#Team Phantom is not great at keeping secret identities | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

inamindfarfaraway · 2 years

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The Phantomphase Girls

The Danny Phantom crossover AU of The Powerpuff Girls that nobody asked for but has taken over my mind.

The city of Townsville is home to the fantastically brilliant inventor Professor Utonium, who is working on his magnum opus, a portal to the Ghost Zone. Most believe ghosts and their home dimension to be nothing more than folklore, but the Professor knows they’re real and sees great potential to improve the world in the properties of ectoplasm and the technology it makes possible. Also, he believes in that scientific ideal of knowledge being valuable for the sake of it.

His fourteen-year-old adopted fraternal triplets Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles (that’s their birth order, meaning that’s the order they go in) have lived with him since they were infants. They’re accustomed to his eccentric inventions and helping him out in the lab. Therefore when the ghost portal seems to be a dud, Buttercup thinks little of daring Bubbles to enter it. Bubbles is too nervous and agrees only if her sisters accompany her. Blossom, eagerly examining their father’s most ambitious construction, accidentally hits a backup activation switch. The girls are killed changed by the portal ripping open through them - an agonizing experience that each will blame themselves for. They discover upon waking that they’re half-ghost, ectoplasm bonded to their DNA giving them ghostly forms and superpowers; meanwhile, the portal’s opening has unleashed many malevolent members of the Ghost Zone into their city. Well, the Professor raised them to be kind, altruistic and responsible. They know what they have to do. They have to stop all the ghosts that are coming through! They’re here to fight for me and you! And so, Townsville’s days are to be saved… thanks to the Phantomphase Girls!

Like in their original show, the girls don’t bother having secret identities. Everyone in Townsville knows they’re the local superheroes, as they can’t control their powers at first and quickly attract attention. This removes a lot of secret-keeping drama and allows their dad, teachers, classmates and all others that they interact with to take into account that they hold very demanding unpaid jobs out of the goodness of their hearts, but of course villains sometimes target the Professor and their friends. The girls wear light pink/green/blue, their respective ghost energy colours, with black and even less white accents. Their ghost forms wear their civilian outfits with the main colour and black inverted and the white turned silver, and their hair is white. Robin Snyder, their best friend and biggest fan, later prints their official logo, a swirling heart-shaped ghost portal, onto each of their tops in black with pink/green/blue swirls while they’re human.

Blossom has an ice core. It manifests passively as detecting the paranormal chill of nearby ghosts. She’s keen to scientifically determine the exact nature and capabilities of her ghost form, sharing the Professor’s intellectual drive, and masters her active cryokinesis pretty early on. Her eyes are uniquely affected, turning from brown to pink and glowing blue when using her ice powers. The team leader, she prefers to observe and analyze situations (so the eye thing suits her symbolically) and thoroughly plan before doing field work. She also understands the Professor’s ghost energy-related technology designed to aid their crusade against the dangerous ghosts and exploration of the Ghost Zone the best of the triplets and uses it the most frequently and effectively. Her main flaws are overconfidence and overachieving - she sets herself lofty goals and high expectations in both her civilian and superhero lives, wanting to do it all and grow up too fast, then brittly snapping when things don’t go perfectly.

Buttercup has an earth core. It manifests passively as her ectoplasmic body being naturally hard and firm as solid rock. This increases her strength and makes her the team’s heaviest hitter, a role she likes just fine with her aggression and love of adrenaline. It takes her the longest to gain her active elemental power, geokinesis, because she simply doesn’t consider the complications it adds to her straightforward fighting style necessary, and it requires the cocky, impatient girl to acknowledge her immediate powers aren’t always sufficient, wait and think about how to use her environment. Ordinary life has been boring her for years. So she finds true purpose and fulfilment in being a superhero - improving herself and helping people through her own merits and endless challenge - at the cost of letting her struggling grades and social life slip even further. Relating to her peers has never been easy for her, unlike her sisters, and now she feels still more isolated.

Bubbles has an air core. It manifests passively as super hearing, due to detecting sound waves in the air within a large radius; from there she learns to actively amplify sound waves in a new power, the ghostly wail, during a crisis and subsequently unlocks proper aerokinesis. Her blue hair scrunchies are transformed into translucent, faintly luminous rings of blue ectoplasm. Her pigtails are constantly blown upward by her ‘inner wind’ that doesn’t affect anything else. When she pushes her command of air to the limit, this inner wind dissipates her hair ties (which reassemble once she’s done) and fiercely whips her loosened hair. She definitely isn’t unwilling to use violence, but prefers to resolve problems diplomatically and keeps trying to befriend their enemies. She can be immature for her age, naive and overly trusting, and weak-willed in that occasionally she would rather maintain an unhappy or unhealthy peace than upset and argue with people.

Dick Hardly plays the role of Vlad Masters. University ‘friend’ of the girls’ father grown into a ruthless, heartless CEO? Objectifies the girls and wants to possess them for selfish reasons to the point of cloning them? Captures and tortures them to extract a particular aspect of their biology that will enable him to continue his cloning? Light hair in a ponytail? Come on! He’s a fire core half-ghost like Vlad, having taken a blast from a prototype ghost portal he and the Professor (read: the Professor with him taking the credit) built in university.

Mojo Jojo, Sedusa, Fuzzy Lumpkins, the Gangreen Gang, etc. and the generic monsters of the week are ghosts, either dead human souls or conceptual constructs and fauna of the Ghost Zone.

HIM is the oldest such Ghost Zone native, a primordial embodiment of evil. He rules a dark realm full of malicious spirits. And these three upstart little halfas who repel his minions and beat his twisted games… interest him. Basically, imagine if Pariah Dark was conscious and free in the Ghost Zone from the beginning of Danny Phantom. Yeah. Just be glad he’s mainly content to be a villain indirectly.

Princess Morbucks is the richest kid in Townsville and the haughty, spoiled rotten queen bee at Townsville High School. She’s consumed with envy toward the sisters’ fame and admiration by everyone and in her debut episode “Stuck Up, Up, and Away” has her father’s employees provide her with flashy imitation ecto-tech to attempt to earn a place on their team. They reject her for her lack of powers, but more importantly her lack of moral principles. Enraged, she decides that if she can’t join them, she’ll beat them. She becomes a rival ghost fighter and recurring antagonist bent on upstaging them. It would be easy to leave her the static character she is in canon. However, I can envision a slow burn redemption arc because although it’s based in spite and her massive ego, this Princess actually does good deeds. Protecting citizens, saving lives, being praised and respected for her deeds rather than her heritage or material possessions… feel weirdly good, given time. Between that and the greater threats of Mojo Jojo and HIM forcing her to cooperate with the PPG, she remains vain and petulant but gradually acquires moral restraint and compassion and becomes an antihero.

Brick, Butch and Boomer are unstable prototype clones of the PPG Dick creates in the episode “Kindred Spirits” (they aren’t younger like Danielle is). The plot goes similarly to Danny and Danielle’s plot there. Bubbles is willing to put their mysterious origins aside to make them comfortable, Blossom wants to believe they’re trustworthy but prioritizes answers and Buttercup doesn’t trust them at all. After they betray the girls and yet earn their sympathy for having Dick Hardly as a father, the boys’ loyalty is torn. They believe Dick loves them and his desires are inherently right, but he orders them to hurt the first people to treat them like people. The girls urge them to see that Dick will kill them once he no longer needs them. Despite hesitation, the boys cannot accept that. Meanwhile, the Professor notices his daughters are missing and tracks them to Dick’s lab. In the climax Dick has the PPG in containment chambers so he can sample their mid-transformation DNA to stabilize his perfect clones - who the boys are wrongly informed are them - and Professor Utonium breaks in to rescue the girls. His care and concern show the boys what true fatherly love is. At last they side against Dick and work together with the girls to defeat Dick and destroy the lab. The exertion is tragically too much for their molecular instability and they explode à la Bunny Utonium, leaving the technically victorious girls mourning their new friends. The guilt this causes them haunts them afterward, though the Professor assures them it wasn’t their fault.

In “The Boys Are Back in Town” a few months later, it’s revealed that HIM has resurrected the brothers to be his tools. He’s not only stabilized them, but altered their personalities to make them more instinctively cruel and sadistic and their cores to contrast and counter the PPG’s. Now Brick has a fire core and red ghostly eyes and ghost energy; Butch has a metal core (earth and metal are separate elements in Chinese tradition!) and his ghost body the tensile strength of ductile steel, rendering Buttercup’s ‘brute force at the problem until it stops being a problem’ strategy useless and forcing her to finally get the hang of her geokinesis; and Boomer has an electric core and his previously smooth hair spiky with static. And they have a collective title: the Rowdyraze Boys. Their logo is a red/green/blue and black ghost portal like the girls’, but shaped like a skull. Blaming the PPG for not stabilizing them and lashing out due to all their unprocessed trauma, they enthusiastically battle the girls, threaten people, wreck property and carry out HIM’s plans. The girls are as horrified as you’d expect. They, Bubbles most persistently, repeatedly reach out in friendship. The boys slowly recognize that they’re ensnared in another abusive parental relationship and take a stand against HIM. Trusting the girls again is a big step they aren’t ready for, so they travel the world to experience total freedom and pin down their own identities. Two years later they return to Townsville in peace and Sara Bellum adopts them.

@people_able_and_willing_to_make_fanart_of_this_please

#the phantomphase girls #i didn’t intend for the rowdyraze boys to be so sympathetic!#but they ended up fusions of the canon rrb and dani phantom and dick’s clones in ‘knock it off’ and maybe even a dash of bunny?#and princess gets to be redeemed because she’s kinda like a meaner valerie gray narratively minus the romantic subplot #so. congrats ppg. have fewer villains i guess #you deserve it #‘the ultimate enemy’ is blossom-centric btw ‘cause she’s the one who gets most stressed about exams and the future #and it’s that flaw i outlined of her thinking she can have the best of everything and putting too much pressure on herself to get it #and be perfect and successful with that being a huge pillar of her self-perceived identity #so despite much inner turmoil she’s willing to cheat #buttercup and bubbles die in human form in the explosion along with their dad robin and miss keane (who is a high school teacher here)#none of the girls would be willing to remove their very humanity if they had each other #instead of the ‘jazz knows the secret and danny finds out’ subplot buttercup and bubbles get their own subplot #the powerpuff girls #powerpuff girls #ppg #powerpuff girls au #ppg au #danny phantom #danny phantom au #dp au #crossover au

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lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks · 3 years

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I wanna talk about Agent F

nabbed some pics from this post because @monotype-on-phantom has a great collection of background characters (go check their 'background characters' tag for more excellent screenshots!)

but yeah guess what, School Kid 6 Agent F looks just as Definitely An Adult in the show as she does in the game gdksksbj

seems like she's good friends with Star

unfortunately she's also been at the school from the very beginning of the shows which makes the undercover GIW agent story a bit tricky since it pre-dates Phantom's presence

unless her purpose to begin with was to keep an eye on the Fenton kids because the GIW are super interested in the Fenton's work, and maybe they're interested to see if growing up around constant exposure to ectoplasm did anything weird to them

which would actually be super interesting because would she notice when Danny starts developing his powers if that's the kind of thing she's looking for? what if the GIW know that Danny suffers from some mild form of ecto-contamination and is a little Less Than Normal? what would make this super funny tho is if they still don't make the connection that he's Phantom

Wes figures out immediately that Agent F is clearly An Adult and at first suspects that she's an undercover cop (absolutely nobody believes him of course, like the fuck Wes that's Star's friend Felicia she can't be a cop)

but once the ghost shit starts happening and 'Felicia' starts casually pushing anti-ghost propaganda and she seems to know just a little Too Much about ghosts Wes is like 'hang on a minute you aren't a cop YOU'RE A GIW AGENT AREN'T YOU' and then he proceeds to spend the rest of his existence trying to convince her that Danny is Phantom

but she's just not having it, one she won't admit to him that she's GIW and she wants nothing more than to distance herself from this weirdo before he blows her cover, two she doesn't believe a ghost can also be a human, she thinks Danny might have some ghostly attributes but he doesn't set off her ghost radar (he only blips it from time to time which would be expected from someone who's ecto-contaminated), and also she's been watching this awkward geek all year and there's no way this kid could be Phantom

like he gets beaten up by Dash all the time, and he desperately wants to join the popular kids and be a part of that crowd, and keeping his identity a secret would be in opposition to that

also he doesn't flex his new superpowers for attention, he doesn't use them for anything (other than the occasional prank on Dash but he's smart enough to do that when nobody else is around), he doesn't use them to impress Paulina, he doesn't use them to get onto a sports team, he just doesn't use them to increase his popularity at all

an adult looking at this from the outside, an adult with preconceived notions on how dumb and impulsive teenagers are, could not believe that a teenage boy would be able to control that temptation

he's not Phantom, he's just mildly ecto-contaminated, possibly has some minor abilities he either can't control or doesn't realise he has, and that's about it, Phantom is just an ordinary unrelated ghost with no secret identity who just happens to look similar

besides, there have been depictions of Phantom throughout history, long before Danny was born, there were sightings of him at a university in the 80s, in ancient Rome, at the Salem witch trials, he was even found in a drawing from a boy's diary in the 1940s, the more they look the more they find artwork and stories of a being with his appearance or power, too many and too similar to be coincidence

unless Danny Fenton is somehow capable of time travel he couldn't possibly be Phantom

#danny phantom #lula's headcanons #dp ocs #Agent F #wes weston #infinite realms coming in clutch with Danny's best cover story

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dannyphantom-justiceleauge · 2 years

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Please throw fusion trio at the justice league. Jonn knows what's going on. Most of the rest are just ?!?!?!. Also can the Trio agree on bread type snacks?

i'm pretty sure tucker made it clear that he literally only eats meat. i know we've seen him eat burgers which have bread with it, and i suspect he has the rule that if it's attached to meat it's okay. but eating things with without any sorta meat? not for him. so i'm sticking to the trio can't eat while fused. that also means they don't join the team during meals and have to sneak around to eat separated if they're in the tower

now onto the trio fusion join the justice league. first off, it would have similar secret identity shenanigans to just Danny joining the league, only now it's three kids in a trench coat. actually bonus points if Danny phantom is already in the league when the trio fusion joins. i know i hesitantly named them Tammy, but they also need a hero name... Giest? like poltergeist? i'm not feeling particularly clever rn. feel free to chime in the replies if you have something better. anyway, imagine the shenanigans of phantom and giest having to team up even though they've never been seen in the same room together. Danny having to fuse and unfuse to keep up the lie. Sam and tucker having to hide or have a plausible lie if they're spotted while unfused. also you know the whole reason they joined as Giest was because Danny felt bad that his best friends weren't part of the league with him despite him owing everything to his besties. to it's a heartfelt gesture and you know Sam and tucker wanted to be in the league anyway. tucker wants access to the computers if nothing else. and Sam needs to meet wonder woman and the other female heroes. she needs this.

some of the benefits of being Geist is one, they probably seem less like a ghost or ghost hybrid than phantom does because they have three humans mixed in rather than one. and i''m pretty sure Sam and tuckers cores are considerably smaller than Danny's so they're not even technically a halfa when fused. they're more human which means less anti-ghost suspicion. they also don't have the same history of phantom, so that makes getting along with people easier. they're also so freaking op. like Danny was already more op than most of the league but the Giest just adds to that. they're intimidating.

weaknesses is that to keep up the lie they have to stay fused for longer than normal, making it all the more likely that they get permanently stuck as Giest. they're still socially awkward and untrusting even though they all love and admire heroes and therefore would geek out as Giest. they have to keep up a lie and are going to spend a lot of time getting into shenanigans to keep it going. power-wise they don't have any obvious weaknesses which makes batman paranoid. he remains paranoid even after he figures out they're three children. it's a whole thing.

so in terms of interactions. as i mentioned they're pretty antisocial. they're a lot more willing to give the benefit of the doubt to heroes. but they also have a lie to maintain so giving to many details about themselves could be dangerous. it's obvious to everyone that they're heroic and talented and doing their best. but they remain pretty aloof unless it's to geek out.

so occasions where the team see them loose the distance are moments where they're meeting a woman hero for the first time. they freaking fawned over wonder woman and were really excited to meet canary and power girl.

they geek out over space and aliens. as mentioned jon is in the know about them due to the ability to read their mind and he's chill. he admires the affection and cohesion between them even though they spend a good amount of time arguing with themselves. not many could be so effective with sharing three consciousnesses. he respects them a great deal and acts as their main mentor for the au.

they geek out over tech an computers and i could see them having full arguments with cyborg and Tim. like the tech talk gets intense, but remains pretty friendly. Tucker when unfused is stupidly happy about being friends with his favorite tech heroes.

batman also ends up in the know, i suspect purely by watching the security cameras at the right time. he remains paranoid and doesn't get closer to them but his dad habits do still shine through. and finally billy absolutely recognizes that they're a fusion of three children. i don't know if he has a power for that or if it's just like recognizing like, but they end up best friends. billy and jazz are probably the two people they're most comfortable with in the world. billy also absolutely helps cover their lie and vice versa. do they kinda adopt this homeless kid in their civilian lives. kinda. he doesn't exactly let them. and lives a town over, but they do send Dani towards him and he has a new bestie/ quasi sister and they do come to visit. Danny is high-key gas-lighting his parents into believing they have a whole extended family of cousins. like he did it with Dani, then Conner, and now billy. i don't know when or if the shoe is going to drop on that, but so long as it keeps working, he's going to keep doing it.

they deserve to be besties - Hestia

#dpjl #danny phantom #fusion au #trio #shazam #billy batson #martian manhunter

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jesuis-melodrama · 3 years

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LadyNoir Inequality: Chat Noir’s Fall from Significance

How does Ladybug and Chat Noir's roles differ between the seasons? How was responsibility, positions, duties delegated between them? This essay analyses in detail how the LadyNoir fallout of Season 4 came to be, and how Chat Noir ultimately fell from hierarchal significance.

