#why does marinette get to have all the fun of being the 'weird kid'

[wisteriasymphony]

coming back to this. guys, i know it is so tempting to give adrichat an 8 pack or a 6 pack or huge biceps, but if we're choosing between giving him that and a collection of hand-painted tabletop rpg minis? WHY WOULD YOU NOT CHOOSE THE MINIS

too many jock adrien headcanons, not enough magic the gathering player adrien headcanons. I'm sorry but it needs to be said

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

So if Adrien were to get an antagonist like Marinette and Chloé (or Alya and Lila in your case), who would you pick?

For me, I would personally pick Félix since he and Adrien had some personal connection as family and it did felt like there was some potential for a possible rivalry between the two in his debut episode (before the writers screwed Félix’s character by a lot).

(Post that spawned this ask)

It really depends on what format I'm being forced into. Félix is like Lila: great in serialized content, terrible choice for episodic content.

If we're allowed to go the serialized route and have plots run for multiple episodes, then Félix could be a great rival. You'd need to do something to rework his character, though, because right now his motivations are really confusing. If we go with the senti stuff, then there's not much to base the rivalry on or even many plots you could do. Let's quickly pitch an alternate Félix to show you what I mean.

Félix and Adrien are the same age and we know that Emilie was the older twin, so maybe the boy's maternal grandparents are still alive and have yet to decide who to pass their fortune and titles on to: the traditional bloodline heir (Adrien) or the kid of the daughter who stuck around and followed tradition (Félix). This could be an interesting path if we give Félix all the same interests as Adrien. If they're constantly competing to be better and Félix is constantly sabotaging Adrien at big events.

For the sabotage to be clever, it would need to be set up in more than 20 minutes, otherwise Félix would just feel petty and opportunistic, which is the problem with Emotion. Félix just shows up and seems to go crazy because truly setting up his invasion of the Diamond Dance would have required him to have screen time across several episodes. That screen time could have been minor, but it was still needed. Maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir keep looking for Félix as a subplot, leading us to have multiple episodes end with a quick look at where Félix is and what he's doing.

While we're on the topic of canon changes, compare the family rivalry setup to canon and you hopefully see what I mean by lack of a motivation or even ways to show the rivalry off. What opportunities does canon Félix have to show how much better he is? He and Adrien seemingly have nothing in common apart from their looks, making it somewhat difficult to compare them. You need those common interests or big showoff moments for a rivalry to work. You also need to feel like Adrien is better than Félix and canon didn't do that. Félix is smarter and more of a go-getter than passive, gullible, naïve Adrien. Every encounter between the boys sees Félix win.

There's also not much to support a read that Adrien gets more love or attention. Amelie is doting. Gabriel and Nathalie are cold and distant. So why does canon Felix delight in tormenting Adrien? What is Felix's goal with things like trying to assault Ladybug or telling Adrien's friends that Adrien hates them? Even the season four final is really weird. Felix already snuck into Adrien's room. Why did he need to officially switch places with Adrien? Just dress up as Adrien, commit your theft, and go home, dude. That's way less complicated than agreeing to leave the country as your cousin. (So much of the season four final is written around forcing Ladybug to lose that it's actually kinda funny. So many things make no sense.)

When figuring out how to rework Félix, you also want to keep in mind what motivations are driving Marinette's antagonists. You don't want Félix to feel like a Lila or Chloe clone. You want him to bring diversity to the table. His motivations should be unique to him and his relationship to Adrien.

If we have to stick to the episodic format where character motivations and plots can be explained and resolved within 20 minutes, then I would not use Felix. Instead, I'd have some fun with how oblivious Adrien is and give him a bunch of "rivals" for Chloe's attention. To match our theme of diversity, while Marinette and her antagonists never get along, Adrien could have a string of rivals with each one ending the episode either no longer interested in Chloe because they realize she's a brat or still interested, but no longer hating Adrien because they realize he's a total non-threat. Less interesting than the Félix stuff, but potentially a funny running gag no matter which way you play it.

[kitkats-and-kittens]

My issue with derision and how it deals with Marinette’s problematic behaviour.

Disclaimer before I make this post that I’m not an avid miraculous fan, so if I get things wrong feel free to correct me.

I used to watch it a lot as a kid but I’m not so into it now. The reason I’m making this post is because recently my little sister came over to visit me and she loves the series half to death. I decided to sit down and watch it with her just for fun, and long story short my ADHD hyper fixation kicked in and I ended up binging 2 whole seasons.

And OML the only thing that did was remind me why I stopped watching the show in the first place

As a kid I never liked Marinette’s character. That was more of a me problem though since back in season 1 there wasn’t really too much wrong with her, I was just having my whole ‘I hate girly things phase’ so I didn’t like her.

However When season 3 came out she was firmly cemented as my least favourite character. I didn’t like her weird, creepy behaviour as well as the fact that the writers didn’t really give her any flaws, or at least none that really effected the plot.

I think the thing that made me the angriest was the fact that no one seemed to address it. The writers didn’t seem to care, everyone in the show applauded and even encouraged her behaviour and everyone in the fandom seemed to love Adrienette. I couldn’t find anyone mentioning the fact that the girl literally broke into his house and it pissed me off to no end.

As it turns out though I wasn’t the only one offset by her behaviour as in one of the recent episodes ‘Derision’ the writers finally decided to address the huge distaste with Marinette’s actions.

Of course this show being what it is means that Marinette can’t have a single flaw, so instead of doing what I thought was the logical thing and having an episode where the staking is seen and addressed as a bad thing and Marinette takes measures to fix and develop herself the writers decide to just excuse it all by saying she was traumatised.

I hated the way they dealt with this.

First of all the writing was just lazy.

Her being suddenly traumatised by Kim despite having absolutely no issues with him anywhere else in the show? I thought that was stupid and not well thought out since this whole bit is just the writes slapping a bandaid solution on fans complaints. Also I’m vaguely certain that Kim has a canonical fear of spiders so why is he using them to prank Marinette of all people with?

Second of all it doesn’t do a good job of explaining why she was a stalker.

In the episode she says that it was because Kim broke her trust so she now refuses to get into a relationship with someone without knowing everything about them.

This is supposed to explain her weird behaviour towards Adrien but it doesn’t simply because this is shown to only be a problem with him.

It’s not like we catch her breaking into Luka’s house on multiple occasions so she can go through his things and sniff his pillow. Nor does she seem to care about finding out anything and everything about Cat Noir. I’m fine with this being the case when she’s ladybug since she doesn’t really show any romantic appeal towards him but as Marinette?

The show establishes that she has at minimum a crush on him and that’s all it took for her to start going after Adrien, and maybe you could say that she doesn’t have the means to stalk Cat Noir since she’s a civilian but we’ve seen repeatedly that she’s not above abusing her own superpowers to do so with Adrien.

Even the argument that she wants to protect secret identities is useless when you watch Ephemeral and see that she was completely on board with manipulating Cat Noir so she could expose his identity to a person without his consent.

I think the worst part for me however, is the fact that I could look past all the lazy writing and the pathetic excuses used to justify her actions if she’d done the bare minimum by apologising to Adrien.

Admitting to him what she’d done and telling him she was sorry. I would’ve liked it if the writers didn’t have Adrien forgive her (at least not right away) but I know they don’t have the capacity to have Marinette be genuinely in the wrong for anything so I would have settled for just an apology instead.

But they can’t even do that! All that happens is that Marinette promises to herself that she won’t do it anymore and as usual Adrien is left none the wiser.

Even though I’ve only recently gotten back into the show this episode along with Kuro Neko and the season 5 finale have shown me that I genuinely can’t ship Adrienette in good conscience anymore.

Marinette just lies to him about too much important stuff. It’s so unfair to him that he’s constantly kept out of the loop about things in his life that directly involve him and the people who do this face absolutely no consequences.

Heck even Gabriel got his happily ever after by bringing his wife back meanwhile Adrien is living a complete lie as the people he cares about reassure him that everything’s fine when it really, really isn’t.

I’ve seen people act like this episode somehow provides a good excuse to Marinette’s actions but barely anything is done in terms of character development so I have to disagree with them.

Anyway thanks for comin to my tedtalk if you want to argue with me in the comments please be respectful about it.

[gatorinator]

SO I just watched the miraculous movie and I would like to say two things:

1) I really enjoyed the movie

2) it’s a very bad movie

Spoilers

The movie, as a miraculous fan, was fun to watch. But it’s not because it was a good movie. In fact, I think fundamentally this movie failed both as a movie, and as a movie musical.

Bad movie

The animation was absolutely gorgeous. But the writing was bad, and even looking past that (I haaaate how the beginning of the movie was like the beginning of every single kids/tween movie ever) the pacing of the movie was abhorrent. Lots of the jokes didn’t land, the moments they tried to set up cut away scenes didn’t have enough set up or flow (the back and forth of adrien telling plagg how much ladybug prolly liked him vs Marinett saying how dumb chat was, the back and forth of Alaya and Nino talking to marinett and Adrian) and felt weird and disjointed, and any time it felt like a scene was finally starting to flow, the movie would cut away to something else.

I’m just trying to imagine being a new viewer of the movie who hasn’t seen the show, and it feels like a nightmare. Gabriel is set up but somehow both too much and not enough. The final battle doesn’t last long enough. There’s a lot to complain about (don’t get me started on the fart jokes I can’t. I was in HELL).

Bad musical

The most egregious of crimes was the fact that this was a movie musical. I am sad that my friend told me it was a musical right before we started watching it because that would have been hilarious, but still. When marinett started singing I got jumpscared because I completely forgot.

Sarah Z has talked about how in musicals, when characters emotions are too overwhelming to say, they sing. When their emotions are too overwhelming to sing, they dance. Fundamentally, if you are going to have characters burst into song, that song should be led my emotions. Most of these songs felt led by a “ah this is a musical we need to have them sing a song.” That’s why the music always surprised me. The emotional buildup wasn’t there.

Yes, marinetts voice (am I spelling her name right? Oh well) sounded wildly different, but I’d be able to forgive that if the songs felt driven and not just inserted.

The other problem is: most of the songs are bad musical songs.

The greatest showman has the same problem. The songs are so bland and generic, all these “I want” songs where the character never clearly defines what they want, or sad songs about loss that don’t have any substance to them. The movie tells marinett over and over again to chase her dreams—but what are her dreams?? The opening number shows her sketchbook come to life—but she doesn’t sing about wanting to be a designer, or help others, or be able to fit in with her classmates and not endanger her life every time she leaves the house bc of how clumsy she is.

The songs sound like generic songs that would play nicely over the radio, and that means they fundamentally fail as a musical song because musical songs should drive the plot forward or deepen our understanding of the character, and most of these songs do neither.

Don’t get me wrong

I had so much fun watching this movie. I squealed at adrien and marinetts (I am so spelling her name wrong this is embarrassing but I cannot be bothered to change it I’m so tired) interactions, i wheezed over whatever the heck Gabriel was doing, I awwed over the lovesquare moments. I also LOST MY MIND at some absolutely wild moments (looking at you, careless whisper. Also at long-haired Gabriel). But the movie was so . . . vague about having any sort of message aside from “be yourself, be true, don’t be afraid, follow your heart, be a hero, saving lives is good, also love is awesome.” All true things, but how does this apply specifically to marinett? Love is powerful, but it isn’t going to save me from getting crushed by a runaway Ferris wheel, ladybug. Also, why are you singing this has nothing to do with the moment.

TLDR

It was beautiful, fun, cheesy, and bad. 10/10.

[taldigi]

Hello good morning/day/night I’m a bit lost when it comes to Nathan from gym club and whats “canon” and fanon with him, could u help me?

So someone had found that in an old.. like, 2010 publication, there was a small report on the then in-development concept Lady Bug. Here:

so TLDR: The canon was that he's gorgeous, his name is nathan, and he was in the gym club. He was also marinette's love interest. Anything past that is "fanon". If concept stuff can even be considered fanon.

now, if you want a heavy breakdown, continue on.

So, introductory stuff: an idea in this fandom is that there are "concept characters" like Felix, Richard, Adoni, the Quantic Kids- more obscure designs like Sebastian, Flora, and Alina. Characters who don't exist in the canon 3D series- or at least not recognisable AS these characters.

For example, Melodie may have been developed into "Flora" (a fan name I like to use) who was later developed into Chloe.

They are so wildly different, it's easy to separate them into different characters. Chloe would never be friends with Marinette willingly, but Melodie or Flora are easily depicted as close friends of hers. It explains why she's a hero- at least on a meta sense.

So, back on track.

"Felix" was a design used very heavily in a LOT of concept work, He was Chat Noir's secret identity, Marinette's crush, and a boxer.

From the Artbook, Felix is described like this: "Felix is a classmate of Marinette, and he’s popular among girls. ... He has a speciality on athletics and boxing, and when he rotates his ring he can transform to Chat Noir."

Marinette is described like this: Marinette lives as a normal student at day.... Marinette is in love with Felix, but she doesn’t know Chat Noir is Felix in transformation.

Please keep that description in mind.

It was so established, in fact, that was the design that moved foreword for the PV. So he tends to be the most Well-Known because he DID get to star in some animation!

Felix' design got reused for Adrien's cousin, so the two characters get confused a lot. In a meta sense, Concept Art Felix is closer to Adrien then he is to Felix GDV.

