#This app was made specifically for Marinette

[onlydorkythings]

Marinette you need to download this app right now!

[k7l4d4]

K Reviews and Rants: Miraculous Ladybug Season 5! Finale!!

Hello all! Sorry for not posting Yesterday, I... forgot. That's really all there is to it, I forgot and lost track of time before I had to go to work, and was too tired to post when I got back. So, to make up for it, I'm posting the ENTIRE Finale review, Parts 1 and 2, today! I hope you all enjoy.

Okay, cards on the table: This finale was crap. I'm pretty sure I tackle most of the issues inherent to it in the main review that I'll be posting below, but at it's core? This 2-Parter is just a crappy attempt to try and recreate the success of Heroes' Day, and it does it BADLY. The Miraculized is an honestly interesting concept, I think, in that it shows that Gabe and Tomoe have essentially jailbroken the power of the Kwami into something capable of mass production... which is presented as a bad thing. But on its own, it is genuinely impressive; if it weren't for the lazy and honestly nonsensical brainwashing plot with the "Perfect Alliance" app, it could've been interesting to see them gather and recruit genuinely willing agents to fight for them, acting on their behalf without dealing with the idiosyncrasies of Akumas in favor of totally loyal professionals.

But, what really kills the first part of this 2-Parter is that they keep hyping up these nightmares as being this super-traumatic thing... but aside from Adrien's, which doesn't make much sense, and Alya's, which her reaction is just stupidly exaggerated in regards to, they all just come off as ridiculous and stupid rather then traumatizing. I just can't take them seriously. The fact that they go out of their way to detail the specifics of their nightmares hurts it more because it exposes just HOW ridiculous they are, rather then keeping it vague but still giving the audience an idea of WHY they are so traumatized by it.

Not to mention that, despite Felix having SPELLED OUT that "Gabriel is Hawkmoth/Shadow Moth/Monarch" it seemed to have never actually clicked to Marinette until now that "oh crap, Gabriel is Hawkmoth!!" Which makes the prior play Felix put on all the more stupid since it ultimately did nothing to give Marinette more information if that's true, and instead focused entirely on making Marinette believe Felix's excuses for his bad deeds. So... what? I just don't get this continuity at all.

But what I think the biggest case of wasted potential in this finale, for all that it's a lazy Heroes' Day clone, is how it squanders the idea of their being more heroes, non-Miraculous connected ones, out in the world to help her... and instantly ignores how the Miraculized are able to TRACK the Ladybug and Black Cat's powers. When Marinette unified them, they should've INSTANTLY started swarming her all over again, like they did the first time she transformed. THAT would've made for an actual good reason for all the heroes around the world to appear; because they are tracking the movements of the army and are stopping them from mobbing Marinette while she's duking it out with Hawkmoth.

And just... Hawkmoth. Gabriel. How can a show just drop the ball so completely on such an awful character? I mean, I get how, they have been priming this for several seasons by having everyone around Gabe insist "he used to be better," but every thing they dredge up as evidence of this ultimately amounts to either scenes without context or detail, or someone claiming he used to be different but has now changed, without any word or detail on HOW he has changed. It expects the audience to just... take their word for it. To see Marinette showing him compassion, despite the fact that she should know damn well by now that Gabe has always put what HE wants for Adrien over what actually makes Adrien happy, every single time. And the way it insists upon itself by calling Gabe's actions "Madness." No, being deluded is not the same thing as being insane; Gabe knew full and well what he was doing, what the consequences would be, and ultimately decided "I don't CARE."

His delusions stopped and ended at his egotistical insistence that he's the one in the right; he didn't become a supervillain because of "Madness." He didn't decide to keep his son isolated from everyone around him for YEARS, long before his wife died, because of "Madness." He didn't cultivate plans specifically meant to isolate and hurt others so as to make them vulnerable to his powers because of "Madness." Everything Gabe has done, he has done because at his core, he is a selfish, egotistical failure of a father who refuses to accept that he's the bad guy. It's like if The Owl House had Belos, after literally driving himself to the brink of death in his obsession with wiping out all Witches, be given sympathy by the heroes because "it's not his fault he's so awful, he was raised to be that way" and had his demise be because he "let" himself be killed after somehow destroying all magic but leaving the inhabitants of the Islands unharmed. It's excusing the actions of a man whose deeds are inexcusable.

And you want to know what makes all this worse? Adrien never once gains closure. For the entire finale, he's stuck hiding in his room, against his will. Despite his father tormenting him and isolating him from all his friends, despite his last fight against Hawkmoth as Nighttormentor involving him verbally ripping his dad a new one for how much of an utterly awful parent and human being he is... after the world is erased and rebuilt, his clone is basically told "oh no, your abusive father was actually a good man, you should want to be like him." It's a slap in the face of anyone and EVERYONE who has had an abusive parental figure, who has dealt with someone they are supposed to be able to look up to but who instead abused their authority to hurt and control them. Never in my life have I been so contemptful of people who try and deflect criticism of this show because "I don't work in the industry;" anyone who thinks THIS is acceptable, who excuses the writers who felt PROUD of putting together this abomination, screw you. It would be one thing, however low of a bar it would be, if the writers really COULDN'T present Gabe as being the bad guy in the end... but that's not the case. They were proud of it. This was "always the plan." I have no further words for how messed up that is.

Onto the main review. As always, warning for any profanity on my part... and there's a bit of a doozy of that today.

Episode 25: Finale Part 1 - Conformation

Alright, opening things up, and we immediately jump to the first day of Summer Break, and apparently the hot topic is the election, and the tourist scene... and for some reason, Nadja feels the need to call attention to Adrien's arrival in London, alongside Kagami.

Also, "arrived yesterday"?!? Just, what the HELL!? Again, how the fuck is all this time zone BS going on!? For fuck's sake, it's showing their arrival like it happened when it was bright and early, but there's no way the flight should've been that long! Paris is not that far from fucking LONDON of all places!! I'm also confused on why Adrien's personal life is important enough to warrant this kind of news; he's a teen model, not some kind of billionaire playboy or whatever. I'm thinking that Gabe might be astroturfing things by paying news groups to give attention to the little "arrangement" he and Tomoe are trying to set-up, to control the narrative. It would fit with his speech to Marinette about controlling what people want and aspire to obtain.

Yup, Gabe's manipulating things. It's not directly stated, but given that the news report mentioned a direct report from the Gabriel brand on this, I'd say it's likely. Also, regarding Kagami, WHAT "SUCCESSFUL MODELING CAREER!?" SHE HAS NEVER BEEN A FUCKING MODEL IN HER ENTIRE LIFE!! HECK, HER BEING ON THE ALLIANCE RING AT ALL WAS BECAUSE HER MOM USED HER IMAGE AND VOICE WITHOUT HER CONSENT!! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!!!

Also, yeah, creepy insistence on "Perfection" again. Seriously, the obsession this show has with the concept of "perfection" is disturbing, and I don't mean it in the sense of villains using it, like Gabe and Tomoe do, but even the HEROES use it way too much. It gets thrown around so much, I can't even begin.

Oh, and I got my answer on where the "successful modeling career" for Kagami came from; from my point of view, Tomoe is allowing Gabe to appropriate Kagami's image to make ads, all designed to sell the idea that she and Adrien are a couple. And Kagami chucks something at the screen playing the ad for "Perfection, the Drink that hydrates to Perfection." Again, they are using "perfection" too much without seeming to get what it means.

And apparently Gabe's spying on Kagami and Adrien trapped in their creepy white rooms. Just, just, WHY!? Why the fucking ROOMS!? These things are just utterly disturbing, why the absolute FUCK do Tomoe and Gabe think they need to use "WHITE TORTURE ROOMS" for their kids!? Are they insane or just fucking stupid!?

And Gabe references this "Perfect Alliance" thing, which I just know I'm gonna fucking hate. Just, just why the HELL does he think they need to be in LONDON to be safe from whatever it is!? Is it a death laser? A bomb? WHAT!? For fuck's sake, GABE HAS LITERALLY ALLOWED CITY DESTROYING AKUMAS LOOSE BEFORE WITHOUT GIVING A FUCK ABOUT THE DANGER THEY POSE TO ADRIEN, AND IF TOMOE HAS ALWAYS BEEN HER PARTNER THEN SHE HASN'T SHOWN ANY MORE REGARD WHEN IT COMES TO KAGAMI, THEY COULD LITERALLY JUST USE BUNKERS IN PARIS AND ACHIEVE THE SAME RESULTS!!!!

Honestly, that's what makes this so stupid to me; they are framing this scene as if Tomoe and Gabe are isolating their kids to "keep them safe," yet Gabe hasn't even TRIED to stop Akumas capable of wiping out Paris while knowing full well Adrien is there, so why is this time different? That same line of reasoning goes for Tomoe regarding Kagami; if she's always been Gabe's secret partner, and Kagami means this much to her, where were her complaints regarding incidents like Syren, when the literal city was FLOODED by the Akuma? What THEN!?

For fuck's sake, they are like overgrown children!!

"One day they'll understand that we did this all for their own good" NO THE FUCK YOU DIDN'T TOMOE!! YOU DID THIS TO SATISFY WHATEVER WEIRD AGENDA BETWEEN YOU AND GABE THAT YOU HAVEN'T ELABORATED ON!! YOU ARE ARBITRARILY TRYING TO DICTATE THEIR LIVES EVEN THOUGH YOU SHOULD FUCKING KNOW THAT YOU ARE MAKING THE MISERABLE!!!

...These two are abusive. Like, no duh, that's obvious, but this is LITERALLY the kind of reasoning you see in abusive parents; it's the coldblooded rationalization that they are in the right for how they treat their children, and that it's everyone else who says differently that is wrong. Now Tomoe mentions something about a "poison" and a "remedy" which I can't begin to make heads or tails of but is probably super fucking stupid.

Yup, it's fucking stupid; I still don't know what the overall "plan" is, but Gabe just reakumatized himself into Nighttormentor (for some fucking reason), is loading up on the powers of the Mouse, Horse, and Rooster Miraculous... okay, it's apparently some fucking stupid plot to give the whole world nightmares, probably in some dumb as hell rehash of the Scarlet Akuma plot.

"The nightmare has finally begun." "And our wish to bring our child together can finally come true." I just... what? What the fuck does ANY OF THIS relate to getting Kagami and Adrien together?? Like, literally NOTHING about this scene or this plot have anything to do with them beyond Gabe spying on them while they sleep! (Which is creepy as fuck, by the way) It's just the writers shoving in relationship BS when it doesn't even relate to what these idiots are doing.

Alright, now we get an utterly stupid as hell scene of Marinette dressed up in a Ladybug-themed suit of armor like a knight while riding a red motorcycle... this is her nightmare, and it's literally doing the entire "flipped fairy tale" BS of swapping the gender stereotypes but otherwise leaving them totally unchanged, isn't it? And it's gonna end in disaster since, well, it's a NIGHTMARE.

...Yup, this is stupid. In addition to this honestly giving the vibes of a pretty sexist "role reversal" of the stereotypical "knight saves the princess," it involves Marinette "slaying the dragon holding the prince(ess) hostage" with said dragon being revealed to be Gabe, and accidentally "killing" Gabe by... lightly brushing him with her sword on the arm? And Adrien asking "why did you do that, Marinette?" I just... I cannot even FOLLOW whatever shit this is trying to BE!! It's like they are trying to say "Marinette/Ladybug would KILL Hawkmoth and break Adrien's heart!!" which already doesn't make any sense since yes, he's dying, because OF HIS OWN FUCKING STUPIDITY!!! Marinette's Lucky Charm isn't even directly harmful; the only way she could kill someone would be if she was actively TRYING to do so, and she's not the type. Why the FUCK are they trying to frame this as an actual concern she could EVER EVEN HAVE ABOUT THIS SITUATION!?

...Given I already know how this finale is gonna play out, my best guess is that this idiocy is them trying to foreshadow Marinette's "big moment" at the end, but it falls apart because it is utterly fucking contrived by implanting a fear that, like the bullshit dream sequence of a nightmare that Chat Noir was subjected to despite lacking any reason to even CONSIDER IT A CONCERN, has no real basis for. It just EXISTS to generate conflict and drama. And I'm not gonna get into how "dreams are irrational" and all that, because yes, they are; but for things like nightmares, they have to be based on things a person would already be afraid of or be having concerns over. Neither Chat nor Marinette have ANY reason to have had those particular nightmares at all!!

"I have to free him from the dragon- I mean, from his father!" Marinette... no. Shut up. Shut the absolute FUCK UP. This? This entire fucking mess is not something you need to "save" Adrien from; yes, he needs to be gotten out from Gabe's thumb, but the primary fucking REASON he still IS under Gabe's thumb is because he's been sitting on his ass and avoiding actually confronting his problems, AND YOU HAVE BEEN ENABLING HIM ALL THIS TIME!!! For fuck's sake, it's the stupidity with you trying to defend to Adrien that Gabe has "Changed" despite him threatening your career and making it clear he's never going to let you be with his son if he has any kind of a say in it, ACTIVELY CONTRIBUTED TO THIS BS. You don't get to freak out about "saving him" when you can't even woman up enough to be genuinely honest with him and let him face tough times on his own instead of constantly trying to spare his fucking feelings!!

And apparently the stupid nightmare power thing causes people physical pain as well as emotional distress, because why the fuck not!? And Marinette ends up seeing one of Gabe's new ads (still doing that stupid as fuck "Perfection" thing) with the images of Adrien and Kagami. Who thinks she'll take this the wrong way? (Raises hand)

"His father won't tell you a thing, will he?" Oh, I dunno Tikki, I think the man who has kept Adrien socially isolated from everyone for nearly his entire life, actively has fought to keep him out of public school and people his own age, is secretly a terrorist (SOMETHING YOU TWO SHOULD KNOW AFTER THAT LITTLE FIASCO WITH FELIX AND KAGAMI YESTERDAY!!!), and has micromanaged every aspect of his life down to the minute would absolutely share information on where his son is with the girlfriend he doesn't approve of! /s

"Maybe he won't, but maybe his assistant Nathalie will!" Why? Why would you have ANY FUCKING REASON TO THINK THAT? This isn't even a matter of Nathalie being trustworthy or not, point to a SINGLE MOMENT where Marinette and Nathalie have interacted positively or Nathalie has indicated any willingness to go against Gabe's BS in front of Marinette that would support her having any fucking reason TO THINK THIS!!!

"Adrien told me that she was always kind to him." Why the fuck would you believe that? Seriously, this is the same guy who spoke up for Chloe (which this season went out of its way to tear apart) and let Lila run wild by "taking the high road," why the FUCK would you think he has any fucking clue what he's talking about? He speaks well of his own father half the time despite the man transparently being a complete and utter piece of shit, Adrien isn't exactly a sparkling judge of character!!

Marinette immediately runs off to find Nathalie (why the hell would she even think Nathalie's in Paris, and where the fuck would she even find her?), but is blocked by her dad. Also, something confusing occurred to me; that stupid as hell play that Felix and Kagami put on happened the same night that Adrien left (SOMEHOW), and Marinette woke up in an abandoned classroom the next morning. How wasn't she locked in? Why weren't her parents worried about where she went and why she didn't come home last night without telling them where she was? It's the BS of the show trying to pretend ANY OF THIS MAKES ANY KIND OF SENSE WHEN IT DOESN'T.

Apparently Tom is worried about his daughter running off without eating breakfast first; to be honest, that's a healthy concern to have as skipping a meal can seriously affect your energy, and it's not like taking a few more minutes is gonna make Nathalie suddenly disappear. Ooh, and then Marinette gets hit with the conveniently awful headache that stupid as fuck Nightmare power causes! Why do I call it stupid as fuck? Because currently, we aren't seeing anyone else exhibit that symptom, despite Gabe having apparently spread his nightmare power across the globe... for SOME FUCKING REASON. Seriously, why the FUCK would he bother spreading his power like that when all his efforts have been focused on PARIS!? All he's doing is making it more likely that the international community is going to come for his fucking head.

"This has nothing to do with Adrien!" No, Marinette, it has everything to do with him (unfortunately) and you saying it doesn't is, if anything, MORE of a red flag for them. Plus, your mom was ON YOUR SIDE, so you trying to shut down her reasoning to get your dad to calm down just makes things worse. Okay, NOW we see someone else get hit with the stupid as hell headache; and again, Marinette, just be HONEST WITH YOUR PARENTS, idiot!!

Apparently Tom's nightmare was about how Marinette ended up starving herself over being upset over Adrien leaving. For fuck's sake, HAVE NONE OF THESE PEOPLE HEARD OF A LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP!?!? Like, him just being worried about Marinette starving is a perfectly valid fear all its own, you don't have to tack on Love Square BS into the mix!! Also, his nightmare was stupid in that he thought Marinette not eating would make her physically shrink until a mouse could eat her, instead of, you know, her just plain DYING from hunger.

Sabine's nightmare was about how TOM ended up Akumatized over his worries for Marinette. Apparently something something "trapped her in a giant brioche with an army of croissants to protect her." Like, this entire stupid scene would be less idiotic if they just left their nightmares at the most surface level explanation; getting the details just makes them sound corny and stupid, not something to actually be worried about, and makes the fact that they are still fretting over them obnoxious and hard to take seriously rather then concerning. It's hard to give a shit about people having had bad dreams when they are unironically being concerned about their kids shrinking from not eating to the point of getting eaten by a mouse, etc.

And Marinette immediately bumps into Alya, who is freaking out and convinced that Monarch is gonna find her and she'll blab the secret. See, THIS is a genuine fear to be worried about, as it actually has something resembling a basis in reality. It's still fucking stupid as Monarch DOES NOT KNOW THAT SHE KNOWS, but it's more reasonable a fear then what Marinette's parents were going through.

"We can't be seen together!" Alya, ONCE AGAIN, no one knows that YOU know Ladybug's secret (you would've had to leave like Luka and Alix did, idiot), so no, no one is going to connect you to Ladybug's secret identity, grow the FUCK up already!!

Seriously, WHY THE HELL ARE PEOPLE STILL DEALING WITH THESE STUPID AS FUCK HEADACHES!? We have NEVER had it indicated that the powers of an Akuma persist after they are de-Akumatized!! And no, Stoneheart's minions don't count because they were the result of the original Akuma multiplying. They are trying to artificially generate drama by making everyone on edge and freaked out, but it just does not work when everything is so utterly stupid about it!!

And after Marinette drives off, we now get a look at Adrien still dealing with that stupid as hell nightmare. What makes this nightmare stupid as fucking hell is the fact that, once again, THERE IS NO BASIS FOR IT!! Heck, the ONE THING that could be used as a basis for it, his hitting Monarch with a Cataclysm and setting up the idea that using his powers on other people utterly terrifies him, is shot to pieces by the fact that he has DELIBERATELY tried to Cataclysm TWO other people, ones who are a lot less fucking irredeemable compared to Monarch, for no good reason. This drama BS is annoying as hell. Seriously, why the hell is Adrien so torn up over a non-existent Akumatization based off of another Akumatization that neither he nor Monarch have any knowledge of!?

Adrien snaps awake with a gasp, and here we are. Adrien panting and gasping just doesn't work because the tone doesn't FEEL like something to be worried about; it's literally just a kid having a nonsensical bad dream. He then tries to demand the door be opened; wow, what a great time to gain a spine to stand up for yourself with!

Okay, and it's revealed that this entire fucking BS with the nightmares is to try and make people dependent on a self-help app designed to give people advice on relaxing activities to "help with their negative emotions." ...Why? WHY!? WHY THE ABSOLUTE FUCK DID THEY JUST NOT INCLUDE THAT STUPID APP AS A NON-OPTIONAL UPDATE TO THEIR STUPID AS HELL RINGS!? FOR FUCK'S SAKE, IT ISN'T THAT BIG OF A FUCKING CONCERN!!! YOU DID NOT NEED TO GO THROUGH THIS ENTIRE SHITHOLE OF A PLAN JUST TO DISTRIBUTE THIS THING!! HECK, IF YOU WANTED ADRIEN TO USE AN ALLIANCE RING SO BAD, YOU COULD'VE JUST FORCED HIM TO DO SO!!

"This is insane! My father is out of control!" NOW you realize that!? What, did the pure white room he's locked you into didn't give it away? Also, I'm more shocked that he's only saying that in relation to the ring being presented to him after having a bad dream. Honestly; it's so contrived that THIS is his breaking point.

And then we get a scene of Plagg FINALLY trying to talk Adrien into running away (by transforming into Chat Noir), and so far, Adrien's limiting his objections to the fact that there are cameras that would see him transform... when Plagg can just phase into the systems and break them. Honestly, Adrien blinding and drowning out the SECOND Camera by using the Alliance Ring's inability to stop asking people to ask for the "Perfect Alliance" is pretty clever... and then they have Adrien intending to give up the Ring and going full damsel.

"I'm too angry. at myself for falling short of Marinette's love, at my father for sending me here in London, at this stupid app and rings that use my image, it makes me sick. This nightmare gives me the horrible feeling that, if I transform, I'll get Akumatized and destroy everything with my Cataclysm! Marinette, Ladybug." And he took off the ring, which somehow didn't cause Plagg to get sucked into it. It's almost funny; if it weren't for the fact that his dream is entirely BS and he's angsting over LITERALLY NOTHING, as well as the fact that HE KNOWS REJECTING AN AKUMA IS POSSIBLE AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO NOT BE ANGRY TO DO SO, this would be an honestly heartfelt scene. As it is, the fact that this season has been wall-to-wall "random people reject the Akuma's influence" just makes this scene stupid as fuck; it's BS like THIS that should make it so you don't throw around "rejecting the mind-controlling villain's influence" so willy-nilly. It took what little believable tension this scene had, and shot it in the fucking foot. Good job! (Deliberately ignoring the Love Square shilling and too-little-too-late efforts of showing Adrien having a spine)

What's so obnoxious is that ALL OF THIS is too little, too late. It's trying to act as if this is some kind of tipping point for Adrien, like this is something that he had no reason to see coming, yet all of this? He's known it's been coming FOR WEEKS, more even, or it's just a rehash of abuses Gabe has already put him through. It's genuinely hard to care about what he's going through when he's been doing nothing, his character has been at a fucking STAND STILL, for the entire show.

"If I ask her for help, I'd have to give her information that would jeopardize my secret identity." NO!! YOU WOULDN'T!!! YOU COULD LITERALLY JUST HAVE PLAGG SHARE THAT SOMETHING MESSED UP IS GOING ON AND YOU HAD TO HAVE HIM INFORM LADYBUG THAT SHE NEEDS TO RESCUE YOU IN "CHAT NOIR'S" PLACE!!! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!! They are digging for any and every possible excuse to delay having Adrien do something smarter. Is his secret ID really that big of a fucking deal if it means finally being free!? Heck, NOW, of ALL TIMES, is the best possible moment to have her find out the truth!!

And thus Adrien's journey from "independent spirit chafing at his father's control" to "gender-flipped damsel in distress" is now complete! God this is fucking pathetic. Oh, and rather than maintain his efforts to not give in to his father's control, he puts on the ring, conveniently forgetting that he's not the only person in the world capable of having a bad day.

"Adrien, focus on the thing you like the most; the soothing sound of the foils brushing against one another." ...That's it? The big 'reveal' surrounding the "Perfect Alliance" is "basic advice on how to not think about something upsetting you by thinking about something else"? THAT'S ALL THE FUCK IT IS!? Also, the fact that this response is both A) wrong, Fencing is not the thing he likes the most, and B) rather blatantly tailored to Adrien by his parents, makes it pretty fucking obvious that this is an engineered scenario to push more forced shipping BS on the part of Gabe and Tomoe.

"The stimuli that Adrien is receiving on his ring are relaxing his nervous system; the images he's watching are now associated with the feeling of well-being. He's forgetting all about the nightmares he'd previously been obsessing about. Soon he'll calm down and later, fall sound asleep." ...I cannot for the life of me make heads or tails of whatever this fiasco of a plot is even supposed to be about. For starters, Adrien wasn't watching the images at all, he was just listening to the Ring's advice. And forming those kinds of mental associations take a lot stronger emotions then what amounts to a kid being a little stressed over a nonsensical bad dream, and given that these dreams are apparently targeting (really dumb) TRAUMA, then NO, they are not going to "forget all about the nightmares," it's distracting them from them only. And how in the FUCK would they have any impact over superpowers-derived NIGHTMARES!?

Seriously, you cannot make a set-up be all about how the nightmares are a supernatural phenomenon and then introduce a technological "solution" to them. It doesn't work because just getting BASIC FUCKING ADVICE on how to handle stress is not gonna change the fact that all those people are still under the influence of Monarch's power.

"Perfect Alliance is a success, Tsurugi-san." HOW!? You haven't even made whatever point it's supposed to be about!!

Oh, now Marinette FINALLY arrives at the Agreste Manor in Paris, and is intending to break into it to find Nathalie. Tikki tries to warn her off using her powers to break in, on the basis that using them for personal gain has never turned out well for her, which is a good point! Too bad she's not gonna listen.

She counters that it isn't personal this time, it's for Adrien. ...Marinette, how the absolute FUCK have you forgotten that even if it's for Adrien, you aren't doing it for him, YOU ARE DOING IT FOR YOURSELF!! You literally once broke into his room to sniff his stuff AS LADYBUG. You don't get to claim a moral high ground on this.

Oh, and now we are in Nathalie's nightmare, which is a disjointed weirdness of her being bothered by giant ads for the "Perfect Alliance" and "Monarch making his Wish." What the fuck is even happening, I couldn't say. Oh, she's making a video diary for Adrien "for when she's no longer here" and bringing up Emilie... and she couldn't even finish it, due to another ad for the "Perfect Alliance," and tries to grab her old hunting gear despite being extremely infirm. Hmm, it's almost as if she's been wasting MONTHS AND WEEKS of time that she could've used to get the proper authorities or just flatout TELL THE HEROES WHO MONARCH IS, and is now on death's door when Monarch's "brilliant plan" is right around the corner.

Oh, and apparently, instead of trying to find Nathalie, Ladybug was just snooping in Adrien's room! Of course. She only even NOTICES Nathalie trying to leave because her tech-brace is loud.

Brief look of Plagg flying to Paris with the Ring, I wonder how long that'll take him?

And now we get a look of Tom using the Alliance Ring to relax. Him and Sabine are literally too relaxed in this scene; is the Perfect Alliance some kind of brainwashing device? BECAUSE THIS IS NOT HOW RELAXATION WORKS AND THE NIGHTMARES ARE STILL A SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENON!!!

""Adrien and Kagami really form a Perfect Alliance."" Okay, yeah, I'm pretty sure this is meant to be a brainwashing thing. EXCEPT THIS IS NOT HOW BRAINWASHING WORKS YOU FUCKING IDIOT WRITERS!!!

"If I'd known it'd take so long, I'd have made myself a cheese sandwich!" I feel like the writers having Plagg state this is them trying to justify the time zone fuckery, which really doesn't work since Plagg can both A) avoid having to go by Land Routes, and B) Planes fly much higher and much faster than Plagg does skimming just above the water.

Okay, and it looks like, rather than TALK TO NATHALIE like she said she would, Marinette/Ladybug has instead decided to break into her room and snoop through her stuff! Nope, nothing morally or ethically questionable about that! Oh, and she spots a pic of Nathalie, Emilie, and Gabe in safari gear and "makes the connection" that the third woman in the picture is Nathalie wearing the outfit she's right next to. Marinette, why the fuck are you shocked by this? What is there even to be SHOCKED OVER!?

And Plagg FINALLY makes it to Paris!! And is somehow surprised to find that Marinette doesn't spend all of her time at her house. After snooping in her room a bit, he spots a picture that has Marinette and her female friends on it; I wonder where he's going with this...

Okay, now we get a scene of Tsurugi in front of a monitor screen! ...She's supposed to be blind, right? So why the hell is she always presented as not being visually impaired at all, staring at monitors and screens and other forms of visual input without any way to bridge the sensory gap?

Okay, apparently the "big plan" is them having set up this entire convoluted BS is all to facilitate making people dependent on their stupid as fuck brainwashing app, and then take it away from everyone... okay, I just, WHY THE FUCK DID YOU NEED AN AKUMA FOR THIS!? You literally could've played the long game, revealed the "Perfect Alliance" MONTHS AGO, and just gradually waited for the numbers to build up before yanking it away!! For fuck's sake, this is dumb.

I also don't get what Tomoe means by them going to the "next phase of the plan" not having a great enough shock with only 80% of all Alliance Users having downloaded the app. Like, again, you could've gotten a much bigger shock if you had played the long game, lady.

Now Plagg's at Anarka's ship and all of Marinette's friends are doing nothing but lounge around with the Alliance Ring. STILL NOT HOW BRAINWASHING AND DEPENDENCY WORKS, ASTRUC.

Oh look, here's Mylene, the "no-tech" member of their friend group whose hyper-aversion to all non-recyclable technology was shoved in out of nowhere probably just to set-up this stupid as fuck scene that's coming!

...Wow, her nightmare is honestly the dumbest one yet. Like, no joke, "all the trees uprooted by extraterrestrials." I just... what even is that supposed to mean!? Why the fuck does she think that was a "prophetic dream"? Did they seriously turn her into a full-on "New-Age Hippy" oh who the hell am I kidding, OF COURSE THEY DID.

"Put this on, Mylene. You'll feel better." ...I really, REALLY fucking hope that having Nino, the guy who looks like he's of African descent, say something like you'd expect from a drug dealer is just a mistake, because THAT LOOKS AND SOUNDS FUCKED UP.

"I refuse to touch an object that was made without respect for the Earth's resources!" Then how the fuck do you even make it outside, Mylene? HOW!? Also, yup, new-age hippy.

Yeah, this whole thing feels like it's combining internet addiction with drug addiction, and it falls flat on its face because NONE OF THIS IS HOW DEPENDENCE WORKS, and making MYLENE of all people the one pushing back against this stupidity is kinda the worst way to use her. It's reducing her to just "environmentalism" in the worst possible way. Yeah... they are just gonna keep trucking along with this, aren't they? I'm probably gonna just vibe on through this point, since nothing else of substance is happening.

Oh look, something happened with Emilie's weird as hell coffin thing that we still don't know what it does. And back to the good old "Gabriel monologuing to his wife's corpse" scene! Been awhile. Yadda yadda yadda, "I've given up my ambitions (lies), my morality (true, VERY true), but I've never given up on you," and all it cost you was your son's love and respect, not that you had it before given you haven't changed how much of a toxic control freak you are in the slightest.

"I only have a few hours left now," HMM I WONDER WHY!? SURELY ALL THE TIMES YOU HAVE WASTED ON LOOPING THROUGH TIME HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!!!

And after nearly, FINALLY admitting Emilie is dead while monologuing about bringing her back, Nathalie finally bursts onto the scene with her crossbow... she's not even remotely a threat, she is a fucking moron, and this "act of defiance” is utterly fucking stupid. She had her chance, and she fucking blew it. She's gonna die here, and it's all her own fault.

"If you make the wish to bring her back, someone will have to go in her place." Yeah... you are the last person to say that, given what you've been doing.

"Emilie would never have agreed to this!" Again, last person to be saying this. You could've stopped him at any time, this is entirely your own damn fault.

"Do you think I'd be monstrous enough to sacrifice a human being!?" Oh, I dunno, you haven't given any kind of fucks about enabling others to do just that (Pharaoh), when you aren't also enabling villains capable of rendering the entire city devoid of life (Syren). So... yes, she has every reason to believe you would do just that.

"Do you really think that I'm a monster?" YES!! DUDE, YES YOU ARE A FUCKING MONSTER!!!

And he knocks her out cold. Big surprise there.

Now we're back to Marinette snooping in Nathalie's room! Hmm, it's almost as if she's totally forgotten the reason she broke into this place entirely! Hey, she found Fu's stolen tablet. It's almost as if she hadn't learned that Gabriel Agreste is Monarch a day or two ago!

"It can't be!" Marinette... YOU LEARNED ALL THIS LESS THEN TWO DAYS AGO FROM FELIX AND KAGAMI!! Then again, given that Felix hyper-fixated on his "play" being all about making Marinette feel sorry for him in spite of his crimes, it's possible it just slipped to the back of her mind. But no, you should ALREADY KNOW THIS BY NOW.

Oh, and Monarch entered while carrying Nathalie into the room.

And Gabe begins monologuing about how he knew she would betray him and had been prepared... the FUCK YOU DID!! Seriously, she hasn't done anything to act against you all this time, even when she actively said she was betraying you she did nothing to try and stop you, and even after she DID interfere with your attempts to control Adrien, you STILL let her keep the means of doing so!!! Oh, and Marinette's trying to inform Chat Noir in the background.

"You will be loyal to me until the end, after all." So, either he intends to sacrifice HER to bring back his wife, or something like that, because otherwise, this is all just BS posturing on his part. I'm honestly surprised he isn't planning on, I dunno, sacrificing Marinette or something so that she'll cease to be a diversion to his goals of keeping Adrien and Kagami together.

I would hardly call being locked up in a stark white room, the kind used for White Torture, is "safe."

"Monarch is going to send all of human kind after you and Chat Noir." ...HOW DOES THAT RELATE IN ANY WAY TO THIS BULLSHIT PLAN!? For fuck's sake this is dumb.

Them having this weird filter thing going on with Marinette at the moment is dumb. It just looks out of place, and using it over and over again is just distracting from the tension of the scene.

Oh, now I get it, they are intending to have all their brainwashed minions be conditioned to hate Chat Noir and Ladybug by having them interfere with their images on the ring. Once again, this is not how brainwashing or dependence work, so this is just BS. Seriously, how can people who are using the Ring in the same room fall for this? Why the fuck would ANYONE fall for this!?

...And this is where it all falls apart. They are literally having people think that "Adrien" and "Kagami" were kidnapped by "Chat Noir" and "Ladybug." Instead of, you know, some asshole hacking the Perfect Alliance APP!? How fucking stupid ARE THESE IDIOTS!?

Seriously, how the hell have these idiots forgotten that what's shown on the Alliance IS JUST AN AI IMAGE!! IT IS NOT THE REAL PEOPLE!!! For fuck's sake, some of them were literally having totally different "relaxation programs" running while in the same room, they should KNOW that it's not possible for two people to be doing multiple different activities simultaneously! Oh what am I talking about, this is just stupid.

Oh, apparently Monarch found a way to weaponize his Cataclysm wound. That'd almost be clever if it weren't something he absolutely hadn't planned ahead of time and amounts to a BS asspull to artificially increase the stakes.

Seriously "Miraculize me?" ...Honestly, it isn't the worst phrase ever. I might even like it. If it weren't part of the most bullshit asspullery this season has had to date; how the absolute FUCK does this make any sense!? How were they able to, I dunno, recreate the power of transformation that all Miraculouses possess in those Rings? Probably via however the hell the Transfer system works, admittedly, but COME THE FUCK ON THIS IS LITERALLY JUST A CHEAP RIP OFF OF HEROES DAY!!!

What makes this stupidity even worse is that it's deliberately presenting this as those who have "Miraculized" being fully aware of their actions. Ugghhh...

Seriously, Alya, JUST TAKE THE FUCKING RING!! You getting Akumatized really isn't a risk since, you know, you can just RESIST IT LIKE YOU HAVE ALL THE OTHER TIMES.

Also, how everyone who is "Miraculized" doesn't realize that they are using the stolen Miraculous powers makes no sense to me. This is stupid. Then again, I'm getting the feeling that this is some new spin on Akumatization.

And with that, we get the debut of... sigh... "Bug Noir." Lame name aside, not the worst costume ever. This is just stupid... And with THAT, this episode is DONE!

Episode 26: Finale Part 2 - Re-Creation

Opening with a creepy room with, oh look, Tomoe's missing laptop, so this is obviously Lila's current base. For some stupid reason, we have Alec's new "empowering" show playing in the background, instead of something like, you know, the news so she could stay up to date on what her nemeses are doing!?

And she's apparently smirking over seeing Alec having a meltdown because of that stupid as hell Nightmare power. Seriously, there is NO TENSION here. I'm not even sure what this scene is supposed to convey; is she just being sadistic and getting a kick out of his nightmare? I don't know what this is supposed to mean. Nothing of progress is happening here.

Oh look, a breaking news story in the middle of Alec's breakdown. Apparently Nadja, who was the one to spread the very obvious lie that Adrien and Kagami had been kidnapped by Chat Noir and Adrien, is now reporting on the Miraculized villains. Kinda funny how everyone apparently recognizes that they are villains when, by all accounts, the transformation is AN INTENDED EFFECT OF THE RINGS THAT GABE JUST MADE PUBLIC!!! I wonder if that'll be relevant at all going forward? I doubt it.

And with a quick costume change, Lila hops on her bike and takes off to do... something.

