#Nathalie is smarter than that

[afkaskus]

For some reason, I'm really invested in knowing what future Miraculous character will be doing.

This are my headcanons so far and why:

(long post, in the tags you can read the resume)

Marinette: Designer. We all know this is meant to happen, it's super clear. BUT, I'm not meaning designer as a fashion designer, I meant it as a costume designer. She works mostly on movies but loves working on theaters. Sometimes she also helps with scenography and for some reason she knows a little about lighting as well. She still takes little commissions from a few artists. I like believing that she saw the fashion desing world with another pov and decided to not be part of it. Taking the Agreste company? I think she will enjoy to destroy that empire, and also will want to have her own name.

Adrien: I LOVE "Baker!Adrien" headcanon. Yes, he works with the Dupain-Chengs, and he loves it. He has the family he has always dreamed of. Also there has been a few mentions in the show of Adrien as a food seller. Tom will be thrilled to adopt Adrien and show him everything he knows. Tom will also be happy that he has someone to take over the bakery when he retires.

Gabriel: In jail. He deserves no other place to stay.

Nathalie: haven't think that much about it. But I don't think she will end up in jail like Gabriel. She's smart, she's better than that.

Alya: an reporter. It's meant to happen. She also has a few enemies because she DOES tell the truth. Maybe she will travel with Nino and they'll match their works with their travels, so maybe she's an independent reporter.

Nino: The best DJ in the world. As I said before, he matches his work travels with Alya's work, but also, they are pretty independent from each other. They love the feeling they get when they haven't seen each other in a few weeks and then they meet again in a total different country.

Kagami: Ok, hear me out in this one. Kagami is a tattoo artist. She's very good at drawing and art, but I don't think she will enjoy being in a place where rich can control everything. She's already rich and she might have the contacts to be a very recognized artist, but, let's be honest, that's not something the both rich kids want. After realizing that her mom is not the one who controls her life, she decided to be rebellious and got a tattoo herself (big thing for being japanese), after that, her friends convinced her to become a tattoo artist and she ended up loving the idea. I also like thinking that Tomoe paid a lot of people in the art industry to not let people accept Kagami as an artist, but I think is kind of brutal. Now everyone has a tattoo made by Kagami. Luka and Adrien have a competition to see who gets more tattoos.

Luka: He has his little shop, the one he named in Wishmaker. He loves making people happy finding an instrument that's made for them, specially kids.

Juleka: She's an stylist. She's the best and most revolutionary. She has a lot of knowledge in makeup and hairstyle.

Rose: She's a famous singer and songwriter, she's also Juleka's muse and they go on tour together. Juleka and Marinette help her with her style.

Chloé: She's an influencer and has her own cosmetics brand.

And that's everyone I have thought of for now.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

"Normal" Magical Girl show has plot centered on (female) protagonist, while (male) deuteragonist has "his own side-plot"

ML was on good way when Hawkmoth and Gabriel were (somewhat) different characters, due to audience didn't knowing that they're the same person. Hawkmoth was MariBug's antagonist, while Gabriel was (technically) AdriChat's antagonist.

Then, Gabriel and Hawkmoth were "merged" into one character, which causes that "Main Plot" and "Adrien's sideplot" essentially became one plotline, which Marinette and Adrien need to "share" (with predictable results).

P.S. Imagine what would be if ML Writers kept Gabriel and Hawkmoth as separate characters, and "fighting against Hawkmoth" was MariBug's plotline (and Main Plot), while "SentiPlot" was "AdriChat's side-plot" (with Nathalie/Tomoe as "Big Bad" that's behind actions of both Gabriel and Hawkmoth)

Given where the show went and the rules about everything needing to focus on Maribug, it certainly would have been the smarter choice to make Gabriel and Hawkmoth separate characters. Why bother tying Adrien into the main plot like that if you're not actually going to involve him in said plot? Having Adrien's non-super-villain father trying to keep Adrienette apart plays very differently than what we got in canon. So does Adrien missing the final fight because of said father.

[mlbigbang]

2022 Marichat Fic Rec List

It's the end of the year which means it's finally time for the ML Big Bang's yearly fic rec lists! We're really excited to bring you our contributors' favourite fics from this year to supply you with plenty of reading material while you're waiting for the Big Bang fics' publication in January.

Asking the important questions by @ultrakart 1,397 words, General, 1/1 chapter

After having returned home from Shanghai, Marinette and Chat Noir have some important questions for each other.

"Platonic Marichat shenanigans, resoundingly reminiscent of canon in the absolute best way."

final girl by @picayunearts 41,310 words, Teen, 10/10 chapters

Marinette has ninety-nine problems, and the superhero trio of Paris counts for a hundred. [AU where Marinette follows through on giving up her earrings after Stoneheart, but becomes the Guardian to protect her replacement.]

"This one floored me. Characterization is on point. I love the premise of Marinette giving up the miraculous and being guardian. Wonderfully executed in my opinion. And the writing. THE WRITING. :chefskiss:"

"Another amazing au. I love the take on "Marinette gives up on being Ladybug" and teh way it's written is chef's kiss."

