#Actual Marinette salt | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

liquid-luck-00 · 2 months

Text

Red Binding 1

Maribat March Day 1: Origins

@maribat-calendar-events @maribatserver

Trigger for implied neglect, blood, and violence towards a minor

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette was, what most would consider a normal, happy, child. But that was far from the truth.

She was ten when she finally noticed something was off.

Her parents as much as she loved them and they said that they loved her. Never made time for her. Never asked more than how was her day, so she would ramble about anything and everything. She never had a curfew and her parents never seemed to worry. That's when the bullying began.

She was eleven when she recognized that the bakery was the top priority and not her.

Her school life was in shambles. Her friendships were strung by a thread, with even a whisper from Chloé, they would abandon her.

So when a small box appeared in her room, at the age of twelve, and from it a small red creature asked her to leave with them she agreed. They talked for hours, extending for days (a bit over a week in total), before she was truly good and ready to leave Paris. They spoke about their lives (existence in Tikki’s case), the powers and responsibilities that would be placed upon Marinette, but most of that time they enjoyed one another’s presence.

The creature listened to her, actually listened to what she had to say, gave her a choice, so she agreed to follow the creature.

In the middle of the night she packed a small bag and stood in the center of her room. "Are you ready, Marinette?" The creature, Tikki they called themselves, chirped. "As much as I can be." She looked the creature in the eyes and everything spun. It felt as if she was floating, or not, as she slammed onto the stone floor.

When she stood up, she dusted herself off and looked around. She was in a well kept garden, the air was thin, but the moon was bright over head.

"ལགས་སོ། ཁྱེད་རང་ཕེབས་བྱུང་།" A voice startled her as she jumped from the sound.

"Who are you?" She questioned. "Where am I?"

The man was still, he didn't seem to hear her, or maybe he didn't understand.

"ང་དང་མཉམ་དུ་ཤོག" The man turned and walked into a building that looked like some sort of temple. She stood there staring where the man used to be before he turned back. His even strides carried him right to her. "ངས་རང་ཉིད་ལ་བསྐྱར་ཟློས་མི་བྱེད།" The man's tone surprised her, she jumped to her feet, following him at a brisk pace.

Lanterns lit the walls of the hall, no doors or even windows could be seen. The two of them walked in silence for what seemed a half hour, but she couldn't tell. She tried to remember the path, but there were too many turns and steps to remember.

They stopped at an ornate circular red door, that was roughly twelve meters in diameter. Golden knots were carved expertly into the wood.

He stepped aside as if she was supposed to do something, but she didn't know what. So Marinette stepped forward and placed a hand on a golden vein.

A flash of golden light erupted from where her hand touched the wood, as it swung open on silent hinges.

She had turned away, in an attempt to shield her eyes.

"Welcome, child." A voice from inside was warm and she stepped forward.

She wanted to say something but thought better. Yes she understood this new voice, but the man before she still has no idea what he said. She just followed him and he led her here.

"Do not fear to speak child." The voice came from everywhere, echoing through the large cavern. What looked like an island garden sat in the middle. A giant oak tree with flowers blooming in complete darkness sat at this center. Chimes rang thought the branches without any wind.

"Who are you?" She finally asked, voice small, as she looked around. "Where am I?"

Chimes rang almost resembling laughter. "I am known as the supreme. As to where you are, you are with the Order of Miraculii, my child of creation."

"Order? Creation? Where is Tikki?" She started rambling questions in the hopes of at least one being answered.

"All will be answered in time." Chimes once again filled the cavern.

"སུའུ་晗་ང་ཚོའི་ན་གཞོན་སྲུང་མཁན་ལ་བཀའ་སློབ་གནང་རོགས།"

"ཁྱོད་ཀྱིས་བཀའ་གསུང་གནང་བ་བཞིན་དུ་ངའི་བླ་ན་མེད��" The man spoke with a bow, before placing a hand on her shoulder and leading her out of the cavern.

He led her to a room that was somewhere deep in the temple, at least she assumes it is. The room was simple, a four poster bed sat against the far wall. A desk was set next to it with a bookshelf that was carved into the wall above it. A dresser was next to the door, and a thick rug was spread underfoot.

"Tikki."

"Yes." The little god appeared in front of her with a poof.

"What’s going to happen now?"

"There is a lot for you to learn, but for now rest. The morning will come soon."

•••

Jason didn’t know why he left that night.

Scratch that he knew exactly why.

Bruce and Dick were arguing again, and no matter where he was at the manor he still heard them. But it wasn’t them it was Cathrine and Willis fighting for the uptenth time. So he did what he always did, he snuck out.

He was running roof tops trying and failing to get the voices out of his head. The weather was starting to change and a sludge of rain and snow fell around him. If only…

He shot out to grapple to the next building but with the semi frozen and slick exteriors the hook slipped. He began to free fall, as the line retracted, and everything was quiet. He heard his heart flutter then a sharp click. The line was back and he shot it again, this time it landed. He was yanked and thrown into a graceful arc before landing on another roof.

He stood in the middle of the high rise roof. Completely soaked but he didn’t care, he just wanted to stay in this quiet for a little while longer. He sneezed, breaking him from his stupor, sure the suit helped keep him relatively dry, but it didn’t do much for the cold, less still for his head that was completely out to the elements.

He kicked a few rocks that were strewn in the roof in an attempt to warm up, but stopped when some sort of metal glinted underfoot.

