#Hawk Moth

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

Umm so I had a thought...

You know how Marinette and Gabriel are supposed to be foils, and there are clear mirrors in both their personalities and their ambitions. Except- you know, Gabriel is evil and power hungry and selfish, whereas Marinette is motivated by justice and is incredibly self-sacrificing.

What if Miraculous continues to draw this parallel between protagonist and antagonist, except this time not with Marinette... this time with Adrien?!

At first glance, there might be very little tying Lila (cerise?... for the sake of this post she is Lila) and Adrien together. But delving further there are actually quite a lot of parallels.

Adrien and Lila are both social chameleons who had been showcased by Gabriel to function as a figurehead for his company. They are both desperate to make friends and social connections at school (albeit for different reasons), have a preoccupation with Maribug, and both come from very mysterious/shady backgrounds. The main difference, again, between these characters is that Adrien acts with empathy and altruism, and Lila acts with maleficence and self-interest.

The Adrien and Lila parallel has actually been referenced a few times in the show, but what I find most interesting is the scene at the end of the episode "Ladybug" where Adrien makes his first threat to Lila.

This episode follows a pattern of nearly every Lila episode, where Lila does something and Marinette is powerless to act. And while it is shown in season 5 that Marinette does in fact manage to take Lila down, we as the audience are well aware that she is far from gone and will be coming back with new vengeance.

The thing is, prior to that season 5 episode, Adrien's threat is the first thing to actually work. Adrien understands Lila, by nature of his life I am sure, he is surrounded by Lila's all day. While we know that Adrien chooses to see the best in people and may take time to identify threats to himself and those he loves, once he does, he is well adept at handling manipulators. After all, he'd hardly be able to survive in his own home if he couldn't.

In seasons 1-5 it became clear that Ladybug, moreso that Chat Noir, was able to defeat Hawkmoth, because she understood the way he thought and was able to plan accordingly. Already in the London special, Ladybug was having trouble facing the new Hawkmoth. Notably, Chat Noir was not there.

I just wonder what the potential dynamic will be between Chat Noir and the New Hawkmoth and if in fact, they will be positioned as foils...

[herpsandbirds]

Oleander Hawk Moth (Daphnis nerii), family Sphingidae, Taiwan

photographs by Gracy Kam

[ikari-shinsei]

[eightofpents]

This is why she always stands behind him.

[adrawee]

Chat Blanc 🤍

[celestial-games]

This post is for hummingbird clearwing enjoyers only :]

Support my work on patreon | bug discord

[adrinoir]

The Miraculous Movie was different than the series…and that’s okay!

I watched the movie this morning and loved it! I think it’s important to talk about the changes that were made and what impact they had.

How the characters were rewritten

There definitely was a difference in how the characters were written in the movie, and some of the redevelopment of characters was really good!

Gabriel was by far the one who had the best redevelopment of his personality. Gabriel in the series is awful, as we all know.

In the series, he barely gives a shit about his own son, like there is absolutely nothing redeemable about his character. In every “what if” episode and the season 5 finale, Gabriel does not show any regret to hurting people, including his own son.

However, in the movie, Gabriel actually makes a better attempt to communicate with Adrien and, most importantly, feels strong regret when he hurt his son. He cries; he feels remorse for destroying Paris and injuring Adrien in the process. He hugs Adrien (along with the spirit of Emilie 🥹) and decides to stop being Hawk Moth. It was beautifully done. He got a redemption arc that he never got in the series. I know I personally felt so good watching that and seeing the relationship between him and Adrien being repaired.

Marinette was her usual clumsy self, but was written as having no friends at school because she embarrasses herself so much. In a way, it makes more sense than her being so popular like she is in the series. Kids in high school can be pretty judgy and ruthless. So it makes sense for the “clumsy girl” to be made fun of and judged by people who don’t know her well.

Adrien was different in a lot of ways. He wasn’t shown running to school to gain freedom. He wasn’t introduced as being a super model who’s friends with Chloe. Instead, he’s already going to the school, he’s already friends with Nino, and he happens to run into Marinette at the library. He doesn’t have that same chemistry with Marinette as he does in the series which is a bit odd that they took that away, but it does make sense that he’d turn her down when she asked him to the ball, since he loves Ladybug. In the movie, he very clearly sees Marinette as just a friend and it’s shown that he’s building a friendship with her without him developing a crush. It’s different but still wholesome, especially when he shows her the old family photo to her. Plus, it evens it out well since Ladybug obviously turns Cat Noir away but they’re still building up their bond, too. They both get turned down.

It was ehhh that Adrien was a bit too cocky at times as Cat Noir, but overall, his goofiness and self confidence is still pretty on brand for him. He was still very encouraging towards Ladybug but not overly flirtatious, pushing her to her limits. Instead, it was them lightly teasing each other and then playfully fighting. And, speaking of the playful fighting, their bond was stronger in the movie seeing as how they were shown spending more time together off duty and that they were treated as equals.

In the show, Cat Noir is automatically made sidekick and left in the dark about everything. But in the movie, he gets to meet Master Fu in disguise alongside Ladybug. Sure, he didn’t help Master Fu with his cane like he did in the series, but that didn’t matter since the lore was changed.

Alya was less annoying in the movie. Sorry. Don’t get me wrong, I love Alya in the series, but she’s so over the top at times with how obsessed she is over the heroes, blogging, and filming things for her blog. In the movie, she was toned down a lot and I liked that. It was also cute that Nino had a crush on her and just her, not Marinette first. Unlike the series, he wasn’t on that pipeline of guys who fell for Marinette since that pipeline doesn’t exist in the movie.

