#Master fu got an entire rewrite

[bugstung]

Too lazy to clean Master Fu today

[adobe-outdesign]

Kung Fu Panda 4 Rewrite Thing

Been chewing on this movie for a while now and wanted to take a shot at improving it. Some parts are a bit rough but I think this gets the general idea across.

As a rule, I'm trying to keep most of the characters and elements/plot beats in place rather than spinning things off in a completely unrelated direction. I also am aware of the restrictions placed on this movie, such as an unwillingness to rehire high-profile VAs and runtime limitations. This is just meant to be a "what if" kind of thing. That said:

We open with a stylized sequence of Po telling the story of his and the Five's latest battle. As it ends it's revealed he's at the grand opening of Mr. Ping's brand new bigger, better noodle shop location, talking to the customers.

As one of them asks where the Five are now, Po explains that they got summoned to their own individual missions, but they'll be back soon.

(Yes I am still having them be MIA, as Po needs to be alone with Zhen for part of the movie. However, they'll only gone for the first part of this rewrite and for a very specific plot-related reason.)

(The thing with Po needing to give up his title of Dragon Warrior makes no sense for multiple reasons, so let's just drop that plot point entirely. I get that it's meant to tie into the "change" moral, but I'd rather have Po imparting this lesson onto Zhen instead of learning it himself, as otherwise it undermines the character growth he had in 3.

Also, Po isn't carrying the staff around with him constantly in this rewrite, as it looks a bit silly and isn't plot relevant here.)

A messenger shows up to report that the Jade Palace is under attack. Po decides to rush over just in case Shifu needs backup... which he does, because he's being kidnapped in a small one of those magic-proofed cages from the actual film.

(Shifu being kidnapped was tossed around in the writing room originally and I want to keep it in this rewrite because it A) gives Shifu something to do, and B) I want to allow Zhen to openly be working with the Chameleon in order to help flesh out her character and avoid the lackluster plot twist, meaning she'll need new leverage against Po later on.)

The figure behind the kidnapping appears to be Master Elephant, which confuses Po as he's been missing for several months. Right as he's about to land a finishing blow, the figure shape shifts into Master Chicken, throwing Po's attack and resulting in him getting a bad head injury. He does his best to pursue the attackers, but can't keep up. Dismayed, he returns to the Jade Palace...

...And finds Zhen trying to steal something, using the commotion outside as a distraction. Po fights, but he's still badly injured and can't give it his all, resulting in Zhen being able to slip away with her prize—a dust bunny from under the furniture. Po is baffled.

(Side note: I would probably redesign Zhen so she actually looks like she matches the other characters' style, but I digress.)

Feeling dismayed, he returns to the noodle shop, where both his dads work on treating his wounds and comforting him. As Po explains what happened, Mr. Ping mentions that customers have been circulating rumors about a shapeshifting sorceress in Juniper City. Po decides that that's where he needs to go, promises his dads he'll be safe, and leaves.

(I'm cutting Mr. Ping and Li's subplot, because as much as I love them they don't really add much to the plot. It also feels like it goes against Mr. Ping's characterization in KFP 1 and 2 in particular.)

This is where we can have the scene of the Chameleon vs. the crime bosses. This can mostly stay the same except one of the bosses attempts to attack her when she shape shifts, causing her to retaliate with a magic-based attack. She also needs to straight-up kill the guy to establish her and her sorcery as a legit threat.

Po arrives at the Happy Bunny tavern to look for a ride to Juniper City. As he talks to Fish and Chip, he notices Zhen nearby doing some black market trading with Granny Boar to obtain a white feather. Po confronts her and she tries to run out with the feather, causing the boar family to pursue in a big fight scene.

Po and Zhen manage to escape, Zhen stashing the feather. Po threatens to have her sent to jail, but Zhen confirms she's working for the Chameleon and can lead Po to her so he can rescue Shifu. Po dislikes this situation, but has no choice but to agree.

(Unlike in the actual film, I would make it so her lair is hidden in some fashion; magic that keeps it camouflaged would be appropriate for a chameleon, or it could be underground or hidden behind something. Regardless, it should be impossible to locate without Zhen's assistance.)

On the boat ride over to Juniper city, Zhen says that she has to "obtain" one more item from the local history museum or she'll be in big trouble with the Chameleon. Po doesn't like this detour, but once again has no choice in the matter.

Po asks why Zhen would want to work for someone so obviously evil, and this is the point where Zhen admits she was adopted by the Chameleon and we get her backstory.

(I would establish that the Chameleon has an actual name, but only Zhen uses it. It shows that Zhen is closer to her than most, not quite seeing her as a mother but not fearing her enough to use her preferred title. Also, the Chameleon's the only KFP villain without a proper name and that bothers me.)

The backstory can be the same, but the part about her living on the streets and meeting the Chameleon for the first time should be merged into a single flashback.

Zhen says that Po couldn't understand, but Po reveals that he's also adopted, and that he probably would commit some noodle-related crime if his dad asked him to. Still, Zhen insists that people don't change, and that includes her.

They arrive at Juniper city (Po is impressed at its size but he very much is not acting like he's never seen a city before). Zhen covers up her muzzle and tucks her tail under her clothes so she won't be recognized.

Zhen is ready to break into the museum, but Po says that he's got this and goes up to the guards to tell them that he has some official Dragon Warrior business to take care of and will need to borrow some ancient artifacts.

Unlike in the actual film, everyone ready acknowledges him as the Dragon Warrior. The guards are more than happy to loan him whatever he needs... until Zhen's tail pops out and the guards recognize her, prompting them to attack.

During the scuffle, Zhen uses a chi blast to knock back one of the guards, but almost gets taken out by the other guard coming up behind her. Po defends her but gets mildly injured as a result.

After the fight, Po asks about the chi move and Zhen states that the Chameleon taught her the basics.

Zhen confirms that the Chameleon is a master of chi, and that the sorcery she uses is a specific type of chi manipulation.

(The reason I'm connecting chi to her powers is that it makes them feel a bit less out of left field, and helps 4 feel like a logical progression from 3.)

Zhen admits that she's not very good at using chi, but Po points out that it took him years to use chi in battle. He also compliments her on her kung fu, and she confirms she's self-taught.

(In this rewrite, Zhen is good at fighting but not quite at the level she is in the actual movie. This is to address the issue of who taught her if the Chameleon doesn't know kung fu.)

He takes a moment to give her a few pointers, which causes her to ask why he took that blow for her earlier, figuring there's a catch. Po just says it's the right thing to do, but Zhen is skeptical, figuring he only did it because he still needs her to lead him to Shifu.

The reminder of Shifu prompts Po to move on, and they grab the item Zhen was after, a 500 year old set of blades, then run for it.

Po and Zhen arrive at the Chameleon's lair, and Zhen shows Po how to get inside and tells him where Shifu is being held. She says that she'll take the items to the Chameleon, which will distract her while Po breaks him out. Po thanks her, and the two separate. Zhen warns him of booby traps on the way out.

There are indeed booby traps, such as those saw contraptions from the actual movie and a bunch of guards. It takes Po a few minutes, but he eventually gets through them.

Po finds Shifu being held in a dark room. Shifu is glad to see him, but warns him to be careful as the Chameleon's likely not far away. Po explains Zhen's distraction and moves to free him... only for a cage to fall down and trap him as well.

"Shifu" is then revealed to be the Chameleon in disguise, who slips through the bars via shape shifting into a mantis and thanks Zhen for her help. Zhen apologizes to Po, who's naturally upset ("I mean, I know you were evil, but I didn't think you were THAT evil").

Zhen hands over the three items she collected, and it's confirmed what they are: a dust bunny that contains a clump of Tai Lung's fur, a feather from Lord Shen, and a pair of blades once wielded by Kai.

Po mistakenly interprets this as the Chameleon being a collector of kung fu memorabilia and tries to chat about the Jade Palace's collection, much to her bafflement.

The Chameleon explains that a trace of a person's chi remains long after their death, and demonstrates by doing The Tongue Thing on Kai's blade, stripping its chi, and immediately taking his form.

(As you may have picked up on, this rewrite removes the spirit world elements entirely. While they are really interesting, I think cutting them is the best option because:

1. There is so much plot involved with bringing Po's old enemies back that you could make that an entire movie in and of itself. It's hard to do it justice when you're cramming it in around the edges of this movie.

2. It makes the Chameleon too similar to Kai in terms of abilities.

3. Having her rely on stealing other's kung fu makes her come across as weak despite being a powerful sorceress.)

Po asks her if her goal is to take over China, but she says no; she just wants to end the practice of kung fu for good, and prove that sorcery is the superior option. To prove it, she has Shifu brought in.

While having your chi stripped does not remove one's kung fu abilities in this rewrite, it is still removing part of one's life energy and thus weakening them severely for a period of time—ergo, Shifu is still unable to fight at his best. Still, he manages to hold his own.

Instead of using kung fu, the Chameleon relies on the brute animalistic strength and inherent abilities of the forms she takes, switching whenever she's loosing to keep her opponents on her toes and even transforming into Shifu himself for a period. She also uses a few chi-based attacks.

Just when it looks like Shifu is about to win the fight, she uses her tongue to strip the chi from the fur clump, taking the form of Tai Lung. Shifu is so shocked and distraught that he fails to attack, allowing the Chameleon to land a serious blow.

She returns to her original form and states that when the blood moon has risen, she will battle and take down every master in the middle of Juniper city, where everyone can learn just how useless kung fu and the people who teach it are. She leaves Po in his cage panicking over Shifu, who's unresponsive.

Zhen follows the Chameleon outside, where we get the "does the blood moon always rise so slowly" gag. Noticing that Zhen looks troubled, she asks what's wrong, and Zhen talks about how Po encouraged her to do the right thing. Even though she's been told that kung fu masters are elitist, selfish people, she couldn't see any of that in Po.

(Side note: I want to establish in this rewrite that while the Chameleon will claim up and down that Zhen is only a pawn for her to use, she does care about her to some extent, even though probably loathes the fact she does. For example, when talking to Zhen here, she might pick some rubble out of her fur or something to show there's a teeny tiny bit of actual affection hidden there.

The reason for this is that all other KFP villains have had an emotional anchor—Shifu for Tai Lung, Shen's parents for Shen, and Oogway for Kai. The Chameleon being abusive but having some real love for Zhen and Zhen struggling with her gaslighting adds a lot more depth to both of them.)

The Chameleon finally reveals her backstory, which should be told in a hyper-stylized way à la the flashbacks in KFP 2 and 3. Just like Zhen, she grew up on the streets as an orphan, broke and starving. She admired kung fu greatly and wanted to learn it, but everyone turned her away for having no money to pay for lessons.

One day, she found a shiny jade amulet on the streets that someone lost, finally giving her a much-needed break. She is able to use that money to enroll in classes.

The problem was that while the money changed her financial status, it didn't change the way people saw her. Her master still considered her a lowly gutter rat and treated her as such, verbally insulting her and beating her down during training sessions. It's very much like how Shifu treated Po in KFP 1, except worse, especially because the Chameleon is a small and fragile animal.

Finally, during one training session she became too injured to move. Her master told her to quit and started to walk away, only for her to grab his leg with her tongue to trip him up. However, at the peak of her self-loathing, she instead discovered her chi stealing abilities and transformed into him. It's not shown, but it is implied she killed him.

As the flashback ends, the Chameleon shifts into Zhen and tells her that no matter how much you change, you can't change the way other people see you. Siding with Po, she says, will only get her hurt. Zhen nods and unexpectedly hugs the Chameleon, telling her she knows, and runs off.

Cutting back to Po, we see him frantically trying to break the bars of his cage. Zhen comes forward and drops down on her hands and knees, apologizing for everything. Po says that she came back, and that's what matters.

She reveals that the "hug" was actually just a way for her to get the key off of the Chameleon, and she uses it to unlock Po's cage. Po runs over to Shifu and he and Zhen heal him with chi, and we get a callback to the "I'M NOT DYING YOU IDIOT" scene from KFP 1.

However, while Shifu's not dying, he is very badly injured and can barely walk on his own. Po asks how they can take on the Chameleon and her army with just three of them, but Zhen holds up the key and suggests they get an army of their own.

Running downstairs, Zhen reveals where the other masters are being held. To Po's shock, the Furious Five are among those captured. Tigress confirms that the summons they received were traps laid by the Chameleon, and she already has their forms.

Also down there are the other crime bosses, as it feels like they just disappear in the actual film after their scenes.

Zhen only manages to unlock the Five's cages before before the Chameleon snatches the key back with her tongue, revealing that she knew Zhen was lying to her. Behind her, her army assembles.

Tigress confirms that that the Five will take on the army, and Po faces off with the Chameleon one-on-one. She strips the feather and uses Shen's form to fly up and take the upper ground, trying to kick a cage onto him. Zhen helps deflect it, and the Chameleon tells her to stay out of the way. Po and her continue to battle.

Despite Po's best attempts at blocking it, she does finally stick him with her tongue. He grabs it and throws her a distance in her fragile base form, injuring her but still giving her some of his chi in the process.

The Chameleon takes on Po's form next, and we get a fight similar to the one in the movie, though once again with her using less kung fu and more magic and physical attacks.

She mentions how she was rejected and tries to tell him that he should be on her side, because a bit fat panda like him must have been treated just as badly as she was. Po denies this, but Shifu admits it's pretty accurate. Po says he's not helping.

Po admits that she has a point, except she forgot one thing, and we get a callback to the "I'm THE big fat panda" moment from KFP 1.

The two attack at the same time. As the dust clears, it's revealed that neither are doing great—Po has gotten a lot of little injuries and the chi stealing has weakened him. The Chameleon is struggling to shapeshift at all, with the attempt causing her pain, and instead settles for trying to blast him. Zhen steps in and manages to redirect the attack back at her.

The Chameleon takes the blow and ends up back on the floor as a parallel to her flashback. Zhen reaffirms that she disagrees with her worldview—people can change, and she's going to prove it. If the Chameleon wants get to Po, she'll need to get through her first.

The Chameleon kind of laughs this off at first before realizing she's dead serious. She states that Zhen isn't even good at fighting, but Po disagrees, giving Zhen a confidence boost. The Chameleon struggles to her feet as if readying an attack, everyone braces themselves... and she surrenders, too injured to fight and unable to bring herself to hurt Zhen.

(There are a few reasons why I think her surrendering makes for an interesting defeat here:

1. There's no spirit realm portal to yeet her into in this version;

2. There's only so many times Po's enemies can be yeeted directly into the spirit realm before it gets old;

3. It adds character depth, and;

4. It ties back nicely in to the theme of change and that it's never too late to do the right thing.)

Zhen helps the Chameleon up, Tigress does the same for Po, and Monkey does the same for Shifu. The five reveal that despite being exhausted, they still managed to wipe the floor with the Chameleon's army, which Zhen thinks is incredible. Po introduces Zhen to them formally, and Shifu asks if they can save the introductions for after they get medical treatment.

