#because everything Agreste is doomed and I want my son to be happy

[familyagrestefanblog]

Analysis of the Family Agreste Portrait

Quarantine strikes again and since the Agreste family portrait has fascinated me for a loooong while now I decided to put my thoughts into words and write another essay x3

The amount of informations we get out if it is amazing and its not only highlighting the absolute TRAGEDY it is that this family is about to face such a horrible fall out, it also hints at the former family dynamic before everything went to hell.

So make yourself comfortable and get something to drink, because we will be here for a while.

Here we go: My analysis of this beauty of a fictional portrait

Let's start with the most obvious one: Hawkmoth.

Its commen knowledge by now that the background makes it seem like Hawkmoth is standing behind the Agreste family like a bad omen waiting for fate to take its course and cause their doom. The portrait is brilliantly designed so the illusion is created that Gabriels body (here in a blue suit closer to Hawkmoths normals dark purple one) overlaps with Hawkmoths and a darker line is connecting the two faces as well, which rest on the same height right beside each other. The very same line grows bigger as it goes further behind Emilie - coloring her entire background - showing us that EMILIE is all Gabriel sees when he becomes Hawkmoth. But notice that Adrien on the other hand can hardly be concidered part of Gabriels “sight” at all.

Its forshadowing 101 and damn beautiful if I may say so. But this isnt what I want to focus on in this post.

I want to elaborate on two other key factors that tell us about the former dynamic of the Agrestes instead and what they tell us about the present and future.

The heart:

This is hitting me on another level because look at the heart these three form with Adrien right in the middle! He was so LOVED. This family may have never been anywhere close to ideal but still, there was LOVE and now he's gonna loose it all.

Adrien already lost his mother which led to his father getting even more distant and cold and now his father is becoming increasingly more abusive as he falls deeper and deeper into villainy. Gabriel was never a good father, the show has already made this clear with episodes like "the bubbler", “the collector” or "Gigantitan" for example but gosh there was hope for their little family! The end scene in "Jackady" portrayed it perfectly and I wrote a whole other post just covering the sigificants of Adriens and Gabriels hug in that episode. Check it out here if you want, it goes hand in hand with this one.

Miraculous is all about love and the completely different ways it can affect us, our behavior and actions. Because love isnt just wonderful, pure and empowering, it also can be twisted, destructive and cause the darkst nightmares. And with this family the writers know how to portray the complex love in an abusive houshold thats destined to go up in flames and they also know how to hint at their troubled past with the family portrait.

But this heart visual tells us even more in connection with the positions of their hands. And with these two key factors, lets start with Gabriel:

His hands convey it so strongly. He loves/d Emilie and Adrien so much and no doubt this love for them was certainly the reason why he started his quest as Hawkmoth. But he is now losing himself more and more in the pleasure of his villainy to the point where he forgets why he's doing it in the first place and becomes a complete monster (of a father). But this turn and spiraling into villainy didn't came out of nowhere - this root already had to be in him to grow like that. And this is also something the portrait indeed hints at as well.

Because Gabriel is the only one of the three who:

1. We see so completely open and without hesitation reach out and hold BOTH his family members.

2. Is visually “cut off” from them as well.

But this doesn't mean he was excluded and the only one who truly cared and loved, it just shows that things were more... complicated...as usual.

This is best explained with Adriens hand placements:

One hand is holding his mothers but the other one is visibly not reaching out for his father. But as we all know, that's not because Adrien doesn't love him. In season 1-3 it is made more than clear that Adrien does not hate his father - he loves him alot and tries to be there for him and be patient because he knows that the loss of his mother brought his father terribly down.

Sure, Adrien gets frustrated and angry with him, literally how could he not?? But Adrien tries his best to reach out to Gabriel so they can bond and come out of this tragedy stronger.

But this loving willingness to forgive his father for the chance of growing a father-son bond with him doesn't change the fact that these two didn't had a bond prior to this. And let's be honest here, does anybody actually think this distance between them was caused by Adrien? I don't think so.

So notice how Adriens hand - not reaching out for his fathers - is the only one in the portrait NOT inside or forming the heart.

When the connection of the hands between the family members symbolise their connection to another, then Adrien keeping the hand for his father away from the display of love is VERY telling. It tells us very directly what this distance did to Adriens side of the relationship. Despite Gabriels hand being right there, Adrien does not meet the gesture. And I cannot believe that he did it out of resentment, nothing in the show indicated such strong negative emotions from past Adrien.

It's much more likely that Adrien not reaching for his fathers hand is meant to show us that Adrien felt that he either CAN'T return the gesture because he fears that it'll end in an unpleasant reaction from Gabriel - that it isn't Adriens "place" to reach out to his busy and distant father like that, like it's demanding something - or Adrien simply didn't took Gabriel laying his hand on his shoulder, in the context of posing for a portrait, as a gesture of love and affection.

The way I interpret the portrait is that prior to Emilies dissappearence Adrien did not exactly try to reach out to his father the same way he did from s1-s3, which, I mean, of course wasn't the case. Not only is it NOT the 13 years olds (or younger) job to form an emotional connection to their absent parent - when that’s the PARENTS job - it also wouldn't be necessarily "needed" for Adrien to do so.

Because Emilie at this point was still in the picture so and she was the complete opposite. She was a (or maybe the ONLY) safe, reliable and loving constant of parental attention, affection and care in his life and because of these two HARSH contrasts Adrien learned from very early on to focus mostly completely on her in that regard while kinda blocking his father out.

That most likely wasn't even an active choice whatsoever - Gabriel proofed to be an unreliable resource so Adrien learned to subconciously treat him that way out of self protection. That doesn't mean he had any kind of dislike or malice against his father it just means that he wasn't able or allowed to connect with Gabriel the way he needed. Several episodes show that Gabriel deadass only parented like 15 minutes tops in his life with one of the worst offenders kinda being “Gigantitan” ngl.

So yeah, when I see that the portrait wants to tell me that prior to Emilies loss, Adrien - a 12-13 year old at most - is THIS used to rely solely on the strong bond he has with his mother and not even really reaching out for his fathers love, then I can't help but interpret it in the way that... Well... Gabriel was so distant and emotionally unreliable to Adrien for all his life, that Gabriel simply... wasn't needed by his son. Not at that point of time at least.

And while this may seem weird, because obviously Adrien only now starts to stop craving for his fathers affection and approval (which is btw a horrible, HORRIBLE thing and not something good. A half orphan losing the last remaining hope he had left of having the chance to finally get to form a bond with the only other parent he has left, just to be crushed by disappointment and abandonment all over again until he let's go, is REALLY NOT as much of a good thing people will make it out to be. This is... plain awful) it's actually quite logical.

Adriens hand outside the heart doesn't mean that his father meant nothing to him and therefore refuses to meet and accept his affection (that's literally the complete opposite of what the show shows us), it means that Adriens and Gabriels father-son relationship suffers from a fatal emotional disconnection caused by miscommunication/ a lack of communication.

And this was caused by Gabriel. How? Let me elaborate on that by going a bit far afield (cuz lbh we all have time for this. I’m writing this in quarantine and youre reading this is quarantine, so lets gooooooooooooo).

In "The bubbler" Adrien says that his father "always forgot his birthday", but I cannot agree with this in true honesty. Gabriel is controlling his sons entire life, calls him "the epitome of perfection" and temporarily truly gave up being Hawkmoth for him, he definitely never forgot Adriens birthday.

"The bubbler" even SHOWS us that Adriens perspective of the situation is actually not the truth:

This is Adriens first birthday after Emilies dissappearence and it's incredibly telling how Gabriel handles the planning.

What this entire little sequence tells me is that Gabriel is completely and UTTERLY used to NOT be the one to take care of anything related to Adriens birthday. So Emilie was always the one who did it but somehow - now without her - Gabriel apparently still hasn't even considered changing anything about that nasty non-involvement and just expected Natalie to pick everything up where Emilie left it.

Because let's be real here, knowing Natalie she would NOT have forgotten to get a present if Gabriel truly had told her to. Natalie is never presented to do mistakes like that but Gabriel on the other hand IS definitely presented to us claiming things about himself as ultimate, blameless and true when they simply do not reflect reality. A great example: Gorizilla

You didn’t even speared a minutes of your time for Adrien and he DID try to! Asshat… It's a problem guys. The lack of self awareness Gabriel displays in moments like this is legitimately concerning when you think about how deeply this man is falling right now.

But back to the topic:

Because even if Gabriel didn't even consider doing anything himself for Adriens birthday - not even taking the time to SEE his son (who just recently lost his mother, come on Gabe, really?) - one thing one cannot hold against him: he sure as hell remembered Adriens birthday like any decent parent would and it wasnt portrayed as a this-year-for-the-first-time thing.

