For the first time, Lila recognized Mssr. Agreste in Adrien’s features. He was suddenly – alarmingly – dangerous. Once the pleasant smile for his photographer slipped away, his voice and face were stone. He reached through all her defenses like they were made of smoke, grabbed her by the arm, and twisted it. She’d known Marinette had inexplicably weaseled her way into being Adrien's friend – but her claws were buried deeper than Lila could have imagined. She'd attached herself to him so securely that now he was now attached to her. It was enough for him to finally show his teeth.
For the first time, Lila understood how this boy was Hawk Moth’s son.
Lila glanced at the black car to her right. Nathalie nodded her acquiescence with an expression as blank as the tinted window that slid closed. What a pair they were. That pathetic secretary was as mushy as Marinette, simpering over their respective Agreste men like willing slaves. Weak.
Oh, he may be able to ruin her if he wanted. The problem with Adrien was that now he’d shown his hand. Adrien had more fire in him than Gabriel Agreste, just waiting to be unleashed. He was angry - she could use that.
Adrien: Listen you ugly lying talentless b**** you are going to fix the mess you put my Marinette in or I will ruin your existence. You will experience a hell so vile that you will beg for mercy and receive none. Do I make myself clear you garbage eating slug?
This is pretty much another Ladybug episode fic, and the punishments are predictable. I’m just wondering what would have happened if the school board were involved and Alya and Adrien didn’t call them. Oh they want to help Marinette and all, I’m just curious about what ifs.
Caline had an infamous reputation among the faculty of Dupont College. Granted she was the nicest teacher of them all...but she also was the teacher of the akuma class.
Nearly every single kid in her class has been akumatized. This has become known gradually since some of the akumatizations (Dark Cupid, Antibug) happened outside of school. But when it became known, the other students watched that class warily and the Teachers started whispering about Caline.
Granted Damocles was a birdbrain who did not look into this issue. Unless there was a crisis at present, the Owl didn’t care about nipping this problem in the bud.
Some Teachers wondered if Caline could be Mayura. Sure she had been akumatized, but that could be just a cover.
Aside from Marc and Aurore, no other student had been akumatized. And their akumatizations were outside school!
Some Teachers blamed it on Chloe with good reason, and backed it up with Caline’s leniency.
Others blame it on the class’ fame. It certainly held more famous students than anybody. The mayor’s Daughter, top model, band sponsored by Bob Roth, Ladyblogger, that talented designer name dropped by Gabriel and Jagged Stone...
Caline is aware she is being gossiped about but ignores it and thinks that they are jealous. (Hardly. They may not be popular as she is with her own class, but the other students regard her as useless when it comes to their welfare, and the faculty regard her as incompetent.)
The only 2 students left were Marinette and Adrien. Bets were going around about which of them would be akumatized next. (Marinette had more bets placed on her because Adrien is already having a hard life with his dad and he still hasn’t been akumatized. The students and faculty suspect he is too used to handling negative emotions.)
It all came to a head when Scarlet Moth made his second appearance.
Come on, the red butterflies are obviously going to draw in police attention. And alerted by said attention, the school board joined in too and learn of the akuma class.
They decided to look into Lila’s accusation with more depth. As in...use the school cameras to spy on the Caline’s classroom (they saw the answer sheet on the teacher’s desk and watched it vanished as Lila went past), the locker room (saw Lila sneaking her necklace in), and last of all, the walkway to the principal’s office (witnessed Lila’s confession and fake tumble). With this evidence, Marinette is proven innocent and Lila is guilty.
Before they finish however, the police decide to look at Lila’s face when the butterflies appeared. They see her sinister smirk. This is enough for them.
Before school is over, Lila is under arrest for suspicion of colluding with Hawkmoth. Damocles and Bustier are fired for incorrect handling of the case and for allowing Chloe’s bully to run rampantly.
Surprisingly, some students come to the defence of The Owl and the kind teacher. As a result, the two adults are on probation and forced to undergo training.
Marinette returns to school. The class apologizes for not believing in her. Adrien apologizes for his stupid advice. Marinette forgives him since he didn’t know about Lila’s threat. (In this fic, I’m just gonna pretend that Adrien and Alya protested Marinette’s expulsion.)
Lila tries to lie that she has a disease except her mother has arrived and disclaimed said disease.
