Fanfic / Miraculous: The Phoenix Rises

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Miraculous: The Phoenix Rises by Maykechi77 is an ongoing fanfiction of the French animated series Miraculous Ladybug. It began in June of 2021. Despite being set within the same universe, the story contains virtually no connections to the main series save for the use of Miraculouses and Kwamis.

It is the year 20XX, and things have taken a turn for the worse. Humanity has become exceedingly stupid through excessive advertising, fake news, and backwards school systems. All the while neither corporations, governments, the police or any form of authority figure is capable of correcting this, focusing more on PR and approval over the world's actual well being.

Enter Morgan François, an Ordinary High-School Student who, after being falsely convicted for stalking, is branded a pariah and exiled to the middle of nowhere. However, she soon Miraculously comes into possession of the Arctic Fox Miraculous. With this newfound power, she must fight off a mysterious villain terrorizing the area and unite with her newfound friends to stop him.

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Miraculous Ladybug: The Phoenix Rises contains examples of:

A-M

• Adults Are Useless: Besides Marvin, virtually everyone above the age of 18 in the story is sadistic, cruel, apathetic, or less mature than our teenage main characters.
• Adult Hater: All of the youths that aren't a Hate Sink have some hatred for adults in one way or another.
• And Then What?: What Morgan thinks of her life. Even if she defeats the Phoenix Mage, once senior year ends she's back to being nothing but the psycho stalker girl.
• Animated Shock Comedy: As a fanfic of the original Miraculous cartoon, it quickly becomes this. Much of the humor is crass, explicit and cynical and there are a few unflattering depictions of real public figures.
• Apathetic Citizens: Supervillains attacking is treated as a minor inconvenience, with the patrons of a sandwich shop only watching a superhero duel inside.
• Bathtub Scene: A fairly normal one with Clay. That is until he casually lets Morgan barge in. and the water is black from his stink of the day. And the bath is clogged. And he eats a corndog he pulled from the murky brine right in front of Morgan, before Morgan finishes it out of spite.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: Of Morgan's found family; Morgan (thin), Marvin (big), and Moof (short).
• Black-and-Gray Morality: Our heroes include a convicted stalker who's an aloof jerk, an Academic Alpha Bitch, a troublesome thug, and his cynical friend who's a reluctant hero. Then again, virtually every villain they face (normal or paranormal) is a Knight of Cerebus Hate Sink.
• Black Comedy: The majority of the comic relief shown stems from the dark tone of the story, such as the teacher not being allowed to dismiss the class while a supervillain was attacking because they didn't want students to take advantage of the cancelled class to study. Descends into vantablack comedy at times, such as with Max's prank on his father in chapter 4.
• Bloodier and Gorier: Features many gruesome fight scenes, especially the end of chapter 15, with The Nightmare King's introduction.
• Bread and Circuses: A major theme. The world is routinely terrorized by supernatural abominations and corrupt superheroes. However, governments and corporations are quick to provide both propaganda riling them against some political target as well as providing enough well-publicized heroics to distract them from any real corruption.
• Capepunk: Especially the "punk" part. The series explores just how much of a Crapsack World filled with morons it would have to be for you to rely on teenage Ragtag Bunch of Misfits to stop a villain.
• Cast of Expies: The majority of the main characters are either from Persona 5 or SuperMarioLogan, mainly the latter.
• Chevalier vs. Rogue: Waterloo High's sports team is named the Assassins facing off against the other school's Templars.
• Crack Fic: Borders on this.
• Crapsack World: Nearly every adult and authority figure is either completely useless or a total dick, and anyone who's fed up with it risks being turned into a monster by an unseen wizard.
• Creepy Stalker Van: The Phoenix Mage uses one of these to get around clandestinely, disguised as one of the dozens of vans employed by his company.
• Cutaway Gag: Nearly once per chapter a character will make a random comment leading to one.
  "Yeah..." Gregg said. "Turns out reality isn't like a game. Like that time I tried applying Hungry-Hungry Hippos to my job at the zoo."
  *break*
  "WHY ARE ALL THE HIPPOS FUCKING DEAD?!" The Zookeeper shouted.

  "Oh," Gregg said. "I bolted them all to the ground in a circle, put the food between them and slammed on their backs to get their necks to shoot out to eat it."

  "You're fired."
• Deconstruction Fic: Takes the original cartoon, which is extremely upbeat, clean, and idealistic, and hits it with about every Capepunk trope in the book, from Celebrity Superhero, to It Sucks to Be the Chosen One, the Superhero Paradox, all wrapped up in a hefty dose of cynicism.
• Darker and Edgier: Absolutely. While the original series certainly had its dark moments, it was still recognizably a kid's show. Within the first two chapters the story quickly establishes its dark tone with profanity, violence, angst, and the especially the flashback at the beginning of chapter 2. Also Moof.
• Dark Fic: Would probably earn a hard TV-MA if broadcast given how much swearing, violence, and dark themes there are in the story.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Luther's uncle calling an ambulance for his critically wounded nephew, unaware that most Americans wouldn't dare do something so overpriced.
  • Also in Chapter 13 Max's siblings watch an old episode of iCarly and realize some of the aspects of the show that haven't exactly aged well (skeevy humor, casual abuse, etc.)
• Distracted by the Sexy: Invoked by Clay, who uses this to distract the attacking villain.
  “Look! Over there!” he shouted, pointing in the distance. “A naked lady!”

