#don carlo di vargas

[stoportotouch]

please admire the utterly miserable shade of Sludge that i spent hours scientifically perfecting in my evil lab for the blanket,

[widevibratobitch]

godddddd i wish preziosilla would fuck me nasty

[vera-dauriac]

OK folks. It's time to get serious. I, Vera d'Auriac, smut producer and purveyor, do solemnly swear that if La forza beats La clemenza in this round of the Opera Bracket, by the end of this calendar year, I will produce a smutty, smutty fanfic of Don Alvaro and Don Carlo di Vargas.

So, vote La forza and tell all your friends to vote La forza. There is now smut riding on the outcome.

Vote for La forza here.

[verdiesque]

unpredictably. i will ask you for your favourite songs by giuseppe verdi

Oughhhhhhh. Okay I'll try

In no particular order, limiting myself to an aria per opera and bearing in mind that the list changes all the time:

Tu che le vanita from Don Carlo

Miserere from Il trovatore

Act 2 duet (Violetta and Germont) from La traviata

Act 4 duet (Alvaro and Carlo di Vargas) from La forza del destino

Vieni, t'afretta from Macbeth

[leporellian]

yeah i’ve got fun and exciting and not lame and stupid and cringe hobbies. anyway i’ve gotta match verdi baritones to songs on the seminal 1997 multi-genre concept album the mollusk by 90s rock band ween. (plays track 4 and chuckles to myself as the faint sound of electro punk sizzles from my headphones) this is sooooo don carlo di vargas

[girlscarpia]

DON CARLO DI VARGAS

TREMATE

IO SONO!!!

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

crack ship: don carlo di vargas/preziosilla

[solraneth-archive]

🎁 Don Carlo di Vargas

[stoportotouch]

nemici non avete?

[tatyana-dreaming]

Met opera asks day 6

Thank you again @opera-my-beloved​!! the questions just keep getting better and better! That being said this post is atrociously long :’) FAIR WARNING

Any favorite weird/funny lyrics? Bartolo, Basilio, and Marcellina’s in the Act II Finale of Nozze (musically more than anything)... oh, of course “pa..Pa...PA!” (ad infinitum) in Papageno/Papagena’s duet... Figaro’s “Largo al Factotum”... and I completely agree with @revedebeatrice​ and was actually screaming over that particular “---mètre” line in Hoffman from the eye trio today (idk “thermomètre” in particular just really got me)

Also hmmmm sometimes I laugh at the poetic lines in Trovatore (I was going to say only Manrico, especially during the Act II finale - “ The waves of the rivers have an irresistible force!” okay Manrico -- but then again he has his Troubadour songs too... and then Leonora gets almost - ALMOST poetic in her Act IV aria... and actually di Luna is more poetic than her, I mean, Il Balen??) so anyways I find those funny because. Haha it just is. The overly “poetic” parts just heighten the ridiculousness of the melodrama; so many other more serious operas have such less dramatic librettos and I find it funny.

What are some opera songs that make you lose your mind? Finale of Onegin (I wrote an essay about it remember hehe?) but also Olga and Tatyana’s Duet and Skazhi Kotoraya Tatyana (my beloved) and Uvi, Somnenya Net/Puskai Pogibnu Ya, and, and :) Act II finale of Nozze Act I and II Preludes of Un Ballo in Maschera (and the Act III Quintet) Un Dì Felice/Ebben..? from La Traviata Violin Aria from Les Contes d’Hoffman

So many, I have to stop there though.

Are there any Met interview moments that live rent-free in your mind? Definitely Roberto Alagna in Don Carlo (never forget that somersault!!!) and Renée interviewing the cast of the 2011 Trovatore (Sondra Radvanovsky and Marcelo Álvarez being so CUTE) also when Dmitri Hvorostovsky a) called Sondra Radvanovsky “rock and roll” in the Ballo interview, because she is, and b) when when he held ground for Onegin when Beverly Sills interviewed him with Renée Fleming by saying "I would really disagree with you, because if [Onegin] was…cold and [aloof], Tatyana would never fall in love with me. Obviously I have quite a great bunch of qualities…”

What’s an opera production that you positively rant about for an hour and a production that you could angry rant about for an hour? Positive: 2007 Carsen Onegin (I have matured though, and seen many different Onegins now, so I understand why others don’t like the set or production. Completely valid. But with That Cast, they could just sing the music in a blackbox theatre and I would say it’s the greatest production ever so. Also, those leaves ARE magic)

Negative: I really don’t have an answer for this one! Only anger/confusion for why certain productions WEREN’T filmed live in HD

