#ITS THE WAY MARINETTE NEVER FUCKING CARED ABOUT ANYTHING BEYOND HAVING ADRIEN AND NOTHING FUCKING MATTERS ANYMORE IN THIS SHOW OH MY GOD

[depressed-teacup-inc]

Kwami’s choice is making me want to scream

Ok first half of kwami’s choice is out, kudos for glob for actually not posting the second half first (they’ve been releasing the season all over the place) and this would be episode 10 of season 5

So finally we have some context on what changed so much in two episodes that Marinette is back with Adrien and forgot completely about Chat Noir, and… THERES LITERALLY NO EXPLANATION!!!

I am telling you, the show legit just makes marinette depressed and crying about her love life again (again, somehow her abandoning all the Kwamis is an afterthought because “love” and not “yeah you fucked up because you refused to treat your partner equally and chose to keep secrets and make dumb decisions on your own and you’re literally digging your own grave”) marinette being “completely in love with chat” for nine episodes was never even mentioned beyond one line, AND ADRIEN TAKES THE BLAME FOR MARINETTE BEING SAD.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FOLKS THE GUY THAT REFUSED A RELATIONSHIP WITH A CIVILIAN BECAUSE OF THE UNHEALTHY POWER DYNAMICS THAT WOULD RESULT FROM SAID RELATIONSHIP DESPITE HIS EMOTIONS IS THE ONE AT FAULT HERE BECAUSE HE “FLIRTED WITH MARINETTE AND BROKE HER HEART”

…I swear to fucking god, ANYWAYS-

Marinette further digs her own grave with Adrien telling him they could never work and that’s blamed on the “iDEnTItY rULe” (which still for some reason matters even tho it legit doesn’t but ok)

Adrien is almost akumatized by his own fucking father TWICE (the only fucking reason Gabriel didn’t akumatize Adrien the first time was because he didn’t have a fucking alliance) I HATE THAT MAN IF THEY EVEN TRY TO JUSTIFY HIM IM OUT

And Tikki and Plagg choose to revoke the miraculouses from Marinette and Adrien for them to be togetherrrr.

Now listen, I understand where theoretically this could be a bittersweet, allowing kids to be kids so to speak, but like. The reasoning is driving me crazy

Like the way the Kwamis and show really decided that romance and teenagers dating is more important then the fate of Paris (especially when that entire relationship sucked to begin with and had so much stalking and red flags) but also the way there’s literally no nuance?

Like what happened to Adrien’s entire “chat noir is the only time I truly get to be me and escape from my constricting life” shtick? What happened to Marinette’s… well I would say her commitment to Paris and saving the Kwamis, and also caring about chat noir, but literally none of these end up sticking in the end, BUT THERES LITERALLY NO NUANCE ANYMORE!

Like the minute the kwamis leave with the miraculouses the only indication we get of Adrien (not even marinette) being sad about not being a hero anymore is his abusive dad saying “his sadness has gotten greater” for a few seconds, AND THEN THEYRE INSTANTLY HAPPY?!

Adrien just rushes to confess to Marinette, and Marinette is suddenly super in love with Adrien, WHICH PROVES NOTHING THAT THEY EVER HAD GOING ON WITH THE HEROES EVER MATTERED?!

Adrien no longer cares about his freedom or his image OR PLAGG because “oh yeah I have marinette so I’m complete!” And Marinette NEVER CARED FOR THE KWAMIS CHAT NOIR HER MISSION OR ANYTHING!!! These two are suddenly as happy as they ever were with no fucking problems in their life!

While the new heroes (yeah btw Alya and Zoe are the new heroes, it’s kinda bland, Zoe is only there to show how much better she is in comparison to Chloe, and her design IS UGLY) are fighting, Marinette and Adrien don’t even show a glimpse of worry, or paranoia, or even an instinct to go fight or “call the heroes” as they do! They legit don’t fucking care and CUDDLE!

The show legit said “yeah all these seasons of these heroes fighting for Paris and truly being influenced by their hero lives? YEAH THAT NEVER MATTERED LOOK GUYS THEYRE HUGGING!”

And I would even be ok with it if the show wanted to go down the road of “yeah being a hero is awful and no one in their right mind would ever want to do it but would rather have the messed up compulsion to help others” BUT THEY DONT DO THAT!!! The show is still like “they’re meant to be!”, they’re still heroes in the next episodes, and literally it seems the only reason they’re still heroes in future episodes, is because the new heroes instantly got tracked down! So they have no motive to be heroes, and no compulsion to be heroes and they don’t seem to be affected from their hero lives, so none of it matters!

There is literally no more nuance or care put into being a hero in this show (the new heroes were pretty much randomly selected teens again, rather then i don’t know, ADULTS? I get that this is a magical girl show, but it would be so cool to show adult heroes handling their emotions and powers better then teens and being role models) and the show legit sacrificed any chance of nuance or character motivation it had for the love square! That’s just bad writing!

But yeah I’m going to go scream into a pillow, call me when part 2 is out

[legends-live-in-memories]

I Have Too Many Opinions. ep. 1

lmao. i got encouragement to post my opinions on fandom things and now i want to make a miniseries doing just that. so here i am. doing just that.

im putting it under the cut cuz this was 4 whole pages including the disclaimer. yes i put a disclaimer and i explain why.

Anyways, here is the first piece in what inevitably will become fandom info dump, this time on thomas astruc’s writing on miraculous ladybug. but only some of my opinions cuz we would be here all day otherwise.

So… a disclaimer before I begin… 

I do not hate Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir (yes i'm using their government name). I am quite a fan of the show actually despite its faults. I am also older than the intended audience but was obviously younger when the show first aired which is how my interest was piqued (the fact that its been 6 years and only 3 seasons says more about the show than me being a fan for that amount of time but also i never want to rush content creators cuz they're doing their best) and due to my age, there will be inherent bias in my approach of what i'm about to say as there is in EVERY opinion. The fact that it is an opinion should imply the presence of bias but most people tend to lack the critical thinking skills required to draw that conclusion ANYWAYS…

If I did hate the show I would not have this blog nor would I be even writing this because i tend to not give more than 2 seconds of thought to things i actively dislike (some of yall should give this a try) and i'm allowed to like things that are designed for an audience that i was originally a part of but grew out of. (I don't suddenly stop liking things because I'm older despite what many younger fans seem to believe about older audiences. I also don't need to be ‘allowed’ to do anything cuz i wasn't asking for permission anyways.)

This will not be character bashing, astruc bashing nor fandom bashing cuz, again, that would imply i hate any of those elements and if i did, i would not dedicate brainpower to them. Analyses and criticisms of media are fun and engaging and required if you wish to produce good enjoyable content. Now most of this should be already assumed and self-explanatory but people on the internet like to play morality roulette roll dice on purity culture and I rather have documentation that I am in fact not bullying fictional 14 year olds or a grown man. But alas, people get trigger happy whenever someone has less than 1000000% positive opinions on something they like and will throw out words they can't define (gaslight, baiting, toxic, problematic, gatekeep etc) in an attempt to defend their blind devotion, 

which is not needed, if you like something you never have to defend it, even if i don't like it. If you respond to anything I post saying you disagree with me, I will not argue with you. I won't debate back and forth and try to convince you that the things you like are wrong. Unless you are being absolutely tone deaf to what i'm saying, you wont get a negative reaction from me. So don't try to fish for a fight. Please. I got metaphorical hands for days and I'm mean, you don't want me hurting your feelings on the internet. Do yourself the favour. Difference of opinion is how we get diversification in media and is inherently a good thing. Now that that's out of the way, please don't ever let me have to say that again. I beg.