Later on, Po (carrying the staff Oogway gave him) approaches Zhen, who's sitting under the peach tree by the Jade Palace. He asks her if she's doing okay after everything that's happened. She says she's alright, but is pretty scared of what's going to happen next, given that the Chameleon's in jail and she has nowhere to go.

Po reveals that him and Shifu have been talking, and he plans to open a new school as part of the Jade Palace that will offer free kung fu lessons to anyone who's interested in learning. Zhen asks if there are any spots open, and we end similar to the actual movie, with her training alongside the five.

the credits still end with the Jack Black cover of Baby One More Time because it slaps

[journals-of-the-guardian-project]

LORE POST #1

Redesign of my Chat Noir redesign to go together with my rewrite which I will talk a lot about under the cut. I'm pretty set on this design too and will link it at the beginning of the fic when I get ten chapters completed and ready to post :3

What is different from canon, why I am changing some things, etc. Feel free to just read my thoughts around the design if you want to read my fic without any guidelines of what I'm planning so far for him

BUT I won't spoil anything major dw

The design:

I've changed chat noir's design so it would blend in more at night. The preferred the sleek black tones over the glow in the dark green I gave him before. I take a whole lot of inspiration from the PV of miraculous ladybug in these designs so of course his hair is still floofy.

When initially designing Chat noir, the tips of his hair are darker since I really liked that trait some other redesigns gave him so I included it without making his whole head of hair black.

I got the idea to base his design off of rust and RAN with it! He still has some greens in his design but they've shifted closer to yellow green and gold for the color scheme!

I've liked the idea about the clothes in the hero designs looking more cloth like too so I've incorporated that into the design with pockets and a zipper cause I can. Since Adrien has been thinking about being a superhero for a while, his design is more thought out were it could be.

EDIT: Forgot to mention!! Ladybelle has a lil more black in her design and now chat has a little more red! :3 matching

I saw some concept art of Chat Noir with a hat at one point and I loved it so much I wanted to keep it in to a certain extent, SO Marichat moment all the way. I decided to add the bells back into his design (I missed them) and took inspiration from @/callimara's Chat Noir design.

Chat noir will still be very cat like in this and I thought it'd be funky if his feat were like a cat's

Overall it isn't much of a design change for some aspects but I really like how it turned out!

K story stuff now:

I want to get ten chapters done before I post chapters again on the first fic since I don't think I did the best job introducing what I've changed. This isn't talking about adrien agreste's life this is more his role as Chat Noir. I'll get to adrien when I get his redesign sheet finished

(any part of this section might be edited in the future but this is basically part of my ideas)

Honestly a whole lot of the fic(s) is(are)

Fault of canon? -> Solution

I've been developing for two years now and I just gotta write it out... Entirely hinging on my execution sigh

Chat noir's powers are now on a more equal footing with Ladybug's (Ladybelle now) and I'll get more indepth when I post Ladybug's redesign and stuff but basically

The miracle box is a mix mash of several miraculous's from other boxes due to an event Guardian Marianne caused. Supposedly, she unleashed the Rabbit kwami of time on the guardians in an act of defiance. Resulting in rips in time eating away the members present for such an event, burning to death in fire. Marianne managed to run away with the miraculous's she could obtain and do her best to live her life knowing what she's done.

The Ladybug and Cat miraculous are a duo pair. Strongest when used in a partnership. Many are tempted to use both at the same time for what the powers merge to become but this isn't the strongest path.

Tikki and Plagg are soulmates you could say. They aren't really romantic but they are bonded for life. Never one without the other.

They are the only miraculous pairing in the new mixmash of the guardian box. Eventually Marianne gives the responsibility to Master Fu, her lover, before the rabbit comes after her as well.

I'll talk more about the changes I've made to Tikki's character in Ladybelle's post but as a part of the Miraculous cure, something all pairing miraculous's have to purify evils and darkness, it requires both parties to be present. Usually some form of touch or communication initiates the Miraculous cure

"Pound it!"

Chat noir can use his power alone to defeat evils but it's like cauterizing a wound. He doesn't figure this out for a bit.

I'll talk more about the miraculous cure in Ladybelle's post

This is still a part of the story I'm working on but:

the miraculous of destruction gets more powerful the longer the user wields it. With techniques and familiarity, Chat noir will be able to make black pockets of nothing just from a touch. Yes I'm including this from the concept art. Though he'll only get this later down the road

Chat noir is still a form of escapism to Adrien and part of his character arc is realizing he can't rely on it like that. A large part of adrien's character I'll talk about in adrien's post ties into Chat Noir too

I'm still figuring out some plot points for him so this is where I'll end this off. But I will say I'm planning on Chat Noir getting more time with the kwamis and more of a role in the Guardian arc and guardian stuff in general

[dracocheesecake]

THOUGHTS ARE BREWING ABOUT REWRITING KFP4

Brace for impact cause I’ve been ruminating for weeks on how to redo it because like, there’s so many directions you could take it. BUT IM THINKING OF AN INTERESTING WAY TO REWRITE THE CHAMELEON AND AUGHHH I MUST BLAB

Cause obviously it’s a bullshit thing that her excuse for being evil is that she wasn’t allowed to know kung fu because she’s too small. We all know its dumb with Shifu, Mantis, and literally Master Chicken existing. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT ISNT STUPID? The womanly coded rage of “I don’t need to be good, I need to be GREAT” and like sure its not like a characteristic of female rage but when that thought process is within a woman it takes on a whole different kinda tone compared to a man. Miss Chameleon who, while living in a universe where there isn’t really overt sexism, still feels overlooked by all the men around her.

In my rewrite of her story, not only would she have known kung fu, but she would have been a master herself. But her problem (like the running themes of all the kfp villains which ties her to the bunch we’ve seen already) is that she wants for more than is her lot in life. Her flaw is that she can’t live in mediocrity. She can’t accept that the skills she has developed are the best she’s ever going to get. Especially when it’s not garnering the same attention from others the way Master Ox or Master Bear have. It develops this intense superiority complex and innate jealousy within her that she feels she pales in comparison to her colleagues. Which leads to her trying to copy their styles. It doesn’t work, people shame her for trying to be a copycat.

So, she tries a different approach, and see if there’s any new skills she can develop. And wouldn’t you know, she’s heard of all the tales of Master Oogway and his spiritual powers and you know, he invented Kung Fu and is known and loved far and wide, so he had to have done something right! So, she tries to learn chi. She fails. Or, in her mind, she fails. It’s not as strong as she wants it to be, again, working but living in mediocrity. She wants to stand out, she wants to shine.

So, Master Chameleon disappears mysteriously from the kung fu world. Nobody knows where she went or what happened to her, but her village checked her training grounds and all of her pupils (the iguanas/lizards we see fighting for her) are just. Gone. Deserted.

That’s when she pops up in Juniper City. A place that doesn’t know anything about kung fu or its masters, a city she can make entirely for herself. She presents herself to the government/council, introducing herself as the solution to all the crime running rampant through the place, and proves herself by actually showing off her intelligence and skills at apprehending and beating the criminals. It’s not long before she’s hailed as a savior to the city and has the council paying tribute to her and building her her own fortress so that she can train others (in reality, she makes her training intentionally too cruel on the people in the city who volunteered to learn to discourage them so she could sweetly suggest she ask her pupils back at her side) to defend the city more strongly.

She’s basically the kingpin of the city now. She’s manipulated the council into doing whatever she wants. And all along she’s making deals with the criminal overlords for more money and glory and such. The only ones who don’t bow to her is The Den, due to their structure being more familial rather than hierarchal. They fought a lot because of this power struggle, and similar to that drabble you wrote, The Chameleon would be brutal, taking the lives of their friends and such, to the point where the neutral point is Han taking what’s left of his community under ground to keep them protected, and Chameleon considers them too puny to waste her time when she’s got bigger goals.

Namely, Zhen. Zhen was a consequence of all the fighting done, the last victim from The Den so to speak. Only, the little fox wasn’t killed. Similarly to the movie, Chameleon notices her drive and skill and decides she’s worth the time to apprentice, and she needs something to busy herself with, because in the meantime, she’s basically inventing sorcery.

Using chi the way it has been used didn’t work for her. But she heard through the grapevine about Po’s battle with General Kai, how he perverted chi for his own gain, which gave her an idea. She wasn’t going to do it the way Kai had, she didn’t just want the power of their energy, she wanted to take everything from everyone who thought they were above her. Their soul, their skills, their everything. This thought process leads to her true plans and motivations: to be the only kung fu master.

She’s still having some troubles working out the kinks of her sorcery while she trains Zhen, grows close to the little fox. Only, Zhen isn’t like her other students. She’s trained them to be competent, sharp and know their jobs, but Zhen was pushed farther, and took things farther. And once again, that burning jealousy took root in Chameleon as she saw her pupil flourish more than she originally thought capable. There was pride of course at first, molding Zhen to her ideals and image. But the fox turned from student to competition as she began to experiment with her own style. In turn, Chameleon experimented on her. Zhen wasn’t expecting it, but when called to her, Chameleon threw her beta tested move at her…and it worked. That trick we saw in the movie, only it took everything from Zhen, and by the end of it…there was nothing left of her. All of her spirit, skills and even appearance was given solely to the Chameleon. She can only shapeshift into the people she’s absorbed in my rewrite. She hadn’t fully expected it to work, and a small, miniscule part of her felt guilty for doing that to her dearest little pupil who trusted her so blindly. But it opened a gateway for her.

And yeah! I won’t go into everything because I’ve talked so very much but omg I needed to get this out. And it’s necessary, because there are two running themes with kfp villains: they are greedy for more in some twisted goal, and they end up hurting somebody very close to them, there’s always betrayal somewhere. Tying that into her story makes her feel like she’s an actual villain of this universe in my head.

(Sorry this took so long to answer I had to get my thoughts together because OH BOY-)

Holy smokes this is all genuinely so, so good and a hundred times better than what we ended up getting. Because first of all: you turned the Chameleon into a character, instead of just a villain. Not to mention you gave her a motive that gives her complexity and makes her actually interesting (and the audience can't justify, but understand why she's doing what she's doing!). AND YOU MADE HER SCARY! An actual, serious threat! That imagery the description of poor Zhen's fate this conjures is spine-chilling. I wouldn’t mind seeing this version of the Chameleon on screen!

Also the way it actually follows the lore and continuity of the previous movies in a way that makes sense! The running theme of "being the best you you can be"- in this sense, her version is a twisted version of Po's journey; wanting to be the best version of herself...at the cost of all others! I could go on, but yeah this is an awesome rewrite idea!!!

[nightmare-grass]

I’m in the middle of rewriting Miraculous Ladybug cuz it had such potential as a concept but it was squandered (mostly because of Thomas Astruc) and I’m not exactly ready to share my story notes yet (still working on expanding on story bits) but I have worked out the main Miraculous powers, so here, check it out!

Miraculous Powers

- some of them need reworking, some are just too similar to others or are too overpowered, some are underpowered, they need to be balanced among their sets

- I like the idea of one set of Miraculous being the Chinese Zodiac, but having those in the same set as the primary Miraculous just feels a bit messy. What do the primary Miraculous represent in relation to the Chinese Zodiac ones? It’s unclear, so we’re changing it.

- Master Fu can still be the old guardian with the box, but let’s change things up a little bit. Maybe since Fu was a runaway from the Order of Guardians, he’s got a limited amount of Miraculous with him. In his escape from the temple he took the Ladybug, Black Cat, Bee, Fox, Turtle, Peacock, and Butterfly with him.

- How do we introduce the Chinese Zodiac box then? Do we have Fu find it due to his guilt over how he left the Order? Or do we have Gabriel Agreste find them in his quest to gain more power? That way, the heroes can steal them back, and learn about them while their enemy already has much more knowledge about them.

- The Ladybug represents good fortune, so its power is creation. You can get exactly what you need the moment you need it, and you can sense how to put it to good use. The Black Cat represents misfortune, so its power is destruction. A single touch is enough to rot something away entirely, and so must be used extremely carefully. Marinette needs a bit more luck in her life, so she’s paired with the Ladybug. Adrien is usually feeling trapped in his life, so he needs the power to break out if necessary, that’s why he’s paired with the Black Cat. Combining their powers of Creation and Destruction gives one power over life and death, making them like a god.

- Since it’s magic jewelry, it cannot be thrown away once it’s chosen a wielder, it’ll just return like Percy Jackson’s sword, Riptide, always appearing nearby or on their person. If it’s stolen, then it’ll become inactive unless it chooses to activate, choosing a new wielder. The Kwami are just kinda along for the ride, they are personifications of the power in the jewelry and the associations of what it’s based on, but they can’t go against what the jewelry does.

- Ladybug:

- Associations: Good Luck, protection, healing, grace

- Powers: Creation, with “Lucky Charm” they can summon any item they need the moment they need it; enhanced flexibility, strength, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Magic yo-yo

- Jewelry: Earrings

- Black Cat:

- Associations: Bad Luck, mischief, fear, death

- Powers: Destruction, with “Cataclysm” they can destroy any object no matter its size or mass with a single touch; enhanced flexibility, strength, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Magic staff

- Jewelry: Ring

- Turtle:

- Associations: Protection, wisdom, longevity, steadfastness, patience

- Powers: Shielding, with “Shelter” they can summon an impenetrable shield around anything they choose; enhanced strength, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Shield

- Jewelry: Bracelet

- Fox:

- Associations: Trickery, cleverness, intelligence, mischief

- Powers: Illusion, with “Mirage” they can summon any kind of illusion that fits the situation, but they must choose between a large stationary illusion or a small mobile illusion; enhanced flexibility, agility, speed, endurance, and perception.

- Weapon: Magic reed flute

- Jewelry: Necklace

- Bee:

- Associations: Hard Work, teamwork, prosperity, fertility, protectiveness, community

- Powers: Stun, with “Venom” they can immobilize any target as long as they can make contact; enhanced speed, agility, flexibility, strength, and perception, flight.

- Weapon: Magic spinning top

- Jewelry: Hair Pin

- Butterfly:

- Associations: Soul, transformation, rebirth, freedom

- Powers: Power granting, they can imbue a magic butterfly with power and send it to find its target, turning said target into a Superhero or Supervillain as the wielder wishes; telepathic communication with the target once transformed, influence over the target’s actions and feelings; enhanced flexibility, agility, and perception, flight.

