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buggachat · 11 months

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So, this is very important. Emilie or Amelie?

(Answer: Amelie. But seriously, I'm getting ahead of myself, let's talk about it.)

This is kind of a long post. If you don't want to read all of my ramblings, feel free to skip to the final point. That's the important one.

A mysterious woman who is clearly one of the two Graham de Vanily twins was in attendance of the party at the end of the episode. But is she Emilie (Adrien's dead mom, revived by Gabriel's wish) or Amelie (Adrien's already alive aunt)?

Here's the thing. The answer to this question is actually extremely important. Emilie being alive would be a HUGE deal and would have extreme consequences on the narrative and themes of the show.

Seriously. We need to know whether or not Emilie is alive. So, let's discuss— what do we know?

1. Amelie should be at this party.

Seriously. Amelie would be at Adrien's party.

You know who is in attendance at Adrien's party? Not just his friends, but also adults in his life. Nathalie. Su-Han. Jagged Stone. Penny Rolling.

You know what Penny Rolling's relationship is to Adrien? She's the manager/new girlfriend of his friend Luka's recently-undeadbeated-dad. And she was invited to Adrien's party.

Seriously. This is a party of any significant character. Everyone and their mother was invited and— hey wait, where's Félix's mother? Félix is here, and certainly our favorite mommy's boy would invite his mother along. Surely Adrien's aunt would be invited to Adrien's party.

You know, Amelie's aunt, who had a not insignificant arc in the story? A family member to the Agrestes, who we've seen struggle, who would well deserve a shot of her smiling at a party at the finale?

Amelie, who had some unresolved tension with Nathalie, centered around their respective relationships with Gabriel? Tension that would likely be rectified after Gabriel's demise?

Not only would Amelie be at this party, but I absolutely believe she would be sitting next to Nathalie. (I mean, they do know each other. Who else at that party does Amelie even know?)

If that's not Amelie, then where is she?

Oh, and side note, what was the shot just before the shot of the mysterious woman? Oh, that's right. Amelie's son.

2. She only appears for a brief flash, given no more significance than any other character in attendance.

There's a reason why everyone is using the same shot of the mysterious woman when discussing her. That is the only shot of her. There are more shots of Penny Rolling than of her.

Here's the thing. Either Emilie is alive in this final scene, or she isn't. So, how would you expect this scene to play for these circumstances?

Here is a complete list of everything I would expect if Emilie were not alive:

A brief shot of Amelie.

Here is an incomplete list of some of the things I would expect from a "Emilie, the mother of the deuteragonist and ghost that has been haunting the narrative for 5 Seasons, is alive now" reveal, at the bare minimum:

A shot that lingers on Emilie.

Emilie, seated with Nathalie AND HER TWIN SISTER.

A shot of Emilie opening her eyes during Gabriel's wish.

The newscast, which they watch during the party, having a mention of "... and Parisians are still celebrating the rescue of Emilie Agreste, who was previously missing but recently found!"

Adrien literally acknowledging that his dead mother is suddenly alive at all? AT ALL? Looking at her, mentioning her, literally ANYTHING from him? I mean, seriously, what did he think happened—

3. Adrien's perception of his mother's reappearance would need to be addressed. It was not.

Adrien does not know the wish was cast.

Adrien does not know anything.

Here's the thing. While, yes, Emilie has been described as "missing"/"disappeared" in the show, it is absolutely clear to the audience that Adrien has been under the impression that Emilie is dead.

We know this from the painting in the foyer that depicts Gabriel and Adrien in mourning. We know this from the way that Adrien (correctly) draws the conclusion that "Nathalie has the same illness as my mother, therefore she is dying". We know this from the way that Adrien speaks about his mother in past tense, how he encourages his father to move on and date Nathalie, how he has never once in the show seemed to be under the impression that Emilie could come back.

So, if Emilie suddenly came back........... someone would need to explain it to Adrien. He would need to be fed another lie about it. We would need to be made privy as to what he believes happened.

Examples of how this could have been easily achieved:

Again, the newscast. Nadja acknowledging that the missing Emilie Agreste had been found. Maybe mentioning that "she was found being held captive by Monarch" or something. I dunno, whatever lie that works.

Adrien, during his conversation with Marinette, mentioning what happened to Emilie from his perspective, the same way he vocalized to her what his perception of Gabriel's death was. I mean, seriously, Adrien was already doing this expositional dialogue... why wouldn't he mention his mom during it?

4. Leaked production material does not change the final product.

Yes, scripts were leaked of this season. There are deleted scenes in the storyboards. There are script changes and allusions to certain things and mentions here and there in these materials that suggest that the mysterious woman could have, at some point in production, been Emilie.

... at some point in production.

So, here's the thing. This is the most solid Emilie argument we have. In fact, I'd argue it's the only argument that holds any real ground at all. .......... and it's in content that we aren't supposed to have.

( Actually, it's the only real Emilie argument I've seen... period. The only other one I've seen is the fact her statue is gone, but I'd argue that the removal of her statue has symbolic weight no matter what. It was a symbol of Gabriel's obsession over her, the way that she haunts the narrative, the way she looms over the Agreste household. Alive or not, this is not the case anymore. So it makes sense to remove it. )

If your interpretation of the source material is solely, and I mean SOLELY based off of out-of-context snippets of things that were in the writer's room Vaguely At Some Point, things that now directly contradict the final product, things that the audience was absolutely under no circumstances meant to see...

You're not interpreting the episode. You're interpreting out-of-context snippets of a rough draft of it.

So, here's the thing. I've seen some of these leaks, I've seen a lot of people talk about these leaks, I've seen the rumors and I've heard the gossip. I'm not going to parrot it, because honestly, I'm still annoyed that the leaks exist at all. It feels a bit insulting to the art form, tbh, that incomplete scripts are being passed around and touted as significant and more accurate than the actual completed script.

But I'll say one thing:

If the rough drafts of scripts, deleted scenes, etc pointed to Emilie being alive.......

Why did they remove them?

(The answer is simple: because they changed their minds. And you don't have to stress about or mull over why they did it, because you were never supposed to know that it was changed, because you were never supposed to know about out-of-context rough drafts of the script in the first place. It doesn't matter. It's not the product. Writers are allowed to toss around ideas and scripts and then change them. It's unimportant and you're not supposed to be privy to it. It's not for you. It's not what they made. It's certainly not more accurate to the direction they're headed than what they settled on. )

Point is:

IF THE LEAKS DIDN'T EXIST, YOU WOULDN'T BE CONFUSED.

YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SEE THE LEAKS.

YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE CONFUSED.

5. So, Astruc on twitter.

Okay, I love perusing Astruc's twitter for snippets of information as much as the next obsessive miraculous fan. I have perused his twitter a lot. Astruc always addresses comments and concerns under like 20 layers of coyness.

People ask him, "is it Emilie or Amelie"? And basically, every time, he responds with some variation on "pay attention and you'll know".

He's been shooting down people presenting the clues they find to him, on both sides of the argument. Some examples (which include the Amelie wearing black and Emilie wearing white thing):

So, what does this mean, beyond the already known fact that Astruc likes to mess with us?

Obviously, I'm not Astruc. I don't know his mind. I also don't have much of vested interest in dissecting everything he says, nor do I take his word at face value a lot of the time (again, he likes to mess with us).

However, I think two things are fairly clear here:

It IS possible to know whether or not Emilie was revived by watching the episode.

It's not the small details he wants us to look at. Admittedly, color schemes and set dressings are small details. It's not the big picture. It's not important. It's not the heart of what he, or any writer in his position, would want us to interpret.

( Side note, but if nearly every single Emilie argument is based off of things NOT ACTUALLY IN THE EPISODE, then doesn't Astruc saying the answer is in the episode shoot that down right off the bat? But hey! I digress. )

So, what is the big picture? What are the things that writers are truly proud of? What is the thing that a writer would want us to pay attention to? What are the details of the show that can help point us to what transpired in the episode? What—

6. The WRITING of the ENTIRE SERIES, INCLUDING within THIS VERY episode, the dialogue, the themes, the character beats, the symbolism— Literally. All of it. Points to Emilie. STAYING. DEAD.

This is actually the heart of my point.

Emilie absolutely was not revived here.

Here's the thing. The themes of grief and loss and mourning are extremely present within the Agreste arc. Throughout the entire series, the following has been hammered in by the writing:

Gabriel is obsessive for wanting to bring Emilie back. His desires are not healthy or sound. He is delusional. He is hurting Adrien and Nathalie by living in this fantasy.

Gabriel should have moved on.

Nathalie wants to move on.

Adrien has already moved on.

EMILIE HERSELF wanted them all to move on.

Emilie is a nearly angelic figure. Adrien is literally the deuteragonist of the series. Nathalie is a morally grey character with a clear redemption arc. Gabriel is the antagonist.

The "better" the character is, the more certain they are that Emilie should not be revived.

The CORRECT choice, if Gabriel and Nathalie chose the "right" path from the start, would have been for Gabriel and Nathalie to focus on parenting Adrien themselves, instead of obsessing over bringing a dead woman who has already come to terms with her death back to life. That's what Emilie wanted. That's what Adrien wants. That's what Nathalie has wanted but was too afraid to say. That's what Gabriel refuses to accept.

Look, if I go in depth into the scenes where this is addressed, I'd be here all day. Instead, have a screenshot compilation, I guess.

Again. That's been a core message of the series this entire time. And while I don't have screenshots of it being spoken so plainly in seasons 1 and 2, Gabriel has always been depicted as sinister, and his obsession has always been framed in the wrong.

Now, if you're one of those people who refuse to analyze the text at all or interpret what the messages of the show are on the grounds of "the writing sucks so who cares, it's probably just inconsistent writing and they forgot about the themes in the final episode" or whatever, then like. Ok. But here's the thing— this theme is even more hammered home in the finale.

Guys. I'm serious. What the hell do you think the scene before the wish was saying?

Gabriel, at his lowest moment, brought down. Gabriel, detransformed and on his knees before Bug Noir. Gabriel, at the final hour of his life, near tears, still obsessing over his wife, still thinking of his wife his wife his wife above all else, as Bug Noir lays out the literal themes of the show to him in all their beautiful glory.

And then literally forces him to watch the very videos that he had tried to force Nathalie to delete. Forces him to face the very words he refused to acknowledge. Forces him, at his lowest, to come face-to-face with the truth he denied.

.... And it hits him. What she's saying hits him. Because how can he deny Emilie's own words? The very woman he's doing it all for? How can he bring her back to life when she would want nothing less? How can he force the love of his life to live knowing that someone had died for her to, when she didn't want that? How could he have lost himself so much in the madness?

And then Bug Noir comes in with THIS

.... And Gabriel says....

.... Note that, he does not continue to deny it. He does not plead his case that Emilie should be alive. He is no longer arguing that. Here, he has seemingly begun to accept the premise that Emilie should not be brought back to life. Instead, he has a new premise:

He does not want to be alive if Emilie is not.

Gabriel is not selfless. Gabriel is not a good man. Gabriel says, earlier in the episode, flat out, that he is more than willing to kill whoever it takes, whatever rando he wants, to get what he wants.

Here's the thing.

Gabriel wants to be with Emilie.

Gabriel is willing to kill anyone, whoever it takes, to make this happen.

Gabriel realizes Emilie does not want to be alive.

Gabriel decides that he will honor Emilie's final wish......... only partially.

Because Emilie wanted both Gabriel and Nathalie to take care of Adrien. But Gabriel does not want that. It's not that Gabriel is above killing someone to save his own life, it's that he realizes that he, too, does not want to be saved. Because he does not want to live in a world without Emilie.

He would rather be dead, with her, than alive and caring for his own son.

Gabriel Agreste's wish is a suicide. I mean, we already knew this— but I mean, literally. It's not a selfless sacrifice. It's not one final act of goodness. It's a suicide. He decides he wants to die, and he decides that he will save Nathalie in the act— because it's what Emilie wanted, and Gabriel is obsessive. The only person who would reason with him is Emilie herself.

And what does Gabriel's wish look like? How is it depicted to us?

Gabriel and Emilie, cast in a white light. Emilie lifts from her coffin, notably still limp, as Gabriel rises up with her.

He rises up with her, notably supporting her limp head with his hand. She is still unconscious. And he is joining her.

One last selfish act. The final nail into his "trying to be a dad" coffin. He doesn't want to be a dad anymore. He only wants to be with Emilie. And he will gladly pass that responsibility, the responsibility of parentage, onto Nathalie— The only character in the show who has been showing an explicit, vested interest in LIVING to take care of and be a parent to Adrien.

Nathalie is alive. Nathalie is well. A life for a life. One life for one life. That's all that's depicted. That's all that's shown.

Is it TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE that more could've been a part of that wish? Is it TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE that the wish could've been more complicated? Is it TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE that some random other person died? Is it TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE that all of that dialogue and that entire scene and the entire buildup of Emilie's recordings were just soooooo lol random and that Emilie just decided that she's totally cool with being revived and alive now and that the entire themes of the series were a lie?

I also think it's technically possible that Marinette has secretly been a hamster wearing a human suit this whole time, and Lila is actually secretly a sentimonster made by Gorilla. And maybe this show isn't a romance, actually, and that Adrien and Marinette aren't meant to be endgame. In fact, maybe the entire series was a big prank. Maybe I'm adopted and my parents lied to me about it.

But how it looks, from what I see, from what I've watched, what just happened is....

Gabriel accepted that Emilie is dead.

This made Gabriel want to die, too. Because he doesn't care about Adrien as much as he cares about Emilie.

So, he did. And he shirked parentage onto Nathalie.

Is this "winning", by the way? By any stretch? Is this "Gabriel getting what he always wanted"? Is this "Gabriel being proved right"? Is this a lack of consequences? Are we really going to call a broken man, who has been slowly turning to ash and rotting away for an entire season, who suffered and was beaten down and, at the very end, had the only people ever in his corner (Nathalie and Adrien) cursing his name and wanting him dead.... him being right all along? Is him committing suicide the series justifying his actions? Is him committing suicide (again, not a selfless sacrifice) him "doing good" and "being redeemed" by the narrative? Is a faux image of him, a false narrative, a complete fictional person that he never truly was being celebrated by ignorant Parisians, him "being redeemed"? I suppose that's another essay altogether. But I'm tired of writing.

also, there was still only one goddamn twin at that party

#ml spoilers #miraculous ladybug spoilers #ml s5 spoilers #ml s5 finale spoilers #ml recreation #recreation spoilers #re-creation spoilers #ml re-creation #emilie agreste #amelie graham de vanily #gabriel agreste

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sariahsue · 4 months

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Wherefore Art Thou (My)stery Lady

When a failed attempt to let Chat Noir down easy ends with Ladybug learning his name, she does what any lovesick teenager would do: teases him mercilessly. Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3

Chapter Four

“She really hasn't given you any more hints?” Nino asked. “It's been five days!”

Adrien loved group projects. It meant that there was a chance that he could visit with friends outside of school hours. And given how lucky he had been over the past few days, it didn't even surprise him when Ms. Bustier partnered him with Nino on their history project.

They sat on his floor together, taking a much-deserved break. Adrien was rereading his texts from Ladybug again, looking for any clues he might have missed.

Nino was right. It had been five days. Five long days of torture. He hadn’t seen her since their rendezvous on top of Montparnasse Tower, but she had seen him. She’d sent three pictures she’d taken of him when he wasn’t looking. He had his back turned in each one, and he’d been in large crowds as he walked in the hallway in between classes or at the end of the day. Times where there were so many people around that he couldn’t narrow down who she could be, which was deliberate on her part, he was certain.

They were so close, and he still couldn’t find her.

His phone buzzed with an incoming message.

My Lady – I accidentally called you Kitten in front of my best friend this morning. So embarrassing! My Lady – I told her I chose that nickname because of all the stupid cat emojis you send me. Adrien – Is that permission to keep sending them to you? My Lady – No. Adrien – Too bad. Adrien – 😻😽😸

Nino shuffled over, and Adrien scanned the message quickly. Nothing that would arouse suspicion if read.

“‘My Lady’?” Nino said, reading the contact name at the top. “Getting a little possessive already, huh?”

“No!” Adrien flipped his phone over to hide the messages. “Uh, ‘My’... is short... for ‘mystery.’ She's a mystery lady, but that was too long to fit. So, My Lady.”

“I don't believe you at all, dude, but I'll give you full points for that excuse.” Nino returned to his spot on the floor and started scrolling through his own phone, which he kept hidden from Adrien's view. “You like her already, huh?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said. He and Nino hadn't talked much about it, aside from that first day. Adrien had been too busy trying to piece together who Ladybug was, and he was getting frustrated. All he'd done so far was eliminate everyone in the school. Realizing he missed her on his first pass, he tried again. He looked at the yearbook, made a list of everything he knew about her, spent almost all his time in class puzzling over her, and he'd still come up empty.

“You should ask her out,” Nino said. “I've known her for a long time, and I think you two would be good for each other.”

Adrien nodded. He'd always thought so. “I asked already.”

“You did? Why didn't you tell me?”

“She said yes, assuming I could figure out who I'm asking!” Adrien flipped onto his back and stared at the high ceiling above him. “You’re not allowed to give me any hints, but what is she like?”

“How's that not a hint?”

“Because I already know what she's like.” He raised the phone, implying that he’d gotten to know her through texting and not midnight rooftop strolls. “I just want a different perspective. Maybe I just need the same information from a new angle.”

“If she gets mad at me, I'm blaming you.”

“But she wants to go out with me, right? So you're really trying to help her.”

“How about this,” Nino said. “I won't tell her if you won't.”

“Deal.”

