#adrien's so excited to show her everything

[fizzytoo]

[ilikekidsshows]

The Totally Spies-ification of Adrien

Okay, it's been long enough that I can actually discuss how Adrien's slavery is depicted in the show without anger-fueled exaggerations and hyperbole. I want to discuss how Miraculous treats Adrien's slavery very flippantly and how it is, like everything in this show post-retool, all about Marinette. The show has a lot of stuff that hints that the writers intend for Adrien to be viewed a very certain way. I believe the writers made Adrien a slave for Marinette’s benefit and I will explain how I came to this conclusion.

I’ve joked before about how Astruc has worked on Totally Spies, “one of the kinkiest cartoons ever made”. I’d like to tackle this idea and how it relates to Miraculous more seriously. I’d like to tackle the topic of titillation and how it relates to how this show approaches slavery with such flippancy. My claim is that Adrien being a slave is not meant to be horrifying, which is why the story doesn't treat it as such; it's meant to be titillating.

I usually don't use Read Mores, since they can lead to broken links later, but this is really long. Strap in, folks.

Titillation for the context of this analysis means “content with the intention to excite romantically or sexually”, basically it’s about “kinky” stuff. The purpose of talking about sexuality in relation to Miraculous is not to paint the writers as some kind of fiends, but to present the fact that many teenagers are curious about romance and sex and will think about sex unprompted. This means titillating content in cartoons doesn’t even need to be related to sex to be titillating. And Astruc has a history of putting titillating stuff in his work, with Totally Spies being a very notable example of how you can include non-sexual titillating content in a kids’ show.

It all comes down to expected audience reactions. Adrien is meant to be sexy. I don’t mean that in a “the writers think this is sexy” way, but a “the writers think the projected audience of straight teenage girls will think this is sexy” way. He gets put into bondage three times in ‘Copycat’, ‘Anti-Bug’ and ‘Reverser’ and all three times the camera seems to like to show him off. He is meant to be an object of attraction for the audience. The people criticizing this show have been pointing out how Ladybug's costume accentuates her butt for years, but this is not something that occurs with just Ladybug. When he isn't posing for the viewers, Cat Noir gets whacked around by Akuma’s a lot, but a lot of the time it ends with him in a prone position that is also titillating, in ‘Pixelator’ it goes as far as having his butt jut out. However, the idea that Cat Noir is the one who gets hit when an Akuma needs to show off how dangerous they are is also part of the power dynamic where Marinette or Ladybug gets to show off, so it’s not purely for titillation, which is why other examples, like ‘Stormy Weather’ are more comedic.

It’s likely that Adrien-as-Adrien doesn’t get to participate in the show’s slapstick much, since that aspect of the character is presented as the perfect beauty, a role usually reserved for female characters who only ever get a little bit flustered or banged up to make sure they keep looking attractive. Marinette screams "waack" and runs face first into a wall in the same episode where the silliest thing Adrien gets to do is sneeze (Mr Pigeon). Adrien is meant to be attractive, sexy, titillating, in different ways in his different forms. As Cat Noir he is more active and more sexy, as Adrien he’s more passive and pretty, much like how female love interests can fall into these categories. It’s the Betty and Veronica dichotomy; in the Archie franchise Betty and Veronica are shown as the wholesome and sexy romance options and the reason the writers go out of their way not to resolve the love triangle is to keep the appeal of these both options going. People’s tastes differ, so it would alienate some audiences to pick one over the other. With Miraculous they solved the problem by having the two romance options be the different identities of a single character.

Frankly, as of the season five finale, Adrien is approaching “sexy lamp” levels of replicating sexist ways of writing a female character but just changing the gender. What else do you call him lying on the floor in despair while his love interest gets his superpowers and uses them to beat up his abusive father, while somehow being perfectly fine and happily kissing Marinette later after said father is dead and gone? Adrien’s trauma is debilitating when it serves the writers’ purposes, but stops being a problem as soon as they need him to smile and look pretty. The main reason Adrien’s trauma is so inconsistent is so that he can act as Marinette’s trophy so that Marinette has somebody to kiss in the final shot. If Adrien was despairing about not being good enough for her, or grossly crying about being an orphan, Marinette wouldn’t have a fun time kissing him. And if Marinette isn’t having fun, the members of the audience projecting onto her aren’t having fun either.

Speaking of how Adrien’s depiction relates to Marinette, here comes the controversial part of this post: while Marinette is not depicted as a literal slave owner in-story, narratively, she is very much treated as Adrien's owner from a meta perspective. We, the viewers, are meant to see Adrien as Marinette's property, and the twist of Adrien being a part of a slave race in a dynamic where Marinette holds all the cards is meant to be a good thing. We have been primed to view everything about Adrien to actually be about Marinette, because Marinette is the center of the universe of Miraculous and Adrien belongs to her because he’s the main character’s love interest. Adrien being revealed to be a slave that Marinette could control but then chooses to “merely” manipulate is meant to be glorifying to Marinette and titillating to the viewer. I will elaborate.

Marinette has been incredibly possessive of Adrien since day one and she is only occasionally depicted as being in the wrong about this, when she goes too far by the show’s standards. She stalks Lila and Adrien whenever she sees them hanging out together and she’s unreasonably jealous of Kagami. The only time she is depicted as being in the wrong is not when she's sniffing Adrien's pillow after breaking into his room, but when she actually bullies Kagami out of jealousy, and even that is depicted as more of an unfortunate misunderstanding than Marinette actively doing something wrong. Marinette is more sympathetic towards Kagami when she finds out she and Adrien aren't as close as she thought, that Kagami’s pursuit of Adrien is more hopeless than hers. Basically, Marinette is only in the wrong because Kagami isn't a threat, not because she was doing anything wrong by bullying her to defend her “territory”.

This gets flipped near the end of the season, though. When Adrien and Kagami do start dating, it's depicted as this big tragedy even more so than Master Fu losing his memories. Master Fu going missing is an afterthought, while Adrien choosing someone else over Marinette is the big “darkest hour” moment of the season three mid-finale, the cliffhanger moment of her crying in Luka’s arms while all hope is lost. Marinette isn’t directly crying about this, she is crying from “all the pressure”, but Marinette breaking down happens immediately after a scene of Kagami leaning in to kiss Adrien that has a somber dirge playing in the background. The first part of the finale has everything going wrong at the end; Master Fu is missing, Chloé gets willingly Akumatized, Marinette breaks down, and Kagami leans in to kiss Adrien. These scenes being put closely together is telling us that these are all bad things to happen.

Adrien ending up with Marinette is a given, but it's also taken for granted. Every girl with an interest in Adrien is depicted as an antagonist, while Marinette can do whatever she wants in pursuit of Adrien and will still be morally correct. Chloé and Lila, even Kagami to a degree, are villainized for their attraction to Adrien in a way Nathaniel, Luka or Zoé are not with their attraction to Marinette. Chloé and Lila are full-blown villains while Luka and Zoé are some of the most selfless members of the cast. Kagami is aggressive and socially awkward in a way that is used to justify Marinette's initial distrust and dislike of her (in ‘Ikari Gozen’ Alya voices her pity towards Marinette for having to spend time with her) while Nathaniel is just the pitiful bullied loner who’s still a liked member of the class friend group. Girls who want Adrien are bad for trespassing on Marinette’s territory and trying to “steal” something that “belongs” to Marinette.

The writers thinking Adrien belongs to Marinette is also not just subtext. Later in season five, when Marinette and Adrien finally start dating, Marinette even outright states that Adrien “kinda does a little” belong to her when she’s scared that Zoé has a crush on him. The fumbling of the line means that the writers are aware of how toxic it is to consider your partner your property, but they want to include that sentiment anyway, because that’s how they view the situation. Marinette’s boyfriend is her property and other people can’t even look at her property. ‘Emotion’ continues on this increased possessiveness by having the entire Marinette plot happen because she can’t conceive Adrien keeping things from her, because he isn’t allowed privacy from her while Marinette lying to Adrien (or Cat Noir) is a show staple.

This same attitude of Adrien not being allowed to have romantic options outside of Marinette has also been in the fandom for years. Every time a new female character was introduced, there was a worry that she’d “try to steal Adrien from Marinette”. Marinette and Adrien are endgame, the writers know this and the fandom knows this. The characters don't know this, but it doesn't matter because Adrien was already seen as Marinette's (future) boyfriend even back in season one when he barely knew her. And this attitude the writers and audience have is extended to the characters more and more as the show goes on, as almost every single character becomes an Adrinette shipper in support of Marinette in season five, while no one thinks to ask Adrien what he thinks about this. Only once, in ‘Desperada’ did Alya suggest that Adrien could make his own choice on who to date, but it was implied the choice should be Marinette specifically (Marinette smiles at this, while Kagami frowns). The cast is lucky the writers have decided Adrien already is Marinette's, or he’d be really uncomfortable.

Season five episode ‘Pretension’ goes as far with this as having Marinette basically ask Gabriel for permission to be with Adrien, convinced that she and Adrien can be together with no problems if she can just get him to approve of her. And then Gabriel tells her he’s promised Adrien to Kagami. You know, like a piece of property women were treated as before women were allowed to live without a man to control them. The finale then ultimately does have Gabriel agree to hand Adrien over to Marinette by dying and leaving her in charge of Adrien. Just because she uses the privilege to do some things for Adrien’s benefit doesn’t make what happened any less of a patriarchal transaction. In fact, the writers wrote it that way on purpose, with the knight and princess parallels they set up between Marinette and Adrien earlier in the show being something they are prominently proud of (the “reverse fairytale” as they put it). Adrien is the princess the dashing hero Marinette gets to earn with her feats of bravery; he’s handed to her like a piece of property and Marinette is too happy with her acquisition to even be outraged on Adrien’s behalf. And Adrien wasn’t even allowed to know about any of this, instead it gets handled solely between Marinette and Gabriel, like his opinion on the matter didn’t even matter. And why would his opinion matter, since he already is ready to promise himself to Marinette, even as the writers deny him the agency to actually make such a promise.

The goal of making it obvious that Adrien is cool with being objectified like this is probably why they make Adrien so obsessed with Marinette in season five, constantly repeating her name to himself and saying stuff like: “I can’t stop thinking about you” in ‘Pretension’. They need to drive it home to the audience exactly how okay Adrien is with everyone forcing him to be with Marinette. After all, you can’t force the willing. As of ‘Confrontation’, Adrien’s official goals for the future are: “I love Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” I guess, from the perspective of the writers, the childhood dream of wanting to be what his parents wanted from ‘Wishmaker’ wasn’t sad because of Adrien’s lack of agency; it was sad because he wasn’t forsaking all of his personal pursuits for Marinette specifically. As far as the writers are concerned, Adrien should only care about Marinette and nothing else.

This same entitlement is also present in Ladybug and Cat Noir's relationship. Every time Cat Noir is upset with Ladybug, like in Frozer, Glaciator, Syren, The New York Special or even Kuro Neko, they never talk about what caused it. This is especially blatant in cases where Ladybug has wronged Cat Noir personally, like Kuro Neko or the NY Special, where she never has to face up to what she did wrong because Cat Noir comes back because she “needs him”.  Cat Noir will always come back to her without her having to do anything because she is the main character and she says she needs him. He exists for her and her needs. He exists for her; it’s just another way he’s hers.

Speaking of how Adrien is treated affects Marinette, even Adrien’s trauma actually belongs to her in the writing.  I pointed out earlier that Adrien’s trauma shows up when the writers need to put him out of commission, but disappears as soon as he needs to be Marinette’s trophy, but it goes further than just inconsistency. The early seasons spend several episodes on how Adrien is being locked up by his father and unable to hang out with his friends and, between him and Marinette, Marinette is the one shown to be more upset and hurt by this. They don’t do this in every episode, as ‘The Bubbler’ actually does a phenomenal job of making Adrien’s upset actually about him, but the big point in ‘Glaciator’ is that Marinette is so upset that she can’t see Adrien that she accidentally leaves Cat Noir on read so he’s upset about that. Adrien is only upset because he didn’t get attention from Marinette, while Adrien’s literal abuse at the hands of his father is only important because it makes Marinette upset. Even Adrien himself gets in on this action in ‘Conformation’ when the writers go as far as having Adrien chastise himself of not being more worthy of Marinette’s love when his dad is once again busy ruining his life. Even Adrien himself makes his abuse about Marinette; him being abused is bad because it’s inconveniencing Marinette and inconveniencing Marinette makes him less worthy of her.

