#Nino deserves better

[miraculousdeservesbetter2024]

This is no hate towards anyone who doesn’t care for it, but I’m actually surprised that Ninette (Nino x Marinette) is so underrated?? I mean, I get that DJWifi basically killed the possible of it as early as S1 (and not to mention the idea of being the love square being endgame anyways), but still? Multishipping tends to be a thing in the MLB fandom I might add, and I just think Ninette has so much potential to be a nice ship and people are sleeping on it! Lol 😂

I remember around the first time MLB S1 came around, there were a lot more shippers of it, but I guess most of those shippers have up and left the fandom because they can only take so much BS writing 🤷‍♀️ Not to forget that Nino doesn’t get much depth or screentime as a character neither lol

But what are y’all thoughts? Why do you like (or dislike) Ninette?

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Justice for Nino

Now that all of season 5 is on Disney+, my SO wants to watch it to see what I was so disappointed by. And since I love him too much to let him suffer that alone, I'm rewatching them with him. We just watched Illusion, the episode the killed Nino's character, and I'm still salty about it. After seasons of minimal screen time, they finally give Nino a chance to "shine" by doing this to him?

Key moments of disapointment:

Nino, holder of the miraculous of Protection, deciding that akumatizing Gabriel Agreste is a great plan. Nino, who got akumatized over trying to throw Adrien a party! There is no way that he'd ever consider doing this to Adrien when there's a whole city of other options.

The akumatizing plan isn't terrible, but once again, miraculous of Protection! A protector would wait and inform Ladybug and Chat Noir first so that they're there, ready to stop the akuma as soon as it happens, thereby minimizing the damage. It's not like the heroes are impossible to track down. Just wait for the next akuma. Also make sure that they need this information before you akumatize someone. For all you know, they already know.

This line:

It's not like we have any Miraculous that Monarch could steal from us. The only ones who need to protect their secret identities are Ladybug and Cat Noir, not us.

This comes across as him having absolutely no faith in Ladybug and Chat Noir. Do you think that your benched status is permanent, Nino? You'll be Carapace again as soon as the miraculouses are recovered!

Nino apologizing to Gabriel, but not Adrien. Like, come on Nino, you're supposed to be Adrien's best friend! Even if you think your plan was a good one, wouldn't you feel at least a little sorry for what happened to your best friend. Not to mention the fact that the Gabriel apology barely counts as an apology.

Nino: Mr. Agreste, I owe you an apology. All your troubles today, the pizza, the pasta, the chocolate, all that was... that was a plan to help Ladybug and Cat Noir. And it worked, dude! 

He even goes on to say

Nino: Our first mission was a huge success

As if the lightning thing was somehow useful. Even if that was how Gabriel was giving people powers, what good does that do for the heroes? They can't stop lightning!

Just, ugh, Nino deserves so much better than this. I know Alya's Lila blindness bothers people and I get it, it bothers me, too, but this is worse in my opinion. We can at least pretend that Lila's lies are as clever as the writers claim, thereby lessening how bad a friend Alya is being, but this? This is Nino eagerly planning to hurt his best friend. Remind me again, how is he better than Chloe?

[jennrypan]

Will forever be an avid defender of Alya and Nino, fuck yall.

Felix can be a dick to everyone and give up all the miraculous for whatever reason and will NEVER receive the type of salt Alya and Nino do which is despicable in itself.

Chloe has bullied Marinette since day one and yet yall have her replace Alya ?? (i love Chloe but she and Marinette will never be friends, Marinette does not have to be Chloes friend for her to be redeemed!!!)

Stop treating the only main relevant brown characters like shit then act like the white ones can do no wrong yall aint slick!

Blame the shitty ass writing cuz literally everytime Lilas on screen EVERY CHARACTER makes ridiculous decisions!!

[gameguy20100]

Unpopular opinion.

Nino is way more deserving of the title of “Most neglected.” Than Chloe is.

He was done so dirty in later seasons. We’ve never even seen his house ffs

[comics-and-fanworks]

ML/DC Bio Mom (Starfire Part 2)

