#that he adrien and kagami deserve to live for themselves and not be treated as others

[nucifaerie]

you cannot make me believe that felix "eliminate the entire universe except myself and adrien, the abused sentis, and our gfs" graham de vanily would just agree with not telling adrien everything that went dont in the s5 finale

[ninadove]

I don't know if you've ever talked/reflected on this but… have you ever thought about the idea of "souls" in Miraculous? I don't know, I was tormented by that a few nights ago because the very pointed and never dealt with in depth situation with the senti.

Obviously Felix thinks that they are ALL sentient creatures that deserve to live and "undoing" is equivalent to living but even writing this I'm talking about "creatures" not people which also means that I myself have a bias that the more human, the more "real" I see them.

Of course GabNat don't see them as more than tools but they very obviously think differently from the particular case of *Adrien* so I have to wonder if for them "intention" is what makes Adrien different, endowed with a soul so to speak. And LB is the heroine, in theory the bastion of morality, but, if I'm not mistaken, there is only one case in which she treat a senti as if they were a person worthy of having their own free will and they are sentibug, after that we have others (I'm thinking of sentibubble) and (although I understand that they had no way of freeing them and they have to stop them) they also don't spend a moment reflecting that they could be just as dignified.

I don't know, just all these mixed up ideas of what makes them "real" beyond a construct and that Felix thinks the mere idea of creation is enough, while the villains seem to think there are "exceptions" and I don't have no idea what the parameter of the heroine or Kagami for that matter would be.

I really want to hear your thoughts

OK, so I clicked publish before I even got a chance to write anything. Because I’m a genius. Anon I’m so sorry.

ANYWAYS you raise an excellent question, so I’m going to try my best to put my thoughts in order! 🦚

First of all, it seems Thomas Astruc himself differentiates between “human” Sentibeings and others:

Which seems to imply different levels of sentience: for instance, Adrien is no different from any regular child, while Feast exhibits behaviours that are closer to an animal’s. Not that it makes abusing or destroying him acceptable in any way, but I don’t think we’re supposed to feel as much towards him as towards the Sentikids.

(I do. I feel all the feels for Feast. Feast is my baby boy and I will never stop mourning him.)

If intent is truly what determines a Senti’s level of sentience, then this raises many questions as to which ones were created with that objective in mind. And interestingly, it doesn’t actually seem to be tied to whether they look “human” or not.

Sentibug is the first Sentibeing that is explicitly shown to have a soul of her own. Mayura wanted her to be a perfect copy of Ladybug, and that backfired the second she got a hold of her own amok; she shares the heroine’s strong sense of justice, and immediately sided with her at the cost of her life.

What does it mean for humanoid Sentis that were created after S3? Specifically, Senti-Gabriel and Senti-Bubbler? As far as I recall, they don’t get a chance to speak for themselves and express their own identity. If they were to be freed, would they act of their own volition or model their behaviour after their human counterpart? What would that mean for Felix, who was created out of jealousy over Adrien? Would Shadowmoth be able to create Sentibeings who simply look human, but are only granted a “lower” level of sentience to avoid a repeat of the Sentibug debacle?

The more I’m writing, the more I hate the idea of nitpicking sentience levels. It feels like the exact same logic Gabriel, Tomoe or Colt would use to justify the way they (mis)treat their children.

Felix also rejects the idea of a sentience hierarchy — especially based on the Sentibeings’ appearance and ability to speak for themselves.

Strikeback looks absolutely terrifying — monstruous, even. There’s nothing remotely human about them; and yet, Felix feels heartbroken and guilty as he lets Ladybug yeet them into the Sun.

Red Moon is also scary — in a stranger, more ominous, beautiful kind of way. An important feature about her is that she is unable to speak for herself; yet Argos still calls her his sister, and it is pretty clear from the way he interacts with her that she can understand him and experience emotions just as complex as his.

From a purely doylist explanation — I think Sentis are whatever the writing team needs them to be in the moment. This was made extra clear with the creation and (probable) destruction of Once Upon A Time, so they could try something new in terms of storytelling:

The play was very fun (read: tragic), don’t get me wrong, but I feel like the writers kind of got in their own way here.

The thing is — while the delivery isn’t the most consistent or satisfactory, you can tell that there is an intent to say something through the existence and treatment of Sentibeings.

Adrien, Felix and Kagami are, or course, child abuse survivors:

But they are also extremely queer-coded:

And very likely neurodivergent:

I’m sure there’s a lot of other communities who can see themselves represented in these kids — the common thread between these demographics being that we know what it feels like to be othered.

How many queer people are being mistreated for being “too overtly gay, why can’t you just be normal about it”? Or rejected by their own community, based on arbitrary standards?

How many neurodivergent people are being treated as subhuman, simply because they do not have the capability to advocate for themselves? Or because they are disabled “in the wrong way”?

As for abuse survivors? The hard truth is that they aren’t always perfect victims, who automatically know how to behave healthily once they’re out of a bad situation — especially not when they are literal children, who have never experienced anything else in their lives. There are after-effects, wounds that might get infected if you don’t tend to them, behaviours to unlearn. And yes, the healing process can look ugly, but they deserve some grace — a chance to grow and make it right.

Oftentimes, these biases come from figures of authority who are typically seen as “progressive”, or people who have the best intentions in the world — like Ladybug, who originally failed to see Sentis as human or even just sentient, unless they looked exactly like her.

All that to say — the approach that I take when thinking or writing about Sentibeings is the same as Felix’s not taking the Once incident into consideration: that all Sentis are sentient, to the same level, until proven otherwise. Is it necessarily coherent with what has been shown on screen? Not really, but I think it’s truer to the intended message!

And because I’m not one to pass up an opportunity, have some Transmasc Felix Propaganda:

[theriga6-6]

I had such a long break from ml because one there was a lot going on in my life and second they didn't provide new episodes for so long that I stopped checking YT regularly. Because of this, probably after the release of new episodes, ml did not go to trends on Tumblr, my other source of information, of course. So, I just caught up with the last 5 episodes and I don't even know what to start with...

First: What did they even do with Chloe, they made her worse and worse, and then showed us how her terrible mother treats her so now we should feel sorry for her. Such a second season move 🙄

Next: Why classmates still believe Lila over Marinette, they worship Mari but when Lila say something it just must be true, how dumb they are? They call themselves Resistance and they don't know how many times she was akumatized and that she was way worse than most of the villains?

Next, next: Tumblr says we finally get The Kiss but like I say I don't even remember previous episodes, and how did they start dating, so I didn't remember if they kissed or not. Still loved it (and hate it, that was very sad, because of Gabriel).

And we must appreciate Gorilla and his support ^^

Also I must say that I enjoy, as usual, Adrien beating up his father. Like he very much deserve this.

I feel so so so sorry for Damocles, Bustier (a pregnant woman!!!) and even André, why Gabriel needs to destroy their personal lives. I really didn't like André before but I just can't wait for him to divorce his awful wife and start directing career.

Also I love that Celine is still pregnant and they still show it because it is very rare in movies for kids and the fact that she has wife/girlfriend, amazing. I know ml is not the worst with representations but more the better 🏳️‍🌈♥️

And last, because I can't think of anything else: Why Felix and Kagami (love them and I wish them all the best) thought it is okay to traumatize Marinette and play with her feelings. It was very nicely told story, and very sad one, but she would be fine if they would just come up to her and said: "We and Adrien are sentimonsters, Gabriel is evil, we need your help". Then she would have had time to help Chat Noir. But plot needs this I guess.

Ok, that's all, now I'm going to continue read more positive posts on Tumblr. And please don't be mean if you disagree 🙃

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

s2ep7 riposte

i actually don't have much to say for this episode. it was actually better paced (tho, i am tired and had a long day, so my perception of time may be off).

i will say, while the convention of introducing a rival is not uncommon in a show like this, i don't think the writers pull it off well. and i know i say this about a lot of conventions they use, but i think it's just a fact that the writers aren't skilled enough--at the very least, they're not skilled enough when working on this show--to execute it in a satisfying way. especially if they have to work off the rule that marinette must be punished by the narrative to "balance" her luck as ladybug.

bc then, rather than ending up with marinette as a main character learning things and making mistakes bc she's a teenager in high school, and just trying to navigate her world as a teenager in high school and a superhero, it can be boiled down to just, "she's just cosmically unlucky." and that's kinda like using the "it was all a dream" cop-out (unless, in rare instances, it actually works/serves the narrative and lines up with the overall themes). a rule that marinette must be punished by the narrative is not a theme. nor is it something you should hinge every episode on.

i know i bring this up a lot too, but it doesn't help that, once again, the writers treat the show like it's serialized but write it like it's episodic. what's the point of teaching marinette lessons if she's just going to reset at the beginning of the next episode? and i know she does, bc i distinctly remember her getting jealous again over adrien and kagami bonding over shared histories.

but mostly, before i started this episode, i was thinking about how bad a decision it was for the creator to make his superheroes teens and not examine what the meant further. like, obvi there's nothing wrong with a kids show heavily featuring kids as the protagonist(s). kids deserve media where they can see themselves go on fun and wacky adventures.

but what i mean by the creator not really thinking through what that actually meant is the fact that, to use as an example, a grown man would get so angry, he'd turn into an evil version of himself, and attack a teenager. (as much as i agree that chloe should be soup.) like okay maybe most of these can get a pass, but something about it just seems,,,off.

put another way, i don't think using the convention of the bad guy being an adult in bad on its own. like any other trope or writing convention, it's value neutral when being discussed separately from any one piece of media. i think it's very cathartic for kids to see a child protagonist overcome adversity and save the day, especially when part of that adversity is the adults in their lives not listening to them, bc they deal with that every day. and i'm sure it's very vindicating for them to see the kid stick it to the adults in the show. and i love that for them!

ml is not that.

it's not a show that's trying to have a discussion about how sometimes adults will not listen to you, and so you have to be brave and figure it out, find allies (both in peers and other adults who will listen to you, if that's something you want to include), and save the day.

it's a show about a grown-ass man continually trying to steal jewelry off two teenagers. and it's just unfortunate optics that the adults he akumatizes 1) sometimes go after children, and 2) fight children outright. it's like that meme, nearly threw hands with a 12 year old (derogatory)

like again, it's not a bad convention when done right and with purpose. but again, ml does not have that purpose. the akumatized adults are simply there to be akumatized, and there's not really a lot more thought put into it than that.

and it's not impossible to feature adults in a show like this, either! it's not wholly similar, but similar in the genre i think ml was going for, but ned's declassified had adults--namely teachers, and they served a very important purpose! they were the bad guys when they needed to be, and more importantly, were there for the kids as mentors and guides when they needed to be. and there was nothing wrong with the premise. the kids were allowed to be upset at being treated unfairly or harshly by these adults, while still maintaining a positive rapport. not to mention, these adults were often balanced out with adults who wouldn't listen to the kids, as a juxtaposition. every adult introduced served a narrative purpose.

so like, it's possible. i just don't think the writers were equipped to handle it.

final comment: the creator is really trying to rekindle the race war between chinese and japanese people by introducing kagami as a rival fr

[miraculouscontent]

Alright, so apparently certain love square shippers felt the need to go into the Lukanette tag to celebrate/mock that Lukanette is “over” (Marinette broke up with him to keep him safe but go off I guess) and that officially crosses all my lines of not dealing with the fandom’s garbage.

The sheer pettiness is astounding to me, to take joy in the end of what was a lot of people’s comfort ship (people don’t choose comfort ships, by the way) because of “toxic Luka/Lukanette stans,” essentially lumping chunks of the fandom together and letting the opinion of those fans shape their own opinion on a character/ship. The sheer sensitivity on display to have so much spite and disdain for a ship that appeared in less than 10% of all episodes in the show. The sheer vindictiveness to feel smug and self-righteous while also being panicked over a non-endgame ship that’s as temporary as their claim of positivity and condemning of salt until they’re presented with something they don’t like.

Goliath really be beating up on David over here because he's bigger and thinks his opinion is more valid. For the record, no, opinions are not more valid due to shipping an endgame ship or presenting oneself as a beacon of positivity.

And it just goes to show how ship-blind these people are, to care about nothing more than the fact that Lukanette has broken up. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve seen people who openly admit to caring more about the love square’s security than Marinette’s happiness, which is just part of the issue here.

These people did not care how Lukanette broke up, only that it happened. Marinette’s crush backpedaling (because of the show feeling the need to cater to these exact people, who are so worried about their obviously endgame ship being “in danger”) and Marinette ending the episode in literal tears because she wanted to date Luka but couldn’t are both things that didn’t matter to them because it’s all about their ship in the end. Marinette’s life has been made more and more miserable due to her crush on Adrien while straining her relationships with various characters (see: Alya’s claim of jealousy as a reason for why Marinette “must be lying” about Lila), but so long as these people feel secure in their endgame ship, that’s all that matters.

They didn’t care if it was a clean break where both sides came out satisfied (or at least content). If anything, they wanted Lukanette to end as shoddily/dirtily as possible with zero care into how it affected Marinette, whether because they just don’t like the ship or because they actively desire for the suffering of the people who found comfort/happiness in the ship. Adrien had literally nothing to do with the break-up itself and him being mentioned served nothing for the story, but it’ll be completely overlooked or outright praised because god forbid Marinette spend an episode not talking about Adrien since that would imply that her life doesn’t revolve around him and that would be an apparent detriment to the love square.

By the way, newsflash: Luka was not an obstacle to the love square. He sent Marinette away in “Frozer” to go talk to Adrien. He told her that there was no pressure and that he’d be happy for her no matter what. Had Luka not existed, the love square would still be as stagnant as it is now, and it’s pathetic to complain about Marinette liking/dating another boy when she’s not only allowed to do so, but when “Oblivio” and “Chat Blanc” both exist as little more than tools to hold the supposedly “starved” love square shippers over.

These are the same people who will say they dislike/hate Luka, then do a 180 and claim that they “just feel so bad for him” and how he “deserves better than Marinette” (the sudden sympathy of which conveniently serves to hate on a ship that interferes with their own, further proven by equally convenient and appreciation/liking of Luka when he’s not a “threat” to the love square) while simultaneously shipping her with their sunshine boy because Ladybug is who Adrien wants and what Adrien wants is what matters.

These are the same people who will say that Luka is unnecessary and unneeded, then use him as a prop and stepping stone for love square fanfics and fanart, or suggest that Kagami is fine because she makes Adrien feel good about himself (when Luka does the same for Marinette but sure).