What attracted me to Miraculous, apart from the stellar animation and the potential of the in-universe powers, was the dynamic between Ladybug and Chat Noir. Like the camaraderie of the Phantom Thieves in Persona 5, the partnership between Ruby and Clancy in Ruby Redfort and the hierarchy of respect and power between the Hashira of Demon-Slayer, Marinette and Adrien interested me, because they are two very dissimilar people on separate standings who mutually trusts, supports, and depends on one another despite being different in almost every single way. Their powers, although complimenting, are not comparable, and their personalities, although cordial, are inverse. But despite these odds, Ladybug and Chat Noir are not just friends, companions, and confidants, but equals.

The first episode of the series, The Bubbler, demonstrates this splendidly (Author’s Note: The Bubbler is the first episode available on Netflix. Chronologically, Stormy Weather is the first official episode, but the same values hold up). It was a jarring introduction to a new show. The audience has no idea who Adrien and Marinette were, what Tikki and Plagg were or why these magical girl transformations suddenly granted them the powers to fight the maniacal butterfly man, but we can recognise the symptoms of two people already deep into the composition of their friendship. The Bubbler threw the smoothness and effectiveness of their teamwork directly into the faces of the audience, and it was brilliant.

We weren’t weighed down by the gritty details of the beginning, we don’t have to watch the awkward bumbling, the introductions or the unsurety of two strangers who have yet enough reason to trust one another. We were immediately thrusted into the middle of their partnership. The first thing Chat Noir did when he stepped onto the scene was to defend Ladybug and the first thing she did was to joke around comfortably, clearly relieved that he had finally arrived. After watching Marinette obsessively creep around Adrien’s house, trying to show love to a boy she barely knows, and watching Adrien uncomfortably trying to enjoy a social event which he desperatedly wanted but is clearly inexperienced in, the sudden switch of persona and their sudden familiarity and reliance on one another was a fresh breath of air and it made Miraculous a show worth investing in.

We may not know what happened between them, how they received their powers and how they know each other, but it is obvious some catalytic event has tied Ladybug and Chat Noir together. And by all the features exhibited (another great thing, the words spoken were only secondary to the demonstrative body language) the audience was immediately aware that they have stepped into something sacred, something unbreakable. And even with the thick wall of secret and unspeakable identities between them, we feel comforted when we see them together, because they are comfortable and happy with one another.

So, fourteen monster-of-the-day episodes later, when Season 1 presented the first inklings of Miraculous’ overarching plot, watching Marinette and Adrien receive their Miraculous, meet each other as civilians and then as superheroes, the scene is nostalgic and sentimental, and aided by the fantastic animation, the audience can appreciate and remember the defining passage as an evocative and triggering moment for years afterwards.

But that is not to say their partnership hasn’t been without fault.

The cracks were always present, but as the seasons rolled on, it only became more obvious. Their roles were disparate. Ladybug comes up with the plans, Ladybug comes up with the solutions and more often than not, Chat Noir is used as a tool and a distraction for Ladybug’s success. Ladybug had the Lucky Charm and the Miraculous Cure. Chat Noir can stand on his own, defend and attack as an individual, but apart from using the Cataclysm as Ladybug directs, Chat Noir has no outstanding impact on the defeat of any akuma. He does not contribute to any tactics, and he cannot win without Ladybug because he has nothing to offer strategically.

Assets aside, there is also the matter of leadership.

The audience finds out that Chat Noir initially took the frontman role in The Origins. He attacked Stoneheart first while Ladybug dithered behind. But as Ladybug regained confidence, she took the leadership position in both episodes, and Chat Noir was more than happy to follow. Thus, their dynamic was laid down. They both showed satisfaction with their place in the relationship, Chat Noir often yielding to her judgement, such as in Stormy Weather and Dark Cupid, and Ladybug asserts that Chat Noir was in her team in Antibug.

The first big indicator of disagreement in this mutually agreed arrangement was in Syren. A contentious episode, the consequence of Chat Noir physically rebelling against Ladybug’s decision for the first time. All the way to Season 4, Rena Rogue has stirred conflict and mistrust between the duo. When I watched Ladybug leading Rena Rogue away while Chat Noir stared angrily at their retreating backs, I remembered hoping that the episode would end with Ladybug telling Chat Noir everything, so that they could have their Season 1 relationship back. Where they navigated this confusing and alien new world together, hiding so much from the public and each other, but never their authenticity and belief in one another.

I wished that Ladybug had told Chat Noir about the Guardian. I wished that both of them had been privy to the information from the very beginning and I wished that both of them knew who the other Miraculous Holders were because they chose them together. Realistically, someone in the show should’ve connected the dots, and realised that most of the Miraculous Holders were attending a specific class in Collège Françoise Dupont and were all associated with a specific person. That was the only reason I could think of why having Ladybug and Chat Noir choosing the Holders together is a bad idea. It would threaten their identity (which at that point, was still a concern).

But canonically, Ladybug constantly chose Holders who were dangerously close to the situation. Kagami in Ikari Gozen, Chloé in Malediktator, Rose in Guiltrip and Max in Startrain. The only Holder Chat Noir has chosen wasn’t even chosen by his particular identity. Adrien suggested that Luka might be a good Snake, and Ladybug heeded his words, not Chat Noir’s. I wished there was a single scene where Ladybug and Chat Noir analysed the situation and the potential Holder together, looked at each other, no words needed to be said, just a nod and a telepathic agreement shared through their eyes, and Ladybug would present the next Holder with a Miraculous with her and her partner’s approval both given.

What was the point of keeping their identities hidden?

In Season 1, it made some sense. They had no idea the Guardian existed. Even if Chat Noir was reluctant, they can both agree that they could not take their chances, should one of them be captured. But with the reveal of the Guardian’s identity in Season 2, the need for secret identities is almost eradicated. Clearly, there is someone who is an even bigger threat to their civilian lives than Ladybug and Chat Noir are to each other. Ladybug is now burdened with a bigger cache of knowledge. Should one of them be captured, it can only be hoped that it would be Chat Noir, because unlike Ladybug, he could not spew information about potions and kwami and secret books and the Guardian’s location.

In Season 3, the climax of Miracle Queen places the duties of the Guardian directly in Ladybug’s hand. She is now in charge of all the heroes in Paris, she is now the leading physical and strategic force in the battle against Hawk Moth and she is now officially stated as Leader, not just holding a de facto position.

In Season 4, the need for secret identities is gone. Ladybug is the Guardian. She and her original partner, Chat Noir, has no more safety nets in keeping their identities hidden from each other because there is no longer a background link tying them. Should Marinette be incapacitated, should Adrien meet an accident, there is no one reading their news who is available to inform the other person. The only reason why Chat Noir’s identity continues to be hidden from Ladybug is because she does not want to know. The only reason why Ladybug does not reveal her identity to Chat Noir is because she does not want him to know.

Chat Blanc could be inserted as a contending factor. Chat Blanc saw to it that the reveal of their identities to one another could lead the end of the world.

But Chat Blanc was not the only factor.

Season 4 Marinette is overwhelmed and stressed and guilt-ridden. Season 4 Marinette tore herself apart trying to maintain the kwami, her Guardian duties and continue moonlighting as Ladybug. Season 4 Marinette was at the end of her tether, and at this point, Chat Noir’s presence and his insistence was no longer a support or a comfort but another chore and responsibility to be balanced.

Her support network as both Marinette and Ladybug were extinguished. Thus, in a peaking moment of weakness, she finally revealed her identity to Alya.

Marinette met Alya and Chat Noir on the same day. Two strangers both became her friend, two insistent strangers who were united in their goal to find out Ladybug’s identity. Marinette hid her secret life from Alya, Ladybug hid her civilian identity from Chat Noir. As Marinette, she was supported by passionate, fierce, and rash Alya who jumped to conclusions and unnerved Marinette with her determination to find out the truth about Ladybug. As Ladybug, she was supported by passionate, fierce, and rash Chat Noir who impulsively leapt into battles and irritated her with his constant declarations of love.

But Marinette had connections to Alya as both Marinette and Ladybug. She found herself acknowledging Alya’s true character and learned to rely on her through a multitude of trust falls and confrontations. Marinette made the decision to trust Alya, she made the decision to depend on a person she knows as both a citizen and a superhero.

She had no choice with Chat Noir. She never knew who he was, only that he was thrusted into the same situation as she was. Truth was an important concept to Marinette, she stated multiple times that she could not stand liars. And subsequently, she could never really trust Chat Noir because she does not know who he was.

Chat Noir was an emotional crutch during the finale of Season 2 and Season 3. He was the reason why she found the courage to go on despite the anxiety of her failures and the culmination of her carelessness. Throughout Antibug, Heroes’ Day, Gamer 2.0 and Miracle Queen, it was demonstrated that the only way Marinette could trust him and confide in her vulnerabilities was through Ladybug with him as Chat Noir. She couldn’t afford the trust the boy behind the mask, so, when it came to the end of her line, when she has no other choice, Alya was the one to receive the relinquishment of her identity, not Chat Noir.

Gang of Secrets signified the end of Chat Noir’s reign.

He was a founding member, one of the original team, once upon a time on equal par with Ladybug. But now, his presence only matters as much as a temporary hero’s. The released episodes of Season 4, Mr Pigeon 72, Sole-Crusher, and most noticeably, Optigami and Sentibubbler, demonstrated the redundance of his company. Both physically and emotionally, Rena Rouge (now known as Rena Furtive) has filled in as Ladybug’s partner. Chat Noir has to be sneaked around, shield from the fact that there is a new permanent hero and shield from the fact that now, there is one other person in the world who knows Ladybug’s identity, that isn’t him.

With Ladybug’s circle of temporary allies expanded, she no longer needs to rely on Chat Noir to be her support. She could gather up any number of useful powers she has at her disposal and expend them as she wished. In Megaleech, among the five-men team Ladybug had gathered, each one of them has contributed to the defeat of the akuma, with Polymouse outshining as the victor over the army of mini Malediktators, and each one of the other heroes playing a vital role in Ladybug’s plan. Chat Noir’s delegation? To distract the enemy while Ladybug gathered up her soldiers. In the end, he didn’t even use his power, marking the first time in a Miraculous episode that a hero was called upon and left without use. The Cataclysm is no longer necessary for the defeat of an akuma. But the Lucky Charm and the Miraculous Cure are as relevant now as they were when Stoneheart first attacked.

Optigami and Sentibubbler reached the apex of his unimportance. Both times, he was more of a hindrance than a reinforcement. He unconsciously prevented Marinette from becoming Ladybug, which derails the plan to Rena Rogue’s command. He has to be told by Marinette, the civilian, to stay out of the superhero’s plan, because there was nothing he could do that Rena Rogue wasn’t already doing.

The Cataclysm is a one-use power, Chat Noir is a one-trick pony. He’s still stuck in Season 1 mode while Ladybug has broadened to new powers, new suit, new duties, new partners, and new goals.

Hawk Moth knows the identity of all the heroes but Chat Noir don’t. Chloé knows the identities of all the heroes but Chat Noir don’t. Alya has more privileges and inside knowledge than Chat Noir has, and with Rocketear, Nino is now another confidant privy to more secrets than Chat Noir is.

All Chat Noir is left with, is the comedic side-kick routine he is now entrenched too deeply in to crawl out, the knowledge that his best friend in both his civilian life and superhero life think he’s annoying, and the realisation that Ladybug truly no longer trust him, because the heroes around him, his subordinates in a sense, now ranks higher in prominence.

Did Ladybug mean for this to happen? Absolutely not.

But Chat Blanc is no longer a reason big enough to cover all the discrepancies. And she has grown so used to keeping him in the dark to realise how much the darkness was causing the chasm between them to grow. Chat Noir is now outwardly lying to Ladybug that he’s fine, refusing to tell her that he knows to some extent the secrets she has kept from him. In Season 2, he angrily confronted her about being left behind. In Season 4, now that Ladybug holds all the power, now that he no longer has the authority to demand reasons and explanations, the only thing he could do is keep his mouth shut and hope that the sheer cliff he’s balancing on does not shear away even more.

Because Chat Noir is still fun for him, isn’t it? Being a hero, being himself? Chat Noir isn’t a role for him to act, to fake being happy, to pretend to be something he’s not. Chat Noir is a persona where he can be as expressive, as temperamental, as coquettish, and childish and experimental he wants. An entity where he can safely explore all the emotions children his age usually experiences without consequences. A place where he isn’t held under fear of abandonment or emotional abuse, where he can explore his identity and speak his mind without retaliation or repercussions.

Isn’t it?

Chat Noir’s presence is still prevalent at every akuma fight because he is a founding member. Ladybug has no reason to tell him to go home, and he’s still useful in the sense that he can provide distractions while Ladybug figures out her plan, and feed information to Rena Furtive who is hiding and watching and waiting. And there is still the Cataclysm, a power that is supposed to rival the Lucky Charm, whose potential is still yet unearthed.

But Chat Noir has no more standing to rely on. He is no longer a principal participant in the encompassing war between Ladybug and Hawk Moth, even if he is a principal target. Each side gathers up their warriors and equipment, and Chat Noir is just another treasured pawn in Ladybug’s army. He is alone in the fact that no one knows his identity. Ladybug has someone, Hawk Moth has someone, and both of them has an arsenal of champions to pick from.

He’s a wild card, he’s an anomaly. He was once Ladybug’s partner, he was a prototype for the modern Miraculous hero, and by himself, he had a visible presence. But he lost the novelty quickly.

Even in Season 1, people preferred Ladybug. She was the one to fix their city, she made the flashy speech at the Eiffel Tower, it was explainable. In Season 2, Hawk Moth began to ignore his Miraculous multiple times in favour of Ladybug’s earrings. Chloé called him Ladybug’s second fiddle. In Season 3, Fu’s obvious favour of Ladybug as future Guardian emphasised Chat Noir’s emerging sidelining. And in Season 4, Ladybug herself begun to omit her partner.

What does this have in store for the future? Rumours and headcanons fly, whispers of an akumatization on par with Chat Blanc looms closer and closer. Personally, I hope that something more substantial is done with Chat Noir’s character. There’s still so much to be expatiated, his family history, his own personality, and his unlocked powers. If the Black Cat Miraculous was truly the harmonizing consort of the Ladybug Miraculous, then logically, Chat Noir should be receiving the multiple new upgrades in the near future.

A climax where an issue that has spanned for four seasons ending within two episodes sounds stereotypically Miraculous and nightmarish. But the show has three more seasons to go, and hopefully this conflict will be used as a starting point for what may be in store for those seasons.

What if Chat Noir decides to deflect? What is he decided to derail, and what if Chat Noir becomes the next villain? ShadowMoth is a recurring joke at this point, and with the development of Season 4, ShadowMoth’s return in Season 5 sounds exhausting and repetitive. Looking at the overarching picture, there is only one person that has enough incentive and power to become Ladybug’s future archnemesis.

Love and hate are the opposite sides of the same coin.

But no matter what is in store for the distant narrative of Miraculous, this essay concludes on the now.

We look at Season 1 Chat Noir, and the Chat Noir of the latest episode. Even if his powers and position hasn’t grown, he has developed into his role emotionally, in an unfortunately negative way.

Chat Noir is no longer Ladybug’s partner, and analytically, no longer as important as he once was.

I really hope the show does something good with this.

