#ml marianne

[goggles-mcgee]

Too Late: Tikki, Plagg, Fu & Marianne

Latest chapter in the story for @miner249er

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Summary:  The days passed by for Tikki as a blur, it was almost like being in the Box, sometimes she wished she had stayed in it.

The room was filled with silence though not a comfortable one, it was always like that nowadays. It was like the other three were walking on eggshells around her, waiting for her to snap or break. Tikki felt like she was breaking so maybe they were right to act that way, her heart hurt constantly and her mood shifted so fast it left her exhausted at the end of the day. There were days she just wanted to hide in the Miracle Box and never come out, she had had days like these before but it had been a long time since then. During those times she was always able to pick herself up, but now it felt like she would never be able to pull herself from the never-ending pit of hollowness, anger, sadness, and hope she found herself in. Plagg tried his best to raise her spirits but she still felt dim, and if she looked in the mirror she would find it was only too true. She was no longer the vibrant red she used to be, but a dull pale pink, looking almost gray. 

She was still eating cookies, but she simply couldn’t stomach Tom & Sabine’s cookies anymore, they brought back too many memories and when Marianne had brought her some she had burst into tears. She loved fresh baked cookies, and her favorite had been Tom & Sabine’s, especially if Marinette helped make them, but it was like she couldn’t stomach them anymore. No. She didn’t deserve them anymore, so she ate the store bought and tried to ignore the lack of warmth, but even then she hardly had an appetite. Her energy seemed to have been stolen from her because all she wanted to do was lay on the cushion Fu and Marianne had given her and there were days where that was all she could do. It was like she was glued to the cushion, but it was those days where she went from this incredible sadness that seemed to drown her to this stomach-clenching anxiety that shouted at her for doing nothing, that by laying there she would miss something important. 

It was never ending. 

It reminded her of her losing Jeanne. She had been like this back then too, loss never got easier. Even if it was something you had experienced before, you’re never ready for when it happens again. You think you will be, you delude yourself into believing it, but when it happens you are slapped with the cruel reality that loss can never be prepared for. She had lost many of her bugs to time, and even then it was hard to get over, but it was those lost to tragedy that hit her the hardest. She had vowed to never lose another Bug to tragedy, not again, and she thought she would be able to avoid it with Marinette. Things hadn’t seemed so bad, and when they got bad Marinette had this amazing ability to bounce back from whatever knocked her down so Tikki felt like she didn’t have to worry too much. Yet, she still worried, and she lectured and pushed in the hopes it would have made Marinette stronger. In the end it was just another thing that added to the hurt Marinette had been feeling, Tikki was sure of it. 

Fu and Plagg treated her with sympathy and pity while Marianne treated her with compassion and Tikki hated every second spent with any of them. She didn’t deserve their sympathy, their pity, nor their compassion. Tikki wanted them to be angry with her, she wanted them to yell at her and tell her what she already knew; it was her fault. Her words caused Marinette to become akumatized, her words were something that pushed her towards the edge, it was her words that caused Paris to lose the most wonderful girl. Kwami have often heard over their years of being active and those before, how humans spoke about the weight of words, how they could heal, how they could cut and how they could bring people together just as fast as they could push them away. Tikki had never really understood it at first and she knew her fellow Kwami felt the same, humans were tricky creatures and more complex than they could ever imagine. As they spent time with them it became clear that they were right, words had power with them and it was a terrifying realization. 

Working with humans had been an exciting new thing for them all, lending them their power for the first time was something that Tikki would never forget no matter how long ago it was. It was something so beautiful and magical, it was overall something hard to describe. Of course things weren’t all great, the Kwami were bound to the jewelry that became known as the Miraculous and though lending their power was still an amazing thing, it didn’t feel the same as it once did. It was still beautiful. It was still magical. Yet, it felt muted, but there were some, some rare chosens they got that felt like the old times, it felt brand new. Those moments made Tikki fall in love with her power and humanity all over again. She felt bad to say she had favorite chosens, but every Kwami was the same, it was those rare chosens that they connected to that were their favorites. Maybe that’s what made all this worse. Marinette had been one of those chosens, and the most worrisome thing to Tikki was how she had been the youngest. 

She was so young in human and Kwami years, a tiny thing too, though Tikki knew better than most that size did not equal power, maybe that was why Tikki was so hard on her. Humans were such fragile but stubborn creatures, Tikki had seen maybe humans fall, many rise to power and had seen them create. It was her favorite thing about them, how creative of a species they were. If they found something that seemed impossible, they created something that overcame the impossibility! If they were bored they created something new to entertain! It was something otherworldly to watch and experience, even if Tikki had to be hidden at times. Her chosens tended to be creative spirits and Tikki loved being in their presence, each just had a different creativity to them and it was fascinating to think about. Then they died and she would no longer be surrounded by that presence and it felt like she was adrift for years until she found another chosen. 

Marinette had been a light for her, one that pulled her from her drifting after the loss of Jeanne. She had felt that connection she had felt from past rare chosens and had wanted to ignore it, so Tikki did all she could not to get too attached. She took on the role of mentor and tried to keep a distance but it was all for naught. Souls like Marinette’s were too warm and bright to stay away from and Tikki fell all over again. Marinette was another Ladybug that she saw as her own, she became protective and that protectiveness corrupted into something ugly. She thought she was doing the right thing whenever she told Marinette to ignore the negative emotions that threatened to swallow the teen some days. Or when she lectured Marinette on behavior she thought could lead to trouble, trouble brought strife and strife brought the end of life. Tikki wanted Marinette to live a long life, even if she wasn’t in it, she hadn’t meant like this though. Anything but this situation would be better. Her connection with Marinette was completely severed, something that terrified her, she tried everyday to reach Marinette and was always met with nothing or with static. 

Honestly she didn’t know which was worse.

