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porryc · 2 years

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We all remember this scene from the Gabriel Agreste episode, right? Felix's warm and loving look at Emilie's portrait , Isn't it weird that both Gabriel and Emilie are wearing rings that control Adrien, while Felix hates Gabriel so much but has a loving attitude towards Emilie?

I have a theory for this and it really fits the situation but first of all this theory is made up of leaked scenarios from Episode 24 and if you don't want spoilers please don't read it

First of all we need to get down to the origins of the Graham De Vanily family , and the story of this family will be revealed in Episode 24 by Felix , Felix uses fairy tale elements to tell this story, so the story has a very medieval look.

The Graham De Vanily family is a powerful monarchy family that rules a kingdom

The King and Queen announce to the whole realm that they are expecting a son, but they endd up with twin daughters ; Emilie and Amelie

Emilie is the twin who is older by a few seconds and therefore the heir to the throne and future queen of the kingdom

This powerful family has rings that have been their symbol, her parents wear these rings as a necklace around the neck of older twin who is the heir

Time passes by , and both girls grow up , they look exactly the same but are very diffrent

In the story, the older twin girl is called the "Curious Princess" and the younger one is the "Good Princess"

The “Curious Princess” never wanted to be an heir or queen, never enjoyed royal duties and hated royal life and was known as being rebellious to her family , she always wanted to leave the kingdom see different places, explore different things and changes somethings for herself

The "Good Princess", on the other hand, would do her royal duties, stay inside, do whatever her parents tell her, and always try to be the perfect daughter for her family .

(The Two Scenarios Write Different Things So One Of These Two Is True One) The Curious Princess's family sent her to study overseas when she was a teenager either at her request or because they think she matures there

Curious Princess goes to a different country , she meets a commoner boy there who design clothes and not royal or noble like her called as “Tailor” , they end up falling madly in love with each other

At a time , The King and Queen force Good Princess to arranged marriage with a Warlord , a rich man from another kingdom

The King and Queen, who hate the relationship of the Curious Princess with this Tailor , tell their heir that she must end her relationship with this boy immediately and come to the her kingdom but instead princess ended all her relationship with her family resigns from all her titles and duties and she marries with him and starts a new life with her husband in the country where she went for education once upon a time

Curious Princess splits the family ring two for her and her husband , saying all they need to complete now is a son

Time passes, the two princesses are not capable of having children but one day Curious Princess get pregnat “magically”

Princess was rejected and hated by her family at this point so the tailor and her thought it best to raise the miracle son as a secret

Warlord and Good Princess find out about that miracle boy , Warlord is extremely jealous and angry, while the Good Princess is jealous and sad. The Warlord can't believe the Curious Princess , who gave up her royal lifestyle for love, was having a child before his wife

They go over to where the Curious Princess and Tailor live, demanding to know how they were able to conceive the child. The Tailor, who hates the Warlord , says it was created out of love, and maybe the Warlord should learn what that is. The Warlord and Good Princess go back to their kingdom

Cut to a bedroom, where the Tailor and Curious Princess are talking , Princess feels bad for her younger sister, as she knows her sister wants a son, and asks if there's anything they can do

Cut to a dark alleyway, where the Tailor and Warlord are. The Tailor says he has a way for the Warlord to get a son and be able to control him, but he'll have to give up his riches in the process. He gives him the magic amulet. The Warlord uses the amulet to get his son, making the Good Princess pregnat

Months pass, and both princess give birth to their sons, both molded in the image of their likeness by using the amulet with the power of light.

The Warlord soon found out that using the amulet to make his son cost his life, and became sick. He blamed his son - the miracle boy - for it and would lash his anger out at him. He called his son a "monster" and used the ring to control his actions.

One day, the Warlord is lying in bed incredibly sick. He screams "MONSTER" and starts punching the nightstand. The ring breaks slightly, which causes the miracle boy to fall from a pain in his chest. That's when the boy realized the ring controlled him and was connected to his life. One his father passed, the boy took the ring from him

Motifs like "Princess" and "Kingdom" used in the story are probably not real, it's just a symbol that the Graham De Vanily family is a very powerful and noble British family , The fact that Amelie has the title of "Lady" and is described as an aristocrat on Wikipedia is an indication that they are already in the lower branches of the British royal family , In England, a woman holding the title "Lady" means having a father who is a duke or earl.

To explain their position, we can take the real-life Spencer family as an example, a powerful and very wealthy old-money British family, Princess Diana's family, which has held the title of earl for generations and has a lot of kinship with the royal family, Princess Diana's came from this family. She already had a congenital title of "Lady" before marrying the Prince

The character played by Kagami with the cowboy hat and mustache is Colt Fathom

The Warlord of the story is Colt Fathom, a American billionaire and The Tailor of the story is Gabriel Agreste who is a French fashion designer , Although we know Gabriel as the most famous fashion designer in the world and one of the richest men in Paris, as we learned from the Style Queen episode, he was not born rich, all his wealth and fashion empire is the result of his own work .

A fan asked Thomas Astruc how Gabriel and Nathalie met in 2019

Astruc explains to a fan that they are working on a comic about Gabriel's teenage years and how he met Emilie and Nathalie in his teenage years , So as we can tell, Emilie's sending to Paris for "study" was probably for her high school education and back then Gabriel was just an ordinary boy who wanted to be a fashion designer

Now let's get to the main stars of the story, Graham De Vanily parents and and their attitudes towards their daughters ;

They forced Emilie into something she didn't want her whole life and hated her personality because she didn't want it all this legacy stuff , since she did not want to live as the heir of his family and stay in London all her life they thought that she was a rebellious person and sent her to Paris for education with the hope that her personality would change and they never accepted their daughter who she was

When she grew up and fell in love with a boy, they rejected that boy because he was not upper-class like them , yep this boy was biggest piece of shit Gabriel Agreste but we can’t reject how he loves Emilie so much and their reason was he was not rich and and they probably have an arranged marriage plan in mind for Emilie, as they did with Amelie

The only way for Emilie to marry the person she wanted was to leave the family, and the story also explains that the reason Adrien had no freedom for all these years and lived closed to the other world was Emilie and Gabriel's fear of the Graham De Vanily family of all this time

On the other hand, let's come to the story of Amelie, which is much more tragic for me

All her life, Amelie tried to be the perfect daughter to her family, did whatever her parents told her and never got what she wanted.

I firmly believe that Emilie has always been in the spotlight as she is the heir and Amelie has always been overlooked so she always tried to be perfect

Amelie openly cares about her family and their ringa and tries to get the rings from Gabriel who stole her sister from them

Amelie, who seems like a character manipulated by her family, was married to a man chosen by her family against her will and and this man is described as a hideous abuser to the her son she loves dearly and as a monster who can't even understand the existence of love

Amelie's support for her son to go to Paris alone and her unconditional support of Felix's movements is an example of her trying to give her son the freedoms and choices she didn't have when she was younger.

In the story, the King and Queen expect a son but having twin daughters explains born of these twin girls who crushed their dreams of a son were a disappointment to them.

As such toxic and disgusting parents, I don't think this family is a good place to have a happy and healthy childhood

And when we see an adult Emilie and Amelie in the story, Emilie clearly feels sorry for her sister who was not able to have a son when she can have and and asks Gabriel if there is anything they can do to help her sister and thats why Gabriel helps them

This scene shows that even though Emilie was disowned from the family, she still has love for her sister and she wants to make things better for her

Does the personality traits and presentation styles of the two princesses in this story remind you of some other charachters in the show ? If your answer is Felix and Adrien you are correct

Felix's rebellious attitude towards his family members, his hatred of being controlled, being forced by his father to do things he didn't want while growing up, his effort to change things for himself, and what we thought was a villain at first, but then we realized that he was actually a anti-hero with his reasons , and his secret love for Adrien and wanting to save Adrien from the oppressive and terrible environment he is in reminds you someone ?

Felix's demeanor bears resemblance to Emilie, the "Curious Princess" in the story

What about Adrian? The boy who always tries to be perfect for his father, does whatever his father says and never goes against his ideas, never has a choice and can't be allowed to be himself , and goes to an arranged marriage with Kagami that he doesn't want.

Adrien's story, on the other hand, is very similar to the "Good Princess" character.

I believe Felix has great empathy towards to Emilie, both characters have rebellious and unaccepting personality traits , neither of them never accepted the system they were in and hated the feeling of being controlled by their family

He has great sympathy for Emilie's refusal to accept the life she is in and for wanting to be free and get her wish

In his mind, he sees her personality as close to him and may have a growing admiration for her thanks to his fulfillment of a wish similar to his own

The "Control" here is Felix being severely controlled and Emilie forced into a life she doesn't want, but they both share the same parallels

At the same time, Emilie, who in one of the leaked scenarios says that her little prince, Adrien has the right to create his own happiness and live with his own election may be an indication that she never controlled Adrien with her own ring and we know Felix would greatly appreciate that.

I think this idea underlies Felix's loving gaze towards Emilie.

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rayraygo1267 · 1 year

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Gabenath Headcanons because I’ll never stop shipping them

Note: Y’all I feel like if they make a sequel to the Miraculous Awakening Movie, based on what happened I feel like gabenath has an actual chance!

Gabriel has definitely eaten Nathalie’s food and when questioned about it, immediately blamed it on Adrien

One thing Gabriel always notices is if Nathalie changes something about her style (clothes, hair etc)

Nathalie is definitely annoyed by the fact that Gabriel is slightly taller than her

Gabriel always lets Nathalie have the widow seat in a car, plane, etc

Gabriel has to force and beg Nathalie to take a day off because she overworks herself

Nathalie has definitely read Hawkura fanfiction and gone down a massive rabbit hole

When Gabriel got ahold of all the miraculous from Felix, he asked Nathalie to try all of them on jus because he wanted to see how’d she’d look in all of them, but he told her it was for “research”

Nathalie always gets flustered whenever Gabriel calls her “mi amor” which makes him do it all the more

Gabriel has saved all the magazines that has Nathalie’s modeling featured in them

Nathalie will physically drag Gabriel from his work so that he’ll spend time with Adrien

One time, when both Gabriel and Nathalie had fallen asleep after a long day of work, Duusu had snuck up on them and pushed their hands close together so that their fingers were touching

Duusu and Nooroo ship Gabenath obviously

When Nathalie started becoming sickly and constantly looking exhausted, plus losing the red streak in her hair, Gabriel made sure she knew she was beautiful because he never stopped thinking she was

Nathalie has both Adrien and Gabriel’s breakfast, lunch, dinner and drink orders memorized for just about every restaurant they attend

If Gabriel and Nathalie had gotten ahold of both the black cat and ladybug miraculous, Nathalie would have used the cat and Gabriel would have used the ladybug

Gabriel leaves Nathalie random sweet notes on her stressful work days or if she’s feeling under the weather

When Gabriel and Nathalie finally opened up to Amelie about their relationship, her first reaction was to tell Nathalie that she deserved better. Nathalie laughed, Gabriel did not appreciate that

Nathalie once tried on the butterfly miraculous just for “fun” and Gabriel was mainly annoyed by the fact that she looked a million times better in it then he ever could

Wherever Nathalie chooses to go, Gabriel will follow

Nathalie will order takeout for her and Adrien secretly so not to hurt Gabriel’s feelings when his food sucks and Adrien will feed his father’s food to Plagg

Marinette and Nathalie have definitely vented to each other about their relationships with the Agreste men

Gabriel and Adrien surprised Nathalie with getting a family portrait with the three of them on it, underneath said portrait it reads, “The Agreste Family”

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the-star-knight · 14 days

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The Goldfield Family

Jacoby (Jake) and David Goldfield. They're one of, if not, the richest family in Corona. A family portrait (years after Jake's mom disappeared). This is a portrait hanging in their home. It supposed to be based of that painting from miraculous with Adrien and Gabriel Agreste.

