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adrinoir · 1 year

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Headcanon: Adrien Agreste is Trans? (Part 4)

I absolutely love writing about this headcanon. Feel free to read my other sections of the trans headcanon: part one, part two, and part three.

Usual disclaimer: this is just for fun! Obviously cis boys can have these same qualities and traits. Don’t take it too seriously. These are all just things I’ve noticed. Also please keep in mind I haven't watched anything beyond Kwami's Choice: part 1 when I'm writing and posting this (so, I'm using what I currently know).

The incredibly strong dislike of modeling

This relates back to part one where I talked about Adrien’s discomfort in being a model. I had mentioned modeling is all about body - your face and body being everywhere, having to pose in front of a camera all the time, having to walk down the runway. There's a lot of visible discomfort we see in Adrien whenever he has to model.

Anyhow, what I want to add is that this discomfort never eased up for him despite the many, many years he had to model. He was extremely adamant about quitting. Obviously, modeling is a very stressful job as is, especially with the amount of gigs and events to attend and the insane fans who want to know where he's at, plus he said he just wants to be treated as a son by his dad. However, having gender dysphoria is something that can really be heightening this discomfort and desire to quit.

I feel like there are a lot of people out there who would desire to live this lavish lifestyle of being a model, but Adrien can't stand it. So therein lies the question: aside from the normal stress, what is heightening his strong dislike for this job? It could also be the fact that it's keeping him from getting to try out new things he'd enjoy doing, but also consider that his father controls his life as a whole, it isn't just his modeling position getting in the way. And, as I've previously said, there's a lot of visible discomfort, which could easily be what's making him dislike modeling even more.

Additionally, Adrien's face is now not only plastered on billboards, but on almost everyone's Alliance ring. Gabriel scanned Adrien's entire body and created this AI version of him to relieve him of his modeling duties. However, Adrien is still uneasy and doesn't like seeing his face and voice on just about everyone's device (if they have him as their option and not Lila). Yes, it's obviously weird for him to see a fake version of himself saying things he never recorded. But, 1) his face has been all over Paris for years (MASSIVE photos of him), and 2) this should not be incredibly shocking behavior for Gabriel Agreste. So, is there some dysphoric discomfort here, too? Possibly. I know it's a stretch, but it's definitely a small piece to take into consideration.

He often lets people perceive him how they want to

I had also mentioned in part two that he's a people pleaser and melds himself to be who other people want him to be. I want to add, he also lets people define who he is instead of trying real hard to correct them; he lets them think what they want of him.

A good example of this is in Lies when Kagami is trying to draw Adrien. He tries to pose as a cat to try and vaguely show his Cat Noir side; to be silly. But, Kagami doesn't believe this. He even promises her that this is who he really is, that being silly is part of who he truly is. However, Kagami pushes him against a wall, stares directly into his eyes, and says he’s perfect and, "There. This is really you." To which he answers, "Do you really think...?" and just lets Kagami kiss him. Yes, Kagami was being a bit forceful (like, oof. She shouldn't have done that). But, Adrien didn't try to tell her she's wrong. He let Kagami perceive him in her own way.

Why doesn't he correct her? It could be because he wouldn't want people knowing he's trans. It’s a very scary thing. You don’t know how the people who claim they love you will react. Letting them think what they want to doesn’t raise suspicion that he’s hiding something, and clearly his effort on trying to open up to her more didn’t even work in the first place.

You could say he acts like "being silly" is such a big, important part of him that he feel must be hidden at all costs, because it seems that he thinks that him being silly and telling puns would possibly give away that he's Cat Noir. BUT him posing that way for Kagami and him telling cat jokes in the middle of class (in Ephemeral) proves that notion wrong.

One could say he also doesn't want people to know he's dealing with a bad home life, but it's been common knowledge from the start that he has a controlling father. Nino has come up with plans on multiple occasions to free him from his father so they can hang out together. Kagami's mother and Gabriel are friends. It's how Adrien and her met, and Kagami makes it very well known that she's aware of how controlling Gabriel is.

In Elation - one of the most recent episodes - he mentions to Marinette that his fans "wouldn't be such big fans if they knew who was really behind the mask". So, even now, he still feels the need to hide his truer self and that he wouldn't be liked for who he truly is. But, let's think about this for a moment. He has fans both as Adrien and as Cat Noir. He has friends who know his situation and care about him. So then…what is being left out that he feels people won’t like about him? THAT brings us to the next point.

Why does he think people wouldn’t like him?

With all that being said (in the last section), there’s no exact, definable reason as to why Adrien says people wouldn’t like the real him. So, this could mean Adrien is hiding something we as the audience can’t even see.

It’s obvious Adrien has underlying insecurities. But, it seems there’s more than just those insecurities, and this could be him possibly being trans and internally struggling with that gender dysphoria.

People like what they see in Cat Noir - his silly puns and kind heart. People like what they see in Adrien - his kindness and friendliness. So, why will it be problematic once people know they’re the same person? There’s no solid reason.

I had mentioned in my other parts of this headcanon that he’s very closed off which can be pretty common amongst closeted trans people. Adrien thinking people won’t like who he truly is without any definable reason could contribute to that. He doesn’t want people to know he’s trans because he feels they’d think very differently of him and may not like him.

Think about how quickly he believed Marinette in Elation when she said she liked Adrien but doesn’t anymore. It shows that sign of insecurity and dislike for himself. When the girl he likes shows so many signs that she like him throughout the entire show but denies that, he doesn’t believe her. It’s really sad.

The closeness with his mom

So, we aren’t given much background on Emilie, but one thing we do see is that she’s closer to Adrien than Gabriel is. However, what makes them close? We’re never given a reason.

There’s that possibility she’s manipulative like Gabriel but in a different sense, one that makes Adrien like her despite being abusive. But, of course there’s the possibility that she isn’t, which makes her the better parent.

So, if it were true that she never abused Adrien, that leaves the question: what makes them close?

Hypothetically, if my headcanon was actually canon, she could be the one parent who supports Adrien being trans. That reason alone would make them closer, but could also be just one reason amongst many others.

The headcanon still works if I flip it

What if instead of Adrien being a trans guy who already transitioned, he’s a trans girl who hasn’t transitioned yet? I know that might sound like a massive stretch, but I’ve heard this headcanon from other fans and there’s some good back up for this, too.

We all know Gabriel is a very abusive father. We all know Adrien’s childhood dreams were nonexistent because was forced to be who his parents wanted him to be (or he’s forcing himself to please them). What if this is because they don’t support Adrien when he told him he felt like a girl? That’d mean he’s forced to continue living as a boy to please his parents, because his parents don’t accept the fact that he’s trans.

And modeling? That discomfort in having to show the body he has this disconnect from the body he was born in but still has to have pictures taken of all the time.

And him overcompensating his masculinity as Cat Noir? Trans people who are still questioning or don’t have a choice to transition can overcompensate to try being comfortable in the body they were born into. For example, a trans guy who can’t transition might try to be a very feminine girl (makeup, dressed, etc) or a trans girl who can’t transition might try to be a very masculine guy (get real muscular, grow out their facial hair, etc).

Just about every reason I’ve listed in all parts of this headcanon work just the same if Adrien was supposedly a closeted trans girl which makes this headcanon even more interesting imo.

Also, we do see him shirtless in Mr. Pigeon 72 which some people say debunks this whole headcanon that he’s a trans guy. BUT, this isn’t necessarily true. 1) Puberty blockers exist 2) it supports the flipped version.

This flipped headcanon would also be extremely sad if it is true that Adrien is a sentibeing. The ability to change Adrien to be the gender he connects with would be possible, but his parents chose not to recreate another version of him for their own sake. Or, they did possibly try but it’s what ended up wrecking the peacock miraculous, which might’ve made them feel some hostility towards Adrien.

There’s other characters in the show that are canonically queer

There’s absolutely no denying that there are queer characters in the show. Even though it’s not directly stated that Juleka and Rose are dating and that Nathaniel and Marc are dating, it’s made very clear that they are just based on their interactions.

I also heard Marc is based on one of the staff’s gender fluid friends, which is really cool! That’s direct queer representation that they clarified outside the show.

If you know anything about Disney, you’ll know there’s some homophobia and transphobia around the company. For instance, I also watch The Owl House where the main character Luz is openly bi and Amity is openly lesbian. They end up crushing on each other and dating. They directly state in the show that they’re girlfriends, show Luz coming out to her mom as bi, and have scenes of Luz and Amity kissing. There’s also Raine who’s an openly non-binary character - they directly refer to Raine with they/them pronouns. Their VA is also non-binary. And what does Disney do, despite how incredibly successful this show is? They wouldn’t let the creator renew it.

So, other Disney shows such as Miraculous and Star vs the Forces of Evil show queer characters without directly saying that they are. People might refer to that as queer baiting, but with Disney’s proof of being homophobic and transphobic, I can understand why these shows wouldn’t directly say what these characters’ sexualities and identities are.

Anyhow, considering how they massively hint at Rose and Juleka being girlfriends and Marc and Nathaniel being boyfriends, there’s that possibility that other characters in the show are queer, too. That’s why I and many other fans of the show can easily create these queer headcanons for many of the characters. There’s a lot of signs in the show.

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nellie-elizabeth · 2 years

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The Walking Dead: Outpost 22 (11x21)

We are so close to the end! This was a pretty good outing.

Cons:

It's difficult for me to feel invested in Negan, even now. He's separated from his pregnant wife, and I think I'm meant to care and be concerned, but she's such a non-character, we've had no time to get to know her, and I can't bring myself to care just on Negan's behalf, you know?

The twist about Outpost 22 being... Alexandria?? Really confused and annoyed me. It emphasized the extent to which this show has lost all control of its timeline and geographical awareness. I knew that Alexandria had been taken over by the Commonwealth, but that was through Hornsby, who was on Pamela's bad side, to say the least, and is now dead... so who is running the former Alexandria (and Hilltop? Question mark? Now?) How long has it been? I thought there were still some of our heroes/good guys in those old communities, or did they really clear them entirely out? Man, I don't know, and I don't really care.

It just feels like another retread, instead of a propulsion into something new, the way I was hoping for. I wanted the Outpost or the work camps or whatever, to be giving us new insights into the larger world. I thought we'd be connecting the Commonwealth to how other parts of the world have been surviving. I thought this would be more of a direct line back to Rick, is what I'm saying. There's so little time left!

Pros:

I liked our smaller groupings this week, getting to see Rosita and Gabriel have some quality time trying to get back to their kid, watching Daryl and Carol meet up with Maggie... it's fun to see so many of the longest-lasting most beloved characters grouped together for a final stand. And they're all such bad-asses. You really get the sense from them all that they've worked together for a long time, and that they really know what they're doing. It's enormously satisfying and sometimes chilling to see them kicking ass, threatening their enemies, getting the answers they need.

I like Connie and Daryl, I'm not going to lie. From a shipping perspective I'm definitely on board the Carol/Daryl train, but it was sweet to see Daryl so worried about Connie, and I'm glad he was able to rescue her! Or rather that Daryl was able to help her in rescuing herself.

Rosita and Gabriel have never done much for me as a couple but I like the way they bolstered each other in this episode. Rosita is the more obviously hardened bad-ass, but Gabriel offers important assistance, and talks Rosita around when she's too busy punishing herself to be practical about their next logical move. And that goes for the other various combinations of characters, too. Daryl and Carol steady each other. Carol is able to offer Maggie solace as she grieves for her missing son.

As much as Negan doesn't interest me, I did like the stuff with him and Ezekiel and the others, working to clear the train tracks. They're basically in a labor camp, and while Kelly wants to make a run for it, Ezekiel knows that's a suicidal idea. But Negan wants to work together with Ezekiel to get them free. I like that Negan acknowledges that he deserves a lot worse than his current lot in life, but that Ezekiel and the others do not. Ezekiel is the one who stands for hope. He did it with the Kingdom, and he can do it again, with Negan's help. Honestly, this is the most I've been interested in Ezekiel in a long time, so hopefully they can stick the landing there and do something cool with him and Negan in the final few episodes.

I had a fun time with the journey of this episode, but as I mentioned above, I'm a little more skeptical about the destination. Maggie has this whole grand speech about how they're going to take back their home, and Pamela will never see it coming, and I'm just not convinced that they'd actually be able to pull that off. I mean, it's a TV show, so they probably will, but it seems pretty contrived to me. Oh well. Here's to a solid final three episodes and a goodbye to this eleven-season television program that will allow me to look back on my time with it fondly...

8/10

#review #the walking dead #the walking dead review #walking dead #walking dead review

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amimons · 2 years

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(Don’t add your SentiAdrien salt to this post)

When it come to SentiAdrien I think we should focus on how poor of a father Gabriel Agreste is to his son. A parent that uses manipulative tactics to control their children is a sign of poor parenting. This also this goes beyond just manipulating his son. This is a reflection of who Gabriel is as a person.

Gabriel always claims to have his son’s best interest in mind. But obviously as a man with a lot to hide, the more freedom he gives Adrien the more risky it is for Gabriel’s secrets to be unveiled. When it comes to certain stuff with the miraculous, Gabriel is not afraid to take risks. What he fears is losing control over the stuff he believes are in his control. His image/secret identity, the ability to bring Emilie back, and Adrien. Anything that brings risks to those things scares him. So when he feels threaten Gabriel’s preferred method is to gain control.

Gabriel has proven he would do just about anything so he could be in control. He became a super villain just so he can gain control back and bring Emilie back to his life. He is willing to harm others in order to do this. Including his own son. But why does he fear Adrien if he has his amok? Can’t he make him help him? Couldn’t he just make Adrien be agreeable with what is going on?

To answer the first question: yes he could force Adrien to help him but we’ve seen him not do this with the amok... but with an akuma. In both Chat Blanc and Ephemeral, Gabriel forced Adrien into submission by akumatizing him. An ability that Gabriel can and has used on anybody. But noticed the amok was only used to prevent Adrien from fighting back against the akumatization. It however did not alter his way of thinking. Adrien tried his best to fight against his father’s demands. He went against direct order to eliminated Ladybug as Chat Blanc (but unfortunately we know what did end up happening). As Ephemeral he painfully helped his father but did so with great pain and a sorrow heart. So to answer the second question: no Gabriel cannot make Adrien agree with him because he knows that is something he does not have control over. Which is why he fears Adrien.

Gabriel knows that he cannot control Adrien’s own thoughts and feelings. He can only manipulate them with a miraculous. As Hawkmoth, he is able to make anyone under his control. It’s surprisedly an experience a lot of citizens of Paris can actually relate to. As Adrien’s father, this gives him the power of being an authority figure to control Adrien. This means telling him he cannot have friends over, needs to go on certain model shoots, making him study all the time, etc. If he truly had control over Adrien then he would not have to instill obedience. Adrien would just be mindlessly obedient to his father. But Gabriel knows there are certain things out of his control including his son which is what scares him.

So in moments such as this one in risk where Felix (pretending to be Adrien) is caught in Gabriel’s office and Gabriel demands he leaves immediately he freezes up once he realizes his ring is no longer in his possession. Gabriel knows he has no true control over Adrien, he can only manipulate him.

That pathetic look of fear on his face when he finds out that the one tactic he can use when Adrien puts his foot down is no longer there for him to rely on. And remember, Gabriel fears the ability of not being in control. This scares him. Instead of putting the work into being an actual parent to Adrien he rather take the easy way out. Unfortunately for him, the easy way out does not change anything it only prevents things. It does not change Adrien perspective, wants, or opinions, it only prevents him from acting on them.

Gabriel never learned what it truly means to be a dad. He is such a scared little man that he is willing to find any means to control others to get what he wants. He is a desperate man seeking control but that control is always temporary. Instead of sitting down and speaking to his son on why he feels he should go on this world wide campaign trip and hearing his son out he would rather manipulate. Gabriel always goes against the communication option. Always. This is because he knows no matter what he does he is not the one truly in control of Adrien. Adrien is in control of his own thoughts and actions.

Gabriel can only manipulate so much to be in his control. He knows there are limits which is why he is so scared. This is way Gabriel’s ability as Hawkmoth is all about control. Something Gabriel does have complete control over is his ability in being a dad. Which he is failing miserably at. He may have been able to create a son, but he was not able to create himself to be the father figure Adrien deserves to have.

Also special shout out to Nathalie for immediately taking the Gabriel method of control once she had the ability to do so...that’s real cool of you...

#you thought i was done with these ramblings? ???#haha no...#anyways its just so sad to think about how terrible of a father gabriel is lol #ml spoilers #risk spoilers #sentiadrien #mine

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miraculouswolf99 · 3 years

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Forest Wolf Academy Idea

I formed this idea after I read a Miraculous fanfiction where Marinette transferred to a school for magic along with Chloe, Nathaniel, Marc, and her brother. At the school already is Felix and the Quad kids. The magic schools are actually for those that are members of witch covens and you must be a member of the coven to join the school. Luke and Juleka are also witches but in a different cousin. Marinette and the other transfer because of Lila. Adrien soon joins them at the school as well. I also got inspiration from the anime Fairy Tail.

I loved the concept of it so much that it gave me my own idea. My idea if an Adrien-focused story since he is my favorite character and always will be.

My idea started after Miracle Queen. Because of Chloe working with Hawkmoth and because Lila had turned so many of Marinette's friends against her, her parents transferred her to an art school so that she can focus on her designing. The only ones that stayed her friends were Adrien, Nathaniel, Kim, Alix, and Juleka. Outside of the class, she had a lot more friends, but her parents wanted her away from Chloe and Lila.

Adrien's dad still makes him model with Lila despite how Adrien and the staff are always telling him that she is the worst model ever. She never shuts up with her lies, never poses as she is told to do, and is basically also sexually harassing Adrien as well. She drives them all crazy.

But then one day during another photoshoot, Adrien hears some music and is drawn toward it. The music is like a siren song that he does not notice that only he can hear. When he arrives at the source of the song, he finds an old friend of his, Lyon Garden. Lyon and his twin sister Vallia are friends of his that he met in Greece when their family hosted a charity fashion show at their family's nature and animal sanctuary. Adrien had gone there with his parents a year before his mom vanished and he kept in contact with them the entire time.

