#especially because while she's clearly into adrien

[starsweepers]

btw adding movie mari doesn't mean i think the movie fixed everything or was flawless. i still have things about it that i'm eh on. but compared to the show, it was so much better and felt like a mari i could enjoy playing again.

[flightfoot]

I saw someone refer to the fics that came out where Chat finds out about Ladybug telling Alya her identity in Gang of Secrets and gets upset about it as "saltfics" and... I guess? You could consider any of the "Adrien finds out that Ladybug lied about how Gabriel died and/or that he's a sentimonster and she didn't tell him and gets upset about it" fics to be saltfics as well, if you're defining saltfics to mean "any fic that criticizes a character's actions." Which WAS what it was taken to mean when it first started being used.

Thing is, when I use it, that's not what I mean? Just to be clear, criticizing and analyzing a character's actions, and even being negative towards them as a result, is generally okay in my book. When I say that I hate saltfics, I'm more talking about Ron the Death Eater stuff.

Like for me, what I have a problem with is more fics that

A. Criticize characters for shit they never did. Like having Alya ostracize Marinette, outright try to bully her, fics that make Adrien tell Marinette not to make a scene even when Lila's clearly maliciously, intentionally hurting Marinette right in front of him (as opposed to that possibly being just collateral damage of a non-malicious lie), stuff that didn't canonically happen, you know?

B. Inflict disproportionate retribution for things the characters did, whether it's canonical or not. A fic may only be criticizing Alya for asking for evidence that Lila's a liar or is at fault for something before jumping to conclusions, but if Marinette's response to that reasonable request is to cut off her friendship and revoke her miraculous, then that's still very salty.

But yeah. The vast majority of "Adrien gets upset with Ladybug for hiding things from him" fics don't qualify as saltfics by my own personal metric, because most of them are only faulting Ladybug for things she actually canonically did, and usually have a pretty proportionate response - especially for season 5 aftermath fics. Lying about to your boyfriend about how his father died, what kind of person he was, and not telling him he's a sentimonster IS fair reason to be angry.

I generally like fics to still have them make up, but I don't like putting those fics on the same level as the "Alya leads the class in beating up Marinette and yelling insults at her while Adrien just ignores her cries for help even while she's being physically hurt" fics, they're on such WILDLY different levels that it's comical.

[tumblingxelian]

Chloe & Heroism

Chloe Bourgeois as a hero early on is a premise that often evokes either questions, like "How" and "Why". Or expectations that she is either already on a path to self improvement, or will be forced onto within a short timeframe.

These are not bad questions and the former definitely are necessary to consider for a story. However the expectations I tend to feel a bit murkier and while I have no issue with how some authors handle this topic.

I want to outline why I think you could do a good "Hero Chloe" story before she gets character development, but first, house cleaning!

1: I have not watched and largely ignore everything post season 3, so don't bother bringing up Derision. Remember, season 1 Kim was afraid of spiders.

2: In canon. Chloe only revealed her ID publicly because her abusive mother she is obsessed with pleasing (who killed her the day before) chose a girl other than her to take to New York & then tore her to shreds in front of everyone. 

With all that in mind let's examine where Chloe's values and understanding of the world comes from and how she perceives them! 

1 - Media/Social Media 

This would be a mixed bag, because on one hand they have Mighty Majesta comics that try to instill good values, but also shows built around lying to and humiliating people are evidently popular television and the internet seems similar in regards to pranking VS trying not to be terrible. So she's gonna get mixed signals at best. 

2 - Her family & Circle 

This is where 90% of the problems come from. Of the important adults in her life, her father, mother, Gabriel and Nathalie are all varying shades of corrupt, abusive, cruel and ruthless, while the lesser evils like Jean and Emilie are largely consigned to the role of enablers. 

Worse still, even if we ignore the emotional abuse, neglect and other elements that led to her both having trauma and her trauma response manifesting in aggression. We still have issues like Andre, during the brief periods he bothered to parent, explicitly teaching Chloe that, Stealing, extortion and threats are all appropriate ways to succeed in life.

IE, she isn't compromising her morality when she does these things, she is very much doing what she is taught was right at least consciously. This isn't helped by a 24/7 Audrey impression as Audrey deems being in her vicinity as reason enough to hurt people unless she deems them useful. 

Long story short, the values and people she was brought up around are all explicitly some shade of bad, or enabler, or outright teaching her to harm others. 

3 - Societies & Class 

However, we know from season 2 that Chloe is not entirely unaware that there are issues with this. Because while she spends much time boasting of how she's beloved and brilliant, when stripped of that and exposed to someone she trusts she is entirely willing to confess that she knows everyone hates her and that she feels she has no worth. She may not be able to articulate why or how this came about but she knows something is wrong. 

Despite this, school is not the best place to figure this out, especially for someone who obviously struggles with social cues and the like. The teachers run the gamut from indifferent and unpleasant, to extremely gentle and accommodating, to simply not wanting any form of drama and usually caving to whoever makes the most noise and none of them have the authority to do much outside of class hours. 

The class is not significantly better, because students like Kim and Alix can and do casually throw around snark or do pranks and at worst only get brief bursts of anger while Chloe's garner a more intense response. This is because her relationship with the class and motives are varying shades of different, but for someone with issues reading social cues, it's just going to seem like a confusing double standard. 

We can also see all this demonstrated in her relationship with Adrien, as Chloe clearly takes the lead in their relationship in Origins and outlines her logic behind the pranks, but is then surprised when Adrien seems to turn against her. What's more, it seems Chloe is aware that Adrien is more gentle/naive than her given she tried to educate him on these matters & turns to him for comfort and protection at times, while seeing no inherent contradiction between her expectations for their relationship and how she treats others.

Adrien does not help matters with seeming indifference to how she treats staff. 

Thus, while she knows 'something' is terribly wrong, actually being able to understand it and work through it is another matter. 

4 - Chloe's Conclusion 

So, what is the conclusion Chloe comes to in order to square all of these circles when she isn't just in full denial mode? The answer is quite simple and even demonstrated in the show itself, playing one's role. 

IE, Chloe the mayor and style queen's daughter is different to Chloe the hotel owner's daughter and we see this in her being able to stamp down on her usual instincts and slap on a customer service role when Jagged Stone enters the hotel and guide her father into doing the same. VS how she conducts herself during a class election, IE explicitly threatening and extorting people, to how she conducts herself day by day with her Audrey impersonation. 

A separate example and way she'd view this for others would be that Marinette the baker's daughter of course has to be nice and sweet and giving because that is how customer service roles work, while Marinette the aspiring fashion designer or would be class president is sneakier and will lay traps so people trying to steal from her are sabotaged. This isn't wrong, this is how she expects people to behave when in these circumstances and roles. 

Final Conclusion 

Which is why Chloe could easily play the role of a successful hero, because she would not be "Chloe Bourgeois, mayor's daughter, hotel heiress and Style Queen's daughter" as Queen Bee, she would just be Queen Bee, a superhero.

They have wonderfully defined roles that would be easy for her to pick up & follow through on: assure the public, save people from danger, protect allies, defeat monsters, all things Chloe was shown doing very well when chosen as a Miraculous Holder. 

I think that eventually the contrast in how she is received as Queen Bee VS Chloe Bourgeois would start grinding on each other and bleeding through both sides of the mask. 

But the infectious nature of empathy and a larger support network that don't have the worst impression of her would give Chloe the room she needs to explore and grow.

If she is too snippy as a hero, or shows a ruthless side, these won't be taken in the context of "Chloe that person I dislike" but "Queen Bee my ally" and can allow for more honest and even handed reactions that give her the necessary breathing room to grow and change. 

So yeah, I think season 1 Chloe could have, under the right circumstances, done a great job as a hero be it Queen Bee or another hero even before any outside circumstances or internal changes might have forced her to chart a new course in life.

Provided the role of Chloe and the role of hero do not intersect and become one almost immediately, because in that case it gets a lot harder for her. 

[familyagrestefanblog]

I find it... kinda irritating how saying that Hero Gabriel is still a failure of a father even if he's not a bad person is apparently somewhat of a hot take.

It is irrelevant at what extreme end of the moral spectrum Gabriel is - sadistic villain or heroic saint - fact still remains that you wouldn't notice either with Monarque or Hesperia that they are fathers at all, while simultaneously both Adriens are clearly depicted as teenagers who basically have to re-settle themselves into their lives after they were emotionally orphaned in every sense that matters.

It is irrelevant that Alt Gabriel is a hero, not a bad person or that he wasn't outright abusive like our Gabriel, nothing will change the fact that Griffe Noire Adrien's path to healing goes the same route as our Adrien's.

And that is AWAY from his father, not WITH him.

Griffe Noire at the end was roughly were our Adrien started off at the beginning of the show, just this time with a better path ahead Ladynoir wise since they know their identities.

He changed for the better when our Adrien gave him the self-acceptance, understanding and sympathy he didn't receive from Alt Gabriel or anyone else for the matter.

Helped him overcome the grief of loosing their mother and accepting that the self-harming behavior he's acting on (or both of them) is not something she would want for them.

There are 2 reasons why Alt Adrien couldn't get over his mother's death, and that's 1) because unlike our Adrien, Alt Adrien didn't try finding new happiness in friendship, and 2) because he too couldn't count on his remaining parent (Gabriel) which made him feel his mother's loss even worse.

Alt Gabriel could be the greatest hero of all time and he still would be a fucked up father because he was so busy being a saint that he apparently barely was a father. When alt Gabe cries in the sewer one would think he'd bring up his child as one of his main motivations, but no, he doesn't.

Because Hesperia is just as little characterized as a FATHER as Monarque.

That aspect of Gabriel didn't change.

Hesperia didn't even fucking know that his son is Griffe Noire either, how attentive to you think this man IS??

Alt Adrien goes on the same path as our Adrien and that's away from being emotionally dependent on his father - the way a 14 year old should normally ALLOWED TO BE bc thats NATURAL and how it's supposed to be - to make friends, but most importantly he sure as hell went on being emotionally dependend on HIS Maribug the way our Adrien was/is

Especially the last picture is extremely telling (and one would think our Marinette would finally start paying attention bc Griffe Noire's change right in front of her eyes is literally all she would need to help her fully understand HER Chat Noir's behavior and how that came to be. But apparently we can't ever have Marinette pick up on the most obvious stuff about Chat Noir's problems).

Unlike Toxinelle who is waving goodbye while holding Griffe's hand, HE is not acknowledging our dimension anymore even when he's the last one to enter the portal by a good bit, bc he's so fixated on his Maribug as his whole world bc just like our Adrien he's literally emotionally an orphan and needs an anchor like everyone else.

Good chance that Toxinelle thinks they're just normally holding hands and she's merely going in first, but no, he is letting her lead him out. He doesn't care whats behind or ahead of him, he's just seeing her.

Alt Gabriel is an awful father and you can tell because Alt Adrien literally has to re-settle in life similar to an orphan while his father is still alive and living in the same damn house!

