#ml theory

[idleinteen]

my “lila isn’t just stalking marinette, she’s stalking everyone” theory was kinda confirmed in this episode omg

[linartblogs]

GUYS THE REVEAL IN THE RULER IS EXACTLY LIKE THE REVEAL IN EPHEMERAL I'M TWEAKING

Not kidding. I just checked and Nathaniel says almost exactly the same thing as Ladybug when she revealed herself as Marinette to Adrien :

"S'il-te plaît dit quelque chose" / "Please say something"

"Dis quelque chose" / "Say something"

This coupled with Lila/Cerise mentioning Nathaniel while writing means that there's a big chance this reveal will have consequences later in this season omg...She probably already has suspicions of him being Caprikid...

[uptoolateart]

Anyone notice how many times Ladybug talked about herself in third person in the London Special?

As soon as she told that lie about Gabriel and Tomoe, she began separating herself from what she'd done. She's coping through dissociation.

Throughout S1-5, she and Adrien were on paths towards integration. They were learning to see that he already was Cat Noir and she already was Ladybug. The strength lay within all along.

But by being untrue, she's gone backwards, splitting her two selves rather than unifying them. She's attempting to compartmentalise Marinette's relationship with Adrien from Ladybug's...which is unworkable.

In a word...our girl is a mess. She's supposedly doing all this to protect Adrien - but who's protecting her?

[miraculous-floconfettis]

"La fin de l'histoire... ça ne peut pas se terminer comme ça ! Ils ne peuvent pas perdre leurs pouvoirs, c'est pas juste !"

Pourquoi est-ce que j'ai l'impression que Nathaniel ne parlait pas de l'histoire de Coeur-Soleil et Perce-Pluie ici mais plutôt de Ladybug et Chat Noir en réalité ? 😰

[raptorwozhere]

ok so mild miraculous the ruler spoilers

so most people have noticed marc and nathaniel clearly parallel marinette and adrien in this episode but i haven’t seen people talk much in depth about how nathaniel’s parents mirror adrien’s. (and marc’s to marrinette’s to a lesser extent - loving and supportive without question)

the fight between caprikid and his akumatised mother felt very familiar to chat and his akumatised fathers fight in representation, with both of them taking out their frustrations of being controlled by their parent.

so what if in a similar way nathaniel’s dad parallels emilie and gives us a hint to how she could have acted and what role she could have played in the agreste family dynamic before she died. kinder and more supportive on a surface level but still disconnected and enabling, still focused on her own wants and ideals but in a much more subtle way than gabriel.

to me that lines up with the emilie we see in werepapas, quick to excuse gabriel’s behaviour in service to keep her delusion of a perfect loving family.

[bklily]

I find it funny how these intro scenes are being kinda brushed aside with the overall conversation because not only do they give a good insight on where Adrien's head is at the moment, but they also set up the perfect tragedy of what his life will become once the secret comes out to everyone. He won't be able to have that simple life he wants anymore and everyone will always be aware of "Adrien Agreste son of international terrorist" all the fripplin time.

...Unless.... 👀 He takes Adrien Agreste out of the picture.... 👀 👀

[familyagrestefanblog]

Ladybug's Lucky Charms in Werepapas

Let's talk about another detail that people kinda REALLY wanna ignore about Marinette's decision in the Werepapas akuma battle. It's the fact that she hand-waves away FIVE Lucky Charms until she finally goes with the sixth:

No, that is NOT irrelevant. Marinette is not supposed to disregard her Lucky Charms left and right because they're trying to tell her what she's supposed to do. That's Lucky Charm 101 in an akuma battle.

I'm not gonna pretend like I know for 100% certainty what they all tried to tell her, but

1) a couple of them can be easily interpreted in very relevant ways.

And 2) I don't NEED to know what exactly they all mean because it doesn't need to be PROVEN that Marinette isn't supposed to cherry-pick her Lucky Charms. We've known since s1 how this works and it's still done like this in s6. Thanks to not being limited anymore to 1 Lucky Charm, she gained the luxury of sometimes just getting to summon one for the purpose of whooping ass instead of solving the actual situation - which is still a lucky charm's REAL purpose - but that doesn't change the fact that you're supposed to listen to the Lucky Charm, not the Lucky Charm to you!