- Weapon: Magic wand (can be expanded to a staff)

- Jewelry: Broach

- Peacock:

- Associations: Power, confidence, beauty, dignity

- Powers: Minion Creation, with a magic feather they can craft a creature and imbue it with any powers they want, even using it to see and hear through; enhanced flexibility, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: feathered fan

- Jewelry: Pin

- Chinese Zodiac:

- Rat:

- Associations: Intelligence, Resourcefulness, Adaptability

- Powers: Multiplication, can divide into smaller and smaller copies of oneself; enhanced flexibility, speed, agility, and perception

- Weapon: Shuko climbing claws

- Jewelry: Pendant Necklace (a design of intertwining rat tails making up the knot on the string, like a Rat King, shapes of rats indicate time left)

- Ox:

- Associations: Strength, Patience, Reliability, Stability

- Powers: Safe Zone, can mark off a limited area that becomes impenetrable, able to protect the defenseless or trap supervillains; enhanced strength, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Tonfa

- Jewelry: Nose Ring

- Tiger:

- Associations: Fearlessness, Passion, Flexibility, Ambition

- Powers: Hidden Strike, turns wielder invisible for a short time before making a super strong and fast attack; super strength, enhanced flexibility, durability, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Spiked Gauntlet

- Jewelry: Panjas Bracelet Ring

- Rabbit:

- Associations: Fertility, Gentleness, Vigilance, Peace

- Powers: Burrow, can enter a pocket dimension outside of time and reappear wherever they choose, making it look like instantaneous teleportation to outside observers, and giving extra time to the wielder; enhanced flexibility, speed, agility, and perception

- Weapon: Umbrella

- Jewelry: Pocket Watch

- Dragon:

- Associations: Power, Authority, Might, Wisdom, Good Fortune

- Powers: Heaven’s Might, can manipulate the weather, must choose between summoning rain, lightning, or wind, and can dispel storms; enhanced flexibility, strength, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Sword

- Jewelry: Arm Cuff (shaped like a curling dragon, spikes on neck indicate time left)

- Snake:

- Associations: Rebirth, Transformation, Immortality, Healing, Intuition, Wisdom

- Powers: Second Chance, can turn back time a maximum of 5 minutes, giving limited time to make a different choice; enhanced flexibility, strength, speed, agility, and perception

- Weapon: Chain Whip

- Jewelry: Bracelet (like a slap bracelet, scale pattern indicates time left)

- Horse:

- Associations: Independence, Freedom, Endurance, Sensitivity

- Powers: Traverse, basically super speed; enhanced flexibility, strength, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Horseshoe

- Jewelry: Glasses (with those horse blinds on the sides, rhinestones on the sides indicate time left)

- Goat:

- Associations: Resilience, Stubbornness, Strength, Compassion, Peace

- Powers: Unstoppable Charge, can enter a state of constant motion for a few minutes where nothing, even the powers of other Miraculous, can stop them completely, only maybe slow them down; enhanced flexibility, strength, speed, agility, and durability.

- Weapon: Battering Ram

- Jewelry: Hair Clips (ram horns)

- Monkey:

- Associations: Intelligence, Playfulness, Trickery, Adaptability

- Powers: Monkey Business, causes a target’s powers to malfunction; enhanced flexibility, strength, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Ruyi Jingu Bang (Monkey King’s staff)

- Jewelry: Circlet (shaped like Monkey King’s cursed circlet)

- Rooster:

- Associations: Confidence, Resilience, Honesty, Bravery, Observance, Pride

- Powers: Rising Sun, summons a powerful light that can illuminate hidden things and strategic points or just blind people; enhanced strength, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Feather fountain pen

- Jewelry: Single feathered earring (different colored feathers of different sizes)

- Dog:

- Associations: Loyalty, Guidance, Protection, Alertness

- Powers: Pack Bond, can lend temporary strength to anyone nearby and create allies; enhanced strength, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Frisbee (with a hole in the middle, like a throwable ring)

- Jewelry: Choker (studs and a single pendant to indicate time left)

- Pig:

- Associations: Prosperity, Abundance, Decisiveness, Pragmatism

- Powers: Pearl of Wisdom, remove a Pearl from the sack weapon and it shows the recipient what they truly desire; enhanced durability, strength, speed, agility, and perception.

- Weapon: Sack of Plenty (like Santa’s bag but smaller, except it acts like a D&D bag of holding and can be used like Sam’s butter sock)

- Jewelry: Anklet (curly wire like a pig tail and pearls to indicate time left)

[itisin]

I hate the show makers’ indecisiveness.

Man, the Miraculous show makers need to be clearer with their concepts. There’s a thing that has been bugging my ever since ephemeral came up. (Though there are a lot of things I don’t like about ephemeral, this one is one I HATE MOST) In Robustus, when Marinette asked Master Fu that what happens if someone gets the hands on the miraculous of cat and ladybug, Master Fu said, “Then the bearer could use them conjointly and with the special invocation, obtain the ultimate power, the one that can shape reality, basically he could make any 1 wish come true.” Then Marinette suggested to use it for the greater good, master Fu told her, “For every action, there is a reaction, for every wish, a price to pay in return. Had your robotic friend asked to become a real boy, someone would have lost his humanity in return.” And well, that completely makes sense. But then, writers decide that we shall not keep any silver ray and in ephemeral, they completely change the explanation. “If you’ve got something written in blue ink but you want it in red what will you have to do? You’ll have to erase the blue ink and rewrite in red. If someone makes a wish, the entire world is destroyed and rebuilt for the wish to come true” That completely makes it feel a lot more, well, CHILDISH, and it also makes Gabriel’s insanity feel like a whole new level.  I actually likes the first explanation, and, NEVETHELESS, they shouldn't have changed the base of the story so suddenly and meaninglessly. This is stupid. Uh.. No disrespect to the show makers, well, I know its a tough thing to be able to satisfy everyone, but after all, that doesn’t make ME feel less disappointed.

JUST MY THOUGHTS

[rainbow-filmnerd]

How I would rewrite Miraculous.

So, a few years ago, I used to watch this neat little show that's been on a number of networks. You may have heard of it, but it's called "Miraculous Ladybug". Yeah, it's a cartoon that I thought was good... for about two seasons. Then as I watched Season 3, things didn't seem to sit right with me... But in short, I feel like the show is NOTORIOUS for being how all over the place it is. A total mess, and I'm so flipping glad I don't watch it anymore.

Although, my curiosity does peak from time to time, just to see what other disaster may have made this show flop. I shared some of this with @fabuloustrash05, but this is how I would rewrite the ENTIRE SERIES. And friendly reminder, I have not seen an entire episode of Season 4 or either Miraculous World special, so for the most part, anything that happened in past the first couple eps of Season 3 WON'T be mentioned here.

We all know that a movie is coming out soon, but it seems like it's the origin story that we got to see during Season 1. Now I don't know what would happen, but I feel like the origin story should be kept the same. Only thing is that I would make it the SERIES PREMIERE rather than the SEASON 1 FINALE. That will be saved for "Volpina" with an after credits scene that will reveal/confirm to the audience that Gabriel is Hawk Moth, which I felt was obvious after an episode or two in. For the most part, Season 1 will remain untouched by my hand.

Season 2 would be left alone too. There were some pretty decent things happening, like some progress on our leads' relationship, and not to mention, CHLOE'S REDEMPTION ARC THAT WAS RIPPED OUT OF HER HANDS. But more on the latter in a bit.

The only things I'd leave alone for Season 3 are the following:

The episodes "Chameleon", "Weredad", "Feast", "Backwarder", "Silencer", and "Miraculer"

Lila's character arc of trying to sabotage Marinette and her working with Gabriel/Hawk Moth (including trying to get her expelled like in "Ladybug")

Natalie's illness from the Peacock Miraculous

The Miraculous Swap between Adrien and Marinette

Chloe finding out that Marinette likes Adrien but not telling anyone about it

Sabine and Marinette ALMOST getting akumatized

Alec Cataldi, Master Fu and Bob Roth getting akumatized (I know that I said whatever happens in s4 is non-existent but the premise of those three getting akumatized is actually good)

Kagami and Marinette becoming friends (socially awkward characters trying to befriend extroverts are the best okay?!)

More background history on Master Fu

The revelation that the "future Hawk Moth" will not be Gabriel

And now onto the changes for Season 3:

Legitimate development between Marinette and Adrien's relationship, which would be on the verge of a blossoming romance

The well-deserved redemption arc of Chloe. While still maintaining a "Queen Bee" personality, she would be one of those "rich girls with a secret heart of gold" (think Cleo de Nile from the OG Monster High series)

Some growing tension/strain between Gabriel and Adrien

Actual development for characters that appeared in only one episode when they were akumatized (Marc, Ondine, Marianne, etc.)

Anything that made the characters themselves look terrible (like Marinette's sudden mean/stalker-like behavior) will be completely discarded

Adrien interacting with the Guardian/Master Fu and learning more of the Miraculous like with Marinette

Lila being RIGHTFULLY punished for all the lies she stirred throughout the three seasons

Costume upgrades (especially for Marinette)

The season finale itself (just below)

The s3 finale was one of the biggest disappointments in animation ever. So, to make up for it, here's my vision of what would happen INSTEAD (on top of what I'd keep/change). I also haven't decided if this would be when Marinette and Adrien find out of the other's superhero identity here, but I want that to be the case by the end of the series (without any disastrous consequences).

It would be similar to the big fight during s2, but with more Mayura and Lila. The five Heroes (Ladybug, Cat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee) all in action to save Paris and defeat Hawk Moth once and for all. They are successful in doing so. The cause? Gabriel's own weakness of seeing Adrien in any danger in his pursue to get the Miraculous needed (like in "Style Queen"). He would also come to learn that he too fell victim to Lila's lies after he considered what Marinette has done for Adrien. After the defeat and reveal, the Butterfly Miraculous would disappear (in an after credits scene, Lila would find the Miraculous and become the next "Hawk Moth"). On top of what caused his defeat, Natalie would become very ill from the Peacock Miraculous, and with that, we would finally find out what happened to Adrien's Mom and the wish Gabriel wants to make (to revive his wife).

Lastly, we would have Season 4 (which may or may not be the last season, but I don't want the series to drag on like it's doing now). For the most part, the season would focus on trying to track down the Butterfly Miraculous/the actual threat of Lila, a Gabriel redemption arc (trying to make amends with Adrien, heal Natalie, fix the Peacock Miraculous, and revive Emilie), Marinette and Adrien finally admitting to their feelings and becoming a couple by the end of the series (or sooner).

I don't usually make long posts like this, but I wanted to get this out there as my personal vision from a former fan of this series. You probably won't see any more ML posts on my blog unless it's real good salt.

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

How I’d rewrite/reboot Miraculous Season 1/2/3

And I mean, like, if I got handed Miraculous and I was allowed to direct an entirely new show.

These are just a few notes, maybe I’ll write more on just character stuff, but that’d just be me complaining about how the writers write their characters and you’ve heard me complain about that already.

Anyways though, I’d give Chat Noir more powers definitely. I always thought that little black hole thing in the concept art was cool. 

Also god almighty I’d make the show have an actual timeline

I always thought the “watch it in any order” thing was BS.

Anyways, my main change though would be the episodes in general, and this is why the timeline is important:

First season wise, I’d cut a few akuma episodes (maybe move Puppeteer from season 1 to 2 as well as Numeric and Guitar Villain), but make sure every classmate gets their own episode. (I’d also give Vanisher her own fucking episode cause she deserved one)

The kicker would be that the akuma episodes would be almost ENTIRELY character driven, and not on Mari and Adrien no no- About 50% of the episode would be about the akumatized character. Their motivations, their past, their personal goals and ideals. About 15% is just Marinette, the other 15% is just Adrien, because they’re BOTH main characters here, the twenty percent is both of them, and the rest is the akuma

There would be a moment in every episode where the akuma would mutter “What am I doing?” As they wonder why they’re so angry, justifying it or cementing the fact that they are in the wrong, before continuing the fight.

This can become a moment to Volpina as Lila asks herself “What am I doing?”, only to shake her head- a short flashback goes across her, very brief and very close curtained to give mystery as she corrects herself and says “No, I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Volpina would be more about Adrien and Marinette, especially because this episode is testing them and is a season finale.

Then. There would be episodes that are entirely unrelated to the akumas. About the kids. About the class. About Marinette and Adrien.

Then, in Volpina, which is put on its head because Lila’s put in more mystery as a potential villain with a secluded past- we get the cliffhanger that is Chat Noir and Ladybug meeting Master Fu, but with more build up as he drops the damn mic.

But how I’d end the season isn’t a cliffhanger of meeting Master Fu, no no, that’s not the cliffhanger I’m ending it on, here’s a.. I guess screen play on what i’d write:

...

Master Fu: Ladybug and Chat Noir..

[The akuma alert rings out on three new people’s phones that you cannot see, as Master Fu’s voice continues to speak over]

Master Fu: the powers of the miraculous is a tricky thing children. You two..

[Chat Noir and Ladybug rush through the city to see a giant roaring Kaiju like Akuma breaking through the streaks.]

Master Fu: ..are the mirrors of each other. The yin and yang to this world. The Creation and Destruction. You hold the balance of good and evil, and the future of whether we shall fall or rise.

[Chat Noir looks softly at Ladybug who looks back, as they’re standing on the edge of a building, their hands intertwined tightly as they share a determined gaze]

Master Fu: But you are still children. With the weight of the world on their backs, and it is a terrifying battle you both face, and though I shall guide you on this journey- My shield has long been shattered. [The camera pans back to his Parlor as he grips tightly to his cane, however his wrist is barren. No bracelet attached.]

Master Fu: But..

[It snaps back to Ladybug and Chat Noir, as a foot steps into frame, the two turning around in confusion, before it clicks back to Master Fu one last time as he smiles] Master Fu: You are no longer alone.

[The music rises as looking towards the hero’s with glowing eyes of their respective colors are three new figures. One with a fox pendent, one with a turtle bracelet, and one with a Bee Comb]

[End]

..

And then with the start of Season 2, we would be introduced to our three new Permanent heroes and Main Characters! Rena Rouge; the slightly bullheaded but well meaning fox hero who’s stubbornness and idolizing of Ladybug occasionally gets in the way of her true brilliance. Carapace; the laid back protector, who’s overwhelming passion to keep his friends safe is challenged by his insecurities and fears. And Queen Bee; the snarky lancer to Ladybug despite her clear admiration to the red hero, who has much to learn and much to do. 

While our two centric disaster kids are still the main POV characters who we’ll see every episode, Season 2 would feature Alya, Nino, and Chloe in their own special and unique to themself episodes, as we travel in their shoes now as heroics are placed into their lives as people.

