#morally grey marinette

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

Who Made Me a Villain (5)

To the ppl who read my fics only on tumblr, I am sorry. I have been posting a lot on ao3 and I keep forgetting that I have a tumblr acc. I will try to be more mindful in the future.

--------

[Masterlist] [Ao3]

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Here) (Part 6)

-----

“B, what’s all this?” Dick asked during one of his visits to Gotham. He was here for Alfred’s cooking.

Upon seeing the eye bags on Bruce, Dick was understandably worried. “Have you slept at all, Bruce?”

“A few days ago, Rebel brought something serious to my attention.”

Bruce had spent days working on the case Rebel had dropped into his lap. He felt that she had summarised the situation too simply. Or she was unaware of what the full extent of the situation was due to her lack of experience and knowledge.

John Constantine was unhelpful in getting more information on the Miraculous but did confirm their presence in Paris in the same period Rebel had given. Rebel had given more information than him.

Zatanna said that she would sort through her father’s journals to give him a definite answer but told him that it was likely Rebel was telling the truth about Paris. There were surges of the magical equivalent of earthquakes from Paris which her father had gone to check out a few years ago.

Diana had overheard their conversation and talked about how her mother used to wield the Ladybug Miraculous. She promised to talk to her mother for more information. Bruce decided to ask Doctor Fate later if his research wasn’t enough.

However, the thing that had Bruce tearing apart his training dummies like they were paper was the good-for-nothing, sham of a man that Paris had for a mayor.

Mayor André Bourgeois had blocked all news about the akuma from getting out of the city. He didn’t report about it to the Justice League European branch and blocked all attempts to prevent others from reporting it. His reasoning was that the child heroes were enough. That was just the political side of things.

To further make things worse, the heroes who were stationed in France all claimed to have been told to be relocated to other cities by the Justice League Headquarters. They did as they were told under the assumption that someone else would be filling in for them. Just before Hawkmoth struck.

Bruce investigated that lead and it appears that someone had sent out that order but Bruce hadn’t figured out who it was yet or whether it really was sent by one of the Justice League. Either they had a mole or the JL Headquarters needed a new update to their systems.

Then, one of Zatanna’s contacts in Paris had informed her that magic helped in preventing news of akuma reaching outside of Paris.

By the time Dick came to the Manor, Bruce was hours deep into the many footage he had spent the most of the day collecting from the internet. He started with the first akuma where Ladybug and Chat Noir were practically strangers shoved together and forced to rely on each other. He didn’t like that the Parisians were forcing the love narrative between the two of them. Ladybug had the sense to focus on her job and remain professional while Chat Noir tried to enforce the love story. He was not pleased with that interview.

The Ladyblog that was run by a very dedicated teenager was very helpful in getting raw footage of most fights, albeit a bit shaky and blurry. He was currently watching the blog owner’s interview with Ladybug. How she got an interview with the very elusive heroine Batman doesn’t know. There was something about the heroine that caught his attention. It felt like he had met Ladybug before.

Dick skimmed over the notes Batman had taken. He whistled. “This is pretty crazy.”

“Why are you doing all of this research?” Dick asked.

“Hawkmoth. I am trying to track him down.”

“Wait, you are telling me that there is a powerful supervillain in Paris and these kids are heroes? They look like babies. They don’t even know how to properly fight.”

“We are already too late. Hawkmoth has been defeated and stripped of his powers.”

“So what’s the problem? Is he coming back?”

Bruce sighed heavily and showed off his days of research to Dick.

“Rebel had been planning something for months. Something big. I asked the reason behind it all. She asked me to bring him to justice and she would call it all off. Apparently, the leader of the hero team, Ladybug, gave Hawkmoth the equivalent of the slap on the wrist and Rebel doesn’t agree with him being off the hook that easily. He got his wife in exchange for giving back the Miraculous under his possession and didn’t face consequences for his little foray into villainy.”

“How does she know what happened to Hawkmoth?” Dick asked, “It just says that no akumas was seen for a month and then, Ladybug announced that Hawkmoth was defeated before disappearing forever.”

“According to her, Rebel used to be one of the heroes going against Hawkmoth.” Bruce told him.

Dick nearly fumbled the file in his hand due to the surprise.

“Oh. Um. That- That explained a few things. The experience in fighting. Those acrobatic stunts. Former hero, huh.”

It left a bitter taste in his mouth. The thought of somebody who was once a hero turning to the dark side.

Dick changed the subject. “Any luck finding him?”

“I have one suspect. He’s the one that fits the profile.”

Bruce handed Dick a file.

“Gabriel Agreste.”

Dick looked through it. “He’s a fashion designer. That doesn’t exactly scream evil to me.”

“Even without Rebel’s hints. He’s still suspicious.” Bruce said. “I am meeting him in a month to get a feel for him.”

Dick closed the file. “Even if he is Hawkmoth, it’s been a few years since his defeat. We can’t just take him in.”

Bruce suddenly looked very tired.

Tim popped up from where the pile of blankets besides the Batcomputer that Dick hadn’t noticed. Dick’s and Bruce’s voices have woken him up.

Dick definitely did not scream.

“Tim! How long were you there?” Dick asked, putting his escrima sticks away.

“A few hours I think.” Tim replied and yawned.

“Anyhoo,” Tim started, “Rebel had already taken care of that part. She had been using different accounts to sow seeds of conspiracy theories and rumours for people online to find Hawkmoth’s true identity. No mention of Gabriel being Hawkmoth or it won’t be taken seriously if the truth comes out. I think she is trying to spread the idea that Hawkmoth must be taken in to face the legal system.”

“Why is she going that far?”

Bruce was silent for a moment. “Hawkmoth was part of the reason she was framed for murder.”

“Framed? Why do you think that she was framed? Her father is the Joker. The Joker. The one who killed Jason.”

Bruce stiffened. Jason had left Gotham after their last showdown. Last Bruce heard of him, Jason had teamed up with Roy Harper to form his own mercenary team.

“I know. But children are not their parents.”

Bruce handed Dick another file.

“Her case file and the transcript of her trial. Read it and draw your own conclusions.” Bruce instructed.

Dick took it.

“You are not going to like it, Dick.” Tim said.

—--

A day later, Dick came back, storming into the Batcave.

He slammed the file in front of Bruce.

“What the fuck is wrong with people? How did something like this get past you?” Dick demanded furiously.

There was the last thing that was cherry on the icing of the cake that was this whole situation.

-

Rebel was not supposed to be in Arkham Asylum. She was not supposed to get a life sentence. She was not supposed to have fourteen charges of first-degree homicide to her name.

Dick read the trial proceeding.

It was way over exaggerated and very dramatised. He thought that he was reading the script for a courtroom soap opera drama. Dick even went as far as to hack into the French government to get the untranslated copy of the files and it was just as bad but in French. It didn’t take him long to find the blatant amount of bribes that were tossed around. The very obvious abuse of power. Every odds was stacked against Rebel. The unnecessary DNA test that unfortunately brought her to Gotham.

No wonder Marinette Dupain-Cheng turned to a life of crime. Everyone was dead set on labelling her the bad guy.

Then, he read Gabriel Agreste’s involvement in the case. His son was part of Rebel’s old class. Their classmates spoke about Rebel’s stalker tendencies towards him. But Dick kept an open mind, knowing how exaggerated everything was. Gabriel had blacklisted Rebel from every company in the fashion industry he had connections with. That move confused Dick until he found out that Rebel was trying to be an aspiring designer. It was essentially salt in her wounds.

Dick simply couldn’t understand the witch hunt against Rebel. 

-

“Bruce, we have to do something about this.” Dick said.

“The only thing we can do right now is bring Hawkmoth in before Rebel takes it into her own hands.”

“What do you mean by that?” Dick asked.

