Submitted Prompt: Rocketear Wake Up Call

Submitted Prompt: Rocketear Wake Up Call

In Rocketear, after Nino explains that he is Carapace and that Alya was Rena Rouge, Adrien is thunderstruck--

Not by the convoluted idea that consumed him in canon that knowing Ladybug's identity will guarantee that they would be a couple--

Not by the "injustice" of Alya and Nino "getting to know" each other's identities in a world-ending disaster scenario where Ladybug had no choice but to retrieve them together--

Adrien is struck by the fact that... His best friend was Carapace.

His friend was Rena Rouge.

Two of his best and only friends had become temporary heroes.

-

Two of his only friends had had to join the fight against Hawkmoth.

Two of his only friends were now in active danger every Akuma attack because they weren't just bystanders-- they were now active participants in the fights.

Adrien remembers Heroes Day, and how oddly Rena Rouge and Caparace had been interacting, remembered how they were both lost to Hawkmoth, how he had been... Not even horrified at their loss that day. He'd been frustrated, annoyed, and ... Relieved.

Relieved that there were less temporary heroes in the fight, because that meant Ladybug would be paying more attention to him.

Adrien had lost some of his best friends that day, and he had been happy that they were gone.

Adrien's mind was reeling, he was horrified at his actions, horrified at his mentality up until this moment, feeling his heart sinking lower and lower in his chest down to his toes as he realized how he had treated all of the temporary heroes, even the ones he knew the identity of, how he had treated his girlfriend when he knew that Kagami was Ryuko!

He'd been dating Kagami, and he'd still pursued Ladybug.

He'd even done it right in front of Kagami.

Adrien's mind was shattering, Adrien was second guessing and rethinking everything he'd ever done since he became Chat Noir.

This is wake up call that is long overdue, and he was slowly waking up to find his past was now his own nightmare of his own making--

So he actually listened when Nino trash talked Chat Noir.

Adrien actually heard how Nino saw his other self.

Adrien actually, finally listened to what others thought of his actions.

And the biggest horror isn't that Nino thought so low of him-- it's not even that it took Adrien this long to admit to even himself that he had been doing wrong.

It's that Nino thinks so low of him, saw him for the trash that he was--

And Nino wasn't even the target of Adrien's behavior.

First thing's first: Adrien had to set the record straight with what Nino thinks is going on between him and Alya; and Adrien can't even fault him for thinking that anymore, he had always gone out of his way to flirt with any girl or adult woman he saw when he was transformed! It had been fun-- but only fun for him.

Adrien's going to tell Nino straight out how he knows that Alya isn't cheating on him with Chat Noir: because Adrien IS Chat Noir, and he's going to prove it.

Then, once he's calmed his friend down, and called Alya so Nino would actually talk to his girlfriend about his insecurities, Adrien's going to do his own apologizing-- to Ladybug, and Kagami.

If the horse had a sword it should be a rapier or a joust(are jousts swords?) Fencer's have to be fast with good reflexes and agility because speed is one of the deciding factor for a victor and if Mari was given a rapier she could've joined the fencing club to practice with Adrien as her tutor. In the movie she did gymnastics, she could've done gymnastics but quite to make more time for designing, then she becomes a superhero, has to join the fencing club and with practice from Kaalki becomes a key member of the team with Adrien and (soon) Kagami taking more time out of her schedule and Adrien feeling even more trapped by his miraculous because he thinks he's lost his last chance at freedom.

How do you think the story would’ve gone if Master Fu gave Marinette the canon Dragon Miraculous and Adrien the canon Turtle Miraculous in Origins? It plays off of the classic sword and shield combo, gives Marinette the offensive attacks and Adrien the defensive attacks (Lord knows at this point in the game that Adrien obviously has problems with self-control when it comes to his Cataclysm and strategizing in general, and having Shellter as his power and Wayzz as his kwami would force him to take his and his partner’s disposition in battle seriously from the get-go), and with Lightning Dragon having never been shown on-screen to date, it could easily act as the purification of akuma, whether by burning away the negative magic corrupting them, which plays into the idea of lightning being a cleansing force of nature, or burning the akuma itself to ash, which would also deplete Hawkmoth’s collection of butterflies at the time. And with Wayzz being heavily implied to be and Longg being canonically confirmed to be kwami that prefer to take their time and thoroughly explain what needs to be done, I can see Adrien actually having to sit and wait until Wayzz is done talking/sure he’s prepared before he gets the transformation phrase out of him, and Marinette being calm enough from Longg’s explanation of what’s happening and what she needs to do (especially in comparison to Tikki who, after Marinette tries to run what she says back to her with clear lack of full understanding and confidence, even saying verbatim “Aww... this is all going too fast, Tikki... I... won't be able to pull this off!”, simply responds with “Trust yourself, Marinette. Just say ‘Spots on’.” without any further clarification or rerun) to actually remember getting Stoneheart’s akuma the first time without any problems.

