#nice guy adrien the musical

[sinaloasmash]

I made this

[marinettesaltprompts]

Marinette Salt Prompts : Discordant Music and Unsettling Melodies

Prompt by @bloop24

The show portrays Luka as some kind of empath but with music. He says that Marinette is the clearest melody he’s ever heard or whatever, but if you really stuck with him being an empath he would have immediately felt something off with Marinette.

Instead of having a cute moment during their first meeting, Luka is friendly but distant. When he heard the song of her heart, he was left disturbed. At first there was nothing wrong with it, but the longer he listened the darker and more twisted it became. It was like it was trying to play a completely different melody, one he couldn’t make out. He was aware that Marinette was one of Juleka’s friends, so for now he kept quiet about her heart song but kept an eye on her. After everything settled down with his mom being akumatized another one of Juleka’s friends joined them. Adrien was nice and listening to his heart song he had a hidden wild side. When he turned to look at Marinette he noticed that her gaze intensely focused on not only Adrien but him as well, It was then he recognized the song that Marinette’s heart was trying to play. It was Adrien’s but a more warped version, it was like her heart song was desperately trying to match his. It didn’t take long to figure out that Marinette was infatuated with him.

Eventually Juleka noticed Luka’s wariness whenever Marinette came over. Luka was honest with his sister, and said that Marinette’s heart song was dark and twisted and how it tried to match Adrien’s. When he was done explaining his reasonings he noticed Juleka avoided looking at him and looked almost ashamed. She then explained that Marinette had more than a crush on Adrien with her having his schedule and even some of the plans she and the girls helped with. 

Luka was left disturbed by this revelation, but also disappointed in his sibling, he knew Juleka had a hard time being confrontational often avoiding it, but to help essentially trick Adrien into going on a date without his consent with someone he might not even like was too far. He expressed his disappointment, but understood that she had hard time making sure she was heard. He made it clear that Marinette would only continue to drag her into things that were definitely not legal and that it would be best if she separated herself from her. Juleka agreed since she wasn’t comfortable with it from the beginning.

Juleka had pulled the girls aside to talk about Marinette and how she didn’t want to be apart of it anymore. Rose and Mylene hesitated while Alix readily agreed with how she was never for it to begin with, not caring much about the romance aspect. Alya tried to convince the girls that Marinette was just like that and did over the top things but none of the girls were having it. With Juleka vocalising her opinions, they no longer felt comfortable helping Marinette with any of her plans, and having reflecting on what they were doing it, they all agreed that they wouldn’t want someone doing what they were doing to them. In the end the all agreed to distance themselves from Marinette and not encourage her. Rose, Juleka, and Mylene weren’t very confrontational people so they made up excuses why they couldn’t hand out with her. Alix had no problem telling her that she didn’t feel like hanging out with her that day and Alya hung out with her but quickly made excuses to leave whenever she wanted to talk about making another plan to go on a date with Adrien.

With the girls change in behavior, the guys of the class quickly took notice of the distance and awkwardness between them, or more specifically between them and Marinette. Ivan had asked Mylene and Mylene not wanting to hide anything from him told him the truth of what was going on. Nathaniel asked Alix and she had no problem telling him everything that went down and Marinette’s behavior.

 It wasn’t long before everyone knew about Marinette, everyone except Adrien, Chloe, and Sabrina. No one knew how to tell Adrien and no one wanted to really tell Chloe or Sabrina knowing they would make a big spectacle of it. Nino, not wanting his best friend to be in the dark any longer decided he wanted to be the one to tell him. They felt bad but they knew they had to get the adults involved. While they talked with Mrs. Bustier, Alya went to talk to Marinette’s parents. She was prepared for them not to believe her, After all, no parent wants to believe the worst of their child. She told them everything while also encouraging them to go up to her room and look around. She had told them about the pull out schedule and the chest of presents she had.

As the days passed, Marinette was left confused. Her girlfriend’s always seemed to be busy nowadays, not handing out as much as they used to, and even the guys seemed to be at a distance whenever she tried to talk with them for schoolwork and such.

When she got home she was greeted with an unpleasant surprise. Her parents had gone through her things in her room and found her schedule for Adrien along with the chest of presents and photos under her bed. They scolded her and told her that she could get into serious legal trouble. They then grounded her, taking away her phone and computer. She wasn’t allowed to go anywhere and after school she was to come straight home.

To make matters worse, when she went to school the next week, she learned she was moved to another class and would be monitored in case she tried to go near Adrien. Her friends wouldn’t even talk to her and the few that would would give an excuse to leave. She didn’t even see Adrien even anymore and when she did he would quickly run away. Marinette didn’t understand, what went wrong?

Too distraught with emotion, Marinette did not see the akuma apporaching her, getting closer and closer...

[chatnoirsss]

☽｡⋆ debonair pt. 3

🐈‍⬛ chat noir x reader

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ syn: being a superhero was super important to you. So after having a fight with you “co-worker” chat noir, and recent development of feelings for your classmate Adrien, your superhero and normal life shift to an imbalance.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ a/n: this is pt. 3 of my debonair series! Please read 1 and 2 for some context although im sure you can pick this fic up with no background knowledge of the others, sorry it took so long!

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

Your mind has been a complete mess all week. First, you get into an argument with Chat which led to many missions including snarky remarks, cold shoulders, and several eye rolls. On top of that, there was a rumor that your superhero persona, Plumera went on a date with Adrien Agreste. Not only did this shock all of Paris, it shocked you too. Ladybug was not in the least amused unlike all the other fans of the ladyblog. She scolded you and told you to be more careful in situations involving civilians. It seemed to be personal for her though since she never freaked when I saved “normal” people. You figured she was probably just another Adrien Agreste fan. But out of all the citizens in Paris you could’ve saved from the Akumatized villain, Adrien just had to be the one. Although people don’t know you exist as Plumera, which luckily means you won’t be swarmed by Adrien’s fan girls, you still felt guilty about your little so-called “date” with Adrien.

One of your best friends Marinette was hopelessly crushing on him, and once she found out the news about your encounter with Adrien she was not happy at all. You could practically feel her anger from across the classroom as she ranted to Alya and begged her to take the post down. You snapped out of your thoughts as your teacher dismissed class. You laid on your desk, feeling defeated about the recent wave of stress as your classmates all started packing up. You were scanning the classroom until your eyes locked on Adrien. You groaned. “Not this again!” You said shoving your head in your hands.

Recently, you’ve developed something of a crush on Adrien. It wasn’t anything serious, you just thought he was cute and a nice guy as well. After all he was literally the most sought after boy in all of Paris. Of course guilt followed these emotions as you thought of Marinette. You looked over at Adrien and saw Marinette and Alya who were approaching Nino and Adrien. Of course you knew you never stood a chance with Adrien so you never cared to pursue him. But deep down, you had to admit you were just a little jealous of Marinette. After all, she’s been crushing on Adrien for months now, you wouldn’t do that to her anyway. Even if you had a chance with Adrien. You sighed and packed your bags, quickly walking past Adrien and leaving the classroom.

Adrien POV:

I thought about the new report on the Ladyblog, the one about me and Plumera. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, not just the report but also that night itself. I felt so free, freer than I’ve felt with, well.. ladybug. I couldn’t believe I was thinking that, after all, ladybug is the one I want, right? But Plumera, something about her just..

Before I finished my thought, my classmate y/n stormed past my friends and I. Something about her caught my attention, and I watched her leave the room. I knew y/n was a good friend of Marinette but i never really got the time to talk to her. I’m always saving people from akumatized villains or forced to be at home anyway.

“Hey Adrien, are you listening?” I heard Nino say. “O-oh yeah, sorry, just kinda in my head,” I said with a nervous laugh, scratching my head. “I swear I love the guy but he can be so blonde sometimes,” Nino said pointing at me and laughing. The attention towards me slowly died down and I looked out the window again, seeing y/n walk out of school.

Your POV:

You walked home as usual, listening to your music and enjoying the sunny day. You thought about literally everything going on in your life right now. At first you thought about Chat. You had missed him although you were upset. He was a really good friend and you guys could joke together even during the hardest of missions. You sighed. “I guess I should talk to Chat, right Roaar?” You asked your Kwami. “Y/n let’s forget about him and go for Adrien! You haven’t been your cheerful self lately and I’m getting bored!!” Your Kwami said.

“But I miss Chat a little, he’s one of my best friends.” You said with a sad face. “I just want you to be happy y/n. If talking to Chat will bring back your happiness, then that’s what I want too!” Said Roaar. You smiled. “I love you so much Roaar!”

You decided you were going to call Chat tonight and settle things. Once you apologized, you would stop feeling sorry for yourself. You quickly finished your homework and chores before transforming and calling Chat. “Hey Chat, you probably won’t get this, but please meet me at our rooftop.” You left the message, unsure if he would get it but nonetheless you hoped.

You leaped out of your window and headed straight for your designated meeting space. You sat by the ledge where you and Chat would enjoy ice cream after missions while ladybug was away retrieving miraculous’ back. You had been waiting for 10 minutes and about to give up before you heard something behind you. Turning around, your eyes met with Chat’s. His eyes were soft and sorrowful. “Plumera…” he called, his eyes avoiding yours.

“Chat… you came,” you said a bit surprised. “You called.” He said. His voice was still and calm. He had a slight smile and a soft gaze in his eyes which immediately melted your heart. “I’m… I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you lately. I was just so upset about what you said that day.” You explained. “No, please don’t be Plumera. I should be the one apologizing. I should’ve never said what I did. I respect you as much as I do ladybug and we’re both really happy you’re on the team,” he said. You stared at him, unsure of what you should say next. “My feelings got the better of me and I let them get in the way of our… friendship.” You explained. The word “friendship” hurt to say. You wanted more than a friendship with Chat but he was so obviously infatuated with ladybug. Silence ensued before you started speaking again.

“I have feelings for you Chat.” You confessed, clenching your fists tight. “For a really long time now. And I let those feelings control how I felt.”

Chat looked at you. He was silent for a while which made your mind spiral. His face had a blank yet shocked expression. You couldn’t believe you had just confessed to Chat. “Plumera, I didn’t-“ Chat said before you cut him off. “No. You don’t have to say anything or return your feelings. I just wanted to explain to you where I was coming from. I know your heart belongs to ladybug so I won’t bother you with my feelings any longer. I hope we can still be friends.” You said, fighting back tears. You gave him a fake yet hopefully reassuring smile.

“Plumera… I- my feelings for you have been complicated lately. For the past few days I’ve been thinking about you. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I couldn’t stand you being upset at me, and most of all I couldn’t stand the fact that it was me that made you upset.” Chat said. You could tell his words were sincere and that he was serious. He had such a warm expression on his face which made you feel better. He was always very genuine with his feelings and so thoughtful of others despite his cocky personality.

You thought about what he said - about how he couldn’t stop thinking about you. For all you knew no one really thought about you. You always saw yourself as an average person aside from your hero identity and even then, ladybug was always in the spotlight. You let the silence fill the space for a moment. “I thought about you Chat. I couldn’t stand being away from you either,” you said. You looked over at Chat who was already looking at you. Your eyes met and the two of you sat there in silence, just staring into each other’s eyes. You both exchanged a soft “I understand” smile.

