#prince ali/marinette

[mochinek0]

I'm a Princess

Chloe sipped her champagne as she looked around the Waynes' Gala. She spotted many people that were clients of her mother and some that promoted Gabriel. She noticed a few other designers, but the rest of the people…..well, they at least dressed the part. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a girl who she could have sworn was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The girl had darker skin and green eyes, but her face, her eye shape!

Chloe sauntered over and shoved the champagne flute in front of her face.

"Go on." she demanded, "Get me another drink."

The girl looked her up and down.

"You still wear Gabriel?" she questioned, "Ew."

Chloe gasped, "He is an amazing designer!"

"He's an asshole." the girl retorted.

"You better shut your mouth, you Twerp!" Chloe bristled.

"Or what?" the girl commented, "You're gonna tell my mommy about your horrible fashion choices?"

"How dare you!" the Bourgeois heiress cried.

"No. How dare you show up to the Wayne Gala in something that is four seasons old!" the girl claimed.

"I am a Princess and-" Chloe began.

"No." the girl interrupted, "You are the daughter of a hotel owner, who didn't even wear clothes designed by her mother. You decided to wear trash."

Chloe was fuming. She had never been spoken to this way and the face of the girl wasn't helping.

'Her face is irritating! She looks just like Baker Girl when she started pushing back!'

"I am a princess and-" Chloe spoke again.

"I'm a princess." the girl declared, "Technically, after Great-Grandfather and Grandma passed way, Daddy became King. I'm a princess; you're playing dress up."

Chloe scowled, "You little-"

"Princess Amaya Wayne, lovely to see you again." a voice called out.

"King Ali of Achu." Amaya curtsied, focusing her attention on him.

Chloe closed her mouth and focused on the interaction in front of her.

'The Waynes have royalty in their blood and this….brat is actually a princess?'

"I'm very sorry, Ms. Bourgeois, but I must get going. My family will be summoning me soon." Amaya smiled, "King Ali, why don't you accompany me? I'm sure Father would love to discuss the next fundraiser for the children's hospital."

"Of course." the king answered.

The hotel owner fumed as they walked away. She lost sight of them in the crowd; Ali had never forgiven her for that fish-smell fiasco when they were younger. Chloe had to see for herself if the girl who humilated her was actually a Wayne. She followed them from a distance and tried to blend in with other girls nearby. She was too focused on Amaya to notice the judged looks thrown her way, as she tried to incorporate herself into their circle talks.

Sure enough, King Ali walked Amaya up to Bruce Wayne and someone else. Chloe couldn't make out who the guy was, but she heard the King of Achu refer to him as Damian. Amaya hugged Bruce and call him 'Grandfather', before he was asked to answer some questions for the Daily Planet.

'She's actually a Wayne!'

Bruce excused himself and the hotel owner was able to get a clearer view of the guy. He looked exactly like Bruce, but his complexion was similar to the kings' and he had green eyes.

"Why don't we continue this conversation tomorrow, Your Highness?" Damian spoke, "There are some things I want to go over without prying eyes or ears."

The King nodded and walked off.

"Have you seen your mother, Amaya?" Damian questioned.

"I believe she is with Uncle and people watching, as usual." she smiled, "She does love to look at everyone's outfits."

Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe spotted a familiar head of blonde hair. As Adrien walked out of the crown, Chloe scowled as she noticed his companion: Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Chloe dropped her glass as Marinette Dupain-Cheng walked over and kissed Damian Wayne.

"Mother." Amaya smiled, before hugging Marinette.

'Baker Girl; she married into the Wayne family! How did she manage to weasel her was into a family with royal blood?'

Chloe stomped and politely shoved her way through the crowd towards the stage. She couldn't believe that she saw that brat was hugging her Adrikins, after she disgraced the Gabriel name!

"You look lovely as always, Amaya." Adrien complimented, "You definetly get your beauty from your mother."

Amaya smiled, "Thank you, Uncle Adrien."

"Don't act high and mighty!" Chloe demanded, "You were just trash talking his father a few minutes ago!"

"Chloe." Marinette spoke.

"Baker Girl." the hotel owner sneered back.

Adrien and Damian were quick to push the girls behind them.

"So what?" Adrien asked, "Who cares if my niece talks shit about Gabriel?"

Chloe looked at him in shock, "But you-"

"Left his place and company when I was eighteen and I never looked back." Adrien declared, "I hated being a model and everything that came with it. The rules, the photoshoots, the diet, the loneliness, that stupid schedule pack dictating when I woke up, went to bed! I couldn't even hang out with my frineds!"

"But we're suppose to run an empire together!" Chloe shouted back.

"Is this some bullshit my father told you?" the former model questioned, "The last time I saw him was twelve years ago and the last time I spoke to him on the phone, was eight. I don't know what he told you, but I never wanted to own Gabriel. I can't draw to save my life; I never want to model again. I don't know what you would do, but it's certainly not draw."

"I can draw!" the hotel owner shouted.

Adrien smiled, "Really? Anytime there was a competition, you tried to steal Marinette's sketches and frame her. You have never put in any effort to practice drawing. I never even saw you take fashion classes. You just decided since your mommy was a fashion designer, you would be too. Audrey probably des more in a day, then you do in a week!"

Chloe could feel the promises she was fed start to crumble. Gabriel had told her that once Adrien was done with his vacation, they would run the company. Adrien was telling her that was never going to happen. She had been waiting for the da when she didn't need to watch over the hotle anymore. It was annoying having to serve others and make sure their needs were met. What about her needs? She wanted a trip to Cancun! She wanted to sail the Caribbean! She wanted to sleep past six am!

She snarled, "What about Baker Girl, huh? You seriously expect-"

Damian was quick to get in her face, "Call my wife that again and you'll be thrown out on the street."

"She is-" Chloe faltered

"My wife is a fashion designer." Damian stated proudly, "Number one in the country and number three internationally."

"Hah!" Chloe smiled, thinking she had caught them in a lie, "Zahr is-"

"My wife." Damian replied, wrapping his arm around Marinette's waist, "She makes all designs and has total control of her own design company. It's not even associated with Wayne Enterprise."

Amaya laughed "She's just sore that her gown is horrible."

"Amaya!" scolded Marinette.

"It's true." Amaya declared, "She tries to act big, but that spray painted gold just screams 'Look At Me; I Deserve Attention'!"

Adrien began to laugh since Chloe had been wearing the same color scheme since they were toddlers. Her attitude certainly hadn't changed. Damian just smirked at his daughter's decleration.

"And what is with that horrible blue eyeshadow?" the Wayne heiress continued, "No one wears eyeshadow that blue; it's outdated. It doesn't even match your dress or skin tone. If anything it makes you look a bloated fish. Why on Earth would you wear a nude lip shade of color? Even in the 50's, when they did use that shade, at least they had red lips."

Chloe's jaw dropped. Never had she imagined a child would tell her off for how she dressed. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Marinette biting her lip and could see Adrien laughing himself to tears.

"Yep." Adrien cried, "Tha-That's definetly your kid, Damian."

Mari sighed, "Is Yami and Malik gonna be the same way?"

"You do love honesty, Habibiti." Damian pointed out.

His wife groaned, "I'm gonna get so many phone calls when the twins go to school."

Chloe scowled and began to stomp away. She couldn't believe that someone who was related to bakers talked to her like that. The trash that came out of that girl's mouth left her fuming!

"Good." Amaya called out, enough for Chloe to hear, "Grandma is leaving. My eyes were starting to hurt, just from looking at her. Thankfully, the galas are at night. If we had it during the day, we'd have a disco ball on the floor with all that metallic strips sewn in."

Chloe could hear the baker's daughter snort, before laughing along side her Adrien.

"Amaya, you know how much your grandfather cares about appearances at these." Damian stated, causing his daughter to sigh, "Grounded for a week."

"Yes, Baba." Amaya spoke, "I only did it to get back at her for being a bully to Maman, when she was my age."

Mari kissed her daughter's head, "As long as you're not like this at school."

"Never, Maman." their daughter answered.

"Come along, Amiriti (Princess)." Damian spoke, "Let's go find your grandfather."

Chloe looked back to see the baker's daughter on her husband's arm. Adrien and her bratty daughter were right behind them, talking and laughing. Chloe had never felt so humiliated before.

'Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous!'

Nothing was like how it was before when they were all in Francois Dupont College. She was no longer the Mayor's Daughter. Her father had moved to NYC with her mother, after high school. She had taken over as the owner of the hotel. Chloe had tried to use the same control she had in school to dictate the hotel's conditions and staff, but it failed miserably. People started to leave bad reviews of the hotel; some of the staff quit. When her father had heard about it, he offered to come back for a few months to show her how to run it properly; she had hung up on him.

Chloe Bourgeois couldn't believe that promises she had overheard as a child were over. She was suppose to marry Adrien Agreste; he was her Adrikins!

'I never should have helped him runaway from home to get into school!'

Chloe knew that was the moment everything changed in their realtionship. Everyone had turned him against her! He started speaking up more, defending others from her, and calling her a bad friend. She had hoped that one he finished 'exploring' that his new habit would be broken and they would get married after university. She had never even looked at another guy so when she found out that he had quit modeling, she thought he was getting ready to take over the company and propose. The proposal never came and Adrien had left Paris, without a word.

'It was all Baker Girl's fault! She ruined my Adrikins! Her Adrikins never behaved like this 'til he met her!'

She continued to glare at Marinette. She hated how Marinette was now rich, even richer than her. Marinette always got what she never had; a loving home, parents who cared about her, and now a husband and family. Chloe refused to believe she was jealous.

'I deserve more! I deserve my happily ever after with My Prince!'

Chloe turned her gaze to Adrien and she felt her heart stop. Adrien was on his tip-toes, kissing some guy taller than him. To add insult to injury, he looked just like Marinette. He had dark hair and blue eyes. Adrien Agreste had always been her dream Prince Charming, but she wasn't his Princess. Apparently, Adrien Agreste was the princess.

Chloe walked away as she heard Amaya ask if Uncle Adrien and Uncle Jon were excited for their wedding next month.

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[nobodyfamousposts]

I saw you wrote another part of Chloe's Lament (the story where Chloe tries to make Marinette's hat and fails miserably). Are you planning on continuing the story further?

Kinda debating as ideas come to mind.

Like for example, Rose’s meeting with prince Ali.

Reasonably speaking, it’s questionable if Marinette could use her status to introduce Rose to Ali. In a perfect world sure, but here, Marinette’s is respectful of her position and wouldn’t want to abuse it. I’m sure she would be willing to pass on the letter for Rose though.

…HOWEVER!

Marinette wouldn’t be the only one to change in this world and actively try to improve things. And I would imagine that seeing her helping so much would similarly inspire her classmates. Particularly Rose, whom since she had experience being sick as a kid, will probably volunteer at a children’s hospital.

…and wouldn’t it be neat if that was the hospital Ali got to visit during his stay?

[jofigud]

Miraculous Season 6 design akumatized villains

characters that were not akumatized and Chrysalis akumatized them Marinette Cheng, Felix Fathom, XY, Mireille Caquet, Prince Ali Socqueline Wang

I think the list of season 6 episodes is official

[imthepunchlord]

What would be the perfect "Miraculous team" for you?

At this point, the characters that do stand out most to me as major players that could be on a plausible team are: Marinette, Adrien, Felix, Alya, Nino, Kagami, and Zoe.

Honorable mentions/maybes: Ali, Aurore, Chloe, Lila, Juleka, Ivan, and Kim.

Marinette is a must. I do really enjoy writing her, and making my desired tweaks, and it is kinda a shame a lot of recent writing with her is in salt response to canon treatment. It's a big part of the reason I'm on an ML writing break. But she's a must. Most likely with kwami swaps as I am kinda done with her as Ladybug and working off Tikki. Tikki I think could better serve elsewhere and Marinette could be refreshing working off a different personality.

Adrien by default is kinda a must, though his biggest help is that he has a lot of options in what can be done with him. Could go along canon as starting off as a goofball hero that will get serious (though still keep his sense of humor), and be at a crossroads of working with his father or going against him. He could also work with Gabriel at the start, either openly or secretly, and through friendship finds himself as a crossroad. Could also do him joining later, initially exploring him as a civilian, maybe he runs the Ladyblog and wants to unmask heroes and he's extra excited cause his father is actually supportive and invested in his interest. There's some good options for him.

