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#i thought their god tier outfits matched with the magical girl outfits!!!! so well!!!!
lc710v · 4 months
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PINK/BLACK
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A Comprehensive List of Why REFLEKDOLL is One of the BEST EPISODES
1. I mainly come to this show to watch Ladybug and Chat Noir bitch at each other for a solid 15-20 minutes and, my god, does this episode deliver.
2. “You’d better get going before you lose your clown costume.” I C O N I C.
3. For real, confirmation that Ladybug sees Chat as as much of a goddamn clown as the entire fanbase, it’s great. 
4. I know people get on this episode because the ladynoir banter is apparently “”mean-spirited””? But honestly like, banter between friends CAN sound this mean-spirited from an outward perspective while all the friends involved in it are totally fine and in complete understanding that it’s all just joking and in good fun. Ladybug really starts tearing into him (jokingly) and Chat still finishes the sequence by bouncing away yelling “SEE I WAS RIIIIIGHT!” in an upbeat, teasing tone. Like, they’re fine. This is just how they talk to each other as friends and it’s clear neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir take their banter very seriously. (Honestly my banter with my friends can be far more scathing than anything in this episode. XD)
5. Watching Juleka and Luka interact... It’s pure. It’s good. :’3 Just an all around good scene. It’s also nice to follow up on how Juleka’s been dealing with her issues since Reflekta, even though it does turn out she’s made very miniscule progress.
6. Alya’s galaxy brain moment of inviting Adrien to help Marinette with a fashion shoot: Makes a lot of sense and is a great way to capitalize on both the love square’s hobbies to get them to hang out more! It’s the single part of this episode that isn’t a contrivance! 
7. Adrienette look cute in the matching outfits. Sorry but they do.
8. Okay, the thing that is truly great about this episode is that everything about it is a massive contrivance to make the kwami swap happens. ML wants it’s fucking kwami swap and it’s going to bend over backwards to make it happen, and it is NOT shy about it and it is NOT sorry. And honestly?? I FUCKING LOVE THAT. Does a kwami swap make logical sense for it to occur without the heroes having planned for it? No. Are we going to do it anyway? YES!!!! BECAUSE A KWAMI SWAP WOULD BE FUCKING FUN!!! That’s what’s great about ML, and this episode is a great showcase of ML’s priorities as a cartoon (which is probably why this episode rubs some of the fandom the wrong way). A kwami swap is illogical, but it’s fun as fuck, so the show is going to do it. That’s the priority above all else. FUN. AND IT PAYS OFF!
Seriously, everything is a contrivance. Why akumatize Juleka again? Reflekta’s power can handicap the kwamis’ abilities to find their humans in the commotion. Why have Marinette and Adrien change for the photo shoot? Get them to take their miraculous off. Why have them keep the kwamis in the car instead of in their pockets? So they can’t find their own kwamis right away. This episode is jumping through flaming hoops to make this happen and it’s fucking gold. Might there have been a much more natural way to have a kwami swap? Yeah, sure, most likely. But literally WHO EVEN CARES cause this episode starts out fun and ends fun, and it works well enough that I don’t give a flumpty. Hell, I appreciate it even MORE for not being shy about its priorities in this episode. Kwami swap fun? Then kwami swap will happen. Fuck everything else.
9. “Are you okay, Marinette?” “YEAH. HE’S TOO HOT. I MEAN--” This is a top tier Marinette flub.
10. I recognize I’m a minority on this, but I fucking love Mayura. She is a goddamn queen. So gosh darn fabulous with the long coat and the fan. I just love it whenever she shows up so I’m glad she’s here. Makes the villains a touch more intimidating in this episode since there’s two, which pairs well with Marinette and Adrien being somewhat off their game due to the kwami swap.
11. Literally any time Tikki and Plagg interact together is great. 
12. Adrien telling Marinette to hide in the car... TTToTTT <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
13. No one ever believes me when I say Marinette is pure chaotic energy but she HECKING IS! When she finds Plagg with the cat ring, this girl does not waste a goddamn second. Will swapping powers probably mess them up? Yes, but FUCK IT PARIS IS IN DANGER AND WE NEED HEROES NOW SO GIMME THAT RING. SHE JUST DOES NOT WASTE A GODDAMN SECOND TRANSFORMING. SHE CAN TAKE ANYTHING AND ROLL WITH IT. I LOVE MARINETTE.
14. Also Ladynoire’s design is fucking choice.
15. Okay, go onto youtube right now, look up Mister Bug’s transformation sequence, and look at the way he puts on his mask.... I know right??? :D
16. This is a very personal thing, but I love seeing Adrien powered-up without the cat eyes. This is the only time you ever see it, and trust me while I fucking love the cat eyes, it’s a really eye-catching change to see him with his normal eyes here! Think about it, Ladybug has never seen her partner’s real eyes until this episode. It’s cool! (Marinette with the cat eyes, on the other hand, is neat as well, but I don’t think she wears them as well as Chat Noir.)
17. Adrien smacking himself with the yo yo.
18. I’ve said this before but I find it absolutely adorable how, when swapped, Marinette and Adrien base their new names off of each other, rather than making up new ones from scratch. Mister Bug? It’s Ladybug, but boy. Ladynoire? It’s Chat Noir, but girl. Seriously that’s adorable.
19. ADRIEN USING LUCKY CHARM AND GETTING EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED IS ONE OF THE SINGLE FUNNIEST MOMENTS IN THE ENTIRE GODDAMN SHOW. I’M SORRY BUT IT IS. IT’S FUCKING HILARIOUS. JUST ADRIEN BY SHEER LUCK SCHOOLING MARINETTE WITH HER OWN POWER, AND THE COMPLETELY OFFENDED LOOK ON HER FACE AFTERWARDS-- IT’S PEAK ML COMEDY.
20. I’m not the first one to make this comparison, credit goes to @buggachat on that, but Marinette in this episode is like the parent trying to teach their kid how to drive but ends up flipping their shit the second their kid touches the gas pedal. And it’s fucking funny. X”D Marinette has a strong sense of responsibility along with an incredibly specific way of how she likes to do things as Ladybug. Her process is you battle the akuma, gather info about your opponent, use lucky charm at the exact right time that only she knows in order to take them down, and then capture the akuma and/or amok. Her routine is pretty broken in this episode, since it’s now Adrien who needs to do all those things, so that combined with Marinette’s acute awareness of Adrien being a Child Who Causes Problems On Purpose has her veerrryyy on edge this whole episode and it’s just fun to watch. Her asking Adrien if they should switch back, correcting him every time he mis-speaks about how to do Ladybug correctly. It’s not a side of Marinette we get to see every day!
