#he hit adrien up (which is the only time he’s ever done so btw) and told him to come over and meet his kids

[fizzytoo]

… adrien has 2 siblings on his dad’s side

[alixanonymous]

How A Demon Commissions An Angel ~ A Daminette FanFic ~ Chapter 4: A Plan In Progress

From: DoWhatISay@email.com

To: Marinette.D.C.@email.com

Date: November 3, 2021 5:00 P.M.

Subject: I Accept Your Terms

Dear Ms. Dupain-Cheng,

I do not delude myself into thinking we will be able to magically solve each other’s problems but it does seem as though we both lack certain qualities the other does not. If you’re offering the chance for me to stay where I am, I would be a fool not to take it and I am not a fool. If I can also help fix your unfortunate situation, I will do so. 

Let me know where we go from here.

- Damian W.

From the phone of Marinette Dupain-Cheng:

The Ladyblog 

A Retraction Of An Earlier Article Nov 4 2021 

I’ve decided to take down an earlier article entitled “MDC Stole My Best Friend’s Designs!” following contact from the legal team of Jagged Stone. It was wrong of me to make accusations without proof and I will endeavor to provide evidence to back any claims I make on this blog in the future.

- Alya Cesaire, Creator of the Ladyblog

Chat Name: Aunt Penny

Aunt Penny: Are you sure you don’t want us to pursue any further action Marinette? That statement hardly seemed sincere and was not nearly sufficient considering all she’s claimed. We can help you know.

Me: It’s fine Aunt Penny. Anything else wouldn’t be worth the trouble. It’s not her fault anyway.

Aunt Penny: You know I don’t agree with that but okay, if you’re sure. Just remember the lawsuits have already been drafted.

Aunt Penny: By the way, Jagged’s suit was a real hit at the charity dinner. Not that we ever had a doubt. Have you been thinking about creating a new website?

Me: That’s great to hear. I’ll think about it, okay?

Aunt Penny: That’s good.

Chat Name: Alya

Alya: Girl, I know what you’re thinking but just because I had to post that statement doesn’t mean Lila’s lying. She just can’t release any proof because she wants to do the right thing and keep MDC’s identity a secret. She’s being the bigger person!

Me: She always is.

Alya: Don’t be like that! Please Marinette. Stop letting your jealousy cloud your judgement.

Chat Name: Uncle Jagged

Uncle Jagged: Pens told me that you dont want to sue i get it, lawsuits are totally not rock n’ roll but feeding that liar and her friends to fang is always an option!!!

Me: No, Uncle Jagged.

Uncle Jagged: fine…

Uncle Jagged: i got so much applause for your suit at the stuffy dinner btw.

Uncle Jagged: of course I told them all that my talented young niece made it.

Uncle Jagged: even had a billionaire’s son begging for a referral but dont worry i turned him down for you 

Me: What?! Why?!

Uncle Jagged: trust me, Mari, he was totally not rock n’ roll. not rock n’ roll at all! just rude

Chat Name: Adrien

Adrien: Hey Marinette, did you see the apology on the Ladyblog?

Me: You mean the retraction?

Adrien: Well, yes. 

Adrien: Look, Marinette, you’re not going to do anything else right? She took it down.

Me: She took it down because “she had no proof” not because she knows Lila lied. She’s still convinced even after Jagged’s legal team got involved although we both know the truth.

Adrien: I'm sorry.

Adrien: Even my father feels bad, he knows how much rumors like that could damage an artist’s reputation especially without proof.

Adrien: But he’s still convinced Lila’s someone I need to associate with and if you try to expose her again it’s going to be like every other time and I don’t want things to get worse for you.

Adrien: I’m sorry Mari.

Adrien: I just can’t help you while my father’s still on her side.

Google Search History: 

Gotham Charity Dinner 2021 Photos

Patricide but for uncles

What is it called when someone kills their uncle?

How to know if a friendship is toxic

From:Marinette.D.C.@email.com

To:DoWhatISay@email.com

Date:November 5, 2021  5:05 P.M.

Subject: The Plan

Hey Damian!

Sorry for the delay in responding. I don’t know if you saw but MDC had a bit of a problem to deal with yesterday. So here’s how I see it. Our plan has two parts: the commission for your brothers and then us trying to help each other out with our people problems.

For the commission: You already gave me the measurements which I’m trusting are up to standard since I’m not flying to America any time soon. Next I need to know exactly what you want me to make for each of your brothers: Grayson, Todd, and Drake, the measurements say are their names right? Then I need to know who you think wants a sweater and who wants a jacket and your ideas for the design. I’ll draw up some designs based on the information and send them to you for approval with an estimate of the cost. (Normally I’d also send a non-disclosure agreement beforehand too but considering how this all started I’m guessing you’re not going to give me your real name for the paperwork, are you?) After they’re approved I’ll need you to deposit half the sum in my account (Information attached) and I’ll use it to buy the materials.

If I can get all of this done in the next week or so, it should leave me about a month to finish the pieces before sending them out (An address will not be optional fyi). Sounds good??

For the other part of our plan: the way I could see it going is when one of us has a problem we could use the other person for sort of a different perspective. It’s like in those cartoons when the character has those two little people on their shoulders, do you know what I’m talking about? One’s good, the other’s bad and they’re both telling the person to do different things. Not that you’re bad I mean and not that I just assumed that of the two of us you’d be the bad one…  I’m not saying any of this right. I just mean it like I said before, I could learn a thing or time from someone who isn’t too concerned with pleasing everybody. (I didn’t mean that as an insult by the way. I actually find it kind of admirable.)