However, he was later developed and changed into Adrien, the character that currently takes the role of Chat Noir. Adrien is notable for being attractive enough to be a model, and participates in the fencing club. Oh. He's also Marinette's Crush.

However, these were not the only designs that existed. Some of the earlier ones got pretty weird. Since the only thing that kept them strung together was the fact that this this character was the secret identity of Chat Noir as well as Marinette's Crush.

I'm quite fond of using some of these to depict Nathan.

So it's safe to assume that...

Nathan COULD be a preliminary name chosen BEFORE Felix was chosen- as names and identities were fluid. Early Marinette was Marietta, after all.

Him being in the gym club DOES mirror the fact that in concept work, Felix was noted to be a boxer as well as Adrien being a fencer- and that Marinette often chose to try and impress Felix by getting into athletics herself.

Nathan is labeled as gorgeous enough that Marinette is tempted to misuse her good luck powers to score a date with him. Something that Marinette would do frequently with Felix. Not so much with Adrien, but we're aware of her crush on him so it's hard to argue. With Felix' popularity with girls and Adrien... well.. Adrien being a model and also being fought over constantly....

This is like, an early publication. Its hard to argue that due to how early it is and how much lines up, or that it's fake- the site seems legit, but personally idk.

Also, it could just be a fluke in the report. Maybe this early Chat Noir identity character wasn't really named Nathan? But hey, concept fandom takes what scraps it gets. and pairing that up with how creepy early Chat was.. well, you get the picture. It's all trying ones best to tie up string, it's all fun.

most importantly, it gives me a new character to use. and I will use him for evil. i promise.

[dessarious]

How the Sirens Adopted a Ladybug Pt6

AO3  Beginning   Previous   Next

Ladybug continued to cling to Chloe and the other girl seemed both grateful and slightly panicked. “You’re welcome? It’s the least I could do after everything. If you give me a list, I can make sure it’s stocked with food for all the Kwami as well.”

“Here you go bee.”

“Plagg!” The Kwami had once again just appeared, this time with a piece of paper to shove at the girl.

“What? She asked!”

“If you don’t stop popping out like this, I’m going to renounce you. I have enough stress without wondering if you feel chatty at any given moment.” Ladybug had pulled back and began rubbing her forehead. Whether it was just annoyance or she had a headache was anyone’s guess. Chloe took the paper gingerly, eyeing the Kwami like he was going to explode. So apparently Ivy wasn’t the only one wary around the creatures.

“I’ll get everything this afternoon.” She was frowning at some of the items and Selina could relate. It was a very mixed bag. “Why does it say ‘no shellfish’ at the bottom?” Ladybug let out an aggravated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Damnit Plagg, have you lost your mind?” The Kwami just ignored her.

“The kid has an allergy. Best to not chance it.”

“Huh, that’s weird. Marinette is allergic to shellfish too. Guess it’s more common than I thought.” Ladybug’s eye twitched and Selina could feel something poking at the back of her mind, trying to get her to focus on what was being said. Her thoughts felt oddly sluggish.

“Yeah, weird. How do you know Marinette is allergic?”

“I was the class rep before Marinette. Allergies were one of the big things to take into account when planning events. Not to mention my father has always stressed the need to know both your constituents and opponents. I have dossiers on everyone in the school.” Ladybug’s lips twitched upwards but didn’t quite make it to a smile.

“I’m more surprised by that than I should be. I assume that you’re the reason I haven’t seen Lila for the last few months?” Chloe winced and nodded.

“I’m sorry I didn’t do anything about her earlier.”

“The adults in charge should have done something, not you.”

“Maybe, but I could have stopped this and didn’t. Just like Adrien, I ignored her because she wasn’t my problem. Just like Adrien, I could never see past what I wanted when given the opportunity to wield a Miraculous. I… I never really understood why you hated me so much until I saw how Adrien acted after he lost his ring.”

“I never hated you Chloe, I just couldn't trust you. But at least with you I knew the risks. The others… I didn’t know until it was too late.” The last seemed directed at herself rather than Chloe. Selina was so busy trying to read Chloe’s body language that she didn’t notice Ladybug swaying until it was too late. Chloe caught her as she fell and they all watched as the hero detransformed. Selina ran towards them before she could think it through, and could hear the others behind her.

“Tikki, what happened?” Chloe was staring at the girl in shock, not even noticing their approach.

“The transformation was taking too much of her energy. I had to drop it before it harmed her irreversibly.” Both Tikki and Plagg were hovering over the girl. “She can not transform again until she’s recovered.”

“What do we do if there’s another Akuma? Hawkmoth hasn’t been letting up lately. It’s… it’s like he’s trying to cause this.” The last was said in an almost horrified whisper.

“That’s exactly what he’s doing. Unfortunately right now we’re more concerned with you knowing who she is.” Plagg had flown directly into Chloe’s face and was scowling at her. She just hugged the girl tighter.

“I won’t tell anyone. I meant what I said about helping her. Both of her.” Suddenly the pieces of their earlier conversation clicked together in Selina’s mind.

“Hang on, this is the girl you were talking about? The one who’s been missing?” That finally caused Chloe to look up at them.

“Who the hell are you?” She caught sight of Ivy and set the other girl down to step between them. “And what the hell are you?” Selina could admire her spirit at least. The girl didn’t stand a chance against them but it was apparent that she wasn’t backing down.

“We’re friends and we’re here to help.” She looked ready to argue but Tikki spoke up.

“They’re telling the truth. They’ve been nothing but supportive so far and if that changes, Plagg and I will handle it. Right now we need to get Mari back to your hotel so she can rest. Then we need to discuss what to do when an Akuma shows up while she’s still recuperating.” Chloe didn’t look happy with it but she did nod.

“I’m not entirely sure how to get us all in there undetected. I have a feeling you three don’t really want to be noticed and I certainly don’t want to cause a scene bringing Mari in like this. Bringing attention to ourselves will only cause problems.” Well she was certainly right about that. Selina shared a look with the other two but both just shrugged at her. Before she could suggest anything Tikki and Plagg started whispering together before Plagg flew back to Chloe.

“Can I trust you to use a Miraculous to get where you need to go and then give it back?”

“Yes, I’ll do whatever you need me to.” Plagg continued to study the girl but Tikki Flew into Marinette’s bag and returned with a pair of glasses. Chloe looked sad for a moment but her determination overrode it as Tikki started whispering in her ear. As soon as they finished Chloe put on the glasses and muttered something, causing another flash of light. When it faded Selina wasn’t sure what she was looking at. The outfit was definitely horse themed but at the same time she couldn’t really explain why it was. The suit was a deep reddish brown but everything else about it felt unsettling. Her hair was in a braid but seemed to be attached down her back because it didn’t move. The suit itself wasn’t skin tight but moved with her body as if it were. The longer Selina stared at it the more uncomfortable she felt. She blamed that for why she didn’t notice the swords crossed on the girls back until one was at her throat. “I’ll only give you one warning. Marinette has already been betrayed by everyone around her, minus her family, and I won’t hesitate to do what is necessary to keep you from doing the same.”

“Everyone including you?” Selina expected her to flinch but her gaze just hardened.

“Especially me. I tormented her and took advantage of her forgiveness more times than I can count. I know very well I do not have the moral high ground so don’t expect me to act like a hero.” Selina felt the blade make contact and couldn’t help the grin that appeared.

“Oh I like you. This should be fun.” Chloe slowly lowered the weapon. She tried to hide her confusion behind annoyance but Selina saw it before the girl turned to pick up Marinette. She heard Ivy suck in a sharp breath when a portal appeared out of nowhere.

“Well, are you coming or not?” She stepped through the opening without giving them time to respond. Selina debated for a fraction of a second before following, even as Ivy started cursing under her breath. The chances that Chloe would leave them behind if they weren’t fast enough were high, and she had a very bad feeling at the thought of being separated from Marinette. Her instincts had kept her alive this long, she wasn’t about to discount them now.

AO3  Beginning   Previous    Next

Ko-Fi

Tags

@asrainterstellar @scorchdragon88 @arty-shadow-morningstar @toodaloo-kangaroo @solangelo252 @smolplantmum @jayjayspixiepop @unoriginalmess @weirdo-with-no-beardo

[funnylittlefella]

My problem with the fashion in miraculous.

Part 1 Marinette.

This is going to be a long rant on why I don’t like the fashion in miraculous, which seems very negative but it’s probably just me over analyzing everything.

In 2015 Miraculous: tales of ladybug and chat noir was released, at the time there were already other rivaling cartoons (such as Star vs the forces of evil, Steven Universe and Gravity falls being the most popular ones) What made Miraculous stand out from other cartoons that were aimed for kids/preteens was the 3D animation, this made the show quite popular, especially since Disney's new 3D animated films such as Frozen, Tangled and Big Hero Six was quite popular especially on tumblr (because of the re-colours and redesigns of Rapunzel/Elsa and whoever else into a hipster or some other god awful fashion trend from 2010-2016)

Miraculous is STILL airing today meaning that when I was in grade 6 I was watching it, now I'm in my last year of highschool and we are finally seeing development in the show (sorry) however we have not seen any character changes in clothing which I know we don't see much but I feel as if Marinette wears the same 4 outfits and I WOULD LOVE to see a storyline where Marinette is maturing and decides to change her hairstyle and her clothing choices.

Lets analyse Marinette's everyday outfit.

Marinette wears a white singlet top(tank top?) with a black outline/trim, on the singlet top we see a flower design that appears to be a cherry blossom or lotus. Over the top of the shirt she wears a dark grey blazer jacket with a white inside with pink polka dots, she sports this same material but inverted so it is pink with white dots on her purse. For the bottoms she wears hot pink jeans which appear to have the same polka dot pattern on the cuffs as the jacket she wears, the jeans also have some weird ripped/line structure too them which has been added with a white stitching. She wears baby pink ballet flats with a slight heel and black lining and a bow.

I don’t really like this outfit, it’s very boring and I think that Marinette being an aspiring fashion designer would wear something bold that shows off her skills and her own personal style. I also believe that Marinette would be on trend, while being ladybug could potentially leave her with not enough time to come up with new designs, I think it would be a good concept for Marinette to be wearing a new design once in a while. (Even though I know it will be the same polka dot,baby pink, flower fabric that marinette seems to have 10000 yards of.)

For example, in Gravity Falls Mable would wear a different sweater each episode (don’t quote me on that I could be wrong)

Mabel wore the same structure of outfit each episode yes, but it was new each time. And while I wouldn’t consider this the height of fashion, it suits Mabels personality and shows that she is different from the other characters who wear the same outfit every episode.

SPOILERS FOR GRAVITY FALLS

Mabels constant changing of sweaters shows the chaos of her character, you never know what to expect with her, which is why she played a vital role in Bills plan, she was unpredictable and let her ego and own happiness succumb to her chaotic actions.

This would be an easy concept to implement into miraculous and would fit with the context, perhaps Marinette would make a new piece of clothing to wear each episode, it could start off with smaller accessories that slowly develop into larger pieces. If Marinette is sad, it could reflect in the item she chooses to make.

However that isn’t the main problem of the outfits, my problem is that I hate them, I’m not judging you if you like them in any way,shape or form, but personally I cannot see a normal teenager wearing these outfits, there is only few characters whose outfits actually make sense.

For example, Marinettes outfit feels more mature, as if she is working in an office, this does not fit her character at all, and while the colours are bright, the structure and presentation of the pieces gives off the boring dull feeling of working in an office and makes her look much older.

Now here is what I would’ve liked Marinette to wear each season. (considering the dates of releases)

Season 1 2015

In season one we are introduced to Marinette, considering Marinettes age 13. Bare with me, I understand these years are arguably the worst for fashion.

The reason why I picked this outfit is because it reminds me of Marinette, Taking inspiration from 2015 trends, we see Marinette following basic trends such as off the shoulder and denim materials, however, I believe she would add her own style by adding the polka dot pattern to the inside of the jacket (like her original blazer) and the skirt. This look is generally what I would consider to be basic Marinette, she could wear this throughout each season since it is a outfit that could fit into any time frame (2000s-2020) with a few alterations.

Season 2 2016.

2016 was also not a good year for fashion but oh well I digress. This season we get to meet new characters, including new miraculous wielders and love interest. This is also when we get a Marinette birthday episode shower her growth symbolically or whatever.

I decided to add ‘edge’ to this outfit, since we do see Marinette get hurt in a few episodes and struggle with having to choose the right people to wield a miraculous. on the left, I chose a bomber jacket since they were incredibly popular at the time, and dark heels to show Marinettes change, however underneath she wears bright pink jeans and a white turtleneck, this is to show that she is still soft and caring.

Season 3 2019.

this is where it gets much better since the trends and fashion were actually really good this year. We see a lot of important points in this season, we get backstory about characters, learn more about the Miraculous lore, AND we see Marinette be very mature and put Adrien and Kagamis happiness over her own.

This is how I think Marinette would dress and yes they are 4 very different styles, but I think that she would want to show variety not only in her work as a designer, but also as a person, Marinette wants to grow.

Anyways that’s all for now, yes this post is very much all over the place and I start point and leave them without conclusion, but it was fun for me.