Now onto the fun stuff

I didn't know what I wanted as a first topic so my trusty internet friend @moonlitceleste suggested astruc’s writing… 

AND BOI do i got some opinions on ole tommy boi. Again I don't hate the dude. In fact, he has worked on a few shows that had defined my childhood, including but not limited to W.I.T.C.H. (all eps available on youtube for those interested, 2 seasons, general fun time all around).

So I don't think he’s scum of the earth but I do think his approach to writing mlb specifically has more misses than hits.

The first big miss is that he has no idea how to write 14 year old girls. At all. Almost every girl he has ever written feels like some terrible archetype built entirely for marketability and childish projection and pubescent self-insert (kind of). He has never been a 14 year old girl. I have. In fact when the show first aired, I WAS around the (assumed) age of the mlb characters. The behaviour he passes off as quirky or awkward or just the character’s genuine personality tend to perpetuate harmful stereotypes of teen girls found in the media and are never actually addressed as harmful. they just get swept under the rug. Marinette’s exuberant collage of teen heart throb model boi Adrien Agreste and her very painful almost fan worship she has of him (which flip flops like a paper sandal in the rain) being portrayed as a cute school girl crush uwu, Chloe being the y7 Regina George, Alya being the token best friend of colour with her ‘sassy’ personality (i want y'all to imagine me eyerolling so hard i bust a vessel in my eye), Kagami being the very damaging Perfect Asian Child stereotype. And before y'all get on your dusty soap box and defend going on about “BUT IT'S FOR CHILDREN”,,,, know this.

 i don’t give a solid fuck. 

Not one. 

Children arent stupid. Children are always going to remember the richy bitchy blonde who bullies the art kid, and the big kid, and the shy kid, and the non white kids, and was only nice to her equally rich white friend who she probably had a crush on or was only ever civil to her equally white lapdog. They're going to remember the half asian girl who was never allowed to actually be asian or the only black girl who existed solely as a soundboard for enabling bad habits or chastising the main character for the same habits she enables in the first place (boi aint THAT a topic for later). Like do i really need to explain that alya chastising marinette for taking max’s spot in gamer just to play with adrien rings absolutely hollow when she actively encourages her to sabotage the contest she’s in just so Kagami doesn't win?? Like I don't have to explain that right?? Again kids arent stupid and its quite something that Mari gets chastised for proving herself the best video game player regardless of her intentions just cuz it comes at the expense of max’s feelings/ego but is actively encouraged to sabotage not only kagami but herself by extension cuz kagami is ‘competition.’ Adrien is not a trophy to be won. And no I don't expect 14 yrs old to be perfect and to always make good decisions but these decisions are never addressed as being bad decisions. they get swept under the rug cuz those decisions were necessary for the ‘plot’ but astruc can barely keep characterization consistent and his characters suffer for it and it's the same children you preach are watching it that suffer as well. Cuz guess what? I KNOW 14 yr olds aren't like that cuz i've been there done that (this is the last time i'm saying that i promise) so I know astruc is just metaphorically throwing darts to figure out who says and does what without consideration for pre established personalities to drive the stalemate plot along. The same kids you say are watching this don't know that that's not how preteens work and will absorb and internalize those dynamics like baking soda and vinegar. Cata-fucking-strophically. 

And I haven't even gotten to the boys yet. Which honestly doesn't require much explanation anyways cuz they suffer the same fate as the girls. Tired archetypes with nothing to give them life. Nino falls into Adrien’s person of colour token best friend who dates the female lead’s person of colour token best friend so they can have cute double dates uwu. Except the plot goes nowhere and we have no inclination of romantic development beyond moments that only act to actively convince me to anti ship the lovesquare (i don't want to do that so i self indulge in fanon that actually cares about the characters and plot. may i interest you in True Sight on AO3?). Max is the residential nerd but it doesn't matter (cuz he and everyone are dumbed down for the sake of ‘plot’), kim is the sports jock (which interestingly subverts the asian comedic relief stereotype but only barely) and luka is cute older guy ™ that wears black nail polish and is in a band. The point of all this is to say there is no depth in the characters. It's especially blatantly obvious with the characters astruc doesn't like (chloe). Again, it being a show for kids is not an excuse to be absolved of putting effort into the characters you make.

This is one of the biggest misses astruc has. I haven't even gone into all the nuances of this particular miss. And i havent gone into how that works against him in the plot either. Mostly because the plot itself hasn't gone anywhere and partially because I wanted to go into the plot (or lack thereof) separately as its own miss. 

AND BOI is it a miss. 

SO home boy astruc wanted to reap the benefits of a serial show with ‘engaging’ plot without putting in any of the work to make a linear storyline and relying on the episodic format for, again, marketability. You can't have the best of both worlds, you are not Avatar: The Last Airbender. Which btw has a lot less episodes and a desired end goal that didn't involve top dollar. Legend of Korra did but that's not the point and it had its failings with that too. I challenge you, tell me how many episodes actually contribute towards a plot point or introduce new thematic elements to the show? Can you name them? I can and I'm going to include the plot points that moved the story in some direction if only temporarily. Yes only temporarily for some of these and i will explain later. (if you're in the server you already saw this list *wink*)

25/26. Origins- self explanatory, the beginning of the story, 

24. Volpina- introduction of the grimoire and Master Fu (kind of) and no, Lila is not a plot point,

28. The Collector- proper introduction of Master Fu,

37. Sapotis- introduction of Rena Rouge,

41. Syren- introduction of new aquatic power ups,

44. Anansi- introduction of Carapace,

47. Frozer- introduction of new ice power ups,

48/49. Style Queen- introduction of Queen Bee,

51/52. Heroes’ Day- introduction of Mayura and mass akumatization,

66. Startrain- introduction of Pegasus,

67. Kwami Buster- Marinette wears multiple miraculouses,

68. Feast- backstory as to how the miraculouses were lost,

69. Ikari Gozen- introduction of Ryuko,

70. Timetagger- introduction of Bunnyx,

71. Party Crasher- introduction of Roi Singe and Viperion,

73. Chat Blanc- alternate timeline that essentially means nothing but got a reaction out of fans anyways (myself included)

 77/78. Love Eater/Battle of Miraculous- Marinette becomes guardian and other heroes lose their miraculous,

New York Special- other heroes exist and there is an American miraculous box,

That's 21 episodes. 21 out of a heaping 78 plus 2 specials. Everything else was just your typical akuma of the day episode and everything that happened outside that had no lasting consequences on the plot thanks to the miraculous status quo. Was it entertaining to watch Lila stir the plot of the class dynamic? Hell yeah. Too bad it meant nothing by the end of the episode cuz we were struck with miraculous status quo. She literally doesn't appear again until Heroes Day. that is from episodes 25 all the way to 51, she means nothing and yet she is treated with the severity of a b-villain/rival thing. She means nothing by the end of Volpina if I'm being honest. She is only relevant for 20 mins of episode time she’s in then it's back to magic status quo that undoes any shift in dynamics and relationships. It's like Spongebob who can't get his driver’s license. The worst part is I actually like Lila and I wish the story treated her with the seriousness we as an audience are expected to treat her with. Despite being painfully inconsequential by the end of each of the 3?? 4?? episodes she’s in, it's entertaining to watch a character create drama just because. 