So, here’s an example of a situation I could use your opinion on: today I started to wonder if one of my friendships is no longer healthy anymore. I have this friend who is the only other person in our class that knows Lila’s lying. At first he convinced me that her lies weren’t hurting anybody and that as long as we both knew the truth then it didn’t matter what anybody else thought. Eventually, we both realized that that was no longer the case when she almost got me expelled, but by then she had convinced his father that I was a bad influence on him. So now he’s forced to play nice and keep her happy to please his father.

It’s hard because even though I know he knows she’s lying, he can’t tell anyone else so no one believes me when I try to tell them. Now she’s made good on her promise to turn everyone against me and so I have to deal with all her antics by myself while she stands by his side with the rest of the class. I know he’s in a bad position but it still doesn’t make me feel better when he texts me asking if I’m okay after  something happens while at the same time whenever we’re with other people, he keeps his distance so she doesn’t report him to his father.

I guess I’m just tired of trying to make him feel better all the time. However, whenever I think about ending our friendship, I feel guilty because it’s really not his fault. His father wouldn’t hesitate to pull him from school and then we couldn’t be friends anyway. I feel like a good friend would stick by his side. I don’t know. What do you think, Damian? 

I guess that’s just how I see this going then. I rant about whatever I’m having to deal with and you tell me if you agree with how I’m handling it and vice versa. You mention some type of incident with a classmate right? Do you want an outside opinion of that or has your family’s sufficed? Or is there anything else you could use some advice on? I guess we’re just making this up as we go. I mean I suppose there aren’t any rules about relationships that started with one person trying to blackmail the other, right? :P

Hope to hear from you soon! Love,

Marinette

P.S. If this is going to work, you can’t just ignore me when I call you out on being (for lack of a better word) snobbish, Mr. Postscript.

Hello, it’s me again. I just spent like an hour working on chapter nine so my headache’s making itself know again but I wanted to at least post a chapter today. Thank you to anyone who’s been reblogging, liking, or replying to these! It makes the unenjoyable task of reposting worth it! More chapters soon!

Master List

[nathalie-sancoeur-assistant]

Felix

Here are my thoughts on Felix, spoilers below. 

As the episode starts, I can’t help but be reminded of a story

There’s a story about a man who cleaned his wedding rings I read online. Now, I hardly think that the story is going to 100% relate to Gabriel Agreste, but I found it a bit ironic that shortly after I read this story, I see Gabriel taking the time to also clean/polish both his and his wife’s rings. (the story was about a man who is quote “a ‘guys’ guy” and was constantly told no one cared about how clean his ring was and it didn’t matter but he did it anyway)

Look here, how at first he was so careful and gentle. Carefully placing his wife’s hands back into place. Before his talk with Adrien in the near future, might I add. And with his “soon, Emilie” comment, there’s so much emphasis on these rings in the beginning of this episode. We’ve had some mild emphasis before with how much Gabriel has fiddled with his. So what’s up with them? What’s their significance? I have nothing but I hope someone else can answer. 

Aw, she’s watching him. And he’s staring at his mother’s statue. Exactly how many depictions of Emilie are there? There’s more of her than anyone else. I mean, sure. There are a couple paintings/pictures of them all, as a family, and a collection of Adrien’s photographs throughout Gabriel’s office but Emilie is everywhere, it seems. There’s a whole statue of her there. This reminds me of Disenchantment even more- the statue of a the child’s mother being one of the only things for them to remember them by while the father desperately tries to get hold of an all-powerful magical object(s) for seemingly selfish reasons. 

I just love this scene.

Look at those heart eyes! I said it before, get you someone who looks at you the way Nathalie looks at Gabriel. That is such a pure look.

Oh my gosh that smile. Okay, I love this. He’s seeing Nathalie smile like a love-struck puppy at his dad. And that makes him happy. This is an example of some of the things he’s been noticing between her and his father- and if he is capable of picking up on these subtlety's....well, he’s far from oblivious. Just confused (with Marinette). He’s happy to see them standing together though, and to see Nathalie gazing so fondly at his dad. Even if we didn’t get confirmation on him shipping them in this episode, this would have hinted at it pretty well. 

They already act like a mother and son- this is so cute. This is the kind of interaction I’ve been wanting to see more of. Especially from Nathalie, I know it’s small, but she’s a stoic “emotionless” character and she did something cute and wholesome. It just delves a little more into the relationship they have. 

I’m hardly one to fawn over family dynamics but this show brings it out in me. 

“It’s been one year; the longer you keep him in the dark about what you’re doing, the harder it will be on him when he finds out.” So this tells me a few things. 

1. Adrien’s 15th should be coming up soon

2. They’re both aware that when Adrien finds out he’s going to be hurt 

3. They know that it’s inevitable for him to find out

and 4. They’ve had conversations about this before. The way she just brought it up like this, they’ve likely had a few conversations about telling Adrien what’s happening under his roof. And she’s encouraged Gabriel before. Now that it’s the anniversary of Emilie’s disappearance, she’s nudging him more because you know, what better day to tell your son that you’re a supervillain and his mom’s in the basement than the day you lost her to begin with (which, makes it sound bad but it makes sense to tell him on this day, if they were waiting to tell him.)

---

“Little kitty on a roof, all alone without his-” “Adrien” Gabriel decided right then and there to go tell him. To tell him.

Okay so this is....actually really good.  lot of parenting things I’ve read/watched will mention getting down on the child’s level, especially if it’s for a more serious topic or something they need to understand without feeling like they’re being talked down to. It’s a good technique to use and it’s also kinda showing Gabriel opening up just a bit because...well what else is he going to do with what he’s about to tell his son? (I mean of course him sitting down by him isn’t going to make up for everything he’s done, nor does it make him any better of a parent- but it does go to say that he does know a little more than I initially thought)

Also, with the way this is set up, you can’t blame Adrien for the way he reacts. It really sounds like the way to set up a conversation on how a parent has found someone new to love with their child. 