And yet Adriens statement still makes complete sense. Because a big, BIG problem with Gabriel is just how much he takes things for granted. He EXPECTS things to be universally known and to never be doubted, just because that's how HE sees them. I will write 10 essays if it's needed to make people understand that Gabriel DOES truly love Adrien, it's just that Gabriel HIMSELF is such a rotten, twisted and toxic person that he cannot see how much his (oppressing) behavior and the way he (doesn't) express his love hurts Adrien and that HE is the one at fault. (for more, once again, read this)

Gabriel LOVES Adrien but he takes the love he feels as such a matter-of-fact that he just completely... forgets to show it.

And when we take Adriens words and look at the Family portrait it unfortunately seems that...

…. Gabriel ALWAYS forgot to show it.

Adriens hand - that should at least be reaching out to his father - is outside of the heart in accepting certainty. Because that's what Gabriels non-presence was for Adrien while growing up: an unreliable and unreachable certainty he had to accept early on as safer to not try to emotionally depend on too much or else he will get hurt.

So yeah, Adrien is the one in the portrait who is very openly not reaching out but only because Gabriel never gave him the needed affection and stability to be able to create that bond.

But let me correct what I said a little earlier: Adrien ALWAYS needed his father. Every kid, especially one in a bad situation like Adrien, does need their parents/friends etc as support system to become independent and confident in a healthy way. And if they don’t have that they WILL crave and look for it!

What Adrien has been doing up to now IS normal for a teenager - humans NEED affection, belonging and safety. What ISNT/SHOULDN’T be normal is Adriens disconnection towards his father in the portrait and just how much Gabriel fails to take care and BE THERE for his son in BOTH TIMES!

Collector:

Bother Christmas:

One thing I like about the show is that it portrays their young main cast with one very important truth: The psyche of a child/teenager of their age will react and adapt so it SURVIVES, even if it results in unfortunate consequences in other relationships and places. Thats the psyches main concern and it'll try to cope with the limited experience and development it has in whatever way necessary to get itself to the next day. A coping mechanism is not there to make you a better person, it ensures your SURVIVAL, everything else is a secondary concern.

So seeing pre-show Adrien not react to Gabriels touch and even feel completely unloved and disconnected from him is no surprise to me. Kids are incredibly observant. They may lack the needed experience and knowledge to truly understand that they deserve better and to stand up for themselves but they are masters in picking up red flags in people and can put this danger into perspective while comparing the different danger levels of their options of people and places to adjust their behavior.

Feast:

Stormy Weather 2:

So the broken connection between father and son we see in the portrait (that Gabriel doesn't even notice but Adrien fully internalized) isn’t there because Adrien “didnt needed” or wanted his father, its because Adrien NEEDED Gabriel so much in his isolated upbringing but Gabriel didn’t LET him need him - so Adrien had to adjust to that accordingly. Big, huge, ENORMOUS difference.

Honestly the most miraculous thing about Miraculous is that Adrien was able to bring up the strength to stay positive and friendly and to forgive Gabriel in hope for a better future. That boys situation is 7 kinds of depressing and traumatizing...

It's just flabbergasting to me how well this portrait shows how basically non-existent their relationship was at that point. And it's horrible to know that this estranged and unformed bond is all Adrien had left after Emilie dissappeared, just alot worse because after Emilie incident Adrien states that his father changed alot for the worse as well.

So to think that all Adrien had left wasn't even this former basically non-existent relationship with his aloof father - who would only barely show his true affection for his son because he's either not around enough to do so or he thinks it "unnecessary to proof his affection" for/to Adrien because he already thinks it so obvious and undoubtable.

Well he thought wrong. And GOSH, it breaks my heart!

So now comparing the "Gabriel" hand from Adrien with the one representing his connections with his mother conveys a pretty harsh contrast.

Because last but not least, let's take a look at Emilies hand placements:

But here is now an interesting difference to Adrien. Whereas we openly see that Adriens side of the Adrien-Gabriel relationship is completely disconnected from the heart/love - showcasing just how badly Adrien has always been neglected by his father - we don't see Emilies hand in her Emilie-Gabriel relationship AT ALL.

Once again just like with Adrien, this doesn't mean she didn't love her husband and that Gabriel was used and fooled by the woman he so utterly adored. It just means that from Emilies point of view things were a bit more complicated. What exactly this is, the portrait is keeping secret from us. We have no way of knowing if and how Emilie is returning her husbands gesture. All we can say is that if she does she is definitely not doing it in such an open and unconflicted way as she does with Adrien.

But since when has anything with this family been this easy?

One thing the portrait makes very clear, Adrien and Emilie had a strong and good bond. Definitely the healthiest because the Adrien-Emilie connection is the only one depicted without any kind of disruption from both sides. Both mother and son are reaching out for the other ones hand creating a whole half of the heart, showcasing their affection for another openly and without any of the implied doubts the other connections display. And honestly? Comparing all the hand placements, the one connecting Adrien and Emilie just comes across as strikingly pure and true (which makes it even worse that it was HER Adrien lost…)

As I said it's a HARSH contrast to the one Adrien shears with Gabriel. This contrast is highlighted even further by the way these three face on another.

Emilie and Adrien are positioned facing another and so are Emilie and Gabriel. Telling us that Emilie was "face-to-face" aka involved with both her husband and son. It is Adrien and Gabriel were this looks wildly different. These two have no way of seeing each other in the eyes the way they stand now/then, further displaying their deeply rooted disconnection. It's portrays perfectly how important Emilie was in this family dynamic, because even though Adrien and Gabriel bearly had a connection at all they at least had Emilie as a link between them, keeping the family together. But then they lost her and where this left both father and son off we know oh too well...

So to collect all the informations we get out if this portrait:

-Adriens and Emilies relationship was the strongest and purest. Both of their hands connect and reach out for another in the heart, showcasing that they had a loving and positive bond.

-Adriens and Gabriels relationship is heavily scarred by a deeply rooted disconnection leaving Adrien feeling unloved and unwanted by his father to the point where Adriens side of their dynamic is outside the heart altogether. Gabriel may love and adore his son just like he loves his wife and never thought he displayed his love for him in a lacking way, but fact is: this love never reached Adrien the way it should have and Adrien is the one in their dynamic who got severely hurt and damaged by it.

-Gabriel was the only one completely unconflicted and happily at peace with the former Family situation. He's reaching out to both his family members with open love and affection in blissful oblivion that neither his wife nor son could return them the same way (to different degrees for different reasons). Gabriel was the ONLY ONE in the Agreste family who didn't saw problems in their lives and thought them all happy, hence why he's so obsessed with changing the past and bringing THIS state of their family back. He was happy and he had everything he needed and loved right with him, of course he wants THIS back. He's not aware that Emilie and ESPECIALLY Adrien did not feel the same about their former situation and that bringing all of them back to this is not the perfect happy ending for their entire family as he thinks.

-Emilie may not have been as unconflicted with Gabriel as he was with her but she is NOT feeling the same disconnection her son feels and isn't depicted with negative feelings towards Gabriel. Her side in the Emilie-Gabriel relationship is neither shown outright positive as with her son or outright bad as Adrien with Gabriel. Her side of their bond is depicted through her unseen hand placement in the unknown area in between.

-Despite their not so unconflicted feelings towards Gabriel - and Gabriel himself being aloof - neither Emilie nor Adrien are actively trying to cut Gabriel out. They aren't flinching away from his touch or exclude him from the heart whatsoever. He's happily included, obviously feeling loved. They may not be 100% happy and Gabriel doesn't notice it, but they aren't denying him his happiness and make him unhappy. Again, he's the only one truly happy here. Something neither Emilie nor Adrien tried to take away from him.

-Emilie and Adrien are facing each other as do Emilie and Gabriel, implying the presence of communication and a bond. Adrien and Gabriel do not face each other, showing their disconnected bond. If they could see each others face Adrien would have been able to see that Gabriels hand is a gesture of genuine affection and Gabriel could see that Adriens expression does not exactly display pure happiness the way he thinks. This also goes for Emilie. Emilie just like her husband is placed BEHIND her son, so even if she is facing him she would not be able to really see just how much Adrien is not satisfied and truly happy with his life at that point (meaning how unhappy being looked up, friendless and at distance with his father actually makes him).

- This fascinating family makes me sad and I like it lol

[amintyworld]

Overgrowth - Miracle Miraculous AU

A/N: HERE IT IS!!! I’ve been working on this for a while, and I can’t wait to share it with you all. Combining two of my favorite fandoms - It’s been honestly such a passion project, and I’m so happy with how it turned out. Note that Ladybug is Luckybug in this universe. - Minty

Summary: It’s Valentine’s Day in Paris, and it turns into more of a Valentine’s mess than anyone expected. When a confession goes wrong, Thomas turns into Overgrowth, bent on getting revenge for his heartbreak by taking away everything the people of Paris love, and teaching the heartbreaker a lesson he’ll never forget.

Ships: Prinxiety, Logicality, Thomas x Samuel.

