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immaturityofthomasastruc · 2 years

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IOTA Reviews: Ephemeral

Well, here we are. I can't believe we've gotten this far. You know, I've had my problems with this show, and it's clear it's gone downhill these past few years, especially in the fourth season, but even ignoring the recent clone drama, it's still got a lot of likable characters, hilarious moments, good action, and one of my favorite female superheroes. It's why I don't hesitate to call this show my favorite TV show of all time.

That's right, my friends, after almost six years, DC's Legends of Tomorrow has finally reached one hundred episodes.

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And yeah, while it was a glorified clip show, it was still nice to see so many old characters return all while teaching the two newest members of the team what it means to be a Legend, and—oh, right. Miraculous Ladybug got to a hundred episodes too.

Although, technically, because of the anachronistic airing schedule, it's the ninety-seventh episode, not the hundredth, which I'm sure won't confuse viewers with the numerous references to the number 100 at all.

Let's get into the nineteenth (chronologically the twenty-second) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season, and (chronologically) the one-hundredth episode of the series: Ephemeral

We start off with, and tell me if you've heard this before, Gabriel monologuing to Emile's corpse about how much he loves her, how it doesn't matter how many inhumane things he does, or if he'd have to do them all A HUNDRED times again, he loves her, and that's enough, which totally makes him a deep character. How does the stock footage of Shadowmoth sending out Akumas feel more original than whenever he does this?

Gabriel goes to an event with Adrien to the launch of his ONE-HUNDREDTH COLLECTION for the Agreste brand, but he senses negative emotions for an Akuma, so he decides to ditch this huge moment for his career and leave Adrien to hold a press conference... and tells him do while fidgeting with his ring, leading to Adrien complying.

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I'll... I'll get to this later...

At the actual press conference, Adrien is asked about the collection being dedicated to Emilie, to which he says his father “did it for her”, right before we cut to an akumatized Bob Roth (the asshole music producer from “Guitar Villain” and “Silencer”), AKA Moolak, attacking the public. Subtle, writers.

As for the design... you can really tell the animators were slumming it for this one. It's just a gold safe with Bob's head inside surrounded by gold coins. I get he isn't the main attraction, and points for not making him a costumed villain, but why not make him a Sentimonster instead with how inhuman his design is? Though I guess we should count ourselves lucky it isn't just Mr. Pigeon or Gigantitan again like all the other filler Akumas.

Ladybug arrives on the scene with every temp hero available, sans Rena Furtive (Carapace, Viperion, Ryuko, Pegasus, King Monkey, Vesperia, Pigella, Purple Tigress, and Polymouse), just to find a way to defeat Moolak. Ryuko tries to use her Lightning Dragon to make a dent in the safe, while Pegasus tries to use Voyage to portal into Moolak, but neither are successful. I'm guessing we're going to ignore what Purple Tigress can do with her power for the sake of the plot. You know things are dire when even the greatest superhero of all time, Vesperia, can't even stop Moolak on her own, though she does state what has to be done, clearly showing off her genius.

GOD DAMN IT! The one time, the ONE TIME Cat Noir isn't there to blow his Cataclysm on something that could have easily been broken like a record or a plastic charm, it's an indestructible Akuma they're fighting. This obviously means Cat Noir is absolutely integral to make the team function, and they're just helpless without him.

Look, I can get that the circumstances in “Optigami” and “Sentibubbler” were contrived in some way in order to justify Alya's role as Marinette's confidant, but I found it easier to believe because not only has Marinette been incapacitated by Akumas before, but Alya was shown to be crafty as Rena Rouge and was shown to be crafty in her civilian life in earlier episodes, so it didn't feel like she was saving the day just so the writers could make her look good. Here, this situation was specifically written to highlight how useful Cat Noir is because this Akuma just happens to be an impenetrable safe that needed Cataclysm to defeat it. It doesn't show off how necessary Cat Noir is as a hero, it shows off how useful his power is, and the situation could have easily been avoided if Ladybug simply had the Cat Miraculous to hand out to someone else like with the other temp heroes.

Adrien is, of course, helpless to leave the press conference, because what do you expect a superhero to do? Say getting his father's approval doesn't matter when lives are on the line? NOPE! He was told to stay there, and so he can't do anything to help out, showing how useful he is as a superhero.

After not hearing from Cat Noir again, Ladybug decides to go on without him, summoning her Lucky Charm, a firetruck of all things (wait until Ladybug gets a fighter jet in the season finale), giving her the idea to have Polymouse draw Moolak's fire with Multitude while Vesperia (backed up by Carapace's Shelter) stuns him with venom, giving Viperion the chance to try all possible combinations to the safe through the use of Second Chance, finally cracking the code on his ONE-HUNDREDTH try. Ladybug manages to free the Akuma without the use of Cataclysm, de-evilizes it, casts Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, presumably gives him a Magical Charm offscreen, King Monkey, Pigella, and Purple Tigress did absolutely nothing to help, and Shadowmoth says he'll try ONE HUNDRED more times to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous.

While Ladybug takes Viperion to the sewers to get the Snake Miraculous back presumably after the others hand their back as well, she's berated by Celestial Guardian Su-Han, who scolds her for what happened.

Big talk coming from the dude who couldn't even defeat one villain on his own (and one he used to run circles around while training him) with his “Mirakung-Fu”.

Su-Han points out how dangerous it potentially is to leave someone with the Miraculous of Destruction alone without any method of contacting him outside of battle, and seeing how he's a mouthpiece designed to make even the more reasonable concern by viewers look insane, he's obviously wrong.

Oh, come on! When has Cat Noir ever acted like a supervillain, much less use his Miraculous for selfish purposes? All he's done is soak in the limelight the public has given him (Copycat, Prime Queen, Glaciator 2), said things he'd never say in his civilian life thanks to the mask (Copycat, Simon Says, Felix), ignored his partner's personal boundaries (Prime Queen, Glaciator, Frozer, Oblivio, Glaciator 2), refused to follow orders when given them (Glaciator, Syren, Frozer, Party Crasher, New York Special, Lies, Sentibubbler, Hack-San, Wishmaker), destroyed public property in his anger (Sentibubbler, Glaciator 2), and abandoned the city he was supposed to protect (New York Special). If that's not the definition of a noble superhero, I don't know what is.

Su-Han orders Ladybug to find out Cat Noir's identity in case he turns bad, or else he'll take back his Miraculous and choose a new Cat Noir, and Ladybug tells him that the reason they don't know each other's identities in case they're captured, instead of, you know, this guy.

The worst thing is that this rule was never properly established at all, so this episode could have told us the origin of this rule. We never knew why the rule was in place in “Lady Wifi”...

Ladybug: Nobody must know who we really are. Not even us.

We never knew why the rule was in place in “Origins”...

Ladybug: You should get going. Our identities must remain secret.

We never knew why the rule was in place in “Kwamibuster”...

Plagg: Besides, you shouldn't be trying to find out more, if you discovered Ladybug's true identity you'd have to give your Miraculous back!

And we never knew why the rule was in place here. This episode could have had a flashback to the beginning of the series where Ladybug and Cat Noir (or Marinette and Tikki) discussed the idea of Hawkmoth figuring out their identities, leading to her establishing the rule. You know, call back to the chronological first episode of the series, like a lot of shows do when they reach A HUNDRED episodes? It would do more to back up Marinette's claim that their identities must remain secret as we would see her talking about why the rule was in place instead of this explanation that was never given to us beforehand.

Ladybug strikes a deal with Su-Han so he can figure out Cat Noir's identity without her knowing, but she needs the help of Luka (who was there during the whole conversation) for her plan. Here, we get more of an explanation for the rule, but it's obvious, and we still don't know when it was established in the first place.

As opposed to when Shadowmoth figured out Luka's identity, only made one plan around it, and gave up after failing once because Astruc thinks you can't workshop your evil plans for some reason.

THIS IS WHAT THOMAS ASTRUC ACTUALLY BELIEVES.

In fact, what does Su-Han even think of the temp heroes? How can Shadowmoth know most of their identities and he's just okay with it? Does he even know Shadowmoth knows who most of them are? Why doesn't he tell Ladybug to never give them their Miraculous back?

Ladybug's plan is to have Cat Noir tell her his identity, and then after Viperion hears it, he'll rewind time and tell Su-Han about it (while he technically already knows as this takes place after “Wishmaker”, it's safe to assume Su-Han won't be happy at a temp hero knowing both of their identities, so Luka's playing dumb for now) while Ladybug doesn't know.

Okay... that's a weird and, let's be honest here, kind of immoral plan. In the next scene, Ladybug basically tricks Cat Noir into revealing his identity by pretending to believe the things he wants her to say, and she's never really called out for it.

I believe the kids today refer to this kind of behavior as “Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss”.

How exactly is this any different from what the two Ladybug doppelgangers from “The Puppeteer 2” and “Ladybug” tried to do with Cat Noir? The real Ladybug is still tricking Cat Noir into giving up classified information, and it's never really framed as a bad thing. Sure, she was forced to, and this will have consequences, but she never gets called out for her behavior here specifically. Instead, her starting a relationship with Adrien later in the episode is the mistake she made according to Astruc.

I'll get to this later, don't worry.

And even if there was a scene where Ladybug realized how unethical her plan was, why rely solely on Viperion? Why not have Pigella use her Gift from a distance to get a hint on who Cat Noir is by seeing his greatest desire, or if Ladybug needed Viperion for the plan to work, why not have Rena Furtive use her power to disguise Viperion as Ladybug to not risk the real Ladybug finding out in case Second Chance runs out? As a matter of fact, why didn't Ladybug just tell Cat Noir Su-Han wants to know his identity like Master Fu did? Cat Noir knows who Su-Han is, so it's not exactly unreasonable for him to understand where he's coming from. Seriously, he was willing to trust Ladybug enough to hand back his Miraculous if she wanted him to in “Furious Fu”, so it's not out of the picture for him to only reveal his identity to Su-Han if that's what both he and Ladybug want.

So after tricking Cat Noir into telling Ladybug he's Adrien Agreste, Ladybug is so stunned by the revelation, the window for Viperion to rewind time with Second Chance closes. Interestingly, Adrien says that “whoever Ladybug may be under her mask, she is the most outstanding person in the world”. Let's just ignore the fact that Adrien never saw Marinette in a romantic light and only thought of her that way when he found out she was Ladybug in “Cat Blanc”.

Ladybug, despite promising to reveal her identity after coming up with the idea in the first place, says she can't right now, and Adrien is surprisingly chill with it, giving her plenty of time to think it over. If only he respected her boundaries like this more often. After Ladybug tells Su-Han who Cat Noir is, she goes to her room to think about it, leading to a handful of really good scenes. Marinette is genuinely unsure if she was actually loving the real Adrien or just a facade he put on like what other episodes hint at, and after a brief montage where she keeps seeing Cat Noir instead of Adrien on a picture and in person, she decides to talk with Luka about it.