Felix is a must, partly from bias, but he does have a good established arc from starting as an antagonistic loner to turning to a true hero. And the stiff, skeptic, passive aggressive personality he can have could be a good counter to other personalities. And if you want to work off cnaon, he can go absolute gremlin.

Alya is another must. Frustrating as she is, she's a character I see a lot of potential for. Like, a lot of the "lessons" Marinette is expected to learn would better apply to her. And like Adrien, she'd be a great character if she was allowed to learn and improve. And I see a lot of potential in exploring her as a hero at the start, cause you got Alya wanting to start out for glory and attention, kinda treats it as a game initially, and she's on the side of reckless with secrecy, and I just see a lot of good potential for her as a major lead to follow at the start. Learning that heroing isn't all fun and glory, sometimes it's hard, and with reveals, there are pros to it, but there are also cons. She could really add to the secrecy vs reveal debate.

Nino is kinda here by default, but the boy needs something. Ideally something to let him stand on his own, especially outside Alya and Adrien. And one of the best ways to do that is explore him as a Miraculous hero at the start. And he wants to be a film director, so, maybe his focus arc could relate to leadership, learning to develop those skills, awareness of his team and what they can do, and how to best direct them. I will say, of this list, I could also roll with Nino as the supportive civilian friend who grounds one of the leads as he is a character who doesn't have a lot going on.

Kagami, despite all her issues as a character, is a character that caught my attention in Riptose. And while she got a lot of odd choices and polarizing characterization, taking the scattered pieces I can see a potential character being crafted. You got potential in her as the blunt ice queen who's overly dedicated and a little too serious, she wants to make friends but she's socially awkward and can come off as mean, she wants to make her mom proud but she also feels stifled. And by her official skills, she's one of the few characters that could actually vigilante and help the heroes without a Miraculous, or try to compete with them as her mom is tasking her with the chance to fight superhumans and prove herself.

Zoe is in a weird boat as she came in so late and I stopped watching ML so I didn't click with her all that well, but seeing more of her as Kitty and the apparent partner for Alya, it did prompt me to think and consider her more and brainstorm ideas. There's definitely something to work off of with her wanting to please Chloe and pretending to follow her along, but that's not who Zoe is and she can have an arc of figuring herself out, dealing with the tension and mistrust that her relation with Chloe brings, and letting herself flourish. Adjustments though would have to be made for her to come in sooner or be at Paris at the start, either as Chloe's younger sister or maybe twin, or her cousin, or we rip off the bandaid of the vague Bourgeois union, say they're divorced, and Audrey remarried and Zoe is Chloe's stepsister and she's up in Paris so they can "bond". I will say, with her coming in so late, she's also a character I can just exclude.

For honorable mentions where I can see potential or fun or I wish they had more attention:

Ali has a lot of the same appeals as Adrien, is shown to be very sweet, and I am bummed so little was done with him. He's not present enough to warrant being on the main team, but I like him enough that I should try and write more with him.

Chloe I can acknowledge has potential as a character, and that chance of a redemption arc is there, and she can be loads of fun to write. But I also feel irritated with her as she was a waste of time. I get they were halfheartedly going for "will she be good or will she be evil", but it was such a butcher job and you could tell the team was split, and instead of compromising, they just put in both potential to be good and her clearly not going to get better. And I'm just stuck in that irritating spot where I can SEE the potential but she may ultimately better serve as a villain/antagonist.

And this is where Aurore comes in, having all the perks of Chloe being haughty and proud, but none of the downsides. She was a lot of fun to write in Leave for Mendeleiev, and honestly, when I started ML with Stormy Weather, I actually thought she was a major character since she had the initial focus point. Color me surprise when she ultimately became a background character. And then disappeared for a while.

Lila is in a similar boat to Chloe, and honestly between them on who should get a redemption, it's pretty even them for me as they're both terrible. But we didn't NEED two mean girls to go against Marinette. Now, if they were a rival/foil to another character, and Marinette just worked mostly off one of them, then having two mean girls could've worked better. Either way, Lila redemption would have to be around Volpina, cause Chameleon and onward is a trainwreck and there's no way to pick up the pieces of that. And for a chracter who lies a lot, can be petty and spiteful, she has promise to be a lot of fun, and to bring a lot of chaos.

Between the two Couffaine siblings, Juleka is the one I see a lot of potential for writing wise, as she does have that established struggle of trying to find her voice. And by her livelihood, you could play off the comedy of her being chaotic but chill, and ready to take things to the extremes (like kidnapping). And there's the friendship potential that canon tapped into with her and Marinette's shared interest in fashion (I actually think that if the show was more realistic on friend pairs, Marinette would've been in a trio with Juleka and Rose).

Kim is on this list because he cracks me up. Peak himbo but surprisingly wise. That is if we can ignore how he got ruined in s5.

Lastly, Ivan. He was actually the first classmate I really paid attention to, and I saw a promising story to work off with him. Watching Origins, you see most of the class is intimidated by him, so I thought he could have an arc of changing people's perspective, instead of him being feared he's seen as a protector. Which kinda got speedran in the background, but I guess we can't have a plus size character as the focal point. But I'd like to do him as a major lead sometime.

[toxinellebug]

The World Under The Supreme - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Action packed posts with Claw Noir and Shadybug are coming but some important details of their world need to be addressed first! These will be relevant in posts to come.

So prepare yourself; EmoNette and EmoAdrien live in a dark world… A world that Betterfly hopes to change.

The GOOD:

Religion is not a crime, which is why celebrating holidays like Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, etc. is permitted, even if the true meaning behind those celebrations has been lost over the years.

    After all, for some people, their faith is all they have- Plus, it’s good for capitalism!

HOWEVER, organized religion is nearly a thing of the past…

      In every country, Churches, Temples, Mosques, etc. are HEAVILY TAXED. 

          The Supreme has the ONLY say in law, so religious “leaders” have no authority or power.  So, unable to become filthy rich off of devout believers, and unable to sway people to commit atrocities in the name of “God”, there is no point.

           As such, those who do still have some kind of belief in a deity, choose to practice quietly at home.

As a result, there is peace!

      Women all over the world have autonomy over their own bodies AND reproductive rights!

         Girls are allowed to learn to read without fear of being burned with acid.

             Circumcision of boys and girls (yes, some countries mutilate girl’s genitalia for religious reasons) no longer exists.

                 Only old grannies wear hijab because women actually have a choice (not just wear it or be stoned to death).

                   THERE IS NO CASTE SYSTEM.

                        No child marriages.

                            Pedophilia is rare.

                                 Homosexuality is not illegal.

Anti-vaxers DO NOT EXIST!

So there has been a lot of progress in medicine (good news for Rose!)

    No school teaches creationism or claims that man lived at the same time as dinosaurs.

But churches, even famous ones like Notre Dame, Sistine Chapel, Saint Basil's Cathedral, etc. are seen as old relics… tourist sight seeing destinations at most.

       But with the taxes being so heavy, and so few people who identify with any religion, it is not profitable to maintain up-keep on these decrepit buildings.

            As such, when they fall into enough disrepair as to be considered “unsafe” even for tourists, they too will be condemned and demolished so the land can be purchased by the highest bidder and something more useful will be constructed there.

 The BAD:

Mutual aid is a crime… Socialism is forbidden… Protests are not tolerated and severely punished!

            There is no such thing as Charity.

There are no donations of toys to sick kids in hospitals. 

(Prince Ali, non-existent is he, Ali never-heard-of-ya’… Princes and Kings, no such things, only The Supreeeeeme~)

      *No, I will not write out the whole dang song. I don’t want to get sued by a company with mouse ears, thanks.

Everyone pays their own way in life. Those that can’t pay are forced to work (which is why there are no homeless people asking for spare change on the streets).

There is no cooperation without compensation.

The strange, odd, abnormal ones are those who wish to offer help without expecting anything in return.

(You can’t achieve freedom with one person. Freedom is only achieved by collective cooperation, sacrifice, and compassion for others, no matter how different they may be. So long as everyone only looks out for themselves and keeps their heads down rather than risk getting punished for sticking their neck out for others, Freedom for all is impossible. This is the dark price of Wang Fu’s wish for World Peace.)

The Ugly:

Everyone pays the price for selfishness. Especially the planet.

       In a world that only cares about “me”, the comforts and profits of the current generation, there is little to no concern for what future generations will inherit, including the planet.

Quick and easy money, progress for profit with no consideration for environmental impact has been the norm since the end of WW2.

Pollution is a world wide issue;

      Costs of food are higher everywhere because crops and livestock take a LOT of money to grow.

            Crops (grain, fruit, and vegetables) have always been more expensive of course because they require so much land, water, time, and workers to produce.

                 But with polluted air darkening skies, tainted soil, rapid decline of bees, butterflies, and bats, and such dirty water… Plants are suffering.

Crops require massive greenhouse facilities, heavily filtered hydroponics systems, and hundreds of thousands of human workers to pollinate things by hand (yes, we do that even now for rare plants), or at least until Tsurugi Enterprises can develop robots to replace human workers.

Since grass is not that hardy and expensive to maintain, free range livestock is just not possible.  And since most grain has no nutritional value for humans (we can’t really digest it, it is mainly grown to fatten livestock) it is even more expensive since it is a pain in the butt to produce and is mainly consumed by animals, thus meat, dairy, and egg prices have gone up. 

Flowers are more expensive than jewelry.

Since only the hardiest plants can endure the world’s level of pollution, many animals have gone extinct and forests are suffering.

Only the richest of cities still have “parks” though they are a far cry from what we think of as parks.

Most flowers are delicate, so many varieties that we are familiar with can not be grown in your average backyard garden or found in pots on a balcony.

An orchid flower is worth more than a diamond.

The hardy, invasive, “ugly” flowers that we consider as weeds have replaced the wildflowers we once knew.

Only the rich can afford to go to a florist to afford luxuries like carnations, tulips, lilies, daffodils, snapdragons, lilacs, peonies, or something as flashy as a rose.

But thanks to Bertrand King, even the lower class can enjoy the beauty of a bouquet thanks to plastic flowers!

     Plastic truly is fantastic! 

And unlike, fragile, boring, real flowers… PLASTIC FLOWERS can come in any color you want! And they last forever!

      Even a poor man can feel rich if they decorate their home with plastic potted ferns! 

The best part? You don’t have to waste water!  They are so hygienic too! No dirt, no bugs, no allergies, no rotting, dying leaves to prune and clean up!  No worries about little kids or pets eating poison leaves! 

        Plastic plants never lose their luster! They are durable, washable, colorful!

             Can’t afford a diamond? 

              You buy cubic zirconia!

                    Can’t afford a houseplant?

                     Buy plastic!

Of course, there IS one event where even someone living paycheck to paycheck can get a chance to see a variety of REAL flowers (assuming they can pay the admission fee).

Every year, people all over the globe celebrate “World Peace Day”, where they give thanks to The Supreme for putting an end to WW2 and preventing any other war thereafter!

There is no celebration more massive!

On that day, Major cities show off their wealth (through the taxes of the citizens) to throw not only parades, but have massive displays of real flowers for citizens to admire (for a price).

It is a day many look forward to!

A day that celebrates peace between all people regardless of race, ethnicity, or religion!

A day of life and beauty!

ALL HAIL THE SUPREME!

[celestiall0tus]

Calm Before the Storm - Chapter 6 - Heavenly Virtues

Beginning || Previous || Next

            “Excellent work today, Vivica. You’re really been putting in the work, haven’t you?” Penny praised.

            Vivica smiled and chuckled nervously. “You could say that. Gotta be on the top of my game after all, right?”

            “Just don’t burn yourself out,” Penny warned.

            “I won’t, I promise.”

            “Very well. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

            Vivica smiled and ran off. She headed down the street for home when a teen boy with a lion’s mane of hair her age joined her. She beamed and hugged him.

            “Diligentia! How was your day?”

            “Busy as usual. How was yours? Did everything go well with rehearsal?”

            “It was amazing! All that hard work has paid off again and I’m making strides. I have you to thank for it.”

