#adrien is a top model

[treatop]

chat noir and ladybug on dti at 2am

(originally posted on my tiktok account! https://www.tiktok.com/@careersbookletsimps?_t=ZG-8tSF0CmfmuO&_r=1 )

[servicpop]

CURRENTLY VIEWING : slightly obsessive deliquent oc x good student male!reader

「ㅤSFWㅤ」ㅤbandaging up your (almost) bf adrien after a bad fight!

✙ warnings — mention of violence / blood / slight homophobia / slight suggestions of stalking or obsession

notes ,, first actual writing post... hope you guys like it "

Adrien and you lived two worlds. You were a model student, perfect in every way, whereas Adrien was nothing but a deliquent who skipped all his classes and failed all of his subjects (except for sports). If you two were so different, how did you end up together?

It started with an exchange of glances when you both started your first year of being a senior, somehow your presence was never known by Adrien until that one glance turned into never ending eye-contact, briefly smiling at eachother as you two met eyes from across the courtyard. His heart felt like it was about to crumble whenever you smiled at him. Your lips, your perfectly imperfect teeth shining at him. He had definitely fallen for you.

But how would his friends feel if they knew he was crushing on another guy?

As much as he wanted to hide it he couldn't. Everytime he went home and sat down in his chair, he would be welcomed with your face in the form of printed pictures stored in his top drawer. He knew it was wrong but he couldn't help it, you were so attractive you reeled him in like a fish. But somehow. Somehow. You and him talked more and more, exchanged numbers, hung out a few times and even brushed hands once! Adrien for sure didn't wash his hand after that. You weren't confirmed to be dating but it sure seemed like it.

And that was the start of Adrien's fall for you.

It was around 5:00pm, the sun still shining brightly but casted a slight orange hue into the empty council room, indicating that sunset would near. You were currently in said room, sorting the books, cleaning the tables, finishing off the work your teachers assigned you because you were such a good student. Yeah it was nice for them to rely on you but to be honest, all you wanted to do was go home but alas you couldn't.

Almost as if the universe pitied your unbearable boredom, the door to the council room clicked opened. At first you thought it was a teacher, but turning around you met the deep eyes of Adrien. His soulless eyes bore into yours, his knuckles dripping with blood as he stumbled into the room, almost collapsing on the couch.

"Got into another fight," He grumbled, his deep sultry voice reverberated in the room. Shit, his voice was hot. Snapping out of your thoughts, you quickly rushed over to him, viewing his bloody and bruised knuckles. It looked bad. Probably from beating the shit out of someone but you wouldn't question it. After some rummaging around you finally found the first aid kit, clicking the white box open before kneeling down infront of Adrien, a small smirk plastered his face.

"You don't have to you know? I just wanted—" Adrien's voice was cut out by a sharp hiss as you applied the alcohol to his wounds.

"Let me be a good friend to you."

Ooh... friend? That hit Adrien straight to the gut

"I just wanted company."

"Then your not allowed to hold my hand with those bloody knuckles."

"..."

"please bandage my fingers."

A wholehearted chuckle left your throat as you fished out the puppy patterned bandages around his knuckles, making sure you kissed each and every knuckles after. Just to make sure that there was no lingering pain of course, not because you two were had something for eachother or anything. You looked up at Adrien to see a small smile on his face, he was always so serious looking and whenever he smiled it was usually the shit eating grin type of smile. You had only really grown closer with him for a few weeks now so... why were you already hooked on him?

"You lost in thought?" He asked, snapping you out of your little trance. You shook your head, and he brought your chin up to meet his in a light kiss, his calloused fingertips gripping your chin lightly while his other hand found solace in your own. It was something straight out of a romance movie, his warm fingers against yours, his lips against your soft ones in such a gentle kiss. You never knew deliquents could be this gentle. Pulling away you wiped your lips and tugged your hands from Adrien's. You weren't dating him. You can't do this. You turned your head a pout adorned your lips, "Don't just casually kiss me," you huffed.

"But I know you liked it." Adrien hummed.

extra notes ,, I didn't have a full goal for what relationship reader and Adrien would have but i really liked the enemies to lovers sort of denial trope. I also experimented with the colour coding of the text, I find it easier to identify when they're speaking but let me know your preferences! I'm a bit nervous posting this since its my first time ever posting on tumblr but yeah! Also no smut yet, still getting warmed up you know

[chocostrwberry]

I was thinking it be cool if Marinette was extremely lucky-

Like it’s a part of her character. She even introduces herself as “I’m Marinette, and I would say I’m a pretty lucky girl!”

Marinette being the type of person who would tell you stuff like “Oh I was worried about eating out today but then I found a 50 dollar bill so everything worked out!” Or “Apparently the road to school was blocked off, but I got there just in time for it to clear out so I wasn’t late to school!”

She finds a lil white dog at the park one day, spends some time looking for the owner out of kindness, and the owner turns out to be an old woman. BUT that old woman is extremely wealthy and a few months later turns out she had decided to sponsor Marinette’s education in her will so she can go to the most private school in Paris

Because she stands up for Juleka, Marinette starts dating Luka, and it turns out he’s one of Jagged Stone’s children so he put her on an album cover as a present AND free publicity for her designs.

Adrien, a TOP MODEL falls in love with her because she returns his mother’s necklace instead of destroying it, basically establishing the love of her life and a secure future if she likes him back.

Nino saying “This is Marinette’s world and we’re all just living in it” as a joke-

But when she gets the Ladybug miraculous, her life starts to fall apart. It’s kinda ironic, that the miraculous of luck happened to make her life worse off, but that might just be a silly side effect of being the holder? Like fate has it where it’s attracted to lucky people, but then it neutralizes it?

And so throughout the show, there are moments where like “everything turned out okay in the end”, but mostly it’s just one super slide of her civilian life going downhill. She still has moments where good things happen to her seemingly out of nowhere, but I’d like to think now they don’t last as long as she’s use to. They’re more fleeting, if that makes sense, because something always happens that ruins it.