Like the show, Mayura would show up by the end of Season 2, just when the new hero team just got used to being a team and felt confident for like five minutes. It only gets worse with the return of Lila Rossi.

Season 3′s conflict would be less about Love and more about the theme of Trust and Support. 

Lila’s battle of minds against Marinette as the trust of the class and support wavers from these two; Master Fu grows old and maybe even senile as the years catch up to him and his trust in the other users besides Ladybug starts to become fragile; Adrien’s growing paranoia on whether or not Ladybug trusts him anymore grows more and more; Alya is split between two of her good friends and isn’t sure what to do; Nino does his best to support everyone, and Chloe has to learn to trust herself to make the right decision with the return of Audrey.

Also, how Kagami and Luka’s different acts of support for Marinette and Adrien affect them. Meaning their impact isn’t just because they’re love interests, it’s because during this stressful season, they bring peace to Marinette and Adrien, which throws around the Love Square not for plot sake, but because the characters genuinely like Kagami and Luka.

Instead of Miracle Queen, it’s actually Marinette who snaps. I’ve written this akumanette season finale idea before here’s the link to it: https://justanotherpersonsuniverse.tumblr.com/post/629706086227771393/i-feel-like-if-she-was-going-to-snap-itd-be

ANYWAYS

That’s just some main things I would do if I rebooted miraculous, save Chat Blanc for a finale. Uh. Hope you liked this? Send me feedback I could be fun to talk about these ideas I guess?

[miraculous-rewrite]

Miraculous Rewrite - The Old Master

It's been awhile since we've seen you

We began on a train arriving at the station. And stepping out onto the station, pulling some silver wisps of hair back into order is a face we haven’t seen since the beginning of the season. Marianne takes a deep breath and reaches back into the train car, gently pulling our gone but not forgotten master behind her.

“This way honey.”

“Darling I may be going senile, but y mind isn’t entirely gone get.” Fu laughs gently as he steps off the train. “I know this is our stop, where else would my niece be if not Paris?” Marianne looks a touch uncomfortable as they continue on through the station. “Now, remind me which way to the bakery?” she glances down and Fu sends her a shrewd grim, he's messing with her.

Marianne laughs gently and the two begin to head in.

They approach the patisserie just as Ladybug zips onto the balcony, Fu doesn’t seem to notice it, but Marianne does and smiles to herself. When the two enter through the bakery of course the two are greeted warmly and Sabine looks, maybe a touch uncomfortable as she directs them upstairs. She’ll join them soon, and Marinette will too.

By the time the two get up there Marinette is trodding down from her room and runs over to hug Marianne. She takes a deep breath before turning to Fu and smiling warmly (if maybe a touch fakely). She greets the two and announces that she had a picnic planned for everyone. And uhm… Would they mind terribly if she invited a few of her friends? It’s just that… You know it’d be like old times? She knows Fu doesn’t remember them, but it might be fun.

Fu asks which friends she’s talking about, that nice blonde boy? Who else would she be bringing? Marianne cuts in and insists that it's fine. The more the merrier. Just as Sabine comes up, claiming that Tom was going to handle the shop for the afternoon, they get the picnic basket ready and that they’ll meet up with the others at the park.

As the lot of them begin to leave, Marinette reaches into her purse and looks down at Tikki, whom has her gaze firmly on the clasp of the purse. Expression contorted.

“Tikki?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m…. I’ll be fine.”

“You’d better be. It better be a strange day in Paris that we need to call on Plagg to keep YOU in line.”

Tikki huffs. “I can handle myself.”

“Of course you can.”

Tikki glares at Marinette before sinking back into the purse, snapping the clasp shut behind her.

Marinette laughs quietly to herself and adjusts her on her shoulder before closing the front door behind her.

Cue intro.

The park is as it always was. And as the current party arrives it is to spot the remaining members of the core seven. The lot of them are chatting among each other and Adrien immediately jumps in the air and waves dramatically, grabbing Kagami with him and pulling her to her feet. The others react a little more sedately, Alya furrowing her brow before grinning and waving, Nino and Amber casual, and Chloe’s expression falls before she subtly shifts to be behind Amber, not trying to hide, but clearly trying to not draw much attention to herself.

The picnic is spread out, and the kids take assumed seats, everyone setting in a rough circle, Adrien bringing Marinette and Kagami to be on either side of him, but Marinette had Fu at her other side, Fu next to Marianne, next to Sabine, and the other kids scattered about.

“So, Marinette tells me that back before my memory started to fail me I would often regale you all with stories. But it would seem at the moment you lot will have more to tell me instead! Please, I'd like to hear of what I’ve missed.”

The lot of them look among each other, silently debating what to say first, before Adrien solves the issue. “Chloe’s got a boyfriend now.”

“ADRIEN!”

But we don’t linger on that for long. We in fact now focus on Agreste manor, but not to the people within, but rather a young man and his robot lingering close by. Max sneaks up to the edge of the gate and with a little help from Markov begins to fiddle with something on his laptop.He grumbles to himself after a beat and pulls his Miraculous glasses up to rest on his forehead and slipping his coding glasses on insead.

“Little foal!” Kaalki hisses, poking her head out from Max’s messenger bag. “This is extremely dangerous! I’ll admit it would be fabulous for you to succeed, but as your Kwami i must insist-”

“I just need a little more hard data Kaalki. I’ll be fine.”

“Maximillion we are not safe here, should we be spotted by the security system-”

“Markov has that covered, don’t you Markov?”

“I’ve been sending out microdoses of electromagnetic pulses directly into the security system, not enough to bring down the servers and rouse suspicion, but enough to glitch the system for a time. Max is for all intents and purposes, the invisible man!”

“That is a rather clever little foal I will admit.” Kaalki concedes. “But this is still extremely dangerous! Especially with the backup that supposedly has been on its way for so long!”

“Yes I know Kaalki, but at this point it’s just an occupational hazard, no?”

“Yes I know Little Foal, I know better than any.” She huffs and floats up to hover beside Markov. “Yet still…”

“I’ll take off at first sign off danger. Markov, you mind keeping an eye on our surroundings?”

“Of course!”

He grins at Kaalki, but they are not the ones one should be worried about. As they continue to do their work, but when we cut back to the little picnic, it's not to be immediately matched with laughter and stories, but a peer from the outside. Someone looking in from a hiding place.

“How dare he show his face here as our work continues!” Misso hisses her little claws digging into Tsering Wan’s suit. “And with the rest of the thieves as well! The presumptuous little Tiger, That traitor, the fox, the ladybug, all of them at once!” She rushes forward, about to approach the group herself before Tserin Wan reaches out and pulls her back.

“We must do SOMETHING!” Misso argues. And Tserin Wan holds a hand to his lips to silence her. She huffs but drifts back closer.

“We will. But I have a reputation again, Misso. If my only peers were A-Lian and Zhao Kai then I’d have no problems with acting upon impulse, however, the rest of the council should be offered more discretion than my old friends require.”

He grins darkly at Misso. “Besides, Miss Sancour has proven herself a font of lovely little ideas to fuel our passions, old friend.”

Misso raises a brow before grinning back and zipping into his jacket.

“Now, Best behavior Misso. This will be infuriating for both of us.” he takes a deep breath, straightens his suit sleeves, and approaches.

And, reasonably, everyone immediately flips their shit. The children begin to reach for their Miraculouses, Marianne stands up and brandishes her purse, Sabine pulls Fu behind her, and Tsering Wan starts to preen under the negative responses.

“Why, is that any way to treat an old friend?”

Here, and only here, Chloe grins and straightens her back. “Right, the old friend that reconnected with him only because of us. The teenagers.”

Tsering Wan’s expression twists and he very carefully schools himself over before approaching further, now everyone’s on their feet, Fu is… clearly confused.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about lit-... Miss Bourgeois. That is your name, yes? Only, we only met the once, at the Louvre with Miss Kubdel.”

“Yes I remember.” The back and forth continues, both of them clearly restraining their responses for the sake of seeing how far one can push the other. Chloe keeps pointing out how INTERESTING it is that he’s so familiar with THEM at this point than he ever was with Fu. How interesting the amount of thought you’ve put into all of this, granted we never invited you along. So which of us were you following? She’s deffo implying what you think she’s implying. And it’s pissing him off.

Tsering Wan grits his teeth and reaches out as if to grab Chloe. She jolts back just a little, and swiping out with his cane, is Fu.

“I think I have a general idea as to what’s been going on here.” Fu esponds simply. “Tsering Wan, was it? It was nice to see you again, however, I would have to ask you to please leave my niece’s friend alone. Miss Chloe seems to be a nice girl.” Chloe rubs the back of her neck and looks away, a sort of melancholic grin on her face.

“My friend I can assure you-”

“You do NOT get to pretend to be his friend.” Marianne warns.

“Scorpion, if you’re not here for a fight then I honestly don’t know what you ARE here for.” Marinette speaks up. “To rub it in our faces? I can assure you we don’t care.”

“Oh, do you WANT to cause a fight? Should I remind you how well you tend to do in one on ones, Lucky little ladybug?” he reaches now for Marinette, but instinct takes over on all accounts, Fu reaches up and grabs his wrist properly.

“I think you should leave now. Sir.”

And that's the tipping point. Tsering Wan twists their wrists so he’s grabbing hold of Fu instead and forcing the man to his knee, grunting in pain. “You have No right to tell me what I can and cannot do TRAITOR-” But of course he was surrounded by heroes so this is about as far as he can go before they all pounce.

Adrien, Marinette, Kagami, and Chloe all go after Tsering Wan, pulling him off of Fu and preparing to fight, whereas Alya, Nino and Amber grab Fu and Marianne, Sabine hastily picking their things back up as they all begin to leave.

By the time the lot of them are done trying to fight off Scorpion and he retreats, Adrien and Kagami are both transformed, Chloe’s hair is down from the ponytail and Marinette’s rubbing a sore cheek.

But when Tsering Wan stalks away, he smirks.

Marianne reaches over and places a hand on Fu’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

“What sort of man..?” Marianne glances down, and while Fu is still baffled, he looks… angry. Angrier than we’d seen him in canon. “A traitor…?”

“He’s a liar.” Marianne states firmly. Alya quickly chiming in afterward “Yeah! He SAYS all that traitor stuff but he’s just an asshole! He blames you because he’s just a jerk!”

“But what happened? Something MUST have happened… right? And I must have been involved in it-”

“Fu,” Sabine places a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think this is the right time to go into it. We’ll tell you if you really want to know, but at the moment I don’t want to overwhelm you.”

“Sabine, what happened?” He grabs her hand again and his expression turns fierce. “It’s my life, what do I not know?”

“What have you been keeping from me, my darling?” He looks to Marianne as he speaks, and now just looks… hurt. Marianne jolts, and.. Doesn’t answer.

Nobody does.

“I see…”

Fu pulls away from the others and pats Marianne’s hand for just a moment, just as the other four kids begin to rein the group. “I- Believe that I’d like to go for a walk. Spend some time on my own. I need to think.”

The lot of them glance between each other, Marinette mouths ‘I’ll go’ But just as they let Fu walk off, and she’s about to follow, Kagami puts a hand on her shoulder. “You’re too close to this.”

“She’s right, Marinette, I’ll go.” Adrien steps forward but Kagami grabs him as well.

“What did I just say?”

“Kagamiiii!”

“Nino, Alya, or Amber should be tailing him, as they’re the least emotionally compromised in relation to what happened to Master Fu.” Kagami glances between the two. “You may pick among yourselves but the rest of them are too close to this matter and I’m necessary to enforce holding back.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him.” Nino raises a hand. “Honor among turtles, ya know?”

There’s a brief nod shared between him and Kagami, and Nino straightens his cap and subtly takes off after Fu.

We follow Nino more firmly as he darts in and out of alcoves and alleyways, keeping one red and white hawaiian shirt in his view. Very early in his hat startts to jostle and Wayzz lifts the brim until he can see easily as well. “What do you think little man?”

“Master Fu was always able to keep a careful control of his emotions when lucid. His temper would only get the better of him when his perception was skewed. However I cannot be sure if that is something he kept after his memories left him.”

“Well if it was something the Order trained into him wouldn’t he do it reflexively even without the memory?”

“If this were a simple care of retrograde amnesia, then most likely, however this is magic, Nino. Anything goes. And the order didn’t exactly keep people on with them to investigate the nature of their memory loss after ousting them. Little to no research was ever put into the ousting spell after it was conceived”

“So basically we’re flying blind as to if it’ll even stick?”

Wayzz grumbles to himself and pushes the brim of Nino’s hat up a little further. “Indeed. And it’s likely Tsering Wan is still following Master Fu at tis time, so we must be careful! It’s possible he was just there earlier to play us all for fools, but it’s also possible he was anticipating further use from this situation.”

“Right. And be on Akuma watch too.”

“Nino!”

“Look, I know you don’t want to think of it as a possibility, but we have to. Fu might not remember how to repel an Akuma and he’d be crazy dangerous if he got messed up.” Wayzz looks about to argue for a moment, but he sighs and pulls the brim of Nino’s hat back down over himself.

“Fine…”

“Wayzz, do you wanna scout ahead? Just don’t get spotted, okay?” Wayzz immediately dates out from Nino’s hat and brightens considerably. “You mean it?”

“Yeah little man, just Be. careful.” Wayzz nods and darts forward, carefully getting far closer to Fu’s general area, yet expertly avoiding being spotted. Nino huffs and smiles to himself, you can’t tell he’s kind of big-brothering right now.

“M. Lahiffe.” Nino’s eyes widen when a voice interrupts him from behind. But just as he turns it cuts away.

Fu continues on his walk with only Wayzz following him. Wayzz is still doing a solid job of not being seen, but you can see his clear distress at Fu’s clear distress.

And then, much to Wayzz’s horror he finds the dark flapping wings of an Akuma nearby. He darts away, to a nearby alley to inform Nino and-

Nino’s not there. Wayzz looks around as quickly as he can, but nothing.

Wayzz does his best to think carefully about all of this, but even Kwami aren’t immune to impulsive emotional reactions. And just as the Akuma gets too close, Wayzz darts forward, right into Fu’s line of sight, and throws up Shelter.

The butterfly bats against the dome a few times, and seems maybe about to wiggle its way in regardless, but as the upset in Fu is replaced with confusion and surprise it loses interest and flutters away.

“What in the world…?”

“I believe you may be right in that you are owed an explanation.”

But meanwhile with Nino, ya boy is doing us proud. He’s darting through the streets, a new blooming bruise on his cheek, and throwing any and all obstacles behind him as possible. He’s only able to get so far of course, granted his assailant has access to their transformation and without Wayzz he does not, but Nino is still putting a fair distance between him and his pursuer.