Lyon and Adrien are happy to see each other, Adrien spilling his guts about everything bad going on. Especially all the things with Lila and Chloe. And Lyon gives him an extraordinary opportunity. The reason why Adrien was able to hear his magical song was because he was magical as well. A fellow witch. So, he was able to offer him a place at his school, Forest Wolf Academy.

The two of them went to Gabriel and he actually let Adrien go to the magic school. It turns out that Adrien's mom had also been a witch and that was why he was allowing Adrien to go so easily. Adrien is more than happy to accept the offer.

When Adrien goes to Forest Wolf Academy, he is amazed to see such an incredible school. Forest Wolf is not the only magic school in the world. Each school is hidden in a pocket dimension where they can be entered in any place in the world through the use of a magical key. But each school still has a main magical doorway in the home of the founder of each school. Forest Wolf's main door is in Athens, Greece.

Adrien only lets his real friends know that he is transferring. He would have told Nino, but he no longer considered him his best friend since he turned against Marinette. But given that magical people can hear Lyon's magical song, there are more teen witches in Paris than Adrien knew about. So, even after he transfers, he is actually soon joined by a lot of his true friends. Luka, Kagami, Nathaniel, Marc, Juleka, Kim, and Alix. And each of them would have their own powers that Lyon and Vallia help them learn to control.

Lyon has siren song magic. He is a real-life siren with the added abilities to control sound and music, not just being able to use his voice as a weapon. Vallia has rainbow aura magic. She is also to surround herself with different color light auras that give her other abilities like how sky blue gives her flight and ruby red helps her shoot fire like a dragon.

Adrien would find out that he has light magic, being able to control all forms of light and even be able to change into it like a human shooting star. Luka would have enchanted instrument magic, being able to do all types of things by playing different instruments while still having his natural ability to hear a person's inner song. Juleka would have a similar ability called music spirit magic, where she is able to turn into magical creature spirits that are hybrids with music like harp playing fairies or werewolf drummers. Kagami would have Requip magic, where she is able to store weapons and armor in a separate dimension that only she can access. Nathaniel would have art-to-reality magic where he is able to bring his drawings to life no matter what they are. Marc would have Fairy Tale magic where he could read from a magical storybook that he has and summon any legendary or mythical creature from it. Kim would have were-beast magic where he is able to turn into any were-creature version of any animal like a werewolf or cat creature. And Alix would have time magic, where she would be able to manipulate time around her while also being able to travel through time on her own.

All of them actually have a great time at Forest Wolf Academy and learn to appreciate and covet their magical lives even if Hawkmoth is still a problem. But he would actually have become less active lately as if he is losing motivation for trying to gain the miraculous.

Vallia would actually gain a crush on Kim and the two of them would eventually start dating. The same would go for Juleka and Alix as well as Luka and Kagami. Nathaniel and Marc would be an already established couple since they are too adorable to break up. Adrien would also find himself gaining a crush on Lyon, something he never expected to have on his old friend.

But, as per all good things, their peace had to come to an end. Magic itself was not hidden, just the people that used it. It was why heroes and villains like Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Hawkmoth all had masks when they used the miraculous.

But, the schools have come under some fire with people thinking that they were secret evil cults that wanted to take over the world. So, they all had to open their doors to people. To politicians, school field trips, and even some tours of powerful world leaders just to show that they were all perfectly normal schools that just happen to teach magic to their witch students.

Only, one of the schools that request to tour Forest Wolf Academy is Dupont High, which puts the new students on edge. Especially Adrien and Juleka because of Lila and Rose. It did not help that Lyon and Alix were very protective of their partners and would hurt anyone that tries to hurt them.

But since they have to keep up appearances as a "normal" magical school, they have to accept the field trip request. Luckily, it is the whole school and not just Bustier's class. So, there are still good students like Aurore, Mireille, and Zoé. It is only Bustier's class that believes Lila, anyway.

Adrien and the others do their best to avoid Lila and her attack dogs. They have their jobs to stop the more temperamental students from attacking the annoying group with how they obviously bully almost everyone around them. Not to mention all of the lies that keep coming out of Lila's mouth that she is related to so many powerful witches, how she is a descendant of Merlin, how her grandparents run the best magic school in the world.

There are a lot of students that wanted her head. Especially since it was known through Adrien and Lyon that she had not heard Lyon's magical song, meaning that she had no magic at all. And since magic was passed down from parent to child, that also meant that no one in her family had magic either. Not unless they were one of those families that had been stripped of their magic for crimes against the magical world.

And if it wasn't Lila causing problems with her lies, Chloe was causing problems with her attitude. And how she kept trying to force the students to do as she says and make them her slaves. Like she would go to those with ice magic and demand that they get her a cold drink. Or she would go to the students with gem and crystal magic and demand that they give her the biggest diamond that they can make.

Once the former Dupont students are found by the group is when things really go downhill. There is a lot of yelling about how they abandoned their friends, that they should not be so jealous of Lila's accomplishments, how they needed to get over themselves, how they needed to stop being bullies. And the group fires back that they can not abandon friends that abandoned them first, that they can not be jealous of accomplishments that never happened, and that they never talk to Lila let alone bully her.

Meanwhile, Adrien is trying hard not to be seen by Lila or Chloe since he does not want either of them hanging off his arm like they usually do. But, Lila soon locks her eyes on him and down try and latch onto him, crying her crocodile tears about how much she missed him and how she wanted him back since he "promised to date her."

That is where Lyon steps in and would be so close to using his sonic scream on the annoying liar. Adrien uses his powers to turn into light and get back to Lyon's side. That is when the two of them go into a big "why Lila sucks" speech and reveals that the two of them were dating and that Adrien would never EVER date Lila.

She is not exposed, but a new demonstration of the more dangerous powers from the students, low key threats against the annoying class, makes them never come back after they leave.

Lila hopes to be akumatized over her rage about not being able to lie her way into dating Adrien, but she does not know that Gabriel gave Marinette the butterfly miraculous and the peacock miraculous already. He gave up once he saw how truly happy his son was and did not want the wish to change his son into any other version of him that would never be this happy. It also helps that a few witches from the school that could heal offered to help him restore his wife.

#i hate lila rossi #lila salt #miraculous ladybug #i love salt #alya salt #nino salt #chloe salt #i hate chloe #original character #magic #original mythology #magic school #adrien agreste #adrien x oc #adrien deserves better

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lyledebeast · 2 years

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It’s kind of ironic that two of the most memorable and loved scenes in The Patriot involve men in their shirts killing people. Of course, I’m referring to the scene in the woods where Benjamin Martin slaughters twenty British soldiers to rescue Gabriel and the one by the river where Colonel Tavington and the Green Dragoons are attacked by Gabriel and the militia. This Youtube video explains why Martin’s violence in the woods scene is gratuitous, and I defer to it. The gratuitousness in Tavington’s scene is different, but I would argue that it is no less silly.

Let’s talk about those shirts.

The only thing remarkable about Martin’s shirt is how soaked with blood it gets (along with his chest, neck, face, hair). He’s been similarly dressed throughout all his scenes up to this point except for the one at the assembly in Charleston. It’s practical for him; he’s working outside in the South Carolina summer. And it’s a working man’s shirt: no adornments, rather dingy.

Tavington’s shirt, on the other hand, is fancy. It has a ruffle all the way around the collar and the cuffs. It is almost blindingly white, and remains so even as he is shot through it! After Gabriel shoots him, he’s lying on his belly playing dead long enough for a least a little puddle to form even if his skin is only nicked. There’s acting, and then there’s acting (and then there’s “make-up ran out of fake blood after hosing Mel Gibson down with it,” I guess), but more on that later. In every other scene in the theatrical release, Tavington is wearing a cravat and his jacket is buttoned up, so he feels inappropriately under-dressed.

I’ve read a lot of speculation as to who the intended audience for this stylization is. Surely, the aesthetic similarity--the long flowing hair, the bare chest--between Tavington and the covers of so many romance novels can’t be unintentional. But it seems inappropriate, to say the least, for the filmmakers to provide eye candy “for the ladies” in a scene that so closely follows the one where Tavington burns almost all the ladies in the movie alive in their church!

Obviously, the way Jason Isaacs is styled here is intentional, but I would argue that it is “for” straight men as much as everything else in the movie. It provides a stark contrast between Tavington’s masculinity and Martin’s. What this scene reveals is that Tavington cares too much about his appearance. While his men are cooking and socializing after burning yet another Patriot home, he’s grooming himself; his hair is damp from having been washed, and we see him shaving. (It’s worth pointing out that, as little screentime as the Brits have in comparison to the Patriots, they have two shaving scenes, the other with General Cornwallis. I guess the Patriots remain smooth-faced though willpower?). His shirt, too, is evidence of his decadence. Either he has spent a lot of money on it or he is connected to an accomplished, privileged lady who has made it for him. And it remains pristine because Tavington is so cold and so controlled, in contrast with the righteous passion of Benjamin Martin, that he can apparently bleed or not bleed at will.

People who are attracted to men, though, have managed to miss all of this and skip straight to “Damn. Jason Isaacs is hot in this movie!” And good for them, because the other, likely more intended interpretation is just so dumb. As though Martin traumatizing his young sons by involving them in this carnage is more properly manly than Tavington doing something every single man in the movie does, but in a Wicked and Sinister manner and at an inappropriate time. Tavington’s post war-crime beauty regime crystallizes his masculinity as one that is suspect, shallow, and false.

Anyway, damn. Jason Isaacs is hot in this movie!

#the patriot #colonel william tavington #jason isaacs #just when you thought i didn't have another #tavington looking slutty by the river post in me #i do!

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heartfulselkie · 2 years

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So what do you think about the sentimonster theory ??

I am...currently conflicted about the theory. There's a lot of arguments for and against the validity for it so I'm still kind of on the fence to it being true or not or what it means for the story.

I do like the angst potential (cause we all know that I'm an angst addict) as well as the story telling that can come from such a plot development. But the theory isn't without its issues.

My main problem is that Adrien is an abuse victim, sentimonster or not. And revealing him to be a sentimonster adds an unsettling element to that. So far sentimonsters have been very expendable in the show. There are of course humanoid ones (Ladybug, Sentibubbler) that are meant to replicate a human in every possible way, but these sentient beings literally exist for a single episode, get wiped off the face of the earth and then not a further moment is spent afterwards thinking about it. Obviously we as the audience are a lot more attached to Adrien than a one off sentimonster in a single episode. But it just makes it all the more obvious how impermanent sentimonsters can be. And for Adrien who already struggles with finding where he fits in the world, what kind of person he wants or needs to be, thats just a heavy slap of depressing angst that makes even me a little too over-angsted. It also doesn't help that being a sentimonster would mean his entire existence hinges on some magical macguffin that someone could easily use to abuse/take advantage of him (cough Gabriel cough) or even erase that existence. That is some heavy existential levels of crisis right there. It's honestly a terrifying thought to consider a young boy who has already gone through so much manipulation and abuse to the point where his own autonomy is severly limited (and only overcome by a magical ring at this time) could potential be locked into an existence where his control is tied to an object that can be stolen or broken.

Maybe it doesn't help that the Senti!Adrien theory is just a theory right now, so we have no idea how the show's writers intend for it to be revealed and resolved if it turns out to be true. Because so far they've been fairly competent in writing how Gabriel's manipulation and control over Adrien is abuse without having someone say point blank in the show "Adrien's an abuse victim". They show it in the dialogue and the interactions between Gabriel and Adrien. Adding a "magical" element to an already capable depiction of abuse is treading a thin line. They can either develop it further into something the truly benefits Adrien's character arc, or its going to fall the other way and we're going to be stuck with a very sad and very unfair addition to Adrien's already spiralling depression and isolation. (life of course isn't always fair, but life doesn't involve magical elements that can literally control everything about you with no possible way of changing it)

But maybe being Chat Noir will provide Adrien the way to freedom as its always done for him, that the power of destruction can break his prison and shatter whatever chains hold him, magical or not. I think there's a good chance this is the direction the writers may go if it turns out the senti theory is true. It's probably what I'd do if I were the one writing the story. If a magical element is involved in Adrien's suppression, then it needs a magical element to break it. But Adrien also needs a very real and plausible action to break away from Gabriel's very real abuse. While they would be connected, I don't want the sentimonster problem to combine that fluidly with the abuse and suppression Gabriel has delivered onto his son. Perhaps Chat Noir breaks the chains of being a sentimonster while Adrien breaks free of Gabriel.

So yeah, I'm conflicted about it.

I see the various story elements this can give to the show, but also the pitfalls that would be very disappointing if they were to fall into it. If Adrien is a sentimonster, then he needs a way to separate himself from the Peacock and his Amok so that he can't be attached to an object that overwrites his human will on a whim (and he is human, even if he was born by magical means). At the same time he needs an escape from Gabriel, but a real, grounded one and not by magic means. I think as long as Adrien being a sentimonster is treated as a layer to the abuse and struggles he goes through and not the core reason for it (because it would be so easy to say "oh he's not real it doesn't count/it's not the same as actual people")(and sometimes there just isn't a discernable reason for why someone would abuse another)...

I think I could let the theory grow on me.

The fandom really is incredible on discussing this topic and pitching thoughts and ideas about it.

There's plenty bouncing around tumblr on the problematic side of the theory, but if you want to read a little more on why the theory might not be disastrous, I think @gentil-minou has had the most coherent post on it I've seen so far. It's actually thanks to them I thought a bit more deeply on the theory than just outright not liking it like I had at the start.

#yeah i'm a little all over the place with this theory still #both side of the argument have good points #and i don't think i'm at all the authority to decide who is more right or wrong #so i'm uncomfortable about sentiAdrien but will try to be openminded if that's what the show goes for #ask Selkie

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algernoninwonderland · 3 years

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Hello, I was wondering how you feel about the "Cat Blanc" ML episode? It thought it strange for reasons I can't really articulate so I was hoping to read your thoughts. I am not that good at analysis but I love your episode reviews. They are very insightful and usual help me understand why I liked/didn't like a certain episode.

A belated review/analysis of Chat Blanc! Here we go!

So, Chat Blanc… It wasn't all that great, now, was it?

The good:

Gabriel's motives are made crystal clear once more, which makes his pushing them to their very limits all the more shocking. The Agreste family vault looks impressive, almost church-like, it's some pretty strong imagery. Not outstandingly original but pretty good stuff nevertheless.

Angry Rose is funny.

Marinette's “Know what I won't take for an answer?” and a smash cut to Nathalie's “No.” That's good comedy.

Ladybug goofing around in the Burrow. It's harmless, she's a kid, these different points in time look interesting.

Chat Blanc's future looks eery and white and blue and it really works, we rarely see post-apocalyptic landscapes like this one, usually it's all muddy and dark and this isn't the case here. I appreciate that. The first wide shot in which the camera spins around Montparnasse tower is great.

Chat Blanc's animation is really creepy and for the most part, it's intentional.

if you’re a sucker for mid 2000s evil sadboys aesthetics, you’ll love this.

Have a montage of Adrienette being sickeningly cute.

I’m watching this in French and let me tell you, Benjamin Bollen might have to work with terrible lines but he’s doing a damn fine job with them

That shot in which the debris and Ladybug break the water’s surface, the bubbles and all… It looks great. I don’t know who is in charge of this but it looked genuinely great.

Chat Noir’s akumatisation and his trying to control his power and not hurt anybody is pretty great, as a concept.

The final scene is a nice parallel to the one earlier in the episode. Repetition with variation is an easy way to make me like things and it works nicely.

The bad:

The Girl Squad bullying Marinette is… Eh.

Stalkerish obsessed Marinette is a joke that overstayed its welcome by that point. Had this been an early season 2 joke, it would have worked. It's a late season 3 joke, it's honestly a bit creepy at this point.

That reveal is fanfic-worthy. It feels really light, and not as big a deal as would have been the case if that episode had any consequences. You can already tell this'll be retconned by the end of the episode.

Bunnyx's burrow. It's unimpressive. It's neither bizarre enough nor flashy enough to really work for me. And that TARDIS joke made me roll my eyes.

If you hate mid 2000s evil sadboys aesthetics, you’ll hate this.

They re-use the same two cars for Ladybug to jump on and it’s pretty obvious. There are smart ways of recycling assets. This isn’t one of them.

Wow, that’s a terrible first kiss, the shot is… Pretty bad.

Gabriel being an asshole and breaking Adrienette up for the stupidest, most selfish reasons feels unfair and that’s the point… But also that scene at the bakery is pretty lame, it doesn’t flow very well, the characters are oddly static and not expressive enough for it to be striking, the lighting doesn’t work with the mood of the scene at all. It feels abrupt, yes, but also cheap.

“It was our love that did this to the world milady.” What a stupid, edgy line.

Bad low-res textures being stretched are clearly visible in quite an awful lot of shots.

Wow. Destroyed Paris is the exact same city as usual, just as empty, only this time they replaced the sky with a “water surface” animation loop. It’s… Underwhelming. You had a great concept and this is what you do with it?

Can you believe they made destruction on a cosmic scale look so bland? How do you mess up that bad?

That confrontation between Hawk Moth and our heroes. This should be season finale material. It’s considerably cheapened.

The ugly:

With the few exceptions listed above, the rendering is not good at all, the lighting is flat and inexpressive which could give everything a kind of otherworldly feel if only used in some sequences (and that would be clever!)… Only it's off, all of the time. Chat Blanc is the only character that looks okay in his timeline.

The animation is off when it shouldn't be, outside of the exception listed earlier. Everything is much too stiff, characters' expressions are off, the timing is off. It's a shame, really. The action sequences are decently boarded but look pretty bad.

“Just because I know her secret identity doesn't mean she has to know about mine.” That's a terrible line. And we're supposed to be rooting for that kid. That's not how healthy relationships work, the episode never addresses that because Adrien is perfect, he's just sad and understandably troubled by these revelations.

Do you remember when Gabriel was shown to care for his son, the complex character drama that could have arisen from that? Well it sure as hell ain’t there.

That Guy boarded that episode. He has a weird, err, fixation on a 14yo girl’s butt and makes sure to include a shot in which it is shoved at the viewers’ faces. Seriously? What is wrong with you? If you so badly want to sexualise characters, it’s not like there aren’t any adults in Miraculous.