Chloe invites her to her birthday party because they’re finally not enemies anymore, but then takes the blame for ruining it

Dates chat noir, her idol and crush, but he breaks up with her and gets akumatized

So you see her going from this happy-go-lucky girl who’s just like “Hee hee, oh well!” to a paranoid and anxious “I have to be careful, something bad is going to happen soon.”

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

If you were to write Lila would you keep her being a con artist criminal with multiple identities but hinted at/revealed it earlier than S5 or would you cut that part down of her character entirely ?

It would really depend on how much space I had to fill. Gabriel is not the kind of villain that you can draw out forever. His story needs to have a clearly planned ending right from the start. In fact, I think they drew him out at least a season too long. So, if I also had to fill eight seasons, I could see myself going the Lila route. I'd just make a few changes. Off the top off my head, here's how I'd handle serious villain Lila as opposed to what canon wrote, which is petty school bully Lila who is entirely unbelievable as a serious villain.

First of all, Lila wouldn't be introduced at the end of season one. While her and Gabriel probably need to have some overlap, that's way too soon. In my version, she shows up at the start of season four and she'd be heavily toned down. We'd know that something was off about her, we may even keep the liar thing, but it would be a lot more subtle. Lies like, "Ladybug rescued me" and "I got to go backstage at a Jagged Stone concert" instead of "Ladybug is my bff" and "Jagged Stone wrote a song about me." Her goal would no longer be gaining peons, but instead gaining true close friends who like and trust her. The reason for this is that Lila is replacing Optigami as Mayura's last sentimonster.

See, season three ended with all those identity reveals and most of the revealed identities are in the same class. That's curious, so it makes perfect sense for Nathalie and Gabriel to want someone undercover in Adrien's class, but they can't do it. So Nathalie makes a sentikid of her own, gives her the power of manipulation, and sends her off to try to find Ladybug and/or Chat Noir by whatever means necessary.

This would give a clear reason for Gabriel to trust Lila, a clear reason for Lila to know all about the miraculous, and a clear reason for Lila to hate Ladybug. In this version, I wouldn't do Nathalie's lackluster redemption. Instead, Nathalie stays bad right up to her death. Perhaps her last act is getting the butterfly to her daughter and ordering her to get revenge on Ladybug and Chat Noir should Gabriel fail. After all, Gabriel can't wield more than six miraculous at once, so it makes sense for him to send Nathalie off with at least one of them while he enacts his master plan just in case it fails.

That's just one potential path to take. I also like the idea of having Lila be someone who came to Paris in order to find the miraculous, but who has no ties to the Agrestes. That would require some pretty big changes to her character, though, as I can't see that type of character caring about things like dating Adrien or being a model or all the other crap that has nothing to do with gaining a miraculous and everything to do with popularity and social clout. Lila canonically doesn't know that Gabriel even has a miraculous until the final of season four, so she basically just lucked into finding one instead of doing anything logical to find it because this show has no clue how to actually write smart, clever characters.

In summary, I'm totally fine with complex, master-manipulator Lila, it's just hard to figure out the best way to make her work when we don't know anything about her backstory or motivation. The version proposed above is just the best I can do to fit her into the role canon placed her in. A role I could easily see later seasons flat out ignoring.

[ilikekidsshows]

"It also seems like she often takes credit for things that require a whole team to accomplish."

THIS. I definitely agree/commiserate with other anon here.

Similarily, there's the trend of just Ladybug getting credit or attention in her partnership with Chat. Off the top of my head: Alya outright ignoring and never acknowledging Chat saving her personally, twice, in the Origins episodes, the class cheering Ladybug's name in Bubbler when her and Chat show up, Fu thanking Ladybug in Feast and her alone even though Chat was just as involved and is standing right there, just...all of Timetagger (aka Bunnix constantly uplifting LB "you're the bestest hero ever now and in the future" and essentially telling Chat "you're a reckless idiot and ruin things in the future"), the whole city chanting her name in Strikeback, Ladybug and Chat showing up in front of Alix in Evolution while she cries out "Ladybug!", the opening news segment of Illusion in which the citizens talk about "Ladybug's" actions against Monarch, and even the Paris special when Sabine tells Tom "she's" already gotten a miraculous back (Chat who?)...

It's just, no wonder people think he's a sidekick. She's treated like a solo hero by the city more often than not, because even though he's been by her side contributing 99% of the time, he's rarely mentioned or acknowledged. I don't care if they're supposedly "partners" and it's just that "she leads, " or it's "her story", it's just so obvious the writers are prioritizing girl power/wish fulfillment over everything. And don't care nearly as much about uplifting their deuteragonist who they wrote to have self-esteem issues and an abusive home life (seriously, why did they write him that way if they never intended on adequately addressing it???), because he's...not a girl, I guess. And therefore he doesn't need or deserve to be appreciated or celebrated for being a 14 year old hero. or doing so wouldn't serve the wish fulfillment

And sure, to be fair, there are times when both their names are mentioned, but the fact that removing his name so often is a complete non-issue really tells you something. Like it's almost...nice of them to include him, but not required. Whereas the opposite is definitely not true. Can you imagine, Ladybug and Chat showing up somewhere as everyone starts chanting "Chat Noir!" alone?? Kinda seems weird that they'd just ignore her existence, now doesn’t it.

Alternately, there are times that LB messes up and then they both get blamed for it. Which after everything...is so frustrating. This is already a longer ask than I intended, so I won't go into it more, but in sum...the show tends to ignore his contributions but elevate him to "partner" status when she fails and needs an emotional support lackey.

Just...have him explicitly in the role of the sidekick from the get-go (no ying-yang this or ignoring his equal contributions that), and bam! No problem. Or at least, less problems.

...

Okay so I definitely veered into ranting about their "partnership" instead of the whole team getting shafted for Ladybug's sake, but I'd be curious to hear more/see examples, if you have any thoughts or if the other anon cares to chime in again.

