I don’t know I just think their suits are neat

after a long time I stumbled across a chapter of Miraculus Ladybug on YouTube and I was surprised that everyone is already a hero….maybe I’ll draw a couple more if you’re interested! the designs are great!

That’s the only thing I took out of that last trailer, look at this babyyy

Also I’m so not used to an orange palette that was quite the challenge tbh

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OH I JUST HAD AN IDEA

So I was sitting here thinking about how stupid overpowered it’d be if the power of the rooster miraculous was giving himself any superpower he wants, no strings attached. I thought about how bs that is from a writing perspective, and how the other crazily OP miraculous have serious limitations and downsides, and figured that I just… don’t believe it? And then I was like, omg what if that’s the point?

Okay, so I went into this knowing that if something is “sublime”, it’s impressive, and sublimation in chemistry refers to matter going from a solid state straight to gaseous form. For example, dry ice goes straight from a solid to a vapor without melting into a liquid first. I decided to look up a dictionary definition just in case I’m missing something, and one definition for “sublime” caught my eye:

impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or power; inspiring awe, veneration, etc.:

Namely impressing the mind with a sense of power.

And then I thought about Marc’s lesson of the day: to be more confident in his abilities. Ladybug tells him that he’s too hard on himself and that he’s more talented than he gives himself credit for. After this, he names his hero form Coq Courage or Rooster Bold. What does confidence have to do with the power of choosing whatever power you want?

What if his real power is that he can do anything his opponent believes he can do?

That would give the miraculous its much needed nerf and make the power a lot more interesting. When Rooster gave himself the power to score every time he shoots, Penalty believed him, and he scored a ton of goals using magic.

If my idea is true, there would be a gamble between that outcome and the other outcome. He could’ve told her that he has the power to choose any power he wants, and that he chooses soccer powers, but Penalty could’ve told him he’s full of bs. No way there’s a zodiac miraculous with unlimited power that’s only being used for the first time today by some noob. Alternatively, if he hadn’t already been scoring goals on his own, maybe she wouldn’t have believed he could be good at soccer. Now, he’d either have to twist out of it by convincing her, retransform and choose a more believable power, or be powerless.

If I’m on the right track, then maybe the show isn’t telling us the whole truth so that it could be a twist later or something. The more the miraculous is successfully used, the stronger reputation it builds, so it’s easier to keep up the act. But if its true rules become common knowledge, sublimation becomes practically useless. Ideally, it can create a solid superpower, but that can easily be vaporized.

That’s why confidence is key. The holder would need to bluff about how powerful they really are in order to make that power real.

My theory version of this power, whether it’s true or not, is still busted, but at least it has a dangerous risk behind it, like the rabbit for example. Plus, it forces the holder to hold themselves back so they don’t claim to be able to do something unbelievably strong. If used well, it holds immense power, but if the holder makes mistakes, they can be in serious trouble, especially if they fail to cover it up, in which case the power has the potential to become permanently useless.

Late with iced coffee

Late with iced coffee

Some people are expecting commentary from me, but I’ve been super busy lately. When I’m like this, I like to only talk about things I haven’t seen other people saying.

So I liked Kuro Neko a lot. It was very solid imo and I appreciate the alternation between episodes where a ton of action happens (Ephemeral, Penalteam) vs episodes where the two dorks just kinda talk to each other and not much happens heroes-vs-villains-wise (Glaciator 2.0, Kuro Neko). Commentary speed run: Adrien pajamas hell yeah finally, wtf Nathalie out of bed? Good for her but ouch those braces. Rhythm (is that her real name?) was super cute and wholesome as a “villain”, and I love the senti. Lastly, Plagg is awesome at drawing?

But here’s what I wanted to talk the most about.

CT’s favorite thing: new heroes

The almost-last batch of my blorbos have arrived so clearly I stared at screenshots of all of them for 48 hours and noticed some stuff. I would like to point out that these 48 hours also let me go through what I call The Five Stages of New Hero Grief aka getting over the instant repulsion people feel upon seeing their designs for the first time and learning to love and accept them.