Are there any weirdly specific moments from a stream/production that you love? I second @sweatershowgirl​, that heel kick in Faust (2011) is glorious (so is all the drinking form beakers, haha #toxic). So many in the 1998 Nozze - Basilio’s hair pats, the pheasant triology, Marcellina’s affectionate cheek kisses, Bryn’s growls. Basically all of Kate Lindsey’s Nerone and Nicklausse.... and YES Pretty Yende and Matthew Polenzani in the 2018 Elisir... (make that Polenzani’s absolute Attitude towards Papa Germont in the 2012 Traviata)

Which opera production was the most visually pleasing to you? Too difficult! I was of course very pleased with Leaf Onegin (aka My Many Colored Onegin) because of all the colors, and as I’ve said I loved the 2012 Rusalka....Oh, of course! the 2018 Cendrillon and Traviata....absolutely lovely. WAIT WAIT also Comte Ory (all that pink and purple and of course the “nuns!” ahhh!!)

Is there any singer who changed your opinion on an opera character? I couldn’t take Leonora seriously until Sondra Radvanovsky. Mainly because her Leonora doesn’t necessarily take anything too seriously and when she does she does it with power (oops, I wrote a 20k word essay about it) (yeah I’m just tagging everything on here tonight huh)

Are there any productions you wish had been filmed but are only available in audio form (or not available at all)? Apparently Thomas Hampson was Onegin in 2009? (LEAF ONEGIN!!) And I’d love to see a full Renée Fleming/Ramón Vargas Traviata... and honestly, so many.... I’ll stick with those two since this post is already way too long :)

[the-literata-letters]