Ladybug and Chat Noir arrive to deal with this since it is an akuma matter. Chat Noir admits that Lila willingly sabotaged their fight with Oniichan. Then her actions on Heroes’ Day comes into light since only Volpina has the power of illusions and Ladybug recognised her illusion of Hawkmoth.
Lila is under arrest for working with Hawkmoth. However, before the cuffs are on, she confesses that she only framed Marinette because Gabriel asked her to.
This is surprising.
Gabriel is called in. He admits to meeting with Lila Rossi. But he never asked her to frame Miss Dupain-Cheng, only to keep bad influences away from his Son. He now sees his error.
Adrien is horrified at his father’s role in all this. But his Father agrees to make amends (mostly to save his image because his involvement has reached the media). He offers Marinette an internship. When Marinette is leery of his offer, he adds that it will be generous in its pay.
While Marinette is still suspicious, she agrees, mostly because she gets to spend more time with Adrien.
Additionally, park cameras expose Lila’s interaction with Gabriel where the bad influences are revealed to be Marinette, Nino and Chloe.
Again to make it up to them, Gabriel uses Marinette’s designs in his next line and credits her, Chloe will be one of the models and Nino will DJ the whole event.
Marinette’s thrill is known to Nadja even as she is still hurt by all that has happened. As a result, the news channel eases up on Gabriel. They don’t exactly excuse him but they don’t keep bringing the matter up. Shame. Adrien’s fans were interested to see if Gabriel had been abusing his Son, especially Wayhem after Party Crasher. Oh well, maybe next time.
From that point on, the akuma class has a new teacher who stops Chloe’s bullying and advises Marinette to wake up earlier so she can be on time. Their akumatizations are no longer a concern under their new teacher.
Adrien and Marinette also spend more time together at work. And this lets Marinette slowly improve her stutter.
I'm sorry, but this is the scene when my tears decided to go out after a rough month i've had. (You can ask my bestfriend, she kinda witness it)((also my sister))
Imagine you are Alya, doing the best that you could but couldn't find anything to defend your bestfriend from their bullies
Also also, imagine you are Adrien, the one who convinced your own "amazing friend" that their bullies won't hurt anyone and then it backfired and your friend actually expelled from school because you choose to be silent?
Well, this scene literally just spelled it out for you. You both failed to defend your best friend.
But i guess that's life, you fucked up, you owning your own mistakes, and go out proving your friend that you are still worthy please give me another chance.
...
But adrihoney, are you sure you being okay with Lila "using" you just so Marinette can go to school again? I'm still not over with the way you tried to save ladybug in Desperada (like wtf he's been trying for months?!?!) and now you did this?!!
Fuck this level of sacrifice genuinely scared me.
And after all this angst, we still not yet see Chat Blanc, so, yeah, fuck us.
So here it is, time for me to pull myself together and post all my thoughts and feelings on the new episode into one big long post.Â
So my overall feelings?
I am upset
Not because it was a bad episode- it was amazing, literally so good- nope, it’s because of Nathalie- but I’ll get into that in a moment. I’m gonna put a read-more here cause this is gonna probably be really long- and could very well be a recap of the whole ep with my commentary.Â
-----
First off, when Plagg seemed not to like Adrien’s birthday present for Marinette, he seemed so concerned (these screenshots aren’t going to be very good quality because I REALLY don’t feel like going through all the trouble of making them look nice & take hours on one post)
Look at the little bean! SO concerned. It’s perfect Honeybun, she’ll love it.Â
Then onto the next scene...
Even during meals, they sit so far away from each other. Why? I’ve often wondered what the point of such a long table with so many chairs could be, especially in a house that’s so big yet so empty. I suppose that it could do well for meetings, but still, this is a family meal, not a company get-together or business meeting with people you have to impress. They have to practically yell at each other to be heard.Â
Also, look at this
He basically asked Nathalie for approval. “Should I let him?” “Yes sir, I would.” “Very well, Adrien.”