“Come on, come on-” he fumbles with his phone before finally hitting a call button.

“Hey Adrien! Yeah uhm, I’m kinda running for my life right now and I got separated from Wayzz so I can't transform. I’m heading toward the lock bridge if you guys wouldn’t mind terribly giving me some backup. Nah Fu’s not an Akuma… I don't think. Wayzz’ll have his back if one gets near.”

Adrien huffs and puts away his phone on the other side. “So, we were right about Scorpion gunning for Fu again, and we deeeffinitellyyy forgot someone in regard to us all being a little too close to Master Fu to be objective.”

“Wayzz was closest to him.” Kagami finished with a groan, slapping her forehead. “I Take full responsibility that completely slipped my mind.”

“It slipped all our minds.” Marinette responds simply, gently taking Kagami’s hand in her own. “Alya, Chloe, you guys go check on Master Fu, Amber, stay here with Marianne and maman just in case they think to use you two as bait. we’ll go save our favorite DJ.”

“I wanna save our favorite DJ-” Alya grumbles but good naturedly

Marinette, Adrien, and Kagami share a nod and transform, darting away.

“Gosh they figure out how to put the ‘try’ in triangle and next thing you know THEY’RE the dream team.” Chloe shakes her head. “Come on Cesaire.”

“You’re not the boss of me, Bourgeois.”

But the two race off and Amber, opening up her jacket to get Pollen out, keeps an eye on the streets as she escorts Sabine and Marianne somewhere safe.

The three heroes we follow seem to have a wordless conversation but only a very brief one, as Ryuuko rides the wind higher than before, Chat Noir keeps at street level, and Ladybug more traditionally hops buildings.

And they keep at this pattern until they reach the lock bridge as they were so told Nino would be.

And they indeed find Nino, brandishing a trash can lid and doing his damndest to hold his own and not get tossed over into the Seine, but he’s fighting against Scorpion, so as one can imagine, he’s not doing too hot.

“Hey Scorpion! Wanna pick on someone with a powerset?!” Chat Noir shouts, drawing out the staff and running forward. But instead of that classic Chat gonna be Chat type impulsiveness he glances back at Ryuuko as he runs and gestures toward the Seine. Ryuuko, recognizing the idea, quickly zips down to the gross seine water below. And Ladybug is quick on the uptake as well, darting out once chat has Scorpion distracted and wrapping her Yoyo around Nino’s waist, tugging him backward until he lands on her chest.

“Oh hey L-Bugs.”

“How did you manage to think of a nickname that's WORSE than Bugaboo?”

But soon enough Nino is gotten out of the way as Ladybug whirls up her Yoyo “Wayzz is with Master Fu, yeah?”

“Yup. Go get him?”

“Bring either Alya or Chloe back with you.”

“And a side salad?” Nino grins crookedly and Chat snorts out a surprised laugh from his place in the fight, but just as he does so, Scorpion gets a hit in and sends him careening over the side, which is of course where Ryuuko catches him. Ladybug charges forward now.

“Stop being funny Bro I'm trying to fight here!” Chat shakes his fist at Nino, whom chuckles slightly and waves before turning and running off.

Now it's a three versus one without a civilian to protect and the kids need only a brief glance between them before things start to throw down.

Though it’s still more of a draw than anything resembling a victory road, the three are clearly so much more in sync now that all of those weird hot mess emotions have been settled and aren’t clouding anybody’s judgement. They may not be comparatively stronger but they’re faster, in tune. Tsering Wan has to use vengeance to keep himself from being restrained, yet Ryuuko turns to wind immediately upon her restraining hold being bounced back onto her.

“I really don’t have time to waste tormenting you children right now.”

“Then why torment Nino?” Ladybug raises a brow

“Also what are you even doing that requires a time limit?” Chat Noir adds on.

“It would seem our enemy hasn’t been entirely honest with us.”

Tsering Wan rolls his eyes but just as he opens his mouth to respond his communicator buzzes. He huffs and grabs Chat Noir, throwing him at Ladybug and causing her to fall back so they don’t both go over the bridge, and jabs his spear into the ground to vault over Ryuuko’s head.

He starts to hiss into the receiver, and we see subtitles as he begins to speak in mandarin.

“Alright, I'll bite, what’s he saying?” Kagami looks casually aggravated as she turns to Marinette whom closes her eyes as to better listen.

“Uhhmmmm something about being busy? He’s arguing with someone.” Finally Scorpion closes his communicator and grumbles.

“Very well, I must be wrapping this up it seems.” Ladybug throws out the yoyo to try and intercept him halfway down, and though it wraps around his ankle, he seems all too willing to let himself be pulled down. The fight gets brutal from here. Every strike of Scorpion's blade has intent to kill. The spear is parried, blocked, directed elsewhere, but it never stops, and the cold, calculating look he musters up never ceases either.

“Well… this was a waste of time.” He mutters as the spear gets dizzyingly close to Ryuuko’s face. “

Ryuuko goes to take another swing at him but Scorpion dodges easily, and maybe you guys forgot from how much we like to poke fun at this man, but now that he’s not letting himself let loose anymore, he very quickly dispatches the three heroes. Not a full defeat, but close to one. He gets very VERY close to pulling the ring right from Chat Noir’s hand, stopped only by the fact that the boy had very VERY quickly shouted Cataclysm as he'd made a swipe. Tsering Wan pats his head and says ‘clever young one.’ before finally shrugging and straightening the rumpled parts of his costume.

“You’ll find judgement day arriving sooner than expected, ‘new order’” he bites around a snarl. “Have fun with that Akuma that was brewing by the way. I’m sure that little traitor will make quite the meal of you lot.”

And with that he was gone.

Of course the day’s not over yet. As the three race for Fu’s last known location, they’re met halfway not by Carapace and either Rena Rogue or Cheshire, but by Nino alone, the bracelet noticeably missing from his form.

Of course that's not a very good look, and Ladybug instantly goes into danger mode, grabbing Nino and demanding a play by play, but Nino is strikingly calm.

“So, funny story…”

When we cut next we cut to a small park, Cheshire, Bellflower, and Rena Rouge are fully transformed and Rena’s playing her flute, Chess dancing with a copy of herself, clearly showing off Mirage as they do so. And sitting beside Rena with a pensive expression is Fu. He’s wearing the jade bracelet again, and though he’s unreadable, he doesn’t LOOK particularly upset. Wayzz is sitting on his shoulder and is gesturing with his paws as he continues an explanation.

“Though for a time you worried over Hawkmoth finding out about you and thus kept your distance, you did your best to train the heroes when they came to you. I’ll admit at times it was a harsh and difficult road we all walked, but it was one I never could regret.”

“I see…”

When the four heroes return, it’s to this surprisingly serene scene.

Wayzz jolts and floats up, approaching the three heroes, but eyes darting between Marinette and Adrien. “I’m sorry, I acted on impulse and from there it would be foolish to continue to try and hide the truth from Master Fu. Even if he doesn’t remember the times before, he should be allowed to know why he was being targeted, and why Tsering Wan’s words could not be trusted.”

“Wayzz, hold on, what happened?”

“He had an Akuma tailing him.” Rena explains quickly “Wayzz got over here and threw up Shelter before it could hit and then it got bored and flew off. “

“If Monarcha didn’t call it off then we’re gonna be dealing with an akuma soon too.” Cheshire adds on.

“But the Akuma in question WON’T be Master Fu!” Bellflower continues. “Oh also Mme Cheng and Mme Lenoir got home safely.”

“I’d rather not be called that.” Fu responds after a moment’s time. “Whether this story is apocryphal or not, I’d rather not be affiliated so heavily with a title I myself do not remember earning.”

Suddenly the air is a bit tense as Fu fidgets with the bracelet some more. “This little creature tells me that I trained you all, the heroes of Paris.”

“Wayzz-” Wayzz glumly corrects.

“It’s true.” Marinette agrees, striding over and sitting beside him. Adrien right at her heels. “We wouldn’t have even become heroes without you.”

“You do all seem very adept at what you do.” Fu agrees. “But to allow children into a warzone such as this…?”

“You gave us a way to be our best selves.” Adrien counters. “We’ve all done so much improving since we became heroes, some of us even before, only because they were inspired by other heroes.” Chloe blushes a bit, Amber puts a hand on her shoulder and shakes her a bit, Alya and Nino beam.

“We might be the heros of Paris, but you were our hero for what it’s worth.” Marinette agrees

Fu smiles slightly and takes off the bracelet, giving it back to Nino. “I appreciate it. Though it seems as though my days of heroing are far behind me.” he thinks for a moment. “But if you all would like to continue to regale me with tales, we do have some time before my darling and mine’s train back to Versailles is due to arrive.”

“...Alright everyone detransform who isn’t already. I think the Kwamis know more interesting stories than we do.” Sure enough once all present are detransformed, the Kwamis take a moment to look at each other and rush over to bundle up against Fu, one Kwami hug after another.

Though Tikki lingers back. She grips onto Marinette’s sleeve, and still looks bitter, like a scolded child. Plagg cracks an eye open from his spot in the Kwami pile and noticies a very distinct lack of sugarcube.

He hovers over and takes Tikki’s paw in his own, leading her into the cornucopia of love “This might be the last time Sugarcube.”

“...Okay.”

“I suppose you all have been around me for some time to make this such a reunion?”

“Over a hundred years master.” Fu blinks, eyes wide. “Indeed? Here I thought it must be around my darling’s age and yet-!”

“Magic!” Marinette chuckles. “Being around a bunch of Miraculous for so long extended your life.”

“It’ll probably extend ours too.” Adrien notes after a moment’s pause. “Woah, I think that just sunk in.”

“We'll process our loose mortality at a later date.” Kagami reasons. “I believe Mme Cheng promised tea upon our return?”

“And we’ve got stories to tell!” Amber agrees. “Come on Ma-uh… Uncle Fu?”

“Yes, I believe ‘Uncle’ will fit nicely.” Fu smiles at Marinette whom smiles sadly and nods.

“Okay then you will not BELIEVE the drama that unfolded when we all learned each other's identities!”

And the chatting and good cheer is where we end.

[ao3feed-ladynoir]

Miraculous Ladybug Rewrite: Season 1.

Miraculous Ladybug Rewrite: Season 1. by CrystalPokedude

Watch the story of Miraculous Ladybug unfold, but slightly differently than how you remember. In this new season that spans 20 episodes, relive some of the high points of season 1 and maybe even find some new high points. This series will be on a weekly release system. All episodes of this season are already finished in google docs. If you would like to join the Discord Server where I post these Episodes, PM me and I will get back to you.

Words: 8412, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Alix Kubdel, Lila Rossi, Caline Bustier, Aurore Beauréal, Ivan Bruel, Mylène Haprèle, Lê Chiến Kim, Max Kanté, Sabrina Raincomprix, Roger Raincomprix, Original Characters, Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine, Nathalie Sancoeur, Mireille Caquet, Manon Chamack, Nadja Chamack, Chris Lahiffe, Fred Haprèle, André Bourgeois, Armand D'Argencourt, Alec Cataldi, Ms. Mendeleiev, Félix Graham de Vanily, Master Fu, Principal Damocles, Italian Photographer Vincent, Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste's Bodyguard, Jean Duparc, Majordome Jean | Butler Jean, Tom Dupain, Tomoe Tsurugi, Sabine Cheng

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Emilie Agreste & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth

Additional Tags: Rewrite, Miraculous Ladybug Rewrite, Nathaniel is the Side Love Interest Now, I've got the entire season finished on a Discord Server, Pm me for the server link, Weekly chapters, 20 episodes, Nathaniel is Caline's Nephew, I tease a lot of stuff, new canon, Season 1, I make way too many references, I genuinely name drop Felix in Episode 2, This was Written in Google Docs, Started working on this in June 2020, Screenplay/Script Format

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34510822

[luki-fanfic]

Miraculous Ladybug Fic Idea - The Djinn Kwami

I have too much fic already on my plate so this is not turning into an actual fanfic, but given what’s happening in the fandom thanks to early releases, I thought those relying on the ML Distractathon tag might appreciate this as a distraction.

- Some kind of amulet arrives in Paris, which happens to host the Djinn kwami.  Thanks to it’s nature, the Djinn only appears every 100 years, grants 3 wishes, and then is sealed away again.  Chat Noir wonders if the Djinn’s wish could solve their Hawkmoth problem, but Fu tells him that the wishes are always cursed in some way, so it’s vital to grab ‘Genie’ and bring him to Fu before anyone makes a wish.  It could have ramifications that even Hawkmoth doesn’t want.

- Hawkmoth of course, doesn’t care.  When he realises that the Djinn Kwami is active, he’s heading straight for it.  Knowing that he’s facing Ladybug and Chat Noir and possibly the Guardian, he also brings Mayura, and uses an Akuma on Lila as extra muscle.

- However, when Lila learns that they’re hunting a GENIE KWAMI, she double crosses Hawkmoth and grabs it for herself.  Before anyone can stop her, she’s transforming, and making her first wish.  She doesn’t have a lot of time to plan, because Hawkmoth, Mayura and the heroes are all lunging for her, so she thinks fast.  What she wants more than anything is admiration, and Adrian’s attention.  So…

“I wish I was Ladybug!”

- She gets a moment to enjoy the look of absolute horror on Ladybug’s face, before everything goes dark, and she wakes up in her room – wearing a new pair of earrings and a rather sour looking red Kwami asking her what’s wrong.

- She’s suddenly hit with altered memories – her mother came to France several months earlier, and when she was walking to school, there was an incident.

- (Fu was looking for a new ladybug, tried to test Lila, ‘accidentally’ got pushed into traffic, and loses the Ladybug kwami box.  By the time he’s gotten out of hospital, he has no clue where the box is or who has it).

- Lila brushes off Tikki, who goes to sleep, and then she pulls out ‘Genie,’ who explains that he had to rewrite time in order to allow Lila to be in a position to get the earrings.  She’s a little insulted that she could only get them through an ‘accident’ rather than being worthy, but she can live with it.

- She spends a good hour that night just looking through her calender.  ‘Ladybug’ has dozens of media appearances and modelling set up, and she absolutely can’t wait.  

- In fact, she decides to improve everything by adding a second wish.  While she’s doing a good job on her own, she always preferred the easy way out, and wishes that ‘Marinette Dupain-Cheng didn’t have a single friend at Dupont.’  

- The next day, she heads to school with a spring in her step.  While she knows nobody can know she IS Ladybug, she can’t wait to bask in everyone’s admiration, while that little goody-two-shoes enjoys being unloved and unwanted.  However, when she gets to school, while everyone smiles and greets her, they seem rather withdrawn and not all that excited. She’s sitting next to Alya, who greets her fairly apathetically.  When she asks about Marinette, she gets a blank stare.