reading list - historical fiction

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✵ ACTIVELY UPDATING ✵

☐  AKILAN – Vengayin maindan ☐  ALENCAR, José de – Iracema ☐  ALENCAR, José de – O Guarani ☐  ALLENDE, Isabel – La Isla Bajo el Mar ☐  ANDRIĆ, Ivo – The Bridge on the Drina ☐  ATWOOD, Margaret – Alias Grace ☐  ATWOOD, Margaret – The Blind Assassin ☐  BARICCO, Alessandro – Seta ☐  BOYDEN, Joseph – Three Day Road ☐  BOYDEN, Joseph – The Orenda ☐  BUCK, Pearl S. – East Wind: West Wind ☐  BUCK, Pearl S. – The House of Earth Trilogy ☐  BUCK, Pearl S. – China Trilogy ☐  BUCK, Pearl S. – Dragon Seed & The Promise ☐  BUCK, Pearl S. – Pavilion of Women ☐  BUCK, Pearl S. – Peony ☐  BULGAKOV, Mikhail – The White Guard ☐  BURTON, Jessie – The Minaturist ☐  BUTT, Razia – Bano ☐  CAREY, Peter – Jack Maggs ☐  CAREY, Peter – Oscar and Lucinda ☐  CAREY, Peter – True History of the Kelly Gang ☐  CARPENTIER, Alejo – El reino de este mundo ☐  CATHER, Willa – Death Comes for the Archbishop ☐  CATTON, Eleanor – The Luminaries ☐  CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de – El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha ☐  CHATTOPADHYAY, Bankim Chandra – Durgeshnandini ☐  CHATTOPADHYAY, Bankim Chandra – Anandamath ☐  CHEVALIER, Tracy – Girl with a Pearl Earring ☐  CHOY, Wayson – The Jade Peony ☐  CHOY, Wayson – All That Matters ☐  CLAUS, Hugo – Het verdriet van België ☐  CLAVELL, James – The Asian Saga ☐  COETZEE, J. M. – Waiting for the Barbarians ☐  CONIGLIO, Angelo F. – La Ruotaia ☐  CONRAD, Joseph – The Rover ☐  COOPER, James Fenimore – Leatherstocking Tales Pentology ☐  COSTER, Charles De – La Légende...d'Ulenspiegel et de Lamme Goedzak... ☐  CRANE, Stephen – The Red Badge of Courage ☐  DAVIS, Lindsey – Falco series ☐  DeLILLO, Don – Libra ☐  de MADARIAGA, Salvador – El corazón de piedra verde ☐  DICKENS, Charles – A Tale of Two Cities ☐  DOCTOROW, E. L. – Ragtime ☐  DONALD, Angus – Outlaw Chronicles ☐  DRUON, Maurice – Les Rois maudits ☐  DUMAS, Alexandre (père) – The DÁrtagnan Romances ☐  DUMAS, Alexandre (père) – Le Comte de Monte-Cristo ☐  DUMAS, Alexandre (père) – La Tulipe Noire ☐  ECO, Umberto – Il nome della rosa ☐  ECO, Umberto – I'isola del giorno prima ☐  ECO, Umberto – Baudolino ☐  ECO, Umberto – La Misteriosa Fiamma della Regina Loana ☐  ECO, Umberto – Il cimitero di Praga ☐  ELIOT, George – Romola ☐  ELIOT, George – Middlemarch ☐  ENDŌ, Shūsaku – Chinmoku ☐  FARRELL, J. G. – The Siege of Krishnapur ☐  FARRELL, J. G. – Troubles ☐  FAST, Howard – Spartacus ☐  FOWLES, John – The French Lieutenant's Woman ☐  FRASER, George MacDonald – Flashman ☐  GEDGE, Pauline – Scroll of Saqqara ☐  GHOSH, Amitav – Ibis Trilogy ☐  GOLON, Anne – Angélique series ☐  GRAVES, Robert – I, Claudius ☐  GRENVILLE, Kate – The Secret River ☐  HAGGARD, Sir H. Rider – King Solomon's Mines ☐  HARRIS, Robert – An Officer and a Spy ☐  HELLER, Joseph – Catch-22 ☐  HIJĀZĪ, Nasīm – Khaak aur Khoon ☐  HILL, Lawrence – The Book of Negroes ☐  HOLLAND, Cecelia – City of God ☐  HOLLAND, Cecelia – The Lords of Vaumartin ☐  HUGO, Victor – Quatrevingt-treize ☐  HUGO, Victor – Les Misérables ☐  HYDER, Qurratulain – Aag Ka Darya ☐  IBÁÑEZ, Vicente Blasco – Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis ☐  IRVING, Washington – Tales of the Alhambra ☐  JENNINGS, Gary – Aztec ☐  JENNINGS, Gary – Aztec Autumn ☐  JENNINGS, Gary – Raptor ☐  JIN YONG – all works ☐  JOAQUIN, Nick – The Woman Who Had Two Navels ☐  JOHNSTON, Wayne – The Colony of Unrequited Dreams ☐  JOSÉ, Francisco Sionil – Po-on ☐  JUAN MANUEL, Don – Libro do los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio ☐  KADARE, Ismail – Gjenerali i ushtrisë së vdekur ☐  KANEKAR, Amita – A Spoke in the Wheel ☐  KAYE, M. M. – The Far Pavilions ☐  KENEALLY, Thomas – Bring Larks and Heroes ☐  KENNEDY, William – Albany Cycle ☐  KIDD, Sue Monk – The Secret Life of Bees ☐  KINGSLEY, Charles – Westward Ho! ☐  KRISHNAMURTHY, Kalki – Parthiban Kanavu ☐  KRISHNAMURTHY, Kalki – Sivagamiyin Sabatham ☐  KRISHNAMURTHY, Kalki – Ponniyin Selvan ☐  LEONARDOS, George – Palaiologan Dynasty series ☐  LITTELL, Jonathan – Les Bienveillantes ☐  LISS, David – The Coffee Trader ☐  LOWRY, Lois – Number the Stars ☐  MALRAUX, Georges André – Les Conquérants ☐  MALRAUX, Georges André – La Voie Royale ☐  MALRAUX, Georges André – La condition humaine ☐  MANTEL, Hilary – A Place of Greater Safety ☐  MANZONI, Alessandro – I promessi sposi ☐  MARTINEZ, Tomás Eloy – Santa Evita ☐  MASTOOR, Khadija – Aangan ☐  McCORMMACH, RUSSELL – Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist ☐  McCARTHY, Cormac – Blood Meridian ☐  MEHTA, Nandshankar – Karan Ghelo ☐  MICHENER, James A. – all works ☐  MIKSZÁTH, Kálmán – A fekete város ☐  MIN, Anchee – Wild Ginger ☐  MITCHELL, David – The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet ☐  MITCHELL, Margaret – Gone with the Wind ☐  MORANTE, Elsa – La Storia ☐  MORRISON, Toni – Beloved ☐  MORRISON, Toni – Jazz ☐  MULTATULI – Max Havelaar ☐  NEWTON, Nerida – The Lambing Flat ☐  NINH, Bảo – Nỗi buồn chiến tranh ☐  OKSANEN, Sofi – Puhdistus ☐  ONDAATJE, Michael – In the Skin of a Lion ☐  PATTERSON, James & GROSS, Andrew – The Jester ☐  PENNER, Sarah – The Lost Apothecary ☐  PÉREZ-REVERTE, Arturo – Captain Alatriste novels ☐  PÉREZ-REVERTE, Arturo – Falcó novels ☐  PÉREZ-REVERTE, Arturo – El maestro de esgrima ☐  PÉREZ-REVERTE, Arturo – La Reina del Sur ☐  PÉREZ-REVERTE, Arturo – El pintor de batallas ☐  PHILLIPS, Arthur – Prague ☐  PHILLIPS, Arthur – The King at the Edge of the World ☐  PILLAI, C. V. Raman – novel trilogy ☐  POPE, Barbara Corrado – Cézanne's Quarry ☐  POPE, Barbara Corrado – The Blood of Lorraine ☐  POPE, Barbara Corrado – The Missing Italian Girl ☐  PRAMOEDYA, Ananta Toer – Buru Quartet ☐  PRESSFIELD, Steven – Gates of Fire ☐  PRESSFIELD, Steven – Tides of War ☐  PRESSFIELD, Steven – The Afghan Campaign ☐  PRUS, Bolesław – Faraon ☐  PUZO, Mario – The Godfather universe ☐  PUZO, Mario – The Family ☐  PYNCHON, Thomas – Gravity's Rainbow ☐  PYNCHON, Thomas – Mason & Dixon ☐  READE, Charles – The Cloister and the Hearth ☐  RENAULT, Mary – The Last of the Wine ☐  RENAULT, Mary – The Mask of Apollo ☐  RENAULT, Mary – The King Must Die ☐  RICHARDS, D. Manning – Destiny in Sydney ☐  RIZAL, José – Noli Me Tángere ☐  RIZAL, José – El filibusterismo ☐  RUSHDIE, Salman – Midnight's Children ☐  RUTHERFURD, Edward – Russka ☐  SABATO, Ernesto – Sobre héroes y tumbas ☐  SANGHI, Ashwin – Chanakya's Chant ☐  SANKRITYAYAN, Rahul – Volga Se Ganga ☐  SARAMAGO, José – Memorial do Convento ☐  SATYANARAYANA, Viswanatha – Veyi Padagalu ☐  SCOTT, Sir Walter – Quentin Durward ☐  SCOTT, Sir Walter – Tales of the Crusaders ☐  SCOTT, Sir Walter – Ivanhoe ☐  SHAN, Sa – Porte de la paix céleste ☐  SHAN, Sa – La Joueuse de go ☐  SHAN, Sa – La cithare nue ☐  SIENKIEWICZ, Henryk – The Trilogy ☐  SMILEY, Jane – The Greenlanders ☐  SOMOZA, José Carlos – La caverna de las ideas ☐  STEPHENSON, Neal – Cryptonomicon ☐  STIFTER, Adalbert – Witiko ☐  STYRON, William – Sophie's Choice ☐  TOLSTOY, Leo – War and Peace ☐  TOMASI, Giuseppe (di Lampedusa) – Il Gattopardo ☐  TREMAYNE, Peter – Sister Fidelma mysteries ☐  UNDSET, Sigrid – Kristin Lavransdatter ☐  UNDSET, Sigrid – Olav Audunssøn novels ☐  VARGAS LLOSA, Mario – La guerra del fin del mundo ☐  VARGAS LLOSA, Mario – La Fiesta del Chivo ☐  VIDAL, Gore – Narratives of Empire ☐  WALLACE, Lew – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ ☐  WALTARI, Mika – Sinuhe egyptiläinen ☐  WALTARI, Mika – Mikael Karvajalka ☐  WILDER, Thornton – The Bridge of San Luis Rey ☐  WOOLF, Virginia – Orlando: A Biography ☐  YERBY, Frank – Goat Song ☐  YOURCENAR, Marguerite – L'Œuvre au noir ☐  ŻEROMSKI, Stefan – Wierna rzeka ☐  ZIMLER, Richard – The Warsaw Anagrams ☐  ZIMLER, Richard – The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon ☐  ZUSAK, Markus – The Book Thief

