#the Gabriel side in Adrien is the most interesting aspect of his character

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Last post you talked about your ideal version of canon, I was wondering could you share it with us? If not, that's ok

Oh man, I could go on about my dream version of canon for ages! I've talked about various aspects of it on here with stuff like my "sugar" posts on Nino and Alya, but the broad strokes are:

Serialized story where it's basically one large narrative told in chunks

A true teams setup where Adrien, Marinette, Alya, and Nino feel like this amazing, tight friend group who grows into a found family as they get older, giving platonic and romantic love more equal billing

No guardian order, just have it be a single-person role that gets passed on from person to person

Kagami and Luka in supporting roles that have nothing to do with being love interests

Sympathetic Gabriel who feels like a truly tragic figure, but who does NOT get redeemed

Emilie gets an actual character

No sentinonsense

Revised miracle box that is way smaller and that has strong lore

The Agreste's aquiring the miraculous is far more morally complex, makes sense, and was not done for explicitly selfish reasons

Reverse the love square right from the start and never have the crushes flip

I've talked about all of these things on here, but the one thing that I've only briefly touched on is my love of a reverse square setup. I am passionate about that one, so let's take a moment to talk about why since it's probably going to be the most interesting to read.

I don't hate the canon setup for the crushes, but also I don't think that they're the ideal crushes. When it comes to romance stories, you want to design your love interests around each other. You want them to feel special and like they bring something unique to the table. Canon doesn't really give us that. There's nothing all that special about Adrien that makes him feel like the person that Marinette would be drawn to above all others. Same goes for Chat Noir and Ladybug, but we'll get to them in a second.

What is Marinette's biggest struggle? Her role as Ladybug.

Who is her main support in that role for most of the show? Chat Noir.

Who is her main support on the civilian side even before the reveal? Alya.

So why is Marinette's crush on Adrien and not Chat Noir? I don't know. It's the lesser setup by far and that goes beyond just the logic elements of who it makes the most sense for her to fall in love with. A lot of Marinette's worst behavior actually feels justified in a reverse crush setup, allowing you to write her without major changes to her character.

For example, Marinette keeping a chest of gifts for Adrien is kind of pathetic. She's friends with Adrien and she gives her friends gifts all the time, why can't she give him gifts, too? Reverse the crushes and suddenly this behavior makes perfect sense. Marinette isn't storing up gifts because of overblown fears of rejection. She's storing up gifts for legitimate fears about how her partner will explain these random gifts, thereby risking his identity, meaning that she has a sold argument for waiting until the time is right (post reveal) to give them to him.

There's also the legitimate fear that confessing her love could ruin their dynamic and put Paris at risk. Keeping her feelings to herself is now an act of self-sacrifice and not just an act of nerves. Basically everything about Marinette's hesitance just makes so much more sense if it's on the hero side.

But what about Adrien? How does this fix him?

I love the idea of our male romantic lead falling for our female lead because she's bold and brave, but it honestly doesn't fit Adrien's character. He is surrounded by powerful, confrontational women. Nathalie, Chloe, Kagami, Amilie, Audrey, and Tomoe are all no-nonsense women who get what they want. This means that Ladybug doesn't bring something unique to his life. She fits the standard mold. Adrien falling in love with her after she talks down Hawkmoth doesn't feel like the right choice for his character because it doesn't feel like something he'd be wildly impressed by.

Meanwhile, Marinette is shown to be a generally wonderful friend. She cares about others and will do what she can to make them feel welcome and accepted. That's a much more unique thing for Adrien to experience. Think about the umbrella scenes and imagine if it was Marinette apologizing. Marinette owning that she treated him poorly and asking his forgiveness. How often do you think Adrien gets moments like that? Doesn't it make more sense for something like that to make his heart flutter?

We see Marinette doing things like making banners to celebrate her friends (Timebreaker) and making sure everyone feels included (Reflekta). Imagine her giving Adrien that kind of treatment because it's just who Marinette is. She shows up to his fencing matches to cheer him on. Brings him his favorite snacks as a treat just because, surrounding this poor boy in honest, genuine love and support. Add in respect, too, and he'd be a goner because those are the things that he's not getting anywhere else! The things that make Marinette unique.

This brings us to our new civilian dynamic. In canon, it's Marinette failing to confess in ever more spectacular ways as Alya tries and fails to help. In a reverse crush setup where everyone is friends without gender barriers, it's things like Adrien coming up with his canon confessions and then watching Alya and Nino react with genuine horror because, dude, you're going to give her a panic attack! No! Bad kitty! Stop that! No confessions until you come up with a plan that we approve of and read at least five books of dating advice because holy shit did homeschooling do you dirty in this area!

Then, while Adrien is working to learn how dating works, he learns that Marinette is in love with Chat Noir and, oh no! He thinks she's into his public persona, totally unaware that she knows the real Chat Noir and loves his dorky self. So he tries to emulate his sexy alter ego while Nino and Alya suffer and Marinette is just generally confused because she doesn't think of Chat Noir like that, so she doesn't even notice what Adrien is doing.

This also adds a nice mitigating factor to Adrien's unwillingness to give up even though it's pretty clear that Marinette isn't interested in his civilian self. If he knows that she loves him, then his persistence is less concerning and more comedic. It's not that he can't take a no, it's that he honestly knows with 100% certainty that the answer is NOT no because she's told him that to his face. He just needs her to realize that the guy she's in love with is right here, ready and willing!

The potential for comedy is just so much more broad and so much less mean spirited because Marinette has none of Adrien's reserved nature, so her friends would totally know about her massive "celebrity crush". Adrien comes over for school projects and just stares longingly at her Chat Noir posters, wishing he could tell her his secret, but knowing that he can't.

In my world, that is so much more fun than canon's setup where Marinette has no reason to hope. I also wouldn't draw the crushes out anywhere near as long as canon did. I like getting couples together in the mid-game. It's a nice early plot to hook you in, but defeating the villain is the end game, so we don't need to draw the romance out that long. Romance isn't that special. It's not all that different from an arc about two characters becoming friends.

That's far from the only major change I'd make to shape canon into my ideal version, but it is the probably the change that I love the most. It's also the change that requires the least context to explain, so there you go!

[familyagrestefanblog]

Throwing a disclaimer out because I think it's time I say it again just to be sure:

Me having fallen so much out of love with Marinette by now isn't because I hate that her side of the conflicts was given more weight than Adrien's or that I "don't understand that she's the main character"

My problem lies in HYPOCRISY. Marinette's writing ever since season 4 has been going out of its way to be as hypocritical as possible in basically every aspect of the story, but especially the love square, and then it was sold as "justified and totally morally sound feminism" just because it's a girl doing it.

The amount of harmful messages Maribug was retooled into teaching as "empowerment" without any genuine accountability on her part - beside some vagueness sometimes that stops meaning anything the next moment it actually matters - are insane and inherently on child abuse victims expense to the point where I don't actually trust alot of Marinette stans opinions on child abuse and leadership anymore which is the worst thing Marinette's character could have been made to cause.

I hate that sexist HYPOCRISY was declared EMPOWERING as long as the girl benefits from it. I stand under no obligation to support a harmfully hypocritical main character of a female empowerment kids cartoon, and if you think I do, learn what actual feminism is.

I repeat: my problem lies in the deeply interwoven and glorified hypocrisy

NOT in the fact that Marinette's side of the narrative was covered at all.

I was and AM perfectly fine and supportive of that, but what I don't support is the show ever since season 4 hardcore retooling the narrative into ONLY Marinette's side and benefit mattering and in some of the worst and most hypocritical ways possible to the point where Marinette never even made a single effort in finding Hawkmoth to actually DO HER JOB and take a fraction of interest in the man underneath his mask because that wouldn't have been about HERSELF.

Years ago, 2x01 "The collector" promised me a main character who will actually show initiative to end the war in more regards than herself first and foremost becoming the Queen of the world. I signed up for Marinette as main character who will actually SAVE Gabriel's victims with her compassion and drive to help people

I didn't get that beyond the most surface level way possible because Marinette and the narrative were written to prioritizing her being entirely in control of everything, girlbossing her love interest into being her submissive care taker for which she hardly took any accountability for, and looking cool hitting stuff including her love interest and the remains of her Villain's wife who never wanted this, but Marinette threw a fucking LIFT on her body to get a strategic advantage over Gabriel by taking advantage of Gabriel's remaining humanity and love for the very woman at the core of all this.

Emilie, who was fridged and silenced beyond anything resembling to feminism, but it HAD to happen because Emilie's story isn't about Marinette and the narrative had to make sure Marinette will be celebrated "as such a cool girlboss!" for throwing a fucking LIFT on the remains of the villain's loved one while she simultaneously failed Emilie's son - Marinette's own "partner" - so MUCH as partner and leader that he had literally no way to possibly make it out of this partnership because Marinette teached Chat Noir that she's all that matters, he gets no support, help, resources, or a voice when it isn't to her benefit.

