#oh also nathalie helped. I think

[chaos-has-theories]

ML AU where at some point before "Emilie's" death, Emilie and Amelie swapped places. Something something dutiful daughter and adventurous daughter, something something Emilie got bored with Gabriel while Amelie just wanted to get away from Colt Fathom.

Solution: parent trap but it's husband trap and the trap part is more literal

Emilie gets rid of Colt and gets to live a fun life with the surly son, occasionally showing up at Agreste Manor to put on the performance of her lifetime. (Remember? She was an actress!)

Amelie, who was sick after years of living under her parents' and husband's thumb gets to spend her last year chilling with a doting but distant husband and the sugar and spice and everything nice boy.

All of which to say -

Gabriel Agreste, dying of Miraculous poisoning: I want my wife Emilie to come back. I am willing to die if it means she can live in my place and take care of Adrien

Gimmi, who knows full well that his wife Emilie is currently doing a grieving widow routine on the other side of the channel, but who does not understand that Gabriel wouldn't know that: lol ok

[jasmine-the-fox]

For those who (do not) ring the bells

azv2448 now A29Z10 can really come up with ideas I see… but how about you all read it and tell me what you all think alright?

Let’s go!!

Due to Cat Noir refusing to help Ladybug… she had no choice but to call for outside help… specifically from Gotham. She contacted the Justice League first and explained with proof thanks to her loyal team (Chloe aka Queen Bee, Luka aka Viperion and Kagami aka Ryuko) she was quickly transferred to Batman who is their well-known detective and he agreed to come with his team to help them take down Hawkmoth, Mayura and Lila Rossi once and for all.

Thanks to them, things were easier for Ladybug when defeating akuma’s, in fact as Marinette she had more breathing room to work on her clothing designs then before when Cat Noir would refuse to come help during an akuma battle. Soon, Batman revealed that they had uncovered Hawkmoth and Mayura’s identities… meaning they could fight them and Lila at long last.

But… things aren’t always so easy…

Cat Noir arrives before Ladybug with a determined look on his face “I’m giving you a choice Ladybug: be with me or I will never come back to help” he said which shocked everyone. Ladybug sighed before speaking “I don’t feel the same towards you Cat Noir. No matter how many times you ask me to date you… my answer will never change to a yes” she replied.

This angered him and Cat Noir moved to attack her but luckily Robin moved just in time and saved her while reclaiming the ring for her from her horrible partner… revealing Cat Noir to be Adrien Agreste… Marinette’s old crush.

Ashamed of losing the ring, Adrien runs from the group in the hopes that Ladybug will feel bad and come for him and return the ring while agreeing to date him. But she never did, he waited and then walked home only to be shocked as he watched his father and Nathalie being taken away while being called Hawkmoth and Mayura.

He faintly noticed in Ladybug’s hand the butterfly and peacock miraculous which proved his father and Nathalie were Hawkmoth and Mayura. Scared of being also arrested, Adrien ran to Nino’s place to stay for a night, in the privacy of Nino’s room he told him what he saw which shocked Nino. He said he could get his parents to let him stay for a few nights but nothing more… he would need to return home at some point sadly.

Days go by, Gabriel, Nathalie and Lila were revealed for there crimes and actions… resulting in everyone hating them. Luckily Adrien wasn’t affected by it and was able to return home, the class felt angry and betrayed for believing Lila from the start which resulted in them cutting contact with her. Adrien felt bad for Lila but it was bound to happen in the end, during this time Adrien thought long and hard before deciding to go after Marinette to be his girlfriend.

She was perfect in so many ways and he was certain that she would be a better Ladybug then the one he had fallen for first, as a result he went over to the bakery to ask her out on a date… only to find a stranger working to register “Oh sorry but they moved. Turns out their daughter got a scholarship somewhere and they moved with her” he said before Adrien left the bakery to find the rest of the class.

On there end… they were told that Mari moved to America which resulted in them having no idea on where she was exactly. Adrien tried to find her but he only got dead ends each time, then one day… years later, he found Mari.

There was a fashion celebrity show in Gotham and Mari was the guest on the show, Adrien was so happy and excited that he told the entire class about the news and helped them buy tickets to fly to Gotham with him to talk to Marinette at long last. Mari was out heading for an appointment when Adrien ran after her, she sighed while Tikki grumbled from inside her purse as Adrien caught up “What do you want Agreste?” she asked which shocked Adrien greatly.

No blushing red, not stuttering through his name… nothing! Just a glare and a cold tone in her voice, Adrien was so shocked as Mari checked the time on her watch making him quickly speak “I like you Marinette! Please go out with me!” he said which to his shock… got no reaction out of Marinette “I don’t like you that way Agreste… besides I’m getting married. Now leave me alone” she said and walked away from him.

Angry that he was rejected, he went back to the class and lied to them about his encounter with Mari “She was crying! She want’s to be with me but her parents are forcing her to marry an older guy who hurts her!” he said which angered the class and made them determined to stop the wedding no matter what… but they fail, instead they are thrown out just seconds into entering the venue by security with Mari glaring at them.

“I don’t know what Agreste told you and I honestly don’t care… just know that he also knew about Rossi and her lies and instead of helping me to tell you… he kept quiet and told me to take the high road” she said before going back inside to finish getting ready for her big day.

The class, angry by her words glared at Adrien before leaving him behind in silence, Adrien as a result loses his mind… he slowly works to earn money and buys a house in Gotham and then works to plan out his life with Mari… years later he is sent to Arkham “You can’t do this to me! Mari and I love each other! Just ask her!!” he screams as he’s being taken to his cell “Shut it Agreste! Miss Wayne told us how you claimed her and mister Wayne’s kids as yours and how she loved you after Batman save them” a guard said before throwing Adrien into his cell and walked away.

Leaving Adrien to scream out for Marinette… begging her to get him out and to explain her love for him… only for it to never happen as she loves Damian no matter what…

[uptoolateart]

Hey, hey, hey - time for a Gabriel analysis!

So. After we learned that Gabriel Agreste wasn't his original name, my mind jumped to Andre Bourgeois, who also once had a different name. In keeping with the themes of the show, we are seeing that secret identities don't always come with masks and comic book names.

We had a hint of Gabriel's secret past in Psycomedian, when Harry visited and alluded to his Gabi days. How, oh how could the Gabriel Agreste we all know have ever been friends with someone like Harry Clown? This is only possible if he was once a different sort of person.

We had further clues in Gabriel's vision of the past, in the time burrow in Evolution - and in Emilie's video messages left for Nathalie, and the photographs of Gabriel, Emilie and Nathalie on some expedition, seen in Passion - and in Amelie's accusation that Gabriel has changed, in Emotion.

Adrien is also aware his father has changed with time, demonstrated when he tells Gabriel that Emilie once said they came from different backgrounds.

The photos shown in Revelation finally gave concrete evidence that Gabriel used to have an adventurous spirit and he used to smile. He was fun...but something changed...and I don't think it was just Emilie's death that caused the personality shift. Based on casual comments Adrien has made throughout the series, his father has been strange for years.

Gabriel tells Adrien that he and Kagami are 'of the same design' - and we know he means this literally. But taking it as a metaphor...for two seasons I've wondered what Emilie's parents were like. We can infer that she comes from a wealthy, 'important' family. Maybe Gabriel struggled to fit in and win the approval of his in-laws. Maybe he never felt good enough. When he tells Adrien things like, 'You're clinging to Marinette because her mediocrity lets you shine more,' perhaps someone once talked like that about him. With that kind of background, it would be unsurprising that he decided to try to forge a new identity.

And let's remember that Gabriel is a designer. His whole empire is founded on inventing personae. Even beyond the sentimonster aspect, he tells Marinette that he designed the image the world holds of his son. Everything is his invention. That speech in Pretension proved just how deep his God complex runs - he fully believes he has made the world in his image. Even the episode title - Pretension - smacks of the image he is presenting to the world in lieu of truth.

At this point, what we're seeing is a 'new money' stereotype - a self-made man who now spurns those who remind him of where he came from. It's one of the most shameful things about him. No matter how much fame and money you get...you can't forget your roots, people. Maybe that's easy for me to say because I'm not rich or famous. But I just can't imagine turning my back on my own origin story. It's what makes you who you are. Gabriel clearly didn't want to be that person anymore...and that's sad.

What's also fascinating is that, if we zoom in on those pictures Nathalie took in Revelation, we see that once upon a time, Gabriel - Gabi Grassette - was a punk. Let's take a moment to appreciate the spiked hair, makeup, leather jacket, ripped jeans, and dog collar - not to mention that smirk. And far from being ashamed of his work with Harry Clown as a human frites (who, by the way, reminds me so much of Mr Banana), he was smiling about it. Man, he loved it. Contrast that with Gabriel in Party Crasher - 'JOY.... What's going on in my HOUSE!?'

If it were at all possible for the old Gabi to meet Cat Noir, I can imagine him loving Cat's costume. On that note, I can't help but compare that dog collar with Cat's bell. I've said before that I see the bell as a symbol of Cat being domesticated and under control. Gabi probably saw his dog collar more as a rebellion, but maybe it too is a symbol of how he once felt controlled by someone.