21. Additionally, getting to watch her relax for once in a fight since she’s now in the canonical clown costume is wonderful. I love Marinette. I want good things for Marinette. Relaxation and fun are good. She’s got a lot on her shoulders so this episode is nice, especially with the s3 finale in context.
22. Yknow, I can very happily buy that chataclysm doesn’t work on sentimonsters, since it’s already been established that Miraculous magic can protect from chataclysm. (See: Miraculer)
23. I’ve written already about why Mister Bug wasn’t actually bad with the ladybug miraculous, so I’ll only touch on a couple of those points again. But it is weird to me how people cry about Mister Bug being shit at the ladybug miraculous when he’s so clearly not? He just has a lot of stuff to think about that he usually doesn’t have to worry about cause it’s not his job. When to use lucky charm, HOW to use lucky charm, when to use miraculous ladybug, capturing the akuma once it’s released, capturing the amok. He just quite literally never has to put thought into any of that so it’s pretty understandable that he doesn’t have a handle on it just, automatically. Meanwhile, Marinette doesn’t have a ton of extra things to think about with the cat miraculous, AND she’s canonically naturally talented with handling different miraculous, so it’s very believable that she’d be fine? I get people don’t like that cause they have a problem with Marinette (and any WOC) being competent in general, but she’s just a talented girl. We see her take and roll with anything to stop the villain in every episode of the show, so there’s not actually a reason for her to notably struggle with the cat miraculous. But hell, she actually DOES make things worse by chataclysming Reflekdoll, which might have not happened if she paused before just rushing in and using her power (after proudly declaring she is now the Team Clown). But it’s understandable that she didn’t predict the sentimonster to react how it did, and I can see Adrien making the same mistake, so eh. 
24. But my point is that in terms of this discourse, I think this episode is fine. It’s about Ladybug and Chat Noir learning that they’re both quite good and very comfortable in their default roles. She’s great at handling her job and he’s great at handling his. That’s a perfectly fine lesson for this episode, and it’s not super necessary for them BOTH to learn that their partner’s job is actually super hard! The episode starts with them teasing each other about their roles, and it ends with that little bit of conflict between them being eased away due to their experiences from the kwami swap. Chat Noir is still a clown, Ladybug still is too concerned with her usual responsibilities to spend a lot of time clowning with him in fights, and that’s okay. They both learn to relax about it. It’s a good lesson for them to learn about each other, and it feels natural for the show to spend some time exploring their dynamic as partner heroes! 
25. I actually fucking love how it’s established that the lucky charm works differently for different people. This episode BASICALLY CANONIZES that Marinette’s lucky charm is so insane because SHE HERSELF, IS SO INSANE. Adrien thinks much simpler (which I’ve written about how that’s not a bad thing in previous posts), so his lucky charm is just: You need a mirror? Okay, here’s a mirror. And it’s actually very fun and interesting to me that his ability to use his lucky charm was handicapped specifically becuase he’s only ever watched Marinette use it. Marinette’s lucky charms always yield wildly complicated plans, and that’s the exact thing she’s shouting at him the whole episode, so he expects it to be complicated and thus can’t figure out how to use the mirror. It’s only when they sit down and realize that they’ll have to think on Adrien’s level instead of Marinette’s that they figure out what to do with it! Marinette’s spent the whole episode basically backseat driving for him (understandably), so the fact that the resolution is her meeting Adrien at his own spot and working on his level instead of hers- It’s a good way to wrap the episode up! 
26. Duuzu.
27. dID HE JUST DAB?!?!
28. Oh my god he did. And people actually hate this episode, smh.
29. Marinette flirting with Chat Noir will always give me life, and we get so much of it in this episode! Her calling him Bugaboy is this perfect combo of flirtatious and teasing that’s just very on-brand ladynoir. It’s perfect in this episode for literally so many reasons that I don’t even have time to list them cause this essay is already really long.
30. Adrien and Marinette interacting with the others’ kwami? Wholesome. Marinette and Adrien reuniting with their kwamis? Very wholesome. They’re both so attached to their kwamis in different ways, and they’re also together with their kwamis practically every waking moment of their lives. I can imagine being apart from them even for a little must’ve been a touch anxiety inducing, so it’s nice to see how sweet everyone is when they’re reuniting!
31. Adrien says at the end that he’s not cut out to be Ladybug and honestly y’all... That’s okay. Adrien has his role and he’s incredibly good at his role, and Ladybug is incredibly good at hers. They’re both SATISFIED with their roles. He’s not upset when he says he’s not cut out to be Ladybug, not even a little. He very happily takes Plagg back and steps back into his usual territory. Again, he wasn’t bad at the ladybug miraculous. It just came with more to think about than he really wants to, things that Ladybug is very HAPPY to think about, and if their dynamic already works, then he’s perfectly happy to focus on his part and leave her job to her. That’s great!!!
32. Juleka getting to do the fashion shoot... Yay. :’D I just want good things for Juleka.
In conclusion, this episode is pure unbridled fun from start to finish. It’s chaotic, it’s got top tier banter, it’s a phenomenal change of pace from the rest of the series. I actually love watching this episode with folks for the first time because seeing the look of complete shock and glee on their face as Marinette grabs that cat ring from Plagg is just FUN! And at the end of the day, this episode is a statement on three things:
- Marinette is a talented girl. -Adrien is great at his job. - And ML as a show’s priority will always, first and foremost, be fun.
And none of those are a bad thing. 
Hope you enjoyed the essay! :D
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mikauzoran · 3 years
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Ladrien: Drunk Ladybug on My Balcony? Yeah. This is Fine.: Chapter Ten
Read it on AO3: Drunk Ladybug on My Balcony? Yeah. This is Fine.: Chapter Ten: Rêve Bleu
“Alyaaaa,” Marinette whined into the receiver the next morning. “I think I messed up.”
