#ephemeral miraculous

[hawkeabelas]

this post but it's all just my catgirl son boy

[fu-cough]

adrien agreste + taylor swift lyrics pt. 1

- mirrorball, illicit affairs, the archer

[rainbow-arrow]

why the fuck are you reacting like this is some big reveal

like the bitch you gave him the miraculous

[geekgirles]

Y'know what? I think I'd prefer it, actually.

[ladymiraclewings]

Same place, different scenario leading to the wish

[hartwign]

well… chat blanc was traumanic, but what about ephemeral. it was so painful for me, aaand i drawed it. also i have a song for it.

very rough translation is something like that…

my love always comes back to haunt me, like a knife put to my throat, doesn't hurt yet but it's a fear to breath out, it like being helpless newborn, this is a door that is marked "no exit"

my love always comes back to haunt me, like a thorn, it bothers me but it hurts to get rid of it, I wait for the red light but every time I falter 'cause I pity the driver who'll put me out of my misery so many times I swore not to be a burden, not to drag people down like an anchor, but this is an unending circle I'm walking, for certain not a last time in the days darkening.

[moodyseal]

Nathalie: Don't weaponize your son's sadness

Gabriel: I'm not a monster, Nathalie

The narrator: He was, in fact, a monster

[matt0044]

In retrospect, it's pretty clear why Adrien wasn't there to learn Monarch was his father in The Final Day.

Namely because "Chat Blanc" and "Ephemeral" each explained why.

His intense emotions over seeing his mother and learning his father became a villain in order to save her would be too good of an opportunity to akumatize him against Ladybug.

Thus Adrien benching himself is essentially the reason why Marinette was able to knock the Moth Miraculous off Gabriel and talk him down.

However... this only means that there's an extra layer of despair painted upon what would've been Adrien's angst over his father's dark secret. Clearly, his father's "sacrifice" is what keeps him going in believing his final moments were heroic.

So what happens when Adrien learns that not only was his father trying to bring back Emilie and became a villain to do so but that he also went out after causing Operation: Alliance to start with. No way to confront his father about this reveal and even Nathalie would be hard pressed for a straight answer.

Hell, I can imagine him crossing the line and forcing Plagg to spill the beans at his direct command. He and Marinette have been good in never, if ever, enforcing rules upon Tikki or Plagg so... woo.

And with Lila likely possessing this information be it from what Hoaxer got out of Nathalie or Nooroo, something tells me that we're in for something far, FAR worse than Chat Blanc if that's even feasibly possible. Perhaps only that the Lucky Charm can't easily undo.

Aaaaaaaaaand that's why there was more of a benefit to keep Adrien to the side for Season 5's finale. If you can't feel the storm that's slowly brewing, better get an umbrella now.

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

I am very excited for the London Special, but I just have to say, based on what I've seen from the promo stuff, this special may have the power to completely nullify the plot of Ephemeral.

From what I can tell... it looks like Marinette is going to be using the rabbit miraculous to go back in time to prevent someone from taking the miraculous from her and... making a wish? (maybe? not totally sure), if that's true... then what was the point of Ephemeral?

Don't get me wrong, I love this episode, but at least half of the plot doesn't make sense within the context of them using the Rabbit in the special.

Using the Rabbit to prevent the wish being made, to prevent the identities being shared, is objectively, the better, the simpler solution.

One could argue, they only undid the reveal in Chat Blanc with the Rabbit, BECAUSE there was no wish to contend with.

It could be argued that maybe the Rabbit can't undo the wish, that though one can go through time and fix things, the wish can't do that. If the special proves this wrong... then why did they use the snake?

Why did Luka have to be there? Why did they have to have the whole plan set in place? Why couldn't they have utilized Alix to get Chat Noir's identity? And why did the snake miraculous have to be the one to fix everything?