These are the same people who say that “Marinette can’t date Luka because she’s busy with hero stuff” while making fics about the love square getting together mid-”hero stuff” and then giving complete radio silence during “Chat Blanc” outside of how good they thought the episode was.

These are the same people who will tell others not to denounce Adrien for “a few mistakes” and then preemptively denounce Luka’s behavior based on a written synopsis for an episode that hadn’t even come out yet (and also after complaining that Luka was “too perfect,” I might add).

These are the same people who will say that Luka/Lukanette makes them feel “uncomfortable” (usually without offering any tangible reasons or being vague about Luka giving off “bad vibes” when he’s done nothing less than support and respect Marinette's agency) while the show’s endgame ship features the “m’lady” hand kissing Chat Noir who Ladybug has pulled away from multiple times yet he keeps persisting (which is apparently considered okay because Adrien is Chat Noir as if that discredits her discomfort/disdain for the gestures).

These are the same people who will say that Luka is “barely there” or “hardly exists” and then complain about how much screentime is dedicated to Lukanette, the utter greed on display going right over their heads when they have the actual endgame ship.

These are the same people who will absolutely reach for anything about Luka to complain about (again, after saying that he’s “too perfect,” then claiming he “tricked” Marinette into kissing him, claiming that he tried to force her into telling him her secret, or criticizing him for teasing her for her stuttering despite him immediately apologizing) and then either defend or turn a blind eye to Chat Noir (who tried to kiss her mid-battle instead of helping, made Ladybug feel bad for keeping secrets that weren’t hers to tell plus threatening his kwami that he’d quit if he didn’t get let in on said secrets, and mocked her instead of apologizing when she told him to stop calling her by a nickname she doesn’t like and has told him before to stop calling her) at every opportunity.

These are the same people who will say that Lukanette is “forced,” then proceed to ship Luka (regardless of if they like him or not) with literally anyone else for the sake of taking him out of the romance equation (because he has to be taken out via already dating as they couldn’t come up with a legitimate reason for Marinette to not want him otherwise), and the only requirement for this person he’s shipped with is that they breathe and aren’t Marinette.

These are the same people who act bothered by Marinette “””treating Luka poorly””” because of her crush on Adrien (by the by, Adrien’s crush on Ladybug has hurt Kagami as well), inadvertently admitting that Marinette’s crush is a problem, then continue shipping her with Adrien in its canon form anyway.

These are the same people who will say that they hate salt fics (specifically ones that target Adrien) and how they “bash characters,” then write fanfics or draw fanart that intentionally make Luka out of character for the sake of having him look bad or giving Marinette an excuse to run to Adrien (because Luka apparently needs to be made worse so that Adrien can look good instead of Adrien being able to stand on his own merits as a good love interest for Marinette).

These are the same people who will slam Luka when he’s Marinette’s support, then go off and ship him with other characters so that he can support them instead (fun fact that this is usually either Adrien - thus leaving Marinette completely alone and miserable when Luka canonically likes her - or characters that Marinette is actively against, such as Chloe or Lila).

These are the same people who will complain about how salty the fandom is (even when the salt is for catharsis/getting out anger from an episode in a productive way) and then laugh when a simple side ship ends because they’ve been letting said ship live rent free in their heads and couldn’t stop anticipating the episode that declares them “over.”

These are the same people who tell or suggest that people should “just leave” if they don’t like the main ship, unapologetically implying that the main ship is either all the show is about, all that they personally care about (bringing us right back to that little “not caring how torn apart Marinette is about the break-up” thing), or that people aren’t allowed to watch/like the show for other reasons (like Marinette herself, the miraculouses, other characters who may appear intermittently but nevertheless bring them joy to see, etcetera).

These are the same people who get on other people’s case for being spiteful while they themselves ride their high horse into the sunset, playing victim when people call them out for intentionally provoking others or purposefully mistagging to avoid people’s blacklist (tagging is not for the comfort of the tagger so they can “””avoid the toxic stans,””” for the record; it’s for the comfort of the people who don’t want to see that content).

And these are the same people who will go on and on about the toxicity of the stans who ship something they don’t like and then either ignore or downplay the stans who ship what they do like because they personally don’t have to experience it. This isn’t even about ship wars, it’s about the hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness.

I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear about how cruel the Luka fans or Lukanette shippers are when these people are celebrating Marinette’s misery because it means the end of a ship that they don’t like and certain people find comfort in. I don’t want to hear about people cross-tagging/mistagging when the Luka/Lukanette tag has been flooded with people who talk trash about the ship without any additional tags to filter it away, getting so bad to the point where some Luka/Lukanette fans had to find workarounds and/or avoid the tag entirely. I don’t want to hear about how certain shippers are worse because [x] [y] [z] when everyone has different experiences, showing a severe case of close-mindedness or at least ignorance on these people’s parts.

And, with how this season is heading, if something bad happens to the love square by the end of Season 4, I most definitely do not want to hear these same people decry the people who will do the exact thing that they’re doing now.

[dragonbugsuperior]

Something that I've been meaning to say about Miraculous's "Rich Girls".............

Before I even go into this, All you Lila, Chloe, and Kagami stans out there I suggest to skip this post, leave disgusting comments and I'll block and report you because I'm saying it now, that I will be saying some things about Lila, Chloe, and Kagami that aren't really pretty. If you like their characters "Yay!" good for you,

Nobody cares. grow up

So........something has been on my mind lately and I would like to get it off my chest because it's just been stuck in my head and I think it's good if I do make some clear points that clearly people are missing in regards to the show's "rich girls". So Marinette.....has been going through alot this past season and people are saying stupid things like "Oh wE NEeD a NEw LAdyBUg!"

Or "oH MArINeTtE iS teRRiBlE At dOiNg heR jOB!"

Let's dive right into this

I'll start with Chloe first. Chloe bullied Marinette. She has for 7 whole fucking years. Marinette has done nothing to Chloe literally. She hasn't bullied her, talked about her, criticized her, she has done nothing to that girl. But oh! Chloe is some rich snobbish brat that thinks everyone below her should be treated less of a human than she is. Where was her mom when Chlow started to go to school with Marinette? Also Chloe's mom not playing a big part of her life doesn't excuse her terrible behavior and awful treatment she has given marinette and students at her school. Just because her mom is a total snob and shallow person doesn't mean Chloe has to be exactly like her. It's okay for Chloe to express sadness and frustration but what's not okay if for Chloe to lash out all her negativity on Marinette as if Marinette has done something to her. Her parents have really failed her and she has failed herself. She's so full of herself that I'm starting to believe she's delusional. Clinging onto Adrien 24/7 at school like their some type of couple is already mouth-gagging. Like girl, he is not some toy that is all yours and that you can just cling yourself onto. I'm glad Marinette calls her out on her bullshit and handles Chloe's ass and she's not afraid to do so.

And that tacky ass makeup really defeats the purpose because it's makes her look worser than her personality. Tired of these blonde stuck up popular rich girls that think they can just overrule people.

Treating everybody around her like her peasants is clichè mean girl shit. I'm willing to go as far as to say she's a fucking narcissist. Having excessive interest and admiration for herself and treating everybody around her like shit as if she's 10 times more important than they are when in reality she's nothing but a spoiled brat that's jealous because she knows Marinette is better than her.

2nd to last....Lila

Literally 'lie' is in her name. She lies her mouth off and thinks she's fooling every fucking body. Marinette knows damn well she's lying and tells her up to her face in Chameleon. I'm sorry but her lies are ridiculous and the class is so undeniably stupid for believing her bullshit. Yea she's another "spoiled rich girl" her mom is present in her life but we know nothing about her dad. Don't know what happened to him and I don't care to know what happened to him. I know one thing though. Just like in Chloe's case, her dad being absent doesn't make it "okay" for her to be a two-faced person who can pathologically lie to people for personal gain. That's disgusting and weak of a person. She literally frames Marinette and corners her in the bathroom to a wall and pushed herself down the steps to look like she's actually injured. Her fans can try to shed all the light they want on her character but that's never gonna erase all the terrible shit she's done. And once again! Marinette has done nothing to Lila and somehow Marinette is Lila's main target. She lied about her friendship with Ladybug just to impress a boy. Her negativity she's trying to pass onto Marinette isn't working because Marinette is strong and optimistic. I can't believe she had fans, cough looks like a knock-off version of Dora cough. She's so stupid she really thinks Adrien wants to be with someone like her. A liar and manipulative bitch. lol

Kagami.......

"But Jen she's only been a character since season-

Yea I already know how long she's been in the show but that doesn't mean that I'm going to get her the benefit of the doubt. First time she met Marinette she treated her terribly as if Marinette did anything to her. Then again, people like to claim she's from a strict household so that gives her an excuse when it really doesn't. Secondly Kagami in general seems phony, Marinette is trying to be her friend and give up on Adrien just for her!!! and so she can grow as a person!!!!! Kagami chose Adrien over Marinette while Marinette gave up Adrien just so Kagami can have him. Seems like the only reason Kagami really wants to be friends with Marinette is because of Adrien. But let's not get into that.... In Animeastro she acted like she had a problem Marinette was talking to Adrien. I just don't get her at all. One minute she wants to be Marinette's friend (which I believe is completely fake) and then the next she's glaring daggers at her as if she did anything to her.

I don't even want to fucking hear "Oh but Jenny, Marinette didn't confes- SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP. Marinette has tried time after time to confess she's always getting interrupted. Kagami thinks of Adrien like some prize to win all for herself after only knowing him for not too long. Give me a break then she's the one who got akumatized over a fucking picture instead of asking Adrien "hey, what's this?" She got salty and got akumatized. In Frozer, Adrien told her that he had feelings for someone else, she jumped to conclusions and thought it was fucking Marinette and suggested him to "switch targets" he told her he wouldn't and she still pushes him to literally kissing him and then getting mad because he rejected it. Girl! Did he not fucking say that he has feelings for another girl and he won't be switching targets. She's really that desperate that she's telling Adrien to get over that other girl, and she's so fucking desperate she tried to kiss him then got mad when he didn't kiss her back. Let's not forget she literally cut out the fencing class picture and left Adrien and herself out. Then she gave us a little "insight" on how she views Adrien in Oni-Chan. "Image of Perfection" she likes Adrien because he's perfect? That's funny. Because for 1, he's not nobody is and for 2 that's a stupid reason to like somebody. Let's not also forget when she literally lied in Miracle Queen about the villain attacking people in love. She knows Adrien likes somebody else so why is she trying so hard to push into being with her? Desperate much? "We're so alike" and Kagami really believes their soulmates? She should just shut the fuck up. She sounds stupid as fuck. How are you "soulmates" with someone you just met not too long ago. Bless her delusional soul. After he rejected her kiss and only knowing him for 2 seasons. Liiiiike......are you that desperate for a boy. I can't wait to see her reaction to when Adrien dates Marinette. Lmao

It's so funny how all these girls think Adrien's theirs when in reality Marinette is his true soulmate and is gonna end up with him in the end. Adrienette is literally endgame. There's no need for people like Chloe, Lila, and Kagami to get on the way of that. It's also funny how people like to claim Marinette as the possessive one when all these rich spoiled brats have gotten akumatized over him, cling onto him like he's some coat rack, and go out their way to make Marinette feel terrible. And marinette has given Adrien up. The only real clear reason I can see the 3 of them act bitchy towards marinette without a reason would be because they're jealous and don't have the best lives at home and wish to be like marinette.

If I'm not mistaken who's the one that got bullied for 7 years straight and tries her very best to be strong? Who's the one that literally got sexually harassed by Felix? Who's the one who has anxiety? Who's the one who has pressure and responsibilities hunched all over their shoulders? Who's the one that has go around every fucking day to save their city? Oh okay. Everybody always wants to talk about how tough they are without actually going through some real shit. Because I don't recall Lila, Chloe or Kagami going through any of these things while treating Marinette like shit. Kagami is the one that lied to Adrien, Kagami is the one that treated Marinette like crap, Kagami is the one that pushed Adrien after he said he had feelings for someone else /this b*tch didn't even wait/, Kagami is the one that is acting like Lila and Chloe. Let Marinette act like how Kagami did, I'm pretty sure she would've got bashed.

Once they go through all that bullshit then we can chit chat until then, they don't know what struggle is. Spoiled ass brats who clearly don't deserve Adrien because they're immature. They think Adrien's "theirs" they pushed themselves on him as if they can't live without him and they do sneaky shit in order to be with him. Lila and Kagami have clearly showed they would lie to get with him and Chloe does too. Marinette has the courage to let Adrien go, I'm pretty sure if the shoe was on the other foot Kagami would never let Adrien go.

And before people go around saying how it's their parents fault they act do toxically and immature (bc ppl like to give them excuses for their "mommy and daddy" issues) it's really not. Yes, it's partially their parents because they raised them but they also have a big role for their actions. No body is responsible for making Chloe, Lila, or Kagami a better person. No body. Stop putting the blame all on their parents because it's not just the parents I'm pretty sure Tomoe didn't teach Kagami to "lie" in order to get with a boy. Kagami chose to lie to Adrien in Miracle Queen with her own free will. Nobody said "lie to Adrien" Kagami lied that's her fault Nobody told Chloe to bully and belittle Marinette, Audrey is very shallow and brat-like but I don't recall her ever saying "Chloe bully Marinette" Nobody told Lila to constantly lie and manipulate people hell, her mom doesn't even know she's doing it! None of their parents are responsible for certain shit they do so stop pretending like their innocent kids that have horrible parents. I don't have time to analyze if Kagami is like Chloe and Lila or not because I know she is like them she acts just like them. Treats marinette like crap but acts different when Adrien's around. Simple. I tried to give her character a chance in Oni-Chan but after hearing how she views Adrien and how she acted in Miracle Queen I hated her even more than I did before.

Truth be told, Chloe, Lila, nor Kagami are nothing without Adrien. If we're really gonna go there. Their just some pointless characters that want to get in the way of things and can't stay in their places. Marinette made this show, she's the center of the plot, without her their is no Chloe, without her there is no Lila, without her there is no Kagami.

Call me absent-minded but I see alot of jealous hoes and I'm not with that shit at all. Sorry not sorry

[storygirl000]

ML Fic: Never Had A Friend Like Me

Summary: Lila’s making good on her promise, and Marinette is finding herself increasingly isolated from the class. At least she still has her best friend by her side.

Ao3 link here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: So guess who’s sick of Alya and Nino getting the short end of the stick in salt fics?