EDIT: in my research I decided to change my idea lol, Marinette doesn’t wear the item she makes because it’s too expensive to have a character wear a new outfit each episode, but instead we just see her making a new item.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Lila Rossi: I’d Say She’s a Good Villain, but Then I’d Be Lying (300 Follower Special)

Deception and cunning are easily two of the most important traits an antagonist could have. It shows that even if they don't have the strength to overcome obstacles, their wit is more than enough. This kind of trait is why characters like Lex Luthor, David Xanatos, and Princess Azula are so beloved, simply because of how intelligent they can be as villains and pose a real threat to the heroes.

It's clear that the Miraculous Ladybug writers want Lila to be seen as this, but the writing seriously fails to back that claim up.

Easily one of the most controversial characters in Miraculous Ladybug is Lila, mainly for the writing surrounding her. But there was a time where she was actually more of an ambiguous character, mainly for the lack of screentime she had until Season 3. But unfortunately, the more appearances she's had have painted a very poor portrait of an antagonist.

Lila's Tragic and Sympathetic Motivation for Hating Ladybug

Lila's first appearance was at the tail end of Season 1, “Volpina”. She was a new transfer student from Italy, and quickly made friends with a lot of her classmates for the lies she told, including being friends with Ladybug (which Alya blindly believed without doing any research like any excellent journalist). But because of how close she was getting to Adrien, Marinette, in a rare act of selfishness, transforms into Ladybug just to chew out Lila for lying about knowing her, humiliating her in front of Adrien. And this is the only motivation we get for what Lila does afterwards.

I'm not saying that it's wrong for Lila to get upset at Ladybug for doing this, and I like the moment of weakness Marinette has, but this is literally the only explanation we get for Lila deciding to side with Hawkmoth, a literal terrorist. As much as I hated the way the arc turned out, I could still understand Chloe siding with Hawkmoth, as it was clear that Hawkmoth was manipulating her and taking advantage of her ego. Lila? Ladybug's mean to her one time, and that inspires her to conspire with a complete stranger who brainwashes people to attack the city, which endangers innocent people and causes God knows how much in collateral damage if not for Miraculous Ladybug fixing everything.

I just don't get how a single negative interaction with someone is enough to conspire with a literal supervillain. Even in Season 3, when Marinette and Lila truly became enemies, it was because she risked exposing all the lies she told, which could damage her reputation. Sure, it's petty, but it makes sense for Lila to want to keep up the illusion. If she was simply an antagonist to Marinette in her civilian life like Chloe was before “Miracle Queen” , I'd be fine with that, but the writers clearly want her to be seen as on the same level of evil as Hawkmoth. I'll get into why that doesn't work later on.

Why Lila is an Excellent Liar

In my Master Fu analysis, I had pointed out that despite all the flaws he had, the narrative insisted on portraying him as an incredibly wise mentor. The same problem applies for Lila as well. We're supposed to see Lila as an expert manipulator and liar, but her lies are insultingly obvious. She always claims to be friends with celebrities and does all these awesome things, and in an age where we can have almost any question answered thanks to the internet, nobody ever stops to question her.

It's even more frustrating when you hear Lila talk about saving Jagged Stone's cat, when Jagged Stone is established to be very fond of Marinette (evidentially more than his own daughter), and nobody ever points that out. I think if Lila's lies were more stories about her travels around the world than outright lies about real people, it could have worked. It'd still be hard to believe, but it's something.

But this is a problem with writing shows aimed at children. As much as we hate writers who need to spell out things to kids, sometimes, they just don't understand some of the media they consume. Seriously, I never got this joke in SpongeBob as a kid, and I can't believe Nickelodeon actually approved this.

So the dilemma when writing a show with children in mind is finding that sweet spot between assuming your audience can figure it out, but not being too vague in your details. It's even harder when you need to find a way to convey the fact that someone is lying without being too obvious. Unfortunately, the show clearly fails to do that

Okay, this is going to sound like an incredibly weird thing to cite, and I only know about it because I used to know someone who was a huge fan of the franchise, but the movie Monster High: Friday Night Frights does a better job of subtly explaining to the audience that a character is lying. Please, just hear me out.

The movie follows the main characters competing in their high school's roller derby for the season after everyone on the usual team gets injured, and the championship match is against another school whose team tends to cheat to win matches. How they manage to do this without getting caught is anyone's guess. While the main characters are practicing, their coach, Clawd, notices a spy for the enemy team taking video of them to study their moves. In response, he calls over one of the athletes, Operetta, to chew her out for her showboating attitude. In reality, he's alerting her to the spy. Only using facial expressions, he clues her, and by extension, the audience, in on the fact that they know what the opposing team is trying to do.

This soon leads to Operetta pretending to tell the enemy team about their secret plan for the championship match, which was really an attempt to outsmart them to gain the advantage in the final stretch. The brilliance of this is how the audience is informed of this with no dialogue, and there's no scene afterwards spelling it out for those who don't get it. It manages to convey deception without being too obvious that Clawd and Operetta are being deceitful.

I think if there were more subtle hints to show the audience Lila was lying, she would be seen in a better light. As it is, Lila's lies are just pathetic, and it's ridiculous that everyone believes her. Which leads me to...

Lila, the Master Manipulator

I once read a Star Trek: Voyager fanfic that poked fun at the series by claiming that the reason a lot of the dumber episodes like “Threshold” and “Twisted” happened was because one of the crew members was an alien who unintentionally produced mood altering pheromones, with Captain Janeway actually realizing they were all high because of said pheromones, while two of the unaffected crew members were wondering what the hell they were doing before they found out the cause. Why do I bring this up? Sometimes, it feels like Lila is an unintentional parallel to the alien in that story.

Like so many characters, it's clear the show desperately wants the audience to view Lila in a certain way, but her actions do very little to actually back up that claim. When she's not using lies to tell stories about so many famous people she knows like her uncle who works for Nintendo, Lila is using strategies to manipulate everyone that are so obviously deceptive, the Thermians could pick up on them. Everyone and their mother knows how ridiculous a lot of what Lila does in episodes like “Chameleon” and “Ladybug” are, and I've talked about them before, so I'll try to be quick.

First off, as someone who had access to accommodations through high school and has had assistance in college so far, there is no way in hell that Ms. Bustier should take Lila's tinnitus at face value in “Chameleon”. If a student has a disability that could interfere with the education process, physical or developmental, not only does the school have to evaluate their performance, and determine if they're eligible for an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, but her teachers would have to be notified in the first place. As her primary educator, Ms. Bustier would be part of the team to oversee Lila's IEP and determine what accommodations she needs to help her learn better with her tinnitus and arthritis. But because the writers don't know what Google is, they just ignore it,  assume that Lila can just say she has a disability, and have everyone believe it. Even when Eric Cartman pretended to be disabled to compete in the Special Olympics, he put in more effort to look the part, even if he looked like a caricature.

Then there's the fact that that in “Chameleon”, everyone just believes Lila when she says Marinette stole her grandmother's necklace when not only is said necklace from the Agreste line of jewelry, but Alya, who is Rena Rouge, can't pick up on the fact that it's a fake. All she does to justify these lies is come up with a sob story about how nobody believes her, yet nobody ever tries to defend Marinette except Alya one time, and it was after she got expelled.

Or what about in “Oni-Chan”, where Lila thinks having Kagami kill Ladybug while claiming she'll back away from Adrien is a good idea? Let's say Oni-Chan does kill Ladybug or at least take away her Miraculous, what then? We know Lila wouldn't go through with this promise, and as soon as Kagami sees her harassing Adrien, she'll be ripe for akumatization again. Overall, not a great plan.

And yet somehow, this last example is what made her worthy enough to become one of Hawkmoth's most trusted agents. I'm just going to say it: Lila is not a good fit for the power of illusion. Whenever she's Volpina or Chameleon, she always goes out of her way to make a big show instead of being subtle with her deceptions. “Chameleon” is the worst offender, as even though Lila gets the power to shapeshift into someone else, instead of being discreet and cornering people into kissing them and gaining their appearance, she just runs around to get Ladybug's attention instead of being subtle. Even Felix had the bright idea to pretend to be Adrien to catch Ladybug off guard. How do you lose to something that happened in “Felix”?

Despite all of these screw-ups, we're still supposed to see her as this master of deception worthy of allying with Hawkmoth in both his supervillain and civilian form, when really, she's a terrible liar on the schoolyard and on the battlefield.

Why Lila is an Important Character

In the grand scheme of things, Lila just isn't as important of a character that the show loves to parade her around as. She's nothing more than a plot device used to raise the stakes in an episode, given how much reality seems to bend over just to accommodate for her lies. Even when the show alludes to her being part of bigger things, like her deal with Adrien, or her rivalry with Marinette, they don't even go anywhere.

She just feels pointless when you remember Astruc's brilliant idea to force Chloe into being the final Akuma for the season while Lila isn't even mentioned once. She only really makes appearances whenever the writers feel like it, which is why it’s hard to take her seriously. Why should I take this character seriously as a threat if the writers refuse to take her seriously as a threat? Why build Lila up as a big threat and not give her a major role in the finale? Why even include her in the show in the first place when you could show Chloe being more manipulative to fill in the plots Lila plays a big part in?

As of the time I am writing this analysis, four episodes of Season 4 have aired, three of them have been about lies or deception, and Lila hasn't been mentioned at all. It honestly seems like she won't appear unless the writers need a easy way to drive up the conflict, so they can justify it by saying that Lila's “superpower” of lying is more powerful than the common sense of everyone else.

I'm sorry this post was shorter than the last one, but compared to Master Fu, there's not that much to say about Lila that I haven't already said. Even the show barely gives her any attention, so it's hard for me to really find a lot to talk about.

[mikauzoran]

Troublemaker/L’Insaisissable in Retrospect

I’m slowly making my way back through Season Two, and today’s episode is L’Insaisissable/Troublemaker. This is a fun one. There’s not as much Love Square content, but we do get some really great scenes, and one of my favourite background couples is featured. Rolling Stone, my beloved. (Because that HAS to be the ship name, right? I will accept no others.)

First off, I don’t remember catching this the first time I saw the episode, but when Sabine asks Penny what it’s like working with a star like Jagged Stone and if he’s nice, Penny says he’s marvelous, and the Adrienette slow dance love theme starts to play. XD

Shortly thereafter, we have a wonderful cut to Adrien and Plagg watching the live broadcast, and Plagg is asking Adrien why he’s suddenly interested in the show. Now, we know that Adrien is a fan of Jagged Stone from Season One, but the reason Adrien gives for tuning in is because they’re filming at Marinette’s family’s bakery. Adrien isn’t watching to see one of his favourite performers. Adrien’s watching because of Marinette. And then he gets the dopiest look on his face when she’s shown on screen.

I swear, he lights up like a solar flare whenever he sees her. I ask you, is this or is this not the face of a boy with a massive crush? XD

Two things about the shot below: one, Marinette needs to wear that cute dress hanging on the mirror. I adore it. Two, the screen saver is kind of weird. It’s Adrien, but it’s taken in Marinette’s room? Did she have the camera on her computer take a picture of him while he was over to practice for the videogame tournament? Why isn’t she in the picture too? It just strikes me as an odd picture.

One of my favourite things about this episode is Jagged calling for Penny when the akuma appears. He kind of reminds me a of a little kid calling for his mum. XD At the same time, it’s kind of sweet. Jagged is a hoot throughout the episode. He’s just such a quirky man-child. ^.^; His reactions are really entertaining, though.

Chat Noir gets thrown around a lot, and this episode is no exception. ^.^; L’Insaisissable throws him into the side of a van (in which he leaves a sizeable dent), and then Ladybug grabs him by the ankle and flips him up onto Marinette’s balcony. He gets tossed around a lot once they get into Marinette’s room too and Ladybug tries to keep him from seeing Marinette’s Adrien photo collection. He does land in this cool pose on the balcony, though. XD

(I’m remembering why I always thought Ladybug was kind of mean to Chat in Seasons One and Two when I started writing fanfiction. She slings the poor guy around a lot, and she snaps at him, like in the below scene where he calls her Buguinette and she tells him not to. She actually sounds angry. It was a little surprising because I’m used to later seasons where she seems to have grown fond of the nickname, even though she still protests him using it. It’s interesting to see how the characterizations and dynamics have changed over time.)

I kind of feel bad for Marinette. ^.^; The writers make her feel like a creepy stalker with all of the pictures of Adrien in weird places. I remember when I was little and had my first big crush and didn’t know how to be a functional human being around them, so I feel a lot of sympathy for Marinette. I’m glad that in later seasons she’s learning how to have a healthier crush on Adrien and that their friendship is developing. I remember on my first watch-through that I thought the writers were making her too obsessive, and that made me sad. In earlier seasons, it really does feel like she doesn’t know him that well and is putting him on a pedestal. I’m really glad that they’re getting closer and becoming better friends in later episodes. 

I don’t have much to say about the akuma fight, but, at the end, when Jagged’s face lights up and he goes to hug Penny and tell her he’d be lost without her and then Penny snuggles into the hug...cute. ^w^

Also, Adrien being bad at personal space when it comes to Marinette. XD I’m going to have to watch him to see if he’s like this with anyone else. He always seems to be looking for opportunities to get close to Marinette and be physically affectionate with her.