Under special circumstances like a final battle, sure, use additional ones to whoop ass. But you can't just switch out the problem solving Charm with a purely ass whooping one which is what Marinette did here in "Werepapas". It's fine when you do that in an extremely dire situation, but a normal akuma battle is no dire situation. Especially not when the only real stakes there are is being reckless with Adrien's amoks!

She's supposed to use whatever she gets and that'll lead her to the right solution. Not going through a whole line of Lucky Charms until she gets one where she finally likes the first thought she gets from it because of how little it challenges her self-preservation (makes you wonder if having unlimited Lucky Charms now isnt the worst thing that ever happened to her. Now she can just ignore whole Lucky Charms until she finally gets one that tells her something closer to what she wants to hear instead of listening to the CHARM)

Let's take a look at her 6 Lucky Charms:

From my recollection (so correct me if I'm wrong), while the teapot sometimes shows up here and there as filler Charms it was firmly established and used several times as a visual cue for Marinette to go to Master Fu.

Obviously, she can't do that anymore, but she has Alya as co-guardian, Luka who was trained by Su-Han, and even Su-Han himself as Celestial Guardian who now does whatever she wants.

In a situation where Adrien's amoks are the akuma object, it's a pretty logical thing to happen that her first Lucky Charm tells her to get Guaridan-related help. She has the option, all the needed support, and all the resources, but doesn't use it because it wouldn't be nice having to face the baggage that could come with it.

And even if you wanna say "She didn't get help because she didn't wanted the new Butterfly to possibly find out that Adrien is a Sentibeing!" Then that excuse still falls flat because obviously Adrien's LIFE is supposed to be more important than preventing that secret from coming out. The secret has no value if Adrien is DEAD.

Afterwards she gets a fan and this obviously could VERY likely mean that she's supposed to get Felix involved because he's the Miraculous holder of the Peacock. And by "VERY likely" I mean "I doubt there is a likely chance that it ISNT a hint to get Felix".

I won't even elaborate on this further. Her second Lucky Charm tried telling her to get Felix when Adrien's amoks were on the line and she ignored it. It is what it is.

For the third and fifth ones, I personally don't know what they could mean because I already struggle recognizing what exactly they are supposed to be. Though, they do have recognizable shapes. I bet other people could look at them and know where they've seen these objects before in the show.

Then right between these two, the fourth Charm Marinette summons is an unicycle (that for some reason isn't polkadotted, but screw it)

An unicycle like she summoned back in season 2 "Sabotis", the episode in which Alya became Rena Rouge for the first time. Meaning this one pointed to getting Rena's help.

For me, this is one of the most interesting ones regarding Marinette's feelings of not wanting to face the Lucky Charm's solution to instead protect all her secrets. But if anything, I would want to give it its own post and not half-ass it here. Cause there are a lot of layers to this one.

And, of course, the last one: the scarf. It's alongside the fan the one for which the fandom does casually acknowledge the symbolism of it being a call back to 1x01 "The Bubbler" where Marinette now infamously made the decision to let Adrien believe that it was his father who made the scarf for him - and not her - because of how happy it made Adrien that his father finally "cared":

I don't think I need to explain why it makes sense that this is the one s6 Marinette cherry-picks to finally work with. The poor scarf has been made into the symbol of Marinette wanting to keep pretty much everything about Adrien's family a secret from him. Including him being a Sentibeing. I miss the good old days when we dreamed of the scarf being set-up to become the catalyst for Adrien to write off his father as a useless deadbeat who isnt worth his time and love.

So, unfortunately, of course this is the one she goes with now. Even if it means taking the risk to kill Adrien. Anything to keep the secrets save and lies unnoticed. How tf did we GET here?

[mamayura]

Revelator analysis: Marinette remembering the Umbrella scene incorrectly

You know what I find really interesting about the interview scene in "Revelator" where Adrinette retells how they met? Marinette is actually getting a few details wrong.

Mind you, no deal breakers. She got all the emotional beats down accurately. And I will only truly take this as canon anyway when the French original has her misremember things the same way. But for now, it's really interesting that MARINETTE is the one who gets a couple of details wrong about the moment she fell SO in love with Adrien, while Adrien himself is out here making no such mistake in the whole interview:

This is correct. Simple as that.

This one... is on very thin ice. In reality, Marinette had just left the building and noticed it was raining when Adrien started talking to her. Yes, she was ready to wait until the rain stopped, but she never truly got to the waiting part:

But, by all means, if this were only this detail, I wouldnt make this post right now. Even if, factually, she didnt wait, she just noticed it was raining and thought she had to wait.

