#give me my credits Astruc.

[blinday]

Not gonna sue or press charges, but I want to make it clear that Chat Noir is actually MY property, since I invented the boi back in 2009 with his ACTUAL partner Supersonica. His name was actually Simon and his dad was also the supervillain.

[swannbluana]

pt. 4: an analysis of the different vedic themes within miraculous ladybug

i have some lingering notes and observations that i did not include in the analysis that i’d like to discuss. this also includes spoilers, so read at your own discretion.

before the days got filled with responsibilities, i was an avid miraculous ladybug watcher. to this day, i still keep up with the show during my free time. throughout these past few years, i’ve deep dived into the knowledge of vedic astrology and progressively started to recognize themes present in the show that coincided with certain nakshatras. this is part one of my research, a deep dive into the vedic astrology of miraculous: the tales of ladybug and cat noir. 

-> i used the birthdays of the voice actors and actresses to confirm my findings.

director [thomas astruc]: uttara bhadrapada moon & uttara ashadha sun

gabriel agreste/hawkmoth [keith silverstein]: vishakha moon & mula sun [as the show progresses, his name changes to monarch, however i'm going to refer to him as hawkmoth throughout the analysis].

marinette dupain-cheng/ladybug [cristina vee]: uttara ashadha moon & punarvasu sun

adrien agreste/cat noir [bryce papenbrook]: magha moon & shatabhisha sun

chloe bourgeois [selah victor]: anuradha/jyeshta moon & ashwini sun 

-> definitions

miraculous: magical jewelry containing hidden powers that transforms the wearers into animal-themed superpowered beings.

miracle box: holds all 36 miraculouses when they aren’t in use. 

akumatized: regular people who are transformed into villains. 

cataclysm: the superpower to destroy anything the person touches.

absolute wish: aka the ultimate miraculous absolute power, grants a person one wish to ask for anything in the universe. 

this analysis of the show is my interpretation and is all up for interpretation! 

please credit if shared through any type of means! 

･ﾟﾟ･｡

i originally was only going to analyze the themes of punarvasu and mula within the show because before researching, those were the two nakshatras themes that i noticed while watching the show. i had a feeling ladybug was a punarvasu native, however i thought cat noir was a mula native (he’s magha, so close in terms of both being fire signs & ketu nakshatras). then, delving deeper into the research, i discovered and recognized the interplay between different nakshatras and had to include them. 

the director has a punarvasu saturn and mula mars, so i wonder if he’s simply channeling those nakshatras in this creative work or he has one of those nakshatras as his ascendant. 

returning to punarvasu being granted a second chance, i wonder if the natives get freed from the negative consequences of their past actions. perhaps due to accepting learned lessons and repentance after the chaos from the previous nakshatra, ardra, and from their own repeating cycles, they’re granted mercy and grace. 

the repetition of each episode’s progression being someone getting akumatized, ladybug and cat noir fighting, and them being the victors in the end correlates to one meaning of punarvasu being repetition. this thought led to me wondering if children’s shows are ruled by punarvasu as most are episodic, but carries the same value of teaching through entertainment making the structure of an episode repeat. 

tikki and plagg needing nourishment when their energy is depleted after ladybug and cat noir have transformed for too long reminded me of pushya. pushya is the star of nourishment and its shakti is to create spiritual energy. tikki and plagg need to be nourished for them to have the energy to transform and give powers to marinette and adrien. so, i researched the VAs and tikki is a pushya sun and plagg is a pushya jupiter and ketu. one of the symbols for pushya is the cow’s udder and plagg is obsessed with camembert cheese that’s made out of cow’s-milk. additionally, pushya’s deity is brihaspati, also referred to as jupiter, and is the exaltation point of jupiter. jupiter rules over sweet food and tikki loves sweets. this is an example of pushya being nourished in order to nourish others. 

the previous point led me to wonder if the relationship between kwamis, the miraculouses, and their holders represents the transition between punarvasu to pushya. kwamis alone are divine, spirit-like beings that embody an abstract idea/concept. for example, tikki is the first kwami to exist and is the kwami of creation. she is connected to all versions of herself in the past, present, future, and parallel universes similar to how aditi represents those aspects and other aspects of existence. the kwamis’ powers are great, but are too strong and unfocused. this idea of kwamis reminded me of punarvasu as it’s a deva gana (divine) nak, a jupiter nakshatra signifying expansion without restriction and its deity, aditi signifying creation, boundlessness, and her being the universe itself. kwamis are not the universe itself, but abstract ideas/concepts which connects to punarvasu being the merge between a mercury rashi and a jupiter nak. the transition to pushya begins when the kwamis merge with their miraculouses. pushya is also a deva gana (divine) nakshatra and as stated previously, is the star of nourishment and creates spiritual energy. kwamis give spiritual energy to the miraculous of the holder to perform their designated power. when using their power, it’s to be used for good and not for self-gain or there’d be consequences. they need to be nourished to allow the holder to transform and the kwami magic protects their identity, so no one knows who the holders are. as the kwamis protect the holders, the holders protect the people. this connects to the transition from the cancer rashi of punarvasu into pushya as cancer relates to having mother-like qualities and mothers are known to provide protection to their children. the people of society can be considered the children of the universe. 

marinette, gabriel, and adrien all have jupiter influence. marinette is a punarvasu sun, gabriel is a vishakha moon & mula sun, and adrien has purva bhadrapada mercury and venus conjunct his primary sun placement. all the jupiter nakshatras connect to the idea of duality: punarvasu–twins, vishakha–forked branch, purva bhadrapada–two faces. 

one side note for gabriel’s connection to vishakha is that one of his villain names is shadow moth.

i didn’t get into adrien’s purva bhadrapada placements, but you can see the influence of this nakshatra in his character. It’s a lion yoni, a part of the feline family which connects to his name. also, the difference between adrien and cat noir’s character. where adrien is mellow yet respectful and kind, cat noir is outwardly very flirty and playful.

i was questioning whether adrien has either a magha or purva phalguni moon, and ultimately decided on a magha moon. my argument for purva phalguni was the dialogue for his perfume commercial being, “radiant, carefree, dreamy adrien the fragrance,” and purva phalgunis are known for playing dreamgirls / dreamy personas in the media. also, his choice of having a modeling career, however other factors made me go against the idea. 

marinette is a punarvasu sun and tikki is a pushya sun. adrien is a magha moon/shatabhisha sun and plagg is a purva phalguni sun/purva bhadrapada moon. the nakshatras transition from the holders to the kwamis. the nakshatras match the characteristics of the kwamis as tikki strictly focuses on the job at hand and restricts herself from any romantic relations with her partner while plagg is highly flirtatious and deeply romantic.

･ﾟﾟ･｡

<- part three of the mlb vedic analysis

-> part five of the mlb vedic analysis

[jacquesthepigeon]

My favorite ML example of "That's Not Representation Don't Give Them Credit For It": Kim canonically has 2 dads because there were mix-ups regarding his last name in seasons two and three and it was alternatively cited as being Ature and Le. So Astruc just decided to fix it by saying Kim is the adopted son of a gay couple and he goes back and forth on which surname he uses. Plot hole averted

Please tell me he didn’t actually say that

[ct-multifandom]

Analyzing the Penalteam spoiler(s)

Usually these types of spoilers have no meat to talk about, but a couple things caught my eye in the latest Penalteam one.

1) Didier Roustan is a guest star in this episode. This isn’t surprising to me because Astruc said there’d be a football/soccer episode with a special guest and he posted a cropped image of cartoon Didier’s concept art. French sports fans quickly figured out it was him from his style. Plus, he’s been in the special guest section of the s4 end credits this whole time along with Franck Dubosc, Philippe Candeloro, and Veronique Berecz.

2) I noticed something odd about the people present in this scene

Since Ms. Bustier is here, it seems like the soccer game is a class field trip, but some people are missing. I bet Lila’s just skipping as usual, but Kim, Max, and Nath aren’t here either. This wouldn’t be the first time Nath disappears when physical activity is involved, but according to Winny, he’s supposed to get a miraculous this episode, and you’d think a competitive, athletic game with a famous sports journalist is something Kim would never miss. I wonder where they and Max went. I’m guessing there will be an explanation because-

3) the number of people present is very convenient. A typical soccer team is comprised of nine people, and there are eighteen people in the collage part of the intro, perfect to play a full game. Subtracting Marinette and Adrien, there are nine kids on the field in the spoiler. There are also seven kids not present. If Shadowmoth’s villain(s) transform/mind-control etc everyone here except Mari and Adrien, who get away as usual, then there will be a perfect nine-on-nine game.

I predict that Chloe, Sabrina, Alya, Nino, Mylene, Juleka, Rose, Alix, and Ivan will be Penalteam. Ladybug and Chat Noir need an opposing team, so they’ll recruit Pegasus, King Monkey, Vesperia, Viperion, and Ryuko, but they’re short two players. This is where Ladybug gives Rooster Bold and Caprikid miraculous for the first time as Winny spoiled. That’s why Kim, Max, and Nath are conveniently elsewhere when the conflict goes down.

“But what about Minotaurox and Traquemoiselle?” I know right? I think Ivan will get his miraculous in Risk and Sabrina in Strike Back. I’m a bit nervous for their screen time, but I can see the ox miraculous helping Ladybug defeat some difficult villains like that big robot dude and the dog helping her physically locate the elusive Shadowmoth (spoilers indicate he’s hiding in the Louvre?). Ivan is part of the team in Strike Back, and we haven’t heard much about Sabrina, but her hero name implies a superpower like “detection”.

4) what’s going on with the villain? Usually, in a guest episode, the guest star is the akuma, but not always. Veronique Berecz was just herself in The Puppeteer 2.0 while Manon was the villain. We know Chloe will be akumatized into Penalty, but that’s all we’ve seen of the villain. SM can only send one akuma at a time, but it can influence more than one person.

I’m thinking, since Penalty’s akumatized object is a whistle, her power will be controlling people by blowing into it, which is how she influences the rest of the team. It would be kind of like Darkblade and his knights. It’s possible that Didier will also be a villain, but I don’t know. Since he’s a journalist/commentator, I can see him narrating what’s happening in the fight and even helping Ladybug out that way, but maybe he plays a minor role as himself only outside of the fight like Veronique.

5) I don’t expect massive plot progression from this episode because there’s a guest star and two new heroes, and it’s The Soccer Episode, but I feel like there just miiight be some Chloe stuff. I mean, other than for comic relief, why put such an episode as the 24th? Usually the 24th episode is relevant in some way.

In the past, Chloe has been akumatized into powerful villains over serious things, but in season four she gets two new forms that are both silly and caused by random tantrums. I think that her anger over stupid stuff is indicative of some deeper negative emotions. In Queen Banana, she was akumatized over the movie group ignoring her instead of indulging her controlling ideas, but on a deeper level, she was jealous of the positive attention Zoe was getting. How easily the kids at school started liking her and showering her with stuff like lead roles in a film. This was also the episode where she “broke up” with Adrien at the end, but Zoe said she’d always love her.

I think we might see something similar in Penalteam. Chloe will be akumatized over something dumb and bratty like nobody wanting to play with her, her team having terrible chemistry and sucking while Marinette’s team thrives under her leadership, her getting second choice because of Marinette’s good luck and getting stuck with the less athletic kids, etc. But I think underneath it all, she’ll really be upset because she will once again feel left out. All her classmates are friends who can work well together, but nobody wants her there to spoil the fun, much less boss them around.

Maybe I’m being too ambitious here, but I think this might be the episode where she loses, or at least starts to lose, Sabrina. She lost Adrien in QB, and Sabrina’s all she really has left except Zoe whose attention she rejects. Since Sabrina will be receiving a miraculous, Ladybug needs a reason to trust her. She needs to think for herself and be ready to serve the greater good, not Chloe, and I don’t see how she can naturally have that change during an action-packed finale. Maybe Chloe will finally get to Sabrina and she’ll realize this is it. Maybe she’ll have time to sit on it, and only make her decision later. But it’d make sense if Chloe’s repeated poor actions cause her to lose another person, especially the one who’s the closest to her and who gives her the most power.

Without Sabrina, Chloe is kinda screwed. Sabrina carries her stuff, does her homework, organizes everything, plays all her games, backs her up, and most importantly, lets her feel powerful. If not for her, Chloe would just be some jerk that no one wants to be around who happens to have enough money and connections to have her way, but Sabrina is the one who hypes her up into the Queen B she is. If she turned her back on her, she’d lose confidence. That’s something that would truly make this episode 24 special, a development in Sabrina, and Chloe finally reaching that point where she has no one there for her except her detested half-sister, which finally creates the potential for actual development and learning a permanent lesson rather than putting on a good face to get Ladybug’s approval on occasion.

6) last thing, my guesses always change for these, and they’re usually impossible to guess, but I never stop making theories lmao. Now that we know what the tools are for the rooster and goat miraculous (pen and paintbrush respectively), my guess for the powers changes to “inspiration” and “passion”. That’s it, final answer. If I change my mind again, or if one of my old guesses was right, pretend this never happened, but I feel like we’ve gotten a lot of info/spoilers about them versus the other new heroes, so it’s nice to be able to have guesses actually based on something.

As is typical ct-multifandom fashion, I’ll close out this post with a prediction that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of the post or anything I discussed. Derailment time! I predict that the new character from the future, who I think will show up in the finale, probably Strike Back, is going to be future Max/Pegasus. Why? ‘Cause it makes sense to me and I want to see him. He’s one of Bunnyx’s closest friends, his miraculous would be one of the ones that’d get the biggest power boost from an adult user, and the two of them are probably a yin-yang pair (ask me about those btw). Also his name miiiight’ve been mentioned in a comedically bleeped-out spoiler Lindalee Rose interview about the s4 finale, saying “beep” is gonna be there to mess up SM’s plan, but maybe it was “Plagg” or someone else. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. Manifesting future Max. But seriously, ask me about yin-yang pairs.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Tw for abuse mention!!

