#Amilie Graham de Vanily

[gameguy20100]

Adrien: You broke our strings, but you’re not free!

Felix: Agreed. I still bear this awful curse!

Adrien: What curse?

Felix: Sharing a face with you! Guess what, When your twin is a ray of sunshine you’ve got no choice but to live in the shadows!

Adrien: We were dealt the same hand, the same face, the same bloody shoulders, except you have a chip on yours so big you’re growing a second head! You have nobody to blame but yourself for who you are!

Felix: Oh, I blame you plenty!

Adrien: Of course you do, you petty, little.

Amelie: CHILDREN!!

[neruax]

A small peak of my silly and goofy comic

Spoiler:

(it is NOT silly and goofy.)

It's basically a "what if" thing in the episode emotion. This is the final version of the first panel because I'll lose motivation if I put too much effort in drawing panels.

PS: I'm EXTREMELY lazy when drawing comics digitally, so expect that I'll post the complete version in the middle of March or maybe farther away since I have exams

I won't elaborate much since that'll spoil the surprise

[generalluxun]

Fanficton: Reciprocation, Chapter 1

A Chlolix Chapterfic with an Aro/Ace Felix! The whole thing is written, I'm just posting it a chapter at a time, here and on AO3 (link in Bio) Set in a canon Divergent S5 where Felix chose not to steal the Yo-yo.

I hope you enjoy, and welcome all comments. This is my first Aro/Ace chatacter, and I've taken the time to enlist a couple of Aro/Ace friends to beta for my in addition to doing my own research.

Full text of Chapter 1 after the break.

The image in the mirror regarded him with disdain. Under that harsh gaze he turned and twisted, checking hair, collar, buttons, cufflinks, belt, even raising one foot and the other to examine the soles of each shoe. It was all immaculate—as always—yet immaculate was the bare minimum. Perfection brought no joy when it was a standard.

Felix crossed to his dresser and assembled the rest of his accessories: watch, wallet, cuff-blade, wire, fool's powder, and, lastly, his cell phone. A quick glance indicated his preparation alarm was about to go off. Nine more alarms for the day were set and ticking down. Each an activity that would not be happening today. Felix left the alarms in place, it was important to remember the cost of these outings. It added to Gabriel's tally, though at this point it was pennies against a mountain of gold bullion.

Felix stepped out of his room, then swayed back in as his mother swept down the hallway in a sudden rush. He followed smoothly in her wake. Amilie began to scour the living room frantically yet wordlessly. Felix glanced beside the television, then reached between the couch and the end table.

"Here it is, Mother." Felix held up her purse.

"Felix!" Amilie spun in surprise, but immediately a smile bloomed on her face. She walked to him and took the purse before air kissing beside his cheek. "My wonderful baby boy, what would I do without you?"

Felix remained focused, but did briefly wear a smile; his mother appreciated such things. "You're welcome, Mother. I am glad I caught you before you left."

She waved him off as she turned to rummage in her purse. "I won't be gone long, Felix. It's just more endless paperwork from your father's estate."

Felix grimaced. "I'm going to Paris today. I won't be back until late. I might stay over." He internally began to catalog the things he would fall behind on if he extended his visit.

His mother frowned worriedly. "Again? You just came back. Is it really that important?"

He met her questioning look with a level one. "It is, Mother. It involves Gabriel."

Amilie finished rifling through her purse and zipped it up so sharply she winced at the end, sticking her finger in her mouth to suck the bruise. She took it out to carp, "Everything seems to involve that beast of a man."

Felix reached out, hesitated, then told himself this was his mother and completed the action. He settled his hand on her shoulder. "Hopefully, not for much longer."

Amilie looked ready to fight, but Felix held her eyes and she relented. "Just be carefull, honey. I don't want you getting hurt. You're all I have left."

He completed the ritual. "And you're all I need." He took his hand back. "I will be careful. I don't expect to cross his path directly, and there is nothing else in Paris that holds any mystery for me."

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

Paris spring was a charming affair, if you had the mind for it. Felix recognized the beauty in an abstract way. The healthy greens smattered with the colors of blooming new life were well balanced against the more staid and stark architectural choices of the old city. There was more here to stir the soul than in the clutches of old industrial London.

The greater part of his mind was focused on one house in particular though. Agreste manor stood out in its compound, but even more so the secrets it held. Gabriel Agreste, his uncle, was Shadowmoth. He'd tested that theory at personal risk.

Risk. His last visit here had presented a chance to upset the balance. A chance to free himself. As Felix stood staring up at the observatory window of his uncle's manor he turned over his split second choice one more time.

Ladybug's yo-yo was there, the trusting hero's back was turned. He needed only to touch it once and he would have the ultimate bargaining chip with his uncle.

What?! The idea had run headlong into everything that made Felix who he was. He was better than these fools. He was better than Gabriel. He was better than humans made by random chance. Trading a bounty for a single miraculous, no matter how precious, was a weakling's ploy. Past that, even his bumbling uncle might win with all that power to command. Where then would that leave Felix with his paltry gains? Self determination in the face of utter destruction?

He had let the moment pass. He had returned the miraculous and shared the encounter with his cousin. Let Adrien worry about living up to my standards of heroism. Yet now he was taken to task by his own pride. Having given up the easy path, he must make the hard path work.

He began to notice onlookers out of the corner of his eye. They had been longer in coming than usual. Adrien Agreste could not be out and about in Paris for long without the public catching wind. As his doppleganger, Felix was subject to the same attentions despite his wishes. It had been a full fifteen minutes this time, rather than ten. Had something changed? Had the failure of the First Love campaign already taken its toll on the brand?

Felix moved away from Agreste manor. His swift pace left curious onlookers in the dust, and he was once more alone with his thoughts. How do I get back into the mansion? Gabriel will be on his guard after tricking me with the fakes. Perhaps I can draw him out? Adrien… do I seek out my cousin’s help? What excuse can I use for a swap yet again? He obviously can’t handle the truth of things. A night time break in risks much. Perhaps I can make my move while he is distracted with Ladybug. There is a more gruesome bargaining chip in play. Why give, when I can take away? She is my mother’s sister though. Will he call my bluff?

Variables swam through his head, nothing was lining itself up neatly. If he had more time, he could force things into a better position, but with Gabriel’s trap sprung Felix couldn’t count on his uncle remaining passive much longer. He would not let the fallout from this entanglement ensnare his mother. She was only just now free herself.

Felix rejected plan after plan as he walked blindly through Paris streets. Too risky, too slow, too complicated, too dangerous. Nothing worked and his frustration rose to a crescendo. It took him a full minute to realize the chime wasn’t an internal screaming, but rather one of his alarms.

Felix took out his phone and silenced it. So much for boxing practice today.

A quick glance around told him he had ventured into one of the commercial districts. Oblivious masses trudged about their lives, ignorant of the very gift of being. That truth smeared itself across Felix’s rational thought, blowing apart the fragments of his latest plan. The stress was attempting to overwhelm him. Felix would not let it; he needed a distraction.

As if signaling his cause was just, fate provided him an outlet. Chloé Bourgeois stepped out of a shop two stores up. Oddly, she was alone, and carrying only a single bag. These little details were easily glossed over by her mere existence however. Felix quickened his pace to catch up to her, while running a hand up through his hair to muss the well groomed locks. He pitched his voice higher, and sucked all sense of duty and purpose from it. “Hey Chloé. It’s great to see you! I was just thinking of grabbing a bite to eat. Do you want to join me?”

She turned as quickly as ever, but immediately something was wrong. Instead of a bright smile there was a sharp scowl on those painted lips. She didn’t charge him. She didn’t gush. Even before she spoke, Felix felt an itch between his shoulder blades.

“You’re not Adri-nobody. Don’t even bother trying to pretend you are!"

Felix wasn't one to give up so easily, and Chloé was always a sucker for this game. He heaved a sigh and stuck his hands into his pockets, letting his shoulders slump like some vagrant. "That's not very nice, Chloé. I came to apologize. Are you really going to hold a little misunderstanding against me? I thought we were friends."

Those twilight blue eyes remained mere slits instead of widening. There was no shout of joy and reconciliation, nothing for Felix to mock. She stalked up to him and looked him over in a calculating way she never had before. It was all wrong, the itch grew.

"You're pretending to be Adrien. If you were Adrien you'd be far too busy with your baker girl and your new friends for the likes of me. Sorry to disappoint you, but your game is over. Keep trying if you want though. I can laugh while you look ridiculous, utterly ridiculous."

Chloé tried to finish with a glower, but Felix could hear her teeth grinding behind those pouting lips. She was beyond angry, but he hadn't been the cause. He felt… cheated?

He dropped the act and straightened up, running his hands back through his hair to tame it. When he spoke again it was his own voice, cool and confident. "What on earth happened, Chloé? Was it you or my cousin who was the fool this time?" 

Both were equally plausible.

She leveled a finger at him, nail hovering like a dagger just below his chin. "That's none of your business, discount Adrien! You just stay away from me, you hear? All of you Agrestes are nothing to me now. From ugly Gabriel, to stupid Adrien, right down to annoying you."

She spun at the end of her pronouncement, giving him no room for a retort. The most he could say was that she looked absolutely silly stomping away. Yet, he hadn't been the cause. He had barely been involved in the entire over-emotional exchange. She had even called him-

Felix screamed after her, unaccountable rage flaring from sources he couldn't name. "I AM NOT AN AGRESTE!"

[escapeaddict]

I just watched the first two episodes of season 5 and two things are bugging me

why can Ikari Gozen see?

and why in the hell don't the Graham De Vanily's have British accents?!!!

[sloyla]

We, the real Felix lovers who loved him since the Felix episode, really need to have the most weird looking party ever. Like imagine...

The party room is filled with red lights and instead of a disco ball we have the Red Moon on top of us. There are feathers everywhere like confetties. We are all wearing either suits, Argos themed hoodies or magican costumes. Everyone is dancing (or crying) to the songs from a Felix Fathom Graham de Vanily playlist that we made. And if you don't want to dance you can just play chess with people or read books that Felix would love to read.