TW: Homophobia, pain, anxiety/panic, heartbreak, self-blame, implied mention of murder, cursing. (I think that’s everything, tell me if I missed any, as always!)

Roman Agreste slumped on his bed after he swiftly closed his door to his massive bedroom. Today was Valentine’s Day, and he couldn’t stop thinking of his Prince - Luckybug. God, he was so smart and so beautiful. He’d had fun at school, of course - Chloe had crooned over him, giving him gifts and presents throughout the day, and kissing his cheek obsessively. His friend, Logan, had finally pulled her away from him, the only one who really knew who he really was. 

Like anyone would accept that the son of Gabriel Agreste, the world-famous fashion designer, was gay.

Just today, Logan had pinched him when he almost slipped how he was into guys as he was talking to his friends about his crushes. Without him, he probably would have revealed his secret by accident long ago. 

But, his best friend didn’t exactly know all his secrets.

He sighed, groaning into his pillow, as his kwami, Plagg, flew out from the hiding place in his school bag. “Kid, you really need to be more honest with yourself.” He said, gnawing on a piece of his treasured camembert.

Roman groaned in his pillow in response, looking at his college of Luckybug in his pinboard next to his computer. He was so perfect - rugged purple locks, and focused determined green eyes…

No picture could capture the way the wind ruffled through his hair just perfectly, or the way the city lights made his green eyes sparkle like emeralds. He huffed in disapproval as he walked over to his television. His mind was filled to the brim with his Prince, and it was overwhelming. 

He needed a distraction. 

He flipped on the TV as Plagg perched himself on the top of the couch, looking at his dejected master and giving a sigh. “Hang in there, Kid.”

————————————————-

Virgil’s ears filled with My Chemical Romance as he sewed, focused on his task - Mr. Agreste had commissioned him to make Roman’s frivolous costumes for his performances. He had told him that the hat he made, the winner of his contest earlier in the year, was more of his son’s style. He couldn’t be bothered with making any designs that weren’t being professionally modeled and gave the job to Virgil instead. 

He insisted Roman’s performances were more of a hobby. Virgil was just happy to help his crush, and the smiles brought to Roman’s face was really all the payment he needed. 

Roman’s theatre group was performing Romeo and Juliet this weekend and needed the costumes soon for the dress rehearsal on Friday. Virgil was nearly finished - he just needed to add the details on the two main pieces.

He sighed as he sat up and walked to grab more thread and pins, looking over toward the dejected cookie tin on his desk. His best friend Patton had pushed him to make the heart-shaped treats days earlier - Virgil had made sure that they were chocolate chips with no nuts, as Roman had a nut allergy. Patton had even brought the tin just for the occasion. 

But, when he was at school…

“Oh my god, look at this Sabrina!” Chloe yelled as Virgil quickly hid the cookie tin behind his back. “Virgil Dupain-Cheng, with sweets for Valentine’s Day for my Romiekins!”

A small crowd began to gather behind Chloe, Roman well out of earshot. Patton stepped in between the two, angry. “Back off, Chloe.”

“What, Patton? I just think it’s cute. Adorable, really.” Chloe had a glint of evil in her eyes as she smiled. “I mean, it’s just so clear that Roman isn’t gay, but I guess that doesn’t mean his fans aren’t!”

Chloe and Sabrina laughed, as the crowd all looked to Virgil, as he kept walking backward with the tin behind his back, his face red in embarrassment as he just looked to the floor. Usually, Chloe’s insults never really got him this deep, but… this one hurt, mostly because it’s always been one of Virgil’s insecurities - his sexuality. 

Patton had tried to talk him into giving Roman the treats, but he just couldn’t. He’d just went home without another word. 

Virgil’s kwami, Tikki, had noticed her master’s solemn expression and flew to his side. “Cheer up, Virgil. I’m sure Roman would have enjoyed the cookies!”

Virgil sighed. “It’s not that Tikki, I know he would’ve enjoyed them. I just-” He looked over to the tin. “I don’t know if he would have enjoyed that they were made… by me.”

“Virgil, any guy who enjoys the gifts and not the people behind them are not worth your time,” Tikki said, flying closer to her master’s face. “Even Roman.”

“Roman…” Virgil breathed, looking down at the white thread and small box of pins in his hand. Roman who had given him an umbrella in the soaking rain. Roman, who had always told him his designs were amazing. Roman, who was smart and kind to everyone.

Roman Agreste.

Somehow, Virgil knew in his heart that even if he didn’t feel the same, he’d never stop loving him. Even if… that meant he was out of the picture.

——————————————

Thomas sighed as he tried to take deep breaths, his face flushed, as he walked toward his crush, who he’d asked to meet at the bridge. Samuel was one of his best friends in the entire world, and Thomas had been crushing on him since grade school. Joan had told him to go for it today, giving him a much-needed boost of confidence to finally go through with it. 

He hid the bouquet of roses behind his back as he tapped his friend’s shoulder. “Hey, Samuel?”

“Thomas, it’s so great to see you!” Samuel hugged Thomas tightly, his smile bright. “Thanks so much for inviting me to hang out, I really needed your advice.”

“R-really?” Thomas almost squeaked, his face getting redder by the minute. He clenched the bundle of roses tighter behind his back.

“Yeah. You’re a really good friend, and I’d trust you with anything…”

“Of course, what did you… Ehem, need advice on?” Thomas said, trying to keep calm.

“Well you see, there’s a girl, and-”

Thomas’s grip on the roses tightened. “I…I’m s-sorry, what…?”

“There’s a girl I’ve been dying to ask out, and I don’t really know how to ask, and I figured since you hang around the girls a lot, you might be able to give me a few-”

“Sam, I… I like you.”

Now it was his friend’s turn to be surprised. “What?”

Thomas pulled the bundle of roses from behind his back, turning to his crush. “Samuel, I really, really, really like you. I’ve liked you since forever, and I never really found the right time to tell you, and-”

Samuel’s mouth was agape, and he just looked from the roses to Thomas. “T-Thomas?” He said, beginning to step away. “Thomas, I… I’m sorry, but… but I-”

Oh.

Thomas could feel his heart breaking inside his chest, but he tried to stay strong.

“No, no it’s fine.” A tear streaked down Thomas’s cheek as he gave his friend a pained smile. “It’s fine, Samuel.” Another tear, and another. He looked up to see his friend’s face lined with pity, and he couldn’t take it anymore. “Excuse me, I just… need a minute-”

One moment he was walking, the next running. Running somewhere he didn’t know as his eyes were blurred with tears. 

A poor tortured soul who wanted nothing but to tell the one he loved his feelings and was met with utter heartbreak. Love is not always so easy, I’m afraid…

Fly away, my little akuma, and ease his broken heart!

As the black butterfly flew into one of the roses, Thomas’s eyes were lit up with a butterfly screen. Up in his tower, Hawkmoth smiled. “Overgrowth, my name is Hawkmoth. I’m giving you the power to bend all plant life to your will and make sure the ones who have wronged you pay the price. In return, you must give me Luckybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous.” The villain smirked. “Do we have a deal?”

Thomas dried his tears as he smirked. “If I can’t love, no one will.”

—————————————

“Ughhh!” Plagg groaned. “Can’t we watch the cooking channel?! These dramas are so boring!”

Roman sighed as he switched through a few different channels, his head snapping to attention when he flipped on the News.

“-local police are baffled today as plant life all around Paris has begun to move on its own, we’re going live on the scene with-!”

The camera suddenly is grabbed and pulled upward, revealing a familiar face to Roman as he quickly stood up from the couch. “Wait… is that Thomas?”

Thomas’s eyes were pitch black as vines and roses wrapped around his body with pitch black thorns. Roman was confused - Thomas was one of the sweetest guys he knew, there was no way he would get akumatized.

Thomas grinned into the camera as Roman could hear people crying out below. “People of Paris, I am Overgrowth. Within the next five hours, your city will belong to me, and me alone, unless your heroes can somehow magically save you, everything you love, everyone you love - will be mine.”

The feed had stopped abruptly, leaving the newswoman in a bit of a shock. She cleared her throat. “It seems as a new supervillain, Overgrowth, has taken over the city! Hopefully Chat Noir and Luckybug will be here to save us from doom!”

Roman sighed sadly. Poor Thomas. Something must’ve messed him up pretty bad to make him like this. “Plagg, we need to go. Thomas needs me.”

“Why do we always have akumas to fight when I’m enjoying my sweet camembert?” Plagg questioned, swallowing it whole. Roman laughed, smiling, before turning to the door. Plagg always knew how to make him feel better, even if for a few, brief, moments. 

“Let’s go. Plagg, claws out!”

——————————

Virgil’s seen many weird things in his life - ice cream akumas, baby akumas, you name it. But, he’s never seen anything this weird. 

One moment, he was adding the finishing touches on the costume dress, the next - there’s a giant leaf in his face. “Huh? What the-?”

