#i've wanted to do the copycat episode for so long!! and here it is!!

[thaliagrayce]

Lucky to be Coming Home chapter 3!

Link: ao3 Pairing: Jason Grace/Nico di Angelo Fandom: Percy Jackson & the Olympians Tags: Miraculous Ladybug AU, Mortal AU, implied/referenced homophobia, Chat Noir!Jason Grace, Ladybug!Nico di Angelo

Chapter Word Count: 6,882

Chapter Summary:

“He’s the akuma, Bug.” The handcuffed Chat Noir gritted his teeth, trying to pry the other Chat’s hands off the collar of his suit. The chains were just barely long enough to allow it. “He set a trap and caught me by the scruff, but I don’t know what his end goal is.” “No, I swear he’s the fake!” The Chat Noir not in chains turned to Nico, electric blue eyes wide and sincere, the fight clearly less important to him than the conversation. “He’s trying to drive a rift between us, to steal you away from me.” Chained-up Chat blinked, grip suddenly slack. “Haha, what?” Oh god. This was all Nico’s fault. or; Sometimes, the only way to deal with your feelings is by beating them up.

this chapter brought to you by Jasico Bingo Month! i hope my self-indulgent nonsense brings you as much joy as it brought me :3

[linghxr]

My late summer 2023 cdrama updates (+ movies)

This is a follow-up to a previous post I published in February. I'm thinking of doing twice-yearly updates on what I'm watching! I'm also including a few movies this time.

I'm going to try to include content warnings, BUT my memory is not perfect, so please be aware that I may have forgotten details.

Shows I've watched: Some of these were mentioned as "currently watching" in my previous post.

《消失的孩子》 The Disappearing Child As the title suggests, this show is a mystery about a child who goes missing. It also incorporates other plotlines that gradually converge—that's all I'll say to avoid spoiling it. The payoff when the plotlines finally intersect was so satisfying! Overall I really enjoyed this show and highly recommend it. Be aware that it does have references to sexual assault and corpses (I don't think anything was directly shown).

《猎罪图鉴》 Under the Skin This show is about a sketch artist, a police detective, and an old murder case that connects them. I enjoyed the first half, which mostly chronicled stand-alone cases. But I found some cases hard to follow (disclaimer: my police vocab is limited, and I took several breaks while watching). Frankly I was a bit disappointed by the ending, so I don't think I'll watch the upcoming second season. Warning: contains some depictions of sexual assault and domestic violence.

《她和她的她》 Shards of Her To avoid spoiling anything, I'll just say that this show is about a woman who, after experiencing a traumatic accident, wakes up in an alternate version of her life. This show had me constantly doubting what was real and what was fake! I really couldn't get it out of my head. BUT I ultimately wouldn't recommend it due to what I found to be pretty disturbing sexual violence. I don't think there was anything too graphic, but I had to take significant breaks between episodes due to the upsetting content.

《镇魂》 Guardian I knew virtually nothing about this show (I thought it was steampunk tbh) but had heard good things. It's hard to summarize...basically it follows a police bureau that handles supernatural cases and, with some help from a mysterious, powerful envoy, saves the world. My favorite part was the first half, when they were mostly solving stand-alone cases. I got a bit fatigued during the second half. But it was perfect for when I wanted to unwind after work. Warning: the ending left me upset, and the special effects are hilariously bad.

《模仿犯》 Copycat Killer This is probably one of the most violent and death-heavy shows I've ever seen (and that's coming from someone who has seen Criminal Minds and part of Hannibal). It's about an unconventional prosecutor and a sadistic serial killer who uses the media to cause mass panic. Without spoiling it, I'll just say you need to be prepared for murder, torture, suicide, and other violent imagery. This show is not for the faint of heart—I could barely finish it, honestly. There are no happy endings for this kind of show.

Movies I've watched:

《想见你》（电影版） Someday or One Day (Movie) This long-anticipated film adaptation was a letdown for me personally. Instead of simply condensing the show, they made A LOT of changes. I'm not against changes, but the plot of the movie was way too confusing for me to follow. I'm not even going to try summarizing it here. If you haven't seen the show, I think you'll be completely lost. If you have seen the show, you'll be wishing you were rewatching the show instead.

《消失的她》 Lost in the Stars I'll admit, I only went to see this to see 朱一龙. The premise is very Hitchcock—a man is nearly driven over the edge after his wife vanishes and a woman he has never met appears, claiming to be his wife. There are lots of twists and turns, and I did not see the ending coming at all. Personally, I wish it had less action and more elements of a psychological thriller. It was a fun summer movie, but it wasn't anything groundbreaking. But that's OK!

《关于我和���变成家人的那件事》 Marry My Dead Body I barely knew anything about this film before I watched it. I only knew it had 许光汉, and I saw a lot of buzz online. It's about a homophobic police officer who enters into a ghost marriage with a (male) ghost. Frankly, I didn't like it that much. I did enjoy seeing the characters' growth, but the plot was very fast-paced, so I didn't have time to process anything that happened. Please note: there is rear nudity and some limited depictions of sex.