Now back to our regularly scheduled fight between Monarch and Marinette, with Monarch realizing that he should've known Marinette was Ladybug; how? Dude, you fucking KNOW that the Transformations obscure the wielder's identity, you wouldn't have gone to the utterly idiotic amount of trouble of making a step counter in the Alliance Rings that would alert you if someone wearing one performed superhuman feats! There's no reason you should've "known" she was Ladybug, unless you are counting that one time you attempted to Akumatize her in Derision that failed to take hold and didn't result in you somehow realizing who she is like you realized Luka KNEW WHO SHE AND CHAT NOIR ARE!! (Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit~!)

He comments on how many times he's nearly Akumatized her, with Marinette emphasizes the "nearly" aspect of it, which is a fun way to tweak the edgy drama king's nose. He remarks that that's only because of her outrageous luck... which is spot on. Marinette averting Akumatization so often boils down to either dumb luck or deus ex machina on the part of the writers.

"Luck is something you make." Got to admit, a line like that right after her dropping a piano on him is actually a good line. If only it weren't ruined by the fact that this scene involves Marinette completely and utterly stealing any and all of the spotlight from Adrien because "reasons."

Okay, it looks like the show is abandoning the pretense that the Miraculized need to consent to it, given that two random people on the bridge just transformed without any sign they asked for it to happen. Oh, and Rose shows off a surprising degree of athleticism by shoulder-checking Ivan so that their friends can take his ring off; and after smashing it, he turns back to normal. I don't know why they'd need to smash it, but at least it shows that the Miraculized are exactly what I said they are... a lazy ripoff of the Scarlet Akumas during Heroes Day. Heck, they are WORSE than the Scarlet Akumas, since they are apparently weak enough that random civilians can pin them in place, and they have nothing but the same pool of powers to tap. You know, this nonsense could've been slightly interesting if they had made it so that the Miraculized being able to channel all the powers of Monarch's Rings was harming them, since people aren't MEANT to be able to have so many of those things active at once... but we all know the show isn't gonna mention that.

And apparently the Miraculized are still stuck under the bullshit Nightmare Akuma powers, going by Ivan getting a group hug.

Now we get a scene of the Miraculized attacking Marinette's uncle for some dumb as fuck reason. I say "dumb as fuck" because whatever coolness would be had at seeing Wang be badass is completely undermined by the fact that THE MIRACULIZED HAVE NO REASON TO GO AFTER HIM!! Seriously, they can TRACK CHAT NOIR AND LADYBUG!! Why the hell would they have any reason to think the two of them are currently in a Chinese Restaurant?!

Oh look, it's Fei, the living example that Gabe has already caused permanent casualties in his obsession with bringing Emilie back and thus the permanent rebuke of him being "redeemable" since her adoptive father is dead as an explicit result of Gabe's actions! Apparently she's also suffering the bullshit nightmare power for some reason. Apparently she's been staying with... Wang for some reason? Which, I guess it'd make for an interesting plot, Fei being like an adopted cousin for Marinette, if only something like THAT was being given focus instead of the utterly pointlessness of them being harassed by the Miraculized.

...Okay, I call bullshit. When the absolute FUCK was it ever hinted at that Penny and Jagged were getting training by Su-Han? WHEN!? Hint, IT WASN'T EVER HINTED!! And once again, the Miraculized really have no reason to be attacking them in the first fucking place!!! Oh, and Luka too; him, admittedly, I could actually see getting training, if it weren't, I cannot reiterate this enough, NEVER ONCE HAVING BEEN HINTED AT OR ALLUDED TOO!!!

Oh wow, we are getting all the bullshit today. Bunnyx pops in just to let them know that they'd be more useful in Paris. This is in spite of the fact that, despite retransforming and even UNIFYING the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses while fighting Monarch, Marinette hasn't seen a hint of the Miraculized since throwing them off her fucking trail!!

Oh, now we're in New York, and guess who's the first hero we see getting harassed by the Miraculized? Not Aeon, not Liberty, not anyone like that... no, it's a guy themed around Hot Dogs of all things, and who gets his powers from... I am not even kidding... Magic. Hot Dogs. They, they really aren't even TRYING, are they? Okay, now Majestia is on the scene, and... I'll be blunt, she looks kinda weird. I just... do not like her design. And for fuck's sake, why are the Miraculized showing up like this to attack NON-Ladybug heroes? Seriously, THEY CAN TRACK HER!!! Also, wow, Majestia's nightmare is basically "I'm not perfect enough" wangsting.

Now Knight Owl's on the scene and is apparently no longer disguising her gender. I'm genuinely baffled on WHY, since I can't recall her ever alluding to needing to make a change.

Oh look, it's Eagle, the very on-the-nose Superheroine who looks like an incredibly racist Native American stereotype, wondering what the heck is causing all the Miraculized to have shown up. Aeon shows up, I refuse to call her "Uncanny Valley," and remarks that she can detect the Quantum Imprint of Miraculous Powers, which I'm sincerely confused by since her only prior experience with Miraculous Powers are the Butterfly, Eagle, Black Cat, and Ladybug; I guess this is either confirmation that the Miraculization transformation is based on the Butterfly's Akumatization, or the others having the characters say things as a hand-wave to move the plot along.

"Something must have occurred in Paris!" ...Yeah, no fucking DUH. Leaving to the side why Gabe would even HAVE Alliance Rings outside of Paris, given that it's not as if Hawkmoth has a habit of showing up anywhere but there, all the Miraculized ranting about needing to find and demanding to know where Ladybug and Chat Noir are SHOULD HAVE BEEN A VARIOUS OBVIOUS CLUE that something had happened in Paris. Also, the fact that they don't know already REALLY makes the Media in London's focus on Bustier's running for Mayor bizarre.

Now, back to the fight against Monarch! Ladybug cuffed them together, and declares she'll take back all of the Miraculouses. That would be more impactful if she hadn't squandered TWO key opportunities to get them all, or at least a solid majority, back prior to this. Apparently she's gonna just try and yank them off mid-fight... yes, that is something utterly stupid to do, why do you ask? Doubly so because they are HANDCUFFED TOGETHER meaning she's got one less hand to grab with and defend herself with.

Seriously, she'd have much better luck just defeating him THEN grabbing the Rings. It is not that alien of a thought, is it!?

Hawkmoth makes a good point that, between the two of them, she's honestly the more foolish of them in how she came right into his lair wearing the Miraculouses he needs. Ladybug counters that he always loses. Which would be a weak comeback if it weren't true; Hawkmoth has routinely squandered every advantage he has possessed, failed to leverage his powers for maximum effectiveness, and has largely gotten as far as he has off of dumb luck and other people grabbing the idiot ball. Neither of them come off as particularly competent here, so I'm not really engaged with the fight. The fact that Marinette thought it was a good idea to Handcuff herself to the villain currently wielding a paralysis power kinda highlights that.

The fact that she keeps insisting on trying to Cataclysm the Shell-ter he puts up around his fist instead of, you know, hitting him unconscious with her staff, really highlights how her priorities in this fight are both dumb and actively harmful.

"The Kwami are my prisoners, pathetic little beasts in cages! There are people content with following the rules, and people who bend the world to their wishes!" This really evil rant would honestly be pretty badass if he weren't collapsed on the ground, coughing up ashes. Seriously, WHY IS LADYBUG NOT YANKING OFF THE REST OF HIS RINGS WHILE HE CAN'T MOVE!?!? It's the same exact shit the last two time, she's got him right where she wants him, and is doing NOTHING to actually try and fucking stop him!!

"You played Guardian of the Miraculous, I reinvented their magic!" Again, this would be a lot more threatening if he wasn't monologuing while struggling to pick himself off the ground while Ladybug just stands there and listens to him. Also, he's kinda right; horrific abuse of the Kwamis aside, he actually figured out a way to fuse their magic with advanced technology and made their powers into something anyone can access.

And after one last threat at Ladybug, he manages to escape using Voyage, once again showing off why Ladybug not doing all she can to disarm him when she KNOWS he's in no shape to stop her is SUPER FUCKING STUPID!!!

I'd say that his making the portal open up above her to perform a superman landing directly on her head (or attempted to at least) WOULD be cool if he hadn't been struggling just to MOVE right before he did so. She used her Lucky Charm to create some kind of... giant flyswatter I guess? Instead of, you know, attacking using the staff she still has access to. Big brain move right there.

Also, never mind, it's a giant hammer.

After blasting Hawkmoth through a wall, we return to the Miraculized wandering through Paris, with one being followed by boxes shuffling around. Hmm, I wonder who this could be- It's obviously Nino and the rest of Marinette's friends. For fuck's sake, why the HELL haven't the Miraculized realized she's still in the Agreste Manor!? They are tracking her by the signature of her FUCKING SUPERPOWERS, and she has both the Ladybug AND Black Cat active, they should be right on top of her all over again!! This would be the perfect time for a badass moment of all the Miraculized attempting to swarm her again, only for all of Marinette's friends and allies from around the world to be holding them off so she can focus on Monarch, but because they SOMEHOW haven't realized where she is, we get THIS SHIT instead!!

And apparently they went to all the trouble of de-Miraculizing... Principal Damocles. WHY!? Then the superheroes of New York show up and De-Miraculize Nora; which is... kinda dumb that they wasted time not immediately rushing her, taking her down, and then moving on to the POTENTIALLY MILLIONS OF OTHER MIRACULIZED IN THE FUCKING CITY!! Seriously, They have someone with superspeed on their side, AND someone who can undo the Nightmare Power (again, WHY is it still in fucking effect!?), so... I'm not sure why they emphasized taking Nora down so much.

Back to the fight against Hawkmoth, and Ladybug revealing she knows who he is... and all this fucking does is highlight how absolute BULLSHIT IT IS THAT CHAT NOIR ISN'T THERE!! For fuck's sake, we literally got TEASED with how much he's itching on the inside to tear his dad a new one for all the shit he's caused and put his son through just two episodes ago, so this reveal is just such an absolute fucking WASTE!! What makes it even worse is that both A) Monarch himself now knows who Ladybug is yet still is unaware of his son's alter ego and B) that he didn't seem to realize that monologuing about how Ladybug had "walked into the Monarch's Den" would BE A MASSIVE FUCKING SIGN TO WHO THE FUCK HE REALLY IS!!!

And, once again, we get someone capable of using Cataclysm using it on a person. For fuck's sake, we literally had Marinette have a fucking NIGHTMARE over this exact set-up, harming Gabe and Adrien hating her for killing her dad, why the FUCK would she think that using Cataclysm on him is a FUCKING GOOD IDEA!? Not even mentioning that she FUCKING KNOWS HE HAS THE OX, WHY IS THE FACT HE'S ONLY NOW USING IT TO BLOCK CATACLYSM IS SUCH A BRILLIANT IDEA!?!?

Also, why did she call it the Power of the Buffalo...? For once, I'm just gonna go with "that was a genuine mistake" and not the Writers being fucking morons.

Oh, and NOW the fact that she's under that Nightmare Power makes itself known, after the ENTIRE FUCKING FIGHT UP UNTIL NOW hasn't had it negatively effect her at all.

Seriously, we once AGAIN FUCK THIS SHIT TO HELL have a case where Ladybug essentially wasting her time and not taking the initiative in the fight to disarm Hawkmoth biting her in the ass. Since, you know, she literally had the perfect chance to strip him down of his stolen Miraculouses, and did NOTHING with the opportunity!!

And after a brief moment of Ladybug having "Resistance, Voyage, and Venom" highlighted with her "Buggy Vision," she ends up Cataclysming the floor.

After which, we immediately swap over to the "Resistance" getting chased around by the Miraculized... FOR SOME REASON. Like, WHY!? That is my root issue with this, WHY are the Miraculized going after anyone who isn't Ladybug or Chat Noir!? They are explicitly hunting them, and are equipped with tech that lets them TRACK them, so why in the world would they give a crap about random civilians that aren't their targets!?

Seriously, whatever tension could be found here is completely undercut by the fact that THERE IS NO FUCKING REASON FOR THEM TO BE GOING AFTER MARINETTE'S FRIENDS!!!

Now we get Su-Han and his "students" arriving to help fight, with Su-Han shouting "Storm of Justice!" Like... why? Just WHY!? It sounds like something out of a cringy, badly dubbed Chinese film. Even ignoring the vaguely racist-sounding quotes from Su-Han, the fight is... bad. Like, no joke; the moves are stilted, low-energy, and look more like something you'd see at a Martial Arts demonstration, and those typically aren't happening at the speed of an actual fight.

Then we get Juleka and Luka reuniting. Oh look, her "stutter" is completely gone, what a surprise. She's also curious on where Luka learned his moves, something I'm curious about as well. And of FUCKING COURSE it gets brushed aside with "That's a long story." Yeah, almost like it's a more interesting plot then this shoddy knock-off of Heroes' Day. Because more and more, that's what this is; there is no reasonable explanation behind the Miraculized going after random folks who aren't also Miraculized, especially not when they have tech designed to facilitate their ACTUAL GOAL, they are just copying Heroes' Day's "all hands on deck" set-up.

Okay, and now the "United Heroez" (really cringe name, Astruc) have shown up to bail the Guardians out. Which kinda reminds me of Marinette's angry rant to Socqueline during her debut; the show has a strong vibe of "you need superpowers, or tech advanced enough that it makes no difference, to be a hero" vibe to it. Also, I'm genuinely confused on how Su-Han is effected by the Nightmare; for fuck's sake, this is the guy who no-selled being Akumatized BY SLAPPING IT, he should absolutely have some mystic technique thing that lets him resist mental influences that aren't possession-based.

Knight Owl going "I am the nightmare" does not feel impressive, Astruc, it feels dumb. It's just a lame knock-off of Batman's routine, and it doesn't work when said during broad daylight in a costume that uses soft shades of violet to color it; it makes her look dumber more than anything. Oh, and it adds nothing to the scene since it explains NOTHING on how she can actually resist what is a literal magical curse on people.

Oh, now we got Ladydragon on the scene in Dragon Form. I'm sincerely confused on how in the WORLD she could target a literal blast of lightning so that it only damages the Alliance Rings. They... really aren't even pretending to give this fight real stakes, are they? It also highlights the issue with Fei's Dragon Form, in that she's so overwhelmingly powerful while using it that she can no-sell all but the most OP of enemies in the Miraculous-verse.

Hey, one of the Miraculized actually gave a reason why they are being targeted "They are Ladybug and Chat Noir's accomplices!" Which makes sense NOW that they are actually making progress in stopping the Miraculized... but doesn't explain WHY THE HELL THEY WERE TARGETING THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE UP UNTIL NOW!!!

Seriously, this entire fucking FIGHT is utterly stupid since, as I will keep repeating, THESE IDIOT VILLAINS CAN TRACK THE MIRACULOUSES!!! Or rather, they can track the power they generate while in-use. Hmm, didn't Orikko say Hawkmoth couldn't ask for a power that would do exactly that since it would "be a wish"? Not looking like much of a wish right now.

"Ladybug, what are you doing?" Alya, think for a second and consider what in the world could make Ladybug not intervene with a situation like this. Like, I dunno, maybe the fact that whenever a "big scheme" like this is set off, the culprit is always Hawkmoth and he always directly confronts the heroes, so she's probably off fighting Hawkmoth directly. That, or she's getting FUCKING SWARMED BY THE LITERAL ARMY OF SUPER POWERED BRAINWASHED MINIONS!!!

She isn't, but the fact that Alya hasn't thought of this is eye-roll inducing.

And now we are back to the fight between Hawkmoth and Ladybug!! Hawkmoth demands Ladybug hand over the Miraculouses so he can make his wish... instead of, you know, attacking her while she's scrambling for a weapon in the dirt and yanking them off her. Why is he so fixated on the idea of someone GIVING him the Miraculouses rather than sincerely getting his hands dirty in nabbing them?

Oh hey, he finally actually attacks her when she leaves herself open! That happens so rarely these days that it is genuinely noteworthy.

"Are you so sure that no Wish is worth that price, Marinette?!" Dude... YES!! You have crossed so many fucking lines in your obsessive pursuit over obtaining it that it really makes you and you alone the bad guy in this instance. Even if you WON, you have utterly failed as a father, disrespected your wife's wishes, are implied to be planning to KILL your old friend in the pursuit of disrespecting said wishes, and have been tormenting the city for nearly a fucking YEAR with massive risks of lost lives!! You are not the only person in the world who is hurting! You are not the only one whose feelings and opinions FUCKING MATTER!!! You are a monster, and all this BS is just you trying to ensure that you control everything!! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!

"No, this is impossible!" She says as she sees Emilie's corpse in a glass coffin. HOW is it impossible!? You KNEW Emilie was "gone," and as much as the show dances the hell around the topic of death to the point of stupidity, why the FUCK is the reveal that Hawkmoth is such an obsessed maniac that he's preserved his wife's corpse so fucking impossible you idiot!?

Hawkmoth now going on a ridiculously obnoxious rant on how Emilie being back will allow Kagami and Adrien to become the eternal "perfect icons of this world, and we will be here to witness their absolute triumph!" Note how all of this involves this lunatic utterly ignoring how he is ignoring what LITERALLY EVERYONE ELSE INVOLVED WANTS except for himself; this is not about bringing back his wife for his son or their family, this is all for HIMSELF. He is doing all this FOR HIMSELF. Always has, always will; he STILL refuses to accept that Adrien is unhappy with his controlling and toxic BS, and probably hates him by this point for him being an abusive piece of shit, because doing so means admitting that he doesn't actually CARE about Adrien's happiness, just his own, just how HE gets to make everything fit into neat little boxes.

"How many lives are you going to ruin in the name of your crazy dreams!?" YES!! For the first time in this fucking season, MARINETTE IS TALKING SENSE!? Also, still annoyed that she's not trying to keep fighting him since he is LITERALLY JUST STANDING THERE WITH HIS ARMS SPREAD AND NO LONGER HAS THE TURTLE RING TO SHIELD HIS RINGS FROM BEING STOLEN BY HER!!!

And here we get the part where Hawkmoth spells out that he knows full and well the consequences of the Wish, that it'll mean forcing his suffering of the Cataclysm onto someone else as well as killing someone to bring back Emilie, and basically asks why Marinette isn't willing to suffer for "Adrien's happiness" all while conveniently ignoring that HE has been sabotaging Adrien's happiness for YEARS because it wasn't the "happiness" Gabe decided he should have.

Now we get Marinette calling Gabe out on him putting his own butthurt feelings over Adrien's wellbeing and thus being a total failure as a father, and Gabe, being the projecting asshole that he is, claims that Adrien would CLEARLY do the same thing, despite the fact that Adrien's prior episodes that involve the lost of Emilie have all basically spelled out that he's made peace with it and MOVED THE FUCK ON!!! Something Gabe refuses to do because doing so would mean admitting he can't control this situation.

It's kinda hilarious in a bad way how Marinette says to Gabe "Adrien means nothing to you anymore," implying that he ever meant anything as a son to him at all, despite the fact that Adrien has basically been a prisoner in his own house SINCE LITERAL CHILDHOOD. Gabe stopped giving a damn about what Adrien wanted a long time ago, well before Emilie got hurt or sick. The fact that the show glosses over the fact that Adrien's isolation predates Emilie's death is one of the most sickening aspects of this show, as it shows how committed they are to ignoring the truth they've crafted in favor of their own BS narrative.

Oh, and we get a short clip of Lila using the stolen laptop to open Gabe's security system and entering the manor.

"All I want is for him to be happy" He says after having forced Adrien to leave his entire life behind, forced him into a fake relationship with a girl he isn't in love with, actively tried to sabotage any chance of Adrien getting together with Marinette despite her, on paper, making a far better partner in terms of optics compared to Kagami, who is utterly out of place in the Gabriel brand and the fashion/modeling industry altogether. Dude, pull the other one, YOU DO NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT HIS HAPPINESS.

And after a needlessly complicated rube goldberg device to disarm Hawkmoth (ignoring how she literally has had MULTIPLE CHANCES TO DISARM HIM BY JUST YANKING THE STUPID THINGS OFF OF HIM!!!) that also brings down a support column/elevator down onto the general direction of Emilie's coffin, Marinette has finally bested Hawkmoth, yanking off the Butterfly Miraculous and rendering him powerless! Now all that's left is for her to bring him to the police, expose him to the world, and who the fuck am I kidding there's no chance the writers will let that happen.

Okay, and now the Butterfly Miraculous has fallen into the water!! With Hawkmoth now ordering Nooroo to bring his brooch back; funny how we get scenes like this when the end of S3 had the Kwamis deliberately ignore Chloe even while she actually WAS wearing the Miraculouses.

Now Ladybug is hauling him away from the edge... slowly. And says... this:

"I'm still the Guardian, and the Guardian just took the Miraculous of the Butterfly back from you!" ...No. NO YOU FUCKING DIDN'T. YOU KNOCKED IT OFF HIM AND ALLOWED IT TO FALL INTO THE RANCID WATERS BENEATH THIS WEIRD-ASS SECRET BASE GABE HAS BENEATH HIS FUCKING HOUSE. They are seriously fucking trying to use "the rules" to defang Gabe, instead of, you know, having had her YANK THE FUCKING THING OFF WHEN HE WAS HELPLESS, and citing some unexplained magical BS as the reason this works instead of, again, JUST YANKING THE THING OFF OF HIM.

Seriously, they are just acting as if Marinette knocking the thing into the water is this magic "cure all" that just... prevents Nooroo from being compelled to obey Gabe. What the hell is this even supposed to be based on!? It's not as if any Guardian picked Gabe in the first place!!

"Someone that I'll be choosing!" ...Marinette, literally the ENTIRE FUCKING REASON you were even chosen in the first place was to take the Butterfly Miraculous out and off the playing field, because the Miraculouses are meant to be used SPARINGLY. How the fuck do you even know if you'll even be ALIVE by the time a new wielder would even be NEEDED!?

Then Gabe tries to use Venom, despite the fact he isn't transformed anymore and has already been disarmed of his rings by this point. Really clutching the idiot ball hard.

"I can just say the word, and the rings will be destroyed." ...WHEN THE FUCK WAS THAT EVER ESTABLISHED YOU FUCKING IDIOT!? WHEN!? WHEN WAS THIS STATED!? "You'll be powerless." HE IS ALREADY POWERLESS!! YOU HAVE WON!!! JUST KNOCK HIM OUT AND HAND HIM OVER TO THE FUCKING COPS ALREADY!!! Also, the WAY she is saying this sounds like something a villain would say; just saying.

Seriously, even when she is phrasing her actions as good, you know freeing the Kwamis, undoing the harm Gabe has caused with the Ladybug Miraculous, and getting Plagg back to Chat Noir, the way she is talking right now, that is villain talk. The style of speech is just EERIE. Call me petty, but it just sounds disturbing the way she's monologuing; seriously, why the fuck are you wasting your words on this guy who has already established he is willing to burn down the world for his fucking selfishness.

"Everything will be back to normal." ...Somehow I doubt it.

And again, I must reiterate, WHY IS SHE WASTING HER WORDS ON HIM!?

"Except you will only have a few hours left to live." Yes, yes he will, BECAUSE OF HIS OWN FUCKING STUPIDITY. He WILLINGLY forced Chat Noir to hit him with a fatal attack, despite him having the perfect means of defending himself at the time; there is NO ONE BUT HIMSELF TO BLAME FOR HIS OWN DEATH.

"So does Nathalie, a victim of your madness." NO!! NO SHE IS NOT!!! SHE WAS HIS WILLING ACCOMPLICE FOR HER OWN SELFISHNESS, JUST LIKE HE WAS!!! NO ONE FORCED HER TO USE THE FUCKING BROKEN PEACOCK!! SHE CHOSE TO USE IT DESPITE KNOWING WHAT IT WOULD DO TO HER!!! GABE EVEN WARNED HER AGAINST USING IT!!!

And all while she is trying to "reach out to him" he's just staring at the fact that she's holding his hand with the one that has the Black Cat Miraculous on it. Nothing she is saying is effecting him at all, he is just waiting for her to give him a fucking opening. You can TELL he doesn't give a damn about what she's saying.

"And Adrien will be miserable." I mean, he'll have learned that his father, who has been abusing him emotionally for literal years, is a terrorist. Like, YOU are the fucking one who went out of her way to call out Gabe on clinging to the past while Adrien has moved on with his life; YES he is going to be upset that his dad is gone, NOTHING YOU DO CAN CHANGE THAT YOU FUCKING IDIOT!!! Bad things happen, and Gabe is a terrible father who Adrien probably despises by now. THIS is why Chat having been taken out by those stupid fucking "nightmares" is so obnoxious; Marinette is arbitrarily speaking on his behalf to his father, without any regard for what HE would want!! It's just like when she tried to talk up how much Gabe has "changed" when all that has "changed" was that he swapped one form of exploitation for another and he has even LESS free time now then he did back when he was a model, all by Gabe's design. Gabe is a terrible person; yes, Adrien would be sad at the loss of his father, because he's not a psycho, but NOTHING Gabe could say or do would make Adrien change his feelings about how Gabe has hurt him without any regret or restraint.

And what makes this all such a fucking joke is that they are describing Gabe's actions as "Madness," as if he wasn't fully aware of the consequences of his actions and choices. Because no; Gabe is fully, fucking sane. He is just a spiteful, petty, selfish asshole who doesn't give a shit who he hurts if he can get what he wants, even his own son. You don't need to be crazy to do shit like that, so trying to rationalize his selfishness as him being "insane" is an insult to the mentally ill. Grow the fuck up.

"If you meant what you said earlier, then we both want the same thing." Marinette, shut the fuck up; this is the guy who explicitly threatened your future, your CAREER, because HE can't stand the idea of anyone but HIMSELF choosing who Adrien will spend his life with. Heck, it was apparently something PRE-PLANNED. He NEVER gave a shit if Adrien would actually even LIKE Kagami that way, or if she would reciprocate; all it was was two awful older folks being awful.

Trying to appeal to his wife's memory isn't liable to work given that this entire fiasco was based on him IGNORING her wishes for his own selfish obsession, and he has kept Adrien alone and isolated long before she passed away. Why the hell are you giving this asshole the benefit of the doubt? Why the hell should you when he spelled out that he was fully intending to kill someone just to bring back his wife, and curse another person with THEIR eventual death in exchange for his own life, all while having trampled upon his son's autonomy? WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR WORDS ARE GONNA REACH THE GUY WHO HAS MADE FINDING A NEW LOW TO SINK TO HIS MISSION IN LIFE!?

(Inhales angrily) Put. The fucking. VIDEO. OF EMILIE. AWAY!!! IT WAS LITERALLY ALREADY ESTABLISHED THAT GABE HAS ALREADY SEEN THEM AND CHOSE TO IGNORE THEM!!

Also, her describing creating her own son as a "mistake" is super classy. /s

And once again the video diaries pretending Nathalie wasn't fully complicit in keeping Adrien under his father's thumb and that she was never portrayed as close to Adrien EVER. And them acting like him "having his father" is such a big benefit despite the fact that Gabe has kept Adrien miserable LONG BEFORE EMILIE DIED. STOP TRYING TO PRETEND GABE WASN'T A SHIT FATHER LONG BEFORE HIS WIFE PASSED AWAY!!! FOR FUCK'S SAKE SHE DIED LITERALLY LAST YEAR!!!

STOP CALLING WHAT GABE IS DOING MADNESS!!! MADNESS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU "GIVE UP!!" HE FULLY KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING, HE JUST DOESN'T CARE SO LONG AS HE GETS WHAT HE WANTS!!! It's telling that they are insisting that what Gabe is doing is an anomaly despite so much of the entire series going "no, this is how he's always been" and trying to act like him doing monstrous things is because he "isn't in his right mind," whereas when it's Chloe doing awful things "it's because she's a brat, nothing more." Funny, isn't it? /s

NO HE WOULD NOT!!! HOW COULD HE BE HAPPY BEING LOCKED UP INSIDE A HOUSE WITH NO FRIENDS TO TALK TO OR ANY CHANCE TO EXPERIENCE LIFE ON HIS OWN FUCKING TERMS!? YOU ARE BASICALLY SAYING THAT HE SHOULD BE KEPT IN A GILDED CAGE!!!

"Adrien has learned to live, and build his own happiness." Yeah, because he kept trying to escape the cage Emilie and Gabe BOTH PUT HIM IN. Losing someone is not this absolute, insurmountable obstacle in life; plenty of people lose loved ones every single fucking day, Gabe has long crossed the point where grief could explain his actions, and it does NOTHING to absolve him of literal YEARS of forcibly isolating Adrien from everyone around him. Seriously, him going to your class was HIS FIRST EVER DAY OF PUBLIC SCHOOL, OR ANY KIND OF SCHOOL OUTSIDE HIS OWN HOME. He "learned to live" by getting out from Gabe's thumb and escaping a prison he's been in for years by this point; Gabe's abuse is nothing new. His toxicity is nothing new. Emilie is not an explanation for his behavior; he has always been this monster before you.

"While cherishing the memory of his mother." He never even mentions her.

"I just can't live without her." Cool motive, still an abusive piece of garbage; if you actually cared about your son or your wife's legacy, you'd turn yourself over to the police for however long you have left.

"I loved her so much." Yet you apparently never gave much of a shit about your son, given that he's been kept trapped in your house for basically his entire life without any friends besides a girl he used to know when he was a small child, and forced to be a model, and exploited his image anyway even when he said he didn't want to be one.

The sketch-drawings of Adrien's childhood is kinda contrasted by the fact that you LOCKED HIM IN YOUR HOUSE HIS ENTIRE CHILDHOOD. Seriously, STOP GLOSSING OVER THE FACT THAT YOU BOTH KEPT HIM ALONE AND WITHOUT FRIENDS HIS ENTIRE LIFE.

"Adrien was not alone, he had Nathalie and me." No, he was still extremely alone since the two of you are adults who have jobs to do, yet you never once let him go out and have friends or live his own life.

I CANNOT REITERATE HOW FUCKING OBNOXIOUS THEM GLOSSING OVER ADRIEN'S FORCED ISOLATION IS.

There is a vast difference between not being very outgoing and thus not having a large circle of friends, and being deliberately KEPT from having ANY FRIENDS AT ALL. I am speaking from personal experience on this; seeing how the show is trying to romanticize Gabe's toxic as fuck behavior and ignoring how he has been abusing and neglecting Adrien long before Emilie died is fucking annoying. It is telling in all the worst ways that the only images we get of Adrien this scene are of his very early childhood, yet Emilie only passed away around a year ago.

"I've ruined everything." Yeah, who knew that grabbing the idiot ball in ways that are now costing you your life, alongside your accomplice doing similar, would have consequences?

"Adrien will have no one left!" He has. A fucking. GIRLFRIEND. One that YOU have gone out of your way to try and keep him from to forcibly pair him with someone he isn't into. That's hardly 'no one left.' Not even getting into all his other friends, all of which he made AFTER breaking out of the cage you shoved him in.

"I'm sure we can figure out a solution." THERE IS NO SOLUTION!!! YOU SAID AS MUCH YOURSELF, HE IS DYING!!! For FUCK'S SAKE, if "closure" means so much to you, just use Voyage to go to where Adrien is and have him apologize to his son for being such a bad father so that he can at least do SOMETHING in his final moments that means something!!!

Also, it's "funny" how utterly superfluous to the plot Tomoe is at this point; it's almost as if she was only brought in to give a reason for Gabe to try and shove Adrien in the direction of someone who isn't Marinette!

Marinette, he has barely a few hours left, and you just watched as part of his finger crumbled to dust. There is nothing that can be done in this situation; STOP BABYING THE TERRORIST.

SEE!? THIS IS MY EXACT POINT!! Even after she TRIED trying to talk him down, his first solution is have HER make the Wish!! He refuses to accept that there isn't something that can be done and that Emilie will probably NEVER FORGIVE HIM for what he's done up until now, or that no matter what 'impossible solution' she comes up with, someone ELSE will still have to suffer for it. The idea that HE HAS LOST refuses to click to him. He's beyond help.

I'm just gonna tune out what's being said until the inevitable betrayal occurs, otherwise I'm gonna blow a gasket. This is such bullshit.

Yup, she turned back to normal and, right after Plagg and Tikki warn her not to trust him (LISTEN TO THEM!!) he immediately Venoms her... somehow. Despite not actually being transformed and thus the Rings shouldn't work (how the fuck DO they work anyway!?).

After taking the Miraculouses, he orders Tikki and Plagg to "reveal themselves." Also, them being forced to obey him once again contradicting Marinette's claims THIS EPISODE about how as the Guardian SHE decides if someone can use a given Miraculous (apparently!!) or can just order the Miraculouses to break (APPARENTLY!!), and once again insisting that Kwami HAVE to obey their wielder ("Miracle Queen" says "Am I a joke to you?"). Fucking BULLSHIT!!!

And now... ugghh... the reveal of "Gimmi." Absolutely stupid as fuck name and color scheme aside, I've got nothing to say past my unshackled anger and loathing at this petty as fuck jackass getting away with his evil plans.

Once again the show proves unable to not try and make a bad joke out of what is supposed to be a serious situation. Seriously, we didn't need Gimmi to demonstrate the idea of a Wish requiring Balance by having them describe "garden peas to turn red, Strawberries would turn green."

"Marinette, make sure Adrien never learns about the villain that I was, and that instead, that he remembers the times I tried to be a good father." NO NO NO FUCKING FUCK NO!! FUCK THAT BULLSHIT!!! YOU HAVE NEVER TRIED TO BE A GOOD FATHER!!! YOU HAVE BEEN THE ABSOLUTE WORST FATHER IN THIS FUCKING SHOW TO DATE!! YOU HAVE ISOLATED HIM!! ABUSED HIM!! LIED TO HIM!!! TRIED TO DICTATE EVERY ACTION HE TOOK IN LIFE SO THAT IT WOULD FIT YOUR DISGUSTING NEED TO CONTROL EVERYTHING AROUND YOU!!! GET THE FUCK OVER YOURSELF AND DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND MAKE THE GIRL YOU HAVE THREATENED THE LIFE AND SAFETY AND HAPPINESS OF ACT AS YOUR PERSONAL STOOGE SO THAT YOU CAN ONCE AGAIN ESCAPE THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS YOU FUCKING COWARD!!!

"What do you wish for?" "Read my heart." "What do you sacrifice?" "Read my soul." ...[CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED CENSORED] WITH A FUCKING [CENSORED] WHILE [CENSORED]!!! GET THIS SHIT OUT OF MY SIGHT!!! YOU DO NOT GET TO FUCKING PUSSYFOOT AROUND HIS WISH, NOT AFTER FUCKING YANKING OUR CHAINS ALL THIS FUCKING TIME YOU ROTTEN BASTARDS!!! YOU DO NOT GET TO DO THAT!! YOU ESPECIALLY DO NOT GET TO ACT AS IF THE SACRIFICE IS SOMETHING PEOPLE CAN PICK AND CHOOSE, SINCE NOTHING THE SERIES HAS DONE HAS INDICATED THAT THAT IS POSSIBLE!! Oh yeah, AND WE ALREADY HAVE IT ESTABLISHED THAT MAKING THE WISH ERASES THE UNIVERSE AND MAKES UP A NEW ONE!!!!

DON'T YOU JUST FUCKING LOVE HOW THE FACT THAT THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE BEING REBOOTED IS JUST GLOSSED OVER AND TREATED LIKE IT IS THIS HUNKY DORY GOOD TIME FEELING!? I DON'T!! I HATE IT!!! I HATE ALL OF THIS ENTITLED, SELF-SERVING BULLSHIT WHERE A FUCKING TERRORIST GOT AWAY SCOTT FREE FOR ALL HIS BS!!! I HATE EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!!

Oh, now here we are in the new reality with Marinette's clone kissing Adrien's clone awake! WRITERS THE STUPID AS HELL FAIRY TALE SYMBOLISM IS NOT FUCKING CUTE YOU ASSHOLES!!!

Then we get an infuriating scene of everyone acting like it's all a happy fun time, as if reality wasn't undone and remade at its seams. Then we get the start of a broadcast featuring Alec who looks... really different; and I don't just mean the hair. He's interviewing Miss Bustier, who SOMEHOW won the position to be Mayor. HOW!? She's apparently "completely changed Paris." Oh boy…

She describes her getting her position as a "revolution by the people of Paris that forced the Bourgeois' out of power." THAT IS NOT HOW RUNNING FOR MAYOR FUCKING WORKS!!! NOTHING WAS STOPPING PEOPLE FOR VOTING FOR A DIFFERENT MAYOR!!!

"The Eco Rule; It consists of very simple principles. Don't take more from the Earth then what it can give us, distribute its riches equitably, and don't pollute more than it can recycle." ...HOW THE ABSOLUTE FUCK IS THAT EVEN SUPPOSED TO FUCKING WORK!?!? ON WHAT STANDARDS IS "MORE THAN IT CAN GIVE US" DETERMINED!? HOW ARE THEY BEING DISTRIBUTED AND WHAT DETERMINES THAT DISTRIBUTION!? AND MAYBE JUST DON'T POLLUTE AT ALL AND PROVIDE SERVICES MEANT TO FIGHT POLLUTION INSTEAD!!! FOR FUCK'S SAKE IT IS JUST AUTO-ASSUMING THAT THIS "UTOPIA" IS JUST GOING TO FUCKING WORK WITH NO BUSINESSES FIGHTING IT OR OPPOSING IT ON ANY LEVEL!!!