Seriously, guys. “Chameleon” was a poorly-written episode in regards to every character it featured, but everyone still treats it like it’s the final word on what Alya and Nino are like. All I want is ONE salt fic where they actually support Marinette throughout Lila’s reign of terror.

And then I thought, “Well, if you want something done right...”

So enjoy this rare pro-Alya salt fic!

00000

The day after Lila had threatened her in front of the school, Marinette opened the bakery door to find Alya there, tears streaming down her face.

Marinette brought her inside, asking her what had happened, and listened intently as her friend poured her heart out to her. In a way, she wasn’t that surprised by what she heard.

Apparently, Alya had finally thought to do some research on Lila, and (naturally) had discovered that all of her claims of meeting various celebrities were false. This had led to her deleting Lila’s interview from the Ladyblog, posting a lengthy apology to her readers, calling Nino (who had been equally horrified by the revelation), and concluding that she was an irredeemably horrible person who didn’t deserve the friendship of someone she threw under the bus for a stranger.

Touched, Marinette told her that she forgave her, and that they could still be friends as long as she’d truly learned her lesson. Alya accepted that, and the two of them spent the rest of the day eating cookies and discussing various things.

Like how they were going to break this to the rest of their classmates.

00000

Four weeks after Lila’s threat, school had become more difficult.

On the upside, most of the class accepted the evidence Alya had provided and cut ties with Lila. And as it turned out, several of them were close to discovering the truth themselves beforehand.

On the downside, Lila still had several members of the class (Kim, Max, Ivan, Mylene) and several teachers under her thumb. And Ms. Bustier’s “set a good example” policy meant that if any of them tried to argue with Lila or question her authority, they’d get punished.

And frustratingly enough, Adrien still stuck by his original mindset. No matter how many times the others tried to convince him, he kept insisting that Lila wasn’t doing any harm and that they were in  the wrong.

Needless to say, his friendship with Nino and Marinette’s crush on him disappeared.

But, for all the friends they lost, they gained some new ones. Aurore and Mireille became a part of Marinette’s inner circle after she designed some outfits for them. Nathaniel and Juleka brought in Marc and Luka, respectively. Kagami joined them as well, slowly being eased into the idea of having friends. And – most surprisingly – Chloe and Sabrina joined them, both having long seen through Lila’s facade. While there were still the occasional clashes, Chloe’s relationship with most of the group soon became a vitriolic friendship (and maybe a little more with Kagami, though she wouldn’t admit it for a long time).

Alya was confident they could make it through Lila’s reign.

00000

Two years after Lila’s threat, Alya discovered that her best friend was Ladybug.

Hawk Moth and Mayura’s attacks had only gotten harder to deal with over the years, and it didn’t help that Chat Noir had become a horrible hero, refusing to help out unless Ladybug gave in to his increasingly unwanted advances.

The heroine needed some permanent help. Someone she could turn to when the times got tough, someone she could trust with her secret identity. Someone who could help when Chat Noir refused to.

She chose Alya and Nino.

Now, Rena Rouge and Carapace regularly joined Ladybug on patrols, helping her fight akumas and sentimonsters. The Ladyblog quickly received a boost in popularity, thanks to the increasingly common interviews with the heroes themselves.

As the time passed, more and more heroes would come and go – the indomitable trio of Queen Bee, Ryuko, and Good Girl, the brother-sister-sister’s girlfriend team of Viperion, Tigress, and the Pink Princess, the genre-savvy Gallus and Chevre Blanc, the crowd-pleasing Cloudjumper and Souris, and the ever-mysterious time-traveller Bunnyx – but the core trio of Ladybug, Rena Rouge, and Carapace remained.

Chat Noir’s popularity dropped like a stone. Alya made sure of it.

00000

Six years after Lila’s threat, Marinette finally launched her brand.

With the help of a website designed by Alya and positive word of mouth thanks to Jagged Stone, MDC Designs quickly grew in popularity. Soon, celebrities across the world – ranging from the children of the popular businessman Bruce Wayne to singers like Clara Nightingale and Austin Moon – all wanted an MDC Original in their closets.

Eventually, Gabriel Agreste himself reached out to her and asked to do a business partnership. Not only did she refuse, she went on to do an interview detailing exactly how badly Gabriel’s heir and his girlfriend treated her in high school.

Adrien Agreste and Lila Rossi became the biggest punchlines in the entertainment business since Lindsay Lohan. Marinette, meanwhile, met the love of her life doing a commission for the president of Okumura Foods, who introduced her to one of her close friends.

All in all, Alya figured they were doing well for themselves.

00000

Eight years after Lila’s threat, Chat Noir lost his Miraculous on live television.

From what Alya could piece together, Chat had seen Marinette and Ren interacting while the former was in-costume. Naturally, the entitled brat had decided to seek out Ren and threaten him, all while spouting his beliefs that Ladybug was destined for him.

Hawk Moth promptly took advantage of Ren’s anger, creating one of the most powerful akumas the team had ever fought.

The akuma had immediately gone for Chat, stripping him of his ring in front of a live news crew and revealing to the world that he was none other than Adrien Agreste. He then verbally tore into the former golden boy, revealing every horrible thing he’d done as both a model and as Chat Noir.

The team managed to purify the akuma and rescue Ren, but Adrien escaped in the struggle and disappeared. Not that it mattered; they had the Cat Miraculous back, ensuring that he wouldn’t be able to misuse it anymore.

Five days later, the public was introduced to Kuro Neko.

Two days after that, Hawk Moth publicly announced his and Mayura’s retirement from supervillainy.

One week after that, Monarch and Pavone Cristallo took their place.

Life went on.

00000

Ten years after Lila’s threat, Alya was in Los Angeles, watching the Oscars live.

Marinette had been nominated for Best Costume Design for her work on a movie that had been nominated for several other awards, and she had invited Alya, Nino, and Ren to come with her to the ceremony. Naturally, they’d accepted.

As the various announcements and performances went on, Alya thought over what the past ten years had been like for her and her classmates.

Rose and Juleka had gotten married practically as soon as high school was over, and their wedding had been a gothic fairytale straight out of a Grimm Brothers book. Juleka eventually became one of Marinette’s top models, while Rose became a teacher, striving to be better than the one she had in high school.

Marc and Nathaniel had started publishing their Mightillustrator and Reverser comics, which soon became popular for their positive portrayal of a gay couple and the general lack of angst most superhero comics at the time had. A movie adaptation was currently in the works.

Chloe had taken over her father’s hotel business, and was still doing her best to become a better person with the help of Kagami (her girlfriend, now a world-class fencer) and Sabrina (now a politician on the campaign trail). She also modeled for Marinette on occasion.

Luka was currently on tour as one-half of the musical duo Fangs, alongside his fiance (a lovely girl named Avril that Alya was, regrettably, not well-acquainted with). Their wedding was scheduled for next year, and everyone was dying with anticipation.

Aurore and Mireille had also gotten married, and both had become regular models in Marinette’s lineup. Aurore had also gotten a job as TVi’s weather girl, and Mireille was the new host of KIDZ+.

Alix had become a popular street artist, with her art regularly being featured in Parisian museums. She’d also taken over as Collège François Dupont’s new art teacher after Mr. Haberkorn’s retirement, which kept her in regular contact with Rose and Juleka.

The ones who had followed Lila’s word to the letter back in high school eventually managed to break free from her influence, though they knew nothing would ever be the same between them and the rest of the class. Kim and Ondine had gotten married, and they now worked as coaches in the same school as Rose and Alix. Max had managed to get a job as a scientist for a major computer company, and worked hard on various projects. Mylene and Ivan had also gotten married, the former becoming an actress on a popular TV show.

Lila and Adrien had both opted to stay out of the public eye after all the scandals they’d been a part of. Alya had no idea what they were up to these days, which was probably for the best.

And Alya herself? She was quickly climbing through the ranks as a journalist, and the Ladyblog was as popular as ever. She and Nino had finally tied the knot last year; he’d become a successful DJ, and was recently breaking into directing, with Nath and Marc’s film being his first job.

Her musings were interrupted by a cry of joy coming from her right.The winner of Best Costume Design had finally been announced.

As Alya watched, Marinette walked up to the stage to accept her award, tears pricking the corner of her eyes. Everyone in the hall started applauding her – Alya, Nino, and Ren doing so the loudest.

She took the statuette, cradling it in her hands, and started on the speech she’d been rehearsing before they’d gotten here.

“The first person I want to dedicate this to is the person who’s stuck by me all these years, through thick and thin,” she said. “My best friend, Alya.”

Alya felt Nino’s hand on her shoulder, and she smiled.

They made it. Together.

[ladyanput]

Seeing Green Ch.12

The days leading up to the gala, Marinette shut herself up in her room, making the excuses of her wanting to put the finishing touches on her dress. But that was a lie, everyone could see it by the haunted look in her eyes, but what could they do? Every time they tried, she’d merely give them a bright smile and usher them away with reassuring words, and she’d shut the door right in their face.

But Damian wasn’t about to give up just yet. He opened the door and stepped into the room, holding a tray carrying a delicate tea set. He stared at Marinette, who had knelt beside a mannequin sporting a stunning pink gown, not turning towards the sound of the door opening or the footsteps approaching her.

“I thought you’d like to have a break and have some tea with me.” Damian smiled down at her, the girl who had stolen his heart, not that he’d tell her just yet. No, not after what she’s been through, she didn’t need another man declaring his love when she clearly wasn’t ready for it. But when he saw her smile, he felt his heart flutter and he found himself grinning back. “Your favourite too.”

“Thank you, Damian, I think I could use the tea.” Marinette beamed and got to her feet, the two of them heading to the small table by the large windows, both quick to settle in their chairs with a cup of steaming tea.

“You’ve really been shut in your room, Angel, for two days straight. That can’t be healthy.” He commented as he watched her add a fair bit of sugar to her tea before taking a long, greedy gulp. He smiled at the sight and let out a soft chuckle. “I can’t have you starving in there, afterall.”

“The Justice League was nice. I’m glad that they’re going to try and send people in to help us find Hawkmoth.” Marinette averted her gaze as she added even more sugar to her tea, her hands trembled ever so slightly as she did. “I mean, I’ve been after him for years, but I’m sure with experts on the case that we’ll find him in no time.”

“Angel-”

“I hope Lila won’t cause a scene tonight, it was really nice of your father to still let my class attend.”

“Angel, what-”

“Oh, have I shown you Evangeline’s dress? I kinda decided to add some features to make it more Red Hood inspired. It didn’t take long to do, since I had the dress done.”

“Marinette, please!” 

At Damian’s shout, Marinette’s mouth snapped shut and she lowered her gaze. Damian winced, feeling like the biggest asshole on earth.

“Marinette, something is bothering you.” He reached out and took her free hand, giving it a tender squeeze. He set down his cup and knelt before her, taking her hand in both of hers. “Angel, you can tell me.”

“Damian, I’m a failure.” Marinette’s voice was soft, shaky. She bowed her head, her face quickly being hidden by her veil of pitch black hair and her shoulders shook. “I don’t deserve to be the Guardian, I’m failing the world, I’m failing the Kwami, I’m just a failure.”

“Wait, where did this come from?”

“I couldn’t save him! I let my partner down, I let him get corrupted, I let him become like that and I did nothing to stop it! No he’s in jail and his life is ruined and I did nothing to stop it!”

Damian watched as Marinette put her head in her hands and began to let out loud, heart wrenching sobs. She had just screwed up everything; the boy she had loved had become corrupt and she had failed to save him, she had lost many of her friends to a liar and it took many of them three years for them to see the truth. And she was supposed to be Ladybug, the savior of Paris, yet for three years and she was still no closer to defeating Hawkmoth, no, she had to go as far as to burden other heroes to help her. And now with Fu gone, she was the Guardian of the Miraculous, she had to take care of the Kwami, make sure they were safe, make sure that she gave the Miraculous out to the right people. But she had certainly failed at that, with Alya, with Nino, and with Chloé. 

The stresses that had been piling on since she was fourteen finally felt as if they were crushing her and the dam broke. Damian held her close as she fell apart, soon being reduced to a whimpering, sobbing mess.

"Why couldn't I keep Alya with me? I couldn't protect Master Fu, I just kept screwing up and hurting my friends, I was such a stalker to Adrien, I just-" Whatever else she was going to say got lost in her sobs.

Damian wanted to say something. To go about assuring her and making sure she knew she was well loved, that she had done nothing wrong.

He let her cry, but kept silent. He wasn't the person to say those things to her; he had only known her for less than a week. 

Yet less than a week goes by and he is already in love with her.

…

Damian came downstairs a few hours later, seeing his family and Marinette's teammates seated around the living room, looking rather grim.

"She's fine. She's resting now." Damian spoke up, drawing all attention to him. He had no doubt they had all been talking about Marinette just moments ago. "She… She had herself a good long cry."

“I’m not surprised, with what Dupain-Cheng has had to put up with since we were still in middle school.” Chloé muttered darkly, snuggled in between her girlfriend and boyfriend, the three of them firmly gripping hands. Their Kwami were seated on the table, talking amongst themselves as they had done since after the talk with the League. Chloé gave a look to Kagami, then booped her lightly on the nose. "I told you this was gonna happen sooner than later."

"But Marinette is so strong, she certainly wouldn't crumble so suddenly." Kagami frowned as Damian took a seat as well, holding her girlfriend closer now. 

"Perhaps Chat Noir's betrayal was the straw that broke the camel's back." Luka suggested as he lazily ran his fingers through Kagami's short hair, making her smile, though it was a bit strained.

"Surely things weren't that bad. I mean, you guys had to deal with only one villain." Dick spoke up, and all the Parisian heroes stared at him.

Very poor choice of words, Dick.

"Excuse me, you've only known Marinette for what, five days or so? And miss 'I instantly got protective of Marinette as soon as I met her'" Chloé pointed toward Eva. "Has only known her for about six months, as creepy as that sounds. No offense."

"None taken." Eva held up a hand, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"But I've known her longer than anyone here. Before we were fourteen, she was a spineless little doormat. When we first met, she was this little goody two shoes who had a lot of friends. But once I started targeting her, because I was really jealous of her, I targeted her friends. Nino, Kim, all of her friends distanced themselves from her because they did not want to be bullied. So she was my personal punching bag until we got to middle school. She met Alya, she became Ladybug and she grew that much needed backbone. But she was still a doormat.