#miraculous les aventures de ladybug et chat noir #ladybug #chat noir #analysis

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ep-10 · 2 years

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Ghost No. 8 (Danny Phantom AU of Kaiju No. 8)

Danny has great extensive knowledge about dissecting ghosts and identifying the position of their cores due to his family background. He and Tucker started out as a "cleaners", a low paying job that required them to clean up ectoplasm goo and disinfect the area of the city where ghosts attacked and killed.

Danny idolized the G.I.W. and wanted to be part of the G.I.W. elite squad. He then convinced Tucker to join too. Initially, Tucker wasn't keen but they decided to sign up anyway. Sam was then assigned to be their coach. Sam was an extremely talented strong coach and taught them many fighting skills and weaponry, but she wasn't very pleased with Danny's slight "fanboy" attitude of joining G.I.W. instead of taking the job seriously.

When they first joined, Danny was the worst performer in physical skill. Dash, Paulina, and all of his new joiners team in the G.I.W. laughed and mocked him. Making him feel very dejected. He stayed on because he wanted so much to be like Valerie, one of the top ghost huntress in the organization. Even though he may be the poorest performer, the G.I.W. was surprised to discover that he had impressive knowledge about ghost cores and their psychology when dealing with difficult ghosts.

One day as they were assigned to defeat a ghost, an unexpected accident occurred during their fight and turned Danny into a half human half ghost. Tucker was the first to find out about it and insisted Danny to quit his job before the G.I.W. found out what he had become. Danny persisted and told Tucker that it was his life long dream to be a G.I.W. elite and he wasn't ready to give up. So, Tucker had no choice but to go along with it and did whatever he could to protect Danny's secret identity.

Then, one day, as their team was assigned to defeat a ghost, another extremely powerful ghost attacked Sam and Danny had to transform and saved her life. Sam was shocked to see Danny's ghost form and because of Danny's insistent to keep his identity a secret, he begged Sam not to spill the secret. Sam promised but she warned Danny that if the whole G.I.W. organization found out about his secret, his body parts could be used to develop as weapons for the organization.

The G.I.W. later found out about an unusual powerful ghost that came to save Sam but they didn't know that ghost was actually Danny. For each powerful ghost, they would label a number on it and Danny was known as Ghost No. 8.

#danny phantom #kaiju no. 8 #monster no. 8 #AU

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fictionadventurer · 3 years

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I can’t stop thinking about the Superman AU where Kara doesn’t get lost in the Phantom Zone so both children are raised by the Kents.

Kara’s ship was set up to teach her English (and possibly other Earth languages) during the trip, so the Kents learn the whole story of Krypton right away. Both kids keep their Kryptonian first names.

Kara’s extremely protective/possessive of Kal at first. She was sent across solar systems to take care of this kid, and it’s hard to step back and let anyone else fill that parent role.

Right away, the Kents notice that Kara’s stronger and faster and more durable than a human, but she doesn’t start developing outright superpowers for at least a few years. Kal starts showing signs of it by the time he’s in kindergarten, though extreme powers don’t really start to develop until his teenage years.

Kara’s homeschooled for a few years, but she does attend Smallville High for, yes, the socialization. (And to quell some of the rumors about the weird kids the Kents adopted).

The Kents have a swingset that’s the site of tons of terrifying acrobatic stunts from two children who are developing powers of invulnerability and flight.

Kara never quite loses her Kryptonian accent. In high school, there’s a running gag where she claims the accent is from more and more ridiculous places. Metropolis. France. Antarctica. Mars. Middle Earth.

(One time someone joked that her accent was from Alderaan, and it hit way too close to home).

(The official story from the Kents is that Kara was adopted from parents who did a lot of traveling and her mixed-up accent was worsened by a mild hearing/speech impairment).

The Kent household is bilingual. The kids are both fluent in Kryptonian, and Martha and Jon made sincere efforts to learn, though they’ll never be really adept. About half of the conversations in the house occur in a pidgin Krypt-lish.

For Kara’s sake, they try to adopt Kryptonian celebrations into their family traditions, but it’s difficult when a good chunk of Kryptonian holidays celebrate celestial events that they can no longer see or family connections that no longer exist.

Kara = Jock Girl. Kal = Nerd Boy.

Kara’s smart, but her early education on a different planet makes it harder to adapt to this world’s knowledge system, so she doesn’t put her focus toward academics.

She’s somehow both a tomboy and the girliest possible girl. She’ll be shoveling manure one minute and buying mascara the next.

She’s also got a very practical, no-nonsense personality, but she’s devoted to her carefully curated selection of stuff animals. She may have made one or two based on memories of Kryptonian animals.

Kara’s on a couple of athletic teams in high school. I could see her being on a dance team because good performance requires her to work in sync with the entire team, so her superpowers don’t give her that much of an advantage. And she’s in volleyball because she has a volleyball girl vibe.

Kal’s more introverted and sheltered (especially with two protective mother figures hovering over him), but he grows up comfortably human while fully acknowledging his Kryptonian heritage. He really does need glasses as a kid, learns to read young, and overall slots comfortably into the role of Friendly Neighborhood Nerd from his early elementary years.

(”What’s Kal short for?” people ask him. “Kaleidoscope”, he replies.)

Both kids are close with both Kents, but Kara has a particularly strong bond with Jonathan while Kal is more similar to Martha.

Kal bonds with Martha over her collection of pulp sci-fi books. (Kara finds their depictions of other worlds too unrealistic). They’re also both Star Trek fans--Kal prefers the original series, while Martha prefers Next Gen.

Kara stays on the farm after graduating high school. She still feels a strong duty to stay and care for Kal, and though she won’t say it out loud, she needs to cling to the sense of home that Smallville provides after losing her home planet.

She helps out with the farm work, and also works as a paramedic and/or firefighter. The job serves her caretaker strengths, and also provides a lot of opportunities to use her powers to rush to the rescue. It doesn’t take long for the “Smallville Angel” to become a local cryptid.

Her love interest is a down-home Smallville boy. Possibly a high school sweetheart, possibly someone she meets on the job, whether working alongside him or helping to rescue him. He has a very hands-on job, whether it’s as a firefighter, construction worker, or a farmer.

By the time Kal’s a high school freshman, he takes over the Smallville High paper and transforms it from a sports-scores-and-lunch-menus fluff page into a hard-hitting investigative paper. Within his first few months on the paper, he uncovers an embezzlement scandal at the school.

Kal is far more at home in Smallville than Kara is, but because it’s the only home he’s known, he also feels more of a drive to explore the world outside it. He does some traveling after high school, goes to Metropolis for college, and though he visits Smallville frequently, he never lives there again after leaving.

Kara gets married (to the above-mentioned love interest) around the same time that Kal graduates high school. They settle down in Smallville.

Kara has at least one biological kid, but she also becomes a stepmother/adopted mother. Could be that her love interest is a widower with children from his previous marriage. Maybe they adopt a couple of his brother’s kids. Maybe they adopt some kids from a rescue situation Kara came across. But I want Kara to have to deal with some of the “You’re not my real mom” stuff that she put Martha through.

(And it’s even more interesting from the perspective of the kids. When do you tell them? How do they deal with “my stepmother is a space alien who shoots lasers from her eyes”?)

Kal takes up hero work in Metropolis, but has a harder time keeping his identity secret with so many eyes around. With his imagination primed by pulp sci-fi, it doesn’t take long to come up with the idea of a costumed alter ego. Kara thinks it’s a bit silly, but her heart soars when she sees the costume’s focal point is the House of El crest, and she loves that it becomes a symbol of hope for this world.

It’s a big step when Kal brings Lois home to meet the parents, but the real test is when she meets Kara.

“She’s my big sister. Well, really my cousin. Also kind of my mom.”

“I didn’t think you were that kind of hick, Smallville.”

If she’s being completely honest, Lois is intimidated by the idea of meeting someone with all of Kal’s abilities and a mother-wolf instinct to protect him. But the Kents are intimidated by Kal getting involved with an investigative journalist who’s the daughter of a military general.

They hit it off great, though, and both sides quickly realize they have nothing to worry about.

There’s also a huge Kent extended family that was involved with these kids from the moment that Jon and Martha found spaceships in their cornfield. The Kents are exactly the clan you want at your back when you need to hide two alien kids from the government. Need fake identification and adoption papers? Someone to steer the Men in Black off the trail? The Kents will pitch in with enthusiasm.

Not everyone in the family knows about their abilities or secret identities, but they’re a close-knit clan anyway. They have a harder time adjusting to having city-gal Lois among their ranks than two space alien kids.

It’s a crazy, chaotic, blended and adopted family that’s growing and shifting over the years and always provides a place for Kara and Kal to belong.

#superman #supergirl #this is awesomebutunpractical's fault #i started thinking about kara raised by the kents and then kal decided to show up anyway #kara's not built on anything canon #i'm just building off of teenage girl from an exalted family sent to raise a kid on a farm #but i'm still flashing back to my days watching supergirl's early seasons #the great thing about this franchise is that it's built on so many fragments that there is no canon #and even an au can be just as canon as anything else #i'm sorry this is long #even if no one else cares about this extremely mundane au i'm attached to it

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grailfinders · 3 years

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Fate and Phantasms #110.1: Hassan of the Hundred Personas #1: Asako

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’ll begin our exhaustive look into the various lives of the Hundred Personas, and how best to represent them in D&D 5e. If we hurry we should be able to squeeze 3 Hassans in each week, meaning we’ll be done in time for Halloween!

We’re just messing with you- we’ll get all 100 Hassans into a 20 level build if it kills us.

Check out the Hundred Personas’ build breakdown below the cut, or their character sheet over here!

Next up: You have chosen...wisely.

Race and Background

The body that housed the Hundred Personas in life was almost certainly human, but we’re not limited by spritework like FGO is- that means we can account for all 100 personalities taking the reigns instead of just having one main character talking. To make this a bit easier, you’re going to be a Changeling. This gives you +1 Dexterity and +2 Charisma, as well as Changeling Instincts. This would normally give you two skills we’re getting anyway, but thanks to Tasha’s we can swap it out for Any two skills. As one hundred people, you have some leeway in what skills you pick, but I’d suggest focusing on intelligence and wisdom based ones- you’ll be good enough at the other skills to make up for it.

Of course the big selling point of the Changeling is its ability to Change Appearance. As an action, you can change your appearance and voice, as well as gender, race, height, and weight (as long as you stay the same size). You can’t turn into creatures you haven’t seen, and you can’t add or remove limbs (sorry if you were hoping for centaur Hassans). You stay in this new form until you change appearance again or die. Sure, in FGO all the Hassans are human, but why would that be the case in D&D? Toss some extra races in there for flavor, why not?

Similarly, you could probably pick any background you want, but for the sake of consistency we’ll get Acolyte again to match Cursed Arm. This gives you Insight and Religion proficiencies.

Ability Scores

We’re using point buy again, but for the exact opposite reason most people normally do- we’re not minmaxing, we’re maxminning for optimal coverage. When your specialty is Literally Everything, you can’t afford a negative modifier. Make Strength, Dexterity, and Charisma 13, and Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom 12. You’re not the strongest servants out there, but you are the most well-rounded.

Class Levels

1. Rogue 1: Technically there’s better classes for you to start than rogue, but they get a lot of skills, and skills are your bag. You get proficiency in Dexterity and Intelligence saving throws, as well as four rogue skills. Again, any skill are technically fine, but I highly recommend at least picking up Stealth and Deception. You’re all assassins, and if you can keep the fact that all 100 Hassans share a body a secret you’ll be a lot more intimidating.

To make your skill domination even more complete, first level rogues get Expertise, doubling the proficiency bonus of two skills. Again, I highly recommend Stealth and Deception for this. You can also make a Sneak Attack against creatures you have advantage over or are otherwise occupied as long as you’re using a finesse weapon, adding 1d6 damage to the attack.

You also get Thieves’ Cant, and unlike every other rogue we’ve made you can actually use it, since you’ve got 99 accomplices built in with you. Communication’s important in any relationship, especially when you can’t leave.

2. Fighter 1: You probably have some idea where we’re going with this. For now, you get a fighting style. Gozul the Strong isn’t that delicate, so grab Unarmed Fighting to get him some solid damage. It’s not synergistic, but these kinds of disagreements are inevitable in group projects.

The good news is while one of you is out fighting, the rest of you can spend your bonus action on a Second Wind for a bit of healing once per short rest.

3. Fighter 2: Another benefit to being multiple people is ganging up on idiots who think they’re in a one on one fight. Thanks to Action Surge, you can take two actions in a single turn once per short rest. That’s almost like being two people, right?

4. Fighter 3: I can see that wasn’t enough for you. I get it, you’re a discerning customer. That’s fine though; feast your eyes on the Echo Knight! This subclass lets you Manifest Echo as a bonus action, creating a copy of yourself that you can attack through. I’d argue that as a changeling any one of your forms could still count as a copy of you, but that’s a fight you’ll have to wage with your DM. You can also Unleash Incarnation a number of times per long rest equal to your Constitution Modifier, adding an extra attack from your echo when you take the attack action. ...Don’t expect to use that too often.

Echos have an AC of 14 plus your proficiency bonus and 1 hit point, making them slightly harder to kill than you were in Zero. They use your saves, and you can swap places with them as a bonus action plus 15′ of movement.

5. Rogue 2: We got the obligatory subclass out of the way, so now we can focus back on your main class. Your fighter levels just gave you a great reason to use your bonus action, but your new Cunning Action gives you even more flexibility, letting you dash, disengage, or hide as a bonus action.

6. Rogue 3: We have one subclass, what’s the harm of another? As a Phantom rogue, your Dissociative Identity Disorder comes to the forefront. You hear Whispers in your Head, giving you one skill or tool proficiency that can be changed at the end of a short rest, giving you incredible flexibility. You can also use Wails from the Grave, which I couldn’t think of a good renaming for, to deal half your sneak attack dice in necrotic damage to another creature after using your sneak attack on someone. Imagine this as another you popping out to make the most of the opportunity. You can use this a number of times per long rest equal to your proficiency bonus.

You also get Steady Aim, exchanging your movement for advantage on your next attack. This uses your bonus action, but it basically gives you free advantage with your Echo. Remember, it only shuts down your movement. You’ve got 99 other bodies ready to go.

Also, your sneak attack reaches 2d6.

7. Bard 1: I don’t really have a flavor justification for this one. I guess you could get philosophical and point out how the self is just a story we tell ourselves to make sense of what we do, but that’s reaching.

Anyway, you get proficiency in any one skill, Bardic Inspiration, some d6 you can pass to allies as a bonus action to give them a bonus on attacks, checks, and saves, and Spells that are cast with Charisma.

Grab Minor Illusion for another way to make a copy of yourself, Message to keep things quiet on missions, Comprehend Languages because let’s be honest at least one of you probably has heard of Duolingo by now, Feather Fall and Longstrider to keep up with Cursed Arm, and Healing Word. Medicine is a skill in this game, so you’ve got to have a bit of healing.

8. Fighter 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to round up your Strength, and put the other point into Dexterity for later.

9. Bard 2: Second level bards get one of the three reasons we came here: Jack of All Trades. This feature adds half your proficiency to nonproficient skill checks, so the few things you’re not good at, you’re still good at. You also get a Song of Rest, adding 1d6 to healing done at short rests while you’re in the party. Not... totally in character, but it was free. Your friends can also add your Magical Inspiration to their healing and damaging spells now.

Speaking of spells- it doesn’t matter what you get this level, we’re swapping it out next level anyway.

10. Bard 3: Your last subclass is Lore Bard for three more skill proficiencies as well as Cutting Words, letting you spend a use of inspiration as a reaction to reduce an incoming attack by 1d6, possibly making it miss you. You also get another round of Expertise for two skills of your choice.

Your last spells are Enhance Ability to make your skills even more powerful, giving the target advantage on one kind of skill check for the duration. If your DM allows UA, you can also grab Mirror Image to make three copies of yourself that will take damage for you.

11. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack with each attack action. There’s two of you fighting- two attacks should be the minimum.

12. Fighter 6: Use this ASI to become a Skill Expert. This feat rounds out your Dexterity, and gives you one skill proficiency and expertise with one skill.

13. Fighter 7: Our last stop in the fighter class gives you an Echo Avatar, letting you see and hear through your echo for up to 10 minutes. While this is effective, your echo has a range of 1000 feet. The Hundred Hassans made for an effective spy network in Fate Zero, and now they do in D&D as well.

14. Rogue 4: Use your next ASI to gain some more Strength so you and Gozul can tag-team enemies effectively.

15. Rogue 5: At fifth level your sneak attack grows to 3d6, and you can make an Uncanny Dodge as a reaction to halve the damage of a single incoming attack.

