Chat Blanc but make it even more terrifying: a prompt.
The incident that led to Chat Noir’s akumatization happened in more than one timeline; the circumstances and means varying a little. Bunnix would bring different Ladybugs, from several other timelines. as to not overwhelm them with the fact that no matter what they did to avoid it, it still happened. Because the core of the problem (Hawkmoth) was still there, stalking them.
The problem with time and space travel is that you have to be very, very careful. Weird stuff happens.
Like one Chat Blanc getting shared knowledge from his other timelines’ selves about Bunnix’s plan to delete him.
This particular self gets ahold of how Bunnix proceeds to “fix” the problem, she won’t get Ladybug to stop his father from attacking him with trauma and slip his damned butterfly into his bell, no, she will bring her to fix him.
So he thinks, and plots, and waits, for Bunnix to open her burrow. The moment she brings the bug, he attacks them both from above, knocking the bunny and using her power against her; trapping the dumbfounded Lady behind in his flooded reality, he travels in time to the actual root of the problem.
Not the moment he found out Marinette was actually the girl he had loved for months to no end, not to the moment she took more than enough time to leave her present.
No, he must go farther back.
“I’ll fix this for real this time. And then no one will come between my Lady and me. I won’t get erased again.”
When he opens the portal, he sees Marinette talking to him(self), it’s raining and it’s such a romantic picture it fills him with rage. He should be there, with her, not that useless other Adrien. Rage wins him over, and he throws the very unconscious Bunnix at their feet.
Marinette shrieks in terror as the other Adrien shields her, chivalry never dies. Then, she sees him and she’s frozen in place.
Oh, well, this one seems to know who he is. Lucky.
Marinette forgets how to breathe. Her eyes flick between Chat Blanc, Bunnix, the open portal behind him, Adrien shielding her— Her grip on the umbrella turns white-knuckled and her hands shake.
She must be dreaming. This is impossible. It can't be real. She's been so careful.
"No," Marinette whispers, horrified. She can't take her eyes off of Chat Blanc. She can't meet his blue eyes. But her legs refuse to work. She can't run — all she can do is stand there and tremble. "No, this isn't— You're not— You can't be real," she begs, as if her denial is going to change anything.
Chat Blanc grins widely at her. Marinette hates it. She's always loved the way that Chat Noir smiled with his whole face, but it looks wrong underneath that white mask. Like he's mocking her. Something must be mocking her for this to happen a second time.
"But I am," Chat Blanc says, spreading his arms and doing a slow turn like he's on a stage. He doesn't care at all about the rain or that they're in public. He only has eyes for her. "Bunnix refuses to fix the problem. She'll bring you back again and again and again to fix me, as if any of this is my fault." His face contorts into a snarl. "So I'll do her job for you. I'll tell you everything, Marinette. We'll stop Hawk Moth here and now. Everything will be perfect, and we can be together. We can be happy."
There's a whimper from in front of her. Marinette feels her heart stop at the reminder of their unfortunate audience.
"Marinette," Adrien whispers, horrified. "Please tell me what's happening."
He's still shielding her. He's standing between her and Chat Blanc, arm flung in front of her defensively. Adrien is shaking like a leaf, but he's not backing down. For once, his kindness and concern for her is the last thing that Marinette wants. She wants him to run.
The words never leave her throat. Chat Blanc's eyes flick over to Adrien, and rage like she's never seen before twists his expression into something ugly. "You," Chat Blanc spits like acid. He takes a step forward and the street cracks beneath his feet, concrete splintering as rot radiates from him in waves. "How dare you pretend to protect her."
The air turns heavy. Marinette has always loved the rain, but the drizzle isn't refreshing anymore. It's muggy and oppressive and she wants to be far, far away from this place.
"Marinette, run—" Adrien starts, and is cut off.