Nino had been typing away on his screen, cap hiding his eyes, through the whole conversation and finally lifted his head.

Adrien listened intently as Nino started listing Ladybug's familiar traits.

“She's very creative and sweet, but still tough when she wants to be.”

Adrien knew both of those well from fighting alongside her. She could come up with the most ridiculous plans and execute them flawlessly. She'd stare down a monster and then turn around and help someone who'd been trying to kill her moments before.

“She's good at video games.” Another one that he knew, but had forgotten. He'd have to write that down on the list.

“And she can be pretty shy and nervous sometimes. It took her forever to tell you that she likes you.”

Adrien hadn't thought about it like that. She'd admitted to being anxious and awkwardly obvious about her crush (not that he'd been able to figure out that clue either), but he hadn't mentally added that trait to his image of her. She always seemed so confident and self-assured, and he loved that about her. He'd only ever seen her truly nervous on that first day.

“That's all you're getting.”

“None of it was really new information,” he said. “But thanks for reminding me of some things.”

“Sure, dude.”

Adrien's phone alerted him to another message.

My Lady – So... Mystery Lady, huh?

Adrien turned to Nino. “You texted her about that? Since when have you had her number?”

“Since the day she got her phone.”

My Lady – That was smooth. Plus, now you can use my favorite nickname! Adrien – I could just break into Nino's phone and check his messages, you know. My Lady – That would be cheating! Don't you dare!

“Am I going to do this project by myself?” Nino asked. “Or should I call your girlfriend and ask if I can borrow some of your attention?”

“Sorry, sorry.” And he was, until the next text from her came in. Nino sighed but didn’t complain as Adrien reflexively reached for his phone.

My Lady – Kitten, my homework is boring, and I don't want to do it. Talk to me. Adrien – What do you want me to say? My Lady – I don't know. Anything. Adrien – Okay...

He searched the room for inspiration but found none. The first thing that caught his attention on his phone was his name for her.

Adrien – What did you name my contact? My Lady – Uh... My Lady – … My Lady – Nothing... Adrien – Nothing as in just a blank space, or nothing as in something that you don't want to say? My Lady – NOTHING Adrien – Uh huh. So what is it? Adrien – Hm? Adrien – Aren't you going to tell me? My Lady – No. Adrien – Why not? My Lady – I'm going to delete your number if you don't stop asking! Adrien – That won't do anything. I'll just text you again, and then you'll have it again. My Lady – Please unsubscribe me from your mailing list. Adrien – Is it just a string of hearts or something? My Lady – The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Adrien – Or maybe it's “Hot Stuff”? My Lady – New phone. Who dis? Adrien – Wow. It must be reeealllly embarrassing if you don't want to tell me this badly. My Lady – FINE! My Lady – When I found out who you were, I changed your contact to “Future Husband.” OKAY?!?!?!

If Plagg could see his face right now, Adrien was sure the kwami would gag. He was probably smiling like an idiot. She really thought that it was a possibility?

“You good, dude?”

Adrien only nodded because how was he supposed to explain? Ladybug - LADYBUG - really had decided that she wanted to marry him?!

She was also still waiting for his response. Probably anxiously. Should he gush about how much he loved her or continue with his teasing?

Teasing won out.

Adrien – Oh, Bugaboo, you didn't even buy me a ring yet! My Lady – SHUT UP I'M GOING TO CHANGE IT Adrien – Please don't. Adrien – My ring size is 29, in case you were wondering. My Lady – That's not even a real size. Adrien – Oh. Adrien – Father doesn't sell jewelry, so I don't know anything about it. Haha. My Lady – Average sizes are usually between 5 and like 10 or 11. My Lady – In case you were wondering... My Lady – Mine’s 4 and a half.

---

Adrien walked into school the next morning (on time, thankfully! The photographer had been 10 minutes late to the shoot and traffic was horrible all morning) ready to watch the front door for any stragglers who showed up late. He still didn't have any ideas about who Ladybug could be, and he was starting to think he was missing the obvious. So he stood in the middle of the courtyard and scanned faces as they trickled in, but no one in particular stood out to him. No girl was the same height, looked just right, sounded like her, or moved the same way. Over several minutes, the courtyard started filling up. Starting from the doors, he slowly rotated until he’d done a full circle, double checking if someone had slipped past him. Nino was the only one in the crowd who caught his attention.

“Hey, bro!” Nino said, waving as he approached. “You look distracted, which means you haven't figured it out yet.”

“No! And she still won't give me another hint!”

“That's because you have enough to figure it out with, man. You're trying too hard.” He swung an arm over Adrien's shoulders. “Just look at your contact list and find the hole. Should be obvious, my dude.” It was easy for Nino to give advice. He had found out who she was the easy way ages ago.

But Ladybug kept telling him that, too. Plagg, when he didn't avoid the subject entirely, said much the same thing.

Adrien reached for his phone, but his scroll through his contact list was interrupted by an incoming text image.

There he and Nino were, in the middle of the crowded courtyard, looking at his phone. Adrien's head snapped up. The photographer had been directly in front of him on the upper level, but that area was now deserted.

“Come on,” Adrien said. “Maybe we can catch her.”

He took the stairs two at a time while Nino hollered for him to slow down. Adrien had no plan to do anything of the sort. His Lady had been there just a few seconds ago. She couldn't have gotten far.

Reaching the top step, he took another look around. There were a few corners that she could be hiding behind, or she could have ducked into a classroom. He debated for only a second. What would Ladybug do if she was trying to trip him up? Probably go where the most people were so she could hide in plain sight. He poked his head into the nearest classroom. A few people waved to him, but no one he knew well enough to have traded phone numbers with.

He tried a few more, then doubled back and checked the alcoves. There were a lot of people that he knew, and because he was in such a hurry, all of them seemed to want to say hello to him. He stayed only long enough each time to give a very hurried explanation that he was looking for someone in order to excuse himself before running off again.

“Hey!” Nino said, finally catching up with him. “Will you slow down?”

“Did you see her anywhere? Please tell me that much. Did I overlook her again?”

“I haven't seen her,” Nino said, taking off his hat and fanning himself with it. “What did you eat for breakfast, man? Rocket fuel? I haven't seen you run like that since the last akuma. Or…” Nino put his hat back on and smiled, “do you really just want to find her that bad?”

Two minutes after running out of the courtyard, Adrien found himself up at the top of the stairs overlooking it. He walked to the railing, where Ladybug had been standing when she took her picture of him. She'd been so close, and she'd slipped through his fingers again. He needed to figure her identity out soon, or she’d be the death of him (in the best way possible).

The courtyard was emptier than it had been a few minutes prior. The flow of students through the front doors had been reduced to a trickle. Only a few stragglers remained at the bottom of the stairs, waiting to go to class until the very last second.

“I think the bell's about to ring,” Nino said, tapping him on the shoulder. “We should go.”

Adrien sighed. Another attempt to find her had ended in failure.

They trudged back down the stairs to their first class. A few of their friends were ahead of them in the hallway, including Alya and Marinette, who were whispering together. He heard Alya congratulating Marinette about something. He heard only a few words, “likes you a lot!” and “interested.” What were they talking about? He picked up his pace, hoping to get close enough to catch more of the conversation, but Nino called out to them over the crowd to get their attention before he reached them.

Alya cut off her next sentence abruptly and spun around, eyes going to Adrien first before landing on Nino.

“Good morning!” Marinette said, eyes shining. Was he imagining it, or was her gaze lingering on him longer than it usually did? “What have you two been up to this morning? Looking for that mystery lady of yours again?”

“You know about that?” Adrien groaned. “How many people know?”

A few people shoved past him to get to their classrooms. He hadn't realized they were blocking the traffic.

“Nino told me about it,” Marinette said, starting to walk forward again. “He said you were having some trouble figuring out who she was. Do you want some help?” Behind her back, Nino and Alya exchanged deadpan looks.

“Yeah,” he said. “That would be great. I've tried everything I can think of.”

Marinette thought about it for a few seconds, tapping her finger to her lips in a slow, exaggerated movement. He glanced down at the finger briefly before turning his attention back to her eyes.

“Have you tried tricking her into giving you more information? Like ask her about something that happens at school today that only some people know about. Then, if she sees it, you have fewer people to guess from. Maybe you could cat-ch her that way?” She put more emphasis on the first half of the word “catch,” but he wasn't sure why. “What about the assembly today?”

“That's a great idea, Marinette! Thanks!” That was a fantastic idea. The assembly was only for their grade, and if she saw it too, that would really narrow down the pool of candidates. And even if she didn’t, he could exclude an entire grade from his search. He would have to word his questions just right, so she wouldn’t think he was asking for another hint. If she knew he was looking for a way around the rules of her challenge, she might not answer. Or worse, be unhelpful on purpose.

“You're welcome,” she said. “I really hope you find her soon.”

Adrien blinked, surprised to find himself and Marinette alone in the hallway in front of their first period class. His mind was still thinking up exactly how he would pose his questions to seem the most innocent.

“Really, Marinette. Thank you. I really want to find her.”

She beamed at him as the bell rang, and they both ran for the classroom door.

With Marinette’s help, and a little bit of his Lady’s luck, he might know was behind the mask by the end of the day. And he couldn’t wait.

Chapter Five

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Tag list: @eclipsesmoonshine14, @alittlewolf2, @mlbigbang

#adrinette #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #ml

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theerurishipper · 9 months

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Also, Adrien's arc isn't about learning to stand up for himself because he is too weak and pathetic to do so like some people claim. It is about him learning he is allowed to after a lifetime of believing he is only worth something if he tries to please everyone and that he has to earn his father's love. It is about learning that he deserves more than that and that he doesn't have to put up with him. It isn't about standing up to him, it is about breaking away from him entirely. Because as long as Adrien is under that roof, Gabriel has all the power. His arc isn't about learning to be brave enough to face Gabriel, it's about finding his self-worth and realizing that he deserves to. Adrien is perfectly capable of standing up for himself. Because trust me, the boy who throws himself in danger on the daily to protect the city from a terrorist has no shortage of bravery. It's why I don't use the words "stand up for himself" very often while talking about Adrien, because that's not his arc.

We see what happens when Adrien tries to rebel. Gabriel always punishes him or gaslights him into staying and believing it's his fault. Adrien doesn't make excuses for Gabriel because he's a doormat, it's because he loves him. Adrien has always stood up to Gabriel. But he stays because he ultimately believes that his father is right (because Gabriel is a manipulative piece of shit and an authority figure over him) and because he loves him and wants to believe the best of him. His story is about finding true connections and relationships with other and learning that he deserves unconditional love, and realizing that his father is a bad person. "Standing up to Gabriel" will do jack shit for him. He's seen first-hand plenty of times what that does. Removing himself entirely from that situation is what he needs. And he can only do that if he realizes he as a person deserves to do so. He stays under Gabriel because he loves him and believes that he is only worth as much as he is able to please Gabriel, which is why he doesn't constantly fight against Gabriel's control. Again, his arc isn't about "growing a spine" or whatever deranged victim blamey shit some people come up with, it's about realizing that Gabriel is full of shit and is completely wrong about what he says to him and how he treats him, realizing that he doesn't have to stay, and finally breaking away from him entirely because he's realized his own worth is and what real love is like, and so now he knows he deserves better.

It's not about learning how to stand up for himself, it's about realizing he can. It's not about "learning to fight back instead of taking the poor treatment" or whatever, it's about realizing that he's been treated poorly. Again, Adrien doesn't not "fight back" because he's a coward, he doesn't fight back because Gabriel is manipulative, and Adrien believes him because he loves him and because he's been conditioned to be subservient to his father his whole life. Once more, his arc is not about "growing a backbone" or whatever, it's about him realizing who his father really is and breaking free. There is a fundamental misconception in this fandom about what "asserting himself" and "standing up for himself" means for Adrien. It doesn't mean that he should become braver and "less passive" or something. He's already brave enough to assert himself and his self-worth, but what he needs to do is to find that self-worth which Gabriel has chipped away from him his whole life. He's brave enough to protest cruel treatment already, but what he needs to learn is that he is being treated cruelly. He needs to learn what unconditional love truly is and that his father loving him doesn't excuse him. "Standing up for himself" is about recognizing and asserting his right to be treated properly, not about becoming brave and confrontational and "not passive" enough to do that. "Standing up" isn't about him learning how to stand up for himself, it's about him learning that he deserves to. That is what him standing up to Gabriel leads to. Not him becoming braver and being able to do it, but him gaining his self-worth and autonomy and allowing himself to do it. That's what the significance of the moment is (or should have been since it didn't happen, fuck you Season 5).

#MLB #Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Gabriel Agreste #Meta #My meta #ML Fandom Salt #ML Salt

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 11 months

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IOTA Reviews: Migration

You know, for a while, I thought Luka was one of the smartest characters in the show, and the fact that he's hightailing it out of Paris in this episode only continues to prove my point.

Let's get into the thirteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Migration

We start off with Marinette running over to the Liberty (with her friends laughing behind her back like the supportive people they are) and tries to talk with Luka about her relationship with Adrien once they're in private. Luka is pretty supportive, and it's a nice scene. Marinette then bumps into Adrien, who also wants to talk with Luka, and while the two try to get unstuck, we get a nice visual of Luka seeing the two as Ladybug and Cat Noir, which is there to remind the audience that he's known who both of them are ever since “Wishmaker”.

Adrien then talks to Luka about how he's worried something is keeping Marinette from being honest about her feelings. Luka gives him some advice on how just because he doesn't know everything about Marinette, it doesn't make her feelings for him less valid, and vice versa.

After Adrien leaves, we get an appearance from everyone's favorite deadbeat dad, Jagged Stone. He asks Luka how he can be a better father like he didn't miss years of child support, but all Luka really says is that he needs to spend time with his damn family. Of course, what I like about this scene is that it avoids the usual narrative pitfall of trying to say that Jagged and Anarka, Luka's mom, should get back together, and instead shows Jagged developing feelings for his agent, Penny.

Speaking of, after Jagged leaves, Penny comes in to come to Luka for advice. Okay, is Luka just the Dr. Phil of this show's universe? Penny talks to Luka about her sudden feelings for Jagged Stone.

Penny: No, I don't know why I'm in love with your father. He's disorganized, childish, selfish, and musically speaking, he's no David Bowie. Truth be told, your dad's a walking disaster. So why do I love him?

Luka: Does he make you happy, Penny?

Penny: Yeah. I just can't figure out why!

It's almost like this show will randomly pair people up at the drop of a hat. But hey, at least Luka hasn't asked if Kagami is single yet.

Before Penny leaves, Bob Roth, Jagged's producer, demands to know where he is, as he needs to record a new album. Bob learns that Jagged had children with Anarka (ignoring the potential scandal it could create), so Anarka promptly throws him out of the boat in a scene that I'm pretty sure is meant to be a reference to that one running gag from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

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Either way, Jazz's scream was funnier.

Kitty Section then practices their latest song about how you don't have to be rich, because even the songs in this show aren't exactly subtle with their messages. Bob somehow gets back on the Liberty completely dry, and offers the band a contract.

Bob: How would you like to sign a contract with me?

Luka: Actually, Bob, you already offered to sign us... Marinette: And you never followed up. Did you forget?

Bob: Huh? Uh... of course! I remember! I was just waiting for the right reason—uh, I mean, the right time! I was waiting for the right time to have you guys sign the contract!

My God, even the characters in this show want to forget it used to have good episodes.

Anarka throws Bob off again, where she and Luka talk about how everyone deserves a second chance and that change is possible.

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Yeah, funny how that message almost never came up with Chloe, Lila, and Felix last season, isn't it? And given that they're going to use Bob as an example of this lesson, I don't think it's going to be a positive one. So right after Luka generously decided to give Bob a second chance, Bob offers them a new contract to sign... and as soon as he does, he screws them all over thanks to a lot of fine print they didn't stop to read.

Ivan: He can fire us whenever he wants?

Bob: Yep, and I just did, by the way.

Rose: The name Kitty Section belongs to him?!

Bob: Yep. It’s ugly, but it’s mine. Marinette: He owns everything you’ve made and will make over the next thousand years!? Bob: Gotta cover all bases.

Zoe: Marinette's costumes, the music video Nino shot, the website Mylene runs...

Bob: All mine!

Adrien: And you can’t even start another band together?

Bob: Course not, that’d be unfair competition! EVERYTHING belongs to me! Everything you are, everything you say, everything that’s in your hearts belongs to me!

See, kids? This is why you should never trust bad people. It doesn't matter if they say they want to improve. They just want to trick you and ruin your life, so if you're ever wronged by anyone, that person is never able to redeem themselves, especially if they're rich. As we all know, rich people are far worse than insane supervillains who want to rewrite reality. Just ask the biggest monster in the show, Chloe Bourgeois.

So yeah, Luka's optimism being taken advantage of is enough to attract the attention of Monarch, who attempts to akumatize him into Silencer again. Monarch realizes that Luka knows Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities (why he didn't think to look into it, given Viperion's powers, is left unanswered), and angrily smashes his guitar to free himself of Monarch's influence.

So not only did he stop himself from getting akumatized, he's also one step closer to becoming a true rock star.

Somehow, Bob thinks only keeping Luka on board would mean he wouldn't hate him, but Luka isn't buying it. Bob is shocked that Luka wouldn't want to work for an asshole like him as Luka tears the contract in half, but Bob has backups. Monarch decides to settle on Bob instead, akumatizing him into Gold Record.

Gold Record's design is... okay. It's still better than Sole Destroyer, and it's definitely better than Moolak. The gold coloring looks nice, and the euro symbol on the record is a nice visual. His powers are pretty much just a combination of Pixelator, the Collector, and Truth's powers, transforming people into records who sing their true feelings while using the Horse Miraculous' Voyage to throw the records into space. Nothing too original there, but it's a good metaphor for sleazy music producers, and it works for this story.