It gave her hope because the static meant that Marinette was alive and there was still a part of her that wasn’t fully accepting of the akuma. On the other hand the silence, the nothing meant the connection was weak and barely hanging on by a thread. Marinette, or whatever name she went by was embracing the akuma full heartedly and the more hours that passed and turned into days which led into weeks where Tikki got fewer and fewer static, she feared what it meant. No one had ever been akumatized as long as Marinette was currently going on and that knowledge made Tikki’s heart skip beats. Tikki needed sleep but she would talk herself into pushing the connection as much as she could only for her to end up with a killer headache, a migraine she believed it was called, and an overwhelming feeling of nausea. Plagg pleaded with her to take breaks, eat, rest but how could she rest when her child was out there somewhere? 

“Hello, Tikki. How are you doing today?” Fu asked as he walked in, she may not have been facing him but Tikki could hear his uneven steps that came from his cane and age.

She didn’t answer.

“We brought you some cookies from the store.” Marianne voiced, Tikki could identify her by the shuffle-like steps she made. 

Tikki merely pointed to the corner where many abandoned plates of cookies sat, she didn’t need to turn around to see their disappointed faces, she could feel the emotion hanging in the air like the lingering scent of Plagg’s precious Camembert. 

“C’mon Sugar Cube, you have to eat something.” She could always sense Plagg, they could always sense each other, no matter what. His presence always brought her comfort, even now when all she wanted to do was be alone. It was odd, it was like she wanted to yell at him to leave but at the same time hug him like he would vanish if she didn’t.

“Why?”

“Why? Tiks, C’mon you know why.” Plagg’s voice broke as he spoke. 

“Why does it matter Plagg? What? I eat, I get better, then what? Fu hands me off to another user? No. I’m done.” 

“Tikki. Tiks.” Plagg breathed out, each utterance of her name sounded like a plea. A plea for what she wasn’t sure, but she felt his hands take hers and she finally looked up, looked at him, her partner after what felt like a lifetime. The sight of him brought fresh tears to her eyes. “You’re breaking my heart here Sugar Cube.”

“Yeah well…mine’s been broken.” She stubbornly replied through her tears. “I can’t Plagg. I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep losing my Bugs to tragedy. Mar-Marinette was a child. A baby. And now my baby is gone because of me. Not greedy humans, not war, not old age, but me.” 

“It was not your fault Tikki.” When she shook her head his voice got more firm. “No, listen to me, it is not your fault. I know when we lose one of our users it feels like it is. The Universe only knows how many of my Kittens have fallen to tragedy and how many of those I blamed myself for. You didn’t let me be swallowed by guilt, guilt you told me was unfounded. This guilt you’re putting on yourself is unfounded, Tiks. You were doing what you thought was best.”

“Yeah well it is perfectly clear that my best isn’t enough. My ‘best’ pushed my Bug over the edge, Plagg.” Tikki hissed.

“Tikki. You couldn’t have known what she was feeling.” He insisted but Tikki knew different, or well felt different, but it might as well have been a known thing with all that transpired. 

“But I should have!” She shouted as she floated a bit above the cushion she had confined herself too. Her antennae and tail all ramrod straight as she glared at him. The anger was not directed at him, it was directed towards her but maybe that wasn’t entirely true. She was angry at herself but the more that Plagg, Fu and Marianne pestered her about her feelings, asked her how she was doing, told her it wasn’t her fault, the angrier she got. So maybe the anger was a little directed at him too. 

“We may be beings that humans once revered as Gods, we may actually be quasi-gods who knows, but we have never been all-knowing Tikki. Never. So there is no way you could have known how Marinette was truly feeling at all times, even if she was a rare chosen, you know that the connection doesn’t work that way.” Plagg shouted back, though his shout was more desperate. 

“Tikki.” Fu’s voice rang out and made Tikki snap her head in his direction.

“I don’t want to hear your voice Wang Fu. Hearing you putter around this place already makes me sick and full of rage.” She seethed. “You are as much to blame as I!”

“Now Tikki, the loss of Marinette is a tragic one but there is hope to get her back. It will do us no good to blame ourselves. There were many causes and Marinette is but a human, her fall was hard but we will find her and pick her up. I understand-” Fu began but was cut off by a growl from Tikki.

“You understand nothing!” Tikki felt like she was on fire, her rage felt all-consuming and then she spotted Plagg in the corner. Plagg who looked miserable and afraid and just like that her rage left her in a rush. With nothing to fuel her or give her energy, Tikki let herself float down onto her pillow once more. “You don’t understand so don’t you dare breathe those lies in my direction Fu. At least I take responsibility for my mistakes, I own up to them. I sit here and I admit I pushed Marinette to push aside her feelings of anger, of sadness, or anything negative because I was scared of losing her. When she was able to fend off an akuma for the first time… I became worse. I became worse because I was blinded, I thought she was stronger than any other human and that was my mistake. She is strong, but no one is strong enough to fend off their emotions. No human can just shove aside what they are truly feeling. I scolded her. I lectured her. All because I thought she was more, she was stronger, she was better and because I feared I would lose her.”

Tikki took a shaky breath in. “And I did lose her. I held her to impossible standards and I recognize that, but you. You knew…you knew how much was on her shoulders and yet you still added more and more. You, just as I disregarded her complaint, her worries. But at least I listened to them and tried to give advice, granted it was wrong advice but advice nonetheless. I wanted to pretend that Marinette was somehow something more than human but at least I tried! What did you do, Fu? What. Did. You. Do?” 

She watched as the older man’s eyes filled with tears, as his mouth opened and closed and as Marianne placed a hand on Fu’s shoulder to pull him into a hug. Tikki couldn’t look away even though she could feel Plagg’s eyes on her. She didn’t want to look at her longest and oldest friend and see the sadness and disappointment echoing in his eyes even if that is originally what she thought she wanted. She had wanted some reactions other than pity and comfort but not this way, but at the same time she couldn’t take the words back. She wouldn’t take them back. So she did the only thing she could think of and flew, flew out the open window which Marianne had cracked open when Fu had lit too many incense sticks to try and calm himself. Tikki flew and flew and flew till the world blurred around her, she didn’t have a destination in mind, she just wanted a place to clear her head. Funny how she ended up at Collège Françoise Dupont. There was no way she could enter Bustier’s classroom…she couldn’t even look at it, so she flew into Mendeleiev’s. 