It is funny for you to say sword-shield combo as, from what I've seen, Dragon hardly ever uses the sword. I agree with a buddy that it should've been a pearl to grasp that can change you into any element of a storm, for why use the sword at all when you can become an element? And sword could've worked better for horse, they're more associated with swords and hey, that could've backed Kaalki's claim of being powerful, as horseshoe-boomerang just feels random and doesn't really click me (but that is just me). I feel like they only did sword for dragon as Kagami was planned for it and she's a sword fighter.

ANYWAY.

Honestly, of the 5, Turtle is my go to for Adrien. It doesn't discourage him rushing to danger and being willing to take risks, but gives him more protection and would help him learn to be smarter about it. Plus, I see Wayzz doing better for him than Plagg. Wayzz is adaptable and flexible and can adjust to work with Adrien and be engaging, but still offer wisdom and advise and make his concerns to Adrien clear. Also TECHNCIALLY, with the 5 being based on Wu Xing, Turtle should have an edge over Butterfly.

I'd actually make Turtle the cleanser here, maybe Shelter has some healing or cleansing abilities, and it comes down to trapping an akuma in there. It gives Adrien more stake and responsibility.

On Dragon, well, you didn't come to the right person as I don't like mythical creatures as miraculous, and I'd rather Dragon cut from existence, especially knowing how vital dragons are to Chinese culture and it's coming from the Chinese box and it's a wonder why isn't Dragon one of the two most powerful? If it was one of the two most powerful, it's existence would be more acceptable to me. But it isn't and to me, it sticks out like a sore thumb out of all 19 as the oddball, even knowing it's there because of the Chinese Zodiac (which to me over all is very problematic in its existence as there are other Zodiacs out there that have matching animals so what makes this Zodiac exist over them? Or where they moved around a lot? Did they go through phases of other Zodiacs?).

But, ok.

I'll try and roll with this what if Dragon was sent out.

And to me, it's a bit of a random pick. I'd see more use in Bee or Monkey as those than affect akumas far more, fully stun the target making it super easy for Turtle to handle them; or make their powers go out of whack rendering them less dangerous as they can't function properly. And the biggest appeal is that these powers would be focused on the akuma exclusively.

Dragon would be more broad in its use, which could be beneficial or problematic, especially since neither would have a mass restoration power that we see. What if as water or lightning, she shorts a lot of electronics? ...Side note, can you execute yourself if you're water? Becoming wind, as she rushes past, anything susceptible to wind would be blown away, especially with her moving at high speed. For the most part she'd be good at tackling and overwhelming akumas, but I can also see possible damage or mishaps left behind her.

Another big issue is that we don't entirely get how Dragon works and we don't have a lot of examples of it in the field, especially as we haven't seen all 3 powers and Dragon Bug raises some questions. Was she able to make a big water shield because of the combo with LB? Or can Dragon naturally control and bend the elements it can become? And if it can, does the user need the elements there or can it make it themselves? And with lightning, can the user travel through electricity? Are they able to do so without overwhelming the system?

And IF Dragon can cleanse, I'd probably do water instead, as that's more associated with healing and cleansing than lightning, I see that more of a stunning power if anything.

Either way, I'd be all for Turtle Adrien but Dragon being released, not so much. I do think Marinette and Longg could be a good duo, but it's not my pick on a miraculous to be released. But I admit that I have bias against Dragon, and all that I've thought up may not even be issues as at all.

We don't really have enough details on Dragon and how it works, what are the limits, and what else it can do. I'd also rather it just doesn't exist as to me, it's an eyesore. But that is just me. I don't see Dragon being an ideal pick for Butterfly. Turtle should be, but Dragon... yeah to me it's a random miraculous to release when there are others that would be better fit. You want something more offensive: Bee and Monkey for sure would be good, Cat too as that's more built for combat. Fox SHOULD also have an edge over Butterfly. And there's the issue of restoration, so what of the Ladybug? Is Tikki able to use ML on her own with no issue? Turtle could be a cleanser but you do have that issue of no restoration.

Concerned Ape knows what's up

it breaks my heart to say that Arleen Sorkin has passed away

She might be best known for her role as Harley Quinn in Batman: The Animated Series, in which she had a major impact on how that character was created. From Harley’s accent and personality, to her Jewishness and appearance, it was all Arleen.

She will be dearly missed by her friends, family, & fans.

May her memory be a blessing

Peni deserves more hype