            Diligentia waved his hand dismissingly. “You put in your own hard work. I simply assist with keeping you on course.”

            “It still has helped a lot. I honestly couldn’t thank you enough for all the help you’ve been. I don’t think I’d be this far without you.”

            “Think nothing of it. Simply doing what I was made to be, as Father would have dictated. Now, let’s hurry along. You’ll need to get to practice in if you’re to stay ahead of the curb.”

            “Right! Let’s go!”

~~

            Ali followed behind Soraya Khan as she discussed the next charity event. He zoned in and out while the girl beside him, Liberalitas, gleefully chatted with Soraya about the charity event. He smiled at her bubbly optimism that reminded him of Rose.

            Ali sighed as he looked away. He had been in contact with Rose since he met her and kept in touch, but he found himself missing Rose more recently. He had tried to participate in more charity events in Paris, but his luck had ran dry with no events being hosted that had sparked his parents interest. He’d give anything to return and see Rose, even if just once.

            “Your Highness, are you listening?” Soraya asked.

            Ali gasped and opened his mouth.

            “It’s ok, Soraya, I am!” Liberalitas cheered.

            “I do appreciate that you are, but his Highness needs to as well. This is an important event being hosted by the Agrestes for the first time since Gabriel lost his mind. His ex-wife, Emilie, is returning to form with hosting the Diamond Dance again.”

            Ali perked up. “You mean we’re heading to Paris again?”

            “Indeed. We’ve received the invitation to attend the dance. Your parents agreed to have you attend given Emilie’s newfound status and power she and her wife possess. They believe they can benefit, so long as you can make friends with the son, Adrien. And, if we are lucky, you could meet with the current defenders of Paris with the aid of Liberalitas, so long as she is willing to assist with the matter.”

            “Absolutely! Anything to help you guys,” Liberalitas cooed.

            “Excellent. We’ll have everything prepared for you to depart in a couple of weeks. Understood?”

            Ali grinned. “Yeah! Absolutely!”

~~

            “You should have seen it, Caritas! He was all distracted by whatever coach was yelling at him about, which gave me the perfect opportunity to ambush him. His coach didn’t like it, but no one ever cares what he has to say when we can wrestle. And it was an amazing spar. I won, of course. Not like there is ever any doubt,” Nora boasted.

            Caritas giggled. “Your feats of valor and strength are always impressive to hear about. Though it quite mean to disregard a person no matter how small.”

            “I know, I know, but they get so pushy and never let us have any real fun. So, we make it ourselves. Anyway! Let’s go! We’re making something special for when the family gets home.”

            “Oh? Is that what the impromptu shopping trip was for?”

            “Hell yeah! Wanted to do something nice for the family. I mean, it is summer with the kids out of school, Mom could always use some help. And I am basically staying free, so it’s the least I could do.”

            Caritas smiled softly. “Your kindness is beautiful, Nora. I’m glad I chose you.”

            Nora paused outside the apartment door. “Thank you. I’ll be honest, I don’t feel I deserve you because of how I can be other times, but I’m glad you stick around. I know it hasn’t been long, but it feels like your part of the family.”

            Caritas put a hand over her heart, then gently touched Nora’s shoulder. “Thank you. I’m honored, truly. Your family is beautiful, full of kind souls, much like your own. It is truly an amazing experience to bask in your presences.”

            Nora smiled and pulled Caritas in a big hug. “Say, you’ve always watched us cook. Would you like to learn how to?”

            Caritas’s eyes lit up. “Oh, please! It looks like so much fun.”

            “C’mon. I’ll show you and together we’ll make the greatest dinner ever!”

            Caritas clapped and bounced then followed Nora inside.

~~

            Mireille entered the KIDZ+ studio for the annual weather girl competition. She entered it again alongside Aurore and many others. She glanced around at the crowd before they noticed her. They cheered for her as she made her way through them to the front with Aurore. Alec announced them and the competition while Aurore looked at her.

            “I’d wish you luck, but I intend to win this competition,” Aurore said.

            “Well, I wish you the best of luck. You’ll be great.”

            Aurore was taken aback. She snorted and stuck her nose in the air as she looked away.

            Mireille sighed as Alec finished and everyone dispersed. She headed up to the room after the others when a plain-looking teen boy joined her.

            “Your friend is very proud in herself. It will surely spell her doom.”

            “She never seems to learn that lesson,” Mireille said.

            “One day she’ll be humbled and see the error in her pride.”

            “Do you think you could help her with that, Humilitas?”

            “I could, but nothing is learned when the lesson is forced upon someone. No, she’ll need to learn on her own.”

            “I… I see. You’ll be here, though, right? At my side through all this?”

            “Of course. I promised you I would be there for you through anything. You are my holder and I your kwami.”

            Mireille smiled. “Thank you.”

            “No, thank you.”

            Mireille and Humilitas went in circles as they thanked each other until Aurore stood in front of them.

            “Knock it off! I’m trying to concentrate and you two are distracting me.”

            “Forgive us. We’ll keep it down,” Humilitas said with a bow.

            “Yeah, well, you better.”

            Aurore headed off and left the pair alone.

            “Well, you ready?”

            “I’m with you. Let us go.”

~~

            “Hi! We’re back!” Marinette called.

            Sabine and a woman with striking red hair turned to them.

            “Welcome home, dearie. How was your date?” Sabine asked.

            Marinette ran over to hug Sabine and sat beside her. “It was amazing! We didn’t really go anywhere. We stayed at Liberty, but I sketched while he watched. We got the next designs done for Kitty Section, y’know, whenever they perform again. And I got hear some of the songs that Luka had been working on. And then we cuddled as the sunset and-.”

            A teen girl with light blue hair materialized. “That’s all you did, right? Nothing more?”

            Marinette stopped and shut her mouth.

            “Castitas, what have we talked about?” Sabine scolded.

            “I know, but Tom is worried and so am I. So many young girls like Mari here fall so easily to sin. We just want to keep her safe,” Castitas countered.

            “I understand, but you should worry about your own safety.”

            Castitas furrowed her brow when Gimmi materialized. She squeaked and jumped back when Gimmi’s eyes fell on her.

            “You’re back. How was your date?” Gimmi asked.

            “It was good,” Marinette said.

            Gimmi narrowed her eyes at Castitas.

            Castitas chuckled nervously. “I… I think I hear Tom calling for me. Probably needs help in the bakery. Yeah, that’s it. Uh, bye!”

            They watched as Castitas vanished. They sat in silence for a moment before Gimmi spoke.

            “So, did you two fuck yet?”

            Marinette’s face turned bright red. “Gimmi! Filter!”

            Sabine and the red-haired woman chuckled.

            “What? You asked for help with contraceptives, so what’s stopping you two?”

            “Now, Gimmi, don’t push. These things take time. You don’t want to rush into things. Right, Patientia?” Sabine pointed out.

            “Exactly. Patience is key to the finer things in life,” Patientia agreed.

            “Whatever. My job here is done,” Gimmi said, then vanished.

            Marinette sighed. “Well, I’ll probably head up and finish my work, then head to bed.”

            “Alright, sweetie. Oh! Before I forget, this was delivered for you by Nathalie,” Sabine said as she held up an envelope.

            Marinette froze. “Nathalie? Nathalie Sancoeur?”

            Sabine nodded.

            Marinette hesitated before she took the envelope. She opened it to find a mask identical to the one she used at the Diamond Dance to sneak in, but was later kicked out. She looked in the envelope and found a handwritten letter signed by Emilie Agreste. She glanced over the letter and read that Emilie would be hosting the Diamond Dance again. Emilie stated she would be inviting big names and other figures along with the defenders of Paris, promising it would be more than what Gabriel ever made it.

            “Oh, well, thank you. I’ll, uh, I’ll be in my room.”

            Marinette gave Sabine a kiss on the cheek before she headed up into her room. She sat on the chaise as Gimmi materialized.

            “What’s that?”

            “An unwanted invitation to a dance I want no part in,” Marinette answered.

            “Why’s that?”

            “It’s from Adrien’s mom for a big dance. It sounds tempting, but I also don’t want to deal with Adrien. I know he still isn’t over me. He makes it a little hard not to notice.”

            “And you’re going to let that stop you?”

            “Hey! Look, I just don’t want to go, alright?”

            “Coward.”

            “Excuse me?”

            “You possess reality at your fingertips and you’re going to let some kitten keep you from enjoying yourself? Pathetic.”

            Marinette’s jaw dropped. “Excuse you! I am not pathetic. I am the holder of reality!”

            “Yeah? Well, you letting some whiny kitten stopping you seems pretty pathetic to me.”

            “You know what? We’re going to that dance, and we’re not going to let Adrien stop us from enjoying it.”

            Gimmi smirked. “Good. I look forward to it.”

            Marinette’s eyes widened as realization hit her. “Wait. No, I-!”

            “My work here is done,” Gimmi said and vanished.

~~

            Fei Wu stared out at the night sky. She watched the city below her when the moonlight hit her new anklet. She sighed as she messed with it and lamented. It had been over a year since she lost the Prodigious and the renlings to Shadowmoth. She had put her faith in the Paris heroes to get them back, until she finally received the news.

            Fei Wu stared at the anklet as she recalled the letter of Monarch’s defeat, but how all the kwamis were changed and the renlings, presumably, were gone. She had the Prodigious returned to her, but without the renlings, it was powerless. Just another reminder of her failures.

            Footsteps stole Fei Wu’s attention. She jumped to her feet as a young man with ginger hair approached. She relaxed as he sat beside her.

            “I wondered where you went. You weren’t in that man’s restaurant like you normally are. I was worried you had relapsed again.”

            Fei Wu shook her head. “I just… I needed some air.”

            “Penny for your thoughts?”

            “It’s nothing new. Just… everything hit just right and I was reminded of everything. Of… of my failures.”

            “Fei, you aren’t a failure.”

            “Yes, I am, Temperantia. I failed to stop Shadowmoth. I failed to step in and be a hero to save the renlings. I failed my father and everything he stood for. I’m a disgrace.”

            “You are too hard on yourself. You fought against Hawkmoth and won once. One defeat doesn’t mean you failed.”

            “But I lost the renlings. Even Mei Shi won’t come out of statue form. I just… I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. There’s no need for a guardian. No need for any of that, so what am I supposed to do if not that?”

            “What is it you wish to do?”

            “I… I don’t know.”

            Temperantia hummed. “Perhaps you can find answers in Paris.”

            “Pardon?”

            “That is where the rest of my brethren reside. Primarily the favorites of my father. Perhaps you could find a purpose speaking with them and their holders?”

            “I’m not sure. Maybe?”

            “What have you to lose?”

            Fei Wu pursed her lips. “I… it’ll be a long trip. Especially without… without Ladydragon.”

            Temperantia chuckled. “I’m a little insulted. Did my wings truly look just for show?”

            “I mean… can I fly with you?”

            “Indeed. One of the perks of having wings, no?”

            “Well, let’s settle my affairs and we’ll head over. Sounds like a plan?”

            “Indeed. Lead the way.”

Patreon || Discord || Ko-Fi

[leadenn]

I think Marinette and Ali would be adorable together and now I have another WIP in my google docs.

I'm pretty sure they've never had a one on one conversation but I'm so emotionally attached to them, they'd both be such dorks

Plus I think Adrien and Ali would get along and they share a hatred of having a time slot in their schedules to practice an instrument

I also think the three of them would have a gc and Adrien would call it the Aladdin fan club

Also Marinette and Adrien both have Ali's ring tone set as prince Ali from Aladdin. Ali pretends that it isn't funny.

[comixandco]

ml headcanon that when lila told adrien she’d been saved by ladybug she wasn’t lying

like no she’s not ladybug’s best friend but ladybug did actually save her during an akuma attack once like maybe there was a bus that was about to slam into her or she was in a crumbling building and ladybug rescued her

and she has actual proof of it happening as well a selfie or it was recorded by a civilian and put on the ladyblog/the news

but she can’t show adrien the proof because ladybug didn’t save lila. she saved cerise.

and it’s so annoying and frustrating for her because she gets called out on lying but it’s the one thing she told the truth about but nobody believes her because she wasn’t wearing a wig when ladybug last saw her

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady: Princess Fragrance

Directory | Guitar Villain

“Bonjour,” Nadja Chamack greeted. “Once again, Scarlet Lady, Chat Noir, and Marigold have saved Paris.”