He's obviously referring to the fact that he already knows who both Ladybug and Cat Noir are, and he's giving Marinette advice on how to deal with what she just learned. I think I have an easier time with Luka being for the Love Square because he's always been a very supportive person who respected Marinette's feelings, as opposed to Kagami, who antagonized Marinette for almost two seasons over her liking Adrien before thinking they're made for each other. It's unclear if Luka still has feelings for Marinette or if he means he loves her platonically now, but it's still a decent interaction. The visual of Marinette smiling at Cat Noir as she came to terms with the knowledge is also nice, even if they ignore all the less than glamorous stuff he's done to Ladybug before this episode.

Afterwards, we get a montage of Ladybug and Cat Noir being more in sync as the former can show up to battles quicker, showing a benefit to Ladybug knowing Cat Noir's identity, a recreation of the umbrella scene with their hero forms that's far better than what “Mr. Pigeon 72” did, and after an uncertain amount of time passes, Ladybug finally reveals her identity to Adrien, where things go downhill again.

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Yep, the show really wants us to believe that Adrien considers Marinette one of his best friends. Okay, yes, Marinette has stuck up for Adrien several times (The Collector, New York Special), but outside of class interactions, the two have barely spent any time together. The only time Adrien ever contacted Marinette on his own accord to spend time with her outside of social/work obligations where multiple people were there and Marinette happened to be around (Timebreaker, Horrificator, Kung Food, Gamer, Santa Claws, Despair Bear, Befana, Frightningale, Style Queen, Frozer, Heroes' Day, Animaestro, Reflekdoll, Startrain, Desperada, Party Crasher, The Puppeteer 2, Heart Hunter, New York Special, Shanghai Special, Sole Crusher, Queen Banana, Mega Leech, Optigami), or just bumped into her in public with no plans on his end (Gorizilla, Backwarder, Guiltrip, Wishmaker) was in a single episode from this season, and even then, he was only asking her for a favor (Simpleman).

Say what you will about Marinette, but she has consistently made plans to spend more time with Adrien, do things for him, and tried get closer to him (The Bubbler, Copycat, Dark Cupid, Gamer, Horrificator, The Puppeteer, Riposte, Gigantitan, Desperada, Party Crasher, Cat Blanc, Optigami, Glaciator 2, Simpleman). Adrien, on the other hand, has barely spent any time with Marinette, and ignored several chances to do so either because he was forced to ignore her and stay home (Captain Hardrock, Silencer, Mr. Pigeon 72), because he didn't want to spend time with her (Glaciator), or just didn't really care about her (Weredad).

To put it as generously as I can, Marinette and Adrien are classmates and acquaintances at best not “super besties better than the resties” like the show keeps trying to claim.

And things get even dumber in the very next scene (ignoring a brief bit where Adrien hands Marinette a note in class) where Gabriel decides to be a decent father for one in his life, overhears a conversation Adrien was having on the phone... and immediately figures out he's Cat Noir because he used the term “M'lady”.

I DID NOT EDIT THIS. THIS IS ACTUALLY HOW THE SCENE WENT.

Gabriel just overheard Adrien say “M'lady”, and immediately came to the conclusion that he was Cat Noir. Because it's not like that term became a popular buzzword since Cat Noir first appeared, right? At least in “Cat Blanc”, Adrien used deductive reasoning to figure out Ladybug's identity, and didn't correctly guess thanks to the slightest hint he got. And why was Gabriel suddenly going to talk with Adrien when he rarely gave his son the time of day before? You guessed it, never explained.

So the next morning, Adrien feels compelled to walk to the painting of his mother, where he inputs the code to go to Shadowmoth's lair without even knowing, he sees his mother's body, before Gabriel says how it's been ONE HUNDRED weeks since Emilie “left them” and that he's tried ONE HUNDRED times to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous (even though “Felix” said it's only been a year, and Mr. Pigeon has been akumatized seventy-two times, so great continuity there, writers), transforms into Shadowmoth in front of him, and immediately akumatizes Adrien while the camera fixates on Shadowmoth's ring finger right before Adrien gives in and hands over his Miraculous to Shadowmoth, heavily implying Adrien is actually a Sentimonster.

And right now, I’m guessing something like this is currently going through your mind right now like it did mine.

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Yes, this episode managed to come up with a scene dumber than Adrien saying Marinette is one of his best friends. I know, it's impressive.

Just... why does Gabriel keep trying to akumatize Adrien as soon as he finds out he's Cat Noir? He at least had some morals and didn't try to akumatize him or intentionally get him harmed, as we literally just saw in “Glaciator 2”. If he's Gabriel's son, he should be able to at least try and reason with him before immediately resorting to brainwashing him. I'm just saying, even Omni-Man tried talking with his son before beating him within an inch of his life for not listening. Another thing, why did Gabriel specifically need Adrien to be akumatized here? Yeah, his plan involved ambushing Marinette, and Adrien, who has the knowledge of her location and identity is now incredibly loyal to him, but why did Adrien need to be the Akuma to fight alongside him if Akuma powers aren't dependent on his emotional state? And once again, we're robbed of a potentially interesting scene of Gabriel rethinking his entire mission upon realizing his son was his enemy the whole time, and immediately forced him to follow his wishes without even trying to reason with him, just like how we never got to see Adrien really process seeing his mother's body and finding out his father is Shadowmoth.

And let's just get this out of the way here, because this is the bigger gripe I have with this scene, I HATE THE SENTIDRIEN THEORY AND THE FACT THAT IT IT'S BASICALLY CANON NOW WITH A BURNING PASSION. I've talked about the theory briefly before in earlier posts (mainly Astruc trying to simultaneously hint it might be true and saying it's obviously false), but now I get to really rip into this plot thread and why I personally think it's the dumbest thing the show has ever done. Yes, that's including everything I've said about the Love Square, Cat Noir's unheroic behavior, AND Chloe's arc. It pisses me off that much.

First, this plot twist just screams “OBVIOUS RETCON” thanks to it getting absolutely no foreshadowing in any of the previous three seasons outside of the rules established for Sentibug, and even then, Sentibug wasn't even the focus of the episode or the conflict. Why not foreshadow or at least allude to that by having Gabriel allude to how dangerous it is to create a human Sentimonster or have a few shots of his ring, hinting it serves the same role the keychain did in that episode? If this is a major thing you're establishing about one of your two main characters, you can't just introduce it out of nowhere. You need to help the audience settle in first, so while it's an interesting plot twist, it adds rewatch value to the show to see how many hints were there. If there are no hints, it makes the actual twist that much harder to stomach. Why do you think so many people were pissed with how Chloe's arc ended?

Second, If Adrien is actually a Sentimonster and Gabriel can easily control him from a long distance even when transformed, how can Adrien still get away to transform into Cat Noir? You're telling me Gabriel doesn't even think of ordering him to find a safe place to hide from an Akuma whenever he's in public? How did Adrien even get out of his home to sneak to school in “Origins” if Gabriel can command him to follow his orders? Sure, “Optigami” and “Sentibubbler” hinted that Shadowmoth needed to be close to the Sentimonsters he directly created to follow orders, but both of those episodes required him to leave his base and manipulate others as part of his plans, so those could just be coincidental.

Third, how does their bond even work? If Sentimonsters are created through the Peacock, the Miraculous of Emotion, does that mean Gabriel can sense Adrien's emotions through his connection to him? Does Gabriel's influence over Adrien have any limits? Is there a way for Adrien to leave the country and be free of it like what happened in “Startrain”? If Gabriel can give orders to Sentimonsters thanks to him controlling the object facilitating their mental link (Sentibubbler's coffee cup being an obvious example other than the ring), can he read Adrien's mind? If he can, why the hell has he never taken advantage of it? Is it just the ring Emilie had before Gabriel took it in “Felix”, or did both wedding rings hold control over Adrien?

Fourth, I don't think I need to say how this is clearly a way for the writers to get out of talking about the way Gabriel treats his son by handwaving it away and saying “It's not child abuse! Adrien was forced to listen to Gabriel thanks to the control he had over his son”. The writers didn't want to go into detail about Adrien's relationship with his father other than how sad it makes him, because that would imply they actually wanted to talk about a serious issue a lot of real people go through instead of making broad strokes in saying “X is bad! Don't be like X!” There was a really interesting idea here to explore the relationship between Gabriel and Adrien, where Adrien learns to become more independent outside of being Cat Noir and break free from Gabriel's grasp, becoming a more emotionally balanced person in the process. Unfortunately, the writers felt it would be easier to make it so Adrien now has no choice but to follow Gabriel's commands, which does nothing to help the poor reputation he has among viewers. Are we seriously still expected to sympathize with this man after the way he turned his own son into a slave and later attacked a powerless Marinette?

Finally, why is the show still keeping the fact Adrien is a Sentimonster ambiguous or not after blatantly telegraphing it in this episode and earlier ones too (Gabriel Agreste, Mega Leech)? Unless this is a huge red herring, I think we all know where this is going, so I just don't get why the show is building it up as this big mystery, or why Astruc is being so wishy-washy about the subject, when it's obvious the show is building up to the big reveal Adrien is a Sentimonster. In fact, why not confirm it here and leave the audience's minds lingering on the revelation seeing how the season's almost over if you're going to confirm it in the finale?

Come on, you can't tell me that's not what's going to happen. They're obviously going to give a lot of focus to Angstdrien Depreste losing focus on the fight because he isn't human, and he'll be torn between Ladybug and Shadowmoth, but he'll obviously choose the former over the latter because of the power of love and all that crap Huey Lewis loves preaching about. If something like that doesn't happen in the season finale, or in Season 5 for that matter, I'll eat my hat.

So we cut to the movie theater where Marinette is waiting for Adrien, only to be ambushed by...

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Oh my God, that's the design you're going with?! Congratulations, animators, you managed to make Shadowmoth actually look menacing by comparison. I mean, the purple color scheme just looks ridiculous when trying to blend the designs of Shadowmoth and Cat Noir's together, and with how skin-tight the jumpsuit this grown man is wearing looks coupled with the little ears on top, it's amazing that the animators thought this was meant to be the symbol of Shadowmoth (now calling himself Shadow Noir, which is an oxymoron) finally winning after getting the Cat Miraculous, they failed miserably. He looks like he's trying to cosplay as Black Panther for crying out loud!

This is still enough for Marinette to transform into Ladybug and summon her Lucky Charm, an electronic watch displaying the same time as when she and Viperion executed her plan to figure out Cat Noir's identity, but before she can figure what it means and how to use it, she's caught off-guard by Ephemeral.

For an Akuma who only appears for about a minute, I think Epheheral has a decent design. I like how he sort of resembles Hawkmoth's original design with some nice shades of purple, a good metaphor for how Shadowmoth basically groomed Adrien into being his servant. The perpetually miserable personality and expression on his face really helps him stand out as a character.