TW for swearing, mentions of suicide, bullying, minor violence

~~~~~~

Marinette’s soon-to-be former class watched in horror as she left with her bio parents. She wanted to leave Paris?? Why?! She was their Everyday Ladybug, they needed her! Who would plan their trips, run their fundraisers, help with their events, and so much more? They began talking amongst themselves, why did she want to leave, and what could they do to convince her to stay? The only two who didn’t look surprised about this development were Kim and Nino, Marinette’s only two allies left in the class. They new Lila was a liar, Marinette didn’t have a mean bone in her body, and they decided to stick by their childhood friend’s side even when it cost Nino his relationship with Alya and Kim his friendship with Alix and Max. They were currently texting Mari a play by play of their classmates’ plans, and soon their lack of shock was picked up on.

“What’s with you two? I thought you’d be more disappointed since Dupain-Cheng is your childhood friend,” Chloe snapped. Nino and Kim looked up from their phones, “Seriously? Why wouldn’t Marinette wanna leave? Our city is currently being held hostage by an emotional terrorist, and with all the shit you all have been putting her through-” “We haven’t done anything! MARINETTE is the one putting Lila through shit and you two took her side!” Alix shouted, cutting Kim off. Adrien could sense things were going south and tried to step in, “Guys come on now isn’t the time! I’m sure Mari-” “No dude, now’s the perfect time since we’re all here. Let’s start with the most recent examples shall we? Lila you said that Marinette’s parents never wanted to see her and that they gave her up because they hated her, then how do you explain the reunion we just saw? You also said she spent the summer doing sketchy things well why do Kim and I have texts from her all summer showing off the complete new wardrobe she had to make? How could she be doing illegal stuff when she was barricaded in her room making clothes?” Nino snapped. He had hit his limit, and so had Kim. Before Marinette asked them not to say anything, because she didn’t want their standing in the class to suffer any more, but they figured that since she was leaving, it was time. Marinette had also informed them about Adrien an his High Road advice, and Nino was almost akumatized. How could his best friend claim to care about Mari when he was fine watching her suffer? As Lila was attempting to think of a response, Juleka beat her to the punch.

“I just texted Luka... He told me that the time she wasn’t spending designing, she was hanging out with him, Kagami, Kim, and Nino. There’s no way she could’ve been doing anything illegal, she has an alibi.” Lila could tell her hold on the class was slipping, “But, but she sent me such awful texts! See! I have them here!” Lila showed her phone conversations between herself and a number, the class, save Nino and Kim, voiced their rage at Marinette. “She told me to kill myself,” Lila wailed, “And that the world would be a better place without me!” Alya shot Nino a nasty glare while going to comfort Lila, the turtle and monkey miraculous wielders were about to respond, when Sabrina piped up, “That’s not Marinette’s number Lila. Her number’s in the class group chat and it doesn’t match,” Lila froze, and so did her fake tears, “Oh... well maybe she has a second phone! That has to be it cause I can’t think of anyone else who’d say that stuff to me!” “We’ll find out,” Sabrina said as she hit the dial button on her phone. The whole table went quite as a phone in Lila’s bag started ringing, and before she could act, Kim swiped it and pulled out the backup phone. He declared triumphantly, “Looks like Marinette isn’t the one with two phones! The numbers match, which proves Marinette didn’t send those texts, you sent them to yourself and tried to frame her! You’re lying!” Finally it clicked for their classmates, if Lila had lied about Marinette’s parents, her summer activities, and her supposedly sending Lila awful texts, what else could she have been lying about? Adrien felt the need to step in, “Guys I’m sure it’s all just a big misunderstanding, there’s no need for any of this!”

“Really dude? We just proved Lila was lying about Marinette, and we have proof she was lying about other things Marinette supposedly did as well! Stealing an answer sheet? It went missing AFTER the test, and we had all seen her studying for weeks! Stealing the pendent? Her locker has no lock on it, and Alya has proven that it’s super easy to break into the lockers at school. Not to mention it was on top of all her things, if she really took it don’t you think Marinette would have hidden it better? And pushing Lila down the stairs? Well check this out,” At Nino’s cue Kim played the video on his phone, it clearly showed Lila walking down the stairs, sitting down, and wailing. “It’s amazing what a request for information can get you these days huh?” Kim laughed, before returning to a serious demeanor, “And that’s not even the worst of it. Adrien knew Lila was lying the whole time. He knew she was manipulating you all and hurting Marinette but instead of supporting Mari, he decided to try and gaslight her into staying quiet,” Adrien’s voice saying, “As long as you and I both know,” echoed around the now silent table. “And here I thought you were a decent person Adrien, if not a little sheltered and naïve,” Nino sighed, the lack of ‘dude’ drove home just how disappointed he was. 

As the class sat in shock processing everything they had just learned, Nino and Kim stood up to leave. Looking back Kim said, “I’m glad Mari’s getting the hell out of here. With all the shit you all have put her through, bullying her, destroying her things, and trying to ruin her reputation it’s amazing she hasn’t been akumatized yet! Come on Nino, let’s go help her pack,” With that the two boys left their classmates, who watched as they walked away, “We should give our evidence to Mari’s parents so they can go after the school,” was the last thing they heard from Nino as the two exited the cafe and headed towards the best bakery in Paris.

When they had arrived, Marinette, Tom, and Sabine had just finished explaining everything to Mari’s bio parents, including Hawkmoth and that their daughter was a superhero. While Koriand’r and Dick were both incredibly proud that their daughter was following in their footsteps, it pained them to hear what their baby had to go through. It pained Koriand’r the most to learn just how much Marinette had to repress her emotions. Tamaraneans were naturally in tune with their emotions, since that was the source of their power, and while they were very expressive in those emotions, they still learned to control them. To hear that her daughter had to repress her emotions to the point of barely feeling anything practically put her over the edge. The only thing keeping her grounded was the knowledge that if she lost control, she would be akumatized and would have to fight her daughter and husband. As they pulled their daughter into a hug, the bell over the door rang, and in walked two of her classmates. Dick remembered Marinette telling them about the two boys standing in the doorway, and that they were her only allies in the class. The taller one, Kim if he was remembering correctly, spoke first, “Hey Mari you may wanna put your phone on silent for a good while... Or change your number! We told them about Lila and Adrien, and well, Chloe never hid her bullying so they already knew about that! Our guess is in about five minutes once the shock wears off and they’re done yelling at Lila, Chloe, and Adrien they’re gonna try and message you to convince you to stay.” The two helped themselves to pastries Tom offered, and the boy with the red baseball cap, which Dick assumed was Nino, continued, “Anyways don’t let them effect your decision dudette, you’ve suffered enough, besides you won’t have to worry about Hawkmoth if you’re not in Paris! That doesn’t mean we want you gone dudette, we’re just worried what’ll happen if you stay.”

Marinette smiled, she was surrounded by people who loved her, and wouldn’t judge her for whatever decision she made, and while she’d love to stay with her adoptive parents and her friends, she knew that she needed to go with her bio parents for her own wellbeing. “I, I think it would be best if I went to Bludhaven. I’m really scared of what would happen if I stayed.” The group around her nodded, in complete understanding. “I still wanna come back and visit Maman and Papa though, and Nino, Kim, Kagami, and Luka too,” Marinette said. Starfire and Nightwing nodded, “Of course Baby Bird! You can visit whenever you want, and if you can’t make it to Paris, we’ll make sure they can make it to Bludhaven. We’ll cover flights and all that stuff, don’t you worry!” Dick hugged his daughter, even though he never wanted to leave his Baby Bird again, he would never keep her from Tom and Sabine. Sabine lit up with an idea, “Why don’t you have a sleepover with Luka, Kagami, Nino, and Kim? That way you could spend time with your friends before you head to America, and that would give the adults time to take care of things with the school. We need to beat some sense into that nasty woman who calls herself a teacher and your useless principal,” The other adults nodded in agreement, while the kids in the room cheered.  

Kagami and Luka arrived shortly after with their parents. Sabine and Tom had called and explained the situation. Much to their surprise, all of Marinette’s friends’ parents had agreed to let their children stay until she had to leave, their only request was to meet Mari’s bio parents so they would know who would be watching their kids when they went to visit Mari in America. As Mari and her friends ran upstairs to begin their sleepover, the parents got to talking. “So my name is Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne’s son, and this is my wife Koriand’r! It’s nice to meet you all!” “Hello! It’s nice to meet you! Your kids have been amazing friends to our daughter, and words cannot describe how much we appreciate it.” As the gathered parents were sharing similar sentiments, Anarka said what they all were thinking, “You two sound exactly like, and look like the heroes Starfire and Nightwing, ” The two in question paused, glanced at each other, and sighed, “Yeah. We are. The reason we asked Tom and Sabine to raise Mar’i is because my wife’s sister is not necessarily a good person, and threatened to kill Mar’i. We wanted to keep her safe, and we knew that she was safer with them than with us. After dealing with that, we had a few more threats we had to deal with, and by the time that was done Mar’i was already seven. We thought it would be cruel to take her away from everything she’s ever known, so we contacted Tom and Sabine and told them that we were ready whenever Mar’i decided she wanted to meet us. We were surprised to learn everything that’s been going on in Paris, with Hawkmoth, Lila, and her class bullying her.” The gathered parents nodded in understanding, and decided to focus on how to go after Principal Damocles and Miss Bustier. 