The screen turned to a map of Paris, with one zone marked in green over blue, and a photograph of a woman with plant-like hair and eyebrows.

“Zoe Rapporte was Akumatized into the Enchanted Florist, threatening to engulf Paris in a treacherous jungle!” the reporter continued, as the image turned to show Paris' heroes under the rain, Scarlet Lady laughing while the other two waved and gave the former a glare. Underneath them ran a message announcing Paris' best therapists. “This makes Mlle. Rapporte's Nth Akuma–”

“Well maybe if people were a little less shi–” the florist suddenly yelled, jumping into image with a rather unfriendly face.

“CUT!”

----

Anyone that knew Chloé Bourgeois would have been surprised to see what she was doing.

She was in a public bathroom. Willingly.

That she was fixing her hair was a lot less surprising.

“Ugh, can you believe I have to work in the rain?” she complained, glaring at her own reflection.

“A-choo!”

Chloé looked into her bag, where laid Tikki, the Kwami of Creation, who did not look healthy.

“Ew, don't sneeze in my bag.”

Not that Chloé cared.

“Chloé, you n-need to take m-me to a doctor,” Tikki begged, but Chloé didn't seem to be up to it.

“What, a kwami doctor?”

“I know a healer,” Tikki said, but Chloé closed the bag.

“Oh, suck it up. I'm not letting you ruin my attendance.”

“Your attendance is already ruined!” the kwami pitifully pointed out. “Doctoooooor!”

----

Rose watched in her phone the news of the day (she shouldn't be, since she was at class, but this was important!), paying special attention to one report.

“Today, Prince Ali, heir to the Kingdom of Achu, will be organizing a toy drive for the Paris Children's Hospital,” the news anchor said, as the image turned to show the young prince at previous engagements.

“He's so beautiful, inside and out!” she said, feeling the tears threatening to drop off her eyes. He was truly a Prince Charming!

“So, like you?”

“Oh, you!”

Juleka had always been a bit shy, but ever since they got together, she had been more open about this. In fact, there were times she was really romantic. Like now.

“You know what?!” she said, pulling out a sheet of paper and uncapping her pen. “I'm going to write him a letter to tell him how much I love and respect him!”

“How you gonna get it to him?”

Alright, she wasn't sure about that. But...

“Love will find a way!”

“Does love do delivery?”

“It delivered you to me.”

Juleka blinked and blushed, but there was a wide smile on her face. She couldn't let her doubt her love for her!

----

For Olga Mendeleiev, teaching was a passion, an attempt to show her students the importance of science in the modern world. She knew that few of them saw it the same way as she did, but she didn't let that prevent her from trying to follow through.

She also knew that she had a fame of tough, but it was necessary: in places like a laboratory, it was essential to pay attention to everything, lest you suffer an accident that could be grave. In her entire career as a teacher, only thrice had a student messed up, and she always made certain that such a mistake was not repeated.

However, there were things she could not handle well. Like students arriving late to class.

“And where have you been, Chloé?”

“Fixing my hair and makeup, duh. This perfection takes time.”

The fact that Damocles bent backwards over this girl was the only reason she wouldn't punish her.

And then the door opened, paving way to the other tardy girl of the day.

“Waghh!” the girl said, almost tripping over her own feet as she ran in.

“Marinette, what's your excuse?”

Going by the girl's face, she braced herself for a terrible excuse.

“I, uh, had to bring my... dog! To the vet! He... ate all of my socks!”

…

If only she could apply her clothing artistry to other fields.

“Maybe if you were early, you could fully bake your excuses, Clumsinette!” Chloé laughed. “And you wouldn't look like a drowned rat!”

“You were also late!” she reminded her. She decided to let them go with just a warning, since she could hardly punish one and let the other free, and they had arrived before she could truly begin her class.

And then she saw something else that she knew she had warned about multiple times.

“Rose, I doubt the room needs to be perfumed,” she said as the blonde sprayed an envelope with perfume. It was a bit of a miracle that they hadn't started the experiment part yet – it could have cause an explosion! As she approached to grab the bottle, she also noticed that the girl was keeping her phone – switched on – under her table. “And using your phone in class? Take your things to the Principal.”

“Aww,” the girl moaned, but she had to be inflexible. Rose knew well enough what the rules in the lab were, and she had skipped all over them.

“I thought someone forgot a rotten fish in their bag, but it's just Rose's perfume!” Chloé, ever the troublemaker, shouted out loud, thinking she was funny.

“You have the exact same perfume in your locker,” Sabrina fired, causing everyone else to laugh while Chloé growled in embarrassment.

Alright, she could admit that it was a little funny. But that had no bearing with what was important right now – which was their class. She called everyone to order and began with her teachings of the day.

----

“Chloé, I don't feel so good,” Tikki moaned, her innards feeling like Plagg was doing his thing inside them.

“Oh, hush” Chloé replied, pushing her into the bag. “Don't you know Prince Ali is waiting at the hotel? I have to get ready!”

“Chloé!” That was Rose, who was clearly walking up to her. “Were you talking about Prince Ali?!”

“Not to you,” Chloé, ever the 'diplomatic', answered.

“Were you talking to your bag then? Cuz you have no friends?”

Ouch, that was kinda insensitive, Tikki thought, even if it was somewhat true.

“NO!”

----

Rose smiled. Poor Chloé, ever since Sabrina broke ties with her, she had been so lonely! But... she couldn't deny her a little favor such as this one, right?

“Could you give him this letter?” she asked, offering the letter she had been writing earlier in class.

“But of course!” Chloé replied, picking the envelope, before her smile turned... evil. “NOT!”

And she ripped her letter apart.

“AH!”

While she knelt to grab the pieces of paper that were all that remained of her work, Chloé got in her car, laughing like the evil witch she was.

“You seriously thought I'd walk around with that smelly fish rag?! Hahahaha!”

----

“Aghh!” Tikki groaned. The sudden movement was not doing her any favors.

“Hey! You better not get sick in my bag! You're ruining this moment for me!”

Love you too, Chloé, she thought sarcastically.

----

Hidden beneath her Queen's hair, Pollen was carefully combing through it to get rid of the knots that a long day at school had produced. She was glad that she could help her Queen in this way!

Then a car passed by, and her Queen's attention was drawn to it.

“Huh?! Wait, is that–?!”

Pollen looked in the same direction – and saw Tikki, lying on the hand of her wielder!

“Tikki?!” her Queen exclaimed. “Pollen, Chloé has Scarlet Lady's kwami!”

“Oh, my!” she said, smiling. Yes, her Queen had realized the truth of who had taken Tikki –

“She probably stole her! Cuz she's a thief and Scarlet is careless!”

“Oh my.”

Oof, so close.

----

He felt optimistic about this Akuma. The power she was granted could easily turn those blasted heroes into mere puppets of his will!

“Princess Fragrance, your perfume will be, from now on, your secret weapon. No one will be able to resist it, no one will oppose you!”

“I mostly just want my prince, to be honest...” the girl replied, “... but we can torment Chloé a little.”

Ah, Chloé Bourgeois. Clearly his best pawn in this world that kept preventing him from reaching his goal.

----

Marigold was a woman on a mission! And she wasn't going to let anyone prevent her from saving Tikki!

“Ahem,” she coughed, calling the attention of the hotel doorman. “Hello, I need to see Chloé Bourgeois! Hero business.”

“I'm afraid I can't let you in, Mlle. Marigold.”

What.

“Huh?!”

“Unless you have an invitation from the Bourgeois or there's an Akuma, you and Chat Noir are banned from the hotel.”

“B-but, why–”

“We're still finding ladybugs, Mlle. Marigold.”

“Ehehe...” she laughed.

C'mon, that was only because Scarlet wouldn't show up!

----

KNOCK KNOCK

“Oh, that'll be Adrien! Coming~” she sang out, putting Tikki back into her bag as she ran to open the door.

“Hey, Chloé,” and there he was, so handsome in his coat and vest and shirt and pants and he was so ready to be her one and done!

“Adrichéri, you're here –!”

And then her mood soured as she saw that chrome dome standing next to her Adrikins, wearing some sort of an ugly robe she wouldn't be caught dead holding in a hand.

“Agh! What are you doing here?!”

“I was invited,” the girl replied, glaring back at her.

“Doesn't she look great, Chlo?” Adrikins asked, unable to understand what he was supposed to be doing (which was getting rid of this girl, of course).

“Thanks, 'Adrichéri',” the girl said in a mocking tone.

“How dare you.”

----

She still wasn't sure why someone had thrown a perfectly serviceable motorcycle helmet and cape, but they (along with the pizza box she had also found in the pile) had allowed him to fool the doorman into thinking she was doing delivery.

She would have to thank Luka later for indirectly giving her the idea to do this.

Take your ban and shove it, Chloé! she thought, giggling to herself.

----

The doorman watched as another person dressed in what was obviously not normal clothes walked up to him.

“Oh, Lord, another one,” he muttered under his breath, before turning to the newcomer. “Mademoiselle, you can't be here–”

“That's no way to talk to a princess!” the stranger said, spraying him with a rather delectable perfume that assaulted all of his senses.

“Agh!”

Then, he realized he had had it all wrong! How could he have so horribly treated Princess Fragrance! He bowed to her and bid her enter the hotel.

“At your service, Princess Fragrance,” he said.

“I'm coming, my Prince,” Princess Fragrance sang out, before she turned. “Where's Prince Ali?”

“Restaurant floor, Princess Fragrance,” he informed her. She would soon meet her beloved Prince, and that could only make him happy.

----

This was Ali, Prince of Achu's, first visit to the city of Paris, which he had heard much about. But this was not a tourist's visit – it was meant to be about visiting the local children's hospitals, ensure the money was correctly invested in ensuring their health and, most imporantly, speak with the children and see for himself they were getting better.

But, still, as he was the representative to his country, there were unavoidable moments, such as meeting the local authorities. In this case, he would meet the mayor and the children of some of the city's biggest names.

Like the blonde girl standing in front of him – if his notes were right, she was the mayor's daughter – who was now holding a figurine of a girl that resembled her, but dressed in a red-with-black-dots costume and a domino mask over her eyes.

“Prince Ali, I brought you this beautiful, unique Scarlet Lady figure – for the children,” she said, offering him the figurine.

“Oh!”

He wasn't sure of what the children would do with the figurine, but it certainly wasn't safe for them.

----

He couldn't know that Chloé had just grabbed the figurine she liked the least off her shelf-slash-altar.

----

Then approached a boy with blond curls, holding a plushie of a boy that resembled him, but with wilder hair, a black domino mask and clad in black from neck to toes.

“I commissioned a friend for a few Chat Noir plushies,” he said. “The rest have been delivered.”

He picked it up, and smiled both at the detail and how good it felt to his hands. He knew the children would love this and the others.

“Oh, soft!”

----

He couldn't know that Adrien had asked his crush and number one fan to craft them. Or how handsomely he had paid for them.

Or how Marinette had worked on it as her 'compensating' Adrien for the Pixelator incident.

----

The last teen in the room was a Japanese young lady, dressed in traditional garb, greeting him with a bow that he returned.

“The Tsurugi's have delivered a truck of Marigold merch in your name,” she declared in (very) slightly accented French.

“That's so nice of you!” he declared. He and his companions would have to check and make sure the merchandise was child-safe, but he was certain the children would also love to play with them.

----

He couldn't know that Kagami's decision had been prompted by what some would call a 'girl-crush' she had on Paris' true heroine.

----

“And who are these characters?” Ali asked, confused. He knew he was not up on current cultural events, but maybe they could tell him? Perhaps it could be something to bond with children in the future?

----

He couldn't know...

... he was about to learn the truth.

----

Marinette ducked behind a short table as she saw the small group passing by, with Chloé between her father and the foreign prince Rose had mentioned in class – holding one of the Chat Noir plushies she had crafted at Adrien's request.

But her current target was elsewhere.

“Oh, there!” Pollen pointed out, signaling with her tiny arm at Chloé's bag, where Tikki could be seen hanging from.