I was abused physically, verbally and sexually by my parents (not in that situation anymore dw) growing up, as well as neglected. Ive had child protective show up at my doorstep multiple times, and even I think that chloes situation is absolutely awful. For Astruc to say that Chloe is a brat simply because she gets what she wants and not acknowledge the toxic parenting style in her life, is really disrespectful to people who have been abused. I was abused, I got what I wanted because my parents didn’t want to actually parent me. They’d use money items to seem like better parents than they were despite us living in poverty, and used it as an excuse to guilt trip me.

In Chloe’s life, she has a shitty father because he is a downright ENABLER. Why is the head of Paris or whatever he is, listening so adamantly to his teenage daughter that really would have no power if he just didn’t let her? Why is he giving a teenage girl that much control? And Chloes mom is a neglectful abusive mom too. Not even remembering her name, not acknowledging her, making her feel worthless, is shitty abusive parenting. You could argue that since it’s a children’s show it’s not that deep, but these are relationships that kids can translate into real life. Even I am offended and hurt for Chloe despite having different circumstances, I can’t imagine the little kids who feel like monsters for behaving like her because they have similar parent types in their life. Not to mention I have a personality disorder and I can see Chloe having one too because the parenting style in her life is so chaotic. I’m not saying what Chloe does isn’t bad, she deserves genuine consequences, but it just is so upsetting to see her not get a redemption, it would’ve been such a good message for kids :/

I want to start off by saying I am incredibly sorry you had to go through that, and I’m glad you were able to come out and talk about it here.

The tragedy of Chloe is that neither of her parents managed to serve as a positive role model in her life, despite each of them treating her differently. Andre’s constant coddling and enabling of Chloe caused her to gain a sense of entitlement, while Audrey’s constant insulting and belittling of Chloe only fueled that part of her while she tried emulating her mother in an attempt to gain her approval.

But according to Astruc, Chloe wasn’t actually abused and says her mother mistreating her isn’t an excuse because he thinks that no matter how hard your life is, it’s no excuse to lash out in frustration.

THIS IS WHAT THOMAS ASTRUC ACTUALLY BELIEVES. 

He is seriously saying that the right thing to do when something traumatic happens, like losing a parent, or being diagnosed with an incurable illness, is to just deal with it. It doesn’t matter how hard it is to adapt to or move on from the change in your life. You just need to buck up and move on, you little pansy.

Abuse isn’t a competition. You can’t generalize the psychological damage all abuse victims go through or set up a minimum requirement for someone to actually qualify as being abused. The way Astruc says Chloe wasn’t abused while comparing her to an abuser is essentially victim blaming. Yes, she should still at least face consequences, but you can’t just ignore her troubled upbringing and say she wasn’t at least a little damaged mentally.

Like you said, Chloe still betrayed the team, and I expected her to get consequences for it instead of her actions being ignored like everything else about the Season 3 finale while sabotaging a movie’s production was the breaking point for everyone in her life, but the problem is that the show never really tries to address her parents’ role in her upbringing. They just say she was always evil and never get down to what made her that way while Astruc claims the lesson was giving bad people a chance when the characters did the bare minimum in trying to help her with her issues before condemning her as unreasonable.

Really, you can basically describe Chloe’s “arc” and the way Astruc views her like this.

(Credit goes to the artist listed below, Alex Law)

[notasiren21]

Your reasons on why lukanette should be endgame were pure comedy, thanks for making me laugh!

Tbh I can’t tell if this is a compliment and warm hearted or if this is a roast and a bullying remark ?

If it is a kind comment (which I’m doubting) thanks!

Rude comment?⬇️

Judging by the tone tho, if this is a negative comment then please acknowledge that the beginning of that post -that I made over a year ago or so- literally stated I wasn’t looking for a “tussle” aka a way to start beef with those who ship the lovesquare 

We all have our opinions but it is rude and unnecessary to bash other people’s preferences and likes, and noting the way you went under anonymous for an ask, you did this intentionally to make an uncalled for comment.

I’m someone who has dissected the characters over time and time again (ask @emikogale or @lenoraishere or @ashdoesfandom ) and have given far better and more elaborated reasons on why I think they would be a far suited couple but this post was prior to me delving in deep and getting to know Luka more than they had already offered before that point.

I don’t believe in bullying or belittling those online just because we have a different ship we prefer, or for reasons to like/hate some things. We’re all perfectly justified and valid in things we take interest in and deserve no shame (unless it’s like really concerning stuff then … maybe see someone).

I don’t know how old you are but please reconsider the next time you decide to leave a condescending comment to someone. It does qualify as bullying and despite how it can be interpreted as something else as well as have very few words, it is a bullying statement that is intended to rip the rights away from a person stating their views and opinions.

This is a kid’s show that I’ve come to grow to not care for now but Lukanette serves as a drive to my writing and have carved a soft spot in my heart. I’m sorry you don’t ship them, and that’s you’re own right, but tell me - did you really need to leave an ask to insult me about a quick post I made one night per my own amusement ?

Did it give you a sense of gratification that you roasted someone who liked one ship you didn’t care for? Did you feel happy after submitting the ask because you intentionally tried to hurt someone?

Lmao, I started this show in high school for extra credit in French class and was interested for the concept (until I found out Astruc stole so many elements and concepts -I.e. Sailor Moon) but I only kept watching because I started to watch it become a train wreck and go against everything I believe in creating not only a story, but a television show aimed at young audience. Not to mention the psychological errors in characters too and how detrimental some actions would be that he neglects.

Literally speaking, as someone who has obtained her degree in media production and is learning from Astruc’s mistakes too as well as furthering her degree -

I could dissect and tear apart the love square if I wanted and show how much of a clusterfuck Astruc has made it and how the fans are trying to ignore his mistakes.

But, those are my own opinions and observations that I keep to myself and my Lukanette mutuals. Those are the things I just acknowledge with annoyance because kids are learning poor relationship tendencies and obsessions.

But yikes- ya think you insulted me for a post I made so long ago that I didn’t spend a lot of time on compared to an analysis and dissection I could do. You think I haven’t encountered a wild LS fan that has no real reason to argue Lukanette existing or being a better suited ship for the show.

I can be mean if I really wanted, but I’m not looking for revenge or to insult you back. I’m hoping you wake up and realize it’s not cool to do shit like this for no good reason and the toxicity of the show is why I don’t really engage with others outside the Lukanette part of the fandom.

Honestly though, think how you would feel if someone just continuously bashed something you liked as well as made fun of you in the process. If they took what you liked and just kept laughing. I’m not talking about you coming across posts that are rival to LS ones. I mean someone personally coming at you for something you like.

If you’re that affected by it and angered or forcing ignorance upon yourself for a ship -of a children’s show, mind you- then consider pulling yourself back and away from the show since you’re letting the toxicity of it consume you to the point where you feel this need to indulge yourself and exert it onto others.

That’s not heathy and it’ll start to impact your views on other things as well.

Also, just don’t leave hate asks? You don’t know what could be going on in someone’s life and sometimes, something as simple as that could be a push for them to do something drastic. It’s uncalled for and invalid. Go ahead and start a friendly debate or ask for a more clear view on something to learn, but if you can’t do that then I suggest you grow up and learn because if you let your comments such as these worsen, then you need help to fix your impulse control and insatiable need to come at others.

For the 12% chance this was a compliment, which I know it’s not lmao, I’m smarter than I appear to be, then thanks but work on your phrasing.

[sayuricorner]

Miraculous Ladybug salt x JJBA “Biodad!Jonathan Joestar” AU Headcanons part 5: Arc 3 “The Bizarre Mass Resurection Mystery”

Part 4        Part 6

AU concept

Warning: English is not my first language so sorry if it’s confusing.

Warning 2: This AU content salt don’t like don’t read!

And here we go with part 5 of the headcanons of the “Biodad! Jonathan Joestar” AU!

This part will focus on the arc 3 “The Bizarre Mass Resurection Mystery”!

If you want to use this prompt you can! just credite and tag me in return please! :)

And if you had questions regarding this AU or any of my others prompts/AUs don’t hesitate to ask me on my askbox! ^^

--------------------------------------------

(This picture is an edit, the pictures used are from JJBA and ML which belong respectively to Hirohiko Araki and Thomas Astruc)

Litle recap regarding the arcs:

->This AU had 5 arcs:

-”The Bizarre Origins”

-”The Bizarre USA Adventures”

-”The Bizarre Mass Resurection Mystery”

-”The Bizarre Family”

-”The Bizarre Final Showdown”

-You can read their summaries/concepts in “Biodad!Jonathan Joestar AU concept”

-You can also read the headcanons part 1 to see the arcs’s place in the AU’s timeline.

Arc 3:”The Bizarre Mass Resurection Mystery”:

-Age recap: Marinette:15 years old , Donatello:14 years old , Rikiel:13 years old and Ungalo:13 years old.

-Last summer break were eventfull for Marinette between finding out about her nonna’s job at the Speedwagon Foundation, meeting and fighting four anciens “gods” who knew about the miraculous and meeting three kids who happen to be her half brothers from her mysterious bio father and who became legally her brothers after having been adopted by her parents.

-The times following the adoption were hard as Marinette and her parents had to help the three young boys with their issues but in the end they managed to adapt and give the boys the help they need to heal.

-Donatello got therapy for the abuse he had been victim and anger management.

-Rikiel got therapy for the abuse he had been victim and also for his anxity and everytime his stand is about to hurt him when he became very anxious, Marinette use [Viva la Vida] to calm him and keep his stand under control.

-Ungalo got therapy for the abuse he had been victim and for his temper problems.

-The three boys are homeschooled until they’re mentally healed enough to be able to go to a school.

-At Françoise-Dupont, many had their own opinion about this adoption.

-The Akuma class and miss Bustier were uncertains about the new additions to the Dupain-Cheng householde, to them those boys seemed to be so... opposite to the Dupain-Cheng family’s sweet image everyone view.

-Adrien’s opinion will be different regarding how whoever who use this AU write him:

-If this is Adrien!salt: Adrien will had the same opinion than the class.

-If this is Adrien!salt with redemption: Adrien’s opinion will be mixed, on one hand he would agree with the class but on the other hand he will not be sure if he totally agree with them but is too scared to voice his hesitations.

-If this is Adrien!sugar: Adrien will not agree at all with the class and will even be happy for Marinette having new brothers.

-To the class’s surprise, Chloe don’t seem to had an opinion on the matter and if she had one she don’t voice it, which is unlikely of her.

-In fact ever since the “Miracle Queen” events Chloe was surprisingly quiet, isoliting herself from the class and not trying to be the center of attention anymore, not like the class care to them it was like freedom from Chloe’s bullying.

-As for Lila she profit from the situation to telling the class and Bustier lies, with the influence of [Disturbia], about how she knew families who adopted kids from “dificult backgrounds” and who end up miserable or even in danger because of that.

-This push the class and Bustier to meddling into the Dupain-Cheng family’s business like the class trying to “talk” to Marinette that maybe her parents should reconsider this adoption ‘cause “with those kids’s “special” background you never know what could happen” and are very confused when Marinette get mad at them.

-Bustier also tried to “talk” to Marinette’s parents about the adoption and suggest to them that maybe she could be tutoring the boys ‘cause she feel they also can do “wierd things” and thought they need her “guidance” but the Dupain-Cheng couple politely rejected her offer.

-Until the boys’s mental health is stable enough they will be homeschooled and teach by a tutor who’s trained for teaching children with mental health problems.

-When the boys will be able to go to school, Tom and Sabine plan to make sure they’re not placed in Bustier’s class as with what happen to Marinette, they don’t want the boys to be exposed to Bustier’s toxic influence.

-Months pass, the boys are settled and integrated into the Dupain-Cheng family and even begin to see Tom and Sabine as their parents and became close with their sister Marinette, the akumas attacks keep going and unfortunately for Marinette, Lila still manipulate the class into thinking she’s a bully to Lila.

-During those last months Chloe left Marinette alone much to the latter’s surprise.

-One day the class was planning a field trip, but to the classmates’s demands Marinette and Chloe are banned from the trip ‘cause “they want to protect poor Lila”.

-Chloe didn’t seem to care and Marinette while upset try her best to not show it not wanting to give Lila this satisfaction.

-After class and that Marinette calmed herself down with Tikki’s and [Viva la Vida]’s help out of anyone’s sight, Marinette wondered what she will do now she’s banned from the field trip and Tikki told her that if she can’t go on the field trip with her class than what if she do a trip herself during her class’s absence?

-Marinette found the idea not bad at all and after having thought about it for a while she found a way to go on a trip while her class is away: by creating a travel club.

-Marinette talked with some friends from other classes, Luka, Kagami and Marc include, and together they created a travel club.

-Bustier with the class tried to talk to Damoclès to keep the creation of the travel club “Marinette is supposed to be punished from travel after all” but there’s nothing Damoclès can do since Marinette was forbidden to do Bustier’s class’s field trip but not to organise trips with classmates from other classes.

-So while Marinette and the others members of the travel club were discussing about how orginizing the foundraisers, they got the surprise to be approached by an unsured Chloe who wanted to talk to Marinette in private.

-To her surprise Chloe actually apology for the bad things she had done to her in the past, turn out during summer break she had long reflections about herself and realized the bad things she had done and wanted to try to truly change and be a better person.

-Of course she don’t expect Marinette to forgive her and magically becoming her friend but she wanted at least to let her know that she will stop tormenting her and leave her alone.