Currently watching:

《隐秘的角落》 The Bad Kids After hearing about how great this show is for years, I'm finally checking it out. I've only seen the first episode so far, but I'm really excited to see what's to come! It's about three children who accidentally film a murder. That's really all I know at this point.

《我们与恶的距离》 The World Between Us I haven't even finished the first episode of this show yet. I started it but decided to pause because I felt like I was juggling too many shows. I plan to revisit it after I finish some other shows. I know it's about the aftermath of a mass shooting, so I'm expecting it to be very grim.

《不良执念清除师》 Oh No! Here Comes Trouble I saw a lot of praise for this show online. It's a bit odd but in an endearing way. It follows a young man who discovers he inherited a mystical power after all sorts of strange beings start coming to him for help. So far the only thing I disliked was the gore.

《你的孩子不是你的孩子》 On Children This show is kind of like Black Mirror but with the theme of troubled parent-child relationships. Each episode is practically a movie, and I have only finished one so far. If you are not on good terms with your parents, it may bring up some painful memories.

Potentially abandoning:

《理智派生活》 The Rational Life I started this drama because I was curious about the premise—a professional woman's ups and downs in the workplace. There is also a slow romance (a 姐弟 romance since the male lead is much younger). However, after finishing episode 23 out of 35, the thought of watching 12 more episodes kinda fills me with dread.

《你安全吗？》 Are You Safe? This show is about "vigilante" hackers and the antics they get up to. It's supposed to raise awareness for cybersecurity. Honestly I don't think I have made any progress on this show since my last post...! I may just abandon it because there are a lot of other shows that have more successfully caught my interest.

I can't wait to share another update on what I'm watching/have watched in 6 months or so!

[yolowritter]

Volpibug Au Part 4: Mom help, there's a fox girl on my floor!

Hello there everyone, and welcome back to Lilanette Hell! Finally, after three rants longer than my entire attention span, I've returned with the good shit! Also yes, I cackled at the title. You'll see, it makes sense later. Part 3 of the Au is right here for anyone who needs a reminder, and today's rant focuses on the Glaciator episode and the immediate aftermath! This is where the Lilanette really begins! Also, this post is going to be really long, because I've got two whole snippets for you guys!

To give a bit more context, the Au currently has a pretty linear timeline. Begins with Volpina because obviously that's when Lila shows up for the first time, continues into Collector where Lila decides that Adrien is the least annoying person in class and she will get him back, hence teaming up with Marinette to go confront Gabriel about it. Yes, she gleefully reminds Monsieur Mothballs that CPS exists and is only one phone call away. Then the show moves on as normal, with Lila happily staying out of everyone's business and just kinda figuring out how friendships are supposed to work.

Add a few flashbacks to her altered backstory, maybe some nice Trixx pov to sweeten the deal, and suddenly we're at the Sapotis episode! As I mentioned in Part 2, Lila doesn't like Chloe, so she and Marinette kinda put their differences aside for the sake of Adrien having more friends and keeping the Queen B in check. Still, Lila does not like Marinette at this point. She thinks that while having moments of brilliance, the bluenette is erratic, overly emotional and also kinda creepy with her stalking of Adrien. This isn't bashing, just Lila being a bit too blunt. Anyway, they aren't clawing each other's eyes out and that's what matters. Cue Alya inviting them both to sleepover, the Sapotis incident, and then the rest of Part 2 where Volpina (with her fake civilian name starting with "Cer-" as a nod to Cerise) joins the hero team. If you need a reminder, don't worry I'll rant about it again sometime soon. Lila comes and goes during Akuma fights, occasionally showing up to laugh at Chat Noir when he gets yeeted halfway across the cityscape, and usually just sniding at that day's Akuma. She needs to get it out of her system to be able to hold her tongue in school, so it's a good outlet!

But anyway, one day the Glaciator Incident happens, mostly like normal. Lila gets invited to go out with the rest of the group, and actually does her whole innocent act to basically force Marinette to show up...but Adrien doesn't. Lila is less than pleased with this decision, because if you remember she told Marinette off for memorizing Adrien's wiki page and kinda stalking him instead of...oh, talking to the guy! It annoys her a bit too much, so she endeavors to put an end to this crap by making it so Marinette has to interact with Adrien in the context of friendship, and hopefully figures out that stealing phones is Lila's thing, and no, she doesn't allow copycats! Evidently...Marinette ends up having the same interaction with Andre, causing him to be upset, but Lila steps in to save the day by exclaiming that his ice cream is awesome and she really wants to try! Akuma averted...or not, because once she thinks she's out of earshot, Lila mutters about how a grown adult shouldn't get so hung up on teenagers' love lives + a whole bunch of "doesn't he have anything better to do?" Again, not bashing anyone, just Lila being Lila. Cue Glaciator, canon edition!

Volpina does show up for the fight and distracts him while Ladybug and Chat have their little "faking feelings is wrong!" argument, but Lila quickly gets tired of their shit and urges Adrien to just get it over with! Then, she hides behind a chimney to keep watch and they defeat the villain. As Volpina makes her way back down, Ladybug and Chat have a little conversation where he asks her to at least let him talk to her, and then they leave Lila behind to have the rooftop scene with the rose. As Ladybug leaves, Volpina jumps over (yes, she obviously spied on them, she does this a lot) to talk with Chat Noir.

