#agrest the thief | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nobodyfamousposts · 10 months

Text

Chloe’s Lament: Ripping Apart

Chloe’s attempts to improve her situation…didn’t work out, to say the least.

Mostly because in her mind, improving things for herself had to involve tearing down others to build up herself by comparison. Something she was easily able to do in the previous world when she was the ‘Princess of Paris’ with the power of her father and her social status to push her demands.

Here…she didn’t have that. At all. Which to Chloe’s ever-growing frustration, made her efforts entirely uphill battles.

She didn’t even have the Ladybug Miraculous to either set things right or to use to her advantage. She didn’t know who the new Ladybug or sidekick were, either. And unfortunately for her, her disregard for people unless she needed something immediately meant that she hadn’t paid attention to the old man Hawk Moth was attacking and thus didn’t know where to start looking for the Guardian or the Miracle Box to at least get the Bee again. Even worse, she hadn’t thought to bother with Hawk Moth or his sidekick once they had been stung, meaning she was just as clueless as everyone else was on the villain’s identity, so she couldn’t try to target him for his Miraculous either!

What she did have, however, was future knowledge of events—or at least what she bothered to notice outside of her own activities in the previous timeline. And one in particular stood out the most:

The hat contest.

Dupain-Cheng was still very much a fashion enthusiast despite the changes in this reality. That meant if nothing else, she would still take part in the contest once it came around.

And Chloe knew it would. She even checked to make sure! Even if Adrien despised her, she was still his ‘friend’ as far as Gabriel was concerned. Thus, she was still allowed to visit the Agreste Mansion. Sure, she had to make an appointment and didn’t have as much freedom to go about as she pleased, but she was able to slip away and confirm Gabriel’s intention to hold the contest.

So that meant she already knew what was coming! And with her foreknowledge, she was sure to win!

The plan was simple: recreate the famous feather derby hat for the contest before Marinette could.

Without the signature this time.

This way, when the would-be designer tried to reveal Chloe as the thief, Chloe would have the upper hand. With no signature to prove Marinette’s claim and more than enough time to build proof that she had created the design first, Chloe would succeed in gaining fame and simultaneously crush Marinette’s dreams of being a professional designer. She would be branded as a cheater and blacklisted from any further design competitions. Gabriel would certainly never trust her again. And Adrien—poor Adrien would obviously need Chloe’s shoulder to cry on once he learned that Miss Perfect Marinette was only using him!

But as it turned out, there were three problems with this plan that Chloe had not accounted for…

Originally, Chloe was able to send Marinette’s hat design sketch to a professional hat maker to bring to life within the deadline.

This time, Chloe had neither the influence nor the funds to get any decent professional to make her design. Her attempts to use her mother’s channels didn’t work either when she couldn’t replicate the original design for them to use as a base.

“They’re feathers! What’s so complicated about it?!”

She also didn’t have the original sketch this go around.

And her less than eloquent efforts to explain the appearance, make, or materials of the desired hat to the interns only got everyone involved both frustrated enough to set off an argument that quickly got her mother’s attention.

Audrey Bourgeois was still very much the famed Style Queen and had no patience for Chloe or her tantrums. And without Andre’s position as Mayor or hotel owner to at least make him a business associate that could exert influence, it wasn’t like Chloe was in a position to make demands. And with only so much time to Paris Fashion Week and not to mention the other shows in the meantime, Audrey didn’t have the people or the patience to spare.

Audrey promptly told her to leave the workers alone unless she had something revolutionary. And despite her insistence to the contrary, a half-formed idea of a hat made with feathers of all things did not count.

As such, there was no one Chloe could get to make the hat for her.

This meant that if she wanted to create this hat and crush Marinette, she would have to make it herself.

Which led to the second problem with Chloe’s plan: for all that she prided herself in knowing and wearing fashion, she had no idea how to actually make it.

Sure, Chloe had a head start on the contest, but that was a very limited advantage for someone with little to no experience in sewing and an unwillingness to learn. Instead of taking the time to plot out a process, figure appropriate fabric, and learn the steps to make a hat, Chloe decided to jump into trying to just make the hat from her memory.

It couldn’t be that hard, right?

As such, by the time the competition actually started, what Chloe had was not so much a hat as…

“What is that? A gaudy balloon?”

“It looks like someone tarred and feathered a plastic bag.”

“I thought it was a deflated football?”

Yeah…that.

It was a sad-looking thing that could hardly be called a hat. Sunken and lumpy with a few feathers sticking out in odd directions. Chloe’s attempts to make her hat by hand resulted in a complete mess, and she had only a number of burns from the hot glue gun and bandages over her fingers from pricking herself to show for it.

“It’s…definitely unique.” Bustier said, clearly trying to be supportive.

Okay. Fine. So her hat was a failure. But she had wasted no effort in building proof that it at least was solely her creation. She could at least still get Marinette on theft of the idea. Maybe she could even claim sabotage if she spins it well enough!

And maybe she could have, except that there was still the final problem with her plan…

She had been assuming all this time that Marinette would be entering the contest with the same hat as before. That she would experience the same lack of inspiration and go to the same place and thus gain the same idea to enter into the contest.

All of which were very vital steps that Marinette would have to go through to reach the desired outcome Chloe had intended to achieve. All were steps that Chloe could not ensure Marinette would follow.

…all were steps which would be completely pointless when Marinette didn’t even compete.

“Wait—what is she doing in the stands?!” Chloe demanded, pointing to Marinette in outrage.

Marinette, for her part, had been sitting in the stands with a notebook in hand and surveying the various entries. She had been taking notes or drawing or who knew what until she looked up in confusion at the yelling.

“Chill out, Chloe. It’s an open contest.” Nino said, frowning at her.

“Yeah. People are allowed to watch.” Alix added.

“No!” Chloe shook her head furiously. She spun on Marinette. “I mean why are you THERE instead of HERE? It’s a hat competition! Aren’t you supposed to be competing?! Where is your entry?!” She demanded.

Marinette blinked in surprise.

“Well, I’m not competing. I’m just here to cheer the others on. And maybe observe. The officials said it was okay.”

And just like that, all of Chloe’s less than carefully laid plans were thrown out the window.

“What do you MEAN you’re not competing?!”

Because Marinette HAD to be competing! That was the entire point of Chloe even wasting her time with this stupid contest!

Marinette shook her head. “I’m friends with Adrien, and he’s the son of the man holding the contest. And the one who will be modeling the hat. While I don’t doubt Mr. Agreste would be impartial, there are rules against this sort of thing for a reason. It would reflect poorly on his integrity. And I don’t want people to question anything I create because of any potential bias.”

But…

That…

That was—!

“Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!”

What was even the point of having connections if you didn’t use them? What kind of socialite was Dupain-Cheng supposed to be, anyway?! It was like she didn’t even know anything!

Marinette was an idiot! She had this amazing position and the world at her fingertips and she couldn’t even use it right!

Chloe stormed out of the auditorium, ignoring the voices and attempts to call her back.

It was…

That was so…

It wasn’t fair!

Marinette was just being lazy! Not using her position or appreciating what it gives her! Not doing anything to prove herself to anyone and show just why she deserved her role! And yet everyone just loved her anyway!

And that…that was the worst part!

Previously, Chloe had to fight tooth and nail just to get people to so much as acknowledge her greatness. She had stayed on top of trends, learned how to navigate the world of the elite, and dealt with anyone and everyone to show why she was not one to cross. She showed why being the “Mayor’s Daughter” was such a pivotal role and why she most deserved it. She had learned to take advantage of any mistake to use to her own ends and end up on top. From Daughter of the Mayor to Queen Bee to Miracle Queen, Chloe had earned her kingdom.

And yet Marinette Dupain-Cheng…she wasn’t doing any of that! She was rich and didn’t use it. She had the power of the Mayor’s Daughter and she didn’t defend it.

She…she was doing nothing and people loved her.

It wasn’t fair!

It wasn’t FAIR!

It wasn’t fair it wasn’t fair it wasn’t fair it wasn’t fair

IT WASN’T—

“Chloe?”

Chloe jerked up at the voice and immediately wiped her eyes.

Bad enough her plan had been such a failure, she didn’t need people knowing she was crying over it, too. She had nothing left in this world but her dignity. She couldn’t be seen as weak to anyone.

Even if it was Bustier.

“Chloe, I’m sorry. Were you upset?” The teacher asked as she approached cautiously.

“No.” She denied immediately. Because she wasn’t upset! That would suggest her plans had gone completely wrong. And they hadn’t! Because she hadn’t lost yet! She could still find some way to turn things around!

“Chloe, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Chloe refused to look at her.

It wasn’t like Bustier could understand. It was more than just the hat. It was more than a single contest. How could she even begin to explain it all? Everything she’d had? Everything she’d lost?

Bustier—in true ignorance, smiled kindly and rested a hand on Chloe’s shoulder.

“Your hat was your first attempt, wasn’t it? It clearly had a lot of effort put into it.” She said, soothingly. “I think I could see what you were trying to do with the design. You must have felt rushed with the limited time to work with.”

The words didn’t help. They did the exact opposite of help. Because Chloe had known the contest was coming. She’d had more time than anyone to put her entry together. And she still failed.

“With a bit more practice, it would have been a very beautiful hat. I’m sure it would have won.”

It would have won. In another world, it did win. She hadn’t expected it to be so hard to put a hat together. Why was it so hard?

“Oh! Here’s an idea!”

Chloe blinked as Bustier clapped her hands together, smiling brightly at the sudden thought.

“If you’re interested in fashion, maybe we can ask Marinette can help you?”

And.

Chloe.

Froze.

“It’s hard when you’re first starting out and trying something new—”

It was like she was underwater. Bustier’s words washed over her, but she could barely hear them. Just sound. Just noise. Somewhere above her but its meaning unable to reach her.

“—maybe with a bit of guidance, you can make your hat even better—”

It was like she was falling. No ground beneath her—no stability. Free falling, but fully aware of her own weight dragging her ever downward, not knowing just how far the hole went…

Chloe gripped her creation harshly. Her ugly, pathetic imitation of a masterpiece that even her mother had praised.

“—Marinette loves fashion and knows a lot—”

Marinette must have cheated. There was no way she could do something like that in a few hours without help!

Neither of them noticed as the seams began to unravel and tear in the force of Chloe’s hold.

“—perhaps what you need is a mentor?”

Stretch.

“—volunteer to tutor you—”

Pull.

“—very talented—”

Unraveling.

“—a lot of love to give—”

Unraveling apart.

“—always willing to lend a hand—”

Just like her world.

“—I’m sure she’d be happy to help you improve—”

Just like her life.

“—don’t we try to ask her? I can even go with you and—”

Until it all ripped apart—

“SHUT UP!”