- New memories hit.  Turns out, Marinette doesn’t go to this school – she’s never gone to school with anyone here.  This means that Chloe never had her favourite target, and went after everyone else.  When Lila arrived, people flocked to her and her connections, but when she could never follow through, people dropped her pretty quickly and treat her like Chloe.

- It gets worse when she asks about the Ladyblog.  She ‘remembers’ that Alya more or less gave it up very early on.  The biggest blog around these days is the ‘Chatcall’ run by someone else entirely.

- Apparently, Lila’s love of the spotlight and general bad nature has soured Ladybug’s popularity.  Chat Noir is by the far the more popular of the two heroes. 

- Her great morning has suddenly become a nightmare, and while she’s seething, she asks Nino when Adrian is going to get here.  He’s still got to be into superheroes, surely.

- Nino however, just stares at her and asks ‘Who?’

---

- Meanwhile, Marinette wakes up in the morning, remembering exactly what happened, and is horrified to find both Tikki and the earrings are missing.  But more strangely, her room is altered.  The walls have photos of people she’s never met on them, along with several of Adrian – but not professional photos, photos of the two of them.  There’s also a lot of random outfits midway through design that she barely remembers.  

- Then, her parents come up to her room, and tell her she’s going to be late to school if she doesn’t hurry.  School in this case, being an extremely exclusive private school she’d only ever dreamed of attending.

Then the memories hit.  Her parents, after Chloe first bullied Marinette, decided to try her at a different primary, and without the constant bullying, she blossomed.  She continually entered competitions regarding craftsmanship, and was eventually invited to apply for a scholarship at the private school.  She continued to excel, befriending the Quantic kids and beginning her own MDC line.

- That’s quite a bit to take in, but it’s nothing compared to when she actually gets to school and finds Adrian waiting for her at the door.  He greets her, calls her his girlfriend, and kisses her on the cheek.

– She immediately passes out.

- When she wakes up, she’s at the nurses office, and remembers – she met Adrian and Gabriel at a fashion shoot.  She didn’t quite have a crush on Adrian at the time, but he was elated to meet another person his age – and she talked to him about her school...and somehow convinces Gabriel that letting Adrian attend such a prestigious school – used to handling high profile famous students – would be perfectly safe. Since they’d allow Adrian’s bodyguard on the grounds, have an almost legendary rep, and he does kind of want to lure Marinette-AKA-MDC over to Agreste and he’s not above using his son to do it, he allows Adrian to apply, thus removing Adrian’s need to use Chloe and go over his father’s head.  As he and Marinette spend a lot of time together, they both fall for each other, and started dating before the whole Hawkmoth/Ladybug battle began.

- She barely makes it through school, and is very conflicted when she gets home. Especially since there’s an Akuma attack that day, and it’s very clear ‘Ladybug’ is nowhere near up to the task.  Chat Noir’s definitely having to pick up a lot more slack that he usually does, but they do still beat him.

- That night, she’s visited by the Djinn kwami, (who waited until Lila was asleep) comes to visit and explain what happened.  The nature of the kwami means he has to grant ‘cursed’ wishes, even when he doesn’t want to.  So to get around that, he tries to find loopholes – in cases where a wish will cause someone who doesn’t deserve it misfortune, he tries to counter it by improving their life.  Lila wanted to be Ladybug, but there was almost no reality in which that could happen as long as Marinette went to Dupont...so he fixed things so that Marinette never did. This happens to be the ‘best’ future Marinette could possibly have in which she didn’t attend.

- Marinette is genuinely surprised he’d go to this much trouble.  He surely didn’t have to give her the best life possible, but Genie admits there’s a more malicious additional reason.  Lila wanted Ladybug to hurt.  She wanted Ladybug to remember what she’d lost.  However, Ladybug might then try to undo the wish, and it’s the Djinn’s duty to fulfil his master’s wishes – so he had to make sure Ladybug wouldn’t WANT to undo the wish.  

- And so, Marinette finds herself torn.  On the one hand, she has an amazing life, with fantastically loyal friends and Adrian at her side.  On the other, she no longer has Tikki, and Lila is struggling as Ladybug.  Does she try and steal Tikki back and risk Lila using the third wish?  Or does she try and steal the Djinn’s token and reset the world back to what it was?  

- Meanwhile, Lila tries to figure out what the perfect third wish would be given how badly things have gone so far.

- (Oh, and Adrian is still Chat Noir.  While he was being driven to school, he spotted Fu struggling on the pavement after one of the other Dupont students ‘failed’ to help him, and stopped the car to aid the older man. He was late for school making sure Fu got to his destination, and Fu decreed him worthy.  Of course, he’s already head over heels for Marinette, and really can’t stand Ladybug.  Chatcall is run by Felix).

[natsunoomoi]

More SVSSS stuff because I just watched ep 5. I’m not in a position at the moment to pay for the VIP pass and plus it’s like one show that I’d be paying for, so eh. I think I can wait.

The highlight for me is definitely always just looking at Shen Qingqiu’s face. I really like how he looks. Like when they show grown Luo Binghe he looks nice too, but it’s not that often. When Liu Qingge comes out of the cave I’ll probably enjoy the eye candy for every episode thereafter. I’m not normally really like this, so I think the aesthetics of this show just touch on something very comfortable deep in the recesses of my memory of some kung fu movie I watched with my Dad as a young child that imprinted on me so I have a very specific weakness for men with that kind of a look.

I also have a very specific weakness for villain characters that have a kind of redemption or a complicated past with some inklings of maybe they could be redeemed even if overall they were kind of a dick for at least a portion of their lives. This is my Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho weakness that almost universally applies to almost all my interests in life. I think the idea that Shen Jiu set his owner’s house on fire and killed them all except for his friend relates rather strongly to that because that is the thing that Hiei ulitimately decided not to do, but was the thing the Koorime in Hyouka no Kuni feared. Except Shen Jiu acted on it.

But like Shen Jiu supposedly could have been saved if the original’s author was a better writer and wasn’t writing a bullshit stallion novel. Like the fact that he saved Haitang is a compelling example of how his heart wasn’t completely cold. Of course she was his fiancee and people kind of are iffy about if they really were, but like they probably were between each other. Even if he was a slave, she lived in his house and she was his friend and they talk to each other. Naturally if you get along with each other really well, maybe as kids you just say, “When I grow up, I want to marry you.” Then because they’re friends and they like each other, they agree and they plan it that way. Just between them. Nothing to do with her family or the reality of the situation. Just two cute kids making a promise innocently. But like with that backdrop, it’s kind of understandable that he would save her from his slaughter and the fire that he set to destroy her family house. The interesting thing is that he never once in his entire time living there or even in the aftermath tried to tell her what her family was really like and what they did to him. He left her to hate him for what he did and assume that her family was innocent and the attack was unprovoked. He didn’t do anything to destroy her image of her loved ones.

It’s really sad how strong his mistrust for other men is, but that’s trauma too. We’re not really given specifics of how exactly he lived as a slave. We know that he was the 9th one bought, but he likely slept in close quarters with other slaves because it’s not like a noble family would give a whole lot to their slaves and amenities were probably sparse. For very different reasons, the disciple quarters even on Qing Jing Peak are probably similar. Sparse to focus on training and cultivation and close because of the number of disciples and just the overall situation. Even if the quarters had relatively more space than his slave quarters, that does sound too similar for it to be a huge trauma trigger for him on top of being surrounded by mostly other males. Self-isolation as a result of the trauma and hyper focusing on just his cultivation as a means to survive and get by day by day and create the foundation for his entire identity and basically it’s definitely the set up for disaster and all of Shen Jiu’s problems socially that lead him to being the main villain for the original story. It’s very sad. If only Yue Qingyuan tried to actually talk with him more instead of apologizing. I know he probably figured ultimately his excuse doesn’t matter, and it doesn’t, but Shen Jiu really needed help and to feel like his whole world wasn’t cold. Just knowing that he was in his friend’s thoughts and he tried to come back maybe could have eased his suffering even a little and start to build up a new level of trust again for him in particular but even for men in general. It’s sad as well that no mentors in his time there as a disciple ever like kind of noticed and tried to like just talk to him. I know he keeps his cards close and probably didn’t show outwardly he was struggling, but like how come no one asked how come he was spending so much time at the Warm Red Pavilion with women? That’s strange right? No one was concerned? I mean, like even if ultimately you say, it’s up to you if you want to keep going and that’s your business, still maybe ask and be like, “Hey, so I notice you’re not sleeping along with the other disciples and spend every night with the ladies over there? Uh, what’s up?” I think like for his teachers that might have been an important thing they should have done, but no one did? That seems like a big plothole to me that he was allowed to just continue like that with no one asking even once or showing concern that the top disciple of Qing Jing Peak was not socializing with the other disciples or sleeping in the same quarters as them. I’m surprised even not one of the ladies in the Pavilion even asked why he was there every night. I mean, I’m sure they wouldn’t want to shoo a way a client, but like no one asked even like one time? I understand from the meta point of view that plothole is probably there on purpose to show how the original’s author was a dumpster fire to create a horrible world of super toxic masculinity as an ouroboros eating itself, but jfc I really feel bad for Shen Jiu that he was made to feel such suffering as a result of absolutely shit writing just to make him an enemy for Demon Binghe.

Oh and he just had a shit first cultivation master too. What the hell with the horrible luck. This poor kid is just trying to survive and he just gets a raw deal.

But I suppose that’s also like a masterful backstory on MXTX’s part to make us root for Shen Yuan’s rewrite and create a happy life for “Qingqiu” that he wasn’t able to make himself. He did it initially for his own self-interest, but the Qingqiu everyone knows in the end is much more well-adjusted. I’m still sad though that it feels like that means original Shen Jiu still left that world with Shen Yuan replacing him only knowing sadness.

So then I was poking around the tags on here and saw someone had a theory that original Shen Jiu got punted from his timeline and turning into Shen Yuan who knows the whole story and then dies and gets put into his old body. I actually buy this, but my version of the timeline is different. Like I was thinking Shen Jiu-Qingqiu died as a human stick under all the torture and everything and then became reborn as Shen Yuan reading through his whole life and mistakes through a horribly written story and then dying via food poisoning and brought into his own old life with a chance to redeem himself. I really like this idea except that Shen Jiu seems really, really straight and Shen Yuan may be a bit more fluid.

But all this to say, that I have an itch in a confluence of all of my weaknesses to want to really comfort Shen Jiu. ;o; There’s a small part of me that while enjoying Shen Yuan’s rewrites, also really wished Shen Jiu could have been happier so he didn’t turn into such a dick because literally no one else around him seemed to do anything except let him fuck himself over including the people who supposedly cared about him. So very sad. T_T

And then maybe this should be in a different post that’s a different topic. I kind of touched on a bit how the image of the situation probably doesn’t look great, but it looks like some people are like bashing on the Bingqiu ship? It’s the canon ship for one, so just stop there.

But if you really want to go into it, as another person pointed out, the actual teacher-student relationship was between original Qingqiu and Binghe. We’re reading a different situation because it’s Shen Yuan who was a Binghe fanboy who has the relationship with Binghe. The imaging isn’t great because he’s in and controlling Qingqiu’s body, and the rest of the characters in the world don’t know this, but the meta reading of this is that it’s okay because it’s a different person actually. In world, the other characters do probably find it a little odd and the issue with Qingge in the succubus cave as I mentioned before, he’s probably panicking when the succubus mentions that Qingqiiu’s love interest is a junior because he can only think of himself as that role and didn’t think to include a disciple into that description. It doesn’t seem like it’s completely unheard of or taboo though because there seems to be some implications that maybe Shen Jiu originally had some kind of designs on Ning Yingying because he’s also a bit jealous of Binghe for getting her attention too? A large part of his jealousy comes from his insecurity with his cultivation and other people having more advantage or potential to surpass him despite his hard work, because again trauma and hyper focusing on building his entire identity around one thing and no one helping him, but like also seems in this world there’s some leeway between teacher-student relations turning into something else. This is not really a normal kind of situation where they go into a modern school or anything. A lot of the disciples were probably at one point also juniors to their master before they graduated to become a lord, and when they grow enough to end their disciple term and can become more independent cultivators they’re not really obligated to stick by such a standard because they’re adults. Like maybe they hang around the sect still and work as like someone they happen to send out on demon slaying missions if they choose to stay instead of going off somewhere and it functions a bit more like an army in that regard where they’re not really learning anything new or getting any new instruction, but they’re still kind of a disciple. It’s not a perfect 1:1 relation to teacher-student relationships because of the structure of cultivation sects. It’s not great in the army to have a relationship with your CO either, but the point in the story when their relationship develops is more like that. But like Mingfan probably eventually would go back to his family and just live out a noble life because he is a noble, so it’s not like all the disciples would stay and perpetually be students forever. There’s some very important distinctions at play here in the story that the people who object to this aren’t understanding. 

Like this isn’t like an actual school like in Harry Potter or something where the kids all go off to Hogwarts and there are actual students and teachers and every Peak is like a Hogwarts House. They’re learning and the peak lord gives them some level of instruction, but there’s also a great deal of independent study because cultivation is very personal and bound by natural talent and how much you put into it. The fact that everyone has their own manual should tell you a lot about the structure and how it’s okay for Qingqiu to leave for 3 years to go meditate in a cave. The masters in these situations are more like more well studied seniors who just have more experience and have been appointed to help you get unstuck or something because they have more experience to troubleshoot. There’s some authority carried with that as well, but it’s a very different experience from like a boarding school, so such a relationship is not entirely taboo. It’s not perfect because if you’re still trying to play the old roles at the same as your new role as a partnership that can get kind of weird, but it can work out if there’s communication involved as with generally all things.

So yeah, Bingqiu is actually okay, and rather than harping on something that’s not an issue, I think the more interesting discussion is how obligated a person is to be faithful to a different person’s life if they end up in their body. Like for body swap movies where the change is temporary they’re always like “Hey, don’t f up my life!” But like this is a permanent change where Shen Yuan was inserted into Qingqiu’s life after he was already established. What is the philosophical theory to how much he should keep up Qingqiu’s responsibilities and how much freedom should he exert for his own desires? That’s the real question. I think the balance he struck became ultimately more happy for everyone in the sect, so eh.

I realize a lot of this is not related to the episode, but the episode is just a continuation of the sparring match and nothing much else to say about it. The most interesting thing is getting to see a flashback of the original Qingqiu and getting a better idea of who he was like instead of the Shen Yuan version we know.