"We've reorganized everything to remove the need for cars, wrappers, and it's been working great!" HOW!? HOW THE ABSOLUTE FUCK DOES ANY OF THAT WORK!?!? HERE IS A NEWS FLASH, MOST PEOPLE LIKE OWNING CARS AND TREAT IT AS A STATUS SYMBOL, SO EVEN IF YOU INCREASED PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PLENTY OF PEOPLE WOULD DRIVE THEIR OWN CARS ANYWAY BECAUSE RELYING ON A FIXED TRANSIT IS NOT PRACTICAL!! I SHOULD KNOW AS I AM RELIANT ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO GET TO AND FROM WORK, AND I HAVE TO CUSTOM SCHEDULE RIDES BECAUSE IT ISN'T POSSIBLE TO USE THE NORMAL RUNS!!! AND GETTING RID OF WRAPPERS ISN'T PRACTICAL AS DOING SO WOULD MEAN GETTING RID OF NINETY PERCENT OF GOODS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE GO BAD IN THE OPEN AIR, OR GET PEOPLE SICK!!! IT WOULD BE MORE FEASIBLE TO SWITCH OUT WRAPPERS FOR MORE BIODEGRADABLE MATERIALS INSTEAD!!! FOR FUCK'S SAKE!!!

"All the Alliance Rings that were Hijacked by Monarch have been recycled to design the statue in honor of the great Gabriel Agreste." GET THIS FUCKING SHIT OUT OF MY HEAD!!! HE WAS MONARCH ALL ALONG!! WHY DID YOU FUCKING COVER FOR HIM, MARINETTE!? WHY DID YOU LIE TO THE CITY, LETTING THEM BELIEVE THE MAN WHO HAS BEEN TORMENTING THEM FOR OVER A FUCKING YEAR FOR HIS OWN SELFISH STUPIDITY WAS SOME KIND OF FUCKING HERO!?? WHY!?!?

"Beyond a visionary entrepreneur, and a genius creator, it's the hero who we celebrate today." OH LOOK IT'S TOMOE, BITCH MOTHER OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP AND MONARCH'S ACCOMPLICE!!! I know that Marinette SOMEHOW never found out Tomoe was Gabe's accomplice, but for FUCK'S SAKE WE NEVER EVEN LEARNED WHAT SHE EVEN WANTED FROM THE WISH IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! AND SHE IS ENABLING GABE BEING GLORIFIED AS A HERO!!! FUCK YOU BITCH!!!

"And tomorrow it's his legacy that I will continue on." WELL NOW ISN'T THAT AN OMINOUS AS FUCK STATEMENT FROM SOMEONE WHO FUCKING EMOTIONALLY ABUSES HER DAUGHTER!! Seriously, now would be the PERFECT moment to show Kagami cringing back and being comforted by her friends at the facade of compassion her mother is putting up to the world. TOO FUCKING BAD WE GET THIS SHIT INSTEAD!!!

"Why don't you tell us about this new school you've imagined?" "Oh, it isn't my school, but the result of a collaborative effort; in this new school, there will be no classes, or struggling to get good grades. Children of all ages will be able to intermix and freely access all kinds of activities. They'll be able to try their hands at everything, learn at their own pace, and help each other until they've figured out what they want to do later in life. This school will be their second home. Children are our future. If we want it to be bright, we must help each child to shine."

(Breathes in deep) To keep from screaming and possibly breaking a wall, I'm gonna break down this BS as fast as I can:

"No Classes" is a terrible fucking idea. The entire POINT of classes is that unless LITERALLY THE ENTIRE SCHOOL is self-motivated to learn, NO ONE IS GOING TO LEARN because you NEED to ensure that kids show up and are actually trying to learn.

"No grades" THAT is slightly more reasonable, as that is something that is done in some schools IRL, but I don't know the details, and all it does is compound the idiotic design of this place.

"All Age Groups intermix" THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA!!! Kids of different age groups typically have radically different interests and emotional experiences, having no set boundaries is a time bomb waiting to go off.

"All can freely access all kinds of activities." This is a mildly good idea, as many electives correlate to skills that can be genuinely valuable in life, or just plain a relaxing break... but it's the kind of thing you would still need an overall standard plan on what you are going to teach kids, not just "kids do whatever when they feel like it."

"They'll be able to try their hands at everything" This statement means nothing. It's literally just a platitude.

"They'll learn at their own pace." That is literally how learning works; the issue IRL is that schools follow curriculums that are designed to keep moving forward because stopping and making personal deviations for people who either can't keep up or are going too fast is impractical and doomed to make everything crawl to a stop; it's better just to have free and round the clock tutoring services designed to help kids approach lessons from a variety of different avenues until they find a way to learn that works best for themselves.

"They'll help each other until they figure out what they want to do later in life." I've said it once, I'll say it again THIS IS NOT SOME REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT. This is LITERALLY how education basically already works and anyone who thinks that what they want to do in life NOW is what they are always going to want to do is an idiot, and that what they want to do may not even be possible due to the constraints surrounding it, it's just throwing meaningless shade at a nonexistent problem of schools 'forcing kids to choose early on in life.'

And the rest is just empty air. Fuck that.

"Ladybug gave it to me, she told me how my father helped her to defeat Monarch, at the cost of his life. I don't know if I'll ever manage to be like him." YOU SHOULD NOT WANT TO BE LIKE HIM!! HE WAS AN ABUSIVE PIECE OF FILTH WHO TREATED YOU LIKE SHIT AND KEPT YOU LOCKED UP IN YOUR OWN HOUSE FOR YEARS, INTERFERED WITH YOUR LOVE LIFE, AND LATER SUBJECTED YOU TO WHITE TORTURE!! MARINETTE, YOU HAVE GASLIT YOUR BOYFRIEND INTO IDOLIZING THE MONSTER WHO MADE HIS LIFE A LIVING HELL!!! FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR BULLSHIT PROMISE!!!!

"You don't need to be like him, just be yourself." That would be more touching if you weren't ACTIVELY LYING TO HIM ABOUT HIS FATHER'S IDENTITY AND RETROACTIVELY ENABLING THE ABUSE HE WENT THROUGH!!!

"You're the only one who can decide what to make of your life." Yeah, something his father DID NOT BELIEVE AS HE ACTIVELY TRIED TO CONTROL EVERY ASPECT OF HIS LIFE!!! SERIOUSLY WHY IS ADRIEN NOT MORE CONFLICTED OVER THIS!? HE KNOWS HIS FATHER WAS A FAILURE AS A PARENT AND A PIECE OF HUMAN TRASH, HIM "LEARNING" THAT HIS DAD APPARENTLY HAD A MORAL LINE HE WOULDN'T CROSS DOESN'T INVALIDATE ALL THE ABUSE HE PUT HIM THROUGH!!!

"You always find the right words, Marinette." NO SHE DOESN'T!! OFTEN HER WORDS JUST MAKE SHIT WORSE!!!

"When I'm with you, I feel so... free!" SINCE FUCKING WHEN!? IT IS REALLY IRONIC TO SAY THAT GIVEN THAT SHE IS TRAPPING YOU IN A CAGE OF LIES!!!

The whole "kiss scene" going on is ruined by the fact that Marinette is lying to Adrien and that Adrien never once was allowed proper closure for how much of a failure of a parent and an abusive piece of crap his dad is. This is a toxic shitstorm of gaslighting and mutually enabling toxic behaviors between the two of them.

Oh look, a news report where that scientist lady who created the Pigeon Dinos is on the screen, I wonder why she's the special guest being called up to talk about how crazy things have been, given that she's apparently someone who works with DNA.

Apparently Marinette SOMEHOW remodeled the Rings back into their original forms. I'm genuinely BAFFLED as to HOW, and I honestly think it could've been more interesting if they'd been kept as Rings with the heroes having to work out how to use them in their new configurations while Marinette has to research a way to get them back to normal in the next season... all except 2 1.

"Still no sign of the Miraculous of the Butterfly?" Hmm, given that the last ANYONE saw of it involved it falling into what I can only imagine is water that leads to the sewers after getting knocked off of Gabe's chest, I wonder WHY it's gone missing again!!!

Her saying that now all the heroes are responsible for their own Kwami is something that should've probably happened AROUND SEASON THREE, NOT SEASON FIVE!!! Also, really annoyed seeing all the Temp Heroes with the awed and overjoyed expressions at being reunited with their Kwami, considering they barely even KNOW the Kwami and didn't really have any emotional attachments to them, last I checked. The fact that fucking ARGOS is counted among the heroes is something I will NEVER forgive.

Damocles is sorting Paperwork and just got a voice message from a "mysterious new student" who is clearly Lila as she didn't even BOTHER DISGUISING HER VOICE. For fuck's sake, here we go again. SOMEHOW Lila got the Butterfly; Don't even FUCKING START WITH ANY "but she showed up at the Agreste Manor" BS!! She showed up to find a GIANT GAPING HOLE SEVERAL STORIES DEEP and there was a massive battle raging in Hawkmoth's lair and Marinette took out the Elevator, there IS NO POSSIBLE WAY SHE COULD'VE GOTTEN DOWN THERE AND GOTTEN THE MIRACULOUS AFTER IT FUCKING FELL INTO THE WATER!! IF SHE HAD MADE A DIVE FOR IT, THEY WOULD'VE HEARD HER!!! And it ends with some kind of energy portal opening up behind her. Why do I hate where that stupid cliffhanger is leaving off...?

And with that, I am FINALLY FUCKING DONE WITH THIS SEASON!!!

[knifedancer]

Winds of Change - The Storm (Start)

On a class trip, Marinette finds herself separated from her classmates and injured when a terrible hurricane hits. Swept away by the storm surge, she's saved by an unexpected presence: Argos. They have to seek shelter together until the weather improves. But what happens when Marinette sacrifices herself to save Felix?

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ENDING: Dark, Salt, Hope, and Bittersweet. Read one or read them all. AO3

Looking for an ending?

Dark | Salt | Hope | Bittersweet

~~~~~~~

It was a fine June day in Hong Kong, where the Parisian akuma class had chosen to spend their end of the year trip. Marinette wandered along the store fronts, looking for the perfect souvenirs for her family while her classmates buzzed from one table to the next in the bazaar. They were just out of her reach, flitting about on the bluenette’s peripherals, barely acknowledging her existence within their group. Things had not really improved at school but at least the bullying had stopped after she had reported Kim for pushing her into a locker – which was caught on the newly installed security cameras! Ladybug’s public endorsement of the new camera system throughout Paris was very popular and had come in very handy for her civilian self. It did not stop the lies or isolating behavior, but at least things were tamer. Another change had been Adrien’s sudden interest in the young designer. Things were still new; they had not put any labels on their relationship…was it even a relationship? Whatever. They were focused on getting to know each other and spending time together. There had even been a few times in the last two months where she and the model had almost kissed! Perhaps she should finally ask him what they were…

While perusing some ceramic figurines, Marinette caught a flash of something purple from the corner of her eye and she turned her face toward the rooftops to seek it out. Her eyes narrowed as she squinted toward one particular shadowed overhang across the large square from where she was, sensing something that was not entirely visible to the naked eye but having no proof. Tikki’s pats against her leg from her satchel made her shake her head. Ladybug should not be seen in China so, unless it impacted herself directly, she was not going to panic about it. She smiled politely to the vendor and purchased the small porcelain bird, which would be a gift to her grandfather. He’d appreciate the classic lines and old-fashioned process of how it was made. Turning around, she looked around to find a classmate, only to find that she was left alone again. Marinette sighed and began walking down the direction she had last seen them, hoping to catch up with her group. She knew that this was the likely outcome when Bustier had split them into smaller groups but had hoped no one would leave her behind. Guess that was out the window!

As she walked, she had the feeling of eyes on her back. A quick glance around as she pretended to look for her friends gave her no evidence of whom might be watching. Hearing a soft chime, the bluenette pulled her phone from her jacket pocket to check her weather app. She had downloaded it specifically so she wouldn’t get caught in bad weather while overseas – unfortunately the app was in Mandarin and, although she thought it would be good practice, she was still struggling to remember all the Hanzi symbols. “Hmm, there’s a summer storm coming in. Is that the symbol for rain or wind? It has been rather breezy today…” Distracted by her phone, Marinette did not see the attack coming. One minute she was walking between buildings, the next she was being shoved roughly into an alleyway. The bluenette stumbled and slammed her side into a dumpster with a hiss as the wind was knocked out of her. She could hear her phone clatter across the pavement before making a sickening crunch. Pushing herself back onto her feet, she looked up to find Lila’s cruel smile as her foot stomped down one more time on her now shattered phone.

“What is it this time, Lila?” She asked lowly, cradling her bruised ribcage.

“I warned you, Marinette, to stay away from Adrien,” her eyes took on a wicked gleam.

“Adrien can talk to whomever he wants, he’s not someone you can control or a possession you can own!”

The Italian chuckled darkly, “That’s where you’re wrong. And I’m done giving you warnings.” That’s when Marinette realized Lila was holding a short piece of metal pipe, which she now brandished against her open palm as if testing the weight, her fingers carefully avoiding the slightly jagged end where it had been previously cut. “You know, it’s a real shame about the crime rate in other countries…” Marinette barely had time to duck under the first swing, covering her head with both arms as Lila swung the pipe against her jacket-covered ribs, followed by one to her shin that made a horrible snapping and tearing sound before it collapsed under her. Tears sprung to the bluenette’s eyes; she cried out as she curled into the side of the dumpster for protection. She felt Tikki buzzing angrily in her satchel along with a huge burst of creation magic…uh oh.

Just as Lila was about to swing again, a gust of wind strong enough to knock a person off their feet whipped through the alleyway and rain began to fall, growing steadily heavier as the sky darkened. Her attacker let off a shriek as she was drenched before running off to find cover, leaving the bluenette behind to whatever fate would befall her. Marinette sucked in a ragged breath, letting her tears wash away with the rain, as she looked down at her leg. There was a horrible gash just beyond the edge of her pink capris, but nothing appeared to be sticking out of it. Grabbing hold of the bricks in the wall, she dragged herself back onto her feet and attempted to put weight on it – causing her to muffle a whimper, something was definitely fractured but she could hobble at least. Balancing on her good foot, she fished her phone up from the ground and confirmed that the entire screen was shattered beyond use. Marinette opened her bag and met the eyes of a contrite looking kwami as she tucked her phone away.

“Was it you that made this storm kick up suddenly?”

“I’m so sorry, Marinette…I was so angry that she was hurting you and I couldn’t think of anything else to help…”

The girl smiled softly, her hair and clothes beginning to stick to her skin. “Thanks, Tikki. I think you might have overdone it though…” Marinette stumbled towards the mouth of the alley, using the wall to support herself as she moved. Once she was closer to the market square, she looked around to find the place deserted in a hurry, the winds beginning to tear up the fabric sided stalls as growing rivers of water took over the streets. “It looks like you made the summer storm into a full-on cyclone…” the secret heroine murmured in terrified amazement, shutting her satchel. How was she going to get back to the hotel? Could she even find higher ground on her own without a map? Bracing for the pain that she was likely to feel, she pushed off the wall and hobbled towards a street sign on the corner, gripping the pole tightly as she tried to get her bearings. If she could get across the street, there would be a direct route back to the thoroughfare that led to their hotel around the next corner…

‘How deep does flood water have to be to sweep a person off their feet again?’ the girl questioned, not remembering the exact number Aurore had mentioned on her weather podcast. She looked down into the rushing water in front of her, it looked to be about 10-12cm deep already – she could make that, couldn’t she? No real choice now… Biting her lip, Marinette summoned her strength and stepped down off the curb, attempting to hop with little assistance from her injured leg – she made it about halfway when her footing was knocked out from under her, the water cushioning her fall, and she was swept down the street with a scream. The young designer splashed about as she attempted to get into a rescue position, struggling to keep her head above the rushing water as she cried for help. Up ahead she could see the water pounding against the side of a white delivery van before it diverted down the street and her mind raced with panic, not knowing how she could brace to be slammed against that without losing consciousness or breaking more than one bone! Closing her eyes tight and bringing her arms up to protect her face, she prayed for any intervention that might help her, she left off a scream of utter fear…

Only to feel herself pulled from the waters and into the wind driven rain, held by a set of arms cloaked in a familiar fabric. Opening her eyes, Marinette turned to meet the magenta gaze of Argos as he leaped off the van and onto a neighboring roof. “Ar-Argos? What are you doing here?”

“It seems I’m here to fish you out of the flood waters. What the hell were you thinking?” came the angry question from the villain gone anti-hero.

“Look, I was out shopping for souvenirs for my family – I just found one for my grandfather but I haven’t found anything for my Maman… Anyways, then the storm happened very suddenly! I was trying to get back to my hotel! But my leg is injured, and the water was too fast…” she tried to defend herself.

“And how the hell were you injured? One minute you’re in the square and the next you’re missing…” Argos angrily replied. “I followed you and Adrien to China; I knew one of you would likely get into trouble. Adrien luckily has Gorilla but you, oh ho, you are a natural magnet for trouble.”

Marinette looked away; her face scrunched in pain as her voice dropped to a whisper. “…you wouldn’t believe me, if I said how…no one does…”

Argos’ forehead creased in concentration, his gaze taking on an analytical light. “What do you mean?”

“The girl that models with Adrien sometimes…Lila Rossi, she hates me and has lied since day one to get her way. I think she’s spying on your cousin for his father. She wants me to stay away from him so she can seduce him or something…” Marinette took a shuddering breath and let her eyes wander over the rain drenched rooftops, her voice breaking as she admitted the truth. “She attacked me in an alleyway, hit me with a metal pipe and left me for dead when the storm started.”

The hands holding her tightened and she could swear that, although it could not be heard over the present storm, a snarl reverberated against her side. She dared not look up to see what might be held in his eyes. “…I see. Does my cousin know?”

Marinette nodded weakly, shivering lightly as winds quickly chilled her wet clothes. “He knows she’s lying, but not about the abuse. Not sure if he knows if she is spying for his father. This is the first time in a while that anyone has become physical with me…” She looked out from the rooftop, realizing she must have been washed off course by several blocks, she couldn’t recognize a thing. Argos stumbled slightly as the winds beat down on them once more, making the raindrops feel like needles stabbing into their exposed skin.

“We’ll need to discuss this more later. For now, we need to find shelter.” The purple suited teen hopped from roof to roof, attempting to open the access hatches they came across – only to find them battened down tight. Letting the winds at their back to carry them further inland, Argos eventually brought them down to a small shack against a larger building on a slight hillside. It looked rickety and seemed to shake as the howling winds ripped through the streets but the wood around the latch was rotten enough to mean it was not as secured as the other buildings around them. With a slight splintering, Argos kicked in the shed’s door and settled her down on her good foot nearest the entryway before he dropped his transformation. Duusu was nowhere in sight, likely hidden away in a pocket just as quickly as he appeared from the brooch. Marinette watched as the proud, conniving Felix stalked through the room looking through the meager items stored here.

After all that had happened – on both sides of the mask – she couldn’t readily trust him. Adrien had been adamant that his cousin was turning over a new leaf, but she was unsure. Ladybug had little to no interaction with Felix beyond their first few…mishaps. Marinette had certainly met him once or twice while spending time with Adrien – like the ill-fated night of the Diamond Dance. Argos was an entirely different story, having become both a nuisance and an occasional protector. He wasn’t working with Monarch; however, he knew the villain’s identity and was unwilling to share it with the heroes. He was looking to obtain their Miraculous to make his own Wish – which had led to several confrontations on the battlefield. Felix himself was still a bit of an obnoxious jerk but, as Argos, he seemed to have appointed himself as Marinette’s bodyguard whenever his cousin was not present. Sometimes it was helpful, like the time she was being chased by a pack of wild pigs – gods, that akuma was ridiculous – and the peacock holder had pulled her onto nearby building with a scoff before dashing away. More often than not, it was just annoying. Whenever he showed up, he acted as if he was personally put-out by having to do so. It irked her to no end, yet Argos did just save her from the flood waters…

She took a moment to inconspicuously tap twice on the side of her satchel and nearly sobbed when she felt Tikki’s two taps in reply. ‘Thank goodness, at least she wasn’t hurt or lost in that current…’ Looking around the small space herself, she noted it housed mostly garbage – complete with a disassembled motorbike missing several key pieces, some rusted lumps that used to be hand tools, and a pile of loose recycling. The shed itself was perhaps three by three and a half meters in size, the wood panels that made up the walls and roof weathered by years of storms. The bluenette shivered as the wind blasted through the open doorway, causing the door to bang against the wall and empty aluminum cans to clatter about. Another rogue gust was so strong that Marinette stumbled sideways; she released a startled cry as she attempted to steady her footing with her injured leg. Felix turned at the noise and looked concerned for a moment before scowling down at her injury.

“There’s nothing here to bind your leg with, we may need to improvise until the storm dies down. No use trying to stand on it,” came the blond’s gruff reply.

Marinette scoffed softly, “Really? And here I thought we were about to perform a waltz in the Ritz ballroom. My injuries are not that severe. We’re more likely to develop hypothermia or die when this rickety old shack comes down on top of us.” The building let out an ominous creak as if in agreement with her statement.

Felix’s eyes narrowed and crossed the limited floor space, gesturing towards the doorway. “Would you rather be outside in that?”

“No, but we certainly could have found better shelter! Something off the ground and made of brick!”

“Well, excuse me, princess, if it isn’t to your liking!” The blond threw up his hands in defeat and turned to stalk away towards the opposite corner.

Another heavy gust smashed something heavy into the side and roof of the shed, adding a sickening SNAP! to the creaks and moans. Marinette watched in horror as, within an instant, part of the roof started to give way above Felix’s head. Time seemed to slow and her hero instincts pushed her into motion. Ignoring the searing pain in her leg and ribs, the young designer launched herself towards the blond while screaming his name. He began to turn at the sound just in time for her two palms to roughly press against his chest. Their eyes met for a single, fear filled, heart stopping second as he was pushed away from the falling debris…

‘Thank goodness,’ she thought.

Then everything went black.

~~~

If you had asked Felix yesterday if he knew true fear, he would have sneered. His youth had been filled with abuse and pain at the hands of his father, who made sure the young Fathom knew the true meaning of fear.

But he would have been wrong.

For nothing had ever made him feel such pure, unadulterated terror as hearing Marinette scream his name with a tone filled with desperate dread in that shed. Her small, calloused hands shoving him from danger mere seconds from impact. Her bluebell eyes wide with fear and relief. Watching with growing horror as a large piece of debris crashed into the back of her girl’s skull with a gut-wrenching crack! Her eyes rolling back in her head as her limp body fell; being covered by debris and drenched with the unforgiving rain that came between the jagged timbers of the roof.

Felix’s back slammed into the wall, knocking the air from his lungs. “Mari-nette…” he wheezed, gasping for breath before his vocal cords finally let out a broken cry, “MARINETTE!”

Panic rising like bile in his throat, he rushed over and pushed the rubble away, digging the girl he promised his cousin to protect free. Carefully he pulled her away from the remaining pile and looked her over, finding a large and bloodied gash on the back of her skull. Felix could not stop his eyes from following the trail of bright red spots back towards the heap of timbers and roof tiles, from seeking the blood covered support beam that was meant for him. Swallowing thickly, he pulled his eyes away and back towards the bluenette. She was unresponsive, pale, and barely breathing but alive!

‘Not for long, if you don’t do something, idiot!’ he chastised himself mentally. The blond’s eyes flickered over the room again, now desperate for anything he could use to staunch the bleeding as he began to rip his shirt sleeve and press it firmly against Marinette’s head wound. Felix watched as the fabric turned red but the flow down her neck eventually slowed. ‘There has to be something else…’ His eyes fell upon her purse and he reached for it with his free hand. Opening it, he began to pull trinkets free as he desperately searched for anything – a scarf, a sanitary pad, gauze – that he could use for first aid…only to find the one thing he never expected.

A red kwami with black spots. Like a ladybug. Just as Duusu had described.

The little red goddess rose from her hiding place and solemnly took sentry over the unconscious girl, floating at his eye level. He froze as he stared at the creature, his mind whirling as it connected the logical dots and stripped back the Miraculous magic that – until this point – concealed her identity.

Marinette had a kwami.

Not just any kwami, the Ladybug kwami of Creation.

Marinette was Ladybug.

Wait… Ladybug was the Miraculous Guardian.

Oh gods, that meant Marinette was the Guardian.

Her multitude of identities collided in his mind, every memory coalescing into a single portrait of the bluenette before him. The pieces fell into place too easily, it made too much sense. Of course, she was Ladybug! He knew of no one more selfless or heroic – nor frustrating – than Marinette. But she had saved him – saved the person she knew had betrayed her and treated her so poorly, who had attacked her and made battles difficult... Knowing he could find out her identity and run back to Monarch. Or take her Miraculous for his own designs, for his own Wish. Hell, he could take the Miraculous right now!

Felix felt Tikki’s patient stare as he fingered the plain black earrings still secured to Marinette’s earlobes. It would be so easy; he could easily see his goal within reach. Ladybug was his enemy, but Marinette was… She was Adrien’s current fascination – possibly girlfriend – wasn’t she? He plucked a large splinter from her hair, careful not to agitate the bloody spot on the crown of her head. “Why did you save me? I don’t deserve to be saved…for what I’ve done…for the pain I’ve caused…” Tears burned at the corners of his eyes as he traced her delicate features with his fingertips. “I’m a horrible person, Marinette. I’m broken inside, I don’t deserve your kindness.”

“My Bug would sacrifice herself to save anyone in trouble, it’s why she kept the Ladybug mantle even when she doubted herself…” Tikki calmly supplied.

“What do you mean ‘doubted herself’?” Felix demanded of the red kwami. That description did not fit either of the girl’s identities in his mind as he knew her.

Clumsy, flaky, nervous as a civilian.

Righteous, confident, commanding as the Parisian heroine.

And, if his cousin was right about her design prowess, the embodiment of creation in both.

“She was so young when she was given my Miraculous, just thirteen. There was no training, she and Chat were simply thrown into the fight without warning, and our prior guardian was far too old... She made a mistake during Stoneheart and tried to give up the earrings,” Tikki paused as she looked at her injured chosen as she recalled that day. “But her friend, Alya, was in danger of being crushed. Marinette took immediate action and never stopped. Even when her friends abandoned her, even when she was bullied or belittled or betrayed,” the tiny god glared at the blond and he flinched.

“She never gave up saving people. Even those that didn’t ‘deserve saving’ – because everyone deserves to be saved,” the red kwami stated with finality.

Felix felt a new wellspring of guilt at his actions, but the little goddess was not done. “Hawkmoth even tried to akumatize her…” A stabbing pain, like an icy knife, went up his spine at the thought. Marinette, even without being Ladybug, would be a terrifying akuma! “She fought him off by sheer strength of will. But my little Bug has been so alone. Shouldering the world by herself. Losing allies and the Miraculous…because of you, Felix.”

The blond could no longer look into the eyes of the red kwami, too pained by his guilt and overwhelming sadness. He turned his gaze down to the face of the unconscious girl in his lap. ‘What have I done? If I had known she was you… would I have done the things I did? Would I have made my deal with Hawkmoth or stood beside you?’ Felix blinked back a few tears and gently shifted Marinette in his arms, making sure to keep the pressure applied to her head wound. ‘I can’t take back what I did but…’

“Young Master, what will you do now?” Duusu asked from his vest pocket.

“Duusu, transform me,” simply ordered the blond with a determined look in his eye. With a bright flash of light, he was transformed into Argos. He surveyed the room with a calculating eye. “Tikki, would you bring me that empty can over there?” The little goddess stared, seeming to assess his motives. Seeing her hesitancy, he softly added, “Please.”

Tikki nodded in acknowledgement before complying. The peacock user pulled a feather from his fan and infused it into the can, building a mini shelter amok that would comfortably fit the two teens in a more fortified corner of the building they were in. Argos gently lifted the immobile girl bridal style, carefully cradling her injured head against his neck, before settling them both onto the floor of his amok structure. With a gesture, the door closed behind them to keep out the wind and rain. He wrapped his cape around them both, knowing his transformation would only hold out for so long but hoping the added material might help keep Marinette a little warmer.

Eventually he heard the beeping of his Miraculous and glanced at the lapel pin on his chest. One of the five red gems darkened. Four minutes left, he needed to figure out a plan. Argos knew from experience that his amok would remain so long as he did not break it or release the feather. Not that he had anything on him to recharge… ‘May as well not exhaust Duusu,’ he thought with a frown.

With a deep breath, he released his transformation and watched as the two kwami settled onto the bluenette’s chest to monitor her shallow breaths. He gently brushed his fingers over her brow and cheek. “Marinette. Please wake up. We have so many things left to fight about, you still need to find a perfect gift for your mother, and I…I have so many things to say to you. So many things to apologize for.” Tears came to his eyes once more as he looked upon her still form that laid limply against him, pulling her a little tighter into his arms as his whole body shook from suppressed sobs. “I’ve been such a fool! Please, I’ll do anything if you just wake up!”

The two kwami watched Felix brokenly cry in silence, Tikki knowing her powers would help the girl recover but unsure how long that might take. Humans being unconscious with a concussion was not a good sign and, if the injuries Marinette sustained were worse than they appeared, her powers could not reverse the damage like with an akuma. Duusu watched her holder, knowing this was the moment that would decide his future fate. Would he turn over a new leaf and finally help reunite the Miraculous? Or would this twist him into a worse tyrant than Monarch?

