Episode 4 - Moonspell

When I was writing the first draft of Miraculous: Contingency I started struggling to come up with new Akumas. For a couple of episodes in Season 2 and 3 I used the name of a band or song that I liked and retroactively worked out an Akuma name and concept from that. Therefore, when I started assigning music, there was only one choice for this episode: Full Moon Madness by Moonspell, one of my favourite metal bands.

This episode is one of a couple where I actually had to pick two songs though. The other song is for the ending – Now I See by Lou & Sqvare from Miraculous: le film’s soundtrack. I mentally alter a couple of the lines, to make it fit the new story, for example “I am stronger when you’re both here with me”

Moonspell

So, in the original draft Moonspell was much more of a threat. I feel like I should apologise to one of my favourite bands for naming a really naff Akuma after them. The situation here is that the characterisation really took priority – when I realised that I was getting close to my self-imposed word-count target, I decided to lean into the idea that Moonspell wasn’t a very good Akuma. Papillon’s heart just wasn’t in it.

I’ve always hated that pervasive myth about ‘alpha wolves’, the scientist who came up with the theory recanted it afterwards and spent a long time trying to persuade the public that he was wrong. When I realised I had to make Moonspell a much less powerful Akuma, it presented me with the perfect opportunity to lampoon werewolf fiction which has the strict ‘alpha’ hierarchy by making all the other wolves behave like they’re with family with Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Adrien and His Father

I really don’t like the relationship Gabriel has with Adrien. Even when he was trying to be a good father figure in Season 5 of the show, it felt disingenuous. Despite claiming he was trying to be a good parent, he still policed Adrien’s friendships and relationships, resorting to supernatural control if he had to.

Given the fact that more time passes in the Contingency timeline, the gulf between the two characters has grown much larger. Since Félix gave Adrien his mother’s wedding ring, thereby reducing the amount of control Gabriel can exert over him, I decided to let Adrien feel his anger and frustration much more than he was able to on the show (at least prior to season 5).

Marinette, Kagami, and Adrien

I’ve been nervous about getting to this point, but this was something I’ve wanted to include in Miraculous: Contingency almost since the beginning. The idea was put in my head by the episode of the show where Marinette, Adrien, Kagami, and Luka are all skating together. When Marinette fell over and couldn’t decide which of the boys’ hands to accept, then Kagami swoops in to picks her up, there was definitely a blush on Marinette’s cheeks. Then there was the scene in Heart Hunter which I stole and repurposed in Farmer Fear last season.

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Marinette and Adrien have a lot of communication issues that mean their relationship would be difficult. I feel like Kagami’s level-headedness provides a calming element to Marinette’s obsession, while her bluntness counters Adrien’s passiveness. Both Marinette and Adrien provide support to Kagami in their affection and emotional support. The three of them work in my head much better than I can imagine any pairing. Add to that the fact that in Miraculous: Contingency Kagami knows their secrets and doesn’t have to worry about why they’re lying to her.

The relationship starting so quickly is unusual, but I took a bit of inspiration from The Princess Bride by getting the awkward stage of the romance sorted quickly, so we can start exploring how it changes things later on in the story. Marinette in the show, even in Season 5/6 wouldn’t be able to make this sort of call, but at this point of my story, she’s had lots of confidence boosting moments. The stronger confidence, plus the euphoria of having a beautiful date with Kagami (even if she didn’t realise that’s what she was doing) pushed her to be more assertive than usual. Also, in the show Marinette and Adrien were doing quite well at the end of Season 5, it’s only now Season 6 has begun that Marinette has reverted to being as awkward as she was in Season 1.

Marinette’s Parents

Tom and Xia Bing are amazing parents in the show, and I wanted that to be the case in Miraculous: Contingency as well. Apart from Tom’s occasional overbearing protectiveness, the two of them have basically no flaws. Therefore, it made perfect sense to me that they would be nothing but happy when they found out that their daughter is bi. The fact that they realised Marinette was taking Kagami on a date long before Marinette worked it out just amused me.

Timeline

Originally this episode happened much later in Season 2 than it appears now. It was one of the major reasons that I had to completely redo the timeline – because, unlike most episodes of Miraculous: Contingency this has a definite specific date: Bastille Day. I knew that New York/The Maelstrom took place in the Easter break, so Moonspell had to be soon after that.

Originally this episode was just before Miracon, so there was a scene in that episode with Marinette and Alya talking about the new status quo. It was badly written, because they were talking about it, rather than showing it as I did in the second draft of Chamela. Changing it here meant that I had to make a lot of changes around why they were keeping the truth from Gabriel for that long. It was simple in the end, just to lean into Gabriel and Adrien’s estrangement.