Meanwhile, up in her room, Marinette and her friends were discussing what to do about Hawkmoth. “We could take him out now, before I leave,” Marinette suggested. The heroes gathered in her room looked at each other and shook their heads. “No. You’re still in a vulnerable state. You need time to rest and allow your mental, physical, and emotional health to recover before we go after Hawkmoth. With your wounds still fresh we can’t risk you being akumatized,” Kagami said, much to the agreement of the others. They looked over at where they had buried Marinette’s phone under a pile of pillows. It was blowing up with her soon-to-be former classmates trying to apologize and demanding she talked to them. “What if you all kept your Miraculous, so that way if there’s an akuma, you all can stall for time until I can get to the fight,” Marinette suggested. The four heroes agreed, and their respective Kwamii shared the sentiment. “Now all that’s left to do is figure out what to do with Chat Noir. If he finds out Ladybug is leaving the same time I am, he might put two and two together.” The group thought about it for a minute before Luka perked up, “What if we tell him that Ladybug’s family is moving just outside of Paris? That way we can account for you not being here to patrol for a while, and why it’d take you longer to get to akumas. We could tell him that your family was tired of dealing with Hawkmoth and decided to get out of his range, but you convinced them to stay close enough for ‘work,’” The group glanced at Marinette’s door. They half expected the cat hero to show up at that moment. After settling on a plan and making sure everyone had their respective Miraculous, the group settled in to watch movies.

Two massive bowls of popcorn and one romcom later, the group was debating on whether to watch Howl’s Moving Castle or Spirited Away when they heard it: A knocking on Marinette’s balcony door. They froze, there was only one person that could be, and it would be no use claiming Marinette wasn’t home, you could hear noise coming from the room. Before she could react Mari found herself stuffed into her bathroom, “We’ll confront him,” Luka whispered, “You hide here.” From the bathroom, she could hear what was going on, “Why did you expose Lila? She could’ve gotten akumatized!” “And let her lie about our best friend? No way dude. What Lila was doing was wrong! She could’ve gotten Marinette akumatized!” “Marinette’s tough she would have been fine!” The conversation was interrupted by what sounded like a popcorn bowl hitting someone’s head. “Ow! Why did you-” “Just because Marinette is though doesn’t mean she has to suffer so someone else won’t face consequences!” Yep, a brilliant throw from Kagami and rock-solid logic as well. “Well, she- Anyways where is she? She said she was leaving, er, Adrien told me she was leaving and I need to show her that’s a bad idea.” “Why do you care anyways alley cat? Marinette’s just a civilian.” “Cause! She needs to fix the mess she made!” “The mess LILA made!” “Well now the class isn’t talking to Lila or Chloe or Adrien and she needs to come back and say everything’s fine so things can go back to normal! So get out of my way!” It sounded like Chat had pushed his way through her friends, and the next thing she knew, her bathroom door was gone. 

“Marinette! You can’t leave Paris! You have to apologize and fix everything!”  Before her stood a very angry Chat Noir, his belt-tail was swishing back and forth, just like an angry cat. Marinette looked around, she was trapped. The only way out of this would be if any of her friends got the jump on Chat, or she transformed, and she was not about to risk her identity being exposed. “NO! It’s not my fall Lila decided to lie! It’s not my fault Adrien decided to let my class treat me like shit! It’s-” “Adrien did nothing wrong!” “Why are you even taking his side in this?” “Cause he’s my friend and he’s right-” “So you think I should be akumatized? You think my stuff should be destroyed? You think I should be shoved, tripped, have things thrown at my head?” “IT WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HAD JUST TAKEN THE HIGH ROAD! YOU’RE COMING WITH ME AND FIXING THIS!” At that Chat grabbed her wrist and began to drag her towards the trap door. Luka, Kim, Kagami, and Nino tried to stop him, but there was little they could do without revealing their identities. Marinette struggled and tried to break free, wondering why the hell his timer wasn’t done yet. Chat threw open the balcony door and was about to pick Marinette up and leap away... but was met with a readied starbolt right in front of his face. Looking up Marinette saw her bio parents in all their glory. Her mother’s powers were activated, and she was floating just above the balcony. Her hair was literal fire, and she was glowing. Behind her on the railing was her father, batons ready, and looking like he was about to break Batman’s no killing rule. They were not in costume, since they rushed up as soon as they heard their daughter screaming and someone else yelling at her, and quickly put two and two together. Starfire spoke, her voice icy and cold despite the roaring wildfire of rage she felt, “Let go of our daughter. NOW!” Chat quickly dropped Marinette and leapt away, too afraid to fight two adult, trained heroes, and too afraid they’d take his ring. Marinette collapsed into her bio parent’s arms sobbing, while her friends gathered around. They kept watch, waiting to see if Chat would return. The other adults quickly ran upstairs, and Nino, Luka, Kagami, and Kim filled them in one what happened.

“If Chat Noir is bold enough to try and kidnap Marinette, then it’s not safe for her here,” Tom practically growled. What he wouldn’t give to be Weredad right now and pummel that mangy alley cat, but that was not what Marinette needed. Sabine nodded, “We’ll have to speed things up. If her classmates somehow convinced that cat to join them, then Marinette isn’t safe anywhere in Paris. We can’t afford to wait, if he comes back we might not be able to get to Marinette in time, there’s also a high chance she’ll be akumatized in the next few weeks. Her classmates will be hounding her, and now we have Chat Noir harassing her as well.” Dick picked up his phone and sent a few quick texts, “We can have the Wayne jet ready in thirty minutes, and we can leave for Gotham tonight. Bruce is taking care of everything, we’ll stay in Gotham for a bit, and then head to Bludhaven, If that’s alright with you, Tom, and Mar’i.” Sabine and Tom looked at each other and nodded. They hated to see their little girl go, but they knew it wasn’t safe for her in Paris. Marinette’s friends hugged her, and promised they’d come and visit. She also promised her friends and adoptive parents that once things were safe she’d come back and visit, and until then they could video call. She packed her things including the Miraculous box, and then tucked in her bio parent’s arms, she made her way onto the Wayne’s jet. Looking back at her family and friends waving to her (Noting each of her friends had their Miraculous) she waved back. Her bio parents assured her everything would be okay, and that they’d do everything they could to make sure she was comfortable in America. She would be going to a new school, a fresh start. All anyone would know is that she’s from Paris, it was a chance to recover and make new friends. For once she felt hopeful about where her future was headed, and as she thought about all the possibilities, she drifted off to sleep wrapped in her father’s jacket, with her mother stroking her hair.

[dragonbugsuperior]

MLB Ship Tier

[punkeropercyjackson]

"Felix deserved better!!!"Better than what?He showed up,was rude asf to everyone he interacted with including his own cousin,gaslit people and molested a chinese girl and faced zero consequences for any of it.Felix isn't a 'poor little boy with wasted potential🥺',he's an entitled corrupted dickhead and a future r///apist in the making and it's not his first victim's fault y'all are such pathetic losers that's the only kind of male character you're attracted to or find stanable instead of the inifinitely better boys of color in the cast and pretend Alya is worse than him by virtue of being black

[goggles-mcgee]

Replaced: It’s The Latest News

Second Chapter of the story for @miner249er

Last Chapter                     Next Chapter

Summary: Alya prided herself on being the Number 1 Ladybug journalist in all of Paris. She was the one who got exclusive interviews, she was the one who got recognized in a sea of reporters and news channels on the scenes of akuma battles and she was the one who had been trusted to be Rena Rouge. So imagine her surprise when a rival Ladybug blog has the latest Ladybug scoop, not just a scoop, no, they had Ladybug as a guest and she gave them the honor of hosting her announcement. 

Alya tried her best not to feel betrayed.

Alya prided herself on her journalism skills. Her blog was the culmination of those skills. It was definitely a step up from going around her old neighborhood with an old tape recorder (her father’s) and a little handheld journal to write whatever she found that caught her eye or ear. She upgraded to using an app on her phone to record herself or whatever juicy lead she was following and a note app that let her type out quick notes that she would later transfer to her computer so she could flesh out her story. It was a beautiful if not meticulous process, one she found almost methodical. Oh it was hard work don’t get her wrong but it was work that paid off and it was work that deserved to be recognized. Alya had a talent and she knew that, ever since she was a little girl she knew she had wanted to be a reporter. It was different than most kids her age, especially when her and her family had been living in Louisiana in the States.