Also, “I think about telling you every day, but I don’t know how to find the right words”- so in other words he actually WANTS to tell him. This isn’t something Nathalie is pushing him to do because she thinks it’ll be best, this is something she’s ENCOURAGING him to do because she knows he wants and needs too but is to scared to actually do it on his own. But the point is that he was actually about to tell Adrien that he is Hawkmoth. Which would mean he would have to explain why he’s Hawkmoth, and lead to him showing Adrien his mother, maybe he could have even met Nooroo and Duusu. Then again, Adrien might be very reluctant to go down and see his mother in that state. That might just be something that was an offer for if he wanted to see her. And at least if he found out this way, he wouldn’t have to shout, ask “Why” so much or rush his own father and be punted out of the ceiling. Different approaches call for different reactions. This one would have led to something likely still bitter and betrayed, but with a clearer explanation and more emotional attachment. It wouldn’t all be hitting at once, they could go as slow as Adrien needed to process it because it wouldn’t be in the heat of battle. But it would have to be approached cautiously otherwise I can see Adrien transforming right then and there and allowing his emotions to take over again. But none of that is what happened. 

“I think I already know father” 

“But...how?” no amount of panic in his voice...just a genuine question. There’s panic in his eyes yes, because 1. How does Adrien know 2. Does that mean he’s slipped up at some point? Who else could know? Who else could find out? but no fear in his voice because 3. If Adrien already knows, and just says so in such a calm manor, if he were going to tell anyone else he already would have.

“I’ve noticed how close you and Nathalie have become” 

Gabriel’s face “W h a t? What is he talking about- oh, that’s what he’s talking about....”

“If she can make you happy again...” well I can’t say Gabriel has necessarily been subtle with his grief *cue Parisian's screaming in the background”, but still, that just tells me that there’s a noticeable change in Gabriel’s behavior from before Emilie disappeared. People act differently when they’re unhappy. 

“....then as far as I’m concerned, she’s already part of our family” this boy loves her so much. He looks so happy talking about her to his dad, that he seems to be opening up a bit and talking to him, and at the idea that the hole in their lives will be filled, not even with someone new but with someone who has already established their place in the household. Someone who is already a chosen part of their family (As I like to say, family is chosen.). It’s so pure- whenever they have this talk again in the future I hope it goes well. Because with the way Gabriel reacts, they’re going to need it. 

Also, I’d like to say that I greatly appreciate their relationship actually being spoken about aside from it being exclusively from Nathalie or between Nathalie and Duusu (which btw, we didn’t get a conversation between Nathalie and Duusu in Chat Blanc or Felix discussing her feelings which tells me that either we’re going to get a flashback scene in season 4, or Duusu was able to sense Nathalie’s emotions and based on my interpretation of body language and stuff from the finale, Gabriel may be very aware of Nathalie’s feelings for him already but I’d like to wait for English Miracle Queen before making that assumption whole) 

*Gabriel Agreste has hit a rage*

“As long as she is still in our hearts, she lives on.” Not the kind of thing you’d expect to hear from someone like Gabriel IMO. And as folks have said, he never got mad at the idea of being with Nathalie- he got mad at the idea of moving on from Emilie. And I have to admit, him saying “No one could ever replace your mother” yeah, I mean, I understand that. But here’s the deal- moving on from someone, doesn’t mean you never loved them, or even that you don’t still love them even while loving someone else. Getting remarried isn’t ‘replacing’ your original spouse. 

Moving on from someone you love is hard as heck. Sometimes, it might even feel impossible to do, but in some cases, it’s necessary for you and those around you. Moving on isn’t going to slander their legacy, it’s not going to somehow invalidate what you had with them previously- and again, it’s not replacing them. It’s a natural human feeling to...want to have someone by your side. Your spouse being put into the kind of state Emilie is in is going to leave a gaping hole beside you in that sense, in your family dynamic and etc. and a new spouse and relationship can help fill that, stick by your side for the remainder of your life and still not replace the person you first loved. Gabriel was mad not at Adrien, but at the idea of moving on from Emilie, and just can’t seem to grasp the idea that moving on is not that same thing as replacing. Him and Nathalie won’t be able to get together until he realizes that. That being said...

Adrien’s blank stare is priceless. “If that’s not what you were gonna tell me then what is it? No need to get so mad...why are you mad? You could have just said no...” like he can see the pointlessness in this anger but still understands the reaction...but still he probably wants to know what on Earth his dad was talking about if it wasn’t in reference to his relationship with Nathalie. Idk. 10/10 reaction, Adrien. 

Then typical Gabriel comes back out and he just storms off. Geez the kid just wants you happy and to have a mom, calm down. 

---

They have him crying a good bit lately. He could really use a hug. 

NOW THE PARTY DON”T START TILL I WALK IN

Now we have Amelie...and I gotta be honest, I know some folks already really like her but she’s just the type of person I can’t stand. Just in her personality. She just seems to be everywhere at once, taking up so much space and attention. Nathalie seems to just fade into the background and go unnoticed, in comparison. So no matter Amelie’s intentions, her grating personality would probably make me dislike her anyway. 

And as Gabriel is explaining Adrien just looks so confused

 Like his first reaction was that it was his mother and not the more logical “Mother’s twin sister” and it takes Gabriel actually saying that it’s his Aunt for him to realize exactly what’s going on. 

And of course I’m sure you’ve all processed the puppy-dog like expression that comes over Adrien’s face when Felix walks in. He just loves his family even though it seems to just be filled with bad people. Then Amelie goes into her thing about Adrien and Felix fooling Gabriel and Emilie for a whole weekend and she says “We laughed so hard”- did Gabriel laugh too? She says “we”....does that mean everyone but Gabriel or does that mean that Gabriel wasn’t always quite so tightly wound? 

