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miraculouslbcnreactions · 6 months ago

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Having the statue scene be what caused Adrien to fall in love with Marinette feel like one of many spite moves from Astruc. Like once again, he saw how much people hated that scene but instead of addressing the criticisms he instead just point blank tries to force us to like the scene.

I'd go with arrogance over spite. I don't know much about the man, but the quotes I've seen and my limited knowledge of the industry are why my standard take is that he and the writing staff are genuinely trying to tell a good story. While we think they're failing at it, they don't. They think it's good. You're not going to sway me to their point of view, but I do understand how they could get into that mindset.

It's incredibly rare to get professional writers who want to punish the audience. It's incredibly common to get writers who are so far up their own ass that they think they shit gold and anyone who disagrees is just a hater who can't understand their vision. While that viewpoint isn't ideal, it's not a terrible trait for a creative. You're unlikely to succeed in a creative field if you can't get into some version of that mindset.

Speaking as a writer, if you want to succeed in a creative field, then you do genuinely need to be your own biggest fan and learn to ignore criticism. Not because you're above criticism, but because:

Issue 1: A lot of people struggle with the difference between personal taste and actual flaws, leading to some really shitty "criticism". That doesn't mean that it's bad to talk about a thing in terms of personal taste, it just means that your criticisms maybe be highly subjective opinions and not objective flaws that the creator needs to know about. It's why things like book reviews are for the audience and not the author. I know people who have found great reads based on negative reviews because those reviews talked about the book in question in an objective enough way for those people to realize it had things that they loved. That means that those were excellent reviews, they let people know if they'd like the book or not, which is what a review is meant to do! It also means that the reviews were pretty worthless to the authors because there was nothing that needed changing. It was all a matter of personal taste.

Issue 2: Taking point one a step further: more objective, "good" criticism isn't necessarily valuable to a creator. Sometimes creators are willing to include "flaws" because their creation doesn't fit their vision without those "flaws". Creators can get away with that because different audiences will care about different things and you're never going to be able to appeal to everyone. This is not the greatest example, but I think it gets my point across, so I'll use it here anyway. As someone who prefers reasonably healthy couples, if I were to read a story with an awful romance, then I'd probably hate it and have very clear, logical reasons why. But if the author is totally aware that the couple is awful and needed them to be such for the story they wanted to tell? Then my critique has no value to them. It's why good critique is so hard to get and give. Good critique is not about shaping a story into what you'd call good, it's about shaping the story the writer wants to tell into its best form. It's super hard, but also fun and a good learning experience.

Issue 3: A lot of criticism is highly situational and public feedback will only ever come after a work is done and available to the public. That makes it questionable how much value you'd get from reading feedback at that point. For an ongoing work where only a part is done, you might get something useful, but for a finished one? It's questionable if there's any point in reading negative comments. For example, I've received unsolicited critical feedback on fics that are several years old. I have no idea what the goal of those comments is. Even if I agree with them, I'm not going to rewrite the fic for them. I even asked one of them what their goal was and they couldn't tell me. They just wanted me to know and the button said "comments" not "positive comments."

Issue 4: You're never going to be perfect, so even a great work will have flaws, but it's unhealthy to dwell on them. Listening to a thousand people point out what you got wrong is not going to help anyone improve. That's why good creatives are open to feedback, but they tend to have a select group that they go to for feedback during the creative process. They then ignore most other feedback. In most cases, that is the healthy way to approach the creative process. It's why I don't agree with those who complain about someone blocking critics on twitter. Block and move on isn't just advice for the plebs. Successful creatives are allowed to prioritize their mental health, too.

Of course, there is a double edged sword in action here. Because creatives need to be their own fans and develop that ability to ignore criticism, they are always at risk of forming echo chambers that lead them to create lesser works because everyone in their core team thinks the same way they do. They may not even have a core team! It takes a lot of humility and luck to find people who give you good feedback.

The echo chamber issue is especially true when creatives are successful as it's hard to want to change when you're making money off of whatever crap you put out. Once you reach a certain level of success, there will be a whole lot less push back on your terrible ideas. If it's going to make money either way, then why worry if it's total crap? (This is a major problem in the publishing industry, btw. People with large social media followings can get a book deal with relative ease and publish almost anything they want because the publisher knows it will sell and it's not their name that's going to be looked down on.)

Generally speaking, this is what I think happened with Miraculous. The show is incredibly successful so there's no reason to listen to criticism or expand the creative team. Until the show stops making money, it doesn't matter how bad it is, so there's no reason for the writers to question if they've become blind to their own flaws. And by the time the show goes too far and stops making money? It will probably be too late to fix the problems so the show will just die. That's just how this trend works.

In summary, I would not be shocked if the writers genuinely think they're writing wonderful stories and that the critics just can't see it because we're the spiteful ones, not them. People can develop really weird standards for what is good, especially when they're immersed in the industry. For example, it's not like Disney wanted to ruin the Star Wars brand or have their 100th anniversary film - Wish - be universally panned. Studios want to make money. Writers want to tell stories people like. Spite it's rarely the answer when they fail to do those things.

The one caveat I will give to the above is if you're referring to the kind of spiteful arrogance where someone creates a thing, people criticize said thing, and so the person makes more of said thing in retaliation because that's 100% spite. But it's not the kind of spite where they're making a thing bad on purpose. It's them saying, "no, this was good and I'm gonna make more of it because you're wrong and I'm right." People do that shit all the time and, once again, it's not an inherently bad thing. Like all emotions, spite is a neutral force and a powerful motivator. It can lead to great things and terrible things. I can think of spite projects that were wildly successful and spite projects that totally flopped. (Relevant Tumblr post)

If that's the argument you're making when you say "spite", then I could totally see the statue scene choice happening because the writers heard people dunking on it and they went, "No, you're wrong, that scene was awesome! In fact, to show you how awesome, we're going to have that be when Adrien's crush started!" Spite? Yes. Ruining the show on purpose to get back at haters? No.

#anon ask #ml writing critical #ml writing salt #ml writers salt

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ilikekidsshows · 7 months ago

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With Adrien now having lost both his parents (and couldn't even bury them), lost his uncle (yes, that counts), and having gone through Emilie's, Gabriel's, and Nathalie's health going south in front of his eyes, I just... I lost a couple of family members in the last 2 years (two very recently) and our home situation was always very... complicated to say the least on top of our family having quite alot of health issues.

I don't know how sympathetic I can stay with Miraculous and Marinette when they will now clearly make light of being an abused and guilt ridden orphan because Marinette is gonna continue crying whenever she feels the slightest discomfort about everything that isn't about her.

If the show has Marinette now complain about her parents bc of some set up drama to Adrien and he'll be given shit for being "unsupportive" because he tells her that her parents aren't the worst and instead she should talk to them (which was her (awful) advice to him in Risk but it's correct here). I just don't know how I can watch that without going off. No way is Marinette gonna be respectful about Adrien being an orphan the second her parents aren't perfect. She probably won't even remember or simply be dismissive the way she always is when something opposes her opinion.

Marinette is never written to be truly respectful to any kind abuse in the show besides her own and bully victims. She's even written to be a solid bit ableist because once it's not Marinette's problem it ain't real and people "need to be put in place". Marinette not being a raging dick doesn't mean she's respectful. I noticed that her dialogue very rarely actually empathizes with the victims. She just tells them they can try again and change their feelings and situations to what she decided is the correct way to be and think. Marinette doesn't truly help people, she tells them how to best suit herself so they can then help her after they corrected their existence to her liking. That's literally all Marinette did to Shadybug omfg. I hate it here.

If Lila causes trouble in Marinette's family, no way will Marinette be tolerant of Adrien's situation. And I don't know if I can watch that.

And I don't think this is me being too sensitive at all. Just like there are abused children who are constantly getting shit on by Marinette's story, orphans very obviously exist. But Marinette isn't an orphan so now there is a new group of children who need to "learn their lesson" that their problems aren't real because Marinette is upsette.

Sorry for being pessimistic, but it makes me so unbelievably angry that Miraculous has turned into nothing but a kids show that's just for the pretty and privilege Girls who were bullied (or maybe not even that) and now want a power fantasy that validates all their worst emotional cravings of revenge on literally everyone else's expense because SOMETHING didn't went their way and now that's the worst thing ever.

I hate that Miraculous became a show that I don't want children to watch because of how awful the Marinette centric morality is. Every bad message possible is send to children as long as it validates Marinette and her kinnies and it's a prime example of the type of privileged western feminism that gives feminism such a bad name. So forgive me for not believing that Marinette will suddenly be written differently the moment Lila has her parents disagree with her about something (like wanting her to take over the bakery) and Marinette will inevitably be written to stomp her foot, scream, cry, and throw up about how abused, oppressed, and unprivileged she is until she entirely gets her way.

No I don't think Marinette will be understanding of Adrien in that case. She will start crying and pouting about not being validated and Adrien taking her parents side, and say that Adrien's experiences don't count and he just "doesn't get it" until he agrees that his way worse experience isn't worth anything (the way she always makes him as Cat Noir believe taht his feelings, perspective and experiences aren't real. He just "doesn't get" how correct and benevolent she is, until he gives in and accepts that he's irrelevant and worthy of abuse the way she likes it apparently. Or the class not being allowed to have their own opinions on Chloe because Marinette thinks their experiences of being bullied by Chloe aren't "valid" enough to make a judgement call whenever it doesn't validate her, only SHE can have the right opinion)

When has Marinette ever been written to actually respect other victims? The most she does is stop being a dick about it and instead "kindly" wait for the victims to understand taht they are wrong and she's right. They don't have real problems, only HER, so its HER who needs all the effort and support. The others just need to stop and get over it.

I've yet to see anything in Miraculous that gives me a real reason to believe Marinette is not gonna be a shit girlfriend now the moment she isn't getting whatever she wants and Adrien isn't 24/7 validating her. Marinette has become such a privileged character who walks over all kinds of victims but would never take accountability for it because "it's not her fault" and "her feelings are valid, everyone is just so awful and mean to her!"

I pitty every child growing up with Miraculous who doesn't have the privilege of being a Marinette. And now they are gonna drag orphans into that too...

---

They don’t even need to give Marinette family problems to make her be insensitive to Adrien, in my opinion. Her most minor grievances are the most important problem for her, no matter what anyone else has going on. Adrien could be going to his father's funeral and Marinette would stalk him there unless he invites her along like it’s a date and she would treat the situation like she was the one facing the hardship of Adrien not inviting her everywhere he goes.

Marinette has been treating Adrien’s worries as unimportant since day one. Adrien being locked up was only bad because he couldn’t come to the trick dates Marinette tried to set up. Adrien has a “perfect life” because he’s rich and famous, because nothing else about his life has worked out for him in any way. But Marinette will only acknowledge something is wrong when he’s being forced to hang out with girls who aren’t Marinette herself, meaning it’s once again about her and how her dream boy/boyfriend is being pushed off on other girls when he should be with her.

So, yeah, I totally don't see the writers allowing Adrien to grieve his parents for more than a second. I can just see it, Adrien with a photo of the family he no longer has, and we instantly cut to Marinette whining about how Adrien has been so distant with her and the fandom instantly cries: "How dare Adrien grieve his supervillain dad (that he doesn't know was a supervillain)! He should be with Marinette because she's upsette!"

#ml salt #ml fandom salt #dats chats

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yubellia · 9 months ago

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Lila/Cerise/Iris/Daphne(?) Style analysis

Hi! Now we all calmed down after the miraculous London special (that didn’t really took place in London most of the time), I thought about something. Our favorite local liar and chameleon had a lot of outfits so far.

So why not try to analyze them and maybe come to a conclusion for her future in the series? Also, I won‘t talk about the waitress because that was kind of a spying mission and a one time thing. We focus on the civilian ones ok? Also remember that English isn’t my first language ok?

Enjoy!

Lila Rossi

Ok let’s start at the beginning. „Lila Rossi“ is introduced as the new girl in school. And she is not wasting time. She starts to spread lies instantly.

But we are here for her outfit.

- She has long red-brown hair that reaches her hips, tied together at the ends and bangs that cover her forehead (we later learn that it’s a wig)

- she has greenish eyes (contact lenses)

- probably uses fake tan or makeup

- she has a gray- black romper with white polka dots.

- gray tights

- brown ankle boots

- an orange-red leather jacket

- these three wristbands

- (apparently she wears earrings) only relevant in one episode.

To be honest, Lila is one of the characters with style. Her romper could be better and they could have changed her hair a little bit. But overall, she is pretty.

Her outfit isn’t all that spectacular but her red leather jacket is an eye catcher.

Red is a loud color if you get what I mean. It demands attention. Just like Lila herself. So this aspect is reflected in her outfit.

Since we thought that she is just a background villain, there isn’t that much to say just yet.

Cerise Bianca

this is where things get a bit more interesting.

Cerise didn’t change too much, talking about her outfit. It looks like her Lila disguise with different colors.

- her leather jacket is light brown now

- her romper is a solid purple/pink (can we talk about this one? I know purple is a ‚royal and regal‘ color but this looks so tacky and…. No! Just no!)

- she keeps her wristbands

- her tights and boots stay the same.

Now things get interesting.

- without her wig, Cerise has a short pixie cut.

- her tan is fake

- and she has light brown/ hazel eyes.

Her eyes are also special for a different reason.

What about the eyes? Well, look at the characters. Many of them have these round big eyes. Cerises eyes are more fox like, especially when she smirks. It actually takes focus to keep your eyes „normal“ when smiling. Otherwise your eyes turn to slits once your smile or ‚smirk‘ reaches your eyes.

But back to the Cerise!

The purple romper, as ugly as it is, is another attention seeking color. Like the red jacket before in her Lila outfit. Red and purple are also colors that royals wore in the past.

This is pretty fitting considering that she told her other classmates that she is an actress and a star. This outfit is just as attention grabbing as the last. The purple can also be a foreshadowing for when she becomes the new Hawk Moth.

Unfortunately, Cerise becomes a character in the background. She isn’t interacting with many characters. Instead she pulls the strings in the background. There isn’t much to say about it here.

Maybe we see this disguise in season 6 again. Marinette didn’t see her like this yet after all.

Iris Verdi

I think that this is the disguise she used to infiltrate the Agreste Mansion at the end of season 5.

We see something interesting here. This outfit is different than the others. It’s a full-body-disguise, just like ‚Lila‘ was. However. This outfit is much less attention grabbing.

Her black wig has bangs again that cover her forehead. She also wears glasses this time. Combining those two things isn’t easy. Let me tell you as someone who wears glasses. Why? Because it ‚hides‘ your face.

This is very interesting because that’s exactly what she wants with this disguise. Get in, get the miraculous and get out without being seen.

If you look at it, this is also were her outfits get more… ‚basic‘. No power colors or special statement pieces. Maybe her black leather jacket.

However, black is one of the more basic colors for leather jackets. It’s almost like she is trying to dress up as a background character.

She has a light blue jeans and her normal brown boots.