Everything's Not Fine by @flightfoot 976 words, Teen, 1/1 chapter

"Why’s mother down here? What- what is this?” “Still committing to the bit?” Gabriel snorted. “Really now, I thought you were smarter than that. Adrien was compelled to obey the order Nathalie gave via his amok - you would not have been.” “My WHAT?!” -------------- After the events of Risk, Adrien makes his way down to his father's secret lair. Gabriel catches him. Unfortunately, he cares even less about Felix than he does about Adrien.

"An alternative follow-up to 'Strike Back' that packs twist after twist after twist into a very short space, leaving you a little breathless as you read it and sorry that it didn't happen this way in the show."

The Dating App by leadernovaandthemacabre 14,960 words, Teen, 1/1 chapter

Chat Noir and Marinette cross paths on Paris’ newest dating app and keep crossing paths until secrets slip. - [MDC]: why are you here [OfficialChatNoir]: we matched! shall we go out for sweethearts ice cream? [MDC]: i’m blocking you [OfficialChatNoir]: wait wait marinette wait *[MDC] has blocked you*

"I loved the bonding between these too and how naturally everything flowed and how open they became with each other and aaaaa"

NSFW works

Patient is the night by @mostlymoony 72,243 words, Mature, 31/31 chapters

Beware the Cat Knight, he demands a price For this fallen prince, gold shall not suffice Fear the Cat Knight, as he trades life for life Cry pretty girls, for the cat needs a wife. When Marinette's small farming town is attacked by Hawkmoth's army of night creatures, Marinette rides for the dread Butterfly Castle, seeking aid from the mysterious Black Cat Knight and his band of masked fighters. She's determined to save her town, even if that means handing herself over to a strange man with wild, green eyes and a penchant for cat-related puns. There will be smut, and this is my first time writing smut. I'm so sorry.

"Such a good gothic romance/fairy tale vibe to it and I just found the plot/progression very enjoyable. The magic and world building is unique and vague enough to make it important but not overwhelming. They also made some great artwork for it!"

Pink Really is Your Color by @inkmousey 2,811 words, Explicit, 1/1 chapter

Marinette really hates that dumb Cat. Until he's pressing her against a wall and making her forget Adrien Agreste ever existed.

"It's amazing!!! So very amazing and it has a great dynamic that's great for Marichat!"

I’d Never Forget About You by @inkmousey 3,400 words, Explicit, 1/1 chapter

Adrien thinks everyone forgot about him on his birthday, and by everyone— he means the only person who ever remembers it anyway, Marinette.

"MariBlanc is such an interesting pairing and the fic handles them so amazingly!!!"

[symwinter]

So… about that Miraculous rewrite, what do you have in mind?

Okay, thank you for asking, I appreciate it. I’ll try and make this as concise as possible, because there’s a lot and I tend to ramble, so I’ve made it in the form of a numbered list:

1. I don’t plan on redeeming Chloé. I feel like despite actually knowing why Chloé didn’t get redeemed, there’s a pretty decent lesson about how entitlement doesn’t mean you get what you want that they definitely also could’ve gone with of if they were a bit smarter with it.

2. No zodiac kwami. They’re the bane of my existence. Why are two of them time travel based in power?

3. Adrienette is the endgame couple.

4. As of right now I’m sitting at three seasons, each one being 16 episodes plus three specials but I might either add a season four or make season three longer. One of the specials is the alternate dimension one. I love the concept of it.

5. I also gave the show an actual timeline. Because the Christmas specials says it’s Adrien’s first Christmas without his mother, but then season one has the Valentine’s Day episode which means it’s February and then the school year in France starts in September so if we look at season one as somewhat chronological, it means the Christmas special is wrong and that drove me crazy so I just redid the whole timeline. Because it would be his second Christmas without his mom.

6. Nathalie doesn’t have an unrequited crush on Gabriel. I never quite got that.

7. Any rich kid that was a sentimonster isn’t one anymore. The peacock miraculous doesn’t create sentimonsters but rather charms enemies as its main skill.

8. Adrien has more of a backbone than he does is canon and Marinette’s crush on. Adrian is a bit more healthy.

9. Rather than using potions to unlock new skills, the kwamis can manifest them themselves. They just need to expend extra energy and there are just some situations where that’s more difficult. I just feel like the book and the potions and the rennlings from the Shanghai special make the kwamis feel less like something ancient powerful and more like a tool. And also because Frozer takes place in January/February and Syren takes place in March/April (both are season two episodes though).

10. Up until the collector, Natalie didn’t know that Gabriel was Hawkmoth and agrees to wear the butterfly miraculous in order to get Gabriel to let Adrien go back to school and not be able to pull them out for a stupid reason anymore otherwise she’ll just go to the cops and be like “my boss is the supervillain.” She does this again in Simon Says but with Adrien’s love life as a preemptive caution.

11. Adrien is in the finale battle. I don’t get why they didn’t include him in season 5.

12. Emilie Agreste is a famous actress so her disappearance (aka I haven’t quite settled on what I want to do with her) is a lot more well-known to the public.

