#tomoe tsurugi's a+ parenting

[celestialtitania]

okay, but let's bring back the cabbage patch doll babies from earlier this season for a sec. they weren't "real" children either, but the pure love chat noir and ladybug had for them compared to the terrible shit kagami, felix, and adrien's parent have done to them? like when the effect of the wish ended, chat was feral because of how much he loved their kids, even though they had never existed beyond their dreams.

And here? here we have flesh and bone kids who are treated like crap for absolutely no reason at all, other than the fact they want to live their own lives.

tldr: the parent's behavior has nothing to do with the "humanity" or realness of the child and everything to do with the attitude of the parent. the kids being sentis changes nothing

[uptoolateart]

Audrey got him going in fashion.

Tomoe apparently put him where he is now, as Monarch.

Nathalie destroyed herself for him.

Emilie probably made Adrien and died to give Gabriel a son.

The akuma victims do all the fighting.

Adrien brings in the money, as a model.

Gabriel is just a leech!

[gameguy20100]

You know.

Considering how terrible of a mother Tomoe is.

Kagami’s first period must have been horrifying.

[miraculousfanworks]

Fanfiction Prompt

(inspired by the image below) tomoe takes kagami's phone away after a poor performance at a fencing tournament. kagami, irritated with this punishment and desperate for human connection while she's grounded, tries to find other ways to access the internet and social media. these other devices also get taken away from her as tomoe disovers what she's doing, and in the end she's forced to message people from the smart fridge in the kitchen.

Prompt by linerle

[escaping-thoughts-reviews]

Arranged marriage? Come on dude... I can expect it from Tomoe (arranged marriages are still a thing in Japan, especially for rich families), but you married for love. Adrien is still a kid. Let him be.

[comixandco]

my favourite part of season 5 is still the reveal that Gabriel and Tomoe thought Adrien and Kagami made the perfect pair and wanted them to be together because it completely flips their relationship

Kagami and Adrien sneaking around and finding the slightest gaps in their schedule and giving their bodyguards/parents the slip to spend time together and feeling so clever that they’ve gotten away with it their parents don’t suspect a thing

only to smashcut to Gabriel and Tomoe doing an evil pound it because their ship is canon

[iwasbored777]

Gabriel and Tomoe hating kids so much that it's not enough for them to abuse their own kids they are moving onto other people's kids and legit having time of their lives while doing so ☠️☠️☠️☠️

[susannaius]

Adrien: "I know everyone wants to see us happy together." … "The important thing is that we feel good when we are together."

Just look at Tomoe's face! I don't remember ever seeing such a genuine smile on her face. She is so happy!

But then the misunderstanding clears up in the next sentence and she completely loses it. Which means she wasn't happy for her daughter, she was happy (thinking) that things were going her way.

Also, may I add that at this point Adrien and Kagami have not been dating for months (probably for more time they spent together anyway), and neither of these excellent examples of human trash has realised that. (Not even Gabe, who was busy writhing in pain just an episode earlier while his son was facetiming his actual girlfriend.)

Bonus: I love everything written for maximum misunderstanding, and the creator team executed it with flying colours, so kudos to them.

[alexseanchai]

when Tomoe says she'll destroy Gabriel's dream, does she mean his son? or his reputation, and/or hopes for restoring Emilie, and/or plans for obtaining more power and control?

because Tomoe could anonymously tip off the police and/or Ladybug about Monarch's identity. very easily.

[wallflowerfangirl]

It just hit me that in some ways, Tomoe's betrayal to Kagami hurts worse bc Kagami told her Mom she was a superhero and yet she still worked with Gabriel anyways.

[fortuna-et-cataclysmos]

In defense of s5 finale

I hear and see a lot of people expressing dislike of the season finale, some also in the tags and comments of my analysis/speculation posts. So I wanted to further expand on this.

Gabriel's victory -being remembered a hero despite everything wrong he did, especially abuse to Adrien- has left a sour taste in many people's mouth; many blaming the scenarists and not shying away from calling it "bad writing."

But I think that that was exactly what the scenarists wanted to do? The perfect world Gabriel leaves behind is unsettling, unfair, and I think that the creators have done their best to show that implicitly but clearly. I think that we are supposed to be irked by the finale.

