed, or a mixture of all three.

Chat Noir sees the Ladybug illusion jumping off and gives chase, refuses to stay where he is. Marinette, seeing that Rena Rouge's illusions are active, panics at the sight of Chat Noir, as the illusion will vanish if Chat touches it.

I like to imagine the immediate concern is the idea that Chat Noir will try to take Ladybug's hand while trying to flirt.

Anyway, Marinette flails inside the bubble in an attempt to reach Chat Noir, while illusion Alya and SentiBubbler get into position. Chat Noir watches what he perceives as Ladybug heading into the Cesaire house with Alya, but Marinette gets to him in order to tell him not to go anywhere. Chat complains about everyone telling him to stay put, but Marinette explains Rena's plan to him. Chat is skeptical of how she knows that, to which Marinette insists that she saw it from where she was. Chat Noir relents with a sigh and stays where he is.

SentiBubbler watches as the illusion of Alya and Ladybug talk to each other, Rena making it look like Ladybug is piecing together what happened and refusing to give Alya a miraculous ever again due to Shadow Moth knowing her identity. She claims that she'll find another holder and give them an even more powerful miraculous, which interests Shadow Moth and gets him to follow after the Ladybug illusion. Once Sentibubbler leaves as well, Chat sees this as his chance to stop the sentimonster, as the Ladybug illusion will vanish if it's touched. Marinette strokes his ego for the token love square moment of the episode, and Chat Noir fights SentiBubbler while Shadow Moth goes after the Ladybug illusion.

I'm noticing a real lack of tension in this episode. Once Alya has her plan, it's kind of a clean sweep from start to finish with no interference or unexpected roadblocks in the way. Even Shadow Moth following the Ladybug illusion goes fine, with Shadow Moth even punching a building thinking that Ladybug actually got away from him.

Dude, it's fine, Miraculous Ladybug will fix it, just put on your best sad face. Maybe Chat Noir gets it from you actually, is treatment from the writers a hereditary thing?

Sentibubbler and Chat Noir are still fighting. Shadow Moth shows up and Marinette tries to warn Chat, but Chat gets caught in a bubble and Marinette apologizes; she doesn't have anything to apologize for but after "Reflekdoll" I--wait I already did this.

Chat Noir uses Cataclysm to escape, only to get caught in another bubble. I'd just like to throw out there that this guy's a hero three seasons going and the love interest for the main character, yet his role in the episode has amounted to complaining about the authority of a hero Ladybug chose, throwing a property-destroying tantrum over being excluded, and wasting his power without a single thought which just got him captured again.

Chat, does the name "Syren" ring any bells by any chance? I'm just sayin', you could always quit. In fact, wasn't it you literally one episode ago saying that you understood if Ladybug couldn't always come get you? Then, after seeing the jump from "Glaciator" to "Frozer," I'm about as shocked as rubber.

Back with the competent one, Alya notes to Trixx that Rena Rouge can no longer be seen by Shadow Moth or else the jig is up. She transforms and texts Marinette to be ready, creating an illusion of Marinette that simultaneously hides the real version, allowing her to transform into Ladybug.

Chat Noir's bubble gets dragged down and Shadow Moth gets SentiBubbler to mute Chat Noir's bubble.

[clip from “Silencer” where Ladybug takes amusement in Chat being muted]

Ladybug uses Lucky Charm and receives a pot, her Lucky Vision spotting Shadow Moth's coffee cup, then SentiBubbler, then the tarantula trapped in a bubble. Ladybug deduces that the cup is the sentimonster's object, then pulls the horse miraculous out of her yoyo and unifies it with the ladybug--oh.

Oh my.

You know, it's times like this where I'm reminded that the show knows nothing about fashion... or girls... or good writing actually--there's just a lot of stuff they don't know.

Sentibubbler does a countdown, then starts sending the civilian bubbles up into the sky. Chat Noir is about to de-transform while PegaBug notices of Shadow Moth's two miraculous, up for grabbin'. She notes that she won't be able to catch everyone, so she forms a portal behind Shadow Moth and goes for the coffee cup first, thus putting her in control of SentiBubbler, who happily brings the bubbles back down at her command.