"She'd make cakes for everyone's birthday every year. She'd bring in treats just to be nice, she planned parties, she made decorations, she could make her friends dresses and other pieces of clothing for free. And Lila came and turned everyone against her again. Another bully and everyone's loyalty was as flimsy as tissue paper. She was a shiny new toy who promised tales of grand adventure and connections to powerful people. Surely you Waynes understand how a lot of people just want to be your friend just for your money and power."

The Waynes all exchanged glances. They certainly did know that feeling, and from what they saw of Miss Bustier's class, a lot of them seemed happy with the shiny, promising Lila until they suddenly learned the truth.

"Yeah, so Marinette stayed a doormat to everyone in the class. Even to this day, she organised this big, massive trip to Gotham for them and they haven't thanked her once, from what I can guess.

"When my Daddy was arrested last year and my Mother left us to get away from the scandal, Marinette didn't let the past stop her from helping me. She didn't hold a grudge. When I was kicked out of The Grand Paris, lost my money and my power, the class ganged up on me. Revenge for the years of hell I put them through, though I deserved every second of it…"

"No, you didn't. No one deserves to be doused in paint. No one deserves to have her entire wardrobe cut up, when she doesn't have money to buy any more." Luka cut in, hugging Chloé tight as he kissed her temple. Chloé wiped away a year and sniffled.

"A-anyway, Marinette and her family took me in. I hated her, I never stood up for her, I did nothing. I didn't care about her, I never did anything nice for her, yet here she was, offering me a place to stay when no one else would. I was a brat, but she and her family helped me to become better." 

Chloé was quiet for a few minutes after her rant, wiping away more tears that came.

"What I'm trying to say is a lot of stuff has built up. A lot of responsibility on her shoulders. She was fourteen when she and Adrien became heroes. Still kids, we still are kids. She's not even twenty and she's the Guardian of the Miraculous." Chloé shook her head, meeting Dick's gaze. "So next time you decide to say shit like that, think twice."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Dick swallowed the lump in his throat and he looked down. "I shouldn't have said that."

"She needs a night of fun." Eva spoke up, drawing attention to herself, though she looked rather sullen. "She just needs a night where she can be the fairytale princess, alright? A lot of us have already let her down, myself included with that meltdown I had and my powers kinda going out of wack."

"Were you the reason people were reporting in a small area was being affected by Scarecrow's fear toxin?" Cass sat up sharply, eyes narrowed. 

"Yeah, sorry. I've gotten myself under control now, I promise. Anyway, do you think we can give her the best night of her life at the gala?"

"I don't see a problem with that." Bruce spoke up, giving his own smile as he watched everyone. "I mean, after everything that’s happened, I think one drama free night could be good for everyone.”

“There’s still an issue. We need a new Black Cat.” Tikki spoke up, flying up from the table and giving everyone there a stern look. “The Ladybug is active, she needs the Black Cat to maintain the balance. If not, there could be dire consequences.” 

“But who the heck could take the ring?” Luka sat up, frowning as he sat the Kwami on the table exchanging looks. “You’ve all said yourselves that it is a lot of power to handle. The power of destruction isn’t an easy one to control.” 

“I want him to take it.” Plagg pointed, drawing all eyes to where he was pointing; Damian Wayne. “I can see your soul, kid, I see you have more destruction and death in your life than most. I see you love and care for Tikki’s chosen better than Adrien ever could, so I choose you to be my Chosen.”

“What? Wait, no, shouldn’t we wait for Marinette’s say on this?” Damian frowned and crossed his arms as he glared down at the small cat Kwami. “I mean, she is the Guardian, isn’t she? And the Black Cat is supposed to be her partner, so she should certainly get a say in this. We can’t just go making decisions behind her back.”

He didn’t miss the wide grin on Plagg’s face.

“You, kid, are definitely a good choice. I like you already. Now, do you guys have any carembert around here?”

…

Marinette bit her lower lip as Chloé pinned up her hair, leaving a few stray curls to frame her pretty face.

“Thank you for doing my hair, Chloé. I’d be lost without you.” Mari whispered softly, blushing brilliantly as she stared at herself in the mirror. She felt so… Pretty. Almost like a princess. Her dark hair was pinned back and up, showing off her delicate face and neck, which would complement the pale pink dress she had made herself for this gala. It was a lovely dress, a strapless evening gown that hugged her body until the hips, then flowed out with the beautiful fabric. It was her finest work yet. “I was afraid I’d burn my hair with a curling iron or something.”

“Oh puh-lease, I would kill you if you tried to use a curling iron again, especially with what happened last time.” Chloé snorted and turned Marinette around, beginning with her friend’s make-up. She carefully coloured the lips pink, and got to work with the rest of the make-up. “You should be grateful I decided to stay in Gotham after our talk with the League, I could be at home with Luka and Kagami watching our favourite movie.”

“So sorry to inconvenience you, your highness.” Marinette playfully mocked, before the two burst into soft fits of giggles. She turned and hugged Chloé tightly, the two staying like that for a few minutes. "I wish you were coming tonight, it would be nice to have friends there."

"Well, I don't really want to run into Bustier and the others." Chloé made a face as she pulled back, then gently shrugged as she smiled. "Besides, you have Miss Evangeline, though she'll probably be glued to her hunk all evening. Is there something about Gotham that lets you guys find love?"

"It's not love. Just a fun fling while we're in Gotham." Evangeline stepped into the room and Marinette hummed in appreciation at the sight of her. 

The black halter style evening gown hugged the older woman's rather large curves, the keyhole on the neckline having been altered to be more bat shaped by a cheeky Marinette. And when the young designer included a short dark brown jacket and red pumps, Eva had looked ready to smack Marinette upside the head when she commented on how now Eva could go to the gala as a fancy Red Hood, since she was so smitten with him. 

"My work at its finest." Marinette stood and made her way over to her own dress, Chloé quickly helping her put it on. She felt a bit nervous how she had made her own neckline a bit daring, but she had quickly convinced herself that she wasn't a little girl anymore. She was almost an adult, she had no time for pigtails and childish things.

Adrien's face flashed in her mind and it took everything in Marinette not to flinch. Instead she slid on her pale pink kitty heels and brushed her hands to smooth the slim skirt with an overlay of pale pink sheer fabric, decorated with dark pink flowers.

"Do you think Damian will like it?" Marinette gave a small twirl, instantly seeking to distract herself. "I mean, it's really… Pink."

"The guy is obviously smitten, he'd be an idiot to not have his jaw on the floor when he sees you." Chloé rolled her eyes once again, crossing her arms. "Or is yours just a fling too?"

"Oh, um…" Marinette felt herself blush as she grabbed her pale pink wrap shawl, toying with it gently. "Well, it's not a fling. It's not love, but I think it's going to be. I just don't want to rush into things again."

"You haven't. Don't worry, sugar cookie." Eva went and hugged Marinette tightly, holding her close. "But let's not worry about that. For now, let's worry about having a fun night tonight, rubbing elbows with the upper crust of Gotham." 

With a smile, Chloé took them both by the arm and guided them downstairs to the main hall of the mansion, where their dates were waiting.

When Damian looked up and saw Marinette, he felt the breath leave his lungs. She was stunning, not surprising to him, but she seemed to glow, almost. She really was an angel…

"You certainly clean up good." Marinette smiled as she tucked her hand into his offered arm, then blushed when her mother began taking pictures. "Do you think I can do this? I don't want to embarrass anyone."

"You'll do just fine." Damian kissed her temple softly as he guided her out to the limo, his family and their dates following close behind.

"You look absolutely stunning tonight, Marinette. I am sure you will be the belle of the ball." Kor'i piped up happily once the limo got moving, snuggled into Dick's side. 

"I think that honour might go to Selena." Marinette put in quickly, no sure if her face could get any redder from embarrassment. "I mean, you look gorgeous."

Selena let out a laugh and the women in the vehicle began to praise each other on their outfits, all the while Marinette stared out the window, feeling a sense of uneasiness in her stomach.

…

"Wow…" Marinette whispered in awe as soon as they stepped into the main ballroom. It was certainly a scene of splendor and high society, all obviously ignoring the day to day lives they live in Gotham. A place where you can forget the murderous villains looming outside your door.

"Mari, look at you! You look awesome!" Nino parted from the crowd, looking so odd in a trim dark suit, with no ball cap in sight. Marinette had to admit, he made quite the handsome looking gentleman. "Far out, dudette."

"You look rather handsome, Nino. You almost look like a man of high society. Your slang gives you away though.” Mari smiled, though it was a bit tight at the corners. She then blinked in surprise when Nino held out a hand. 

“Can we dance?” Nino motioned his head over to the dance floor, where many couples already were. “I want to talk to you.”

“Of course, Nino..”

Marinette was guided to the dancefloor, not seeing the frowning faces of Eva and Damian. They could easily see the girl’s key trait in action; she forgave far too easily and quickly.

“What did you want to talk about?” Marinette gazed up at her friend as the two of them began to dance, though it was a bit more awkward than most due to their lack of experience. 

“I know I apologized already for Alya and everything… But I don’t think I properly apologized for myself. I deserted you, Mari, a girl who’s like a sister to me. I left you hanging and I never once looked back and that was wrong of me.”

“Listen, Nino, it’s okay, I forgi-” Marinette began, but was quickly cut off by Nino giving a firm shake of his head.

“No, I don’t deserve that. I haven’t done anything to redeem myself yet. I’m not following the herd anymore. From now on I’m gonna stick by your side.” Nino grinned down at her, then gave her a playful wink. “Should be easier since I broke up with Alya.”

“I beg your pardon, you did what?!”

…

Lila scowled as she glanced around the ballroom, her grip tightening on her flute of champagne. None of the cute rich guys were even looking her way and she was dressed to the nines. The tight bronze dress she wore hugged her body tightly, the neckline plunging low, almost to her navel, leaving her non existent cleavage on full display. She even had her signature hairstyle in that perfectly framed her pretty face.

It was all Marinette’s fault, Lila knew that for a fact. If that stupid bitch had stayed at the hotel the first day, then Lila would have had all attention on her and would have won the heart of Damian Wayne as soon as he had seen her. Marinette and now that creep Eva always ruined everything for Lila, but it was easy to turn the class against them. Even Mis Bustier, who could see through Lila’s lies, scolded the two on causing conflict.

She should be out amongst the rich and fabulous, being basked in glory and praise, but from her vantage point, she could see Marinette enter the room on the youngest Wayne’s arm and all attention being drawn to the young Parisian girl. Lila wanted to go over there and rip the girl’s tacky dress to shreds, because now Lila was stuck just standing with her class, who had no idea how to behave at a formal event. Everyone avoided them like the plague, and Alya having her phone out and trying to get interviews certainly wasn’t helping matters!

“Alya, put that away! You’re only embarrassing yourself!” Lila snapped, taking a long drink of her champagne as Alya once again stepped up to a famous person and sought out an interview. “”Besides, no one here will give you an interview thanks to Marinette. I heard she made the Waynes tell everyone to keep away from you because you are a tabloid journalist or something.”

“She did what?!” Alya spun around sharply, her mouth agape. “How could she do that?! I mean, first she stole Damian from you, she got Adrien locked up, and now this?!”

“I know, isn’t she horrible?” Lila teared up and wiped away her tears, her entourage instantly rushing to her side to try and soothe her. The rest of the class simply rolled their eyes and continued to enjoy themselves. This was a fancy party, afterall, and Miss Bustier was off flirting with some rich guy to even keep an eye on them.

Lila watched from the corner of her eye as Evangeline danced with one of the Waynes, Jason if she remembered correctly. They seemed enraptured with each other, bodies pressed tightly together as they slow danced and whispered into the other’s ear. It made Lila want to vomit. But then she watched as Jason excused himself and left the room. Nino excused himself from Marinette and left as well, probably to head to the bathroom. But green eyes narrowed as she watched Eva leave through the same door a few minutes later, a slowly grin spreading across Lila’s face.

Perhaps this evening wouldn’t be such a waste afterall. Even since Alya’s pathetic show of being dumped, she was even more easy to manipulate. So when Lila showed Alya a picture of Eva and Nino talking in the dining hall, Lila having made sure the angle and posture looked intimate, and she had tearfully told Alya that Eva was probably the reason Nino had dumped her.

It was never hard to get Alya worked up.

Around a few minutes later, when Jason entered the room,  disheveled, Eva close behind, Lila tapped Alya's shoulder and motioned over to Eva just as Nino exited the hallway after her.

"Look at her. Are those hickies on her neck?" Lila hissed in an infuriated tone, but smiled when she felt Alya's body tense under hers. "I mean, I know she's a creep, but to fuck him here of all places? She really does deserve to rot in a cell."

…

Marinette beamed as Damian dipped her backwards, feeling almost breathless from all of the dancing she had been doing with him. It was almost two hours into this thing and her feet were beginning to work.

"Can we get something to drink?" Marinette whispered into Damian's ear once he helped her straighten, then leaned into him as they made their way over to the refreshments table, where Eva and Jason were conversing with Selena and Bruce.

"You two kittens seem to be having fun." Selena smiled as she handed both of them a glass of champagne. "Marinette, everyone's been asking about your dress, they're trying to figure out who the designer is."

"It's an MDC original." Marinette smiled as she went to take a sip, but was stopped by Damian, who sent a glare to Selena.

"She's only eighteen, she can't drink alcohol. She's underaged." He said in such a stern tone, it took everything in Marinette not to snort. He sounded so adult for someone who was nineteen.

"Damian, how could you, seducing someone who's still a child, barely out of high school?" Selena gave a dramatic gasp as she pressed a hand to her chest, as if she were about to faint. "How could you? Why, I'm sure Satan himself would be ashamed."

"Enough out of you!" Damian felt his cheeks redden in embarrassment at Selena's theatrics. Though he did give Marinette a side glance as he watched her set down her flute of champagne and got herself one full of juice. Though she seemed unbothered by the whole conversation.

"Now, let's not get rowdy. Sugar cookie here has drunk alcohol before, the legal drinking age in France is eighteen afterall." Eva put in, wrapping a supportive arm around Marinette's shoulders. "As long as no one gets drunk and sloppy, we should be fine."

"Thank you, Eva, for helping Nino." Marinette murmured into the TA's ear, causing a look of surprise to cross the young woman's face. "Miss Bustier isn't the best person to go to for advice. She would have told him to try and fix things and stick with her."

"Where is that blundering idiot anyway?" Eva muttered as she saw the French class, but no Bustier in sight. She groaned and massaged her temples as she realized the idiot had left a group of rambunctious teenagers unsupervised. This would not go well.