---

One thing that stands out to me in addition to all of this is fans. Adrien the model’s fans are depicted as annoying unless they’re Marinette, meanwhile Ladybug’s fans are depicted as sympathetic unless they’re Theo. Like, Adrien is a fan of Ladybug but Ladybug thinks Cat Noir is an egotist and doesn’t even respect him as more than a teammate from the get-go despite him being shown as being originally more competent with his Miraculous than her with hers. She doesn’t need to do anything more than show up and Cat Noir will stare at her in slack-jawed awe, but, whenever he showcases remarkable skill in languages, binary, fencing, combat, superheroics or just clearly having a strict moral code, she’s just annoyed at him and thinks he’s showing off.

Cat Noir isn’t appreciated, in universe, outside of his existence being acknowledged. Like, Paris putting up a statue of Ladybug alone would have been such a snub, but, considering the rest of the ‘Copycat’ episode, I feel like the statue depicted Cat Noir as well just so that they could have that setup between Cat Noir and Theo. There isn’t a single Cat Noir fan in the cast, like, Nino is excited to see him in ‘The Horrificator’, but that being because Cat Noir is his favorite between him and Ladybug is just my headcanon and Adrino bias, we actually have no evidence of that.

Alya’s blog is the “Ladyblog” not the “Miracublog”, so the main news outlet for the heroes is Ladybug-focused. Chloé fangirls Ladybug but sneers at Cat Noir, but, since the show was always very bad about showcasing Chloé and Adrien’s friendship, it isn’t really set up to be for irony’s sake, but more because Ladybug is supposedly cooler / the wish-fulfilment. "Everyone who's mean to you in school would like you if they really knew you". The villains can’t shut up about Ladybug, but Cat Noir only gets vaguely mentioned in a “I’ll get you both next time” way.

Also, the importance of his Miraculous gets forgotten all the time by the writers, heroes and villains. There are so many times when Cat Noir is captured, incapacitated or mind-controlled, and very often the villains don’t even bring up the possibility of taking his Miraculous and, when it does get mentioned, it’s brushed aside with a “I’ll get it later”. Meanwhile, every time Marinette is cornered, the writers don’t waste a second before raising the stakes by having the villain try to reach for her Miraculous. Marinette is an attention black hole in-universe.

[adrinoir]

The Miraculous Movie was different than the series…and that’s okay!

I watched the movie this morning and loved it! I think it’s important to talk about the changes that were made and what impact they had.

How the characters were rewritten

There definitely was a difference in how the characters were written in the movie, and some of the redevelopment of characters was really good!

Gabriel was by far the one who had the best redevelopment of his personality. Gabriel in the series is awful, as we all know.

In the series, he barely gives a shit about his own son, like there is absolutely nothing redeemable about his character. In every “what if” episode and the season 5 finale, Gabriel does not show any regret to hurting people, including his own son.

However, in the movie, Gabriel actually makes a better attempt to communicate with Adrien and, most importantly, feels strong regret when he hurt his son. He cries; he feels remorse for destroying Paris and injuring Adrien in the process. He hugs Adrien (along with the spirit of Emilie 🥹) and decides to stop being Hawk Moth. It was beautifully done. He got a redemption arc that he never got in the series. I know I personally felt so good watching that and seeing the relationship between him and Adrien being repaired.

Marinette was her usual clumsy self, but was written as having no friends at school because she embarrasses herself so much. In a way, it makes more sense than her being so popular like she is in the series. Kids in high school can be pretty judgy and ruthless. So it makes sense for the “clumsy girl” to be made fun of and judged by people who don’t know her well.

Adrien was different in a lot of ways. He wasn’t shown running to school to gain freedom. He wasn’t introduced as being a super model who’s friends with Chloe. Instead, he’s already going to the school, he’s already friends with Nino, and he happens to run into Marinette at the library. He doesn’t have that same chemistry with Marinette as he does in the series which is a bit odd that they took that away, but it does make sense that he’d turn her down when she asked him to the ball, since he loves Ladybug. In the movie, he very clearly sees Marinette as just a friend and it’s shown that he’s building a friendship with her without him developing a crush. It’s different but still wholesome, especially when he shows her the old family photo to her. Plus, it evens it out well since Ladybug obviously turns Cat Noir away but they’re still building up their bond, too. They both get turned down.

It was ehhh that Adrien was a bit too cocky at times as Cat Noir, but overall, his goofiness and self confidence is still pretty on brand for him. He was still very encouraging towards Ladybug but not overly flirtatious, pushing her to her limits. Instead, it was them lightly teasing each other and then playfully fighting. And, speaking of the playful fighting, their bond was stronger in the movie seeing as how they were shown spending more time together off duty and that they were treated as equals.

In the show, Cat Noir is automatically made sidekick and left in the dark about everything. But in the movie, he gets to meet Master Fu in disguise alongside Ladybug. Sure, he didn’t help Master Fu with his cane like he did in the series, but that didn’t matter since the lore was changed.

Alya was less annoying in the movie. Sorry. Don’t get me wrong, I love Alya in the series, but she’s so over the top at times with how obsessed she is over the heroes, blogging, and filming things for her blog. In the movie, she was toned down a lot and I liked that. It was also cute that Nino had a crush on her and just her, not Marinette first. Unlike the series, he wasn’t on that pipeline of guys who fell for Marinette since that pipeline doesn’t exist in the movie.

Tom was made out to be an embarrassment for Marinette which is honestly more realistic for a teenager. Most teenagers get pretty embarrassed by their parents, especially when they still treat them very childlike. And, I like that he went out to the fair to look for her since he heard there was danger. Marinette’s parents don’t usually go out to look for her or make sure she’s in her room when there’s danger afoot. So, I appreciate that they made Tom do that since he obviously loves Marinette a lot.