He pulled off his headphones, leaving the dress on his bed as he walked outside to the balcony, following the trail of vine with black thorns. Virgil’s eyes widened as he noticed the thorns in every house and apartment, wrapping around pipes, inside windows and chimneys - all with those signature black thorns. “Woah.”

His pocket vibrated as he answered the call, turning back inside to find Tikki - he knew it had to be an akuma. Chat could only do so much on his own - he needed to move. “Virgil, thank god you picked up, I’ve been trying your cell for hours!”

“Patton, I- I’m sorry. My phone was on silent. What’s going on?” He began to search around his room, no Tikki in sight. That was strange. Wait… another vine, leading towards the ladder…

“There’s another supervillain, Virge! He’s controlling all the plants somehow. This is finally my chance, the chance I’ve been waiting for!”

“Chance?”

“Luckybug and Chat Noir are going to show up - Prime material for the Luckyblog!” Patton said. “Maybe I’ll even catch an interview with them, the villain’s heading downtown after all.”

Virgil froze in his tracks, Patton’s squeals of delight on the other line echoing in the back of his head. The vine with the black thorns had grabbed Tikki, coiling around her like a snake. She looked weak, and in pain. 

“V-virgil…”

No. This wasn’t like any other akuma Virgil has ever faced. Patton can NOT go near it. The thought of his best friend, wrapped in the coils, being stabbed by the thorns…

“Vir-gil… help…”

He spoke softly and firmly. “Patton, you need to find somewhere to hide.”

“What? Come on, Virge-!”

“Patton. Please. Just… stay away from the vines, promise me.”

“Vir-”

“Promise me!” Virgil snapped, grabbing the scissors from his room to use to cut the vine. Patton sounded concerned as he began to cut, freeing Tikki as she fell into his palm, weakened. 

“Virgil, are you alright, kiddo? You sound a bit panicky, is everything okay?” Patton’s voice was filled with warmth. “I… I can come over, if-”

“No, no I promise I’m fine, I just-” Virgil said, taking a deep breath. “Just stay away from the vines, okay? They… they’re unsafe.” He quickly hung up, worried more so focused on the small fragile kwami in his palm, and what exactly happened to her. 

“Tikki! Tikki, are you alright?” Virgil said. The kwami coughed in response, flying a bit. 

“I’m fine, I just need a little water.” 

Virgil poured a small cup into the cap of his thermos for Tikki to drink, and Tikki took a few gulps and a cookie. “What exactly happened?”

“The thorns are filled with dark energy - pure negative energy, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Tikki said as she chewed. “We kawmis are made of pure positive energy, I guess it just deflated me a little bit there.”

“Thank goodness. I wouldn’t know what I’d do with you, Tikki.” Virgil said, as the small kwami had given him a small hug.

"We need to be careful, Virgil.” Tikki said. “This akuma might be the strongest one we’ve faced.”

Virgil gave a smile. “When am I not careful?”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ground shook with each step as Virgil saw someone, two thick thorny vines sprouting from their back, the vines plunging into the ground like legs as the akumatized person ran past Virgil’s house. Virgil smiled. “Look at that, Tikki. They lead themselves straight to us.” Virgil flicked his hair back to reveal his earrings. “Tikki, spots on!”

———————–

“Get off me you alley cat!” Overgrowth growled as Chat Noir’s claws dug deep into the thick vine on his back as Overgrowth thrashed this way and that, trying desperately to get cat-free.

“I don’t think so-!” Chat Noir said. “Now, would you kindly show me where your akuma is, so we can get this over with quickly?”

Overgrowth held out his open hand, summoning a black rose. “Get.. OFF!” He yelled, throwing it back in Chat’s face, sending him flying toward the ground, as his costume flicked off and on for a quick second. 

“Huh?!” Chat asked, confused. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Was something wrong with his miraculous? His kawami? His ears were ringing and his head hurt. He couldn’t move.

Overgrowth looked more than annoyed at this development. “One wasn’t enough for you?” He said, summoning a few more black rose darts, making the rose vines wrapped around his body glow slightly. “How about a few more?!” He yelled, throwing a barrage toward a helpless Chat. 

Luckybug quickly jumped in front, swinging his yo-yo, blocking the attacks. “Not today, no thank you!”

“My prince, you finally joined the party!” Chat Noir said, getting up and readying his silver pole as Overgrowth moved to the side to try to attack the two superheroes. Chat began to spin the pole quickly, blocking the attacks with ease, smiling.

“As if I’d let you have all the fun, Kitty.” Luckybug smiled. “Any idea where the akuma might be?”

“Checked everywhere. I have no clue.”

“Dammit. For once, I’d thought we’d have it easy.” Luckybug huffed.

Overgrowth growled in defeat. “No need for you two, anyway. I have someone I’m dying to go meet up with…you two have fun.”

“Wait-!” Luckybug yelled, but he was already gone. “Dammit.”

“So, any idea where Poison Ivy might’ve gone?” Chat asked. “I can’t imagine there’s much wildlife in Paris, and I doubt Scarezilla wants to go to the Zoo.”

“Luckybug! Chat Noir!" 

The two heroes turned their attention to a teenager with an orange beanie running toward them, waving their arms like crazy - Joan, one of Thomas’s best friends. "You- You gotta help Thomas! He’s a twat sometimes but he’s not a supervillain. You gotta get him back!”

“We will. We promise.” Luckybug said, placing his hand on Joan’s shoulder to steady them. “Do you know where he might’ve gone?”

“If he’s mad right now, he’s probably heading to Samuel’s house.” Joan said. The two heroes shared a glance.

“Samuel?” Chat asked.

“Yeah, Thomas has had a crush on him since forever. He rejected him when I told him to go for it, he’s akumatized because of me, you gotta help him-”

“We promise we will. Thank you so much for the help.” Luckybug turned to Chat. “Come on, we gotta go-” Luckybug used his yo-yo to jump from building to building, leaving only Chat behind.

Chat turned to the kid. “This isn’t your fault, I promise. If anything, it’s Hawkmoths. Go find a place to hide, we’ll get your friend back soon.” He turned, using his pole to propel him into the air, catching up with his prince.

Talyn rushed over to Joan. “Don’t run off like that again, Joan! You made me worried!”

“Talyn, Thomas is akumatized and it’s all my fault, I need to fix this! If I hadn’t told him-” Joan said, clenching their fists at their sides. Talyn interrupted quickly. 

“Joan, you can’t blame yourself, you didn’t make him like this!” They said. “Come on, we need to stay with the others, we’ll be safe-” Talyn slowly reached for Joan’s arm, but they jerked away. “Joan…?”

“I need to fix this, Talyn.” Joan said. “He’s my best friend." 

"Joan, what are you…?”

“I’m sorry, Talyn!” Joan said, sprinting over to Talyn’s scooter and chasing after the heroes. 

“Mother-!” Talyn sighed frustratingly as they began to run after him. 

———————–

“Patton, you need to be careful!” Logan called out to the blogger recording the two heroes flying away. “You could get hit.”

“Logan, please. I can take care of myself.” Patton said. “Luckybug and Chat Noir do so much for us - If I figure out their identities, think of what we could do to help! We could all takedown Hawkmoth together.”

“There has to be a good reason they’re secret, Patton,” Logan said, adjusting his glasses. “Don’t you think they might know what’s best for this one? They are the professionals, after all.”

Patton seemed too focused to listen as the two ran in the direction of the heroes. “This way, come on!”

As the pair began running, a huge vine with blackthorns grew quickly in front of them. “Patton, watch out!”

It seemed in almost slow motion. Patton had turned back, confused - when he tripped, falling, the thorns going in towards his back, making Patton fall to the ground with a cry of pain. Logan rushed over as Patton’s feet slowly began to turn purplish black. “Patton, I told you to be careful!” Logan lectured. “We should’ve stayed with the others-”

Logan didn’t need to be an expert to recognize the pain on Patton’s face as he tried to stand, his legs shaking, the phone he was holding colliding to the ground with a smash. “We- we gotta follow them-!”

Patton fell forward, Logan moving to catch him. “No, you’re not. You’re in no condition to travel.” He sat down on the curb, Patton in his arms. He didn’t know what to do, and his heart clenched uncomfortably at the sight. “Are you alright?”

Patton gripped Logan’s arm as the darkness slowly moved up his legs. “L-logan… it hurts…”

“P-patton, I…” Logan’s mind was frazzled. In all his medical training, he had no idea how to handle this. They hadn’t prepared him for this - he usually always knew what to do. “Just… just hang on-”

Patton suddenly slumped over in Logan’s lap as Logan began to search in his emergency supplies for something, anything. His mind was so incredibly scrambled that he didn’t even notice at first. The darkness was at his stomach now. 

“Patton don’t worry, everything’s going to be just-” Logan felt his heart drop when he realized Patton’s unconsciousness. “Patton… Patton, wake up, please-”

————————

“Oh Samuel, my sweet!” Overgrowth called all too innocently. “Come out, my love! I just want to… talk.”