Felix removed his vest and what remained of his dress shirt. He draped the vest wider over his back, then wrapped the shirt around Marinette’s torso before huddling over her body to share what warmth he could. Outside the storm raged, drowning out the intermittent sounds of the boy's quiet sniffles and whispered words of encouragement to the injured girl.

~~~~~~~

How does it end? YOU CHOOSE. YOU DECIDE. READ ONE, READ THEM ALL.

Dark | Salt | Hope | Bittersweet

[vinnyvingo]

assorted ml headcanons pt. 3

- marinette has definitely considered that chat noir might be wayhem

- half of the time lb n chat do exclusive interviews and whatnot the hosts will misspell chat’s name

- adrien’s favourite type of cheese is brie. he has never eaten plain cheddar cheese before

- luka doesn’t work for any specific restaurant, he just has an account on one of those delivery apps 

- nooroo and tikki used to be best buds

- kim will take any given opportunity to talk about how much he likes chocolate milk 

- adrien is only allowed to wear gabriel brand products and has to have his outfits approved by his father before he can wear them out. also he sleeps in jeans

- marc is a big fan of kitty section

- nino’s music/remixes/etc. is pretty popular online, he posts it under a pseudonym but is pretty casual about the fact that it’s him (he literally DJed a gabriel event cmon guys)

- the reason adrien could literally run in heels in reflekta is because he is so short that at like half of his photo shoots they put him in those shoes with the super thick soles

- jalil and xy went to school together and absolutely hated eachother the whole time

- gabriel has created a ‘parisian heroes’ inspired line at the requests of his investors and hated every minute of it

- luka has synesthesia (i’ve posted this before but i’ll say it again)

- adrien is far-sighted and wears contacts; on days where he doesnt feel like wearing them he just wears prescription sunglasses

- rose’s hair is short because she shaved it when she started treatment for her illness

- the akuma outfits are mostly based off of the desires of the akuma victim with little input from hawkmoth

- the easter bunny is a rabbit miraculous holder

- chat noir manages to look perfect in every single photo taken of him. ladybug will literally be a complete blur and right next to her chat is striking a pose straight off the catwalk

- before finding out alya is rena rouge, nino’s favourite hero was pegasus because of the whole matrix theme

- alya was so confident that nino knew she was rena that sometimes when saving him she’d flirt. he was very insistent that he had a girlfriend which made alya think he was just teasing back. he wasn’t

- candid footage leaves many ladyblog followers to believe that rena flirting with nino is why alya never posts about rena rouge

- max collects novelty socks

- markov was once a candidate for getting a miraculous. he couldn’t see or hear the kwami so it didn’t really work

- tikki likes to bring her favourite buttons she stole from marinette into the miracle box

- adrien is pretty bad with kids, he takes them too seriously. nino’s little brother called him a buttface once and he was personally offended

- self insert hero fanfic is very popular on the ladyblog. mr damocles is responsible for plenty of it

- kim really wants a tattoo but changes his mind on what it would be every other day

- the ladyblog used to use fanmade names to refer to the more obscure heroes until she got an ‘inside source’ to confirm the actual names for them

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Ch. 20: Off Planet (Meeting the Justice League)

AO3

Prev

Marinette, in her Ladybird costume, looked at her older brother warily. 

“Are you sure we’re not gonna get in trouble for this?” She asks, avoiding looking around too much. If she just keeps looking at Jason, she can have plausible deniability until he confirms that they’re allowed to be here. Because last she checked, she wasn’t even allowed on patrols. Let alone in the Watchtower. 

“Tt. I would like to see Father try. He knows he is currently on Todd’s ‘list’.” Damian-er, Robin- says, crossing his arms and scowling. Marinette frowns. She didn’t want her brothers to fight with her dad because of her….but then again, she was still really hurt by her dad’s actions. And he still hadn’t apologized. Making up her mind, she lets out a quick sigh and glances around, jaw dropping slightly. It was amazing! And definitely worth the inevitable lecture they’d be getting when they got home. 

“Robin, Red Hood.” A man’s voice catches her attention and she whirls around, grinning from ear to ear. Sure, she’d seen Superman on the computer, but now she was meeting him in person. In person! “And you are?” He adds, quirking an eyebrow at her. 

“I’m Ladybird. Nice to meet you in person.” She says with a wide grin. 

“You don’t look anything like you did over video call.” He says, frowning at her as if she was a puzzle. She winces. Miraculous magic definitely didn’t cover her the last time she’d seen him. Scanning the look on his face, everything suddenly clicks. She thinks back to the Gala, how familiar Clark Kent had seemed. Well crap. Her dad’s best journalist friend was also his best superhero friend. Who'd've thought. 

“Oh, uh, yeah- well, um. Lighting?” She stumbles out, avoiding the questioning look from her older brother. 

“Right. Well, welcome to the tower. Is Batman around? I’ve been meaning to talk to him.” Superman says, though she guesses he’s only asking to try and get them to reveal where their dad is. He’d definitely be able to tell if Batman was here. 

“Oh, would you look at the time, welp, gotta go.” Jason-Red Hood- says, grabbing her by the shoulders and steering her away from Superman. 

“How long do you think we have until he tells B?” She asks under her breath, ignoring the snort coming from where they left him. 

“Not long. But, we definitely have enough time for you to meet a few more Leaguers before we’ve gotta get home.” Jason reassures her as they walk down the hall. 

“What’re you kids doing here?” A man- Green Lantern- asks. 

“Pissing off Bats.” Jason says simply. Green Lantern frowns. 

“Is that a good idea?” He asks. “And who even is she?” 

“Tt. She is not any of your concern. Neither is our appearance here. If you know what is good for you, you will keep it to yourself.” Damian says, Green Lantern immediately backing off. 

“Christ, his kids are insane.” He mumbles before walking away. Jason keeps pushing them forward and Marinette is starting to think that he planned something besides a ‘random trip to the Watchtower to piss Bruce off’. They walk into a room and Marinette’s eyes widen, realizing it looks like some kind of meeting space. And Wonder Woman is seated at the table, seemingly preparing for a meeting. Oh no. 

“What are the three of you doing here? You know-” She starts before turning all of her attention to Marinette. 

“Uh…..hi?” She says with an awkward wave. 

“You’re the holder of the Ladybug Miraculous.” Wonder Woman says and Marinette’s jaw drops. 

“What!” Jason yells in surprise. Okay, so this wasn’t the plan. 

“How do you know that?” Marinette asks, her mind running a million miles a minute. How did Wonder Woman know? Had she purposefully ignored the calls Marinette had originally made as Ladybug? 

“My mother was a holder. I was under the impression that the Miraculous were no longer in circulation.” Wonder Woman says, a tense look on her face. 

“I’ve been the holder for nearly two years.” Marinette says, tensing. She wasn’t going to try to take it from her, was she?

“I mean no offense, but you seem young.” Wonder Woman says cautiously. 

“I’m older than Robin.” She says, ignoring her brother’s annoyed tut. Yeah, so he was trained from birth and she wasn’t, who cares. Didn’t mean she wasn’t able to protect her city. She’d do whatever she had to do to protect Paris. Whatever it takes. 

---

Bruce was tired. More specifically, he was tired of fighting with his children. Neither Jason nor Damian would talk to him, Marinette kept avoiding eye contact, Tim was working on more cases. The only one who was talking to him was Dick, but even Dick was quieter than normal. He supposed it had something to do with the Gala, but that was days ago. He’d assumed that they would be over it by now, but no such luck. Instead, they were all avoiding him like the plague. Which meant he was alone in the manor for the first time in awhile. It was quiet. He hated it.

“You’ll never guess where two of your sons are.” Clark says, landing in front of him suddenly. Bruce resists the urge to sigh. Of course his sons were up to something. 

“Were they masked?” Bruce asks as a quick way to narrow down their location. 

“Yeah, and Ladybird was with them.” He says. Bruce’s jaw clenches. She wasn’t supposed to go on patrol with the boys. She could patrol in Paris and fight there, but the last time she fought here she was injured. Badly. She knew how he felt about her going out like that. Deciding to give up on the guessing game, Bruce pulls out his phone and quickly pulls up the app that has the trackers on it. He knew he’d be unable to track Marinette, as she was transformed, but all of his sons had trackers in their suits. Bruce thinks for a moment, thinking back to the past few days on who would be most likely to take Marinette on patrol somewhere. He purses his lips as he realizes one of the boys has to be Jason. Of course. Clicking on Jason’s name, he groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. He took her to the Watchtower. He glances at the dot next to Jason- Damian’s name blinking back at him. This couldn’t end well. 

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He grumbles, whirling around to stalk off to get in uniform. Time to go pick up his damn kids. 

---

Jason had made many mistakes in his life. He was pretty sure this was one of them. He ducks as another chair is thrown across the room, an anger filled scream following it. 

“Pix, you maybe wanna-” He tries to say, hoping to talk her down from throwing another chair. She’d already broken three. 

“Diana says this is healthy!” Pixie says with a bright smile. He’s relieved for a moment, but it doesn’t last. Her face twists up as she screams again, throwing another chair. Jason ducks and it flies over him, shattering against the doorframe. 

“What is going on here?” Batman’s gruff voice rings through the room and Jason watches as Marinette freezes. Okay, so this can go one of two- and another chair flies at their dad. 

“Ladybug, that’s just Batman. Your rage is not at him, remember? It is at your old Master, and the wielder of the Peacock Miraculous.” Diana says, laying a hand on Mari’s shoulder. The younger girl scoffs, crossing her arms defiantly and Jason is momentarily thrown at how much she looks like Damian. Jesus. 

“I know perfectly well who that is, Lady Diana. Please, excuse me, but I’m not particularly fond of him at the moment.” She snarks, and Jason is completely thrown. He’d known the kid was mad at Bruce, but she kinda sounded like...him. Well shit. That’s not the healthiest way to cope with anything. 

“Pix.” He says quietly. She turns to him and all of the tension drops as she walks over to him, standing almost behind him. Almost as if he could shield her. Good job Bruce. You really fucked up this time. 

“Ladybird, Robin, it’s time to leave.” B says, not even trying to boss Jason. He knew it wouldn’t turn out well for him. 

“No.” Marinette says, and Jason snorts. The kid was definitely pushing buttons today. 

“No?” B asks, his jaw clenched. 

“No. I’ll leave when Hood does.” She says, jutting out her chin in defiance. 

“No, you’ll leave when I tell you to. You’re not even supposed to be in uniform with the boys.” B snaps. 

“Father, there is no reason for her to stay hidden away. You know as well as I that she is an accomplished hero on her own. Hood and I simply wanted to let her meet Wonder Woman. We believed that meeting her would be beneficial for Ladybird.” Demon Spawn cuts in, his stance matching Pixie’s. He was totally going to have to have Replacement look at the footage from his helmet later so he could frame this picture. 

“I said it’s time to leave. I will be waiting outside of the Zeta tubes. If the two of you are not there in three minutes there will be consequences.” B snaps, turning and storming off. 

“I will allow you to make the call. If you wish, we can stay here and we will face Father’s wrath together. Or we could leave and come back when he is not so….worked up.” Damian says, his scowl replaced with a more neutral look. Jason was honestly shocked at how well Demon Spawn got along with Marinette. Especially since she was a “blood child” and older than Damian. It was weird. Marinette leans up against Jason, and he swears his heart breaks. He could tell, despite the mask, that she was hurting. 

“If you want, we can follow him back to Gotham and then head to one of my safe houses. Stay the night there, watch some movies, eat a shit ton of junk food.” Jason suggests with a grin. 

“Really?” She asks, looking up at him. He nods, ruffling her hair. 

“Sure thing, kiddo. Trust me, I know B can be a lot.” He says. He glances up as Diana clears her throat.

“Ladybug, I’ll be in contact. But the time limit set by Batman is quickly dwindling. I suggest leaving now to avoid any altercations.” She says and Jason nods, tugging his emotionally stunted little brother along with his emotionally distressed little sisters. One of these days Bruce was gonna fuck up bad enough that not even Jason could fix it.

Next

Tag list: @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @jayjayspixiepop @jjmjjktth @mizzy-pop @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @waiting247 @laurcad123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @nerd-nowandforever @tazanna-blythe @jaybird-and-co @jumpingjoy82

[starshine583]

New Girl on the Block (10)

(New update coming in and things are getting heated!!! I wonder how our lovely little group’s gonna handle it??)

Ch.1 / Ch.9 / Ch. 11

Chapter 10: Adrenaline Rush

Possible Schools:

Rosemary High

Skyline Academy

Angelwood Institute

Liberty High

Summerfield Academy

Clearwater Institute

A sigh passed through Adrien’s lips as he crossed out the last name on his list, matching it with the other failed attempts. He just didn’t understand. Why was it so hard to find Marinette’s school? All he needed to do was search for high schools in the area and ask the students at each school whether she attended or not. It seemed simple enough at the time, but now another week and a half has gone by, and he’s no closer to finding her than he was two weeks ago when he asked for her school name as Chat Noir. 

Adrien set his pencil down and rubbed a hand over his face. He could have sworn she said ‘Rosemary’ last time they talked, but that blonde guy insisted that there weren’t any new students there. Maybe he just hadn’t met her yet? No, that didn’t make any sense. School had already started by then. Adrien assumed the guy would notice if he suddenly had a new classmate. 

Ugh. If only he could visit her again.. Between patrol with his lady, akuma attacks, homework, and photoshoots, going out as Chat Noir to see Marinette was nearly impossible. He really needed to have a talk with Nathalie about getting more free time.

“Alya, Marinette is killing me!” 

Adrien glanced up from his paper- That’s right, he’s supposed to be working on his own school right now -just in time to see Lila wiping fake tears from her eyes as she walked into the classroom. Although they still had a good five or ten minutes before class started, she was the only who wasn’t currently seated at her desk, and judging by her greeting, Adrien was going to assume that she entered last on purpose.

“What!” Alya gasped, standing up from her desk to meet Lila halfway. “What did she do now?”

Lila sniffed and accepted the comforting hug that Alya offered. “She’s been sending me awful messages all week! Telling me she hates me and insulting me and that I should’ve just stayed in Italy where I belonged.”

Adrien shifted in his seat to hear the conversation better, a frown tugging at the corner of his lips. Another scheme to slander Marinette’s good name.. Why did Lila still feel the need to lie about her? The ravenette was gone, completely transferred to another school, too far to even breath about Lila’s fabrications. There was no reason to turn their classmates further against her. (if that was even possible at this point)

“She told you what?!” Alya blanched, pulling back to grab Lila’s shoulders. “I can’t believe her! wasn’t sabotaging the forms you needed to be class president enough? Why can’t she leave you alone!”

Adrien resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Now that lie had a reason to it. He knew first hand how thick those stacks of forms can be since he’s helped Marinette carry them a few times, and Lila was obviously too lazy or too unqualified (or both) to sift through all of that mess by herself. What Adrien didn’t understand about the lie, though, was why she had to drag Marinette into it. Again. Why not lie about feeling unwell? Or simply ask for time to adjust to the role that had practically been dumped onto her? Any of those excuses would not only have been easier to say, as they didn’t involve anyone but herself, but they probably would have been accepted just as wholly. So why? It was as though Marinette became a crutch for Lila, which he supposed made sense. Building onto a widely accepted lie would be much simpler than creating a million small lies, but it certainly came with a risk. For example, if Adrien were to, say, kick that crutch right out from under her, she would probably flounder around on the floor with no way to get back up again. 

This left Adrien with another important question: How was he going to do it? So far, his friends have been sticking to her like glue and taking in her words like they were given directly from the Bible. On top of that, Alya seems to have become Lila’s official guard dog. How was he supposed to work around that? Adrien couldn’t confront the brunette publicly, because Marinette was proof that that never ended well, and confronting Lila privately didn’t help either, because she would only blow him off again. No, he needed to focus on outing her to his classmates directly, but he also needed to be subtle about it. Which meant..

Which meant he’d have to beat her at her own game.

“That’s crazy!” Adrien piped up, plastering on a surprised and disgusted expression. “Can I see the texts?”

Lila and Alya turned to him, both equally shocked by his comment. He normally kept to himself during conversations about Marinette.

“Oh..” Lila blinked, gathering her thoughts. “I mean, of course! It’s just that.. they’re quite personal, you know.. She said some things that were close to home..”

“We completely understand.” Alya assured. 

“Completely,” Adrien agreed, “which is why I want to see how bad it is. Those texts can be considered harassment if you don’t feel safe.”

Alya frowned at him, but a spark arose in Lila’s eyes, one that was no doubt fueled by the thought of getting Marinette into trouble with the law. Adrien would never understand the hatred that Lila harbored for the ravenette, but he definitely knew how to use it to his advantage.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want her to get in trouble!” The brunette said with feigned concern. “But.. if you think it will help..”

She made a show of tentatively pulling out her phone and handing it to Adrien. He wasted no time snatching it from her hands and pulling up the texting app. If she was giving him the phone, she most likely had a series of fake texts to back up her story. (and they would be fake. Marinette was too nice to outwardly insult or bully others. Besides, she wouldn’t have the time even if she wanted to, what with her new school, homework, and fashion designs that she needed to tend to.)

Sure enough, he found messages upon messages of insults under the contact name “Marinette”. Things like “You’re only a model because of Gabriel’s pity and charity programs”, “You made our school’s reputation so pathetic that I had to leave”, and “They’ll find out soon that you’re too stupid to be a decent class rep.” were only the tip of the iceberg. Adrien noted the fact that there weren’t any comments about Lila’s looks specifically- she probably couldn’t think of any insults like that herself, since she was obviously so fashionable -but other than, the texts appeared to be authentic.

That is, except for the phone number.

Adrien slid further into his desk and pulled out his own phone to unlock it. A swift comparison between the two contacts proved not only that they had different phone numbers for Marinette, but that the phone number used for the harassing texts was actually the phone number that Adrien had for Lila. She must have texted herself, then deleted the doubles to make it look like a regular conversation between two people. Adrien had to hand it to her, it was a clever set-up. 

But not clever enough.

“Wow, this is awful.” Adrien declared, ensuring that both girls along with a few of their other classmates could hear him. “I’m going to text Marinette about this right now. Do you mind if I copy the number from your phone to text her, though? Some of my contacts got deleted a while back.”

Lila’s eyes widened, and panic briefly flickered across her features. 

“O-Oh, um- you really don’t have to do that-” She tried to say as she reached for her phone. 

Adrien pulled it back up with a smile. “Oh, but I want to! We can’t let Marinette get away with things like this.”

“Yeah, he’s right!” Alya eagerly agreed. “Let him talk to her. That should really pack a punch for Marinette.”

Although the comment was a bit odd, Adrien nodded along, because as long as Alya was on his side, this plan should work perfectly. 

“I’m typing in the number to call right now.” He announced, quickly punching in each digit. His only regret in that moment was that he couldn’t see Lila’s expression as he got closer to ‘accidentally’ outing her. However, the sheer panic in her voice was still enough to make his smile widen to a grin.

“No, you can’t!” She nearly shrieked, lunging over Adrien for her phone. If the class’ eyes weren’t on them before, they definitely were now. 

“Don’t worry, Lila.” Adrien said innocently as he pressed ‘call’ on the number. “I won’t tell her that you gave me her number.”

As expected, Lila’s phone immediately began to ring. He watched as the blood drained from her features, and she scrambled to turn off the device before it could finish the first ring. It was a decent move, in his opinion, but that didn’t stop the class from staring at her with a mix of surprise, suspicion, and curiosity.

“What was that?” Alya asked, leaning forward to help Lila get off of Adrien, “Was your phone ringing?”

“No, no! It was- uhm -” Lila let out a nervous, little laugh.  It’d been so long since she had to fight for her lies to stick that she must have forgotten how to lie on the spot. What a shame.

“That was just a small sound my phone makes when it turns off.” She blurted out. “I must have forgotten to charge it last night.”

Adrien pressed “end” on his call- because obviously he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Lila’s phone off -and glanced around the classroom to gauge their reactions. Those closest to the conversation were warily watching the scene unfold with furrowed eyebrows, doubt clear on their expressions. The farther ones, however, nodded along with what Lila was saying. They probably hadn’t heard most of the conversation beforehand and therefore had no reason to question her. 

“Oh,” Alya said, accepting the bullcrap answer as always, “that’s not good. Do you want to use my charger in case you need your phone later?”

Lila offered a sweet smile, stray bits of her confidence floating back to her due to Alya’s reassurance. “Ah, I’m fine. I wouldn’t want to trouble you or anythi-”

A soft rumbling shook the ground, causing the Italian girl to trail off. Adrien turned to the window, his breath catching in his throat as his thumb instinctively brushed over his ring. Was now really the best time?

In the distance, a cloud of dust was rising into the air. He’d seen enough- and done enough -to know that only the mass destruction of buildings could create such a cloud, and the mayor hadn’t informed them of any pre-planned constructions.

“Yes!” Alya cheered, leaping down the classroom steps. Leave it to her to be the only one excited about another akuma attack. “Finally!  It feels like we haven’t had an akuma in weeks!”

“Alya, wait!” Nino called after her. He always hated her little escapades. 

“Don’t worry,” Adrien said as he stood up, “I’ll take care of her.”

Right after I take care of the akuma.

~~~~~~~~

The little hands of Felix’s black wrist watch ticked away well past 12:30, reminding him of his frustrating failure to set a timer for their lunch period. How could he have forgotten? The notion had to be ingrained into his muscle memory by now. Get up, go to school, burn through the first few classes, set a timer to not waste time, and go to lunch. How did it slip his mind?

“I can’t believe I didn’t ask this sooner,” Allegra remarked as they exited the café, “but what happened to your guys’ faces? I’m pretty sure they weren’t that red before.”

Felix glanced towards Claude and Marinette, the excuse to his forgetfulness finally returning. He’d been in the middle of setting the alarm when he saw their tomato-colored faces in front of the Chemistry lab. The sight must have been enough to throw away all thoughts of setting his alarm as he asked what happened. Nevertheless, Felix still had time to copy down some notes before his next class, and that would suit him just fine for today.

“Oh, man, how have I not told you yet?” Claude snorted. “It was hilarious!”

Marinette let out a light, yet playful scoff next to him. “Define ‘hilarious’.”

The group shared a small chuckle, and Claude jumped into the story of how they- well, how he spilled their chemicals in class. It surely couldn’t have been as interesting as the brunette let on, but Claude always loved to be dramatic. He made voices for Marinette’s comments- which she jokingly took offence towards due to the unrealistically high pitch -and flailed his arms about while explaining how he poured the chemicals into a bag and mixed them. Claude even made a point to throw out his arms while mimicking the sound of an explosion when he got to the part of the story where the chemicals overflowed.

One of those arms happened to smack Felix in the shoulder, which easily brought a glare out of the blonde. If Claude was this energetic now, there was no telling how bad he was going to be during Allegra’s sleepover. In fact, the whole group was probably going to go overboard. Something about sleepovers tended to bring out the most outgoing side of a person, which was why Felix loathed them. He had to sit there and listen to everyone snort and laugh and be loud the entire evening without the comfort that he might be able to leave within an hour or two. It was torture, simply put.

And yet, he decided to go. All for the ludicrous thought that he might be able to ask Marinette more questions about her relations to Agreste and her old school once- or if -the night provided them a moment of privacy. The motivation itself was outright foolish if he were honest with himself. Even if he did acquire a “decent moment” to bring up the subject, she would most likely be uncomfortable talking about it, and dragging a person through the past that they’re deliberately trying to run from isn’t pleasant for anyone involved. That’s why he’s refrained from asking about it again so far.

Felix needed to find some other way to sedate his curiosity towards her. He did.. But how else was he going to find out why an aspiring fashion designer would run from the supposed affections of a top designer’s son? Felix guessed that it might be something like sexual harassment or another, equally disgusting treachery, but then what about the chest of gifts? Where her affections for the model had been clear? What type of fallout must one have with another person to risk their entire dream career just to escape them?

Felix shook his head slightly to push the thoughts out of his mind. He wasn’t going to barrage Marinette with question after question just to stop his mind from constantly turning when it probably wouldn’t stop anyway. Marinette was Marinette. A classmate of his that was kind, clumsy yet capable, overly-generous, determined, weirdly strong for someone of her stature, and a mystery in more ways than one when it came to the life she lived. That was going to have to be enough for him.

“You should have seen it, Allegra.” Claude said with a grin, pulling Felix back to the present. He’d somewhat forgotten that the brunette was even talking.

“It was like the whole bag of Phenol Red just went-”

A large crash erupted to the left of them, followed by a strong gust of wind that pushed them all off of their feet. Felix hit the pavement with a grunt, and Marinette landed on top of him a second later, sucking the rest of the air from his lungs. Screams pierced the air, disorienting him further- why were they screaming? What made the crash? How did it create enough wind to knock them over? -but Marinette sat up immediately. She turned to the source of the crash, tense and ready, as though she already knew what they were dealing with, and Felix couldn’t be more confused. Why did she look like she was about to fight something? (And why did he feel like she would win?)

“Do not be afraid!” A voice yelled over the crowds, drawing Felix’s gaze to a woman standing a few yards away from them. She was dressed in dark and light blues, save for her white elbow-length cloak and her white skirt that appeared to be split into several different pieces of cloth. “I’ve come to help! Not just you, but the world!”

Felix’s eyes widened, an entirely new form of terror taking hold of his body. This wasn’t.. This couldn’t be an akuma, right? She looked different than the ones he’d seen on the news, more human. If it weren’t for her white and dark blue mask and the large fan in her hands that seemed to be controlling the wind, he would have thought that she was a normal civilian merely passing by. 

“Our planets have been spoiled by the bigger companies for too long!” The woman continued, even though people ran as she spoke. “It’s time we take matters into our own hands!”

His mind screamed at him to run, to hide, to move, but he couldn’t. His entire being was cemented to the spot in fear of what might happen next. What if this akuma was dangerous? What if her powers possessed people like that Pharaoh themed villain? Or completely killed them like Stoneheart or TimeTagger? Were they going to be her first victims? What if it-

A harsh tug interrupted his reeling thoughts, and suddenly, Felix was back on his feet and running. Running behind Marinette who was pulling them to safety. 

“Hurry up, we don’t have much time!” She quietly called over her shoulder. “Let’s hide behind the wooden fence while she’s distracted.”

Felix had enough sense to look ahead of them, where a small, wooden fence that held the cafe’s menu was placed. It wasn’t hard to notice under normal circumstances, but how did Marinette think of hiding there while the akuma was right behind them? How was she not paralyzed by the very idea of being caught?

“I’m going to destroy some stores around here, but only to get the heroes’ attention!” The akuma explained as the group scrambled passed the fence and pressed their backs against the wood. “Once I have the miraculous, I will restore everything to its rightful place, I promise!”

Felix tried to slow his rapid, shallow breaths as he sank further against the fence. She was going to destroy buildings? How many? Were they going to get hit with the debris? Where were the heroes that he’d heard so much about? Shouldn’t they be doing something about all of this?

“What do we do?” Claude whispered, panic clear in his tone as well. None of them had ever seen an akuma attack before. Well, none of them except Allan, but he’d been watching through a store window a safe distance away.

“Should we call the police?” Allegra nearly squeaked, tentatively reaching for her bag to pull out her phone. “They help with stuff like this too, right?”

“No need.” Marinette said. She was on the left side of Felix now, staying close to the edge of the fence and carefully peeking around it. “The police have akuma alerts on their phones to tell them when attacks happen. They're already on their way, I’m sure.”

Felix stared down at her with furrowed eyebrows, completely baffled by the lack of panic in her demeanor. This was the same girl who stumbled and stuttered to ask him for a pencil during class! Yet here she was, taking charge and giving orders and speaking perfectly. It was like she was a completely different person! How was that even possible? 

“Alright,” The ravenette spoke, turning back to them with a deathly serious gaze, “I’m going to run out and get her attention. While I’m doing that, you guys need to run as far away from here as you can and find a good basement to hide in until this is over.”

“What?” The group practically gasped in unison. She wanted to face the akuma alone?!

“Marinette, you’re not going anywhere!” Allegra insisted. “It’s not safe out there!”

“It’s less safe if we stay here.” She replied, moving to step out into the open.

Felix grabbed her wrist to yank her back. What was happening right now? 

“Are you insane?” He hissed unintentionally. “You can’t go out there! You’re going to get yourself killed!”

“Yeah, she’s not after us.” Allan agreed. “Only the buildings. Let’s just all run out of here together.”

Marinette glanced back at the group. “But there are still people in those buildings. I need to lure her to an empty street or at least stall until the heroes get here. If I don’t, people are definitely going to get hurt or worse.”

Felix’s grip on Marinette’s wrist tightened. He hadn’t thought about the crowds of people who were running inside for cover, but even so, what would she be able to do alone? The akuma was a powerful being, and they were merely civilians in the crossfire. What’s stopping it from crushing Marinette beneath its boot at the slightest whim? Who’s to say the akuma would even listen to Marinette if she did get its attention?

“We’re not letting you sacrifice yourself for an extra second of time.” He told her. “Like you said, the police are on their way, which means the heroes will be here soon too. Let them handle it.”

A strange mix of urgency and frustration flickered across her features, and she tugged against his grip. “Felix, please, we don’t have time to argue-”

“I think I’ll start with this darling café.” The akuma crooned. “That should get some attention.”

The café walls crumbling apart was Felix’s only warning before the gust of wind made it to their little hide-out. It splintered the wood within seconds, and the group went flying, once again, into the pavement. 

Felix groaned as he pushed himself to his knees. How many times were they going to get thrown around? At least Marinette didn’t land on him this time.

Marinette.

The realization that Marinette was no longer with him washed over Felix like a bucket of ice cold water, and his gaze snapped upwards. He started to yell for her, but it was too late. Marinette was already on her feet, somehow recovering faster than all of them, and running towards the akuma head on. He could only watch in abject horror as she called out to it.

“Hey, airhead!” She yelled. “Do you really think this is the smartest plan?”

The akuma rounded on Marinette in an instant, and Felix sucked in a breath. No, no, no, no, what was she doing?

“My name is ‘Whirlwind’, thank you very much,” The woman snapped, “and I think it’s a brilliant plan. Do you think you can do something better?”

“Of course.” Marinette replied, crossing her arms. “If you’re already destroying buildings, why not go and destroy the big companies that you’re after in the first place? It’d be much more productive, don’t you think?”

Felix furrowed his eyebrows. Didn’t she say that she wanted to avoid public places?

Whirlwind hummed. “Well, yes, but with all of the major hotels and tourist spots, it’s hard to tell which buildings to destroy, and I don’t have time to look.”

“I’ll show you where they are.” Marinette offered. “Think about it, destroying a big, company building is sure to attract more attention than taking down a little café, right?”

Whirlwind narrowed her eyes as she thought it over, and a part of Felix desperately hoped that she would decline Marinette’s suggestion. A bigger part of him prayed that the police or the heroes or somebody showed up to stop this before Marinette went too far.

“Alright.” Whirlwind smiled. “I’ll take you up on that. It’s nice to see someone else interested in saving the environment.”

With a flick of her fan, Whirlwind gathered a gust of wind around Marinette, causing the ravenette to rise into the air. She then gave herself a gust of wind, which caused her white skirt to start spinning around her. If Felix wasn’t going pale with dread over what might happen to his classmate, he would have found the unique fashion choice to be humorous, as it almost reminded him of a box fan. 

Allegra let out a horrified shriek, one that rattled Felix to his bones. This was really happening. Marinette was really being carried off by some maniac in a costume. What were they going to do? What could they do? Gosh, where were the heroes?

Felix grit his teeth and forced himself to his feet. He couldn’t just stand there and watch her be kidnapped or he’d never be able to look her in the eyes afterwards.

That’s right, he told himself. The heroes were going to win, and she was going to be just fine. 

Those thoughts didn’t stop him from sprinting after the akuma, though, even as the trio called after him to stop, even as the akuma rose higher into the air, out of his reach. Marinette couldn’t do this by herself, and although Felix’s presence probably wouldn’t make much of a difference either, he’d be darned if he didn’t try to help. 

“Don’t worry,” He huffed, comforting himself more than her as he darted through alleyways to keep up with them, “I’m right behind you.”

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[ladyofthenoodle]

Ramble anon kind of here again - I will try to keep it short and space things out a little this time asdksjhdf but I was reading through all of the analysis threads for Marinette and the different ways ADHD presents itself for her, and I think it did actually help me get a better grasp on her character and how she views situations, which is something that has kept me from attempting to writing fanfic because I was leery on misrepresenting her thought process when I couldn't seem to get it to click in the writing the way I can do for other characters (Alya's very distinctive voice has actually been super fun, and of course Adrien is easiest for me). But one of the comments was about trying to structure friendships and how some attempts on that front could appear 'off-putting' or overly structured and uncanny to neurotypicals, and my mind immediately went to the episode where Kagami was trying to make friends with Marinette and following along an app on friendmaking, and was wondering if that was maybe more of another example of (maybe not ADHD specifically) but someone wanting to reach out and not having the natural skillset for doing so, and doing the best that they knew how with the tools available to them? And once Marinette had learned that was Kagami's situation, she did her best to reach back and understand Kagami, to be her friend and try to help her build that skillset with those tools available to her?

That seems to be what a large portion of the fandom needs to keep in mind for Marinette right now, maybe. That she's doing the best she can with her limited knowledge of the situation and the tools available to her, either mentally or emotionally, (and that when she does gain the knowledge or tools to solve an emotional hurt, she will do her best to resolve it, because she cares about her friends and family, which has been made clear in the show time and time again) and the fandom should maybe be extending the same courtesy to her (and those who see themselves in her and are trying their best, too).

Potentially myself included, as I try and remember what I sent in my previous ramble about Adrien noticing that Marinette launches into fixing things because that's what she knows how to do and is good at, even if that might not be what a situation needs in the moment (on the topic of him considering her as a potential confidant for his secret identity and running down the list of who is available to him) - she's trying her best, and he appreciates the heck out of her for that (a lot of people do, in universe and out), even if it is something that could feed into miscommunication, as they have, or will continue to have, different ways of expressing what they need, and will need to work to meet in the middle on the things that they can work on to resolve any conflicts that may arise because of it, and be understanding of each other when things simply don't align in a way that works for both of them.

There was also a comment that was about how Adrien might not necessarily be presented as autistic, but his situation with his father is similar to a lot of situations of abuse from parents when it comes to neurodivergent children and my brain went YES this is the connection it is in words now and so I just wanted to express my appreciation for the fact that these topics are being brought up and identified and explored and defended (even if it might be exhausting and seem discouraging to have to do so in the first place) and that even though the fandom may be a bit divided over the interpretation of certain characters right now, we have a piece of media that makes these situations part of the narrative and demonstrates the effects they have (both positive and negative) so that in the overarching story, when it finally reaches its conclusion, they can maybe showcase good ways of establishing different methods of emotional communication and the different levels that they can occur at, and ways to reach across any gaps that may form simply by virtue of people having different emotional needs, and not because any one party is purposefully trying to make that communication difficult. Because neither of them are fueling this conflict on purpose; neither of them are intending harm to the other, even if that might be the result due to different factors wildly out of their own control. And when they get the chance to fix it, they definitely will.

Apologies if this is another long ramble needlessly clogging your askbox, but I just wanted to clarify I was trying to look at the character's actions objectively for the last ramble, and I'm sorry if I ended up misconstruing any of Marinette's problem-solver tendencies in a way that could seem negative as inherent to her character as a whole ;-; (and if you just haven't seen it / had time to respond to it yet I'm so sorry for the double ask aslkfhasf I am very patient, I swear)

ramble anon i am definitely going to reply to both your asks and i’m sorry for not getting to it sooner. as you might have gathered from the adhd post i also struggle with it and part of that means looking at a long ask and being like “i will reply to that Very Soon” and then i… don‘t 😂 though yesterday i was at least posting creative content instead of just scrolling through things (this is unrelated to your ask but i’m proud of myself for it)

anyways your previous ask (which i will respond to sometime between an hour and um 11 months) seemed to be mostly an analysis of how adrien is interpreting marinette, so no worries on misconstruing her! adrien, who is also 14 and dealing with his own trauma, is not going to effortlessly understand marinette’s mindset and shouldn’t be expected to any more than she is going to effortlessly understand the effect of his trauma on his psyche. even adults have a hard time understanding people whose brain works differently than theirs or who have very different backgrounds, but we can learn and people should be judged by their effort to understand different viewpoints, especially when it’s one they’ve had to reason to develop an understanding of it before. like marinette, even though i knew about parental abuse in abstract, i didn’t really understand how it affects people until i met (and dated) people who have experienced it. so i might project extremely hard onto the adhd girl with supportive parents who is learning to understand a boy with a very different background and very different coping because i went through that and i’m certain i’ve fucked some things up in the process. and they have interpreted me wrong too!

kagami using the app is a great example of something that might be off putting to a neurotypical person, though you’re right that it’s not adhd in particular. while i don’t have a strong headcanon for kagami the way i do for marinette, she definitely reads as autistic to me in that scene specifically, and i think it’s a surprisingly good example of how two neurotypes might interact. marinette initially does find kagami’s behavior off putting, partially because marinette is already inclined to dislike kagami but also because marinette has had far more time to learn to mask in a way that’s acceptable to peers (who expect you to be fun and casual) while kagami has only learned to mask for adults (whose expectations are more about being well behaved). and so marinette interprets kagami as being rude and fake! but when she sees the app she realizes “oh, this person is Like Me” and is able to very quickly reframe everything kagami has done.

marinette doesn’t seem to use a lot of external tools to manage her relationships yet, partially because she didn’t have a lot of close friendships until recently and partially because most of her friends are in her class so there’s no “out of sight out of mind” thing. kagami is probably the only person she has to go out of her way to maintain a relationship with and i think marinette does make special effort for kagami because kagami needs it (based on mister pigeon 72 anyway). of course now that ladynoir is having issues marinette will eventually realize she needs to make that special effort for chat noir, too. because accommodation goes both ways! because you can’t change your adhd but you can say “this person is important to me and i am going to use the tools i have to make this relationship work despite this.” your partner just has to understand that these tools might not always be foolproof and also that things like setting reminders of your phone to have a conversation with someone isn’t because we see it as a chore but because it’s so important to us that we can’t risk forgetting to do it. which i don’t think adrien will have a problem with at all once he understands because he’s a very understanding person. he’d be touched as long as marinette was able to communicate the fact that this is an expression of love and not an obligation or burden to her.

i see a lot of people headcanon adrien being autistic and even have gotten fic comments on how i wrote adrien in a way that people found resonated with their experiences with autism. which made me think a lot because while i totally welcome that interpretation, it wasn’t something that crossed my mind while writing! so i started thinking about why that would be. and in that story, adrien has an extreme response to curtains being installed in his bedroom, which to me was him reacting to the total lack of control over his own life and not having any other way to deal with it or express it. but of course that’s an experience common to a lot of neurodivergent people! in canon, the thing that struck me was the moment gabriel told him he’d had too many emotions, because boy did that resonate. so i think adrien is representative of a lot of neurodivergent experiences and that is true regardless of whether you headcanon him that way or not. which also makes him a good match for marinette in the long run because even if their brains work differently, they do still have a lot of common experiences that will help them understand each other in the long run

[miraculouswolf99]

Shadow Fox

"Good morning, Adrien," Lyon greeted, walking up to the model outside the school.

"Hello, Lyon," Adrien smiled at his Greek friend.

"You waiting for someone," Lyon asked him.

"Would I sound too much like Cat Noir if I said you," Adrien smirked.

"Cat Noir's got nothing on you, Sunshine Boy," Lyon snickered.

"Ironic," Adrien thought.

"Hello, boys," Vallia approached them. "You two flirting with each other again?"

"Maybe," Adrien smirked.

"It's so obvious as well," Lyon shook his head. "How is it that so many people in this school still think Adrien is straight?"

"You were the one that pointed out their lack of common sense when we first got here, brother of mine," Vallia says.

"Oh, right," Lyon accepted her logic.

"At least Marinette was already dating Luka when you two started flirting in public like this," Vallia said.

"I was so blind to her crush," Adrien sighed. "I must have looked so insensitive to her."

"Adrien, crushes are pretty much a blind spot to all guys," Lyon tells him. "I know some girls back home had crushes on me that Vallia had to point out for me."

"It's true," Vallia giggled. "You can't exactly be rich, good-looking, and not expect people to get a crush on you."

"Celebrity crushes are the worst," Lyon shook his head.

"Don't I know it," Adrien out his head in his hands.

"Awe, poor kitty," Lyon playfully patted his head.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, wolfie," Adrien slapped his hand away lightly.

"You are so lucky that I don't have archery practice today," Lyon playfully glared. "Otherwise, you'd know the exact consequences of calling me wolfie."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Vallia says. "Have you guys seen the latest post on the Ladyblog?"

"Vallia, you know I do not care for blogs," Lyon reminds her. "Most people with blogs like that believe that it gives them actual rights as 'real' reporters. Please, most blogs are basically just wannabe reporters throwing around their opinions."

"You never hold back when stating your own opinion, do you," Adrien asked.

"Why should I," Lyon raised an eyebrow. "Free speech exists for a reason."

"Point made," Adrien shrugged.

"Take a look," Vallia showed them her phone.

New Lead On the Identity Of Ladybug was plastered as the lead story on Alya's blog. Adrien and Lyon looked at each other before returning to the story. It was some theory story that seemed to be more like a conspiracy theory as she compared old photos of Hippolyta, Joan of Arch, and some statue that she seemed to us an app to add ladybug style armor to as a basis for her theory that the current Ladybug was also a heroic person under the mask. She was guessing volunteer workers, teaching assistants, and any other female teenager that liked to help people.

"I thought Ladybug told her months ago to stop trying to find her identity," Lyon did not like what he was seeing.

"Did being akumatized into Lady Wifi not teach her anything," Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose.

"From what you guys told us, that was more Chloe's fault," Vallia reminds. "Yet Chloe didn't even have a reason until Alya went a little too far when she thought that brat of all people was Ladybug."

"May the gods help that girl," Lyon shook his head. "I have never been so happy that there is no god or goddess of blogs."

"Hephaestus is the god of technology," Vallia reminded.

"But a blog on its own is not technology," Lyon countered. "It may be created with technology, but that is not part of his domain. The internet is a thing all on its own."

"Maybe Marinette can help Alya by being the voice of reason," Adrien suggested. "She usually is."

"She shouldn't have to be," Lyon says.

"Alya, Ladybug has repeatedly told you not to look for her identity," they heard their favorite bluenette's voice.

"Speak of the devil," Adrien said. "Or rather, speak of the angel in this case."

"Relax, Marinette," they hear Alya's voice. "It's not like I gave any specific people to look at."

"Alya, you are endangering her family and friends by trying to figure out her identity and putting your 'clues' on the Ladyblog," Marinette says.

"Hawkmoth won't attack her family or friends," Alya waved her off.

The two girls approached the school, consumed by their conversation. They hardly noticed the other three walking up to them.

"What even makes you think that Hawkmoth wouldn't attack her family," Lyon asked. "There doesn't seem to be anything he wouldn't do."

"Hawkmoth did akumatize a baby," Vallia pointed out. "Poor little August."

"Well, Hawkmoth didn't attack Lila," Alya reasoned. "And if he didn't attack Laydybug's best friend, he wouldn't attack the rest of her friends or family."

"Ever consider that Hawkmoth didn't go after her because he knew she was lying," Lyon asked, in his scary calm voice.

"What is your problem with her," Alya glared at him. "What do you have against Lila to accuse her of lying without proof!?!"

"My proof is that she was stupid enough to broadcast her 'friendship' all over Paris on your blog," Lyon crossed his arms. "Anyone that publically says that they are best friends with a superhero is like asking for villains to attack them. It's pretty obvious she is claiming so to get attention."

"How dare you accuse Lila of that," Alya yelled at the Greek, not that he seemed to care. "She would never lie."

"Except that she has," Vallia says. "Pretty much since the day that she got here and every day since then."

The Greek twins then walked away without another word. That was another thing that Adrien liked about them. They took no nonsense from anyone and would tell you if you were doing something, or were about to do something, stupid.

And they certainly took no nonsense from Lila. But they especially did not after she told a lie about Clara Nightingale stealing some of her dance moves from her. It was well known, since Clara's last visit to Paris, that the pop star was very good friends with the twins so they automatically knew that was a lie. And they made their anger very well known. They didn't care if it got them some glares in return, but they always made people know that they believed that Lila is a liar. Which was true, but not everyone knew that.