“Pollen, she doesn't look so good,” she muttered, her heart hurting at the look. She had to find a way to get Tikki out of Chloé's hands!

Then the elevator's doors opened, and in came –

An Akuma?! One that resembled ROSE! What is she –!

The Rose Akuma aimed with what looked like a gun and pulled the trigger, but instead of a bullet it fired a cloud of green smoke that washed all over Chloé.

Everyone around her quickly covered their noses.

“Prince Ali, what – is that awful smell?” someone from the prince's entourage asked, her face almost as green as the cloud that now seemed to hang around Chloé.

“C-Chloé, you smell like rotten fish!” Adrien declared, trying to step away from her.

“What?! It's not me!” Chloé screamed, before she began to smell around.

It was definite.

This might be my favorite Akuma, she thought, giggling again as Chloé realized the true source of the smell.

“Oh no, it is me! Waaah!” the girl cried out.

“W-Who are you?!” the prince asked, clearly shocked. Didn't he know about Akumas?

“I'm Princess Fragrance, I came just for you!” Rose – or, rather, Princess Fragrance – declared. “One little PSHH, and you'll be my Prince Ali!”

Alright, pranking Chloé was one thing, but control someone was another – and she wasn't about to let the Akuma win.

She grabbed the pizza box and threw it at the biggest flower bouquet in the room.

“Not on my watch!” she shouted, as the flowers almost exploded from the impact, filling the room with flower petals – which fell around the Akuma.

“Wha– hey!”

“Now's our chance! Run!” the Mayor stated, ushering his guests away.

----

Adrien dodged out of the way of the rest of the group, ducking into a side hallway as Plagg came out of his pocked.

“Now's our chance! Plagg! Claws Out!”

----

With everyone escaping from the Akuma, and the latter distracted, it was her chance.

“Pollen, Buzz On!”

“Uh, wait, the helmet–” Pollen tried to say, but the magical transformation absorbed her before she could finish her warning.

Oops.

----

The Mayor slammed the door behind him, his back forcing it closed.

“We're safe, the door is reinforced,” he declared, but that was little comfort for everyone else, who were trying to hold their breath and avoid smelling the stench coming from Chloé.

“Disastrous!” Prince Ali's aide said. “How does anyone keep to a schedule like this?!”

Chloé looked around, and realized someone was missing.

“Hey... where's Adrien?!”

Kagami, covering nose and mouth with her sleeve, chose to answer.

“He must've been caught like the news crew.”

----

When Chat Noir returned to the place where he had split off from the group, he realized it was emptier than it should have been.

“Where is everyone?!”

----

The Mayor's claims that the group was safe were quickly put to test, as Princess Fragrance approached the door.

“Mon Prince~!” she sang out. “Breathe the perfume of our eternal love!”

And she fired her gun, which now shot a cloud of a dark pink that threatened to slip into the safe room.

“Not so fast!”

But a vacuum cleaner was turned on – and the pink cloud got sucked into the latter, preventing it from reaching the other group.

“Hey! How dare you... Marigold?” the Akuma reacted, seeing the heroine entering the scene by wielding the cleaner...

“Marigold is here! With... a helmet?” the Mayor said, surprised at the mysterious change.

“Make a break for it!” Kagami said, pulling from Ali's free hand.

“Wait, she's real?!” the Prince shouted, shocked.

Hasn't he been seeing news on Paris? Kagami thought.

----

Unfortunately for her, the vacuum cleaner had only worked as a temporary measure, as Princess Fragrance had simply amped up how much perfume she could fire. She was getting cornered.

But she found the means to escape. It was going to be tight, but she could fit in.

“You won't escape my perfume!” she heard Princess Fragrance sing.

I already have, she thought, and closed the dumbwaiter's door to go down to the kitchen. That was her way out.

----

Chat Noir finally found the rest of the group, diminished in number, as they reached another part of the restaurant.

“Chat Noir!” Alright, Kagami would act as a voice of reason.

“There you are! Where's the Akuma?” he asked, but the answer quickly came from another source.

“Behind us, close the door!” Chloé shouted at one of the hotel's workers, pointing at one door. “Daddy's been bewitched!”

But it was too late. Princess Fragrance walked through the door, still spreading her perfume around.

“Come into my arms, mon cher Prince~”

“No means no!” Chat Noir shouted, enlarging his baton and forcing the Akuma out of the room.

“OOF!” the Akuma complained. Chat Noir quickly turned it around and pushed out of the window, enlarging it until it touched ground.

“All aboard the Escape Express!” he declared, ever the showman.

----

Fortunately, lowering everyone who was still free of the Akuma's influence was easier than expected, and soon enough they had reached the Prince's car.

“Let's go–” Chloé said, but Kagami interposed her bokken.

“Stop,” the Japanese girl stated.

“Huh?! Where were you hiding that?!” Chloé asked, surprised.

“She's not after you and you'll stink up the car,” Kagami replied, ignoring the question.

“Let me in! Who do you think you are?!” Chloé yelled, and in her agitation, she made a mistake.

She forgot Tikki was in her bag.

And when she shook the bag, Tikki flew out of it.

“Go hide in a bush,” Kagami ordered, not caring for the other girl, as everyone else got into the car.

“Chloé,” Chat Noir said as the doors closed. “Wait for Marigold. Or your BFF, Scarlet Lady.”

“GRR!” Chloé growled.

“HOW DARE YOOOOU!” both Chloé and Princess Fragrance yelled out in unison.

----

Chloé's irritation with the world increased as she saw the Akuma fly off the restaurant's terrace in pursuit of the fleeing car.

“How dare that Akuma prove Tsurugi right by ignoring me?!” Chloé complained. “Tikki, time to give her a piece of my–”

But when she looked down into her bag, she realized the kwami was missing.

“Tikki?” She began to look around. “Where'd she slink off to?!”

She thought over what had happened, when she saw someone else showing up.

“Oh, no, where'd they go now?”

“Marigold!” she shouted, approaching the heroinesidekick.

“Chloé?!” Marigold waved her off, putting a disgusted face. “You stink!”

Chloé ignored that.

“After that car! Tsurugi stole my, um, important bug plushie!”

“Oh, I bet she did,” Marigold replied, before taking off after the car.

----

At the car, its four occupants remained on edge. Chat Noir and Kagami were more than conscious about the danger the Akuma still represented, while the Prince and his attendant, Soraya Khan, remained in shock about the sudden turn of events, of something that they had never heard about.

“Ugh, I can still smell it,” Mlle. Khan complained, as Chloé had been close enough to the rest that the rotten fish stink had permeated through their clothes and into the car. “I'll open the moonroof a little.”

“Ah, wait–!” Chat Noir warned, but the woman still did it.

“Don't be a fool, do you want the Akuma to gas the whole car?” Kagami stated, hitting Soraya's hand with her bokken.

“OW! What?! Surely we've gotten enough distance–”

“What a great idea, future servant~!” Princess Fragrance suddenly said, from the top of the car.

“NO!” Chat Noir yelled, but it was too late, as the car's interior got flooded with the pink mist.

“I'll take you to the Pont des Arts to seal our love!”

----

Out of sight of all the humans, a tiny kwami laid on the floor of the car, unable to act. Brought low by her sickness, she could only beg for her holder.

“C-Chloé...”

----

By the time she was able to track down the car, it had crashed into a pile of (now empty, fortunately) cars and buses. She knew it was a bad sign, that the Akuma had captured the ones riding there. Right now, though, she couldn't do much – save for helping the reason she had been running around.

“Oh no, Tikki!” Running up to the car, she finally got rid of her helmet (it would be restored to normality as soon as the Cure was cast) and checked into the car.

When she saw the tiny kwami, laying on the floor, in clear pain and distress, broke her heart.

“Tikki! Oh, you poor thing, you're worse than I thought!”

“M-Marigold?” Tikki weakly said as she picked her up. “I-I need to get back to Scarlet Lady, to transfor–”

“Absolutely not!” she interrupted. “I'm taking you to Master Fu first, no ifs, ands, or buts!”

“B-But–” Tikki tried to say, but Marigold was resolute.

“No buts!”

----

Finding her way to Master Fu's home was not easy, but with Pollen's help she was able to remember the path, and soon enough the venerable man was using his magic on the sick kwami.

“How did you find her like this?” the man asked.

“My classmate had her,” Marinette said. “Knowing Chloé, she probably stole her.”

Tikki let out a groan of what sounded like pain, but Fu smiled and retired his hands.

“She should be all better now.”

Tikki sat up and smiled. Her countenance had completely changed now, and it was obvious she was hale and hearty.

“Oh, thank you! I feel so much better! I'll go right back to Scarlet Lady now!”

“Tikki!” Pollen exclaimed. “Goodbye hug!”

“Huh?”

“My Queen gives the best hugs!”

“I-If it's okay...” Tikki replied, feeling insecure, but then Marinette smiled and opened her arms.

“Of course!”

And Tikki jumped to hug the one that should have been her wielder.

And if there were tears in her eyes, no one said anything.

Then Tikki opened her eyes and noticed Pollen giving her a face.

“Tikki, just to be clear, you're the only one I'm willing to lend my Queen to,” she whispered. “Tell the others she's off limits: especially Mullo.”

Wow, Mullo had to have done something bad to bring this side of Pollen.

----

“This padlock will seal our love for eternity, Mon Prince!” Princess Fragrance said as she spread her perfume over the object the ensorcelled Chat Noir was presenting her.

“At your service, Princess Fragrance!” Prince Ali replied, not realizing the danger due to the Akuma's power.

Suddenly, a top flew and struck the heart-shaped padlock Princess Fragrance had created, forcing it out of Chat Noir's hands and causing it to drop into the waters of the Seine.

“Rose, did you forget you have a girlfriend?”

“Marigold!” the incensed Akuma shouted as the top returned to the heroine's hand. “I have two hands, busy body! Servants, attack!”

As the people the Akuma was controlling ran over to her, Marigold just rolled her eyes.

“Honestly, I'm more afraid of Kagami than Chat Noir.”

----

Tikki quickly tracked down Chloé by the Earrings, and found her sitting down by the hotel, moody and arms crossed.

“Chloé!” she called out, and the girl looked up at her.

“Tikki! Where've you been?”

“The doctor. Like I told you earlier.”

“Don't you know I was stuck on the sidelines like some civilian?! Ridiculous, utterly–”

“Chloé–” she said, interrupting the girl's favorite sentence before she could get more absurd, but that was interrupted when Chloé looked up.

“Ah, there she is again!” the girl exclaimed, and she turned around to see the Akuma flying with the young boy from earlier holding onto her. “Tikki, Spots On!”

“Agh!”

Now, she could only hope Chloé would actually be able to do her part.

----

Hawkmoth was feeling impatient. The girl had managed to put Chat Noir under her control, but for some reason, instead of doing the obvious thing and taking the Ring, she was instead focused on forcing some boy to love her. He opened the connection to her and got ready to berate her.

“I'll enchant all of Paris and make it our kingdom!” Princess Fragrance declared, much to his shock.

“Wait, not me though, right?” he said before he could contain himself.

“ALL OF PARIS!”

…

I might have miscalculated this time.

He was now confronted with a Morton's fork. If he didn't reclaim the power, this Akuma might well manage to put him under her control, and he'd be unable to escape. But, if he did reclaim the Akuma, he'd lose the chance to get a half of what he needed to make the Wish! This was the closest he had been to his goal!

But then the Akuma's concentration was broken.

----

“I don't think so, Stink Bomb!” Scarlet shouted, throwing her yo-yo and hitting Princess Fragrance's gun before she could fire her perfume.

“Ah! Scarlet Lady!” Princess Fragrance turned to glare at Scarlet, only to see Marigold landing right next to her. “And you again?! What happened to my servants?!”

Marigold ignored the question.

----

At the banks of the Seine, Chat Noir had recovered his senses, and was now guarding the stunned people that had been controlled by the Akuma, tied up with his belt.

----

Scarlet called up the Lucky Charm, and as soon as it showed up Marigold grabbed it, an angry face over her features.

“I'll be taking that Lucky Charm!”

“Hey!” Scarlet yelled.

Nobody cared.