Daphne Azuri (London special)

Now, last but not least, we have her new disguise in the London special. We didn’t see too much but we at least got a full body view.

This disguise was leaked by the way. The name Daphne (Azuri? Azure?) was also flowing around.

I think this new persona is either Iris or Daphne. Not sure yet.

-She wears a blond wig that is tied into a bun. Her forehead is fully visible. There is not a single loose hair. It looks pretty strict.

-she has blue/purple ish contacts. (Sorry the lighting makes ist a bit unclear.)

-it seems like her fake tan is back.

-her 3 wristbands are gone….

Now her outfit:

She wears a black skirt, black tights and her boots are black too. But it looks like she uses the same shoe model. (Probably because she knows she can walk and run in them. A practical decision perhaps.)

She wears a black sweater. The arms end shortly unter her elbows. Under that, she wears a white blouse.

This outfit ist interesting because it seems very strict and business like. Like she comes from a school with a school uniform perhaps….? It’s also very bland. No color at all.

However, as someone who also almost always wears black, let me tell you that you stick out like a sore thumb with that. I mean remember how….. colorful the characters from miraculous are. She will stand out with that.

Also black is a basic villain color. Unless your character is a secret agent and has to blend in at night. So there is that.

The leaks claim that in this outfit, she will have a red blazer and a hat matching it. So perhaps there is color involved after all.

However, this outfit, again, isn’t attention seeking at all really.

Also, if the leaks are true and she is disguised as an exchange student, than she will be able to ‚disappear‘ very easily if things get tough.

——————————————————

Now, what else can we take away from this little style analysis? If you look at it from a story perspective, than it’s easy.

The more important she became for the story. The less attention grabbing are her outfits. We know that Cerise/Lila whatever, can be sneaky. She has no trouble getting somewhere and getting out without being seen. But now she really has a reason to look harmless and bland.

Now that I think about it, maybe she will stop lying for the same reason. It’s too dangerous to draw attention to yourself. So stuff like ‚I am ladybugs friend‘ are a no-go now.

I think season 6 will be interesting. I hope you liked it. Bye!

#miraculous ladybug #lila rossi #cerise bianca #Iris Verdi #miraculous ladybug theory #miraculous ladybug London special

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liquid-luck-00 · 2 years ago

Text

Marks of Magic

Day 2 Vampire

Maribat Spooktober 2023

Previous *** Next

I didn’t mean for this to become a song fic but that’s where it ended up (Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo)