The rewriting of (some of) the lore

As I had mentioned in my previous section, the lore was rewritten, too. Instead of Master Fu being the one to pick Marinette and Adrien simply because they helped him, the kwamis sense that Marinette and Adrien are the right people to be Ladybug and Cat Noir. That was a much better way to write that, in my opinion.

Hawk Moth got ahold of the butterfly miraculous by mistake. That part wasn’t changed but also, it didn’t need to be.

The change of plot

The plot was very simple. It didn’t have a whole lot of crazy, in depth details like the show’s does. So, anyone who has never watched the show can easily understand and absorb what’s going on (I will be forcing my boyfriend to watch it with me since he’s never seen the show lol).

I like that it was very clear cut and easy to understand while still being intense and meaningful. It still summarizes a lot of what the series entails while fixing some issues in the plot development.

They didn’t doddle with Hawk Moth like they do in the show. He was a successful villain in his second attempt but then realized he should stop when he hurt his own son in the process.

Also, there was a reveal. It was a wee bit underwhelming, but I still think it was done well! It was a moment with just Marinette and Adrien alone, as it should be. And, it was cutesy and heartfelt. The fact that Marinette dressed like Ladybug for the ball (cutest dress ever imo) and Adrien dressed like Cat Noir was so cute. That’s what a lot of the fandom has been asking for and written about in fanfics, I feel like.

The romance between these two is most important. They didn’t need Kagami and Luka as 2nd love interests to throw things off track. Yes, I like these characters in the show, but they weren’t needed in the plot.

The music

I love musicals. I was a bit of a theater kid in high school, plus I’m obsessed with music lol. So, yes, I’m a bit biased when I say I love that they made this a musical.

I personally loved the music. I can tell a lot of good effort was put into it and I’ve already been listening to the songs on my Spotify. The song between Ladybug and Cat Noir in the theater “Now I See” and Cat Noir jumping on the clouds (literally, on cloud nine) singing “My Lady” was absolutely adorable and super romantic, which, as we know, is a big part of the show.

Even Gabriel’s song “Chaos Will Reign Today” was amazing! It conveyed a lot of emotion and turns into one of those dramatic villain songs. Keith Silverstein is clearly talented enough to sing for his own character and he did it well.

My only nitpick is that Marinette’s singer, Lou, has a very different voice than Christina Vee. So, Marinette sounds very different, much more mature-sounding when she sings and it kinda catches you off guard. I’m surprised they didn’t have Christina sing for her, but there must’ve been a reason why she didn’t. But, SQVARE sounded similar enough to Bryce Papenbrook when he sung for Cat Noir which i absolutely love.

Conclusion

I personally give this movie a 10/10 just because it made me smile the whole time, and it’s such a feel good movie. I’ll happily watch it again and listen to the soundtrack, especially on a day when I’m feeling down. It wasn’t perfect in every aspect, but it was perfect in a simple, heartwarming sense and that it can be watched by everyone, not only people who watch the series.

I understand if it made you cringe or you were moreso looking for a continuation of the series not a retelling. But, I prefer some simplicity which is a big part of what made me like it. Like I said, I know it wasn’t absolute perfection, but it was so frickin adorable and I can’t help but smile.

There’s a lot of differences but also plenty of similarities between the movie and the show. But understand they’re not meant to be the same and that’s okay! I don’t think the movie was horrible for most of the changes it made. In fact, I think most of them made sense and made it a bit more realistic (as I explained).

[unhinged-domestic-raccoon]

Miraculous Rewatch Where I Overanalyze Everything: The Bubbler

Man, I was eleven the last time I watched this episode. Season one was still airing. My fifth grade teacher was a fan of the show and put it on in class as a Friday treat and my life has never been the same since.

I wanna start by saying that the soundtrack for this show is extremely underrated. I love that it shows it's anime roots by being all techno instead of more classically superhero. It may just convince me to finally watch the movie.

continued under the cut:

Ah Marinette being clumsy! When I was a kid I was mostly just annoyed by this (possibly from the secondhand embarrassment), but I actually found her clumsiness very charming in this episode, and I hope that continues. She's just such a failure at existing and it's very endearing to me.

NO WAIT I FORGOT THIS WAS A THING! Chloe and Sabrina are actually frequently paralleled by Gabe and Nathalie in the show! I think it's an important detail to recognize! It shows that Chloe and Sabrina's unhealthy relationship really is just modeled after all of the terrible adults they're surrounded by, and that this includes Gabe and Nathalie! The Andre/Audrey and Andre/Roger parallels may be more relevant, but the Agreste household only exacerbates the situation. They really don't have any good examples in their lives, which is how they got to be as dysfunctional as they are.

I think it also does some lifting for framing Nathalie in a more sympathetic light and Sabrina in a less sympathetic one. Nathalie has just as much care for Gabe as Sabrina does for Chloe, and Sabrina is just as much of a willing accomplice as Nathalie is. Those parts of their characters are frequently overlooked, and I think this is a good reminder!

I'm gonna use this as a moment to note that the writers fully managed to instill the sheer awkwardness of being a teenager into Marinette. I (aromantic) was sitting here going "why is she hiding her crush from her mom? What's the purpose? Oh wait, all my friends hid their crushes from their parents in high school just to avoid getting lovingly teased. Right." And for all the stress Marinette gets put under as the show continues, I honestly don't think this ever changes. She really does just encapsulate the feeling of being 15, and I love her for that.

HANG ON, I didn't realize they were doing alternate expressions for Marinette's transformations so early! The only other example I can recall off the top of my head is Angrybug in Psychomedian! I'm gonna be keeping a counter now!

Marinette. Honey. You just came bursting out of your house as Ladybug. This is season 1. Remind me how nobody but Felix (and Luka I guess but he cheated with time powers) has put together her identity yet?

Y'know, for all the fandom jokes about Adrien having a skewed idea of normal. . . he knows his life is depressing and his dad is not a good parent. His dialogue here is (sarcastically) "Wow. That was a birthday lunch break to remember." Even way back when he was just so depressed. Poor dear has been doomed by the narrative from the start.