Alya blew out a snort, switching her phone to her other ear as she closed her laptop and carried it with her back into her bedroom. “Understatement of the year. I assume you’re talking about asking Adrien out?”
Marinette paused, taken aback by her best friend’s seeming clairvoyance. “Wait. How did you know?”
“Nino and Adrien just left my house, like, thirty minutes ago,” Alya informed, closing her door behind her and settling down onto her bed. “Girl, what were you thinking?” she asked nonjudgmentally. “Seriously. Talk me through it. I just want to understand what was going through your head.”
Marinette sighed, collapsing backwards down onto her chaise. “I don’t know, Alya. I was so convinced that he would say no if I asked him as Marinette. I mean, he’s never really treated me any nicer than anyone else, but…but you said he had a crush on Ladybug, and I thought, ‘Wait. I’m Ladybug’, so… I messed up.”
“Yeah,” Alya affirmed gently, shaking her head and smiling sadly.
“And the worst part is he totally has a crush on Marinette,” the girl in question groaned in agony.
“Wait. What?” Alya pulled back to frown down at her phone before bringing it back up to her ear. “How did you finally come to that absolutely correct conclusion?”
“He told Ladybug!” Marinette whined in exasperation. “I gave him my Ladybug phone number, and I saw his favourite contacts list, and I was like, ‘Who’s ‘Princesse’?’, and he was like, ‘Oh, that’s my friend Marinette. You know Marinette?’, and then he went off, Alya. He went off on this, like, doctoral dissertation on how amazing and wonderful I am.”
“I love when he does that,” Alya giggle-snorted, trying to contain a full-blown case of the giggles as she imagined the look on Ladybug’s face as Adrien waxed poetic about Marinette.
“Alya, I almost died,” Marinette asserted theatrically, as if she actually believed it. “He is the sweetest human being, and he says the most beautiful things. Like, the sounds that come out of his mouth are gorgeous.”
“I can’t tell you how vindicated I feel now that you know I was right all along when I told you he was sweet on you,” Alya chuckled smugly.
“Yeah, yeah. Rub it in,” Marinette grumbled, flipping over onto her stomach to bury her face in her throw pillow. “I just can’t believe how easily he told Ladybug he had this huge crush on me.”
“Marinette, he’ll tell anyone who will listen how great you are,” Alya sighed in amusement. “You should have listened to me.”
Marinette grunted and then whined. “I just wish I could have heard about his feelings for me as me, though.”
“Well, you could have if you had just asked him out to coffee as you,” Alya chided without heat.
Marinette gave another pitiful moan for good measure. “I should have just asked him as Marinette. Now, yet again, I have made my life unnecessarily complicated. I really didn’t think this through.”
“Well, I mean, the way I see it, you’ve got a couple choices,” Alya began to innumerate. “First off, you could wait until he inevitably realizes your secret identity and then feels hurt and betrayed because you lied to him and used your superhero status to trick him into dating you. In the alternative, you could come clean and date him as Marinette. Lastly, you could cancel on him as Ladybug and ask him out as Marinette. I think those are the main options, so…what do you think you want to do?”
“Alya, I can’t tell him my identity,” Marinette stressed, a hint of panic in her tone. “That would put him and me and all of Paris in danger! No one can know who I am.”
Alya bit her tongue on the issue of Alya knowing Marinette’s identity and how the world hadn’t stopped turning. “Okay. So, cancel on him.”
“Alya, I can’t cancel on him,” Marinette groaned, rolling over onto her back once more. “He’s really looking forward to this. If I cancel without a good reason, it’ll break his heart, and he’ll get akumatized, and I can’t fight Adrien, Alya. I just can’t, and then Papillon will win and Paris will be destroyed!”
Alya pursed her lips. “Okay. So…are we just going to lie to Adrien, then, and wait for him to figure things out and get hurt by your duplicity?”
Marinette winced. “You don’t take any prisoners, do you?”
“Nope,” Alya confirmed.
“Isn’t there an option where I can still date Adrien but not have to have my identity exposed?” Marinette haggled, as if Alya could magically make it be so.
Alya gave an indignant cluck, shaking her head. “I don’t think so, but…I mean, it’s your life, Marinette. You’re the one who has to make this choice and live with it. I’ll be there to support you if it blows up in your face, but…what do you want to do?”
Marinette was silent for a long stretch as she analyzed her options and mulled over the decision. “…I think…I want to go on the date with Adrien as Ladybug,” she responded slowly, giving each word its due weight. “Just the one date, and then I’ll tell him that I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to date me as a masked superhero because that’s not really fair to him.”
Alya bit the inside of her cheek, doubting Marinette’s ability to stop after just the one date but letting her friend make her own choices. “Okay,” she agreed. “If that’s what you want, do that…. Do you want me to pump him for information on his ideal romantic date?”
“Oh my gosh. Yes, please!” Marinette laughed giddily, happily kicking her feet in the air now that the decision had been made and she could allow herself to actually look forward to her long-awaited first date with Adrien. “Could you really?”
“Yep,” Alya confirmed. “On it.”
With God as her witness, Alya was going to make sure that this date was everything Adrien and Marinette had ever dreamed it would be.
She wasn’t going to let a minor setback like Ladybug asking out Adrien get in the way of her master plan to make sure Marinette and Adrien got married.
 Saturday morning found Adrien agonizing over his outfit for the day.
“Plagg,” he hissed in a panic, poking his head out of his walk-in closet. “I don’t have anything to wear! What am I going to do?!”
“Kid, she thought you were charming the other night when you were wearing pyjamas,” Plagg pointed out tiredly, having been subjected to this particular brand of nonsense all week. “Just…put clothes on. If you’re feeling especially fancy, put clothes on that match, but I’m telling you she won’t care.”
Adrien turned a disappointed pout on his kwami, sticking out his bottom lip. “Plaaaagg. Pleeeease? I really need your help.”
“Oh, fine,” Plagg sighed, switching off his soap opera and floating reluctantly in to survey the wardrobe situation. “What exactly is the problem here? You’ve got plenty of clothes.”
Adrien frowned at the two-tiered wall of clothing. “It’s called choice paralysis. There are too many options, so I feel like I can’t possibly pick the right one.”
Plagg flew up to the top rack and grabbed a green argyle sweater with three-quarter length sleeves, dropping it on Adrien’s head. “Didn’t your girlfriend tell you that that one really brought out the green of your eyes?”
