Gabriel Agreste - Blog Posts

this leads to Adrien thinking Nathalie is a somewhat retired ghost hunter

sleep well

hypothetically: if i was currently designing a mlb oc whos adriens cool older cousin on gabriels side thats into fashion in a funky weird girliepop way that pisses hawktwats boring cleancore ass off for shits and gigs, what would be a silly fun name for them??

theyre fem but in the genderfucked way and i need a name that matches her chaotic-weird-but-cool-genderqueer vibes

suggestions pls im an indecisive little bitch✨💕✨

Fanfic Idea Número 1: Revenge of the Adventure’s verse. The new Hawk Moth

gross old people

I miss these two…

You know what I can't stop thinking about?

How long did Hawkmoth intend on leaving his face in her palm? Like, she obviously pulled away first. GABE, HOW LONG WERE YOU PLANNING ON SOAKING IN THE LOVING WARMTH OF HER TOUCH !?

Sometimes I like to tell myself that he was surprised at how fast she pulled away.

When we look at it frame by frame:

You can clearly see that he

a) has his eyes closed the whole time. An indicator of being in the moment and sternly concentrating on it

b) even though Mayura is pulling away and forces him to loosen his hold on her, his head remains in the same position

(Don't get me started on how he continues to hold her even though she signalled that she could stand on her own. And her hand above his heart better be some serious foreshadowing)

Nathalie, darling, I love you. But do you even know what chance you might have missed there!? He MELTED into you! Unconsciously starved of physical attention and you pull away so soon 🙃

Great art! I love how dramatic and cartoony it is.

Listen, I know Mayura hasn’t been on screen in years, and that Nathalie deserves better than Gabriel, but I can’t deny how great of a villain duo they were! I don’t even ship Gabriel and Nathalie anymore, but Hawkmoth and Mayura will always hold a special place in my heart. Mayura was hands down my favourite character in the show, and I loved seeing her get to be evil alongside Hawkmoth. She was so cool! And way smarter than Gabriel - she got closer to winning in a few episodes than he ever did. Anyway, I have a soft spot for early miraculous, mainly because I grew up watching it. I could write an essay about how Hawkmoth was better - and more enjoyable - before he became melded with Gabriel (it’s so weird how the villains seem to act and speak differently once transformed - Nathalie is a lot more affectionate, for one)

Anyway, great art, love it. Keep it up!

That one Archie trend, but this is partners in crime

If Luka ends up being The Supreme, I'm gonna sue Thomas Astruc.

The new miraculous world episode has me hooked!

I might be completely wrong about this, but since the world's are complete parallels it only makes sense that the one who chose to be true to himself DESPITE knowing the true identities of ladybug and chat noir turns out to be the evil mastermind which means that the Supreme is none other than Luka.

I truly can't get over how well mlb portrays symbolism:

"Sometimes, destroying is the right path to build the new."

The way it starts with breaking when shadybug loses hope in her wish after seeing plagg and tikki's kwami forms explode. The way Shadybug truly sees what she has become when she sees a shattered mirror and how Marinette makes her realize that she could be different by seeing her reflection in a fixed one.

(The parallel between both bugs facing each other was beautiful)

The same way looking at Adrien, at his own (albeit, distorted) reflection, Claw noir also feels the same, like somehow both LadyNoir reflected what they truly wanted.

Throughout the episode, Hawkmoth continues to wear glasses and does not come face to face with Betterfly, showing that he does not wish to change even on the inside.

But either way, the best part of the episode was how when both Marinette and Adrien were talking to Shadybug and Claw noir, they were talking to their past selves as well... Marinette to herself who had been bullied relentlessly by Chloe and Adrien to himself before he started going to school and met all the people in his life.

The awakening movie was so impactful, but its strongest aspects were its subtleties.

The way it starts with Master Fu saying that together Ladybug and Chat Noir possess something stronger than death and in the end Gabriel says the only thing that is, is love.

How the movie uses symbolism to highlight Marinette's connection to Plagg and with extension Adrien AT EVERY STEP. From Alya calling her a catastrophe magnet to her hearing a cat before entering the alleyway where she first meets Tikki to EVEN REVEALING HER IDENTITY TO ADRIEN BY WEARING A BLACK MASK!

How Marinette uses a book with a black cat cover to hide herself from Adrien but at the same time reveals a glimpse of his future to him!