‘Cat Blanc’ is possibly the worst offender of all, though. This episode should be all about how Adrien is abused by Gabriel, culminating with Gabriel turning him into a monster that destroys the world. And yet, what is the episode actually about? It’s about Marinette. The worst thing that could happen to Adrien is about Marinette. Only Marinette gets to remember or even know about the possibility of Cat Noir getting Akumatized and only Marinette is traumatized by it happening. After all that the writers later dare to use this event that didn’t actually happen anymore, that Adrien doesn’t know about, to justify him giving his powers to Marinette, because he’s “scared of getting Akumatized” when something like that has never happened as far as he knows. But the writers had him reason this way anyway, because apparently the culmination of Marinette’s character development in the show means taking Adrien’s power as her own and then failing to win even with that at her disposal.

Another note about ‘The Bubbler’ that has to be pointed out is that it’s also the first example of Marinette being presented as good for Adrien simply because she treats him better than Gabriel. The final scene of Marinette giving Adrien his best birthday present yet and letting him think it comes from Gabriel is done to show how selfless Marinette is by letting Adrien keep thinking good things about his abuser. This idea that Marinette is morally good simply because she’s better than pond scum Gabriel is also present in the season five finale, where Marinette manipulates, gaslights and keeps important information from her abused slave boyfriend. Marinette is presented as being in the right because at least she didn’t literally control him with a magical geas like Gabriel did and gave him the object with which to do so (while notably not telling him what it does). Marinette will do the bare minimum of not taking literal ownership of Adrien and we’re meant to see her as a paragon of goodness for it, while she still has no respect for Adrien’s autonomy and hasn’t had any since the show started.

The way the Sentimonster “reveal” is handled shows this utter lack of respect for Adrien’s autonomy that the writers, and Marinette by extension, have. The reveal is not for Adrien, but for Marinette, just like every other piece of Adrien has been made to be about Marinette. Marinette gets to know and she gets to decide if Adrien gets to know, and she decides “no”. She will manipulate him and lie to him to keep him happy for herself, she will keep important information about him to herself that he might never find out if anything happens to her, because Adrien is hers and no one else’s and she has the right to make that decision because the world revolves around her because the world of Miraculous was created to be her playground. “Adrien” is just a toy on that playground for Marinette to play with as the writers see fit.

Now we’re coming back to Adrien’s role as the sexy, titillating love interest character that I talked about at the start of this essay. If Marinette granting Adrien the bare minimum of freedoms as a slave while manipulating him “for his own good” is meant to be a good thing, why is Adrien even a slave? Well, outside of the writers wanting to add a plot twist that doesn’t come with any messy plot they’d have to write about characters other than Marinette, Adrien being a slave is also meant to be titillating. What really is magical super slavery than very, very off the wall bondage and power play stuff? The idea that Marinette could rob her love interest of his free will with ease but won’t because she cares about him so much is very empowering in two different ways. It gives Marinette all the power in the relationship and it makes her out to be such a good person that even having ultimate power over another person won’t corrupt her. Adding to that, we have Adrien’s people pleaser abuse victim personality, which makes him fawn over the people he loves. If Marinette ever wanted to have control over Adrien, Adrien would give it to her of his own volition, no need for magical super slavery or unbreakable geases.

As I stated earlier, Marinette is meant to be the point of view main character the audience of teen girls projects themselves onto. So, really, Adrien’s slavery and abuse responses are all about that fantasy of having a cute boy you have all the power over but not needing to use it because the boy is so nice and devoted to you anyway. Adrien really is “perfect”, the perfect object of attraction, a being who technically has free will but whose free will you never have to take into account because he’s been designed and trained to value other people’s wants and needs over his own.

Marinette doesn't literally own Adrien within the story, but the writers make it very clear that they think she should. In fact, in all ways except the literal, she already does.

[mlbigbang]

2023 Adrinette Fic Rec List

It’s the end of the year which means it’s finally time for the ML Big Bang’s yearly fic rec lists! We’re really excited to bring you our contributors’ favourite fics started this year to supply you with plenty of reading material while you’re waiting for the Big Bang fics’ publication in January.

Fate, Destiny... A Hamster by @mostmagical

After finally moving into his very first apartment per Ladybug’s suggestion, Adrien discovers something no movie or TV show could have ever prepared him for: someone else's hamster. Marinette was so excited to have her first pet. If only it would stop escaping! At least now there’s an excuse to talk to the new neighbor. (Adrinette Never Met AU)

This fic is peak adrinette identity shenanigans! Adrien and Marinette star as the next door neighbors losing and finding the titular hamster, falling in love, and avoiding an identity reveal like the plague.

If I Let Myself Love You by @uptoolateart

It’s hard to be a normal girl with a normal life when your mother has terminal cancer. And when fashion model Adrien Agreste moves back to Paris and wants to be Marinette’s friend – or maybe even more – her life is turned upside down again. How can she risk opening her heart to love when her whole world is falling apart? Especially when Adrien is hiding a dark secret of his own…. - COMPLETE FIC – updates on Sundays *** No kwamis AU - 100% Adrinette. About half of it is fluffy and half heavy. Please read tags for trigger warnings. ***

It is such an incredible balance of beautiful, heart-wrenching and funny! I adored the relationship between Adrien and Marinette, how it developed throughout, how natural it was, how they both helped each other through their grief. Just beautiful.

hearth by @asukiess

Because how do you describe a dream once you wake up, when it’s fleeting and slipping through the cracks in your mind like it’s a sieve? You can barely wrap your lips around the concepts and words before you realize it has slipped through like water, and what lay in your hands is just a pang in your chest? When every moment away from it clouds your mind just a little more, until the memories are threadbare? or: Adrien understands what it means to have a home.

call it even by @sha-nwa & @anna-scribbles

After a year of dating, there is one thing Marinette knows for certain: it's her and Adrien against the world. Through it all, Adrien is kind, patient, and endlessly understanding—even as she tries her best to keep her secret superhero identity hidden from him along with the rest of the world. Nothing could ruin it, not even the supervillains of Paris: Hawkmoth and Chat Noir. (adrinette dating // ladynoir enemies au)

A really well-written Adrienette fic featuring Ladynoir as enemies.

All the Missing Pieces by @uptoolateart

At 14, Adrien stepped into the time burrow and saw the truth no one could have guessed. When he came out, he was changed forever. And after defeating his father, he was finally free...or was he? At 37, Adrien has everything he ever dreamed of – married to Marinette, three kids, the hamster – but none of it has turned out as expected. Marinette’s career is such a success that she’s never home, Hugo is an angsty difficult teenager, and Adrien is still struggling with his secret identity as a sentimonster. And now, Lila Rossi is back after more than 20 years. But has time changed her? Or is she up to her old tricks?

It's my actual life (except I'm not good looking lol), and I vouch for how WILDLY accurate its treatment of the emotional issues of stay-at-home-dad stuff. I just cannot recommend highly enough how it handles jealousy, isolation, parenting struggles, etc. Not me in the comments every chapter telling the author how she got the feels so perfectly right.

If I Let Myself Love You by @uptoolateart

It’s hard to be a normal girl with a normal life when your mother has terminal cancer. And when fashion model Adrien Agreste moves back to Paris and wants to be Marinette’s friend – or maybe even more – her life is turned upside down again. How can she risk opening her heart to love when her whole world is falling apart? Especially when Adrien is hiding a dark secret of his own…

So absolutely sweet. So emotionally devastating. Gets meta by taking advantage of how AO3 works at one point. Next level in every way. I loved the developing Adrienette friendship. I loved Marinette and her father. I loved Marinette's feelings about her sick mother. Please everyone read this fic your face will melt with emotion, and you weren't really using your face, were you?

Our Tales are Endless (That's Why I Tell Them) by joonapeach

Marinette lives a simple life - one surrounded by pretty dresses, fresh macaroons, and the calming view of Paris. It's a life she thinks she has always fit in. And yet sometimes, when a certain boy comes by her shop with a flower and a new adventurous story, she can't help but wonder if there's something else she's missing.

you don't even know me at all (but i was made for loving you) by @ladyofthenoodle

They didn’t remember each other. The hospital told them there’d been an accident—brain damage—but Alya had told them the truth, later. Who’d they’d been to each other. What they’d given up, and why. But even with their memories of each other gone, Adrien and Marinette are still inextricably tied together—by law, by their social circles, and by their hearts. And in the apartment they share, there's only one bed.

If you like amnesia AUs, angst with a happy ending, married adrinette, and only one bed scenarios, you need to read this fic! It's beautifully bittersweet and will break your heart before putting it back together.

[aspiringwriter1111]

I'm just thinking about if Adrien got the ladybug miraculous instead of the cat, because we were totally robbed of fluffy Tikki and Adrien.

Like, imagine she sees his life, completely taken aback, "Is this... All you want????"

And Adrien answers, "As long as my dad's happy, and we have our monthly scheduled breakfast, everything's okay."

"But you could have better than 'okay'????"

She explains to him that he's allowed to want things outside of the bubble his father puts him in, and that it's normal to want more, even if your life is "Perfect".

How she's lived for so long, and with all the things she's seen over history (wars, famine, violence, injustice, etc.) there's been many times when she's felt like nothing could be made better.

But the wanting of better things was important.

Being the kwami of creation, she explains that a big part of her is wanting. You can't CREATE, unless you WANT.

Which is somewhat new to Adrien because he doesn't really allow himself to want. If he wanted, there's a good chance he couldn't have it, because, he realizes, what he really wants is connection.

But, gosh, she makes it sound so... easy???

Adrien starts to realize that maybe what he wants, ISN'T what he has.

"Is it, really that easy, to have what you want?"

And she's like, "Yup. 🐞👍"

And you know how Tikki is such a good life coach/encouragement expert?? You can't tell me Adrien wouldn't soak it up like a sponge.

All the support he never had, is suddenly there. All the faith that she has, in his decisions and what he wants.

Like, the freedom from that??? The comfort??? The connection he's been longing for???

We all know what speaks to Adrien is people listening to him. Like, actually SEEING and HEARING him for who he wants to be.

(In the OG series, his connection to Marinette is partially based on it. She was the only person who saw what he ACTUALLY wanted, and wanted it for him too.)

And Tikki, being the kwami of creation, would love nothing more than for her holder to create. To see him grow and blossom into what he WANTS to be.

And the guilt that held him back starts to melt away.

In place of it grows curiosity!! The seeking of what he wants, which is something he's never done before!! It's all so new and exciting.

+ We get Adrien comforted by Tikki.

Imagine him, sad and alone, and then this tiny little thing squishing into his face, "You can do it Adrien!! I believe in you! It's okay!!"

And maybe his father doesn't change (He probably wouldn't smh-) but he kind of doesn't have to anymore? He says Adrien can't go to his friend's party.

So Adrien brings the party to him, hosting it in their foyer. Or he video chats them, with his disco ball on, and his music up so high his dad can hear it from his lair.

And this happens over, and over again, with everything.

His father gives out, because he knows whatever he takes away, Adrien just makes it over again, and WHY IS HE SO DARN DETERMINED NOW?!? HE WAS NEVER LIKE THIS BEFORE?!???!

So he starts to just let him do what he wants, because if he keeps him locked up, the "annoyance" is right in his house, messing with his plans.

In school, Adrien would probably join the debate team (Being seen and heard), and start going with Mylene and Ivan to their protests. Being the son of a famous fashion designer only adds to the causes they fight for, (Also, being seen and heard).

First day of school he immediately goes towards Nino, now knowing what he wants.

With a firm, "I'd like to be friends with you." Instead of a, "Chloe is my only friend, I have to stay with her."

He sees Chloe putting gum on the bench next to them, and immediately cuts contact with her (Blocked).

He's trying to take the gum off before the people who sit there show up, doing his best, because he doesn't want them to even know what happened at all.

And this girl taps him on the shoulder, and asks "What are you doing?"

And he goes, "Taking the gum off."

"You don't have to do that?" She says, setting her bag down, "I can just move over."

The girl was Marinette.

"I know you!" He says, standing up, "Your family runs the bakery around the corner!"

She snapped her fingers, "You always order the big assortment boxes of macarons!"

It's an instant friendship.

And Adrien silently thanks Tikki in his head for refusing to eat anything other than the Dupain-Chengs' macarons.

Circling back to Tikki and Adrien fluff,

IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES!!

Cuddling, Squishing, Supporting!! A friend who believes in him!

The physical affection he never got!!

She thinks he's so SWEET, and she leaves him notes of encouragement everywhere!!

Giving him a pieces of her macarons, and him bringing her around to all the best patisseries?!!??