Now...Lila does not do feelings of any kind. Empathy isn't in her dictonary, even if she is slowly learning how to practice it despite that. And here...she actually does have one of those mature moments. Lila's been forced to grow up too quick after her grandma's death with only Trixx for company (see part 1 here for the backstory), so that sobered her up a bit. Half the reason she treats everyone like an idiot is because they're all incredibly immature in her eyes. Anyway, she sits on the railing and Chat exclaims he's not in the mood for jokes tonight. Alarm bells start ringing in Lila's head, because she actually really vibes with their team's other pun enthusiast. She wouldn't call him a friend, but who else can help her drive Ladybug insane if not for the mangy stay? So she decides to talk to him about it, and we get the following snippet! Bet you weren't expecting that!

[...]

Volpina raises her hands in a surrender, giving Chat a toothy grin that shows her fangs. Her tail swishes around the metal railing, but after his frown doesn't go away, she clears her throat and scoots over to him. "Listen...I really don't do feelings. And I'm going to regret this...but do you want to talk about it?" she asks, trying to smooth her voice into something soft instead of the usual teasing tone.

The blonde's surprise is only betrayed by the sudden twitch of his ears, and Lila lazily stretches her arm to at least keep up the pretense of not caring. Give the boy an out if he doesn't want to share, and hope it all works out. Instead, Chat levels her with a suspicious stare. "Why do you even care? Sure, you're on our side..." he makes a wild gesture with his arms, as if physically grasping for the right words.

Lila cuts him off by snapping her claws together, meeting his eyes. "Because if you and the watermelon don't get your shit together, that's more work for me. And I've already fought enough of his kids' cartoon rejects as it is." she tells him in a rare moment of honesty. Not that Volpina doesn't care, it's just that the list of people she's willing to fight over currently extends to maybe five or six, and begrudgingly at that.

Chat's face falls, as if he'd half expected it. For a moment he almost looks like he's going to try and scold her...but he only gives a deep sigh. "It's complicated. I don't expect you to understand." the blonde mutters, ears drooping like someone's doused him with ice-cold water.

"It's either me or your Kwami. Take your pick, I won't sit here all night." Volpina argues in a dismissive tone. When Chat looks away from her, Lila thinks she maybe should have picked her words more carefully. Resisting the urge to leave him be, Volpina reaches out to gently grasp his shoulder with her claws. She levels him a serious look, to say she means it. "Just...start talking, would you?" Lila prods him, and Chat's eyes glint with poorly-disguised surprise. What an idiot...it's not like she'd actually grown attached. That would just be ridiculous.

Nevertheless, he tells her everything. How he'd invited Ladybug on a date and carefully prepared everything in advance, even if she told him it was a maybe. Well, that was much more headway than he'd ever made, so Chat Noir still went on with trying to make the perfect spot. But...she hadn't shown up. Dissapointed, he'd headed over to Marinette, having seen the bluentte on her balcony. Lila carefully files away their prior friendship, as well as the fact that she might have judged the girl a bit too quickly. If one of Paris' heroes has taken such an interest to her...could there be a side to her beyond the exasparating annoyance she's been friends with for so long? Chat goes on to describe the impromtu date between them, and then the conversation with Ladybug that Volpina definately hadn't listened in on. Spying on her teammates during a momet of emotional vulnerability? Her? Never!

Still, a certain detail does stick out to her, but she politely waits until the blonde is done moping. "You...do know she told you there were other plans for tonight, right?" Volpina asks, leaning her face towards him to look into Chat Noir's eyes. Her catty green peers through a dissapointed emerald, and he gives a nod. "Okay...I can't believe I'm going to ask this, but you know that Ladybug wasn't obligated to show up just because you expected her to, right? Everyone is allowed to say no." Lila tells him, trying to keep her tone from turning to an accusation. She'd never gotten the impression that Chat believed himself entitled to the other girl's affections, but it didn't hurt to make sure.

Silence slowly envelops them as he mulls her words over, as if struggling to understand the concept. She straightens up, arching her back across the railing for a stretch as Chat falls deep in thought. "We...we can say no?" he asks dumbly, almost as if he hadn't heard her. Oh. Oh...shit. She knew that innocent gaze from a mile away, having spent so much time glued to Adrien's side. Lila's heart sings with pity, and she takes a deep breath.

"Yes, of course we can." Volpina insists, grabbing onto his shoulder for emphasis. She clicks her claws together, hopping off the railing and standing next to Chat Noir. "Listen to me. Other people's desires only matter if you decide they do. And it goes both ways. Ladybug wasn't obligated to show up today, and you aren't forced to go on patrol if you don't feel like it." Lila tells him seriously, looking the blonde in the eye.

Then, as abruptly as the advice came, she steps back and promptly twirls herself around, playfully hitting his arm with her tail. Chat doesn't say a word, and Volpina takes a cursory glance at the sky. "I gotta run. Try not to get caught out in the rain, would you?" she snips at him before climbing on the railing. Before he's even gathered his bearings, she's disappeared over the skyline, with only the familiar high-pitched titter grazing his ears. Chat Noir unhooks his baton, and quickly jumps away into the night.