He reached down and found a ring, and when his fingers wrapped around the metal a flash of green illuminated the rooftop.

"Finally!" A nasally voice echoed around him. "I thought you were never going to notice it."

"Who are you?" He half whispered half yelped. "Show yourself." He reached for a batarang.

"No need kitten." A tiny cat like creature floated up to his eye level. "Names Plagg, and you are?"

He didn’t answer, he’ll he didn’t know if this was real or if he might actually be asleep. He gripped the batarang, feeling as it sliced through his glove straight to his hand.

"Not asleep." He whispered to himself. "So what are you?" He attempted to poke the creature with his finger, but it easily evaded him. It took hold of the ring and dropped it on to his finger.

"I am a kwamii, specifically of chaos and destruction." They puffed their chest, watching as the ring emanated a soft glow before it stopped. "And you are my kitten."

"I’m not your anything." He didn’t want to be involved with magic, it only seemed to cause problems, if the reports Bruce had was anything. "It started with that ring, right?"

"Yes an…" He didn’t let him finish speaking, he tried to pull the ring off, but it was gone.

"What did you do?" His attention snapped to the supposed god, or whatever it was.

It was about to say something when his vision started to blur. Something heavy slammed into his head. He felt himself starting to crumple forward, laughter ringing behind him.

When he woke up, Jason was tied and laying face first in a dingy old storeroom or maybe a warehouse. There wasn’t much light except for three industrial lights towards the center of the room. And under the furthest one was the silhouette of a person.

"Is the birdie awake?" The voice was tinged with laughter, it sent chills down his spine. He knows who that voice belongs to.

I’m sorry.

"Let’s have some fun now!" Joker came into his view and then he noticed the item in his hand, but he couldn’t stop him. The crowbar swung down and it connected with his upper arm. He was thrown into a box to his right. The next hit was to his stomach, as he coughed up blood.

I’m sorry. He heard again, but Joker didn’t react to it. So he knows Plagg is in his mind.

Stop apologizing and talk. He thought, and he did.

Plagg told him a story. He tuned out best he could, but it was difficult whenever he would be thrown around. It even felt like Plagg was holding his breath at times, waiting for his attention to continue.

"Well it’s been fun, Boy Blunder, but you should go to bed. Don’t forget to brush your teeth and say hello to the Big Bad Bat." He left him there in a heap on the floor, a ringing his ears silenced everything except for Plagg.

"Come on, get up! Please!" He saw Plagg flying in frantic circles over a box.

"There is a bomb, and…" Plagg placed two paws on his forehead before flying back, to where the bomb must be. "You will live, Kitten, I swear it."

A flash of green and black rolled over him, yet the blast of air did however destroy the building they were in. But he saw Plagg fly back to him. He felt him curl into his hair, his purring rhythmic, as he began to loose consciousness.

"What a waste." He felt someone turn him over. Changing the path of the blood on his face to stream into his mouth. It tasted like iron, and dirt, and it burned his throat. "I will see you when you awaken."

His world went black, Plagg’s put was a constant rumble. The next time he opened his eyes it was dark, Plagg was on his chest staring at him, his green eyes glowing in the dark.

Steady breaths kitten. Plagg’s voice echoed in his mind, as he tried to explain what was happening. You’re in a coffin.

"How!?" He began to panic, but Plagg began purring which calmed him.

You need to stay calm, you can get out. Focus my power.

I don’t know how. He thought, not risking wasting the little air he had.

The ring on your finger is a focus for power. Do you feel the space my presence takes up within your mind?

He searched concentrating on Plagg’s voice and presence in his mind. Yes.

Good. Now pull that towards the ring. He pulled at it but there was a resistance, like a rubber band being stretched too far.

Slowly. He made the connection and his palm glowed with a faint black and green light. Now touch the area in front of you.

He did and as soon as he did the rubber band snapped back. But a hole big enough for him to pass though was above him, along with a foot of dirt above it. He was tired but he tried again. It was harder this time, but he managed. He touched the top of the dome, but only a few inches disappeared this time. He was about to try again when Plagg stopped him.

Don’t kid! You’re exhausted. Channeling magic requires energy along with training it, like any other muscle. We have to dig the rest of the way.

Fine. He huffed.

The ground was wet and soft from all the rain. But he knew if he didn’t hurry that would be an obstacle. It was starting to freeze. That’s how he knew he was getting close to the surface. Plagg had been moving the dirt into the casket, allowing him to stand. Yet he flew up to him this time with a broken piece of wood, and he knew just what he needed it for. He finally broke through the surface and pulled himself up. He laid back, legs still in the hole, but he stared at the cloudy sky, taking giant gulps of air.

"I knew you could do it, Kitten." Plagg stiffened and his hackles rose before disappearing. Guard yourself.

What do you mean?

"You were quicker than I thought." A feminine voice carried through the cemetery. He stiffened, knowing what Plagg was warning him of. "Now let us be off."