THAT'S what decides if Alt Gabriel is an awful father, NOT him running around as a charming hero. The quality of parenthood is NOT measured by how "good of a person" the parent is, it's measured by the child's fucking well-being

And I don't know if you noticed it by now, but this is the same logic as our Gabriel being hailed a hero after his death. The special already elaborates on this new angle of Gabriel suddenly being a "hero" while he very clearly was a monstrous failure of a father (and person).

So what side are YOU gonna be on here?

Are you going to victim blame Adrien by just declaring Gabriel Agreste a great, blameless and loving father now because that's what you're being told at face-value while the narrative conveniently plays the case in Gabriel's favors by removing all of them from the dimension they are actually from so his faults are being mostly covered up, and Adrien's looks worse without its proper context of their home-dimension and father-son dynamic

Or are you going to fucking LOOK at the child this amazing hero is emotionally abandoning on a daily in way too many ways and ask yourself if that's the result of a competent and attentive parent?

[lc-holy]

Miraculous awakening Live-blog:

Originally I didn't want to watch the film because I know I'm not going to like it, but since I've seen a lot of people talking about it, I thought I'd make up my own mind.

(I watch the film in French)

Fu's voice is a little less cartoonish than in the series. But what intrigues me is who is Fu talking to? Is he breaking the 4th wall by talking to the audience?

He could also have said: "this film is a Jeremy Zag fanfic, it's not canon to the series".

So Marinette in the film is ashamed of her father? I can understand that she's a teenager, and that her father is a bit overprotective.... It's a bit cliché and déjà vu but hey.

Wow, Sabine and Marinette's discussion in the bakery... it was too weird and unnatural.

First song... it's so weird... I don't understand what's happening? We see Marinette taking a bike, going in all directions, but finally coming back to the bakery...

And I have the impression that the lyrics don't match what we see on screen? I have the impression that the song wants to show us that she's weird because she's clumsy like in the show, but at the same time she doesn't say it clearly.... I find the song lyrics too vague and empty... I don't understand what this song is trying to tell me...

Oh, Gabriel! His design is my least favorite at the moment. Mostly because of his tiny shoulders! In the series, his shoulders are broad, which gives him presence.

Oh, it's nice to see how Gabriel's clothes are made. After all, in the show, Gabriel doesn't want to leave his house and does everything by phone. I think it's nice. But the scene didn't even last 1 minute...

Alya saving Marinette was pretty good here.

So Alya likes to film people making fools of themselves? I thought her passion was journalism and superheroes! And Marinette smiling? If I were her, I'd be afraid she'd film me without my knowledge and post it on the Internet.

Well, the dialogue is awkward, but I understood what Alya meant xD

I don't quite understand Marinette's montage, which is supposed to show us her clumsiness...  I don't think Marinette is all that clumsy, actually. She's supposed to be the school's disaster girl, but she hasn't done anything really catastrophic.

Wow the miraculous butterfly giving end-of-the-world flashbacks.... I wasn't expecting that.

But why is everyone laughing at Marinette! She hasn't done anything particularly embarrassing...

First interaction between Adrien and Marinette, it's pretty sweet. I can see why she has a crush on him, he's one of the first people to be nice to her (although there was Alya too, but hey). But Adrien disappearing while putting the books away! I burst out laughing. Did he run away or what? He hadn't even finished putting the books away! And the fact that he said afterwards that he found Marinette too weird? Is that why he ran away?! It makes the scene less cute...

Adrien: "I'm used to it, I work alone all the time." I don't understand why he says that? Why does he work alone? In the show I can understand, he's home-schooled, but here I don't understand what they wanted to tell us about Adrien with this sentence...

So in the film Adrien can go out whenever he wants, ok.

Fu is very strange, but it's funny. Fu giving her the ladybug's miraculous is almost the same as in the show, except that in the show fu gives her his miraculous because she saved him but also because he saw her clumsiness and lack of confidence.

I thought it was funny at first, but fu is starting to get creepy, and I feel like I'm watching a parody of miraculous here.

Okay, the akumatization scene could have been interesting, especially with the parallel when Adrien finds the black cat ring and the failed marriage proposal. But the akumatization is so quick??? We don't have time to feel all the frustration of the akumatized character, who cries and suddenly growls a little because he's not happy. We don't see Gabriel feeling the negative emotions. And no pact between Hawkmoth and the akumatized? okay...

And we're talking about the fact that Adrien didn't have to do much to get his miraculous? It just came to him because he's the chosen one. The same goes for Marinette... in the end, the fact that she saved Master Fu's life was for nothing, since the miraculous come magically to the chosen ones.

Wow Calm down tikki... I have a feeling she's going to be radically different from tikki from the series. I feel more like tikki with Plagg's behavior.

Tikki's rap is weird, I don't know if I like it or not xD

Marinette: "First a song, now a yo-yo and then what? A dinette?" Huh? You know you can be humorous and still make sense. Maybe it's just the French translation.

Is the yo-yo alive?

Huh?! Chat noir is here?! But we didn't see Plagg and Adrien meet! We didn't see Adrien transform! We didn't see Adrien's reaction when he discovered the miraculous....

Chat noir: "A young girl doesn't hang out in a place like this at this time of night" How to destroy the charm of Chat noir's character in one line... But it's a different story, so the characters are bound to be a bit different, so we'll let it slide.

It's a shame we didn't get to see Adrien's reaction when he found out he'd been chosen to be a hero, because he seems to be playing the super-mysterious hero by hiding in the cathedral. So far we haven't seen much of Adrien, except that he looks sad to have lost his mother.

Chat noir is a bit strange? As we haven't really been introduced to Adrien, we don't really understand why Adrien suddenly changes personality...

He made a joke without being insufferable! Phew, it's Chat noir all right. And then he calls Ladybug assistant... Chat noir... I believed in you...

Alya says Ladybug is strong, even though she's done absolutely nothing so far.

The lighting effects are really nice.

Oh my, the careless whisper music started when Chat noir took Ladybug's hand! What's that music?

So Ladybug and Chat noir didn't beat the akumatized person, the butterfly simply left the object. Which makes me think that Tikki didn't explain how to purify the akuma! She should have explained this to Marinette instead of telling her to trust herself.

So it's Fu that explains their power ok. But even after falling in love with Ladybug, Chat noir still wants to go it alone?

What's with the characters in this movie disappearing like that?! Is master fu a ghost?

Plagg is so pathetic?! What did you do to him?! Is this his first on-screen interaction with Adrien?! I feel like they introduced him to us as if we already knew him.

He farts and burps, yay.... It's the quintessence of humor. (I'm not against fart jokes, but in movies it's always complicated to make jokes like that).

Stop farting plagg!!!! Aaaaaahhhh!!!

So is Hawkmoth a separate entity? But then, who is Hawkmoth? And is Nooroo kind?

Nooroo: "These powers aren't meant for this" Nooroo says this when Hawkmoth tells him he wants to cause chaos to get Ladybug and Chat noir's miraculous back. So Nooroo's power can also be used for good? like in the show?

Uh... what year is the film set in? Are there any prisoners in the catacombs???? Are people still selling newspapers in the streets? What's going on?

I'm sorry, but the akumatizations in this film make no sense....

Nino tells Adrien to be super mysterious to seduce the person he loves. But this scene should have taken place before Ladybug met Chat noir! Chat noir's behavior would have made more sense!

Why doesn't Adrien want to stay with Marinette? Because he thinks she's weird? (#notmyAdrien)

Well, their discussion is actually quite cute.

The action scenes are nice, but we need to stop using unnecessary slow motion. Why slow down when Nino confesses to Alya?

Ladybug still had a plan to beat the bad guys, even if there was no Ladybug vision. Wait... Isn't there a lucky charm?

But don't akuma go into objects?! They go into people! Oh okay... it wouldn't be very kids friendly to break their leg to get the akuma out of their body anyway...

Meh... the way she purified the akumas was not impressive at all. And she didn't do what she did in the show and get the akumas that formed Hawkmoth's head. It would have been cool to see this scene with this animation. Well...

oh? Chat noir became a little more humble all of a sudden.

Parisians still read newspapers? Don't they have the Internet?

Ladybug and Chat noir advertising cars? The subtlety of this ad xD it made me burst out laughing.

The rooftop scene is very cute, too bad it ends with Chat noir blocking Ladybug against a wall.

Tikki forced Marinette to touch Adrien's hand to bring him closer and now that Marinette wants to ask Adrien to go to the ball, she tells him to stay focused on her mission? She was fearless from the start and now she's cautious? Why is that? Tikki's behavior has changed completely...

Do the earrings flash in case of danger? It's not very discreet, but okay.

So Chat noir pretended to be in danger to get Ladybug to come?

Wait, wait... Chat noir tells his life story here?! And his secret identity? oh... that’s right... From the beginning, they never talked about the importance of keeping their identity a secret... So if it doesn't matter, why don't they already know who they are!

Adrien: "Since my mother died, I've sworn not to get attached to people, so as not to suffer" Ok Gwen Stacy.

Joking aside, we see so little of Adrien interacting with others in this film that this sentence is a little surprising. And he has Nino, doesn't he? Isn't he his friend? In fact, we don't really know what their relationship is, since they've only exchanged two sentences.

In all the songs, French lip-synching is catastrophic....

"Every day you save the world with that mask but the girl wearing it saved my heart" "How could I have imagined for a second that she could love me, behind my mask hides an empty and abandoned heart" Chat noir throwing out corny quotes he found on the internet xD

And stop farting plagg !!!! I promise you I love plagg in the series but here he is uninteresting and insufferable!!!!!!

Ooh... Gabriel are you okay?

Adrien gets angry with his father, but he doesn't care that he's in a terrible state?

Oh! Adrien "tutoie" his father in the film.

And we've never seen Chloé and Adrien interact with each other... Are they childhood friends or not?

And Marinette loses hope again ...

Stop with the careless whisper music, please.....

No, just no ... even if Adrien is heartbroken, he'll still turn into Chat noir to save Paris ... now Adrien is just selfish. He turns into Chat noir just to see Ladybug. This scene really made me angry...

The fact that they say they're "stronger together" is starting to get on my nerves. It's so cheesy.

Chat noir cataclysm is a liquid?

Hawkmoth masters the force?!

Tikki: "Get up, Marinette, don't let your fear paralyze you" No, but you have to stop using phrases like "go and believe in yourself!". Marinette has a head injury and has to be taken to hospital.

So there wasn't even a final fight? Quite simply: Oh no, Chat noir is my son! I'll stop being mean!

Gabriel's story told in a minute. I prefer Felix and Kagami to tell it, sorry Gabriel.

Gabriel: "The only power stronger than death is love" Gabriel, even you don't deserve to say such corny things...what have they done to you, poor guy...

I heard Fu was more competent in this movie than in the series. And really...I don't see how...he served any purpose other than to explain their power. He didn't even choose the heroes.

Ladybug: "the power of love will be there to protect you" ah yes, the film completely assumes its cheesiness.