The one thing that truly broke my heart was when Chat asks Ladybug to "give it time to grow" as if he has always expected love to gradually arise and never to be loved instantly. Like he looked at his father, every day, hoping that if he keeps being dutyful, keeps listening and obeying, his father will grow to love him.

I just finished watching Pretension, and it was phenomenal. While the episode soothed many of my worries, it also left me with so many questions. Yet there were things that were undeniable.

There was only one thing that the episode outlined crystal clear... CHOICE or the lack of it.

Gabriel promises Tomoe that he will regain control of Adrien... which is why it hurts when Adrien is unable to stand by Marinette's side as it's the first time he realizes that something is wrong. It's not that he is scared of betraying his father... it's that his body won't listen to him.

The fact that Gabriel literally offered Marinette the equivalent of an 'envelope of cash in exchange for leaving my son'.

Felix's words about sentibeings really broke me...but they held power, they truly reflected the oppression faced by him, Kagami, and Adrien... if you brink life into the world, you owe them a certain responsibility.

What truly horrified me were the ironies of the whole thing...

The way Gabriel gives Tomoe the ability to grant herself the power of choice only to take the very same away from her daughter...The way both Tomoe and Gabriel were shown to have a choice while Kagami and Adrien and even Felix weren't... as if they were less than living beings.

And finally, the way Gabriel said that he dictates what people buy.

The one thing I LOVED was Marinette standing up to our local uncooked prawn (gabe)

My other mlb rants:

Passion l Emotion l Perfection l Illusion l Transmission pt1 l Transmission pt2 l Protection

Me, everytime I see Gabriel Agreste on screen:

Transmission left me in such a daze that I had to make a second post about it!

The fact that Adrien was okay with throwing his own pictures in the trash because he wanted to respect her wishes but couldn't tolerate Marinette saying bad things about her own self.

While I have nothing against either Alya or Zoe having the miraculous... wasn't the whole point of the Kwami of luck/destruction that their holders must complete one another??? HOW CAN THEY JUST BE GIVEN TO RANDOM PEOPLE?? (I can be super off mark with this)

I LOVED the parenting parallels throughout the episode

Natalie recognized Adrien's distress and acted as a MOM in her own right and even warned Gabriel to not use his son for once.

The scene when Tom and Sabine just slowly shut the trapdoor upon realizing that their daughter needs to have this moment.

And then we see Gabriel... who not just saw his son's sorrow as an opportunity twice but also manipulated him into wearing the Alliance ring (God, I hate his so freaking much)

(Look at his creepy smile. GET HIM AWAY FROM ADRIEN ASAP)

And finally, WHY DOES GABRIEL'S ALLIANCE LOOK LIKE EMILIE IN A WEDDING DRESS???? This man is SICK.

My other mlb rants:

Emotion l Illusion l Perfection l Protection l Elation l Passion l Transmission (Part 1) l

Sorry to the Miraculous hater that frequently checks my blog (I'm talking about you @/diezepam) but this is funny to me fsr

I'm just going to be uploading all my old stuff I did for MLB (and new stuff) that I forgot about on here

My friends and I rewatched miraculous ladybug and it brought back my love for reflekta♥️

Her redesign includes a more Lolita inspired outfit (cause let’s be real so would love that). Her akuma is still in the same place but her bracelet became the chain hanging off her camera. Instead of turning people into her clones, the camera can now snap a picture of someone and they will become faceless and as invisible as she once was.

I kept the eye motif but added flowers to them and included the vine pattern from her civilian sleeves.

If you enjoy pls like and comment

I do not appreciate this callout.

Why am I developing a crush on Good hawkmoth?????

What fucked up kind of daddy issues do i have?????????¿¿¿¿

Why am I developing a crush on Good hawkmoth?????

What fucked up kind of daddy issues do i have?????????¿¿¿¿

Here’s Serpent, from my Miraculous Serpent AU! Feel free to ask anything you’d like!

The Hawk Moth/Papillon Pop doesn't come with his kwami, so I fixed that.

Just found out that @bnbbletea is a Gabriel (Agreste) apologist💀

Marinette, Adrien, Gabriel, and the Miraculous (Miraculous: Zen Master Style)

Everyone else has tried their hand at rewriting the disappointment that is Miraculous Ladybug, each with their own ups and downs, so I’ve decided to throw my hat in the ring. I’m going to rewrite this series from the ground up, episode by episode, season by season, special by special.. I don’t really have the motivation to write a full fanfiction, so I’m going to do the next best thing and do this bullet-point style. But before I hop into that, I want to talk about one of the most important parts of any rewrite or reboot: the characters. 

Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Harmonia 

The first and most obvious change is that I’ve changed Marinette’s hero name. Ladybug, while very iconic, is in my opinion, a pretty basic and uninspired name. So, I’m changing it to Harmonia, based on the species of Ladybug with the exact same name. It still gives off peaceful and inspiring vibes whilst also being creative.

As for her personality, Marinette wouldn’t change that much in my rewrite. Except for, which is to be expected in every rewrite, her stalker-ish and obsessive tendencies.

Of course I’m keeping her massive crush on Adrien, but instead of having her stalk him, I’d just have her write down any information about him that naturally came across her path. Like, if she was scrolling on Instagram and she came across an interview where he said his favorite flavor is passionfruit, she’d just jot it down somewhere.

Also, she wouldn’t try to sabotage any other woman that shows even the slightest interest in Adrien. I’ve always felt that to be so cringe. Instead, I’d have her maybe show a twinge of jealousy and envy, but she pushes it down quickly.

She’d be shown being creative much more in my version, perhaps scenes of her designing in her room before an akuma attack or solving everyday problems with her resourcefulness. 

I’d also show her progressively becoming less clumsy and confident over the course of Season 1 and 2, really focusing on her first character arc.

Now, appearance. Marinette’s main outfit would be much more stylish in my version because, well, she’s an aspiring fashion designer and her canon outfit is unfathomably bland. I’d probably go with a pink shirt under denim overalls and jorts, along with some nice pink sneakers and black ankle socks.  

Her superhero outfit is getting a MASSIVE overhaul. Like her superhero name, it’s iconic but basic. I’d give it some more solid black accents, and I’d add some padded and armored bits, especially around the torso and the lower limbs, to make it look more like an actual beetle. And her hair would be tied up into space buns, like in her Multimouse outfit, along with a pair of thin bangs that would be structured to look like antennas. 

Finally, her backstory. I’m not changing much about her backstory, however, I am changing her past with Chloe.

See, Chloe and Marinette used to be best friends when they were, like, 10. Chloe was actually pretty chill back then, but something happened one day and Chloe just changed. She became a demanding and cruel bully. She tried to drag Marinette along for her schemes, but Marinette refused and Chloe disowned her. Marinette continued to try and talk Chloe out of her phase until Chloe pulled a prank on her so heinous that Marinette began believing that Chloe could never change. Chloe perceived Marinette’s refusal to help her bully people as a betrayal, so she replaced her with Sabrina and made it her mission to make Marinette’s life a living hell. She bullied Marinette for years, which shattered Marinette’s confidence. 

In this rewrite, she’s 15 instead of 14. I’ve always found it weird that she’s currently 14. Like, why would Fu even believe that a 14 year old is the right person to carry the burden of not only saving all of Paris, but being the Guardian of the Miraculous. And technically, she only turned 14 in Befana, so she was 13 when she got her Miraculous so she probably got all this responsibility dumped on her fresh out of puberty-oh my god, I’m getting off track.

And that’s it for Marinette, now, let’s move on to Adrien.

Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir

I considered changing Chat Noir’s name for the same reason I did Ladybug’s, it’s just Black Cat in French. But I decided that Chat Noir actually flows pretty well, in fact, too well to change. 

For his personality, I decided to make him more like he was in the movie, but with some of the PV mixed in. Sheltered, a loner, kind of cold, closed off his emotions to the rest of the world, doesn’t have a lot of real friends but is still really popular because of his status and profession. He’s nice enough, but he doesn’t allow himself to get close to anyone, or for anyone to get close to him. That is until he meets Harmonia and falls head over heels for her. 

He still takes a bunch of extracurriculars and has heaps of pressure put onto him. His father’s still cold, distant, and controlling, but as Chat Noir, he feels free, his shoulders are lighter than ever, nobody can control him. It’s a nice parallel between him and Harmonia, transforming adds pressure for her while it relieves pressure for him. 

Regarding his love for Harmonia, being raised by Gabriel “Chief of Child Neglect” Agreste, Adrien doesn’t really know the best way to express complex emotions like love, more specifically, romantic love. 