Tim injected. “You already know that Rebel had been acting suspicious for the past few months. She had been meeting up with several different villains and secret projects we couldn’t figure out until now.”

“We found a warehouse in Washington connected to her that contained these strange stone statues.”

Bruce pulled up a picture of the stone statues in the warehouse.

“Now look at the clip of the first akuma attack.”

Bruce played a clip of Stoneheart attack. The monster looked similar to the stone statues in the photo.

“Going through the akuma fights and her movements in the past few months. It is obvious what she is trying to plan.”

Picture of Rebel talking to many different ice villains with a powerpoint presentation and a clip of the Glaciator attack.

Picture of a machine that could create floods that the Teen Titan had managed to shut down a few years back and picture of Paris being flooded.

Picture of Weather Wizard, next to a picture of Stormy Weather.

“She’s trying to recreate akuma fights.” Dick concluded. “And making it seem like Hawkmoth was back.”

Bruce nodded gravely. “I wouldn’t have figured it out if Rebel didn’t deliberately let me in on her plans. She exposed a great problem we had missed. She is giving us, the League, a chance to rectify our mistake.”

Rebel was not counting on the legal justice system to bring Hawkmoth to justice. She was counting on him as Batman to make sure that Hawkmoth ended up with the same fate as her. His reputation torn apart and dragged through mud. Behind bars for the rest of his life with the supervillain mark following him everywhere.

Or she will forcefully do it by bringing the whole world down to force the Justice League in carrying it out.

“Without Ladybug’s miraculous power, it would be disastrous for us and we would have a lot of civilian casualties.”

“I don’t think she would do that, Bruce.” Tim argued.

“Then, lock her up.” Dick suggested.

“Arkham is currently in no position to take her in.” Bruce said. He looked resigned.

Dick looked at Tim for an explanation which he helpfully provided. “It was being renovated a few months ago to put in a new security system. In the chaos, her records were wiped out from the system and her physical reports went missing. Every copy was gone. So even if we arrest her now, we have to find a pretty good justification to keep her there legally. We only have these copies because Bruce regularly back-ups the Arkham database onto the Batcomputer and the Bat-net.”

Dick cursed. While they could just put it back, it wasn’t worth the headache if it was erased again.

“What about the police? Won’t they have her records?”

“Same thing. We think she did it when Clayface attacked the police a while back.”

“How about her original case that sent her to Arkham?”

“It was erased too. We need to get to Paris in order to access their database or if she erased her case, then we need to get the physical copy and we would have to go through so much legal bullshit to get it. That will take months.”

“She covered everything.” Dick said, amazed.

“She thought of all the possibilities and covered all of her bases. She had been staying under the radar and not getting caught.” Bruce said.

“He means that he got caught in her traps if we try to catch her.” Tim said with a shit eating grin on his face.

Bruce grumbled.

“You? How did you even get caught?” Dick asked.

“Rube Goldberg machines.” Tim answered.

“Rube what?”

“Here.” Tim opened up Youtube and showed Dick a video of a marble rolling down a pipe and then knocking down a row of dominoes in a spiral which continued to set off a chain of reactions that ended with a ball going neatly through a hoop and triggering a banner that said ‘WOW!’ to pop up.

“So that’s what it is called.” Dick commented. “Aren’t these like super complicated to do? She couldn’t have set them up that quick …unless she had them set up beforehand.”

“According to my research, she has at least 50 of these set up in different locations around Gotham. There are videos of people setting these off on purpose. Rebel is always making more. They usually have victims stuck in a net or a hole. Or have water, paint or liquids splashed onto them.”

“She did that? That picture you sent me where Bruce had yellow pain all over him?”

Bruce glared at Tim.

A derisive snort came from the entrance of the Bat cave.

They all turned to look at the newest addition to the house.

Damian Al Ghul. Well, Damian Al Ghul Wayne now.

“I find it hard to believe that this one petty criminal got the better of all of you.” He said mockingly.

“Damian.” Bruce said. “Even if she is just a petty criminal, she cannot be underestimated. You must never underestimate your opponent, no matter how deceiving they look.”

“Perhaps Father, you and Drake aren’t good at doing your jobs.”

“Like you would be any better catching her.” Tim said under his breath.

“If it was up to me, she would be killed on sight.” Damian continued.

“Damian, we do not kill here. People deserve another chance to redeem themselves.” Bruce explained like he had a thousand times before.

Damian scowled. “I don’t need to kill. I have brought in targets alive before.”

The way he said it implied that those targets were in a state where their hearts were the only things that could still move.

“Do you really believe that you can catch Rebel?” Tim asked.

“I don’t have to believe. I know I can.” Damian answered, disdain in his voice that Tim dared to doubt his skills.

“I bet you can’t.” Tim taunted.

Damian lunged but was stopped by Dick who grabbed his shoulder.

“Boys!” Bruce shouted. “Tim, stop antagonising him. Damian, you know you aren’t allowed to go out on patrol.”

“No!” Damian demanded. “Drake has issued me a challenge. I will not back down. I will prove to him and you that I can catch that petty criminal that goes by Rebel.”

His declaration was filled with the determination and stubbornness that all eleven year olds seemed to possess.

Bruce rubbed his head at the oncoming headache.

He knew that despite whatever he gave, Damian would go behind his back and against his orders to fulfil his self-assigned mission of capturing Rebel.

“Tim, this is all your fault. I am blaming you for this. You will be washing the Batmobile for a month.” Bruce said after some thinking.

“Bruce!” Tim complained. “What did I do?”

“You started it. And Damian, I will let you go after Rebel.”

Damian gave Tim a smug grin.

“However,” Bruce continued. “There will be a few conditions.”

Damian stood up straighter and paid attention. “One, Nightwing will be with you.”

“What? Why, Bruce?” It was Dick.

“I am busy with the Hawkmoth case. Tim and Damian shouldn’t be together. Cass and Steph are busy with their own things. I don’t think Jason wants anything to do with me and he’s out of town. Babara has no desire to watch Damian.”

“Thank you, Bruce.” Oracle’s voice came from the Batcomputer.

“Tch. Grayson is an acceptable choice.” Damian said with a sniff.

“Fine. I can stay for a week or two. Give me a few hours to sort some things out.” Dick threw up his hands in defeat.

“However, he will not be helping you. He is going to be monitoring your every move and he will intervene if it was a life and death situation.” Bruce added.

“Fine.” Damian replied.

“Two, when you bring Rebel in, she should not have sustained any life-threatening and fatal injuries. She should also possess all of her limbs intact.”

Damian scowled harder. “I know my limits. Anything else?”

“Three, do not kill anyone to achieve your goals.”

“Got it.”

“Your deadline to bring her in is in three months. You will report to me on your progress every morning. That’s all. Any questions?”

“No. I will not fail you, Father.” Damian said seriously.

“Does anyone else find this funny?” said Dick. “Son of Batman hunting down daughter of Joker. Children of two arch-enemies repeating history.”

“That only means that I am destined to bring her in.” Damian further solidified his mission.

—--

Forty-eight hours later, found Damian, currently going by Redbird, tied up, covered in green paint and dangled upside-down over a vat of something that smelled utterly foul.

Rebel landed near Nightwing and asked, “So what’s the deal with the new kid?”

Nightwing extended a hand dramatically towards Damian, “That’s Batman’s blood son.”

Rebel frowned. “Is this going to be a thing now? Child of Batman versus child of Joker. Because I really don’t want to hurt the kid that much.”

“I AM NOT A CHILD.” Redbird yelled as he struggled against his restraint. “Nightwing, help me get untied and catch the villain!”

“Would a dip in that kill him?” Nightwing asked, pointing at the vat of whatever that was. He wanted to stay more than 20 feet away due to the smell alone.

Rebel shrugged.

