#ladrien after season two has a right to say 'crumbs'

[rainbow-arrow]

it’s like. not a big deal but repeated reading how people are excited for protection bc of ‘marichat crumbs’ like!!!!!!!!!! those aren’t cRUMBS marichat has had full episodes and the first. remembered. on-screen kiss. it’s what, crumbs after eating the full cake? not a single iteration of the lovesquare can claim they’re only getting cRUMBS

i remember when words meant things.

[purrincess-chat]

X

I hear fans saying that ladrien sucks because canon doesn’t give us any crumbs but ummm hello? How is marichat the most popular ship then because marichat is also not very much prevalent in the show. Ladynoir and adrinette have always been the primary focus. And ladrien and marichat have been equally shown. Like in s1 we had evillustrator and Simon says and volpina, in s2 glaciator and befana and style queen and gorizilla, in s3 weredad and desperada, in s4 glaciator 2 and ephemeral and strike back. I think the only time ladrien got less than marichat was in s5 but even then there was deflagration. So I definitely don’t understand the narrative that ladrien is given less attention than marichat. It’s just that mc stans dgaf about canon and make outlandish claims.

(I think I submitted this ask before but I’m not sure it reached. So I’m sorry for ranting in your inbox twice.)

It did not reach me the first time (yay tumblr!) So good call. I was actually thinking after I responded to a previous ask recently about how people want Adrien and Marinette to breakup to restore balance, and my thought was: what balance? Because you're right the love square has never been "balanced" between the sides. LN and Adrinette always had the most screentime and development, and up until s4 MC actually had the least. Yet, it was the most popular ever since Evillustrator aired. It's only been in the last couple seasons that Ladrien has had less screentime than they had been getting (s4 and 5 didn't have a designated "ladrien" episode like prior seasons, I mean), but we still had some pretty big moments with them.

It's just always some people's excuse to shit on Ladrien because they see it as a threat to their favorite side because instead of recognizing that the love square is the same two people, they view each side as its own ship that's competing with the other 3. That's why the Ladrien tag gets filled with bullshit rankings and favorite ship polls because people don't understand what the love square is or how it operates. The sides aren't working against each other. They're all working in tandem toward one goal: an eventual post reveal relationship between the two where all sides converge and form a singular dynamic. But peoples response to Adrinette being canon just proves that people don't understand that. I think that's the most annoying part of it to me is that it so clearly demonstrates that people don't understand the show/this ship. Like it's one thing to be a bit bummed your favorite side wasn't the one that got to be canon official (and stick for longer than an episode) but it's another thing to claim the show is ruined, it's bad writing, bad for the characters, toxic, unfair, unhealthy, boring, etc.

Honestly, it's so wild to me how this fandom treats the requited sides of the square. Up until s5, people didn't like Ladrien because it was requited and "boring" and "they don't even have to try" and "all they do is blush and stammer" (which isn't even the Ladrien dynamic at all, but I digress) and now that Adrinette is canon I see those exact same arguments being flung. Interestingly, I saw posts after Elation aired from MC stans whining that MC is boring and "like Ladrien" now, and it honestly melted my brain a little. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the point of ships that they get together? Is that not what we want? I'd get it if it were some random background ship with no hope of ever coming to fruition but this is the flagship of the whole show. We are supposed to want them to like each other back and get together...

This fandom is a cesspool honestly. I see people hurt themselves in confusion every day about this ship. Ladrien has always gotten the short end of the stick in this fandom, for no real reason other than people are weird and lack the ability to comprehend the media they consume. It's annoying, but that's what the block button is for. 🤷‍♀️

[zoe-oneesama]

AAAAA WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE NEW EP (i screamed many times)

I really liked it! Alya really carried the whole thing, genius level planning in this one on her part! I have minor pet peeves, as per usual, but overall I had a fun time.

-I like that Marinette is getting more sleep on the weekends, lol, and that she can just show up at Alya's place and no one bats an eye. I even like the confirmation that Chat Blanc is a feature in her nightmares and something that she does still think about.

-I like that Nino's afraid of spiders, maybe it was established that he was already afraid of them in Anansi (I haven't watched it yet tbh) but if not it's a nice little continuity that he was effected by it in that way.

-I was cackling immediately when Shadowmoth started belaying his plan, which all hinged on Ladybug delivering to Alya a miraculous that she already had. Plus, I hate to get meta on ya Hawky, but if you explain your entire plan before the plan happens, that's media short hand for "this plan is going to go wrong".