When the chips are down, he has to die quietly and give up his ring because Ladybug couldn't be asked to look beyond her personal experience, benefit and comfort in this "partnership" while simultaneously needing to be taken care of, as good as worshipped, and celebrated by him like a mind reader for EVERYTHING because she wasn't "ill-intentioned"

Which she is explicitly written to prioritize people understanding that about her than actually working on herself in ways that truly matter.

I once signed up for Marinette being the main hero and savior of Paris and Gabriel's victims, but all I got is glorified hypocrisy thats sold as "empowerment" and a worshipped girlboss main heroine who postponed doing her job so fucking much that the main villain shaped the entire in-universe world already BEFORE he won and made his wish, as well as several characters being damned and irreversibly negatively affected by his power and influence over and on them by the time Marinette was finally spoon-feed into being able to face Hawkmoth at literally 11:59 pm.

But hey, I suppose all that mattered was Marinette BENEFITTING from that to sweep her own big flaws under the rug, as well as her looking cool hitting stuff in different super hero suits to she can become the Queen of the world.

I would apologize for having thought that Marinette's hero's journey was about more than that, but that's literally nothing I have to apologize for.

[almadesarrollo]

ANALYSIS OF MIRACULOUS LADYBUG. ORIGINS PART 1 LADYBUG AND CHATNOIR (PART 2, the villain and the heroes )

ANALYSIS OF MIRACULOUS LADYBUG. ORIGINS PART 1 LADYBUG AND CHATNOIR (PART 1)

WE CONTINUE WITH THE ANALYSIS.

When nooroo finishes telling the entire story of the miraculous, we have for the first time a hidden plan of who will be the villain,

We know that it is clearly Gabriel (because of the silhouette), but we see him hidden. Why is this? Because by introducing Gabriel, we are presented with Adrien's villainy, that is why they cover it up, it is a mystery who the villain is, who is hiding behind the mask, but they give us the clue with the mother's brooch, and how is it? that?

If you have been paying attention to everything that has come out of cut and deleted scenes from the movie, you will know that there is a deleted scene in which Marinette and Adrien talk, because in it, MARI has found Adrien's brooch, and gives it to him, There they have a conversation in which we see that it is the only thing Adrien has left of his mother and that it is very valuable.

Gabriel has a brooch, Adrien has a brooch, it is not a coincidence, this brooch also appears again in the collector (even though it does not have the same image)

precisely, THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE 2nd SEASON WHERE WE ARE TOLD THAT GABRIEL IS MONARCH AND LET'S REMEMBER THAT THAT SEASON IS DEDICATED TO ADRIEN, SO THIS FOR ME IS A PRESENTATION TO ADRIEN AS A VILLAIN.

When Gabriel shows interest in absolute power, Nooroo tells him that the Miraculouses are lost and he tells her that he found him, here's the big part.

I know, this is not a big deal, but if we analyze it they are giving us a very big clue, not only are they presenting Adrien as a villain through Gabriel but he is also telling us to our face how he is going to become monarch Be careful, not the why, but the how, how is the butterfly miraculous going to reach him? You are going to find it and you have to look at it this way.

-Fu loses the butterfly brooch, Gabriel finds it.

-marinette loses the butterfly brooch, lila finds it.

A pattern repeats itself, how is Nooroo going to get to him? Adrien is going to find it, this would also mean that in the final battle with Lila, (let's remember that she officially has the brooch) at some point Lila will either lose it or Marinette will directly do it, or it may even be both Felix and Marinette and it is that, if we start to analyze the initials, F+M = they are Marinette and Felix, which would also not be giving the clue that in the final battle it will be Felix who really helps Marinette defeat him, and it would make sense since He doesn't believe a single lie.

Immediately after this, he tells him how his miraculous works, the butterfly brooch, it gives a person whatever powers they want, and he makes the decision to make villains, thus forcing Nooroo to be his slave in a harsh and cruel way. and introduces himself as hawkmoth.

Here it is simply knowing what the villain is up to, even so, we are going to add it to the scheme in due course when the series introduces us to Gabriel, for now we are going to focus only on a physical aspect of his that the series plays a lot with, look at Since it covers the face, it's different from a superhero, right? I ask, where have we seen this aesthetic?

What do all these characters have in common? that all of them in some way are related to Adrien, the one that is not with color is with attitude. It is clear that with Hawkmoth's costume he already tells us who is going to go to the dark side, Adrien Agreste (you will see when we get to season 2 hahaha)

now let's go with nooroo.

KWAMI NOOROO

Let's start with his name, notice that he is the only kwami ​​in which his vowel is repeated three times, he has "4 O".

[N-OO-R-OO]

This is on purpose, remember that in the previous post we said that he was the narrator of the story and therefore, the narrator of this story was Félix. So when you tell a story you have to present some characters and the villains, and what are they? the 4 important characters, adrien, marinette, felix and kagami, that is why the first kwami, the one that tells the beginning, the origin of EVERYTHING, has 4 equal vowels, 4 O, 4 equally important characters.

The name of this kwami ​​would be giving us the clue of those who really give depth to this story, who are really important, if we look, when Nooroo tells about the ancient bearers, precisely the book looks at 4 very important ancient bearers, if we We see well, we can see that they really use them, that they actually introduce us to our protagonists.

-1 fox: currently it is alya, through alya they tell us about kagami, so here she would be established as a best friend and future villain = KAGAMI TSURUGI

-2 cat: currently it is Adrien but we know that through Adrien they often talk to us about Felix, and we know that he is a villain so here we have the 1 male superhero felix/chatnoir=FELIX/CHATNOIR

-3 ladybug: clearly Marinette and Ladybug, she is the protagonist, she is the main heroine of this story.=MARINETTE/LADYBUG

-4 butterfly: (note that the villainous version also appears in the book) Who is the villain currently? Gabriel, he is monarch, who is his son? adrien, so it's clear, adrien main villain=ADRIEN AGRESTE

but we also have to remember that 4 is the number of marientte/ladybug according to the scheme we made, so this would once again confirm that the story is for marinette on behalf of felix.

Then we are introduced to the 4 protagonists and the 2 couples who will give life to this story.

Ok, now we go further, the name Nooroo itself descends from the African name "nuru" which means light, with whom does the light connect? with felix, but also "nuru" is a JAPANESE WORD THAT MEANS TO PAINT OR VARNISH, painting, with whom is art and painting and Japanese connected? kagami, and kagami with Felix, so this highlights even more that the one telling this story is Felix to Marinette, he has designed this story based on his diary.

LET'S GO TO YOUR PHYSICAL

NOOROO IS PURPLE How do you get the purple out? mixing blue with red, but there are also several shades, PURPLE, LIGHT AND DARK, so we have to include white and black, based on this we are going to form a scheme since each color represents one of the 4 protagonists.

so, we have:

-LIGHT PURPLE :FELIGAMI/ADRIGAMI -DARK PURPLE: FELINETTE/ ADRINETTE

then, through the color of nooroo, what are they confirming to us? that there are going to be 4 IMPORTANT MAIN CHARACTERS, ONE love story, which is made up of Kagami, Marinette, Felix and Marinette, from here 2 couples will emerge, depending on how the series evolves (what we said before when we analyzed its name)

Now what couples will come out? Well, we have clues, look.

Notice that the darkest parts are, on the one hand, the eyes, the head, the eyes, who do they represent? Argos, which is inspired by a being from mythology which was called the one with the "thousand eyes", that is This would confirm to us whether or not the felinette is the important and main ship.

In the head we see that it has a kind of line that ends in a round, if we remember, the lines represent Adrien, but here it ends in the shape of a snail, then what does it mean? That possibly Marinette is between Argos and Adrien, being Argos whoever wins the battle.

CONCEPT AND JEWEL

Nooroo represents the concept of "transmission", it means communication and expression, that is, someone who communicates, transmits, and expresses something, and of course, when he does this, HE IS EITHER ADDRESSING ONE person OR MANY, Who have we said is the What does the story communicate? Felix, what boy did we say is represented in this kwami? Félix, NOOROO TRANSMITS, FELIX TRANSMITS, FELIX IS THE ONE WHO IS READING the story.

Nooroo being the one who represents this concept gives us to understand that Félix is ​​reading it to someone, and who could it be? clearly Marinette, so this theory is becoming more and more solid, but if we explore even more, Nooroo maintains contact with Gabriel who not only agrees with Marinette in fashion design, but also in the pronunciation of her name sounds similar: MARINETTE=GABRIEL

NOOROO KEEPS IN CONTACT WITH GABRIEL=FELIX KEEPS IN CONTACT WITH MARINETTE

but not only that, hawtmoth means polilla halcon in Spanish, if we use the word HALCON in English you don't give eagle, and who is eagle, aha jess, and who does jess connect with felix, also the moths go towards the light, and Who is light? Felix, do you see it? FELIX IS EVERYWHERE.