Also, the fact that Gabriel and Lila have the same meeting place each time. He isn’t just driving by hoping to catch her, they have a time and place set up. And the idea that Marinette is a bad influence? Preposterous! But of course, this is Lila.Â
Screw Lila.Â
“You work to hard, sir”Â
Yes Nathalie, I’m sure you know what working to hard feels like. You’re not exactly relaxing, yourself.Â
---
Next scene!Â
Ms. Bustier: Marinette, would you bring your school bag to me please, I need to check something
Okay so first off, you’re going off of an anonymous tip that one of your best and most well-behaved students (Aside from being late quite often) is a thief and a cheat? And secondly, you really think that she is SO STUPID that if she had taken them knowingly, she wouldn’t have maybe removed them from her bag? Third, why did Marinette not FIND them in her bag before school started, take them out, and maybe call Alya or something.Â
“That’s impossible Marinette, Lila got the worst grade in the class” not impossible if she stole them after the test- also, way to be subtle on grades. I thought teachers were supposed to keep that stuff relatively undercover.Â
And Adrien really said “Marinette Rights”
---
So.
There’s no sound of crashing.Â
Lila just yells “Ready?” in the most mischievous voice she can
Then she starts screaming
And no one stopped to think “Hey, not only is Marinette really not known to assault people, but we didn’t hear a single thud that would have sounded like someone falling down the stairs preceding her screams.”
“She keeps calling me a liar, getting the others to gang up against me...” SINCE. WHEN?
Also.Â
“Oh...I have proof”
How would she have known that the proof was in Marinette’s locker? And again, if she knew, why would she be surprised to find the pendant in Marinette’s locker??
UGH.Â
---
Now we get to the part that started lil miss me to get so upset.Â
“Are you ready, Nathalie?”
“More than ever.”
She just bounces out from behind him, ready as she’ll ever be.Â
Look at herÂ
Then she goes on to call him the Almighty Scarlet Moth and I just smhÂ
Awww. She looks like she’s ready to punch those butterflies in the face. You punch those akumas.Â
Varity Queen? Princess Justice? Oh yeah. I wanna see those.Â
And now to the scene that hurt me
“What’s wrong?!”
“Nothing, everything's fine! Keep going..”
She was so ready to just fall down and choke while he continued his fight and she would have still loved him if he hadn’t stopped to help her
But this seen makes it so clear
he loves her too
Even if it’s just as a friend and assistant, he loves her. And it just...the voice acting, her voice actor was so good, it physically hurts me to watch that scene. 15/10. Â
And Tikki yelling at Marinette...well not really yelling...but holy crap, there is a lot riding on this 14 year old girls shoulders when it comes to her own emotions. She’s still learning what some of them are, puberty is far from over with her, so now she just has the added pressure of not being able to feel the natural emotions that occur with hormone fluctuations and righteous anger from being falsely accused without having to be fearful of Hawkmoth’s akuma.Â
But on the bright side, Alya FINALLY believes Marinette! She may have her flaws and push Mari a bit to much IMO when it comes to Adrien but hey, when it comes right down to it, she’ll stick it out with her pals. A true friend.Â
---
Is that the same doctor we saw at Master Fu’s?
And despite her state, still the only thing she’s thinking about is him, his goals, what he wants- and he’s not even thinking about that right now.Â
He looks so distraught too. He needs her. But she’s just so laser focused on one thing that she’s not thinking about the other possibilities. Mark my words, her persistence is what’s going to drive him to stop being Hawkmoth.Â
“I don’t care, Gabriel. I want to help you.” I swear, I’m gonna start crying again. She’s telling him how she feels when she says stuff like that! It’s loud and clear. If he hasn’t seen it by now, when it’s more obvious than Marinette could ever hope to be- then literally nothing but her straight up saying the words “I’m in love with you” is gonna make it click. He has to know!
“Not at that cost! Never at that cost again...” then it cuts to his family portrait.Â
Why, pray tell, does it cut to his family portrait? Of all things. Why did it cut to anything at all? They didn’t need to go to the trouble of creating a whole new picture to cut to if they didn’t NEED to. It’s saying something. And Im pretty sure that its that he’s not willing to give up Nathalie, not even for Emilie.Â
I would also like to point out that in that picture, he is wearing blue- but now, he primarily wears red. What is a combination of blue and red? Purple. The color of Nathalie’s suit.Â
Hmm...