Go on and watch something about horses and magic tricks or Miraculous episodes that has Felix in it. Have a tea time that you can talk about your own or favorite fanarts and fan fictions. If you want exchange sonething, discuss some topics etc.

Also there is a notebook in the corner that you can write your favorite Felix lines. On the walls, there are posters of Amilie Kagami and Adrien that you can draw hearts on and target boards that have Gabriel and Colt's picture that you can throw knives at.

After the party, you can take a rabbit plushie with you as a present to always keep somewhere in your room or moon lamps to put near your bed.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Can you elaborate more on how Amelie is indulgent with Felix?

In Felix (the episode), after Felix does all that awful stuff including trying to make Adrien's friend's hate him via impersonating him, we get this:

Adrien: That video you sent to my friends... Unforgivable, Félix. (Félix doesn't look him in the eye, only looks down, upset and ashamed) Amelie: Now that his father isn't here to stop him from getting into mischief - (Félix stops her.) Félix: I don't deserve to be forgiven, mom. I put my favorite cousin in danger. He's right. No apology can ever be enough.

Now, we don't know exactly what Amelie was about to say, but Felix's interruption makes it pretty clear that she was about to defend everything he did or at least downplay it. Otherwise why would he say that he didn't deserve to be forgive and that Adrien was right?

This is further supported by the next scene in which we see Felix and Amilie. They get on the train and what does Amelie do?

Félix: I've got a surprise for you, mom. (He reaches behind her ear and pulls out Gabriel's ring.) Amelie: (gasps) But Gabriel refused to hand it over to me! And after everything that happened - (reaches out and cups his face) My little magician. I can never understand how you always manage to get what you want. (closes her hand over his) Keep it. It's yours now. Félix: But... you wanted it so much. Amelie: Only to give it to you. You've always been so fascinated by them. How many times have you asked me to tell you the story of the Graham de Vanily twin rings, huh? (she kisses his forehead) I'm glad it's back in the family where it truly belongs. (She winks at him and then rests her eyes. Félix smiles deviously out the window.)

She praises him for stealing and doesn't say a single word about all of the messed up things he did. If this were my kid, we would be talking about his actions were and trying to get him to explain why he did all of that. We'd also be discussing his punishment.

We also learn that Amelie only demanded that her recently widowed and still grieving brother-in-law give up his wedding ring because Felix wanted it. Even though, arguably, the rings should go to Adrien or at least stay with Gabriel until someone in the family is ready to marry. Amelie had no need for them other than "baby wants it, baby gets it."

This was before the sentireveal, so it's debatable if the original intent was to take it this far or if this is just another victim of the retcon, but it's canon now and the writers claim to have planned it all from the start, so I'm going to treat it as fully intentional and discuss the sentistuff, too.

We never see Felix or Amelie learn that the rings are Adrien's amoks, but Felix very clearly knew that's what the ring he had was. Based on that, it's not illogical to conclude that Amelie knew that she was asking for Adrien's amok and didn't care. Baby wants his cousin's controls, baby gets it.

Moving on!

The start of season five sees Ladybug and Chat Noir try to track down Felix since he knows Monarch's identity and gave him all of the miraculous. Kinda a big deal. When they get to London, this happens:

Amelie: My son wasn't here this morning, when I woke up. I didn't worry though, because I thought he might have gone to see his cousin Adrien in Paris. Those two are so fond of each other, but Félix wasn't returning my calls, though I contacted his uncle Gabriel; he told me he hadn't seen him. Cosmobug: And yet he was in Paris I talked to him. Amelie: Oh, Cosmobug, Astrocat, I hope nothing's happened to him! Cosmobug: Don't worry, ma'am. He'll probably end up at his uncle's. Astrocat: Or he might already be on his way back home to London. Amelie: Thanks so much to the two of you for your support!

Then the heroes leave. At the end of the episode, we cut back to London and see this:

Amelie: Tea break. (Félix comes out of the room holding a laptop and follows Amelie to the main hall. Amelie pours tea into a cup, while Félix sits on a sofa and works on his laptop.) Amelie: (putting her hand on Félix's head) Don’t worry, my Félix. Mom is here to protect you from those superheroes who think you’re a villain.

Who cares about saving Paris from a terrorist? If her baby wants to hide away, then Amelie will help him hide away.

Also, if she had forced Felix to talk to the heroes here, then Gabriel wouldn't have died because this is before Destruction. Not saying that his death is her fault, but Amelie did inadvertently let to her nephew be orphaned because she didn't want Felix to face the consequences of his own actions. Remember that as you read this next bit.

And then we have Emotion, which sees Amelie storm into the diamond dance and cause a massive, confusing scene:

Amelie Graham de Vanily: (struggles to make her way in through the guards) Gabriel! My son Félix has been missing for weeks now! (storms towards them) Not only have you and your friends been no help with the search! But now I'm not even invited to the ball?! You haven't been the same since my sister Emilie disappeared! Why are you rejecting us? Gabriel: This is not the place nor the time, Amelie. Nathalie will see you out. (Nathalie begins to walk towards Amelie, and grabs her by the wrist, walking her outside of the ball) Amelie: I don't understand how Gabriel could've become so cruel, let alone why you're still complacent in his actions. Nathalie: Sorry, Amelie. I have no choice. (hands Amelie to the guards) Amelie: There's always a choice, Nathalie.

Ignoring the massively hypocritical "you're still complacent in his actions" line, this is a weird scene. Amelie waltzed right into the mansion back in Felix (the episode). If she wanted to talk to Gabriel about the fact that Felix was missing, why not do that again? It's not like this is urgent. She's apparently waited weeks to come talk to him. Why now?

Cut to the end of the episode and we get our answer:

Amelie: You were right: I did everything you told me to and Gabriel didn't do or say anything to help me. He despises me. He's a monster! They're all monsters! Argos: Hold my feather. (He de-transforms into Félix and goes to hug Amelie) Félix: Not all of them. (smiles)

So Amelie was just doing what every good mom does: blindly follows her child's instructions.

What were you expecting Gabriel to do, hon? Stop the event? This is such a weird test to pull. It'd be different if Felix had just gone missing, but she literally says "weeks". Why is she shocked that Gabriel correctly said "this is not the place nor the time, Amelie"?

I don't like to give Gabriel points, but he gets them here. I wouldn't cancel my event either. I'd tell her to come talk to me tomorrow or ask an assistant to talk to her. Of course, I'd also have been helping with the search before this, but that brings us to the second issue: Felix isn't missing.

What have the search efforts been? What does Amelie want Gabriel to do? No one has ever mentioned an ongoing search and our heroes would absolutely be involved in that since Felix, you know, aided a terrorist, but they're not so this all feels like a shit test.

Also, please remember, this is right after Felix snapped humanity out of existence as Argos and he detransforms in front of his mother. Either Amelie was living in a bubble or she saw everything her son did and was just like, "That's cool, baby! Mommy loves you! Go commit genocide! Your song was so good!"

This is all probably Amelie overcompensating for Colt's abuse, but you asked this in response to another post where I said that Amelie and Andre are the same, so that excuse doesn't really hold water. Andre spoils Chloe for the exact same reason. Aubrey's abuse may have looked different, but it was still abuse.

The only difference between Amelie and Andre is that Andre abuses his mayoral power for Chloe's sake and Amelie doesn't do anything like that. But then, Amelie doesn't have that type of power to abuse. If she did, then I have no doubt that she'd do the exact same thing, so I'm not giving her that point. She is exactly the same: overly indulgent to the point that she's made her child rotten.

Overly indulging an abused person like this isn't going to help them get over their abuse. That's what therapy is for. I adore the magical power of love, but only when it comes to magical threats. Love is not enough to fix anyone's mental health. You can't love away things like PTSD.

[k7l4d4]

K Reviews and Rants: Miraculous Ladybug Season 5! Episode 24

Hello all! Here we are, just two episodes before this fiasco of a season finishes, and if I'm being honest? This review is one I've been looking forward to the most.

Now, there is... not much going on this episode. On one hand is a lazy Akuma fight, on the other is a bad and overly dramatic play.

This episode is the one where the writers' go all in on trying to make the audience like and sympathize with Felix. And... it kinda falls flat on its face because it glosses over, retcons, and straight-up ignores all the times Felix has been nothing but a selfish, manipulative weasel whose actions have done nothing but hurt Adrien. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

One of the most prominent things about this episode is that it has Felix and Kagami detail the history of the Agreste family, and one thought was screaming through my mind after seeing all of it... Emilie was a spoiled BRAT.

To explain what I mean, the play basically starts off by implying Emilie and Amilie's parents were tight-fisted and controlling, so Emilie rebelled and forged her own path in life... but that's not what was shown. Beyond a vague comment on 'making' Emilie fall in line, by all accounts the Graham de Vanily's let Emilie run wild as a child and did nothing to curb her tendency to run away from her lessons to do her own thing, and even as an adult, they funded and enabled her desire to study abroad and see the world without a word of complaint. And she was the twin expected to be the family heir; by all rights, Emilie should've been under incredible scrutiny... yet her family let her get away with just about whatever she wanted.

The one time they put their foot down with Emilie? When she met and started dating Gabriel. The narrative likes to paint Gabe as having once been an idealistic young man... but given how he and Emilie apparently always kept Adrien isolated from other people, the way this situation is framed feels more like Emilie's parents finally had enough when she expected them to approve of her rushing to get married to a guy she had apparently barely known... and Emilie's response was to disown them. Not her parents disowning their disobedient daughter, but said DAUGHTER cutting out her parents for the crime of not approving of her boyfriend. Oh, and lets not forget how Emilie essentially stole a family heirloom to use as her and Gabe's wedding rings! Not a word of complaint from her parents then either.

And yet, when Emilie had fertility troubles, and swallowed her pride to come to her family for support, they welcomed her with open arms. We aren't given any word on what rejoining the family entailed or what responsibilities Emilie was expected to maintain, yet, despite not being made to cut off or divorce the husband her parents never approved of and being given all the support she required, the narrative treats Emilie as having made a great sacrifice.