Chat broke the silence. “Uhh well! I heard about your little date with Adrien Agreste,” Chat blurted. “He’s just some spoiled nepo baby, nothing fun about that but all the girls fawn over him,” Chat said. “Seems like you really have it out for that kid.” You replied. “It wasn’t a ‘date’ but you could say I enjoyed it to a degree. He’s actually not a spoiled brat. He’s genuine and kind,” you said, not realizing you sounded just like a lovesick fan. Chat didn’t say anything. It looked like he was deep in thought.

“Well… we better get going though, it is pretty late,” you interrupted his thoughts. Chat stood up and you followed. He had a sorrowful look on his face, like he almost didn’t want to leave. “You do need your beauty sleep, whiskers,” he said teasingly. “You’re still calling me that?” You asked. “If the name fits,” he chuckled. To be honest, you really loved the nickname Chat gave you, although you pretended to hate it.

“Goodnight kitty,” you replied. As you turned around to leave, you felt a hand tugging on yours. You turned around to face Chat before he pulled you in for a hug which was the last thing you expected but nonetheless you accepted it. You knew it was just Chat being caring and friendly, but you couldn’t help but be a little selfish with this affection. You rested your head in his chest and shut your eyes. Your mind drifting to the night with Adrien before Chat pulled away. “I-i’m sorry Plumera I didn’t mean to-,” you cut Chat off. “It’s okay kitty,” you grinned. “It was… nice.” You winked at him before jumping off the roof.

Chat POV:

After making up with Plumera, it felt as if a weight left my shoulders. I couldn’t shake off a certain feeling though. Plumera still encompassed all my thoughts. I thought after making up with her, things would go back to normal - I would go back to normal. Clearly that wasn’t the case though. Plumera suggested we get home soon, but I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay with her longe and just talk with her. I could do that for hours. Before we left, my mind just took over my body. I gave her a hug and it felt amazing. I felt safe and like time had just stopped.

It was a little strange having Plumera save me the other night as Adrien and even weirder talking to her about it like it wasn’t me. I wondered if she had that feeling in her heart like I did, the one where it’s all warm and fuzzy. As Adrien, I could start fresh with Plumera. At least she was never angry with Adrien. After all, it was my superhero persona that upset her. Maybe as Adrien, I could get closer to her and settle this feeling in my mind and heart. That wouldn’t be as weird as Chat Noir pursuing her, right?

Your POV:

“Roaar, stripes off.”

You fell onto your bed, shutting your eyes the moment you felt the softness of your pillow land on your face. You groaned. “That worked out better than I had expected,” you said to Roaar as you turned to lay on your back. “No more hard feelings right? No we can focus on Adrien,” said Roaar. “But… I think I still love Chat,” you replied. Roaar sighed. “But he’s in love with ladybug. You have to respect that,” said Roaar. You sighed, squeezing the pillow in your arms. You slowly drifted off to sleep as your eyelids began feeling heavier and Roaar laid down next to you.

[insufferableprotagonistpoll]

Round 1

Propaganda why Alexander Hamilton is insufferable:

"Literally sick of hearing about this guy and his musical. I do not care about Lin Manuel Miranda's masturbatory self insert-ification of an actual slave owner but. He is everywhere. Rapping stupidly. Also just a shitty person even in the play. "Show me how to say no to this" easy, N. And then an O. I wish I never had to hear about Hamilton. And I hate his voice. That's annoying too."

"Only cares about himself. When he fears he's going to get outed for cheating on his wife, he is not concerned for Eliza's wellbeing whatsoever, he's just concerned with his reputation.

Dumb as fuck. When his son wants to duel, he tells him to *attend the duel bc the other guy will be nice and miss on purpose*.

Written to be The Most Desirable Man Ever™️. Self-insert (derogatory). The way he treats other people and the way he refuses to learn lessons make listening to the musical impossible."

"He's so annoying?? And full of himself?? Gotta say I quit watching after the intermission because I could not deal with him. No redeeming qualities."

Propaganda why Adrien Agreste is insufferable:

"If his girlfriend is in the poll, he deserves to be in it too"

"He's a white rich boy that is portrayed to be never wrong"

[sillychatonnoir]

Mr. Bug and Cait Sith AU | Luka Couffaine

Full name: Luka Baird Couffaine-Stone.

Age: 25 years old.

Primary hero identity: Cait Sith.

Secondary hero identity: Viperion.

Partners: Adrien Graham de Vanily | Mr. Bug (currently). Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug (formerly, the situation is complicated).

Occupation: Musical instrument builder. Superhero.

Extra:

Lives with Adrien and Marinette. He shares the master bedroom with Adrien, Marinette usted to be there too, but when she lost her memories they fixed up a room for her to avoid making her uncomfortable since she doesn't remember their relationship.

About his hero persona: Just like Chat Noir is Adrien's chance to be free to feel however he pleases, as goofy and silly and flirty with the chivalrous act as he wants, Cait Sith is Luka's scape to be as angry as he actually feels inside. Luka feels hurt about Marinette losing his memories, he doesn't have her girlfriend anymore and it breaks his heart every day not only for himself but because Marinette had a bright future and a happy life all things considered and Chrysalis took that from her forcing her to forget everything. So yes, he is angry, but even then, his first transformation was still toned down because he tried to be as calmed as he usually is as Viperion (he never got to name that one), Adrien was the one who insisted him to think less and actually feel his emotions to transform, Chat Noir was freedom, and Luka, always being everyone's rock, always there, never angry, never feeling too strongly, deserved that freedom for a change. Cue, his second transformation: more menacing than anything Paris have ever seen before in a hero, at first they thought he was akumatized, but it was only all the repressed feelings and pent up anger that Luka have ever felt and never got to express finally coming to light. He turned into Paris' feral cat, only Mr. Bug being able to tame him. He has some troubles to control himself sometimes during battle, but he is very nice to children and the victims once they're deakumatized, Viperion unavoidably slipping out because he keeps being that kind hearted guy inside all those layers of rage.

About the mythological figure of the Cait Sith: Cait Sith (or Cait Sídhe) are creatures from celtic mythology, a type of fae and in consequence are very dangerous to deal with. People in the Scottish Highlands didn't like them because it was believed that cait shìth steal the souls of the dead before they get claimed by the gods, so there funerary customs included distraction tactics during the funeral reception until they buried the body so the cait shìth wouldn't be able to steal the soul of the dead. They also recieved offerings during Samhain from families who didn't want to be cursed by them. I thought it was a good pick for Luka since in this AU he is Scottish, and I like the figure of the Cait Sith, from there I took inspiration from the fact they're not liked to make Paris to hate him, they don't know why they reject him so adamantly, he might not be Chat Noir but Mr. Bug and him get the job done, maybe he is just unlucky!

Lila can't really akumatize him because every time she tries to, Cait Sith cataclysm the butterflies. His senses are too sharp, he can hear the flapping of the butterflies wings and he destroys them, no mercy. So, even when he is a good victim with all that hate and boiling anger, it's useless to try. As Luka, he is constantly putting the work to keep his emotions in check, so Lila can't even detect them, he is putting that guardian training to good use!

He still operates as Viperion sometimes, to prevent to give the impression that the team got weaker.

Quantum masking prevents people who doesn't already know to find out that Viperion and Cait Sith are the same person. Only Adrien, Marinette's parents and Alix know his identity as the new black cat.

Both him and Juleka built a good relationship with his father, so they agreed to take his last name after he offered, with the condition of it going after their mother's last name.

I gave him an Scottish middle name because I thought it was funny, it's not really relevant to the plot of this AU.

[literaphobe]

alternate suggested list of s5 episodes (since none of us can remember them)

wibbly wobbly timey wimey

the akuma hiatus

ladybug (almost) gets doxxed

the heroes of paris really want to breed

Core Four, And The No Good, Very Bad, Terrible Plan They Fully Executed

love square flip!! (limited time)

kwami switcheroo 2.0

Hey, Joan of Arc, It's Me, Ladybug. Would It Be Chill If I Made Out With Chat Noir Or What?

obligatory marichat episode of the season OR glaciator 3 OR oh yay!! oh no. OH YAY!!!!!!!!! oh. no. NOOOOO-

[muffled screaming noises]

monarchbug gets lost in the sauce (bunch of teens with condiment codenames blasted his ass)

hi kagami, how's it going! oh (part 1) OR adrien's musical endeavors OR what does the cow say?

everyone's unlicensed therapist leaves the city

Marinette Dupain-Cheng Should Legally Be Allowed To Kill People

48974872874th CHANCE!

hi kagami, glad to see you're doing better! wait (part 2) OR these classmates have no boundaries

gay rights? gay wrongs? gay rights? gay wrongs?

slay felix!!!! slay!!!!!!!!! yasss drop those beats!!!!!!! also get therapy when ur free!!!! sick red moon bro u arent gonna kill her later right!!!!!!

these pancakes fucking SUCK

[UNRESTRAINED SCREAMING NOISES]

sick fraud girl!! now could u just step into this totally real totally not bugged temporary bathroom-

they made WHO mayor now??

ladynoir Ages Up like the sims, thanks to countless traumatic incidents. more at 8!

yo!! a+ parenting gabe! OR theatre, but they knock you out after the play OR prom, but you're the only one that dressed up

hey guys is it just me or does anyone else have a massive headache and terrifying nightmares that recur every few seconds?

Re-creation (The Final Day - Part 2) <- no yeah sorry i won't even pretend this is quite possibly the most accurate episode title like yeah shit sure was recreated and monarch does not appear to be having any more days!! nice work guys!!!

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Migration

You know, for a while, I thought Luka was one of the smartest characters in the show, and the fact that he's hightailing it out of Paris in this episode only continues to prove my point.

Let's get into the thirteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Migration

We start off with Marinette running over to the Liberty (with her friends laughing behind her back like the supportive people they are) and tries to talk with Luka about her relationship with Adrien once they're in private. Luka is pretty supportive, and it's a nice scene. Marinette then bumps into Adrien, who also wants to talk with Luka, and while the two try to get unstuck, we get a nice visual of Luka seeing the two as Ladybug and Cat Noir, which is there to remind the audience that he's known who both of them are ever since “Wishmaker”.

Adrien then talks to Luka about how he's worried something is keeping Marinette from being honest about her feelings. Luka gives him some advice on how just because he doesn't know everything about Marinette, it doesn't make her feelings for him less valid, and vice versa.

After Adrien leaves, we get an appearance from everyone's favorite deadbeat dad, Jagged Stone. He asks Luka how he can be a better father like he didn't miss years of child support, but all Luka really says is that he needs to spend time with his damn family. Of course, what I like about this scene is that it avoids the usual narrative pitfall of trying to say that Jagged and Anarka, Luka's mom, should get back together, and instead shows Jagged developing feelings for his agent, Penny.

Speaking of, after Jagged leaves, Penny comes in to come to Luka for advice. Okay, is Luka just the Dr. Phil of this show's universe? Penny talks to Luka about her sudden feelings for Jagged Stone.

Penny: No, I don't know why I'm in love with your father. He's disorganized, childish, selfish, and musically speaking, he's no David Bowie. Truth be told, your dad's a walking disaster. So why do I love him?