Mendeleiev’s classroom had strangely been a comfort place for her and maybe Plagg too. They had met there many times just to get away from the noise, the chaos, the everything. So many that’s why it surprised her to see Mme Mendeleiev sitting at her desk staring out at her empty classroom. Maybe if this had been in the past Tikki would have gone somewhere else but she had always admired the teacher’s analytical mind and Tikki just wanted to talk to someone who wasn’t close to her. “Hello.”

Mendeleiev jumped at her voice and swiveled in her chair to stare at her in shock. Tikki waved at her and hoped it helped somehow calm the teacher’s shock. “Hell…Hello?”

“I don’t know if you remember me.”

“I remember.”

“Oh. Good…good.”

“I don’t mean to come across as rude by any means but, what are you doing here?” Mendeleiev questioned, her body tense.

“I…I just needed to clear my head and I found myself here. I couldn’t make myself go into B…Marinette’s other classroom, and if you recall, my partner and I used to wait in your room sometimes.” Tikki explained somewhat lamely as she flew over to Mendeleiev’s desk and sat on it. 

They sat in awkward silence for a good while before Mendeleiev cleared her throat. “So it is one hundred percent true? Marinette was Ladybug?”

Tikki searched the human woman’s face, she wasn’t excited at the prospect of having a superhero as a student, she wasn’t disgusted, she looked-Tikki didn’t know how to describe it-heartbroken yet proud at the same time. “Yes.”

She watched as Mendeleiev, the woman she and Marinette had always seen as strong and sensible, broke down in tears. “I…I wish I knew. I know it must have been against some sort of rules but she…she was just a kid…”

“I know…I…I wish things had been different as well. If it were up to us Kwami we wouldn’t have such restrictions like the identity thing but…”

“I’m sorry. Truly. You must have really liked her.”

“I love her…That’s why I’m so angry. I’m angry at myself. At her class. And also the Guardian. I see him, I hear him and I am so full of heartbreak and rage I don’t know what to do.” Tikki confessed. She couldn’t believe that she was being so forthcoming with a human but Mendeleiev’s energy sort of reminded her of Duusuu before they were corrupted at The Temple.

“This Guardian,” Mendeleiev held the ‘s’ a bit longer than normal before she continued, “he’s the one who hands out the Miraculous isn’t he? Not Ladybug like I had been led to believe.”

Tikki nodded.

Mendeleiev heaved out a sigh. “I mean��If I met the man who thought children were the perfect people to fight a terrorist I’d have some choice words too, but you also seem to have an emotional connection to the man.”

“We have a past, yes. It’s long and complicated but…I had never felt this rage toward him ever. I have been disappointed, maybe even frustrated but that was before Marinette disappeared and since then…Since then so many things have gone so horribly wrong. It’s like I can’t help but blame him.” Tikki said, she felt like she wanted to cry again but no tears fell. 

“You’re right about that. Horrible things have happened. And as much as I want to be reasonable, part of me believes Marinette’s disappearance was the catalyst. First she disappeared, the school turned against one class, then all of Paris turned against said class, then The Followers appeared along with their strings of petty crimes that escalated to…Caline didn’t deserve that. She made mistakes, I admit that, but she didn’t deserve murder.” Tikki nodded in agreement, yes she had been furious with the woman but she too thought she didn’t deserve to die. Nobody did.

Mendeleiev continued. “Then Lila Rossi was beaten within an inch of her life. She made many mistakes, she was an admittedly awful student but no child deserves that. She’s a child and they beat her. And now Damocles has disappeared! Fled I guess would be a better way to put it but no one knows where he went.”

Tikki gasped. “Disappeared? Why?” She hadn’t really been too focused on everything going on, only staying up to date because of the TV in Fu and Marianne’s place and from what she could overhear from Plagg, Fu and Marianne. 

“The school, as I mentioned before, turned on Caline’s class. Then outsiders started to partake, no matter how many security details we got. Things escalated, and Caline started to get harassed and well…we saw how that ended. Damocles started receiving the same sort of hate mail she had gotten. He had of course alerted the authorities but he had also told me. He became so paranoid. Then small things started happening, he’d trip but he’d trip almost into oncoming traffic if he hadn’t managed to roll in time. Things started to fall from buildings, nearly crushing him. One night he was mugged. Or so he claimed. I’m sure there were other instances but all of it just started to build and build on one another and…next thing I know he’s gone.” Mendeleiev stared out her window as she told Tikki about her former coworker, tears rolled down her face as she did so.

“The only thing he left behind was a note saying ‘I’m sorry. Please don’t look for me, I’ll never return to Paris.’ He sent the same thing to the police and asked for the notes to be burned so a Follower wouldn’t get their hands on it. I, of course, did so.”

They sat in silence once again until Tikki joined Mendeleiev in staring out her window before she whispered. “I wish I had been there for Marinette more…”

“I wish I had too.” Mendeleiev whispered back. “I wish we all had been.”

Next Chapter

[piromina]

bECaUsE i hAVe A sEcrET

[magicalus-godslayer]

From top left to bottom right:

Princess Marianne from "Strange Magic"

Carmen Sandiego from "Carmen Sandiego" (2019)

Queen Kida from "Atlantis: The Lost Empire"

Unicorn/Lady Amalthea from "The Last Unicorn"

Princess Selenia from "Arthur and the Minimoys"

Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug from "Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir"

Blank version of the template under the cut, feel free to use it, if you like!

[pagesof-miraculous-rewrite]

The lady(bug) of the hour is here!

The OG outfit they gave her is way too bland, though I guess that could be read in a myriad of ways. I decided to give her outfit some personality, vaguely basing it off of martial arts uniforms. As she gets more comfortable with the miraculous, I imagine she would add more personal touches to it.

As a civilian, I decided to calm it down on the embroidery. I also decided to add more lighter colors to her palette, as it creates a contrast between her civilian-self and her hero-self.

I’m planning on redesigning the other characters, so please suggest anything!

[sneaks-the-hammock-jockey]

BINGO! my first bingo for the Miraculous Discordance Holiday Bingo is Master Fu dancing with Marianne.

[nikispade]

So cute

All the Miraculous Requests I had from my Patrons in 2023! This isn't even including all the original OCs and akumas I got!