The one who cared was Princess Fragrance, but what she cared about was how the Lucky Charm – a balloon – got thrown into her gun just as she tried to put the heroines under control.

“Wha– NO!” the Akuma shouted as the balloon caused the gun to backfire and break down.

“VENOM!” Marigold shouted, jumping at Princess Fragrance, who had suddenly found herself defenseless.

“Wai–!”

Too late. The tip of the spinning top pierced her, and the Akuma was paralyzed, allowing Marigold to grab the perfume gun and smash it against the floor.

“Well, that was easy!” Scarlet said, immune to the glare the ticked-off Marigold threw at her.

“Easy for you, maybe.”

----

Prince Alí came about somewhere in the streets of Paris. Not only he didn't know where he was, he didn't know how he had actually arrived here. The last thing he could remember was that... Akuma? Throwing some perfume into the car he was riding, and after that it was a blank.

And then there was the girl next to him. He felt a bit uncomfortable about how she was holding his arm, but... he couldn't deny there was something genuine about her, unlike other girls he had met before.

“Prince Ali!” the girl said, smiling and blushing as she stood there.

“Where am I?” he asked, before turning to the two... heroes that had apparently saved him. “Who are they?”

The one in red and black – the one that resembled Mlle. Bourgeois – stepped up, while a loud beeping came from something around her. Had she left some alert that she was ignoring?

“Why, I am the famous hero of Paris, Scarlet–”

“Lady of Timers!” the other one, the one that resembled a bee, interrupted, pulling from the red one's ear.

“OW!” the latter said, but clearly the bee girl didn't care about her pain.

“Time to go, my Queen of Irresponsibility.”

The bee girl kept pulling from the other one, until they were at the top of the Sacre Coeur and...

“See you later!” she said, waving with one hand as she just shoved off her partner down the other side of the dome with the other.

“Are your heroes usually this... eccentric?” he asked the girl, who was similarly shocked.

“Um...”

Deciding to learn more of the situation and this young lady, he decided to talk with her, because maybe she'd be able to throw some light.

Rose – the girl – explained what Akumas were and how the heroes – Scarlet Lady, Chat Noir, and Marigold – fought the Akumas in order to prevent them from stealing some sort of object on behalf of Paris' villain. As for Rose herself, she had been Akumatized, and apologized profusely for what she had done, but he forgave her: if what she had said was true, everything she had done was not something she would have done if she wasn't under control of this Hawkmoth, so he couldn't blame her.

And then she had come down to explain why she had been Akumatized.

“I know you help the sick children of the world. I just wanted to tell you that you're the nicest person I've ever met!” Rose said, her face blushing from cheek to cheek, and he also felt his face redden. He had been told similar things many times... but never by someone so honest and sincere as Rose.

“Really?” he asked, but before Rose could answer someone else interrupted.

“Prince Ali!” Mlle. Bourgeois shouted as she ran up to them

Rose turned to look at Mlle. Bourgeois, but it didn't seem to be friendly at all.

“Chloé?”

Ah, so they knew each other?

“You're safe! Aren't you glad I'm safe too? Let's continue where we left off! And ditch Rose.”

The words had come out of her mouth like bullets from a machinegun, but still he understood them easily. He understood what the girl intended to do.

And put a stop to it.

“No thank you, I'll be going to the Children's Hospital with Mlle. Rose.”

“Whu–?! Uh, but–” Mlle. Bourgeois babbled, before she appeared to settle on an argument. “She has a girlfriend!”

Hm? Well, if Rose had someone she called a girlfriend, then she had to be a wonderful lady as well!

“Oh, I'd love to meet her!” he told Rose, smiling, and she smiled back at him.

“She'd love to meet you!”

“Arhh!” Mlle. Bourgeois yelled. Clearly, she had not expected this outcome.

----

Soraya Khan, Prince Ali's personal attendant, had been on a quest to track down her charge after waking up drenched and tied with other people by a belt next to the Seine. After the young hero untied them and explained something of what had happened, she had thanked him and then started to look for Ali, knowing that she was risking some severe punishment if the Prince of Achu suffered any damage while under his watch.

Fortunately, a lucky find had pointed her at the Children's Hospital the Prince had meant to visit, and she quickly rushed over, finding him playing with one of the cancer-struck children that were tended to there, as well as another girl of Prince Ali's age holding the child.

“Prince Ali! There you are!”

“Ah, you found me,” the Prince replied. Soraya felt slightly apprehensive: did the Prince not understand how important his security was?

“I've been looking all over Paris for you!” she pointed out, as the Prince and the blond girl stood up – holding hands.

What.

“Who is this?” she asked, surprised that her charge was holding hands with this unknown girl.

“This is my girlfriend, Rose.”

She felt her jaw dropping. At fifteen, the Prince had never shown any interest in other ladies, not even the ones presented to him by her family. And suddenly, a girl he had known for less than a day, he was willing to call her 'girlfriend'?

“And this is her girlfriend, Juleka!” he continued, pointing at the girl holding the other hand of the first girl, a contrast because, where this Rose was blonde and wearing colorful clothing and was just sunny, the second wore black all over her body and looked like she was used to look gloomy.

But here, the girl was smiling, and even waved at her.

“Hey.”

She felt a current of cold sweat down her back. Explaining this to the family was not going to be pretty...

----

As soon as he was certain he'd be able to get away, Adrien had transformed into Chat Noir and jumped his way across Paris.

He had received a message from Marigold.

Meet me at the usual point, 23:30.

And he might be mistaken, but she had sounded like she was on edge for some reason.

He hoped she wasn't angry with him.

When he landed, he found her with her back turned to him, and he decided he needed to avoid being the target of her anger any more.

“Hey Goldie, I got your message. Everything okay? You sounded a bit off.”

When she didn't react to this, he decided it was time to admit his mistake.

“Is this about the Akuma? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get hit–”

“Chat Noir.” Wow, she sounded serious. And when she turned around, he realized she was really serious. “We need to talk about taking the Earrings from Scarlet Lady.”

He felt like his jaw was dropping. They had both thought about it once or twice... but this time, it was clear that Marigold really meant it.

It felt like nothing would be the same any more.

----

Despair Bear

@zoe-oneesama Here endeth Season 3. Season 4 will begin as soon as I can get the inspiration in the middle of this heat. Dealing with high 30s ain't fun.

[plumsaffron]

Sneezeboy had enough of Mari’s Dupainure

[ladyofthenoodle]

i don’t know what is happening to lila in her final scene, but i do know one thing: if lila’s as smart as the writers want us to believe she is, she won’t be going to school to turn everyone against marinette. no, her new identity will be angling for the role of marinette’s best friend.

after all, being marinette’s rival turned out pretty well for marinette, didn’t it? but being chloe’s best friend didn’t turn out so well for chloe.

if she’s smart, she’ll veer away from the outlandish lies about jagged stone and prince ali. if she wants to play marinette like a fiddle, she’ll tell stories about the bullies at her old school and standing up to them. she won’t give adrien a second glance. maybe she’ll even make comments about gabriel agreste and wonder if he was really as great as they say. maybe she’ll ingratiate herself as the perfect confidant for a stressed marinette who’s tired of keeping secrets. even better if she can position herself in opposition to what alya is saying, especially if alya is saying a hard truth marinette doesn’t want to hear.

if she’s smart, marinette won’t even realize she’s the enemy.

[mochinek0]

Daminette December 2023: 13-Wednesday

Paris couldn't believe what they were seeing: Marinette Dupain-Cheng was in Gotham Academy, in uniform! They hadn't see her in four years! What shocked them even more was seeing her arguing with some guy and she wasn't backing down.

The students in Gotham Academy didn't pay them any attention. Everyone ignored the shouting and yelling; they just kept walking as if they didn't see or hear them.

"Shouldn't you get a teacher?" Nino asked a student passing by.

"For what?" asked the brunette.

The class pointed at the arguing students.

"Wat day is it?" the brunette questioned.

"Wednesday." Max answered, "Does it matter?"

"It's their 'Argue Day'." the Gotham student declared.

"Argue day?" Mylene asked, confused.

"Yeah." the student stated, with a shrug, "Like clockwork. Teachers learned to deal with it. They get competitive, too."

"My boyfriend wouldn't put up with this sort of thing." Lila declared, "He hates violence."

"Oh, who is you boyfriend?" the brunette questioned.

"Damian Wayne." Lila smiled.

The brunette started laughing and pointing at Lila.

"Dude?" the blonde nearby questioned.

"This bitch said Damian Wayne is her boyfriend! She also said he hated violence!" the brunette answered and continued to laugh.

The blonde joined, howling with laughter. The Paris class shifted uncomfortably.

"Listen here, Faker," the blonde spoke, "you're not dating our ice Prince. Not to mention Damian is one of the most violent Waynes to roam these halls."

Lila sniffled, "He just doesn't want the media to know. I'm not lying."

"Well, that's lie number two." the brunette counted, "Damian doesn't care about the media. They gave him the title 'Ice Prince'."

"Do you know how many reporters have broken their arms, hands, or fingers trying to get a scoop from him?" the blonde questioned.

"You the ones lying!" Aly shouted, "Lila said he was kind and helpful Damian Wayne does charity work with her, for the environment!"

"It's not that hard to look up." the blonde scoffed, :About every other weekend, he's in the park casually talking to Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and playign with their hyenas as they plan 'How to green up Gotham'."

Lila paled hearing how he associated with rogues. That hadn't been what she expected.

"Supposedly, his mother is just as bad as they are." the brunette declared, "If not worse."

Lila gulped, trying to figure out how to keep her classmates under her control as her lie began to unravel.

"If anything, it sound like you googled 'rich kid+my age in Gotham' and Damian Wayne popped up first." the blonde responded.

"How can you say that about our friend?" Kim demanded.

The boys pointed to Marinette and the boy arguing still.

"That is Damian Wayne." the brunette answered, "By tomorrow, they'll be back to cuddling and kissing, like they have been for the past three years."

"They basically chose one day a week to let their frustrations out on each other." the blonde spoke, "It just happens to be on Wednesday."

The Parisians turned to Lila for an answer.

"I-I'm sure that's not it." Lila declared in a panic.

"Oh, really?" questioned the blonde boy, "Yo, Mari! How many times did Damian drug your coffee and drag you to bed, last week?"

"Four!" she shouted, still glaring at him.

Damian scoffed, "It was three."

"Liar!" Marinette screamed.

The class watched on in confusion.

"Damian, how many times did Mari make you new clothes last month?" the brunette asked.

"Ten!" Damian exclaimed in frustration.

Marinette scoffed, "Like you don't complain about those 'monkey suits' and how uncomfortable they are."

"I didn't ask you to go out of you way, Angel, and make me those things!" Damian rebutted.

"Oh, so now my designs are things?" Mari declared, "I just wanted you to be comfortable!"

"I'm fine!" the young Wayne sighed, "You need to sleep!"

"How long did she stay up?" the blonde questioned.

"She didn't sleep." Damian growled.

Marinette threw her hands up before resting them on her hips, "I slept on the drive over. I drank Tim's coffee. It usually has at least five espressos. Not the most I've had."

"What?" Damian shouted.

"Ah, so that's the reason this time." the brunette spoke.

"Sorry, Liar, but no one in Gotham will believe that you are anything to Gotham's Ice Prince when there are pictures being posted, like this, by his very own brothers." the blonde declared.

He turned his phone around to see Marinette and Damian dressed in pajamas and curled up in bed together.

"Everyone in Gotham Academy knows they live together at Wayne Manor." he continued, "Not to mention, the moment someone tries to touch her or get in her personal space, he threatens to kill them."

"He had five knives taken away this month." the brunette stated.

"Actually, it was eight." the blonde commented.

"Oh, when did I miss those?" the brunette questioned.

"You were sick for a week." the blonde answered.

"Gotha." the brunette spoke, "So, good luck and welcome to Gotham."

"Have a good Wednesday." the blonde spoke as they walked away.

Marinette yawned, "Why am I yawning? I drank Tim's coffee."

"Todd switched his coffee with decaf." Damian smiled, "You just happened to drink it, instead."

"No." she whined, "You did this on purpose!"

"I did not force you to drink Drake's coffee not did I force you to stay up all night." he answered, "If anything, Todd is upset that you ruined his prank."