16. Rogue 6: You gain Expertise in two more skills, pick whichever are the most effective by this point.

17. Rogue 7: Your sneak attack is now 4d6, and you get a big bonus to your echo’s (and your) survivability thanks to your Evasion. When you make a dexterity saving throw to avoid damage, failures deal half damage and successes deal no damage at all.

18. Rogue 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Constitution for more health and another unleashed incarnation per long rest.

19. Rogue 9: Ninth level phantoms can make Tokens of the Departed as a reaction when a creature dies near you. While holding one of these trinkets, you have advantage on death and constitution saves, and you can destroy a soul trinket to gain one of two effects- either a free use of Wails from the Grave, or you can ask the spirit trapped within a question. I really don’t have a good way to flavor the latter option though-maybe a temporary form of introjection, but that’s really stretching. You should probably just use it to stab people more.

20. Rogue 10: Your capstone level is another ASI. Bump up your Dexterity for a higher AC and better knife skills.

Pros:

You have one of the strongest skill checks so far- if you pick your proficiencies the way I did in the character sheet, you’ll only have one skill with a modifier below a +5, and with Enhance Ability and planning, you’ll have advantage on any important checks. You can also use your phantom proficiency to pick up niche skills that other builds wouldn’t bother to have. Laugh all you want, but the one time you need chef’s tools proficiencies, you’ll be ready.

You are great at being a spy. You have an amazing stealth score, and can use your Echo Avatar to sneak into places and teleport a thousand feet at a time. You can also squeeze info out of the dead, and could probably disguise yourself as any random occupation you could think of.

Rogues and Echo Knights mix together very well. Your echos have a lot more survivability than regular fighters, and they help you get off your sneak attacks much easier, and the extra attacks don’t hurt either. You also get plenty of HP from your fighter levels, and can mix that together with a rogue’s evasion techniques. (Also, your echo has good AC, so your cutting words can be very effective to keep it around)

Cons:

We’re one level short of Reliable Talent, which is a must-have for a skill focused build. I would almost recommend getting rid of the last fighter level to grab it.

Your spells are pretty useful, but you don’t have many spell slots, so you’ll have to be careful.

The game’s got way too many tools for one swappable proficiency to cover them all, so even with your best attempts, sometimes you’ll just be bad at something. The horror.

#Fate Grand Order #D&D 5e #Hassan of the Hundred Personas #fgo #Fate and Phantasms

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raeynbowboi · 4 years

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How to Play as Joker in DnD 5e

I recently bought Persona 5 and just finished the first mind palace and my god is this game a metric fuck ton of awesome, colorful, and stylish. So, while i haven’t finished the game, I’m excited to figure out his DnD build. Normally, because Joker has a canon Persona, I would use Arsene to determine Joker’s magical abilities. But Arsene stops learning new abilities at a pitiful level 7. So, for everything else, we’ll have to look at his confidant abilities and try to make whatever connections that we can.

The Rebellious Spirit Within

Whether you address your dirty crime boy as Ren Amamiya or Akira Kusuru, it’s evident that he’s a human. However, not even other humans can do what Joker can do. So, he could absolutely be considered a Variant Human. As a Variant Human, we’ll pick up Dexterity and Charisma, along with Persuasion proficiency so you can convince your enemies to join your rag-tag group of plucky teen felons. So, what might you consider for his bonus feat as a Variant Human? Top picks would include: Dungeon Delver so you can run through mind palaces, avoid traps, and be a perceptive thief. Skulker so that you can hide in partial darkness and make ranged attacks without giving away your location. Lucky to give yourself some good old fashioned anime protagonist plot armor. Mobile so that you can outrun security and the consequences of your actions. Magic Initiate so that you can be even more of a thief by stealing from other spell lists. Inspiring Leader so that you can yell at your friends to git gud. Prodigy so you can become even more of a specialized skill monkey. And Skilled so that you can horde all the talent for yourself.

You fragrantly break the law and play the role as a Phantom Thief to take down corrupt authority figures. You are the definition of Chaotic Good.

Joker’s role as a thief of corrupt hearts lends itself to a few Background options. Urban Bounty Hunter fulfills the idea of Joker having a target that he hunts down. Criminal is an option if you want to lean into the Thief angle, plus the framing device of the story has Joker telling the story during a police interrogation, so clearly Criminal isn’t that far off the mark. Charlatan is a loose fit as it’s more of a con artist, but the Secret Identity feature works well as Joker is a second identity. The secret identity also appears for the Dimir Operative from the Guilds of Ravnica book, though while it is on DnDBeyond, that doesn’t guarantee that every DM will allow it, especially since this Background has built-in spells. The Urchin Background loosely fits as Joker’s family has given up on him and sent him off to be raised by someone who is an utter stranger, and finding your way around Shibuya and the mind palaces is kind of important. The Faceless background lets you throw your old life away and begin anew as someone else, and the Faction Agent makes you part of a secret society, such as the Phantom Thieves.

Arsene the Fool Arcana

Arsene, like all primary personas, first appears in a flash of blue flames. His only two damaging spells include Eiha which is a little bolt of dark flames that deals Curse damage, and Dream Needle, which deals psychic damage and has a chance of putting enemies to sleep. Arsene is seen with chains but doesn’t use them, and in Smash, having Arsene changes Joker’s up special from a grabbling hook to being launched by Arsene’s wings, which could allow Joker to learn Fly. Beyond that, everything else depends on Confidant abilities and the general magical damage types found in the game.

Personas can deal Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Psychic, Nuclear, Bless, & Curse damage. Nuclear, Bless, and Curse are a little less clear, but I’d translate those to being Poison, Radiant, and Necrotic spells.

Collecting Your Jar of Hearts

BARD Whispers: While Joker is not inherently a creative person, the bard’s ability to steal from other spell lists could be re-skinned as part of Joker’s interchangeable Personas. Whisper Bards also deal damage with psychic blades, which is fitting because all of Joker’s thievery is more metaphorical, and all the fighting happens in the minds and hearts of corrupted people. So, his blades dealing Psychic damage is rather fitting since he’s literally fighting the demons in people’s minds and hearts. Also, the Bard’s Jack of All Trades would do well to make you a Wunderkind that’s kind of great at everything. FIGHTER Battle Master: While the Aid Spell is one of many that can do well for teamwork, there are some Maneuvers that actually focus on rallying allies to attack a single target or get into a formation, which is fitting for Joker as it’s often him who instigates the team’s ability to pull off an all-out attack. RANGER Gloom Stalker: Change a crossbow into Joker’s toy guns that shoot placebo bullets, and take advantage of this subclass' ambush ability and you’re going to do really well copying Joker’s ability to ambush shadows in the game. Ranger also comes with a new feature option called Canny that lets you get another extra proficiency you don’t already have and turn it into an expertise. ROGUE Assassin: Along with Gloom Stalker, these two subclasses combined will make ambushes way more effective when dealing with enemy shadows. Inquisitive: You’re better at figuring out enemy weaknesses and then exploiting them. Provides a nice boost to Sneak Attack damage at higher levels. Mastermind: This lets you Help an ally as a bonus action, and tells you when an enemy is too strong for you to fight. Soul Knife: Technically, you’re more of a thief in a metaphorical sense. You’re attacking people’s minds and hearts, so this subclass who is more focused on attacking people’s minds goes right along with that. Thief: They’re called the Phantom THIEVES. It had to at least be considered. WARLOCK Archfey: Since Demons are a specific kind of Persona, Archfey feels the most all-encompassing for this otherworldly pact. Whether you work it as the pact made with Igor or with Arsene himself, it’s obvious that Warlock had to be part of it, as the Phantom Thieves literally say that they make a pact with their Persona. It’s practically spelled out that Phantom Thieves are warlocks.

Stats and Proficiencies

You wouldn’t be a very good thief without a maxed out Dexterity. You’ll also need Charisma so you can manifest your feelings for magic and a decent Wisdom score so you can multi-class as a Ranger to optimize the use of your gun. Constitution will keep you from dying, Strength should be at least neutral, but if it gets left behind, pick up a proficiency with Athletics and it’ll be fine since you swing with Dexterity anyway. Even though Intelligence is a stat in Persona 5, it won’t really help you much here. So, it’s the dump stat for this build. You’re just a debonair ignorant pretty boy.

Acrobatics Athletics Insight Investigation Perception Persuasion Stealth Sleight of Hand

Name: Joker (Ren Amamiya or Akira Kusuru) Race: Variant Human Background: Urban Bounty Hunter Alignment: Chaotic Good Class: Assassin Rogue (8) Archfey Warlock (4) Gloomstalker Ranger (4) Battle Master Fighter (4) Base Stats: Strength: 8 (-1) Dexterity: 20 (+5) Constitution: 14 (+2) Intelligence: 8 (-1) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 18 (+4) Saving Throws: Strength: -1 Dexterity: +11 Constitution: +2 Intelligence:+5 Wisdom: +2 Charisma: +4 Combat Stats: HP: 151 AC: 16 Speed: 30 Initiative: +7 Proficiency Bonus: +6 Passive Perception: 24 Dark Vision: 60 feet Proficiencies and Expertise: Acrobatics (Rogue) Athletics (Ranger: Canny Feature) Deception (Rogue) Insight (Urban Bounty Hunter) Investigation (Ranger) Perception (Rogue) Persuasion (Variant Human) Sleight of Hand (Rogue) Stealth (Urban Bounty Hunter) Skills: Acrobatics: +17 Medicine: +2 Animal Handling: +2 Nature: -1 Arcana: -1 Perception: +14 Athletics: +11 Performance: +4 Deception: +4 Persuasion: +10 History: -1 Religion: -1 Insight: +8 Sleight of Hand: +11 Intimidation: +4 Stealth: +17 Investigation:+11 Survival: +2

Spell Slots

1st (3) 2nd (2)

Joker’s Spellbook

Cantrips 1st Level 2ndLevel Eldritch Blast Cure Wounds Phantasmal Force Friends Detect Magic Shadow Blade Mind Sliver Disguise Self Expeditious Retreat Hex Hunter’s Mark Sleep

Actions:

Action Surge: Take an extra action once per rest. Primeval Awareness: Spend X spell slot, find creature types within 1 mile for X minutes.

Bonus Actions:

Cunning Action: Aim, Dash, Disengage, or Hide once per turn. Second Wind: Regain 1d10 + 4 HP once per rest.

Reactions:

Uncanny Dodge: Reduce damage from enemies you can see that hit you.

Features:

Assassinate: You have advantage on slower foes, all hits are critical. Battle Maneuvers: Commander’s Strike: Pass your turn to a friendly creature, add superiority die. Maneuvering Attack: If you hit, an ally can move without provoking an attack. Rally: Heal an ally by a superiority die + 4. Dread Ambusher: Make an extra attack on the first round, +1d8 damage on hit. Dungeon Delver: Add 2x your CON mod to healing, advantage on perception and investigation to find hidden doorways, advantage on saving throws against traps, resist trap damage, and search for traps at a walking pace. Ear To the Ground: You have a covert network of intelligence. Eldritch Invocations: Agonizing Blast: +4 to Eldritch Blast damage. Improved Pact Weapon: Your pact weapon deals +1 melee damage. Evasion: Take 0 damage on a successful DEX saving throw. Favored Enemy: Deal +2 damage to Fey, advantage on tracking Fey creatures. Fey Presence: Creatures within 10 ft are charmed or frightened for 1 turn. Fighting Style: Archery: +2 on attack rolls with ranged weapons. Dueling: +2 on damage rolls with one handed melee weapons. Natural Explorer: Preferred Terrain: Underdark: Advantages in Underdark environments. Pact Boon: Pact of the Blade: Summon a Pact Weapon. Sneak Attack: Deal 4d6 extra damage when advantaged. Thieves’ Cant: Conceal and decipher hidden meaning in casual conversation Umbral Sight: 60 feet Darkvision and hidden from creatures with Dark Vision.

This build was a ton of fun to make. How do you feel I did building Joker? Would you build him differently? Who’s your favorite Persona? And are you as upset as I am that you can’t date Ryuji? As always, I take requests, so send me your requests and I might just build yours next.

#dungeons and dragons #joker #persona 5 #ren amamiya #akira kusuru #arsene #persona #shibuya #phantom thief #phantom thieves #mind palace #dnd #dnd 5e #5e #5th edition #fifth edition #dnd 5th edition #dnd fifth edition #let me date ryuji

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dc-earth53 · 4 years

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#0001: Superman (Clark Kent/Kal-El)

Age: 45

Occupation: Reporter, adventurer

Marital status: Married

Known relatives: Jor-El (father, deceased), Lara Lor-Van (mother, deceased), Jonathan Kent (adoptive father), Martha Kent (adoptive mother), Lois Lane-Kent (wife), Jon Kent (son), Conner Kent/Kon-El (clone “brother”), Zor-El (uncle, deceased), Alura In-Ze (aunt, deceased), Kara Zor-El (cousin), Karen Starr (clone “cousin”), Lucy Lane (sister-in-law), Sam Lane (father-in-law, deceased).

Group affiliation: Justice League of America

Base of operations: Fortress of Solitude, the Arctic

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 235 lbs.

History:

45 years ago:

Jor-El and Lara send infant Kal-El to Earth to escape the destruction of the planet Krypton.

Kal-El’s rocket is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent near Smallville, Kansas. The Kents adopt him as their own son, naming him Clark.

33 years ago: 12-year-old Clark befriends Lana Lang and Pete Ross.

29 years ago:

16-year-old Clark’s latent Kryptonian abilities including super-strength, flight, and invulnerability begin to emerge, thanks to time spent underneath Earth’s yellow sun. The Kents reveal to him his alien heritage, and he begins doing good in secret.

Clark and Lana begin dating, and Clark reveals the secret of his powers to Lana.

24 years ago: 21-year-old Clark graduates from journalism school at the University of Kansas and sets off to see the world, doing freelance reporting during his travels. Clark and Lana amicably end their relationship.

20 years ago:

25-year-old Clark stops an experimental spacecraft from crashing in front of a crowd of people, and the incident leads him to decide that it’s time to come out from the shadows. Martha fashions a costume for him from his baby blanket, emblazoned with the family crest of the House of El.

Clark moves to Metropolis and gets a job at the Daily Planet as a reporter, meeting reporter Lois Lane, editor Perry White, and intern Jimmy Olsen.

Dubbed “Superman” by the media after saving Daily Planet staff from a helicopter crash, Clark makes his costumed debut while his identity remains a secret.

Superman makes an enemy of billionaire Lex Luthor, who believed him to be an extraterrestrial threat to humanity.

19 years ago:

Superman meets Batman, and the pair team up to solve a series of murders.

Superman has his first encounters with opponents such as Mr. Mxyzptlk, Metallo, Toyman, and Rampage.

Clark and Lois begin dating.

Superman becomes a charter member of the Justice League of America after helping to repel an alien invasion of Earth.

18 years ago: Superman meets the Eradicator, a Kryptonian artificial intelligence dedicated to the preservation of Kryptonian culture and driven to turn Earth into a second Krypton. The Eradicator builds a citadel in the Arctic, which Superman repurposes as his Fortress of Solitude.

17 years ago:

Superman discovers the body of his cousin, Kara Zor-El, in suspended animation, when a rocket similar to the one he arrived in crashes to Earth. Kara takes on his colors and symbol and joins the fight for truth and justice as Supergirl.

Superman first encounters Brainiac, a rogue artificial intelligence from the planet Colu, when one of his probes arrives on Earth in pursuit of Kara’s rocket.

The shrunken Kryptonian city of Kandor is recovered from Brainiac and taken to the Fortress of Solitude.

16 years ago: Superman releases Dru-Zod and Ursa, Kryptonian war criminals, from imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, but is forced to re-imprison them when they attempt to take over Earth and turn it into a new Krypton.

15 years ago: Superman is abducted by Mongul, the ruler of the artifical planet Warworld, and forced to compete in gladiatorial combat. He leads a revolution among the slaves on Warworld, and escapes, forcing Mongul to retreat.

14 years ago: Superman first encounters Darkseid, despotic ruler of the planet Apokolips.

13 years ago: Mongul returns to Earth on Superman’s birthday, attacking him with the parasitic Black Mercy plant and trapping him in a world of his own fantasies.

12 years ago:

In the wake of Checkmate’s offensive on the Justice League, revealed to be a plot by Brainiac, Superman moves to disband the team.

Clark proposes to Lois, revealing to her his secret identity as Superman.

11 years ago:

Superman, along with the rest of Earth’s heroes, fight against the Anti-Monitor. Supergirl perishes in the battle.

Superman encounters Bizarro, an early, flawed result of an attempt to replicate Kryptonian DNA.

9 years ago:

Superman falls in battle against the living weapon Doomsday.

The Eradicator places Superman in a Kryptonian healing matrix hidden within the Fortress of Solitude, restoring him to life after a few months of hibernation.