Someone grabbed him and he tried to fight them, but he was exhausted and they weren’t.

~~~~~~~~~~

Permanent Taglist:

@jennifer-rose123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @joydone07 @mizzy-pop @starling218 @crystalqueertea

#maribat #Maribat March 2024 #Plagg is actually helpful #maribat Tom and Sabine salt #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #dc x miraculous #miraculous x dc #maribat marinette #maribat jason todd #Mari was originally kidnapped by the Order so this would have been a villain origin #but I didn’t think it would have fit with Jay maybe Damian or even Bruce

78 notes · View notes

nixthelapin · 2 months

Text

A Jekyll&Hyde type akuma whose power is to bring out a hidden or repressed part of your personality (but like, making two of you instead of switching in one body), and when Chat gets hit suddenly there’s both “normal” Chat (I’ll get to that in a sec) and Cat Walker/Patte de Velours at the same time.

(Cue Ladybug freaking out upon learning they’re the same person)

“Normal” Chat looks the same, but is just a bit more intense (since this is Adrien’s way of “letting loose” to not be how he is as a civilian, he’s not too different, but because of the split he does lose some usual traits). I.e. *heavily* flirting with LB, going at it with the puns, more agressive and impulsive with the akuma, doesnt like following orders (especially with the remaining feelings of anger towards the partnership being put further into question as LB prefers CW), heart on his sleeve

Cat Walker is also not super different to the episode he was in, but is also more intense thanks to the akuma: all business- no nonsense, doesn’t laugh at jokes (even in a “I’ll laugh if you want” way, like in Kuroneko), cordial to LB, follows LB’s orders to a T (to the point of not making his own decisions in battle), calm and collected (almost emotionless, even with that plastered smile)

CN starts to hate CW as the fight goes on, because LB seems to prefer him (and she’s understandably getting annoyed with CN’s impulsivity). CN gets territorial, saying that he’s LB’s partner. CW: “then why did she replace you with me?” (Man, look at all the self hatred in Adrien’s psyche!)

So CN runs off and leaves them alone to fight the akuma. This ticks LB off even more, but she has an akuma to deal with- and she has CW- so she lets him go.

As the fight goes on, some of the same issues from Kuroneko occur, so she also gets frustrated with CW too.

Since he’s acting more extreme than normal (more like someone awaiting orders than a partner due to the Jekyll&Hyde thing), it causes more problems (like him waiting for her decisions leaving openings where he could’ve done something proactive)

She actually blows up at him, asking why he didn’t do anything (“I was waiting for you to tell me the plan!”), and she says he should be able to think on his own, he doesn’t need her to tell him everything, but- “I thought I was just being what you wanted.”

(He’s shocked and genuinely hurt- though it’s still pretty quiet emotion, subdued and apologetic)

And that’s when it clicks for her what becoming CW was back in Kuroneko. He was molding himself for her. And this version of CW is even more of that. She realizes just how much CN suppresses, not just for her, but for everyone- why else would this be a major aspect of his personality?

(Also, Patte de Velours? Velvet Paw? That’s basically saying he’s been declawed. Yikes.)

She makes CN get his butt back to the fight (or she finds him- he may have been doing something while away like talking with someone, maybe Alya or Nino, or Luka). CN and CW argue more, with insults. Then she goes on a whole rant/lecture to them about how important they both are, both to her and to each other, how they are one person, and their traits are both important, but each extreme is not great. Ex: instinct/impulse and service/obedience (the key is self control, so that your emotions aren’t controlling you, but neither is another person). He is allowed to be both! Neither personality is bad, and hating one is just hating himself- he can’t just reject a fundamental part of himself.

She makes them agree to work together to defeat the akuma. It’s awkward at first, but they get a rhythm by seeing where each one is needed in the plan (LB does still do that, but how they follow is more fluid now). Two cataclysms now! Yay! (Maybe they used their powers already and have to de transform, and they see themselves as Adrien- the same one, not different, and it gets through their skulls. Idk I’m spitballing).

They have a quick talk between the two about accepting each other, it won’t be easy, I’m nervous, we’ll be okay (“yeah, I think we will :)”), etc.

Ends with them combining back with the ladybug cure. Surprise! His outfit is combined too! (Honestly, I just want the ponytail with the fluffy hair)

LB and CN have a talk after recharging about everything. CN apologizes for lying about CW and explains why and how he did it. LB didn’t realize how much he hid. She never meant for him to change or hate parts of himself. He thought she didn’t like the CN parts of him, but LB promises that isn’t true. She admits she did get… annoyed, but never hate! She loves both sides of him. Besides, CW didn’t work out that first time, remember? (Though she very much leaves out her intense crushing being the deciding factor there)

CN admits he feels more, well, not whole, exactly, he’s actually still pretty uncertain about what all this means for “who he is,” but… he can at least say he feels less like he has to perform all the time. He loves being Chat Noir, but he is exaggerating a bit when he transforms, in part to be not like his civilian life. He tells her he’s not like that as a civilian, but he’s also not like Cat Walker. But he’s not really sure who “he” is yet. (What I’m getting at is Oblivio!Adrien- dorky, but not over the top, in love, trusts his lady to make the plan, but is still proactive, etc.)

LB says that’s okay, he doesn’t have to figure it out right away. But she’ll be there to help him figure it out.

END

143 notes · View notes

familyagrestefanblog · 10 months

Text

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!!!

Adrien's amoks!!! Oh my gosh, she didnt notice the wedding rings!