Rose and Anarka are the first of Gold Record's victims, and in a hurry, Luka lets Adrien know he knows he's Cat Noir, giving him a place to hide. Just as Juleka is hit by Gold Record, Ladybug and Cat Noir arrive on the scene. While Cat Noir holds off Gold Record, Ladybug tries to come up with a plan.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, getting a knitting needle. She realizes her plan will need to involve using Luka as bait. Luka is forced to reveal that he knows who Ladybug and Cat Noir are, and what will happen if Gold Record gets him, setting up a tough choice that will force Ladybug to rethink her plan... and then the next scene happens, where Luka lets himself get hit, where Ladybug manages send Gold Record's record flying with a makeshift bow and arrow created from the knitting needle and a nearby fiddle, which Cat Noir immediately Cataclysms.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Akuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, and gives Bob Roth a Magical Charm that even he knows is useless at this point. Ladybug and Cat Noir decide to call it a day and let Anarka throw Bob Roth out again.

Luka reveals that he knows Ladybug and Cat Noir's identities (because once again, sharing that information with your friends is totally fine for some reason), and that he can't stay in Paris. After revealing that he had Fang eat all of Bob's contracts so Luka isn't bound by them anymore, Jagged offers to take Luka around the world to finally make up for years of absence while Luka makes Juleka the new leader of Kitty Section. And so the episode ends with the Couffaine family sharing a hug while Luka gives one last look to his friends Marinette and Adrien.

This episode was just average, all things considered. The plot and the lesson it was setting out to teach, while not terrible, felt a little tacked on. It was if the writers were trying to acknowledge the stuff that happened with Chloe and wanted to show an example of redemption arc done right in the case of Jagged. It falls flat because once again, more focus is given to showing how easy it is to be screwed over trusting someone than showing the benefits to trusting someone, especially since Bob is already an outlandish villain we already have a lot of reasons to hate.

I'm also mixed on the handling of Luka here. While I'm glad Marinette isn't being forced to learn a lesson here, I don't get why Luka had to be the one to be taken advantage of. He's already aware of how easy it is for Monarch to learn his secrets, so it feels weird that he lets himself and his friends get taken advantage of so easily. Outside of the scene with Ladybug's Lucky Charm, I don't get why he needed to tell the others the stuff he knew. I can sort of see why he'd tell Adrien, but why would he think telling his friends he knows who Ladybug and Cat Noir are wouldn't endanger them too?

Speaking of that, despite being established for almost an entire season, we really don't see enough of Marinette and Adrien reacting to Luka revealing that he knows who they are. Marinette only gets a few lines, and Adrien doesn't even get to say anything. While I am glad that Marinette and Adrien aren't dominating the plot for once, it feels weird that we don't get to see their reactions to something so shocking, especially with how often the identity rule has been enforced.

On the other hand, the writing is still handled a lot better than usual. I like how Monarch chooses to change his strategy to focus on Luka halfway through the episode, and the idea of the risk using Luka for Ladybug's plan brings is an interesting one, even if they don't really go anywhere with it. The running gag with Bob constantly getting thrown off the Liberty is a funny one, and it proves you can actually write slapstick that doesn't involve humiliating Marinette. Who knew?

As a whole, while I think this is the best episode of the season so far, this episode still has its fair share of problems.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... LUKA

Not counting the time Marinette got the award in my review of the Shanghai Special, we have the first character this season to get the Biggest Idiot Award twice. For someone who is usually smarter than the other characters, Luka made quite a few bad choices this episode. He decided to trust Bob Roth after he screwed him and his friends over in “Silencer”, he didn't think to read the contract he was offered, and after being endangered by what Monarch knows now, he decided to tell his friends and family that he knows who Ladybug and Cat Noir are, potentially putting them all in danger too. Yeah, the next few episodes will probably just ignore it, but there's always a chance Monarch could try another Optigami, even if he doesn't have the Peacock Miraculous anymore.

And with that, I'm officially done with the first half of Season 5. What do I think of it? Well, I think Immortan Joe said it best:

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Yeah, this season was pretty boring, all things considered. To be perfectly honest, I struggled here more than I did last season because I wasn't sure what to say about half of the episodes I watched. There was almost nothing of substance these past thirteen episodes, and I could barely say anything other than “this episode is okay” or “this episode is bad”. Whenever I had ideas, they were usually extensions to things I've already talked about, like the Marinette angst, the historical and cultural inaccuracies, and the villains genuinely being incompetent. If you showed someone a few episodes of Season 1 and this season, outside of Monarch's new appearance, it'd be pretty hard for them to tell the difference.

But hey, maybe things will pick up in the second half of the season. Hell, maybe the next episode will be even better than this one, and... huh. Does anyone else hear an ominous whistling in the background?

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eddo-tensei · 1 year

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More thoughts on Derision (Spoilers, obviously)

I think it's amusing that the default counter-argument to anyone who criticizes this episode boils down to "Well, you're just a Chloe Stan!" Which is something I had to deal with myself recently. Apparently, you can only hate this episode if you're a Chloe apologist. First off, hi, I'm Eddo. I wrote a fanfic where Chloe literally gets thrown into the dirt and suffer an allergic reaction to cacti, both times being her own fault. I feel like my Chloe Stan license should be revoked after that.

Anyways, I'm not surprised with the direction they went with Chloe in Derision. It's been stated since around Season 4 that Chloe was on a "Damnation Arc", so they've been doing everything they can to make her worse and worse. So, I'm not surprised or even angry that they continued this here. I'm annoyed, but not angry. What I AM angry about would be the other characters who got mangled in this shitshow.

Writers? Could you please stop having Chat threaten people with Cataclysm after he's shown regret doing it to people by accident TWICE?! This has happened three times now, counting what happened with Scarabella. Yes, I know he did this before with Darker Owl, but that just makes it worse because that happened right AFTER he regretted doing this to Monarch. You know, the guy who's been tormenting and attacking everyone for over a year? I guess to Chat, Damocles and Kim deserve it more for ripping away a fantasy and pulling a shitty prank respectively.

I know I complained about this a lot already, but this needs to be stressed upon. If we're going to take Cataclysm seriously, especially with what later episodes showed us, maybe DON'T have your hero threaten people with it for relatively petty reasons? "BUT IT'S FOR TRUE LOVE!!!1!!" Yeah, no. When he tried to do it on Darker Owl, Ladybug told him to cut that crap. It then happened again with Dark Humor with Ladybug telling him not to do it. It doesn't matter if it's for "true love." Both times he did this so far, Ladybug made it clear that this was a bad idea. So, maybe you guys should stop trying to encourage it. I refuse to believe that Chat believes that Monarch is more deserving to live after everything that he did than Kim after what he did. Speaking of Kim...

My friendly neighborhood dumb jock, why would the writers do this to you? When we only had the leaks to go by, I actually tried to scour for any interactions Kim had with Marinette and I can confirm that with the revelations we got in Derision, they REALLY don't make sense. Yes, Kim was a bit of a douche in the first season. Origins had him push Ivan around to the point of being the trigger for the Akuma. But he wasn't THIS much of a douchenozzle. Moreover, I have a hard time believing Marinette would be as friendly as she is with Kim throughout the series given what he did to her as revealed in this episode. Also, I know this is going to sound offensive, but...Kim was Marinette's first crush? Really? That's what you're going with? I'm not trying to insult Kim, but there was NOTHING that hinted to this. I can't help but think this was the thought process of the writers when they brought this up:

"So, we need to have Chloe do something to Marinette that would explain why Marinette struggles to be with Adrien. It has to be something big and traumatic. More importantly, it has to involve Marinette actually having a past crush that Chloe ruined and it has to be a character we're familiar with, so we can't make up an OC for it. We can't use Nino because he had a crush on her and it wouldn't make sense for her to reciprocate. We can't use Nathaniel because his crush went almost completely unnoticed by Marinette and he's also gay now. We can't use Ivan because he likes Mylene and we can't complicate that. We can't use Max because most people think he's ace and subverting that would piss a ton of people off. Oh, and we can't have it be any of the girls either because our show would get cancelled if Marinette isn't straight. So, let's just make it this guy."

"This. Fucking. Guy."

I'm having a hard time thinking of any other reason. I know some people theorized in the past that Kim and Marinette might've had a thing, but I don't think they held any water. Even now, however, I really don't think people should be happy it was canonized in this way.

I always held the belief that Chloe was responsible for Marinette's behavior, but my idea of it was that Chloe had been bullying Marinette for a long time and those years of sustained bullying took its toll on the poor baker girl that made it difficult for her to not only open her heart to people she loves, but have difficulties making friends in general until Alya came along. Yeah, Chloe doesn't look good in this case either, but it would've been more reasonable and would probably resonate with a lot more people who probably had to deal with bullies messing with them for a long time because these effects usually aren't instant. They get built on for a long time and it can really mess up their perception on things.

I think a good story would've been Marinette having to heal from that sustained trauma and while it is difficult since nobody can just quickly heal from trauma, it'd be a good journey for Marinette to be able to open up again with Alya and Adrien being just the first two pieces Marinette needs for her recovery.

But now, instead of all that, it turns out Chloe just pulled a prank that just unleashed a cavalcade of trauma on Marinette all at once that is hyper-specific to how she handles her crush that Adrien and ONLY Adrien can heal. All the while, it turns out that the prank was actually pulled by a guy who I really thought was just kinda fun and cool, but now I can't talk about him in the same way again because he's been thrown under the bus for the sake of this nonsense plot that's difficult not to call a full-on retcon. Do you know what I can call a retcon, though? Or rather who?

I am sorry to all of the people who are probably stanning Socqueline right now, but I CAN'T vibe with her. I'm not saying you're not allowed to like her either, because that would be dumb, but I DON'T like how she was presented in Derision. First off, to get this out of the way, we're no strangers to characters being introduced out of nowhere. Felix and Zoe are both characters that come to mind. The thing is you can at least explain their respective absences easily. Felix had likely been distant from Adrien for a long time with him only coming in out of obligation with Amelie. Zoe is actually even more easy to explain given that she was shoved into a boarding school by Audrey and wouldn't really be able to connect with any of the characters until she was forced to transfer. Socqueline, however, does not have that luxury and cannot be easily explained away not only with how we found her, but for the fact that there was NO hint to her existing until Season 5 and that is inexcusable given how much importance this character now has. To put it in perspective, this is how we are introduced to Socqueline in Jubilation:

Marinette: That fake Ladybug from this morning, I think it was Socqueline, a school friend from last year. Knowing her, I’m sure she means well. But I have to convince her to stop putting herself in danger like that.

That's it. She just calls her a school friend. Yes, it's clear that she's at least important enough for Marinette to remember her name, she was just called a school friend. At the very least, she did have an interesting story with her trying to be Ladybug in order to help people. Of course, she had to be talked out of it because it's causing issues with the real Ladybug, but it's a decent story and Socqueline had only made a few appearances here and there.

And then Derision.

Yes, Socqueline referred to Chloe as "that monster", so it's clear that they planned her to have something against Chloe since her first appearance. However, Derision showed us that Socqueline wasn't just a school friend. She was Marinette's closest confidant in the school years prior to the start of the series. She actively protects Marinette from bullies, particularly Chloe, and was clearly a huge inspiration for her until Chloe got her suspended from school.

First off, in case I haven't made it clear, we haven't seen Socqueline AT ALL until Season 5. Not even a hint to her existence. So given how significant she was made out to be in Derision, WHY HASN'T SHE MADE ANY APPEARANCES IN THE SERIES BEFOREHAND?! She doesn't even have the excuse of being outside of Paris like Felix and Zoe do because she's STILL there and in an arts and crafts store no less, which probably would've been a great place for Marinette to hang out in with her friends if the writers thought this through. But they didn't and Socqueline's debut comes off as severely jarring because we have this character who was really important to Marinette's life just not show up until she started cosplaying as Ladybug.

Secondly, it muddles Marinette's own backstory as well as severely hampering the significance of Alya. Now instead of being alone with nobody to help her against Chloe, which makes her friendship with Alya all the more stronger, Marinette just had this super cool friend who was always there for her until mean ol' Chloe got her kicked out of school. Doesn't that sound like something you'd see in a fanfic, specifically one that's salting Alya given how Socqueline was depicted as Marinette's BFF?

Thirdly, if Chloe was able to get Socqueline suspended so easily, then why hadn't she been able to do that with the other students? Yeah, she got close with Alya, but that didn't stick. If Chloe really had the ability to just make students disappear even if it happened once, she would NOT hesitate to try and do this again with any other student who slighted her, ESPECIALLY Marinette. But she doesn't. Once her attempt on Alya failed, she didn't try again. Hell, LILA had more attempts to get Marinette kicked out of school than Chloe did and actually got closer to doing it than Chloe would ever get, which is weird since she doesn't have the title of "Mayor's Daughter" to throw around like Chloe would. This just feels like something done to explain away why Socqueline didn't show up in the series which doesn't work because she's STILL IN PARIS and I'm pretty sure Marinette would be more than happy to meet with Socqueline given how close they were, but that never happened.

Fourthly, I'm guessing nobody felt like pointing it out because it felt too obvious, but doesn't Socqueline just come off as the writer's answer to Bridgette? You know, the older Marinette based on the anime PV that some fan writers implement into their own stories? Yeah, she's not one-to-one similar to Marinette like Bridgette is, but it definitely feels like another instance of the writers pulling stuff out of fanon just to put a canon spin on it. And like all the other instances, it's a bad spin.

Lastly, this whole incident with the prank and Socqueline's suspension took place a few months before Origins. Not even a year at the earliest. It was specifically stated that Socqueline was suspended three weeks before the end of the school year. Given how close that time gap, the way everyone behaves in Origins makes almost no sense. Marinette would be a lot more horrified of Chloe if Derision was anything to go by and Chloe would be more willing to try and cast Alya out so Marinette doesn't have any allies given that Derision showed Chloe REALLY wanting to make sure nobody helps Marinette. The only point I could even give any leeway to is Kim and even then, again, he's not that much of a douche in Origins as he was in Derision. So, really, it all just comes off as a blatant retcon specifically to try and explain the new direction the writers are taking with certain characters. And do you want to know the dumbest thing? Apparently, Socqueline was such an inspiration to Marinette that the latter changed her hair to be more like Socqueline's.

No, seriously. That's also how they explain why Marinette has different hairstyles. I know Expository Hairstyle Changes are a thing in fiction, but this is just awkward as hell given how traumatic and melodramatic the whole thing is. You don't need to say that Marinette's hairstyle came from someone who she considered a hero because nothing about Marinette indicated that her hairstyle is important. This isn't like Josuke changing his hairstyle to be based on the man who saved him as a child. It's a purely cosmetic change that's suddenly given a shit-ton of significance because now it's connected to this horribly traumatic incident. In fact, you know what this reminds me of?

Actually, the whole segment where this Linkara clip came from seems to sum up a lot of things wrong with Derision. It's not just bad because it makes some characters look bad or introduces stuff out of nowhere. It's bad because now everything in the flashback is now part of all of the characters! Every prior episode will now have to be viewed with a lens tinted by the events of this episode. Now nobody can discuss Kim without people salting on him for the prank, now nobody can talk about how important Alya's friendship with Marinette because of Socqueline's sudden boost in significance (In fact, it's very likely that Alya salters will try to use Socqueline as a replacement friend), and now nobody can speculate the intrigue of Marinette's past because EVERYTHING about her behavior is linked to this specific incident and nothing else. That's what pisses me off about this episode. That's why I share that Double D meme so frequently. I could care less about how much of a monster Chloe was depicted to be in this episode, but I am going to complain when other characters are butchered in the process. I will complain about one thing concerning her, though.

Isn't it amazing that you can tell the writers are trying DESPERATELY to squish any and all positive interpretations of Chloe, even trying to downplay parental neglect because "this character also didn't have a mom and they didn't turn out this way" even though Mylene's and Chloe's situations are still VASTLY different? You can make the argument that Audrey's absence doesn't excuse Chloe's actions. In fact, I don't think it really does either, but saying that there's only one valid response to an absent parent is EXTREMELY insensitive to people who might be going through similar situations.

Oh, and to cap this all off? This is the favorite episode of one of the main writers. Said writer possibly being considered to be the new director for Season 6 of Miraculous and onwards. I'm not gonna name which one for obvious reasons, but it's been confirmed.

I feel like this is a good indication that you need to hop off this series.

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ataraxianne · 11 months

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Nino trying cheering Marinette up telling her that they could all eventually find a way to go visit Adrien in London every now and then got me thinking. Marinette already has the possibility to, she has an aunt in London, Shu Yin, her mother's sister and even if she apparently doesn't like her that much, we know Marinette- if she wanted she could just take the first train to London and starting living with her aunt just to see Adrien everyday. She went to Shangai just to see him just for a day, finding out an excuse to live in London wouldn't be that crazy from her. And maybe the thought had already crossed her mind. The problem is not the distance but the apparent impossibility of their relationship, how everything and everyone seems against it, how they believed they had all the time in the world and instead many people, his father first, tried separating them and basically actually did. I can't even imagine the pain they're both in, they deserve so much better

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #chat noir #mlb season 5 #ladybug #adrinette #gabriel agreste #mlb s5 spoilers #ml revelation #ml argos #felix fathom #felix graham de vanily #ml revolution

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dragonwritersblog · 10 months

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These Hands Of Yours (Let Me Protect Them)

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For @xhanisai after I reblogged this post and immediately came up with this after the S5 finale. I have many thoughts but the main one was mostly “MARINETTE MY GIRL YOU DESERVE SO MUCH BETTER!” but yeah, I decided to base this after the finale because I feel like it fits with that post that she made. I managed to write this with the help of the caffeine from my tea, my remaining will to live and the neuro-spicy brain juice swirling around in my head. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this Akari!