Clark and Lois are wed.

8 years ago:

Clark and Lois’s son, Jon Kent is born.

Superman comes into conflict with pragmatic vigilante Manchester Black and his Elite.

7 years ago:

Superman fights against the Joker, who had stolen Mr. Mxyzptlk’s powers and twisted the Earth into his own image.

A third Kryptonian rocket crashes on Earth, containing Krypto, a dog-like creature belonging to Jor-El and Lara. Krypto comes to reside at the Fortress of Solitude.

Superman and Earth’s heroes fight against the allied forces of Imperiex, Brainiac, and Darkseid.

5 years ago: After a battle against Lex Luthor, who had given himself Kryptonian powers, Superman loses his powers from heavy exposure to red sunlight and temporarily retires.

4 years ago:

Superman’s powers return, in time for him to foil a new plot from Luthor.

Superman foils an attempt from Brainiac to bottle Metropolis, restoring Kandor to its proper size in the process and locating it in the Arctic. Around the same time, Jonathan Kent passes away of a heart attack.

3 years ago:

After failing to integrate with humanity, the citizens of Kandor use Brainiac’s technology to relocate Kandor to a new planet opposite Earth’s orbit - “New Krypton.”

New Krypton, led by Zod and Ursa, declares war on Earth as the new planet proves to be unstable. Superman and Earth’s heroes drive them off, but not without suffering many losses, which leave Superman as the true last son of Krypton.

2 years ago: The Kent family leaves Metropolis for an extended period of time, taking a trip across America to reconnect with ordinary people. Eventually, they settle down in Hamilton County, Pennsylvania, a rural area west of Metropolis.

1 year ago:

Superman defeats Darkseid, who had returned to Earth in search of the Anti-Life Equation, removing his threat from the universe seemingly for good.

Superman receives a warm welcome back to Metropolis when he’s attacked by Hank Henshaw and his Superman Revenge Squad.

Present Day: Clark helps 8-year-old Jon deal with his sudden development of powers similar to his father’s.

Commentary:

Superman’s origin is so iconic that Grant Morrison summed it up in just eight words: “Doomed planet. Desperate scientists. Last hope. Kindly couple.” In light of this, I see no reason to mess with a good thing. That being said, the story of Superman’s public debut has been retold with major differences four or five times now between the various Crises, and that makes things tricky to pin down.

The version I ended up writing is mostly inspired by Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid. (Sorry, anyone who’s a fan of Clark as Superboy. While I don’t hate the concept, it raises the question of “why doesn’t anyone associate Superboy and thus Superman with Clark?” it doesn’t really bring anything valuable to the table that can’t be put elsewhere in the timeline: the Legion is more associated with Supergirl in this timeline, and Krypto is moved to later on.) His post-Crisis history is mostly intact, although with a few notable omissions, mainly Superman Blue. I hope nobody will miss that too much.

Superman’s history sets the timeline for the rest of the universe - while other heroes’ origins occur before his public debut, he’s the first of the major figures of the Age of Heroes to debut, twenty years prior to the present day. The rest of the Trinity follows within a year of his appearance, along with most of the iconic Silver Age DC heroes. This Superman is forty-five years of age at the current point in the timeline: a seasoned superhero who has saved the world time and time again, but who also lives a simple life as a family man with Lois and Jon.

He may be a Kryptonian by genetics, but at his core, thanks to his upbringing from Ma and Pa Kent, he’s a human - one who happens to have to balance his extraordinary powers and responsibility to the world (wait, is this Spider-Man all of a sudden?) with his alien heritage and the complications derived from such. He’s a champion of the oppressed, standing up for the “little guy” and those who can’t defend themselves against powers both great and small. Out of the Trinity, he best embodies hope - when the situation seems at its most dire, Superman’s the one to keep the faith and rally for one last push. He’s the hero who lands on a rooftop beside someone who’s about to jump and just sits beside them while they make their decision.

As for Superman’s costume, he’s currently sporting the Reborn look, sans trunks. I’m not saying the trunks are outright bad or silly, and envision them as being part of his original costume for certain, but the costume in the header is what he currently uses in this universe.

Have any questions about Superman or anything else? My asks are open!

#superman #clark kent #kal-el #profile #dc #dc comics #earth 53

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multiverseforger · 3 years

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Edit

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Marc Spector is a Jewish-American rabbi's wayward son. As an adult, Spector had been a heavyweight boxer before becoming a U.S. Marine serving in Force Recon, afterward, he left the Marines to become a mercenary occasionally doing work for the CIA. As a mercenary he befriends the French pilot Jean-Paul DuChamp, whom he affectionately calls "Frenchie". While working for the African mercenary Raoul Bushman in Egypt, the group stumbles upon an archaeological dig whose crew includes Dr. Peter Alraune and his daughter Marlene Alraune. The dig had uncovered an ancient temple where artifacts included a statue of the Egyptian moon god Khonshu. Intent on looting the dig, Bushman kills Dr. Alraune. In response to Alraune's murder, Spector challenges Bushman to personal combat and is defeated by Bushman and left to die in the sub-zero temperatures of the desert night. The Egyptians who worship the ancient gods find Spector and carry him to their temple. Helpless before the statue of Khonshu, Spector's heart stops. Khonshu appears to him in a vision, offering Spector a second chance at life if he becomes the god's avatar on Earth. Spector awakens, wraps himself in the silver shroud that covers Khonshu's statue, and again confronts Bushman. He defeats Bushman and returns to America with Marlene, Frenchie, and the statue of Khonshu. Deciding to become a crimefighter, Spector creates a silver cloaked costume, based on the silver shroud, and becomes Moon Knight aka "The Fist of Khonshu".[24]

After his return to the United States, Spector invests the money that he had accumulated as a mercenary and develops a small fortune. To distance himself from his mercenary past, he creates the identity of millionaire entrepreneur Steven Grant, using this identity to purchase a spacious estate. To remain in contact with the street and criminal element, he also creates the identity of taxicab driver Jake Lockley and has acquired civilian allies such as Bertrand Crawley, Gena Landers, and her sons.[25]

In the character's first appearance, the criminal organization the Committee supplies Marc Spector with the name Moon Knight, his costume and weapons (using silver) to hunt down Jack Russell. In Los Angeles, Moon Knight captures the Werewolf for the Committee, but then frees him and halts the Committee's plans, fighting Russell again.[26] He battles Conquer Lord,[27] teams up with Spider-Man to fight Cyclone,[28] and fights Lupinar,[29] and his brother Randall, the Hatchet-Man.[30]

His origin of being "created by The Committee" is explained as a ruse set up by Frenchie so Marc can shut the Committee down.[31] He then encounters the Midnight Man[32] and returns to Chicago to prevent the poisoning of its water supply by a group called the Werewolves,[33] encounters Morpheus[34] and teams with Daredevil to fight the Jester.[35] It is around this time that he first encounters Stained Glass Scarlet.[36] Later, he battled the Werewolf once again,[37] battled Bora, and met the X-Men, the Fantastic Four,[38] and Doctor Strange.[39]

Volume 2: Fist of Khonshu (1985)Edit

Spector abandons his Moon Knight, Grant, and Lockley identities after the effects of Russell's bite (lunar cycle-based strength)[40] fade away, and functions as an independently wealthy man opening art galleries around the world, with the help of art historian Spence. Spector's estranged relationship with Marlene ends when she finally leaves him for her ex-husband when he becomes Moon Knight again.

The cult of Khonshu telepathically summons Spector to Egypt and supplies him with a new arsenal of moon-themed projectile weaponry, originally designed by a time-traveling Hawkeye in ancient Egypt. Khonshu himself appears to Spector and enters his body, giving him the same lunar abilities he previously had.[41]

As the agent of Khonshu, he aids the West Coast Avengers, but at the cost of alienating Frenchie and further distancing Marlene.[42] He time travels to 2940 BC to rescue the Avengers, where he learns of his weapons' design by Hawkeye.[43] He officially joins the West Coast Avengers[44] and enters a relationship with Tigra for the remainder of his tenure on the team.

While investigating the Phantom Rider with Daimon Hellstrom, Moon Knight and the Avengers are attacked by soldiers working for Khonshu's rival, Seth, who is invading Asgard. Khonshu abandons Moon Knight to battle Seth after explaining it was his wish to join the team, not Spector's. Moon Knight resigns from the team,[45] and reunites with Marlene and Frenchie,[volume & issue needed] only to die and be resurrected by Khonshu once more.[volume & issue needed]

Marc Spector: Moon Knight (1989–1994)Edit

This volume introduces Moon Knight's teenage sidekick Jeff Wilde, also known as "Midnight", the son of Midnight Man, a member of Moon Knight's rogues gallery. At this time, Moon Knight first encounters the Black Cat.[46] Midnight is turned into a cyborg by the Secret Empire, then is seemingly killed in a battle with Moon Knight, Spider-Man, Darkhawk, the Punisher, Nova and Night Thrasher.[47]

Teaming up with the Punisher, Moon Knight defeated ULTIMATUM,[48] and during the "Acts of Vengeance", fought Killer Shrike, Coachwhip, and the second Ringer.[49] He then encountered Silver Sable and her allies Sandman and Paladin.[50] As Marc Spector, he was tried for murder in Bosqueverde, South America.[51] Moon Knight teamed up with the Punisher again, as well as Spider-Man against the Secret Empire.[52]

While fighting with his brother Randal Spector over who is destined to carry the mantle of Moon Knight, Marc discovers Khonshu is not the god of vengeance but the god of justice.[53]

Moon Knight eventually upgrades his armor to adamantium armor rather than his original Kevlar costume.[54] This upgrade is critical since Moon Knight needs the armor to hold his body together after being infected by the then-possessed Hobgoblin. The disease is revealed to be the villain known as Demogoblin trying to possess him.[55] With the help of Doctor Strange and Mister Fantastic, the Demogoblin parasite is removed. Moon Knight seemingly severs his ties to the Avengers by burning his membership ID card after being brought in by Thor to answer charges in regard to his illegal actions against Doctor Doom.[56] By the end of the series, Moon Knight is killed violently, sacrificing himself to save his loved ones from a computerized villain called Seth and his "Zero Hour" program.[57]

Resurrection Wars and High StrangersEdit

Moon Knight was resurrected in two separate limited series in 1998 and 1999.

Learn more

This section needs expansion.

Minor appearancesEdit

In 1998, Spector uses his Ka to help a critically injured Black Panther through the Kingdom of the Dead.[58]

In 2001 and 2002, Moon Knight joins the "Marvel Knights" non-team to capture the Punisher.[59] After making a brief appearance in the "Avengers Disassembled" story-arc, he makes a minor return in the 2005 Marvel Team-Up miniseries, fighting alongside Spider-Man, Daredevil, and the Punisher. He later appears in issue #2 of the Great Lakes Avengers mini-series where Doorman offered to recruit him in the GLA, but he immediately rejects the offer.[60]

Moon Knight Volume 3 (2006–2009)Edit

This volume opens with Marc Spector's early retirement which comes after a brutal battle with Bushman. Although his body is broken after a tremendous fall and both knees shattered, Moon Knight finally defeats his nemesis Bushman by carving off his face with a crescent moon dart. Spector is then haunted by a spiritual apparition of Khonshu, who chose a faceless Bushman as his ethereal representation. Marc Spector's background is updated, so he fought in the Gulf War and that his time as a mercenary was during the 1990s. It is also revealed that Frenchie is homosexual and in love with Marc Spector; which is why he stuck around for so long.

The new Secret Committee then hires The Profile, an amoral character who can analyze a persona past and future habits with a glance, to help them entrap Moon Knight. He escapes after the plan collapses because they authorized a mugging of Frenchie too soon. Profile then becomes a reluctant source of information for Spector himself, even giving him advice on rekindling his relationship with Marlene.

Moon Knight eventually gets drawn into the Superhero Registration Act as he investigates a string of murders perpetrated by Midnight, his former sidekick. Other Marvel heroes take notice of his violent return to vigilantism. Spider-Man attempts to contact Moon Knight but is rebuked.[61] Captain America pays him a visit to deliver a warning and they quarrel.[62] The Punisher and Moon Knight have a lengthy conversation about the nature of their vigilantism and their shared past.[63] Moon Knight is forced into a final confrontation with his cybernetically enhanced former sidekick Midnight, seemingly killing him for good.[34]

Iron Man also investigates Moon Knight's activities by placing him under close surveillance. Finding his mental condition unstable, Iron Man decides that arresting Moon Knight under the Registration Act might make his mental instability worse. Moon Knight begrudgingly applies for registration after much prodding from Khonshu, not wanting the law to keep him from his work. The new law requires him to submit to a psychiatric exam. The psychiatrist controlling the exam, along with the government and Tony Stark, has no intention of granting Marc Spector approval for registration. After speaking with Spector's repressed alter egos Jake Lockley and Steven Grant, the psychiatrist begins the process of officially turning him down, suggesting possible future imprisonment. Subconsciously Spector breaks the doctor's will by speaking in the voice of Khonshu and pointing out the doctor's own antisocial tendencies, as told to him earlier by the Profile. The psychiatrist not only approves his application but bows to worship him as well. However, later on, Marc meets the Profile with their dialogue suggesting that the personalities above were just an act to be approved for registration.[35]

Moon Knight shows little regard for his newly licensed superhero status or any passion to the people around him, further alienating himself. His former nemesis Black Spectre returns. Carson Knowles, recently released from prison, attempts to frame his murders on Moon Knight. He steals some Stark nanotechnology and plans to unleash it on the city. Moon Knight pushes Knowles off a building apparently to his death. Tony Stark, as the head of the Initiative, revokes his superhero registration, but buries the fact that Spectre had stolen Stark Tech.[64]

The Thunderbolts, led by Norman Osborn, are now on the hunt for Moon Knight. Tony Stark and second-in-command Maria Hill argue with former Avengers government liaison Raymond Sikorsky, now a representative of the Commission on Superhuman Activities, who desperately wants for Moon Knight to be apprehended with extreme prejudice.[65] Marc Spector himself busts up a drug deal while wearing an entirely black costume while going through an internal monologue about how crime-fighting is much easier without the burden of his reputation and "costume recognition."[66]

Several weeks later, after barely surviving an altercation with the Thunderbolts, Spector pleads for Khonshu's forgiveness for turning his back on him and for the god's renewed assistance. Khonshu appears and informs Spector he doesn't need him anymore, as he now has other worshipers. Spector returns to his Moon Knight costume to aid Frenchie DuChamp in gaining revenge on the Whyos gang for attacking his restaurant and injuring Frenchie's lover Rob, only to find the Whyos' attack was designed to draw Spector into another conflict with the Thunderbolts when he is ambushed by Venom.[67] After a brief fight Moon Knight is captured, but escapes when S.H.I.E.L.D. shows up. Frenchie agrees to help Spector, and Ray joins the reformed team as well. Bullseye is released to kill Moon Knight, as Spector prepares to go out with a bang.[68]

Moon Knight is next seen battling Bullseye on the streets of NYC. He eventually leads Bullseye to a bunker/warehouse where he has planted several explosives. Bullseye narrowly escapes as Moon Knight ignites the explosives. Later that day two press conferences are held: one by Norman Osborn to announce the Thunderbolts' success and Moon Knight's death and the other held by Tony Stark who denounces the methods used by the Thunderbolts. At the end of the issue, it is revealed that Moon Knight has faked his death, escapes from the warehouse through a secret passage in the floor, and is hiding in Mexico. It is also revealed that the Marc Spector persona has "died" and that Jake Lockley is now in control.[69]

Now living as Lockley, the Moon Knight escaped to Mexico.[70] Laying low to avoid attracting the attention of the Registration Act any further, Lockley gets roped into a mission involving criminal cartels, two boisterous sibling luchador assassins, and a murderous Toltec avatar. During this stint in Mexico, Moon Knight learns he was being shadowed by The Punisher from the moment he crossed the border. Frank Castle's reasoning was that he knew Moon Knight would find himself somehow involved with the very cartel Frank had been pursuing; however, the Toltec god's avatar made quick work of the cartel.[71]

Eventually, the super-hero Civil War ended with Norman Osborn as director of H.A.M.M.E.R. and with him replacing S.H.I.E.L.D.. Lockley knows that Osborn had been behind the group of Thunderbolts sent to kill him and that a deranged psychotic was not fit to run the U.S.A.'s national security agencies, so using some spoils from the Cartel, Moon Knight decided it was time for a comeback.

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manjehaal · 4 years

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A Mysterious Way About You

Read on A03

Vibe had always been a mystery to her.