“Probably not. It’s just water from the Gotham River with the contents of the nearest dumpster emptied into it.”

Nightwing shivered. He had taken a dip in the icy cold waters of Gotham River before. It was not pleasant. And the amount of showers he had to take to finally get rid of the smell.

“Good news, Redbird.” Nightwing shouted back. “You won’t die if you fall.”

Redbird threw some words in Arabic that sounded a lot like swears.

“So… I ask again. What’s up with the kid?”

“He thinks that Batman would accept him as the one true heir of the Batman title if he catches you.” Nightwing explained. “It has nothing to do with the blood rivalry thing. He’s trying to prove Batman wrong by trying to succeed in catching you when Batman and Robin - especially Robin - couldn’t catch you.”

“It’s there like a deadline for this? Because I really don’t want to play cats and dogs forever with the gremlin.”

“Oh yeah. There is.”

Rebel smirked. “That means I just have to up my game then. Thanks for the heads up, Bluey.”

Nightwing’s smile faded as he realised his slip-up. “Damn it. Baby Bat is going to kill me.”

“Hey, can I use that nickname?”

“Does it matter if I say no?” Nightwing said.

“Nope.” Rebel said with a laugh as she slipped away into the shadows. 

—--

A Bat signal shone in the night sky. Calling Batman to action.

However, it was not Commissioner Gordon who met Batman on the rooftop that night.

“Commissioner-”  Batman immediately went on guard as a petite figure of Rebel greeted him instead of the broad shoulders of the Commissioner.

“What did you do to him, Rebel?” Batman growled out.

“Chill, Mister Bat, he’s dealing with an anonymous tip off for his latest case at the other side of the city. I just flipped the switch to your nightlight to get your attention. Less messy than other methods, don’t you agree?” Rebel explained as she switched the Bat-signal light off.

He glared at her. “What do you want?”

“A week is up. So what are you going to do?”

Batman gave a tired sigh. To be honest, he had forgotten about the deadline. There were so many things he had to take care of. Starting with the possible Justice League breach. An entire city being under attack and no one noticing until the problem was gone. The investigation into who Hawkmoth was. Finally, dealing with a testy Damian who didn’t take his loss against Rebel well.

“My conclusions showed me that you were telling the truth about akumas. I would like to apologise on the behalf of the Justice League for our massive oversight. You were a child that had to fight a war without support.”

“I won that damn war. Without your help.” Rebel said defensively.

“Yes. You did. I am not criticising your achievement, Rebel. I am just pointing out that you were a child fighting those monsters everyday and some of those monsters had been a family or a friend. You shouldn’t have to carry a burden like that on your shoulders. Even Nightwing had me to look after him until he could step out of my shadow to fly on his own.”

“We weren’t alone.”

“You weren’t. You had other people who were as clueless as you about what to do. No one taught you the basics. You had to learn how to fight all on your own. You had to learn to do it right on the first try because a mistake would cause you everything. I am sorry that we weren’t there to provide that guidance.”

“Why are you apologising for that? You didn’t know.”

Batman’s frown became deeper. “That is exactly the problem. Something this big slipped under our radar.”

He went on to explain about how the oversight occurred. If anything, Rebel looked surprised by the news.

“So you're telling me that I could have had help. I wouldn't have to do it all on my own if it wasn’t for a lot of people meddling.”

She sounded angry. The comment about her doing it all on her own confirmed a theory Batman entertained. There was a little evidence that pointed out otherwise but with magic there was no telling if the evidence wasn’t faked.

“We never realised until now. We have failed you.” Batman apologised.

“Kwami. All this time. I thought you were too busy with your own world-saving to pay attention to Paris. Fucking Mayor Bourgeois. Fuck Magic. Fuck whoever mess with your systems. Fuck Hawkmoth.” Rebel screamed. “What else? What else do I have to know that I didn’t know?”

“That’s mostly it. I am here to get your account of what exactly happened during those years.” Batman paused (Dramatic bitch) “I also need you to confirm the identity of Hawkmoth.”

“Well…” Rebel inclined her head for him to continue.

“Gabriel Agreste.”

Rebel smiled from under her mask. “Bingo. As expected of the World’s Greatest Detective.”

She pulled out a flash drive from her pocket and handed it to Batman. “Here’s everything I wrote down from what I remembered.”

“How did you know I would ask for it?” Batman asked as he took it and put it away in his utility belt.

“I didn’t. I was going to send that to every news station when I start my Armengeddon plans.”

Batman stared at Rebel, waiting for her to hand over her Armengeddon plans she had given the other villains.

Rebel stared back at him defiantly.

“Hand them over.” Batman demanded.

“I already gave you what you needed.” Rebel said with a raised eyebrow, pretending to be oblivious about what Batman wanted.

“What about your Armengeddon plans?”

“Oh. Those plans. Yeah. Gimme a minute.” Rebel reached into her jacket inner pocket and took out a slim notebook. She tossed it to Batman who expertly caught it.

He flipped through it and noticed the jagged edges of pages torn out. He also noticed that none of the plans that involved other villains were in the book.

“Where are the missing plans?” Batman asked harshly.

“You thought it was going to be easy?” Rebel said amused. “I want definite proof that you are working on taking him in.”

“How long do I have to get you proof?” Batman asked cautiously.

“When is the deadline for your son to catch me?”

Batman knew that tone. He had heard that tone from the clown before Joker pulled out the punchline.

“In three months.”  He answered.

“That’s around when the plan is supposed to start anyways. Then, if you don’t have it by the time Redbird catches me, you won’t get the plans. However, if he doesn’t catch me by the three month deadline, you will get the plans and I will tell the others that everything is called off.”

Batman had a feeling that if Rebel wasn’t wearing her mask, there would be a smile on her face identical to the one Joker would usually wear for his maniacal plans.

Children aren’t always their parents. But they sometimes inherit their parent's worst traits.

“Deal.”

What other options did he have but to play along with her games.

—-

After Rebel was gone, Redbird came out of the shadows.

“Father, what is the meaning of this?” He demanded. Redbird had been hiding to unleash a surprise attack when Rebel proposed that inane condition to Batman.

Batman sighed. “We will talk more back at the Cave.”

“I want an explanation now.”

“Just hold off trying to catch her for at least a week, Redbird. I am not going to stop you from your task. Maybe use that time to observe her instead.”

Redbird huffed but nonetheless accepted the compromise.

“Fine. It gives me more time to make more well thought out plans.”

“Since she would mostly be at school, you won’t have to do much.”

Batman grappled off the roof and Redbird followed.

When they reached the Batmobile, Redbird turned to his father and said.

“Father, I have been thinking. Perhaps I should infiltrate her school in order to get closer and gain more information on her movements.”

Bruce looked at him in surprise, remembering the first time he suggested Damian going to school and being told that he was never going to step foot into a subpar teaching environment.

“Are you sure, Damian?”

“I am sure.” Damian said firmly.

“I will call the principal in the morning and arrange everything.” 

—

“Come back here, you-” The insult was lost as Redbird comically stepped on the rake. The handle hit his face like those old cartoon gags.

A slew of Arabic curses were unleashed.

"Tick-tock, birdy." Rebel taunted as Redbird held his broken nose. "It's nearly midnight and I am not still not in chains or behind bars."

"I should have your tongue cut out for your insolence." 

"That threat lost its charm about two months ago." Rebel replied in a bored tone.

"Be more creative. Like ‘I will slowly take a small piece of your tongue a day, roast it and force feed it to you’." Rebel declared with an imitation of Redbird’s voice but slightly higher pitch than it actually was.

“I will gladly do so.” The threat probably would have sounded more intimidating if Redbird wasn’t still holding his broken nose and didn’t sound like he had a very bad nasal problem.