#tangled the series #tangled oc #my art #my ocs #jake #jake goldfield #tts oc #rapunzels tangled adventure #rta oc #digital art #digital oil painting #david goldfield #tangled the series fanart #tangled the series oc #oc #original character #rapunzel's tangled adventure

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darkwitch1999 · 5 months

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Ronan Odeja OC Headcanons

Ronan Odeja

Age: 40s

Ronan is the father of Michael, Noelle, and Anais Odeja.

He has been happily married to Alyssa Odeja for over 20 years.

Ronan is a photographer who owns his own photography studio. He is well known in his profession for taking pictures that reflect "absolute perfection" by revealing the truth behind each photograph.

In other words, Ronan has a talent for telling whether a picture reflects genuine emotion or fake.

He has spent his lifetime taking pictures of perfect happy families. Ironic given that his own family is nowhere near happy.

Ronan does photography work for Gabriel from time to time. He's taken every family portrait of the Agreste family since Adrian was born.

Ronan is a kinder, more loving parent who loves all his children unconditionally.

Unlike his daughter, Noelle, who has no problem with blood and gore, Ronan cannot even endure talking about such graphic details let alone the sight without becoming nauseated. He still tries to support his daughter's interests by asking her about them even if he ends up feeling sick to his stomach.

Has an amazing singing voice. He always sang lullabies to his children when they were younger and still sings to them whenever they are sad or having night terrors.

A combination of stimuli such as flashing lights and loud noises causes Ronan to have panic attacks.

Ronan is old friends with Gabriel Agreste (Gabi Grassette), André Bourgeois (Anaximandre Bourgeois), Harry Clown, and Emilie Agreste.

During his freshman year at university, he met Alyssa at a party, and they both had a drunken hook-up, which resulted in Alyssa getting pregnant with Michael.

Not wanting to abandon his child, Ronan thought that the "honorable" or "right" thing to do was to marry Alyssa, a decision that his friends were strongly against (they had only met her once at that point and they could already tell she was a huge bitch).

They tried to convince him to not go through with it and to think about if marrying Alyssa was what he truly wanted. Gabriel, of all people, even made a big speech about how Ronan should marry for love and not out of obligation.

Despite Gabriel's speech speaking volumes, Ronan had already made up his mind to go through with it, even if he would end up regretting his decision for the rest of his life, he wanted to give his child a chance at a normal childhood.

Despite being in a loveless marriage, Ronan did everything he could to make their lives "comfortable" for them, even if it meant having to put up with his wife constantly berating him.

Tensions began to rise higher in their marriage when their son, Michael, came out as a boy. Ronan was supportive of his son's gender identity, but Alyssa was beyond pissed.

He paid for Michael's hormone therapy and had his name legally changed.

Took Michael to have gender-reassignment surgery at the age of 18 behind Alyssa's back. This act led to a MAJOR fight between the married couple, resulting in Alyssa nearly blinding Ronan with a glass vase that she threw close to his eye and kicking Michael out of the house.

Ronan continues to support Michael and help him through his struggles with depression and pill and alcohol abuse.

Had an affair with a family friend on Anais's last birthday, who also happened to be the widowed father of one of Anais's friends. Noelle witnessed the affair and called for her mother without even thinking first due to the shock.

Their marriage became unbearably worse after that day. Alyssa brings up the affair at every chance she is given and torments and berates Ronan even worse than before.

The affair is still ongoing; they just think that they are doing a good job at keeping it hidden.

The word about Ronan's affair had gotten around at Noelle's old school, which led to the bullying that she was already dealing with becoming worse. This also led to the decision for Noelle to transfer to Dupont.

While Ronan likes Noelle's new friends, the only friend that he doesn't completely trust Lila Rossi. In his words, "There's just something not right about that picture".

Despite his miserable and depressing home life, Ronan has yet to become akumatized. Hawk Moth/Shadow Moth/Monarch is lying in wait for the moment that Ronan reaches his "breaking point" and is at his lowest.

@princessbutterflysposts

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chronicallylatetotheparty · 1 year

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Perfect Paradise

Ch.4 Y se te Para el Tiempo en tu Cara

Bunnyx stared at the fuzzy branches that split from the timeline. None of them good. But none of them world ending either.

Which meant she couldn't, shouldn't rather, interfere.

A change was coming and Alix needed to let it happen.

She waved her hand and the static cleared to show the Celestial Guardian sprinting across the countryside... A deep sigh left her as she swept the timestream back to Paris.

A familiar blue head stood in front of Adrien's mansion. Alix fast forwarded. "Oof that's rough," she winced.

But... This she could do.

----------------------

Going back a few minutes Alix stepped through the Burrow and detransformed. Joining Luka on his way to see Adrien.

"Your interview with Nadja Chamack is set, Adrien."

"Thank you, Gregor." Adrien leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.

The paperwork to extricate his assets from the "family business" was long, tedious and complicated further by Adrien's insistence on combing through it himself before approving anything... He wasn't particularly trusting at the moment.

"I've also-" Gregor paused.

"Hmm?" Adrien looked up at his assistant's floating emoticon face.

"Luka Couffaine and Alix Kubdel are at the front gate."

Adrien felt something squeeze his chest.

"I will tell them you are indisposed."

"Yeah... Wait." Adrien took a steadying breath. "I'll see them."

"...Are you sure Adrien?"

Adrien straightened the papers on his desk as the pressure in his chest grew. "Send them in."

-----------------------

Luka saw some of the tension leave Alix's shoulders as the spherical camera retracted and the gate opened. "You okay?"

"Yes. No. I just, don't like the whole 'Jabba's Palace' routine. Reminds me of Agreste Manor."

"Oh." Luka wouldn't know. He only visited Adrien there once.

"Welcome." A Kanté-class AI said as they entered. Their holographic face neutral.

"Hey, Gregor," Alix greeted.

Gregor bobbed in a nod. "Alix... Luka. Adrien is in the No Fun Room."

"His office," Alix explained at Luka's confused look.

Luka's lips twitched. "He calls it the No Fun Room?'

"Says it helps his ADHD."

"Ah..."

"Please remove your shoes," Gregor asked as he lead them through Adrien's home.

From what little Luka remembered, Adrien's new mansion was almost the exact opposite of his old one. There was colorful carpet and hardwood floors instead of stark tiles. Faded drawings made in crayon ran along the bottom of the walls. The light filling the space was soft and warm.

But there were also... scars.

Empty spaces that obviously used to hold framed portraits were next to pictures of Adrien and his family. Emma in her fencing gear. Hugo playing the piano. Little Louis surrounded by fabrics.

And, just over there, was a family portrait. Marinette and Adrien and the three kids all laughing in a candid photo. It was off center. Like it'd been removed from it's place of prominence.

"Now this is a surprise," Adrien said from behind a desk stacked with papers. "The prodigal son back in town to pay me a visit."

"Hey, I'm here too!" Alix spoke up.

"Alix we saw each other last month."

"And you kept tight lipped about something important dincha?"

Adrien's eyes wandered back to the paperwork on his desk. "I don't see how my personal life is any of your business."

Alix bit her tongue. Reminding herself that she was there to smooth things over not rock the boat even more.

"That's actually why I'm here." Luka walked up to the desk but kept on the opposite side of it. "It's not great to hear but... The relationship between the Ladybug and Black Cat does concern us. As wielders of the Miraculous."

The mask of polite neutrality on Adrien's face was pulled taunt. "I'm surprised you came to me and not Marinette."

Alix coughed.

"... She was busy," Luka admitted.

"Of course."

"Adrien-

"I'm sorry."

Luka blinked. "Sorry?"

"I know it's, heh, twenty-six years overdue but... I'm sorry I went to you for advice about your ex-girlfriend."

"Oh." Luka's confusion didn't diminished but now he knew where Adrien was coming from. "I mean, I don't hold it against you."

Adrien shook his head. "Still. I shouldn't have done that. And I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," Luka said because it felt like the answer Adrien was looking for.

The mask slipped a little as Adrien gave a tentative smile... And stared at Luka... Waiting...

Alix cleared her throat drawing Luka's attention. She gave the slightest jerk in Adrien's direction. Eyes practically bulging as she pointed at him with just her irises.

Luka glanced from her to Adrien. Eyes widening. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you I knew your identity before leaving."

Adrien twisted the rings on his fingers. Over and over and over. "...Is that it?"

"I'm... sorry I wasn't honest with you-"

Adrien shot to his feet. Rolling chair shooting back and papers sliding off their piles. Mask gone as Adrien stared at him with disdain. "Honest with me? Honest with me. Is that all you did, Luka? You weren't honest with me?"

Alix stepped forward. "Adrien-"

"Stay out of this, Doctor Who!" he snapped.

Luka scrambled for the right notes as Adrien's song went into a minor key. "I know we haven't harmonized for a while Adrien but just-"

"Our songs have never been in harmony."

Luka flinched.

"...You don't even remember do you?" Adrien deflated as whatever rage he held onto was replaced with sorrow. "I think you should leave."

"Please, just tell me-"

"You sold me out." Adrien whispered.

"... What?"

Adrien took a deep breath. "You. And my ex-wife. Sold. Me. Out."

Luka shook his head. "No. I would never do that to..." A memory came back to him.

Marinette. Panicked and small. The Celestial Guardian. Loud and angry. Adrien. Hopeful and oh so trusting.