Then... we get to the Amilie side of things. Unlike her sister, who ran wild, Amilie was a more quiet kid, and acted as the dutiful daughter her parents allegedly wanted, doing all she could to meet their expectations. We aren't given any word on how they treated her, but given how she apparently married a weapons manufacturer from the United States at their behest, the implication is that they were controlling... but given how they, I cannot reiterate this enough, did nothing to rein in Emilie doing her own thing all this time and let her get away with stealing a family heirloom, I'm willing to give them the slight benefit of the doubt that if Amilie had stated she didn't want to marry Colt or later asked for a divorce, they wouldn't have been against her doing so.

That brings me to Colt. Colt is presented by the narrative as a cold-blooded, black-hearted businessman who only cares about himself. Yet, prior to Felix being created, his big "crimes" amount to "makes weapons for a living" and "married a woman who didn't love him." Here's where I get to theorizing again; when Amilie and Emilie BOTH started having fertility issues, it was presented as a big problem for both of them, even though while the narrative insists upon how much Emilie wanted a child, and believed her and Gabe's "love" couldn't be complete without one, Amilie never seems to care about having a kid beyond meeting her family's expectations. Yet, when Gabe and Emilie manage to get the Peacock and Emilie uses it to conceive, a furious Colt later comes in and demands to know how they did it.

Gabe's answer? Coyly avoid answering the question by claiming "it's a miracle." Which, at it's core, speaks volumes of Gabe's personality. For a person the narrative treats as a former idealist and artistic soul, the only person who he seemed to ever show that side to was Emilie. To everyone else, even his own brother in law, he comes off as apathetic, sarcastic, and smug. It took Emilie basically demanding Gabe help them for him to do so (I'll give her props for wanting to help out her sister, at least), and even THEN, he refused to do so for free, extorting a promise of a bodyguard from Colt. How in the world is a man who would hold hostage the gift of life over his own family's heads for his own gain supposed to be a good person?

Even when he DOES finally give the Peacock to Colt, temporarily, so as to ensure Amilie can have a child, the closest thing to a warning he gives to Colt is that the Peacock "has a price for its use." This... this is where things get messy for me. See, what this implies is that, before Adrien had even been born, or just shortly after being born, Gabe and Emilie knew full well that the Peacock would have consequences for its use, possibly DEADLY ones. Gabe had YEARS to come to terms with the fact that his wife was most likely going to die, YEARS to prepare himself emotionally... and yet, when it actually happened, he shut down, and immediately started preparing on how to best go about ignoring all of her wishes to selfishly bring her back, for his own happiness. Because in the end, that's the cold hard fact of the matter; for all he tries to frame it as being all for Adrien, given how he had no problems keeping Adrien isolated and alone throughout his whole childhood and repeatedly tried to keep him from attending school with other people his age, it becomes apparent that he's just using Adrien as an excuse to justify his own inability to move on with his life.

And what makes his granting the Peacock to Colt so egregious to me, honestly, is just how vague he's shown to be. He didn't even tell Colt the thing was damaged and that there were risks involved in its use. He said nothing beyond "it has a price." Does Colt seem like the man who is knowledgeable on magical artifacts or lore? To me, he doesn't. So, what this comes off to me as is Gabe essentially deliberately giving Colt unhelpful advice because he knows it won't stop him. To me, it feels like Gabe set Colt up to DIE. It wouldn't be the first time; we know he masterminded the death of Fei's adoptive father in the Shanghai special, after all.

But yeah, that misinformation Gabe spread to Colt feels like it comes into play rather quickly; namely, whereas Gabe eagerly embraced the new child he and Emilie created, having full knowledge of what using the Peacock entailed and what it meant, Colt, who had no real clue as to how it worked beyond Gabe's unhelpful words, was wary and frightened. One could interpret his hesitance to embrace Felix's existence after it was confirmed Amilie was pregnant as his being worried he had somehow hurt his wife... or just plain having jitters about being a father, which is a very normal reaction. Not everyone in life leaps at the knowledge that they are going to be a parent, even those that want to be one.

Then we get into the details of the Fathom family's home life after Felix was born. I'll be blunt; child abuse is NEVER okay, under any circumstances, and how Colt treated Felix is entirely on him. No matter what mind games Gabe might've been playing with him, it was Colt's own choice to take his fears and paranoia and failing health out on his son, someone he was supposed to love and protect unconditionally. Shame that the writers seem to think child abuse only "counts" if it happens to someone the audience is meant to sympathize with...

I'm not gonna go into too much detail regarding Felix's life, since beyond being treated like crap by his dad and nearly dying when Colt accidentally cracks the ring he anchored Felix's existence to in a fit of rage, Felix's life has little to nothing to do with his actions; the show tries to present his arriving at the Agreste Manor as him looking for the Peacock in order to save his own life... yet he never once bothers looking for it, and instead spends his entire time going out of his way to ruin Adrien's social life and later stealing the heirloom rings Emilie had stolen to use as her and Gabe's wedding rings to give to his mother.

There's a LOT I could cover here. I've already covered a ton. So I'm gonna simplify my thoughts; I think that this entire story that Felix told is based on Amilie's perspective of things, and what it tells me is that I think Amilie was jealous of Emilie, or rather, jealous of her life. Whereas Amilie felt forced to do what her parents wanted, despite them letting Emilie run wild, and married a man she didn't love, whereas Emilie chose her own partner, it comes off as Amilie romanticizing and idealizing Emilie's life while ignoring how Emilie's attitude comes off largely as entitled to getting her way and honestly a bit selfish. Amilie wanted what Emilie had, and while she may not have resented her sister for it, that want covers every aspect of the story, in how it glorifies Gabe as this dashing romantic who came from nothing yet degrades her own husband as someone she was forced to be with.

Honestly, Colt comes off as someone who fits the mold of "good husband, bad father." Given how Amilie's parents were willing to let Emilie do just about whatever (side note: the play also glorifies Emilie cutting them out of her life, treating it as a big romantic gesture instead of an act of petty spite at them not being perfectly supportive in all things she chose to do), I wouldn't be surprised if Colt genuinely was interested in Amilie and approached her parents for her hand in marriage because it was what an "old-fashioned gentleman" and someone of high society and old nobility like the Graham de Vanily's are implied to be would be expected to do. It comes off as an infatuated rich man expecting to have a happy life with a woman who is only marrying him out of obligation, and when he learns that his, in his mind, spoiled and ungrateful sister-in-law and her husband managed to overcome her fertility troubles yet didn't share the method with her own sister, got pissed off about it.

I do not think Colt is a good man. But I think that, if the writing were more realistic, the situation would be far more complicated and gray then the show insists it is. In the end, however, we are only going off of what Felix says things were like... and given his track record for lying, I can't say I trust him at all.

Anyway, that's my monologue over, onto the review! As always, warning for my profanity.

Episode 24: Representation

Yadda yadda, normal pretentious intro that blatantly lies that Marinette is a "normal girl with a normal life."

Okay, opening with the news, and it's in Britain we are starting with. Props for them actually showing off the new location, even if I don't really care. Honestly baffled that the opening news story is about Paris' elections. I have to ask, is that any kind of normal?? From my experience, unless it's something genuinely major like the new leader of an entire country, most news organizations are not gonna give a shit about the election of a Mayor, even if that Mayor is for a country's capital.

Aanndd... the news is immediately shit by auto-hyping Ms. Bustier as "going the distance." Which is just... why? She's someone with no experience, no training, no background in ANY KIND OF POLITICS. What makes her seem a choice to "go the distance"? Also, apparently Tomoe and Gabriel have been boosting their PR Game to ensure that their preferred narrative is in control; now if only Gabe could apply that kind of competency towards being a villain, and he wouldn't be such a fucking joke.

"Perfect Love" NOPE NOPE NOPE!!! For fuck's sake, the way this show keeps throwing around "perfect" so much, it's rapidly becoming a berserk button for me. For FUCK'S SAKE, WHY ARE PEOPLE IN-UNIVERSE OBSESSING OVER A TEENAGE COUPLE SO MUCH!? GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!!! THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE THEN ROMANCE PEOPLE!!!

Also, why are they describing Britain as "going over seas" for Kagami and Adrien? Granted, I'm shit at geography, but I'm pretty sure they are STILL IN EUROPE. If they'd gone to New York or something, I might've bought it. This, this is just fucking LAZY. Oh, and my obligatory ADRIEN CAN JUST HAVE A LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP WITH MARINETTE WHY IS THAT SO FUCKING HARD TO UNDERSTAND FOR PEOPLE!?!?

...Okay, someone who looks like Adrien saying "Kagami is the greatest love of my life," yup that's Felix, WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU FUCKING MORON!? FOR FUCK'S SAKE, YOU ARE ACTIVELY DAMAGING ADRIEN'S REPUTATION ALL OVER AGAIN YOU FUCKING JACKASS!!! Or maybe it is Adrien, and he's letting Gabe push him around because "reasons" again. Seriously, this whole Sentimonster shit is just BULLSHIT!!! Oh, and Plagg once again pointing out how Adrien lets himself get pushed around by his dad is spot on. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BOY WHO BROKE OUT OF HIS OWN HOUSE TO GO TO PUBLIC SCHOOL, HUH!?!?

Yup, Kagami gets pissed off about the lies... then the Feathered Fucker shows up. Howdy Argos!! What hypocritical bullshit are you gonna spill today!? Also, for real, I cannot tell if this "interview" is something that Tomoe and Gabe whipped up on a computer and sold to news groups, or if they are literally spineless enough to just meekly go along with their parents' toxic demands, despite actively working to DEFY THEIR PARENTS IS LITERALLY THE ENTIRE CORE OF THEIR CHARACTERS!!! FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!

Aanndd Argos drew a heart. Vomit. I am literally feeling sick to my fucking stomach. Nope, NO FUCKING GIGGLING OVER THE ASSHOLE WHO LITERALLY GENOCIDED THE ENTIRE CITY NOT EVEN A MONTH AGO!!! HE IS NOT SOME MISUNDERSTOOD WOOBIE, HE IS A PSYCHO THE NARRATIVE IS TRYING TO PRETEND DID NOTHING FUCKING WRONG!!! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!!!