Shadow Moth erases SentiBubbler from existence though, causing everyone to fall, but Chat and PegaBug manage to catch them. PegaBug de-transforms and presents the Cesaires with the tarantula, which had been trapped inside the lucky charm. Ladybug and Chat Noir watch Shadow Moth escape and Ladybug laments that it could've been the end of Shadow Moth once and for all because it's not a Miraculous episode without Marinette being at fault or feeling guilty in some way! Chat Noir reassures her [*by “reassure,” I mean he might as well have said, “Well, you saved ME, so you did great!”] - wow, that's two token love square moments for the price of one episode, don't I feel spoiled - and Ladybug leaves to retrieve the tarantula's tank.

Rena Rouge is waiting for her and they hug, with Rena repeating that she doesn't lose something that someone gives her. Ladybug states that she never should've doubted the idea of giving Alya a miraculous and Imma just give you guys a counter real quick. [counter that shows that Tikki has complimented Alya four times, Alya has complimented herself/told Marinette to trust her thrice, and Marinette has said that she was wrong thrice]. Miraculous Ladybug is cast and everything returns to normal, with Alya explaining what she did and Marinette being relieved that Shadow Moth won't be going after her anymore. Alya confidently asks if she was smart and Marinette is happy to praise her, confirming it and stating that Alya is a real superhero and honestly? If the narrative wanted to marry Alya this badly, they should've just used some of the budget to buy a ring instead of projecting onto the other characters.

Then again, the apparent budget can't even afford a new hero model nor new akuma to a very noticeable degree, so I guess they're taking what they can get.

Alya praises Marinette as well for her work as PegaBug and they do a fistbump, thus ending the episode. There's also this ever-so-lovely post-episode scene with Gabriel and Nathalie where Gabriel laments the fact that Ladybug never makes mistakes which--I... has he even watched the series at all? Gabe, babe, Babriel Agreste, it's literally part of the show's formula that Marinette makes a mistake in every episode and she felt guilty like a minute ago over not yoinking your miraculouses when she had the chance, where have you been?

But, yeah, anyway, the episode.

Needless to say, not a fan. Like I said, the show seems so intent on immediately validating the choices they make with Alya in order to make her look like a better character. "Gang of Secrets" basically replaced her with someone different at the end of the episode, and the episode immediately afterwards in chronological order, "Mr. Pigeon 72," did everything it could to push Marinette out of her guardian position long enough for Alya to figure out the grimoire despite having zero onscreen experience with it, the episode even trapping Ladybug in a situation that forced Rena Rouge to come into play to validate that decision as well.

And now we have "SentiBubbler" here following immediately after "Optigami," desperate to reassure its audience that Alya is cool, smart, truthworthy, and that not needing to make a new model--sorry, I mean Alya continuing to have the fox--was a good decision. All the while, they continue pushing Alya's flaws under the rug [Note that it’s not even considered that Alya is even remotely at fault for Shadow Moth going after her specifically after her stunt in “Optigami” when no one else but Ladybug and Chat have ever given out a miraculous], hiding them instead of Alya actually acknowledging them, the only reason she did so in "Optigami" being the same as in "Gang of Secrets"; to make her look good while Marinette makes a big decision in their relationship.

The episode tries so hard to drill in this idea that Alya is a good friend who can be trusted, and I'm just not here for how much they try to hammer it in. Marinette's very real anxiety over Shadow Moth's power and ability to plan things is played off as her being silly instead of something to be concerned about, and instead of giving her a hug and trying to help her calm down - [clip from “Heart Hunter” of Luka hugging Marinette] I miss Luka - she's just told to trust and believe and hAVE fAiTh in Alya.

Shadow Moth is an adult; he has abilities that the teenage heroes don't. I'm not even saying that Marinette isn't overreacting [Basically, her concern about Shadow Moth is valid, especially after “Optigami” where her identity was almost found out], but she has anxiety and some obvious trauma over "Chat Blanc." I was already upset that Alya got a free pass to Marinette's identity, but the constant stressing over how much Marinette should trust her just doesn't affect me when I know Alya and I know the kind of stuff she's done that the show blatantly ignored in favor of pushing for her.

But okay, show, I'll give Alya the benefit of the doubt that she doesn't deserve. Let's say that she's turned a new leaf, and has become the reliable, trustworthy, and loyal partner that Marinette deserves. I'm sure that Alya has Marinette's back, and will never go behind said back in order to do something completely unsurprising and wholly indicative of the character I actually know her to be.

Especially not a mere three episodes later...