-I liked that Adrien called out Nino's name first when he saw the news, and I liked that he also called out Marinette's. Just cute when they remember that he has friends and cares about them.

-Can't believe...but also totally believe that SM fell for the whole "I need to use the bathroom" ploy. Absolute child's play.

-Also I love all the comics that have come as a result of SM showing up to a fight with coffee. Please keep them coming, forever.

-Alya was a total boss in convincing SM that she's not getting her miraculous anymore. And I've always thought that the Fox is best when the enemy doesn't know they're there, so if Rena Rouge has to fight only in the shadows from now on, I support it.

-The Marichat (though not romantic) was peak. Him listening to Marinette after being so annoyed with being bossed around by Rena, him assuring her that they'll rescue her soon, her supporting his idea to head off Sentibubbler before he can expose Illusion-bug and out Rena's whole illusion. her trying to warn him about SM's attack, him lowkey trying to show off when he escaped the bubble the first time. I like Marichat best when it's friends having each other's back, so this watered my crops and cleared my skin. I am a simple woman of simple tastes and offer my Ladrien friends a hopeful prayer that you are next.

-I liked that Pegabug was only like 45 seconds, thank the Lord.

-I liked that Chat Noir saved Nino first and foremost (and uh left literally everyone else to Ladybug, thanks?) Still, bromance is bromance and I'll take my crumbs.

-I think (?) Chat Noir is over the Rena thing now? At least he's over Rena being on equal partnership as him with Ladybug, especially with how the Rocketear teaser is portraying their friendship as growing. That's not to say there's no possible angst to be had down the line if he finds out she's permanent or that She Knows.

Now the nitpicks:

-I don't love Alya's "Alya vision" but it's way better than how the "Adrien vision" looked.

-Also don't love Alya's fanny pack. Maybe if it was in a contrasting color? Or just solid? Why'd they make it the same pattern as her shirt but just...zoomed in?

-I get they're trying to ramp up the DJWifi drama for Rocketear (and possibly beyond) but I'm sorry Nino "Let's throw a city wide party for Boys Only and purposefully exclude and lie to the Girls about it because Guy Time is Guy Time" Lahiffe, were you bothered that Alya and Marinette wanted a little alone time to talk about something without you? Because I find it hard to feel to bad about that.

-Rena rushing through trying to give Chat Noir the right information making her be careless with her words while a bit frustrating is totally understandable. Also understandable is Chat Noir being angry about it because of how she worded it or because of the situation itself. But him destroying a piece of property in his anger is kinda frightening to me, especially when it's paired with him telling himself that the Miraculous Cure will fix it (implying that means it doesn't matter), which is just...eerily parroting things that I've had Scarlet Lady say, who if you recall, I'm portraying as The Worst(tm). So, that was less than fun.

-Pegabug has two hands, I do not understand how she didn't go for both the amok item and the butterfly broach (outside of the meta reason that the show might be over then). For sure she'll be kicking herself for that (and so will her detractors). And given how the Magic Charms and Senti[x]s have made akumas obsolete, I don't get why she couldn't have grabbed the Butterfly, but SM could get away with the Peacock and continue his terror that way. Them giving her a throw away Lucky Charm that didn't even assist in the fight at all combined with her only going for the coffee just doubles up on how contrived it feels.

-While I appreciate Chat Noir's turn around at the end of the episode, it does come out of no where. Maybe in order for this change to make a little more sense, Rena Rouge should've called him back when Illusion-bug left to be like "Okay, kit-kat, you're on now! We need you to make sure my illusion isn't found out, time for the two-person plan to become a three-person one!" At the same time, it is to Chat Noir's own credit that he realized what he needed to do on his own, so it's a bit of a mixed bag.

But uh I think that's it for now! One thing I've noticed in this season is that I feel the need to hold back on full salting because this is the first season that I feel like I need to wait until the next episode before I can complain about the current one because things are for once being continuous. I'm actually, like, pumped? For new episodes? Because they build off one another? Maybe they don't do it in the order I'd particularly like (why is Optigami and Sentibubbler so IN THE MIDDLE of the season when they should come almost right off the Season 3 finale, we seriously could've pushed Zoe and Su-han back to fit them in sooner) BUT they are building, and, I'm kinda excited for it!