Asking Marinette to make a tiny bed for her?!!!!?

TINY PAJAMAS-

You can't tell me he wouldn't. You can't.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Pretension

Oh joy, another Felix episode. Because the last one was just so good, wasn't it?

Let's get into the nineteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Pretension

We start off with Kagami and Adrien heading to school, with the former making plans with Marinette to spend a little time together, all while Argos stalks them. We then cut to Gabriel, who's attempting to heal his Cataclysm wound with a machine that drains the energy from his imprisoned Kwamis. It fails because... uh... uhhhh... it just doesn't?

Kaalki: I told you. No magic can heal this wound.

Barkk: A Cat Noir Cataclysm can't be healed!

Yeah, they just say nothing can heal the wound, and don't even mention the fact that we've already seen the Ladybug Miraculous heal Adren when he was wounded by his own Cataclysm in “Miraculer”. And before you say it was a weaker version of the attack, check out what Astruc said a few years ago when the subject was brought up.

Whether you want to take this as fact or not since it wasn't explained in the show itself, the point is that we've seen Ladybug heal someone who was wounded by Cataclysm before. Then again, considering the recent reveal, that episode only opens up another can of worms.

Back at school, Marinette talks with Adrien and Kagami about how Gabriel only sees her as some crazy fan, though she doesn't do a lot to help her case.

Tomoe arrives, and just like she's done this whole season, is only here to provide exposition while nagging Gabriel to get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous already. Gabriel comes up with a plan involving a gadget Felix accidentally dropped at the end of the last season. If you forgot, I understand, since it's a pretty weird thing to call back to.

Marinette: He feels worried and I would be too if I were him. He thinks I'm one of those fans who follows you everywhere, showers you with hand-knitted gifts and knows every single one of your middle name days.

Kagami: Isn't that what you used to do, Marinette?

Marinette: Yes... except no! I mean, yes, but I was doing it out of love and, besides, I've changed a lot.

Kagami: You are correct.

Marinette: Really? You think I've changed a lot?

Kagami: No. Well, not that much.

I love when even the show points out how little character development there is. Makes my job a lot easier.

Adrien goes with Marinette to talk to Gabriel about their relationship. We get a pretty somewhat chilling moment where Gabriel's kind father facade briefly fades as he orders Adrien to go to his room so he and Marinette can talk, all while he still puts on a welcoming image. After Plagg reminds Adrien that all Gabriel knows how to cook is pancakes, Gabriel then lectures Marinette about why he doesn't want her to see Adrien.

Gabriel: I don't think you understand, child, so let me put things differently. Life is like fashion. You think you have a choice, but all you have is the illusion of choice. And I decide what choices are given to you.

Marinette: You're wrong! (Shows Gabriel her sketchbook with her designs) Fashion is about listening to people, it's about understanding who they are, what excites them and creating the clothes that will help them express their inner world. Help them connect with others and make their dreams come true.

Gabriel: (Laughs and looks over Marinette's sketchbook) No, that's not fashion. That's making dresses for your dolls. Fashion is a product, a marketing strategy, an industry that relies on uninterrupted trend renewal that forces you to either throw away everything you have and buy more or, worse, to be out of fashion.

That bastard! I can't believe Gabriel wants to make an honest living by using market research data to his advantage! What a piece of scum...

I joke, but the rest of Gabriel's little rant is even worse, as he acts as if he decides what people like and don't like, even though he just mentioned the importance of keeping up with current trends. Seriously, this dude's talking as if the entire world revolves around his brand.

Gabriel: Thanks to the clothes I create, the celebrities who wear them, the advertisements I design and the Alliance rings that broadcast them, I create an idyllic vision. A perfection that everyone aspires to achieve, while keeping it just out of their grasp. You finally understand the difference, don't you? You listen to people's desires and create what they want. Somehow, people make you. Whereas I create people's desires. They buy what I decide to buy. They think what I want them to think. I'm the one who makes people. You think you love Adrien, but you're just under the spell of this world I've created. A world where Adrien is the star, shining high above. A world where you're just part of the crowd below looking up at him.

Let's see... a complete narcissist with an obsession with controlling others, puts on a facade to make himself look more approachable, uses his influence to sell something to the masses that are part of his greater operation, and acts as if his products are necessary for society to function when they're more of a luxury than anything else? Where have I seen this before?

Marinette goes against Gabriel's wishes and tells Adrien she loves him before rightfully telling him to piss off... through a pancake metaphor, for some reason.

Marinette: You know what the problem is with your pancakes? Way too much flour, not enough butter. You're using an old, completely outdated recipe. No one likes them like that anymore. And that's the good thing about being a baker's daughter. I don't even need to try them to know that they're tasteless.

You know, I could make so many jokes about the state of the show with this little speech, but I feel like it'd be too easy.

Meanwhile, Kagami tries to tell her mother that she's not interested in Adrien anymore, but we get the same crap Tomoe has been saying ever since Season 3. “You must follow our family legacy, Kagami!”, “Stop letting your emotions control you, Kagami!”, “I'm only blind for a cheap visual metaphor, Kagami!”, yadda, yadda, yadda. During this, Argos overhears this and outright kidnaps Kagami. Rather than call the police to report a kidnapping, Tomoe calls Gabriel, who had transformed into Monarch offscreen, and tells him to akumatize him (even though she's still carrying her useless Magical Charm), which he does, turning her into Matagi Gozen.

Matagi Gozen is basically Ikari Gozen, only instead of a centaur, she now rides a robot dog for some reason and has a bow and arrow now. Her powers are basically related to her size and riding a robot dog, mostly so we can focus on her Miraculous powers for the day. Even though Tomoe was seen wearing six Alliance rings before she called Gabriel, she only gets three powers, the Bee Miraculous' Venom, the Rooster Miraculous' Sublimation (which she uses to give herself an enhanced sense of smell), and the Mouse Miraculous' Multitude. It's really just the same setup we got in “Multiplication” with a few changes, and it's nothing special. Although, it's too bad that Monarch doesn't have the Dog Miraculous, as that would have really gone well with her powers.

As the four Matagi Gozen clones go on the hunt, Argos takes Kagami to the Eiffel Tower to hide out, where we get—wait, it's, it's, BY GOD, IT'S KAGAMI WITH A WOODEN CHAIR!

Argos transforms back into Felix, and unintentionally throws Matagi Gozen off the trail since she was tracking him through one of the feathers on his fan. It turns out that after that single conversation they shared last episode, Felix is suddenly developing feelings for Kagami, and the whole reason he kidnapped her, aside from “protecting her from her mother”, is to get to talk to her again.

Felix: We have so much in common, and yet, you're also so different. I've never met someone like you.

Kagami: We don't even know each other!

Felix: I know you. I've been following you non-stop.

Kagami: Even better! You follow me, you spy on me and now you've kidnapped me to get to know me?!

Felix: Uh... yes?

Kagami: You are utterly incompetent at social relations.

See? Felix isn't a sociopath who just tried to wipe out all of humanity last episode! He just needs to make friends, that's all.

Yeah, in case you can't tell, it seems like the show is still trying to course correct the characterization of Felix. Rather than the overconfident and manipulative wild card he was for his last five appearances, the episode is now trying to make Felix out to be a secretly awkward person with noble goals. Afterall, he saved Kagami, so by that logic, he has to be a good guy. Yeah, he technically stalked her like a creep, but it ended up being good in the end, didn't it?

After Marinette and Adrien transform into Ladybug and Cat Noir respectively, the Matagi Gozen clones start to track Felix through the scent of the aforementioned gadget. Right as Matagi Gozen finds Felix, Ladybug and Cat Noir arrive on the scene, giving Felix the chance to transform into Argos and escape with Kagami again.

Matagi Gozen: This is what heroes do? Not only did you help that monster escape, but now you're going to fight me? A mother trying to save her daughter?

Cat Noir: Hey, my lady. When you think about it, they're not wrong. We all want the same thing. If we let them save Kagami, we could seize the opportunity to get Felix's Miraculous back.

Ladybug: Too risky. They're under Monarch's influence.

Yeah, but you can't even try to negotiate a temporary alliance between Matagi Gozen? Yes, we know that she's working for Monarch, but the heroes don't know that. All we get is Ladybug asking Matagi Gozen to reject the Megakuma, and she goes back to fighting them. How interesting would it have been for Ladybug and Cat Noir to make an uneasy alliance with someone they don't know is working for Monarch?

After Cat Noir gets ignored during one of the few times he makes a decent point, he escapes to the sewer and detransforms, Matagi Gozen losing their scent trail. Matagi Gozen goes back to looking for Kagami, and decides to shoot her with some arrows tipped with Venom. Argos defends Kagami, and breaks up his fan to throw the pieces around and create multiple fake scent trails to throw off Matagi Gozen before detransforming. How Argos even came came up with this plan when I don't think he figured out Matagi Gozen could smell really good is anyone's guess.

As Kagami and Felix keep running away, Kagami asks the question I'm sure you've all been thinking.

Kagami: I don't understand. You have the Miraculous of the peacock, why don't you create a Sentimonster to get us out of here?

Felix: First of all, don't call them that.

Fine, “walking sin against nature” it is. Got anything else to say there, buddy? Maybe anything that isn't a half-assed speech meant to make the audience sympathize with you?

Felix: I refuse to create a being to manipulate them, control them, abuse them, and end up destroying them. When you bring a living being into this world, you have a responsibility towards them. Your duty is to protect them, love them, help them discover the true meaning of their existence. To deprive them of that... is monstrous.

Kagami: Are you talking about... yourself?

Felix: I'm talking about... us.

Come on dude! I said anything that isn't a half-assed speech meant to make the audience sympathize with you!

Okay, I've been putting this off long enough. Let's talk about Felix's ideology, his little speech, and, how it contradicts his previous appearances.

First off, for someone who refuses to create a Sentimonster to control and abuse, Felix had no trouble screwing around with Adrien in his first episode when his main goal was to get one of the rings from Gabriel. Hell, it makes even less sense why he'd keep that ring that we know can be used to control Adrien if his plan ultimately amounted to trading it away along with the fifteen Miraculous in Ladybug's possession.

Second, Felix literally created a Sentimonster to destroy humanity with just last episode, and he doesn't even mention that. Yeah, you can chalk it up to character development, but we don't even get a line about learning about the burden of ending a life you yourself created. It just feels like a way to make him seem more sympathetic after he went all “I'M THE GOD! I'M THE GOD!” last episode.

Third, and I'm just going to be honest about this, but why should I care about the life of a Sentimonster when the show has shown it doesn't care either? Ever since the end of Season 2, we've seen Sentimonsters be summoned and erased from existence left and right, and other than a single occasion (Ladybug), nobody has really brought up the fact that Sentimonsters are living beings too. Even putting that aside, most of the Sentimonsters we've seen have either been giant monsters, clones of other people, or mindless tools, none of which showed any desire to be alive other than to serve their purpose. It's only because Adrien, Felix, and now Kagami are revealed to be Sentimonsters that we should care about the ethics of summoning a Sentimonster in battle. Even in the last episode, Felix never brought up than Ladybug is essentially taking innocent lives whenever she de-evilizes an Amok.

And finally, the fact that this speech was used to set up a romance between Felix and Kagami, not because he saw a kindred spirit in her, but rather, because he believes that she's a Sentimonster too. You know that episode of South Park where Cartman tried to set up Token with a new girl, where the entire joke was that it was because Cartman believed that black people can only date other black people? This is basically that story with none of the irony. The episode seriously treats Felix taking an interest in Kagami specifically on the basis that she may be the same kind of artificial creation as him, as if he isn't capable of relating to anyone who also has to deal with abusive parents and isn't a Sentimonster. On a completely unrelated note, isn't it funny how out of the four rich kids with abusive or neglectful parents, Chloe is the only one who isn't a Sentimonster and is the least sympathetic?

Ladybug (having gotten a pair of scissors from activating her Lucky Charm offscreen) and Cat Noir try to stop Felix, but after a single speech from him, Kagami is now completely on his side for some reason.

Kagami: Felix is not your enemy! He's like me! He doesn't know how to express himself. Everyone is wrong about him! Including me.

Funny, I don't seem to remember you dooming all of Paris by giving over a dozen magical artifacts to a supervillain. Also, speaking from someone who struggles to socialize in real life, I can confirm that social awkwardness isn't really an excuse to kidnap someone. Just remember what happened in Misery.

Ladybug realizes that Felix and Kagami are vital to her Lucky Charm working, she decides to trust Felix. Felix then transforms into Argos and immediately escapes without contributing to the plan, while Kagami uses the scissors to cut the string of Matagi Gozen's bow after Ladybug and Cat Noir restrain the Akuma.