The image of her tears-stained cheeks, red eyes and running nose was something Adrien didn’t think he was going to get out of his head for quite some time. He had comforted both Marinette and Ladybug many times before for different reasons, but this was the first time he comforted the same person on both sides of the mask.

It had started earlier this evening when they were both on patrol, Ladybug had met up with them at their agreed spot on a rooftop. The first sign he noticed something was wrong was how tense she was. Sure, she had her signature sweet smile and adorable sass, but her grin seemed more strained, and her quips were forced rather than seamlessly rolling off her tongue.

When asking her if she was alright, she brushed it off with a nervous laugh and swung away to start patrol. Chat Noir thought about chasing after her, but decided against it, knowing that if he continued to press on about it, the less willing she would be to tell him what was going on. They met up again twenty minutes later, but this time the sass and smile were gone, replaced with a face clouded with gloom and her posture slouched. He asked again if she was sure she was okay, only to be given a single nod before Ladybug attempted to swing away again; key word, attempted. For when she threw the end of her yoyo and prepared to jump, her clumsiness seemed to strike, and she nearly lost her footing. If it hadn’t been for Chat Noir’s quick reflexes and grabbed her wrist to pull her away, there was a definite chance she would’ve been injured.

He asked her one last time if she was okay and something inside her seemed to snap. Her eyes began to water, and her bottom lip trembled before launching herself into his chest and began to sob, strained cries ripping from her throat. Chat immediately scooped her up into his arms and walked over to a chimney, sitting them both down with her in his lap as he stroked her hair.

“I’m s-sorry, I’m so sorry!” she wailed, her tears leaking onto his leather covered shoulders as she buried her face into his neck.

“Shhh,” he buried his claws into her hair, gently taking out her hair ties and began stroking through the soft dark locks to sooth her, “You don’t need to apologize, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You don’t understand!” she hiccupped, her small hands gripping the back of his suit as her entire body began to shake with more sobs, “I was stupid, I was really stupid this time Chat!”

Another tremor wracked through her body, causing Chat Noir to start purring, hoping that the vibrations would ease the panic threating to bubble to the surface. The purring seemed to be working, for he felt her trying to even out her breathing, though it seemed that she struggled as she would let out a cry once in a while that just shattered his heart every time he heard it. “Whatever it is, we can get through this together like we always do.”

“Not this time Chat!” she whimpered, “It’s just gonna make things worse if I say it. Everyone’s already so happy I can’t say it.”

“Then don’t say it to everyone,” he took one of her hands, his thumb stroking the top as her face peeled away from her shoulder to look at him, “Just say it to me, and let the rest just follow.”

“I…he…he should hate me!” she sniffled.

“Who?”

“Adrien!” her chest began to heave again as her other hand clawed at her face, “He should hate me for what I did!”

“Adrien Agreste?” Chat Noir inquired, starting to put the pieces together, “If this is about what happened to his father, Gabriel made that choice to help save the city. It’s not your fault, he doesn’t hate you for that.”

While true, a part of him was still grieving the loss of his father, he was glad that in those remaining moments his true self came to light for what he would do for his family. With that information in mind, it was something he could live with. However, it seemed that what he said just made his Lady feel worse as ripped her hand that was held in his to claw at her neck as she cried harder.

“No, no, no!” She began to rock back and forth, red marks were starting to contrast against her pale skin on her jaw, making Chat Noir grab her hands into his own large ones so she wouldn’t cause further damage to herself. “He shouldn’t have died; I shouldn’t have let him die! Then the wish wouldn’t-”

She clamped her mouth shut, praying that Chat Noir didn’t hear that last part. Unfortunately, his enhanced hearing was able to catch those last few words, the boy turning to her slowly. “What do you mean about the wish?” his tone was slow and steady.

“I-I didn’t…that wasn’t what I…t-that’s not what I meant to say-”

“-Ladybug,” she nearly jumped at the sound of his voice, the intensity making her nerves twist again, “What do you mean about the wish?”

He didn’t look or seem angry, but she knew that this was a conversation that he wasn’t going to change. Trying to compose herself as much as she could, she began to explain.

“He-he tricked me,” her own voice seemed to start shaking, “M-Monarch tricked me.” She felt his claws trail up and down her back to try and relieve some of her panic as her stuttering continued. “He tricked me. He tricked me. He tricked me.”

“It’s okay,” he whispered. He thinks he has a bit of an idea now. “Monarch is nothing but evil. He would do anything to get what he wants. Don’t blame yourself for Monarch making Gabriel sacrifice himself, you did all that you could.”

It didn’t seem to make her feel better, her eyes were still wide open and spilling tears as her breathing worsened. She began to shake her head. “Monarch tricked me. Monarch tricked me!” she turned to meet his gaze, “Gabriel was the trick!”

Chat Noir raised a brow in confusion. How was Gabriel the trick? His thoughts were interrupted as Ladybug’s rambles became more frantic.

“Monarch tricked me! Gabriel tricked me. Gabriel tricked me. He tricked me!”

A pit began to form in his stomach. No, no there’s no way. It felt like pieces of a puzzle starting to finally click together. Or to put it more simply, two men – two horrible men – began to mould into one monster. It was only confirmed when Ladybug opened her mouth again.

“Gabriel is…was Monarch,” she gripped his hands as the memory flooded back into her mind, “He started saying these things and I though that maybe, just maybe, there was still some good him. How could I be such an idiot?! To fall for a few nice words and suddenly it’s enough for me to give him Tikki and Plagg!”

Chat wanted to tell her that she wasn’t an idiot, that he understood being manipulated by that man – if you could even call him that at this point – that she did everything that she could in that moment. But at the same time, Monarch was his father! He had spent the last few weeks wondering how he could ever live up to how great his father was in his sacrifice. When in reality, there was no sacrifice, just an act of cowardice and his lady was left to pick up the pieces. He forced himself to repress a disgusted shudder. No wonder she looked like she was about to break down the minute he saw her arrive.

“How can he look at me like that?!” she asked aloud, the question not being directed to anyone, “Even when I keep lying to him?!”

Chat Noir tucked a loose stray hair behind her ear, “Lying to who? About what?”

“Adrien,” the name alone made his breath hitch, “Every time I see him, he just looks at me as though I handed the world to him by just simply being there, and he doesn’t even know what I’ve been keeping from him!”

Oh, that made sense…wait. Adrien hadn’t seen Ladybug since she gave him his father’s ring. The way she was speaking about him was as if they had seen each other many times before. Did he know her outside of the mask? Could he even be that lucky?

“I don’t know if I can keep doing this,” she continued, “I don’t know if I can handle him looking at me like that whenever we’re at school, or play video games at each other’s houses, I don’t think I can be able to keep it together when he takes me to the little coffee shop down the street that he knows that I adore. He’s done so much for me, cares so much for me and yet I’m doing this to him, and he doesn’t even know what a horrible person I am!”

School…coffee shop…dates…A chill rushes through his veins, realisation seeping in. The girl he was holding in his arms, her hands glued to his in a desperate sign practically begging not to be alone, was someone that he knew far closer to him than any of his friends. Someone who he knew that already had so much on her hands that just got piled on after everything that was said to him. It can’t be.

“I SHOULDN’T BE LADYBUG!”

Was the last thing that tore from Marinette’s throat as her suit disappeared, leaving behind the love of his life in her pyjamas, Tikki nuzzling her cheek to try and calm her as the wave of panic and weeping returned.

He drops everything that was circling in his mind - his father, the wish, his Lady’s identity – and wraps Marinette up in his arms as much as he can, purring and keeping her as warm as he can with his body heat. Her left arm was wrapped round his torso while he kept a hold of her right hand in his own. He takes a look at her ungloved hand, hundreds of little scars leaving their marks on her skin, leaving a mocking reminder of how much she failed that day.

The fact that Monarch…no…the fact that his father was so selfish and vile that he went out of his way to not only emotionally damage, but to go as far as to try to physically damage his Lady just for a wish. Was his own son not enough? Was he that self-centred to ignore his only family left while claiming that he was doing this for his child? How could he use that to justify hurting and manipulating such a sweet and kind person as Marinette?!

“This is my fault,” she whispers, her voice raspy and sounding sore, “This is all my fault. He should hate me, I’m a terrible person and a terrible Ladybug.”

“No,” Chat Noir shook his head, a slight growl escaping with the word.

“I’m really sorry,” she whimpered, “I should’ve told you; you have every right to be angry with me, you’re my partner, you deserve to know.”

Did she…did she think his anger was directed at her? “Oh Mari,” he pressed his lips to her hair, “I have no reason to be angry with you. Never, ever blame yourself for the cruelty of others. You don’t need to apologise for any of Gabriel’s actions.”

He takes her other hand and clasps them in his again, making sure that her attention was focused on him and only him. “Since the moment I met you, you’ve been pressured to put the weight of Paris on your shoulders. From our friends to the other civilians, even yourself, it might not have been said out loud, but you definitely felt them giving you that responsibility. You are so strong; I’ve seen the remarkable things that you have accomplished with your hands. How you’ve protected so many people, to figuring out any lucky charm thrown your way, to even fighting the most feral akumas. But it’s also left its impact on you as well, and eventually, the weight that your hands have carried for so long has started to take effect. It doesn’t make you weak, no, however it is something that you don’t have to do alone. We’re the bug and cat team, we’re meant to share the weight, not take the burden from the other. And know that I know, I’m gonna make sure that you never feel such a weight again, both in and out the suit.”

She tilts her head in confusion before a flash of green made her squint and look away. When she looked back, she gasped, for there in front of her, in his pyjamas and zip-up hoodie, was none other than the boy she swore to protect from all the darkness she held so that he would never be burdened with. “Adrien?”

He pressed a kiss to her hand, “Hi Princess.”

Her eyes filled with tears again, she tried to make sure that Adrien would never find out about this, not at the expense of his happiness and now she managed to screw that up as well.

He was more prepared this time when she let out more apologies, taking off his hoodie, wrapped her up in it and pressed her face to his chest as he tightly embraced her. He purred louder and more even to make sure she was relaxed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Adrien!” she blubbered out as he rocked them back and forth, “I should’ve told you, but you were finally happy! Finally free with your life and I didn’t want to take that from you!”

“It’s alright, shh, it’s gonna be alright,” he let her continue to sob, his main priority at this point was her and taking care of her, “I’m okay, we’re okay, it’s not your fault.”

A few minutes later, her sobs turned to quiet sniffles. He took another look at her face, his stomach twisting when he saw just how exhausted she was, the guilt had really taken an ugly toll on her. Tikki was still cradled in the crook of her neck, having fallen asleep while soothing her holder. He stood up, holding her in his arms as he called out for his transformation phrase and jumped off the rooftop, making his way back to the bakery.

Once he landed on her balcony, he released his transformation again before going through her trapdoor window and gently placing her onto the bed.

He lifted her upper body he raised her duvet and placed her under it, making sure she was wrapped up safe and warm before joining her under her blankets, wrapping her up in his arms again and resumed his purring. Tikki had woken up and moved from Marinette’s neck to her hair, Plagg joining her as he buried himself in her dark locks and he began to purr as well.

Adrien could feel her body struggling to relax, constantly shifting from trying to letting herself by soothed by the warmth and love she was being given to stiffening back up again as though she didn’t feel as though she were allowed to.

His brows furrow in concentration, forming a plan in his head on just how to help his princess within this moment. He looked at their hands again, having conjoined again while in the midst of her much needed cuddles. He raised her dainty pale hand to his lips, gently pressing them against the tips of her fingers, making her look up at him and pausing her internal dilemma.

“I’m not surprised that you’re Ladybug,” he told her, “I mean, I am a bit shocked at the sudden reveal, but it makes so much sense that you’re her. The kindness with how you treat civilians, the creativity when figuring out any lucky charm thrown at you, not taking any nonsense from anyone – all of that comes from Marinette.”

He presses two more kisses to the back of her hand and laid it on her pillow and started stroking her palm in small circles with his thumb, taking notice that she was focused on the lazy motions and the soothing feeling it gave her. “It comes from everything I’ve seen you do outside of the mask,” he continued, “How you treat our friends and students outside of our class to make sure everyone is happy, coming up with ideas for not only your fashion but with baking, drawing and so many other projects, and you refuse to let others be walked over and stand up for those who aren’t able to do it themselves. All that comes from you! And all those amazing things come from your amazing hands.”

She tried to smile; it wavered a little, but she wanted to show how much his words meant to her. She wanted to believe him, she wanted to believe him so badly! So why wouldn’t the final image of Gabriel leave her mind?! Why did it have to keep reminding her of how much she failed.

She curled in on herself, the brainstorm building up again. Luckily, Adrien seemed to take notice. “But those hands have been hurt way before you became Ladybug, haven’t they?” he asked, making her thoughts pause as she peered up at him through her eyelashes.

“Despite saving the city multiple times, its far from the first time your hands have been used in that way,” he brushed his thumb over a faded scar, one that he noticed from the first time he met Marinette. Back during the hat contest, before everything, when he gently brushed his hand against hers to take her winning hat, he saw it on the top of her hand and was curious as to how it got there, but he didn’t want to pry. Now, after knowing all she went through, he had a bit of an idea on how she received it.

“All those years that you had to defend yourself from Chloe’s ruthlessness to the point you were terrified to go to school, and then Lila trying to do the same to you as well. Not to mention, you always tried to take on everyone’s problems, whether if its Kim and Ivan fighting, or Alix trying to pick a fight with someone, you’ve constantly found solutions to the point that they just keep coming back to you for help,” he continued, “They see you as the only way to fix a problem instead of trying to figure it out themselves. I know that you’re afraid of our friends getting akumatised, but you can’t take on everybody else’s burdens if you’re already being dragged down by your own.”

Marinette whimpered, every word he was saying was ringing so true that it hurt to listen to. Adrien sensed her distress and pressed a few more gentle kisses to her cheeks and forehead; he knew she had to hear this, but he knew that there was already going on in that head of hers for her to finally be confronted with both her greatest strength yet biggest flaw.

“And now knowing that you had to defend yourself from my father, both with and without a miraculous,” a bitter taste formed in his mouth as he remembered how Ladybug tried to fight Hawkmoth after Tikki and Plagg took back their miraculous. His father might not have known it was Marinette at that time, but he did know that the person he was fighting at the time was defenceless and vulnerable to the extreme damage he inflicted. “The fact that he would do that to you, that he tried to go out of his way to hurt you and then proceeded to trick you…...I’m so sorry Marinette. I’m sorry that you’ve kept this to yourself just so you could protect me but,” he looked at the scars on her hands again, the ones that Gabriel left there permanently, “No one was there to protect you from what he did.”

“-But you’ve already protected me for so long!” Marinette injected, the sudden volume startling Adrien a little bit, “You’ve already done so much for me, even when I pushed you away you were always by my side even when I didn’t deserve it. Even after keeping this from, you, how could you still want to be my partner…I don’t deserve this.”

He pressed a finger to her lips; she looked up as their eyes locked with one another, anxious blue met a frustrated green, but not at her. “Don’t ever say that again,” he murmured, his voice low and laced with both hurt and concern, “You deserve so much more than you’ve been given. You barely ask for anything, nothing even, and yet no one can even give you that.” He brought her hands to his chest, right above where she could feel his heart drumming softly, “You are so incredible, so talented, so amazing. And it hurts to watch that being stripped away every day, as Marinette and Ladybug. You think that you need to take on so much more than you already do, that you have to feel this horrible, but you don’t! Ladybug wasn’t meant to be on her own and neither was Marinette. You don’t need to do this alone anymore Princess…please, let me in, let me help you, let me share and protect the world that is threatening to fall out of your hold.”

“I-I-I,” her voice broke a little, the weight of his words was hitting harder than she thought it would, giving her a sense of peace and relief that she hadn’t felt in so long. But she knew that she wouldn’t be able to hold onto it forever, something was going to make him realise that she was a terrible partner, and he would finally realise that. “I can’t. I can’t take your happiness away after you fought so hard for it, I can’t let you be dragged down with me. I should’ve been smarter that day, I could’ve found another way – I could’ve! That way you don’t have to be here now to feel burdened by me!”

“I can assure you that never have, or will, burden me with anything,” he let go of her hands and wrapped both of his arms around her smaller form in a silent promise of never letting her go. “I’m here because I want to be. Gabriel has always found a way to trick others for years, he tricked us both when he first thought he was Hawkmoth, he’s managed to talk his way in and out of situations without anyone batting an eye and he has manipulated me for years into thinking that I was wrong about everything. And the fact that all of Paris believes that he’s some kind of hero while you’re suffering in silence after everything he put you through just proves how much of a monster he is. And I feel sick knowing that I believed that too for a while.”

Marinette shuffled in his arms. Ever since she became Ladybug, defeating Hawkmoth was the only goal she knew that she had to complete. She sacrificed everything in order to do that, her hobbies, her love life, even herself to some degree. And yet when the time came, she failed. Part of him just wanted Adrien to scream at her, tell her that she messed up and messed up bad. But seeing him look at her with the utmost love after she thought he would hate her for keeping these secrets and failing to complete the most important task of their lives, even after finding out that Hawkmoth was his father, a part of herself felt as though he were telling the truth about everything he said in that moment.