13. I am planning on renaming both of Felix‘s parents. I just haven’t quite settled on names yet.

I think that’s all I got right now. I’ve mainly been focussing on the timeline and the episode list and any changes to episodes rather than the characters themselves which feels counterproductive, but it’s just the way that my brain works, especially since I find it really difficult to think out Marinette and Adrien as individuals. My brain kinda just weaves them together.



[nangbaby]

I'm confident someone else is also complaining about this right now or already mentioned this, but the possible change in the Miraculous Ladybug Season 5 ending from the leaked version...just swapped one set of issues with another. While "Gabriel sacrificing his life so that he may be with Emilie in death" would be an improvement from the "Gabriel sacrificing himself so Emilie would live" ending in the leaks, a switch like that also comes with its own issues. Aside from the fact that this makes Adrien an orphan (hasn't he suffered enough?), there's an obvious problem with having Amelie assuming guardianship over Adrien.

This means Felix is moving to Paris.

Having Felix stay in Paris is a terrible idea, because the character works by having sporadic appearances and not being accessible. He is written as "smarter" than the other characters and has possession of one of the most over-powered Miraculouses in the show. How is there going to be any credible threat to Paris now that he's clearly one of the permanent heroes?

Plus, the show has made a big deal about how dangerous it is for a person to know both Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities. Luka had to leave town because of it, and it's unclear how much mini-Bunnyx knows. Felix and Kagami learning Ladybug's identity means they can't learn the latter in the near future. How is this going to work with Felix living with Adrien, or even Felix being in proximity with Adrien? Felix isn't as oblivious as Gabriel or Nathalie. He's going to know both identities within two seconds of staying in town (assuming he already hasn't figured it out).

I know, the counter is that if Felix is part of the hero crew and knows or figures out his cousin's secret, he would be a much more effective confidante and cover for Adrien than anyone else in the class. But even if you somehow nerf Argos (say, make him unable to create another sentimonster by making him semi-permanently using another one, like if by some horrible twist of fate, Kagami or Adrien's feathers were released from their objects and Argos had to "recreate" one of them...or he had to create a Sentibug of his own if Marinette somehow could no longer become Ladybug) I can't see him being around as a full-time hero and there being any challenges.

Then again, I couldn't see how Gabriel could lose with having all those Miraculouses and he definitely did.

[arlakos]

AU where the the Wish actually rewrites Reality Post Season 5

Adrien wakes up to a world where everything is different. In this world, both his father and mother mysteriously fell ill and passed away when he was young, but was taken care of by a much sweeter Nathalie, who pretty became his mother after Gabriel left everything in the will to her. He goes to a school where he's been friends for much longer and thus much closer (except for Lila, who left the school soon after she joined due to quickly being exposed, and a Chloe who pretty much broke down once Adrien drifted off from her and became a loner). He has a girlfriend in Marinette and a world where he could have everything he wanted.

Yet he feels he cannot belong. Because in waking to this new world, he lost his father. He knows that Monarch is responsible for it somehow (because his father would never willingly sacrifice himself for anyone else, except maybe his Mother and him, yeah right)

Contemplating this new world, Adrien finds the Butterfly Miraculous by sheer chance in a pawn shop. Desperation taking over him, he buys it and takes it home. With the confirmation that it isnt a replica, Adrien decides to use it to become the supervillain Greyling, desperate to use it to restore the world back to the way it was so he can confront Monarch for what he did.

Naturally, Fu detects this evil Miraculous activation, and manages to escape before Adrien can send his first akuma after him. Fu decides to give the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous to Marinette and Luka Couffaine respectively, hoping they will recover the long lost miraculous and put a stop to this new evil.

(And so the cyle repeats again….)

Adrien, Kagami and Felix all remember the old reality due to being sentimonsters, since pre-canon plays out the same and sentimonsters work differently from reality. Gabriel would have also remembered the old reality ... but he's dead so... yeah.

The Miraculous Wish doesn't just take into account the wish of the user when doing equivalent exchange, but also any factors that may have changed as a by product. Since Gabriel is no longer the Butterfly Villain ... Adrien inadverently becomes on in his place.

Nathalie still respects Gabriel due to him passing away early rather than being manipulated by him like in canon. This results in Adrien being raised by her and eventually forming a motherly bond with him.

Although Greyling sets into motion the events of canon, it is set around the timeframe of season 5 due to the lack of an early Hawkmoth when Adrien was younger.

Audrey stays in New York along with Zoe due to the lack of Style Queen in this new reality.

Lila gets exposed much sooner because the lack of Hawkmoth to distract everyone means everyones attention is on her, leading to her slipping up at some point in season 2, where she had to stay at school. (Basically, she's full of sh*t like ususal, but has no plot armour to back her up this time).

Lack of Queen Bee also meant that Adrien dissasociated from Chloe sooner alongside Sabrina. Although the latter denies it, the loss of her childhood friend and friend/minion breaks her without the ego she gained from having a miraculous, leading to her becoming a recluse. Nobody cares though because Chloe was hated like in canon, so nobody notices her being more quiet than Juleka, not even her father.

Adrien lacks a lot of the benefits Gabriel had from his reclusive job as the boss of Gabriel, so Adrien makes far less akumas than Gabriel did, but is more smarter with his time.