The thing is...the punk movement was all about anti-establishment anti-authoritarianism. Today, Gabriel is the establishment he once rebelled against. It makes me think of John Lydon of the Sex Pistols turning Conservative and advertising butter. Musicians like Donovan - not a punk, but in a similar category, as a 1960s hippie - are rare for maintaining that same spirit all through their lives.

Gabriel is a 'sell-out'. He gave up that spirit and became someone unrecognisable. Those photos demonstrate that Emilie isn't the only body buried in a 'basement' in the Agreste mansion. There is a different person buried under the cold veneer that is Gabriel - a person Nathalie probably misses. I expect that's why she's stuck with him all this time, despite her better instincts. Something tells me Gabi would've made a better father.

The irony is that Adrien's moments of rebellion are probably one of the few things he has in common with his father, if we look far enough back in Gabriel's past. That, and their temper - and randomly breaking into eccentric dance and song. Gabi might have appreciated Adrien more for standing true to his principles. Maybe Adrien sometimes reminds Gabriel of himself and he can't stand it - can't stand thinking of what he's lost along the way.

I believe Gabriel exists in a perpetual state of regret. Part of him probably misses Gabi, too. After all, Gabi got Emilie. What has Gabriel got? Wealth, sure, but Emilie's dead, Adrien all but hates him, Nathalie's wasting away, and Gabriel himself has only weeks to live.

If you think about it, Gabriel's whole quest has been about getting a do-over. He wants a second chance with Emilie - a second chance for Nathalie - a second chance at his own life. He then tells Adrien that his greatest wish is to try to reconnect with him...because he knows he doesn't have much time left with his son. Even then, though, his selfishness prevails. (Psst, Gabi...you can't make up for years of terrible parenting with banana pancakes.)

Thinking of the snake miraculous, the second chance lets you know what's going to happen, enabling you to make better decisions the next time around. In other words: it's about learning from your mistakes. Gabriel never learns, and it is his refusal to accept destiny and his own human fallibility that is causing his disintegration.

The more Gabriel necrotises, the more we can see this as his 'sins' catching up with him. He doesn't seem to grasp that all the blackness devouring him is, in a way, the blackness of his own heart. Even if he erases the whole world, he can't erase his deeds. If he managed to get his Wish and bring Emilie back, she would be horrified. She'd wonder where her Gabi went.

Gabriel is proof that 'evolution' isn't always positive. He reinvented himself once, and now, because it didn't go the way he wanted, he's trying to reinvent things again. Tomoe also hints at a belief that the solution to her problems is to make the world anew - to get a second chance. Felix tries this, too, when he creates the red moon to wipe out all people except his select group.

But Felix does learn - Ladybug helps him see that even if you erase all the people causing you so much grief...you still have to deal with that pain. What Gabriel fails to see is that - like Cat Blanc on the roof, all alone without his lady - destroying your witnesses won't remove the witness in your own heart.

Even if Gabriel wiped everyone else's memory of his crimes, he would still know what he'd done. And when you cross those kinds of lines, you can never go back to who you once were.

Please no post-Revelation spoilers in the comments :)

[bluedalahorse]

I think I’ll say this once, since I need to say it before I can move on to more excited posting about promos and things:

Obviously Young Royals means a lot to me. It’s become another way for me to connect with my hyphenated-American heritage and to start teaching myself Swedish again. It helped me survive a pretty brutal year of bullying at work. It made me confident enough to start the process of getting formally evaluated for autism and ADHD. I’ve been writing a 200k+ historical AU fanfic for YR—the kind of fic I always read and adored back in fandoms when I was younger, the kind of fic I wanted to write myself. I’m proud of the way that Heart and Homeland has made me a better writer, and I’m glad for the way it’s deepened my friendship with @heliza24. It is Young Royals in part that inspired by thesis on restorative justice in YA literature. When I was in the hospital last fall because I almost had a literal stroke from stress, I was comforted and kept calm by the fact that I was wearing a YR t-shirt and had a plush doll of a YR character sitting in my lap. And all of that is the short list.

As we come close to the release date, I hope that every single member of the fandom gets something they enjoy in the new season. I don’t think every person is going to get everything they want, but I genuinely hope there’s a moment, a scene, a line that brings them joy. We’ve all stuck with this series for a while, and I want us all to have something we can take with us. A little bit of sparkle for the road, if you will.

There’s of course the possibility that some of us get a lot of what we want, and others of us are let down. I know this was the case for season 2, and it feels naive to imagine that everyone in the fandom will be equally satisfied by season 3. I’ve got my fingers crossed that I’ll enjoy the hell out of it, but I’m also trying to prepare my heart in case it’s not what I wanted. I’m trying to gently talk to myself right now and say that even if the third season leaves me upset and unsatisfied—even if the writing takes a nosedive or it’s good writing but it’s just not what I wanted—that I still learned a lot about crafting stories and being myself and surviving hardship and thinking about systems and whatever else, from this show. That my experience with the first two seasons still matters, that my work on my fic is something to be proud of. If season 3 is a disappointment, Heart and Homeland will be my new canon. I’m sure there are other people out there talking themselves up in this way too. I know we’re all pushing through the pre-season jitters.

The other thing I’m trying to reconcile right now is how I feel about the promotional material that’s come out, and the conversations around that. Like on my own, I actually feel pretty great? It’s fun to see the new stuff come in? But then I think about the ratio of Wilmon to other things and some of the responses I’m seeing to that. And I see people say like “oh the show is back to focusing on what’s actually good about it” and “it’s great that they’re doing this because the audience doesn’t really care about characters who aren’t Wilmon.” And… hello? Aren’t I the audience? Tumblr isn’t too bad (most of the time) but then there’s like, Instagram, where the Netflix Nordic posted whole set of photos of different pairs and friendships from a whole bunch of shows, and there was one (1) picture of Sara and Rousseau and I saw enough comments where people were like “ew! Vomit! Give us Wilmon instead!” that like… y’all. Frida Argento is a human being and a damn good actress, and Lisa is a good writer of female characters, and like. We can celebrate that, once in a while. We can create space for her too. It’s not Frida OR Omar and Edvin. It’s Frida AND Omar AND Edvin AND Nikita AND Malte AND Nathalie AND Mimmi AND Fabian AND Samuel AND… look I could keep on listing but I’m going to get distracted if I do.

Like, man. I love Wilmon. Don’t get me wrong. I love the complexity their relationship can run with. There are lines heliza has written for them in fic that make me swoon and I am giddy about the part where I get to read them first. I love the glowsticks. I love Wilmon’s sense of humor and the part where they cheated at Vincent’s rowing race thing and their utmost commitment to being dumbass teenage boys against the world. The first week I saw the show and came into work (where we have an athletic field) I went and took a selfie on the field after covering my hands in those gross fake dots. Look. I am all in.

And also… I came to the show for Wilmon but I stayed for so much more. I would have watched Young Royals once or twice and said “that was pleasant” without ever getting back into fanfic after a decade away, if the show was only Wilmon. I do like Wilmon, but it wasn’t Wilmon who inspired my thesis on restorative justice or made me a better writer overall. I survived that year of bullying at work because I could come home and write my ensemble fanfic, especially the parts where I focused on the non-Wilmon pairing I was in charge of writing. I finally felt confident enough to be evaluated for AuDHD because of a connection I felt to a character who wasn’t Simon or Wilhelm. It was a plush doll of a non-Wilmon character who sat in my lap and kept me calm while I was hooked up to those scary machines in the hospital this past October.

I guess my one humble request is that people be thoughtful about how they use phrases like “everyone thinks” or “no one wants.” Not every member of the fandom has the same opinion, and not every member wants the same things out of season 3, and there are some of us who are happy about the new Wilmon content but who are still feeling a little hungry for more of our most beloved characters, and hope they’ll get meaningful storylines (and not get ignored) in season 3. I do know we probably won’t all get what we want, and that some of us will probably get more of what we want than others. I hope that whatever happens, we’ll all get something we want, and we can all be gracious about it, and continue to find meaning in the canon.

For the people here on tumblr who are already including me in their everyone… thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope you know who you are and I hope you know how much I appreciate you. And I do hope this Little Fandom That Could can keep going into all sorts of new creative places.

[miraculousladybugconfessionbox]

(Asker warns in advance for poor english, and also it being a long winded submission.)