You know that scene from Glaciator 2 where Kagami reveals that she was getting her relationship advice from a manga? Yeah, Adrien’s gonna do that. With guidance from the manga, Chat Noir’s gonna flirt heavily with Harmonia. He’s gonna be unloading all the rizz he can muster onto Harmonia, but it’s so bad that Harmonia thinks it’s all one big joke since Chat’s always making puns and jokes. 

Now for his design, like Marinette’s, it’s basic as hell. And it’s even more illogical for him because Marinette’s just a normal girl with a normal life but Adrien’s dad is literally one of the world’s most famous fashion designers. Almost every Adrien redesign gives him a coat so I’m gonna do that too. I’d probably give him a maroon knee-length victorian coat with the shirt he wears in canon underneath, along with some black dress pants and jodhpur boots. 

Honestly, I don’t have any problems with his superhero outfit, but I’ll still be changing it quite a bit. I want to give it more of a wild look since, in this version at least, it’ll symbolize Adrien letting go of his expectations. I'll be adding some gray accents along the suit, as well as giving him an unzipped, waist-length jacket, with some gray accents of its own. I’m gonna add some sharp points at the end of his gloves. His hair will be significantly messier and spikier. He’s still gonna have his belt tail, in fact, I’m gonna give him another one. Well to be more specific, he’ll have two belts. They’ll overlap with each other to form a sort of wide x-shape at his waist with a green belt buckle that has his insignia on it. He’ll still only have one belt tail though. 

Like Marinette, he’ll be 15 in this one, but he’ll turn 16 in Bubbler (or the episode that’s replacing it).

And now, let’s move on to our main antagonist, Gabriel Agreste.

Gabriel Agreste | Atlas

Okay, so I changed Hawk Moth’s name too, but only because while I was searching up other types of butterflies for reasons I can’t tell you because spoilers, I came across one literally called Atlas and that sounds so much cooler than Hawk Moth. 

Personality-wise, I’m just gonna do what the movie did because the movie did Gabriel so much better than the series did.

Before the identity reveal in Season 2, I’m going to have some scenes with Atlas that make it clear that his goal isn’t World Domination, but to make sure that the viewers know that he’s doing this to bring someone back to life.

And his costume, just Callimara’s redesign of him. She did it better than I could even dream of doing it. Her version is simply peak.

His backstory is where things change a bunch.

So basically, he and Emilie met when they were around Adrien and Marinette’s age, only a year or two younger. Emelie fell first but Gabriel fell harder, and eventually, they started dating. Things were all nice and stuff for a few years until Paris was overtaken by crime, gang bosses and stuff. Gabriel and Emilie didn’t know what to do until they met an old man. Somehow, they proved to this old man that they were pure of heart, so the old man gave them two magic jewels, the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous, and trained them to become heroes. It only took them half a year to bring the crime rate down significantly. After crime was rarer than you getting some bitches, the old man let them keep the Miraculouses, even after they retired from the hero positions. However, unbeknownst to them, in their last scuffle, the Peacock Miraculous was hit head-on with some kind of magic bullet and was damaged. Emelie got increasingly sick as she continued to wear the Miraculous, unaware that it was the source of the sickness until it was too late. So, only seven years after their son, Adrien, was born, Emilie tragically passed. The effect this had on Gabriel was tremendous. He blamed the old man and the Miraculouses for Emilie’s death, so he renounced Nooroo. He was so grief-stricken that he slipped into a depressive state, inadvertently becoming neglectful and emotionally abusive towards Adrien. He felt like he lost his other half. It all came to a head after years, he couldn’t take it anymore. He needed Emelie back. Then, he remembered something the old man had told him all those years, that the power of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous when unified could warp reality and grant any wish. He knew the old man still had it, so he spent months trying to track him down to no avail. However, one night, he was struck with a genius idea. He came to the conclusion that the old man must’ve either given them to someone else or is planning to. So he decided that there was no better way to draw out superheroes than creating supervillains. He reclaimed the Butterfly Miraculous and started his crusade as Atlas.

I was so damn dramatic with that one lmao. 

Anyway, onto the Miraculous themself. 

The Miraculous

For the base concept of the Miraculouses, they’re pretty much the same. Mystical jewelry inhabited by deities that each embody a unique concept. What changes for the most part, is the power system linked to these Miraculous.