Rebel covered her mask with her hand as if trying to hide a smirk.

“Well, little bird, if you are done with your threats, I will be off- WHAT THE FUCK!”

Rebel didn’t look where she was going and had fallen down the hole in the roof that was hidden with a tarp..

Redbird grinned as he peered over the hole where Rebel had fallen into a cage he had set up to work like a bear trap.

“You aren’t the only one skilled with traps in this city.” He boasted.

Nightwing landed, giving Redbird an appreciative whistle and applause.

“Good job, baby Bat.”

“Call the police, Nightwing. Tell them I have the fiend, Rebel, in custody.” Redbird said.

“Sure thing.”

Redbird turned to give Rebel a smug look at his sure victory. It immediately got wiped out as he saw Rebel dangling her legs over the hole she fell down a few minutes ago.

She gave him a cheeky wave.

“HOW?” Damian exploded. “HOW DID YOU ESCAPE MY FOOLPROOF TRAP?!”

“It’s not foolproof if a fool like me could get out of it that easily. Nice setup though. Gave me a few ideas for my next project.”

Redbird growled and launched himself at her. Rebel rolled out of his way.

Landing nimbly, Redbird charged at her and threw a few attacks. Rebel effortlessly dodged every one of them.

Nightwing watched with a bored look on his face as Redbird chased Rebel around the rooftop.

“Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk. I'm a woman's man, no time to talk ....”

Rebel took out her phone and turned off her alarm as she ducked a birdarang.

“It’s midnight! And you know what that means. You just failed your mission.” Rebel announced cheerfully.

Redbird yelled in anger and charged at her.

Nightwing stepped in between the two to restrain Redbird.

“Chill, baby bat. You need to calm down. She won, fair and square.”

“And just as promised, I will send over the plans I made for the other villain to the Big Guy.” Rebel continued as she walked backwards to the edge of the rooftop.

“See ya around, Birdies.” She said as she jumped back off the roof while giving them a finger salute.

Nightwing hurriedly let go of Damian and ran to look over the parapet wall. Rebel appeared to be perfectly fine after a five-storey drop and was calmly putting her helmet on. She got on her bike and drove off.

“Um… guys.” Oracle’s voice came over the comms. “There is actually fifteen minutes left until midnight. She lied.”

The two vigilantes looked at each other and cursed. They grappled off, trying their best to catch the cunning villain.

—

“I am sorry that I failed you, Father.” Damian reported.

Three months should have been more than sufficient for him to complete his assigned task successfully. He even had subjected himself to the establishment called a school in order to catch Rebel.

Each time, he thought that he was close to capturing the most slippery villain in all of Gotham. Something would interfere in his plans and Rebel continued to walk free.

Head down ashamed as he kneeled on the cold floor of the Batcave to receive his punishment. Damnit, why was his vision getting blurry?

The shadow from his father’s cape moved closer and blocked out the light. Damian braced for the pain.

Damian was confused when he felt his Father placed his hand on his head. It felt… odd and comforting.

“It’s alright. You did your best. Even with the restriction I placed on you.” Bruce said.

Damian’s confusion increased.

“But… I failed.”

It did hurt to admit his failure but he was more confused by his father’s actions. Grandfather would have given out some sort of punishment by now. Like going against some of the League’s Finest on his own.

The hand moved from his head to his shoulder.

“Look at me, Damian.”

Damian obeyed and met his father’s blue eyes. The colour reminded him of the flowers his mother would sometimes wear in her hair when Grandfather was out of Nanda Parbat.

“Even if you had failed in your task, you still had helped me.”

Damian was flabbergasted.

“How?”

“In order to capture her, you monitored her every move. Because of you and your reports, I knew her every move. Avoiding your attempts kept Rebel so busy that she wasn’t able to work on her plans as much. Which gives me more time to work on how to bring Hawkmoth in.”

“I still failed.”

“And I am telling you that you still did a good job. You can learn from this experience and learn how to do better.” Bruce said.

“Aren’t you going to punish me?”

“No. I am not going to punish you for this.”

The answer seemed to have shifted Damian’s worldview. It broke Bruce’s heart to know how Damian had been treated. Being punished for failure which made Damian scared to fail.

“How.. how can you…”

Damian didn’t seem to comprehend that there would be no punishments for failing.

“Damian.” Bruce said gently. “I know that this is hard for you to comprehend but we do things differently here. We do not kill. And we do not punish people for simply failing.”

“But Drake… Batmobile.”

Oh right, grounding.

“I will reiterate. I will not physically hurt you as punishment for failing your mission. I do not like raising my hand to people I call family. Yes, you are part of it now, Damian, no matter how unexpected your arrival was. I prefer giving you chores to do instead. Like washing the Batmobile. Giving Ace a bath. Organising the case files. Helping Alfred around the Manor. Even then, it’s only if you misbehave and go against the rules of the Manor. And you may see them as pointless but they were put in place to keep you safe. I don’t want to see any of you hurt. Yes, including you, Damian.”

Bruce hoped that he got through Damian. Made him see that things were different now but they were a good kind of different. Maybe now Damian would let him in and be the better person Bruce knew he could be.

Bruce thought all of this as he hugged the slightly shaking boy in his arms who hid his face with Bruce’s chest.  ------ (Part 6) ----

Taglist:  @toodaloo-kangaroo, @iloontjeboontje, @buginetye, @angelwreckedd, @anoires-blog, @ever-since-i-was-young, @shutupandactuallylisten, @its-maemain, @vel-vee, @kashlyn, @officiallydarkgeek, @jayjayspixiepop, @cmouse, @transheso, @thecrazyfantrolls, @just-a-random-girl-loves-anime, @maddiesupdates, @the-dumber-scaramouche,

#who made me a villain #biodad! joker #cue bruce being a good dad #introducing insufferable damian #morally grey marinette/rebel #mlb x dc #ml x dc

[goldenharmony]

I know its probably not a well-loved ship but I am kinda into Kagami x Felix as 2 rich anti-socials dumbasses 😭Plus after Marinette and Adrien, they were probably my immediate favourites...

Especially loved how Felix apparently couldn’t stop thinking about Kagami when the last ep was just her trying to beat him up lol

#feligami #kagami tsurugi #felix fathom #miraculous ladybug #fyi #i never gave marinette heat for knowing adrien's schedule :) #so i won't give felix heat either for his stalking because ill presume he's stopped tht kind of stuff like marinette did :) #thts the ship name right? #i knew the ship existed for a while in fanon but wasn't into it #but felix is more morally grey than his intro ep showed #so im a bit into it #ml spoilers #ml emotion #ml pretension

[cafedeagua]

for my miraculous people— anyone remember the “mini menace” comic covers? i was thinking of making like a five chapter mini series on what my take if those is :)

it’d kinda be inspired by the pv crumbs!

#felinette #yeah i’d probably do an enemies to lovers lmao #morally grey marinette by me would make her debut obvi #the mini menace #miraculous ladybug #fic writing

[mymiraclebox]

If Adrien and Marinette had received Vitaa and Shii instead of Tikki and Plagg , how would bem their relationship ?

I am assuming they would still have their same counterparts (Marinette - Vitaa, and Adrien - Shii); and that Vitaa and Shii have spent more time on Earth, meaning they are much more familiar with humans and Earth than they currently are.

For Marinette and Vitaa, I don't thinks would be all too different for their bond compared to canon. Like Tikki, Vitaa would be very warm and encouraging to Marinette, though a bit more motherly and calm compared to Tikki. Vitaa would probably be very good with helping Marinette when she starts panicking and spiraling, and would be more assertive when Marinette makes her rash decisions.