Perfectly good ideas are skimmed over in a matter of seconds because this episode is only 22 minutes long. The audience is bombarded with pretty major turning points in a matter of seconds and can barely process any of them.

If the point of your episode is, “it’s better if it doesn’t exist” then you obviously shouldn’t be making this episode… Right? Seems pretty obvious to me, but apparently it isn’t since Chat Blanc exists.

That end card has Hawk Moth look like he’s rolling his eyes and so was I by the end of this episode. The overwhelming feeling of all of this for nothing but the reassertion that these two are “made for each other” which, yawn.

Perfectly good ideas wasted on an episode with mediocre writing and bad animation and rendering.

It's a pretty forgettable episode, funnily enough, I had to rewatch it to be able to write this review.

Hope this helped, Anon! Thanks for the compliment!

#ml #miraculous #ml critical #ml criticism #chat blanc #ml salt #ml writers salt #ml canon salt #ml season 3 #ml season 3 spoilers #i guess

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

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(Accidental 150 Follower Special) IOTA’s Top 10 Best (and By That, I Mean Personal Favorite) Episodes of Miraculous Ladybug

Alright, I already covered what I considered to be the worst Miraculous Ladybug episodes in two parts, and now it’s time to talk about the what I consider to be the best Miraculous Ladybug episodes before I talk about... him...

I’m only putting one rule in place for this list. I'm going to try and list episodes with good qualities other than “cool-looking Akuma and awesome fight scenes”, and focus on other details like character moments and story.

Other than that, let’s get started.

These are the Top 10 Best Episodes of Miraculous Ladybug (in my personal opinion because your opinion is also valid)

#10: Mr. Pigeon

While Marinette works on sketching a design for a hat for a fashion contest where the winning design will be worn by Adrien (a rare example where the “Marinette does a thing to impress Adrien” plot actually works), a birdwatcher who loves feeding pigeons in the park is told off by the only police officer in Paris, causing him to get akumatized into the titular Mr. Pigeon, who has control over all of the pigeons in the city.

And by God, does this episode have fun with the concept.

In addition to constantly mimicking pigeon cries, Mr. Pigeon's movements are just so entertaining to watch, only aided by the creative ways he controls the flocks of pigeons.

I'm not kidding when at one point, Mr. Pigeon traps Ladybug and Cat Noir in a cage, and threatens to have his pigeons crap on them unless they hand over their Miraculous. Yeah.

This is one of the episodes that really set the standards for how outlandish the Akumas in Miraculous Ladybug could get. It kind of reminds me of an episode of the original Ultraman, where the SSSP has to find a way to move an incredibly heavy monster using increasingly abnormal strategies, like inflating it with air so it'll float like a balloon. It's clear it isn't taking itself too seriously, so the audience shouldn't either.

Admittedly, Cat Noir's feather allergy feels shoehorned in, and is only included to increase conflict, and you would think it would come up when Mayura, a bird-themed supervillain appears in the third season. But then again, that's just a minor nitpick.

It's just a really fun episode, and I wish we could see Ladybug and Cat Noir fight Mr. Pigeon again that isn't used for a cheap gag.

#9: The Puppeteer

After being told by her mom that she can't have a Ladybug doll made by Marinette, young Manon is Akumatized into the Puppeteer. But obviously, you can't have our heroes beating up a five-year-old, so instead, the Puppeteer has the power to exact control over past Akuma victims as long as she has the doll made by Marinette. So Ladybug and Cat Noir have to face off against Lady Wifi, the Evillustrator, and Rogercop, before the Puppeteer gets her hands on the dolls Marinette made of the two heroes and take control of them as well.

It's still kind of funny to think about the fact that of all the Akumas to become a huge threat to Ladybug and Cat Noir, it's a little girl throwing a temper tantrum. And like with “Mr. Pigeon”, the episode has a lot of fun with the concept, best reflected in the voice acting. You can tell that Carrie Keranen is having so much fun this episode with the stuff she says as Lady Wifi.

The fact that someone who was actually a major threat to the heroes with how she was able to easily outsmart them and also came really close to getting their Miraculous is now acting like a little kid using phrases like “super duper sorry” is even more hilarious.

I'm still a little confused as why of all the past villains, it's Evillustrator and Rogercop that get to come back, and I wish they had gotten more to say, but it's still a treat to see Ladybug and Cat Noir fighting four villains at once, especially since this was before “Heroes Day”.

#8: Sapotis

Hawkmoth akumatizes Alya's little sisters into Sapotis (supposedly based off a folktale, but I can't find anything about it online), who have the power to multiply and easily overwhelm Ladybug and Cat Noir, forcing Ladybug to recruit Alya to become a third hero, Rena Rouge.

I've been a little negative about Alya in the past, but this episode gives her some major character growth. One of the biggest problems I had with her character in Season 1 is how often she tried to figure out Ladybug's identity... despite claiming to be a huge superhero fan, who should know why superheroes keep their identities a secret. Thankfully, this episode mostly puts an end to this idea.

The episode opens with Marinette giving Alya some reasons why Ladybug would keep her identity a secret, and it actually plays into the episode.

Putting aside the stupid Rent-A-Miraculous system introduced in this episode, the idea of keeping secrets and how necessary they can be sometimes is reflected after the battle where Alya is hesitant at first to give up her Miraculous, but eventually concedes and keeps her identity a secret from Marinette (who ironically knows, but that's not important).

Even without that, this episode still has a lot of action with the three heroes fighting their way through an army of Sapotis, with plenty of banter during said action. Hell, at one point, Cat Noir says “gotta catch 'em all”. I don't have a joke here, that's just brilliant.

Out of all the introductory hero episodes, this one easily sticks out among most of them.

(Don’t worry, I’m going to talk about Rena Rouge’s character design in a later post.)

#7: Guitar Villain

I said before in an earlier post that Jagged Stone is one of my favorite characters in Miraculous Ladybug, so it's obvious that the episode where he gets akumatized would be on this list.

After a disagreement with his manager about trying to mimic the popular singer XY (who ironically lacks a Y chromosome), Jagged is akumatized into Guitar Villain, a rock star with a pet dragon who forces everyone to listen to his Awesome Solo (yes, he names his attacks too) to dance uncontrollably.

Honestly, there's not much I can really say about this episode. It's Ladybug and Cat Noir fighting a rock star who flies around on a goddamn dragon. That's one of the coolest things I've ever seen! Even the way they defeat him (which I won’t give away) is a fun jab at rock stars.

Admittedly, the episode does border on grouchy old man territory sometimes by complaining about how bad today's music is with the way they portray XY as a whiny and egotistical coward, but after watching “Silencer”, you'll be glad everyone hates him.

Overall, it's a rockingly awesome episode.

#6: The Dark Owl

Mr. Damocles, the principal of Marinette and Adrien's school, is akumatized into the Dark Owl, a corrupted version of his favorite comic book superhero (who would later turn out to be real in the New York special, but I don't want to acknowledge that), who uses his high-tech gadgets to trap Ladybug and Cat Noir, putting them in one of their toughest binds yet.

I'm a huge fan of the Adam West Batman show, so you could probably guess why it's on this list. This episode really feels like an episode of that show with how goofy and over the top everything is. Obviously, this episode has a few Batman references thrown in (even an Incredibles reference at one point), and they're all hilarious.

I just love how complex Dark Owl's traps for Ladybug and Cat Noir are, and the fact that he actually manages to outsmart them at one point. Like seriously, have you ever heard of a death trap that involves drowning someone in whipped cream? That’s totally something you’d see the Joker setting up.

I don't really want to give away the ending (which is why this part is so short), because I think it's a really clever resolution that you should check out for yourself.

#5: Gorizilla

Hawkmoth akumatizes Adrien's bodyguard into Gorizilla, whose sole purpose is to protect Adrien. His motivation? To see if Adrien is actually Cat Noir or not. So Adrien has to avoid this gigantic gorilla's wrath with Marinette, all while trying to catch a movie his late mother was in.

See this? This is Adrienette done right. This is the kind of interaction I like when it comes to romance. Marinette and Adrien spend a few scenes with each other avoiding Adrien's crazy fanbase, and Marinette doesn't stammer half of her words. Even when she interacts with Adrien as Ladybug, she still remains confident, and Adrien trusts her judgment when it looks like he might fall. I don't just want Marinette and Adrien to cuddle with each other or declare their love for each other when they get their memories wiped. I want them to interact like human beings before they actually start a relationship, and this episode is a good example of it.

Adrien also gets some good focus with the way he views his relationship with his parents, as does Gabriel with his relationship with his son. Granted, he's taking a pretty huge gamble trying to kill Adrien to see if he's Cat Noir or not as opposed to just... taking off his ring while he sleeps. Can we at least admit he's trying?

I feel they could have done more with the King Kong homage (guess who I'm talking about?), but I can understand there wasn't enough time to focus on that. It's still an important episode to watch for plot and character growth that will barely be acknowledged in later episodes.

#4: Sandboy

tHe SaNdBoY hAs ChEcKeD iN. nOw NiGhTmArEs CaN bEgIn.

Now that we got that obvious joke out of the way, let's talk about one of the most creative episodes of the show.

Tikki and Plagg, Marinette and Adrien's Kwamis (the magical beings that power their Miraculous) take part in a ritual with the other Kwamis inside Master Fu's Miracle Box to contact Nooroo, Hawkmoth's Kwami, on his birthday and get an idea of where he is. Unfortunately, Hawkmoth chooses to akumatize someone during the ritual, leaving Marinette and Adrien helpless to fight back against Sandboy, an Akuma with the power to make their worst fears come true.

I said before in my worst list when talking about “Ladybug” that there was too much going on for one episode, what with Marinette's expulsion, the attempted Scarletmoth attack, and the fake Ladybug plotlines generally being rushed through. This episode is basically the opposite of that (ironically, they're both the penultimate episodes of their respective seasons).

The Kwami ritual and the Akuma attack are perfectly staged together so one affects the other. Not only do the Kwamis have to risk aborting their ritual to reach Nooroo in order to fight the Akuma, but Marinette and Adrien have to deal without fighting off Sandboy's nightmares on their own. Both plots balance each other out into a well-crafted story.

This is also one of the only episodes in the show where the Akuma of the week isn't the man focus. Here, we don't even see what happens to get the kid akumatized into Sandboy, and instead, Gabriel senses someone with negative emotions and akumatizes the kid offscreen. This works, because it doesn't distract from the main plot too much.

Even Marinette and Adrien's worst fears beautifully contrast each other, with both managing to be unsettling in different ways, even if they both have different tones. While Adrien's worst fear is being imprisoned in his own room (the fear only made worse with Plagg's absence), Marinette's worst fear is... the real star of the episode. Ladies and Gentlemen, I think you all know who I'm talking about.

You can tell the animators had a field day with animating Nightmare Adrien. Just look at the way he moves around and the faces he makes. It manages to be terrifying and hilarious at the same time. Bryce Papenbrook's performance only makes it better, cementing this as the highlight of the episode.

This episode also does a good job at foreshadowing the main plot for Season 3 with Hawkmoth finding out about the other Kwamis and by extension, more Miraculous.

It's got plot, comedy, good action, and Nightmare Adrien, so how can you turn this episode down?

And no, I'm not talking about Nightmare Ladybug, mainly because I'm tired of all the evil doppelgangers from the worst list.

#3: Startrain

Yes, believe it or not, I managed to find a Season 3 episode that wasn't complete garbage, and spoiler alert, this isn't the only one.

Marinette and Adrien's class goes on a field trip to London by taking the train, until the driver is akumatized into Startrain, who wants to escape to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism... SPACE! So Ladybug and Cat Noir have to defeat Startrain while also finding a way to bring everyone on the train back home.

I like how this episode plays with the usual Akuma of the week formula. Unlike every other Akuma they've fought, Cat Noir points out that if they beat Startrain, everyone will die, so they have to be more strategic in their approach. They don't even fight Startrain for most of the episode, as they have to make their way to the front of the train to confront the Akuma. The action in this episode is very creative and really takes advantage of zero gravity, only aided by the design of the futuristic train the episode takes place in.

The new hero introduced, Pegasus (AKA Max, another student in Marinette and Adrien's class), is also really cool, being very intelligent and helping out the heroes progress through the train even before he gets the Horse Miraculous. It makes sense that his intelligence would be used rather than just his powers in this situation.

There are even some good character moments too. For once, Master Fu does something smart and loans the Horse Miraculous (which has the power of teleportation) to Marinette so she can still go on the class trip, trusting her and actually letting her have a life. It was also nice to see Alya stick up for Marinette by keeping Lila from interrupting her nap with Adrien.

This episode is basically like a refreshing glass of water to enjoy during the garbage fire that was Season 3.

(I’m going to talk about Pegasus’ character design later on too, don’t worry)

#2: Silencer

Lukanette shippers, ASSEMBLE!

Music producer Bob Roth and his son XY hold a contest for young artists to show off their skills, and Kitty Section, a band composed of several recurring characters, decides to enter, with Marinette helping to design their costumes. But as soon as they submit their video, they find out that XY copied their style, naturally pissing the band off.

Marinette and the lead guitarist of Kitty Section, Luka, confront Bob Roth and XY, who threaten to ruin their careers by claiming that they ripped off XY. Seeing Marinette getting threatened is more than enough for Hawkmoth to akumatize Luka into Silencer, who naturally has the power to silence and mimic the voices of others.

I talked about Luka and his relationship with Marinette in an earlier post (specifically the one where Astruc claimed that the fandom growing to like Luka counted as character development), and I said that this was one of the few good episodes this season because of their interactions. This episode basically made me realize how much Luka cares for Marinette, and the episode gives plenty of time to show the two spending time together and growing closer. It's basically everything “Oni-Chan” should have been about, giving some depth to Luka and not portraying him as a crazy person like they did with Kagami in that episode.

Silencer is also one of the more creatively designed villains this season, and has a really creative approach to achieving his goals. While the ability to steal and imitate someone's voice seems mundane compared to control over the weather, or making nightmares come to life, it's used very effectively. Silencer basically tricks the police into arresting Bob Roth while imitating the mayor's voice, and he threatens to make his life a living hell by using the connections to the voices he's stolen. Even with the hand puppet gesture, it's still unsettling to have Silencer speak in all these voices, and it would make for a really interesting horror movie.

Even Ladybug and Cat Noir's interactions are back to their Season 1 levels of enjoyment. Even though Silencer took her voice, Ladybug just makes so many expressions that do a great job at describing her feelings, which naturally plays off Cat Noir's motormouth tendencies. Whenever Cat Noir jokes about Ladybug's condition, he is rightfully called out on it and is reprimanded in some way, my favorite being when Ladybug uses her yo-yo to hit Cat Noir on the head to shut him up. Even putting aside that, they still work well together this episode and really feel like equals. I also love their silent fist bump when Bob Roth is exposed.

Again, the episode still takes the time to go on about how unoriginal today's musicians are, and how they lack artistic creativity and all that crap. Look, given how ham-fisted the writing in this show can get, are you surprised the commentary isn't subtle?

Even putting aside how much this episode made me appreciate Lukanette, it still has a lot of great moments that aren't even related to the ship itself, which is a real testament to how this show can perfectly balance romance and story when it's done right. Now if only the show could try this much with Adrienette, then people wouldn't hate the main pairing of the show this much.

#1: The Collector

Taking place immediately after the Season 1 finale, Marinette meets Master Fu and discusses the book she found depicting past Miraculous users. Marinette theorizes that since the book was in the Agreste mansion, Gabriel could be Hawkmoth. And to the surprise of absolutely no one, she's right, and in order to draw off suspicion, Gabriel akumatizes himself into the Collector.

This episode has several good writing decisions for both sides, and the choices the characters make feel natural. Gabriel akumatizing himself is such a smart move, and so is what Marinette and Master Fu do with the book at the end. This episode does a great job setting up future plot threads and establishes Master Fu's character and the mystery associated with him.

The Collector is a visually stunning villain, and his powers are really creative, leading to a great fight with Ladybug and Cat Noir, who use a great strategy to outsmart him. I also love how over the top he is in order to make the heroes believe that he's working for Hawkmoth, all with a devious smile on his face.

This was also the episode that really got me into Miraculous Ladybug as a whole. I checked out the first season on a whim after it was mentioned in a Pan Pizza video, but it was during the hiatus between seasons, and I hadn't really started using Tumblr yet, so it mostly stayed off my radar. When Season 2 started however, I really got invested in the story, and the way this episode turned out was a big reason why. I wondered what it would be like when Adrien finds out his own father is Hawkmoth, and how the story would play out after the reveal.

Despite what it led up to, I still consider “The Collector” to be my favorite episode of Miraculous Ladybug.

Well, now that I talked about that, not it's time to talk about what I consider to be the worst episode of Miraculous Ladybug, “Felix”. God help me...

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rosereview · 3 years

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Chain of Iron Review

Like my Chain of Gold review (which you can find on my post list or here) this is going to be a hot mess of emotions and feelings with very many spoilers. If you’re wondering if you should read this book (a review without spoilers) my thoughts are go fricking read everything by Cassandra Clare and fall in love with me. Yes, I highly recommend everything that woman has touched with a pen. But besides that, let's get into this review.

Characters

James Herondale- first let's start with one of the main characters who was a big part of this novel. To be honest I don’t have much to say about him personally without getting into his relationships with others and the plot points in the book (which I will talk about later), but I guess I will talk about my love for him. I was unsure at first (before Chain of Gold) how I was going to feel about James and if he would be a typical Herondale boy and be very similar to his father or his descendant, Jace. I was worried that he would be too similar to Will and Jace that he would not stand out, but like in Chain of Gold, I was very happy with his individual character traits and personality. While he is like Will and Jace, James is also very different and his own person. He’s a typical heart throb Herondale, while still having this very reserved and responsible side to him that I love so much. His only flaw is something he can’t control, so yeah… strong character.