His powers raise a couple questions, but not for the reasons you're thinking of. His power to accelerate time (something I think we all want to do while watching this episode) right as Ladybug uses her Lucky Charm so she can immediately detransform is a really clever plan, but... why wasn't this “Plan A”? Like I said, Akuma powers aren't dependent on the victim's personalities, as Shadowmoth gives them their powers and overrides their free will, so why did it take so long for him to use an Akuma like this if it can easily beat Ladybug? If the powers are in fact a result of the victim's circumstances, why not make Timebreaker's powers so everything around her starts to reverse, leading to both Ladybug and Cat Noir transforming back? Seriously, before this, only three Akumas had powers specifically designed to depower the heroes (Miraculer, Kwamibuster, Feast), so how come Shadowmoth can't use more powers like that? Oh right, because the plot said so. You know, with how often I say that, I'm worried Thorias Unlimited is going to press charges if he finds out. In fact, why is Adrien still the same as Ephemeral? Is he overriding Shadowmoth's influence enough to be cognizant of his actions? The whole idea of how different Akumas act from their civilian forms is such a vaguely defined concept in this show.

So yeah, after being attacked by Ephemeral, Ladybug sends a desperate message to Luka telling her where the Miracle Ball is (obviously assuming he can figure out her identity since she knows the name of Luka's Kwami) before detransforming, and gets her Miraculous taken by Shadow Noir, who throws this defenseless fourteen year old girl aside and potentially injuring her, which is obviously the same as Mr. Freeze taking revenge on an asshole businessman who had actually wronged him to the point where even Batman was willing to expose his crimes after saving him from Mr. Freeze.

And... yeah, that's all we see of the first triple unification in the series and the titular Akuma of the ONE-HUNDREDTH episode. They only get less than a minute's worth of screentime where Ephemeral only used his power once and all Shadow Noir did was throw Marinette after nabbing her Miraculous, and neither of them are seen again. How did Moolak get more focus in this episode than these two did? It's even worse when you consider the reason so many Akumas were reused this season was to save up money for four new character models that barely got any screentime in this episode.

So Luka barges into Marinette's room and finds Sass, the Snake Kwami, showing him the picture of the watch and theorizing Marinette wants him to go back in time and undo the events that led to the identity reveal. While Luka can only travel back five minutes, Sass has the ability to travel back in time to any period where Second Chance was set up, but as earlier episodes have established (Style Queen, Gang of Secrets, Optigami, Dearest Family), any Kwami using their power in the slightest can lead to reality getting all screwed up. Remember, Plagg's Cataclysm in “Style Queen” that almost decimated Paris was only used as a last resort, and that was when he was holding back. If Sass tries to use his power to reverse time, we don't know what the hell could happen, and Wayzz, the Turtle Kwami, points out that if Marinette needs him to do that, shit must be hitting the fan hard.

And indeed, it does, as it turns out Gabriel made his wish off-screen, and seeing how “Robostus” established that the consequence to reviving someone means that someone would have to die or at least fall into a deep sleep like a magical equivalent to the conservation of mass law in physics, that obviously means the wish triggered the end of the world.

I'm sorry, what?

Oh my God, we're seriously introducing this plotpoint now, with only four minutes left in the episode? Okay, yes, there were a few episodes in Season 1 where Hawkmoth claimed his goal was to rule the world or use the Miraculous for more selfish ends (The Evilustrator, Rogercop, Timebreaker Darkblade), so it's entirely possible to assume Gabriel could possibly have other goals besides reviving his wife, but said goals were still never properly established. And again, it makes no sense for the show to once again go back on its own rules and say that making any wish, no matter how minor it is in the grand scheme of things, to require reality to be turned off and on again. And instead of actually showing Gabriel making his wish, it's only explained to us what happened, so we can't even see how the wish backfired on him. It feels like the writers added it in after realizing not much would actually happen if Shadowmoth managed to get the Miraculous, so they added in this bit with his wife to raise the stakes.

So because he really has no other choice, Sass uses Second Chance to being us back to Ladybug about to trick Cat Noir into revealing his identity (which is totally different from Gabriel resetting the world himself for some reason), until the lights across the city start to flickering, because as Optimus Primal put it best, “TIME ITSELF IS ALL BEING DESTROOOOOYED!”

But because the animators have already blown through basically their entire budget for this episode, all we get to see the chaotic state of Sass accidentally screwing up the space-time continuum is three old Akumas reappearing (Captain Hardrock, Gamer, and Gorizilla) a T-Rex rampaging through the streets for a few seconds, and the appearance of previous Ladybug, Joan of Arc, the aforementioned fourth new character model the writers did nothing with, as all we got with her was her briefly questioning what happened and charged at Ladybug and Cat Noir before disappearing.

And you want to know the worst part? We're still not done yet. The show still wants to have Ladybug use her Lucky Charm to save the day, even though the way time is unfolding doesn't nearly have as much of a punch as the writers want them to because of how little time there is spent building it up as a threat. Ladybug's Lucky Charm is a tiny weight, which reminds her of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, an organization that accurately measures the time of day around the world. She explains this using a visual that I'm sure won't attract widespread controversy or end any close friendships at all.

Ladybug theorizes that if they fix the satellite, they'll be able to fix the time on all the connected devices with clocks on them. Well, that, and I guess maybe send Joan of Arc back to her timeline too. So this is the climax to this show's ONE-HUNDREDTH episode: Ladybug and Cat Noir performing basic maintenance to fix everyone's phones. Riveting.

The writers remember their power-ups exist, so Ladybug and Cat Noir transform into Cosmobug and Astro Cat respectively before heading into space, casually breaking through the atmosphere before we learn that not only does Cosmobug know what the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is, but she also knows how to work a satellite's computer. So Cosmobug fixes the computer, and by extension, everyone's clocks on Earth, the astronauts on the International Space Station are probably wondering what the hell they're doing, Astro Cat makes a brief reference to the soundtrack from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and for some reason, Cosmobug decides not to go through with her plan.

Back at Marinette's balcony, Su-Han (who I'm guessing was asleep while reality was taking a beating from Sass) asks if she knows Cat Noir's identity, but she refuses. Before Su-Han can chew her out for disobeying orders, for some reason Ladybug suddenly gets the courage to stand up to the man who can easily kick her ass and take away her Miraculous if he wants to.

Well, at least the ending of this episode is just as consistent as the other scenes in it: Something that could have been a good scene if there was proper buildup, but instead feels like the writers made a few broad strokes when coming up with how to end the episode.

When the hell was this episode all about Ladybug being a good Guardian, much less her partnership with Cat Noir? Yes, this is a good scene to show how Marinette has become more confident in her role as Guardian compared to how the season started, but this was never what the episode was about. The whole reason Su-Han was angry at Ladybug was because she dragged out a fight for far too long when all she needed to end it instead of relying on a small army of heroes was Cat Noir's Cataclysm, and Su-Han wanted to know Cat Noir's identity because he was worried about what would happen if Cat Noir went rogue. Yes, it did relate to Ladybug's judgment as a leader and Guardian, but there was never any indication she was bad at her job.

Then there's Su-Han's random turnaround which is basically the ending to “Furious Fu” redone. Su-Han learns he was wrong, says Ladybug is awesome, and apologizes for being such a massive asshole, but it doesn't feel earned here. Su-Han worked as a character in “Furious Fu” because he had no idea what Marinette was like as a Guardian and had reasonable concerns he overreacted to, and was clearly shown to be in the wrong. When he was beat up by Furious Fu and saw how well Ladybug and Cat Noir worked together, it made sense to see him change his mind after being humbled. Here, there's no reason why Ladybug changed her mind on learning Cat Noir's identity or where she got the courage to stand up to Su-Han in the first place, so her calling him out doesn't feel earned. Maybe if Su-Han was still wary of Marinette at the end of his debut episode and made sporadic appearances throughout the season, this could have been a more impactful scene, kind of like Adrien finally realizing how harmful Lila's lies were in “Ladybug”.

But the dumbest thing is that the episode says that Su-Han was overreacting to the idea of Cat Noir's identity being unknown when he had every reason to be concerned. Cat Noir was still a no-show at the battle with Moolak and Ladybug needed to think outside the box just to defeat him without Cat Noir's help, because his power is still useful at the end of the day. And again, we see how useful Ladybug knowing Cat Noir's identity was, but the episode just skipped over that. All they had to do to prove Su-Han was wrong was have Sass remember part of the erased timeline and explain that what Su-Han wanted Ladybug to do ended up leading to Shadowmoth's victory, so he'd realize he failed at his mission.

But at least with that scene over, I can finally say that's how the ONE-HUNDREDTH episode of the show ends. Obviously, I didn't think it was very good.

I'm not sure if this was the result of executives or maybe COVID screwing up the production, but this episode just felt so rushed, and I think it would have benefited from being a two-parter. Just have the first episode build up to the fight with Moolak and the reveal afterwards, and have the second part focus on Marinette and Adrien's relationship and the ensuing tragedy without the half-assed climax where they fix the satellite.

I think the first half had some decent buildup, but after the reveal, it all goes downhill. Marinette is now super close to Adrien because the plot wants her to be, Gabriel torturing his son is just uncomfortable to watch when you remember how many sympathetic moments he gets in earlier episodes (including the last one to air, “Glaciator 2”), the fact that the Sentidrien theory is basically confirmed is a bad indicator to how future episodes will go, and the retcon surrounding the wish just felt forced.

Marinette's plan and actions in this episode really needed to be called out more, and not just for starting a relationship with Adrien, like Astruc claimed.

Astruc, forgive me for being blunt here, but if the Love Square is endgame, and every character in the show loves to say that Marinette and Adrien are “made for each other”, why are you blaming her for what happened to Adrien after they got together when Gabriel was the one who turned him against Marinette? Intentional or not, your team of writers has connected Marinette and Adrien getting together to the end of the world, and you're still saying we should ship them?

It's been six years, and ONE-HUNDRED episodes have aired, yet it feels like we're still at square one. Nothing has really changed, and the writers shun actual plot progression. Ironically, this episode is a perfect metaphor for the show: It has the potential to do great things, but as soon as things get interesting, the status quo is reset. People are starting to lose faith in the show and the production staff, and it shows with how mixed the reception to this episode has been. With how many fakeouts we've gotten for a Love Square reveal, the actual reveal better have some Emmy-worthy writing, if that ever happens.

While this isn't the worst episode of the season, it's definitely in the top five for me so far. Let's see if it stays that way, or if the rest of the season manages to get even worse.

But for now, I think we should take a moment of silence to pay tribute to all the great shows who were never as lucky as Miraculous Ladybug to reach ONE-HUNDRED episodes.

youtube

The Spectacular Spider-Man (26 Episodes)

Why the people at Disney thought Ultimate Spider-Man would make for a better show is beyond me.

Star Trek: The Original Series (79 Episodes)

The crew of the Enterprise never got to finish their five year mission, but they still paved the way for future installments.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (10 Episodes)

A worthy prequel to a pretty forgettable movie that was taken from us far too soon.

Teen Titans (65 Episodes)

Insert your own joke about Teen Titans Go! Here.

Mech-X4 (35 Episodes)

Seriously, go watch Mech-X4 if you can, because it's SO GOOD.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold (65 Episodes)

Henry Winkler as Ambush Bug said it best: At least the Caped Crusader can say he had a good run.

Quantum Leap (97 Episodes)

The show with an ending tacked on so last-minute, it spelled the main character's name wrong.

Here's to the next hundred episodes if Miraculous Ladybug manages to last that long without getting cancelled or ZAG filing for bankruptcy.