Bustier jerked back in shock at the outburst. She was actually acting as though Chloe had hit her or something—which was ridiculous! Because Chloe was the one in pain right now and nobody would see or try to help her!

“I’m sick of hearing about Dupain-Cheng and how special she is! I don’t need her help! I don’t need anything from her!”

Her teacher frowned, looking confused. Like she didn’t understand. Because she couldn’t see it.

No one could see it!

“Chloe, what are you—”

“She’s a thief!” Chloe yelled. “She knows what she’s doing! I’ll bet she planned this! She must have!”

“What are you talking about?”

She stomped her foot in rage. “This isn’t hers! None of this is hers! She only has it this good because she stole it from me first!”

“Chloe, you’re not making any sense!”

“I didn’t Wish big enough the first time! Why did I even bother with taking everything from her? I should have just Wished for her to disappear!”

“Chloe!”

But she just stormed away.

Out of the hall. Out of the building. Out of the school altogether.

But no amount of walking would take her out of this life she’d Wished herself in to.

All she left behind were the torn remains of an amateurish hat and fragments of her idealized hopes that were just as broken as her plan for revenge.

The only witnesses were her own teacher.

…and a classmate who had seen the whole thing.

#ml fic #chloe's lament #lament series #chloe salt #caline bustier #marinette dupain cheng

187 notes · View notes

gale-gentlepenguin · 8 months

Text

ML au: Miraculous Piece

(Basically just aged up miraculous heroes in the world of one piece)

Marinette D Cheng: (the D stands for Dupain) Aka Lady Luck. Captain/ Chef of the Miracle Pirates. Devil fruit: Make make fruit: A Paramecia type that allows her to create any object with her imagination. From clothing, weapons, even battle ships. Bounty: 777,777,777 Berries (most Notable crime: Killing a celestial dragon (it was actually Adrien, but it was a fake death)) Moniker for her in the navy’s own words ‘Luck beyond comprehension)

Adrien Agreste: AKA Black Cat of Chaos. Vice Captain of the miracle Pirates. Devil Fruit: Break break fruit: A Paramecia type that allows the user to destroy anything that makes contact with his left hand (so long as he wills it). Bounty: 444,444,444 berries. (Most notable crime: Attempted murder of a celestial dragon (this was Gabriel agreste, and it was real)) (his bounty is Alive only) (he is the son of the celestial dragon which is hidden)

Alya Cesaire: Aka Mirage Thief. Navigator of the Miracle Pirates. No devil fruit. Has weapons that make illusions and uses dials to deliver strong attacks. Also handles finances. Bounty: 111,222,333 Berries. (Most Notable crime: Stealing from a Celestial Dragon)

Nino Lahiffe: Aka. Shell shocker. Helmsman of the Miracle pirates. A Sea turtle Fishman (basically looks human but has a shell and greener skin). Master of Fishman karate, special technique Bubble art. Perfect at reading the flow of the ocean. Bounty: 231, 123, 321 Berries. (Most Notable crime, Freeing slaves from a celestial dragon)

Maxkov Kante: Aka. Metal scourge. Shipwright of the Miracle Pirates. Half human and half machine as a result of Vegapunk. He has an Ai intelligence inside him named Markov, thus choosing to go by Maxkov. Creates new tech for his crew. Bounty: 101,001,100 berries. (Most notable crime, Having information the world government wants)

Alix Kubdel: Aka. Devil Rabbit. Archeologist of the Miracle Pirates. Devil fruit: Clock Clock fruit: A Paramecia type devil fruit that allows the user to rewind or fast forward time around them by holding their breath. The more it’s used the bigger the headache the user gets. Can read ponoglyphs. Bounty: 333,333,333 berries. (Most notable crime: Threat to world government)

Rosé Lavillant: Aka Fragrant Healer. Healer/doctor of the miracle pirates. Rosé was a sick child that thanks to a master of herbal alchemy saved her life. Studying the herbs for years she became incredibly good at curing diseases. Her dream is to never let a child suffer from sickness like she did. Bounty: 80,080,008 berries (most notable crime: Assisting the miracle pirates in their attack on Sabody)

Luka Couffaine: aka Serenading Serpent. Musician/Therapist of the miracle Pirates. Devil fruit: Snake-Snake fruit: Model: Viper. His snake form allows him to slither quietly and use potent poisons when needed. He is looking for his sister who was kidnapped by the world government. Bounty: 150,000,000 berries ( Killing a vice admiral and attacking a war lord of the sea)

#miraculous ladybug #ml au #miraculous piece #one piece AU

77 notes · View notes

yourbpdgf · 2 years

Text

rules+whoiwritefor ???

rules ?

• no piss,, shit,, fart kinks cs ew

• no pedophilia

• i dnt write male readers,, only gender neutral or fem!reader

• requests r always open

note ? i write in my own style: lowercase,, double commas,, no apostrophes,, slang,, etc .

fandoms + characters i write for:

artists ?

chief keef

ddosama

destroy lonely

ddot

evvls,, jaydes,, yen

juice wrld

king von

ken carson

kodak black

lil tracy minaj

lucki

luh tyler

playboi carti

skimask

trippie redd

xxxtentacion

young thug

creepypasta ?

bloody painter

eyeless jack

laughing jack

homicidal liu

jane the killer

jeff the killer

ticci tobi

bungo stray dogs ?

chuuya nakahara

edgar allen poe

fyodor dostoyevsky

nikolai gogol

osamu dazai

ranpo edogawa

yumeno kyusaku (Only platonic or child reader x Yumeno, no smut hes like 10.)

danganronpa ?

celestia ludenberg

ibuki mioda

kokichi oma

nagito komaeda

rantaro amami

shuichi saihara

Genshin Impact:

Albedo Kreideprinz

Chongyun

Columbina

Cyno Mahamatra

Diluc Ragnvindr

Diona (Platonic)

Dori (Platonic)

Fischl

Gorou

Hu Tao

Itto Arataki

Kazuha Kaedehara

Klee (Platonic)

Kokomi Sangonomiya

Mona Megistus

Qiqi (Platonic)

Raiden Ei

Razor

Rosaria

Sayu (Platonic)

Shenhe

Tighnari

Venti

Xiao

Yae Miko

Zhongli

Haikyuu:

Akira Kunimi

Atsumu Miya

Kei Tsukishima

Keiji Akaashi

Kenjiro Shirabu

Kenma Kozume

Kentaro Kyotani

Kiyoko Shimizu

Kiyoomi Sakusa

Kotaro Bokuto

Osamu Miya

Rintarou Suna

Satori Tendou

Jujutsu Kaisen:

Mahito

Megumi Fushiguro

Ryomen Sukuna

Toge Inumaki

Toji Fushiguro

Yuji Itadori

Naruto:

Deidara

Gaara

Hinata Hyuga

Kiba Inuzuka

Naruto Uzumaki

Neji Hyuga

Sasori

Sasuke Uchiha

Shikamaru Nara

Obey Me:

Asmodeus

Barbatos

Beelzebub

Belphegor

Leviathan

Mammon

Satan

Tokyo Revengers:

Emma Sano

Hajime Kokonoi

Haruchiyo "Sanzu" Akashi

Izana Kurokawa

Kazutora Hanemiya

Keisuke Baji

Manjiro Sano

Nahoya "Smiley" Kawata

Ran Haitani

Rindou Haitani

Seishu Inui

Senju "Kawaragi" Akashi

Shuji Hanma

Souya "Angry" Kawata

Takashi Mitsuya

Wakasa Imaushi

Twisted Wonderland:

Floyd Leech

Idia Shroud

Jamil Viper

Leona Kingscholar

Lilia Vanrouge

Malleus Draconia

Riddle Rosehearts

Ruggie Bucchi

Silver Vanrouge

Vil Schoenheit

YuGiOh (Duel Monsters and Arc V):

Atem

Chazz Princeton

Duke Devlin

Ishizu Ishtar

Joey Wheeler

Mai Valentine

Marik Ishtar

Maximillion Pegasus

Ryou Bakura

Seto Kaiba

Sora Perse

Yami Bakura

Yami Marik

Yami Yugi

Yugi Muto

Yuya Sakaki

Thief King Bakura

Miscellaneous:

Adrien Agreste (Miraculous)

Amane "Hanako" Yugi (TBHK)

Ayato Kirishima (Tokyo Ghoul)

Ban (Seven Deadly Sins)

Bellatrix Lestrange (Harry Potter)

Camilo Madrigal (Encanto)

carlos madrigal

ciel phantomhive

connie springer

Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter)

Dabi (MHA)

Denki Kaminari (MHA)

Eren Yeager

Gowther (Seven Deadly Sins)

Himiko Toga (MHA)

Hotaro Oreki (Hyouka)

Iguro Obanai

Illumi Zoldyck (HxH)

Isaac "Zack" Foster (Angels of Death)

Karma Akabane (Assassination Classroom)

Ken Kaneki (Tokyo Ghoul)

Killua (HxH) (No Smut)

Kusuo Saiki (TDLOSK)

Levi Ackerman

Meguru Bachira (Blue Lock)

Merlin (Seven Deadly Sins)

Micah Yujin (Error143)

Mikasa Ackerman

Mitsuri Kanroji

Muichiro Tokito

Nagi Seishiro (Blue Lock)

Ray (TPN) (No Smut)

Ray "Saeran" Choi (Mystic Messenger)

Rin Okumura (Blue Exorcist)

Rodrick Heffley (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

Ryuunosuke Chiba (Assassination Classroom)

Sae Itoshi (Blue Lock)

Saeran Choi (Mystic Messenger)

Saeyoung "707" "Luciel" Choi (Mystic Messenger)

Sanemi Shinazugawa

Suit!Saeran Choi (Mystic Messenger)

Unknown (Mystic Messenger)

masterpost

274 notes · View notes

empressofthesunwriter · 1 year

Text

Isekai'd as Chloe

You were watching Miraculous Ladybug on your phone as your bus got hit by a truck. You died, it sucks. But a godly being gives you the chance to start anew in a brand new world. Sadly it's Miraculous, with all the plotholes, and flat characters, and don't forget worshipped while being a sexual abuser Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir. Could your day get any worse? You shouldn't have asked because you were reborn as Chloe and forgot who Papillion was. Someone wanted to see you suffer, that was sure! But you wouldn't give them the satisfaction. It was time to throw canon out of the window and make Miraculous a better show or in your case world!

Main Pairing: Reader/Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng

26.06.2023: Here is the improved and longer version of the chapter, hope you like it ^^

Chapter 8: Noir VS. Blanc

“I should have now!”, you said under your breath as you run for cover to transform. Thank the Kwamis Chat Blanc was more interested in destroying buildings than hurting people, at least that. “I should have now Agreste wouldn’t accept that he couldn’t be Chat Noir anymore! Of course, Papillion would get to him.”