[iwasbored777]

No because when Marinette outsmarted LITERALLY outsmarted Gabriel and Nathalie by simply figuring out their plan by looking in the mirror y'all said Nathalie was still smarter than Marinette but when Gabriel basically commits suicide to escape Marinette's plan cuz he had no other way out you hate Marinette for not taking miraculous fast enough like can you just leave her alone seriously what the fuck did Marinette ever do to you I want to know y'all suck the whole episode was about her going insane because she just wants her kwamis to be safe and all I see is everyone only feeling sorry for Adrien because he cataclysmed Monarch and no one feeling sorry for Marinette for losing her mind. Going back in this fandom is the biggest mistake I always make but of course if I leave we won't have anyone to write a post like this one. Post whatever you want so I can block you but STOP using my memes for Marinette salt. My posts have nothing to do with Marinette salt. Leave her and leave me alone!!!! Even my purple jokes have nothing to do with character salt it's just random jokes y'all crazy

[emberleon]

↳ INTRODUCING: EMBER LEON

in character

Name: Ember Leon

Faceclaim: Nathalie Emmanuel

Gender & Pronouns: Ciswoman & She/Her

Age: 35 (for 2 weeks)

Birthday: June 26, 1988

Occupation: Director of Parks & Recreation for Wilmington

Neighborhood: Midtown

Does your character have a secret? she assumed that it was her intelligence that got her into stanford but she actually got waitlisted and her parents paid off the board so that she'd get accepted, which she doesn't know about.

biography

ember was always smarter than others her age. from the moment she was born, she caught on to things a lot faster than any other average baby would. she walked sooner than expected, began reading earlier than she should have, and immediately excelled in school, which ultimately led the girl to skip two grades. (those grades being 3rd and 8th). the fact that she was younger than a lot of the people in the same grade caused her to be left out of a lot of things. she had a hard time making friends in school but even so, she found her group of people in clubs such as school council and the debate club, both of which she loved.

it was no surprise that the girl was one of the options for valedictorian and she did whatever she had to do to make sure that she landed on top. well, everything that was legal anyways. it got her what she wanted and delivered a speech that she was more than proud of. in addition to that, she was accepted into her dream school. that being, stanford. from a young age, it was what she had always hoped for and every decision she made was what she hoped would land her where she wanted to go.

despite having a hard time making friends in high school, she had better luck at college. maybe it was because she was finally growing into her body or maybe it was because she was in a new place and she felt as though she could mold herself further to be something other than the smart girl. it wasn't like learning was the only thing she liked to do, even if it was one of her favorite hobbies.

friends wasn't the only thing she made though. she also managed to make an academic rival, one who was always going out of his way to try to do better. she, luckily, landed on top every time. at least as far as stanford went. after graduating with a 4.0 GPA, she accepted a job back in wilmington in the parks department and found her love for helping the community.

things seemed to have worked out for the best for her until her academic rival from stanford was also her rival when she decided to run for mayor, which was more than frustrating. though, she was probably a bit too cocky because ember assumed she'd win against him as she did back in school, especially since she was a native but that wasn't the case. the other one and it only fueled her dislike for him more.

now, she managed to land herself the job of the parks and recreation director and she regularly works to turn as many places as she can into parks where people can enjoy their time.

[theytistic]

Considering the series, what you would change do make the series better? You can do anything, except changing the powers, like you doing.

A very interesting game, but quite vague, even with the restriction of not being able to change powers, so here are my rules:

I can't use any reference media than canon;

I can't advance (future season eps in early seasons) events, only delay (early season eps in future seasons). Remembering that if it's something that would have happened if another character had caused it before canon, I can anticipate it, like if the character is smarter or more defiant, it would already count;

If I change miraculous, I can only do it with characters who have already been ported in the series, and I can only use characters available in each season.

Let's start the fun:

Starting with the main change, the delay in the villain's appearance, Master Fu discovered that the butterfly miraculous was for evil and went after the carriers, the same scheme, but he didn't deliver the miraculous right away, because Wayzz said that Nooroo's energy was too weak to say that it would be active so soon.

Meanwhile, Nathalie planned to betray Gabriel because she thought Adrien deserved his father's attention more than getting his mother back, but her goal was still to get Emilie back because she was in love with Gabriel; during this week without a villain, Nathalie would have resigned, forcing Gabriel to look for another secretary, and in the meantime she would have devised a plan to steal the Wonderful and the Wondrous Book, and so in the middle of the night, by switching off the cameras to make it look like a blackout, she stole the book, the peacock and the butterfly, leaving a copy for everyone.

As Master Fu had a week to find his bearers, he ended up finding three ideal bearers: Kim, Max and Alix, and knowing the villain's delay, he decided to give them the strongest miraculous ones to get used to, being Ladybug (more because it was obligatory), Rooster and Dragon, leaving them in their backpacks. However, as Kim is forgetful, he ended up losing the dragon's jewel without realizing it, and Chloe ended up finding it.

With this we would have Bettlix, Phoenix and Royal Scales, in the first week, Max would be the most excited of the three, because he wanted to discover the limit of his powers, Alix would be indifferent, because he hasn't met his colleagues yet and the villain hasn't even appeared, Chloe would only want fame and attention, but wouldn't tell anyone.