Moving to Paris had been a big move but when her mother had gotten the job offer by the mayor of freaking Paris to work in his hotel restaurant it had been an easy decision to let her mom follow her dream, the whole family had agreed. Besides, from what her mother had told her and her sisters, their ancestors had lived in France for a substantial amount of time before they fled to the States and settled down in New Orleans. When Alya had asked why their ancestors had fled her mother had been particularly avoidant of the whole thing, she always said it wasn’t the kind of story she wanted her little girls to know. Of course her father had agreed with his wife, that was what led Alya down her path of journalism. Down her path of justice. Her ancestors were her past just as much as her mother’s, she should be able to know why they had fled to the states in the first place. 

War had been ruled out pretty fast, as it was something her mother denied when asked and she knew her mother wasn’t lying. When her mother lied she tended to bite her lip and scrunch her nose. It was an obvious tell. When her father lied his left eyebrow would twitch just the slightest bit. Nora rarely lied, her older sister was someone who wore their emotions on their sleeves, but on the rare occasions she did lie she would give this awkward smile. Now the twins were still at that stage where if they lied they looked off to the side or giggled, it was horribly obvious. Alya knew all her family’s tells so she knew when her mother lied or told the truth, her mother quickly caught on to that fact and just refused to talk about their ancestors all together. She wanted to know the story, no, she craved the story! She needed to know and so she set out to find the truth. 

It made her feel like a secret agent! Hunting down the clues, following leads if she got any. It was thrilling. In the end it wasn’t that big of a shock, Alya had honestly been expecting the fleeing of her ancestor (who she found out was a woman called Fayette) to be something big and shocking like running away from an assassin or an arranged marriage to a wealthy family and her ancestor had a torrid love affair! Something dramatic! In the end it was because Fayette wanted to travel while her father firmly denied his daughter’s wish because, though she was the youngest daughter, she had responsibilities. The family had a farm and Fayette knew she would either live a life on the farm or have to marry to get away from the farm and that wasn’t something she wanted so she ran and caught a boat to the States. 

Though it wasn’t the story she had been wanting nor expecting it was still something that she had hunted down and found herself and it had made Alya feel so good and accomplished. Her mother and father hadn’t been so happy with her, nor had her grandparents but nothing could have dulled her flames that day. She told everyone about it, even those not in the family, it was a story she found, so she figured she had every right to share it. Nora had been interested to hear about it but when she found out Alya was telling her friends at school and the neighbors, she got mad just like their mom and dad. That was the night that Alya got lectured about what she shared, because that was a story about the family, one that was supposed to stay in the family. 

Alya really didn’t see why it mattered. It’s not like Fayette did anything bad, so she saw no problem with sharing the story about her ancestor, but her parents told her it would have been fine if she had asked permission. That was also the night that Alya decided it was better to ask for forgiveness than to beg for permission because she knew her parents never would have given her their say to share the story. Okay maybe she didn’t know for sure but she liked to think she knew her family members well enough to know they wouldn’t have so she stuck to her thought to ask for forgiveness. Plus, reporters never asked for permission to follow stories they just did! And she was going to be the best reporter ever. 

Maybe that was a childish thing to still believe in but Alya knew she had the skills and the drive to reach for it. Sure she had some hiccups but those were merely bumps in the road towards her shining future! Alya had grown since those small mistakes and so had her blog, her blog was truly her greatest accomplishment. Her blog would also be the key to getting her future, it was her portfolio, her experience, it was her everything. A large part of her success she credited towards Ladybug, if it wasn’t for the hero, her blog wouldn’t have found its focus nor its audience, but it was her who built it to what it was today. It was her hard work, her editing, her research, her talent that made it what it was. Perhaps she sounded smug but Alya firmly believed she earned the right to.

Lately though her posts weren’t getting as much traction as they usually got. The numbers were still high but not nearly as high as they had been months ago and Alya had no idea why. She hadn’t done anything differently. She still posted the latest akuma fights, she still posted random facts that correlated with the animal or whatever thing the Kwami of a Miraculous represented, she still posted interviews with Lila. Her content was the same perfect formula she had created and observed as being her most popular, so there should have been no significant drops, and yet there was. Sure Alya could go to her comments and try and see what the people were displeased with but it was getting harder to find the actual constructively critical comments and the haters. 

Ever since her first interview with Lila she had been getting massive hate, that’s not to say she never got any before but that interview seemed to set off a chain reaction of hate comments. They called Lila every name under the sun that was synonymous with ‘liar’ and they called Alya many names too but more often than not she was labeled with ‘sell-out.’ Lila, of course, apologized for the hate her interview brought. Apparently she had quite the following of people who hated her and tried their best to denounce everything she did. Alya had brushed it off but to be honest it was a pain because those comments took up so much of the comment sections of her posts that she basically gave up blocking people and deleting comments. It was just too much work. What made it worse was that Alya’s best friend seemed to believe those people. 

Marinette was never someone who didn’t give someone a second chance or believed rumors right off the bat, and yet she was whole-heartedly against Lila. It hurt. It hurt because Lila was amazing and kind and generous and just everything that Marinette was and if that girl could just open her eyes, Alya was sure they would be friends. Apparently that wasn’t going to happen, or at least not any time soon, so until Marinette could grow up Alya had decided she needed space from her BFF. The girl squad knew and agreed so they too held Marinette at arms-length when they interacted with her. They hoped it would make the girl realize she was in the wrong and apologize but she hadn’t. 

It hurt to admit but Alya missed Marinette, she missed how they would pass notes during class (well back when they sat together), she missed how Marinette was always ready to help her if Alya needed her, and she missed their sleepovers. There was so much she missed but those were the things that first came to mind because in class her and Lila didn’t pass notes, Alya had to take class notes for Lila and herself because of Lila’s wrist issues. Alya loved Lila, she really did, but Lila promised help but she had so much already going on that she often forgot. And sleepovers, Alya missed not stressing out about them, every time Lila came over for a sleepover she felt like her house, her very room, wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t a very nice feeling so somewhere along the way she stopped offering sleepovers. 

Another thing she missed was how excited Marinette got for Alya when she got a new scoop on Ladybug and the Miraculous Squad. Her joy amplified Alya’s. Nino was always excited for her but it wasn’t really the same, and so was Adrien, another local Ladybug Fan, but again, it wasn’t the same. 

Speaking of Ladybug it seemed like the hero was avoiding her. Lately after an akuma battle the hero left the space no matter if her Miraculous was beeping or not. She would  give a couple of answers to the press and then yo-yo away. Usually she would give Alya a little interview or at least wave to her camera but lately that stopped. It stopped and Alya wasn’t sure when it actually started to stop and that scared her because that meant her attention slipped. Her focus slipped and as a reporter focus was crucial.

“You good babe?” 

Alya blinked out of her thoughts and gave Nino a small smile and a shrug. “Yeah I guess. Just a little anxious I think.” 

“Of the upcoming announcement?” Adrien asked from his spot next to Nino. 

They had all headed to the park next to Alya’s house when Mireille and Aurore notified everyone at school and on their blog (MiraculousTales another blog about Ladybug and the other heroes that defended Paris-Alya was loathe to admit it was a good blog) that they had an interview with Ladybug who wanted to make an announcement. 

“Partly.” She admitted as her focus went back to Nino’s laptop that had said blog on display. “But I don’t really want to talk about the other thing right now.”

Nino gave her a knowing look but nodded anyway while Adrien just looked confused. The poor boy always looked confused these days. No not confused, well okay, yes he looked confused but he also looked frustrated a lot. Alya and Nino just chalked it up to problems with his dad, it seemed like the model had a new event or photo shoot going on each week. Alya had half a mind to report it to her parents and see if anything could be done because surely that had to be illegal. She had even considered writing a piece on it but Alya wasn’t stupid, she knew if she wrote about Adrien and his awful work hours that she could very well be sued by Gabriel Agreste and really her blog didn’t need that. Plus she didn’t exactly have proof, nor was her source confirmed, two things that were very important in the field of journalism. 

“Oh look! It’s starting!” Adrien announced as he bounced in place. Alya couldn’t help the fond smile that slipped through, if she didn’t know better she would say Adrien was a bigger Ladybug fan than her. 

“I wonder what this whole announcement is for.” Nino mused as they heard the voices of Mireille and Aurore greet the viewers from the screen.

“I don’t know…Usually they let everyone know what their next videos are going to be about, same with announcements. I mean they at least give a brief synopsis of the announcement or if it’s a surprise they say it is. This feels like something else.” Alya mumbled as she stared hard at the screen. Whatever Ladybug had to announce she knew it was going to be important so of course she had her notepad and pen out just in case. 

