The author of this fic has described it as a "labor of love", prompted by a fanart that they found just too good to let sit. It's set a few weeks after the end of season 2, so it doesn't exactly have a divergence point; rather, it's an idea of how the series could go from there. And after much fluff and angst and diabolical scheming, it wraps everything up very neatly.
The first "half" is focused on Adrien's relationships with both Marinette and Ladybug, who are going out of their way to support him through a particularly hard time at home, and who both eventually reveal their feelings for him in the process (because Marinette may be tongue-tied when it's just her own feelings on the line, but if Adrien needs her help, that's a different matter). Marinette's dual identity dance is fun to read, with both kwamis getting involved in the effort to resolve things with everyone happy and Adrien kept unaware that they're the same girl (Tikki gives a lot of good advice, but she still has her limits!). Marinette and Chat Noir interact briefly, just to make the fun even more tangled, but ultimately it's a Ladrienette story.
The second half then gears up, with Hawkmoth launching his master plan and being confronted at last. Telling too much more would be spoiling, but suffice to say that the final victory is elegant, satisfying, and thorough, without being brutal. Gabriel's depiction throughout the story is a mixture of human and chilling, well-intentioned but very extremist; he's keeping an eye on Adrien's love life, and does actually hope that Adrien will eventually be happy, but he views the love triangle first and foremost as an opportunity to be exploited. And his patience and intelligence are just as dangerous as his Miraculous.
Despite the teen rating, the story is clean enough to be largely suitable for precocious younger children, perhaps with parental guidance.
How it should have ended after season 2
The author of this fic has described it as a "labor of love", prompted by a fanart that they found just too good to let sit. It's set a few weeks after the end of season 2, so it doesn't exactly have a divergence point; rather, it's an idea of how the series could go from there. And after much fluff and angst and diabolical scheming, it wraps everything up very neatly.
The first "half" is focused on Adrien's relationships with both Marinette and Ladybug, who are going out of their way to support him through a particularly hard time at home, and who both eventually reveal their feelings for him in the process (because Marinette may be tongue-tied when it's just her own feelings on the line, but if Adrien needs her help, that's a different matter). Marinette's dual identity dance is fun to read, with both kwamis getting involved in the effort to resolve things with everyone happy and Adrien kept unaware that they're the same girl (Tikki gives a lot of good advice, but she still has her limits!). Marinette and Chat Noir interact briefly, just to make the fun even more tangled, but ultimately it's a Ladrienette story.
The second half then gears up, with Hawkmoth launching his master plan and being confronted at last. Telling too much more would be spoiling, but suffice to say that the final victory is elegant, satisfying, and thorough, without being brutal. Gabriel's depiction throughout the story is a mixture of human and chilling, well-intentioned but very extremist; he's keeping an eye on Adrien's love life, and does actually hope that Adrien will eventually be happy, but he views the love triangle first and foremost as an opportunity to be exploited. And his patience and intelligence are just as dangerous as his Miraculous.
Despite the teen rating, the story is clean enough to be largely suitable for precocious younger children, perhaps with parental guidance.