I wonder if Adrien was lying in wait for Marinette in the locker room. He really does seem to be waiting to talk to her because after he does, he leaves. He doesn’t have to get anything out of his locker. He talks to her, and then it seems like his business is finished, so he leaves. 

I really wish Marinette hadn’t cut Adrien off. I’m curious as to what he was waiting to say to her. After she closes her locker and he greets her, he says, “Is everything okay? With what happened at your house yesterday afternoon, I was afraid that you--” And then she cuts him off. I’m really wondering what Adrien was afraid of. How much time did he spend thinking about Marinette and the broadcast after he got back to his room after the akuma battle?

Anyway! I love him thinking about her interests and inviting her to a photoshoot because he thinks she might like it. He’s honest that they’re typically long and boring, but he says that it might be more fun for him with her there. He’s so sweet and genuine with her. It’s really precious.

And then he ends with telling her that he’s really happy to have her as a friend. uwu I love his vulnerability and sincerity. It’s something that really draws me to Adrien’s character. He’s socially awkward as hell and doesn’t quite know what he’s supposed to be doing because he’s been locked up in a mansion without peers for thirteen years, but he’s trying his best to bumble through social interactions. He just keeps trying, and it’s admirable.

All in all, another cute episode. ^.^

[phoinexboi]

Sorry I just decided to put this out but it's much easier to analyze this episode in the English dub after a day long break:

SO HERE WE GO!

(Warning some of this is opinionated)

MIRACULOUS ILLUSION REVIEW!

The episode is longer than usual about a minute longer.

The voice actors have gotten more dramatic this Season. A note might be Alec, Mr. Damocleus and XY. Especially Dennis (Damocleus) because he sounds like an 80's cartoon character now-

In the dub the "Daddy" and "Papa" thing is translated into "Dad" which is better than "Daddy" but "Papa" would be nice...

Gabriel cooks French toast instead of pancakes-

Marinette's talking to Adrien without stuttering. This is a real shocker.

Marinette's comrade name is Comrade Béchamel but later in the episode there's an error where she's called "Ketchup" which is Nino's comrade name (Also Alya is Mustard s'cute! ☺️)

Gabriel is being so fake this episode.

Gabriel traumatized Adrien so heccing much to the point Adrien instantly felt guilty and scared for splattering the spaghetti on his suit

Alya’s deadpan voice when she goes into the class- 💀🥲 "Whoops I'm so clumsy... 😑"

KWAMI ABUSE! FRICCIN' KWAMI ABUSE!!! TRIXX IS FOR KID'S NOT GROWN ADULTS GABRIEL!

Poor Trixx

Both transformations are shown. It's a nice little thing I didn't pay much attention to in the French Dub

Gabriel had the most dramatic illusion but not as dramatic as the French dub

I like the French dub though-

So you can see the "magic lightning bolt" Nino was talking about later in the actual shot (how did they fall for that-)

Gabriel (his illusion) apologies to Emilie for being a failure father

"I'VE BEEM GIVEN THE POWER OF TELEPORTION NOW I WILL BE ABLE TO TRAP THEM!" So extra...

"SPOTS ON! YEAH!"

Nino is trying to be so helpful 🥺

"Comrade Ketchup at your service Cat Noir and Ladybu-"

The fight with the illusion is cool

So by now the Collector has been "akumatized" 3 times now.

Gabriel casually explains to the kwami's how he's not gonna fail or tire out because now that he's melted the miraculous he can aquire up to 5 powers at once because he knows they're hoping for him to fail.

Gabriel grants himself the power of invisibility. And let me get this straight you're telling me there's no kwami of invisibility?! Kwami of discretion maybe?

The Lucky Charm is shredded cheese. I only payed attention this time when Chaton said "Plagg would be happy". I think this is the first time they randomly bought him up in mid-battle.

The voyage actually worked probably because the real Gabriel actually used it mid-fall

"There's nothing VISIBLE" -Ladybug 2017

Gabriel dramatically falls-

Gabriel detransformed and they all had a cute moment. Unfortunately this is Gabriel we're talking bout.... so it's all fake-

Why did Alya apologize- she was right what they did was totally wrong. Normally I'd hate her Mammy activity but GIRL!

Nino's so weird around Mr. Agreste

"That's some awesome sauce" LOL Chat Noir I can't!!!

Gabriel and Adrien's family relationship is adorable.... BUT IT'S ALL FAKE!!!

Comrades.... UNITE!

I love Lila but why is she here... why is Alya allowing this...

I just realized this why does Alya still have her Trixx belt bag? To refrain from suspicion or is this just something the animators got too used to-

"Having freinds is like having superpowers" sounds like something Rose would say

Gabriel's plan was... genius actually-

There was a lot of confusion at the post-endcard scene when the episode first came out. It's just Gabriel talking to Tomoe about how they fooled Ladybug and Chat Noir so that they can never figure it out at this point. Tomoe literally just says "Very well. Gabriel-San." MENACINGLY 💀

Overall I'd give the episode a 7/10. It was really fun and set up quite a few things for the season!

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Canary, Part 6

First

Previous

Tim had been watching her out of the corner of his eyes for a long time. It wasn’t that he was trying to be creepy or anything, he just… didn’t know why she was there. It didn’t make sense. She was relatively low on funds according to what he and Oracle had dredged up, and even Tim in all his billionaire-ness recognized that this place was more expensive than average…

So, why had she come? It wasn’t even close to the motel she was staying at.

The vaguely paranoid -- cautious, he was cautious -- part of him worried that she had somehow known he was there, but there was no way she should have been able to know that. Hell, he hadn’t known he was going to this particular cafe until he’d gotten to work and realized that there were now cameras in the breakroom and his office to make sure he didn’t drink too much.

But, really, it seemed like she was just using the free wifi that the cafe provided to write up a resume.

He relaxed and sunk back in his chair with his laptop while he did his work.

… he didn’t get to work for long.

He picked up on the slight gravel of someone putting on a voice with ease. It was high and sweet, a voice he commonly heard from customer service workers. He chanced a look back at the barista and frowned when he saw her on her phone. Not her, then.

He looked around the tiny coffee shop and cringed a little when he realized what was going on. Shady guy approaches a woman who’s drinking coffee alone? Yeah, that’s never a good thing.

He pushed his laptop into his bag quickly, slung it over his shoulders, put the cap back on his coffee cup so the guy wouldn’t be able to tell that Tim had been there for a while, and rushed over.

He rested his hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Hey, bud, she said no.”

Tim watched both of them tense and their gazes were pulled to him in an instant.

Marinette glanced him up and down once. He watched her eyes lock onto his coffee cup for a second and he carefully turned his hand a little so she could see the name.

She smiled. “You’re late, Timmy. Don’t tell me you got caught up in another meeting?”

He shrugged innocently. “You know how it is.” Then, he split into a grin. “Maybe I should be the one that’s upset, though. Can’t believe you didn’t save me a spot.”

“I tried!” She whined. “He insisted!”

The man chuckled awkwardly. “I see. I’m sorry, I thought you were alone.”

She rolled her eyes. “I told you I wasn’t. Can you move, though?”

“Actually,” Tim said, because he didn’t want to sit in the window where Duke might happen to see him while on patrols. “There’s a free table back this way.”

Marinette tipped her head to the side a little before nodding. “Sure.”

She closed her laptop with a snap, gathered her things into her bag, and followed him back to his table.

That should have been the end of it. Unfortunately, the guy was still watching them. It looked like they weren’t going to be able to do work for a while if they wanted to keep up the pretense that they were friends.

She seemed to know it, too, because she sighed and rested her head on her hand with a small frown. “Guess we have to talk.”

He huffed. “Don’t have to sound so upset about it.”

“Alright. Fine.”

“Not sounding much more excited.”

She rolled her eyes and then brought a bright smile to her face. “Sure, Timmy, sounds great! Can’t wait to have a super fun conversation with you!”

“... nevermind. That’s weird. Why did that almost convince me? I knew it was fake.”

She let herself lean back in her chair, her face falling back to a slightly smug grin. “I’m Parisian,” she said simply.

Yeah. That made sense. Every Parisian Tim had had the (dis?)pleasure of meeting had had an almost unnerving amount of control over the way they presented their emotions.

He snickered. “Why the hell would you move here, then?”

She rolled her eyes. “Our psychopath was so boring. Like, dude, we get it, your wife died or whatever, that sounds like a you problem. Now, a guy deciding to become a jewel thief purely for the gimmick? Way more interesting.”

“Moral grayness is so twenty years ago,” Tim joked.

“Exactly! Give me dumbasses who are evil purely to be evil and good to be good!”

He grinned. “I can see why you like Harry Potter.”

She blinked.

He motioned to her cup. Scrawled across it in the barista’s messy handwriting was ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’.

She relaxed a little, grinning. “I just finished the books so I’m a bit obsessed. Also, every time I tell them that my name is Marinette they misspell it.”

“Don’t feel too bad, baristas are just like that. Heck, they’ve misspelled my name before.”

“... your name is Tim.”

“They spelled it with a y.”

“... why?”

“Yes. Exactly. A y.”

She giggled a little. “No, I mean why would they do that?”

“Oh. No clue. I hope they were just messing with me.”

~

The barista was wiping down the tables. It was nearing closing time and Marinette was feeling more and more sorry for the poor workers the longer they stayed. She knew that, when she had used to work at the bakery, she had always especially hated customers that were there around closing time.

Only two tables remained occupied.

She sighed when she glanced over and saw the guy was still there.

Oh well.

She looked over at Tim. “Care to walk me a few blocks in a random direction to see if we can get rid of him?”

“Certainly,” he said.

“‘Certainly’? I may not be super great with American customs yet but even I know that’s weird,” she teased.

He huffed a little. “Listen.”

“I’m listening.”

His nose scrunched. “No, wait, you weren’t supposed to call me out on the fact that I didn’t have an excuse.”

“Oh. Okay, we can try again.”

“Alright.” He cleared his throat. “Listen,” he said again, this time in a tone that mocked the one he’d said it in the first time.

Convenient. She was intent on mocking him, too: “I’m listening.”

“You’re the worst,” he complained.

She laughed. “I am so not. Joker exists.”

“You’re worse than him,” he said in his most serious voice.

She laughed harder. “No one is worse than him.”

He grinned. “I thought you liked people that were evil purely for being evil.”

“But he’s not,” she argued. “The man just decided one day that he liked the weird guy who dressed like a bat and figured that the best way to get that guy’s attention was to murder people.”

“Gotta admit, it works,” said Tim.

She shrugged, grinning. “Yeah, it does. Makes me wonder what would happen if the Big Bad Bat didn’t come, though.”

He tipped his head to the side slightly and then shrugged. “I don’t know, actually. He usually stops it in time.”

“I think he’d freak out.”

“Absolutely.”

She grinned and stretched lazily, head tipping back.

“He’s still following us, isn’t he?” Asked Tim.

“Yep,” she said, popping the ‘p’.

He groaned a little. “Great. Looks like we’re heading to the library.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You go to libraries? You could probably buy every ebook in existence and have a few billion left over.”

“One of my sisters works there, I can ask her to get rid of the guy,” he explained. “But I like libraries. There’s something quaint about them.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s nice to see how the common folk live sometimes.”

He returned her eye roll. “Not like that. I spend a lot of time staring at screens, I have a special appreciation for regular old books.”

“That’s nice. I wish I had time to sit down with a physical copy like that.”

“You see, I have this genius strategy for making time: not taking care of myself.”

“Go on, this is intriguing.”

“Well, eating and sleeping, right? Everyone thinks they’re totally necessary things otherwise you’d die or whatever. But, listen, that’s just a hoax made up by the government to perpetuate capitalism.”

She nodded eagerly. “Totally totally totally. What’s your solution?”

“Coffee communism.”

“Yes, you should use your rich boy money to lobby Congress.”

He grinned. “I totally should. But I can’t run it by my family.”

“No way! You never know who's capitalist anymore, they could be plants placed by the sleep industry to ensure that you don’t go through with it.”

He gasped. “No! You think? My own family?!”

She nodded grimly. “It’s always the ones closest to you that betray you.”

And then he broke character, snickering behind his hand. She beamed.

They reached the library and he smiled as he held the door open for her. He asked her to wait while he talked to his sister and she waved him off casually, telling him to take his time.

She pulled out her phone and pressed her lips together thinly as she made a note to head over later that night to give the man -- Henry -- his money. She’d give him a little tip because, for a moment there, she’d almost forgotten that they were just acting. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to purposely trigger herself for the sake of believability but, hey, if she was going to try and dupe one of the smartest businessmen alive into talking to her, she needed to go all out.

Speaking of Tim, she updated the file of Tim’s favorite cafes plus the probabilities of him visiting each one. It was for his oldest brother, Richie Wayne. She didn’t know why Richie was the one to ask for it seeing as he spent most of his time in Bludhaven and therefore likely wouldn’t find much use in it, but no one ever really knew why Richie Wayne did anything. The man famously had almost as much cotton between his ears as his father.

But, Richie Wayne was also just as rich as his father, so… she’d give him his file later that night after checking her math with her favorite graphing calculator.

A redhead in a wheelchair rolled past Marinette and she absently held the door open for her, only to be surprised when she cursed out Henry.