"You can't say that those two are not blunt," Adrien commented to Marinette.

Marinette giggled in agreement.

The two walked into the school before Alya could go on another of her "defending Lila' rants. They got old very quickly.

It had just been the end of the school day when the Akuma Alarms started to go off. Lyon and Valiia did a disappearing act while Adrien and Marinette both made bad excuses in order to get away from everyone to transform.

"Tikki, spots on."

"Plagg, claws out."

"Frostbite, freeze over."

"Flutter, wings up."

Ladybug, Cat Noir, White Wolf, and Beautifly were soon all heading toward the newest villain that Hawkmoth created.

"What in the name of Zeus," Beautifly swore.

In front of the four heroes was a psychedelic killer clown. With the poofy red and orange jumpsuit, giant black shoes, red and orange clown/Santa hat, and purple skin, he looked like the long lost twin to the Ghost Clown from Scooby Doo. And he was also very unnerving to look at. His weapon seemed to be a giant clown horn.

"I have never liked clowns before, and this is not helping," White Wolf stated.

"You're afraid of clowns," Cat Noir raised an eyebrow under his mask.

"Not afraid of them, I just don't like them," White Wolf corrected. "I find them to be creepy and weird-looking."

"Looking at this guy, I am actually on Wolf's side for this one," Ladybug says. "Not that I am surprised that Hawkmoth made a clown akuma, at all."

"One was bound to show up eventually," Beautifly crossed her arms.

"Lucky us," White Wolf complained.

"I'm guessing he is either a birthday clown who got upset, or maybe a class clown that got in trouble for his jokes, or someone pranked with no sense of humor," Cat Noir guessed.

"Those are actually some really good guesses," Beautifly says.

"Fight enough akumas, you get good at figuring out what type of person they were under the mask," Cat Noir said.

"Good thing they don't have attached glamours like we do with our miraculous," White Wolf says. "That would make things a lot more difficult."

"Chloe's first time as a villain was certainly easy to figure out," Cat Noir said. "All that changed about her was putting her in a Ladybug suit with reversed colors. He was a lot more creative with Stormy Weather and Evillustrator."

"What else can you say about those with purple skin," Ladybug giggled.

"I may like the color, but purple skin is not something I would ever like to have," Beautifly says. "I'd look like a human lavender flower."

"He looks ridiculous I'll give him that," White Wolf looked at the clown.

"I am Jokester," the clown yelled. "If others can't appreciate my sense of humor, I will make them laugh."

"I think Cat Noir may be right about the prankster getting into trouble theory," White Wolf said.

"Finally, someone sees my genius," Cat Noir laughed.

Jokester brought out a cliche clown horn. He aimed it at the heroes.

"Heads up, guys," Beautifly warned.

She used her wings to fly up and out of the way. The other three jump out of range as the clown blown the horn. Out came a sound blast of yellow sound waves. While it missed the heroes, the sound did wash over some civilians that were farther back on the street from them. They all started laughing immediately.

"I am suddenly reminded of the Joker," White Wolf commented.

"Even with all the crime, I still actually have always wanted to go to Gotham," Cat Noir said.

"Don't let him hit you with that sound wave," Ladybug called to them.

"Where's the songbird miraculous when we need it," Beautifly tried to joke.

"We'll see how this plays out, Fly," White Wolf tells her.

They all dodged another sound blast sent their way. White Wolf landed on the roof of a nearby building. He notched an arrow in his bow, letting it fly at the akuma. The clown dodged the arrow, letting it freeze the ground where it hit.

"Anyone want to take a bet on whether the akuma is in the horn or not," Cat Noir calls out, dodging a blast sent his way.

"At least it isn't hidden on a ship like Captain Hardrock's was," Beautifly says.

"Please don't mention her," White Wolf requested. "My ears still have a slight ring to them from her sound cannons."

"Not the quietest akuma we've ever faced," Cat Noir agreed.

"Try and surround him," Ladybug ordered. "He might get confused and not know where to aim the horn."

"Good idea," Cat Noir agreed.

The four separated, going in different directions. White Wolf kept the most distance so that he could properly aim his arrows at the clown. Beautifly stayed off the ground, her wings fluttering so that she could easily fly out of the way. Ladybug and Cat Noir were on opposite sides of the clown, both with their weapons out and ready to strike. Altogether, they formed an X around the akuma.

"You should surrender," Ladybug tried talking to Jokester. "Whatever Hawkmoth is telling you is a lie. He can't offer you anything real."

But the signature butterfly outline appeared over the clown's eyes.

"Do not listen to this teenage heroine," Hawmoths tells the villain in his head. "She only wants to take away your new powers and prevent you from spreading laughter and fun. I can help you spread real fun all throughout Paris while she can not."

"I could not agree more, Hawkmoth," Jokester replied.

He aimed his horn directly at the ground. Beautifly had seen this before when an enemy would aim their weapon right at the ground.

"Get out of the way," she yelled.

She immediately flew up, further off the ground. The three heroes on the ground followed suit by jumping or using their weapons to get onto rooftops. Jokester blew the horn right at the ground. The sound wave came out like a sonic boom as it boomed out in all directions on the ground. A few more dozen people all started to laugh uncontrollably. Jokester shot into the air and started flying just like when Rose was Princess Frangrance doing the same thing with her perfume gun.

"I hate it when we have to chase them," Cat Noir complained. "Can't they ever make it easy for us."

"Trust me, if I had it my way, Hawkmoth's lair would have a giant Las Vegas sign on it with 'come arrest me' spelled out in neon," White Wolf tells him.

"This is why I like having wings," Beautifly giggled.

She took off, flying after him. The rest followed after her. White Wolf aimed another arrow at the clown, firing when they jumped to another roof. But Jokester managed to dodge it and who knows where the arrow landed after that.

"I need to practice my aiming while I am running more often," Wolf said.

"What I would give to be a flying cat," Cat Noir says.

"I will have to look to see if there is a jaquin miraculous," Beautifly giggles.

"A what," Ladybug asked.

The butterfly hero flew faster, getting in front of the clown. She launched her razor flower at him. Jokester was forced to head back to the ground. He landed on a random street somewhere by Le Grand Paris.

"I will make you, heroes, see the joy of laughter," Jokester yells.

"Laughter is overrated," Wolf stated, firing another arrow.

He blew his horn at the arrow, blocking and destroying the arrow. They all then jumped out of the way as the sound blast almost got to them after destroying the arrow.

"Even with four of us, he has us on the ropes," Beautifly says.

"If we end up laughing non-stop, we won't be able to call upon our power or detransform because we wouldn't be able to form words properly," Ladybug said.

"Even separately, the sound wave is too big," Cat Noir noticed. "He needs to be distracted away from us so we can get the akumatized object."

"So we need an allie," Wolf said. "The stag or python miraculous might be able to help us. Or maybe even the songbird."

"Sonic scream, sound shriek, or paralyzing," Beautifly listed the powers of the three miraculous. "Any of those could help us."

Ladybug was about to respond when she saw Alya off to the side. She was on her phone, as usual, most likely filming the fight for the Ladyblog. Her blog had recently opened up to Lyon and Vallia's homeland of Greece because of White Wolf and Beautifly joining the battle against Hawkmoth. Google translate was probably very useful to them.

"I know what to do," Ladybug says. "I'll be right back."

With that, she left. Cat Noir was the first to get what she was doing when he saw that Alya was there as well.

"We better handle the clown gone wild until she gets back," Wolf says.

They separated again, dodging more sound blasts.

Ladybug destransformed into Marinette before she headed into Master Fu's building. She had a feeling that he was expecting her, like always. How he did that was a little creepy, but what did she know about Guardians of the Miraculous.

"Master Fu," she greeted when she came in.

"Come on in, Marinette," Fu says.

"I need the fox miraculous," Marinette tells him. "The illusions it can create will be the best distraction for this akuma."

"Of course," Fu said.

He went over to his phonograph and punched in his code. The miracle box soon rose out of it. He picked up the box and put it in front of her.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission. Choose wisely; such powers are meant to serve the greater good. Once the mission is over you will retrieve the Miraculous from them," he tells her.

Marinette immediately picked up the foxtail necklace. But then she hesitated when she looked at it.

"Marinette," Wayzz asked, concerned.

"What is it, dear child," Fu asked her.

"You know that I usually give this to Rena Rouge, right," Marinette started.

"Yes. And if I am correct, she is your best friend, Alya, correct," Fu guessed.

"Yes, she is," Marinette didn't even try to lie. "But... you know that Alya also is the creator of the Ladyblog."

"I mean no offense, but blogs are still quite foreign to me," Fu admitted. "But I do understand what you are talking about."

"Alya is a good reporter," Marinette started. "But she sometimes does not know when to let a story go or if a story will have unexpected consequences. Alya has been trying to figure out my identity. She's almost been obsessed with finding it pretty much since Ladybug's first appearance. The search was what started the events that caused her to be akumatized. I have told her to stop, but she hasn't."

"And you are worried that Alya will find your identity if you continue giving her the fox miraculous," Fu guessed.

"No, I'm worried that she will put us in danger when she figures it out," Marinette says. "She keeps saying that the people deserve to know who I am, who all us heroes are, even when that puts us all on Hawkmoth's radar. She's convinced that he won't attack us because a liar has been telling her that she is 'Ladybug's' best friend and she believes her. She thinks that since Hawkmoth had not attacked 'Ladybug's best friend' that he will not attack Ladybug."

"I see," Fu says.

"I have even told her, as Ladybug, to stop looking for my identity," Marinette continued. "Multiple times, I add. But she is still looking. Alya is a great friend, but she tends to listen only when it is something she wants to hear. I am not sure if I can trust her enough with the fox anymore."

"Heroes are not always set in stone, Marinette," Fu tells her. "Not even the ladybug and black cat are only compatible with one person. I trust that if you know when there is a good fit for a temporary hero, then that person will indeed be a good one."

Marinette seemed to calm down after that. But that also slightly made her curious about who else would be compatible with her miraculous. When they did that accidental miraculous swap and she became Lady Noir, she and Mister Bug actually did pretty well. Even if they did not have much practice with the powers that they literally had for less than fifteen minutes.

She quickly left and transformed, jumping over rooftops. She had to think of someone that could be a good match for the fox miraculous. She knew that Alya loved being Rena Rouge, but this was also a chance for her to see that her actions had consequences. To teach her that there are some things that are not worth a story. Also, do not believe everything you hear. That second one was more a jab at Lila than anything else.

The more Ladybug thought about it, the more she was thinking of a personality that would match the fox and its powers. Alya was hard-headed, stubborn, and liked to charge in. That was not the type of personality that would match with subtle illusions and an animal that is known for being sneaky and quiet. A fox should be sneaky, know when to observe before taking action, and should also know what will work best when in the shadows.

And now that she really thought about it, there was one person she knew that would be a far better fit for the fox.

Ladybug landed right near a very familiar boat on the Seine. Her Ladybug luck must have been working because the exact person she needed was right on deck.

"Juleka," Ladybug called, jumping onto the boat.

"L...Ladybug," Juleka stuttered, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"I need your help," Ladybug stated.

"M...My help," Juleka looked even more shocked. "What can I do? I'm not cut out to be a hero."

"You are more capable than you think, Juleka," Ladybug pulled out the box. "Juleka Couffaine, this is the miraculous of the fox, which grants the power of illusion. You will use it for the greater good. After the battle is over you must return the miraculous to me. Can I trust you?"

Juleka was a lot of things. She was shy, sweet, kind, had a good head on her shoulders, and had a dream to become a model. She never would have imagined anything like this ever happening to her.

"M...Me," she was beyond shocked at this point. "I...I'm no hero, Ladybug. And... what about Rena Rouge?"

"Rena has... lost my trust," Ladybug admitted. "She has been permanently retired and won't be returning."

"Oh," was all Juleka could say.

"Juleka, there is no bravery without fear," Ladybug tells the shy girl. "Being a hero does not mean being fearless and always jumping into danger without a second thought. It also means being careful and going in with a strategy. You are naturally quiet and observant, a perfect match for the fox miraculous."

"I'm not a hero, Ladybug," Juleka was still reluctant.

"We all have a hero inside of us, Juleka," Ladybug gave her a reassuring smile. "You do not need to be fearless to be a hero."

Juleka looked at the box that Ladybug was offering her again. She wanted to be confident, to be able to stand up to people if she has to, to put herself out there more. Now, she was being given that chance.

"Okay, Ladybug," she took the box and opened the lid.

A ball of light came out, flying around the goth girl. To her credit, she did not stare at the ball of light and exclaim "what is that thing" like Alya did.

"Hello, there," Trixx greeted, not showing how surprised he was at not seeing Alya.

"Rad," Juleka gasped.

"Not easily shook, is she," Trixx asked Ladybug.

"Guess with magical superheroes around, these things are being seen as more normal," Ladybug shrugged.

"Alright, then," Trixx turned back to Juleka. "My name's Trixx, and I will be your kwami."

"Kwami," Juleka was not as informed as Alya had been.

"I'm what gives my holders their powers," Trixx answered. "I am the kwami of illusion. To transform, you say 'Trixx, let's pounce.' Detransform, it's 'let's rest.' To call my power, play your flute, think the illusion you want, and say 'mirage."

Juleka put the necklace on, but she still looked nervous about doing this.

"You'll do great, Juleka," Ladybug smiled at her. "I know you will."

Juleka nodded. "Trixx, let's pounce."

Trixx was pulled into the necklace and Juleka transformed. Ladybug immediately noticed that her hero outfit was a lot different from Alya's.

For starters, her colors are midnight black and dark purple. Her torso was similar to Rena's but was dark purple where it was normally white and black where it would have been orange. But that was where the similarities ended. Over her torso clothing was a black leather jacket with streaks of purple on it. She also wore knee-high black boots that had no heel and matched the dark purple gloves on her hands. Behind her was a real fox tail instead of Rena's fabric one. The same difference was the real fox ears coming out of the top of her head. Her hair remained mostly the same but grew to where the tail started to come out of her. Over her eyes was a dark purple mask. Her flute also changed to purple and black and was strapped to her back.

"Wow," Ladybug gasped. "This might actually come in handy if we ever have another akuma at night to deal with. There would be plenty of shadows that you could blend into."

"This feels so awesome," Juleka looked at her costume.

"So, what will I call you," Ladybug asked.

"My name can be... Shadow Fox," Juleka chooses a hero identity.

"Cool," Ladybug smiled at her.

*****

Meanwhile, back at the battle, the three other heroes were trying their best to keep other civilians from becoming laughing messes. They already had to save Alya three times because of her need to film the fight even when it was a risk to her safety.

"Alya," Beautifly yelled in warning.

Make that four times.

The butterfly hero dived down and picked up the blogger. She just managed to fly out of reach of another sound blast from Jokester. She set Alya down on the roof of a building further from the fight.

"Hey, I need to be closer to the fight," Alya protested where she was put down. "I would never be able to get a proper video from here."

"Your life is not worth a simple video," Beautifly scolded. "Either stay away from the fight or just learn to dodge on your own. We can not keep saving you. It distracts us from defeating the akuma."

"I need this for my blog," Alya continued to protest.

"A blog post is not worth your life," Beautifly snapped at her.

She flew away before Alya could attempt to argue more with her. She saw Cat Noir and White Wolf standing on opposite sides of Jokester, hoping for at least one of them to get a hit in.

"Take this, Mr.Big-Nose," Cat Noir yelled, jumping at him while spinning his staff.

Jokester focused his attention on Cat Noir, raising his horn to make him laugh as well as blast him away. White Wolf fired an arrow when he was distracted. And this one finally met its mark. The arrow hit the horn and ice erupted around it, encasing his hand and the horn at the same time. That lead to the akum only being able to jump out of the way of Cat Noir's strike.

"Finally," Wolf says. "There is no worse feeling to an archer than constantly missing their target."

Cat Noir had to laugh at that, making the wolf hero playfully pout.

"Aw," Cat Noir looked at him. "A pouting wolf. How adorable."

"Call me adorable one more time and I will shove an arrow so far up your..." Wolf started.

"Don't want to be called adorable, then don't pout like that," Beautifly smirked, interrupting him.

"My quiver literally never runs out of arrows, you really want to tempt me," Wolf shakes his bow at them in a threatening manner.

"You're still cute, Wolfie," Cat Noir winked at him.

"Do not make me shoot you, Kitty," Wolf playfully threatened.

"You two are made for each other," Beautifly giggled.

"Am not," the two heroes could not hide their blushes.

"Someone needs to tell that Ladyblogger to take down that LadyNoir ship name," Beautifly giggled again. "Because that is obviously not happening."

Both male heroes were really going red, but their fun moment was ruined by Jokester.

"I will make you laugh if it is the last thing I do," he yelled.

"You'd think a clown would appreciate our senses of humor," Cat Noir commented.

The ice around the horn began to crack.

"Oh for the love of Hades," Wolf swore.

They all shot in different directions when the ice exploded with a sound blast that would have directly hit them.

"Looks like I need to layer on the ice," Wolf notched another arrow.

"Someone call for back-up," Ladybug's voice called.

Not even a second later, a black figure shot at Jokester and hit him with... was that a flute? The clown was knocked right into a nearby wall.

"That was the akuma I just hit, right," the figure asked, her voice telling them that she was female.

The rest of the team got their first real look at Shadow Fox.

"That is most definitely not Rena Rouge," Cat Noir immediately said.

"You can call me Shadow Fox, kitten," Shadow responded.

"This is an interesting development," Wolf commented.

"Indeed, it is," Beautifly agreed.

Alya, who had finally managed to get close to the fight again, was unbelievably shocked, not to mention angry.

"I'm Rena Rouge," she thought, angrily. "I was right here, why would Ladybug give someone else the fox miraculous. She doesn't even look like a fox."

The three did a quick look, up and down, of Shadow Fox. She was certainly a lot more different than Rena Rouge in terms of looks. And the way that she was able to just shoot at Jokester and nail like that meant that she was comfortable with being quiet even when attacking.

"That was a good hit," Wolf complimented. "Probably one of the few that have happened in this fight."

"Uh... thanks," Shadow said.

"I'm more happy about there now being three heroes with dark-colored outfits compared to the two with bright colors," Beautifly remarked. "We outnumber them, now."

"Finally," Cat Noir cheered in agreement.

"I resent both of you," Ladybug pointed at them, playfully glaring as well.

"At least the two of us stand out more," Wolf smirked.

Jokester than started to get up. He noticed that there were now five heroes against him instead of just the three he had been fighting.

"Oh, look," he gave them a creepy smile. "More people to join in my plan of spreading laughter. Goodie."

"This guy is really creepy," Shadow stated.

"See, she agrees with me," Wolf said.

They all dodged another sound blast.

"Okay, time to end this," Ladybug says. "Lucky Charm."

She threw her yo-yo into the air, calling whatever object that was going to appear. It came in a flash of light as usual and then fell into her hands.

"You have got to be kidding me," Beautifly said, looking at the object.

It was one of those ridiculous fake clown flowers. The ones with a small pump at the end of a tube to squirt water out of the flower.

"What in the world am I supposed to do this," Ladybug looked at it.

"You better figure it out quickly," Wolf called out to her.

He was running across rooftops along the street, continuously firing arrows at the demented clown. But none of the arrows met their mark because they were all destroyed by Jokester's sound blast.

"I'll try and give us some more help," Beautifly says. "Nature's Heart."

Her razor flower spun around her, landing on her hand in front of her. Out of the center of the flower appeared a blossom. This one was oddly known my Shadow Fox.

"That's a water lily," she said, making Beautifly look at her. "I grew up near the water, so I have a lot of aqua facts up my sleeves."

"Okay," Beautifly says. "Then I know exactly what this does. And it does make sense. Sound can not move through the water. Everyone out of the way!"

The butterfly hero took the flower and raised it in front of her. Jokester barely had time to look at her when a powerful torrent of water came shooting out of the flower. She loved her ability to call enchanted flowers, even if she never knew what she was going to get.

Jokester shot another sound blast, but the water was too powerful for it. The sound blast was now acting more like a shield as it tried to keep the water at bay. The heroes all stood on different roofs to avoid the torrent.

"I have never loved flowers more than right now," Cat Noir said.

"That's my partner for you," Wolf grinned.

Ladybug looked around, using her Ladybug vision to work out how to use what she had. Shadow Fox was the first to flash in her sight, then the water gun flower, then White Wolf's bow and arrows, and finally Cat Noir. She now had a plan.

"I can't hold this for much longer," Beautifly shouted.

Ladybug quickly made her way over to Shadow Fox.

"When Beautifly stops her attack, that is when you need to call your illusion," she tells her.

"But... what do I even create," Shadow asked, holding her flute tightly.

"Trust in yourself," Ladybug says. "You'll know what to do."

Shadow Fox nodded, holding her flute. Ladybug then went over to White Wolf and Cat Noir to explain their parts of the plan.

It was not long before the water stopped coming out of the lily that Beautifly was holding. She looked at it, frustrated for a second, before having to take off again as a sound blast nearly hit her. When Jokester went to fire his horn again, Shadow Fox put her flute to her lips and played the tune that activated her power.

"Mirage," she whispered, throwing the ball of light.

In a flash, there were many copies of the heroes along the rooftops. And no two groups were in the same positions, so Jokester could not work out which was which based on how they looked.

"NO," Jokester yelled, confused on where to fire.

Having been looking up, at all the copies, Jokester did not notice the flower that Ladybug had managed to sneak in front of him. When he stepped onto the pump, the flower squirted water right into his face, further distracting and confusing him.

Hidden in two different alleyways were Cat Noir and White Wolf as they waited to do their parts. When Jokester had his back to White Wolf as he was trying to blast all the copies while still trying to wipe the water off of his face and out of his eyes. The icy hero came out as quietly as he could, raising his notched arrow. Aiming as carefully as he could, he fired. The arrow sailed through the air, making contact close to the bottom of the horn, freezing it and knocking it out of Jokester's hand.

"My horn," he cried. "I need that to spread laughter."

Ladybug was quick to jump out of her hiding place and use her yo-yo to wrap around his legs and trip the villain.

"Cat Noir, now," Ladybug yelled.

"Cataclysm," the black cat called, his hand bubbling with black energy.

He jumped up, touching the frozen horn with his hand. The horn instantly turned to dust, falling into icy pieces. A black butterfly flew out of the remains.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma," Ladybug opened her yo-yo and threw it at the insect. "Time to de-evilize."

Ladybug released the butterfly, the creature now being white. She then threw the fake flower into the air, letting her Miraculous Cure sweep over the city. As the swarm of ladybugs vanished, three of the heroes started beeping because of the timers on their miraculous for using their powers. Ladybug and Shadow Fox were left with four minutes and Beautifly had three left. Cat Noir was probably close to having four minutes left but White Wolf did not use his power so he was not on a timer.

"LADYBUG," Alya shouted, running toward them.

"And... that is our cue to leave," Wolf stated. "I am not getting involved in this."

"Me neither," Beautifly agrees. "I'd rather fight the spirit of one of the furies."

The Greek heroes flew/ jumped away. Cat Noir then looked at Ladybug.

"I don't really know why she is angry, but I'm not getting involved in whatever happened that made her so mad," he tells her.

"Can I come with you," Shadow asked before he could leave. "I can hide and give you the miraculous so that you don't find out who I am."

"I'm cool with that," Cat Noir responded.

The two quickly left as well and Ladybug was left alone with the blogger.

"Yes, Alya," the hero knew that this conversation was going to happen.

"How... How... You replaced me," the Ladyblogger managed to get out. "I was right here, how could you replace me?!?"

"Because, Alya, you have lost my trust," Ladybug stated.

"Lost your trust? But I didn't do anything," Alya protested.

"Really? Because I recall telling you, multiple times, to stop trying to figure out my identity," Ladybug crossed her arms. "And yet you continue to try. I saw your latest blog post. That not only puts me in danger if your theory is even correct, but it also puts innocent girls in danger that anyone thinks could be me."

"The people deserve to know who is protecting them," Alya argued.

"And does that fact that my friends and family will be targeted by Hawkmoth mean nothing to you," Ladybug glared at her.

"Hawkmoth will not attack them," Alya tries to argue.

"And what reason do you have to think that," Ladybug was not going to back down. "Do you have him on speed-dial? Do you have a video of him saying that he would leave them alone? What proof do you have that he will not attack my family and friends?"

"Well, Lila is still..." Alya was interrupted.

"Her again," Ladybug shook her head. "I told that girl months ago to stop saying that she knew me and that we're friends. It was annoying then and it's annoying now."

Alya was undeniably shocked.

"But... she said..." Alya was interrupted again.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear," Ladybug says. "The only way that me, Cat Noir, White Wolf, Beautifly, and any other hero in Paris knows Lila Rossi is when she has either been akumatized, been chased by an akuma, or has been the cause of one. Neither me, nor any other hero, is friends with her and she needs to stop lying by saying that she is."

"You're just saying that to protect her," Alya was in denial at this point.

"This is why you no longer will be given the fox miraculous," Ladybug remains glaring at her. "You are so in denial about the truth unless it suits you and what you believe. You go running head-first into danger, not caring about your safety or how it distracts me and the other heroes when we constantly need to save you. You also only ever publish what gets you more views on your blog. Lila Rossi's video, your theories about who I am, and I noticed that you still have not taken down that story you posted that accuses Cat Noir of stealing the Mona Lisa. That was a villain called Copycat, who was akumatized to look just like Cat Noir. We told everyone that, yet you still have not taken that article down or posted an apology to him."

"But... But... I..." Alya was speechless, for once.

"There is more to being a good journalist than clickbait articles," Ladybug got her yo-yo out again. "Looking for facts is also a big part of being a reporter. Maybe you need to think about that. Bug out."

Ladybug then swung away to retrieve the fox miraculous that Shadow Fox gave to Cat Noir.

[scribble-blog]

Soulmate AU, part 1

masterpost     next

Huge thanks to the Maribat Fandom tumblr chat, without whom I wouldn’t have made this blog or posted this piece (or probably written this at all given that it’s a maribat fanfic)! @the-fusionist and @rebecarojas07 specifically for encouraging me!

*****

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Damian is a week shy of fourteen the day the names appear inked on people’s skin, when he wakes up to ink that doesn’t wash off and the news reports that all around the world people have woken up to find the same phenomenon.

The world accepts it readily enough.

Soulmates.

There are tales of it happening before, every mythology and history and folklore delved into and the proof brought forward, but no one actually can say what triggered it, or why now.

In Paris, Marinette wakes up the day after she becomes Ladybug, a dark inked name of her own blooming vivid across her skin.

“It’s because you’re a true holder, Marinette,” Tikki says almost bouncing in midair. “People can use the Miraculous without being as in tune with them, but when we land in the hands of someone who is not just attuned, but truly meant for us- interesting things happen! Especially with the Ladybug Miraculous! These markings reveal who your Soulmate is!”

Her eyes still skim over the writing, and she has to hold in her almost immediate disappointment when she doesn’t see the two swirling A’s she wanted.

“Damian Wayne.”

*****

Marinette doesn’t let it get to her most days, the fact that the name across the front of her shoulder and the name of the boy she feels she’s lost her heart to aren’t the same.

Adrien, for his part, says nothing about what name he has, and it isn’t visible for anyone to find out.

Marinette keeps her designs modest in the neckline, always layers with her favorite jacket and does not say hers either.

The world divides into those who show them proudly, who build forums and websites and apps where people try desperately to connect with their soulmate, and those who decide that to seek it out would ruin the- destiny of it all.

Marinette doesn’t even google him.

She doesn’t want to think about destiny any more than she has to.

*****

Damian keeps it hidden from his family. Grayson has Kori’s name running down his neck, and though they don’t show them off, he’s aware that Todd and Drake have their own as well. Father’s got “Selina Kyle” trailing from his wrist down to the side of his left thumb.

Grayson asks him, once. He shuts it down immediately, and he doesn’t get asked again.

*****

Lila claims her soulmate is someone rich, reclusive, and far away. She doesn’t give details about who they are, but she can tell you millions of stories about how they met as children, grew up knowing each other, how he’d begged for her to stay by his side but she had sighed and told him she must be free to live her own life! And how he waited for her even now to return once she’d graduated and they could marry and be fabulously wealthy and beautiful and happy together.

The class fawns over it. Each time the elusive soulmate is mentioned, Marinette locks eyes with Adrien and Chloé, unable to voice her annoyance but perfectly able to share it with them.

Alya sneers under her breath sometimes, when Lila is being particularly mouthy with her lies, that Marinette has always refused to show or even talk about her mark. That perhaps she doesn’t have one at all.

Marinette doesn’t ever respond.

Adrien tried his hardest to shut them down when they start moving in towards her or Chloé like sharks. She’d lost her crush on him when he’d told her to let Lila lie, that she wasn’t hurting anyone. And then Chloé had knocked on her door one day and- apologized.

Marinette had accepted.

And then when Chloé found out that Adrien not only knew but had actually allowed Lila to continue spinning her lies, she’d taken the boy to task and explained very clearly that Lila could not be treated the same way as his Father, where staying quiet and giving in was the only way to weather his unsavory bad moods. And while his Father demanded he still associate with Lila and keep her placated, that shouldn’t stop him from standing up and doing something when she started actively going after people the way she’d gone for Marinette.

He’d very quickly apologized to Marinette and started, if not scolding Lila when she targeted Marinette, at least trying to guide her and the rest of the class away from any interactions they might have initiated because of Lila’s words.

And now, even if the hours spent at Francois DuPont were chilly and quietly isolated for the three of them, they could meet up at the bakery for lunch, and more often than not now, they would spend evenings hanging out in either Chloé’s room or Marinette’s and it almost made up for it.

*****

Damian has been dead before.

He watches a girl in his class start screaming as the name splayed across her palm withers, it almost looks like it dissolved into her veins, the ink shrinking and bleeding into normal, unmarked skin.

He goes home and he looks at the long curling script that circles the right side of his chest, sweeping across his ribs. Marinette Dupain-Cheng exists somewhere and he wonders if dying once is enough that his name never showed up on her.

He searches the last names. He finds a small but well known and very well loved bakery in Paris, France, with mentions of the owners, Tom and Sabine, and one daughter.

He closes it out.

*****

Marinette turns 16.

It’s not momentous, as she once thought it would be. It’s another day facing the cold sneers of her classmates, catching Adrien and Chloé’s eyes and waiting until the end of the day when she can go home where her parents will have a cake waiting for her, Chloé, Adrien, Kagami, and Luka over, visits from Nadja and Manon, and hopefully some calls from her great uncle Wang and her pseudo uncle Jagged with Penny. Birthdays in this class used to be extravagant, and they still are- for everyone who Lila allowed it.

But Marinette’s birthday will be a quiet affair, at home with her family and her truest friends, her team, and she can’t help but prefer that.

*****

Damian turns 17. Dick marries Kori. Father and Catwoman continue their game of cat and mouse (who is what in this scenario?) and Todd keeps leaving and coming back, and Drake says nothing but acts as if he still knows everything. Damian is, in almost all ways, more capable than most of the old men that do business with Wayne Enterprises and he still has to sit through school and act like birthday parties matter or mean anything to him.

(They do. They do. He can count on one hand how many birthdays he’s ever actually celebrated.)

He’d like to know why he feels so unsatisfied.

*****

Ms. Bustier calls her aside when they break for lunch.

“Marinette,” she begins, and Marinette sighs internally, bracing for another round of upbeat admonishments.

“As class representative, I need you to start staying after class with me for the next few weeks at least- perhaps we can start tomorrow. The submission you made to the Wayne Enterprises Community Awareness and Support Program won, and we have to start planning for the trip in July.”

Marinette stops short. “Wait, trip?”

Mme. Bustier straightens her papers and selects one, handing it to Marinette. On it is a very formal letter from representatives of Wayne Enterprises, congratulating her and her class on their community outreach and outlining the award money they have been offered to plan their trip to visit Wayne Enterprises in person.

Marinette struggles not to sit there with her jaw dropped to the floor. “I didn’t realize there was any actual- reward. I thought it was just an award or recognition?”

Mme. Bustier gives her the smile she used to give her on a daily basis, back when Marinette had cared about making her teacher that happy with every success their class had. “Well, then it’s just as happy a surprise for you as for the rest of the class! I’ll send a note home with you tonight explaining why you’ll be staying after school for the foreseeable future. I won’t ever keep you longer than an hour.”

Marinette knew that would not be true, but it wasn’t as if she couldn’t make up an excuse to leave when necessary. “Yes. We’ll want the trip to be planned perfectly, especially if we’re going to Gotham. Thank you, Mme. Bustier!”

She skips out to lunch, runs across the street to the bakery to meet her friends and tells them the news.

*****

Damian thinks about her often, even if he doesn’t want to. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the baker’s daughter somewhere in Paris, presumably, who may or may not have his name somewhere scrawled on her body.

He doesn’t search anything about her again. Even that single search that led him to her parents’ patisserie was risky.

Jon can tell him everything he wants to about the happiness between himself and his soulmate. His siblings can tiptoe around the subject, happy themselves and never bringing it up to him again. He watches people at school, wondering which of the couples are bound by the words inked into their skin and which are the ones who decided to forego fate. It takes him a very long time to figure out that despite himself, despite his brothers and his allies and his few friends, he is lonely.

*****

Seven weeks before the trip to Gotham, Marinette’s mother finds the Miracle Box.

Marinette hasn’t had Master Fu to guide her in a very long time. She is, in name and deed, the true Guardian of the Miraculous now.

Marinette breaks down on her mother’s shoulder for the first time in four years, since Hawkmoth started terrorizing Paris. Sabine, terrified and proud and angry, soothes her daughter, holds her and runs her hand over her hair, and asks her daughter what she can do.

Marinette has an idea.

[sugarcubetikki]

#PleaseLeaveMarinetteAlone

Marinette has made some mistakes in the past. But I'm so sick and tired of people constantly hating on her. People say she never faces the consequences of her actions, but literally, look at where she is now...

As of NY, Marinette is still in a very difficult position:

She's facing heartbreak over Adrien. She's so confused about her feelings. She CAN'T pursue them. She CAN'T just be friends right now either, because her feelings keep coming back. She CAN'T avoid him. She's in a crazy position.

She's a guardian. And she didn't even ask for this. I mean, she can't escape from it either. Because giving up the box means losing your memories forever. It's now her responsibility. And she's not very well-trained either. She lost her mentor?

Since all of the superhero identities have been revealed, where to go on next, is literally all in Marinette's hands now, as the guardian, she has to decide. Another responsibility.

I'm pretty sure she's still babysitting, doing commissions for Jagged and Kitty Section. On top of her schoolwork and Ladybug and guardian duties, that's also a lot in her normal life.

Is she getting a good night sleep? I doubt it.

Has she been able to organize her schedule? I doubt that too because her favours, commissions and responsibilities aren't exactly things that can be scheduled. They just pop out of nowhere.

Still probably suffering from all the implications and issues the Cat Blanc scenario brought. How do we know that it still doesn't bother her?

Not to mention, she nearly lost her partner in NY.

Also, how is any of her behaviour in NY Special any normal? She's internally suffering with the conflict between her feelings? I mean, she was dying on the inside that special, because she's soo confused with her feelings. Like, that sad look at the end when she says "I don't know" is just pure confusion. Everything that special was a huge façade of Marinette going "justfriendsjustfriends". The only times she was genuine was when she chased after the car and the "I don't know". She's clearly very confused. She wasn't acting normal in the NY special, she was internally crumbling with her feelings. Unfortunately, the most genuine faces in that special were when she was sad, proves she's going through too much... 

One more thing. STOP BLAMING MARINETTE FOR BEING HYPOCRITICAL IN NY. People say that it was hypocritical of her to leave all the responsibility on CN's shoulders, when she shouldn't have gone to NY in the first place, and then continues to blame him. First of all, Marinette didn't leave all the responsibility on Cat's shoulders, she was counting on him to defend Paris and alert her because since she was in a different place, there are chances that she could be late due to a number of reasons: time difference, her phone could die so she wouldn't be able to access the akuma news app, etc. So, the emergency kitten is useful in situations like that. Second of all, she has to go back anyways since she's the only who can capture the akuma, she probably does have the magic macarons on her somewhere for her to transform into her space suit or she might've secretly brought the horse miraculous too. Third of all, she wasn't mad at CN for being in NY, she was mad because he was there without telling her. If he told her, she could've made her way around it, and made some last-minute adjustments, I doubt she would've been mad. He basically left Paris without alerting her. Which I can see why she'd be mad, it's reasonable. Fourth of all, it's not hypocritical, it's not like Ladybug said "It's ALL your fault that this entire thing happened." She didn't rub it in his face that Paris was in ruins because he LEFT. I mean, she could've seeing how mad she was previously but she didn't because she knew he was feeling guilty because of what happened with Uncanny Valley already, and I doubt the thought even crossed her mind, she seemed more upset about the situation, rather than being mad at Cat himself.

Moreover, when you're in difficult positions, you tend to act...not like yourself. And that was Marinette in S3. Her crazy behaviour was merely the outcome of the situation she was in.