But let's get back to this later because there is another layer to this that was the catalyst for me writing this. But for now, moving on:

This is correct again. Adrien, in fact, had an umbrella.

But here is the thing:

This is... straight up wrong. Objectively. What Marinette reacted negatively to was Adrien trying to be friendly and saying "Hi" to her:

He only offered his umbrella at the end, so Marinette claiming so confidently in "Revelator" that she at first turned down the umbrella is false. Adrien opened it for himself because he was the one standing in the rain for a bit while explaining his perspective:

I sure don't see any umbrellas being turned down here, Marinette. So what exactly are you remembering? Just saying.

From this point onwards, the Adrinette interview is accurate again because 1) it's about the emotional core of it, and 2) well, Adrien is then talking the most because it's about him and Marinette is mostly just adding to it. So, yeah...

Look, I don't wanna say that this is some deep betrayal of love and proof that Marinette's love for Adrien isnt real. Of course not. And again, there is still the chance that the line in question is right in the French original (though, I do gotta say, I doubt it because that would change the natural flow of the conversation)

I just find it interesting that the thing about THE Umbrella scene that Marinette gets wrong is the UMBRELLA itself and how and when it was extended to her.

Cause, well... This is not a documentary. Marinette is not a real life person who can mix some things up without it meaning anything. She's the main character and the main narrative tool of the story.

This is the moment SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH ADRIEN. Pretty much 80% of what she does in this show goes back to this moment. In story-telling practice, yes, her being the one who recalls that moment incorrectly should mean something.

Bad faith reading: it's a major indicator that Marinette is actually not as invested in Adrien and their relationship anymore as she was once upon a time. Her needs and desires have changed and that's causing problems now.

Good faith reading (and I genuinely mean good faith reading. Fucking BEST faith reading, in my opinion):

The details that Marinette gets wrong about the Umbrella scene actually correspond with the ending of "Strike Back" where Marinette's lightning moment happened with Chat Noir:

Cause if you combine Marinette's memories of the Umbrella scene with the Strike Back scene, then, yes, Marinette WOULD remember standing way longer in the RAIN before Adrien eventually came to her:

Not because that's how it factually happened in "Origins", but because she was alone in the rain for a solid bit before Chat Noir arrived in "Strike Back".

But the most important thing is that, if you combine the two lightning scenes, this objectively incorrect line actually checks out again:

Because the moment Marinette fell in love with Chat Noir was about him having extended his hand several times but her having pushed him away and held at arms length:

Marinette in the Umbrella scene didnt turn down Adrien's umbrella. Not only because that simply didnt happen, but also because Adrien only had the opportunity to offer it ONCE which she then immediately took. Chat Noir, on the other hand (is that a pun?), did offer the gesture she then fell in love with more than once, which she initially turned down, but eventually accepted.

So, again, worst faith reading: we were supposed to pick up on Marinette remembering the iconic Umbrella scene incorrectly which is supposed to subtly tell us that life has changed Marinette's feelings for Adrien for the worse because she's simply not the girl she was a year ago and the love she once wanted doesnt fit her needs anymore, so it's fading and getting drowned out.

Best faith reading: It's a subtle hint that the love she once wanted doesnt really fit her needs anymore, but the one that does more and more now is Chat Noir who, as we all know, is Adrien Agreste.

Though, no matter which one it is, one truth remains: Marinette remembered the UMBRELLA SCENE wrong and that means something.

[l4dymarika]

My theory on revelators parallels to chat blanc

What I understood from Revelator and its parallels to Chat Blanc is that it might be how it would end if Chat hadn’t wiped Rena’s memory.

Let’s take this scenario into consideration: Alya has expressed her spite toward keeping secrets/lying. If she hadn’t had her memory wiped, she probably wouldn’t have lasted long without telling someone—whether it be Nino, Adrien (I don’t want to think so little of her, but maybe even the Ladyblog, considering how mad Alya was at MariBug). The truth would spread, eventually reaching Adrien, who would be completely devastated ( I genuinely don’t think that telling Adrien about it sooner would help especially with him being such a wreck (who tries to hide it) right now (wrinkled shirt theory))

That episode might have implied that the truth is so dangerous it could actually destroy the world—if not revealed at the right moment—and that we were heading exactly down that path. Now, it’s Marinette’s responsibility to determine the right time to reveal the secrets.