Cordelia Carstairs- Like last book, I LOVE Cordelia, although this book was harder to read because of what she went through. Multiple times I wanted to just give her a hug and let her cry on my shoulder. I wish she hadn’t had to go through so much trauma in this book, but I know she’ll become a better character because of it. The whole ordeal with being Lilith’s paladin hurt very much, her unrequited (not really) love for James was heartbreaking to see continuously played on (I JUST WANTED THAT DAMN GRACELET OFF), and the parts about her father also hurt. I need to read Chain of Thorns now, just to make sure that Cordelia is alright in the end.

Matthew Fairchild- talking about Matthew makes me sad because I absolutely love him as a character and I just need him to get better. I’m so happy that he opened up to Cordelia in this book, but I need him to start loving himself again. The pain I feel when reading about him trembling and drinking himself to honestly too much (especially since he’s just a fictional character). And that’s really all I want for Matthew, is for him to be okay one day.

Grace Blackthorn- this was very interesting in Chain of Iron because we got a lot of flashback scenes from Grace’s point of view and that made me not hate her as much anymore. I still am very annoyed at her, but I like that I can finally see more of her side and sympathize with her. I’m very interested to see more of her character development, especially individually without all the stuff with James obscuring my image of her.

Lucie Herondale- someone else that I found I loved much more in this book was Lucie. In the last book, from what I can remember, Lucie was a little interesting at parts (I kind of want to say annoying, although that’s a little too harsh of a word), but I loved her in this book. She had much more character development (I thought) and her personality came out more in a less hectic way. Her inner thoughts started to make more sense to me, and I loved learning more about her as not someone who is just James’s sister, or Cordelia’s future parabatai, but as her own person.

Jesse Blackthorn- Another character I loved to see more of although we mostly just saw him through Lucie’s eyes, and I also already loved him even before. He became a much more understanding and developed character in this book and I can’t wait to see more of him now that he’s alive!

Alastair Carstairs- I totally fell in love with him in this book too! Holy shit, all I wanted to do was hug him and tell him that it would all be alright. Because he is an older sibling I think I can relate to him a lot more now, especially with all this baggage that he was keeping and trying to protect Cordelia from. I found the scenes with just him in them (like when he’s thinking about the future while looking out the window in his house after his father dies and thinking about his new baby sibling that will be born) absolutely amazing and captivating. Obviously I used to hate him because of the short stories that he was in the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy and other extra short stories, but now I need more of him and I’m internally hurting for him.

Thomas Lightwood- Another character I am hurting for and I just need him to be okay. I loved and hated the fact that he felt so hurt for James because of the killer and he wanted to unburden James by catching the killer. I was just so moved but also so angry that he was putting himself in danger that it was a very emotional time reading (like me clutching the book and shouting at Thomas to stop and go back). But I will always love Thomas and can’t wait to see more of him.

Christopher Lightwood- Last but certainly not least, is Christopher, who I am obsessed with. That one POV moment that we had from him was one of my favourites and now I need to hear from him more. I love all of his quirks and his inner thoughts are the most adorable thing but also makes me sad because he has no one but Henry to share them with and who fully understands and appreciates him for who he is. Also I still really find it wild that he’s the son of Cecily and Gabriel, who aren’t science-y people at all and who are both much more sarcastic characters, while Christopher is just so sweet and perfect. (Not saying Cecily and Gabriel aren’t perfect, but still never would have imagined them to have a kid like Christopher, but at the same time I find it so perfect that they did). Also I just love Christopher so much! I know I said that already, but I just can’t get over it. I need more of his inner thoughts and just more of HIM.

Relationships

Now we can finally talk about the characters in terms of their relationships with other characters and since I was just talking about Christopher I need to start with…

Christopher and Grace! — I loved that little moment they shared when they were in Henry’s laboratory and were bonding of the pithos. It was the best moment in the whole book and I keep thinking about it in my head. I know of the family tree from the Clockwork Princess inside cover, it says that Christopher and Grace will get married and have the Lightwood offspring, but I just hadn’t really realized that significance until now. They are so cute together and even though I have expressly said I hated Grace in the past, the way she understood Christopher and the way they could talk together, warmed my heart so much and was the most redeeming part of Grace’s character for me. I just need more moments of Grace and Christopher.

Now to the next most pressing relationship…

The James, Cordelia, Matthew love triangle!

Let's start with Cordelia and James— I love them together. Even with all the annoying shit with James and the bracelet, their relationship shone in this book and I was so happy about it. They are so perfect for each other and all of their moments together I was bursting with joy. Their chemistry, but also their solid foundation for their relationship is so well written that it’s impossible for me not to see them as together. This is their story and I’m in love with it.

Now Cordelia and Matthew— I also love them, but probably not as much. The thing is, I’m just obsessed with Matthew, so while I love the relationship just because I want Matthew to find happiness, I think James and Cordelia are better together. The problem is with Matthew is that he needs to work on himself first before he could ever hope to fully love someone else and share a life with someone else. I’m very happy for the moment though that Matthew has Cordelia at his side and that he even shared his biggest secret with her because I do think that Cordelia has the capacity to help Matthew (maybe even on this trip to Paris) but I also don’t want it to be too much for Cordelia since she already had to deal with similar issues with her dad and I don’t want it to bring up hard memories for her. But either way I just need the next book to see what happens after that VERY emotional cliffhanger. Cassie did me dirty with that one.

James and Grace— Well I hate the fricking bracelet (also side note, I absolutely love that the fandom nicknamed the bracelet, gracelet. I love that so much). But I also see why Grace felt like she had to put it on and why she couldn’t take it off, but it still makes me so mad. Especially the way she still felt she could manipulate James in the end because she had nowhere else to go. I hate that part of her, the part that her mother taught her that it’s okay to manipulate men. But I was also so happy how James went off on her at the end, it was very satisfying until Cordelia ran off, but still very happy that James got to yell at Grace like that.

Lucie and Jesse— another couple I am now fully invested and in love with. This book made me like Lucie more BECAUSE of her development with Jesse. I liked Jesse before, but this book, where we got to see lots of their development as a couple and be completely honest with each other, sealed the deal for me. I can’t wait to read more about Jesse and Lucie in the future because I am so happy for them and so in love with their love, it’s actually kind of ridiculous.

Alastair and Thomas— again, I just fell completely in love with them in this book. The scenes with them locked up together were some of my favorite scenes, but I was beyond sad when Alastair still broke it off with Thomas in the end. I needed one couple to find some sort of happy at the end of this book, but all of them ended badly! I was very mad, but I can’t wait for the next book to see them get together (because they have to get together).

Anna and Ariadne— I just love Anna so much and I want her to be happy, but in this book I also felt for Ariadne too. At first I didn’t like her because of the fact that she broke Anna’s heart, but now seeing her try so hard to make up with her… it just makes my heart break for the both of them. Also the only parts in this book that had these two in it, were scenes about their relationship, which is why I didn’t have anything to say about their individual personalities, but I would like to add that Anna is definitely one of my favourite Lightwoods and one of the best minor characters in the Shadowhunter universe.

Lucie and Cordelia— for these two I wish that we had more scenes of them as friends, but I think one of the most powerful parts of this book that made it so sad, was the fact that Cordelia and Lucie didn’t talk. The way the two girls were by themselves with their problems definitely was a huge factor of why everything went bad, and I’m very certain that if Lucie and Cordelia had talked more, things would have ended differently. So I see and understand why they weren’t able to be the parabatai pals that I wanted them to be, but I still am waiting desperately for more scenes of the two of them just being friends. Another reason I cannot wait for the last book of the series.

Grace and Jesse— because of all the flashback scenes of Grace, I was able to appreciate her relationship with her brother more. The bond that they have between brother and sister is so strong and beautiful that it’s another thing that redeems Grace as a character, and makes me sympathize a lot more with her.

The Merry Thieves— just want to say that I love them so much. I will always love them and I just need more scenes of the group of them plus Lucie, Anna, and Cordelia. That is all.

Plot

For plot details in this book, I just have a couple things to talk about, the first being: WHERE THE FUCK WAS THE REAL MAGNUS! Honestly, I know where he was, but I felt so betrayed when Lilith revealed herself to be a pretend Magnus. Every Shadowhunter book has Magnus helping to save the day, and my theory is that the reason everything went so shitty was because Magnus wasn’t there. Jem and Magnus are always needed for these Shadowhunter children who just keep getting caught up into shitty situations. He better help more in the next book (which I already know he will, since at the end of Chain of Iron he was there with Will). On that note, I also thought it was clever of Cassie to have Will and Tessa gone for the majority of the book, because I feel like if they had been there, shit wouldn’t have gotten that bad, both concerning Belial and the kids’ love lives. It wouldn’t have been believable if they had been there but all the events happened in the same way, because I’m pretty sure Will or Tessa would have given more advice to James and Lucie.

Secondly, that was some crazy business with Belial and Lilith, and also I’m so excited that Lilith is back. I think she’s such an interesting villain being Adam’s first wife and all. But also I don’t like who she’s a manipulative bitch, but I think that’s part of her charm.

Next, the gracelet. I hate it. Period. Glad it’s off.

Next plot point— all the stuff with Malcolm! Oh my goodness that was so interesting to see how Malcolm’s villain origin story started. I can’t actually believe that it was Grace that told Malcolm straight up about Annabel (I can actually believe it, I just think it ironic that she’s also a Blackthorn, and really only Blackthorns seem to have messed up Malcolm’s life). I’m very interested to see more of what he does with Jesse and Lucie now that Jesse is alive and Malcolm knows more about Lucie’s powers.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on the extra short story from the first editions of Chain of Iron, with Magnus and Jem. I think that it was an important scene concerning the future Eldest Curses novel, The Black Volume of the Dead, and maybe even the Wicked Powers series. It just made me even more excited for the future Shadowhunters books and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us moving forward!

And that’s all I have to talk about. Thank you if you read to the end and were able to sift through my thoughts. This is totally unedited, so sorry for stupid mistakes and such.

Until next time!

~Rose Reviews

#cassandraclare #shadowhunters #chain of iron spoilers #chain of iron #the last hours #james herondale #cordelia carstairs #matthew fairchild #lucie herondale #jesse blackthorn #grace blackthorn #alastair carstairs #thomas lightwood #christopher lightwood #anna lightwood #ariadne bridgestock #chain of iron review

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mysticmachmir · 4 years

Text

Tarot Through a Jewish Lens (Part I)

Is Tarot Jewish?

No. Tarot was not a Jewish creation and nor does it come from Kabbalah. When Waite made his famous RWS deck, he was a Christian occultist/magician and part of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and also formed his own Fellowship of the Rosy Cross. He was a Catholic involved in 'western esotericism' and fell under the learnings of Eliphas Levi. Eliphas Levi was not a Jewish man. He was a French gentile occultist who changed his name from Alphonse Louis Constant to Éliphas Lévi Zahed -- why? He wanted his magical works to sound more authentically exotic (aka, Jewish) because he appropriated from Jewish mysticism and skewed it for his own wants. He believed that Kabbalah was the "linking factor between the Old Testament and the New Testament", and that is rooted in Christian supersessionism, a violent ideology that has resulted in many murders of the Jewish people. Another example is the french occultist, Court de Gébelin, who claimed that the Major Arcana were numbered to correspond to the 22 letters in both the Egyptian and Hebrew alphabets. It didn’t seem to trouble him that at the time different versions of the deck that was in circulation sometimes had more than and sometimes less than 22 Major Arcana cards. Or that ancient Egyptians didn’t use an alphabet.

So no. Tarot was created as a playing card game, sprung up in Italy, Germany, and France. It was not intended for 'occult' use until much later. And still, in no way shape or form, was it ever Jewish in origin. In the Torah, besides certain kinds of divination/tools, divination is forbidden and Tarot is considered avodah zarah (idolatry) because it is a non-Jewish practice.

Now I'm sure you're asking: Well you read tarot, why are you telling me this? Aren't you incriminating yourself? I'm telling you because I want to stress and push back against cultural appropriation and Christian supersessionism that is rooted in these beliefs, and I want to make it clear that the relationship between a Jew, halacha, and G!d is on them - but to not fool oneself claiming a non-Jewish practice is actually Jewish. That, I think, is more ludicrous than just using tarot.

Alright, now onto the fun parts and what you are here for.

My Jewish Theology with Tarot

So, this is all my personal theology which obviously you do not have to share. I am Jewish and practice religious Judaism. I believe that there is only one G!d, Hashem, and that They are everywhere and in everything. In academic terms, I am a monotheistic panentheist. This aligns with a lot of Jewish mysticism, especially Chassidus, and consider myself a crossover between the Conservative Jewish denomination and Renewal, with a solid base in the American Neo-Hasidic movement . (Conservative =/= political right-wing in the Jewish movements). I deeply respect Jewish traditions, halacha, and have put a lot of thought in what I believe and how it relates to tarot. There will be of course Jews who disagree with me, but I'm not here to dwell on that. When I read tarot, I am not asking the cards to tell me the answer I am seeking - the cards are a tool, an object, and do not possess spirits of their own. I am asking G!d. Now, angels won't interfere, but sheydim (demons) can. I will talk about protections/rituals one can use to avoid sheydim meddling later. As for questions like: How does one ethically divine? How much power do interpreters have? Does G!d plan everything? Do we have free will when it comes to our future? Let’s look to source texts. “All is foreseen, but free will is given.” —Rabbi Akiva, Pirke Avot 3:15 "Rabbi Bena’a: There were twenty-four interpreters of dreams in Jerusalem. One time, I dreamed a dream and went to each of them to interpret it. What one interpreted for me the other did not interpret for me, and, nevertheless, all of the interpretations were realized in me, to fulfill that which is stated: All dreams follow the mouth of the interpreter." —Berakhot 55b "The Gemara asks: But doesn’t Rav say that any divination that is not like the divination of Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, when he went to seek a bride for Isaac (see Genesis 24:14), or like the divination of Jonathan, son of Saul, who sought an omen as to whether he and his arms bearer would defeat the Philistines (see I Samuel 14:8–12), is not divination? Since Rav did not rely on the omen in his decision making, he did not violate the prohibition against divination, and there was no reason for him to penalize himself." —Chullin 95b "What is a diviner? One who takes his stick in hand and says, (as though he were consulting it), “Shall I go, or shall I not go?” So does it state, (Hoshea 4:12) “My people ask counsel of their stick, and their staff declareth unto them” (Sifrei Devarim 171:6). (3) מעונן — Rabbi Akiba said, Such are people who assign times (עונות plural of עונה “period”, “time”) — who say, “This time is auspicious to begin some work”; the Sages, however, say, It refers to those “who hold your eyes under control” (who delude by optical deception; they connect מעונן with עין “eye”) (Sifrei Devarim 171:9)." —Rashi on Devarim 18:10-12 "... here he does not rely on the אות which he had stipulated, but where he asked G’d in prayer for help, saying that if certain things were to happen he would regard this as a sign that his prayer had been answered favorably (compare Ibn Ezra there). When the Talmud Chulin 95 כל נחש שאינו כאליעזר עבד אברהם ויהונתן בן שאול אינו נחש, the meaning is that “any divination which is not like that of Eliezer or that of Yonatan ben Sha-ul is not a divination,” i.e. is not permissible, but is akin to relying on witchcraft [Unless the person requesting a sign does so as a prayer directed to G’d it is forbidden. Ed.]" —Sforno on Beresheit 24:14 “The true power of the tarot lies in its ability to channel a clear path for our deep intuition to shine through. Consulting the tarot can help clear creativity blockages, clarify ambitions, work through complex decisions, and make sense of emotions and relationships.” —Holistic Tarot, Benebell Wen

In my interpretation of these quotes, I gather a few things:

1. In Jewish thought, dreams are 1/60th prophecy. However, dreams follow the mouth, i.e. interpretations. Multiple interpretations can be true. Being a confident and learned interpreter is important. While I did not quote it, the sages also advise the one should pay your interpreters fairly.

2. Hashem has given humans free will, so we can make our own choices. That is unique to us as beings, unlike angels. G!d already knows the possible outcomes.

3. It is not divination to notice and realize patterns or answers as long as you do not use it as an omen to change immediate course - examples the sages mention in specific are "a piece of bread falls from your mouth, so you decide not to walk to the lake", i.e, seeking 'signs' and omens randomly to direct your life.

4. Rashi's explanation of what a diviner and sorcerer are, compiled from different Jewish texts. Now, I am not here to say "and this is proof Judaism and halacha are actually fine with divination!" Nope, in Bamidbar 23:23, it is very clear that Jews are told to get what they need from prophets or G!d themself, and do not need augury. What I am arguing here is that by these specifications, and connecting to my final point of what tarot actually is, tarot may not fall under that category depending on how you use it.

5. I wanted to highlight Sforno's commentary here because the way I read tarot is via prayer. Tarot is a tool, and when I begin a reading, I am not asking the cards, I am asking Hashem to use these cards as a sign and communication.

6. Finally, I quoted Benebell Wen because of her poignant understanding of how tarot is less about "fortune-telling" and more about a creative psycho-spiritual exercise for intuition and is more like a mirror to our subconscious telling us what is true. Fusing this with the ideas above, this is my short rundown of how I see and view Tarot: Tarot is a prayerful, spiritual tool as a way I can interpret and communicate from G!d, and I understand the cards themselves are not going to tell the future. Tarot is a mirror for the subconscious and a way for us to work through things we do not feel we can do on our own, be'ezrat Hashem (with the help of G!d).

Jewish Tarot Spreads

As I don't want to just post photos, I am instead going to include links to the tarot spreads I have found, to their origins so you can know the creator!The Archangel Spread The Divine Threads Spread Wisdom of the Hebrew Priestess Spread Vessel, Offering, Ally Spread Do Not Play It Small Spread Rooting and Releasing Spread

Jewish Tarot and Oracle Decks

Eht/Aht Netivot Oracle Deck

Tu B’shevat Oracle Deck

Moon Angels Oracle Deck

Malakhim Meditative Cards

Raziel Tarot Deck (Out of Print)

Jewish Tarot (Never Printed, Can See All Cards Virtually)

72 Names Deck

Tokens of Light Deck

King Solomon Deck

Revealed by the Letters Deck

Cleansing and Protection

So, of course, this is so dependent on what you think is most important for you, as it is your practice. However, I will share what I do.