Luka: Does he make you happy, Penny?

Penny: Yeah. I just can't figure out why!

It's almost like this show will randomly pair people up at the drop of a hat. But hey, at least Luka hasn't asked if Kagami is single yet.

Before Penny leaves, Bob Roth, Jagged's producer, demands to know where he is, as he needs to record a new album. Bob learns that Jagged had children with Anarka (ignoring the potential scandal it could create), so Anarka promptly throws him out of the boat in a scene that I'm pretty sure is meant to be a reference to that one running gag from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Either way, Jazz's scream was funnier.

Kitty Section then practices their latest song about how you don't have to be rich, because even the songs in this show aren't exactly subtle with their messages. Bob somehow gets back on the Liberty completely dry, and offers the band a contract.

Bob: How would you like to sign a contract with me?

Luka: Actually, Bob, you already offered to sign us... Marinette: And you never followed up. Did you forget?

Bob: Huh? Uh... of course! I remember! I was just waiting for the right reason—uh, I mean, the right time! I was waiting for the right time to have you guys sign the contract!

My God, even the characters in this show want to forget it used to have good episodes.

Anarka throws Bob off again, where she and Luka talk about how everyone deserves a second chance and that change is possible.

Yeah, funny how that message almost never came up with Chloe, Lila, and Felix last season, isn't it? And given that they're going to use Bob as an example of this lesson, I don't think it's going to be a positive one. So right after Luka generously decided to give Bob a second chance, Bob offers them a new contract to sign... and as soon as he does, he screws them all over thanks to a lot of fine print they didn't stop to read.

Ivan: He can fire us whenever he wants?

Bob: Yep, and I just did, by the way.

Rose: The name Kitty Section belongs to him?!

Bob: Yep. It’s ugly, but it’s mine. Marinette: He owns everything you’ve made and will make over the next thousand years!? Bob: Gotta cover all bases.

Zoe: Marinette's costumes, the music video Nino shot, the website Mylene runs...

Bob: All mine!

Adrien: And you can’t even start another band together?

Bob: Course not, that’d be unfair competition! EVERYTHING belongs to me! Everything you are, everything you say, everything that’s in your hearts belongs to me!

See, kids? This is why you should never trust bad people. It doesn't matter if they say they want to improve. They just want to trick you and ruin your life, so if you're ever wronged by anyone, that person is never able to redeem themselves, especially if they're rich. As we all know, rich people are far worse than insane supervillains who want to rewrite reality. Just ask the biggest monster in the show, Chloe Bourgeois.

So yeah, Luka's optimism being taken advantage of is enough to attract the attention of Monarch, who attempts to akumatize him into Silencer again. Monarch realizes that Luka knows Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities (why he didn't think to look into it, given Viperion's powers, is left unanswered), and angrily smashes his guitar to free himself of Monarch's influence.

So not only did he stop himself from getting akumatized, he's also one step closer to becoming a true rock star.

Somehow, Bob thinks only keeping Luka on board would mean he wouldn't hate him, but Luka isn't buying it. Bob is shocked that Luka wouldn't want to work for an asshole like him as Luka tears the contract in half, but Bob has backups. Monarch decides to settle on Bob instead, akumatizing him into Gold Record.

Gold Record's design is... okay. It's still better than Sole Destroyer, and it's definitely better than Moolak. The gold coloring looks nice, and the euro symbol on the record is a nice visual. His powers are pretty much just a combination of Pixelator, the Collector, and Truth's powers, transforming people into records who sing their true feelings while using the Horse Miraculous' Voyage to throw the records into space. Nothing too original there, but it's a good metaphor for sleazy music producers, and it works for this story.

Rose and Anarka are the first of Gold Record's victims, and in a hurry, Luka lets Adrien know he knows he's Cat Noir, giving him a place to hide. Just as Juleka is hit by Gold Record, Ladybug and Cat Noir arrive on the scene. While Cat Noir holds off Gold Record, Ladybug tries to come up with a plan.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, getting a knitting needle. She realizes her plan will need to involve using Luka as bait. Luka is forced to reveal that he knows who Ladybug and Cat Noir are, and what will happen if Gold Record gets him, setting up a tough choice that will force Ladybug to rethink her plan... and then the next scene happens, where Luka lets himself get hit, where Ladybug manages send Gold Record's record flying with a makeshift bow and arrow created from the knitting needle and a nearby fiddle, which Cat Noir immediately Cataclysms.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, and gives Bob Roth a Magical Charm that even he knows is useless at this point. Ladybug and Cat Noir decide to call it a day and let Anarka throw Bob Roth out again.

Luka reveals that he knows Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities (because once again, sharing that information with your friends is totally fine for some reason), and that he can't stay in Paris. After revealing that he had Fang eat all of Bob's contracts so Luka isn't bound by them anymore, Jagged offers to take Luka around the world to finally make up for years of absence while Luka makes Juleka the new leader of Kitty Section. And so the episode ends with the Couffaine family sharing a hug while Luka gives one last look to his friends Marinette and Adrien.

This episode was just average, all things considered. The plot and the lesson it was setting out to teach, while not terrible, felt a little tacked on. It was if the writers were trying to acknowledge the stuff that happened with Chloe and wanted to show an example of redemption arc done right in the case of Jagged. It falls flat because once again, more focus is given to showing how easy it is to be screwed over trusting someone than showing the benefits to trusting someone, especially since Bob is already an outlandish villain we already have a lot of reasons to hate.

I'm also mixed on the handling of Luka here. While I'm glad Marinette isn't being forced to learn a lesson here, I don't get why Luka had to be the one to be taken advantage of. He's already aware of how easy it is for Monarch to learn his secrets, so it feels weird that he lets himself and his friends get taken advantage of so easily. Outside of the scene with Ladybug's Lucky Charm, I don't get why he needed to tell the others the stuff he knew. I can sort of see why he'd tell Adrien, but why would he think telling his friends he knows who Ladybug and Cat Noir are wouldn't endanger them too?

Speaking of that, despite being established for almost an entire season, we really don't see enough of Marinette and Adrien reacting to Luka revealing that he knows who they are. Marinette only gets a few lines, and Adrien doesn't even get to say anything. While I am glad that Marinette and Adrien aren't dominating the plot for once, it feels weird that we don't get to see their reactions to something so shocking, especially with how often the identity rule has been enforced.

On the other hand, the writing is still handled a lot better than usual. I like how Monarch chooses to change his strategy to focus on Luka halfway through the episode, and the idea of the risk using Luka for Ladybug's plan brings is an interesting one, even if they don't really go anywhere with it. The running gag with Bob constantly getting thrown off the Liberty is a funny one, and it proves you can actually write slapstick that doesn't involve humiliating Marinette. Who knew?

As a whole, while I think this is the best episode of the season so far, this episode still has its fair share of problems.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... LUKA

Not counting the time Marinette got the award in my review of the Shanghai Special, we have the first character this season to get the Biggest Idiot Award twice. For someone who is usually smarter than the other characters, Luka made quite a few bad choices this episode. He decided to trust Bob Roth after he screwed him and his friends over in “Silencer”, he didn't think to read the contract he was offered, and after being endangered by what Monarch knows now, he decided to tell his friends and family that he knows who Ladybug and Cat Noir are, potentially putting them all in danger too. Yeah, the next few episodes will probably just ignore it, but there's always a chance Monarch could try another Optigami, even if he doesn't have the Peacock Miraculous anymore.

And with that, I'm officially done with the first half of Season 5. What do I think of it? Well, I think Immortan Joe said it best:

Yeah, this season was pretty boring, all things considered. To be perfectly honest, I struggled here more than I did last season because I wasn't sure what to say about half of the episodes I watched. There was almost nothing of substance these past thirteen episodes, and I could barely say anything other than “this episode is okay” or “this episode is bad”. Whenever I had ideas, they were usually extensions to things I've already talked about, like the Marinette angst, the historical and cultural inaccuracies, and the villains genuinely being incompetent. If you showed someone a few episodes of Season 1 and this season, outside of Monarch's new appearance, it'd be pretty hard for them to tell the difference.

But hey, maybe things will pick up in the second half of the season. Hell, maybe the next episode will be even better than this one, and... huh. Does anyone else hear an ominous whistling in the background?

[estellaestella]

Did the joke annoy Adrien Brody?

For context (1) each award has 45 seconds allotted for acceptance speeches (2) Timothee had two possible reasons to give a speech - Best Actor, Best Picture (3) Conan's exact words are under the cut. Seems like a pretty harmless joke.

We have a great show but before we continue there are a few housekeeping rules I'm implementing to keep the Oscars running smoothly.

Okay first if your acceptance speech goes too long instead of playing you off with music we have something much more powerful. We'll cut to John Lithgow in the audience looking not angry but slightly disappointed. That just freezes you in your tracks! I could not keep speaking if I saw that, I couldn't that's amazing thank you sir.

And uh if you still won't get off the stage I'm going to play hard ball I'm going to show one of your old head shots. Okay this means you Guy Pierce there you are. I loved you with Guns and Roses; you're amazing. It means, it means you Zoe Saldana. It's a nice headshot. And it means you Timothée Chalamet.

[booksrbetterthanpeople]

Hello. I ❤️ your blog especially your science kids. May I see where one of them calls Marinette out like how Quagmire does it. Sorry for the awkwardness. This is my first time typing to somebody. 😊😊

Yes, honey! Yes! I have been waiting for this!

Simon, my favorite Irish tech geek, take the stand!

Marinette: Well, you don't need to look for somebody new. I'll hang out with you guys.

Marc: Yeah, you know, I don't think that's gonna work out, Marinette, 'cause of the whole Simon thing.

Marinette: What Simon thing?

Marc: Oh, you know, just that he hates you.

Marinette: Simon hates me?

Marc: Hates you.

Marinette: I... I don't get it. Why... why wouldn't Simon like me?

Marc: Because he thinks you're annoying. Like people who never shut up about their pets.

—

Marinette: Hey, Simon, what a coincidence. You and me just runnin' into each other. How, how ya doin'?

Simon: Fine.

Marinette: So… *Noticed Simon’s aunt at the checkout* Is that your mom? She’s beautiful.

Simon: That's my aunt, Marinette. My mother is dead to me, as is my father, and I hope they rot in their prison cells.

Marinette: Oh, God. I'm... I'm really sorry.

Simon: I got a cousin who beat her husband. Wanna ask me about her, too?

—

Alya: Hey, what are you getting all dressed up for?

Marinette: I'm treating Simon to a night out.

Alix: Really? I thought he hated you. How'd you convince him to go?

Marinette: I tricked him. Sent him a phony card. He thinks he's going on a romantic date with Denise.

Myléne: But instead, you're going to show up.

Marinette: You got it.

Rose: Yikes.

Juleka: That's a recipe for disappointment.

—

Marinette: I'll bet you got... how do those things work?

Simon: What? My music videos? How does a music video work?

Marinette: Yeah.

Simon: … You want me to sit here and explain to you how a music video works?

Marinette: I don't know. Yeah.

Simon: You want to maybe just go?

Marinette: Simon, come on, I'm really trying hard here.

Simon: Who asked you to try hard?

Marinette: Nobody, but all... I'm trying to establish a friendship with you. All I've done is try to be nice to you, and you still don't like me. How can you not like me?!