Simple sketch to show them, I tried to follow the canon rules on designs, and I used a single color and didn't make a whole lineart, because it was just an idea and more practical. Even though Chloe isn't wearing a mask, her identity is protected by magic, her hair is red, and her eyes are brown (so even if she wanted to, it would be difficult to find out).

That's it for now, if you want to know more you can ask, I doubt this will become an AU, at least illustrated, since it's my plan for the DE.

[darisu-chan]

I just feel that there was a trick to the wish

If Gabriel wished for the peacock miraculous to never have been broken, that would mean Emilie and Nathalie (and Colt) were never sick and they never died, which would explain why the Emilie statue was gone in the finale. And that could also explain why Marinette as Ladybug never told the truth to Chat Noir as far as we know. If the peacock miraculous was never broken, it creates the paradox that Gabriel was never Hawkmoth in the first place, so to solve that it could have appeared to Ladybug/everyone that Gabriel sacrificed himself to defeat Monarch once the world got rebuilt after his wish. It’d be like editing the details, which would mean Nathalie, Felix and Marinette forgot or had their memories of Gabriel as Hawkmoth deleted, which is why no one tells Adrien. And maybe that would mean Lila and Tomoe also have different memories of the events as well.

I’m not saying this happened, but it would be interesting to see them forget this crucial detail. It was also never exactly clear why Tomoe followed Gabriel. Just to make Kagami an icon? Just to have her date the perfect boyfriend? She could’ve forced Kagami to do all that without Gabriel. I do think something else must be going on that she’d agree to help out Gabriel, that she was in for something else. Tomoe is rich, powerful and even smarter than Gabriel to be his accomplice. I also think Audrey wanted something in specific from Gabriel, but it was never explored.

[anderfels]

list of ocs:

dragon age —

julien tabris. hero of ferelden, warden-commander of ferelden, arl of amaranthine, and a bunch of other titles he has no desire to keep track of. a man of few words. he can come off as aloof and cold to those that don't know him well, but he does care deeply for his friends and family. a 5'6" can of whoopass.

garrett hawke. the champion of kirkwall. his morals for that day are decided by him blindly throwing a dart. most people want to rearrange his face but are too scared to do it. doesn't drop his dry, sarcastic sense of humor for anybody. you might hate him but do you hate this stew he just made?

davhalla lavellan. herald of andraste, inquisitor first-thaw, a kirkwall comte, and connoisseur of tiny, frilly cakes. easy to start up a conversation with, but is a total pushover. very proud of his dalish heritage. has two nugs that he cares for with the help of leliana.

mass effect —

rafael shepard. colonist, war hero, paragon, the longest reigning table tennis champion in normandy history. remarkably level-headed and works best under pressure. a bit too blunt for his own good.

nicole ryder. action archaeologist. one half of the ryder twins. lover of books, period dramas, and the color purple. bites into ice cream with her two front teeth just to watch people flinch.

miguel ryder. vigilant vanguard. the other half. he's smarter than he looks. it isn't his fault that he's forgetful! has a dozen hobbies that he keeps saying he'll get back into.

non-fandom —

victoria du bois. wannabe fashion designer who spends way too much time in thrift shops. she funds the mcdonald's runs for her friends (ryan & sebastián). her room is what she refers to as "organized chaos."

ryan choi. you ever wonder how a fluffy cloud would be like if they were a person? look no further. incredibly chill and laidback. the son of two successful doctors who doesn't want to rely solely on his parents' money.

sebastián santiago. the life of the party and the most supportive friend you could have. on a quest to find the best birria tacos in town. stops to take pictures in front of graffiti art and murals if he sees any.

baptiste villemont. a pâtissier whose cafe-slash-pâtisserie is known for being the coziest, comfiest spot in the city. a charitable soul who gives out free coffees and pastries to anyone that needs it.

nathalie villemont. baptiste's younger sister who helps him in the pâtisserie. her art is displayed on the building's walls. she crochets hats and scarves throughout the year to donate when it's winter time.

toya nakajima. a shut-in who has hundreds of thousands of followers on tw*tter for his art. has constant eye bags due to not sleeping much. lives a relatively simple, calm life.

[flightfoot]

Everything’s Not Fine

AO3

He stared at the capsule, frozen. For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.

His arms shaking, he reached out to touch it, to touch- to touch his mother.

“I should’ve known you’d find a way down here.”

Adrien jumped, turning around hastily. “F-fath-”

“Don’t attempt to trick me, Felix,” Gabriel told him contemptuously. “Adrien’s out of the city by now, with Nathalie. You haven’t even bothered changing clothes. I am not deceived as easily as I once was. I know my own son.”

No, you don’t, you never have… and apparently, I never knew you either. “We swapped so he could tell you-” he shook his head. “That’s not important right now. Why’s mother down here? What- what is this?”

“Still committing to the bit?” Gabriel snorted. “Really now, I thought you were smarter than that. Adrien was compelled to obey the order Nathalie gave via his amok - you would not have been.”

“My WHAT?!” his heart seized up, then started pounding, faster and faster, until he thought he would pass out.