Adrien blinked, holding up the shirt to inspect it. “Uh…yeah. I think Marinette did tell me that.”
Plagg tossed down a white, collared shirt, instructing, “Put that on underneath and roll the sleeves into cuffs like you do with your usual overshirt. She likes that.”
“Oh. Um… Thanks,” Adrien replied haltingly, genuinely surprised that Plagg was being so helpful and offering real fashion advice. “Wow. That’s… I think this will actually look really good. Thank you, Plagg.”
Plagg gave an indignant snort. “Of course it will look good. I, for one, have been paying attention the past seven years, unlike a certain model I know. I trust you can pick out your own jeans?”
“Yeah, I should be able to manage,” Adrien chuckled, shooting his kwami a grateful smile. “Seriously. Thanks, Plagg. I’m kind of freaking out.”
“You’re welcome,” Plagg replied as he made his way back into the main room, calling over his shoulder, “Make sure you’re not wearing embarrassing boxers you wouldn’t want your date to see!”
“Oh my God, Plagg,” Adrien whined, his face, neck, and ears exploding in a heated scarlet blush. “Don’t be gross! It’s just a date. A first date! We hardly know each other,” he protested. “At least…we’re not supposed to know we know each other.”
“Yeah, well…let’s just say I’m anticipating you two hitting it off,” Plagg snickered.
“Stop teasing me. Meanie,” Adrien grumbled petulantly, turning to his large assortment of jeans. 
He bit the inside of his cheek.
There were…a lot of jeans, and he wasn’t quite sure which would go better with the sweater. A dark wash? Light wash? Distressed? Ripped?
Adrien pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. “…Hey, Plagg?”
 At one o’clock on the dot, Ladybug landed on his window ledge and gave the pane a perfunctory rap.
Adrien’s jaw dropped as he suddenly realized why she had called Chat Noir earlier in the week asking how he had made small modifications to his suit over the years.
In place of the iconic, spotted bodysuit, the girl at his window wore a red, cowl-necked sweater dress with black suede boots, black leggings, and a thin black belt resting on her hips. Her hair was pulled up in a messy chignon at the base of her neck, and instead of her usual mask she wore oversized rose-coloured sunglasses.
“Wow,” he greeted her as he opened the window. “You look great. I love what you’ve done with the suit.”
“Thank you,” she chuckled, stepping down into his room and tucking a stray bang back behind her ear. She smiled appreciatively as she took in his outfit. “As much as your pyjamas suited you the other night, I think I like this ensemble better. The sweater really brings out the green of your eyes.”
His cheeks quickly reddened to match her dress. “Oh, yeah? You think so?”
“Mmhm.” She nodded bashfully, smile shy yet sincere.
“Oh, good,” he chuckled, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck. “I was kind of stressing over what to wear. Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve got almost zero fashion sense.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.” She waved away his self-deprecating assertion.
In fact, she knew it wasn’t true because Adrien had often times given Marinette spot-on advice on her inchoate creations. But it wasn’t like she could tell him that because Ladybug had no way of knowing.
She was beginning to see the flaws in dating Adrien as her superhero alter ego.
“I’m completely serious,” he insisted, laughing at his own expense. “Typically, when I’m going to be leaving the house, my father’s personal assistant puts out pre-approved clothes for me. Today, I’m not officially scheduled to be anywhere, so I was on my own as far as getting dressed.”
“I’d say you did pretty well,” she praised.
“I cheated,” he admitted shamefacedly. “My friend Marinette told me this looked good on me, and she’s an aspiring fashion designer, so I trust her opinion implicitly.”
Ladybug, unexpectedly, looked away to the side and blushed at his proclamation of Marinette’s trustworthiness. “Well, I mean…it’s good that you have a friend you can trust with your wardrobe dilemmas like that.”
“Yeah,” he hummed warmly, “I’m lucky to have her.”
Ladybug was going to explode. Between him complimenting Ladybug and praising Marinette, she wasn’t going to last through the whole date.
“So, um… Well…you look very nice,” she managed, only sounding a little flustered. “Ready to go?”
“Absolutely!” he cheered enthusiastically, smile rivaling the natural light that flooded into his room through the windows in brightness.
She pursed her lips as a sliver of doubt seeped in. “You don’t think anyone will recognize me, do you? I mean…I wasn’t thinking very clearly when I asked you out. If Papillon thinks that we’re close, I could be putting you in danger.”
Adrien stopped bouncing excitedly in place and gave her an earnest once-over. His brow furrowed as he scrutinized her from all angles, his hand coming up to rest thoughtfully on his chin.
“…I honestly think we’re good,” he finally decided after much deliberation. “The only things that really scream ‘Ladybug’ about you are the earrings which are too small for passersby to notice and the yoyo, but that just looks like a ladybug-themed purse when it’s not in use. I think people will realize it’s you when they see us flying through the air on your yoyo, but once we get where we’re going, you can always set us down in an alley, and we can walk out surreptitiously. I think people are more apt to recognize me than you when we’re on the street.”
“Okay, good,” she blew out in a sigh of relief with a shaky smile. “I’ve just kind of been freaking out because I’m a little scared I’m about to get you killed or kidnapped or tortured or something. Sometimes…” Her voice caught, and she swallowed and tried again. “Sometimes I’m a little scared of how far Papillon is willing to go.”
He reached out and rested a reassuring hand on her arm, giving her his best confidence-inducing smile. “Ladybug, don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine. I trust you…and I’m more capable than I look. Nothing bad is going to happen, so let’s just go out there and have fun getting to know one another, okay?” He turned up the wattage on his smile before pulling out and slipping on his own pair of black movie star sunglasses.
She nodded, smiling tentatively as she wrapped her arm around his waist, preparing for takeoff. “Okay. You’re right. Let’s…Let’s go have fun.”
 “Where are we going first?” Adrien inquired as they crossed over to the Right Bank on the opposite side of the Seine, headed northeast via yoyo.
“Montmartre,” Ladybug informed with a mischievous smile. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
His eyes lit up, and his grin spread even wider. “Really?”