Ko-fi | Patreon

-Marinette in MY favorite outfit from Scarlet Lady (this one's from "Glaciator") -Chat Blanc and Marinette (specially SL Mari) -Marinette and Tikki sharing Hot Chocolate and Floral Cookies -My Akumanette Little Devil kissing Silencer -Kim and Ondine, Kim kissing her on the cheek -Penny and Jagged kissing -Marc and Nathaniel kissing -Rose and Juleka in their Princess Fragrance and Reflekta Scarlet Lady cover outfits -Nino and Adrien hugging -Good Lila with the Butterfly Miraculous -Good Gabriel with the Peacock Miraculous -Young Marianne with the Fox Miraculous -Original version of Evil Nathalie with the Peacock Miraculous -Bustier with the Bee Miraculous -Scarlet Lady version of Vanisher -MY favorite akuma aka Stormy Weather (I was literally asked to do my favorite lol) -Nathaniel in his Scarlet Lady "Reflekta" outfit -Caprikid wishing my Patron a Happy Birthday! -Gabriel horrified by a full glitter suit he's forced to wear -Ladybug in the Hades game style as a Goddess of Creation -Kagami. Just my baby girl Kagami. -Rose dressed in Pastel Goth Fashion -Rose dressed in a pink version of Chie Satonaka's (Persona) outfit because they share a Voice Actor -Juleka. My other baby girl Juleka. -Juleka in her "Style Queen"/"Queen Wasp" outfit from Scarlet Lady -Human Pollen -Human Nooroo

[pruneunfair]

Rating FL's part 3

Shuri

12/10: I just started reading A step mothers marchen (and it's probably gonna take a while to finish it since Bato doesn't have a full English translation) but from the few chapters I read I agreed with fans of the book that Shuri is without a doubt one of the best FL's. There's actual development between her and the step-children and she succeeds at being relatable without making her too overpowered.

Athanasia

7/10: Okay while I don't really care too much about WMMAP, I still think that for one of the first most popular otome isekais Athy was a pretty good protagonist and most of my complaints about her are mostly just ant hills. I don't have much to say on Athy other then she's a good start for OI protagonists but could be a little better.

Aisha

9/10: Is she generic? Yes, does that make her a bad protagonist? No. I don't understand what people mean when they say Marianne overshadows her unless they're talking about the fandom specifically because as someone who also really loves Marianne, she barely shows up on screen so to say that she overshadows Aisha just because Aisha is a typical sweet saintess heroine is stupid. Sometimes ITLA can be a little on the nose with how nice she is but I still find Aisha pretty well made.

Sienna

9/10: Okay I officially love manhwa where the maid is the protagonist instead of a noblewoman and as short as the manhwa she's from is, I still think she's a sweetheart. My only complaint is that the story keeps randomly inserting sad backstory memories so you feel bad for her, like one minute she'll be doing something ordinary and then next she's basically just like "This reminds me of when my step-mom hit me with jumper cables after I spilled one drop of tea." And then it goes back to the present within one panel.

Hae Soo

6.5/10: I'm sorry but people meat ride her WAY too much. She's not a terrible FL but there is so much better and she's really not all that because you can kinda tell by the way that she's the only female character thats likable and with that bodytype that she's just a self insert character.

Ruby

8/10: For once we have a piece that actually looks into the typical white lotuses point of view, Like Helena except way darker when it comes to backstories. I like that Ruby is shown to be more emotional cause I never liked how a lot of manhwa imply that emotions=crybaby FL, it all depends on how it's handled and I think thr author was very respectful when it came to her abuse and ED. However like Sienna there are times when the author is trying too hard and ends up forgetting certain parts of Ruby's trauma. For example they mentioned early in the chapters that Ruby's beloved older sister had died but it's barely mentioned in the future on how it affected her, so it ends up feeling like it was just a way to feel bad for her even more.

Aria

6/10: so on one hand I'm really glad that Aria is actually evil instead of the comic just saying " Oh no! She's not evil! She's too nice for that" because if villainess is gonna be in the title then she should keep some of her villainous traits, but I really don't know if I should see her as super smart if all her enemies are too stupid to combat her, it makes Aria look really stupid when she got killed in the first timeline if they're so bad at crimes.

Eris

10/10, Love my girl Eris! Kill the villainess was great for a lot of things, a knight for the ML instead of the prince, the ogfl not being a white lotus out to ruin Eris's life, and morally corrupt villains that felt like obstacles, but what they did the best was the FL because Eris actually retains her goal on going back to her world instead of shrugging it off and going to sleep because you know most people would be freaking out if they woke up as a historical woman in a time period where women had no rights and it was easy to die after getting sick once.

Roxana

9.5/10: She's overrated but that doesn't make a character bad by default. When I finally read Roxana after seeing the hype I could understand why they loved Roxana so much. Now as much as I don't like evil protagonists who don't suffer consequences, the story makes up for it by being self aware that the Agriche family are a bunch of lunatics with the exception of Roxanas mom and her late brother. Being chaotic is simply part of the plot so I don't think it's fair for me to fault it. That being said as much as I loved her I do think that her takeover during the end chapters shouldn't have been done and done so easily and quickly.

Verta

7/10: similar to Roxana, Depths of malice is self aware that Verta is a terrible person even though she has a tragic backstory, it's only an explanation for why she's like this not an excuse. If you know me, you know I love the white lotus women so seeing one as a protagonist was something extraordinary since I thought everyone but me and a select few hated two faced women. She only really earns a 7 because as good as she is, there are better ones.

[imthepunchlord]

Ngl, kinda a major bummer that Marinette’s leading the Bugettes AU Red Ladybug poll, even by only a slim margin. It’s still the first day, and people are obviously free to pick who they want to see, but with the focus on color-coding and the personality and power focus changes made for Bugettes!Tikki, I definitely feel like Marinette is even LESS of a match for Ladybug here than in canon. I almost wonder if she and Rose should’ve only been added to Violet/Butterfly like you mentioned in the last anon’s spread, because I feel like people are just going with what they’re familiar with voting-wise instead of considering the Bugettes AU world or the kwami detail posts that you’re already linking to.