When it comes to doing readings, I have a very specific ritual. First, I light incense or a candle depending on what I feel like doing at the time. This is something I am still working on and trying what fits best for me and my cards. I will use incense smoke to cleanse cards or the "knocking" card trick. Then, I say two prayers - I recite the blessing:

"Blessed are you G!d, Ruler of the Universe, who opens the eyes of the blind. The reason is because of the allegory that intuition and divination are connecting to a special type of sight. Then, in the case of the concern with sheydim messing with the reading, I have decided to use the protective angel prayer:

"In the name of the Lord, G!d of Israel:

May the angel Michael be at my right side,

and at my left side, Gabriel,

before me Uriel, behind me Raphael,

and above my head, Shekhinat El, G!d's presence." This is traditionally recited at night, but I felt it was just as appropriate to call on these angels for protection. Plus, Uriel is associated with illumination and is a useful presence to have during these readings. In Jewish gemology, lapis lazuli is good for bringing understanding and grounding intuition, so I use that gemstone as well while I read. Eventually, I'd like to also get an onyx as it is associated with enlightenment and wisdom in Jewish gemology. I also use a tarot cloth with a hamsa and have a protective amulet pendant.

Finally, when I shuffle my cards, I sing a very specific phrase - the "ein od milvado" from Kohelet 1:2, in a tune that puts me into a meditative headspace - and I shuffle with my eyes closed, only stopping when I feel it is right to do so. I also use a kabbalistic meditation technique to allow the divine flow (shefa) from G!d's light flow through the crown of my head.

If you liked this work and information, consider tipping me at: https://ko-fi.com/ezrasaville!

Sources (I will post this in every post of this series): Sefaria Chabad Tarot and the Gates of Light by Mark Horn Torah, Tarot, and Tantra by William Blank The Jewish Dream Book by Vanessa Ochs Magic of the Ordinary by R. Gershon Winkler Tarot Wisdom by Rachel Pollack The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet by R. Michael Munk The Encyclopedia of Jewish Magic, Myth, and Mysticism by R. Geoffrey Dennis https://www.telshemesh.org/ https://hsastrology.weebly.com/hebrew-zodiac-signs.html https://ohr.edu/this_week/ask_the_rabbi/2394 https://www.gatesoflighttarot.com/ http://www.devotaj.com/ http://www.peelapom.com/

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thr-333 · 3 years

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Could you possibly do one where Mari/Mari and marine is/are the daughter/son of the joker?

I actually planned quite a lot for this after you asked but could never get my thoughts to make something comprehensive so I give up here's what I got!:

-Twins are Joker and Harleys kids born before the two split up(and so help me they will split up this story needs gay aunt Ivy)

-As you might know, these two clowns have another kid; Lucy. Harley left Lucy with her sister when she was born. In canon, she thinks Harley is her aunt but I would say in this fic she learned the truth when the twins were also dropped off.

-So the twins grew up in Gotham with their aunt and big sister knowing full well who their parents are; as such they make the responsible choice to suppress every part of themselves that resembles them and constantly dye their hair in an effort to avoid looking like them. You know healthy coping mechanisms. -

-Naturally, Marinette has brown hair with blue eyes and Marion blonde with brown eyes.

-Their personalities are a bit different from Mismatch.

-Marion is still a trickster and a trouble maker but this time around has Marinette fully involved and responsible for his shenanigans. He has a bit of a habit of talking to himself(or singing random phrases), sometimes in the third person; he hates when he does, so Marinette always tells him off. He’s always gets the impulse of dying his hair outlandish colors and will vehemently deny his favorite color is green.

- Marinette is crafty, both figuratively and literally. She’s smart, her mother is a doctor after all she can be manipulative to people that arent her(close) family to protect the ones she cares about. She has a deep-seated fear of becoming a trophy, an object to be put on display like her mother and so dresses the opposite and pushes away her love for fashion.

-They will always call each other Mari but if someone else tries they both answer its a nickname they strictly use for each other.

-In a world where Gotham exists it makes absolutely no sense that Gabriel wouldn't start his reign as Hawkmoth in Gotham(the place with the most negative emotions like geez) so that works out perfectly for the twins becoming heroes(Adrien can move to Gotham or be left in Paris to be kept safe your choice)

-Instead of the twins proving themselves by helping an old man up off the street they go a step further is beating up the thugs that try to rob him(all Fu’s set up of course). When they come home to find two mysterious boxes on their beds they make the only rational conclusion children of the joker would; it’s a bomb!

-Not wanting to get the police involved for obvious reasons they find the security footage(which gets the police involved in a different way) and start tracking down fu to see why he’s trying to kill him.

-And as you may recall at this point in canon Ladybug and Chat Noir are defeating an Akuma, well they're not here they’re off to beat up an old man so thats Batman’s job for the time being.

-The twins get caught up in the fight as civilians and are saved by Batman who immediately recognizes them(you don't think Batman has case files on all of Jokers hellspawn?) so that’s gonna be a problem later but never mind that for now~

-The twins track down Fu, who is wondering why they aren’t out fighting the Akuma. Long story short Fu comes back to the house with them and proves they aren't bombs giving them the miraculous.

-I’m a bit indecisive on the names. I thought Marinette would be Red Bug and Marion Black Cat(yes I know that names already taken I don’t care). But I thought Crimson Bug would work better because then their names would start with the same letters. Then I wanted alliteration like Black Bug and Crimson Cat but that obviously doesn't make any sense since Chats color is green not red-- then I realized it would be completely in character for them to call themselves that confusing everyone in the process so no one quite sure whos name is who(if you wanna write it go with whatever I just thought it could be funny)

-As for costumes Marinette's probably wouldn't be skin tight because deep down she really doesn't want to look like that but more practical armor or less form-fitting at least. Marion's hair turns green when he transforms something he freaks out about and Marinette's turns red(glowing or not either would look cool)

-So anyway they go off to defeat the akuma blah blah blah Batman seeing these two young untrained superheroes can only think of one thing: I have to adopt them. So that’s gonna be fun!

-Anyway they go back home trying to be sneaky and immediately get caught by Lucy: ”Don’t tell Aunty!”-- ”Oh I already know” (her names Delia by the way)

- So now the twins get a support system and a family that will look out for them unbelievable right? This support system immediately threatens Fu making sure he actually trains them and doesn't just set them loose on Gotham.

Anyway that's the end of my semi-cohesive plan and here's a vague outline for the fic:

1. Becoming ladybug and chat noir setting up adoption, and school(Bruce invites them to Gotham academy to keep an eye on the jokers children)

2. First day at school setting up Artemis(and by extension young justice), and own passions, Adrien is also at this school now so Marinette falls, Jason finds out falling in love with Marion

3. Becoming friends with Artemis, convinces them to give their passions a try, Marion runs from hood, some let me adopt you stuff also Jason's spite for Cat Noir

4. Skip a bit of time a few months or so, young justice need help Artemis suggest mari and mari, Marinette has a smackdown with batman about their heritage, at odds with young justice Artemis comes to their defense. Young Justice have an ‘oh’ realization on the job when Marion sings a lullaby to a scared child, now the young justice form the mari and mari protection squad

5. Doing ladybug and cat stuff batman approaches them again this time luring them into adoption with a partnership on finding hawkmoth, Red Hood and cat fight. Marion comes back all huffy and there's a scene with Lucy this time comforting them, Marion goes out to get air runs into hood marion bristles stirring Jason to meet him as a civilian, class come to visit, at odds with lila

6. Doing well at school even made a few friends when the Paris class come to visit completely under lila’s control, lila tries to slander the twins for not worshiping her only to out herself when she tells everyone they laughed at her(the twins never laugh), Jason also drops by further discrediting her, lila tries to throw their heritage in their face but they get support openly working with heroes as civilians, this little section ends quite happily with them being sort of accepted at school and batman tolerating their existence for not attacking the person who tried to make their life miserable

7. Time skip few years out of high school now, ladybug and cat are working well with gothams vigilantes widely considered part of the batfam even if no one knows each other's identities. As mari and mari they are doing good work mainly outside of gotham. Marinette is starting a fashion boutique with a little financial help from Wayne enterprises she also does costume design for heroes and villains, villains mainly because she can't stand their current outfits. Marion quite likes his music but isn't sure how he will feel in the public eye is great friends with Jason and the skip picks up with them officially starting to go out identities unknown. They are still hesitant about their identities in civilian life Marinette starting her business under a false name and Marion cant start his because of his heritage. Jason officially has to admit they are going out to the family is met with grilling by aunt and sister, joy by harley once she tries giving them sex advice they leave, his brothers tease and both are tense about Bruces reaction but he begrudgingly accepts. Are out as ladybug and Cat still snippy with hood but it’s not as bad they are closing in on hawkmoth. Go to hang out with young justice as well they aren't well-liked in Gotham but they’re fine with that(not really)

8. NOW things can go to shit joker finally has enough of them deciding to get a hold of them but I think it should be as ladybug and chat revealing their identities to the world. The twins are terrified rightfully so. Get saved now it’s weird between hood and marion, marion feeling betrayed Jason knew who he was and knew who his father was but still decided to date him and he just can't understand why. Adrien was so scared for Marinette and now they both have to work out why. Gotham is at odds the heroes they admire are born from a villain they fear. Bats are a bit weird feeling like they were tricked while also kind of acknowledging the twins are good people

9. Harassed in their everyday life now the twins go to young justice where they get met with awe for being established independent heros, bats there are acting weird but the twins say something to shift perspective leaving to let them mull on it. Jason tries to apologise saying he doesn't see Marion like that blah blah Marion has a breakdown asking how he can be anything but a villain. Marinette's having whiplash going from loved to hated and still dealing with the trauma of seeing her father. They snap. In public a big ol scene and they get akumatised everyone sees it, it’s on tv. Hawkmoth comes out to get their miraculous the batfam can’t beat him. He’s monolouging probing at their deepest fears when they snap back to reality realizing none of it’s true every part of them has worked to be good people and they are they don't hand over their miraculous beating the akumatizaton and beating hawkmoth while akumatised.

10. They are released from the hospital a few days later, getting hesitant recognition on the streets. It's not thunderous applause but it is something. Their family comes to pick them up, Adrien is crying to Marinette about not scaring him like that(her family took him in when Gabriel was revealed). Marion gets picked up by Jason they patch things over. They get accepted into the batfam and work as ladybug and cat for everything. Marion decides to start playing music and Marinette reveals her face to her fashion brand.

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p-artsypants · 4 years

Text

Five Minutes

Gabriel has had enough of all these girls fighting over Adrien. He decides it’s high time Adrien picks one, and arranges the perfect opportunity for him to do so. Each candidate has five minutes to present why they’d be a good girlfriend.

Marinette decides to take this opportunity to shoot her shot.

Ao3 | FF.net

Adrien came into school that morning with the weight of an entire future on his shoulders. His face pale, his lips tight in a line, and everything tense.

He bypassed everyone that wanted to talk to him, including his friends. Chloe and Lila seemed in a chipper mood, as they took turns hanging on his arms and blowing kisses at him.

It bugged Marinette more than she wanted to admit. Did no one else notice he was suffering?

At lunch, she dug down deep inside herself and asked him, before he could leave the classroom. “Hey Adrien?”

He cringed at her voice, but relaxed a moment later, sending her an easy smile. “Hi Marinette. What’s up?”

The smile reeked of stress and despair. Given their lose, almost-friendship, she didn’t know if she had the right to ask him, but plowed ahead anyways. “You seem…stressed. Are you okay? Anything I can help with?”

The question gained the attention of Nino and Alya, who were also packing up to head home for lunch.

“Yeah dude, you’ve been kinda tense all day…I just didn’t know how to ask.”

Adrien’s eyes flicked around the room. Chloe had already left, but it seemed like Lila had hooked an end of the conversation and walked down to them, placing a hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

“He’s just a little nervous, that’s all. Mr. Agreste has decided that he can finally have a girlfriend, and invited some worthy candidates to the mansion this afternoon!”

Marinette’s heart squeezed painfully. She hadn’t heard anything about this, so she obviously wasn’t invited. But if Lila knew, then…

“Are you a candidate?!” Alya nearly shouted, excited.

That only heightened the pain in her chest.

“Naturally! Adrien and I have a great working relationship, and we’re great friends! Mr. Agreste really respects me as an artist too! Of course he invited me!” She pet Adrien, like he was an animal, and not a person. “Adrien and I both know it’s already a done deal. But the…contest, it’s more of a formality.”

“It’s not official yet,” Adrien said, scooting away from Lila. “You still have to go through the interview.”

“Of course, but I’m a sure win.”

The quiver of his lip and tense eyebrows told Marinette otherwise.

Adrien took a deep breath and looked at his friends. “My father said I could invite a few friends, for morale support. Would you guys be willing to come?”

“Of course dude!”

“You’ll come to support me too, right Alya?” Asked Lila.

“Of course girl!”

Adrien’s beautiful eyes met Marinette’s, pleading with her. “Marinette? Are you in?”

“I’m sure she’s busy in the bakery, Adrien,” Said Lila, “don’t make her feel guilty.”

“I’m free.” Marinette blurted out. “I’d love to be there.” She really didn’t want to, actually, but felt it better to go and plunge the knife in and rip her heart out. With Adrien officially taken, she could finally move on, right?

At least, that was her hope.

Adrien smiled at her genuinely, looking relieved slightly.

He and Nino went to eat lunch together, while Alya followed her back to the bakery, quiet on the way.

“Hey…um, I’m sorry you didn’t get invited to participate.”

“I suppose that’s what I get for sitting with a thumb up my butt.” Marinette answered with a sigh.

“And, I know you don’t like Lila, but she’s just as deserving of Adrien’s affection as you are, okay? Please please please don’t be embarrassing and try to ruin this in a fit of jealous rage.”

Marinette wanted to say, ‘No promises’ but instead, she stated, “I won’t.”

“Kay, cause like…that wouldn’t be fair to Adrien, you know? This is his future girlfriend. He deserves a fair chance to look at his options and choose who he wants.”

Marinette glared at Alya, a million red flags popping up in her mind.

The sudden anger took Alya aback. “What?”

“You think this is fair?”

Alya just blinked.

“Mr. Agreste has decided that Adrien can have a girlfriend and selects a handful of candidates for him to pick from? What is he, a Prince?”

Alya shrugged. “I don’t know how the wealthy work! Besides, I think Adrien and Lila have real chemistry! Better than him and the Ice Queen.”

“You mean Kagami? I think he’s got better chemistry with her than Lila.”

Alya scoffed, “no offense girl, but I don’t think you can judge that objectively.”

Marinette frowned, hurt and betrayal flashing through her head before she stomped it down. “Maybe I can’t. But Adrien’s happiness is still important to me. Even if he doesn’t find it with me. Kagami isn’t as much of an ice queen as she seems.”

Alya shrugged. “Okay, I might be wrong. I don’t really know her that well. Maybe she got invited too.”

“I’m sure she did. She was always Adrien’s professional date for events. Gabriel seems like the type to build up PR where he could.”

“Mmmm, you’re right. I bet Chloe’s up there too.”

“She and Adrien have been friends forever. I wouldn’t doubt it.”

They ate their lunch quietly, both mulling over their own thoughts.

“Adrien didn’t look too happy.” Marinette commented.

“He’s sure he’s just nervous. He’s never had a girlfriend before.”

“Right…”

Alya sighed again. “I can’t help but feel like this is really good for you, Marinette. This might be what it takes to get over him. You’ve been stuck on Adrien for a while now.”

“Yeah…silly me.”

“Come on, I’m not calling you silly!” She protested. “I’m just…it was frustrating watching you get all tongue tied over him. I want you to be happy, Mari. I desperately do. But Adrien might not be that for you. Take some time and then…who knows? Luka has his eyes on you.”

“I know.” Marinette said, some guilt popping up at the name. “Maybe…maybe someday.”

—

After school, the limo arrived to pick them up. Adrien told his driver that Nino, Alya, and Marinette were joining him, while Lila jumped in to grab a ride.

Marinette sat on one side of Adrien, while Lila sat on the other.

“So like, what’s this contest like?” Asked Nino, conversationally.

“Well,” began Lila, with a confident little flourish. “Mr. Agreste is going to interview all the contestants. We’ve all been given a five minute allotment to write a speech on why we would be a good candidate. Of course, he has files on all of us so he can see background, family income, achievements, charities, etc.”

“With all of your accomplishments, I bet you have a real chance!” Chirped Nino. “How many contestants are there?”

“I’m not sure.” Said Lila, with an honest shrug.

“Dude?” Nino probed Adrien.

Adrien shrugged too, as he had been quiet the whole ride. “I…I have no idea. I was just told about it this morning.”

Marinette sucked in a gaping breath next to him. He’d only had a day to think this through? This really was completely unfair!

Finally, they arrived at the mansion, and they were ushered inside.

Gabriel greeted them in the entry hall, as cold and professional as ever. He raised an eyebrow. “I believe I said you could invite one friend for support,” he said, by way of greeting.

“This is a…big decision. I wanted people around me with opinions I could trust.”

Gabriel glanced at the assembled, his eyes lingering on Marinette for a touch too long. “I understand. Come now. The other’s will arrive soon.”

They were escorted into the parlor, where three chairs sat in a line, then a table with two other chairs behind it.

“Miss Rossi, please take a seat. The other two contestants will be here shortly. Mr. Lahiffe, would you be so kind as to grab more chairs for you, Miss Cesaire, and Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

“Sure dude—er, yes sir.”

Gabriel took a seat at the table, looking at the three folders upon it.

Adrien begrudgingly sat next to him, as his three friends took up seats behind him.

Gabriel didn’t really want to do this. Match-making wasn’t something that felt worthy of his time. However, he considered this as killing three birds with one stone. 1) He’d get these girls to stop fighting over Adrien and being an embarrassment for Adrien’s career. 2) He’d have a controlled environment for Adrien to pick a girl. He wanted his son to pick a girl that was worthy of the family. After all, once Emilie came back, they would be a family again. 3) Whoever won or lost didn’t really matter. He’d get an akuma or two. And that made this all worth it.