Transcript: i’m going to explain how gabriel agreste’s character was purposefully dehumanized, contradicting, how it serves as plot armor, and, ultimately, how much potential he had and what i would change about him. (i love him)

things that don’t make sense in the show

i. dumbness as plot armor

let’s start by noticing how this grown man is beaten every single episode by a supposedly clumsy girl. no matter how much time he or them (with nathalie) planned their next attack, how much effort they put into getting the miraculous, he either fell into ladybug’s oh-so-wise trap or there was something stupidly obvious that he missed and she didn’t. it’s pretty enraging how he passed 5 seasons, which add up to 2~3.5 years approximately, akumatizing someone every single day, which adds up to ~600 times assuming the average was 5 days a week, he somehow screwed up no less than 600 times. in a row. catch me? and let’s not think about how félix also outsmarted him at every chance he got or how even knowing the holders’ identities he couldn’t make his wish, because that’d be plain sad.

ii. contradictions (very related to previous point)

how is it possible that this man, a celebrity, a famous, wealthy designer that built his company on his own from poverty, said to be brilliant and very smart, blunders the same (and very easy) thing over and over again up to 600 times in a row against a girl who is, also, said to be clumsy and dumb, but suddenly turns stupidly wise the moment she needs to? (this isn’t hate towards marinette, just an observation). the show contradicts itself: if we took everything he is from what we know (resilient, cold, calculating, clever, and more), he shouldn’t have to try more than, what? 5 times? until he got a literal pair of earrings and a ring. from his own son.

another contradiction aside from the supposedly-brilliant-but-stupid, is his relationship with adrien. given that he’s his miracle child (literally), not only should he have stopped around the third/fourth season (with also nathalie’s 💗influence💗), but he shouldn’t knowingly put his son at risk. i don’t mean gorizilla or the audrey one (he’d get adrien back either from the wish or the “miraculous ladybug!” at the end), but particularly chat blanc. that episode was a very forced try from the writers to depict gabriel as a monter, because, knowing what we know, is it really believable that he threw his son like a baseball across paris from the mansion to the eiffel tower with a petty grin, and not only that but gaslights (and traumatizes) him and his girlfriend into that he’s a piece of shit for not wanting to make his mom come back to life (also with a petty grin)? the expected outcome, in my opinion, would have been a forced realization that he couldn’t do that. like very dramatic and such. but being this evil? please tell me i’m not the only one who thinks it’s out of his character.

iii. dehumanization

this is the most obvious one. we just get that he’s evil, heartless, and downright insane. he talks to his dead wife, is up to sacrifice his own son and the only other person that loves and helps him (nathalie), and terrorizes the city without any guilt or anything. the problem, though, is that we don’t see his side of things. and before you get at me, i don’t mean that these things could be “justifiable”, we just don’t get the side of him that regrets, double takes, thinks twice or genuinely cares about his son. it’s almost implied that he doesn’t, which ultimately implies he’s a psychopath or lacks basic empathy, ethic and moral. it’s pretty dehumanizing, isn’t it? the thing that characterizes humans is that we’re social creatures, and that comes with empathy and feelings and a sense of good and bad. he doesn’t constantly appear to have so, it’s more like fleeting moments that last two minutes and then back to a monster. if we got shown that he regrets his actions, that he feels bad for something, or even just having a human quality (like marinette’s clumsiness or adrien’s cutesy and being loving), something that makes him relatable, his character would have been much more complex and nuanced rather than just the evil, heartless, mysantropist parent that hates his son and is abusive and neglectful. we could’ve gotten a father that does these bad things but also makes sure his son is always safe and sound. a father that does these bad things but cooks dinner with his son. it could’ve been an interesting arch that could’ve ultimately ended up in him getting together with nathalie and handing over the miraculous because he loves his son and wants the best for him. the fact that he chose to betray marinette and die is the most selfish thing he has ever done, a deal breaker, something i will not forgive the writers for. like, everything just for what? adrien is an orphan when he could have gotten a loving family again where gabriel survived and nathalie survived too and they married and happily ever after. damn.

things i’d change about him

i. his backstory

i will olympically ignore the backstory of punk gabi grassette, thank you very much. mainly because, what the fuck, and then because i don’t find correlation between that and his current self. what do i mean? i mean that it doesn’t look like his personality and character could have been forged from... that.....

SO, what do i propose? i propose a poor, strictly religious household with an unloving, abusive priest as a father that believes that by punishing gabriel for being unruly and sinful will correct him, a mother that loves him but is too scared of husband to act up, and like 4 siblings, so they’re 5 in total. gabriel was either the oldest or second oldest.

i won’t explain further because it’ll otherwise be too long, but i can make another post if you want to :)

ii. the way he expresses things

just what i said in section “dehumanization”: show vulnerable moments where he regrets his actions, is affectionate with adrien, etc.

iii. his arch’s ending, chat blanc, and other questionable episodes

can we get just him married to nathalie and my happily ever after :( that’s all i yearn for. please.

anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk. bye

[randomnameless]

Not to bring irl shit but when you consider that there are people who believe in their own moral superiority, that everything should burn to the ground, people should die for their cause and those they don't like deserve to die for justice, it makes sense why there would be Agarthan stans despite how comically evil they are in the games. Not saying it's good (it's not), but it's the same sort of edgelord doomer nihilist mentality. Or maybe I'm thinking way too hard about this and they just support them because their waifu is working with them and they can't be bad if she's "purely good" despite their actions in game saying otherwise.

Uh...

I guess everyone knows there are people who are pos around, but what became more and more annoying with the years is how some of those beliefs have been romanticed for X and Y reason (marketing purposes because earl grey sells) and if you add to that the performative era - where being a fan of a character means you have to endorse everything this character says or does, we end up with some mess.

And I think while the devoted fans we all know and love have their part of responsability in this - as you say - supporting characters no matter what to the point of swallowing their nauseabond rhetoric because waifu allies with them before backstabbing them offscreen...

I still believe content creators are sort of also to blame with this, see the earlier earl grey marketing reasons.

IIRC, in the Marvel movies the purple guy who erases half of the universe is/was/got a cup bcs sad uwus he's ready to sacrifice his daughter for the greater good?

Cry me a fucking river !

What about the rest of the world who was zapped due to his whims? Why should I care about the feefees of someone who slaughters billions and not the feelings of the ones slaughtered?

Take Kishimoto : trying too hard to make people sympathise with his anti-heroes ultimately means that their victims have no voice to any chapter, Ramen Guy will never be able to express anger (if he wasn't dead when Konoha was flattened) at Nagato turning his daughter in a pancake, or Sakura will never weep for her parents, etc etc... but we get a long FB about Nagato's sad backstory with, what can be summed up as "the world fucked me over so I'll fuck over the world and you can't stop that unless you decide to fuck me over too" without anyone telling him that his reasoning is puerile and quite frankly stupid.

Madara being very sad not being elected big boss so he takes out his salt by launching repeated attacks at the village and its inhabitants? "Who cares, he was very sad (tm) when Hashirama decided to kill him to protect the village, what a hypocrite !!!"

The less is said about AoT, the better we all are lol, but in honor of MHA ending I'll just say that... I fucking loved the panels at the end (or last chapters?) where randoms civilians are shitting on Shigaraki, even if the panel with the old lady who blames herself for not helping him back then or taking his hand was hilarious, considering that in his FB, he said he would have killed her too "oh poor him if only i died for his sake he might not have grown up as a vilain" come on that's too much earl grey i'm out of this.

As for FE Fodlan, given how earl grey was used to sell and advertise the game, I guess you can't talk to Garcias or Nathalies and ask what they're thinking about the war that is razing their homes because someone wants to unify the world and is willing to sacrifice them to do so, or hell, we can't even listen to Merlinus voice his thoughts about the strange plague in Remire and how horrible it is, to Amy wonder why the fuck her parents transformed in demonic beasts and tried to kill her.

So when even content creators believe that their vilains have to get a pass regardless of the amount of shit they pulled off - I can't exclusively blame devoted fans for going very very far with their takes to support the bae.

Special mention to Miura (rip) who never lost an occasion to portray Griffith as manipulative and conniving, and yet some people really believed (and some still do?) he did nothing wrong...

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Hello. I've been binge reading your meta post an I loves all of it. I have one question, though I don't know if you had the same question or not. If you had I'm sorry feel free to ignore this but if you hadn't, this is my question. Many people said Adrien as sentimonster is a good plot and the other said it's also good metaphor for abuse children. But what do you think about the senti plot? Is it necessary? And what do you think the writer is trying to achieve with the plot if Adrien doesn't even allowed to know about what he is?

Thank you! I'm glad that you've been enjoying my rambles! I don't think I've touched on those aspects of the sentiplot, so here goes!

Is it Necessary/What's The Goal?

I don't think that the sentiplot is even remotely necessary. My two cents is that it reads like something that was added relatively last-minute in order to add some cheap drama to draw the plot out because they didn't have enough content to organically fill seven seasons. Part of the reason that I'm comfortable saying that is because we've seen the writers do this type of move many times before. I don't wanna get too into the weeds on this, but a good example is the love triangles with Luka and Kagami.

Luka and Kagami are never treated as real alternate love interests. They're just road blocks on the love square highway that allow for seasons three to end on a cliff hanger. The fact that season four opens on two episodes meant to reassure the audience that Lukanette and Adrigami are doomed to fail is proof of this. No one is actually supposed to ship those ships. There's no Team Luka vs Team Adrien. It's just cheap drama.

The other reason that I feel comfortable calling the sentiplot cheap shoehorned drama is because the sentiplot has no teeth. A big reason why I refused to believe that it was going to be a thing was because it's an extremely serious plot that has no place in a Y-7 show. The wielder of raw destruction can have his free will overwritten at any time! The show has made jewelry theft a common teenage past time! This is bad!

And yet, once it's introduced, it goes nowhere. Gabe gives the most lackluster commands humanly possible and Nathalie undoes every one of them before they have a chance to meaningfully impact the plot. The biggest fallout of the sentiplot was that the Adrienette kiss got delayed a bit. How terrifying.

If the sentiplot had the weight it deserved, then it would have destroyed Adrientte in a big, dramatic fashion. Gabriel would have commanded Adrien to date Kagami and Tomoe would have done the same for Kagami re Adrien. But that's too serious, so we don't even get Gabe telling Adrien to break up with Marinette. He just tells Adrien to not see her and Marinette never has any clue that something went wrong there because Nathalie undoes the command two minutes later.