Why do I think that? Because there were a lot of small things that gave the message that, as @emsylcatac iconically put it, "this is the bad place." I touched upon some of those in my previous post on how this was a victory for Gabriel and Lila, and a defeat for Ladybug. I'll try to list them more clearly here.

Gabriel a hero

This is the one thing everyone has the most problem with. At the end, Gabriel was declared the hero who gave his life to defeat the Monarch, who was none other than himself. Some artistic choices here are so over the top that I believe they were specifically made to irk us.

If the silver statue itself wasn't enough, the exact quote of Caline Bustier is:

All the rings that have been highjacked by the Monarch have been recycled into a statue in honour of the great Gabriel Agreste.

Then Tsurugi Tomoe goes on to say:

Beyond the visionary entrepreneur and genius creator that he was, we are celebrating a hero today.

See, everything bad about Gabriel has been flipped. If you count literally exploiting people visionary entrepreneurship, sure, he was that. And genius? He couldn't get the miraculouses of two teenagers for an entire year despite having all the resources, and he ended up succeeding only with the help of another extremely powerful person (Tsurugi Tomoe) and even then he ended up dying himself.

As of creator, he was literally a destructor. He destroyed Paris more times than anyone can count, and everything was fixed every time only thanks to Ladybug. Let's not also forget how he destroyed the Miraculouses to exploit their power.

Adrien's comment about his father

This is another thing many people have had problem with. It is so outrageous that I won't believe the creators would expect us to take at face value.

At the end, Adrien acknowledges that his father died to take down the Monarch, and says:

I don't know if one day I'll manage to become like him.

Lo and behold, the man who had emotionally neglected and abused his son to no end has turned into the said son's hero and role model. Adrien not only looks up to him, but also wants to make an active effort to become like him. Hell, he even doubts if he can be as good as him.

No way this line can taken at face value. There are many children's shows with abusive parental figures nowadays (like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, the Owl House) that have all handled the conclusion to that abuse generally well. The watchers' expectations are high in this respect; the scenarists would know that such conclusion, if not ironic, would not satiate the expectations of the spectators.

Lack of accountability: Gabriel and Tomoe

As many many people have pointed out, the general lack of accountability in this season finale is infuriating. So Gabriel mentally tortured THE ENTIRE WORLD POPULATION and not only never faced consequences in life, but also is remembered as a hero in death?

What about Tomoe?

Not only she has not faced any repercussion for being basically a supervillain, but also she is still a respected public figure who can go and make a speech backed by the mayor, in front of the freaking French flag. If that doesn't irk you, I don't know what will.

Worse is that, she goes as far as saying in her speech that:

I'll make sure to continue his legacy.

So she'll continue to be evil. Great hint that she'll continue being an antagonist in season 6.

As you can see, the new world that has been created is extremely unfair and problematic. No way this can be "the good place," an actual "happy ending."

Everything is fixed! No problems anymore!

Also, you'd realise that the world is perfect, a little too perfect. It is like a green utopian dream.

Caline Bustier has been the mayor "only for a few weeks" (direct quote from the episode), and she has already fixed all the problems possible in Paris. Not only that, she has also solved inequality and class struggle (again, mentioned by herself). Let's make Caline the President of the World already.

Funny that LITERALLY ALL THE PROBLEMS of a city could be solved, while the exact same episode showed Majestia, the freaking Supergirl of the ML universe, acknowledged in her nightmare that:

Even with all my superpowers, I'll never manage to solve all the problems of the world.

Well, Bustier says that she has no superpower, that people working together can accomplish that. Kudos to her and her democratic spirit. But like, perfect city in a few weeks? Even Mayor Bourgeois who wanted to send all the trash of Paris to space would realise that that's impossible.

There is no perfect solution, yet the world is perfect

Ladybug acknowledges that there is no perfect solution to Gabriel's situation. Trying to bring back his wife, he has caused irreparable damage to himself and to Nathalie, effectively leaving Adrien an orphan. He still hopes that Ladybug can fix it all. But she can't because of the nature of the wish: for one thing gained, another thing should be lost. In Ladybug's words:

There is no perfect wish. Every time a power is used for personal gain, it causes catastrophes. (...) We'll find a solution, but it will never be as perfect as one would wish.