And with the unsuspected surprise of Marinette Dupain-Cheng added, that added his 4th goal, to finally akumatize her. He wasn’t stupid. He knew very well that Marinette had feeling for Adrien. It was glaringly obvious. But since she had made no attempt to ask him out, he didn’t feel the need to invite her. Perhaps he should have anyways.

The second contestant arrived, as Chloe Bourgeois.

“Running late, are we Chloe?” Alya taunted.

“Not a bit.” Chloe flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. “You can’t rush perfection, you know.”

Gabriel twitched an eyebrow, and wrote down some notes. “Please, take a seat. The final contestant should be here soon.”

Lila had taken the middle seat, and Chloe took the one to her right.

Nearly as her butt hit the chair, the final candidate was escorted in. Kagami Tsurugi.

“Thank you for having me, Mr. Agreste.” She bowed politely.

“Thank you for attending.” He replied, cooly. “Please have a seat.”

As Marinette looked across the three girls, her stomach churned with unpleasant feelings. Nerves, nausea, dread…

And idea popped into her head, speaking in a voice that sounded a lot like Tikki. But she simply waved it away with a shake of her head.

‘Please please please don’t be embarrassing and try to ruin this in a fit of jealous rage.’ Alya’s voice piped up, as the angel on the other shoulder.

She swallowed, and looked to Adrien.

He was hunched in his seat, his leg bouncing quickly. She couldn’t see his face, but his body spoke of uncontested anxiety.

As far as Marinette was concerned, Kagami was the only one up there that deserved a chance to be with Adrien. She was honest and a hard worker.

But Marinette feared that she wasn’t affectionate enough to help Adrien.

Her voice crawled up her throat, resolution pumping through her veins, pounding in her ears, sweating through her palms.

This was a bad idea, a very very bad idea—

“Excuse me, Mr. Agreste?” She blurted, right as he was about to speak.

All eyes were on her, and she felt the immense pressure of it all. This was not like being Ladybug. These weren’t akumas and she had no authority in her civilian clothes.

“Yes, Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

Gabriel looked right at her, staring her down. But his tone held no judgement or impatience. Just curiosity.

“I was hoping, if it isn’t too late. May I also throw my proverbial hat in the ring?”

“You?”

“Yes. Of course, I know I wasn’t invited. So I understand if it’s a no.”

Gabriel was quiet a moment, thinking.

Adrien, however, was staring at her, mouth open, eyes wide. Utterly gobsmacked.

“Adrien, do you have any objections to having Miss Dupain-Cheng join the others in the interview?”

He breathed, his whole body relaxing in one sweep. “No, I don’t mind at all.”

Maybe it was the nerves, but Marinette could have sworn he looked relieved.

“Then I see no problem. Please bring your chair over with the others.”

“Thank you sir,” she said, humbly.

As she moved, Alya grabbed her wrist. “You promised!” She hissed.

“This isn’t a fit of jealous rage.” Marinette said calmly. She walked over and sat her chair next to Chloe, who looked furious. Lila gave her a smile that looked like friendly competition, but came off as a little smug.

Kagami just looked cold, and a little betrayed.

Marinette flicked her eyes meaningfully over to the other awful contestants, trying to send a message.

Kagami, smart as she was, seemed to get it, and quirked her lips in forgiveness. But her expression turned steely again. This was a competition, and she would not loose.

“Thank you ladies for all coming today,” Gabriel began. “I asked each of you here, because you have shown interest in Adrien in a romantic way. Relationships are important in our line of work, but Adrien’s significant other must reflect well upon the brand. Therefore, I have arranged this meeting. You will each be given five minutes to present why you would be the right candidate for this position. I will have a little say so, but ultimately the decision is up to Adrien.”

Alya and Nino shared a look, both getting the same vibe from the situation.

This was a job interview.

“Miss Kagami Tsurugi, the floor is yours.”

Kagami stood. “Thank you, Mr. Agreste.”

Marinette’s face paled. Kagami had note cards. She was prepared. She had probably prepared all week for this!

What was she doing!? Her whole speech was going to be her going “Da-uh--eh—cute boy—love Adrien!” And she’d be an embarrassment forever! She’d loose all progress she made with him! Their friendship was effectively over!

And judging by the way Alya was glaring at her, it wasn’t the only friendship that was going up in smoke.

“Adrien,” Kagami began. “You and I met in a duel. A match that was repeated over and over because we were in perfect sync. Perfect in rhythm and time, and perfect off the mat as well. We match in wit and grades, and in talent and grace. We match in family, and background. Our relationship will only be good for both of us, and our families. I strive for perfection in all that I do. Each task I come upon, I complete flawlessly. You are the only boy for me, as you have reached a level of perfection unparalleled in man. You and I connect and understand things that most people don’t. Fine manners, and public relations. You need a girl that can withstand the scrutiny of the media. A girl like me. I can be scrutinized and not bow to the pressure, for I have no flaws to display. Together, you and I will be perfect.” She nodded once and sat down.

“Thank you, Kagami.” Adrien said, sincerely. He liked Kagami, he really did. She was nice, and they got along…but the amount of times she dropped the word ‘perfect’ was a little unsettling. He didn’t forget Oni-chan. And while akumas couldn’t be held responsible for what they said, Kagami had announce that she deserved him because he was perfect.

But surely, there was more to her than that, right?

Gabriel said nothing, just wrote down some notes. Then, “Miss Lila Rossi, it’s your turn.”

Marinette watched Lila stand and take on this air of confidence that only came from living in a state of denial. “Adrien, as you and I have both discussed before, you and I make a wonderful pair. As you can see from my long list of achievements, you can see that I have a broad repertoire of skills, spanning from assisting with and upstarting charity work, leadership, academics, and of course, design. As the daughter of a diplomat, I am well spoken and naturally charismatic. I have a vast network of connections, and you’ll find it a benefit to join that network. Though I don’t doubt the power of the name Agreste, I can get you in contact with people you’ve wanted to connect with before. As an artist myself, I carry a fine eye to design, and can lend myself to the family business. I am acquainted with the workings of the modeling industry, and therefore require no training to pick it up. In fact, I can work as a liaison between different departments with my vast skill set. Along with all of this, you and I have good chemistry on the set as models. We work well together. And we’ll be even more amazing together.”

Marinette would have been impressed if that wasn’t all flaming garbage.

But judging by the way Alya was giving her a thumbs up, it must have sounded somewhat convincing.

Adrien nodded, “Thank you Lila.” He stated plainly. She sounded very professional for someone who just lied through her resume. But weirdly enough, it seemed like Lila was more presenting to his father than to him.

He already knew he wasn’t going to pick her, but he wondered if she was playing on her connection she had to his father. That would not be good…unless his father really was letting him pick.

That’d be a first.

“Miss Chloe Bourgeois. You have the floor.”

Chloe stood, a hand on her hip. “Adrikins,” she started.

Marinette couldn’t help but smile. Good old Chloe.

“You and I have been friends forever. You know what friendships are built on, right? Memories. And you and I have shared a whole lot. We were there for each other when our moms left. We survived that together, so why can’t we do more? Of course, you have no need of my money or fame, but business talk, we’re great. We’re already great. Adrien Agreste and Chloe Bourgeois, heiress and supermodel, beauty incarnate!”

That actually made Adrien chuckle.

“We’ll be the modern Brangelina. We’ll have fan clubs! We might even have a movie made about us!” Then she smiled, a smile that Marinette had never seen on her face before. One that was actually happy. “And you know, I like imagining a future with you. I think it could be fun.”

He quirked a smile at her. “Thanks Chlo.”

It was a nice sentiment. But he never had any feelings of romance towards Chloe. She was always a sister to him. And she had begun to fall out of his favor with her treatment of other classmates. It just wasn’t going to happen.

Marinette pressed her palms down hard into her knees to keep from trembling. Would it be awful to bow out now? Would that be rude and unprofessional? Would Mr. Agreste forbid Adrien from talking to her, since she was so flakey? She swallowed, once, twice, but her throat was still dry. Why did she do this?

Adrien looked at Marinette while his father finished writing notes about Chloe. Kagami had been somewhat predictable. She wasn’t being completely honest about her feelings with his father in the room. But, she did have a competitive streak in her. And…she always wanted the best.

Lila was also pretty predictable. It was all horse shit. Even if his father bought it and pressured him to pick her, she wouldn’t last because she wouldn’t be able to pull through on her promises.

Chloe. Chloe was a little refreshing. Informal, not really seeing a need to elaborate. They’d known each other forever, like she said.

But Marinette was a wild card. Sweet, kind, helpful, everyday Ladybug. As much as he detested this stupid stunt, having Marinette speak up to participate made it a little more tolerable. But…if she said anything like the other girls, he didn’t know if he could look at her the same way.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng. I apologize that you didn’t have time to prepare, but you have five minutes, just like the others. It starts now.”

She stood. “Thank you, Mr. Agreste.”

I’m Ladybug. She told herself. I’m worth it. I deserve my chance at happiness.

Adrien watched as she closed her eyes and breathed. When she opened them, she looked right at him.

Were her eyes always so blue?

“Adrien,” her voice was soft and tender. This wasn’t a pitch, this was a secret, just for him. “I love you.”

Adrien gasped slightly, warmth settling in his chest immediately.

“When we first met, I hated you. I saw this fancy rich kid who was friends with the other bratty rich kid, and I made an assumption. I misunderstood your good deed. It was never the fame or wealth that drew me to you.

“It was that moment in the rain. You humbled yourself, and confessed you didn’t know how to make friends. I scoffed at you, I was rude and you had every reason to write me off and never speak to me again. But you didn’t. You offered me that umbrella, and took the time to explain yourself, because you wanted to be my friend. That kindness was an arrow to my heart, Adrien. And every time I see that kindness, I find myself falling over and over again.” Her voice wavered, as she started to loose courage.

Adrien just smiled at her, and nodded her on, desperate to hear what she had to say.

“I don’t have much to offer you. I’m the daughter of a baker, which makes for a modest living. The Dupain-Cheng’s are famous, but just for our macarons, and only in Paris. I come with a lifetime supply of sweets and carbs,” she giggled. “And um, I can make things for you. I know you can get whatever clothing you’d like, but…I can knit you some mittens to match that blue scarf of yours. And…most of all, I can offer you me. My ears to listen to you when you have a rough day, or when you just want to make puns. My eyes to watch you at your tournaments and support you. My hands to play video games with you and massage your shoulders after a long photoshoot. My arms to hold you when you feel lonely. And my lips, to kiss you and reassure you when you feel inadequate.” Then she swallowed again, her eyebrows furrowing. “If…even if you don’t pick me. I still offer all of this to you. Because you’re my friend, and I care about you. I want you to be happy. Even if it’s not with me.” She smiled slightly and sat down.

For a while, Adrien just stared at her, struggling to breathe. He could see her trembling. He wanted to run to her and hold her. He had never felt this strong of an urge before, but that’s what he wanted to do.

“Marinette, I…thank you…” he finally managed out.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Gabriel spoke. “I must ask, you’re a budding designer, correct?”

“Yes sir.”

“Does a relationship with my son look like a in for you in my company?”

Adrien almost wanted to yell at the accusation, but stayed quiet.

Marinette thought a moment, then answered. “I’m here for Adrien. If I get a chance to work in the industry, that would be amazing. But if dating Adrien meant I sacrificed my own career…I think it’d be worth it.”

“Thank you, for being candid.”

“Yes sir.”

“Now then,” Gabriel stood. “Adrien and I, and company,” he gestured to Alya and Nino, “will be stepping into the other room to reach a decision. Please remain seated.”

As the door closed behind them, Marinette let out a sigh of relief and let the weight fall off her shoulders. She did it. She confessed to Adrien. She made her shot. Now it was up to him.

—

In the other room, Gabriel, Adrien, Alya, and Nino gathered around a television projecting the parlor on the screen.

“What’s this?” Alya asked.

“People act different when they think others aren’t watching.” He answered simply, and turned up the volume.

Chloe hauled off and whacked Marinette on the arm. “What the shit, Dupain-Cheng!?”

“Ow!” Marinette cried, more from shock than pain.

“Yeah, what the hell were you thinking?” Lila asked.

“I thought you were my friend.” Kagami bit. “How could you do this to me?”

Marinette rubbed her arm. “I just…I just wanted a chance to tell him. Before it was too late.”

Lila scoffed. “It was absolutely pathetic. And you ruined your own chance! You said ‘I can’t offer much, but what I can offer, I can give as a friend too.’ Why would he consider dating you then?”

“At least I had something to offer!” Marinette shouted back. “Your resume is all lies!”

“Doesn’t matter! Mr. Agreste likes me more than his own son. It doesn’t matter if Adrien knows I’m lying, Gabriel doesn’t. And daddy pulls all the strings. I’m going to be Adrien’s girlfriend.”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Chloe shouted. “No way! Gabriel likes me more! Who doesn’t? I have fame and notoriety! And I’m prettier!”

“Stop it!” Marinette shouted, genuinely upset. “Stop talking about Adrien like he’s a prize to be won! He’s not a trophy or a piece of meat! He’s an intelligent, kind, loving man! He deserves someone that will love him!”

“I love him plenty!” Chloe cried indignantly.

“I love him more!” Kagami interjected. “And Marinette’s right. He’s a person. He needs someone on his level that understands his life. Marinette…that person isn’t you. You don’t understand what kind of pressure he’s under. You don’t understand strict families and high expectations…you haven’t done anything to deserve him.”

Marinette closed her eyes, trying to keep from crying. That was a low blow.

Lila chuckled. “Did you see the look on Alya’s face when you invited yourself up here? She was so angry! Probably because she’s so sick of you embarrassing yourself.”

“It was really embarrassing.” Chloe added. “You super don’t belong up here. I’d be surprised if Adrien ever spoke to you again after that stunt.”

Lila grinned at that. “Hey, nice work! You did my job on your own. I told you, didn’t I? You’d loose all your friends, and Adrien would be mine. Jealousy really is a little bitch, isn’t it?”

Marinette screwed her eyes shut, rocking in her chair, and begging herself not to cry. This had been all a big mistake.

“So what are you going to do now?” Lila asked, taunting her more. “I hope you switch schools. It would be so much easier. But if you stay, I’m sure that would be even more fun. After all, I hold all the cards now. No one will ever listen to you again!”

Alya’s mouth dropped open as soon as Lila went off. “She…she lied?”

“She’s lied this whole time.” Adrien provided softly. “Marinette tried to tell you. I guess…I didn’t realize why you didn’t believe her.”

Gabriel muted the TV. “Well. We have four candidates, each with some benefit…except Miss Rossi, obviously.” He closed her file. “But, true to my word, the final decision is yours.”

“I know who I want.”

“That soon?”

“It’s easy.”

Gabriel nodded. “Then we’ll return.”

—

Marinette breathed and dabbed her cheeks with a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. If this was how it ended, she would remain dignified.

The door opened and the others returned. Adrien looked nervous again, but a lot more optimistic.

“Adrien has reached a decision.” And Gabriel gestured him forward.

Adrien swallowed. “I’m sorry that you all had to get involved in this. It hurts me that I have to break hearts today. That’s something I never wanted to do. Kagami…I’m really sorry. I did enjoy the fun we had together, and I hope we can still be friends.”

“Of course, Adrien. I understand.” She looked mildly forlorn, but hid heartache well, for Adrien’s sake.

“Chloe, you’re right. We have been friends for a long time. And I love you, but like a sister.”

Chloe pouted. “Ugh, save me your ridiculous pity speech.”

Lila sat up a little straighter, her smug smile emerging as Adrien turned to look at Marinette.

Marinette looked to him, steeling herself for the rejection that would come.

“Marinette…I…” he stepped closer. “I’m speechless. I…I’m so glad you spoke up!” And he rushed to her, scooping her out of the chair and crushing her to him. “Thank you. For seeing me.”

She blinked up at him, still in shock. “Does…that mean I won?”

“Yes!” He laughed, exasperated. “I chose you!”

Marinette trembled before clinging to him tightly, and sobbing. “These are happy tears!” She declared.

He laughed at her and just squeezed her tightly.

“Um, I don’t mean to interrupt.” Said Lila, obviously interrupting. “But Adrien, I think I should warn you. Marinette isn’t as innocent as you think—“

“Oh shut up Lila.” Alya spat. “No one’s buying your bullshit.”

Lila gaped at her. “But-But Alya! You know how Marinette gets!”

“Yeah, she’s not as bad as you. She didn’t have to lie to make friends. And she certainly cares about Adrien more than you do.”

“What? I would never—“

“Dude, there’s a camera. We saw the whole thing.”

Gabriel loomed over Lila. “‘Daddy pulls the strings’ hmm?”

“Its…a figure of speech?”

Gabriel wasn’t impressed. “Leave my house. If you so much as touch my son or Miss Dupain-Cheng, I won’t hesitate to file for a restraining order. Consider this your only warning.”

Furious, Lila stomped out of the mansion.

Kagami approached the couple. “Sorry for what I said, Marinette. I guess you really do deserve him.”

Marinette wiped her cheeks. “I forgive you Kagami. I’m sorry too.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. You love him, and you deserve to be able to tell him. I’ll see you guys around.” She bowed to them and then to Mr. Agreste. “Thank you for the opportunity.”

Then Chloe was left. She looked at them, and ‘hmph’ed. “I don’t approve. But…as long as you’re happy.”

“I am.” Adrien confessed.

“And Dup—Marinette?”

“Yes, Chloe?”

“Break his heart, and I’ll ruin your life.”

“Noted.”

“Good. Now, I’m off to shop my woes away. I might even pick out somethings for you Marinette, now that you’re dating the son of a fashion mongol, you have to look presentable.”

“That’s very kind of you, Chloe.” Marinette smiled softly.

“Of course, I’m the nicest.” And she left as well.

“Now,” said Gabriel. “Miss Dupain-Cheng, please tell your parents to expect a call from Nathalie in the coming days. We will be arranging a time for us all to sit down for dinner and discuss this relationship going forward.”

Marinette nodded, trying to collect herself. “Yes sir, absolutely.”

“And, in regards to the question I asked. I don’t expect you to quit designing. In fact, perhaps I can give you a portfolio review, when you’re ready.”

“That would be wonderful, sir.”