“Hey Lovelies! Aurore here, I know, not who you wanted to see, but before we bring in our special guest Mireille and I had a couple words we wanted to say.” Aurore said with a bright smile, Alya felt a little bad when she wished the girl would hurry up and announce Ladybug already, but well, they promised Paris’ number one hero and if there was one thing Alya understood about running her own blog was that the people were impatient for their content. 

“We know you guys are eager to see our guest and hear her announcement,” Mireille said softly, “but we just wanted to take a moment before that to let you guys know how grateful we are to each and every one of you for following our blog.”

“Yes, we are so grateful. We never imagined the blog gaining popularity so fast. So we just wanted to thank you, our wonderful followers, as well as those who helped us set up this blog. A special thanks goes out to Claude Beauréal, my cousin, for doing the coding and technical stuff for the blog as Mireille and myself are awful with technology not related to our phones.” Aurore admitted with a laugh as she held up her phone to show a picture of said cousin to the viewers. 

“See, if this wasn’t an important announcement Claude would have edited a picture of himself on the screen so you guys could see him better, though I’m sure you will see a picture of him somewhere on the blog following this video.” Mireille said with her own laugh.

“Very true Mireille! We would also like to give a special thanks to the designer of the blog who helped with the layout and the icons, Paris’ own Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Aurore made a heart with her hands towards the camera before her smile broadened and she straightened in her seat. “Now that the thanks have been given, please welcome our guest, the beautiful, the talented, the miraculous…Ladybug!”

Alya felt like she had been on a rollercoaster back in the States, one that traveled with a fair. It looked fun but you still looked at it with skepticism because while it looks fun you don’t know how much you trust it despite the fact you know the machinery is constantly being checked over. Alya had willfully boarded that rollercoaster and already her stomach had dropped, Marinette had designed their blog’s layout? She didn’t know how she felt about that. The first emotion that came up was betrayal followed by rage followed by this chest clenching sadness. All to end with numbness, but then the introduction of Ladybug had her heart swooping, her pulse rushing and she pushed all thoughts of Marinette away in favor of her favorite hero. 

“Thank you for the warm welcome you two.” Ladybug smiled at the two girls as she strode into frame and took a seat across from both Mireille and Aurore. Alya bitterly thought of all the times Ladybug gave her that smile and how it always made her feel so warm, so special, so important. 

“Huh. That’s weird.” Nino mumbled.

“What? What’s weird?” Alya questioned right away.

“Uh, well, there’s a lot of seats there for just three people.”  He replied.

“Maybe they didn’t have time to take out the other seats?” Adrien said, though he posed it as more of a question. Nino just shrugged while Alya frowned. 

There were a lot of seats.

“You are always welcome on our blog Ladybug.” Mireille gave the spotted  heroine a shy smile.

Ladybug returned the smile with one of her own. “You’re too kind. Now, I don’t want to take up too much of your or Paris’ time but I felt like this needed to be addressed. There may be some of you who have noticed and those of course who haven’t, but…there have been some changes as of late to do with what you have dubbed us as, ‘Team Miraculous.’”

“Changes?” Aurore asked.

“Yes. First off, it has fallen to me to let you, the people of Paris know that Chat Noir has decided to be a solo hero. We are no longer partners. I can’t nor will I, disclose his reasons why. Those are his own. So just know his actions are also his own and are not affiliated with myself and the new ‘Team Miraculous’.” Ladybug was as she always was in her interviews, business as always but her words were like a rock being thrown at a window.

“New team?” Alya whispered in horror.

“Dude…I wonder why Chat left.” Nino said as he shook his head like he still couldn’t believe Ladybug’s words. Adrien…Adrien was oddly silent and very focused on the screen with a scowl on his face. Alya felt for him, she figured it was because he was such a big Ladynoir supporter like herself and this was like a cannonball to the ship. It seemed like it was well and truly sunk. 

“Maybe she’s just announcing that the temporary heroes are going to be permanent? I mean they haven’t been called in a while but with Chat ditching her she is going to need help.” Nino mused in excitement, one Alya shared, maybe Ladybug was just too stressed with Chat leaving to notify them of their new status’ as the permanent heroes! That had to be it!

“Now I noticed the not so subtle air-quotes over ‘Team Miraculous.’ Why is that?” Mireille asked.

Ladybug hummed as she leaned back in the chair she had been provided. “You’re observant. It’s because the old team was disorganized, we never had an official name. Frankly it was a hot mess. The new team does actually have an official name now and this is a good time to introduce you all to them, I would like to introduce you all to 'The Court of Miracles’.”

Alya’s hopes dropped as fast and hard as her heart and stomach. 

The first to appear on screen was a new Bee hero. She strode in with her two high pigtails swaying behind her. Her pigtails had black streaks curl around them to end at a point and she had ribbons near the base that came up to slightly curl above her head like antennae. The ribbons were black and ended in little yellow pom poms. The black of her gloves came up to about mid-bicep, her black boots came to about mid-thigh. Her body suit was striped black and yellow like a bee but it did have a white fur collar and it looked like she had poofy shorts reminiscent of Victorian bloomers, the stripes on the shorts were vertical instead of horizontal. Above the shorts seemed to be a silver belt that looked to be like a honeycomb design. 

“This is Honey Bee.” Ladybug introduced and said hero waved to the camera before taking one of the empty seats.

Next came out another girl, the new Mouse hero. Her short hair was in a half-up half -down style with the part that was half-up was styled into little buns, the color of her hair was black that faded into a soft pink. Around the buns were false mouse ears, the outside of the ears were gray while the inside were pale pink. Her gloves were black and slightly puffed out at the wrists with gray ribbon on the wrist, you could faintly see pink mouse paw-prints on the hand of the gloves when the hero waved. Her boots resembled her gloves and her suit was mostly gray with pink details. The shoulders of the suit were puffy like a fancy dress shirt and it seemed like there were edges of sleeves that, like her gloves and boots, fanned out. Only instead of gray ribbon for detail there was black ribbon. 

The collar also resembled that of a dress shirt only rounded and black. There was a pink bow there on the collar and there was a bigger bow wrapped around her waist, much bigger, tied in the back and the end of the ribbons wound around each other to mimic a tail. If you looked closely you could see what looked like a jump rope tied under the ribbon on the waist. Alya distantly thought she kind of looked like a magical girl from an anime. “This is Merry Mouse.”

The hero that followed Merry Mouse was like a punch to the gut for Alya, she barely even felt her eyes tearing up as she saw the new Fox hero. He was tall and his hair was an ombre of burnt orange to white, it was a little long so it was pulled back in a little ponytail, fake fox ears were attached to what looked like a Newsboy cap sat atop his hair. His suit looked like a three piece suit that Alya had seen men wear in the orchestra, though it looked a little old fashioned she noted, she wasn’t quite sure what made it so, but they were meshed together it seemed. It wasn’t a bad look she bitterly admitted to herself. Hell, she herself had given her Rena Rouge look a tailcoat somewhat. To top off the look, the Fox hero had ankle length boots. Of course everything stuck to an orange, white and dark brown color palate.

“The new Fox hero, Foxtrot.” Ladybug said with a warm smile at the replacement. 

“Hello.” Foxtrot said softly with a wave as he took a seat.

Another hero came out briefly after Foxtrot and Alya had to bite her lip so she didn’t make a sound or worse yell something out in outrage. The next hero was the Turtle hero. She was elegant as she walked out, her head high, her short hair was a dark green that looked almost black. The suit itself was a bit intimidating to Alya for being the Turtle but it did look cool. The suit under was dark green like her hair but she had what looked like a black kimono over it. Over the kimono in sparcing pieces were what looked like armor in the fashion of samurai armor. They looked like turtle shells, spiky turtle shells and they too were black like the kimono. Her hands were covered by the dark green material but if you looked closely it looked like she had claws. 

“This is Genbu.”

“It is an honor to be here.” Genbu said as she took her seat.

“It’s an honor to have you.” Mireille said.

“Wow. The new Turtle looks…” Adrien muttered. Alya flinched when he spoke, she completely forgot he had been there. Alya turned to look at her boyfriend who was staring at the screen intensely, she knew the feeling. She grabbed his hand and gave it a soft squeeze, one he returned. 

“Next we have Striker.”

Striker seemed to be the new Snake hero. He walked on screen with a quiet confidence, his hair was a little hard to see because of the hood that covered it, it was no surprise that the teal hood looked like that of a snake. The hood itself was attached to a tunic vest, the front of the vest looked like the belly of a snake and was a pattern of aquamarine and seafoam. The suit underneath the vest was dark, clearly it was a mix of green and blue too but Alya honestly only knew a handful of colors because of Marinette’s fashion rants. The boots that went to mid-calf were the same color as the back of the tunic vest and hood and also that of the gloves. It was a simple but effective look. When Striker sat and waved at the camera it was the hair that shocked Alya, the hair was pure white. 

“And finally we have Vouivre.”