Simon: … Okay. I'll tell you…. You are the worst person I know. You simped after Adrien while you were dating Luka and while Adrien was dating Kagami. The guy was writing you a song, gave you his favorite guitar pick, gave you free therapy, and that was how you repaid him? And to add insult to injury, you rubbed your love for Adrien right in his face. And you're so insensitive. You basically tried to kick Luka out of Kitty Section and make Adrien the lead guitarist? What the fuck? And what really bothers me, is you pretend you're this perfect girl who can do no wrong when all you are is a hypocrite, liar, and a word that’d make the Priest blush. Yeah, I lie; who hasn’t? At least I come clean about it in the end. I don't go on about how I hate liars and then stalk Lila trying to lie her way into Adrien’s pants, and then brag about how I’m some perfect angel trying to look out for everyone. You’re not a perfect angel. You’re a spoiled little, manipulative brat. You use those stupid dough eyes, tears, and sob stories about how much you love Adrien to get people to go along with your stupid plans. God, you make me sick! And you only delude yourself by thinking you're the greatest thing since slice bread, when you’re honestly just as bad as Chloé and Lila. Actually, you know, I should have known Denise didn't write me that note. Yeah, they actually have the guts to say things to my face without stammering like you do around Adrien when you’ve known the guy for almost a year! And I think what I hate most about you is your hypocrisy when it comes to Adrien’s love life, how he "deserves better," how Chloé is a spoiled brat only after Adrien for his looks, how Kagami is too controlling. Well, what have you done to prove that you’re not like them? I’ve only heard you obsess over his looks and “perfection.” Never heard you once talk about interests that Gabriel doesn’t force on him. You wanna get to know the guy? Talk to him! And, by the way, knowing Lila is a liar doesn't make you Jesus Christ. Yeah, I know about the Lila situation! And I don’t care! You wanna basically ruin your relationships with your friends by screaming in their faces, “Lila’s a liar!! Believe me, because I’m better than her!” Go ahead! Who the hell are you to act as if though you were in the right? Your impulsiveness in trying to expose her got you expelled, which isn't nearly as bad as how you treated your parents! Did you ever pay them back for what was meant to be a family trip to Shanghai? But you know what? I could forgive all of that, all of it… If you weren't such a bore. That's the worst of it, Marinette. You're just a sad, pathetic bore… *Sighs* Well, see ya, Marinette. Thanks for the fucking steak. *Leaves*

[raayllum]

Hearing that you hate the miraculous movie too makes me so relieved tbh. I don’t understand at all why some people think it’s better than the show?? Like yes I have a lot of problems with the show’s writing, but the movie is actively worse. Every character (except maybe gabriel?) is just so flat and uninteresting compared to their show counterparts, and i feel like the origins episodes just blow the movie’s “superhero origin” parts out of the water in almost every way.

I liked a few scenes (like the abandoned theatre song number) and that’s it. It doesn’t make sense to me why some fans think it’s a genuinely good story (because it has an actual ending instead of dragging too long?? that’s such a low bar).

Anyway rant over, thank you for reading.

Yeah, a lot of the writing seemed Very tell not show even in dialogue (which is also a strength of musicals, where you can get away with more tell but you still should ideally have some show) and the pacing / editing was... not good? Everything felt very unfocused. Which I appreciate they were trying to do a Lot in 2.5 hours... but like, why were Marinette and Alya not friends before the start but Adrien and Nino were? Feels like that should be flipped not only given what the movie does take from show canon but also in terms of characterization (Adrien shutting people out not just as a defense mechanism but also because of lack of opportunity / Chloe is the person he could rely on and that's not gonna hold water)

Even movie!Gabriel just feels like milquetoast Viren without having the understanding or execution that makes Viren work in the variety of ways he does. I also really didn't like how I felt like this version of Adrien/Chat was a Nice Guy™ in ways (as far as I know, I stopped fully watching MLB like 14 eps into season 1 and then just never got back to it) never was in show canon.

Like pacing seems to be a big issue for both the show (too slow, maintains status quo, retcons character development) and the movie (too fast, weak / less effective characterization, nothing gets time to breathe) just in different ways. The movie may 'fix' issues that fans have with the show (Adrien finds out about Hawkmoth quickly, a reveal sticks & holds with the two leads who get together) but it has its own problems. The fact that a few youtubers who Hate arc 2 of TDP (including s5 and s6, which is not the fandom norm at all) but love MLB movie makes me think that a Lot of it just comes down to "I like stories where flashier/bigger things are happening, and don't like set up or character studies writing" and... Touché, it just doesn't work for me at all.

[bbutterflies]

major thank you to everyone who’s been so excited for my (second) fake dating adrino fic!! chapter 1 is up now on ao3 go read it it's so fun!

Everything I’ve wanted

Summary:

Nino really didn't mean to get himself tangled up in the life of someone like Adrien Agreste. But it was kind of hard to say no to dating him, even if it was all fake, when he learned that Adrien was more than just a hot model. He was funny and kind and patient and a great listener – but definitely nothing more than a fake boyfriend.

Excerpt below the cut!

Nino was kind of regretting coming to this bar. It had just opened and it had seemed cool at first, but the music sucked and he was bored. He’d only had one drink and was already debating just calling it a night as he waited at the bar for another drink. This bar was weird, anyway. Some kind of rich, exclusive-type deal, he was pretty sure? He’d been excited at the idea of going out and trying something new. He usually did with Alya and Marinette, but they’d both moved to New York for work months ago, and as happy as he was for them, he was lonely without them. He’d made the impulse decision on his night off to come here.

He wished he hadn’t now, after waiting outside of this bar for an hour and paying an insane cover to get in and now being bored and hating the music. He’d finish this drink he was waiting for, he decided, and then probably just head home.

The last thing he expected was for someone – a blond, green-eyed, drop-dead gorgeous someone – to come up to him. “I need a huge favor.”

Nino stared back at him. “Who are you?”

The man grinned, eyes shining. “Someone who’s about to be incredibly grateful for your help. Do you see that girl behind me who’s, like, definitely staring at me right now?”

Nino looked over his shoulder, and there definitely was a girl watching them. “Yeah?”

“I’m trying to be nice, but I’m not into her, and she won’t leave me alone. I may have told her you were my boyfriend. And she didn’t believe me.”

Nino snorted. The entire idea that this hot stranger was his boyfriend was laughable – Nino had barely even started coming out as bi, let alone flirting with boys enough to get a boyfriend. And this guy was definitely out of his league. “Well, because you’re a liar.”

“I happen to be a very famous liar and I promise I’ll make it worth your time if you play along.” He clasped his hands in front of his chest. “Please?”

Nino leaned on the bar. “Yeah? What do I get out of it?”

The man shrugged. “A kiss, maybe. If you want it.”

“Tempting,” Nino said, and he was only half joking. This guy was cute. The bartender was back with his drink, and, well, he had an idea. “You buy the rest of my drinks tonight.”

“Done.”

“Well then, babe,” Nino said, holding out the glass. “Here you go.”

“For me? You shouldn’t have.” He glanced at it. “Like, really, you shouldn’t have. What is that?”

“Um. Alcohol?”

He stuck out his tongue. “I mean, I’ll obviously cover your tab, but that looks disgusting.”

“You don’t even know what it is.”

“Yeah, I’m getting something else.”

Nino watched him flag down the bartender and order himself a drink (some stupid seltzer that totally made sense for him to drink). “Do I at least get to know my boyfriend’s name?” he asked when the man turned back to him, drink in hand.

“Adrien.”

“That’s a lot of syllables.”

“Excuse me? It’s not that long.”

Nino shrugged. “You need a good nickname. I’ll come up with something.”

“Mm-hm. Do I get to know your name?”

“You should’ve asked before you asked me out. Honestly, I’m not convinced this isn’t some super convoluted pick up line.”

“While I would absolutely use a pick up line as complicated as this, it’s unfortunately real. That girl seriously won’t leave me alone.” Adrien stole a glance over his shoulder and turned around quickly when he realized she was still staring. “Like, really? How has she not figured out I’m not interested?”

“You don’t like girls?”

“I just don’t like her, really. And she’s just so drunk. It felt weird.”

“Well, I appreciate you not flirting with girls at bars,” Nino joked.

Adrien blinked back at him. “What?”

“Because we’re dating?” Nino explained, giving Adrien a playful shove. “C’mon, Dri, you gotta keep up.”

[sweetgaleria]

Just watched the ladybug movie with a friend and i want to share my thoughts

Things that i liked: -chat noir calling ladybug a watermelon -their miraculous glowing when they need each other (or when there's an akuma? idk, the movie didn't make it super clear) -ladynoir practicing fighting together!! It was so cute! I wish the show had more moments of them just being silly and hanging out outside of battles -Sabine, Gabriel and Nathalie's models looked great -the times careless whisper started playing made me laugh so hard -Marinette's dress was super pretty -I like it that their magical outfits weren't indestructible -them being literally stronger together was cool -The final scene when she takes his mask and puts it on her face to say she's ladybug

What I didn't like -the movie felt like a bunch of scenes glued together by spit and a half assed prayer -why was everything happening all the time with no explanation -the characters barely had time to connect to make their relationships feel genuine -that made all the important scenes have no emotional impact for me, I only cared about the characters because I already knew them from the show -this is just my personal taste but their designs/models were so... round? idk, I didn't like it that much, they looked kinda weird to me -"the power of love" being important out of nowhere?? -a lot of things just started happening without rhyme or reason, the movie didn't explain their powers at all and also -WHERE'S THE LUCKY CHARM -also the dialogs felt so out of place? Marinette asking her mom at the start how should she go after her dreams just felt like it was put there to make marinette sing -oh and this movie had the audacity of being a musical and having zero good songs -also I understood that she's insecure from the first song, didn't really need the other 3 -how Marinette went from "I'm too scared and I can't be a super hero" to "this guy sucks and I can beat his ass" in 0.5 seconds -why was plagg like that -also why was adrien chosen to be chat noir here? did plagg just fly inside the first house he deemed worthy of his presence? first place he could find cheese? where's his moment of selflessness? -Ladybug had no importance for the plot. at all basically. If all it took for Gabriel to quit being hawkmoth was realizing he was hurting his son.... what is left for her to do? -after god knows how many songs about believing in herself, her final battle she still felt too weak to fight and she still wasn't important for it - did i already say that the scenes had no emotional impact? -her speech to paris at the end just fell flat -again, ladybug had basically no importance in this movie

In the end the movie looked nice and it was fun to watch with a friend but I, personally, didn't think it was good. Had some nice things in there but that was it for me

[katanasonata]

MY THOUGHTS ON THE MIRACULOUS LADYBUG MOVIE

Note: i didn't finish watching s5 before watching this - should i be concerned?