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

What I love about each ship in the love square

I just really wanted to share what things attract me to each part and dynamic. If you don’t like the love square all power to you, ship whatever you want to ship, these are just my opinions.  

Adrienette 

Out of the four love square ships, I have to admit that this one is my least favorite. The dynamic just involves so much cringe. Especially in season 3 **ahem ahem** the statue scene. As the show progresses from season 2, Marinette’s awkwardness only appears to get worse and her stuttering and messing up of words is a little hard to hear. This all being said, this post is what I love about this ship, and what I love about Adrinette is mostly the way Adrien reacts to Marinette. He just has so much respect and patience for her and holds her in such high esteem. Both umbrella scenes are just **chef’s kiss**. I also really like the dancing scenes, the train scene, and their overall aesthetic. The fact that Marinette’s and Adrien’s clothes are inverted colors of each other’s is amazing. All in all it's a good ship for me even with all its cringe.

Ladrien

Though not my favorite ship in the square, I happen to think that this dynamic is critically underrated. Now, I am a sucker for mutual pining, especially when the two sides don’t know that it’s mutual, and that is literally Ladrien. With rare exception Ladrien scenes are really cute and sweet. They might not have the banter and complete transparency that some of the other ships have, but are a softer, more lovey-dovey side to the love square. The benefit of this ship is that Marinette can behave in a more refined and confident way, under the persona of Ladybug. She stutters less and freaks out less around Adrien when she is Ladybug which is something I, a person who can’t handle cringe, really appreciates. My favorite scenes of this ship include; their first encounter in that form in “The Mime”, when Ladybug catches Adrien in “The Gorilla”, and oddly enough their scenes in “Oblivio” (I say this is odd because they don’t have their memories and therefore the dynamic changed). It’s a really cute ship and in my opinion, doesn’t deserve all the hate it gets.

Ladynoir 

I’m gonna be honest here, I really love this ship. In fact, it is just narrowly beaten by Marichat as my favorite in the square. Yes, I am aware that there are issues in this part of the square, but I’m not here to talk about them and besides, all ships have problems. It's just a matter of the good outweighing the bad, and with Ladynoir this is certainly the case. For Adrien, a child of abuse, who has had to deal with a negligent, absentee, emotionally manipulative father (but I’m going on a tangent here) to have a person he can rely on and trust is huge. He is shown to have so much respect for her and her opinions and cares so deeply for her, even going so far as to sacrifice himself for her on numerous occasions. This also shows his trust in her, he risks himself with the firm belief that she will set things right. Alternatively, she creates plans that often depend on his reliability, she trusts in him (the NY special aside, although she trusts him again by the end) and cares deeply for him as well. This pairing has so many good scenes and episodes and it’s really hard to pick my favorite. To name just a few of them I guess I would go with that scene in “Dark Owl” (you know the one), the episode sandman, that scene in “heroes day” in the sewer, the pep talk in “Heart Hunter” and I really liked Ladybug accidentally throwing Chat Noir off of the building in “Truth”/”Lies”. There is just so much content and good qualities to this part of the love square, I just have to appreciate it.

Marichat

As is the case with I’m sure a lot of miraculous fans, my favorite dynamic in the love square is Marichat. This pairing gets very little screen time especially in comparison to Adrienette and Ladynoir. However, though this pairing gets very little attention, it has so much potential and goodness in the way its participants interact. Now, I don’t subscribe to the whole “true selves” theory, I think that both identities encompass the personalities of Marinette and Adrien. However, with Marichat, they are able to see different sides to each other, able to share different facets of their personalities that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Marinette can be composed around Chat Noir. She can show him the full depth of her personality, she can actually be vulnerable with him without the fear of him not being interested in her. By contrast, Chat Noir can show Marinette that he has a more vulnerable, sensitive side to him. Without his constant attempts to impress and his efforts to put up a front, Marinette can see beyond the surface and can find in Chat the qualities she most admires in Adrien (after all they are the same person). It also helps that this ship is friends-to-lovers, which is a favorite archetype of mine. I literally love every scene that these two have together, and “Glaciator” is one of my favorite episodes because of the Marichat scene. Although I was irked that it was so short, I really did enjoy the little crumb of Marichat content we got in “Sole Crusher”. I love this pairing so much, their irony, their banter, everything about them. That is all.