Interesting, given that the world ends up being completely perfect?

All the problems are solved, literally everyone is happy, Marinette and Adrien are finally together. But the wish was made for personal gain, no? So where are the consequences? Where is equivalent exchange? The catastrophe, the price of the perfect, green, just world? I think we'll see that in season 6.

The dream world

The new world is seriously giving me weird vibes. Like it is a movie set. For those who have watched The Good Place, you'd know how in the town everything feels a bit too bright, artificial, perfect. I get the same vibes from the post-wish world.

The Agreste mansion is covered by green vines?? Way to hide the atrocities that were planned and happened here.

Here is a screengrab I found on the internet from The Good Place (the ladybug is a funny coincidence lol)

I am getting the exact same vibes!

Also, I have expanded on that in my post on "running out of time" theme, but basically in the ML universe usually the "real" stuff are associated with the night and the rain while things that happen in the sun turn out to be fake or erased/forgotten. So the feeling that I get from this finale is that, this new "perfect" world is not genuine; that the seeming happiness it brings will be soon destroyed (I doubt erased), just as it happened in other fake reality episodes like Chat Blanc, Ephemeral, Oblivio, or Jubilation. As I argued before, this is not a permanent victory. Hell, it isn't even a real victory, not with the secret Marinette is left to keep from Adrien.

Not a real victory

Another thing that makes me think that this ending is not genuine is the lack of Chat Noir in the finale. Yes, I am a fervent Ladynoir stan who was hoping for some Ladynoir action (if not reveal) and was hugely disappointed by the lack of Chat's engagement in the final fight, but now that I think of it, this may have been on purpose.

Notice how in Conformation, Ladybug says:

Our only way to win against him is to fight him together.

And yet, soon thereafter, she is catapulted into a fight with the Monarch.

Notice also it wasn't her choice to unify the miraculouses and face the Monarch alone. She had to, because Chat Noir wasn't there.

Let's remember that this show spent the entire season 4 explaining how Ladybug assuming all the responsibility alone leads to disaster, how she needs Chat Noir to share the burden with him.

Let's also remember how in season 5, especially at the beginning of it, we see Ladybug change her behaviour towards Chat Noir: she gives him more responsibilities (the Bunny Miraculous, the identity of certain holders if I am not mistaken), and how at one point she confesses that Chat Noir has been very serious and responsible lately (and then promptly develops a crush on him).

So taking on the Monarch herself is really against everything they have built up in season 4 and the beginning of season 5. That's why I think that this "victory" is so wrong: it was "won" only by Ladybug. Maybe if Chat Noir were there, he would have prevented the Monarch from making the wish (hypothetically, then we would have an entirely different timeline). If his identity were revealed the way Marinette's was, Gabriel could have controlled him through his amok. In any case, their defeat or victory would have looked very different from this.

In the end, we must remember that this world is far from being a victory for Ladybug: she has, after all, LOST. She couldn't stop Gabriel from making the wish. And while this world looks perfect, and we got what seems like a forever happy after ending for Adrinette, their happiness is set in a non-genuine victory and world.

So I think we shouldn't be angry with the show-runners: there is a reason why this ending feels and is wrong. If it were all wonderful, it wouldn't be the season finale. It would be the finale, period. And I believe that everything that has been disturbing us in this season finale will be addressed, if not consist of the core conflict of season 6. Let's all take a deep breath and turn to fan fiction or fan art till we get the new season now :) (at least that's what I'll do lol)

[uptoolateart]

One last one before we get new episodes (!!!).

So, this whole 'those two were made for each other' business becomes really interesting when we hear Gabriel and Tomoe say that Adrien and Kagami were 'made for each other, just like we planned' and 'perfection calls for perfection'.

In the most literal sense...it's Adrigami who were made for each other. Seen from that angle, Adrinette are actually breaking the programming...even if they are bending to some more mysterious influence.

Gabriel and Tomoe imagine that they can shape and control destiny - that they are the highest power. And whenever mortals develop that kind of delusion, the universe throws some wild cards into the mix.

Enter Felix. He definitely wasn't 'made' for Kagami, even if he looks like the boy who was...but he seems to be for her anyway. He's a mixed up ball of emotion - the perfect complement for a girl groomed to believe emotions are a weakness. She tempers him and he sets her free. There was no way she could have been with Adrien. They're too alike. Of course he needed someone like Marinette, his wild card who allows him to be just a normal boy.