[...]

And scene! I figured this specific conversation was important, because Lila's advice really resonates with Adrien here. Also, I'll take any excuse to have Volpina on screen, but it's mostly for the plot. I'm trying to prevent Ladynoir without any fights, so Lila has her work cut out for her if she wants to accidentally rizz up Marinette. Believe me, if you thought the Agrestes were oblivious, they've got nothing on the fox girl who subconsiously doesn't think there's anything about her to love. Never to a point of self-hate, Lila is fairly comfortable with who she is as a person, but just...hasn't ever recieved affection aside from her grandmother. Sure, she's dated a few boys before, but that was only because she was using them for one reason or the other, and the "relationships" lasted only barely a month each, being more uninteresting than the one before. So...you can guess why Lila has never considered it after coming to Paris.

Also, just to be perfectly clear, despite Volpina and Chat Noir having their moments together and even a psuedo-date later on, things are strictly platonic here. Lila doesn't like him that way, and Adrien sees her as the cool friend who's teaching him what freedom actually looks like. His eyes are squarely on Ladybug, and later on Kagami. And after that, Luka. But that's for way later in the timeline. Feel free to ask about it though, I'm happy to yap some more about this Au's Lukadrien! Anyway! Lila is very much gay for Marinette, and Volpina does end up as Ladybug's bi awakening...so there's that! Alright, back to the plot!

The next morning passes by quickly, and Lila decides to join the nightly patrol with Ladybug and Chat, which she almost never does aside from when Volpina is in a mood to jumpspace their brave leader. She does it constantly, and Ladybug can never manage to find her before Lila suddenly appears behind her to say hello. This time however, she decides to spy on them again as they have a conversation, and Chat apologizes to Ladybug, explaining that he got his hopes up and it wasn't her fault. She then says it's okay, they hug, happy ending! But that's not what Lila is here for at all! See, Chat's words about Marinette have been stuck in her head all day now. In fact, Lila even tried being nice to the bluenette at school today (severely weirding her out) just to see if there's a difference to how she acts with her actual friends.

The results were...inconclusive, so she's come up another brilliant plan! After making sure this whole feelings crap was done with, she would just...show up at Marinette's house. As Volpina. Without any prior warning. And then promptly proclaim their friendship! That seems like a great idea! With only the best of intentions! What could possibly go wrong? ...as it turns out, absolutely everything.

Unfortunately this post is getting a bit too long, so I'll save the snippet for next time. I am writing these on the spot you know, it ain't easy. Hopefully a good way to get rid of Writer's Block, but still a challenge. Anyway, I do hope you all enjoed today's rant! Wasn't as unhinged as when I talk about canon, but then again my Aus have a lot less to complain about and a lot more to enjoy! If any of you want to talk about Volpibug feel free to shoot me an ask, I'm more than happy to tell you everything you want to know!

Anyway, I'll see you all next time, but until then, Stay Miraculous everyone!

[vent-rat]

Presenting Katie Wolfe, a.k.a Copycat!

@homegrown-blorbo-garden

I suck at drawing without a base, so here's the references I used!

First one I genuinely have no clue. I drew it like 4 or 5 years ago in my high school-provided subscription of Photoshop so I do not have the files. I searched up something along the lines of "superhero pose drawing reference female" though.

2nd!

3rd!

4th I used HeroForge as a reference.

Now that the art showcase is complete, I shall tell her story! Well, part of it. You see Katie is part of an entire multiverse I created called FiveOh Comics. At my count right now, there's 285 characters in this universe (plus an rp Discord server which I can link to anyone interested in joining). There's a ton of storylines all over the universe, and Copycat in particular has an entire 100 episode-10 season show I'm writing about her that I want to get officially produced, but I don't have time to go through all of it today, so here's the essentials!

Katie Wolfe is an anomaly, born with superhuman powers that manifested at 10. She could copy any actions she saw other people take, so long as she physically had the capability to do so. She could also chameleon herself to look like other people, or change her own appearance. Worth mentioning also that she's bisexual and polyamorous.

She's the daughter of Timberwolf (a.k.a Theresa Wolfe), one of the most famous superheroes in the world and the leader of POW! (Protectors Of the World), the first superhero team ever. Theresa's also the smartest person in the world, and runs the company Wolfe Sciences, dedicated to creating products that advance humanity's capabilities. I'll talk about Theresa again in a later post when I've drawn a not-shitty picture of her in hero mode.

Trying to follow in her mother's footsteps, Katie helped found Alpha Sentinel, the most popular hero team in the world, since it had two former members of POW! leading it and never seemed to lose. In the fight that formed the team, Katie met a shapeshifter from a doomed civilization in the core of the Earth, who'd been jettisoned to the surface to save her. Confused and angry, she lashed out, until the soon-to-be team pacified her and they slunk off. Katie later tracked her down and brought them to her mother. After a while of acclimating to the surface and its society, she took a human form, naming herself Emily and choosing to stay with Katie and Theresa. Theresa officially adopted her, and she became Katie's sister.

