Despite how much her host Marinette loves to delude herself, tikki was a god. And gods need attention to stay , sane to say the least. Stable to say the most. Offerings and attention kept her within this realm. Kept her powers in check. Kept her from slaughtering villages by accident. Kept her from burning out her hosts by accident.
She needed offerings , attention , love , and devotion.
And lucky for Marinette she could get it through her hosts.
It was simple: the more attention and fame her host would get the more tikki got by proxy. So her hosts (often teenage girls as they were the only ones foolish enough to make deals with gods) got to have the attention they oh so desperately wanted , and tikki didn't need to trick them into slaughtering lambs. It was a win win.
But it only worked if public attention stayed positive. Negative attention was even worse than no attention no offerings. It unraveled her. It fanned the flames of her power. No attention made her weak , positive attention made her stable , but negative attention made her far too powerful.
So powerful she couldn't even control it.
Some would think this was a good thing. Plagg certainly thought so that's why he made Sure his hosts were hated by everyone in the past.
But tikki likes control. She likes knowing what's going to happen. She likes the odds being in her favor. And a power so great even she couldn't control it? The very thought made her sick.
All this to say that tikki was furious when she read a news article falling ladybug (her host) a quote “frigid bitch”
“I told you not to snub that news reporter!” She hissed into Marinette's ear.
She was in her smaller form the one marinette so fondly called a “giant bug mouse” Marinette seemed to be less freaked out whenever she was in this form instead of the others she much preferred. But it did give her some advantages. Like being able to hover directly over Marinette's ear so she could be nice and clear when she yelled at her for her stupidity.
“Tikki I was about to transform back.” Marinette said sounding exhausted “I couldn't risk it”
“You could have! Five seconds to say hi! Or to say that you love all of your fans! Or fucking something!” Tikki shouted at her. She could feel herself unraveling it was getting harder and harder to stay in this form. To not cause shockwaves with her voice.
“It was a major news site, Marinette. Half of Paris probably saw it by now! Think of the impact!” Tikki sighed, moving away from Marinette's ear to rest on the desk. Getting upset would just make her lose control even further and she did not need that.
“Okay look here's what we're going to do. The news woman whose spawn you babysit for-”
“Nadja chamack?”
“Whatever! That woman! She invited you onto the show last night , you are going to go on and you are going to smile and tell jokes and you are going to make them love you!” Tikki explained getting more and more upset with every word “or so help Marinette I will make you wish that you never met me”
Her form must have changed because Marinette was looking at her horrified now, her hands covering her mouth as she shook slightly. Whatever. Some fear would be good for her. She had been far too careless.
“Are we clear Marinette?”
“Yes Tikki.”
“Good. Now say spots on we're late for patrol.”