Luka staggered back. "I..."

"Gregor."

The AI materialized. "Yes, Adrien?"

"See him out."

"Of course. Come now. Back the way we came."

"She was trying to protect you!" Luka blurted out.

Adrien's expression hardened further. "I have nothing more to say to you. Good day, M. Couffaine."

"If this is why you-"

"M. Couffaine. You may have seen our faces but you never saw past our masks."

With a nod at Gregor a robotic chair zoomed in and pushed behind Luka's knees. Who fell into the seat. A seatbelt zipping into place before hurrying away with it's charge.

As Luka was ushered out he saw that there were also photos of Kitty Section playing together.

None of them included him.

Alix pinched the bridge of her nose. That could've gone better. She definitely should've bent the rules a bit and told him... Something.

"Not turning out the way you hoped?" Adrien asked, straightening the papers on his desk. "Join the club."

"Luka didn't deserve that from you, Cinderella."

"You're right. He deserved worse."

"That's not- Mm, no. Not getting into this. I'm just gonna go."

Adrien pressed a button and the door to his study closed.

"...Well that's not creepy at all. Do all your doors do that?"

"It's just for this room. The kids overhearing business dealings would be... Legally messy."

"Uh-huh," Alix said, eyeing the window and gripping her Miraculous. "Sure."

"I have a question. For Bunnyx."

Alix sighed. "If it's about the future..."

"I get that we're not friends but you still owe me answers."

She bristled at the allusion to her "owing" him. Remembering the times he posted her bail and asked nothing in return... Her grip on the pocket watch loosened. "Since when aren't we friends?"

"Since you found out about 'something important' and said jack shit. So, y'know, however many years that is."

"..."

Alix looked at Adrien. Laugh lines overshadowed by the eye bags he sported. Tall, muscular frame weighed down by truths made heavier with time.

He was looking at her the same way he looked at Luka. Like she was a stranger... "What do you wanna know?"

Adrien stared into her eyes. "What is Chat Blanc?"

--------------------------

Adrien looked at the security feed as Luka and Alix left him.

"Gregor?"

"Yes, Adrien?"

"Luka Couffaine, Alix Kubdel, Viperion and Bunnyx are no longer welcome in my home."

Gregor bobbed in midair as a nod. Eyes sad but understanding. "Of course, Adrien. I will-" His eyes became three dots pulsing in sequence. Before snapping back into focus.

"Gregor? What is it? You okay?"

"... Emilie Agreste has filed for custody of Emma, Hugo and Louis."

#adrien agreste #luka couffaine #alix kubdel #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml au #divorce au #Perfect Paradise #ml ephermeral

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flightfoot · 1 year

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For the first time in my fan theorising life, I actually think I’m onto something:

Has anyone considered that Felix just didn’t know Adrien had two amoks?

No, seriously. Really take a moment and think about it. We, the audience, have had dozens of episodes to slowly realise that both rings control Adrien. But, just like we know LB and CN’s identities while the two in question are oblivious, we are also privy to a lot of things that Felix is not. Let’s take a moment to look at it from his character’s perspective.

As seen in ‘Representation’, Felix eventually realised his father was controlling him with his ring. One ring. His whole life, Felix has only ever had just that. His one amok. Even now, as Argos, he has only ever created sentis with one amok.

So why would Felix ever think that another senti has more than one amok, when his whole life experience has revolved around there only being one?

Back in ‘Felix’, when Felix first stole the ring, we are shown that Amelie wanted the rings back in her family for sentimental reasons. Felix, too, immediately presented the ring he stole to Amelia saying he took it because she said she wanted it back in the family. Neither of them mentioned Adrien. At that moment in time, the only significance the ring had —to the two of them— was as a Graham De Vanily family heirloom.

And hadn’t it puzzled the fandom for a while on why Amelie would want/risk having Adrien’s amok? Several people even theorised that maybe it wasn’t Adrien’s amok at all. So isn’t it perfectly possible that both Amelie and Felix thought the same thing? That this couldn’t be Adrien’s amok?

In ‘Gabriel Agreste’, the ring is frequently referred to as Emelie’s ring. Again, Felix was controlled by his father, with one ring. Wouldn’t it make sense for Felix to assume that Adrien was also being controlled by his father, Gabriel, with just one ring? Thus making the ring he had, Emilie’s ring, have nothing to do with it? Remember that fond look he shot Emilie’s portrait? I sincerely doubt Felix would have looked at her that way if he thought she had been controlling her son with an amok.

And during all the time that Felix had the ring, he never once ordered Adrien with it. He never even tried. He never even seemed to consider it. A lot of people questioned why he wouldn’t help Adrien rebel against Gabriel’s orders with the ring. Some thought this was because of his senti principles. But couldn’t it simply be because Felix didn’t even know it was Adrien’s amok?

In Strikeback part 1, when Felix was posing as Adrien, he rebelled against Gabriel, whose ring finger was clearly bare. But when Felix saw Nathalie raising her ringed hand and ordering him to behave, he complied.

So Felix must have, at that moment, assumed that Adrien’s amok was in the ring Nathalie wore. And Gabriel and Nathalie’s reactions confirmed it.

Again, Felix only has one amok, which is his father’s ring.

He has only ever used one amok, to create one senti at a time.

Wouldn’t it make sense for him to think that Adrien only has one amok as well?

Felix always treated the ring he stole as just an heirloom. Emilie’s ring.

And then he saw Nathalie ordering Adrien with the other heirloom. Gabriel’s ring.

So he assumed: ah, clearly Nathalie has Adrien’s amok, which is his father’s ring, just like mine wise.

In that case, Felix returning the ring to Gabriel in Strikeback part 2 makes perfect sense.

He had already assumed that Emilie’s ring wasn’t Adrien’s amok. Well, he’s now seen PROOF that it isn’t. It’s never been Emilie’s ring, of course not. Clearly, Gabriel’s ring is the amok.

Felix loved his aunt, but he doesn’t have any personal attachment to her ring. And his mother has already said she doesn’t care about it.

He doesn’t need to hold onto it for Adrien or Amelie. So of course he doesn’t need it anymore.

It’s not an amok.

It’s not even an heirloom.

It’s just a ring.

So this is the most favorable explanation for Felix that I've seen. I think it's plausible at least that he didn't know that BOTH the rings were Adrien's Amok until recently, though I still don't think it's particularly likely. We don't know how or when exactly Felix realized that Adrien's Amoks were, and it's at least possible that he didn't realize until Risk that the ring Nathalie was wearing was an Amok, via how Gabriel and Nathalie were acting.

I do want to point out that the whole idea that Felix thought it was GABRIEL'S ring in particular that held Adrien's Amok doesn't make sense though, with this theory. Both rings were being referred to as "Emilie's rings" because Emilie originally possessed both of them, she was given them as a child - we saw that in Representation. She then gave one ring to Gabriel and kept the other for herself, using them as wedding rings.

The key thing is, the ring that Felix stole from Gabriel? Was the ring that Emilie had given Gabriel to act as his wedding ring. Emilie still HAD her own ring on at that point, we saw Gabriel take it from her finger. The ring that Gabriel had during Risk WAS, in fact, the ring that Emilie had kept as her own wedding ring, something which Felix should logically be able to deduce, given that he'd stolen the one Gabriel had been wearing before. Therefore, under this theory, EMILIE would have been the only one with ability to command Adrien until recently, NOT Gabriel.

#ask #miraculous ladybug #ml representation #ml spoilers #ml analysis #felix fathom #gabriel agreste

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rosie-b · 1 year

Text

True Blue

Chapter 5: The Brooch (5409 words)

A ball of light surged forth from the peacock pin, growing to the size of Marinette's hand before it suddenly resolved into a little blue bird hovering in midair.

Marinette stared at the hovering peacock for a moment.

Then she screamed.

You can read the full chapter on AO3 using the link above or keep reading on Tumblr below!

The safe door was open.

Marinette hadn't known they had a safe.

She walked over to it, intending to close the door and walk away. But what she saw in the safe brought her mission to a halt.

The safe looked like a miniature museum on the inside, with a motley collection of items: an old, red book that looked like the spine would crumble into dust at any second, a blue and teal brooch in the shape of a little peacock, a map of Tibet, a photo of Emilie Agreste, and some other, newer books.

As she examined the outdated map of Tibet, Marinette wondered if she should shut the safe door or not. She'd only been sent into the atelier to pick up Mr. Agreste's sketchbook, after all! Maybe he had meant to leave this super-secret safe open for the day, with the enormous, gold-framed portrait of Emilie announcing its presence, so that everyone who walked by the room would see it.

Well, that sounded ridiculous.

Marinette grabbed the door of the safe, wondering how to move the painting back in place over it. Would it attach magnetically to the door, or was there a hidden latch somewhere?

She could figure it out after she locked the safe door in place, Marinette decided, and turned her attention away from the wood-backed frame dangling above the floor.

Inside the safe, the peacock brooch glinted as light reflected on it from the metal safe door, a tempting and forbidding wink.

It's not mine, Marinette thought. The painting is of Mrs. Agreste; the brooch probably used to belong to her.

Maybe it was an Agreste family heirloom. There were a few paper-thin cracks in the bird’s glossy feathers, but it could still be worth more than her parents' bakery, for all she knew.

You’ll never be able to afford anything as nice as this brooch, Chloe’s voice whispered in Marinette’s mind.

Marinette mouth fell into a frown.

The Agrestes are just using you, Nathaniel hissed, drawing a chain on her arm.

Once you fetch my sketchbook, I have no further use for you, sniffed Gabriel Agreste’s voice in disdain.

A spider landed on Nathaniel's chain. Chloe's laughter echoed in the room.

You’re just a servant, Dupain-Cheng, exactly as you should be. Have fun cleaning the Agrestes’ lampshades!

I’ve found my place, Marinette, Sabrina said dutifully, holding three cans of paint and a heavy golden frame for Chloe.

I need to think positive, Marinette thought hysterically, her chest heaving up and down with her breaths.

Marinette lifted her hands and started to close the safe door, but even though the chain was gone from her wrist, her hand still felt its weight. Marinette was trembling, and her jerky motions led her to knock the brooch off its shelf as she swung the door closed. Landing on the bottom shelf with a thunk, the brooch got caught by the door and blocked it from shutting the whole way. A slight crunching noise echoed through the atelier.

Marinette winced and took a shaky breath as she prepared herself to see the new damage she’d inflicted on the peacock brooch. She opened the door, picked up the brooch, and turned it over. It was fractured, but not any worse than it had been before. 