Alya didn’t know if she could handle any more new heroes. How could Ladybug replace them all? Not just temporarily, she made that perfectly clear, these clowns were there to stay and it burned Alya. And yet, she couldn’t look away. The last hero walked on screen, the first thought Alya had was, wow this chick is tall. The second thought she had was, I would not try to take that girl on in a fight, Miraculous or not. Vouivre had short fiery red hair that looked like it was slicked back due to the wind and nothing else. Two black horns sat in her hair and in the middle of her forehead was an eye shaped ruby. Her suit was this gorgeous emerald green and the pattern looked like scales, the green and scales wrapped around her left leg and vanished into her boots. It was very reminiscent of a tail. Around the ankle of the left boot was a golden ring. The boots themselves and the right leg of the suit were black. Around her waist and neck were what looked like strings of pearls and to top off the look were the symbols of the chest.

“This is the Court of Miracles. We are Ladybug, Honey Bee, Merry Mouse, Foxtrot, Genbu, Striker and Vouivre, along with our two Chamberlains who work in the shadows we swear to protect the people of Paris.” Ladybug said with such conviction that Alya flinched. 

“Marinette?” Now that caught Alya’s attention and she silently thanked Adrien for the distraction no matter how distraught the boy sounded. She felt like she was about to have a mental breakdown. When she got home she was certain she was going to be sobbing into her pillows but for now she was going to indulge in whatever caught Sunshine’s attention. 

The sight that greeted her however threw her for another loop, one just as big as the damn announcement. Now Alya would be the first to admit it had been a while since she had seen Marinette and to be honest she hadn’t really paid that much attention to the girl but she didn’t think much would have changed. Evidently she was wrong. There Marinette was walking with Luka Couffaine like there was no where she would rather be, with long fucking hair. Since when had her hair gotten so long? And when did she dye the underside of her hair pink? The same pink that matched her high-waisted plaid skinny jeans. She wore thick heeled silver boots that gave her some height, though she was still smaller than Luka. She wore a black cropped Jagged Stone shirt that Alya knew she had cut herself and she was wearing Luka’s jacket. 

The trio of Alya, Nino and Adrien watched the two teens walk by as they remained oblivious of their audience and talked animatedly about the same announcement they had been watching. Alya felt her heartbreak when Marinette didn’t even glance at them but she also felt this overwhelming fury, she turned to complain at being unnoticed but caught sight of Adrien frowning at the retreating forms of Marinette and Luka while he rubbed at his chest. 

“You okay there Sunshine?” She asked in lieu of complaining. 

“What?” Her question seemed to snap the boy out of whatever thoughts he had been drowning in. “Oh…yeah. Yeah I’m fine.” 

Alya didn’t know if she fully believed that but she was more than happy to let the issue go in favor of talking about the new heroes and how there was no way they would be better than the old ones. 

___________________

Honey Bee- is Aurore if you guys did not guess. I considered also giving her the name of Honey Queen but I decided she wanted to distance herself from Chloe's version of the Bee. Though her aesthetic does have some parts to it that are reminiscent of royalty.

Merry Mouse- is Mireille. Her appearance is based on a headcanon I have for the girl and that is she loves Magical Girl animes/shows, and since the Miraculous Transformation takes your ideas and wants into mind she has a more Magical Girl look than most of the heroes. 

Foxtrot- is Luka. I gave him this Miraculous because after Miracle Queen he can't keep the snake and he holds a creative patient soul that I believe would mesh well with the Fox Miraculous, add to that his mischievous side and I thought it was a good fit. His look is inspired by men's fashion from 1914, because that is when the Foxtrot started up and was popular. (he is also the one that cast illusions of Mireille and Aurore as their hero selves partaking in the announcement.)

Genbu- is Kagami. I gave her this Miraculous because she is fiercely protective of those she loves and is loyal too and because Genbu (who was worshipped as a God and known as Black Warrior/ Black Turtle) is seen as a warrior deity. This is because the shell of a turtle is like a suit of armor. So it is no surprise that Kagami wanted to look like a mighty warrior. 

Striker- is Marc. I gave Marc this Miraculous because he is patient and more than willing to hang back and observe so he can help out. He chose the name Striker because it sounded like a cool superhero name from the comics he loves so much and because he liked to compare being the Snake Hero to that of the snake "sudden striker" in Sunzi's Art of War. His look is based more on a traditional hero look mixed with a rogue look since he thinks himself a background hero.

Vouivre- is Ondine. I gave her this Miraculous because she is a fighter and determined and loyal. Her look and name are taken from the description of the vouivre in The Drac: French Tales of Dragons and Demons. I headcanon Ondine being obsessed with fairytales so when she was given the Dragon Miraculous she immediately remembered the stories of the vouivre and thus her decision for her hero look and name was made. 

The two Chamberlains that Ladybug mentioned in her Court are Chloe and Sabrina, they offer the heroes support from the shadows. Chloe still wanted to help the hero but knew she couldn't do that as a hero anymore so she offered her aid in support and finances if the hero needed it and where Chloe goes, Sabrina follows. 

Next Chapter

[trashyangelic]

Oooh I have a good prompt if anyone wanna try it. The tags says it all.

Nino had finally realize that Lila has been lying to him about a DJ. So he apologize to Marinette but also breaking up with Alya after finding out from Rose, Juleka, and Alix that they had witness Alya bullying Marinette. Rose, Juleka, and Alix had already apologize to Marinette.

Lila thought of bullying Chloe Bourgeois with Alya Cesaire. What they don't know won't hurt them if both of them land a single hand on Chloe she can tell this to her father who is the Mayor to get both of their parents fired on spot. While Lila still blames Marinette for something she didn't do except being Chloe's new best friend and protective.

Adrien, Luka, Kagami, Chloe, Rose, Juleka, and Alix knows that Marinette is Ladybug due to them having their miraculouses to be keep safety in case of another akuma is available or not. It took Adrien a couple hours to figure out that Ladybug is Marinette due to Chloe showing him pictures on her phone to see they look the same.

Chloe also found out that Felix who is Adrien's cousin has been dating Marinette since middle school is what Nino had told her since she didn't know after what happen in Middle School when she got sick of a flu she missed alot of whats going on.

While Marlena finds out herself after her boss fired her for what her daughter had done to Chloe after asking what she did but the Mayor told her that her daughter bullied his daughter. This made Marlena very angry towards her daughter Alya for this mess.

As for Mrs. Rossi well her job was fired due to her boss and the Mayor itself after telling the head ambassador what was going on. Then Mrs. Rossi recieved a message from both her boss and the Mayor saying that she is fired. She was confused but when she asked what she did wrong the Mayor shown the video clip thanks to Marinette to show her that her daughter was involved of bullying his daughter. She looked absolutely livid and willing to ground her daughter for this mess. But she is accepting lawsuits from many people despite of how much trouble her daughter was in right now they are in thick ice with Paris and between Italy.

You can do whatever you want on Alya and Lila at the end.

[miraculouscriticismshub]

Every episode in Season 5 ranked based on my Opinions. These are my opinions so please stay respectful when commenting :)

Each episode in one sentence based on my opinion

Feel free to disagree but please stay civil when commenting :)

[artzychic27]

Juleka notices Luka not caring for his own mental health and immediately starts an intervention.

Luka: Guys, I’m fine.

Alya: You’re clearly not. Look how pale you are! When was the last time you’ve seen the sun?

Nathaniel: Yeah, I’m naturally pasty, so it’s fine. But, you? You’re clearly not taking care of yourself.

Luka: It’s just… Marinette-

Nino: Dude! Forget her! Does she care about your feelings?

Luka: … I mean-

Juleka: When has she ever given you free therapy?

Luka: …

Juleka: Exactly.

Marc: Just drop her, man. She’s screwed almost every main character over. I almost plummeted to my death because she erased my name!

Juleka: And she elbowed me out of my first photoshoot, getting me Akumatized.

Kim: *Boards the Liberty* And now I’m one of the asshole characters because the princess needed more sympathy points!

Myléne: This isn’t brought up a lot, but instead of attempting to help me out, she swooped in and stole my part in Nino’s movie.

Alya: And she stalks Adrien.

Adrien: What?

Marc: Yeah, she does that.

Rose: Like, a lot.

Nathaniel: I’ve seen her do it. It’s kinda scary.

Ivan: I have video evidence of her trying to scale the walls of your place.

Kim: Yeesh! I dodged a bullet with that prank.

Zoé: Oh, and she stole my backstory. Bugs in the locker? Come on!

Adrien: Wait! This is Luka’s intervention! Let’s get back on track!

Juleka: We still are. Look. *Points to the haunted expression on Luka’s face* Now he can stop worrying over Marinette and focus on himself.

Luka: … Why did I date that girl?

Juleka: There you go; we found a part of the root of your problems. Now let’s talk about the other deadbeat in your life.

[aristochatnoir]

I really like the recent interactions between these two I’ve seen on Tumblr. Decided to doodle them!

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

It's weird to expect lb to be able to read cn mind and called her a bad partner for it. But it's even weirder for lb to ignore cn WHEN HES OBVIOUSLY IN DISTRESS and not called her a bad partner for it because I think called her a bad partner for ignoring it is understandable and justified especially since she consider herself as his boss.

Every time I bring up this conflict, I try to make it clear that I don't think Ladybug was blameless, I just think Chat Noir's writing was worse. Let's walk through the problem to show what I mean.

