#my own personal thoughts on what should have happened when unifying the miraculous

[chocostrwberry]

Some concepts for my au!!

Lila if she unified all the miraculous and became like a monster abomination as her body slowly started to die as a grand attempt to destroy the miraculous and Paris in the process

And Marinette who unifies the cat and ladybug miraculous to stop her!!

I don’t have names for these forms yet so suggestions are appreciated! :D

[uptoolateart]

I want to comment on this word 'conformation'.

In part, the title hints at Marinette unifying the miraculous. However, for me the main point is this idea of conforming, and rings, which are symbolically binding.

By buying into the Alliance rings, nearly everyone in Paris conforms to a view planted in their minds by media propaganda. Most conform quickly. A few break free of it...but not many.

The Perfect Alliance antidote is a ready-made cure for a problem fabricated by the same people. It's a classic form of manipulation and control seen in the annals of global history - as is the tactic of grooming someone into dependency and then taking away the thing they're dependent upon. Everyone should be raising an eyebrow at how quickly the solution is able to be rolled out, and yet almost no one does. Instead, they become mindless clones, tools saying and doing exactly what the enemy wants them to.

One person who sees through it all is Adrien. He fights it so hard, but the poor boy is bound left and right by rings. We've seen Gabriel control him with the wedding ring. Now he controls him with the Alliance ring. But Adrien's miraculous is also a ring - he's bound by duty to both Ladybug and the entire population of Paris. There's no space in there for HIM.

Just as we've seen him battle against akumatisation, and against his father's mind control, we see him fight against the nightmares - his worst fear being losing control and hurting everyone. He rejects the Perfect Alliance antidote over and over...but eventually gives in.

I think if he weren't Cat Noir, he wouldn't have relented. He would have endured the pain for himself. His concern was the pain of OTHERS. So, he conforms - but in full knowledge of what he's doing. He isn't brainwashed here. He's making a choice.

When he finally exchanges his miraculous for the Alliance - one ring for another - he's acknowledging his duties and, for the sake of others, allowing himself to be bound to his father. He's acknowledging that he can't be both The Adrien Agreste and Cat Noir. One has to go. Again, there's no space in there for HIM.

It's also worth noting that the Adrigami avatars are all in white. Adrien is in a white room. Gabriel is all in white. When he loses control, Cat is all in white. I wrote loads about the symbolism of white in an older post, but let's add to it.

In that room, Adrien is under an intensive identity erasure attack. He's being stripped of everything he is. When he gives up his miraculous, that's the last piece. He is completely broken down as a person and now primed to be rewritten by Gabriel...which is exactly what seems to happen with the Wish.

And whatever that Wish was...Gabriel got away with another. Marinette said Adrien wouldn't want to know what his father was really like...so she complies with Gabriel's plea not to tell him. In other words...she conforms. She says and does exactly what the enemy wants her to.

What really gets me is ADRIEN ALREADY KNEW WHAT HIS FATHER WAS REALLY LIKE. And I hope to god that knowledge has not been wiped clean away by the Wish - that his trauma has not been wiped away - because that would complete the identity erasure. All his growth is gone. Who is he, right now?? Who remembers the boy locked in that room, the one who essentially sacrificed his entire SELF?

When Marinette puts that wedding ring on his finger at the end, I know it's intended as, 'Look, you control yourself now,' and he says when he's with her he feels so free...but she's now the one binding him. She's keeping secrets. She's controlling what he knows. She's deciding what he can handle and what he can't, like he's a small child. That's not freedom. He needs all the facts in order to make his own life choices.

For all her faults, I have always loved Marinette. I won't pretend Adrien isn't my favourite, though. I want to hope the writers are screwing with us on purpose and this was all a twist to set up bigger drama. My worry is that they really thought it was a happy ending and didn't see all these fundamental problems we are pointing out. I guess time will tell.

[friendfromdsmp]

Okaaaaaaaaay….

Recreation

Let’s get into my first thoughts, gang

So first thing’s first, I did check the leaks and knew roughly what to expect; Marinette would be fighting Gabriel alone, with Plagg’s help to unify the two main Miraculous and become Bug Noire, but loses, leaving Gabriel free to use his wish to sacrifice himself and be remembered as a hero, with Emile’s state of living being ambiguous but vaguely implied. Adrien never faces his father or learns the truth about his own identity either

So let’s pick apart these points one by one, starting with:

Bug Noire

Won’t lie, I don’t mind her design. Mari always looks cute in a long braid and I like how it linked back to her Lady Noire design while also acting as a cat tail. Not overly sure about the additional smaller braids but I guess they were aiming for referencing her usual pigtails? Idk I feel like one of the other could’ve worked just fine but both of them together does seem a bit much. Fortunately the little two were easy to ignore. I also kept getting distracted by the eye dots, I don’t know if I love them or hate them tbh, they just kept catching my attention

But the design isn’t the problem with Bug Noire; the problem is what her existence in a fight like this means. Yes, it’s super cool to see someone unify the two main Miraculous, but not when it sidelines Adrien, aka the person they’re both claiming to be fighting for, as well as Gabriel’s main victim. If anything, Adrien should have been given an immunity from the nightmares via son-of-the-villain privileges and then Gabriel should have gone to him and revealed his plans, meanwhile Marinette is horribly out-of-commission from the nightmares and asks Tikki to take the earrings to Chat Noir

Because, at the end of the day, this is more Adrien’s fight than Marinette’s. And I’m not saying that I want one of them out of the fight in order to merge the Miraculous. I’m just saying that if they had to do the merge, they should’ve let Adrien be the one to do it. Why not have them both fighting together, Ladybug gets incapacitated and hands over the earrings while saying “I trust you, kitty cat, it’s all on you” and then he unifies and they go nuts with all the “I’m doing this for you!” “No, you’re doing it for the illusion of me you created and marketed to the world!” and all that? There are plenty of ways to do it without literally hypnotising Adrien while he’s stuck in a padded cell

However, I will concede one point; this was maybe the fifth time off the top of my head that Chat has attempted to give up his Miraculous, and this one was the only satisfying/acceptable one. Usually when it happens it’s so he can avoid taking responsibility or because he isn’t the sole focus of Ladybug’s attention. But this time, he accepted that he was not in a suitable mental state to be fighting anyone, he explained his logic calmly to Plagg, he acknowledged that his identity would be at risk if he transformed here and now despite him having the ability to pull off an escape, and he even ensured that the ring was in good, safe hands before parting with Plagg. He did everything right in this situation, so props for that

Adrien Suffers More Than Gabriel

This is the thing most people are pointing out here; Adrien being removed from the whole situation, and then lied to afterwards, is not only incredibly problematic, but causes Adrien to suffer more than Gabriel did. Because where Gabriel knew all season long that he wasn’t going to survive, giving him time to come to accept the sacrifice he’d already made for his wish as early on as Destruction, Adrien didn’t have that time. To Adrien, Gabriel’s death was swift, sudden and unexpected. Out of nowhere, he just lost his father, right when things were finally looking up in some way in their relationship

Adrien never got closure. He never won the battle he was fighting since episode 1; the battle to be his own person and stand up to his father once and for all. He never got to confront Gabriel for the manipulation, for the lies, for the abuse. He never got to free himself from Gabriel looming over him and controlling him, even in death he’s still living inside the world Gabriel chose for him, playing his part in Gabriel’s conjured narrative. By not allowing Adrien to be part of the final fight in any way, they removed all opportunities for Adrien to fight for their relationship to be healthy if he so chose, to cut Gabriel out of his life if he so chose, to do anything at all on his own terms and not Gabriel’s. Gabriel never got comeuppance for years of abuse to Adrien, and Adrien never got his closure as a victim of such abuse - due to the wish, he’s arguably back to square one, once again completely oblivious to being a pawn in his father’s game after their last interaction featured Adrien finally realising just how little his father had his best interests at heart

And to make matters worse, Adrien isn’t even told the truth. He believes his abuser died a hero. Not only that, but the hero that Adrien was supposed to be, but couldn’t be due to circumstance. Surely Adrien feels some survivor’s guilt because of that, right? It was his duty to fight by Ladybug’s side and defeat Monarch, and physically speaking there was nothing stopping him. If he’d been willing to sacrifice his identity, he would have been there when his father needed him the most, and Gabriel would still be alive

Adrien wouldn’t feel that way if he were told the truth about Gabriel being Monarch. Or at least he’d be able to say logically that his father wasn’t a victim, but the cause of his own demise. He’d never be able to confront Gabriel, but at least he’d be able to have his own emotions and opinions of him rather than being told repeatedly that his abuser is a hero and having no way to argue. Adrien deserves the truth, and until he learns it, Gabriel died doing what he does best; lying to and manipulating his son in order to excuse or cover up his own horrific actions

And then the icing on the cake is that he also never learns that he’s a sentimonster. Marinette knows, and she gave him back his freedom in the final scene by sliding the rings onto his finger and outright telling him that his choices are his own. But Adrien never found out the truth about his own existence. Adrien never discovered why he struggles to stand his ground, why he found it physically impossible to go against Gabriel’s orders, and in the event of an emergency he doesn’t even know that his life is tied to the rings; Felix discovered his life was tied to his father’s ring when it got damaged and it seemed to hurt Felix in the process. If Adrien loses the rings, anyone could control him. If Adrien lets a friend have a look and they unintentionally discover they can control Adrien with the rings, he’s screwed. If Adrien accidentally breaks the rings, he could get seriously hurt or even cease to exist altogether. And what if an akuma enters the ring? Ladybug would have to break it to purify the akuma. Thank god she now knows not to purify the feather that would also appear, but would her Miraculous Ladybugs be capable of returning him to life?

Adrien is left in the dark about so many things that he has right and reason to know and it not only does him dirty, but it actively harms him and causes him to suffer more than Gabriel did

Gabriel’s ‘Comeuppance’

Except that’s a given, considering Gabriel didn’t end up suffering. Like I said before, Gabriel had time to process and accept his inevitable death. He’d already made his peace, gotten his affairs in order, ensured that Adrien was in a safe location and under watch from Tomoe after trying to create some final positive memories between father and son. The whole entire season was Gabriel preparing for this. The man was not only ready, but willing to die, and the first time he truly expected not to die regardless was mere moments before he won

So to have Gabriel willingly, happily, dying for Emile, after he already been dying for Emile’s sake this entire season? It doesn’t really feel like much of a sacrifice at all. And considering how it was willing, voluntary and prepared for over the course of an entire season, it doesn’t feel like comeuppance, either. If anything, all he did was put an end to his own pain. He gave himself mercy, not justice. The only difference is that he died right then and there rather than in a few hours. He did himself a favour, and that’s supposed to be our catharsis?

Ain’t Got No Satisfaction

Gabriel’s death wasn’t a real sacrifice. Gabriel didn’t really face any major comeuppance. Adrien wasn’t involved in the final fight. Adrien never got to confront Gabriel for his abuse and never got closure. Adrien and Gabriel never got to learn each others’ identities and deal with the consequences of those reveals. Adrien never learned he’s a sentimonster. Adrien never learned the truth about his father’s death and was lead to believe that his abuser was a hero that deserves to be praised by the whole city - a man Adrien worried he would never be able to live up to by the end. The heroes lost. The villain won, and is considered the true hero of Paris. The Butterfly Miraculous was never recovered. It’s not even clear whether or not Gabriel succeeded in reviving Emile or if Amelie is there with Nathalie and Felix

Thank god for the fact that the show isn’t over, because this is not a satisfying conclusion to an eight-year-long story. There’s little to no pay-off for all the plot lines that have been set into motion. There are no satisfactory conclusions to series-long arcs. The villain won, with their greatest wish coming to fruition. Only one person knows the truth, and now she’s living in a universe that forces her to remain silent on the fact that the world is worshipping a false idol, their hero was the villain they were fighting against all along. Marinette has been dealing with trauma about her love ending the world for several seasons now, and it happened once again

But hey, at least we got one of those without a retcon this time, right? Right?

Honourable Mentions

Kagami throwing her shoe at the TV was brilliant honestly

The Perfect Alliance plan was great, but I just wanna know how they did a mass hypnosis through it. Did they use Gift, since all the Miraculous powers were poured into the plan regardless? That’s the option that makes sense to me, especially since they showed it working on Adrien exceptionally quickly on a biological level. It looks like simple ASMR or very basic simple stuff yet the characters were all talking weird about it like it was genuinely hypnotising them, to the point where Mylene even announced that they were all hypnotised. But I can overlook this considering there is a genuine logical answer to it in the form of Gift, which is already primed to be used

Interesting how the transformation into the Miraculizers (was that what they were called?) happened with the same transformation sequence that akumas get, yet the Butterfly Miraculous was the only one Monarch had that wasn’t shared with the public

Okay I get that she wasn’t in the right headspace to to do hero work especially with her nightmare specifically involving her failing the heroes but we were still robbed of Black Cat!Alya

Lol why did Alya keep calling Mari on her regular ass phone girl you know she’ll be busy XD

We were robbed of an opportunity for the hero duo to call themselves the perfect alliance as a counter to the fake perfectionism Gabriel and Tomoe strive for from their kids. I know the fake hologram versions of Ladybug and Chat Noir kinda did this but it would still be good to have it. But y’know we can’t have Ladybug and Chat Noir fight Monarch apparently

Man Chat really only got like one opportunity to play about with his new unlimited Cataclysms

Lol Argos at the end posing with all the other heroes like wtf are those lot thinking is happening? Last they knew this guy stole all the Miraculous, handed them over to ShadowMoth and snapped them all out of existence, now he’s suddenly with them? Even Chat Noir should be confused af lol how much PR did Ryuko have to do to get everyone on his side?