Language and cursing is used

1790 words

~~~~~~~~~~

She woke up the next morning, and it was so peaceful. She didn’t have to worry about Hawkmoth, she didn’t have to worry what her classmates thought of her. That just gave her so much freedom in fact she smiled, taking a breath of air for the first time in what seemed like years.

She bounced downstairs, earlier than her normal on a Saturday morning.

"some one is in good spirits today." Her Maman smiled as she came into the kitchen.

"Of course I am!" She tackled her mom in a hug.

"Did something happen at school?" Her Maman hugged her back. A second later her face turned somber, knowingly she asked. "Did Lila do something?... Alya?"

"Yes and no. I'll tell you and Papa at dinner."

"Okay Baio Bai." She flicked her on the nose. "For now help me get your father to eat something." She held a tray of berries, yogurt, granola, and coffee up for her to take down.

"Well isn’t this a surprise." Her papa smiled as she walked in to the bakery kitchen.

"Well it’s too nice to be crammed in my room." She offered.

"So what did your mother send?" He clapped his hands as flour clouded in the kitchen.

"A few staples." She started mixing granola into the yogurt, and tossing in a few of her papa’s favorite berries, before handing him the bowl.

"Any plans princess?"

"Don’t know." She shrugged. "Maybe walk around and sketch. I was also thinking about dropping by the Couffaine’s."

"Does he treat you right?"

"Papa!!" She blushed, covering her face with her hands. "He’s a good friend, nothing else."

She finally muttered when she found her voice again.

"He is a good kid Mari. Besides if he doesn’t he has to go through me."

She could only laugh before excusing herself.

She never thought of it before, never let herself truly think she could be in a relationship, but…

Luka knows who she is, was, damn that punched her in the gut. But he knows, and she made sure he was the only one that actually remembered that particular secret of hers. Sass had even been with him until a week ago, but could she actually let herself say it to him.

Without realizing she was coming up on the dock.

"How are ya lassie, come aboard." She heard Mdm. Couffaine call out to her.

"Thank you. How have you been?" She asked easily to the sweet pirate of a woman.

"All is good. He’s down in his cabin."

"Thank you." She walked down and approached the door, strums of a guitar floated through the hall. She lifted a hand up to knock, but the door swung open. She hadn’t noticed it had stopped.

"Marinette."

"Luka…" The words died in her throat, her eyes began to sting.

"It’s okay, my melody."

Yes she was relieved that everything was over but that couldn’t last. She lost her best friend, Tikki had become such a huge piece of her and now she was gone. She guarded the kwamii, learned what made each one special. Barkk's loyalty and obsession with the knight's order. Wayzz's fondness of the other's antics and his calmness. She finally let her emotions rage through her without fearing repercussions.

"Marinette!" Luka’s usual calm melted into panic as she broke down.

"It's..." She choked on her words, everything from the night before crashed against her closed eyes.

Luka started to hum, pulling her into a hug. His steady heartbeat combined with his peaceful humming calmed some small part of her. "He's gone." He leaned back, a silent question in his gaze, 'who'. "Hawkmoth." She whispered before emotion overtook her once again.

They stayed like that for a while. Luka didn't pry, didn't try to stop her from feeling everything. At some point they ended up sitting on the bed, Luka started playing his guitar.

"You know you don't have to tell me." Luka finally spoke, not missing a note. "But if you want to I'll listen."

"I..." She pursed her lips, she was about to say more when the door swung open.

"Oh!" Juleka stood in the door, surprised to see the two of them. Her emotions then schooled themselves, ignoring Marinette, and turned towards Luka. "Everyone's here." The quiet girl turned and left.

"Come on." Luka extended his hand. "You need a distraction."

She took it and let him pull her through the house boat. There on the deck was almost half the class. Kitty Section (which included Rose, Ivan, and Juleka), Mylene, Adrien, Alix, Alya and Nino who were sitting next to Lila. Everyone turned and once they saw her scowled.

"Why are you here?" Alex voiced what everyone must have been thinking,

"Well... I..." she didn't know why, just that it felt right, even as Luka dragged her on the stage.

"Come on, just try." Luka placed the microphone in her hand as he plugged his guitar into the amp.

"But I don't..." She bit her lip unsure. Luka started strumming the song only he could hear. She just had to put lyrics to it. "Okay."

She let every thing pour int her words. Her sadness, joy, anger, everything she attempted and failed to tell Luka. Her eyes steeled as she became more confident with every note. Her first target was Alya.

'Hate to give the satisfaction, asking how you're doing now

How's the castle built off people you pretend to care about?

Just what you wanted

Look at you, cool guy, you got it'

Her eyes turned and caught Adrien's as the words formed in her mind mere moments before they crossed her lips.

'I see the parties and the diamonds sometimes when I close my eyes

Six months of torture you sold as some forbidden paradise

I loved you truly

Gotta laugh at the stupidity'

Without hesitating she stared at Lila.

'Cause I've made some real big mistakes

But you make the worst one look fine

I should've known it was strange

You only come out at night

I used to think I was smart

But you made me look so naive

The way you sold me for parts

As you sunk your teeth into me, oh

Bloodsucker, famefucker

Bleedin' me dry, like a goddamn vampire'

She took a short breath before continuing.. now catching Nino's attention.

'And every girl I ever talked to told me you were bad, bad news

You called them crazy, God, I hate the way I called them crazy too

You're so convincing

How do you lie without flinching?

(How do you lie, how do you lie, how do you lie?)'

Her eyes swept her 'friends' before landing on Alix.

'Ooh, what a mesmerizing, paralyzing, fucked-up little thrill

Can't figure out just how you do it, and God knows I never will

Went for me, and not her

'Cause girls your age know better'

As she began the chorus again she closed her eyes and stepped back, furthering herself from those on the deck.

'I've made some real big mistakes

But you make the worst one look fine

I should've known it was strange

You only come out at night

I used to think I was smart

But you've made me look so naive

The way you sold me for parts

As you sunk your teeth into me, oh

Bloodsucker, famefucker

Bleedin' me dry, like a goddamn vampire'

She picked up the pace and tried to catch everyone's eyes, but they seemed to be avoiding her gaze.

'You said it was true love, but wouldn't that be hard?

You can't love anyone, 'cause that would mean you had a heart

I tried you help you out, now I know that I can't

'Cause how you think's the kind of thing I'll never understand

I've made some real big mistakes

But you make the worst one look fine

I should've known it was strange

You only come out at night

I used to think I was smart

But you made me look so naive

The way you sold me for parts

As you sunk your teeth into me, oh

Bloodsucker, famefucker

Bleedin' me dry, like a goddamn vampire'

She took a gulp of air, now standing next to Luka. His, and everyone's, attention on her as he continued before cutting abruptly. "Better?"

she never thought it would actually be so releiving, but it was. she giggled at thats, a light smile entwined in the laughter. Such a contrast to what had come out of her heart seconds ago. "Yeah. So much fucking better."

He smiled at her, a small grin, but his eyes were bright, knowing. Her heart skipped as she felt her cheeks heat up.

"Gurl! You can't just show up and diss us like nothing!" Alya shouted nearly jumping up at her.

"Good thing I didn't plan it." she grumbled at the bespekled girl.

"Bull!" Alix jumped in. "We all heard that."

"Then consider it my good bye." She replaced the microphone and started down the steps. Luka catching up to her, he took her hand and their fingers intertwined, almost like second nature.

"Don't." Juleka grabbed Luka's shoulder turning him, and her in turn. "Please." She pleaded.

"I'm dissapointed." He took a step back and

squeezed her hand. "In all of you."

He pulled her and they walked off the boat.

"They're gone." she breathed after they walked a mile or two through the city,

"Hawkmoth?" He asked.

"Yes. But..." she finally stopped. "I released them."

"Who?"

"The kwamii." Her gaze was solely on her shoes and the pavement below.

"Oh." He lifted her chin. "Are you okay with that?"

She spilled. Everything that happend the night before. Everything that led up to her outburst yesterday and earlier. All the things she avoided telling him before. Once she finished she watched his reaction, hoping he wouldn't hate her, hoping that he could forgive her. Because she is why he will never see Sass again, never getting to be a hero again.

"Are they happy?"

The question caught her off guard. "I think so."

"Then you did the right thing."

she rose up on her toes and placed a small kiss on his cheek. "Thank you,"

A flash of teal exploded in front of her, but it lasted only a second when it was gone she was about to ask what happened, but the questioned died on her lips. There on Luka's wrist sat the miraculous of the snake.

"I guess they are still watching out for us."

"They said as much." She smiled, before adding. "They also said if I needed their power they'd lend it."

"Let's not test it so soon." He pressed a kiss to her forehead before they started walking again. "So Gotham."

#Maribat Spooktober 2023 #Maribat October Prompts #I’ll get to the DC aspect soon Paris just needs to resolve a bit first #maribat #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #dc x miraculous #miraculous x dc #ml marinette #ml luka #luka x mari x jason

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flightfoot · 2 months ago

Note

Hi again! This is the same anon from a few days ago, that asked you about the potential for season 4 to get further resolution. I waffle back and forth about what's reasonable to expect from this show. I don't mean that in a critical way as much as...based on precedent, intended audience, and episodic format.

Just...so many episodes involve characters changing their minds at the end to make sure the episodic plot is "resolved," but honestly without including the legwork to make it make sense IRL, i.e. how people actually behave. It's often a bit...simplistic and convenient, rather than realistic in order to impart a lesson for the kiddos (intended audience) per episode, methinks.

Some examples off the top of my head (feel free to disagree with some or all, ofc):

Timetagger: Alix blames Marinette and all the others for breaking her pocket watch. Post akumatization, she suddenly changes her mind and says it was her responsibility alone and that she never should've asked someone else to watch it for her. Does it make sense for her to suddenly have this epiphany? Not really IMO but the episode lesson required her to take responsibility for her own belongings.

Simon Says: Marinette is upset that she's grounded because she doesn't get to see Nino's performance (and Adrien). A week later, she's not grounded but decides to stay and watch with her parents even though Adrien is once again there. Not that I think Marinette doesn't value her parents and wouldn't want to spend time with them, but it seems a bit...out of character? Because Marinette at this point is still in full "take every chance I can to see Adrien" mode. It reads to me less like a genuine character moment and more like, part of the episode's lesson as the "right" thing to do.

Chameleon: Marinette is worried that Lila is going to scam/harm Adrien and follows them to his house. Akumatization happens, and Marinette concludes at the end of the episode that Adrien would never fall for someone like Lila and confidently walks off. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how what we see on screen would lead to her feeling more confident? So my conclusion is...she learns to trust Adrien not to fall for Lila because...the story needs her to. It's a lesson for the episode.

Desperada: Jagged apologizes to Vivica and says he understands why Anarka no longer wants to work with him. Mighty convenient considering he was trying to convince her otherwise about 30 minutes ago. Once again a character doing the "right" thing kind of out of the blue.

Crocoduel: Similarly. Jagged and Anarka are fighting but then immediately make up and hug when Juleka tells them "the past is in the past."

Overall my point is, the episodic conflicts all resolve in ways that, realistically, are way too easy. Irl humans are much messier. But like I said before, I presume this is largely to impart lessons for the intended audience (5-11 these days iirc?). It's not meant to be overally "realistic."

With all that in mind. Part of me wonders if the longer story arcs in season 4 onwards follow the same easy resolution pattern, just...stretched out? I.e. a conflict builds, and then is resolved just like that, because the narrative/story framework requires the resolution, regardless of whether it's been earned.

If so...my hopes for Ephemeral, Rocketear, and other season 4 episodes (heck, even earlier seasons) getting a more thorough resolution are looking pretty slim right now.

Anywho didn't mean for this to get so long, guess I'm wondering if you agree at all/have further thoughts on the matter. I'm trying to be realistic in my expectations for the show, I suppose. And figure out what "realistic" looks like in this case.

No matter what, thanks!!!

I think you mean Oni-Chan, not Chameleon. But otherwise... yeah, this is an issue. I think with a lot of the episodes it does sort of make sense, as the akumatization and subsequent fight can act as a cooldown period that causes them to rethink any heat-of-the-moment decisions. The main problem is when the thing the character's rethinking and changing their stance on without specific cause is something more ingrained, like in Werepapas where Emil's and Millie's whole dynamic changes after the akumatization for very little reason.

#ask #miraculous ladybug #ml analysis

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goggles-mcgee · 2 years ago

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Ashes of Rage: Act 1 - It Would Take A Miracle

Chapter 4 of the story for @miner249er

AO3 Last Chapter

Summary: Luka's heart had never felt so broken, his world so dark and his music so static. He hasn't had any motivation to do anything besides stay in bed. It would take a miracle to make him do so...or a sympathetic and determined kwami.

It Would Take A Miracle:

Static.

All he could hear was static.

There were no melodies, there were no solos, there were no symphonies. All it was was disheartening static and Luka didn’t know what to do. His life three days ago had been so loud and comforting but now it was silent, muddled and so dark. He felt listless and refused to get out of bed. It was a good thing that he and Juleka got their own rooms finally, it had taken a lot of convincing for his mom to let them clean out one of the storage rooms and turn it into his new bedroom. It had actually been Marinette who had convinced his stubborn mom and it had made Marinette all the more wonderful. She was always incredible, but seeing her out stubborn the most stubborn person in Luka’s life had only made him love and value her more. A fresh wave of tears washed over the forlorn teen at the thought of his crush and friend. His heart twinged with a twisted pain he was slowly getting used to. Pain. He was in so much pain. He wanted it gone. He wanted her back. But like every time before, his pleas and wishes were ignored and just led to more heartbreak.

His appetite was all but gone and he barely ate what his mom made or bought him, he still drank though and maybe that was why she wasn’t pushing. He hadn’t showered in three days but with the way he was feeling he knew it would be longer. It was hard to get out of bed even if it was to use the restroom, taking a shower just felt like too much work. He would see the shower and a barrage of thoughts would crash into him, reminding him all he would have to do to feel clean again and it was like he was tranquilized or something because he would just feel this bone-deep tiredness that wouldn’t go away no matter what he did so it would just lead to him laying in his bed and starting the twisted routine all over again. It was like he was in one of those groundhog day movies or like his own power Second Chance, was glitching and not letting him out of the situation.

Luka’s emotions felt too big for his body, his skin itched with his frustration and the days passed without a shower, his teeth ached in his longing, his muscles screamed in his sadness, his heart clenched in its breaking and his lungs drowned in his guilt. As much as he craved to do something, anything he also couldn’t help the thoughts of ‘why?’ Why do anything at all when his world had crashed and burned around him? Why plead for things to be different when his prayers fell on deaf ears? Why get up when nothing he did would bring back Marinette? It was a lot and there was never a break form the never-ending torture. Not even his dreams were safe. Dreaming of Marinette led to more heartache even if the dream was normal to past ones he had had that had previously brought him endless joy. The nightmares were the worst but he would take them over the bittersweet ones that just made his longing deeper and his hope stronger. But reality would hit him once his eyes opened and he would cry for many minutes, maybe even hours. Time didn’t register to him really.

The only reason he knew how long it had been since he had showered was because of his mom and Juleka. He knew they were trying to help but he had been angrier than he honestly expected after Paris learned of Team Miraculous’ Finale Fight, he hated it but that was what everyone had now dubbed it. It hadn’t been a fight, at least not from his and the rest of the team’s point of view. No one knew what exactly happened in the underground chamber since the only ones who could tell them were two comatose Kwamis and three villains who would probably twist the events. It was hard to come to the realization that Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste, even for Luka who had the unique skill of ‘reading someone’s heart.’ That’s what others referred to it as but according to his long talks with Sass, Luka seemed to be someone who could read a person’s aura which mixed with his Synesthesia. He had Chromesthesia, specifically, but his was more along the lines of seeing color and the color had a sound. He saw colors in a lot of things but it was constantly people, their auras and tones of voice would bring color and the color would bring the music.

It did get overwhelming sometimes and it had been a big factor in him doing his schooling online for a while which turned into permanently. He just enjoyed it more than when he did go to school and his former teachers told him they saw remarkable improvement in his grades. He still met up with his friends, they still hung out and had study sessions, so he was still a social teen but he didn’t have to worry about migraines or coming across weird to other people who weren’t his friends. His former bandmates in Kitty Section had also been really understanding and never treated him differently and helped him when some days were just too much. But they changed, their music’s changed and it had been jarring, when he eventually left the band he knew it had been inevitable. There was no doubt in Luka’s mind that if he hadn’t quit he would have been ‘politely’ fired and he had strong feelings about that. The one constant had been Marinette, when the others changed she didn’t. She remained strong and melodious.