"Keep her name out of your mouth!" Chat Blanc lunges, claws sharp, and Adrien tackles Marinette to the ground at the last second. They go skidding across the wet concrete, umbrella flying from her grasp, and although Marinette feels scraped and cut, she can't feel the pain. She can't feel anything except dread.
Adrien has barely gotten to his knees, still huddled protectively on top of her, when Chat Blanc is upon them again. He grabs Adrien by the neck, hauling him off and wringing out a choked, wet-sounding gasp that makes Marinette's stomach bottom out.
"You're pathetic," Chat Blanc hisses, holding Adrien off of the ground with ease. While Adrien kicks and squirms, clawing at the hand around his neck, Chat Blanc stands as firm as a statue and just as unyielding. His arm doesn't tremble. He simply narrows his eyes and squeezes harder. Adrien gurgles around a slick noise as blood oozes between Chat Blanc's claws, but Marinette is the one who screams.
"Stop it!" She throws herself forward, grabbing Chat Blanc's arm. He doesn't even stagger underneath her added weight. "Please, Chat! I—" Marinette grapples for anything she can say to make him stop. "If you love me, you'll let him go! Please!"
He stares at her for a moment, but his grip loosens. Adrien is still wheezing for every breath, but he's not dead, and Marinette considers that progress. She tries not to think about how strong Chat is. Tries not to think about how easily he could twist his wrist and snap Adrien's neck, or let his power turn Adrien to ash in a moment.
Marinette tries (and fails) not to think about how she's not transformed. She's not Ladybug, and she has no Lucky Charm. If Adrien dies, she won't be able to reverse it.
"Why?" Chat Blanc says, his expression accusing. "That was something I never understood. Why do you love him? Why did you turn me down for him? What does he have that I don't? I'm—" He's shaking now. Not with exertion, though. Marinette can't tell if it's rage or sorrow. She prays for the latter. "I'm everything that he never could be."
Marinette swallows. Doesn't let herself stare at Adrien. Hopes he's unconscious so that he didn't have to hear that. "I— I'm..." She lets her grip loosen and turn soft. "Please, kitty?" Marinette whispers. "Set Adrien down. We can talk once you let him go. That's what you want, isn't it? To talk?"
Chat Blanc considers it. He sends one last nasty glare at Adrien, then drops him unceremoniously. His knees buckle when his feet hit the ground and Marinette catches Adrien just before he can collapse. Carefully, Marinette lowers them to the ground, her arms around him for support. Adrien's hands immediately fly to his throat, trying to stem the bleeding. Marinette takes off her jacket with fumbling hands to press it over Adrien's neck. She doesn't let herself look too closely. If she does, she'll vomit.
"You make me sick." Chat Blanc wrinkles his nose in distaste, looking at Adrien like he's something rather unpleasant baking on a hot sidewalk. "All of those lessons never taught you anything, did they? Certainly never taught you to pay attention. You missed Ladybug, you overestimated yourself, and you certainly never noticed anything unusual about your father, did you?"
Distraught, Adrien leans against Marinette heavily for support as he looks up at Chat Blanc with tears in his eyes. "I don't know what you're—"
"Talking about? Of course you don't." Chat Blanc grins with far too many teeth. "You don't know a damn thing. It's a miracle that you ever won her heart, on either side of your mask."
Adrien pales. His mouth opens, but no words come out. He can't think of anything to say.
This time, it's Marinette who puts an arm in front of him defensively. "Leave Adrien out of this, Chat," her voice firm. "This is about you and me, isn't it?"
"Is it?" Chat Blanc cocks his head at her, looking every bit a predator. "Has it ever been about me where you're concerned, my lady?" He ignores Marinette's sharp intake of breath and continues. "Was it about me when you told Alya your secret identity? Was it about me when you brought Rena Furtive onto the team full-time behind my back? When you started making special exceptions for the identity rule, for Carapace and Rena? When you reduced me from your partner to your sidekick, and then to just another Holder? I can't even blame you." His expression crumbles. "I really am useless, aren't I?"