-Marinette wasn’t sure what to answer, but normally Chloe would never admit she was a bad person and the fact she actually leave her alone those last months seemed to prove she was genuine.

-Marinette told Chloe that she accept her appologies that while it will she don’t think she can consider her as a friend after everything maybe they can work this out to be at least acquaintance on neutral/good terms which Chloe accept.

-To Chloe’s surprise, Marinette even invite her to join the travel club, she explain to see this as an alliance offer, right now they’re ones of the very few students in Bustier’s class who don’t buy Lila’s lies and who are tormented because of that so she thought it would be better for them to be allies until the “Lila problem” is take care of.

-After hesitating for a time Chloe end up accepting and join the travel club and help them planning their first trip.

-The club decided to do a trip to Italy.

-After having the agreement of the school board and Damoclès, the travel club orginized successful foundraisers and Chloe convinced her father to donate for the travel.

-During the month before the start of their trip, Marinette encouraged Chloe to go to see miss Mendelieiv to learn how to use her stand [Caravane Palace] much to Bustier’s dismay.

-After everything is settled the travel club officialy beging their trip to Italy for two months with Gina, who was traveling in Italy, and miss Mendelieiv as chaperones and on the first weeks everything was fine and everyone was having a good time.

-Things get a bizarre turn when they get to Napoli with an akuma attacking the city.

-See Gabriel Agreste was in Napoli for a business trip and he think that since Ladybug seemed to be everywhere he make akumas maybe he would have an advantage by creating a akuma in a place completly unknow to Ladybug.

-The akuma in question was a member of the italian mafia group “Passione” who wanted to impress the boss and have an important place in the gang, he was in a really bad mood and Hawkmoth profit from it by akumatise him into an akuma who go in a rampage in “the glory of the Boss”.

-The akuma was very destructive and violent and a lot of people were injured or dead.

-Knowing she can’t fight this akuma alone, Marinette discretely go to transform into Ladybug and give to Luka and Kagami the snake and the drgon miraculous and also to Chloe the bee miraculous.

-The fight was tough and very difficult but Team Miraculous managed to beat the akuma and Ladybug used her powers to reverse the damages caused by the akuma and combine with it [Viva la Vida]’s miracle powers to make the reverse’s effects more efficiant.

-But this drained a lot of energy from Marinette who after de-transforming fainted and was in a coma for two week with the others being sick worried.

-At the same time Marinette woke up from her coma, Giorno Giovanna who became the new Don of Passione and was reorganizing the mafia gang for two weeks now get very bizarre news from an hospital, who was in relation with Passione,: Many people from Passione who were supposed to be dead were at this moment in this hospital’s beds inconscious but very much alive.

-Doppio was even among the resurected members which was even more strange since according to [Gold Experience Requiem] Diavolo is still in the death loop.

-At first eveyone thought those resurections were [Gold Experience Requiem]’s work but Giorno explained it wasn’t his stand much to the gang’s confusion.

-The thing is, this mass resurection is due to [Viva la Vida]’s powers with the Ladybug miraculous powers, since the akuma was doing a rampage in his “boss’s name”, Ladybug’s reverse powers and [Viva la Vida]’s powers then reverse damages, healed injuries and brought back from death people who were victims of “the boss” of Passione, but the mix of the two powers extended it to also bring back to life those who were dead in “Golden Wing” and who were victims of Diavolo.

->Characters from Jojo part 5 who were brought back to life:

-Bruno Buccellati

-Leone Abbacchio

-Narancia Ghirga

-La Squadra, Sorbet and Gelato included: The team were victims of Diavolo since their death by team Buccellati’s hand happen ‘cause they wanted to kidnap Trish to track down Diavolo since he killed Sorbet and Gelato.

-Squalo and Tiziano: Despite having been in Diavolo’s special team, they weren’t really loyal to Diavolo and just followed his orders like any members of Passione would do and can’t refuse said orders unless they want to die.

-Vinegar Doppio: He is a victim of Diavolo(himself) since he didn’t know that his “bossu” was another personnality of his and Diavolo profit a lot from Doppio’s ignorance to use him which bring Doppio to his death.

-Another surprise is that Polnareff got his body and stand back: [Viva la Vida]’s powers give him back his body and so “bring back to life” in a certain way and this happen since him loosing his body was Diavolo’s doing.

-Others characters who died in jojo part 5 like Polpo, Carne, Cioccolata, Secco or Leaky-eye Luca are still dead ‘cause they were bad people who were very loyal to Diavolo and who liked what they were doing in Passione and profit grantly of said position without any regret for all the people they have killed.

-While Giorno, Fugo(who come back into Passione some times after part 5), Mista and Trish were happy that Buccellati, Narancia and Abbacchio were back and that Polnareff got his body back, there was still a couple of problems.

-1) What to do about the others Passione members who were brought back to life, especially Doppio? And 2) If [Gold Experience Requiem] isn’t the stand behind this mass resurection then what stand did it?

-For the rest who were brought back to life, it was decided to give them the choice to stay in Passione or not: they can stay in Passione and plead alligance to Giorno and in exchange they will had a good salary and living conditions or they can leave the organisation and they will be left alone.

-La Squadra, Squalo and Tiziano decided to stay in Passione and plead alligance to Giorno.

-For Doppio team Buccellati decided to keep him with them to keep an eye on him ‘cause despite being Diavolo he didn’t know about the whole “splited personnality” and he did the horrible things done by Diavolo and also learning he was in fact Diavolo quite traumatised him and make him a bit mentally unstable so everyone think it was better to not leave him alone due to the risk he would do something stupid.

-For the problem number 2, Giorno lunched a big investigation by using all the intel in Passione, the intel from La Squadra included, to find who was responsible for the mass resurection after all they don’t know if this stand user could be a treath or not.

-The investigation lead them to a strange event which happened in Napoli apparently at the same time than Giorno’s fight against Diavolo: apparently a member of Passione mysteriously get “super powers” and caused a rampage in the city before being beaten by a “super heroes team” who normally are operating in France.

-After interogating some Passione members witnessed the accident team Buccellati learned they saw the “heroes team” were also stand users.

-Thank to Abbacchio’s [Moody Blue] they have been able to find out the heroes team’s identities while investigating the place where the fight were and they found out those heroes were teenagers.

-Some of team Buccellati and La Squadra were then send to locate those teens, keep an eye on them and investigate them.

-Luka spotted them thank to his [Daft Punk] and warned the rest of the travel club which lead to some altercations for a few days which made things a bit difficult for the Passione members.

-After some reports Giorno noticed on the photos that Marinette had the very same star shapped birthmark than him and at the same place than him.

-He then tasked the members charged to keep an eye on Marinette and co to collect a bit of Marinette’s DNA to clear up some suspicions of his.

-After Marinette’s DNA was collected, not without difficulties of course, and analyzed, Giorno find outwith surprise that Marinette is his sister.

-The shock passed and after having a discussion with his team about it, Giorno decided to approach the french group to get Marinette to had a meeting with him.

-Buccellati was the one send to approach Marinette ‘cause he is the most calm, diplomatic and friendly of Passione.

-When Buccellati first meet the travel club, the teenagers and their chapperones were on their guards at first but after some talks and negociations, Buccellati manage to convince them to let Marinette come with him to had a meeting with "his boss” on the condition that Gina, Luka, Kagami and Chloe come with them while miss Mendelieiv and the rest of the travel club stay at the hotel while they are gone.

-At this meeting Kagami got the surprise to see Polnareff, her stand coach and fencing teacher, here in Italy and Polnareff was equally surprised to see Kagami.

-During the meeting Marinette learn some unexpected things: Giorno is another unknow brother of her and is the current Don of the italian mafia, her stand apparently bring back to life more people than just the ones who have been killed by the akumatized stand user and apparently her “bio father”’s name is “Dio”.

-Giorno asked Marinette several questions about her homelife and was relieved to learn that unlike him his sister had a good homelife with loving parents and was surprised to learn that him and Marinette also had three other brothers that Marinette’s parents had adopted since last summer.

-Gina’s suspicions about Marinette’s bio father’s identity got comfirmed when hearing the name “Dio”.

-Through the meeting the rest of team Buccelatti were wondering in their head lie “this petite girl is really the one behind the mass resurection?”.

-Marinette, Gina, Luka, Kagami and Chloe getting to know more about Giorno and team Buccelatti through the meeting.

-[Viva la Vida] being the curious stand she is examin Giorno and team Buccelatti and their stand and end up give them , stand users and stand alike, hugs much to Marinette’s embarassment.

-[Viva la Vida] even hug Fugo’s stand [Purple Haze] by using her miracle powers to be immune to [Purple Haze]’s virus.

-The meeting is momentally interupted by Risotto who came to give a report to Giorno, when he saw the french group he was confused about who those people were and when Marinette was introduced to him as Giorno’s sister and the one behind his and his whole team’s resurection, Risotto was like “I see...” before kneeled before Marinette and kissed her hand while saying in italian “Giovane padrona” much to Marinette’s confusion before standing up once again and leave to go back to his team once he give his report to Giorno.

-The thing is by having resurected him and his team, Risotto consider being in eternal debt toward Marinette for bring him and most importantly his men back and with her being also the Don’s sister this mean it was also his duty as a member of Passione to ensure hers and her close ones’s safety, so when he kneeled before her and kissed her hand it mean he extanded his alligance to her since she’s the Don family and swear to protect her and anyone else from hers and the Don close ones from any threat which please Giorno since that mean Marinette’s and his three others brothers’s safety is enssured.

-After the meeting team Buccellati accompagny the french group back to their hotel.

-The rest of the Travel club’s stay in Italy go peacefully and during the rest of the trip, Marinette get to bond with Giorno.

-Gina called Tom and Sabine to warn them about Marinette having found another unknow brother and while very surprised the Dupain-Cheng couple decided to invite the young man so he would also meet Donatello, Rikiel and Ungalo.

-When the Travel club go back to Paris Giorno and Mista go with them, Giorno leaving Buccellati in charge of Passione while he is away.

-Giorno and Mista meet the Dupain-Cheng household and Giorno bond with  Donatello, Rikiel and Ungalo.

-Marinette, Donatello, Rikiel and Ungalo took Giorno and Mista to make them visit Paris but when they get to the park they are spotted by Lila who were passing by and approached them to cause troubles and try to lie to Giorno and Mista to paint Marinette as a bad person and telling how it would be better if they frequent a good person like her, while she’s flirty toward Giorno and using [Disturbia] to try to influence them to believe her but neither Giorno or Mista fall for her lies and neither are influenced by [Disturbia]’s powers. 

-Marinette is even like “Lila could you please leave us alone? Donatello, Rikiel, Ungalo and I are giving a tour of the city to our brother and his friend and we would like to do it in peace!”, Lila just go being like “You’ll regret this Maribrat!”.

-After this interaction, Giorno and Mista asked Marinette, Donatello, Rikiel and Ungalo what was that and Marinette is like “It was just Lila, she’s a girl with a bad habit of lying but is mostly an annoyance!”.

-Donatello, Rikiel and Ungalo object that Lila is way more than an annoyance since the Italian girl seemed to be obssessed with ruining Marinette’s life and is lying non-stop to paint Marinette to everyone as an horrible person who constently bully her, but Marinette stand on her ground that they exagerating and though her body language show the ”Lila situation” is really bad, she still assure that everything is fine despite her brothers’s, Giorno include, and Mista’s concerns.

-When the group go back to the bakery they found two men talking with the Dupain-Cheng couple.

-The two men are Jotaro and Josuke who came to Paris to meet and talk to Giorno, Marinette, Donatello, Rikiel and Ungalo about their “bio father”.

-You see the SPWF got report of strange activities in Italy about a powerfull energy coming from a stand which bring back to life a bunch of poeple.

-Jotaro make an investigation with the foundation to get the bottom of this and the investigation lead them to the Dupain-Cheng household.

-He found out that Marinette possess a stand which allow her to do “miracles” and also that the family adopted three of Dio’s or rather Jonathan’s sons.

-After having interrogated Gina on the phone, Jotaro also learned that Marinette is also a child of Jonathan and that she met Giorno, the last of Jonathan’s children, during a trip in Italy and that he go back in France with her to meet their other brothers.

-Jotaro with Josuke go to Paris to meet the five kids.

-During the discussion Jotaro told them about Jonathan and also Dio and what kind of man the latter was much to the five teens’s horror especially Giorno who’s shocked that the father he wanted dearly to meet since he was young was in fact a monster.

-However Jotaro told them that despite Dio being their birth father, their biological father was Jonathan who was a good man and that from what he see despite everything they seem to get more from Jonathan than Dio.

-He told them also that despite the circonstance of their birth, they’re Jonathan’s children and family to the Joestar.

-The discussion goes on, Marinette and her brothers learning more and more of their family’s bizarre’s life and for Marinette this was the begenin of something which lead her to big, bizarre and dangerous events.

Additional headcanons:

-Marinette and her brothers having sweet siblings moments.

-During the rest of the trip in Italy, Marinette created a suit for Giorno which is the black suit with green ladybugs he wore at the end of “Golden Wind”.

-Giorno bonding with all his siblings.

-The Dupain-Cheng being parental and welcoming toward Giorno when they meet him.

-Sabine being shaken and being comforted by Tom when learning from Jotaro that the man, Dio, with who she slept years ago was a dangerous vampire and that she was lucky nothing bad happen to her that night since Dio usually kill the people he lure to sleep with him.

-Tom and Sabine bein moral support for the kids when learning about Dio.

-During the rest of the trip in Italy Kagami had a talk with Polnareff about a friend of her(Adrien), which she suspect to had a stand but which seem unstable and that said friend seem to had no control on this stand and she’s worried about him.