As a hero I think Marinette would be hailed as more than a hero, perhaps even something akin to a deity with the power to bring back people from the dead. I think she'd be uncomfortable with this level of admiration, and there would probably be people who take it to the extreme. On top of it all there would be a moral struggle when it comes to her power, because it is unavoidable that people would be seeking her help because of it, and she'd have to deal with the moral burden of when she should heal and who she should leave to their fate.

As for Adrien and Shii their dynamics very different from Plagg and Adrien. Shii has a very bleak look on life, not exactly negative or bitter, but just very accepting of the bad things in the world and not optimistic of things getting better. This means Shii would probably struggle to be the emotional support that Adrien needs. Shii would care and he and Adrien would get along, but he wouldn't be like Plagg in terms of being able to distract Adrien or encouraging him to break free.

Sadly things wouldn't be likely to get much better for Adrien in terms of being a hero. There is a high chance he could get wings, but with the powers he has there would not be many opportunities for him to use it, and I think the world would only fear him for it. Both he and Marinette would be able to rid akumas of their negative energy (or he could also straight up kill the butterfly to keep it from escaping), but neither of them would be able to fix the city or strategically use their powers in a fight.

Now getting a bit on the dark side of things, probably the quickest way they could stop the akuma and prevent it from doing too much damage would be for Crow!Adrien to use his powers to kill the akuma, and once the butterfly was purified for Panda!Marinette to bring them back to life. It would be effective in theory, but I think the city would very much come to fear Crow!Adrien and just the idea of being akumatize, which would only add to the emotional stress being placed on Adrien and take it to the extreme. He would probably be very dependent on his kwami and hero partner to help him get through it all. Also Hawk Moth would constantly be targeting Panda!Marinette, as he only needs her Miraculous to bring Emilie back, and not both of their Miraculouses. This would probably add more pressure onto Adrien, feeling the need to protect his partner even more than in canon.

Basically a lot of moral issues would arise and it would be a lot angstier than what we got in canon.

#anon ask #tw death #long post #morally grey concepts #shii #vitaa #what if #panda kwami #crow kwami #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng

[yueasuka]

Whenever someone said Felix pv is a dark knight... I couldn't help but have a mixed feeling of confusion and hilarity. Like, yeah, he wear dark clothing but he's in no way a knight or a true gentleman. He's someone who doesn't have qualm to play with someone's feeling if it means to reach his goal. If anything he is an... Anti hero, a grey morality character, not a knight and it's canon. 🤣🤣🤣

He's inspired by Catwoman what do you expect?

#without character development hes just a big bad jerk #theres nothing knighty about him #this is one of the reason why the pv is cancelled #its not suited for a young kids not because the staff hate felix #we know he'll fall in love with ladybug and will genuinely care for her later on in his development #but that doesn't necessarily make him a knight #a morally grey cat is what he is #i think this is what the fandom who uses him as marinette knight forgot #that hes started looooooooooow #unlike adrien whos mind already set to be a hero from the start #tldr that knight felix in saltfic are not the felix that canon pv give me because if you know cat thrn you know it #hes my litttle morality grey meow meow

[sweetcloverheart]

I can't stop thinking about how upsetting it is that in MLB the "Power Of Love" only applies to the villains instead of the heroes, and for such flimsy reasons

Marinette is never allowed to truly nor fully rely on her relationship with her classmates to help with interpersonal problems because if she does, then she can't be the "super strong female protag" the show totes her as. So the show will constantly/actively discourage any cooperation or reliance on her friendships (even as it "punishes" her for failing to do so like in "Penalteam" and "Strikeback") by having it always end in failure or a worst situation, while presenting the others as too "naive and trusting" of her enemies or any adults/solutions as useless (Oh hi Su Han!) to justify it, thereby forcing her to have to tackle whatever issue she faces alone while presenting it as necessary. She's even made to lie to her partner because telling him any relevant information regarding their previous main enemy would mean removing Adrien's glued-on rose-tinteed glasses regarding his father and what an awful human being he was in his final moments of life.

Meanwhile, Gabriel can do everything short of tax fraud and always be presented as our deeply conflicted "morally grey" villain who's actually totally in the right, because everything he does can be excused because it's being done in the name of obsession love for his comatose wife. Nothing he does is worthy of persecution because in the narrative's eyes, he hasn't done anything wrong actually, since it's all for love. Emotionally abusing his son and trying to take advantage of his depressive episodes for his own goals? It's fine, it's for Emilie. Using a clearly emotionally vulnerable child and a super exploitive one for his plans and then abandoning them to the consequences? It's fine, it's for Emilie (and Chloe and Lila are She-demons, so they deserve it!/s). Harassing his son's girlfriend (through both his position and magic) to either try and get them to break up ("Protection" and "Pretension") or getting a magical servant for his own ends ("Chat Blanc")? It's fine, it's for Emilie. Leaving his friend and secretary to die from the same broken miraculous that magic coma-ed his wife? It's fine, it's for Emilie. Using his adult friends and his son's same age ones for his activities as Hawkmoth by purposely upsetting them? It's fine, it's for Emilie. Exploiting his son's image despite said son being clearly uncomfortable with it? It's fine, it's for Emilie. Instructing one of his Akumas to allow his son to fall to his potential death to confirm if he's his teenage nemesis (Edit: was incorrect about event. Have corrected)? It's for Emilie, so he's good! Locking his child in a bleach white rubber room (Unfriendly reminder that Adrien has canonical claustrophobia) because he went to visit his friends and to have him out of the way of his ultimate plan via using the previously mentioned image exploiting? Emilie, Emilie, Emilie - so long as it's for her, anything he does is golden! Even at the very end, where you have Marinette pointing out how much he made his son suffer, Gabriel does no proper reflecting or is forced to have his goal denied of him as a result - instead, he's given posthumous hero status (along with a statue and another adult villain who skipped consequences giving a speech about what a great and noble man he never was) and made directly responsible for the utopia the world became because he threw the heroine's mercy right back in her face; all because the "Power of Love" makes it so that everything he does for Emilie is moral and good, no matter how vile.

#Clover Rants Miraculously #ML Salt

[wackus-bonkus-maximus]

yo wackus do you have any thoughts on a hypothetical morally grey Kagami?

well... the first thing that occurs to me is that she probably wouldn't think she was morally grey at all. she'd probably be convinced she was in the right.

like look at all the times she's been akumatized!

riposte - she wanted a rematch with adrien, to beat him in combat, to be the BEST. because that's what her family values are, to be perfect and the BEST.

oni-chan - she was trying to protect adrien from lila, trying to get him out of her clutches and rescue him from her influence

lies - she wanted to expose all lies and liars because lying is a bad thing and what ruined her relationship

ryukomori - she wanted peace and serentiy and dissociation and honestly can you blame her

riposte prime - her goal was to get revenge on marinette for lying to her and betraying her and just being a "bad" friend! she wanted to bring marinette to justice

the thing about kagami is, she has such a strong moral compass, you can only convince her to do wrong by tricking her into believing it's right. she always tries to be perfect, or better than perfect, and the times when she has faltered/been akumatized have been when tomoe, gabriel, and lila manipulated her into doing so.

if she were to become a villain, i would see her as a javert (les miserables) or a miguel o'hara (spiderman: across the spiderverse) type villain. one who's convinced they're on the right side, the just side, and who are trying to uphold a certain moral code. i don't think she is a person who leaves room for gray areas in ethical dilemmas. i think kagami is a very black and white character, and if she believes she's on the right side, then the other side must of course be wrong.

#kagami tsurugi #ml #miraculous ladybug #ml riposte #ml oni-chan #ml lies #ml perfection #ml protection

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

When I say that I like the idea of a "redeemed" Chloe, know that I am basically picturing season 2 Chloe, just a little less less bratty and petty about how she wields her social clout. I lovingly refer to her as "bitch powers for the forces of good". If Chloe is acting like Marinette or Zoe, then I have failed the assignment. Hero teams need a bitchy/moody/morally grey character to balance the goody-two-shoes, otherwise the team can get a little boring. Someone to keep things interesting and to make suggestions that no one else would even think to consider. As far as I can tell, Chloe is the only character in the show who ever had the potential to fit that role. (Okay, there was a brief moment when I thought Felix might give me a second choice, but those hopes were killed very quickly.)