She couldn’t help but chuckle fondly at his earnest excitement. “Yes, Silly. I mean, I know we kind of talked about date ideas via text—the definite ‘no’s and some things we would be interested in, but… Today is supposed to be one big surprise, so… Let’s just say that I have more than one trick up my sleeve.”
“I can’t wait,” he chuckled, heart overflowing with joy.
He’d dreamed of this day for so long, it was hard to believe it was actually happening. Ladybug really had come up with a romantic surprise date all for him.
Suddenly, Ladybug’s swing reached its apex, and she pulled her yoyo loose from its anchor, throwing it once more to carry them forward.
Just for a second before the yoyo latched onto its next mooring place, they were freefalling, and the drop made Adrien’s stomach flutter.
He couldn’t keep in a giddy laugh. He wanted to whoop and scream like on a rollercoaster, but he somehow didn’t think that would be appropriate.
“You doing okay?” Ladybug inquired, giving him a concerned sideways glance, trying to watch where she was going and monitor him at the same time.
“Never better,” he answered, and it wasn’t even that much of an exaggeration. “This is exhilarating! Sorry. It’s just…maybe the ride is smoother in your super suit, but I feel like I’m on a thrill ride.”
“Oh. Yeah,” she chuckled, blushing slightly as she remembered the times when Chat Noir had carried Marinette. The experience was a good deal bumpier without the suit to absorb the impacts.
“Do you like thrill rides?” she wondered, mentally crossing her fingers. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to make the transitions less jarring, but—”
“—No, no,” he hurriedly assured, still laughing. “This is wonderful. I love this.”
“Oh, yeah? Good.” She smiled, an impish glint in her eye as she threw her yoyo harder, latching onto one of the thirty-story hotel buildings that had been built before the law banning buildings from being more than six stories inside of the ring road.
She launched them high into the air and then let them drop into a dizzying spiral.
She held Adrien tighter as he laughed his head off, screaming, “Woohoo!!!” like he was having the time of his life.
“You okay?” she chuckled as they came out of the fall and back into a regular swing.
“Do that again!” he begged. “Please do that again!”
“As my Prince commands,” she readily acquiesced, propelling them up and then letting them fall as he screamed in elation as the adrenaline made his heart beat faster.
“Sorry. I’m screaming in your ear, aren’t I?” he realized too late as they returned to her normal swinging pattern. “I’m really sorry,” he repeated guiltily. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“Oh, no worries!” she assured. “The suit protects my hearing. Besides, you have a lovely scream.”
“No one…has ever told me that before,” he spluttered, trying to keep from bursting out laughing.
“Glad I could be the first,” she replied through a grimace, internally cringing at the stupid things that perpetually escaped her lips.
“You should hear my singing voice,” he teased, giving her a wink that nearly did her in.
“Oh? Do you sing well?” she hummed in interest, glad that he hadn’t called her out for being a total weirdo.
“Very,” he replied with confidence. “Do you sing, Ladybug?”
“Not particularly well,” she admitted with a pained smile. “I mean, I sing okay as a part of a chorus or as a backup singer, but I don’t think I’m particularly good at singing solo parts.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’re lovely,” he insisted, his kind eyes full of confidence in her.
He couldn’t say, “I hear you hum and sing to yourself sometimes when we’re on patrol”, but he knew she had a sweet voice when she didn’t think anyone else was listening.
“We could sing something together, if you like?” he suggested.
Ladybug mentally froze, trying to remember if Adrien had ever heard Marinette sing and deliberating whether he would be able to recognize her voice. Was that something he’d paid attention to?
“You mean…like a duet?” she asked cautiously.
“Mmhm. Just for fun,” he encouraged. “I would never make fun of you, and no one else is listening, so…how about it?”
She pursed her lips and debated whether she really wanted to embarrass herself in front of her crush.
On second thought, she always embarrassed herself in front of him, so that wouldn’t really be anything new.
He seemed in earnest, though, and he obviously wanted to sing with her, and the point of this outing was to take Adrien on a romantic date straight out of a fairytale, so…
“Okay. If it would make you happy, I’ll sing a duet with you, but I was completely serious when I said I wasn’t that good. I’m not just being modest,” she warned. “So…what would you like to sing?”
A faint blush spread across his cheeks as he tentatively broached the subject, “Well, I can think of one song in particular that would be appropriate for the situation. Do you know Ce Rêve Bleu from Disney’s Aladdin?”
She had to think about it for a minute. “Um…yeah. I think I know most of the lyrics at least. I’m sure you can help if I get stuck.”
“But of course,” he assured with a charming smirk. “I’ve always got your back, My Lady.”
Her entire face turned as pink as the tint of her sunglasses, and her heart skipped a beat.
It should have felt wrong for Adrien to call her by Chat Noir’s special nickname, but…somehow it didn’t. In the back of her mind, she chided herself for her betrayal.
She forced herself to breathe and smiled kindly as she gently informed, “That’s actually what Chat Noir calls me, so we probably need to find a unique nickname that only you are allowed to use.”
“O-Oh!” he stuttered, mentally kicking himself for slipping up less than half an hour into the outing. There was no way his identity was going to survive intact through the date if he kept going at this rate. “Sorry. Right. I knew that. I’ve heard him say that during interviews,” Adrien covered smoothly.
“No worries,” she insisted, giving him a little squeeze of reassurance. “I would just prefer for you to call me something only you call me.”
“Right.” He wracked his brains for something he hadn’t already used as Chat Noir. “How about…Nelle? As in ‘coccinelle’?” He bit his lip, brow furrowing. “That’s not very original, is it?”
“No, it’s fine,” she assured with a musical chuckle, adoring being able to see his facial expressions this close. He was absolutely adorable, and she love, love, loved how expressive his eyebrows were. She could watch them dance through emotions for hours. “I mean, Chat Noir calls me ‘Buguinette’ sometimes, so they’re on a similar level. Besides, ‘Nelle’ is kind of cute.”
Adrien’s frown deepened as he began to worry. “Is ‘Buguinette’ not cute?”
“Don’t you dare tell a soul,” she replied in a semi-threatening tone. “I’m swearing you to secrecy on this, you understand?”
He nodded, not sure if she was joking or if she really planned to kill him if he let whatever she was about to tell him slip. “Mmhm. Of course.”
She burst out laughing. “I actually love it.”