Secrets don’t tend to stay hidden for long, especially when they involve such important matters, and I don’t think anyone expects her to keep it a secret forever. That’s exactly why, right now, the truth shouldn’t be revealed. There’s a right time for everything, and during both Revelator and The London Special, that time just hadn’t come yet.

I’ve also heard people say that Marinette acts selfishly by avoiding uncomfortable conversations and staying in her comfort zone. I tend to do the same, so I understand her completely. In my case, I just wait for things to evolve on their own and delay them as much as possible while mentally preparing for them—sometimes, it’s just for the best. Sometimes, you have to be selfish.

But enough about me—Marinette has been through so much that it’s basically a coping mechanism (in fact, it is exactly that). You can’t expect someone who’s so lost in her life, practically living on autopilot, not to rely on their coping mechanisms. We forget that she’s just a fourteen-year-old girl who doesn’t have enough experience to handle such complicated situations.

Give this girl a break. Life is already doing everything it can to crush her, and her mind is doing everything it can to keep her from collapsing. She has to do what’s best for her—sometimes, she has to think about herself, even if she is a superhero.

The unraveling will happen eventually—when the time is right, when the truth will cause the least harm to everyone involved.

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

Season 6 of ML is a direct reflection of Season 3: Here's why

Going into season 6, the writers claimed that this would be a new beginning, a reset on everything that has happened so far. And to a large extent it is.

No longer are we expecting serialized episodes, and have thus far been treated to several expositional episodes, where we are introduced to new and old characters and situations.

Some might consider this a "new season 1" a brand new beginning to welcome in arc 2 of the miraculous ladybug story. However, I think that this is a misrepresentation of season 6 as a whole. And I believe from what we've seen so far of this season, and what has been teased to us, that this season relates far more to season 3, than it does to season 1.

For starters, let's talk about the most obvious comparison the call-back to season 1 episode 1's Stormy Weather. While we have yet to see episode 1 of season 6, the weather-themed akuma "Climatiqueen" sounds to be a clear reference to the French name of Stormy Weather "Climatika".

In both these instances, the reference back to the first episode effectively functions as a reset. In season 3, "Stormy Weather 2" serves as an introduction point to the latter half of the season and a way to distance the more "frivolous" early episodes from the more important and high-stakes latter episodes. In season 6, it functions as a transition from what we saw in season 5 to what we are to expect in season 6.

There are a few more episode call-backs in season 6 to season three, but of all of them, this was the most convincing of intentionality on the part of the writers.

Next comparison we see is with Lila, and how she "changes targets". The episode Chameleon in season 3, is when we start to see a major shift in Lila, specifically in her focus from Ladybug to Marinette. While she still targets Ladybug after this episode, this is where we start to see a decline, until we get to season 5, and she's all but forgotten about Ladybug.

In season 6 too, we see her begin to shift again. While in episode 2, we see her obsessively watching Marinette and Adrien's date, this is ultimately in pursuit of Ladybug. The shift has begun. If my analysis is correct, we will see more and more of a preoccupation with Ladybug from Lila (Cerise?) and less of a focus on Marinette in Lila's antagonistic role

(Also wanted to point out this amazing call back to season 3 episode 1 "Chameleon it's very on the nose)

What's also important to note is that while season 3 might have been episodic, the information relayed in each episode was vital, and nearly all of it was brought up in subsequent episodes/seasons (re: new heroes, chat blanc, the statue scene TM). With season 6 so far, this appears to also be the case. The episodes are episodic, but I would hardly call them fluff. We've been told new lore, understood ever-changing relationships, and have been privy to the delicacy in which virtually all characters exist.

This frailty is something that we actually see a lot in season 3, especially in relation to secret keeping. In season 3, we have Kwamibuster, Desperada, Weredad, Chat Blanc, and Ladybug. All episodes that either reference, or center around issues relating to secrets and identities. In season 3, we actually see the most threats to secret keeping. Season 4 by comparison only has 3 (gang of secrets, wishmaker, and ephemeral).

Secrets are winding their way around the plot of season 6 as well, a threat that appears most pointed in the most recent episode "Revelator". The delicate tether of these secrets seem precarious to us viewers, just as they did in season 3. And just like season 3, they're bound to break at some point, in a catastrophic and calamitous way...