The Sentiplot's and Emilie

You may have read the previous section and thought, "But wait, doesn't the sentiplot give an explanation for why Emilie used the peacock? Didn't we need that?"

No, we didn't. Felix's little play and Gabe's memory of the night they used the peacock both heavily imply that no one knew that the peacock would kill you. It's why Felix exists! His father did not willingly give his life to have a kid and neither did Emilie. It was an unknown side effect.

Imo, it would have actually been better if Emilie hadn't used the peacock for such obviously selfish reasons. I mean, is anyone really saying, "Oh no, the rich lady used forbidden magic (and possibly killed some people?) to get a designer baby, then faced unexpected consequences! How awful for her! She didn't deserve that!"

Wouldn't it have been a far more interesting and complex story if Emilie used the peacock because she wanted to help someone else? If she was an unambiguously good person who suffered for doing the right thing or even just a morally gray thing? Wouldn't that make Gabriel's quest feel more righteous and less like a temper tantrum by a rich, entitled white guy who used his wealth in a morally dubious manner and paid for it?

The Sentiplot as an Abuse Metephor

I don't think that the writers meant for the sentiplot to be an abuse metaphor. In fact, I sincerely hope they didn't because it's a terrible one! Or, at least, a depressing one.

Abuse - especially childhood abuse - is something that sticks with us. A lot of victims will be forever scared by what they went through. But just because they bare scares doesn't mean that they're trapped by their abuse and can never break free. This is true even if the abuse caused mental health issues like PTSD or CPTSD, conditions that can never be cured because you know what they can be? Controlled and mitigated to the point where the victim is no longer ruled by their condition.

There's also the fact that abuse victims - especially child abuse victims - can and often do reach a point where their abusers no longer have any power over them. I have personally seen a child abuse victim go thought the process of realizing that their parent is just another adult now. All the power that the parent once held is gone. The child doesn't depend on them for food and shelter anymore. If the abuse starts up again, then the child can just get up and walk away.

That's not true for a sentimonster. Sentimonsters don't grow up and get more agency/power. At any point, their abuser can get ahold of their amok and override their free will, taking away the sentimonster's freedom even if the sentimonster is on another continent! There is no means of true escape.

No abuse victim will ever be that powerless. Abuse victims can escape abuse and they do have true free will. Sentimonsters will always be sentimonsters.

Is the Sentiplot Good?

No. It's too serious for a kids show. In fact, now that it's canon, here's my two cents: all of the sentikids are massive liabilities to the team who need to give up their miraculouses immediately because they can never be truly trusted. Felix has shown us time and time again how easy it is to steal an amok and replace it with a fake, so we must always assume that the sentikids are compromised because to assume otherwise is to invite the miraculouses to fall into the wrong hands. It's just not worth the risk to trust a senti.

Along the same lines, the love square should never be canon unless Marinette gives up Guardianship because Adrien is a liability to the safety of the miraculouses even if he didn't wield on himself. The only way to get around this issue is to use the wish to make the sentikids human, but Gabe failed to even do that one kindness for his son, so here we are. Season six will either drive this point home by having Lila use the amoks to mess with Adrien or it will drop the sentiplot forever, proving just how cheap and poorly thought out it was.

Other issues I think I've already addressed in other posts, but that are still a problem that make the plot bad:

a sentimonster's creator defines the sentimonster's worth, thus there being no issue with Felix making sentimonsters and then killing them or the heroes destroying them, but it would somehow be wrong if we did the same thing to any of the sentikids

any command you give a sentimonster can be overwritten and sentimonsters can't resist even if they know they're being controlled, so there's truly no hope to free them

giving your leading lady anxiety issues and a boyfriend whose free will is constantly in jeopardy is cruel and unusual punishment

an insane number of lore issues like why is it impossible to destroy other sentimonsters, but Adrien can be destroyed in akuma fights? Cataclysms are pure destruction! It makes no sense that akumas can do what a cataclysm can't. And is Adrien able to die a natural death? What happens to his amok when he does? Will his children be able to be controlled by his amok too since they're part of him?

the lore around Gabe & Emilie finding the miraculous makes no sense and should not be possible. That's another rant, though.

[rayraygo1267]

Heyyy Idk if U still active but I LOVE your Hesperia x Nathalie headcanons & I wanted to know if you could make a drabble outta one of them

I'm super into the fact that Hesperia is the spontaneous one so!! Drabble Yay or Nay?

Plus I binged Ur writing and ughhh I love it 💕��

Greetings from Norway!!!

A Gabenath Drabble: A Creature of Wonder

Note: Hello! Hi! I’m so sorry it took me so long to reply to this! I’m so honored that you love my writing and my headcanons that really means a lot to me! Also I’ve heard a lot of great things about Norway I hear it’s very pretty there! Thanks for the greeting! 😊

Anyway I know this fic is a little longer than a drabble is supposed to be but I hope you enjoy it! 💓💕💓💕

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rated: K

Word Count: 428

Summary: Hesperia drags Nathalie out on a midnight adventure much to her chagrin and anxiety but perhaps he can prove to her that this little outing was worth it for both her and someone else.

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“I don’t think you realize how risky this is,” Nathalie grumbled for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past hour.

“Shh!”

The soft pad of Hesperia’s pointer finger met the bow of her lips.

She scoffed, a flurry of both slighted annoyance and poignant worry swarming through her. Her voice pitched to a slightly higher, reverent whisper.

“You can’t be out here! Bobbling about! Out in the open! You can’t—”

“Shh! Look…” Hesperia interrupted, his voice low, his gaze focused on something in the shadows of the forlorn alleyway.

The eeriness of this little secret midnight escapade left a tangle of knots in Nathalie’s stomach, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.

She huffed as Hesperia gently set her down on the cool pavement, his hands remaining on her shoulders. She blinked, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness surrounding them.

She gasped.

It wasn’t obvious right away, but if she looked closely, she could see the outline of what looked to be a little insect… something white? A moth perhaps? Or…

“A kamiko?” Nathalie murmured, her hand instinctively reaching out for the little creature.

“Look closer…” Hesperia whispered, his lips grazing against her ear.

Nathalie’s brows furrowed. The kamiko’s wings fluttered quickly, but it did not take off. It was stuck, somehow trapped between two throngs of twisted barbed wire covering the security gate blocking one side of the alleyway.

“Oh, the poor thing…” Nathalie cupped her hands, leaning closer.

“How come it won’t come to you?” Nathalie asked, while trying to coax the kamiko forward from its mini prison.

Hesperia chuckled, his blue eyes glistening.

“This one isn’t attracted to me.”

Nathalie snorted and couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that comment.

“Oh, please, how can a butterfly not love a butterfly-loving man like yourself?” she asked, teasing.

Hesperia smiled, soft and fond.

“Because kamikos respond to emotions, especially strong ones like love.”

Nathalie’s face heated, but she covered it well with another eye roll, though she was distracted by the feeling of a soft, tickling flutter against her palms.

She looked down to see that the little kamiko had made its way into her hands. She smiled, her heart melting as she nurtured it.

“Oh, and look at that,” Hesperia mused, “he’s found a home… with you,” Hesperia paused, a smirk on his lips as he kissed her cheek, “just as I have.”

Nathalie grinned, pressing her lips to his. She opened her palms between their embrace and set the little creature of wonder free.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it! I also want to apologize again for how long it took me to get this out and also for any grammatical errors.

Again thanks for reading and I’m open to any and all requests!

[mcheang]

Revelation AU

What if Felix took Adrien’s place again the day Lila tried to take over class rep duties.

Let’s just say thanks to his stalking, Felix knows Lila is a liar who makes Adrien uncomfortable and Marinette unhappy. He warns Kagami about it, who in turn wishes to expose Lila after being manipulated by her.

Knowing Lila has had too much time to sway the school to her side, Felix proposes an idea but needs Kagami’s help. Like Lila, Felix is a master at deception, at least when pretending to be Adrien.

When Gabriel fires Lila Rossi, Felix suspected Lila would want revenge on Adrien to hurt Gabriel. As such, he insisted that he take Adrien’s place for that day in school. Kagami lured Adrien and knocked him unconscious, allowing Felix to take his place while Kagami stayed with Adrien to keep him from interrupting their plan.

When Marinette tried to argue that Chloe should be punished for cheating, and how Caline suggested that Chloe was going to need a lot of work, Lila suggested she take over Marinette’s duties since Marinette is too busy with her love life.

Felix: I’m sorry, Lila. It’s just what you said. The reason you were not around to vote for Marinette is because you were on one of your MANY trips for charity. I know you’ve had more time for us now, except last I heard, you said you were going overseas. I know you’ll try to be there for us, but we all know how you can’t help answering the call for help from your many other friends overseas, even changing your plans at the last minute because you told us how much you cherish bonds overseas, knowing you can’t dismiss friendship that easily.

And just like that, Lila is also unreliable for being class president.

Lila: I will try to be there for the rest of the school year, even my mother put her foot down about that.

Felix quickly interrupts: Oh no! Are you that exhausted? We shouldn’t put more pressure on her.