Overgrowth, why did you abandon the miraculouses? Did you forget our deal?!

“Relax, Hawkmoth. If I grab Samuel, they’ll have to exchange his life for their miraculous.”

Such a cunning plan. Very well, grab the boy and be done with it!

Samuel shook in his broom closet, hearing the villain upstairs, his hands over his mouth as he tried not to whimper. He kept trying to remind himself that it wasn’t Thomas, and resist the urge to run out of his hiding place and apologize profusely to his friend.

He didn’t mean to hurt him - it was just so much of a surprise, he didn’t know what to say. Samuel sighed. That was the problem - he didn’t say anything. He should’ve said something, something to let him know they were still friends, that it was okay, that he didn’t need to be embarrassed…

…that he had thought about it too.

“Sammy! Come out, come out! I have something I want to tell you, sweetie!” Overgrowth called. A sudden slam upstairs nearly made Samuel jump. “I said… COME OUT!”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. Sorry to burst your bubble, Overgrowth.” Luckybug said, tying his hands behind his back with ease with their yo-yo. As he held him down, he nodded to Chat, who walked over, searching for the akuma. He saw the roses glow slightly as he approached, and his eyes widened. Overgrowth quickly shook off the yo-yo, pushing both of them back and pinning them against the wall, nearly squishing them.

“My Prince- Argh!” Chat Noir winced at the pain. Luckybug breathed heavily, his vision going blurry.

“C-chat…ugh…”

“My Prince, no!” Chat tried to quickly maneuver the silver pole, his prince was about to pass out! He extended the pole, hitting Overgrowth in the face, as he released his grab on the heroes. 

Joan ascended the stairs quietly, hearing a battle on the top floor they really didn’t want to get in the middle of at the moment. If they could just get Samuel out of here - 

“Samuel?” They whispered harshly. “You in here?”

“J-joan…?” Samuel said, his voice shaking. They opened the closet quietly, as they both crept downstairs. Once out of earshot, the two finally had a moment to breathe. “Joan, thank you so much, I-!”

SLAP!

Samuel rubbed his reddened cheek. “That’s for breaking my best friend’s heart.” They said. “You’re an idiot and a douche.” They threw behind them as they climbed on the bike. “Now get on the scooter.” 

Samuel quietly climbed on as they drove away. “I’m sorry, Joan.”

“I know, you dumb himbo.” Joan said. “Don’t worry about it. When this is all over, you need to talk to him. He, at the very least, deserves that.”

“I know.”

—————————

“My prince, the akuma is in the rose vines around his body, they glow whenever he summons a black rose!” Chat yelled, dodging attacks. 

“But the vines are so close to his body, if we aren’t careful, we could kill him.” Luckybug yelled. 

“So what should we- Ugh!” Chat’s body was wrapped tightly in the vines, the thorns digging into his costume, making his mask flicker quickly once more. 

Luckybug glared at Overgrowth. “Enough is enough! Lucky Charm!” He yelled, throwing his yo-yo in the air, summoning… was that a metal hook?

“Ha ha, Luckybug. What’s that supposed to do, take me fishing?” Overgrowth yelled, as Luckybug looked around for something, anything - a clue as to what this was supposed to be used for.

Nothing. There was nothing.

Chat struggled in the villain’s grasp, trying to use anything to break free. Overgrowth smiled. “I’d love to stay and chat, but it seems a heartbreaker is slithering away. Goodbye.”

“Wait-!” Luckybug yelled, trying to rush after them, but Overgrowth quickly blocked the path by making the vines grow thick, blocking the hero from following him. “Chaton…”

He failed. Chat needed her and he couldn’t do anything.

What kind of hero was he?!

He heard a small voice in his head. Don’t give up hope, Virgil. Trust yourself. 

“Tikki…?”

Chat Noir needs you, Virgil. His kawami is weakened, he won’t have long before he transforms back. Hawkmoth can’t know his identity. 

You were chosen for a reason, Virgil. 

————————–

Samuel and Joan drove quickly through the streets of Paris, trying to find a space to hide, when they heard a sickening sweet voice and their hearts quickly dropped.

“Samuel? My sweet? Don’t run away!”

“J-joan…” Samuel said, gripping their middle at the voice. 

“I know. We need to hide, come on!” Joan said, grabbing his arm a bit harshly and heading into a nearby hotel, abandoning the scooter. They rushed up stairs, Joan practically pulling Samuel along. Even though he was a jerk, Samuel didn’t deserve whatever punishment Overgrowth has in store. 

They searched and found a small broom closet, practically throwing Samuel inside. “Joan, come in, he’s coming!”

Joan smiled sadly. “I know.”

“Wait…”

“I know Thomas is in there… somewhere. I just need to reach out to him. Stay in here and keep quiet, alright?” Joan said, pushing Samuel deeper inside the small room, shutting the door and jamming the handle with a nearby broom. They heard banging, but didn’t respond. They needed to fix this, once and for all. 

Luckybug jumped across the Paris rooftops, holding the metal hook and swinging his yo-yo, focused. Chat needed him. He didn’t need to look far - the Paris Hotel was swarmed with an overgrowth of vines, a huge clump of green on the top.

He climbed up quickly, and jumped onto the roof, hiding when he heard a voice he recognized. Was that Joan…? He peaked around the corner. 

“Overgrowth, listen to me. I’m sorry for everything that happened, but you don’t need to be this way. Friends don’t let friends become horrible villains and destroy Paris.” Joan said, using their arms for emphasis. Overgrowth scoffed. 

“I like the way I am now - less stupid and idiotic. This way, no one will ever have their heart broken again!”

Luckybug slowly crept behind the villain, shushing Joan and Chat, wrapped in the familiar thick green vine. Slowly, she grabbed the end of the vine wrapped around him, and tied it to the thick hook, hooking it sturdily to the metal around the emergency fire hose. 

“Thomas, this isn’t you. Please. Don’t you trust me…?”

“I…” Overgrowth felt strange, weird even, until a sharp pain in his head snapped him to focus.

Don’t stand there, grab him you idiot!

Joan ran, dodging his attacks, nearly getting hit. “Now, Luckybug!”

Overgrowth turned, and Luckybug gave a smirk. “Time for your trip, I’m afraid.” He kicked the villain in the face, sending him over the edge. He fell, the vine wrapped around him being unwound as he yelled. He released Chat quickly and jumped down after the akuma, the vines around him unraveled until he was free falling. He quickly caught him, bringing him back up, yelling. “Now Chat!”

Chat Noir quickly rushed over, igniting his Cataclysm and striking the vines. As it turned to black dust, a purple butterfly sprouted out as Luckybug settled the victim in the roof, turning toward the akuma. “Time to de-evilize!” He yelled, catching the butterfly in her yo-yo, purifying and releasing it. “Bye-bye butterfly!”

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

—————-

The last thing Thomas remembered was being sad, so heartbroken…

Next thing he knew, he was on the roof of a hotel. “What… what happened?” He looked down at his hands. “Was I…?”

He looked over to see Joan, their eyes filled with tears as they rushed over, enveloping their friend in a big hug. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again, you hear me?!” The roof door opened, Talyn running toward the two. Joan looked up as Talyn crashed into them with a big hug. They quickly let go before punching Joan in the arm. “Hey-!”

“That’s for stealing my scooter, you ass!” Talyn said. “I ran all the way here from nineteenth thanks to you!”

Joan gave their friend a nervous smile. “Good exercise…?” Talyn socked him on the arm harder than before, sending explosions of pain down Joan’s arm. “Owww-! Sorry, sorry-!" 

Thomas couldn’t help but giggle at this. "Rule number one: Never take Talyn’s scooter unless you’re looking for a fight. Eh, Joan?”

Joan smiled, rubbing at his arm and wincing at the pain. “Duly noted.”

Suddenly, the door opened and someone else appeared, leaving a tight knot in Thomas’s stomach - Samuel. He crossed his arms. “What are you doing here, Samuel?”

“I… I need to talk to you.”

“There’s no need, I get it. You don’t like me that way, it’s fine-”

“No, it’s not that at all. I do. Like you, I mean. Like, really really like you.” Samuel said, getting red. “When you told me I was just so shocked. I mean, you’re amazing, and I'm…”

“You're…?” Thomas asked.

“I’m a poor kid with nothing to offer but myself. You don’t deserve that.”

“Oh please.” Thomas said. “You are everything I could ever want - you’re kind, smart, resourceful - you make beautiful things out of nothing. You are what I deserve, Samuel Riggs.”

Samuel blushed, scratching the back of his head. “I still can’t believe you figured me out, I thought I was pretty secret about that kind of thing. How’d you do it?”

Thomas looked over to his friends, almost squealing at the two - they’d been trying to get them together for ages. “Oh, I had some… help.”

Samuel coughed, his face pink. “Dinner on Saturday? I know a great little bakery that’s pretty cheap - it’s supposed to be the best in Paris!”