Honestly the best outcome of this ending is that at least the fandom can go fucking wild with fics and one-shots to patch the holes in this barbed-wire fence of an end cover

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Imagine if Gabe and Adrien never went to New York, for whatever reason. Then, in NY, marinette becomes ladybug to meet the american heroes for reasons, and gabe finds out she's in NY, and decides to try get the ring from CN while LBs not there to help. Anything could happen from there but I just thought itd be kinda funny for Marinette to come back, and paris is leveled from cataclysms/akuma

Well I dont think that would happen.

But this did give me an idea.

(What if Adrien did stay in Paris in the NY Special?)

(Spoilers below)

-Despite Marinette’s very convincing speech on Friendship. Gabriel decided it might not be smart to bring his son to the place he plans on causing mayhem in.

- So Adrien has no temptation to force him to leave Paris. Though he is kind of bummed about it, especially because Ladybug is leaving paris as well.

-Adrien decides maybe this is a good thing. This will help him move past his feelings for Ladybug. And while he has no plans on spending time with Lila. He does have Kagami in Paris to hang out with.

-Meanwhile, Marinette decides that maybe it was for the best that Adrien is in Paris while she is in the US. It will give her some space, and time to really help her move on. She will have fun with her friends and totally move on.

-Gabriel makes his move to America, and with some little tricks. Gabriel is able to leave without Adrien noticing a difference.

-Marinette however does find herself feeling down that Adrien couldnt come. But Tikki assures her that things will be fine.

-”Adrien’s in Paris. Chat noir is in Paris taking care of things. You dont need to worry.

-Cue Attack from Techno pirate. And the United heroes saving the day

-Marinette is totally impressed by the heroes and Tikki tells her that this will be a nice little getaway for her.

-Marinette arrives in NYC and Alya and the girls help her out by making sure she has fun. Aeon finds something interesting about her, but is unsure what. Jess doesnt care. She is bored.

-Marinette sneaking to the party bumps into Jess and Aeon. Aeon asks Marinette if something is bothering her. Aeon using her scanners and picking up that this girl is hiding a lot of stress.

-Marinette tries to dismiss it, but Jess now is curious and the two girls wear Marinette down. She confesses that she wanted her friend to come along but she failed to convince his father. Aeon and Jess immediately conclude the girl is into this ‘Friend’. Jess tells her that she should be clear with this friend about how she feels.

-But tells her that she should also enjoy her freedom, this is america afterall.

-So Marinette has fun with her two new friends. Nino and Alya end up with the flying Hotdog and Marinette plays wingwoman for them. Happy for her bff.

___________________________________________________________________

-Meanwhile, Adrien heard from Nino about their Epic save by the United Heroes. He is relieved they are safe, but wishes he could see them.

-His time at home had been standard stuff, His schedule was just as busy. Kagami and him did some fencing, Kagami kicked his butt.

-”I wish I could have gone with you guys, Marinette tried really hard to get me to go. She is such a good friend.”

-”Yep, a Real good friend.” Nino comments.

-”Youre also a good friend.” Adrien immediately tries to tell him.

-”Dude its chill. I think the friendship you and Mari have is different then ours.”

-”What does that mean?”

-”Dont think about it too much my dude”

-Adrien finds himself thinking about it a lot.

___________________________________________________________________

-Back in America, the class is at the museum and things are pretty casual. No romance Plot. But Alya did forget to get a picture of Lafayette’s saber and Alya asks Marinette to get it.

-Technolizer (or whatever the DOC off tech ripoff akuma name was attacks. And Marinette goes Ladybug to fight him. Sparrow and Uncanny Valley hear the action and rush to find THE Ladybug here in America. So the three of them end up fighting.

-Meanwhile, Adrien sees robustus attacking in Paris and transforms. He is confused since Markov is in the states with Max. But he has a city to protect. He will try to contain the damage and then call Ladybug when clean up is necessary.

-Ladybug tells Sparrow and Uncanny valley they may need some help. But Sparrow tells her that the three of them can handle it.

-When a beep on the kitty goes off. Its Chat noir.

-”I think we got a sentimonster in Paris.” Chat noir explains.

- Ladybug asks him to hold it off for a bit while she gets there.

-Ladybug informs them that she has to go back to Paris for a bit and she will be back to help deal with this. But that they really should call the other heroes for help.

-Ladybug gets the Horse miraculous, uses Unify and heads to Paris.

-Ladybug sees Chat noir keeping damage to a minimum. He is happy to see her.

-”Ive been able to slow him down, but there is no akumatized Item. I think we got a sentimonster.

-Ladybug calls Lucky charm to get ready to take Robustus down. But... he poofs.

-Ladybug sees the damage and while confused by everything, remembers she needs to hurry and get back to America.

-”Okay I need to hurry back! Chat noir, try to figure out what the deal with that attack was.”

-Chat noir asks if Ladybug is okay, and if she needs his help.

-”Im fine kitty, just stay vigilant here. Its nothing I cant handle. Im counting on you.”

-She casts miraculous cure and goes to quickly fuel up and head back to America.

-Sparrow and Uncanny valley didnt listen and ended up having more damage done to the museum and Technalizer escaped.

-Ladybug gets back to see the damage. She didnt call a lucky charm for this villain and the damage was already done.

-Majestia and Knightowl were very disappointed in their sidekicks. Ladybug tries to defend them but is told to stay out of it. Ladybug knows this isnt her city and complies sadly. Apologizing.

-Hawkmoth got the eagle miraculous and gives it Techalizer making him Miraculizer or whatever his dumb name was.

-Chat noir investigates but finds no reason behind the attack. He thinks that maybe this was some sort of decoy. Like with what happened with Loveater.

-A international news report catches Adrien/chat noir’s attention. Heroes going nuts. Adrien decides that Paris will be fine for a bit. Hawkmoth is in the US! And Ladybug needs his help!

-Meanwhile back in the states hero riot happens cause Hawkmoth. Ladybug realizes that this was a miraculous and this was Hawkmoth’s Plan!

-”It was a diversion!” Sparrow and Uncanny Valley have to fight along side Ladybug. And the three of them need a plan.

-Ladybug calls her lucky charm. It was the key chain.

-She had no idea how to use it, But with the help of the other two utilize doorman’s powers and manage to get into the Eiffel tower.

- The villain demands Ladybug and Chat noir give him the miraculous. And Ladybug, Uncanny Valley and Sparrow attack Miraculizer. But there is a problem. He is way too tough! They could use someone to help even the odds

-And flies in Astro cat with the snag of the miraculous!

-”Chat noir!” Ladybug was happy to see him.

-Cue a quick hug, and Chat noir telling her its his turn to return the favor. Plus he wanted to see america.

-They beat the akuma and the day is saved.

-Jess still got the eagle miraculous cause plot.

-Eagle becomes her own hero.

-Since There was no identity drama, and they never got insight into Ladybug and Chat noir’s dynamic. Aeon/Uncanny valley never assumed that their identities were a secret from each other. 

-Uncanny valley not effected by the identity hiding effect of the miraculous knows that Marinette and Ladybug are the same person  and Comments. “Is this the ‘Friend’ you were talking about Marinette?” Completely unaware that Adrien and Marinette did not know eachother’s identities.

-”Marinette?”

[zambie-trashart]

I Don’t Own an IPhone: Wanna Trade? 4

Masterlist

Previous: “Lila must have been akumatized again,” Nino said getting up and dragging Jon out of the store.“Let’s fix this,” Adrien said to Alya and Chloe who rolled their eyes.“Don’t think we didn’t see the way you were staring Jon up and down, it wasn’t cute,” Alya said as Trixx came out of her jacket.“Seriously Adriekins, do you even know what you want?” Chloe asked putting her comb in her hair.“Women,” Adrien sighed. “Plagg claws out!”

AHHHHHHH this was supposed to come out yesterday but I forgot to que it!

Chapter 4: Turtles and Dinner Dates

Pollinator and Hoodwink glared at Chat as they jumped through the city chasing after the akumatized Lila.

Jon watched in bewilderment  as Nino’s hand tightened on his wrist dragging him through back alleyways in the opposite direction. “Nino, where are we going? Alya, Chloe, and Adrien are still back at the cafe,” Jon asked pulling back against Nino’s grip.

“It’s better to split up during attacks trust me,” Nino said trying to come up with an excuse praying that Jon didn’t see through it.

Alya looked at the earrings in her hands sighing, she would either have to put them in now or come back later and deal with the butterfly and akumatized object in order to use the lucky charm. She could always use a mirage. 

“I am Myth Weaver and I make lies become reality! Adrien Agreste will love me,” Weaver said waving a wand in the air and Chat’s eyes widened before extending his staff out to her stopping the motion.

“Don’t let her cast any more spells,” Chat said and the girls rolled their eyes.

“Yeah, we’ll try,” Hoodwink said putting in the earrings not unifying yet but casting a perfectly planned mirage.

Marinette looked at Jon’s phone sighing as a text from Jason showed up.

From Jason Todd What hotel are you staying at? B wants to have you over for dinner He didn’t think that I could make friends How rude is that?

Marinette rolled her eyes before typing back.

To Jason Todd Who’s B? And I’m staying at Wayne Suites Hotel.

Marinette tucked the phone back into her purse before looking up to see Audrey walking toward her arms open before pulling her into a hug. “Marinette darling, let me show you the ropes of business ownership. I know that if there is one designer out there who can surpass Gabriel and his dreadful white collection it’s you. Don’t tell anyone but I’m getting a bit too old for the drama and I must go back and visit my daughter at some point. This is our Jersey studio make yourself at home,” Audrey said before running over to someone and yelling at them.

“I’ll do my best,” Marinette mumbled out before reaching for the phone in her purse.

From Jason Todd B is complicated but he’s Damian’s dad and Damian is Jon’s boyfriend, remember? One would think you’d want to meet the guy you texted right? Get to know him a bit

Marinette snorted, it was like Jason was trying to set them up or something, she exited the app before thinking. This was Jon’s boyfriend and Jon was nice, she wouldn’t want him to… no wait that wouldn’t be so bad. If Jon texted Adrien as her and she texted Damian as him then maybe they could fix any problems in their relationships, or at least her problems. She reopened the app typing aggressively.

To Jason Todd Be there at five.

From Jason Todd You’re not going to regret this

“Oh yes I am,” Marinette said to herself as Audrey came back and started guiding her through the building.

Jon’s eyes widened as a huge rock came flying at him. Sure Jon was used to danger, in fact he chased is for fun but he really wasn’t expecting an akuma on his first day in Paris. He actually wasn’t expecting any of this to be honest.

“No!” Nino yelled running back toward him. “Wayzz, shell on!” Nino called out being enveloped in green and taking a shell off his back before jumping in front of Jon blocking the rock which shattered to millions of pieces on impact. Nino breathed out a sigh of relief keeled over before turning back to Jon who’s eyes were bulging out of his face. 

“Oh my Rao, what are you Sailor Moon or some shit?” Jon asked gesturing to Nino freaking out.

“You can’t tell anyone, promise me you won’t tell anyone,” Nino said grabbing Jon’s shoulders shaking him viciously.

“Yeah, as long as you answer a couple of questions for me,” Jon said and Nino nodded. “Who are you? When and where are you meeting Superman?” Jon asked and Nino looked confused.

“They call me Protector and we’re meeting Superman in a day at midnight on the Eiffel Tower. How did you know we were meeting with Superman?” Protector asked.

“I’m a reporter’s son and I lived in Metropolis, it’s how I was raised, to follow Superman wherever he goes and get every bit of information out of the situation. I just wanted to get some pictures for my parents,” Jon said waving Protector’s question off easily. Suddenly ladybugs were flying around everywhere and they fixed the rock.

“Ladybug fixed everything, we should go meet back up with the others,” Nino said back in his regular clothes. Something seemed off, the others were so sure that Nino could keep him safe, Adrien’s name in Marinette’s phone is chaton, there’s four friends who all look somewhat similar to the heroes. Jon smirked to himself, he found the heroes of Paris and now he would be able to see Paris’ situation from a whole new angle. 

Marinette stood outside her hotel in a black dress with pink flowers crawling along the hem, hair pulled into a half ponytail, pink high heels, and a white purse with a trick pocket phone tucked in carefully along with the mouse miraculous. A fancy car pulled up in front of her and the window was lowered and Jason called out to her.

Marinette was terrified, she had figured out earlier that she would be dining with the batfamily from photos on Jon’s phone and Damian being Robin and Jon being Superboy. She also knew that she was in a car with a murderer but if anything bad happened she always had her training and Mullo up her sleeve, she would be able to shock him enough to get out of any bad situation. Jason did seem harmless enough though and she had read up on the news and it seemed that Red Hood had turned over a new leaf.

“We’re here,” Jason said rousing her from her thoughts as he opened his door walking around the car to open hers helping her out. She looked up and her eyes widened at the house, no manor, in front of her.

“You live here?” Marinette asked. The place was bigger than Gabriel’s.

“Yup, now come on we have dinner to get to,” Jason said smiling walking up the front steps and Marinette quickly followed.