Season four stars with Marinette extremely stressed by her new Guardian status. In Truth and Lies, the first episodes of the season, we get this:

Ladybug: Will you cut it out with the practical jokes? I could have really hurt you! Cat Noir:(answering while hanging by the yo-yo) M'lady, the only thing that really hurts me is when you make me go on patrol by myself. (sighs, relaxing his posture) I even missed your little angry pout. Ladybug: Sorry, Kitty Cat, I'm a bit over my head at the moment. (pulling him up) Cat Noir: I bet! "Guardian of the Miraculous", big name, big responsibility!

This is also the start to Chat Noir communicating poorly. In this episode, he's straight up told that Ladybug is in over her head and he never once asks how he can help. In fact, we even get him saying this when asked how he feels about the change:

Truth: Cat Noir, tell me what- (interupted by Ladybug throwing a present at Truth) Ladybug: (covering her parasol with foil) ...do you think about my new role as guardian! Cat Noir: If it doesn't change things between us, then I'm good with it!

So not a great start to the season. I know people focused on Adrien's terrible treatment of Kagami in these episodes, but this Ladynoir dynamic was actually what rang alarm bells for me. I kept waiting for Chat Noir to offer his support since it was really, really obvious that Ladybug was in over her head since she was late to patrols, the last season literally ended with her losing her mentor figure, and, you know, she straight up told him that was what was going on?

The next episode is Gang of Secrets in which we see Marinette out her identity to Alya. I get why she did this, she needed support and her partner doesn't seem interested in giving it, but she can't say that for certain because she never asked him directly and she should have. Trusting Chat Noir over Alya would have allowed Ladynette to maintain the security of her secret identity - a thing she claimed was more important than ever - and to honor their partnership. At the very least, she should have told Chat Noir that Rena Rouge was now a full time holder so that he could account for that in battle and to minimize the fallout by owning up to her mistake asap. The longer a lie goes on, the worse the truth will hurt.

To Ladybug's credit, she does eventually acknowledge her mistake after the Scarabella incident:

Ladybug: You... must've been pretty surprised to discover there was another holder! (Silence. She sits beside Cat Noir.) Ladybug: I'm really sorry, Cat Noir. I should've told you. I mean, if I found out that you told someone about your secret identity, I'd... probably be upset, too. I'm really sorry I hurt your feelings.

This is a decent apology. She doesn't try to absolve herself of wrong doing. Instead, she acknowledges that what she did would hurt her, too, if the shoe were on the other foot. The only thing she loses points on is the fact that she doesn't tell him about Rena Furtive.

However, instead of agreeing with her and telling her that she has hurt him, Chat Noir says that she did nothing wrong and never once brings up how their weakened partnership is bothering him:

Cat Noir: You didn't hurt my feelings. You did everything right. Paris will always need a Ladybug superhero to watch over her. It's just... I realized that if one day that hero wasn't you, m'lady, since we don't know each other's identities, that means... I'd never see you again. Ever. And now, I just don't know if I can bear it.

This is the thing that I hate about this arc. The reason why I say Ladybug is blamed for not reading his mind. Especially because, three episodes later, we get Rocketear, which gives us this:

Cat Noir: Everyone has doubts now and then, (looks down) even me... Ladybug: Is everything okay, Cat Noir? Cat Noir: Yeah, yeah. (prepare his fist) Pound it! Ladybug: (fistbumps) Pound it!

Rocketear is the episode where Nino outs that he and Alya know each other's identities while acting like Ladybug said identities weren't a big deal even though that is very much not what happened. You'd think that Chat Noir would want to know the full story, but instead he just lies and says that everything is fine.

So we have two situations where the show allowed Ladybug to give Chat Noir a chance for clear and open communication and both times he turns her down.

What's worse is that he clearly starts making up stories in his head, leading to Kuro Neko, which starts with Adrien avoiding a fight on purpose as some sort of shit test. He then gets upset when Ladybug... doesn't lament his absence on national TV?

Clara: (from TV) By the way, where's Cat Noir? You've saved Paris without him quite a few times recently. Are you two at odds with each other? Carapace, Pegasus, Vesperia and Pigella: (from TV) Pound it! Ladybug: (from TV) Of course not, it's just that... umm, he's a partner like any other! The most important is to pick the best superheroes for each mission, with or without Cat Noir. No matter what, we've got a great team and we'll always be here to save Paris. (Adrien is shocked.) Adrien: (turns off the TV and sighs) "A partner like any other..."

Dude, what did you want her to do here? Complain that you flaked on her? Make Paris feel less safe by saying she doesn't know where you are? Imply that the fight was barely won without you? What are you doing? Plagg, you are completely failing as a mentor right now.

The shit test continues as Chat Noir goes to meet up with Ladybug now that the battle is over, arriving just as Ladybug has finished instructing the team on what to do:

Ladybug: Come on, guys! Hurry up before you all detransform. I'll meet you at rendezvous points. (The heroes jump away in different directions, and Ladybug starts typing something on her Yo-yo.) Cat Noir: Hey! Meow are you, m'lady? Ladybug: Great, thanks, but I gotta go retrieve all these Miraculous. Cat Noir: I could lend you a paw to help save time. Ladybug: Thanks, kitty cat, but it's a guardian's job to do it. Cat Noir: I know who some of them are, remember? I was there when you first gave them their Miraculous! Ladybug: You don't even know where their rendezvous points are, I don't have time to— Cat Noir: Playing cat and mouse is my forte, you know— Ladybug: (yelling) If you wanna save me time, stop wasting it in the first place! (Cat Noir gasps. As Ladybug swings away, Cat Noir clenches his fist.) Cat Noir: And take my Miraculous back when you're done!

So Ladybug doesn't publicly chastise Chat Noir for missing the battle and rejects an offer to help because of very legitimate timing concerns, leading to Chat Noir quitting because she failed his stupid, petty, childish tests. Realistic writing? Yes. Writing that paints Ladybug as the one in the wrong? No.

Going into this episode, Ladybug has no idea that things are messed up between them even though she has actually kept communication lines open. She asks him if things are okay, but he lies. And when he's ready to quit? He plays stupid games and wins a stupid prize. It's really not shocking that the next scene sees Ladybug totally baffled by what just happened:

Plagg: For a while now, you've been neglecting this camembert— I mean Cat Noir, and going on adventures with the all other cheeses! Ladybug: But he should be happy about it, it gives him more time off. Plagg: Cat Noir doesn't wanna have time off, Ladybug! He is in love with you! And your persistent calling on all the other heroes has broken his heart.

And how is she supposed to know that, Plagg? Was she supposed to assume that her partner was lying when he said he was fine? Because she did ask and he said that nothing was wrong. But something was wrong and it lead him to build up a story in his head, reading nonexistent intent into her actions, all of which is toxic and unhealthy communication.

I cannot stress how common this shit is. I've seen it so many times and I will own that I've done it in the past and wound up getting no support when I needed it because I'd directly told people I didn't and they committed the heinous crime of... believing me.

Here's the other thing, there are times when I'm in distress and legitimately don't want or need help. Times when I just need to be alone for a bit. So if someone asks me if I'm okay during those times, I'm probably just going to say, "Yeah, I just need a people break" or something like that. That's why the Scarabella scene is so bad. Ladybug can see that Chat Noir is in distress and he gives her a fully plausible answer: I'm not upset with you, I'm just saddened by the idea of losing you. And she believes him because why wouldn't she?

Same goes for Rocketear. It's reasonable for Ladybug to assume that Chat Noir is just shaken by the fight. She has no idea about the bombshell that Nino dropped right before the fight. She doesn't even know that Nino and Chat Noir are actually close friends, making this fight a lot more devastating than it looks at face value. Her actions here are not objectively wrong. They're only wrong if you know the whole story, including Adrien's needs. Things that she cannot know unless Chat Noir uses his words to tell her things.

I cannot over stress how much season four is a textbook example of denying yourself support because you cannot communicate your own needs. Is it an understandable character flaw for a character with Adrien's background to have? Yes. Absolutely. 100%. But it's still a character flaw. This season desperately needed an arc about Adrien learning to tell people what's wrong. Not because he's the only one in the wrong here, but because things cannot get better when Ladybug has no idea that she's hurting him. (Nino has no idea either, but let's keep our focus on Ladybug.)

One of the most important things you can do for your own mental well being is to dismiss the idea that your needs are the same as everyone else's. Everyone needs different amounts of attention and values different behavior based on things like their upbringing and life events.

I get the feeling that I'm wired pretty similar to Marinette. At least, it influences how I write her because I can go months without talking to my best friends and still call them my best friends, a trait we all share because two of use are artsy introverts and two of us are moms to young kids, which allows for very little free time. Meanwhile, my SO and his best friend spend hours on the phone almost every week. I swear that those two go into withdrawal if they don't talk at least once every seven days. If months went by without them talking? Something would be very wrong, but the exact same time gap isn't even remotely concerning when it comes to my friends. It's something my SO and I had to figure out when we got together because I need a lot less attention than he does. But we communicated and found a balance that we continue to work to communicate about so that he doesn't feel neglected and I don't feel overwhelmed by too little me time.