“Now that that is settled, I must get back to work. Adrien, your friends may stay for dinner, but must leave before 8:00. Agreed?”

“Yes sir, thank you.”

He nodded once and then headed to his office.

Alya met Marinette’s eyes and just shrugged shamefully. “Mari I…I don’t know what to say. I’m glad you ignored me!”

Marinette offered a smile. “It’s alright Alya.”

“No, no it’s not. Lila conned us, all of us for a long time. What was that thing she said? ‘Your friends will all leave you and Adrien will be mine?’”

“Yeah, it was a threat she made against me, the first time I called her out.”

“God, I’m such an idiot. I thought about it two seconds after she admitted to lying about her achievements, and saw right thru her stories. I have no idea how I was so blind!”

“Well, we have some damage control to do,” said Adrien.

“Nah uh.” Alya poked him in the chest. “We have damage control to do. You two, have a lovely first date!”

Marinette blinked, a blush rushing to her face. “O-oh!”

Adrien’s arm hooked around her waist. “We’ll pass the time somehow. Video games?”

Marinette breathed. Everything was fine. This was great. “Yeah, that sounds fun.”

“Catch you dudes later!”

—

Up in Adrien’s room, Marinette sat on the couch as Adrien glanced through his video game collection. “Let’s see, I knoooow you like Ultima Mecha Strike, but I want to win a little.”

“Aw, won’t let the girl win on the first date?”

“You’re cute, but you’re not that cute.”

She giggled, her face alighting with a blush. Adrien thought she was cute! “Rude!”

“Yeah, I forgot I’m bad at jokes.”

“You’re not bad at—“ The girl I love doesn’t like my jokes either. “Oh. Oh my god.”

“What?” Adrien returned, hearing panic come into her voice.

Marinette stood, preparing to leave. “Adrien, I…I can’t do this.”

He blinked. “What?”

“You don’t love me.”

“Well…” he rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly. “Not…not quite. But I really like you, and I know if I just spend a little more time with you—“

“But, what about the girl you’re in love with?”

He wilted, instantly. “Oh. Right.”

“We have to redo this contest or something! She has to know! She needs a fair chance too!”

Adrien smiled at her. Even at the sake of her own heart, she was still thinking of others. “No, Marinette, that ship has sailed. I held out for her…but she rejected me. A lot actually.”

Marinette’s heart ached for him. She reached out and took his hand. “Adrien?”

He shook his head. “For a while, I believed that any other romance was being unfaithful to her. But, how can you be unfaithful to someone you’re not in a relationship with? It’s stupid.”

“No, no it’s not.” She insisted. “I know exactly how you feel.”

“You…you didn’t give up someone waiting for me, did you?”

“I turned someone down, but I didn’t love him. I was fond of him, and he’s a great friend…but I didn’t love him.”

“Oh…Luka?”

“Oh…yikes, him too. And Nathaniel. Gee, I’m a heart breaker.”

He chuckled. “No Mari, I think you’re just very lovable.” He kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry about that other girl, okay?”

“But like…I am going to worry. Can you tell me who?”

He pouted. “Don’t laugh.”

“Never.”

“Okay…it’s Ladybug.”

She blinked. “…Ladybug?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but…she’s saved me a few times, so…”

Adrien had never confessed to Ladybug. Unless he did it as Aspik and she didn’t remember, but she knows she would have said yes to him. Ladybug had gotten plenty of confessions, but not several from the same person, except for—

No.

No way.

Marinette stepped away from him, her hands over her mouth.

“Oh great, now you think I’m some sort of weirdo, right?”

She shook her head, but didn’t remove her hands.

“Then what is it?”

Marinette was the new guardian. She alone held the responsibility of the Miraculous. But this thought kept nagging at the back of her head. Someday, they’d have to reveal their identities to each other. She’d need to know who he was incase of emergency.

Looked like today was that day.

She pulled her hands away, resting on her heart. Then she drank him in, letting the pieces come together.

“Oh kitty.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “Wha—?”

“I’m so sorry for hurting you. You were the other boy.”

He choked on his breath, then took a staggering step towards her. “My lady?”

“Yes, kitty. I’m right here. You found me.”

He closed the distance, crushing her body to his once again, this time with tears of his own. “I knew I picked right! I knew it!”

“Oh Chat! It’s you! I’m so glad it’s you!”

“My lady!” He pressed his lips to her face over and over again, not caring if he connected to her mouth or not. He just wanted to shower her in affection. “I love you! I love you I love you I love you!”

“Adri—“ Her words were cut off by his kisses and her giggles. “I love you too, silly boy.”

He cupped her cheeks holding her like she was precious and delicate. “We have to be even. I can offer you my wallet, to pay for school and whatever supplies you could ever want. I offer my eyes to drink in your perfect face every day. My ears to listen to your adorable laugh at my perfect puns.”

She giggled.

“Like that! And I offer my hands, to hold you when you’re lonely. And my lips to kiss you senseless when you need a break from all your stress!” He kissed her deeply, making her hazy. “And I offer my abs, to carry you through the threshold when we’re married!”

“You lift with your legs, Dingus.”

“Then what can I offer my abs for?”

“Those are just for me,” she cheeked, running a hand down his shirt.

“I’m going to kiss you again.”

“I’m not going to stop you.”

He pushed her over to lay on the couch, as he leaned over her and kissed her again. Her fingers dove into her hair as his own cradled her. “My lady,” he breathed.

“My prince.”

An explosion rocked the city, startling the two teens apart. They shared a look, and then laughed.

“Alright, four macarons says it’s Lila.”

“Hmm…five says it’s Chloe.”

A third voice, belonging to Plagg, spoke up. “And if it’s Kagami?”

“A draw.” They said together.

“Oh, one more smooch before we go, my love?” Adrien grinned.

Marinette rolled her eyes. Rolled her eyes at Adrien! “Oh, I suppose one wouldn’t hurt.” She pecked him gently. “You can have more afterwards.”

“Smooches Gracias!”

“Smooches revoked!”

“Nooooo!!”

#ml #miraculous ladybug #adrinette #adrienette #ladynoir #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #lila rossi #lila exposed #love confessions #identity reveal #kisses

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ncisladaily · 3 years

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Renée Felice Smith was only six years old when she knew that she wanted to be an actress and storyteller, but people tried to dissuade her from her chosen career path, telling her it was an impossible goal. Luckily, Smith’s parents weren’t among the naysayers, and today she’s living her dream, starring as Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones on NCIS: Los Angeles (Sundays, 9 p.m., CBS) and co-authoring her first children’s book Hugo and the Impossible Thing with her creative partner Chris Gabriel.

So, when her French Bulldog Hugo was diagnosed with a brain tumor, Smith once again ignored the doubters and found the best vet possible to give Hugo a shot at life rather than listen to those who told her it was “just truly impossible.”

“We just knew we had to try for our little guy, and we’re so glad we did because he was with us for another two beautiful years, just grinning, growling and running around the yard like the wild man that he always was,” Smith tells Parade.com in this exclusive interview. “So, we’re so glad we fought for him and advocated for him.”

When Hugo finally passed, Smith and Gabriel knew they had to tell his story to inspire others to conquer the seemingly impossible things in their life. So they wrote a story about a little dog named Hugo, who succeeded where others didn’t even try as a result of his bravery, curiosity, teamwork and persistence.

“The love is still here, and it needed someplace to go, so now we have the book and Hugo’s message that now we get to share with the world, which I’m just so grateful that it’s become real,” Smith adds.

Related: NCIS: Los Angeles‘ Daniela Ruah Speculates About Whether Kensi and Deeks Will Survive the Obstacles Ahead

This Sunday night, Smith will be back with some teamwork of her own when NCIS: Los Angeles returns with a new episode dealing with technology, which is something that Nell excels at. In the “Imposter Syndrome” episode, NCIS obtains a hard drive containing a realistic deep fake video of a deceased terrorist and must retrieve the dangerous technology behind it. However, when the team’s comms are hijacked during their mission, they find that one of their own has been a victim of its potential.

And, spoiler alert, Smith says that in the May 23 Season 12 finale, Nell will finally be reunited with Hetty (Linda Hunt)! But how that will play out remains to be seen.

“Linda was essentially sidelined by the pandemic, but, very exciting, I do share a scene with her in our season finale and it’s one of the most memorable scenes of my time on NCIS: LA, so I’m very grateful to have her back as my scene partner,” Smith says.

For more of what Smith had to say about her real-life Hugo and Hugo and the Impossible Thing, as well as more NCIS: Los Angeles scoop, read on.

With your background, a movie seems a more natural project than a book about Hugo. How did it turn into a book?

Chris, my other half, and I are lovers of all types of books. We grew up with children’s books and some of the most impactful stories and lessons we feel that we’ve learned in our lives we learned in the pages of those books, so we really wanted to create this modern classic, a book that kids, or quite frankly, anyone nowadays could really benefit from.

Especially right now, we’re all dealing with our own version of the impossible thing, and we’re trying to find our way to the other side. What better way to inspire you and yours to go out and conquer whatever your impossible thing is than through a storybook following this spirited French Bulldog through the forest, kind of this yellow brick road, Wizard of Oz structure? He meets up with his forest friends and they end up helping him through the impossible thing. It’s really a story about bravery, curiosity, teamwork and persistence. We wanted to encourage that in our readers, both young and young at heart.

Tell us about Hugo and his battle with his brain tumor.

Hugo was diagnosed with a brain tumor and we were truly beside ourselves. It was an out-of-body experience. He was a feisty, curious, wild man who was quite literally sidelined by this potentially terminal disease, and we just knew that we didn’t want to give up on him, and he wasn’t giving up on himself. Every step of the way, we would say out loud, “Hugo, just let us know, buddy, do you want to keep going?” And he met us with this enthusiasm for the process every step of the way. And that is truly why we kept going.

Did Hugo instill in you the belief that the impossible might be possible? Or did you already have that?

That’s interesting. I think the process really showed us that if you ask the questions, oftentimes the people who ask the questions are the people who find the answers, and this process really reiterated that. He inspired us to advocate for him, because animals are helpless on their own, but we could do something about it. We could ask the questions; we could be his voice. I’m just so thankful that he was always this bright light that had this insatiable curiosity for life. He definitely imbued that in me, and I know he imbued that in Chris. He did inspire us to help him conquer his impossible thing. If he didn’t have the fight in him, if he wasn’t such a spirited dog, I don’t know if that would’ve happened, but he was singular in a way. I reference him as my canine son, because he was. He was my baby.

On NCIS: Los Angeles, Nell is torn these days. She feels Hetty tricked her into taking the job when she said she didn’t want it, but she has the support of her team and also Kilbride. So how do you think she’s feeling these days?

She really is at a crossroads in her life. I think a lot of young women find themselves at this point, where they are very good at their job, but is it the job that they always saw themselves in? Is it the job they saw their future selves thriving in? I think for Nell, she’s really questioning whether she wants this to be her story, and in the process, she’s really finding her voice this season. There’s a scene with Sam Hanna, LL Cool J‘s character, that recently aired, where she spells out her frustrations in her position as de facto operations manager and how she’s struggling to keep the plates spinning. And she tells him that he needs to get on her team. It was a really stern moment for Nell.

I don’t think we’ve really ever seen that. Actually, LL Cool J and I were talking about what a different flavor this scene is bringing to the show because Nell usually is quick with a quip, but she doesn’t often drop the hammer in this way. And this season, we really do get to see Nell drop this hammer, stand in her power, and let people know that she needs help and she’s questioning this process.

I think that’s the side of being the operations manager that we didn’t really get to see very much with Hetty because she had everything under control. So, it’s kind of fun and new to see the person, who may be greener in the position, find her way in this new position of leadership.

How much has COVID affected what we’re seeing this season? Is that why we don’t see more of Linda Hunt, to keep her safe? And I noticed there are fewer people in scenes, especially in ops.

You’re absolutely right. Our show did an incredible job managing the crisis that was the pandemic and continues to be the pandemic. We are tested five days a week. Our crew was incredible in keeping everyone safe. The was goal to keep everyone safe, and we were, in turn, able to create 18 episodes of television, which is incredible.

You were just picked up for your 13th season, so it isn’t over yet, but when you look back, what will you take away from it?

Oh, my goodness. We’re a family, you know, but it’s been a mini-film school for me as well. My time at NCIS: LA has been educational. I just pinch myself how lucky I am that I was able to quite frankly lock onto a job like this for so long. In our industry, stability as an actor is not something you often experience. So, to have this group of people who I’ve grown to love and really consider extensions of my family, I’m just so grateful for the time. I feel like I’ve been a student. I feel like I went to school all over again for 10 years.

With Linda being this master in her craft, I can’t even quantify what I learned from her and most of it happens when we’re waiting to do our scene. It’s in those moments that I hear the stories from her childhood and the stories from early in her career, just these nuggets of wisdom that I have now in my little carpet bag.

From your work outside NCIS: LA, it seems as if maybe long-term, you’re more interested in being behind the camera and writing, producing, directing.

It’s interesting, often as actors, we’re part of someone else’s story, we’re carrying out someone else’s vision, but I’ve always been a storyteller. As a kid, I would essentially write my own little plays and perform them in the yard and direct my friends and family, my sister, namely, in those plays. And for as long as I remember, I’ve always wanted to tell stories. So, yeah, that is where I see myself heading in the future.

You’ve said that you knew at age six that this is what you want to do. And you were lucky that your parents supported you.

Oh, 100 percent. I wouldn’t be standing here today if they hadn’t instilled confidence in me and in my creativity. They really created an environment that fostered out-of-the-box thinking, and I’m so grateful for that.

Which takes us full circle back to the impossible just might be possible.

It’s so true. If you’re curious enough and brave enough and you have the support, obviously, of your community, I think that’s the missing piece in a lot of these puzzles. It’s really the support because you can’t get there alone. No one can. The one-woman show does not exist. It’s an ensemble; it’s a production.

#s12 #Renee Felice Smith #Linda Hunt #ncis la #ncisla #NCIS Los Angeles

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sairenharia · 5 years

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Sentimonster Theory

My own thoughts on this theory brought up by the episode Ladybug. Spoilers ahead.

1. Validity Of The Idea.

First off, Ladybug introduces this idea of a sentient Sentimonster. Not something brought up before, albeit we’ve only seen a few Sentimonsters so far. We know very little about the Peacock Miraculous ourselves, but just what we’ve been shown and told. Such as we know it’s broken, though not necessarily how.

But Ladybug said her Sentimonster was her own being. Since the series is from her perspective and the Sentimonster agreed to act with her, we can take this as a truth to a certain extent. Which is honestly all sorts of messed up. In particular because we are introduced to this concept only a minute or two before this sentient girl is then erased from existence.

If this was a generally dark show with dark concepts in the vein of Rick and Morty, then maybe this could be a one off. But it’s NOT. This is a generally light hearted show that glossed over a girl just got grant freedom and then died and barely played with that idea. Really Ladybug should have been a two parter and that Amok should have been a hot potato so we could explore Sentibug’s mental state and ability to choose.

But wasted potential aside, a light hearted show does NOT bring up something that grim dark and NOT have a payoff. Which means one of two things.

There will be a sentient Amok arriving and they will be a thing for a while, possibly Felix, possibly someone else, and there will be some kind of witch hunt or stab in the heart.

Or there is already a Sentimonster present within the show and the pay off will be finding that out. No one makes a Chekov’s gun like that and not use it.

2. The Candidates.

Who could be a Sentimonster? Obviously only those close to the Agrestes. The Agrestes themselves, Nathalie, Gorilla being the obvious ones.

I’m disinclined to believe it’s Emilie because they say she disappeared. Not ‘gone’ which is what’s usually said when shows don’t want to say ‘dead,’ but disappear. Gone implies they know what happened. Disappear means they don’t. So I really think it’s her body in the basement. And the reason she’s in a coma is because she’s the one who made the Sentimonster.

Gorilla is the next one I find hard to believe if only because the Agreste’s are rich enough to just buy a man like that. He’s dedicated to his job, he’s a beast of a man, but he hasn’t done anything to warrant his worth in being put into a magic coma when money would do. And while a likeable guy on his own, we haven’t had enough focus on him to warrant the emotional payoff a sentient Sentimonster warrants. And personally, it puts a bad taste in my mouth making the mute person the secret inhuman being.

Gabriel certainly has the crazed focus that would be assumed of a Sentimonster. They are made with a purpose in mind, and if something unfortunate happened to the real Gabriel, then it makes sense Emilie would make him even at the cost of herself. But Gabriel would also be made by Emilie, and if she’s even half the saint Adrien paints her as, then it seems far more likely Emilie would be focused on him being back for her AND Adrien. Even if he struggled with the emotional, I doubt something like Riposte or Gorizilla would have happened with a Sentimonster Gabriel. Plus that would just be needlessly painful for Adrien because not only does he learn the man he thought was his father was the villain he’s been fighting for months, his dad is also probably dead. It’s like kicking a dog when he’s down.

Nathalie seems pretty likely if Emilie knew something was going to happen to her. Her job is to take care of Gabriel and Adrien and Nathalie does genuinely show care for both. She’s helped Adrien get what he wants, she will do anything Gabriel asks of her. For someone who seems to a not particularly passionate person, she loves two extremely socially inept people fiercely. If there was a guardian to be left behind by Emilie, Nathalie fits that criteria. The biggest question for this idea is the idea of an Amok being able to use the Peacock Miraculous itself. That seems like it shouldn’t work, but there’s nothing that says it can’t either. But even the Butterfly Miraculous has to be removed before it’s user can be Akumatized.

Then there’s Adrien. And oh boy, does a lot of things start lining up when looked at it like this.

3. The Narrative.

The thing about stories is things don’t have to be strictly in universe to reveal a truth of the story. That’s the fun of being an audience. We know Gabriel is Papillon because we’re the audience, so we see things the people in the story can’t. And the thing about Miraculous Ladybug as a narrative is there’s supposed to be a happy ending.

This is a show meant for kids. And while kids can handle dark things, Miraculous Ladybug is again, not that kind of show. The longer things go on, the less chance it seems like Adrien can have a happy ending, especially with the way they handle things between him and his father.