Marinette almost killed Adrien! The entire time their conversation went down Marinette didnt realize that she was holding Adrien at gun point! That changes the entire nature of the situation! Dont tell me that it doesn't, it absolutely does!

Oh gosh this was so much worse that I thought! I need to further look into this. I was already of the opinion that believing that Gabriel gave Marinette his BLESSING after she basically told him in nice words that she will for the greater good let Adrien, as a then orphan, pay for all of his family's sins and mistakes on a disastrous globally scale is absolute insanity or blatant denial, but THIS???

look closer:

You can see Adrien's rings, oh my god...

Gabriel is talking about the day Adrien was born and how happy he made Emilie and him - that he was there little miracle - and Marinette is here not realizing that Gabriel knows exactly that she's ONE word away from making Adrien met his death in a mere second! Even Gabriel and Nathalie still had longer life-spans than the few moments Adrien was at the risk of having left if Gabriel made a wrong move or said the wrong thing!

No wonder Gabriel behaved as well as he did! And no wonder that all of this so quickly became entirely about Adrien while Gabriel kept catching glances at her hand resting on his:

"And Adrien will be miserable"

How have we gotten so far by now that I'm agreeing with Gabriel's faces here?? Adrien would be DEAD! She's even saying that her powers cant remedy any of this, how is this real?

Bug Noire is currently the threat towards Adrien's entire existence. The episode almost had Marinette kill Adrien/ Chat Noir with his own Miraculous! With PLAGG! Gabriel had to end up playing along to de-escalate the threat that SHE posed to Adrien!

I'm stressed right now!

Girl, take that hand away!

Thank you...

Oh gosh, this was so much worse than I though. Marinette is absolutely screwed and she doesn't even know why! Don't think for a second that this didn't had consequences via Gabriel's wish! Gabriel's love for his son very much exists and always has and it's by far the worst thing in Adrien's entire life!

I don't care if you truly think the scale of the wish is nothing but on the smallest dimension of 1:1 just because that's the damn berry explanation Gimmi gave for an easy understanding while obviously being characterized to be annoyed with humanity for how they treat them and how pathetically trivial the things are for Gimmi the humans wished for in the past, and the ending didnt immediately present you with the grand answer of how every chain reaction worked.

It's a reality changing wish after 5 seasons of built-up from the one damn person the show explained to you in ever way possible that it would be an world ending catastrophe if he got his wish!

If there is one bastard who didn't use Gimmi for something small and noble its the fucking MAIN VILLAIN before he dies and the hero almost killed their child who is the hero's love interest!

Come ON people!

#ml spoilers #ml recreation #gabriel i swear to fucking god #miraculous #bug noire #Marinette almost killed Adrien im going insane #she didnt even notice #that changes the entire scene #And yall actually believe Marinette got Gabriels BLESSING #ml season 5 #Just wanna make clear #This isn't meant to be salt #I'm just pointing out what's clearly on screen and give my low-key bugged opinion on it

220 notes · View notes

jennrypan · 11 months

Text

"Marinette is forgiving"

Yes, but not towards the two 14 year old assholes. But specifically forgiving to the.

Asshole that gave Hawkmoth all the miraculous, and then. Hawkmoth himself because?? Poor little man lost his wifey and he was oh sooo sad about it he had to terrorize all of Paris.

No yeah, definitely deserving of forgiveness.

I WONT SHUT UP ABOUT THIS PLOT POINT UNTIL ITS CHANGED IDC

You will NEVER convince me that Gabriel fucking Agreste or even fucking Felix are more deserving of forgiveness than Chloe and Lila.

I dont wanna hear SHIT.

#j.p speaks #mlb salt #i like marinette (to an extent) BUT YALL CANT DENY THIS IS STUPID AS FUCK.#and if yall can bash and salt on Chloe and Lila for writer decisions.#then so can I. but im not salting on Marinette just pointing out actually canon shit that makes no sense #its all about 'these girls dont deserve a second chance!!'#'but gabriel does!!'#SHUT UP WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS SMART? FUCK YOU.#miraculous ladybug #ml leaks #ml writing salt

199 notes · View notes

piromina · 4 months

Text

#ml salt #but not really #ok here we go there's a lot of characters im going to tag them all #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #chloe bourgeois #lila rossi #gabriel agreste #nino lahiffe #master fu #that actually wasn't that many #ml poll #WAIT I FORGOT ALYA #IM SORRY

58 notes · View notes

miraculouslbcnreactions · 8 months

Text

I've recently come across a couple of season 4 fanfics that dealt with the Chat Noir feeling left out and quitting thing and every time I read one I can't help but think "man did they chose the wrong side of the masks AND the wrong characters for this conflict. Chat Noir comes across terribly here". It's weird to see people try and justify his behavior and act like Ladybug was in the wrong.

Was Ladybug being the best friend ever? No, but friendship is secondary when they're wearing the masks. Paris comes first. Chat Noir quitting because he doesn't feel special enough is literally him endangering everyone he loves because his crush isn't paying enough attention to him and I truly can't tell if the show wanted us to feel like he was in the right or the wrong here. In Kuro Neko, Catwalker actually does acknowledge the lesson he needed to learn

There's nothing wrong with you. Maybe the boy who was Cat Noir was more sensitive than it seemed. But his feelings for you shouldn't force you to pay more attention to him than to others. You take care of everybody equally, Ladybug.

And Chat Noir apologizes at the end of the episode for causing Ladybug trouble, but the whole thing is incredibly lackluster. They don't actually have a meaningful conversation about why he was feeling that way and the rest of the season seems to present Ladybug as being in the wrong, especially the final! Trusting Alya leads to nothing meaningful and not trusting Chat Noir loses her the miraculous. Basically, I still have no idea what season 4 was trying to do with this conflict and it's been dropped forever now that Adrien is fully reduced to nothing more than arm candy.