And here, you can see Plagg in his natural habitat, encouraging Adrien to be selfish and being my favorite character in the show! I probably won't bring it up again too often, but I just wanna make my Plagg bias clear from the start. Just so we're all on the same page.

Hey guys, remember when Chloe was smart? Cuz I do and it's a big reason why I like her so much! This episode is a great example. She knows exactly what to say to Nino to manipulate him in to doing what she wants. She isn't an idiot, she's actually pretty good at reading people. She's just also loud and has a short attention span/one-track mind.

Ivan, I fully respect your right as a fellow introvert to glower on the wall at The Function, but that is a whole supervillain. The Hawkmoth issue is well established at this point in time, you have got to know this isn't a good idea at this point. Actually, that's an interesting thought. Do we think Ivan is maybe less afraid of akumas because he was the first and knows what it's like? Something to look for during this rewatch!

This is during Ladybug and Bubbler's fight about adults, where Ladybug's dialogue is "Kids need adults! [. . .] Adults keep children safe and protected, they care for their kids, they love them!" I wanna draw your attention to the fact that while everyone else during this scene looks sad or scared or exhuasted and is largely checked out of the conversation (they just wanna get their parents back and go home), Chloe is not! She instead looks confused and is very invested in the back and forth these two have going on. Wonder why. Surely it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Chloe has never experienced any of those things from an adult in her life! Moving on.

Here, we can see that even at the height of the status quo with no crazy extraneous circumstances driving a wedge between them, LadyNoir still had problems in their dynamic! Chat is already fully relying on LB to *tell* him when to use his cataclysm, but in return, she's all too ready to boss him around. That's an interesting hurdle to explore in their relationship!

Ugh, I don't miss this. When Miraculous designs hit, they hit hard, but when they don't? We're stuck with the face-melted-on, Adam-West-Batman-Villain looking bald cap. Also, Gabe, those are literal children you are monologuing about crushing and destroying? I've seen talk about how his mental state got worse with time, but uh. No, I think he was just as bad from the beginning.

I don't talk enough about how much I love the core 4 of Miraculous, and this is my apology for that! I love that Nino and Alya show affection for their spiraling mentally ill bestie with exactly the same shoulder touches, it's too cute.

[fayflutter]

Adrien/Catwalker in Apex Predator AU

(I’m not drawing Catwalker for this, since he’s waaaay too detailed for me to even attempt. I have enough trouble with Adrien’s hair whenever I draw him!)

(So just imagine regular Adrien/Catwalker for this AU)

-Instead of Chat Noir, Catwalker is Ladybug’s partner as she made ‘adjustments’ to her partner’s appearance and attitude (she doesn’t want her partner to be some clumsy annoying idiot).

-Catwalker is Ladybug’s prince, her stoic knight in black, the perfect boyfriend…at least that’s how the people of Paris see him.

-In reality, he’s acting, playing a part, wearing yet another mask on top of his modeling persona.

-He used to have a crush on Ladybug, but the more she talked down to him or pushed him aside, the more his crush died. He still has feelings for her as he doesn’t want to disappoint her or give her any reason to replace him.

-Sometimes he slips up, making a pun or two by mistake (Ladybug doesn’t like mistakes).

-He’s kind towards akuma victims as Ladybug is more reckless when it comes to using her Miracle Cure.

-Adrien doesn’t like that his friends, everyone he knows are all team LadyWalker, even the Ladyblog ships it.

-His heart skipped a beat when Lila first stood up for him (“Catwalker is not Ladybug’s pet! He’s an amazing and talented hero! Don’t talk about him like that!!”).

[themiraculouschatnoirblog]

**El Toro De Piedra SPOILERS**

Is this literally the most depressing scene so far in season 6? I think so...

I know this episode has been out for a while now but I just rewatched it and I guess this scene didn't fully register in my brain the first time around because man is this so hard to see.

Adrien has to deal with people calling his father a hero and has to live with the (fake) knowledge of that being the case when his father was nothing even close to a "hero" to him. Why did he go so far to save Paris when had not shown a lick of interest or even love towards his own son (that wasn't manipulative in some way)? That is the type of question Adrien would be asking himself at this point and that would be so difficult for a child to go through. And he knows he'll never get answers. Instead he blames himself for "not daring to tell him anything" when he doesn't know that he physically couldn't do that! He couldn't stand up for himself even if he wanted to (which he did!), or even share anything at all, not without Gabriel shutting it down immediately.

He was a victim of emotional abuse from this awful man for probably over half his life and now everyone is going around telling him that his father is some great hero and that he is a role model for the people of Paris. I can't even imagine being in Adrien's position.

And it's even worse as the viewer knowing that, again, he couldn't stand up for himself at all because Gabriel had the ring. And knowing that his father was a literal devil who put his son and the rest of Paris in danger countless times. And knowing that Adrien indirectly caused both of his parents' deaths. Oh yeah, plus multiple of his most trusted people around him are directly lying to him about all of it at any and all times. There's probably even more awful things about Adrien's life that I can't think of right now.

Give this boy the best rated therapist in the world. Actually, give him the top 5 therapists. I don't think one would be enough atp.

Also I just wanted to point out that a lot of us saw this type of issue arising so it's not that surprising, it's just extremely sad to see it actually play out.