Damian was not thrilled about the family dinner that was called this morning. Jason seemed insistent that the whole family meet his new friend. He just wanted the whole thing to be over so he could talk to Jon, hopefully his beloved would be up by then. He had to fight the Joker the previous night and couldn’t text him back but he didn’t want Jon to be worried or anything, he hoped the younger wasn’t mad at him.

Damian adjusted his shirt thinking, Jason had made a friend, a friend who he thought was worth the family dinner treatment. She couldn’t be his girlfriend, Jason never said he broke up with Roy so who was this girl? Damian shook his head before walking down the stairs and saw Jason and his friend, she was too good for Jason and Jason was in no way worth her time.

Marinette stared at the boy before her, this was Damian? She felt guilt crawl through her chest. He’s in a relationship, he’s in a relationship, he’s in a… holy shit he’s hotter in person. Marinette couldn’t help but admire him for a moment before remembering he was a hot asshole.

Coughing roused the three from their thoughts as Alfred stood in the doorway smiling. “Dinner is almost ready,” Alfred said and Jason nodded in the direction of the dining room letting Marinette go first. She walked into the room and eight pairs of eyes settled on her.

“Welcome to Wayne Manor,” Jason said and Marinette gulped grasping her purse, just one dinner.

Taglist (open): @jumpingjoy82 @liquid-luck-00 @megaafangirl @zorua-adorable @dreamykitty25 @pinkittwice @ghostdragonfang @ramos123 @redbullgivescaswings @jayjayspixiepop @sekhmet5 @blur-of-colours @roseisred  @nightlychaotic @ladybug-182 @novaloptr @prettylittlebutterflie @hammalammadamdam @niknak-3​ @certainmuffinbagelcalzone @chaoticstarworld @niknak-3​ @nightlychaotic​ @lunalamant​ @lovleyautumnsunflower 

[jasmine-the-fox]

Loose the model but win a hero

Here we go! I continue this fic once again! I hope this one will go well like the other ones!

Previous First

Chapter 6: Fashion talk

Mari had an amazing day with Jon, she couldn’t have asked for any better! She got back to her hotel room at a later time and after a nice shower she spoke to her friends and then her parents who told her about Caline... But none of them told her about Louis Lane calling them.

Even so Mari was simply sketching at the moment, but she was sketching out clothes for Jon in the end, feeling flustered she decided to take a break and go to her balcony for some fresh air, she had too much going on in her head with all of the miraculous she had right now and the Lila Rossi problem and then there was Hawkmoth and his partner Mayura... She needed to take a breather.

“It’s alright Marinette! I’m sure you’ll figure something out soon enough!” Tikki claimed as she decided to stay in the room while Mari went outside, she sighed as she tried to figure out what she should take care of first... If she did Lila first then the girl will use the anger around her to grab the akuma for herself, but she took care of Hawkmoth first, sure he will reveal Lila worked for him of her own free will but she might lie and say he forced her to work for him.

Either way Lila would escape justice in some way...

So with that in mind... Mari had nothing else to do but call her team to work on the plan, feeling too much was going on, Marinette thought about transforming into Ladybug and trying to find Superman and ask him for help in Paris “You seem to be down... Did something happen?” she looked up to find Superboy there floating by her balcony... Close enough really.

“Just... Thinking about how to defeat a lying bully back at my school” she explained as he pointed to the bars making her nod so he could sit on the edge, they were like this in silence for a moment before he spoke “Tell me about this bully” he said making her nod and talk about everything she knew on Lila Rossi from the moment she arrived to her school, Superboy aka Jon was trying to hide the fact that he knew all of this already... He could let Mari know who he really is right now, for now he had to wait for them to get closer.

“So this Lila girl has been lying about you just because you know she’s lying?” he asked making her nod “Everything that comes from her mouth is a lie... My class never looks into it to make sure it’s the truth or not, Alya is the worse, she claims Lila is her perfect source of info... I’m certain that if Lila ever claimed that a famous person raped her... Alya would post it without even blinking or thinking of the consequences” she explained as Superboy’s eyes widen, the thought of anyone he knew being accused of a rape they never committed would be horrible... That girl has got to go no matter what.

“Superboy! Is everything alright here?” Superman asks as he gently flies to them, Mari couldn’t stop her eye from twitching from just looking at his outfit... At least Superboy looked decent and not like Superman wearing underwear over his suit... She had to do something about that suit before she goes back to Paris “Why must you wear a pair of underwear over your suit!?” she hissed as the two looked at her, Superman looked shocked while Superboy looked to be trying to hold in his laughter.

Out of all the foreign girls Jon could have encountered... He had to meet someone who was against his suit? He sighed as he spoke “No one has complained about it so far” he claimed but she was quick to speak “Why would anyone in Metropolis insult your suit when your saving there lives!?” she snapped back as Clark was shocked at her words... Were people scared of what he might do if they criticized his outfit? He never thought of that before “I mean... It doesn’t mean anything?” he asked back as Mari rolled her eyes before opening her mouth.

And insulted everything about his and Superboy’s suit of choice...

Jon was no longer able to hold in his laughter as he watched his father look ready to dig himself a hole, but in a way... He too had tried to make his father change something about there suits, the color or even the design would have been fine but Clark had refused and kept wearing it... And Jon was getting close to giving up and simply making the change himself “If you don’t work on making a new design... I will” she hissed as Jon watched as his dad nodded... And then flew away to more then likely the Fortress of Solitude.

“I have never seen my dad flee someone like that in my life” he explained... And then he realized his mistake “Your his son?” she asked as he slowly nodded in shame “It must be nice... Having such a powerful dad. I wonder how you both hide the fact your superheroes” she said as he looked at her in surprise “Most of the time if people were to claim there father and son they would ask a bunch of questions... But Marinette wasn’t doing such a thing, instead she was focused on other things.

“You really are something” he said with a smile as she looked at him and smiled in return “I’m going to sketch out what your suits should look like, once i’m done you can come see them with your dad and then work together on making them” she explained making him nod as he then allowed her to get some sleep as he flew back home “Mom! Dad is being a baby because Marinette talked back about our suits!” he claimed as Clark cursed while Louis walked over “What happened Clark. And don’t say nothing!” she demanded as Clark did as told and told her the whole conversation between him and Mari.

Jonathan really liked Marinette.

Meanwhile in Paris...

Lila couldn’t believe it! Maribrat somehow told her mother about her lies and now the woman was demanding answers from her “Did you really go to school like you said!? What did you do all those times you claimed the school was closed!? Did anything you said to me was the truth!? What really happened at school!?” she demanded more and more answers before Lila could even answer anything... She really was screwed if she didn’t turn the tables, with that she began to pull out the crocodile tears “I’m really sorry mom! I never meant for this to happen! But this girl in my class Marinette threatened me to accept the claims of me lying!” she explained as she hoped her mother would fall for her lies once more.

“Oh? You mean Marinette Dupain-Cheng? The girl your teacher Caline Bustier called me to speak about that your bullied and accused of bullying you!?” she yelled as Lila cursed in her head for going so forward into this without even knowing for certain if Mari did tell her mother all of this, even so there was nothing she could do, her mother had succeeded on scheduling for Lila to speak with everyone she lied about to apologize and then planned to for Lila to have her classmates to meet with them at the park so she could reveal the truth “And you better not leave a single lie out young lady! Your teacher told me every lie you spoke to them and I made sure to write them all down!” her mother said as Lila nodded as she texted her class to meet her with her mom at the park.

She hated this, the fact she was caught like this now of all times in her lies... She really wished that it was Marinette who revealed her now, that Caline Bustier was going to regret it now... While her mom left there home to make a quick call at work, Lila dialed the school board and explained it was urgent for her to report about her teacher Caline Bustier “The woman is cruel! My classmate Marinette Dupain-Cheng, is forced to do our teachers job for her! Schedule her class plan, work on our class trips! And if she tries to stop anything miss Bustier will schooled her for not being the better person! What’s worse is that she encourages bad behavior and bullying! And if the victims try to defend themselves she will schooled them!” she explained, the person who received her call wrote everything down and promised that they would investigate and then hung up while Lila grinned.

She might be falling now... But Caline would soon follow her...

In Hawaii...

Adrien looked over the conversation he just had through messages with Mari, he believed also that it was time to do something about there three enemies right now... But the question is... In what order? Either way Lila would try to get away with everything so they would need to be quick about it... So what should they do? Plagg flew over to read the conversation a bit before speaking “You guys are in a tight spot” he said making Adrien sigh, the gang had decided to go to the girls hotel room to relax a bit together while Adrien spoke to Mari, but now they had to talk “I think we need to have a team meeting in Metropolis guys” he said making them all turn to him “Why?” Chloe asked as Adrien tossed her his phone.

“Hawkmoth, Mayura and Lila are obviously working together... But no matter who we fight first... Lila will somehow escape justice she needs to face from her actions in Paris” he explained as Chloe handed the phone to Luka as Kagami read over his shoulder like Sabrina did with Chloe, Sabrina knew that for now she wouldn’t be able to come along, she didn’t have a match yet with a miraculous and for now they would need to leave her behind for the meeting and tell her everything when they get back “Alright, i’ll contact Mari to figure when for her to unify the horse and ladybug miraculous too have you go to Metropolis for the meeting... While also letting her know of our room number” Sabrina explained as they nodded to her words.

Even without a miraculous... Sabrina was a great help.

Next

@spicybelladonna @cornholio4

[spiritualdirections]

Mercy in a time of national anger

Last Sunday, the Church celebrated the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit made the Apostle’s speech in their rough, Galilean accents, understandable to those from countries all over the region where Aramaic was not spoken. Ever since proud engineers tried to build the Tower of Babel, the languages of the Earth had been scrambled. The miracle of Pentecost is that through the Holy Spirit, the sin and punishment of Babel were set aside, and people began to understand each other. In fact, the Acts of the Apostles describes the early Church as having a miraculous level of unity, in which everyone lived in harmony, “with one heart and one mind (lit. “soul”).” This sort of unity is available to us, if through the Holy Spirit we set aside the sin that divides us.

But a few chapters later, that harmony gives way to jealousy and misunderstanding. The new Christian community in Jerusalem, which includes baptized converts from both Judaism and paganism, starts to divide among pagan-Jewish lines. At first, the problem is one of (alleged) discrimination—one group thought that they weren’t getting treated fairly. Later the divisions become theorized and theological—the Jewish converts wanted to impose Jewish customs and the Mosaic Law upon the non-Jewish converts. St. Paul spends much of his ministry fighting off this theological error. The Letter to the Romans explains his major arguments: Paganism is bad and you converts from paganism should rejoice at having been rescued from that. Judaism, on the other hand, includes God’s revealed truth. But the Jewish converts to Christianity shouldn’t boast about their superior heritage, since the Old Covenant was incomplete; all its religious truth didn’t actually rescue a single person from sin—for that we all need baptism into Jesus’ New Covenant. The pagan converts were apparently bragging that they’d now supplanted the Jews in God’s kingdom, and so St. Paul shut down that argument as well—we have nothing of our own to boast about, but only Jesus, and the fact that we get to suffer and participate in His Passion and sacrifice on the Cross.

Interpersonal animosity is a consequence of Original Sin. The original harmony of man and woman in the Garden of Eden, in which Adam rejoices that finally God has found him a suitable partner in Eve, gives way after the Fall to Adam blaming God for giving him “the woman”. Cain murders his brother Abel, his anger leaving him open to temptation by the devil. And so on, down to our day.

This week, we’ve been focused on how people of different races don’t love each other. Last fall, in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein revelations and the #MeToo movement, we focused on how men don’t treat women with respect. Before that, we were concerned about how we treated immigrants. And so on. It seems that we get outraged by whatever part of fallen humanity the media causes us to focus on right now, until the next news cycle refocuses us on the sin over there. We can always find genuine, real, interpersonal animosity if we look for it, since we can always find the fallenness of humanity if we look for it.

We can hate people who are different from us. And, as the story of Cain and Abel teaches us, we can hate people who are a lot like us. A few years ago, we were focused on how Irish Christians, racially indistinguishable from each other, were killing each other. We were shocked about how Rwandan Catholics, all of whom are black, conducted a genocide against each other in the 1990s. This Wednesday, we celebrated the feast of Charles Lwanga and the Ugandan martyrs, all members of the Gandan people, who were killed by their own king for refusing his homosexual advances. Husbands and wives, who profess their lifelong love on the day of their weddings, come to hate each other in the wake of the divorce. Mothers kill their own children by the millions through abortion, from some misguided sense of self-preservation (a species of self-love). We can grow to hate or mistrust anyone who isn’t us. That’s the lesson of original sin.

Charity, the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit, is the love that overcomes our anger at injustice and the sinful divisions that follow. Without charity, without grace, our concerns shrink: from a love of all mankind, to a love of our tribe (literal or metaphorical), to a love only of those like us, to a love of this family member but not that one, to a love of ourselves above all, even above Christ. Charity is the love that tears down the walls that divide us. Charity is the readiness to give our lives for those we love, in imitation of Christ’s sacrifice.

As the sad examples of Northern Ireland and Rwanda make clear, Catholics are not free of the temptation to selfishness and even to murder. The Church has had and will always have sinners within it. And yet, in the Creed we say, “we believe in one holy… Church.” This is a dogma. It doesn’t mean that the Church includes only those who are without sin, but rather that the Church is holy insofar as we allow the Holy Trinity to work within us. Through the Holy Spirit, we are baptized into Christ Jesus and his covenant with the Father. When we genuinely act and pray in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are holy. Charity is a participation in the interior life of the Trinity.