So there's no Miraculous ladybug: it's the power of love that literally fixes everything.

Didn't we even see Marinette make her dress?

Has Adrien turned into Luka or what? Instead of playing guitar chords, he's playing cheesy poem quotes!

This final scene is long....

This identity reveal sucks... my god... no impact.

 I'm not giving a score because I don't like to rate films. But here's my general feeling:

This is fan fiction written by someone who can't write. I tried to detach myself as much as possible from the series, but even though I knew nothing about Miraculous, everything is too vague and unexplained. The relationships between the characters are bizarre and unlovable.

Marinette is an empty shell who tells us nothing except that she doesn't trust herself.

There's nothing charming about Chat Noir, who thinks only of Ladybug and has nothing heroic about him.

The relationship between Gabriel and Adrien is non-existent.

Chloé is useless.

Plagg just farts...

The final battle is non-existent... ! ! !!!

Yes, you don't write a series like you write a movie, but here instead of taking another direction to make a parallel universe to Miraculous the series, they just took away everything that made it fun. They didn't add anything or develop anything differently, they just took things away.

The music in a musical should tell a story, but here it's the same thing all the time... and it doesn't tell much either.

If you like the film's music, I think you might enjoy the film, because it's watchable. It's not horrible, but it's forgettable and cliché.

I'm not going to talk about this movie again, I'm clearly not the target audience. I'll leave it to those who will like the film. I will only continue to watch the series and the special episodes.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What are your opinions on more „popular“ salt takes about Adrien and Mari, like the typical „Adrichat is an ass for for flirting with LB after she rejects him“ and „Maribug us a horrible stalker“?

Well, I'd be lying if I said that I have no idea where they're coming from. There are definitely times when I'll watch an episode and wonder what in the world the writers are trying to do, especially when it comes to Adrien's behavior as it's played a lot more straight than Marinette's. While I don't like her behavior at times, it's almost always treated as a joke, not a dramatic character beat whereas I cannot say the same for Adrien.

But these are characters in a TV show, not real people and we need to keep that in mind when judging them. It's why my go-to thought is "what is wrong with the writing staff" and not "Adrien is an incel." Because Adrien is very clearly not supposed to be an incel. Unless the writers are plotting something truly asinine, the Love Square is our end game couple. We are supposed to view Adrien as a charming and funny romantic lead. When he falls short of that role, it's not Adrien "showing his true colors." He's a fictional character. He has no true colors. If his actions and words are ever unbecoming for a romantic lead, it's because the writers are failing to write Adrien the way they want us to see him.

They consistently do this to all of the characters. Alya's supposed to be an awesome friend and a smart journalist (I think), but she can't see through Lila's BS. Marinette's parents are supposed to be loving and supportive, but they randomly believed that their daughter stole from their bakery to make a dress and didn't even try to let her explain herself. Nino is supposed to be the Chosen of Protection, but he didn't care to protect his best friend and just happily sent Gabriel on a rampage without a second thought.

Give me a character and I can point to a bunch of episodes that justify every salty take this fandom has because they're not pulling this stuff from thin air. They're picking and choosing the worst writing in the show and venting about it, which is frankly understandable. Like I get why there are so many Alya salt fics. Her writing in the Lila episodes is infuriating and I do find those fics a little cathartic at times. But it's really, really obvious that she's not supposed to be a terrible friend. She's a victim of the writers drawing the Lila plot line out for far too long and making Lila's lies far too obvious.

Similarly, a lot of the issues with Adrien and Marinette stem from the fact that you simply can't draw a romance plot out for five seasons without causing issues unless you make the romance a background plot. But they didn't do that. The love square is front and center for most episodes, but since it can't actually resolve, the writers keep adding drama that makes our leads feel horribly unhealthy.

On the Marinette side, her not being able to talk to Adrien was fine as an initial issue, but we are five seasons into this show. Over 100 episodes! You reach a point where it stops being cute and starts being concerning. It's also not helped by the fact that Marinette's crush is written like a celebrity crush and not a crush on someone she actually knows. Daily exposure to Adrien should mellow her out. Especially since he's supposed to be her friend! But if the writers let Marinette talk to Adrien, then they'd grow closer and might feel like they had to get together, so they couldn't let that. Thus Marinette being a disaster for four seasons and the terrible shoehorned plot to try and justify it in season five.

On the Adrien side, they let Chat Noir confess too soon. Prior to that, the Ladynoir relationship was a playful one where it was feasible that Ladybug just viewed her kitty as a massive flirt. This was especially true since he flirts with everyone. But once she knew that he was serious? The playfulness vanished and Chat Noir started coming across as entitled and pushy. It didn't help that they had him ignoring her preferences ("Don't call me Bugaboo") and getting them in trouble by not taking his job seriously (his flirting getting them hit in Oblivio).

In summary, the love square should have been resolved much sooner or been relegated to a b plot that got far less attention. I also would have reversed the square since it makes for a far more interesting story that you can organically draw out longer, but that's just me. I don't have any issue with people ignoring the canon problems and just writing Adrien and Marinette as the cute couple that they were obviously intended to be. I also enjoy fics that treat Adrien's pushiness as a character flaw that can be resolved because that's what canon should have done. His issues aren't the mark of a terrible person. They're the understandable flaws of a teenager who is in love for the first time and doesn't know how to express himself. If a show would actually address this kind of common tween/teen issue, then a lot of kids would get an incredibly valuable lesson that would help them when they grow up and fall in love. If you're ever watching Miraculous with a kid, I strongly encourage you to approach Adrien's character from that perspective. Talk about why his actions are understandable, but ultimately wrong and more likely to push someone away than win their heart just like we see with Ladybug.

[miraculous-lesbians]

2, 7, 21, 26, 27, and 29

2.) Part of canon you think is overhyped

Um…is it bad if i say the Love Square? I think, at this point in the series (where I’m pretty sure it doesn’t matter as much), it’s been overdone and dragged out too much. It would’ve been fine if it got resolved earlier, but I’m honestly sooo tired of it. It’s why I default to every other ship that isn’t the Love Square when I look for fanon content, or making it.

7.) The boring headcanon that is everywhere

Hmm…I actually don’t know, but I will talk about a headcanon I like! Any and all that headcanons that emphasize Marinette’s Chinese heritage. I especially love the cut idea from the movie where she’s Chinese born. That’s canon in my fanon

21.) Ship that did not deserve to be overshadowed by a more popular ship

This is hard because I think most of the underrated ships (in my eyes) get enough attention in the fanon, so none of them get overshadowed? But I’m going to be basic and say…Marinette/Nino being overshadowed by Nino/Alya and Marinette/Adrien. I don’t see nearly as much content for it now, but I think it’s a cute enough ship!

26.) A "He would not fucking say that" moment

Any time Kagami said something to push the Marinette and Kagami love rivalry for Adrien, and anytime she’s on screen with Felix. That is a fucking shapeshifter-

27.) A tag that will automatically turn you off a fic for this fandom

Chloe Salt. As someone who’s a big fan of Chloe, while acknowledging she’s not a perfect character, I get more annoyed at people complaining about Chloe Stans than the actual “obsessive” Chloe Stans. To the point where I just blocked the tag entirely on Tumblr. The show already hates her and she’s already fucking dead, we should give her a break-

29.) A ship or headcanon that clearly exists only to simplify fanon

Zoe/Marinette. They are trying to block us from Chloe/Marinette, but they cannot trick us. They can’t pull the wool over our eyes-

[nothingtherefornow]

Hot take: I don’t think Marinette did anything wrong in Volpina.

1. Lila was sexually harassing Adrien and being WAAAAY too handsy with him when he was visibly not comfortable with.

2. She stole something clearly important from him.

3. Lila’s lies about having a miraculous and being best friends with Ladybug when a magical terrorist is active are not only stupid BUT DANGEROUS.

4. Lila was lying about ladybug so Ladybug did have a right to call her out for it.

Oh Believe me, Lila totaly asked for it, if she just lied about being Ladybug's best friend maybe Marinette would have let that slide, but the liar was taking things too far by pretending to be a miraculous wielder less than a day after meeting Adrien just to impress him.

And if we could argue that maybe Ladybug was harsher than she should have been with Lila in Volpina, and that she reacted too impulsively, I totally see where she was coming from.

What reaction should you expect from somoene whom you're lying about just to leech on their celebrity in order to increase your own popularity ? And on top of that seeing those lies being used to manipulate one you're in love with ? Maybe Marinette should have kept a cold head, but I totally understand that she didn't, at her age I sure wouldn't have. And I think that Lila deserved to be called out on her lies anyway, especially in front of Adrien who was being fooled and taken advantage of by Lila.

Adrien is used to the vagaries of celebrity life, including potential lies and gossip about his person in addition to hysterical fans and his image being constantly publicly used, and therefore he could not understand the legitimate anger of Ladybug who is not used to that kind of celebrity that can be abused by random people for their own interests. That said, I wonder if Adrien would still have dared his quick and short outburst of anger at Ladybug when he saw her "humiliating" Lila, if he had known that in addition to lying to him, the latter had also stolen his father's book.

And on top of that, we're not talking about some harmless liar who just want to impress other people, we're talking about a potential psycopath who was already committing acts of identity fraud, truancy and scaming, and deceiving three innocent women into wrongly thinking of "Lila" as their daugther, while the girl seems to collect false mothers and identities like one collect tee-shirts.

So yeah I definitly can't say that Lila didn't derserved to have her ego taken down a few pegs.

And I don't think that Ladybug never calling Lila out on her lies would have made things better for her. Sure she could have avoided Volpina and maybe heroes days, but the rest ? In Oni-chan Lila targeted Kagami just after learning that the japanese girl was a friend of Adrien from fencing, and in the same episode she saw that Adrien was still infatuated will Ladybug, something she also quickly noticed during Volpina. And being a love rival seems enough to warrant Lila's hatred and hostility.

Remember how Lila went back on her words to let Marinette chose to be with her or against her when Lila saw Adrien chose to sit with Marinette over sitting with her in Chameleon ? After that Lila never let Marinette give her her answer and immediately declared war on her.

On top of that during the following seasons, Marinette no longer really tried to denounce Lila's lies and left the liar alone, and yet that did not prevent Lila from developing this strong hatred and obsession towards Marinette which we had proof of in Perfection . All because Marinette called her on her lies oncea nd is a rival in love for Adrien's heart ? You'll agree that this is a a disproportionate or even irrational reaction, and therefore further demonstrates that Lila is not at all a healthy person in her head, and that whatever the way Ladybug could have handled Lila in Volpina, the con artist would still have become threat sooner or later.

Lila would still have been contacted by Gabriel since the scenario of Oni-chan doesn't need Ladybug calling out on Lila's lies in Volpina to happen. Gabriel would in any case still have encouraged Lila to develop her plan in the Ladybug episode, and from there the events would have remained the same, with or without Ladybug's intervention during Volpina. Lila would still have ended up discovering Monarch's secret identity, and would still have put together her plan to get the butterfly miraculous in the season 5 finale.