His heart swelled with pride and joy and vindication for all those years she had denied it left and right. He knew she secretly loved it.
“At first I wanted to throttle him because I thought he was goofing off too much while we were supposed to be working, but…” She shook her head, a warm, affectionate smile clinging to her lips. “It’s really grown on me.” She looked back to him with a deadly serious expression. “Don’t you dare tell Chat Noir. I will never live it down if you do.”
“If I had a free hand, I’d raise it and take an oath,” he swore. “I promise Chat Noir won’t hear it from me.”
Because he’d technically heard it from her but…
“Good,” she decreed, sounding satisfied. “So…singing?”
“Singing!” he agreed enthusiastically.
“…Do you want to start?” she inquired when a few seconds passed and no singing occurred.
“No, you sing Aladdin’s part,” he encouraged. “I’m obviously Jasmine.”
She blinked, wondering how he was going to sing the higher part. It actually worked out better for her because her voice got a little shrill and crack-y when she reached for the higher notes, but…
“You know. Like how she’s trapped inside her empty, lonely palace because her father is misguidedly trying to protect her, and her only friend is a cat?” Adrien explained, misinterpreting Ladybug’s silence. “And you’re the daring adventurer who’s come to rescue me from my boredom and isolation and show me a whole new world?”
“Oh,” she responded, coming back into the present moment. “Okay. Yeah. That makes sense.” She paused, mentally rewinding the tape. “Wait. Do you have a cat?”
Adrien pressed his lips together and tried not to smile at the irony. He only succeeded in looking extremely guilty. “…No.”
She quirked an eyebrow at him, a puckish smile curling up the corners of her lips. “Adrien Agreste, are you hiding a stray cat in your room?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny your accusation,” he answered with an incriminating grin.
“Mmhm,” she snickered. “Well, you’ll have to introduce me to him—her?—one of these days.”
“Him,” he confirmed, giving her a soft smile. “And yeah. I think that’s probably a good idea. Maybe not today, but…yeah. Soon,” he promised, knowing in his heart that it was hopeless to fight the inevitable.
If she didn’t figure him out, he was bound to crack under the guilt of keeping secrets and the frustration of her not seeing her partner standing right in front of her when she was with Adrien.
“So…” he gently guided them back on track. “…singing?”
“Singing,” she affirmed and then shot him a sideways look that informed him that she meant business. “No making fun of me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he swore solemnly.
And then she began to sing. Her voice was tentative at first, but she slowly gained confidence as Adrien grinned at her like she had personally created the oxygen supporting life on planet Earth.
She sang a little more assertively, her notes syrupy and sweet as the deeper melody line brought out a richness in her voice.
She fumbled some of the lines and started to lose her nerve, but Adrien gave her a supportive squeeze and began to whisper-sing along with her until it was time for Jasmine’s part to come in.
And then he belted the lines he had clearly memorized long, long ago.
Ladybug stared at him in amazement as his voice soared, the words so clear and crisp. He didn’t need to drop it down an octave either, and she found herself a little jealous that he could sing higher than she could without sounding like he was straining at all. His notes resounded, playful and bell-like, making her almost forget to pay attention to where she was headed with her yoyo.
Adrien Agreste could sing.
And, oh, how she wished she were recording this. She could listen to his voice for an eternity.
That was it. They were having Disney movie singalong night. It had to happen. Either as Ladybug or Marinette, she was going to find a way to get him to sing for her again because now that she knew what his singing voice sounded like, there was no way she could survive without it. She wanted him as her ringtone.
She mentally hit the pause button to wonder if she were acting too stalkerish again.
It was in that moment that she realized she hadn’t been singing Aladdin’s descant to Jasmine’s lines.
Adrien didn’t seem to mind, though. His voice gracefully glided over the notes as he looked yet again like he had never had more fun in his life.
She smiled as she joined back in, singing soft and low, trying to mesh her voice with his.
Serendipitously, they sounded pretty good together, and she found herself relaxing and just enjoying the way their notes melded lusciously into a cohesive whole.
In that moment, being with him felt so right, and all of her fears of rejection and humiliation and making him feel bad and ruining their friendship left her.
As she set him down on the slightly sloped roof at the base of the white domes of Sacré-Coeur, she finally felt at peace.
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recentanimenews · 6 years
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I Wanted to Write a Tourism Article, But I Touched a Mysterious Glowing Portal and Somehow Ended Up in Another World?!
So, cards on the table, this wasn't the article I was originally going to write.
  The plan in my to-do list��and the plan in newsroom chat—had been for me to head out to Japan, meet up with a friend there, and review a bunch of the collab cafés currently running. (Astute readers may have gathered that, since I cover the news pieces for like 90% of them, I'm kind of infatuated with them.) I had the reservations all set for all of them, I had my round trip ticket, got my passport renewed, the whole nine yards.
  Then on the layover in San Francisco, I killed some time looking at the modern art pieces scattered around my gate, and... long story short, things happened, I touched what I thought was an interactive NASA display but oh silly me it was an interdimensional portal.
  No lectures, please. Lessons were learned.
  At the moment, I have two issues. One, I have ended up getting so turned around in my efforts to get home that I've actually ended up going through a total of seven worlds, none of which are the one I'm trying to get back to. Two, I have a feature due, like, now. So I figure while I'm waiting to meet up with this mysterious guy who looks and sounds eerily like my childhood friend, I might as well knock out two birds with one stone.
  So, in lieu of what was going to be an adorable romp through anime-themed parfaits and soda, here's a travelogue of other worlds you may find yourself visiting someday.
  Yggdrasil
  If I'm going to get thrown to the four winds, this isn't the worst place to start. Yggdrasil actually seems to have the same view of the stars as Earth, which means technically I was pretty close to home? Also, things aligned pretty well with Bronze Age technology and society, so it wasn't 100% culture shock. Well, you know, except for all the magic and stuff flying around.
  Hospitality was pretty decent: all the local tribes were set up as "families," with a Patriarch at the head of each (male or female) and their followers referred to as children or siblings. Apparently loyalty within that system is a big deal around here, to the point that the success of peace negotiations can rest on that.
  Then there are the Einherjar: straight-up magic using warriors. You don't want to mess with them, but as long as you're not on the receiving end of their attacks, they're amazing to watch in battle.