It's more than clear, definitely, Felix is ​​reading and telling Marinette (how romantic)

Now let's focus on the jewel, we are going to divide it into 2 sections: transformation of the jewel and geometry

-TRANSFORMATION OF THE JEWEL: WE KNOW that a miraculous has a different appearance, color and shape depending on whether it is activated, inactive or when the bearer is merged with the one, the butterfly miraculous undergoes few changes, in terms of color, it remains purple, So on this side it is clear that it is more of the same, Adrien is bad since we know that purple is his color but now, the most important thing to highlight is the shape that the skywatch has, when it is activated it turns into a purple brooch, but I didn't notice the detail that this brooch is the same one where Gabriel keeps Emilie's photo and if we have said above that this brooch and Adrien's are very similar, this could be the most proof. clear and solid that Adrien is Hawkmoth, because then both would have the same Miraculous! This is the most solid clue for me, they tell us to our face.

-GEOMETRY: everything is even crazier because, ladies and gentlemen, once again THE NUMBER 5 IS PRESENTED AGAIN!!, IF WE JOIN the dots that end up in each of the petals that come out of the little girl jewel we obtain a square, a figure with 4 sides and 4 point a point in the center, just like ladybug's earrings,

so the square and the number 4 and 5 would be representative at least for now Hawkmoth (we will update the scheme later, don't worry)

and with this final analysis of nooroo we are going to end this post, we still have a lot to analyze, for now we have explored a little of nooroo and Gabriel, which is no small thing.

Before saying goodbye, I would like to tell you...do you still think that this series is poorly written and crazy without plots and meaningless dialogue? You are seeing how not, right? Everything is super well prepared, even down to the geometry and the numbers hahaha, it's brutal.

NEXT PART>>>

Well, thank you very much for reading, a hug, see you in the next post.

[dedahblog]

About Nathalie and Lila's hostility

I want to talk about a moment in Ladybug episode that is often disregarded

When Adrien ordered Lila to lie for Marinette's sake,

she responded : "Why would I do that?"

When you think about it, she is right.

What can Adrien really do ?

I can only think about two options :

1) Tell people on set that she is a liar

Something that he would never do.

Not because he's not brave, he just doesn't trust people enough and doesn't expect them to stand by him when in trouble.

and Lila would have everyone wrapped around her little finger anyway.

2) Oppose his father

something that he clearly wants to but can't since he is a sentimonster.

That's why Lila looked at Nathalie before answering him.

Nathalie is aware that Adrien is unhappy with the aftermaths of their failed plan with Lila, she knows how important Marinette is to him.

That's why she insisted on going with him to his and lila's photoshoot, probably behind Gabriel's back.

She is there to remind Lila that whatever were Adrien's conditions, Lila has to cooperate.

and Lila is aware that the only who can convince Gabriel to drop her is Nathalie.

It was already proven since the first episode how much Nathalie's opinion is taken into consideration, she is the one who convinced Gabriel to let Adrien go to school.

Moreover, we were reminded in the Ladybug episode about how much influence she has on him and how much he trusts her judgment.

Just how he looked at her during this scene when Adrien begged him to let him go to Marinette's birthday party.

Should I let him go to his friend's birthday or be a stick ass as usual ?

Let him go, my bitch I mean Sir

... both legit "okay you can go"

It kinda of explain why Lila was happy to see Nathalie basically in agony in season 4 finale.

Nathalie is the one who didn't let her expell Marinette from school

There is nothing Adrien could do for Marinette if Nathalie didn't help him.

[jennagrinsoverml]

do u have any really good fic recs for mlb enemies to lovers

Do I ever! Some of these have already been recced in my AU rec list, but since this isn't part of my "undiscovered gems" series, I'm going to let myself rec all of the popular enemies to lovers fic I've been enjoying too 😊

A Series of Meets: Reach by @damagectrlwrites

Paris is safe, except from the rivalry of its two superhero guardians: Ladybug and Chat Noir.  Since they were teenagers, the two have raced around Paris, trying to out do-good each other.

After Chat Noir saves a bus of people from falling into the Seine before Ladybug can even get there, Adrien is in high spirits.  He helps a young woman reach some chips high on a shelf, kicking off a friendly conversation that ends with a coffee date.

It’s a terrible day for Marinette.  First she had a hectic day at work, then Chat Noir gets all the praise for saving a bus of people, and then she nearly topples over trying to reach some chips.  At the very least, a nice guy helps her and asks her to coffee. Surely, things will get better, right?

Ladynoir Enemies AU. Never met AU. This one is absolutely amazing and hilarious and YOU NEED TO READ IT!! Ladybug and Chat Noir are superhero rivals, always trying to outdo each other, and being annoyed at the other. Marinette and Adrien get a meet-cute and fall in love. The juxtaposition is perfect and ridiculous and THAT IDENTITY REVEAL OMG.

Dearly despised, (I love you) by @snacc-noir

Marinette could go on about why she hated Adrien Agreste—to his pranking tendencies to ineffable attractiveness—ever since he had the audacity that day with the umbrella.

And yet, here she was fake-dating him while in love with a superhero.

Adrienette Enemies AU. Warning: This is a WIP! But it's so much fun. Basically Adrien and Marinette never sorted out the misunderstanding with the gum and instead just dug themselves deeper and deeper in hate with their miscommunications. Meanwhile ladynoir are totally in love with each other. Add in a whole bunch of sexual tension and seeing just where the author teases out these missed chances and it's beautiful.

Curiosity and Satisfaction by @imthepunchlord

When Adrien agreed to this line of work, he thought all his focus would be on the job of catching the elusive Lady Luck. It never crossed his mind that someone else would catch his attention.

Ladynoir Enemies AU. Although this is a ladynoir enemies AU, this dynamic change bleeds into all of the different sides of the love square and it's so different and interesting! I loved how the changes made actually affected other aspects. The story feels very real and believable.

like poles of a magnet by @rosekasa

ladybug spat her blood at chat noir. invincibility was only granted to the ladybug and black cat that worked together. not even the miraculous cure could heal them, otherwise.

(or, five times they didn’t hate each other, and one time it was love).

Ladynoir Enemies AU.  The enemies dynamic here is AMAZING!! Adrien is so in character even when he’s a “bad guy”, and the backstory of how he ended up working with Hawkmoth is perfect. (Also, how is Gabriel even worse??) I love the way the identities are played with, and especially the repercussions of Chat working for Hawkmoth on what Adrien is allowed to do.

Unstuck by @ominousunflower

Chat Noir, notorious supervillain of Paris, experiences a wardrobe malfunction in the best and worst possible place: Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s balcony.

Heart pounding, Chat pins Marinette’s wrists to the balcony. She stares up at him, her blue eyes kaleidoscopic from the lights hanging overhead, her features twisted into a scowl.

“Why are you trying to take my Miraculous?” Chat hisses.

“Because—you—I—” Marinette splutters, her eyes dipping down below Chat’s face. “Why is your suit unzipped?”

“I—well…” Chat sighs. “My zipper got stuck.”

Ladynoir Enemies AU featuring Marichat. I'm an absolute sucker for villain!Chat who just needs someone who's willing to care for and believe in him. And, even as a villain, he's still so recognizably Adrien here. My hearttttt!

out of the woods. by @anxiouscupcake​

“I- I have a… Someone I care about very much,” Adrien admitted. “I’m only doing this because my father gave me no choice.” “Well,” she said, lips pursed. “I don’t have it in me to fight The Gabriel Agreste, right now. My hands are tied too.” “I’m sorry.”

To his credit, he genuinely sounded a little remorseful. She even resented him a little for it, because she had so much more to lose than he did, but he just wanted to stay in Daddy’s good books.

She grimaced. Marriage, for one year, they agreed. And a painful few months of “courtship” to convince the press of the authenticity of their “marriage”.

In eighteen months, her father would be hale and hearty, and she’d divorce Adrien Agreste and be nothing more than his business partner.

(...In which Gabriel is an asshole, Adrien is trying and Marinette's stubborn but gives in eventually.)