#chloe burgeois #chloé bourgeois

[taldigi]

How many Felixes are there in the Lady Bug universe?! What is the difference between Felix Agreste from Lady Bug PV and Felix Sphinx? did they have different characters and personalities? How are they different and how are they similar? Was Felix always a morally gray character (anti-hero/anti-villain) or is there still a version where he was an antagonist, sociopath or Marinette's arch rival?

LOl ok slow down.

Maybe in mini-menace there might have been a rivalry. Chat is only present in one cover, and another cover where he is implied to be hunting ladybug via the black cat and ladybug.

However, My favorite idea is that chat noir may be the detective investigating Ladybug for her vigilantism and/or involvement in the gang involved in the murder of her parents.

Since then, Chat noir was always designed to be her partner.

even if that "partnership" is less than ideal on Marinette's (Or Nathan, as I like to call this version of Chat) part. This dynamic was phased out pretty quickly, about the end of the QK phase of development.

There is no "Felix Agreste" the PV "Felix" is actually Adrien Nanty. (Felix Nanty, if you want to stick the felix name.) His father was actually a hotel baron (think chloe's dad sans the mayorship) and his mother was present and doting, especially due to his disability. (That whole narrative is really ableist and deserves its own breakdown) And he's actually quite sweet, as depicted in a ton of the bibles as thinking fondly of Marinette and turning to her for advice quite frequently. He's also depicted as wanting to be a doctor, so he funnels all his free time into studying. (Which is most likely what he was doing in the library during PV)

Not to say that his name was never "Felix", because it was. But by the time PV rolled around, his name had been changed to Adrien.

Felix Sphinx is the idea that If Adrien -> Gabriel, than Felix -> Richard. And Richard Sphinx -> Felix Sphinx. He's an interesting villain who fills that shitty father role way better than Gabriel. (who was actually really pompous and silly in his first incarnation after they phased out Richard)

How many Felixes are there in the Lady Bug universe?

One at a time. Be it Nathan, Adrien, or Felix himself. The character went through tons of development. Felix Fathom is not a "Felix" because he is not Chat Noir. He is a new character, original to the series like Kagami and Luka.

What is the difference between Felix Agreste from Lady Bug PV and Felix Sphinx?

Agreste's dad is Gabriel, Sphinx' Dad is Richard Sphinx. PV Felix' parents are not shown, but it is most likely he is Adrien Nanty, who's parents are alive, not evil, and own a hotel. However, since the identity of Papillon is kept a mystery in all media (including Canon for a time) it is possible that pv Felix is Sphinx. But the characters are similar enough that it could be interchangeable. Who knows.

did they have different characters and personalities? How are they different and how are they similar?

Yes. But not in the way you think. Nanty and Sphinx liked Marinette. Nathan found her annoying. Adrien did not have an opinion on her for a long time- (esp if we are to base it all on episode 1/introducing the characters, Adrien was indifferent and distant)

Was Felix always a morally gray character (anti-hero/anti-villain) or is there still a version where he was an antagonist, sociopath or Marinette's arch rival?

Err... Morally grey, maybe in QK stuff and canon. Where he aims for ladybugs affection instead of being a hero. Antagonist maybe in Mini Menace. But sociopath? Canon maybe. Adrien frequently throws tantrums and threatens people, is viciously jealous, and has threatened and blackmailed plagg at least three times (remember kuro neko where feeling left out > his relationship with Plagg) but, again, PV era Felix/Adrien isn't an asshole or a jerk. He just has teenage angst and suffers from the twilight sparkle disease of "stop studying, make some friends, and touch grass" jfc.

Look, I know people are super ride or die on "cursed ring needs a kiss" stuff but there is more evidence to the contrary. The artbook is a great resource, but it was made by another company, and the curse is never mentioned anywhere else. I don't doubt that there was a phase where they did consider it, but it vanished so quickly that it was mentioned only once and then disappeared. Yet nobody uses other details like.. him wanting to be a doctor... Or his boxing... Or him being super into art... Or even his love of BMX. Yeah.

Anyway. Hope this helps.

#Anonymous #felix sphinx #felix agreste #mini menace #ladybug pv #digit's miraculous tag #felix nanty #adrien nanty #gorgeous nathan from the gym club #chat noir #cat noir #nathan sphinx #miraculous ladybug #ladybug classic #ladybug precannon #ladybug adventures

[chatonnoir]

you don’t realize that Chat Noir and Ladybug have yin-yang designs just like Adrien and Marinette do until you see them kwami swapped... Chat Noir has the all-black outfit and the power of death & destruction, both of which you would expect to belong to a total edgelord in a superhero universe, but he has hair like sunshine and a lighthearted personality and a cute little bell to balance it out. Meanwhile, Ladybug has the brightly-colored red Hero Outfit(TM) and the power of life & creation, but has hair like midnight (what you’d expect an edgy destruction-wielder to have) and the more serious disposition.

Then they kwami swap and Mister Bug looks like a total golden retriever Hero Boy(TM) pulled directly off a cereal box with his brightly-colored outfit and sunshine hair. He looks like he’s going to tell you to “stay in school and don’t do drugs, kids!” He has that Captain America mixed with Spider-Man kind of vibe. He looks like a Friend. Meanwhile Lady Noire becomes pure darkness and looks way more intense than Chat Noir with that jet black braid. She looks like a morally grey edgy destruction Super who the cops probably hate. She has that Shego / Maleficent / Loki / etc. Villain color palette. She looks like she’d be the Bad Girl Turned Good character like Catwoman. And you realize that after they kwami swapped they went from feeling balanced to feeling like they were opposite extremes

#Chat Noir looks like he may be up to something but Mister Bug could get away with anything . He has such Good Boy vibes #Ladybug looks like she will Protect You like a Good Hero while Lady Noire looks like she will save you by laying waste to the enemy #and taking no prisoners <3

[xhanisai]

AH!!!! BUT THEN!!!!!

Gabriel finally realises that a part of him has always been within Adrien all along and he just never realised it!

Adrien will die for Marinette. Adrien will kill for Marinette. Adrien would use the wish to bring her back to life.

Has these darker, dangerous parts within his son's heart always lurked in there? Or did it manifest because he failed to be a decent father and keep him on the right path?

Surely all the darker, grey morals in Adrien is all from Gabriel right? Surely Emilie was nothing like that when she was alive.

Right?

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug and chat noir #THE BRAINWORMS AAAAAAAAAA

[trainsinanime]

I love BugNoir's design, but part of me really wishes they had set the fight somewhere else. I guess it was always inevitable that they'd end up at Emelie's tomb, and that necessitated going through the Agreste Mansion (though, maybe inevitable is the wrong word. I also thought it'd be inevitable that Adrien was part of the final fight, and we all know how that turned out). But setting basically all of it in the foyer and the kitchen? It's visually boring. It's just white and a bit of black and grey, all lit super flatly. The only colour comes from the characters.

It doesn't help that it's all taking place during the day, when not even the color of the sunlight can add anything. The show has gotten a lot of great use out of golden hour, twilight and night. Look at the end of season 4 for a good example: We start during the day, we get dramatic action evening sky, and we end in the twilight. The Ladynoir hug there was going to be good no matter what, but the lighting made it even better.

No such thing in this finale, though, it's day and it stays day for the entire two-parter.

Compared to how incredibly pretty Representation was lit, this is a bit of a letdown. The show can look so incredibly gorgeous at times, but somehow the finale wasn't the episode that got that.