HOWEVER, this basic setup could have been a fantastic b plot if the "Adrien doesn't feel needed" conflict wasn't a Ladynoir conflict, but was instead a conflict between Adrien and Nino. Move Rocketear up to earlier in the season and have the fallout from that be that Adrien's relationship with Nino is strained. He can still feel leftout because Ladybug has a bigger team now, but instead of him pouting about it and skipping fights, focus on how that need for connection has transferred to his civilian life, but he doesn't have Kagami or Nino now and he's lost. Then you can either have an Adrien and Nino b plot because that relationship needs more screen time OR you use this to make Adrien and Marinette start to grow closer because Rocketear's fallout is also Alya paying more attention to Nino. Then, when season 5 does the whole crush switch, it actually feels earned.

#ml writing salt #ml writing critical #adrien deserves better #marinette deserves better #ml season 4 salt #Can you tell that I'm a little tired of fics that try to blame Ladybug for Chat Noir feeling left out?#It's reasonable for him to have those feelings but boy did they have him express them in a way that was totally unbecoming for a hero #She's a little too busy saving the world and trying to stay sane to worry about his emotions #Especially when he never actually tells her that something's wrong #Though I will absolutely grant you that he needed to know about the Alya situation and keeping him in the dark was BS #I love Alya but that plot was so stupid for so many reasons #It felt like it was just added for cheap drama and not because it was a good addition to the show

128 notes · View notes

miraculousstories · 7 months

Text

OKAY REPEAT AFTER ME

MARINETTE DOES NOT LIKE THE NICKNAME MARI

SHE IS NOT INSECURE ABOUT PEOPLE FINDING OUT SHES LADYBUG

SHE ISNT PHYSICALLY STRONG OR FLEXIBLE OUTSIDE THE COSTUME

SHE ACTUALLY ENJOYS CHATS PUNS MOST OF THE TIME

CHAT NOIR IS NOT THE “REAL” ADRIEN

HE IS NOT GOING HUNGRY

Everyone got that?

Good. Enjoy your fanfics

#miraculous ladybug #ml ladybug #adrien agreste #miraculous #miraculous marinette #Y’all I’m serious #marinette dupain cheng #mlb marinette #adrien #marichat #Seriously how did this get messed up so badly #Like Kagami actually asked Marinette and she said NO I DONT LIKE NICKNAMES #I’m sorry but #okay on to actual tags now #miraculous lb #miraculous fanfic #ml fandom #ml fandom salt

62 notes · View notes

copdog1234 · 10 months

Text

YALL THERE ARE TWO SEASONS LEFT, NOT EVERYTHING IS GONNA BE WRAPPED UP IN A TIGHT LITTLE BOW??? THERES STILL BOUND TO BE CONFLICT, WHY ARE YALL COMPLAINING ABOUT THE OPEN ENDS????

#im all for criticism #but my god criticized things that actually matter???#NOT the fact that Adrien is in the dark about most things #NOT the fact that Marinette may or may not be knowingly keeping secrets from him #NOT chat noir getting sidelined for the fight against Monarch #theyve been good about writing these things purposefully for plot #like???#ml spoilers #miraculous ladybug #ml #ml s5 finale #ml s5 #ml s5 spoilers #ml fandom salt

104 notes · View notes

zoe-oneesama · 2 years

Note

Congratulations on finishing Reverser!! Super excited to see Marc’s full header outfit when that episode comes out! Next on the docket is Party Crasher, right? Whenever you have the time after your fresh rewatch of the episode, what are your thoughts and opinions on Wayhem, his akuma, and Party Crasher’s plot?

Ughhh, I watched it once quickly because this was definitely a Temporary Hero episode (I watched all the episodes I knew for sure would have a temp hero in since I needed to figure out what power would be needed) and it was hard to watch. I just kept getting mad with the civilian plot:

Wayhem is...fine? In THIS episode. It's kind of easy to completely separate him from "Gorizilla" so he's fine in this episode alone (I can't personally get over how obsessive he was in "Gorizilla" but at least he apologized for it? I guess?? Well Adrien seems cool with it at least.)

This is one of the only episodes where the "misunderstanding" that creates the akuma actually feels like a genuine misunderstanding and miscommunication rather than one person jumping to crazy conclusions and then getting mad when they're incorrect (*cough* "Lady Wifi" *cough* "Reverser" *cough*)

His akuma design is fun and camp so I actually like it, but I'm very confused by his powers since he seems to have...many? Like, okay, he can "predict" his opponents movements and envisions it like a dance floor... AND he absorbs people and things into his disco hands by touching them... buuut he can ALSO zap you from a distance... but then he ALSO makes a helicopter?? Also he can apparently heal himself after King Monkey busts everyone out of his disco prison...

I was with you for those first three things but you lost me at HELICOPTER.

And then there's...the plot.

I had to watch this episode in halves because I was getting to mad. At Nino. It's just so weird that this show had one of it's main characters make a universally disliked decision: Breaking a Promise. Isn't that, like, Kid's Show 101, to teach you that you're supposed to keep your word? So why'd they make Nino not only go back on his promise to help Mylene and the girls, but rope other people into it too?? And then for Tikki to be shocked and horrified that Marinette lied and frame that as being wrong when Nino and the boys did the exact same thing! So it's only a big deal when Marinette does it, got it. And I HATE that the conclusion was "well it could've gone smoother but iT wAs fOr AdRiEn sO iT'S cOoL!"

Neither of you, none of you, should've broken your promise. THAT should've been the conclusion. All of them should've spent the end of the episode apologizing to the tree planting group and getting to work.

It's just a weird episode for so many reasons. For one, the girls either somehow didn't catch on to the obvious that aLL the boys were playing hooky on them or they just didn't care, except for Marinette. So even though we're supposed to think it's wrong of Marinette to dip out to prove the boys are lying, it doesn't seem to matter cuz clearly the girls aren't bothered! Breaking promises? Going back on your word? Leaving your friends hanging? Apparently it's not THAT big a deal, so who CARES if the boys or Marinette flake on purpose?

