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There is an idea of an Adrien Agreste, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me. Only an entity, something illusory. And though I may hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.

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did you guys know i write for this comic called la terreur

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Spirituellement Walter White cest un daron africain

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marinette queen of kitsch and whimsy

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what a well-adjusted young man

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Final author's note on Talk of the Town

Which you can read right here!!! The story is completed now :)

My main issue with Miraculous has always been the show’s insistence on maintaining the status quo, specifically by keeping Adrien/Chat Noir in the dark about matters that directly concern him. This pattern really took root in Season 4, and instead of tapering off, it has only intensified as the story has progressed. The underlying idea seems to be that the show would somehow collapse, lose all its tension or narrative spark, if Adrien were to learn the truth. As a result, we see characters constantly twisting themselves into knots, making increasingly convoluted choices, just to ensure he remains ignorant of things that would almost certainly help him grow and move forward.

I understand this is a deliberate choice by the writers, and yes, the show has nodded to the problem. Alya, for instance, expresses frustration in Season 6 upon learning that Ladybug has lied to Adrien and to the world, and Ivan’s heartfelt speech in El Toro de Piedra makes it clear that knowing the truth about his father allowed him to begin healing; that plotline wasn’t put there for nothing. But acknowledgement doesn’t make the underlying pattern any less grating. We don’t yet know how Season 6 will ultimately play out, but what troubles me most is that it’s always the people closest to Adrien, the ones he loves and trusts most, who perpetuate this silence. They do it in a way that feels patronizing, treating him as though he’s fragile, incapable of coping with reality, as if the truth would shatter him. In doing so, they infantilize him, reducing him to someone who must be protected from his own life.

This suffocating dynamic is reflected here, in Talk of the Town, where we see how far people like Félix are willing to go in the name of sparing Adrien from the pain of knowledge. The unspoken logic is: better to sacrifice our own freedom, our own integrity, than allow him to suffer. And while on the surface this looks like devotion, I think it doubles back into the same pattern of infantilization. People are not asking Adrien if he wants to be protected but instead they are deciding for him, reducing his agency in order to preserve an image of him as delicate, unready, or in need of safeguarding. In that way, the supposed act of love becomes another form of control. 

I want to be clear : I’m not defending Félix’s actions in this story, far from it. I disagree with most of what he says and does, just as I take issue with Gabriel’s entire approach to fame, art, morality, and the way he dictates Adrien’s life (God his speech about separating the art from the artist was painful to write). Neither of them are morally sound in their approach.

I do think that’s exactly what makes writing morally ambiguous/borderline evil characters so compelling, though. It is fascinating to get inside a mindset you don’t personally agree with, to build the case from the inside out and explore how someone might genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing, even when they’re absolutely not.

Ironically, the only character I can genuinely imagine breaking the cycle in the show, albeit for selfish or manipulative reasons, is Lila/Chrysalis. Unlike the others, she has no interest in coddling Adrien or protecting him from pain. If anything, she would weaponize the truth against him. And yet, that makes her, paradoxically, the only figure in the narrative willing to actually tell him what others refuse to say. That tension, between her honesty (however cruelly motivated) and everyone else’s silence, is one of the few things that keeps this thread compelling for me, and it’s why I chose to frame her as the one (trying to) cut through the lies in this last chapter. And if Lila of all people ends up being the voice of reason, well, that speaks volumes about how flawed the dynamic around Adrien really is.

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There is a cool older sister shaped hole in the heart of miraculous ladybug

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kinda wanna dye my hair dark red

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Everyone's scared to even speak your name now.

DAY 7 - CROSSOVER

Blame @mistboundmoon for this. I keep getting Dessriel sent to me over twitter and most of the conversations feel like they were ripped STRAIGHT out of a Claudrien scene. The archetype similarities are ridiculous. Don't ask me about Adrien's tail, I just did what felt right—Maybe it's the cat part peeking through.

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quadrilateral of whatever the fuck

DAY 6 - DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

This one was very quick, but I'm putting my all into the final one! Mostly as something directed to a friend because we've talked about ship parallels between this particular ship and Claudrien sooo often xD

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CLAUDRIEN FAN CONTEST!!!!!

Our top three this year are: @flightlessribbons , @sillysiluriforme , and @bakawitch ! There was a bit of a sweep with fanart xD

Additionally, our only writing submission was done by the wonderful @doozyfloozy , who gave me permission to share the link to her essay about Claudrien! (Link here) I think it's awesome and I know you guys will appreciate it too.