Yes, the finale was complex because it had so many characters and sets, including bringing back New York and Shanghai and big Tikki and Plagg, and that certainly meant more people-hours and thus more money spent there that couldn't go into lighting.

And to be fair, the action we got was awesome. The Marinette-vs-Gabriel fight was absolutely amazing. That was money well spent. I just feel like it could have been even better with a different background.

Still: I believe Bug Noir deserved better lighting. And Adrien there, for moral support.

#miraculous ladybug #ml s5 spoilers #ml season 5 spoilers #ml s5 #ml season 5 #ml recreation #ml recreation spoilers #recreation spoilers #I liked this finale but man it was so incredibly weird #part of me still can't believe that they were serious with this

[sizzleissues]

So in process of making a page of Chat Noir’s but thought I’d explain and get some help here so I don’t messy up the actual post. I’ll go through each Chat I have included and a little about them and ask for some suggestions of different names or another Chat to include.

More under cut

From left to right, top to bottom.

Chat Noire- Genderbent Chat Noir

Chat Night (better name please suggest)- Miraculous if it turned you into the animal. A cat with a smoky quality. Adrien would first dress in a homemade Chat Noir get-up and then transform so he could switch between forms in battle without revealing his identity. He can be as small as a regular cat and as large as a house. Gets distracted by mice frequently mid-battle.

The Dashing/Daring Black Cat- English Adrien and a vigilante. A Robin Hood type figure who faces the Red Knight. Of course she soon becomes smitten with his charming antics and eventually switch’s to the side of the rouge, becoming the Ladybird

Kitty Noir- Zoe with the miraculous. Gave her a pony tale because I wanted to

Ladynoire - Marinette ofc

Lord Cattus (please suggest names)- Felix with the miraculous if he was going full morally grey antagonist mode and not masking as Chat Noir. Sort of regal and dangerous, even if he used his powers for good. He would totally act like Batman, all broody and dark. I’m really conflicted on his name because I wanted to go Ancient Greek for cat but that word is already tied up in something…… else

Plagg- Favourite boy

Dark Claws (name suggestions?)- Nino with the cat miraculous. A situation where he’s permanent holder, alongside Alya as Ladybug. Very anti-establishment and uses his power a little irresponsibly. Nino is the type of dude who shouldn’t have such a destruction power, it’s in his nature to protect so he’s fiercely loyal to Scarabella and very reactive. Liable to fall down a dark path. Or Adrien gives it to him one day for the goofs and they terrorise Ladybug

Ears on his hood, a cropped hoodie with a turtle neck underneath and loose jogger style pants. Debating on dropping the mask and giving him black circular glasses (since miraculous hide identity anyway with magic buffering)

Cat Walker- Chat Noir x200 times the Adrien

Chat Noir- little baby man

#chat noir #chat noir redesign #many chat noirs #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #ml fanart #mlb fanart #cat walker #ml season 5 spoilers #felix graham de vanily #lady noire #kitty noir #Sketch #suggestions please #mine

[ladybeug]

Alright so

It has been about 24 hours since i finished @peachcitts fanfiction metamorphosis and i spent at least 3 of those hours making a fanmix.

Listen, Im sorry, this is just who I am, Im someone who wants to make a playlist about a specific iteration of ml characters. Especially if there are some grey morals up in there.

read the fic, listen to the fanmix, follow me under the cut thats where the party is

...and by party I mean analytical summary of each song.

I'm about to talk about some of these choices I made in depth, as a treat for myself. An indulgence. I'll keep the fic references high level but there may be some theme/tone spoilers so real talk go read the fic and meet me back here.

@peachcitt I know I tagged you but this will get long you do not have to read it or acknowledge this homage just know I appreciated your story and thought a lot about it.

so.

the whole playlist is meant to be listened to start to finish, its half the tragedy and half the hard work to get your life right side up and the rewards.

I actively tried not to put Cry for Judas on here and i did ANYWAYS

its on so many of my playlists already, I'm loose with this song. But frankly if i could only keep it on one I would keep it on here. I mean I just don't think any other adrien iterations do things just to see how bad they'll make him feel QUITE like this one and i just HAD to have that as the first line of lyrics in the playlist.

I'm just also obsessed with sad and angry, can't learn how to behave?? The tragic acceptance of being unable to be good??

find me a better match. this song had to be on here and it had to be first.

Your Ghost - this might be the only song thats only about Marinette which is a crime because I really connected with her pov but the truth is that this is an adrien fanmix and i need to accept that.

But for real the acceptance but inability to move on in this song is just perfect.

Can't Lose - maybe the angriest song on here? A little angrier than I was going for but I had to keep this one though because, I mean, "I'm thinking I can't move if there isn't somewhere else to go?" like, the, 'sure what im doing is bad but what else IS there' of it, I mean, what can I even say. It had to be on here.

If you only listen to one song on here listen to Animal Mask.

It's a song about partners in a wrestling match written as a metaphor for when John Darnielle's wife was in labor, and its so tender and sweet, and frankly it sounds like it could have been written for metamorphosis for like every single flashback of ladybug and chat noir.

I could quote every line and be like 'this is them' but like, 'hold on,' I cried, 'I'll be right there', pulled your mask down through your hair. they won't see you, not until you want them to. What am I supposed to say?? It moves me deeply I'm having emotional problems please come join me. Every other song on this playlist doesn't matter.

Anyways intermission, while we're here, let me share this experience that I had today with you:

I did then proceed to count, was appropriately ashamed that about 25% of the playlist was mountain goats, and extremely painfully chose to remove 'oceanographer's choice'.

[tangent about Oceanographers Choice vs Haunted House]

As obsessed as I am with going straight from the unbearably tender memory in animal mask to oceanographer's choice, first line: "well, guy in a skeleton costume, walks up to a guy in a superman suit, runs through him with a broadsword", the anxious switch in music, and then straight into a song about a fucked up guy fighting the woman he is still complicatedly in love with.... and he doesn't know how else to be....

oh no, listen, as I typed that I half convinced myself to add it back in again

but I won't because I even more love the transit of animal mask to the shrill and tense line in Haunted House, "I was buried in the summer, all those parties ago", and then a confused and hysterical song about dissociation and loss of control in a world where nobody seems connected to what you're going through. The tone is more ungrounded, and scared, and less resigned. Which matches what I was going for - I tried to avoid songs that were just like... "yeah i'm evil >:) thats my identity"

[end tangent]

Little Pistol I feel like I barely have to justify, but I will say what really sold me is the reference to 'I want what's best for me, and I think I know just what that means'. But then also the slight change in tune at the end? Delicious?

The Run and Go, just read the fic ok

I Wanna Get Better is one that honestly feels like it doesn't fit perfectly but I'm really drawn to a sharp turning point in the playlist from 'bad and spiraling' to 'desperately clawing my way up' which is how reading the fic felt at a certain point, and this song feels like the perfect tonal shift and has the end-of-a-movie screaming conviction that I want. Its also just so good

Do it Anyways might be the second most important song... third most important? on this fanmix. The frantic, panicky music matched with the unwavering conviction to improvement is so unmatched honestly and if we're talking about how hard it is to be your best when you feel your worst, oh my god. Read the fic, listen at 2:44 and meet me back here and there's nothing else I even need to say

Absolute Lithops Effect.... I tricked you, this is also a mountain goats song :) its a cover though so I'm not counting it.

This is one of the most beautiful songs about hope for the future and growth that I know its very important to me. The title of the playlist comes from this song. Here's what you need to know about it:

Lithops are these:

They grow so slowly they don't look like they're growing at all. But they are.