[ANIMATION ✅]

absolutely stunning, jaw dropping, amazing, beautiful, breathtaking, everything i ever wanted

i love how their eyes are so shiny

adrien looks like a baby

THE KWAMIS ARE SO SMOOTH? their skin IDK they're so pleasing to look at

Im sorry but did you notice Nathalie's eyebrows literally appear and then disappear in one scene

[CUTE ✅]

r o m a n c e

rivals -> lovers (ish)

i want to hug all of them

[ADRIEN ANGST✅]

actually sad boi

my guy had EMOTIONS, he was so MOODY

careless whisper

P I A N O

also GABRIEL ajdkddjjdkd he was a smidge more likeable here

[CAT NOIR✅]

his personality was something i really liked here

took on some more leadership, had more of a rival role

more charming frfr

[MUSIC ✅]

some of these songs actually SLAPPED

will be listening to chat noir's solo on repeat

only thing that was kinda weird was how Marinette's VA and Vocalist were two diff people with very diff voices but whatever, still good

[LADYNOIR TEAM DYNAMIC✅]

Felt more balanced, I really liked the push and pull of both of them, especially how they were more like rivals in this depiction (can u tell i like my rivals to lovers)

Both were sort of equal here compared to the show, whereas in the show Ladybug is oftentimes the one who can do everything without Cat Noir, it was nice to see more CN appreciation <3

[CRINGE😐]

Careless Whisper

Sometimes they'd start singing out of nowhere and I'd cringe inside but then the song is actually good??? so...idk at this point

[STORYLINE 😐]

um okay where do i even start

to save one person is to save the world? UM...okay...good quote if you don't think about it too much...or at all

marinette solved all her problems and fixed all her character flaws by singing one song

like, it was mildly engaging, but i kinda got whiplash with how fast the plot progressed, like i was watching the world collapse in front of me in a matter of seconds - not sure what went wrong, but it just left me wanting more and feeling like there could be gaps filled

anyways, what can i expect for a movie that has to cram an entire origin story and final battle in 1.5 hours

ended in a way that made me happy tho :)

FINAL THOUGHTS

it was fine... animation & music was solid, but the plot felt kinda mid to me...TBH EVERYTHING IS MID COMPARED TO SEASON FIVE

so yeah, hope y'all enjoy the movie, it blessed my eyes - may it bless yours~

[miraculouswolf99]

Miraculous Dueling- Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Let's Duel

Adrien's thoughts on his first class at the duel academy were that he had really loved it. He was well aware of the fact that he was behind when it came to some of the newer parts of the game. Even before his mom had vanished, he had never been allowed to go out and duel others nor was he ever allowed to go to any dueling tournaments. Those restrictions only got more intense after his mom disappeared.

So, when his teacher, Ms.Bustier, started to teach them, he had been very excited to learn. Especially since while he knew about and was able to use fusion and ritual summoning, the newer summoning techniques were really things that he wanted to learn about. He already knew that Lyon used gate summoning while Vallia uses XYZ summoning.

He did not know much about synchro, XYZ, gate, link, or pendulum summoning. At least, he didn't know until the end of his first class.

Synchro is when two or more monsters are used to combine their levels into the level of the synchro monster that is being summoned. And one of those monsters needs to be a tuner monster for the synchro to actually be possible. XYZ is when two monsters of the same level were combined to summon the monster. Those monsters would become overlay units that would be used to activate the monster's special abilities. Pendulum summoning is when two pendulum monsters are placed on either side of the duel disk and would then be considered spell cards that would be used to summon multiple monsters at once. Pendulum monsters are monster cards with gem-like symbols on them with numbers that tell the levels of the monsters that would be allowed to summon, which would be any monster with a level that is between the numbers of the two used pendulum monsters. Link summoning is when one or more monsters are used to call a monster with the same number of links as the number of monsters used with their special abilities sometimes depending on the number of links they have. And gate summoning is when two monsters that are the same type, such as two light monsters or two warrior monsters, are used to become the "keys" to open up the "gate" for the monster. The monsters would become similar to overlay units and pendulum cards where they would remain the "keys" and could be used to call the monster over and over again unless they were destroyed.

He thought that all of them were amazing, even when he wanted to stick with his fusion summoning. He knew about that already and even when fusion, advance, and ritual summoning were the three oldest summoning techniques, they were still all very good techniques as well. 

Fusion summoning was when two or more monsters were brought together through the use of a spell, special ability, or trap in order to fuse them together into a whole new monster. Advance summoning was when one or more lower-level monsters would be sacrificed or tributed in order to summon a higher-level monster with levels five and six needing one tribute while levels seven through nine needed two and ten through twelve needed three. And ritual summoning was when a spell or trap ritual card was used in order to sacrifice monsters to equal the level of the monster that was going to be summoned. Though, ritual and advance summoned monsters were kept in the regular deck unlike how the other monsters were kept in the extra deck.

And during class, he actually did get to talk with Nino a little when he was able to. Nino turned out to be a very nice guy with a deep love of music. Not only did he duel, but he also wanted to become either a professional DJ or a film director in the future. Adrien was really starting to like Nino since he seemed like such a nice, relaxed, and fun guy. Though, he would not tell his father about it since there was no way his father would approve of someone that wanted to be a DJ one day.

Nino also gave him a low-down on the rest of their classmates since he did not know any of them other than Lyon, Vallia, and Chloe. And Adrien had to admit that there were certainly a lot of colorful characters in his class.

Starting with the girls, there were Marinette, Alya, Juleka, Alix, Rose, Mylene, and Sabrina. Marinette is a fashion design hopeful that is actually a big fan of Adrien's father. Alya wants to be a reporter and even has a blog all about her reporting on up-and-coming duelists. Juleka was a quiet and shy girl but is actually a very skilled duelist. Alix is an athletic girl that is about as tomboy as a girl can get. Rose is the class sweetheart that never wants to see the bad in anyone. Mylene wants to be an actress and was actually very skilled for her age. And Sabrina was basically just Chloe's minion that did anything that Chloe says no matter what. 

With the guys, there were Kim, Nathanial, Max, and Ivan. Kim was another of the class athletes that is known for having a really good heart while also being a bit oblivious at times. Nathaniel is an artist that loves to draw duel monsters and he dreams of being a card designer one day. Max is the class geek and he uses a lot of math to help him predict how duels will go. Ivan is a quiet guy that looks like he could be a WWE Superstar but is actually about as harmless as a guy can be.

Adrien also learned what most of the class seemed to think about Chloe, Lyon, and Vallia. In all honesty, they thought that Vallia was a very nice girl that was really quiet at times and was the only one that seemed to be able to "control" her brother. They even called her the Flower Princess since she always had flowers in her hair. That was the complete opposite of Lyon as Nino told him that most of them see Lyon as the cold and serious Ice Prince. It seemed that other than his sister, Lyon only really talks to Juleka, Kim, and Nathaniel from their class. Chloe probably was who Adrien learned was hated by everyone. Not even just in their class, but in the entire school. Nino tells Adrien that they all knew that Chloe was nothing but a bullying brat that gets away with everything she does because she is the daughter of the mayor.

Even when Adrien told Nino that Chloe was his childhood friend, he had only patted the blond and said that he would have better friends soon. Adrien just thought that Chloe needed to have a friend around and then maybe the others could see that she was not that bad. After all, she never was mean to him, so maybe that would help her get along with others.

Little did he know that if others heard him say things like that, they would have all facepalmed. Adrien was definitely a little too much of a little ball of sunshine for some people.

After a few more classes came the time that Adrien knew he would enjoy the most. Duel Practice class. Well, it was not really a class as it was more just the time every day that was used to have the students practice their dueling together. But, it was called a class anyway.

Adrien had no idea about what other decks were going to be used by the others, so it was going to be a very interesting class. He could hardly contain his excitement.

"You definitely have a great love of dueling, don't you, Adrien," Nino chuckled at his new friend's excitement.

"I can't help it," Adrien was practically vibrating in excitement. "I have not seen this much live dueling in a long time."

"You are going to love this class," Nino chuckled.

"It has been the one that I have been looking forward to all day," Adrien's grin was brighter than the sun.

All of the students made their way to the courtyard as they got their duel disks from their lockers in order for them to duel each other. From what Adrien could see, there was a lot of talking between the students that went to different classes. They all wanted to test their skills on those that were outside of their friend group.

"So, is there anyone that you want to duel first, dude," Nino asked the blond.

"I think that I should watch a duel before I take part in one," Adrien rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I may be rusty."

"Well, lucky for you that duels usually start off right away around here," Nino says.

And Nino turned out to be right. It seemed that Chloe did not take too kindly to being called out by Lyon earlier. She obviously wanted to duel him again. 

"This is seriously getting old, Chloe," Lyon crossed his arms as he looked at her. "You have never beat me before and you won't beat me now."

"You only got lucky all those times," Chloe yelled at him. "And I will be the one to beat you when your luck runs out!"

Lyon just rolled his eyes as he activated his duel disk. Chloe also activated hers as well.

 Adrien wondered what their desks would be. Usually, a duelist's duel disk would reveal the type of deck that they would use, but others simply just used a style that they liked. Since it has been a long time since he had seen any public duels since he usually just watched professional tournaments on TV, he was really curious and excited about this duel. And even when Chloe was his childhood friend, he had no idea what her deck would be.

Lyon and Chloe were the first two to step onto the duel field. They stood on opposite ends of it as they prepared to duel.

"This is really starting to get old," Vallia actually looked bored.

"Two people can only duel so many times before it starts getting predictable," Nathaniel says.

"It must be boring at this point since Alya is not even bothering to film it for her duelist blog anymore," Kim pointed out.

True to what the athlete had said, the reporter hopeful was on her phone, but she was not filming the duel about to happen at all.

"Do they really duel that often," Adrien asked them as he and Nino joined them.

"To no fault on Lyon's end since all he does is beat her and Chloe never accepts it whenever she loses," Vallia tells him. "She always accuses others of either cheating or just being lucky whenever she loses."

"Really annoying," Kim added.

Their attention then went back to the duel. The two duelists drew their five-card hands as they gained their 4000 life points. Their duel disk hologram systems activated.

"Let's duel," they both said.

"Ladies first, peasant," Chloe insulted Lyon while drawing her first card from her deck. "Let me start off your destruction with this precious crystal. Gem-Knight Garnet in attack mode."

On her field appeared a knight completely covered in bright red armor. Its fists were blazing with fire, making the garnet gem on its chest glow even brighter. Red eyes shined through the eye holes in its helmet. It got into a battle stance with its 1900 attack points.

Adrien remembered the Gem-Knights being one of the options that had been offered to him when he wanted to use a fusion deck. He actually thought that it was a good deck for Chloe since she always loved crystals and jewels. She owns more jewelry than anyone else that he had ever met. Except for Chloe's own mother, the famous Style Queen.

"Same move as always," Vallia yawned. "Does she ever get tired of trying to go full-offense and then leaving herself with weaker monsters for later?"

"At least it is always entertaining to see Lyon defeat her without even actually using his full skill-set," Juleka giggled.

Adrien was really starting to understand more about the class dynamics and where everyone has formed their own groups within the class. He would need to spend more time with them to try and see where he belonged. He just hoped that was actually possible since there is no doubt that his father will have him do a lot of photoshoots whenever he could to make up for the ones that he can not do while at school. But, it was worth it to actually be able to go to the duel academy.

"With Garnet on the field, I will let you admire its beauty while I end my turn with two facedown cards," Chloe said.