You finally found an abandoned alleyway and let Plagg out of your purse.

The kwami of destruction had his flippers crossed.

“Now, now, don’t blame yourself too much. Only Papillion is to blame here and don’t start with you shouldn’t have or you should have, we can never know what can happen.”

You blinked surprised at him.

“That actually was good advice.”

“Whatever, transform so I can go back to my nap.”

“And just like that it’s over.”

Still, you called for your transformation. You hoped Marinette was already transformed as you called her from your Baton to her Yoyo.

“Calamity, I bet you already know what’s up.”, greeted Ladybug’s voice.

“Difficult to not, when this crazy white cat destroys anything in his fucking way.”

“We need a plan before he hurts someone!”

“I have one.”, you told her with a sign. “But you aren’t gonna like it.”

“…How much I’m not gonna like it?”

“A lot, but Blanc thinks with his dick, that’s the best strategy against him.”

“What?”

You started to explain your plan. Indeed Ladybug didn’t like it, but after some good arguments from you, she agreed that this would be the best.

You bet she would take after this a long shower. Not that you could blame her.

As Adrien- no he was Chat Blanc now awoke today and didn’t find HIS ring, his whole world collapsed.

How should he now see his lady?

How should he now get out of his house?

How should he now live happily ever after with Ladybug after she finished playing hard to get?

Chat Blanc didn’t have an answer, but the purple butterfly, who hand flew in the camembert wheel carton in his hand did.

Maybe he and his lady were too hard on Papillion. The men seemed to understand what it felt like to be separated from your true love.

In any case, Papillion made him stronger than he ever was. He would hunt down with his new power the one who stole HIS ring and show his lady that he was still the best partner in the world.

Okay, maybe destroying some buildings wasn’t that good of an idea, but he didn’t have any other means to contact his lady.

And Miraculous Ladybug would fix anything, so there wasn’t a problem.

He was whistling a little tune, making his way to the Eifeltower, randomly destroying a building here, a monument there.

The screams of the people got on his nerves. Couldn’t they see that he just wanted Ladybug’s attention?

What did they need to be so dramatic?

That’s when he heard how two persons land behind him.

He turned around and let out a happy gasp.

It was his lady in all her spotting glory. In her Yoyo was tangled a girl, the thief of his ring.

Nobody else but this girl in a black cat outfit could be it.

A girl dared to still his ring?

What, did she want to be like Ladybug?

No one could be as perfect as his lady.

“My lady.”, he purred happily. “You found for me the person who stole my ring!”

Ladybug smiled cutely at him, his heart was beating hard seeing this wonderful smile on her rose lips.

“Of course, chaton. I know you would only take an Akuma to get your powers back.”, she said to him sweetly.

Papillion’s voice came into his head, commanding him to take the ring and the ladybug earrings, but he wouldn’t do this to his lady.

He just wanted his ring back.

“Give me this thieving girl, I will take care of her and we can be a team again!”

“This would make me so happy chaton!”, she declared and batted her eyelashes at him. Oh wow, she never has done this before. He felt himself turning red. “When I saw her instead of you, I realized how much you meant to me.”

“My lady!”, he gasped happily.

He took a step forward to embrace her when suddenly anything happen in a blurb.

The female cat untangled herself without problems from Ladybugs Yoyo and shouted: “Cataclysm!”

Her attack hit him on point and he fainted.

You stared down at Chat Blanc shaking your head.

Goddammit, he really thought only with his dick!

You were so scared of him, but in the end, he was probably the easiest Akuma in history.

“I can’t believe that it was that easy!”, shouted Ladybug raising her arms to the sky. “He truly is obsessed with me as you said.”

“Yep, let’s search for the Akuma and be done with it.”

You two got to work and found a little box in his pocket that was formally pulsing with energy.

Bingo, here is the Akuma.

Ladybug called for her Lucky Charm, which was a winner trophy, ha, then purified the Akuma and used her Miraculous Ladybug.

All was restored and good in Paris.

You hold her by the hand as Chat Blanc turned back to Adrien.

She needed to see this.

Shocking would be an understatement for what you saw in her eyes.

A lot of emotions were battling in her.

Finally, with a groan, Adrien woke up.

“Oh, what happened?”, he wonders. Then he saw Ladybug and turned into an excited puppy. “Ladybug, my lady, oh dear it wasn’t how I wanted to reveal myself to you, but at least you can give me back my ring!”

You so wanted to say something, but you needed to see if Ladybug would do the right thing.

“A-Are you out of your mind!”, she declared in disbelief. “Even if I wanted you back as a partner, Papillion knows your true identity now. You can’t be anymore, Chat Noir.”

“Oh…but we could be still a couple!”

Adrien got down on one knee and stared at her with a creepy look. He thought probably it was romantic, yet it made you wish for a shower.

“We will be like Superman and Luise Lane, doesn’t it sound delightful my lady?”

Ladybug blinked.

One.

Two.

Three.

Times.

“You…are out of your mind! You would just date me as a civilian, do you know how dangerous it is for you?”

“Aww, you are again, playing hard to get. When will you stop?”

Oh no, he didn’t just say that!

“I beg your pardon?!”, hissed Ladybug.

“We are meant to be my lady, you are the only one we can’t see it. With or without the ring, I’m yours, as I will love however is under the mask!”

“Really? What if I was Chloe Bourgeoise.”

Yeah, let her drag your possessing Chloe’s ass into it. Hey, you were nice now! What would it take her to see it too?

You saw for a second the fear in his eyes and Ladybug did too.

That was enough for her.

“Come Calamity. Let’s go.”

“Right behind, you L.B.”

With that, you both left the scene, before the reporters came to ask Adrien out.

Now that it was known he had been Chat Noir there would be surely a lot of questions asked.

You and Ladybug feed your kwamis and then transformed again.

It was Ladybug pleading to you since she needed somebody.

At that somebody was you.

So you hold her, while she cried over Adrien, probably in her mind regretting ever falling in love with him, with this creep who thought with his dick and had put her on a pedestal.

He never would truly love HER, only the made-up version in his head.

This was a bitter pill to swallow.

Even more, if she also realizes what stupid stalker shit she did in the name of love.

Sadly you couldn’t say these things, since you couldn’t know them without telling your whole story.

No, it wasn’t the time.

She needed to handle this first before you told her about yourself and how canon would have screwed her over.

So you just hold Ladybug in your arms, humming a little melody to calm her down.

You don’t know how long you two stayed like this. Time didn’t matter while you hold her. The world didn’t matter.

A meteor could come crashing down and you wouldn’t even take note of it.

Ladybug was a shaking and crying mess. She struggled to talk, she wanted to get her emotion also out in words, yet she couldn’t.

It was too much for her soul.

So you just shushed her, stroking her hair.

Your suit was wet with her tears and snot.

You never saw someone crying this much.

You had wished to save Marinette/Ladybug from trauma, from all the trauma she would have faced in the future, sadly you didn’t think that new traumas could take place.

You had a feeling it would take a long time, till she let anyone back into her heart.

But this was okay.

You would wait for Marinette till the end of the world.

And you know a certain guitarist would do this too after he meet her.

The sun was going down when Ladybug calmed down enough.

You both were sitting on the rooftop, she in your lap, hugging you tight, while you rocked her back and forth.

“Calamity.”, she rasped out. “I—Thank you. I…I needed that.”

“Anything for you.”, you simply said.

She signed and put her head under your chin.

“You didn’t need to do all this, yet you stayed without asking anything in return. You…you are a good partner.”

“I want us to be friends, L.B., if it helps you snotting all over me then, by all means, do it any day.”, you tried to light the atmosphere with a joke.

It worked since she snorted.

“Today…was a lot.”, she whispered, snuggling up to you. You hummed, stroking her hair. “I…I need to rethink a lot of things…I need to look at myself too…I did some really questionable things I realized, thanks to Chat—thanks to Agreste in my civilian life.”

“The first step to being a better person is to admit their mistake and work on them.”, you told her softly.

It was good that she realized what a creepy stalker she had been.

You have read before dying and becoming Chloe the theory that after original Chloe and Kim played this cruel joke with the spiders on Marinette, she become obsessed to know anything about her crushes so something like this would never happen again.

Well, one could understand her. She nearly drowned and if it wasn’t for Socqueline’s original Chloe would have posted online the cruel joke played on her.

Yet, it still was wrong.

Cool motive, but still murder, you know?

You hoped with all your heart that she would grow from it.

You were now back at the hotel, sitting on your bed, freshly showered, and thinking and writing down your thoughts in your little notebook.

Plagg was sitting like a king on a pillow beside you and eating 100 times his weight in camembert.

“What’s with that face?”, he asked you, gulping down a whole wheel.

How in the name of the kwami he managed that was the real mystery of life.

Where did all this cheese go in his little body?

“I’m just thinking.”, you answered him, scribbling down. “My memories I have from watching the show, and the memories I inherited from Chloe have made a little mess in my head. I forgot this girl named Socqueline Wang who was Marinette’s friend and stood up to the original Chloe. Today I remember her again. I need to apologize to her too.”

“Don’t worry so much about that. Sanura had the same problems. It takes a while before you can live with two mindsets and remember things right.”, he told you.

Curious you looked up from the notebook.

“Sanura, the Egyptian black cat who was a Dimensionwanderer just like me and had to misfortune to be reborn as a boy even if she was a girl?”

“Exactly.”

“When will you tell me her story?”

“When this pharaoh Akuma comes. Would be too simple if I told you all right now.”

“You are a meanie.”, you whined. “Also after today with Chat Blanc, could be I screwed canon totally over. This could be bad. We need that Papillion appears on Hero’s Day, so we can catch him and Mayura and end this show before it drags on.”

“So bad was the future?”

“You have no idea, it was just so dragging, and stupid and like how can someone have three moms and not expose themselves!”, you talked rapidly and angrily.

Plagg frowned.

“What? Who has three moms and doesn’t expose themselves?”

“A girl named Lila Rossi. A manipulative and serial liar. She will be joining at the end of this season my class, then stay away for the whole of season two, till Heroes Day, then be back in season three. All besides Marinette will kiss her ass and she will become the Papillion of the future. But if we manage to get Nooroo and Duusu back this headache doesn’t need to happen.”

The kwami frowned even more.

“Are you sure, we will be ready till Heroe’s Day?”

“We need to be ready.”

You put your notebook down.

Writing on it were all potential new holders for the bee, fox, and turtle.

Alya and Nino couldn’t become Rena Rouge and Carapace, even though Alya knew Marinette was Ladybug she still believed Lila and Nino just followed his girlfriend along.

No, you needed strong people in mind and body to catch Papillion and Mayura.

You had already a few in mind.

Support me on Ko-Fi!

Join my Tumblr for updates and news!