In my book Mercy, I talk about how a great part of the difference between Christian thinking and secular thinking about politics comes down to mercy, to how we respond to injustices. The mistake of what I call “justice-only politics” is to have well-developed ideas about how things ought to be (aka justice), but no concept of mercy, no real thought about what to do when circumstances and/or people get in the way of their idea of justice.

I think the national reaction to the killing of George Floyd reveals something like this. Some people think that the right thing to do is to enact reforms of the police; others think that the right thing to do is to kill the police and bomb the precinct. Some people think that nonviolent protests are an appropriate response; others think that injustice justifies robbing the local Target. Some people are satisfied when the bad cops are arrested, prosecuted, and convicted; others want to overthrow the government. Some are just so upset that they don’t know what to do. All agree that something deeply wrong happened to George Floyd, but our consensus stops there, at the level of justice.

Mercy is the virtue that comes into play when things go wrong. Once we decide that something is unjust, we still have to decide what is the right thing to do. Do we “cancel” the unjust persons, breaking solidarity with them and removing them from society? Do we send them to the guillotine? Or do we try to make things better? In an interesting Trinitarian statement, Jesus commands his disciples to “be merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). So justice-only politics, or any politics without solidarity for the offender and the sinner, is not a Christian option.

Jesus also commands us to be meek and gentle, as he was, rather than angry. St. Thomas Aquinas, in his commentary on the Beatitudes, says that to be meek while at the same time not being a wimp (my paraphrase) is a gift of grace. For most people, to keep their anger at injustice under the control of their reason (so that it doesn’t grow to rage) is a virtue. But for the Christian, we have the grace and therefore the responsibility to go way beyond mere self-control. We are commanded to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, hunger and thirst for justice, and not to get angry enough even to call someone names—above all, to love everyone whom Jesus loves, for the reason that Jesus loves them. Jesus, when faced with the greatest injustice in the history of the universe, his own crucifixion, didn’t get angry; to the contrary, he was meek “as a lamb led to the slaughter.” He was strong—he was omnipotent—and could have resisted the injustice with power and caused his enemies to relent and submit. But he revealed to us that to be meek and loving in the face of great wrongs is to be divine.

Racism is a sin, and Jesus conquers sin. It’s a sad fact that most of our thinking about race takes place in a left-wing, Marxist, atheistic context, in which a desire for power and an awareness of otherness crowd out Christian reflections on meekness and solidarity. It didn’t used to be this way. The Civil Rights movement was once led by Christians, most notably the Protestant Pastor Martin Luther King. It appealed to the Gospel to unify people of all races. As in so much of our life, so to with regard to race, it’s a struggle to think in Christian terms. When people only talk about justice, it’s a struggle to cultivate mercy. It’s a struggle to forgive those who have trespassed against us, or people like us. It’s easy to forget what we said above, that mercy is commanded of us.

For this reason, I highly recommend that we Catholics foster a desire for mercy, pray for mercy, and perform works of mercy as much as we can. June is the month devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a symbol of his suffering for us out of his merciful love—the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is Friday, June 19, a time when many people consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart. Many people find that the Chaplet to Divine Mercy helps realign their hearts with Jesus’, so that they can regard people with his merciful eyes and love them with his merciful heart. Both devotions call attention to Jesus’ Passion, the steep price that he paid to conquer sin and division. We’ll find that we, too, have to pay a steep price to conquer the sin in our own hearts—that we cannot be casual or lazy about our own spiritual lives if we want to help the world to be better.

There are no spiritual shortcuts. To conquer racism requires a conversion to holiness, and a willingness to spread grace and charity to hardened hearts. Only through baptism into Christ’s Ascension can any fallen human being participate in the inner charity of the Trinity. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to transform our lives.

[vampexx]

Thoughts on Luka and in general

Well, I have been working on an analysis for Luka’s character for a little while now and every time I worked on it, I just didn’t like the way it was turning out. As in, it wasn’t flowing well, it was super messy and patchy, and it was so long that I was losing track of all of the points I was planning on making....yes, that long. SO, I thought I would not only spare myself the headache, but that I would spare you guys too lol.  So I just threw this together hoping it would sit better with me and luckily, it does :) .

I was going to make this post some grand master-analysis on my theories, thoughts and opinions of everything from characters, theories, different ships, etc. and yikes, that idea was scratched pretty quickly because someone who rambles as much as I do, that’s the worst decision ever lol I do not have the time nor patience for any of that mess lol.

Besides, most of what was in this post before I scrapped it has all been said before so I didn’t want to be repetitive.

So instead, I have decided to include mainly my new thoughts on Luka since coming to a different conclusion and stance on his character. The rest will be included, yes, but in the form of links to my other theories and opinions that I was planning including originally to some degree for anyone who may care what my opinion is.

With all that being said, let’s talk about my new found opinion of Luka.

I have always agreed with those that said that Luka’s character was flat, 2-dimensional and too “perfect” to be true. Now here’s the thing, while I was writing the scrapped analysis that was essentially going to reiterate those same things, I came to the conclusion that Luka is, in fact, not perfect. 

For instance:

In the episode, “Silencer,” Marinette and Luka go to XY and his manager to defend Kitty Section when discovering their style and song were wrongfully stolen/ copied. Of course, Luka is a very reserved and subdued character so his flaws are more easily unnoticed at first glance. To spot his flaws, you have to look less at what he is doing (writing melodies, being compassionate, etc. you know, things that make him “perfect.”) and look more at what he is not doing. Back to my point in, “Silencer.” So, Marinette, as she normally does, is quick to defend and argue over the wrongful use of Kitty Section’s style and song. She ends up in a pretty heated argument with XY’s manager. Where is Luka, you ask? While he is in indeed angry like Marinette, but he is standing in the background not really helping nor backing her up in said argument when he arguably should have. Now, this is in fact a flaw. It is due to his non-confrontational and reserved nature that he does not get involved in the argument, neither to back up / defend Marinette, but also not to defend Kitty Section, his own band. He just let’s Marinette do all the arguing and talking while he’s just there watching, getting angrier and angrier, eventually being akumatized. 

Granted, Luka has shown to be not as good with words as say maybe someone like Marinette. What I mean by that is, he usually seems to speak via music so maybe he struggles with verbal expression although that would contradict his poetic words in, “Silencer,” and compassionate words in, “Felix.” Not that expression primarily through music is a bad thing, it is easily endearing to his character however it can also be viewed as another “flaw,” being that he is not a communicator unlike Marinette, who sometimes over communicates lol. It’s pretty clear that Luka does have some nice choice of words to say, however when he does talk, he doesn’t say a whole lot as in, it’s fairly brief. Otherwise, he keeps to himself it seems. Now Luka’s lack of communication can be foreseen as kryptonite to the Lukanette ship, just as I have said above, Marinette is a communicator and not Luka. For someone like Marinette, that could easily be a “turn off” for her, who is a very (sometimes overly) outwardly expressive person, although sometimes not by choice lol.

I may not have found many flaws for Luka, however I feel it’s enough to combat the statement of his character being too “perfect.” I agree, he seems that way at first. Due to his “laid back,” and “go with the flow,” type nature, it’s easy to potentially misinterpret him as a “too good to be true,” type of character. To reiterate, his flaws can be more easily found in what he is not doing, rather than what he is doing. For comparison, a good example of someone having flaws based off of what they do/ their actions (as opposed to inaction) would be Kagami, basing this statement off of her vastly differing personality from Luka. 

To sum up regarding Luka’s flaws, the ones that I have found so far are inaction, seemingly distant and disinterested (mentioned more in depth in link #2) and lack of general communication. Why he possesses those flaws are open to anyone’s interpretation. I for one, am not digging that deep.

Thus being why I have changed my opinion of Luka from being neither good nor bad, just generally indifferent to his character, to actually now being a Luka stan. Now, I’m not necessarily his biggest fan and I am certainly not a fan of Lukanette, but I’m ok with his character and  I do stan Lukagami because they are both Adrien and Marinette’s mirrors, therefore they are also arguably yin and yang like Adrien and Marinette.

Now this post is titled, “Thoughts on Luka and in general.” Meaning, there are some other things I wanted to include that don’t necessarily involve Luka’s character. 

1st being - As of the season 3 finale, I would like to state that no one is officially dating. Nothing official has happened. No one even kissed. 90% of Lukanette’s actions were essentially friendly, nothing too romantic. Marinette does not appear to really reciprocate Luka’s feelings (as backed by, “Luka as seen by Marinette,” video where she never mentions returning his feelings). Also, Adrigami didn’t officially happen either. Although a kiss was attempted, it did in fact fail on Adrien’s end. Some kids sat next to each other, hung out  and ate ice cream which normally doesn’t suggest that people are dating. If anything at all romantic happened in the very end of the finale, it’s that the two pairs are in the, “testing the waters,” phase at best. No more no less, in my opinion.

Remember: The theme of the finale was, “You don’t always get what you want.” That doesn’t just apply to Adrien, Marinette and especially the fandom. It also applies to Kagami, Luka, Chloe, Hawkmoth, Mayra and hell, even Andre lol.

Let’s be honest, we’re not even guaranteed to pick up where we left off in the season 3 finale when season 4 starts.

2nd thing - Now that the peacock miraculous is fixed, I will be shocked if we don’t see the butterfly and peacock miraculous unified, and whatever fresh hell that will bring lol.

Third thing - The kiss in season 2 finale was not just friendly unless when a friend kisses you on the cheek, you look at them like this...

To which I must ask....are they just a friend lmao? (Lol sorry, don't @ me, trying to make a MLB pun....)

4th  thing - I really don’t know which love square ship will be primary in season 4. Like, Adrien still loves Ladybug, obviously, and always will but seems to be taking a break from pursuing her romantically. It is also made crystal clear via a forgotten confession in, “Chat Blanc,” and through increasingly prominent heart eyes from Adrien that his, “more than friends,” feelings for Marinette are growing so much and so fast that they’re quickly reaching the point for him to no longer be able to ignore it. So Adrien, “changing his target,” will not shift to Kagami, rather it will shift to Marinette. I mean, there was no mention of Adrigami vs. Adrinette having a decided victor in season 4 like Lukanette vs. Adrinette, which leads me to think they will not only end first, but also end pretty early on in the season if the ship takes off officially at all, which is still unknown. Next, we have Marinette who is in a more complicated position. She believes that she cannot love Chat due to thinking, for what she knows to be some outrageous reason that she refuses to look into, “will end the world.” She is also trying to move on from Adrien, who obviously she will also never get over. So for Marinette it’s trickier because she feels like she can’t have either, while Adrien seems to get a simple shift in “targets.” 

So how this love square business is going to play out in season 4 is kind of up in the air for me. Marichat is a possible route, where Adrien is pining for Marinette as Chat and Marinette is pining for Chat (while believing they can’t be together) however that makes it seem less likely. It could also be Adrinette, which I feel might be the most sensible route, because Adrien pining for Marinette after finally coming to terms with his feelings for her, and Marinette I guess then deciding to give them a shot romantically assuming Adrien confesses, otherwise if she is still trying to move on without knowing Adriens feelings for her, then I don’t know how well that would work. Ladrien I guess could work, like an unrequited love type deal although I don’t know how likely that is to happen given both main character’s head spaces. Ladynoir I expect, at least for most of the season, to be mostly platonic temporarily. Ladynoir, in my opinion, will probably be the last corner of the love square to be resolved, which I think will take place in the movie after season 4. So, yeah.....more than likely to be played out either via Marichat or Adrinette in my opinion.

That’s all I have to talk about for now....I have just been kind of sitting on those thoughts for a while. Now I will include the links as mentioned earlier:

Link 1) https://vampexx.tumblr.com/post/190128222840/just-my-opinion

Link 2) https://vampexx.tumblr.com/post/190054338050/uh-ohi-used-my-brain-againget-ready-lol

Link 3) https://vampexx.tumblr.com/post/189482028990/just-a-thought-there-are-spoilers-in-case

Link 4) https://vampexx.tumblr.com/post/189856458390/alright-sorry-but-im-gonna-be-salty-real

Sorry this was lengthy, but believe me, this is way better than what this post would have been originally lol. I’m still so tired after all that though...oh well. Worth it I guess.

Have a miraculous day and thank you for your patience! 

[ryuukia]

[Translation] Tsukihana Kagura - Stage Play Plot

Ryota and I have been talking about it both here and on twitter, so you already know we were working (or more like cracking our brains) on this.

Let me say this first, the entire team (Ryota and Chrome) agreed this is more Chinese than Japanese and you can’t change our minds ヽ(＿　＿ヽ) // the kanji, the horror. Kudos to those two for suffering with me (aka assisting me and helping out with the proofreading).

If you like my work, consider donating or commissioning me, I use all the money I receive to get (rare?) items like this and translate them. The link is at the bottom of the post~ 

Please don’t repost/reuse/retranslate my work. Likes and reblogs are appreciated.

Paying no mind to the sounds of this fleeting world, the King of Flowers threads the dance of Tsukihana Kagura.

A [song]. Yet not a [song].

A [dance]. Yet not a [dance].

Even without the honors from the so-called [King of Flowers], a celebration where the [flowers] dance, the “Tsukihana Festival”, shall begin!