Marinette let out a sigh of relief and clutched the brooch to her chest.

At least I didn’t manage to mess this day up any worse than I already have, she thought gratefully. 

But had she really done anything wrong?

She’d saved Adrien, kind of, stolen Nathaniel’s akuma and handed it off to Chat Grise, helped Adrien get to public school and given him a tour of François-Dupont.

Aside from letting Chloe’s words get to her, Marinette had done nothing wrong at all. She’d taken risks, yes, but they were all paying off.

Holding the brooch out, Marinette admired it one more time before she had to put it back in the safe.

It really was a nice brooch.

Marinette wanted to try it on. 

It would just be for a little bit! Not even a minute! Wearing something so pretty might help to chase away the dark thoughts lingering in her mind, Marinette reasoned. And that was good, because she didn't want to get akumatized, especially not so soon after the last akuma was defeated! All things considered, this was a win-win situation.

Yes, Marinette decided, she should try the brooch on. What was the worst that could happen?

Unclasping the back of the brooch, Marinette pinned it to her shirt, letting it fall comfortably below her collarbone. Looking down at the brooch, Marinette smiled fondly at it... until suddenly, it began to glow.

A ball of light surged forth from the peacock pin, growing to the size of Marinette's hand before it suddenly resolved into a little blue bird hovering in midair. 

Marinette whipped her head up and down as she looked from the brooch on her shirt, which had changed colors and was now an ultramarine blue with gold tips, to the little bird, who was flying around and saving something in a high-pitched voice that Marinette was too shocked to understand.

"—holder! I'm so excited!" the bird, which looked like a peacock, was saying when Marinette’s head finally cleared.

She stared at the hovering peacock for a moment.

Then she screamed.

"What are you?" Marinette asked, her heart pounding against her ribs. 

If this brooch turned out to be cursed, then putting it on was a really bad mistake. One that she should have seen coming, honestly — this was Emilie’s brooch, after all. It was the brooch of the Emilie Agreste, who had disappeared last year and was presumed dead!

Was this little bird responsible for Emilie Agreste's disappearance? Had it killed her? Was Marinette going to die, too?

Marinette took a deep breath and unlocked her knees. She'd heard that prevented people from fainting once, in elementary school choir.

"My name is Duusu!" the little bird chirped, seemingly oblivious to Marinette’s distress. "I'm so happy to meet you!"

"Duusu," Marinette repeated blankly. She stared at the energetic bird, who had pink eyes and a dot like a bindi in the middle of its forehead.

"Yes!" Duusu warbled cheerily. "You're my new holder, aren't you? Or are you my old holder? I can't remember who has what Miraculous anymore!"

Marinette's jaw dropped. "M- Miraculous? Like Chat Grise's ring, or Golden Bug's earrings? Hawk Moth's whatever-it-is?? That kind of Miraculous?"

Duusu spun around in the air and grinned at Marinette. "I don't know who those holders are," they said, "But my brooch is very much like the other Miraculous — Plagg's ring, and Nooroo's brooch, and Tikki's— uh, I forget what Tikki’s Miraculous is," Duusu said, looking confused. "That's strange. Hey, where are you going?"

Marinette was backing away slowly from the talking bird. She could think of a few different implications for finding an inactive Miraculous hidden in a safe inside the Agrestes’ mansion, but none of them were any good.

Reaching down to the late Madame Agreste's brooch, Marinette tried to unclasp it from her shirt with shaking fingers. She was trying to hurry as fast as she could— take off the brooch, make the talking bird disappear, close the safe, pretend like nothing happened.

She'd be fine. Perfectly fine! If she could just get this brooch off!!

"Oh," Duusu said when they saw what Marinette was struggling to do. Their long, feathered tail drooped sadly. "Are you rejecting me already? I'm sorry if I said something wrong! We can try this again! I'll be the best kwami you ever had, Master!"

"We're not trying anything remotely related to this brooch even once, Duusu! You're not my kwami," Marinette choked out. "And I am not your master! How do I get this off?" 

A heavy step echoed through the mansion, and Marinette gasped in horror.

A pair of shoes clomped down the hallway leading to the atelier, getting closer and closer. The noise they made was too low to be Nathalie's high heels, and too loud for Adrien's quiet footsteps. 

Marinette felt a chill of dread race down her spine. "Disappear!" She whispered the desperate plea to Duusu. "Please disappear!"

Marinette ran to hide behind the low seats of the atelier, hoping M. Agreste heard her clambering down the steps to hide. Now, at least, he couldn’t see her if he looked inside the room. Still fumbling with the clasp of the brooch, her fingers slipped off of it several times before she finally yanked the brooch off, clutching it tightly in her hands.

Shoving it inside her front pocket, Marinette stood up and busied herself looking for the sketchbook while she readied her story. She could say that she got lost looking for the atelier, took a wrong turn somewhere in the simple layout of the first floor — no, Mr. Agreste would never believe that story! 

Oh good, there was the sketchbook.

No, no, she had to focus! She could tell him that—

"Did you know that this room is protected by security cameras?" Gabriel Agreste's accusing voice reached Marinette's ears as he pushed the doors open and walked into the room. He glanced once at her and stepped around to the open safe.

Marinette reached out to pick up the sketchbook with trembling fingers. "It- it is?" she asked, her throat dry.

"Yes. Which is how I know that you looked in my safe. And I know that you took something out. You have Emilie's brooch, don't you?" he asked, peering at the empty spot on the shelf where the peacock Miraculous had rested.

I’m dead.  

Marinette took a stuttering breath, trying to draw air into her lungs. It was harder than she remembered.

"I didn't mean to take it," she whispered. "I wasn't going to. I just thought, maybe, it would cheer me up if I looked at it — if I just put it on once, just for a little! I didn't want to be akumatized," she whimpered as Gabriel Agreste turned around and glared at her.

Marinette sobbed.

“I'm sorry!” She had to force the barely-understandable words out of her throat.

"But you still took the brooch," M. Agreste said, his voice dripping with venom. "And you look more shaken than you would have been had you not put it on. You know what it is now, don't you?"

Squeezing her eyes shut, Marinette shook her head. "I don't," she said pleadingly. "I don't know anything about it!"

"Don't lie to me!" Gabriel Agreste roared.

Then he fell silent, looking down at Marinette with an unreadable expression on his face.

“You’ve started down an unforgiving path, Ms. Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette winced, preparing to be blacklisted from every fashion house in France and then drawn and quartered.

“Didn’t you see the cracks in the brooch?” Gabriel continued. “You had to, of course, but I suppose that wasn’t enough warning for you. You’re more reckless than I would like my apprentice to be… but perhaps in the end, it will serve us well. Follow me.”

Marinette gawked at M. Agreste as he shut the safe door and moved the painting to cover it. He seemed mad at her… but at the same time, he’d sounded almost proud of her ‘recklessness.’

She didn’t know how he’d come to have a Miraculous lying in his safe. She didn’t know if he was a secret ally of Golden Bug and Chat Grise, or a secret weapon of Hawk Moth’s.

All Marinette knew was that she was in way over her head.

M. Agreste walked out of the atelier, and from his last words, he was expecting her to be right behind him. 

Panicking, Marinette wiped under her eyes as she stumbled on her way to catch up with M. Agreste.

“The thing about a broken Miraculous, Miss Marinette,” Gabriel continued as if this was a normal conversation, “Is that it will slowly break its holder, if they wear it for long enough. How long did you have the brooch on?”

Marinette’s heart thumped. She squeezed her hands together as she tried to answer M. Agreste’s question without panicking more.

“Um,” she said with a sniff, “Under a minute? Two minutes? Well, I put it on, and I was planning to take it right off, but Duusu scared me and then the brooch’s pin just wouldn’t unclasp, and—”

“Not long enough,” Gabriel interrupted. “Not long enough for the magic to kill you. But perhaps you’re already suffering its effects. Do you feel at all dizzy, Miss Marinette? Does your throat itch? Can you walk in a straight line?”

Marinette blinked. Was M. Agreste saying that she might have just poisoned herself? And that if she’d worn the brooch for much longer, she could have died?

“I don’t feel poisoned,” she said. “I’m fine, as fine as usual.” Which means I certainly can’t walk in a straight line, for long, at least.

M. Agreste raised his eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Heled her up the stairs, and they passed under the large painting of M. Agreste and Adrien.

Marinette couldn’t help but feel like the eyes in the painting were watching her and she looked out over the mansion to avoid their threatening gaze.

She stumbled over the next stair.

Half-kneeling, she clutched the railing for support while her head throbbed in pain. The lights were too bright, and she... kind of had to cough. Her arms itched, too.

Marinette held herself in check as alarm bells went off in her mind.

No, I’m not sick, she told herself. It’s not the brooch, it’s just been a really long, hard day, and M. Agreste is not helping right now!

Gabriel turned and looked at Marinette. Sighing, he stepped down and offered her a hand, pulling her up and checking her palm for scratches.

“Try to be more aware of your surroundings, Miss Marinette. Are you feeling well?”

Marinette didn’t know what to say. Her eyes were filling with tears again, and she had already reached her crying limit about half an hour ago.

She just wanted to go home.

“Since you can’t even speak, I’ll assume the answer is no. It’s good Nathalie and Adrien are out of the house right now, so that they can’t see you like this,” Gabriel sighed, and Marinette found herself agreeing.

Imagine if Adrien had been witness to her mistake — that would be too much to bear!

M. Agreste led her the rest of the way up the stairs, his grip on her hand firm and cold.

“I have some medicine which might help you,” he said. “Emilie used it, before she— hm. I suppose that story can wait. For now, Miss Marinette, we will focus on getting you better.”

“Thank you,” she murmured. She still clung to the hope that nothing was wrong with her, and M. Agreste was just overreacting.

But was he, really?

He said the brooch had been Emilie’s. He also said that the brooch would break its holders.

He was going to give her some of Emilie’s old medicines.

Marinette felt her knees begin to buckle. M. Agreste yanked her up before her knees could touch the ground.

“This way,” he said, and opened the door to his room.

Black, white, and purple stripes greeted Marinette’s vision, swarming around her while she stumbled yet again.

Like before, M. Agreste caught her, this time guiding her into a tall-backed white chair. She fell into it gratefully, pressing her palms against the small table in front of her to keep from falling to one side or the other.

The sound of a cabinet opening came from off to Marinette’s left, and M. Agreste pulled an orange bottle out and placed it on the table in front of her.

Marinette squinted at the bottle, which had some unpronounceable name written on it above faded instructions written in black ink.

“It’s good that I kept this, after all,” M. Agreste mused. “Stay here, Miss Marinette, I will be back with some water shortly.”