Conclusion, Ladybug indeed did nothing wrong during Volpina. Because as Astruc himself confirmed in a recent interview, Lila is a supervillain all the time, with or without superpowers, which means that she was already one when she arrived at Françoise-Dupont for the first time

[princess-of-the-corner]

Sorry, adding onto that Weiss post I sent, eve n though you will likely see this one first XD

But one of the interesting things about the Schnee family is that each of the kids and Willow all subtly embody one of the four main trauma responses to abuse as a sort of underlying character trait that showed their overall trajectory and what they needed to overcome.

Willow Schnee, (The mother) embodied freeze, she had long since given up combatting Jac and fallen into an extended depression and addiction to wine. Though (Spoiler) she did begin planting cameras in the house to spy on hi, to gather evidence but didn't quite have the where with all to act on anything she had herself.

Winter Schnee, (One of the most elder sisters ever) Despite her intensely stern disposition and aggression, she actually embodies flight, going out of her way to avoid him whenever she can and quickly losing any semblance of self control when he's around as he still has his claws in her so to speak. She also unwittingly recreated the dynamic he wanted from her with General Ironwood. IE, she followed the general with utter devotion and loyalty until he was basically in the lowest depths of his descent to villainy. This is something she herself has become aware of since then.

Weiss Schnee, (Middle Child Syndrome) I already covered her, but she is primarily fight, though her leaving for Beacon & struggles when dragged back to the manor do show signs of flight and freeze. These latter two were tinged heavily by circumstance, IE needing to get away from him to build her own reputation & trauma from the Fall of Beacon. & also clearly took a lot of effort for Jac or a situation to bring out. While fighting comes naturally to Weiss, hence her being said to embody defiance.

Whitley Schnee, (Bratty baby) He is very much fawn, to the point where Jac clearly starts low key treating him more like staff than he ever did Weiss, cos that would just lead to fight. Whitley acts as door man, kind of a secretary and generally was expected to just follow Jac around, when he was wanted, and offer silent support and then disappear otherwise.

He was a bit more contentious with others, especially his siblings who he resented for leaving him with their parents (The show doesn't blame them for this, they were abused teens as well; its just made clear this is why he's so distrustful) but it was made clear he acts as he does because he thinks defying their father is a fools errand.

I would say Whitley is probably the closest to Chloe, fawning on an abusive parent, smug and even sharp tongued with others when he can get away with it, but clearly unhappy and when given the chance to do something worthwhile, does very well.

Conclusion?

I guess if you fused Adrien & Chloe you'd get Whitley and if you mixed some of Gabriel & Andre's worst traits you'd get Jac Schnee, while the other Schnee family members feel a bit too distinct to easily draw such a line too.

Fascinating and low-key reminds me of my analysis of the Todorokis. Which is funny because the ice theming is with both.

[mae-dwrites]

A Bundle of Heliotropes - Chapter 1 - Marking

| Masterlist | Start: Here <3 | Next |

| Ao3 | Wattpad |

After two people have turned 16 they get a soulmark, a near-exact, or complementary, mark or as some referred to it as a tattoo. This can be anywhere on the person, sometimes they're simple, small, or inconspicuous on occasion. Other times they take up a great deal of space, elaborate pieces of work, their meaning so clear much clearer more often than not.

When Marinette Dupain-Cheng was younger she couldn't wait for her mark. She hadn't cared what it would look like because no matter what it would be beautiful, because this was her way to her one in the Universe.

When she fell in love with Adrien she was sure it was him but slowly felt as though she was wrong as she failed to confess or even have a normal conversation with the blond. Why would the Universe give her someone she couldn't even talk to?

This led to her officially letting him go and giving Luka a wholehearted try, that was until he got his soulmark. Akumas, being Ladybug, and Guardian duties had already been putting a strain on their relationship so Luka getting his mark was just the icing on the cake, and Marinette thought it would be better for them to break up and remain friends.

Marinette spent months of hopeful vs. hopeless, and as her birthday drew near a feeling of dread came upon her. The day came when she woke up with her collar area burning with her mark.

It was beautiful, just below the center of her collarbone a circle resting with elm branches coming from it going across to end at her shoulders. In the circle was a giant ladybug, along with robins sitting on the branches of her tree.

Looking in the mirror left her almost breathless, she brought her hand up to the mark almost scared to touch it. For fear if she touched it would fade the canvas of her skin forgetting what had been.

The only problem was it was far too telling. A ladybug? As if that wouldn't reveal her. She couldn't show this, not without someone realizing what the ladybug truly represented.

She could show Alya, she had told her identity at the beginning of the school year. She trusted her not to blab about it, especially when a few months ago Alya was going through the Ladyblog rewatching her videos and trying to see if any of them could be of help. Then she stumbled upon her interview with Lila to realize that she couldn't possibly be best friends with Ladybug when that was in fact her. She apologized to Marinette when she realized her mistake and how it took her this long even after Marinette had already told her and proved she was Ladybug.

“Marinette!” Tikki’s voice broke through her trance. The Kwami had been admiring her mark, while it wasn't the biggest or the flashiest. It was certainly something to admire. Big and flashy had never been Marinette’s forte, perhaps her soulmate and her had that in common?

“Sorry Tikki. I just,” Marinette glanced into the mirror again looking at the branches and its’ birds. “I can't believe it.” The teen said the last bit breathlessly.

“Guardian, as beautiful as your mark is,” Wayzz floated up. “You’re going to need to hide it. Someone could put it together, even with the quantum masking.”

“Wayzz is right,” Marinette turned to face Tikki as she spoke. “We can't count on the Miraculous magic to hide your identity when a mark so clearly refers to your heroine persona. While our magic is ancient that doesn’t mean it’s entirely dependable either.”

“You're right,” Marinette sighed. “I can show Alya at least. I'm sure she's gonna freak.”

Marinette wore a shirt that covered above her collarbone, unable to wear her usual white tees. She wore a light pink top so that if the shirt got wet the mark wouldn't be seen through the fabric. Marinette had already been making it a habit not to wear her usual whites anyway, with how many times Lila had caused “accidents” that ruined them. It wasn’t like she was dumb enough to keep wearing something that would be affected the worse.

Marinette already knew that Lila would try to say she must not have a soul mate if she wasn't willing to show her friends. Honestly, Marinette could care less about that, as Lila probably wouldn't share hers either when she got hers later this year. Not to mention there were others in the class and friends that had been getting their marks recently and not all of them wanted to share. Also, Marinette might be the younger between her and them, if her getting the mark on her birthday was anything to go by. Which it was.

Marinette made her way downstairs while tying her hair back, over the last few months while she still was late for things she had gotten better at waking up early. It made her friends excited, that's for sure. Marinette was proud, she may not get all the hours of sleep needed for a person her age but at least she started her day earlier.

She grabbed an apple and made her way down the stairs. She didn't want to risk Lila trying to claim she had done something when she was least likely to have. So she made her way as quickly as she possibly could, despite her having more time to get to school; it helped to get there as soon as she could around a certain time. As the more people around to see her the less likely Lila could make her claims.

Marinette passed through the bakery giving her maman and papa hugs and kisses before snatching up croissants into a bag to share with some of her friends. Mainly Alya, Nino, and Adrien of course every morning hung out with her. Many of her other friends would sometimes join them, sometimes they were in a rush or just forgot to grab something to eat.

Everyone mostly “played nice” as Adrien tried to keep it. While Adrien seemed to play peacekeeper along with Alya they both had very different reasons. Adrien being so Lila wouldn't say anything to his Father and risk his freedom, and while they understood that it still hurt when Adrien sometimes took more of Lila’s side in the conversation, even if it was for the sake of “keeping the peace.” Over the months Chloé, Kagami, and Marinette had been able to convince Gabriel to be more free with his son, even Natalie had surprisingly shown support. But Adrien still turned the arguments in Lila’s favor a good chunk of the time.

Alya on the other hand had been slowly sliding more to Marinette, so as to not cause Lila into a fuss. Alya hated it, that much was clear, but it seemed as though Lila didn't notice as long as the Créole teen was spitting articles of her amazing life. Alya had made a separate blog to “support her friend” but what Lila hadn't noticed was that the writer’s name wasn't Alya but a pen name. But it had come to light for Lila that Alya still cared about Marinette and wasn't entirely leaving her. Alya gave excuses, true and false, but we're good enough for the Italian. But Lila taking notice had only been a recent thing.

“Marinette!” Alya shouted as Marinette made her way into the courtyard. Some people turned to see the dark-haired teen make her way to her friend, some of those students happened to be Max and Rose. Score, Marinette couldn’t help but think as it meant if Lila tried to say something they would most likely doubt her, especially if she was with Alya.

“Hey Alya,” Marinette smiled before hugging her best friend. As she pulled away she wasn’t even halfway out before Alya was practically buzzing.

“So?” Alya stretched the word out while bouncing in place. “Did you get your mark? Or is it not there? And if there isn’t one then that’s okay girl! Remember your soulmate could be younger than you and hasn’t turned sixteen yet. And even if you don’t get a mark I won’t think any less of you, it just means that you're free to choose your own destiny and-” and before Alya could continue rambling, something that she had picked up from the Asian girl, that Marinette cut her off.

“Alya! I got my mark,” Marinette laughed before finally letting go of the other girl’s hands. Alya’s face slowly went from blank to pure glee. She grabbed Marinette’s shoulders and shook her, “You. Me. Bathroom. Now!”

Alya dragged her to the bathroom, while others would be upset at the other’s demanding antics Marinette just laughed. Alya pushed the bathroom door open and surveyed the room, “Which stall is empty?”

Some girls gave her weird looks, but those who were friends or knew the girls personally giggled or simply smiled. One of them pointed to the one at the end. Alya declared “perfect” and brought Marinette in with her. Some of the girls said happy birthdays to Marinette while giggling as Alya dragged her into the stall. As Alya shut the stall door it could be heard some girls going “Oh” as they realized why the two went into the stall.

“Show me now girl!” Alya cried, the stall at the end wasn’t as small as the others but it certainly wasn’t one as big as the one closer to the door. Alya had mentioned that her mark might hint at her heroing, as a theory. It wasn’t uncommon for soul marks to represent someone’s work or passions, so it was safe to assume that Marinette’s could reference Ladybug.

Marinette pulled her arms out of her shirt before taking it off, her tank top left a perfect view of the mark. Aside from the straps, it’s not like it really mattered. Alya let out what had to be the loudest squeal Marinette had heard come out of her, and she had let Alya try many Miraculi on just for the fun of it. That sleepover had been the loudest squeals and laughter that came out of Alya to date. Till today that is.

“Are those tree branches? And robins?”

“Yes, and yes,” Marinette said before bringing her shirt back on. “Elms if I’m not wrong. But I studied plants for that one nature-forest-themed fashion competition.”