This is a 2-part series that isn’t finished and that I desperately hope is continued. It’s not EXACTLY enemies AU per se, but it hits the same sweet spot. Ladynoir are in love, but can’t be together. Adrienette are forced to marry because of circumstances and Marinette resents Adrien for it. It’s got Enemies to Friends to Lovers vibes, even if we haven’t gotten that last part yet, and I love it!

i have found someone (like a nomad finds a home) by @hanaasbananas

After Stoneheart, Gabriel figured out who Chat Noir was, and forced him to work for him, rather than with Ladybug. Years later, Adrien is miserable until one night, he meets Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Ladynoir Enemies AU featuring Marichat. Sort of a Never Met AU in that Adrien doesn't start attending school until after he's been a villain for some time and after he's gotten to know (and fallen for) Marinette as Chat. I love it when Chat's a villain and his love for Marinette/Ladybug helps him make better choices!

This Red Love by @hanaasbananas

In another world, he loves her. Would lay down his life for her without a second thought. Would be devoted only to her. In another world, they are partners, fighting side by side to keep Paris safe from Hawkmoth. Ladybug and Chat Noir, heroes of Paris. In this world, Ladybug is his enemy; the only thing standing in the way of what he most desires. In this world, he is not a hero.

Or the one where Adrien and Marinette are dating, but Chat Noir works for Hawkmoth. Angst ensues.

Ladynoir Enemies AU featuring Adrienette. This one has so much tension and the identity reveal and the ladynoir conflict really impacts the adrienette relationship and it's fantastic!

[icripod]

MLB SEASON 5 BIBLE SPOILERS/LEAKS!!

dont read if u don’t want to be spoiled!! im letting everything out after the cut!

okay so. curiosity got the best of me and i decided to read the bible. it was really easy to get my hands on so for those who want to avoid it, be extra cautious.

but boy am i glad that i read it now instead of having everything be a surprise at the end because i know i would have been disappointed. to start off, the most important and interesting aspects of the show such as chat blanc, the sentimonster theory, and the emilie/agreste backstory were not mentioned at all. the bible was a little vague, but not so much as to completely gloss over these parts!! makes me think they’re not going to touch on any of it at all.

the big deal about the agreste backstory and agreste “kitchen” were literally no where to be found, too. i know bibles are just outlines of what’s to come, but the bibles for the previous seasons included basically everything that had happened! i guess im a little hopeful, this means not EVERYTHING has been spoiled for season 5. either that or…they’re just dropping the idea entirely.

also can we talk about adrien never finding out his father is hawkmoth???? that’s INSANE. like absolutely disappointing and terrible writing. i hate to be harsh but honestly, who pitched this idea?? and who AGREED?? 99% of the fanfic i (and probably the rest of the fandom) consume is adrien finding out about hawkmoth being his father, and the emotional turmoil that comes after. AND maribug being by his side for it all!! the show is really pushing the idea of “you and me against the world” in the 5th and, what feels like, the final season. but how do they think they can execute this idea if maribug is going to keep such a big secret from him?? and yes— if your reading this out of context, mari will know gabriels identity and never tell adrien (adrien was not at the scene when it happened.)

and it seems the writers are taking the adrienette route in the romance department, but i was really hoping ladynoir would get together first :( they’ve definitely been through more together as superheroes, and i feel like it would really tie the idea of them against the world. & chat noir constantly saying he’d wait as long as it takes for ladybug to love him back, but then moving on to marinette, just makes his love for her cheesy and empty. that’s just me though, maybe im too much of a ladynoir lover. i feel like adrienette doesn’t really have much to offer. it’s too boring, if im being blunt.

another thing. im not a fan of zoe wielding the cat miraculous. alya with the ladybug miraculous— yes, i understand. zoe with the cat?? to give a secondary character who just joined the show in the fourth season the most powerful miraculous really waters down its importance to me. to wield a miraculous, it was established that u had to prove yourself, that u had to earn it (as alya had proven.) unless zoe does something insane before the mid season episode, i don’t like the idea very much.

i don’t want to rant too much about this because i have a lot to talk about. but I will say that im a little bit disappointed. the only thing that shocked me was marinette combining the cat and ladybug miraculous, and adrien never finding out his father is hawkmoth :( everything else, even the cliffhanger and all the lila drama, i didn’t really care for. in hindsight it all sounds pretty solid but i already KNOW the execution is going to be bad so for that, im bummed.

[flightfoot]

CN and LB not being equal isn't a feminism thing to me, as that's not really the point of why it sucks that they aren't?

It's because they built up this partnership, this equal share, yin and yang, push and pull and then... Just abandoned it. They ignored Adrien and Chat Noir more and more, tried to insert Marinette into a plot where he only relevance is "I love him" and then gave a bunch of plot points to another blond boy with a dead parent that should have been given to Adrien.

Adrien just gets shoved out of his own story, denied his support system and left more and more and more alone and it's treated not as the horrifying, unbelievable tragedy it is and as just... A thing that's happening. Not important compared to Ladybug. Marinettes the protag, but don't set up a deuteragonist if he's never gonna be that. If Adriens a side character, keep him that. Don't get up anybody's hopes he'll ever be more than that.

To be fair with Felix, he plays a VERY different role in the story from Adrien, so I don't think he's really encroaching on him in that way. Felix is solidly an antagonist, and while he's had a bunch of plot points thrown at him, it was to use in antagonistic ways, not to replace Adrien's role in them.

I do agree on the issue with it being presented as an equal partnership by the show, and then not showing it as much. That being said, part of the message of the whole Ladynoir Conflict in season 4 seemed to be that them being that imbalanced was a BAD thing, and that they need to have more even roles, in order to truly be at their best. That while Ladybug may be the strategist who mainly comes up with plans, she still needs to listen to Chat Noir and involve him in them.

I wouldn't say the story's ignoring Adrien though. Hell, I'd say that season 4 paid more attention to him than ever before, digging into his thoughts and feelings and his relationships evolving. I do think he should have gotten more screentime to delve into those aspects more - especially since there were, like you said, a few points where Marinette was inserted when she had little relevance. As much as I enjoyed Marc and Nathaniel's drawings and the whole "Marinette pretending to be a waiter" plotline in "Gabriel Agreste", that time should really have gone to the Adrigami reconciliation, for instance.

But even with all that, I'd say Adrien was the real star of season 4 (though Alya also did very well for herself). He may not have gotten as much screentime as Marinette did, but a lot of the most important scenes, the ones with the highest emotional stakes, centered around his feelings and development.

I do agree on the horror of Adrien's support system weakening, though it's still around at least. I wish that the story would really acknowledge what that lack of support means, that he really doesn't have a lot of people he depends on outside of Marinette, Ladybug, and Plagg. Marinette goes through some tough times, but she has a ton of support when she needs it.

I think that Adrien IS, in fact, a deuteragonist. It just feels like he isn't as prominent as he should be, because well... he's got all the plot connections and the most interesting backstory, and the angstiest, most emotional plotline. It's less that he doesn't get the amount of focus that a deuteragonist should have, and more that the amount of focus he gets is far less than you'd expect, relative to how interesting and emotional his plotline is.

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

I posted 14,618 times in 2021

398 posts created (3%)

14220 posts reblogged (97%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 35.7 posts.

I added 15,340 tags in 2021

#adrien agreste - 2271 posts

#lol - 2229 posts

#ml - 2202 posts

#miraculous ladybug - 1932 posts

#ml fanart - 1769 posts

#chat noir - 1217 posts

#ml spoilers - 1158 posts

#marinette dupain cheng - 906 posts

#love square - 872 posts

#lmao 🤣🤣🤣 - 784 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#ive had this idea in my head for long after seeing people rag on adriens shoes but it was anna's post that pushed me over the edge sjksnsgk

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

The thing about Adrien's forgiveness is that it's not just an aspect of his kindness but also a result of the emotional trauma inflicted on him by Gabriel.

Adrien is so afraid of losing people and so used to having his boundaries trampled that he doesn't know what they are anymore. Boundaries are for other people

(That's why I side eye arguments that say Adrien is okay with something because he let it happen. Adrien doesn't even know what his boundaries are. And tolerates things that really aren't okay on a daily basis. Not the most solid of evidence.)

So, yes. I want Chat Noir to be angry at Ladybug. I want the validity of said anger acknowledged not just by the characters but by the narrative. And I don't want the Ladynoir fallout resolved due to magical nonsense.

Because it will show Adrien that he is allowed to feel angry and upset at people he cares about without worrying about losing them. And that he's allowed to have his own boundaries respected.

... Just thinking about this now but allowing himself to be angry at Ladybug before the reconciliation could be used as a narrative stepping stone for the inevitable confrontation with his father. Where Adrien recognizes that he needs to cut some people out of his life for his own well-being. Even if they're a blood relative.

I don't know about anyone else but that's what I mean when I say: I want Chat Noir to be angry at Ladybug.

524 notes • Posted 2021-10-29 12:02:53 GMT

#4

Adrien is Not "the Male Character"

Which is to say: Adrien is not the Generic Male Protagonist.