[that-one-fandom-girl]

The constant moods of my last two brain cells; one tries to stay optimistic while the other is just crying, 😭😆

[giuliafc]

I was thinking: everyone is blaming Marinette for not telling the truth to Adrien. But are we 100% sure that this is what has happened? Are we 100% sure that Marinette is aware that she's lying to Adrien? More importantly, is she actually lying?

Gabriel made the wish. The wish, as the episode clearly states, is a RECREATION. It recreated reality. As Sass explained to us very clearly in Ephemeral, Gimmi has ERASED THE REALITY MARINETTE AND ADRIEN LIVED IN UP TO THEN AND CREATED A WHOLE NEW UNIVERSE, where Gabriel is the hero. Marinette, even being Ladybug and being the guardian, isn't immune to the power of the wish. Gabriel has recreated a world where he has been a hero, and probably he's a hero for Marinette too!

Have we thought about it? She probably is convinced that Monarch was a different person from Gabriel Agreste and that Gabriel sacrificed himself to destroy him because, in the reality where she lives now, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED. It's not a lie! It's the truth! Why would she be the only one to remember? What makes her stand out from the rest of the world?

No, I don't blame Marinette for telling Adrien that Gabriel was a hero because, in her reality now this is exactly what happened. The only thing that she's hiding from Adrien is the fact that he's a senti and why the rings need to be with him at all times. if we need to blame her for keeping secrets, that's the secret that she's keeping. Not Monarch's identity.

[jeannefostergoriot]

Since you believe Gabriel still had good in him, how do you suppose he became so horrible in the Chat Blanc and Ephemeral timelines?

Chat Blanc is profoundly traumatic to me (not on the clinical term but. I feel the hurt every single day). I struggle to explain it, really. And I don’t rewatch it cause it spills out pain.

But, I think what happened is. He had a plan, precisely crafted. And losing it made him go on autopilot. Made him lose the fact that he was still bargaining with power. In the season, it’s proven that he has no idea about Marinette maybe being good, having qualities, so in his head, Adrien can not be truly attached to her, Adrien is lying to himself, and forcing them to breakup will hurt a bit, but he’ll come back. There’s Kagami, who is way better anyway (in Gabriel’s eyes).

And… Adrien refuses that Marinette gets hurt. Gabriel can’t akumatize Marinette. Can’t execute his plan of using a big pain for a big attack, but a survivable pain. And he learns that his son is his enemy. His reaction is “you lied. You don’t understand what is good for you.” Gabriel is abusive, he believes he knows better. So he reveals. He breaks Adrien, but in his mind, it’s for the best. The fight will be over soon.

But Adrien and Gabriel’s reactions to emotions are opposite. Adrien says “let it drown me, things will be clearer.”. Gabriel says “let’s burry so it doesn’t blur the vision”. So Gabriel wasn’t expecting an akumatised Chat Noir to simply explode. Which led to the whole world dying.

For Ephemeral, it’s much easier. It’s already Monarch. I’ve known it basically since I saw the S4 finale. The addiction to power (which is rampant since S2) has taken over. More, and more, and more. Anything is ok to sacrifice, as long as it leads to the power. Cause Monarch needs to get the power before understanding. Monarch could wish himself an all-powerful being. And in Ephemeral that’s already this. That’s already: “Oh, Adrien is Chat Noir? That makes such an easy access to half I need.” The last bit of consciousness and distinction between good and bad is erased, by the power, with a simple “hey, I’m bringing his mother back anyway, he can’t hate me for it”.

Sooo. Hope I answered the question 😅

[kisilinramblings]

I know Ephemeral is meant more as a What if episode, exploring a scenario where Adrien reveals first, but let's continue. What if Sass didn't go back in time? What if Luka didn't reached the Miracle Box in time before the Wish has been made. What if they are stuck with the consequences of that timeline. How would that work?

Like Gabriel makes the Wish he wants. Reality is changed so Émilie is alive. Gabriel has sacrificed someone in exchange for his wife to live. No one among the characters knows who nor could guess because the Reality has been destroyed before being reconstructed to always has been so.