Thank you, Marinette said in her brain, but her mouth wouldn’t move to speak the words. She flapped her hand in a useless gesture. M. Agreste pulled the door shut behind him, leaving without acknowledging her attempt at thanks.

A blue bird flew around in the eye of Marinette’s mind, chased by a spider dragging a chain. The bird flew into a mirror and turned into a woman with blonde hair and green eyes. The spider threw the chain over her, and it turned into a gold frame around the woman, who smiled benignly as the spider settled over her left eye, cracking her face into a hundred pieces.

The door opened again, and Marinette startled.

“Here you go, a cup of water. Take one pill with as much of it as you need, but don’t worry about food. This is more like ampicillin than ibuprofen.” Gabriel opened the pill bottle for Marinette, took her hand, and dumped a pill into it when he saw that she was slow to follow his instructions.

“Thank you,” Marinette murmured, and slid the pill through her lips. When M. Agreste looked at her expectantly, she grasped the cup of water and took a sip from it, swallowing the pill. It stuck in her throat halfway, so she took another sip of water to force it down, a larger one this time.

In a few moments, Marinette’s mind began to clear. The cool water was helping to shake her out of her daze.

As M. Agreste took a seat on a cushion by the window, Marinette tried to take stock of her situation. She had been sent to search for Gabriel’s sketchbook, found the open safe, took a brooch from it, put it on, gave herself mild magic poisoning, got found and scolded by her sort-of boss, tripped, and was given some medicine to help with the poison.

Medicine that was originally for a woman who was presumed dead.

“Monsieur Agreste?” she asked, and the man hummed in acknowledgment. “The medicine worked for Emilie, right? She got better before it happened?”

“The medicine helped for a long time,” Gabriel said gruffly. “But in the end, it wasn’t enough. Are you feeling better now?”

Marinette watched a water drop slip down the side of the glass onto her hand.

“I think so,” she said. “My head doesn’t hurt, at least.”

“Good. In that case, I have a rather long story to tell you, and we have just long enough for me to finish it before you go back home. I should warn you, it does not have a happy ending.”

Marinette tightened her grip on the glass.

“But I need to hear it?”

Gabriel nodded his head, something Marinette could barely catch in her peripheral. “You do.”

Standing up from the window seat, he moved to stand at the table beside Marinette, where he pulled out a second chair and took a seat.

“It begins with a young couple in love,” he said. “Emilie and I were newlyweds then, full of the joy and naivety that newlyweds have. And that joy lasted beyond the first year. We traveled the world together, planning our future all the while, as I drew ideas for new fashion lines and Emilie talked of roles she wanted to have, in movies and in real life. She wanted to have a child, and while it had never been my personal dream, I wanted to make her happy.”

A frown tugged at his lips, and he scowled at the ring on his left hand.

“But having a child was more difficult than we had hoped it would be. In fact, it quickly became clear that it was impossible. And Emilie’s joy began to fade. She lost herself in stories, while Nathalie and I tried in vain to cheer her up, to bring the healthy sparkle we loved back to her eye. That’s when she learned of the brooch.”

Taking it out of his pocket, M. Agreste placed the broken Miraculous on the table. Marinette eyed it warily as she listened to the rest of the story.

“We went to Tibet seeking a fairy tale, a magical piece of jewelry that could grant its owner unfathomable power. The search took months, but we found that brooch, and another, and a book in an ancient and foreign language describing them both.” Gabriel paused. “It is the book of the Miraculous, the Grimoire. You probably passed it by in the safe when you took the brooch.”

Marinette winced.

“Don’t apologize again, it sounds grating after the first time,” Gabriel said before she could speak. “We couldn’t read the book to understand it, but Emilie found another way. She put the brooch on, and when a kwami came out, just as the stories she’d found predicted, she asked for its help. And slowly, she learned about the powers of the brooch.

“You can use it to make anything you wish using emotion, and house its soul in an amok, giving you complete control over it. For example, if you were really tired, you could make a pillow that could wrap its arms around you and help you go to sleep. Or you could make a cunning bird to spy for you, or a house that walked on chicken legs, or even a mermaid to create a storm that would sink your enemies’ ships. But you can only make one at a time, or get rid of the being you’d created in the past if you want to create a new one.”

Marinette didn’t see how that solved anything. Emilie had wanted the brooch to distract herself from being childless. But she’d eventually given birth to Adrien, so why keep the brooch? Especially if it was broken!

“And since, at the time, the brooch was not broken—”

Oh, Marinette thought. That explained some of it.

“—I thought it would be fine for Emilie to use it. And she did, in a way that no one else ever had before. And that broke the Miraculous, and eventually, her. But for a while, we did not know the risks of using the brooch while it was broken, and while Emilie only needed to use it once, she shared its secrets with her closest friends, who used it too, though they wore it for less time than Emilie had.

“But slowly, they, too, were affected by the power of the Miraculous. Two died, and the other went blind. She was lucky; she had only needed the brooch for a short time, and so she only suffered a little because of it.”

Marinette gulped, feeling the phantom sensation of the brooch on her chest. “And Emilie?”

Gabriel clenched his fists. “Her fate has not yet been decided. But unless the effects of the Miraculous are counteracted by a stronger, more ancient magic, she will undoubtedly die. As may you, though you will hopefully only suffer as much as Tsurugi-san did.”

Marinette was feeling sick again.

She opened her mouth to speak, but M. Agreste was already continuing his own speech.

“For now, it is better that Emilie’s sickness, and its end, remain hidden from the public, and from Adrien, as well. Everything that I’ve told you must remain secret, do you understand me?”

Marinette hesitated. He was just going to trust her? After she’d looked into the safe without his permission and put on the brooch?

She nodded as Gabriel turned a skeptical eye to her.

Satisfied, he gave her a grim smile. “Good. Now, this is where it gets messy. I’m afraid that the public has already skewed your perception about this matter, as have a few unfortunate encounters that you’ve had. What do you think is the most powerful Miraculous? The Peacock, the Ladybug, the Butterfly, or the Black Cat?”

Marinette frowned. “The Ladybug? It always undoes all the damage from the Butterfly and the Black Cat,” she offered.

“Half right, Mademoiselle. The ladybug and the black cat are evenly matched, and when combined together, they offer their holder a power more immense than any in the universe. Creation and destruction; the ability to tear apart the old world and build up a new one. The ability to... to heal my poor Emilie. To bring back the others. To make it as if that brooch was never broken. Do you see what I mean, Marinette? That is a power worth sacrificing anything for.”

A pit grew in Marinette’s stomach, and she thought she might throw up. This was wrong; something about all this was rotten, and she knew it.

“I mentioned that we found a second brooch. This one is not broken, and it is quite safe to touch.” M. Agreste pulled back the candy-striped ascot from his neck and unpinned a purple brooch from his white collar. “This is the butterfly Miraculous, which grants the power of transmission.”

“Or akumatization,” Marinette breathed. “You’re Hawk Moth.”

Goodbye, Maman! Goodbye, Papa! The worst had happened, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng was not long for this world.

One side of Gabriel’s frown twitched. “I would hope that’s become apparent. I did not put on the mask lightly, however. As you can see, people’s lives are at stake. And more than that, even; I haven’t revealed the full tragedy of my story yet.”

There was more?

“As you heard, Emilie wanted a child. And she eventually had one, in Adrien. But his birth was rather... unconventional.”

Ah yes, IVF. It had once been more taboo than it was now, but Marinette had no problems with it.

“Emilie used the Miraculous to create a human child.”

What.

“We couldn’t be certain, but similar things had been done with Duusu’s power before, so we thought it would be safe. And maybe it would have been, but Emilie insisted on splitting Adrien’s amok, so that neither of us would have complete control over him. I agreed, so she struggled to divide the magic she wielded between two twin rings, heirlooms of her family. And Adrien was born, a perfect, beautiful baby held in his mother’s arms. His amok split, corrupting the Miraculous, which broke. For years, we thought the thin cracks in it were only proof of its ancient nature, the result of its finally being used in such a powerful way after centuries of remaining in stasis. Duusu’s confusion should have warned us, but the kwamis are strange creatures, and we thought nothing of it.”

Marinette had to be dreaming. Maybe she’d fainted on the stairs, and all of this was just one big hallucination!

But then the Miraculous would still have been real.

“None of it was Adrien’s fault, of course, but you can see why we would keep the story from him. Imagine knowing that it was your birth which killed your mother. You would keep Adrien safe from this tragedy at any cost, wouldn’t you? So would I. That is why I became Hawk Moth. As you know, none of the damage my unruly akumas cause lasts, and none of it would have been necessary at all, had the Guardian of the Miraculous simply handed the Ladybug and Black Cat over to me!”

Some of Marinette’s panic must have shown on her face, because Gabriel took one look at her and sighed.

“I asked them to give me their Miraculous, and they refused. I’m afraid they won’t even agree to a truce, where we can meet and discuss the terms of an exchange! You see what a difficult position I have been put in, yes?”

Marinette could, but she was also busy seeing a violet mask appear over Nathaniel’s eyes, Adrien falling, Ivan slumped in defeat on the news after his akumatization.

She rubbed her wrist, where the Evillustrator’s rope had tied her to a ship sailing nowhere.

“Isn’t there another way?” she asked in a small voice.

“Mademoiselle, I have tried everything short of murder to get my wife back. And how else do you suggest we raise the dead? Necromancy is an illusion, a story told to make children afraid of the night. Tell me, Marinette, do you think there is any other way, one where Adrien does not lose his mother, where Felix has his father back, and Zoe hers, and Tsurugi-san can see again? Can you repair the damage already done to this world?”

She couldn’t. “No,” Marinette whispered.

Gabriel’s mouth thinned, and he hummed appraisingly. “No,” he repeated. “Neither you nor I can even heal the brooch, much less the people it has broken. But if I can get the ring of the Black Cat and the Ladybug’s earrings, I will be able to reset the world, remake it without any of this hardship. All it takes is one change; one small adjustment to the brooch as it forms in the cosmos. It only needs to be strengthened a little. With that, not only will Emilie and Tomoe be whole again and two more be brought back to life, but I will be able to rid four human children of their abhorrent ties to the brooch. You haven’t had much time to consider the significance of amoks; you’ve only just learned of them. But Adrien would be better off without even one ring to control his every move, don’t you think?”

Marinette found herself tentatively nodding.

“So, you see. And it is only with the Miraculous’ power that this can be accomplished. I must continue to be Hawk Moth for now. Do you understand?”

It didn’t matter what Marinette said. It was clear that she only had one choice, anyway.