Join my TikTok for Images with your fav characters!

95 notes · View notes

celestiall0tus · 4 months

Text

Amaranthine - Chapter 4 - A Moment

Beginning || Previous || Next

Marinette sat at the cashier counter as she sketched out designs for the bouquets. She was lost in her mind as she ran through different combinations for Adrien and his bride to be. Typically, she’d design bouquets for the couple that she felt best embodied them, but this was an issue. Adrien was easy enough. He was intelligent, bold, charismatic, and incredibly handsome, the perfect model. However, without some idea of who his bride was, she fell flat. Perhaps she could meet with him. Pick his brain for ideas and learn about his potential choices.

“Hey, girl. What’s up?” Alya said.

Marinette screeched and fell back.

Alya laughed and offered a hand. “You alright?”

Marinette grumbled and took Alya’s hand. “You did that on purpose.”

“Well, usually, but not this time. I actually used the front door this time.”

Marinette furrowed her brow. “Then why didn’t I hear the bell chime?”

“Good question. I didn’t hear it either.”

“Oh, for the love of. Longg! Where’s the bell?”

Longg didn’t speak, but her answer came in the form of rapid chiming.

“You better not hoard that one too!” Marinette yelled.

“So, aside from the bell thief, how’s things been going?” Alya asked.

Marinette sighed and returned to the counter. “Business is good. Had a special order come in about a week ago.”

“Oh! Give me all the details.”

“So long as this stays between us.”

“I swear it.”

“Adrien Agreste requested one of my sweetheart bouquets. He’s going to give it to the woman who he’ll be announcing as his wife-to-be at an event in a couple of months.”

Alya squealed. “That’s a massive scoop! Did he tell you who it’ll be?”

“Well, no. It was his caretaker and butler that gave me the order. I should have asked more, but I got distracted by her health.”

“Why not ask her now?”

“I don’t want to bother her. She’s really not doing well. I suppose I could ask Adrien, but I don’t want to bother him either.”

“Why not? I mean, you two are friends, aren’t you?”

“No. I mean, maybe? I don’t know. Besides, he’s a very busy man. There’s no need to bother him.”

“Yeah, but this is on the grounds of business. And you don’t want your reputation to go down the drain because you ‘just don’t want to bother him.’”

“I know, but I dunno.”

“C’mon, let’s talk. What’s this really about?”

Marinette hugged herself. “Well, I’ve just been thinking. Am I wasting my life away.”

Alya’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

Marinette sighed and leaned on the counter. “All my life I’ve obsessed over the idea of soulmates and devoted myself to the wicca arts all in the pursuit of someone I don’t even know their face in this life. Now, I’m not saying I’m going to give up, but should I really be shutting myself away until I may encounter them? And even if I do, what’s the guarantee we’ll even fall for each other? What if I just waste my life hoping for a fairytale romance like what Rose got, only to be utterly disappointed?”

“Wow. Who finally got through to you?”

“The bell thief.”

Alya snorted. “She’s going to need to teach me her secrets.”

“Focus.”

“Right, right. Look, that’s what I’ve been saying all this time. I know you’ll always hold out hope of meeting your soulmate, but I don’t think you should just sit on the sidelines. You really should be out there living your life. Aside from being a hero.”

“Well, what should I do first?”

“Maybe invite Adrien out to lunch to talk business and maybe after we can hang out. Not to say you’ve been ghosting me, but you have been.”

“Could we maybe just skip to the part where we hang out? It would be the middle of his workday and I’m sure he’d-.”

“He’d love to have lunch with you!” Longg’s muffled yell came from the apartment above.

“Excuse me? What did you just say?” Marinette roared.

“I messaged him a while ago and he just responded. He’s also offered to pick you up, to which I said yes.”

Marinette turned red, then paled. She fanned herself as her heart beat faster and she had difficulty breathing.

“Oh, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad! What do I do? I can’t fight Longg to get back my phone. I can’t weasel out of this one. What do I do? I’m not ready to have any kind of meeting with an influential man, a modern-day crown prince. I’m just an apothecary, a flower girl. Oh, what do I do? What do I do?”

Alya placed a hand on Marinette’s shoulder. “Alright, first, you’re going to breathe. Deep breath in, deep breath out.”

Marinette did as Alya instructed.

Alya guided Marinette to the back and sat her down. She took off Marinette’s apron before she started on Marinette’s hair.

“This is a shock, but you mustn’t forget something important. You may be an apothecary, but you are also a mighty warrior. A knight errant that serves no master that has risen to safeguard those who cannot. A little lunch to discuss business is nothing to a knight such as yourself. No matter who it is that you’re talking with.”

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I am a warrior. I can handle a little lunch.”

“There you go. Now, let me think.”

Alya played around with different hairstyles when Longg burst into the room. Longg had a white frilly, high low mini dress, brown leather jacket, and brown riding boots with her.

“Found a nice outfit to wear.”

“Perfect. I’ll leave your hair down then. Now, get changed. We’ll keep an eye on the front for when Adrien pulls up.”

Marinette nodded. She took the clothes and shooed out Alya and Longg. The pair took their places as a fancy car parked in one of the lots out front.

Longg cooed. “Well, well, looks like he’s here. He wasted no time.”

“No saying anything embarrassing! Longg!” Marinette yelled out.

“Fine! I won’t say anything about you.”

“Longg!”

Longg huffed and leaned on the counter.

Alya shook her head, then looked back at the door as Adrien entered the store. Alya’s eyes widened seeing Adrien. Everything about him was perfectly cut like a marble sculpture. From his flawless jawline to his bulky, perfectly molded physique. She felt as if she were gazing upon a Greek god.

“Good afternoon. I’m here to pick up Marinette for lunch. We’ve business to discuss.”

“You must be Adrien then. If I may be so bold, the cameras really don’t do you justice. They wouldn’t happen to put filters on you to dull your beauty, would they?”

Adrien chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they did at this point. Whatever it takes to mask a beauty such as I.”

“For the little good it does. I imagine you have difficulty walking the streets without being mauled by fans and paparazzi alike.”

“Paparazzi, yes. However, the fans oddly seem to find me intimidating. It’s quite the refreshing change that you don’t seem to.”

“Well, when you face monsters as part of your job, you tend to find people less terrifying. Especially when you need to be in the thick of it all.”

“My, do I find myself in the presence of one of our valiant heroes?”

“You flatter me, but no. I’m one of the crazed paparazzi. However, instead of getting a cushy job stalking people like you, I get the mysterious golden dragon.”

Alya noticed a spark of interest in Adrien’s otherwise deceptive eyes.

“That’s quite the perilous position. You aren’t worried in the slightest?” Adrien questioned.

“Not at all. Danger is my middle name.”

Marinette laughed as she stepped through the doorway. Alya turned towards Marinette but chanced a glance at Adrien. His eyes were now glued to Marinette with his pupils dilated and a certain spark and longing to them.

Alya allowed herself a smirk as she threw an arm around Marinette. “Face it, girl. You’re just jealous I get to live the high life while you’re stuck here. Honestly, you need to live a little more.”

“There is a very fine line between living and throwing your life away.”

“Maybe, but I know the golden dragon will always protect us. Even the stupid ones.”

Marinette smiled and rolled her eyes. She removed Alya’s arm and approached Adrien.

Adrien’s face lit up as he closed the gap. “It’s been a long time, Marinette.”

“That it has. I’m glad we have this time now. I hope it was no trouble with your work.”

“Not when it comes to you. For all the work you’ve done for Nathalie, all you need to do is ask and I’ll be here. It’s the least I can do.”

Marinette’s shoulders drooped. “How is she? Is she taking the herbs? Please tell me she is resting.”

“She’s taking them, albeit with a fight every time. Nonetheless, she’s comfortable when she takes them.”

Marinette sighed. “I wish I could do more for her.”

“You’ve already done far more than any doctor has.”

“It’s true, girl. Don’t sell yourself short. You may not be able to cure people, but you can make them comfortable. To some, that means all the world. No one wants to see their loved ones suffer.”

Longg snorted.

Alya tensed as she looked at Adrien. The levity had fled and was replaced with annoyance.

“Speak your mind. I’m sure we’d all love to-,” Adrien started.

Marinette put a hand up. “Oh, no. No. The last thing you should let either of them do is speak their minds. You’ll be running in circles all day. Especially Xiulan.”

Longg grinned and fluttered her fingers in a wave.

Marinette shook her head. “Right. Alya, will you lock up for me?”

“Yeah. You got your key?”

“Yup, all good.”

“Excellent. You two have fun now.”

Alya watched Adrien escort Marinette to his car. She smiled at his chivalrous nature as he held open the door for Marinette, then shut it once she was in. She waved at Marinette as the pair drove off.

“Well, have fun locking up. I’m going to keep an eye on her,” Longg remarked.

“Now, who said you’d be going alone?”

Longg smirked. “I thought we learned our lessons?”

“Come now, how could I pass up the chance to see my bestie actually living. And maybe I don’t trust Adrien completely.”

Longg laughed. “You say that like you trust in the first place.”

“Only the ones like Mari.”

Alya moved and locked up the store. She headed to the back with Longg behind her.

“You ready?” Longg asked.

Alya pulled out a fox tail necklace. “Ready. Trixx, shroud.”

10 notes · View notes

silentmagi · 2 years

Note

(PhantomThiefKagami!AU) Kagami and Fei and Alya and Adrien - A Plan to Defuse the Dupain-Cheng's Wrath

Suddenly two people were pulling in all the friends they had to try and defuse Marinette's righteous fury. They didn't know why, but they felt it would be bad judging that every one else than their little group of four were suddenly scattering to the four winds.

The chaos compels.

If you want to write one of these, please just link me

#fanfic summaries #Miraculous Ladybug #Phantom Thief!Kagami #Kagami Tsurugi #Fei Wu #Alya Cesaire #Adrien Agreste

4 notes · View notes

edorazzi · 2 years

Text

Well THIS has been a long time coming. Today we’re reviewing Part 2 of the Miraculous Season 4 finale; aka “Strike Back”, aka more of the Felix arc. Sorry for the delay guys, I was just living in fear! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Previous episode reviews: “Felix” | “Gabriel Agreste” | “Risk”

Like previous reviews this is gonna get pretty long, so I’ll throw the rest under a cut and let’s get started once again! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

So here we are again. Literally everything delayed me from getting to this episode: catching Covid, Internet issues, IRL obligations, a general sense of doom. The universe was trying VERY hard to stop me so I think whatever I experience past this point is my own fault. I’ve signed the waiver.

Here’s where we’re at right now:

Everyone (except Felix?) is affected by the akuma “Risk”, whose power causes people within earshot to make impulsive decisions.

Felix is likely after the family rings again, and has taken over Adrien’s horrible modeling trip to stalk/rob Nathalie. I have yet to see how this affects Adrien negatively but I’m sure life will, uh, find a way.