Protagonists have been used as embodiments of their respective genders for... a long time. The Generic Male Protagonist supposedly representing all men the same way the Generic Female Love Interest supposedly represented all women. This is both by design and baseless in reality.

Yet, these representations persist in our collective understanding of media. A male character represents all males; a woman all women. Despite the fact that not everyone shares the same experience. Especially not with such broad generalizations. My experience of being male is not the same as that of someone else.

Adrien is not merely "a male character" that can be seen as symbolic of all Men. He is not this projection of masculinity, toxic or otherwise, that the fandom puts on him. Adrien's character and personality show the opposite even; a boy with "traditionally feminine" qualities.

Adrien is a part of a very specific subset of men: male victims.

From that lens then, I suppose it should be less surprising that the fandom treats him the same way our society treats male victims. Victim blaming him for the abuse he suffers, placing the onus on him to "grow a backbone" essentially just another way of saying "man up". His harrassment by female characters ignored because he is male and they are not. And, in a disturbing echo of false feminist rhetoric, his harassers are idolized for being "strong women" standing up to "men".

Reducing any character down to one singular aspect of themselves is something we must grow out of. Adrien in particular is not just "the male character" because being a boy is not his most defining characteristic. No matter how hard the fandom tries to make it so. Such a view is reductive, inaccurate and, potentially, dangerous to one's worldview.

656 notes • Posted 2021-06-10 16:38:53 GMT

#3

Okay, so Dearest Family gives a lot of backing to the idea that the inequality between Plagg and Tikki, and by extension their holders, is an artificial situation established by the Order of the Guardians.

As Yin and Yang they keep each other balanced. But because of the notion humans have that Destruction is inherently more dangerous than Creation (something the episode shows is not true at all) they give Tikki more freedom while restricting Plagg's. (Which we can infer from Su Han's reaction to hearing Plagg is free)

Inevitably making things worse.

Canon has implied that Plagg's aloofness is a defence mechanism stemming from the way the Guardians, and possibly his past holders, treated him. Like a monster that needed a tight leash.

Tikki isn't free from this either. As she suppresses her desires and less ideal qualities in order to appear more in control. Therefore not needing her leash to be quite as tight as Plagg's.

The Guardians doing the equivalent of shooting themselves in the foot. While the kwamis are arguably more controllable, Tikki is a volcano waiting to explode. And Plagg is as unhelpful as he can get away with. Even encouraging his holder to sit out fights in the early days.

This is especially evident by the way Canon shows us a better way of keeping the kwamis unlimited power under control.

Plagg is the only one shown using his power without some disaster following. And it wasn't when he was helping Ladybug. It was when he was rescuing Adrien.

Adrien has slowly and invariably snuck his way past Plagg's defenses. He is, ironically, the only one Plagg listens too.

In the same vein, it's only after Marinette reassures Tikki that she won't abandon her due to her flaws that Tikki starts getting a handle on her hunger.

Because if kwamis can affect their holders like Tikki did then it stands to reason that the opposite is true as well. The Miraculous are a joint venture between kwami and holder whose powers are limited by the imagination of the wielder. Why wouldn't strengthening that bond help the kwamis use their own power safely?

The Guardians' treatment of Plagg and Tikki also extends to their holders. If not by doctrine then by practice.

For all his talk about not following the old traditions Master Fu certainly echoed Su Han's thoughts on the Black Cat in his actions.

The summary for Ephemeral implying that Chat Noir's identity needs to be known, not for practical considerations such as coordination, but so he can be controlled, i.e. manipulated. A lack of trust and paranoia Fu also showed during his time as Guardian.

In order to move forward the Black Cat has to be acknowledged as the Ladybug's equal. Not only in word and thought but also in action.

Something no character has yet done.

730 notes • Posted 2021-10-20 21:44:12 GMT

#2

Why Adrien Agreste is a Great Hero

This has been done many times before but now it's my turn... Again.

Chat Noir always prioritizes the civilians' safety. In Origins Chat Noir saves Alya twice despite losing his baton in the process. In Anansi he makes sure everyone is off the ferris wheel before going after the supervillain. Every time he protects Marinette when she's an akuma's target.

Adrien acts like a hero even without his powers. After being hit by Reflekta he rallies the students to protect Ladybug. During Oblivio he distracts the supervillain long enough for Ladybug to evade their attack. He tackles Marinette to safety in Riposte and Heroes Day.

He respects Ladybug's privacy. Chat Noir has had many opportunities to learn Ladybug's secret identity. Particularly in Lady Wifi and Kwami Hunter. Both times he has respected the boundaries she placed.

Adrien's empathy. Adrien is empathetic to everyone. Being simultaneously his greatest strength and greatest weakness. He will see you as a person first and foremost, not as your flaws.

Screw the Rules I'm Doing What's Right! Related to number four Adrien is far more likely to bend the rules for someone else than he is for himself. He embodies doing the most good for the most people. Putting it another way: Adrien is Neutral Good.

Chat Noir doesn't follow blindly. Despite the at times excessive trust he places in Ladybug, she earned that trust. The Guardians did not. And Chat Noir won't hesitate to question authority. In Syren he questioned the then Guardian Fu's rules of secrecy which had and still do drive a wedge between Ladybug and his teamwork. In Furious Fu he didn't hesitate to denounce the Grand Master.

Chat Noir is good at compartmentalizing. Even when upset Chat Noir quickly puts it behind him in order to defeat the akuma victim. As shown in Glaciator and Frozer. Also in Simon Says and the Collector. And on less emotionally stringent occasions like Gamer 2.0.

Teamwork. Or perhaps faith in Ladybug. Chat Noir trusts her completely. He has never so much as insinuated that she could not beat an opponent.

Emotional Support. Related to number eight Chat Noir has constantly been Ladybug's rock when the seas grow too turbulent. Providing a moment of respite before turning her back to their duty. In the rare instance where he speaks to the temporary heroes Chat Noir also provided support for Rena Rouge when she needed it.

Chat Noir takes his duty seriously. When observing his carefree attitude one could be forgiven for mistaking Chat Noir's attempts to lighten the mood/keep his spirits up for a lack of care. (Not by me though. I won't forgive you... Adrien might.) Chat Noir doesn't diminish the importance of defeating Hawkmoth or of helping the akuma victims. When Ladybug is compromised he takes steps to ensure victory. Such as taking the lead with Miracle Queen and preventing her from revealing her identity in Truth. Even going so far as renouncing his ring when he felt he was no longer worthy of it.

This has been a non-exhaustive list of why Adrien Agreste is, was and will continue to be a great hero.

781 notes • Posted 2021-05-01 20:06:23 GMT

#1

I haven't seen enough people praising Adrien for how he acted with Juleka and Rose this episode and that needs to be corrected.

Adrien asked Marinette to hang back so he could talk one on one with her and knelt down to be at her level. He asked what she needed, if she wanted someone to talk to he would listen. And he did. Adrien waited to hear what she said before doing anything.

Then with Rose he was the only character that wasn't shown in the class's overreaction montage. Besides greeting Rose at the steps he doesn't have any lines until later.

I love Adrien showing how empathetic he is with everyone.

2252 notes • Posted 2021-05-05 17:44:45 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[casadefreewill]

Daily Fic Rec

Just get me to the church on time. By ClockworkCaptain

Summary:

Ladybug and Chat Noir are sent into the future to the day of their wedding. Now they're dealing with the knowledge of their future while their future selves think about the past and all the things they wish they could tell their younger selves while also looking forward to their future.

I’d call this a fun ride with a huge dose of character flaws and “other magic”. This story is written along side season 4 and you can tell, there is a not insignificant portion that is the direct result of lack of communication and LB keeping CN out of things.

The writing: while there are a fair amount of typos, the story and writing themselves are very good. It’s comedic and I never found myself actively angry or frustrated with/hating any of the characters like I tend to when faced with a story that tackles the “ladynoir conflict”.

A huge part of the story is the “other magic” aspect in the miraculous universe, aka kwami are just a very small part of the magic system. This leads to multiple characters becoming creatures and a former creature on the miraculous team and the consequences of that. I love this sort of thing so if it also interests you I’d say give this story a shot.

This story’s main ship is endgame ladynoir/adrinette but there are a few others along the way. I’d say vipernoir/lukadrien is the second biggest one. There is also focus on Zoé x Luka and minor DJWifi (not that they aren’t very much present, they are, and they have their own story that carries through, they just haven’t had a chapter/chapter segment of just them or without Adrien and Mari trying to help them with their relationship).

They did really dial back on Gabriel’s maliciousness. While he’s “kinder” to the hero’s during their non-akuma adventures and I do think he’s written as possibly feeling something like love for Adrien he is also written as kind of crazy and possessive and more than a little red-flags creepy. I do find myself laughing at most of his segments so he was at least utilized well for comedic purposes.