[quijotine]

Hey so I literally gained 100 followers overnight because of this Field Notes thing (thanks guys!!) and realized the update got lost in the abyss so I thought I’d post the continuation here

Tidbit 1  Some clarifications before continuing, the fic is based on @my-miraculous-headcanons​‘s post about wanting an Oblivio rewrite, so, things that are different from Oblivio:

It takes longer for them to defeat Oblivio

They make it out Montparnasse Tower

They don’t manage to get ahold of Master Fu immediately

They walk into the Dupain-Cheng bakery without knowing that’s Marinette’s house.

They realize they weren’t dating.

There is evidence left from the Akuma attack

The memory-wipe is not entirely effective

^^ Oki. I’ll carry on now!

–

Field Notes

“I don’t know why I wrote that but uh… I was hoping that if I followed the instructions I left for myself, I’d figure it out– BUT I MEAN NO. I mean, uh… it’s not just because of that. I– I just… Uh. This played out in my head differently,” Adrien admitted, scratching the back of his head.

This was just Marinette’s luck though. By some divine providence she was too scared to question, the boy of her dreams magically asks her out out of the blue… On the very week her parents specifically asked her to help out at the bakery. The grin she sported washed out as she remembered this particular fact.

“I’d really love to hang out with you, Adrien. It’s just…”

Adrien, seeing her reaction, immediately regretted ever opening his mouth. For reasons beyond his understanding, he found himself dreading her excuse would have something to do with Luka, of all people.

“My parents asked me to help out in the bakery right after school the entire week because they have a huge order to deliver,” she said, with evident regret in her voice. For his benefit, she added in a whisper, “I also may or may not be grounded.”

Instantly relieved, he cocked his head to the side and asked with amusement, “How is someone grounded and not grounded at the same time?”

Marinette shrugged. “Apparently I must have done something while Oblivio was on the run. But they wouldn’t exactly tell me… So unless you want to make macaroons until your hands fall off, I think–”

“Making macaroons sounds great!”

“What.”

He beamed at her. “I love your family’s pastries. And those macaroons you always bring to class are delicious, Marinette. I’d love if you taught me how to make them.”

For the second time in the span of an hour, Marinette was beyond herself with excitement. “Really? Yes! Ok. Yes. Ha ha ha. You. Macaroons. I mean. Yes. Hah.”

Endeared by her antics, he asked, “So when can I drop by?”

“Every day–I MEAN. Frisarday. I mean, Friday. Or Saturday. Both, if you want.”

The bell rang, putting an end to the conversation. “Awesome! Friday, then.”

Adrien walked away, leaving Marinette wondering what the heck had just happened. Did Adrien actually asked her to bake macaroons with her just to hang out? A part of her did not believe it. It took for him to walk with her to her house after school to finally grasp the fact that Adrien Agreste actually was going to spend the afternoon with her.

Marinette’s mom was manning the store alone when they arrived from school. Mr. Dupain had left in the morning to cater at an event in Versailles, which meant Marinette was in complete charge of producing at least 100 macaroons by the end of the evening. Sabine did not want to think of the fact the number would probably be half of the quota due to a certain boy being there for dinner, but all things considered, Adrien was a child that was easy to have around.

“I’m home!” Marinette announced to the front of the shop which was temporarily emtpy. Sabine resurfaced from the kitchen and greeted her child with a kiss on the cheek.

“Welcome home kids,” she said cheerfully as the chiming bell of the bakery announced their entrance. “How was school?”

Adrien felt a certain, if allegedly misplaced, warmth by being greeted as if it was his own house.

“Hello Mrs. Cheng. It was alright. We don’t have too much homework for the weekend, so that’s nice. How are things with the bakery? Hopefully the akuma yesterday didn’t give you too much trouble.”

Marinette produced at tiny squeak and blushed bright red, while Sabine quirked a bemused eyebrow at him and her daughter.

“Ah ha ha, silly Adrien, always with your head in the clouds!” Marinette said in a way that was very unlike her, as she pushed Adrien into the house. “You were here yesterday, remember? Because you weren’t hit by the akuma!”

“Wha–”

“We’re just going in… rest a bit, have some food. We’ll be back in a while.”

“But–.”

“IN A WHILE!” She practically shoved Adrien into the staircase to the apartment building and closed the door behind her. She let out a heavy breath.

“What was that?” he asked, confused, baffled, and honestly a bit excited at Marinette’s sudden change in demeanor.

“I told you, my parents know you were here!”

“Sorry, I… I don’t follow.”

She moaned. “Apparently, for some reason that’s completely beyond me, you were here and acted–or at least tried to act as if you still had your memory.”

“What?”

“And uh, I was with you.”

“What?”

“Let’s just go upstairs.”

Marinette set the table with some bread, cold cuts, and jasmine tea, in an attempt to not go on a complete nervous breakdown. She had gone over Oblivio’s attack with Tikki, trying to piece as much as she could because she suspected her parents found out about her secret identity. But what’s more, judging by Adrien’s note from him to him, the accounts she heard from her parents, and the CCTV of the bakery, they probably also knew about a certain cat.

“So… we were both hit by Oblivio yesterday and somehow that ended up in you being semi-grounded and me… leaving a note.”

“Yup.”

“And how is this a bad thing?”

Marinette focused on swirling a spoon in her teacup, wanting to evade the question as much as possible. “Well, uh… I. I uh… my parents grounded me because they caught me sneaking out of the house the other day to go to uh… a concert. Yes. And I promised I wouldn’t lie to them anymore, and so when I got hit yesterday I lied and well, ta-daa, semi-grounded!”

Adrien gave her a deadpan look, which evolved into a smug smirk. “Are you lying about lying?”

“No!”

“Right,” he said, still smirking. “Pardon my language but that’s a ton of BS, Marinette.”

“It’s not!”

“It’s too!” He chuckled. “Well, either way it looks like you and I had a great time yesterday. It’s too bad we can’t remember it.”

Marinette laughed nervously. “Yeah… heh. Too bad we can’t…”

– Oki, that’s the end of Tidbit #2, which I posted yesterday. I was originally going to migrate this baby to AO3 but honest to god I’m only writing for the fun of it and I REALLY don’t have the time to do a proper AO3 fic :( So I’ll just keep posting tidbits and hope it works. I’ll post it on AO3 when and if it’s finished. So, hope you enjoyed and thanks to everyone who followed me over this silly thing! :D 

[seasonofthegeek]

One Less Secret

This drabble is dedicated to @remremmijenn, @kokoa-vb,   @whatarubberchicken, @onlinecasualty, and @marichat4lyf to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONTH! I hope you all have a wonderful September full of the very best things! 

This was supposed to be entirely fluffy and I’ve tried rewriting it a few times and keep coming back to the same plot so I’m taking it as a sign. I’m sorry it isn’t quite as fluffy as anyone was hoping but there are still bits of fluff so I hope that counts. <3

“Excuse me, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but this does not look like relaxing and taking it easy to me.” Chat Noir dropped down onto Marinette’s bed through the open skylight and crossed his arms. 

Marinette held the length of embroidered fabric closer to her chest guiltily and leaned back against her big cat pillow. “Enjoying one’s hobby is a way of relaxing.”

“Sure, if that’s not a piece for the contest you’ve been stressing over.”

“I only have two more weeks!” she protested as he gently pulled the needlework away and set it at the end of the bed. “I’m so behind now, Chat.”

He let out a huff in fond exasperation. “You’re going back to school tomorrow with a clean bill of health even though I think that’s pushing it. At least take it easy the rest of the night. There’s always going to be another design contest in this city.”

Her expression softened even as she crossed her arms. “I don’t know who went and made you the boss.”

“You did,” he grinned, moving closer. “I think I make a great boss.”

“You would think that, you silly kitty,” she teased, leaning forward for a kiss. She felt Chat Noir smile against her lips and then he was falling on top of her like dead weight. “You’re squishing me!”

He laughed and went even more limp as she gasped and giggled beneath him, struggling to move his body off hers. He tilted his face down to see her rosy cheeks and eyes bright with humor and finally lifted up enough to roll off to lay on his side. “You’re really okay?”

“You ask that after you turned me into a pancake?”

Chat Noir’s eyes widened in horror as he jolted upwards. “Did I hurt you?!”

Marinette pulled him back down by his bell. “I’m fine, promise.”

“Your wrist is okay?” He guided her right hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss to the inside of her wrist.

“My wrist is okay,” she whispered, feeling her cheeks warm at his attention.

“And your foot?” He tapped her right socked foot carefully with the toe of his boot.

“My foot is okay too. The doctor said it may ache a little when it storms sometimes but that’s normal for having bones break so close together.”

Chat Noir grimaced and dropped his eyes. “And...your ears?”

Marinette reached up to gingerly touch the scarred lobe of her right ear. “Still healing but they’re getting there. And Fu let me video chat with Tikki today so that was really nice.”

“Is she feeling better?”

She nodded. “She said she was. She looks a lot better. She’s red again instead of that sickly pink. Master Fu said as soon as I’m ready...”

“I don’t think--”

“If the next words out of your mouth are ‘you shouldn’t be Ladybug anymore,’ this night is going to take a very bad turn,” Marinette replied, mouth set in a firm line.

“Mari, you got hurt so bad. This Morgana is no joke. Plagg said she was using real magic as old as he is.”

“And you think I’m going to leave you to face her on your own?”

Chat Noir sighed and snuggled closer to her. “I want to keep you safe.”

She curled against his chest, his bell a cool presence on her cheek. “I want the same for you.”

“Fu told me I could use some of the other Miraculous if I need to, like you have before.”

“Are you going to?”

Chat Noir nodded, his hair rustling against the sheets. “Probably. At least for a little while. It feels like a lot of pressure asking anyone to go up against this new threat though. She makes Hawkmoth look like a party clown.”

“We should take the rest of the night off,” Marinette decided, reaching up to run her fingers into his hair.

“What do you mean?” he frowned.

“I mean, no more talk of Miraculous. Just Marinette and Adrien and relaxing.” She gave him a hopeful look and his eyes softened. 

“Okay,” he said quietly as his transformation fell. “Just us and relaxing.”

_____________________________

Marinette tightened her hold on the strap of her bag as she crossed the street to the school. Her parents had been as wary as Adrien about her going back to her regular schedule but if she had to spend another day up in her bed, she would lose her mind. Her ankle was already aching a little and her ears felt intimately bare but she lifted her chin and continued on her way.

The official story was that innocent civilian Marinette had gotten caught up in a fight between the new big bad, Morgana, and Ladybug and Chat Noir and she’d been injured badly from a fall on her right side. Ladybug had taken such serious injuries that for the first time ever, the Cure wasn’t released after a fight which accounted for Marinette’s injuries. In one last stroke of luck, no actual civilians had been injured, though there had been quite a bit of property damage. What the media didn’t cover is that the heroes were lucky to escape with their lives. If it hadn’t been for Chat Noir using Cataclysm on Morgana’s temporary altar, they might not have.

She saw Adrien’s car pull up to the curb as she reached the stairs. Everything in her screamed to go to him, find comfort in him, but they’d decided months ago that it was best to stay friends in front of everyone else since Ladybug and Chat Noir were so openly in a relationship. It was the safest route to go to keep their identities intact.

“You’re back!” Alya exclaimed, reaching her side and quickly offering an arm before Marinette could climb the stairs. “How are you feeling?”

“Happy to be out of bed but already tired,” Marinette admitted, gratefully leaning on her for support. “One of the only things that kept me sane were streaming movies with you so thank you.”

“Anything for you, girl. I was...” Alya trailed off with a surprised blink and Marinette turned to find Adrien on her other side, his arm easily hooking with hers.

“Mind if I help too?” he smiled.

“Thank you,” she smiled back, subtly squeezing his arm in affection. 

“So, Adrien, did you visit Marinette while she was recovering?” Alya asked slyly, not missing the way his hand had settled over hers in a familiar manner.

“Every night,” he answered automatically before paling as a look of triumph took over Alya’s face.

“Very interesting,” she replied smugly. “Marinette conveniently forgot to mention that. Every night, you said?”

“Hey! I need to go to the bathroom!” Marinette interrupted, dropping Adrien’s hand with a quick look of apology and leaning more on Alya. “Can you help me get there?”

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, Agreste,” Alya called back playfully

“My luck’s not that good,” Adrien murmured, watching them go.

_____________________________

As far as records went, five day felt like a good one to Adrien. For five days, he went back to keeping his distance to a friendly normal with Marinette around all of their classmates. And every night, he appeared in her room as Chat Noir and cuddled and kissed his girlfriend.

Marinette got more attention than she wanted the first couple of days but that seemed to be dying down now. Adrien had been watching her as closely as he could get away with, and though she still wasn’t at one hundred percent, being at school did seem to make her happier. It took everything in him not to reach out for her constantly but he kept his hands to himself and tried to ignore Alya (and now Nino’s) knowing looks.

He’d been doing so well too until Marinette stumbled going up the stairs to her desk before class started. She was in his arms at an almost inhuman speed, her eyes widening for a second before a sweet smile graced her lips.

“I guess I fell for you,” she grinned, obviously more than a little proud of herself as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. 

All at once, the classroom exploded in catcalls and questions that Marinette and Adrien answered in matching blushes as their fingers entangled. 

Yes, they were dating.

Yes, they’d kept it a secret while they were testing the waters.

Yes, Adrien had been very worried about her.

No, they weren’t angry with Ladybug and Chat Noir.

No, it hadn’t been going on for a long time.

Yes, they did make a very cute couple indeed.

_____________________________

“Looks like our secret is out,” Chat Noir murmured, kissing the top of Marinette’s head.

She turned towards him sleepily. “One less secret to keep.”

“Does it bother you that everyone knows we’re together now?”

“It worries me a little that someone might put two and two together but I’m actually relieved I don’t have to pretend anymore. It was hard not being close to you at school.”

“Yeah, it’s nice that I can walk up and kiss you good morning now,” he agreed, adding another kiss to her forehead.

“We need nice things right now.” Her voice was soft but there was a sense of dread just beneath the surface. Dread of a new enemy. Dread for each other. Dread for what the future could bring with Ladybug still down for the count.

“I know exactly what you mean, but at least we have each other.”

The warmth of his words chased away the icy chill that had started to slide into her bones and Marinette smiled as her eyes slid closed and she realized she’d never felt safer than in his arms. “We’ll always have each other.”

Buy me a cherry coke?

[mazin-empress]

OKAY, SO MAZINGER Z INFINITY.

I'mma put all the details and stuff under a cut so slfghmk If ya don’t want spoilers you might not wanna look, this is really long btw-

So it starts with a photon plant in Texas, and there's a bunch of mechabeasts attacking it. Enter Great Mazinger, who wrecks their shit before Baron Ashura shows up. More stuff before the plant just explodes. Tetsuya ends up going MIA at that point. Newtype pointed out on the way home that Tetsu always ends up getting bodied in these movies and stuff. I hate it.