Perfection doesn't exist - and no one is drawn to their exact likeness. Remember 'Kagami' means mirror, and if you stare in a mirror all the time, you start noticing all your flaws. Good relationships are founded just as much on our differences as our similarities. That's how we grow - we learn from each other.

We can't know why things happen as they do, or even be certain there is a reason (though I like to think there is). The adults can't truly control the paths of their children - and this even applies to Marinette's family, where Sabine might be the only one not carrying a clear vision of who she hopes Marinette will be. No parent controls their child's destiny. No parent is a god.

In trying to divide Adrinette, Gabriel claims it's all done so Adrigami can have their happily ever after. Gabriel clearly can't see that he's the wicked witch in this fairy tale. (Imagine him as your fairy godmother.) What the kids keep demonstrating is that it's up to us to find our own happy ending - and it just might take others by surprise.

Please no post-Revelation spoilers in comments :)

[gameguy20100]

So, rewatching the old seasons, I noticed something.

It's all but confirmed that Kagami is a sentimonster, and this ring she always wears is her Amok. Felix could clearly sense it when he took her hand. And despite the fact she's been akumatized several times, Tomoe only got angry at Gabriel when he akumatized her using this. Saying he put Kagami’s life at risk.

In her first appearance in Riposte, however, Kagami is wearing this black ring.

So, I can only conclude one thing.

Tomoe deliberately made Kagami leave her Amok behind. So Gabriel could akumatize her without risking her Amok being destroyed.

Tomoe used her own daughter as a pawn in Gabriel's sick game. This woman, is the worst.

[kisilinramblings]

Why are people surprised that Tomoe is working with Gabriel though? I mean, that she is far more than a simple business partner and is involved with Gabriel’s secret and the Miraculous?

Animaestro was the introduction to us that Gabriel and Tomoe had discussion about how their business could use a partnership that would be beneficial for both.

Nathalie : Adrien, you’re expected to welcome the Tsurugis.

Tomoe : Gabriel-san, per our discussion at our last meeting, I’ve brought these documents.

Marinette : Adrien? Japan? There’s no way! Chloé : You think? They’re going to the movies together, their parents are signing papers together.

Back to season 2, we never learn the reason why the Tsurugis left Japan to live in Paris in the first place either.  

During Feast, after the Guardians of the Miraculous temple is brought back, Tomoe is shown listenning to the news report alongside with Gabriel, Nathalie and Audrey. All adults who had contact with Miraculous. (Gabriel and Nathalie for obvious reasons, Audrey with Queen Wasp.

This was the biggest give away to us that Tomoe had some interests to the Miraculous as well, alongside the main villain. 

Also, all new technological devices shown on screen from S4 and onward that Gabriel uses are branded with the Tsurugis logo. Like we see during the episodes Gabriel Agreste and Optigami. 

Even the self-driving car he uses during the New York Special is from the Tsurugi’s brand... which is an undercover mission from him.

Those Tsurugi’s products don’t appear in casual episodes either. Highly private business dinner with tight security? Spy work? Undercover mission?

Meaning Gabriel trusts Tsurugi products for whatever he is doing and that Tomoe and her company has all the tech and minds to give him whatever he needs for the job. And I don’t think “money” is the sole factor influencing Tomoe to be helping out Gabriel. 

[jacquesthepigeon]

Tomoe said she divorced Kagami’s other parent but actually if you were to pan down to the Tsurugi basement-

Djshhsjssiahid but did she really

[celestiall0tus]

Siren's Song

It's time. Siren's Song has finished its changes and it's time to reveal the revised story for y'all. Let's crack into it:

"Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future." - Charles F. Kettering

Synopsis:

The world is drawn between the old and new, the need to evolve and progress that clashes with the desperate desire to cling to the past. This worldview and mindset are challenged when a villain by the name of Grandeur seeks to usher in a new age, creating a clear canvas for the new world by erasing the past.