For another thing, I get that we have a limit on teenage boy models to fill this house party with, but I don't think the solution was EVERY GROWN ADULT MAN IN PARIS to crash a MIDDLE SCHOOLER'S HOUSE PARTY!

Roger comes for a "noise complaint" and stays for the foosball?

Astruc and Vincent/Guiseppe/Photographer dude come for a casting call for Adrien at his house? (Look, if the director and his casting photographer are coming to your house, skip the formalities, you already have the gig, let's be real, and also they came over when Adrien's guardians are out of the house, that's creepy).

And then Jagged Stone jumps through his window from his helicopter because he heard the music they were using???

None of these don't feel weird and kinda creepy, like you WEREN'T INVITED, say your piece and GET OUT! Or better yet DON'T COME! No, Nino, stop thinking this is cool, this is FREAKING WEIRD, stop teaching Adrien weird shit!

Put that into perspective for sec: Nino thinks Adrien would have a better time at a Dude's Only House Party (boring) with Randos then just letting his Girl Friends join them.

If they wanted this Boys vs Girls thing, they should've gone full in. Have the girls see through the excuses and let them be pissed. Let them want to confront the boys, but oh? Nino told the Bodyguard to specifically not let them in? What's that, music? Are they...they're having a PARTY?! They're having a PARTY instead of helping them PLANT TREES like they PROMISED AND they're DELIBERATELY EXCLUDING THE GIRLS FROM SAID PARTY?!

Oh this means War.

So make the shenangians about the girls trying and failing (or succeeding?) into getting into the party in increasingly ridiculous ways or something. Like, oh, THEY could call the police on the noise complaint and then get dumbstruck when Roger joins the party. Or have them notice that Adrien's fencing instructor and the Director are getting in so they think the party will be stopped by Adren's obligations and then getting ticked when that doesn't slow them down.

Dress up as Pizza Guys, Delivery Men, Classmates, ANYTHING to get in! Have them notice Wayhem and try to drag him in but because they've tried so many times THAT'S why the bodyguard doesn't let him in - because he's with the girls.

Just... you wanted this dumb Boys Club vs Girls thing, so commit you cowards, give me a WAR! I don't care for those kinds of dumb gender war episodes but at least don't half ass it if you're gonna do it!

As for the Boy Heroes Team thing, it feels wrong to give them a hero episode of their own when THEY are the bad guys in the Civilian Plot and to not have an equivalent Girl Heroes Team episode (instead they get a Girl AKUMAS episode, twice!). The idea is cool and I would've liked to see more squad episodes that weren't framed as "I-need-five-heroes-to-do-what-just-Chat-Noir-can-do" and were actually about teamwork, but our options are the Heroes Day Season 2 finale where they fell apart, or "Party Crasher".

Sigh.

At the end of day, the boys just look like jerks for ditching the girls, but the girls don't even care, so there's not even enough drive for Marinette to involve herself, and then the Marinette Sneaking In shenanigans aren't even fun, the randos showing up aren't fun (except Mr. Banana, he can stay), I guess Marinette and Nino (and the boys) punishment is cleaning up Adrien's room...? Like, good for Adrien that he doesn't get any backlash from his dad because it'd be wildly unfair for him to be the person who gets punished in this scenario, but nobody learned any lessons. It's just...

What was the point of all this?

At least I didn't have any complaints about Adrien for the most part.

#I probably won't use those ideas for SL because I honestly have too many different ways I could change the episode #it's actually hard for me to nail one direction down #ml salt #nino salt #writing salt #party crasher salt #marinette salt #an essay by zoe

639 notes · View notes

starryknightwrites · 9 months

Text

Are we really criticizing Movie!Adrien for muttering to himself that Marinette is weird like she wasn't 100% being weird?

Let's put this in perspective. You're in the library. Alone. Some guy comes in. You make eye contact, smile and go about your business. The guy starts shuffling behind the bookcases trying to get a good look at you. Every time you steal a glance, he's in a new spot staring you down. Then he comes out from behind the bookcase and just gawks at you.

Willing to bet a lot of you would be uncomfortable and book it out of there. Some of you might even ask him what he's looking at or if he has a problem. Some of you would use him falling down as a distraction to RUN without bothering to help him up or clean up any books at all. Most would probably manage to leave as politely and quickly as possible before muttering to ourselves "Ok, that guy was weird..."

Yeah, he's no angel (who is?), but why are people holding Movie!Adrien to this crazy standard? It's almost giving me these weird vibes that you usually see on the other end of the sexism pool. Like you know how some guys will react to a female character's (or female in general) every non-enthusiastic, resting face moment with "Why did they make her such a bitch?!" - especially if she was different in a past reiteration? And you say "Wow, I think that's over exaggerating a bit. She wasn't all smiles and rainbows about it, but she wasn't mean either." And they're like "But why didn't she smile more?!"

Yeah, it feels like that. I get preferring Adrien in the show, but some of these takes are approaching very strange territory and I'd like to study this phenomenon closer 🧐

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #miraculous awakening #no salt on marinette's weird adorable self #if he had actually said 'wtf is your problem?' I would have reached through the laptop screen and throttled him

85 notes · View notes

theerurishipper · 7 months

Text