Alya finally opened the stall back up when Marinette had her shirt situated, and with Wayzz and Tikki away. Alya just seemed to be radiating from excitement. If Alya was the type to jump up and down when excited that would be exactly what she would be doing now. Though Marinette had a feeling it had to do with how nervous Alya was for Nino’s birthday.

Nino’s Birthday was just four days away, Alya’s was last month. She didn't get a mark so she held out hope that Nino would be her soulmate, while being soulmates didn't necessarily mean it was romantic you couldn't blame the girl. As for all they knew, Nino or Alya may have a romantic bond with someone else. With how close they were and how much they loved each other it made sense to be scared of such possibilities.

Marinette was honestly scared hers wouldn't be romantic, not that there was anything wrong with a platonic bond. But for Marinette, it just meant finding someone to have her big house with three kids and a hamster would be much harder.

Marinette subconsciously touched where her mark lay, What if they don't like that I'm the one they're soul bound to?

“Marinette!”

The said girl looked up to see Adrien, Nino, and Kim waiting for her. A smile came on her face as she saw them. Kim waved at her overdramatically before raising a sign that read “Happy Birthday To The Bread Child.”

Alya and Marinette laughed at the sign, it had been a joke between mainly Kim and Marinette that she was “The Bread Child”. When they were in early collège their class had done a project about names and their heritages. From then on Kim liked to joke about her father’s last name.

Her other friends had slowly made their ways into the joke calling her bread-related nicknames. Adrien and Nino were the worst, as they were puns. It honestly made Marinette think their favorite hero was Chat Noir rather than Ladybug.

“Happy Birthday!” Nino and Kim shouted at their long-time friend.

“Happy Birthday Marinette,” Adrien smiled at her. The girl's insides swirled around a little at his smile, it was charming, one of his real ones even. Despite letting go of her crush on him he still made her flustered from time to time.

“Thanks you guys,” she felt a bit embarrassed but she couldn't care. Her friends always made her feel like that on important occasions, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

“I'm assuming by Alya’s face and that she was practically skipping her way over here that you got your mark?” Kim raised his eyebrows at his short friend. Though most people at Françoise Dupont were shorter than Kim.

“Yes,” her cheeks flushed as she admitted it.

“That's amazing dudette,” Nino said in his usual fashion.

“Can you show us?” Kim looked between the two girls.

Marinette swallowed before opening her mouth to speak, “I don't want to lie to you but I want to keep it myself. I would love to show it but for now, I would like to keep it to myself.”

Marinette looked everywhere but her friends while she said this. They were gonna think she was selfish, or that she hates them when she doesn't! But because they think she hates them they’ll start hating her, and they’ll all leave her. She’ll have no friends because they’ll tell everyone and then she won't ever make friends for the rest of lycèe. Since no one likes her she’ll never get to be a famous and successful designer, and when she finally finds her soulmate they’ll think she’s horrible and hate her because she has no friends and that she's a failure. And then she’ll be alone for the rest of her life. She’ll never get her big house for her hamster and three kids, and-

“Marinette!” Her friend's voices snapped her out of her panicked state.

“S-sorry!” Marinette cried.

“Marinette, it's okay,” Nino said.

“We understand and we won't push you to show us,” Kim pulled Marinette in for a side hug. “We would never hate you for being private.”

“Exactly!” Adrien said with a reassuring smile. “It's your decision. Also soulmarks are very personal things, it only makes sense if someone decided not to share theirs.”

“It’s in your full right to decide who you want to share your mark with,” Alix said from behind Marinette. Marinette would have jumped if Kim hadn't been hugging her right then. “Honestly I don't think I will share mine with anyone when I turn sixteen next year.” Alix admitted before continuing in a joking tone, “Unless it’s something sick like a dragon or snakes. Then I would show that sucker off for all it’s worth!”

Everyone laughed at Alix’s statement before heading to their classroom.

|

When Damian Wayne first didn't get his mark he thought maybe he didn't have one, and he was fine with that. Even pleased one could say. As it would be one less person to care about, to protect, or to be used as a weakness.

His family reassured him that his soulmate probably just hadn't turned sixteen yet. Truly that didn't, as the League had certain beliefs around the topic. All Damian saw was that it was the Universe giving him that one person that anyone could use against him.

Lo and behold they would be right; just a few months later would he wake to his shoulder blades burning as a mark finally made itself upon his body.

Damian looked at his back with the mirror in his bathroom. It was…magnificent. It was the only word that could come to mind that held everything he felt about it, the young Wayne couldn't help but look at it.

A circle between his shoulder blades with tree branches that went across his shoulder blades and stopped just as it went to wrap around, clearly cherry blossoms were the branches that came out, ladybugs in flight or resting in the branches. While it made no sense it was still a beautiful sight. In the circle was a robin, its back to the viewer and its head turned up so you could see its face, as best you could with how the view of the mark portrayed it.

Damian swallowed, his body showcasing the form of nervousness without his consent. He couldn't help it though, looking at made his chest tight and his fingers flinching, desperately wanting to touch the mark. His arm made its way up and his hand came down-

He clenched his jaw as he turned his hand into a fist and brought it away. He huffed leaving the bathroom, and his face became a scowl. As he got dressed two parts of him berated him. He took a moment to calm himself, it’s just a mark. But it wasn't like a regular tattoo, it couldn't come off.

It was one of the reasons you, internationally, couldn't get a tattoo until you were eighteen, because you were one: a minor. And second, you didn't get your mark until you were around the age of sixteen to nineteen. At least that was the average range of the current day, there were some larger age differences here and there, but it wasn't as common now. Guess the Universe seemed to catch on to how humans had been viewing age differences in recent times.

Damian didn’t understand why the Universe had decided that soulmates would be part of the staple of its rules. An absolute that had become the conclusion long ago that no matter what you were bound to meet your soulmate, in one life or another. At least that was according to magic users and what the League had from hunting down certain magic users.

So under no circumstances could his family find out about this mark. He may have come a long way from who he was when he was ten years old but even still he did not wish to entrust them with everything. While they were family, his most trusted, and partners, he couldn't stand them over insignificant things. This mark did follow under the file: “Keep Out Of Knowledge For Long As Possible.” or as he formally called it “My Business.”

It was his business, and as it was his business it meant his brothers would poke and pry their way into said business. Damian stifled a groan as he made his way down the hall. Damian could only hope his brothers would stick to their recent “level 1: giving space” tactic, but that would only last for so long. He might as well enjoy the peace that came with it.

“Damian we're going skating after school!” Grayson exclaimed upon the young Wayne entering the dining room.

As much peace that would come with the level 1 space.

-

Being Tagged is always an option.

[generalluxun]

Honestly its kind of funny in a tragic way that elements of bad/cruel behavior seen in Chloe can also be seen echoed in her parents but also in the fact this kind of makes her even more weirdly tragic because of how normalized it is to her.

Firstly there's just the general rudeness & disregard, her mother doesn't remember her name and belittles her constantly unless she somehow interprets a slight against Chloe as against herself. Chloe still adores her.

Like when she rips up Rose's letter to Prince Ali this is undoubtably a cruel thing to do, but its also very much how her own mother responds to her own gifts and Chloe still loved her & pursued her approval.

Then there's how her father and everyone around her is just OK with this or at worst does the most minimal intervention. "Darling you can't fire our daughter" like my gods, grow a spine Andre.

What this adds onto things for me is how this plays into how Chloe perceives her position amongst her peers.

Because she seems to oscillate wildly between "Everyone loves me" & being confused & upset when they don't. Or "being "Everyone hates me and I don't know why and or how to fix it".

Because to her this is just like... Normal behavior, it does hurt her, but she still loves the one's who do it so why wouldn't she also still be loved? At least it feels that way anyway, I'm honestly not sure, especially cos of how her self awareness and self image shifts a lot.

Honestly the only out of sorts thing we've seen her do that I don't think her parents have done to her was trapping Juleka in the stall. Which was indeed a really horrible thing to do & possibly the worst she does on her own? I kind of fell off around S3 so only vaguely know the rest of the outline & don't want to offer an opinion on it due to not watching. Plus even then the stall is still learned behavior as far as "Use force to get what you want" goes so its still taught behavior.

Yeah, Chloé has learned her behavior from her parents, clearly. Most of the learned behavior is from her father (She directly references him as her role model twice when doing bad things.) her mither is more about openly aping while not being too familiar with it.

The Juleka thing I am always torn on, because people overstate it so often. It was clearly a bad thing to do but Chloé wasn't *bullying* Juleka with a purpose. She wanted to be beside Adrien. The only reason Juleka got the lock was she was the one to go to the bathroom. Anyone else? They would have gotten the same. I fully believe Chloé would have locked the photographer in the bathroom, shoved a camera in the art teacher's hands, stuck herself by Adrien and had the picture taken if she could.

Chloé had no way of knowing(and probably wouldn't care but still didn't know) how badly being left out of a class picture would affect Juleka. It wasn't malicious in that way. Like, do people think Max was bullying Juleka when he raised his hand directly in front of her face in the old picture? 🤣

[aalissy]

Hiding in Plain Sight

Eeeeeh it's Ladrien June! Which is also the month dedicated to my personal favorite ship of the lovesquare hehee <3. I'm so very excited to get to write for my babies this month. I hope you like them <3.

AO3

Ladybug swung through the Parisian skyline, her red and black polka-dotted suit blending with the twilight hues of the setting sun. She relished these moments, the city stretched out beneath her, the Eiffel Tower gleaming in the distance, and the comforting weight of her yo-yo in her hand. She was enjoying the lovely evening air, using her patrol as an excuse to enjoy the early summer sun

As Ladybug approached the bustling square, she scanned the crowd, her sharp eyes catching sight of a commotion. Civilians were gathered around someone in the middle of the plaza. From her vantage point, she saw a figure attempting to blend in, but there was something strangely familiar about his stance. Descending gracefully to a nearby rooftop, Ladybug squinted to get a better look. The figure wore a pair of oversized sunglasses, a baseball cap pulled low over his face, and a hoodie drawn tight around his shoulders

"Adrien Agreste?" she whispered to herself, a smile tugging at her lips. "What are you up to?"

Just what was it her boyfriend was doing out here? If he thought he was being conspicuous, he obviously was not. It was almost laughable.

Leaping down from the rooftop, she landed quietly behind a statue, just close enough to hear the hushed murmurs of the crowd. They were clearly intrigued, but Adrien seemed to be doing his best to remain unnoticed.

He tugged his collar up higher, ducking around the crowd as he tipped his head down. He quickened his pace, looking down at his feet. With a twirl of her yo-yo, Ladybug decided she needed to save him from whatever he had gotten himself into.

Her lips curled into a teasing grin as she thumped in front of him. "Fancy meeting you here, Adrien.

He jumped slightly, then turned to face her, a sheepish smile forming on his lips. "Ladybug! What a surprise.

"Is it?" she asked, folding her arms. "Because it looks like you’re the one full of surprises today. Nice disguise, by the way.

Adrien chuckled, adjusting his sunglasses. "Thanks. I thought it might help me blend in.”