Characters:

Kagami/Lady Beetle – Daughter of Tomoe Tsurugi/Grandeur. She was brought up in an environment surrounded by the best of the best technology, always pushing for the latest. When Grandeur makes their appearance, Kagami is presented with the ladybug earrings by Tomoe and encouraged to help Grandeur. She immediately sides with Grandeur, believing it to be the best course of action to provide everyone with the kind of life she had enjoyed.

Ivan/Razor – A delinquent teen that comes from a single parent household with his father, who is an absentee drunk. He has developed a massive chip on his shoulder as he engages in illegal and gang activities. When Grandeur arrives, Ivan finds the black cat on some of Grandeur's supporters. He takes the ring and chooses to take his trouble to a new scale.

Ondine/Siren – A prodigy singer and swimmer. When she isn't honing her swimming prowess, she is tutored by Nathalie Sancoeur, a former lounge singer that was famous before the legendary Neith. She is given Duusu by Nathalie to make her debut as Siren when Grandeur comes into the picture. Ondine falls into the neutral side, not wanting to pick a side in the fight.

Mylene/Honey Bee – A wicca teen/green witch. She is always there to defend nature and help those who seek her potions and remedies. She is working to set up a coven to aid people with her 'magic.' She finds Pollen while exploring a new age secondhand shop while looking for ingredients and reagents for her practices. She aims to assist the heroes with Pollen.

Luka/Maestro – A musical theater kid whose soul and heart is music. Luka's entire life has revolved around music as he longs to share his songs with the world, telling stories and invoking emotions with simple instrumental pieces. He discovers Trixx while window shopping for music supplies when he finds Trixx's necklace. When Grandeur announces their takeover, Luka fights to preserve the past works and great artists of history.

Marinette/Iridescent – The beautiful daughter of the greatest baker in Paris, female face for the Agreste brand, but also the lovechild of Gabriel Agreste. Ever the perfect child, always doing as her parents tell her. Sabine confides in Marinette the truth and begs Marinette help her in aiding her and Gabriel in remaking the world so they could be a proper family at long last. She is given Nooroo by Sabine and Gabriel.

Adrien/Scourge – The heir of the Agreste legacy and fortune, son of Gabriel and Emilie Agreste. Despite appearances, Gabriel has long turned his back on Adrien, preferring his lovechild (unknown to Adrien) over Adrien. He would help the heroes to destroy his family’s legacy. Given his miraculous by his mother, Emilie.

Zoe/Wyvern – Lovechild of Audrey Bourgeois and Zack Lee. She was taken from her father at a young age, living with her mother, half-sister, and stepfather. She often sheltered under Chloe’s constant overprotective paranoia after she had vanished once at a nature preserve, where she encountered a dragon (the kwami Longg). Since then, Zoe has been an advocate for nature and often returning when she’s able to see the dragon again. Meets with Longg again and gets the miraculous.

Juleka/Banshee – A wicca attuned to ghosts, spirits, and other ethereal entities. She is an empath (just like her twin brother). She would fight against Grandeur to preserve the natural world and the connection of spirits with the land. Finds Styx's necklace in a graveyard.

Rose/Venus – A star ballerina that loves the classics. Graceful and beautiful like a swan, she is the prize of her academy. She fights against Grandeur to preserve the art of ballet and the classics. She will have had Psyche since a young age after find Psyche's discarded armlet in a secondhand shop.

Chloe/Mariana – A natural born leader and overprotective sister. She leads with a fair and just hand, taking into account everything and everyone as much as possible, but fears for their safety, especially her sister, Zoe, the one light in her life. She fights alongside Grandeur to create a safer world.

Felix/Aetolian – The only child of Amelie and Colt Fathom. He follows in Amelie’s family legacy and aims to be an actor more as personal preference but as a slight to Colt, refusing to follow Colt’s business. He fights against Grandeur to preserve the plays of old. Was given his miraculous by Amelie.

Nino/Director– A DJ and aspiring director. He fights alongside Grandeur to carve out a new world and ideas in the filming industry. Will switch sides later down the line but starts as a villain.

Sabrina/Seeker – A young teen with a bright, inquisitive mind. She is always on the lookout for new knowledge about the past, loving the secrets that are buried deep. When Grandeur announces their takeover, Sabrina leaps at the chance to preserve the past that has yet to be unearthed. She finds Min's bracelet at a curio shop.