Every now and then I still see arguments about how "Chat Blanc and Ephemeral were meant to inform us that Adrien couldn't take part in the final battle," the implication here being that there is no possible way for Adrien to ever react in a convenient manner to this news, and that his only reactions could be "he loses control and goes berserk," or "he gets controlled by his dad." I have already expressed my views on these takes, which is that they are excuses and justifications for bad writing. But I still feel that in trying to insinuate that they are valid explanations for Adrien's inability to be part of the finale, the point of those episodes is missed, and I'll elaborate on why they aren't even good excuses now.

Despite what Thomas Astruc may suggest on Twitter, that the problem is not with Adrien in these episodes. As evidenced by episodes like The Collector and even the aforementioned Chat Blanc, Adrien is perfectly capable of fighting his father. The issue that presents itself in these scenarios isn't that Adrien can't control himself and can only react poorly, it's that Gabriel chooses to hurt his son. None of these situations happened because of anything Adrien did, they happened because Gabriel manufactured the situation into something that he could use to gain control over his son.

The issue here isn't that Adrien finding out makes him react poorly (which is a hot take of its own), the issue is with how he finds out. In both Chat Blanc and Ephemeral, Gabriel manipulates the situation to his advantage. He knows Adrien's identity before Adrien knows his or even knows that his own identity has been compromised. Gabriel is in control of all the information, and he engineers the situation to cause the most traumatic reaction in Adrien so that he can exploit it and take advantage of Adrien's distress. The issue here isn't Adrien's reactions, it's the fact that Gabriel is in control. By framing the message of Chat Blanc and Ephemeral as proof that Adrien can only react poorly to Gabriel's revelations and abuse and using that as an excuse to justify him sitting out the conclusion to his own arc is bafflingly weird to me.

And it just ends up sending the message that Adrien is apparently "too emotionally immature" or whatever the salters say, and therefore he can't ever find out about his father, or it'll only cause disaster. The blame for not being able to walk out of the situation and continue fighting the good fight with no negative effects whatsoever is placed on Adrien by insinuating that it's some inherent flaw in him that he'll never overcome, rather than acknowledge that things only happened the way they did because Gabriel specifically manipulated events and information to achieve his desired outcome. Rather than blame the abuser for his actions, the blame is placed on the victim for his reactions. That's not good.

And it ends up with the alarming implications that abuse victims are irrational and too emotional and are to blame for their reactions instead of it being the abuser's fault for driving them to this point, which is some gross abuse apologia. Indeed, the finale of Season 5 takes this one step further by having Marinette lie to Adrien about his father, because knowing would surely have him react in ways that are inconvenient for herself and everyone else to deal with (this is the writers' motivation, not Marinette's). And we can't have Adrien's trauma matter other than when it is beneficial to Marinette, now can we?

But I digress. Back to my point.

There is a simple solution to the problem of Gabriel taking advantage of Adrien. Since the issue is that Gabriel is able to manufacture the situation to his advantage because he gets to know all the information beforehand, have a reversal of that and have Adrien find out first. Have Adrien find out that his father is Monarch first, and that way, he'll have time to process everything and react to it with the support of his loved ones before he goes to fight his father with clarity and asserts his freedom. It would be a great extension of Adrien's arc of reclaiming his agency and freedom from Gabriel to have him be in control of the situation while Gabriel is blindsided.

A part of Adrien's arc is about finding relationships in which he has unconditional love and support. Have those come into play as he confronts Gabriel. Have them actually matter. There are so many ways to do this.

Have Marinette be present alongside him and have her be able to support him in a meaningful way as he faces down his father.

Have Felix prove he cares for Adrien by telling him the truth about his father and his amok.

Have Nathalie actually support Adrien by letting him know important stuff and giving him his amok back.

This is a non-exhaustive list, but my point is that there are so many ways to override the very specific situations that were present in Chat Blanc and Ephemeral and tilt the scales in Adrien's favor. It would be a better way to deal with this than to just dismiss the point of those episodes by making it seem like the problem lies with Adrien and his reactions than the fact those things only happened because of Gabriel's specific manipulations.

But there is one very simple solution to this whole issue, and it is right there in Season 5 itself. There is proof written straight into the show that Chat Blanc and Ephemeral are not the status quo. See Marinette giving into Gabriel's threats in Chat Blanc and contrast that with her going up against him and defying him outright in Pretention in a way more personal confrontation. The difference between the two episodes is that Marinette is allowed to grow. She is allowed to develop as a character and prove that she is different from the Marinette who gave into Gabriel's threats. So if she is allowed to change and develop as a character and react differently, then why can't Adrien?

Adrien's major problem in any of these situations is that Gabriel is a controlling asshat. To ensure that these situations do not happen, Adrien needs to break free from Gabriel. I posit that the easiest way to allow Adrien to not react in ways that "don't end well," is to allow him to grow and develop as a character. It would allow him to start truly breaking free of his father in such a way that when the time comes for the final confrontation, Adrien is not so easily susceptible to his manipulations and can fight back against him. It would allow him to have agency in the situation that he did not have at the times Chat Blanc and Ephemeral took place.