Too bad it means nothing.

Astruc is constantly building up suspense to something ‘important’ only for it to not deliver and fans are constantly having the rug pulled out from under us. Oblivio teased us with a reveal only that gets undone cuz memory akuma. Chat Blanc teased us with romantic development but that gets undone cuz time travel bullshit. Feast introduced more miraculous lore and the history of the guardians but that means nothing by the next episode or ever (i'm not including any reference to the season 4 trailer cuz i've been around the block a few times and im familiar with this lil dancy dance). Heroes Day teased us with a possible future team of heroes but that gets undone in Battle of Miraculous cuz ????? why?? (here's why; astruc was having a jolly ole time letting us know how irredeemable Chloe is at the expense of shooting his own stagnant plot in the foot. Again, discussion for later.)

Too bad anything that slightly swerves off course from the akuma of the day gets undone or ignored. Too bad nothing has any lasting consequence. I mean, if anything did, the episodes would have had a consistent order and release schedule so im not scrambling to watch the leaked ep in Portuguese or something while the french dub is two episodes behind while the english version hasnt even been dubbed. I really wonder how he plans to conclude the show when he’s so afraid to step out of the corner he painted himself in.

Again, not going into nuances. If you want you can ask for more specifics (i doubt anyone would) but this is really just a slightly detailed general overview of my opinions on astruc’s writing. 

I was going to include another miss in his approach to this show but imma save that for another time. 

How’s that for a ‘first’ post?

[arlakos]

Why Lila could have been one of  the best characters in Miraculous

Yeah what I'm about to write will be controversial to everyone who hates Lila Rossi - That is to say, anyone. But I’ve been working on it for a while, so at least have a small read of it first.

If you’re one of those people that will send me angry comments about why I'm wrong and why I should leave this website, then you should probably skip over this.

Lila Rossi Is one of those characters that are really hated by the Miraculous Fandom at large. After appearing in one episode in season 1, she was generally ignored until season 2 when they realized she existed in the finale, then quickly became the official most hated character after booting Chloe off the pedestal (who was already shaky on it due to the Queen Bee Trilogy making her a hero and the season 2 finale). People have written blog posts about why they hate her, writing threads on Reddit about why they hate Lila and have written so many fix-it fics on ao3 to ‘fix’ the horror that was Chameleon (which doesn't actually fix any part of the story whatsoever and instead unceremoniously gun her down along with the class in some of the fics). The fandom hates her. You hate her. Period.

So why am I writing a post on why I think Lila could have been one of the best characters ever written and is generally opposing the entire fandoms viewpoint?

It’s simple really. I’m not

Just like everyone else here I hate the canon version of Lila Rossi. I hate how in season 3 she just lies so blatantly and stupidly as well, not because she is a liar per se, but because of the fact that when she is present the characters in the story become so moronic to make the story work. I hate the fact that she is evil for literally no reason other than just because, much like how I hated Chloe in season 1. I hated the fact that they were building her up all season and with such bad writing only for her to be tossed aside just so that Astruc could make sure that Chloe was unredeemable in the finale! I hate it and I hated her. I wanted her gone.

But regardless, I still think she had the potential to become one of the best-written characters in the show. ‘Could have’ being the keyword in this regard.

So I'm asking you all to take a trip back in time to before the nightmare that was season 3 and the boring monotony that was season 2 for the most part. Let's go back to the last episode of the season (officially): Volpina

When Volpina actually came out, I actually liked the episode. It was the first time that a character that was introduced that wasn’t a goody-two-shoes like the others (Chloe not counting of course) and seemed to have her own goals and motives. Yeah she was still a liar back then and yeah characters in the show were written as idiots for it to work, but it seemed at the time it more that she was a new girl trying to impress the class, sure in an underhanded way, but still, something that felt normal in a school life. To me, it felt like just a regular cartoon involving a school life, and I was fine with that.

Marinette as well was a blast in the first half, but not because she was being heroic, but because of how obvious it was that she was jealous as hell of Lila being with Adrien. Yeah, Ass-truc says on his twitter its because Marinette hates Liars and she's totally being heroic by ‘heroically’ stalking Adrien and Lila’s Library session, but considering she herself Lies in order to maintain her secret identity, Ass-truc is spitting some bs right there.

Also, that scene where Ladybug ousts Lila as a Liar was in no way heroic at all and could have easily been done in a more quiet and not-as-embarrassing manner. In fact, if you ignore Ass-trucs ridiculous claims that Marinette ONLY went after Lila because she hates Liars, then you have a story about a girl being jealous of another girl for going after the same boy, and then using an underhanded trick (being an freaking superhero!) to essentially prevent the rival from getting close to the boy, all the while justifying it under some ridiculous claim that it was because “she was evil!”. Marinette was an actual prick in this episode and in no way heroic in the first half. She was despicable, and I loved every bit of it.

And that bit where Lila pretty much says ‘fuck you’ to Ladybug was perfect. Yeah, after being made a fool in public than being given an apology for the BS Ladybug caused, even I would act in that way. It didn’t matter that Lila was Lying, she acted like a real person and I loved it.

Yeah, the episode overall wasn’t perfect. The superhero bits were rushed like hell and should have been a two-parter, and the bits about Lila lying were a bit too outlandish for me to take seriously, but I loved the episode overall.

So why did I basically do a recap of an episode?

Because of the contrast in comparison to season 3.

Season 1 Lila was a new girl who Lied just to impress the class and impress a cute supermodel boy, while Lila in season 3 lies for the sake of being manipulative and getting in the way of people’s lives.

But enough about Canon Lila, let's talk about what she could have been... 

Assuming Lila would remain through the entirety of season 2, her entire character, instead of simply being focused in writing as just ‘a liar who lies’ as Ass-truc has so ‘generously’ written her she could have instead been written as a foil for Marinette, but also someone who is a darker mirror of her as well. Because to be fair, it would be a much more interesting story compared to the season 3 we have now, and when you think about it they have a lot of similarities when you take all the bias out:

-Marinette and Lila regularly have lied to people for the sake of their goals

-Both Marinette and Lila at their worst have been somewhat creepy. Marinette had a planner to constantly follow Adrien around and sniffed him thinking he was a statue. Lila has also been rather intrusive on Adrien's personal space. Yeah it isn't a 1:1 comparison but the point still stands

-Both have carried unusually petty grudges against people. Marinette hates Lila because she lies (even though the latter had no impact on her as a whole and didn't do anything to her) while Lila hates Marinette because the former called her out once. Both have gone out of their way to get rid of the other simply because both are so petty. Marinette even more so if you believe she goes after Lila because of Adrien.

-Both have had superpowers (at one point or another)

-Both have a dislike for Chloe (Kinda simple I know)

Now that I have shown how similar the two are, lets set up the story for the two.

For Lila, to give her some depth, could have a reason given for her lying beyond the plain and boring idea of being popular. For example: 

‘Being the daughter of a mom constantly moving countries for the sake of her job, Lila never stays too long at a school for her to become familiar with people and make new friends. As she observes people, she feels most of them are fake, only putting on masks of kindness, and that no one in the world truly cares about others, least of all her. So to make herself feel better, she creates stories about herself to amaze her classmates. She learns their likes and dislikes and appeals to their desires to that people will like her. To Lila, it doesn't matter, because its all that she knows, and if it makes them happy, who cares if she is lying. And once she goes, she disappears. And no one will remember her...’