“I may not have your amok,” his father said, staring at him coldly, as if he meant nothing to him. “But I still have power beyond what you’ll ever possess. You should have known better than to cross me, Felix. But don’t worry. Your mother will never know what happened down here - she’ll just think that her poor son got into some terrible accident that caused him to lose all his memories. I’m sure that once she gets over the shock, she’ll like your replacement more anyways - a quieter, more obedient son, like my own.”

No- Father couldn’t be saying- accident- replacement?!

Pieces of Father’s words swirled around, beginning to settle into a horrifying picture. 

“Nooroo, Duusu, Dual Metamorphosis!”

Adrien scrambled backwards as his father transformed into an even more menacing figure - Shadowmoth.

“You should’ve taken the fake Miraculous and gone home, Felix,” Shadowmoth said, reaching out a hand. 

Adrien’s chest constricted. It felt like someone had put a phantom hand around his soul, squeezing it tighter and tighter. He fell to his knees, not having the strength to stand.

This- this must’ve been what Sentibug had felt, those months ago, when Mayura murdered her. Just like Father’s about to…

He grimaced up at the man as his fingers moved closer together, preparing to snap.

“No…” Adrien gritted out. He wasn’t going to die. Not like this. Not to his father. Not under his control. “Plagg, Claws Out!”

He had no idea whether it’d work. It was more of a desperation attempt than anything else. But as Plagg’s magic surrounded him, the tug faded into a whisper of what it was, before cutting off completely.

“WHAT?!” Shadowmoth gasped. 

Adrien wasn’t going to stick around for him to get over his shock. Plagg may have been protecting him, but even the suit was only going to do so much once Fa- Shadowmoth, got over his shock and started going after him.

Placing his staff against the ground, he accelerated towards the cavern roof. “CATACLYSM!”

A fifty-foot diameter circle of land ceased to exist as he vaporized it. Distantly, he wondered how the city was going to react to a giant sinkhole opening up in the wealthiest part of town.

With another pole vault, he sailed over the city, running and leaping on autopilot, trying to get the HELL away from everything he’d just seen and heard. He didn’t realize where he was until Marinette stared back at him from her balcony. “Chat Noir, what’re you-?!”

He collapsed into her arms, ugly sobbing, unable to hold it in anymore. She hugged him tightly, not understanding what was going on, but knowing he needed comfort, to know someone was there for him.

After a moment, his ring beeped its final warning. 

“Chat, you need to hide,” Marinette murmured. She didn’t loosen her embrace. 

“There’s no point,” he said dismally. “Shadowmoth already knows.”

That DID get her to let go, flailing wildly as she looked up at him with wide eyes. “How?!”

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as his transformation released, sending Plagg spiraling out of the ring. “Marinette, I-”

“FELIX?!” 

He blinked, glancing down at his suit.

Oh right. He was still dressed as his cousin. 

Well this was awkward.

He scratched the back of his neck. “My cousin and I switched places, he was going to talk to Father for me about- about the trip. Since I couldn’t.” His throat closed up. Gabriel had mentioned an amok - ADRIEN’S amok. And with the feeling he’d had of his soul being squeezed…

When his cousin had said that he could disobey Gabriel while Adrien couldn’t, he’d meant it literally.

“Then- on the train with Nathalie- that was Felix?!”

Adrien frowned. “I told him to abort,” he muttered. 

He glanced up at Marinette. She was weirdly slack-jawed, staring off into space. “Marinette?” He asked cautiously.

She shook herself. “It’s nothing!” she said. Her voice sounded a half-octave higher than usual. “What’s going on with you is more important, let’s talk about that instead!”

He frowned, but let it go. “Gabriel is Shadowmoth, he just tried to murder me while under the impression I was my cousin, and he’s been exerting control over me for- for I don’t know how long, because my cousin and I are both sentimonsters.” Saying it out loud, he almost had to laugh at the absurdity of it all. It didn’t feel real.

“You- how- huh?!” Marinette blurted out. That pushed it over the line. He started to laugh, at first because of Marinette’s reaction, and then because he just couldn’t stop. Sobs infiltrated, until he wasn’t sure whether he was laughing or crying.

“It’s okay,” he heard Marinette say distantly, “We’ll work things out. You’ll be fine. Everything’s fine!”

He didn’t think she believed it, anymore than he did.

[zoe-oneesama]

I was wondering what everybody though of scar individually currently. We know Adrien and Marinette hate her, same with Lila. Alya is in denial, what about the rest of the class? Or is that a spoiler?

For the girls in class it would be a spoiler that you'll get an answer to in the Intermission chapter, but for the guys:

Adrien, Nino, Ivan - Starting at a strong dislike (Ivan), elevating to disgust (Nino, and finishing off with a deep burning hatred (Adrien). Ivan woke up as the first ever akuma and was so lost and confused and scared...and there's Scarlet Lady giving an interview about finishing off the "monster". Yeah, not a fan. Similarly to Nino, the more he sees the less he likes.

Max and Nathaniel - Team Heroes in General. They try to keep out of speculating on the heroes personalities much (Max because he believes in "death of the artist" and Nathaniel because then it makes it easier for him to insert them into his comics). Both are of the philosophy "She does the work, she saves the day, that's good enough for me." After Dark Cupid, Kim will join this team (if he was just a bit smarter he'd be in the Hate Squad).