Dealing with Lila: this girl basically threatened to take all her friends away and declared war. Not to mention, she lies with every breath and all her friends (except a few) believe her. 

Overwhelming responsibilities: Gamer 2.0 makes that clear enough.

Feelings for Adrien: This is so overlooked. But one thing to point out...In Frozer, Adrien basically confessed he's attracted to Kagami. And we know that Adrien is not ready, but Marinette doesn't. Marinette knows Adrien likes Kagami. She had that mindset for the entire season: and due to misunderstandings between her and Kagami in Frozer. Marinette didn't know how to view Kagami, I mean, until Ikari Gozen, she had to deal with her jealousy. Marinette's jealousy is very specific: it's only there when she's suspicious over the girl, or thinks she's mean, a liar, or just unpleasant somehow. Since Kagami is just as bad as Adrien with social cues and skills, maybe even worse, she might've come off quite rude and prissy in Frozer to Marinette. There's not only that. Marinette does know that Adrien could be attracted to more people in the future and then she could be too late soon, she's never going to be able to confess. Which is why, Marinette probably has that frantic way of trying to confess her feelings. She was panicking. She felt like she couldn't go by her own pace anymore...and since she's rushing and still very bad at expressing her feelings. She keeps failing. Not to mention, Alya is probably sick of Marinette being a lovesick puppy for this long and keeps pushing her to do it: Reflekdoll, Puppeteer 2. Besides, there's always Luka, who's calming presence also confuses her feelings. Since her feelings are such a bundle of confusion, she's definitely getting sick of them staying within her, and since she's in no stage of healthy communication, she's resorted to exaggerating her unhealthy methods even more. Mainly because she's too overwhelmed with everything. She needs to breathe.

That's it. For now.

#MarinetteNeedsABreak #LeaveMarinetteAlone

She's in no position to be receiving this hate, she's a mess, she's overwhelmed. She needs to sort her life out. That doesn't make her a bad character. It shows that people can be in difficult positions at times and can resort to doing crazy things...but they'll always have a chance to get back up again.

I’m not asking you to like her. It’s fine if you don’t like her that much. Just stop the insane hate. 

*EDIT: Keep in mind that Marinette has to try her best to look and feel optimistic enough because of this crazy supervillain. She can't afford being sad. Even if she's internally suffering, she needs to keep a strong face...*

[coffeecomicsgalore]

With The World On Her Shoulders

Ao3

@marinettemarch

Chapter 22: Sketchbook

Marinette felt sheer relief before realizing she was forgetting something.

“Oh!” She reached into her bag and grabbed the small, tightly wrapped gift, and handed it to Adrien. “I made you something.”

Adrien looked at her in shock before reaching out slowly to take the item. “Marinette. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know. But I wanted to. I meant it when I said I appreciate your friendship. So, I thought that maybe you might like this.”

Adrien opened the gift to reveal a box filled with tightly wrapped-up notes. When Adrien looked up at her in confusion, she told him to grab one and read it.

Your presence lights up a room.

“When you said that your dad doesn’t appreciate you, or that you’re only a disappointment to your father even when you try your hardest, I realized that you aren’t really told how truly amazing you are. So… whenever you are having a bad day, or feel like you are less than worth it—even though you are worth so much more than you think you are—I want you to take a slip of paper from this box and read it. You’ll always have someone on your side, and you mean a lot to a lot of people, especially me, Nino, and Alya. I just don’t want you to forget that.”

Adrien didn’t know what to say. He pursed his lips as if to hold back a sob, then reached out and wrapped his arms around her to show her his gratitude. She hugged him back fiercely, radiating as much love as she could give him through the embrace, and they stood like that for a few moments until the bell rang.

Adrien pulled away first, wiping his cheek before placing the gift in his bag.

“Thanks, Marinette. That… that means a lot to me.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled and knew it was time to change the subject for his sake. “Come on. Tell me something you love doing in your free time."

They walked into their classroom while having an actual two-way conversation together, talking about one of Adrien’s favorite anime that Marinette had yet to see. He was animatedly talking about the plot of the show without revealing too much, and she asked questions that seemed fitting without the fear of it being spoiled.

She laughed when he tried to mimic one of the characters: a big dopey, yet extremely sweet character who didn’t know this girl liked him until his best friend outright stated it. She said it sounded like someone she knew, and he couldn’t help but wonder out loud who she was talking about.

They looked at each other seriously for one moment before bursting out laughing, with Adrien finally acknowledging how he had no idea until she stated it the day before.

Marinette, surprisingly, wasn’t hurt over the acknowledgment and didn’t question it further in fear of finding out his true feelings. It didn’t matter to her at this moment if he actually returned her feelings, especially given that he knew the meanings of the flowers and chose them specifically for her. She just truly enjoyed hearing his laughter and seeing his carefree nature than trying to justify any of his actions.

It actually felt freeing knowing he knew of her feelings, but she couldn’t deny that the unknown still haunted her heart, even if it was just a tiny bit. But she swallowed that dark thought down to the pit of her stomach where she could digest it later and opted to hear him talk more about his likes and dislikes in the friendly banter they had done over the last ten minutes.

“My, my, my,” Alya said conspiratorially. There was a glint of mischievousness in her eyes as she searched between the two. “Look at you two being all chummy this morning.”

“Ha-ha.” Marinette retorted while making a face at Adrien at the same time, which he laughed in return. “I’m just talking to my very good friend about anime. Is it a crime to have a conversation with someone who shares the same interests as you?”

“Anime? God. You’re a dweeb too?” Alya turned to Adrien and shot him a bemused expression.

“Yup! And now I have someone to share my enthusiasm and maybe even dress up for conventions with.”

Marinette burst out laughing. “And now all I can see you in is a Sailor Moon’s outfit—knee-high stockings, long hair, and all.”

“Don’t tempt me with a good time, Marinette!” Adrien scrunched up his nose in laughter. “I’m a model, remember? I’ve worn some scandalous items—skirts included. I would so wear a Sailor Moon outfit and flaunt myself in a skirt. Oh! Maybe I could commission you for a Mars cosplay!”

“I do not want to see that, dude.” Nino shook his head to rid of the thought.

“Speaking of the upcoming convention…” Marinette laughed out as she pulled out her sketchbook along with her phone. She turned on the device and pulled up the image she saved on her photo album before opening up to a blank page of her sketchbook. “I’ve been meaning to get that costume started for my Homura Akemi cosplay. Have you seen Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Adrien?”

“No, not yet.” He took out his phone, opening up his notes app to write down the name of the series. “But I definitely will as soon as I finish My Love Story.”

“It’s so good.” She began to sketch up the dress, focusing on the pleats and ruffles of the skirt. “And that also means I need to create the shield, too, so I’m going to have to get some foam to create the intricate—”

Spilling across her page was a bottle of water, the entire second half of her book drenched in the cold liquid. Marinette shot up from her chair as quickly as she could, grasping onto her sketchbook to save it from any more spills, but the damage had been done.

Adrien shot up too, quickly trying to find a way to clean up the spill when he noticed who had “tripped” and spilled the water.

“Lila!”

“I’m so sorry Marinette! I didn’t mean to spill the water. It was an accident! I swear.”

Adrien shot her an annoyed glare as Marinette and Alya tried to sop up as much liquid as they could with her sweater. He noticed that she had taken off her blazer, using that as a makeshift rag as Nino left to gather some paper towels.

“Here, Marinette,” Adrien said as he handed her his overshirt, hoping that she would use it to help clean up.

“Oh, it’s okay, Adrien. Thank you. Nino just came back with the paper towels anyways.”

Adrien tossed his shirt on his desk behind him before gathering some of the paper towels to clean up the desk, while Marinette flipped through the sketchbook to see if and how many of her designs were ruined from the water.

Tears pricked her eyes as she noticed some of the ink running on some of her favorite pieces, and she couldn’t help but let out a wet sigh as she tried to keep herself composed.

Adrien noticed her demeanor and looked at the sketchbook, realizing that the ink was now running on many of the notes across the pages. He couldn’t help but see that there was one page in particular that stood out, a familiar design hidden in the seam of a scarf she had created. The note “Adrien” was written across the top of the page, the word almost unreadable with the wet streaks, but he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt as he realized something specific about that page.

He kept that thought in the back of his head as he helped her clean up, running a comforting hand up and down her arm as her lower lip trembled in heartache.

[fuckingdeadbutroyal]

Jasonette July-Soulmate AU- Part 6

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 

!Warning! Explicit mentions of death! Read cautiously. 

Meanwhile in the akuma-shelters:

It has been close to a week now. The shelters weren’t properly equipped to supply so many people for such a long amount of time. Luckily it did have enough food and water, with the stocks having just had their yearly refill of canned food and drinkable water coming from the tap. There weren’t enough beds though. The worst thing weren’t the beds though. Ther shelters wanted to lower the risk of specific inanimate objects to function as an akuma.weapon, so the interior designers made sure he shelters kept nothing for entertainment. Lack of entertainment could be destructive to any persons mind, but paired with the ongrowing fear and grieve the citizens had to deal with? It was dangerous.

The people knew how to fill there time though. It was something us humans have always loved to do: Fight for structure and destroy anything in our way to gain control. That’s why some shelters have formed a hierarchy, with either the loudest or the physically strongest standing on top of the food chain. 

One shelter in particular believed the akuma had caused the end of the world, which was mainly because of the alley it was positioned on being isolated by Ladybugs third Lucky Charm. She had used it to try and capture the akuma when he tried to destroy  the shelter he felt personal hatred towards. Hawkmoth knew that it was caused by the now akumatized homeless man being frequently kicked out of it whenever there was no attack. Long story short, now the place was surrounded by large, high pressure fountains of water reaching up into the sky. (Tikki had clearly gotten desperate.) The only way out was either the caved-in tunnel the akuma had suddenly learned how to make, or a yo-yo/ baton/ grappling hook. Of course, none of the citzens had access to those. So they were stuck and afraid, not knowing anything about the outside world, apart from the fact that Ladybug still hasn’t captured the akuma and therefore couldn’t use her cure.

The people in that particular shelter were very diverse. There was an old couple, a few incomplete families who have lost people to the earthquakes, a group of college students, a group of kindergarteners and a few teachers and classes from Collège Françoise Dupont. 

The akuma shelters were opened in the middle of the day. At first they were timed with the akuma-alerts, but over the years the frequency of attacks has risen, which led to the shelters only being opened on Ladybugs and Chat Noirs request. That has become a rarity, since they only asked for it if there was a chance of them not succeeding. Once they were opened though, the citizens knew to follow a strict protocol. Schools for examples evacuated similarly to firedrills, with the slight change of the younger classes using the shelter underneath the school, while the older classes went for the next one in proximity. Usually the akuma-alert app kept them updated on last sightings of the villains whereabouts. Usually that wasn’t a problem, since most of the time the akumas were designed to attract attention and provoke fear. 

The current akuma was making it difficult, though. He was visible, sure, his actions spoke louder than any other akuma ever has. But you never knew where he was, not unless he was preaching his beliefs to one person in particular, who then had to survive so they could warn the other parisians. No, this time it was much more difficult. Ladybug was giving herself the blame for opening the shelters too late. At first the Dirtbag wasn’t destroying the buildings, just rattling them up a bit and keeping the citizens awake. The duo thought they could handle him, were even convinced they could find him in time, using Chats nightvision. I was only when everyone went about their day the next morining when the monster decided to strike. Hurting someone in their workplace so they would try to find shelter in their homes, before getting killed there or being lucky to find a place in the akuma shelters. A devious plan which lead to many deaths. Marinette hated herself for not figuring it out before it was already too late. She could have taken the precaution, listened to her gut feeling telling her to ignore the civilians complaints and just GET THEM TO BE SAFE. It reminded her of people who insisted on not wearing a helmet while riding their bikes. “Nothing bad has happened yet so why the panic? The drivers are going to look out for me.” and then one bad thing happens and it’s suddenly too late. No going back from not having taken the safety precaution while she still could’ve. 

No calling Bunnix or using second chance. You just have to deal with it. 

Dealing with it. That’s something the city will now have to do. Ladybug swore to herself that if.. no when she finishes this battle, she will immediatly take care of mental health programs and the promotion of health care organisations. Everyone will need therapy. It was bad enough to remember having actually died, but now there was more to it. It wasn’t as temporary as it has previously been. It wasn’t a question of one or two people dying for a timespan of about two hours, sometimes even less. No, it was about a third of Paris and a matter of days. 

The heroine was terrified of her magic maybe not being enough. 

She didn’t voice that thought to Tikki, not wanting to insult her abilities. Apart from that the girl knew her Kwami, she knew that if she were to share her fears, the other would shower her with love and support and probably even pity. It mostly wasn’t a bad thing, but Marinette knew she would brake down in tears if she were to let any soft emotions in. She just couldn’t afford to break down, couldn’t afford to give in to her emotions or the pain would ovetake her, numb her and lay her down in an episode that could seperate the parisians from their heroine. No, Marinette couldn’t think of how her decisions led to her parents death, she could not hink of how her decisions led to half her class being killed ~ by their school collapsing onto them the very moment they stepped out of the schoolgates on their way to the shelter. She could not remember Julekas face when she couldn’t free her girlfriend from the rock that was kepping her legs in place. Couldn’t think of how Ladybug went to safe Chat Noir instead of lifting that rock of the tiny blond girl who was bleeding to death in her girlfriend arms. Rose and Juleka did not deserve this.

Oh gods Juleka! She has lost everything to this battle. Mari sincerely hoped she didn’t know about what has happened to her home, didn’t hear or even feel how Luka and her mother drowned in the wreck of their own ship...

Juleka wasn’t there to witness it, she was hiding in a shelter. To be specific, she was hiding in the very one shelter Ladybug has isolated from the rest of Paris. You coul call it the safest one of them all, if it weren’t for the person who was hiding in it. 

They say it’s easier to not cut your hand, if you know where the sharp edges are. Well, this shelters sharp edge was shiny, so how could it be dangerous? 

Lila Rossis’ shiny tears could drown her worst enemy and they would still marbel about that glistening beauty.

They say you shouldn’t pour gasoline in a room you can’t escape, a tiny spark could burn, but breathing it in for too long can kill you. Lilas lies were sprinkling into every direction in a room full of people she didn’t know. Her gasoline could meet a spark and burn... It was day six and for now the only danger for her health were the toxins, the acidity of her lies and attention seeking. It was slowly eating it’s way into the truly hurt, dissolving the hope of the ones who were traumatized. Lila would do anything to reach the top. She had no problem with throwing her friends under the bus, just to feel the temporary relief of the breeze  their fall would bring. 

In this situation getting that breeze meant loads of strategy. Lila was coldhearted, yes. She was a neglected child from a toxic household, yes. She didn’t understand love that didn’t come from lies. But unlike others, she didn’t give up on those toxic lectures her life has taught her. Lila was stoic, which meant she believed in her thesis, not wanting to listen to other opinions. Lila was intelligent, which meant she knew how to make her opinion be the only one that mattered. Lila was scarred, which meant she would try everything she could to keep herself from getting hurt. 

But Lila was also weak, which meant she would hurt others before they could hurt her.

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

“This is nice.”, Mari thought to herself. She felt so incredibly comfortable, not a single limb was hurting from exhaustion, she was warm and safe. Breathing was easy, no pressure was pushing down on her lungs. Upon realising that, she couldn’t help herself but take a very deep breath, which later turned into a heartly yawn. “I haven’t slept this good since...oh shit” Her memories came back in a punch. Her breath hitched and started to pick up on pace. Ah there it was, the constant adrenaline mixed with panic, that was keeping her from getting that oxygen she craved. A grumble suddenly made it’s appearance right next to the girls ear and she shrieked fully awake and scrambled away, only now feeling her body as her own and recognizing the position she was in. That fully woke the man who she has just been sharing a sleeping bag with- a familiar sleeping bag, though she wasn’t about to start to decipher that now. Instead she was staring at the man she had just previously met in her dream. And he was staring back, eyes just as wide as hers. She could practically hear him overthinking while she was just...stuck. Usually it would have been the other way around. Mari would blush, scramble stutter and panic her way into an embarrasing situation. Now though? She could see those emotions in that incredibly imperfectly perfecty looking man in front of her. She could see that tiny scar she wore on her eyebrow gracing his. She was blushing, yes, and she felt the shock sit deep in her heart, emotions overrunning her at a pace she didn’t think were possible. That meant a lot, since Marinette was all too familiar with anxiety and sensory overload. But she didn’t freak out. Instead she felt just felt the uncontrolable urge to comfort him, to make his heart stop panicking and instead feel the safety he had given her. Not even secondguessing herself she just lunged into his arms, hugging the man so closely he would never forget that very moment. Jason was still for just a millisecond before he put his arms around her in a just as energetic hug. It was like finally seeing your little sibling after not having seen them for a month. You see how much they have grown, are overflowing with all the emotions, good and bad, you have felt because of them. Suddenly, though, you are loving every one of them. It was like meeting your best friend after they have just told you they were getting into that school they always wanted to or seeing them safe after something horrible had happened in their area. It was pure appreciation, adoration, love. The meeting of soulmates.

It’s not like they haven’t interacted before, after all. They were THERE whenever something bad had happened to the other. They had felt the other grow up, learned what the other has internalized and thought of each other every. single. day, for years. To Marinette it has been her whole life and even though Jason was two years older than her, he has couldn’t remeber a single day passing without her in his mind. 

“Mornin’”, he spoke up first, though his voice wasn’t more than a whisper. 

“Nice to meet you too”, she whispered back, a smile clear in her voice. 

Hearing her voice he couldn’t help but hug her closer, but upon feeling the pain in her ribs he winced and pulled back. She was confused by the sudden movement for just as second, before realising and shaking her head with a laugh. 

“It’s okay don’t worry, I kind of got used to it, living with you and everything...”

While Marinettes heart was swelling up with warmth from the knowledge that this man did really care about her, his was cramping from the proper realization of just how much suffering he must’ve put her through. He saw her throat covered in all those tiny white lines, the fresh blue bruises on her arms. The pain he felt was the same she did. She did not deserve to suffer so much, not at all. Marinette saw him trembling and took his hands. This was very unlike her, not overthinking, being so bold while in civilian form. She enjoyed it. Even more so, she was happy to be able to act this way, since it was clearly necessary for the situation. Jason on the other hand felt like he was crying, letting out a breath he has been holding for too long, finally breathing in after a long dive. He felt so so damn relieved. Her hands in his where so reassuring, so forgiving and apologetic. 

“I am so sorry”, he mumbled, meaning every bit of it.

“Don’t be, those are mine.”, she smiled. Mari knew what he meant and accepted his apology. He didn’t just mean the scars that were currently gracing her skin. He meant the tiny one on her eyebrow, the several broken bones, the bullet wounds that were gracing her thighs and shoulders, the thick scars left by blades and explosions. He meant the pain. And she understood him. His soulmate wasn’t mad at him. Marinette lifted their intertwined hands to eyelevel, the touch so foreign but so familiar. Her rough fingertips touched his, the cuts she has never learned how to avoid while having her late night sewing sessions having healed again. Jason smiled slightly, remembereing just how annoyed he was to wake up to fresh cuts almost every morning. “I always paid you back, after all.” A grin was now gracing her face, a devious glistening lighting up her already vibrant, aquamarine irises.

Jason let one hand go and subconciously rubbed his upper arm, the one they always beat to get back on each other. Marinette giggled again, now being ready to take in more of her surroundings than just that whole world of a person in front of her. It was cold, dark and smelled vaguely of home. Not a good combination at all, especially considering the latest events.

The latest events... Where was she? Why was it so quiet? And why the fuck was she sitting on her fathers sleeping bag?

“Oh no you didn’t.”, her voice was flat. She remembered Chat having been by her side when she collapsed. He must’ve brought them there. The girl turned her head in every direction, looking for him without success.

“Did Chat bring us here? Has he slept? Has he seen me in my civilan form? Tikki where are you?”, her voice was rising in volume, demand and worry more audible than it had been in a long time. The tiny godess flew out of her hiding spot, face contorted in uncertainty. Before she could answer, Jason chimed up: “Yes, he is okay and promised this place to be safe. He did see you and left shortly after. He wasn’t looking like he was about to do something reckless, just said he’d get back to work, so I let him go.” His reaction was kind of weird, to be honest, but Jason hasn’t thought much of it back then. Now he was quite certain that Chat wasn’t supposed to see Ladybug untransformed. The civilian looking girl just nodded and stood up, her mind obviously racing and her eyes flicking through the room. “I really want to leave this place. Are you ready to go?” 

Tikki looked worried and kind of guilty and Jason did’t yet know why, but they had time for that later. They quickly did what they needed to do, which meant restocking on cookies and drinking a lot of water for Marinette and contacting the team for Jason. The soulmates updated each other on the battle while on speaker with the bats. Loads of uncertainties were answered and ideas on how they could proceed were exchanged. Towards the end of it, when the heroes and vigilantes just agreed to meet up at the Louvre and go further from there, Jason suddenly laughed and over to his soulmate. “I just noticed, we haven’t properly introduced ourselfes.”, he held out his hand, a lopsided grin gracing his features, “Name’s Jason Todd, the scariest Red Hood with guns Gotham has to offer”. Marinette laughed, clasping his hand in a firm grasp. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, also known as MDC and anonymously flying over the city in a skintight suit calling myself an insect.” They shook hands, eyes glistening with humour, both freaked out about the absurdity of that situation. “I’d say I’d wish we’d met under different circumstances, but I gotta admit this-”, the man lifted his other arm, which was currently holding one of his guns, “-is pretty damn epic.”

"It's getting even more epic from here.", she smiled, speaking as if she knew more than she told him. "I have an idea. We need to get an important box from my room. I know It's safe but I haven't moved the debris to retrieve it, yet. Kind of couldn't handle my emotions enough to come here sooner...", realization hit him like a brick. "This is your home? So are those people...this place.. oh Mari I'm such an idiot."

"No, Chat is the idiot. He has been flirting with me in both my forms for literal years and has never once voiced any suspicion on us being the same.” 

“Wait what? He flir-” 

“And now he just takes me to the place we dear but turned out to need most! Maybe he has figured it out and knew I would keep my box here...”, Marinette started rambling and Jason couldn’t help but smile inspite of his irritation. He didn’t understand everything she was saying but she looked so much better than she did on the videos Tim has send to the group. No more exhaustion, way less pain and just such determined hope was seeping out of her every pore. Jason enjoyed her presence, her voice and her words, even though he didn’t understand most of the connections. She was just to lively and cute to stop her. Sadly that vanished pretty quickly. 

Not only has Marinette realised that she has been talking non stop to a man she had just properly met for the first time, but she was already talking about things only she and Chat knew. It was weird, as if he must’ve known them. He was there after all. By her side, in her body, all the time.

They made their way towards her room, passing by a dusty kitchen and a door that probaly lead to some kind of foyer. There was what resembled a living room to their left, but it’s ceiling had collapsed and everything was covered in dust an debris, so it was hard to tell. Luckily Marinette decided to transform before making her way through it, which lead to Jason taking the lead and already going towards the destroyed staircase she pointed out to him. He had turned his back to Mari, not knowing what the transformation consisted of and not wanting to invade her privacy. He saw the walls around him light up pink for a second, but his attention was elsewhere. The closer to the staircase he went, the more rotten it smelled. There was an already dry trail of brownish blood coming from above which lead to...

Jason was happy he was the first one to notice them. He has seen many dead bodies before, has been the reason for some himself. Seeing those people was disturbing though. They were saved as soulmate-knowledge in some deep part of his brain. The fear of her reaction to seeing them was even worse. That’s why when he heard Ladybug approach him he quickly turned around and took her hands and so she would face him instead of the staircase, before she’d gotten the chance to see them.

Marinette, or currently Ladybug, let out a startled “huh” and looked at him questioningly. He only now noticed the slight redness in her eyes and the irritation in her gaze. She was holding back tears and he hadn’t even noticed. What kind of a soulmate does that? “Will you be okay?”, he asked, holding her hand so gently she could pull away without any resistance. It was clear this gesture was meant completly for her and she appreciated it wholeheartedly. It felt so much better, safer than with Chat. She loved her partner and of course she trusted him not only with her life, but also to back off whenever she asked him to. That wasn’t everything that mattered though and Mari was sad she’d only just realised why she was truly comfortable around him. 

Adrien was very touch starved, has been ever since his mother died. So he subconciously tried to prolong every touch he received. No matter if it was when she was handling him something or walking beside him, he was always touching her, constantly trying to hold on, keep her there just a little longer. It wasn’t just clingyness, it was as if he’d zip himself onto her whenever he could. She didn’t blame him for it and often didn’t even mind his affection. As mentioned, he always immediatly backed off whenever she asked him to. Once he even managed to spent a fight protecting her without any physical contact whatsoever. It was much more dificult that way, but she had winced when he jokingly kissed her hand before the fight and he has taken that as a sign to back off. He only allowed himself to come closer again when she’d explicitly allowed him to do so, not wanting to watch him walk around with drooping ears. Still, she rarely enjoyed the contact and almost never initiated it. Not because she didn’t like him, she just didn’t want to get his or her hopes up. Now, looking at her soulmate, she was happy she hasn’t tried anything with Chat. It would’ve only made everything much more complicated than it already was. Of course she could have had a platonic soulmate-relationship with Jason, but considering his looks and his charm Marinette would have considered it a shame not to appreciate who the universe had paired her with. 

“I’ll manage.”, she answered, though her voice was unpleasantly close to breaking. “I’ve got my coping mechanisms, more talking less thinking, though I’m sorry if I annoy you with it I should probably find a new wa-”

Before she could dive into another ramble Jason just shook his head, glancing over her shoulder. She realy should not see them, no coping mechanism is going to delete that image once it’s there. “I’m okay with that, don’t worry”, he tried to smile but gave up when it came out pained. This was not the moment for smiles. Not while he was facing his dead future in-laws. 

“But may I suggest a new coping mechanism?”, he bowed to the girl in front of him, who just tilted her head in curiosity. “What do you suggest, Monsieur?” Once she accepted the invitation he gently pulled her closer, taking his red heltmet that has been previously dangling on his belt, and carefully placed it on her head. She giggled, the helmet was too big on her and she looked incredibly cute. “I think you put it on backwards, I can’t see.”, she stated with a teasing smile in her voice. “Oh I’m sorry dearie, guess I’ll have to help you get up those stairs then”, upon saying that he picked her up and, when he sensed no discomfort from her side, proceeded to carefully climb past the two dead bodies on the staircase. Once they safely arrived in the room above and Jason was sure the Dupain-Chengs were no longer visible, he let her down and turned the helmet into the correct position. ”Feel safer like that?” “Tikkis magic protects me from any possible injuries. But I still like it very much, your air conditioner in this thing is incredible” She turned to him with a smile. “I’ll feel much safer with you wearing it, though.”

Mari took off the helmet and stood on her tip-toes, reaching up to place the red fashion-disaster on his head. “Once we’re done with that Dirtbag I’ll design you a new one. You don’t just look scary, this thing is embarassing me on your behalf.”

“Hey! I designed it myself! But I’ll gladly take you up on that anyways. Tim has only praised you handiwork so far and his face upon seeing me wear an MDC original instead of him is going to be priceless.”

Jasons ear suddenly rung with Tims strained voice asking about MDC and what the fuck he had missed. Jason ignored him, though on the inside he was yodeling with laughter about having gotten Tims favourite designer as his soulmate. 

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

Adrien was furious with himself. How could he have brought Marinette to the very home she would have wanted to avoid the most? How did he not notice the intensity of her grieve after her parents death? “I’m such an idiot!”, his scream echoed through the void that once was Paris. He was running towards yet another mansion, the one near the Pont des Arts, and audibly talking to Plagg. For an outsider it would’ve looked like he was talking to himself, or even worse: his suit. Technically he was doing just that, since Plagg had no way of reacting to his words while in this form and Adrien was not ashamed to admit that he liked it much better that way. No moans and dumb jokes while he was talking about important stuff. (He liked the jokes though, Plaggs sense of humour was Purr-ecious, even though admittedly Adrien was the only one to think that.)

“You think so? I think you still being alive is pretty not-idiot like.”, that voice made Adrien stop dead in his tracks, leading to the one who had suddenly appeared running beside him toppling over. Chat took fighting stance, waryily following the person with his eyes. “How the fuck did I not notice you sooner?!” The bright yellow figure, which the cat recognized as the Signal stood up and lifted his hands as if to show they were unarmed, only he was indeed very much armed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m with Batman, so please don’t attack.” Adrien mentally cursed, knowing that the lack of noticing someone as noticeable as the Signal was Plaggs form of revenge on Adriens rambling. “You little shit”, he whispered to the Kwami, who of course did not respond.

“Excuse me?”, Duke was staring at him in slight irritation. “Oh no I’m sorry I was talking to my...suit. It’s a long story. Anyways! It’s nice to meet you Signal! I’m a big fan.”, a smile spread out on the cat, his overall appearance only intensifying the cheshire grin that followed, “My name’s Noir, Chat Noir. I have to say, you look purrfectly nothissable, your suit is pawsomely doing kitts job.”

“Are you a furry?”

“What? NO!”

“I mean there’s nothing wrong with it if you are it’s just the way you speak-”

“I’m not, but thanks for the reassurance, I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.”

The look Signal was giving him was...hard to describe. Adrien was blushing, hard. Of course he would fail at flirting with one of his favourite vigilantes. OF COURSE the Signal would think Adrien was a furry. Marinette had warned him, why wouldn’t he listen?! An awkward silence kept the two boys in place, each looking at the other in uncertainty. Finally Duke decided to break the silence. “So... anyways... let’s get going, I’ll introduce you to the others. We also have some gadgets you and Ladybug could find useful.”

“That’s great, thanks.”

“Just so you know, I’m not judging you-”

“Thanks.”

“- but whenever you’re ready...”

“What do you mea-”

“As Anna from frozen has said: Love is an open door.”

“I get it. Please stop.”

“Sorry.”

With that, the black and yellow pair made it’s way towards the Louvre, with at least something else but the end of the world on their mind.

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

“How can you be so ignorant? Don’t you know how much Jagged Stones’ son meant to her? You of all people must understand how bad it is to have a loved one die!”

“Alya please, Juleka is still coping, she didn’t mean it that way...”, a crocodile-teared Lila told her servant, though she wasn’t really trying to stop her. Just a few minutes ago they were all discussing the distribution of rations, since the fight has been going on for even longer than they had formerly estimated, which meant a rapidly ending amount of food as well as rapidly growing panic. 

Lila chose that very moment, when everyone sat down, to start audibly weeping. How could she not use such a perfect audience, after all? 

“I’m so sorry I just.... I was trying to keep it together for so long now but then it got so quiet and it all just...”, she wiped her perfectly dry nose on her sleeve,”my boyfriend... Luce, Jagged Stones son you must’ve heard of him...well he died in the first night and I have only just properly processed it...” 

Upon hearing this, a murmur went through the audience. Over 80% of the present people have lost someone to the akuma. Everyone was coping differently, that’s okay. Juleka for example has spent most of her stay either silently sitting or very quietly humming to herself. Whenever someone pulled her back into reality though, her thoughts caught up with her and lead to full blown panic attacks which left her shivering, crying and throwing up in one of the limited toilets the shelter had to offer or outside the doors, which really didn’t help her condition, apart from maybe the higher oxygen rate the street had to offer. 

During the planned meeting, Julleka proceeded to just stay in her corner and humm her melodies, until the words “Jagged Stones’ son” had pulled her out of her trance. Instead of panicking, Lilas claim led to a kind of rage growing inside Julekas chest she hasn’t felt for a long time. 

“Jagged Stones’ son? Are you fucking serious?”, her voice wasn’t loud. Juleka rarely raised her voice. She didn’t need to, it was powerful enough if she wanted it to be. It filled the previously murmuring room with the kind of thunder that left a void behind. Some were holding their breath and for once it wasn’t because they were afraid to provoce the italian girls tears. Not only hasn’t Juleka spoken since her parting from Rose, no, her voice also held the energy of murder, her words intentions promised blood.

The ones who knew her were even more afraid, some held tears n their eyes. Juleka and Rose had a very rare kind of bond. They didn’t have the same abilities or a dependance on each other. Instead their bond was complementary. Where Juleka was darkness, Rose was light. Where Rose was naiv, Juleka was vary. Where Juleka was forgiving, Rose was loud. Where Rose had a voice that could carry for miles, even if she didn’t raise it, Juleka had hearing that could decipher even the quietest sounds. 

It isn’t unusual for a soulmate to carry one of the other ones traits in case of seperation. Some liked the reminder, it made them feel connected to the person they love, even if they were dead. Some couldn’t handle it, not being ready to let go. 

Juleka was somewhere in between when she heard her voice suddenly sound like Rose. She now had both of their complementary powers, she should feel complete, like a full human being. Juleka was happy to hear her loved ones voice again, but she did not in the slightest feel complete. She felt torn. She couldn’t hear her soulmates heart beat anymore. She couldn’t stop thinking of the moment she heard it stop. It stopping was the loudest sound she has ever heard.

Now she had her lovers voice by her side, supporting her in what she was going to say next.

“You are not dating him, shut the fuck up and get your priorities straight.”

That's the very moment all hell broke loose. Of course there were the ones who were smart enough to at least notice that arguing with the musician was dangerous and simply uncalled for, but there were also the already brainwashed ones who believed they had to protect the privileged who just felt like exploiting a situation for fun. Those believers were a few newbies Lila has recruited during her stay in the shelter and most of her classmates. Only Ivan, Nathaniel and Ondine joined Julekas side. The rest was either dead or has succumbed to the overwhelming pressure of the situation.

Alya was in protective mode, but for whatever reason she was protecting the offender.

That brings us back to the very moment:

“How can you be so ignorant? Don’t you know how much Jagged Stones’ son meant to her? You of all people must understand how bad it is to have a loved one die!”

"Yes I do.", Juleka voice rose slightly. The louder she got the more she sounded like herself, so she kept it quieter. Rose had to have a say in this too. "And so does up to everyone else here. But I also know that my brother has been alive that morning and I know that he would never even think of dating you, Lila."

She rose from her seating position, not caring for how her knees were about to buckle due to not taking care of herself for the last few days. The dust in her hair and the dark marks on her clothes made all those who saw her feel the dire of the situation. All but Lila. Lila wasn’t used to loosing and since she has never perceived the “quiet emo” as a threat before, she didn’t give her words any value. A lethal mistake.

“Oh really? What, are you saying your mother, that old lady who thinks she’s a pirate, had a child with Jagged Stone? Bless her soul I know it must be difficult to live with her..I’m so sorry if I sound mean I don’t mean it like that..you can come to me whenever you need me. I’m your friend and you’re right, your grieve is more important than mine, especially with a mother who brainwashed you like that....”

“Do not dare insult my mother. Don’t you dare pretend to know me. Don’t you dare twist my words. Who are you grieving, anyways? Isn’t you mother in Canada, helping the homeless? Or no wait, that was your long lost twin sister who has only just recently invited you to her wedding next month? And wasn’t Adrien your secret boyfriend? How did you bring Luka..no I mean Luce into this?”

“I...I understand you are hurt Jules”, the tall girl winced at the nickname her brother gave her coming out of that demons mouth, “but please don’t drag Adrien into this, wasn’t he always nice to you? Guys please don’t tell on her to Adrien, he would be terribly hurt....he has such a difficult life already...”, she hid her face in her hands. The ones who believed her thought it was to hide her tears, but in reality she was panicking. Juleka had a much better memory than she has expected.

“Stop attacking the girl like that, come here Miss Rossi, she won’t get past me.”, a male voice spoke up. It was principle Damocles, a man who feared the position Lila claimed to have. “You shouldn’t be letting your rage out on the innocent. We understand that your loss must’ve been tragic, but Miss Rossis loss isn’t about you. Let the girl grieve in peace or leave her alone.”

Juleka stopped shaking. Instead she just stood there, fire flaming in her eyes and a scary eeriness in her stance. “I’m leaving then.”, Roses voice proclaimed and the figure moved. No one tried to stop her as she went straight for the exit, climbed over the debris and turned around to look at them for one last time. Lila was about to say something, fake tears already ready to flow, but Juleka just flipped her off and shut the heavy metall door.

Oh how good it felt to breathe.

To scream.

Ladybug heard her scream and she had just the right Miraculous to help her let that anger out.

----------

Hi!

So this took really fucking long! But the next one is almost finished so there will be another grand update soon. I was writing several scenes at once and then took way too long to finish each one and properly connect them BUT I now have loads of action and banter and relationship and characatergrowth and all that funky fluff we love ^^

I’m sorry if I’ve kept you waiting, and I’m slightly sorry for the medium-cliffhanger...

IMPORTANT thank you all so much for your feedback! I love you so much and I’m sorry I haven’t answered most of you even though you absolutly deserve any bit of attention there is. Please just know that whenever I write these “thank you speeches”: I mean you. You are amazing and I hope you are feeling well <3

My tag list has grown! If you want to be added to this pretty ensemble down there, just message me in any way and I’ll be happy to add you!