Adrien is getting closer to his father, but Gabriel is just diving further and further into his villainy. He keeps hurting people, he’s caused Adrien in particular some horrifying things from the times he’s died, to his three months as Aspik, to having him attack the love of his life. That sort of thing wears on a person and from Adrien actions in Gamer 2.0 and Partycrasher, both of which are after Viperion, Chat is certainly suffering from those three months. Finding out Gabriel did that to him is going to hit and it’s going to hit hard.

In particular for a point everyone has been talking about since we figured out it was Gabriel: he’s terrorized Paris to save his wife, while he treated his son like dirt. Gabriel is a man who seems intent to do anything and everything he can for love, much like Adrien does, but he also treats Adrien terribly. Their home situation is toxic at best, and abusive at worst.

Finding out the truth is going to break Adrien. More than that, with all Gabriel has done, and has treated his son, its hard to see how any end of this could allow enough room for Adrien to forgive Gabriel enough to be happy himself.

Unless, of course, the circumstances aren’t what they seem.

4. The Evidence.

Most evidence comes from what we, the audience, see, as well as some presumed things of Sentimonsters.

A. Cataclysm.

In Miraculer, Adrien gets hit with Cataclysm. Much to everyone’s surprised, he doesn’t turn to dust from something that’s turned harder things then flesh and blood to dust. We’ve seen it destroy indestructible items like the Bee Miraculous. We know Plagg killed the dinosaurs.

The first assumption is Adrien survived because he’s the Black Cat User, so he’s got some resistance to his own attack, or perhaps it’s because Miraculer was using the ability and thus it was a weaker version of it.

But here’s the thing. There’s that narrative thing again. Adrien got hurt. He got hurt real bad. We rarely see these kids hurt thanks to their supersuits, and here Adrien is, getting hit with his own death touch. This is something that, one it’s own, should have been an episode. This could have been great character development, they could have talked about the dangers of their job, or show a lot of Ladynoir, or how stubbornly stupid Chat is to fight like that.

But this wasn’t an episode about it. This was an episode about Chloe being Queen Bee, and meeting Mayura, and a five superhero team up, and a power stealer. All those things are episode worthy, so having Chat injured is odd. Especially since it wasn’t necessary where it was.

Miraculer had already established her threat levels, Ladybug had left to give the other Miraculous. She only finds out Chat is hurt when she’s handing off the Bee to him. If it was a matter of getting Chat to disengage, there’s many ways where Miraculer could have tossed him away as many Akuma have done. There is no reason to go that extreme. He certainly doesn’t need to be hurt for Mayura to have still grabbed the Bee like that, and struggling against two opponents is reasonable. There is no real narrative reason for him to be that hurt. The only point it MIGHT make sense is it meant Chloe really did have to go after Mayura herself.

But then it’d have made more sense to have him hurt on the rooftop. It would make the fight seem more high stakes because we don’t know how long it’d take, it makes everyone afraid, it’s dramatic! So why have him suffer half an episode like that?

Because the episode was overly full. It was to distract from what happened. There would be questions of why Chat is lasting this long, is this how it always is with people, or just him? Instead there’s the distraction of the new villainess, Ladybug needs to get the MIraculous, she needs to tell Chloe she can’t be Queen Bee. She has no time to wonder about Catacalysm, and Adrien doesn’t like dwelling on the unpleasant.

But we the audience see it. Adrien can take a Catacalysm and he can last a long time under the effects. And only one other thing has.

Reflekdoll, the Sentimonster Lady Noire used the power on. A thing made of pure magic. It was messed up, but it still functioned. It freaked out because it had no controller, but what if it could control itself? It may have done better, instead been dealing with it’s slowly breaking down body instead of wildly attacking everything.

Much like Adrien.

B. Adrien And Taking Charge.

Here’s the thing about Adrien taking charge: He’s terrible at it. We see it in Mister Bug, we see it in Viperion, we it in in Evillustrator. Adrien does not do well in that position. He gets too easily flustered and gets stuck in a tunnel vision or too emotional.

He’s great at second in charge! When he knows generally what he’s supposed to be doing, he’s great. He knows to protect, to teach, to comfort. He’s shown to be clever, a point actually made in Reflekta when he helps despite not having powers. Which makes it stand out even more when he struggles to do so in Reflekdoll. The difference being he’s no longer support, he’s the one whose supposed to be ‘in charge.’

He struggles as Mister Bug.

He uses Second Chance for Three Months because he can’t calm down, step back, and calmly watch things go down so he can gather information.

And all the way back in Season One, he has Marinette take away the stylus because he can focus on protecting her, but he couldn’t think of a good way to get the pen away, and he misses an obvious way out of the box.

We know Adrien is smart. We know he’s clever enough to keep up with Ladybug’s plans when she needs him to do something. But the moment he’s in charge, it’s like something in his brain just shorts out.

C. Adrien And Memories.

So something that has bugged me for ages is the fact he was not allowed out of the house until he got to go to school. He’s been locked up his whole life. Which made sense when I thought his mother disappeared years ago and his father became overprotective as a result. Then we learn his mother hasn’t even been gone a year by the time Christmas rolls around.

That changed a lot in regards to Emilie.

In Jackady, Chat’s outburst reminded Gabriel of Emilie. Which implies she was a woman who was at least somewhat of a spitfire. Someone Adrien saw as kind and who wanted him to be good. The person Adrien thinks about right before he almost destroyed the Christmas Tree and he stopped. Kind and willing to fight.

And still agreed to isolate Adrien.

And before she disappeared, Gabriel was supposedly less severe as he is now. Now this could be evidence that Gabriel is the Sentimonster, but with both Gabriel being at least a little more caring and a woman Adrien sees so highly, it’s weird they both agreed to raise him in basic isolation.

Not that I’m saying Emilie is anywhere near Gabriel’s level in canon, but Adrien is definitely looking at things with rose colored glasses. It’s not okay to raise a kid isolated from their peers like that. Especially a ray of sunshine like Adrien whose desperate for friends.

But at the Agreste parents very best, they were overprotective as hell.

We know Adrien is starting to realize his father is being unfair and overly harsh, we’ve seen him run away because of it, and he’s terrified of being locked up. He still sees Emilie as this saintly way though.

It may be because she made him. Of course he’d see her this way because she wouldn’t think there was anything wrong in wanting to protect him or she wouldn’t have gone to that extreme.

D. Adrien’s Demeanor.

Adrien is obedient. He’s a good boy who listens, and does as he’s told. Again, Adrien does not like to take charge. He rarely starts confrontation for his own sake, but he’s willing to step in for others. More so as Chat than Adrien, and Adrien is certainly more sneaky and subdue about it.

A Sentimonster is a being made to obey someone else. It’s not a giant leap to assume a sentient would still be highly inclined to obey, and more likely to stand up for others than themselves.

Then there’s Adrien’s more obsessive nature. Because let’s be fair. He’s obsessed with Ladybug. Most of the time it’s charming flirts of the safe nature, but he’s had times he’s let it distract him from the job, or made him sulk and pout. He can usually snap out of it to focus on the job, but it’s weird how he can go from one day handling his rejection with grace to the next handling it absolutely terribly. Like maybe he wants to accept it, but it’s hard to do so for a being whose usually focused on one person.

After all, Sentimonsters are protectors. Getting a little obsessed with who they’re made for makes sense.

E. Adrien’s rebellion.

It’s an interesting to note how Adrien rebels. He does things his father wouldn’t approve of, but usually goes the route of ‘what he doesn’t know won’t hurt me.’ If Adrien is told he can’t, he’ll go ‘but Chat wasn’t told he can’t.’ It’s rare we see Adrien disobey an actual direct order from Gabriel.

The only time that comes to mind as direct disobedience instead of just never asked or a technical loop hole was when he ran to school. You know. Right after he got Plagg and experienced chaos energy for the first time.

And yet, for the things Adrien deems truly important, he does try to bargain with his father. Like seeing his mother’s movie, or going to Marinette’s party, because these are important things to Adrien, and he wants his father to approve.

Oddly, when Adrien actually pleads and breaks the rules and shows how important a thing is to him, his father seems inclined to give it to him. Which I’ll get more into later.

F. Plagg, The Peacock Miraculous Was Right There, How Did You Miss It????

Listen, Plagg is a little gremlin who cares a lot more for people than he likes to show and it still seems weird he wouldn’t recognize a piece of jewelry he’s been in contact with for centuries when he could recognize the BOOK.

But that’s the thing, Plagg is a little gremlin who cares a lot. Who cares a lot about Adrien. Who, you know, he regularly fuses with and gives superpowers. There’s a good chance if Adrien is a Sentimonster, Plagg knows, and now he’s like ‘SHIT’ about the whole thing.

It’s likely Fu getting the Peacock Miraculous would spell the end of Adrien, so Plagg is hoping for an Alternate Solution to come up before he outs where the Peacock Miraculous is. He’s like millions of years old, he can be patient for a few years until he sees something, and the humans can take a little chaos in their life. Adrien’s HIS.

G. SYMBOLIC FORESHADOWING.

Gosh, copycat sure was a sculptor ‘in love’ with someone he couldn’t reach.

There sure is a lot of False Adriens and False Chats in the season where Mayura is a player between the wax statue of Adrien, Chat, and Adrien playing Chat’s Voice in the Ladybug Movie, and Lila pretended to be Chat and Adrien for a while in Chameleon.

Chat keeps being turned into a meat puppet by Gabriel an awful lot.

Reflekdoll got Catacalsymed by another Chat.

Miraculer sure was about Chloe’s friend trying to become another person for her love, while her other friend was living through something we never thought should be livable by a human.

Chat did think the Sentibug was a real person and choose her first.

Ladybug said Sentibug was too perfect to be human. While Gabriel and Marinette both call Adrien perfect. And Lila, and I think Chloe. Basically a lot of people call the boy perfect.

Thomas has a tendency to make tweets about ‘in universe’ views on the characters, thus when he said Chloe was a terrible person who would never have a MIraculous. And he sure calls Adrien perfect a lot himself.

H. Allergies.

Allergies are the immune system’s hypersensitive reaction to something. Worried about something being a threat even if it isn’t. And Adrien is allergic to feathers. A thing he may be made out of.

Maybe Sentimonsters don’t play well with feathers, maybe another feather can mess with theirs, I don’t know, but I find it very interesting one of his parents had a feather based superpower and he’s allergic to them and it feels like that should mean SOMETHING.

I. The Promise.

Gabriel talks to Emilie about a promise. A wish. A way to reverse a mistake. He never says he’ll bring her back or fix her, which is the obvious thing. He’s cryptic which means whatever he WANTS, it’s not as simple as saving her. He says it the way he does because we the audience aren’t meant to know yet.

5. The Wild Mass Guessing.

Because the rest was super coherent.

Two other points: A pure theory on Party Crashers. Gabriel is shocked at joy in his house, which could just be him realizing how many people were there, or an even more disturbing thought that he never expects joy from Adrien. OR it could be Gabriel can’t sense Adrien at all because he’s a Sentimonster, and neither Nathalie nor the Gorila are big on the joy spectrum;.

As for Chat Blanc, it could be Chat Blanc will be a seperate Sentimonster (and MORE foreshadowing????), or it’s because Plagg is also involved. Plagg is definitely a full entity, after all, and that may be enough to allow for an Akumatization.

BUT here is how I see things going down.

Adrien Agreste died, somehow or someway, probably preventable, and it was with his parents so it didn’t become news.

Emilie, unwilling to lose her son, decides to use the peacock. She may have sculpted something like Mayura did Ladybug and he’s got an Amok hidden around somewhere. Maybe Emilie used his body which is grim and also necromancy. It could be a lot of things.

But the Peacock is NOT the Miraculous of Creation. A Sentimonster is a temporary creation, a guardian, it’s not meant to be a longterm sentient being. Having a Sentimonster capable of some intelligent thought is understandable, because better guardian then, but it’s NOT meant to be a person.

Emilie pushes and this is what breaks the Peacock Miraculous. And this puts her into a coma because now she has to support Adrien’s existence with her own emotions and it’s too much of a burden for her to bear and remain conscious.

And Adrien the Sentimonster is born.

At first, he doesn’t have a lot in the way of emotions. This works out because now he’s supposed to be mourning his now disappeared mother and being blank is pretty understandable. He has the memories from his mother, maybe his father, he knows generally how he’s supposed to be, but he’s still figuring it out. Meanwhile he thinks it’s the depression because he doesn’t know he’s not real.

And Gabriel?

Gabriel lost his son, then his wife, and now he has This Thing in his home. Who thinks he’s his son and his wife almost lost her life for it and he has to. Deal with that. So he goes complete hardass because if he has to deal with it, then it would represent the Gabriel brand well. He models, he learns, he becomes the poster boy of a perfect son.

Adrien doesn’t understand why he’s being treated so coldly and he chalks it up to his father also being in pain at losing his mother. It makes sense.

Then Chloe demands to see Adrien and, well, telling Chloe no doesn’t work for long. And when Gabriel is ignoring Adrien, and Nathalie knows and is just being a professional, and the Gorilla is going about business as normal, Chloe just sees her depressed friend, and at some point there’s discussion of his wanting to go to school, to make friends, because Adrien is REAL. He’s a Sentimonster, but he’s REAL because that’s what Emilie wanted.

And real people crave love and affection eventually.

So Chloe gets him into school. And Adrien goes and passes his test with Fu. Because Adrien was always a kind and caring boy and a Sentimonster helps.

He’d forbidden.

And he meets Plagg and he’s magic and that feels right in the world.

And suddenly he’s not just Adrien. He’s Chat Noir. He has a purpose. He has people he can PROTECT and he is so eager to do so. He has powers he expects no hard limit to. He has a partner he has to work with.

He comes alive. There’s just been a pit of loss and need and yearning and suddenly he has that and more and moreover, he has a little bit of chaos on his side. Chaos that takes this order he’s been given.

And says no.

And Nathalie knows she has to tell Gabriel.

And he’s so, so very surprised. Because Adrien should not have been able to say no. And he thinks maybe, just maybe, Emilie did leave him a son after all.

So Gabriel let’s Adrien go to school.

Adrien’s birthday comes. Gabriel would always buy his son a gift. He can’t bear the thought of getting him a new fountain pen, a useful tool, a professional tool, because he’s still not sure he’s invested, so he puts the responsibility on Nathalie for the first time.

Jackady happens, Gabriel almost died, and all he could think about as he stepped away from the ledge was he almost left Adrien alone. And for the first time he hugs this boy who might be his son.

He destroys his office because it’s easy to pretend to be mad about this boy he might love and he hates he may make him lose his wife and perhaps his firstreal son. And yet the concern once he’s purified isn’t near the act he wishes it was.

Riposte becomes a test. Could he put the boy in danger. And he finds he hates himself more by the end of it then any other time.

Christmas, he decides to show a little care, maybe embrace this, and he’s terrified when he’s gone. Not enough to forget his wife and other child when an opportunity arises, but he finds himself wanting to make him happy when his friends show up.

Adrien starts asking for things. He pleads to hang out with his friends. He make arguments. He WANTS. He wants because he wants to be there for his friends, he makes a hand made gift because someone is important to him. These are not the actions of an obedient beast. Because that’s the thing, when Adrien begs, Gabriel gives in. And when Adrien wants to know more about Emilie, see her in other things, it shows someone whose view of her isn’t only her own self view.

He’s terrified when he thinks he might be Chat Noir. He has to be sure, he has to know NOW because he seems so very real and whether or not he is, he finds himself loving this Adrien and he doesn’t want him to be Chat Noir, and yet he does when he fall because the thought of him dying-

He even ponders giving up his wife for this boy. After he put him in danger. After he almost fell apart into glitter. He can’t bear to lose him too, he’s sure of it.

Adrien is growing. He’s learning to love others. He’s learning friendships. As Chat Noir, with chaos and purpose in his hands, he acts with abandon. He has love, he can protect, everything is clear.

But when Ladybug suffers and he’s unable to help, he just because more desperate and determined to save her next time. Even if it takes well over twenty thousand times and three months because that is his PURPOSE, so next time, he throws himself off the stage, and he won’t listen to Fu.

As Adrien, things are still confusing. Adrien wants to defend, but he also wants to be good for Gabriel, and making a scene is bad. Still, he sees Lila hurt people he loves, he cares about, so he decides to that being underhanded. If sincere earnestness doesn’t work like it does with Chloe, then he’ll make sure Lila knows if she won’t be his friend, then he’ll find a way to make her regret being his enemy. It’s not as direct as he likes, but he must be good for Gabriel to.

Gabriel is becoming more desperate by the day. He must save Emilie. He must save their son. And maybe this boy is their son? Maybe Adrien’s soul was there because they were so similar. He doesn’t know, all he knows is he needs the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous and once he has though, he can make everything RIGHT.

And there is the thing about happy endings.

As canon stands, Adrien is unlikely to get a happy ending. Because as the series progresses, he BONDS with his father. They seem to be getting closer, healing this rift that had been between them. If Adrien is to get out of this, he should be recognizing his unfair treatment, pulling away, getting farther to see how bad the situation is. Not getting closer. The closer he gets to Gabriel, the more it’ll hurt because how does he make peace with that? This man terrorized the city of Paris for his wife, while he barely gave his son the time of day.

And that’s if Gabriel doesn’t die using the Miraculous to save Emilie. Then Adrien will lose his father to get back his mother after his father didn’t even give him good memories to leave off of.

But the story changes if Adrien is a Sentimonster.

Because Adrien’s existence is draining Emilie. She can’t wake up while he exists. And Gabriel is a man who loves so fiercely and doesn’t want to love this boy, but DOES because how can he not? So like his son, so like his mother. So it becomes even more important to win, so Adrien will never know what his existence has cost Emilie, to make sure Adrien’s existence is never threatened by the loss of the Peacock.

Everything will hurt, but it’s not a man who choose a nearly lost wife while completely forsaking his son.

It’s a man whose nearly lost both and trying to save both.

And maybe, just maybe, the cost of stabilizing Adrien’s existence will be a cost he can bear instead of asking someone else to die.

#ml spoilers #sentimonster theory #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #the gorilla #emilie agreste #miraculous ladybug

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