And so it cuts to exposition, what everyone’s been up to for the last ten years.  Photon power is the power source for essentially the entire world now. Tetsuya still pilots Great to protect the peace, and he and Jun are married with a child on the way. Shiro’s in the military, Sayaka leads one of the photon power labs and her dad is the prime minister of Japan. Koji’s become a scientist (my son’s all grown up aaaaaaa), and Mazinger itself is being kept in a museum.

They find the still-dormant Mazinger Infinity while working on a new plant, and out of it emerges the resident plot girl, Lisa, who is the key to it’s activation. She mumbles something about “Goragon” and passes out. She slowly becomes more human, and starts calling Koji ‘Master’. While discussing everything re; Infinity with Sayaka, Jun and Shiro present, parallel universe discussions followed by Count Brocken fucking everything up, whom Lisa takes down he and his goons singlehandedly.

This is then followed a bit later by a long sequence of mass-produced Mazins (one of which is piloted by Shiro and later one by Koji) against this gigantic horde of mechabeasts. And then Infinity wakes the fuck up and destroys a decent chunk of Mt. Fuji before everything else with this gigantic Breast Fire. It literally melts Mazinger Z. Koji finds out that Great Mazinger is shoved in as a control unit, but it’s temporary as Lisa herself is it’s true control unit.

Dr. Hell shows up, going on about ‘co-existence’ and other such things. Everyone takes it as bullshit and starts debating what to do. Tetsuya is somehow still awake in the controlled Great Mazinger, and upon being approached by Dr. Hell he says he heard Hell’s speech and also calls it out as fucking bullshit, and Hell shuts him up.

Meanwhile Koji is told about what exactly this “Goragon” thing is, which is basically “Do you think this world is worthy to exist? No? Here, now you have the power to rewrite it however you want.” Which is exactly what Hell plans to do. Koji eventually goes to tell Sayaka about this, and also tells her he has something important to tell her when the fight’s over.

Koji executes this big plan, involving a huge photonic 3D printer and a little Mazinger figurine dropped by some kid. With Boss’ help (who owns a ramen shop now, I did not know I needed that in my life), as well as two of those three doctors whose names always escape me, they recreate Mazinger and he and Lisa launch to save Tetsuya and destroy Infinity.

There’s then this little sequence with Boss and the three doctors creating a diversion for the mechabeasts. The doctors’ little tank has a 3D printer attached, and Boss Borot starts using the gigantic sports balls it poops out to chuck at the mechabeasts. Cue “oh shit we’re not actually hurting them” and them scrambling away.

The last like half hour of the movie is a bit of a blur cause a lot of shit happened. After taking down a fucking army They run into Baron Ashura and Brocken in their respective robots again, and Koji pulls himself out of a tight spot (quite literally as Ashura was trying to fucking iron maiden him, you know, those boxes with the spikes in em and shit) and they both die. He makes it to the top of Infinity, they manage to get Tetsuya out safe and sound before Hell shows up in what seeeemed to be something akin to Hell King Gordon? I haven’t finished the original series yet lolwhoops

Hell holds up his staff to Lisa, and asks her if she thinks the world is worthy of existing. She answers yes, it is. He promptly gets his ass kicked by Koji, Tetsu, and Shiro. There’s some more parallel universe shit as, even though Tetsuya’s been rescued, Hell got Great’s key code backed up in that staff of his. Shit explodes, and Koji and Lisa end up in this weird neutral space. There’s all these cubes floating around, as well as these huge floating orbs, a big red one representing Infinity’s core and two smaller blue ones representing Mazinger and Great. Koji touches one of the cubes, and sees another reality where Lisa is his daughter.

Lisa takes the photon energy from Great and Shiro’s little mass-produced thing. Mazinger goes fucking giant and starts fistfighting Infinity. But it still isn’t enough, so Lisa proceeds to take photon energy from the entire planet in what Newtype described as a spirit bomb so Koji can kick Hell’s ass. He succeeds, natch, and Lisa disappears, but she tells Koji before she does that the cube he touched and the alternate reality he saw is the reality he’s gonna get.

When Koji finally wakes up, everyone’s there, Tetsuya and Jun with their newborn, Boss, etc. Everyone rejoices, and Koji brings back up the fact he had something to tell Sayaka. Everyone watches expectantly, but what leaves Koji’s mouth is not “Marry me” but “Let’s have a child”. Sayaka promptly smacks him.

Ten years later, and he’s still dense. I love my son.

It then goes to a timeskip, with an apparent wedding taking place (it took 50 fucking years but they finally tied the knot holy fU C K), and before it cuts to credits, little Lisa walks away with her parents, a little Mazinger figurine in her hands humming the theme song.

I probably missed a lot of stuff, but like. Holy cow. This was such a great watch, it cured my depression and just fjghsdfjklghf??? I may still have too much energy to coherently explain my feelings.

Infinity out of ten.

[kickoffme-blog]

Ten Pointers for New Drupal 8 Developers

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Ten Pointers for New Drupal 8 Developers

Ten Pointers for New Drupal 8 Developers

Ten Pointers for New Drupal 8 Developers

02/10/2016 – 10:46

We’ve been experimenting with Drupal 8 for a while now, but this site is the first project we’ve put into production built on it.

For folks who’ve worked with Drupal 6 or 7 previously and are just getting started using 8, here are a few tidbits worth being aware of when getting started.

1. Sooo much contrib is bundled in core now.

Those who’ve been in the Drupal community for quite a while remember the “Small Core” initiative. The idea was to strip Drupal core down to a minimalist framework, then use distributions to provide bundles of modules and configuration that would make Drupal a useful application in a particular scenario. Drupal Core itself would not be a useable product.

Small Core lost. Drupal 8 core contains major functionality that previously was provided by contrib modules, including Views, Views Datasource, Services, Entity API, Image Cache, Responsive Images, Breakpoints, Migrate, and WYSIWYG. Drupal 8 is a much more complete product out of the box then any previous version of Drupal.

A few features were removed from Drupal 8, most noticeably the blog module. It is easy to reproduce the blog functionality with the blog contrib module or even just by using the core components to add a custom content type and views to display the content. The latter approach is what we decided to do here.

When Drupal 7 was released many developers got burned by how many contrib modules weren’t ready yet. The inclusion of so many essential modules in core has significant mitigated that issue, but there are still a number of “essential” contrib modules that aren’t stable yet, notably token, pathauto, rules, and webform. There are prerelease versions of most of these modules in varying degrees of stability, and certainly trying them out, and contributing feedback, patches, and bug reports is the best way to help them get to a stable release. But sitebuilders under tight deadlines should check their requirements carefully and verify that any contrib modules they need are stable enough to use before promising complex functionality in Drupal 8 right now.

2. The authoring environment is massively improved.

The lack of a consistent author environment and authoring tools has, for years, been one of Drupal’s biggest weaknesses when compared to other CMSes like WordPress. Developers love Drupal, but authors usually prefer WordPress.

A major effort was put into Drupal 7 to improve the authoring experience (UX), which Drupal 8 builds on. The seven administration theme is responsive now. Dropbuttons have been introduced for more economical use of screen space and to prioritize primary actions.  The CKEditor WYSIWYG editor is tightly integrated with core, providing a huge gain in consistency between one Drupal 8 environment and another.

Quickedit in-page editing is a whiz-bang feature of Drupal 8.

Using QuickEdit while writing about QuickEdit

Did I mention the improvements to preview? Node previews that actually preview as they will render reduce the guesswork previously required when authoring any content containing layout code or different typefaces from the admin interface.

3. Drupal 8 is a Symfony application

Drupalcon Denver is where I first heard about the plan to build Drupal 8 with Symfony components. I’m not sure whether my recollection is flawed or if I just didn’t understand what I was hearing, but the move to Symfony didn’t sound like too big a deal: just few minor changes to the plumbing, the inclusion of a Kernel and  HTTPRequest and HTTPResponse classes that’d improve testablity. I recall a neighbour at one of the talks telling me it sounded like ASP to him.

The move to Symfony is a very big deal.  Drupal 8 is near total rewrite of Drupal, with almost all core functionality now provided through services and dependency injection and thus overrideable.  Interfaces and routing, classes and annotation, all idioms common in the Symfony world have been adopted in Drupal 8.

What is familiar to a Drupal Developer who hasn’t worked with Symfony?  Well, the core business objects like nodes, blocks, taxonomy terms, and fields still exist, though they are implemented quite differently. The hook system isn’t too different either, but be warned that what you receive in an array of parameters is quite different.  And the Form API, though not totally unchanged, is one place where the Symfony solution was rejected, though perhaps not outright: there is an active discussion on drupal.org right now about whether to integrate the Symfony form component into Drupal 9.

4. API Docs and Change records are your friend

The documentation team has worked incredibly hard to keep the documentation up with the changes that have occurred. Api.drupal.org has fantastic information about the classes and concepts you’ll encounter now.

One big issue is that many things have new names now.  This is where the change records are essential.  Something like “menu_get_object” from Drupal 6 or 7 has been replaced.  Searching for a old command in the change records will often bring up the exact code snippet you need to update your code.

5. Config management

The configuration management inititiative is one of the biggest changes in Drupal 8. All configuration, whether it be a view, a content type, or the site title, can now be managed via importing and exporting yml files, either through a UI or via Drush. The Features module, which was the best method of synchronizing configuration across development and production sites in D6 and D7, is considerably less essential now

All the nitty gritty details of configuration management are beyond the scope of this introduction, but I will share a few useful tips that we learned in development.

Start your local dev site with a config export and settings file from your staging site. You need to make sure the hash salt in your settings.php and the UUIDs in your config files are in synch, otherwise you will not be able to synchronize the configuration accross sites.

 Move the config directory out of sites/default/files. Not absolutely necessary, but it is becoming a best practice to move the config out of the site directory. It is an easy enough change to make and increases site security considerably.

Only commit production config to master, merge dev config in from branches. Config management does not include a method of identifying and merging changes between two different config directories or changes that were made in one branch that are absent in another: it is up to your source control system to handle that. If you start committing development config to your master branch, then expect to export changes from production before importing the dev changes, you will be in trouble!  It doesn’t work like that. The better method is commit to your dev branch, then export production config to master and commit. Next merge dev into master, and finally import the merged config into production. Confusing? It is a bit, and the diagram on this Pantheon blog post doesn’t make it less so. The short version is just don’t commit anything but production config to master and you’ll usually be alright.

It isn’t always obvious what will be considered config and what is content. This has been an on-going problem for Drupal Developers to wrap their head around. For example, block placement is  configuration and thus stored in yml but block content is not.  It mostly makes sense once you get in there, but undeniably there is a bit of a learning curve here.

As I mentioned, the Features module is still available; it looks like it will come into play for bundles of configuration that need to be pushed live jointly but independent of an entire site’s config. Configuration management best practices are still evolving, however, so it remains to be seen exactly how wide Features for D8 adoption is or if other tools emerge.

6. Drush and the Drupal Console

Drush is still around and as essential as ever.  A few key new command in Drush 8:

drush cr – Cache rebuild, the replacement for drush cc all in Drupal 7

drush cim – import config, similar to drush fra in 7

drush cex – export config, similar to drush fu in 7

drush cedit – edit the config yml in your editor. This can be really handy sometimes.

The Drupal Console is a new option for command line users. It is based on the Symfony Console and an extremely exciting new arrow to have in our quivers.

Drupal Console can do many of the things drush can, but the focus of this project is a bit difference than Drush’s. Most significantly is the effort in making Drupal Console generate pristine boilerplate code. That may not sound like much, but given the adoption of OO, PSR-4 namespaces, and autoloading, being able in a few keystrokes to generate a block plugin with all of the correct annotation, namespacing, and file placement is a huge timesaver. It also makes becoming productive in Drupal 8 much less daunting: you don’t initially need to understand all of the changes that have taken place. Instead, let Drupal Console take care of registering your new plugin so you can focus on just the logic you need to deliver. Later you can come back and learn about what the annotation means, what the parent class does, and so on.

7. Managing your build

We usually use Drush Make files to manage our builds, including contrib modules, patches, and libraries.

Traditional Drush Makefiles still work in Drupal 8. They have also introduced a makefile in .yml format.

Embracing a trend that has spread across the wider PHP work, Composer can also be used to manage your Drupal install, and already is being used by Drupal itself to manage dependencies. There is good documentation on how to use Composer to manage your install on Drupal.org, making use of the Drupal Composer/Drupal Project and Drupal’s Packagist host.

Whether this approach will take off or whether Drupallers will stick with Drush again remains to be seen.

8. The theme layer is now in twig.

Another element that comes to Drupal from Symfony, Twig has been adopted for templating.

Twig is easy to use and significantly more secure than PHPTemplate was. It also introduces a new template extension model to Drupal, which I’m quite excited about. I suspect it is going to take a while for existing Drupal themers to embrace this model, but folks who come to Drupal from Symfony or Django will be pleased to have extendable templates available to them. And there are promising signs that some contrib themes are starting to embrace it.

9. Theme debugging tools now in core.

In Drupal 8 in your services.yml file, you can enable theme debugging. Once you do you’ll see output like this:

with all the candidate templates listed. The template that was actually used is indicated with the x rather than the *.

One thing to watch for is that with theme debugging enabled some JSON calls break.

You know what is extra cool? Theme debugging was backported into Drupal 7 too. Try drush vset theme_debug true some time and you’ll similar output there.

More advanced debugging still requires the devel module.  kint(var) is my favourite twig debugging snippet.  The arrays are much more deeply nested than what you are used to from previous Drupals, so be sure to give php enough memory! Also, enable autoreload and disable template caching in your settings.yml file before debugging front-end code. Otherwise you need to clear cache on every page load.

10. A new approach to release management promises more rapid improvements in the future.

No longer will we have to wait five years for any significant changes in core functionality!  As is explained in the release cycle overview on Drupal.org, “Starting with Drupal 8.0.0, Drupal core releases will move to a new release cycle schedule” with the intent being for minor releases to come out twice a year. Drupal 8.0 has been out since October, thus we are only about two months from the release of 8.1.0. A beta release of 8.1 will be available in less than a month!

8.1 is going to add, among other things, improvement to migration support from Drupal 7 and the migration UI. It appears BigPipe will also make it into 8.1. Will there be upgrade issues for site builders or compatibility issues for contrib modules moving from one minor release to the next? Will poorly maintained sites end up stranded on minor releases? Again, time will tell, but it is exciting to think there will be significant improvements to core available to us a couple of times a year.

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