She watched as Henry held his hands up and started backing away from the woman in the wheelchair, and then he ran down the nearest alley.

(… she’d give Henry a bigger tip. The man had just wanted a tiny side job to help pay for his wife and kids that wasn’t being a henchman, he didn’t deserve this.)

She opened the door for the woman on her way back inside and mumbled her thanks. The woman nodded once and continued on her way.

Marinette leaned back against the wall again and scrolled through Twitter as she waited for Tim to reappear. Apparently, Poison Ivy was already back in Arkham. Something about an intern at the botanical gardens watering plants wrong. Wild.

Marinette felt someone sidle up beside her and, after a quick glance confirmed that it was Tim, pocketed her phone.

He smiled at her, a tote bag over his shoulder.

“Did you go grocery shopping while I wasn’t looking, somehow?”

He hesitated before holding it out to her. “It’s the French dubs of the Harry Potter movies.”

She blinked as the bag was thrust into her hands and looked down at it. Yep, that was Harry Potter in French. She also, vaguely, noted the tiny slip of paper his phone number scrawled across it.

She slung the bag over her shoulder.

“I’m never going to return these. You’re going to rack up so much debt.”

~~~

NightwingsAss9384: does anyone know why nightwing and canary hate each other?

ScareCrane: She stabbed Batman once on accident and somehow got away with blaming it on him

Daylightwing: She refuses to let B adopt her.

RiddleMeThis: They think it’s funny when their stans fight.

SignalOfficial: They said ‘I’m the only flippy bitch allowed in New Jersey’ and have been fighting ever since

Yummmmmm: He has to or else Robin will get jealous because he’s the only stabby sibling allowed

Oracle: They’re fighting over who gets to change their name to ‘The Dodo’ first.

DeadHood: Nightwing is jealous that Canary was the first one of us to think to have a full-on bird mask.

TheBetterCanary: every time i go into the batfam tag to try and avoid them all i see is his fancams

SpoilerAlert: they’re both convinced that they’re the hottest bachelor/bachelorette in gotham

NightwingsAss9384: im beginning to think no ones going to tell me.

BlackBat: :)

~~~~~

Next

Perma taglist: @nathleigh @peachmuses

Canary taglist: @jayjayspixiepop @unoriginalmess @miraculousfanfic127 @probably-a-hologram @iloontjeboontje

[liquid-luck-00]

Connections 10

Chapter 10

this is based on @thepeacetea daminette soulmate au

Masterlist *** First *** Previous *** Next

~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving in Themyscira, they were greeted by Queen Hippolyta and guided them to large hall. Introductions were made and Tikki zipped towards Hippolyta, nuzzling her cheek.

"You are the Ladybug of this generation?" The Amazonian Queen asked the youngest in the room.

"Yes, Ma’am." Marinette answered quickly and slightly panicked in the Queen's presence.

"Your soul is a true creation soul," she began her explanation. "As your soulmate and intended cat is a true destruction soul." As if on cue Damian, in corporeal form, 'crashed' through the ceiling, falling, and landing with a thud.

"Nice entrance Demon spawn." Jason snickered as Damian stood up.

"Tt. When I get my body back Grayson and Drake help me with this.” He demanded, but was actually asked of his brothers. He held up two batons.

“Dick would be better than...” Tim’s voice cut off as Damian merged the two and it expanded into a bo staff. “I stand corrected.”

“The Black Cat is the most offensive Miraculous," Hippolyta continued to explain. "As you've already found the first two, attempt to find the third."

"There are five total," Tikki chimed in. "But you'll need Plagg for the other two and to use your Power." Damian nodded and sat down fiddling with the staff, then batons, then the staff again, while listening to the Amazonian Queen.

"What does this have to do with the Lazarus Pit and bringing Damian back?” was asked by Bruce.

"Everything. Understanding the power that she is and he will, wield explains why there will not be an adverse effect on him." Hippolyta calmly explained. “The Ladybug as you may know uses a yo-yo as the primary weapon, but you also have two collapsed escrima sticks. Your powers include the 'Lucky Charm' and 'Miracle Cure’ used together you can reverse all damage caused as a result of the miraculous, or if any miraculous took part during anytime of the altercation. It is also possible to revive the dead with your power."

"So is it possible for Mari to bring back Damian?" Was asked by a hopeful Dick.

"Unfortunately not. What occurred was a result of the soul bond and the magic embedded into Marinette." A sad knowing look crossed the Queen's features. "This is where the Pits of Lazarus comes into play. As Marinette is the embodiment of creation and luck, as Damian is the embodiment of destruction and misfortune they are the two souls of this generation who can enter its waters without corruption."

"Why?" was chorused by the four eldest Waynes.

"The Pits were created by a wish merging the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous." Tikki now spoke again. "But with such powerful magic it comes with a cost. Pit madness comes when a person has a soul alignment with a miraculous, like Jason. For others it may vary, but for souls like the two of you, as part of Plagg and I, you are immune to the madness only reaping the benefits."

"Why didn't you say this before, Tikki." Tim brought up. "Because I can't see souls like my chosen can and Mari is too young to see them now." the miniature goddess responded.

"Pits as in more than one?" Bruce whispered, as if in deep thought.

"There are half a dozen pits around the world hidden away. Each is guarded by one of the inner kwamii, but that is more of a tidbit than necessary information." the Queen smiled. “Now has that calmed some concerns?"

"Is there a Pit not controlled by the League?" Jason blurted out. Because logically the league couldn't control all of them.

"A few, such as the one here on Paradise Island." Queen Hippolyta answered in turn.

"I can get my body back without the League?" Damian whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

This was the best news they could get. Damian could be revived while not having to struggle with the Pit madness. He wouldn't need to be near the League which means he wouldn't question himself. That he is able to build upon what he has since moving to Gotham without being the Prince of Assassins.

"Yes. Now come little bug, little cat." Marinette and Damian each flanked the Queen as the rest followed behind.

A short trek into the Mountains and they arrived at a pit. The same acidic green with chaos and creation swirled. Damian's body was deposited next to the swirling pool.

"Understand that when you emerge, both of you, will train here in order to strengthen and teach you the magic you will wield." the two children nodded, clear resolve on their features. "Good."

After bringing Damian back from the dead they almost immediately were placed into training. It was true that there was no madness, his mind was intact without being clouded by anger. Their soul bond was a huge benefit. Where Damian caught the physical aspect quickly and it transferred to Mari. While Mari was a natural at magic and helped guide Damian through.

Yes the Amazon’s did not particularly trust men but they could recognize Damian as a Black Cat, which along with his brother’s nickname Demon Spawn, he gained the name Hellcat. That and they could clearly see that Damian was Marinette’s soulmate, but didn’t treat her as a damsel in distress, instead as a partner and equal. Which helped him earn some respect to the warriors around them. Which was how the two spent most of the week before going back.

What they couldn't be prepared for was the tornado named Jagged. As soon as they arrived in the manor he was there in a fury of a whirlwind.

"Hey little Rocker, how was the trip?"

"It was fun." Marinette smiled at her dad.

"So got any pictures to show your papa, love." he asked excitedly.

"Pictures?" she repeated quizzically.

That was when the Wayne’s and Mari began to laugh

"What’s so funny?" The rocker asked confused.

"Apparently we were so caught up in the vacation we didn’t take pictures." Tim grinned, the little liar he is, spoke up. He had pictures but they were mostly of his brothers getting their asses handed to them by the Amazons. And he couldn’t explain how they happened to be on the secret hidden island filled with Amazonian warriors. "Their also was zero service on the island." He finished with a shrug.

"Ohh I did bring back some shells and crystals and some seeds for my garden." Mari chimed in. "I can tell you all about it."

"Yes you can on the plane to wherever you and the bird you choose to come with us." Jagged smiled at his daughter.

"Jared what are you..." Bruce near finished his sentence.

Jagged having interrupted his thoughts he sentence. “Come now Batsey you steal little rocker for a week so I steal one of your birds." He stated as a matter of fact.

Bruce just stood with his jaw slack. Sure Mari told them he figured them out, but he forgot, he had a child to revive goddamn it. “Fine but I think it’ll be a good idea to tell him Mari." He turned to the young girl.

The girl chewed her lip before putting her hand in her light vest shirt. A red pixie bug flew out and sat on Mari’s head.

"Hello I’m Tikki the Ladybug kwamii, Marinette is my chosen holder." Tikki's voice rang through the room.

"I’m sorry what now?" The rocker was eerily still and quiet.

"Long story short your daughter is a magical girl and Demon Spawn is her soulmate and is also a magical girl, boy, you get the idea." Jason chuckled.

"Okay let me get this straight. Mari's soulmate is the Grumpy Gargoyle, they are both magical kids who are chosen by fairies. All of you are Gotham's vigilantes, which I'm assuming you've been training Little Rocker."

"Yes.??” Dick answered unsure.

"Okay."

"Okay." Dick again responded. Before realizing, "Wait! Okay!”

"Ya," Jagged shrugged. "You've all met Mari. This is completely plausible with her. So who are we stealing from Bruce?"

"Dames!" she jumped to hug him from behind, arms wrapped around his neck.

Damian for his part didn't throw Marinette off. In fact he repositioned to piggy back her, a ghost of a smile spread on his neutral features.

"So where are we going?"

Yucatan Peninsula

Why?

The Twins said a gift for future bugs and cats were there.

Haven't their been cats and bugs since them?

Yes but travel was limited.

In other words scavenger hunt.

Yes. How's your Spanish? Because the most logical place to start would be the Mayan ruins.

"Mejor que eI tuyo." she smirked at him.

"God damn it their doing it again." Jason dragged his hands down his face.

"Doing what?"

"Their bond is shockingly rare, its a Mind link sharing knowledge, meaning basically anything one knows so does the other. As if that isn't enough now they can communicate telepathically."

"So why the Spanish rocker?"

"Cancun, Mayan scavenger hunt." she grinned.

"Sounds good. I'll shoot Penny a text and we'll leave tomorrow sound good?"

"Yup." She responded, Damian nodded and finally set her down.

Your helping me pack.

As if I'd let you do it yourself.

Knowing you, you'd pack your Robin uniform.

'Pfft'

