Analyzing the online behavior of Thomas Astruc, the creator of Miraculous Ladybug. When I'm not doing that, I'm talking about Miraculous Ladybug itself, and some other shows depending on the subject. DISCLAIMER: While I support free speech and people expressing their views through my asks and submissions, I may not agree with everything being said in asks or reblogs. If I make a mistake in one of my posts, don't hesitate to point it out. Just tell me how I can improve as politely as possible. Despite the content of this blog, I hold no ill will towards Thomas Astruc as a person, and I do not support harassing him online or sending death threats his way. This is a critical blog, not a hate blog. At the same time, my views on certain topics shouldn't be taken as fact. Please try not to send asks about certain episodes until after I review them. This also applies to any asks about the bible leaks before Season 5 ends
Just saw someone pointed out how Marinette randomly starting to crush on Chat for a couple of episodes in season 5 made even less sense than before due to Chat blanc, extensively they point out how Blanc told Lb to her face that their love caused the end of the world
Cat Blanc: Things were PURR-FECT until Hawk Moth found out about everything. Once the cat is out of the bag, it's only a matter of time 'till everyone knows. It was our love that did this to the world, m'lady
Bold of you to assume anyone on the production team remembered Cat Blanc other than that thing they occassionally break out to draw back older fans.
How do you feel about the writers constantly ignoring the ending to Cat Blanc? I just rewatched the episode recently, and the ending still drives me crazy, because Ladybug obviously remembers her fight with him in the future. So why couldn’t she tell Cat Noir about it in Season 4?
It really feels like the writers only introduced Cat Blanc for one purpose: shock value.
Whenever Cat Blanc is referenced in the handful of times he is during Seasons 4 and 5 (Sentibubbler, Strikeback, Representation), it amounts to just showing the audience how spooky he looks and reminding them of how scary his timeline was. It's not used to further actual character development, and it definitely isn't relevant to the plot involving Marinette's trauma.
Remember, not only did we get two instances of Cat Noir in white that didn't seem to phase Ladybug (Jubilation, Paris Special), Season 5 made a bigger deal about two separate incidents fueling Marinette's paranoid regarding her feelings for Adrien. First we had Felix capitalizing on Marinette's crush on his cousin to screw her over for totally noble and valid reasons, and then we had the revelation of how much Chloe tormented Marinette for at least a year. Now I'm not saying neither of those experiences aren't incredibly traumatic, but you know what's worse than either of those?
TRAVELING TO AN ALTERNATE TIMELINE WHERE EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND LOVE IS DEAD THANKS TO YOUR CLOSEST ALLY, WHO ALSO SAYS YOU'RE TO BLAME FOR THE APOCALYPSE!
Like so many plot threads introduced in this show, Marinette's fear of Cat Blanc is dropped because the writers decided to focus on something else instead of developing what they already introduced. By Season 5, Cat Blanc is just ignored without any proper resolution, and the writers only bring him back just to say "Remember Cat Blanc? He's pretty scaaaaaaary, isn't he?" It's something Astruc's team can point to when critics say the show isn't mature enough.
To be honest I always just assume the reason why Gabriel didn't use Adrian's amok during Chat blanc was either out of arrogance, which to be fair towards Gabriel he has beating one or both of them in physical combat twice before(Heroes Day part 2 , sentibug), or recognizing that doing so would extensively just be a mind-controlled Adrien while Adrien getting akumatized would mixed up things as he has new abilities ladybug would be unfamiliar with there's the added bonus of no timer and multiple cataclysms.
I’m sorry for disagreeing, anon, but the problem I have is that when Gabriel found out Adrien’s identity in “Ephemeral”, he almost immediately abused his control over Adrien in order to get him to comply, even during his akumatization. If Gabriel could always control Adrien like he could in Season 4, why the hell didn’t he think to do that instead of deciding to beat the crap out of his son and claim it’s for his family, much less order him to hand over his ring or even talk to him about what his plan is?
For God’s sake, even Omni-Man talked to his son about his true intention before beating him within an inch of his life. What’s Gabriel’s excuse?
"Yes, it was weird/slightly illegal for her to break into Adrien’s room to deliver a present to him, but that doesn’t mean she’s responsible for the apocalypse" Is that what people got out of that episode? Seems like a reach.
Well, Bunnix blamed Marinette for setting the events that led to the Blancpocalypse in motion, and Astruc himself pretty much summarized Marinette’s actions in “Cat Blanc” as a mistake she needed to fix (while dissing Chloe, of course).