Which leads me to the whole reason I made this post and why I think the writers created this reflection...

The episode 22 slot.

Just to be clear on what I mean by that, here is the 22nd episode of season 3:

and here is the 22nd episode of season 6:

The tenterhooks of identities in season 3, eventually came to a head in the episode "Chat Blanc", an episode where we learn what would happen if they knew each others identities. An episode where we say Adrien get akumatized for the first time.

So far, every clue seems to point to Marinette being akumatized this season, right down to the name of this villain "Lady Chaos" seems perfect of a callback to Ladybug for me. And with the way this secret has intertwined with Ladybug's identity, relationships, and reputation, there's no shortage of reasons as to why she might get akumatized.

Right now, in these early season 6 episodes, we are being provided the tools to allow her to finally get akumatized. Alya has a kwagatama and can reference Marinette to defeat Marinette. She also has been named Marinette's successor if necessary (and has a premade suit). Chat Noir has the ability to remove the memory of Ladybug's identity from anyone's mind. And most importantly, we have been provided a motive, over and over again.

After all, let's not forget this call back...

Akumanette is coming... the only question is what will remain in the aftermath

[zaaaras]

the parallels between ivan and adrien this episode hurt so bad because what if it’s showing what could possibly happen to adrien if he found out? if he was angry as ivan and if he felt as much guilt… he could go the route of giving up his miraculous and ladybug never seeing him again or using its destruction for worse like ivan’s coping with his drums ☹️

[idleinteen]

WOW

the parallels between adrien/ivan hit hard omg

[treatop]

for the people who are complaining that adrien doesnt have a new outfit/design for season six, i think that you’re just gonna have to be patient. my theory is that he will get a outfit change at some point later in the season, like sabrina did. he just needs to find himself first and discover his own style (possibly designed and made by his loving girlfriend?)

[miraculous-floconfettis]

That's way too many frogs.

Either someone in the Miraculous team is fan of frogs or this is sus.

[uptoolateart]

I still think Felix's story in Representation sounds incomplete.

If you think about it, he's just a kid, passing on what he's been told by the adults in his life...who are not to be trusted.

If his father told him things on his death bed, I'm sure it was twisted / peppered with lies.

If Amelie told him things, there's still bias - and we don't know how much she actually knows.

Basically...I'm never going to stop thinking about how weird it is that Gabriel keeps a kids' crayon drawing locked away in a hidden safe with secret magical artefacts. There is 100% more to that story, I have only ever been able to think of one explanation, but we may never have it confirmed.

[familyagrestefanblog]

Daddycop analysis: How Marinette viewed Adrinette when it came to FATE

I don't get around to make a better structured post, but the one thing that actually intrigues me in it's 'bothersomeness' about Marinette's drama in "Daddycop" (and one for which I'm very curious if it'll be the same in the French original cause it might just be a case of English Dub dialogue changes) is the way the episode just leaves it pretty much unresolved that Marinette, while sobbing about how her happiness is forever ruined, was out here blaming all of that on Adrien not changing his mind on having the date TOMORROW (so its not like she was denied anything, the point literally was that she gets both her date and her girls night fully instead of half-assing both at the same time. So Adrien rescheduled the date to the next day. This happened for HER benefit) while acting like SHE had nothing to do with the date not having happened.

"You all agreed to it [Adrien coming, though they didn't actually know cause she tiptoed around saying anything useful cause she didn't wanted to be told "no"], but it looks like it didn't change his mind, and now everything is ruined [puts her head on the table]"

Like, girl, that's a crazy victim-complex on display right here. Omfg.

In a situation where Marinette thinks having the 100th kiss this evening is the only way that'll cosmically seal their happiness, and not having it will cosmically doom everything and she'll apparently never know happiness again,

Girl sure showed NO self-awareness that the reason why Adrien explicitly said "no" several times was because SHE forgot the plans she already made with her friends, as well as not realizing that she nuked any normal chance for him to change his mind by keeping on insisting on him attending without listening to what he's saying (which she continued doing):

But for Marinette, that didn't matter. In her eyes, there was nothing SHE could have possibly done that could result in her being anything but innocent in their relationship ending up being cosmically doomed. Only ADRIEN can be wrong in the case of this specific evening deciding their fate as couple. Not her. Not even for a single SECOND, her.