She had felt the air of a secret the first time she had seen him in action. Like a painted figure on a canvas of alleyway. Like fiction coming straight from a comic book. Like a ghost, hidden deep in her memory from another life she couldn't catch another glimpse of. It was ridiculous and delusional to ponder but she swore she knew him somehow, deeper than her friends at Star Labs and more significantly than any lover she had ever had. And once, when he had carried her through swirling blue to safety, she had seen the magnetic pull of his brown eyes. She met them and swore that his eyes were filled with recognition too.

She took that first moment of silence to pull him closer, offering him an exit from the lonely life of solo vigilantism.

"I work with the Flash," she told him. "You would be a great addition to the team."

He seemed like he almost considered her, flashing his exposed eyes toward her before covering them again. But yet, he held his ground. "I don't do teams," he said, staring at her through lit goggles. "I'm sorry."

"Nobody can do this life alone." At least, she knew she couldn't.

His tone was firm and sincere. "I can."

She made the mistake of turning her head for a moment, about to offer him a cup of coffee. When she turned he was gone, through another flash of blue color before she could ask for his name or give him her own.

♥

Nobody really knew anything about him. Even The Citizen had very few articles on the man who could breach through portals. Very few had managed to capture a photo, being that the second he was seen, he would disappear again through another hole. He was fast. But more than that, he was a secret. Nobody had a clue where he would go. Where those cosmic pathways lead. Where he lived or what he was truly like. Nobody could catch a glimpse before he would disappear into nothing again.

There was really only a handful of information she knew about Vibe, but really, it told her a lot. He seemed incredibly kind. Incredibly protective and warmhearted. She had seen glimpses of his careful way of talking to the children he would save and the dedication to stand outside late night clubs and be there to make sure drunken citizens got home safely. He was the only superhero she had ever witnessed who would sometimes pull their opponent into a hug and tell them that he would be there for them since nobody else ever was. The little details she knew had her wrapped up in the thought of him, and there was nothing that could pull her away.

All of it was a rare occasion though, and it had been quite some time since she caught a glimpse of his silhouette, ghostlike but very much real in his tight leather pants and his long wavy hair.

But she did see him again. He was passing through a breach one day when she was walking out of Jitter's. She had the thought to chase after him, wondering if the breach would allow her to step through and follow, but it closed before she could blink, only to leave her staring at a blank brick wall.

She sighed, glad for the distraction from the frozen cup of coffee that she was grasping, solid now under the touch of the cold hands that made her sick with dread.

♥

There was a dazzling haze about him, she realized, watching him stand in the middle of the pipeline.

The way he would talk. The way his lips would move up to smile. The brush back of his long dark hair. The sweet softness of his patience with her team. The sway of his steps. The confidence of his stride. All of him, dazzling like a diamond in the corner of her dark eyes, lighting a fire to the coolness of her cheeks.

But despite how very dazzling, he was hidden. Cloaked by his wonky goggles. shadowed by his suit. Darkened behind his avoidance of every detail he could offer them. He was in a foggy haze, hidden by the persona of Vibe from the people he should have known he could trust with an identity.

But he helped them quite kindly with Zoom, opening a few breaches for them and then creating a device to help them open more on their own. He was bright and open to help, but he wouldn't let his mask fall.

He was just about to leave them, when he paused at her, giving her a quirky little grin.

"Doctor Caitlin Snow," he said simply, sunny despite the serious tone of his words. "There's something very, very strange about you."

She was startled, not sure how to take it as he walked away from her, disappearing through a breach at the end of the cortex.

She swallowed, lifting up her hand to feel the cold building up. He was right. There was something very strange about her, and she wasn't quite sure how she was going to stop it.

♥

She took a leave of absence to go visit her mother, hoping to get answers.

She hadn't expected the fear that had filled her mother's eyes. And even more, she hadn't expected the recognition. But it was clear as day that her mother knew more than she let on, but she didn't comment. After running a series of tests, her mother sent her on her way, promising to call when she had the necessary results. But Caitlin could tell, by the fear in her eyes, that the results would not be good no matter what her mother may find.

She needed a distraction, so she found herself in a downtown bar, sipping on something far stronger than she was used to. Losing track of time. Losing worries fast and balance faster.

It was strange to wake up the next morning in her apartment, feeling the phantom hand of Vibe holding onto her arm to steady her.

But then, when she thought about it, letting herself believe it wasn't just some fever dream, it seemed more and more possible.

It was so vivid.

The tilted room.

The steady hand.

The muffled way she said, "Vibe?"

The way he laughed. "Like the vigilante?"

The way she laughed senseless in response.

"I'm Cisco."

"Cisco," she mumbled, stumbling into his arms.

It was clear to her. The speed of travel, leaving her sprawled out on grey pillows and a fuzzy white comforter. The glass of water that he left sitting on her side table. The way he laughed angelically, saying "Sweet dreams, Doctor Snow."

She felt awful when she woke up.

But she was certain she had spoken to Vibe. She was certain she had seen him again.

Her only regret was that once she took a shower and managed to somewhat relieve her hangover, she couldn't remember what he had said his name was.

♥

She knew she was a monster long before she watched Julian Albert's outstretched hand shatter into shards before her.

She had felt the drive, the marvelous rush, the alluring lust for power. She had felt it deeply like a cold stone sitting in the gap where her heart used to be, warming her up despite the avalanche flowing through her. And it hurt in a way that made her sick, but when she let herself be swayed by the bitter winds, she found freedom in it. She felt ease in accepting her monstrous identity.

But this, this was far from a feeling. This was a friend, on trembling knees, begging her for mercy. Begging for the life of his other hand, cowering below like a frightened child. At this, she felt herself smile, reached out to touch his remaining wrist. Intent on causing harm.

And she had the audacity to call herself a doctor.

"Caitlin, don't do this. I can cure you!"

"I don't want your cure."

Caitlin is dead, she thought to herself, feeling cool pressure drip from her fingertips. And I want that.

A glassy blue hand shook underneath her grip, as Julian shrieked, sounding like a forgotten ghost in the night. In her darkened vision, bringing the dragon out to slay, she felt a wicked smirk peel at her lips. She loved it and she didn't want to stop.

But then, a simple sound came forth in her eardrums, causing her clenched hand to pull away, allowing Julian to fall back into the snow.

"Stop!"

She turned, and it was him, Vibe, standing in the shadows. He peered at her for a moment, extending a hand forward, lit up by his gauntlet.

She turned her face away from him, shielding herself with her long silver hair. It took everything in her to bury the shame rising in her pale cheeks, imprinted by Caitlin screaming from inside. But Frost directed her fingers, producing a quick blade of ice, and puncturing Julian through his side.

"No!" Shrieked Vibe, placing a hand over his mouth as he gasped.

Just as soon, she felt her body fly backward, like a dart on a board against the warehouse wall. Despite Vibe's hidden eyes, she could feel them bore into her, as she lingered there, feeling energy pin her up as he approached her. He snarled, clenching his teeth as he threw her back again, just missing the wall. She rolled sideways, dragging her body with weakened wrists, heaving as she slid toward a back exit. But he had plummeted against another wall the moment she almost landed on her feet again.

Two streams met at once and they stood across from each other, like tug-a-war, testing to see who would break first.

And it hurt.

She never knew Vibe could hurt.

She never wanted him to see her like this.

So in a split moment of redirected fire, as she slid away from him, she created a smooth pathway, carrying her upward and out the busted window.

And he followed her, slipping in and out of his breaches just as fast as her smooth trail and the only reason she escaped was that Frost let her free, causing her to stumble into an alleyway all alone.

As Caitlin let her head rest against a steel wall, she shivered, horrified that she just made herself an enemy of Vibe.

♥

"Leia, please," Cisco said softly to his feline, sighing in exasperation as she sat down proudly on his keyboard.

The kitten looked at him with wide eyes as if warning him that his actions were not wise. But Cisco pushed his kitten to the side, slanting the keyboard so that it was facing him. Against her protests, he hovered over the image on the screen, unable to keep himself from staring.

Killer Frost stared back at him, with an eerie familiarity in her smile, gnawing in the back of his mind and making him restless. he knew her from somewhere, he was sure of it, but he couldn’t seem to figure out exactly where.

He had been there when Killer Frost had nearly murdered that man in cold blood. If it wasn't for the careful hands and vast intelligence of Doctor Caitlin Snow he would have died that day.

If Killer Frost would have angled the icicle in even the slightest variation, he would have died before Caitlin could get to him.

He wasn’t sure why the case had him so obsessed, but he would revisit it from time to time. Much more often than he did any other case. Despite the weight of his responsibility, he tried to keep his civilian life separate from the vigilante one. If he dwelled too much of things he had seen as Vibe, he may never function properly as a human being. He couldn’t allow things to become too personal.

But boy oh boy was he bad at it. He was horrible at remaining stoic and passive. He simply felt too much to not make things personal. And that was a bad thing, but it was the price of operating solo. He had no way to release it all besides by blasting criminals into back-alley walls. And while he relished in that feeling, sometimes he found himself so wrapped up in his feelings that he would convince himself that he could save them, in all their corruption, and cure them.

He had never felt this as strongly as he did for Killer Frost.

After what happened with that civilian, Killer Frost had vanished. Some people began to believe she had never been there to begin with. Julian was no longer in the city and many people never bothered to see if he was a real person at all. Killer Frost could have easily been a fever dream, but Cisco knew she must be real.

And he was right. A few months back and there was a sighting of her, strong and furious, shielding a group of children from gunfire. Her eyes were chaotic, but her determination didn’t waver. She was all on her own and she was nothing short of heroic.

It began to happen, again and again, the sightings of her. For a while people were wary of her return, but they quickly began to see that something had changed. Cisco wasn’t shocked in the slightest and found himself watching the videos, throwing his feet on to his desk with delight, pride emanating in his eyes.

He had been right about her.

And despite his better judgment, and the furious look in Leia’s eyes, he was determined to find her.

♥

Days passed to weeks and Vibe was gone as if he had never existed, until one January night in the chilly Star Labs parking deck when Caitlin felt eyes watching her toy around with the keys in her coat pocket. She swished around, ready to blast the intruder with a fleet of icicles but stopped instantly when she saw the blue light cloaked in the shadows, just two lit up goggles piercing the night. She lowered her hands, catching the smirk on his lips and the steady pace of his quickening steps approaching her. He wasn't startled by the icy demon inside of her. In fact, he looked intrigued by the blue color that burned away at her dark eyes.

"It's you," she mouthed to herself, feeling Killer Frost slip away from her sparkling chocolate brown. Frost feared him, knowing that Vibe held the kind of power that could obliterate a monster such as herself. It was weird, to feel fear grip her own heart, as Frost became one with her, knowing there was no greater threat to her than the man standing across from them both.

"Killer Frost," he said, with a bit of malice bitter on his tongue. "You're Killer Frost."

"Who did you expect?" another voice came rolling out of her.

He laughed. "Not the pretty and sweet girl I know from Star Labs."

She melted into herself and took a tentative step toward him, linking her fingers behind her back. "Go on then," she said, fixing her eyes on him. "Go on and put me down."

"Do they know?" he asked simply. "Your friends? Star Labs? The Flash?"

"They will never know."

"So you're living a double life?"

"A cursed life."

"Oh," he said softly, tearing his goggles away from his face to reveal kind eyes, much kinder than the glowing blue would allow. She supposed they both wore the frightening mask of glowing blue. "I'm sorry about that, Doctor Snow."

"Caitlin," she said, offering him a hand. He took it slowly, squeezing her palm with his gloved fingers.

"Cisco."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you." He opened his mouth to say more when an alarm sounded from his watch, diverting his attention away from her. "I'm sorry, I've gotta go." And like that, as if she had never spoken a word to him at all, she stood alone in the chilly parking deck.

♥

Caitlin was a stranger to late-night visits from superheroes on her roof. But despite the initial horror of Vibe tapping on her bedroom window, she found herself waving him in. She had a stupid, dopey grin that made her look like an overly caffeinated fangirl rather than the professional doctor he had talked to in the parking deck. Regardless, he didn't seem to notice as he slid down and made himself comfortable on the chair by her wall.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I don't usually knock on bedroom windows. But you weren't answering your front door and I really needed to talk to you."

"My doorbell is broken," she said simply, shrugging her shoulders. "What would you want to talk to me about?"

"Something you said the day I met you."

She crossed her legs as she sat on her bed, touched that he still remembered the day they had met since they had only interacted for a few minutes.

"You said that nobody can do this life alone."

She nodded. "It's true."

"Says Killer Frost, the solo vigilante."

She shut her mouth, realizing he had a point.

"But it's true."

She looked up, perplexed. "You want to join the Flash?"

"No," he said. "But I don't want to be alone anymore. And since you've been doing this solo act all alone and I've been doing my thing alone, I was wondering if you'd consider being alone together."

"You want me as a sidekick?"

"As a partner."

She simply watched him for a while, surprised by the encouraging smile on his lips, in disbelief over the offer altogether.

She could still remember the heat in his eyes when they had fought, burning out the rock in her heart, melting the flesh around her ribcage with shame. It had made her feel so dirty that Frost had pushed her way out and dropped Caitlin alone in that freezing alleyway. She had always assumed he had hated her by the way his eyes bored into her. By the way he had even said the words “killer frost” in that parking deck.

But whatever hatred had been stirred up in those two instances, had seemingly vanished from his eyes now.

His offer in itself had her mind racing. It was so much to think on and she hadn’t ever considered it possible. Vibe joining Team Flash had made sense to her, but her joining Team Vibe had never even crossed her mind.

While she loved her friends at Star Labs, they didn’t have as much sympathy for Killer Frost, which is why she hadn’t told them about it. They were the only people who knew what really happened to Julian and she was too full of shame to ever admit that she had almost been the one to kill him.

Vibe offered her his hand without wavering, a bright certainty in his eyes that made Caitlin feel off balance.

"I'm not stable,” she told him, half protesting. “I'm still learning to work with Frost instead of against her."

“You seem to have a decent amount of control to me.”

She shook her head fiercely. “Every day is a battle. She has to feed off of something and that’s why I have to go out there and beat up criminals. If I don’t redirect her she might just go out and kill everyone.”

He nodded. “I know what you’re saying, but you’re a doctor Caitlin. Julian survived because there was enough Caitlin inside of Frost to direct that blade. You saved his life.”

“And he almost died because there was a little too much Killer Frost inside of Caitlin Snow,” she said sharply, turning away from him.

He looked thoughtful for a moment as he was reconsidering his offer, but his face didn’t show any resolve. “Consider me up for a challenge then.”

His words hurt in her chest like she had put one of her icicles there because it felt so foreign to see such compassion directed at her these days when it came to Killer Frost. Team Flash feared and wanted her defeated, but Vibe wanted to help her. Vibe wanted to work with her despite the challenge. She couldn't believe him as she looked into his eyes, warm and wide from the other end of her bedroom. He was still so mysterious to her even with his open heart and a name was given to his face. Cisco, she repeated in her mind, steeling her smile as it almost warmed into a blush.

“You don’t see that I’m a monster?”

“I see perfectly fine.”

She highly doubted that. "You're not afraid?"

"I wouldn't have this job if I was afraid of you,” he said with a little shrug, producing one of his interdimensional extrapilators from his coat pocket, tossing it around in his palm. “But tell me, Caitlin, do you trust this Frost?"

"With my life,” she said with an automatic answer.

His eyes beamed with resolve. "Then so do I."

"Okay,” she said, her voice a whisper over the noise of her pounding heart. She still wasn’t quite sure she was hearing him correctly.

"Okay," he repeated, lifting up his hand to open a breach. “Let me show you my base of operations.”

♥

It was strange to walk through the breach on her own instead of having Vibe carry her. Unsteadily, she walked into the brightly colored room, spacious, but homey in a way that even Star Labs wasn’t. It was mostly due to the decor that filled up the walls and furniture, causing it to appear much more like a home than a superhero base. There was just so much color. The walls were full in the back with vintage movie posters, shelves of action figures, and an array of legos. He had lots of lamps, various monitors, and colorful carpet. It all so felt so new and fresh, and him, despite the mystery that he still was to her.

A mystery, that she had just agreed to work beside.

There was a whole other side of the room that was clearer. The walls were blank and the furniture was clear. The only sign of Cisco was a colorful red lamp on a desk and a cutout piece of a newspaper announcing the Killer Frost drink at Jitter’s. It was full of lab equipment and more monitors, fresh and empty as if somebody had moved out.

When he caught the gaze of her eyes, he motioned to that side of the room, “It’s all yours.”

She shook her head in awe. He had truly planned this.

“Oh!” he said suddenly, running toward the other end of the room and collecting a small ball of fur. “I hope you aren’t allergic, this is Princess Leia.”

“Princess Leia,” she repeated, laughing inwardly. “I’m not allergic. How adorable.”