Thomas smiled. “You’ve got yourself a date, Mr. Riggs. Pick me up at 7.” Thomas said, giving his new lover a kiss on the cheek, making Samuel turn bright red. He stammered, backing up until his back hit the  door.

“Y-yes, a date! Date on S-saturday. The Saturday date-!” He laughed when his back met the door, his face still red. “S-see ya, Thomas!”

Hearts can be mended, but one day we’ll face each other, and I’ll be the one walking away unscathed, Luckybug and Chat Noir!

———————-

Luckybug quickly rushed downstairs with Chat, the beeping making his anxiety grow ever more. He noticed a closet and held it open. “Chat, you need to go, you’ll change back any second-”

When he hesitated, Luckybug tried shoving him inside to no avail. “Chat, please-”

“My prince. Look at me.”

“C-chat…?” He asked, getting nervous. “What’s going on…?” The beeping of Chat’s ring faded into the background as the two heroes stared at each other. Chat grabbed Luckybug’s hands in his own. Chat’s heart thumped wildly in his chest. 

Today was the day. He needed to know.

“I need to tell you something my prince, something that my heart has burned in agony to tell you since the moment I met you.” He smiled as Luckybug stared at him. Luckybug was confused - why was he getting so flustered? Why is Chat looking at her like that? Luckybug’s head began to spiral. 

This isn’t right, this isn’t right…

“My prince, I-”

Before Chat had finished his sentence, Luckybug could see his uniform begin to come undone, and kicked him inside, slamming the door and pressing his back to it, breathing heavily. He can’t know Chat’s identity. He just can’t. He cares too much to know.

“My prince…?”

“What the hell was that for, Chaton?!” He yelled. “You put yourself in danger, how can you be so reckless?!”

“I…” Roman’s voice was soft from the other side of the door. “I just need to speak to you, my prince. It’s… very important.”

“Now?!” Luckybug snapped. “Chat you were about to transform back! You know we can’t know each other’s identities, Hawkmoth-”

“Hawkmoth can use it against us, I know.” Roman sighed. “We just… really need to talk, my prince. I need to tell you something, something that I’ve kept to myself for far too long.”

Luckybug’s eyebrows were knitted. “Is it about Hawkmoth? Are you in danger, Chaton?”

“No, no… it’s just- I need to talk to you face to face. About us.” Roman said, biting his lip. Plagg, held in his master’s hands, rubbed his thumb in a bit of encouragement. They shared a small smile with each other.

“Chat, please just tell me what’s going on-”

“276 Melborne. The roof. Come at midnight, my prince. I’ll tell you everything, I promise.” Roman said. “Just… trust me.”

Luckybug’s stomach felt like a knot, but he trusted Chat with anything. He’d saved his life before, he had no reason not to. Months of partnership - of fighting side by side, as equals and as friends. Luckybug detransformed, and he slowly put his hand on the door, as if to be a slight source of comfort for the cat hero figure.

“Be safe, kitty.”

Then, he ran down the steps, his heart heavy and his stomach in knots, her mind focused on getting back home - after all, Roman’s theater group needed the costumes ready for the fitting.

Roman’s head thunked on the door, and he sighed. “Why is this so hard? I’ve dealt with tons of lovestruck fans, but with him… I can barely speak.”

“I’m proud of you, kid,” Plagg said. “Even if you melted like a bunch of gooey camemberts.” He added, smirking. 

“Hey!” Roman interjected.

“Speaking of camembert…” Plagg said, diving in the pocket of Roman’s shirt for the cheese. Roman laughed at his kwami, nervous for the night ahead, but happy he decided to do it - after all this time, being restricted and ashamed for who he loved, he was happy he could at least confess to his crush, even if it was as Chat Noir.

He looked out the window as Plagg ate, seeing a ladybug, smiling to himself. Luckybug would finally know the truth, and he could finally be true with himself.

[hslim912]

For the good or for the doubt?

This is a critique for the latest Miraculous Ladybug season 3 episode 11 entitled: Miraculer. If you haven't watch the episode, feel free to skip this post AS FAST AS YOU COULD.

Alright, once again, I can't keep quiet on the things I've noticed on this episode. Not to mention that there are some new ones and some foreshadowings. Yup, you read it right. This episode will serve as our clue on what might happen on next episodes to come. So, what are we waiting for? Here we go!

1. One mistake towards Trouble - At the very first part of the episode, Ladybug and Cat Noir are fighting alongside Caraphace and Rena Rouge. Where's Chloe? Well, they didn't call her on purpose to protect her since almost everyone knows she's a heroine called Queen Bee. She's prone in dangerous hands of Hawkmoth. And with that, leaving poor Chloe in disappointment that Ladybug didn't call her. IF, right from the start, Ladybug talked to Chloe about the circumstances, one negative emotion wouldn't cause to much harm. This is partly Ladybug's fault, yes, she's about to transform back but she could've come back to talk to Chloe but it didn't happen.

2. Lila's in-born evil power - knowing he could use Chloe, Hawkmoth (Gabriel Agreste) took advantage of Lila's lying skills to ignite anger and frustration within Chloe's heart. And of course, when did Lila's lying skills fail her? That's her in-born talent, dude!

3. Hawkmoth and Mayura - as much as I wanted a new ship but... These two are too good as villains that they're getting to my nerves! I just can't believe that Hawkmoth let Nathalie used the Peacock Miraculous once again to achieve his goal. And mind you, she transformed TWICE in this episode. Can you imagine how it will affect her health in the future? Gabriel knew the risks and yet he gave permission for Nathalie to use it, for His. Freaking. Evil. Plan! And mind you once again, they almost succeed in taking the Bee Miraculous if it wasn't for Cat Noir! Ugh! Makes me nervous on my chair!

4. Chloe exceeds my expectation - I was about to say "Again, she got akumatized" with a sigh but much to my surprise, SHE DIDN'T! She managed to fight the Akuma inside which few people can only do! And this is a new discovery! Thanks to Chloe, we managed to find out that there are two steps to fight the Akuma: a.) First, fight Hawkmoth inside your head. Don't let your emotions get into you. And b.) Throw/let go of anything you're holding where the Akuma lies within. Remember their teacher in season 2: Zombizou? Yes, she managed to do the first step but failed on the second one that's why she got akumatized. And Chloe was our first ever character to surpass the akuma! I applaude her for that! Oh, I almost forgot to mention that she almost had Mayura's miraculous if Mayura wasn't that so careful.

5. Miraculer is DANGEROUS - it was Ladybug's third time to be the first victim of the villain's power, I don't know if I should be happy about that. Anyways, after taking her and Cat Noir's powers, Miraculer managed to take Cat Noir down. Cat Noir got to taste the impact of his own power, now he knows how powerful he can be. But on the other hand, he was badly hurt with that. Going back! Miraculer managed to take most of the heroes' powers and use it to her advantage. She's almost there to succeed if it wasn't for her emotions as Sabrina. I'm glad it is because if it's not, then they're doom with just one villain! I hope you get what I mean here.

6. Chat's efforts are much appreciated - I know I'll sound overreacting with this one but trust me, it'll all makes sense. Okay, he got hurt so bad "on the rib" as he mentioned by his own cataclysm and ugh! If only Gabriel knows how much trouble he's causing! He had no single idea that his son got badly hurt BECAUSE OF HIS SCHEMES! Not only that, I salute Chat how much effort he brought the bee miraculous to Chloe even he feels the pain and how much he endured fighting Mayura even the pain kills him. Not to mention that the credit goes to him for successfully retrieving the bee miraculous! I'm so proud of you, mah boy! You've grown so much! T^T

7. The picture and the Last scene - when Ladybug finally explained everything to Chloe, it might appear that she understood the situation but I know deep inside, Chloe's sad and disappointed to hear that. She even tore her picture with Ladybug in the last part. It's some kind of foreshadow that Chloe started doubting Ladybug. It might be a symbol that her admiration to Ladybug slowly fades away. Another foreshadow is that the Last scene where Chloe's in the middle and she's not facing the camera. I mean, it feels like she's turning away-- which is exactly Hawkmoth's plan from the start. This might be a sign where Chloe might turn away from the good side and decided to go to the bad side. This made me think that is it really for good that Ladybug and Cat Noir chose to end her time as Queen Bee? Or did they just started a small spark of doubt within her which is the birth of new evil alongside Hawkmoth?

Whatever that is, it's no doubt that this season of Miraculous turns out more serious than the previous two seasons. It's getting darker and deeper than we thought. I hope you like the things I've mentioned above. If you noticed some more on the episode, or some questions you want to talk about, feel free to comment it down below.

[sillyxkittyy]

Gorizilla Review (Agreste Style)

It’s been a day and I’m still not over it. I had trouble falling asleep because of the episode, I was too hyped!