"Oh, you're blending in perfectly," she replied, her tone dripping with playful sarcasm. "No one would ever suspect the famous Adrien Agreste hiding in plain sight. Especially with those sunglasses. Very subtle."

He gave her a mock bow. "Why, thank you. I aim to please."

Ladybug rolled her eyes playfully with a laugh, stepping closer. "Seriously, though. What are you doing out here? Don’t you have bodyguards to deal with this kind of thing?"

Adrien sighed, his playful demeanor slipping. "I just wanted a bit of normalcy, you know? A chance to walk around without being recognized, even if it’s just for a little while. I don’t know. Ever since those alliance rings were created it’s like I can’t catch a break.”

"I get that," she said softly, her teasing tone replaced with understanding. "But you're not exactly making it easy on yourself. The hat and glasses are kind of a dead giveaway."

"Well, they worked for Clark Kent," he quipped, flashing her a grin.

Ladybug laughed, shaking her head. "Point taken. But how about we get you out of here before the crowd gets any bigger?"

Adrien looked around, noticing the growing number of curious onlookers. "That sounds like a great idea. Got any suggestions on how we do that?"

She extended her yo-yo, the string glinting in the fading light. "Hold on tight."

He hesitated for a moment, then placed his hand in hers. With a deft flick of her wrist, they were airborne, the city blurring beneath them as they swung away from the Louvre. Adrien held on, his grip firm but not too tight, trusting her completely. Ladybug’s bright blue eyes softened as she gazed down at him. How was it possible for him to trust her so implicitly?

As they soared above the rooftops, Ladybug glanced back at Adrien. "Enjoying the view?"

"Definitely," he replied, a genuine smile on his face. "I don’t get to see the city like this very often."

"Well, you’re in for a treat," she said, steering them towards a quieter part of the city. They swung over narrow alleys and wide boulevards, the wind rushing past them as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the city in a warm, golden glow.

Adrien tightened his grip slightly, marveling at the beauty of Paris from this vantage point. "It’s incredible," he murmured, almost to himself.

Ladybug smiled. "It really is. And you get the best seat in the house."

They continued to swing through the city, the evening air cool and refreshing. Ladybug expertly maneuvered them through the labyrinthine streets, her yo-yo guiding their path with precision. Adrien found himself relaxing, the worries of the day melting away as they flew.

As they approached his neighborhood, Ladybug slowed their pace, aiming for a particular window. "Almost home," she said, her voice light and teasing. "Wouldn’t want you to miss your curfew."

Adrien laughed. "Thanks for the concern. My father would probably ground me for life if he knew I was out here like this."

"Well, let’s make sure he doesn’t find out," she replied with a wink.

With a final, graceful swing, Ladybug brought them to a stop just outside Adrien's bedroom window. She hovered there for a moment, allowing him to get his bearings.

"Safe and sound," she announced, giving him a playful nudge. "I’d say mission accomplished."

Adrien removed his sunglasses and hat, his eyes shining with gratitude. "Thank you, Ladybug. This was... amazing. Really."

"Anytime," she said, her expression softening. "It’s not every day I get to give a celebrity a lift home.” 

She giggled teasingly, enjoying the way he laughed with her. Did he have to be so cute? It was almost impossible for her to not swoop him up into a kiss. But, she had to remember that he was dating Marinette. Not Ladybug.

He grinned. "Guess I owe you one, then."

"Maybe just a little," she teased. "But seriously, if you ever need another escape route, you know where to find me."

"I’ll keep that in mind," he said, his smile warm. "Goodnight, Ladybug."

"Goodnight, Adrien," she replied, watching as he climbed through the window into his room. She waited a moment, ensuring he was safely inside, before turning to leave.

With a final wave, Adrien disappeared into his room, closing the window softly behind him. Ladybug took a deep breath, savoring the moment, before swinging away into the night. The city stretched out before her, twinkling with lights, and she felt a sense of contentment settle over her.

Helping Adrien find a bit of normalcy had made her night a little brighter, too. She swung through the streets, her heart light and a smile playing on her lips, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.

[flightfoot]

Miraculous movie review

Just watched the movie. Overall, I'm pretty mixed on it. There were some things I thought it did well and others I thought it was pretty poor at, especially with how the constraints of its runtime meant it couldn't build relationships as well. Ultimately, I prefer the show, though the movie definitely had some things going for it.

More details below the break, warning there will be SPOILERS below.

What I liked about the movie:

It had some really nice music and song sequences, they were my favorite part of the movie! I thought the singing was top-notch, and I loved the visuals they brought out for them, even if it was clearly non-diagetic most of the time. I adore musicals and sadly there haven't been enough of them lately.

The movie was more consistent with its tone and theming than the show usually is. Granted, that's a LOT easier to do in a single movie than in a show spanning 100+ episodes over seven years. They really leaned into the "Marinette has low self-confidence and just considers herself a useless mess who causes disasters all the time, so she needs to learn that she IS capable and heroic."

This movie BELONGED to Ladynoir, specifically with the song sequences with both of them, I adored them singing duets and dancing together.

ADRIEN GOT TO FIND OUT GABRIEL WAS HAWK MOTH AND REALLY REACT TO IT. Gabriel gave a genuine, heartfelt apology for everything, and gave up when he realized he'd been hurting his son. Since this version of Gabriel had only been avoiding Adrien out of grief and hadn't seemed to ever go out of his way to hurt him or subjugate him, Adrien forgiving him worked, I thought. This version of Gabriel jives nicely with most Gabenath fics I've read.

---

What I didn't like about the movie:

While I enjoyed the song sequences the most, they did feel kind of jarring with the rest of the movie, especially since Marinette and Adrien had different voice actors for the singing parts.

Adrien's and Marinette's relationship was barely developed in the Adrienette dynamic. I was actually surprised when Ladybug told Chat that her heart belonged to someone else, given that she'd only had like, two scenes with him as a civilian? And neither one was THAT meaningful. The library scene was nowhere NEAR the level of the umbrella scene.

This movie had beautiful music... for the singing parts. But then they tried to bring out the opening chords of "Careless Whisper" for some bits that were supposed to be romantic and... yeah no, that didn't work at all. It felt like a parody. The show uses its OST WAY better, especially "In The Rain".

While this movie emphasized the Ladynoir dynamic, it didn't actually work for me? It was nice to see them sparring, but I didn't like their actual interactions - mostly because of how Chat was portrayed.

Which leads to a point about Chat: he got done dirty here, with his over-the-top bravado getting to the point of arrogance and it even seeming like he was putting Ladybug down sometimes, with him calling her a "sidekick" several times (which Plagg joined in on for some reason) and a watermelon and while that seems to have been in order to show how his and Ladybug's relationship strengthened and became more playful over time, the shortened length of the movie didn't really allow that to be conveyed well. He was mostly just annoying, and it didn't feel like he actually got to do much in fights. We didn't get to follow him much so there wasn't much reason to get attached to Adrien, either.

Were the fart scenes with Plagg really necessary?

---

Overall I'm happy I watched it, but I wouldn't call it the definitive version of Miraculous by any means. For all its flaws and foibles, I far prefer the show, with the relationships and characters its built, and the creative, intelligent superhero fights it showcases. Just watched the movie wouldn't have gotten me into Miraculous's world, but the show entranced me after only two episodes.

[starryknightwrites]

Safety and Why Adrien’s “Sudden” Crush on Marinette Makes So Much Sense

Season 5 sees Marinette jumping headfirst into a crush on Chat Noir because her faith in a relationship with Adrien has been rocked considerably. She doesn’t trust the strength of their friendship. She doesn’t trust that she’ll make the right decisions around him. The foundation isn’t even there for her to trust his love for her. Their future is fraught with uncertainty.

Chat Noir is her loyal partner. Chat Noir is in love with her. She’s comfortable with Chat Noir. Chat Noir is the safe romantic choice.

While it’s also true that she has gained a newfound respect and loyalty to Chat Noir, she is also rebounding with him pretty hard. Especially after his unwavering support of her in ‘Strike Back’. He is her rock.

Adrien is doing the same thing. Ladybug neglected Chat Noir. He upset Ladybug to her breaking point with his excessive wooing. Every time he has any hope for he and Ladybug, it is abruptly snatched away by Ladybug herself or outside forces.

Marinette is comforting and kind. Marinette is harmless. Marinette has never shown pushiness or aggression toward Adrien. Marinette feels safe- moreso than anyone else in his life besides Plagg- and his trust in her has been building since Season 1.

In ‘Gamer’, Adrien takes an ego hit. He dazzles his classmates by winning against Max- you can see a little Chat Noir coming out in his body language there. Only to be beaten easily by Marinette during their practice session. He laments his insecurities to her and she comforts him by giving him her lucky charm bracelet. This becomes a symbol of their friendship and mutual support and clearly means a lot to Adrien. It’s a comfort. He keeps it on him wherever he goes.

In ‘The Gorilla’, Adrien almost tells Marinette that he is uncomfortable modeling. I’ve seen people saying that his telling her in ‘Risk’ was “unearned”, but the truth is, he felt comfortable enough to open up to her 3 seasons prior.

Marinette takes Adrien to hide from his unhinged fan club in the fountain. She comments on how it’s awesome that he has such a popular ad and he says “I don’t know about that. It’s actually pretty… embarrassing”. He gets distracted by her pajamas and she becomes embarrassed at his wandering gaze. Then his fan club shows up and the chance to further elaborate never comes up, but he was super close to sharing his discomfort around modeling with her in that moment without the effects of Risk.

In ‘Frozer’, Marinette is the first person Adrien asks for advice about Kagami after ultimately deciding against all of the “close” adults in his life. Nino may have been the most obvious choice- but considering Nino’s hopelessness in ‘Animan’, I can understand why he trusted Marinette. And he felt comfortable enough with Marinette as a safe zone to ask her to come along.

In ‘Malediktator’, while the rest of the class is celebrating Chloe’s curt exit, Adrien is extremely put off. When Marinette explained what happened, he felt comfortable enough with her to disagree and to call her out on the “She was useless anyway” comment. I’m not sure what Adrien expected from Marinette after this. He’s used to people either punishing him for disagreeing or just ignoring him/standing their ground. But Marinette feels guilty and takes steps to remedy what happened and bring Chloe back- something he clearly appreciated in the end.

In the ultra controversial ‘Chameleon’, Adrien advised Marinette not to take an aggressive route with Lila and she listens, ceasing to try to expose her (*in an earlier edit, I said it didn’t stick, but I realized her exposure attempts in Catalyst came before Chameleon. Marinette did actually stick to her word.) Compare this to his conversation with Lila in the same episode in which he asks her not to lie to him and warns her about the class turning against her. He’s nice about it and offers his support, but Lila jumps on the defensive and accuses him of ‘playing superhero’. Similarly, when he gives Chloe advice, she won’t even change her ways for more than a day- even under threat of losing her friendship with him.