I will say, I think Nino and Marinette get hit the hardest with the character flaws stick. Nothing wildly out of character, and nothing that I think would need to be tagged as s*lt but they definitely don’t sugar coat their uglier sides. Felix is also kept firmly in the asshole category more in line with his first appearance rather that anything they’re doing with him in season 4.

The story is told through multiple time periods all at the same time. The chapters jump around so that all things get filled in eventually but you initially learn things out of order. I find it an interesting way to tell a story and I think it was executed here very well.

The story is currently 52 chapters and still updating and goes far beyond just what the description would have you believe.

[imthepunchlord]

so I recently read through your "Always a hero"-works. And now I am hooked on LfM. And while Adrien Seems so much different from canon, he really isn't? Marinette not being in his "friends-folder" means he sees no reason believing her over Chloe. (I cannot recall situations like that in canon but when does canon explore sidecharas much other than to akumatize them)

It essentially is canon Adrien, though been focusing on his worst aspects as we’re going into 4 seasons, and those issues have yet to be addressed and I’m a tad salty and LfM is a salt fic response fic. And Adrien for a while will have that salty focus. Largely because

And yeah, canon won’t put focus on side characters (or even truly focus on our lead herself) as those characters have to circle around the love square, their akumas, or 

Actually the most we got is Chloe. 

She got focus outside Adrien and the love square. Unfortunately, all her focus was a big waste of our time and essentially another tease of “is she going to be redeemed or not”. Ultimately not and its like, why even bother spending two seasons focusing on will she won’t she be better. That could’ve been shortened down to one. Now she’s a very irritating character and canon wise, I don’t want to see her with another miraculous ever again. 

Which is a shame as I was one of many up to see Chloe redeemed, especially since I’m fed up with the idea that 14 yos girls are irredeemable but Gabriel will probably be redeemed. It shouldn’t be like that for Chloe or Lila. But they want to push that these girls are absolutely evil, more so than the active terrorist who is a neglectful father and by Chat Blanc abusive so... 

It’s also a big shame cause there was so much potential in the side characters outside love square and Adrien. 

Putting this under cut cause I just go off and it gets lenthy. 

Alya could’ve had an amazing arc if she was a full time hero. Could’ve had a struggle of balancing her hero and civilian lives, as one she is essentially living her dream. Another option is learning, hey, being a hero isn’t all glory and glamour. And depending on the miraculous, there was more to learn, especially since I myself am not big on her having Fox anymore and there are better alternatives, both in matching her but also teaching her things she needs to learn. She could learn to be more of a team player and to be more conscious of her friends as when she gets going in her goals, she can be quite inconsiderate. She can also learn to be more self conscious of her own security as she can rival Adrien in reckless behavior around akumas. And in truth, any miraculous can teach her the importance of secrecy, not Fox exclusively. 

Honestly, Alya and Nino should’ve had their miraculous swapped (most characters actually don’t have a miraculous that suits them in terms of kwami,  powers, or/and symbolism).  Alya at the core is meant to be a supportive friend that is supposed to have her friends’ back, but also prefers to be on the front lines. Turtle would allow this, and teach her to be more aware of the danger she and her friends are in. It won’t essentially stop her reactive behavior, but she can learn to be more smart about it. 

And with Nino, it was always weird to me how popular it was for him to get Turtle. And then it happened in canon and I’m just put off by the assignment. Nino at the core isn’t a character that wants to be on the front lines, but Turtle is a miraculous that is meant to be on the front lines as a protector. Nino is a support role, but not in that sense. Fox would’ve been better as its more designed to help from the shadows. It won’t be as aesthetically pleasing still as Nino is so color coded for Peafowl, but would fit better as it allows Nino to be a background support. It would also help him learn to be more observant and aware of others, and wanting to be a director, you need to learn to put on a good show that draws your audience in. Mirage can give him a chance to truly practice this. Mindful, Fox still isn’t my top pick for Nino (I think Fox would be more fitting with Marinette or Felix), Peafowl still is as that’s what he is coded for, and even canon wise, it would be a more fitting miraculous for him than Turtle. But of what Fu has, Fox would’ve been the better pick for Nino. 

And speaking of Nino, it’s revealed from a tweet from Thomas that Nino had lost an older brother and that his hat belonged to him. That actually gives Nino an emotional tie in to the plot as, while he wants his brother back, he wouldn’t go to the extent that Gabriel is. 

Classmate wise, there’s potential too. 

Origins shows that everyone was afraid of Ivan and assumed the worst of him, he could’ve had an arc of changing those views. Go from being feared to being seen as a hero to trust. A source of protection and security. 

Juleka wants to shine out more. But she struggles in that spotlight and to even be heard. She could have an arc about being heard, and building her confidence. 

Rose is a girl ruled by her heart and is full of love and trust for others. It could be interesting seeing her have a miraculous and struggling with the factor that fighting is involved, but she herself is a pacifist (at least I get that impression). And that can be an interesting thing to explore, as she’s not wrong, but sometimes fighting is the only way. She can also learn to be more conscious that there are those who will take advantage of her and will have active malicious intents to her and others. 

Kim actually states that he wants to be a hero. Not only could him as a hero be fun, it could help him mature as a character and be more serious, as akumas demand focus and be treated as serious. Copycat shows that he can be an observant character, I’d be intrigue to see ML’s residential himbo be surprisingly observant and offer up advise to his friends. 

And of alternative love interests... 

Well, this is more Kagami than Luka, at least in terms of character potential and an arc to see. Though, as of now, if all the predictions are correct SPOILER ALERT, Lies will break up Adrien and Kagami, to me its going to make them another Chloe. More specifically, why did we spend two seasons building up and teasing these alternative love interests only to immediately break them up at the start of s4. 

To me, that sets them up as pointless inclusions who ultimately didn’t bring anything to the narrative. 

Either way, this is about character potentials and I see more potential to explore with Kagami than Luka, and that’s more on the writers and how they handle Luka as most Luka episodes wound up more about Adrien than him. So he is largely a character I just don’t know what to do with. 

Kagami though, she’s an aggressive character that could learn to cool it, she wants to branch out/rebel from her mother, she wants to make friends but struggles with it, and can learn to be more conscious of others and step up into the hero role, of helping others. 

Honestly, working solely off Riptose, she would’ve been a better rival for Adrien than Marinette. Not just as a love rival, which he truly has yet to have, but a rival in general. While she wants to branch out from her mother’s influence, fencing is still her passion and her goal, something Adrien himself lacks. Outside being romantically involved with LB, he has no passion or goal for himself. Kagami can challenge this, why is he here when he doesn’t truly care about fencing? 

And as a romantic rival, she’s one of the few who doesn’t need a miraculous to join fights, she can vigilante to assist LB and pay her back for her helping in cleansing her, but could end showing that she’s a better partner to LB as she takes things more seriously and is more battle smart in fights. Which ultimately would force Adrien to step up his game, take things more seriously, and wise up for throwing a tantrum will only take you so far. Especially when there’s a 3rd party member that’s judging you for your immaturity and shows LB she doesn’t have to bow to his whims just because he’s having a tantrum. 

...You know, maybe Luka then would’ve been better as Marinette’s rival. Not a love rival, Marinette has enough between Chloe, Lila, and Adrien’s fanclub. But more of a rival for Ladybug. Though, it won’t so much be an arc for Luka himself but one for Marinette. If Kagami and Luka are supposed to help Adrien and Marinette grow, then this at least keeps in that theme. 

With the show taking a turn that Marinette is feeling overwhelmed and stressed with her role as a hero and now Guardian, and slightly playing off Origins and her doubts of whether she’s a good hero; Luka could’ve been an interesting character for her to come across and consider. Ultimately, he is set up to be a very solid hero: he is calm, mature, shown to be a planner, and considerate and aware of others. Only thing he has against him is that he’s a removed character and is mostly seen sitting on that boat. 

Romance between them I’d leave as optional, but it could be intriguing to see Marinette considering the possibility of retiring as Ladybug and passing it on to Luka so she can fully embrace her Guardian duties and not be so overwhelmed. And in general, it is a big wonder, who would take over as the Ladybug if Marinette has to leave and not come back, or that she can’t balance between being a hero and being the Guardian (and in truth, Tikki is no longer a good kwami for Marinette to have as she’s developing an Atlas complex through her and she hasn’t been helpful as a guide and adviser in a long time). 

Now the show writers would butcher this, but it could’ve been interesting to see. Maybe Luka could’ve been a means to help her learn to manage things better if she has to stay LB and Guardian. 

But yeah, it’s a shame that this show won’t delve past the LS which has long since gotten stale and quite toxic. There’s a lot of potential, but they won’t touch it. Won’t care to. 