  Best thing about Yggdrasil? Amazing reception. Data comes through like you're just sitting next to your router no matter where you go. Phone calls are a little tougher, though... you have to be near some kind of magic mirror to make it work. Which is fine if you've got nowhere to go. But, if someone had a loved one back home and had to keep leaving their base and knowing they couldn't call, I imagine that'd make them crazy after a while.
  Worth the Trip?: The good news is that with a few web searches and some skilled friends, you can survive the primitive nature of Yggdrasil with some familiar creature comforts. (And then they get a new skill set!) Downside is, no matter how nice people are, if you're living anywhere with anything like society, you're probably about to be in a war zone.
  Cross Reverie
  Okay, this one was a little weird. I swear I've seen this game around online (I'm more a Fate/GO girl myself), and pretty much everything I saw when I came through here matched up with the game. Same landscape, same types of people, and basically enough going on where if you know the game you can get around like nobody's business.
  Here's the thing: everyone is super low-level.
  Like, initially I was completely ready to believe I'd ended up inside a game. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing that happened to me on this trip. But everyone's "levels," even the really capable fighters were down in the teens. Then again, I guess when you're talking real-world adventuring, you're not going to spend several hours a day beating up monsters just to ding a higher level.
  Interestingly, a lot of the ladies around here don't... wear a lot of clothes? I felt weirdly overdressed a lot of the time. That's not a fast rule, but it was not uncommon to see lower- and higher-cut outfits in fashion. (Take note and... I guess don't visit when it's cold?)
  Worth the Trip?: If you're a gamer, you'll feel right at home. Things tend to function on game logic, but at a more "human" level. Just don't expect in-game creature comforts like teleportation. Though, if you're looking for actual straight-up game stuff...
  Sword Art Online
  There we go. No fuss, no messing, no wondering what translates to what. This is a game. You're in a game. Welcome to an RPG that you actually, like, do.
I'm pretty down with that. I like swords, I like adventure, and being able to do raids and quests without having to worry about spinning the camera around. Extra bonus? Your fellow adventurers are from the same world as you. So less culture shock, less having to explain your bad references in conversation. Overall a lot more welcoming. Plus, it's gorgeous there—exactly what you'd imagine a fantasy world to be, with all the cool clothes and critters included.
  There is one major down side, though... transportation out of there is not. Easy. And I don't mean like "flights are expensive" or "there's only one bus route." I mean like "you have to fight your way up a giant tower and not die and that might not even work." So not (and I speak from experience here) the best stop for a multi-stop trip where time is of the essence.
  Worth the Trip?: Really depends how into it you are. If this is somewhere you specifically want to go, yes. If you have other plans in the next, like... rest of your life? Plan with care.
  Disboard
  I mean... I'm sure it's just a coincidence that so many of the places I ended up in seem to have gaming themes to them. Maybe our world is the odd one out?
  The world of Disboard is a dream come true if you're one of two things: an adept gamer or a flawless cheater. If you are neither of those things, though, you might have a bad time. Disboard functions on games in pretty much any way you can think of. Disputes on anything from rulership of a country to whether you're about to get robbed are handled via bets and competitions. And it could be anything, from a hand of poker to God-tier shiritori.
  If you're crazy lucky or crazy smart, you'll probably rock Disboard within hours. But if you've got my kind of luck?
  It might be best to leave the gaming to the pros.
  Worth the Trip?: Even if you're a garbage-tier gamer, Disboard is really beautiful. So you can at least take in the sights and do your best to stay out of trouble.
  The Hidden Realm
  The first thing you're told about traveling in other dimensions is not to eat the food. But you know what? I'm already in too deep. Might as well enjoy myself.
  The Hidden Realm is that mysterious place where gods and demons live—and when you have a realm of gods and demons, what do you need? Come on, you've watched enough anime to know this... that's right. An inn. And inns need food. Sadly, the Tenjin'ya has some pretty boring food in its main restaurant.
  But turn a few corners and go around the back of the property, and you will find the best little Japanese/spirit fusion restaurant. Seriously, it's crazy good. And it's run by a human girl who learned how to cook for spirits, so you know you're getting quality.
  Worth the Trip?: Completely. I mean, okay. Whether or not the spirits will be nice to you really depends on their personalities, so you might meet a few jerks. But that food.
The Kingdom of Belfast
  Belfast is part of a larger world that's accessible in one of two ways: you can either cross dimensions, or you can, uh... die. I highly recommend the first one if you have any sort of choice in the matter.
  That said, dying and being reborn in this world does apparently net you some profits. There's been a case where the person reborn here was actually able to use all seven facets of the world's magic. (For reference, you're usually going to run into people who can use one or two at best.) That's going to make you popular... especially with the ladies, apparently.
  Added bonus? Finally got reception again! This is another place where, if you've got any smart devices, you can make use of them once again. I'm not entirely sure what roaming charges are here and elsewhere... frankly, I've been too afraid to look.
  Worth the Trip?: With good reception, plenty of magic to go around, and some frankly adorable fashions going on? I'll give it a thumbs up.
  El-Hazard
  And so we come (maybe?) to the end of my journey. I hope. I think. With a stop in El-Hazard, a world that's equal parts ancient tech and Arabian Nights culture. And, you know, I kind of dig it. Beautiful scenery, really cool magic and machines, and...
  Bugs? Oh. Yeah. I forgot. There's literally an entire nation of giant bug people. Called Bugrom. They also might be a little at war with the humans here, and their might be some doomsday items scattered around.
  But I mean besides that, it's actually pretty fun. Lots of room to wander and explore, a variety of landscapes, interesting people... and bugs.
Worth the Trip?: Depends how you feel about giant insects and ancient biomechanical creatures — conditional yes.
  If you find yourself in another world (whether on purpose or through a completely honest and understandable accident Nate), stay smart. Bring a solar-powered charger. Be prepared to rule at least one kingdom or tribe while you're there. Look for sad girls with glowing necklaces, because they tend to know what's going on—and whatever you do... try not to touch anything. [EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm only okay with Kara missing the cafe coverage because she brought souvenir snacks. We good.]
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Kara Dennison is responsible for multiple webcomics, and is half the creative team behind the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. She blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos. Her latest book, Black Archive #21 – Heaven Sent, is currently available from Obverse Books.