“I know,” he said, putting the started kitten on his desk. She circled around with back upright, terrified of the new human looking over at her.

“She’ll get used to you,” Cisco said, putting the cat back on the floor.

"Where are we?"

"Officially nowhere. It's called a pocket dimension. My original base of operations was in my parent's basement. But this is safer. Nobody can track it."

She looked around. "Wow."

He placed a cold metal object into her fingers. “You aren’t a breacher so you’ll need this to get it. I might be able to think up a better solution though.” She pocketed the extrapilator, walking into her portion of the room slowly. It was so spacious and there was so much to do with it. She even considered painting the walls, perhaps a shade of blue, to color it up more. Normally she would leave a lab blank, but Cisco’s colorful idea of a superhero base inspired her.

She turned to face him, growing excited at the life she was embarking on. She never would have considered it a possibility a few hours ago, but now it felt so right. It felt better than anything had in a very long time.

She wouldn’t be alone anymore and neither would he. She could be Caitlin Snow and be Killer Frost, and not have eyes full of hatred and terror look back at her. It was just Vibe, Cisco Ramon, standing on the other end with big, beautiful eyes.

“Cisco,” she said, sinking into her new desk chair, still in a state of shock. “Are you sure?”

He moved his own desk chair to sit across, crossing his arms. “I haven’t been this sure about something in a very long time, Caitlin.”

#Killervibe #The Flash #Cisco Ramon #Caitlin Snow #Vibe #Killer Frost

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dpjustified · 4 years

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Bingo #4

(disclaimer: fanfic not headcanon)

(#4 Themes: Identity Reveal, Danny Goes to Space, Wes Weston, and Dual Obsession/Space AU mention)

His secret was out to the world alright, he was sure of it. But somehow, when he woke up the next morning, even his parents didn’t remember there was an asteroid in the first place. The only thing different was a mysterious machine in Antarctica had appeared overnight, and there was a strange conspiracy going around about ghosts being aliens.

Either way, after thinking about it, he was much better off without worldwide attention. He was having a hard time living normally with just four people knowing his secret, namely his sister, his best friend and girlfriend, and Valerie.

And after confirming with him, they too were confused that no one seemed to remember.

“I’m telling you guys,” they heard Wes, a kid one grade ahead of them that was on the Casper High Basketball team. “That nerd kid Danny Fenton is actually Danny Phantom.”

“Him? Are you getting high again, Wes. Lay off the munchies.”

“It’s not...” He spotted Danny and rushed over to him. “Hey, kid, tell them the truth!”

“Uh.” Danny didn’t know what to say, but he wondered why this guy remembered when no one else did. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Wes’s friends laughed and went off.

“Just great!” Wes tore off his baseball cap and threw it down. “You made me look like a complete idiot. Why does no one see it?”

“Do you remember the meteorite?” Tucker asked, and Sam leaned in.

“Meteorite? What meteorite.”

“Why do you think he’s Phantom then?” Sam added.

“I’ve seen it...I’ve seen you transform. That day when the ghost came into the gym. I’ve done a lot of research. My friends won’t believe me! You’re an alien, right?”

“Since when are ghosts aliens?” Danny said. He couldn’t believe this guy.

Wes pulled out a book titled “Aliens are Coming: The Conspiracy No One Wants You to Know.”

“It says here that after the world is exposed to ecto-cosmic radiation, it will use the memories from this event to power some kind of device that primes this planet for takeover. You know, that machine in the Arctic?”

“That thing? That was just for making the earth intang- I mean-”

“You see? You know what it’s for! You really are Phantom, aren’t you?”

“Look Wes, can you promise to keep a secret? I can’t exactly protect this town with fans going crazy on me.”

“You...you’re really.”

Danny flashed his eyes green briefly. “Yep, congratulations.”

“I was right? I was right!”

“You’re loud,” Sam said, putting a hand on Wes’ shoulder.

Tucker loomed over him - well, as best as he could since Wes was at least 6 feet tall. “Now that you’re in on it, you have to hang with us now. And any blabbing will get you sent straight to a ghostly prison.”

“G-ghost prison?” Wes said.

Danny was sure they were enjoying intimidating one of the popular kids.

A week later, they had gotten to know Wes a bit more, as well as some of his wild theories on aliens.

“I think they kidnapped Mayor Masters,” Wes said over fries. “Don’t you think so? Why else would he have disappeared. Plus, with that meteorite you guys said everyone forgot about, our memories have probably been absorbed and somehow you guys were protected.”

“Maybe it’s because we sleep with these Fenton Headphones?” Tucker said, showing off the device from his pocket. The three of them made it a habit ever since Ember’s mind control messed with their heads, but slacked off until Nocturne’s takeover.

“...Can I have some? They might prevent the aliens from getting inside my head.”

“Right,” Sam said, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure Danny’s parents would love to make you some for the low price of $39.99, tax not included.”

“Take my money!” Wes took out his wallet.

“Hold up there,” Danny said. “Money can wait. Anyway, I kind of am worried about Vlad. You know, this whole time he was acting kind of...erratic up till the meteorite.”

“He must have been controlled by the aliens to bring down the meteorite!” Wes insisted.

“That idea’s totally not out there,” Tucker said, before taking another bite of his burger.

“He must be in space. Danny, let’s go look for him.”

“...Why?”

“You said you were worried about the old fruit loop,” Sam said, prodding him with an elbow. “Go ahead on a little space trip. I won’t miss you too much. We can talk through the coms anyway.”

Tucker added, “I can update that space ship your dad used last time with a wider space map and get it hooked up to our system. We’ll guide you from down here.”

Danny smiled a bit. He still had his astronaut helmet in his room.

Here we go again, Houston!

On Saturday, Danny and Wes flew up to the rock Vlad was apparently abandoned on. There were signs of a struggle, and a picture of Maddie left behind.

“He was taken after all!” Wes cried from the ship, viewing from the camera attached to Danny’s space helmet. Danny flew out and picked up the picture. Surprisingly this rock was big enough to have a gravitational pull. On the back of the picture there was a hastily scribbled note.

“Daniel, if you’re seeing this...I was wrong. I have a tracker. Please, save me, if you have a heart.” Hidden in the corner of the frame was a memory card.

Always pulling the purse strings. Why do I care about this guy anyway?

It wasn’t just that he pitied him, but he knew that Vlad wasn’t all evil, even though he said he was.

“Rescue mission!” Wes cried out like a mantra.

“Space! Trip!” Tucker cried from over the com.

“As long as you’re back by Monday?” Sam added. “And besides, you can use some blackmail on Vlad, and he’ll owe you big time if you save his butt.”

“Okay fine,” Danny said, flying back to the ship. “We’ve gotta try to get back by Monday. Wes, did I ever tell you how much I like space? Oh, this is gonna be great.”

He was excited already. He couldn’t wait to use the ship’s features to take pictures of the asteroids. But what about the Milky Way? What would he do if he saw a black hole? He wondered if they led to the Ghost Zone or let him time travel.

Tucker poked fun at him over the intercom. “Did you switch to space mode again? Come on, I like Super Danny. Hero Danny. Stop it with the glittery space mode.”

“I don’t sparkle like a vampire when I think about space, I have acne, not freckles, and I don’t have an obsession! Let alone two.” Danny yelled.

“Ow, loud,” said Sam.

Tucker didn’t know when to quit. “Don’t you have three? One being this lovely lady over here.”

“Ghosts have obsessions?” said Wes, interested.

“Not me, at any rate! It’s just a joke Tucker likes to pull on me,” Danny said. “I’m kicking your butt when I get back, Tucker.”

“But I’ve gotten faster at running...” Tucker chided. “Ow!”

“I kicked his butt for you, so get a move on!” Sam said.

“Love you too,“ Danny said, then sat back down in the pilot seat.

Wes pulled out his mp3 player and played “The Final Countdown”.

“Now we’re talkin’!” Danny exclaimed while Wes started jamming out. He inserted the memory card and the system drew up a navigation plan. Apparently it would take them a day to fly to Vlad’s location, wherever he was. And if Wes was right, they might would run into aliens.

Who cares. Space Trip.

They then blasted off to who knows where.

#danny phantom #phango19

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mrjoelgarcia9 · 4 years

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Let’s Talk #Superman: Brainiac Attacks

In 2006, during the lead-up to Superman Returns, Warner Bros released a new animated film to accompany the live action film.

It makes Returns look good by comparison.

For a review of Superman: Brainiac Attacks, feel free to keep reading. There will be spoilers.

An asteroid containing the alien cyborg Brainiac strikes one of Lex Luthor’s facilities, and he proceeds to steal all of his data. After a prolonged fight, and saving Lois Lane, Superman presumably destroys the cyborg. However, Lex secretly picks up what remains of Brainiac and they team up to take down Superman with some Kryptonite and the Man of Steel’s DNA. Meanwhile, Clark struggles over revealing his secret identity to Lois.

This film is awful.

While based on Superman: The Animated Series, it is not part of the show’s canon. The film was directed by Curt Geda, who previously directed several of the show’s episodes as well as both Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman. The only other things the two have in common are character designs, backgrounds, and a few voice actors.

Tim Daly notably reprised his portrayal of Superman for the first time since the animated series (due to other commitments at the time, he was unable to appear in Justice League). Dana Delany (Lois Lane), David Kaufman (Jimmy Olsen), and George Dzundza (Perry White) also returned, although the former two previously made brief appearances on Justice League.

In the film’s first major flaw, the villains were recast.

In the original show, Lex Luthor, Mercy Graves, and Brainiac were originally voiced by Clancy Brown, Lisa Edelstein, and Corey Burton, respectively. In the film, they were instead voiced by Powers Boothe, Tara Strong, and Lance Henriksen. All three are clearly giving it their best, but their performances clash with the characters as they were previously portrayed in the show.

Lex Luthor now acts like an over the top version of Gene Hackman’s Lex; Mercy sounds like a serious take on Harley Quinn; Brainiac talks like he came straight out of Super Friends.

The film’s second major flaw is the plot.

It is bare bone, basically being about Brainiac wanting to kill Superman because he beat him once and also take over Earth.

Consequentially, the film has glacial pacing in order to drag out the conflict. The first act does a good job setting up the premise and characters, but the rest of the film struggles to reach 75 minutes. Superman’s fights with Brainiac are prolonged to let the latter monologue, get Lex involved, and for multiple fake outs. The fights in the animated series had better pacing compared to this film.

The subplot between Jimmy and Mercy goes nowhere, taking up a lot of time which could have been used to show Superman in the Phantom Zone. There are a few good moments between Perry and Jimmy, but they also felt like padding. Not counting the subplots, the main conflict barely takes up less than half of the film’s already short runtime.

The film’s last, but not least, flaw is the soundtrack. It sounds like a generic placeholder that simply never got replaced. A theme song which sounds eerily reminiscent of the animated series’ theme is also featured, as if Warner Bros wanted to avoid paying royalties and make the film for as cheap as possible.

Superman: Brainiac Attacks is a terrible film. While it is great to hear most of the series’ voice cast one more time, especially Tim Daly, and the animation is OK, they do not make up for the lackluster plot, bad pacing, and dull music.

It is impossible to integrate the film within the DC Animated Universe due to several continuity issues ranging from Lex’s personality to the Fortress of Solitude. It could best be seen as an alternate finale that disregards the show’s downer ending. Otherwise, it is a soulless cash grab which was just the first of two bad Superman films released in 2006.

Long story short, Superman Returns could have been so much better.

One year later, in 2007, Warner Bros would release another Superman film, Superman: Doomsday. While it did also look reminiscent of the animated series, mostly due to being produced by its creator Bruce Timm, the film clearly drew a line between the two by heavily altering the character designs and adding just enough violence to gain a PG-13 rating. It was still not a good film, but it clearly differentiated itself from the Saturday morning cartoon.

Superman: Brainiac Attacks is available to own on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital. It can also be streamed on HBO Max.

Until next time, thank you for reading!

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princess-of-the-corner · 5 years

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Last Ladybug AU concept I promise. Okay that’s a lie but you know what I mean

But I found an old post that’s about a Miraculous Ladybug Phantom Theives AU and like usual I want to go hog wild.

So:

Ladybug and Chat Noir are Phantom Thieves by night. They have the sort of Sly Cooper/Robin Hood/Leverage type thing going on, only stealing from other thieves or criminals.

By day, Marinette and Adrien use their jobs as detectives to find new targets and keep suspicion away from themselves, and arrest the criminals they target.

However: Ladybug and Chat are Rivals, who have no idea that the other is their detective partner that seems dedicated to finding out their identity.

Okay, first, let me address the ‘Phantom Thief’ thing. Like how it works and the culture around it

Being a Phantom Thief is like being a thief, but also a Magician, Actor, and Attention Whore.

While thievery is the main part, there’s the theatrics. Outsmarting your target, stealing everything not nailed down, and avoiding the police, along with over-dramatic bragging to the reporters, yet always getting away somehow.

Like, in this modern age, the only reason heists aren’t livestreamed are that it would make it too easy for the cops. But the thieves might occasionally post videos(untraceable, of course.)

Some Thieves announce targets beforehand, hyping it up and making the heist more of a challenge. Some take the ‘Phantom’ part literally, only leaving a calling card after the fact. Others do something in the middle, purposely sending an alarm out half-way through, which makes the heist itself easier, but gives them a bigger crowd.

The culture about it is kind of weird. People enjoy the ‘show’, and the more of a ‘show’ you put on the bigger fanbase you get. But, ultimately, even if kids think it’s cool and all, most everyone agrees ‘yeah, they’re still criminals, let the cops handle this’.

Side note: While our heroes are the ‘steal from actual bad guys and help the good guys’ type, some thieves are legit bad guys. But we’re not going into that.

And before I get to our main characters, some notes on the Miraculous in this AU:

The Miraculous and the Kwami still exist in this AU, but they’re less… Good vs. Evil. I mean, while the Phantom Theives are technically doing good, stealing from actual evil people, the Kwami aren’t meant to be given to Heroes. They just exist and give power to those who wield the Miraculous.

As for how everyone got their Miraculous… I debated about still having a Guardian handing them out, or possibly you have to ‘win’ it from someone and all our thieves found theirs in someone’s collection on their first heists, but….

Idk. I think I’m going more ‘random chance’ combined with ‘Magic is attracted to Magic’. Basically the Miraculous ended up in the possession of our characters out of random chance, but because Magic attracts Magic, they all end up close to one another, even within the same family.

The Miraculous’ powers are a bit different. They can stay transformed indefinitely, even if they use their Power, but the Power has a much longer cooldown instead of just ‘detransform, eat, transform again’.

One part of the power that is completely nerfed is the part about ‘the Ladybug and the Black Cat combined gives ultimate power’ thing. They just have their normal Creation/Destruction Powers.

That said, while the Magic is still there, it’s a bit downplayed, as all have the usual thief skills that you’d expect.

Onto the characters: I’m keeping it to just the ‘main set’ of Miraculous. For now. So the Zodiac Set doesn’t really exist. The characters themselves do, and are allies to our cast, but they don’t have actual powers. Also, in case it wasn’t obvious, the characters are all bumped up in age in this. Like, the teens are in their early-to-mid-twenties.

Marinette/Ladybug

Obviously a Ladybug themed Phantom Thief.

Leader of a ‘team’.

She uses the power of Creation to make temporary fakes to buy time (no one’s looking for a painting that isn’t missing), or sometimes to get out of desperate situations. Sometimes she can even conjure up disguises.

During the day she’s a Detective hunting down the various thieves around the world. She uses this to find new targets. Ladybug’s team shows up and robs them blind, then Marinette’s team comes in to arrest them.

After encountering Chat Noir on a heist, she focuses on catching him. She keeps trying to figure out who he is, and how to finally take him down. Of course, that’s difficult when they’re face-to-face in the field. He’s pretty and charming, and their ideals would have them make a great team. Perhaps once she finds him, she’ll offer to let him work for her instead of arresting him.

However, there is her detective partner, Adrien. While he’s great and wonderful and Mari will admit to having a crush on him, it’s a bit difficult to let him get close to her with how obsessed he is with finding Ladybug.

Adrien/Chat Noir

A Cat-themed thief

Leader of his ‘team’.

He uses the power of Destruction. Sometimes it’s needed if a safe takes too long to crack, or occasionally used to make a quick getaway through a wall.

Chat uses the same tactics as Ladybug, though neither knows it. You’d think they’d figure it out when Ladybug and Chat Noir show up for the same night of a heist, but they’re a little oblivious.

Chat and Ladybug met on a heist, and while he got away with the treasure they were both after, Ladybug stole something far more valuable: His heart. Adrien would love to make her part of the team, but Ladybug has made a game out of it: she has to catch him first. Too bad he can never be caught.

