A/N1: Because this freaking fandom just really makes me want kickass ladybug warrior woman and conflicted chat noir. And @edorazzi’s posts about the total cultural inaccuracies regarding the ancient Egypt/pharaoh episode made me want to see if I could resolve the issue.
~
There are no ladybugs in Kemet.
So Miriam can’t be entirely blamed when she throws her basket and shrieks, “Demon!” at the red thing flying around her family’s room. Later, when Miriam has calmed down, Tikki explains that she’s a kwami, not a demon.
Miriam still doesn’t quite understand the difference. Magic is something for the nobles or priests and priestesses of the temples–false gods, her elders murmur, so careful and so quiet–and so she does not have much to base her trust on, but she accepts that, for now, Tikki means no harm.
However they are at a crossroads: jewelry, too, is for the higher classes of the kingdom. Miriam’s not going to wear earrings in blatant disregard for her station. The overseers are not kind to slaves who don’t fall in line.
That first night, there are still no ladybugs in Kemet.
—
Ahsan is a priest in training of the Temple of Bast. It is an honor to be one of the chosen, so he doesn’t know why he wishes his father had refused. No, he is one of Bast’s children now–he has no father, only a mother.
He’s not unhappy: life at the temple is nice, and the rituals to ensure good and fertile harvest are important to the kingdom. He has a purpose and he knows his duties well; he just feels empty.
Bast is a wise and generous goddess, she must be, Ahsan thinks, to send him an avatar of her will in the form of a black cat. Plagg has an abrasive personality and a near intolerable fondness for fesikh, but it is a small price to pay.
Ahsan is not the first priest of Bast to become a vessel for her power–but he is, undeniably, the strongest.
—
Miriam keeps her head down, that is the way of life. Her entire culture, it seems, revolves around keeping her head down. She bites back the urge to scream, “Are we not the children of Jacob, he who wrestled with God?”
It is startling, because she has never been one for confrontation, for conflict. But she has the power to do something now, a small part of her whispers, or she could have the power. If she took up Tikki’s offer, pierced her ears, become more than just herself.
But ultimately, the decision isn’t up to her, not really. She’s never been the kind of person to stand by when someone needs help. Usually, that means adding a chore or two to her workload, but now she can do more. She can be more.
It is fitting that, as Ladybug, she wears red. To her people, red means joy and happiness; for the citizens of Kemet, for her enemies, red is bad luck.
—
He still doesn’t quite have a handle on his abilities. The other priests say it is because of his youth, his inexperience–they do not know why Bast has chosen him, but they cannot argue that he has been chosen. No other magician in Kemet can so easily rain destruction. Even if, for Ahsan, it was an accident.
Plagg says it’s because his abilities are bad luck–there is no good magic to be unlocked through control and hard work–but Bast is the protector, a goddess of good fortune. Surely, she wouldn’t bestow one of her children with the powers of misfortune?
Ahsan falters, doubts himself–never the goddess, no, the problem is with him, not her–until he hears of rumors. A red demon frequenting the slave neighborhoods, stopping them from fulfilling their purpose.
Above all, Bast is a goddess of cats–the sacred creatures who protect crops by killing vermin–Ahsan does not need to be able to light a fire or purify water or increase the growth of plants. He just needs to hunt down his goddess’ enemies and destroy them.
~
A/N2: Ahahaha… apparently they first meet because Black Cat wants to kill Ladybug? I dunno. Obviously, he fails. And then falls in love. Obviously. But that’s all I’ve got for now…
Have some reasoning/world-building: Basically, ladybugs and the color red have absolutely no (positive) meaning in ancient Egyptian culture. But what about Jewish culture?
I am not Jewish, nor am I an expert in Jewish history/culture so I don’t have any authority whatsoever. If I have made gross impositions or violations, please let me know–I am open to correcting or (if I really fucked up) deleting this post.
Anyway, I say this because I did a simple gleaning of wikipedia and got the following tidbits: “Tola’at” and “shani” (scarlet and crimson) symbolized blood, and thus frequently typified life, as well as joy and happiness. ALSO: In Hebrew, the ladybug is called “Moshe Rabbenu’s (i.e. Moses’s) little cow” or “little horse.” Occasionally it is called “little Messiah.” So… I mean… I dunno… maybe? I actually don’t know if I’m implying this iteration of Ladybug to be Miriam, sister of Moses, or just a girl who happens to be named Miriam but… decide how you will.
Anyway, anyway, I head-canon that the reason why Chat Noir wasn’t as prominent in that episode (even though he really ought to be considering ancient Egyptian culture) is because all of his supernatural abilities from Plagg would have been credited to Bast. Which would make him just one in a long line of cat-themed magicians. As opposed to Ladybug who would stand out as being the only ladybug themed woman warrior, with presumably no repeats in that region of the world.
edit: now on ao3 as part of the series Spots and Bells (and Unnamed Tales) here!
JackSGreyson Says 