-Polnareff promised her to try to help her friend and one day he go back in France and meet Adrien during one of his fencing private lessons with kagami.

->He talk with Adrien to propose him to help him regarding his stand and depending on whoever who use this AU choose for Adrien it will go like this:

-If it’s Adrien sugar or Adrien salt with redemption: Polnareff will convince Adrien to let him help him despite the boy’s hesitations to had anything to do with his stand and fear to desappoint his father for doing “wierd things”, Polnareff with Tomoe help, the latter having talking to Gabriel about the excellent fencing tutor she hired for Kagami, will get hired by Gabriel to also give private fencing lessons to Adrien and during those lessons Polnareff will also help Adrien to had a better control of [Freak on a Leash] and officially become also the boy’s stand coach and with time the two became close forming a son-father like bond and Polnareff even help Adrien to learn to be more assertive and that sometime “taking the high road” is not the best solution.

-If it’s Adrien salt: Adrien will reject Polnareff’s offer, pretexting he don’t need help and there’s nothing wrong with him, Polnareff try to convince him to accept his help but Adrien still reject the offer and Polnareff got no other choice but to respect his choice but still give him his phone number if he change his mind, but while going back to his home Adrien throw away the phone number muttering in his breath “I’m normal, there’s nothing wrong with me!”not noticing [Freak on a Leash] being more agitated than usual or rather he is trying to ignore him.

-[Viva la Vida] giving hugs to Jotaro and Josuke and to [Star Plantinum] and [Crazy Diamonds].

-Hawkmoth begenin to be interested by Stands and their habilities.

-The kwamis playing with [Viva la Vida].

-Team Buccellati, Giorno include, knew about Marinette being Ladybug but decided to act as if they don’t.

-Gina know about Marinette being Ladybug ‘cause with her Hamon training she can read energies and she found out that Marinette’s energy and Ladybug’s energy are the same but decided to act as if she don’t know to protect her grand-daughter’s secret identity.

-Since stands are capacities very recent and are the very encens of a being and so very complex, miraculous magic can mix with stands but the “magic camouflage” don’t really work on stands.

-The member of Passione call Marinette "giovane padrona"(young mistress) and Donatello, Rikiel and Ungalo "giovane padrone"(young master) since they're Giorno's siblings.

TAG LIST :( a reblog will get you a place in the tag list! ^^)

@sir-david-von-templo , @wrecker-radioactive , @secretlawyercolorscissors , @whitetiger1337 , @enkiduvhs , @coffeeoverdosedshipper , @shuirosansshitposts​ , 

[awholelotofladybug]

Therapy: A Stammering Adrien AU Story

Based on this AU.

This is a nonprofit story. The only characters or locations I own are the ones I make up.  All other fictional characters and locations about Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir are the property of Thomas Astruc and Zag. Please support the official release.

Adrien knew what he was doing today. By now, it was as routine as piano practice, Chinese lessons, fencing, and school. Therapy. Adrien had mixed feelings about therapy. On one hand, his therapist, Dr. Lavigne, was very kind. She always made him feel welcome and at ease. On the other hand, the questions she asked were always on touchy subjects. Adrien knew that talking about them was a big part of his treatment, but whether you're going through therapy or facing a supervillain, the hardest step is always the first. So, with a deep breath, Adrien pulled himself together, and walked into the office.

"Ah, Adrien. Come on in."

Adrien looked to the voice. His therapist, Beatrice Lavigne, or Bea for short, was a woman around his mother's age. She had black hair in a downward bun, brown eyes, and a curvaceous body. She wore a navy blue suit over a white turtleneck, and black mid-heel office shoes. She looked at her patient, and smiled.

"Glad you could make it," she said. "Take a seat, and we can begin."

Adrien did as instructed, and found himself on her couch. He felt a little nervous. It's true, he was a regular patient, but he was still getting used to it all, which Dr. Lavigne picked up on.

"Adrien, are you feeling okay?" she asked.

Adrien jolted a little. "Huh?"

"You're tense. Are you still nervous?"

Adrien blushed. "Well..."

"Adrien, I've told you before, you don't have to worry," said Bea. "This is a safe environment where you can let your guard down. Relax."

Adrien took a deep breath. "Okay... Okay, I think I'm ready."

"Okay, so, how have things been with your friends?"

"They're okay, I guess..." said Adrien.

"You guess? Last time, you were over the moon about how wonderful your friends are, especially your girlfriend," said Beatrice. "Is something wrong? Has something bad happened?"

"No, nothing bad's happened, b-b-but that's sort of the problem," said Adrien.

Bea cocked an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?"

"Well, I have... I have friends, a girlfriend, a social life, and things are great, but I s-s-still feel so unhappy sometimes, even when we do something fun. It's like my depression is pushing back against me."

"Hmm, that's pretty common," said Bea. "Depression can catch us off guard, even when we least expect it."

"And whenever it hits me when I'm with my f-f-friends, I feel so guilty," said Adrien. "It feels like I'm letting them down. They say I'm not, but..."

"But you can't help but think the opposite?"

Adrien's head lowered. "Yes."

"Maybe you should talk to your doctor about adjusting your medications," said Bea, writing in her notebook. "But at the same time, Adrien, give your friends and family more credit. They know you, they understand you."

Adrien sighed. "It just feels like I... I should be happy, and I am, but not as happy as I s-s-should be. Like there's always a hint of sadness."

"That's how depression is, sometimes," said Bea. "Adrien, you're depressed, and still getting over the trauma of losing your father. You've made progress, but it's still going to be a long, bumpy road. But hey, you've made it this far."

"O-Okay," said Adrien.

Bea placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're doing better than you think."

Adrien smiled. He remembered that Bea cared about him, and felt a wave of ease sweep over him. This helped the rest of the session go by smoothly as Adrien continued to go through his much needed, and much appreciated therapy.

[giuliafc]

Betrayal Chapter 16: Su-Han's plan

<< 1 -- 2 -- 3 -- 4 -- 5 -- 6 -- 7 -- 8 -- 9 -- 10 -- 11 -- 12 -- 13 -- 14 -- 15 -- 16: Ao3 || FFN -- 17 >>

Written by: JuliaFC

Beta: AgresteBug and MyImaginationFlows

Summary: Su-Han has a plan to help Chat Noir, but the poor boy is overwhelmed and needs bug cuddles. Buggles. Okay, I'm becoming worse than him XD (Written for "Snippet July" and LadyNoir July Day 27 — Redemption/cuddles. Chapter wordcount 997 words)

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Written for the "Snippet July" challenge of the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server @miraculousfanworks AND for LadyNoir July @ladynoirjuly Day 27 — Redemption/cuddles. Let me know what you think!

oOoOoOoOoOo

As the superheroes started following the officers and their prisoners, Chat Noir took some doubtful steps to follow. Ladybug only needed a glance to notice the panic in his eyes. Without saying a word, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. His electric green eyes locked into her bluebell ones for some time, but eventually, the boy looked down. He was pale and held on Ladybug's hand for dear life when he opened his mouth to talk.

"Lieutenant," he started; Roger Raincomprix turned around and looked at him. "There's something I need to…"

Suddenly, Su-han put a hand on Chat’s shoulder while shooting a very intense look at Ladybug. "When things look desperate," he said, "I find that exotic birds' feathers can be very helpful." His gaze moved eloquently from Ladybug to her yoyo to Chat Noir.

Ladybug frowned. She met Su-Han's gaze with her doubtful one and put a finger to her chin. Then, her eyes widened and she smiled. She looked at Chat Noir, then her yoyo, then at Pégase Marron, and her smile turned into a smirk.

"What is it, son? We don't have all day, I have a family to go back to," said the Officer. Chat Noir made to answer, but Ladybug shushed him by covering his mouth.

"My partner wanted to point out that Pégase Marron needs to recharge her kwami. We don't want her identity to be revealed to you all. We'll go to Adrien after." She looked at a very perplexed Pégase Marron and winked. "I'll help you find a hiding spot." The Lieutenant could only nod, muttering something about silly identity rules slowing them down.

When they were out of the view, Ladybug waited for Alya to detransform and feed Kaalki some of Trixx's grapes (Kaalki said it was an outrage, but none of the two girls really listened to the disappointed kwami). Then she opened her yoyo and revealed a brooch that looked like the tail of a peacock.

"What's that?" asked Alya in a daze.

"The Peacock Miraculous," said Ladybug; Duusu appeared in a flash of indigo light. "It grants the power of creating living beings from emotions." Her decisive gaze met Alya's perplexed one. "I need you to unify Kaalki and Duusu, open a voyage portal and get into Adrien's room. There you will create a sentimonster copy of Adrien, come back here, and divide the kwamis to return the Miraculous to me."

Alya's face brightened. "Wow, Ladybug. You're a genius!"

"It was Su-Han's idea, I can't take credit for it. But I agree with you, it's genius. It's time to redeem the Peacock Miraculous and use it for the greater Good."

And so they did. While Lieutenant Raincomprix kept pestering them asking how long it could possibly take to feed a magical creature, Alya transformed back into Pégase Marron, unified Kaalki and Duusu and opened a portal to Adrien's room.

The now indigo coloured superheroine opened her feathered fan.

"Help us, amok. Give life to Ladybug's plan."

The amok sank into a picture of Adrien and his mother in a frame on his desk, and in a blob of indigo magic, SentiAdrien stood in front of Alya, looking at her pointedly with the same dazzling green eyes as Adrien.

"Gosh, I don't know what to say. How do people usually give orders to a sentimonster? Uh… can you be... natural... and like Adrien for real, or do you need me to move you?"

SentiAdrien smiled and grabbed the picture from Adrien's desk, showing it to Alya. "I can move by myself, as long as I own my amok."

"Good," said Alya with relief. "Wow, you look exactly like him. It's amazing…" She circled him excitedly.

"Are you done, Alya? It's getting difficult to contain the Lieutenant," said Ladybug in a merely audible whisper, her face popping through the portal. When she saw SentiAdrien, her eyes widened and her cheeks dusted slightly in pink. "Uh, wow, he looks… perfect," she whispered, more to herself than anybody else.

SentiAdrien fixed his top and shirt and shot Ladybug a confident look. "Why, thank you, Ladybug." That said, he winked and smiled showing his white teeth. Ladybug's face became a whole ten shades redder.

"Y-yea. P-perfect."

Alya gave a thumbs up to SentiAdrien and went back through the portal.

When Ladybug and Pégase Marron finally emerged from their hiding place (they had to feed Kaalki again, Duusu too), Ladybug winked at Chat Noir and shot him what she hoped was a confident smile, but her partner didn't take the hint. So while Lieutenant Raincomprix scolded Pégase Marron, the red polka dotted superheroine walked straight to him and gave him a hug.

"Don't worry, Minou. My plan is in place," she whispered into his ear. He hugged her back tight, his frame nearly shaking, his gloved hands resting on her shoulders were as cold as ice.

"I'm scared," he told her, in a similar whisper. "I was so close to revealing myself. I can't continue like this, M'lady, it's too much. All of this is too much."

In the background, Pégase Marron raised her voice while arguing with Lieutenant Raincomprix (something about holding him up), but Ladybug didn't care. All she was worried about were the quiet sobs that shook Chat Noir's frame. She softly patted his hair while whispering sweet nothings into his ears. Then, her fingers started scratching a tender spot behind his cat ears and the boy erupted in a low purr. They didn't know how long they were wrapped in this cathartic embrace, but way too soon they heard Lieutenant Raincomprix clear his throat and they had to separate.

"I did mention my family waiting for me, didn't I?" scolded the officer, and both Ladybug and Chat Noir blushed to the roots of their hair.

"S-sorry, we won't hold you any longer, let's go," said Ladybug and, grabbing Chat Noir's hand, started following the officers out of the cave.

--------------------------------

Author's Note

Here we are, day 27. Again, a different slant to the 'redemption' bit, hope you liked how it turned out to be! Please let me know in the comments! You know that comments are my bread and butter!

Until (hopefully) tomorrow, bug out!

[miraculouscontent]

Ask Explo--

...you know what, you’re right. Name change effective immediately.

Askplosion #10:

(unrelated to everything by the way but I DEMAND THE ANON WHO MENTIONED “REMARRIED EMPRESS” A WHILE BACK COME FORTH AND ANSWER FOR THEIR CRIMES. IT’S SO GOOD BUT IT’S UNFINISHED AND I’M HOOKED, HOW DARE YOU)

Asks responding to previous posts:

It’s okay! I figured that was what it was but it’s been so loooong.

Ah, wow.

Um, that’s definitely not a part 2; I think that’s more like a four-parter/five-parter or something.

Sorry! No can do!

That’s totally fair!

I think the reason I so quickly agreed with it is like--

I’ve been watching the Inuyasha sequel and it’s not like I don’t think the narrative’s apparent punching bag Moroha (who is fourteen years old) shouldn’t be punished when she does something wrong/sneaky/manipulative, but they punish her as if she’s Miroku (who was eighteen years old).

Basically, I want the punishment to take the age into account, or at least only affect Marinette on a more personal level and not be “Heart Hunter” where they take totally understandable feelings of heartache (remember, it wouldn’t have mattered which miraculous she took because Hawk Moth got the Miracle Box and Fu regardless; even beyond her emotions, I feel like she chose the best option available to her considering which temps she knew the location of) and then punish her for them by memory wiping Fu and taking away all of her temps and giving Hawk Moth the grimoire translation.

Yes!! I really wanted to respond to this one, thank you! (It’s this one and then there was another one talking about Luka and Adrien, then talked to me about how I refer to Luka as “soft” but not in a bad way; I unfortunately don’t remember the whole thing.)

