#Sublimation

[hamsternamedmarinette]

............is she REALLY the best version of herself right now.........???

[thekakoro]

Thoughts on Sublimation - New Rules?

So the end of the episode shows Marinette realizing as Ladybug that SHE was the real "villain" this time and returned to the racetrack to fix things.

And somehow she... fixed Sublime's prosthetics? Even though all previous "rules" for the ladybugs were that they could only fix AKUMATIZED villain's damage (EDIT: rather, damage done DURING the akumatization, and her prosthetics were damaged BEFORE). This was always a really big point and was emphasized at various parts.

So is this just a weird plot point they decided to throw out to make things work out better, or is this a growth in Marinette's powers? Thoughts?

[feelslikesugarinme777]

it does work!

[aalissy]

They’re gonna be besties I can just tell! I love themmmm

[fandomofone]

I've been thinking about Adrien and running.

There have been plenty of posts theorizing and breaking this down, so I'm sure I'm not covering any new ground here, but I have a couple of points to make that I specifically have not seen come across my dash that I wanted to mention. Put it under a cut because this got long. (whoops)

We first see Adrien running with Sublime in Sublimation and it seems like just an activity he's taken up, a new hobby. We get a deeper look at how he gets into this hobby at the end of Climatiqueen- where we see him walk past his house and pick up the pace, falling into a run and eventually bumping into Sublime, where voilá, a new friendship is born.

A lot of people have theorized that Adrien breaking into a run once he reaches the gates of his home symbolizes him running away from the oppression of the house that he shared with his father, symbolizes him running away from his life. Sublime even straight up asks him if he's running away. And I do believe that is true, in part. Just look at the angle that has been chosen to display the house as it comes into view- the house literally looks like Gabriel Agreste looking disapprovingly down the length of his nose at his son. It's looming over him ominously, a huge, imposing structure that suffocates the frame, taking up the majority of the space and making him seem small. This seems to perfectly encapsulate how Adrien is feeling about himself at this time in his life. Added to that he's probably got conflicting feelings and guilt over his father being gone. I wouldn't want to go home either.

But I think there's more to it than that.

Why Adrien starts running.

Adrien has just come from a very stressful and depressing day where, through no fault of his own or anyone else's, he's been made to feel marginalized and useless in contrast to all of his friends who seem to have something driving them, especially his extremely passionate, enthusiastic girlfriend. Despite her attempts to be helpful, all that's been demonstrated to him throughout the course of the day is that the only passion he has in his life- being a superhero, being Chat Noir- is something he can never do as Adrien Agreste, and it's something he can never share with anyone. This is a personal failure for him- he's letting Marinette down. Bad boyfriend move #1. Despite all her hard work and encouragement, he cannot settle on a passion that he can have as Adrien. He's made her inadvertently feel bad for having so many, so easily, and he can't even partake in the passion that he does have full time. His identity is literally and metaphorically fractured. Following all of that, having to return home to a house that no longer feels familiar or safe to him (for a variety of reasons) triggers a panic attack.

Physical exertion, specifically running, is a very common way to handle a panic attack. It is literally the flight response in 'fight or flight' manifesting during a period of high levels of stress- the feeling that you can't sit still, need to move, everything is building and you need an outlet to burn off that excess energy, until the adrenaline in your body normalizes.

Why Adrien keeps running.

Routine gives him something to focus on. Joining Sublime during her regimented training routine provides structure, the very thing that his entire life has consisted of and revolved around for 14 years, and has now been completely removed from his life, in a well-meaning attempt by the people who love him to encourage him to do what he wants to do for once.

This is terrifying.

The literal one-step-after-another aspect that running provides gives him a predetermined course to focus on. It's an automatic response; his body already knows what to do and there is no decision for him to make. It's something that he doesn't have to think about, something that's within his control. Additionally, the physical exercise itself provides endorphins, something he's sorely missing at this point in his life.

Ugh, Adrien. It's going to be a long, hard road for you, I'm afraid. 🥺💔

[deimalor]

Sublimeeeeeeee

I really enjoyed drawing her princess hair hehe

[youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal]

Adrien and Marinette were so neurodivergent in Sublimation.

“Marinette doesn’t trust him” “Adrien kept things from Marinette” WRONG. Adrien just took her question way too literally. Adrien knows that Marinette can’t make friends the normal way and appreciates her weird little quirks and translates what they mean in Marinette for Sublime.

[lostuntothisworld]

This is the same outfit. Perhaps its a uniform?

[cookiemon96]

Counterpoint, why does the school have animals like sheep and roosters? The koi fish I get but the others? No idea.

[boguspearl]

So when they first introduced sublime I the latest episode my first thought was that we were getting a character similar to kagami when she started out

A character who was pressured to uphold the standard of perfection or in this case the ruse of being sublime at all times

This theory was made more evident by her mother being a bit overbearing

However in the end we see that, that is just sublimes character, she does all the things she does because she's a genuinely kind and act person and it's clear that running is her passion

So it would seem we got a pretty incredible new character, and im really excited to see where this all goes

[hamsternamedmarinette]

"Marinette cringily transforms into Ladybug because she's jealous of a girl Adrien is sort of friends with only to end up accidentally breaking said girl's prosthetic legs" is a level of damage to my psyche that I didn't think even this show could ever achieve

[piromina]

SUBLIMATION SPOILERS BUT I LOOOOOVE THE WAY LADYBUG GETS TO LIKE. CONTACT CHAT NOIR

it REALLY reminds me of the alliance rings. maybe Lila will get her hands on the system and use it as a lure because well. nothing ever goes right for ladybug

[aalissy]

They’re soooo… girlfriends 🥰

[thekakoro]

Thoughts on Sublimation - Sublime

Okay, first of all, girl needs a real ass name not just "Sublime" please tell me that's a nickname.

But also omg so pretty with her hair like this okay.

But real thoughts now. I don't like how Mary Sue she is. Don't get me wrong, I do really like her so far, but she's just... TOO likeable. She has no character flaws. To me, it's coming off like the writers thought "disabled" and "traumatized" counted as character flaws which is frankly insulting.

I'm hoping I'm wrong here and they're gonna reveal more about her that will add some more interest and flaws, but, seriously, her being disabled is NOT a flaw, and there's no need to make her perfect to "make up" for her disability. It gives me disability inspiration obsession vibes, which is icky. Disabled people do NOT have to "overcome" their disability and be AMAZING people just to be worth your attention.

Again, I hope I'm wrong, the show has dealt with disability better before, but I truly just hope they add some spice beyond *trauma*, which is also not a character flaw.

I AM excited to see what they do with her!

[thoughtfulchaos773]

Carmy is a grumpy dom with repressed energy all of season 3 compilation.