Tag list \o/:

@maribat-is-lifeblood @lokilex @amayakans @readingismyoxygen @zalladane @sunspritethedestroyer @toodaloo-kangaroo @purplesundaze @yeet-this-bitch @ratherbereading125 @snap-crackle-pop-goes-my-joints @slytherin-batbitch @melicmusicmagic @laurcad123 @violatiger8 @thatonecroc 

Thanks for reading ^^

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[carpisuns]

What are your favorite marichat headcanons?? I need some marichat positivity today 😔

KDFJSLKFJLFJ THAT’S A MOOD RN FREN 😭

some of these are pretty basic/common but most of these are ones that i either made up just now on the spot or that i have been planning to use in fics that i may or may not ever write so this is your EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW lmao

they use a messaging app that hides their phone numbers to protect chat’s identity. he’s saved her as “princess.” she’s saved him as “kitty.”

he brings her a pink rose every time he visits because he gets them with every meal at nome and he’s like “well it’ll go to waste otherwise and marinette’s favorite color is pink sooooo...” and now she has a whole vase full of them in her room

the first time she invited him into her room he immediately went bright red and was like, “uhhhh i know i may come off as, ah, roguish? but i am REALLY not the climb-in-through-a-girl’s-window-in-the-middle-of-the-night type” and then marinette gets all blushy and awkward too and is waving her hands desperately going, “noooo that’s not what I meant at all!!” and he’s like “i know but it just doesn’t seem,,,,very gentlemanly sakjfalsd” and they’re both just blushing profusely and not making eye contact for like 4 minutes until chat mumbles, “i better go” and vaults away. plagg makes fun of him mercilessly when he gets home.

for a while after that they keep their hangouts strictly to the balcony. marinette put an extra chair out there just for him.

eventually though they move past the awkwardness because they know it’s 1000% Not Like That and they totally trust each other and plus it’s really cold outside and they’re good friends now and it’s fine

marinette sneaks down to the bakery to get treats for them all the time

sometimes they have video game tournaments, which marinette always wins, but chat always brings up the ONE time he beat her (because she fell asleep while they were playing)

they also have movie marathons. sometimes they watch the animated ladybug movie and chat always makes fun of the chat noir voice actor and marinette’s like “stop! adrien did a good job!” and chat’s like “no he didn’t i sound NOTHING like that and honestly im personally offended by this atrocious performance” (because he secretly likes hearing her defend him hehehe)

they have a secret knock for the skylight even though it’s totally unnecessary because it’s not like anyone else is ever at her window lol

sometimes he takes her out onto different rooftops just so they can enjoy the view together and talk with a change of scenery

marinette has a hidden photo album on her phone full of all the dumb selfies they take together

since marinette doesn’t know chat’s birthday, she’ll sometimes randomly given him a present for his “maybe birthday.” always something homemade and thoughtful.

one time she gives him a lucky charm like the one she gave adrien “because ladybug shouldn’t be the only one with a lucky charm! :)” chat is just overwhelmed by how thoughtful it is and he’s thinking “NOW I HAVE TWO 🥺🥺🥺” but this one’s even more special because she designed it specifically for him

she’s embarrassed to show him at first but she made a matching one for herself and that is the story of how marinette and chat noir have matching BFF charm bracelets

chat ADORES his but he can never wear it as adrien because marinette would recognize it and he can’t really wear it as a bracelet when he’s suited up bc of his weird cuff things so he hangs it from his belt instead

maybe, because it’s so important to him, and because we know that the magic of the miraculous creates a costume based on what the wearer subconsciously wants, the lucky charm becomes part of the costume. as in, whenever he’s transformed it’s already there. so that way he always has his adrien lucky charm when he’s adrien and always has his chat lucky charm when he’s chat. purrhaps :3

they get andre’s ice cream and it’s chocolate and strawberry with chocolate ears 🥺 (that’s what we decided right? haha)

the more they get to know each other the more they notice little specific things about each other.

for example, marinette notices how chat’s jokes are so stupid but they always make her smile. How even though his eyes look like a cat’s they’re also so expressive and human. His soft smile. The way his hair bounces when he shakes his head. The way he cocks his head when he’s listening. They way his voice almost sounds like a purr when he’s sleepy. how beneath all the ridiculous bravado he puts on, he’s really sweet and pretty modest. how he’s so energetic and a ton of fun to be around, but deep down he’s lonely and sad and sometimes it leaks through. how he’s the most loyal person she knows and she knows he’d do anything for her—not just as ladybug but as marinette too.

Chat notices how marinette bounces up and down when she’s excited. how she scrunches her nose up when she’s concentrating. how her bangs swoosh whenever she moves. how she’s so expressive with her face and voice and hand movements (and he loves listening to her talk). how she’s actually really cheeky and confident and can effortlessly deflect a joke right back to him. how she can figure out any puzzle she puts her mind to. how she’s even more crazy talented than he realized with designing and drawing. how she’s happy-go-lucky but also stressed and tired and worried, with a weight on her shoulders he can’t quite figure out. how she puts SO much effort into making the people she loves happy, including him—not just as adrien but as chat noir too.

sometimes they both feel a little guilty because they know more about the other person than they should and they have to pretend like they don’t know each other as well in their other personas. marinette knows that chat’s favorite color is orange, but ladybug doesn’t. chat knows that marinette hates tomatoes, but adrien doesn’t. they have to be careful not to let anything slip that they shouldn’t know and sometimes it stresses them out and they wonder if getting this close and blending the two sides of their lives together was a good idea after all. but they always arrive back at the conclusion that their friendship is one of the best things they have and they wouldn’t trade it for anything.

one night they’re on the balcony just sitting in comfortable silence. she’s leaning her head on his shoulder. “marinette,” he whispers, “I think you’re my best friend.” she doesn’t answer for a while. he thinks she’s fallen asleep. but then ... “I think you’re my best friend too.” and then, after a pause, “don’t tell alya.”

ok im out of ideas now but thanks for the ask! (sorry it ended up being so long lskfdjajks) that was fun!! :3 i love this ship sm and i love thinking of these little possibilities and tidbits because we’ll never get to see any of it on the show CRY

[goggles-mcgee]

A Little Birdy Told Me

Based off the AU by @ozmav , and inspired by @particularlygeeky ! I love Lizzie okay and i love her fic Little Ladybird.

________________________

Summary

Marinette is dealing with knowing Adrien is Chat while on the school trip to Gotham, while also having to deal with more of Lila's lies. It wasn't enough to turn everyone against her she guessed, apparently Lila was set on making sure Marinette felt no happiness. But Marinette makes friends in Gotham, friends that are willing to throw down for her. Out of all things she could have guessed would happen on this trip, falling in love was not one of them. She also didn't expect to reveal her identity to the Batfamily, she also didn't expect to find out their identities either.

Meanwhile Adrien is trying to figure out how to make Marinette his finally, one way or another.

Notes:

I know what some of you are thinking, Goggles why the hell did you start another fic when you got so many going on????? My answer: I'm weak to a cute ship. I am very very weak.

I hope you guys enjoy!

__________________________

It was dark out already and everyone knew not to stay out at night in Gotham, even tourists, but here Marinette was walking aimlessly, trying to find the hotel her and her class were staying at. It didn’t help that her phone had died an hour ago after her following the directions displayed back to the hotel, she hadn’t noticed how low her battery had been so she had kept the app open, she was still hours away, if she had to guess. She knew this trip wouldn’t be great but she had held onto the hope that everyone would be preoccupied with the new place enough to leave her alone, but she had been wrong. Somehow Lila had convinced everyone to leave the hotel earlier than they had planned, of course the day Marinette is early is the day they ditch her at the hotel. She decided to try and catch up with them by taking a taxi but she underestimated just how slow and hectic traffic could be, by the time she got to Wayne Tower she was told that her class had already toured most of the tower but that they would be on one of the upper floors. So she raced up to where they were only to see them get into the elevator, then she ran all the way back downstairs as fast as she could, but at that point she had been so tired that she just couldn’t catch up. The sight of everyone getting in the bus filled Marinette with such relief, she could catch up to them, she yelled out to her teacher who was the last one to get on the bus but it seemed like she didn’t hear her and the bus was quick to take off.

 Marinette had just stood there watching the bus drive off in disbelief. She had shouted, her teacher had to have heard her, right? Then why did they leave her again? Especially in Gotham! The Class President had put a whole presentation together on Gotham, especially about the crime and the curfew that they should stick to considering they were tourists. That’s specifically why she pushed so hard to book a hotel near the Wayne Botanical Garden instead of the one near Crime Alley like Principal Damocles wanted them to stay at.

 Needless to say she was on edge as she walked, her feet were killing her and she had a migraine, she definitely didn’t think she could try and grab another cab when it had taken her so long to get one earlier. At least Tikki and Kaalki were with her, she wanted to just transform into Ladybug but what if someone saw? Ladybug couldn’t be seen in Gotham, not yet anyways, and she would have asked Kaalki to open a portal for her but she didn’t have anymore sugar cubes to give to the kwami. Eventually, everything just got too much and she stopped in the middle of the alley she had been taking as a short cut and sat down, she couldn’t stop the tears that ran down her face, nor could she hold back her sobs.

 She was…she was just so exhausted. With everything, with school, with Hawkmoth, with everyone basically, and she was fed up with not getting to cry, so she let herself do just that, just to get rid of all the pent up emotions that swirled dangerously inside her. Her heart ached, her throat was starting to feel sore from her sobbing, and her lungs begged for more air, but she didn’t care.

 “It’s coming from over here Pam-a-lamb!” A voice said from somewhere behind her in the alley, it had a slight accent but she couldn’t place it. That was beside the point, someone was approaching and she didn’t know I’d they were friend or for so she slowly pushed herself up and tried to stop crying but that didn’t really work, if anything it made it worse.

 “Are you okay, sweetheart?” Another voice said, this one was softer. Great there was two of them! She needed to say something anything, but her voice wouldn’t come out, she realized it was even hard to breathe. She couldn’t breathe! She needed to breath!

 “Hey, hey, hey! You’re okay doll, everything is okay. Can you breathe with me?” The first voice asked, Marinette looked up when she felt one of her hands grabbed, she flinched and tried to tug her hand away but the person had a good grip. They placed her hand on their chest and breathed slowly. In, and out. In, and out. She soon found herself copying the breathing, she finally got control of her tears and blinked the rest away so she could see things other than colorful blobs.

 “You’re doing great!” The woman who had placed her hand on her chest said, she finally got a good look at her, she was blonde from what she could see under the red and black jester-like hat, she had white face paint with a black and red mask over her eyes, pink blush stood out among the face paint. Her outfit seemed to follow the black and red theme with a collared shirt jumper over a leotard that went and disappeared into boots. Marinette could feel the leather of the gloves that held her hand. The other woman had vibrant red hair, her skin had a green hue to it, her clothes seemed to be coming from her, like she grew them. The top was white, it looked like it had veins, almost like flower petals, vines act as a belt while her pants seemed to be made of leaves.

 Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, she recognized them from her research on the city. She knew that they were rogues, sometimes antiheros, it really depended on the day of the week it seemed, with how they were acting she was hoping they were feeling more antihero.

 “What’s wrong sweetheart?” Ivy asked as she pet Marinette’s hair, the girl couldn’t help but lean into the gentle touch, sure she got a lot of physical affection from her parents, but they weren’t here and she soaked up whatever comfort she could get.

 “I-I…it’s just been a really long day.” Marinette stuttered out before she launched into a full explanation of the day she had been having, she did her best to not break out in tears again, she surprisingly was able to do that, she chalked it up to the fact that Harley was sitting by her and a had a hand around her shoulders while Ivy held her hand. As she explained she completely missed the two women exchange looks of rage at what they were hearing.

 “I’m sorry you had to go through that my pet,” Ivy said in a soft voice as she stood up and helped Marinette up, “would you like us to take you to the police station?”

 Marinette shook her head with wide eyes. She really didn’t need to give her classmates more fuel to add to add to their dumpster fire of secrets and ridicule of her. “I’m sure things will be better tomorrow, but uh, can you help me back to my hotel? My phone was giving me directions, but it died.”

 “Of course, Doll! Where you stayin’?” Harley asked as she and Ivy walked on either side of Marinette, Harley still had her arm around Marinette’s shoulder, but the girl really didn’t mind, she felt comfortable with them, which really surprised her, but she knew the two weren’t anything like Joker or any other villain, they were more like Luka when he became Silencer. That reminded her that she was supposed to call him and Kagami to tell them about her first day in Gotham.

 “At Gotham Grandeur.”

 “You would have been walking for hours! How could they do that, don’t they know how dangerous Gotham can be?” Seethed Ivy, orange lilies started to bloom in her hair and thorns seemed to protrude from her vine belt.

 “I covered that in my presentation on Gotham weeks before we left, I wanted to have all bases covered, I mean it is my responsibility of class president…but I guess my teacher forgot or something.” She lamented, the ‘or intentionally forgot,’ remained unspoken. “That’s just my luck really but I guess Lady Luck decided to grant me some luck today! Afterall I got to meet you guys!”

 The two rogues smiled down at her and she smiled back, more genuinely than she had in a long time. She smiled more when Ivy asked if she would be okay if they traveled with her vines on the rooftops, she claimed it would be much faster and she said it would be safer for Marinette. Really, she had no problem with it, especially when some of the vines held her carefully when they jumped over to another building, kind of like a seatbelt. The thought made her giggle. It took them awhile but eventually Marinette was back at the hotel, she could see some of her classmates hanging out in the lobby, making her freeze, she really didn’t have the energy to deal with them if they noticed her.

 Apparently, Ivy and her vines felt Marinette freeze up. “Are you okay sweetie?”

 “Um, well, my classmates are in the lobby, and well we don’t exactly get along. I just really don’t want them to see me.” Marinette explained in a hurry as she tried to hide herself behind Ivy and Harley when Adrien turned to look outside, she couldn’t see him so she hoped he couldn’t see her.

 “Do you remember which room is yours?” Harley asked, her voice was cheerful, but Marinette could hear the slight fakeness to it.

 “Room 7021. Mine has a balcony…” She said, she felt the vines grab her once more before they lifted her to the seventh floor, right at her balcony, which thankfully she didn’t lock the door to her room when she had stepped out to take a look at the city and the gardens they were near. “Thank you so much, for everything. Oh, wait here!”

 Marinette rushed into her room and opened up the box that she had wrapped in some clothes and took out two macarons. Her parents had sent her with an assortment of them that way she had something to remind her that they loved her. Also so she could have a taste of home while she was out in an unfamiliar place. She quickly made her way to the two women who were leaning against the rails of her balcony. They smiled when she came back and she easily returned their smiles as she handed each of them a lemon raspberry macaron.

 “As a thank you.”

 “Doll you didn’t have to!” Harley squealed out before she immediately stuffed the macaron in her mouth.

 Ivy chuckled and smiled fondly at her clown, “She’s right, but thanks all the same…uh?”

 “Oh my god, I didn’t tell you guys my name. I’m Marinette!”

 “Thank you Mari-gold, it was nice to meet you dear, we’ll leave you so you can rest.” Ivy said as she nudged Harley with her shoulder, Harley nodded before picking up Marinette in a big hug.

 “Hope to see you again, Doll!”

 “Me too!” Marinette giggled. She watched as they left, and for the first time in a long time she went to bed not feeling dread about tomorrow. She really hoped she got to see them again. Hopefully she would, but she was really excited for their tour tomorrow, they were going to be going back to Wayne Tower and she was excited to actually tour the place with no rush.

  ----------------------------

 Ivy and Harley took a break on a roof, still close to Marinette’s hotel. Ivy was barely holding in the urge to cover the whole hotel in her vines and letting them have a couple snacks, but she took deep breaths to quell the tempting thought. Harley was doing no better as she swung her mallet around to relieve some stress.

 “They left her to fend for herself, Red…That’s just, that’s just wrong!” Harley yelled out as she paced back and forth on the roof.

 “I know, Love, I’m not exactly happy about it either. She was such a sweetheart; I don’t see how they could forget about her like that.”

 “I think something is going on with her and that class of hers.” Harley grumbled out as she came to stand with Ivy at the edge of the building. “Every time she mentioned them, she would curl in on herself, like she was trying to make herself seem smaller. That’s not okay. And the way she described being left behind? Yeah that was a load of baloney.”

 “You think they left her on purpose?” Ivy asked, she really hoped Harley was wrong.

 “I think we might need to seek out the Bat just so he can be on the look out just in case they “forget” her again.” Harley said with a frown as she stared off in the direction of the hotel they had just come from. Ivy really didn’t want to have to talk to the Bat but arley was right, it would be the smartest thing to do for Mari-gold.

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Bugs Before Hugs @immagothamitetermite

#onlyingotham I swear I just saw Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy on some rooftops with a teenage girl, it could also be the Red bull and coffee taking effect though. #essayduetomorrow #killmemydudes #thatsnotaninvitationroguesisweartogod 

Next

[silvia7272]

8 ~ The Blog-Off

I thought it would be time to meet some of the secondary characters I haven’t introduced yet. Also, I think this might be the third to last one before Piper is introduced to the gang? Maybe, just soon, I hope. And I think it’ll feel like a massive info dump but oh well, I wanted more people than just the class.

Also, I want to give these characters some actual personality traits, hope you like them.

Since I’ve made it that Timetagger isn’t canon in my storyline then I’ll have to add that Alix’s watch is just a unique watch and not a Miraculous since she’s a part of the class salt. Hopefully, that makes sense. Also, the episode Feast hasn’t happened either.

Word Count: 5698

Tags: @queenmj10, @fangirl39, @animegirlweeb, @northernbluetongue, @maribat-is-lifeblood, @raisuke06, @indecisive-mess-named-me​ @luleck​, @themotherofhogwarts​, if you wish to be tagged all you have to do is say. Also, if you change your name please tell me, I don’t want to leave you out since you’ve asked to be tagged.

.

Ok, so I just checked on the fanon website information for Miraculous Ladybug and it says Juleka and Alix are 15, how? And why couldn’t they just make it simple so they’re all 13 at the start? I really don’t get it, could someone explain it to me, it just seems so odd to only have 2 people at different ages, (Just saw that Kagami is 15 as well)? For now, they first became heroes at 13, Adrien 14 because his birthday was in the bubbler. Including those 3 cause it makes more sense, because if Juleka really is 15 it's said that Luka is 2 years older than her so that means he’s 17 and that makes me extremely iffy about him liking a 13-year-old Marinette. Yikes, I like Luka leave him alone damn it.

So, the second year of Miraculous Ladybug, they’re all 14-15.

***

It was a particularly sunny day at Collège Françoise Dupont. There hadn’t been any Akuma’s for a while. Leaving everyone a chance to relax.

Well, most could relax.

“Aurore I’m sure its fine, you don’t need to stress so much” Her friend Mireille tried to calm her friend down to no avail. She was still staring at her phone.

“Y-Yeah cheer up. It's only been a day. Maybe people just haven’t l-looked under that tag yet?” But that response only made the blonde glare.

“How could they not. Its an actual Akuma battle I was able to get hold of and nothing? Unbelievable!” The video itself was of the Akuma SleepSis, Aurore was able to get some footage, shaky, but she was able to upload that battle.

Unluckily for her, it seemed that no one was interested but a few people. She couldn’t understand, it had Ladybug and Chat Noir as well as that new hero everyone wanted to know. But because she was new no one paid any attention to it.

“Hey, it's only the first video. Maybe if you make more people will see you.” Mireille suggested, she didn’t want to see her friend upset, they had started to become closer after their rocky start and she didn’t want her to be Akumatized because of this.

“It's so not fair, my video is the latest Akuma fight and nothing has come of it, meanwhile little miss blogger gets all the attention and she hardly does any posts about Akuma’s anymore, it's all about this Lila girl, who by the way is completely fake. Nothing on Akuma’s, more about Ladybug’s love life, why should we give a damn about that-” And here we had a completely wild Aurore, she was ranting while her friends were trying to calm her down. Marc already knew Lila was lying when Marinette told him after… Certain events happened. And Mireille was a good friend, believing Marc and Aurore right away, they had come at separate times and besides, after hearing the girl, all Mireille could see was fakery everywhere.

“Excuse me? Can we sit here?” A voice spoke, breaking the three out of their conversation.

“Huh? Marinette! How are you?” Aurore stood to hug the bluenette who was overjoyed with the fact they saw each other again. Their class schedules were so spread out, this had been the first time, before Rosina joined in fact, that she could see them.

And boy did they change.

“Err Marinette I don’t want to tell you this but Chloé is behind you, extremely close behind you” She pointed to the blonde who didn’t seem amused at all.

“Geez blondie, don’t talk about someone who’s in-ear reach!”

“Well maybe if you weren’t so close to us you wouldn’t hear!” They glared at each other so hard you could see the literal spark in their eyes.

This was going to be a long day.

***

“Sooo you two are friends now?” Mireille concluded after hearing this whole story.

“I find that extremely hard to believe” Aurore spoke, her eyes still not breaking away from Chloé.

“Well, no one's forcing you!” She retaliated.

“Eheh… So where is this miracle worker?” Marc but in, he found it better that Chloé was trying to mend her old ways, and try to redeem herself. It seemed to be working at least, she wasn’t insulting everyone at the table, only Aurore.

“She said she was coming later, she wanted to go explore something” Marinette explained, oblivious of Chloé’s horrified expression.

“And you let her!? You know she needs to be kept in check, what if she’s halfway across Paris by no-” Arms appeared around the girl's shoulders.

“Mari! Chlo! Hiya” It said.

“Ahhh! Don’t scare me like that!” Chloé hit her head, she was too surprised to realise who it was, but she wasn’t sorry, no one should scare someone and expect nothing to happen to them.

“Hey, no fair, it was only as they say a jest” Marinette held an embarrassed smile. Taking Rosina’s arm as they sat down at the table.

“Anyway Rosina, these are the friends I was talking about. Aurore, Mireille and Marc” She pointed to them as Rosina excitedly waved.

“H-Hi-” Marc couldn’t finish that sentence.

“Wow, I love your pigtails they look so cool. Aww, you look so cute in that outfit, like a cute little panda. Wow, I love your t-shirt I so want one for myself.” They all seemed confused. Why was this girl flattering them?

“Don’t worry she does that to everyone,” Marinette clarified.

“Yep, I read if you want to make a good impression you must compliment to provide a friendship with them, now that we’re friends what should we do?” She smiled an enormously large smile, she looked cute and happy, like they could feel the positivity radiating of the girl.

“You’ll get used to this as well, she’s always this happy.”

It was silent after that. No one really seemed to talk, because there was still a big elephant in the room. And it was all pointing to a specific blonde.

“Ugh fine I get it. I’ll go and leave you all in peace” Chloé got up and started to walk away. But two hands pulled her back.

“Wait Chloé it's fine. You seem like you’re really trying so I’ll give you a second chance.” Mireille said.

“Mmhmm, yeah Chloé you’re getting so much better, she even got me a phone” She held it up, her charm still intact, she wanted to take good care of it.

“Wow really?” Marc was surprised, Chloé actually gave someone a present? Was she an imposter? No, it didn’t seem like an Akuma.

“Yeah wanna see?” The redhead excitedly showed off her first-ever phone to the boy. Even explaining things Marc knew but didn’t have the heart to tell her.

“Mhmm buying your way into friendship now?” Aurore so wasn’t convinced at all; sure, people could change but she wasn’t about to forgive Chloé after all the years of her bullying her.

“For your information, Rosina was in need of a phone because she’s never had one. So, it was a gift” She retorted, arms crossed as Marinette put her hand to her forehead. Her and Mireille had given up trying to hold them back, it was obvious they weren’t going to like each other, it might take more time for them to get along.

“As if I’ll fall for that trick. I’ll see you crack under the pressure real soon Chloé Bourgeois.” She huffed as her head turned, refusing to look at her anymore.

“Whatever Aurore Beauréal” The other four were paying attention to Rosina as she was showing all her new apps.

“Err, R-Rosina I can’t understand any of it, what language is it in?” It wasn’t in French that was for sure.

“See see, since I’m still getting used to the French, so I’ve put it in Arabic since it's easier, that way whenever I text my friends they won’t get confused if I get anything wrong.” She gleamed as she put it back in her bag.

“It's fine Rosy, we can help you just tell us ok?”

They continued to talk as they had 1 hour of a free period left. And a previous topic came back to relevance.

“So, you’re a blogger as well?” Rosina was told what a blogger was after Alya overheard her uncertainty. She was dragged off by the girl as she explained. She showed all of her videos to her. Rosina was amazed by the fact one could capture motion and replay it. She had heard about a blog before but had yet to see it. Chloé and Marinette were able to steal her away after causing a distraction.

“A beginner, I was kinda inspired by Alya’s, but it slowly derailed into fake news, so I wanted to make one myself, for Ladybug. She’s been amazing for us and she deserves to be respected. Not pry about her love life or identity” Marinette was beaming on the inside, finally, someone wanting facts and information, plus she knew Lila was bs anyway. She couldn’t be more relieved.

“But… No one seems to want to watch it” Her confidence wavered, Marinette felt dejected, how could she help her she wondered?

“Can we see it? I wanna see what it's about” Aurore beamed with joy, she happily showed her, watching for any change in the girl's faces.

But before the redhead could state her opinions, the blonde beat her to it.

“There's nothing special about it”

“What! H-” She held up her hand, she so wasn’t done.

“It looks like a video that Césaire girl could do, hell I could do that with my eyes closed. There isn’t anything special here” Aurore had enough, how dare she walk in here and disrespect her like this. The pigtailed girl was so close to being done.

“Chloé’s right”

“Rosina you can’t just say it like that!” Marinette was concerned, please don’t make her have to face off Stormy Weather again!

“No wait- I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry Aurore, I just think you can change it, that’s all” She frantically waved her hands around as Aurore blinked.

“Huh?”

“I just mean, Chloé is right that it does look like Alya’s, so maybe you can make different err- what's the word… Content yeah that. Make different content, like an analysis of Akuma, and their powers and weapons.” Marinette shot up, ideas filling her mind.

“Maybe you could interview the heroes about questions regarding Akuma’s? I know people would feel better having their queries answered.” Mireille then joined in.

“You could include tips on how to stay safe during an Akuma attack? That could be useful.”

“I-If you want a script to use, I could help with that?” Marc piped up.

“And since I’m feeling generous, I guess I could lend you some space to use for your videos. Anywhere else would be barbaric” Aurore would’ve glared at her, but she couldn’t make herself do that. They were all encouraging her to continue, to make it unique, to make it her own.

She smiled.

“Thanks, you guys. I’ll be sure to remember this. And you too Chloé” Said blonde smirked.

“What? Sorry I didn’t hear that” She became irritated.

“Chloé please stop teasing her, that’s not a very nice thing to do” Rosina grabbed onto her arm, trying to stop the inevitable argument.

“Ugh fine, it wasn’t any fun anyway” Now they felt shocked. Chloé willingly giving up her teasing? That was unheard of- maybe Rosina really was a good influence after all.

***

[This is great, love the special guests]

[Thanks so much for the advice!]

[Thank you, sweetie, I’m sharing this with everyone xxx]

Hundreds of comments like these appeared within minutes of her second video. Amazingly Ladybug had somehow heard of what Aurore wanted to do and brought Crisono along for the ride as well. Because it was a quiet night, they were able to gain so much information, and Aurore was able to stop fangirling and have a proper conversation with them. They got so many recordings done in a single night Aurore was able to go to sleep feeling peaceful.

Her second video consisted of self-defence demonstrated by Ladybug, it held a serious yet comedic approach as Ladybug demonstrated what would happen if someone, Akuma or not, attacked you using Crisono. Ladybug playing the hero while Crisono played the villain, and what a funny villain she was. It was a huge hit and the viewers wanted more, wanted to know more about Crisono.

Luckily her third video would consist of who exactly Crisono Tassa was? They knew she didn’t hold a Miraculous, so the mysteries surrounding her were endless.

She was so happy by the boost she couldn’t help her locking onto Rosina the minute she spotted her at school.

“Thank you thank you thank you! They love it, and Ladybug and Crisono came to help me. Rosina, you’re the best” Rosina could only pat the girl on her back as her limbs were constricted from moving.

“I didn’t do anything really. But I’m so glad you’re happy Aurore, I mean I know my acting wasn’t the best bu-”

“What?” Mireille asked, what acting was she talking about?

“In the v-” Marinette clamped a hand over the redhead's mouth.

“Well I think I heard the bell go, and you know how Mlle Bustier can be with tardiness so byeeee!” Once they were out of earshot of the three new friends Rosina had made Marinette gave a glare to Rosina.

“You can’t keep doing that?” Rosina tilted her head.

“Doing what?”

“Revealing your identity to people Rosina. It was fine with Marinette because she’s Ladybug, and there were circumstances with Chloé but you can’t do it with other people it can be really dangerous” Tikki came out lightly reprimand the girl, Tikki had long ago deemed Rosina safe to be around as well as hold a secret, and came to care for the girl just like Marinette, she only wanted to protect her.

“But it's fine, it doesn’t matter if people know it's me” She tried to reason. But the bluenette shook her head.

“Yes, it does Rosina. Your friends and family could get hurt if Hawkmoth ever finds out your identity. Please Rosy. Don’t reveal yourself to anyone else”

“But Mari, I only have you, Chloé, Kagami, Adrian, Chat, Aurore, Mireille and Marc as my friends” Marinette would’ve winced at the mention of the blonds but now wasn’t the time.

“Yes but-”

“Plus, I have no family, so he can’t use them to get to me”

.

.

.

“W-What?”

“I don’t have a family, I only have 8 people to protect, so that’s why I’ll strive to protect all of my friends.”

“B-But what about-”

Riiiiiiiiiiing

“Well class should be starting soon, c’mon Mari, we don’t want to be late ok” Before the bluenette could answer she was already being dragged off, she couldn’t stop her as the words went around in her head.

I don’t have a family

‘How can she say that so casually? And what about Franchezca, what about her?’

These questions whirled around the girl’s head so much she couldn’t pay that much attention to the lesson. Not like Bustier called on her. She was glad for that.

Maybe she could ask later?

***

“Rosina?”

“Yep,” A voice spoke, popping the ‘P’. They were walking around the city; they were meant to be meeting everyone as they had planned to all hang out later but Marinette was able to convince Rosina to go earlier. And Marinette felt it was a good enough time to ask Rosina what she meant beforehand.

“You said you don’t have any family to protect. But you also call Mlle Franchezca Aunt? So, if it’s not too much trouble, could you explain?” She stopped walking.

“I mean you only want- I mean, only if you want to. I don’t want to force you or anything” She really hoped she hadn’t offended her.

“Its fine Marinette, I just don’t know where to begin”

She placed her hand under her chin, looking to reminisce on something.

“Let’s see, how did Aunty say it again?”

~

In the middle of a desert, an older woman with a cane walked.

She was searching for that damn forth Trinklet and it was nowhere. But she needed to find it fast, if not then it would crack.

And she really didn’t want to spend any more time in this stupid desert than she had to.

But then she saw a glow.

‘Perfect’ She thought, making her way towards it, believing that would be the end of it.

But it was only the beginning.

As she came closer to the glow, she saw a bundle of blankets next to it. She was surprised about that discovery.

But that was nothing, because then she heard a cry.

“What the-?”

She rushed to the blanket, if it was what she thought it was then she had to move quickly.

And like she was able to predict… It was.

A baby.

“Who would leave a kid all the way out here?” Franchezca decided that she would try and find out who the baby belonged to. Of course, she wasn’t going to get attached to her.

No, of course not.

That would be absurd.

~

“She always blamed my smile was the reason she couldn’t give me up” Rosina had finished her story as Marinette stood there.

“So, you really don’t have any other family members?”

“Nope, I don’t know anyone related to me. And Aunty always told me to call her Aunty cause she didn’t want to be called Grandma.” She laughed as she remembered the embarrassed look she gave when the Silver-eyed girl said Grandma once.

“You were just… Left alone?”

“Yeah, she told me this poncho was the only thing I had on me. That’s why I wear it everywhere. But it's alright. Aunty took care of me for all that time, and then I got the chance to train to fight all the Trinklets in the world. It's great” She raised her arms in the air to exclaim she wasn’t even sad.

Swish.

“I didn’t know you wanted a hug, Mari?”

‘She doesn’t seem bothered at all; I want to feel sorry for her but… Should I?’

“You do have family”

“Mari I-” She was about to repeat herself but Marinette jumped to cut her off.

“You have me and Maman and Papa. We’re your family. All of our friends are family and your Aunt. That’s why you can’t reveal yourself to anyone” Rosina paused. She wasn’t expecting… That.

“Really?” It was barely audible but Marinette heard it. And it was so sincere.

“Yeah, so please promise me you’ll stop doing that”

“…Ok. But if I can’t transform in time you can’t blame me if anyone sees” She cheekily replied her usual self-returning.

“Fine, but that’s only if, ok?” She shot back; Rosina nodded before they continued on their walk. Apparently, there was someone she wanted Rosina to meet. All she knew was that he didn’t attend Collège Françoise Dupont.

***

“Rosina, this is Luka. Luka this is Rosina.” They had arrived at *Pont des Arts the meeting place Marinette had organised earlier, all of her friends arriving later gave Rosina enough time to get along with the newcomer, everyone else knew him, it was only fair if Rosina got some time too.

“Pleased to mee-”

“Wow, your hair looks so cool, were you born with it or did you dye it? Wait, are you by any chance related to Juleka? Wow you look so cool” She repeated as he stood back just a bit, he had predicted her melody to be calm and slightly childish, now it had just changed dramatically… He needed a moment to adjust.

“Sorry Luka, I should’ve warned you she was hyper.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, it’s good to see you so happy, Rosina seems to have drowned out that melancholy you had” That caused Marinette to blush before she looked back at Rosina. They continued to have a small conversation, at least before everyone else arrived anyway, although it did surprise Marinette when Luka kept looking around and checking his watch, was he waiting for someone? Was he just biding time before leaving them? Was it going to be his girlfri-

“Hayo, Luka long time no see? It’s been like sooo long” A girl who looked like the same age as Luka approached the gang of 3. And she looked so pretty.

She had green hair that complimented her dark skin, her orange jacket looked of high quality and red trousers, was this who Luka was waiting for? Was this his gir-?

“Noémie, it’s been a while, I should have asked before, but I was wondering if my friend could hang out with us?” Marinette was slightly put off, ever since the Lila situation she’s been ever so slightly apprehensive of new people, but she guessed since she’s a friend of Luka’s she would soon be a friend of hers.

“-Gasps- Luka is this the Marinette ya keep talking and gushing about? Oh, my life. She is the cutest little thing ever. Selfie child” Before Marinette could respond she’d already taken a selfie.

“You look even cuter on camera, oh stop ya gonna kill me smols” Noémie’s hand was then grabbed by someone else, it wasn’t forceful at all, but she did lookup.

“Hiya Miss, I just wanted to say that I love your green hairstyle, it looks super cool on you”

.

.

.

‘Is that a tear-’

“Oh my god these two smols are so like adorable, I’m officially adopting you two, my precious little babies.” Marinette would soon learn she would never be able to finish another thought around the green-haired girl. Ever again.

And adopting?

“Eheh no thanks, I have a Mother and one is more than enough” She tried to get out of the hold but couldn’t.

“What’s adopting?”

“I’ll… Tell you later” Mari sighed, this seemed to become a long day.

“I was going to tell you that she can be a bit extreme, but she beat me to it.” Luka sent an apologetic smile towards the two, more to the bluenette since Rosina seemed to be enjoying the affection. It wasn’t like Noémie was doing anything harmful, but he knew she could be a bit… Overbearing at times.

“Selfie time”

“But you just took one?”

“Like girl, ya can never have too many selfies with smols like ya. All these photos can stay online forever. All these memories we can have and keep and look back on is like sooooooo cool. Now say cheese!” her monologue was filled with so much passion for selfies Marinette was able to giggle.

Ok, she liked her, she seemed really quirky.

Whether it was luck or not the others arrived not too long after, unluckily Noémie tried to use that same trick on Chloé because she was apparently a fan of the Mayor’s Daughter…

Yeah, that didn’t turn out well.

But she got over it when they both started taking selfies.

To the extreme.

It was a selfie war at this point.

The 6 were put on edge, but they decided to stay with them, so it was their fault.

Although there was one thought a young blonde had since the day they met.

And it was starting to get to her. And considering they were at the mall anyway she could enact on her plan.

“Rosina let’s get you a new outfit. My treat” She had to try and slowly ease her into it. If not, it would sound mean, and she couldn’t possibly do that to the redhead.

But said redhead couldn’t reply before a new blonde nuisance had to but in.

“Why? What's the occasion Chloé, you wouldn’t happen to be buying more ‘gifts’ to keep your friends, would you? Or could it be that you simply don’t like Rosina’s fashion sense?” She wrapped her arms around the redhead, her new innocent friend who didn’t deserve to be tricked by anyone, even if she knew Chloé was trying to be better.