I always feel so awkward when we get these close-ups of their butt..

“Felix you know your uncle’s never been the physical sort” because it’s how he shows affection. With how much that has been emphasized at this point, it HAS to be a story-telling element. Why, outside of just showcasing different personality types and comfort zones, have someone that’s so adamantly against physical contact? I mean they could have chosen anyone for this, but they chose Gabriel specifically then turn around and have him and Nathalie being very physical. From what I can tell, it’s a part of the show and character specifically for the Gabenath element of the story. 

Also I find it funny how she says this in front of his son just because....if he’s never been the physical sort, I doubt Adrien would be standing there.

Someone at some point is going to photoshop Nathalie into this frame over Amelie aren’t they?

I don’t know. They way she’s so enthusiastic about everything gets on my nerves- then again, I have plenty of characters that are enthusiastic that I like very well. It’s just the way she pulls it off, okay I’m done knocking her personality because that’s just a personal thing and this fandom has enough salt- This scene just grinds my gears. I’m sure she has her good qualities too, and other’s probably quite enjoy her enthusiastic attitude, but I feel like she just seems so entitled...let me explain. 

She knows she looks like an exact replica of Emilie and, while I understand the sentiment here, decides to come over to the Agreste house on this day anyway. I know the way she looks is far from her control, and she deserves support just as much as the rest of the family on a day like this, however, would it not be hard on Gabriel (if she was honestly thinking about him) to see someone that looked so strikingly like his supposedly deceased wife in his home, walking around like there’s nothing wrong, on the very day he lost her? Her hairstyle is even the same- but I could understand the sentiment if it didn’t seem like she was just using this vulnerable day for them to try and fish out something she has no right to (to our knowledge). 

It’s the rings. She’s not in the house five minutes before she brings them up. She greets them, gives the boys time to greet each other, then casually brings up the topic to get down to business. 

“You’re still wearing your wedding band! You must have Emilie’s too I imagine, you never replied to my message about that. I’d still like to get the rings back, you know.” 

“These rings are obviously very special to me.”

“And they’re very dear to me too, Gabriel. Those jewels have always been in the Graham De Vanily family, not, the Agreste’s.” *smiles*

Well girl wtfrick is your name rn? I can only assume atm that you took your husband’s name too. You may still be up and walking but the rings belong to Gabriel now. 

“I’d still like to get the rings back..” so did you give them to them then? If they meant so much to you why would you give them to them as wedding rings if so? If you wanted them so desperately you don’t give them up like that- you wouldn’t be asking for them if Emilie was still there, would you?

And here’s the kicker, in the end we realize that she wasn’t even trying to get them for her, or sentimental reasons, or even a feeling of entitlement- no, she was getting them purely to give them to her bratty son. It doesn’t matter if she gave them to them or if they were passed down to Emilie. 

Tell me, where is it okay to ask a grieving, lonely man to give up what you believe to be the only connection he has left to his marriage (besides Adrien but that’s beside the point)- where is it okay to ask a man to give away his wedding rings just because his wife died? Especially if you’re not going to do anything with them but give them to your spoiled son? Those rings mean a lot to Gabriel, they were his wedding rings- I don’t know what significance they hold for the Graham De Vanily family, but regardless of that they belong to Gabriel and he’s obviously taken good care of them. 

What makes me even more upset about this is that....she wanted them for Felix! Not because she’s potentially the only sister Emilie had and therefore outside of the boys is the only living heir of the Graham De Vanily family and therefore thinks that since she’s the most direct descendant she should have them for traditions sake or whatnot- but because Felix likes them. 

Adrien is just as much a Graham De Vanily as Felix and has just as much right, if not more so, to those rings. 

He and Felix may be on equal ground when it comes to blood relation to the family, but even if Amelie didn’t take her husband’s last name and Felix is Felix Graham De Vanily, they were the rings for Adrien’s parent’s marriage, they belong to his parents now, therefore he is directly in line for that inheritance and deserves it every bit as much as Felix. Amelie has no right to take that away from him just because Felix likes the story behind them. 

Then after that Gabriel says “We’ll discuss it later” 

Which you know is code for “I’m not going to have this conversation” so he can just keep them without having to worry about her trying to give context. 

---

Also, I’d just like to say that Marinette’s video-confession sounds like she’s being a supportive and emotionally-open friend. Sure it’s a declaration of love, but it by no means sounds like a confession of romantic love. I can easily see Adrien taking it as a platonic “I love you” and being like “Aw, Marinette. I love you too, you’re such a good friend.” She tries so hard. Alya’s excitement over it though is great.  

---

Dang! Look t that layout! I love the structure of this house. and if I’m right, there are two floors below it too...but is the butterfly window on the back of the house? Wouldn’t people notice a giant butterfly window constantly opening and closing? I don’t know, but I do like how the walls on the sides have doors so that you can walk out on them. Imagine Marinette serenading Adrien while he’s standing out on one. 

---

“I’m sorry I didn’t come to your dad’s funeral...” dang, man. That’s heavy. How did he know that’s exactly what he was upset about? And that was actually another good move on Gabriel’s part....it would have been hard on Adrien to go to his uncle’s funeral given how close in death dates Emilie and his uncle seem to be. It might have been good for Felix to have the support of someone who understood, but Gabriel had to think about Adrien, not Felix. 

“You have every right to be mad at me”

No, he has every right to be upset about it. But not be mad at YOU for something that was out of your hands. 

“He’s very...protective of me.” For some reason I like that line. It was very soft.

Well that was a jerk move. Snoop. And yikes. 