"But-" Mari yawned again.

Damian smirked and picked her into his arms, "We are going home and you are going to bed."

"School." Marinette replied.

"I already messaged the teachers on the ride over that e would be missing the next two days." the young Wayne answered, "I've also paid Todd $100 for messing up his plan. In exchange, he will bring you lunch and dinner."

Marinette didn't respond and curled up in his arms. Damian just walked out of the school.

"Okay!" someone shouted, "Who had them making up under fifteen minutes?"

"Awww, man!"

"I could have sworn they would argue longer today."

"Didn't expect her to not sleep."

"Or have decaf."

"If she had just had that coffee."

"How much did you lose?"

"$20."

"Lucky; $30."

"50."

Paris watched on as money was exchanged. Marinette and Damian Wayne's couple argument had gotten so common that people were gambling on it. They started to turn to Lila, who obviously had no idea how to explain what had just happened.

"So, you really were a liar." Nathaniel whispered, "Marinette was right, all along."

"I don't think we'll get to apologize to Marinette," Rose sniffled, "But she looks happy."

"Can't say you will be by the end of this trip, Lila." Alix sneered.

Lila was out of her element as Gotham had quickly spread her lie about dating Damian. No one believed her and if she said anything, they would just laugh at her. Not to metion her own classmates were now ignoring her. This hadn't been what she had planned; it was just another Wednesday. Nothing special about it.

TAGLIST: @maribat-calendar-events@animeweebgirl@a-star-with-a-human-name@meme991001@vixen-uchiha@abrx2002@alysrose-starchild@fandom-trapped-03@dood-space@moonlightstar64@saltymiraculer@marveldcedits20@09shell-sea09@icerosecrystal@animegirlweeb@insane-fangirl-of-everything@blueblossombliss@nickristus-dreamer@megawhitleycalderonpaganus@missmadwoman@meira-3919@princessdaisysolosyourfaves@blep-23@fangirlingfanatic@darkhinauniverse@ravenr22@im-a-satanic-ritual@ravennm84@bianca-hooks123@a-slytherinish-gryffindor@starling218

[jofigud]

Miraculous Ladybug Season 6 Maybe design akumatized villains believe official

Mireille Caquet

XY

Prince Ali

Socqueline Wang

Felix Fathom

Marinette

Delmar

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Emotion

Hey, remember Felix? You know, that minor character who is the entire reason Gabriel has all of Ladybug's other Miraculous? The writers remembered he existed more than halfway through the season.

Let's get into the eighteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Emotion

We start off with Marinette and Adrien getting ice cream, and just like last episode, right when they're about to kiss, Adrien stops at the last second. While we don't see it, it's heavily implied that Gabriel is behind this. It turns out that Adrien has to get ready for some dance for rich people. While it has a name and I think it was mentioned in a few earlier episodes this season, it's really just some dance for rich people, so I don't care enough to remember it. Of course, all of the rich characters we know are invited, like Kagami, Chloe, Zoe, and Prince Ali. Lila, on the other hand, wasn't invited. This might sound important, but nothing happens with her until the end.

Zoe isn't going because of the “character development” she's gotten, so she offers to let Marinette wear her dress to the dance, which just so happens to be a masquerade ball. Tikki asks why Marinette even wants to go to this party she wasn't invited to, but all Marinette says is that it's so she can tell Adrien that she didn't have to keep the dance a secret from her. Why didn't Marinette just call Adrien? Because then we wouldn't have a story.

At the ball, Adrien and Kagami are the king and queen or whatever because their parents are really determined to make their ship sail even though the two show no real interest in each other (insert your own joke about the writers here), but they're interrupted by Amelie, Emilie's twin sister and Felix's mom. She's worried because her son has been missing for weeks, but Gabriel couldn't care less about the little twerp.

At the party, we get a somewhat amusing joke where Chloe fails to recognize Marinette under her mask, where Marinette not only says her name is Zoe, but her “underling” is named Chloe too. But speaking of...

Chloe: How rich are your parents? Rich? Very rich? Immensely rich? Of course, otherwise you wouldn't be here! It's too bad we can't bring out underlings with us. I'm sure these tin cans can serve properly but we can't make fun of them! (grabs a drink from a butler robot before kicking it) So lame!

Okay, did the writers just stop caring about writing convincing dialogue for Chloe? This is a problem I've noticed a lot this season. Yeah, Chloe was bad in the last four seasons, but here, she constantly talks about how Sabrina is her “underling” (Passion), or how she finds Marinete's suffering to be amusing (Derision). It's not really out of character, but it's weird how she's so much more blunt when it comes to boasting about how full of herself she is. It feels like a lot of her lines this season were meant to be placeholders for stuff the writers thought they'd change later, but then they decided to keep it in anyway. And of course to show how stuck up the other rich kids saying the same kind of stuff Chloe normally says, which is somehow less subtle social commentary than Hop Pop shouting “EAT THE RICH!”.

Adrien and Kagami talk about how they're expected to follow orders, while pretty much saying that Kagami is a Sentimonster since the camera really wants to show off her ring.

Oh wow. what does this mean? Wow, this is such a compelling mystery with so many twists and turns. I am so very invested right now.

However, as the two talk, it's clear that Adrien isn't himself, literally.

“Adrien”: Let's leave, I dare you.

Kagami: Are you insane? We can't do that.

“Adrien”: Of course, we can. I can.

Kagami: (gasps) You'd do that?

“Adrien”: Wanna bet?

Kagami: No, we can't.

“Adrien”: See? You're not as free as you claim. Don't you think we should be able to decide our future?

I'll get back to this later.

Marinette tells “Adrien” that she loves her, but Chloe figures out that Marinette crashed a party she wasn't invited to. Of course, because this is Chloe, we're supposed to ignore how unnecessary this plan was for Marinette. Seriously, Marinette crashing the party in “Gabriel Agreste”, as illogical as it was, made sense, because they needed to stop Chloe from showing Gabriel incriminating footage of Marinette. Here, Marinette had no real reason to crash this party when all she had to do was call Adrien, and Chloe, like her or hate her, makes a good point in that she wasn't invited. But again, since this is Season 5 Chloe, she could say she opposes human trafficking, and the writers would still find a way to make her look like the bad guy.

Chloe tells the other rich kids to help her expose Marinette, but because they're so stuck up and entitled, they refuse to touch her. I'll give you all a moment to groan from that unfunny joke. Then we get this conversation between Marinette and “Adrien”.

“Adrien”: All eyes are on you.

Marinette: They're looking at me like I'm a monster.

“Adrien”: Look closer, Marinette. (whispers into her ear) They're the monsters.

I officially take back everything bad I ever said about the Canto Bight scenes from The Last Jedi.

While I get what the episode's going for, we really haven't seen a lot of the 1% doing things that would actually warrant this level of scorn from the audience. Yeah, most of them were egotistical snobs, especially Chloe, but you can't really see this as a shot at the elite when it's aimed at their children instead of their parents. All we've seen in this episode is the rich kids being jerks (and even then, it's played for laughs), Chloe rightfully trying to get Marinette thrown out of a party she had no reason to crash, and Gabriel and Tomoe trying to pair their children together. If you want to show the audience how bad rich people are, you need to show them actually abusing their power and mistreating others. As bad as the aforementioned Canto Bight scenes were, they still worked because it managed to back up the point it was trying to make.

Compare this to characters like the Ferengi from Star Trek or the World Nobles from One Piece. These are allegories for the 1% that work because they do a better job at exaggerating aspects of them that can translate to how we see the elite in our world. With the Ferengi, they represent everything wrong with cutthroat businessmen who base their entire society over financial gains, and with the World Nobles, they represent the disconnect with the common people by being so arrogant, they wear helmets that prevent them from breathing the same air as the commoners. If you wanted to show how bad the rich were, especially considering what's going to happen in a few minutes, you needed to do more to make the audience not like them so we'd be more happy to see them get their comeuppance.

Marinette figures out that Felix impersonated Adrien once again (it honestly stops being impressive when he's done it during literally every episode he appears in), and he decides to transform using the Peacock Miraculous in public for some reason, calling himself Argos.

Argos' design is okay. The suit and coattails look pretty nice, and the coloring on his face works a lot better than Gabriel's. The only problem I have is the way the hood looks. It looks too goofy to go with the rest of the suit. It kind of reminds me of that salmon suit Squidward wore in that one episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Before anyone else at the party can do anything, Argos reveals a Sentimonster he created, Red Moon.

Red Moon is... a red moon. It's just a red moon that floats above the city, and it gives Argos the ability to make anyone bathed in its light disappear with a snap of his fingers. If anything, this shows how overpowered the Peacock Miraculous is, and that Gabriel was a real idiot for not trying anything like this while he was Shadowmoth.

Anyway, after making everyone think his cousin is a supervillain as part of his brilliant plan, Argos decides to tell everyone in the room about what his Sentimonster can do. He demonstrates this by, of course, choosing to snap away Chloe before targeting Gabriel and Tomoe. You really have your priorities straight, buddy. Argos then carries Marinette outside before throwing her in a dumpster, because if he snapped her away, than Ladybug couldn't fight him.

But then Argos decides to go to the streets, and decides to snap away a bunch of innocent civilians... while singing a jazz song. To anyone curious as to what it sounds like, I must warn you, it isn't for the feint of heart.

I take back everything bad I ever said about the Hawkmoth rap.

First off, I'm just going to say it, Bryce Papenbrook cannot sing. Argos is clearly trying to sound like a suave and confident villain like Doctor Facilier from The Princess and the Frog, but his delivery is terrible. It either ranges from flat monotone to trying to shout while dealing with a sore throat. The point I'm trying to make is that there was a good reason someone else did the singing voice for Adrien in the recent movie.

Second, this doesn't do anything to make us root for Argos as a character, because there's no reason for him to be doing this. I can understand why he'd use his power to get rid of Gabriel and Tomoe (even Chloe, given we know how much she's done), but why is he suddenly going nuts snapping a bunch of random people who haven't even met him before? The episode tries to make him a character who only does bad things because he has no choice to, so him doing this to a bunch of innocent civilians makes no sense.

Finally, WHY THE HELL IS THIS SCENE A MUSICAL NUMBER?! It's hard enough to see Argos callously wipe out a bunch of bystanders, essentially committing genocide, but the tone of the song is all upbeat and cheery, while the lyrics are about how Argos should get whatever he wants. What is the purpose of adding a song here? Are we supposed to find this funny? Is it meant to establish Felix as a wild card? Is the song supposed to make us like him more because of how catchy it is? What was the writers' endgame here? Like I mentioned earlier, this flies in the face of the characterization the episode is trying to establish for him.

Marinette transforms into Ladybug and arrives on the scene, confronting Argos over what he did last season.

Ladybug: You're the reason why I lost the other Miraculous in the first place! And why he took them! You gave them to him without any regard for the consequences it might have with the people of Paris!

Argos: True, except I work for no one. I only helped Monarch cause it served my plans! I needed the Peacock Miraculous and today I need yours and Cat Noir's so I can make my wish!

Ladybug: Your wish?! What do you want?! What are you trying to do?! You're destroying the world and we don't even know why!

Argos: When I merge your Miraculous together, I'll make a wish to create a better world! A free world, where no one will be under anyone's control anymore, where no one will be excluded like I was! A world without people like you to decide what's right or wrong! Who gets powers and who doesn't!

Dude, you're literally playing God right now by snapping away people who did nothing wrong, while singing a song at that. You have no right to lecture Ladybug on how to use power responsibly. And once again, even though we just saw him happily snapping people out of existence like the kid from that one Twilight Zone episode, the episode is going back to portraying him as someone who's only doing this because he has nothing to lose.

Ladybug tries to use her Lucky Charm, but gets nothing in response. This is because her plan is to get Argos to give up, but even in episodes where her plan was to get Akumas to give up, she still got her Lucky Charm (Rocketear, Qilin, Penalteam, Reunion, Perfection, Intuition), so this doesn't really make any sense. Ladybug calls Argos' bluff, so he wipes out everyone from existence. After running into Kagami and snapping Adrien back into existence, Argos is surprised that they aren't thanking him for wiping out all of humanity, and in fact, see him as a complete psychopath.