She placed down two facedowns. Facedown cards were when a duelist would place a spell or trap card onto the field in a face-down position in order to use them at a later time during the duel to use against their opponent. If the card's rules allowed it, then the trap or spell could even be used during their opponent's turn.

"At least you finally stopped talking," Lyon drew a card from his deck. "And I think that I will start my turn by activating a spell card. Gardener's Choice. This spell allows me to choose a level four or below plant-type monster from my deck and add it to my hand."

A card stuck out of his deck from its place in his duel disk's deck holder. Lyon then took the card and added it to his hand. 

"Plant cards," Adrien could admit that he was a little shocked.

Nino chuckled. "Yeah. No one would ever guess that he would use a plant deck since he is known as the Ice Prince."

"So, does that mean Vallia is the one that uses ice cards," Adrien laughed a little as he made the joke.

"Actually, my deck is called the Sky Spirit deck," Vallia tells him. "It's based on birds, harpies, and other wind monsters."

"Cool," Adrien was definitely now interested in seeing Vallia duel.

"You talk a big game, but you will see why things are called a force of nature and not a force of crystals," Lyon says. "I summon Floral-Beast Euphorbia Elephant in attack mode."

Lyon's deck was showing how it was made of the fusion of plants and animals. Onto his field appeared an elephant with a floral twist. It was similar to a real elephant, but it looked like it was made out of gray wood with a floral necklace of the reddish-pink flowers. It also had a vine-like tail with the same flower at the tip of its tail. There were also flowers around all of its ankles and well as a giant one at the end of its trunk. It also showed why the flower was also known as the Mexican Fireplant when it tooted its trunk and shot a fireblast into the air to show off its 1800 attack points.

"It seems that I was right when I declared when we first met that you are as dumb as you look," Chloe taunted him. "My Garnet will destroy that eye-sore."

"You really should learn some patience," Lyon said as he took the card from his hand that he had brought from his deck with his spell. "Because I have a plant-type monster on my field, I can summon Floral-Beast Honeysuckle Hummingbird to the field."

His newest monster flew onto the field with elegance and grace. It was a giant hummingbird with bright blue feathers and a white feathered belly. It had honeysuckle flowers all down its back as well as wrapped around its ankles and around its neck like a necklace. It floated next to the elephant monster as it gained a blue outline since it was in defense mode. It had 1500 defense points.

"You still can't beat me with those monsters," Chloe laughed tauntingly.

"I activate Euphorbia Elephant's special ability," Lyon ignored what Chloe was saying. "When another Floral-Beast is special summoned to the field, it gains its attack points for the rest of the turn."

Red energy flowed from the hummingbird to the elephant. Honeysuckle had 1000 attack points, and that now made Euphorbia 2800 attack points strong. Lyon ordered the attack on Garnet and his elephant charged at it. Garnet was unable to defend itself as it was lifted into the air by the elephant's trunk. The monster shattered into golden shards as Chloe's life points dropped to 3100.

"You got lucky," Chloe shouted.

"And you are hurting my ears," Lyon stated. "I end my turn with a facedown."

His elephant's attack points returned to normal as Chloe drew her own card. Adrien was definitely really intrigued by the duel. Lyon was certainly proving that he was really good with his cards.

"Your brother is really good," he tells Vallia.

"This is not even the best that he can do," Vallia smirked. "He could have placed Honeysuckle in attack mode and dealt extra damage after Euphorbia destroyed Garnet. But, he chose not to in order to give himself some defense as well as offense."

"Even when he's beaten her multiple times as you have told me, he does not underestimate her," Adrien realizes.

Vallia nodded. "Lyon takes every duel seriously no matter the opponent that he has."

Chloe was really looking angry as she wanted to defeat Lyon so badly. She looked at the cards in her hand and actually smirked. She obviously had a plan.

"Let's see how you handle this precious crystal," she continued to smirk. "Gem-Knight Alexandrite."

Another knight appeared on her field. This one had white armor, but with several rainbow-colored gemstones on its knees, elbows, back of hands, shoulder, and a giant gemstone on its chest. It held a sword as it had 1800 attack points.

"This strategy again," Lyon muttered to himself as he rolled his eyes. "This is seriously getting old."

"But this gem won't be sticking around for long," Chloe says. "Because by using its special ability, I can sacrifice it to summon any normal-type gem monster from my deck. And I think that Gem-Knight Crystal will do nicely."

Alexandrite shattered, but its pieces were put back together onto a different monster that Chloe called from her deck. This one was twice the size of her precious two knights as well as a lot more decorated as well. It had shared of clear crystals on its shoulders and on either side of its hips. The rest of it was a tan-colored armor right out of Camelot. It had 2450 attack points.

"At least her cards are pretty," Adrien heard their classmate Rose say.

"That's the only thing actually pretty about Chloe," their classmate Alix laughed at her insult.

"Now, attack that ridiculous bird of his," Chloe ordered her knight.

Crystal started to charge at Honeysuckle Hummingbird.

"Why go after the card in defense mode when she could actually do some damage by attacking Lyon's elephant," Adrien was confused.

"Even Chloe can come up with strategies sometimes," Nino tells him.

"And I think that I will make this duel a lot more interesting by playing my trap card, Strike Slash," Chloe played one of her facedown cards. "This not only increases my monster's attack by 700 points but also allows me to deal damage even when your monster is in defense mode."

Her knight charged at Lyon's hummingbird as it went up to 3150 attack points. The plant monster tried to fly away, but was grabbed by the knight and then slammed into the ground. The hummingbird shattered when it hit the ground. Lyon's life points dropped down to 2350 points.

"Now that was a major hit," Adrien said. "But... is Lyon even phased at all?"

Lyon really was just standing there. He did not look like he was worried at all even after losing one of his monsters and taking a big hit like that. And yet he looked as cool as a cucumber.

"He is the Ice Prince," Nino said.

Adrien did not like that Lyon was basically known as being only the Ice Prince to some of their classmates. Lyon was really nice, but he obviously saw something up with the rest of their classmates since he only talked with his sister, Juleka, Nathaniel, and Kim. He was so confused about how to deal with social things. He had been away from kids his age other than Chloe for so long that he really was clueless. He liked Lyon, but Nino had been so nice to him. His brain hurt trying to figure everything out.

Back at the duel, Chloe was looking smug since she landed such a big hit.

"That should take you down a peg or two," she laughed. "I'll end my turn with a facedown. You're move, loser."

The ending of her turn made Gem-Knight Crystal's attack points return to normal.

"Do you ever shut up," Lyon asked her as he drew his next card.

That only caused Chloe to glare at him some more.

"Just make your move already so that I can beat you," she was obviously annoyed.

"Whatever," Lyon said, basically ignoring her. "My garden has a lot more dangers in it than you think. And while I do thank my Euphorbia Elephant for its help, I now have to sacrifice it in order to call upon an even more dangerous flower."

His elephant shattered as he took another card from his hand to place on his duel disk.

"Wow," Adrien gasped when he saw it.

"I advance summon Floral-Beast Evening Primerose Bald Eagle," Lyon called.

The elephant was exchanged for another bird plant monster. This one was twice the size of his Honeysuckle Hummingbird. A giant-sized bald eagle with the primroses lining the top of its wings as well as having a giant one at the base of its neck as if it was the pendant of a necklace. Its talons were also like giant thorns. And almost every time that it flapped its wings, it seemed to scatter flower petals everywhere. It let out its eagle shriek as it glared at Chloe and Gem-Knight Crystal with its 2000 attack points.

"I always have liked that monster," Vallia smiled.

"I activate Evening Primerose's special ability," Lyon says. "When he is first summoned, I can banish another Floral-Beast monster from my graveyard to double its attack points until my next turn. I choose to banish Euphorbia Elephant."

He took the card out of his graveyard and put it in his pocket since monsters and cards taken out of play like that would not be used again unless another ability brought them back into play. When Lyon did that, what seemed to be the spirit of his Elephant went into the flower around Primerose's neck and then his eagle's attack points went up to 4000. It was definitely enough to beat Chloe's Gem-Knight.

With a wave of his arm, he commanded his monster to attack Chloe's knight. Gem-Knight Crystal tried to defend itself, but the eagle's strength was too much for it. With a difference of 1550 attack points, Evening Primerose Bald Eagle used its thorn-like talons to destroy the knight. It shattered as Chloe's life points dropped down to 1550, literally cutting her life points in half.

Lyon then ended his turn with another facedown card. He was still as cool as ice, something that Adrien really liked. He was not sure if he would ever be this calm when he would finally get a chance to duel. especially since while Lyon was currently in the lead, his 2350 life points were only 800 points ahead of Chloe's 1550.

"He is very good," Adrien says to Vallia. "But Chloe does seem to be putting up a good fight as well."

"That may seem what it looks like, but Lyon could have beat her at any point," Vallia tells him. "And this is not overconfidence in my brother, but the knowledge that I have of his deck."

"Plant cards are very powerful in the right hands," Adrien said. "There is that legendary plant duelist in Japan, Akiza, that used to be known as the Black Rose."

"Not just that," Vallia says. "Lyon's deck is very rare and very powerful. The fact that Chloe has made it this far in the duel is because Lyon has allowed her to. He could have used Hummingbird and Elephant to gate summon a powerful monster before and yet he didn't. He also has had a facedown card since his first turn that he also has not used. Chloe may think that she has an upper hand since it is now her turn, but Lyon's garden has a lot more thorns in it."

Adrien really did have a lot to learn as he looked at the duel again. And not just about the game, but about his new friends as well. He was getting more and more curious by the second.

Chloe drew her next card and she had a smirk on her face.

"You're going down, you wannabe prince," she said. "I activate the spell card Gem-Knight Fusion."

Adrien's eyes widened as he also smiled. He was finally getting to see some special summoning happen. While he had chosen a fusion deck as well, it was not like he had actually dueled anyone, yet.

"Anyone want to bet what she is going to try this time," he heard Kim ask the others. "I think she is going to try for Master Diamond again."

"I bet it will be Lady Brilliant Diamond," Nathaniel guessed.

"Maybe she will try and use both again," Juleka said.

"This really is getting old," Vallia says. "I am going to have to teach Lyon how to say 'no' to a duel."

"Or, one of us is just going to have to challenge him before Chloe gets the chance to do so," Kim stated.

"Either way, we really need to stop Chloe from continuing to annoy Lyon like this," Vallia said.

"With this card, I am going to fuse three of my precious crystals together," Chloe says, taking the remaining three cards in her hands. "I fuse Gem-Knights Sapphire, Obsidian, and Sardonyx. Bringing them together to form an even more powerful monster."

The three knights appeared over the field on Chloe's side. Sapphire was a female-looking knight with light blue armor that had a giant sapphire gem on its chest. Obsidian was a shorter knight with black armor and a giant obsidian gem on its chest. And Sardonyx was a muscled-looking knight carrying a wreaking ball-like weapon with maroon armor and a sardonyx gem on its chest. 

A swirl of blue and orange light appeared around them as the three knights all joined hands. They turned into a white light that joined in with the blue and orange light.

"Amazing," Adrien was impressed by the effects.

"I fusion summon, Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond," Chloe called her next monster.

A more elegant knight then appeared on the field. It was a large female knight with silver armor with select rainbow diamonds around the armor. It also had on a short red cape attached to its shoulders. There were also three large diamonds on its chest. It held a sword with its 3400 attack points.