The worst part is that he doesn't even sound angry. Chat Blanc speaks like these are old frustrations. Too far removed for him to still feel any heat over.
And maybe they are. The last time Marinette saw him, he'd been alone long enough for the world to flood. How long had Bunnix left him alone this time?
"You didn't get akumatized because of our relationship, did you?" Marinette whispers with horrifying certainty.
Chat Blanc bursts out laughing. "My lady..." He coos, mocking. "How could I possibly be akumatized over something that we never had?" He throws his hands up in the air, laughing with delight. "I thought I was over you! You'd been pushing me away for so long, and I can take a hint! I thought that I could be happy scraping by on what was left of our friendship until you eventually decided to replace me, but the final nail in the coffin was learning that you were in love with Adrien Agreste. I had already figured you out not long after I learned about Rena Furtive. Who else could Ladybug be except for Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" He taunts. "And your crush on Adrien was the last indignity. I could have accepted anyone else. I'd already accepted that I was losing your friendship and your trust! I was already at rock bottom, and then you kicked me even lower!" He points an accusing finger at Adrien, the air crackling with his Cataclysm. "This was the person who captured your heart! This spineless worm! I couldn't take it anymore. You have no idea how humiliating it is to learn that I never even had a chance, because you fell in love with daddy's perfect little robot, just like every other girl in Paris! You're so much more shallow and vapid than I could have ever imagined, Marinette. You don't understand. He's nothing! If you peel back his skin, there will be nothing there, Marinette! No dreams, no hopes, no passion! He's everything that I've always wanted to cut out of myself! Like a tumor," Chat Blanc snarls, and Marinette draws Adrien tighter against her. "He can't even figure out that our own father is Hawk Moth!"
There's a blinding flash of white and the air burns. Marinette braces herself for Chat Blanc's Cataclysm, for the pain followed by nothingness, but it doesn't come. She's shaking, clutching Adrien against her desperately. The only sound is his muffled sobs. It takes Marinette several seconds to coax herself into opening her eyes.
Bunnix stands in front of them, wavering on her feet but very much awake. Another portal has been opened. Marinette knows that she shouldn't look, but her eyes are drawn to it unbidden.
This time, there is no moon. The sky is empty. There's no city, either. All she can see is the ocean, as blue and frigid as Chat Blanc's eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Minibug," Bunnix says, distraught. "I'll go back and make sure that he never comes here. This shouldn't have happened."
Adrien's grip tightens around her. "So... This won't have happened?" He asks. "We won't remember?"
Marinette knows that she ought to be more surprised. And she'll probably freak out later, if she remembers to. Adrien is Chat Noir. Her best friend. Her partner. The love of her life. It should be surprising.
It isn't. It feels like something she should have known. Something she has always known.
"Your father is Hawk Moth," Marinette whispers. "Your father akumatized you."
She can picture it so clearly. She can imagine Adrien losing Kagami's friendship after their breakup, being unable to be honest with Chloé, learning that Alya and Nino were superheroes who were allowed to know each other's identity... And then learning that Ladybug was Marinette. Losing his last friendship because of everything she'd hidden from him. Everything she'd done behind his back.
She can imagine Adrien going to his father for comfort. The last person he'd ever turn to, under better circumstances. Pouring his heart out, saying everything, opening up for once... And getting akumatized for his trouble.
Marinette feels numb. She's not even angry with Gabriel, not at the moment. She feels a cold sort of certainty that she's going to kill him.
"Yes." Bunnix nods, and she at least looks apologetic. "I'm sorry, but this isn't the right time."
"Then when is?" Marinette snaps, and there's that anger she was missing. Adrien is trembling in her arms, holding her like he never wants to let go, and she's so furious and appalled and so hurt on his behalf that it makes her head spin. The injustice of it all. "How many times does this need to happen to him? What do I have to do to get it right? To make all of this turn out okay?"