It doesn't make her immediately sympathetic, but it doesn’t make her a one-dimensional villain like in canon. To put it simply, in this new canon Lila lies not out of pure villainy, but because it's for her own sake, for her to make friends and feel wanted. Lila in this version is rather nice provided you don't snoop around her secrets and try to out her, she just acts normal. I do imagine her having a hidden personality behind that mask of kindness, but nothing actually rude or villainous behind it.

Also for this revised version, I don’t actually think she would love Adrien (at least at first). I would imagine her trying to woo him simply because it would make her fit in more with everyone else

 To Lila, protecting her secret is most important to her, so of course, she would get defensive and protective of it when she encounters...

Marinette, also known as the hero Ladybug

I know that a lot of people on this website find Marinette so precious, but I legitimately cannot stand her. In canon, she has stalked a boy, making a planner to track him down at all times and has abused her powers to interfere with his love life, regardless of what he thinks. She constantly does things without caring for others such as ruining Max’s attempts to get into a gaming tournament just so she can spend time with Adrien, and rather than having to face the consequences of her actions, she fixes the stuff as a hero, apologizes and is immediately rewarded for her piss poor actions. Not to mention the Malediktator episodes where she insults Chloe in the first half, only to have her be nice to Chloe just so she can have backup for the Akuma fight. I hate it.

So how would I fix it? By making Marinette almost as bad as she is. Not so much by being a villain, but by having Marinette be as hypocritical as Lila when it comes to her behavior.

For example, in the Volpina episode, have Marinette be jealous of Lila for being close to Adrien, and then when Lila does the thing regarding the fake Miraculous, Marinette would transform into Ladybug and use her secret identity to humiliate Lila in front of Adrien and keep her away from him. Only for Master Fu and Tikki to IMMEDIATELY CALL HER OUT ON IT!

And this is what the relationship between the two would focus on: Lila and Marinette’s pointless battle for dominance, and as a bonus have a story focus on Marinette’s hypocrisy and her coming to terms with it and overcoming it. Have a moment where Marinette calls her a liar, only for Lila to call her out on it, saying she lies to get away from her friends for whatever reasons shes got (ofc Lila doesn't know Mari is Ladybug). These example moments could be used to develop Marinette as an actual person, without having to pretend she is this innocent person who does nothing wrong and everything right (as Ass-truc so smugly claims). It doesn't mean she can’t hate Liars, but it would make her as human as anyone else in the show.

To make it clear, this wouldn’t make Lila the innocent one in this story. In order to balance the story, Lila would resort to some of her own underhand tactics to either scare Marinette away or force her to back off, such as threatening the friendship between Alya and Marinette or sabotaging peoples trust in Mari.

Basically it would make the rivalry between the two to come off as pointless, which makes sense given their characters at the time and would help with the conclusion of the arc.

If you wanted to add even more drama to it, have Adrien attempt to help Lila to become a better person and not be a compulsive Liar. That way Lila actually realizes that people can actually be kind (instead of being fake like she imagines everyone) and ends up falling in love (for real) with the lovable dork being so kind to her, making the story into an actual love triangle and making the conflict with Marinette and Lila even tenser.

So the question is: how would you end this tale?

With Marinette now being shown to be somewhat hypocritical in her actions and in many ways similar to Lila, the fight between her and Lila is showed to be pointless, there are two ways the tale could end:

-If we wanted to have a tale where both characters are redeemed, the story could be that Marinette and Lila both realize the error of their ways and bury the hatchet after their conflict affects not only themselves but the people around them, including Adrien. For the sake of others and themselves, they stop and eventually forgive each other for their actions.

-Alternatively, if you wanted to have Lila be a villain, the story could be written to involve both of them escalating their actions, but only at the point of no return does Marinette realize what she has become. She renounces her bad actions and promises to be a better person, not only for herself but for the people around her, such as Tikki, her family, and friends. Lila in contrast, cannot turn back due to being alone, and everything falls around her. She ruins herself and ends up moving to a new school.

That would be a good way to end the conflict. Not only would it give Marinette some good character development, but it also helps turn Lila from a generic villain into a moral adversary for the former that challenges Marinette to learn what it means to actually be a nice person and not just nice when preferred.

It is through this type of writing that Lila could have been a better character than the canonical version that we have gotten, whether as a villain or as a complex neutral character. 

The Lila Rossi that was given to us in the actual show was nothing short of a disappointment in season 3, and the character was barely utilized to her full potential back in season 1. But I still think that through a bit of good writing, she could have become a character that people would love to hate or hate to love through writing that both develops the show and its main cast. It pains me to see a show with so much potential being squandered for the sake of generic mustache-twirling villainy and one-dimensional character, but at least I can try to show what a show with better writing could possibly do.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Feel free to take a bag of salt on the way out.

[lnc2]

An Episode as Generic as Its Name: A Stormy Weather 2 Breakdown

I have a lot of... feelings about this glorified in case you missed it recap and they’re all clamoring to be discussed at once so this will not be a pretty essay but a salt dump because that’s all my frantic hands can take.

Mrs. Lot don’t have shit on me rn.

First of all, it’s ironic that an episode centered around the idea of change goes out of its way to highlight just how much hasn’t changed at all. Recap episodes are never my favorite, but especially here, when every monologue from the characters accompanies a flashback that contradicts the very idea that the writers are trying to push forward.

Chloe’s flashbacks did not show her moments of growth, but only her nastiness, reinforced in the present by her continued nastiness.  Gabriel is after the miraculous. Nino and Alya are in love.  Marinette is able to hang out with Adrien, Adrien gets to go to school. Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug.  Ladybug thinks she and Chat are a great team.

I hesitate to even say that Nathalie has changed at all– her behavior is the same we just were given an insight into her head.

... So what exactly were the changes that were supposed to be highlighted?

Instead of focusing on Chloe’s softer moments, or Marinette’s bravery vis a vis Ladybug and understanding vis a vis Adrien, we’re forced to watch half an hour of transformation sequences and flashbacks that show us how ML is in its 3rd season and the plot hasn’t really progressed at all.

The amount of times everyone was like, wow, we’ve changed so much! made me think that this episode was just supposed to be a writers room call out to skeptical fans saying “Here!  I’ll walk you through their character growth that’s happened over the last two seasons.  Now shut up and watch the show!”

Unfortunately it failed spectacularly.

Thinking beyond the heavy-handed theme for this episode, one thing that I will say it did well was highlighting the major players arcs in this series.

And not in a good way.

Poor Chloe.  I’m not sure what they’re trying to tell us about her character– one episode we’re being beat over the head with the idea that people can change and we should give unlimited second chances, and ultimately Chloe has the capacity for good.  Which we’ve seen.  Chloe’s moments of vulnerability are beautiful.  And then she’s right back to being the absolute worst.  And not in a “these things take time” kind of way but in a confusing, wtf is happening kind of way.  Are we supposed to root for her or not?  Is her redemption happening or not?

“Once a villain, always a villain?” I don’t know Zag, you tell me.

Alya and Nino definitely get the short end of the stick here.  As much as I love DJWifi, latter half of S2 and all of their appearances in S3 focus around their relationship as far as it extends to each other and not their great qualities as heroes in their own right or their relationships to their friends.  How is their arc only found in their relationship?  Nino, who was akumatized for his best friend, and Alya, who theoretically wants nothing more than to be a journalist and does anything for the story, have been pushed to the side. (Note: I love that we get to see a happy, healthy POC relationship.  The issue lies in this being their only arc.)