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hauntedbythefanficsofmypast · 3 years

Text

Spell Caster Pt. 1

Masterlist

Hawkmoth stood on the platform above, laughing at the two downed heroes. Ladybug and Chat laid facing each other barely able to move, exhausting shining in their eyes. They had fought long and hard but in the end he had led them into a trap, delivering hit after hit till neither could stand anymore. He had led them to his secret garden where beloved wife rested, and poor Adrien could barely keep himself together. He kept fighting, unwilling to let Hawkmoth win even if it was his father. While Marinette did her best to cover her hurting partner, he was just too much for them. Hawkmoth stood talking to Emilie as if she could hear him, going on about how he was finally going to bring her back. Ladybug shifted her gaze from Hawkmoth’s back to her partner’s eyes. Chat was crying as he stared at his best friend, knowing he hadn’t really helped in the fight.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered softly trying not to draw attention to them for as long as possible. “I’m sorry Ladybug, I should’ve helped but that-that’s my dad. I kept freezing up and I failed you.” Ladybug smiled gently, moving her arm and grabbing his hand.

“It’s not your fault Chaton.” A single tear fell from her eye as they stared at each other.

‘You need to move.’

Ladybug tensed at the voice looking around when she noticed Chat didn’t react to it. The voice was a woman's, it was soft and comforting, almost familiar.

‘You need to move now!’

She couldn’t find anybody else in the room, there was nobody but them. Yet the voice was still there, perhaps she was going crazy. It would make sense to her, especially because she couldn’t place who the voice belonged to.

‘Sweetheart, I will explain later I promise, but you must remember!’

Remember what? Why did this voice want her to remember something, couldn’t they see she was in a bit of trouble right now.

‘Ugh! Foolish girl! You are more than just Ladybug!’

Rude. Of course she was more than Ladybug, she was Marinette...she was Marinette daughter of..

‘Yes Marinette! Marinette daughter of! You are so close, remember the book!’

Marinette, she was Marinette, the book...what book, could the voice mean her spell book?

‘Yes! Yes, my little Spell Caster!’

She was Marinette, she was a spell caster. She was Marinette, and she was a spell caster. She was the daughter of Tom Dupain and Sabine-

‘Not by birth.’

Not by birth…Not by birth?! A distressed whine left her lips as she thought of her Maman, not by birth repeating in her head. Until she shoved it back focusing on her current crisis. She was Marinette and she was a Spell Caster, why hadn’t she thought of this before? She tried so hard to split Ladybug and Marinette to hide her identity that she forgot Marinette was special, if not more than Ladybug. What should she do though? She could alter his mind, but would it work? Would the Miraculous Gods affect her powers? Perhaps she could try an illusion?

“Chat, what was she like? Your mother.” Chat looked surprised as a gentle smile crossed his face.

“She was amazing, soft spoken, always so gentle and warm. She hated violence but she never backed down when it came to her family. She’d...she’d never want this to happen.” Chat broke as more tears fell and he held her hand tightly, barely even able to find the strength to.

“ Do you trust me?” She whispered as Hawkmoth began walking towards them. She’d need him in order to pull this illusion off. She’d need to see his memories. Chat nodded weakly, not willing to look away from her.

“Yes” She smiled and her dark blue eyes shifted into an unnatural swirling lavender.

“eciov reh raeh em tel.” Soon Emilie's soft and melodic voice graced her ear. Perfect, now the illusion will trick him.

‘That’s my Spell Caster.’

Who even is this voice, no no focus, she needs to create the illusion.

‘Silly girl.’

Hey! This voice seriously needed to stop distracting her. She turned her head slightly looking past Hawkmoth, and ignoring the smug smirk that she wanted nothing more than to punch off his face. Very hard.

“trapa mih raet reh evah efiw sih mih wohs.” She watched as an angry vision on Emilie appeared behind him looking as if she had sat up from her high tech coffin. Yes, coffin, the woman was dead, soul long gone and she didn’t have to be a daughter of Hades to know that. Daughter of Hades? What? What is she talking about?

‘Soon my child, soon.’

Who even was this voice! Later, she promised herself focusing on finalizing the illusion.

“Gabriel Agreste.” The same melodic voice called out, but instead of a soft and loving tone it was stern and angry. Hawkmoth turned immediately, staring at the vision of his wife in mute shock and disbelief. “What in the world are you doing!

‘I have called in a favor, one that will help you.’

Ugh, this voice popped in at the worst time. At least they were trying to help her though. She watched as Emilie’s illusion shifted slightly and it took her only a second to realize that it was more than an illusion now. No that was Emilie, just not her in body it was her, her soul.

‘Yes my child.’

She let out a wobbly grin as Emile began tearing into her husband. She squeezed Chat’s hand briefly hoping Emilie’s soul would be here long enough to say goodbye to her son. His eyes moved away from his mom’s form back to Ladybug’s.

“I will explain everything, I promise Chat. After this, no more secrets.”

She turned her attention back on Hawkmoth staring at his back intently. How could she get his miraculous? She was exhausted already so it couldn’t be anything complicated. Not to mention they’d need to get out of the lair after she took it. Summoning and a transportation spell, not a good combination when magically and physically exhausted. This left her in a very tough situation.

‘Someone is coming for you. You are too weak right now, the summoning spell will knock you out. Tell your partner to trust the one that comes from the shadows.’

Someone is coming? How can she know to trust them, just because a voice told her? Ugh, this was too difficult. Very well, tell Chat to trust the one from the shadows and then summon the butterfly Miraculous. She’d already taken the Peacock from Nathalie when they fought her earlier, so all that left was Hawkmoth’s.

“Chat, trust the one that comes from the shadows.”

“What? Ladybug-”

“Please Chat, trust me?”

“Always. Milady.”

“Then trust the one that comes from the shadows.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Suolucarim ylfrettub eht nommus i.”

The Miraculous immediately came to her hand but she didn’t get to celebrate as she began to see black spots. Her transformation dropped and she didn’t even get to enjoy Chat’s shocked face. Soon everything faded to dark with only parting words from the strange voice.

‘You and your partner are safe now my Spell Caster.’

She barely remembered what happened when she came to for the first time, everything was blurry as she panicked. Waking up in an unfamiliar room with someone she could barely see standing above her. Marinette threw a messy punch at the blonde above her, just barely missing even in her state. She lurched to throw herself off the bed but Will stopped her pulling her back onto it and talking softly. It did not help her at all and she didn’t stop panicking until Tikki flew in front of her face. Marinette took deep breaths staring at dearest friend. Will began pulling out new bandages getting ready to fix everything messed up in her panic. He was stopped by Marinette’s hand, she gave a weak smile as their eyes met. “Sorry…” She whispered out accent strong before falling back into the darkness.

Sun was directly in her eyes this time and she whimpered until it was blocked. Eyes meeting yet another stranger and instead of their stunning blue were a bright orange. She let out a distressed whine but did not move, Tikki was pressed against her neck. She was safe, even in the company of a stranger. Percy glanced at the door wishing for Will to magically appear before lifting the girl's head slightly holding a straw to her lips. “Drink please, it’ll help I swear.” He whispered trying to comfort her. Marinette took small sips, eyes changing to a soft and soothing blue at the taste of her favorite toasted white chocolate with triple espresso coffee. She glared when he pulled the straw away from her, causing Percy to laugh softly. He ran a hand through her hair in an attempt to be comforting. “I know, I know but too much will hurt you.” Her eyes watered slightly at the comfort.

“The voice didn’t lie.” She said softly, leaning into his hand. He quirked an eyebrow leaning closer to hear her. “The voice said we’d be safe, and we are.” Percy was silent before connecting the dots and nodding continuing to stroke her hair.

“The voice didn’t lie, you’re safe.” Marinette gave a small smile before darkness took her again.

“I can still barely believe it, Mar. The Gods are real, like real real, and you. You! You’re the daughter of one, her most powerful daughter too! I wouldn’t expect anything less of you. You’ve always been amazing in and outside of Ladybug. You’re my best friend, and-and I can’t wait for you to wake up. I need you to wake up please.” Adrien said softly, holding her hand, playing with her fingers. “I don’t know what our relationship will be. I don’t know if we’ll stay best friends or we’ll start dating. All I know is I want you in my life for the rest of my life.” Marinette squeezed his hand gently as her eyes faded to a soft pink.

“That sounds amazing, Rien.”

“Marinette!” Adrien cried out hugging her, laughter falling from both of them along with happy tears.

“Till the end?”

“Till the end.”

Percy smirked standing in the doorway, Chiron beside him as they watched the two.

“The holders of Creation and Destruction, in our camp.” Chiron mused watching the two before turning and walking toward the archery range. “This summer will be interesting won’t it.” He said ignoring Percy’s snort.

“I call training them Chiron!”

“Oh Gods help us, just what we need. Two more added to the chaos that is Percy Jackson.” Percy grinned, turning back to the two.

Yes, it would be a very interesting summer

✨Tag List Closed✨

@kanamexzeroyaoifangirl

@throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen

@athena452

@thornalchemist23

@fangirlnerd001

@witchbitch1998

@insane-fangirl-of-everything

@thewackest

@vivilikesmiraculous

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous fandom #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #adrien agreste #miraculous fanfic #miraculous marinette #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #the lightning thief #greek gods #miraculous au #miraculous crossover #daughter of Hecate

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ozzo-the-wozzo · 3 years

Text

The only possible Gabriel redemption I can see:

Ok ik the title sounds weird considering what we’ve seen with this man but stay with me

I feel as though Gabriel will 500% succeed in making the wish to bring Emile back, I mean come on the show has built on this WAY too much, and as we all know the wish has a catch. I feel like this comes from the power of creation and destruction battling each other out, so in my head I can picture Emile returning in a swarm of ladybugs and, in a twist, Adrien slowly disappearing in a cloud of cataclysm.

(The rest is under read more bc this post is long lmao)

I feel as though Emile, of course, will want to offer to sacrifice herself again to save Adrien, but Gabriel refuses to hand the miraculous over to her. He starts panicking, and I think in this moment he would look at Adrien vanishing, thanks to him bringing back Emile, and realize Adrien was leaving him long before this. That he was pushing him away, that the cataclysm represents the destructive behavior that he had been displaying towards his son to bring back his wife, and realizes just how evil his actions were. How much he hurt his son, and went against not only what he wanted, but what Emile would have wanted.

And as a result, he makes another wish; that Adrien may live a happy rest of his life, with Emile and Marinette by his side, and that the cataclysm takes him instead. And so it does; Gabriel Agreste vanishes in a swarm of black brought about by the only thing he has ever done right for Adrien, and Adrien lives.

YES the only Gabriel Agreste redemption I would accept involves him dying lmao, but I honestly I feel as though it’s a fitting end. Him dying by saving Adrien, even after he got what he wanted, would be kinda poetic and in a way it would be the first time he chooses Adrien over Emile.

Or he could just get arrested and rot in prison lmao I don’t write the show

#listen usually I’m pro redemption arc #and for Adrien’s sake it would be a lot better if Gabriel turned around #but like #he was like this BEFORE Emile went away #and idk... I feel like it would be a good listen #and ✨symbolic✨#miraculous ladybug #mlb #ml #miraculous #Gabriel Agreste #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #ml theory #mine

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dawritingdragon · 3 years

Note

Ok since I'm on a roll here's some more world building with a bit of silly stuff mixed in.