No idea if Uncle Gabe is aware of this. He did set a trap for Felix in the office safe but that was a while ago; and he’s currently trashing Paris with a sentimonster believing Adrien is safe with Nathalie (he’s not lol) so I’m leaning towards him being genuinely ignorant.

There’s a VERY high possibility Ladybug is about to give a Miraculous to the wrong cousin.

So I’m very nervous. Lessgo.

- No recap! I don’t think the last double feature had them either; I remember leaving a while between “Truth” and “Lies” at the beginning of the season and being very confused over stuff I forgot. Guess you either sink or swim when Miraculous decides to do some serious storytelling.

- So we start where we abruptly left off: with Adrien entering the Forbidden Office in search of his dad, finding Felix’s Phantom Thief monocle (what IS that thing...) and getting distracted by today’s sentimonster stomping through the city. He dashes up to his room, transforming into Chat Noir as he goes and leaping gracefully out the window without pause! Or paws. Haha. I’m in danger.

- Next we rehash the scene of Marinette talking with Tikki on the station roof, and getting the bright idea to go rescue “Adrien” (who is Felix in disguise) as Pegabug. She retrieves the horse glasses from her yoyo pocket dimension and is about to unify the two Miraculous when her attention is also caught by Strike Back. SHE JUST STARES, THEN TAKES THE GLASSES OFF AND PUTS THEM AWAY AGAIN. The timing was very funny. Brawl now, true love later! >:0

- Cut to the interior of the Startrain, and now THIS I’m interested in. Nathalie is seated next to “Adrien”, who is actually Felix, and he’s glaring out the window either in boredom or cooking up a cunning plan. Definitely waiting for Nathalie to let her guard down so he can rob her. First old men and now disabled women; where will it end, Felix??

- Nathalie gently puts her hand over “Adrien’s” in a way I’m sure she thinks is reassuring, showing off the family ring in full view. Isn’t actually touching this poor attention-starved kid way above her paygrade? She wouldn’t even give him a hug in “Felix” when she walked in on him crying in his room. Maybe her appreciation for Adrien has grown considering he brought her snacks while she was bedridden. Gabriel just came in and ate them while venting to her, but still.

Also, if this was Adrien, Nathalie flashing this ring so much (between the previous scene in the study and now) would be super rude, right? I know Adrien supports whatever his father has with her and it’s Gabriel who kicks off every time it’s brought up; but showing off his mom’s wedding ring like this with no explanation is another level.

And ALSO, again, where is this particular ring meant to have come from? The cover story in “Gabriel Agreste” is that Ol’ Gabe graciously bestowed his own ring unto his dear nephew (after Felix robbed, tricked and nearly outed him as Shadow Moth), and the other is still officially ‘missing’ because it disappeared with Emilie, who is definitely not in a fridge in the basement. Are they both banking on Adrien not recognising it, and it’s just terrible luck that this is Felix?

- ANYWAY. Felix reacts like he’s been burned, and I’m sure it’s because the ring he’s desperate for is right there on Nathalie’s hand, but I’m in tears thinking he’s just fucking OUTRAGED at being touched without permission. Like the first episode where he went to shake Adrien’s hand and got full-on hugged instead. He came here to rob people and he is feeling SO violated right now?? >:/

- Nathalie encourages “Adrien” to “try to make the most out of this trip”, and highlights how he’ll get to see the world and then come back to his friends with lots to share. Not that I believe this is going ahead, but I hope that means she’s at least planning to give him a decent amount of freedom; like in the Shanghai Special where Gabriel actually let Adrien go out and explore the city (with a bodyguard). Maybe she really does care! Just a little bit. :’)

- Felix says something ominous about “seizing the opportunity when it presents itself”, so I guess he’s recovered from being so RUDELY manhandled - literally the worst thing that’s happened to him today! Move over, Aunt Emilie’s frozen corpse! - and is back to plotting atrocities.

- Lila interrupts to claim she and Adrien will become “the best friends in the world” on this trip! Now, Felix has been mostly separate from Adrien’s social circle with the exception of Kagami and Chloe (and that time the Girl Squad tried to kill him), so he doesn’t know Lila’s reputation as a liar or how much grief she’s put his cousin through; but maybe it takes a sneaky manipulator to know one?

- “Adrien” tells Lila he “hopes so with all his heart”. This should be her first clue that something isn’t right. He was ready to tear her to SHREDS during the photoshoot this morning and now he’s Prince Charming! Would the real Adrien be extra polite in front of Nathalie? :/

Also, if this is grounds for suspicion, does Lila know Adrien has a strikingly identical cousin? She hasn’t been around for this arc but she may have heard about him from their classmates. I wonder if Felix is common knowledge to people who haven’t been directly involved with his nonsense, or if he’s some kind of horrible unlockable item once you reach a certain friendship level with Adrien.

- At any rate, “Adrien” excuses himself to the bathroom with his duffel bag. Lila pokes her head over the seats with wide eyes to watch him leave; does she know something’s up? Gotta take those every-15-minutes model showers, I’m sure the Startrain has the facilities for it.

- In the train bathroom, Felix takes the fake Peacock Miraculous out of his bag and affixes it to his chest. What is it about the Agreste family and wielding dark magic in train bathrooms? The twins HAVE to be sentimonsters because I refuse to believe Felix isn’t related to Gabriel in any way, it’s ridiculous. He also retrieves Nathalie’s tablet and deletes her Candy Crush flicks through scans of the Miraculous book to find details on the Peacock and how to activate it. I’m so upset Shadow Moth’s presence confirms this brooch is a fake; this would be so cool! :(

- Felix is perplexed when no kwami appears from the brooch. He tries the magic words - “Duusu, spread my feathers!” - and nothing happens. He crushes the brooch in the palm of his hand and it shatters easily, proving it’s just cheap costume jewelry his uncle planted as a decoy.

- FELIX REALISES HE’S BEEN TRICKED. Score one for Uncle Gabe! Turnabout is fair play after all, and it’s taken him over three episodes to get back at his nephew in any way. During their last conflict Gabriel may have been a fool dressed as a peacock in his secretary’s bedroom, but he’s not a fool dressed as Adrien Agreste in a train bathroom with no Miraculous. That’s Felix.

- Back to Paris and Strike Back is stomping around. He looks like one of those Laputa golems (which I’m sure is intentional). Ladybug and Chat meet up and fall into sync right away, agreeing to wrap this up quick because they’ve both got other pressing business. This pressing business is Felix, lol.

- Shadow Moth leers from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Risk (who I completely forgot about, lmao) cycles through the sentimonster’s path of destruction and influences nearby Parisians to stick around in the danger zone so they can catch sight of the superheroes/get videos for social media. I’m surprised this isn’t a problem they have to deal with more often since the heroes are very popular; this is exactly what Alya was doing in Season 1 and it’s apparently been less than a year since then!

- Ladybug has to actively “shoo!” the civilians away, which is very funny. She also drags Risk out of danger, not realising he’s an akuma; then Risk pushes straight onwards again and nearly gets hit by a car. WHY IS EVERY SINGLE TODDLER IN MIRACULOUS SO TERRIBLE.

- Chat’s Risk mark lights up and he nearly Cataclysms the sentimonster, which as we know is a HUGE no-no because it makes them go haywire. Ladybug trips it with her yoyo wire instead, and Strike Back makes a massive dent in the city with millions in property damage. Chat gets annoyed and says that was literally no better than what he was gonna do! Which isn’t actually correct but I’ll give him this one; he deserves a little snark today. As a treat.

- The heroes go on to argue, appropriately, about how Ladybug never wants to take any risks. I like this exchange; both kids are very animated and I love Chat’s flow of sassy/disgruntled expressions in particular. Chat asks if Ladybug would ‘risk’ knowing who he was behind the mask, and Ladybug gets angry because she does NOT want to have this discussion right now! It’s REALLY dumb at this point. EITHER LET THEM SHARE IDENTITIES OR STOP ENGINEERING MORE REASONS WHY IT WOULD BE FINE TO DO SO, MY GOODNESS.

- This impromptu debate distracts them from Strike Back, who nearly flattens them. Chat grabs Ladybug despite them being super mad at each other right now (which is sweet); and the pair crashland in the streets and roll several feet while STILL arguing. This reminds me a whole lot of Stormy Weather and I wonder if that’s on purpose. Look how far we’ve come.

Geez, remember when this show wasn’t exactly what we’d expected but it also wasn’t a mess? Those golden days of staying up late and watching low-res Korean TV streams waiting for a new episode with no subtitles, instead of putting new content off for weeks because it’s too exhausting to see what they’ll do next. Edorazzi remembers. :’)

- Chat asks “Why do you know the identities of the other Miraculous holders? Why not me?” And Ladybug yet again tells him she’s protecting his identity in case Shadow Moth akumatizes her. Clearly the scriptwriters know what they meant, but I took that as Chat questioning why Ladybug shut him out of knowing ANY of the other superheroes so he couldn’t even help with stuff like Miraculous distribution. Wasn’t that where this started? Why are we back here??

- Chat says either he, she or both of them (I can’t figure out exactly what he says :/) will NEVER get akumatized. Ladybug has a flashback to Chat Blanc.

ARE WE REALLY BRINGING THIS UP. Like I’m sorry, but if we’re dragging that mess of an episode back into relevancy then Bunnyx should show up to slap Ladybug on the wrist whenever she’s about to do something which dooms the universe (because Marinette is somehow capable of breaking her own timeline without any outside influence); therefore if Bunnyx isn’t here right now then it’s fine and she has no reason to be defensive. Which is ridiculous but that’s the canon logic we’re living with. Welcome to the clown tent.

- “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” / “Maybe because you never talk to me about ANYTHING!” HE’S RIGHT, YOU KNOW. Ladybug doesn’t have to full-on share identities if she isn’t comfortable, but this season has a pattern of Chat getting left out of things and then being blamed for not knowing what’s up. Everything from Sentibubbler to the Scarabella mess and now this! JUST COMMUNICATE, HOLY SHIT. WHERE IS FELIX.

- IT’S ESCALATING. Through her earpiece Rena Furtive prompts Ladybug to dodge an attack. Ladybug’s Risk mark lights up and she thanks Rena loudly for Chat to hear. For a second she ACTUALLY tries to pretend she doesn’t know what Chat’s talking about, but ultimately confesses that Rena (who supposedly gave up her Miraculous way back in Sentibubbler) is on watch except she can’t tell him where. I guess this is a sign she does want to share this stuff with Chat and just doesn’t have the courage; but it comes across as a slap in the face and more like she forgot he was there. Chat is getting FURIOUS and I’m not happy either, the disrespect!!! >:0

- Ladybug spots Risk heading back into the danger zone once again and swings off to save him. Chat spots Mayor Bourgeois breaking out his film camera to record the sentimonster and does the same (and it’s nice to see more followup on André’s passions!). The kids realise they can’t fight the sentimonster if they’re constantly saving civilians, so Ladybug goes for “reinforcements”. Which Chat isn’t allowed to know about, of course.