</3

[rainbow-arrow]

Lukadrien Episodes:

Luka Couffaine is only in like, 19 episodes, so here's the list from the top of my head:

Episodes where Luka and Adrien Interact in Some Capacity (some ARE a stretch but I've had Lukadrien brainrot for literal years):

Season Two: Episode 16: Captain Hardrock (Luka introduction, iconic 'Welcome to the Band') Episode 17: Frozer (sure it's a bi-square ep but watching through a lukadrien/marigami lens is so fun)

Season Three: Episode 7: Silencer (Silencer calls Chat Noir 'kitty' and no one ever talks about that) Episode 11: Desperada (the whole episode. no explanation needed) Episode 20: Party Crasher (Luka comes to party uwu, Vipernoir moment)

Season Four: Episode 1: Truth (anytime he's akumatized and interacts with Chat Noir is so fun to me. 'do u love me? beat me up pls' also both times they really emphasize hand-to-hand combat) Episode 12: Crocoduel (no Lukadrien bc 'GOTTA KEEP ADRIEN AWAY' but lukanoir is a fave of mine) Episode 13: Optigami (a stretch, absolutely, but the idea of Luka coming to a model thing for Adrien is so funny and cute to consider) Episode 18: Wishmaker (Iconic, the whole episode. 'you don't want to be a model Adrien, i hear your melody' etc; kicking and screaming) Episode 19: Ephemeral (pls watch this with a Lukadrien lens, Chat Noir's shocked face at Viperion de-transforming makes me cackle every time)

Season Five: Episode 6: Determination ("He loves everyone and everyone loves him back, he's surrounded by love and has a hard time understanding it all") Episode 12: Perfection (the song one. You know how they look at each other at band practice) Episode 13: Migration (*through gritted teeth* "this way, CHAT NOIR can come help us" *shoves Adrien in the closet*, oh and of course "'what would I do without you")

The episodes Luka appears in that he doesn't really interact with Adrien/Chat but just merely appears:

Season Three: Reflekdoll (complimenting Juleka) Heart Hunter/Miracle Queen: (cute biking sequence, Marinette sobbing into his arms)

Season Four: Lies (being the inverse to Truth ofc) Sole Crusher (party on the Liberty) Penalteam (Viperion is trapped in the bubble for the wHOLE GAME) Risk (barely there as Viperion) Strikeback (Luka gets a :o moment)

Season Five: Re-creation (comes back fINALLY)

tldr w/out my commentary:

Season Two: **Episode 16: Captain Hardrock Episode 17: Frozer

Season Three: **Episode 7: Silencer **Episode 11: Desperada Episode 20: Party Crasher

Season Four: Episode 1: Truth Episode 12: Crocoduel Episode 13: Optigami **Episode 18: Wishmaker Episode 19: Ephemeral

Season Five: Episode 6: Determination Episode 12: Perfection **Episode 13: Migration

**personally view these as the Most Lukadrien:tm: episodes

[fortuna-et-cataclysmos]

In defense of s5 finale

I hear and see a lot of people expressing dislike of the season finale, some also in the tags and comments of my analysis/speculation posts. So I wanted to further expand on this.

Gabriel's victory -being remembered a hero despite everything wrong he did, especially abuse to Adrien- has left a sour taste in many people's mouth; many blaming the scenarists and not shying away from calling it "bad writing."

But I think that that was exactly what the scenarists wanted to do? The perfect world Gabriel leaves behind is unsettling, unfair, and I think that the creators have done their best to show that implicitly but clearly. I think that we are supposed to be irked by the finale.

Why do I think that? Because there were a lot of small things that gave the message that, as @emsylcatac iconically put it, "this is the bad place." I touched upon some of those in my previous post on how this was a victory for Gabriel and Lila, and a defeat for Ladybug. I'll try to list them more clearly here.

Gabriel a hero

This is the one thing everyone has the most problem with. At the end, Gabriel was declared the hero who gave his life to defeat the Monarch, who was none other than himself. Some artistic choices here are so over the top that I believe they were specifically made to irk us.

If the silver statue itself wasn't enough, the exact quote of Caline Bustier is:

All the rings that have been highjacked by the Monarch have been recycled into a statue in honour of the great Gabriel Agreste.

Then Tsurugi Tomoe goes on to say:

Beyond the visionary entrepreneur and genius creator that he was, we are celebrating a hero today.

See, everything bad about Gabriel has been flipped. If you count literally exploiting people visionary entrepreneurship, sure, he was that. And genius? He couldn't get the miraculouses of two teenagers for an entire year despite having all the resources, and he ended up succeeding only with the help of another extremely powerful person (Tsurugi Tomoe) and even then he ended up dying himself.

As of creator, he was literally a destructor. He destroyed Paris more times than anyone can count, and everything was fixed every time only thanks to Ladybug. Let's not also forget how he destroyed the Miraculouses to exploit their power.

Adrien's comment about his father

This is another thing many people have had problem with. It is so outrageous that I won't believe the creators would expect us to take at face value.

At the end, Adrien acknowledges that his father died to take down the Monarch, and says:

I don't know if one day I'll manage to become like him.

Lo and behold, the man who had emotionally neglected and abused his son to no end has turned into the said son's hero and role model. Adrien not only looks up to him, but also wants to make an active effort to become like him. Hell, he even doubts if he can be as good as him.

No way this line can taken at face value. There are many children's shows with abusive parental figures nowadays (like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the Owl House) that have all handled the conclusion to that abuse generally well. The watchers' expectations are high in this respect; the scenarists would know that such conclusion, if not ironic, would not satiate the expectations of the spectators.

Lack of accountability: Gabriel and Tomoe

As many many people have pointed out, the general lack of accountability in this season finale is infuriating. So Gabriel mentally tortured THE ENTIRE WORLD POPULATION and not only never faced consequences in life, but also is remembered as a hero in death?

What about Tomoe?

Not only she has not faced any repercussion for being basically a supervillain, but also she is still a respected public figure who can go and make a speech backed by the mayor, in front of the freaking French flag. If that doesn't irk you, I don't know what will.

Worse is that, she goes as far as saying in her speech that:

I'll make sure to continue his legacy.

So she'll continue to be evil. Great hint that she'll continue being an antagonist in season 6.

As you can see, the new world that has been created is extremely unfair and problematic. No way this can be "the good place," an actual "happy ending."

Everything is fixed! No problems anymore!

Also, you'd realise that the world is perfect, a little too perfect. It is like a green utopian dream.