Even if she was going through something her melody was still recognizable. He was still coming to terms with the fact he would never hear her song any time soon or ever. She had been there when he left the band, she had been there when he begun fighting with Juleka more than normal and she had been there when he decided to get to know his dad more. She had been such a strong light guiding him through some of the roughest seas he had ever experienced. Kagami had also been a constant presence before everything happened. She was a calming presence and often kept him and Marinette from getting lost in their projects. Both he and Marinette tended to get distracted easily and they both fed off each other’s energy and Kagami would be the one to keep them grounded and focused. Kagami’s music was a new sound he had gotten used to hearing and it was easily in his list of top ten songs from people he heard. When Marinette, Kagami and he would get together he would hear such wonderful melodies.

Marinette had often joked that they were the Three Musketeers with how often they would hang out together when they could. Without Marinette it felt like a knife to the heart to use the group chat between the three that was titled as such so he and Kagami never touched it when they spoke. Phone calls were still too much for Luka at the moment so the two just texted each other but it still brought him comfort all the same. That was probably another reason why his mother wasn’t pushing too much, it probably would have been a different story if he had cut off all his friends but especially Kagami since his mom knew how close they along with Marinette were. But he still overheard his mom talking on the phone over how worried she was and how she didn’t know what to do. Luka always felt like telling her she was doing all she could and just comfort her but he didn’t have the energy. He suspected she was talking to his dad or Penny, most likely both. He knew from the sounds of it his dad wasn’t doing so well either with the news.

“Snakelet…”

The voice of his Kwami cut through the current haze Luka found himself in but he couldn’t bring himself to look at his friend but he did manage to hum as a response.

“I have thought about what I could say that would make you feel better for ages. I came to the conclusion that no words I could offer would make you happy. Nor satisfied. But I don’t want to leave you with no words from me. I…I am lost. I have been through this situation more times than I’d like to admit and yet all those instances have left me with no answers.” Sass admitted in his soft voice as he flew to sit in front of Luka’s face on his pillow. Luka couldn’t look away, he wouldn’t look away, he knew it would hurt his small friend if he did so.

“Though there are few words I can give you that express my condolences and support, I simply will say, I am here for you.” Sass said and did his best to give Luka a hug, though it was more like he laid himself on Luka’s nose. “I am here for you and I will continue to be here if ever you need me.”

Luka felt himself begin to cry again, which astounded him as he felt like he was all out of tears. “Sass…” He choked out, he tried his best not to sound like he was going to sob but he knew he failed when he felt Sass try to hug him harder.

“What do I do?” He asked in a small voice once his small cry ended. Sass was no longer on his nose but instead sat in his hands as he finally sat up after what felt like ages.

“ We do our best to move forward.”

“We?”

“I did say I will be with you. I mean it, every step of the way, I will be here.” Sass didn’t say he promised but Luka could hear it in his tone of voice. It was a promise but it felt like more. It felt like a lifeline.

Luka couldn’t really think of an appropriate response without risk of crying again and he already had a cry-headache settling in. “What…What do we do?”

“We need to go to…Ladybug’s house, her room specifically.” Luka was about to protest that suggestion, because he was absolutely not ready to do that. He didn’t think he would ever be ready. “I know that is probably the last thing you want to do Snakelet, but I can’t communicate with the other Kwami to see if one of their holders can do it. The Miracle Box is sitting in…Ladybug’s room unknown and unprotected. If someone with ill intentions were to find it there would be great difficulties and more tragedy.”

“More?” Luka felt his anger rise at an alarming speed. “Hasn’t there been enough?”

“Luka…I understand you are in pain and worried. I…I am also going through the same. My friends are unconscious and unresponsive…I…I can barely feel them even if they are in the same room.” At Sass’s words Luka’s anger all but left him in an instant. “Besides obtaining the Miracle Box and keeping it safe, I feel something telling me that Tikki and Plagg need the Miracle Box. I can’t explain and I know you are hurting, but-”

“Okay.”

“-it is…Wait. Okay? You…You will do it?” Sass asked and the wide-eyed hopeful look on his face broke Luka’s heart a little bit more. Sometimes it was hard to remember that he wasn’t the only one hurting even if it felt like it at times.

“You and me, Sass, you…you said you were here for me and I’ll be here for you. We’re friends.” Luka said softly as he brought the Kwami to his chest in the best hug he could give, it was somewhat like the hug Sass gave Luka earlier. He wanted to make Sass feel as safe and loved as the Kwami had made him feel despite their size difference. After their hug Luka forced himself to get out of bed and ignored how weak his legs felt and softly said his transformation phrase. It felt weird being Viperion even though it really hadn’t been that long since he had last transformed but there was this odd feeling like being in his hero form was wrong without…Ladybug there to lead. Ladybug, it was easier to think of her as Ladybug, it didn’t lessen the pain but it made it just a bit more bearable. But now he was going to her house, to her room and he knew what it looked like, smelled like and there would be no way to think of her as Ladybug when he was in there.

He had to do this though. For Sass and for Ladybug, he would rather die than let the rest of the Miraculi fall into the wrong hands. He'd be damned if he didn’t protect the city that Ladybug loved with her whole heart and soul. So he made his way to her home, to her tower. He and Kagami often joked about Marinette being the princess in the tower and Mari-Ladybug only laughed. She loved her tower. Kagami once joked when it was the two of them that Kagami was M-Ladybug’s knight while he was her minstrel. He had laughed and agreed but later he would think about it and decided he would be a knight if she needed him to be. Though she had needed him and he hadn’t been there. Nope! No! He would not fall down that line of thinking as he was jumping across rooftops and using his lyre to help him along the way. It was a weird day when they found out his lyre could turn into a crossbow, the end of his “arrows” could also change into a grappling gun.

Apparently he and Sass had been bonding pretty well and slowly harmonizing which is why his lyre upgraded to one of its forms. The arrows of the crossbow themselves were weird as he didn’t carry a quiver or anything but an arrow would be equipped if he needed it. Some had no arrowheads, some had normal arrowheads, others had barbed arrowheads, and sometimes the arrows had string attached to them. Whatever kind of arrow he needed, it would show up on the crossbow already loaded. Sass had told him that that showed just how in tune the two were becoming and that soon they would probably be able to communicate with one another while Luka was transformed. It was something he had been looking forward to. He was sure it would come in handy and besides, he already talked out loud when transformed, it may have looked weird but he had been talking to his kwami even if he didn’t think he could hear him at the time. He hadn’t but now he would, hopefully soon.

Finally, Luka touched down on the roof of Ma-Ladybug’s tower and looked around in sadness as he noticed the plants up there had wilted. Before he could talk himself out of it he opened the hatch of the roof and jumped through and onto the floor of the bedroom. Some dust had begun to settle and it broke Luka’s heart more but he willed himself to take deep breaths before he dropped his transformation. He and Sass needed to be able to talk and they weren’t quite at that stage of being able to communicate with one another. As the transformation dropped he looked down at the dirty pink bag that he had taken to looking after and opened it to look at the kwamis who slept inside. Tikki and Plagg, as he had learned from Sass, were normally darker in their colors but looking at them they seemed shades or tones paler, well according to Sass.

“So what are we looking for?” Luka asked as he refused to look anywhere else but his kwami.

Sass had opened his mouth, probably to respond but both of them froze when they heard thumps coming from the roof and the unmistakable murmur of voices. Luka scooped his kwami out of the air and quickly hid behind M- Ladybug’s .( Ladybug. Goddammit .) chaise. The light in the room was off and he himself had been wearing some of his darker clothes…er well, pajamas. Both kwami and teen held their breath as the hatch to the roof was opened and down came two? No, three, actually make it four, people. It took a minute for Luka to recognize them as his teammates. He didn’t know whether or not to greet them but that choice disappeared when a purple kwami and blue kwami flew out from somewhere and floated in the middle of the room.

“Please don’t be scared!” The purple one pleaded. “I am Nooroo and this is Duusuu. I am the kwami of the Butterfly Miraculous while Duusuu is the kwami for the Peacock. I know that alarms you but please listen. I called my friends here and they probably don’t know why or just had a feeling they had to come here so you followed.”

Barely after speaking, the kwami - Nooroo, was sped into by Sass who flew so fast the two kwami shot off into the air. Luka figured there was no point in hiding anymore and stepped out from his hiding place and awkwardly waved at his teammates. They seemed to be in shock before Noc-Turtle mumbled something and their transformation dropped revealing Marc Anciel. Fox-Tail’s jaw dropped before he hastily said his detransformation phrase and there stood Nathaniel Kurtzberg who hurried over Marc and hugged him. Donryu had been looking at Luka the whole time and quietly made her way over to him, once she was in front of him she too dropped her transformation and there was Kagami. It shouldn’t have shocked him as much as it did but the two just stood there staring at each other before they heard an odd wheeze come from Bee-Witch who was staring at everyone with wide eyes. She too dropped her transformation and only to the shock of Marc and Nathaniel, she turned out to be Chloe Bourgeois.

“I don’t know how to handle all these revelations at the moment but I can work through them later with my cat.” Marc said, clearly still in some shock. “Er-Nooroo right? Can you explain more?”

Nooroo who was in the middle of a kwami group hug along with Duusuu nodded and reluctantly left the hug. “Like I said, I was able to call you all here to meet, I had to borrow power from the other kwami in the Miracle Box though. I’m not at full power and even then my messages would have been more feeling than anything. Sorry, I’m rambling. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to talk so freely.”

“You are fine, Our Friend.” Pollen reassured while glaring at everyone else like she was daring them to argue.

“Take your time.” Sass murmured from his spot next to his friend. Luka wanted to comfort the little kwami but he didn’t think it would help given how Luka could imagine he was treated by his former user. If Luka were him, he would be wary of humans no matter how well intentioned.

Nooroo took a deep breath and nodded. “I…I don’t really know where to start. What I have to say is…shocking to say the least. I know all of us here have been through a lot…have lost a lot…but I felt like if I stayed quiet I would be betraying Ladybug just…just like Chat Noir did.”

It was quiet. So quiet. Until Nathaniel choked out a small, “What?”

Duusuu merely nodded in response along with Nooroo. “It was awful. Chat Noir and his father planned the entire thing. Chat Noir planned to be suspicious of Gabriel Agreste once more and had you guys purposefully find out he was guilty of being Hawkmoth. Ladybug was the big target and you guys would have been just…collateral. So when Ladybug proposed the ambush…”

“Uncle Gabe already knew.” Chloe stated in a voice full of disgust even if her eyes were filled with tears.

“He did.” Nooroo confirmed. “Chat Noir played his role well and the ambush was happening so fast. Ladybug could barely try and fight back before she was secured to the chair. She was so angry…so heartbroken…she did all she could to fight against Gabriel and his son…”

There were some gasps among the humans at the information but Luka merely took a much needed breath in. He had guessed as much since the only ones in the house after the explosion had been Adrien, Gabriel, Nathalie and the body of Emilie Agreste. It just clicked. Sure Chat Noir could have disappeared like Marin-Ladybug did but that didn’t feel right. Chat had already been acting off before the ambush and confirming he was in fact Adrien was like the final nail in the coffin. Luka had had suspicions of who the Chat was and just whose side he was on but after everything, the confirmation was bitter. According to Sass, Luka had known who he and Ladybug were but the memories of their identities faded as a safety measure to keep the team’s identities safe. Luka would only have kept the memories if both heroes had accepted he knew and trusted him. It was weird but Luka just chalked it up to Miraculous Magic.

He wished he had been able to remember, if he had then maybe all of this wouldn’t have happened. He wouldn’t be standing in M-Lady…no. He had to stop. It didn't matter how much he told himself, Ladybug was Marinette. Marinette was Ladybug. They were one and the same and denying it to himself was more likely to hurt him than bring him healing. He couldn’t delude himself anymore. It hurt, it hurt so much, but he had to acknowledge the truth because that was the only way he’d be able to move forward and help protect the city that Marinette adored. He missed her. He missed her so much, but he had to do the healthy thing and not try and separate her from herself. It would be like he wasn’t giving her, her due credit and Marinette deserved so much credit. “If Adrien and his dad got the earrings…then why did the mansion explode like it did?” Luka asked so they could continue. They could all mourn and scream and cry after, but right now they needed information.

“I’m not sure.” Nooroo admitted. “Everything was happening so fast. Gabriel was so close to making his wish and magic was everywhere in preparation. But I felt it, it was this enormous feeling of betrayal and anger that washed over all of us. Tikki looked so scared and worried and Plagg looked shocked. I had turned to where I felt the emotions and it was no surprise they were coming from Ladybug…but just as I looked at her, there was this awful cracking and whistling. Like something was breaking through the roof and flooring at high speed. I panicked as did the other kwami but Tikki looked…she looked like she recognized what was happening.”

“She looked like her heart broke.” Duusuu mumbled, their voice was soft and scratchy. They seemed to be in pain.

“The room filled with this bright, bright red light and then next thing I know…the mansion exploded. Ladybug was nowhere to be seen.” Nooroo flew over to Luka and pointed at the open pink bag in his hands. “Tikki and Plagg know what happened, but because of all the ambient magic, plus the overwhelming emotions swirling in the air, and their own merging being interrupted, they were hurt.”

“Something like this hasn’t happened in a long time.” Wayzz admitted.

“So there is a way to help them?” Kagami asked.

Wayzz nodded. “Yes. But it will take time…a lot of time. I’ve never seen them so bad. The best we can do is return them to the Miracle Box. It will heal them, but the damage is great and as I said, it will take time. Nooroo, I imagine you called us here, not only to tell us the truth but also because of the Miracle Box.”

“That’s right. The Miracle Box will be vulnerable if there is no one to watch over it as it heals our friends. I sensed the box here and that’s only because Duusuu and I are both still being affected by the interrupted magic. We’re more sensitive right now.”

“One of our holders will definitely protect the box.” Pollen declared. “They are all brave heroes.”

All the humans looked at one another in disbelief. Marinette had been guarding this box all while being Ladybug? They knew she was amazing but this was something else entirely. Luka sadly guessed that this is why she was always so stressed. If they had to watch this box and protect it then so be it. He’d do it for Marinette, no matter the cost. Now all that they needed to decide was who to send the box with.

Next Chapter

#mldc #mldc crossover #ml x dc #mldccrossover #ml red lantern au #red lantern marinette #mldccrossover Luka Couffaine | Viperion #mldccrossover Kagami Tsurugi | Donryu #ml salt fic #chat noir salt #adrien agreste salt #mldccrossover Marc Anciel | Noc-Turtle #mldccrossover Nathaniel Kurtzberg | Fox-Tail #mldccrossover Chloe Bourgeois | Bee-Witch #mldccrossover kwamis

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miraculouslybroadway · 2 years ago

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Tales of Multibug & Vipercat:

Chloe’s Internship (But Really, Chloe’s Character Arc)

At first, she did not like it when Ladybug said she didn’t get the bee miraculous anymore.

Then, slowly, she began realizing why she didn’t get the miraculous anymore. She was no better than Lila, who she despised. Sure she never lied to make herself look better, but she lied to get what she wanted and to hurt others. It didn’t matter how good she was as Queen Bee (well, it mattered a little), if she wasn’t as good as Chloe how good was she?

So that’s when she found Marinette and apologized. Actually, she apologized to all of them. The ones who didn’t follow Lie-la anyways. She even tried apologizing to Sabrina, but Sabrina wouldn’t listen.

She was the one who came up with the idea for the Superhero PR department. It regulated anything public about the heroes, issued public statements from Multibug and Vipercat, and as the icing on the cake, could override any social media or blog posts (or even whole blogs) and erase them from the internet.

So yes, maybe she did enjoy getting to click the button to take down the LadyBlog.

But beyond that there was a whole world of legal things she was learning, and it was actually really interesting. She advocated for herself to get an internship, and even went through an interview process. (That was when Marinette realized she was serious about making a change.)

At first it was hard balancing that with school (who knew actually applying yourself meant working harder), but she got the hang of it. Surprisingly it was Alix who helped her the most. Because Chloe struggled the most in history (and Alix literally lived in a museum), Alix offered to be her tutor.

All it had taken was one gay joke from Kim for Chloe to realize that she didn’t like Alix like that. Actually, she didn’t like anyone like that. She liked the attention, but even with Adrien she never felt like that before.

Alix was the one who supported her through this discovery, and when she was ready Alix was the one who sat next to her when she told their friends. They were all gathered in Marinette’s room hanging out when she decided it was time.

She had to go to work soon, but she took a breath and spit it out.

Marinette was thrilled. She immediately tackled Chloe in a hug.

“Chill out Nette, it’s not that big.” She scoffed (but was secretly relieved). “Luka get your girlfriend.”

Once Marinette was settled again she smiled and exclaimed, “Chloe it is a big deal! You trust us enough to share with this with us!”

Rose was beaming. “Yeah Chlo! And of course we’re happy! You’re our friend and we love you!!!” Beside her bubbly girlfriend, Juleka nodded in agreement.