"I knew it," Nathaniel shook his head.

"Good thing that I did not bet money on Master Diamond," Kim chuckled.

"And since I sent Gem-Knight Obsidian to the graveyard from my hand, that activated its special ability," Chloe says. "I can now take a normal-type Gem monster from my graveyard and special summon it to the field. So, let's have Garnet come back to help show you your place, loser."

The knight of fire soon rejoined the duel. Its fists still blazed with its 1900 attack points.

"Are you sure that Lyon is not in trouble," Adrien asked Vallia, concerned for Lyon's chances in the duel.

"While I am sure that Lyon would appreciate you being concerned for him, he can handle himself," Vallia tells Adrien.

"We will help get you up to speed on who is skilled and who is not, blondie," Kim placed one of his arms around Adrien's shoulders.

Adrien could not help but smile since Kim, even from the small amount of time that he knew him, always just seemed to be happy and energetic. His happiness was infectious.

"I also activate Brilliant Diamond's special ability," Chloe says. "Where she allows me to fusion summon using only one monster. And I think that Garnet will be the perfect crystal to help Brilliant Diamond take you down."

Brilliant Diamond moved its hands closer together and more diamonds came out of the ones on its chest. Garnet and the diamonds floated up into the air and another swirl of blue and orange light appeared.

"She thinks that she can beat me, but she refuses to grow as a duelist," Lyon thought to himself. "She is not going to get very far in the dueling world if she continues to believe that her style is perfect and never does anything to improve it." 

"I fusion summon, Gem-Knight Ruby," Chloe called her next monster.

Another red knight appeared. This one was the same size as Brilliant Diamon, but was more muscled and had deep red armor with some gold details as well. It also had a long blue cape rather than Brilliant Diamond's short red cape. It held an ax with a long handle to show off its 2500 attack points.

"I guess there's a reason why Chloe always needs Sabrina to do her math homework for her," Alix snickered.

While Chloe looked very irritated and angry over Alix's comments, she tried to focus on the duel. She was clearly planning on insulting Alix later for the pink-haired girl's comments.

"You won't be so high and mighty after I take you down," she glared at Lyon. "I play my trap Call of the Haunted. With this card, I can bring back any monster from my Graveyard. So, if you thought that you were done with Garnet, you were mistaken."

The knight once again appeared on her field. But as Adrien looked at Lyon, he was shocked that he was still as calm as he was. He knew that Evening Primerose's attack points were higher than all the monsters' on Chloe's field, but it was still three monsters against his single one. Plus, even with the two facedown cards on Lyon's field, Chloe had another facedown as well. He really wished he knew more about his classmates to know if he should actually be worried about who would win and who would lose.

Plus, even though Chloe was his friend, he was actually cheering for Lyon on the inside. The way that Lyon was able to keep his cool so easily was something Adrien knew that he could never do. He would have been freaking out if he was in Lyon's position.

"I wonder if she will ever try anything new," Lyon was seriously annoyed with Chloe thinking that she could beat him with the same strategies over and over again.

"Let's see how tough you are when I activate Gem-Knight Ruby's special ability," Chloe smirked. "By sending Garnet back to the graveyard, my Ruby gains all of its attack points. And that will be enough to take out your weak flower and then have Brilliant Diamon finish you off for good."

Ruby looked at Garnet and the knight almost seemed to be frightened as its bigger comrade took its ax and brought it down onto it. Garnet turned into red energy and was absorbed by the ax. Ruby's attack points went up to 4400. Just enough to defeat Lyon's Floral Beast. But yet even then, Lyon did not look as if he was phased in the least.

But at the same time, there was a hint of annoyance in his eyes when Chloe so easily sacrificed her Gem-Knight the way that she did. How she did not care at all instead of respecting her card. Lyon actually looked annoyed with her over that.

"A duelist needs to respect ALL of their cards," Lyon thought as he narrowed his eyes a little at Chloe. "They are not just tools to use."

"Time for your luck to run out," Chloe smirked. "Take down that bird, Gem-Knight Ruby."

Her knight charged across the field toward Lyon's monster. Adrien did not want to see, yet he also could not look away. Chloe's monster jumped into the air and brought down its ax onto Evening Primerose. There was a burst of light as the eagle shattered. No one could see anything because of the light. Chloe did look smug as Lyon went down to 1950 life points.

"She is going to be in for a surprise," Adrien heard Vallia say.

"Huh," Adrien was surprised by her.

He only got a smirk in response from the human version of a flower.

Chloe still looked smug. "I told you that you were a loser and now I get to show everyone how much of a loser you are."

"You really need to wait for the smoke to clear before you think that you have won," Lyon said.

Chloe and Adrien were both confused. At least, they were confused until the light finally died down and it was revealed what was on Lyon's field. There was a glowing trap card on his field and there were three new monsters as well. Even if they were a lot smaller than his usual Floral Beast cards.

The three of them were little kittens but actually were more like little lion cubs since they had manes made out of giant sunflower petals. Each of them also had sunflowers at the ends of their cute tails while also having sunflower petals around each of their ankles as well. They all were sitting on the field with blue outlines around them with their zero defense points.

"WHAT," Chloe obviously did not see that coming. "You were supposed to lose like the pathetic loser that you are!"

"You have never beat me before and that will not happen now," Lyon tells her. "As for what has happened, I activated my trap card. Flower Pollen activates whenever a Floral-Beast monster that is level five or higher is destroyed. And when it happens, three Floral Tokens appear on the field. And as long as they are on the field, you can not target any other monsters that I bring out."

Tokens are different types of monsters than regular monster cards. Tokens were summoned through the use of a card effect rather than them being actual monster cards that could be summoned normally. The most common tokens were the Sheep Tokens from the Scapegoat spell card. But, a lot of cards have their own token monsters that could be summoned.

"Woah," Adrien gasped. "He really is good."

"Told you," Vallia smirked.

Chloe basically snarled at him. "I WILL take you down, you utterly ridiculous loser! Brilliant Diamond, get rid of one of those ugly things."

The tall knight ran across the field but stopped just short of stepping on one of the Floral Tokens. It was actually funny to watch as the monster itself looked conflicted about actually attacking the adorable creature in front of it. But, the knight ended up just flicking it in the forehead with one of its fingers and the token monster shattered. Chloe ended her turn after that.

Lyon drew his card and then got a look in his eyes. And out of all the looks that Adrien knew from watching professional duelists on TV, it would be how that look was one where they decided to end the duel in that turn.

"I would say that this was a nice duel, but I would be lying," Lyon said. "It's time to end this."

Chloe laughed to taunt him. 

"As if you can actually win when all you have are two stupid cats while I have my beautiful crystals," she flicked her ponytail as she looked smug.

The "I'm going to win in this turn" look only got more intense in Lyon's eyes.

"Two plant-type monsters are all I need," he said. "I use my two Floral Tokens to become the keys to open the gate."

"I've never seen a gate summon before," Adrien was excited.

"Then you, blondie, are in for a treat," Kim tells him.

The two tokens on Lyon's field floated up. Both of them soon turned into golden keys while a golden gate rose up behind Lyon. The two keys went into the gate's keyholes.

"Danger blooms in my garden and gives definition to the phrase 'force of nature," Lyon calls his monster. "The Floral-Beasts never let anyone stand in their way of victory. I call a creature to aid me in this fight. I gate summon Floral-Beast Black-Eyed Susan Black Bear."

The keys inside of the gate turned and unlocked it. The gate opened and out came Lyon's monster. It was a giant black bear with emerald eyes and very sharp teeth. It had a chain made out of vines around its neck with a black-eyed susan as the pendant of the chain. Other flowers were also around its chest and back as if it was like armor. It also had thorn-like claws with its 2300 attack points.

The two keys came out of the gate before the gate vanished. The keys floated above the bear monster. It was how gate summoning worked. The keys would be like a combination of an XYZ monster's overlay units and the pendulum cards that are placed in the pendulum zone in order to summon monsters. The keys would stay on the field until they were destroyed by another card effect. And until the keys were destroyed, the monster that they were used to summon would return to the extra deck to be summoned over and over again until the keys were no longer able to call it. If the keys were destroyed before the monster, that would be when the gate monster would be sent to the graveyard.

"Gate summoning is so cool," Adrien was amazed.

"Lyon always has been a master at it for a long time," Vallia giggled.

"If you think that you can beat me with an eye-sore like that, then you are definitely the loser that I know you are," Chloe taunted Lyon.

"Never underestimate a plant, Chloe," Lyon smirks. "You never know if it has any thorns. Such as my Black-Eyed Susan Black Bear's special ability. When you have two attack-position monsters with attack points stronger than itself, then it can pass right by them and attack you directly."

"WHAT," Chloe did not like the sound of that.

"Attack her and end this, my friend," Lyon commanded his bear.

The Floral-Beast charged across the field to attack Chloe. It pushed past both of her knights, knocking them to the ground as it did. It raised one of its paws and slashed it down at Chloe. She was knocked onto her butt by the energy that was used for the attack. Her life points went down to zero, making Lyon the winner.

"Never doubt Lyon when it comes to his dueling, Adrien," Vallia tells the blond. "He is the best in our class."

Adrien was definitely looking forward to spending more time in his new school.

[kumalimited]

Miraculous Ladybug - Awakening : a review (spoilers without context)

(Made with love by someone who went to the world premiere - seen with the French dub)

The good

Nice animation

Nice OST (excluding the musical part)

Paris being a bit more like real life Paris (we love good metro representation ok)

LADYNOIR MY BELOVED I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD

George Michael royalties draining the film budget

DJwifi shenanigans all over again

The meh

Supporting characters of the show being in the background but kinda absent

Adrien being a loner for some reason

The pacing of it all is a bit all over the place even though they had 20 more minutes than the two Origins episodes

Stuff that is both bad but also makes it a must-watch

Plagg making fart jokes

Tikki rapping

Gabriel's Abba era hair

Gabriel Winx wings

Gabriel detaining random criminals in some dungeon under his house in the catacombs and criminals being casually ok with it as well as with doing a musical number with the guy detaining them

Zag making the deliberate choice to replace the "Ma Lady" surname by "Watermelon" for some reason

Adrien missing the goddamn apocalypse caused by his father due to ugly crying to Careless Whisper

The ending is a remake of Star Wars episode III last fight

Parisians being super casual abt the fact that the Seine became LAVA and that their flats won't be restored through magical ladybugs for some reason

Astruc is barely mentioned in the credits meaning that he was barely involved in its development and it shows

Stuff that is really bad imo

The SONGS.