―—— Not here, somewhere apart from this world.

There lie twelve island countries, floating above the ocean in a flower-like shape. Once every few years, in each of these countries, those who live in grace and are referred to as [flowers], shall compete not with their swords, but with their beauty.

World View

■ The World

This world consists of 13 countries floating above the ocean.

Lying in the centre of the world is a large island called “Mushiki”. Islands of about the same size surround Mushiki radially, as if they were a flower blooming over a large desert. The appearance likewise makes the residents refer to themselves and these countries as “flowers”.

■ The History of the World

① Prehistoric Era

There was a time when the 13 islands were joined by land, forming one continent.

In the centre of the continent rested a massive volcano named Kataku, which converged the entire volcanic activity from the area and actively erupted on countless occasions.

As a result, the ground around the base of the volcano is thought to have expanded, eventually becoming large enough to be called a continent.

This vast land expanded radially along the mountain range until it divided together with some neighbouring areas and developed their own individual ecosystems.

Somewhere in the northern part of the continent, humanity ended up planting its roots.

Following their migration towards the south, their area of activity broadened and it seemed soon the entire continent became inhabited.

② Antiquity (First Half)

❶ [The First Blooming]  - Before and After (approximately 600 000~10 000 years ago)

The large-scale seismic shift which occurred due to a tectonic plate rift and also caused the radial fragmentation of the continent, then provoked a massive eruption from the Kataku Volcano. This was later named ‘The First Blooming’. 

The tremendous force of the eruption gave birth to an enormous caldera in the centre of the continent (later becoming the inland sea). Subsequently, the plate rifts and the caldera led to the separation of the continent into different areas.

Scattered in various regions and unable to come in contact with each other, mankind gave up on further exchanges from that point on and all areas followed their own evolution and development.

❷ Kurobana Period (approximately 10 000~4000 years ago)

The period of time when the Kataku Volcano and its volcanic chain became dormant.

As the climate and the environment regained their stability, humanity once again started to practice exchanges between regions. When mankind proceeded to share the knowledge and techniques they developed in separation, their cultural level instantly improved.

The construction of large cities brought along a drastic increase in population numbers, and soon countries were born in every zone. 

‘Shikkoku’ and ‘Geppaku’, the oldest existing countries, are said to have been born around this time.

❸ Shirohana Period (approximately 4000~1300 years ago)

Around this time, almost the entire continent had a cultural living secured. Moreover, disciplines like academics and arts were flourishing.

The exchanges between the nations became more and more popular, but at the same time, attracted conflicts and clashes due to differences in values and ideologies.

❹ Akahana Period (approximately 1300~1000 years ago)

Starting with the small conflicts between fellow small countries and continuing with the head-on collisions of the major nations, this time period brought on the first large-scale war in history.

In a world where a diverse set of values and ideologies exist, fires that have started cannot be quenched easily. Furthermore, advancements in technology and the invention of gunpowder and explosives supported those ideologies. Under the principles of each island’s doctrine, they were to send out one great candidate to determine who will be the Great Ruler of all nations in order to unify the continent. The remaining islands would stand together with the champion of the world.

As war or disputes would always occur somewhere, the public order domain had suffered the most throughout the world.

A lot of blood was shed even outside the battlefield.

From that point on, the entire continent was thrown into chaos for around 300 years, a period known as the dark age.

❺ [The Second Blooming] - Before and After (approximately 1000 years ago)

The chaos installed by the dark age came forcefully to an end as another seismic shift hit the continent and the Kataku Volcano released another violent eruption (known as ‘The Second Blooming’). 

The valley created around the volcano by the rift expanded even further and was flooded by seawater, separating the 13 islands completely.

③ Antiquity (Second Half)

❶ [The Second Blooming] - Before and After (approximately 1000 years ago)

The unexpected calamity that divided the 13 islands completely should have eliminated all life, including humanity.

However, even though humans resorted to quite a substantial number of sacrifices, they tried to make it through the crisis with their own power, too.

Countries that foresaw the large-scale eruption tried to minimize casualties and joined hands.

Anticipating what could happen in the future, people made physical walls using special techniques, analysed scientific data, geology, etc…...

The countries that opted to join forces and brought pieces of their own wisdom managed to survive The Second Blooming, becoming the twelve countries that exist in the present.

❷ Tsukihana Period (approximately 1000 years ago~present)

Because of the previous calamities, much knowledge and craft skills were lost. Humanity’s history continued. However, compared to the Second Blooming, the loss of civilization development was significantly less. (It has been said that roughly 1000 years of cultural advancement had been undone.)

In relation to this, engineering and techniques that were often used by the military were strictly governed by the National Institution in order to avoid a repeat of the Akahana Period’s tragedy. It seemed as though they purposely abdicated themselves as well. ※ Studies call these techniques and knowledge that were lost and could not be reproduced again as Pre-Blooming Techniques or “Budding Techniques”.

The 12 nations wrote the following joint declaration:

① War must be abandoned once and for all in order to ensure permanent peace. ② The path to mutual understanding, mutual support, and mutual growth shall be paved through dialogue and not through military power.

“The bloodshed is over. We narrow our eyes as we look to the sun, and when the moon glimmers above our heads in this very sky, we shall bloom into dignified flowers.” (The final paragraph of the joint declaration)

Four years have passed since this declaration was signed.

The first Tsukihana Festival is about to start.

■ The Current Circumstances of the World

■ A World of Harmony ■

In the next 100 years following The Second Blooming, the twelve nations’ miraculous efforts to protect the joint declaration managed to keep any dispute or confrontation on a low scale.

All the countries dropped their weapons in favour of a peaceful world.

■ The Council of the Twelve Nations ■

① As border crossing was still a major problem, the nations have decided to resolve rising conflicts by means of thorough discussions and assembled the highest ranking decision-making body known as the “The Council of the Twelve Nations”. 

② The Council of the Twelve Nations is hosted by an appointed country for only four years, and it cannot be elected successively. If a country doesn’t become a host for more than 20 years, the following year it is automatically appointed.

③ The hosting nation’s leader will be dispatched to the official residence for hosts located in Mushiki. In order to avoid any emergencies, the commander of the Allied Forces is also dispatched together with them.

④ The nations have adopted a “rule by majority” policy and should there be a case where the votes are tied 6 to 6, the Council will adapt the plan suggested by the host country.

■ Deciding the Host Country for the Tsukihana Festival ■

The Chairman of the Twelve Nations Council is one who holds tremendous political power. In order to avoid military conflict, the Chairman is elected through the Tsukihana Festival wherein the nations battle in the fine arts of kagura.

This originates from the legend about a person who danced the Kagura and calmed the volcano during the Second Blooming.

Although the idea of fighting with “beauty” instead of “strength” has a strong political connotation for the common people, it also offers a strong sense of recreation for them. It is evidence of how peaceful the world actually is.

Each Country’s Circumstances

Shikkoku

● Among the twelve nations, this country has the longest history and the strongest military force.

● Even though the Allied Forces of the Twelve Nations Council is under their direct control, they take a defensive stance.

● Warriors originating from Shikkoku are known for journeying throughout the world and doing good deeds, which earned them a high respect.

● National Trait ●

Daring and resolute / Imperturbable

Momo

● Once focusing on the development of dyeing and making fabrics for clothes, this country has as many family crafting skills as it has craftsmen.

● They also have a wholesale district dedicated solely to preparing garments or props for the Kagura. During the time of the Tsukihana Festival, it’s crowded with people.

● Their specialty is ‘tsukimi udon’

● Local Colour ●

Repayment for indebtedness / Gentle and sincere

Akane

● A country prominent not only for their large number of mining sites, but also for their industrial skills.

● They invented gunpowder and explosives. This knowledge is kept under strict control, and thus only state agencies are allowed to learn about it.

● One of their specialties is the Akane Festival, a festival where they dance for 3 days and 3 nights continuously.

● Local Colour ●

Sticking to their original intentions / Intense passion

Kikyo

● This mysterious yet profound country is well versed in foreseeing the future and reading the stars.

● They only choose to settle when they find the place they want to reside in for life. They are people who hold a peculiar sense of values. Many of its residents choose to travel.

● Their territory is surrounded by fog.

● One of their special products is the ‘Shingon Rice Cake’.

● Local Colour ●

Wayfaring people who go on pilgrimages / Belief in destiny

Asahanada

● This country has a deep connection to water. They are a religious nation and believe the dragon god to be a symbol of nature. Many of them are gentle spirits.

● They are among the leaders in the rice production field, which is considered a staple food in this world.

● Their specialty is ‘kudukiri’. You don’t even feel it going down your throat.

● Local Colour ●

Clean and serene like still water / Unrelenting

Tsuyukusa

● This nation is well versed in astronomy and geology. They possess an enormous national library filled with data they collected in the past.

● They have many hot springs, which attract a large number of people.

● Their specialty is ‘Napoli-san’, tomato-flavored noodles.

�� National Trait ●

Mature consideration / Healthy food for healthy bodies

Geppaku

● Out of all twelve nations, this mysterious country has a history as long as Shikkoku’s.

● Their strange skills can cause miracles and seem to be passed down within each household.

● Each of them has a peculiar view on life and religion, being required to find and serve their own god.

● National Trait ●

Enjoying life to the fullest / Peaceful life without worry

Kikuchinashi

● This country has the biggest theatre in the world and a national school dedicated to the study of plays.

● Because many of them also work as carpenters and architects, they can easily make a living by working for the Tsukihana Festival’s stage.

● Their specialty is a ‘musical play’ that brings together dancing, singing, and drama.

● National Trait ●

Unyielding diligence in studies / Undying patience

Seiran

● An academic city that has many schools specializing in various fields. People gather here to seek knowledge.

● Their national school has sub-branches in all 12 countries. It is also said that Seiran is the best place where one could learn about the twelve nations.

● They are experts in making a large variety of ‘bentos’.

● Local Colour ●

There’s a blue sky right behind the clouds / Sincerity that could move heaven

Botan 

● This country has an entire district dedicated to entertainment, managing to gather all types of people. Any type of amusement can be provided.

● The real attractions for sight-seeing are after dark. There are vigilante corps around to keep people safe.

● Their specialty is the ‘adzuki bean mochi’.

● Local Colour ●

Unfettered and flexible / Trusting to chance

Asagi

● This country is a major agricultural power, strangely possessing the most fertile soils in all the world.

● It is said that the current kagura was inspired by the dance they perform here to celebrate the harvest.

● Local Colour ●

Everything is bound to change・Being thankful for every single uttered word

Mokuran

● A mysterious country covered by desert. They possess a certain “skill” that is a trade secret.

● The capital city is the world’s largest gambling house and is a source of income that enriches the national treasury.

● Their specialties are “suna tamago” which are made by boiling eggs in hot sand.

● Local Colour ●

Consulting the past to learn about the future / Independent spirits who stand on their own

Tsukihana Festival

■ About the Tsukihana Festival ① The Significance Behind the Tsukihana Festival 

As mentioned before, despite the political implications behind the selection of the country that will host the Tsukihana Festival, it is generally a major recreational event that surpasses even the national framework. (Reference: ‘Deciding the Host Country for the Tsukihana Festival’ from ‘World View’, page 8)

After the hosting country is decided, the chairman (king) of the twelve nations (flowers) is named ‘King of Flowers’.

② Summary

A brief summary of the Tsukihana Festival is presented below.

■ It is held on a special site located in the centre of the world, on the Mushiki Island every four years.

■ In addition to the "Hana Awase" that determines the greatest "King of Flowers", there will also be a collection of (see below): theater programs, amusements, performances, and exhibits from each nation. People from all across the continent come, items are gathered, and money is collected.

A part of the profit earned from the festival goes to the Council of the Twelve Nations.

■ The festival and the Hana Awase gets broadcast in real-time using combined technologies from Mokuran and Geppaku.

■ Hana Awase 

The representatives for each country will dance a kagura performance that incorporates their nation’s techniques, music, and expressions. They compete against each other with these concepts of “beauty.”

The dancers who participate as the representatives for their nations (flowers), are hence called “Flower Dancers”. This was born under the concept of: “Kagura dancers are not people but are flowers when they dance.” As such, the dancers refer to themselves with a “flower name” for the performance.

Because the nation’s dignity is at stake, it has since been a great honor for someone to be chosen as a “Flower Dancer.”

❶ The Process of Selecting Flower Dancers

Since each nation is essentially able to decide freely, the standards and methods for choosing vary from one nation to the other.  

In general, public announcements are made and the participants are decided through domestic screening. In addition, there are nations where a certain family carries the tradition generationally, nations who determine dancers via fortune-telling, nations that choose from the vocational schools that train dancers, and so on.

❷ Requirements for Becoming a Flower Dancer

Some nations have a very detailed list of requirements, but the most common ones for the Twelve Nations are:

More than three generations of their family must have been a part of the country.

They should be physically and mentally healthy.

Once the Dancer has become the King of Flowers, it is impossible for them to be re-elected.

There are very simple rules that should be followed regardless of age or gender.

Essentially, as long as they haven’t become the King of Flowers yet, they can be participants for as many times as they want (though, they may be restricted accordingly due to their own nation’s policies).

For this reason, it is not rare to hear of people who have dedicated most of their life to the Hana Awase. 

❸ Rules Regarding the Dances for the Hana Awase

Failure to comply with the rules will result in disqualification.