When they first met, Juleka spoke mostly in sign and Chloé had like no idea why this goth girl was trying to use Naruto jutsu on her. Once she finds out what Juleka is actually doing she asks her father to get her lessons.

There's like a headcanon that Juleka met rose in the hospital during her speech therapy days so Chloé gets introduced to Rose through Juleka. They all end up friends together as well as well as Adrien and Sabrina. Although there was a brief moment where Chloé guarded Juleka against Adrien becuase he's the first boy besides Luka they've really gotten to know, she takes Anakras joke seriously and Anakra later tells Chloé that she actually doesn't have to worry about the boys when it comes to Juleka, not realizing the double meaning until later.

Speaking of the other two, becuase Chloé is more open as a person thanks to Juleka and the rest of the Couffaine clan + Rose, Adrien and Sabrina get to be a little more free and feral too. Adrien gets to explore his more creative side. Meanwhile Sabrina discovers Anakra can sword fight and Sabrina actually turns out to be really good at it too when she asks to learn.

Although I usually go Anakraline, I think it'd be hilarious if becuase Adrien visits the hotel so much, Anakra gets the chance to meet Nathalie and constantly flirts with her whenever she drops Adrien off for Gabriel and Emile.

Chloé asks why Anakra is flirting with Nathalie when they're both girls and her little mind is blown when she realizes that's an option. So many things just clicking into place in her head.

Also an idea for when they're canon age, when Chloé finds the lost bee miraculous, instead of using it herself she brings it to Juleka becuase "she can't think of anyone more deserving to be a hero."

fuck yisss

also, Chloe definitely goes to juleka in secret to ask if she can be taught how to sign

#suite life au

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justanotherpersonsuniverse · 3 years

Text

Ok here's the next entry in what I think I'm going to refer to as the "hero's Burden AU." I'm going to try and divide the idea into sections to help me organize my thoughts and help make things easier to digest. But two notes first before I begin: 1) this idea is free for anyone to use if they feel like it. While I like to think I'd be able to sit down and write this fully one day, my life is too chaotic right now to commit to it and I'd like to see what people think about it even if it's little ideas. 2) this is mostly for you cap, feel free to let me know if I'm spamming the inbox too much or like overhearing or something. I don't want to bother anyone becuase I'm rambling or posting where I shouldn't or something. I know you'll probably think it's fine but you know *shrugs* anxiety...

Okay on to the actual topic which is I want to start with the villains and what their motivations are as well as how they'll actually be antagonizing Paris.

To begin here's each members motivations as well as their miraculous match. First is Gabriel who lost Emile to a tragic accident and kind of disillusioned himself with reality in his grief. He's become obsessed with the idea that he can change anything for the better and he turns to the miraculous and the spell book (I'll expand on this further down) to do so. His miraculous is the fox. Part of this is becuase his experience as a designer makes him much more able to create illusions of how he wants reality to look like. This is kind of the other part of his choice in that he kind of looses himself in the falsehood of his vision. He can't accept the loss he's experienced becuase he's GOING TO fix things. Emile is never gone, just out of reach in his mind.

Nathalie shares a motivation with Gabriel but leans more on how focused she is on the discord it's caused in those she cares about. She misses Emile a lot but she's more worried about how far gone Gabriel is and how that's affecting Adrien in the progress. She considers them her family too and she'll to anything to give them back that stability and peace, hence the choice to weild the ladybug. Her fault is that I. Her pursuit is in bringing back the order that existed before rather than adapting to change.

Gorilla gets a lot of back story here. Essentially Gorilla was always known for protecting people. He used to be a decorated officer on the force with a wonderful daughter waiting for him at home. Unfortunately a criminal manages to pin a murder on him and not only gets the Gorilla sent to prison, but his only daughter gets put into the foster system. He spends years inside with only the thought of seeing his daughter again holding him together. Unfortunately even though he gets out a few years early do to good behavior (he became practically mute inside.) he finds out that he can't regain custody of his daughter as she's already been adopted by another family. Eventually he ends up working for the Argestes since they're the only ones willing to look over his record. When they eventually offer him the turtle with the promise that he can both get his daughter and protect everyone he cares about, he joins their cause. He has less fault with his miraculous and it's more about who she's choosing to punish/protect.

Next I'm thinking Ms. Medeleiev (wow that's a tough one to remember the spelling). She gets an expanded back story too in that she's a former renown scientist with a huge focus on the environment. She sees the damage done to the earth and she sees the very real doomsday clock that will happen if things aren't taken seriously. One day she used her research to challange a massive company responsible for a horrific amount of pollution but instead the company somehow managed to forge documents to completely shatter her reputation. Becoming a science teacher was the best she could do after that. The villain team see her as someone willing to do what must be done to "save the world" and so, while she stubbornly hates the fact that magic is somehow real and is desperate to break it down into a science she can understand, she joins them. Her miraculous is the black cat so that she can show the world what kind of destruction is waiting for them if the world doesn't wise up. Her fault is that she used chaos and destruction for fear when, in truth, death and chaos are the tools meant to pave the way for the new.

Now finally it's the Bee which is kind of where I ran out of steam. I've been trying to think of others that i would be willing to turn to the more darkside but still have some shred of morals. Instead I decided to go with someone who could probably follow a more traditional villain mindset and likely serve as a corrupting influence to the villain team since honestly the idea is that these are people who are trying to do good but in like the worst way possible. They kind of need that push to stop them from questioning themselves and keep them on their path. Someone to show that despite redemption and redeeming qualities being very important topics in this potential AU, that some people are honestly genuinely selfish and are likely driven more by fear than any real positive desire. That's why I went with Audrey for the Bee. She's someone that the villains think is easily manipulated but instead is slowly corrupting them. Audrey is driven by a deep fear of time itself. Aging, decay, and loss of legacy are what drive her. She wants a world where beauty is eternal and so is she. That's how her use of the bee is twisted. Freezing everything eternally with no chance for change or growth becuse there's fear that those changes won't be for the better.

Okay this is getting long but we're almost there. The last part is an explanation of how they go about their plans and how they can stay a threat despite having static miraculous. Remember the spell book? That's the key to their plan. The miraculous make them strong but the spell book is what let's them take action. Gabriel in his studying of the spell book has discovered that he can actually cast powerfull spells if he uses pages of the book itself as the power sources since its filled with leftover magic from past guardians. So essentially he figured out what he wants to do, rips a page of the book out and fills it with desired spell and so begins the plan. The heroes, in order to save the day, have to capture the page itself since it needs to be at the center of whatever its doing. Capturing the page and breaking the spell also reverts the world back to the way it was before it was cast. So over time the more pages they use, the less spells they can cast, and the more pages the heroes can collect, and thus the heroes start learning more and more from the information they gather. (also to make sure things aren't too easy for the heroes, the pages loose their magic after the spell so while the heroes learn more about magic and the miraculous from the pages they collect, they can't just turn around and start casting their own spells.)

Okay heres the final part. I want to end this segment with an example of what one of their plans/spells would do. As a spinoff of stormy weather, Ms. Medeleiev would use a spell to cast a super storm in the city as an example of the kind of damage global warming can have on the weather and that that if the world wants to prevent this disaster from happening then the heroes must turn over their miraculous.

That's it for the villains. Feel free to let me know what you think.

————

YOOOOO DUDE THATS DOPE I LOVE THE AMOUNT OF CHARACTER YOU THREW INTO THEM THATS AWESOME

I can imagine like this haunting image of like, Gabriel miraging an illusion of Emilie just to talk to because he’s so lonely and disillusioned that’s so cool dude

#ether-solrac #Miraculous ladybug #miraculous au #submission

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le-chat-noir-et-la-coccinelle · 3 years

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I know that Gabriel is a bad dad but he used to be a good one? I think one of the reasons he's a bad dad is because he can't move on from the death of Emile. (I hope I spelled that right) I hope he realizes that he's a bad dad and stops being Hawkmoth. It is canon that he is not Hawkmoth in the future so either he's won or more likely he stopped being Hawkmoth. Whether that was a decision he made or he somehow lost the miraculous. I hope he just starts treating Adrien better.

I can just imagine Adrien singing I'm Just Your Problem and then runs away from his dad, then Gabriel sings Gary Come Home, and then he starts treating him better when he does.

Look, while Gabriel could've 100% been better than right now (it wouldn't really be hard), I don't think he was as good as one would consider an average parent. Sure, he was probably better in many other ways, but Adrien by the point his mother was gone was still isolated. Let's not forget that Adrien mentioned once how he's always got him the same lame pen for three years for his birthday. Hasn't his mother been gone for only one year? And at that point, not even one actually. Sure, this might not be definitive proof that Gabriel had some problems as a parent, but it definitely hints at it.

And it's certainly possible for Gabriel to care in his own, twisted way. Abusers are human beings too (horrible ones, but humans). Some abusers don't even realize they're being abusive, they just can't comprehend it. They're stuck in their ways, believing to do the best. And while good people can certainly turn to that, I think it's more likely that a person who is abusive, has been abusive (and we're not going by the level of abuse, abuse is abuse.)

Adrien is a child star, pretty much. He basically makes his own well deserved income, but it's most likely controlled by his father.

The times when Adrien is allowed to do stuff is also the time Gabriel needs to do something as, or for his Hawkmoth identity.

He brags about Adrien to other people, but put him down over every little mistake. He expects perfection. And even if he is, it's still not enough. He’s like a little walking trophy.

From time to time he'll make an affectionate gesture towards him, give him a kind word, or even a hug. That makes Adrien think Gabriel actually cares about him and makes him want to try harder for his father.

Does Gabriel care about him? Maybe, but I think caring if your son is about to die is the bare minimum as a parent and as a human being. He even feels his negative emotions, but he just ignores them.

How can one turn from "Good parent" to "I would probably care if my son died"? That seems to me like a huge leap.

Besides, if it were like that, why does he keep calling him father (père) and addressing him formally/politely/like a stranger or a figure of authority instead of like a father? (This will be better understood if you watch french dub)

But he refers to his mom with maman? Sure, you might say it's because of how he became, but is it that? Again, by the time we hear him refer to him as père, it's not even been a year since his mom's gone. That seems a bit drastic.

Why does he only remember her fondly? But of course, that is just my opinion on it. Who knows, maybe Gabriel was an amazing dad. But my opinion is that he was still kinda not good, even if better than now.

#Adrien Agreste #Chat Noir #Cat Noir #Gabriel Agreste #Hawkmoth #Shadowmoth #Papillon #Papillombre

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strawberryteaprincess · 3 years

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THEORY: everyone's wondering how Emilie and Gabriel broke the peacock miraculous... but, what if they weren't the ones who broke it? what if it was Natalie?

just listen for a sec. Thomas made the Natalie, Emilie and Gabriel love square quite similar to the Marinette, Kagami and Adrien love square. here's how that went:

Marinette likes Adrien, Adrien gets with Kagami, Marinette tries to break up Kagami and Adrien, Marinette gives in, Kagami and Adrien split, Marinette desperately tries to get them back together

but well, Kagami kinda ships her and Adrien together now but that's not what im pointing out here. What im pointing out here is what if the same thing happened before?