One of the bigger changes is that a Kwami can choose their holder. When someone becomes a Miraculous holder, it’s kind of like signing a contract. If the Kwami chooses you, you have a choice between accepting or denying them. The Kwami bonds with your soul and mind, making it so that taking someone’s Miraculous isn’t as easy as just taking off the jewel. If a holder doesn’t want the Miraculous anymore, they can renounce it, but it only works once. If you reclaim it after that, it’s bonded to you until death. However, the guardians do know a technique that can forcefully sever the bond between a Kwami and Holder.

Instead of one power, each Miraculous has a variety of powers. A wielder can unlock a new power by overcoming a treacherous mental burden or limit, strengthening the metaphorical bond (relationship) between them and their Kwami, or both. This power system does have its limit. There are two types of powers, Primary Power and Auxiliary Powers. The Primary Power is the main power of the Miraculous, for example, Lucky Charm, Cataclysm, Mirage, Shellter, etc. The Auxiliary Powers are smaller powers that aren’t as energy-consuming as the Primary Powers. 

When the user is young like Marinette and Adrien, you can think of their energy as an MP bar in an RPG. It’s full when they transform but very slowly goes down the longer they’re transformed. Auxiliary Powers chip off small percents off of the MP bar, and the Primary Power immediately brings it down to like, 20%.  

Most Primary Powers are toned down versions of the Kwami’s true power, as the Miraculouses were made to contain, sustain, and repress them so that a user can’t access the true power and wreak fucking havoc. 

There are two types of Auxiliary Powers a MIraculous can give you, Primal Powers, powers based on the animal the Kwami presents as, and Conceptual Powers, powers based on the concept the Kwami represents. Primal Powers are much easier to unlock than Conceptual Powers. 

Unification in this version merges the Primary Powers and Weapons of both Miraculouses being unified. However, because of the physical strain of having your soul and mind bonded to two other beings, Unification isn’t preferred and is pretty much banned for the good of anyone involved. But it is going to be in my version, but it’s going to be super rare. Maybe 1 or 2 every season.  

Weapons are the same in this version, except, like the suits, they can have slightly altered appearances based on who’s using the MIraculous. 

Quantum Masking is real in this version as well. It’s an invisible magical aura that coats the user and blocks any familiarity of the holder from the mind of any non-Miraculous holder. Basically, it allows them to know the holder when they’re transformed but keeps them from coming to the conclusion of “Ayo, is that Marinette!?”.

And that’s it for now. If you’re interested in hearing more of this hypothetical rewrite/reboot, stay tuned for Season 1 and pray that I don’t lose motivation in between this post and the next. I know I am. Alright, Zen Master, out.

These days I have enough thoughts and feelings about Adrien (and Gabriel Agreste and sentiadrien and everything) to write a dissertation, but art is easier

One of my favorite things to explore is the way Adrien has been affected by growing up in an arguably abusive household. Normally I think about behaviors he's learned as a defense mechanism (timidity, selflessness, submission, being endlessly good-natured), but this is a good example of learned behaviors that involve imitating something harmful, instead of reacting to something harmful.

So I was watching the English dub of Sentibubbler, and there was a scene that I remember made me feel uncomfortable when I saw it the first time:

I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.  Then, later in the episode:

And that punched me in the gut.  It scared me.

I don’t think I can write out a whole essay on this rn, but I needed to throw it into the void.  What I can say is that Chat Noir demolished something because he was angry.  I’m not saying that he was angry at Ladybug necessarily, but the situation didn’t go his way, he felt like he wasn’t being heard, and he hit something so hard that it shattered.  And I’m saying he learned that from somewhere.

So, uh, I wrote more stuff for the all left au by @sabertoothwalrus . . .

I think this AU has (sadly) died down a little, but I'm not done with it. I will never be done—

But for real, I'm planning two more stories in this universe, both of them multi-chapter. I'm referring to them in my head as "the recovery fic" and "the prosthetic fic" (in which Adrien will not actually get a prosthetic, yes it's weird, bear with me). The prosthetic fic will probably be written first, since I have more ideas for that one, but I still hope to write the recovery fic someday. I'm also considering an epilogue, and I'll probably throw in some one-shots if I'm so inspired.

When Adrien gets out from under Gabriel's thumb, I imagine he's going to wear a bunch of disgustingly unstylish clothes. I don't mean he'll start wearing styles that Gabriel objects to; I mean he'll start wearing styles that everyone objects to.

If you think this looks bad . . . thank you, that's the point

Honestly? Agreed. I'm trying to write a recovery sequel to the fic I wrote last night where Adrien actually loses his arm, and . . . I don't know, a prosthetic just doesn't seem right. I hesitate to call it a cop-out or anything, but losing an arm is not the kind of problem a character should "solve," it's the kind of problem a character should "overcome."