Even though Marinette had nothing to do with Gabriel akumatizing Adrien in the first place, the episode still gave her more heat for it instead of the main villain who caused the end of the world.
Well, here we are. I can't believe we've gotten this far. You know, I've had my problems with this show, and it's clear it's gone downhill these past few years, especially in the fourth season, but even ignoring the recent clone drama, it's still got a lot of likable characters, hilarious moments, good action, and one of my favorite female superheroes. It's why I don't hesitate to call this show my favorite TV show of all time.
That's right, my friends, after almost six years, DC's Legends of Tomorrow has finally reached one hundred episodes.
And yeah, while it was a glorified clip show, it was still nice to see so many old characters return all while teaching the two newest members of the team what it means to be a Legend, and—oh, right. Miraculous Ladybug got to a hundred episodes too.
Although, technically, because of the anachronistic airing schedule, it's the ninety-seventh episode, not the hundredth, which I'm sure won't confuse viewers with the numerous references to the number 100 at all.
Let's get into the nineteenth (chronologically the twenty-second) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season, and (chronologically) the one-hundredth episode of the series: Ephemeral
Has anybody ever thought about how some things could have been avoided if bunnix didn't do what she did in cat blanc? 1/?
There’s not much I can really say here that you haven’t. This show never should have introduced time travel if it barely has any rules other than being an excuse to resolve a conflict.
All this foreshadowing for a potential Chat Blanc 2.0, all these fan theories, yet I'm 99% sure it will turn out to be fake and Thomas will laugh in our face and just say "as always, you're overthinking things and looking for depth when there isn't any"
I hate how accurate that sounds.
“It wasn’t a stupid plot twist. I was building up your expectations so I could brilliantly subvert them.”
I recently rewatched Chat blanc and I realized that the time travel aspect makes absolutely no sense?? Like, the bunnix from the chat blanc time line can't possibly exist since she must've died as a kid when Chat destroyed Paris, right. That means that the bunnix we see is from a different time line, but that raises the question, why does she need to fix this other time line? (1)
“Timetagger” established that Bunnyx is supposed to be an absolute last resort because of her powers, essentially being an “in case of everyone dying, break glass” hero.
Bunnyx: Within the team, I am the hero of the last chance. I'm called upon when everyone else has failed, that includes you two.
But the whole timeline thing is confusing, I will admit that.
As for how Bunnyx wasn’t affected by the “Blanc-pocalypse”, she could have possibly been in her Burrow surveying the timeline, kind of like how the Legends of Tomorrow don’t get affected by timeline changes at first because they reside inside an area that’s inbetween all areas in time, but gradually started to vanish as the Cat Blanc timeline started to solidify.
The one thing that makes things even more confusing is that there was really no reason for Ladybug to fight Cat Blanc as he had no way of traveling through time to attack the present. All Bunnyx had to do was talk with Ladybug over what she did that could have possibly triggered the end of the world (essentially blaming her for everything that happened when all she did was give Adrien a hat), undo it, and the problem would be solved. As impactful as it was to see Cat Blanc as a symbol of why it’s okay for the writers to drag out the Love Square drama Ladybug and Cat Noir can’t know each others identities, at the end of the day, the fight with Cat Blanc was basically pointless.
Idk know about adrien only loving marinette cause of her onlybeing ladybug, yes him rushing out to confess his feeling cause he knew she is ladybug, but there were alo of scenes and alot of theories that tells adrien is STARTING to like Marinette . Like this scene at the startrain when she sneezed and he gave the "staring lovingly at my JUST A FRIEND" look? And alot of things. I womt be surprsied if the writers played it in the wrong, it always feels that sometimes they wannashow the right picture but they do that in a more complicated way.
Or they show a wrong picture and clam that ita tottally normal and its true love-- (marinette creepy obsessive habit)
Also the problem that is still stick with the show is rushing, they rush alot of things that could have been played well, showed a depth of the characters and making them more relatable (atleast) and understandable . I always feels this rushing is happening because of them wanting the akumatized person to STILL BE THE MAIN THING in the episode.
The problem with those scenes is that we never really get any insight into Adrien’s feelings for Marinette other than occasionally calling her a friend. He can give her all the cute looks he wants, but unless we actually get his thoughts on stuff like that or how he sees Marinette, it’s hard to buy the fact that he even considers her as a potential romantic partner
In “Weredad” (or as I like to call it, “Up Yours, Marichat Shippers”) Adrien didn’t even bother to entertain the idea of being in a relationship with Marinette because of how much he loves Ladybug. And no, writers, pointing out how complicated the Love Square isn’t a funny meta joke.