Oh same. Mindful, I am biased to shuffling things up. But from what I've learned doing polls for ML, this fandom largely likes to stick to canon. They don't really like to get experimental. And there are some that do work off the mindset that what they get in canon IS what they're meant to have, that they are, undoubtedly, the best for that Miraculous (which personally I can find to be debatable).

So Marinette has the Ladybug in canon, and Mouse is the first kwami swap to get a lot of focus in canon (aside from her with Cat), so those are the top two picks for Marinette Miraculous wise, never mind if they work for her growth wise or not. They're what happens, so they're what people focus on.

So Marinette leading in the poll for Ladybug isn't a surprise for me. It's a bummer, but not a surprise. If she didn't win Ladybug, I was definitely more intrigued by the other polls she was going to appear in: Dragonfly, Mantis (both working off the bit of blue she has, and Mantis especially has such a small number of choices for it), and Butterfly.

But her being there, I do stand by that pink coded characters should apply for both the Red and Violet poll. And while it's a very small detail in her whole design, she does have spots on her.

But if she does win Ladybug, it is what it is. It will work more off what we get in canon, with Tikki pressuring Marinette to do better, consider others more than herself, always win, always be the leader, ect.. Honestly, only big changes is Tikki being more romantic, which could both help Marinette's crush, as Tikki would have actual advise to share, but also make it worse as she's going to fixate on Marinette's crush on Adrien and help push the agenda cause this is what Marinette wants; and Tikki's not really going to be pro team. Tikki aims for success, and sometimes a team gets in the way of that so you MUST be the leader to make sure things work out as they should.

Which could be interesting as Marinette isn't opposed to working with others, but it also doesn't feel like it's a must. It could definitely feed into her agenda of her Atlas Complex and she must solve everything herself by herself.

And with this, I'll have to think on how to address this. The perk of the Bugettes is there is more than just one partner to work off of, so if Marinette does win and these issues will arise, there would be at least someone to bring this up and address it.

And potentially may have Marianne as the Guardian and mentor of the Bugettes, and potentially she was a prior Ladybug so she knows how Tikki can be.

So if Marinette does get Ladybug, yeah a bit of a bummer, but I do have ideas and options on how to address the issues and make them work. But the poll's not over yet so you never know.

[tumblingxelian]

How to make Hawk Moth Relevent - ML Rewrite:

I Had some ML AU thoughts, specifically on how to have Gabriel keep the Butterfly & feel like a threat & be 'sympathetic' if one wants.

Character wise, its pretty simple, S1/2 era Gabriel. He's proud, stubborn, controlling, & never left the bargaining stage of grief. His decisions are bad, but he either thinks he's doing what's best for Adrien or if he's doing something wrong that he can outsmart the fallout. Also uses kids less in general, but still does it.

He's also learning about his powers the same as the heroes, though some of his weaknesses with it come from struggling with some of the necessary emotional skills. As well as not liking to listen to things that challenge his world view.

IE, "Why did you not tell me this could happen?" - "I tried to tell you it was a danger, you tuned me out!" - "I don't have time for this." - "There you go again! You are so obnoxiously frustrating!"

Finally, he's not using the butterfly right anyway, because doing so would risk his identity. Its meant to make champions, but if he used someone who shared his goals then it'd eventually become obvious who he is. So he has to keep working through bargains and deceptions with people in a manic state. So his defeats are less on him.

Moving on, status quo updates: Introduce some other rogues to pad out the episodes.

A sorcerer who wants Miraculous. A temple monk survivor who wants to get Fu. A left over Nazi who Fu & Marianne defeated; some rogue Miraculous Users & perma-Akuma, IE Imago.

Also have Audrey be there from the start of the season, either she's around to try and cajole Gabriel back into design work, or just splits her time between Paris & New York & introduce some players early.

Specific Story Beat Changes: At the end of Origins show several other soon to be notable figures:

A sorceress pondering their orb, a militant looking bastard smirking, a monk meditating and opening their eyes. Tomoe contacting Kagami & saying they will be moving to Paris. Then cap it off with Lila & Trixx staring open mouthed at a TV, fast food raised halfway to their mouths just staring boggle eyed.

Mentor-Fu Because of these new issues and threats cropping up, Fu is a more active mentor, possibly with Marianne at his side, to serve as foils/counterparts to Marinette & Adrien.

Hawk Moth He makes a strong debut & has some fairly impressive Akuma, but is also clearly experimenting with the power. He also picks several adults like the movie villains. He's also clearly running into walls VS how much he can actually get them to do.

He blames their unhinged state until Antibug when Chloe goes "No U" at the Akuma trying to control her & refuses to un-mask Chat Noir. She wants to prove a point to the heroes not actually help Hawk Moth, & he can't call back the Akuma.

Besides that, the major shifts would be some of his fellow villains compromising his Akuma for their own ends. Him finding out Akuma can become Imago, thanks to Audrey just staying Style Queen. She is having a blast, no one else is.

Lila-Volpina-Chameleon & Trixx She found Tirxx's Miraculous in a second hand shop & since accidentally awakening him the pair have become con artists and mischief makers all over Europe.

They aren't malevolent, but they aren't good either, and Lila goes to Paris in part cos she's being pursued by a sorcerer after Trixx & she wants the others to help protect her.

She's on the team for awhile before losing Trixx in battle and ends up claiming an Akuma to try and get power back. Leaving her straddling a line between humanity & monster-hood.

The Tsurugi's: They have at least two Miraculous, perhaps three, this playing a part in why Fu would even put Tikki & Plagg out there given the risk. The dragon is a must, but beyond that it could range from tiger, to mouse to snake or some combo there-of.

Their goals are enigmatic, with Kagami's stance being that the Kwami are divinity and being their chosen is an honor. While Tomoe is more cold, still respecting the Kwami's power more than the Order, but very pointedly aiming to use said power to benefit her family line.

As a result they are more anti-villain's/antagonists than full on villains.

Audrey & Chloe: Thanks to Audrey being present, the toxic nature of the family is on display from minute one.