- Is she going for Felix, believing he’s Adrien and that this will be the perfect excuse to keep him in Paris. MAYBE.

- Ladybug dishes out a bunch of Miraculous to the usual suspects (Nino, Kagami, Juleka, Zoe and Mylene), including Marc and Ivan this time! That’s nice. Where is Luka though? I get the feeling the writers banned him from the rest of the season because all the drama comes from Chat and Ladybug arguing/ miscommunicating, and we’ve seen from Wishmaker that Luka knows exactly how to deal with that nonsense. Can’t change his nature so just lock him in the houseboat until Season 5. :/

- Apparently Roi Singe is here too. Why wasn’t he in the lineup? The heroes launch several attacks on Strike Back and nothing works, the sentimonster just duplicates and copies their powers into its clones. Is this an allegory for Ol’ Gabe FINALLY figuring out how to dupe Felix, by absorbing his trickery and turning it back on him? :V

- Strike Back rips up the Ferris wheel to throw at them, and Ryuko unknowingly deflects it towards the top of the TV studio where Rena is hiding. Carapace SCREAMS her name and throws Shellter over the building so she won’t get hit.

- EVERYONE INCLUDING SHADOW MOTH IS NOW AWARE RENA IS STILL AN ACTIVE MIRACULOUS HOLDER. Which could have been avoided if Nino just didn’t YELL OUT HER WHOLEASS NAME, right? It’s reasonable to protect one of the tallest buildings in Paris; might not have been the wisest use of his power but nobody would question it! It’s not even implied he shouted because of Risk, this particular dumbassery is all his own.

How on Earth did Nino know, though? Did Alya bring him back into the loop? I seriously don’t remember that happening, but hell if I can recall half of what goes on in this show any more. Not to be Old Woman Yells At Cloud but I used to have such a good grip on what was happening in Miraculous and now I’m barely clinging on. :’V

Also, for once Carapace is the one everybody’s going >:0 at, which is a nice change from him picking on Chat Noir so much this season. Ah ha ha.

- OKAY. Alya confesses she told Nino about Rena Furtive because she just “couldn’t keep it from him”, so this is something that happened behind the scenes. LADYBUG SOUNDS SUPER MAD AT HER. This is so funny. I don’t hate any of these characters but they’ve been deeply frustrating for the latter half of the season and watching this all turn around is cathartic. :D

- Rena FINALLY notices everyone’s frog-shaped marks. There’s also a moment where Ladybug is about to wring Risk’s neck but Chat intervenes because he’s “good with kids” and Risk clings to him immediately. It’s pretty cute.

- CHAT GETS THROWN FROM OFFSCREEN INTO A BUILDING. GUESS BABYSITTING DIDN’T GO WELL. The heroes finally realise Risk is an akuma, and Shadow Moth is pleased because now Ladybug will second-guess everything she does. It’s a neat little two-layered plan; first she’s blissfully reckless and then she’s paranoid! Ladybug immediately orders Chat to go detransform because she won’t trust him with his Cataclysm, which I’m sure will do wonders for this argument they’re already having. :/

- Chat is left on the rooftop as everyone else leaves, and the fragile little way he mumbles “But I can help...” has me in TEARS. His Risk mark flares up a moment later and he leaps off towards one of the Strike Back clones, presumably to do something reckless that Ladybug will get mad about.

- Meanwhile, the girls try to de-akumatize Risk but can’t find his akumatized object because he hid it. Which is REALLY sneaky and honestly something Shadow Moth should instruct every akumatized person to do. Forget all these “megakumas” or whatever else Ol’ Gabe’s working on, just hide the key items and they’ll be borderline unstoppable!

- Chat gets pinned by a vehicle and tries to Cataclysm it to get free, only to have his attack stolen by Strike Back. That’s disappointing; I really expected him to prove Ladybug’s fears wrong by being sensible regardless of risk-taking but I guess we’re not doing that today. :/

- Ladybug gets mad and Lucky Charms up a day-old zoo ticket. Not sure what her plan is, but she decides she needs someone who hasn’t been hit by Risk - and of course her mind goes to Adrien-who-is-actually-Felix who she vividly recalls having no mark on his neck as she watched him board the train. UH OH. I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN, I JUST DIDN’T KNOW HOW.

- Ladybug goes on a confusing tangent about whether or not her ideas are too risky, just as Shadow Moth anticipated. She plucks the Horse and the Rabbit Miraculous out of her yoyo dimension - never mind how she has the stopwatch after Season 1 established it belonged to Alix as a family heirloom. I don’t know WHAT is going on with the Bunnyx subplot any more, IT’S ALL STUPID - and merges them with the Ladybug Miraculous to come out looking like a video game avatar when you equip all your high stat items at once; then jumps through a portal to (I presume) give Felix his fifth heart attack of the day.

- Pegabunnybug and “Adrien” come out of adjacent bathrooms at the same time and spook each other. It’s like when the business convention has to share a venue with the sci-fi anime con! Felix instantly goes into recovery mode, as is his #1 talent, and (after subtly throwing his bag of stolen goods into the bathroom stall and closing the door) puts on his best wide-eyed Adrien impression.

- Instantly getting into his personal space, Ladybug checks “Adrien’s” neck and confirms he’s unmarked by Risk. If Felix is trying to save his cousin from being a doormat this is a sign to redouble his efforts; he dresses up as Adrien for 20 minutes and everyone keeps touching him! >:0

- She produces a Miraculous from her yoyo (lord help me I can’t recognise any of them any more :/) and Felix is very interested in this little pocket dimension. Now I was already assuming he’d steal whichever item this is but IS HE PLANNING TO SWIPE THE WHOLE DAMN YOYO? SWEETIE. IF THIS IS WHERE IT’S GOING NO WONDER PEOPLE ARE MAD AT HIM.

- Oh, the Dog Miraculous! SO IT’S GONNA BE LIKE THAT WHEN FELIX IS TRADITIONALLY A CAT HOLDER, IS IT. Not that I’m NOT Pro-Felix, and I guess they’ve recast the snake, the bee and technically the mouse when their holders didn’t suit, but this feels kinda mean to Sabrina when she’s done nothing to deserve losing it. I already know giving the power of item retrieval to a thief is a terrible idea, but I wonder who’s most at risk here; Nathalie, Gabriel or Ladybug?

- I wonder about “Adrien” doubting himself for a second here. Is that part of Felix’s impression of his pathetic cousin or a genuine reaction? I don’t see the point in hesitating if Ladybug is freely offering what he wants but maybe he’s just covering his ass; can’t look too eager.

I’ve talked about this before but this is what I mean with Felix, you know? When it comes to scenes like this nearly every Miraculous character can be sorted into two categories: “genuine” or “ingenuine but it’s very obvious”; but despite Felix’s theatrical villainy he has no clear goal or motivation like everyone else. I know this is a kiddie show for babies but I think the shift in parameters is why I’m consistently baffled and changing my interpretation of what’s happening.

That said, I’m sure he’s being fake as hell right now; just something to bring up. Let’s continue.

- HIS REACTION IS SO CUTE WHEN BARKK APPEARS. This is what Felix was expecting when he put on the fake Peacock Miraculous and he’s clearly amazed to see it for real! Now I think about it, wasn’t Barkk a little set apart from the other kwami in a couple of previous episodes; being a bit more vigilant and purpose-driven? Maybe she(?) and Felix will get along? :0

- OH MY GOD, THE TRANSFORMATION!!! THEY GAVE FELIX HIS THIGH HIGHS. GOD FUCKING BLESS. It’s a little disappointing he’s pretending to be Adrien right now, so we still don’t know what a costume tailored to Felix himself would look like (less gaudy than this, I imagine), but this is a lot more flattering than whatever Sabrina had going on and has several beats of Felix’s classic Chat Noir suit. The boots! The ball “bell”! The sharp shoulders, sleek arms and big ears!!! （ｉДｉ）

Throwing in a comparison. Those boots are spot on, pun fully intended.

Yet again I should switch this episode off here, I really should. Every single Felix Episode has a point where it can only go downhill and this is where I should stop; where he has yet to do anything horrific and also got a cute transformation. Alas, I press play. :(

- Yep, he immediately touches Ladybug’s yoyo under the pretence of learning how his powers work. Fortunately it’s ineffective since he needs to use the ball and not his bare hand, but he’s gunning for it. FELIX NOOOO.

- Ladybug’s plan is to go back into the past, I guess to find where Risk hid his akumatized object. That must be what the zoo ticket is for, I just figured it out. This is what happens when I don’t get a recap in a two-parter. She takes “Adrien” into Bunnyx’s rabbit hole dimension, and I can SEE him having an absolute meltdown trying to process all this but he’s holding it together like a champ.

I should start keeping a scoreboard of Felix’s heart attacks because this makes at least six in one day. Dropping into the Butterfly Lair, discovering Emilie’s corpse, Gabriel nearly catching him in the study, Nathalie touching his hand (>:0!!!), Pegabunnybug ambushing him on the train and now the rabbit hole dimension scrambling his brain. Good thing he’s probably a sentimonster because this would kill a normal person.

- They get spat out into the zoo scene from the previous episode, where Risk has just been akumatized. “Adrien” is here to simply throw the ball and hit the akumatized object; I guess so they can locate it in the future and not disrupt the timeline by grabbing it now.

I’d question why Ladybug couldn’t just quadruple up on Miraculous and do this herself, but they have thrown in the crippling doubt over her own actions (and I’m sure the excuse to get Adrien in on things is appealing to her) so fair enough. Turns out I was right about Felix being the key because he’s a sociopathic little bastard who can operate normally under these circumstances. :V

- Wow, Felix actually does as instructed! I thought he would tag Ladybug’s yoyo and run, but he just dutifully hits the frog toy and they both jump back into the portal. I assume he can’t pick more than one target without refueling his kwami, right?

- They return to the present and PARIS IS IN FLAMES, SOMEHOW. Is this shot a reference to the PV with Felix and Bri on the rooftop under the burning sky? It’s much less cinematic and Felix is dressed like a dog, but it definitely feels like a homage considering the characters we’re dealing with. That’s fun.

- The Miraculous Holders are dying, and Chat Noir is either the last one standing OR he’s gone off the rails and caused this whole mess. Ladybug instructs “Adrien” (who is still unnamed as a hero, I think?) to use his power and they locate the akumatized object with ease. This solves the Risk problem but now they have to deal with the duplicating sentimonster!