[incorrectoperaquotes]

Don Alvaro: I’m asking you to let it go.

Carlo di Vargas: And I really wish I was the kind of person who could do that.

[simone-boccanegra]

to-draw (opera stuff)

- Don Carlo di Vargas (probably with Alvaro? during Solenne?)

- my favourite trash son Francesco Moor 

- Paolo, again, not in colour because frankly scanner always makes coloured pencils looks bad

- Carlo/Rodrigo in the death scene (with screencap ref)

- Lucia (and maybe Edgardo, separately?)

- Don Giovanni (in flames maybe?)

- Peter Grimes (I should also watch this opera again but it’s such a downer I would need a lot of cheerful Mozart after it)

- Belisario with Irene

- King Philip

[feynavaley]

Hetalia Miraculous Ladybug AU

(Or, I spent about 2 hours with an 11-year-old explaining me everything about this show so now you’re getting this.)

The characters aren’t completely like the ones from the show (which I haven’t even watched), I just thought about somebody who might cover a similar role, but their personalities are their own and presumably different from the ones of the canon characters. (Besides, keep in mind that all my knowledge comes from a brief look through the Wikia pages and the explanation of an 11-year-old. A very exhaustive explanation, but still.)

- Marinette/Ladybug: Michelle Bonnefoy (Seychelles). Daughter of a Parisian baker, Francis Bonnefoy (France) and a Seychellois woman (Angélique, an OC). She spent her early childhood in Seychelles and went back to Paris with her father after her mother’s death. Michelle has a great passion for fashion (inherited from her father, even if he eventually chose a different profession) and dreams of becoming a fashion designer. She’s optimistic, friendly, and lively, with a positive view of people and the world in general. She never turns back from somebody in need and is always eager to be helpful in any way she can. She can be a bit shy when she first meets somebody, but once she opens up, she’s an extrovert. She would like to do loads of things at once but sometimes she doubts her abilities, she needs some encouragements. She can also be quite clumsy, at times. As Ladybug, she displays more confidence (which lets her intelligence and quick thinking shine, since she doesn’t let her insecurities sway her) and is extremely dedicated to her job.

- Alya: Amelia Jones (Nyo!America). A new classmate of Michelle’s, has been in France for just a few years and still misses America. Energic, headstrong, and with a strong sense of justice, she wants to one day become an investigative reporter because she thinks it would be a good way to bring to light important stories and make her contribution to the world (and she thinks it would be exciting, too). She stands up for Michelle against bullies and they become best friends from there, she’s very supportive and protective. In fact, she’s very friendly and open in general, a total extrovert. She can also be a bit too obstinate and overconfident at times, though. And the fact she always says what she thinks can be both a blessing and a curse. On a different note, she’s also extremely athletic – she has done lots of sports, with her last interest being kickboxing. Once Ladybug appears, Amelia starts investigating on her not only to cover the story but also because she wants to help and become a superhero herself (she eventually does earn a miraculous too).

- Adrien/Chat Noir: Matthew Kirkland (Canada – his surname has been changed for plot reasons.) Only son of the owners of a famous fashion brand and also one of their main models (even if not by his own choice). He grew up sheltered and isolated, not being allowed to have contact with his peers except for a few selected ones. He has been brought up to excel – advanced curriculum, several foreign languages, playing piano, fencing, and above all, impeccable manners. His father’s expectations and detached demeanour, united with his mother’s subtly oppressive and controlling one, made him develop an awfully low self-esteem. He’s polite, quiet, and kind-hearted, but quite clumsy and always doubting himself in social interactions as he isn’t used to it and tends to miss some clues/convince himself he’s missing clues even though he actually isn’t. Due to his strict upbringing, he also has trouble standing up for himself and letting the dorkier parts of his personality show as they were deemed ‘undesirable’ and ‘undignified’ by his mother (she said it in a much sweeter and apparently supportive way, but that was the meaning). As Chat Noir, he lets his dorky side shine because he thinks that’s how a superhero’s supposed to act (and that it’s cool – he doesn’t realize it makes him look like he isn’t taking things seriously). Extremely dedicated to Ladybug. He’s actually a good tactician but he’s so focused in his role of protecting Ladybug (and not confident enough in his intellect, on top) that he ends up acting mainly on instinct just to do that instead of coming up with plans.

- Gabriel Agreste/Hawkmoth: Arthur Kirkland (England). Owner and executive manager of an extremely famous fashion brand. He’s not the designer himself, though – that was his wife Marianne (Nyo!France) before her ‘mysterious’ disappearance. Growing up with distant parents and insecure, Arthur doesn’t know how to connect with Matthew and had always left the job to his wife, whom he felt was a much better person than himself. After Marianne got sick and later slipped into a coma due to the damaged Peacock miraculous, he donned the Butterfly miraculous in order to retrieve the Cat and Ladybug ones and get Marianne back at the cost of his own life (erroneously convinced he can decide the price of the wish on his own). The fact he’s planning to sacrifice himself is also part of the reason he’s so cold and stern with Matthew – he doesn’t want Matthew to get too attached to him. Yet, his love for Matthew (and feeling on inadequacy as a paternal figure) translate in him being extremely protective and controlling in order to keep Matthew safe. In addition, he tries to micro-manage every aspect of Matthew’s life as he’s convinced it’s the best to make his life as good as possible in the long run.

- Nathalie: Sakura Honda (Nyo!Japan). Arthur’s assistant. Always detached, formal, and extremely efficient, but she’s actually very fond of her boss (she admires his dedication) and ended up falling in love with him. She would go to great lengths to ensure his well-being and success, she doesn’t even hold back from using the Peacock miraculous (and damaging her own health) in order to help Arthur. Sakura also ended up becoming equally fond of Matthew; even if she isn’t able to express it outwardly (or even fully admit it to herself), she cares for him as if he were her own son, at this point.