Tom was made out to be an embarrassment for Marinette which is honestly more realistic for a teenager. Most teenagers get pretty embarrassed by their parents, especially when they still treat them very childlike. And, I like that he went out to the fair to look for her since he heard there was danger. Marinette’s parents don’t usually go out to look for her or make sure she’s in her room when there’s danger afoot. So, I appreciate that they made Tom do that since he obviously loves Marinette a lot.

The rewriting of (some of) the lore

As I had mentioned in my previous section, the lore was rewritten, too. Instead of Master Fu being the one to pick Marinette and Adrien simply because they helped him, the kwamis sense that Marinette and Adrien are the right people to be Ladybug and Cat Noir. That was a much better way to write that, in my opinion.

Hawk Moth got ahold of the butterfly miraculous by mistake. That part wasn’t changed but also, it didn’t need to be.

The change of plot

The plot was very simple. It didn’t have a whole lot of crazy, in depth details like the show’s does. So, anyone who has never watched the show can easily understand and absorb what’s going on (I will be forcing my boyfriend to watch it with me since he’s never seen the show lol).

I like that it was very clear cut and easy to understand while still being intense and meaningful. It still summarizes a lot of what the series entails while fixing some issues in the plot development.

They didn’t doddle with Hawk Moth like they do in the show. He was a successful villain in his second attempt but then realized he should stop when he hurt his own son in the process.

Also, there was a reveal. It was a wee bit underwhelming, but I still think it was done well! It was a moment with just Marinette and Adrien alone, as it should be. And, it was cutesy and heartfelt. The fact that Marinette dressed like Ladybug for the ball (cutest dress ever imo) and Adrien dressed like Cat Noir was so cute. That’s what a lot of the fandom has been asking for and written about in fanfics, I feel like.

The romance between these two is most important. They didn’t need Kagami and Luka as 2nd love interests to throw things off track. Yes, I like these characters in the show, but they weren’t needed in the plot.

The music

I love musicals. I was a bit of a theater kid in high school, plus I’m obsessed with music lol. So, yes, I’m a bit biased when I say I love that they made this a musical.

I personally loved the music. I can tell a lot of good effort was put into it and I’ve already been listening to the songs on my Spotify. The song between Ladybug and Cat Noir in the theater “Now I See” and Cat Noir jumping on the clouds (literally, on cloud nine) singing “My Lady” was absolutely adorable and super romantic, which, as we know, is a big part of the show.

Even Gabriel’s song “Chaos Will Reign Today” was amazing! It conveyed a lot of emotion and turns into one of those dramatic villain songs. Keith Silverstein is clearly talented enough to sing for his own character and he did it well.

My only nitpick is that Marinette’s singer, Lou, has a very different voice than Christina Vee. So, Marinette sounds very different, much more mature-sounding when she sings and it kinda catches you off guard. I’m surprised they didn’t have Christina sing for her, but there must’ve been a reason why she didn’t. But, SQVARE sounded similar enough to Bryce Papenbrook when he sung for Cat Noir which i absolutely love.

Conclusion

I personally give this movie a 10/10 just because it made me smile the whole time, and it’s such a feel good movie. I’ll happily watch it again and listen to the soundtrack, especially on a day when I’m feeling down. It wasn’t perfect in every aspect, but it was perfect in a simple, heartwarming sense and that it can be watched by everyone, not only people who watch the series.

I understand if it made you cringe or you were moreso looking for a continuation of the series not a retelling. But, I prefer some simplicity which is a big part of what made me like it. Like I said, I know it wasn’t absolute perfection, but it was so frickin adorable and I can’t help but smile.

There’s a lot of differences but also plenty of similarities between the movie and the show. But understand they’re not meant to be the same and that’s okay! I don’t think the movie was horrible for most of the changes it made. In fact, I think most of them made sense and made it a bit more realistic (as I explained).

[hamsternamedmarinette]

[papyrusgayfont]

* here’s the third and last post of all the show characters and locations that are in Miraculous Awakening or whatever it’s called because i was bored (spoilers, obviously).

* Hawk Moth

* Nooroo

* Tikki

* Plagg

* Ladybug

* Cat Noir

* Françoise Dupont (middle school in the show, high school in the movie)

* The Dupain-Cheng Bakery

* The Agreste Mansion

* Emilie’s Resting Place

[angelshizuka]

How some people are capable of looking at a teenage boy crawling away in absolute terror from his own father (who's literally in the middle of physically, mentally AND emotionally abusing the superhero he now knows is his own son) and still think Adrien's the problem is totally beyond me...

It's like some of y'all WANT to victim blame.

[jenfoundabug]

I love sphinx moths. They're so chunky <3 Twin-spotted sphinx (Smerinthus jamaicensis)

Northeastern Pennsylvania, US

[a-flaming-idiot]

Hawk Moth was secretly an ally this whole time...

[herpsandbirds]

Pellucid Hawk Moth aka Coffee Bean Moth (Cephonodes hylas), family Sphingidae, Japan

Diurnal moth.

photograph by Yama Shigi

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

[eightofpents]

Sorry for introducing myself with a Ladybug comic, this is actually a Gabriel Agreste appreciation blog.

just thinking about how gabriel and hawk moth have different faces. about how gabriel said "i need to play the villain to get the miraculous," and his subconscious said "you need to be someone else to do it."

[abyssalbloom]

Father-son bonding time