Based on the sneak peak we got for the Special Paris, after the white light is gone, we would still have Marinette, Ephemeral (still under the control of his amok) and Shadow Moth with Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous equipped standing there in the theater room.

What would be the first action? What would anyone say? How would anyone react?

In this new reality, Emilie has never died. Could Adrien remember seeing the capsule but cannot remember who was in it? He just remember the feeling of confusion and shocked? Even if that isn't important, he would still recall that his father used him and controlled him and turned him against Marinette. There is greater material for Adrien to face life existential crisis there. Something that could change him deeply.

Is Nathalie also healed or Gabriel would make another Wish?

What could Marinette do now? There is no Miraculous Ladybug to cure what has happened. No exit. No miraculous solution. The damages are permanent.

Perhaps after watching the London Special, we would have a better comprehension of the direct aftermath of a Wish, but there sure is material for a one-shot or a fic. And one thing is sure, that ending is still the bad ending compare to the one we got in the S5 finale.

[bananagreste]

cheese cat and sunshine prince 45/? → gremlin

[theerurishipper]

Every now and then I still see arguments about how "Chat Blanc and Ephemeral were meant to inform us that Adrien couldn't take part in the final battle," the implication here being that there is no possible way for Adrien to ever react in a convenient manner to this news, and that his only reactions could be "he loses control and goes berserk," or "he gets controlled by his dad." I have already expressed my views on these takes, which is that they are excuses and justifications for bad writing. But I still feel that in trying to insinuate that they are valid explanations for Adrien's inability to be part of the finale, the point of those episodes is missed, and I'll elaborate on why they aren't even good excuses now.

Despite what Thomas Astruc may suggest on Twitter, that the problem is not with Adrien in these episodes. As evidenced by episodes like The Collector and even the aforementioned Chat Blanc, Adrien is perfectly capable of fighting his father. The issue that presents itself in these scenarios isn't that Adrien can't control himself and can only react poorly, it's that Gabriel chooses to hurt his son. None of these situations happened because of anything Adrien did, they happened because Gabriel manufactured the situation into something that he could use to gain control over his son.

The issue here isn't that Adrien finding out makes him react poorly (which is a hot take of its own), the issue is with how he finds out. In both Chat Blanc and Ephemeral, Gabriel manipulates the situation to his advantage. He knows Adrien's identity before Adrien knows his or even knows that his own identity has been compromised. Gabriel is in control of all the information, and he engineers the situation to cause the most traumatic reaction in Adrien so that he can exploit it and take advantage of Adrien's distress. The issue here isn't Adrien's reactions, it's the fact that Gabriel is in control. By framing the message of Chat Blanc and Ephemeral as proof that Adrien can only react poorly to Gabriel's revelations and abuse and using that as an excuse to justify him sitting out the conclusion to his own arc is bafflingly weird to me.

And it just ends up sending the message that Adrien is apparently "too emotionally immature" or whatever the salters say, and therefore he can't ever find out about his father, or it'll only cause disaster. The blame for not being able to walk out of the situation and continue fighting the good fight with no negative effects whatsoever is placed on Adrien by insinuating that it's some inherent flaw in him that he'll never overcome, rather than acknowledge that things only happened the way they did because Gabriel specifically manipulated events and information to achieve his desired outcome. Rather than blame the abuser for his actions, the blame is placed on the victim for his reactions. That's not good.

And it ends up with the alarming implications that abuse victims are irrational and too emotional and are to blame for their reactions instead of it being the abuser's fault for driving them to this point, which is some gross abuse apologia. Indeed, the finale of Season 5 takes this one step further by having Marinette lie to Adrien about his father, because knowing would surely have him react in ways that are inconvenient for herself and everyone else to deal with (this is the writers' motivation, not Marinette's). And we can't have Adrien's trauma matter other than when it is beneficial to Marinette, now can we?