- Nino: Carlos Machado (Cuba). Another classmate of Michelle’s – actually, he was one of the first people who welcomed her when she moved to Paris and they’re still good friends. He can’t stand any perceived injustice and is quick to anger in that sense, but unless he gets provoked, he’s very laid-back and welcoming. He sees the nervous wreck Matthew is and befriends him immediately because the poor dude deserves somebody being kind to him. Later, he basically adopts Matthew and gently tries to coax him into understanding that being his real self – even if it isn’t the perfect and flawless picture he tries to project in order to make his father proud – isn’t a bad thing. (Carlos has a very low opinion of Matthew’s father.) From day one, he’s also very supportive of the new superheroes and helps from the sidelines (which is the reason he eventually earns a miraculous himself).

- Chloé: Lavinia Vargas (Nyo!Romano). This one is probably very different from the show. Lavinia’s the spoiled eldest daughter of the major who uses her influence to bully other people – in particular, those she’s jealous of. Because Lavinia’s mother is one of Arthur’s senior designers but also self-centred to the point of narcissism – she doesn’t care for anybody but herself or those who could serve her. And Lavinia, who doesn’t have any artistic talent, doesn’t. The one who, instead, is artistically talented is Lavinia’s younger twin sister, Felicia (Nyo!Italy), who is, instead, very sweet and good-natured but doesn’t dare to go against Lavinia as she’s looking for her approval. (Lavinia has never made a mystery of her jealousy – masked as disdain – towards her twin.) Moreover, their mother has dragged Felicia around the world a lot to display her talent so she hasn’t had enough time to create strong bonds with other people – and instead ended up cementing Lavinia’s resentment towards Felicia and everybody else. The only person Lavinia’s kind to is Matthew, whom she has known since childhood and bonded with due to both of them being lonely and isolated.

- Kagami: Natalya Nikolaevna Arlovskaya (Belarus). Niece of one of Arthur’s major investors, Ivan Igorovich Braginsky (Russia). Since her father died before she was even born, she was raised by her mother Iryna (Ukraine) along with her uncle (Iryna’s younger brother), who instead isn’t married and has always been very close to his sister. Iryna is very sweet and maternal, but Natalya prefers following her uncle’s footsteps. She’s cold and competitive, always pushing herself to reach the top. Along with being academically gifted, she plays the violin, does ballet, and fencing (along with Matthew). Low-key convinced that friendship and social interactions are a waste of time unless she can get something out of them, she tries to pursue Matthew romantically because of the favourable connection that match would make (Matthew’s the heir to a fashion empire, after all). Yet, she ends up becoming genuinely fond of him once she realizes the determination and strength of character hidden behind his kindness.

I want to go more in-depth into some aspects but this post is already horribly long, so I’ll do it under a read more.

- Michelle initially doesn’t feel up to being Ladybug and tries to refuse it, but after some time, she starts growing into the role and gaining a bigger confidence that also bleeds into her daily life. Ladybug also helps her become more mindful of the consequences of her actions – one of Michelle’s flaws is that she tends not to be very far-sighted.

- The interaction between Michelle and Matthew could be similar to those of Marinette and Adrien – Michelle gets a crush on Matthew (due to his kind-hearted nature) but is convinced it’s not reciprocated so she doesn’t want to confess to him. Instead, she works on becoming his friend first and they eventually get quite close.

- On his part, Matthew is completely oblivious as his self-esteem is so low he doesn’t think anybody could truly like him as a person – those who claim they like him are actually only attracted to his popularity as a model (or money).

- About this, Matthew’s actually very insecure about his appearance. Because he looks like a model – so, while he’s athletic, he’s more on the skinny and delicate side. Only a ‘pretty boy’, while he would like to be a ‘real man’.

- Apparently, Chat Noir’s a flirt but I really cannot see Matthew doing that. He certainly lets go of some of his inhibitions while he’s behind the mask so he ends up being a dork (and the fact he’s a manga nerd, which shapes his perceptions of what’s cool, doesn’t help at all). He is smitten with Ladybug, this much is true, but he ends up acting starry-eyed and clumsy instead (when he isn’t focused on the job and they’re interacting more casually).

- Matthew isn’t so confident in being a superhero, either, but since he’s unable to say no, he immediately sets to do his best instead of complaining. As time goes on, he starts liking more and more being Chat Noir for the freedom it offers him and, in a way, the lack of expectations. (Yes, he has to save Paris, but nobody knows who he is behind the mask so it feels less personal than the criticism he receives when he’s himself. Moreover, the public eye tends to be more focused on Ladybug.)