Ladybug then de-evilizes the Megakuma, uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage caused by the fight, gives Tomoe yet another useless Magical Charm after the last useless one broke because it was completely useless, and Argos once got away without facing any consequences for his actions.

Afterwards, Kagami tries to stand up to Tomoe, but she orders her to hand over her ring containing her Amok—I mean, her ring that has absolutely no control over her, and is part of this thrilling mystery. Adrien also tries to stand up for Marinette, and Gabriel tells him to enjoy her time with Marinette... before saying he's moving to London next year. This is supposed to be a dick move, but with how often Adrien gets caught in the crossfire of Akuma attacks, with or without the mask, this is arguably the smartest thing Gabriel has done for the past five seasons. Adrien chooses not to tell Marinette about London, because I guess all that whining about hating secrets only mattered when someone else was withholding information from him.

The episode ends with Felix revealing that the ring Kagami gave her mother was a fake. Of course, this makes no sense because not only did we never see Felix steal the ring from Kagami, but Tomoe has a mental connection to Kagami, she should notice the ring is a fake. Also, you know how Kagami's arc so far has been a mixture of finding independence from her controlling mother while coming to terms with her breakup with Adrien? Get ready for all of that to be thrown out the window, because the writers are desperate to make him look good, Felix is now the one to save her from her mother and give her independence back, while also hinting at a relationship starting between the two. I'd say this episode fumbled the landing, but I haven't even gotten to the season finale yet.

This episode started out pretty poorly, and quickly went downhill afterwards. The idea of explaining why Gabriel's Cataclysm wound can't be healed was convoluted, Felix continues to be unlikable, Tomoe once again shows how terrible of an antagonist she is.

I'll admit, the chemistry between Marinette and Adrien was decent, but it's far too late to really establish a proper rivalry between her and Gabriel more than halfway through the fifth season, especially while discussing fashion when it's only been used to justify plots where she tries to make stuff for Adrien. The writers had plenty of time, yet rather than build up tension between the main hero and main villain, they decided we needed more episodes revolving around Chloe, Lila, and Felix.

Speaking of, Felix once again shows how poorly written he is. He was the one to instigate the conflict, it wasn't established if he even had a plan on what to do once he gets away with Kagami, and if anything, only made things worse because of his refusal to surrender, much less acknowledge his fault in this situation when the Akuma chasing after him is only as powerful as she is now because he gave his evil uncle multiple Miraculous to use for his Akumas. But no, he has to be the one to wreck Kagami's character arc and be the one to try and liberate her from Tomoe's influence because he's a good guy now! It says a lot when Cat Noir is the only one who still isn't trusting Felix at this point.

While it's nowhere near as bad as “Emotion”, this was still a really bad episode to follow up on.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS...TOMOE

While Felix came dangerously close to winning the award, he at least showed more restraint here, and was able to throw off both Matagi Gozen a few times. Tomoe, on the other hand, got nothing to show any real intelligence, and if anything, proved she was just as incompetent as Gabriel is. She chose to nag Gabriel while he was suffering from the effects of his fatal wound, decided to akumatize herself instead of even considering contacting the cops to stop a single kidnapping, while ironically drawing more attention to herself in her attempt to save Kagami and stop Felix, decided to try shooting her daughter instead of the one who abducted her, and didn't even realize the ring capable of controlling her daughter was replaced by a fake when she should obviously be able to sense something.

[imthepunchlord]

Possibly How It Should Have Been

Gosh, I've just thought about it sometimes, as I'm largely trying to turn my creative focus onto something more enjoyable than ML (hence less writing for ML fics), but sometimes I just can't help but focus on it. Cause it's a great concept and it's butchered and that bothers me so much.

And there's SO MUCH that could've been done to improve it. Some of which could be easy tweaks. Some of which needs massive overhauling. Some of it is just picking a lane, staying in that lane, and you follow the road to progress.

It's a great concept with a LOT of possibilities and ways it could've been done. I've actually thought about possible ML Rewrites a few times, I even reached out to a friend to try and help develop a Rewrite that we could've collabed on cause I was struggling to much to decide, and we both just got stuck cause there's so many options for characters and what could possibly be done as we could see so many pros for each option.

And of course, part of the pondering that came to my mind was seeing promising improvement with kwami swaps.

Like, Marinette and Adrien may have developed better if they had each other's miraculous. Plagg could've been the ideal foil to Marinette as he's the opposite of her in every way, addressing her overworking herself, prioritizing others over herself, and caring so much about her responsibilities that it just weighs and stresses her out. And with Adrien and Tikki, she could've helped him develop as an actual, step up in responsibility, learn to take on duty, to care about others over himself. She also would've helped him get the plot rolling, as Adrien is a stagnant character but Tikki is not. She's going to get him involved into the Agreste plot whether he wants it or not, and in turn, he's going to get Tikki to learn to be more attentive and considerate of her holders cause things can go south for Adrien very quickly if she pushes too much.

Gosh, another great kwami swap that could've been done that could've improved a lot was switching up who are the leads. I always wondered if Tikki and Plagg TRULY would've picked Marinette and Adrien, also if they were even the right picks now that we know that Fu doesn't know everything and is running on limited knowledge. As far as we know, they ARE the wrong picks for these two. And considering there was an ep of Tikki and Plagg picking their own users, I now wonder if Alya and Nino should've been our actual leads.

How Alya was initially as Scarabella screams to me that it would've better served in the Origins as a starting hero. Alya also has promising potential arcs as a starting hero, especially as being a superhero is her living her dream:

There's the struggle of balancing her civilian and hero life, she can learn that the civilian life is just as important.

She can learn that being a hero isn't all glory and isn't always easy.

She can learn the importance of secrecy, and what happens if she exposes herself to the public or to a friend (probably Marinette).

And a lot of the lessons Tikki is involved with would make more sense with Alya, who does get tunnel vision and isn't good at listening to others and isn't so considerate and can be very pushy with her own agenda. Alya naturally aims for the leadership position and Tikki wants her Ladybugs to be leaders, so Tikki can help guide Alya to improve as a leader. Lastly, Alya will challenge Tikki on her call outs, which could at certain points help established that Tikki isn't always right and is open to learn and adapt too. And Alya could busy herself looking into HM, making her theories and being nosy about his identity, which Tikki would readily be apart of and encourage. Which Alya should've done in the show than recklessly trying to expose the heroes identity to the public and help HM win. Which, if Adrien wasn't a hero, maybe that should have been his role instead, which Gabriel could encourage and Adrien is even more excited cause he thinks his father is taking an interest in what he does which can be some later Adrien angst for you.

With Nino and Plagg, the BIGGEST plus is that it would actually give Nino SOMETHING outside Alya and Adrien. It would've prompt him to get more focus, and based on what's seen, he's 2nd to Marinette in having the most friends, meaning he can be more engaging and present with what happens to his classmates. Plagg also could bring some needed chaos to his life. You can even expand upon what's seen in Horrificatr where Nino can be controlling, strict, and harsh so Plagg can work on that. Nino does have some similarities to Marinette where he does care a lot for his friends and is hardworking, so there's something there to make Plagg a bit of a foil to him. To expand on Nino's role as Alya embraces being the big hero and savior, could even do the fandom popular idea of him getting Guardian training.

With those two taken, this nicely opens up others getting the Five.

Marinette can work with either Bee or Fox. If you want to work off Chloe vs Marinette, it works best if Marinette has the Bee. Though I think Pollen's personality should be overhauled, but if not, at least there's a perk that yes man Pollen going to force Marinette to take initiative and decide things for herself instead of seeking advise from her kwami. And with Fox, that can work off Marinette being a meddler, schemer, being creative, and her more inclined to work from the shadows. There could also be a fun twist to explore with Marinette not liking liars and she has a miraculous tied to deception, plus her and Trixx could've been an interesting pair to see interact, especially if working off what's seen in Sapotis where Trixx is very observant and manipulative, but also a bit of a chaotic gambler (from what I've seen, later seasons seem to ruin Trixx as a character). And of course, Marinette having Fox could work off her vs Lila, you could even dabble in her vs Felix.

Arguably, Chloe MAY grow as Alya and Nino would NOT have been so tolerant of her unlike Marinette and Adrien, so Chloe could've gotten the Bee and actually be a good hero and character for it. But that can also come down to preference and how you want Chloe to go.

Adrien could've gotten the Turtle, which I think could've been one of the best miraculous he could've gotten as he naturally likes to be a protector, and this miraculous works off that while also giving him protection. Wayzz also could've maybe addressed Adrien readily sacrificing himself, help him learn to be more cautious instead of rushing in, or at least think and be smart about how you go forward. There's even a possibility of Adrien having Turtle full time, as Nino could share his suspicions with Fu about Gabriel, so Wayzz could be there as a spy to check things out, which would have Adrien eventually get involved in his own plot, but still allow things to be at a slower pace. And as Wayzz, ideally, seems to be serious and dedicated but also playful and open minded, I think he would be very engaging with Adrien, which in turn could mean that when Adrien needs a call out, he would listen to what Wayzz had to say more (as most of the time Adrien ignores what Plagg says).

As for the leads, both would have an equal neutral involvement in the plot that can explain why things don't resolve quickly (looking at you Adrien who won't even ask questions about the suspicious book your father has). Alya would be a hero and lead for glory and self-righteousness, Nino would be to genuinely help others. Neither would have a super close tie to Gabriel, allowing him to sit under their noses for a while.

Also, gosh, you even could've had a lot of fun with color coded rivals/foils/personal antagonists for Alya and Nino.

If you really wanted to do Alya vs Lila, let Lila actually have the Fox or maybe she bought the Fox in Volpina, and this has Alya and Lila having the miraculous the other is color coded for. She could work off being a hero initially for the wrong reasons, just like Alya who starts for the glory too, as well as integrity vs deception.

Something could also be done between Nino vs Felix, with Nino really color coded for Peacock while Felix is color coded for Cat. Could play off both being ambitious to a fault and being selfish and nosy, but Nino cares more for others vs Felix is more exclusive.

And if expanding to others...

Of course could do Marinette vs Chloe if Marinette has the Bee, Chloe could have the Mouse, which could be funny to see Chloe deal with herself. That might humble her.

As for Adrien... could do him and Max being foils, work off Max getting Horse while largely wearing green, and I think Adrien is most color coded for Horse. Could work off both being perfectionist and could delve into the shared interest of gaming, with Max trying to bring out the competitiveness in Adrien. Could be thinking vs action.

Either way, ML is frustrating cause it's a show with potential and great concepts and it's irritating that it got butchered so. And the most frustrating thing is that there is just so many options to how it could've been done better. And kwami swap wise, these are my top two picks that would've been better.

Thank you for coming to my TED talks.

[wackus-bonkus-maximus]

Same anon who just asked about why you placed Adrien as a 7 instead of a 2, only to look deeper in the reblogs of your ML enneagram post and see you already answered it haha!

In friendly defense of 2!Adrien, I’d argue that his reactions to being stressed coming off as more of a 7 rather than a 2 is actually a perfect reflection of the effects of his abuse; it’s fear that drives his non-confrontation tendencies rather his own nature. I think Risk highlighted that a bit in revealing how Adrien does desire confrontation, even if he doesn’t act on it.

(I have always found it interesting to consider the role that trauma/neurodivergency plays in shaping a character’s personality, since it’s one of the flaws I feel most personality assessments can’t really account for.)

I also think Chat’s arguments with LB were more like to be confrontational than avoidant (thinking of the times he’s called her out and his romantic pursuit being the primary indicators), up until she became the Guardian. So then with S4, I’d consider it to be a gradual relationship shift that leads to Chat no longer feeling safe and secure enough in his position to confront her the way he once did, which is why he only tries a bit in Kuro Neko before running, and then doesn’t try at all in Strikeback.