The time allotted is 10 minutes.

Props and other such tools can be brought and used, but things larger than the dancer or things that can move sporadically (like machines, skills, any form of magic) are not allowed.

Do not look down on, attack, or criticize another dancer or another participating nation.

Costumes, choreography, music, and other such expressions that are sexual, violent, or abusive in nature, as well as any conduct that violates public order and morals are strictly not allowed. 

Each nation should have a total of 10 dancers participating.

Tsukihana Kagura

■ About Tsukihana Kagura ❶  The dances performed at the Tsukihana Festival, especially for Hana Awase, are referred to as “Tsukihana Kagura.”

❷ Although the dance is called ‘Kagura’, it is not necessarily dedicated to a “god.” Since this is a world where a wide variety of ideologies and religious views co-exist, there are various perceptions of “god”. In addition, there are also those who are non-believers. Therefore, the “Tsukihana Kagura” is not dedicated to a specific “god” but rather, a dance for personal beliefs. It is dedicated to praying for each nation’s permanent peace and well-being.

❸ In a world where “beauty” is used instead of mere “strength,” performing arts like dancing are highly regarded as a symbol of “beauty.” Courtship, farewell, joy, sorrow. There are various songs and dances for all of these instances.

Paying no mind to the sounds of this fleeting world, the King of Flowers threads the dance of Tsukihana Kagura.

T/N: (prepare yourself, this will be a ride)

Kataku (花托) means 'torus' or 'receptacle' and it's (botany) the thickened part of a stem from which the flower organs grow. Look up some flower diagrams and you'll it looks a bit like the volcano sketch.

Literally translated, tsukimi udon (月見うどん) means 'moon viewing udon'

Kudukiri (葛きり) is 'kudzu starch noodles'

Hana Awase (花あわせ) can be translated 'Flower(s) Gathering'

Kagura (神楽) is a bit more tricky. 神 means 'god' and 楽 means 'music/comfort', so basically something like 'god entertainment'. You could think of it as ancient Shinto music and dancing I suppose.

//I thought they'd be more

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[graglithans-library]

Welcome to Paris Fur-ance Ch 9: Cold Nights, Information, and Problems

Shirou has a meeting with Ladybug and Chat Noir.

As night fell, the cold Parisian air whipped past Shirou’s coat. Standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower, he looked over Paris as he waited. If anything, he had yet another thing to thank the Tsurugi family for. Were it not for their daughter, Michiru likely would have done everything in her power to follow him.

However, the time she and Nazuna spent telling stories to Kagami wore the three of them out, and she was in bed when he left.

Not that he double-checked that for any reason. Michiru was a legal adult, not a child.

Speaking of children, Shirou now stood patiently, waiting for the other half of this meeting to arrive. For the one who requested it, Ladybug was certainly taking her time. Though if what he suspected was right, that was to be expected. Last he checked, this was a school night.

A whirring sound zipped up from behind him. When he turned, Shirou was greeted with the sight of the red and black spotted heroine landing behind him on the platform, shortly followed by a leather-clad boy who glared at him. “Let’s make this quick.” Shirou turned around fully and crossed his arms. He had a newspaper in one hand that fluttered gently in the breeze.

Ladybug and Chat shared a glance before the heroine sighed. “Yes, let’s. Firstly, am I correct to assume you do not work for Hawkmoth?”

Shirou nodded as he glanced down at the newspaper. “I did a little research before coming here. This Hawkmoth character is the kind of person I would put behind bars.”

Letting out a breath of relief, Ladybug relaxed a bit and looked over to Chat. “Now, can you please stop glaring at him?”

“He affronted my honor!” Chat steamed as he kept his hands on his staff.

“If you mean your backside when I disarmed you, then yes.” Shirou deadpanned as he hid a small smirk, getting an undignified ‘hey!’ from the hero.

“Enough, both of you.” Ladybug frowned as she looked between the two. “We’re here to ask questions, not start fights,” Cat growled at Wolf for a few moments more, before Chat huffed and turned around. Rolling her eyes, Ladybug turned back to Shirou and shook her head. “Should you start, or shall I continue?”

Shirou gave her a nod. “By all means.”

“Right.” Ladybug took a breath and crossed her arms. “What exactly happened that brought you here? The other two who came with you only appear to speak Japanese.”

Shirou let out a breath through his nose. “I was on a case regarding several break-ins at Anima City’s medical facility, Sylvasta Pharmaceuticals. The perpetrator was able to enter and leave without any form of detection, so the mayor asked for my help.” His usual stoic face shifted to a slight grimace. “However, when I managed to catch him in the act, he somehow was able to teleport himself to safety. I chased him further until I caught him holding an unconscious Kagemori and Hitwatashi.” After that, he looked over the city and let the grimace fade. “He opened some form of portal as I tackled him.”

“And that is how you all arrived in Paris?” Ladybug put a hand to her chin in thought. As Shirou nodded, she hummed for a moment. “Could you describe the man who was breaking in?”

“He was wearing a black bodysuit, with glowing lines of something traveling across his limbs.” Like a Nirvasyl Syndrome patient, Shirou added mentally as he adjusted his coat a bit. The wind was starting to pick up a bit.

“That sounds like the first Akuma from yesterday,” Chat muttered as he frowned. Shirou raised an eyebrow at him. “We were trying to catch him when he teleported away, and we lost him. It wasn’t long after that you showed up.”

“That would explain where he kept going.” Ladybug agreed before continuing to rub her chin. That doesn’t explain everything, though. If anything, I have more questions. “Do you have any ideas as to what he wanted?”

Shirou nodded. “Over the time he spent in the facility, he stole several pieces of medical equipment, as well as destroying many of the various drugs stored there.” He stepped forward, and both heroes made note of how he was intimidatingly taller than both of them. Sure, they’d faced bigger, but that consisted of a giant ice cream man, baby, and gorilla. All of which were akumatized villains. Shirou, to their surprise, deftly put those villains to shame. There was a sense of foreboding that radiated off of the man, even without the wolf features. It certainly did not help that he was over a head taller than even Chat like he was simply that powerful and experienced.

Which of course, he was, but they didn’t know that.

“Now, it’s my turn for questions.” His tone hadn’t changed, but he could smell the slight spark of fear from the two heroes. “Why are two children defending Paris from a terrorist and not any law enforcement?”

Ladybug tried to speak up, but for a moment, her voice failed her. It was almost like she could feel Tikki shivering in terror. “I-I...”

Shirou looked down at the two for a moment more, before sighing and shaking his head a bit. “If you’re uncomfortable answering, that only raises my suspicions. You weren’t given much choice in your roles, were you?”

And like that, the sheer pressure this man radiated was gone. On some level, Ladybug was disturbed, but on another, she was curious. “That is...true. We were chosen for this role by the previous guardian.”

Narrowing his eyes a bit, Shirou leaned against the railing behind him. “Why not someone else? What was it about you two that made child soldiers necessary?”

“That would be our affinity to our respective Miraculous.” Ladybug gestured to her earrings. “The both of us were the best candidates for wielding the Ladybug and Black Cat,” she sighed before looking down solemnly. “Master Fu would have chosen someone older if he had the time, but Hawkmoth struck earlier than he’d hoped.”

Shirou let out a steady breath before gesturing to the newspaper on the ground between them. “From what I could read, Hawkmoth, whoever he is, sends out a purple butterfly you’ve taken to calling ‘Akumas.’ I take it this is the effect of a Miraculous as well?”

Ladybug gave a small nod. “That’s correct. Hawkmoth is currently in possession of the Butterfly and Peacock miraculous. The former is what he uses to create Akumas. The latter allows his accomplice, Mayura, to create Amoks to aid the Akuma in their goal.”

“And what goal would that be?” Shirou raised an eyebrow.

Hesitating for a moment, Ladybug glanced back at Chat, who just sighed. “Well, you’ve told him this much.”

Turning back to Shirou, Ladybug frowned. “If someone wields both the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous at the same time, they can unify their powers to access a spell that grants one wish. However, for every wish, there is a cost of equal value.”

Shirou took a moment to think over everything he’d been told. “An equivalent exchange?”

“That’s right.” Ladybug held up her hands and looked between them. “For everything granted, something is taken. A gem for a gem. A life for a life. However, the value is equal to the caster’s desires as well. So if you wished for a loved one to be resurrected-”

“Someone else you love would die.” Shirou finished as he grimaced. “This only makes my earlier point stronger. With this kind of threat, why would the responsibility be forced on children?”

Chat saw Ladybug’s hand twitch slightly and stepped up to stand next to her. “The miraculous bond to younger users easily and only grows stronger as we get older. It’s thanks to that that we’ve been able to keep up with Hawkmoth, even though he’s an adult.”

“That doesn’t excuse turning the both of you into child soldiers,” Shirou growled under his breath before a faint fluttering caught his ears.

Looking up, he saw a purple butterfly fluttering towards the three of them, headed for himself.

Ladybug’s yo-yo shot out and caught the Akuma before it could get much farther. “That was the third one this week.”

Chat looked on as Ladybug opened the yo-yo to let out the purified butterfly. His eyes locking onto the glistening white wings as they fluttered away into the night. “He’s getting stronger.”

Shirou looked at both of them, and for a moment, he could see how exhausted they were. “How long have you been doing this?”

The two heroes were silent. Ladybug looked down at her yo-yo, bangs falling over her eyes. “...three years.”

Shirou’s anger spiked at the words. Children shouldn’t have to fight to keep their loved ones safe; they were the ones who were supposed to be protected! It tore into deep-seated instincts that he often denied he had. Instincts that a certain tanuki incessantly reminded him existed, and that Barbara pointed out when he chose his cover job for when he wasn’t acting as an advisor or investigator.

Ladybug turned to him suddenly and had a look of determination in her eyes. “This is one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. Over those three years, we haven’t been able to catch Hawkmoth on our own, even with the temporary heroes we had at the time assisting us.”

Chat raised an eyebrow and pulled Ladybug to the side. “Wait... do you think he can find him? What would even give you that idea?”

Nodding to her partner, Ladybug smiled as she whispered in his ear. “He almost found me out earlier today, and that was just from one conversation.” Chat’s eyes flew wide open at that, and he turned to look at her in shock. “I was trying to cover some information, and he spotted the flaw almost immediately.”

Chat’s jaw couldn’t drop any lower as he shot a quick look at Shirou before focusing on Ladybug. “But... but a Miraculous is supposed to alter people’s perception of us magically. How?”

Shaking her head, she pointed over her shoulder to where Shirou was standing and shrugged. “He said something about scents and how they didn’t add up with what I said. I think that the ‘wolfman’ power of his lets him track like a wolf does. He could tell I wasn’t honest about how many people I was with because he could smell them on me.”

Frowning, Chat sighed and rubbed his chin. “I see. That kind of ability would make hiding our identities harder.”

Shirou waited patiently for the two to leave their huddle, and when they did, he raised an eyebrow. “So, what was it you wanted to ask?” Of course, he already had an idea of what it was. They weren’t as quiet as they think they were, but it was clear this Chat kid didn’t like him all that much.

Ladybug had her hands clasped at her waist as she took a step towards Shirou. “We were wondering if you would aid us in finding Hawkmoth.”

Looking down, Shirou let out a breath. This is like something out of a comic book, so it’s likely they don’t even know each other’s identities, which may cause some tension here. “I’ll see what I can do.” He looked up at the two and frowned. “There’s a good chance I’ll find out your identities as well during my investigation. Are you okay with that?”

Silent, Ladybug turned to look at her partner, conflict dancing in her eyes, before she sighed and turned back to Shirou, looking resigned. “We were discussing that a moment ago, and... it’s a risk I’m willing to take.” When her partner remained silent, she turned to look at him. “Chat?”

Chat glared at Shirou for a moment, before turning his head away with a huff. “If it brings down Hawkmoth, then fine.” He readied his staff and didn’t even spare a glance over his shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow, My Lady.”

As Chat leaped away, Ladybug held out a hand and took a step towards him. “Chat, wait!” But she wasn’t fast enough, and Chat Noir was gone from the tower, leaving Ladybug and Shirou alone. “Chat.”

Shirou raised an eyebrow at the departing figure of Chat as it vanished over the roofs. “Should I be concerned?”

Ladybug sighed and shook her head. “A lot of what I just told you was supposed to be kept secret from anyone not involved. This meeting alone, asking for your help, broke more rules than you can imagine." Hugging her arms, Ladybug looked down. "As for Chat, it’s not my place to say. Even with us keeping our conversations vague for the sake of identities, I can tell he’s not comfortable talking about it. More importantly, I promised him that once we found Hawkmoth, he would be the first person I’d reveal myself to.” Her fist clenched as she looked over the rooftops that Chat had left atop. “I just wish I could be more honest with him. He’s been one of my best friends since this started.”

“I see.” Shirou hummed as he put a hand on his chin. A teenager with trust issues. That’s something else I might look into later. Last time I dealt with a kid like that, there was abuse involved. Shaking his head from the thought, Shirou looked back to Ladybug. “Can you show me Hawkmoth’s last known location? It would be a good place to start.”

Nodding, Ladybug readied her yo-yo and gestured to another building in the distance. “This way.”

________________________________________________________________

It was midnight as a young girl slept in her room. The pale moonlight spilled forth over her bed, bathing it in blue that danced across various patterns in her blanket. It was evident that her sleep was rife with discomfort; perhaps a nightmare? Her skin paled under the moon’s eye, and she tossed and turned, trying to escape some unseen force.

