Got a new secondary blog to cover all my writing stuff! I’m going to use @byoldervine to share facts and rambles about a series I’m writing called the Byoldervine series, which includes the story I’ve been sharing here that’s gained a small bit of interest, which I’m currently calling The Heir and the Cure. Feel free to ask any questions you’d like about my writing, I absolutely love sharing!

Good night to everyone, enjoy a bedtime pic of my puppy

Just wanna point out that technically speaking Adrien can still confront Gabriel through the use of a kwagatama from Duusu. It won’t be the same obviously but it’s still an option for him to get closure and speak to Gabriel from beyond the grave, albeit he won’t remember anything about S5

Okaaaaaaaaay….

Recreation

Let’s get into my first thoughts, gang

Okay so I’m tryna rig my vTuber model but whenever I look down she closes her eyes and looks all depressed and sad, her mouth turns into a big frown and her eyebrows do the up-curved sad look. How do I fix this? Everything else looks fine I just need to work out how to fix the looking down portion of this

Yo where can I watch Revolution with English subs? My usual go-to isn’t subbed yet but I NEED to see this

Here’s a take; I don’t think Adrien should have the Black Cat Miraculous

Now don’t get me wrong, I still think he can be a great superhero, I just don’t think he’s suited to that particular Miraculous considering he’s been consistently shown to have destructive tendencies and to lash out in anger or pain. I mean, if you include himself in Guiltrip, there have been four instances on-screen in which he’s actively attempted to Cataclysm people (himself, Scarabella, Kim and Dark Owl), one instance where he suggested it as a last resort (Sole Crusher) and two instances where he successfully - albeit unintentionally - did Cataclysm people (Uncanny Valley, Monarch). That’s seven separate occasions where Chat Noir using his power on a human being has come up, with two of those successfully landing, and even if you discount the times where he didn’t intend to do it or times when he only raised the last resort option AND the time he tried to do it to himself under Guiltrip’s influence that’s STILL THREE INTENTIONAL ATTEMPTS

Now if Chat Noir’s powers were something like Venom, Uproar or Gift, this wouldn’t be an issue. It wouldn’t be great, sure, but it would be a harmless, temporary effect. But Chat Noir has the power to disintegrate anything he touches and now we’ve seen the effects that has on a human being; it’s horribly painful and slowly spreads across their body until it eventually kills them. Do you really want to trust that sort of power to the kid with a track record of going after other people with it?

So let’s look at where Adrien’s strengths lie as a hero; what does he bring to the table outside of Cataclysm? The answers you typically see with him are loyalty, trustworthiness, humour and just being a generally supportive guy that Ladybug can turn to when she needs emotional support as well as backup. And I know there are retorts to each of these but I’m not here to discuss those - that’s for a later post. Right now I’m just considering which Miraculous is more suited to Adrien knowing this

My first thought was the Pig Miraculous, considering Gift is not only a physically harmless power, but almost always a pleasant one to experience, which could definitely help with him being the first person Ladybug turns to for emotional support and reassurance that she can do things. He’s consistently used to divert the attention of the villain and Gift could certainly do that. There’s no need to worry about what he’d do if he grew emotionally volatile himself because Gift can’t actually cause any physical harm. Perhaps it could teach him to manage his emotions a little better, or at least help him to calm down and think about how letting out his anger in unhealthy ways impacts others?

But for someone who doesn’t always keep a cool head and makes impulsive decisions at times, as well as someone who frequently makes the sacrifice play for Ladybug, the Snake Miraculous could be interesting. It would give Adrien the chance to act on his impulses without endangering the mission since he could have a do-over (not saying it’s morally right but at least he’d be able to reverse the damage instantly and he’d be the only traumatised party) or he could take all the time he needed to calm down and clear his head before getting back to the fight. It could also allow him to save Ladybug without sacrificing himself and thus taking himself out of the fight and leaving her to handle things all on her own; he could instead take the warning and get her out of the way ahead of time. It’s also a more versatile option for fights as opposed to Gift

Class: *Sees Lila finally exposed*

Bustier: Marinette, we all owe you an apology

…

Class: *Fkn leaves without another word*

You can’t tell me that isn’t the story of Marinette’s life at this point and it would be funny if it wasn’t so damn sad and unsatisfying

“Marinette Lesson of the Episode” Review - S1 E2: The Bubbler

Essay-Worthy Review (TL;DR at the bottom)