Lastly, Adrien allows himself to “slip” with Marinette. He trusts that she won’t admonish him for his jokes or “being silly” Marinette is quite silly herself (that’s why they made such a goofy couple in ‘Elation’). She only takes offense to his prank in Puppeteer 2 because she humiliated herself. She even apologizes profusely for the misunderstanding later.

‘Risk’ made clear to Adrien what MLB has been building to for seasons: Marinette feels like a safe and comfortable space for Adrien. His father is cold and controlling. Nathalie is cold and in league with his father. His bodyguard is emotionally distant and silent.  Chloe is pushy and doesn’t listen to him. Felix antagonizes him.  Lila is dishonest and manipulative with him. Ladybug has been a neglectful partner who he secretly reasons only wants him around as far as his miraculous can assist her. Kagami led their entire relationship and he felt uncomfortable challenging her. Nino was fine until Rocketear where he denounced Adrien’s entire alter ego as a useless playboy.

Even the fact that Marinette has never managed to confess properly, is a safety to Adrien. She’s never put any pressure on him. She’s always just been that cute, silly girl who is compassionate with him and stands up for what she believes in. Never controlling. Not at all intimidating. Down to listen. She’s (the everyday) Ladybug without the strife. Marinette is “safe”.

[kasienda]

You Don’t Have to Pretend with Me

“Can I talk to you?”

Carapace sighed at the question. “Yeah, of course.” And he obediently followed Ladybug.

“What do you have against Chat Noir?”

“Nothing!” he denied.

She gave him a flat disbelieving look.

“He has something against me!” Carapace insisted.

“Nino, I don’t get it. You’re one of the most chill, accepting guys I know. And Chat is the sweetest! I need both of you on the team. I literally don’t have anyone else I trust to replace either of you. I need you to get along. You think you can do that?”

Nino felt like he was being chastised by his mother for not getting along with his little brother.

He nodded. “Yeah, I will try.”

It shouldn’t be that hard. Nino didn’t not like Chat Noir. He thought the dude was cool and hilarious. His sense of humor reminded him of Adrien. Things hadn’t always been tense between them. When they fought back to back during Heroes’ Day, it had felt like they were brothers.

But it was clear to him that Chat Noir wasn’t his biggest fan. The other hero had been welcoming and kind to Rena Rouge on day one, to the point of borderline flirting (and Nino wasn’t a huge fan of that even now), while he had always been somewhat aloof with Carapace.

Then there  was  the whole Chat Noir is stealing my girl thing. And even though he  knew that wasn’t what happened, it was hard to just let go of all those feelings, especially since Chat Noir had been acting differently around him after Rocketear. And maybe he had a right to be after Nino's akuma had thrown him into a van, but it wasn’t like Chat Noir knew that Nino and Carapace were the same person, so why had he started avoiding Carapace?

With all of that, it was easy to snap at the other hero.

...

Adrien couldn’t figure out why things between Adrien and Nino had always been so easy when things between Chat Noir and Carapace felt so hard.

Like, he knew he was different as Chat, but he was far less different as Adrien with Nino than anyone else. Or he had been before Rocketear.

And now? Now, he had no idea how he was supposed to act. Had no idea what Nino wanted from Chat Noir, but it was  very  clear he wasn’t measuring up.

Had Nino just taken pity on him that first day of school? Maybe Adrien was irritating all the time and Nino was just too kind to show it. Did Nino actually like him at all?

“Dude, you okay?” Nino interrupted his musings.

Adrien started and looked up into warm concerned golden eyes, and sucked in a breath.

That had to be sincere, right? Nino wasn’t pretending to care. He wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t care.

“Mec! What’s wrong?” Nino asked again.

“Nothing!” Adrien lied, pasting on a bright smile.

Nino frowned. “This is clearly not nothing.”

“I…” Adrien didn’t know how to talk about any of this.

“I don’t mean to pressure you,” Nino backpedaled immediately. “If you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to. I just…” Nino pursed his lips before pinning him with a look Adrien didn’t know how to interpret. “You don’t have to pretend. Not with me. Not ever.”

Adrien nodded, but he couldn’t be reassured. Because he knew Nino was wrong.

He had to pretend when he was Chat Noir.

And he  knew that he wasn’t being completely fair, that Nino thought he was two different people.

But the hurt was still there, and Adrien didn’t know how to erase those feelings when he was hanging out with Nino.

And since he couldn’t explain any of it without revealing secrets he wasn’t allowed to share, he didn’t know how to  stop  pretending. That’s just what he  did.

…

Nino watched as Adrien walked away. He didn’t know what he was doing wrong, but Adrien was distant. He wasn’t talking to him anymore. Not about school or home. Not even about stupid stuff like the latest anime he was obsessed with. And to make it worse, Adrien gave him more and more false platitudes and fake smiles.

Adrien was treating him the same way he treated Chloe. With polite indifference.

Nino couldn’t help but wonder what he had done wrong.

Nino kept trying though. He sent Adrien a bunch of cat memes, tried to invite him out to lunch, shared some of the music that he was working on, and he had asked what was wrong so many times, Nino suspected they were both sick of hearing it.

But Nino couldn’t give up.

Because what if this had nothing to do with Nino at all?! What if something horrible had happened to Adrien and he was just like this with everyone now?

He’d have to watch Adrien the next time he was around Marinette to check, but in the meantime, Nino wanted to break something.

And unfortunately for probably everyone, it was Chat Noir who happened to cross his path first.

…

It took Chat about a moment after Carapace had snapped at him to find his voice. And if it had been anyone else, anyone besides Nino, he probably could have taken it in stride. But it  was Nino and Adrien was tired of pretending everything was okay.

“What the hell is your problem? What did I ever do to you? Why do you hate me?” he demanded.

Carapace froze, his eyes wide and startled. “I don’t know!”

“You don’t know why you hate me?” Chat repeated in disbelief. That seemed kinda shallow for Nino.

“No! That’s not what I meant. I don’t know what my problem is. I swear I don’t actually hate you, dude.”

“You don’t?” Chat wasn’t sure he believed it.

Carapace slid to the ground and buried his head in his knees. He wasn’t shaking, so Chat didn’t think he was crying. At least, not yet.

“Are you okay?” Chat asked, falling into an awkward crouch near Carapace’s huddled form, but not anywhere as close that Nino would think he was pushing into his space.

Carapace shook his head, finally looking up. “I’m really angry.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I pride myself on being totally chill. A completely low maintenance dude. But lately, it seems like everyone is mad at me. And I don’t know why. And I don’t know how to fix any of it!”

“Who’s mad at you?”

“Who isn’t?!” Carapace snapped.

Chat was silent.

Carapace sighed and looked back at him. “Sorry. I don’t mean to unload on you. You probably don’t care about my problems. I know I’ve been a jerk to you. You’re just… larger than life, ya know? Doesn’t seem like anything can hurt you. And I…” he trailed off, not sure what he was saying.

“You’re jealous of me?”

Carapace shook his head. “No, that’s not it. It’s more like, I have to be strong for everyone. And you, you seem like you can take anything that life throws at you.”

“I’m your scapegoat,” Chat realized out loud. The tension in his body faded and he slowly took a seat next to Carapace. Closer than Chat probably would have, but not as close as Adrien wanted to. “Someone who can handle you lashing out at them.”

“Dude! I’m sorry! That’s so messed up. I didn’t even realize I was doing it. But yeah, I think that’s what I’ve been doing. With Alya, I didn’t want to be mad at her. It was easy to be mad at you instead - some anonymous hero who never seemed to like me anyway.”

“What made you think I didn’t like you?”

“You referred to me as the turtle when we met.”

“What?”

“When Rena joined the team, you were excited. You said her name and flirted with her.”

“I didn’t flirt with her!” Chat objected.

Carapace arched an eyebrow at him.

“I was just… trying to be charming. How do you know about it anyway?” Chat shook his head before the question was finished. “Right. You guys are dating.”

“Dated.”

Chat stopped breathing. “Y-You broke up?”

Carapace shrugged. “Yeah, it’s probably my fault. I guess I’m not good at this whole communication thing. I guess when I’m upset I just put my head in my shell and pretend it’s not happening.”

Chat swallowed hard and looked away. “How long ago?”

“About a month.”

“A month?!” Chat hissed. “Why didn’t… I mean, have you talked about this with anyone?”

Carapace shook his head. “There’s no one to talk to.”

“There’s no one?” The heavy sadness struck him in the chest harder than any hit he had ever taken. He had been so busy feeling hurt, he hadn’t realized Nino was hurting too.

“I’ve been pretty lonely most of my life,” Carapace said. “I was friendly with everyone, but I was never good at making friends.”

Chat drank in every word. This was all news to him.

“I thought that was changing. I made this really great friend at the beginning of last year and then there was Alya. And it just felt like everything was right. And then she broke up with me. And my best friend…” he trailed off. He didn’t even know what happened with Adrien.

“Yeah?”

Carapace shrugged. “I don’t know! He just clammed up one day. Started pasting on fake smiles the way he does for everyone else. He won’t tell me anything. And I’m scared he’s mad at me, but I don’t know what I did! And if he’s not mad at me, I’m terrified something happened to him and if he’s not talking to me, he’s not talking to anyone.”

To Chat’s horror, Nino started crying.

“I just love the dude so much,” his voice cracked. “I feel like I lost him too and honestly, that has hurt more than losing Al- I mean Rena. Fuck! I totally blew my identity this conversation, didn’t I?”

Chat burst into laughter. “If it makes you feel better, I already knew.”

Carapace’s face fell. “Oh. Is that… is that why you’ve been weird with me since Rocketear?”

“Sort’ve,” Chat hedged. It was really more complicated than a jealous Rocketear trying to thrash Chat Noir into tiny pieces.

“I’m really sorry for that whole mess.”

Chat shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. Like I said at the time, we all have doubts.”

“Even you,” Carapace echoed.

Chat shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to talk about that particular bit of vulnerability.

Carapace was kind enough not to push. Chat shouldn’t have been surprised. Nino had always been great at respecting Adrien’s boundaries. But somehow, he was.

“Well, I guess I should thank you,” Carapace said.

Chat swung his head toward Carapace. “For what?!”

Carapace shrugged again. “I don’t know. Listening? Taking my crap? Just… I don’t know… being real with me? I promise I’ll try not to unload all my baggage onto you anymore, cat dude. Just because you can take it doesn’t mean you should have to. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Chat said.

“It really isn’t.”

This time Chat shrugged. “But in a way I feel flattered?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t get me wrong. I hate the unsolicited crit and the snapping turtle attitude. The total lack of grace or understanding when I’m late or can’t make it when you know I can’t explain anything—“

Carapace groaned, burying his face into his hands.

Chat laughed.

“But I  am flattered that you could just be your raw unfiltered self around me when you couldn’t be that around anyone else. I don’t have very much of that in my life either.”

Carapace shot back up, his eyes wide behind his goggles. “What do you mean?”

“Just that I can’t afford to be myself most of the time in my civilian life. Partially because of my… umm… parents, and partly because I have to hide my identity. And I did have one friend,” Chat looked up at him then, “that I felt pretty comfortable around, but that’s been rocky lately, too.”