That was the first time Chloe felt unconditional love.

The second time was when Marinette invited her over one evening for “no reason.”

“I’m dyeing my hair.” She announced proudly when Chloe entered her room.

Beside her was Juleka, holding an armful of tools. Kagami was there too, and so was Marc and they were painting each others nails.

She raised an eyebrow. “Nette, I could’ve called a stylist.”

Marinette beamed. “Juleka needs practice, she’s trying to get her certificate, and I volunteered to be a practice model.”

“Same!” Marc added from off to the side.

“Don’t look at me I am leaving with my hair the same color as it was when I arrived. I don’t feel like getting on my mom’s nerves right now, I’m in a good mood.” Kagami blew on her wet nail polish.

“Well…Juleka if you need practice I want some blue in my hair. Or black. Or something.”

From behind her bangs Juleka was beaming.

So that they in between putting foils in each others hair that little group had a lot of fun. By the next morning Marinette was doting pink hair at her tips fading out of her already brilliant blue. Marc’s hair had a rainbow peekaboo (Juleka was very proud of her work). True to her word, Kagami’s hair was the same color, but her nails sported an assortment of glitters, chrome powder, and various reds. As for Chloe, her hair…well it was certainly different. Her natural blonde faded into blue, fading into black. She now sported bangs with some pretty well done added layers.

It was a bit of a surprise when she first woke up and hasn’t processed that she had gone through with it, but once she realized she had it was worth it. Juleka had really done a great job.

She got picked up by her driver, but as she headed to work she couldn’t help but smile to herself. Chloe knew she was a work in progress, but she knew she had found the right people to help her on the way.

#chloe bourgeois redemption #alternate universe #miraculous ladybug

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logically-asexual · 2 years ago

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OKAY IT HAPPENED

i saw a spoiler that i SHOULD NOT have seen. but its a funny story so im going to scream about it under the read more and once im done im going to go pirate those 7 episodes i have left even if i have to watch them in french im losing my absolute mind.

dont click on this if you havent finished the show dont make my mistake aksjdhasjdh

SO i keep acting without thought and snooping some miraculous posts that appear under the recommended thing that sometimes shows below my own posts. and a while ago i saw a post that said something about gabriel not being technically adrien's father and i thought that was stupid and i chose not to believe that as a spoiler. also because i had just read a fanfic posterd years ago that decided emilie had been a villain who cheated on gabriel and that's how she had adrien and i just do not like the idea of emilie having been secretely a bad person. and i just didn't like the idea of adrien having some other father. but it wouldn't leave my mind. the only thought i had was that maybe felix and adrien shared the same father and it was the guy who died? but i didn't care much for that.

THEN i watched the episodes i posted live reactions to these past days, which include these two episodes where we finally learn felix's intentions with the peacock miraculous. and okay. i got it when he said the thing to kagami about having a responsibility towards the "beings you create" i got that it was a thing about "our parents shouldn't control us". i just found it cute and interesting and it hasn't left myh mind because i really didn't expect to see this soft side of felix ever.

I ALSO haven't been able to stop thinking about WHAT the hell did Emilie want with the peacock miraculous. because again, i don't want her to be evil. i want her to have mysterious secrets, yes, but i want to know what non evil purpose she could have with the miraculous.

so THIS VERY MORNING. A FEW hours ago my mind randomly put these three dots together while i was having breakfast and watching QuintonReviews talk about crazy theories for nickelodeon sitcoms and said "WHAT IF.... Emilie couldn't have children for some reason and adrien is a sentimonster?"

and i thought.. haha... that's INSANE. im going to remember i had this thought because its SO silly and i want to laugh about it when i have finished the show and have all my answers... how funny LOL.

and just. forgot about it. until A COUPLE MINUTES AGO I ONCE AGAIN GO SNOOPING. and i skim over a post that's like "marinette in season 1: juggles babysitting, being ladybug, idk what else, felix in season 4" and mi think its alright to read this because it said SEASON 4. but then it said that he finds that adrien and him are actually not kasjdh i dont know how they phrased it because i ran away as fast as i could but nowmy WORLD is crashing donw.

because . i did think it was silly. but now EVERYTHING makes sense????? when adrien was going to kiss marinette and he hear gabriels voice in his head saying no and he stopped and i thought he definitely had dont something to him but then maybe it was just a way to represent how adrien's mind works under the abuse of his father but no that wasn't it.. it was GABRIEL FUCKING CONTROLLING ADRIEN BECAUSE HES A SENTIMONSTER IKM ADKFJASHKDJHASKJFHASDKJFHKJFHKASHGFLasd

im losing my mind

is Kagami one too?????? do they control them with their rings?????

so i told my friend that i would wait for her to watch up to episode 20 like i just did before w both together would find the last episodes online and watch them but no. IM watching those fuckers right now because every minute that passes is another minute im pacing around the room and having these revelations in the style of Rapunzel when she figured out that she was the lost princess and she just crashes into a mirror adn breaks it with the force of her shock. im like that. i needthe episodes to tell me this stuff i can't keep going like this.

WHAT THE FUCK GYUS

#miraculous spoilers #miraculous ladybug

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verfound · 2 years ago

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MINIFIC: Oct. 23: Day 21: Ghost Animal (MLB, Lukanette, DLM AU)

This started as wanting to play with Pet Reapers. When I first saw “ghost animal”, that was the direction I wanted to go. The rest was an accident, but Quick okayed it. TW for potential loss of pets/close calls, the punching of children, and beloved ficcers ending up on my hit list. 😂

(Pet reapers are, canonically, children. The one in the show looks like he might be around ten?)

For @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers October Minific Challenge 2023.

Read on Ao3

To Feel Alive Again: Ch20: Drowned

Luka was…not having the best of days.

He wasn’t having the best couple of days, actually.

That was…kind of to be expected. What with yesterday being his Death Day. Most reapers got…Moody on their Death Day. It had been pretty par for the course, actually – he’d had ten of them by this point; he should know – but then…well.

Most reapers knew to leave each other alone on those days. Most reapers knew the traditions. The customs.

Most reapers weren’t Marinette.

He hadn’t expected Marinette to show up at his door with a smile and a bottle of booze. He…should have expected to be grateful when she did. He was finding more and more he was…grateful for Marinette’s presence in his life.

Because he didn’t…care for her. He couldn’t. Whatever feelings he might have thought he’d been catching were clearly not mutual, so. They were…friends. Coworkers. Buddies, at best.

But when she had shown up, eager to offer the comfort he’d so desperately been craving…for one minute he had let himself believe…had fooled himself into thinking…

It was too easy to give in to how the night could have – should have – gone. Marinette, so warm and real and alive, holding him together as he fell apart. Finally giving in to the curiosity that had been plaguing him for months now and learning what her kiss tasted like. Finally giving in and taking what she had been so innocently offering. Letting himself be happy for once. Finally forgetting he was dead as he made her fall apart, finally loving her like he had been telling himself he couldn’t all this time. Waking up in his bed – or on the couch, he wasn’t picky – with the sunlight illuminating her hair like it had that first morning, making her glow. The smile that would still be on her face, and the lazy kisses they’d exchange as they put off getting up. Maybe even sharing a shower. Showing up to breakfast late with her hand in his. Pissing Théo the hell off when he helped her into the booth and stole a kiss in front of all of them.

The way she would blush and smile and how it would be all for him, and how he would smile back because…

Because…

But it didn’t matter. That was clearly not what she’d wanted. He had clearly misread the signs, misread her intentions, her desires – had clearly confused them with his own, and he…he wasn’t about to force himself on her. He wasn’t her choice – her romantic choice, at least. He was just…he was a friend. And he was fine with that. He had to be. Because it wasn’t her problem he’d gotten stupid on her, and he wasn’t about to make it her problem, so if he had stupidly misread everything and kissed her like a fucking idiot when she clearly didn’t want him to…

…he’d let her go. He had to. He wasn’t Théo.

She didn’t love…she wasn’t interested in him. Not like that.

So he wouldn’t be interested in her.

And he hadn’t slept the rest of the goddamned night, because who the fuck would be able to after that? He’d left his flat earlier than usual – certainly earlier than Marinette usually arrived, on those mornings she showed up to walk to breakfast with him – and had just…shambled around for a bit. Walked around the city trying to clear his head and dispel that anxious energy or…something. He was at the café as they were opening, and when Mendeleiev showed up an hour and a half later he was already nursing his third cup of coffee.

“…can I just have my post-it and go?” he’d asked, his voice low. She had looked him over critically, taking in his disheveled appearance, before slapping his post-it by his coffee.

“Are we going to have a problem?” she’d asked, and for a moment Luka had thought she’d meant his reap. It had taken a moment to remember Mendeleiev didn’t really know about his side job. Well. She knew he had a job – knew what the job was – but she didn’t exactly know his clients.

She didn’t know he knew B.M. Quick personally. That Brenda May Quick was one of the nicest people you’d ever meet, or that she owned the stupidest, fluffiest beast Luka had ever met. Bach was a special dog, an absolute sweetheart, but he had needs. He was deaf, and caring for the brute could be…difficult. Luka was one of the only people Quick trusted with Bach’s care.

And he had to go kill her.

It really wasn’t turning out to be his day.

“…of course not,” he’d sighed, his voice heavy and full of his usual disdain. Mendeleiev had reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. He had looked up at her and found she was looking at him, and if he hadn’t known any better he would almost say she’d looked…concerned. “What?”

“Fred gave me a call last night,” she’d said. His fist had tightened on the post-it, crumpling it. He had shrugged her off and stood, tossing a few bills down on the table.

“I’m fine,” he’d said, glaring at her. “Mind your own fucking business. Please.”

“It is my own fucking business when it affects my group,” she had said. He’d scoffed, and she’d snatched at his wrist before he could turn away. “Luka.”

He had watched her for a long moment, caught in some sort of stare down. He’d finally sighed and turned away.

“…we’re fine, Philece,” he’d said, tugging his hand away. “I just…had a bad night. We all do now and then. She’ll have her own in a few months.”

…and he would be there for her, too, when she did. However she needed him. Because he was fucking stupid.

Jules had always liked to remind him of that. She’d be having a field day with it now, if she could only see them. The brat.

Mendeleiev hadn’t looked like she’d believed him, but she had let him go all the same. So he had left the café before the others had arrived, stopped by a pet store on the way to his reap, and surprised Quick by showing up a day early for Bach’s walk.

“…the past day’s kinda sucked,” he’d said, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “You can say no – I know I didn’t really confirm this with you before showing up – but…I could use some Bach time. If that’s all right. I could take him for a short walk? No charge.”

“That’s really sweet of you, Luka, and I’d love to,” she’d said, closing the door a bit more behind her when Bach’s nose tried to snuffle his way through, “but Bach actually has a vet appointment in about an hour. He’s fine – he’s ok, don’t give me that look – just a standard checkup. We were just getting ready to go. Maybe come a little early tomorrow? He can have an extra long walk then.”

“…yeah,” he’d said, nodding with a bittersweet smile. “That would be great. Um. Here, can you give him this for me? I saw it earlier, and…I don’t know. He likes chasing the squirrels at the park, and I thought…”

“He’ll love it,” she’d said, taking the stuffed toy from him with a smile. His fingers had brushed along her hand when she grasped the toy, and the feeling of a soul popping along his arm had never felt so slimy before. Not even when he’d popped his own father. “Thank you, Luka. You’re too sweet.”

He hadn’t feel sweet.

He’d felt like an asshole.

“I think the world hasn’t been very kind to you, and I think it’s made you hard. I don’t think you were meant to be hard, though,” he remembered Marinette saying, but he wasn’t so sure about that. Being hard was…easy. It was every time he let his guard down and tried to open up to people that he ended up getting hurt.

He was pretty sure today was going to hurt.

He’d said goodbye to Quick, and when Bach tried to push his way through the door again – when he’d let out a low woof and snuffled in Luka’s direction, he had laughed and, after letting Bach sniff his hand, gave the big goof some scritches. He’d left after that, but he hadn’t gone far.

Because he was a day early for Bach’s walk, but he was only twelve minutes early for B. Quick’s appointment.

He had grabbed a to go coffee at a cart somewhere between the pet store and Quick’s house, and he sipped on it as he sat on a bench on the other side of the street, waiting. It really was turning out to be a shitty day. Ten years dead, the undead girl he had thought he’d been falling in love with just wanted to be friends, and now his favorite client was about to become an orphan. He…

…dropped his coffee as some punk ass kid zipping past on a skateboard attempted a trick, stumbled off his board, and knocked into the back of the bench. He turned, ready to snap at the brat, and froze.

“…sorry,” the reaper mumbled, ducking his head as he tugged his gray beanie lower on his head. A mop of brown hair poked out at the edges, and he watched Luka with steely brown eyes older than his face had any right to be. It was easy for reapers to spot other reapers, once you’d been dead long enough.

And Luka had been dead a long time.

“Ok, Bach! Let’s go, buddy!”

He looked up at Quick’s voice, Bach’s low woof carrying across the street as their door opened and she led the fluffy beast outside. The reaper glanced over at them, and Luka felt his stomach drop to his feet.

There was only one reason a child reaper would be here.

“…no,” Luka breathed, his hand gripping the back of the bench so tightly his knuckles blanched. The kid looked back at him, his expression a mixture of bored and annoyed that Luka was well acquainted with. “No.”

“Fuck off, old man,” he said, dropping his board back on the pavement and hopping on. He turned towards Quick – towards Bach – and started to kick off.

Luka acted on instinct.

His fist was connecting with the little shit’s face before his wheels could start rolling. He toppled back off his board, tumbling towards the sidewalk, and it all happened so fast after that.

It all happened because of a fucking squirrel.

“Bach, no!” he heard Quick shout, and he looked up just in time to see the squirrel dash in front of her car. It might have been fine, if Bach hadn’t seen the damned thing. But Bach loved squirrels, and Bach would always chase after a squirrel, and Bach was over forty five kilos of deaf dumbass who couldn’t hear his maman shouting at him to stop, wait, come back as he ripped his leash from her hands and bounded after the rodent and straight into the street.

“Shit,” Luka hissed as he shoved the kid’s face back into the pavement and ran after him. Quick was chasing him, too, but he was closer. Faster. And he didn’t have an old foot injury slowing him down.

He saw the car coming.

Saw the distracted teenager fiddling with the dash behind the wheel.

He ran faster.

Quick saw him a second too late. She saw him grab Bach’s leash and tug him out of the way, spinning to shield the oaf, and slowed down just a second too soon.

…it was his fault, in the end.

Because the car slammed on its brakes and smacked into his hip, and that would definitely leave a mark in the morning, but it hit Quick head-on. It crashed into her with a sickening crunch of bone and the heavy thud of a body hitting pavement, of a skull smacking into asphalt and life leaving a body.

He would walk it off.

Quick wouldn’t be walking anywhere anymore.

“It’s ok, boy,” he murmured into Bach’s fluff, scratching his chest as he whined and tried to turn towards his maman. He looked up to see Quick’s soul standing beside them, a bittersweet smile on her face.

“Take care of my boy for me?” she asked, and he nodded. Of course he would. He adored Bach, and he was so sick of losing things he loved. Quick gave him one last smile and turned, walking off towards the lights Luka was too preoccupied to look at. Bach gave a low whine, and Luka looked up to see the kid glaring at him.

“Monsieur! Monsieur! Christ, are you…oh my God, mademoiselle!” the driver cried as he stumbled out of the car and saw Quick’s body on the ground. Luka wasn’t paying any attention to him, though.

“You can’t have him,” he spat at the kid. “Not today. Not to-fucking-day.”

“You know what happens if I don’t,” the kid said. “You’re old. You can’t stop this.”

“…not today,” Luka said. “Reschedule the fucker. You can’t have him. You can’t.”

The kid watched him for a long moment, his eyes hard. He tutted after a moment and kicked up his board, stepping onto it.

“Suit yourself, old man,” he said, rolling his board back and forth a few times. He looked back at Luka and smirked. “I’ll get him eventually. Or someone will. Watch out for gravelings…”

The kid kicked off and started rolling down the street. Bach barked, and Luka almost didn’t hear the kid calling after him as the driver shouted for him to call 1-1-2.

“…asshole.”

#miraculous ladybug #luka couffaine #lukanette #endgame lukanette #lukanette endgame #ml fic #ver fic #lbsc october minifics 2023 #to feel alive again #luka couffaine is a fucking idiot #bach the dog #quick the reap #love you quick #I kill bc I care 😁#tw: near loss of pet #tw: loss of quick #Idek what I'm doing anymore #I just transcribe by this point 😂

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marinettesaltprompts · 9 months ago

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True Holder Implications

Prompt by @ironicreality

Another Salt Prompt, this time inspired by the oh-so-fun concept of “True Holders” and how its used. Just now with a bit of logic applied to the whole thing.

After all, if Adrien isn’t Plagg True Holder, then it makes all those scenes where Plagg tries to convince him to stay as Chat Noir and go along with Fu and Ladybug’s questionable leadership choices a lot more questionable. And with Adrien having some similarities to Damian (a custom-made heir to parents who trained him in athletics, fighting and academics from an early age), the implications actually become far worse.

Especially if Adrien has to find out right when he learns everything else about Gabriel and the Sentimonster business.