- Chat eavesdrops on Ladybug absolutely WORSHIPING the new guy. My first reaction was “wow she really is obsessed with Adrien”, but this is also after Adrien failed spectaclarly as Aspik (and Viperion became the new Snake Miraculous Holder), which I don’t think gets brought up often enough and puts a new angle on Ladybug congratulating him for doing everything right on his “first try”. :’0

- LADYBUG BLURTS OUT ADRIEN’S NAME. GIRL WHAT THE HECK, THE RISK MARKS ARE GONE. IS SHE JUST DUMB.

- Felix picks some absolutely horrific name for himself that I don’t know how to spell (but have since discovered it’s “Flairmidable”). I guess it doesn’t matter since he’ll probably never be a Miraculous Holder again. Maybe he eschewed some more on-the-nose dog puns like “Retriever” or “Courage” or Scrappy, lmao just to make Adrien look ridiculous? I can dream. Either way this should be a massive clue he ISN’T Adrien, who settled on the very creative “Black Cat” and had to stay up all night with Plagg’s help to come up with “Catwalker”, but nobody’s close enough to him to connect those dots. Adrien’s arguably better at costume design though; the cousins should pool their talents sometime.

- Chat seems to have missed Ladybug’s slip of the tongue, so he’s just very upset to see her bonding so hard with this new guy. It’s like a glimpse into an alternate universe where Adrien and Chat really ARE different people. Don’t worry honey, Flairmidable isn’t interested in girls like that; he just wants to rob her! >:V

- Ladybug returns Froggy’s plush toy to him, protective charm attached. Also, Rena Furtive is now out in the open with everyone? I know her existence got re-confirmed but unless Ladybug’s about to take her Miraculous away this seems like a horrible idea. Shadow Moth knows who she is! At least preserve the illusion of being a different person!!!

- Everyone goes to recharge, which I’m sure will give Felix another shot at stealing that yoyo. Chat is left alone and despondent. :(

- Shadow Moth is disappointed by Risk’s defeat, but is certain Ladybug must have made a mistake and “can’t wait to see what it is”. THAT WOULD BE FELIX, A TERRIBLE HORRIBLE MISTAKE UNCLE GABE IS PERSONALLY FAMILIAR WITH. :)

- Revisiting the sewers, Ladybug and Flairmidable detransform either side of the split tunnels like Marinette and Adrien have done before. Mari resolves to return “Adrien” to the Startrain and feels wrong for interfering (as if the real Adrien didn’t have a whole outburst just this morning about how much he hated this?), but “Adrien” claims he wants to stay here and fight by her side instead, leering at Barkk in a comically menacing way. GUESS THE NONSENSE IS STARTING. I UNCLIPPED MY SEATBELT FOR A SECOND THERE BUT TIME TO STRAP BACK IN. :/

- “You’ve given me the courage I needed, Ladybug. I feel like from now on, NOTHING can stop me.” OKAY EDGELORD, TONE IT DOWN.

I really want to know what Felix’s goals are here. He hasn’t shown interest in destroying the superheroes like Shadow Moth or obtaining power/control like Lila and Chloe - it’s mainly been about getting the family rings plus a side order of ruining Gabriel’s day (and Adrien’s if he gets caught in the crossfire, sorry buddy) and his interest in the Miraculous seems like a relatively new thing. He was also horrified by finding Emilie which tells me he’s not completely sociopathic. Clearly he’s about to do something horrible but I have trouble believing he’s just a villain with no good motive, you know?

- Back topside, the remaining Miraculous Holders (plus Rena, sans Chat) are on the exact same rooftop they nearly died on earlier. Very smart. Ladybug shows up with Flairmidable and officially introduces him as “the new holder of the Dog Miraculous!” SO I GUESS IT’S OVER FOR SABRINA. OOF. Chat Noir pops up over the railing right as she says this (while gazing at Flairmidable with adoration) which is VERY funny. Like oh no you DON’T. >:0

- Ladybug smooshes the pair of them together, clearly happy to have her two favourite guys side by side (Viperion wasn’t even invited today, second oof) and delighted with the cat/dog dynamic. Once again she’s ignoring Chat’s very obvious discomfort as if this setup is perfect! She laughs hysterically as the other Miraculous Holders look on with concern.

- Chat absolutely HATES this guy. Flairmidable gives a polite little “Nice working with you, Chat Noir :)” but it’s tinged with the same venom as Felix’s intro scene where he called Adrien his “favourite cousin”. I’m convinced this kid just can’t say ANYTHING nice without sounding evil, exactly like his uncle. :’)

- I’m wondering if this will be the consequence of all the times Chat had to put up with Rena. He didn’t trust her at ALL but had to just shut up and do what he was told as the girls worked everything out behind his back. Now Flairmidable is giving off positively evil vibes, but is Chat going to push it or assume Ladybug knows what she’s doing and he doesn’t have the right to say anything?

- Ladybug tells the boys to “shake paws” like they’re actual pets. Hold on to your ring, Chat, we all know what happened LAST time Felix shook hands with anyone. Chat reaches out very reluctantly but Flairmidable firmly grasps his hand and shakes it, putting in the extra distance like he’s REALLY determined to be friendly. Ladybug is trilling in excitement and completely ignoring Chat very obviously wanting to die right now. I feel kinda bad for them both, honestly. Also, is Felix lefthanded? :0

- Ladybug assures the boys they’re going to be spending a LOOOOT of time together now Flairmidable is on the team. FOREVER. Wasn’t this the exact problem they faced in Kuro Neko; when Adrien put on his princely public persona as Catwalker and Ladybug couldn’t function around him because he was too hot? Does her determination to have Adrien on the team overpower her decision not to work with anyone she’s attracted to? I’m sure this won’t matter because Felix will have robbed her by the end of the day and never be allowed a Miraculous again, but still.

- Ladybug Lucky Charms up a pair of sunglasses which Marc duplicates. While she’s explaining whatever the hell this plan is, Flairmidable subtly touches his ball to her yoyo. I KNEW he was up to shit. There’s various shots of everyone wearing their shades, and Flairmidable carefully handling his pair while Chat has just slapped them on and continued to glare is very funny.

- Flairmidable gets some kinda look on his face when he asks what Ladybug is planning to do with the sentimonsters, like he’s nervous. Hmm.

- Everyone leaps away but Flairmidable hangs back from the crowd. He looks like Dave Strider in these glasses and that wasn’t a comparison I was prepared to make today.

- Pegabug OPENS A GIANT PORTAL WHICH DROPS THE SENTIMONSTERS INTO THE FUCKING SUN. OKAY??? I GUESS THAT’S WHY EVERYONE NEEDED THE SHADES BUT JESUS....

- Flairmidable takes off his shades with a look of sadness, drops them at his feet where they shatter, then turns away with a sorrow-filled whisper of “I’m sorry”.

And I’m going to interrupt myself here with a post-liveblog sidebar because I WAS DUMB AS ROCKS ON MY FIRST WATCH. I initially interpreted this as Felix enjoying himself around the superheroes (especially after Chat accused him of having no friends; maybe this is his first experience being accepted by a group of peers) and being reluctant to betray them for whatever his bigger goal is, but now I absolutely believe he was talking to the sentimonsters, not the heroes. He was fine dispatching Risk (an akuma) but instantly nervous about what Ladybug planned to do with the Strike Back clones, and ultimately had to watch them die at the hands of the Miraculous Heroes - in a sequence framed a lot more dramatically than other episodes - while being unable to step in. Jesus FUCK. “Felix is a sentimonster” isn’t even a question at this point, is it.

ANYWAY.

- At the top of the Eiffel Tower, Shadow Moth is so enraged he jumps over the edge. I’m sure he’s bounding away to do more evil but THAT’S SO FUNNY; HE’S LIKE A TODDLER.

- Rena and Ladybug land in an alley just like before, perfectly synchronised. Are they still gonna have a serious discussion or is Ladybug riding high on inducting “Adrien” into the gang and ready to forgive everything?

- Marinette is willing to let things go, saying she understands the need to share everything with her best friend (Chat Noir is CRYING on a rooftop somewhere), but it’s actually Alya who renounces her Miraculous because she knows it’s too risky to continue as Rena now Shadow Moth knows? WHOA. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. I’ve been liking Alya more and more this season; I found her pretty irritating and reckless earlier in the show (when all her plotlines were about hindering Ladybug, having a boyfriend and/or not respecting Marinette’s boundaries with Adrien) but she’s really pulling through. Miraculous or not I hope she stays as Mari’s confidante.

- Ladybug goes back to the sewers to find Adrien, who ISN’T THERE. QUELLE SURPRISE.

- Cut to Gabriel returning home (in a very dignified way, after leaping off the Eiffel Tower in a blind rage) while on a call to Nathalie, complaining about this plan failing and demanding she cancel everything and bring Adrien home. THE WHIPLASH ADRIEN WOULD BE GETTING IF HE WERE ACTUALLY THERE. He strides into his study, still on the phone, and cue the funniest moment so far of this Gabriel/Felix feud.

- FLAIRMIDABLE IS JUST LOUNGING THERE, FULL COSTUME, FEET UP ON SHADOW MOTH’S DESK AND PLAYING WITH THE BALL. Strikingly similar to the way he greeted Adrien in the previous episode, and again lefthanded.

He does shift to spinning it with his right hand later, and I think he was messing with Adrien’s basketball righthanded too; so Felix must be ambidextrous. It would certainly fit his character considering he takes whichever side is most beneficial to him.

- GABRIEL DROPS HIS PHONE, AND AFTER TWO FULL EPISODES FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGES FELIX’S PRESENCE IN HIS HOME. Albeit this time with genuine surprise instead of murderous rage. Felix clarifies that he was the mistake Ladybug made, which is what we’ve all been saying.

I did have an extra note here to the effect of “I haven’t forgotten the remorseful way he abandoned the heroes tho”, but that’s out the window now I’ve realised Felix was upset about the sentimonsters. In his mind the Miraculous Holders probably deserve whatever they get!

- Also, Nathalie starts dying on the Startrain. Lila notices and looks pleased about it. Moving on.

- Cut to who I assume is the real Adrien exiting his ensuite bathroom, back in his normal clothes, and Ladybug leaping in through his open window. TO CHEW HIM OUT FOR STEALING THE MIRACULOUS FELIX TOOK, I’M SURE.

- Okay, at least Ladybug’s giving him the benefit of the doubt at first; assuming she forgot to tell Adrien where they should meet after the battle. You could say something about her trusting Adrien is in the right while Chat Noir is currently always in the wrong at ALL times, but I’m just glad Adrien’s reputation isn’t actually suffering because of Felix’s mischief. I’m Team Felix here but Adrien deserves a break.