Love Love Love: Ugh don't talk to me about love love love. I'm not going to explain how this connects to the fic. It does, I'm right. There's nothing I can say about this that can't be said better by Mr. Mountain Goats himself:

"The point of the song is, you know, that we are fairly well damaged by the legacy of the Romantic poets--that we think of love as this, you know, thing that is accompanied by strings and it's a force for good, and if something bad happens then that's not love. And the therapeutic tradition that I come from--I used to work in therapy--you know, also says that it's not love if it feels bad. I don't know so much about that. I don't know that the Greeks weren't right. I think they were--that love can eat a path through everything--that it will destroy a lot of things on the way to its own objective, which is just its expression of itself, you know. I mean, my stepfather loved his family, right? Now he mistreated us terribly quite often, but he loved us. And, you know, well, that to me is something worth commenting on in the hopes of undoing a lot of what I perceive as terrible damage in the way people talk about this--love is this benign, comfortable force. It's not that. It's wild, you know?" — NPR interview with Linda Wertheimer, 14 May 2005

Metamorphosis: okay this one I added to make myself laugh but I also stand by it thematically

SUPERBLOOM: Don't we all deserve a little celebration for the hard work we do?

Anyways this is my fanmix, if you read to here I love you and you're welcome for all the mountain goats songs I peeled off of here that I didn't even tell you about. I didn't even put heel turn 2 on here. Whoops ok now i've told you about that one.

#I get into this routine where I start a playlist thinking... this is just for fun #its just for me #i love to have a fanmix it will be a fun project for me to express and create and reinterpret #and organize and sort #and then i spend so long on it and think so hard about each song and the order and the tone #that it becomes a piece of art im attached to and then i want to share it even though its SO NICHE ITS ALWAYS SO NICHE im so sorry to do th #im doing it though #Spotify #anyways thank you for humoring me sorry to everyone #this is so long and uncalled for (except by me im calling so much)

[vennyvenadito]

I am the only one who think the other Miraculous characters are just….boring or plain?

Is like, they don’t do that much in the series, if they do, is not really good or is just plain

Like

The classmates for example

They don’t do to much in the series, the only thing they do right now is just be Adrinette shippers and only that

It’s not that is just one of them been akumatized or just appear as superhero’s

Speaking of superhero’s

They are just so bland, forget about the fact is some of them have a cool suit, they’re just boring

Even in their debuts doesn’t feel any special, is only “look this character! Is gonna be a new superhero! Aren’t you exited!?” I would if they were more interesting, but guess what?, they’re not

When they appeared I was just like “oh right, those guys exist, for what?”

Look Juleka, it was cool when she transform and her suit is awesome (one of my favorites but the way), but after that, she doesn’t really do that much, she is just another “yes man” to Ladybug

The only thing they do is just follow Ladybug’s orders, they don’t make their own decisions on battle or opinions about the situation, they just…there

Unironically THE only heroe that I feel ALOT of emotions and did have more going on was not other then CHLOE!

How ironic isn’t?

The mean character, the one the creator hates so much, the one a lot of people say she didn’t deserve be a heroe….was the most interesting character of all of them

You know when the mean character end up being the most interesting of all the other characters than the ones that are “we” supposed to root for, says ALOT

You know you did something wrong right there

And how funny how the only heroe I did care about is replaced with another character who like the others, she doesn’t really matter

I mean, c’mon, I need more than that

The other thing I hate about the characters is that fact, or they are only “good good” or “bad bad”

All of them are sickly nice or just pure evil

Like, morally grey people doesn’t exist in this series or what!?

I need a Neutral character please

If there’s one, please tell me! The only one a can think right now is probably Nathalie

I mean, Emilie could be perfect, she not been a perfect sweet angel but not really that bad

But nope! She is just another good sweetheart who did nothing wrong

The kwamis could be perfect for that too, like not evil or good, they’re neutrals creatures doin whatever their wilders do

But no, they just so sickly nice or just acting like babies…..um….how old are they again?

The only kwamis a I like and care about are Pollen, Trixx, Plagg, Nooroo, Duusuu, Wazzy and Sass

And kinda Tikki but like the others, she is just “Your the best, I love you!” “OMG new holder! 0w0”

Also, can the adults characters have more brain cells please! Why all of them are so freaking idiots!? Dang, that would explain the kids behavior in this show

What is wrong with the parents in this show!?

Like, Gabriel I can excuse him to been terrible, because he is the bad gay-I mean bad guy anyway, if is this his job? well, he does a good one (me no trying to ignore whatever happens in the leaks)

But like, Marinette parents are just those types of parents who let their kids whatever they want, sure, they’re not terrible people but they’re not perfect, but the series paint them as “The perfects parents”

Andre could be a perfect example of a father who fails to their kid but tries to better but doesn’t know how

But nooo, he throw his biological daughter like trash to her abusive mother and replace her with another kid?

What lesson is this?? Throw your kid like trash if they don’t behave like you want and blame them for that when you were the one who raise them!?

Fuck Andre, I hated you before and I despide you now, I hope you paid for this and get karma after that!

Ugh

Ok thinks that’s all

#miraculous ladybug #mlb fandom #ml salt #chloe bourgeois #mlb salt #marinette dupen chang #mlb season five #mlb gabriel

[stormiclown]

Ladies & Gentlemen : Head-cannons

[Someone suggested I should this so here we are]

-Stephan was definitely chased around by people who only wanted to be his friend to get a leg up in higher class society, so he always avoided them and made himself seem unpleasant. He’s likely never had any real friends before Francois DuPont.

-His type is artistic people with multiple talents. He won’t entertain anyone who is all talk and no effort as shown when he rebuffed Lila and shut down Adrien.

-For their first date, Stephan would most likely take Marinette to an amusement park, fashion museum, or a fancy night dinner.

-If Stephan were to ruin Adrien’s life, he would do it socially as his father would frown at trying to ruin Gabriel’s company. But he has no qualms about trying to outshine the company.

-Stephan’s father was the one who taught him everything about social manipulation and intimidation tactics. He had to get his attitude from somewhere.

-Stephan loves Marinette’s designs, but loves modeling them for her even more.

-Marinette is his first girlfriend and the first person he’d ever been curious about. Whenever they spend time together, they usually go to parks and hang out at her internships.

-Before going to Francois DuPont, Stephan only used manipulation for himself and only his vindictive side if he was provoked or disrespected first. Now with Marinette and his friends, he’d use his social charm to protect them from others.

-He’s an Aquarius, that’s for sure.

-For model work, he is actually very active to the clothing designing process more than the modeling part, though does enjoy it.

-Any person who tries to harm Marinette can say good bye to their social life. Messing with Stephan is basically like committing social suicide.

-Marinette is unaware of the threats toward Adrien and finds Stephan to be amazing.

-She secretly resents Adrien for never standing up for her whenever Lila started on her BS.

-Despite his morally grey methods, all of her friends support their relationship because deep down, Stephan is a good person.

-I can imagine him being the new Cat hero if Adrien were removed from the team.

-In his conquest to destroy anyone who is a threat to his plans or happiness, he has shown resourcefulness and wits, as shown when he patiently (found) compiled a bunch of clips of Chat Noir’s less than noble moments and used his platform to promote the evidence in order to shake Paris’ faith in the hero. Yeah, his reach is wide spread. I wouldn’t get on his bad side.

-He’d have no problem getting Lila blacklisted from the fashion and photography industries if she tries anything funny.

-Lila may be a charming liar, but Stephan is a charismatic genius, capable of wrapping an entire school around his fingers, charm an entire city as the new hero, and bring about social demise to anyone who tries to cross him.

-He is a very attentive and caring boyfriend who is always willing to listen and can pick up on any questions that show if Marinette is upset.

That’s all I have for now. I might add more later.

#adrien salt #just a little bit #lila salt #adrien antagonist #anon request #marinette is happy