Lila/Pettirosso – A Primadona drama queen with a natural talent for starting drama and watching the show unfold. While visiting her mom in Paris, Grandeur announces their takeover. Lila sees it as the perfect opportunity to start trouble, helping neither side in the war.

Alix/Megalodon – A teen with a unique perspective on time. Having found her kwami's miraculous while a young age, she has had a different view on time and history compared to others. When Grandeur emerges, Alix is quick to jump into the fight to preserve all of history and time.

Alya/Oblivion – A comic book nerd with aspirations of being a reporter. Alya loves to search for scoops to the point of hyperfixation. She struggles often with focusing and her memory, leading her to forget a lot of things. While investigating Grandeur and the rise of other superpowered people, she finds Lethe's miraculous. She is eager to join to the fight, but she remembers her comics of the bad caused by heroes and villains fighting. She fears what she stands to lose if she or her family are caught up in the fight, choosing to use Lethe's powers to help people forget to keep them safe and happy.

Marc/Eros – A romance writer that loves everything romance. He fights against Grandeur to preserve the classics and other works of the genre he loves to write and read. He finds Barkk's miraculous along with Luka finding Trixx's miraculous while they are out shopping.

Aurore/Sea Breeze – An aspiring photographer that assists Alya with her blog and many others with their tasks. She lives by her grandmother's words that every memory is precious, good and bad, and nothing is worth forgetting. She makes sure to capture every moment she can with photos, journals, scrapbooks, etc. When Grandeur emerges, she is quick to assist the people in reminding them of what must never be forgotten and what they could stand to lose if they side with Grandeur.

Nathaniel/Belphegor– An artist with a lax work ethic. He puts little thought and effort into the war, but steps in when it disrupts his dreaming and drawing.

Colt/Lyncus – Husband of Amelie Fathom and father of Felix Fathom. He is a massive American business tycoon with his mind fully on his business. On the front, he is neutral as he deals with armed weapons, but as Lyncus, he fights against Grandeur, having a Carmilla Carmine mentality (Want to avoid all out war to preserve the things he loves).

Amelie/Artemis – Wife of Colt Fathom and mother of Felix Fathom. She and Colt were arranged into their marriage, and while they don’t love each other romantically, they have a deep, endearing friendship. When Emilie joins the fight against Grandeur, Amelie joins her twin. Hero

Emilie/Eleutheria – Wife of Gabriel Agreste and mother of Adrien Agreste. She has been trapped in a loveless marriage, convinced that Gabriel has long since fallen out of love with her. When Grandeur enters the picture, she fights against them, convinced that Gabriel sided with Grandeur.

Max/Formica – A teen always on top of cutting edge technology. He helps Grandeur by feeding him information about the heroes, pretending to be one of them.

Tomoe/Grandeur – Tomoe was born into the world blinded to it. Despite her disability, she learned how to thrive in a world that was hard on her. She grew up listening to tales of sci-fi and the world around her that she could only imagine. She held onto this idea of what the world was until she stumbled upon Vana, kwami of imagination. With Vana, she was granted the ability to see and that her reality did not meet her imagination. She fell into a depression until Vana shared the promise of making that world a reality. Over the years, she's worked with Vana to make her vision of the world become a reality and to usher in a new age.

Gabriel/Golem– Husband of Emilie Agreste, top fashion designer, and lover to Sabine Cheng. He sides with Grandeur to usher in a world where he can be with Sabine and Marinette. He will have his miraculous from when he used it before with the swan of souls.

Nathalie/Neith – A lounge singer and blackmailer. She works for Grandeur, while feeding information to the heroes. Has had her miraculous for years.

Sabine/Weaver– The wife of the best baker in Paris and mistress to Gabriel Agreste. The two have had a decades long affair that resulted in Marinette. She fights for Grandeur to usher in a new world where she and Gabriel can be together. Is given her miraculous by Gabriel.

Collab of the Fans:

This, at its core, is a crack au. This is a mix of ideas that have come from mutuals, followers, and anyone that stumbled upon anything regarding Siren's Song. You've all waited and now it's time. We have a story at long last and can finally move forward. A lot has been set in, but I will always have my ask box open for anyone that wants to make a suggestion.

Acknowledgements:

For all those that had a hand in creating this crack au, you'll find them here at the Siren's Song Acknowledgements