However, she was not alone. A man in a black bodysuit, holding a syringe stood over her slumbering form. Glowing red eyes stared down at her with a calculating gaze. With a deft hand, he brushed away the hair that covered her neck, just as she turned again. A small dart was left in her skin, and her body stilled.

[aryareyes]

Wow. It’s as if you read my mind. I’ve came to the same conclusion after analyzing even though there’re some differences in our thoughts. But I totally agree with you about the main part. This is gonna be a disaster when Chat gets to know about this and of course, that’ll be a breaking moment for Ladynoir. We can see that, as much as Marinette is suffering with her responsibilities alone (no more now, since Alya’s here), Chat is suffering too. First of all, his mother’s disappearance, then his relationship with his father, all his jobs and how Gabriel pushes Adrien to him limit by his modeling and stuff. And of course being Chat Noir is his only way of tasting freedom and as he’s said many times, being with Ladybug is the real happy moments of his busy life. He trustes her with his life and does everything for her, always putting her before him. Plus, he’s already feeling left out by LB with the miraculous secrets and her spending less time with him since she’s the guardian now—and it’s totally understandable. Anyway, the point is, once he gets to know that Rena knows LB’s identity or should I say, has known (since it’ll be revealed in the future), he’ll be furious and hurt by it. No doubts there. He’d feel betrayed by the person he loved and trusted the most in his life and that pain will be unbearable for him. Moreover, I think he may find out about his father being Hawkmoth or his mom in a coffin, but of course, almost at the same time, he’ll gets to know about Rena knowing LB’s identity and it’s gonna blow up. Why? Because, once Adrien finds out his father had been terrorizing Paris for the last year, or his mom is enclosed in a coffin, he’ll need more than anything, his lady, his best friend and partner to be by his side even if he’d already feel insecure about being a “criminal’s” son. Though, as Chat he’d decide to fight his father loyally with LB because that’s the hero he is but that doesn’t mean, he’s not human. He’d first need to confide to LB, and I don’t think Ladybug will just say ok to that as she doesn’t want to know his identity (because of her own responsibilities and insecurities) so in consequence, Chat would be left to suffer alone and if my guess is correct, he’ll eventually find out LB’s identity matter with Rena. So yeah, it’s gonna be a real disaster.

Spoiler alert : According to Jeremy zag, Chat will die in this season and as much as my heart can’t bear that (because yeah, I love him so much and my baby don’t deserve it), it’s unavoidable. If Hawkmoth somehow succeed to unify Chat and Bug’s miraculous and make the wish of getting Emily back, Adrien will be the prize. There’s no denying here. Or, even if he doesn’t succeed, at the end, the disaster will lead to his death. To be honest, I feel like, his death is needed in this season so that Ladybug will understand his situation and realize her deep feelings for him since she’d buried them deep in her soul and locked them for good. Plus, she’s to realize that she took him for granted (even if she didn’t mean to). So, a world without Chat Noir will break Marinette. And without any doubts, Ladybug will do anything to bring him back and when he comes back then the real Ladynoir will begin ( Adrinette too, since there’ll be no more secrets and their relationship will be much stronger than it was). Sadly, we’d have to wait for the season 5 for that.

So that’s it for my analysis, let’s see what happens even though I’m so eager and excited for this!

Me rambling about the whole secret-identity situation after “Gang of secrets”

Honestly, I really didn’t need or WANTED Adrien/ Chat Noir to be the first one Marinette reveals her identity to. The reveal situation between them is simply not as easy as people make it out to be.

This has nothing to do with trust and frankly it never has been. Now even LESS than ever before!

Ladybug and Chat Noir are not like the other miraculous holder, Hawkmoth only needs THEIR miraculous hence why the secrecy for their identities is much more important than the other ones will ever be. It is simply true that if they knew each others identity it would increase the risk of both of their real identities falling into Hawkmoths hands and this doesn’t only go for Chat Noir it very much applies to Ladybug as well. This is why Marinette shouldn’t know Chats identity just because of her guardian status, because while it is true that the guardian of the Miracle box SHOULD know of the Cats identity it was NEVER planned for Marinette to become the guardian under these circumstances. Yes, Fu wanted to train her but that doesn’t mean at all that he planned on giving her this responsibility while Hawkmoth is still around and identities still need to be kept secret. The current situation only came to be because Fu was unbelievably desperate and basically had no other choice.

Meaning Marinette being the guardian doesn’t automatically mean the former risks and danger precautions suddenly vanish into thin air, she is STILL Ladybug. And Ladybug, as the anonymous person she is and NEEDS to be right now, should have NEVER become the guardian. But she had to. And now we are in the situation we are stuck in.

Because this STILL needs to be solved somehow, since, and correct me if I’m wrong, at this very moment there is NO HUMAN who knows Chat Noirs actual identity! Several people know of Ladybugs identity (including the Kwamis who indeed very much count) but not a single person is shearing Adriens secret with him. No one besides Plagg and Tikki but that’s a given and hardly improves his situation.

Good gracious he is UTTERLY alone!

THIS is the problem I want the show to acknowledge and solve, NOT “these two should have their first reveal with each other”. This ideal is completely missing the point of the shows situation.

This is why I’m not anywhere near angry at Alya getting to know Marinettes secret this episode. The secret identitiy rule was kept by necessity, not distrust and totally SHOULD be allowed to be bend. At this point it even NEEDS to be bend!

I will talk about Adriens side of this in my upcoming “Lies” post, so I will not do it here but the show itself makes it more than obvious why Marinette needs someone like Alya NOW. All of this simply became way too much for Marinette and Adrien to bare all alone, so yeah I’m beyond Happy that Marinette has Alya now! Marinette deserves this support and remember, this is how it SHOULD BE. The Hawkmoth war is the unnatural part of the situation and NOT the secret shearing!

But since I’m already at it, I will also talk about my concerns for the future, because once again, the current situation wasn’t MEANT to happen and therefore brings up several problems. Especially regarding Chat Noir.

Cause the thing is, Ladybug won’t be able to simply come clean to Chat as she should be able to. Under more normal circumstances Marinette could now tell her partner that she told someone her identity and explain the reasons why. Because it’s not like Marinette did it out of malice or as an tactile move. Marinette was incredibly lonely, desperate and almost would have not only lost her best friend but several others as well. Even if Adrien wouldn’t have been HAPPY about it (as he has every right to be) let’s not pretend like he is some kind of monster and wouldn’t understand why she ended up telling Rena Rouge, her best friend. He totally would and that’s not up for debate.

But the problem is that Marinette can NOT tell Chat that Rena Rouge only got to know her identity because she just so happened to be her best friend. Adrien and ALL OF PARIS know that ALYA is Rena Rouge! So what is Marinette supposed to do now? How is she supposed to justify telling Alya her secret if she has to leave out the true connection between them? Because as it is right NOW if Ladybug were to tell Chat that she trusted her identity to Rena, the known owner of the LADYBLOG, because “I can’t tell you but you HAVE to trust me that it was necessary!” Adrien would justifiedly think she did it as tactical decision (as Alya was also the first other Miraculous holder Ladybug recruted) and you CAN NOT tell me Adrien shouldn’t be allowed to be angry about THAT! Ladybug spend the last 3 seasons insisting on every secret identitiy being kept from getting unnecessarily sheared (especially THEIRS) when SHE was the one who ALWAYS got to know the identities so her insistence for the rule very much only kept HIM out. Marinette never had to accept that a secret is not hers to know, only Adrien had.

So when Ladybug now goes up to Chat Noir and says “Sooooo, I broke the secret identitiy rule I have already been bending in my favor the entire time. Remember the publicly known Ladyblog owner Alya Cesair who is also Rena Rouge as Hawkmoth and everyone knows? Yeah, I told her my identity and now I am able to not only emotionally rely on her, I can also spend time with her and ask for her help so I’m not so lonely in my responsibilities as Ladybug and Guardian anymore. No, you can not ask for an actual explanation for this and no, of course the strict secret keeping rules still apply to you. You still can not tell a single person AT ALL or know more identities than necessary, that’s way too risky you know that! So I need you to just get over it without holding it even a little bit against me because that’s just unfair. I promise the situation isn’t as against you as it looks like. Trust me!”

I’m sorry but this is simply the reality of the current situation and NO, without being able to give the proper explanation Marinette does NOT have every right to expect from Chat Noir to not be upset with her! She can own up to being a hypocrite and ask of Chat to please forgive her and not let it change their team work, since the reveal to Rena came totally unplanned, but that’s it. She can expect from her partner to still do his important job even if he is upset with her but not to swallow down his justified hurt feelings just because they are inconvenient for her and she doesn’t like it. Sorry but just like when Adrien wasn’t in the position to demand the knowledge of secret identities just because he didn’t like it, Marinette would now have to accept and life with whatever reaction Chat has to this.

And I would be very disappointed if Marinette were just to assume that Chat is gonna be okay with this, because from his point of view he really SHOULDN’T and there is no way Marinette isn’t aware of that.

So when you ask me, in my opinion Marinette is NOT going to come clean to Chat Noir any time soon because she knows he would be rightfully deeply upset with her and it could legitimately damage their friendship and his trust in her for good. But Marinette doesn’t want to lose Chat Noir to such an unfair circumstance so she will keep it a secret from him. Of course this secret will blow up later on and come with consequences not only because of the hurtful implications but also because not telling him takes the chance away from him to possibly open up to someone as well, since Adrien too DESPERATELY needs it. It also puts Adrien in the situation that HE is now the only one who has to sacrifice his social life without any support or chance of saving it, keeping on doing so because he doesn’t want to let Ladybug down because she “has to do so as well” when in reality she isnt in that situation anymore. She got herself out of this horrible situation but assumes (hopes) it will be bareble for him to remain in his even though she strictly insists on not knowing a thing about his personal life. And concidering what Chat Noirs civilian life actually IS LIKE, it will end in a full blown disaster.

No matter how you look at it, the situation is designed to come with serious consequences for Ladynoir. That is, if the show tackles the situation properly. But when I look at “Truth” and “Lies” im almost certain that this IS the route the show is going now.

So let’s wait and see what the future holds

[potterzachary]

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[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

The Misadventures of Prince Kim - chapter 33

Chloe redemption arc?? Heck yeah, Chloe redemption arc.

Also on AO3, as always

Late the next day both Aurore and Mireille were in a bad mood, somewhat having turned into rivals with each other, and as a result the weather outside was rather stormy. Kim had wanted to go for a run – no, he needed to go for a run! There was so much going on in his head that he had to sort out! But he wasn’t very keen on being struck by lightning, so instead he paced the corridors indoors, muttering to himself. He knew he probably should be doing homework. But he couldn’t do that right now.

Not when he felt so betrayed by what had just happened.

“What the hell what the hell what the hell???” he whispered as he strode down the corridor at top speed, ignoring the confused looks of people he passed by.

He still couldn’t believe it. After all this time, it was just hair dye…

There were plenty of things in the universe that couldn’t be explained by science. Things that Kim had never even thought to question. Like Master Fu’s mysterious oracle powers, being able to see into the future, other people having other weird powers like weather control or timeline-jumping, whatever weird effect Max had on Kim, the fact that water never seemed to boil while you were watching it.

And so Kim had always just assumed that Alix having pink hair was one of those unexplainable things. Perhaps some people were just born with pink hair. Maybe it was a weird shade of red, like how Marinette’s black hair sometimes seemed to look blue in certain lighting. He had always thought it was completely natural.

But no. It turned out to just be hair dye, of all things. Hair dye!

He still couldn’t let it go. All she had been doing was showing him and Max colour pictures of when she was little, after they asked to see if she had always been short for her age, and there it was. She had brown hair. Not pink, but brown.

To think that Kim had thought that maybe his friend was special in some way for having pink hair! Some kind of Chosen One, destined to go on awesome adventures! When in reality, she just dyed her hair pink because, in her own words, it “looks cooler like that”.

Well, at least that wasn’t a lie. Pink hair was pretty cool.

But still! She had brown hair! She had brown hair!

The pink hair was a lie!

Kim suddenly found himself facing the library doors. Huh, had he really walked here that fast? Maybe his mind subconsciously knew he needed to do homework and stop having an existential crisis over his best friend’s hair colour. Yeah, he was definitely overreacting and he knew it. His emotions had been all over the place since getting that letter from his grandmother.

Maybe he really should go in the library and get on with some work. Anyway, Max might be in there! Max was always in the library, doing nerdy research or whatever. It would be nice to see him again, even though they had already seen each other barely an hour ago. Max was just so comforting to be around, no matter what.

Kim walked into the library and had a quick look around, but the only other people in there were a few nobles who he didn’t know. They all looked a little nervous to see him. How did the nobles always know exactly who the members of royalty were, seriously? Did they have specific classes on how to recognize them or something? Because Kim wasn’t even wearing anything remotely royal at the moment – he hardly ever did!

In any case, he sat down at one of the tables and pulled a random book off the shelf. It would be good to actually do some research for once, just like Max. Okay… what was this book about? Historical Account of the Rise of the Agreste Empire, 1703-1899. What a coincidence. The Agreste Empire was causing, like, 95% of his problems right now. He opened to the beginning and began reading.