"I can never seem to go against my father," OH, I WONDER WHY THE FUCK NOT!? Also, that is blatantly untrue, since if he couldn't ever go against his father, HE NEVER WOULD'VE MET MARINETTE TO START WITH!!! "I can go see her as often as I want as Astro-Cat!" Or, you could JUST FUCKING VIDEO CHAT WITH HER!!! For fuck's sake, YOU CAN JUST HAVE A LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP!!! IT IS NOT THAT COMPLICATED!!!

Now, we're back in Paris, and apparently it's still night, I guess? This... what the fuck is this? How the fuck is this even happening!? I'm just totally confused on how the timing is supposed to be working. Marinette's still a weepy mess from the last episode, no sympathy from me because of the rampant character assassination from last episode, fucking deal with it people. I have no care for Marinette's feelings at this point because this series has just butchered her for the sake of dragging out this nonsensical drama FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME!!!

Marinette... shut up. Stop with the "fought so hard for this happy ending" you have done JACK AND SHIT up until relatively recently doing the bare fucking minimum, and have routinely blown every chance to do something meaningful because you are that much of a fucking disaster. Grow the fuck up, and get the fuck over your hurt feelings. If you ever thought convincing Gabe was in the cards, you are fucking delusional. This is the man who explicitly stated that he would ruin you if you kept trying to pursue his son and has kept his son essentially trapped for the vast majority of his life. You are an absolute moron if you thought there would be any other outcome by going for this option.

NO Tikki, she ISN'T brave. She's a fucking coward who has wussed the fuck out on every fucking chance to grow the fuck up and act her fucking age, and acts as if she deserves a fucking medal for "putting on a brave face for her friends" instead of admitting she uses other people to ignore her own problems while also forcing them to DEAL with her problems because she can't get the fuck over herself. What, you think she'll never love again!? BULLSHIT!! THAT IS NOT HOW LOVE WORKS!!! THAT IS NOT HOW PEOPLE WORK!! THIS IS A GUY YOU HAVE DONE THE BARE MINIMUM TO LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT AND HAVE KNOWN FOR LESS THEN A FUCKING YEAR, GROW THE HELL UP!!!

And of course her "friends" made a big spectacle out of her arriving, on the stupid fucking assumption that Adrien would be with her. For fuck's sake, I forget, did Adrien ever tell ANYONE that he was leaving!? Some friend. Some friends. This... this is shit.

Oh, and Argos and Kagami are spying on the dance, and Kagami is spilling Marinette's secret... oh, and the obligatory flashback detailing how she found out just makes her falling for Lila's lies about Marinette not being her "real friend" EVEN FUCKING STUPIDER because she is literally overhearing a damn good reason why Marinette doesn't tell her some things and isn't always able to spend time with her, and yet she falls for Lila's bullshit hook, line, and sinker. Someone get me a fucking drink.

"It's the only possible explanation." Yeah, because overhearing Marinette confessing to have a Miraculous still despite all the Temp Heroes being gone clearly has SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!! Seriously, the way they try to frame this stupidity as some brilliant deduction instead of something being blatantly obvious is obnoxious.

"Do you think she can be trusted?" Felix, YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT TO SAY THAT WHEN YOU ARE DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR GIVING HAWKMOTH ALL THE MIRACULOUSES BESIDES YOUR OWN, CHAT NOIR's, AND LADYBUG'S!!!

"We don't have a choice." No Kagami, you very much do have a choice, AND IT IS A FUCKING EASY ONE. Since when are you this much of an obnoxious idiot?! Oh yeah, since this season.

"My mother and Gabriel Agreste will never allow us to love each other." For fuck's sake, Kagami, YOU DO NOT EVEN KNOW THIS FUCKING PSYCHO, AND YOUR LOVE LIFE IS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THIS FUCKING SCENARIO, GET THE FUCK OVER YOURSELF!!! They really are just trying to make her a re-skin of Marinette.

"Without you, I never would've had the courage to run for mayor!" Yeah, no. Fuck that. She had nothing to do with you running for an office you are entirely unqualified to hold.

Oh, and has anyone else noticed that Argos is still using the same transformation and de-transformation phrases as Mayura? The supervillain who has been enabling Hawkmoth? Huh, almost makes you think HE IS STILL A BAD GUY!!!

It's really fucking stupid how this show is already presenting Caline winning the election as a guarantee, or that she'd even have that much influence. Seriously, this show doesn't even pretend to present the complexities of being an elected official appropriately. The Ghost and Molly McGee presented how being an elected official works better, and it's aimed at the same target audience, so this sloppy presentation has no excuse.

Oh, and Marinette is now rushing at Felix, once more impersonating his cousin, and isn't stopping to question how the FUCK 'Adrien' could even be IN THE CITY when she LITERALLY SAW HIM FLYING OFF ON A PLANE!! Speaking of which, HOW AND WHEN WAS FELIX ABLE TO GET BACK TO PARIS WITH KAGAMI!? ADRIEN APPARENTLY LITERALLY LEFT TODAY, AND FELIX DOESN'T HAVE ANY FAST TRAVEL POWER-UPS LIKE ASTRO-CAT!!! God fucking dammit, they aren't even trying.

NOW her classmates notice that Marinette clearly isn't feeling well, bravo, much surprise. Much skill.

Oh, and Marinette walks in on Nathaniel and Marc holding hands, and they notice she's crying.

I'm just gonna say it, Felix deciding that THIS, essentially gaslighting Marinette with Adrien's image rather then just, you know, WAITING UNTIL SHE'S ALONE AND PULLING HER ASIDE, in order to draw her away from the crowd and talk to her is just plain fucking cruel. Because that's what this is; gaslighting. Also, just hit me that the writers' establishing that Kagami knew Marinette's identity (or at least heavily suspected) but didn't hit her with the "Alix Card" like they did Luka is a fucking blatant double-standard and retcon.

This gaslighting routine Felix has going is just disgusting. This is abusive. I have little to no sympathy regarding Marinette, and even I think that this is a needlessly toxic and cruel way to get her attention. Heck, he literally could've just placed himself somewhere in her line of sight in Argos mode and gestured that he needed to speak with her; this? This is just tormenting her for no goddamn reason. Fuck this asshole.

And now Alya and Nino are there, and they think she's just imagining things. GREAT JOB, FELIX!!!

"What if he's come home?" MARINETTE THAT IS LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE. HE LEFT LITERALLY THIS NIGHT THERE IS NO WAY (as far as you know) HE COULD'VE MADE THE DISTANCE BACK TO PARIS!!! Goddammit these dumbass writers are almost making me feel bad for her. And all it took was them making the guy they went out of their way to go "no really, he's just misunderstood!" over emotionally torture her with the image of her boyfriend. Also, seriously, HOW DO PEOPLE NOT GET YOU CAN JUST HAVE A LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP!? IS THAT REALLY SUCH A STRANGE IDEA!?!?

Also, another thing that makes the time zones weird. I literally just looked up how long it takes to get to London from Paris. By car, it would take just a little bit over five hours. It really isn't that far, so why the fuck is Adrien in bright sunshine while the Parisian cast is currently in night time??

Also, I fucking hate how they keep using "ending" to describe things. Like, right after Nino suggests they find a way to go visit him (FUCKING FINALLY THEY HAVE NINO BE A BRO AND IT IS TOO FUCKING LITTLE TOO FUCKING LATE!!!), Alya describes this as "not the ending they expected." Because for FUCKS SAKE this is not the end of the world or even their god awful relationship!! They can call, they can video chat, they can text, heck they could literally just beg their parents to take a roadtrip and surprise him if they wanted it bad enough, WHY THE HELL IS EVERYONE ACTING LIKE THIS IS THE END OF THE FUCKING WORLD!?!? I can get and even accept that Marinette has a right to be sad, but everyone, and I do mean fucking EVERYONE, is treating this like it's the death of her precious relationship. It's barely a fucking SET BACK if they honestly want to pursue it still.

Oh, now we get Tomoe and Gabe throwing a hissy fit over their dolls children are missing, with Gabe going to look for Nathalie, who is sick in bed. Oh, and also watching those dumb as shit video diaries from Emilie. It'd be easier to by that she "just wants Adrien to be free" when she was complicit in Adrien living in isolation his entire life up until now. And her watching those videos on LOOP doesn't make Nathalie a good person, writers, she has known about them this entire time and STILL was fully complicit in Gabe's efforts to keep Adrien under his thumb. Stop babying her and have her face the consequences of her aiding and abetting a terrorist like a fucking adult.

Also, why the fuck is Gabe assuming Nathalie would know where Adrien is, or why she would even tell him!? Bullshit attempt at making her sympathetic aside, she's very visibly IN NO SHAPE to have helped him, and wouldn't tell Gabe anything. Oh, and Gabe FINALLY seems to FUCKING GET THAT NATHALIE IS NOT ON HIS FUCKING SIDE!!! Little bit late for that, Gabe, considering she once put you in a fucking armlock and called you insane to your face. Are you delusional or just stupid!? ...probably both.

And it's ONLY NOW that he takes the Ring from her. NOW. God fucking DAMMIT, none of this is adding tension. This is literally Gabe just being too fucking stupid in that he's only taking actions to consolidate his power AFTER DOING SO NO LONGER MATTERS. This man is not competent. This man is a rabid DOG that needs to be put down before he gets people killed.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng! I'm sure he went to find her!" Wow, it's as if it's the obvious thing to do after someone forcibly separates you against your will from your girlfriend! Seriously, this is not a big brain moment for Gabe, this is him realizing the fucking obvious way too fucking late, as per usual.

Okay, now we actually get a moment of Gabe using his brain by using an Akuma as a spying tool- Nevermind, he's just Akumatizing himself, AGAIN, to try and scare Adrien out into the open and obeying him, because OBVIOUSLY that won't backfire and doesn't involve him pointlessly putting himself at risk of getting captured and defeated for good!!