What I'm trying to say is Marinette wasn't horribly wrong for assuming that Chat Noir was telling her the truth or that he liked having a larger team so he had less responsibility. Those are reasonable assumptions. Especially since he never actually indicated that he wanted more responsibility until he was ready to quit and decided to shit test her by pushing for more to do when she was stressed and on a timer.

I do think that she should have offered it to him before that or - at the very least - the show should have clearly stated why she didn't do that since it apparently had nothing to do with Chat Blanc trauma like we all thought it did. I'm not saying that she's blameless or perfect or that there weren't things she could have done better. It's just really hard for me to look at Chat Noir's behavior in season four and go, "Oh yeah, he's the injured party here. Ladybug holds all the blame and did everything wrong." She did many things wrong, but generally speaking, she owned her faults and tried to keep communication channels open. Chat Noir chose to ignore those chances to talk or otherwise try to express his needs in a clear and understandable manner.

We'll end with one final point to drive this home: You said that she's his boss. Well, if my boss asked me, "is everything okay with the project?" and I said, "yes" while freaking out about the upcoming deadline that I'm probably going to miss because he's given me too much work, the issue is not all on my boss. It's on both of us. Him for overloading me and me for not telling him I'm overloaded. You could even argue that it's mostly on me because I'm the only one who can properly gauge my own ability to do a given workload. As soon as it was too much, I should have said something. And if I don't feel like my boss is approachable? Then I should quit. But that isn't the situation I'm in and it doesn't appear to be the one that Chat Noir was in, either. He wanted to stay part of the team, he just totally failed to tell Ladybug how being on the team was making him feel.

People magically knowing what you need and how you feel is a myth. I promise you, most people in this world do not want to cause you pain, but if you cannot clearly express when someone is causing you pain, then you will continue to get hurt by people who would be very happy to not hurt you if they actually knew that their actions were causing you pain.

[thelastdiamondpiratealchemist]

(Miraculous Ladybug.) Adrian's Restraining Order

Realizing his “friend,” Marinette, is a stalker, Adrian decides to file for a restraining order.

“See?” Chloe told her oldest friend as she crossed her arms onto her chest, “I told you she was obsessed with you.”

As the news sank in, Adrian couldn’t help but feel a sense of disbelief and confusion. Marinette, his kind and sweet friend, being labeled as a stalker seemed unimaginable to him. However, he couldn’t ignore the mounting evidence presented to him.

Feeling a mix of apprehension and concern, Adrian went to the police station to inquire about the process of filing a restraining order. This was a challenging decision for him, especially considering the deep bond he shared with Marinette. But if it was true that she had crossed boundaries and was causing harm, he needed to prioritize his own well-being.

With a heavy heart, he entered the police station and was directed to the appropriate department. Adrian spoke to an officer, explaining the situation while providing any evidence he had on hand. He disclosed instances of Marinette’s behavior that had raised concerns, such as constantly following him or showing up uninvited to his private events.

The officer listened attentively, taking notes and asking clarifying questions. They assured Adrian that his concerns were valid and that they would do their best to handle the situation with sensitivity and discretion. The officer explained that they would need to gather more information and evidence before proceeding with the restraining order.

Adrian agreed to cooperate fully, realizing the importance of establishing boundaries to ensure his safety and mental well-being. He provided the officer with screenshots of text messages and emails from Marinette that displayed her persistent and intrusive behavior.

“Adrian, I want you to understand that Marinette isn’t a friend; it’s a form of a toxic relationship that could lead to potential harm,” the officer said empathetically. “We will do everything in our power to protect you and resolve this situation.”

Adrian nodded, his heart heavy, realizing that his once cherished friendship could have taken such a dark turn. He couldn’t help but wonder what had caused Marinette to become so obsessed with him. Had he unknowingly done something to encourage her behavior, or was it solely her own issues?

As the days went by, Adrian continued to provide the police with any additional evidence they requested. He discovered that Marinette had kept a detailed journal of his daily activities, noting every little detail. The police assured him that they would handle the situation in a manner that prioritized his safety and privacy.

He was also disturbed that Marinette had presents that would last to his 50th birthday, that she’d followed him to China, and had multiple pictures of himself pinned to a corkboard next to where she slept.

The poor blonde hair boy even felt uncomfortable that Marinette’s friends, including Alya, supported her. Adrien held his head in his hands, remembering seeing the signs before, but being the naïve kind soul he is, he was totally blindsided.

As the investigation progressed, Adrian started to understand the gravity of the situation. The evidence of Marinette’s obsession with him was undeniable, and it became increasingly clear that he had made the right decision to file for a restraining order. He couldn’t continue to have her invade his privacy and undermine his sense of security.

Over time, Marinette was expelled from school and had to transfer to another one across Paris.

Her parents, Tom and Sabine, were very disappointed in their daughter’s actions and wished they stopped the obsession sooner.

Meanwhile, Adrian focused on rebuilding his life and surrounding himself with supportive friends.

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief after taking the necessary steps to protect himself. He knew he deserved to feel safe and secure, and he wouldn’t let Marinette’s actions continue to hold power over him.

With the restraining order, Adrian could move forward without fearing Marinette’s presence. He found solace in his true friends, who stood by him throughout the ordeal, offering their unwavering support and understanding. It was through their encouragement that Adrian began to heal and regain his trust in others.

Though the experience had been challenging, it taught Adrian the importance of recognizing toxic relationships and setting healthy boundaries. He became more mindful of those around him, ensuring his interactions were based on mutual respect and consent. Adrian also took the time to educate himself on mental health and the signs of unhealthy obsession, vowing to be vigilant and empathetic towards others who may be going through similar situations.

After-school one day: Adrian’s best friend, Nino, approaches him and places his hand on Adrian’s white jacket shoulder.

“Hey, dude, I just wanna apologize for not seeing the signs sooner,” Nino apologizes softly, his brown eyes filled with genuine remorse. Adrian looked at him, appreciating the sincerity in his friend’s voice.

“It’s okay, Nino. I didn’t see the signs either,” Adrian replied, his voice tinged with sadness. “But we can’t blame ourselves for not knowing. It’s not our fault.”

Nino nodded, accepting Adrian’s words.

“I know, but still, I wish I could have done something to help you. I’m here for you now, though, and I won’t let anything like this happen again.” Nino spoke.

Adrian smiled, grateful for Nino’s support. “Thank you, Nino. Truly, I’m lucky to have you as a friend. And please, don’t blame yourself. We’re all still learning.”

Nino nodded again, a determined look in his eyes. “You’re right, Adrian. We’ll learn from this and be there for each other. That’s what friends do.”

As they walked down the school hallway together, Adrian couldn’t help but feel a newfound strength and appreciation for the true friends in his life. While the experience with Marinette had been difficult, it also showed him the importance of surrounding himself with people who genuinely cared for his well-being.

With Nino and his other friends by his side, Adrian felt confident that he could move forward, leaving the pain of the past behind. They would create new memories, support each other, and build a future free from unhealthy obsessions.

And at that moment, as they walked side by side, Adrian couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of hope, knowing that brighter days were ahead.

Outside the school:

“Hey, Adrian!’ Chloe called, rushing up to Adrian before he climbed into the back of his limo, with Sabrina trying to keep up to Chloe’s side.

“What’s up, Chloe?” Adrian asked softly.

“Just wanted to say that I’m really sorry about everything that happened. I didn’t realize how much Marinette was hurting you, and I feel awful for not being there for you,” Chloe said, her voice filled with sincerity.

Adrian looked at Chloe, appreciating her genuine apology. “Thank you, Chloe. I know you didn’t mean for things to turn out this way. I’m glad we can move past it and focus on being friends.”

Chloe nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “Definitely. And if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m here for you.”

Adrian smiled back at her, grateful for her support. “Thank you, Chloe. I truly appreciate it.”

As Adrian got into the back of his limo, he couldn’t help but reflect on how far he had come. From feeling trapped and unsafe to finding strength in his friends, he knew that he had the power to create a positive future for himself. With his friends by his side, he felt hopeful for the coming days and excited for the opportunities that awaited him. And as the limo pulled away, Adrian looked forward to the journey ahead, ready to face whatever challenges and joys lay in store.

The End.

[xhanisai]

.

[iwasbored777]

It annoys me that whenever a girl chose a boy over friendship it's seen as right but only when Marinette does it it's seen as wrong