Actually, I went on a rant about this to my sister one time while we were discussing character arcs, so I think I can explain why a prsothetic is a bad idea narratively. It sort of is a cop-out, in terms of story. Adrien losing his arm presents a challenge he has to overcome as a character; through overcoming it, he will grow. But if his problem is solved quickly, it's easier for him to pretend he didn't lose his arm. No, obviously it's not like all the challenges are gone—I don't know anything about prosthetics, but I doubt they're perfect replacements for original limbs yet—but the issue has in part been "solved" before he could grow. In terms of character development and story, giving Adrien a prosthetic would be a bad move.

And it's also just bad disability representation, I think? I mean, I hesitate to discuss that aspect of it because I'm not disabled and I don't know anyone who's disabled. (So if I'm misrepresenting anything, please tell me.) But I think it's similar to trying to "fix" an autistic person by making them not autistic—it's toxic, damaging, unjustified, and helps no one.

waitwaitwait i just had an idea

what if plagg can give adrien some kind of substitute for his arm?? like one of those prosthetics but magical? and so to all the civilians, chat noir never lost an arm, because it's covered by the suit.

but if adrien just suddenly lost an arm, no explanation, what would he do?? marinette and gabriel probably know his identity, but what about everyone else?? further cause for identity shenanigans?

tbh!! Despite all of the other “blonde boys that fuck up their right arms and have dead moms and are child soldiers/heroes” having magical or high-tech robotic arms, I actually prefer that Adrien never gets one! I saw someone mention that Max could theoretically build him one, and other people have mentioned miraculous wiz biz, but I think it’s still interesting to have a disabled character whose disability isn’t solved fictitiously.

As for his identity, I imagine that whatever event involving Hawkmoth removing Adrien’s arm landed Gabriel Agreste in prison or death lol. So with no more supervillain to fight, it might not be as much of a concern if people figure out his identity.

fheskekkvrjkckec okay so the all left AU (courtesy of @sabertoothwalrus) would not leave me alone, so I wrote this fic.

I told myself that the first story I'd link to on here would be one I was confident in and proud of, but then this happened, and (as is becoming a trend in this AU) I had to get it out and share it.

It's so late where I live, I'm so tired, I have no idea how bad this is, but I wrote it and I'm sharing it and uh . . . yeah.

Edit: If you liked this, here's the "sequel"

I saw the all left AU by @sabertoothwalrus and I had to draw something for it.

It was frantic and rushed and desperate because I had to get it out, I used exactly two brushes and two colors and it looks terrible but I HAD TO GET IT OUT

Take my art and let me cry

The amazing @aerequets already did something like this, but I had more than half of this drawn when that went up, so I'll just . . . post this anyway. Go read hers, though, it's hilarious!

Finally watched Guiltrip, it was a very cute episode

My main takeaways from the episode were that my support network isn't nearly as good as I thought, and I should probably look into those headaches I get all the time

Adrien. Agreste.

So a year or two ago I saw this amazing post on tumblr about colour symbolism in Miraculous (I really wish I could source it here but I can’t find it anywhere I am literally kicking myself right now). Anyway, it is an incredible theory and once start seeing the connections you can’t stop. The basic idea is that the some of the colours that characters wear or are associated with symbolise their general motivations. The theory focuses specifically on the colours red, white and black. The meanings kind of evolved as more people reblogged but from what I remember the basic gist is this:

Red= duty / loyalty

White= control

Black= love

I think they actually said that black was romance, but that definition is just a little too limiting in my opinion and broadening in it out allows you to make more connections. I am also broadening out red as well to include loyalty for the same reasons (besides duty and loyalty are also pretty similar, so it’s not that much of a stretch).

Anyway, I bring this up because I saw the post at some point during season 4—definitely before the release of season 5 anyway, but looking back on the latest season just made me realise that oh my god they were so right. So, I’m just going to show you some of things I’ve noticed when it comes to this theory, especially surrounding season 5. (Buckle up guys, this is gonna be a long post).

But before I get into all that, I just want to mention that the placement of the clothing also informs the meaning behind the colour. This was also mentioned in the original post too I believe, but I can’t remember exactly how it worked so I’m just gonna put my own spin on it based on what I noticed.