And for what Adrien did in “Cat Blanc”, I’m not saying he shouldn’t be allowed to do anything reckless, but it honestly comes off like he only cares about Marinette not just because she’s Ladybug, but because he knows from the card she made that she, and by extension loves him back. If there was more of a buildup for Adrien considering everything Marinette did for him on top of being Ladybug, the confession could have worked.
He could have said something like “Marinette, you’re my hero, with or without the mask”. But instead, this is what he says
Adrien: I've realized... I've realized that you're not just a friend to me. I’ve always felt like you were more than that. And now I know why.
Intentional or not, it comes off like he’s saying that while he may have liked Marinette a little, it was her being Ladybug that convinced him to declare his love for him. It just makes him come off as shallow, and only serves to highlight how he loves Ladybug more as the paragon of justice Paris sees her as rather than who she is as a person behind the mask.
I'm no Gabriel apologist, I know he's a crappy father, but using Cat Blanc as the centerpiece of hating him almost feels unfair. Cat Blanc imo had some of the worst writing in the whole show and that's saying a lot. Gorizilla, Queen Wasp, and Startrain all have examples of him caring about his son. So the brutality he showed to Adrien after finding out he was Cat Noir felt OOC for him. All he had to do was go to Adrien and say "hand over the ring" (1/2)
Yes, Gabriel could have easily asked to see Adrien’s ring or taken it in his sleep, but I’m sorry, anon, but I have to respectfully disagree with your statement that “Cat Blanc” felt out of character for him.
While Gabriel did show kindness to Adrien in “Gorizilla” and “Queen Wasp”, both of those were literally right after he almost got killed by his Akumas. It feels more like he’s trying to make up for specifically endangering his son, and never really thinks about the other ways Adrien could get caught in the crossfire of an Akuma attack even if it wasn’t aimed at him.
And even then, we never really saw Gabriel show any concern for when Adrien was “kidnapped” by Volpina and taken to the top of the Eiffel Tower, or when Riposte tried to hunt him down and kill duel him, so those moments in “Gorizilla” and “Queen Wasp” felt more forced than anything else.
As for “Startrain”? Yeah, all we really got for Gabriel “caring” for his son was saying he wanted Ladybug and Cat Noir to save him. That’s it. Here’s how the conversation went.
Gabriel: So, that's why I lost touch with my Akuma! It's too far out of range.
Nathalie: There's another problem. Adrien's class is on the train, and your son is on the passenger list!
Gabriel: He's up in space! And there's nothing I can do.
Nathalie: I'm sure Ladybug and Cat Noir will rescue him.
Gabriel: Hoping that my enemies will save my son... How ironic.
When Gabriel finds out his son is currently trapped on a train in space with an Akuma he can’t control, he doesn’t even show any concern or panic like any decent father would. He seems to just except it and wants Ladybug and Cat Noir to save him. Because it’s not like Gabriel could transform and create another Akuma to travel into space and save Adrien, right? And it’s not like Nathalie could send a Sentimonster into space too either.
“Cat Blanc” is a culmination of how little Gabriel cares about his son, despite how much the narrative tries to convince us otherwise.
If Gabriel is so out of character in that episode, why can I count the episodes where he shows basic human compassion for his son on one hand? Does him being controlling feel so out of character when he constantly tries to control his son’s life? He could have appealed to Adrien’s desire to save his mother as Gabriel, but he didn’t. He decided to force Adrien to do what he says by akumatizing him, and because of that, Gabriel, not Marinette, caused the end of the world.
Gabriel Agreste: Interesting Villain, Horrible Character (400 Follower Special)
I'm honestly surprised more people didn't want me to talk about Gabriel, especially with how often I rag on how horrible of a person he is. But, three character analysis posts later, and we're going to talk about why the main villain of Miraculous Ladybug is a real letdown.
Do you know what else makes zero sense about Chat Blanc besides everything that already been mentioned? Why is Bunnix involved. Like, its clear that the future of akumatized Adrien took place in an alternate timeline given how Alix would hsve still been a teenager at that time. So why would she even be involved given that she's not even from that timeline and clearly had no effect on the timeline she's from? Heck, it opens up a whole time paradox when you really think about it.
Well, we saw that Bunnyx was starting to experience memories from the Cat Blanc timeline after Marinette delivered the present, and as the timeline started to set in, Bunnyx started to fade away Back to the Future style.
So it could be interpreted that Bunnyx is sort of like a guardian of the timeline, almost like the Time Masters from Legends of Tomorrow.