After 3 successful years of Alpha Sentinel's career, tragedy struck. One member was trapped within his own mind, one was killed, a third was traumatized so bad she quarantined herself in her room for nearly a year, and a fourth was hospitalized, leaving only Katie and Stingray (aka Steven Raye, Theresa's best friend) still active heroes. Of course, though, Katie was not unaffected by this event, and she retreated into a shell for over a month, right up to the start of the Copycat series, the events of which I won't spoil.

Over the course of the show, however, she deals with her own emotional scars and brings together friends, even saving the old AS member who was trapped in his own mind, and created a new Alpha Sentinel, consisting of herself, Stingray, the previously mentioned member of AS, Riptide, Timberwolf, her sister Emily, calling herself Goop Girl, her best friend Cassie Wright, or Libra, and a wizard named Stardust.

Oh, also there's a strong chance she's a daughter of Athena. At the very least, she's been blessed, as Athena has allowed her to summon Aegis and Astrape.

I'll get to all of these characters in due time, of course, but for now, that's Katie's story! Here's some quotes from her for good measure.

Katie: I live in fear of John Cena brushing my mouth like Colgate.

Katie: Hey, y’know how some people get birds released at their weddings?

Emily: …yes?

Katie: I want Cassowaries released at my wedding.

Theresa: "Katie, if you ever utter the phrase 'copyright incringement' in my house again, I'm kicking you out."

Katie, dying: I’m sorry… you know I had to do it to ‘em…

Katie: You're not a copycat. Nothing has ever been done the way you do it before. Everything you do is special and unique to you.

[ilikekidsshows]

Hello! I have been reading a lot of your meta (a lot of meta in general) and I am not sure if you’ve seen the first episode of season 4 yet, but when you do/if you have, I am curious on your take of Ladybug’s answer to Truth about her favourite qualities of Chat Noir.

The short of it is that she said her favourite quality was his sense of humour, and in the immediate follow up in battle it’s treated as a good response that is uplifting for Chat Noir... but then my brain got to wondering how that answer fit into Chat Noir’s broader view of himself and their interactions after he’d have a chance to think about it. Because before this episode, he thought that ‘the girl he was in love with didn’t find him very funny’ (Puppeteer 2?) and Ladybug’s reactions to his banter/puns/jokes has trended (from what I have noted, but I might have missed some things) toward the negative- Back in Copycat she said he ‘annoys her to pieces’ and since then the term ‘annoying’ has been reinforced in different episodes (especially episode Rocketear in season 4?) as the default she finds his more over the top joking to be (alongside his timing being off). So, uh, I am really wondering - after the battle and leading into the following episodes where the ‘annoying’ trend is picked up again as more or less her reaction to his attempts at humiur/keeping her happy and more relaxed in battle, would it be possible that this positive ‘my favourite thing is his sense of humour’ could end up being seen as a negative on his end? Because from his potential point of view, if her favourite thing about him is something that she constantly says annoys her, then how much could she really like him to begin with? And if she doesn’t like him very much to begin with, how long until she figures out she doesn’t need to keep him around anymore because she has other partners who don’t annoy her to choose from? And then I find the answer more worrying than reinforcing of how much he might mean to her (though Guilt Trip helps with the reinforcing, I think the rest of the episodes trend more worrying).

Sense of humour/annoying statements from Season 4 Anon here - I just wanted to clarify that I don’t hold Ladybug/Marinette’s role or actions for this situation against her; she doesn’t have the full context to realise what she might be inadvertently implying (the Truth akuma would make her say it regardless of intent anyway) and I think she mostly says she finds him annoying as part of her own perceived role in bantering, or that’s how she means it most often even if there are times where she is under strain and says it as truth. I wasn’t trying to say her actions were wrong or anything; I just wanted to maybe see if there was another layer to the miscommunication that’s been building up this season. (there has been a lot of salt going around for the whole ‘two teenagers learning to communicate’ plotline and I just wanted to clarify that the previous ask wasn’t meant to be salt in any way!) I look forward to when you get caught up in Season 4 and I hope you enjoy the season when you get to it!

I haven't seen any season four episode yet, since I'm waiting to liveblog the season once all the episodes are out. However, I am aware of many current events since I don't insist on staying spoiler-free. Also, no worries, I didn't get the impression that the ask was salty, though I do know that the fandom has a hair-trigger reaction to anything criticising Marinette so I get why you’d like to clarify the point.

This actually relates to something else I've brought up before, although I can't remember where, if it was in a meta or during the liveblog. The idea this reminds me of is this: "The more Ladybug tells Cat Noir she values and appreciates him without showing it, the less Cat Noir will believe her words." Adrien has been experiencing a lot of stuff that breaks down his self-confidence in season three, and season four seems to be continuing the trend. This means that, even if they were a magically enforced "absolute truth", Ladybug's words of affirmation are not enough to combat his increasingly negative self-image.

As you said, Ladybug's outward reaction to Cat Noir's humor is often fond exasperation. She means to be receptive, she told him she likes his jokes and she even gave Alya explicit instructions to laugh at Cat Noir’s jokes, but anyone looking at her reactions from the outside is interpreting them differently, as genuine annoyance. We saw this interpretation in Nino's idea of the situation, even as he was biased against Cat Noir in the scene in 'Rocketear', and 'Puppeteer 2' confirmed it long ago that that's Adrien's view as well.