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empty-dream · 7 years
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Me watching Fate/Apocrypha ep 9
Darnic this is the 9th episode we don’t need any grail exposition anymore
Use Nazi to rob a mythical object. Sounds rad.
Does Nazi even believe in occult things in the first place?
I mean, is there even a nazi magus? They must be a colossal asshole.
Wow Zouken bleeding and writhing amongst penis worms. A very nice and precious scene.
Woow who is that mysterious person staring between fire who nonchalantly stands behind the church statue- Ha as if the foreshadowing isn’t enough already.
Darnic’s motto: Backstab everybody until nobody’s left to backstab but me
Holy grail? More like “Einzbern ideal naked bodies”
Darnic gets hammy.
BERSERKER!! SMASH!!! *swings mace down*
Shirou: “Will you come to my side?” Fran: Nah my otaku master is way better than someone with Yu-Gi-Oh-inspired hairstyle
Shakespeare: *enters dramatically* Ohoho Don’t fight me I can’t fight lol *exits dramatically*
Shirou, no means fucking no.
Shakespeare should be a narrator for every battle scenes in fate universe I’d watch that
Shirou stop dramatically unsheathing your katana this ain’t Bleach
Wow wow leaping like a squirrel
LOOK AT THAT SMUG SMILE no wonder Semiramis falls hard for him
Such lightning much wow
Jeanne no the priest ain’t on the fortress you’re going the wrong way!
Seriously if I were to ever go into battle, all I’m gonna do is fighting while whining like Astolfo
Bring a trumpet to a magic battle THAT SOUNDS SO LOUD AND ANNOYING IT OBLITERATES ENEMIES
He looks so proud of himself he’s so cute
The continuation of Bitchface Karna vs Uncle Drac
Karna apologizes for thinking Spartacus betrayed red faction. Karna understands Spartacus just goes back into his original rebel self. Karna is a fucking angel.
Karna-Atalanta teamwork is my new favorite thing
Atalanta the smug nee-san
NO ATALANTA THAT’S ACTUALLY A BAD MOVE AGAINST SPARTACUS
Wow the animation of Phoebus Catastrophe is amazing
Atalanta: I love the smell of Trifas in the morning. Except it’s night.
Achilles: “Sensei” Chiron: “Rider of Red” Me: Ouch.
It just goes to show that Chiron is indeed very mature and Achilles for all his feats is still youthful SNIFF
Meanwhile, Sieg casually ‘robs’ his former house amidst the war. And inserts existential crisis to his friends.
Not that it could ever be called his house tho
And yeah can’t deny existential crisis is also a thing to do when living
I just love everybody just jumps into conclusion that Semiramis is Caster of Red while she herself is Assassin of Red and the real Caster of Red is an useless drama king
Semiramis: Oho I just know a little bit of magecraft-THAT TURNS OUT TO BE GOD-TIER
Well she must use some magic to hold her dress on her boobs.
Astolfo is so full of magical items in store he might as well be Fate/Apocrypha equivalent of Doraemon.
I have a lot of questions regarding the spike on Semiramis’s hands. Can it be undone? Is it sharp? How does it even work? If she wants to hold Shirou is it on the way? Real god tier magecraft indeed.
Falling in front of the moon, Astolfo-style
They have so many blankets inside the castle huh
Astolfo be like “I’M A DAMN RIDER THERE IS NO WAY I’M GONNA BE HIT BY A DAMN CAR”
Somebody draw Mordred driving a tank into battlefield it’s hilarious
So Kairi’s role is pretty much drop Mordred to the battlefield, much like how a dad would drop his kid to the school. A+ parenting.
Astolfo knowing full well he is fucked but still summoning his lance anyway is such a courageous thing
Semiramis: Oh so this saint ain’t running Naruto style 24/7
OK somebody in A-1 MUST have a fetish for tying up Jeanne in chains SHOW YOURSEEELFFFF
I believe this is just an excuse to focus on her boobs eehhhhh???? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Caules you should meet the other Kotomine boy, he is a fucking superhuman.
Ah, the fun music!! Imma dance
First Folio should be called Dick Move
I don’t know anything about the actual Frankenstein literature, and not much about typemoon version of Victor Frankenstein, but to beat her just because she’s emotionless is a shit thing to do
Well to be fair she turns out having lots of emotions
I like their approach to show Fran’s thought with written words. Fitting for a Berserker with high intelligent.
Did I say dick move? Yeah dick fucking move.
FRAN OH MY GOD :’’’’((((((( I wanna hug her :((((
Look at mom Caules, immediately uses one command seal just to calm her down
He doesn’t blame her. He doesn’t raise his voice. He doesn’t regret using such a precious command seal. He even praises her. THIS IS HOW A MASTER SHOULD BE!!
Wow Mordred using Clarent while still in her civilian outfit. So cool.
MORDRED YOU ARE THE LAST PERSON WHO SHOULD SAY THAT you led a war that ended up destroying a whole kingdom because you believed that you were qualified as king, that your father sucked and on top of that you just wanted so badly to be recognized by your father. IF SIEGFRIED IS AN IDIOT THEN SO ARE YOU.
HOLY CRAP ASTOLFO GETS MAD
ASTOLFO I LOVE YOU THANK YOU FOR DEFENDING SIEGFRIED AND CALLING MORDRED DELIQUENT
Semiramis watching Jeanne: “Seriously why my master pays too much attention on this girl”
DISAPPEAR, HOLY MAIDEN OR WHATEVER is my new favorite trash talk.
Wow did she just full on nuke Jeanne hell hath no fury indeed
Semiramis: “How’s that, bitch?” Jeanne: “Ha, nice try, bitch.” Semiramis: “This bitch..!”
So the girlfriend tries to nuke Jeanne with ancient flying fortress and now the boyfriend tries to nuke Jeanne with servant bomb. Truly a match in heaven.
Darnic gets hammy, again.
Sieg: “YO BOI LET ME SHOW YOU I’M THE REAL PROTAGONIST HERE!!!“
I think they try hard to make awesome action scenes in this episode. Choreography is great. But in exchange, faces go ‘nyooomm’ a lot
So Jeanne suddenly stops doing naruto run and the main battle music isn’t played in this episode did someone from A-1 read my snarky comments last week???
NEXT: maybe some drama bomb will be dropped…
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