Lila: But I have more free time on my hands.

Felix: Um, I heard you refuse to join Mylene’s cause to help Ramier’s cause to build pigeon shelters next week. And Marinette is not even going to be there! Not to mention I’m worried that Chloe might take advantage of you like she’s taking advantage of Sabrina, she’s already trying to take back power, but we all know that Chloe will dump her deputy duties on Sabrina, again. You’re too nice, Lila.

No matter what Lila says, Felix is ready to counter her.

And then comes the killing blow

Felix: I know you mean well, but my father also told about your special disease

He looked at Miss Caline Bustier, who now recalls Lila’s lying disorder

Felix: It’s embarrassing but my father does do background checking, Principal Damocles told him about your uncontrollable lying disease. I know Miss Bustier wanted to keep this a secret so we would not worry over you like we do over Rose, but we’re your friends Lila, you don’t have to hide this from us.

Alya is unsure if Adrien is telling the truth or he really wants to defend Marinette

Caline: I think you’re right Adrien. Lila needs all the support she can get, and she can only get that if we help her be honest

She just confirmed what “Adrien“ said.

The class is stunned. Lila really was a liar. And Ms Bustier did not even tell them. It was hard to tell whether their feelings of betrayal were directed more towards their naive teacher or Lila.

Lila herself was feeling quite furious with Adrien.

Naturally Hawkmoth was attracted to the akuma class…again.

He sensed Lila Rossi’s hatred to Adrien. Not a good idea. (Sure Lila tried to direct some hatred Marinette’s way but the latter was clearly surprised by Adrien’s move). Nathalie was already breathing down his neck on his treatment of Adrien.

Someone else in the class will have to do.

There was obviously a divide.

Some actually thought Lila had a lying disorder and could not control it.

Others like Alya Cesaire were immediately apologetic for not believing Marinette, cursing their own gullibility, and angry at Ms Bustier for keeping it from them.

Yes, Alya’s guilt was prime for akumatization.

Except…what is this? Her resistance to the akuma…it was so similar to…Viperion/Luka. Alya knows Ladybug’s secret identity.

True, Alya rejected the akuma and Hawkmoth summoned it back, but the idea that two friends of his son knew Ladybug suggested the possibility that the heroine herself was within Adrien’s social circle.

But who? He had akumatized most of them. All except…Marientte Dupain-Cheng!

Oh wait. If Alya is aware that Marinette is Ladybug, how could she actually believe that Ladybug is best friends with Lila?

No one is that stupid.

He discusses this with Nathalie.

Nathalie: but Alya is that gullible. Didn’t she believe Chloe of all people was Ladybug? Despite witnessing Ladybug saving Chloe from Stoneheart?

A pause.

Gabriel: it’s time we invited Marinette to our home again. It will be a chance for Adrien to tell her about his trip to London. (Aka akumatize and see if she really is Ladybug)

Meanwhile, Alya confessed Monarch discovered she knows Ladybug and has to leave town. She joins Luka with his dad and Penny.

Marinette feels guilty for telling Alya the truth. Tikki reminds her that Alya knowing has helped her before.

Before Alya left with Luka, the latter warned Marinette to be careful with her secret identity. “Monarch might decide to investigate our common friends. And you’re the one of the few he hasn’t akumatized.”

Marinette: few…Adrien! Wait, what am I saying, Adrien can’t be confused for Ladybug.

At the invitation for brunch, Gabriel knew Marinette was still oblivious to Adrien’s impending departure (he would have akumatized her otherwise).

Gabriel: I wouldn’t want to keep two lovebirds apart in these precious moments Adrien has in Paris.

Adrien dropped his fork. “Father!”

Marinette looked at her boyfriend in concern. “Adrien, what’s wrong?”

Gabriel: you didn’t tell her?

Adrien shut his eyes. “I’m moving to London at the end of the school year.”

Gabriel: as soon as the school day is over, he’ll be packing his bags.

Adrien: but I’ll miss the dance!

Gabriel: so is Kagami but I don’t hear her complaining to her mother.

Marinette understood immediately. Gabriel disapproved of her so much, he was willing to send Adrien away, take him away from his friends. “You can’t do that! It’s not right!”

“Oh, and what would you know of right, Ms Dupain Cheng. My own surveillance cameras have caught you spying on my house. Your male friends threw a wild party under my very roof while I was absent, draining even my back up power reserves. I’ve already shown my generosity by not suing them for the power disruption or demanding a restraining order on your presence. Do not test my patience.”

Marinette and Adrien were horrified, for different reasons. Adrien knew about Marinette’s stalker habits already but to hear that his father was capable of using the law to punish his friends…he knew he needed to tread carefully. Marinette was horrified to see her own flaws turned against her.

Gabriel settled down, forcing a smile on his face as he civilly asked, “And what do you think of my pancakes now, Marinette. Do you think my new recipe is better than before?”

Both knew they could not insult him and make their own situation worse, not when Gabriel has already proven himself of capable of following up his own threats.

“It’s certainly efficient,” Marinette finally managed.

They finished the breakfast in silence. Gabriel happily eating his pancakes. Marinette and Adrien holding hands tightly under the table.

Nathalie came in. “Adrien, your piano teacher is here.”

Gabriel: it’s been nice having you here again, Marinette. But good times never last long.

It took all Marinette’s willpower not to run or call Gabriel out for his cruelty. As soon as the coast was clear, she sank down against the wall and cried.

Her despair just begging Monarch to akumatize her.

Unfortunately for him, Tikki was also on alert should Marinette be depressed enough for an akuma. (Being in an akumatized purse was not fun!)

Tikki: Marinette, an akuma!

Marinette freaked and ran, worried that Ladybug’s immediate purification would give her identity away.

Rather than let the butterfly go rogue and cause another startrain, Monarch summoned the butterfly back. He can be patient. Sooner or later, Marinette has to break down and he will be ready.

Knowing she had to stay positive, Marinette devotes her energy to try to be optimistic, thinking of how she can get Gabriel to change his mind, or ways to make a long distance relationship work.

This was enough to make Gabriel give up and instead wait for Adrien to leave for London.

By that time, Marinette had already tried several plans to convince Gabriel to stay. She got Wayhem to organize Adrien’s fans to strike about Adrien’s departure but was countered by Gabriel saying Paris was too dangerous for Adrien. She threaten to call child care services except Adrien (influenced by the Graham wedding rings) vetoes this plan. She considered using Cosmobug to visit Adrien except Marinette doesn’t have the money or time to make such frequent visits plausible.

Eventually Marinette came to accept Adrien’s departure and both agree to work out a long distance relationship.

Gabriel is extremely disappointed that Marinette isn’t more unhappy when Adrien leaves. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. project Alliance will continue as plan.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Bee Villain Audrey would be fun, especially given her previous interest in the temple. I agree she'd not be second fiddle, anytime Audrey lets others make decisions its cos of one of two reasons:

1: Its so unimportant that a plebian is tending to it. IE, she told them to. 2: She's indifferent enough to the situation that she doesn't care to handle it herself, IE most stuff she tells Andre to do.

Basically, yeah she's not gonna be second stringer, co conspirator at minimum.

Also, having a super powerful magical artifact, right after Gabriel and Ladybug humiliated her and Hawk Moth Akumatized her and- Wait a second! Gabriel was using Miraculous BS before, oh it is on! XD

Low key I have actually toyed with AUs built on similar premises and I think she'd be a very self motivated villain. Like maybe she wants a wish (If she knows about it) but she may just want other Miraculous, or to fuck over her rivals, or go on rampages. The line between Audrey & Style Queen is rather thin after all.

Also given the "Order & Subjugation" angle and how many write Miraculous powers as evolving or shifting based on the user. I could see Audrey's power being less Venom and more like, the power to command and control others perhaps?

Ultimately I'd say it comes down to how much one wants to do with her character. How much does she know, how much can she figure out, what does she even want out of life, ETC.

I know Audrey tends to get written off as just cruel and otherwise brainless. But I confess I always find that disappointing; there's nothing making Gabriel more inherently suited for supervillainy or competence than Audrey if you get my meaning?

As an amusing aside, her going out with a Miraculous power could lead to a very similar situation to Queen Wasp. Not identical, but in the sense that some Gabriel related event is disrupted by a Bee User. The heroes show up, Gabriel slinks away to try and Akumatize her, ETC.

Though in this case, maybe cos Audrey can re-use her powers, its instead him trying to AKumatize Ladybug or Chat as the fight turns against them?

(Oooh it could be Nathalie actually, like Gabriel is literally Veom-ed?)

But this gives a sense of how powerful a Akumatized Miraculous Holder would be (Even if it fails to take over Audrey or one of the heroes, the effort gives a sense of power), along with Ladybug losing the Bee, a signal to Gabriel not to quit. Or allow Nathalie to step up and take the role maybe?

Also, if/when Audrey is beaten (If she's a one episode wonder over a recurring problem) One could have Chloe snag Pollen up in the chaos (She was helping perhaps even jumped on her mothers back and grabbed the comb during the fight?) So now she's Queen Been, but no one knows she has it?

Sorry, rambling.

Honestly the only reason I haven't written Audrey as a villain is because she often has no genuine power over the rest of the cast.

Like.