The Agreste storyline manages to be the stalemate shitshow it’s always been.  Gabriel hasn’t changed and with the exception of Nathalie taking on Mayura, neither has that house.

Which brings me to Adrien and Marinette.

Marinette, ugh they did you so dirty here.  I cannot articulate how angry this makes me so I’ll break it down into points:

1. Marinette’s “changes” as presented in this episode revolve entirely around her ability to hang out with Adrien.  Not in her growth as a person, not in her gaining confidence as Ladybug and conquering her fears, not as being the bigger person.  But in how she got to hang out with her crush.

2. They didn’t even show the right changes she’s made.  Marinette always tried to hang out with Adrien.  It would have made a better point with what I think they were going for at the end of this episode to show how Marinette’s feelings have moved from I just want to date him to I want him to be happy even if it’s not with me which we see in Frozer and Captain Hardrock and the Collector to name a few.

3. Tikki’s comment that now starts the beginning of a new, self-improved Marinette completely BAFFLES me.  Beyond the fact that every episode is about improving Marinette whether she needs it or not, nothing changed in this episode from beginning to end.  She dropped off Adrien’s homework as she did before. She already was willing to let him go in Frozer.  Emphasizing how she appreciates his friendship isn’t new here.

Then we have Adrien.  Adrien who is arguably the least changed character from beginning to end.  The only changes shown are his ability to go to school and have friends and we got that in Origins.  There really isn’t much to say here except to bemoan the fact that Adrien is given so few opportunities by the writers to change that even when he’s had those opportunities (Copycat!) they are presented as if he was the one in the right and didn’t need to alter his behavior in anyway.  He even had his moment in Glaciator where he told Ladybug he accepted that she was his friend only to be a total jackass in Frozer when the same issue came up.

Which brings me to Plagg’s little monologue about Ladybug “standing him up” and confessing that she liked someone else.  It was very clear in Glaciator that Marinette never said she could make it to dinner and the way Ladybug is continually framed as being in the wrong here is maddening.  That and the fact that she told him she doesn’t feel the same way and he keeps pursuing her, and attention is drawn to that fact in this episode.  It makes me wonder how any of the writers could view any of this as character growth.

(Also where the fuck was Kagami?)

Now having said, all of this, you would think that an episode that spent nearly half an hour talking about change and moving forward etc. etc. might be building up to something.  And you would be

so wrong.

I held out hope for the end.  I honestly did. When Adrien compared the two letters from Marinette I thought maybe we’ll finally see some momentum with the love square.  Whether it was Adrien’s revelation about Marinette’s crush or even her identity as Ladybug I honestly didn’t care.  I just wanted something to happen.

And it didn’t.

Instead we got a reset button. 

Another, another “lol jk just a friend” with the only exciting actual change in this entire half hour being the Luka/Marinette foreshadowing.

We’re in Season 3 pulling Season 1 jokes.

Will they or won’t they doesn’t work when they never actually do anything.

And finally, in the spirit of actually doing something. 

Someone, please, explain something to me.

Of all the akumas to invoke, why the hell did they choose Stormy Weather, a fan favorite, and not even do anything interesting with her?  I’m all for breaking formulas and having akumas be background nonsense – Clara confusedly describing LB’s lucky charm is how we work around it in fics–  but I want an actual plot to go with it.

We were baited and switched, forced to watch a half hour webisode that attempted to show us growth but only served to highlight how much of a let down this show has been.

Stormy Weather marked a promising beginning.

So why does Stormy Weather 2 make me feel like we haven’t moved forward at all?

[that-sokovian-bastard]

Miraculous Rent

Words: 1935 Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Rated: Teen for language Summary: The ot4 have to do a project for class that includes them choosing an original play/musical and compare it to the modern adaptation. Adrien, Nino, Alya, and Marinette choose La Boheme and Rent, and instead of doing actual work, they get caught up dancing to the songs and choosing which character they would be. Authors Note: So this is my first Miraculous fic that I’m actually publishing, so let’s see how this goes. It was a ton of fun, so yeah!

Rent spoilers, but i think that’s kinda obvious.

Based on this lovely headcanon from @gijinkart

Ao3

When the class was told to choose a classic play and research the modern adaptations, many kids sounded bored by the idea. But when they were allowed to choose their groups, everyone was a little happier.

It was obvious that Nino and Adrien asked Alya and Marinette to be in their group, as Nino and Alya have a thing and Alya is always trying to push together Adrien and Marinette. It was just a plus that they all worked so well together, and they were excited, too.

Adrien offered that they all come over to his house after school and they can research classic musicals to find one they liked. They only had a week to do the project, and with the crazy schedules teenagers have, it was easier to start right away.

Alya and Marinette met Adrien and Nino outside as they waited or Adrien's driver to arrive at the school. He already contacted Nathalie to add to his schedule that he would be working on a group project, so that way his father could not say he had new plans for him. And Adrien was more than excited to be able to hang out with his friends for a few hours, even if it was for a school project.

"All of these seem so boring!" Nino groaned as he looked through the list on his computer. Nothing was really grabbing anyone's attention since they were so old and different. Granted, the project was to compare the classic and the modern adaptation, but some still seemed like they hadn't changed much.

Alya put her hand up after scrolling a bit more. "Oh, this one! Its adaptation is Rent!" She caught everyone's attention. "La Boheme. I didn't know that was the original," She confessed.

Adrien took the computer from her with a smile. "Let's do some research." Adrien began typing away on the keyboard and everyone gathered around. He pulled up a page on Rent and a page on La Boheme. They read about La Boheme, and decided it would be more fun to watch the movie version of Rent instead. They had time, as it was a Friday and could stay as late as their parents allowed. Adrien claimed his father would be leaving for another trip early in the morning and Nathalie wouldn't care if everyone ended up staying over.

Time quickly passed as the four friends watched Rent on Adrien's TV in his room; laughing and smiling in the beginning, but crying in act two. "Act two is always sadder," Marinette declared, "That's just how it is," She told the group as she wiped her eyes with the bottom of her shirt.

"Why did Angel have to die? She was the best, and so pure, and Collins was so sad..." Alya whispered as she tried to hold back her tears as well.

The movie was over and Adrien shut off the TV. "I'm Mark."

Nino turned to Adrien with a strange look on his face. "Where do you get that impression?"

Adrien smirked like he was made for this moment. He pulled out his phone and pressed a button, making "The Tango: Maureen" play through the speakers.

"There's another way...say something, anything," Adrien mouthed along to Anthony Rapp singing.

"Test one, two, three!" Alya stood up singing, and walked towards Adrien with a strange look on her face.

"Anything but that," He playfully rolled his eyes and walked around her. Nino and Marinette watched as the two interacted with each other. They were both ready to see if they would actually tango, and it was times like these Marinette wished she had actually paid attention when they were dancing in gym class.

"This is weird"

"It's weird."

"Very weird."

"Fucking weird!"

They continued to walk around trying to portray the angry characters, and doing a great job at it. Adrien stopped walking to prepare himself for the next line, and he was excited to start the tango. "Honey, I know this act; it's called "The Tango: Chole!" Adrien replaced 'Maureen' with the beloved classmate, making the other three friends burst out laughing.

"The tango: Chole!" Adrien spun in a circle with his arms up, "It's a dark dizzy merry-go-round!"

Alya got closer to Adrien with an annoyed look on her face as more lyrics passed. "I think I know what you mean..." She sang.