- In her effort to be Michelle’s wingwoman, Amelia gets very close to Matthew as well. Maybe she manages to spend a lot of time with him using an excuse (research for an article or something) in order to try to steer him towards Michelle, but as she starts knowing him better, she becomes very fond of him herself. In particular, Amelia recognizes his kind-hearted nature and his inability to stand up for himself and basically appoints herself as his protector and older sister. (And they find common ground in their love for video-games and manga, too.)

- Amelia and Carlos actually don’t get along, but they’re in some sort of truce for the sake of Matthew and Michelle. They still keep bickering and teasing each other, but with time, they start growing fond of each other. (They don’t end up dating, though – more like a best frenemies.)

- Carlos is one of the first people who get to akumatized as he’s easy to anger. After that experience, he starts working on his quick temper and learns to channel his anger in a more positive way. He puts a lot of effort into it and improves a lot.

- Matthew is a lot closer to Lavinia than to Felicia because Felicia was always around the world following her mother. Felicia finally gets into school the same year as Matthew – and she finds herself isolated from her peers because of her connection to Lavinia. She loathes how Lavinia behaves but isn’t strong enough to stands up against her, which makes other people think she approves of Lavinia’s actions. (Moreover, they were already ill-disposed towards her as they thought Lavinia’s twin sister couldn’t be any better.)

- Lavinia eventually starts working through her trauma and insecurities as Matthew and Felicia start criticizing her behaviour. She does get the Bee miraculous – but she also goes through a positive growth. She never completely sheds her caustic and sarcastic exterior, but she does end up behaving a lot better.

- Natalya also starts loosening up after being touched not only by Matthew but also by Michelle’s, Amelia’s, and Carlos’s kindness/welcoming demeanour. She despises them at first, but after a bit, she starts becoming fond of them and appreciating them. In the end, she loses a bit of her pessimistic view on relationships and becomes their friend as well.

- Over the course of the school year, Matthew starts hanging around Michelle’s house and Francis basically adopts him because he can see the kid’s in desperate need of some human warmth and affection. Also, Francis builds a very negative picture of Arthur in his head based on Matthew’s defeated demeanour. And he doesn’t hold his tongue in the few cases he meets Arthur in person, managing to get under Arthur’s skin better than mostly everybody else (Matthew’s upbringing is a very delicate topic for Arthur – partly because it almost feels like somebody’s criticizing Marianne’s actions, and partly because he has no idea of how to do it. And he doesn’t like it at all). They loathe each other for some time.

- On the other hand, once Michelle becomes more comfortable around Matthew, she’s invited to some photoshoots (since she’s interested in fashion) and then she gets noticed by Arthur, who, in spite of not being a designer himself, has been around enough of them to recognize her talent. Besides, he doesn’t disapprove of her personality so he lets her hang around their house and Matthew and even personally interacts with her a few times. Michelle ends up forming the opinion (not completely wrong) that Arthur isn’t actually a bad father – he cares a lot for Matthew, but he’s out of his depths and doesn’t know how to express it.

- The ‘Final Boss’ – the one behind everything – is actually Marianne, not Arthur. Marianne was a talented fashion designer who dreamed of fame and power, and once she met Arthur – who came from a rich family and had the financial ability to realize her dream, but was very frail and in dire need of some affection – she manipulated him into falling in love with her and used his financial assets to establish her company. She was genuinely fond of Arthur, in part – but it was secondary to her goals. And even once she got rich and famous, she wasn’t satisfied. She came across some legends about the Miraculous and decided to investigate into the matter. She eventually came into possession of the Peacock and Butterfly ones and tried using them for her own gains. Her greed was so strong that she didn’t stop even after she realized the damaged Peacock was draining her health, but kept pushing herself until she fell into a coma. And Arthur, who had just lost his anchor and emotional stability (Marianne was very careful that Arthur, instead of developing healthy relationships and healing from his childhood, would remain completely dependent on her) decided to do everything to bring her back. And that’s how Hawkmoth was born.

- Arthur doesn’t enjoy fighting two children (Ladybug and Chat Noir) nor hurting people (that’s also why he never uses real traumas to create akumas but only mundane annoyances), but he thinks he doesn’t have any other option if he wants to bring back Marianne. Moreover, he’s fully aware that Ladybug’s powers always fix everything, which helps convince him that, given his goal, his actions are justified.