Caline Bustier has been the mayor "only for a few weeks" (direct quote from the episode), and she has already fixed all the problems possible in Paris. Not only that, she has also solved inequality and class struggle (again, mentioned by herself). Let's make Caline the President of the World already.

Funny that LITERALLY ALL THE PROBLEMS of a city could be solved, while the exact same episode showed Majestia, the freaking Supergirl of the ML universe, acknowledged in her nightmare that:

Even with all my superpowers, I'll never manage to solve all the problems of the world.

Well, Bustier says that she has no superpower, that people working together can accomplish that. Kudos to her and her democratic spirit. But like, perfect city in a few weeks? Even Mayor Bourgeois who wanted to send all the trash of Paris to space would realise that that's impossible.

There is no perfect solution, yet the world is perfect

Ladybug acknowledges that there is no perfect solution to Gabriel's situation. Trying to bring back his wife, he has caused irreparable damage to himself and to Nathalie, effectively leaving Adrien an orphan. He still hopes that Ladybug can fix it all. But she can't because of the nature of the wish: for one thing gained, another thing should be lost. In Ladybug's words:

There is no perfect wish. Every time a power is used for personal gain, it causes catastrophes. (...) We'll find a solution, but it will never be as perfect as one would wish.

Interesting, given that the world ends up being completely perfect?

All the problems are solved, literally everyone is happy, Marinette and Adrien are finally together. But the wish was made for personal gain, no? So where are the consequences? Where is equivalent exchange? The catastrophe, the price of the perfect, green, just world? I think we'll see that in season 6.

The dream world

The new world is seriously giving me weird vibes. Like it is a movie set. For those who have watched The Good Place, you'd know how in the town everything feels a bit too bright, artificial, perfect. I get the same vibes from the post-wish world.

The Agreste mansion is covered by green vines?? Way to hide the atrocities that were planned and happened here.

Here is a screengrab I found on the internet from The Good Place (the ladybug is a funny coincidence lol)

I am getting the exact same vibes!

Also, I have expanded on that in my post on "running out of time" theme, but basically in the ML universe usually the "real" stuff are associated with the night and the rain while things that happen in the sun turn out to be fake or erased/forgotten. So the feeling that I get from this finale is that, this new "perfect" world is not genuine; that the seeming happiness it brings will be soon destroyed (I doubt erased), just as it happened in other fake reality episodes like Chat Blanc, Ephemeral, Oblivio, or Jubilation. As I argued before, this is not a permanent victory. Hell, it isn't even a real victory, not with the secret Marinette is left to keep from Adrien.

Not a real victory

Another thing that makes me think that this ending is not genuine is the lack of Chat Noir in the finale. Yes, I am a fervent Ladynoir stan who was hoping for some Ladynoir action (if not reveal) and was hugely disappointed by the lack of Chat's engagement in the final fight, but now that I think of it, this may have been on purpose.

Notice how in Conformation, Ladybug says:

Our only way to win against him is to fight him together.

And yet, soon thereafter, she is catapulted into a fight with the Monarch.

Notice also it wasn't her choice to unify the miraculouses and face the Monarch alone. She had to, because Chat Noir wasn't there.

Let's remember that this show spent the entire season 4 explaining how Ladybug assuming all the responsibility alone leads to disaster, how she needs Chat Noir to share the burden with him.

Let's also remember how in season 5, especially at the beginning of it, we see Ladybug change her behaviour towards Chat Noir: she gives him more responsibilities (the Bunny Miraculous, the identity of certain holders if I am not mistaken), and how at one point she confesses that Chat Noir has been very serious and responsible lately (and then promptly develops a crush on him).

So taking on the Monarch herself is really against everything they have built up in season 4 and the beginning of season 5. That's why I think that this "victory" is so wrong: it was "won" only by Ladybug. Maybe if Chat Noir were there, he would have prevented the Monarch from making the wish (hypothetically, then we would have an entirely different timeline). If his identity were revealed the way Marinette's was, Gabriel could have controlled him through his amok. In any case, their defeat or victory would have looked very different from this.

In the end, we must remember that this world is far from being a victory for Ladybug: she has, after all, LOST. She couldn't stop Gabriel from making the wish. And while this world looks perfect, and we got what seems like a forever happy after ending for Adrinette, their happiness is set in a non-genuine victory and world.

So I think we shouldn't be angry with the show-runners: there is a reason why this ending feels and is wrong. If it were all wonderful, it wouldn't be the season finale. It would be the finale, period. And I believe that everything that has been disturbing us in this season finale will be addressed, if not consist of the core conflict of season 6. Let's all take a deep breath and turn to fan fiction or fan art till we get the new season now :) (at least that's what I'll do lol)

[chocostrwberry]

Adrien if I gave him different outfits because he’s a top model AND a teenage boy

[eastofthemoon]

Idea that I won’t ever write but I need to share for awhile.

Crossover of Miraculous Ladybug and Phineas and Ferb.

Phineas, Ferb, family and friends are in Paris. Why? I don’t know, maybe they won a contest or maybe Jagged Stone hired them because he’s an old friend of Linda from her singer days. Pick your poison.

Thing is they’re there for Hawkmoth to sense Candace great desire to bust her brothers and akumataizes her. However, Candace is too powerful for him to control. She could care less about the Miraculous. She’s busting her brothers!

Hawkmoth: Scheme Buster I grant you power to expose any scheme to the world-NO! Not like that.

Also, at some point during the fight, Chat Noir stumbles into one of Doofenschmirtz's traps and can't escape. Doof, naturally, is proud that his traps are capable of capturing even a superhero.

Then Chat's timer runs out.

"Wait. A fashion model? Adrien the fashion model, where is Chat Noir?"

"He, uh, escaped? And...switched with me?"

"...HOW RUDE! Leaving my trap without even a note, let alone fighting me! And on top of that, he's roped an innocent fashion model into this - here, I'll let you out, one second."