The worst she could do herself is tank Marinette's career, but even then in a universe where Gabriel favors Marinette and her talents he could counteract Audrey's influence

Her influence over Chloé is limited and dependent on other factors. Is Chloé still vying for her attention? Is Chloé still a child or a legal adult? Does Chloé have a support network or not?

A lot of Audrey's other power would be dependent on Andre and what he's doing. Is he still willing to do things for her or has he kicked her to the curb yet? Even if he /is/ still under her spell, is this an AU where he'd break any rules for her? Or, though he is a man who wishes to grant his wife's every whim, does he put his foot down on things that would cause major problems?

But yeah in most of my AUs, Audrey has no genuine power over any of the rest of the cast. So she often is more of an annoyance or a short-term problem rather than a major player.

If I give her some kind of power though.....

[cardiac-agreste]

I am filled with excitement, nerves, dread, and pride to announce that I am taking part in the @mlbigbang this year. Starting January 8, I will be posting my Sabine fic, A Small but Stubborn Fire! AHHHHHH!

First, the team! The incomparable @uptoolateart beta read my fic, and helped shepherd it along. I've also got @naz-artz and @izanogi helping me bring visuals to Sabine's story. So many others have helped in great and small ways, and I'm overwhelmed with the support the community has given me since I decided to write my lil story. Which became a big story.

Synopsis: What if you were the parent of a teenage superhero, but didn't know they were? All you know is the nightmares, the panic attacks, and the bruises. She's missing school, she's disappearing on you, and she's not telling you anything.

So you assume the worst: Assault. Depression. She doesn't trust you anymore.

And what do you do when you realize you weren't thinking dark enough? That your fourteen-year old daughter is the hero who flirts with death on the nightly news.

More below the fold:

AO3-Style Tags: Marinette & Sabine; Tom/Sabine; minor Adrienette; Marinette Dupain Cheng; Sabine Cheng; Tom Dupain; Adrien Agreste; Rolland Dupain; Gina Dupain; Good Mother Nathalie Sancoeur; Sabine's mother!; Sabine's sister!; angst; hurt/comfort; Chinese culture; happy ending; inter-generational trauma; Sabine's mom, Gabriel, and Tomoe should start a Bad Parents Club; SABINE KNOWS KUNG FU; IDENTITY REVEAL; IDENTITY SHENANIGANS; SO MUCH DRAMATIC IRONY; Nobody better forget Marinette is half-Chinese; etc.

Excerpt:

She was surprised at how easy she found it to invade Marinette’s privacy this morning, and how quick she was to turn critical. It was Marinette’s diary, after all—she could write as sloppy as she wanted. Trust her.

“I’ll be back down in a sec, Alya. I can’t believe I forgot my backpack!” shouted Marinette from a few feet away. Sabine startled, but couldn’t see any way to avoid getting caught.

“Maman! What are you doing?!”

She spun around, schooling her face not to betray her guilt. “I thought I had left my ring up here last night after your latest nightmare. I was hoping you’d found it but forgotten it on your desk.”

Marinette ran over and scooped her diary up from her desk, closed it, and hugged it to her chest. ”The ring…on your finger?”

“What?” Caught. Sabine looked down at her trembling fingers. “Yes! Oh, haha! Silly me, it was right there the whole time! Oh, please don’t tell your father, he’ll tease me for days.”

“...right.” Marinette shifted from one foot to the other, seemingly unable to stay still. Sabine wondered if it was just the invasion of privacy that had Marinette anxious.

Marinette gulped loudly. She slapped her free hand over her mouth and laughed nervously. Then she spun around and rushed to her backpack, sliding the diary inside.

Sabine was proud of herself that in the end she hadn’t peeked, but at the same time she wished her eyes had accidentally scanned a few pages. She wanted the knowledge, but knew she shouldn’t get it this way.

She walked to the attic door and stepped through to the ladder. As she took the rungs one at a time, she ran her hand along the trim of the door, feeling the wood grain beneath her fingers, and she paused. “Marinette? You know I love you very much, right?”

“Of course!”

“And you don’t think I’m too hard on you?”

Marinette tilted her head and looked at her, her eyes revealing confusion and concern. “No, not at all! Maman, is there something wrong?“

Sabine angled her face down when she realized she was straining to smile. She inspected the ladder like she needed to pay attention while she descended, as if she hadn’t been doing this every day for years.

“No, nothing’s wrong. Sometimes parents want what’s best for their kids but don’t know if they’re doing the right thing.”

She heard Marinette shuffle toward the hatch and felt a hand slide over hers . There was Marinette, crouched low, moving her forehead in to touch hers, smiling broadly.

“I’m so happy you’re my mother. Don’t worry about a thing; I’m not going anywhere.” Her phone tolled with incoming messages, probably from Alya. “Ahhh!!! Except to school! Because I’m late! And grounded! Move, Maman!”

[generalluxun]

Based on their season 1 (Primarily) and season 2/3 (if you desire it) characterization. How do you think the characters and story of ML would develop had Marinette developed a crush on Chat & Adrien a crush on Marinette?

My thinking, taking out any given issues with the shows handling of the characters and just what I think makes sense for them based on extrapolation feels:

Ladybug is definitely a bit more overtly "Adorkable" in the publics eye, but the danger of the situation does stop her from stumbling over herself as much as Marinette did with Adrien. She is far more likely to be pushing for secret ID reveals, but probably through hints over overt action.

Adrien is not as forward with Marinette as he is as Chat with Ladybug. Even ignoring the Chat persona being an exaggeration, he also has his reputation and ingrained habits to think of. But Nino did ask him for date advice so I think he'd make more overt attempts at wooing her & probably push harder on Chloe to be nicer.

Gabriel probably hates this and may be stumping harder to yang Adrien out of school, which could force Adrien to be more quiet about his interest as well.

Chloe is... Not having a good time. Regardless of whether her feelings for Adrien are romantic, platonic, confused cos of sexuality or the like. He matters to her a lot but right after arriving at school is not only putting a lot of distance between them but seemingly holding their friendship for ransom to earn the approval of a girl Chloe has issue with.

Okay so thought about this:

Ladybug falls for Chat in Origins when he rushes in to defend her during one of her initial panic/what is happening moments. She's reminded of being protected by Socqueline (Derision is not canon, ever, but we can repurpose bits of it) She had resigned herself to being 'on her own' after her friend graduated (not expelled) now, here is someone else making her feel *safe* even in mortal peril.

She's still Ladybug, she's still the leader. She is very focused on 'protecting her protector' though. He's *her* kitty. If only he could be in more ways than are allowed...

She'll push Fu to include him more, she'll pay more attention and push to be her best self. Her plans will be a little less effective, like in Kuro Neko she's focusing too much on her partner. It won't be crippling though, but it hints at what she needs to work on.

Now on the second day when Adrien shows up, things go differently. Let's give the Limo a flat so he shows up without Chloé. The world is a bit spookier, are monsters common? He's nervous. He drops his books, and someone stoops to help him pick them up and their heads bump.

'oh ouch sorry. Here let me...' sure hands ruffle through hos hair, checking for an injury. Adrien looks up and *cue music* Marinette.

She's already set on being her 'best self' to live up to her Perfect Pawtner. So helping the new kid around? That's just what she should do!

On Adrien's end though he can't help but marvel at how much she reminds him of his mother(hear me out) He's been adrift since her disappearance. His father is distant, Nathalie is cold, and even though Chloé cares she's a hurricane in a ponytail. Marinette;leading him to the classroom, showing him his seat, and giving him tips, makes him feel *safe*. (Woo parallels!) He falls hard and fast.

He becomes a Marinette stan, furst to support her. First to go the extra mile. Talking her up and excited to see what she will do next. Every step she takes to be the 'everyday Ladybug' only males him fall harder. The 'weakspot' he has to work on is how completely uncritical he is, after all his mother could do no wrong! He doesn't make the conscious connection, but he treats Marinette the same. She's not a memory of a mother though, she's a living breathing 14yr old. She will and should make mistakes. Adrien discounts them too much, excusing/rationalizing/redirecting her shortcomings which actually inhibits her growth. 'I was wrong' is something everyone needs as a part of their life.

Chloé is in fact having a bad time(maybe?) she can't bully or daddy her way out of this. Adrien gushes about Marinette and Chloé's initial 'ewww' turns him instantly cold (only briefly though) but it is a warning. If she wants to win she has to *beat* Marinette. She needs to be better, smarter, stronger, she can't fake it. She has to compete and win! Hijinks/rivalry ensues (Marinette isn't competing for Adrien, but the chance to show up Chloé is cathartic as heck!)

What's fascinating is how various other things will shake out. Chloé's 'daddy' goes unused, most people get ignored. She can't push and shove her way out of this. Alya has to listen to Marinette gushing about Cat Noir (she knitted herself a pawprint sweater that she sleeps in, but she has to keep fangirling on the down low in public so she doesn't clue in whoever CN really is!) Nino's crush on Marinette is DoA. Do he and Alya still get together? Adrien's in Nino's ear about Mari every day.

Does Alya pull Chloé aside and say 'wtf are you even doing?' emboldened by the blonde's shift from dominance to competition. Foes Sabrina branch out, being Chloé's 'trainer' for a myriad competitions. She(they) could come into contact with a lot more people.

It's a whole AU in the making.