One thing that really baffles me about this current stupidity is how Gabe doesn't seem to question how Adrien would even be able to GET to Marinette, you know, considering that even if he left, Adrien would still have to travel from London all the way to Paris, and it's not like he can get on a plane in anything approaching a timely manner!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled instance of Marinette being gaslit by Felix!! Felix leads Marinette away from the party (still wearing Adrien's get-up), and Adrien himself arrives and overhears his "friends" talking about Marinette and Adrien not being there. Heck, Nino even mentions that they would've helped him if he just told him! Which, yeah, they would've, nice going leaving all your friends, not just your girlfriend, in the lurch like that bud. But I'm laughing at Nino going "his dad can't have that much control over him." Do- do the writers not understand how parental rights and guardianship WORK?? Unless they can hire a good lawyer and make a rock-solid case why Gabe shouldn't have guardianship over Adrien anymore, there is jack-shit they could've done... not that I think Adrien was thinking about that in the slightest when he made his decision to keep it all to himself.

Nighttormenter, and WOW that is a crappy name, having the power to make their worst nightmares come to life would be more effective if it wasn't limited to just them having an image appear briefly in their heads. Like, it's a fucking waste; this is a power literally BUILT for emotional torment, and could give insights into the thoughts of his enemies, and it's a fucking let-down because it does nothing other then make people collapse to the ground clutching their heads. Like, we KNOW he could've made it do more, we've literally seen a better version of this power with Sandboy, why the FUCK is this the best he can do!?

And after Nighttormentor runs for the hills to try and find where Marinette is (despite LITERALLY having a power that causes immediate debilitating suffering and Chat Noir right in front of him), Nino decides to get... sigh... "The Resistance" involved. Which I can't even pretend to take seriously.

Marinette rushing after Felix through the streets of Paris... what is the point of all this? Like, for real, he had PLENTY of chances and ways he could've covertly taken her aside and talked with her. All this? This is just torturing her by forcing her to run through the city (is she wearing HEELS!?) in the vain hope she'll see her boyfriend again after watching him be dragged away onto a plane before.

...It's the school. He went to all the freaking trouble of gaslighting her by imitating Adrien, leading her on a goose chase throughout Paris, crying her eyes out while dressed in clothing absolutely inappropriate for running through the streets at night, just to get to the school. (Inhales deeply) FELIX YOU ABSOLUTE MOTHERFUCKING COCKEATING PISS-SOCKET SON OF CANNIBALISTIC WHORE I AM GOING TO RIP YOUR SPINE OUT AND MAKE A BACKSCRATCHER FROM IT YOU PIECE OF UNSANITARY SELF-SERVING SLIME BALL!!!!!

Okay, glad I got that out. That was... a very ugly feeling.

Oh wow, the room he lead her all over Paris to had a picture of her and Adrien and now she's crying over it, way to go Felix, you must feel so proud of yourself! Hey, Kagami, what a catch, right? You must feel so happy your boytoy tormented your alleged friend, don't you? After all, you wouldn't go along with all this nonsense if you didn't approve, right? You wouldn't torture someone you call a friend just because, right? THERE IS SOME DEEPER, HUMANE REASON BEHIND ALL THIS, RIGHT!?!?

"The reason we're doing this Duusu is because we're hoping for a happy ending!" ...How. IN WHAT FUCKING WORLD DOES EMOTIONALLY TORMENTING HER AND MAKING HER CRY HER EYES OUT AFTER MAKING HER THINK HER BOYFRIEND CAME BACK FOR HER EQUATE TO A HAPPY FUCKING ENDING YOU PIECE OF FILTH!?!?

"Then it's wonderful!" Duusu... I'm gonna bitch-slap you.

"Oh Amok, let our thirst for truth take shape! I am giving you life so that you can bring the truth to light." ...Get the fuck out. GET THE FUCK OUT. SHUT THE FUCK UP, GET OUT, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THAT FUCKING CHICKEN SUIT NOW YOU CONDESCENDING PIECE OF SHIT!!!! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT TO TALK ABOUT BRINGING THE TRUTH TO LIGHT WHEN YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT LIE, MANIPULATE, AND TORMENT EVERYONE YOU CLAIM YOU CARE ABOUT WITHOUT GIVING A SINGLE FUCK ABOUT THE INNOCENTS CAUGHT IN THE FUCKING CROSSFIRE!!

Alright, a reprieve from my burning anger, Nighttormentor is in Marinette's room and throwing a hissy fit over her creepy love shrine to Adrien. It'd be understandable if it weren't for the fact his hatred is because someone HE didn't pick DARES to pursue his "creation." And after briefly subduing Chat Noir, Nighttormentor once again misses a prime opportunity to subdue him and take his Miraculous, because obviously missing out on the perfect chance to accomplish his ultimate goal right here and now is worth being a parasitic control freak towards the poor boy who has the misfortune of being his son.

One dive through Voyage alongside Nighttormentor, and now back to our regularly scheduled bullshit!

...This is really the best he could come up with. Having an Amok put on... a bad play involving him and Kagami acting out roles on screen. Instead of, you know, just TELLING HER THE TRUTH!?

I would face-palm at Marinette automatically assuming she's looking at "Adrien" and Kagami if it weren't for the fact that FELIX HAS BEEN FUCKING GASLIGHTING THE HELL OUT OF HER ALL FUCKING NIGHT!!!

Okay, play begins, and he's... telling her about the backstory of the Graham de Vanily twins (Amilie and Emilie).

Now back to Nighttormentor! Somehow we missed a bunch of steps since Nighttormentor is staring out at fireworks on a rooftop, and Chat Noir is somehow far enough behind him he needs to make a running attack... Seeing how THIS occurred would be more interesting than whatever fever dream Gaslight Piss-stain and the Wind-up Doll that is his Girlfriend cooked up. And NOW the Akuma FINALLY focuses on what Akumas are MEANT to focus on and gives Chat Noir his full attention rather than wasting his time throwing his little hissy fit, and all it took was Chat calling him out on being a shit dad!!

The one thing I'll say about this episode, even discounting the gaps in fight scenes, the current battle between Chat Noir and Nighttormentor is actually entertaining. Like, him timing a Voyage to perfectly dodge Chat Noir's attack, and Chat Noir landing so hard he shatters the ground behind Nighttormentor, while snarling that he's a coward. Why can't we see Adrien LIKE THIS as a civilian, instead of a mopey brat? WHY!?

Back to the shitty play, apparently "Daughter One" was a wild child who went against her parents' wishes to live her own life whenever she could, whereas "Daughter Two" was an indoors kid who wanted her parents' approval. Still no fucking clue why Marinette needs to KNOW ANY OF THIS BULLCRAP. Oh, and apparently Marinette is actually invested in the play. Not sure why, since if I was in her shoes, I'd have been pissed and screaming at the two by this point for dragging her all over town, tormenting her by making her think Adrien was back, and taking her away from her friends... for a FUCKING PLAY.

And apparently Emilie and Amilie's parents were control freaks. No clue if that's true or not, or if it's the biases of Amilie bleeding into Gaslighting Shit-Weasel, who bleeds it into the play. Either way, it fits the "All Rich People are Evil Bastards (unless I say they aren't)" attitude Astruc has going on in the writing.

Okay, "Daughter One" is Emilie, and they described her immediately finding "true love in a humble tailor." Now, to avoid going on a screaming rant again, I'm just gonna summarize what's wrong with this scene: firstly, it once again pins "true love" onto a relationship and idealizes romance without engaging with the toxic elements that can occur, acting as if Emilie and Gabe's relationship HAD to have been pure and wholesome without any issues, because 'that's how romance works' or some shit. Secondly, it carries the common undercurrent of the show demonizing wealth and success by implying that the "Gabe" Emilie fell in love with is practically a different person from Gabriel Agreste, treating Gabe as having once been a kind, loving man... while once again ignoring how Emilie and Gabe both kept Adrien isolated and controlled throughout his entire childhood, and both were complicit in keeping him alone.

Oh, and the fact it had Kagami (As "Emilie") swooning in Felix's arms is fucking disgusting given how many unhealthy undertones there are to their "relationship." Also, Marinette seems to be catching on to who they seem to be talking about.

Second Scene: Apparently Gabe used to be a more altruistic designer whose designs emphasized how he worked to bring out and enhance the natural beauty of the wearer rather than dictate HOW they can be considered beautiful. Again, this scene carries the vibe of the writers side-stepping how much of a toxic control freak Gabe is to push the narrative that "fame and success corrupted him."

Third Scene: Emilie apparently gave up all of her prior connections to her family to live her own life. (Sighs in contempt) Yeah, I was kinda expecting this. It's exactly the same kind of vibe that Astruc pushes online and pushed in the form of how Chloe, Audrey, Zoe, and Andre are written; being wealthy and successful is inherently a "bad thing" and to be a good person you have to "give up your privileges and live humbly." I'm feeling a bit of spiteful glee at the fact that Gabe is really exactly the kind of person her parents would have approved of, going by the vibes I'm getting; a control freak who gained incredible wealth and success in his chosen fields and grinds anyone who goes against his design under his thumb. Also, them once again pushing the "wealth and success are bad!!" narrative falls flat on its face by the fact that their "successful trial run" to "prove" that giving up your wealth and "privileges" makes you happier (Andre) only gave up his office and still owns a ludicrously successful and important Hotel, and never actually made any kind of amends for the harm he caused, he just acted like he got his happy ending when all he did was get rid of a responsibility and leaving it up for grabs.

Fourth Scene: The Wedding Rings apparently used to be a single ring, for some reason, and Emilie apparently is of the belief that 'babies make everything better' in how she (Kagami acting as Emilie) said that "we only require a child for our happiness to be complete." Like, I get wanting a kid, there's nothing wrong with that. But acting as if you absolutely NEED a kid is not a healthy mindset, especially if you have no way of knowing if you are even really fit to RAISE a kid (newsflash, they aren't), and to me it illustrates that, despite claiming she's free and gave up her attachments to her family and their means, Emilie picked up way more from them then she realizes. They idealized having an heir, just as Emilie idealizes having a child of her own.

Pulling back the nostalgia shades that the writers seem to have placed on the scene, this scenario paints Emilie as a spoiled brat to me. It frames her childhood as having a lot of expectations placed on her, only for her to shirk those responsibilities and run wild, doing whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. Even if her parents disapproved, they never sincerely tried to stop her. Heck, when she got older, they literally let her study abroad and get away from them and live her own life. And when they finally put their foot down when she insisted a random tailor she met in Paris was her "one true love" she cut them out of her life in a fit of spite.