But for now, Kim is a Scarlet Lady fan. Superheroes are cool, man, and she's the top bug which make her the coolest! Helps that his interactions with her are pretty limited, and he would be just as excited to meet Chat Noir or Marigold. Ondine is also in this camp, though leans a little closer to "all the heroes rock" after her akuma.

Chloe of course is under the impression that EVERYONE is a fan even when told the exact opposite. Oh, and Kagami is very firmly Team Marigold.

Outside the class:

Team Scarlet Lady (people who get excited when they see her and firmly believe she's the Hero of Paris) - Tom, Sabine, Damocles, Bustier, Andre, Jalil, Manon, Nadja, Marc, Fred, Ella, Etta, Chris, Wayhem, Mr. Kubdel, Other Andre, Simon Grimault, Otis, Marlena (this is where MOST people of Paris fall, particularly adults, especially those that haven't run into her on the "job")

Team Heroes in General (ie not fans but appreciative that the job is handled: fans of all the heroes) - Roger, Aurore, Mireille, Alec, Jagged Stone, Penny, Vincent (both the photographer and stalker), Gina, Clara Nightingale, Luka, Anarka, Mr. Ramier, Chef Chang, D'Argencourt, Mendeleiev, (for the most part people who either would be in the first team but they don't have fanatical personalities, OR are put off by Scarlet Lady in their encounters but haven't seen her go full diva)

Team She's a D**K (people with outright hate for Scarlet Lady. Some are more willing to show this than others. They can't even express their feelings for the other heroes because they're sucked back into why Scar sucks.) - Gabriel and Nathalie (obvs), Theo, and Fu. For now this group is scant, but don't worry. That'll change.

In fact, all these groups will change over time.

[critical-thinking-is-mandatory]

Gabriel: I have made Puppeteer a villain that can control people as long as they have dolls, they don’t even have to be realistic.

Also Gabriel: I will never do this plan again even though as a multi billionaire I can just make dolls of everyone and do the Scarlet Moth plan without killing Nathalie.

Literally. Like, just have puppeteer walk into a merch shop and bibbity bobbity boo a Chat Noir and a Ladybug doll before they have time to realise what she's doing.

Or better yet! Make custom dolls yourself and then deliver them directly to Puppeteer.

But noooo we can't have a competent and threatening villain because he's so OP that the only way our heroes can look smarter than him is if he's a moron.

Like, it really seems like the crew couldn't decide whether to make the show totally cartoony, like it was in S1, or if it's going the nitty gritty YA superhero route. So you've you've this huge discrepancy between the Stated Threat level and the Actual Threat.

Like, say with Syren. The entirety of Paris is underwater. Best case scenario everyone's homes and possessions are destroyed. But it's all okay because the magic Ladybug power just fixes everything super easy peasy! Why do we even care if the city is underwater when it's all going to be magically fixed in ten minutes?

And HM can give his akuma pretty much any power ever. But instead of our heroes fighting tooth and nail to win a plucky and clever victory it's like. HM did a brain fart and gave his villain a huge glaringly obvious weakness, or didn't use them to their full potential. By say using puppeteer like you said, anon.

It's so frustrating to watch, cos like, we can't have a competent villain because that would mean the writers would have to think up clever ways for the heroes to get out of it or *gasp* something terrible happens and then the heroes have to cope with the fallout.

Like HM suddenly has all the miraculous and he's got the power to time travel and make his wish or whatever and now the heroes have to deal with that. Instead of like. Oh HM has combined an akuma with a miraculous too bad we kicked its butt and now he just has to try again next time :)

Like is this villain OP enough to create an akuma that can easily defeat our heroes? Absolutely.

Is he instead going to akumatise the same pigeon man nearly a hundred times instead? You can bet your left tit on it.

Like seriously, idk why they couldn't just limit HM to creating silly campy powers instead of also things like Chat Blanc.

[iwasbored777]

Before I start, this is not a salt take, but I'm confused. What makes people think Luka and Kagami are one of the smartest characters, sometimes they even rank them as the smartest?

Lika is known for being older so "more mature" is the first thing that comes your mind, he's chill, too easy going if you ask me, he needs to put his foot down sometimes. He had good moments as Viperion. But I'm still not sure what makes people say that he's "the only character with a brain"? Like, that's just weird. He didn't even figure out Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities, it was revealed to him by accident. He figured out some solutions as Viperion but that's just a few times. He knows Marinette is in love with Adrien? Ummm she literally told him, everyone knows that! In Ephemeral he only did what Ladybug and kwamis told him to do, Sass fixed everything after explaining the Wish. This doesn't make him any smarter than average ML character, I myself didn't even rank him as average.

Kagami is even less believable to me to be the smartest. She never really had any moments like these, even less than Luka. She knows what she wants, which can make her too pushy sometimes. She and Luka are polar opposites on that. He needs to be less easy-going and she needs to be more chill. But smartest? Just like Luka, literally everyone knows Marinette is in love with Adrien. Figuring out Adrien is sad in Risk? That's not a big brain discovery because Adrien was so sad he was almost crying live one the news, still can't believe only three people saw it, and she has a strict parent too. She was familiar with Adrien's situation already. Her introduction was literally about how she is so similar to Adrien when it comes to their parents, of course no one is worse than Gabriel but Kagami knows her mother.