I hope this doesn’t come off as too preachy or anything, just wanted to share my 2¢! Cause either way you slice it, your Adrien has always been brilliantly written and incredibly in-character to me, so you’ve clearly got a rock solid understanding of his character. ❤️

hello november anon and sorry for the delay! thank you so much for the ask and also for going back and looking through my prev posts. you know my teacher heart loves it when you do the readings! 😌 also you're definitely not the only one who believes adrien is a 2 rather than a 7! and while i know there are good arguments for both sides, i'll explain in depth my position on adrien's personality.

part 1 of the ask:

so here are the reasons i think adrien IS an enneagram type 7

adrien's motivation seems like that of a 7 to me: he wants to experience everything and be satisfied in every way he can. if he had a disney princess "i want" song, it would be "i want to go to school, i want to make friends, i want adventure in the great wide somewhere., i want to have fun."

the literal first shot of him in the show (if we use origins as a starting point) is adrien running away. nathalie asks him to please reconsider, he knows what his father wants, and adrien says, "but this is what i want to do." according to the enneagram institute, "sevens do not see themselves as the center of a community or family, but as members of a free-floating band of fellow adventurers whose own enjoyment is enhanced by being with others." going to school and having a new experience with new people is what's going to enhance adrien's enjoyment of life - not being the center of his family unit or the apple of his father's eye.

a 2's motivation would be to be as loved as possible and to make themselves neeed by those they most care about. while adrien definitely shows a desire to be loved and needed, especially by ladybug, i think his primary desire is for experience, and it's this from which all his actions- not just characteristics - are based. take for example his reaction to getting his miraculous vs marinette's (also in origins):

adrien is excited and intrigued and ready to go, as a 7 would be when offered a new experience - and a new way to satisfy their desire to try everything. marinette, as a 1, is quite the opposite: she is being put in a situation where she must do something right or fail, and therefore is stressed tf out. while marinette's motivation to be good/perfect fuels her anxious reaction, adrien's motivation to experience everything and be satisfied fuels his thrilled and slightly reckless reaction. that's why he charges out into battle without listening to all the instructions; his motivation was to escape the restraints of his life and try something new.

in growth, enneagram 7's take on the positive traits of 5's. in stress, they take on the negative traits of 1's. i have seen adrien exhibit these behaviors throughout the show on many occasions!

according to the enneagram institute, "Sevens have fear about their inner world. There are feelings of pain, loss, deprivation, and general anxiety that Sevens would like to stay clear of as much as possible. To cope with these feelings, Sevens keep their minds occupied with exciting possibilities and options— as long as they have something stimulating to anticipate, Sevens feel that they can distract themselves from their fears." therefore, while one can argue that adrien's wealth of knowledge and fun facts is a result of everything gabriel has forced him to learn (mandarin, piano, fencing, medieval horse colors), we can assume he at least was interested in it - and that seeking new knowledge like a 5 kept him from lingering in his sadness.

"i'll help you learn mandarin marinette" "i'll show you how to fence marinette" "most people think henry iv's white horse was white my lady" "do you need subtitles my lady i speak several languages"

now as to how adrien moves to the low parts of type 1 during the show: i think the main examples of this are the instances he adopts rigid, critical, and judgemental characteristics, which is potentially unpleasant for anyone who has to be around him.

first up, adrien's akumatized forms: chat blanc, ephemeral, celesticat

i bring up the akumas because, though adrien isn't in his right mind (by hawkmoth's akumas), they are examples of adrien being in extreme stress.

as chat blanc, adrien wants to either right the world or destroy it for being wrong - the critical supreme judgement an unhealthy 1 is capable of. he lashes out when contradicted, and is quite ruthless even to marinette, who he loves, in the name of executing judgement.

as ephemeral, adrien seeks to control time. (however, this is probably the weakest example because adrien was being amok-controlled in this instance and was acting on shadow moth's will, not his own.)

i include celesticat because while this is an example of a "good" akumatization, adrien was still under so much stress that an akumatization was able to take place. yet even while being in "good" stress, adrien still shows characteristics of 1: perfectionism, righteousness, taking control of the situation. he literally turns into a pure white angelic being, an embodiment of perfection. it's what he believes he has to do in order to salvage the situation. it's one of the more healthier moves from 7 to 1 i have seen depicted in media and is entirely plausible concept under the enneagram's theory! this just goes to show the depth and richness of his character.

next, we will discuss adrien's various alter egos:

cat walker

i've said it before and i'll say it again; cat walker is another move from 7 -> 1.

as chat noir, adrien is at the height of his 7-ness. he enjoys the freedom that his miraculous powers and secret identity gives him, and uses it as a means of escape from the regular constraints of his life and obligations. then in kuro neko when ladybug slights him, she denies him the fulfilment and satisfaction in reaching his full potential as chat noir (e.g., being of equal importance on the team as her) that he should be allowed. of course he becomes hurt and angry! she's stepping on his core desire in life.

according to enneagram coach dr. tom lahue (my favorite enneagram guy ((also a 7)), "type 7's typically deal with anger by trying to avoid it or deflect it. that really is the anger type of a 7 - deflective. deflecting things away." that's what i believe cat walker is: a stress reaction, a deflection of his anger with ladybug. he deflects his painful emotions into something he thinks is positive; a new start.

adrien is usually so joyful and optimistic, but this was a huge blow for him. dr. tom says the best way for a 7 to handle this anger is to be "real and genuine" when coming to terms with it, what does adrien do instead? he turns to a new alter ego. he chases the experience of fulfillment, only he does so by adopting a persona who is serious and perfectionist. obviously this was neither what adrien or ladybug needed, and that is because cat walker is a stress reaction who adrien cannot sustain without continued levels of unhealthy self-denial. this is the hardest he has gone to 1 in the show and what it took to snap him out of it was a level of reflection, analysis, and objectivity (that this was an unhealthy behavior) indicative of a type 5 - and which shows his progression to growth.

2. aspik

one can argue that aspik is more proof of adrien being a 2 than a 7 actually, as his motivations for becoming aspik were to woo ladybug. however, the stress response of a type 2 is to move to the negative qualities of type 8, which is to lash out at those who they believe have taken them for granted.

according to the enneagram institute,

"Average to unhealthy Twos seek validation of their worth by obeying their superego’s demands to sacrifice themselves for others. They believe they must always put others first and be loving and unselfish if they want to get love. The problem is that “putting others first” makes Twos secretly angry and resentful, feelings they work hard to repress or deny. Nevertheless, they eventually erupt in various ways, disrupting Twos’ relationships and revealing the inauthenticity of many of the average to unhealthy Two’s claims about themselves and the depth of their “love.”

as aspik, adrien was never resentful of ladybug for taking him for granted or making him feel rejected. as aspik, his goal was never to make himself needed by her. as aspik, he maintained some extreme levels of optimism that ignored the rational conclusion that he should give up for several thousand time loops. as aspik, he was able to let go and displace his hopes in himself to someone else - and run off to his responsibility as chat noir with high spirits (though i'm sure the ladrien kiss helped)

3. griffe noire

this has got to be the most stressful stress reaction i've seen on adrien. and you might say "but wackus he looks nothing like a type 1" and i say "JUST HOLD ON

going back to dr. tom's analysis on type 7's in anger, he says, "7's typically express their anger indirectly, e.g., through sarcasm, like 5's - like 6's sometimes... but they quickly try to move on and reframe into a more positive way." griffe noire, rather than telling jokes and puns to lighten the mood, mocks and ridicules poor toxinelle who has not convinced me she doesn't have a crush on him. 1's actually do the same thing when they are unhealthy; they criticize and blame and nag others for not being up to par, and by directing his anger at his situation onto toxinelle, griffe noire is doing the same.

dr tom goes on to say, "in some cases [7's] might take impulsive actions to try to free themselves from this feeling of being trapped... engaging in frenetic escapism in behaviors or addictions or substances to try to distance themselves from those who are frustrated with them... or their own anger/pain in life." we have seen griffe noire engage in multiple frenetic behaviors while running amok (haha), all of which are clearly attempts to redirect his pain and anger/ keep it from consuming him. for example, griffe noire takes chat noir's cataclysm to the chest as though it's a game. for another, he openly threatens to destroy the entire world with his super cataclysm. and of course, he is constantly abusing his miraculous by over-exerting his powers in a way only adults should. yet all of these destructive behaviors are still adrien's way of escaping his normal life, and his everyday pain. it's almost like his self-destruction is his addiction.

and yet by the end, it took the introspection of type 5 for griffe noire to realize that his behavior was unhealthy. he observed, he listened, he showed an inquisitiveness that brought him back from the brink. and he also upgraded his outfit so if that isn't a type 7 path to growth i don't know what is!

now i know i won't have convinced everybody, so i just want to drop this section from the enneagram institute's text on misidentifying 2's and 7's:

Although both types are gregarious and enjoy being with people, their interpersonal styles are noticeably different. The Two... would like to be the heart and soul of a family or community, the best friend or confidant everyone comes to for attention, advice, and approval. Twos want to be significant to others and on intimate terms with them, although sometimes they go too far, meddling too much and being too solicitous to make sure they are needed.

adrien is not focused on being needed by anybody, not even ladybug (although due to his romantic interest in her, i can understand why people think so). being the heart and soul of the team is not what motivates him; primarily, i think he just likes having all the experiences he wouldn't otherwise get to have without being chat noir.

By contrast... Sevens do not see themselves as the center of a community or family, but as members of a free-floating band of fellow adventurers whose own enjoyment is enhanced by being with others.... Sevens may thus exhibit a certain generosity, although their motives may well have less to do with helping needier friends than with making sure that they themselves have a good time by having others around.

this isn't to say that adrien is just focused on having a "good time." i see that his enjoyment is amplified when he is surrounded by people he loves and cares for. he is motivated to have good experiences, and be fulfilled by trying everything, and becoming close to people and forming loving relationships is just a happy byproduct of that.

now there ARE several caveats to my analysis which provide potential arguments against typing adrien as a 7 - and which i can touch on briefly before i close:

adrien's abuse: i understand that trauma and anxiety can affect personality deeply. i'm not qualified to speak on this, or on how it should or shouldn't affect any personality type. i can only say that i think adrien has acted pretty consistently under stress as far as the show depicts

inconsistent characterization: i think we can all agree that ml won't be winning any awards for its consistency in characterization. which i know sounds contradictory to what i just said about how it depicts adrien under stress, but i think there IS a lot of discrepancy in this show and over the course of 9 years with different teams of writers all trying to execute one person's vision, inconsistencies are bound to happen.

thank you again for the ask, anon, and thank YOU if you have read all the way through! tell me your thoughts, if you make it down here - whether you agree/disagree or are just nodding along and letting me indulge in my enneagram brainrot! this is an entirely in-good-faith interpretation of mine, and i'd love to see other opinions if you have them!

[comics-and-fanworks]

ML Career Choice Part 2!