And on a VERY important note:

She also doesn't think that withholding the knowledge of this cosmic event from Adrien is unfair or a factor in itself that could POSSIBLY be what's upsetting fate. Only SHE deserves information and is unquestionably MEANT to have it, while ADRIEN has to unrealistically bend over backwards and submit to her will to prove that he will bring her eternal happiness and without getting to know the context either.

Funny how that is perfectly in line with the constant conflict now going on even after the season 5 finale. ADRIEN (or everyone else) has to prove that Marinette will be given eternal happiness, care, consideration, and will be catered to almost no matter what because that's still pretty much all her anxiety is canonically about, like in s4 and 5.

And that's the thing that gets me in this. That Marinette, until the akuma battle, fully blamed everyone else BUT herself for everything, with the sobbing on the table scene summarizing it:

"You all agreed to it [Adrien coming, though they didn't actually know cause she tiptoed around saying anything useful cause she didn't wanted to be told "no"], but it looks like it didn't change his mind, and now everything is ruined [puts her head on the table]"

If Marinette's anxiety and trauma actually were manifesting the way her fans/ stans make it out to be, then Marinette's instinctive reaction here would have been crying about and damning her own forgetfulness and lack of focus for ruining her chance of happiness.

But that's not what's happening in Daddycop. Marinette only ever blames ADRIEN and SHE is only the victim. In her eyes, this cosmic event was at its core about HER and no one else.

She doesn't desperately try to let Adrien know that there is an important cosmic event going on - that she's aware of and he isn't -and that it could doom their future if they don't save their love TOGETHER.

And she doesn't try any plan like calling him during girls night because she "forgot" to buy something important, but knows HE has it at home, too, so could he please come over at a certain time and bring it along? Where she then could kiss him at the right time.

Still questionable in method, but I'd get the vision due to her acknowledging that SHE is the reason the date didn't happen in the first place. There would be something here to hold onto.

But Marinette in the actual episode does NON of that.

Marinette is sobbing on the table about how ADRIEN not changing his mind, for no reason in his eyes, ruined everything and SHE is nothing but the blameless and broken victim due to HIS actions.

She fully judged Adrien in his worth as her true love and their whole relationship and future on whether she's getting everything she wants without having to communicate what's important, what's going on, and WHY. And, again, it says so much about her in this that she only judges HIM for not magically making up for HER lack of focus, inflexibility, and forgetfulness getting in between fate's plans for them. She's never once judging herself, ONLY HIM.

And I need you to not write that off for a second because PLEASE put into perspective how Marinette would have treated Adrien the next day in school if it hadn't been for the akuma battle having cleared her mind.

I don't care if you don't wanna hear it, but Marinette wrote off their entire relationship and Adrien as the right partner for her because "he didn't prove it by changing his mind to magically only exist in the perfect way to validate her spiraling that she never communicates".

If it hadn't been for the akuma battle and the other girls going after Sabrina, Marinette not only would have mentally already broken up with Adrien, but she (based on her more than consistent characterization) also would have at first kept her distance from Adrien in silence the next day, only to eventually reveal that she's blaming him for breaking her heart by neglecting and dismissing her efforts to spend time with him and how that showed her that they are not meant to be and there is no hope for them.

Which, btw, sure would have put Adrien seeing THIS face, after not letting her have her way ONE TIME, in an even nastier context because it was already a red flag he handled with alot of patience and consideration for her anxiety and "squirks" (which makes it even worse that she proceeds to blame him for everything):

Worst case scenario, Adrien would have had every single friend turned against him. But even in the best case scenario, Adrien would need to practically beg on his knees for Marinette to PLEASE believe him that telling her "no, we'll date tomorrow" doesn't mean she isn't the love of his life and he will do ANYTHING to prove to her that he will make up for the pain she experienced because he didn't "consider her anxiety enough".

Quite realistically speaking, Marinette would have not been fully convinced by that and Alya and the girls might have even have to eventually figure out that Marinette's bs is rooted in some cosmic fate thing her mother told her about, so they would need to involve Sabine who would then need to hold her daughter's hand, explain to her that fate isnt real, and beg Marinette to let her abused and orphaned boyfriend take care of her and worship her again.

Like, THAT was the set-up situation we fortunately dodged like a bullet. But for way too long, THAT was where the situation was leading to as the full narrative scale of Marinette blaming Adrien and only viewing herself as the victim.