  “Really?!” the villain said with excitement.
• Dirty Cop: How Morgan was falsely convicted for stalking. Julian conspired with moles in the force to have Morgan framed for stalking, and had her secretly hit with a memory drug to ensure her word was as unreliable as possible.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: In Chapter 22, the school enacts a series of security measures in case of a supervillain attack that sound eerily similar to *other* measures seen for other issues in America. Needless to say, the author shows little confidence as he describes them.
• Dystopia: Wincestre and America at large. Evil corporations rule over the mindless masses as governments, the police, and the school systems are all grossly mismanaged.
• Eagleland: BOORISH, to the same extent as Bioshock Infinite at times. Morgan has a very low opinion of the nation. When asked if she was part American, she replies "Am I fat and stupid?"
• Elsewhere Fic: The fic takes place in the same universe as Miraculous Ladybug, shares its lore, and makes occasional mention of its heroes, but is otherwise removed from its story.
• Evidence Dungeon: Forrester's lair turns into this in chapter 24 when it's discovered.
• Evil Teacher: Several of the teachers at Waterloo High. Most notably, Principal Roy is perfectly willing to screw Morgan out of credit for a group project just to keep her from representing them in public and eventually turns out to be a rapist, while Dr. Cho openly sees the students as her playthings, is shown abusing a disabled child, and horrifically abused Moof.
• Expelled from Every Other School: Morgan has been blacklisted from nearly every school following the stalking incident. She also notes that it's going to be nearly impossible to get into college with her criminal record.
• Expy: Morgan's guardian Marvin is pretty much Sojiro Sakura with the serial numbers filed off. He's a Jerk with a Heart of Gold who takes in the protagonist after they are convicted of a crime they didn't commit, is initially verbally hostile to them before warming up, and has taken in the Hikikomori daughter of a deceased acquaintance he still holds a candle for.
• Fast-Food Nation: The eight food groups on the updated, corporate sponsored food pyramid are Mcdonalds, Popeyes, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Coca-Cola, prescription painkillers, and cigarettes.
• Forbidden Fruit: Invoked. Marvin deliberately tries to goad Morgan into investigating what he's hiding and discovering Moof so they can bond, but it fails because Morgan is too worried about pissing off her guardian to take the risk.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble:
  • Melancholic: The brooding and aloof Morgan.
  • Phlegmatic: The easygoing and chill Max.
  • Sanguine: The hot-headed and bombastic Leon.
  • Choleric: The rules-obsessed Go-Getter Girl Kiku.
• Free the Frogs: When Morgan realizes Marvin's gone and she's home alone, she proceeds to empty several boxes of Goldfish crackers he was eating earlier into a bathtub while shouting "Be free pee-pee sucks, be free!".
• Freudian Trio: Max (Ego), Leon (Id), and Kiku (Superego).
• Gretzky Has the Ball: Very much used with the sports-themed Monster of the Week at the beginning of chapter 24.
• Hollywood Law: Morgan is expelled and sentenced to house arrest without trial, which is quite obviously horrifically illegal. Somewhat Justified as it's well established that more than a few strings were being pulled behind the scenes.
• Humans Are Bastards: Crosses over with Adults Are Useless, Police Are Useless, and Crapsack World. While the government is corrupt as hell and the adults themselves are morons at best, characters such as Mylson and Julian show this even extends to younger characters as well. Several of the Kwamis such as Tundraa show this view as well.
• Insult Backfire: Outside the City Hall during a meeting, protestors of Mayor Joe Biden are heard shouting "Let's Go Brandon! Let's Go Brandon! " repeatedly, to which he thinks they're rooting for him, despite not knowing who "Brandon" is.
• Kidnapping Bird of Prey: The Phoenix Mage, a bird of prey, briefly captures Morgan to parley with her.
• Kilroy Was Here: Morgan writes her name all over her desk instead of her nametag because the instructions were "write your name on your desk.
• Lonely Bachelor Pad: The garage Morgan stays in. It has little more than an air-mattress, a mini-fridge, her luggage and a few posters. Not to mention it's a separate structure from the house.
• Miscarriage of Justice: How the story starts. After Morgan tries to stop someone who she thought was her friend from doing something heinous, he fabricates a story of her having stalked him; ruining her life and getting her exiled to Michigan.
• Mundane Utility: Another Miraculer making a cameo uses the Cheetah Miraculous to be a hyper-efficient delivery man.