- Ladybug mentions the train and Adrien realises what happened, ominously growling “FELIX”, and Ladybug’s horror movie reaction is amazing. Chill out guys, you don’t even know what he’s done yet! Adrien was still trying to figure out how Felix screwed him over by commandeering this modeling trip, you always expect the worst. Yes he’s actively committing an atrocity as we speak, but you shouldn’t just assume! >:0

- Back to the office and this is INCREDIBLE. I love these shots of Felix just making himself at home in other people’s stuff; he looks SO fucking full of himself. I also notice he’s got paw pads on his boots, which is another point on the “honouring Felix’s old costume” scoreboard:

The classic beans.

- So Felix wants the Peacock Miraculous now. He threatens to tell Adrien about the secret waifu dungeon beneath the mansion BUT offers Gabriel a trade: the Peacock for all the other Miraculous, and he’ll return the family ring he stole. I can’t believe we thought Lila was going to be the new villain striking deals with Shadow Moth, Felix is outrageous!

And I’m interrupting myself again, but lots of my commentary on this scene was “why does Felix want the Peacock? What’s up with him? Why is he giving up on the rings and why doesn’t he “need” the one he took any more?”; blah blah blah. He’s a sentimonster and the Peacock Miraculous is like handing a dog its own leash. Endless freedom baybee.

I think he was after Emilie’s ring - the one Nathalie currently has - because it contains Adrien’s amok (while Felix’s is likely in the ring he’s been wearing this whole time, which I believe belonged to his dad?), so he’s comfy returning Gabriel’s ring in this bargain because its only value is sentimental. I’m playing 5D chess in my brain with all this but I honestly think that’s what’s happening.

- “If I’d wanted to harm you, Uncle, I would have done it a long time ago.” KINDA FUCKED UP, BUT I GUESS THAT’S ON PAR WITH “I need only snap my fingers to make you disappear from here”. Affectionate death threats must run in the Agreste/Vanily families and Adrien gets excluded because he’s sensitive. Felix really tries being nice to him with the “my favourite cousin” stuff but it still comes out sounding evil. :/

- HOLY SHIT, GABRIEL ACTUALLY DOES IT. He renounces Duusu and swaps the Peacock brooch for the family ring!!! Both he and Felix hesitate warily before grabbing the items from each other; they really do NOT trust one another (despite being family; or probably because they’re family) and I love that.

- Felix makes good on his promise and “fetches” Ladybug’s compact. Gabriel grabs it from him in glee, cackling that Ladybug has FINALLY lost. GUESS FELIX IS HIS FAVOURITE NOW. Sucks to be the Miraculous Holders but I always said some kind of bargaining system would make things way easier than just threatening each other all the time!

- Upstairs, Ladybug is having a panic attack in Adrien’s room. Wouldn’t the yoyo disappear if she detransforms then reappear on her person? It’s tough to think clearly in a panic though and I do feel for her. I want to give her a hug. :(

- ADRIEN IS A TOTAL BESTIE. 10/10. He takes charge of the situation, instructs Ladybug to think and breathe, and shoves her into the bathroom where she can detransform in privacy. His ring is in full view for this shot - he’s ABSOLUTELY in Chat Noir mode and THIS is why he’s her partner! But poor Mari doesn’t trust anything about herself, her decisions or even that Adrien isn’t Felix right now and tricking her again. Sweetheart...! ; n ;

- Downstairs, Felix renounces the Dog Miraculous to Gabriel as well - who is cackling over his haul - and leaves the study with (I assume) just the Peacock. I’m sure Adrien’s about to rugby tackle him across the foyer and THAT I would love to see.

- Ladybug retransforms (baby girl, sweetie, if only you’d done that instantly...! :’0) and is too late! Gabriel took ALL the Miraculous except hers, Chat Noir’s, and the Peacock. Even the Fox is gone because Alya gave it back to Marinette this afternoon. THIS HAS ALL WORKED OUT HORRIBLY. Is this implying Season 5 will draw back on the huge fleet of heroes but deliver on crazy new outfits for Gabriel? I hope so.

- Adrien gets a burst of courage (this time not from an akuma) and opens the bathroom door to speak to Ladybug; maybe planning to reveal his identity as Chat Noir to give better support than his civilian self can. She’s gone by the time he enters. :(

- Ladybug is outdoors crying in the rain. Hawk Moth (I guess he’s not Shadow Moth any more?) does a ridiculous Eye of Sauron thing in the sky; like his introduction in Origins except even campier with a massive ring of Miraculous symbols.

- During his evil speech we cycle through several of the (ex) Miraculous Holders looking mad about it. Hi Luka, nice to see you at least once before the season ends. They have Chloe here too and even she looks upset; could this be a hint she’s coming back as Queen Bee or at least allying with the heroes?? PLEASE. It’s only been half a season and I am SO tired of Zoe.

- Cut to Felix on the Startrain, and I’m sure Ladybug’s wellbeing comes first but frankly I’m amazed Chat Noir hasn’t camped out at the train station to beat his ass. He’s gotta go home sometime! >:0

We see the Peacock Miraculous has redesigned itself to suit him which is really cool. It reminds me a bit of his classic Black Cat ring.

The pointed edges almost look like cat ears.

Felix also looks, like... really happy to have it. Not ‘evil’ happy, relieved happy; holding it to his chest and closing his eyes with a peaceful smile. This is clearly important to him on a personal level and not just about causing more chaos. And here is my VERY belated realisation that Felix is a sentimonster who just won his own freedom, holy SHIT.

- Back to Ladybug. Chat Noir appears by her side, standing upright and fierce while she’s curled up and small. She FINALLY realises all the nonsense she’s been putting him through this season and can’t understand why he’s still here.

I’m glad they’re actually addressing this. I’ve enjoyed the angsty dynamic of Chat getting sidelined but it’s frustrating when every confrontation has gone nowhere. Marinette’s had a huge amount on her shoulders this season so I don’t blame her for being stressed and distracted, but she will NOT let Chat help her and has preferred to ignore/placate him in small doses instead of actually sitting down to address the problem. Like it’s wildly inconvenient he doesn’t know what’s going on with her, but she also won’t tell him and then gets mad when he steps on her toes. I don’t think they should reveal identities if Ladybug isn’t ready (and Chat is wrong to keep asking, even if he’s only pressing so hard because he thinks it’ll fix things), but it’s a big leap between that and just, like... keeping Chat in the loop so he isn’t confused. Fortunately that shouldn’t be a problem any more! :D

- ANYWAY. Chat pulls Ladybug to her feet and into a hug, swearing to her they’ll get all the Miraculous back one by one. GUESS THAT’S THE PLOT OF SEASON 5. Also the entirety of Paris is out here cheering for her (despite Hawk Moth blaming her for allowing this mess to happen) which is really sweet. And if the blush on her cheeks is any indication, maybe she’s falling in love with Chat Noir now? :0

Gorgeous final scene. Very atmospheric.

SO WOW. HOLY SHIT, WHAT AN EPISODE.

I was anticipating a Miracle-Queen-esque storyline which would take Felix from an intriguing character to a ridiculous villain with bland motives (and then I’d have to work overtime to insist he’s still likable/interesting), but this was so much more exciting than I expected!!! Once again Felix gets more done in one episode than the rest of the characters in a whole season, but the way the status quo has been changed up is fascinating. It might not be just Hawk Moth vs the Miraculous Heroes any more - it looks like Felix has created a third side for sentimonsters and he’ll ally with or step on whichever group benefits him most. This is WILD.

So my thoughts on Felix specifically. I think he’s a perfect example of a “chaotic neutral” character. Here’s a DND definition I swiped from Google:

‘A chaotic neutral character is an individualist who follows their own heart and generally shirks rules and traditions. Although chaotic neutral characters promote the ideals of freedom, it is their own freedom that comes first; good and evil come second to their need to be free.’

Doesn’t that sound like him? Like they literally printed this out and stuck it on the wall while designing Felix “God Damn” Vanily.

I imagine a lot of fans hate him because he’s made things harder for the main characters, and I agree, he did! He tricked Adrien, undid three seasons’ worth of progress, delivered all the extra Miraculous directly to Shadow Moth, and Ladybug’s breakdown towards the end of the episode was painful to watch. I absolutely get it. But that doesn’t make Felix a villain. It doesn’t even make him a bad person per se - he’s just not on anyone’s side. He shows up, gets his shit done and leaves. Fair play.

(That said, I really do think he was planning to help Adrien get out of this international photoshoot and got distracted by the ring. Yes he wanted to break into Gabriel’s safe, but he could have done that at just about any time without engaging his cousin! Felix took the time to push that “freedom is something you make” sentiment and yet again encourage Adrien to stand up for himself. I think he does genuinely care about him his wellbeing at least, not Adrien’s reputation lmao and just has no clue how involved Adrien is with the Miraculous stuff.)

I also don’t know what to expect from him in the future. I’ve seen assumptions he’ll wield the Peacock Miraculous as a new villain, but if he sees sentimonsters as living beings then will he? Shadow Moth and Mayura were fine creating and dismissing as many as they pleased but I don’t think Felix could do that; he’d have to be extremely picky if he even used it at all. Gabriel is the only one who knows Felix has the Peacock right now too; so it’s not like the Miraculous heroes will be kicking down his door looking for it (RIP my hopes for the London Special :’D). They know he’s a traitorous bitch but not what he got out of the deal; at least not yet.

I also wonder what his relationship will be with Duusu. Maybe part of Duusu’s emotional fragility is because he feels the same way about sentimonsters being alive/enslaved/abused, and if Felix is a sentimonster himself then they might get very attached to each other. And Felix has worked completely solo thus far, bouncing off people but having no actual allies, so giving him someone like Duusu (a magic pet who is a lot of responsibility and can hold a conversation) will be a very interesting exposé of his character.

I’m personally in the camp that he’ll huffily take care of Duusu’s ridiculous needs, loudly complaining that he should just ship the Peacock Miraculous back to his uncle while putting together an expensive Barbie Dreamhouse for him to live in and pre-slicing Duusu’s favourite trashy pizza rolls. Maybe they’ll just make Felix super duper evil in Season 5 but I can dream. :’)

SO. I THINK I’M DONE. JESUS CHRIST I NEED TO LIE DOWN. Thanks for reading if you got this far! Rehydrate, take an Ibuprofen, tell me your thoughts and I’ll see you again for the next round of Felix nonsense! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

#LORD PRESERVE ME I HOPE THIS FORMATS CORRECTLY. i wasn't battling so much with the post editor this time but i'm still wary #hopefully this will be more entertaining than the previous review post now i know the outcome of this storyline!#also i have like. SO much flairmidable fanart to post. i adore this horrible dog boy #please let me know if you especially liked any part of this! but also go easy on me; i am fragile :'V #josie talks about things #felix graham de vanily #miraculous ladybug

300 notes · View notes