"The tango: Chole!" Adrien joined in and they continued to sing, the best parts coming at random times.

"Has she ever pouted her lips and called you 'Alyakins?'" Adrien sang, trying his hardest to make it sound more like Chloe and the strange nickname Chloe always gave him.

Alya scoffed and had to try very hard to keep herself from laughing. "Never." And they started to tango all over Adrien's room. Adrien started out leading. But once Alya started to lead, to say Adrien was intimidated would be an understatement.

They stopped dancing and broke into laughter after about halfway through the song and Adrien pressed the pause button. "Wait," Marinette interrupted all the laughing, "Alya, why would you want to be the Joanne to Chole's Maureen?"

Alya smirked and walked over to Marinette, putting her hands up. "Awe, kiss pookie?" Marinette chuckled and pushed her best friend away. "Plus, can you imagine Chloe saying 'moo with me?'" Alya added, making the group laugh again.

Nino's jaw dropped. "What am I? Am I nothing to you people?"

Adrien walked past the two girls. "You'd obviously be Roger, music man," Adrien pointed to Nino's headphones and got an approving nod from Nino. Then, he turned to Marinette with a puzzling look. "And Marinette would be," He paused to think, "Mimi?"

Marinette's face flushed when Alya looked over to her and then over to Adrien. "M. Agreste," Alya started, "Are you implying that Marinette has the best ass?"

Adrien's jaw dropped. That wasn't the way he meant for it to come out! He knew Marinette had a nice voice and she could hit all the notes Mimi had to, and it would be interesting for Nino and her to have songs together! "N-no!" Adrien shouted, his face turning pink. "I mean, she does have a nice- uh- she has a nice voice! I'm saying she has a nice voice!" Adrien yelled in embarrassment, trying to explain himself. He covered his mouth and cheeks, trying to hide the redness, and fell on the couch. "I'm sorry Mari, please don't hate me," Adrien whispered as he turned his head to her. Marinette couldn't even come up with a response, and she just nodded while she could hear Tikki giggling in her bag.

"Nice save, kid," Plagg snickered to Adrien. This was the first he had even heard Plagg speak all night; he was surprised he wasn't begging for food right now.

Marinette looked over to Nino for help to get her out of this, but instead, he just nudged her side. "I didn't recognize you without the handcuffs," And he put his hands above his head like they did in the show. She wasn't sure her face could get any redder, but it did.

"I can't stand any of you!" Marinette shouted, walking away from everyone teasing her.

Adrien shrugged. "I guess I don't know if I could see Marinette being Mimi. They're so different," Adrien tried to talk quietly, but Marinette heard him.

"Is that a challenge, Adrien?" Marinette turned around abruptly. She was never one to back down from a challenge, and if it was a chance to show everyone that their teasing was dumb, she would do it.

"N-no?" Adrien answered, but it came out more as a question. "Maybe, I don't know?"

Marinette smirked and she knew what she had to do. "Since we saw Alya and Adrien do a song together, maybe it's time for Nino and I to give it a go," Marinette suggested and pointed to Alya to play a song. She had no idea where this confidence was coming from, but she liked it. She wasn't freaking out around Adrien, and she was actually having fun!

Out Tonight started to play and Marinette laughed at Alya's song choice. "This one? Really?"

"Yeah, you told me to chose! This is your challenge to prove you can actually be Mimi!" Alya encouraged.

Marinette took a deep breath and started to move to the music. "What's the time?" She sang, "Well, it's gotta be close to midnight! My body's talking to me, it says 'time for danger!'" She danced around with her eyes shut, letting her body move to the music without even thinking. She was supposed to be like a cat for this song, and thinking back to how Chat Noir acts was helping with her confidence. He's such a flirt, and just goes with whatever is thrown at him. It was hard for Adrien to keep his jaw closed, as the way she moved did seem very Mimi-like. He was impressed, and her voice was perfect for the part. She may be a quiet girl with a small talking voice, but her singing voice is powerful and able to project it as much as she would like.

Marinette still had her eyes shut as she tried to envision what she looked like, and how much Chat would have loved to see Ladybug doing this. He would be so proud she was taking notes from him, and it made her smile.

"Meow! Ha!" Her eyes popped open and she turned to where Nino was sitting and watching. She started singing towards him, as he was the Roger of the group. Marinette couldn't tell at the time, but like Adrien with Alya, he was intimidated beyond belief.

Marinette danced around and sang her heart out, and surprised everyone. No one had seen her act like this before, not even Alya. "Please take me, out...tonight!" She sang loudly. The song ended as well as her adrenaline rush, and she collapsed on the couch next to Nino.

"Holy, wow, Marinette..." Alya started and stood in front of Marinette, "I've never seen you like that before."

Marinette smiled with a shrugged. "I channeled my inner Chat Noir. He's a flirt." Adrien stood watching the interaction between Alya and Marinette without a thing to say. She...she channeled Chat Noir? Was he really like that? Did he really show that side of himself to people other than Ladybug? He needs to watch out more.

Marinette turned her head to see that Nino was still in shock from what just happened. "I think I broke your boyfriend...maybe you would be a better Mimi to Nino's Roger," Marinette suggested to Alya. She didn't give a straight answer, but shrugged and continued to talk to Marinette as Adrien helped Nino recover.

"We're screwed, bro," Nino whispered so the girls wouldn't hear.

"Oh, I know," Adrien replied. "But we'll always be the best of friends and Brotp's even in a hypothetical Rent situation," Adrien told him, and they fist bumped.

"And what about when Joanne and Maureen are fighting? You would make for a perfect Maureen there!" Alya suggested to Marinette, but Marinette just brushed off what she was saying. "Just think about it!"

Alya was left discussing her ideas with Marinette. Marinette couldn't seem to get her to stop, so she joined in. "You were flirting with the woman in rubber!" Alya shouted, trying to sound like Joanne.

Marinette rolled her eyes and spread her arms, scoffing before she talked. "There will always be women in rubber flirting with me!" Marinette playfully argued back. "Boys, girls, I can't help it, baby!"

[animation-flirtation]

Sweeter Chapter 7

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12157017/7/Sweeter

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

The morning air felt clean and crisp with each breath she took, heavy guitar music was ringing in her ears as she stared at the baby blue sky. Mornings were beautiful, and she never would have truly known that small little fact if she hadn’t of made this small little change. She was sitting on the cold stone bench the same one she had been waiting for Adrien on yesterday, and replaying in her mind every single one of his smiles, what a perfect way to start every day, sunrises and smiles she felt her cheeks warm at her unintended but absolutely desired hidden meaning, every day, His smiles. She shifted her gaze from the sky to the changing leafs, gold with spots of green they fanned out above her reaching for the sky in every direction, the music echoing from her small ear buds changed setting a different mood. It was a slow rock balled from one of Jagged Stones first albums, it was sweet but a little sad, it had always been her favorite but now she couldn’t help the image of blond hair and shining leaf green eyes that entered her mind every time it played. She closed her eyes so she could picture his just a little better getting lost in a song of hope and fear but most of all love.

Adrien wiped at his tired eyes between the crying and the lack of sleep it was no surprise that they ached. The morning sun wasn’t helping much but he wanted to get to school early, just in case the reason for his restless mind was waiting. Marinette was quite the enigma, over the last 24 hours she had been surprising him at every turn, between her new confidant demeanor, her incredible combat skills, and the way she brushed off Chat like he was just another boy and not the hero of Paris, Adrien to say the least was curious. He wanted to know more to understand how that much sass could fit in such a tiny girl, it felt strange to want to know more about someone he had already known for years, but he also felt like he couldn’t till now.