He let one of his arms fall and clasped her hand again, bringing it to his lips, “You’re not alone anymore Marinette. No matter what the future holds for us, we’re going to go through this together. You didn’t mess up; you didn’t fail, and you deserve to be happy. I’m here now, so please, let me take care of you as you took care of me and everyone else,” he gently pressed his lips to her knuckles as one more promise, “It’s you and me against the world.”

The dams broke once more as Marinette buried her head in his chest, wailing once more as he gripped her tightly with as much protection as he could give her in this moment. He let her cry as much as she needed to, stroking her hair as she got everything else out of her system while whispering and presses comforting kisses to her forehead.

A while passed before her cries turned to whimpers and her whimpers turned into soft, even breathes. Looking down, he saw that she had cried herself to sleep. Judging by the bags under her eyes and how deep she seemed to be in her dreamlike state, this was probably this first time she properly slept since her battle with Hawkmoth.

Her arms were tightly wrapped around him, as though she were begging him to stay – as if he could ever leave her after what happened. With one arm wrapped her waist and the other round the back of her head, he cuddled softly into her, relishing in the soft content noise that left her throat. The kwamis retreated to the other side of the pillows, giving their holders much needed space while close enough in case they needed them.

Before he allowed himself to fall asleep however, internally, Adrien made one more promise to her. I won’t let this happen to you again Marinette, not after this. No matter what, I’ll keep you safe and never let your hands carry that type of weight ever again. Now that I’m free for him, nothing will stop me from protecting you or leaving your side.

Only after making that promise, did he join her in sleep.

(In the morning.

“Plagg, how do you cataclysm a dead person?”

“Adrien I just woke up what the fuck.”)

I am so sorry it took this long! I swear I should’ve gotten it out sooner but it’s here now and I hope you like it! <3

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hamsteriffic · 6 months

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I am very excited to finally be able to tell everyone that these past few months I’ve been working on a fic for the @mlbigbang 2023! Thank you to @burntwaffle12 , @sizzleissues and @karin848 for all their encouragement and support. The first post will appear January 6.

Queen Marinette: A Royal Engagement

Rating: M

Tags: Royalty AU, King!Adrien, Princess!Marinette, arranged marriage

Summary: Princess Marinette had always known she would marry for duty, but she had never even heard of King Adrien until her betrothal (she would know, because she had looked up all the crown Princes within a hundred mile radius).

Nevertheless, her parents were delighted at the offer of marriage and her uncle was given the privilege of escorting her to England for her wedding and the whole thing felt wrong.

Preview

“Who is this King of England? Why have we never heard of him before?” She demanded, her uncle surprised at her sudden interest.

“He is heir to the throne, he needs a queen, and he has chosen you.”

This she already knew, it was not a very good answer. “But why?” she pressed. “There are hundreds of nobles out there, with far grander titles and claims than our own. Why me?”

Her uncle looked surprised, he opened his mouth to speak but closed it again pensively.

The word Why was always one of the first, and favourite, questions asked by a child, and for good reason. Because Why are always the hardest questions to answer.

But why not?

Marinette was young, of child-bearing age, accomplished, and a beauty by all accounts. She had good graces and was well educated. She would make any country a worthy Queen.

Marinette was also very well aware of her precarious situation, her own mother was sent to a foreign country and married, a common enough arrangement. It was an auspicious match, a marriage between a Chinese Princess and a French nobleman in an effort to ease Sino-Franco relations.

“No, surely there must be other more diplomatic ways?” His sister and her own mother, Sabine, said when her own betrothal was announced.

Her mother protested as much as she did. All that consternation for nothing, for when the pair first set sight on each other they fell in love immediately. It has happened before, and it will all happen again.

Her mother of all people would know.

As Marinette’s ambassador, he was honoured to go with her to secure a friendship with the British, offering stability and prosperity. There was silk and tea to be traded, as well as porcelain. In return, they would resolve animosity held over past incidents. The East India Trading Company had a vested interest in the marriage and there was still disgruntled talk over the Flint Affair, such that war was imminent between the Chinese and British Empires.

Wang Cheng looked at Marinette with sympathy. He was very fond of his niece, and in his opinion she deserved the world. On paper everything looked like a suitable match, she was 18 and he was only 21. He spoke Mandarin, French and Latin, in addition to his mother tongue; and she knew a passable amount of English and Mandarin; as well as French, her native tongue.

She would like him. He was convinced.

However, the older gentleman himself did not know the King either. By all accounts he thought that the late King and Queen Dowager of England were barren, but then again he never paid attention to bedroom gossip.

“Why have I never heard of this king before?” The young woman insisted, her blue eyes flashing. She had the same kind of fire in her as his sister, masked by a gentle nature that lashed out when provoked like a tiger.

If you know anything about me, then you know I have written another Bridgerton AU 🫠! Queen Marinette - A Royal Engagement. Posting begins 6 January

#mlbigbang #mlbigbang 2023 #adrienette #bridgerton au #hamsterwrites

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maspers · 6 months

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Ranking the Miracucast by how they'd react to being chosen as the next holder of One For All

Marinette: She would scream and cry and do everything in her power to avoid becoming the next Symbol of Peace. She would then proceed to be one of the most beloved and powerful Heroes the world has ever seen. 9/10

Alya: Depends on when she gets the Quirk. Early Seasons Alya is all about fame and branding, and she'd be loved by the populace as a hero but make a decent amount of rookie mistakes. Late Seasons Alya would be way more competent as a One For All user, but she also knows how to keep things subtle. I can see her becoming an Underground Hero like Eraserhead. Either way, 7/10

Adrien: Yes. 10/10

Nino: He would be very confused as to why he's being chosen, but if his friends were in danger he'd do it. Would much prefer to focus on his music than hero work, and as such would be known for the former more than the latter. 3/10

Chloe: She would try so, so, so hard to be the ultimate superhero that everyone loves. Unfortunately we saw how that went down in canon. She has the potential to great things, but motives will always be a serious problem for her. 4/10

Sabrina: Getting One For All might be what it takes to get her out of her shell. She'd never reach the fame and reputation that All Might and Deku have, but she would treat her powers with utmost respect and very few people would have bad things to say about her as a hero. 7/10

Mylene: She would be very confused, and very scared, and honestly would probably reject the Quirk outright. If forced to take it she'd be great, but I just can't see her wanting to hold on to it. She prefers to change the world in other ways. 3/10

Ivan: Everyone would doubt him due to making assumptions, but he would surpass them all and come into his own as a beloved and respected hero, albeit one that's pretty intimidating. He wouldn't really focus on quirks other than the super strength, but hey, it worked for All Might! 8/10

Rose: Be afraid. Be very afraid. 6/10

Juleka: Guaranteed to be more of the Underground hero type. Possibly might go full vigilante. She would use the Quirks very differently than most would expect, so people won't make the connection to past One For All holders. She does not want to have a body count, but definitely has one. 6/10

Kim: Kim is a total doofus who would immediately gain a rep as a reckless hero who causes lots of collateral damage but makes up for it by just trying really hard. Deep down he will feel unworthy and self-conscious. Local Himbo has internal turmoil and Does Not Deserve It. 5/10

Max: Would reject the Quirk outright and only accept it in the most dire of circumstances. Max does not want a messy complicated Quirk like One For All. Max likes simple and efficient, stuff he can manipulate from the get go. One For All is not simple. Give it to someone else. 0/10

(side note: while Max does not want One For All, Markov absolutely does, and finding a way to give Markov One For All would make for an interesting challenge. But Max still isn't taking it.)

Alix: Would politely decline taking it. Because she's already received it (and passed it on after engaging in brief shenanigans with it) in the future, and knows it is not her battle to fight in the present. Alix/10

Nathaniel: Please let this poor boy have some sleep. He is very tired and very angry and accepted the Quirk on impulse and really doesn't want to do this. Eventually manages to figure out his niche being a artist/spraypaint hero (Alix helps), and may or may not accidentally trigger the downfall of a corrupt government. 7/10

Lila: She obtained it under false pretenses and we are all doomed. There's a slim chance she'll do some hero work for the sake of her image, but like. The cons will definitely outweigh the pros. This was a mistake. 1/10

Luka: Accepted One For All during a time of great need, and knew the moment he received it that it was something Important. He puts on a front of being chill, but treats his work as a Hero with the utmost of seriousness and will do what has to be done. Like his sister, he would actively strive to not have a body count, but definitely would have one. 9/10

Kagami: She's a superhero with a sword. Awesomeness is the default. She will have no idea what she is doing but like. She has a sword. Stuff is getting done. 7/10

Marc: Look, you know Worm? You know Legend? One For All Marc would be like Legend except less hunk and more bishonen. The fangirls and fanboys will rejoice. Marc does not want all the attention, but he has it anyway. 6/10

Ondine: Kim accepts his role as the ultimate trophy boyfriend. Ondine would be competent, but she would also create even more collateral damage. 5/10

Aurore (New!): If there's one thing she knows, it's branding. She may not be known as a particularly powerful hero, but her branding would be top notch. When people figure out she's the latest successor she will OWN it and turn it into more branding. 5/10

Felix: Was likely offered One For All by someone who thought he was Adrien, and accepted it under that pretense. Would do a good job as a hero (and would give Adrien the credit in the process) but would figure out how to use all the Quirks very quickly and have a gig as a vigilante going on under a different identity, using different quirks to keep people in the dark. Very sus, Felix. You can be better than this. 2/10

Zoe: Look the populace would pick up on the fact that she's blonde and associated with America and immediately assume she's related to All Might. That's just going to happen. All Might will basically have to end up adopting her, if he's still around. She does not like this, but makes it work. 6/10

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annahi-red · 9 months

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Could there be a balance of powers between ladynoir in season six? I think so, but I know that the writers won't do it because they don't know how to do their job and the fandom does the job a thousand times better with fanfics.

Going back to balance. There was never a balance as such between them. On s1, Ladybug did most of the work and Chat rarely did anything noticeable.

With Fu making an appearance, the chances of Chat showing off a bit are totally diminished, because the writers decided to bring in the WORST teacher, well, mediocre attempt at teacher. They tried to make Fu look like he was wise or whatever, but he does a lousy job and the best thing he could do was get off the show.

A teacher must guide those he trains and give them the same treatment and importance, especially if he says that his two students have the same balance of power. Fu favors Marinette and doesn't get close to Adrien until he is forced. If this weren't bad, he is such a bad teacher, that he leaves a terrible legacy for Marintte, Fu literally made Marinette follow his terrible footsteps in s4.

But I still think there can be a balance if the writers remember that Chat is not just a punching bag.

And this is where Cerise comes in, but let's call it Lila.

As we know, the only limit that the miraculous have is the holder and as we also know, Lila is a thousand times more intelligent than Gabriel.

We also know that Ladybug is essential for battles, because she is the only one that can purify akumas. (Pretty dumb idea if you ask me. Why can only ONE miraculous clear the akumas? What if the ladybug's miraculous is missing while the butterfly's one is owned by someone bad? or the ladybug's is owned by the same person who the butterfly? It does NOT make sense. Even so, it has been shown in chat blanc that akumas can be destroyed with cataclysm, but only before the akuma gets its victim, although this is forgotten and will never be used again). And Chat can be replaced by ten temporary heroes without problems.

but what if we make both ladybug and chat so important that they are the only ones with the power to clear the akumas?

Maybe Lila can develop her powers so that the ONLY way to destroy the akumatized object is with the cataclysm. There is no cataclysm, the akuma is still there doing damage.

We have only one akuma from the future and timetagger's akumatized object is destroyed WITH THE CATACLYSM, I'm not going to rule out the idea that it could happen, but it probably won't.

Good, let's continue.

Chat has been a jester forever and is useless in most cases, but we know that he can do a VERY GOOD job when he wants to. Examples: sandboy, passion, kuro neko, etc. But I will also add this: during passion, Mari is VERY distracted because she is in love with Chat and well, she ruins it several times by being in the clouds and she had more in mind flirting than worrying about the akuma. Somehow, are they telling us that Chat was useless for that very reason? For being in love with Ladybug? If we follow that logic, then in s6 things will improve a lot for him.

(Although with so many mediocre heroes, even the baby Augustus would beat them and anyone can look perfectly)

As we know, Adrinette is canon and ladynoir is just a friendship, so with no romantic feelings involved, Chat can focus on doing effective work.

And, I think this is already asking a lot, that he wants to explore his powers more and improve in that aspect, even more knowing that he has infinite cataclysms. If they want to give Su-han a use, then they can make him a master of Adrien and Mari, not like Fu. Although between fu and suhan I don't know which one is worse in uselessness.

In s6, the akumas will be much stronger and it is necessary for everyone to take the job seriously, so I hope that they will finally give Chat the leading role and development that he deserves from s1.

(Last thing. If Chat's power is evolved as Ladybug being able to create talismans, they would do it with the cataclysm at a distance. Chat Blanc makes it clear that he can do it. When he is akumatized, Gabriel POWERS UP the abilities of Chat, there is a high chance that Chat could use cataclysm from a distance at some point.)

#salt ml writers #adrien agreste #chat noir #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #lila rossi #gabriel agreste #miraculous ladybug holders #master fu salt #suhan salt #marichat #ladynoir #adrinette #ladrien #chat blanc #ml writers salt

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xhanisai · 4 months

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Let's kiss quietly alone in secret, Like an old picture book we no longer read

AO3

Pairing - Adrinette

Prompt - 'Hands'

Summary -

But little did she know that he was always watching, always worried and always so concerned for her. He knows that when Marinette gets into the zone, especially when designing or working on projects or even class president stuff, she always forgets about the state of her hands and has learned to ignore the pain for a good while.

However, this kind of mindset will only damage her hands permanently in the future and that's the last thing his talented, wonderful, amazing friend deserved after everything she's done for everyone else (especially when she's never asked for anything in return).

~(x)~

Every single hair on the back of his neck stood up with backhanded pain from the sight of his beloved good friend's face grimacing in agony, the girl twisting her wrists and making them crack each time she twirled the appendages. Instead of receiving at least a semblance of relief, she only seemed to have fuelled the aching fire that spread through her fingers and arms, her digits continuing to cramp and her thumbs refusing to move on their own accord. Adrien was already aware of the constant pain she was in, often having Alya on her case to rest her hands or gritting her teeth in discomfort when she thought no one was looking. But little did she know that he was always watching, always worried and always so concerned for her. He knows that when Marinette gets into the zone, especially when designing or working on projects or even class president stuff, she always forgets about the state of her hands and has learned to ignore the pain for a good while. However, this kind of mindset will only damage her hands permanently in the future and that's the last thing his talented, wonderful, amazing friend deserved after everything she's done for everyone else (especially when she's never asked for anything in return). He's even witnessed his acquaintances in both piano and fencing lessons learning the brutal consequences the hard way and the horrific injuries they sustained because of the lack of self-care. He never wants Marinette to experience those kinds of things, ever. So Adrien didn't think twice when he strode across the courtyard (with a curious Nino hot on his heels) and then gently grasped one of Marinette's sore hands with his own. All patience was thrown out of the window and the blond refused to let her run away from him or even let her go through her standardised, flustered word soup, eyeing her with tight lips and furrowed brows throughout the whole time. "I'm sorry, but I can't bear to see you in so much pain right now. Come with me and let me help with that." He requested firmly (though he really wasn't going to take a no for an answer; her health and future were at stake here after all). Beckoning her to follow him, Adrien led Marinette to a nearby bench, paying no mind to the inquisitive Alya and Nino who tagged along and stood behind the bench when their best friends took a seat. "You've been spending hours and hours on a daily basis using your hands for all sorts of things and I assume you don't regularly do any hand stretches or exercises, correct?" Her sheepish expression was all the answer he needed and he couldn't stop the anxious sigh he let out. "Marinette...you need to learn to look after yourself properly...or at least let your friends help you out,"

"I didn't mean to...you know? I often just forget..." She looked like an adorable pouty kitten but then her hands began to throb and burn anew, her eyes now closed tight and her lips a thin line of pain. He didn't waste any more time, bringing both of her hands to him and then he began to massage the base of her wrists using the pads of his thumbs in small circles. His heart broke from the quiet whimpers and hisses of distress that escaped her mouth, her shoulders hunched tight and her lips wobbling. "It'll hurt a lot at first but then it'll feel much better, I promise," He added gently, shuffling closer towards her, hoping their proximity would soothe her nerves too (just like how her presence never fails to keep his heart light and make everything around them seem a little more colourful). "It's fine...it's fine...you're good." Marinette managed to offer a small smile but he wasn't blind to how wet her baby blue eyes were and how rouge her face was becoming. He hoped he hadn't aggravated her soreness but it was near impossible considering that he performs these exercises on his own hands every day, practically making him a professional even if Plagg were to argue otherwise.

"Let me know if it gets any worse and I'll try a different technique," He smiled warmly and then requested for Alya and Nino to grab some ice bags from the nurse's office (and hopefully give them some privacy too because the cheeky smiles they were trying to hide was way too obvious). "Okay, can you stretch your fingers? Wiggle your thumb?"

When she showed some struggle trying to move her digits, Adrien began to massage the lower corners of her palms, where the base of her thumb bone was and his fingers would move up one joint at a time before moving to the next finger. He was relieved to see her shoulders loosening and the alleviation becoming more and more prominent on her features. Her lashes were fluttered shut and her perfect rosy lips were slightly parted, making his throat dry up and his heart hasten up its pace. It's not like he's never noticed that she's beautiful...but seeing her like this? So at peace and so zen because of his ministrations? It made his chest swell with an indescribable emotion and he wanted to just lean in even closer so that he could indulge himself with the sweet, warm scent of the spiced vanilla that always lingered in her pretty hair and on her cute clothes—

He shouldn't let himself get too distracted.