Now, I'm not saying she should've been obligated to do whatever her parents wanted, and I think that them insisting on putting the burden of being their heir onto her while apparently neglecting her sister was toxic and unfair... but Emilie, by all accounts, didn't have ANY of the typical burdens the heir to a noble or royal family would have, in the modern era or the past. But the ONE TIME it seems like her parents EVER really were strict with her, she cut them out of her life without a care in the world, and essentially stole a family heirloom to make into her wedding rings in the process. Heck, they might've disapproved of Gabe because they could tell he was secretly really toxic, we don't know! But the vibe this image paints for me is much less optimistic and idealized then the writers intended.

Now, back to Amilie's side of the story, without her sister around, and still eager to please their parents, she agreed to marry a weapons manufacturer (who is portrayed as such an obnoxiously offensive American Stereotype I'd probably be screaming if my rage hadn't reached the point of tranquility) that they introduced her to, Colt Fathom. Apparently her parents and Colt all wanted her to have a kid and were really eager for it. Colt is stated to be "heartless." Amilie is not presented as having wanted a kid herself.

...The reading this comes across to me is that this story is Amilie's perspective of her childhood, with her older sister living an idealized life of freedom and romance with someone she loved, while Amilie resigned herself to misery due to being unable to not please her parents and bow to their wishes. I'd even go so far as to say that the only reason that Emilie's portrayed as good as she is is because Amilie is projecting all her childhood resentment onto her parents and the circumstances they shaped for her, with the irony that Emilie really kind of WAS the heir they wanted in how not only was Emilie the family favorite, she even wanted to have a child, an "heir," just like their parents wanted. Or at least it is at this stage. I feel like I know what's coming up.

Okay, back to Nighttormentor, with him having apparently once again abandoned his focusing on Chat Noir in favor of his temper tantrum in tracking down Adrien. Oh, and Chat Noir basically unloading his problems with his dad through the veil of anonymity by ripping into how shitty Gabe is as a father. Naturally, Gabe doesn't give a damn about someone criticizing his parenting skills, but this scene would honestly be awesome if this was how Adrien acted around Gabe in their civilian lives instead of only having the guts to say it when Gabe is unable to recognize him.

Also, the fact that Gabe is sincerely delusional enough to believe that ADRIEN IS HAPPY with everything he's done is just plain disturbing. Anyone so twisted that they could believe being under another person's thumb like that is a good thing, that someone would be happy being so controlled, is fucked up in the head. This isn't the kind of attitude that comes from nowhere. This is how Gabe has always been, it's just only now that the veil of sanity is coming down. That "Humble Tailor" never existed; he was always a monster, he just used to be better at hiding it.

Okay, back to the play, and we learn that neither Amilie nor Emilie were able to get preggers. Amilie was probably secretly happy, since she apparently wasn't really all that invested in having a kid, whereas Emilie was more sincerely upset. After all their struggles, Emilie apparently swallowed her pride and went back to her parents to ask for help; the fact that they apparently didn't turn her away for defying them, let her keep her life with Gabe without any apparent strings attached, and even helped get her treatments to get pregnant... I'm thinking my "Emilie was actually a spoiled brat whose parents coddled her" theory is spot on. Even after essentially running away from home to be with a guy who would turn out to be awful to their future son, nothing yet indicates that they made her miserable over her choices and just accepted she was home. Heck, they could've demanded she give back the rings she took, but didn't, and unlike when Felix stole them, they would've been in their rights to do so given that the rings legally belonged to them in the first place.

Next we learn that Emilie "was pregnant" with imagery of the Peacock (REAL subtle there, Astruc), and apparently Colt got insanely jealous over it. Which, I can honestly understand to some extent; ignoring the confusion that Emilie and Gabe apparently created a Sentichild INSIDE HER to grow like a regular baby gives me, they apparently never bothered to share with Emilie's sister, who was also struggling to find a way to get pregnant, that they had found a means to overcome their implied infertility. ANYONE who honestly wanted a child and was left out of the loop of a means to do so would probably be pissed off and jealous.

Heck, honestly, his jealousy doesn't even seem to be for himself. He's jealous on behalf of his wife, that SHE deserved to have a child more than the spoiled brat who ran away from home and got hitched to a tailor she met in Paris and married with stolen rings. Even if his attitude his unacceptable, his feelings are somewhat understandable; not only did she run away from home, abandon her family, then come crawling back to get treatment for her infertility, when she FOUND a method to overcome, she couldn't even be bothered to share it with her twin sister? WHO DOES THAT SHIT!?

While his confrontation with Gabe was harsh, the fact that Gabe's response to being confronted was to act coy and essentially snub his stepbrother... yeah. I really do not buy the whole "used to be an idealistic, humble tailor" routine; I'm pretty sure he was totally fine leaving his extended family out to dry so long as his branch of it benefited. One positive point on Emilie's side, she apparently had the good conscience to eventually realize that keeping a means of getting pregnant away from her sister who (she thought) wanted a child herself after she had benefited from it and talked Gabe into talking with Colt about it. I'm honestly baffled on how Gabe knew that the Peacock "would have a price to pay" given that Emilie hadn't shown any signs by this point (since this was apparently shortly after she got pregnant and her "fading" took place over several YEARS), yet never actually bothered to TELL Colt what that price would be.

Also, apparently he was "given" Adrien's bodyguard in exchange for the Miraculous... because just hiring a competent bodyguard normally and giving his stepbrother and stepsister the thing that would allow them to have a child for free as a favor to his wife would be too big of an ask. Yeah, the vibe of "Emilie's parents opposed her marrying Gabe because they could smell the slime on him" is getting stronger with this scene.

And aside from being briefly freaked out over the idea of using magic to create a kid, Colt went along with it. The narration says that it was his jealousy that created the child (Felix) but given this is all second hand via Felix himself, it could've been anything. Similarly, when it shows him hesitating to touch Amilie's pregnant belly, the reasoning could be just about anything. Naturally, the narrative is gonna paint this as him being bigoted against his son, but the root cause is that we simply don't know anything beyond what Felix says, and I don't trust a word he says in the slightest. And the scene ends with the narration having both women give birth "to two boys as similar as their mothers were," which is kinda bizarre as I don't know why that would happen in the slightest, even if "jealousy" were a factor in the equation.

And NOW we get a scene showing off how fucked up Nighttormentor's power is with a fully detailed scene showing Adrien's nightmare. And apparently his nightmare is him getting Akumatized and ending up causing something like Chat Blanc to take place. ...Okay, back the fuck up, WHEN WAS THIS EVER HINTED AT!? Chat doesn't even KNOW about Chat Blanc, how could THIS be his worst fucking nightmare!? You can't say it's because of him being afraid of cataclysming someone, given he was fully willing to fly off the handle and do it to "Dark Humor," yet he's somehow upset he did it to Hawkmoth!? AND AGAIN, HE HAS NO WAY OF EVEN KNOWING WHAT A WORLD IN WHICH HE CATACLYSMED EVERYONE WOULD EVEN LOOK LIKE!! Why would THIS be his worst nightmare!? It's completely unconnected to all of his personal hardships and struggles!!

It'd make more sense (if make me roll my eyes) if his "nightmare" was him acting as Gabe's model son and breaking up with Marinette to be with Kagami... and then Marinette just shrugs, goes "I never loved you anyway, have fun being under your dad's thumb" with all of his friends abandoning him to his fate and laughing at him or something. THAT would fit his character more then having THIS scene crammed in out of nowhere. Oh, and apparently Nighttormmentor can communicate with the people he's put into nightmares? When was THAT implied, ANYWHERE!? If this were a reveal that Nighttormentor can somehow control what nightmares he gives people, it'd be a cool reveal and make for a good explanation as to why Chat's secret wasn't blown wide open. But it's not the case, it's just an excuse to have Chat lose his confidence and act like a weepy baby.

I seriously do not get why Nighttormentor didn't just yank it off of Chat's finger. There's no reason for mind games. His power just works, so obviously he can just take it and Chat's in no shape to stop him. This? All this scene does is neuter the one badass scene Chat has genuinely gotten this season for... dumb shit.

Now, back to the lame play that makes me want to light things on fire!

Alright, we're at the scene where we learn that Colt got sick from using the Peacock Miraculous, and projected his fears onto a young Felix. Fear that later turned to hatred. You know, I feel like this might've been avoided if Gabe had just explained to Colt what he meant by "consequences" especially when Colt was obviously able to puzzle it out himself when the symptoms started. Because Colt was right, he WAS experiencing the consequences, but it's not because he made a kid with Magic (I wouldn't be surprised if Colt thought it was some "equivalent exchange, life for a life" bullshit), but because the thing he used to do it was busted and thus dangerous to use.

(Inhales deeply) Yeah. This pisses me off. We have wasted... basically HALF THIS FUCKING EPISODE devoted to Felix wangsting about his life. Like, yeah, Colt yelling at him and calling him a monster (possibly worse) is incredibly fucked up. But given that prior episodes this season were whitewashing Felix's bad actions, I have a sinking feeling where this is going.

Okay, yup, looks like Colt became a toxic, verbally abusive control freak. Honestly, on the orders thing, given Colt was apparently so ill that the scenery of the play implies he was constantly bed ridden and on monitors for his vitals, I'm not certain how aware he was of all that was going on. Needless to say, Colt was an abusive fuck, but the way the play implies that Gabe was somehow better, when he helped contribute to all this by withholding the truth from Colt, was deliberately vague about the "consequences" his miraculous child would bring about to him, and even using the situation to extort a bodyguard from Colt... yeah, Colt's an abusive fuck. No doubt about it. But the way this play implies Gabe wasn't his own flavor of "monster" is infuriating.

Also, if they are trying to use this to imply why Felix dislikes Sentis being called Monsters, it rings hollow when he has zero fucking problem labeling the rich kids at the Diamond Dance as "monsters" despite none of them calling either him or Marinette monsters. Did they remind him of his father? Who knows? All I know is that the worst they did was act like snobby brats, and he took that as justification to try and murder them with his Sentimonster of a Red Moon.