Between his ram-like original concept and the antelope-like final Caprikid, I don’t think Nathaniel actually knows what a goat is? My manga rec for him is one of those baby picture books about different types of animals. Now that I’ve gotten used to him, I actually like his suit. It reminds me of Mitsuru Kirijo from Persona 3. I feel like I’d like him waaaay more if his hair was different, though. It throws me off that it’s so similar to its usual style, even if it’s a little different, so any sort of more noticeable change would’ve made him look more natural. Idk why his paintbrush would have golden metal if everything on him is silver, but oh well.

Sabrina looks just about how I expected her to. I totally called it that she would have a hat. I’ll talk about her design more when I get to that image of her standing upright ‘cause this angle sucks, but I think the marble-designed ball on her chest could be her tool. If her power has to do with tracking, maybe she’ll be useful in tracking down the original, non-clone Penalty who has the actual akumatized object on her.

Minotaurox my beloved. Everyone’s saying that they see his suit as black, but I see it as navy blue? It’s a kinda desaturated color compared to most of the other suits, but he’s still all blue? (Trust me, I have perfect color vision). I like the way his mask is, it’s new and interesting. I also love the big cargo pockets. Practical. I think the puffy part around his shoulders is supposed to be like an ox yoke. His boots kinda confuse me ‘cause cloved hooves like that could never work irl but I guess it’s just part of the magic. I feel like his normal hair works well with his design because his suit is pretty reminiscent of Ivan’s usual clothes with the cargo pockets, boots, dark colors, and not a lot of details or flashiness. That’s why Nathaniel’s bothers me a little, since his clothes, on the other hand, looks so different from his usual self.

Marc looks fantastic. Glad to finally see an HD image because now we can see the gold trim which is awesome. I like his little scarf, I love his tail, and somewhat unpopular opinion but I love his hair. I’m mixed on the shoes. They make sense, and I always prefer designs being heavily influenced by the animal traits over “this looks good”, so I can’t complain, but how is he gonna kick a soccer ball without wrecking it? I guess it’s a magic ball idk. Super important detail that I haven’t seen anyone talk about: is it just me, or does he have earrings in his left (our right) ear? If you zoom in, it looks like he does. Bunnyx twins? In the picture below, I noticed that his feathers aren’t flat to his chest like I previously thought.

There are four heroes whose animals have hooves, yet zero of them have hoof prints on the bottom of their shoes. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

What I want everyone to look at is the glimpse we have of Ivan’s back. I think his tool’s on there, but what is it? It’s pretty big. Big hammer? Musical instrument? Idk

One thing I do appreciate is that they didn’t go pussy mode with the horns. If the character designers were cowards, they could’ve easily given us Minotaurox and Caprikid with tiny stubs, but they did not, and for that I am grateful.

First glimpse of Marc’s tool. They changed it from a fountain pen type thing to a quill, but they way he’s holding it makes it look kinda like a combat knife lol. Like in Hack-San, when most of the kids got brainwashed by Robustus, Marc is one again standing in the middle and a bit in front of all the other side characters, and he’s the one speaking for them. This is some consistent new development since it happened twice, and it makes me wonder how important he’s going to become because he was so irrelevant in previous seasons, but he’s changed a lot in s4. I think he’s probably the “beloved character with a big role coming up, like more than this character has ever spoken before” that Ezra Weisz talked about once in a tik tok.

Sabrina looks way cuter in this image than in the trailer imo. Her suit is similar to her normal clothes in that 70s-like aesthetic. Another important thing that nobody’s talking about: is it just me or does she have glasses in this shot? Zoom in on her mask. It looks like she has frameless oval glasses, but I can’t tell if they’re there or not in the trailer shot. If I’m seeing what I think I’m seeing, I like them a lot. They’re cute, and it’s nice to see a girl with glasses not lose them for “aesthetic reasons”. The white part on her chest/belly is a heart aww. Her boots look like those tall schoolgirl type socks, and that plus the shorts, beret, and glasses has a huge vintage prep vibe.

I bet Ladybug is drawing out a game plan in this scene, but everyone’s expressions are so funny. Every single character could be a different reaction meme.