[paracosmicat]

PLEASE talk about your Sentibug

AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT HER? 🐞❤️ (I LOVE YOU)

In my AU, the way she is able to be brought back is through the Peacock Miraculous. I personally think Adrien’s interest, now that he is free, should be Miraculous lore because it’s a natural side step given how much freedom and happiness his Miraculous has brought him and it would give Chat Noir a much bigger role to play in their hero business. (Also it makes more sense for him than for Marinette, because the Miraculous has been a chain, the opposite of what it has been for Adrien) And where does his research take him? Exploring the Kwagatama and uncovering that Sentibeings lives and memories are stored within the Miraculous, able to be brought back so long as they are willing.

That was my very long winded way of saying, Adrien had never really gotten over her death so he works with Félix to bring her back.

AND SO

Given that Adrien was the one to fight for her, he takes it upon himself to make sure she has a place in the world. He introduces himself to her as Chat Noir, but offering her a place to stay at his house does require that he reveals his identity. (Which, gives Adrien someone in his corner, which I love)

NOW

Figuring out her identity is something they work together on. Adrien nicknames her Coccinelle, French for Ladybug, as a temporary nickname and a way to differentiate their hero forms. I think she continues to use this for her hero form name as she helps them when needed, same with the other heroes.

Speaking of hero forms, I think it would be really funny if she could still do Lucky Charms but they were always insanely oversized weapons.

BUT FOR HER CIVILIAN FORM

The insanely talented @belowthesurface drew my vision of her civilian form!! And I will be using this art to make my next points and because oh my god did I mention how talented Moonie is???

I think Adrien finds it important to find her a name that she likes, so he researches it with her. They eventually come across Mireille, which means miracle/miraculous. As @ninadove pointed out, it’s also a bit older of a name which is suiting for her vibe given that a lot of it is a reflection of Nathalie’s touch!

As you can see their facial structures are similar but different. I would describe her features as Nathalie “filling in the blanks” much the same as when you see someone wearing a face mask.

As for style, I’ve made this joke so many times but I feel like her style is Nathalie’s “what are the teens wearing these days?” Very formal and business casual while still looking really really good.

And you know who would love her??? Félix!!! A Sentibeing who went against orders and paid the price but ended up making it in the end? A representation of his cousin making decisions for himself and refusing to repeat the awful patterns of the people before him? He would be ecstatic.

Her personality would be very sweet, shy, and lovey. It would be easy to say she had Ladybug’s leadership and determination, but she immediately agreed to doing “whatever you say, Ladybug” and she did not quip back at Chat Noir when Ladybug did. She was designed to be a sweeter softer version of her, one that Chat Noir would fall for, I think her personality follows suit!

Btw, anyone is welcomed to create content with her, if you so please. I love her I want more of her.

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episode 5-2: The Mouse Miraculous: Monarch's New Plan!

Alright, Tomoe time! Big Tomoe season! Now she owns a tech company! I need Tomoe info to write chapter 2 of Miraculous: Dreams because she's the boss! And more chapters after that because she's a major villain!

This again?

Bro has a Wikipedia article?

You again? Get out. Nobody likes you. All you do is complain.

Get his ass!

Oh right. Su-Han is meant to be pathetic.

Here's hoping we don't see him for much else of the season!

Wait, Ladybug wasn't talking there. Do the spacesuits have a text-to-speech/autoreader function?

She misses the Kwamis

Adrien's pissed off!

I mean, Marinette clearly has an idealized view of Adrien that ignores the socially awkward dork parts of him.

Yes! Break up with Adrien! And start dating someone who knows your identity, like Luka! Or just go for Kagami instead! I think she can fix you!

Alya, please don't encourage this.

Oh dear. The Adrienette is already coming together right in the second damn episode.

You know what would be funny? If Nathalie discovered Adrien is Chat Noir and started helping him. I know it's not happening this season, but you know.

Preggers

Really? Telling the whole class all this? Aren't superhero identities meant to be secret? Granted this is a class of superheroes and Lila, but the point still stands. I don't think Alim knows that.

Damn, Lila's cooking.

"Sorry, kid. Private business."

Adrien, no! You can't kiss friends like that!

Wait, is the bad acting intentional or just poor voice acting?

Yes! Knock over the Eiffel Tower!

Oh. He let Adrien not be a model because he had no need for that with the evil superpower rings that use Adrien as Siri instead. Gabriel is still using Adrien. Dear lord.

So I have the interpretation that Tomoe got the tech company by literally fighting her way to the top. The Tsurugi family are athletes, not engineers. Also I think her akumatization was only partly an act, similar to how the Collector was an akuma was founded on real emotions and an excuse but for an ulterior purpose.

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 70 PN BELOW Lets fucking go cap! ok it’s the weekend, I have my own writing block and I finally finished my fucking assignments and handed them in, I’m practically free forever!! (exams loom in the distance, i willfully ignore their shadow)

I’ve started by reading from chapter 67 just to bring myself back into the mindset (and because they are hype as all hell chapters), this is faster than starting my like 7th re-read.

I even made myself a cuppa to really settle in, the vibes are immaculate, I played Bizet Carmen while reading this time

The dichotomy of Juleka:

I don't want to hurt anyone!

Extreme violence is efficient. 

The fact that we didn’t get ladybug trying to kiss rena when she was shot by dark cupid is tragic

This time i listened to shoot to thrill by ACDC, and Burn it down by awolnation for the badass parts

Anyway finally onto Fei, that only took me two hours (i briefly wrote shit so yknow, a good time!)

Fei’s tragic backstory be upsetting frfr, Like damn brother you watched your dad die in front of you? Do you need a blanket and a hug?

The tone change from “My life ended when my dad died.” to “summer was awesome!!” made me snort horrible it’s not funny- but it kind of is-

Oh my god Juleka got a break for weeks AND WE DIDN’T GET TO SEE IT??? Tragedy. (i’m kidding, so happy that she got a break <33)

Rose thirsting over Panthera in a crop top is too funny- you just know if it was anyone else Juleka would be pouting like “damn what do they have that I don’t?” 

Oop her hands still kinda fucked, curiouser and curiouser. I wonder if she has tried to practice her secondary power. Which rq, it was SUCH bullshit that LB gets two and the cat miraculous gets one in canon, so happy you retconned it

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOD OK CAP I AM SO HYPE HYPE SHE GOT A MODELING INTERNSHIP?????? Like sure cause nepotism but i’ve been wanting to see Juleka try out modeling in a real environment for ages cause like thats something she is interested in yknow and i just- 

Augh, hype as hell. And an excellent reason for her to be going to Shanghai, I applaud your problem solving to fit Juleka into the show's narrative! I applaud it always, but this one was more difficult than usual methinks

I have pizza now it is 8pm

Anyways; NOO GABEY BABY DON’T BE EVIL VIBES TO JULEKA SHE’S JUST A LITTLE THING

Oh my poor awkward Juleka… Gabriel wasn’t helping but this is so funny, dude you vowed to kill this girl like a month ago open your eyes

I NEED juleka’s modeling arc to be a thing. Idk how into detail you went but i’m hoping for some i’m rabid i’ve been waiting for this for like 3 years

Oh airports SUCK i feel her anxiety so much, poor thing… i forced my friend to share her location with me one time so we could stalk each other, we never turned it off its kinda funny

… why is Anarka banned from airports?? Being “a living weapon” is so vague.

Killing myself rose and juleka are so cute- and obsessed with each other- every hour is insane

I love Juleka instantly becoming a disaster on baby’s first flight

Juleka instantly being on high alert around gabriel is so real.

“Right,” Mr Agreste’s face didn’t twitch nor soften much in response, just nodded in understanding and turned back to stare forward. “The opening of this store is essential to the future of the Agreste Brand, you two. Opening it much sooner is very good news. There will be other fun times with your friends.”

Hardass, fuck off!!

Poker with literal chips made me laugh- adrien would be terrible at poker

Spiderman far from home? Nah, Panthera Noir far from home. 

“Oh that building looked fun to climb.” please Juleka unhinged parkour arc when?? Like people turn away from her and then look back and she’s up a tree. 

HELP “bye bye bag” is so real-

She’s so scary, but I wanna ask what her hair dye is. Do it. Please. I think you would factory reset Nathalie and she would answer on autopilot

Awkwardly playing chess is so real, also; yippee!! Adrien and Juleka bonding even more after the acting debacle!!

“Knights were cute. Little pony’s. Rose always wanted to move her knights cause they reminded her of unicorns.” please this is literally my strategy in chess, i just move them around and sometimes i win because i confuse people so badly

LB overthinking chess is hilarious. 

Adrien POV???

YOU CAN LEARN MANY THINGS FROM JULEKA SUCH; HOW TO BE A CAT. sorry i just had the mad idea that Adrien might find out this chapter… i would go insane if that turned out to be right

“Knowing info about me is pretty easy when your Wikipedia is super detailed” that’s fucking depressing. Adrien baby that’s a terrible way to get to know someone and not the same experience at all- 

Gaelic is a real language!! And a bitch to learn- I briefly tried with my dad and we both gave up, we’ll just stick with scots english

“Where do you disappear during akumas?” hard hitting question Adrien, ten points!