Ahaha, and yeah, I feel you. Anti-salters are a very strange conundrum I still haven’t figured out; like, I get not liking salt, but...

I mean, when I don’t like certain content, I just blacklist it. If I end up seeing it anyway due to cross-tagging or a lack of tagging, then I just blacklist the person themself. You won’t see me going after people for that very reason; I only see what people send/ask me if it’s content I don’t like.

I’m glad you’ve found some peace in this blog! Hopefully it continues to be that way for you in the future!

(and yay, a fellow INTJ!!)

New Asks:

There are female writers? ;P I just assumed they were all locked in a closet until the male ones were like, “okay, pretend to help us here, we need one female writer to claim girl power.”

As for Ladybug all like, “Cute, isn’t she?” I think it was rhetorical (she could also be messing with him but “Glaciator” tells us that she didn’t know he crushed on her so who knows). The writers do this thing where Marinette is all panic-y and occasionally self-conscious as herself, but then as Ladybug, she suddenly gets a bit of an ego. I think it’s meant to be there in order to make Chat Noir look less... idk, “obnoxious” when he starts boosting his own ego; trying to balance the two by giving them both big heads, so to speak.

Honestly, I feel like Adrien needs less screen time. :|

Even when he’s not on-screen, characters are usually talking about him, or you see his face in Marinette’s room/somewhere in Paris. I’m become so jaded by the guy that I don’t even think it’d matter if they remade the series and gave it a “totally good and interesting Adrien.” That’s how badly the show has made him out for me; “Adrien Agreste” the character is just... sigh, I’m so done with him.

And yeah, this whole idea about, “Marinette is [x], we need more AAAAAADRIEN!” comes off really bad, lol, especially when Adrien has very little going for him.

(this ask ends off like there should be a part 2 but there isn’t one in my inbox, so sorry if there’s meant to be something else!)

The exact lyrics according to the wiki:

My wish for a cat who's in love, with our own Ladybug. Is that he'll get what he's always wanted! She doesn't know she loves him, only sees Adrien, But Christmas miracles always happen!

Yeah, especially nowadays, those lines bothers me. Not only does it imply “true selves,” but that it’s Chat who should be getting what he always wanted and Ladybug is the one with a problem.

Like, excuse me?

Probably Stormy Weather, even in the first episode. Ladybug and Chat Noir couldn’t even touch her until they arrived on top of the TV station.

+ With all those effects and shots, it made it feel more action-y than typical episodes.

Marinette, Aurore, Luka, Anarka, Jagged...

basically any name that I haven’t really heard before (”Luka” makes me think of Vocaloid but the Luka there was female), or a name that relates a lot to the character (like “Aurore” for “aurora” since she loves weather things).

dfjbghfkdgfdgnjfdg this anon really like, “I NEED ANSWERS!!!”

It’s as if these characters hit 18 or something and just grow overnight, I swear. I’m hypothetically fine with some more variety in character height (it’s not like the show tries to be realistic, after all), but maybe don’t give us official heights if they’re gonna be this weird/inaccurate.

Especially when they change it just for the sake of a shot anyway. If you watch “Simon Says” when Ladybug and Adrien stand next to each other while looking at the picture of Adrien’s mother, the very next close-up has an obvious difference in their heights from what you just saw.

They’re 3D models!!! This shouldn’t happen!

I... honestly never thought of the “less threatening” thing! Dang!

And yeah, Marinette isn’t helpless or incompetent, but because of the Adrien crush, it makes her that way at times since she’s always falling on him and--

...ugh, actually, yeah, don’t wanna think about those implications. Hard pass.

Gross.

I’m not familiar with that one, though Astruc deletes his tweets all the time (there was one tweet where he confirmed that Luka was poor and it only exists in screenshots now because it didn’t get archived and he deleted it almost like he realized that he was pointing out the blatant classism in the show, oops).

Yeah though, I haven’t seen anything like what you’re describing. Sorry!

It’s okay! Sorry for having you clarify but him choosing and Marinette deciding to never give it back are very different things.

I don’t recall Chat Noir having much purpose in the final fight (in terms of both contributing and actual fighting; I know Cataclysm broke the object to release the akuma but was it needed?) so Marinette might either go cat-less or get a temp. Plagg could also be helpful in his own right because he’s small and blends in with the night, so he could hypothetically sneak up on the bad guy.

Afterwards, there’d need to be a new cat, but Adrien would also have to reconsider his actions and really think about what happened. I could also see Plagg going to Adrien’s house, half to apologize for giving the idea to Adrien that Adrien leave without telling Ladybug, but also half to call him out for giving up without consulting anyone. Adrien is a lot of conflicting things (see Adrien’s passivity compared to Chat Noir’s recklessness) so he’d have to find a middle ground within himself.

Marinette might carry Plagg around in her purse for a while and let Plagg have a say in who he goes to. Plagg might grieve for a bit over not having Adrien around (even if Adrien was flawed, Plagg didn’t ask for any of this so Marinette is doing her best here).

O-oh.

That’s always the rough patch with “endgame ships.”  Once it’s obvious to the audience that they’re endgame, no more effort needs to be put into them.

The other thing too is how Kagami, for example, is friends with Marinette. Even once Adrimi sinks, she’ll presumably stay friends with her. Luka, meanwhile, is Juleka’s brother.

They have lives outside of their love interests. Adrien is so into Ladybug that he doesn’t have that; I mean, Nino is Adrien’s best friend like once in a blue moon.

The entire class is just watching an episode and then calling on raised hands to answer what was wrong with what they just watched.

“Everything?”

“I mean, yes, but I’m sorry, you have to be more specific to get credit.”

I think Aeon herself is fine. It’s mostly just her transformed and that transformed name that I have a problem with (she doesn’t even look uncanny so I don’t get it). I heard there was something wrong with the name “Aeon” but searching the name doesn’t give me anything I would qualify as such so I have no idea. I just wish she was given a little less “I’m programmed to--” (makes her seem less sentient) and more “[anything that doesn’t have to do with pushing the love square]” because I feel like they might’ve done the latter to make her more “likable”? I think fans of anything usually like the “matchmaker” character provided it’s for a ship they like. Also strange that they make her a robot but Max and Markov don’t extensively interact with her, but that’s a nitpick and not a criticism of her character.

...I’m rambling, my bad lol.

(Ohhh, she was supposed to be a mummy? Like, foreshadowing her “dying”?? That went right over my head but I guess that’d be where the name Uncanny Valley came from? No clue.)

Best case scenario is probably the middle or the end of Season 4.

And yeah, it really doesn’t matter to me what they do with the love square. Marinette had gone through too much suffering and the show goes out of its way to show how much stress Marinette is being put under (and also keeping Luka away during episodes like “Gamer 2.0″ even when it makes sense for them to be there, as if trying to make sure Marinette doesn’t have enough moments with him to forget Adrien).

Like, ah, yes, I totally believe that Marinette is in a position where she can make reasonable decisions about her love life while all circles of her life are on fire.

If the Sonic movie of all things can have an interracial couple, there’s no reason why this show can’t, just saying.

And, even with Marinette, she’s white-passing (according to what basically everyone says, I’m really awful about recognizing race so this isn’t my field; I wasn’t aware that Ondine was Asian, for example).

Does Nadja count? Manon’s dark-skinned (I’m still not over the fact that all the kids in this show are dark-skinned; it’s not like it’s a problem from a representation standpoint - though all the kids are also all generically bratty/whiny so there’s that - but the percentages in this show are weird) while Nadja is really light-skinned, meaning either a dark-skinned husband or Manon is adopted.

Though I guess the problem then is that we don’t know, so there’s no established couple there.

Non-Miraculous Asks:

w-who gave you the right to say such things????

Uhhhh, that might be too broad of a question, I’m sorry!

I know this isn’t satisfactory, but I will say that my favorite genre is Fantasy/Romance (it’s why I adore Red Shoes so much; by the way, an anon asked for my opinion on that a while back and I will get to it! I’d need to watch it again to get screenshots) and my least favorite is probably Tragedy/Horror.

I don’t think I’ve watched enough to really be able to say? I’ve kind of been all over but I’ve never fully gone through any of them outside of Miraculous. I’ve seen bits of Sailor Moon, Tokyo Mew Mew, Star VS the Forces of Evil (don’t know if that counts), and I meant to watch Yuki Yuna is a Hero but never got around to it. I saw the entirety of Puella Magi Madoka Magica but you guys know how I feel about that one.

Maybe Cardcaptor Sakura by default then? It was definitely not perfect but I liked some of the character dynamics (I also have a clipcut of it - basically where I go through a series/movie and cut out parts I don’t like so it’s only good stuff - so I’m cheating a little) and the male love interest was a tsundere type that I actually ended up liking, which is really rare.

!!! That sounds sweet~ I know Sailor Moon is popular so I’ll definitely take your word for it on that one.

I would also accept a “reincarnated”/”destined lovers” trope if maybe the ship themselves are the one who set it up in the first place. I have a Lukanette AU, for example, where they basically got together and then prayed to the shrine of the renewal god that they’d “always be together,” which ended up allowing them to reincarnate over and over (as if they set up their own soulmate AU ;P) and continuously find each other.

Though I guess that’s not technically a “meant to be trope,” but still, it’s a form of it but where it was totally consensual on both sides.

Also, I finally thought of a show that ended with the ship I wanted: Gargoyles. I didn’t see the entire series, mind you, but I saw most of it and Goliath and Elisa were just... quality, I adored them.

+ With Beauty and the Beast being my favorite Disney movie, they fit right in with my tastes.

I forget that AangToph (I think the “official” name for the ship is Taang, but don’t quote me on that) exists sometimes, maybe because I’ve never shipped Aang with anyone; I’ve got no problems with the ship though.

Ugh, and this is what I mean when I talk about people who set up these reasons behind people shipping something based on what they saw a few people do. It’s like, “you only ship Adrimi/Lukanette to spite Adrienette!!”

Meanwhile, me having shipped all three at one point and then dropped off the love square.

Also, me shipping Zutara has nothing to do with it being dark/edgy because I’ve never seen it that way (intriguing, sure but dark and edgy? lol) and also avoid dark/edgy ships like the plague.

I still laugh at people who are like, “you can’t ship it because it’s not endgaaaaame!” as if shows can dictate how and why I enjoy something. Like sure, if you want to let a show/movie spoonfeed you how you’re supposed to feel, then by all means, go ahead.

I suppose people may be theoretically happier that way, but it doesn’t make for an analytic mind.

I legitimately thought that “AssClass” must’ve been the actual name for something until it registered with me what it actually meant.

And eh, I guess it depends on the comparison and how accurate the comparison actually is? Like, comparing Puella Magic Madoka Magica to Miraculous... they’re not really close at all, but comparing... idk, Bunnyx to Homura or the concept behind “backfiring wishes”... maybe?

-

(note that the rest of this post is more Puella Magi Madoka Magica salt so you can stop reading here if you’re not interested in that; I’m not sure if this is all the same anon but I don’t mind letting people vent so I let them go off~)

why can’t we just have nice things

I agree, and I give a little eyeroll every time it’s like, “oh, this person had [miraculous]”

+ even just in general, I feel weird about any show that mentions/implies that real world famous people are [x] or [y] in their show. It breaks my immersion; real world locations are one thing but when it’s specific people (unless they’re made up characters like Santa Claus) or games just--break me.

I also don’t know what to think when there aren’t magical boys but you have these magical girls in this frilly outfits/skirts. The demographic is girls so I presume the reason must be like, “you can look pretty and still beat people up” (;P) but having so many magical girl shows without a hint of a magical boy makes me suspicious that it’s for fanservice. Sailor Moon has Tuxedo Mask but I also don’t know what that guy did outside of the meme of him doing nothing so I’ve got no clue.

(edit: I should correct myself that I’m not talking about Sailor Moon specifically; I don’t know magical girls that well, though I do know there are ones clearly intended for fanservice (you could say that for anything, to be fair, but still). It’s just that I see things like super short skirts or very “questionable” shots and I’m just like, “hm”)

Hmmm, good question. I feel like there has to be a lot but I’m also the type who doesn’t watch a lot of TV lol. I’m just familiar with cliches and tropes and such.

The reason I try not to use “ism”s of any kind is mostly because it’s too broad. Like, you know how the English language only has one way of saying, “I love you,” but other languages like Spanish have multiple?

It’s like that, and sometimes I think it’s too easy to throw those words out there. A “small” (possibly completely unintentional/misunderstood) offense is sexism, and then a “large” offense is called the exact same thing. I’d rather go into why something is sexist than just call it that, y’know? The only exception I make is “classism” because I feel like that’s not as... I dunno, divisive?

Anyway, for that same reason, I can’t answer firmly that, “Madoka Magica is sexist.” I will however say that it makes me uncomfortable with how the show makes out the girls being emotional because they’re young and female and then proceeds to make their life a living hell before they’re old enough to properly answer to it (I know that’s the point but that kind of makes it worse?). It doesn’t help with how all the girls have different personalities, so it’s not like you have only “crybaby girls” who are being taken advantage of; it’s basically like... all girls.

Not helped is the fact that their soul gem not only deteriorates naturally, but it can also do so faster if the girl falls into despair, which then turns them into a monster (and I know it’s kind of like an akuma thing, but the fact that it’s only girls is... I dunno, it comes off wrong?). It seems cheap that the soul gem deteriorates no matter what so it constantly needs fed even if the girl is consistently happy.