@marsrize 

Is this how you tag people I have no idea what I’m doing.

~~~~~~~~

Turns out when you yell at someone in a café demanding they fix a mess they didn’t cause people are likely to record it. Especially if you happen to be a model who just fell from grace and are yelling at a soon-to-be Mrs. Todd-Wayne. Gotham was a mix of emotions, mostly elated that their power couple would be getting married, surprise that the woman who’s helped redesign and rebuild major cities is a major force of fashion, and fury at just what she had to go through. Adrien made the mistake of messing with someone who Gothamites considered one of their own, and Gotham was determined to make sure Marinette would get a chance to tell her side of the story. Vicky Vale had her booked on her talk show that very night, under the guise of discussing a way for the city to reduce its smog levels. 

Marinette and Jason were sitting next to each other smiling as Marinette proudly discussed ways to make Gotham’s air cleaner, Vicky began her real interview. “Marinette, I hate to spring this on you so suddenly, but I’m sure you’ve seen the video of ex-model Adrien Agreste harassing you and your fiancé- congratulations by the way- He mentioned something about fashion?” Marinette sighed, and Jason squeezed her hand in comfort, “When I was younger, it was my dream to be a fashion designer. I had, and still have a few big name clients like Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, and the Wayne family now that I’m marrying into it. I had even caught the attention of some big names like Gabriel Agreste and the Style Queen, I thought everything was going so well, until Lila Rossi came along.” Jason leaned over and pulled Marinette into a side hug, gently rubbing her shoulder. Mari took a deep breath and continued, “She began lying about anything and everything, and I didn’t believe her, she somehow got into Gabriel’s good graces and began spreading all these lies about me. Saying I stole my designs, I had other people do the work for me, all kinds of things that didn’t really make sense. It was one of the many things she did to me. I don’t know how she convinced him, but she got Adrien to back her up. The worst part is, he knew all along that she was lying, but helped her ruin my reputation and get me blacklisted from something I loved!” 

At this point, Marinette was in tears, so Vicky cut to a commercial break while Jason tried to comfort his fiancee. Eventually they both agreed it would be best if Jason handled the rest of the interview. When the live feed returned, Vicky decided to lighten the mood by asking about his engagement, “So Jason, is there anything you can tell me about your upcoming wedding?”

“Well Vicky, can I start off with saying how excited I am? I met Marinette when she had just moved to Gotham. It sounds crazy, but we were actually in a hostage situation and I got to watch Little Ms. Magic macgyver her way out of it, and that was the moment I knew she was the one. I won’t say much about our wedding, the ceremony’s going to be a private affair, but the reception is going to be quite the party. Everyone who’s Anyone will be there, Mari did make a lot of connections through her work as an engineer. Name a country and I promise she knows someone there.”

Needless to say Marinette’s former tormenters were shocked when they did not recieve an invitation, mostly because Adrien had assured Lila and his father that Marinette would definitely invite them. Even though Lila still despised Marinette, but she admitted that her rival was well connected and with her reentry into the fashion world, her empire was only growing. If Lila could make a show of apologizing to Marinette, she could potentially save her career, and hopefully eventually worm her way into the multi-talented woman’s good graces. Gabriel wanted to attend in order to try and save his company’s reputation and smooth things over. It looked bad enough when he blacklisted a child, but now that it was exposed that he did so on lies and didn’t even attempt to confirm them it looked even worse. He hoped that by the end of the evening he could make a few new famous clients (who were fighting tooth and nail for the very limited commission spots Marinette opened) and announcing a partnership between himself and Marinette.

Adrien wanted to go because he was convinced he could convince Marinette to leave Gotham to return to France and restore the status quo. None of his old friends were speaking to him, after finding out that he knew Lila was lying and helped ruin Marinette’s future. Many of them reached out to her to apologize, and in the months leading up to the wedding were able to repair their bonds with her. Adrien was confused, why should they apologize when in his mind Marinette was in the wrong for attempting to expose Lila as a liar? It didn’t help that Ladybug was giving him the cold shoulder as well, he thought she would see it how he wanted her to, but apparently not. To add insult to injury, she got an invitation while Chat Noir did not. 

The three of them decided to crash the reception, mostly because they were confident that they wouldn’t get kicked out. They still remembered Marinette as a people-pleasing pushover, so they figured that even if they did get caught they’d be fine. What they didn’t know, is that the Wayne family runs a secret side business, in which they teach future family members confidence, raise their self-esteem, and other healthy life skills, and Marinette had happily taken those classes. When they arrive, Adrien darts off to find Marinette, Lila and Gabriel try to do damage control. It’s not long before they’re being thrown out by security and a VERY pissed preteen with a katana. The Wayne lawyers were truly in a different level of their own, because by the time the terrible trio got back to their hotel, they were served with restraining orders.

Life was going well for Marinette, it was great actually. She was head of Wayne Engineering and working on starting up Wayne Fashions. Marinette was even asked to join a board of engineers, architects, and designers on ways to further protect people and buildings from magical and nonmagical threats, when her phone began to ring.

“Mari! An earthquake just hit Gotham! The government is withdrawing all aid! They’re not going to rebuild the City. Little Ms. Magic I don’t know what-”

“I’m coming! Tell your dad he better be ready to reach deep into his pockets. They may have abandoned Gotham, but we haven’t, and we never will.”

[galahadwilder]

Marry Me AU

Look, I liked the webcomic way back when, but I loved the movie. It’s been rent-free in my head all day. Sue me.

*

Marinette is a chronically single up-and-coming designer who had an extra ticket to fashion week after Alya had to back out. She’s not a particular fan of Gabriel designs, and she knows very little about his son except that he’s the guy from the perfume ads and he’s friends with the girl who used to bully her in middle school. Her school friend Wayhem, however, is obsessed with Adrien, and when he found out she had a spare ticket and nobody to go with (Zoe already has a ticket and will be meeting her there) he begs her to let him come and also to go to the Gabriel show with him.

Adrien Agreste is a full-time model who has never really had any control over his life. Everything he does is dictated by his father and his brand team. He’s been told that he will be marrying Chloé Bourgeois to unify the two fashion empires, but he’s really not looking forward to it because Chloé is kind of awful. But he can’t go against his father.

After Marinette finishes a rather successful show, she sets in to enjoy the rest of fashion week, with the singular exception of suffering through the Gabriel show. Wayhem brings a “Marry Me” sign to Adrien’s catwalk run, which—while bizarre—Marinette can’t exactly fault him for given that she did something similar for the Clara Nightingale concert back in 8th grade.

Wayhem and Zoe, who should not have been allowed to meet, spend most of the Gabriel show talking to each other, since Wayhem has finally met someone who actually personally knows Adrien Agreste and has kind of gone feral. Zoe insists he’s actually really nice. Marinette could not give a single crap. Dude’s Chloé’s fiancé. He sucks.

Adrien comes out on the catwalk, and Wayhem hands Marinette the sign so he can take out his phone and start filming.

Partway down his walk, Adrien stops.

His entire life has been managed, set, staged by other people. If he marries Chloé, it’s going to keep being like that—he’s never going to get the chance to make his own decisions, just living the life other people tell him to live. He’s staring into the faces of this crowd, into the face of a life he’s never wanted… and has a full-on mental breakdown.

He sees the girl in the second row—she’s beautiful, one part of his mind notices—holding up a sign that says Marry Me. And before he knows it, he’s making the first decision for himself that he’s ever made—he’s pointing at her, telling her, yes. Yes I will marry you.

Wayhem is screaming. Zoe is screaming. They both bundle a confused and terrified Marinette onto the catwalk, and since Zoe got ordained for the Kitty Section Julerose Wedding Concert she’s able to officiate right there and then. Marinette’s too caught up in the moment to say anything—and then she sees the sadness in Adrien’s eyes, and how excited he seems to be at the prospect of doing this, and she can’t bring herself to say anything other than “I do” when Zoe asks.

The wedding isn’t, technically speaking, legal. But in the eyes of the public… well. The Adrien Agreste just grabbed some nobody out of a crowd at random and married her onstage instead of his glamorous and wealthy fiancée. It’s all anyone in Paris is talking about.

And Marinette is starting to realize that this sad, kind, and—oh yeah, sculpted-out-of-marble hot boy may actually be just the kind of guy she’d given up on looking for…

[airi-p4]

It should have been me!

Hi! I wrote this short Adrien salt + Lukanette endgame fic a while ago. Enjoy?

Summary

Ladybug was mad, ENRAGED. 

Yet- how come Chat Noir was the one akumatized instead, when everything was HIS FAULT? It should be her!

AO3

____________________________________

This was so wrong!!

She should have been akumatized instead of him!

He was the one who deceived her! 

And now Chat noir- Chat Blanc- was walking around trying to destroy her. And she, Ladybug, ran, jumping on the roofs of the Parisian buildings, and dodging destructive waves aiming for her.

So unfair!

___

It all started when Chat Noir finally stopped his flirting. 

"I understand you're not comfortable, so I'll stop. Besides, I'm in love with someone else now," he had said. 

Ladybug was grateful. Really grateful. He finally seemed to take his job seriously and their teamwork improved. It was nice to see that he changed.

Now, she didn't have to roll her eyes at unsolicited advances or for not going on dates she never agreed to. Everything stood professional. 

Until that night. 

All because she had let her guard down and allowed her excited Marinette self say too much. How could she have imagined that…

"You look happy tonight, Ladybug" Chat Noir hummed. "Did something good happen?"

"Yes. Very good" she smiled widely. 

"Oh? What is it?"

"I don't know if I should tell you, but I'm so excited and-"

"Oh?" He smiled and leaned his head to the side, showing curiosity. He imagined that she may have been accepted to her dream university as she mentioned before, but he was eager for her to tell him. 

Until he actually heard it. It wasn’t what he had expected.

"I have a boyfriend," she confessed. "We've been close friends for a long time and I still can't believe we feel the same! He's amazing and the most caring boy I've ever met. I’m so happy! I love him very much!" She squealed.

And that's what unleashed the storm.

"No!" Chat Noir stood up aggressively. "You can't have a boyfriend! You're supposed to be with ME! We're meant for each other! I even restrained myself from telling you how much I love you or to kiss you because I know you like gentlemen and- you were supposed to fall for me! I worked so hard to impress you and try to get your attention!"

“What…?” She couldn't register what he was saying immediately, but when she did she couldn’t help but feel betrayed. "Are you saying… That everything until now was an act…? You were just pretending? I trusted you!"

The betrayal was too much to bear. And yet- he was the one getting akumatized? Again. For his selfishness and for not listening to her, as usual.

She was enraged. Hell! She should have been the akuma, not him!

But now - She needed help. All the help she could get.

The fox, the turtle, the ox, the mouse, the dog, the dragon, the snake, the rabbit...

And after a few second chances, they finally defeated the akuma and a purified butterfly flew away. Magical ladybugs did the rest to fix the massive damage caused by Chat Blanc- Chat Noir-, Paris’ former superhero after the events. 

"No… M'lady…" he begged, but he could only watch as she walked away, leaving a trail of tears as she left Adrien Agreste sobbing on his own.

___

"I can't believe it!" Marinette cried, secure in her boyfriend's arms. "All this time-! I thought he was finally maturing, becoming more professional- I really trusted him!"

Luka hummed and rubbed her back. He did wonders calming her down. How many times could have she been akumatized if it wasn't for him?

"And he was Adrien all this time… I can't believe I was so blind! I thought he was sweet, innocent and caring… I even called him perfect a few times, damn it!" She yelled in Luka's chest. "But no! He is none of those things! He's just selfish, disrespectful and irresponsible! I thought we were partners! I thought he would be happy for me when I told him about you!" She groaned. "Hell- he even congratulated us when I had the mask off! You figured out my identity on your own, without magic, just because you care about me…" she took a moment to look at Luka, her hand cupping his face softly and he hummed happily at the contact. She let her hands descend to his chest level, gripping his jacket, and sighed. "Chat, on the other hand, couldn't tell us apart despite his claims of being 'in love'. Ugh, what a joke…"

"You couldn't have known. You did the best you could, melody" Luka kept caressing her back in support. 

"And he still got akumatized!" Marinette roared. "He completely betrayed my trust, Paris’ trust, our partnership! And still got offended because I have a boyfriend that makes me happy! Heck- I really should have been the one akumatized, not him!"

"Don't say that… I don't want you to get akumatized... Ever" 

"I know…" She softened a bit at that. "But I'm so mad, Luka! I want to scream, to curse, to set a freaking dumpster on fire!" He groaned. "Maybe with a bit of luck his photos that used to be in my room are still there and I can kill two birds with one stone!"  

That made Luka giggle. "Didn't you throw them out a long time ago?"

"I did! And I made sure not a single one of them remained! But now I wish there were still some so I could burn them to ashes!" She growled.

"You're funny even when you're rightfully angry," Luka laughed.

"I am rightfully angry! Very rightfully!" She pouted proudly and he chuckled. Cute. A moment later she blushed happily when he kissed her cheek.

"What are you going to do now? With the ring, I mean" he asked.

"I need to talk to Plagg first. Figure things out. And then, I think I'm going to keep the ring inside the box"

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I hope I can count on you if it ever becomes indispensable." She leaned in to give her boyfriend a kiss on his cheek.

"You can always count on me, Marinette. You know that" he smiled tenderly. "Especially if you ask me like this" 

He leaned in to kiss her cheek and she giggled. Music to his ears. 

"Thank you, Luka. I love you. You're the best boyfriend I could ever ask for. I'm so lucky" She kissed his lips, making herself comfortable in his lap. 