No really the songs are bad

i mean music is dope, lyrics are very bad

Zag wanted his own Disney musical except he cannot write lyrics to save his life and has no idea how to pace a musical number to make it interesting

i.e Marinette has three "who am I, how can I become who I really be" songs when all of her internal conflict is due to her falling randomly at times, which makes a very poor (but also the only one) character arc

i.e there are seven songs in an one hour and a half long movie

i.e those songs stop the action to make us listen to lame ass lyrics (at least in French)

if i took a shot each time a song by Marinette mentioned "être moi" (being me) or each time Ladybug and Chat Noir repeated "Plus forts ensemble" (stronger together) I'd be in ER

because the original show didn't have any catchphrase at all isn't it

since the songs are stopping the movie every time they happen, there's no time for character development so

no umbrella scene

no Adrien character development whatsoever

no justification for Marinette preferring Adrien to Chat Noir

no justification of why Adrien was chosen as a holder

TL DR : A very nice musical fanfic that I'll enjoy making fun of for the years to come

[pearl484-blog]

A World a Little Less Lonely

Adrien Agreste loves the Ladyblog, and he loves the Ladyblogger, Alya even more. She's the best: insightful, smart, clever, and most important of all, she's Nino's girlfriend. The problem is, she doesn't like him.

My entry for Adrien AUGreste 2023: Friends

Ao3 link. Series link.

It was no secret that Adrien loved Nino. Maybe not in the same way that he loved Ladybug. Adrien was pretty sure he’d never love anyone the same way he loved Ladybug, but Nino was his best friend . Sometimes, Nino felt like he was his only friend. 

Which was crazy because he had Chloe…who sometimes got too busy hanging out with Sabrina to really want to spend time with Adrien. Or Marinette…who may or may not hate him. He wasn’t really sure about that one. Sometimes they would be fine together and have a great time, or other times she would suddenly get really scared of him and start saying a bunch of weird stuff like she was afraid he was about to eat her or something. Adrien supposed he had the guys, but if he was being honest, they really only hung out with him if it was a group outing…

Well, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that today, he and Nino were listening to some of Nino’s remixes together, just the two of them. It was nice, just being with Nino and knowing that he wanted to be with Adrien and only Adrien. 

Adrien knew , in the same way he knew that Ladybug would always save the day, that if he ever said something or if he wanted to talk, Nino would pause the music and just…listen. Like Adrien mattered, like he really cared. It didn’t matter how emotional Adrien was or how crazy he was acting, Nino always had his back and he always had this way of making Adrien feel like he wasn’t crazy or out of control. 

If Father had hurt Adrien’s feelings, Nino would say he was being unfair and way too hard on his best bro. If Adrien’s schedule was getting way too full, Nino would say that it was unreasonable and remind Adrien that he was a good kid, the best kid that Adrien knew. He told Adrien that he was responsible, even when Adrien knew he wasn’t being a good son. He told Adrien that he was good, even when he felt miserable. He told Adrien that he deserved to be happy, even when Adrien just felt so hollow, like he’d been eaten alive, and the thing was, when Nino said that stuff, a part of Adrien believed him. 

Yes, Nino had an unreasonable hatred of Father. Yes, Nino didn’t quite understand all the things you had to do to be the face of the Agreste brand, to deserve that honor. But Nino made Adrien feel like it didn’t matter. Like the only thing that mattered about Adrien wasn’t his reputation, or his skills, or his smarts. It was just Adrien, and Nino loved him. 

God, it was almost painful how much Nino loved Adrien, and all the ways he’d show Adrien. He’d show Adrien all of his movies. He’d tell Adrien all of the stuff that happened in his crazy, loving home. He’d tell Adrien all his little secrets, and when it was just him and Adrien, it was just him and Adrien. Nino never ignored him or kept on doing what he was doing without at least trying to let Adrien feel included. 

Sometimes, though, it made Adrien feel a little guilty. Especially when Nino invited Adrien out on his dates with Alya. 

Now, don’t get Adrien wrong. He loved Alya. You didn’t get to be the Ladyblog’s #1 fan without at least liking the Ladyblogger herself at least a little. He especially loved watching Alya and Nino get along. They were so adorably cute and in sync, and Adrien could only wish that one day, he and Ladybug would be this endearing if they got together.  

It was just, he felt selfish. He knew Nino was only inviting him along because he liked the Ladyblog so much, and Alya was his girlfriend. Plus, Nino always wanted to include Adrien in his plans, but Adrien knew he was a third wheel, and well, he was pretty sure Alya didn’t like him. 

Nino always insisted that she did, that it was Alya who was asking Nino to invite him to all sorts of things, but, if Adrien was being completely honest, he didn’t believe a word of that. 

For starters, everytime that “Alya” invited Adrien, she would bring along Marinette or get super anxious whenever Marinette wasn’t around. It didn't matter what kind of outing it was or how late Marinette was, Alya always made them wait. Which, yeah, fine, Alya was just being a good friend, and Marinette did always struggle with her schedule. Except, Alya always kinda ignored Adrien whenever it was just the three of them, preferring to flirt with Nino constantly, and whenever Marinette was there, she always tried to get the two of them to talk to each other. 

Now, Adrien knew that Marinette was Alya’s friend, and Alya had every right to flirt with, cuddle, and otherwise hang out with her boyfriend on their dates while leaving the non-lovebirds to hang out. He was fine with that, but Adrien wasn’t stupid. 

Every time Adrien tried to bring up something on the Ladyblog to try to talk with Alya about, she always tried to get Marinette to answer him. Every. Single. Time. Marinette didn’t even like the Ladyblog that much! She only ever read the articles about Ladybug, Chat Noir, and their fights because she still had a massive crush on Chat Noir. 

Which Adrien was not judging her on. He knew how hard it was to get over an unrequited crush. Both as the object of many of those crushes and his affections towards Ladybug. 

But Adrien was very freaking certain that Marinette did not give a hoot about debating Adrien on the Ladyblog’s most recent post about the possible link between wish granting carp and Ladybugs. No. There was only one possible explanation. Alya was totally using Marinette as a social buffer. Probably to avoid making Nino sad when he asked if he could invite Adrien on outings. 

Of course, that left Adrien in a pickle. On one hand, he was definitely interrupting a lot of date nights between Alya and Nino, which Adrien was sure violated several rules in the bro code, but Nino was the one inviting him, not Adrien. Adrien knew he was just being nice and thoughtful and caring, and Adrien could never turn down an opportunity to hang out with his best bro. He just couldn’t . Plus, if he did, he might hurt Nino’s feelings or worse, leave Marinette hanging. Still, if things kept going the way things always did, Alya would just keep resenting him more and more, and that drove Adrien crazy. 

Then, one day, something unexpected happened. For some reason, both Adrien and Alya had arrived at their hang out, a nice little coffee shop before either Nino or Marinette. Together they went to a table for 4 to hold their missing’s friends’ seats while they waited.  

They waited in silence for one minute. Then two. So, Adrien, deciding to finally get the chance to talk with the Ladyblogger herself, sans the costume, asked her opinion about one of her earliest articles: “A History of Ladybugs in Folklore Throughout the Ages”. It was a bit Euro-centric and had a lot of the flaws from her early work, but it had been fascinating, and Adrien wondered if she would ever revisit it. 

Alya had hemmed and hawed before saying that she was kinda meh about it, but she thought that Marinette might have some pretty good thoughts about it. Marinette was very thoughtful and super interested in all that stuff and blah blah blah. Lies, lies, lies. At the same time that Alya was talking, she started texting on her phone, not even bothering to hide the fact that she was panic-texting Marinette asking where she was. 

Finally, Adrien had enough. “Why don’t you like me?” he asked, quietly. “Did I say something wrong? Did I do something?” He froze as he realized something. “Are my comments too wordy?” 

That got Alya’s attention. She put her phone down as she looked at Adrien, cocking her head and putting her hand on her hip. Her look of confusion almost seemed believable.  

“Wait, what?” she asked. “Why would you think I don’t like you?”

Adrien gave her a small shrug. It was best not to start out by actually accusing someone. That just burned bridges, but it was usually a good strategy to start off being as quiet and meek as possible. People tended to like that. They liked to stay in conversations where they were the confident ones. 

“You never really want to talk to me,” Adrien told her quietly, trying not to be overheard by one of the patrons. The last thing he’d want is a scene. 

Alya rolled her eyes. “That’s ridiculous,” she said. “Of course I like talking to you. I’m talking to you now, aren’t I?” 

Adrien knew he shouldn’t push it. This was Nino’s girlfriend. Whether Adrien wanted to admit it or not, she had been awfully generous in letting Adrien tag along on as many of her and Nino’s dates as she did. He was Adrien Agreste, the face of the Agreste brand, and he knew better than to let his insecurities get the better of him. Even if they were whispering at him that he needed to fix this, he needed to patch this up to get it under control. She was only a little cranky because he was a third wheel. That was all. He didn’t need to poke at it. 

“You always want me to talk to Marinette instead,” Adrien told her, unable to stop himself from this inevitable train crash. Well great. Adrien must’ve been spending too much time as Chat Noir lately. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. 

“Even if I’m trying to talk to you about the Ladyblog,” he told her, holding firm, “there’s always something more important or some reason that I absolutely need to talk to Marinette instead.” He tightened his hands, feeling the bite of his fingernails digging into his palm as he dug deep for courage. “I know that it's probably annoying, having me tag along on so many dates. I get that. I can talk to Nino for you, if that’s a problem, have him stop inviting me so much so you guys can have your alone time.”

“What?” Alya said a little too loudly, drawing the attention of all the patrons around her. “No no no. I like you being here. I like you coming to these things. That’s why I keep asking Nino to invite you to these things. Didn’t he tell you that?”

Adrien blinked. “Wait, so Nino wasn’t lying about that? I thought he was pressuring you into letting me do this with you or something.”

Alya snorted. “Come on. You’ve met Nino. Do you really think that I would let him push me around? Trust me, if I didn’t want you here, you wouldn’t be here. End of story.”

Adrien thought about that for a moment, trying to understand what was going on, before he gave up, and asked, “Then why don’t you ever want to talk to me?”

Alya sighed in frustration. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you. It’s-” Alya groaned. “Look, it’s complicated, but really, part of it is that I think that you and Marinette, you two have a lot in common, and I was hoping that if you two got to know each other…”

Suddenly, Adrien had a realization. “Oh, you’re trying to make sure that Marinette and I become friends?”

Alya’s smile tightened. “Yeah, something like that,” she gritted out. 

Adrien nodded sympathetically. It was no secret among the class that Marinette had social anxiety, and while it wasn’t as bad as Juleka’s, Adrien knew that she struggled with talking to people often. Then he realizes something. If Alya’s trying to help Marinette make friends with Adrien, does that mean that Nino’s trying to help Adrien extend out his own friend group?

“Is Nino helping you?” Adrien asks, even though he already knows the answer, because Nino’s just a good friend like that. 

“Yeah,” Alya admits. “Nino’s helping me.”

“Nino’s the best,” Adrien tells Alya, as if she had somehow managed not to understand just how kind and awesome and amazing Nino was, as if anyone could miss how lucky they were to know Nino, his Father excluded of course. 

“Of course he is,” Alya says, and the look in her eyes lets Adrien know that he’s found the one person in the world who might love Nino more than he does. As she leans in close like she’s whispering a secret, she asks, “Did he tell you about the special mixtape he made me?”

It doesn’t take long for a conversation to follow after that. Both of them trade stories about all the little ways Nino shows he cares and trade all the funny stories they have, and it’s not about the Ladyblog, but in a way it's something better, something kinder. Nino may have only intended to help Marinette and Adrien be friends, but Adrien thinks it's kinda poetic how he brought Alya and him together too. 

It’s nice, Adrien thinks, to have a world that’s a little less lonely.