As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Moments of Fridge Brilliance and similiar sentiments for the Dad Villain AU.
Fridge Horror
- In the original timeline, Emelie learned that misusing the broken Peacock Pin had a cost she couldn't ignore, as it was draining her own health. Thanks to Gabriel's Wish redirecting that backlash towards the former Ladybug and her loved ones, however, Emelie didn't suffer from the same effect... and consequently wound up using its powers much more. Particularly to fiddle with Adrien and correct any perceived "imperfections" in her "ideal son", such as preventing him from coughing when he fell ill or handling any dental work or other medical issues that arose.
- This also reinforced Emelie's Lack of Empathy for others in multiple ways. Whenever Adrien got sick or otherwise needed aid, she treated it as a flaw that needed to be fixed, without sympathizing with his pain. It became nothing more than maintenance in her eyes. And since she never had to empathize with her own child's suffering, as it could easily be "corrected" by the Peacock Pin, she doesn't even bat a lash upon finally learning that others have been paying the price for her misuse of magic. Why would she, when she doesn't even care about her precious Adrien when he's in pain? The only pain she cares about is her own, which she's unaccustomed to dealing with.
- This also implies that every attack Sabine had might have coincided with every time Emelie transformed to "fix" Adrien. Emelie indirectly killed Sabine because she was too stubborn to take her son to an actual doctor or treat him like a human being.
- Gabriel's Wish specified that the backlash from Emelie using the Peacock Pin would be redirected onto Marinette/the former Ladybug's loved ones first and foremost, because he wanted her to be Forced to Watch them slowly succumb to the effects before she suffered the same fate. Tom has been protected from suffering the backlash ever since Nooroo arrived at the bakery with the Butterfly Brooch, but he wasn't the only family Marinette had left. What about her aunt Gina or uncle Cheng? Are they far enough away to avoid being caught in the crossfire?
- Unless they have already died by the time the story begins (and nothing indicates so), they should be safe, as the curse hit Marinette, which would have only happened if there were no other viable targets.
- Along these same lines: does Rolland still qualify as somebody she loves or not? Did his callousness and attempt to exploit Sabine's hospitalization burn that bridge thoroughly enough to protect him from being a potential target for the backlash effect, meaning he "only" had to suffer from destroying any relationship he might have had with his granddaughter? Or did he suffer the Laser-Guided Karma of falling mysteriously ill himself, without anyone around to care for him in his time of need?
- The Flashback highlighting how Emelie used the Peacock Pin to force the sickly Adrien to stop coughing also reveals that the Gabriel Agreste native to this universe tried to reason with her by pointing out that his sickness showed Adrien was more than a mere sentimonster. Another flashback shows that Nooroo escaped when Gabriel gained his memories of the original timeline and... "celebrated" with Emelie. This has several troubling implications:
- Nooroo's escape happened after Sabine died, showing that while the alternate Gabriel might have had more morals than his counterpart, he ultimately failed at reigning Emelie in. How might he have reacted to the revelation that her abusing the Peacock's powers had claimed the life of an innocent woman? Would he have cared at all, or proven that he and his alternate were cut from the same cloth?
- Gabriel's memories overwriting those of the native Gabriel means that Adrien effectively lost the closest thing he had to a parent who actually cared about him as a person... even though his remarks could be interpreted as Gabriel taking pleasure and pride in the notion that Adrien was an "exceptionally high-quality work" and superior to other senticreatures.
- Assuming Gabriel managed to get away with what he did... what would he do? Because, the moment Marinette died, then there would be no way for him to prevent Emelie from suffering because of the curse - only this time he has no way to find the Ladybug and Black Cat, and without the Butterfly he would be unable to bring them out. So, he'd be back at square one, only after murdering a teenage girl and her entire family out of sheer pettiness.
- Adding to this, Gabriel would probably be so hellbent on making Ladybug suffer he'd outright refuse to fix the Peacock Pin even Knowing his son is being hit with the backlash because of Marinette's love for him. In fact he'd probably consider it karma for "betraying" him and Emelie if he discovers Adrien was Chat Noir.