Carapace nodded. “I’m sorry, man. All of that is rough. What happened with your friend?”

“He doesn’t know about this half of me and it’s caused some issues. I’ve tried to pretend that everything is fine, but… I think I might have lost my best friend, too.” Chat admitted, glancing at him carefully.

Carapace nodded solemnly. “I’m sorry. I definitely know how that feels.”

“Maybe I’ll try talking to him again,” Chat said.

“Too bad you can’t just tell him who you are.”

Chat bit his lip. He wasn’t supposed to, and he definitely knew better than to ask for permission, but… Ladybug had told someone her identity. Would it really be so bad if he told Nino?

“Maybe you should try again with your friend, too,” he said.  

Carapace sighed and looked up at the sky. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop trying with him, but I doubt it’ll go any different. My friend… he’s not allowed a lot of boundaries in his life. He’s scared to set them. And like, so when he does, I can’t push back. If I do, he’ll cave, like, immediately. And I’m supposed to be chill and laid back. He’s not supposed to have to try with me.”

Chat was stared at him, more than a little floored, but also a little upset at this new context.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m just… that’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself.”

“I love him.”

“Even so, you’re only human. Maybe he needs to remember that, too. And maybe he wants you to be able to be totally yourself when you’re around him, too.”

…

Nino was waiting on the sidewalk outside the school building. Adrien’s car would pull up in exactly four minutes - the same time it did every school morning. Other people arrived and chatted with one another as they moved up the stairs. But Nino could barely pay attention to any of it, his eyes on the road waiting for the familiar white vehicle to pull up.

He tapped his toe into the ground, and he tried to keep his hands in his pockets to look more casual, but they wouldn’t stay there as he kept fidgeting.

Why was he so nervous? This was  Adrien. His best friend might not be talking to him, but he would still hear him out and he was always insanely patient.

When the car finally pulled up, Nino’s heart seemed to rise up into his throat and his palms were wet with sweat. He  really shouldn’t be this nervous. Adrien was going to step out of the car and give him a polite and distant smile, and then start walking beside him as they headed to home room.

Only, that’s not what happened at all. Adrien stepped out of the car, but when he did he was beaming a megawatt smile brighter than the sun. When he walked up to Nino, he offered his fist and Nino had to scramble to meet it to play out their old secret handshake that they haven’t done… in  weeks!  

It felt good. Like so good, and Nino laughed more in relief than anything else. Had he just imagined the last few weeks of distance and cold shoulders?

He almost didn’t want to bring anything up, not wanting to upset this return to joyous normalcy. But at the same time Nino was so confused, and he needed to understand because if he  did  do something wrong, he needed to understand what happened so he wouldn’t do it again.

“Hey, dude? Can we talk before we go to class?”

Adrien nodded. “I think it’s long overdue.”

And Nino was thrown and relieved all over again that Adrien wasn’t denying that there was something worthy of talking about.

Adrien led them to a storage closet where he jiggled the handle very precisely and the normally locked door just fell open.

Clearly, Adrien had used this space before.

“Dude! Did you just break us into a closet?”

“Shh!“ And Adrien yanked him inside.

Two minutes later they were sitting side by side on upside down plastic buckets in the overcrowded closet.

“So what do you want to talk about?”

Nino clutched his own shoulder, and shot a glance at Adrien who was still smiling patiently at him. This felt like such a stupid question.

“Are we okay?” Nino made himself ask.

“We’re okay on my end,” Adrien said. “Are we okay on yours?”

“Yes!” Nino assured rapidly, but Adrien raised his eyebrows as if he didn’t actually believe him. And Nino wilted. “Actually, no.”

Adrien nodded like he was expecting it. Adrien knew something was off - he still wasn’t denying everything was fine.

“Go on.”

“You’ve felt really far away recently, dude. Except for today. I feel like I keep reaching out and I keep asking what’s up, but you never tell me, which is fine if it’s other stuff. You don’t have to tell me stuff. I just… you’ve been so distant, and it feels like you’re lying. Not that I’m accusing you of lying! I just… i just feel like I did something wrong. And I… I miss you.”

Adrien put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be far away and distant. I didn’t want to lie. I literally couldn’t explain what was wrong and I probably still shouldn’t.”

Nino held his breath.

“I was distant because of how you treated me.”

Nino was super confused. And it must have shown on his face because Adrien instantly held his hands up.

“No wait. Let me explain.”

Nino nodded.

“You’ve always said that I didn’t have to pretend with you, but it really really felt like that wasn’t the case.”

“Dude! I’ve always tried to just be chill and to respect your boundaries.”

“And you did… when you knew I was Adrien.”

“When I knew you were Adrien?” Nino repeated slowly, every muscle in his body was suddenly pulled tight. “There was a time when I didn’t know you were Adrien?”

This was sounding too familiar, but Nino couldn’t pinpoint why. And if the dread pooling in his gut was anything to go by, he didn’t want to.

“More than one time.”

Nino’s gut twisted further in on itself. “When?”

“When I was Chat Noir.”

Nino literally couldn’t breathe. His eyes were hot and his throat was caving in. And holy fuck.

He rolled forward, burying his face into his knees, as he tried to hold back the torrents that wanted to break forth.

He didn’t succeed. He shook like a musician just before going on stage for his first gig. But the wailing was so much worse than that.

Adrien was talking, but Nino couldn’t hear him, his mind too busy reviewing everything he had ever said about Chat Noir to Adrien, everything he had said and done  to  Chat Noir, who was apparently his best friend.

Adrien who  was so good at taking heat and never saying anything because at home saying something always made everything worse.

Nino had always aspired to be an escape, a safe place for Adrien. And Nino had been betraying that every time he had used Chat Noir as a punching bag to lash out at when things weren’t going well for him.

“Nino!” Adrien’s hands were on his face and his shoulders, pulling him in. And Nino let him, feeling limp like a rag doll. “It’s okay now!”

Nino shook his head violently. It didn’t feel okay. Not remotely. “Dude! I’m… I’m so sorry,” he choked out.

“You already apologized,” Adrien reminded him gently.

This was why Adrien had been so happy to see him this morning. Carapace and Chat Noir had talked things out. “I know, but it feels so much worse now.”

Adrien nodded. “Yeah, it felt worse to me too. But Nino, you didn’t know.”

Nino only cried harder. “You weren’t supposed to tell me, were you?”

“Hey! This was your idea! When Ladybug finds out I’m compromised, I’m definitely throwing you under the bus.”

Nino laughed through his tears. “I’m fine with that. I would deserve it after… everything.”

“Nino, I was joking.”

“I wasn’t.”

Adrien sighed. “So, are we okay?”

Nino nodded rapidly. “If you think we’re okay, we’re definitely okay.”

“I’m uh… sorry about Alya.”

“That wasn’t your fault, dude! It wasn’t Adrien’s or Chat Noir’s.”

“I meant more that I made you feel like you couldn’t talk to me about it?”

Nino nodded. “It’s fine. I’m… not totally okay, especially when it felt like I had lost you, too. But,” and Nino pulled off what had to be the most watery smile, “I think I will get there. Thank you.”

“I love you, too, you know.”

“What?”

“You told me as Chat that you loved me as Adrien.”

Heat burned in Nino’s neck and ears. “I did say that. I didn’t know I was telling you though.”

“I know, but that’s how I knew you meant it, and weren’t just saying it to be nice to the awkward loner kid who needs friends.”

“Dude, before you joined our class,  I  was the awkward loner kid who needed friends!”

Adrien smiled. “But I never knew that either until you told Chat.”

“Gah! This is so confusing!” Nino complained.

Adrien grinned. “But it’s awesome, right?”

Nino mirrored the expression. “Hell yeah! Definitely awesome!”

And they stood and immediately pulled each other into a hug. And if they had been twenty minutes late to class, no one said anything.

…

“What the hell happened?!” Ladybug demanded of her earpiece.

Rena Furtive chuckled into her ear. “You’re the one that yelled at them. I thought you wanted them to get along?”

“I did! I do! But now-”  She gestured to the two boys laughing their heads off as they kept trying to outdo each other with increasingly complicated stunts that they failed more than half of the time. “Now, they’re just being stupid.”

Rena Furtive laughed again. “I, for one, am glad to see Carapace so happy again. A mopey turtle is just wrong.”

And Ladybug softened. “Yeah, you’re right. A pouty kitty wasn't fun either. I’m glad they’ve bounced back.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Now, can you please go in there and show them how it’s done since I can’t? They’re embarrassing us!”

Ladybug laughed before launching herself towards the new tight-knit duo she had on her team.

“You guys, dating or something?” she asked, as she landed next to them.

Chat Noir and Carapace shared a look. It felt like they were having a whole conversation with just their eyes, and they suddenly both grinned and nodded at one another in agreement.

“Guys are allowed to have emotionally close friends, bugaboo!” Chat told her.

“Doesn’t mean anything is romantic or sexual,” Carapace added.

Ladybug held up her hands in surrender. “I’m not judging either way. Just happy that you’re finally getting along!”

[standreamy]

Tales of Shadybug and Claw Noir quick review (SPOILERS)

I have very mixed opinions on this special, mostly negative.

As always I personally think there are several writing issues. First of all, the fact that most of the pre-established lore rules, at least what little they did enstablish, were ignored for moving the plot forward in this special and for giving the vibe of "bad guys", probably justifying it with the multiverse. If the only difference was supposed to be in the roles of protagonist and antagonist, then not so many things should change, like the weapon and their purpose. Furthermore, I find it absurd that the issue of the 5 minute limit is actually being explained to us for the first time after 5 seasons, clearly invented on the spot. There are a lot of things where we're told we should know, but in truth nothing was said before in the series. I feel like the multiverse is not something we HAD to learn about before, but the consequences of breaking the 5 minute rule? Yeah.

A lot of use of the shock value without really enstablishing what will make it shocking and touching eventually.

We also see very little about the alternate world. Marinette basically chooses that route because it's assumed that Alya didn't sit next to her at the beginning of the year (it's apparently also said in the novel that she became an orphan, but that's not explained or shown here). Adrien instead, because his mother died and he wants to bring her back (Although it is clearly stated before in the special that he didn't know about the Wish before coming to that universe). While also it's interesting to see the roles swapped, seen how it was treated in the main series, I don't quite like that it's implied that one of the Agreste family would necessarily be a toxic figure (as we don't see other usiverses being both positive figures), especially if in that case Gabriel was caring and capable of going through mourning.

The basic idea of the special was interesting, but I don't quite enjoy how it was handled...

This deserved more space and more insight on the other world, to help us empathize with characters that Thomas wanted us to cry with. There are scenes that would be very nice, but it needed better bases in my opinion. The only thing I promote is the storyboard of certain scenes and the soundtrack.

I also enjoyed Giulia Andrada and I think Kanae Kondo? (It seems her art)

Ah, the final "reformed" Ladybug costume is better than both of the original in my opinion XD