I swear Astruc is trying to kill us with their episodes. It’s been months, yes, but boy was that episode worth the (very long) wait. I’m gonna go through the none

ship related moments:

-Adrien wanting to talk to his father. We didn’t exactly know her of what but he seems so hopeful like ‘hey, maybe I’ll be able to have a real talk with my dad today’. And look at his face when his dad tells him that he’s willing to talk!

... only to tell him later and crush his hopes. My poor boy. We even see him fiddle with his ring awkwardly. At first, I thought it was a thing he did when he was nervous or uncomfortable, and it could be, but in that case, I think it’s because he was thinking of escaping with his powers.

-Gabriel noticing the ring once again (as we say in episodes like Simon Says and Collector I believe?) but this time, he decides to do some research. He knows that ring is familiar. So he stalks the Ladyblog (I’ll never get over this) and notices how similar they are. And then he suspects his son to be Chat Noir. At that moment, I was like ‘CRAP HE KNOWS RUN ADRIEN’ but the episode really didn’t take the direction I was expecting. He goes up to his room and notices that Adrien is GONE. That boy escaped so many times yet it’s only NOW that he notices. He becomes all worried and even the bodyguard is like ‘how tf did he escape, since when is he GONE’ and even Natalie seems shocked like ‘how long as he been fooling us???’

-Adrien is helplessly running in the streets of Paris like everything is normal... until he is spotted by a fan that screams his name. Oh god, it’s only been five minutes and he’s toast. All he wants is some peace

-GABRIEL. VERBALLY ABUSED HIS SON’S BODYGUARD. TO AKUMATIZE HIM. JUST SO HE COULD VERIFY IF HIS SON IS CHAT NOIR. I’m just- I hate that man even more now, I didn’t think it was possible.

-WAYMEH IS A TRUE HERO. Ladybug told him to stay away and he didn’t. GOOD THING HE DIDN’T! By putting parfumé on Gorizilla, he couldn’t smell Adrien so he couldn’t know who he really was. If he hadn’t done that, he would have smelled Adrien’s scent on Chat and they would all have been doomed.

Let’s just appreciate this man for a second.

#WaymehTheTrueHero

-Gabriel suddenly realizing how much he messed up when he realizes no one will catch him and that his son is basically falling to his DEATH. Now he just hopes that he is Chat Noir but doesn’t he know that he can’t transform just like that because secret identities????

At least he interrupted his plan to save him. He’s still a horrible person and I still hate him to death BUT I’m still glad to see his feelings for once. That he isn’t completely a monster because he loves his son.

-MORE INFO ON MAMA AGRESTE. Her name is Emilie and she stared in a movie called solitude. Is it ironic that that’s what her son is into? WAS THIS ON PURPOSE???

-SON AND FATHER BONDING MOMENT OMG. Gabriel finally showed Adrien the movie he wanted to watch. Adrien confessing that he didn’t know how to approach him and that he feels like Gabriel doesn’t want to talk to him.

Awwwww! He’s even rubbing his nose! Wait... WAS HE ABOUT TO CRY??? MY POOR BOY

-Gabriel saying Adrien should trust him. Okay, that’s fake and everyone knows it... except maybe Adrien. LOOK AT HOW HAPPY MY SON LOOKS

Even Gabriel is smiling (IT’S STILL FAKE)

THEY’RE HOLDING HANDS

As much as I appreciate Adrien being happy for once, it breaks my heart knowing how fake it is. STOP PLAYING WITH HIS FEELINGS GABRIEL YOU SCUM BAG.

SO MANY FEELINGS I NEED TO CONTROL

And I haven’t even done the review of the Adriennette/Ladrien moments yet...

[azure-wolf-227]

I posted 379 times in 2021

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#ml lila rossi - 20 posts

#hamefura - 20 posts

#my next life as a villianess all routes lead to doom - 19 posts

#ml chat noir - 18 posts

#lila gets exposed - 18 posts

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#my next life as a villianess all routes lead to doom

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Kidnapped

Idea for a My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom aka Hamefura story. Anyone is free to use this idea if they want to.

Katarina and Keith get kidnapped by someone with a grudge against the Claes family (or just Duke Luigi), and a ransom is sent to their parents. But there's a twist! The kidnapper(s) tell(s) Luigi and Millidiana that they must choose which of their children they want back: Katarina, their biological daughter who's odd, ill-mannered, and has mediocre magical ability; or Keith, their adopted son and heir who's a perfect gentleman and has prodigious magical power.

There's some angst cause Katarina believes that their parents will choose Keith over her since (in her mind) he's the better child.  Keith reassures Katarina that their parents love her despite her oddities, and won't choose her over him. He actually has some fear that they'd chose Katarina on account of her being their biological daughter.

Of course, Luigi and Milli love both of them equally and the idea of choosing between is torture (which is exactly what the kidnapper wants).

After reassuring each other, Keith and Katarina manage to escape from the kidnappers. It's a good opportunity for Katarina to show off her sword skills (plus some other abilities) since the kidnappers put a magic-suppressing bracelet on Keith, so he can't his magic.

33 notes • Posted 2021-09-23 03:17:06 GMT

#4

Overheard Confession

Noelia Flores confronts Prince Gerald about why he keeps his engagement with Katarina when there are others ladies who would be better for that role (name Noelia). Gerald initially brushes her off but then Noelia begins to insult Katarina, saying how she’s a disgrace of a noble, how unladylike she is, etc. Gerald tries keeping his composure but he eventually loses it shouts: “It’s because I love her!” He then lays out to Noelia how Katarina brought color to his dull life and that he would give up his royal status and go live on a farm if that’s what it takes to marry her.

Unbeknownst to Gerald, Katarina overheard everything and she’s quite shocked by his unwitting confession. At first she’s in denial because of her “I’m the villainess destined for doom” thinking but it doesn't last long. Feeling confused, Katarina goes to Sophia for help, as her love of romance novels makes her the best person to ask for romantic advice, at least in Katarina’s eyes. Sophia does her best to help even if she secretly wishes that it was Nicol were the one in Katarina’s mind.

Later, Katarina speaks with Gerald and let’s him know that she overheard his confession. She tells him that she was happy that he feels that way about her and she’s willing to give him a chance.

While all of this is happening, Noelia has becomes convinced that Prince Gerald is either insane or bewitched for being willing to give up his status for love. She tries to spread rumors about how Katarina is trying to bring havoc to the royal family even tries going to the Queen herself but it doesn’t work.

34 notes • Posted 2021-12-13 06:58:13 GMT

#3

ML Snow White AU: Adrien Agreste and the Seven Faes

@princess-of-the-corner and I have yet again come up with a Disney Princess/Fairytale-inspired AU, this time on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with Adrien in the role Snow White since he’s pretty much s Disney Princess.

(The characters are 18 or nearly 18 because there’s an arranged marriage plot).

In this AU, Prince Adrien Agreste lost both of his parents and is now in the care of his Aunt Amelie, the kingdom’s regent. Amelie wants her son Felix to be the next king so she isolates Adrien and practically demotes him to a servant.

Nathalie and the Gorilla exist here but the reason why they don’t help Adrien is because Amelie fired them when she became regent.

One day, Adrien overhears Amelie and Felix plotting to kill him, so he runs away into the enchanted forest. Lost and scared, he comes across an empty cottage deep within the woods. After cleaning it up and preparing some food, Adrien falls asleep in one of the seven beds upstairs.

The cottage is the home of seven powerful Faes known as Tikki, Plagg, Trixx, Wayzz, Pollen, Nooroo, and Duusu; they return to find that someone is in their house.

The Faes look like humans but with animals features like antennae, wings, ears, tails, etc. They can also transform into the animal they have traits off: Tikki into a ladybug, Plagg into a cat, Trixx into a fox, Wayzz into a turtle, Pollen into a bee, Nooroo into a butterfly, and Duusu into a peacock.

While they’re all skilled at magic, they each have their own unique abilities: Tikki has control over plants, healing powers, and can give good luck to others; Plagg can destroy things, cause sicknesses, and give bad luck; Trixx can create powerful illusions, see through lies and disguises; Wayzz can cast powerful protective spells and sense auras; Pollen can create a hivemind between herself and any allies, as well as control weak-willed minds; Nooroo can sense emotions and temporarily boost others’ powers; Duusu can also sense emotions as well as summon all manner of creatures. The Faes also have the ability to speak to and command the animal that they are associated with.

After finding Adrien and waking him up, he begs them to not return him to his aunt since she’d have him killed. The Faes agree to let him stay in exchange for him keeping the cottage clean and helping them with whatever they need.

The Faes do various tasks around the enchanted forest like collecting food and materials or making things; while they keep some of the stuff they collect/make they also make deals with the humans from nearby towns, trading their magic skills and what they collect/make in exchange with whatever they need.

Just like with ‘Dragon Curse’ and “MermAdrien’, this AU has Lukadrigaminette as the endgame. Kagami, Luka, and Marinette are all various people Adrien meets.