Bunnix shakes her head. "I'm sorry, Marinette," she says again. Then she steps through her portal and everything goes white.
The last thing that Marinette feels is Adrien's hand entwined with hers. She squeezes hard enough to hurt. As if, maybe, if she pushes their bodies together tight enough, this knowledge can cross timelines.
She never wants to see him that hurt again. So why can't she get it right?
given lila’s general track record with attending class it’s not inconceivable that she would miss several key moments of adrinette development. she will probably notice adrien paying more attention to marinette but i hope she misreads the situation entirely and tries to sabotage marinette by telling adrien every embarrassing detail about her crush. to which adrien responds, “please stop lying about marinette. especially about this… i don’t know what you’re getting out of this but it’s cruel of you to try get my hopes up.” and lila’s just like damn what did i miss
okay babes what are your peak cringe scenes for each side of the love square? the ones you can't watch because it makes you scream in horror.
for me it's obviously the statue scene for adrinette, the christmas special where ladybug is singing to adrien's picture and almost murders santa for ladrien, most of weredad specifically the dupain-cheng meal for marichat, and then?? i can't think of a ladynoir one off the top of my head but i know it's there.
i know it's an important episode for adrinette but you can't make me watch it i'm not strong enough
i'm looking at the episodes right now trying to remember if there is any scene that's just embarrassing cringe for ladynoir rather than like painful cringe (the entirety of s4) but i honestly can't think of one where they do something so mortifying i want to scream and cry
Uhhhh... huh. Maybe kwamibuster where they make up their excuses for why they don't go to that school? Although that could just as easily be hilarious.
The Multimouse in the mouths of all the kwamis will forever haunt me though
lmao okay i don't think it's cringe i think it's fucking hilarious that chat noir said it was an elementary school and ladybug snapped back that it was a high school ahfsjkdlg
you might be right idk if it's even just their comfort level or if we just haven't yet been gifted with their Cringe Pinnacle yet. maybe we'll see it in season 5
@lnc2 For Ladynoir I can think of a few scenes where I was like Ugh. There's the one where he was fooled by Sentibug then immediately went I love you just like you are or something. Animan where he sniffed her. Puppeteer 2 where it took him smelling her until he realized the Ladybug trying to kiss him was a statue. Oblivio when they regain their memories and he's being a little shit while Ladybug is distressed. I think he's entitled to all his feelings especially because his shit dad doesn't allow him to, but like imagine if he didn't take Marinette to that balcony in Glaciator and he was taking it out on Ladybug she would honestly have a different reaction because she told him she was busy.
These are Ladynoir scenes that I just don't like to watch just like I don't like to watch Marinette be a jealous jerk . Scenes can be important but also not fun to watch or rewatch.
Not completely sure if these count as cringe or more like facepalm moments.
The fact that all it took for Adrien to trigger the realization that he loves Marinette is her saying she understands how he feels without expecting anything, something that should be the bare minimum he deserves, does this boy need a girlfriend or therapy
Adrien saying that his life would be much different if not for Marinette hits harder when you realise she was one of the two friendships of his that remained rock solid throughout season 4 (the other being Plagg). Things with Ladybug were crumbling at the time but Adrienette had a very smooth sailing season, starting from him saying no one can make him laugh like her and ending with him saying she's the only one who understands how he is feeling. The greatest thing about all this is even if Adrien wasn't intending to fall in love with Marinette he'd still hold these moments with her with the same amount of regard he holds with the ones he shared with Ladybug, who he is canonically in love with.
I don’t know why she and some of the fandom thinks her love for Adrien caused the whole situation with Felix giving the miraculouses to Hawk Moth.
As boy crazy as Marinette is, I never thought she was doing the wrong thing when I watched Strikeback. What she did was actually pretty rational! Why? Because she saw “Adrien” get on the train and remembers him not having a risk mark on his neck.