So when I say the placement of the clothing I’m really just talking about whether the colour is the top or bottom layer of clothing—jacket vs. T-shirt, blazer vs. shirt etc.. The bottom layer is the character’s core motive, with the top layer being more secondary. A lot of the time the secondary motive informs the core one, so it kind of becomes the means with which they achieve their core motive. For example, a character wearing a red coat with a black T-shirt could be interpreted as loyalty or duty coming from a place a love—they do what they believe is right because of the people they love etc.

Ladybug / Marinette

Ok, time to put this theory into action, and what better place to start than the main character? Ladybug’s costume is pretty straightforward: red with black spots. The red obviously represents her duty as a hero, her main motive when in costume. and the spots could either represent her love for Paris or if you’re a Ladynoir shipper, her love for Chat Noir, it could really go either way.

Her civilian outfit is where it starts to get interesting though. Marinette wears a black blazer with a white top underneath. With the white as the core motive and the black as the secondary one, this indicates love from a place of control, and this is backed up by the events of show. Marinette clearly does love Adrien but she can also be very particular about how she approaches her love. She knows every detail about him, such as the schedule she has in “Copycat”, and feels the need to control every detail when she tries to confess to him, such as Operation: Secret Garden in “Gigantitan”. This controlling nature is only solidfied in the episode “Derision” after Kim pranks her on their date. “I should’ve had a plan […] I’ll never tell another boy that I love him before I know everything about him” (11:53-12:04).

Chat Noir / Adrien

Chat Noir is also pretty simple when it comes to colour symbolism in the show. His suit is all black, indicating that his main motive is love. In earlier seasons this most likely symbolised his love for Ladybug but now that he is with Marinette we can assume that it symbolises his generally loving attitude, whether it be towards his friends, family, maybe even Paris itself.

His civilian clothing also points to this same idea, with his T-shirt being black. Adrien also has a white over shirt, but rather than this representing some need for control, I’d argue this more so symbolises Gabriel’s control over him, which of course, does inform a lot of Adrien’s actions. Gabriel’s control pushes the black down another layer—it suppresses it. Instead showing off his colours proudly like he does as Chat Noir he has to leave them cloaked under a white surface, trying to navigate his core motive of love while being unable to fully shake off the white. Think of the many times when Gabriel has kept him away from his friends, like in the episode “Bubbler” where he wasn’t allowed to have a birthday party, or in “Revolution” when Gabriel ships him off to London for the next school year.

Interestingly, this isn’t the only instance where a white top layer indicates control thrusted onto the character wearing the colour. Kagami also follows a similar pattern sporting a white blazer and a controlling mother. She also has both red and black in the bottom layers so make of that what you will.

Another thing to note is that many of Adrien’s modelling outfits are fully white, such as the one in the fragrance ad or the angel outfit in “Simpleman”, representing the complete control Gabriel has over him when he is modelling. Correct me if I’m wrong here, but the only modelling outfit that is not white (apart from the stock photos like the ones in the mansion perhaps) is the one that he wears in “Queen Wasp”. Instead of fully white this suit is fully black, and it is topped off with a black pigeon hat, a hat that Marinette, who is in love with Adrien, made. Additionally, this is the episode where Gabriel almost gives up being Hawkmoth because of how Adrien was attacked by Style Queen in the previous episode. He is less controlling of Adrien and more loving in this episode, even go so far as to hug him in his first public appearance since Emilie’s death, and the black suit reflects that.

However, the idea that Adrien’s all-white clothes represent Gabriel’s control isn’t even just limited to modelling. When Chat Noir is akumatised in “Chat Blanc” his suit also becomes fully white.

In season 5, the Alliance rings are also closely linked to the colour white. The Adrien and Kagami avatars wear all white, indicating the controlling nature of the alliance and the fact that The two of them have no control over how their image is used. Even the virtual space that the avatars exist in is an empty white void, reminiscent of the padded rooms the two are placed in during the season 5 finale, rooms which are used to confine and control the two.

The only time when the Alliance interface is not white is when it changes to red. There’s two times this has happened as far as I’m aware: in “Revelation” when Hoaxer enters the Alliance rings and feeds the people fake news, and in “Confirmation” when Gabriel creates fake footage of Ladybug and Chat Noir kidnapping Adrien and Kagami’s avatars. In both of these scenarios, someone is preying on the public’s loyalty to the alliance rings and their sense of duty to get them to do their bidding.