This book has been commissioned by His Imperial Majesty Emperor Gabriel the Miraculous, Divine Ruler of the Great and Most Wondrous Empire of Agreste and all its Territories, the Many Unified Kingdoms of Europe, the Vast and Distant Realms of the East and Asia, the Multitude of Atlantic Islands within the Great Western Ocean, the…

This was already boring. And anyway, if this book had been commissioned by Adrien’s dad himself, then wouldn’t it be really biased? Most of the world disapproved of the Agreste Empire but there was no way a book like this would bother to mention that.

Someone suddenly dumped a giant pile of homework on the table right next to him, making him jump. He turned to see Imperial Princess Chloé standing there. For once she wasn’t completely overdressed – it seemed that after the whole “Adrien Protection Squad” thing, she had cooled down a little when it came to fashion. She wasn’t even wearing a wig, though her hair was still done up elaborately. And her dress was finally narrow enough to be able to fit through normal size doors.

“May I sit here?” she asked, her voice as icy cool as always.

“If you want,” Kim replied. He had barely spoken to Chloé at all since the beginning of last year, when she had bluntly refused his courting gift and called him a peasant. He wasn’t sure why she wanted to sit next to him now, but whatever the reason, it probably wasn’t good.

Chloé sat on the chair beside him but made no move to start on her homework. Instead she cleared her throat and said, “I presume you are fully recovered from the flu?”

“Um, yeah… I wouldn’t be let out of quarantine otherwise…”

She cleared her throat again. “Of course I know that. I was merely concerned for your health.”

“Well I’m perfectly fine, thank you.” He looked back at the book in front of him, hoping she would stop talking now. Just the sound of her voice was bringing back bad memories.

“Have you given that brooch to anyone else?”

What? The brooch? He hadn’t been expecting her to ask about that, of all things.

“I gave it to Max,” he mumbled.

“Well I’m glad to hear it has a good home now.”

There was a long silence. Kim stared at the book, trying to pretend he was reading it. Chloé still sat by his side, fiddling with the beads on her dress, ignoring her homework entirely. It was oddly uncomfortable. Despite the fact that Chloé’s rejection had been over a year ago, Kim knew that somewhere deep inside, it still affected him a little. It had been the first time he had been rejected. And the worst.

The brooch… well at least he didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Max had it now. Maybe he could give it to someone he liked at some point. And as for Kim himself, well, he could just buy another present if he ever fell in love with someone again. Or just improvise a present, like the song he played on the day of the Cupid Festival for Alix. But perhaps not that cheesy next time…

His thoughts drifted back to Chloé again. Why was she just sitting here, not saying or doing anything? Was she planning on doing anything mean? According to Alix, Chloé was a lot nicer these days, especially after being one of the group protecting Adrien, but still? Surely there was no purpose to this?

Finally he turned to Chloé and said, “No offence but why are you here? What do you want?”

She took a deep breath and then, looking down at him rather haughtily, said, “I would like to make a formal apology to you.”

“Oh… um… for what?”

“What do you think?” She wrinkled up her nose. “For that time when I laughed at you and called you a peasant when you were trying to ask me out! It was rather improper of me, and you deserve much more respect than that. So yes – I am sorry.”

She was… she was actually apologizing to him for that? But it had been so long ago! He had just accepted that she was never going to bring that up with him again, and moved on. Yet now, she was actually apologizing to him for it?

Huh… that was… nice…

“Thank you,” he said, hoping he wasn’t blushing.

“You are very welcome. From now on I will attempt to deal with people much more politely. Though, for the record, I would still turn you down if you asked me out now.”

“Uh, yeah. That’s fine.” He probably wouldn’t ask her out again in a million years anyway, even though she was still pretty cute.

“Not for any personal reasons or anything. It’s just that I already have a sweetheart at the moment. Marchesa Lila and I have grown very close over the past month or so.”

“Yeah, she told me.”

“And even if she wasn’t my sweetheart,” Chloé continued, “I would still prefer to say no to you. Again, nothing personal. It’s just that I’ve recently come to terms with… well… I suppose my romantic preferences don’t exactly lie with men, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, okay.”

“So I would still turn you down. But much more politely this time, I hope. I’ve learned that even those of lower ranks are worthy of respect. Even commoners. It’s not like it’s their fault they were born that way.”

“Mhm.” Kim wasn’t sure why she was still talking to him.

“And anyway,” she said, speaking faster now, “the ranks and everything, they’re all just made up, aren’t they? Adrien wouldn’t be having any of the problems he’s facing now if he was a commoner. And there wouldn’t be so much poverty in my empire if the laws didn’t make things harder for commoners to improve their place. It’s all just fake. And I can be courteous and polite to whoever I want, no matter their rank. And I can marry a marchesa if I want to, it doesn’t have to be some imperial prince just because some outdated laws say so! And–”

She stopped suddenly, taking a deep breath. The haughty expression dropped from her face, leaving her looking at him with something more like compassion. It was so unusual for her that it threw him off a little.

“And I can have whoever I want as my friends. Even princes of countries that I once thought were lowly backwaters. People like you, Kim.”

Wait… was she implying what he thought she was implying?

“Are you saying you want to be my friend?” he asked her, incredulous.

“It would be ideal to have cordial relations with my fellow future world leaders. So yes. I would like to be your friend.”

Chloé wanted to be his friend? This was the last thing he had been expecting! He didn’t even know how he felt about it. Part of him just assumed that Chloé was lying about all this, and that she’d go back to being mean again in a few days.

But then again… hadn’t Kim himself been a jerk once upon a time? He’d managed to change and make new friends. Now Chloé was going through the same thing. He knew how it felt.

Hoping he wouldn’t regret this, he held out his hand. “Alright then, we can be friends.”

“Really?” Her face lit up. She gave Kim’s hand a firm handshake. “Thank you, Kim! I won’t let you down, I promise. My days of being unkind are behind me now. Things will be better from now on.”

“Awesome.”

“Anyway, now that’s sorted…” She finally opened one of the textbooks in front of her. “How about we do our homework together, as a symbol of our new friendship?”

Well, why not. He needed to get his homework done anyway. “Sure.”

An hour later, leaving the library again, he couldn’t help feeling somewhat… proud. Chloé had apologized to him and made friends with him, and even been a helpful homework pal? Now that he really thought about it, that was pretty cool of her! He was proud of his new friend. Hopefully she would make a great ruler someday and bring more balance to the rather messy Bourgeois Empire. At least she was starting not to share the same classist prejudices of her father.

Walking around the corner of the corridor far faster than he probably should, Kim suddenly bumped straight into someone.

“Oh, sorry…” he muttered, standing back to take a look at who it was. Probably some noble or something.

“You again!”

Drat, that was no noble – that was Grand Duke Ivan! He did not look pleased. He never was pleased to see Kim.

But wasn’t that Kim’s fault? He had always been rather irritating towards Ivan on purpose when they were younger, finding it funny to annoy him, always mocking him for stupid stuff, never taking him seriously…

“Get out of my way,” Ivan snapped, shoving Kim aside and starting to walk off.

“Ivan, wait!” Kim called after him, an idea forming in his mind. A rather Chloé-like idea.

“What do you want?!” Ivan turned and stood with his arms folded, the expression on his face looking like a synonym for death somehow. Kim gulped, trying not to feel too nervous.

“I just, uh… want to make a formal apology!”

“A formal apology, huh?!”

“Okay, okay, an informal apology! Whatever! An apology. Um.” He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Ivan, I have totally been a jerk to you. A lot. And I want to say sorry, and that I won’t do it again. And you’re not a wimp. You’re a cool guy and Mylène is very lucky to have you.”

Ivan’s eye twitched slightly. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“No! No, I swear I’m not joking. I really mean it.”

For a few seconds Ivan just stood there in silence, his expression unchanging. Then he sighed and said, “Apology temporarily accepted – as long as you don’t start being a jerk again.”

“I won’t.”

“Yep, you’d better not.” He began walking off again.

“And also! Uh…” Kim shuffled rather nervously on his feet. “You wanna be friends or something?”

“Don’t push it, Kim,” Ivan said, though Kim could have sworn he saw the tiniest of smiles on his face for a second. “If you want my friendship, you have to earn it.”

“Then I will totally be doing that.”

“Good.”

Ivan walked away for good this time. Kim released a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. It felt good to have gotten that out of the way.

And then his mind went straight back to the thing he had been trying to distract himself from the whole time.

“I still can’t believe the pink hair is a lie…”

Off in her own room, the “pink”-haired pharaoh herself was on the phone to her brother, telling him all about everything that had been happening lately.

“…and for some reason he freaked out loads, which is stupid since he bleaches the top of his hair too! Me and Max were just laughing so much…”

“Did you consider why he’s freaking out so much?” Jalil asked.

“Uh, ‘cause he has no sense of proportion?”

“True, but also because he’s under a lot of pressure right now. Finding out his grandfather is dead and he’s next up for the throne was a big change for him. So now even small changes are affecting him. Such as his friend’s hair colour not being what he thought it was.”

“Jalil, are you like… psychoanalysing Kim?”

“Maybe.”

“Then can you psychoanalyse my weird alternate timeline twin too?” Alix asked, knowing perfectly well that said twin was listening in at this very moment. “She’s a really weird annoying jerk.”

“Sounds to me like house arrest really got to her,” Jail said. “But it’s so unfair that your powers are strong enough to let you talk to her! I’ve been experimenting with my own timeline powers recently but all I can ever see is vague stuff! I know in the timeline you died, I started a civil war for the throne against dad, which is… pretty weird…”

“That is so cool. I think you’re probably gonna do it in the Escape Timeline too – the one with my timeline twin. Do you know what she’s planning to do? She’s gonna just abdicate the throne and leave school like some kind of coward–”

“I’m not a coward!” the timeline twin snapped. Alix just grinned, ignoring her entirely.

“–and leave the throne to you, but since dad sent you away to Antarctica or something in the holidays while she was grounded, he’ll just take the throne for himself, and then you’ll come back and get mad at him, and start a civil war! So that’s the succession crisis Fu was talking about!”

“Sounds stressful,” Jalil said.

“And then you know what else? Since Adrien can’t go home either, she and him are totally just gonna elope–”

“Ew, I’m not gonna elope! I’ll just leave school with him and protect him until he gets a venomous pet of his own, then–”

“Yep, they’re totally eloping,” Alix continued, grinning even more. “And I am definitely not just saying that to annoy her, since I know she’s listening. At least in this timeline, the awesome cool timeline, I’m going to stay pharaoh and be an awesome ruler. And Adrien’s got Marinette and Nino to help him out. And I’m not somehow enough of an idiot to accidentally get engaged to Kim and cause this mess in the first place.”

“How did that even happen?” Jalil asked.

“I honestly don’t know.”

“Well from what I know of the traditional royalty laws in our country, I think there are certain conditions that result in automatic betrothal, though I’m not sure what they are. You know, those annoying old rules that don’t make any sense? Like the one saying that the youngest kid gets to be pharaoh when they’re 15? One of those rules.”

“Maybe it was murder,” Alix mused. “Maybe the timeline twin murdered someone, and now as punishment, she got betrothed to Kim even after she broke up with him…”

“After she what?!”

Whoops, she had forgotten to tell Jalil about that part. “Oh yeah. She dated him for like a week. And I think she’s trying to block it out because I can’t access any of it. To be honest I’m not sure I want to.”

“Hmm… Well now I’m fairly certain it wasn’t murder that resulted in her forced betrothal…”

“Then what was it? Surely just dating someone doesn’t mean you have to marry them, even in those stupid old rules!”

“I think it was something else…”

“But what?”

“Never mind,” Jalil said quickly. “At least he didn’t end up with you in this timeline. I think that was partially my fault. When I asked him about it in the spring holidays he admitted he liked you, and I was… a bit unsupportive…”

“He told you he liked me? Oh my gosh, that’s hilarious. What did you even say to him?”

“I said that you two would be a terrible match. A disaster waiting to happen.”

Alix just laughed. “Well, according to the other timelines, you weren’t wrong!”

“I do think, though, that him and Max… well…”

“Yeah, I think so too. But I don’t think he’s into Max. Well, maybe? I don’t know. Maybe they’re just really close friends. It’s not like I can tell the difference.”

“Keep an eye on him.”

“I will. I think he needs some support right now.”

“And I think you do too.”

“Uh – what?”

“The timeline stuff. You’ve basically experienced yourself dying. And pretty nastily, too. Just… don’t let it get to you.”

She didn’t say anything. It was true that the venom death had somewhat been haunting her. But she had just been trying to think about it from a detached point of view – that wasn’t her, it was just someone else from another timeline, another dimension, another universe…

It was still scary, though.

And she could feel the timeline twin looking at her, an annoyingly smug expression on her face.

“Finally taking things seriously now, are we?”

Ugh. She was so annoying.

“I’ll be fine,” Alix said to Jalil, ignoring the timeline twin again. “Trust me.”

“Good. Anyway, I’ve got a lot of work to get on with, and I guess you probably have too. I’ll speak to you again soon. Keep me up to date.”

“Yeah, of course. See you soon, nerd.”

“You too, dork.”

She hung up, not wanting to, knowing that the stupid timeline twin was going to use the silence as an excuse to start talking again. It was best to go do something else for a while to shut her up.

“So do you honestly think that y–”

“Sorry, can’t talk, busy going to go hang out with my friends, bye!”

She picked up the snake and hurried out of the room.