“I understand,” she said in a low voice. “You’re acting with your family’s interest in mind.”

“And my plan is not as bad as it sounds at first, so long as I win,” Gabriel agreed. “It is not fair for you to get caught up in it, though. As you see, the cost is too high. I cannot expect you to give up your life for near strangers. But I do ask that you remain silent about all this; if you need to talk to someone about it, talk to me, or Nathalie, if you must. She also knows, though she remains silent about our struggle. Like you, her options are limited.”

Marinette remembered Nathalie’s impatience with her fear of akumas. Maybe she had counted on Gabriel not allowing the people he knew to be hurt.

M. Agreste stood up from the table. “It is nearly time for you to go, Marinette. The driver will be pulling into the driveway any moment now. You should get your things and prepare to leave. We can discuss this more tomorrow.”

Marinette twitched as Gabriel walked over to the door and held it open. Standing up, she cautiously stepped towards it, pausing to ask a question that was weighing on her mind.

“M. Agreste? The akuma today, did you mean for it to hurt Adrien and me? Nathaniel seemed like he was really mad at all three of us.”

Gabriel frowned. “Every akuma is a risk. I do not control them as fully as I would like, and if I need to detransform during the time that they are akumatized, they are left to their own devices, but the akuma does affect their emotions in unpredictable ways. It made Nathaniel angrier, more aggressive. It was lucky that you helped lead him away from Adrien. I am... grateful to you, for your actions today.” He inclined his head in a barely-there gesture of respect.

Marinette felt a weight lift off of her chest.

“You’re welcome,” she said in relief. He didn’t blame her for defeating the akuma. Good.

“You probably have more questions, but as I said, we can address them tomorrow. I will say, however, though I wish I had a precise answer about your exposure to the broken Miraculous and the risk it bears, we will have to wait and see how severely you’ve damaged yourself. For now, just take one pill of the medicine a day— I will keep the bottle here and order a refill if necessary. You should be all right in the end, Miss Dupain-Cheng. Have a good evening.”

He continued to hold the door open, and Marinette reluctantly walked through it, her stomach churning as she offered a small smile to M. Agreste as thanks.

This had to be the worst day of her life.

#ml fanfic #ml au #bluewing au #rosie-b writing #marinette dupain cheng #gabriel agreste #kwami swap #peacock!Marinette #miraculous ladybug #ml leak free #miraculeakless

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kisilinramblings · 1 year

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You know, even to this day I keep seeing people said Emilié is just in coma but all this time I though she was dead????? Was I wrong???

Death is a sensitive subject, especially in a show that aimed at kids as young as 5 yo, and if I recall some dubs did alter a bit the wording. In the French dub, I don't remember them saying plainly that Émilie is dead, but they used soften expressions to convey the same over the seasons and the imagery is there (father and son both wearing black in the family portrait where Émilie is missing, her coffin ressembles Disney Snow White, her statue in the Agreste Mansion garden acts the same as tombstone, the first year anniversary, Adrien mentionning not coming to Félix's father funeral because Gabriel didn't want him to relive bad memories, etc).

Honestly, if Émilie was actually in a coma, wouldn't she be in an hospital or have her own medical room in the mansion accessible to all closed ones and medical intervenants instead than being locked in a hidden room in the basement where only Gabriel and Nathalie have access to? That would be twisted to make your son think his mother is dead while she actually isn't (yet). Same with the rest of the family and the rest of the world.

#miraculous ladybug #now I want an au where Émilie is indeed in a coma so we can have Adrien visit her and talk to her from time to time

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detective-luca-montoya · 1 year

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Miraculous/CCE AU

A drabble based off of a random idea I thought of! In this AU, Lawrence is Hawk Moth, mourning the loss of his wife, the former wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous. When Marshall accidentally becomes the new holder of the Ladybug Miraculous, Lawrence becomes obsessed with capturing it (and him) in order to wish his wife back to life and have the perfect family. Along with Nathan (Black Cat) and Sadie (Pigella), Marshall defends the city from harm while staying one step ahead of his villainous "father". In this crossover, Luca is a sentibeing created by the Peacock Miraculous as a surrogate daughter for Lawrence. Might write more if the mood strikes me!

Lawrence belongs to @montammil, Luca belongs to me!

"Duusu, spread my feathers."

The transformation is nearly instantaneous, his Lawrence Agreste veneer melting away to be replaced by the sleek purple suit of Shadow Moth, the peacock Miraculous now sitting neatly at the nape of his neck. An extravagant feathered fan materializes into one hand, the jeweled staff of Nooroo in the other. He throws it aside; it's not what he needs.

He instead plucks a single snow-white feather from the fan, cradling it gently in his palm as if it might blow away at the slightest sudden movement. He folds his fingers over it, murmuring not just to his kwami, but to the very universe itself. "Rise, my beautiful amok..."

A flicker of blue light, beautiful and fragile like a candle flame, shivers into existence in his clenched fist. His guilt and rage and pain pours forth, pooling in the feather and turning it that particular shade of dark indigo. His voice turns hard, authoritative, ringing across the cavernous room with the desperation of a man who has nothing left to lose. The voice of a future monarch. "Take shape and bring my creation to life!"

The shapeless cloud of butterflies takes human form without a second thought. He's imagined, dreamt, planned this for so long, pored over Nadia's portrait and saw each and every detail in his mind's eye. His nose. Nadia's eyes, her smile. His wit, her kindness. Old enough to not need constant supervision, but far from an independent adult. Intelligent, loyal, perfect.

The energy of emotion, all of his will and grief and pain, placed into the symbols of their everlasting union. Unending even in death. He puts his wedding ring back on his finger.

"I am your father, Lawrence Agreste."

Threading Nadia's ring onto a thin silver chain, he fastens it around the being- child's- neck. It stares at him, blinking slowly, uncomprehending expression slowly gaining sapience. Lawrence steps back.

"You will be the perfect child Nadia and I have always wanted."

Cold, blank eyes turn warm and familiar. The child- his child- looks up at him, and smiles.

"Yes, Father."

#my writing #lawrence oc #luca oc #cce crossover #miraculous au #miraculous ladybug au #miraculous crossover #au case file

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aidanchaser · 1 year

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i know im still finishing up boulangerella (im really at the climax i promise) but i got hit with another long fic idea and its still haunting me after like a week

She found him in Paris, in the twenty-first century. She wasn’t even looking for him, and yet she found him.

She’d only stopped in this time and place for a quick trip to her favorite bakery. There was something about the chouquettes that fluffed up so perfectly here and nowhere else. She’d visited this bakery a century earlier, and while it had been good, there was something about this particular century that was better. Maybe it was just the kindness of the baker and his wife, or a different twist on a family recipe, or something about the air quality.

She tried to blend in—she always tried—but she was never the best at keeping up with the everyday fashion trends of the universe. There were a lot of different cultures throughout all of history and space to bother with, so she stuck to her red and black-spotted suit more often than not. If the bakery owners found this odd, they didn’t comment. She suspected that they were too polite to comment, even if she were to walk in with an inflatable rubber duck around her waist.

She’d found a perch on their rooftop, and had promised herself that she would only stay long enough to properly enjoy her sweet treat, when she saw him. Or rather, she saw his face on a large board advertisement high above the city.

She knew his face—how could she forget his face?—even after all this time.

But his picture didn’t necessarily mean that he was here. It only meant that he had been here at one point, and a remnant of him was left behind. She had no reason to get excited.

And yet she abandoned her chouquettes on the rooftop and leapt across the buildings to his portrait. His smile was wide and free. She brushed her hand along his face, more than triple the size it ought to be. Though his eyes were closed, she remembered how brilliantly green they were the last time she had seen him and she smiled, though it was bittersweet.

She hadn’t seen him smile this exuberantly in centuries. They’d been running and hiding for so long, and she’d nearly forgotten how happy he used to be. She hoped this picture meant that he’d found his freedom once again.

She slipped down to the streets and back into the bakery.

“More already?” the kind woman behind the counter smiled.

Her burly husband laughed. “You’ve got a healthy appetite, young lady.”

She bit down on her lip as she smiled. Their casual affection was always so warm and comforting. If she was allowed to stay anywhere, she would gladly stay with them.

“No, thank you,” she said. “The chouquettes were perfect, as always. Er—I was actually wondering if you could tell me about the advertisement.” She gestured vaguely in the direction of the billboard.

“The Gabriel ad?” the woman asked. “It’s for… perfume, I think?”

“What about the boy in the ad?” she asked.

“Adrien Agreste?” the man said. “Gabriel Agreste’s son. He does all the primary modeling for the brand. He’s a sweet boy. Been in here a few times.”

She chewed on her lip as she tried to place the name Agreste. Had she been wrong? Was this boy not her lifelong partner and closest friend?

“Has he been here long?” she asked, though it was a silly question. Time meant little to people like her and him.

“Since his mother died, poor dear,” the woman said.

And she began to doubt. The boy she knew had lost his mother long ago, in the same war that had separated the two of them. Maybe she was wrong. This boy was not hers.

But something nagged in her chest that she was not wrong, that her partner was here. She could run from that impulse, leave this time and place to him. If he was happy here, she ought not risk it.

But she had to at least see him before she went. It was only right.

#i was thinking about the tardis and dw references throughout the show and then ideas and lore started spiraling #ml #miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #miraculous ladybug #ladrien

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familyagrestefanblog · 4 years

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Analysis of the Family Agreste Portrait

Quarantine strikes again and since the Agreste family portrait has fascinated me for a loooong while now I decided to put my thoughts into words and write another essay x3

The amount of informations we get out if it is amazing and its not only highlighting the absolute TRAGEDY it is that this family is about to face such a horrible fall out, it also hints at the former family dynamic before everything went to hell.

So make yourself comfortable and get something to drink, because we will be here for a while.

Here we go: My analysis of this beauty of a fictional portrait

Let's start with the most obvious one: Hawkmoth.

Its commen knowledge by now that the background makes it seem like Hawkmoth is standing behind the Agreste family like a bad omen waiting for fate to take its course and cause their doom. The portrait is brilliantly designed so the illusion is created that Gabriels body (here in a blue suit closer to Hawkmoths normals dark purple one) overlaps with Hawkmoths and a darker line is connecting the two faces as well, which rest on the same height right beside each other. The very same line grows bigger as it goes further behind Emilie - coloring her entire background - showing us that EMILIE is all Gabriel sees when he becomes Hawkmoth. But notice that Adrien on the other hand can hardly be concidered part of Gabriels “sight” at all.

Its forshadowing 101 and damn beautiful if I may say so. But this isnt what I want to focus on in this post.