She was putting all of her trust in him and he is determined to give her the best results possible. Yet, every delighted sigh and pleased breath she let out continued to stir his heart and make his own hands tremble. Though his hands were much larger and longer and calloused, her smaller, softer and pinpricked pair remained steady in his grip, as if they were a perfect match.

Adrien hoped that he could do this more often. .

"How do you feel now?" The 'ma Princesse' went unsaid on his tongue but the mischievousness and amused twinkle in his eyes remained, his smile widening when she flexed her hands in his with awe and her lips parting in a kissable 'o'. "Is there any more pain? Or any other parts that are sore? I have plenty of ways to make them feel better." (Like keeping her hands entwined with his own for the rest of the day, until they part for home-time.)

"This feels so much better now...you're a lifesaver, Adrien!" She was all pink bubbles and excitement, all the energy back to her tiny body where it belongs and her eyes full of glitter and life. "Thank you so much! I don't know how to repay you for this! You're literally so...so magical!" The way she breathed out her last sentence and looked at him with that...that look? It took all of Adrien's restraints to stop himself from lunging forward and finally, finally gain another kiss from Marinette Dupain-Cheng where no wax statues were involved or any cameras for a school film. To get a bite of that sweet macaron flavour and the taste of her lips branded to his own once more in a manner where he could savour it for much longer and in better spirits too.

'I'd love a kiss on the lips or two if you want to repay me. Maybe go to that new café that had just opened across the road with me for some coffee and hold my hand forever.' Adrien almost blurted out but thankfully, he had some control over his mouth.

"You can start by wearing your wrist braces more often and doing the hand stretches and exercises you're meant to do, Marinette. But if not, I'm more than happy to do this for you every day. Whenever you want me to." He felt his bashfulness creep up inside him and seep out, his thumbs sweetly rubbing comforting circles in her palms and before he knew it, his heart acted on its own accord. "I forgot one last thing."

Just as Marinette was about to question what he meant, Adrien brought her hands to his mouth and his lips puckered against the inside of her wrists with soft, soft butterfly kisses. His emerald greens watched her intensely as his lips continued to trail all over her hands until they reached the tips of her fingers, letting his warm, dewy lips linger on her sweet skin. He hoped, hoped that he didn't freak her out too much, that she relished and savoured the intimate touches just as he did. That she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

Luck was on his side today because not only did Marinette snap out of her entranced stupor, but she also took a leap of faith and loosely tangled her fingers with his, averting her brilliant blues for a second before meeting his gaze once more with courage and bravery.

"I'd...I'd love it if you were to do this more often..." Though she stammered a little, her quiet, shy voice was easily picked up by the eager boy and he couldn't help but smile so wonderfully at her. He pressed another kiss to their entangled fingers, his face and cheeks just as red as hers throughout and the glee he felt in his tight chest was so unreal.

"The hand massages? Or the hand kisses?" He couldn't help but tease, heartily laughing when she squealed in protest and tried to hide her face with her hands, forgetting that they were currently interlocked with his own. The force caused him to propel forward even closer, their faces a mere breath apart. Adrien couldn't register anything else that happened around them, hyper-focused on the girl before him and the way her pretty pink lips looked more appetising than ever, testing his will. Marinette peered at him under her long lashes, unable to take another breath and trapped under his worshipping gaze. Taking another dose of courage, she brought their entwined hands to her mouth and brushed his fingers with the softness of her lips, all whilst watching him with those hypnotic blue eyes of hers. Adrien could have sworn that he died right there and then and was currently residing in one of the seven heavens.

"Both...both would be nice,"

And he was a goner.

~(x)~

#my writing #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug and chat noir #adrinette #adrienette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #ml fanfics #ml fanfiction

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celestiall0tus · 4 days

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Tales of Bloody Bug and Chat Noir - Chapter 40 - Regrets

Beginning || Previous || Next

Adrien cleaned up his room as he checked his phone every minute. He paced around once his cleaning finished as he continued to check his phone. The whirl of a yo-yo sang outside his window as Bloody Bug landed in his room with a tablet in hand. She transformed back to Alix and held out the tablet.

“Alright, as requested.”

Adrien snatched it and jumped excitedly. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Alix smiled, sighed, then sat down.

“Are you staying? You’re not going to the twin’s birthday party?”

“I’d rather not. I’ve sorta been keeping an eye on Marinette since giving her the goat miraculous, and I need a small break from it.”

“How’s that going? Chloe sorta filled me in, but not really.”

“I don’t know. If she’s trying to convince us, she’s doing her best. I really want to believe she is better, but something feels off. It still feels like, well, an act.”

“Do you think Mayura got to her again?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t see her on patrol, but I see moving shadows. The others have too. No akumas, no Mayura, just shadows. I’d ignore it, but this silence from both Hawkmoth and Mayura is putting us all on edge. I know Marinette isn’t helping certain people like Juleka, who just looks ready to absolutely tear Marinette apart.”

“Is it really worth trying to help her? You know, considering all that she’s done.”

“I… ok. I’m going to level with you. I didn’t want to at first. I wanted to write her off with everyone else. However, I spoke with the paradox me, Dad, and the old man.”

“What did they say?”

“Dad believes that everyone deserves a second chance. Which, fair. He was the one that gave my mom that second chance no one else gave her. He was also quick to remind me that Marinette did take a chance on me, which may have ended badly, but did open doors for me. I hate that fact now, and that he’s right. The old man is willing to see where Marinette stands but is doubtful of her given what we’ve told him. But… the older me, the paradox me… she warns me to be careful.”

“Careful of what?”

Alix sighed. “I haven’t told you yet because, well, never seemed right. But everything we have now, that we are, is because of the paradox me. She wished for this. For me, us, to be the ladybug holder… in place of Marinette.”

“Marinette? What?”

“I know. Crazy, right? And I can’t help but feel… bad. I explain things to this other me and I just… I see the regret and guilt in her eyes. She, I, whatever, didn’t want to do this already, but did to avoid a catastrophe. One that was called Chat Blanc.”

Adrien stiffened. “C-Chat Blanc? Was it… me?”

“Yeah. You were akumatized and it warped you, turning you into a mindless monster that killed everyone. All the heroes, most of the population, just anyone that opposed Chat Blanc.”

“How did it happen?”

“Your love with Marinette.”

“What? You mean… there was a time when I… we… were in love? How?”

“I don’t know. But don’t you see? This is all because of me.”

“What? Alix, no. You didn’t-.”

“I became the ladybug instead of Marinette. I got in the way of her being a better person. I stopped her from being a hero like she was meant to be. It doesn’t matter how anyone paints it. I’m the reason for all of this.”

Adrien opened his mouth but was cut off by Tikki.

“Alix, we told you. You didn’t cause this. Not you or your paradox self. That world was destroyed by Chat Blanc, who was created by Hawkmoth. If you must blame anyone, blame Hawkmoth.”

“I agree. We’ve seen what our Hawkmoth can do or has done. Which isn’t anything grand, but now we have Mayura. If she’s anything like the previous Hawkmoth from this other timeline, we need to be cautious.”

“We already are, but we can’t do anything. She’s out there right now, doing whatever the hell she’s doing, and we can’t do anything about it. I’m ready to abandon caution at this point if it means finding her.”

“Alix, there’s no need to be hasty. Only fools rush in, and I know you’re not a fool.”

“Yeah, well, desperation makes fools of us all. If we don’t do something soon, find her, whatever, she’ll come for you again and what then? What if she creates more nightmare creatures and causes us to lose more team members? What if she actually harms you? What can we even do without even a hint of what she’s even up to?”

Adrien frowned and looked away. He glanced towards his door when he heard a knock.

“Come in!” Adrien called.

Adrien’s eyes widened as Felix strolled in and stopped. He beamed as he ran over and tackled Felix.

“I can’t believe this! What brings you here?”

“Mother came to talk with Uncle. They sent me up here while they handled the business.”

“Perfect! We’re about to sit in on some friends’ birthday. Come on!”

Adrien dragged Felix over and sat him on the couch, then sat between him and Alix. He grinned as an incoming call came and accepted it. Juleka and Rose peered back at them as they set up their tablet, then waved.

“Hey, guys. Can you hear us alright?” Juleka asked.

“Loud and clear,” Adrien confirmed.

“Yay! We’re about to do cake now that everyone is here,” Rose cheered.

Adrien wiggled excitedly as he set the tablet on a stand, so Alix and Felix were in frame. Rose gasped when she saw Alix.

“What’re you doing there? Why aren’t you here?” Rose asked.

“A long list of reasons with a certain someone at the top.”

Rose grimaced. “Yeah. Yeah… that’s fair. Uh, lucky you’re not Luka, right?”

“How’s he?” Adrien asked.

Rose pursed her lips. She turned the tablet to face Luka and Marinette. Marinette was smothering Luka in affection as he looked miserable and exhausted. Alix looked away, Adrien grimaced, and Felix raised a brow. Rose turned the tablet away before she ran off with Juleka.

“Are those two dating? The boy with blue hair and the pigtail girl?” Felix asked.

“Uh, yeah. Don’t they look happy?” Adrien attempted.

Felix snorted. “He needs to learn to accept that affection. Girls can be so touchy and loving.”

“Even Kagami?” Alix shot back.

Felix flinched and sighed. “I wish.”

“How’s that going for you, Felix? I know you are head over heels for her,” Adrien commented.

“It’s… it’s difficult. I try to be with her. I’ve asked, but she never answers. She just… freezes up… then runs away. I may have given up, but then she comes back and continues like nothing happened. When I try asking why she doesn’t give me an answer, she still freezes up, then runs. At least until a few days ago when she just… broke.”

Adrien gasped as his eyes darkened with concern. “Is she ok? What happened?”

“I don’t think she’s alright. She confessed that she likes me and wants to be with me but can’t. That she is supposed to be with you because of an arrangement that her mother made with Uncle. I let her go after that, but when I told Mom, well, why else do you think we’re here?”

“Is Aunt Amelie trying to convince Father to break the contract? Why?”

“Because Mom and… and Colt were arranged just as you and Kagami. Mom hated the arrangement the entire time and wouldn’t want that for any of her family. She won’t stop until she frees you and Kagami of this obligation.”

“Maybe then you can tell your father about your girlfriend,” Alix remarked.

Felix gasped. “Hold up. You have a girlfriend and didn’t tell me? Why would you do that? I thought we were cousins!”

“I’m sorry! I… with well… everything… I just… forgot?”

Felix huffed, crossed his arms, and turned away.

Adrien sighed and looked back at the tablet. He watched as Juleka and Luka stood in front of a beautiful cake with everyone gathered nearby. Anarka, Juleka and Luka’s mother, counted down to start singing when a guitar riff blasted. Everyone flinched as Jagged Stone sang Happy Birthday to Juleka and Luka.

“Oh no,” Alix said.

“Oh no?” Adrien and Felix echoed.

Rose dipped from the crowd and turned the tablet, giving Alix, Adrien, and Felix a better view. They watched as Jagged Stone serenaded the twins as he stepped foot on Liberty. Anarka grabbed a nearby guitar and held it at the ready.

“What are ye doing here, scoundrel?” Anarka demanded.

“What? I’m not allowed to celebrate my kids’ birthday?” Jagged Stone countered.

Everyone gasped, Juleka and Luka’s jaws dropped, and Alix sucked in a breath.

“I was hoping I was wrong. Fuck,” Alix whispered.

“You knew about this? How?” Adrien asked.

“The concert. The pieces were all there and, well, difficult to ignore.”

“They aren’t your children, Jagged. Ye didn’t help raise them!” Anarka roared.

“You never told me!” Jagged Stone yelled.

“And? What difference would it have made? Ye were devoted to your career! Ye’d never have given any of that up for some nobody groupie.”

“Nobody? Anarka, do you hear yourself? After that first concert when I met you, I looked for you before and after every performance. I admired you. No, I loved you. But then after one performance, you got mad at me and were ready to kill me. I never saw you again after that, only to find out I was possibly a father, and then to find out that I am.”

“And? So what? It doesn’t change anything.”

“It changes everything! I have a family. I have a daughter and son that you never told me about. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want ye in my life after that night! I didn’t want any part of what was expected of me! I fucked up, I gave them what they wanted, but I wouldn’t chance having you around just to become what I was brought up to be!”

“Uh, Mom, what do you mean?” Juleka asked.

Anarka paled as she dropped the guitar. “Shit! I… I can-!”

“Regret runs deep, doesn’t it, Anarka?” Mayura cooed.

Adrien and Alix gasped as they started to stand. They watched as Mayura strutted into view in a strapless, dark blue dress with a split clear up her left side to her hip and a long skirt that dragged on the floor with the signature fuchsia peacock eyes. Fuchsia eye beads draped around her torso and arms from her brooch and choker necklace. Her skin was a lighter blue than before with dark purplish-blue gloves and thigh-high boots. She ran her free hand through her slicked back hair as she fluttered her fan with the other. The fan had an open eye on each fold with a few eyes closed.

Felix grabbed Adrien. “That’s the peacock brooch! That’s what I’ve been looking for!”

“Yeah, I kinda figured already from before.”

“Before?” Felix hissed.

Adrien flinched as he messaged the hero chat about Mayura’s appearance. He turned back to the tablet as Alix stood up. He grabbed and held her back. She snapped at him, but he shook his head and pulled her down.

“They need help,” Alix hissed.

“This is a chance. Gallic Chick and Porcelet will be on the way to help. Let us see what she does, please,” Adrien insisted.

Alix huffed and sat down.

Adrien turned back to the screen as Mayura raised her fan to Anarka. One of the eyes lit up as a shadowy orb left Anarka and entered the eye, closing it. Anarka let out a breath as she collapsed onto the deck.

“What did you do?” Juleka demanded.

“Helping your dear mother. Poor thing suffered from so much regret. Can you blame her? Look at the life she was trapped in and the burdens she was shackled with,” Mayura remarked.

Luka winced and hid behind Juleka, while Juleka snarled and glared down Mayura.

“You aren’t fooling anyone here, bitch! I know my mother better than some harlot stripper peacock bitch!” Juleka roared.

“Do you? Why don’t we test that, shall we?”

Mayura closed her fan to a fold with a closed eye. It opened as a bright orb shot out. Mayura took it and shaped it into an ethereal, ghostly copy of Anarka. It hovered above the deck as it emitted a beautiful blue light. Adrien and Alix watched as nearly all in the light fell to their knees save for Juleka and Rose.

“What’s going on? What did you do?” Juleka demanded.

“Curious. Do you not feel regret, little ones?” Mayura cooed.

“What? What does that matter?”

“Fascinating. Here I thought little monsters like you were riddled with regrets. Or perhaps I’ve been around the older fools too long. No matter.”

“Will you answer me? What did you do?”

Mayura chuckled. “Not what I did. What your mother is doing. This regret, it’s all hers. Though I’ll take some credit in sharing it with everyone else. Let them know how her regrets… and their own.”

Juleka’s eyes darted around before they widened. She looked back at Luka, who was curled into a ball behind her, tears gushing from his eyes. She snarled and turned back to Mayura.

“Stop this! Can’t you see how much you’re hurting them? Don’t you care at all?”

“I could care less about creatures here, save for you and the littler one. Tell me, how have a pair of children lived so far without regrets?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Juleka hissed.

“Yeah! We aren’t telling you anything!” Rose added.

Mayura hummed, then smiled. She opened her mouth when a rooster’s crow pierced the silence. She looked up as Gallic Chick and Porcelet leapt down from a nearby building. She watched as Gallic Chick entered the area first and immediately dropped to her knees. Porcelet gasped as she entered the area and fell to her knees with Gallic Chick.

“No!” Adrien screamed.

Mayura’s head snapped to the tablet as she grinned. “Look what we have here. Adrien Agreste. It’s been too long. Where’ve you been? Hiding from little old me?”

Adrien refused to answer.

“My, allow me to rephrase that. Tell me where you’ve been.”

Compulsion fell over Adrien. He opened his mouth when Alix slapped her hand over his mouth. He gave a muffled, unintelligible answer that satisfied the command.

“Nice try, bitch. You aren’t going to get anything so long as I’m here,” Alix hissed.

“Or me!” Felix added.

Mayura tapped her fan against her chin with a contemplative look. She opened her mouth when Outlaw and Hydra landed on Liberty. She turned to face them as Juleka ducked away and Pom Pom leapt onto the back of Liberty. She hummed as Death Noire climbed her way up the side of Liberty and perched there. She glanced between the heroes, the sentimonster, and the tablet.

“I see the fun is up for now. I’ll bid-.”

The heroes rushed Mayura. Hydra shifted to cloud form and distracted Mayura, obscuring her vision. Outlaw lassoed Mayura, restraining her arms. Pom Pom threw her ball at Mayura’s fan and used her power, Fetch, to steal it away from Mayura. Death Noire used Cataclysm and destroyed the fan. They watched as orbs shot out from the destroyed tool and flew off. The sentimonster that Mayura had created from Anarka’s regret reverted to an orb that returned to Anarka.

“Get Adrien’s amok and the brooch!” Felix screamed.

The heroes exchanged confused glances while Mayura smirked.

“Go on, little heroes. Let’s see you take either before I erase the amok of your dear friend… and his cousin.”

Adrien’s eyes widened as he moved Alix’s hand. “Felix? You’re a sentimonster too?”

“I… yes.”

Adrien gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were cousins!”

“I… I didn’t want you to know. I thought… I could get the brooch and keep us safe. So, you never had to worry.”

“How sweet, but you’ll need this brooch. And you won’t get it unless you can give me the one I really want,” Mayura cooed.

Felix perked up. “Which one? Tell me!”