Next

~~~~~~~~~~

Permanent Taglist: @itsmeevie01 @miraculouspenta

Taglist 🐞🦇: @thanks-captain-obvious @mandy989 @our-preciousss @readingismyoxygen @birdy912 @shifty-lesbian-retro-goblin @todaylillypads @laurcad123 @demonangel27 @be-happy-every-day-please @fandom-trapped-03 @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @t1dwarrior-of-earth @saays-bitch @k-poplunardreams @animegirlweeb @weird-pale-blonde-person @myazael @toodaloo-kangaroo @moonlightstar64 @miraculous-simmer7 @wannajointhecrabcult @blackmagicforever @iamabrownfox @justcourttee @consumeconstantly @abrx2002 @livelifeauthorstyle @certifiedbidisaster @dreamykitty25 @ironspiderstark @fantasyislive @dast218 @susiej1118 @sassakitty @lilyreadbooks12 @dawnwave16 @mochegato @galla02006 @nathleigh @trippingovermyfeet @promiswords @rosep16 @officiallydarkgeek @inarachi02 @justafanwarrior @emimar7

[flippin-fins]

Roommates

LadyNoir July 2021 Day 21: Roommates

Read on AO3

It made sense after they had revealed their identities to each other.

What better roommate than someone who had been your partner since you were 14?

Even if he had to push down his unreciprocated feelings, sharing an apartment with Marinettee (and all her fabric) had been an easy decision when he was old enough to move out of the mansion. Plus, having all of the kwamis were fun as roommates, even if the trouble all of them got into together could put Plagg to shame.

Adrien smiled as he watched Marinette beat Nino at yet another video game. Why Nino had thought he could beat Marinette at any of their video games was beyond Adrien’s comprehension.

Adrien pulled out his phone to check the time, not realizing how late it had gotten. Trying to figure out how to get Marinette’s attention, she was better at ending the night with minimal questions or lingering, Adrien missed Alya watching him.

“Nino, I think it’s time for us to head out,” Alya called to her boyfriend. “Maybe it’s time to accept that she’s just better than you.”

Nino scoffed, but set the controller on the coffee table as he stood up. Marinette joined him a moment later, extending her hand.

“Always a pleasure.”

“Yeah, yeah, but your winning streak can’t last forever.”

The room filled with laughter as Alya and Nino grabbed their things, Marinette pressing a tupperware of baked goods into her friend’s hands.

As the door closed, Adrien looked at his roommate. All he wanted was to wrap her up in his arms, leaving a kiss on the top of her head. Instead, he stepped towards their balcony.

“Ready for a race around the city, Bug?”

She turned, never one to turn down a competition. “So eager to lose?”

She transformed and was out the window before he could blink, and Adrien quickly changed into Chat Noir before chasing her with a laugh.

He let his muscle memory carry him along to rooftops, setting an easy pace. He’d let her win every race she wanted for the chance to see the smile on her face. He couldn’t make it look like he let her win (and often he struggled to keep pace with her), but tonight he was caught up in his thoughts.

When he’d first approached her to be his roommate, Adrien had been nervous. He didn’t want to overstep, didn’t want to scare her away. He knew there was someone else, and while his feelings hadn’t changed, he didn’t want Marinette to be too uncomfortable to be his friend.

But sometimes, sometimes being just roommates was hard. Hanging out with Alya and Nino, all he could think about was the potential for double dates. Cooking together in the kitchen, all he wanted was to hold her close and dance to the music filling the room. Their sleepy, late night conversations were something he treasured, more precious than late night patrols or when he used to meet Marinette on her balcony and see the stars.

Maybe he wanted more, but for now, this had to be enough. In the past, he’d made it clear where his feelings were his partner lay, and it felt wrong to push when she’d set that boundary.

Too soon, Chat landed on their favorite landmark, the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower glittering around them.

Ladybug turned to look at her partner, to gloat at her win, but one look at his face stopped her.

“Chat? Are you alright?” Ladybug asked, moving to step towards him.

Plastering a grin on his face, Chat looked up at her. “Of course, just a little caught up in the sights of the city tonight.” He wanted to add that she was his favorite sight, but that felt too far.

She sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Wrapping an arm around her, Chat Noir held her close, trying to ignore the distance he felt between them. Far below, he imagined the lovers strolling the city, couples that held no secrets, just kisses and held hands warming each other.

He tried to ignore how much he wanted to be one of them.

He turned towards Ladybug as he heard her hum, lost in thought. He squeezed her shoulder lightly, and felt her eyes on him.

He could question her thoughts, but knew she’d voice them when she was ready. Instead, she took his free hand in both of hers, playing with his fingers.

“Alya made a funny comment tonight.”

Chat frowned, trying to think of what could have been said, but nothing came to mind.

“When we were in school, in lycee, I wouldn’t have imagined it would end up like this. I mean, Alya and Nino being together still is no surprise, but for you, for the guy who sat in front of me to be my partner, the flirtatious Chat Noir,” he grumbled at that, but she pressed on. “For us to end up such close friends, to be roommates. I just think that 14 year old Marinette would be surprised.”

“Is it that surprising that we’re friends?” Chat tried to joke, to sweep the pieces of how her words broke his heart under a nearby rug.

“No no, it’s not that. It’s just, well,” he could feel her tense against his shoulder, and Chat resisted the urge to turn, to see the secrets hiding in her eyes.

He was sure she could hear his heart pounding, desperate to know more.

She took a deep breath before continuing, and it felt like the longest silence he’d ever experienced. “Did you know I had a crush on you back then?” Her voice was just a whisper, but if she hadn’t been leaning on him then Chat would have fallen off the beam. He must have stiffened, frozen by her words. “I mean, it’s not, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t agree to be roommates to be creepy, I mean I did want to be roommates but not like that I mean we’re friends and partners and it makes sense and if this is weird just tell me and I can move out and -”

“Marinette,” he whispered, cutting off her rambling.

She dropped his hand, sitting up, away from him.

It was amazing how fast his side grew cold, how quickly he missed her presence.

He twisted to look at her, to fully see her, even if her eyes were hidden by her eyelashes as she looked down at the city.

“Marinette,” he repeated, reaching out to brush a stray hair behind her ear. “Do you remember what I told you, well before we revealed our identities?”

Her eyebrow furrowed as she tried to figure out what he was talking about.

“I said that I loved you, whoever you were under the mask. I loved the superhero, and all I wanted was to know who she was, so that I could get the chance to love her too. But then this girl in my class started to capture my attention, so I would visit her balcony some nights, just for the chance to see her.” Ladybug tried to turn away, to hide the tears shining in her eyes, but he kept going. “Imagine my surprise when I discovered they were the same person.”

“But that was so long ago-”

“I told you I would wait until you were ready. Maybe I hoped being roommates would speed up the process.”

She whipped her head around to look at him, and Chat couldn’t tell if he was imagining the hope he saw in her eyes.

“Do you still?” She breathed, still speaking so softly, as if anyone could overhear them.

“Of course, I planned to wait my whole life if I had to.” Chat grinned, and he tried to ignore the cracks in his heart as he focused on her, on what she’d said. “Was I too late? Did you leave it behind at lycee?”

He startled as she jumped forward, wrapping her arms around him. “I have loved you since the day you handed me that umbrella in the rain, offering an apology I never deserved.”

Chat didn’t realize he was crying until a sob choked it’s way out.

“What does this mean for us? Now that you know my motives, does that change your decision on being my roommate?”

“Adrien, nothing could make me not want to be your roommate. I want to be your roommate as long as you’ll have me.”

He thought back to a joke that he’d heard Alya say, something that always made Marinette blush.

“Even if it includes three kids and a hamster?”

He heard her gasp, knowing exactly who he’d heard that from. She leaned back to look at him.

“Three kids and a hamster was always about you, so I’m in it especially if being roommates leads to that.”

Chat pulled her back into a hug, content with knowing the rest of his life was safe as long as she was in his arms.

[thatasianstereotype]

Fuck. I’m Gay.

I’ve been reading a lot of ml salt fics lately (mainly @unmaskedagain which is a literal goldmine of saltiness). And getting into the Damienette ship. Marinette really does deserves better (Fuck Canon) but so does Adrien. He is not a “sidekick”. Chat Noir and Ladybug are partners = equals. So I decided why not write a fic where Adrien gets his own happy ending in the form of a grumpy assassin-turned-vigilante that loves animals more than people. 

Somewhat of a crack writing where creative liberties were definitely taken. 

.

.

.

Lila Rossi is a bitch and everyone knew it. Well, by everyone, Adrien means himself, his good-amazing-make-pastries-for-him friend Marinette, his maybe-not-really-sure friend Chloe and his-not-that-close-really-classmate Nathaniel. 

Yeah. It was a small number. 

But Lila is still a bitch. 

Anyway, Lila’s lies and manipulations have disturbed the status quo and not in a good way. She ended up making the majority of the class fawn over her like she was a perfect goddess and not a pompous-temperamental-hormonal teenager. Teenagers were prone to be gullible; he can understand his classmates being inclined to believe her. But this was utterly ridiculous (man, Chloe is rubbing off on him). No. You know what’s even more ridiculous? Ms. Bustier letting Lila get away with it. She doesn’t even stop the class mistreating Marinette who claimed she was a bully just because of you know who - Fucking Lila Rossi. The audacity of that bitch and her bitchy followers, am I right? 

Growing up he watched the tv shows and the animes. High schools always had their drama but he thought that was to get some plot going on. He didn’t think it was an actual thing that happens in real life. But he was proven wrong. Françoise Dupont High School had their drama and it was way worse than what he watched on screen. 

The worst part was that he couldn’t get away from Lila. Or he’ll be pulled from school (Fuck you Dad). He had to sit next to that bitch and listen to her drone on and on about things they both knew she didn’t do, about things she promised to do for her ever gullible followers friends. And couldn’t say anything against it if he wanted to stay in school. But even his discreet questioning didn’t do that much. It got some of the class to think something’s possibly fishy with her stories but not enough to think Lila was evil. So he just gave up. Because what was even the point? 

He was distancing himself from Alya and Nino. He couldn’t really be friends with people who thought Lila held the sun and moon. They didn’t hang out as much as they used to and he made excuses when they did invite him to stuff. Lately, he was making outrageous excuses - like he had to take his cat to the vet even though he didn’t have a cat - to see if they caught on. They didn’t. It was fun but he didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about that. But feeling sad-depressed-pain over it was a bitch so he decided to take his victories as they come. 

Chloe had left the school earlier on. Her mom wanted to spend one-on-one time with her daughter (Yeah, Audrey is better at being a mother here). She was completely out of this drama mess. And Nathaniel kept his head down to not paint a target on himself. 

His only consolation and ally in this whole mess was Marinette. His darling angel. His sunshine incarnate. His own goddess (not like that bitch Lila let’s get one thing straight). 

When he was feeling overwhelmed (which was a lot), he spent it at her house. They spent it discussing fashion, trash talking Liar-la and the sheep class, playing video games, and making/eating the best baked goods in all of Paris. If he wasn’t at his photo shoots or at school, he was at her house. And with how often they spent time with each other, it wasn’t long before they accidentally revealed their alter egos to each other. 

(The class’ Everyday Ladybug was actually Ladybug. How amazing is that! Isn’t Marinette the absolute coolest?!) 

Since they outed themselves to each other, they had to give up their miraculous. And new heroes had to be chosen. As the guardian, Marinette decided to give the Ladybug miraculous to herself and the Cat one to Adrien. And make them the superheros of Paris. 

(Just when he thought that Marinette couldn’t get any cooler) 

They both collectively decided that being friends were for the best and put away their obsession crush over the other far far away. Now they were best friends-almost siblings. Oh who was he kidding? He was an honorary Dupain-Cheng. Marinette and her parents said so. And who was he to deny the goddess? 

All was well. 

Until he met this gorgeous boy with raven black hair and piercing green eyes that made him question everything in life. 

Like fuck. His life wasn’t hard enough already? 

.

It was a slow patrol. Just stopped a few petty crimes. No akuma tonight. He wasn’t really expecting much to happen.

Mari said patrolling regularly gives citizens a sense of security and it helps if one of them were on scene if an akuma does appear. 

He didn’t mind. He loved running on the rooftops and feeling the wind in his face. After some time, he stopped and stood on top of one of the tallest buildings. Just soaking the view. The peace and serenity of it all. Seeing the glowing lights of his beloved city. Seeing the Eiffel Tower standing tall and proud. 

(Forget school. Forget Liar-la and her hoard of bitches) 

This was his city. This was why he fights Hawk Moth with Ladybug. They had something precious to protect. 

He was done patrolling the regular routes and all his schoolwork was already finished. He could go to sleep but he didn’t feel that tired. And he really didn’t want to go back home. Mari shared her theory on his dad being Hawk Moth. She had really good reasons and a plethora of proof. If they could switch miraculous, why couldn’t he and Mayura - most likely Nathalie? Which would explain how Gabriel got akumatized.

After all her support with dealing with Lila, he was way more inclined to believe her even without the evidence. But those things just made him more wary of his dad. And he wasn’t too stoked on spending more time than what he can get away with with the guy. Because his dad being Hawk Moth explains why he wants Lila (his strongest supporter - Chameleon and Oni-chan, anyone?) close and makes Adrien play nice with her. And anyone who enables Lila’s bitchiness is on his enemy list. 

Anyway, he was out here to enjoy the good mood not think about evil bitches and evil dads. So he sat himself down and enjoyed the sights. It was more calming than you would think. 

He heard cars blaring and even a dog barking. The slight breeze felt nice. The moon was pretty bright tonight. The stars too. There was a lone couple walking through the park. There was also another teen in black running on rooftops a few buildings away. 

Wait. 

What? 

He blinked and looked again. Huh, there was another teen in black running on rooftops. And it was not a hallucination. 

What the actual fuck?

He was instantly on his feet, baton already in hand as he raced across the roof to reach said stranger. 

“Hey!” 

But because he was the lucky owner of the unlucky miraculous, the moment he said that, the guy was about to jump off a building to presumably roll onto the next one like Chat was watching him do beforehand. But his call made him lose focus and Chat watched horrified as the guy slipped and started falling into the alley. 

Oh fuck! Mari was going to fucking kill this dumbass kitty!