But the worst thing about this is that her blaming Adrien is the one thing the message of the episode kinda sweeps under the rug again and gives no satisfying ending to. For the whole girls squad plot, the episode at least has her properly acknowledge that she sidelined her friends for her boyfriend and didn't pay attention to anything or anyone else in front of her again:

"[...] and I, too, want to apologize. Ive been focusing so much on my relationship with Adrien that... I forgot to give my attention to the ones that really need it (Sabrina). I promise, I'll be more attentive from now on *hugs Sabrina*"

(Let's ignore for a sec that the show had Marinette say that her freshly orphaned and abused boyfriend apparently DOESN'T actually need more of her special attention. What a 'charming' lesson after Illustrhater and Sublimation that only came to be now because Marinette was told "no" one time. As if Adrien not wanting to date ONE EVENING, when he didnt wanted to because he knew she would ignore her friends for it so he wants to date tomorrow, somehow means he doesn't need special consideration anymore the way she gets because thats normal in a relationship. No wonder she almost killed him one episode later lol Trying not to do that would have required more special attention and consideration than the whole custody situation already asked of her. I guess that's the lesson here, huh? lol)

But the lesson in the end also explicitly states that Marinette learned that her focusing so much on Adrien was the thing she did wrong. Meaning, what was "wrong" is still entirely Adrien-associated in Marinette's head.

"I forgot something! *kisses Adrien* 100! I wanted to save it for our special evening, but.. in the end.. I realized that we don't need a conjunction or fireworks to love each other"

And towards Adrien she says that she learned that they don't need these special things she planned to love each other (side note: would he even know what she randomly means by conjunction? WE and Marinette know what this refers to, but Adrien has no context for it)

Only that all of that doesn't acknowledge how Marinette unfairly put all blame on Adrien when she thought fate was real and you just have to hope in good faith that Marinette truly got her mind out of the gutter somewhere off-screen since yesterday.

Cause her just saying "but.. in the end.. I realized that we don't need a conjunction or fireworks to love each other"" isn't actually clarifying that, when contextually all she may as well be saying here is "I'm so glad I realized that you aren't the bad guy who's all alone to blame for ruining our relationship and my happiness forever🥹"

Like, you get what I'm saying, right?

She stopped blaming Adrien in the end and didn't act like him saying "no, please wait one day", one time, equaled him breaking her heart and breaking up with her, because she cleared her head during an akuma fight and a friend crisis which made her realized that the whole cosmic thing wasn't happening in the first place.

And not because she realized that even IF the cosmic fate event had been real, then ADRIEN wouldn't have been the one in the wrong anyway because SHE was the whole reason, in numerous ways, for why he said "no".

There is a difference here that the episode was not willing to actually clarify because the end scene would play out exactly the same even if it were only "Marinette letting Adrien 'off the hook' because she realized that the cosmic event not being real now makes HER the guilty one. Hence why she looks sheepish and apologetic".

But that tells us nothing about how this would have ended if she still were convinced fate was real. The episode, seemingly, just suddenly had her drop that belief during or after the akuma battle. Definitely nowhere near on-screen and explained. So the end scene, contextually, does not correspond to all the Adrinette set up we saw. Those are two very different circumstances.

During the set up, she thought fate is real. During the end scene, she already let go of that belief since yesterday. And that's a pretty significant thing to sweep under the rug again regarding Marinette's consistent characterizations. Cause this IS fully in character for her to do and it's only made worse by Miraculous often implying, or sometimes even outright SAYING, that fate, destiny and even LUCK are real cosmic forces that run their universe. You know, for example the way Tikki herself made a lucky charm specifically for a renounced MARIBUG in the second half of "Kwamis Choice" and the universe fucking maneuvered that Lucky Charm right into Marinette's arms all by itself? Yeah. That counts. And its only one of countless of times they do stuff like this and it's always consistent writing wise.

So what does it say about our main character that they just dropped this point without clarifying whether she actually got her head out of the gutter? Cause that's all they did: they dropped it in favor of making it all about the girls squad message. The end scene doesn't prove shit and the writing went out of its way to leave it like that.

I dont wanna say that I'm having faith in the long-term writing, but I am saying that I'm sick of not treating this show like the well-planned product the writers demand it to be. Not my fault or problem when the product doesnt hold up what we're being told. In that case, I just have more proof that they COULD be telling a cohesive and interesting story, they just refuse to.