Looking towards the school he could see her sitting in the same spot as yesterday, he gave her a smile and a wave but was surprised to see she did not return the gesture.  As he got closer he noticed she was listening to music and completely unaware of his arrival. She was captured by the song that was playing a soft smile on her pink lips, her long lashes gently resting on her freckled cheeks, and her raven hair cascading down her shoulders shining blue where the light trickled through the branches of the tree. He felt his mouth go dry, how had he never noticed her before, really noticed her, she’s beautiful. He snapped his head away looking at anything but her as he felt guilt and embarrassment rise in his chest, not as beautiful as my lady of course, he thought defending himself to no one. With rose tinted cheeks he shook his head clearing away all of those thoughts and deciding on how to get her attention. When a mischievous idea came to mind and a grin so catlike took over his face had anyone seen it, he undoubtedly would have been reveled.

Walking on the balls of his feet he crept around the tree and peeked back at the bench where his target let out a small little sigh and removed the buds from her ears. Being careful not to step on any fallen leafs he slowly positioned himself behind her as she wrapped the cord around her phone, finally some payback, he thought wickedly, though he wasn’t surprising her in the same way she had him he would take it.  

“Good Morning Marinette!” he greeted loudly as he tapped on her shoulder. She let out a loud unearthly squawk and jumped so high he worried for a moment she would get stuck in the tree. When she turned to face her attacker her face was shadowed with confusion.

“A-ADRIEN!?!” She shouted and pursed her lips as her cheeks flamed bright red “You scared me half to death!” he couldn’t decided if she was frustrated or flustered, he hoped it was the latter.

“Oh no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I was just trying to say good morning.” He said trying his best to sound genuinely innocent. Her big blue eyes blinked up at him and looked away, for a moment she almost looked sorry for yelling at him playing right into his act, but she cast her gaze back right as a grin had formed on his face.

Her eyes went wide, she gasped and smacked his arm “You little liar! Oh my god! You Adrien Agreste are a trickster and a scoundrel! Here I thought you were a gentleman!” She huffed and turned her head in a pout, which only made him laugh, which only made her pout more.

“Oh come on Marinette I was just having a little fun” He said with a chuckle and leaned forward, she turned to face him and her cheeks turned beyond scarlet due to the new proximity of those gorgeous green eyes. She was unable to look away or form any words or any thoughts for that matter; she had never been this close for this long and she had never seen the flecks of gold or dark green rim that formed…

“Good morning Marinette” another voice shouted loudly jolting her out of her thoughts and caused a scream to come from her slightly parted mouth. Adrien began to laugh uncontrollably at her reaction as she turned to face her new enemy. Nino held up his hands defensively under her dark gaze “Jeez all I said was good morning!” another snort from the model cause the dark gaze to shift its focus back to the real problem but he only breathed through his laughs and wiped the corners of his eyes.

“Oh come on! That was funny!” he said letting out one last little chuckle that melted that dark glare and brought a light to her sunny blue eyes as she let out a little laugh placing a hand on her rapidly beating heart.

“Okay fine! It was funny but fuck it scared me,” she laughed again a light breezy one and turned to look at a thoroughly confused Nino.

“I have a feeling I missed something.” He said with a raised eyebrow.

“Nah nothing much, I was just being an ass.” Adrien stated

“Oh okay so nothing new.” Nino retorted which caused a snort from Marinette; Adrien looked offended and covered his heart with both of his hands.

“First you choose your girlfriend over me now this! Our relationship is falling apart Nino” Adrien cried dramatically

“Well get used to it pretty boy” Alya said as she draped her arm around Nino’s shoulder

“Morning babe” Nino greeted her and placed a kiss on her cheek. Now it was Adrien turn to pout

“How would you feel if I stole Marinette from you Alya!” He said continuing the bit and draping his arm around the designers frame he felt her instantly tense. Alya and Nino shared a knowing look and sly smiles became plastered on their faces.

“Oh I wouldn’t mind one bit, in fact I insist, please steal her away I’m sure she wouldn’t mind much either.” Alya said with a finger gun and a wink. Adrien cocked his head curiously not quite picking up what they were hinting at when he heard a very forced laugh come from his side.

“Oh Alya ever the jokester HA-HA-HA oh I have no idea what you could be implying, silly stupid loud mouth ALYA” she emphasized her best friends name through clenched teeth “Was that the bell? I’m sure I just heard the bell don’t you have my history book in your locker ALYA?? We should go get it okay?” she pulled away from him and grabbed the reporter’s wrist “bye boys see you at lunch? Okay bye bye.”

He watched confused as Marinette angrily mutter to her best friend who didn’t seem all that sorry “what was that all about?” he asked Nino

“Dude you are hopeless” Nino answered sounding exasperated, shaking his head he began the walk to their lockers. Which only left Adrien more baffled and confused then before as he slowly followed.

 She was staring at the ceiling wondering if her accounting and history professors exchange notes on how to make her time before seeing Adrien unbearable. Her thoughts were anywhere but in class her lids became heavy and her mind wandered to his eyes with the new added details she had seen this morning, when another pair entered her fantasy, deep emerald green that glowed in darkness. Chat?! Her eyes snapped open was I just fantasizing about Chat Noir! She felt her ears get hot as she remembered the gentleness in his voice and the shine in his eyes like she was the best part of his day. With her gloved hand she was never able to feel how soft his lips were. The sound of the bell cleared her mind of her dangerous non-adrien thoughts she grabbed her things and ran to go meet Alya.

They sat down in their usual spot by the stairs pulling out there lunches waiting for the boys to come by.

               Nino was the first to appear as he plopped down next to Alya “Whats up babe?”

“Nothing much, nice of you to finally join us” The reported stated.

“Oh yeah about that… um actually I was thinking about having lunch with my side hoe.” He said shrugging his shoulders

“Your who now?” Alya said folding her arms  

“Come on baby you know I’m a straight up playa” Alya cocked her eyebrow

Adrien joined his best friend grabbing his shoulder tight “Hey honey bear you ready to go?”

“Yeah baby, see what I mean Alya playas gotta play” Alya and Marinette let their laughter bubble over as they rolled their eyes

“Okay have fun you two” Alya said with a cheery smile. Marinette could help the little disappointed sigh that came out of her lips. She watched with a sad little pout as the boys stood up laughing at each other’s silliness and started to head out when Adrien turned and gave a short wave to Marinette. Her heart skipped a beat

“Bye Adrien.” She said with a sweet smile.

She turned to Alya only to see her knowing look and raised eyebrows. “Somebody is certainly giving you a lot of attention today.”

Marinette face burned but she had gotten so much teasing from Alya over the last few years she was used to it by now “I know, isn’t great.” She said with a confidant smile. “My heart almost can’t take it, Alya it’s happening he is seeing the real me, I feel like I can finally talk to him and really get to know him better.”

“You wanna know the best part?” her face unchanging “I’m pretty sure he likes the real you.”

A few years ago, hell even a few months ago an idea like that would have made her brain explode and her mouth not work, but now? It started to pop bubbles of hope everywhere inside her, her and Adrien, together? Every fantasy over the years may be coming true, maybe even more, more than she ever dared dream! Her face had now become hot as a fire “Alya you can’t just say things like that!”

Alya gave a good natured laugh “You better get used to the idea girl because the way that boy was looking at you it’s bound to happen.”