Not too much Marinette salt really, but a massive **block** of it for Fu and Plagg thanks to Fridge Logic kicking in full force.

It starts with the usual Maribat plot outline.

“Damien” arrives in Paris to help defeat Hawkmoth. In the process of teaming up with Ladybug he effortlessly proves his worth as a hero and Marinette can just feel that she’s found her True Partner. He’s protective of both her identities. Proactive in hunting down Lila and is clearly the better hero between him and Chat Noir.

Best of all any reluctance she might have in replacing her first Partner is done away with her inner Guardian sense/magical knowledge/Miraculous informing her that Damian is indeed the True Black Cat. So its a matter of destiny and now that she’s found her soulmate (forget about that spineless Adrien!) it’s the right thing for Chat Noir to step aside for Plagg’s real holder.

With Gabriel unmasked and the other Miraculous now in her box the time has come. And when Chat Noir arrives for what will be their last meeting even he doesn’t seem surprised to see Damien standing in their spot.

Ladybug is surprised herself however when Chat Noir, having been sullen towards Damien ever since the brusque boy had arrived in Paris, wordlessly destransforms in front of them without hesitation. She’s twice surprised to find that her old crush, Adrien, had been Chat Noir all along. And she’s thrice surprised to find him already pulling the ring off his finger without her even having brought up the fact he’d need to give up the ring.

But apparently *he* already knew, because he almost casually throws the thing at Robin, who catches it equally as wordlessly before sliding it on. Plagg appears, and looks towards Adrien for a moment, but Adrien is pointedly not looking at the Cat Kwami- and instead at Ladybug for a moment.

Then he turns and starts to make his way away from the spot, apparently intending to use his natural agility to make his way down.

Surprised, Ladybug finds herself next to him and grabbing his arm before she knows it- and the non-powered boy is easily halted in place. “Aren’t you going to say anything?” She finds herself demanding.

Adrien turns back to her for a moment, and Ladybug was struck by how cold and stone-faced her former partner was. His green eyes were empty of anything she could discern. He looks down at her grip, “… goodbye?”

“That’s it?” She splutters, “after *everything*? You’re just going to leave just like that?”

In hindsight she shouldn’t have been surprised, he’d already left once with barely a word. But somehow this time got to her. This was the end of the Ladybug and Chat Noir for good- there wasn’t going to be another time he took up the ring and became her partner again: but this was how he ended things?

“What else is there to say?” His voice is as empty as his eyes were. “What do you *want* me to say?”

“I-I don’t know, *anything*?” She felt a bit of bitterness rise up; “something about our partnership maybe? ‘Good job!’ 'We did it!’ ‘It was an honour to fight alongside you’, since you know: we’ve only been *fighting for years* against…”

“My Father.” Adrien coolly reminds her.

“Oh,” her anger unfurled in her chest; “is that what this is about-”

“No. No it isn’t.” Adrien tugs his arm, and she loosens her grip to let him free. He steadies himself on the ledge and turns back to face her properly, ignoring the other boy the and the Kwami. “You know what a True Holder is?”

Ladybug almost scoffs, but simply nods.

“Well, *I didn’t*.” There’s a bite to his voice now. “Not until a few nights ago when Plagg let something slip.” His eyes flicker over her shoulder for a moment before returning to her. “But you did didn’t you? That’s why he’s here.”

Okay, things made sense now. Clearly Adrien was bitter about being replaced, but he’d let the ring go before so why-

“… and so did Plagg.” Adrien continues, a hardness in his face now. A genuine edge.

“So?” Ladybug can’t help but ask. “Why does that matter? All Kwamis can feel their True Holders but-”

“It matters because Plagg *always knew* I wasn’t his holder,” Adrien sharply interjects. “And so did Fu.” He looks her over with resignation. “They both knew I wasn’t your actual Partner.

You don’t get it do you? This entire time, I was just a stand-in for *him*,” Adrien pointed towards Robin. “Fu picked me because I was closest thing he could get in Paris to him. The closest thing that could be *controlled* anyway,” more bitterness. “All this time, Plagg was encouraging me to stay close to you, to go along with whatever you and Fu wanted- because they needed a *disposable temp* until the real thing could arrive.”

“I…” Ladybug finds herself taken aback. She’d had problems with Chat Noir and had long since become disillusioned with Adrien, but this…

“I tried to leave a few times.” Adrien’s voice cuts into her thoughts. “Before this, but Plagg always brought me back. He always convinced me to stay, because of…” he trailed off and his voice went cool again. “Because *Robin wasn’t here yet*, so he told me whatever he needed so he and Fu could keep using me instead of someone less controllable.”

Plagg’s voice cuts in, “Adrien-”

“But they were all lies.” Adrien ignores him and keeps his eyes on Ladybug. “Just like everything else. Until I noticed how he reacted to Robin, and started asking questions and *making* him tell the truth a few days ago.” His lips twitch up for a moment, “but it’s all right. Robin’s here now, so there’s no need for me anymore.”

“You…” she finds herslef tailing off. “You didn’t want to keep the ring?”

She doesn’t know why she says it, but it’s an obvious question. She didn’t know his identity, maybe she could have gotten it from Uncanny Valley but surely he could have tried to escape away someplace in the last week…

“Why?” Adrien snorts. “What would it have given me? Plagg was never actually my friend. You were never actually my partner.

Chat Noir was *never* freedom, just another *puppet*.” The brief moment of good humour had passed, and the resigned bitterness had returned.

“You could have asked for another Miraculous,” She offers up. She’d been expecting Chat to at least ask to stay on the team. “Be a hero again-”

“I wasn’t a ‘hero’, I was a *puppet*.” Adrien snapped back. “A patsy, a *meatshield* and a joke most of the time- and I refuse to be that *ever again*.” His voice calmed again, but the underlying sour disillusionment remained; “especially not for The Order, some Kwami, or *you*-”

“And if you’re a True Holder after all?” She demands. “You could be leaving the Kwami you’re meant for alone!””

It really wasn’t something she expected was true. But Chat Noir had had moments when he’d shined, and she’d wanted to at least test him for whatever Fu had seen in him.

“So what?” He bluntly askes. “It’s not like you *have* to be a True Holder to use a Miraculous and you’ll have plenty of volunteers. You’ll be just fine.

As for me?” He lets out a tired breath, “I… I don’t know why I came in person. I just… I’m not part of this anymore. I don’t *want* to be part of this anymore.

Good luck Ladybug.” He turns to leave, but stops as he reaches down to his first handold. “And maybe check with Tikki to make sure you’re *actually* her True Holder. You’d be surprised how well Kwamis can deceive you.”

Blog Note: While not really focusing on Marinette salt, its a really good angsty prompt and does salt on one of the most annoying Maribat tropes, so it gets a full pass.

#maribat salt #marinette salt prompts #miraculous ladybug salt #miraculous ladybug salt prompts

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thunder-the-ranger-wolf · 5 months ago

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Empathy (v1, scraps)

Gabriel has a brother. He held the Butterfly Miraculous and his brother held the Peacock. Whatever happened to cause his wife’s death tipped them both over the edge.

Gabriel became more reclusive and Vincent more aggressive. He switched his Miraculous for his brother’s, became Hawkmoth, and disappeared. Gabriel sent Dusuu to find her holder and she has only just returned, completely unsuccessful in locating either his brother or his Miraculous.

Until a bunch of evil butterflies manipulate the emotions of his fellow Parisians and use them as cannon fodder. Forced to learn the ways of an entirely new Miraculous, Gabriel Agreste must also contend with the fact that apparently saving Paris is, once again, a family affair. (He is going to strangle the Kwami who thought his son was a good target. Fu was just the messenger.)

“Some people just weren’t meant to be parents, Adrien. I messed up your life enough that you apparently had to go and be a superhero, but what the fuck ever.”

Episode One: Bubbler

Adrien sat at the dining room table, alone not for the first time in his life, as he stirred his mug full of hot chocolate and picked at his plate full of croissants. It was cliche, sure, but at least the chef knew what he liked.

The familiar click of heeled shoes meeting tile only made him slump further into his chair.

“And how's my favorite nephew doing this morning?”

“I'm your only nephew, Nat-Nat.”

“Hence why you are my favorite. Your schedule for the day.” She explained, holding out his tablet.

“Thanks… did Father ever get back to you about my birthday party?”

Nathalie's gaze went soft and he groaned.

“He's being paranoid, Dre, and I can't say I don't see why. You're all he has left and he doesn't know these kids like you do. Maybe if it were a few people I could swing him around.”

Adrien brightened like she knew he would.

“Please!” He exclaimed.

“I'll talk to him, but I make no promises.” His father's assistant informed him.

“I know, I know.”

“Now finish eating. You don't want to be late for school.”

“He’s not too keen on having other people around the house, but Nathalie might be able to convince him.” Adrien chirped.

“I wouldn't count on it.” His friend, Nino, sneered. “Dude, seriously? Has your dad always been such a downer? You'd think he remembered what it was like to be young and want to party a little.”

“No, I'm pretty sure he was a downer back then too. At least I tried.” Adrien scoffed.

“It's your bday, dude, insist!” Nino encouraged. “I'm gonna have a little convo with your pops.”

Just as Adrien tried to warn his friend against the terrible idea, Marinette stumbled into him.

“Good morning to you too.” He chuckled, noticing that Nino took the chance to bolt.

“Happy birthday, Adrien.” The flustered girl mumbled.

“Thanks!” He grinned as he helped her to her feet. “You dropped that package you were holding. Is it for class?” Adrien wondered.

“Actually…”

That was the moment that Chloe stormed in front of him. Adrien grumbled as, for the second time, a distraction drove his friends away from him.

“Hey Chloe.” He nearly growled.

“Adrikins!” She squealed. “Did you get my gift?”

Adrien narrowed his eyes.

She had to know that he hadn't gotten anything from anyone. Birthday gifts had always been a family thing, something between he and his father and Nathalie. Gabriel had gotten his son tutors for the entirety of his childhood, claiming that he didn't need to be around other kids just yet.

(“They won't understand him.” His father muttered darkly one day.)

It was only in the past month, now that le collège was starting, that he could go to a public school with other children.

Whatever it was that Gabriel Agreste had feared had not come to pass, and Adrien's father was reluctantly happy for him.

“No.” Adrien snorted, Chloe's perfume dragging him back to the present.

Chloe blathered on about how the delivery men had gotten it wrong or something before simpering again and racing inside. Adrien rolled his eyes before turning to the building.

“Let's go find our seats.” He called out to Alya, who shot him a look he couldn't decipher.

Meanwhile, Nino stood in front of the Agreste mansion, slightly nervous but determined to see this through.

“May I help you?” A woman drawled through the speakers.

“I’m friends with Adrien. I'd like to speak with Mr. Agreste, please.”

“What about?” A different voice, male this time, demanded.

“I think Adrien should be able to have a birthday party, sir. I think he needs to have fun and enjoy his day with the people he likes being around. It wouldn't have to be a big thing, but it'd make him a lot happier than he's been.” Nino insisted.

“Hm… I make no guarantee of your party, young man, and I don't appreciate your assumptions. I'll consult my son later on and at this point you'd be lucky to get what you want. Good day to you, sir.”

“Good day… sir.” Nino mumbled before stalking off.

He found a park bench to slump on and messed around with his bubbles.

“Daddy, please!” A kid wailed not too far away from where he sat. A glance up found a boy in a red shirt screaming for the playground.

“No. It's not playtime, you've got your chores to do.” His father insisted, dragging the boy along with him.

“Adults ruin everything all the time.” He groused.

Class hadn't been too exciting, Adrien mused as he finished his lunch. His classmates had wished him a happy birthday and he still hadn't seen Nino. The thought that his friend had skipped school just to talk to his father was heartwarming.

“I should probably call him.” Adrien muttered.

“Your friend stopped by today.” Gabriel’s voice drifted from the top of the stairs and Adrien glanced up. Surprisingly enough, his father was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a lime-green turtleneck from last fall’s collection.

“That does not go together at all, Father.” Adrien snickered as the man descended the staircase.

“And I suppose you would know, since I've made you wear all this before.” Gabriel chuckled. “As I was saying, your friend stopped by today. How much do you want this party, son? I know I've been strict lately, but that's mainly because I'm not sure how much freedom to give you. You haven't proved me wrong yet, but I know from experience that if I give you just enough rope to hang yourself with…” Gabriel drifted off and shot him a knowing look. Adrien took the chance to speak.

“I'm not you, dad. You raised me to be better, remember?”

“I think we're far more alike than you could possibly imagine… you can have this party of yours in the courtyard.”

“Yes!” Adrien cheered, throwing his fist in the air and jumping along with it.

A far off commotion had them both racing outside. Adrien blinked in shock at the chaotic scene before him.

Every single one of his classmates was in the courtyard. Loud music was playing, and he wasn't too surprised to find Nino manning the DJ booth… only it wasn't Nino.

“I need to, uh…”

“Just go.” Gabriel snapped, shoving him inside before the door slammed shut of its own accord.

“Wait!” He yelped as his father was encased in a huge bubble and hurtled a million miles into the air.

“Father!” Adrien howled, banging a fist against the door.

“Kid, there's only one way to get your father back.”

Plagg, hidden in his pocket, spoke for about the second time that day, the first to wish him a happy birthday.

Adrien nodded, raced up to his room, and closed the door and blinds to the windows.

“Plagg! Claws out!” He barked.

Adrien wasn't sure why, but Plagg was insistent that no one ever see him transform into his alter ego, Chat Noir. Eventually he'd ask, but for now…

“Let's go!” He snarled.

He entered the courtyard to find that his friends were awkward now. They weaved unhappily through the crowd of each other, and eventually Nino changed from techno to a slow dance. Chloe took the chance to screech for Chat Noir and rope him into a dance.

“Lucky Charm!” Someone snapped out.

Ladybug was here already?!

Rage made her voice crack. She swung the object, a record disc, so that it bounced off a nearby statue and flipped expertly onto an unaware Nino’s turntable.

Techno music was back, and Chat Noir slithered into the crowd.

“Glad you’re here!" He chirped when he reached his red-clad partner.

A beep made her startle to her feet and Ladybug took off without a second thought. Chat Noir rolled his eyes and focused on the party.

He'd been lucky enough that no one was really paying attention to him, all of them grumpy at being forced to dance upon threat of being Bubbled with the rest of the adults. Chat lunged forward, sailing across several people and landing on the connecting wall. Doing his best to keep the akumatized Nino on his sights, he crept along, flattening himself to the wall and stalking forward like the cat he was. When he was just out of reach, he reached for his belt and whipped it around, watching it lash in the wind and tug at one of Nino's arms. The record scratched and Chat yanked his belt so that Nino staggered sideways.

"Ah-ah-aaahhh, kitty-kitty! Your little tricks won't stop this party!"

Nino flipped something in his hand that gleamed when the sun hit it. He dragged the thing across his wrapped arm and Chat's belt lay in tatters beside him.

"I bet mine will!" Came the voice he was glad to hear the most.

Ladybug’s yoyo didn't work against the bubbles produced by the akuma.

This round of them swirled and frothed until Ladybug and Chat Noir were trapped in an enormous unbreakable circle, just like the adults had been.

“Give me your Miraculouses!” Nino sneered. “Before you run out of air!”

“Dream on!” Ladybug snapped.

“Fun-killing party poopers, just like all the other adults!"

“So that's why you're after…” She breathed. “Kids need adults!”

“False! Kids fun, freedom to let loose and live it up! Adults keep everything boring!”

“Adults keep us safe and happy. How else are we supposed to learn how to feed and clothe ourselves? Who brushed your teeth when you were little and put you to sleep at night?!” Ladybug demanded to the other children. Some of them started nodding, and all of them looked scared beyond measure.

“Since you like them so much, why don't you float up there with them!” Bubbler snarled.

And then, much to the hprror of everyone else watching, Paris' last hope was punted high into the air.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes as another bubble sailed through the air. This one held two people in it, and when he got a closer look, he recognized them at once.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had been around for long enough that, though he no longer had an active Miraculous, he recognized the signs of one. His son and that girl had the kwamis of Creation and Destruction at their beck and call in exchange for playing host and being superheroes.

Ah, those poor dumb kids…. If only they knew what it'd cost him.

Eventually, they figured out how to pop the bubble they were in. The problem with that? Adrien and his friend were falling.

He took comfort in the fact that he wasn't the only one howling in protest and completely horrified as he watched the pair fall to their doom.

The others did so because they thought they were losing their only hope against the akuma. All Gabriel could think was that he needed to have a nice clarifying talk with Plagg.

This was beyond what anyone could possibly hope to train for. The kwamis weren't meant to be misused as Hawkmoth was, but Gabriel supposed he should be thankful. Gods forbid the misused kwami be the Fox, or even the Ladybug or Cat themselves!

At some point, they managed to aim for and swing from the Eiffel tower and land neatly on the ground.

The rest of the action was too far down for any of them to see, but eventually Ladybug called out “Miraculous: Ladybug!” and, as per usual when that happened, his vision went black.

Gabriel woke to find himself back at his desk, papers scattered and some of them on the floor.

Magic strikes again. He grumbled as he pushed back the chair and rose to aching feet.

“You could have suited up at any time.” Dusuu chuckled. “And I could have told you about the side effects. Most humans react worse to a Reset. You had it easy.”

“How long was I out?” Gabriel groaned as he stretched.

“The few minutes it took for you to teleport back to your desk.” Dusuu snorted comfortingly. “Why do you want to talk to Plagg?”

“I just saw my son fall what had to be a hundred feet through the air. I need to know the boy won't follow my path too closely.”

“You turned out alright.”