See, what kills me about this scene is that, if Colt was such an abusive monster, then why in the world would Felix cop an attitude to Adrien during his debut attitude and try to shame Adrien over his father's death? Why did he go out of his way to impersonate Adrien and try to ruin his personal life? Why? Why!? WHY!? The one, ONE, possible redeeming trait regarding his behavior in that episode was him lashing out over his father's passing, but if his father was such a piece of shit, then that flies out the window and he treated ADRIEN like shit just for giggles!! I sincerely fucking doubt Colt ordered Felix before his death to ruin Adrien's life, so all that bad attitude was ALL him. Heck, the episode says he was trying to look for the Peacock; WHEN!? He never did ANYTHING to try and find it, he just spent the entire time harassing Adrien, ruining Adrien's personal life, and acting like a snobby brat (just like those rich kids he criticized/tried to murder) while Amilie tried to bully and emotionally manipulate Gabe into handing over the family rings that Emilie had taken when she ran away from home and eloped with him.

..."He had to steal other magical objects to make an exchange." THE ABSOLUTE FUCK HE DID!! He KNEW Gabe was Hawkmoth, he KNEW Gabe wouldn't recognize him under the influence of a Miraculous, he had the PERFECT Miraculous to steal the Peacock and get away with it, THERE WAS NO FUCKING REASON TO MAKE AN "EXCHANGE!!" He literally only did it because he could, and mocked Ladybug over it. This!? THIS IS BULLSHIT!!! THIS IS UTTER HORSESHIT!!! THIS IS COMPLETE AND UTTER DOGSHIT!!! SHIT!!!!!

"The day I lost the Miraculous!" No, Marinette, the day Felix STOLE THE MIRACULOUS and gave them to Hawkmoth in a pointless deal he could've avoided but didn't because he didn't give a shit if he made the lives of you or the rest of Paris harder in the process.

Now, we get a scene of Nighttormentor oh so carefully reaching to take the Cat Miraculous, when the Resistance shows up, and the best Nino can say is "Why do you have to be so mean to people!?" Wow, much impress. What a great burn.

Oh, and he just stood there and let them throw stuff at him when he's the one with superpowers and literally has the perfect power to incapacitate them with. And whatever badass factor he gained this episode (Negative 1, but he's normally negative 10) just dropped down nine whole points. What a fucking joke.

"And the miraculous boy met a girl like him. They fell in love." No. No you didn't. That is as rotten as you claiming you came to Gabe's house to find the Peacock to try and save your life, while ignoring how you did nothing the entire visit besides steal the rings for your mother and tormented your cousin and damaged his social life. Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up, right now.

"Just like the curious princess and the tailor before them" KAGAMI JUST STOP! STOP IDEALIZING THAT ABUSIVE PIECE OF SHIT!! YOU KNOW HE IS AN ABUSIVE PIECE OF SHIT!!! YOU LITERALLY JUST TOOK PART IN A PLAY DETAILING HOW HE'S AN ABUSIVE PIECE OF SHIT!!! STOP!! IF YOU REALLY ARE "JUST LIKE THEM" THAT IS A RED FLAG THAT THIS RELATIONSHIP IS A BAD ONE!! JUST FUCKING STOP ALREADY!!

"They just wanted to be free." Kagami... Felix already WAS free by that point, there's no way Gabe would ever bother undoing him, and you had made a point of already breaking the limitations your mother set for you, AND unlike Gabe and Colt, she actually let you have your Amok, so she never enforced orders on you. You can't pretend that Felix has done ANYTHING to help you be free. He hasn't. He's just put you in a new cage, and made it look nicer.

...This entire stupid as hell play to explain information Marinette never needed when they could've just told her "we're sentimonsters, Gabe is Hawkmoth, PLEASE stop him. Please." Fuck this shit.

And now Felix and Kagami are doing the echoey voice thing that has them talk to Marinette while not even being in the room. Fuck that. Fuck this. Fuck these shitty writers.

Oh, and the writers trying to draw parallels about having "to lie all the time," which in this context I guess is meant to imply that Felix and Kagami are "forced to lie," despite nothing implying that's the case, when Felix has rather gleefully lied and manipulated others in the past, and Kagami is no longer under any threat of being compelled to lie and is just enabling her mother's abusive attitude (I would normally never go there, but the writing is just that bad).

Now it's morning, Gabe was defeated without Ladybug, and all of Felix's attitude about the rights and plights of the Sentis is a load of shit as the utterly meaningless Sentimonster he created was erased as soon as he no longer needed it.

"Will she have the courage to face the father of the boy she loves?" Given that said "father" is an abusive piece of garbage who has threatened her career, her love life, her actual life (as both Ladybug and Marinette), and her friend's lives for MONTHS NOW, I'd say she is fully willing to face him because NOT FACING HIM IS NOT AN OPTION YOU FUCKING MORON.

And Argos and Kagami share a kiss. Please wait a moment while I hurl.

...Oh, and Adrien has a panic attack/PTSD episode when he tries to go tell Marinette the truth. Ah yes, because clearly an artificial and utterly nonsensical nightmare that Gabe crammed in his head with Akuma powers regarding a knock off of an alternate future that technically never happened would totally traumatize him to the point of being unable to confess the truth to his girlfriend and there's no way this isn't the writers forcing more needless drama in place!

...They are seriously fucking going with "Ladybug didn't undo the Akuma's damage, the nightmare's still there!" Dude, if that were the case, YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EVEN MOVE YOU FUCKING IDIOT.

"You were right Plagg, I can't tell Marinette I'm Chat Noir, and I can't disobey my father either." ...THOSE TWO THINGS HAVE JACK AND SHIT TO DO WITH EACH OTHER YOU FUCKING JOKE OF A SUPERHERO!!! YOU HAVE BEEN DISOBEYING HIM SINCE THE START OF THIS SERIES!!! THIS SERIES ONLY EVEN BEGAN BECAUSE YOU DISOBEYED THAT ABUSIVE PIECE OF SHIT!!! AND THAT FUCKING NIGHTMARE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH EITHER DISOBEYING YOUR FATHER OR TELLING MARINETTE YOUR SECRET IDENTITY!!! GROW THE FUCK UP!!!

And now that the episode is over, we end on a scene of Kagami and Adrien being put through "White Torture." What WONDERFUL parents they have. What fucking bullshit.

[princess-of-the-corner]

thought of this over coffee. It's not just Marinette.

Marinette, Kagami, Felix, Nathalie, Emilie, Amilie. Literally all of Adrien's support/love/family system is currently keeping this information from him. They all know, and they know OTHER people know, but they're all infantilizing Adrien.

Show won't ever address this, but if it did, Man, one of the most clear Villain arcs ever. Burn the bakery, Agreste AND Graham de Vanily manors.

True!

I am focusing the most on Marinette because even if they're all doing it, she is the one who should tell Chat Noir and has no reason not to. While everyone else really has no way to tell Chat.

But they're all kinda guilty with this

[edorazzi]

The aftermath of “Gabriel Agreste” and the de Vanilys’ return to London!

Felix still has friends (though he’ll never admit it), and they may have put in the effort to get close to him but the payoff is ridiculous! 😬

[sofilandstuff]

Gabriel Agreste and his secret society

[gameguy20100]

Felix (6): This restaurant is beneath me.

Amelie: Just try it honey.

Waitress: Her you go little guy. Bob made them himself.

Felix: *Eats pancakes* Oh that is good! Bob, good news. I’ve decided not to kill you!

[familyagrestefanblog]

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo...

How do you all think Amilie is gonna react when she finds out that Gabriel threatened Félix with whipping him out of existence with the peacock miraculous? Because I think at this point Emilie isn't the only Graham de Vanily who will give him hell for the excessive abuse of her child

[generalluxun]

Fanfiction: Reciprocation, Chapter 4

Author's Note: Felix learns something of maintaining relationships, while still plotting for his freedom.

Link to AO3 in Bio, full text after break.

Silence of the heart, that blissful state of pure concentration he was used to, lasted him several more days. He got no further messages, but he knew. He knew and for some reason, that mattered. The next tug came more gently than the previous. It wasn’t an itch or a hollow that burned him, it was a prickling of his thoughts. It was a distraction that was gentle, yet grew over time. When it finally shifted from background to foreground it was a nudge not a yank, but he still took it seriously.

Felix was at his desk when it happened. His concentration broke and chemistry went from a wonderful dance of unity and division to a scramble of letters and numbers on paper. Felix set his pencil down and let his head fall back. Why must this thing exist? I can’t hare off to Paris every time my emotions decide to unravel themselves.

Felix picked up his phone from his desk and opened up the short text conversation. His fingers hovered indecisively over the keys. Indecision did not come easily to him, and this paralysis was revolting. He had nothing to say. There was no need for communication, no message, no update. The thought of a simple ‘How are you?’ was revoltingly childish. He found he had half-expected an incredulous tirade in response to his provocation from before, but had gotten nothing; less satisfaction, more (any?) respect.

Felix put the phone down and folded his hands on his desk. It was a slow, torturous process turning his thoughts inward. What do you want? He asked himself in frustration. This thing, this uncountable portion of his being that made no sense was one he could not command and barely knew how to speak to.

‘Of course you are.’ Even now those words created an uncomfortable warmth in his chest. Uncomfortable because it still made no logical sense. In the contemplation of that warmth a course of action drifted up into his mind. It coalesced and Felix understood what he had to do. He reached for his phone.

He balked.

His hand hovered again, it was a pure effort of will to make it pick up his phone. He keyed open his contacts, then closed them again, open, closed, open. Damn this, damn it all to hell. A plan was supposed to make things easier. A plan was how you claimed victory and what separated you from the weak fools. There were risks to every plan. The mind weighed and calculated them. It accepted the costs.

Felix wasn’t dealing with the mind though. He was dealing with the heart. It was a weak and stupid thing. It feared. The idea that he could encounter rejection reached up and took him by the throat. I don’t even LIKE this accursed woman, he growled at his fears.

‘Oh?’ They whispered back coyly.

I am no slave to petty emotion or amorous frivolity!

‘Mmm, then, why am I here?’ they murmured.