And is also making me high key suspicious about him finding out, the vibes are there

Nah, nah evil. Gabriel spend time with your son goddamnit 

GET HIS ASS JULEKA YES GIRL I LOVE YOU

The fact that she thinks she isn’t brave sometimes infuriates me, like babe i get your insecure but your brave as hell. 

QUEEN SHIT JUST WENT DOWN THERE

Juleka ripped him to shreds hell fucking yeah.

Wait. why did she give him the king? Hawkmoth called himself a king… cue the x-files music

Who the fuck is this asshole? Fei. Kick his ass, i command thee. 

Oh curious, she has burn scars from the fire, i like this detail. 

I feel like Fei and Juleka will get along, based on the ever present rage against one guy

She is being used augh

“Your father deserves to be avanged.”

“He does.” UMM GIRL YOUR DAD WOULD HATE THAT WEREN’T YOU THERE FOR THE FLASHBACK??

I want Cash to gtbnrvice this asshole is just using her desperation for information- 

I want Juleka to scare him into telling them, as Panthera, i think she would be quite good at that. 

Juleka is a feral beast who needs her outside time (i like how she wants to run on rooftops a lot its cute)

LORE LORE LORE LORE 

Excited. The prodigious?? Tell me more silly cheese guy

Ummm. i need the prodigious to show up, i can’t remember if thats what Fei has or if this is future future foreshadowing, this is exciting

New arc unlocked: freeing the Kwami from their jewelery or the curse. 

Also; yes sadistic plagg in the face of the guardians temple being destroyed, you go girl

Guardian temple? Swallowed whole? Sounds frightening. What a feast.  HA

Model Juleka yippee!

Help- adrien your advice is trash-

Ok existential conversation, yes girl let me spiral-

No sick girl Nathalie let adrien speak i want to know what he thinks of the best girlies-

Plagg wanting to take him under his wing- Juleka saying he wants to replace her with Adrien- ITS ALL COMING TOGETHER. 

Nah if you actually do have a reveal to Adrien i am going to go buckwild- cause either the vibes of the chapter got me but i think I guessed before any of the concrete foreshadowing

Ok sick girl nathalie actually has some sound advice and is being lovely to Juleka 

Yes Juleka use your strength

FEI STEALING CAMERAS??

Get her ass Juleka, or- politely bite her arm juleka?!?

Juleka is just brawling in an alleyway- like damn sister- watch out for bruises you might not be allowed to model-

Oh god what if she took plagg during some of their scrapping- actually, that would be fine. Juleka would just go insane and fight her

Juleka; desperately grasping for something familiar and bantering with Fei

Fei: what the fuck is wrong with her?

Nicest mugger I’ve ever met real and true

Wait

NOO JULEKA THEY WON’T LET YOU MODEL LIKE THIS

YEAH KICK. HER. ASS. 

Plagg stays with Juleka yippeee!!

Help their dynamic is so funny- exactly what i was wanting. 

Juleka would want to learn how to disappear even better than she already does wouldn’t she

Nah not Fei thinking “well that was fucking weird” while juleka is like “Oh that was cool” Juleka is so weirdgirl core i love her

Oh shit she stole marinettes stuff Tiki is there- 

Kick the asshole in the balls Fei, i command thee.

I am so happy Nathalie and Juleka have some sort of alliance, in my as to be written huge tragedy based on Nathalie Gabriel and Emily (which is extensively planned), I think Nathalie is more similar to Juleka as a teenager. 

Adrien and Nathalie interaction- “yes we- we did it” agyuhtvrinjfeok love her. 

Marinette blinked vacantly, standing in the back alley streets of Shanghai with a paling expression on her face and her entire inventory ghosted from her person.

WHERE THE HELL AM I!?

HELP SHE’S SO FUNNY- i love disaster marinette please-

and thats a wrap for Fei! i started this before five and it is now ten pm- i did other things though.

this was awesome cap, I look forward to the next chapters and I shall review them tomorrow!!!!!!

I hope you enjoyed <3

GLAD YOU ENJOYED!!!!!!

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: ML Season 5 episode 17 Adoration

(Spoilers as this episode is out before other ones)

-Andre bonding with the child Audrey the supposed love of his life had with another man.

-I pity that man, changed everything about himself for love… it’s actually kind of sad. Because it’s clear he fell for the wrong person.

-Zoe got someone she is in love with. I’d say it’s Marinette, because she has LITERALLY no other people she has seen interacting with. But I doubt it will appear since this is an international show. So my bet is they will imply it without saying it, plus, Zoe doesn’t show the photo she was gonna bury.

-oh so Zoe is in 8th grade while Marinette is in 9th grade. So at least that conforms Audrey cheated on Andre AFTER having Chloe, Damn

-so those two are the reps. Also. Marc is a year younger than them. Interesting

-oh the zoenette is strong in this one

-The storage of all the gifts she made for Adrien, which needs cleaning out. Guess Marinette chilled out about things. Good on her.

-huh… this is the first time we actually get a full on tour of her room. (We see it a lot, but never knew how she divided her stuff up. Neat.

-Oh the hidden adrien simp board is new. Love the touch. (I love the little sticky drawings)

-That probably hurt Zoe more than she would let on.

-not gonna lie I know Andre isn’t his real name, but I get why he changed it. It’s a mouthful.

-the butlers name is Armand!?

-Zoe knows everyone in the hotel. Good. Glad that girl is respectful to the people that help run the place. (Zoe + 3 respect)

-And Chloe and Sabrina are there… what a shock (not really)

- Yea the show really just removed any and all character development they had for Chloe and squeezed it into Zoe. Points for Zoe standing up to Chloe.

-At least Audrey is still in character.

-Andre really be like (I prefer the daughter that was born from another man banging my wife than my own) points to the Simp mayor

-I take it back Anax as a nickname sounds kind of dope

-You ever just see a character on screen and hope a piano falls on him? Yes I’m talking about Gabriel that sterilized tampon

-now Nathalie here being the GOAT with only one line. Respect for Nathalie. Girl really gave up on her simp tendencies and decided to just be the mother Adrien needs

-Gabriel really be the worst. Looks like Lila gonna cook up something

-seems Zoe forgot about the photo is out. Which I bet will cause a misunderstanding with her hiding it.

-What exactly does Sabrina have morals in? Also side note, PUNCHING BAG?! Really?

-Yea, Chloe just be mustache twirling evil

-Vanisher is back and with Dog powers

-Lila literally plotted an akumatization.

-if I had a dollar for everytime Someone couldn’t tell Marinette they were in love with her. I’d have 2 nickles. Which isn’t a lot but weird it happened twice

-Marinette is pretty clever figuring out all the details… EXCEPT THE FACT THAT ITS HER!?

-Marinette shows she supports Love is Love.

-Op she thought it was a he, to bad Marinette you failed the game. Rip.

-wait did Marinette just condone polyamory? I might have read that wrong

-Marinette consulting Alya on the matter

-oh so that’s how Marinette gets the assumption it’s Adrien. To be fair, I’d have come to that conclusion at some point to.

-oh I can feel the awkward situation coming in 3…2….1….

-Zoe, thinking (wow I reall fell for a simp)

-ah yes the cringe is finally here, now to spend the next Hour trying to watch the episode.

-OOOO A MONTAGE, so how many items can be retrieved via one whistle blow

- They really replaced Luka with Nino. Wait… DOES THAT MEAN WHAT I THINK IT MEANS! Was the truth finally revealed?!

-I get the plan now, they are framing her for stealing stuff. So basically what Lila did in the episode Ladybug. That’s not surprising but also kind of mid. I was expecting more pizzaz. Side note, Zoe was with her the whole time? Also why would she steal from her parents?

-The Chloe accusing her part was clever, because the motive of Chloe walking in to yell at Marinette is very believable

- okay I take it back, this plan has Pizzaz. But the fact everyone sort of just believes it even her own parents? Like come on? And with an akuma litterally anything is possible.

-And Marinette caught on, sees vanisher thanks to the flowers.

-Chloé legit has a Gold phone?!

-Zoe is taking the blame! Zoe no!?

-Oh! Vanisher can just call back whatever she wants. Proof is in the pudding. Good thing Marinette is ladybug. Piñata time!!! Viva piñata

-yum ladynoir crumbs

- Rip Luka’s guitar

-Chloe now getting stared down

-So confession time!

-Well she never outright say it… but She pretty much says it and Marinette confirms it though turns her down. I’m surprised they did that much

-I was complaining earlier about subtlety but this was tastefully done.

-I FUCKING KNEW SHE WAS DOWN BAD SINCE DAY ONE!

-Good on Zoe for encouraging Marinette. Even though she got turned down. But at least it was canon

-Oh damn Marinette is gonna confess

-SHE DID IT FOLKS! She fucking did it! And Adrien is receptive! Will we get a kiss!?

-GABRIEL YOU COCKBLOCKING FUCKING PIECE OF GARBAGE! I WILL END YOU!

-My heart breaks for Marinette

_________________________________________

7/10

It was a fine episode, I think a lot of it felt padded out, and while I enjoyed the first few minutes and the LAST few minutes were epic. The rest of the episode felt… meh.

Yea Adrien is a sentimonster. There is no denying it. Like I’m sorry for the hood outs. This episodes ending confirmed it completely. Which may be the reason I’m not gonna rate it higher.