N-Z

• Nutritional Nightmare: The school serves pizza with cigarettes on it as part of the new food pyramid (see Fast-Food Nation above).
• Outside Ride: While riding to Alpha Q's HQ, they are one seat short so Leon holds onto the back of Marvin's car while riding on roller skates.
• Parental Neglect: Max's father Maximillian is so completely obsessed with his television sitcom that he can't even be bothered to bring in any income, forcing Max to take responsibility.
• Police Are Useless: Given exactly who they're fighting, they aren't very effective against supernatural villains; also seen in the inciting incident's Miscarriage of Justice. By the time of the main story, Morgan invariably refers to them as "damn pigs", an opinion reinforced when they delay stopping a villain attack to bully some kids listening to rap music.
• Protest by Obstruction: In the second interlude a mob of protestors protest the construction of an oil drilling site on a national park. It could have become a Powder Keg Crowd had Eagleman and Peacekeeper not been dragged off by internal affairs.
• Pseudo-Canonical Fic: MTPR is a shall we say... piece of expanded universe for Miraculous. It adds new Kwamis but otherwise doesn't contradict or interact with the main story 4000 kilos away.
• Shoddy Shindig: The Fall Fest in Chapter 17, made worse by its suspiciously mandatory status.
• Shout-Out: Has it's own page.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: Everyone.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Roughly at Joker (2019) and Invader Zim levels of cynicism and misanthropy. Nearly every adult or authority figure is corrupt, the strong prey on the weak, and even our heroes have little faith in the world around them.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: A theme in virtually all of the dialogue, as characters are constantly trying to outdo each other in sarcasm and not taking each other seriously.
• Social Services Does Not Exist: Max's family situation. His father is so completely obsessed with television that Max is forced to resort to sticking up a convenience store to make rent and keep his siblings fed, while his mother is off on some international business trip. It's briefly mentioned they've had run-ins with social services, but the fact that Max's father hasn't been jailed for criminal neglect is insane.
• Stalking Is Funny if It Is Female After Male: Averted. While the story of Julian being stalked was complete horseshit, the school authorities promptly have Morgan branded as a dangerous criminal, expel her, and ruin her reputation.
• Strawman News Media: CNN is shown reporting on the latest villain attack with the majority of information shown being misinformation and Blatant Lies. It's so bad that Marvin switches it to actual news, the Babylon Bee.
• Sucky School: Two words: Waterloo High: Complete with a Dean Bitterman, Psycho Psychologist, barbaric bullies, etc.
• Super Cop: The Z-Squadron is more or less a team of heavily armed crime fighters working for the government. Within the views of The New Twenties that is. What Do You Mean, It's Not Political? ensues.
• Take That!: The Rise of Skywalker is noted to be at the bottom of the Star Wars popularity and equivalent to being a social pariah.
  • Also Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci serve as the Mayor and school nurse, and neither are portrayed as very competent.
  • Also to Disney:
  "Coming from Disney, the company that owns everything is Frozen III! In Live Action! Following the forgettable events of Frozen II, Arendelle is under attack by the Galactic Empire! Fortunately, she has help from the totally legitimate and fair Chinese government before the Avengers show up and start kicking ass! Featuring the first and we mean first blink and you’ll miss it gay couple! Only on Disney+! Buy our merch! Fuck you!"
  • Later on, it's reveal Forrester, the Big Bad, is also a Cryptobro.
• Trauma Swing: Morgan goes to one while reflecting on life, before Moof arrives as well and the two have a heart to heart on they both have a Dark and Troubled Past.
• Unfortunate Name: The name of Forrester's company is Alpha Q.
• Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Our heroes trudge through a Sucky School in the morning and are nearly killed (thanklessly) fighting a monster by the afternoon.
• Who Watches the Watchmen?: A big question asked. On the one hand, Morgan and the rest of Team Arctic are a bunch of untrained vigilantes in charge of fighting a villain that seems to home in on their very location at least once a week. Numerous characters in the story such as Director D. point out how no one oversees their antics.
  • On the other side, the Z Squadron has this worse. They have oversight, albeit very shitty oversight. They're more or less used as enforcers for the government in the War on Drugs and routinely abuse their authority using their status as a shield.
• The Worf Effect: Nevermore/ Luther Zhang is established as being an elite hero stronger than any on Morgan's team early on. However, upon facing of against the Nightmare King, he's not only defeated but sent to the ER. The villain himself is shown to be almost completely unfased by the battle.
• Worst Aid: St. God's Memorial Hospital. Patients are seen rolling slot machines for healthcare, charges exorbant prices for ambulance rides, and prescribes actual narcotics to patients.
• You Make Me Sick: Morgan gives this very Justified reaction to Clay after the Bathtub Scene with him.
  “YOU ARE DISGUSTING!” Morgan shouted. “YOU DEFY LOGIC WITH HOW FUCKING DISGUSTING YOU ARE BEING!”

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