Anyway, Claudrien-related celebrations will likely be on hold until October 8th, since I'm hoping to do something for the anniversary for The Warm Embrace of Shadow. But, hell, I do know some people had submission ideas, so maybe you could share them then if you can't wait a whole year lol!

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It's so funny how I haven't posted about the Felila divorce + single father Felix Fathom AU once on this app. Anywho here it is.

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Claudia's two fingers traced the web of scarring around Adrien's neck, a thick pale band of rope burn a century old. She remembered what Alya had said about the case. 

"You said you were stabbed."

"...I was," Adrien-Emile responded. "Look, it's right on my side."

Her eyes flickered between the rope burn and his own, a growing concerning realization trapped in the furrow of her brow.

"Of course you're the last victim of the Night Butcher," she whispered. "Alya said that the last thing he did is that he killed himself."

Adrien-Emile's demeanor softened, yet instead of softening into one of guilt or disbelief, it was into disappointment. He took Claudia's hand in his own to bring it down from his neck, the other pulling her in closer. For the first time, Claudia realized just how cold his hands had always felt.

"Please, my darling. I would never do that again—I'm not some- some murderer," he tried to assure her. "I didn't want you all to think I was out to kill you. Please, you've known me for so long, you know I'm not dangerous."

"You made me look like an idiot," was all she responded with. "You know how fucking often I told Alya she was being ridiculous! You just let me defend you like that knowing it was true? What the fuck?!"

A flash of panic appeared in his cold, dead eyes. His hold around her hand grew tighter.

"You can't tell them."

"They're going to find out eventually when I stop playing defense for you," she scoffed.

Adrien-Emile stepped back, taking in a slow and quiet breath. He sighed, looking pained.

"I'm sorry."

"You should be fucking sorry."

"No," he said. "I'm sorry that I have to do this."

Claudia ripped her hands away from Adrien's and followed after him for a moment, some variation on "What the fuck do you mean?" trying to form on her tongue. The door slammed behind Adrien, the sound reverberating throughout the room and cutting her off.

Claudia rolled her eyes and went to turn the doorknob, only to find it was not just locked, but impossible to move. 

She could only shake it and listen to it rattle, as if all the mechanisms inside had fallen apart beneath the casing and it was no more useful than sticking a maraca in a plank of wood.

"Adrien! Adrien!" She started to bang her fists on the door. "Adrien, let me out! Now!"

Adrien-Emile had his back pressed flat against the other side of the door, one hand outstretched and tracing its fingers along the wood. He let his head tilt back, looking up at the ceiling.

"I don't have any other choice, darling," he told her. "I really didn't want it to come to this."

"You motherfucker- Let me out!" Claudia started to bang on the door with her fists. "Don't you pull this ghost magic bullshit with me!"

Though his body was barely there, he could feel the vibrations of every hit and punch Claudia threw against the door rippling through his hollow form. As if to give her a comforting gesture she couldn't even see, he put a hand on the locked doorknob and strokes it, the other hand balled into a fist.

"Just stay in there where you're safe," he pleaded with her. "I'm doing this because I love you, you have to understand that. I can't have you and the others leave me after all I've done to make you guys want to stay."

"I don't care if I have to kill myself and drag my own fucking body back from hell to get to the other side of this door and kick your fucking ass, because I will do it! Do you hear me? Open the fucking door!" 

It would be one of the first times that Adrien-Emile had ever left Claudia's side of his own volition, and just the thought of it made him nauseous. He moved away from the door slowly, his hand lingering on the knob and feeling it shake as Claudia kept banging on the door. Three fingers, then two, then one. 

Adrien-Emile bit back a tear before going down the hall to find Alya, Nino, and Felix before they tried to leave. 

I've never met anyone that could see me before!

DAY 5 - GOTHIC

Ghostdrien AU~! We'll think of a better name for it xD I love using this AU as an excuse to draw Edwardian fashion. Also for wacky witch/ghost powers that I never plan on explaining.

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I've never met anyone that could see me before!

DAY 5 - GOTHIC

Ghostdrien AU~! We'll think of a better name for it xD I love using this AU as an excuse to draw Edwardian fashion. Also for wacky witch/ghost powers that I never plan on explaining.

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my only crimes were loving too much and confusing love with violence and so also extreme violence too i guess also i stole a few things too

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if you're following me, can i exercise my tyrannical power as your subscribee and ask you guys to stop giving the crotch man attention or reblogs