So what makes Luka and Kagami "the smartest characters" I'll never understand. When someone says that I'm so surprised because even Nathalie had less screen time while wielding a miraculous than these two and she came up with awesome plans, and she can only be outsmarted by Marinette, who outsmarts pretty much everyone in 90% of cases, and no I don't need your "main character armour" criticism, just accept that the girl is bright af. Alya can come up with some gems too. Felix also. Lila is somewhat smart but it's more her manipulation skills than intelligence, still you need to have more than a functioning brain for that to be so successful. Max is also one of top people here. (there are more but these are at the top here if you ask me) But Luka and Kagami? I don't see it. I repeat, this is not salt, I just don't understand. Even if you love them, it makes no sense that they are so respected for their "intelligence" when they are only regular characters with average intelligence. I bet even these two would be confused if they heard people calling them that.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML What if (Option 2 selected)

(Link to previous)

What if in chat blanc adrien wasn't allowed to go to Marinette when she tried to break up with adrien?

2. Tikki convinces Chat noir to ‘Find FU’ and get his help on this.

____________________________________________________________

-Chat noir looks desperate. Unsure of what to do.

-"We need to find Fu."

-"But I dont know where he is... and I dont know how to contact him. He is moving around now right?"

-Tikki pondered but remembered something.

-"Her phone!"

-Tikki flew down and Chat noir followed. To the subway entrance where Marinette had transformed. Her phone had been dropped on the floor.

- Chat noir looked to Tikki.

-"Do you know her code?"

-Tikki helped him and Chat noir found Fu's contact.

____________________________________________________________

-Hawkmoth was ordering Red thread to calm down.

- Red Thread had tied up Nathalie and was interrogating her.

-"You will lose your power, and do you really think Gabriel will keep his promise after seeing you attack his assistant?"

-Now a typical akuma would have seen this threat and simply listened to Hawkmoth, but Red Thread was a bit smarter.

-"Arent you awfully protective of this woman?"

-Hawkmoth dismissed it by saying he wants the miraculous and he doesnt care what she does with her as long as he gets his miraculous first.

-Red thread ties a finger to Nathalie's pinky and the thread starts glowing and moving towards Gabriel's office.

-"Fascinating."

-"Red thread this is your final warning! I will rip away your powers."

-"Very well Hawkmoth. I will get your miraculous."

-Hawkmoth breathes a sigh of relief.

-"Good."

-Red thread moves away from Nathalie and drops her from the binds.

-Red Thread decided to keep her little discovery for herself.

____________________________________________________________

-Fu was hiding in the Louvre, posing as a janitor.

-Chat noir transformed into Adrien to talk to him (and he told him everything) Including how he figured out Marinette was Ladybug.

-Fu was not pleased.

-"You should have informed Ladybug that you knew earlier! You should have informed me!"

-Adrien admits to his guilt, how he was so happy to know and that she felt the same way...

-Fu sighs. He knows all too well how the heart can cloud judgement.

-And if he really thinks about it Ladybug and Chat noir DID help fix his greatest mistake. And it was arguable that if he didnt put so much emphasis on NOT telling people their identities... But right now he would think of a suitable punishment later.

-Fu decides that he will select a temporary Ladybug.

-"I have seen a few with the potential to be Ladybug... should something happen to Marinette. You as well"

-"I understand if i cant be chat noir now..."

-"We will discuss that action later. Right now Marinette is in need of our help."

_____________________________________________________________

-Red thread has appeared to leave the mansion (he had sensed her leave), giving Hawkmoth some ease. He transformed back into Gabriel and headed to check on Nathalie (with her condition he was concerned)

-"Gabriel... this plan..."

-"Its fine Nathalie, I reigned her in."

-"I should transform, and keep an eye..."

-"No, you have done more than enough. I will keep her under control.

- Gabriel revealed his pendent when... a needle approached. Just missing him.

-Red Thread had appeared. She had only pretended to leave.

-"There you are Gabriel. We need to talk about your son."

-"Wait... but I heard you leave."

-"Hawkmoth said to get the miraculous. I agree, I will get the miraculous. But I realized I will need bait. And Your estate will be perfect. And if he has a problem with that, He will let me know. And I am sure he wont."

-Gabriel felt himself go pale. because something in her smile said she knew something was up.

_____________________________________________________________

-Chat noir heard Fu's plan. He would handle setting things up and he would go fight Red Thread alone. And possibly talk her down

- "Only you can handle fighting her alone. I trust you."

-Chat noir rushed to the agreste manor.

-"I will save you Marinette. I will make up for my mistake"

___________________________________________________________

Selection time!

Who is Fu going to pick?

1. Someone who has already been picked for a hero role (If selecting one. Pick a hero that you want to see as ladybug)

2. Someone who hasnt been seen as a hero

3. He uses the ladybug miraculous and sends the miraculous to the other heroes for back up.