Felix taking his anger out on Adrien for something he couldn’t control? Man, not cool. He really had this planned out too didn’t he? Steal his phone, then knew he was friendly and welcoming enough to let him shower and borrow clothes- he was looking for a way to cause some sorrow in the boys life by stealing his phone. He got lucky with the video thing but if he hadn’t had that to work with he would have probably tied to get the address of some of his friends and dress up as him and go be rude in person or text them something nasty. The timing of the video was really good for Felix. 

....yikes...but Plagg is right. What a petty act, squashing cheese under his pillow for not going to a funeral he likely wanted to go to to support Felix. It’s pretty standard for people who are grieving to act differently or lash out, but it’s not a valid excuse for the behavior. People cope differently but after a while, if that’s how you cope...maybe it’s time for some therapy.  

It’s good to see a softer side of Chloe. Shows how underneath all that condescension and bratty attitude, she’s still an actual person and can care for others. 

Nyoom

---

Also I like how Gabriel immediately recognized that it wasn’t his son on the video. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. As a matter of fact I like how Nathalie, even when Adrien is pretending to be Felix and convinces Alya Rose and Juleka that he is Felix, Nathalie is still adamently like “Adrien s t o p”

---

Nino and Marinette too, they’re both positive it isn’t Adrien and have faith in him. Even after the video is confirmed unaltered. Kim actually has some logical reasoning, which, honestly I feel. I hardly ever consider someone a friend until I’ve known them for at least a year (there have been folks I’ve known longer than that and never considered friends- because you only know so much about a person. You never know what they might pull) so his reasoning that they’ve only known him since they got back from the summer? Totally valid. And this?

Okay, so I realize that he probably shouldn’t be akumatizing people that are going to go after Adrien, and if he were going to should have moved him BEFORE akumatising them...but he’s taking action to keep Adrien safe from the akumas that are upset with him, and even took his phone into consideration. He hasn’t done that with some previous akumas. And this also tells us that the weapon phones can connect to normal phones and therefore must have a number. Can’t be the same as their normal phone’s number, otherwise when Ladybug and Chat text they could recognize them- so does that mean that Nathalie could potentially have a contact in her phone (Finale spoiler: in the finale she calls Hawkmoth by the press of a button) that calls Hawkmoth? Imagine if Ladybug got hold of her phone and pressed the number while Hawkmoth was active. That could end badly. 

Confused Nathalie is cute. It took a second for her to realize which was which, which of course is realistic. They look really similar, it could take a moment for it to register. 

Juleka: Which one of you is a cruel and inferior copy of the original? 

Me @ studios that rip-off more popular movies/shows to make a quick buck. 

Rose pointed her weapon at Adrien and immediately Nathalie just 

These spot the difference games are getting hard.

She’s protecting her angry boy. 

Don’t make mama mad.

Shes-a gonna getchya. 

Okay, how strong is she? Or how light is Rose? I know for a fact that even if you’re just a naturally strong person it’s not easy to just pick up someone that size and throw them. I can hardly throw a 40lb child. Rose is at least 100 and Nathalie doesn’t even break a sweat. Is it the adrenaline? This has me in as much awe as when Kyoya Ootori dents the hood of a car with his fist out of frustration- I’ve tested it out just to see and denting the hood of a car is hard with just a fist without hurting yourself. Likewise it’s pretty hard to yeet a highschool kid. I now head canon that she works out along with Gabriel. 

That’s determination in her eyes

Friendly reminder that she’s doing this in heels.

If I felt like editing this some of these screenshots could be sent into the funny miraculous screenshots blog. 

Also Rose’s “Ow ow ow” after kicking shins humoured me.  

Catch me over-analyzing Nathalie’s fight scene, she jumped pretty high though. Okay, that’s enough on her fight. Also, the fact that not only Nathalie, but Felix too, can hold their own against 3 akumas at least for a while...I wonder if any akumas have been defeated by skilled civilians before Ladybug could show up.

Moving on, I think it’s really cool how they allowed Ladybug to be able to punch Felix in the face even though he looks like Adrien, and how they had her be like “No” even though it seemed like Adrien was trying to kiss her. And the music, it’s all soft and romantic at first then it goes all distorted and creepy...very fitting. 

That utter rage...man, 15/10. Good content. I like seeing girls be able to stand up for themselves. And then she immediately knows it’s not Adrien.

“Felix, smash it in half and this nightmare will be over” “What makes you think I want it to be over?” Dang. That’s some Azula-level stuff right there. I like that, I want more of that.  

“Hawkmoth, can you hear me Hawkmoth!” 

Yes, yes, I like that. They’re able to communicate through the akumatized people too...I like that very much. Oooh boy, I can’t wait for Felix to come back in season 4. I quite enjoy seeing people willing to work with Hawkmoth and not be as annoying as Lila. What if FELIX is the new Hawkmoth and is working to...idk, bring his dad back? And Lila is his Mayura...or vice versa...that would make it so interesting.

And here I like how Adrien is telling Felix off but still somehow able to be completely soft with it. He’s upset with him and wants to make that clear but he’s still his family and doesn’t want to completely discard him. 

And Felix...dang, I like Felix. He’s got the acting gene. He can lie and manipulate and actually do it well. He seems genuine. Lila, you can always tell she’s acting, that she’s never sincere- but she’s able to manipulate situations. Felix on the other hand...he’s able to go with the flow and adapt quickly. He’s a fantastic actor and if you couldn’t see the hidden context at the end, you’d actually be able to believe him. 

And the one time Gabriel actually extends a hand to someone outside his immediate family or isn’t blind and needs someone to guide them (we see Tomoe with her arm wrapped in Gabriel’s once in a while)....he gets robbed of a prized possession. Dang. Don’t expect him to open up to Felix anymore for a long time. 