He had no answer, and not having one became its own fear. It grew until one fear outweighed the other, both inside him and threatening to break free. His thumb came down on the call button, a tightness spreading inside as the screen flicked over. Felix raised the phone to his ear.

The phone rang, and again, he tilted it away from his face to be sure the timer was ticking up properly. Of course it was. Half a dozen more rings had turned the tightness into suffocation.  He pulled the phone away from his ear again and-

*click*

More seconds of silence, but the icon was green. The icon was green and he could breathe again.

"Felix? Why are you calling me?"

Even more the tightness unwound itself. Too fast, and he felt the urge to snap, to bite back and live with the pains he understood.

He was quiet too long and she spoke again, "Felix, what the hell? What do you want?"

What did he want? How could he explain it?  No one had ever understood before, and here he was a supplicant to the least kind of souls.  But, against reason, maybe- "I don't want to talk to you."

Another long pause. "Oh. Okay."

Nothing more.  Felix checked again. It was still green. The timer ticked up and with it a mounting tension. Would it change? Would it? 

One minute.

Three minutes.

Five. 

He began to hope.  As if handling a newborn Felix maneuvered the phone down to his desk. He held it by fingertips only, terrified of bumping the screen accidently.  Once it was in place he continued to watch it for a minute more.

He had studies to do, and so he dove into them with his head clear and focused.  He checked back at five minute intervals, but it did not derail his work.  It wasn't until an errant thought, a dark whisper from up out of the chasm of misunderstanding whispered to him, She probably just left it on and went away that he began to worry.

He was full up on worry though and by the time his intervals had shrunk to one minute anger was back in force. He stabbed another button on the display, waiting to reveal a fraud.

The picture winked into existence to prove him false though. There she was. She wasn't even looking at her phone. The image was askew as if propped up on something, but she was in it. Felix watched, seemingly unseen, for another full minute.

He got back to work.

It was three hours and five subjects later when Chloé's voice filled the quiet of Felix's room. "I'm going to go down to dinner now. It'll be noisy. One Hour, two if Daddy decides we have to be a family today."

Felix blinked at the phone. He looked down to a closeup of Chloé's face. "Okay."

"You're so weird." The words were familiar, but the inflection was wrong. Felix frowned and received a smirk and a finger wave in reply before the picture flicked out.

Felix realized that he was ravenous. It was way too early for his own evening meal, but his stomach was making its voice clear. He considered his schedule. Workout first, eat after. My body will not start disobeying me too.

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

Everything had arrived. Everything was in order, yet still he sat idle. Felix knew how he would blackmail his uncle. He had practiced the sabotage until it was rote in his mind. He would allow no mistake to put his aunt in true peril by his hand. The one missing component was timing. He had to be sure he would not be interrupted while he worked. He needed a plan more concrete than his previous ones had been, the interruption in his uncle’s atelier had nearly been a disaster.

Felix sat alone in the living room in a high backed chair. Hot water with honey and lemon was his drink of choice, no caffeine to cloud his thoughts at the moment. Beside him was a stack of books. Doyle, Chandler, Christie, James, and others, mysteries often held obscure and yet clever solutions to mundane problems. Few scenarios were sensible if taken whole cloth, but they made excellent seeds at times. Felix flipped through page after page, transferring the stack from one side to the other as he devoured the possibilities.

BuzzBuzzBuzzBuzz.

Felix let the noise continue until the end of a page before frowning at his phone. He’d left it on for his mother to reach him. She knew well enough to text though unless it was an emergency, and he had no reason to believe it would be. He picked up his phone and, no not his mother. Chloé’s number stared up at him from the vibrating device.

Putting aside his habitual unease, Felix touched the pick up icon. "Yes?"

"-nd Lila's not picking up, and she's gone! Those stupid, horrible, tacky, disgusting nobodies took her! What am I gonna do? Mommy is too busy, daddy says he'll buy me a new one but he doesn't understand!" A wave of blubbering sound assaulted Felix, pausing only when frantic emotion overcame the ability to draw breath.

The desperation wrapped itself around Felix and tried to sink its claws in. He reacted quickly and decisively. "Chloé, I am busy. I don't have time to indulge some flippant tantrum over a lost bauble."

He braced for a second salvo, it was expected. Instead, he got only a hiccup and a simple, "Oh."

Off balance at the lack of resistance, Felix waited several seconds before tapping hang up, cutting off a sniffle from the other side.

Immediately the discomfort unwound itself. The emotional assault ebbed and dissolved into the still air of the room. Felix turned a page.

Is it still on? A little voice whispered. Felix looked over at his phone. Of course it wasn't. The little voice whispered, but it was. That timer had ticked up, second after second, minute after minute, for hours.

It's not the same, Felix countered. That cost her nothing.

Didn't it?

Felix forced himself to read a paragraph, when not a single word stuck, he felt the voice cackling at him. He knew what it wanted, but those hooks threatened. Look, I'll call back later, when she is calmer. I'll let her yammer to her heart's content.

It was a spurious argument. Felix knew how emotions worked. He made it his business to know. Emotions were powerful tools.

Damn you, Felix hissed in his own head, the irony of such a thought was not lost on him. He snatched up his phone and hit call. 

After one ring a wet, "H-ello?"

"You have fifteen minutes. That's all I can give you."

Instantly the flood hit again. Felix braced and endured. Words ran over each other, slurring and repeating in an endless spiral of broken glass and rubble.

He pulled out bits from the cacophony, supplying grunts and 'mmhms' when she paused for breath. Her longtime acquaintance, the ginger with glasses, was hanging out with other students it seemed. Felix was well aware of how much Chloé had utilized the girl's academic prowess, but as she herself had said, her father had promised to make good on a replacement.

Felix tracked the time as it ticked up, eight minutes, ten, twelve. Chloé was talking herself in circles without end. The blubbering came and went of its own accord, but the flow was unending. Her agitation was a trial of endurance for Felix. Provoking responses was fun, staying for them was exhausting.

Suddenly the flow cut out for a second of silence then, "Oh, that's Lila calling me back. I'll stop inflicting myself on you now. Talk to you later, or not, or whatever it is you do when you call."

*Click*

Felix blinked at the flashing time. The silence was suddenly louder than a room full of Chloés. "But, you had two minutes left…"

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

He scanned himself in the mirror, this time with a hint of pride. He had his plan. It was so simple the odds of it failing were almost non-existent. It did rely on another person, but history was on his side in that regard. It had been a flash of inspiration, an ingenious calculation, a scheme mulled over and honed in the pure silence only the witching hour could bring.

It also had absolutely nothing to do with that blonde woman in Paris, or those missing two minutes; no matter what the little voice in his head kept saying. Well, it had something to do with her, but she was not the reason. She was simply a cog. He’d come up with the idea while watching the Paris news, a perfectly reasonable thing to do, right?

Felix smoothed down his collar, adjusted his cuff, and wheeled his luggage out into the living room. A full suitcase, garment bag, and hardened carrying case were his significant burden for this trip. As soon as he made his appearance, Felix announced, “I’m going to Paris, mother.”

She looked up from the counter where she was enjoying a morning cup with the financial section of the day’s newspaper. “So soon already, dear heart?”

Felix raised his chin and stood a little taller. He allowed a smile to play over his lips. “I think I have found my solution, Mother, to our dilemma.”

Her face brightened with genuine joy. Amilie stood and hurried over to him. Soft fingertips touched his shoulders, “Really? You will be careful won’t you? How will you do it? Oh- don’t tell me. I will worry if you do. I will worry if you don’t, but I will worry less. I have faith in you, my son. You can do anything you put your mind to.”

Felix absorbed his mother’s joy. He understood it, he welcomed it, and he let it pass through him. “It may take a few days. I will stay in one of our apartments there. I will contact you every night, so that you will know I am safe.”

His mother’s face fell, clouding with the concern she could not hide. Her touch lifted. “Days? Will it be long? I will miss you terribly, my moon.”

Felix clenched a fist to demonstrate his conviction for her. “Not long, if all goes well. I do not wish to remain in Paris any longer than I must.”

Amilie’s hands wavered, as if to reach out to him again, but she clasped them instead to her chest. “Go, go quickly. I want all of this behind us as quickly as possible, but most importantly I want you safe. If I had the power I would do this all myself and spare you, Angel.”

Felix made a concession. He stepped in and wrapped his arms around his mother for a firm if stiff embrace. She didn’t move, she scarcely breathed until he let her go. When he stepped back her eyes were shining so intensely he had to look away. “I will hasten back, Mother.”

Felix turned abruptly and took hold of his bags. As he started off his mother’s voice rose in a gentle question. “Are they a part of the plan; the person the cologne is for?”

Felix stopped dead in his tracks. It was an incisive question, but then, that was his mother. He had made a mistake with the embrace perhaps. He chose honesty. “It is a bargaining tool. They will find it appealing I believe.”

Good humor seeped into his mother’s voice, “Then allow me to provide this tip, my little Lothario. The scent will not hold for the duration of the train ride. Apply it again before meeting your mark. Give it fifteen minutes to air before the meeting for best effect.”

Felix assuaged his shame by focusing on the factual information. It would be of use to him. “Thank you, Mother.”

With that, he walked towards his Fate.

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

... That doesn't make any sense.

If Felix is a sentimonster like Gabriel Agreste is implying why can't he just order Felix to tell him where the other ring is? Since apparently Gabriel has HIS amok in that ring?

Also, what the heck!? Since when can anyone holding the amok snap a sentimonster out of existence!?

All of this makes me less inclined to believe Adrien is a sentimonster actually. Aunt Amilie may be sus but she's not "take away my nephew's free will" sus. If anything it makes me think Felix was designed as a perfect (physical) copy of Adrien. Chloe called him the "fake Adrien" which feels relevant.

(Oh, and if Adrien IS a sentimonster, at which point I will ignore Canon for the rest of EVER, and Felix still acted like that towards Adrien? The Graham de Vanilys can fucking choke on a cactus)

[aryllux]

[miraculousladyblogsthings]

I think Amilie knows about the miraculouses and IF Felix and Adrien are sentimonsters coz she wanted Felix to have a ring for himself so that he's in control of his actions? I may sound crazy bye