Fin

[awriterbutnot]

What if Marinette had a Retired Police Dog as a Pet

Masterlist Part 2

It's been 2 years since Lila came back to class and she has successfully turned all of Marinette's classmates against her.

Her crush on Adrien has officially fizzled out thanks to him doing absolutely nothing to stand by her as he once promised.

She couldn't even turn to Chat because of his increasingly bad attitude towards her whenever she rejects him.

He's not even showing up to half the akuma attacks anymore.

It's a good thing the attacks are becoming more spaced out

But the akumas seem to be stronger the more time that passes between attacks

On the bright side with all her new free time she was able to work more on her designs which has lead to more projects with Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale

Her parents noticing that their daughter who was once full of sunshine was getting duller by the day

So, they decided to try something crazy to cheer her up

That weekend they made their way to their local animal shelter

Marinette didn't know what to expect when her parents said they had a surprise for her, but she was certainly not expecting the animal shelter

Her life has gotten really lonely lately

She usually would just hang out with Luka and Kagami her best friends, but they've been busy with their own activities and career building

So, when she saw the animal shelter she got pretty excited

Marinette: Really?!

Tom: Really, you can get any animal you want

Tom and Sabrine were expecting her to get a cat or maybe one of the rodents that people dropped who didn't realized how much work they were.

But instead to choose a scary looking germen shepherd that way laying in the corner

Marinette couldn't explain it, but she just felt drawn to this dog

He seemed just as sad and lonely as she was

Marinette slowly approached the giant dog

Marinette: Hey there buddy

The dog just raised his head and gave her an unimpressed look before laying his head back down

Marinette: I guess you've been here a while huh? I've been alone for a while too, but maybe we can be alone together?

The germen shepherd looked at this funny little girl that's sitting next to him, not many people even bothered giving him a second look.

They mostly just want to see the puppies the older dogs rarely get adopted, and he wasn't sure he wanted a human not after what happened to his last partner

But looking into this girls eyes, he saw something in them that was similar to his own

She has been through some stuff, just like him

So even though he may not have wanted a human, but it looks like he has one now

He gave the girl a lick on the cheek to show that he wanted to be her dog

Marinette giving the dog a big hug: I'll take that as a yes

Tom and Sabine could see the writing on the wall, Marinette has found her dog and he's huge

Sabine waved down an employee to let them know they g=found the dog they wanted

Employee: Oh are you sure? That's Captain, he was a police dog

Tom: Was? What happened?

Employee: He was on the force for 2 years before he lost his partner in a drug bust gone wrong. After that he kind of just shut down, he wouldn't work with any other officers, and nobody would take him, so he ended up here

Tom and Sabine were a bit worried after hearing that, but hearing their daughter laugh as Captain plopped down on her lap washed away all their worries

Tom and Sabine: We'll take him

Captain's bond with Marinette only grew since that day

They did everything they could together

He would even wait for her outside of school for her to be done

Tom even put a doggy door in so that Captain can pick up Marinette from school

He also had a dog bed in the bakery to hang out while waiting for Marinette

Marinette would make him tons of bandanas

Each of them different

A lot of them are police themed

His favorite is a black bandana with a yellow sheriff's badge on it but instead of saying sheriff it says Captain

Captain enjoys just laying on Marinette's lap as she sews and designs new clothes

he can always tell when Marinette is down, and would give her a kiss to cheer her up

Captain has tons of toys

he loves squeaky toys and hard toys

He does have a few plush toys but he is a known toy destroyer when it comes to them

Kagami and Luka love him

he tolerates them in return

They make his girl happy so they're okay in his book

Captain loves Tikki though and vice versa

Tikki loves cuddling on top of him and Captain enjoys her belly rubs

She also sneaks him treats when Marinette isn't looking

The class also knows about Captain, but they don't like him because he growled at Lila once

Captain can tell a bad person when he sees one he spent his whole puppy hood learning to do that.

He also really doesn’t like Adrien

A year and a couple of months after Marinette and Captain found each other Marinette’s class was chosen to take a class trip to Gotham

They’ll be there 2 weeks at the end of the school year so that they wouldn’t miss much work

Marinette was so excited

She gave Luka and Kagami their miraculous to hold for the 2 weeks while she was gone just in case an akuma shows up, but that would be unlikely considering there was an attack just the weekend before she left

The only downside is that she couldn’t take Captain with her

They really haven’t been separated from her for more than a couple of hours apart, and he is super protective of her so that might stress him out if she just wasn’t there one day.

It was decided that Captain would come with her parents to say goodbye at the airport

Captain knew what was going on

They were sending away his girl for who knows how long, and he wouldn’t be there to protect her.

Well Captain wasn’t having it. His girl isn’t going anywhere without him

While Tom and Sabine were distracted he slipped out of his collar (keeping his favorite bandana on) and slipped onto the plane with the TSA agent that was walking on the plane.

He made sure to stay close enough to make it look like he was with the agent but far away enough that the agent didn’t notice him.

After he hid under the table in the back of the plane

Captain didn’t make his presence know until 2 hours into the flight

If asked he would say it was his plan so they couldn’t turn around and take him off the plane but in reality he fell asleep back there and just woke up at the time.

There was chaos when Captain came out

The class was not happy and Lila was crying about how Marinette was just looking for attention and snuck her dog on the plane

Marinette: He’s more than half my size how exactly would I be able to sneak him on the plane? How did nobody notice a big random dog on board?

The flight staff feeling a bit embarrassed about being called out on such a big mistake decided to leave it there for now, and luckily for Marinette she had an open seat by her that Captain could sit on.

Once they landed Marinette had to be held back at customs the make sure Captain wouldn’t cause a plague to any dog he met while there

One of the teachers stayed behind with her so she wouldn’t be alone at the airport in a foreign country.

After 2 hours and a fax from her parents, and a bathroom break for poor Captain she and Captain was free to go, but thanks to the hold up Marinette missed not only the group dinner they were going to have but was also forced into a room by herself cutting herself off from her classmates even more.

After Marinette had everything unpacked, she found her teacher and asked if she could go to a nearby pet store so that she could

pick up stuff that Captain needed.

Though Marinette didn't know that her asking that would change her life forever

[libellule-saphique]

Miraculous Season 5: Luka & Kagami's Wasted Potential

If this show wasn't already bad enough.........

Like everything else, it disappoints me that the writers of this show are lazy when it comes to additional character development essentially in the love rivals

but who am I kidding? I knew what to expect when Thomas quite literally said Gabriel was redeemable after torturing all of Paris for years simply because he wants his wife back actively neglecting & abusing his son in the process while in the same breath saying Chloe is beyond redemption and she's a teenage girl who's dad couldn't give a rat's ass about her and spoils her crazy to get her off his back 24/7 and her mom who wants nothing to do with her verbally & mentally abuses her with the only real people who like her to the slightest and tolerate her are Sabrina and Armand who's practically her butler. The double comparison and double standard is wild but nonetheless not surprising seeing how the show's narrative is already bias when it comes down to Adrien & Marinette's character treatment. (the misogyny and racism is loud as hell)

Season 4 of Miraculous was already beginning to go downhill and season 5 simply added icing on the cake. To be honest I was partly excited to see the relationship dynamic within the love rival relationships, Lukanette & Adrigami at the start of season 4 because it was different from the repetitive love square and we got to see our two main leads interact with other characters in a romantic light other than themselves only to end before they could really start. It was a slap in the face and a huge cut from some possible major character development and love square progress. But the writers are so afraid of change and cant manage to make a good progressive storyline and felt that Luka & Kagami were too much of a threat to their Love Square that could've heavily improved because of them in the first place. Some episodes could've been focused on friendships between the love rivals and Marinette & Adrien. But ofc we get the same monotonous plotline mid season 3 to the beginning of season 4 Adrien & Kagami spend more time together, Marinette is conflicted and overwhelmed with feelings, Luka is there for emotional support (which felt like his sole purpose in earlier episodes even until now) Kagami is constantly frustrated by Adrien's indecisiveness, passiveness, and hesitance, etc, etc whatever and it continues all until they break up.

Then out of the wood works, we get Adrien realizing he has feelings for Marinette despite her being quote on quote "just a friend" 3-4 seasons straight. Despite. Marinette putting a hold on relationships ever since Lukanette's breakup and the fact that Monarch is still on the prowl and her responsibilities as a hero, because lets be honest if Ladybug/Marinette doesn't tend to Paris & Monarch no one else will, (Chat Noir definitely won't) the writers still say "hey lets tend to and coddle Adrien's feelings bc now he likes her more than "just a friend" and it doesn't matter how Marinette feels, doesn't matter if she's not ready for a relationship even though she's made that clear on multiple occasions after her and Luka's breakup bc at the end of day what we learn is what we already know "Adrien's feelings are more important than Marinette's overall treatment as the female protagonist and discomfort."

And what do you ask happens to the love rivals? Of course! the writers have to find a way to string them away from the complicated love square

Instead we get Luka shipped off with his dad on a world tour and Kagami paired with Felix (which........also doesn't feel right and for what reason did this have to happen?) Felix is the same guy who quite literally SH Ladybug, but ok? the writers feel like it makes sense to pair Kagami with this guy? She seems to like him for the same reasons her and Adrien's relationship took so long to work out in the first place. I don't even know what she saw in him, he's so bland, so passive, and everyone characterizes him as a "perfect cinnamon catboy who's abused and needs emotional support leaning on our main female lead who's not responsible for his baggage at all but hey! Everything is Marinette's responsibility after all right? They decide to give Felix more purpose in the show as Felix's a more assertive, serious, proactive version of Adrien and that's exactly what Kagami's looking for but I honestly think that it's a cop out for the possible unresolved feelings she had/has for Adrien (though he doesn't deserve her anyway) . It's like the show's message when it comes to romance and love is the only way to be genuinely happy is in a relationship which is so beyond fucked up, and its a overall bad message to kids and teens, no one in the show learns to love themselves and learn themselves first, Kagami would be simply fine without any relationship I can say the same for many other characters especially Marinette & Adrien. Why are romantic relationships needed to began with?

Season 5 is a prime example of the garbage dump Miraculous has become over the years and the poor writing decisions the writers have made.

[mlbigbang]

2022 Marichat Fic Rec List

It's the end of the year which means it's finally time for the ML Big Bang's yearly fic rec lists! We're really excited to bring you our contributors' favourite fics from this year to supply you with plenty of reading material while you're waiting for the Big Bang fics' publication in January.

Asking the important questions by @ultrakart 1,397 words, General, 1/1 chapter

After having returned home from Shanghai, Marinette and Chat Noir have some important questions for each other.

"Platonic Marichat shenanigans, resoundingly reminiscent of canon in the absolute best way."

final girl by @picayunearts 41,310 words, Teen, 10/10 chapters

Marinette has ninety-nine problems, and the superhero trio of Paris counts for a hundred. [AU where Marinette follows through on giving up her earrings after Stoneheart, but becomes the Guardian to protect her replacement.]

"This one floored me. Characterization is on point. I love the premise of Marinette giving up the miraculous and being guardian. Wonderfully executed in my opinion. And the writing. THE WRITING. :chefskiss:"

"Another amazing au. I love the take on "Marinette gives up on being Ladybug" and teh way it's written is chef's kiss."

Everything's Not Fine by @flightfoot 976 words, Teen, 1/1 chapter

"Why’s mother down here? What- what is this?” “Still committing to the bit?” Gabriel snorted. “Really now, I thought you were smarter than that. Adrien was compelled to obey the order Nathalie gave via his amok - you would not have been.” “My WHAT?!” -------------- After the events of Risk, Adrien makes his way down to his father's secret lair. Gabriel catches him. Unfortunately, he cares even less about Felix than he does about Adrien.

"An alternative follow-up to 'Strike Back' that packs twist after twist after twist into a very short space, leaving you a little breathless as you read it and sorry that it didn't happen this way in the show."

The Dating App by leadernovaandthemacabre 14,960 words, Teen, 1/1 chapter

Chat Noir and Marinette cross paths on Paris’ newest dating app and keep crossing paths until secrets slip. - [MDC]: why are you here [OfficialChatNoir]: we matched! shall we go out for sweethearts ice cream? [MDC]: i’m blocking you [OfficialChatNoir]: wait wait marinette wait *[MDC] has blocked you*

"I loved the bonding between these too and how naturally everything flowed and how open they became with each other and aaaaa"

NSFW works

Patient is the night by @mostlymoony 72,243 words, Mature, 31/31 chapters

Beware the Cat Knight, he demands a price For this fallen prince, gold shall not suffice Fear the Cat Knight, as he trades life for life Cry pretty girls, for the cat needs a wife. When Marinette's small farming town is attacked by Hawkmoth's army of night creatures, Marinette rides for the dread Butterfly Castle, seeking aid from the mysterious Black Cat Knight and his band of masked fighters. She's determined to save her town, even if that means handing herself over to a strange man with wild, green eyes and a penchant for cat-related puns. There will be smut, and this is my first time writing smut. I'm so sorry.

"Such a good gothic romance/fairy tale vibe to it and I just found the plot/progression very enjoyable. The magic and world building is unique and vague enough to make it important but not overwhelming. They also made some great artwork for it!"