“I locked you up and threw away the key after a bad day. That is nowhere near alright.” Gabriel scoffed. “At any rate, he must be up for it since he keeps doing this. I'll follow him if I have to, but I don't think he'd enjoy a chaperone on his outings and there are only so many excuses I can make per akuma.”

“Talk to Plagg.” Dusuu murmured. “And can you get me a blueberry croissant while you're at it?”

“Is that your food now? You've graduated to more than just blueberries?” Gabriel chuckled.

“Well, if I'm going to be out and about then I might as well get more out of it. Blueberry croissants! Your finest, good sir.”

“I'll see what I can do.” Gabriel promised.

Plagg wasn't hard to find. All he had to do was pick up his son's ring and let the kwami know who he was.

“You shouldn't be able to see me.” Plagg growled. “I'm visible solely to my holder.”

“Apparently not.” Gabriel replied stiffly. “I just watched my son fall what looked like a hundred feet through the air and he managed to cling to the Eiffel Tower by his own ingenuity and sheer luck.

If Adrien is put at this much risk fighting the Butterfly, I cannot guarantee his safety. In this form, you have no hope of doing so.

I'm of half a mind to seal the ring and let Master Fu figure it out on his own. Give me one reason why I shouldn't.”

“Be calm, Oiseau, père de chaton, though your fledgling leaves the nest, he does not go unprotected.

I'm the Cat, Mister Agreste , and I have taken many forms in order to protect my kittens and the realm they choose to save.

If you wish to know the extent of your son's power, that is something I cannot tell you. He will have to unlock that when he is ready.”

“If I'm being completely honest, I expected one of the kwamis to start hanging around him earlier, but I always figured it'd be one of the calmer ones. I guess it doesn't work that way.”

“We bring out traits in our students that they might not know they have, yes. It's not something that happens all the time.

At least here, it is rather obvious that Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir are two completely different sides of the same person. I admit, this makes it easier to protect his identity.”

“Indeed it should… thank you for assuaging my fears. I will still keep an eye on him.”

“I would expect no less from one of Dusuu’s fledglings. I bet she's proud of you, all grown up and looking out for your own.” Plagg snorted.

“I wouldn't expect her to be.” Gabriel scowled.

“Because you grieved, Petit Oiseau? You are not the first and you shan't be the last. Our students have done worse.” Plagg muttered darkly. “Hawkmoth is barely on the scale of worse… but you'd not be interested in that. I believe you have work to do, if you wish for your fledgling to be safe.”

With those words, Plagg disappeared and the ring glowed green once more. Gabriel sighed and headed for the door as his son slipped into the room from his shower.

“Get dressed, son. We need to talk.” He said before closing the door behind him.

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“What are you doing?” Nathalie demanded when she found her boss in his study half an hour after Adrien's friends went home.

“Writing a letter to the boy who was akumatized. He needs to know it wasn't his fault.”

“Interesting…” Nathalie murmured. “That wasn't the answer I expected.”

“That also wasn't what you meant to ask.”

“You've got Adrien half scared of whatever you're going to tell him and now you're holed up in here? If you hadn't just told me what you were up to, I would have thought to strangle you.”

“Well that'd be counterproductive, wouldn't it?” Gabriel snorted as he signed his name to the card. “I'm your employer and Adrien's father. I might not always show it, but I can improve.”

“That you can.” Nathalie snorted. “Go put your son out of his misery.”

“Very poor choice of wording.” Gabriel chuckled as he headed for the living room.

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“Your friend was admirable today.” Was the first thing Adrien heard when his father entered the living room. “I believe he's the first person to be akumatized in defense of someone else. I would like you to give this to him when you see him next.”

Adrien sat up to face his father, eyes narrowed.

“You did say I could go to school.” He began heatedly.

“I am not reneging on that. You have every right to an education. But your friend will need time to come to terms with what has happened to him. It isn't easy, wrestling with the idea that your very emotions can be used against you.”

Adrien stiffened.

“You speak like you know what happened to him.”

“Suspicious little boy… you've been taught well. I know what happened to him. I can only guess at how it feels because while I've never been through it myself, I have seen it.”

“What?” Adrien blurted out, shocked. “And you never told anyone?!”

“I'm telling you now. It was quite a while ago, in my own youth. I was a bit younger than you are when my brother and I were chosen.”

“Chosen to… to be guardians. You weren't an akuma, you have a Miraculous!”

“Indeed I do.” Gabriel rumbled. “The Peacock’s name is Dusuu, and when I lost your mother I lost much of myself. So I sent her after, and when she came back without Ari… well. I locked her away and didn't look back until now.

Because it seems Hawkmoth has other ideas. My brother has lost his gods-damned mind but I'd hoped you wouldn't be dragged into this. Turn around.”

“What?”

“If human eyes witness a Miraculous transformation, the person goes blind. Turn around, son.”

“Oh. So that's why… okay.” Adrien got up and went to sit behind the couch.

“I can't see you.” He informed his father.

“Dusuu, Fan Out!” Gabriel barked.

When Adrien looked up, he didn't recognize the man before him. The Peacock hero was decked out in a strange array of blues and greens that started out dark but were faded at the tips of his outfit. Even his voice sounded different.

“You might be unable to recognize me, but I am indeed the same person.” His father informed him. “Now turn around.”

Adrien did so without question, and his father was back to normal.

“You can look.” Gabriel rumbled, voice raspier than Adrien had ever heard it. “I presume you have questions.” He murmured when Adrien was sitting on the couch again.

“Your brother is Hawkmoth.”

“Yes.”

“What happened?! The akumas started this year. Before that, nothing like this ever occurred. Why would he start now?”

“I am unsure myself, if we're being honest. Now that I've gotten over myself I intend to seek his motivations, but I do have a few ideas.”

“Like?” Anything that could help them take down Hawkmoth was something he needed to know.

“You might have noticed that he's fixated on your ring. I believe he wants Creation and Destruction to achieve some purpose, but our priorities have changed so much that I can't say I know exactly what he's looking to do. If you and your partner require it, I can be of use.”

“There's so much we don't know that turning you down would be foolish. And, uh, Ladybug’s kwami insists on secrecy, but it's hard to keep a secret from you. Not that I wanted to, I just… this is really important to me.”

“I have done this before.” Gabriel offered warmly. “Though my villains were back alley muggers, robbers, some gangsters, and the occasional would-be terrorist. The fact that you two have managed repeatedly to go against your own and survive is... remarkable. Just so you know, I will be talking to Plagg more often. Between the three of us, we should be able to bring your friend and the kwami of Creation around to the idea.”

“You did well.” Dusuu purred when Gabriel was back in his office. “I will talk to Plagg. Tikki can be stubborn in the face of danger, but she will do what is best for her beetles.”

“Thank you.” Gabriel sighed. “I have a few more papers to fill out.” He muttered, reminding himself why he'd come back to his study. “I'm not hiding.”

“Good.” Dusuu insisted. “Your parents would be proud of you.”

“I'll take your word for it.” Gabriel snorted as he eased himself into his chair.

Episode Zero:

“Akumas are made far too easily.”

The phrase came completely out of the blue one day, and Adrien jerked upright.

Mostly because his father was the one making the comment. They pair were having breakfast with Natalie one day, and Gabriel Agreste snapped his newspaper shut with a stern frown.

“This… Hawk Moth character hides in the shadows and sends others to fight for him. I find it rather alarming how easy it is to become one of his victims.”

Okay, what was his father going on about?!

“Is there a point to this, Dad?” The green-eyed blond wondered curiously.

Gabriel stared at his son for a good few moments, sharp eyes taking in every inch of the boy's face. He was panicking, though doing a brilliant job of hiding it. There was no physical sign of the boy cracking under pressure, but Gabriel knew all his tricks. The man had performed them time and again himself.

“Somehow,” The fashion designer sighed. “you've managed to grow up just fine.”

And somehow you managed to miss every moment.

But that was not his son's burden to bear. It was never supposed to be.

“Your mother will be proud of you.” Gabriel muttered bitterly. “When she gets back from Tibet.”

Back from Tibet. Gabriel scoffed internally. Was that the best he could do?! Surely he had been a better liar than that in his youth?!

“In your youth, seems to be the key word.”

He hadn't even known he'd opened the box containing the Miraculous, but now that he had, it'd be cruel to shut the little god back in.

“Duusu.” He murmured politely.

“I take it you have a reason for calling upon me, Mr. Agreste?”

“Mere sentiment.” Gabriel scowled. Fickle, utter sentiment.

“Emotions are a powerful thing, Gabriel.”

“As I am painfully aware.”

Duusu couldn't help a snort at the man's word choice.

“She will come back.” Duusu insisted.

“So you claim.” He growled.

It had been a mistake, switching lives as they had. He hadn't ever wanted to be a superhero, but he couldn't reject the only company he'd truly had for what felt like ages.

And now… now he'd put his son in the same position.

“You have not failed your son yet.” Duusu insisted.

“Even if I were to take your encouragement at face value-.”

“I'm your kwami! Rejecting me to keep your wife safe doesn't change the fact that you were the one I was destined to help!”

“It damn well should!” Gabriel snarled.

“It doesn't work like that, Gabe. I could protect her, but that was it. She went somewhere even I couldn't sense.”

“And has yet to return.” He scoffed. “She wasn't supposed to get wrapped up in all this.”

“It was never your choice, Gabriel.” Dusuu snorted. “I have no intention of being callous, but you need to pull yourself together.”

“Excuse me?”

“You're not excused. Had you actually tried talking to me, you'd know that the two most powerful Miraculouses have been activated.”

“I knew that without your interference, thank you.” Gabriel scowled. “It's rather obvious, when you think about it.”

“Then why do you keep making the same mistakes?”

Gabriel stifled a growl. The kwami was bitter, and rightfully so, but she wasn't pulling her punches either…

“Adrien is better off not knowing.”

“Even though he's going through the exact same thing you were? You don't think you could help him with that?!”

“Why should I? The Guardian clearly knows what he's doing and Adrien's got a partner of his own. They'll be fine.”

“And you are delusional.” Dusuu sneered. “Hawkmoth would have nothing to do with those children if they didn't have those Miraculouses and you know it! He's trying to get under your skin!”

“Could you be anymore obvious?” Gabriel snorted.

“Well you're being far too dense for my liking. Civilian life has dulled your senses.”

“It is grief that has pulled such a trick.” The fashion designer murmured. “And I'd prefer you not speak on it too much.”

“Try and stop me!” Dusuu snarled. “You've been moping around for long enough. The younger heroes are here to help you shoulder the burden, not to take it all on themselves! You think you've failed your son, I still say you have a chance. Don't let him keep fighting alone.”

“I don't know what the Guardian was thinking.” Gabriel admitted.

“Sometimes kwami are attracted to bloodlines. You hold a Miraculous. That doesn't just go away, Gabe. When it came time for him to choose, he found people he knew he could trust.”

“Who happen to be children.”

“You were a child when I found you.” Dusuu snorted. “Don't act like you didn't grow up with this, Gabriel Agreste. You can't run away from a legacy.”

“I'd hoped my legacy would be my job.”

Dusuu snorted, as if she knew otherwise.

“Well, you're out now. Do whatever it is you kwami do. I'm up to my ears in paperwork.”

“Aw! My little Gabi is all grown up and kicking ass as an adult!”

“Right, like you're not older than dirt.”

Dusuu huffed.

“Plagg will take plenty of offense to that when I see him.” She trilled.

“I truly hope he does.” Gabriel hissed through gritted teeth.

Dusuu floated away, leaving Gabriel to sag at his desk. This facade day in and day out wore on him more than being the Peacock ever did.

The next akuma came two hours after Dusuu was released from her brooch.

Sure enough, Adrien made his excuses (at least it was Saturday…) and was out the door in mere seconds. Gabriel called Nathalie to his office.

“My son has run off before I could tell you, but we're going out for a walk. There are some things we need to work out. And before you ask, security won't be needed.”

Nathalie nodded and put her phone away.

“Stay away from the akumas.” She warned. “The last thing I need is for Ariana to pop out of whatever hole she warped into and strangle me for allowing her family to be in danger.”

Nathalie was… something else.

“You two are so gods-damn-you related that it's nowhere near funny.” He groused as she handed him his jacket.

“You're the one who hired me, brother dearest.” She chuckled playfully.

“I'd like to speak with you when we return.”

“I'll pencil myself in, Gabe. Catch up with your son.”

Gabriel dipped his head and walked out the front door.

Whatever his reasons, this change in pace could be a good thing.

Lord knows he'd been spending far too much time in his own head.

The pair seem to have things under control when he gets there. He'd hope so, given the head start they both had.

He knew the way they worked by now. They'd battle the newest akuma, find its weakness and break it, then Ladybug would purify the akuma and send everything back to normal. It had taken them a few times in the beginning to realize that the akumas needed to be purified. But now every time without fail, Ladybug tracked down the akumatized butterfly. He could do the same once, and he had no doubt that given some practice he'd be able to again.

Of course, it was much easier to let them do their jobs and track the dark butterfly to its source. His senses had been honed solely after years of practice, and he'd found out they could track each other's energies merely by accident. They were, after all, opposites.

Gabriel had hoped to never find the need to use this against his old friend. Countless games of hide and seek had been played using these senses. The three- no, two now. The two of them knew each other way too well to bother attempting to hide.

He tracks the source to an abandoned observatory. Moths swarm him in an instant, and soon enough he found himself facing his old partner.

“You are foolish.” Hawkmoth purred. His voice came out differently than Gabriel remembered, likely a result of only one of them being transformed. “But your choices suit me well. Goodnight, old friend.”

“Fan up!” Gabriel barked out.

When a Miraculous holder transforms, any human that lays eyes on them while they do so will be temporarily blinded and slightly paralyzed until the transformation is over. While it acts as a defense mechanism, it's also occasionally good for offense if the user moved quickly enough.

Sure enough, Papillon is blinded and can't move. It saves Gabriel from whatever he planned to do.

“Clever. I'd forgotten all about that.” Hawkmoth ground out.

Of course he had. He hadn't been around a Miraculous user for years now. It made sense that he'd forget a few things. Like the fact that the Peacock could teleport.

Fwip! Bwoosh!

Gabriel found himself outside of the observatory.

Fwip! Bwoosh! Fwip! Bwoosh! Fwip! Bwoosh!

He was now back in the city, Hawkmoth on his heels.

“What are you doing, you halfwit?!”

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Ah, right on cue. By distracting Hawkmoth as he did, Gabriel cut the kids’ fighting time almost in half. After all, it required a great deal of concentration to hold sway over a champion, and tenfold when the kwami was actively fighting you, as Nooroo was no doubt doing.

“Run while you can, Hawkmoth. There's only so much time before your true nature is revealed.”

The villain growled and made to lunge for the hero, but obviously thought better of it.

“This isn't over, Paon. I will get those Miraculouses!”

“Not today!” The Peacock scoffed.

A beep in his ear jolted him to his senses. He had five minutes to get as far away from prying eyes as possible… it's a good thing he's on a roof.

It didn't take too long for him to get back to the house, all things considered, and serendipitously enough, his son arrived at approximately the same time.

“I've told Nathalie that we went for a walk. Act like it.” He ordered lowly, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Adrien nodded, relieved, as the pair went inside.

“Nice long walk, I see.” Nathalie chuckled when she greeted them.

“We talked about some things.” Gabriel offered cryptically. “And if you've the time, I'd like to run a few ideas by you.”

Adrien deflated, though he was fighting to look like he wasn't disappointed.

Nathalie narrowed her eyes and Gabriel shook his head.

“Now, if you please.” He hissed through gritted teeth. “Adrien, you're going to the Lights Festival tomorrow, are you not? I'd like to see what you plan on wearing.”

His son positively beamed, and did something like a full-body shudder, as if he wanted to lunge forward.

Gabriel snorted and dragged Adrien into something like a hug.

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!”

“You'll be staying with your friends and checking in every hour on the hour, are we clear?”

“Absolutely! Thank you so much for this-!”

“You would have found your way there regardless.” Gabriel snorted. “I'd just like to make sure nothing happens to you and your friends.”

“This is gonna be so cool!” Adrien whooped as he raced up to his room.

Nathalie laughed, eyes sparkling.

“That was nice of you,"She noted.

“Call it a good mood.” Gabriel offered, slightly amused.

“You said earlier that you wished to speak with me.”

“Some things have come to my attention recently. Mainly that I've been enough of a fool that what was once a mask is now who I am. It's… annoying, to say the least. I say this to say… you probably weren't wrong with what you said earlier.”

(“I want you to try having human emotions every once in awhile!” Nathalie snapped. “Par Dieu, Gabe, it's like she took your heart with you when she left and you haven't seen it since! You've been everything to that boy for the past twelve years and you don't even acknowledge that!”)

“It's not fair to any of you, and the fact that Adrien feels like he has to sneak out whenever he wants something… I swore to myself earlier in life that I would escape my parents' mistakes and I’ve failed in that vow. The only difference is I'm not dead yet.” Gabriel scoffed.

“You've had to sneak out before?” Nathalie snorted, unbelieving.

“My brother and I were on good terms once. Our parents, not as such. If Father wasn't working to grow his business, he was off doing whoever else could.

Needless to say, my brother and I got into plenty of trouble because we weren't properly supervised. My life changed. For better or worse, I can't tell yet. I didn't want that for Adrien… but I'm rather positive that things were meant to go this way.”

“Then change the ending.” Nathalie insisted. “Like you said before, the difference between you and your parents is you're not dead yet. You've got time, Gabe. Use it wisely.”

Yyy

“I don't suppose there is a chance of convincing you that I'm not cut out for this job.”

“Not when I know there's life in you yet. Dusuu will show you the way as she always has. You were chosen for a reason, Gabriel.”