But I digress. Back to my point.

There is a simple solution to the problem of Gabriel taking advantage of Adrien. Since the issue is that Gabriel is able to manufacture the situation to his advantage because he gets to know all the information beforehand, have a reversal of that and have Adrien find out first. Have Adrien find out that his father is Monarch first, and that way, he'll have time to process everything and react to it with the support of his loved ones before he goes to fight his father with clarity and asserts his freedom. It would be a great extension of Adrien's arc of reclaiming his agency and freedom from Gabriel to have him be in control of the situation while Gabriel is blindsided.

A part of Adrien's arc is about finding relationships in which he has unconditional love and support. Have those come into play as he confronts Gabriel. Have them actually matter. There are so many ways to do this.

Have Marinette be present alongside him and have her be able to support him in a meaningful way as he faces down his father.

Have Felix prove he cares for Adrien by telling him the truth about his father and his amok.

Have Nathalie actually support Adrien by letting him know important stuff and giving him his amok back.

This is a non-exhaustive list, but my point is that there are so many ways to override the very specific situations that were present in Chat Blanc and Ephemeral and tilt the scales in Adrien's favor. It would be a better way to deal with this than to just dismiss the point of those episodes by making it seem like the problem lies with Adrien and his reactions than the fact those things only happened because of Gabriel's specific manipulations.

But there is one very simple solution to this whole issue, and it is right there in Season 5 itself. There is proof written straight into the show that Chat Blanc and Ephemeral are not the status quo. See Marinette giving into Gabriel's threats in Chat Blanc and contrast that with her going up against him and defying him outright in Pretention in a way more personal confrontation. The difference between the two episodes is that Marinette is allowed to grow. She is allowed to develop as a character and prove that she is different from the Marinette who gave into Gabriel's threats. So if she is allowed to change and develop as a character and react differently, then why can't Adrien?

Adrien's major problem in any of these situations is that Gabriel is a controlling asshat. To ensure that these situations do not happen, Adrien needs to break free from Gabriel. I posit that the easiest way to allow Adrien to not react in ways that "don't end well," is to allow him to grow and develop as a character. It would allow him to start truly breaking free of his father in such a way that when the time comes for the final confrontation, Adrien is not so easily susceptible to his manipulations and can fight back against him. It would allow him to have agency in the situation that he did not have at the times Chat Blanc and Ephemeral took place.

But unfortunately, the writers did not want to give Adrien growth and development and agency, because that would mean making him something other than Marinette's prop and love interest. That also seems to be the point of the amok rings, since their only relevance in the story is to make up a reason so that Adrien cannot go against Gabriel and needs Marinette to do it for him, and the show presents this as some great quandary to which there is no discernable solution other than simply removing Adrien from the battle altogether so that Marinette can complete his arc for him. And it sucks.

In conclusion:

[bittersweetresilience]

every scene where the miraculous theme song plays in minor, french version, because no one can stop me

while i was making this i discovered some fascinating differences between the french and english dubs i'd never noticed before.

for some reason, music seems to play a key higher in french. this is interesting, but it makes sense until you get to re-création and realize the version with english subtitles and french audio is somehow still different to the version with no subtitles and french audio.

first, with english subtitles, the music starts earlier, when adrien blushes for the first time. in french, it only starts after marinette tells adrien he is the only one who who can decide what to make of his life and he smiles.

with english subtitles, there are some bell-like synths which enter before adrien says he feels free. in french, these synths are not present until afterward, and the orchestra swells on adrien's line.

with english subtitles, the music crescendoes when adrien and marinette kiss. in french, the music has already been crescendoing, and after they kiss it stops. a sadder piano rendition with a single violin comes in during the following shots before fading out.

in both versions, the music during re-création is different to the music in all prior scenes, which were identical. it seems to have been remixed for the finale.

both versions are tragic, but the french version has a softer sort of melancholy.

(english version) (in the rain)