There was absolutely no way she would’ve been able to gather that Felix was pretending to be Adrien. They’re identical and he’s a very good actor when he puts in the effort. And, what were the chances he happens to rush into Paris to take cover for Adrien? Very slim.
Also, he wasn’t acting like an asshole like he was in his debut episode. In Felix, she knew he wasn’t Adrien because she knows Adrien isn’t incredibly rude and pushy. But, Felix wasn’t showing his true personality during his interactions with Ladybug. Him grabbing at her yo-yo was a bit of a red flag, but not enough to go off of.
Side note: WE saw his evil shit eating grin while he was in the sewer with Ladybug, but SHE didn’t. That might’ve been a give away, but, again, she didn’t see it.
If it was really Adrien getting on the train, her love for him would’ve actually saved them. It wasn’t a bad idea in the first place! Like, what a victory that would’ve been if it was actually Adrien like she thought. OR, if Felix wasn’t a manipulative pile of dog shit, he was a big help in capturing Froggy’s stuffed animal and would’ve been a good edition to the hero team for that reason.
TLDR: the fans and she herself need to stop giving Marinette flack for not realizing he wasn’t Adrien and thinking it’s because she’s “too head over heels”.
i think from marinette’s point of view it makes sense to blame herself, not just because she feels guilty, but also because it’s a way of feeling like she can maintain a sense of control. if she admits to herself that her idea was good and sound and that the only problem was félix being félix, then she has to admit that there was an element to her plan she couldn’t predict or control, which as we know, is terrifying to marinette when it comes to confessing to adrien. it stands that it’d be doubly terrifying to think she can’t control every aspect of her plan as ladybug. it’s easier to say, “i messed up because i am in love with adrien and therefore i can prevent future mistakes by moving on” than to say “i did everything right but was tricked by félix” because there’s no fixing that. the idea that she could have a good plan and execute it well and still lose is terrifying.
however you’re absolutely right on all counts and i do not look forward to fandom thinking that marinette’s extremely biased takes about herself means that they were correct 💀 her reaction makes sense for her character but she is NOT correct and i hope the rest of the episode (or the season) proves that 🙏 actually no… i’m sure it will
seriously fandom accepting marinette’s “it’s because i’m too in love with adrien” explanation makes me insane because marinette is drawing this conclusion from an incomplete set of information but fandom has all the relevant information! marinette can only see that every time she’s given a miraculous to adrien it hasn’t gone well so she’s left to assume the problem is her judgment, but we as viewers know for a fact the issue is that adrien is already chat noir. and somehow people still want an explanation that shames marinette for her feelings.
this is especially glaring when all of season 4 was being extremely unsubtle in showing us that ladybug needed to communicate more with chat noir and fandom definitely did catch onto this, and yet in strike back they’re still willing to accept that the problem was ladybug having a crush on adrien. except the problem was félix pretending to be adrien. and do you want to know who definitely knew about félix pretending to be adrien and could’ve told ladybug that if she had consulted with him about her choice of temporary heroes. do you. it’s chat noir. if she’d been like “you know who’d be GREAT for this. adrien agreste.” he woulda been like “that’s very nice of you to say but i think we should pick literally anybody else” and then she could’ve given the dog to alix
all this to say both strike back and desperada and any other examples of this aren’t building up to “yes marinette is too irrationally in love with adrien” because that makes zero sense to establish when lovesquare is endgame, just like the point of ephemeral and chat blanc wasn’t “their love destroys the world” but instead that “gabriel agreste is a dick.” the characters drew the wrong conclusions there and marinette is now too. the real thing strike back and desperada are building up to is that ladybug and chat noir need to work as a team and they need to know who each other is! the whole series is building up to identity reveal kiss kiss fall in love and we are so close to that end point that it wouldn’t make any sense to be establishing that marinette’s love for adrien is a problem.