*internalized screaming*

I think it’s pretty obvious to her that he stole it. He never had any opportunity to talk Gabriel into giving it up and he’s likely known for being able to pull things off like that. 

I understand that she wants her son to be happy and that he likes the story of the rings, but she should make him return it...but obviously her little angel always gets what he wants, why should she make him give back something he “earned”? She should be asking more questions, he had no right to take it right off Gabriel’s finger. *more internal screaming* I don’t care how many wrongs Gabriel has made, I know this is part of karma coming out to get him but two wrongs don’t make a right. This isn’t math, the negatives don’t make a positive. It just makes more negatives. 

“I’m glad it’s back in the family where it truly belongs” but it was never out of the family! Gabriel IS your family! Adrien is your nephew- he was your sisters son, oh my gosh you make no sense!! *deep breath* Okay. The only thing I can think of that would have allowed the ring to stay with folks named Graham De Vanily would be if 1. All their ancestors had sons who’s wives took their last name, therefore they were passed down from son to son so as to keep it not just in the family, but in the name or 2. Graham De Vanily was the name of Amelie’s husband and for some reason, her husband gave Emilie and Gabriel the twin rings instead of using them in his own wedding...which...no. 

So Gabriel has to now wear Emilie’s ring

And he doesn’t even bother to put her hands back into place. 

Might he have been a little more thoughtful about that, if Adrien at the beginning hadn’t made his comment about him and Nathalie? Or was it just his anger making him forget?

---

Overall the episode was fantastic imo and while Amelie grinds my gears it will definitely be interesting to see more of her and her boy (after all, why introduce a character so interesting if you won’t bring them back?)

[plagg-o]

Better Together

Jumping onto this @auyeahaugust train with an idea I had and might continue later!

Day 4 - Enemies [Hacker AU]

Growing up homeschooled and alone, Adrien Agreste was never allowed to have a normal life. Eventually, he found his ‘freedom’ in the form of hacking, starting his career by infiltrating and taking down evil corporations from the inside and ending up with many clients running from another hacker with the codename HawkMoth. But then someone better came along.

Words: 3,125

He hadn’t meant to make an enemy of her. She’d stolen a client from him once; he’d sent her a virus in return. An impulsive move, he admitted, and for a while he wasn’t sure what had come over him. Jealousy, maybe? It wasn’t that he cared about losing money — he had enough of that to spare. But it had been a hit to his pride, this new hacker upstart coming in and taking a job he’d been working on for days right from under his nose. And so he’d taken it out on her. Two days later she sent him a tweaked version, signed with a heart.

Annoying, but harmless. You’ll get along well. -L

Adrien wasn’t quite sure what to make of Plagg at first. Codename ‘Ladybug’ had taken the VI virus he’d implanted to mess with her system and turned it, somehow, into an AI that never shut up — but also didn’t ever do damage. And, while the note had most certainly been a jab at his abilities — Ladybug hadn’t been wrong. He and Plagg did get along well…weirdly enough. At first, he couldn’t get past the safeguards she’d put in place to disable it — and then, he stopped trying. He liked the company.

From the day he sent her that virus, Ladybug never left him alone. And he never left her alone, either. They ended up always dipping into the same pool of clients, always in competition even though they were trying to accomplish the same things. He had spent countless hours hacking into her system, trying his best to gain the upper hand, trying to win back clients. Ladybug’s counterattacks seemed to exist simply to mock him; she was always trolling him, driving him up the wall — and little notes she sent along seemed meant to taunt him further.

Nice try, Chaton. Try this instead. -L

You almost got me with that one! Almost. -L

I fixed it for you. -L

Hey, that wasn’t very nice, Chaton. Have fun re-downloading all those files. -L

Plagg got a new update last night! Enjoy. ;) -L

It was infuriating, and confusing, but his biggest concern was that Ladybug was better than he was. No matter what he tried, she turned it on him within days, with modifications and upgrades and things he would never even think of. But it was never damaging or irreversible. Sure, she’d sometimes slip into his system in the dead of night and delete games he’d spent hours downloading or disable every web browser but Internet Explorer, but nothing that actually prevented him from doing his work.

He hadn’t meant to make an enemy of her, but he’d always found himself antagonizing her — or trying to. Perhaps the way with which she handled it kept drawing him back to her. They were well known in the community for being pitted against each other — the rumors had spread, and now he was facing a conversation he had never wanted to begin.

Adrien’s eyes rested on the screen, cursor blinking impatiently at his hesitation.

[HawkMoth]: I’m still waiting for an answer.

[HawkMoth]: We could take her down together. No one would have to know.

[HawkMoth]: After it’s done, everything can go back to the way it was before.

[HawkMoth]: You’ll have no competition.

[HawkMoth]: You could be done with all of this.

How crazy had he gotten, to think that Adrien would say yes? Then again — HawkMoth was capable of destroying his entire system in fifteen minutes flat, as well as wiping out his account. He couldn’t exactly say no right off the bat, or it would all be gone.

[Chat Noir]: Let me think about it. Give me a few days.

[HawkMoth]: …You have 24 hours.

[Chat Noir]: Fine. More generous than usual, anyway.

[HawkMoth]: I can be patient. You have no other options, after all.

//hawkmoth has disconnected.

After checking his defense and making sure his activity couldn’t be traced, he took a deep breath. Now or never. It took him a good three minutes just to press send.

[Chat Noir]: Hey, can you imagine how annoying it might be to have to find a new picture of Camembert every thirty minutes for three years?

Her reply was near-instant, much to Adrien’s relief.

[Ladybug]: That was Plagg’s idea, actually. ;)

[Ladybug]: Every thirty minutes is a bit much, tbh. You’re spoiling him. I’m smiling!

[Ladybug]: Tikki likes cookies.