I would probably opt for the show being centered more around Kyubey being new to this or something - like, magical girls are a new thing - and then have Kyubey being surprised because they presumed that the soul gem would deteriorate naturally since “emotions are powerful but destructive to the person having them,” but then all the girls team up and help each other work out their problems. Maybe the reason magical girls are usually alone isn’t even because of the grief seed (I think that’s what it’s called?) thing not being able to be shared, but because Kyubey intentionally separates magical girls so they can’t do what the main group is doing, but Madoka is so into the idea that, “We shouldn’t have to be alone,” and so she’s constantly pulling all the girls together, which keeps them healthy.

Maybe Homura’s backstory could be that Madoka originally was more sheepish and more afraid to put herself out there, especially since she was a magical girl (who are encouraged to go it alone), which is why their soul gems were both deteriorating; they were friends but kept more of a distance, or maybe they were a team but that’s all they were. Then Madoka gives Homura the last grief seed to save her and that’s what inspires Homura and makes her see Madoka as something more than a teammate, which is why Homura actively tries to save Madoka specifically (which then encourages Madoka to want to keep everyone together as friends).

In the case that Kyubey doesn’t separate them out of concern of fRiEnDsHiP, but for another reason altogether, and then it’s ultimately their own downfall when they allow the girls to hang out and realize that it’s doing a lot of good for them.

“cute and innocent”

That was exactly it. It’s on Kyubey’s trivia section on the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Wiki.

Before the anime's first dark plot twist aired, head writer Gen Urobuchi said on his Twitter account that the "Kyu" in Kyubey's name comes from the English word "cute". This was a lie meant to further mislead fans into thinking that Madoka Magica is an innocent happy show. In a later episode, it was revealed that "Kyubey" is, in fact, short for "incubator".

In my personal opinion, a spoiled plot can’t be “ruined” if it’s a good plot. If you told me that Kagome was trapped in the Modern era for three years and then decided to stay with Inuyasha at the end of Inuyasha, it wouldn’t/shouldn’t decrease the value when I finally see it for myself because it’s good. That’s not to say that everything should just be spoiled right out of the gate, but it’s saying that maybe your plot isn’t good if you have to rely on shock value to make it work??

I FEEL THAT “ASSIGNING IT TO THE WHOLE GENDER” THING SO BAD. It just adds to my “the girls all have varying personalities so it’s not like Kyubey’s only after emotional crybabies or anything” salt.

I have no idea about any of the stuff about the writers so I can’t confirm or deny them. I will very much agree on the target audience thing though, especially with the whole “keeping the dark plot a secret” because really? Who is this for then? Like, the first two and a half episodes are for one demographic and then the others are--???

I dunno. Me personally, I just like feel good stories. I do like some good conflict and drama (for context, Remarried Empress is basically a webtoon that gives you things to feel salty about and then makes its own salt fic as its plot, allowing for endless streams of feels and catharsis, so I’m definitely not against drama), but there are other times where I just want to feel good watching something.

I feel like the show expects the characters to be selfless/perfect and then punishes them even though it’s their writing that’s causing them to act out. I can’t really talking about “out-of-character” but sometimes it’s just obvious where “we did this because we needed a plot/conflict.”

Like, hello? We don’t need the main characters screwing up; why can’t we just have some feel good thing where they take the day for themselves (seriously, imagine a Miraculous episode where Chat Noir actually tells Ladybug to take a couple days for herself, like maybe someone else gets the earrings for a few days as a temp while Marinette gets to breathe; IMAGINE IT). Not everything needs to be high-stakes to be interesting and you need those calmer moments so that the action-packed ones feel more intense.

SAYAKA DESERVES BETTER.

I feel like the magical girl genre as a whole can be way more complex than it’s made out to be. I think people hear the word “magical girl” and think “cute girls in short skirts talk about girl problems and fight evil with the power of friendship and accessories.”

Ugh, just the mention of Rebellion makes me sigh internally.

Congrats on working on your own magical girl story! I hope it goes well for you!

I know it’s not technically a magical girl show, but there was also Totally Spies that Astruc worked on to some degree (I think there was some characters who were based on/a loose reference to the mains from that show but I don’t remember exactly).

The thing about the female characters suffering is that they could make for good lessons on positively directing one’s emotions (like Usagi from Sailor Moon, for example, maybe having a problem with taking her anger out on her friends, but learns that she can save that rage for the bad guys; “Gamer 2.0″ from Miraculous could’ve done that, honestly, by having Ladybug absolutely WRECK all of her gaming opponents in “violent” (cartoon violence obviously) fashion). It’s just a shame that it’s not taken advantage of.

Sayaka??? Selfish???????

*does not compute*

(Also, I wasn’t tired of them, don’t worry! It was a little overwhelming in my inbox but it’s me who’s allowing all the asks to flow in so the blame isn’t on you lol.)

I’m not sure where this obsession came from with, “you have to be selfless and you’re not allowed to use your powers for yourself.” It’s like the world’s going to end if a character leaves to go Self-Care or something. I think what happened is that shows got this idea that promoting only the giving of others is great and it’s not important to take time for yourself (even with “Gamer 2.0,” it was still Marinette playing games with everyone else, and they treated her dedication and seriousness like a bad thing when she literally did not have time to waste and they didn’t give a reason why it was good for her to take a break, only that she should).

This usually leads to the “demonization” of characters who sport a lot of self-confidence or any sort of ego. It works on both sides; Marinette is a punching bag because of her anxiety and occasional lack of confidence, but if she had an ego as Ladybug, there are parts of the fandom who deem her “obnoxious” (i.e: “Reflekdoll”). There’s a delicate balance between “be confident” and “be humble” and it’s a tightrope act.

[pretoriuspictures]

https://www.talkhouse.com/on-the-virtues-of-cinematic-failure/

///

Most journalists who have spoken to me about my new erotic drama PVT Chat (starring Peter Vack and Julia Fox and streaming now on most VOD platforms) assume it’s my first feature film. Actually, it’s my third. My first two features never played a single film festival and haven’t been seen by more than a few hundred people (mostly friends and/or curious followers of my rock band, Bodega). They were financial failures (even though they were made extremely cheaply), but you couldn’t call them critical failures because nobody has ever reviewed them. I spent the last decade working on these films and yet their cultural footprint is practically nonexistent.

Despite that, I still believe in them and hope one day I’ll make a movie (or record) that inspires people to seek them out. My early cinematic attempts certainly failed at behaving like normal movies, but to me it is precisely this failure that makes them interesting.

Godard said of Pierrot le Fou (1965), “It’s not really a film. It’s an attempt at a film.” This is a purposefully cryptic statement, but I think I understand what he meant. There is a sketch-like quality to his films from that period. He was less interested in following a particular plot through to its conclusion than suggesting narrative ideas and moving on. He enjoyed employing classical narrative tropes but didn’t want to waste screen time on the proper pacing required to sell those tropes to an audience. Instead he filled his screen time with spontaneous personal, poetic, and political ruminations that occurred to him literally on the day of filming. Many found – and still find – this approach infuriating, but for a select number of Godard disciples, like me, this type of filmmaking is still revolutionary. I remember seeing Weekend during my sophomore year of college at the University of South Carolina and having my mind completely ripped open. Suddenly the world wasn’t a small, mediocre, predictable place – it was full of music and color and philosophy and eroticism. There were people out there genuinely disgusted with the status quo and boldly proclaiming it with style.

Godard’s work is a fulfillment of the dream of the caméra-stylo – a term coined in 1948 by Alexandre Astruc that argued it was theoretically possible for someone to compose a film with as much direct personal expression as exists in prose. In order to achieve this level of expression, one often needs to move beyond the realm of mere plot and narrative naturalism, the principle that what you are seeing on screen is real. (On most movie sets, the filmmakers and actors work overtime to sell this illusion.) Films that focus solely on plot, character psychology, and one literary theme have to direct the majority of their screen time toward plotting mechanics and emotional manipulation of the audience. What you gain in dramatic catharsis you often lose in intellectual honesty. There’s always a tradeoff. I am invested in a cinema of the future that veers toward self-expression, but doesn’t need to avoid dramatic catharsis as Godard’s films did. Certainly many filmmakers my age are working to achieve such a synthesis of intellectual directness and narrative pleasure. Experimentation is required and many “bad” films need to be made to pave the way for future successes.

I graduated college in 2010 high on this dream of the caméra-stylo and philosophy (my field of study) and in 2011 started filming my first feature, Annunciation, with experimental filmmaker Simon Liu. Annunciation is an “adaptation” of the Mérode Altarpiece, an early Northern Renaissance oil painting triptych by Robert Campin. The film features three short separate narratives, one for each panel of the famous 15th-century painting. I wanted the performances in Annunciation to be controlled and somewhat surreal, as if the whole film existed in a heightened but slowed-down hypnotic state; I was thinking about Bresson, Ozu, Antonioni and, of course, Godard (particularly his work from the ’80s). There is some plot, but the main goal of the movie was to reveal the miracle of existence in the everyday. And because the Mérode Altarpiece depicts the scene in Christianity where the Virgin Mary was impregnated by light alone, the film had to be shot on 16mm film.

Now picture this: a 22-year-old walks into a conference room in Midtown Manhattan and gives this pitch to a producer who was then investing in thriller movies: “Every time light strikes a piece of celluloid, a miracle similar to the Annunciation scene occurs: an image appears in the likeness of man that redeems our fallen world and reveals it to be the beautiful place that we take for granted in our normal day-to-day.” This wasn’t met with the enthusiasm I was hoping for. “Don’t you see,” I said, “this is a film about the ecstatic of the quotidian! This is a film that audiences will flock to! It could do for Williamsburg and Bushwick what Breathless did for Paris!” Looking back, I am both shocked and charmed by my youthful naiveté, courage and idiocy.

I was laughed out of the room, but the producer was kind enough to wish me good luck and welcomed any future pitches, should I come up with something any “normal” person would want to watch. I never thought of films in the tradition of the caméra-stylo as being elite works only for the gallery or the Academy. I, like Godard before me, have always assumed that audiences are intelligent and long for thoughtful, challenging movies. That belief I carry to this day and thankfully it sometimes seems to be true. How else could you explain the recent success of heady films by Josephine Decker or Miranda July?

Thanks to small donations from family members (and credit cards), I was able to shoot Annunciation without any official backing. I cast the film with a mixture of non-actor friends and some undiscovered Backstage.com talent and dove head first into the production. Right as our principal photography began, Occupy Wall Street gained momentum, so Simon and I spent time at Zuccotti Park filming our actors experiencing the movement. The hopeful promise of OWS seemed to reflect the yearning desire of our film’s protagonists as well as our own idealist cinema experiment.

When the film was finished and edited, I naively assumed that we were well on our way towards global cinematic notoriety. Surely, I thought, this important film that manages to blend fiction with actual footage of OWS would premiere at Cannes or Berlin and the Criterion Collection would issue the DVD shortly after. In actuality, it was rejected from every single film festival we submitted to.

Undeterred, I conceded that maybe there were a few minor structural flaws in the edit. It was probably a little too long and perhaps the three separate narratives would work better if they were crosscut more. A year later, this new edit was again rejected from almost 100 festivals. Stubbornly, I thought that perhaps what could really bring the movie together was a comic voiceover by my then cinematic muse Nick Alden (who is a lead in both Annunciation and my second film, The Lion’s Den). Audiences seemed to ignore the comic tone underlying Annunciation. If only I could unearth it, they wouldn’t be put off by the pretensions to greatness the movie wore on its sleeve. There is nothing so offensive to American audiences as pretentiousness.

I didn’t send the overcooked voiceover version to festivals. I knew it was forced and worked against the core concept of the film. But it was then that I started for the first time to have doubts about Annunciation. Maybe my film wasn’t as emotional or clever as I imagined. Maybe it was bad? “No,” I decided. The film, whatever its flaws may be, has value. Herculean delusions of grandeur come in handy when you are trying to become an artist.

I opted to edit the film back to its original state, but without some of the weaker, obviously didactic moments, then hosted a few local screenings in NYC (most of them at DIY venues where my rock band would play) and put the film up for free on Vimeo. Around this time, it occurred to me that editing Annunciation had been my film school. Failure is a wonderful learning tool. Editing the same raw material in a myriad of different ways taught me about pacing and tone. Still to this day, when I find myself in a certain state of mind, I open up the Final Cut sessions and do a new edit of the footage just for fun, like some sort of DIY George Lucas tinkering with the past. Last year during quarantine, I did a new edit of Annunciation and uploaded it to Vimeo without telling a single person. It has become my own little cinematic sandbox to play in.

When people did chance upon one of my myriad edits, they often commented that they enjoyed its style but found the acting too unnatural. My response to this was to make my next film, The Lion’s Den, a cheaper HDV feature that doubled as a political farce and an essay about naturalism in cinema. The film is about a group of ding-dong radicals who kidnap a Wall Street banker and plan to donate his ransom money to UNICEF so salt pills can be provided for dehydrated children. The UNICEF plot was drawn from Living High and Letting Die, a 1996 work of moral philosophy by Peter K. Unger. It was both a serious attempt at political philosophy and a total slapstick farce; I was imagining the comedy of errors in Renoir’s The Rules of the Game mixed with the Marxist agitprop of Godard’s La Chinoise.

The acting style in The Lion’s Den was purposefully cartoonish; at no point in the film could an audience member believe that what they were seeing was real. I like to think that The Lion’s Den was an attempt at theatre for the camera, part Shakespeare and part Brecht. This was my own personal response to our epoch’s hyperrealism fetish. At the time, I believed that the current obsession with neo-neorealism, mumblecore and reality TV was worth combating. Art with a realistic aesthetic, I thought then, was inherently conservative and accepting of the political status quo (whether the artists were aware of this or not). Art with an imaginative anti-realistic aesthetic, so I thought, was utopian. It opened new vistas and ways of thinking and being. It dared to believe in a more beautiful world than the one we are living in.