“Bring me the butterfly, and I’ll give you the peacock. Do that, and you’ll never have to worry about you and your cousin’s safety ever again.”

“You promise?” Felix asked.

“What? No!” Adrien yelled.

“Adrien, we have to! She holds the power to control you, she could control me too, and if she wanted, she can get rid of us with the snap of her fingers. Just like… just like Colt always… it doesn’t matter. We have to.”

“No! I won’t trust her. She kidnapped me, took control of me, and turned into this massive peacock monster. I’m not about to hand her this butterfly miraculous,” Adrien countered.

“Not everything is about you, Adrien!”

“And not everything is about you either, Felix!”

“Clout!” Alix roared.

Adrien and Felix raised their brows as they turned to the tablet. They watched as Alix, wearing a red ripped leather jacket, light red ripped, skintight jumper, red boots with black stripes, and black spandex under the ripped areas to give the illusion of stripes, ran into view. They gawked as Alix struck Mayura’s side and launched her off Liberty into the city. The other heroes surrounded Alix as she transformed again. They watched as her outfit became a black full body suit with red snakes spiraling around her legs and arms, sneakers, red snakeskin leotard, and a black crop hoodie.

“Bloody Bug, what do we-?” Porcelet started.

“Call me Blood Viper. Porcelet, Gallic Chick, I want you two to go to the Agreste mansion at once, protect Adrien. Death Noire, Pom Pom, recharge and we’ll pursue Mayura. Hyrdra, I want you to patrol the area. Outlaw, do as you see fit,” Blood Viper explained, adding the last part in English for Outlaw.

“What? No! Don’t go after Mayura! You need to find the butterfly!” Felix yelled.

“They aren’t doing that!” Adrien countered.

“They should! She promised she’d leave us alone and give us the brooch if we give her the butterfly. Why wouldn’t you want that?”

“Because we can’t trust her.”

“We can’t, or you won’t?”

“We can’t,” Blood Viper, Death Noire, Gallic Chick, and Porcelet answered.

Felix sneered and turned back to the screen as Bomb Bee and Faun arrived.

“Blood Viper, where do you need me?” Bomb Bee asked.

“Me too,” Faun added.

“Bomb Bee, you’re with me. Faun, you’re with Hydra on patrol. Now, let’s move!”

The heroes dispersed. Adrien took the tablet and ended the call, then put it back down.

“This is ridiculous. How could you be in favor of going against Mayura? She literally holds our lives in her hands. She literally took control of you! How can you be ok with this?” Felix demanded.

“What reason do we have to believe her? What if we do give her what she wants, who is to say we won’t still destroy us?”

“It’s not a risk I want to take.”

“Well, it’s a risk I am. I will see Mayura stopped.”

“Yeah? How? Didn’t you stop to think that even as Chat Noir you’d still be controlled.”

“I’m not Chat Noir right now. Plagg was given to someone else in case you hadn’t noticed by Death Noire.”

“That person has your miraculous? That wasn’t just some other one?”

“No. And I have one that’ll keep me safe. And, if you want to help me, you can have one too, but only if you’ll help.”

“Help with what?”

“I can’t leave this mansion often. I do when everyone is asleep and I’m free to roam as Taureau, but I need help investigating Mayura. Bug can’t do it all on her own, and neither can I. I know I can still help, but I fear I’ll be caught and controlled. I would feel better if I had someone I trusted at my side.”

“And you want… me?”

Adrien nodded. He ran to his bedside and pulled out the horse miraculous. He returned and held it out.

“What’s this?”

“The miraculous of the horse. With it, you gain the power of teleportation. I figure we can uncover what Mayura really wants and foil her plans. Let the others fight on the frontlines while we do the detective work. That way we can be free on our terms, not on Mayura’s. What do you say?”

“I… I don’t know. I still don’t want to go against her.”

“You won’t have to openly. It’ll be our secret. I promise.”

“You promise?”

“I do.”

Felix looked at the glasses. He sighed and took them. Adrien beamed and hugged Felix.

“Don’t worry. We have each other. So long as we work together, we’ll be free of her,” Adrien reassured.

“And if the worse should come to pass?”

“Well… we’ll deal with it when it comes. Deal?”

“Fine. Deal.”

A knock came from the door. Adrien and Felix turned as Gabriel and Amelie entered the room with Nathalie behind Gabriel.

“Adrien, we have some news,” Gabriel started.

Adrien tilted his head. “What news?”

“Your arrangement with Kagami has been nullified.”

“Wait, you mean I’m not engaged to her anymore?”

“Correct.”

“Holy shit! That’s amazing!” Gallic Chick squawked.

Everyone turned to see Gallic Chick sitting in the window.

“What are you-?” Gabriel started.

“Porcelet! Porcelet! I’ve got news for you! Porcelet!” Gallic Chick called.

“Gallic Chick, wait!” Adrien called, but Gallic Chick had left.

“Adrien, what is going on?” Gabriel asked.

“Oh, uh, nothing?”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at Adrien when Gallic Chick returned. They all turned and gawked at her outfit change. Her superhero suit changed to a denim blue jumper without the right pant leg and a red top, auburn armored gloves, copper thigh-high armored boots, and a teal feather skirt cape with a plume extending up to her shoulders. Her blonde hair fluffed up and dyed red at the roots with the body of it a harvest gold.

“Greetings, Gabriel Agreste. I’m Gallic Chick. We’re here to keep an eye on the area as we had a Mayura sighting.”

“Who is we? And why the outfit change?” Gabriel demanded.

“Oh, this? I mean, you are Gabriel Agreste, one of the biggest names in fashion. And I heard from some fellow birds what the mayor is planning. So, I thought it would be brilliant to have us all change things up. Give you fashion people some real inspiration. Maybe even strike up a nice deal for you.”

“I don’t need-,” Gabriel started.

“Imagine! Having Adrien pose with one of the heroes themselves in their stunning new getup. All the attention your brand would get. The fame, the money, the everything! You would be the brand for this whole Heroes Day stuff.”

Gabriel hummed. “It is… tempting. You heroes are supposed to help us. What’d be better than a hero to keep an eye on Adrien?”

“Sir, you’re not really considering this, are you?” Nathalie asked.

“And why not? She makes a good point, and a hero would be an ideal bodyguard against a supervillain.”

Nathalie frowned. “Gallic Chick, what is your angle? Are you trying to gain fame or something through this?”

“Oh, no. I don’t need your crummy notoriety when I have my own. But I think it would be better for a pair of someones. Porcelet! Get in here!” Gallic Chick crowed.

Everyone watched as Porcelet gingerly jumped through the window and landed. Adrien’s eyes widened and jaw dropped seeing Porcelet in her new outfit. Her white and pink magic girl uniform was changed to a black and pink mini dress with a big pink heart on the bodice and a section of pink down the middle to the skirt, ballroom black gloves and thigh-high boots with hearts at the hem of each accessory, and her hair grown out to long, thin pigtails that nearly touched the floor, but curled into a spiral at the end. She sheepishly approached Gabriel and held out her hand.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Agreste. I’m Porcelet.”

Gabriel assessed Porcelet before he glanced at Adrien’s awestruck reaction. His eyes darted back and forth, then he nodded and shook Porcelet’s hand.

“Pleasure is mine, young lady. Tell me, would you be interested in being my son’s bodyguard?”

“M-me?” Porcelet squealed.

“Yes! Please!” Adrien yelled out.

“Oh! Uh, I mean, I don’t…!” Porcelet attempted.

“She’d love to!” Gallic Chick answered.

“Wait! I’m… I’m not exactly the strongest hero. Maybe you should get someone else, like, Bloody Bug,” Porcelet pointed out.

“I agree. If we’re going to trust Adrien’s safety to anyone, it should be Bloody Bug,” Nathalie added.

Gabriel hummed. “Porcelet, what are your powers?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, I can show people what makes them happiest.”

“It saved that Chloe Bourgeois before. By the time I showed up, Porcelet already had the villain immobilized,” Gallic Chick butted in.

“Well, yes, but-!”

“None of that now, young lady. I say you should be capable to keep Adrien safe.”

“Sir, please, reconsider. Bloody Bug would-,” Nathalie started.

“Be busy enough dealing with that Mayura. Besides, she has a full team of heroes that she can send us where needed. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a hero being dedicated to keeping Adrien safe,” Gallic Chick countered.

“Then it’s settled. Porcelet, I’ll be in contact with-.”

“I can contact her,” Adrien butted in, cutting off Gabriel.

“How do you have her contact?” Gabriel questioned.

“Oh! Uh, well, you see, uh, I-.”

Gallic Chick grabbed Adrien and placed him next to Porcelet. She put his arm around Porcelet and pushed them closer together. His and Porcelet’s faces flushed red as they looked at Gabriel with nervous looks and shrugged.

“Uh, right, we’re, uh, dating?” Adrien said.

Gabriel frowned. “We’ll be talking about this later. Now, Amelie, Felix, I’ll see you-.”

“I want to stay here with Adrien,” Felix announced.

“Excuse me? You don’t-,” Gabriel started.

“Oh, what a wonderful idea! I’m not doing anything, and I homeschool Felix, it’s perfect. We can have a little holiday. Oh! What if we stayed until Heroes Day?” Amelie suggested.

“Now, Amelie, that’s two months out. You can’t-.”

“It’s settled then. Come along, Felix. We’ll go back home and pack, then be back in the morning. Come, Gabriel, show out your guests.”

Gabriel sighed as he led Amelie, Felix, and Nathalie out of the room. Gallic Chick smiled and jumped up onto the open window.

“Let’s go, Porcelet. We have a job to do.”

“Right. Be right there!”

Gallic Chick nodded and headed out. Porcelet sighed and hugged Adrien, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re ok. I was worried Mayura came after you and we’d be too late.”

“Not with Bug chasing after Mayura. I doubt she’d take that risk with so many heroes after her. At least, I would hope.”

“Good thing she didn’t. I wouldn’t get the chance to meet the infamous Gabriel Agreste, or show off my new outfit. Like it?”

Adrien blushed. “You look beautiful. Kinda like that magic girl show with the pretty fairies.”

Porcelet giggled. “I noticed you loved all their designs whenever they transformed, so I took some inspiration.”

“You wear it better than any of them ever could, Rin.”

Porcelet blushed as she looked away. Adrien took her hand and nuzzled her. She smiled, stepped closer, and nuzzled him back. They giggled until they realized they were a breath away from each other. They stared into each other’s eyes before their gazes dropped to each other’s lips. They leaned in, their lips nearly brushing each other when unease and fear tore through him. He took a sharp breath as memories of Heart’s Design and Volpina filled his mind. He tore away from Porcelet with a panicked, frenzied look as he held up his hands to guard himself.

Porcelet de-transformed and approached Adrien. “It’s ok, Adrien. You’re not in danger. You’re safe. Just breathe. In and out.”

Tears sprung from Adrien’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong. You’re ok. You’re safe. I promise.”

“I… I just… I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s ok. I told you before, we go at your pace. Your comfort matters too.”

“I know, but I hate this. I love you. I want to show my love, but I just… I can’t. I can’t stop… I just can’t stop them.”

“Adrien, you show your love everyday we’re together. All the silly shows we watch. The little moments we spend in each other’s company. The conversations we have that make the hours fly by. These small things show me your love more than a kiss. Never forget that, Kitten.”

“I know. I just… I’m sorry.”

Sabrina sighed as she took Adrien’s hands and squeezed them. They pressed their foreheads together and stood in silence. She shifted and moved away, transforming into Porcelet.

“I’ll be back after my patrol to check on you, Kitten. Please, take it easy until then. Ok?”

Adrien nodded.

Porcelet smiled and cupped Adrien’s cheek. “I love you, Kitten.

Adrien smiled and pressed his hand against hers. “I love you too, Rin.”

Porcelet hugged Adrien, then headed out. He sighed and sat down when Stompp plopped on his shoulder.

“It’ll get better, Adrien. I promise.”

“I wish it would be better already. I hate this.”

“I know. Just give yourself time, keep your friends close, and the wounds will heal. Never forget Bug’s journey.”

“Yeah, well, she had a family that loves her, which made a difference.”

“So do you. And it seems like someone is trying to mend that bond. Maybe you need to heal what’s broken in front of you before you heal everything else.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“Sorry, Adrien. It doesn’t mean anything if I tell you. Like Alix, you’ll need to figure it out on your own. Only then can things get better.”

Adrien opened his mouth, but Stompp moved on and turned on the game console.

“Come. Let’s enjoy some silly games to help distract you. Yes? Yes!”

Adrien shook his head and flopped onto his bed. He let out a deep sigh before he surrendered to the nagging thoughts that never left him alone.

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ijustliketoreadstuff · 1 year

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Lila’s new plan

In “Perfection”, as everyone gathers to try and help Marinette find the right opportunity to reciprocate Adrien’s affection and confess her feelings, it is in the midst of their yoga session with Miss Bustier that Lila begins to show hints of her next plan to ruin Marinette’s life.

Ever since the events of “Ladybug”, Lila had thus far decided to abide by Adrien’s demands to leave Marinette alone, however, knowing now that she could not directly hurt Marinette, Lila has instead decided to focus her attention on manipulating others to carry out her plans to ruin Marinette in her place.

Of all the people within Marinette's life, Lila has primarily decided to focus on people who have an obvious weakness towards Marinette, weaknesses which would be the easiest to take advantage of, through Lila’s eyes at least. Chloe being one of those people, whom Lila grew to learn held just as much anger towards Marinette and Ladybug as she did.

(in “Penalteam”, Lila seizes the opportunity to obtain Chloe’s allegiance)

Although Chloe has become one of the few to see Lila’s true colors, she has no desire to expose her so long as Lila aims to help ruin Marinette’s life. Chloe had long considered Marinette as someone who was beneath her in every way, and although she is aware Marinette is growing confident enough to stand up for herself, Chloe had quickly viewed Marinette as someone who was interfering with the one thing she alone had deemed herself to be entitled to, Adrien’s love.

Chloe and Lila are both interested in Adrien, but their views over Adrien were vastly different from the reality as they latched to the image of perfection Adrien was more commonly seen as in magazines, when presented by his father. Rather than getting to know the real Adrien behind all the business images, Chloe and Lila had both favored their own idea of who Adrien was and should be. Chloe had long believed Adrien was someone who should and would prioritize his rich status, just as she has done, and be expected to find the idea of being with someone like Marinette to be ridiculous given she was just a baker girl. Through Chloe's eyes, she and Adrien were meant to be, given their history and status, all she would need to do is teach him how the world works when it comes to people like them, something she even explains to Marinette back in “Animaestro”.

Lila on the other hand, believed no one but her was suited to be with Adrien, viewing him as an image of perfection that she alone had a right to be with as she viewed herself as someone who only deserved the best there was. Through her eyes alone, Adrien felt the same way about her and disregarded all others who actively tried to gain his affection.

But to both Chloe and Lila's shock, Adrien had already fallen for Marinette long before their allegiance began.

(In “Deflagration” , Chloe discovers Adrien has feelings for Marinette)

(in “Risk”, Lila comes to the shocking realization that Adrien has genuine feelings for Marinette the moment he willingly holds her hand. Lila is angered over Marinette receiving Adrien’s affection given he has never reciprocated affection in the same way towards anyone else, including herself)

Lila does not bode well to having things denied or taken from her, and knowing now that Adrien is in love with Marinette, Lila is determined to carry out whatever plan necessary to not only make Marinette feel miserable, but to additionally ruin Marinette's reputation and separate her from Adrien, and it all starts with helping improve Chloe’s image. Chloe alone has a very ill reputation among the student body, but by Lila openly displaying attempts to stay with Chloe, Lila is effectively making steps in convincing the student body that she, the kind and devoted girl who has helped resolve countless seemingly impossible problems throughout the world, has now decided to befriend the girl who would ordinarily listen to no one, no one but her.

(In “Perfection”, Lila openly shows her attempts to restrain Chloe from her typical behavior by instructing her to allow Marinette to sit next to Adrien, allowing her to not only show everyone her attempts to be more involved and better Chloe’s behavior, but additionally make it seem like she alone is someone whom Chloe will listen to)

However, despite Lila and Chloe agreeing to work together to ruin Marinette, Chloe alone believes Lila had intended to befriend her amidst their allegiance as she remarks by saying that Lila’s efforts have now earned her a spot as her new best friend, something which Sabrina is shown to be saddened and conflicted about as she had long believed herself to be Chloe’s one and only best friend. Although Sabrina is also gradually learning about Lila’s true nature, given she will do anything for Chloe, Sabrina remains loyal to Chloe and her choice to have Lila within their little social circle, however, the longer Lila remains with them, the more Sabrina begins to realize that Chloe does not hold the same level of respect towards her as she does with Lila (more here).

(Chloe is unaware that Lila only intends to take advantage of her and not befriend her)

Aside from Chloe, Lila is additionally attempting to pursue and take advantage of Kagami, whos inexperience with friendships have made her vulnerable towards kindness, and whos lack of social skills and understanding towards how friendships work, have left her unaware of when someone like Lila is taking advantage of her.

In an effort to gain Kagami’s loyalty and separate her from Marinette, lila had taken steps to make Kagami question whether or not she is actually good enough to be considered a friend to others, specifically Marinette, even more so if she qualified to be viewed by Marinette herself as a friend rather than just someone she pitied and is now gradually avoiding.