I want to elaborate on two other key factors that tell us about the former dynamic of the Agrestes instead and what they tell us about the present and future.

The heart:

This is hitting me on another level because look at the heart these three form with Adrien right in the middle! He was so LOVED. This family may have never been anywhere close to ideal but still, there was LOVE and now he's gonna loose it all.

Adrien already lost his mother which led to his father getting even more distant and cold and now his father is becoming increasingly more abusive as he falls deeper and deeper into villainy. Gabriel was never a good father, the show has already made this clear with episodes like "the bubbler", “the collector” or "Gigantitan" for example but gosh there was hope for their little family! The end scene in "Jackady" portrayed it perfectly and I wrote a whole other post just covering the sigificants of Adriens and Gabriels hug in that episode. Check it out here if you want, it goes hand in hand with this one.

Miraculous is all about love and the completely different ways it can affect us, our behavior and actions. Because love isnt just wonderful, pure and empowering, it also can be twisted, destructive and cause the darkst nightmares. And with this family the writers know how to portray the complex love in an abusive houshold thats destined to go up in flames and they also know how to hint at their troubled past with the family portrait.

But this heart visual tells us even more in connection with the positions of their hands. And with these two key factors, lets start with Gabriel:

His hands convey it so strongly. He loves/d Emilie and Adrien so much and no doubt this love for them was certainly the reason why he started his quest as Hawkmoth. But he is now losing himself more and more in the pleasure of his villainy to the point where he forgets why he's doing it in the first place and becomes a complete monster (of a father). But this turn and spiraling into villainy didn't came out of nowhere - this root already had to be in him to grow like that. And this is also something the portrait indeed hints at as well.

Because Gabriel is the only one of the three who:

1. We see so completely open and without hesitation reach out and hold BOTH his family members.

2. Is visually “cut off” from them as well.

But this doesn't mean he was excluded and the only one who truly cared and loved, it just shows that things were more... complicated...as usual.

This is best explained with Adriens hand placements:

One hand is holding his mothers but the other one is visibly not reaching out for his father. But as we all know, that's not because Adrien doesn't love him. In season 1-3 it is made more than clear that Adrien does not hate his father - he loves him alot and tries to be there for him and be patient because he knows that the loss of his mother brought his father terribly down.

Sure, Adrien gets frustrated and angry with him, literally how could he not?? But Adrien tries his best to reach out to Gabriel so they can bond and come out of this tragedy stronger.

But this loving willingness to forgive his father for the chance of growing a father-son bond with him doesn't change the fact that these two didn't had a bond prior to this. And let's be honest here, does anybody actually think this distance between them was caused by Adrien? I don't think so.

So notice how Adriens hand - not reaching out for his fathers - is the only one in the portrait NOT inside or forming the heart.

When the connection of the hands between the family members symbolise their connection to another, then Adrien keeping the hand for his father away from the display of love is VERY telling. It tells us very directly what this distance did to Adriens side of the relationship. Despite Gabriels hand being right there, Adrien does not meet the gesture. And I cannot believe that he did it out of resentment, nothing in the show indicated such strong negative emotions from past Adrien.

It's much more likely that Adrien not reaching for his fathers hand is meant to show us that Adrien felt that he either CAN'T return the gesture because he fears that it'll end in an unpleasant reaction from Gabriel - that it isn't Adriens "place" to reach out to his busy and distant father like that, like it's demanding something - or Adrien simply didn't took Gabriel laying his hand on his shoulder, in the context of posing for a portrait, as a gesture of love and affection.

The way I interpret the portrait is that prior to Emilies dissappearence Adrien did not exactly try to reach out to his father the same way he did from s1-s3, which, I mean, of course wasn't the case. Not only is it NOT the 13 years olds (or younger) job to form an emotional connection to their absent parent - when that’s the PARENTS job - it also wouldn't be necessarily "needed" for Adrien to do so.

Because Emilie at this point was still in the picture so and she was the complete opposite. She was a (or maybe the ONLY) safe, reliable and loving constant of parental attention, affection and care in his life and because of these two HARSH contrasts Adrien learned from very early on to focus mostly completely on her in that regard while kinda blocking his father out.

That most likely wasn't even an active choice whatsoever - Gabriel proofed to be an unreliable resource so Adrien learned to subconciously treat him that way out of self protection. That doesn't mean he had any kind of dislike or malice against his father it just means that he wasn't able or allowed to connect with Gabriel the way he needed. Several episodes show that Gabriel deadass only parented like 15 minutes tops in his life with one of the worst offenders kinda being “Gigantitan” ngl.

So yeah, when I see that the portrait wants to tell me that prior to Emilies loss, Adrien - a 12-13 year old at most - is THIS used to rely solely on the strong bond he has with his mother and not even really reaching out for his fathers love, then I can't help but interpret it in the way that... Well... Gabriel was so distant and emotionally unreliable to Adrien for all his life, that Gabriel simply... wasn't needed by his son. Not at that point of time at least.

And while this may seem weird, because obviously Adrien only now starts to stop craving for his fathers affection and approval (which is btw a horrible, HORRIBLE thing and not something good. A half orphan losing the last remaining hope he had left of having the chance to finally get to form a bond with the only other parent he has left, just to be crushed by disappointment and abandonment all over again until he let's go, is REALLY NOT as much of a good thing people will make it out to be. This is... plain awful) it's actually quite logical.

Adriens hand outside the heart doesn't mean that his father meant nothing to him and therefore refuses to meet and accept his affection (that's literally the complete opposite of what the show shows us), it means that Adriens and Gabriels father-son relationship suffers from a fatal emotional disconnection caused by miscommunication/ a lack of communication.

And this was caused by Gabriel. How? Let me elaborate on that by going a bit far afield (cuz lbh we all have time for this. I’m writing this in quarantine and youre reading this is quarantine, so lets gooooooooooooo).

In "The bubbler" Adrien says that his father "always forgot his birthday", but I cannot agree with this in true honesty. Gabriel is controlling his sons entire life, calls him "the epitome of perfection" and temporarily truly gave up being Hawkmoth for him, he definitely never forgot Adriens birthday.

"The bubbler" even SHOWS us that Adriens perspective of the situation is actually not the truth:

This is Adriens first birthday after Emilies dissappearence and it's incredibly telling how Gabriel handles the planning.

What this entire little sequence tells me is that Gabriel is completely and UTTERLY used to NOT be the one to take care of anything related to Adriens birthday. So Emilie was always the one who did it but somehow - now without her - Gabriel apparently still hasn't even considered changing anything about that nasty non-involvement and just expected Natalie to pick everything up where Emilie left it.

Because let's be real here, knowing Natalie she would NOT have forgotten to get a present if Gabriel truly had told her to. Natalie is never presented to do mistakes like that but Gabriel on the other hand IS definitely presented to us claiming things about himself as ultimate, blameless and true when they simply do not reflect reality. A great example: Gorizilla

You didn’t even speared a minutes of your time for Adrien and he DID try to! Asshat… It's a problem guys. The lack of self awareness Gabriel displays in moments like this is legitimately concerning when you think about how deeply this man is falling right now.

But back to the topic:

Because even if Gabriel didn't even consider doing anything himself for Adriens birthday - not even taking the time to SEE his son (who just recently lost his mother, come on Gabe, really?) - one thing one cannot hold against him: he sure as hell remembered Adriens birthday like any decent parent would and it wasnt portrayed as a this-year-for-the-first-time thing.

And yet Adriens statement still makes complete sense. Because a big, BIG problem with Gabriel is just how much he takes things for granted. He EXPECTS things to be universally known and to never be doubted, just because that's how HE sees them. I will write 10 essays if it's needed to make people understand that Gabriel DOES truly love Adrien, it's just that Gabriel HIMSELF is such a rotten, twisted and toxic person that he cannot see how much his (oppressing) behavior and the way he (doesn't) express his love hurts Adrien and that HE is the one at fault. (for more, once again, read this)

Gabriel LOVES Adrien but he takes the love he feels as such a matter-of-fact that he just completely... forgets to show it.

And when we take Adriens words and look at the Family portrait it unfortunately seems that...

…. Gabriel ALWAYS forgot to show it.

Adriens hand - that should at least be reaching out to his father - is outside of the heart in accepting certainty. Because that's what Gabriels non-presence was for Adrien while growing up: an unreliable and unreachable certainty he had to accept early on as safer to not try to emotionally depend on too much or else he will get hurt.

So yeah, Adrien is the one in the portrait who is very openly not reaching out but only because Gabriel never gave him the needed affection and stability to be able to create that bond.

But let me correct what I said a little earlier: Adrien ALWAYS needed his father. Every kid, especially one in a bad situation like Adrien, does need their parents/friends etc as support system to become independent and confident in a healthy way. And if they don’t have that they WILL crave and look for it!

What Adrien has been doing up to now IS normal for a teenager - humans NEED affection, belonging and safety. What ISNT/SHOULDN’T be normal is Adriens disconnection towards his father in the portrait and just how much Gabriel fails to take care and BE THERE for his son in BOTH TIMES!

Collector:

Bother Christmas:

One thing I like about the show is that it portrays their young main cast with one very important truth: The psyche of a child/teenager of their age will react and adapt so it SURVIVES, even if it results in unfortunate consequences in other relationships and places. Thats the psyches main concern and it'll try to cope with the limited experience and development it has in whatever way necessary to get itself to the next day. A coping mechanism is not there to make you a better person, it ensures your SURVIVAL, everything else is a secondary concern.

So seeing pre-show Adrien not react to Gabriels touch and even feel completely unloved and disconnected from him is no surprise to me. Kids are incredibly observant. They may lack the needed experience and knowledge to truly understand that they deserve better and to stand up for themselves but they are masters in picking up red flags in people and can put this danger into perspective while comparing the different danger levels of their options of people and places to adjust their behavior.

Feast:

Stormy Weather 2:

So the broken connection between father and son we see in the portrait (that Gabriel doesn't even notice but Adrien fully internalized) isn’t there because Adrien “didnt needed” or wanted his father, its because Adrien NEEDED Gabriel so much in his isolated upbringing but Gabriel didn’t LET him need him - so Adrien had to adjust to that accordingly. Big, huge, ENORMOUS difference.

Honestly the most miraculous thing about Miraculous is that Adrien was able to bring up the strength to stay positive and friendly and to forgive Gabriel in hope for a better future. That boys situation is 7 kinds of depressing and traumatizing...

It's just flabbergasting to me how well this portrait shows how basically non-existent their relationship was at that point. And it's horrible to know that this estranged and unformed bond is all Adrien had left after Emilie dissappeared, just alot worse because after Emilie incident Adrien states that his father changed alot for the worse as well.