The making of The Lion’s Den was extremely difficult. It was by far the hardest thing I have physically done in my life. At the time, I was malnourished and broke, not unlike the character of Jack in PVT Chat; my diet for that month we made the film consisted mostly of coffee, rice and beans, ramen, light beer, and the occasional waffle or fruit smoothie from the vegan frozen yogurt stall I worked at. Unlike Jack, my addiction wasn’t cam girls or internet gambling, but independent filmmaking. I begged, borrowed and scrimped $10,000 to make a film I knew I wouldn’t be able to sell. Despite having some key collaborators near the beginning of the shoot, most of the film was made with just me, the actors and a loyal boom operator, all living together in a house in Staten Island. This meant that I had to assemble all of the cumbersome lights for every setup, handle the art for every scene (which involved a lot of painting), block the scene and direct the actors, throw the camera on my shoulder and film, and then at the end of the day transfer the footage while logging the Screen Actors Guild reports and creating the call sheets for the next day’s scenes. Exhausted both mentally and physically, I often couldn’t stand up at the end of the day’s filming.

Once we’d wrapped and everyone had gone home, I stood in the middle of our set and played Beethoven on my headphones. Within seconds, I began bawling my eyes out, partly from exhaustion but also from the melancholy that all my friends had left and I was now alone for the first time in a month. I collapsed and slept for hours. When I woke up, it was my 26th birthday. I celebrated by watching Citizen Kane alone and then started the process of painting the walls back to a neutral white. The actor Kevin Moccia (who has been in all three of my films and actually works as a house painter) heroically came back to set and helped me. I told him that despite all of the agony of the past weeks (my bank account was now in the red, with overdraft fees piling up), I was happier than I had ever been. Working passionately on something that has great value to you is, without a doubt, the key to happiness.

Shortly after returning to the real world and my job at the vegan yogurt shop, I passed out while on the clock and was taken to a hospital by my very supportive girlfriend. Turns out, all I needed was an IV and some nutrients to get back on my feet, but unfortunately the trouble with The Lion’s Den had just begun. At some point, I formatted the production audio memory card and, in one instant, accidentally deleted everything on it. For the next two years, my friend Brian Goodheart and I worked with all of the actors to dub all of the dialogue and sound effects in the movie. Each actor had to completely re-do their verbal performance. It felt like remaking the entire movie. The result made the film especially un-naturalistic (which pleased me at the time) and it turned out far better than I think Brian and I expected.

By then, I had some hopes that The Lion’s Den could reach a small audience. It is aggressively philosophical but also features a love triangle, a car chase and a final shootout. Its comic style, I was hoping, would attract people who were put off by the purposeful flatness of Annunciation. Nevertheless, the movie was also rejected from every conceivable festival. I now realized that submitting an aggressively experimental narrative film without a single famous person in it to festivals is basically like flushing your money down the toilet. Yet I continued submitting, like an addict at a casino putting all of their savings on the roulette table. You never know, right?

In hindsight, I now see The Lion’s Den as a very angry film that perhaps uses comedy to soften the blow of some of its hotheaded fervor, and suspect some of its critique of capitalism and naturalism came from hurt and jealousy. “You think my work isn’t natural enough, eh? I’ll show you motherfuckers naturalism!”

Sometime in 2017, to my surprise I became smitten with certain neo-neorealist filmmakers (Joe Swanberg, in particular) and decided I wanted in on the mumblecore party, albeit from my own outsider perspective. I began to see how I could work symbolically with naturalistic performances, which led me to my latest film. PVT Chat is by no means a work of strict realism, but nevertheless focuses on believable dramatic performances. The film’s cast blends some actors from my past work (Kevin Moccia, Nikki Belfiglio, David White) with some heroes of the modern neo-neorealist indie cinema (Peter Vack, Julia Fox, Buddy Duress, Keith Poulson).

I want to end with a bit of advice to other filmmakers: Don’t put your self-worth into the hands of festival reviewers or distributors. The future of the moving image will belong to the films that are willing to risk cinematic failure. If you make an earnest film that doesn’t behave like a normal movie, I want to see it, even if it is full of technical or narrative mistakes (which it most likely will be). There’s no right way to make a movie. Follow the dream of the caméra-stylo and make a film that if nobody else made, wouldn’t exist.

[breakfastatstephalees]

Marinette knows Cat Noir is Adrien and nothing is gonna change my mind.

When Bunnyx asks her is she knows how Cat Noir found out, she tells her that Adrien probably told someone who told someone and so forth. Bunnyx was satisfied with this answer and let’s her go back to fix the timeline.

Ok.

I don’t think Marinette actually believes Adrien would tell anyone, she has such a high opinion of him. I think she just said it to convince not only Bunnyx but also herself. If Adrien can put two and two together that Lady Bug is Marinette, then so can she.

She knows that Adrien realized she was Ladybug, and that the reason why Cat Noir knows is because he is in fact Adrien. Deep down she knows.

She just can’t let herself think that. She’s seen the destruction that would entail if the reveal happened, so she’s not letting herself even think of that possibility.

Then this ending happens and it just confirms it for me.

*Of course maybe I’m just giving Thomas Astruc way too much credit and severely overthinking a show catered to 10 year olds as I sit here with my grown as self crying over two fictional characters.

[mcheang]

Pre-Chat Blanc Dates - Award Show

I took advantage of the night and decided to watch Chat Blanc one day early. I feel better now. Sure the ending made me teary. My opinions between the French and Eng dub remain the same. (I prefer the break up in French and the ending is my fav scene for the English version.) It is still my fav episode. To celebrate, i decided to write one more Chat Blanc fic today. The last chapter of this date series. Enjoy! 😁

Today was the day. Adrien was finally going to tell the world that he and Marinette were dating.

Everyone wholehearted supported the plan.

Rose loves love.

Marinette loves truth.

Adrien really wanted everyone to know his beautiful Girlfriend.

Master Fu wanted to say “I told you so,” to Wayzz.

Gabriel wanted to akumatize Adrien’s fans. Lila and Chloe wanted Marinette to be targeted by hate mail.

Alya just likes spreading news.

Previously, when Adrien announced that he had to attend a film award show, Marinette did not expect to be invited.

They had agreed beforehand to keep their relationship away from the media, not only to save Marinette from Adrien’s crazy fans, but to get some normal dating in before the craziness started.

And so far, the everyday dates were fantastic. Adrien and Marinette could actually relax and be their dorky/clumsy selves without fear of reprimand/shame.

So why reveal their relationship now? Everything was perfect so far.

Adrien had explained in an apologetic voice. Apparently, he had enlisted Wayhem’s help to prepare the fans for the breaking news. And Wayhem had advised to strike now because his fans were already getting very suspicious of their constant proximity to each other. That, and it was also better to tell the media before the hype over Adrien and his Ladybug-voice actor costar got excited again.

Adrien wanted to tell the world on their terms instead of letting fans and reporters stalk them and catch them unprepared.

Marinette hesitated, she was scared about the whole thing, and understandably so.

Adrien held her hand and soothingly rubbed his thumb over her palm. “It’ll be OK. I promise. No one will hurt you at the premiere.”

Marinette did not look reassured. “What about after?”

“Did you know the Gorilla has a brother? He’s willing to help guard you until the mania dies down.” Adrien’s eyes were earnest and pleading. He really wanted to do this.

And to be honest, a part of Marinette wanted it done too. She was tired of seeing Adrien take Kagami as his Friend date to events like this. It doesn’t exactly soothe the green monster in her to hear Adrien assure her by saying Kagami was just a Friend. That was her title before they started dating!

“Fine,” Marinette relented, smiling. “But you have to stick by me. I don’t know what to do at these events. I’m usually just the waitress.”

“I’ll stick to you like glue,” Adrien promised. “And I happen to like your waitress outfit. It is very cute.”

Marinette blushed. “Oh stop it!”

That comment of his actually set the gears in Marinette’s head whirring. She took out her waitress top and added a black skirt on to it, along with some fine detail at the white collar. All that was left were the shoes, but a shopping spree with the girls solved that.

The ensemble issue was solved.

Now all that was left was the anticipation of waiting.

The waiting was not fun. Marinette’s nerves even affected her dates with Adrien. The sweet boy took it all in stride and just patiently kissed her forehead and hand as he repeated whatever Marinette had not heard.

At last, the day arrived.

Marinette kept bouncing her knees up and down until Adrien laid his hand over her own and gave her a smile and laugh. “Relax Marinette. The paparazzi will love you.” (Behind his back, Adrien crossed his fingers and hoped for the best. The paparazzi were sharks!)

Adrien lifted Marinette’s hand to his lips and kissed it. How many times had he kissed the same hand beneath a battle suit? It’s become a habit. One Plagg was certain would expose them until time settled his nerves.

Marinette breathed in deeply. “You’re right. I can do this.”

Marinette could not do this.

The moment they stepped out of the limo. The camera flashes blinded her till she had to raise her hand to shield her eyes from the glare.

Adrien was used to the cameras flashing however and never let go of her hand as he led her forward.

The reporters started yelling questions at Adrien, asking who his date was. Other better-informed reporters recognised her as the designer of the very hat Adrien was wearing and from the gossip mill. They asked if the pair were dating instead.

Knowing Marinette could not face the reporters while blinded, Adrien gathered his nerve and walked past the reporters, knowing Nathalie would chew him out for it later. But he didn’t care. Marinette came first.

Still, this was their one chance to announce their relationship to the world.

Adrien whispered, “We only need to give them one good photo of us as a couple before we head inside.”

Marinette blinked rapidly. Now she knew how Reflekta must have felt. “Then let’s make it a good one.”

Adrien grinned. He subtly turned Marinette so she was facing the cameras then gave her a brief, reassuring kiss on the lips, her face cradled between his hands.

To her credit, Marinette didn’t flush that time. She gave off the appearance of a girl used to the model Adrien giving her kisses.

The photographers clicked their cameras madly.

That was their cue. Adrien pulled Marinette inside swiftly.

Marinette leaned against Adrien and let out a gasp. “I don’t see what all the hype is about red carpets. All you get is a face full of flashbulbs.”

Adrien laughed and shrugged. “You get used to them after the first or second time.”

Marinette blinked one last time, then smiled widely. “We really did it, didn’t we?”

Adrien kissed her again. “We sure did.”

Another celebrity walked past and gave them a knowing look. Marinette blushed and pulled away but left her hand in Adrien’s.

Adrien looked at Marinette adoringly. “Come on, Princess. I want to introduce you to my friends from the studio.”

The premiere date had been a success. Marinette got along swimmingly well with the stars.

Adrien’s Ladybug-voice co-star greeted Marinette cheerfully and later commented that Marinette could have given her a run for her money in impersonating Ladybug’s voice. (Marinette and Adrien laughed nervously then.)

Jagged and Clara enthusiastically greeted Marinette, leaving Adrien awestruck over the former. He knew Marinette was Jagged’s favourite designer, but still!

Thomas Astruc was happy to meet his fan again.

Even Audrey complimented Marinette on her design.

Also, Adrien won the award for best male voice actor! Marinette didn’t suspect a thing, thanks to the kwami magic.

Once the event was over and Adrien had dropped Marinette off at home and was snug in his own bed, he sighed happily.

Plagg was on the adjacent pillow, munching on his midnight cheese snack, used to the lovesick boy’s ramblings.

Despite the foreboding future of fans-turned-akumas (and Gabriel’s evil plans + Nathalie’s lecture), the night had been exquisite.

Marinette belonged with him. Of that, Adrien had no doubt, and he slept dreaming peacefully after this very long night.

[edorazzi]

some thoughts on the Felix Thing™:

(as a warning ahead of time, i am going to be very rude about astruc. i don’t talk about him on this blog any more if i can help it because i’m just not interested in inviting that kind of drama, but i can’t really discuss my thoughts about the felix situation without being transparent in this area too. i also apologise to anyone on mobile because i’m pretty sure read-mores still open on the dash there and this is a CHUNK of messy writing)

- all we know currently is that It’s Happening, but without more than a brief plot synopsis it’s impossible to tell any more. where on earth did this come from? whose idea was it? the Who’s Responsible question is really baffling me.

- option 1: it was astruc’s call. he’s notoriously petty when it comes to the fandom and known for putting little things into episodes which purposely degrade characters/ships and undo development from other writers (e.g. admitting to adding the final scene of Despair Bear in which chloé totally rejects all her positive character development because she ‘just can’t stand being nice’). this considered, i absolutely would not put it past him to introduce felix to the cast with the sole purpose of framing him as an irredeemable villain, just because he still hasn’t gotten over the PV fandom existing.

- however, lots of people have been pointing out that astruc specifically said felix would never be in the show. that was literally the one thing he held over the heads of PV fans - that no matter how much we enjoyed the old project, it was over and done with and we’d never be seeing its characters among the canon cast. he was intensely smug about it. adding felix to the show completely scuppers this stance, so why would he choose to do it? has he decided the satisfaction of tearing him apart in canon is greater? has he finally completely lost it? i’m not sure.

- then we come to option 2: it’s zag’s call. this is what i hope. we know zag is fond of the PV (and likely had a big hand in creating it) and eager to appeal to fans, so i’d definitely believe he would pick up on felix’s long-lasting popularity and jump on the idea of adding him to the show as one of adrien’s relatives. VLD did it with sven as a little shout-out to old fans and it was great! we’ve also already had a little PV easter egg in the form of a dvd in alya’s home, which did make me hopeful that the show was open to referencing it more than once. maybe this is that hope fulfilled in an amazing way! maybe!!!