On the other hand, his detective partner, Marinette… the fire and determination in her when she’s tracking down his secret identity, well, Adrien has to keep himself from giving up and letting her cuff him, if you know what I mean.

Alya/Rena Rouge

Fox -themed thief

Main member of Ladybug’s team.

Uses the power of Illusion to create distractions and keep the guards busy while she and Ladybug grab the target.

By day, Alya is a reporter. She uses her job to gather info for Ladybug, and also get her access to high-profile places. (News coverage on galas, or famous people giving interviews, etc.)

While she’s suspicious of Chat and his team, she actually trusts Adrien completely. She knows Marinette has feelings for him, and thinks he’d ‘turn to the dark side’ if they offered for him to join the team.

She’s also interested in another theif, but we’ll get to him later.

Chloé/Honeybee

Bee-themed, of course

Main member of Chat Noir’s team.

Her Power, Venom, is used to stun guards. Also, because I want more Sly Cooper jokes here and I can’t let go of the Honeybee AU, instead of a spinning top, Honeybee’s weapon is more like the Cooper Cane.

Chloé’s parents are still the same, her dad the mayor and her mother the Fashion bitch. She gets easy access to mansions and galas, always invited and bringing Adrien as her Plus One. But this also gives her access to information, dirt on various targets.

She is impressed by Ladybug and her team, admitting that they might be just as good as Chat Noir and Honeybee , but she’s suspicious of Marinette. She plays nice because Adrien likes her, but she’s concerned about her focus on Chat Noir.

While many people believe she’s into Adrien, some even believing they’re a couple due to how often he’s her ‘Plus One’ to events, they’re far more sibling-like for reasons I’ll get into later.

Nino/Carapace

Turtle themed, naturally.

Carapace is actually somewhat neutral, a member of both teams. They all know this, of course. But they also know he’s incredibly loyal, and won’t give away anything to the ‘other side’.

He’s rarely in the field, usually the tech guy hacking into things (Look, I already pulled out the Sly Cooper references. Let me have hacker turtle.). But when he is needed, Shell-ter can keep them safe from guards and traps.

Nino is of course DJ for his main job.

He’s good friends with both teams, in both identities. He doesn’t actually know anyone’s secret identities though. That said, he does think the ‘rivalry’ is a bit silly, since he’s worked with both and knows that they’d easily become a fantastic team.

He’s been dating Alya for a while now. It’s not yet time to get to the ‘hey, honey, I love you and I should probably tell you I’m a master thief’ talk. But they’re soon getting there.

Gabriel and Emilie/Paon and Mariposa.

So…. here’s the thing….Why isn’t it ‘Hawkmoth and Mayura’?

Because I have old headcanons about things that involve Gabriel being the Peacock and Emilie as the Butterfly, but they did switch sometimes.

The switch was usually when other skills were needed. Like, as I said they don’t rely 100% on their magic. They have other thief skills and they have different strengths and weaknesses. Emilie was better at sneaking(since she’s smaller), Gabriel was better at safe-cracking and disarming traps(More detail-oriented), etc.

So, like, sometimes they’d need the Butterfly’s power near a trapped room, and the Peacock’s power in a place only accessible by small vents or something and they’d switch for the night.

It did help keep the cops on their toes, since they weren’t predictable.

I’m not entirely sure how their powers would work other than distracting guards, but tbh I might change the Peacock’s powers(I kinda hate it’s canon powers anyway, but that’s a conversation for another time.)

Gabriel and Emilie were actually training Adrien and Chloé, hoping to pass the titles of Paon and Mariposa on to them.

Training Adrien is obvious, but why train Chloé? Because she is Adrien’s best friend for most of his life and does show skill in it early on.

The Agrestes practically adopt Chloé. Her mother is never even in the country, and her dad is usually too busy, so she spent nearly all her time with Adrien and his parents. Especially once they decided to train her.

While Chloé does still love her actual dad, since he tries to be a good parent, she hates her mother and is hoping to one day target her as Honeybee. She thinks of Gabriel and Emilie as her parents more than them.

However, on a job where Gabriel and Emilie had switched powers, there was an accident. I’ll go into detail what all happened to her, but while she is still alive, she’s taken out of the game and the Peacock Miraculous is broken.

Realizing how dangerous this life is(well, they always knew this was dangerous, but this was too close a call), Gabriel and Emilie decide to go back on that training. Paon and Mariposa ‘retire’, and forbid the kids from trying to get into this more than they already have.

Then Adrien and Chloé find the Cat and the Bee, becoming thieves on their own. They’re figured out pretty quickly, since Chat Noir and Honeybee use many tactics that Paon and Mariposa used.

While Gabriel and Emilie are hesitant to let them do this, they also knows they can’t stop them now. They resign to mostly minor mentoring, keeping out of too much danger, but not going out of their way to help with heists.

That said, if there was ever a situation dangerous enough, Gabriel might become Hawkmoth to help them. (Due to reasons I’ll explain later, Emilie can’t use the Butterfly and the Peacock is broken).

Of course, Paon and Mariposa are kind of legendary in the business. Like, they were very well known and.. I don’t want to say ‘well loved’ since they were thieves, but you know. They had a lot of fans. It’s a big mystery of what happened, because a few years ago they suddenly ‘disappeared’. Most people speculate that they died, since they would’ve pulled another heist again if they were still around.

Onto other story elements:

What happened to Emilie

So, I don’t have exact details, but she gets very injured and the Peacock is broken.

Her physical injuries are enough to take her out of the game, at least for a long while. She definitely recovers after a good bit of time. But the Magic Backlash of breaking the Peacock has made her Magic unstable. She can’t even safely use the Butterfly.

So she ends up retiring entirely.

Because of this, Chat Noir and Honeybee tend to focus on finding Magic items to steal, since they could potentially fix the Peacock Miraculous and/or Emilie’s Magic.

Even if they are aware that the Ladybug Miraculous could do this, they aren’t entirely aware that Ladybug has it. The Ladybug theme could be coincidence, but even then, it’s not enough of an emergency that they’d steal it from her. After all, Chat is sure that Ladybug will willingly join him eventually.

Ladybug and Chat’s ‘rivalry’ starts early on in their careers

Both had done enough to establish themselves beforehand. So when they run into each other and the rivalry starts, their ‘fans’ get invested.

the first time they meet is actually the first time Marinette and Adrien happen to be working a case together as detectives, actually

Ladybug and Chat Noir planned a heist for the same night. They run into each other in the treasure room, and fight over the prize.

They have some wonderful flirt banter, but ultimately, Ladybug kind of kicks his ass

Only reason Chat wins is because of Honeybee using Venom

Now, every time they meet, they have their flirt banter and try to one-up each other, both in general ‘impressing with thief skills’ and also getting the loot and running off.

Marinette and Adrien get along very well though

They have an issue at first, basically this AU’s version of the gum incident.

When they’re assigned to partner together, the first day involved Adrien sort of panicked and leading her in a wrong direction because of the ‘I don’t want her to figure out that this ‘investigation’ is me casing the place’ thing.

Mari thinks it’s him being a jackass about having to work with her, or disrespecting her for being a girl detective or some thing.

He does apologize later, and it’s all good

They end up as close friends. Obvs Mari is still a bit nervous because of her crush(as is Adrien tbh), but in this AU she’s a grown ass adult instead of a teenager, so she is able to reign in her anxieties and isn’t nearly as wild.

So, the other’s friendship with Chloé is a little different than Canon

Chloé is less of an outright bitch in this AU. This is because she realized early on that her real mom is terrible, therefore she stopped trying to imitate her and impress her. And the Agrestes provided genuine parental affection.

She’s still very blunt and can come off as rude, especially to people who haven’t yet earned her trust.

But because she wasn’t going out of her way to bully people, she doesn’t have much of a history with Marinette and Nino, and while Alya was quick to judge her as some dumb rich girl coasting on daddy’s money, she reconsiders once they start hanging out.

Since I’m discussing personality changes, let’s discuss the differences between the Agrestes.

Gabriel is still a bit emotionally distant, though the Persona he uses for Paon balances this out since ‘Paon’ is very dramatic(Look, the man is a Peacock. They are known for it.)

However, the biggest shift between Canon personality is due to Emilie. I mean, first off she’s alive and all so he doesn’t have a reason to go off the deep end and become a supervillain. She also balances him out when he’s being a bit of a fuck.

Both are protective of Adrien, but considering they were training him for a dangerous life, they do give him his freedom. He still has to sneak out though since getting past the house’s alarm system is good practice!!

That said, they didn’t start training him until he was a teenager. They probably taught him simpler skills, like lockpicking and safe cracking as a kid, but anything dangerous like disarming traps waited until he was older

Speaking of Adrien, he did go through a ‘rebellious phase’. As I said, sneaking out. This was very enabled by Chloé, since as much as she loves Gabriel and Emilie, she does think Adrien should get out more.

He’s a good bit more independent now, partly because when he started ‘rebelling’ they listened and gave him more freedom, and partly because he is an adult and has technically moved out.

Next, let’s discuss Carapace being the middle man between Ladybug and Chat’s rivalry.

He thinks the rivalry is dumb, and doesn’t even bother keeping it going

literally, if he’s working with both teams on the same heist, he’ll have them run into each other and be like ‘work together damn it!!’.

He’s probably the closest to figuring out everyone’s identities though.

Especially since Rena and Carapace are kind of crushing on each other but have discussed ‘look I’m already in a relationship so I’m not gonna fuck that up’, but they keep noticing things that are just a little too similar. Which makes Nino notice similarities between everyone else.

He’s mostly staying in denial because if he’s right then he’s not sure he wont just punch something in frustration.

The Kwami!!!

Okay, so, as I mentioned, the Kwami still exist. But they’re entirely neutral instead of forces for Good. They don’t care what their Chosen use their powers for, as long as said Chosen is someone Worthy of the Powers. All have been used for both Good and Evil in the past.

Plagg, Pollen, Nooroo and Duusu all hang out together since their current Chosen are family.

Side note: While the Peacock is broken, this doesn’t effect the Kwami entirely. Duusu kind of flickers in and out for Human perspective, but the Kwami can always see them.

Tikki and Trixx hang out as well, since Mari and Alya share an apartment.

Wayzz is a bit lonely, but since Nino has his own place he doesn’t have to hide.

Plus, they can hang out whenever their Chosen are together

Because the Kwami can sense one another’s presence, and figured out who was who. They don’t tell anyone though because they find the drama too entertaining.

Next question: Do their families know and how do they feel about the Phantom Thieves?

For the most part, no, families don’t know. But I’ll go individually.

Marinette’s parents are still bakers, and they don’t know that she’s Ladybug. However, while her parents agree that two wrongs don’t make a right, Mari assures them that these thieves aren’t that bad, and are actually fairly helpful to taking down actual bad guys.

Alya’s parents are pretty much the same. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but they seem to be doing good.

Her younger sisters are actually very invested in the thieves, thinking it’s super cool! Big fans of Ladybug and Rena Rouge (Alya is low-key proud about this)

Her older sister, on the other hand, well… Nora is in the same boat as the parents, but she’s concerned over how much Ella and Etta idolize the thieves, since they are technically idolizing criminals.

Their parents don’t think it’s that bad. It’s a cool thing a lot of people are into. It’s not going to ruin the fabric of society since these kids still understand that stealing is a crime.

It causes some problems since in her over-protectiveness, Nora sometimes says some hurtful things toward the thieves, not knowing she’s insulting Alya.

Nino’s family are also similar, but they don’t know about Carapace since he’s more behind-the-scenes. They do keep telling him that since he’s so talented with computers, he should do something more with that instead of just music. If only they knew…

Chloé’s parents are more outright against the thieves.

Her dad has to be, since he’s the mayor. In private he does express that he’s thankful to Chat Noir and Honeybee, since they’ve exposed several corrupt politicians, which has helped him with his job.

Her mother, on the other hand, well… her mother is one of the kinds of people that they would target. And several of her friends have already been arrested because of their crimes being exposed. She doesn’t care what crimes her buddies committed, just that they got caught. Every conversation between them is like: Audrey: “I miss going to the Merciers’ Holiday parties. They always hired the best catering.” Chloé: Yeah, too bad he was arrested for ripping off innocent people with insurance fraud. Just hire the same catering business.’.

Since we already know what Adrien’s parents think of all this, let’s discuss Nathalie!

She’s a friend of Gabriel and Emilie’s, and did become Gabriel’s assistant at his day job.

However, she was not really part of their Thief work. She knew about it, of course. She couldn’t know them as long as she did without knowing them. And se would help in casing places and planning things, but stopped short of fully helping because they wanted to let her have some plausible deniability should they get caught.

Nathalie did pick up some skill over the years, like lockpicking and dodging traps.

Adrien and Chloé see her as a big sister. She would usually babysit while Gabriel and Emilie were out.

First heists:

Chat Noir and Honeybee’s first heist was against some corrupt politician.

Right after Emilie’s accident and they were forbidden from doing things, Adrien and Chloé found their own Miraculous.

While they’d been casing a few potential targets, they picked this politician after one fancy dinner event thing where he pissed off Chloé in particular, and they decided to hit him first.

After the heist, when the news was reporting, they said that it had several classic hallmarks of Paon and Mariposa. Gabriel and Emilie are watching this report and giving each other the ‘please tell me they didn’t...’ look. When news then shows Chat Noir and Honeybee showing off for the cameras, they recognize their kids.

Ladybug and Rena Rouge’s first heist happened in this AU’s version of Silencer.

Marinette and Alya found the Miraculous. They wonder what exactly to do with them, even thinking about becoming Superheroes.

When their friends start a band and are ripped off, they use their powers to break into the studio to find proof of this.

They didn’t mean to become Phantom Thieves, but they were good at it. So they keep going.

Carapace

I’m not sure about his first heist. It was probably something personal, but he covered his tracks well enough when he first did it. And he decided to keep going, righting wrongs and all that.

Nino would’ve been a thief before finding the Miraculous, but he found it soon after and got his ‘theme’.

Paon and Mariposa

Their first heists were years ago, before Adrien was born. Hell, Gabriel’s first heist was before he and Emilie got together.

I feel like this started with Gabriel being in a similar position Ladybug and Rena Rouge. Like, he’s still a Fashion Designer, and some asshole ripped off his designs so he used his power to find proof. Then kept with it.

He was originally a solo act until he met Emilie. He eventually sat her down for the ‘hey I’m a master thief’ talk, and she wanted in. She already had the Butterfly, but had yet to do anything with it.

Let’s talk about the other characters for a little bit. AKA, the classmates. I don’t have specific ideas for all of them yet, but the basic idea is that they’re various contacts in the business. Some are people with special skills, others are contacts to sell things, and a few people who can gather info or give them access to their targets. All of them would have their own codenames too, each corresponding to their in-show Hero Persona. But most of those haven’t been revealed yet so you know. Not sure how their Akuma forms would work at all.

Sabrina – A friend of Chloé’s. Information gatherer. She’s good at remaining invisible, so to speak. People don’t notice her, allowing her to hear secrets. Exclusive to Chat’s team, doesn’t know their identities(she thinks the info she gives to Chloé is for her dad’s political career)

Alix – Museum contact. Good at figuring out value and origins of the various treasures they steal. Not to mention that she knows how to break into various other museums. Also a great getaway driver. Works for both teams, no clue about identities.

Nathaniel – Art world contact. Oh, you have a valuable painting? Hm. Looks like its worth a few million. Let me find you someone who could buy that. Works for both teams, no clue about identities.

Max – While he can rival Carapace’s hacking skills, his specialty is in robotics, flying drones and stuff. Works for both teams, no clue about identities.

Kim – trap and weapon expert. While our thieves do rely more on Magic, they do sometimes need more mundane tools. None of them kill, only subdue. Works for both teams, no clue about identities.

Members of Kitty Section – The band itself is a way for Marinette and Alya to have access, as they’re invited to places as either guests or entertainment, and can bring along a friend or two. Exclusive to Ladybug’s team, suspect Marinette and Alya are the thieves, but decide it’s better not to know in case one of them gets caught.

Some of them do have special skills on their own, but I can’t think of them right now.

I’m going to go ahead and say that Luka is Marinette’s ex. They broke up on good terms with little heartbreak and are still very close friends, but they’re no longer together. (Luka does give Adrien the ‘you hurt her and I’ll fight you’ talk. I mean so does everyone but you know.)

Kagami – Along with fencing she does a different kind of fencing if you know what I mean. Originally exclusive to Chat’s team, but does end up working for both. She might know identities, but idk.

I want to say she used to date either Adrien or Chloé, but whichever one it was they’ve since broken up(on good terms)

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