He hoped to everything that Mari thinks is holy that he makes it in time. Extending his baton, he used it as a huge Pogo stick to basically catapult himself towards the stranger and wrapped his arms around him as he braced himself for the full weight of hitting the gravel at this height and speed. But he wasn’t that that concerned. His suit protected him from the majority of the injuries that would’ve occurred if he wasn’t wearing it. It hurt but it isn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Remember earlier? He takes his victories as they come. 

This was not the smartest of ideas, he’ll admit. Mari had the brains to be honest. But it wasn’t bad if he say so. And he does say so. 

He rolled over and immediately looked over the stranger that was remarkably unharmed in this whole mess. 

And oh.

Oh.

The stranger was taller than he was with a lithe and lean frame. He had raven black hair that complimented his tanned skin and gorgeous green eyes that pierced through him, making his heart do funny things. 

He was not expecting him to look as hot as he did. He wore a simply black t-shirt and jeans but he looked like a fucking Adonis, what the fuck.  Even the moon shone down on him, highlighting his handsome features even more.  

He shook himself of those thoughts and focused on what was more important. “I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” 

He was rudely pushed away, but he didn’t take offense. He did cause the guy to fall after all. 

“Do not touch me.” (What kind of accent is that?) “I’m fine. You are truly a moronic imbecile of the highest accord to yell like that. And what are you even supposed to be? Some kind of knock-off Catwoman?” 

At that, Chat looked at Hot-And-Sexy weird. “Are you new here? I’m the superhero Chat Noir. I protect Paris with Ladybug.”

“You’re joking.”

“I know I come off as the goofy hero because I make purr-fect puns all the time but I’m not joking about this.” 

He took out his phone to show the foreign (since he’s obviously not a Parisian) stranger the akuma attacks and Ladybug and Chat Noir being a dynamic duo, saving Paris and beating Hawk Moth. Ok, he showed the stranger a lot of stuff. Sue him. He gets to brag about his Princess. And himself too.

“I never heard about this before.” Hot-And-Sexy (he has got to come up with a better name) said afterward. “3 years this has been going on? Why didn’t you ask for help from the Justice League or other superheros?” 

Chat shrugged. “We tried. But they said we’re obviously pulling a prank and making this all up. So we stopped asking for help.”

For some reason this made Hot-And-Sexy angry. “They ignored your plea for help and left you to fight for yourselves?”

“Pretty much, yea.” 

“You and Ladybug are children.” 

“Excuse me? Are you doubting our ability to protect our city?" He was not apologetic at the sharp edge his voice took. Forget looking hot. How dare he? The audacity really. 

Hot-And-Sexy shook his head. “I’m not. I know some child superheroes who are adequate at their jobs and a few who are remarkable like Robin in Gotham. But the majority of them had adult mentors to guide them. From what you’ve shown me, you and Ladybug had no one. You were left alone to fend for yourself with essentially no help.” 

He never thought of it that way. But hearing it like that made him think: Fuck Adults Who Chose Children to Fight Their War For Them and Fuck Hawk Moth For Putting Them In This Position In The First Place. 

You know what. Just to clear all his bases - Fuck Everyone But The Dupain-Chengs. 

Chat couldn’t help but shrug, not quite knowing what to say to that. “Life is a bitch, I’ve come to find out. But enough of that. Why were you running on rooftops anyway?”

“It calms me down.”

Relatable. 

“Is...Is your tail moving?” 

“Huh?” He looked behind him to see his tail was indeed moving lazily. “Yeah. I’m called Chat Noir for a reason.”

“May I touch them?” Chat was used to people (usually kids) pulling on his tail to see if it was real (It was). And it really hurts because they usually rough. Not that he blames them. Kids don’t know any better. Still, he usually says no when people ask. 

But Hot-And-Sexy had such a sincere expression that he said yes. To his surprise and delight, Hot-And-Sexy was extremely gentle (Can this guy be anymore perfect?) and it felt nice to be petted like that. Curse his touch-starvation (again Fuck you Dad).

Hot-And-Sexy was apparently fascinated by his ears and tail. 

“Are you a meta?” He noticed how Hot-And-Sexy’s voice turned softer and fonder (or was he imagining that?).

“Nah. I’m fully human. I just got powers to transform into this.” He looked down at his phone seeing that the time was nearing 2 am.

“Have you suffered any injuries from your stupid stunt?” 

“Hmm?” Chat looked back at him before gesturing to his body. “Don’t worry. I may not look like it but I can take it.”

He can practically feel Hot-And-Sexy rolling his eyes. “What an utter dolt.” 

But there wasn’t any heat behind it so he didn’t take it to heart. 

“Thanks, babe.” 

“That was an insult.”

“And I’m taking it like a compliment.”

Chat stood up and stretched his limbs. Hot-And-Sexy doing the same but dusting off his clothes instead.

“So, uh, need any help getting home?”

“I am perfectly capable of finding my own way, thanks.” 

“Ok. Have a nice night.” He was about to leave when he was caught off guard by Hot-And-Sexy staring at him for a good few seconds, making his limbs freeze in place at the heavy attention.

Before he said. “You should try contacting the Batfamily in Gotham about Hawk Moth. They’re used to dealing with weird things. I’m sure they won’t turn you or Ladybug away.” 

Chat was a bit distracted by how intensely those green eyes focused on him, making his heart beat faster and his cheeks turn a vibrant red. 

He was so screwed. 

He used his baton to shoot himself up so he can run on rooftops, hurrying to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. 

.

“Mari! I think I’m gay!”

“It’s 2 in the morning, Chaton. Go to sleep and we’ll talk about it in the morning.” 

.

After a good night’s rest (and thank everything that was right in the world that today was a weekend), Adrien told Mari all about Hot-And-Sexy. And yes, he did call the stranger that out loud. His everything-that-actually-matters sister simply took it in stride after giggling a bit. They spent the majority of the day discussing emotions and everything that came with that bundle. 

Before he finally came to a conclusion. 

He is definitely gay (He liked girls but not like like them). And most definitely had a crush on Hot-And-Sexy with the pretty green eyes. 

Good news: He is no longer having a sexuality crisis. 

Bad news: He is going through an emotional crisis. 

Like dealing with these feelings that is making his stomach flip flop over and over again? The only one he ever had to deal with was the one he had on Ladybug and that (he talked with Mari about it months before. She was amazing with these emotional matters) was more of a hero-worship crush than anything really romantic. 

And his crush on Hot-And-Sexy was so much more. 

.

So it’s been about 2 weeks since he encountered Hot-And-Sexy. And he still haven’t figured out what else to call him. But the nickname was growing on him. 

(He also told Mari about asking the Batfam for help but she was a bit apprehensive after the disastrous attempts of convincing the Justice League. He shrugged, trusting her opinion and left it at that) 

Anyway, Lila was being her usual bitchy self. Father was being non-existent like always. Mari was his only source of sanity at school. And Hawk Moth was being a bitch. 

Because of course, the day before they have a huge test, he decides to akumatize someone (in this case, a businessman who was really unhappy with getting fired) and cut in on study time. And this akuma took a while to defeat. Guess he drew a lot of strength from his burning hatred of the failings of the corporate world. 

And just yesterday, a teenager who was upset at being grounded got akumatized and terrorized the city for 3 hours before Ladybug could purify her. It did however confirmed her fears. Hawk Moth was getting stronger. It took longer to defeat his monsters. They needed to find him and ended this fast. 

Adrien landed on Mari’s balcony and slipped in her room, crashing on her big comfy bed, de-transforming on the spot. Plagg sleepily floating and laying next to him on the pillow. He was so tired. And photo shoots and school drama were not helping things.

.

For the record, he was not at all expecting to see Hot-And-Sexy in a bookstore of all places. 

He was so engrossed in looking through the latest Boku no Hero Academia manga (can’t wait until Season 5 comes out) that when someone touched his shoulder, he was not proud to admit he squeaked a bit.

He turned around and his eyes widened his surprise. 

“Hot-And-Sexy!” 

It was indeed the Adonis Adrien had a huge crush on. Today he was wearing a white t-shirt paired with a blue denim jacket and black ripped jeans. Wow. He really can make anything look hot.

No. Bad Adrien. Don’t let him know you actually have a crush on him.

And oh fuck. Hot-And-Sexy was staring at the blonde and Adrien tried not to let himself get flustered. He has a very intense stare. For all he knew, Hot-And-Sexy stares at everyone like that.

Calm the fuck down, heart. You too brain.

He raised a handsome eyebrow in amusement. “Excuse me?”

Adrien felt himself burn with embarrassment, his face turning bright scarlet. No wonder he was fit for the unlucky miraculous or was this just a side-effect? Note to self, ask Mari about this later. 

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t get your name last time. And I just started calling you that in my head. Cause you’re really hot and you have pretty eyes.”

Fuck mouth! Why won’t you stop talking! Please for the love of everything that makes Mari a BAMF stop. Stop digging further into the hole of embarrassment! Abort mission! Abort!

“When did we meet?”

At that, he blink a few times. Oh fuck. He was not Superhero Chat Noir. He was Civilian Adrien Agreste. Mari was definitely murdering his dumbass tonight. Lightning please strike him down right now. Where was an unlucky lightning strike when you need it?

After a few seconds of his horrified silence, Hot-And-Sexy chuckled (he had such a nice laugh). “You are extremely lucky I already figured out your alter ego beforehand, Chaton.”

Before Adrien could even unwrap that statement, he held out a hand and had a dangerously sexy smirk on his face. “My name is Damian Wayne. Would you care to get a cup of coffee with me?”

And Adrien nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak. He can deal with the superhero thing later when he can think straight (hah!) and is not distracted by Damian’s beautiful smile and alluring green eyes and perfect everything.

.

Guess what?

Ya Boi got game.

(At least, he likes to think he does)

After a successful coffee date (was it a date? Please let it be a date), they exchanged numbers (cue internal squealing) and met up a few times afterward to hang out.

Apparently, Dami was here on business to deal with something for Wayne Enterprises.

“Aren’t you 17?”

“Father believes in preparing us when we’re young.”

Dami was amazingly sweet. Arrogant and pretentious with a stick up his ass but sweet. He treats stray animals with such reverence that Adrien’s heart melt every time he sees it.

It was an added bonus when Damian scorned Lila with cruel words and disgusted looks when she tried to cut in Adrien and Dami’s date(?)/meetup(?)/spending-time-together event.

She cried and whined afterwards and Adrien has to endure his father’s lecture. But it was totally worth it.

Oh yeah. Mari was not pleased that he accidentally outed himself to a civilian. But nothing that a couple of sad kitty eyes can’t fix.

“You are so lucky you’re cute, kitty-cat.” Mari grumbled but she was smiling. “I just need to have a good talk with him on the importance of secrecy.”

.

That day Damian Wayne learned to fear a certain Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

.

It was 2 weeks later when Adrien woke up to a package next to his futon in Mari’s room. When he opened it, he saw the Butterfly and Peacock miraculous inside.

There was a card beneath it. And in beautiful cursive script read: 

I dearly hope you enjoy my courting gift, mon amour. Allow me the honor to formally ask you out on a date. I look forward to hearing favorably from you soon.

- Damian Wayne

He couldn’t believe it.

“Mari! Damian likes me back!”

“Chaton, I swear. It is 2 in the morning.”

Next

[taliaquinn]

Hamilton AU Part 2

lthI’m really glad to see that you guys loved the Hamilton AU. I really enjoyed seeing all the comments. Sorry for the inactivity I was super busy with getting readjusted and getting the proper amount of sleep. I hope I tagged Everyone if I didn't please feel free to comment here or direct message me. Here is the part two with a bigger presence of the Batfam. :)

“ItwasanecessarysacrificeitwasnecessaryItwasneededtosavemyreputationitwas-” repeating that mantra, Adrien slowly lifted his head from his hands to look over the newspapers, splattered all around his desk. All the headlines glaring at him in bold black print.

SHOCKING: Details Of Adrien Agreste’s Affair Revealed

FASHION INDUSTRY IN CHAOS FOLLOWING ADRIEN AGRESTE ADMITTING AN AFFAIR WITH BRULER INDUSTRIES SECRETARY LILA ROSSI 

‘OH YES HE WOULD STAY WHENEVER HE COULD ESCAPE HIS WIFE” ALLEGED MISTRESS LILA ROSSI STATES

MARINETTE AGRESTE IN TATTERS FOLLOWING BOMBSHELL AFFAIR ALLEGATIONS

Adrien couldn’t help but flinch at that specific headline. 

Marinette would forgive him. She was head-over-heels in love with him plus she had to forgive him for the sake of Emma, Louis, and Hugo.

 He quickly turned and focused on the only headline that mattered.

ADRIEN AGRESTE CLEARED OF ANY FINANCIAL WRONGDOING BY FRENCH INVESTIGATORS

Oh god, he couldn't believe he had let it get that far. He should’ve released the video much earlier before any charges were made public.

How dare they try to frame him. Everyone knew he always did everything in his life perfectly, efficiently, and legally. 

That lowly Bruler Board Member trying to extort him of all people. Then have the nerve to accuse him of embezzlement just so they could avoid jail time.

 Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the big framed picture of his and Marinette's wedding. Marinette beaming with joy, her arm wrapped around Adrien's. 

She looked beautiful that day. No matter what, seeing that picture of her in her wedding dress always managed to take his breath away.

She’ll forgive him. Especially once she knows why Adrien had to take extreme measures. 

He threw most of the Newspapers away keeping only that one that cleared him on any legal wrongdoing. 

He sat down actively trying to ignore the pings from his cellphone. Before finally reaching over and shutting it off. 

He leaned back and thought back to that fateful day that changed everything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien was just walking out of a meeting with the CEO of Bruler Industries when he felt hands wrap around his arm. He shifted to politely ask them to let him go before he was staring at familiar green eyes.

”Oh!?” Adrien is that you?” Lila squealed. Grasping his arm even tighter.

“Lila? It's been so long since I last saw you” he exclaimed awkwardly trying to get his arm released from the Italian grip.

“Far too Long” Lila cried wrapping her arms around him in a hug. He quickly returned the hug. finally breaking it off, after an oddly long time, before walking towards the elevator together

” What are you doing here? Are you working on a Charity collaboration with Bruler Industries?” He asked, he couldn't help but notice Lilas employee id.

“Huh- OH UHM no actually I work here now” She let out quickly taking off her ID and stashing it into her pocket “I got offered a job here once they saw the way I ran one of my charities, They practically begged me to come work for them as a secretary and help them with Organizing” 

“Wow, that's amazing” He breathed out stepping onto the elevator with her following closely behind “What a coincidence that we managed to run into each other”

“Sure is” Ha. As if.

Lila had been seeing the Articles written about the “power couple”. Adrien and Marinette. She seethed with jealousy every time an article would appear, praising her work, her charity, and her kindness. 