Natalie likes Gabriel, Gabriel gets with Emilie, Natalie tries to break up Gabriel and Emilie, Natalie gives in, Gabriel and Emilie split, Natalie desperately tries to get them back together

it's the same thing. except instead of splitting up, Emilie went into a coma. What if the reason Natalie's so desperate to help Gabriel isn't just because of her loyalty and love, it's because of her guilt?

Marinette and Kagami were (are) good friends. it may be possible Emilie and Natalie may have been good friends too. So the guilt of putting her friend in a coma and making a complete family broken is eating her up.

but WHY would Natalie break the miraculous? Marinette was never that extreme. well, number one, Marinette's a ball of positivity so potentially killing someone is only something she'd do on crack. number two, she hasn't watched the love of her life get married to her close friend, have a kid together, become famous and stinking rich. you know who has?

Natalie. And she had to watch it every day of her life for THIRTEEN YEARS.

we don't know how miraculouses can be damaged (besides from cataclysm) but i think it would be in the Grimoire in pictures. Natalie would have seen it, pondered for days about it, before breaking it.

im not done yet though. Natalie could have probably gotten over the guilt if that was all she did. but how would she know if Emilie would use the miraculous or not? how would she know if she wouldn't notice? how would she know? by making sure.

Natalie would have gotten Emilie to make a sentimonster. Not just any sentimonster however. She needed one that would deny any chance of recovery. trying to make Emilie to do multiple could get Natalie caught. she needed her to make a big one. one that Emile would care about.

im not sure what the sentimonster might have been (i really doubt it's Adrien but I hold judgement because i have no real proof to back that up) but whatever it was it was so powerful it put Emilie into a coma. and Natalie regretted it.

and I doubt Natalie's just being nice because she's "crazy in love with Gabriel". Marinette's crazy in love with Adrien and even she knows where to draw the line (sometimes) and Natalie's a grown woman. if it was Adrien trying to bring back Marinette, sure, it'd be two teenage love birds believing they can't live without the other, it'd make sense, kids are stupid (coming from a kid) but Natalie is not a kid. she has work, she has a life, heck she could have moved on and had three kids by now.

unless she played a real part in Emilie's disappearance, she shouldn't feel any sort of guilt. in fact after seeing how cold and rude Gabriel can be to his own child she would have quit before Season 2 began. it just doesn't make any sense why a grown woman would be bothering with this crazy master plan if she wasn't the cause of it in the first place.

or im probably just high on juice and should have stuck to water after all

...

hey, Adrien as Hawk Moth... i need to write an AU real quick...

#miraculous lb #miraculous theory #natalie sancoeur #gabriel agreste #emilie agreste #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #mlb #yeah i think im high on juice

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bisexualsforprompto · 4 years

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How to Heal a Missing Heart Chapter Two

A/N Geez I’m sorry, this is long overdue, I’m gonna try to be more consistent with updates

Beginning One Next

Clark wasn’t sure what to think.

On the one hand this little French girl had just asked for his help and explained her situation, making his Superman urges burn. On the other hand the ridiculous story he was just told (a butterfly terrorist, really?!) was making his Clark Kent skeptical journalist who always checked his source’s urges burn. As he was being tugged back in forth internally trying to find the side he should listen to,

“I can see that you are struggling to make a decision,” The girl said in a way that made him feel guilty, “I’m guessing the problem is that you don’t believe me.” Clark nodded slightly. “Spots on.”

Clark didn’t normally have to shield his eyes from anything having extraordinary powers and all, but a blinding light overtook the little girl when she spoke those words and he turned his face away immediately.

When he realized the light was gone he turned back and saw the same young girl standing before him only this time in a spotted red and black costume with what looked like...a yo-yo?! beside her.

“My name is Ladybug, hero of Paris. Are you more inclined to believe me now?”

“How...what was that?” Clark asked.

“The magic of the miraculous, the same thing Hawkmoth uses to terrorize my city.”

“How can I help?”

~~•~~•~~•~~

“I don’t have a lot of information. A while ago I got a lead that Hawkmoth could be one of the Agrestes, but because of my...foolishness I ruled them out. Logically, it makes more sense if Hawkmoth was Gabriel Agreste, but he could also be Adrien Agreste the-“

“The model?” Superman questioned as he flew across the sky, keeping up with Ladybug’s yo-yoing.

“Yes.” She responded curtly.

Superman realized there must’ve been some unresolved feelings there, but he chose not to pry.

“So…What’s our next move, why do you need me?” Clark asked instead.

“I need you because we’re going to the Agreste manor, if my hunch is correct then I’m going to need backup. And my partner can’t be trusted right now.” She muttered the last part lowly to herself.

Superman sighed, the poor girl had obviously been through a lot, he could see the bags under her eyes and the exasperation she had in her inflection whenever she spoke about other people.

Clark understood, it was the voice of someone who had been abandoned and couldn’t trust anyone. He had seen it all too many times, and he knew that when they were done defeating the villain- Hawkmoth- he’d need to find a place for her...otherwise she could be the next villain Clark had to fight.

Superman huffed to himself, no child should’ve been entrusted with such a duty, and from what she had told him her old mentor was gone- he had lost all his memories- and she was the sole protector of extremely powerful jewels.

A teenager had this burden on her.

Clark knew he would have to take the stress off of her, she was used to being a leader, but what she really needed was to be somewhere with people who she could trust, and she wouldn’t have to feel so responsible all the time.

He knew the perfect place too…

~~•~~•~~•~~

“Aha!” Ladybug exclaimed with a grin, the first time Clark had seen a smile come from her. “Could you use your X-ray vision on this?” She asked, pointing to a metal circle shaped like a butterfly.

Superman squinted, he saw an empty space, nothing suspicious. He wondered why she was so intent on him looking...until he saw butterflies.

White butterflies flapping around frantically, everywhere. There was something else too…

A butterfly garden, but in the center-

“No!” Superman exclaimed, stepping back.

“What is it?!” Ladybug asked eagerly.

“There's a woman in there...I don’t think she’s dead, but she’s not exactly alive either.”

Ladybug’s eyes lit up. “It can’t be…”

“What?” Superman questioned.

“Can you look again, will you describe to me what she looks like.”

Clark nodded and squinted again, “She’s pale and blonde. She’s in all black and...her ring finger has a mark from where a ring used to be.”

“Emile Agreste…” Marinette murmured.

“Who?”

“You’ve heard of the Agreste brand, right?”

“Yes, Gabriel Agreste the head designer and Adrien their model, both who you think could be Hawkmoth.” Superman affirmed.

“It all makes sense…” Ladybug said to herself, then addressed Superman again, “Sorry! Um, Emilie Agreste is the wife of Gabriel, she disappeared and Gabriel fell off the map. He became paranoid and wouldn’t leave his home. He must be trying to bring her back…”

“What? How could he do that?”

“When the miraculous of the black cat and the ladybug, mine, are merged the can grant the user one wish. But it always comes at a price, and it’s the cost is always more extreme than the wish. If Gabriel Agreste wished for Emilie to be fully healed people all over the world would fall into comas.” Ladybug said, Superman could feel the stress radiating off of her.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, “How can we stop him?”

Ladybug sighed. She squinted at the metal circle that could help her access Hawkmoth’s lair. “I have an idea, but we need to be quick. Can you use your heat vision to make an entrance for us.”

Superman nodded and Ladybug watched as the red lasers coming from his eyes swiftly burned a large hole into the entrance of Hawkmoth’s lair. Superman stepped forward and went to go into the butterfly garden, “Wait.” Marinette said. “Gabriel is rich, he’s not going to leave his lair unprotected. Lucky charm!”

A spotted gun flew into Marinette’s arms.

“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” Superman shuffled nervously, hoping she wasn’t going to kill.

Marinette smirked. She tilted her head and came closer to the entrance that Superman had carved out. She angled the gun slightly and shot at what Superman realized was a security camera. Only, it wasn’t a bullet that came out, Ladybug had summoned up a paintball gun. He heard four more shots and noticed all the visible security cameras were covered in red paint.

“Clever.” Superman said stepping into Hawkmoth’s lair.

Ladybug used her yo-yo to drop in front of the coffin like structure that Emilie Agreste was laying in. “We don’t have much time. Hawkmoth will be down here any minute and we need the upper hand. Superman I need you to stand next to Emilie’s coffin, prepare to destroy it if need be.”

“But-“

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.”

Superman knew it would be futile to argue with the teenager, she clearly knew what she was doing and he was just going to have to trust her.

Suddenly, Superman saw someone being lifted up by a platform into the lair.

Hawkmoth was scared, both heroes could tell, but more so he was angry.

“What is the meaning of this?!” He shouted, preparing his cane.

“Gabriel Agreste.” Hawkmoth stepped backwards inadvertently at the use of his real name. Ladybug kept going with a stoic expression, “You have terrorized the people of Paris for too long. If you go peacefully with me and turn yourself and your co-conspirators in, I can guarantee no harm will come to your wife.”

“Is that a threat Ladybug?” Hawkmoth spat.

“That depends.” Ladybug said with fury in her voice, “Are you going to come with me and give up your Mayura, who I’m assuming must be Nathalie Sancouer, am I right?”

“You can’t do this to me.” Hawkmoth hissed, “I have worked too long and too hard to bring her back! I’m not going to let you ruin everything!”

“Mr. Agreste!” Ladybug boomed, “If you try anything I can guarantee the police will surround this place. I’ve already dialed them, they’ll be here any second.”

“Fine Ladybug.” Hawkmoth seethed, “You win.”

Taglist:

@northernbluetongue

@dawnwave16

@weird-pale-blonde-person

@mystery-5-5

@worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry

@fandomkitty8

@18-fandoms-unite-08

@royalchaoticfangirl

@zalladane

@bamagirl513

@nomiegnome

@winter-gardenflower

@caffeinetheory

@magicalfirebird

@mer-mel

@seraphichana

@persephonebutkore

@nillajinx

@shreky-boi

@throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen

@chaosace

@moonlightstar64

@thequestionablyhuman

@paradoxal-occurance

@loysydark

@jayverca

@risingmoonyue

@zalladane

@thestressmademedoit

@nanakeid

@meanids

@ellerahs

#maribat #kaldurnette

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cara-terra-pace · 4 years

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RICH NEIGHBORS AU: THE GABRIELING

(Technically this is a bonus part because part three is in America but the Gabriel fallout happens before that so here you go, Gabriel learns that Wow, he actually has children who need love and care! Who knew???)

Part 1 Part 2

Okay so how did Mr Recluse himself react to our two Watermelon Kids being revealed as MAJORLY rich and also FAMOUS?

Well, I think it goes a little something like this:

-Gabriel is big dumb

-and Nathalie is major tired

-so she just kind of tells him about the announcement over text and goes home to go to bed because at this point, she has attended all these major events in person for Gabriel and she’s just SO TIRED

-and he’s freaking out

-“I THOUGHT THEY WERE GOLD DIGGERS OH GOD OH GOD I CALLED THE DAUGHTER OF THE FOUNDERS OF DCI A GOLD DIGGER”

-“how is that Nino boy rich, he... he carries bubbles around?!”