[Chat Noir]: You named the virus I sent you Tikki?

[Ladybug]: It fits.

[Ladybug]: Not a virus anymore, btw.

[Ladybug]: I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever actually talk to me.

[Chat Noir]: Are you always this friendly with your enemies?

[Chat Noir]: I can’t say this is what I was expecting.

[Ladybug]: Is that how you see us?

[Ladybug]: I think ‘rivals’ is more fitting, personally.

[Ladybug]: I’ve always enjoyed a little friendly competition.

Ladybug was…not like he expected. And it made his life way easier — tonight, anyway.

[Ladybug]: You still with me, Chaton?

[Chat Noir]: We need to talk — somewhere secure.

[Ladybug]: Ah.

[Ladybug]: Go offline and then talk to Plagg.

//ladybug has disconnected.

Adrien blinked. He’d approached her with caution and she had immediately taken him at his word, had not even questioned it. He supposed he should do the same. He shut everything down except for Plagg. The image of the little black cat floated in the middle of the darkened screen, smirking.

‘OH, FINALLY.’ Apparently much more in the loop than Adrien was, Plagg didn’t hesitate. ‘GIVE ME YOUR PHONE.’

Hesitantly, Adrien stood up. “Plagg. You don’t actually have hands.” Suddenly, Plagg’s voice was coming from behind him, much quieter than usual.

‘Yeah, no kidding, genius.’

Whirling around, Adrien snatched up his phone, eyes widening to see he’d taken over the screen. “You can jump into my phone?! How long have you been able to do that???”

Snickering, Plagg shrugged. ‘Since the beginning? Ladybug didn’t think it would take this long. I don’t think she knew just how stubborn you were.’

“Do you mean to tell me that Ladybug had planned for this from the beginning? That we’d meet?”

‘Guess you’ll have to ask her when you get there.’ Just as Plagg said that, the phone beeped: a text from a blocked number with an address and short instructions.

11 pm by the fountain. Cover your face.

————

Adrien’s stomach was in knots as he arrived in the darkened park, black hoodie and scarf successfully obscuring his identity. He’d spent years fighting with this girl, albeit not quite the ‘enemy’ he’d dubbed her, and in all honesty before tonight — he’d never even considered meeting her. To find that she had planned this all along was — what, exactly? He didn’t even know.

‘Calm down, kid. She’s not gonna murder you.’ Despite the fact that his phone was firmly in his pocket, he could almost see the eye-roll.

“Don’t make me regret the ear piece, Plagg. And that’s not — I didn’t think she was.” Not until Plagg had said that, anyway. But it was a fear he could fairly easily push aside — after all, they might be rivals, but they were both doing good work, even if they weren’t exactly going by the law to do it. After a few moments of steeling his resolve, he made his way to the fountain, sitting on the edge with nothing to do but wait and hope.

“You’re early!” Adrien nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice coming seemingly out of nowhere behind him. The very loud voice, for their very discreet meeting. And then she was giggling. “Oh, you even jump like a cat when scared. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you!” When he finally calmed his heart enough to turn around and face her, he was met with more giggling.

Again, Ladybug was not what he was expecting.

She was wearing a red hoodie with fabric that covered her face; the only thing he could see were her striking blue eyes. Eyes that were smiling at him — she was still laughing. And he found himself quickly covering his embarrassment with a huff. “Anyone would have jumped at that.” His voice didn’t come out quite as friendly as he’d intended — especially considering why he had asked her here — but it did nothing to dampen her mood, apparently.

“Oh no, I’m—” Ladybug stifled another giggle as she shook her head, waving her hands in front of her enthusiastically. “I just didn’t expect your hoodie to have cat ears. I didn’t see them until you turned around.” She shook her head, finally recovering, and he could see the laughter fade into determination in her gaze. It almost captivated him for a moment — almost. Plagg must have noticed, somehow, because he could hear the snickering in his ear. That’s when Adrien took the ear piece out.

“I know we just met, and I know you don’t know me. But I need you to trust me for a minute. I need you to close your eyes.” Ladybug took a step forward, arm reaching out almost as if she was going to touch him, but it dropped to her side almost as quickly, as if she had thought better of it.

Adrien didn’t know why, precisely, but he trusted her — and so he did. He felt slender fingers wrap around his hand, then, and without a second thought he found himself sliding his fingers through hers. She began to lead him, and he followed for what felt like hours before he felt her stop and open up a door, leading them both through it. The room lit up around him and she released his hand. “Okay, you can open your eyes.” Her voice sounded more timid now, and he did as she said.

His eyes hadn’t even fully adjusted to the light when he started sputtering in surprise. “T-this is…?!”

“Where I do my work.” She laughed a little shyly as she extended her hands, gesturing to the large room. It wasn’t just full of computers, but also pictures and mannequins and scraps of fabric and half-finished clothing everywhere. “I, uh, spend most of my time in here so other things have bled into it, but you won’t find a safer spot to talk in all of Paris.” She shook her head. “Sorry about having you close your eyes. I didn’t want to give away the location just yet.”

“No, it’s uh — that makes sense,” Adrien murmured, a little at a loss for what to say. “Um, sorry I didn’t really expect…” His voice trailed off. Honestly, he’d had no idea what to expect, but this girl didn’t seem like the trolling hacking machine he’d once thought she was.

Ladybug’s eyes darted to the side, and she shrugged. “So, um — you needed to talk somewhere secure?” She was looking at him again, and this time it was Adrien looking away. “Does this have to do with HawkMoth?”

She was giving him every opening he needed to start talking, but he found himself stumbling over his words, what he had planned to say vanishing from his mind as soon as he opened his mouth. “Y-yeah, good intuition,” he finally managed, and found himself sinking into one of the desk chairs. “He’s trying to get me to team up with him to take you down.” Once he got started, it had been easier to say than he was expecting.