We then learn Felix's true plan. Earlier that day, Argos capitalized on a opening he had been hoping he would get for weeks, and then created Red Moon. Right after Adrien's date with Marinette, Argos ambushed Adrien, and snapped him out of existence with Red Moon's power. He then decided to impersonate Adrien so he could infiltrate the dance and snap Gabriel, Tomoe, and everyone else out of existence.

I think my feelings on this plan can be perfectly summarized by Tony Stark.

First off, why did he need to sneak into the dance? All Felix had to do was transform into Argos, and nobody would know who he really was.

Second, why did he need to impersonate Adrien? Felix claims he's doing this for him, yet all he did was steal his girlfriend and ruin his public reputation. As a matter of fact, why did he even snap Adrien away? You're already wiping out all of humanity, so I don't think temporarily doing the same to Adrien will earn you any goodwill.

Third, why did he waste so much time screwing around with Marinette and Kagami? I sort of get why he would try to get in Kagami's good graces (keyword being “try”) by trying to convince her to rebel against her mother more, but why did he dance around with Marinette while pretending to be Adrien? Felix later says he wanted to spare Marinette for Adrien's sake, but he barely knows her, and whether she finds out Felix impersonated her boyfriend or not, she's going to be pissed at either you or Adrien because of your galavanting. In fact, I don't think he ever told Adrien that he danced with Marinette while at the dance in the first place.

Finally, he really needed to wait for this for weeks? If your goal was to get rid of Gabriel and Tomoe, why didn't you just ambush them yourself instead of waiting for a public function? This isn't like has last few appearances where he needed to rely on his intellect. He has superpowers now. All he has to do is create another Sentibug or some kind of assassin Sentimonster and he can be rid of them easily. Instead, he waited weeks for a chance to steal his cousin's identity, dance with his girlfriend, talk trash about Kagami for listening to her mother when he's supposed to be helping her and Adrien, blow his cover in a crowded area by transforming, and use his killer moon to erase all of humanity from existence while singing. Remember, this is the show that usually makes jokes about Marinette's obsession with unnecessarily complicated plans.

Anyway, Argos tries to use his powers to bring Marinette back, but for some reason, they won't work. My best guess is that it's because Marinette transformed into Ladybug, but that shouldn't chance the fact that Argos snapped her with Red Moon's power. After trying to justify his genocide by saying he never wanted to hurt Adrien and Kagami, Argos remembers how his powers work and brings everyone back. After Ladybug lets him go scot-free, Argos goes to a private place realizes that he may have made a few mistakes for almost wiping out all of humanity, tearfully snapping Red Moon out of existence, calling it “his sister”. Because I guess we were supposed to emotionally connect to the giant moon that showed little to no signs of sentience this entire episode? Argos transforms back to Felix, and we learn that Amelie knew where he was the whole time, and she was apparently testing Gabriel for some reason.

After Adrien explains to Marinette that his father ordered him to not tell her about the dance, Adrien goes to talk to Gabriel about it. Gabriel, being Gabriel uses his control over Adrien to force him to never talk about Marinette again. Gabriel then gets a call from Lila, and even though she's been nothing but helpful to him since Season 3, he's apparently tired with her. Why is he suddenly rejecting the help of his most competent (by comparison) ally?

Also, the episode ends with the revelation that Lila somehow knows Gabriel is Monarch. Why? How? I DON'T CARE, BECAUSE THIS EPISODE SUCKS!

Oh my God, this episode was just terrible! “Derision” and “Adoration” definitely got to me with the way their stories were handled, but this was the first episode in a while to really piss me off. The plot was contrived as hell, basically being a repeat of “Gabriel Agreste”, and you all know how I wasn't exactly a fan of that episode. Think about it: Marinette sneaks into a party, Felix tries to scheme against Gabriel, and Marinette and Adrien end up getting caught in one of his schemes.

The social commentary about how bad the rich were just felt more pretensions than anything else. I get that it's meant to teach children a lesson about the real world, but the episode feels so confident in what its trying to say when it's not that deep, even by kids' show standards. Rich people are bad? Yeah, I think someone like me who lives in the same country as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg knows that. Will you actually teach kids about the financial conditions that allow the wealthy to abuse their power or the cutthroat methods they'll resort to in order to turn a profit? No? You're just going to tell kids that rich people are jerks without giving any actual evidence in the same episode you're using to try and to teach them? Man, these writers just keep hitting it out of the park here!

This whole “Rich people suck” message also falls flat because Felix is the one pushing it. You know, someone who already comes from a rich family? It's not like Bruce Wayne where he uses his money to help the people of Gotham, as Batman or not. Felix just whines about how “tHeY'rE tHe MoNsTeRs.” when he's just as well-off as they are. The episode tries to do a subtle discrimination message as evidenced by his rant as Argos earlier, but it doesn't work because we have never seen anyone discriminate against Felix for who he is. Yeah, the episode once again tries to hint at him being a Sentimonster, but because the show hasn't just pulled the trigger and confirmed it, it's hard to really sympathize with him being “excluded” when we've never seen him being treated differently by others in earlier episodes, and even if he was a Sentimonster, nobody would know or be able to discriminate against him in the first place.

I don't know why the show keeps trying to excuse Felix's actions when once again, he pretty much committed fucking genocide yet the episode still wanted us to feel bad for him realizing his actions had consequences. If he actually wanted to own up to his mistakes, he'd either hand over the Peacock Miraculous to Ladybug or help Ladybug stop Monarch. For someone who claims he hates when people abuse power to make others suffer, he's no better, judging from how both times he's gotten to use a Miraculous, he's either screwed over Ladybug (Strikeback) or endangered a lot of innocent people. And if you're wondering why I didn't point out any double standards between the treatment of Felix compared to Chloe, that doesn't really matter. No matter how you feel about Chloe, whether you feel like she got screwed over or not, it doesn't really make how the writers are glorifying Felix any better or worse, as his potential “redemption arc” isn't off to a good start.

The plot was stupid, Felix was an idiot, and it felt like more effort was put into the musical number than the writing. In my opinion, this is easily the worst episode of the season so far.

Although at the very least, now that we have even more evidence that Adrien, Felix, and even Kagami are all Sentimonsters, I think I know what clip I can start using to describe my feelings on this plotline.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... FELIX

For someone who managed to outsmart Gabriel on multiple occasions with no superpowers, Felix's intelligence really took a nosedive the second he got the Peacock Miraculous. He came up with a completely unnecessary plan that involved impersonating his cousin's identity and mocking his friend when he's supposed to try and win their favor, he danced with his cousin's girlfriend without his consent, transformed in public, smearing his reputation even further, and proceeded to gleefully wipe out humanity through a musical number, and needed other people to point out how immoral his actions were. Of course, Marinette gets second place thanks to her plan to break into the party and later letting Argos get away.

[ijustliketoreadstuff]

Lets talk about Gabriel's club.

Gabriel being part of a club where all his closest "friends" meet, may not seem odd, even viewers didn't think too much of it at first when some of the members came together for a party at the Agreste mansion back in "Gabriel Agreste". But the more we learn about what this club does behind closed doors, the more it feels like its no ordinary club for members to mingle and party.

The club not only has a great deal of security to keep non-members out, but it is even ensured that the members themselves are unable to release any information over what goes on in any event, regardless of who they are. Their clubs activities are kept under so much security and secrecy that it is even mandatory for the members to provide a fingerprint scan, wear masks and even relinquish their phones, along with their kids phones, before any event begins, and to make sure that no one can listen in, let alone get any glimpse as to what goes on inside, the entire facility is placed on lockdown, doors and windows all boarded up and locked. Any other person who would normally just be catering for an event, would be instructed to have no contact with any other members except Gabriel, all the while an added scrambler is activated to stop any technology from making its way through.

Aside from Tomoe and Gabriel, some of the other members of the club include Bob Roth, Andre, Audrey, Amelie, Prince Ali and his assistant Soraya, all of whom are business people, politicians and even members of royal families. The royal family in London that invited Gabriel and Tomoe to a wedding are likely also members of the club. It's no surprise Gabriel and Tomoe have such strong connections both in Paris and around the world, all of whom hold them in high enough regard to invite them to even the most private of events, like the royal wedding in London ("Backwarder")as well as prince Ali's birthday("Lies"), all very exclusive events.

Now, societal parties like the "Diamonds dance" might have been common enough for even Zoe to have regularly experienced them while living in New York, but knowing that Gabriel and Tomoe are involved in these kinds of parties, raises question if the activities surrounding their club may actually hold some ulterior motive for them and the members. Such a club would not only serve as a good space to interact with high society members who are normally scattered around the world, but it would also serve to invite and interact with any potential new members that have become wealthy over time.

Gabriel alone was not always the world famous fashion designer he is now, he used to be a struggling designer who lived in a studio apartment, before Audrey discovered him and gave him his big break in the fashion industry. Such gatherings for members of a high society would have been a good place for Gabriel to meet someone like Tomoe, who despite having no relation to the fashion industry like he did, would have met him nonetheless at something as simple and inconspicuous as a party. 

Because Gabriel was desperate to save Emelie from the effects of the broken peacock miraculous over the years, long before he committed to a life of villainy as Hawkmoth, involving others who had the potential to help him in his goals was definitely not above considering the more he spiraled into his desperation and position of power in the world. He already had Nathalie, who was an expert at finding relics and was the one who helped the Agreste family find both the peacock and butterfly miraculous, he even recruited someone as young as Lila back in "Oni-chan" to act as his spy into Adrien's life and help separate him from Marinette, all with the promise of being a model. If he recruited them, he might have already attempted to recruit others in the past from all sorts of places, especially societal parties, the more he realized he could not do certain things with his power and influence alone. Tomoe was one such person.

("Passion," "Multiplication", "Oni-chan")

When Gabriel first set out to obtain the ladybug and cat miraculous as Hawkmoth, it was assumed that his plans to use the jewels' wish granting abilities, were entirely his own. However, in "Multiplication", the show revealed that Tomoe was always aware of Gabriel's identity as Hawkmoth and was even involved in his plans from the very beginning. All the advanced technology that Gabriel used, from the weaponized security system in his lair("Robostus"), the power supply in his mansion that could compete with a power station("Party Crasher"), the machine that allowed him to reconfigure the miraculous into rings ("Destruction"), Emelie's pod etc. was not built by him, it all came from Tomoe, but by no means did Tomoe give all this high tech to Gabriel out of the goodness of her heart, she gave it to him because she too had something to gain, a wish from the ladybug and cat miraculous to create a new world.

To have the power that could grant any wish would be too good of an opportunity for anyone to ignore, even Marinette and Adrien considered using the wish their jewels could grant, before learning about the consequences that came with it of course, but it was precisely this kind of power that would have made things easy for Gabriel to convince others to join him in his pursuit for the miraculous, especially Tomoe.

("Robostus", and "Passion")

(In "Intuition", Tomoe reveals her desire to create a new world through the power of the ladybug and cat miraculous wish granting abilities)

Of course, Gabriel couldn't just go around telling people about the existence of the miraculous and the wish without drawing some attention, but the club's parties alone would serve as an excellent cover for Gabriel to recruit people over the years in his desperate endeavors to obtain the miraculous and save Emelie. If Tomoe alone was helping Gabriel from the shadows without anyone ever suspecting her, who's to say there aren't other members within the club who are doing the same thing from the sidelines. We don't know a lot about the other members yet, but judging by the way their children are, the majority of them are no different than Audrey and Chloe, believing they are entitled to many things without consequences, all of whom would definitely choose to ignore the true price that revolves around being granted a wish, a price that could bring devastation onto the world and other innocent people who would suffer the consequences of their choices (cough* it's just like in real life*cough).

The club everyone assumes is just a place where rich people gather, may harbor a secret society comprised of the rich people who aim to further their power and plans, through the use of the miraculous, and right now, Gabriel and Tomoe are at the center of it all. It wouldn't be the first time a large evil party of people gathered to obtain the miraculous, after all, in "Backwarder", it was revealed that even the Nazi's knew about the miraculous and hunted down master Fu to obtain them so as to use their power for their own diabolical plans. But again, let's just wait and see what the show has to say.