Adrien has very deeply-rooted reasons not to trust anything that’s told to him instead of proven. His entire family that’s been introduced so far is nothing but manipulative liars, so Adrien might very well believe that people are just fundamentally dishonest. No matter how much Adrien trusts Ladybug’s good intentions and moral integrity, that still won’t stop him from thinking: “The positive things she says are just her humoring me because she’s such a nice person,” or “She might like me a little but she’d obviously prefer anyone else over me.” This isn’t a matter of Adrien thinking negatively of Ladybug, on the contrary, it’s him thinking about her in such a positive way that he can include his worsening self-image into this impression. He doesn’t feel like he’s a good enough partner, and he thinks the only reason Ladybug doesn’t think so too is because she’s just that considerate.

And we are already seeing the negative results of Cat Noir thinking Ladybug doesn't enjoy his company much while his sense of humor is her favorite trait about him: his refusal to be anything but the Class Clown in front of her. In season two, we had episodes like 'Syren', 'Glaciator' and 'Frozer', where Cat Noir actually came out and told Ladybug that he was feeling hurt or isolated. Now, when those experiences are worsening, he's staying mum, because he's thinking Ladybug needs him to be the happy-go-lucky guy and that it's all he has to offer.

As such, yes, the 'Truth' line has added its own complications to the Ladynoir relationship, but everything going wrong in season 4 does not draw from there. 'Truth' is not another 'Reflekdoll' (aka, the episode we analysts think is responsible for basically anything going wrong in the Ladynoir relationship). A lot of the stuff going on with Cat Noir specifically has actually been building up throughout season 3 already, and season 4 is just exacerbating it.

Also, for irony’s sake, consider this theory: the reason why Marinette is now so conscious of Cat Noir trying to be funny and trying to respond to that is because Adrien’s words to her in ‘Puppeteer 2’ stuck with her. Basically, Adrien’s side made her realize that “being funny” is just how some people try to connect with people but, true to form, she goes and over-corrects by focusing on this trait too much with Cat Noir.

[kisilinramblings]

Lately, I've been seeing many post about Adrien never being called out for his mistake with Copycat, Glaciator and Frozer (and Syren, but I've seen your post about that already) as the episode reference of said thing. And my friend also said that Adrien act so entitled amd creepy in those episode. While I don't think his behaviour in those episodes is bad enough to warrant a call out, clearly people think otherwise. So may I ask your opinion about his behaviour in those episodes? Do you think his behaviour in there need to be called out? Thanks in advance!

I actually already have analyzed in length Chat Noir’s reactions and actions during Copycat. And for those who are curious about my Syren analysis, you can find it here  

I have an analysis on Frozer, but it dates when the episode was still fresh and my opinion have a bit evolved since then. 

Anyway, I���ll start with analyzing Glaciator, which is an example of Adrien’s optimism and wishful thinking turning against him, hurting him. I’ll follow up with my update on Frozer before giving you my conclusions.

In Glaciator, the episode begins with Chat Noir inviting Ladybug to spend some time together this evening. Their discussion ends with LB saying “We’ll see”, but CN presumed LB would make time and join him later, despite her having mentioned she already has plans with some friends for that very same evening. 

Later, we see Adrien being stood up by his father for dinner. Again. This also had the consequence of Adrien not being able to ask for permission to go see his friends. As usual. 

Adrien : What’s the point of keeping me here if he is never going to show up, Nathalie?

In French, that line translates as following : “What is the point of making me wait for him if he is never coming?”

And you can hear Adrien’s frustration in those words. In the end, Adrien ended up putting all his hopes into seeing Ladybug. Plagg warned him he was setting himself for disappointment..

Plagg : You’re in hurry to be stood up? Adrien : She didn’t say she wasn’t coming Plagg : But she didn’t say she was coming either.

So, here we have Adrien who feels alone and wants company. He longs for human warmth and interactions. His father is absent and neglecting him emotionally. He cannot see his friends because he never gets his father’s authorization. The only time he can go out freely is as Chat Noir. And here’s his motivations behind his invitation to Ladybug. 

Let’s remember Glaciator is an early S2 episode. During S1, Ladybug and Chat Noir are only seeing each other if Paris is in danger or they have official events and don’t stick around much after they have saved Paris or x events is over (usually, because one of them is about to detransform). Chat Noir wants to see her outside of their missions. Spend time with her.  Plus, he loves her. So, it is only natural he would like them to be more than colleagues.

And with his settings, we see Chat Noir didn’t mean it to be just a casual date. The roses, the candles. This occasion meant a lot to him. He wanted to reveal his feelings to her. And Marinette’s reaction upon discovering Chat Noir did prepare a little surprise just for Ladybug, indicates she didn’t know how serious Chat Noir’s feelings were. She previously thought his charming/flirty attitude with Ladybug was just him kidding around.

With Marinette, Chat Noir admits he was in the wrong. He knew LB couldn’t come but still hoped she would show up. But when he hears Marinette mentioning Ladybug might had a good reason for not coming, Chat Noir looks away from Marinette. Those words annoys him.