"I might have to duck away for a bit. If those kids get drunk, this party might get rowdy." Eva patted Jason's arm gently, then broke away from the Waynes, beginning to head towards the class. But being splashed in the face with champagne stopped her in her tracks.

"Alya!" Marinette snapped as she instantly rushed to Eva's side, the entire room having gone silent. Eva stood there, dumbstruy, her make up running thanks to the champagne, while Alya sneered at the older woman.

"That's what ya get, you bitdch... Did you honestly fink you could get away wif it?" Alya's words were slurred, her cheeks rosy as she clumsily set her hands on her hips. "I have the proofs."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Eva hissed, her face flushed red from embarrassment as Marinette grabbed some napkins a waiter brought and began dabbing up the alcohol. Alya sneered and pointed a shaky finger at Eva, stumbling on her feet as she tried to take a threatening step forward.

"Lila shaw you two. Apparently you snuck.out the other day, to fuck. The day before Marinette trickeded Adrien, you were gone all afternoon." Alya slurred, then reached out, slapping the woman across the face before Marinette could stop her. "I know you were a fucking pedophile. Lila was right, you are a creep. Why else are you so close with Marinette? I bet you fuck her too."

Bruce motioned towards the nearby security guards, but Eva merely held up a hand, her purple eyes glaring deep into Alya's.

"I became her friend because I knew she needed one. Because I knew your loyalty was so fickle that you turned your back on her years ago. She barely knew me, but the first thing she did for me was make me a scarf with my favourite flowers on it because I was homesick. I was stuck with a class that took a liar's words at face value because she offered them pretty stories and fake opportunities. Marinette didn't make things easy for you, playing along with everything, so you decided to drop her. Yes, I'm her TA, but I am also her friend. A better friend than you, Ladybug certainly agrees."

"You shut your whore face, you don't even know Ladybug! Lila says she hated your guts!" Alya made another move for her, but Jason firmly gripped Alya's wrist, stopping the girl in her tracks. "Let me go, you creep! She's cheating on you with a high schooler!"

"Funny, the time you gave that scenario to her, Miss Rossi." Jason's hard eyes flickered to the girl in question, his look so deadly that it made her shiver. "Because it is impossible. You see, she was with me the entire time, tied to her hotel bed and calling me Daddy." 

 Marinette let out an embarrassment squeak while Eva turned crimson and softly cursed Jason's entire existence.

Lila scowled and strode right up to Jason, tears soon flooding her eyes as she began her theatrics.

"Did Marinette get to you too? Oh no, how many times has she spread her legs to ruin my life? First she steals Damian away from me, now she turns all of you into her personal attack dogs? And here I thought Eva was the whore!"

"Caline!" Eva turned and snapped at the woman across the room, who looked flabbergasted. "For gods' sake, get your class under control and stop humping Dick's leg. He's married, you twit!"

Caline went crimson and hurried over, setting a hand on Alya's and Lila's shoulders, trying to pull the girls away, but Alya shoved her teacher away and got right in Marinette's face.

"I've had enough of you! You ruin everything, Marinette! I tried, but you lost everything for a reason! You failed with Adrien because you are pathetic and spineless, so you decide to get him arrested. Lila was in a happy relationship with Damian, but you were jealous she won us this trip so you decided to steal him and take ownership of this entire thing! You're a pathetic leech, and an enabler. I bet you watched as your whore fucked Nino, I bet!"

"That's enough Alya!" Nino stormed forward, and more shouting began. 

There was such chaos; angry words being thrown around, hands reaching out to scratch and claw, security rushing in to assist. 

No one even noticed the little black butterfly that flew over their heads.

Marinette watched as security began to drag the drunken Alya away, while Miss Bustier tried to convince them to let her go, that it was all some misunderstanding. Lila began wailing, trying to put as much attention as she could on herself. Even Nino was shouting, but it was all lost in the noise. Marinette rushed to Damian's side and tightly gripped his band, until a shriek pierced the air.

"Jason!"

Everyone looked over, and every French person in the room let out a scream of terror.

For framing Jason's handsome face was the outline of a purple butterfly. Marinette instantly rushed over, kneeling next to Eva, who was screaming for Jason to fight it, to break whatever had been akumatized, anything!

And they both watched helplessly as Jason was engulfed in purple.

Taglist:  @realrandomposts @interobanginyourmom @ladybug-182 @ladylb @zalladane @mochinek0 @persephonebutkore @urbanpineapplefarmer @vixen-uchiha @angelofmusickaterinapetrova @thewheezingbubbledragon @northernbluetongue @violatiger8 @thequestionablyhuman @ginamarie1512 @maude-zarella @2sunchild2 @saphiraazure2708 @ayuchan07 @virgil-is-a-cutie @thepeacetea @miraculous786 @enchanted-nerd @zebrabaker

[arlakos]

Miraculous Rank List: My list of Secondary Superheroes

Considering most of my usual posts contain a fair amount of salt, lets go for something a bit lighter today!

This list basically covers my listing of all my favorite secondary heroes and ranking them from best to worst. I’ll be working my way up from the heroes I like the least to the ones I love the most.

With that statement out of the way, lets get started.

Number 8: Bunnyx

Yeah, this may be a shock to some, but I don’t like Bunnyx. I think her power is cool, and I think the outfit is ok, but everything else about her is just so not cool. And that really has to do with her debut episode: Timetagger

Aside from her episode being the one where its revealed the miraculous powers become unlimited when you become an adult (which is just dumb!) her attitude towards Chat is extremely shitty, along with the fact the show this episode LOVES to point out how Bunnyx being stuck was ALL CHATS FAULT, with the show pretty much rubbing it in all episode! There's also the fact she does pretty much nothing in the long run, with the day pretty much being saved (yet again) by Ladybug! Sure, this is a running theme with most battles, but it would be cool for the other heroes to be able to win a fight without Ladybug's help.

Number 7: Pegasus

There’s nothing really much to say about him other than I find him boring.

The new heroes' idea was a nice thing in season 2 when it first came out, and the fact they limited themselves to only 3 heroes was pretty good so far. Unfortunately, season 3 has made the idea of new heroes kind of boring with just how many they introduce in the season alone. However, with the rest of the heroes, most of them had a pretty good introduction to warrant their place on the team and the fan hype. With pegasus, however, there wasn’t really much of a good intro for him, at least in my opinion, and when he finally appeared, I was underwhelmed.

His outfit, despite having an ok design, radically changed his appearance in comparison to other characters, and the colors really failed to suit him at all. His superpower is an ok superpower. A portal is not a bad power but again, pretty bland as well.

Number 6: Queen Bee

Yeah, Ironic since I'm a huge fan of the Chloe redemption idea, but canon did my girl rough.

From having her reveal herself publicly to essentially having her put lives at risk just to show off, Astruc really tried to hammer home that Chloe would not become a hero. Even the bit at the end of Queen Wasp wasn’t enough for me to get rid of my hatred for the episode.

Despite that, Malediktator and Miraculer (the second half at least) were enough to improve her in my books, but it's still a far step away from the other heroes rather simplistic intros. I would’ve been fine with Chloe’s intro to being a hero if the other heroes weren't treated marginally better in comparison. Everyone else was chosen by the ‘amazing’ Ladybug and all of them listened to Ladybug and did everything right and everyone else is perfect - While Chloe found the box by mistake and became a villain by the end of season 3. Really Astruc? Really?!

Despite all that and the season 3 finale, I still like Queen Bee, but there is no mistake that her introduction left a pretty bad mark on her (temporary) hero career.

Number 5: Viperion

Luka’s debut as a hero was also something I felt was off. Not only was Luka not chosen initially (due to Ladybug choosing Adrien for the sake of her crush, which was actually one of the good parts of the episode as Adrien basically chose Luka for her, and was some good character growth for Ladybug) but Luka’s abilities are kinda .... weird.

Not so much the superpower, the idea is based off the ouroboros, which has been misinterpreted before to represent ‘infinite’, which makes sense considering his power is a time loop but the tool itself.

Chat Noir and King Monkey have staffs, Ladybug has a yoyo which can tie up baddies, Rena has a flute which also functions as a mini staff, and Carapace has a freaking shield! Even Pegasus has a boomerang Horseshoe.

And Viperion ... has a freaking Lyre. A freaking musical instrument that doesn't even function as a weapon.

Sadly, Viperion’s tool was pretty much designed only for the Desperada episode, due to it allowing him to distract the main villain of said episode. Aside from that, it doesn’t really do much for him combat wise. 

Hell, if you’re going to have Viperion have a freaking Lyre for a weapon, at least have a funny scene where they have him using it to serenade every boy and girl in Paris! Just have him play music and everyone just becomes swooned by him, as well as make straight guys confused on their sexuality.

0/10, not enough Luka serenading Paris for me.

Number 4: Carapace

The Anansi episode actually did a few things right for my boy. He fought Anansi by himself without a miraculous, which was a good thing, he kicked even more ass as a hero for a bit, which was also a good thing. Unfortunately, he, like every other hero, was not given a chance to shine as he was completely overtaken by Ladybug. Again, it's a running issue with every secondary hero, but after he becomes a hero, he is pretty much playing second fiddle to the ‘actual hero’.

Aside from that episode, he has some pretty rough luck with being a hero. Like all the other temp heroes, he was overtaken by the akuma in heroes day, with his only part being stopping Hawkmoth from attacking Ladybug and Cat Noir, which is still a good thing, but after that, he doesn't have really anything much going for him. Still though, like Roy, he is my boy, and I love our hero with a shell shield, even if he doesn't have actual Turtle Power.

Number 3: Ryuko

Cool Outfit? Check. Cool Power? Check. Badass Kagami? Double Check.

Kagami had a lot of good things going for her in her debut. Her power was one of the coolest I had seen in a while and she had a badass outfit to go with her. I also like Kagami a lot, so it helps with the favoritism a lot as well. Unfortunately, her identity was revealed to Hawkmoth, and she didn’t make that many appearances, even compared to other heroes. Still, she is pretty cool.

Number 2: King Monkey

Whoever decided to give Le Chien Kim a miraculous was absolutely bananas, but I suppose that is for the best. :)

Like Ryuko, he has one of the greatest costume designs, and his power is awesome as well, and Kim as a miraculous wielder is absolutely amazing, being sporadic, crazy and funny as well. However, he suffers from the same issue as Ryuko, with that being that he doesn’t have much screentime as a hero, even less than her.

The difference is that I love Kim a bit more due to his personality, and when you combine it with the monkey miraculous out of all miraculouses in the box, and I could just watch an entire series of Kim monkeying about Paris. He’s that cool and funny to me.

That just leaves number 1...

Number 1: Rena Rouge

Rena Rouge’s first appearance was one of the best introductions in the series (aside from King Monkey), and the episode itself was certainly one of the better ones compared to the rest of season 2.

When I first saw Rena Rouge back in season 2, I was amazed by the episode. It didn't have any bad or cringe moments, no character bashing, no implied salt, just Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the new hero bantering and joking with each other while fighting another akuma, and it was amazing. The fact that they showed being a hero through Alya’s perspective really helped to show her excitement at not only helping Ladybug and Chat Noir, but also being a hero flying through the air. Rena joking with Chat was certainly one of the highlights

But undoubtedly, the best part was probably at the end with her giving back the miraculous, and showing that no matter her feelings, she was one of the best choices as a hero, and proving to herself and others that she is hero material as much as Ladybug and Chat Noir. Again, this was before season 3 gave miraculous out like Oprah gives cars, but semantics. Going back, the episode still hasn't been sullied by time and remains one of the best episodes and hero introductions in the entire series. Which is why Rena Rogue deserves the top spot.

And there you have it! Feel free to create your own list of favorite secondary heroes in your reposts and tell us why they are at the spot on your own list.

For the sake of people I respect and watch on Tumblr, I ask @twin-books, @ratheroddranger, and @rucky-chan to make their own lists of favorite secondary heroes and tell us why they arranged their list that way! They don’t have to do it, but it would be cool if they did!

[awkward-marinette]

Unprofessional “Desperada” Recap

It’s been a day after “Desperada” aired and I decided to do a rewatch of this episode. I’ve watched it 3 times already and I’ve changed opinions about many scenes that initially made me mad so that’s why I’m doing a recap. Be prepared because it’s going to be a long one. It’s going to contain unprofessional, sometimes blurry screenshots, Luka praise and grammar mistakes but... let’s get to it. 

- Lukanette in this episode was kinda ruined by how Marinette considered Luka her second chance choice. I know it's related to snake miraculous but still... My boi deserves better. Hell, MARINETTE deserves better than being written like that and those are main reasons why I was so pissed after watching "Desperada" for the first time

- girls (Alya, Alix and Mylene) are noticing Lukanette only now? I thought it was obvious that the chemistry is there - but also, I agree with their opinions with my whole heart

And I'm also starting to see that girls are getting tired of Marinette's obsession which Adrien which is understandable. They help her all the time trying to get her with the boy of her dreams and nothing happens. Yeah, I would be pushy and annoyed as well. But it makes me worried for one of next episodes which title I can’t remember but in the description it said that Marinette’s friends will be group akumatized because of something that Marinette is going to do. 

- quality Adrigami right there - I need to double check correct episodes order (by production number) to be 100% sure but I'm convinced that this episode is before "Ikari Gozen" otherwise I don't see the reason why Kagami is so distant towards Marinette again. But I appreciate scenes with them, especially when they rebel against their overprotective, overcontrolling parents

- about this disastrous greeting Adrien and Kagami scene - it's not easy seeing your crush laughing and being comfortable with someone else and we see it on Marinette's face. And yet again she decides to interrupt it by getting in their space. Doing and saying stupid things because of her skyrocketing nerves caused by Adrien's presence. Without thinking leaving Luka’s side to run to her crush like she did a bad thing. During my first watching, I didn't notice just how nervous she was until everyone started to look at her after Kagami's comment implying Luka is Marinette's boyfriend, waiting for her reaction. We know that for most of the time Marinette is not doing well under the pressure from other characters and this scene is no exception to that. No wonder she messed up later too, being looked at from all sides makes you super nervous. I can sympathize with that

Also, wow, Kagami, you don’t need to cling that much to Adrien. It’s not like Marinette is gonna attack him or something. 