(Lila provides Kagami a “Friendship test” to persuade her into believing that Marinette does not view her in the same regard as her other friends, restricting her from properly talking to Marinette to sort out any misunderstandings and instead inching her to believing that she has no reason being friends with someone(Marinette) whom Lila claims is not considerate of her)

Despite Kagami and Marinette sorting out their misunderstandings near the end of “Perfection”, Kagami’s realization that the love people have among friends is multiplied rather than divided, has prompted her to accept Lila’s friendship as well. If Marinette views her in just as much regard as Alya and her other friends, and if the others within Adrien and Marinette’s social circle are willing to be kind and considerate enough to help make a giant banner to symbolize their acceptance of her and attempts to befriend her, then to have Lila would mean to have one more friend who cares about her and to cherish in return, all things Lila has no intention to fulfill in return as her efforts remain solely to tarnish and end the bond Kagami has developed with Marinette, making Kagami that much easier to persuade into retaliating against Marinette in her place.

Even though it has been revealed that Kagami and Chloe are targeted by Lila, they are far from the only ones Lila intends to take advantage of. In "Perfection, Lila is seen within a mysterious bed room vastly different from her room in “Catalyst”, observing various photos of Marinette surrounded by different people within her life. The photos she has spent time cutting Marinette out of, primarily focus on Marinette’s relationships with Luka, Zoe, Kagami, as well as her parents.

Aside from Kagami, Lila has already made steps to get close to Sabine as she is seen actively attending her class back in “Quilin”. Had Lila continued to attend Sabine's class, Lila would have planned the simple approach of focusing her attention in forging a fake bond with Sabine, but how she plans to take advantage of her as well as the others is something we will need to wait and see.

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yandere-vale · 2 years

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Yandere Chloé Bourgeois Headcanons.

Warning: Normal Yandere stuff and I don't condone anything that I write about. Some stuff I'm okay with but that's sort of a personal thing and up to the person themselves to decide.

Yandere Chloé Bourgeois. (Aged-up)

"Is Chloe the best, or is Chloe the best? Hey, I want an answer!"

When a Bourgeois has a goal in mind they will stop at nothing to get it. And Chloe has the means to get what she wants. Adrien Agreste? Who's that? Yesterday's news, an old hat. You? You are her sole focus and you will just have to accept that.

Chloe is the dictionary definition of a Manipulative yandere. Having grown up watching and understanding the game of semantics and politics due to seeing her father do the same thing. Her mother also taught her that if she has to cheat, manipulate, fool, humiliate, and ruin others to achive her goal, then by all means she's to do so. Nothing is out of reach for a Bourgeois.

Chloe's selfishness and pettiness knows no bounds when it comes to her desire have you exist along side her. She puts you on a pedistal high above everyone but Chloe is always above you. Sure she 100% loves and idolizes you but she needs, no she expects you to return her love 1000 times.

She doesn't know the exact moment she fell for you but you are now off limits to everyone else. She's a self-indulgent and manipulative yandere, wanting you to worship her, love her, and shower her with all your love. She deserves it. When you are with her the only things you'll be doing are the things that she's planned out for the two of you and NOTHING will devieate from that plan.

Chloe is a little on the delusional side as she already sees herself as the perfect partner for you. A fine wine to the cheese she sees you as. She 'knows' you love her more then those who just take up your time like they are even worth something so treasured.

I have a question. Do you like gifts? Well you better start because Chloe's love language is gift giving. The latest clothes, jewerly, and electronics to show you that she cares about you. No one else would spend that kind of money on you right? Must be because she cares about you right? You wouldn't reject someone who's willing to do that for you right? It's a fun little trap to keep you from thinking about the darker side she seems to have.

When I said that no one was good enough for you I wasn't kidding. She will use any and all tools at her side to get you all to herself. She'll have dirt dug up on all your friends to expose them as liars to you. And if she can't find any then she'll just make it. She's a grand manipulator and it won't take long for nasty rumours to make their way to your ears.

"I told you they were nothing but trouble for you babe. Come here and give me a hug, Chloe always makes you feel better no?"

She never apologies or feels sorry for any of her actions against others. They were getting in the way and isn't it better to have those 'problems' out of your hair anyways? Chloe gives into her anger when things don't go her way and is known to tear things apart verbally when she's mad.

She needs your attention and validation as much as you need hers. She was neglected by her mother for so long that she doesn't really know to express the sheer need of it. She acts out and lashes with claws and teeth, but in truth she's just a small girl who never got the love and care she would have needed growing up to hopefully develop a normal sense of love.

It leaves her being super clingy with you. If you aren't home then she's by your side. How she just so happens to find you when you are out and about is hard to explain. Always ushering you into her limo to take you somewhere to spend the day. She's sprung many things suddenly on you. Surprise vacations to exotic locations, all 'free of charge' of course. You wouldn't reject her if she does all these things for you right? She hopes that you see it that way.

She's a manipulative woman who does everything wrong to get her way. Just to get your love. She just wants you to love her, to feel whole and to feel safe. She always has her guards up, her claws out. Why can't Chloe have someone she can wrap her arms around, nuzzling into their side, and let herself be vanirable around them?

Chloe doesn't handle rejection well and would laugh if you told her such. She wouldn't believe you at first or even for awhile. But when your words finally hit home it destroys her. She never had good control of her anger and this, this would be the catalist of something bad.

She isn't above kidnapping you. She wouldn't call it that, more the 'nonconsensual moving of you into her home'. It has a better ring to it. She'll lock you there when you just came over for a bit and leave you until you've 'come off that high horse of yours and stopped being a brat.' Since she doesn't see the perfectly reasonable response to being kidnapped to scream and beg to be let go as anything other then you being dramatic. Chloe would never physically harm you but that doesn't mean she won't isolate you. In her mind it's your fault that you are acting this way, not her.

Yandere Antibug. (Aged-up)

"Don't you hate how harsh love can be?"

Have you ever been unlucky enough to be on the other side of someone's totally unleashed anger and rage? Have you seen the things that person is willing to do and say when they fly into that unstoppable rampage state? This is Antibug to a dime. Antibug is what happens when you reject Chloe too many times, and then have the gull, the AUDACITY to like someone else? No. No that won't be happening.

Antibug is not much different from normal Yandere Chloe, other then she has no issue letting her explosive anger out towards anyone she deems a threat. And when I mean 'take her anger out' I mean violently kill them. She will use her Anti-Charm to give herself a weapon that has no reason to be that big and that violent looking. Unlike when she's normal clingy Chloe, Antibug will slaughter others without much thought. Only that she is doing this for you.

Antibug will kidnap you immediently and bring you to a place where you can't escape from and she can easily get to you using her new found powers and athleticisem. She just doesn't want you walking away from you. You always did that in the past. How could you reject someone who cares about you as much as she did-still does. She just needs you to understand that.

Antibug is less about being manipulative since she knows you won't need any because you already have incentive to stay with her. That being not getting hurt. Antibug also isn't above hurting you. Chloe would never lay a hand on you like that but Antibug will harm you if she has to to keep you. The worst you'll get is a broken arm or leg, but she would do it as quickly as she could. Not wanting to mentally scar you too much with the fact that she'll make you choose which one she breaks.

"No no darling~ You can stop with the tears. I won't be mad at you after you tell me which arm to break. Love, please don't just tremble, I need to hear your words."

You have to be perfect for Antibug, she has no time for your struggling or your wines and tears. She just wants you to behave and give her the love she rightly deserves. She's better then that hack ladybug anyways.

Yandere Queen Bee (Aged-up)

"I am Chloe Bourgeois and from now on I'll be your new Superhero, Queen Bee! I am more exceptional then any others! So won't you let me be your hero?"

Chloe does know she comes off pretty strong. She has a no nonsense and cut throat attitude when it comes to her everyday life. She's harsh on those around her and doesn't act very well when things don't go her way. But can you really blame her?

Sure she's spoiled rotton with things, luxuary items from her father, trips and vacations to anywhere she desires. But it's all hollow. The love you are suppose to know, the love that a mother can give her child isn't something Chloe is even familiar with. Neglected by someone who should have nurtured her and showed her how proper love and care can make even the darkest of times brighter. She never had someone like that.

She learned very early on that by getting angry and letting her emotions get the better of her then she can have her way. She knows that this isn't the way to do things. She knows it just pushes more and more people away from her. But she just jusitifies that with them not being worthy of her time or effort. If they can't see just how important she is then they don't matter.

That was until she met you. She didn't like you at first but you kept prodding her. You kept being nice, smiling kind, and hell you even laughed when she tried a pointed jab at you. You'd respond with something like "I know you don't mean it, you just want to think that way." Things like that bothered her. You were just 'nice' to her.

At first she throught you had other motives. She's rich and comes from power so of course people would try and push their way into her life. Try and control her. She wouldn't let anyone control her..but you weren't interested in any of that. She wanted to prove you were just in it for the money and would offer you an expensive gift as proof. "I didn't know you liked me that much? I'm honored to accept anything from you."

How does she respond to that? Well she just huffs and walks away of course. She had to save face and all you see. Can't let these commoners see her as anything related to weak. It's hard for Chloe to let herself be weak in front of you, and though you've seen her cheeks pink, she plays it off as the lighting or some other lie.

As Queen Bee however, she can let herself be cute with you. This would take place before Lady takes away her Miraculous. It happened during one of the times Ladybug was fighting one of Hawk Moth's villians and she was tasked with keeping civilians safe and out of harms way. You were one of the ones she saved that day when Prime Queen attacked. She was able to get you out of the blast radius just in time. It ignited a heat in her chest. She was able to touch you in a nice way. She even asked if you were alright, showing like care and stuff.

From then on, anytime she could. Queen Bee would randomly show up where you were. Not that she really needed to be there, but that she wanted to check up on you. Queen Bee is a bit more hands on then Chloe would ever be. She has no issue in getting close to you and being in your personal bubble. She likes to sit beside you and talk, sometimes letting her leg touch yours. The hugging you took some getting used to, it was like hugging someone who wasn't used to it you found.

Pollen is great at helping her express her emotions to you. Saying sweet things about you with actual real meaning behind them for once. The sweet little thing is so helpful for it's Queen.

Queen Bee wanted to be your hero, she knew the others were there and around for longer then her but she wanted to be the only one in your eyes. When Ladybug could pull her away from you, she'd always be looking for you in the crowd. One side of her didn't want you to get hurt and another side wanted to be the only one to save you.

Queen Bee showers in any praise that you are willing to give her. She doesn't use her powers to sneak into your room at night though, no no. She's far above that as a hero. You would've invited her in anyways so she doesn't need to sneak. She can't exist close to you as Chloe but she can like this. It's a little selfish of her to want both types of praise from you. Since she isn't able to openly accept it as Chloe.

If you do like her as either Chloe or Queen Bee, she's reveal to you that she is one or the other. Hearing that you actually do like her back would just be enough for her. She'd be able to hug you with meaning in front of everyone. Not scared to show her affection. The sudden change from her normal bratness to this cute ball of love and affection is jarring for most people. But she doesn't care. She wants to drown in your love as much as she can. Like you are the only source of joy in her life. You exist to fill the empty void in her heart that she didn't even know was empty.

If you reject her, even after she reveals herself to you. She won't think. Her Vemon will come out and she'll use it to paralyze you. She didn't mean to do it, freezing your body stiff. She just panicked.

"No no..no you can't..you can't please don't say that. I…I did everything right…w..why can't you just love me!"

Like Chloe she'll kidnap you and bring you to her home. Keeping you there by force if she has to. She didn't want to, everything was going oh so well. But now, now everything just needs to be fixed. It just needs a little time. You'll see her as your hero, yeah..she's sure of it. She didn't ruin everything..you'll accept her like you always do. Even if she has to keep using Venom on you, she'll do so if it keeps you with her. She can't continue on without you.

Yandere Queen Wasp (Aged-Up)

"Isn't this like a fairy tale? Having a Queen fall in love with you my dear? Then why don't you look happy?"

When Queen Wasp decides that you belong to her, you will instantly know it. Her swarms of wasps will explode throughout the area, stinging anyone that stands in her way of you. She will leave nothing standing in the way of you. Unlike Antibug, Queen Wasp won't kill anyone who tries to take you from her, or help you escape her. You don't need to escape, you are safe enough with her. You'll be upset at her in the beginning, of course you would be. Seeing your family and friends attacked and falling to these wasps as they circle around you and keep you caged enough for Chloe to do what she needed to do to get to you.

She knows you are upset at her, of course you would. The girl who knew as Chloe just burst into your home, declared her love for you, and attacked everyone else you cared about. You couldn't get away from her as she had you stung the second you showed any signs of fleeing her. Queen Wasp took you into her arms, content to finally have you as she took you away from your home.

She'd take you far away, even away from Paris. She'd have you set up in one of her family's homes where it's just you, her, and a staff too scared to stop her. Queen Wasp is the only one that demands you refer to her as Queen and not by Chloe. Since you rejected her when she was Chloe. So now she's different so just love her alright?

One of the more demanding versions of her Yandere sides. She demands you love and devotion to her. She won't have your eyes straying from her or allow you to leave her. You are to either stand beside her or kneel when she is sitting. Queen Wasp treats you more like a pet if anything. A treasured pet I'm sure but a pet none the less. You had a chance to be loved normally by her, have a happy little relationship but you've decided to ruin it all by being the way you are. You will be reminded by her hurt feelings from that first rejection but it doesn't mean she hates you. She'll tell you over and over again that she loves you.

However, she won't take anymore of your harsh words. If you want to be mean to her, she'll be mean to you. Your friends and family might get hurt if you keep talking and acting like someone so ungrateful. You wouldn't want that right? Of course not. So just be good for her and she won't have to use the back of her hand on you.

Yandere Miracle Queen. (Aged-Up)

"Sting them! Sting them all! You won't have anyone left but me!"

Unlike Queen Wasp that will harm people physically, Miracle Queen is more likely to harm you with other people. She's quick to Brainwash those who are close to you. Friends at first. Using her power to have them distance themselves from you. And if that doesn't work she commands them to bully and pick on you. She doesn't want to make you feel this way but it's the only way for you to understand that you need to be with her.

The next step is doing that with your family. Having them act cold to you will make it hurt that much more. With no friends or even family wanting to spend time with you, you are pretty much stuck with Chloe, with Miracle Queen. She's the only one that will be nice to you. She's the only one who's shoulder you can cry on when being alone fills you with too much internal dread.

Miracle Queen is a bit like Queen Bee in how she acts around you. Since she wants to be the sweet one in your eyes. The ONLY one that seems to actually want to spend time with you. With how badly things are at home when Chloe offers you to move in you jump at the chance. You might just be friends at this point but it's a mark in Miracle Queen's court.

"Nobody loves you like I do. It sucks that you have to see and hear it from people who don't care about you like I do…but I do care about you. You mean the world to me."

Chloe won't waste precious seconds with other people, they are stung and sent away. You are the only and sole focus she has anymore. She doesn't need to kidnap you or keep you locked up. You have no one to go to other then her. Even if you find someone it's never long till you are dropped like an old hate.

Yandere Queen Banana. (Aged-Up)

"Banana Boom-Boom! Grab them before they can get away!"

Nobody else matters to her anymore when she can be with you. They can all be turned into Banana's for all she cares and she does. So they will be. She'll do this to everyone who comes near you if she has to. Doesn't matter if they were trying to take you away from her, protect her from you, anything. If they breathe then they get bananaified.

And don't you dare think you can just run away from her. Not only will she chase you down in her go-kart. Her giant gorilla will chase you down and rip you out of any hidy-hole you happen to hold yourself up in. She has every right to claim you and she shall.

"Don't find my love a'peeling? I'm not the worst Banana in the bunch you know."

Picture a city so silent, no one around other then you, her, and her ape. She'll set you up in the best view in the now lifeless city. She'll give you the world just as long as you don't mind nothing being in it.

If you promise to be good then she won't turn anyone else into a banana, she promises, and Chloe always keeps her promises..right? As long as you are good she'll take you to a city that's full of life and people. Under warning that if you break the trust you have then she'll be forced to do it all over again, leaving you tied up in her kart so you can watch your mistakes.

Yandere Penalty. (Aged-Up)

"Can you really handle all of me? All of us?"

Penalty and Penalteam is a mix of all of her emotions into one. You thought one Chloe was hard to deal with when only one of her was around? Guess you're in for a rude awakening. Having ten of the same person around all the time can get a bit much, more so when they won't let you be anywhere else. Can just you take down ten of her? It's a nice thought to think about but it just won't be happening.

She'll block you from trying to escape wherever she's had you taken. You'll never be alone in anything that you do anymore. Two of her at the very least will be with you regardless of where or what you do. You aren't even safe in the bathroom when it comes to her. What would you have to do by yourself that you'd need to be alone for anyways?

Penalty is the most hands on out of all her versions. She will never not have a reason to be touching you. It starts off with a hand on your shoulder or a leg touching you. But it slowly pushes past any line you wouldn't want her to cross. Hands touching your back or holding your waist. One of them always finds you in her lap or she's in yours.

Penalty is here to take care of each and everyone of your needs but you have to remember that she has needs as well. They will spoon feed you, dress you in the morning, and don't get me started on the group baths. You know when I said she'll spend more of her time touching you? Well her hands will move further down and against areas that you don't want her to. If you try and push her away the others will drop what they are doing to hold you while you struggle. They will wait for you to be out of energy before they continue touching you.

"Trophy is not a good enough word to describe you love. But I'll always take you home."

Any and all times you voice your dislike for something, Penalty will always do the right thing by you and put it to a vote. It's always a 10/1 vote with you being the one that loses however. But hey, she told you she'd be fair with it.

You will never be alone with her around, you physically can't be. The each share a personality and sometimes fight with each other. Always over you though. They are the only ones you can be with and still they can't get enough of your time and presence.

You have so many versions of Chloe to choose from. Which one will you be unlucky or lucky to get?

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