Mari is a girl from the nearest town, and is the only one who goes this deep into the forest to hunt for food or trade with the Faes that live there. She meets Adrien while visiting the Faes to do their usual trading (ingredients for her parents’ bakery and silk for her tailor shop made by Nooroo’s silkworms) and, after taking one look at the rags that Adrien is wearing, offers to make him some new clothes.

Kagami was an arranged fiancé from a neighboring Kingdom. She hears of her Prince going missing and isn’t interested in his replacement (Felix) so she searches for the first in the time remaining before she’s forced to marry the new Prince. However she is drawn to the boy living in the woods with a bunch of Magic Creatures. She doesn’t recognize the boy as her fiancé because, the last time they meet was at a Gala/royalty meeting where he was wearing royal clothes and on his best behavior. This boy is goofy and kind of wild, and while the clothes Marinette made him are nice, they’re not really what a prince would wear. Also, Adrien wouldn’t be admitting who he is to anyone, not even his fiancé since he doesn’t know if she’s in on Amelie’s a Felix’s plan.

Kagami must find Adrien before her 18th birthday or she’ll have to marry Felix.

Luka is a traveling Bard, who’s part of a travelling band of musicians consisting of himself, Juleka, Rose, Ivan (canon Kitty Section), and four Faes known as Sass, Roarr, Daizzi, and Stompp. He originally met Adrien when his band traveled through the palace, though it had been after Amelie had demoted Adrien to servant so Luka didn’t recognize him as the prince. They run into each other again when the the musicians travel through the forest.

Due to their connection to Adrien; Marinette, Kagami, and Luka also run into and develop feelings for each other.

They later learn that Adrien is the missing prince as well as Amelie and Felix’s plot to murder him.

Some time later, Amelie and Felix acquire a magic mirror that they use to find where Adrien is hiding (cause they would have used it from the start if they had it already).

To kill Adrien they hire Lila Rossi, a cunning assassin with an affinity for deception and illusion/disguise magic. While she’s a colossal narcissist and as well as a bitch, Lila still has somewhat of a moral code and will only kill people who deserve it. So, Amelie and Felix lie to her about Adrien’s identity, telling her that he’s a treat to the kingdom.

Lila disguises herself as Marinette, both because it wouldn’t be odd for her to suddenly drop for a visit and because Lila wants some petty revenge on Marinette after the latter exposed a scam the former pulled in the past.

Lila-as-Marinette comes to the cottage at a time when she knows Adrien would be alone. She offers him some sweets laced with a poison that Amelie provided for her, and Adrien obliviously accepts one.

Once he bites into the treat, the poison takes effect and, as Adrien is about to lose consciousness, Lila drops her disguise and with a smirk says “Amelie sends her regards.” This is the last thing he sees before everything goes dark and he collapses, seemingly dead.

The others discover what’s happening when Kagami, who had seen Lila-as-Marinette heading towards the cottage, is confused when she sees that Marinette is with Luka. When Marinette confirms that she has been with Luka the whole time, Kagami tells them about the other Marinette she saw. Realizing that Adrien could be in danger, Kagami, Luka, Marinette, the Faes, and their allies rush back towards the cottage.

They arrive just as Lila is exiting the cottage and Kagami chases after her along with some of the Faes, while the others rush inside to check on Adrien. They find Adrien collapsed on the floor, not breathing and seemingly dead. Tikki, who had remained behind while the other Faes went with Kagami, checks him over and informs them that he’s still alive but under a powerful sleeping curse that even her healing powers can break.

Meanwhile, Kagami and the rest of the Faes catch up with Lila, who tries to evade them using her illusion magic. Fortunately, Trixx is immune to those tricks so Lila is quickly captured. They take her back to the cottage and interrogate her about her actions.

At first, Lila refuses to say anything but when she learns just who Adrien is, she reveals that Amelie and Felix were the ones who hired her, lying to her about who Adrien actually was and also providing the poison.

Tikki, who had remained behind while the other Faes went with Kagami, checks him over and informs them that he’s still alive but under a powerful sleeping curse that even her healing powers can’t break. It can only be broken by True Love’s kiss.

Since she’s Adrien’s intended betrothed, Kagami is deemed the best candidate to try breaking the spell. She kisses him and he immediately begins breathing but doesn’t wake up.

Turns out that Adrien has more than one True Love (Kagami, Luka, and Marinette); Kagami’s kiss only broke 1/3 of the curse and he needs a kiss from all of them to completely break it. Luka is the next one to try, his kiss causes Adrien to regain partial consciousness though he’s still out of it and unable to move. Finally, Marinette’s kisses Adrien, breaking the remaining bit of the curse and fully awakening Adrien.

See the full post

35 notes • Posted 2021-05-12 03:05:21 GMT

#2

American Dragon: Jake Long Reboot

American Dragon: Jake Long was one of my favorite shows since I love magical creatures, especially dragons. While, the show was awesome, there were some things that I didn’t like or felt that they could have been handled better. So, I decided to add American Dragon: Jake Long to my list of shows that I’m making reboots off. I give my thanks to @princess-of-the-corner for giving me some of these ideas.

This reboot would be set in current times, so there’s a risk of technology like smartphones and cameras exposing the Magical world. Many magical creatures have adapted to these modern times though some still struggle (like Jake’s grandpa).

Jake’s father, Johnathan, knowing about the Magical world and that his children being dragons from the beginning. Susan would have told him while they were dating, though maybe after they had graduated high school. I’m thinking that it could go like this: Jonathan proposed to Susan and she felt guilty about marrying while keeping such a big secret from him, so she told him about being from a dragon family. Jonathan did freak out a bit at first but ultimately accepted Susan as he is a bit more mature than his high school self from the episode “Hero of the Hourglass’.

Susan has dragon powers since the whole ‘skipped a generation’ thing didn’t make much sense to me besides some excuse to not involve Jake’s mother with his dragon duties. The only way I see that making sense is Susan having human ancestry but, considering Grampa’s didn’t approve of her dating a human, I’m certain that Susan comes from a all-dragon bloodline.

Susan’s dragon form would have purple scales like her sweater (I’m using season 2 designs) and be wingless like her father since she’s full Chinese.

As suggested by @princess-of-the-corner ,Jake and Rose’s relationship being something like a “enemy love square”. Here’s how they put it:

So like. You have the Jake and Rose romance, but the Dragon vs. Huntsgirl rivalry from the original series.

But there’s a few times where Rose gets involved with the Dragon and, believing monsters to be dangerous, doesn’t blow her cover and attack him outright. This would lead her to learning that maybe the Huntsclan is wrong about Magical creatures, long before learning that the boy she loves is the Dragon she’s trying to kill. Dragon!Jake also gets to see that Rose is surprisingly more capable and badass than he thought, and is a little suspicious of how well she’s taking Magic/how she already seems to know some things but not others.

Meanwhile, sometimes Jake gets involved with the Huntsgirl. While the Huntsgirl wonders why Jake has such a hatred and distrust of her, Jake gets to learn how the Huntsclan is pretty much a cult that indoctrinates kids and feeds them lies, so some of the members are probably worth saving.

It never made sense to me that Jake was the only American Dragon or that he alone is in charge of protecting all the magical creatures in America. So in this reboot:

Every city and state have their own dragon protecting them. If a dragon from another city/state/country comes to their territory, the local dragon can accept their help but would still be in charge.

 Jake is not the first dragon that was born in America and jurisdiction only covers New York City. 

He’s not even the first New York Dragon but the previous one was killed and Jake was the only candidate available to replace them. That’s why the Dragon Council let a 14-year-old who just recently started training be the city’s magical protector. 

It would make for an interesting conflict/struggle if older dragons have doubts about a teenager being tasked with being a magical protector and Jake would have to prove himself worthy to them.

Spud was hinted to have some magical heritage that he’s unaware off, so in this reboot, he would learn that his great-grandfather was a powerful wizard and the magic powers skipped two generations of his family until he was born. Spud will then begin learning magic spells and maybe encounter an enemy or rival of his great-grandfather. Trixie will remain a regular human since muggles can be awesome without powers!

It doesn’t make sense that the Dark Dragon would be the first and only evil dragon in history, with all the stories/myths about dragons terrorizing villages, though, some of those stories could be inaccurate and the dragons demonized. Regardless, there has been other evil dragons in history with the Dark Dragon being the most recent and the most powerful.

In an earlier draft of the episode “Hong Kong Longs”, it would have been revealed that Chang was Jake’s maternal grandmother, so I’m keeping this in the reboot. Chang and Lao Shi had a relationship in the past (I think that was implied in the show) and they had Susan out of wedlock. Chang left her with Lao Shi as she had ambitions of becoming a member of the Dragon Council and would have been hindered by raising a child.

This is all I have for now but I will add more to this soon, and I’m open to ideas and suggestions.

55 notes • Posted 2021-04-01 23:23:11 GMT

#1

I made this to convey how we feel about “that guy’s” choices.

78 notes • Posted 2021-05-26 03:38:03 GMT

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