Chat Noir : “You’re only saying that to make me feel better”.

Doesn’t that sound similar to you? As Marinette tried to excuse Ladybug, it reminds him how Nathalie makes excuses for Gabriel’s absences. He is so used to this with his father, but he still hates it. His frustration is building up. There is this pernicious feeling growing that Ladybug shares similitudes with his father.

Chat Noir has been very sweet with Marinette. He asked her permission to stay with her on her balcony. He tries to cheer her up after discovering she too is heartbroken. He invites, but doesn’t force her to follow him up. He communicates his pain calmly with her. But that’s because she has nothing to do with all of this from his point of view. 

With Ladybug though, he cannot fully hide his anger and jealousy. He is hurt that Ladybug considered him less important than her friends. Just like his father favors his work over him. Worst, he thinks her “friends” were an excuse just like his father uses his work as an excuse to his absence. Thus why CN passive-agressively insinuates Ladybug has lied to him by quoting the word friends and rolling his eyes.

Is he rude? Yes. Is the association unjust? Absolutely! Ladybug didn’t lie. As viewers, we know both sides of the story, but not the characters. Chat Noir is presuming this is what has happened. 

However, just like Chat Noir doesn’t know about Ladybug’s life, LB doesn’t know CN’s background. What she does secretly know is he is currently heartbroken. And she herself knows what it is like to be heartbroken. She too said things earlier she regretted once she had calm down. Besides, they have no time to talk about it yet. Citizens are in danger, screaming as they run away from Glaciator who is approaching.

Yet, despite being heartbroken and distrustful, CN still works with Ladybug. Paris needs to be saved and he focus on that for a while. They discuss where the Akuma might be. He sticks together with LB. But when things cool down as they hide away from Glaciator to observe him, Chat Noir distances himself, closes himself. He holds himself together, silently in his corner. 

He is bottling things up. When LB points up Glaciator don’t attack couples, Chat Noir looks away and states the facts. The two of them aren’t a couple. Trying to act disinterested and distant. Avoiding LB’s eyes as much as possible. However, it is really Ladybug’s plan that ticks him off. 

CN : Pretend? LB : To be in love.  CN : Sorry, Ladybug. It’s uncool to play with people’s feelings.

And he charges in, attacking Glaciator solo. Distrusting Ladybug even more. LB then initiates the conversation as she protects him from Glaciator’s next attack, pinpointing the cause. CN cannot hide his feelings anymore there.

LB : You’re mad at me because I didn’t show up? CN : What do you think?! LB : I didn’t mean to hurt you...

I get why people are angry at Chat Noir there. Earlier, he told Marinette he knew there was a chance Ladybug wouldn’t come yet still hoped for her to show up anyway because he wanted it to happen. Even Plagg reminded him Ladybug didn’t promised she would be there. However, is it really entitlement to hope that just one person in your current life loves you enough to show up and be there for you? Yes, Adrien has friends and he would like to go out with them, but he can rarely see them on his own free will and it is often limited to see them at school. Being Chat Noir offers him freedom. And he wanted to spend this freedom with Ladybug. 

CN : And I also had a surprise to you too! LB : I really am sorry.

When CN sees LB’s apologies are sincere though he looks away. 

CN : No, I am the one who is sorry. Maybe another time?

It’s not her fault and Chat Noir acknowledges this. He is aware she had no way of knowing how much this invitation meant to him and how much he had hoped for her to show. Chat Noir was already hurt and frustrated because of his father being emotionally neglectful. Ladybug’s absence was just the last straw of this lonely evening. If anything, Chat Noir was in his right to be angry of being always stood up and feeling lonely, except his mistake was to let his frustration distrust the wrong person. And he realized he was mistaken. 

The fact CN doesn’t look at LB when he apologized, lowering his head, feels to me he does regret to have been mad at her. His “Maybe another time?” was the right thing to say. He invites her to retry later if she wants to AND doesn’t oblige her to give an answer right away. As a matter of fact, his attention immediately switch to Glaciator. 

Chat Noir opening up to LB’s pass-as-a-couple plan shows us he is trusting Ladybug again.

They work together and defeat the supervillain. Once that solved, we got a scene where LB sees CN’s surprise. She set the record straight. While she finds CN’s surprise setting beautiful and is happy to have come, she cannot reciprocate his feelings, but value him as a friend to whom she refused to lie to. 

And for Chat Noir, this is enough. He is not heartbroken his feelings aren’t reciprocate. In fact, he is at peace, content. LB is officially his friend and friendships mean the world to Adrien. 

Adrien : Perharps Ladybug will love me someday. I mean, like I love her. I have to believe. 

When CN gave the red rose to Ladybug, the rose was full, intact. It represented his feelings. In Frozer, when he gives her again a red rose at the beginning of the episode, said rose loses a petal, after Ladybug’s refusing it.  

Symbolizing how Chat Noir’s feelings are starting to wither, And with the barrier in the foreground of shot, blocking CN, it gives us the impression he cannot advance anymore as he is facing to a (semi)-wall. He is not progressing.