So obviously the overarching lesson of the episode is that ‘you should always listen to adults even when their rules sound boring or unfair because ultimately they keep you safe’, and I could write a whole separate essay on that, but ultimately what we’re here for is Marinette’s lesson, which is partially used to explain that after a superpower is used the heroes have five minutes before they transform back and partially used to say ‘don’t put off your responsibilities. There’s not much to write about here, in all honesty, but I’ll see what I can do

First off, we see Ladybug use her Lucky Charm to stop Chloé and Adrien from slow dancing, which results in her having to leave the party to transform back and recharge. Tikki scolds Marinette for using her superpower out of ‘jealousy’. While I’m in full agreement that Marinette did let her personal feelings have a say in this one, I’d also like to point out just how uncomfortable Adrien looked; he was cringing and physically recoiling from Chloé trying to get away from her without being rude. Aligning with Marinette’s personal desires and not being directly related to the akuma are not Marinette using her powers for personal gain, which we know Tikki is adamantly against

Marinette counters this argument by saying it was an emergency, which isn’t exactly the best choice of words but certainly isn’t necessarily incorrect; she still protected Adrien from a clearly non-consentual kiss and I’m sure that was ringing alarm bells in his head to say the least. Tikki then takes the chance to inform the audience remind Marinette that she only has five minutes between using her power and transforming back. The dialogue is a little ham-fisted, but I can understand why; it needs to be clear for the young kids watching why they can’t just keep throwing power after power at the villains and why they’re suddenly worried about the time

And now to the second Marinette lesson of the episode, Alya encourages Marinette to come into the Agreste Manor so that she can sign her present to Adrien. Tikki reminds her that they need to deal with the Bubbler first, but Tikki is still eating at this point and there’s no reason why this shouldn’t take more than a second so what’s the problem? In fact, even when they’re inside and Marinette is just finishing writing up the note, Tikki then says that she’s ready to go, implying that Tikki finished her cookie at the same time Marinette finished with the note. Marinette then sent Alya outside so that she could transform inside, only to see Ivan had been bubbled,to which she exclaims “No! You were right, Tikki, I never should’ve waited this long!”

How long were you waiting? The three seconds it took for you to acknowledge Tikki and then send Alya out of the room? If Tikki herself only just finished eating, you couldn’t have transformed earlier even if you hadn’t gone to sort out a note

——— Rankings ———

Intended Lesson

Teach the viewers how the Miraculous function and what limitations they have, don’t use superpowers for selfish reasons, prioritise your responsibilities and don’t put off important things

Conveyed Lesson

Superpowers can only be used once and after that you’re on a timer before you transform back, prioritise responsibilities over personal desires

Appropriateness: ⭐️⭐️

Marinette is the type of person who generally does prioritise her responsibilities over her personal desires. Adrien can cause this to fluctuate a bit, but considering this is only the second episode, with the first and only other episode highlighting that Marinette often prioritises her responsibilities over her personal desires to a point of fault, this lesson is poorly-timed at best. In general, over the course of the show, this message can stand to be reminded gently to Marinette when it comes to Adrien in S1-S3, which is why it gets a bit of a higher ranking, but in general Marinette’s good at this and this lesson sort of counteracts the characterisation of the last episode

Execution: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The dialogue was slightly ham-fisted as I said but I’ll excuse that since it was meant for explaining plot mechanics to kids. Ladybug using her Lucky Charm to save an uncomfortable Adrien from Chloé and Tikki taking this to mean Marinette is using her powers for selfish purposes are both in-character and don’t feel forced. A safe ‘meh’ rating is the best I can give

Blame Distribution: ⭐️⭐️

Marinette was in trouble with Tikki for using her powers out of jealousy. Technically she isn’t wrong, though Marinette also had valid reasons outside of jealousy to act. They did allow Marinette to defend herself and her reasoning as well though, which I’m pleased with. But Marinette blaming herself for ‘waiting this long’ to transform was silly considering that she couldn’t have transformed any earlier regardless. Still, they brush over this quickly and mostly reduce it to a one-liner from Marinette herself, so it’s an easy one to overlook

Overall Ranking: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Meh. To be honest it didn’t really feel like there was a Marinette-centric lesson this episode. Which, don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about. There were enough overarching lessons as it was. I can’t really give this one anything other than three stars of ‘not bad, not good, just kinda happened’