[lovesquareshippingtrash]

The only kind of fair ML blog I can think of is Immaturity of Thomas Astruc (or IOTA). It started out as a blog dedicated to exposing Astruc's behavior on Twitter, but now it's an ongoing critique of the whole show. The guy who runs it tries really hard to give the show a fair shake, and it brings up some interesting concepts and criticisms. The only issues are that it can lean a little heavily on the cynical side, and it's also pretty harsh on Adrien. Might be good to poke through, just to see.

This is in response to this post.

Thanks for the suggestion, but yeah... Reading through episode reviews, it was just... too much. They really seemed to hate Adrien, and it was someone with the same mindset that prompted my original post 😅 For instance, there were points about Adrien shouldn't think of Marinette as one of his best friends because they only spend time together in a larger group, when it's required externally, or by coincidence, which, first, does not mean you can't be very close friends, and, second, ignores the events of episodes it literally cites. Take Kung Food - Adrien went out of his way to go to help Marinette, then continued to hang out with her specifically even after it was shown he didn't need to.

I mean, I know Adrien is not perfect, but it felt a bit like it was missing the point.

I'm not here to yuck anyone's yums. People can enjoy whatever they want for whatever reason. For me, I came to this show understanding the premise of the two superheroes in love with each other without realising it; the love square. That's what drew me in, and that's always what I've liked the show for. Without that aspect, I wouldn't have watched the show in the first place, and I certainly wouldn't have watched more than a few episodes. If I didn't enjoy the love square, I wouldn't be here. Part of why I find it confusing that people watch the show and don't like the love square - I don't get what they like about the show.

The shows writing is flawed at best and just bad at worst. Astruc, certainly, has a lot of issues. I can understand not liking the writing, but it feels weird to me to hatebon the characters for being written badly. Adrien is clearly intended to be a kind, loving boy, who has suffered years of neglect and abuse, who just wants to have friends and be a normal kid - who takes the opportunity as a hero to relax from the public image expected of him to be a little silly (yes, often at inappropriate times, which is one of his defining flaws, because a good character SHOULD have flaws), who is also genuinely enamoured by his partner. He's also a 14 year old boy who doesn't always know the appropriate way to handle his feelings. Him being a bad partner, or manipulative, or refusing to listen - the premise of the show makes it pretty clear that that isn't who the character should be. I get mad at the writers for that, not the character - we've seen time after time that development will get ignored or retconned away to fit a story. We're supposed to believe in Puppeteer 2 that Adrien thinks Marinette hates him? That's a fault of the writing.

Any major character is subject to this. Chloé gets it worst of all, with her redemption arc having a dozen different starts, culminating in her just choosing to help the villain publicly and then straight up acting like an outright villain in her daily life - the harness she used to descend from the ceiling in Gabriel Agreste?? I'd expect that from Looney Tunes, not a show with an ongoing plot that wants the overall story to be taken seriously.

This has becoming super rambly. Sorry to anyone who's actually read all this. Just, for me, I guess the discussion about the show I want to see would be more about the flaws and merits of the writing, not pinning the writers' failures on mishandled characters. For instance, the good: the serialisation of most of season 4, with Alya's arc supporting Ladybug, Luka's arc with Jagged, etc. The bad: the show regressing to treating Cat Noir as a sidekick as time has gone on - and this is more season's 2 and 3 I mean than 4. I mean Fu leaving him in the dark because Plagg failed to bring Adrien to him, only meeting him once to give him the power ups and mot giving him the same knowledge and training as his partner, when Fu should have known from his monitoring of Adrien's situation had badly Adrien needed support. And if you want to do an arc where Cat Noir feels neglected and left out, show that he and Ladybug both have valid perspectives, instead of him just being petulant, because the overall characterisation and narrative tell us that he shouldn't just be petulant, that's a failure on the writing, not the character. Maybe don't go including a remote controlled toy that can be used for anonymous communication in a between season special and then make their inability to contact each other a major plot point of the next season. Maybe have them TALK and understand each other and have apologies go both ways and just uuggghhh

But like, Fu not giving Adrien the best treatment? That doesn't feel necessarily like a flaw on the part of the writing, but a flaw from the character, which can be GOOD for the show. We know Fu isn't perfect, and Su-Han makes this even more clear after the fact. All of that can be used in an effective way to set up Adrien feeling like he's being left out. The setup is there; his decision to leave in Kuro Neko could have been impacted by Nino telling him that he and Alya know about each other's identity - which Cat Noir can't talk to Ladybug about, because he can't explain that he knows Nino well enough to tell him, and Adrien can't talk about because why should it matter to Adrien? But instead he's just angry that he wasn't involved and refuses to wait 5 minutes, or just arrange a time during a patrol or whatever to talk about it, and how they could make arrangements. Say, they could make plans so that, in future, he could handle distributing and collecting some Miraculous. Maybe even storing them separately so they're not all in the same place, liable to ALL get stolen if one is like in the season 3 finale - his petulance here doesn't feel, to me, like a character flaw, but a writing flaw.

Oh, and while we're at it, maybe stop trying to claim that the identity reveal/them dating (which could easily be two separate things, but no, let's just have two alternate timeline episodes essentially exploring the same concept instead of any real shakeup of that formula, except the second one ontributes even less to the overall plot than the first because this time nobody knows anything about it) would lead to Gabriel winning/end of the world, because 1) their relationship is the hook of the show, your unique selling point, and you've already made clear that it's endgame, and 2) it's blatantly false, in both instances it was because Gabriel found out, which had almost nothing to do with any of it - you're telling me that Gabriel catches them because he overhears Adrien say "my Lady", which could easily just be, like, him emulating Cat Noir, or SO many other things, yet he's never simply overheard Adrien talking to Plagg? The problem has NOTHING to do with the relationship, and trying to force us to think that with Cat Blanc and Ephemeral is just insulting.

More rambling. Point is: I want content that recognises both the flaws and merits of the characters in a positive way, and recognises that the failures are a product of the writing - whilst also recognising that the writing has done a LOT of cool stuff.

[thefamilycryptid]

Analyzing Miraculous Ladybug, Episode 1: An Analysis of the Love Square

My friends on discord found out I like analyzing people as both a way to ensure people cant hurt me and as a way to figure out what kind of gift they would like, so they asked me to analyze some of the things in the Miraculous Ladybug Series no clue how many parts of this I’ll do so submit me asks and I’ll work on them :D

@username8746489 asked me my opinion on the Love Square, more specifically if I thought it was healthy or not.

The short version of my answer would be no, I do not believe the Love Square - as the show portrays it - is a healthy relationship. Now I see you Adrinette stans about to reblog this claiming ‘its true love’ but think about it like this; yes they have the possibility to be an amazing ass-kicking couple but their writing is horrid. Lets dissect them individually so we can comprehend how their relationship would function in reality.

Marinette is a canonical stalker, we witness with several times, from Marinette breaking into Adrien’s household (that most likely has a high security system due to the Agreste’s influence) on several occasions.

And instead of intervening and stopping her “bff’s” toxic behavior so she doesn't get arrested later in life Alya enables her behavior and offers her more ideas on how to get with the person she’s ‘meant to be with’. 

As mentioned before she broke into Adrien's house and even went through his locker to steal his phone over nothing more than an embarrassing voice message. She also harassed Kagami because she liked Adrien, and caused her akumatization after calling a fencing match (keep in mind the fact that this is Mari’s first day doing fencing and she barely know’s the rules) in her crushes favor even thought it was obviously a tie. 

She also constantly berates Chat Noir, who - as we already know - is Adrien, if you cannot love all aspects of someone, even the messy and  chaotic sides then you should not be in a relationship. Now this can be justified by the fact that Marinette doesn’t know Adrien is Chat Noir, but it is also no excuse for the way she treats he partner, constantly berating him for every little mistake he makes and treating him like a tasteless sidekick. I get that this is a show about girl power but Ladybug and Chat Noir are supposed to be equals to keep the Creation and Chaos thing in balance right?

And then there is the thing with the pictures, I would understand having one or two pictures of your crush (or maybe more if you are close friends and have taken several photo’s together) but none of the ones in her room are actual photo’s of him, they’re just cut outs from magazine covers Adrien is the center piece of. This isn't anything outright criminal, but it is very odd that instead of making more personal photo’s of him to hang up (maybe them having fun or on a hang out with friends) she chooses to hang up photos of him in his ‘actor mask’.

Now the photo’s are a bit odd but nothing crazy, but what is crazy is the fact she has his whole fucking schedule in her room, like first of all where the fuck did she get it, follow up question why the fuck does she have it. This is extremely alarming and could possibly lead to a court case in reality if someone (like Gabriel or Natalie) were to learn of its existence, Marinette would have a permanent black spot on her record if she didn’t end up being sued (or maybe even arrested) for her actions.