- "he's just a friend" - Marinette, you're definitely spending too much time around Adrien. As the blond is doing the same with his feelings towards her vs. Ladybug, she openly denies her feelings for Luka despite having them. That's why she brushed off what Alya said and will continue to do that until she realizes it herself. It’s as if those two didn’t know that you can have multiple crushes on people

- Jagged/Anarka scene - there's some backstory here and I need to know more! I don't think it was just playing together in a band and there were some romantic feelings involved. Although I don't like the idea of Jagged being Juleka and Luka's father (that would be lame), it would definitely be an interesting plot to explore for the sake of Couffaine family story arc. Especially after seeing Anarka's steel refusal and Couffaine siblings being shocked that their mom was once working with their music idol

- Jagged having a soft spot for Marinette is still one of the cutest things ever. Mere concept of an international music star acting as a cool uncle for ordinary artist girl is awesome. I really like that he always seems to actually listen to what she has to say and doesn't treat her as a kid who don't know anything. And asking her if she knows some talented guitarists although he probably has lots of connections in the industry just proves how big that soft spot for her is. He visibly perked up at her sight and started playing happier melody!

- nominating Adrien for new guitarist disastrous scene - OH MY PLAGG, I don't know what to say about the scene everyone is talking about. This is definitely one big triggering scene and if I was annoyed at Marinette when she dropped Luka to greet Adrien earlier, this one made me: mad, sad, embarassed at the same time. Cringefest at its finest.

You know what I mean? Look at everyone’s reactions: 

BRUH. 

Plus: 

Even Rose was shocked! Yeah, Rose who always seems to be in her own little world!

It made me regret that she didn't decide to give up on Adrien in "Puppeteer 2.0" (yeah, I know episodes are not in the order and it seems that "Desperada" is chronologically after that). I mean, girl, even being under the pressure is not gonna save you this time in my eyes. You had the right to be super nervous around your crush and babbling incoherently when you didn’t expect to see him but trying to impress him by recommending him for skills you know he doesn’t have? Your feelings for that boy are not healthy for you and you need to see that. If Adrien visibly has doubts and says he's more of a pianist AND JAGGED STONE HIMSELF IS QUESTIONING THAT CHOICE AND POINTS AT LUKA, it should give you a signal that you're not in your right senses. I really want live to the day that in one episode she finally realises that and will start to move on. I bet it will improve her character and relationships with everyone around her. And I can't believe that writers decided to include that scene - there were probably few different ways that this scene could go without making Marinette a fool blinded by her love.

And man, I was feeling so sad for Luka there. Being overlooked like that just because the girl he likes nominated a guy she loves when it's clear that he's not suited for the job must be hard to accept. And how does he manage to make me like him more every time he shows up? He handled that situation with levels of maturity he should teach main charactes about.

- Desperada - it was this rare kind of episodes when we didn't get akumatised character's backstory first, that's why sometimes I thought this episode had quicker pacing than usual. We got more information from the villain herself this time and it was a nice change of routine. Also, Desperada was so cool! Her design is absolutely fantastic (one of the best in the show imo), her powers were deadly, she had amazing voice and she was competent enough to create such a threat that it forced Ladybug and Chat Noir to reach for miraculous that could mess with time. And it wasn't obvious she could be this dangerous at first glance! The only thing I didn’t like about her is why she was akumatized - REALLY, JAGGED?! Come on, dude! 

I would totally cosplay that if I wasn’t a complete disaster with instruments.

Her trumpets made funny noises when she shot from them, it cracked me up a little. And I need that guitar axe for... reasons...

- yo, Kagami proving she's worthy of dragon miraculous! She charged at Desperada without hesitation although she just met Anarka! 

- Rose went through a surprising change in last two seasons - I never expected to see her do things like shielding someone from the villain. On second thought, she was protecting her dear Juleka so it shouldn’t be that surprising. But it is, at least for me. 

- Marinette realised she wasn't in her right mind after all - well, better late than never, right? What Tikki said about her having a troubled heart - I want to believe it's something that will make her rethinking few things and will be a spark that will eventually ignite character development. I hate seeing her like this when she proved many times she’s better than that

- Lukadrien - you know, on one hand it's good to see two male love rivals being on good terms with each other (although I wonder how long it's going to last after Adrien gets to his senses regarding liking Marinette as more than JuSt A fRiEnD), on the other it's depressing when you look at how girls are treated, all hating each other (well, except Marinette and Kagami now). Why can't we have nice things... Also, Lukadrien was strong in this one.

- Luka proving he deserves to be a hero - it's not usual for civilians in this show to willingly put themselves in villain's path to help heroes but it's always appreciated when it happens if that civilian isn't hurt in the process. Luka managed to distract Desperada so that Ladybug could corporate a plan that helped trio to escape her.

- Ladybug, Adrien and Luka in sewers - so she gets the message to go to Master Fu for new miraculous, meanwhile we continue with Lukadrien scenes. They find a locker room for employees and Adrien finally can separate from Luka to transform into Chat Noir. I'm surprised that Luka didn't hear door opening and closing again despite being right next to it. Or maybe... he did since I suspect he knows Ladybug’s identity so him knowing Chat’s identity would be pretty funny. 

- snake miraculous - Master Fu said that this miraculous is really powerful (duh) and must be used by wise person who can resist a temptation to abuse its power. Kinda foreshadowing for what's going to happen later, isn't it? I've got no idea how Marinette could think Adrien was suited to be a snake. It doesn't fit him at all. There must be other miraculouses in the box that would be more fitting for him. I need to do a research.

- Adrien gets his chance with Ladybug - well, he wasn't against the idea of her giving miraculous to Adrien despite his identity crisis (cue: “Onii-chan” and the scene where Chat Noir lands on the billboard with Adrien’s commercial on it). It's clear he didn't think about risking being discovered as Chat Noir and jumped in this train because he was blinded by the opportunity to finally get his Lady to love him as Adrien. After rewatching the episode I've changed my opinion about this moment and I think that it was somehow needed at this point in the show. It can be treated as a simulation what would happen if the reveal happened right now, when Adrien/Chat Noir is blinded by his love for Ladybug and Marinette/Ladybug is being blinded by her love for Adrien. And it does not end well.

I can't at Plagg when he realises that Adrien is going to use new miraculous offered by Ladybug so quickly and willingly. When PLAGG drops his usual behaviour and channels his inner TIkki by saying serious, wise things, you should know that this is a huge mistake, Adrien. Just look at his face:

And I suspect that Plagg has some history with Sass because it's not the first time he acts weird around snake kwami. Yet again, I want to know!

- Adrien is (temporary) a character with the highest amount of magic transformations - and, tbh, Aspik’s transformation wasn't very good. His suit looks weird in motion, although I understand choice with a cowl to not look similar to Chat Noir. But Aspik's final pose is so ridiculous it hurts - even Kim's wasn't at that level. 

But maybe, it was another element that proved Adrien wasn't the right choice for snake miraculous. 

Also, him acting oblivious to what kwami is and "What am I supposed to do?!" were priceless. Very subtle acting, Adrien. A+.

- blinded by love - this is the theme of this episode. But this time it was from both sides. We got used to it coming from Marinette in most episodes and fandom has made many creative works with how it could happen from Adrien's side, and we finally could see it in cannon. Since we know how it is with Marinette when it comes to Adrien, I'm going to focus more on him and Ladybug.

  So Marinette as Ladybug makes mistake twice in this episode. This time with more serious repercussions since it concerns miraculous and success of the mission. Focusing more on giving miraculous to Adrien and his presence by her side, she isn't able to focus on defeating akuma at all. 

She compliements him for the smallest things (like choosing his hero name), laugh at the joke that was so Chat Noir, looks at him all the time. She even went to that extreme as saying that they don't need Chat at all! BOI WASN’T HAPPY: 

Ladybug has always been the responsible one and always puts the mission first. But here, she wasn't even caring for her own safety by checking her surroundings, something that you thought could never happen.

As for Adrien, he knew how powerful snake miraculous is. But because he prefered to woo Ladybug instead of eliminating akuma threat first, he failed to prove he was the right guy for the job as Aspik. 

And failed miserably. I won't go as far as saying that he deserved to end up with PSTD syndrome after failing to save her so many times but if he was smarter, he could pull himself together much sooner and fix it without hurting. He had a tool that could cut his pain and suffering of losing Ladybug short. But his determination/obsession made him overlook that simple fact. I mean, dude, it took you THREE MONTHS to realise it's not working?! And what irked me is the fact that despite all those chances he had, he was still prioritizing flirting with Ladybug instead of defeating Desperada. 

I'm sorry but after that confession, he lost another points in my eyes. Also, it showed that he is more like his father than we gave him credit for with that unhealthy determination to achieve his goal. It's downright scary.

But one good thing emerged from this horrible montage of his failures: Ladybug’s reaction to the reveal he’s Chat Noir. In spare of few seconds she went through all package of emotions - confusion, shock, bewilderment, comprehension, anger. It was delightful. 

After thinking about it for some time, I came to a conclusion that this plot is kind of a warning from writers. We, as a fandom, want The Reveal to happen, some of us want it now, others (like me) don't want it fastforwarded and now I see why it's not a good idea. Adrien and Marinette are at that moment that both still have an unhealthy perception of love and their feelings are more like obsession. They're both putting other one on the pedestal as a person completely rid of flaws and ability to make mistakes. They have tunnel visions and don't see anything around but the person they love. So if they knew each others’ identities now when their feelings are in such underdeveloped stages, they would fail as superheroes because those feelings would got in the way. And it's something that they can't allow since Hawkmoth is getting stronger and is plotting something big. The message is clear: don't expect The Reveal to become cannon now because it's not the right moment.

But I'm not trying to give writers enough credit - at least, this time. I want to see characters learning from events that took place in this episode. I want to see them actually realise that their concept of love is flawed and decide to be better than they are right now. I want to see Love Square finally going somewhere rather than being constantly stuck in nowhere. That's why I have high hopes for the rest of season 3 and have big expectations from season 4 (because, if Love Square developing will happen, it's now or never).

Ok, let's continue.

- Sass - poor kwami was active for months, didn't get a snack, had a short break in the box and was summoned again very quickly (although refreshed). #letsassrest2019

- Luka being the chosen one - ok, as funny as it sounds, there's no better summary why Luka got snake miraculous in the end. When he reentered the scene, he witnessed some serious talk between Ladybug and Adrien, the latter obviously crying, both visibly down and disstressed and, blessed his soul, said he's glad that Adrien was found because he was worried (Lukadrien fans must have gone wild at that). Adrien looked at him and made this face:

The face of realization. Because, as he experienced, snake miraculous requires to be used wisely while keeping a cold head. Something that he couldn't do. And before him stood a guy who's really calm, collected but brave and caring (Adrien's words). Fortunately, Adrien didn't continue to pout but immediately suggested to Ladybug to give Luka a miraculous. After saying goodbye (with bittersweet Ladrien moment), Ladybug turned to confused Luka and it was his time to shine. And boiii, he shone alright! I mean, look at those majestic screenshots of his transformation:

Sidenote: this tranformation was probably the longest one but it could give Chloe a run for her money in fabulous department.

- new trio of Paris - and we got cool trio of superheroes to deal with Desperada (who was still laying down in sniper position on Eiffel Tower, lol) who were working very well together. Main duo was back in their game and overall I'm here for Chat Noir/Viperion bro ship.

- plan to take down Desperada - as I said earlier in the recap, Desperada didn't seem that threatening at first but she quickly showed that I was mistaken. It was no overexaggeration when Marinette said that there is no room for error with her because of variety of weapons she used. That's why they needed to plan their ambush from A to Z and that's why snake miraculous was better for this mission than, for example, rabbit miraculous. It's good that Viperion wasn't hit during those chances because they would be screwed and Hawkmoth would probably win.

As I predicted, Viperion needed considerably less time to figure out how to get the upper hand in the fight. And although it was strange that both Ladybug and Chat Noir struggled more than usual with defeating an akuma, it was nice seeing other hero forming a plan in the meantime. 

Now I wonder if Viperion's lyre has the function to distract opponents with its melody or it was the fact that Desperada was just sensitive for hearing music in general. Also, lyre can be used in other ways:

- I need a confirmation that those two are officially together (and Fang is their pet)! Pleeeeaaaaaseeeee!

- Vivica is so cute! And I love that heroes always do "pound it" next to confused victims

Luka is so freaking tall here! And I thought that Adrien got taller this season! He looks so small compared to Viperion!

- oh yeah, with that look he gave her, it's pretty much confirmed that Luka knows Marinette is Ladybug. Otherwise it wouldn't be shown like that.

- Kagami giving Marinette an opening for fair rivalry is something you don't see everyday. Kagami encourages her to make up her mind with all that Adrien-Luka thing - another motivation for Marinette to push her character development ahead.

Alya chimes in saying that boys also have to decide. We know what Luka thinks but Adrien still needs more time to clarify that. And waiting for that is going to kill us all.

So that’s all, folks! TL;DR, thanks for coming to my ML Talk! Man, why am I doing these only when an episode creates a lot of fandom salt?

[cheryllcher]

happy new (tears) year

welp the new year (and decade) is here, so i thought i write a little something, and why not a mishmash of angst (dont worry it’s barely there lol) and a big bunch of fluff it’s crazy. wanted to go for marichat but then this came to mid so yea :) anywayy hope u enjoy this lil short thing and happy new year!! :))

—-

The Dupain-Cheng household was colourful. No kidding, the house is just filled with multi-coloured fairy lights and glow sticks. New Year’s was just around the corner, and hour walk down the path of time and there it would be. And so, a party is held, to send off the current year and welcome the new one with family and friends.

A whole lot more people came then expected, humans interacting with other humans and laughing with even more humans. This didn’t deter Tom and Sabine though, they continued hosting the party with elegance. The more the merrier they always say. The table had a selection of food laid out on it, each item contributed by the different families that attended. Cider flowing, video games playing, faces smiling, the party was in full swing. A Dupain-Cheng celebration never fails to disappoint, this one included.

Marinette buzzed around the house, making sure all the guests are enjoying themselves, letting her parents relax with the other adults for a bit. Rose and Juleka were huddled by the warm fire munching on pastries, Kim and Alix were currently half-drunk from all the dares(the sober, responsible grown ups were not amused with the children with their underaged drinking *ahem* Roger *ahem*), and Nino and Alya were currently in the corner whispering among themselves suspiciously, which Marinette was sure she knew what it was about. The others were sitting on the ground cheering on a game of Mecha Strike.