And look, I know I’ve been straying away a from Adrien a bit, but I also just want to mention that the colour white is often associated with the rich and powerful of Paris in general. This is most clearly seen in “Emotion”, where the VIP party’s dress code is literally all white, reflecting how all the people in that room control Paris.

Gabriel

Speaking of rich and powerful, Gabriel also draws from the colour triad. He does have a few layers that aren’t one of these three colours but his very bottom layer is a white shirt, which isn’t a surprise really, we just went over how he is controlling with both Adrien and the alliance rings. He also has a striped red tie symbolising either his loyalty towards Emilie or the fact that he believes it is his duty to bring her back to life. The white stripes also indicate control, probably to reflect the way that he will do anything in his power to bring Emilie back, like using the miraculous wish, because he is incapable of accepting that sometimes things happen beyond your control and all you can do is move on.

In season 5 he wears all white as his obsession with the wish—his means of complete control, takes over. It could also represent how he’s become even more controlling of Adrien despite pretending to be more loving, (because again, he literally ships his own son off to a different country). Interestingly, in the episode “Destruction” he is inflicted with a cataclysm, a black cataclysm, which could be a visual metaphor for his love for Emilie literally destroying him, which is a really cool in my opinion.

Lila Rossi

Lila is definitely the most interesting character to analyse under this theory, because not only do her clothes draw from the colour triad but even her name does. According to nameberry.com, Lila means night (ie black) and Rossi means red in Italian. She also wears a red cardigan with black underneath—duty or loyalty from a place of love. If we take Lila claims at face value then this makes sense, like in the episode “Chameleon”, when she catches a napkin with her sprained wrist to protect Max, all the while saying things like “I didn’t have a choice” (i.e duty) and “Why wouldn’t I Max […] you’re my friend” (i.e love) (5:40-42 and 5:47-50). But of course, Lila is a liar which means that everything from her name to even the clothes she wears is a carefully constructed illusion.

In the episode “Confrontation” it is revealed that Lila has actually been juggling two fake identities: Lila Rossi and Cerise Bianca. Now this is where it gets really interesting because Lila’s second identity also draws from the colour triad too. Cerise is a shade of red similar to that of cherries or rubies and guess what Bianca means in Italian? That’s right—white.

This can mean a few different things. Perhaps her Cerise persona is more noticeably controlling. Lila’s name directly reflected her clothing, with her first name indicating the the bottom layer (the core motive) and her second name the top layer (the means) so if we apply the same logic to Cerise then maybe her name indicates that this persona’s motives are control from a place a duty, in other words being bossy and controlling because she feels like it’s her job to lead and help everyone.

Another interpretation could be that these are Lila’s true motivations, especially with her being named after the colour white, and if you really want to stretch it, then you could also argue that the red indicates loyalty to herself; she controls everyone because it exclusively benefits her.

it could also be interpreted as somewhere in between. Instead of it being solely Cerise’s fake motivations or Lila’s true motivations it is rather a step closer to the truth. The loyalty to herself theory is, like I said, a stretch. If anything, her true motivation is probably just control for control’s sake, and in this Cerise persona her true colours are shining through a little.

I couldn’t really find a natural place to put this but I also just want to point out here that when she was akumatised into Hoaxer she still had the red and black colour scheme that she does as Lila because she’s still using the same tactics that she does as a civilian, pretending that all she does is out of love and duty. She does also however have splashes of white on her belt, tail and ends of her hair, so maybe that also symbolises her true colours showing through too.

I’m honestly curious to see if Cerise’s clothes will change in season 6 to reflect her name, especially with a lot of the other characters getting new outfits too. Either way I think it’s really interesting how both her fake identities are based off of these three colours.

The great thing about this theory is that it’s not just confined to these four characters. Plenty of more characters also wear these colours, such as Kagami, who I briefly touched on, Emilie (and Amelie by extension), Tomoe Tsurugi, even Nathalie. The only reason why I didn’t delve into these characters is because this post is getting pretty long and I think I’ve made my point, but really, I’ve barely scratched the surface here. There is so much significance with these three colours, they are literally everywhere.

Why are people overcomplicating how Ladybug should've said Gabriel was Monarch to Adrien, like it's JUST. FOUR. WORDS: "Your Father was Monarch," then she should've answered any questions Adrien has truthfully.

She doesn't need to remind him about everything Monarch did, because Adrien doesn't have fucking Amnesia. And she doesn't need to info-dump on him, either.