So to think that all Adrien had left wasn't even this former basically non-existent relationship with his aloof father - who would only barely show his true affection for his son because he's either not around enough to do so or he thinks it "unnecessary to proof his affection" for/to Adrien because he already thinks it so obvious and undoubtable.

Well he thought wrong. And GOSH, it breaks my heart!

So now comparing the "Gabriel" hand from Adrien with the one representing his connections with his mother conveys a pretty harsh contrast.

Because last but not least, let's take a look at Emilies hand placements:

But here is now an interesting difference to Adrien. Whereas we openly see that Adriens side of the Adrien-Gabriel relationship is completely disconnected from the heart/love - showcasing just how badly Adrien has always been neglected by his father - we don't see Emilies hand in her Emilie-Gabriel relationship AT ALL.

Once again just like with Adrien, this doesn't mean she didn't love her husband and that Gabriel was used and fooled by the woman he so utterly adored. It just means that from Emilies point of view things were a bit more complicated. What exactly this is, the portrait is keeping secret from us. We have no way of knowing if and how Emilie is returning her husbands gesture. All we can say is that if she does she is definitely not doing it in such an open and unconflicted way as she does with Adrien.

But since when has anything with this family been this easy?

One thing the portrait makes very clear, Adrien and Emilie had a strong and good bond. Definitely the healthiest because the Adrien-Emilie connection is the only one depicted without any kind of disruption from both sides. Both mother and son are reaching out for the other ones hand creating a whole half of the heart, showcasing their affection for another openly and without any of the implied doubts the other connections display. And honestly? Comparing all the hand placements, the one connecting Adrien and Emilie just comes across as strikingly pure and true (which makes it even worse that it was HER Adrien lost…)

As I said it's a HARSH contrast to the one Adrien shears with Gabriel. This contrast is highlighted even further by the way these three face on another.

Emilie and Adrien are positioned facing another and so are Emilie and Gabriel. Telling us that Emilie was "face-to-face" aka involved with both her husband and son. It is Adrien and Gabriel were this looks wildly different. These two have no way of seeing each other in the eyes the way they stand now/then, further displaying their deeply rooted disconnection. It's portrays perfectly how important Emilie was in this family dynamic, because even though Adrien and Gabriel bearly had a connection at all they at least had Emilie as a link between them, keeping the family together. But then they lost her and where this left both father and son off we know oh too well...

So to collect all the informations we get out if this portrait:

-Adriens and Emilies relationship was the strongest and purest. Both of their hands connect and reach out for another in the heart, showcasing that they had a loving and positive bond.

-Adriens and Gabriels relationship is heavily scarred by a deeply rooted disconnection leaving Adrien feeling unloved and unwanted by his father to the point where Adriens side of their dynamic is outside the heart altogether. Gabriel may love and adore his son just like he loves his wife and never thought he displayed his love for him in a lacking way, but fact is: this love never reached Adrien the way it should have and Adrien is the one in their dynamic who got severely hurt and damaged by it.

-Gabriel was the only one completely unconflicted and happily at peace with the former Family situation. He's reaching out to both his family members with open love and affection in blissful oblivion that neither his wife nor son could return them the same way (to different degrees for different reasons). Gabriel was the ONLY ONE in the Agreste family who didn't saw problems in their lives and thought them all happy, hence why he's so obsessed with changing the past and bringing THIS state of their family back. He was happy and he had everything he needed and loved right with him, of course he wants THIS back. He's not aware that Emilie and ESPECIALLY Adrien did not feel the same about their former situation and that bringing all of them back to this is not the perfect happy ending for their entire family as he thinks.

-Emilie may not have been as unconflicted with Gabriel as he was with her but she is NOT feeling the same disconnection her son feels and isn't depicted with negative feelings towards Gabriel. Her side in the Emilie-Gabriel relationship is neither shown outright positive as with her son or outright bad as Adrien with Gabriel. Her side of their bond is depicted through her unseen hand placement in the unknown area in between.

-Despite their not so unconflicted feelings towards Gabriel - and Gabriel himself being aloof - neither Emilie nor Adrien are actively trying to cut Gabriel out. They aren't flinching away from his touch or exclude him from the heart whatsoever. He's happily included, obviously feeling loved. They may not be 100% happy and Gabriel doesn't notice it, but they aren't denying him his happiness and make him unhappy. Again, he's the only one truly happy here. Something neither Emilie nor Adrien tried to take away from him.

-Emilie and Adrien are facing each other as do Emilie and Gabriel, implying the presence of communication and a bond. Adrien and Gabriel do not face each other, showing their disconnected bond. If they could see each others face Adrien would have been able to see that Gabriels hand is a gesture of genuine affection and Gabriel could see that Adriens expression does not exactly display pure happiness the way he thinks. This also goes for Emilie. Emilie just like her husband is placed BEHIND her son, so even if she is facing him she would not be able to really see just how much Adrien is not satisfied and truly happy with his life at that point (meaning how unhappy being looked up, friendless and at distance with his father actually makes him).

- This fascinating family makes me sad and I like it lol

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critical-thinking-is-mandatory · 2 years

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Emilie Agreste not even a character. She just a bigger "sad point" for Adrien and Gabriel to make sure for the audience that they are "Super sad" and we need to sympthatize with them

She supposed to be super-duper important on series since she ever use peacock miraculous.... But the show didn't have effort to make a flashback dedicate about her past instead make unnecessary model and filler of Love-Scare 🙄

literally. not to keep comparing ML to atla but the situation calls for it...

let's compare Emilie Agreste, and her depiction and her personality, with the absent/dead mothers in Avatar: the last Airbender, Kya and Ursa.

With Emilie Agreste we see:

her sister and nephew

her comatose body/corpse

pictures of her (in family portraits, photos and that one movie her family produced)

her living family talking about how sad they are she's gone

and we're told she used the Peacock Miraculous

It's not a lot to go on. In fact, it's fuck all. It tells us more about Adrien and Gabriel than it does about Emilie. aka it tells us they're so sad :((( nothing else not even why her being gone would make them sad just that they're so uwu sad :(((

Comparing that with atla and the two major absent/dead mothers:

Kya (Katara and Sokka's mother):

frequently talked about, most often by Katara trying to establish a deeper connection with others over a similar trauma

depicted in a flashback in the episode the Southern Raiders

the effect of her absence is clearly seen in the mannerisms of Katara, Sokka, Hakoda and Kanna (Grangran)

the effect of her absence and the effect on Katara specifically is spoken about in-depth in the episode The Runaway between Sokka and Toph.

And moving on to Ursa (Zuko and Azula's mother):

appears in a series of flashbacks in the episode Zuko Alone

alluded to in the episode The Crossroads of Destiny (possibly The Guru not 100% certain)

spoken of in Azula's infamous line in the episode The Beach "My own mother...thought I was a monster"

we see Ursa again in Azula's hallucinations during the finale of the show

and then there's the post-series comics which we don't talk about :)))

already there's a pretty big difference between the Avatar mothers and Emilie.

for one thing? we never ever ever see Emilie do anything. no flashbacks, no quirky family photos or videos, nothing but Adrien's word on how "she was the only one who could make me laugh like that" and how terribly sad that makes poor ickle Adrikins feel.

With Kya (who is arguably my favourite of the two Avatar mums) we get to see her in one flashback which is honestly really fuckin heart-breaking to watch. link below ->

youtube

and Kya? she's on her knees, a Fire Nation soldier in her home demanding to know where the last Waterbender is so that they may be taken prisoner and have unspeakable horrors inflicted upon them, and she looks that soldier in the eye and refuses to even hint that the Waterbender is her daughter. this is a scene that's barely a minute long and we learn that Kya was: loving, brave, level-headed, selfless, intelligent, caring and I will repeat it: brave. all of this builds an image of someone the audience could care about, and does care about, even if only for the sake of Katara, Sokka and Hakoda.

Ursa on the other hand is given a slightly more delicate approach, and characterised within a small handful of flashbacks or visions, each coloured by the eyes of either Zuko or Azula and how they perceived their mother.

In Zuko's flashbacks (link below ->) we see a lot more of Zuko, Ursa and Azula interacting, which hints to the audience at Ursa's difficult situation and the different ways she felt about her children.

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with Zuko, she's soft, very loving. playful, but also firm. and within 50 seconds of her first appearance we're hinted towards a plot idk if 'twist' is the right word, but basically lays the first hints that she is not only Ursa (bear) in name.

all in all, for most of it she is shown to be a fairly standard mother, encouraging her children to spend time together, to be kind and respectful to their family and to animals, even if she does seem to favour Zuko more and is rougher with Azula.

further into the flashback the situation becomes clearer. Azula is the child favoured by Ozai, Azula and Ursa's relationship is tense for a number of reasons, and of course, we see Ursa is willing to commit regicide to protect her children. so to sum up:

we see Ursa is: kind, gentle without being a pushover, unhappy, determined, loving, level-headed and willing to commit murder.

she's a full, complete person, much like Kya, whilst still only being depicted in brief flashbacks.

let's bring this back to Emilie now that the competitors are clearer:

she is only spoken about when we're required to feel sad about Adrien and/or Gabriel. she and her twin sister dress the same. she starred in a movie her family produced that no one has ever seen or heard of.

she has no substance. her effect on her family is: they're sad uwu and Gabrikins is gonna be a supervillain now. for all her personality and impact on the story she may as well have been a mannequin or perhaps a hamster.

like instead of episodes like Kuro Neko or Stormy Weather 2.0 that were basically pointless filler and love square shilling we couldn't have gotten a single itty bitty teeny tiny little scene explaining why exactly Gabe is so dedicated to getting his dead wife back or why exactly Adrien is so sad about her being gone?

like would it seriously have killed the writers to give Emilie more substance as a motivator beyond "lifeless corpse that is pretty sometimes"??? the audience couldn't give a rat's asscrack about Emilie! and we've got no reason to believe Gabriel or Adrien actually care about her either.

if your main villain's motivation is 'get dead wife back' the least you can do is show us why she was so fuckin important to him in the first place.

#asks #anonymous #ml salt #ml writers salt #ml creators salt #adrien salt #gabriel salt #just in case because i know the stannies will be up in arms over this #atla #all in all if you're watching ml for: plot character or relationships your time would be better spent on the likes of spongebob #because at least spongebob is consistent 🙄#emilie agreste #emilie agreste has as much personality as a corpse <3 #and the only reason we're meant to care about her is because her being gone makes adrikins and gabrikins sad :(((

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