Adrien-who was miraculously (pun not intended i swear) allowed to the party with Kagami (also a surprise)- was covered head to ankle with glow sticks. Seriously this guy went crazy he finished a whole box himself and that was like 50 sticks. He was currently conversing with Luka about Jagged Stone and the instruments they play. Kagami was sitting by the side clearly awkward and trying to camouflage with the wall behind her cuz ohmygod there are two hot guys in front of me. The pigtailed girl who was watching from afar deflated slightly at that due to how close her crush and one of her other friends were, wishing it was her who stood beside him instead. But she can’t. It was way too awkward and sort of tentioney to go there.

The clock sure ticks fast, as soon the long hand’s ran close to the 11 mark, indicating that it was slightly more than 5 minutes before the new decade began. (wow a new decade already. time really does fly :) ) Adrien and Kagami were left talking in a corner, seemingly getting closer by the second, Luka long since away from the conversation. Marinette’s heart couldn’t take it, her chest slowly constricting in on itself at the sight. So instead of being with everyone else for the countdown, she snuck up the stairs to her attic-turned-bedroom, before heading to the balcony. Uneasy thoughts swirled around her mind as she looked up at the barely there stars, mostly erased by light pollution from the city below.

Adrigami’s gonna be alive soon, well pretty much alive now, and Adrienette’s dead for good now. What will i do, Monsieur Stars, how will i ever move on?

Adrien and Marinette actually got together after the ‘just-a-friend-zoning’ shenanigans was over, pure sweet, gooey cheesiness around them. So their breakup came as a huge surprise to everyone, disappointing the Adrienette shippers around the city. It was mutual though, both of then clearly not ready to have a relationship in their lives. And they were still friends, hanging out with everyone together except alone with the other. But no matter how hard to tried, how long she took, she couldn’t get her ex and friend out of her head.

Tikki, who had been perched on her shoulder trying to offer comfort to her friend suddenly buzzed away, leaving Marinette conscious of her surroundings. She didn’t turn when the skylight on the floor of the balcony opened, and internally breathed out in relief. At least it’s not an akuma. She assumed it was Alya though, in her too sad to even acknowledge you fully mood, and started speaking to the presence behind her.

“Alya if you’re here to try to get me in on one of your ‘seduce Adrien and make him fall for me again’ plan, I’m not in. He’s clearly with Kagami.”

“Well, I’m not very sure I’m up for being seduced,” a chuckle followed, “but I am now very curious about this plan.”

A shriek nearly slipped out of Marinette’s lips if not for the fact that she placed her hand over her mouth, a silent scream the only thing that remained. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t blink, couldn’t move. Adrien was afraid he’d be seeing her eyeballs fall out, so he continued.

“Sorry for just coming out here, I saw you being sneaky and decided to follow.” Then he did that cure little thing were he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. Oh god he was adorable.

“Wh-Wha...Aren’t you- gah?”

He heard the many questions in that unintelligible nonsense, understanding everything she was trying to put into words without success. He always did.

“I’m here because I want to talk to you. Yes,

I was with Kagami, and no, we aren’t a thing. I heard you talking to the stars young lady. I... don’t feel that way for her, so I had to be honest with her.” The teasing smile never left his face even if it got a touch shy and awkward.

Oh no I said my thoughts out loud.

“Yes, you did.”

Darn it!

“Anyway, I just wanted to try to confess about how I can’t move on no matter how hard I try and to get some kind of closure or something if you’ve managed to move on with life... but I see the feeling’s mutual?” Hope. Spilling out from his voice, so much.

“You’ve got a minute, hot stuff. Tell me what you wanna say before the year’s over and we’ll see where to go from there. I want to hear everything so speak.” Her confidence is somewhat there, something in her heart fighting it’s way up against the sadness from before. The young man gladly followed the demand.

“Marinette, I know we’ve parted ways thinking it’s for the best as we weren’t up for it, but I still think of you every moment, still falling deeper and deeper into your trap as each day passes. You’ve stolen my heart long ago and it’s so deep in your clutches I simply can’t get it back anymore.

“I want to treat you like the princess you deserve to be once more and make up for all the time we’ve lost. I want to hold you again, shower you with affection and gifts and love. I want to make you smile that smile that I miss so much. I want my best friend back.

“I’m ready now, and I’m not going to choose anyone else, because I can’t... So, Princess, if you are ready as well and are willing... Will you have me? Again?”

The countdown’s starting in the living room.

10! 9!

Her brain short circuited.

8! 7!

His doubts starts streaming in.

6! 5!

She nods her head quickly, tears slipping from her eyes. He laughs out his relief, tears leaking out of his eyes as well.

4! A step closer.

3! Heads tilting forward simultaneously.

2! Eyes fluttered close and breaths mingled

1! Happy New Year!

Lips pressed gently against lips as cheers erupted from downstairs, completely unaware of the sweet fluff happening upstairs. The bells of the Notre Dame rang loud and clear but were not heard by the two teenagers. It lasted for a minute, both parting in need of air.

“Happy New Year, Princess.”

“Happy New Year, my Prince.”

—-

Bonus:

“Geez, my cheese can’t cover up the sweetness here!” A cheese-loving cat kwami grumbled from a shelf in Marinette’s room.

“Well, I guess you wouldn’t want your own New Year’s kiss?” His counterpart asked slyly.

“Nonono, come here sugarcube. I need that kiss to survive the suffering until they figure out their identities.”

[ecofinisher]

The Adventures of Super Nathan 3 - Chap 8

Chapter 8

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23301076/chapters/56963371

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13531960/8/The-Adventures-of-Super-Nathan-3

https://www.wattpad.com/869205859-the-adventures-of-super-nathan-3-chapter-8-serving

In the afternoon, Adrien rode along with his College friend Jin by bus on their way back home standing in the middle of the bus holding themselves on the bar over their heads.

“Our parents live in the same building as us and are there to lean us a hand, mostly to help my wife out in the cases I’m at school, work or need to study” The raven-haired man explained. “When we’re both home and I’m not busy with studying I always choose to take care of the baby to at least help her there. I’ve been handling all this without any problem and it helps me turn off my head from all the studies you know”

“You know I think having a child during the space of time, where we’re doing a further education or a basic education is way harder to manage. At least I’ve heard this from Alya and Kagami”

“Yeah but it’s easier for us guys to handle it, cause we’re not the ones carrying the baby for the next nine months. You know at the seventh or eighth month you get the maternity leave and after the birth, you’re still on maternity leave and you would miss a lot of important stuff at the school,”

“Well, that makes sense” Adrien agreed.

“Porte de France”

“At the start, it’s a little strange to get to know everything around a baby, but with the time you’ll get it and improve with the days that pass”

“Cool,” Adrien answered. “Are you going to work tomorrow?”

“Yeah and what about you?” Jin asked. “I’ve heard about your job at the…..”

“At a Paintball arena” Adrien responded. “But only in the evenings”

“That sounds cool”

“Yeah kinda, it’s a little boring cause we’re doing the same thing the whole time,”

“Okay, but at least you got something” Jin mentioned earning a nod from the blonde.

Besides the two a few passengers passed to leave the bus and three persons entered into the bus and one of them was an Asian man wearing a purple shirt with dark Grey jeans and he looked at Adrien, smirking and approached him.

“Hey if that isn’t the new number one?” The Asian asked earning a dazzled look from the two friends. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here”

“Uhm…..”Jin mumbled confused, then looked at Adrien, which rolled his eyes as he recognized, that the man was Raiden from the fencing tournament.

“Hey Raiden…..” Adrien greeted the guy with an unamused face. “I didn’t know, you still were in Paris”

“Why shouldn’t I be? I’ve been living here for several months,” The Japanese man mentioned. “I’m on a language stay to learn the French language”

“Oh really?” Adrien asked not really convinced about the response.

“At the Rue Rougemont, if you don’t believe me” Raiden added. “Search it up on the internet….”

“Okay, I get it. You’re really on a language stay, but why exactly are you coming to Paris?” Aren’t there other languages you could learn?” “You know for the commercial department at the Insurances of Tokyo they needed me to learn French and offered me to pay for a language stay and I could choose between Paris and Quebéc,”

“And you choose Paris, because….”

“Because the schools were better according to a few workpals there and I wouldn’t feel more or less lonely since you and Kagami live here”

“Sure, that explains the many times you visited us,” Adrien said sarcastically making Jin raise his eyebrow in confusion at experiencing Adrien being sarcastic.

“I would if I knew where you live, but I believe I won’t ever know it”

“No, you won’t”

“I really have no idea, what you two are talking about, but you two need to work on this tension here between you. What about a normal talk under four eyes?” Jin suggested. Raiden widened his eyes at Jin’s suggestion and placed his hand on the raven-haired his shoulder.

“Good idea, my brother,” Raiden stated making Adrien roll his eyes. “You know your friend here is still pissed with our last match from a few years ago, where I fairly defeated him in the finals” “You still claiming, that you deserved it, even after these years” Adrien mentioned crossing his arms annoyed.

“I’m not claiming anything, just saying the truth” Raiden added making Adrien growl.

“Hey you two, close your mouths, people are looking at us” Jin warned the two, making Raiden smirk.

“Yeah, aren’t you supposed to be an idol to other people, since you’re a famous model?”

“I’m not a model anymore for your information. I quit,”

“Oh did you just think, if you would quit the model branch it would make you less weak or what?”

“And you think you’re better if you treat me like that?” Adrien asked glaring at the man, which just grinned in amusement at Adrien’s self-defense. “The only reason I quit modeling, was because I couldn’t stand, that my fangirls would come between me and Kagami, every time we were together. I did this for her, not for me!”

“Boohoo how sweet,” Raiden said, then Jin pushed Adrien back against the window of the bus.

“Hey come on leave him alone. Discuss this another day and in another place” Jin warned the two. “Please, just do it”

“Pont de l’Alma”

Raiden and Adrien stared at each other, then Adrien nodded and pressed on the stop button to warn the bus driver about his stop.

“Hey you know, I would be really interested to know, where you live, so we can one day discuss our issues and try to start again as nothing had ever happened to us”

“You’re kidding, aren’t you?” The blonde asked making the raven-haired Japanese shake his head.

“Come on, wouldn’t it be a great idea, if we two could at least get along with each other?” The fencing rival asked, seeing Adrien just glare at him. “Think about it, Adrian”

“Adrien with an e,”

“Oh excuse moi, mon Amie. I know many Adrian’s and you’re the only one to be different” Raiden asserted making Adrien frown unimpressed. “Merci beaucoup, Adrien,“

“De rien,” Adrien replied walking at the exit of the bus waiting for it to open the doors. Raiden walked behind Adrien and whispered into his ear.

“If I were you I would go with this idea, you don’t want me to make your life a hell don’t you?” Raiden asked, then got elbowed by the blonde and watched him leave.

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on between you and Adrien, but if you two need a third person to help you two out, I’m here”

“Thanks for your offer,” Raiden said observing Adrien cross the crosswalk heading to the Eiffel tower.

Nathaniel stood in the Dupain-Cheng bakery in the kitchen watching Luka glaze over a rectangle formed cake.

“Every time I’m here at the bakery I have the need to eat something. If I would work here I would be obese”

“You eat a lot of fast food and you don’t even take on weight” Luka mentioned glancing at the redhead. “To avoid getting fat here I skip the lunch”

“Okay, but do you once in a while grab yourself something, during the work?”

“Sure, without lunch you can practically not work good, but as long as I calm my stomach down with something, it’s fine”

“Good” Nathaniel answered watching Luka place the bowl with the white liquid down and grabbed a box he had nearby and took out marzipan carrots to put some over the cake.

“Luka one question…..how do you feel for your role as a father in the future when your child is born?” The redhead asked watching Luka close the box and pay attention to his friend. “I just wanted to talk to you about my insecurity about the fatherhood” Nathaniel began. “I already chatted with Lila about it, but I wanted to talk with you too since you spent half of your life taking care of Juleka,”

“I don’t really break my head about it. It’s just your mind, that’s overthinking. When your child is here your paternal instinct will get awake and you will know how to handle things. Maybe it will take a little while at the begin when you don’t know when does your baby want to eat if he’s lonely anything, but with the time you’ll know it and manage it without any problem”

“Okay, so if I fail at the start it’s not bad, cause I'm going to be doing for the next months the same things and I will get over it”

“Yeah, sort of…..hey you could get at the library a book about pregnancy and parenthood. There are a lot of information for you to know. It’s good to read it through”

“I’m not really a fan of reading, but I’ll do it for me and Lila,” “Of course, eventually there could be videos too if you don’t want to read the whole book” The raven-haired baker mentioned earning a nod from Nathaniel.

“Thank you, Luka”

“Don’t mention it” Luka replied, then behind him passed Marinette walking to the over, afterward opened the door and took out a muffin tray with beige muffins with melted cranberries and walked across the kitchen placing it on a table, then looked at the two friends and pointed at the muffins.

“Are you interested in trying one out Nath?” Marinette offered the redhead, which shrugged his shoulder making Luka chuckle.

“Don’t worry, they’re not poisoned,” Luka claimed jokingly making Nathaniel shake his head in amusement, then he looked behind him across the room to the reception of the bakery, where he saw a gray car being pursued by a police car.

“There’s a police pursuit” Nathaniel mentioned walking out of the bakery.

“I wonder, what happened,” Luka asked and at the entrance a woman entered and ran towards the reception.

“I was on my way to the bank and I witnessed on the way a car pursuing a money transporter being assaulted and they managed to take money from there”

“How?” Nathaniel asked shocked.

“I don’t know, they threw a sticky bomb I think at the door and it got blown away”

“Okay wait here, I’m going to call the police. Just stay here” Nathaniel warned the woman and disappeared on the door of the backside of the bakery, then Luka looked at Marinette, which nodded and the raven-haired followed after the redhead.

Nathaniel opened his jacket for his kwami to fly out and the two watched Luka close the door behind them after he met Nathaniel at the stairwell, followed by passing his hands over his polo removing the flour of him, followed by Karaa pass through the dust and sneezed.

“Bless you” Sass wished the kwami, which grinned embarrassedly.

“Thank you”

"Calling the police?" Luka asked making Nathaniel shrug.

"It was too late when I said it"

“Okay look, we better go out there, it’s going to be a little dangerous” Luka mentioned earning a nod from the three.

“Sass, Scales Slither!”

“Karaa, Stripes on!”

Luka and Nathaniel turned into Viperion and Super Nathan, then ran out together at the streets following the street, where the police car was miles in front of them.

Into the bakery from the stairwell appeared Marinette’s father dressed with the bakery clothing, then came across his daughter.

“Where can I help you?” Tom asked. “I just saw Luka along with your friend leaving”

“The carrot cake needs to be finished at the moment” Marinette answered earning a nod from his father, which walked to the cake of the son-in-law.