With Andre passively rolling with every horrid thing Audrey says or does to Chloe, then using Chloe's rejection to make himself feel big. All while Chloe desperately seeks her mothers affection & allows her fathers self serving idea of 'love' and heeds his terrible advice.

This makes Chloe's redemption arc faster as where she's coming from is obvious from parents day at earliest. Audrey becoming the first on screen Imago helps. No jail time cos no one but Hawk Moth knows at first. She abuses her powers & becomes a key Chloe villain.

Final Note: Awhile ago I realized that one could re-work the Peacock's power into the Butterfly so I'd probably do that too. IE, its power is transmission & transformation.

So in the case of making Sentimonsters it transmits Butterfly energy in to the subject, then the emotions back out of the subject, then transforms them into a 'Familiar'.

This does remove the mind control rings, but there may still be an Akumatized object which can allow a butterfly user easier access to the target, or they are just not a thing.

This also means Gabriel only needs one Miraculous, & Nathalie instead of being Mayura stays on as Catalyst. Letting him make small teams of villains, familiars, or super strong Akuma.

There could still be negative health ramifications from this, either from being constantly Akumatized or from getting powers up to so often. If sympathetic Gabriel is intended, he's the one getting sick.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML au: Lady of Second Chances (Season 2)

(Season 1)

-So Fu introduces himself and Marinette greets him.

-Marinette had thought about this before this meeting. How much she should tell him? Should she tell him.

-After some thought, she decided she should tell him, since she never finished her training and there is more she doesn’t know.

-She tells him that she was his student and that she knows a lot, explaining the cliff notes of what happened to him and what he taught her.

-Fu was surprised and believed her because what she knew about feast and Marianne. She had to be telling the truth.

-Marinette even explained how she made the akuma charms.

-Fu asks how much if the timeline she already altered?

-Marinette explained that she is trying to keep the core events the same, but certain things that were disastrous she can change.

-Fu decides to trust her judgement, but warns her that this could be dangerous, all this knowledge. So be sure that using this knowledge it is for the betterment. Which Ladybug agrees

-First thing Marinette does is tell Fu he should go introduce himself to chat noir and explain his story.

-“he’s trust worthy and all the waiting only causes issues.”

-Fu nods that he will make time after he decides the book.

__________________________________________

-Gabriel still gets akumatized because he wanted to ensure ladybug and chat noir were off his trail.

-Gabriel never pulls adrien out of school since he had no reason to. But he makes up some bs to be mad about it.

-Ladybug tells Chat noir of her theory and just like in canon they beat collector.

-Ladybug gives Gabriel a charm so no akumatizations.

-Gabriel finds out how what the thing he gave her is and now realizes things will be tough since he can’t akumatize the same person 2 times in a row.

-Prime queen happens,but ladybug doesn’t let herself get flustered by the images this time. Ladybug leaves with much more tact and chat noir agrees that it wasn’t cool for this to be sprung on them. Though chat noir does mention he wishes he remembered the kiss.

-“Akuma involved kisses don’t count kitty.” Which Chat noir agreed that next kiss they have it will be unrelated to the akuma. Ladybug smiles and says that she agrees with that.

-Chat noir doesn’t suggest kissing plans, since after his talk with Ladybug, why would he jeopardize that? But ladybug suggests it though just like in canon, it was a fake out.

- despair bear, Gigatitan, Befana, and Frightningale are all the same. Marinette taking Fu’s advice and not altering things too much.

-Riposte has Marinette determine that Kagami won. Since she is a bit more measured around Adrien. Which prevents the akuma, but also does shift how Kagami views Adrien and Marinette. Kagami still has her confidence and doesn’t view Adrien as a flirty rival. Marinette wonders if that correction was for the right call.

-Troublemaker changes. Marinette remembers the live show and hides all her pictures in advance. Also locking her door. Troublemaker happens but Marinette doesn’t end up humiliated. Adrien does check on Marinette because her home was attacked, but it’s less embarrassing for her. Though Adrien knows cause chat noir knows.

-Gorizilla is the same but Marinette is not in her pj’s she actually bothered to change

-Sapotis, Anansi are both the same cause hero debuts

-Syren changed. Chat noir met Fu much earlier so he doesn’t have the hang up he had. Ladybug and chat noir already had the potions thanks to Marinette knowing half the recipes. Syren was beat easy

-Reverser was avoided because Marinette handled the exchange better. No misunderstandings

-Captain hardrock still happened because the reason the akuma happened was stupid. Marinette meets Luka, but after everything she remembered, she thinks just keeping him as a friend is better in the long run, plus mentally she got over him already. So it’s still awkward for her. She manages.

-Glaciator is actually avoided. So Ladybug remembered the confusion that happened over this and tells chat noir she couldn’t make it, but that they could schedule another time. Which Chat noir agrees with. So no miscommunication to be had. Adrien sneaks out to get ice cream with his friends instead of prepping the romantic dinner. Which means Adrien is there and he has ice cream with Marinette. Which also adds more to Adrien’s muddled feelings.

-Frozer doesn’t happen because After riposte, Kagami and Adrien never get that close. They fence but it’s the event of riposte that made it happen.

-Zombizou happens because it’s important for Chloé’s growth. And Marinette still thinks what bustier said was dumb. Robostus and dark owl both happen.

-So Marinette gets to the day of the fashion week. And she had to contemplate if she lets things happen as is or if she fixes it. Marinette decides to alter course. By giving the bee to Chloe. Seeing if this would help change some things.

-Bee Chloe helps and thanks to her they beat style queen. The problem this time was that Chloé didn’t want to give up the bee. Resulting in queen wasp. Just a slight alteration to the plot.

-Gabriel doesn’t give up because he picks up on the fact that the super heroine bee is going against ladybug. He could use that.

-Chloe had ditched her akuma charm as she felt she didn’t need it with her powers. And things took a turn.

-Queen wasp ends up happening and Chloe realizes ladybug is right. Apologizing, saying she just wanted to be exceptional… to make her mom proud.

-So Maledikator doesn’t happen because, due to the events of Queen wasp. Chloe never exposed herself and doesn’t try to gloat she was queen bee. So her presentation was different.