It’s kinda funny but the warning I got from Chat Blanc wasn’t that Marinette and Adrien shouldn’t/couldn’t learn each other’s identities because bad things would happen (which seems to be what Atruc was going for), but that Gabriel absolutely could not learn Adrien’s secret identity. Because really Adrien and Marinette were doing just fine until he learned his identity.
It’s clear that the show is trying to say something like that, but it still somehow blames Marinette for the bad future that happens.
If she didn’t sneak into Adrien’s room as Ladybug to deliver that hat, he wouldn’t have found out, and Gabriel wouldn’t have found out his son was Cat Noir and tried to akumatize him like the sympathetic and loving father that he is.
Hell, at one point, Bunnyx actually says the line “What have you done, Marinette?” when she barely did anything!
It’s like in RWBY when Ozpin is blamed for contributing to the rise of Salem, when all he did was die, while Salem pissed off the gods enough to destroy humanity while trying to bring him back to life and the moon. Yes, Ozpin contributed to the problem, but only in a minor way.
The same can be applied to Marinette. God forbid she use her powers to benefit herself once. Even Spider-Man, whose whole motto revolves around being responsible with his powers, still uses his powers to help himself out, like taking pictures of himself to sell to the Daily Bugle so he can support Aunt May financially.
The whole narrative never really says anything like how Marinette simply chose the wrong time to find out Adrien’s identity, it’s basically saying that because she gave Adrien a hat, she contributed to the end of the world.
Do you think Astruce made “Cat Blanc” so he could point at it whenever people ask why Ladybug and Cat Noir won’t let each other know their real identities? Like, if anyone criticized it, he could point at the episode and go “see what would happen if they now?” or something like that?
Yeah, pretty much. Season 3 of Miraculous Ladybug had several episodes that were meant to address the criticism thrown at the show in some way.
“Cat Blanc” was obviously meant to show people why the reveal can’t happen by literally having the world end, all so Astruc has an excuse to drag out the identity shenanigans for as long as he wants.
The thing I hate the most about the show is how it threw away Adrien/Cat Noir’s potential.
He’s the son of Hawkmoth, his mom is in a “coma-like” state, his whole family has a huge origin behind it. Like if we had “Adrien focused” episodes we could learn more about that.
On top of that, Adrien has the potential to be such an interesting character. He’s lived his whole life in solitude because of his abusive father, but as Cat Noir, that’s his one chance to have fun and be himself for once instead of having to put on the “perfect image” for everyone. There’s so much going on with Adrien and his family, and it’s so sad to see all of it particually go to waist. I just want to see a whole episode where we get to see Adrien’s life, and see the stuggles he’s going through. It certainly be more interesting than another filler episode that only follows Marinette.
I am planning on talking about how Astruc views Adrien as a character and the missed opportunities regarding his villainous heritage in a future post, but I do agree with what you’re saying.
The whole situation just raises the question of why they would even reveal Adrien’s father is Hawkmoth if they’re not going to do anything with it? Even with the Love Square, the show tries to explore some of the possible angles of the relationship (Adrien and Marinette at school, Ladybug and Cat Noir fighting together, Marinette and Cat Noir hanging out occasionally even though they really need to have more episodes like that, and Ladybug and Adrien awkwardly trying to hide their feeling for one another).
As frustrating as it is that some parts of the Love Square (mainly Adrienette and Ladrien) are underdeveloped, it’s still better than what little we have with Adrien and Gabriel.
Sure, sometimes we’ll get a scene of Gabriel monologuing to his dead wife about how sad he is that he has to resort to moonlighting as Hawkmoth to try and save her, but it’s really hard to feel bad for him when he regularly endangers God knows how many lives trying to save a single person.
Andthen “Cat Blanc” happened, which showed an alternate timeline where Gabriel found out Adrien was Cat Noir. As soon as he found out his son was a superhero who he was unintentionally putting in danger, Gabriel... doubles down on his efforts, tries to akumatize his son and succeeds, which leads to all life on Earth being eradicated. And the show still wants you to feel bad for him.
But other than that, the show just does nothing with this plot thread at all, and it sucks that there are so many fanfictions that manage to tackle this subject in a deeper way than the show will ever do.
If you want to see a complex relationship between a villain and his heroic son that isn’t from a fanfic, check out LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjutsu. The dynamic between Lord Garmadon and Lloyd Garmadon being torn apart by an ancient prophesy in an ultimate battle between good and evil makes the first two seasons amazing to watch.
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