“And that choice shall be to your detriment.”

“Then sobeit. This is a choice I cannot take back. Good day, Gabriel.”

“Why…”

“Yes?”

“Why my son? Why Chat Noir?”

“To be quite honest, I've no answer for that. The kwami work in mysterious ways.”

“I can't say it's all that appreciated.” The fashion designer scowled as he turned to leave the shop.

“I am not the one you tell.” The Guardian called cheerfully.

“I can't believe you thought that would work, Gabi.” Dusuu snickered.

“Shut up.” Gabriel groused, head in his hands.

Dusuu is awake.

Tikki’s antenna twitched as Plagg’s voice ran through her thoughts. She'd mostly relied on Ladybug's sight when it came time to transform, but surely she would have felt the Peacock miraculous sooner…

Don't beat yourself up about it. Her user was on a mission that didn't involve your bug or my kit. Plagg offered.

Then what…. Oh. Oh no…. Oh no!

We need to talk. The red kwami broadcast her thoughts as far as she could.

Yyy

“Why are you here, Paon? I assume you've a reason for tracking me down?”

Paon dipped his head.

“I've come to see what you're up to, old friend. You've spent all this time trying to catch my attention, even going so far as to akumatize me. Or try. You must have known it wouldn't work.”

“Oh, but it was worth it, seeing you whirl around like a child once more…”

“Speaking of children-.”

“You feel a way about the newest Miraculous users?” Hawkmoth asked, glad to be on the same page for once.

“They were sent to stop you while I was inactive. You waited quite a while before you bothered trying to take over the world or whatever your evil plan is.”

“You’d dare to insult me with such simple frivolity?!” At Paon's sharp look, Hawkmoth continued gruffy. “Legend has it that those who possess Creation and Destruction together harness the power of the gods!”

“Because they are the oldest, you fool! Do you truly think they haven't dealt with humans like you? That they wouldn't be able to resist? There's a reason all your champions have failed you this far, and it is a sign!”

“If I can get the Miraculouses, I can control everything. Everything, Paon! Including time.”

Gabriel knew exactly where this was going.

“No.” He insisted. “No way.”

“She was our friend and eventually you married her. Are you really going to tell me that you don't want her back?”

“Not this way. I stayed out for a reason. I've done things the way I have for a reason! You do not get to undermine everything I've built because you wish to be selfish!” Gabriel barked out. “Call off your champions. The people of Paris can do nothing for you against Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“Selfish, he says. It's a wonder my nephew has any life at all, with you being such a tyrant.” Hawkmoth snorted. “You did well in distracting me, Gabriel, but we both know that this fight is not ours to play out. We're too evenly matched.”

“They're too young for this.”

“We were younger.”

“And look where that got us!” Paon barked out. “You've lost your mind, Ari's gone and I'm halfway to madness myself. We were given these powers to keep the peace, not shatter it.”

“Our peace has been shattered, brother. Why should the little ones get any rest when we certainly didn't? Get them to hand over their Miraculouses and I'll give them all the peace they can handle, on my honor.”

“Of which you have none left. Good evening, Hawkmoth.”

“Good evening, Pavone.”

“You did well, for your first time back.” Dusuu’s praise was a surprise, but not unwelcome. “We have information we can give to the others.”

“Do you think there will be others?” Gabriel wondered. “Surely Ladybug and Chat Noir are enough? We certainly were, and we had one more than we needed.”

“You had one less, actually. The Butterfly and the Peacock are meant to awake at the same time, as with the Ladybug and the Black Cat. The Bee and the Turtle are partners as well, but Wyazz has been asleep for generations. There is no waking him, as far as I know. Still, you three were compatible. As for whether there will be others, I'm not sure. It depends on the need.” Dusuu offered. Gabriel nodded. Not everyone was able to handle a Miraculous. There was a reason he'd retired his when Ari disappeared.

Yyy

He actually met Adrien on the way into the house. Good.

“I told Nathalie we went for a walk. Act like it.” He ordered. His son’s eyes widened before he nodded frantically and bolted for his room.

Probably to talk to Plagg. He'd have things to discuss with his son, but Adrien would have to take the first step. Intentionally revealing himself to the boy would be a mistake.

I could've done better… but would he truly be Chat Noir if he weren't exactly who he was? Is it too late to change our ways?

“You could start by cutting down on his modeling gigs.” Dusuu snorted.

“Adrien doesn't hate modeling, but it's not exactly his favorite pastime. He feels obligated.”

“If you know that then why keep scheduling him for them?”

A new voice, Nathalie.

Gabriel nodded a cold greeting.

“He's been trying to impress you the entire time.” She scoffed. “You're always so wrapped up in your work, your attitude, your whatever-.”

“Your sister's whereabouts.” He sneered. “I don't pay you to raise my son, Nathalie.”

“You don't pay me enough to, that's for sure.” She scoffed.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes.

“If it's a raise you want-.” He began tiredly.

“I want you to try having human emotions every once in awhile!” Nathalie snapped. “Par Dieu, Gabe, it's like she took your heart with you when she left and you haven't seen it since! You've been everything to that boy for the past twelve years and you don't even acknowledge that!”

“Would you cease this if I tried?” Gabriel sneered.

Nathalie rocked back on her heels, shocked at his response.

“I might consider it.”

“Please do.” He scowled.

His sister-in-law turned on her heel and left without another word.

#🌩️'s general writing cache #empathy the miraculous ladybug au #gabriel agreste is not hawkmoth #but he is involved somehow

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notesofarichlycolorednight · 1 year ago

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s2ep7 riposte

i actually don't have much to say for this episode. it was actually better paced (tho, i am tired and had a long day, so my perception of time may be off).

i will say, while the convention of introducing a rival is not uncommon in a show like this, i don't think the writers pull it off well. and i know i say this about a lot of conventions they use, but i think it's just a fact that the writers aren't skilled enough--at the very least, they're not skilled enough when working on this show--to execute it in a satisfying way. especially if they have to work off the rule that marinette must be punished by the narrative to "balance" her luck as ladybug.

bc then, rather than ending up with marinette as a main character learning things and making mistakes bc she's a teenager in high school, and just trying to navigate her world as a teenager in high school and a superhero, it can be boiled down to just, "she's just cosmically unlucky." and that's kinda like using the "it was all a dream" cop-out (unless, in rare instances, it actually works/serves the narrative and lines up with the overall themes). a rule that marinette must be punished by the narrative is not a theme. nor is it something you should hinge every episode on.

i know i bring this up a lot too, but it doesn't help that, once again, the writers treat the show like it's serialized but write it like it's episodic. what's the point of teaching marinette lessons if she's just going to reset at the beginning of the next episode? and i know she does, bc i distinctly remember her getting jealous again over adrien and kagami bonding over shared histories.

but mostly, before i started this episode, i was thinking about how bad a decision it was for the creator to make his superheroes teens and not examine what the meant further. like, obvi there's nothing wrong with a kids show heavily featuring kids as the protagonist(s). kids deserve media where they can see themselves go on fun and wacky adventures.

but what i mean by the creator not really thinking through what that actually meant is the fact that, to use as an example, a grown man would get so angry, he'd turn into an evil version of himself, and attack a teenager. (as much as i agree that chloe should be soup.) like okay maybe most of these can get a pass, but something about it just seems,,,off.

put another way, i don't think using the convention of the bad guy being an adult in bad on its own. like any other trope or writing convention, it's value neutral when being discussed separately from any one piece of media. i think it's very cathartic for kids to see a child protagonist overcome adversity and save the day, especially when part of that adversity is the adults in their lives not listening to them, bc they deal with that every day. and i'm sure it's very vindicating for them to see the kid stick it to the adults in the show. and i love that for them!

ml is not that.

it's not a show that's trying to have a discussion about how sometimes adults will not listen to you, and so you have to be brave and figure it out, find allies (both in peers and other adults who will listen to you, if that's something you want to include), and save the day.

it's a show about a grown-ass man continually trying to steal jewelry off two teenagers. and it's just unfortunate optics that the adults he akumatizes 1) sometimes go after children, and 2) fight children outright. it's like that meme, nearly threw hands with a 12 year old (derogatory)

like again, it's not a bad convention when done right and with purpose. but again, ml does not have that purpose. the akumatized adults are simply there to be akumatized, and there's not really a lot more thought put into it than that.

and it's not impossible to feature adults in a show like this, either! it's not wholly similar, but similar in the genre i think ml was going for, but ned's declassified had adults--namely teachers, and they served a very important purpose! they were the bad guys when they needed to be, and more importantly, were there for the kids as mentors and guides when they needed to be. and there was nothing wrong with the premise. the kids were allowed to be upset at being treated unfairly or harshly by these adults, while still maintaining a positive rapport. not to mention, these adults were often balanced out with adults who wouldn't listen to the kids, as a juxtaposition. every adult introduced served a narrative purpose.

so like, it's possible. i just don't think the writers were equipped to handle it.

final comment: the creator is really trying to rekindle the race war between chinese and japanese people by introducing kagami as a rival fr

#chirp.txt #chirp.ml #the last line is a joke btw

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flightfoot · 2 years ago

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I know a lot of the fandom are angry at Marinette for not telling Adrien about his father/the rings at the end of season 5 and I get it. She should tell him eventually. But people say it proves she hasn't learned anything from Season 4 and... I feel like what happened in Season 4 and what happened in Season 5 are two very different scenarios?

Like... in season 4, she's keeping technical secrets from Chat Noir- that Rena Furtive is active and several gameplans including her Ephemeral plan, Hack-san and the Sentibubbler one. She's holding her cards too close to her chest out of fear of losing control and not delegating enough. Once Alya is in the know, she has a new, closer partner in her and unintentionally neglects Chat, forgetting to include him in technical aspects that he should be savvy on. She needs to relinquish control and trust more, needs to keep her team in the loop on necessary knowledge. Chat Noir may have still been upset that it wasn't just the two of them anymore, but he'd feel better if he at least felt included as a partner.

The biggest indicator that she actually did learn something from this is her decision to no longer keep each miraculous at the end of Season 5. She relinquishes them to each holder. There are also small examples like her entrusting Chat with the rabbit miraculous early on, going along with his plan without a good explanation in the switcheroo episode and accepting Nino's lead without boggarting, being overbearing or trying to shut it down when he starts The Resistance. As in real life, character flaws will always pop up every now and again and while it's true that she is pretty much forced to work with Chat alone in Season 5, the evidence of her change is there. Chat is a bit of an afterthought in Season 5, but that's more a crappy narrative decision than Ladybug avoiding him.

Some have said she hasn't changed because Chat still doesn't know the other holders' identities, but that always confuses me because since when has that been a problem, for him or otherwise? There was a popular misconception of his line in Strikeback that he was demanding to know other identities when he was actually asking why she couldn't know HIS identity. Maybe that's where it comes from, but Chat has always been primarily concerned with the two of them sharing their identities.

My point is that Marinette learned a lesson about not holding her cards too close and trusting her partners. The climactic discussion was lacking but it's dishonest to say she learned nothing. She's changed her approach accordingly.

What's happening with Adrien at the end of Season 6 is different. This isn't some gameplan aspect that she needs to communicate to keep her trusted partner in the loop. This is a series of soul crushing truths that she has been saddled with communicating to her new boyfriend who just lost his mother and father within a year of each other. Like hey I know you're an orphan now and you're still dealing with that, but you should also know your dad was evil and victimized you and your friends continuously to bring back your coma mom. Not to mention, they were both controlling you from birth with their wedding rings. Because you're a sentimonster. You're not a real boy! Nathalie, your only trusted remaining guardian, was in on it before making a sharp heel faced turn at the tail end. Felix knew too and he told Kagami, but not you. Your dad asked me not to tell you right before he died so not sure if I should be betraying an evil dying man's wishes like this.

Not defending this choice. There's info in there that Adrien needs to know to protect himself. He needs to process his trauma- much of which she has no idea about. Just from a narrative standpoint, it's almost criminally disappointing and a failure to his character to keep it from him.

I also get why it's not at all easy. I get why the lessons learned in Season 4 finale do not help with this. Season 4 secrets were about controlling or withholding all the variables and information to avoid a technical failure and learning to trust others judgement. Season 5 secrets are about the moral dilemma of lying to spare someone emotionally. This is "I'm going to withhold this logical info for logical reasons without considering the emotional damage of keeping my partner out of the loop." VS "I'm going to withhold this emotionally charged info for emotional reasons without considering the logistical problems of not telling a sentimonster they're a sentimonster wearing their life on their ring finger." Sharing something that you know will crush someone inside out, that irrevocably changes all they know about their existence, that you cannot take back... is not the same as letting someone in on your gameplan.

It's a bad call and if this show has any wits, it will examine that. But it's easier said than done and not as "OMG DUH!" as people make it out to be. I can't even completely consider the urge to want to "protect" him insulting to Adrien because honestly, this would fuck anyone up. A secret like this is liable to land any kid in a facility for a bit for an existential meltdown. People have cracked over less. She doesn't even know how strong Adrien is. She doesn't know he's Chat Noir, who she's been through thick and thin with. The idea that what she's doing is a kindness, while flawed, is not unfounded.

Her lesson here should be 'Brutal truths are better than pretty lies' or 'Lies are not a kindness, they're a disrespect." Imo, very different from the motivations and the lessons learned in Season 4, even if the core of them both were withholding information. It's like...if you learn that a type of vodka makes you sick, you're probably not going to stop drinking it altogether. Lessons are complex. It's not going to be "I'll never keep a secret again." It's "I'll never keep a secret in this type of situation again."

Marinette hasn't learned the brutal truth lesson yet. Yeah, she did this small scale with the scarf in Season 1. That worked out for her, right? Even if you count Chat Blanc as a comparable secret (I've never really understood people who are mad about this. It's not like she knew what specific events led to it and it has no bearing on events in their current, future or past timeline. I mean I'd love if she mentioned it for drama. I just don't think she's obligated to?), sparing him the knowledge of it also has worked out in keeping him ignorantly content? Most of the more damning Season 4 secrets were oversights, technical planning and things that he was going to discover anyway that she just neglected to tell him. Emotionally inconsequential things that he wasn't made blissful by not knowing- quite the opposite- and were not lies told on his behalf.

So yeah. 2 different situations, 2 different motivations, 2 different lessons. One improved on, hopefully another to be considered and not swept under the rug.

The real question is: Will she tell Chat Noir? If she doesn't tell Chat Noir because she doesn't trust HIM with this information then I take back this entire ask. I admit defeat. Miraculous has made a clown of me once again. But I can't judge her on that considering she and Chat have not interacted since before it happened? We actually don't know how the writers are going to spin that yet.

So just some housekeeping to start off with, the situation in Ephemeral is very different from the ones in Sentibubbler and Hack-san. In Sentibubbler and Hack-san the plans were very last-minute, and Marinette was unable to communicate or even MAKE a plan in Sentibubbler, and for Hack-san, she didn't have an opportunity to talk to Chat before giving the earrings to Alya, and didn't seem to think of what his reaction would be to seeing a new Ladybug Holder out of nowhere.

Ephemeral, by contrast, had Ladybug deliberately lying to Chat Noir, saying that she wanted an identity reveal because it would make them stronger, in order to manipulate him into unknowingly revealing his identity to a third party, because she didn't want to risk him potentially not agreeing to reveal his identity to someone else. Very different situation.

I do agree that Marinette seems to have learned something from season 4 at least, in terms of relinquishing control and telling people need-to-know things about gameplans, with giving the Miraculous out to their wielders permanently helping to show that.

And the truths she's keeping from Adrien ARE more of the soul-crushing variety (or well, at least of the "likely to severely mess you up" variety). I do see why this would hit Marinette as a different sort of thing to keep from Adrien, since she's not telling him everything because she doesn't want him to get hurt, and he's dealing with a lot as it is.

The main issue is... why wouldn't she tell CHAT NOIR about this stuff? I mean, I could maybe see not telling him the Senti stuff under the premise that that's a private matter, but there's no reason not to tell him that Gabriel was Monarch.

I'd love if Season 6 ended up conveying to Marinette more of the "she needs to be open and honest" message, with brutal truths being better than pretty lies, though I'm kinda doubting it'll happen.

#ask #miraculous ladybug #ml analysis #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste

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