-Sandboy was basically unchanged but Marinette warned the kwami that Hawkmoth was in control and nixed the plan. So less struggle of finding the kwamis

-So this is where things shift. So Volpina didn’t happen, because Marinette intercepted early. Also, it should be noted that Marinette did tell Alya that Hawkmoth might go after Lila if he saw that interview. Which Alya agreed and took it down.

-Marinette is still annoyed with Lila’s lies. But right now she’s harmless.

-Lila never got akumatized and has no hatred for ladybug or chat noir. The only person she isn’t stoked on is Marinette. But like it was only one interruption. So Lila doesn’t think much of it. I guess she sees how popular the heroes are and gets jealous. So Hawkmoth akumatizes her. To get the events going. (And for the sake of laziness, I say sure)

-Hawkmoth had Catalyst make it so he could akumatize a bunch of people. AND ignore the charm. Which because work arounds. It worked.

-Ladybug does assemble her team. But here is the big question. (Which I leave up to you all)

[taldigi]

Why Marianne? Was she planned to exist on pre canon?

I think one of the most disappointing underutilizations in canon ML is that of Marianne LeNoir. She's postured as this mirror of Cat Noir- the love interest of the hero, the temptation from keeping them truly great as the guardian. a character who exists to serve Fu's narrative, an example of his noble sacrifice in service to the greater good to the miraculous and the order.

She is perfect for showing the failures of the order as a concept. An example for how they failed Fu and how Fu uses his trauma and self-flagulation of his mistake to force himself to atone rather than seek change from a method that has failed time and time again. How Fu is on track to push Marinette to be the same. His failure to consider Cat Noir at all as anything than another honor-bound miraculous holder when he is- and very much never was or never will be an honor-bound miraculous holder -is also explicitly setting him up for failure. In fact, it did end in failure!

...This is, of course, if the show didn't insist on the order being a "cool magical kung fu club" and that depicting Marinette as the guardian as anything less than an honorable higher calling. Despite what the show tries to say about this- the outbursts regarding Marinette's stress over being the guardian and her lone wolf task are superficial and lack substance from a narrative position when... her being the guardian was never the issue, it was her sudden lack of guidance when she had been leaning on Fu for so long.

Personally, I think the guardians are fucking stupid and tired and have no place in the show- not as a goal for the characters to aspire to.

That being said, Marianne was prime for becoming Chat's mentor- maybe not as entwined with the miraculous as Fu- but as someone who is able to lay out Fu's mistakes and prepare Cat Noir to handle these mistakes that he is forcing onto Marinette. It's a pretty unanimous decision that Cat Noir needed someone, anyone, to place his hand on his shoulder and say "it's okay, I understand. I can help, even a little bit." or even "Now is not the time for love, you need to be someone who can support her. Grand displays of love are dangerous, show your love in little ways with patience."

"But you were patient, and he never came back for you."

"Because he did not want to trust me- he was afraid to. What is happening is a cycle of abuse- the master is trying to pass what he has learned onto his student, even if it will hurt her. You cannot try and destroy it, but you can guide it. Ladybug still trusts you."

Thats a loose idea, at best. We all know it didn't turn out like that and she ends up being madly in love with Fu and ends up being his caretaker, and Adrien ends up a nothingburger of a character- and such ideas would have to require that the show care about something other than Marinette and her suffering.

Ultimately, Marianne could have been the key to addressing and possibly transforming some of the worst parts of ML into the greatest parts. But alas.

[laresearchette]

Wednesday, October 23, 2024 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES? INK MASTER (Season Premiere) (Paramount+ Canada) CATFISH (Season Premiere) (Paramount+ Canada)

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT BREATH OF FIRE (Premiering on October 24 on HBO Canada at 10:00pm)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

CBC GEM HARDER BETTER FASTER STRONGER SO YOU WANT TO BE A MUSLIM?

CRAVE TV BREATH OF FIRE

NETFLIX CANADA CAR MASTERS: RUST TO RICHES: (Season 6) THE COMEBACK: 2004 BOSTON RED SOX FAMILY PACK (FR) SCREAM 2 SCREAM 3 SCREAM 4 THIS IS THE ZODIAC SPEAKING

NBA BASKETBALL (SN) 7:30pm: Cavaliers vs. Raptors (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 7:30pm: Bucks vs. 76ers (SN360) 10:00pm: Warriors vs. TrailBlazers (TSN4) 10:00pm: Clippers vs. Suns

NHL HOCKEY (SN1) 7:30pm: Flyers vs. Capitals

BACK TO ROOTS (APTN) 7:00pm: Chef Denia surprises Perry with an elk tenderloin to cook together; they forage for wild cranberries, wild mushrooms and yarrow; Perry prepares a wild cranberry and yarrow mocktail for them to enjoy while discussing ingredients and recipes.

PAID IN FULL: THE BATTLE FOR BLACK MUSIC (CBC) 8:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): Black artists' fight for fair pay and ownership of their songs dates back to the 1920s, including Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Little Richard, TLC and more.

THE PASSIONATE EYE (CBC) 9:00pm: Harder Better Faster Stronger: Misinformation expert Timothy Caulfield investigates the purported "crisis in masculinity," debunks toxic men's health myths and meets with people challenging traditional masculine norms.

MARK MCKINNEY NEEDS A HOBBY (CTV) 9:02pm: Mark McKinney tries his hand at a cross section of aquatic sports; Mark learns some sailing basics and sings some sea shanties, learns bodyboarding techniques in the surf of Santa Monica, Cali. beach, and joins a synchronized swimming team.

SECRET HISTORY (APTN) 9:00pm: When a family discovers gold, a Tlingit woman's traditional knowledge is vital for navigating the Yukon wilderness and securing their fortune.

MLS SOCCER (TSN) 10:00pm: Vancouver vs. Portland

TALES FROM THE TERRITORIES (Much) 10:00pm: Tales from the Territories reunites wrestlings legends to relive their most jaw-dropping stories from in and out of the ring. One of the most infamous stories in wrestling lore, TV star Andy Kaufman traveled from Hollywood to Memphis to wrestle women, before facing off against King Jerry Lawler.