Nathalie: Shh
Me:Â *handing Nooroo pots and pans*
She’s so desperate to help him- and look at how she treats Duusu. She isn’t being cruel. Duusu just told her “No, you should be resting” and she’s just like “Yeah, but what if I didn’t?” not “Don’t tell me what to do!” or any crap like that. Instead she stops and explains herself. And then Duusu...
No, not it’s not romantic. It’s twisted. I love Gabriel and Nathalie as a pair, but this isn’t a romantic gesture. Nathalie is losing herself in her desperation to help him, get the miraculous, end it once and for all, and her desires to please Gabriel even if it means that he’s not going to want her in the end. She is fighting a losing battle, no matter what happens, she’s going to get the short end of the stick- and it just breaks my heart that she is so willing to throw her life away when there are other ways she could be assisting him that don’t include her deteriortating. That’s why I cried so much during this ep- she wants to prove a point by using this miraculous when it isn’t necessary. And that is why I officially HATE seeing Mayura- because each time she transforms she’s one step closer to falling down and not getting back up.Â
Also, I thought this scene was super interesting. That’s how she creates a sentimonster? That is so cool.Â
Moving on, when Adrien pulls out his phoneÂ
“I am Mayura, and I’m about to annihilate Ladybug, Mwahahaha!” Points for subtlety, Hon. XD
She’s so cute
“I’ve always gone out of my way to hide my true feelings for you but I just can’t do it anymore” possible foreshadowing? Hmmm?? “Your feelings for me haven’t changed and mine are growing stronger every day” I can’t help but think she was speaking from her own heart in some of that.Â
And our poor little kitty
So desperate for love, he refuses to believe that
Ladybug wasn’t actually moving on
“She’s so perfect” “I’m nowhere near as perfect as her.”
Also “Senticharm!” *gets big gun blaster thing*
“Lucky Charm!” *gets fork*
Seriously Gabriel and Nathalie belong together at this rate.Â
“Nathalie?!”
“Nooroo why didn’t you wake me up?” “I couldnt bring myself to you were sleeping so peacefully” because “Im scared of you and Nathalie told me to Shh” wasn’t the right response.Â
She gets tired even when using the miraculous
And she still goes out in the fieldÂ
Heeeerrres Hawky!
Legit tho, this is what an anon was talking about earlier from the Gabenath ask meme I did a while back. I said that what I look forin a fanfic would include Hawkmoth needing to save Mayura on the battlefield. And it JUST became canon. Lord have mercy, I think I’ve died XD
AlsoÂ
“You’re the real monster!”Â
“Oh, that...you’ll find out very soon” He doesn’t even care tho. Like, where’s all his givacraps fly off to? Oh yeah that’s right they’re akumatizing people, they just keep flying away. Â
He is huge compared to them. And just going to town trying to whap this 14 year old girl into oblivion. Boy.Â
“All I need to do is wait a few minutes until you two turn back into regular kids, so fragile, so easy to break” Absolutely no filter. Do you think that’s going to make you seem less like a villain? We don’t say stuff like that! You can’t just take that back! I swear, if you have a redemption arc it had better be Paarthurnax/Zuko-level convincing because there are very few people willing to forgive you after you say things like that with no remorse.Â
“Release her”
You can’t tell me he doesn’t love her- he sucks at it, but he does. Im really hoping he’ll learn from this mistake and never ask her to use the peacock miraculous again- if she uses it, it has to be on her.
“Don’t mind me” Babe if he doesn’t mind you and you’re discovered then it’s just a hop skip and jump from Hawkmoth being Gabriel Agreste,Â
He’s carrying her again
Idk if I should focus on how little Nathalie seems to care about how much danger she put herself in or the fact that we have a Gabriel booty close-up
He’s reprimanding her, she starts coughing, her glasses fall off, and he immediately softens up.Â
Look at that soft look. And the music that’s playing in the background? It’s so...sad..and enhances the way he’s looking at her.Â
And now.....Adrien
As soon as the adults leave, he growls and the music gets more aggressive. Intimidating.Â
He is ticked. “Because we’re friends aren’t we?” that was just laced with venom and malice. They say demons run when a good man goes to war.Â
Well Adrien’s started packing. Lila better watch her step.Â
And in the end, she basically outed herself as a pathological liar. She admitted it, though she likely didn’t word it that way.Â
Well, that’s all I have to say. Remember, God made you special and he loves you very much. *veggie tales theme starts playing*