-“father, most people have this thing they do. It’s called fun. I know you’ve never heard of it but it’s a normal thing people do.” (Felix has no qualms about talking back to his father.)

-“well, father, we kinda tried to tell you. Marinette was literally wearing a matching diamond necklace, tiara, and earrings when she last came over.” (Adrien has many qualms but even he realizes his father isn’t... the best dad?)

-Gabriel is falling apart, having openly disrespected two powerful people and their overprotective parents

-but they’re not mad about his disrespect towards them, no no.

-they’re mad about the fact that he legit seems to not care about his sons at ALL

-now they’re two very rich and powerful people who know he’s neglecting his children and so is his wife and also he’s a bit emotionally abusive when he does talk to them which???

-what else would we expect of Monsieur “I have nothing to lose (except the sons I don’t care about lol)” Agreste?

-so he basically is a big suck up, praising the fabric Mari uses for something, the well put together design, anything and everything

-Nino is a bit harder but he’s like “very impressive people have been coming out of the woodwork, children are the future blah de blah blah blah”

-he says, still neglecting his children

-but these sour patch kids?

-they’re not having it.

-they rip him to pieces

-Marinette goes for the company, Nino for the character and he is K.O.ed in two twitter threads

-it’s absolutely hilarious for Felix and mildly concerning for Adrien but he’s very proud of his successful best friends so he tries to focus on that instead.

-Gabriel and Emile’s neglect kind of comes to light. Emile wiggles her way out of it, saying she calls and sends them letters and gifts and does her best to still talk and get to know them and while that is true people are feeling a little sus.

-but Gabriel has all the time in the world to spend with his kids, but he doesn’t and that’s what ultimately makes him fall out of public favor.

-Nathalie becomes their primary caregiver, and she is a little bit relieved in a way, because these are HER BOYS and now she can make sure they’re always taken care of

-gorilla helps when he can too, he’d never leave his favorite kids. It’s really sweet actually.

-Gabriel still lives in the house, still designs, whatever

-but a different head designer has taken over that portion of the company and is bringing fresh ideas as the rebrand from Gabriel to Agreste, so it applies more to the Agreste boys than just Gabriel.

-the two still do photo shoots (did I mention that before? Lol, well they do photoshoots) but def not as often

-they have lives with their s/o besties 😊

-“businessmen don’t giggle Marinette”

-“then what do they do”

-“chuckle fiercely”

-Marinette proceeds to giggle for five minute straight

-they were most def making fun of Gabriel

-and he absolutely knew that and that’s why they did it right in front of him

-but he can’t exactly do anything cause he has like, no influence anymore. He may own Agreste, but he’s not the face

-he inadvertently sabotaged himself with that, since Adrien and Felix are the faces of the company and people trust them over Gabriel, especially after the neglect stuff

-basically Gabriel is faced with the consequences of what he does because he does a lot of messed up stuff to his sons.

-and maybe that brings Nino and Adrien to confessing their feelings Idk just saying

-can you imagine how much gen z on twitter makes fun of Gabriel Agreste now?

-salty fan girls never forget

-they’re mad because their uwu baby boys are being neglected and to quote MrsAgrestee2273

-“my huby doesnt deseve 2 be treeted like that!!!”

-no one knows why Marinette and Nino retweeted that but you know

-they just kind of say “iconic” and roast Gabriel some more

-“Hey Gabriel did you know it’s not Christmas. Sorry I just assumed since you look like a candy cane you were going for a Christmas vibe”

-that’s the most game of the roasts

-Gabriel is a meme now

-Marinette and Nino retweet a lotttt of them

-“that’s kind of mean”

-“Adrien, I love you so much, but it’s not mean, it’s hilarious”

-and they all lived happily ever after

-but the watermelon kids have more adventures

-like in America

-Gabriel has literally no say in whether or not the twins go to America

-they just basically send a selfie of them in sunglasses giving the camera a peace sign as they’re boarding the plane

-I mean, Nathalie is going with them so it’ll be fineee

That’s all I’ve got for now! Just a note, this isn’t part 3, this is just THE GABRIELING, since part 3 has already been started and is the whole “America Adventure” starring Marinette, Nino, Adrien, Felix, and their tired chaperone Nathalie Sancouer.

Taglist: @animegirlweeb @akana-sama @insomniac-nerd-posts-things

#rich neighbors au #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #ladybug #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #chat noir #chloe bourgeois #alya cesaire #carapace #nino lahiffe #felix agreste #adrien and felix are twins #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #emilie agreste #watermelon kids

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victoria-daydreams · 4 years

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Till Kingdom Come

Prologue: The Portrait

AN: Another Old Guard fic that has been in my head since I wrote my first one. Which you should go check out, by the way. Once I created the moodboard for my OC it was over, I knew that I had to write a story about her. Fair warning, this chapter is kinda of dark, it’s definitely the complete opposite of my first chapter in my other story.

Here’s the moodboard that inspired this fic.

Summary: Most people would find the very thought of looking forward to one’s own death as morbid, but not for Sabine. Death, was something she longed for, it was the only way to freedom from the chains of slavery. And one day, she finally got her wish and she was finally put out of her misery.

Until she wasn’t.

And Sabine learned a dreadful secret about herself from the experience, setting in motion a life altering event that included four immortals who would take her on several journeys that spanned many lifetimes.

Word Count: 1.8k

Trigger Warnings: violence, slavery, abuse, racism, racial slurs, colorism

Chapter One: My Story Is Much Too Sad to Be Told

At age five, Sabine's life changed irrevocably in an instant.

She remembered that day crystal clear, the traumatizing experience was seared into her young mind. 1845, that was the year Sabine's world was turned upside down, the exact day she didn't know, slaves weren't given calendars. That day, the afternoon sun was high in the sky and there weren't any clouds to shield her from the harsh and unforgiving rays of the sun as she worked the never ending fields of cotton. Tirelessly, Sabine labored next to her mother, Anne, as they picked the prickly plant from the row they were assigned to.

Often times, Sabine would admire her mother's appearance to take her mind off the grueling labor she was forced to do. She thought her mother absolutely was beautiful with her rich brown skin, her round shaped dark brown eyes that somehow still oozed kindness and warmth with everything they are put through, and her black curly hair that was always tied up.

A lot of the slaves on the Dillon Plantation commented on the fact that Sabine's older sister, Emile, favored their mother unlike Sabine who resembled her father, Gabriel. Like her father, Sabine's skin was a warm, golden brown shade that had darkened slightly due to working in the sun. Sabine had noticed that her hair didn't have the same loose curl like her mother's hair, instead her hair resembled her father tight curls. The one feature she did inherit from her mother was her eye shape and color.

Doing this had become somewhat of a game to her, it was better than the alternative which was focusing on how many times she pricked her fingers with each hour that passed. This was the routine that Sabine had become accustomed to, from dawn to dusk, she and the rest of the hundreds of other slaves would toil away in the fields to pick the cash crop of the South.

Until one day, that routine was broken.

Sabine could hear hooves beating down on the ground and the sound of a carriage behind her. She didn't pay attention to it, the sound of them passing by on the dirt road between the fields was not uncommon. The sound grew louder and louder as the carriage drew nearer and nearer and suddenly a strong gust of wind blew past her. Sabine expected to hear the rhythmic trotting of the horses continue as they passed by her, but realized she didn't. The carriage had stopped next to her, her mother, and other slaves.

"You, girl!" Master Dillon shouted. "Turn around!" he ordered.

At first, Sabine didn't move, she wasn't sure if Master Dillon was speaking to her. She had heard Master Dillon address slaves much older than her mother and father as either 'girl' or 'boy'. It wasn't until she felt her mother lightly tap her that Sabine finally turned around to face Master Dillon. Temporarily, she was blinded by the glaring light and lifted her hand to protect her eyes from the rays of the sun.

"Yes massa'?" she asked softly.

Sabine looked up at the man that stood outside the carriage. He was tall, had short, raven-colored hair, blue eyes and angular features. Master Dillon was pale albeit with a slightly tanned complexion. A thick, bushy mustache rested between his narrow nose and thin lips, the facial hair reminded Sabine of a caterpillar.

"Oh, isn't she adorable!" a woman gushed, in a high pitched voice.

Sabine turned her head to look at the owner of the voice, a young woman sat in the carriage holding a white, lace parasol. The woman appeared to be the same age as Emile, if not older. Her skin was fair and an oval shaped face which was framed by her chestnut brown, braided chignon. The woman's small lips were curved into a smile and her blue eyes seemed to twinkle in delight as she stared down at Sabine, like she saw a new plaything.

"Brother, bring her closer to me," the woman requested, almost bouncing up and down in her seat.

Master Dillon beckoned Sabine over, "Come on girl!" he demanded impatiently.

Sabine hesitantly placed her sack of cotton on the ground and made her way to Master Dillon and the woman in the carriage.

"Pierre," the woman cooed, looking over at her brother. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself," she chuckled, shifting her stare back towards Sabine. "She's much too light to be working in these fields," she commented, shaking her head in disapproval.

"She's not that light, Genevieve," Pierre disagreed, his eyes scanning over Sabine's skin complexion.

"Well, you're right about that," Genevieve acknowledged, nodding to herself. "Still, she's not a darkie,” she pointed out, scrunching her nose up in disgust. “The girl is....an acceptable shade for a house negro," she continued, twirling her parasol. "Now, give me your inspection brother," she demanded lightly, waving her free hand.

Master Dillon moved to the side of Sabine and forcibly used his fingers to pry open her mouth, showing off her teeth.

"You see here, her teeth are surprisingly healthy," Master Dillon began, before pulling down her lower lip more. "I'm sure some of her teeth are about to start falling out soon," he informed, and removed his fingers from her mouth. "Spread your arms out girl," he ordered, Sabine immediately did as she was told and he roughly pushed the sleeve of her dress up. "She's already got some muscle on her," he stated, squeezing her small biceps. "It's like she was born to work the fields," he added, a proud grin on his face. "So, what do you think?" he asked curiously. letting go of Sabine's arm.

"Oh Pierre!" Genevieve cried happily. "Give her to me, please, please, please, please," she begged, giving her best puppy dog eyes. "This one here will make a nice addition to my collection back home," she explained excitedly, eying Sabine once more.

Sabine's eyes darted between Master Dillon and his sister, completely terrified at the thought of being separated from her family. Unconsciously, her breathing started to increase, her chest rising and falling in rapid, shallow breaths. Master Dillon rubbed his chin in contemplation and after a long moment of silence the man clasped his hands together.

"Aw hell, I can't say ‘no’ to my baby sister, can I?" Master Dillon asked, smiling at Genevieve. "Go ahead and take her, think of her as an early birthday gift," he continued, sticking his hand out towards Sabine.

Sabine's eyes went as wide as saucers.

Genevieve laughed giddily, "You're the best Pierre!" she exclaimed, excitedly clapping her hands together.

Sabine felt her blood run cold just as she heard hurried footsteps approaching from behind her.