That should’ve been Lila, she should've been the other half of the power couple. She should’ve been the “beloved beautiful Mrs.Agreste.”

This is why she was ecstatic and thrilled when she saw Adrien scheduled for a Meeting with Bruler Industries CEO on the schedule that Assistant Secretaries received each day.  She could barely manage to qualify for her job as an assistant secretary to a lower executive, she could only dream of being the CEO’s secretary.

Reading articles and watching videos  Lila realized that she wasn’t the only one Jealous of Marinette. Adrien was too. Through the quick glances thrown in his wife's direction or the flickers of annoyance on his face every time Marinette's fans approached her on the streets, who would practically ignore Adrien. 

Lila knew it was jealousy. She after all felt it too.

The baker girl surpassed Lila. That enraged her to no end. She was determined to change all of that.

This is why she had to sneak her way onto the top floor barely in time so she could  “run” into Adrien. Which was successful.

Shaking back to reality Lila couldn't help but give a quick glance at Adrien next to her in the Elevator, she realized that she had stumbled upon a crucial piece of knowledge that would give her everything she wanted.

 There was no way she could let Adrien leave….at least without her.

Lila practically dragged Adrien towards a “close” cafe that just so happened to have an intimate theme. Lila ordered coffee for them both and quickly delved into all her “adventures” she “had” since leaving lycee. Totally false but attention-grabbing as apparent by Adrien's intense concentration on Lila and her adventures. 

Lila knew that she didn’t have to worry about Marinette interrupting their little meet-up. She was away. Lila knew this. She saw the news report about Marinette and Her kids landing in Gotham in a private jet. 

Adrien was obviously unhappy at the fact that his family was in the States without him for all of the summer. They had to stay in the States for all of the summer because of Marinette. She was a Wayne so she was required to go to the annual Wayne Gala.

 Meanwhile, he stayed behind to take care of the Agreste company, fighting to make it even greater, Maintain the image of perfection. He even had the hope that someday it would be able to join Wayne corporations. Until then the Agreste Mansión was empty. 

For now.   

Lila wasn’t blind she could see the jealousy written on Adrien's face when the topic shifted to his wife. Marinette Wayne-Agreste. beautiful, talented, intelligent, business owner and mother of three. 

Plus her parents were Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne Corporations, along with Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain who were world-renowned bakers.

 Marinette was the envy of all, including her husband. 

She reached out and took Adrien's hands into her own. “Oh Adrien just know that you are sooo kind,” putting on a mask of fake worry she continued “I could only wonder how much you worry about her cheating on you, I mean Marinette does go on abroad trips on a daily basis and men practically trip over themselves to talk to her, who knows what goes on when you're not around” 

She felt Adrien's hands tighten their grip around her. Lila flashed a triumphant smile before quickly placing a mask of concern over it. If everything went on according to plan soon she might find herself as the new Mrs.Agreste. Soon they both stood up and Adrien offered to walk her home and pay. “ Adrien you are too kind” Lila giggled out. 

Oh, Adrien was feeling pleased with being the center of attention, and Lila didn’t even have to milk it that much. After all, He offered to walk her home she didn't even need to ask.

“Oh Adrien it was so much fun talking and chatting again” Lila cooed, batting her eyelashes at him while clutching at his arm. Very reminiscent of their highschool days. Far too soon for Lilas liking they arrived at her hotel.

“Well I should head back home,” He said sheepishly standing inside the hotel lobby.

 Lila knew she had one shot. Quickly she flung at Adrien and clasped her hands around her upper arm. “Stay” She pleaded “We haven’t talked in so long, it's too soon for you to go”. 

Adrien let out a sigh and saw the hopeful and pleading look in her eyes. Marinette's smiling face flashed in front of him for a sec. But he quickly brushed it aside. Talking to Lila had been such an eye-opening, refreshing experience. Marinette's face flashed once again before Adrien angrily pushed away from the image.

 Like Lila said, who knew what Marinette was up to on her trips abroad in Gotham? She probably stayed in her friend's hotel room all the time to talk. Plus He was weak and tired from the long weekend; it surely wouldn’t hurt to stay and chat for a few hours with Lila. 

Making up his mind He allowed himself to be led up the hotel stairs. 

Lila Quickly led him to her hotel room and opened the door. Adrien without batting an eyelash stepped inside. The door shutting behind him

Unbeknownst to a happy Marinette in Gotham surrounded by her brothers, sister, father, and children the perfect storm has just been created and its name was Lila Rossi

Anyways that's a wrap. I used the tax Evasion accusation since thats similar to what Alexander Hamilton was accused of. Wonder what's coming next >:)

Don't forget to like, reblog and comment, I really look forward to reading your comments since they bring me so much joy. Also if I missed tagging you please just comment again. Apologies :)

Stay Safe and Healthy 

S/o to @mikantsume for noticing the Custody thing. Hope this answers your question.

Don’t forget to Like, Reblog and Comment <3

Taglist:

@purplesundaze @silvergold-swirl @k-poplunardreams @pepelachanel @laurcad123 @maribat-is-lifeblood @kass-is-weird @another-fan-of-anotherplan @damianette-is-life @amayakans @parallelparabox @miukiiu @valeks-princess @toodaloo-kangaroo @vixen-uchiha @thezestywalru @dreamykitty25 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @mochinek0 @shamefullove @mochegato @souleateralicestein @thestressmademedoit @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @aestheticnpoetic @flufflepuffle296@mysupporthyperfixations @itsmeevie01 @jeminiikrystal @iglowinggemma28 @whydoexamsexist @kuroko26 @animalgirl05 @susiej1118 @damianthebratboy @ccwkm6967 @valyui901601  @wannajointhecrabcult @thornalchemist23 @tazanna-blythe @rebecarojas07 @moonlightstar64 @chylou34 @thecrazyfantrolls @iamablinkmarvelarmy  @boldlydecadentkitty @thornalchemist23 @tazanna-blythe @blackmagicforever @blueboobutterfly @sharingiscaringapparently @starlightshield @mikantsume 

[chicoriii]

Season 4, Episode 4 - Mr Pigeon 72

I have no idea where to start. This episode has some good things and some extremely stupid.

Marinette isn't still completely fine, but I prefer when she deals with it through being hyperactive than being a whining crybaby.

I know people don't agree with me, but personally I don't buy the whole revealing identity to Alya. It's not a problem with Alya herself, I would say the same about every single character who is not named Alix Kubdel at this point of the story. I haven't written anything in my post about Gang of Secrets, because I thought it would be undone in some way at the start of the next episode. The creators did nothing to explain why revealing identity of Ladybug to anyone was super dangerous and would result in a catastrophe in seasons 1-3 and the first two episodes of S4, but it's magically fine in episode 3. Only Alix made sense to me, as she will be the rabbit Miraculous holder, so she is destined to discover identities of everyone sooner or later and Marinette is aware of that. While it's not necessary to learn identity of anyone to other temporary Miraculous wielders, including Alya. Also that reveal hasn't been foreshadowed in season 3, while the show usually does it, especially if it's about something as important as that! More, in late S3, it's been shown that Alya still can't resist to not talking about Marinette's love life with Nino, despite she asked her to not do it. Now the girl, who is overly excited about superhero stuff, has no problems with even accidental revealing anything to Nino or someone else. She's even "stealing" Bunnix line that she's great at keeping secrets (sorry but you, the creators, haven't shown us that she's indeed is before!). This is why I think that reveal hasn't been planned before they started writing season 4.

But okay, I can deal with it, even if I don't buy it, but things these happened in Mr. Pigeon 72 are even more inconsistent with previous seasons. I have been worried about it, so it doesn't surprised me. For some reason Guardian related-things that have been kept in a secret before from everyone minus current Guardian and the future Guardian, are now fine being done in front of Kwamis (remember, they haven't been allowed to learn about making potions before!) and a civilian who is just a temporal Miraculous holder, not someone who is supposed to be trained to be a new Guardian. You can say - new Guardian, new rules, but why? Marinette has been portrayed as someone who respect authorities, she has never questioned any Fu's rules. It wasn't even said in the episode that she's going to change the rules. I hate that the writers don't even bother to explain us what's going on. Probably they don't bother about consistency, they think the audience is going to be too excited about Alya knowing Ladybug's identity and helping Marinette to question anything about it? How Alya could be allowed to learn the Guardian secrets? She is just best friend of the protagonist, she is not one of the main characters to get that special treatment. I makes zero sense to me. Especially since Su-Han will be introduced in episode 6 and he should help Marinette with understanding the Grimoire, Alya isn't necessary here for any other reason than fanservice.

In my opinion the way how they discovering how to make charms that protects from akumasitation was the most stupid thing that happened this season and one of the most in the whole show. Marinette who is the new Guardiand and portrayed as someone extreme intelligent and creative couldn't find the solution for days, but Alya with zero training magically discovered it in a few hours at worst. And when she told her the solution in not even very clear way, Ladybug did it immediately with no effort. That was so anticlimactic. At least the animation was fine, but other aspects of it was just a big disappointment, and I was looking forward for it. Thank goodness it's just the beginning of the season, I hope later important events of the season will be better written and portrayed.

Also I find it absurd that Rena Rough is walking with a page from the Grimoire like it's just an ordinary book and she's talking about it in front of a random civilian, like things that are written there are nothing special. She or Ladybug are not careful about Miraculous lore anymore. Not to mention that they are giving hints that Rena is very close to Ladybug in public, suspiciously close. And now with them being too careless, that's not hard to suspect that Rena Rouge is someone very close to Ladybug, maybe even as a civilian. Shadow Moth knows Rena Rouge's identity, and it's easy to him to learn who is Alya Cesaire's best friend if he doesn't know it yet, after all his son is in the class with her. Marinette has always been super careful and serious about her duties before, why that sudden change with zero explanation? It's just very out of character to her in my opinion.

I didn't like the akuma battle either, it's now the worst fight of the season in my opinion. It was so short and felt very lazy. I only liked that Plagg got some action and interaction with Ladybug (though it should be suspicious for her that he managed to reach to her that fast). He should be aware now that Alya knows Ladybug's identity but he acts like nothing happened. Not a word about it being unfair towards his kid or something, weird.

Thankfully the rest of the episode is generally more or less fun to me. It was nice to see Marinette and Kagami interacting again. I loved Kagami in the episode, although it was a bit weird to me that she isn't seemed to be affected by her breaking up with Adrien. Like her crush was very shallow, so she managed to recover herself from it very quickly. While it's been shown that Luka is hurt, despite Lukanette always seemed to be much more shallow than Adrigami in my opinion. But maybe it's because she's so down to earth, so being less emotional makes sense for her character. I liked how her attitude was opposite to Marinette's hyperactive: "No, I don't want to be in a relationship with Adrien again, he disappointed me, just let me live!!!". And she's another character who said that Marinette and Adrien are made for each other. I'm not surprised that Kagami sees it now when she tried to be with him and that didn't work. She's observant, sees more than many other characters. It seems she's an Adrienette shipper now. It's also good that her issue with Adrien wasn't resolved that easily and too fast. They need more time, but I'm sure they will be friends again.

So, we've gotten shirtless Adrien. I remember seeing a tweet of Thomas in which he answered to a question if there will be a beach episode and he said we will get something similar. I wonder if he meant this episode. Oh, they just remembered that Adrien is supposed to be allergic to feathers. It seems Adrien has allergic reactions only when it's somewhat related to the plot. When it's not, he's completely fine.

The reference to the famous Umbrella Scene™ out of nowhere in a random episode? It probably means something. I can see "reverse crush" supporters interpreting it as a proof to their theory, especially since this time Adrien did something clumsy and Marinette is laughing because of it (actually both of them). Or maybe because it's the first episode of season 4 with Marinette and Adrien interactions, they decided to be that much gracious for Adrienette fans, to compensate lack of it in the first three episodes. Oh wow, Marinette managed to propose spending more time together to Adrien without stuttering. Probably because she has done it spontaneously. Marinette is the most nervous when she's planning and thinking what could go wrong too much. This time she had no time to it, so it went more smoothly. It's like they building development of their relationship, but it didn't seem in Guiltrip (that's episode 11 chronologically) that something changed.

Seeing screenshot above, you can easily imagine how great friends they could be, being very comfortable around each other and laughing together, if not Marinette's anxiety. We need Adrienette development so much to get more moments like this.

Oh and I just realized that it's also one of the veeeeery few episodes with no real Ladynoir at all (the only other one I remember is Style Queen). So if there was no Adrienette it would be an episode without interactions of two main characters at all (although we almost got Ladrien). It could be another reason why this episode is that nice for Adrien and Marinette ship.

After seeing overly excited Marinette dancing in the rain, I can't believe she can manage completely give up on Adrien. It doesn't look like this at all.

Also we've seen three photos of Adrien wearing THAT scarf. It could not mean nothing different that foreshadowing that he's going to discover the truth about it somewhere this season. But I have no idea what Ladybug's mask with shining eyes could mean.

I don't know what to think about the episode. Despite absurd Guardian-related things, I still liked it much more than Gang of Secrets, but I have no idea if I generally enjoyed it more than other episodes of this season or not. At least it's an episode without stupid drama, which is amazing.

---------

I'm currently less active on social media, because my internet connection is very unstable, it often works very slowly to the point I'm not patient enough to visit Tumblr. Also I block spoiler tags again, because I don't want to see spoilers from the episodes those are going to be released very soon, as I feel that they reveal too much to me once more. We're currently in a marathon of the new episodes and since watching them is the more more enjoyable, the less I know about them, I decided to try avoid spoilers as much as I can. The only bad thing is that I can't be read discussions about the new episodes, reblog them and adding something from me until Optigami will be aired.