GOING NATIVE (APTN) 10:30pm: Drew travels down under to witness how Australia's first nations live, hunt and maintain their ancient traditions while taking in some of Australia's most beautiful sites; he even learns how to catch his own lunch while avoiding becoming lunch.

SO LONG, MARIANNE (Crave) 11:00pm: Leonard Cohen receives news of his grandmother's passing, plunging him into melancholy; pregnant with Axel's child, Marianne faces turmoil in her relationship due to Axel's infidelity.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Thinking once again on weird lore in ML and this time it's Fu's age and all.

First off, he's 187 apparently. And I. Don't think we ever get an explanation on how he's able to be that goddamn old.

But also he like barely aged between reaching adulthood (which would be in the 1840s) to when he met Marianne(in the 1930s/40s), since he seems to appear the same age as her. Then sometime between then and present day he aged to look like an old man(which he is).

[miraculous-prompts]

Take ML, your favorite comic and the last book you read and smash them together to make a crossover AU featuring Anarka as Anansi and Marianne

[bumblebeug]

Paris, City of Sweets

Thought I forgot about this fic, didn’t you? Well, I haven’t forgotten! I hope you enjoy!

Paris, City of Sweets

“Ah! Good to see you’re already up, Felix,” Marianne said cheerfully, grabbing her own teacup from the drying rack, “Is there any left for me?”

Fu smiled and lifted the teapot. “Plenty.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Marianne replied as she sat down.

Felix glanced away blushing when his grandmother and Fu leaned in for a morning kiss.

It was so odd, Felix thought, to see his grandmother so happy. Up until this visit – he hadn’t thought that it was even possible.

Growing up, his grandmother always had an air of someone waiting for something and with each minute that something she was waiting for didn’t show up, the more forlorn she got. He had always assumed that it was because she missed Grandpa Alexander, who had died when he was six. It made sense, because his father was generally a happy man, but would sometimes get that way too over small things that would trigger a memory. Where he would just go quiet for a moment; giving a distracted half-smile to no one as if he was reliving a happy memory and saying goodbye to his father all over again at the same time.

Felix wondered how his dad would react to seeing his mother so happy with another man. He hadn’t yet told his parents the specifics on why Marianne was so happy in Paris – just that she was building a new life.

“Felix dear?”

Startled, Felix’s head snapped up at the question.

“Yes?” He replied and took a sip of tea. He grimaced, he’d been so lost in thought that his tea had gone cold.

“I was just saying how nice it would be to get some canelés as tomorrow’s refreshment for our tai-chi session,” Marianne said leadingly.

Felix pushed his cold tea away from him. “I suppose that would be nice,” Felix agreed.

“Great, then it’s settled!” Marianne clapped her hands together, “Tomorrow you’ll go over to the Dupain-Cheng bakery and help out.”

“I – what?” Felix sent his grandmother a baffled look – nowhere in their exchange did Felix agree to anything.

Marianne blinked innocently, “You’ll help out, right? Fu and I will be busy preparing the tai-chi space.”

Felix sighed and nodded. He knew better than to try and win an unwinnable argument – if his grandmother wanted something done, it got done period.

~~~~~~~

The sun had barely touched the sky when his grandmother woke him shook him awake. Felix squinted blearily at his grandmother carefully picking through his clothing.

“…Wha?” was the best his sleep-addled brain could muster.

“C’mon dear, best get up – remember you promised to help the Dupain-Chengs?” Marianne announced over her shoulder, “It’ll reflect poorly on you if you’re late.”

Felix stood and rubbed his eyes with one hand and patting down his hair with the other. Marianne tched at his poor attempt at becoming presentable and grabbed a brush from the counter.

“Your hair is getting much too long,” Marianne complained as the brush snagged on a tangle.

The pain on his scalp jogged his brain into wakefulness. “Grandmum, please” he said as he took the brush out of her hands, “I’m not five – I can get ready by myself.”

Marianne arched a delicate brow at his declaration. “Then be quick about it.” She strode out of his room.

~~~

“Ah, you must be Felix! Come in, come in.” Felix found himself ushered into the Dupain-Cheng bakery by the largest man he had ever seen. “Dear, the help is here,” the man called out jovially.

It only clicked that this man was Mr. Dupain when Mrs. Cheng waved from the kitchen doorway.

Felix stared at the empty bakery display, confused. He didn’t see why his grandmother had insisted he go to the bakery so early – tai chi class wouldn’t start for hours. Wasn’t he just here to pick up the canelés?

“It was so nice to hear from Ms. Lenoir that you wanted to help us this morning,” Mr. Dupain went on blithely unaware of Felix’s confusion, “So? What kind of baking experience do you have?”

“Um…none?” Felix answered unsurely.

Mr. Dupain clapped him on the back and laughed, “No worries! We all have to start out somewhere. Enthusiasm is more important anyways in the beginning, is what I always say. Let’s get you an apron and see how you do with measurements.”

Numbly, Felix let himself be lead further into the bakery. When his grandmum had asked him to help out, he didn’t realize that she meant anything more than acting as a delivery boy. He certainly didn’t expect that she volunteered him to help the whole bloody bakery.

“Felix, good morning,” Marinette said between breaths, entering the kitchen holding an enormous bag of flour and wearing an equally large smile.

“Here let me help,” Felix said in lieu of a greeting. He scurried over to help share the burden. His hands brushed against hers.

“Thanks,” Marinette said gratefully.

He was so close he could count the freckles on the bridge of her nose if he wanted. He forgot all the reasons he why he was annoyed with his grandmother.

“No problem, it’s what I’m here for after all.”

---------

Part 3

Tags!

@northernbluetongue,  @mystery-5-5, @mewwitch, @sweenyalice, @trainflavor, @umiko9692 

[wonderwoman6199]

Nino’s little kitty cat buckle!!!!😻💚

What's the point of a team if you're not allowed to delegate?

Epilogue - Backwarder First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47, Ep 48, Intermission, Ep 49, Ep 50, Ep 51, Ep 52, Ep 53

Bonus:

Because why would anything happen?

Introducing Cat Scratch, whom we were robbed of in canon.

Ko-fi