Two hands gripped her shoulders and Sabine's body tensed, "Yous can't take her massa!" Sabine's mother cried, and she felt her body relax, slightly.

Master Dillon scoffed at Anne, "Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what I can or cannot do with my property?" he asked, a sneer on his face.

Anne pulled Sabine closer to her, "She's my daughter!" she insisted.

Master Dillon narrowed his eyes at Anne as a deep scowl formed on his face, "I guess you forgot girl, that you're my property as well," he stated, taking a menacing step forward and Anne stepped back pulling Sabine with her. "So anything that you expel out of your womb is mine by law," he reminded, moving closer to the mother and daughter. "I own both of you," he finished, his tone turning sinister.

Anne held Sabine a little tighter, "Sabine is not yours to give away," she stated, a defiant look in her eyes.

"Hand over the girl, now!" Master Dillon demanded, his face slowly turning red from anger and Sabine felt her small body begin to tremble. "If you make me repeat myself, you're going to be in a world of trouble girl!" he threatened, his scowl deepening.

"No!"

Suddenly, Sabine felt herself being violently yanked away from her mother and loud cries of pain erupted from her, piercing the still air of the cotton fields. Tears fell from her eyes as her mother held her tighter in her arms. A battle of tug war ensued over Sabine with Master Dillon yanking on her thin arm in the direction of his sister while Anne tugged in the opposite direction. The horrific sound of flesh hitting flesh resounded in Sabine's ears as she tripped over her feet from the force of her mother losing her grip on her.

"Mama!" Sabine yelled, as she was roughly picked by Master Dillon. "Mama!" she shouted again, thrashing her small body in the man's arm.

Sabine's struggle in Master Dillon's grasp was futile as he unceremoniously dumped her into the carriage where his sister resided, seemingly unaffected by what was unfolding right in front of her. Sabine's head snapped to the ground where her mother lay collapsed on the ground, soft groans escaping her lips. Out of nowhere, Sabine's chin was yanked to look straight ahead at Genevieve.

"Sabine, that's what your mama called you right?" Genevieve asked curiously, rotating Sabine's head around as she inspected her.

"Yes, Mistress," Sabine answered, her voice hoarse.

Genevieve slightly frowned and twisted her nose in distaste, "What an ugly name," she commented, shaking her head. "We're going to have to change that," she continued, releasing Sabine's chin. "What am I going to name you?" she mused, tilting her head. A short moment passed. "I got it!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "From here on, your name is Cecile!" she beamed, clearly proud of herself.

Sabine didn't bother to argue about her new name, she didn't have any say in the matter anyways.

"Yes Mistress," Sabine replied hoarsely, in acknowledgement.

Genevieve grinned at the young girl in front of her, "Good!" she cheered, with a nod of her head. "Now, Cecile, take this parasol and shield me from the sun," she ordered, sticking her arm out that held the parasol.

"Yes Mistress," Sabine answered, gently grabbing the parasol from her new mistress' hand.

"There's a good girl," Genevieve complimented, and moved her eyes to her brother who was currently gripping Anne by her hair. "Thank you Pierre!" she smiled. "I think Cecile and I are going to get along just fine," she stated, patting Sabine's head as if she was a dog. "Take me home Cyril," she ordered, and the coachman nodded at her before tugging on the reins.

The carriage carrying Genevieve and Sabine slowly moved further and further away from Master Dillon and Anne when a loud, agonizing wail penetrated the atmosphere. The heartbroken wailing made the hairs of Sabine's neck stand up and it took a few seconds for her to realize who those wails were coming from. It was her mother's. Sabine turned her around in her seat to see that Master Dillon was forcing her mother to watch her being taken away.

"Cecile, pay attention!" Genevieve snapped, making Sabine swivel her body back around. "You're letting the sun hit me, I don't want to get as dark as you!" she sneered, and Sabine adjusted the parasol to protect Genevieve.

As the carriage turned out of the Dillon Plantation, Sabine had only one thought in her mind.

She knew at that moment she would never see her family again.

Chapter Two: Life Being What It Is

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mirazilla · 5 years

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So a complete chat blanc theory~~

Damn, I’m pretty sure chat actually did murder everyone. —or maybe he froze them or smth?? cuz he and the whole destroyed Paris has a very blue hue— Since this is a kids show I doubt anyone will die, but maaaaybe he did kill them all with cataclysm, cuz we’ve seen volpinas illusion do just that before in catalyst.

Ok, just from the trailer, he looks like a rogue Akuma, the most dangerous kind. How did this happen? Now let me explain...

Let’s start from the beginning, after sadly returning to his room from winning what seems a tournament of sorts ( he has a medal) which probably his father missed, he sees ladybug leave a love letter from marinette on his bed (pray god he connects the dots and finds out ladybugs identity).

So he calls her to invite her to his house, —marinette has an umbrella maybe it’s the same one he gave her on origins?—then tells her about his discovery and his acceptance of her love. Marinette is obviously distressed, she wanted Adrien to love marinette not ladybug!!

So after running from the situation hawkmoth tries to akumatize her. Smth that i thought was weird is adrien transforming into chat for everyone to see. Like, I know marinette is his friend and all, but to risk it all for a regular person to not be akumatized?? He must know she’s ladybug, because if ladybug gets akumatized, it’s game over. (well now that I think of it, if either of them get akumatized is game over,heh)

After saving marinette from a possible akumatization he’s outed as chat noir. Gorilla is in the background so he obvs takes chat into the house and tells Gabriel. Gabriel then takes chat where he keeps Emile, transforms into hawkmoth and then tells him how to get his mom back with the help of the cat and bug miraculous. (They probably kick marinette out of the house and close the doors on her nose, so she can’t intervene)

Hawkmoth offers to akumatize him to give him strength to take down ladybug, but after his doing this, chat will most likely go insane and on a killing spree, cuz akumatization enhances negative emotions and he has plenty of that.

Now there’s two ways this can go

He kills hawkmoth OR he takes hawkmoths miraculous instead cuz he doesn’t want to be controlled by anyone, least of all people his father, the very man who controls every single aspect of his life but seems to be ever absent from it and thus this is where the medal from earlier comes to play, he still feels salty about his father not giving a shit about him winning his tournament/ not being there, so boom extra motivation.

Now either way, he goes outside and finds marinette. Tells her he beated hawkmoth (maybe showing her his miraculous) and asks for her miraculous to bring his mom back, she freaks out and transforms. They battle for a while, destroying all of paris in the way, but he ends up overpowering her so she detransforms into marinette and after not giving up her miraculous he kills her with his cataclysm snapping fingers shooting gun thingy. Destroying her miraculous while doing so and accidentally ruining his plan on getting his mom back.

So after destroying everything, he just waits,,, for someone to reach out to him?? Plagg?? His father? Anyone? He just seems so dang lonely.

So now with the solution:

Bunnix goes back in time to get past ladybug to help—I’m pretty sure that this is like a tradition for all the bunnixes in time, like the bunnix before the actual one did it, the one before her did it, and so on on so forth—. ( to clarify which past ladybug, probably the one before she leaves that dang note on adriens bed, maybe she’s writing it or smth)

Note how she has ladybugs head on a pot to cover her eyes. Maybe time traveling can be mind blowing for anyone other than the rabbit miraculous holder or Bunnix didn’t want her to see the level of destruction chat blanc has made and to make her become overwhelmed by it.

Also she’s gone in the little fight chat and ladybug have so she doesn’t want to/can’t interfere more than she already has or maybe the bunnix from the future told her it must be this way or smth?? Time travel is confusing... ( or chat killed her too, who knows)

Anyway, Chat blanc looks very excited and happy to see her, almost as if it’s been a long time since he last saw her — we don’t know how long this kitty has been waiting all alone in this apocalyptic world— and this clearly is the first time this ladybug sees him.

He reaches out to her and tries to make her cooperate into giving him her miraculous the pacifist way, ( look how surprised she is when he grabs her ears, he’s also super close to her, so they where talking, maybe she was trying to talk some sense to him or smth) but after her refusal he just tries to snatch them from her. This time he will be more careful and will try not to kill her, so we can get a “nerfed” chat blanc instead of the killing mode one.

Either ladybug wins this time ( there’s a theory on how that goes out at the end of this one✨✨) OR, she looses again and has to retreat.

Now for the spicy bit of my theory I’m basing this whole thing in this old spoiler pic of ladybug in Gabriel’s secret basement. (I know all of paris is flooded but this seems like a bunker of sorts?? Idk)

In their fight, chat blanc spilled the beans and said smth about gabriel, his father, being hawkmoth. So after this big ass reveal, she’s overpowered by him. Barely manages to escape and without anyone to go to, she decides to go to the agreste manor. (The lucky charm she summons during the fight can be a butterfly) talks to the now detransformed hawkmoth and they team up to defeat chat blanc. This can go three ways

1. Gabriel uses the peacock miraculous and creates a sentimonster out of his or ladybugs grief to beat chat blanc. (this one is unlikely, cuz we haven’t seen any designs of peacock Gabriel before, while we’ve seen designs for everyone else, mister bug, lady noir, turtle master fu, etc.)

2. he gives her advice on how to get better at fighting or use her miraculous better, idk.

3. And the evil one: Ladybug takes Emilie and Gabriel ( he helps her to come up with this idea) and lures chat out. She gives him an ultimatum, destroy your Akuma ( most probably it’s in the ring which already makes it difficult for ladybug to win without his cooperation) or she drops his family ( maybe she has them hanging from her yo-yo or smth, god damn this got dark). Chat cooperates and destroys his ring —I don’t think taking out his ring will affect his transformation— she casts the miraculous ladybug, bunnix returns from the dead and takes her back to her time. ( lets hope that this miraculous ladybug erases everyone memories or maybe one of bunnixes powers does. I mean, she has the power to time travel, she must have some cool memory erasing thingy from when she fucks up or smth idk. She erases ladybugs memories, tells her to not write that dang love letter and disappears)

✨✨NOW for the option where ladybug defeats chat on that buildings roof top.

Ladybug manages to snatch chats ring from him, but this doesn’t have any effect on him whatsoever and she can’t transform herself into lady noir to destroy it cuz it’s basically impossible and besides the ring is the home of an Akuma so it will behave as a regular ring so no plagg either.

We have another two way situation:

1. she tricks chat blanc into destroying it somehow, fixes everything with the miraculous ladybug, bunnix takes her back before she can see anything else, the end. (most likely outcome tbh, cuz in this version she never figures his identity but she’s left with the knowledge of the dangers of having chat akumatized, which is neat)

2. she flees to the agreste manor and Gabriel helps her purify the ring without breaking it (the dude knows his stuff about the miraculous so it’s possible)

Either way, since bunnix and time travel is also involved, no one will remember shit from this.... like, marinette is with her hair down in this episode and in loveeater (the season finale) adrien emphasizes how he’s never seen her like that sooo, this episode won’t even happen, it will have have absolute zero consequences in the plot and will most likely go insane because of it, so we are in for a ride.

YES YOU HAVE BUT YOU DONT REMEMBER/ IT NEVER HAPPENED.

Damn that was a long rant... it has many holes but hey, I had fun.

#miraculous ladybug #ml #chat blanc #mlbspoilers

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