Pink Really is Your Color by @inkmousey 2,811 words, Explicit, 1/1 chapter

Marinette really hates that dumb Cat. Until he's pressing her against a wall and making her forget Adrien Agreste ever existed.

"It's amazing!!! So very amazing and it has a great dynamic that's great for Marichat!"

I’d Never Forget About You by @inkmousey 3,400 words, Explicit, 1/1 chapter

Adrien thinks everyone forgot about him on his birthday, and by everyone— he means the only person who ever remembers it anyway, Marinette.

"MariBlanc is such an interesting pairing and the fic handles them so amazingly!!!"

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Wait, is it true the writers said Marinette and Gabriel are meant to represent individual creative spirit versus corporate greed?

Taken from the writer's commentary on the final two episodes

In the next scene, we can see Marinette taking the miraculous that have been standardised and industrialised by Gabriel and putting them back in shape. The writers specify that this is a parabole about craftsmanship vs industrial production. The miraculous will now be adapted to every person, but we can’t see what they look like just yet! In this new world, the powers are all shared, among people who they trust and know will work for the common good. They joke that the "Avengers" shot at the end with all the heroes is something they’d been dreaming of.

There's also that bit from her confrontation with Gabriel where he randomly acts like he's The God of Fashion (taken from S5E20):

Gabriel: I don't think you understand, child, so let me put things differently. Life is like fashion. You think you have a choice, but all you have is the illusion of choice. And I decide what choices are given to you. Marinette: You're wrong! (Shows Gabriel her sketchbook.) Fashion is about listening to people, it's about understanding who they are, what excites them and creating the clothes that will help them express their inner world. Help them connect with others and make their dreams come true. Gabriel:(Laughs and takes her sketchbook, then browses its pages.) No, that's not fashion. That's making dresses for your dolls. Fashion is a product, a marketing strategy, an industry that relies on uninterrupted trend renewal that forces you to either throw away everything you have and buy more or, worse, to be out of fashion. Thanks to the clothes I create, the celebrities who wear them, the advertisements I design and the Alliance rings that broadcast them, I create an idyllic vision. A perfection that everyone aspires to achieve, while keeping it just out of their grasp. You finally understand the difference, don't you? You listen to people's desires and create what they want. Somehow, people make you. Whereas I create people's desires. They buy what I decide to buy. They think what I want them to think. I'm the one who makes people. You think you love Adrien, but you're just under the spell of this world I've created. A world where Adrien is the star, shining high above. A world where you're just part of the crowd below looking up at him. (Shuts the sketchbook.) That is why nothing can ever happen between you two.

So, yeah, this is apparently supposed to be them talking about some kind of central theme of individual creators vs mass production? The problem is that it basically comes out of nowhere. If the writers really wanted to have this be some sort of message, then they needed to establish this a lot sooner because Marinette has had no issues with his fashion company nor has anyone else.

An example of a way to do this would be to have Marinette win the hat competition in season one, Adrien models it in season two, and then give us a series of episodes where Marinette gets to learn about the production process for her hat. She gets to see it mass produced and then gets to learn how fast fashion works and, by the end, she's no longer a fan of the fashion industry even though she still loves fashion. It would be a much better environmental message then the nonsense we've been given, too.

But the show didn't give us anything like that. We've never seen a single Gabriel brand product save for the stuff Adrien wears and the alliance rings, which are phones more than fashion accessories, so it makes sense that they'd have a uniform look. Even if phones were made to order, you wouldn't see much variety in the base product save for color. The customization on a phone is the background and the alliance lets you customize your "background" (aka your Adrien, Lila, or Kagami) as we saw in Jubilation when Socqueline was showing off her alliance.

Side note: I realized that Jubilation takes place before I started writing mini episode reviews, so I wanted to make a quick note of how creepy it is that you can customize your alliance avatar given who the avatars are. Gabriel and Tomoe seriously took their 14-year-olds and told people of all ages to treat them like dolls, which is extra creepy given how many fans Adrien has. That has some messed up in-universe implications that make me shudder. What were the writers thinking?

[aalissy]

Future Plans

Day 17 is finished! I hope you like it!! I loveee getting to write fluffy post-relationship Adrienette teehee! They're my fave! Lemme know what you think <3

AO3

Adrien and Marinette sat on the rooftop of Marinette's building, watching the sun dip below the Paris skyline. The evening breeze tousled their hair as they curled up together on her lawn chair, watching the sky slowly begin to darken. Marinette tightened her arms around Adrien, cuddling him to her as the wind sent a shiver of goosebumps up against her arms.

"So, what do you see yourself doing in the next five years?" Adrien asked, tilting his head back to look up at her, his green eyes brimming with curiosity.

Marinette grinned, her gaze drifting off lazily to the Eiffel Tower in the distance. This question was certainly distracting her from the cold. "What is this, a job interview?" she giggled.

“Shut up!” Adrien laughed and she enjoyed the rumble against her chest. “I’m interested!”

Marinette nodded, a spark of humor in her eyes. "Well, you know me, I’m crazy about fashion. I hope to be able to get an internship somewhere in the future. Maybe nothing too big or fancy but just enough to get me started. And then, going past the five-year timeline, I’d like to be able to open my own boutique... start my own fashion line... it’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of doing." 

She finished her statement with a happy sigh, imagining the beauty of having her own fashion business. The idea of owning her own boutique one day seemed impossible but magical.  

"That sounds absolutely fantastic, Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed, turning to face her. "You know, we could collaborate on something together. Your designs plus my modeling skills could mean that we’d have the best fashion business in all of Paris."

Marinette laughed quietly before shaking her head. “I’m not going to force you to model for me, Adrien. I know you quit for a reason. It just wasn’t your dream.” 

“Yeah, but you’re my dream. I just want to be with you and if I could help you fulfill your wishes, that would mean the world to me.”

Marinette let out a soft cry before pulling Adrien up to her, crashing her lips to his in a passionate kiss. There was a pause for just a brief moment before he was kissing her back just as deeply. She ran her fingers through his hair as she deepened their kiss. This, right here, was everything to her.

“I love you,” Marinette murmured after she pulled back for some much-needed air. “So, so much. You have no idea how much that means to me, Adrien. You’ve been my dream too for a very long time now and I never thought I’d hear you say the same about me.”

“I love you too,” Adrien spoke breathily before connecting their lips together again. 

Slowly, they pulled apart, lingering in each other’s arms in the quiet of the evening. Adrien ran his fingers along her arms, warming her prior chill and her eyes fluttered closed at the touch. The city below seemed to slow down, giving them a peaceful moment amidst the bustling life of Paris.

"I can imagine us traveling together. When we’re older and are an incredible designer and model duo," Adrien mused, breaking the silence softly. "Exploring new places, experiencing different cultures. It would be incredible."

Marinette smiled, nestling herself back against the small lawn chair they were in and cuddling Adrien back to her chest. "Yeah, that really does sound amazing. We could visit fashion capitals, attend shows, and maybe even collaborate with designers from around the world."

The idea of blending their love for each other with their passion for fashion filled their hearts with excitement. They talked about attending fashion weeks in Milan, Paris, New York, and Tokyo, envisioning a future where their creations would grace runways and magazines.

"And imagine," Marinette added, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm, "we could create sustainable fashion lines, promoting eco-friendly practices and ethical production."

Adrien nodded in agreement, his eyes gleaming with admiration. "That's a fantastic idea. We could use our platform to inspire some more positive change in the industry."

As the night deepened, they wrapped themselves in a shared blanket, watching the stars twinkle above. The quiet moments between their conversations were filled with a comfortable silence, a testament to their deep connection.

"I'm so grateful for moments like these," Marinette said softly, pressing a kiss against the top of his head. "No matter where life takes us, I know we'll always have each other."

Adrien leaned into her embrace, feeling a profound sense of contentment. "I’m so glad I found you."

They stayed on the rooftop, lost in dreams of the future, cherishing the love that bound them together. In that peaceful night, under the starlit sky, Adrien and Marinette found solace in each other's arms, knowing that their journey was just beginning, filled with endless possibilities and shared adventures.

[wooawi]

my favourite thing to write has got to be perspective. specifically “making the good guy look like the bad guy and vice versa”.

Lila is a compulsive liar and a heartless manipulator? No, Lila Rossi was the new girl in Paris. Just another face in the endless wave of day to day tourism the city saw. She was nothing special, not really, and everything around her seemed to remind her of such. But, with a new arrival comes a new life, and she decided that this was her chance for a change. Something unique, something special.

All it took was a few well-placed lies. A whisper here, a mutter there. Just little things, things so extraordinary that people would rather stare in awe than fact check her, yet insignificant enough that if she was caught, it wouldn’t matter. She was ready, prepared to live this exciting facade she had restlessly created.

But, as with all things, it wasn’t enough. She wanted more, namely what the superheroes of Paris had. The two most beloved individuals in the whole city. She wanted a piece of it, wanted to be loved with even a fraction of the feverish fervour their fans showed them. Besides, who hasn’t lied at least once about a celebrity or two? Something small, something childish but still awe-inspiring.

“Ladybug saved my life once.” She dropped to the girl who ran the semi-famous Ladyblog. All she got was a nod and a smile. Lila gritted her teeth in a wide smile and thought hard. She needed something more. Perhaps…

“And then, well. We became best friends.” There! Those looks! The bright eyes and intrigue! The rapid fire questions and curious approaches! That’s exactly what she was looking for. Nothing could have brought her down, she had thought. Nothing could’ve popped her bubble of joy and brought her back down to Earth; Back to commonalty.

Well, nothing other than Ladybug herself.

Swooshing down from the bright sky too fast for Lila to see, too fast for Lila’s brain to form a proper plan, a way out, an escape route–

“Well hey Lila! How's it going? Long time no see. I saw your interview on the Ladyblog, awesome job!” …What? The Ladybug, hero of Paris and beloved celebrity, knew of Lila? Sardonic tone be damned, Lila was known! She hasn’t shifted into obscurity like she feared, and never would if Ladybug knew her! Oh goodness, she could’ve kissed the hero where she stood!

Her hands were reaching out, about to cut the hero short to salvage what she could and turn this glorious opportunity to her advantage, but Ladybug flinched away from her touch and narrowed her eyes derisively. Lila flinched in turn, her hands frozen in the air with realisation.

But, no. No way. Surely a celebrity wouldn’t waste their time calling out one overzealous fan… right?

“Oh sure!” The hero sneered, her nose scrunching in distaste. “I remember our instant connection when I saved your life and we've been really good friends ever since! Practically BFF's!” Yes exactly, now please, please, go away. Lila was practically begging in her mind. The allure was wearing off, the true horror of what this meant for the rest of her life here stamping itself into her mind. All she had to do was put one word in and get Ladybug to stop talking–

“Uh actually, when did I save your life again, Lila? I don't recall.” Shit, shit! Lila glanced at Adrien’s emerald gaze, his curious eyes soft yet accusing at the same time. Her own eyes stung, a familiar yet unwelcome emotion gathering in them.

“Oh yes! Of course, now I remember. Never! And we're not friends either! Miss Show-Off here was trying to impress you and everyone around her.”

Silence.

Ladybug’s speech had worked her up enough to heave the hero’s chest with unsung breaths, her cheeks flushed with anger. She stood waiting, her leg placed between Lila and Adrien on the bench, the divide palpable. Both of them, Adrien and Ladybug alike, kept their eyes on Lila as if the girl was an incompetent child on the verge of a tantrum. As if she going to lash out, to push back on a quest long failed and forgotten. Lila jerked her head away and squeezed her teary eyes shut.

Plip plop. The first two drops sank into her flimsy leggings leaving circular dark spots in their wake. Adrien gasped and Ladybug jolted hard enough for the motion to be felt across the bench. The clicking of a tongue could be heard.

“So I guess you aren't the descendant of a superhero either?” Lila didn’t dignify the ask with a response. Ladybug had aired out her dirtiest laundry in a fit of rage, for some reason known only to the hero, and Adrien had the audacity to push? One by one, her lofty ideals of Paris and its beloved were crumbling before her very watery eyes.

Ladybug scoffed when Lila didn’t reply. “She's more like a super liar.”

Yes, and? Lila wanted to say. It had never been a sore spot for her, her ability to weave falsehoods into palatable stories a thing of pride in her mind. And yet, Ladybug had managed to twist it into something to be looked down upon, something she should be ashamed of. Lila felt something hot and sickening unfurl in her chest.

“How dare you?” Lila wasn’t aware of the words escaping her mouth until she found herself staring up into Ladybug’s taken aback face. The brunette tried her hardest to glare through all the tears and snot, trying to make herself as intimidating as possible, trying to do something to avenge herself somehow. But…

But Ladybug rolled her eyes and turned away, her face changing to something softer once she was facing Adrien. With her back turned and Adrien staring back, mouth agape as if unsure what to say, Lila understood perfectly. She was left forgotten, discarded as an afterthought, as if she was nothing more than a bug squished beneath the hero’s shoes.

Lila choked on her half-formed words and gathered herself and the shattered pieces of her pride from the bench. Then, she walked away, her face scrunched and hands clenched.