Last thing: I’m trying to imagine how Ladybug is going to give out all of these miraculous. We know the class starts all together, so it’d be tough to separate them all to individually give them miraculous in different locations later. On top of that, there are four more heroes in three other locations, and they’re probably all supposed to be in class right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t explain how they get busted out of class, but in Kuro Neko we see how collecting the miraculous from even four temp heroes is stressful and time consuming for Ladybug. Maybe this is the episode where she’ll start considering making more people/all of them permanent at some point, and maybe even considering that everyone knowing each other’s identities would make things way easier.

That’s all for now. I have no time, but I’m sooo tempted to draw the four of them in fashion inspired by their hero forms waking down the street “late with iced coffee”. I can see the designs in my head already. I hope to see fan art of all four of them, and I really hope the show will develop all of them at least a little this episode.

Analyzing the Penalteam spoiler(s)

Usually these types of spoilers have no meat to talk about, but a couple things caught my eye in the latest Penalteam one.

1) Didier Roustan is a guest star in this episode. This isn’t surprising to me because Astruc said there’d be a football/soccer episode with a special guest and he posted a cropped image of cartoon Didier’s concept art. French sports fans quickly figured out it was him from his style. Plus, he’s been in the special guest section of the s4 end credits this whole time along with Franck Dubosc, Philippe Candeloro, and Veronique Berecz.

2) I noticed something odd about the people present in this scene

Since Ms. Bustier is here, it seems like the soccer game is a class field trip, but some people are missing. I bet Lila’s just skipping as usual, but Kim, Max, and Nath aren’t here either. This wouldn’t be the first time Nath disappears when physical activity is involved, but according to Winny, he’s supposed to get a miraculous this episode, and you’d think a competitive, athletic game with a famous sports journalist is something Kim would never miss. I wonder where they and Max went. I’m guessing there will be an explanation because-

3) the number of people present is very convenient. A typical soccer team is comprised of nine people, and there are eighteen people in the collage part of the intro, perfect to play a full game. Subtracting Marinette and Adrien, there are nine kids on the field in the spoiler. There are also seven kids not present. If Shadowmoth’s villain(s) transform/mind-control etc everyone here except Mari and Adrien, who get away as usual, then there will be a perfect nine-on-nine game.

I predict that Chloe, Sabrina, Alya, Nino, Mylene, Juleka, Rose, Alix, and Ivan will be Penalteam. Ladybug and Chat Noir need an opposing team, so they’ll recruit Pegasus, King Monkey, Vesperia, Viperion, and Ryuko, but they’re short two players. This is where Ladybug gives Rooster Bold and Caprikid miraculous for the first time as Winny spoiled. That’s why Kim, Max, and Nath are conveniently elsewhere when the conflict goes down.

“But what about Minotaurox and Traquemoiselle?” I know right? I think Ivan will get his miraculous in Risk and Sabrina in Strike Back. I’m a bit nervous for their screen time, but I can see the ox miraculous helping Ladybug defeat some difficult villains like that big robot dude and the dog helping her physically locate the elusive Shadowmoth (spoilers indicate he’s hiding in the Louvre?). Ivan is part of the team in Strike Back, and we haven’t heard much about Sabrina, but her hero name implies a superpower like “detection”.

4) what’s going on with the villain? Usually, in a guest episode, the guest star is the akuma, but not always. Veronique Berecz was just herself in The Puppeteer 2.0 while Manon was the villain. We know Chloe will be akumatized into Penalty, but that’s all we’ve seen of the villain. SM can only send one akuma at a time, but it can influence more than one person.

I’m thinking, since Penalty’s akumatized object is a whistle, her power will be controlling people by blowing into it, which is how she influences the rest of the team. It would be kind of like Darkblade and his knights. It’s possible that Didier will also be a villain, but I don’t know. Since he’s a journalist/commentator, I can see him narrating what’s happening in the fight and even helping Ladybug out that way, but maybe he plays a minor role as himself only outside of the fight like Veronique.