- a good chunk of me is still deeply suspicious of felix getting into the cast because i’m sure astruc would have had to give the OK (and why would he have agreed to it unless he’s got something unpleasant in mind?), but i remember how much of an obvious fight he put up against chloé getting a miraculous and joining the team, even flat-out stating at one point that she wouldn’t have one, and that still happened. this tempts me towards thinking that if zag really wants something for the show then astruc can’t do much to stop it, and that might be the case with felix, if we’re lucky.

- i really want to know who the writers are for this episode, too. zag and his team are most frequently found in the credits of Adrien Episodes (which it sounds like this is going to be, given felix is a relative), which tend to be the episodes that contain actual character-building, plot progression and give the stagnant show formula a little shake. astruc’s usual episodes are just 20 minutes of marinette with a few backup characters as cardboard cutouts/praise machines. it’s conceivable he’d want to be lead writer just to do as much damage to felix as possible if he has to appear, but he might just duck out of the episode altogether as he’s prone to doing whenever it has to be about adrien. that would be a blessing.

- at any rate, i just generally think it’s really goddamn unfair that we have to be so suspicious about this. if this is supposed to be a nice shout-out to a long-lasting group of fans then it’s unfair that we have to wait months completely uncertain of whether we’re being blessed or made fun of, just because astruc has been such a goddamn tool about this topic for literally years. his reputation is so sour by now that we automatically assume he’s out to get us when this could be intended as something amazing - like fuck, man. that’s sad.

- ANYWAY. in terms of the actual episode itself, i’m excited for it either way. we’re going to see felix! he’s going to have a character model and a voice and a place in the canon universe! even if astruc does his absolute best to rip his character to shreds he can’t do worse than lila and chloé, and even they have their groups of fans because their insecurities are clear and sometimes they’re just so awful it’s funny. i’d gladly accept felix as my little brat cat, if only to piss astruc off by actually enjoying what’s put out as the New Established Canon.

- however, if it IS a better writer handling it (help me mr zag ur my only ho), i want to have faith they’ll draw more from felix’s source material as someone who’s completely socially maladjusted - maybe gabriel is actually the softer side of the family? - and needs adrien to drag him out of his shell. i gather from the synopsis that he’ll manage to piss off alya, rose and juleka, but just because that sounds like a villainous thing to do doesn’t mean felix himself will be a villain (i mean i’m sure he will if astruc has anything to do with it, but just looking from all possible angles--). marinette’s pissed people off to the point of akumatization before and she’s our resident in-house angel!

- i also have to consider wayhem in Gorizilla - this episode was clearly written in two halves, and he was set up by astruc to, essentially, illustrate why marinette’s “stalker tendencies” were completely fine because adrien’s other fans could get so much worse. in the latter half of the episode wayhem is redeemed extremely effectively and actually ends up better than marinette (if you’re making it a contest) in understanding why his approach made adrien uncomfortable and having the confidence to apologise. he was a character set up for failure who got saved at the last minute when (it seems) another writer took the reins, so maybe there’s hope in that for felix too.

- anyway, above all, i checked the notes of my previous post and the amount of people reacting with “OH MY GOD!!!” or “AAAAAH!!!!” and various other happy things made me realise just how much of a positive effect this episode could have on the fandom if it’s done right. it’s not (entirely) about felix as a character - it’s about our little corner of fandom being recognised and taken seriously, and the confirmation that, after all this time, we were right not to let astruc bully us out of enjoying something we love.

- if it does turn out to be a whole episode making fun of PV fans, however, that crosses the line of absolutely unforgivable. astruc will have straight-up nuked any popularity he has left among fans. i don’t want to believe that’s the case, but i will be staying appropriately wary for as long as it takes to get some confirmation on what this episode is intended to be.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[worddevdealswithml]

Failed Step 1 (And 2 ( And 3))

Chapter 13: The Premier (Part 3)

“How am I supposed to know I can trust you?”

“Please,” said Chloe, “Have I ever lied?”

“Yes.  Many times.”

“Excuse me?  When?”

“Every time you say that Ladybug comes to visit you,” said Marinette.  “We all know she doesn’t.”

Chloe, having recovered her presence of mind through the dual forces of remembering what she needed to be doing, and being abashed that she’d let herself be distracted in the first place, had barely made it out of the theater-proper when she almost ran directly into Adrien.

“Adrien!” she said, ready to ask him about-

“Chloe!” he responded,eyes widening as if he was suddenly remembering something.  “Marinette’s looking for you.”

Chloe blinked. “What?  Why?”

“I don’t know,” he said, shrugging, “I mean, I know why she’s not doing it, but that doesn’t really help.  By the way, how are things going with Kagami?”

What Chloe wanted to say was, ‘What do you mean by that?  Do you mean am I losing yet, or am I winning yet?’

What came out was, prompted by years of practiced certainty and confidence, “Fine.”

“Great!” he said, already moving past her.

And then Chloe was left staring after him, confused, as much as anything, by his apparent urgency.

For a second, she wanted to chase after him, and then…  No. He’d be walking into the theater, and Kagami would see her ask him.

So… Her only option was to talk to Marinette.

She turned, and, mustering her classic bearing and demeanor, went hunting.

…

That was to say, she walked into the room, and Marinette was standing there, eating one of her macarons with a faraway, yet oddly determined expression.

As Chloe walked in, Marinette noticed her, and snapped to face her.

Chloe was almost disturbed; Marinette wasn’t usually so…  sharp?  So… this.

“What is it, Dupain-Cheng?”

“I have a gift for you,” she said, with a tone of voice that suggested this wasn’t a matter of generosity.

“Is it a macaron?” she said, sarcastically.

Marinette rolled her eyes.

“No.”  She pulled a lanyard with a laminated piece of paper out of her pocket.  “It’s this.”

Chloe raised her eyebrows.

“A ticket?  I already have one of those.”

Marinette actually smiled.

“But you don’t have this one.  This one belonged to Thomas Astruc, the director.  Until recently, he was supposed to sit next to Adrien.”

Chloe stopped.

“What?”

“Next to Adrien?  Two seats from Kagami?” repeated Marinette.

Chloe stared.

“You…  Did you steal this?”

“Of course not,” said Marinette.  “He decided to go home, so he gave it to me.  Now, I’m giving it to you.”

“Why?”

“Because…”  Marinette gave her a slow, careful look.  “Because I think you have a better chance of getting Kagami to leave him alone.”

“And why does that matter to you?  You haven’t known him that much longer than Kagami has.”

Marinette gave her an annoyed expression.  “Does it matter?  Do you want the ticket or not?”

Chloe reached slowly out, and then…

“You have a crush on him.”

Her eyes flicked up, and from the way that Marinette’s eyes widened, she was pretty sure she’d hit the mark, a suspicion that was only confirmed when her face started burning.

She couldn’t even muster a proper response.

Chloe laughed.

“Well, I have nothing to fear, then; you’re a nobody, and maybe after I’m done handling Kagami, I’ll tell Adrien about this, and we can all laugh about it.”

Marinette’s expression went hard.

“Why are you so hard to work with, Chloe?”

Chloe still almost laughing, looked back at her.

“What?”

“Forget about it.  I’ll just keep the ticket for myself.”

“Ah ah ah wait,” said Chloe, as Marinette started walking away.  “Wait.  Fine. You give me the ticket, and I don’t tell Adrien about your embarrassing crush on him.”

Marinette turned back to her.

“How am I supposed to know I can trust you?”

“Please,” said Chloe, “Have I ever lied?”

“Yes.  Many times.”

“Excuse me?  When?”

“Every time you say that Ladybug comes to visit you,” said Marinette.  “We all know she doesn’t.”

Chloe went pink.

“Maybe I’d just tell people how things are going between you and Kagami.”

Her expression froze.

“And how would you know?”

“I can speculate.”

Marinette held the lanyard out to her.

“How about you keep it in mind, and we don’t do anything either of us would regret?”

“When did you get so… Snappy?”

“About the time you literally tried to threaten me while I’m helping you.”

Chloe gave her a dirty look, but…

She snatched the lanyard.

“Fine, since the other option is you sitting next to Adrien.”

Marinette rolled her eyes.

--

It was minutes ago, now, that Adrien had sat back down next to Kagami, and, as if timed perfectly, the movie had started as he’d arrived.

Adrien only mildly noticed that the director hadn’t arrived, instead focusing himself on resetting his mind to actually enjoy the movie.

Kagami had looked over at him, fully intending to ask him about her… situation, but he gave her a cheery smile, and, for a second, she couldn’t quite imagine that he’d have done this against her.

No.

This was fine.

…

And, indeed, everything was fine, until about the time, minutes into the introduction of Ladybug’s civilian form, when Chloe sat down on Adrien’s other side, and his day went from good to great.

Adrien proceeded to make it his primary job to be away from his seat as often and as long as he could without drawing undue suspicion.

He had to go to the bathroom, he wanted some more macarons, did they have popcorn here, because he wanted popcorn, and oh, maybe he’d stopped to chat with Marinette a bit longer than he’d meant to, and the scene where Chat Noir had turned down Ladybug’s civilian self (he wished Ladybug’s civilian self had a crush on him) had made him uncomfortable, so of course he had to get some distance from it, and he’d gotten thirsty so he had to get a drink, and…

In reality, while he did do what he was stating as his reasons, he also spent what might have seemed an undue amount of time sitting with Marinette at a small table near the back of the theater, where they could watch Kagami and Chloe’s interactions, which, though neither of them could hear them, did seem to be numerous.

He could only hope that the words he could imagine at this distance were something like reality.

They weren’t

--

For all Kagami had talked about Chloe ‘not having material,’ she was proud to say that she had managed to find material.

Every time Adrien had walked away, she had set about trying to tear Kagami’s ability to focus on anything approximating romance to shreds, and, of course, Kagami had returned fire with a will.  That might have been a problem for the Chloe of a few weeks ago, but Chloe now was beginning to get numb to her cutting words, and was almost amused by it.

And so, as the credits had rolled, she’d made a show of standing up early, as if to make it clear to Kagami that her work here was done.  She’d accomplished her goal, and now, she could just leave Kagami to use what little remained of her time with Adrien, in the sure knowledge that there was nothing she could do with it.

So, she stepped out of the theater, one last time, and saw…

“Hello again, Chloe,” said Marinette.

“Hello,” said Chloe, grinning.

“Judging by your expression, things went… Well?”

“Please.  As if anything I attempt was going to fail.”

Marinette nodded, slowly, and then, carefully, looked at the crowd pushing its way out.

“Now…  About my… person information.”

“Ha!” she said, laughing.  “I had plenty of time to think about that.  Some people aren’t worth the attention, Dupain-Cheng, and you’re one of them.  I don’t need to worry about you; you’re not even a threat.”

Marinette’s expression was a careful combination of relieved and exasperated, as she shook her head, walking away.

Chloe grinned after her, grinning in the sure knowledge that she had resecured her position over Marinette.

And then…

“You know,” said Kagami, from a bare distance behind her, “as much as I hate to say it, you’ve made a good point for once.”

She spun.

“Some people really aren’t worth the attention,�� continued Kagami, “and while I can’t speak for Marinette, I can speak for you.”

Chloe stared at her, seeing what was coming, but powerless to change the words.

“Don’t come back next week. Nobody will let you in.”

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Hey, i feel like this is such a late entry, and I'm not entirely sure if you've covered it, but i was going through Astruc's twitter to find some other hand drawn drawings when I've stumbled on this https://twitter.com/thomas_astruc/status/1320761814016249862?lang=en

This is his tweet a year ago about a background character in the NY special who uses ice powers named Snowflake, by that it wasn't bad, but his commentary and why he chose that name kinda remind me of something else. Do you remember the canceled marvel comic series recently known as The new 'new warriors', well one of the main crew was a black non-binary character named Snowflake, the reason why they chose that name was to reinvent the word snowflake from an insult into a name of to be proud off. That's what Astruc tried to do with his version of snowflake, i don't see it as Astruc being racist but he kinda unintentional tried to be 'woke' like the marvel comic to reinvent an insult. It's kinda distasteful, you can't claim an insult and think just because you reuse it as a hero doesn't really erase it's usage as insults, why not reinvent the f word, or the n word if it's basically the same intention? Snowflake is a wonderful name by itself, but if it's called that to 'recreate' the word, it's not the greatest.

(The tweet in question)

To be fair, the New York Special was probably in production around the same time as the production of the New Warriors reboot given the former only came out seven months after the trailer for the latter was uploaded to YouTube, so it’s likely a coincidence both had the same idea, even if they both work for the big mouse himself.

And I don’t really think the idea of taking an insulting term and turning it into something heroic is a bad idea (Deku from My Hero Academia is an obvious example of this working, even if it’s something that means more in Japanese), but the way both Marvel and Astruc tried to do it missed the point of actually connecting the name to what’s supposed to be an insult by only giving their respective heroes ice powers. Since the insult “snowflake” refers to someone who is supposedly too fragile and sensitive, why not subvert that by making a hero with the name who has the ability to break apart into several snowflake-shaped particles and reform at will, as a metaphor for continuing to fight after getting knocked down or hurt?

Though to give Astruc’s team credit, I still think the Snowflake seen in the New York Special has a much better design than what Luciano Vecchio came up with.

Take a look at both of these heroes and tell me which one you would say better warrants the name “Snowflake”. Would you say it’s the person up top wearing a baby blue romper with a snowflake insignia, or the woman with unique snowflake patterns all over her body with tiny snowflakes coming from her?

As much as we all rag on Astruc for egotistically saying his team has better designers than Pixar, this is still a really well designed character. I personally wish we could have gotten more focus from her than the Superman and Batman rip-offs we got instead.