That is the context for the episode. That is what Adrien is experiencing during that episode. It isn’t the same thing as in Glaciator. It’s in continuity, but the two stories doesn’t tell the same story.

Glaciator talks about believing in love. The final scene of the episode explicitely gave that away (M:”Never say never”, A:“I think you have to believe”). Frozer, on the other hand, explores when you stall in your pursuit of love.

Yes, Frozer is frustrating. The story in it suffers from the episodic format. Because, things have constantly to be re-established for new viewers (and the development from each episode are subtile). 

Yes, the first scene reitirates Chat Noir loves Ladybug, but she doesn’t love him the same way. However, let’s keep in mind this is one short scene at the beginning that sets the context (and the actions) for the rest of the episode. Not to mention that at the end of the scene, we do get a new element : we see CN’s passionnate feelings for LB are fading away. Plus, in order to stall in love, you need to have made several attempts beforehand that all end up falling. 

My old analysis about the whole sequence against Frozer along with most of my interpretation still stand. Here’s however my updated opinion when I take into account the entire episode (beginning and ending included this time around) and also because we are a bit more than one season ahead in the story now.

Chat Noir caused their team to separate in the first place. Chat Noir didn’t have time to sort things out before seeing Ladybug again. Since it was the first time he was experiencing this situation, he didn’t know how to handle it and things were awkward for him. So instead of being his charming self, he is cold. Distant. They are not a couple, so they don’t have to do everything together. Ladybug leaves him alone after he leaves and this almost resulted with Ladybug being hurt by the supervillain because of this. But that’s the keyword : almost.  

Like I previously stated in my Frozer analysis, Chat Noir didn’t propose another plan for the sake of messing with Ladybug and oppose her. His plan was valid. They didn’t know who was the supervillain and needed to track them down. And the fact he follow the plan he had in mind meant he was doing his part. The problem was on the communicative plane. Because he didn’t know how to approach and talk to Ladybug because of their last time together. It’s only when he helped her that things naturally fall back in place and their team was synchronized again. Sometimes, actions speak louder than words. 

They can still work together even if his romantic feelings are one-sided and may never be reciprocated. It also means he can still be her friend and partner anyway. And he still cares about her anyway. And he still loves her anyway.

Kagami : You’re still keep doing what other people want you to do. Adrien : No, I just want him to be happy. And I’m not changing my target. Even if it means failing over and over again. Cause one day, I will succeed and hit.  Kagami : The day you realize you have the wrong target, I’ll be here.

That little exchange resumes all of that. Adrien -- Chat Noir -- doesn’t do things for people to love him back. He does things because he likes to help and wants them to be happy. And that transposes to his relation with Ladybug. He wants Ladybug to be happy AND he still loves her. He doesn’t have to push it. He’ll just be there for her. No matter what. And maybe that will be enough. 

And things have evolved since! At the beginning of the lastest episode, the New York special, Chat Noir gives Ladybug a yellow rose symbolizing friendship. He has come in terms with that for Ladybug. Yes, it took 2 seasons from the moment he had confessed his feelings and there were bumps in the way, mistakes made, but his character has finally reached that point in his itinary. And does he try to charm her in any way during that special? No. 

That’s why I am not agreeing much with calling fictionnal characters out. It brings discussions with other viewers -- and it is important to discuss things and reflect on how you have felt upon viewing an episode -- but in the fiction itself, it’s pointless because it defeats the purpose of it.

Characters are there to make mistakes and have conflicts. Be it with themselves, with other characters or with a system. Characters are making mistakes so both the character(s) and the audience can be entertained but also learn from it. That has always been like that. 

The characters will have conflict with one another, aspects will be explored through the characters involved and eventually, the conflict gets resolved by them. That is the nature of fiction. It is a constructed representation. Fictionnal stories are there to give their audiences feelings. Both good and bad. It is perfectly fine to be mad and frustrated with characters and their actions, but it’s also as valid for characters to not be perfect examples. Some characters learn quickly. Others learn slowly. And there are characters who refuse to learn.

NGL I too was mad at Chat Noir during Frozer when the episode came out, but I don’t stay mad forever at a character, especially when I see they have grown up and matured later on and are elsewhere. Makes me wonder if those who stay mad are just mad because the character learned and reached that destination without them being humiliated and severely punished and aren’t apologizing to even be alive because they were mistaken and didn’t handle a situation right on their very first try or because we expect them to already know better. 

Anyway, that is why I try as much as possible to put a scene or an episode in their context to better understand the point that is being made. Yes, Adrien too makes mistakes -- like all the other characters -- and look where he is now after 3 seasons and a Miraculous World episode. As Chat Noir, he is still always there for Ladybug and their bond is strong, to the point LB relies on him and he can now take over like he did as Snake Noir. Plus, in the New York special, Ladybug stated she cannot imagine being Ladybug without Chat Noir by her side. 

That is growth and it can be achieved though communication and empathy. And as Michael from The Good Place puts it: 

(Seriously, watch that show. It’s 4 seasons and you won’t regret it)

Yes, there are bad characters in ML with bad intentions, but Adrien, like Marinette, isn’t one of them. He is learning and is able to make up for his actions by bettering himself.