“Aurore” Mireille tried to ease the tension, but she knew it was to no avail.

“No, I just thought we could all go on a shopping spree. But of course, you wouldn’t know anything about fashion to begin with.” She shot back, two could play at that game and so far, she was winning.

“Chloé” Marinette was now trying to keep the piece as Luka squeezed her shoulder in support. He knew they were just teasing, and it was kinda fun to watch.

Marinette.exe has stopped working.

While everyone else was concerned over a passed out Marinette, Rosina started smiling. The two blondes grew confused before their hands were grabbed.

“Ok, let’s go shopping. I’ve never shopped for clothes before so let’s go” They were dragged off with a bouncing Noémie following as the others were preoccupied.

Chloé and Aurore both wanted to drag the girl off to separate stores but unfortunately, they found out if you start pulling on a person, it will eventually hurt. Marinette had to pry them off her before scolding the two, the others either laughing or taking photos, although I think you know who was taking photos, with the caption: new Mum of the group.

Rosina’s first pick from Chloé was a lovely white knee-length dress, black leggings and a light blue jacket. It seemed lovely before Aurore gave her own pick. A floral pattern navy blue dress with white leggings. Of course, the two bickered which one was better as Marinette gave her own pick. And she looked so cute.

A blue tank top with a matching skirt with a teal bodysuit underneath.

“Wow, this is so stretchy, look look I can do the splits in these.” That earned her a clap as she excitedly bounced up and down. And Chloé couldn’t help the feeling of happiness in her gut. It never happened before with Sabrina or Adrien, was it because she wasn’t just bossing them around?

Yeah, that might be it.

“Hey, I could probably sew something onto it to make it stand out if you want?”

“Really? That would be so cool Mari, thank you bestie?” They hugged before Mireille and Marc chose a new outfit as well.

Did she deserve this? After everything she’s done? Did she really deserve this?

Did she-?

“Hey, your friends are trying to help you Chloé, you are included blondie, don’t screw it up” She nudged her shoulder gently.

Huh, she must’ve been able to tell what she was thinking?

But Chloé wasn’t about to admit that. Especially not to Aurore of all people.

“Whatever, I know I’m their best friend, something you could only dream of having” She gave a playful smirk back, they were starting to get along without even knowing it.

“Hayo guys, let’s take a selfie to mark the beginning of this beautiful like friendship with all of you smols. Hope we all hang out some more” Holding out a camera for the 8 people there, posing for the camera, Noémie planning to tag them all later.

“C’mon Chloé! I wanna buy you something too” they were all dragged off to continue their shopping spree. So many clothes were brought, including the ones that the blondes had chosen, Rosina really loved them as well.

They all ended up getting some really cool shades as well, as well as the fact Chloé was able to spot a jacket that had the words ice queen written on the back. She so had to get one for her and Marinette to wear at school for kicks.

Rosina got everyone a bracelet with some colourful charms on. She got one for 3 others, but they weren’t there. They all beamed with glee as the girl was tackled with a hug by them all.

Marinette felt as if she could finally relax around them. They didn’t just hang out with her to try and make a plan for how to get her together with Adrien, they didn’t just hang out with her to just talk about her crush on Adrien, they actually all just wanted to hang out and enjoy each other’s company. Something she never got the chance to do before Lila came in… Not like she thought she’d be able to do, no doubt the topic would soon go towards Adrien eventually.

But she was able to take in the calm atmosphere around the group of 7.

She knew deep down in her heart that they would all soon be the best of friends.

***

The weekend had ended, and boy was a lot packed into that.

A lot.

Not only did everyone have tons of bags pack with new clothes and various items, but they also decided to dine out in Chloé’s hotel. Friends discount was applied here.

And amazingly Kagami was there along with her Mother. Rosina and Tomoe surprisingly had a conversation about fencing, Kagami was still apprehensive considering her Mother’s opinion about friends but it seemed to dissipate once Tomoe heard her Daughter laugh for the first time in a long time.

Tomoe also heard how fond Kagami was of Rosina after hearing about their fencing match, she wished to challenge Rosina to a match of her own to which Rosina happily agreed, much to everyone's surprise.

But they knew the girl could handle herself, 3 more so than the others but it was fine.

Also, remarkably, Rosina was able to convince Kagami and Tomoe to attend more get-togethers with the rest of the group. It might have something to do with Rosina speaking to her in Japanese and found Rosina to be a good influence.

So that’s how the group of 8 became 9.

The next day Rosina had finally started her contract with the Agreste’s. Rosina would start to be Adrien’s “bodyguard” at school, at fencing lessons as well as at photoshoots. On Sundays, she would be a language tutor for him as Saturdays would most likely be a day off, unplanned photoshoot or more piano lessons.

Adrien was ecstatic once this was all sorted. Finally, he wouldn’t be alone anymore, yeah, he wouldn’t be able to talk to Plagg as often, but as long as Plagg had his cheese he was sure he’d be alright. Besides, since Rosina was actually Crisono, he didn’t have to give a reason for his disappearances.

It did give him more of a reason why secret identities shouldn’t be so secret, but he knew he couldn’t reveal himself for his Lady and Master Fū.

The girls, however,

They were less than impressed with Rosina’s decision considering they told her they weren’t friends with Adrien anymore, but, it was Rosina’s choice and they couldn’t tell her not too.

Besides, it was who Rosina was. If she thought of Adrien as a friend, they couldn’t stop her, they may not like it but if they forced her to deny any interactions with him, they would be as bad as Lila.

So they had to learn to accept it and slowly, it didn’t faze them, sure they couldn’t hang out as much, but when you have a girl full of energy you find that they can and will spend as much time as possible with them.

So, when they arrived at school, they weren’t surprised to see Adrien hug Rosina.

“Thanks for agreeing Rosina” The latter nodded as they headed inside. Even if the blonde still hadn’t accepted it fully, the bluenette was there to help.

But then they heard something that made them both smirk.

“Alya are you alright, that new blog just skyrocketed up, it's halfway to the number of followers you have” Mylène seemed devastated but to that Alya waved her hand around, not the least bit interested.

“Oh please, that blog isn’t half as good as mine, where’s the pizazz? Its soo boring to look at I got tired after that first video.” Rose and Juleka didn’t look convinced.

“But her other videos are so much better. They even have that new hero no one knows about on it.” That perked the girl's interest.

“WHAT! How in the world did she get an interview with Crisono?” She soon watched that video and was furious to find Ladybug there as well.

“She’s even provided tips and other stuff with Akuma’s” Juleka joined in as Alya furiously search through the contents of the Let’sBugOut page. It somehow featured Ladybug in most of them, whether it was by video call or in person.

“So, she doesn’t accept interviews from me but from some amateur! How could she?” Alya didn’t know what she had done to receive the cold shoulder from Ladybug but she supposed that maybe she didn’t want her to be in any danger, that maybe if they stopped talking, Akuma’s wouldn’t be so interested to pick her as a target.

At least… That’s how Lila put it when she had come to the girl for help.

“Very easily, don’t you think? At least Aurore doesn’t pry about unnecessary details about Ladybug’s life. And she actually provides facts, something the LadyBlog is really missing.” Chloé retorted, returning to the desk at the back, everyone glaring at her she had become accustomed to it.

“Chloé how could you say that about Alya? Is this just because you aren’t Queen Bee anymore? And you're taking out your frustration on Alya. If you want, I could always ask Ladybug for advice on how you could improve and be a better person?” The girls swarmed around Lila appeared to be shocked while the other two were annoyed, how dare she sully Ladybug’s name!

“Girl there's no need to help someone like her, I know you're extremely kind, but you don’t need to extend it to the likes of her” Alya replied, that girl had a heart of gold.

“Are you sure, I wouldn’t want Chloé to become too upset at being rejected by Ladybug, I couldn’t imagine the shame she must be feeling now.” The duo was able to see that obvious jab made towards the blonde. How no one else could was a definite mystery?

Marinette paused, how Chloé decided to answer may decide on her future prospects of being a hero, what would she say?

“I wasn’t rejected by Ladybug, and how dare you lie about being friends with someone way out of your league.” The girls were quick to retort but Chloé paid them no mind.

“And I am still Queen Bee, in or out of costume. I don’t need it to define me. I’m more of a hero than you’ll ever be” She smirked at the last line before grabbing Rosina from Adrien, who was talking about schedules by the way, and promptly sitting down with Marinette. The blue-haired girl impressed by the blue-eyed girl's words. She didn’t spill the fact that technically she was still Queen Bee, just changed.

Chloé was learning.

She just wished the others would as well.

***

*Pont des Arts = A Pedestrian Bridge In Paris.

I hope you enjoy my new OC I put out. I just thought I wanted Luka to have more friends so here we go.

After making that outfit for Rosina I couldn’t stand it and knew I needed to change it, so I thought why not throw some Chloé sugar in there as I’m at it. Also, I think it’s reasonable for not everyone to believe or accept Chloé’s redemption since not everyone is so ready to forgive, right?

And with that, Rosina has kinda met all of the Marinette Protection Squad members (Minus Felix, he’s gonna be a special case)

1 more chapter till Piper, I really can’t wait for it, the next one will contain some unexpected salt towards a certain bluenette. Hope you’ll all enjoy it as much as me, I just think it’ll be great and clarify stuff.

Also, could someone help me with Rosina’s backstory? Or be willing to read and see if it's alright? Since she was found in a desert I was going to put her birthplace as Egypt, but with Franchezca travelling around she doesn’t really know anything about it, but later she learnt Arabic after her Aunt told her the story of how and where she was found.

Is that alright. I’m not offending anyone with that am I? do I need to change anything with that?

Sorry if it sounds stupid, I just want to make sure it's not insulting anyone.

Also, maybe some help with accents? Her first language was Spanish, but her favourite is Arabic, so what sort of accent would she have?

Anyway, I hope you liked this part can’t wait for the next it will be shorter, maybe haven’t planned it all out yet, but I hope that’s alright.

Note: Updated the pictures. Also, I keep updating Noemié’s design because of the artist in me, haha. hope you like hers.

[ehud1564]

The Dragon's early awakening

Introduction, part 1

Summary: Kagami joins Fransua Dupont Highschool. Meaning for Marinette that a new girl is in Adrien’s general field of view, and in front of Marinette. How will she react to it? Will she and Kagami be friends? Will she learn a lesson?

Also posted on fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13926798/1/The-Dragon-s-early-awakening

And here's the google doc I'm working on so you can see how I'm progressing: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18T5_-_GYRtF940AJAzyJpT-t6uVQUQyCyyu3EcFeExc/edit?usp=sharing

Kagami woke up at 6:30 AM. She immediately got up from her bed, heading to the shower. Her mind was racing with meaningless thoughts, as it always was in the morning. She was awake enough to shower but not much else. She had a quick shower and quickly got dressed. After this preparation Kagami sat down on her bed and started mentally preparing for the day ahead of her.

Today is her first day in a new school. After she managed to join Mr. Darjencourt’s fencing group, her mother signed her up to a school and bought them a house. It seems they will be moving to Paris permanently.

Her mother was rich enough that they could spontaneously move to Paris, and still keep their house in Japan. Kagami didn’t know how her mother was so rich. She knew her family was always known as rich and famous. But she wasn’t sure how they got there or what they did except fencing.

She knew that while her mother could own multiple houses, most people could not. Some people couldn’t even have one house. She made sure to donate all the money she can get hold off. But it wasn’t much. She was very limited in what she could get. She tried to sell one of the house decorations once, thinking her mother wouldn’t notice because of her blindness. She got beaten and heavily scolded. Since then she never tried selling anything her mother owned. She tried selling her fencing equipment and got a similar result.

Her alarm clock signaled it’s time for breakfast. The personal chef made her a simple meal of Eggs on whole wheat toast, and gave her some yogurt and a few fruits. Kagami made sure to thank him, but mostly focused on her thoughts.

There is one person she knows in Fransua Dupont. And that is Adrien Agreste. The fencer she had to defeat in order to join the group. She hopes she’ll be able to make more friends. But she could only hope.

After eating her breakfast, She put on a coat and took out her bag to go for a morning jog, packing extra clothes in her bag to change. She went through the jog and kept trying to mentally prepare herself.

She ran through different scenarios through what could be when she gets to school. She knew the classes in Fransua Dupont were small. Small enough for her to be very noticeable, but big enough to be very draining to Kagami.

Kagami was never good at interacting with other people. She found interacting with a few people at once hard and draining.

After 15 minutes of running, she reached the school and went to her class. She sat down at a table, and started reviewing her schedule. She was completely alone in the class, having reached the school so early, 45 minutes before the first period started.

She checked her schedule again and reviewed the lesson she had for today. Even though her mother is pretty strict, she doesn't care about Kagami’s grades much. She only sees school as a waste of time for Kagami. Because of that Kagami doesn't work too hard in school, and it doesn't cause her stress.

Kagami is mostly a source of rest and fun for Kagami. Even if she isn’t good at the subject, she can take her time. And it gives her time without her mother. She likes being without her mother. No expectation, she doesn't have to be perfect.

It’s not that she didn’t like her mother. But being next to her makes her miserable. It was why she woke up at 6:30, to get out of the house before her mother woke up.

A student has arrived to the class. He wore a green shirt and glasses. “Oh, hello.”. Kagami replied “Hi” with an awkward smile.”Are you searching for a place to be alone? If so, I’ll recommend you use the library. I have a lesson here soon.” The student asked. “No, this is my homeroom class. Though I appreciate the suggestion. I’m new here so...”

“A new student! Nice to meet you! My name is Max Kante!” He put his hand forward. “Kagami Tsurugi. I apologize but I do not shake hands.” She said. “That’s OK. So what school are you from?”

“I’ve been homeschooled for a while, and I’ve been through plenty of schools.” Kagami replied, fishing in her mind to see if she remembers the last school she was in. “Well that’s interesting! Why were you moving?” Max tried to pull a conversation. “Me and my mother are looking for a fencing school for me. We’ve been through plenty of schools, but we haven’t found one that proved a challenge. That’s why we came here. I now learn Fencing in Mr. Darjencourt’s group, which runs in the Gym of this school, led by Mr. D'argencourt.”

“Ooh nice! Why here specifically?” Max questioned, proud for developing a conversation. “Well we were told this place was the best. And it held out better than the others.” Kagami responded. “Not by much though”.

A new student entered the class room, he wore a red Jacket and a few Sweatbands. “Hi Max! Hi… I don’t think we’ve met!” Kim called excitedly.

“This is Kagami Tsurugi! She’s a new student in our classroom!” Max filled him in.

“Hi.” she called.

“I’m Kim!, very nice to meet you!!” He gives her his hand, which she refuses. “You too Kim”.

“So you fence! That’s a sport right?” Kim asked excitedly. “Yes.” Kagami replied. “Awesome! Another Athlete!! Woo!!! That’s so cool!!” Kim cheered.

“Yeah,” She said awkwardly. She doesn't know how to handle someone as excited and friendly as Kim. No mental preparation prepared her for that. She should have got there later. Maybe she would have been more prepared if she didn’t get before everyone.

Max and Kim started conversing between themselves thankfully. Max was talking about a video game with Kim. Kagami opened her phone to the Making friend apps, trying to figure out what she is going to do.

A new student entered the class, a red head who wore an orange shirt, holding a sketchbook. She prayed he would leave her alone and he did. Instead he began sketching. How much time was left before class? She checked her phone and it was much more than she expected. She didn’t properly appreciate how bad it will be to get to class so early.

If only she could distract herself. But she can’t and she feels very awkward. She wonders what the boy is drawing. She loves to draw, but asking him seems very risky. She thought she might draw, but the room dosen’t feel private enough for that.

Another student entered the room. A girl with purple highlights in her hair. She sat down behind Max, making no comments of her.

Soon later a group of 4 people entered the room. A boy who wore a black shirt with a skull on it, a girl with a green sweater with pins on it,A girl with pink hair and a green pattern throughout her sleeves, and a blonde girl wearing a pink dress. “Oh hello! Nice to meet you!! I’m rose!!” The blonde girl cheered enthusiastically.

“You’re kind of in my seat” Said the boy wearing a skull sign.

“Yeah sure sorry I’ll go.” Kagami got up and sat one chair ahead of the chair she was in.

“So what’s your name?” Asked the girl with the pins. “I am Mylene”

“Ivan” the boy added.

“I’m Alix” Said the girl with pink hair.

“Hello. My name is Kagami.”

“Nice to meet you Kagami!” Rose cheered before going to sit next to the girl with highlights in her hair.

“A little warning, this seat also belongs to someone. The only available places are next to Nathaniel, and next to me.” Said Ivan, pointing to the sketching boy.

“Hmm?” Nathaniel hums as the sound of his name.

“Do not sit next to nathaniel. Nathaniel is terrible!” Alix said loudly.

“I’m right here. I can hear you.” Nathaniel said despretly.

“Yeah that’s part of the point!” Alix shouted at him.

“What did he do?” Kagami asked, somewhat curious. What could have caused such a reaction.

“He made a comic of him saving one of our classmates from Akumas, and then of that classmate falling in love with him in that comic. The classmate knew none of it and didn’t give him any permission.” Ivan explained.

"Then he made a comic of Ladybug falling in love with an Akumatized version of him!" Kim added.

“That’s bad.” Kagami replied. “What’s an Akuma? And who's Ladybug?” She asked.

“You’re new in town?” questioned Millene.

“Somewhat, yes.” Kagami Answered.

“Wait just one minute!” Max said and opened his phone. After a few seconds of messing with it, he said "Come here!”. Kagami went to stand next to him and he gave him her phone.

“She explains it better than any of us can! I’d say she’s somewhat the expert." Alix added seeing the video. Mylene and Alix went to talk in their seet, and Ivan opened his own phone in his seat.

Kagami pressed play, and the video started. There was a short musical intro, and then a girl appeared on screen. She wore glasses and had red hair. “What’s up, Peeps! It’s Alya Cesire, bringing you the one and only Ladyblog! If you're planning to move to Paris, this video is a must watch!” The girl in the Video, Alya, said with excitement.

I already moved. Maybe I should have done my homework. Kagami thought to herself. to be fair, I didn't think we'd actually move here.

“If you ever visit Paris, most likely you’ll come across an Akumatized supervillain.” Alya said as she lost her enthusiasm.3 pictures of people appeared on screen. One girl with dark Red hair and the Wireless symbol on a black shirt labeled “Lady Wifi”. Another, a muscled man wearing a black shirt and golden jewelry Labeled “The Pharaoh”. The last one, A woman with green skin and red hair Labeled “Befana”.

“Akumatized villains, often shortened to just Akumas, are created when someone feels an extreme negative emotion. When you experience an extreme negative emotion in Paris, A supervillain named Hawk Moth can send an Akuma-” A picture of a black butterfly appeared on screen ”'-a corrupted butterfly, to you. The butterfly can enter an Object of yours, and will allow Hawkmoth to speak to you and corrupt you. He will give you superpowers, and his corruption will make you want to hurt others.”

“But, when Hawkmoth first Attacked, two heroes came to save us!” Alya said, regaining her excitement. And a picture of two people appeared on screen. One was wearing A red bodysuit with Polka dots, and was Labeled “Ladybug”. The other wore a black suit and had a bell on his neck, and was labeled “Chat Noir”.

Kagami remembers Ladybug. She met her in the Louvre after… Something... happened. Probably something that has something to do with an Akumatized Villain then. That explains it somewhat.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir rose to fight Hawkmoth, they can save the Akumatized people, release the butterflies from Hawkmoth’s control, and undo the Damage the Akuma did to Paris.” A clip of Ladybug throwing a parachute with the same pattern as her suit plays. It turns into a swirl of Ladybugs all over the place, who started fixing things.

Neet

“Since then, Hawkmoth is trying to get the Heroes’ Jewelry. That became the main target of most of his Akumatized villains. We’re not sure what he can do with them, though I have several theories on my Ladyblog!” Alya explained.

"If you decide to move to Paris anyway, or if you’re interested in Any more detailed explanation, consider giving my Ladyblog a visit! It has everything you need to know, and so much more! For example, the ladyblog has: Akuma Alerts, a Chat to talk to people close to the fight, clips from past fights, clips from current fights if I happen to be there, Personal theories and so much more! Support me on Patreon! Hope I’ll see you on the Ladyblog! Ladyblogger out!” Three links appeared on the videos, one to her Patreon, one to the Ladyblog, and another to the introduction page.

“So, any Questions?” Max asked Kagami.

“I’m not sure yet.” Kagami answered hesitantly, and gave him his phone back..

‘Well I’ll send a link to the Ladyblog, so you can learn more on your own. I’m sure you can also Ask Alya yourself, if you have any questions!” Max said.

ha? she thought.

“Ask me what?” The girl from the Video, Alya, was standing in the door, with a boy wearing a blue shirt with an eye on it, and had earphones hanging on his neck.

oh. She also goes here.

“Hi Alya! We have a new student coming from out of town! So we showed her your video to show her what are Akumas!!” Kim said, as Alya walked towards her.

“Neet!” Alya said, and turned to Kagami. “Hi. I’m Alya. So where are you from?”

“I'm from Japan."

"Oh nice!! Why did you move?"

"For Darjencourt's fencing team."

"Ooh you're a fencer?! That's so cool!! You're probably very serious if you moved just for a fencing group. So are you happy with the group?" Alya asked with excitement.

As Alya and Kagami started their conversation, Max called to The boy “Hey Nino! I'm working on something new, do you wanna check it out?”.

“Hell yeah dude!! Coming right up!” Nino replied enthusiastically, and made his way to stand next to Max.

"It's OK. Better than most groups I've been too, but not great. I might have found someone that is equal to me." Kagami replied to Alya.

“What dose that mean? And who is that?” Alya asked.

Kagami started elaboratinh “This boy was the only one who had ever came close to defeating me. I have been through countless fencing schools, and no one has ever came as close as him. His name is Adrien Agreste, He told-"

“Why are you talking about my Adrikins?” A blonde girl wearing a yellow Jacket yelled at Kagami. Next to her stood a redhead girl wearing glasses and a sweater with purple green and black.

"Fuck off Chloe!!" Alya yelled at the blonde girl. The sudden swear took Kagami by complete surprise.

Her name is Chloe. It's starting to become harder to remember all of their names.

"The audacity! How dare you speak to me in such foul language!! Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!!" Chloe yelled at Alya.

"Anyway, you loser need to stay away from MY Adrikins" Chloe shouted at Kagami and placed her finger on Kagami's chest.

That girl knows Adrien

Kagami wanted to knock Chloe at a table. She doesn't handle being touched well. But she doesn't want to get in trouble. The last time a similar event happened, Kagami couldn't be at school for two full weeks. She had to spend them all with her mother, who put her under very intense training. She tried her best to ignore her.

"Oh shut up. You're the only loser here Adrien isn't yours and you're harassing the new student. Go away or I'll make you!" Alya stepped in.

The door opened and in came Adrien? So they are in the same class. Now she knows that everyone are friendly enough and she won't need him. But they're too friendly, and Kagami has somewhat of a problem dealing with their energy. She supposed she'll adjust eventually. If she can stay here long enough.

"Adrikins! This new loser was talking about you!! Put her in her place." Chloe told Adrien in her sweet voice.

"Oh, Hi Kagami. Didn't know you were moving to the same class as I am."

"Hi." She said unenthusiastically.

"Oh, your name is Kagami! I admit I forgot to ask! Sorry!" Alya apologized to Kagami. "That's a really nice name! What are you named after?"

"Hello everyone! How are you this day?" A red haired lady with a cyan coloured jacket. Said standing next to the teacher's table.

"Talk to you later Kagami!" Alya said sitting in the seat ahead of Ivand.

"I'm here! I'm here!" A girl with blue hair and a gray jacket ran through the door. Kagami recognised that girl as Adrien's friend, who also tried out to the fencing group, and greatly misjudged her.

She shouldn't have been given responsibility as a referee. She did what she could with what she knew. In retrospect, it wasn’t her fault.

"Hello Marinette you're right on time! I was just about to introduce the new student!" Mrs Bustier said to the girl as she went to sit. Alya went to sit next to her, and Nino went to the seat ahead of Alya. Adrien sat next to him.

"Please be a dear and come here Kagami" Kagami obliged to The teacher's request. “This is our new student, Kagami Tsurugi! She came to us from Japan, for a fencing group! I hope we all give her a nice welcome! I am Caline Bustier, and you can call me Mrs. Bustier.”

Mrs. Bustier. That’s her name.

“Sit next to Ivan please! Ivan, please raise your hand so Kagami will know who you are.” Ivan raised his hand. Kagami already knew who he was. She went to the seet to his right. She would have much preferred to sit closer to the forng. She sat down next to him and took out her glasses.

A literature lesson has started. They started studying a new piece, so Kagami could follow the less. Kagami was not good at reading between the lines, and understanding Metaphors. She wrote everything down on her tablet.

The lesson felt longer than she expected it to feel. But eventually it ended. They had a short breakfast break. "Catch you later Marinette!" Alya told and got up from her seat. Kagami took out an apple from her bag and ate it slowly.

"Hey Kagami, want to go with me to the Cafeteria?" Alya asked. "I still have a lot to talk to you about! And alot to ask you!"

Kagami stood up and said "Lead the way please Alya." Knowing where the Cafeteria is might come handy. Kagami isn't planning to buy food from the Cafeteria,she preferred to bring food from home. That way, she'll be able to donate more of her allowance. She started following Alya, as she led her to the Cafeteria.

"Give me your phone number so I can add you to the class group chat." Kagami gave Alya her number, and she saved her number. She fiddled with her phone a little, and Kagami got a notification.

"Well, where were we before the lesson? Oh yes! You said you tried a lot of fencing terms, but they disappointed you? Which ones did you try into?” Alya initiated a conversation.

“A few. We’ve tried pretty much every famously good fencing school there was. It's wierd that the one we settled on was running on a school's gym." Kagami responded and took another bite off her apple.

"Here we are, the Cafeteria! Do you want to buy something?" Alys asked Kagami as she stood in line.

"No thank you. I ate breakfast and I brought food from home." She responded. She took another bite and she was getting close to finish the apple. She stood next to Alya in line.

"You can go sit at a table if you want! You don't have to stay waiting with me!" She didn't know where or why to sit.

"Kagami! Hi!" Adrien called out to her. "I have something to talk to you about. Can we go to the library for a few minutes?"

The library. Max said it's a good place to be alone, and seeing places of the school is good.

But what did Adrien want to talk to her about? That sounds weird.

"OK. Lead the way." Adrien grabbed her hand, and started leading her. She didn't feel great with that. But she didn't know how to politely ask him to let go.

Marinette watched the scene taking place in front of her from her table. Adrien came up to Kagami and started dragging her somewhere. She slowly stood out and followed them, doing her best to stay hidden. She had to hear what they were talking about. She couldn’t let Adrien be alone with Kagami. She followed them to the library, and hid behind a bookshelf.

"Since your new here at school, I thought we'd review the material you missed!" Adrien said to Kagami. His father told him he intends to do business with Kagami's mother, and so he has to be Kagami's friend.

"Alright. So what should we review than?" Kagami responded. She wasn't sure they had time for that, the first break wasn't that long.

"Since the next lesson is Math, we should review it first. There'll be an Algebra test next lesson, but I don't know if you will take it. Since you're a new student and all. But let's start with Algebra incase you do!" Adrien responded and took out his Algebra book. "Take out your Algebra book and let's begin!" They started reviewing the material.

Kagami was quite good at Algebra, and she was aware of that. Adrien was impressed with her but she thought the way he was impressed was weird. He was impressed with everything and made her break down the exercises to too many small steps. As if she can't make larger steps. Like she's a child who's expected to know absolutely nothing about Algebra. She knew Algebra damn it! She didn't like it very much. Maybe she'd find someone else to review the material with her.

Adrien was surprised with Kagami's skill, but was unimpressed. He pretended to be though, pretended to be proud of her so she would like him. He was honestly bored out of his mind.

Marinette was in terror watching the study session. Kagami turned out to be great at Algebra and it seemed Adrien was very impressed! Almost as if he's… flirting? This can't be happening!!!!! She started spiralising.

She had to do something about her. Something to keep her away from her Adrien. Something. But what?

If she could get her away from the school, than she'll leave Adrien alone. Or at least she won't be in front of her. She can try and get her in trouble with the school.

For that she'll need to impersonate her, and the best way to do that. Was to get her phone.

Marinette used the same trick as she did with Lila. She used a bookcart to get close enough to them slowly, and than threw a few books at a shelf to distract them. She had enough time for her to get Kagami's phone, hide it in her perse, and stand us from under the table. She exchanged greetings with Adrien and went away.

She hid behind another shelf of books. Tikki came out from her perse close to her ear and asked whispering "Marinette, why did you take her phone?"

"I need to use it to get her away from Adrien!" Marinette exclaimed.

"But why? What's wrong with her being next to Adrien?" Tikki continued to question. She did somewhat know why. But if Marinette will confess it, maybe she'll see reason. Or hear how she sounds like.

"Look at her! She's so smart and pretty, and she's a good fencer! If I don't do anything about it, Adrien will fall in love with her for sure! I have to do something about it!!" Marinette said anxiously.

Tikki facepalmed and shook her head. The bell rang, and Tikki flew into Marinette's bag.

She's supposed to have an Algebra test now.

That's it! The test! She could convince the Teacher Kagami cheated on the test!! Than Kagami will be off the school for sure, and Adrien will not fall for her!

Marinette went to the classroom And sat down in her seet. Adrien and Kagami already arrived before her. The teacher walked in after Marinette. She was a tall white skinned girl with black hair. She wore a black jacket on a white shirt, and a pair of blue Jeans, black glasses, and black shoes.

“Good morning! are you all Ready for the test?” The teacher asked.

“Not at all Mrs. Shamai.” Nino replied. Nino Lahife was a fairly average student. He was OK at Math, his grades were never good, but never raised concerns. He was pretty much OK in all fields equally.

"Don't worry Nino! I'm sure you'll do great!" Alya cheered him on. Alya Cesire was not a good student, but Mrs. Shamai really appreciated her, mainly because of the Ladyblog. If Alya spent half as much on school as she does on the Ladyblog, she'd probably be the best student in class, Maybe even the school. But than, Paris wouldn't have the Ladyblog. And that'd be a catastrophe for everyone.

So she sometimes cheats the system a little in Alya's favour. She lets her get away with not doing homework, she judges her tests softer. Alya is doing so much for Paris, so she does that for her.

"Hey Mrs." A student called. She doesn't recognize her. Oh! She's probably the new student.

"Hello there! Are you new? My name is Michal Shamai! And what's yours?" Well what is she going to do with her now. Obviously she can't take the test. She'll have to speak to her after class to see how much she knows and schedule private lessons to cover what she doesn't.

"My name is Kagami Tsurugi." Kagami replied trying to stand out.

"Well it's lovely to meat you Kagami! We have a test today, but you'll take it another time. Take one test so you can see what we learned so far and you can go on break. I'll need to talk you after the test, OK?" Michal told Kagami, doing her best to be bright and accepting.

"OK." Kagami took a copy of the test, and left.

Marinette found that pleasing. Kagami now has the means to cheat. If only she could get out, she could send the answers to the test from Kagami's phone, and make everyone think it's Kagami.

"Everyone turn of your phones. If you need to have it on, put it on my desk." Adrien and Max stood up and put their phone on her desk.

Adrien always needed to have his phone on and ready to take calls. She knows he has a busy life and was expected to disappear any minute.

As a student, he was a good student. She didn't like him, cause he was a rich boy. But she couldn't deny that his grades were always good. From what she seems of him, it's not like he has a knack for it. It seems he just has good teachers and high expectations.

Max used to give his phones to her on tests, to avoid distractions as he once told her. It was always off. He was a good student, he had quite a skill for Algebra. She liked him too, he was very nice.

They both sat down and Michal gave out the tests one by one. By her orders everyone turned over the test and started.

Marinette started the test, and started doing it as fast she could. Skipping questions, not really doing everything. After ten minutes, she stood up and gave Mrs. Shamai the test.

"Are you sure Marinette?" Mrs. Shamai asked her. Marinette was very bad at Algebra, and got easily confused. Her grades were very low. Watching her give the test so early means she probably gave up. That felt wrong with her.

"Positive!" Marinette said.

"Please try more." Mrs. Shamai requested. She saw the test and it was almost empty. "If you really can't, we can schedule a private lesson and go over it. Ok?"

Marinette knew she couldn't escape that. Maybe if she'll take it, she'll have an opportunity to raise her grade. "OK" she answered and got out of the classroom.

It was time for her to execute her plan. She started first by going to the Teacher's Lounge, and secretly looking in Mrs. Shamai's locker. She found another copy of the test and started searching for Kagami. Fortunately she found her in the same table she had the study session with Adrien.

She used one of the free algebra apps and inputted the questions from the test. She opened Kagami's phone. Who'd she send the answers to? Everyone. The more the better, the more chance of Mrs. Shamai finding it.

She copied the first answer into the message and sent. She patiently waited, checking every chat window if the message was read. Most of them haven't received the message, but Adrien received it, so she stuck to him. She sent the second message to everyone again, and waited patiently again.

She did it again. Now the message was shown as read. She had to act quickly. She opened YouTube through the browser on Kagami's phone, played Wind Up God from Pandora Voxx on full volume, and made her escape. She knew the song only started five seconds in the video, so she could have time to escape.

Kagami suddenly heard a very loud noise. She went to check it and found a phone playing a song. Her phone. She turned it off. How did get there? How did she not notice it was lost? She didn't think she took it out from her bag. Why was it playing that song? Was it stolen?

Mrs. Shamai was watching the class, when Adrien’s phone got a notification. She saw how everyone got distracted. Adrien can only check his phone privately if he gets a phone call. Meaning it’s very urgent. If that happens, he will leave for the day and will do the test another time.

Adrien got another notification. And another notification. “Adrien make the notifications stop. If you have to check it, show it to me so I know you don’t cheat.”

Adrien stood up and opened the phone so both he and Mrs. Shamai could see it. He got a message from Kagami? He opened the message and saw it’s conents. Mrs. Shamai gasped, and Adrien tried explaining he didn't try to cheat.

“I didn’t try to cheat! I promise! It’s not my fault! Please don’t fail me.” He begged Mrs. Shamai.

“Leave it for the principal.” Mrs. Shamai said. She called the principal and told him what happened.

Kagami heard a voice calling “Kagami Tsurugi to the principal's office”. That sounds very bad. She started spiralizing. That was very very bad.

In a different place, Hawkmoth was rejoicing. "I can feel it. The anxiety and distress of a girl who might lose everything." A butterfly landed in his hand, and he corrupted it. "Fly away my little Akuma! Wait for her anxiety to blow up, and evilise her!!"

Marinette had done it! She managed to execute her plan, and run away undetected! Now Kagami will stay away from Adrien for sure! In the corner of her eye, she saw a black butterfly. “An Akuma? Who might it be for?” She asked out loud.

“You know exactly who it’s for Marinette!!” Tikki said with anger. Obviously, she was referring to Kagami.

“Oh Please come on. There’s a Math test today. Basically everyone is upset. It can be for anyone.” Marinette said annoyed, not fully grasping the effect she had on Kagami. “We better transform.” Marinette ran to the bathroom which were luckily empty. “Tikki Spots on!”

Kagami didn’t know where the principal office was, so she had to ask many people for directions. But eventually she found it and entered to find Adrien, Mrs. Shamai, and someone else. Probably the principal.

“Young Mrs. you’re in great trouble!” He yelled at her. Adrien looked at her in a way she couldn't decipher. Mrs. Shamai was glaring. What did she do to deserve this? Why were they so angry at her? She looked down in shame.

The Akuma following Kagami had settled hiding behind her, waiting for a command from Hawkmoth.

"What happened?" Kagami asked trying to hold back tears.

"You know exactly what you've done young lady! You thought we wouldn't catch you? But we did! Mrs. Shamai saw what you sent to Adrien." The principal replied mockingly. What messages? She didn't even have his number! Was her phone stolen? Oh no! She'll get in so much trouble!

"I never sent Adrien anything!" Kagami said, panicking.

"That won't work on us now. We have evidence. Helping someone cheat? On your first day?How dare you! We are going to call your mother!" The principal told her.

Hawkmoth felt a very sudden increase in Kagami's negative feelings. "Catch her my Akuma!". The Akuma obeyed and entered Kagami's phone, clutched in her hand. Kagami's sadness and fear started to transform into burning wrath.

Adrien made a quick escape, and ran away to the Bathroom.

"Come on, can't we sit this one out? You have a Math test! And I have some perfect cheese to indulge in!" Plagg started complaining.

"No time for Cheese! Plagg, Claws Out!"

"Elemental, I am Hawkmoth! This thief thinks he can destroy your world? Well I'm giving you the power to break their world! And everyone's world! All I ask in return is Ladybug's and Cat Noir's Miraculous! Will you help me?" Hawkmoth said in his usual dramatic fashion.

"Yes, Hawkmoth." With that, Kagami became wrapped in purple, and the Principal and the teacher scrambled to escape.