But unfortunately, the writers did not want to give Adrien growth and development and agency, because that would mean making him something other than Marinette's prop and love interest. That also seems to be the point of the amok rings, since their only relevance in the story is to make up a reason so that Adrien cannot go against Gabriel and needs Marinette to do it for him, and the show presents this as some great quandary to which there is no discernable solution other than simply removing Adrien from the battle altogether so that Marinette can complete his arc for him. And it sucks.

In conclusion:

#MLB #Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain Cheng #Gabriel Agreste #Nathalie Sancoeur #Felix Fathom #Meta #My meta #S5 Finale #ML Salt #ML Writing Salt #ML Writers Salt #I actually liked Ephemeral #Too bad it became retroactive abuse apologism

104 notes · View notes

spittyfishy · 3 months

Note

What did you think of Season 5 of ML, if you have seen it?

So, I have seen season 5 and frankly… I wasn’t a fan.

Season 5 was just chocked full of missed opportunities, because there were some interesting ideas there but the show's writing fumbled the execution so hard it was difficult to watch at times. Just seeing character assasination after character assasination unfold on screen was so unpleasant. I don’t think a single character came out of season 5 unscathed, I’m wracking my brain for anyone that got better this season, or at least didn’t get worse in some way, and I can’t think of any.

To be fair, there were a few bits I liked. A couple akuma designs were good (Hoaxer, Dark Humour, Queen Mayor, and Ryukomori). I thought the Ryukomori episode was well done, I’d probably say it was the best of the season (which is a low bar). But everything else with Kagami was bad. Full honesty I hate Felix and what his role in the story has been so far, but I especially don’t like that Kagami got brought down with him. Felix is the entire reason Hawkmoth got EVERY OTHER MIRACULOUS and it seems like everyone forgot that?? He didn’t get any consequences At All, and yet when Chloé worked with Hawkmoth (when he already had the miraculous for the record) she was painted as the worst person on earth.

I know I’m not the only one who’s pointed out the double standard between how the girl characters are treated compared to the boys, but it really got highlighted this season. Male characters like Andre, Jaggedstone, Felix, and even Hawkmoth himself can do any number of horrible things and still be ‘sympathetic’, but the two fourteen year old girls are irredeemably evil?

I’ll admit I'm biased, Chloé has been my favourite favorite character since I started watching in season one, but she really deserved better than the show gave her. I don’t have an issue with her staying a villain, in fact I think she worked really well as a minor antagonist in season one, she moved the story along and was entertaining to watch. But the last two seasons they’ve made her out to be this giant threat, but haven’t let her actually do anything! She’s been nothing more then a lacky to Lila and Hawkmoth, as far as having Lila in her ear telling her exactly what to say. If Chloé is as bad as the show claims then she shouldn’t need other characters to hold her hand and tell her how to be mean.

But the writing is just like that. They really need to get better at ‘show don’t tell’, and even more importantly, consistency. Because they keep adding things after the fact and retconning things from the earlier seasons to try and clap back at fans criticisms, and it’s just sad. I’ll never stop complaining about the absolute train wreck that was Derision. They made Chloé worse then she was in season one, and made Kim so much dumber then he needed to be. At the beginning of season one Kim was characterized as a bully, he antagonized Ivan in Stone Heart and helped Chloé willingly in episodes like LadyWifi. But for Derision Chloé had to trick him into pranking Marinette? Why?

The pacing in that episode was even worse, because so much of it was dedicated to a flash back everything else was rushed at the end. And Marinette saying she’d never crush on anyone again if she didn’t know everything about them was clearly just the writers trying to justify her frankly creepy actions in earlier seasons because people pointed out that it wasn’t cute or funny it was just weird. And her whole line and issues in that episode flat out don’t work as a retcon because A: why even crush on Adrian at all if she vowed not to like anyone associated with Chloé, and B: we’ve already seen her in a relationship with Luka where she didn’t show ANY of the obsessive behaviour she showed Adrian OR freaking out about going on dates. AND ON TOP OF THAT there’s been two other timelines where her and Adrian have started a relationship (Chat Blanc, Ephemeral) and she hasn’t had any of the issues that come up in Derision.

It’s just such a lazy way of writing the story, and that’s really the core issue with this season. It feels lazy, like the writers couldn’t be bothered to watch their own show and make plots that fit in the world they’ve already built.

Miraculous is a franchise that’s dear to my heart, it’s how I met my best friend and really became comfortable sharing my art online, and I still really like creating content related to the characters, but I’ve been very disappointed in the show since about the end of season three. I still have a small amount of hope that maybe the show will turn itself around and improve, but it’s dwindling.

But at least when cannon goes off it’s rocker that’s what fan works are for!

#this got longer then I intended and that’s even after cutting a bunch of other complaints lol #no matter how bad the show gets I doubt I’ll stop making fan art tho so there’s that lol #the class and the akumas were always my favourite part of the show so both of those getting sidelined this season bothered me #I don’t like the romance elements because like #these are 14/15 year olds why are we even discussing soul mates??#people that age will have any number of crushes yes #but it’s kinda too young to actually start dating?#plus neither Marinette or Adrian are really in a position where they’d have the time to dedicate to a relationship it would need #anyway lol #how do I tag this?#miraculous salt #kinda?#miraculous season 5

35 notes · View notes