“Alya!”

“Although after how completely clueless he was this morning you might have to say something first.” She said thoughtfully.

The nervousness in her chest tightened at the thought of the moment she had been working up courage for since she met the adorable model. “Oh believe me, I’m going to say something and I’m going to say soon.” She said with a determined brow pumping her fist.

“Wow that’s a lot a talk from some who is just now able to speak to the boy.”

“Well not soon soon, got to follow the plan of course, but I’m sure as hell not backing out now. It’s like I’ve had this thing inside of me I’ve been trying to contain and now that I’m letting it live it wants to explode!”

“Speaking of saying things you haven’t been ready for…” Alya said suddenly softer

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Nino almost dropped a whole glob of gooey cheese from the pizza they were sharing in the park.

“Need a napkin? Adrien asked when he noticed the sauce on his chin.

“Nah bro, I’m saving all of this for later!” He said beaming wiping it up with his thumb.

“You seam extra happy today.” Adrien noted as he watch his friend lick each finger before responding.

“I am extra happy I’m enjoying a pizza with my best friend by future is bright and sunny just like this beautiful fucking day and I have a beautiful girlfriend who loves me.” His voice took a shy tone with his last statement.

Adrien stopped mid bite and turned his attention the blushing DJ “She said it!” He asked ecstatic. Nino nodded his head with a big smile plastered on his face, Adrien jumped over the pizza box tackling him in a big hug nearly making a mess of his designer jeans.  

He didn’t care; Nino had been waiting for those 3 words for months. He had dropped the “L word” 5 months into the relationship, when she responded “I need to think” and then proceeded to go home, he was sure he had screwed up major. After a few days of silence which was filled with video games, music and food as means to distract his heart broken friend, she finally decided to meet up to talk. Everyone was worried they were kind of the power couple of the school everyone looked up to their chill way of just being happy together. After they talked Adrien and Nino recapped the major parts of the conversation; She was beyond happy that he loved her, she was not mad, and it wasn’t that she didn’t love him back but she need more time. That’s all she had said about it she needed more time, she wanted to be sure, after all they were in high school. That had been around 4 months ago, Nino took it surprisingly well. “I knew how I felt when I told her, and I want her to know too, and if I have to wait I’ll wait.”  It inspired him honestly, he loved Ladybug but some days it was hard to wait and hope and to never know a true answer, but seeing Nino face the same problem with so much patience and love, made it all a little easier. Now seeing it all turn out for the best for his friends and their relationship he was more motivated than ever to love and keep trying.

“Congratulations man!! I’m so happy for you! How she say it? What happened?!”

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 “Well he hanging upside down off the side of my bed showing me his newest mix, when he started to fall off, it was so funny it was like he didn’t notice it at first and then in slow motion he just landed on his head. He started to laugh and his glasses were all crooked, and I just knew, it was like a warm blanket, I had felt it before but I wasn’t sure if that’s what it was but, in that moment looking at my goofball, laughing his ass off at his own stupidity, I just knew.” Alya was not one to blush or be shy but Nino had a way of turning her that way, It made Marinette so happy to see her friend so in love and to have it returned. 

“AWWW! Alya who knew you were such a softie! I love this side of you, almost as much as you looove your goofball.” She said teasing her friend with a twinkle in her eye

Alya just shrugged with a happy smile “love makes people stupid” quickly a cocky look took over her face “you of all people should know that.”

Marinette faked an offended gasp “I’m sure I have no idea what you are talking about” it felt nice to joke about something that used to feel so heavy, it felt nice to know that things could finally be falling into place. “So tell me more, what was his reaction?”

“Well first he was like in shock and then he completely fell off the bed and scrambled over to-“The loud bell was unhappily the end to the elated conversation. Both girls looked at each other with a sad shrug and gathered their things “Tell you more about it after Lit! Good luck with pretty boy and step 2.”

“Thanks Alya I’m really happy for you” she hugged her best friend goodbye and ran to get to class, stopping at the top of the stairs looking towards the front doors hoping to get one last look at the boy who always filled her thoughts, but sadly he was nowhere to be seen.

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She was not running to Lit today, she was keeping a very mild pace to build her courage. Focusing hadn’t been too hard for she was afraid where her mind would wander due to where they went earlier that day. The classroom was just down the hall now and she hadn’t come up with any ways to get to know Adrien better, she was starting to panic. She looked at her reflection in the passing windows and she didn’t see Ladybug at all, no courage, no determination, just shy Marinette. She turned her attention, trying to remember all of Tikki’s wise word about how she is Ladybug, no matter what. She felt warmth in her chest as she thought, no matter what, with or without the suit. She entered the room like she was about to face an Akuma, walking straight to her seat where Adrien was waiting.

“Hey Marinette how was lunch” he said with a welcoming smile

“It was great how was yours!”

“Me and Nin-“

“Alright class” Adrien was interrupted by Mr. LeBlanc who seemed eager to get things started. “You have five minutes to do the project written on the board with your partner, so I would suggest you keep small talk and chit-chat to a minimum, your five minutes start now. “ With that he briskly walked over to his desk and sat. Adrien looked at her and gave an apologetic laugh as he turned to copy the assignment she smiled and followed his lead.

“I love Shakespeare.” He whispered to her.

“Me too.” She whispered back with a smile “I love mapping out iambic pentameter, its so fun.”  She turned to see him focused on his notebook with his tongue out quietly counting the beat of the play excerpt. A feeling over took her,  it felt warm and safe like home and freshly baked bread, it reminded her of what Alya was describing earlier.

“I think he purposely didn’t finish the meter on the fifth line to emphasize the importance of the ring what do you think?” He asked turning his head towards her.

She quickly turned her focus back to her notebook before she was caught staring. “I-I haven’t finished c-counting yet” She cursed herself for the stutter and peeked up at him. He was looking at her with a curious gaze his head tilted to the side there also seemed to be concern mixed in those amazing eyes. “Um yep totally agree, line five.”

“Well that was easy” he gave a short chuckle “barely took us 2 minutes, what do you want to do with the rest of our time.” There was a gentle tone to his sweet honey voice like he wanted her to be okay. His concern melted her heart, how was he so kind and pure? She felt the yearning that wanted to explode push her to make a stand and to follow through with the plan.

“What is your favorite color?” she blurted out a little too quickly, he blinked up at her and then smiled

“Red. What about you?” He seemed excited about her question and to ask it back like he genuinely wanted to know everything about her.

“Pink.” She said feeling her tension melt away.

“What is your favorite snack?” he asked with the same enthusiasm as before

“kouign amanns! What’s yours?”

“Bread and butter, it’s simple but it’s the best.”

She laughed at that before turning a little more serious “What is your favorite thing to do?” she was looking for a window a shared interest, something that could jumpstart step 3.

“Alright class time is up. Now let’s discuss the different things we found.” Mr. Leblanc once again cutting their interaction short to continue the lesson.  Before disappointment could fill her chest she felt something bump her hand as she looked down to Adrien subtlety pushing a piece a paper her way. She gently picked it up and glanced up at him just in time to see his sly wink that sent her pulse racing. He was definitely trying to kill her she was sure of it he seems like a different Adrien this year, still him just…silly and fun. She thought back to earlier when he scared her at the bench and how openly he and Nino joked around. He seemed… different still amazing and great just different. She waited until the teachers back was turned before opening Adrien’s note.

“Reading, I love to read.”

Reading huh? She could defiantly work with that.

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