5) I don’t expect massive plot progression from this episode because there’s a guest star and two new heroes, and it’s The Soccer Episode, but I feel like there just miiight be some Chloe stuff. I mean, other than for comic relief, why put such an episode as the 24th? Usually the 24th episode is relevant in some way.

In the past, Chloe has been akumatized into powerful villains over serious things, but in season four she gets two new forms that are both silly and caused by random tantrums. I think that her anger over stupid stuff is indicative of some deeper negative emotions. In Queen Banana, she was akumatized over the movie group ignoring her instead of indulging her controlling ideas, but on a deeper level, she was jealous of the positive attention Zoe was getting. How easily the kids at school started liking her and showering her with stuff like lead roles in a film. This was also the episode where she “broke up” with Adrien at the end, but Zoe said she’d always love her.

I think we might see something similar in Penalteam. Chloe will be akumatized over something dumb and bratty like nobody wanting to play with her, her team having terrible chemistry and sucking while Marinette’s team thrives under her leadership, her getting second choice because of Marinette’s good luck and getting stuck with the less athletic kids, etc. But I think underneath it all, she’ll really be upset because she will once again feel left out. All her classmates are friends who can work well together, but nobody wants her there to spoil the fun, much less boss them around.

Maybe I’m being too ambitious here, but I think this might be the episode where she loses, or at least starts to lose, Sabrina. She lost Adrien in QB, and Sabrina’s all she really has left except Zoe whose attention she rejects. Since Sabrina will be receiving a miraculous, Ladybug needs a reason to trust her. She needs to think for herself and be ready to serve the greater good, not Chloe, and I don’t see how she can naturally have that change during an action-packed finale. Maybe Chloe will finally get to Sabrina and she’ll realize this is it. Maybe she’ll have time to sit on it, and only make her decision later. But it’d make sense if Chloe’s repeated poor actions cause her to lose another person, especially the one who’s the closest to her and who gives her the most power.

Without Sabrina, Chloe is kinda screwed. Sabrina carries her stuff, does her homework, organizes everything, plays all her games, backs her up, and most importantly, lets her feel powerful. If not for her, Chloe would just be some jerk that no one wants to be around who happens to have enough money and connections to have her way, but Sabrina is the one who hypes her up into the Queen B she is. If she turned her back on her, she’d lose confidence. That’s something that would truly make this episode 24 special, a development in Sabrina, and Chloe finally reaching that point where she has no one there for her except her detested half-sister, which finally creates the potential for actual development and learning a permanent lesson rather than putting on a good face to get Ladybug’s approval on occasion.

6) last thing, my guesses always change for these, and they’re usually impossible to guess, but I never stop making theories lmao. Now that we know what the tools are for the rooster and goat miraculous (pen and paintbrush respectively), my guess for the powers changes to “inspiration” and “passion”. That’s it, final answer. If I change my mind again, or if one of my old guesses was right, pretend this never happened, but I feel like we’ve gotten a lot of info/spoilers about them versus the other new heroes, so it’s nice to be able to have guesses actually based on something.

As is typical ct-multifandom fashion, I’ll close out this post with a prediction that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of the post or anything I discussed. Derailment time! I predict that the new character from the future, who I think will show up in the finale, probably Strike Back, is going to be future Max/Pegasus. Why? ‘Cause it makes sense to me and I want to see him. He’s one of Bunnyx’s closest friends, his miraculous would be one of the ones that’d get the biggest power boost from an adult user, and the two of them are probably a yin-yang pair (ask me about those btw). Also his name miiiight’ve been mentioned in a comedically bleeped-out spoiler Lindalee Rose interview about the s4 finale, saying “beep” is gonna be there to mess up SM’s plan, but maybe it was “Plagg” or someone else. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. Manifesting future Max. But seriously, ask me about yin-yang pairs.

I’ve seen this scene from Penalteam and my mind just went full blast ‘Get Down’ from Six.

I love Marc Anciel, I love Queen Anna of Cleeves, so, why not?

Well, I made this:

First time drawing Rooster Bold and I love him-
I even made the lineart with the Fountain Pen brush :p

but I forgot his fountain pen so-