also remembering now that marinette convinced herself in season 4 that the solution to her problems was to push all her friends away and her friends were like “absolutely not” and then the actual solution was telling alya her identity. because sometimes what marinette thinks is the solution is the exact opposite and by sometimes i mean every time she thinks it’s a good idea to distance herself from people she loves. i’m not saying episode 2 will end in a reveal or even a relationship but i am saying that i’d bet the lesson marinette learns next episode is gonna be “pushing adrien away will help nothing and just make adrien and also for some reason chat noir very sad.” honestly would LOVE to see some ladrien come into play here but the clips of the battle don’t suggest that’ll be a factor. so maybe kagami will just video call her and tell marinette to get her shit together because adrien is distracted and mopey during fencing again.
more than adrien falling for marinette as a civilian, i’m excited about the possibly of him starting to relax around marinette. as much as marinette is a nervous mess around him, there’s been distance and awkwardness on his side too. and in risk he’s starting to open up to her, but he’s still not entirely relaxed around her there. he’s still not entirely relaxed in the phone call promo, even as he bares his heart. so i’m very 👀 about the scene on the steps where it looks like he’s ready to give her a full on chat noir style hand kiss.
despite the inherent romanticism of “i fell for you twice,” i don’t buy that adrien needs to fall for marinette or ladybug needs to fall for chat noir. it might happen and it wouldn’t be a bad thing by any stretch, but i don’t think it’s vital for them because they already love each other! but i do think marinette needs to be able to see chat noir in adrien and adrien in chat noir, which she can’t do unless he shows her.
in season 4, both adrien and marinette struggled to come to terms with the duality in adrien’s personality.
sure, in ephemeral, marinette said she was in love with adrien but not chat noir, but she immediately followed that up with,
and this was followed by a montage of her trying to put the two together in her mind. and then another montage of her working with chat noir. but it’s only after she finally sees adrien and chat noir as the same person that she’s ready to reveal herself and be with him. her reaction to learning his identity isn’t “i could never love chat noir” but instead “how can i be in love with this guy if i don’t know who he is?” once she sees him, all of him, her internal conflict is resolved. of course, this realization was limited to the erased timeline, so it’s one marinette will have to make again. and while i do think ladybug is falling for chat noir romantically now, she’d still have a similar reaction to the one in ephemeral, because she’d still be asking, “who is he really?”
in kuro neko, the very next episode, adrien asks almost the same thing marinette does,
and plagg gives him the same answer that marinette eventually figured out during ephemeral: he’s not one or the other, he’s both, and he’s all the more lovable for it. and adrien’s realization was not erased. and between that and adrien’s decision at the end of glaciator 2 to start showing ladybug his adrien side, he is ready to start relaxing the hard boundaries between his personas. and indeed, by the end of the season, ladybug is seeing the adrien in chat noir, even if she’s not seeing the explicit connection.
but she’s not seeing the chat noir in adrien yet. because while adrien opened up to her in risk—and i don’t mean to understate how big that moment was because it was huge for him—he didn’t show her anything that could help her connect adrien to chat noir, because the things he confessed are things that chat noir hides even deeper than adrien does (i mean, mostly because things like “i hate modeling” is extremely identifying, but still). but it looks like this season he might be about to start, which i’m excited for. i love to see them growing feelings but THIS is the development we need on the adrinette side.
Are you still taking mlb requests? 👀 if not, you can ignore this ajsjjsjs you can ignore this anyway aksjsjsjsjjsjsjs
But if you could, i'd love to see an adrientte scene in your style. Maybe post reveal established relationship adrien and marinette rubbing noses before or after a kiss?
marinette: *does anything bonkers*
adrien: oh my god.. shes so dreamy
listen this is v quick bc im traveling all tmrw and need to sleep but i can and will draw some cute adrinette as soon as i have time again. i am PERPETUALLY taking reqs even tho i will not do all of them bc it gives me ideas to work off tho so always feel free to send em in!!
titsay
kaledo-art
pixelskylines
romaincrisis
baratheonpilled
yousharknotpass
stormborns
annaxmalina