[wisteriasymphony]

The discourse around Adrien having lean muscle reminds me of a similar discourse around a show called Hyouka. The thing is that the main character mostly stumbles around his house ( for the most part) and feels like there’s no value to doing anything at all— might I add he’s very much committed to this bit and sees everything in a nihilistic philosophy ( he’s not into sports or anything physically strenuous either ) So in no manner did it ever make sense for him to have muscles ( lean muscle ) in your typical anime sauna episode , and thus the discourse. The difference w Adrien at least , is that he is required to do various physical activities , however, he happens - or happened, to be on a strict diet, so all these athletics would probably only make him more puny. I mean Joan of Arc bullied him about his puniness . TO BE FAIR, he’s seen in s5 to be doing a lot of jogging and he’s no longer modeling so one can assume that his diet is over ? unless he’s willingly continuing this diet . this was a longgg rant ending with a fic recommendation that I think does kind service to this discourse and Adrien angsters in general:

“ Finish Lines” by Talik_Anis

Oooh! I've heard good things about Hyouka.

The exercise in s5 does make sense, but at the same time, it's just cardio and we don't really have any impression yet that he's doing more than just jogging? I think the main issue is moreso that people would've wanted to have the impression that he was no longer sticking to the same regiments he had pre-s6, and that kind of crushed it. It would be fun to explore why he would willingly continue his diet maybe for not-great reasons. Either it's out of guilt for not trusting his father, or desperately clinging onto routine in a period of change, or an act of self-harm.

As for Finish Lines: Ouuuhohooouguuggh... FUCK. YES. I was grinning like a madman while reading this. Is Talik_Sanis open to being friends. I would like to be friends with them :3

Here's a link to the fic for any interested followers. It is ~3k words, so very short, but SUCH an angsty little character study. This, "Pyro, Pyro, He Never Did Mean to Arson", and bugstung's "Visage" have to be my top three for Adrien character studies, though the final one is also very much a Felix study in its own right too.

[kilgarraghforever]

The digital Adriens and Lilas are really creepy. As is the fact that two teenagers (they are 14 years old. 14.) got made into digital models for people to have on the odd little rings that go on the top half of your finger for some godforsaken reason. How is no one kicking up a fuss about that. I'm pretty sure Lila's parent(s) never signed shit and even if Gabriel gave permission Adrien didn't even know what the fucking scanning was for it's creepy as heck.

[wheredostarsgowhenyoudie]

And this is how I write a draft...

---------------------------------------------------

Once upon a date night in Paris...

Adrie: I can't believe you agreed to go out with me,Marinette.

Marinette (giggles): Me? You're the one who's the top international model of the Gabriel brand, and an award winning fencer to boot. Don't kid yourself. If anything, I'm the one that got the shock out of my life when you asked me out.

Adrien: (just smiles, shakes his head and takes her hand)

Adrien: No. I don't think you understand. All those things you mentioned don't matter. Not to me. But my best friend going out with me when I thought she disliked me, I can't begin to word how much it means to me. I meant it when I said you're the first real girl friend I got. Well, there's Chloe but you know, she's been there since we were kids. She's like family at this point.

Marinette: Uhm... you mean your friend who happens to be a girl, right?

Adrien (blushes and pulls away): Oh! Of course! I'm sorry, Marinette. I worded it wrong. Not that I do not wish that you're my- I meant to say princess that I- It's just that was presumptuous and I-

Marinette: (just watches her long time crush stutter, unable to stop a bright beam that threatens to tear her face in half)

Adrien (groans): Oh, Plagg kill me now. I'm just embarrassing myself, am I not?

Marinette: (freezes)

Marinette: Did you just say Plagg?

Adrien (eyes wide): Oh, uhm, my- my cat! See, I got a cat, you know, for company. He's pretty much the only one who listens to my rambling at home. Although, he has this weird addiction to stinky cheese. I wish he'd stop eating it.

Marinette:

Adrien: You've gotten quiet, Marinette. Did I say something offensive? I swear I didn't mean to-

Marinette: You're cool! I mean we're cool! I mean, everything's alright. Nothing's wrong. It's not like there's only one cat in Paris that's named Plagg who just happens to like stinky cheese and who happens to be Tikki's partner in crime and-

Marinette: (freezes at hearing Adrien gasp)

Adrien: (stops breathing)

Marinette: (forces on a smile)

Marinette (suddenly yells): CATS! Yes cats, because cats are totally cool and are different from kwamis which I should know nothing about, except I do because kwamis and ughhhh!! Kill me now. I blame Plagg.

Adrien: What?

Marinette: (deflates like a balloon)

Adrien: (has both eyes twinkling so beautifully)

Adrien (takes her hand and bows down to plant it a kiss, as though he's done a thousand times): My lady.

Marinette (who is very good at embarrassing herself, panics): My Chat, no, I mean, cat, I mean my cat, I meant Chat, I meant Adrien! (inserts a groan) Stop me, please.

Adrien (smiles and blushes like a tomato): You can, you know. I mean, it's true, isn't it? I am your Chat, my Marinette...my Ladybug.

There's the sound of Marinette's balloon popping, but the wide grin that's threatening to cut her face in half is an undeniable reflection of a happy heart.

Marinette: (squeaks when he pulls out a rose from out of nowhere and holds it out to her)

Adrien (suddenly gets shy, and raises a hand to scratch the back of his head in nervous tick): Is that- is that okay?

Marinette (who hates it when he doubts himself, acted on impulse and pulls him by the arm to smack a kiss on his cheek): Yup! Totally. One hundred percent. If that's what you want.

Adrien.exe stopped working.

And like in all fanfics, here enters a pair of hungry kwamis...

Plagg (flies out of Adrien's pocket, eyes rolling and tone dripping with sarcasm): Oh just kiss already!!!

Tikki (flies out from Marinette's purse and lands on perfect aim to hit her partner): PLAGG! You stupid black cat! Don't ruin their moment!!