“Oooh. I didn’t expect that.” For all the girl’s words, she didn’t actually sound terribly surprised. In fact, she was already halfway across the room, flipping over her dry erase board to reveal the back — an extensive record of HawkMoth and his methods, codes, and possible plans. She was already jotting the information down in one of the few bare spots on the board, tucked away in a small corner. “I mean, I knew he wanted to get rid of me, obviously, but he always works alone and trusts no one so that strategy is a little surprising, you know? I mean, not that I’m an expert, but I’ve been tracking his actions over the past few years and I—”

“Whoa, this is insane,” he cut in, now standing next to her and examining the board. He only felt a little bad about cutting her off…he felt that might be the only way he got a word in edgewise. “You realize this looks like one of those crazy conspiracy theorist boards?”

Ladybug laughed. “Well, at this point, it kind of is? I mean, I don’t really know what he’s after. But everyone that comes to us is trying to escape from him, aren’t they?” She grabbed his arm, suddenly serious again. Her moods seemed to shift on a whim, and Adrien couldn’t help but be fascinated by it. “Chat, you need to say yes.”

And now his jaw had dropped, not that she could see it beneath the fabric. Was this girl actually insane? But she didn’t look crazy — she looked determined. “I — you’re serious?”

“If he lets you in, even a little bit, wouldn’t that be a chance to learn enough to take him down? We can work with this!” Ladybug did not seem to have a grasp on the potential dangers of the situation, and Adrien felt himself slipping into a weird sort of panic on her behalf.

“What…what kind of things could we even learn from that? There’s way too many chances for it to backfire. No way.” He shook his head, finding it hard to hold her gaze when it was so earnest. Why did it have to be her eyes that he could see? “I came to you to avoid that.”

Her eyes were pleading with him now, and he had to break away from her touch before she hypnotized him. “If we could learn his identity, I’m sure we could find a way to connect everything with him and—”

“That is not an issue.” Adrien gritted his teeth. Now or never. “I already know his identity.” There’s no going back.

Ladybug froze, her eyes widening. For a moment, he could swear he saw the fear of the worst flashing through her eyes before she recovered enough to prompt him. “…oh?”

Adrien sighed. “HawkMoth is my father.”

“Oh…oh.” Ladybug’s voice was soft, but it wasn’t pity he felt from her. She was touching his hand, now, and somehow he felt like she was sharing every bit of the pain he’d felt when having to say those words out loud. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how hard that is.” Before he’d realized she’d done it, she had led him over to the couch, sitting them both down on it, hand still on his.

She didn’t ask about his father’s identity.

After a few moments, she spoke, hesitantly. “I admit I noticed some…similarities. At first, I was suspicious, but when I confirmed that you definitely weren’t — well, him — I … I had thought maybe that you would be the key to bringing him down for good.”

“He taught me everything I know,” he murmured half bitterly, leaning back. He didn’t make any move to remove her hand…hers was a comforting touch, and Adrien didn’t know how much he had needed that until tonight. “You really think we could bring him down?”

When she didn’t immediately respond, he looked at her curiously. “Are you…sure that’s what you want?” She shook her head. “I—I mean, HawkMoth needs to be stopped but I can understand if you don’t want to be involved in that, it’s—”

“Yes, it’s what I want.” He sounded more confident than he felt. “But — he taught me everything I know,” he said again. “He’s got me outmatched, and when I don’t say yes tomorrow, he’s going to be able to cut me off from everything.”

Ladybug shook her head, and her hold on his hand tightened slightly. “You say that, but the way you code—” She stopped mid-sentence, shaking her head again; it looked as if she was having trouble getting her words out. “Would it make any sense if I said it had more heart?” She laughed. “No, I just — I need you to understand how good you are. I’ve been freaking out over it for like, three years, okay?”

And now, Adrien was having trouble keeping up again. “You’ve improved and outdone everything I’ve ever sent to you.”

“Yes! No,” she corrected herself almost immediately, her voice speeding up excitedly. “No that’s just it! That virus you sent me, the very first time. It had something in it I’d never seen before, not in anything HawkMoth has done, not in anything my master taught me — it was completely unique. I can’t explain it, but it’s been in everything you’ve sent me. The only reason I’ve been able to make the things I have is because I was building off of your code.” She had released his hand now, only to gesture excitedly with both of hers — still, he found himself missing that warmth. And he was definitely blushing now.

“I, uh…didn’t…notice…” he mumbled awkwardly, unable to meet her eyes again — although now she, too, was looking away.

A little calmer now, she started again. “There’s something about putting our minds together that just…works. I think we could do it, if we were working together.” She paused for a moment. “Is that — what you wanted when you came?”

Adrien gave a barely perceptible nod. “I messaged you earlier hoping to ask you to help me defeat him, yeah.” Even so, he felt himself somehow swept away by how the evening had unfolded so far.

“Then…we need to trust each other.” He saw her nod out of the corner of his eyes. “I have a plan, but there’s no way it can work if we’re staying in the shadows — not from each other, anyway.” She sounded hesitant, but resolved. And she didn’t wait for an answer before he saw the hood come down. Adrien’s head whipped towards her more quickly than he thought physically capable, and he found himself locking eyes with her once more, jaw dropping as his breath caught in his chest. She then pulled down the fabric from around her face and greeted him with a smile much more beautiful than he had dared to expect — then again, Ladybug had a habit of defying his expectations. “My name is Marinette.”

And he smiled. Reaching up to pull down his own hoodie and remove his scarf, he was still smiling when the fabric dropped. Any apprehension he had felt earlier had all but vanished, at least in this moment. “It’s nice to officially meet you, Marinette. I’m Adrien.”