- Marianne was actually a very poor mother for Matthew, too. He has good memories of her, but only because that’s all he knows. She isolated him and was possessive, overbearing, and constantly resorted to emotional manipulation – she was happy and affectionated as long as Matthew behaved exactly the way she wanted,  but the moment he would stray even of an inch, she would act overdramatic and disappointed, making him feel awful. Essentially, she destroyed Matthew’s self-esteem. (And Arthur didn’t notice because he, instead, had grown up with distant and more openly abusive parents. So, he thought that as long as Marianne was affectionate, she was a good mother. Moreover, he didn’t witness how capricious she was or how she would guilt-trip Matthew because she would only behave like that when Arthur wasn’t around.) Marianne did care deeply for Matthew, in her own way, but she was just a horrible person. She treated him as an extension of herself and her property instead of his own person.

- Eventually, Arthur does get the Cat and Ladybug miraculouses – even if Matthew and Michelle escape and he doesn’t see their identities (nor do Matthew and Michelle discover who they are – because they had sworn they wouldn’t. So, they walk side-to-side as they try to plan what to do and don’t look.) Arthur wishes Marianne back, fully intentioned to return the Cat and Ladybug miraculouses to their rightful owners afterwards.

...But Marianne comes back and not only Arthur doesn’t die – there’s something wrong with Marianne. She wants to keep the Cat and Ladybug miraculouses (which Arthur and Sakura wrestle away from her and manage to give back, but barely), she’s undeniably hungry for power. Arthur starts thinking that something went wrong with the wish, but he loves Marianne too much to go against her. He – along with Sakura – instead pretends to be on her side while at the same time trying to help Ladybug and Chat Noir fight against her and trying to find a cure to fix her. (It’s a long time before Arthur realizes that that was Marianne all along – she doesn’t need fixing because she has always been like that, she only became more unhinged and less subtle after recovering.)

- One of the turning points in Arthur’s realization is seeing how Marianne treats Matthew. Arthur had granted him many liberties, and while he was sceptical at first, (also thanks to Sakura’s insight) he eventually had to admit that Matthew thrived in the company of his peers. Maybe the dangers are higher (Arthur’s overprotective, and what happened to Marianne doesn’t help) but they’re outweighed by how much happier Matthew is. But Marianne wants to take everything back, and she doesn’t hold back any punches. (When Matthew wants to spend time with his friends, she complains that he doesn’t love her anymore, acts all heartbroken because he isn’t truly happy she’s back – if he were, he would spend all his time with her, wouldn’t he? – says he doesn’t respect her opinion anymore when he wants to go back to school, etc.) Matthew is a wreck, he’s torn and he doesn’t know what to do or what to think anymore. (He is happy that is mother’s back, yet, he can’t help but realize that he was happier before, when he could spend time with his friends and go to school, which leaves him feeling horribly guilty and selfish.) He stops smiling, can’t sleep, stops eating when not prompted... he becomes a ghost of himself. He looks even worse than Arthur did when he was still living with his parents. And that’s when Arthur comes to the realization it’s just wrong. He still doesn’t want to blame everything on Marianne (he tries to convince himself her instability is due to her prolonged coma and she’ll get better) but he starts pulling his weight and argue with her to defend Matthew’s freedom. He even gets to swallowing his pride and revealing the situation to Francis in order to make sure Matthew has a safe place he can stay at when his mother goes overboard (and that’s how a tentative friendship starts forming between Arthur and Francis).

- This isn’t all there is about Matthew, though. Arthur thinks the wish comes without a price, in the end (or maybe, that the price is Marianne’s sanity, for how much he doesn’t like to admit it). But Arthur doesn’t see Matthew collapse in a faint just after the wish is granted. Matthew wakes up not long later and resumes fighting as if nothing’s wrong – and even if he’s very exhausted afterwards, he thinks nothing of it. But over the following weeks, he starts feeling worse and worse. It’s small, at first – just lingering exhaustion and weakness. But it never gets better, developing instead in more and more frequent dizzy spells. It’s particularly bad after he transforms – he starts passing out once it’s over. He now gets sick very easily, too. If he has to hold the transformation for a bit longer than usual, he gets flu-like symptoms afterwards – it eventually gets to the point he’s too sick and weak to leave the bed for days. His miraculous isn’t damaged, but the price of the wish is paid with Matthew developing the same illness that affected his mother.

- Once Arthur realizes this, all the pretences are dropped. He realizes the person Marianne is and lets her go, focusing instead on trying to find a cure for Matthew and defeat Marianne alongside Ladybug and Chat Noir (whom he doesn’t know is Matthew, yet, but he does realize it after Chat Noir displays symptoms too similar to Matthew’s. It really doesn’t help with how guilty Arthur’s feeling). (Sakura keeps staying by Arthur’s side, too, and Arthur eventually admits he reciprocates her feelings.)

...

And that’s it. This was long. 😅 I don’t know how much of it makes sense but... I just couldn’t help thinking about this as I walking home tonight.