“Don’t worry ma’am, my wife will soon attend you” Mr. Dupain assured earning a nod from the customer.

Viperion and Super Nathan were still running behind the police car, then Super Nathan had an idea and stopped, then used his tablet to draw something on it and on the ground appeared a flat trolley and the two jumped on it, then both used their foot to move faster to the vehicle.

“Nice idea,” Viperion complimented while moving forward with the cart getting closer to the police car. Super Nathan jumped at the car grabbing himself of the noisy sirens, then observed the car in front of him. Viperion landed beside the art-themed superhero and looked at the criminals and noticed the co-driver put out his gun aiming Super Nathan.

“Watch out Nathaniel” Viperion warned moving the snakehead from his miraculous. “Second chance”

Super Nathan drew on his tablet a shield, which appeared in front of him and he placed it in front of himself and Luka, then the bullets ricochets on the shield.

“Hold the shield, I will try to erase his gun” Super Nathan said moving his tablet next to the shield with his camera out to catch the image on the display, then he used his stylon to erase the gun, which disappeared in real life making the gunner angry.

“One gun is down” Super Nathan mentioned looking over the shield thinking of a way to stop the car. “If we could find a way to have the sight to the side of the car I could erase their wheels”

“Can you draw something, that could stop the car like a heavy anvil?”

“It’s a little hard, since the car is moving, unless I would be there on the car” Super Nathan explained making Viperion think on a solution.

“I’ve got an idea, jump at their car and try it out” The snake-themed superhero suggested the redhead, who nodded at the idea of the friend.

“It’s worth trying” Super Nathan answered, then he jumped at the back of the gray vehicle and held himself on the small ski rack on the roof, then tried to draw on his tablet, but it got harder for him as the criminals started to move their vehicle from side to side, trying to shake him off.

“Whoa….Whoa…..stop….shaking off…..” Super Nathan complained drawing an unpleasant looking anvil, then beside him from the co-driver seat the hand of the criminal came out pointing a gun at Super Nathan, but before he could harm Super Nathan, Viperion hit the gunner with his lyre and the gunner had lost his gun on the road.

“Well done bro” Super Nathan said, then heard his miraculous beep warning him he was going to transform back into his civilian self. “NO!” Super Nathan shouted, flying out of the roof, landing on the ground and the police car passed beside him and Viperion jumped down on the floor to watch Super Nathan transform back into Nathaniel Kurtzberg.

“Not again!” Nathaniel complained, then Karaa sank her head in disappointing her owner.

“I’m sowwy,” Karaa apologized to the redhead.

“It’s alright Karaa, we will see with Marinette why this happened again, “ Viperion comforted the white kwami, which nodded and embraced Nathaniel on his arm.

“You okay?” The kwami asked earning a nod from the adult.

“Go behind them Luka, they need your help,” Nathaniel told the friend, then heard a car brake hard and the two looked down on the street a garbage truck blocking the street to prevent the criminals to move on.

“Good guys” Viperion mentioned, then he widened his eyes as he saw on the top of the truck Cat Noir appearing waving down at the criminals, therefore the police behind them ran at the vehicle with their guns pointing at the criminals, ordering the two to get out.

“Good, Adrien must have heard about it and rolled out too,” Viperion

“At least they got stopped now”

“Yeah and now uhm….let’s hide in that impasse. It’s better for us two to walk home as our normal us’ instead of me carrying you because people could find out about your identity”

“I think people might know it, because they know Lila’s…..or they’re too blind to get it”

“If no one has spoken to you about your identity then yes or they don’t really care about it”

“I wouldn’t be surprised though. I’m not a famous model or anything”

“Yes, but you’re a superhero”

“Yes, but I believe they won’t say anything, because they could get in danger or we could”

“You’re right Nathaniel, let’s head back home” Viperion ordered running into the next alley to destransform back into his civilian self.

[authorlmfletcher]

Luka, Kagami, and Our Favourite Love Square

{My rambling thoughts on the craziness that currently is Miraculous Ladybug.}

Because apparently, the complexity of the original love square in this show wasn’t enough, the show has now added additional love interests for both our favourite main characters: Luka for Marinette and Kagami for Adrien - (who already has to deal with unwanted advances from Lila and Chloe too!)

Let’s start with Marinette. 

Marinette’s character seems to struggle a lot with self-worth and seeing the value of who she is. This is one of the main things that holds her back from Adrien, I think. We’re currently watching her become more and more confident in herself through the show, and her interactions with Adrien are becoming more relaxed. 

Her love for him has moved from the sweet loving moment we saw in the umbrella scene to incredibly obsessive (50 years of presents? knowing every moment of his schedule? teaming up with her arch-enemy Chloe to interfere with Kagami?). I remember being a young teen and crushing hard on boys. I remember writing my name with their last name and watching them shyly through my eyelashes. I remember knowing what classes they were taking. But I totally think her obsession with Adrien is unhealthy - even if it's just the shows way of demonstrating to us that she loves him. 

Marinette also lets her emotions run freely - she allows them to burst out reactively, whether it is anger, joy, passion, panic, creativity.... she just goes 110% with everything. This is something that even Tikki is working on with her. We see that when she is almost akumatized in the bathroom - Tikki reminding her to be in control of her emotions. 

Enter Luka. 

Luka is exactly what Marinette needs right now.

He is a calming, gentle spirit to her explosively emotional one. He appreciates and respects her creative side. He sees her for the value that she is. And, most importantly, he is able to share with her how he feels about HER. Not her as Ladybug. Marinette. He is helping her build that self-worth. He doesn’t seem to have any serious expectations or requirements from her while still being open to sharing his own feelings. 

His attention on her as a person is somewhat taking her obsession off Adrien, which - I think is going to be important in the long run, because who can really have a real relationship with someone who they have put on an unrealistic pedestal of perfection??

All this considered, I believe Luka is the character Marinette needs to be able to grow in herself and to be able to move from obsessed fan-girl of Adrien Agreste. Moving Adrien from pedestal to friend is going to make a huge difference in their ability to love each other over time.

It’s easy to see why there is a fan base for the Lukanette relationship.

Even if that means it’s messing up our beloved love square now. 

Now let’s talk about Adrien.

 Adrien’s character is broken. 

Let’s face it - anyone who has gone through what he has unscathed isn’t human.

He, too, struggles with self-worth and being able to be himself. He has been rejected over and over: his mom left him / vanished (or so he thinks), his dad isn’t good at affection and is controlling, Nathalie as a surrogate parent has limitations on how she can show she cares since she’s technically an employee, Ladybug won’t accept his advances. He is expected to act a specific way as the son of Gabriel Agreste - “perfect.” Imagine the pressure of that!

Plus, how would he ever be able to fully know is anyone loves him for himself or for his name/money/fame? 

He has to deal with Chloe’s constant over-dramatic affections - which he knows aren’t real feelings because she just fawns over him like an accessory. And then Lila, too, because she’s all about getting attention, and who better to get attention with than with someone famous. Ladybug’s constant rejection of him seems to confirm that he’s not worth the love, even if he’s happy to have her as a friend. 

Ladybug is just as high on the pedestal for Adrien as he is for Marinette. It’s the same unrealistic view of someone else’s perfection. 

Adrien’s character is typically submissive, doing what he’s told all the time without much argument, doing what everyone else expects out of him, head-down and soft-spoken.

Enter Kagami.

Kagami is more than aware of the pressure of being a perfect child. We see how her mother treats her and her expectations of being the best - similar to Adrien. Being from the same social status level, they are able to interact freely without parental disapproval.

In contrast to Adrien, she is aggressive and strong. This is important for Adrien’s character development because she is pushing him to stand up for himself and to take a closer look at his feelings. 

She treats him on equal footing - something he desperately needs for his value of himself, being liked for himself, not for his fame. 

Unlike Ladybug, Kagami is available and interested. She’s not something unobtainable. She’s right there and she’s willing. Adrien hasn’t put her on the pedestal that he has with his spotted superhero idol.

I don’t think that the vilification of this character has been fair. Kagami is exactly what Adrien needs to believe in his own worth, to learn that people can love him for real, to become more assertive, and to get his misguided perception of Ladybug settled down. It might even help him see Marinette better because he won’t be as blinded. 

What about our love square? 

This is the hardest part of the whole thing - especially if you are a shipper of any part of the square. Right now, these two are needing to develop themselves outside of that square in order to be better within the square. It means that we are going to struggle as we watch them in relationships with other people until they are ready to be with each other. 

Character development is so important. Even if it hurts.

They are young. (So young!). They have lots of time to still find themselves, find each other, and live happily ever after. Even if we wish it could be now because we all are so incredibly invested.

As we continue down the adventures for Season 3, I’m interested to see how it all plays out. These two youngens deserve only the best. <3 

[karama9]

ML Sugar and commentary: Animaestro

So it turns out I still don’t have the kind of follow-through ability required to do one of these for every episode of season 2, even though they do all deserve it, but I wanted to quickly go through Animaestro... for pretty much the same reason this started in the first place: thanks to people tagging their salt (much appreciated btw), I can void most of it, but nobody can be expected to remember all the time, and I don’t have the tag blocked on twitter, so I still stumble upon some of it.

Which means I want to re-establish some balance!

So, right from the first scene, we get two big treats: the PV is now an actual movie in the ML verse, and we got a great Ladynoir/Marichat (it’s Marinette but she’s kind of reacting as Ladybug) moment: Marinette reacted to the movie title having Cat Noir’s name before hers, and to the idea that Ladybug couldn’t do anything without Cat Noir, and to the idea that she was afraid of cats... by protesting she was not afraid of cats.

Cat Noir gets first billing? No problem there, they’re a team, he’s just as important as she is so it doesn’t matter either way. Pushing it to saying she can’t do anything without him? No problem either. She does need him. This whole scene shows how highly she’s come to think of him and I love it. Master Fu has been clear that he sees her as the leader and he relies on her more, she knows she’s the one who purifies the akumas, she knows she’s the one who’s picked allies so far. But it doesn’t detract from the fact she sees Cat as an equal and an essential ally. She’s not just saying that when he asks her whether he can be replaced, she means it from the bottom of her heart and this one little line in this one little scene proves it.

(On a lighter note, is her supposed fear of cats going to be a joke when she uses the mouse miraculous?)

Kagami scaring away Chloe was very cathartic. I really like Kagami as a character... she’d be too overbearing for me to enjoy her company in real life, but she’s a wonderful example of strength and confidence. And I really want to know what her Mom and Gabriel are up to! 

Adrien being a perfect little gentleman but being nervous enough to not think of just brushing the crumbs off the chair was touching. I don’t think it’s out of feelings for Kagami... it’s about expectations. Must. Be. Perfect. Eep! Dirty Chair! No, no, not acceptable! Adrien.exe has stopped working.

And speaking of dirty chair... how do we all feel about Marinette teaming up with Chloe to, basically, attempt to embarrass Kagami and drive Adrien away from her? I’ve seen some salt (as I mentioned above) and I know many fans feels like the girls are being made to act petty more than the guys and that it’s not cool.

I disagree. Yes, Marinette and Chloe are misbehaving here. Yes, it was a bad idea. And yes, it was out of the fear of losing Adrien, so, over a love interest. The part I disagree with is the idea that the show keeps showing girls being mean to each other over crushes while all the guys are cool as cucumbers and do not act out because they’re in love.

The main villain is terrorizing Paris and willing to hurt as many people as it takes to get his love back. Andre Bourgeois does whatever it takes to secure the love of his wife and daughter. Cat Noir lies about his relationship with Ladybug to chase away a potential rival. Theo gets akumatized because he’s jealous. Nino chooses to stay with Alya in Zombizou rather than continue to try and help Ladybug solve the crisis. Ivan’s insecurities over his crush for Mylene led to StoneHeart. Kim decided that if he couldn’t have Chloe, nobody could have love.

It’s all romantic, and of course I don’t think Ivan, Kim or Nino are bad people, I most certainly don’t, but it’s all guys putting their love above everyone else’s interest. A lot of it is a big step above pranking your rival.

It’s also a theme. The show is all about emotions potentially leading to bad actions, and over and over again, we see that even love can be the catalyst. Did I mention the MAIN VILLAIN is acting out of love? And it’s not excused. It’s just a fact. That’s his motivation, and he chose to allow it to make him Hawkmoth and he chooses to hurt people for it.

Remember Star Wars? The Jedi are supposed to deny themselves romantic entanglement because love leads to fear, and fear leads to hate, and hate leads to the dark side? This is literally what’s happening in this show. Repeatedly. I’m not saying Thomas is taking inspiration from Star Wars, they’re both just drawing from the same idea that strong emotions can impair judgement and can also induce selfishness. It’s human nature. 

And Marinette is not immune. Never has been. She’s been irrational about Adrien since day 1. Her and her friends pranked Gorilla to try and get a date, and also caused trouble for Roger by getting him involved. And this time, the stakes were artificially inflated because Marinette didn’t act out of fear Adrien might get closer to Kagami or just out of the desire to get closer to him - thanks to her famously overactive imagination and Chloe feeding into it, she convinced herself she might lose Adrien forever through his moving away. 

Love led to fear, which led to desperate actions. 

Now I actually like that this happened, because in the long run, when Marinette finds out what Hawkmoth is after, it’s going to hit very close to home. She’ll relate. She knows what it’s like to love someone so much that being with them suddenly justifies things nothing else would. She’ll either be conflicted on whether or not he’s all that bad after all, or she’ll realize she sinned too and learn to control her own emotions better. Quite possibly both.

And it’s not just the girls being like that. The guys are too and much more dramatically. So I don’t feel like it’s the girls being badly written. They’re written realistically, with love making them lose sight of the bigger picture. 

So between the fun moments, the awesome akuma (seriously, how cool were those 2D transformations and references?? Very cool, that’s how cool), and Marinette struggling with her heart and getting not akumatized but led astray by her emotions and fears, I really enjoyed this episode.

And if someone tells you Marinette is written as doing bad things because she’s a girl and that it’s sexist writing, please remember that Gabriel Agreste, a man, is not putting cakes on chairs: he’s turning people into monsters and letting them try and destroy the city and hurt and/or kill people. With the hope that Ladybug will NOT be able to stop them, so it’s not like he knows it will all be reversed anyway. And if you need a non super villain example, Mayor Bourgeois is constantly committing injustice out of love for his family. He’s also a man. Both act much worse than Marinette ever did and they don’t have the excuse of still being a kid who also happens to live under more stress than average.