I could bring up plenty more points here such as when she dug through his trash and responded to a poem he had disposed of (then broke into his house to deliver), how she cant even hold a proper conversation with him without foaming from the mouth (something she admits to during the ‘steal Adrien’s phone’ moment), how everything she knows about him most likely comes from A. stalking B. the internet/gossip magazines or C. Alya telling her, how she told Alya to stop taking photos of Adrien unless she sent them to her, and that she confessed her love to him on the anniversary of the day his mother went missing.

But thats enough about Marinette lets move onto Adrien.

Now Adrien has a bit more of an excuse for his less than ideal behavior, he was isolated his whole life and the few relationships he did witness (Chloe and His's Parents) were probably not the best seeing as Gabriel has a tenancy to neglect his child in favor of work it wouldn’t be too surprising if we learned that he neglected his wife as well which was why her condition worsened until she was unsavable and the fact that Aubrey cannot remember her own daughter’s name.

He probably grew up watching rom-coms where the lead love interest bullied/blackmailed/harassed the girl into a relationship and they got married in the end and everything was always ok with no repercussions for their behavior.

Plus Gabriel looks like the type to give the 'its legal if you dont get caught' advice for all the wrong reasons, that accompanied by Chloe ( and later Lila) constantly draping themselves over him like fucking skin shawls, leads to this kid probably having no clue what consent is. 

So far he hasn't done anything too drastic for me to fully pull apart and wack with a stick minus the over-the-top flirting, but a lot of boys his age flirt so thats fine so as long as he doesn't touch Ladybug in a non-consensual way he's mostly ok in my book. 

All-in-all they would be 100% better people if A) They were with other people B) They seek help for their issues or C) They spoke to one another like normal people, until this is shown in the show I deem it a toxic ship.

(Note: Before you come on my case about there being less for Adrien, please keep in mind that Marinette is the main character of this series not him so of course there would be more to dissect about her. We are walked through her daily life, so we see every misdeed and every creepy stalker-ish moment, while we only see Adrien without her a few times, almost all of which are him transforming, or doing something that with offer a chance for Mari to shoot her shot. Please also keep in mind that this isn’t my entire opinion on the matter, I love the characters but I hate their writing, I also encourage to formulate your own opinions on the matter.)

(note for people who may want to ask for analysis’s, please remember I am just a human and I’m not 100% used to typing out whole paragraphs on fictional stuff and my brain tends to wander a lot, this was written during my ‘big brain hours’ sorry if your request isn’t as well done as you would like it to be)

[nobodyfamousposts]

Miraculous Kwami Swap

I’ve seen it done before where circumstances result in a different pair of heroes in Origins, but I’ve yet to see it fully expanded on just how wide-ranging the effects would be.

Imagine we have Alya and Nino get the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous.

For one, it would be better on principle because of the idea behind this change is that the perspective and focus would ultimately be more spread out among the characters rather than central on two. This is in part because neither Alya or Nino would have the direct tie to the central plot other than by being chosen as the heroes. This means no tie to the villain or to the guardian.

Furthermore, there would be much different dynamics—not only with each other, but with their families and civilian lives. Marinette and Adrien had it easy in a sense as each of them was an only child. Compare that with Nino, who has a younger brother and Alya, who has two younger sisters to watch out for as well as one older one who is rather dead-set on protecting her from the akumas she has to go out and fight.

On the plus side, this means Nino wouldn’t need Marinette’s help to beat Nora at arm wrestling. On the other plus side, Nora would strike me as the type to catch on to Alya’s secret and try to help her…through training her to fight.

Alya: I can never use my arms again!

On the same note, this means very different positions for Alya and Nino as the Ladybug and Black Cat.

Alya was shown to be very big on the idea of superheroes in Origins, so she would be pretty psyched about being one, in a manner rather similar to Adrien. She’d have to learn that the life of a superhero is actually much more difficult than expected with secrets and juggling responsibilities—something she may “know” about from comics, but not something she would understand until she actually has to live it—much like in Sapotis where she initially said she’d tell Marinette her identity at the start of the episode only to back out of doing so by the end.

She’s also pretty reckless in canon, meaning that any instances of Chat!Nino rescuing her would be more of a response to her not fully thinking things through than him needlessly jumping in the way. This would allow for more growth potential for Alya as she is forced to take a serious look at her actions and possible consequences.

There would also be more difficulty with the Lucky Charm. Alya isn’t shown to be one for thinking things through, and that is something the Ladybug position would require and force her to do. This ultimately forces Alya to slow down and consider things before acting—both in regards to jumping to conclusions, but also in leaping before she looks. There’s also the bonus that this would result in Chat!Nino being able to step in to help direct her at points and allow him more of a role and say in battles.

On the other end, Nino is shown to be laid back in canon, but he is shown to be pretty good at thinking on his feet and planning things out. Even as an akuma, it took quite a bit of planning and set up to arrange Adrien’s birthday party. There’s also the other party from Party Crasher where Nino plotted out everything from what excuses to give the girls to how to get into the mansion. Sure, it was a horrible plan for various reasons, but it was a well plotted out one. His level of planning actually seemed to be about on par with Marinette though without the universe as a whole working against him most of the time.

Nino would admittedly do well with the Ladybug Miraculous. He’s smart, he’s a quick thinker, and he’s good at planning. But he’s not quite so good with leadership. We saw during Horrificator how he was acting—changing the script without telling everyone or consulting Alya when it was HER script, being harsh on Mylene, replacing her too quickly without considering her feelings. These were things the show didn’t call him out for, but they were still issues that should have been noted and addressed.

Nino is noted to be more of a follower, perhaps even codependent to a degree. In two separate instances, he pretty much gave up once Alya was down even though he could have continued and helped the heroes turn things around. First during Zombizou when Alya was kissed by the zombies in the elevator, he chose to stay behind with her and let himself be kissed once she was converted. It was sweet, sure, but there was no real reason for that if he knew Ladybug could restore things and that he could help her do so and save Alya. The second time was during Heroes Day when Alya was hit by the hate arrow and akumatized, he was so dismayed by it that he let himself be taken down as well. Ignoring again that this wasn’t the end and there was something he could do. Furthermore, whatever decisions he made or sides he chose to take seemed mostly dependent on other people and what they wanted from him at the time rather than using his own judgement.

A cat should be able to stand and act alone when needed, and that’s something he could gain from the Black Cat miraculous. Not to mention that there’s also the matter of the kwamis and how these pairings would interact.

Of the possible options for human and kwami teams, the most gain and interesting interactions seems to be with Alya and Tikki and with Nino and Plagg. Tikki would be encouraging Alya’s better traits but also helping to rein her in when she jumps to conclusions or acts without thinking. She’d also push Alya to consider how other people feel. Plagg, on the other hand, is particularly ornery and would be the one encouraging Nino to act rather than sit back, even if the “acts” he’s encouraging would be less than particularly noble. I’d also see Plagg having less concerns about acting out and Nino having to act more as the responsible one and trying to keep Plagg in line. Since he doesn’t have to worry about Nino being locked up and isolated the way commonly threatened with Adrien, Plagg would have less reason to need to behave. And since Nino likely couldn’t afford massive amounts of Camembert, he’d have less incentive to behave either.

This would also change the dynamic of the love square. Alya would probably consider her partner as a love interest since they’re both heroes and partners and that’s generally how it goes in the comics. It’s not about putting him on a pedestal, it’s about falling into expectations and it would be another aspect of heroism that Alya would need a lesson on. Furthermore, Nino still starts out with the crush on Marinette.

So we’d have Alya and Nino juggling their hero duties, school, families, and friendships. But what about those friendships?

Adrien is still the son of the big bad, but he doesn’t know it. Furthermore, he knows nothing about the Miraculous either. Being Chat Noir had no real impact on a number of aspects of his civilian life, so he would still have the initial circumstances of his first day of school, would still be friends with Chloe, would still be accused of putting gum on Marinette’s seat, and would still end up making things right with her by the end of the day. So he’s still friends with Nino an is still the center of a lot of people’s affections: Marinette, Chloe, Lila, and Wayhem.

Without Chat Noir, Adrien wouldn’t have an outlet for all the energy and freedom-seeking, so we’d be seeing a more vocal and dare I say rebellious version of Adrien than the one we get in canon. So not only would we have more Adrien and Gabriel interaction and conflict, but that also means Adrien manages to have more free time to hang out with his friends.

Ultimately, when the main duo are allowed to start asking others for help, Adrien would be high on Nino’s list. Nino would give Adrien the fox because of the illusion that Adrien tends to maintain. He knows that Adrien hides himself behind a mask and so would give him a chance to show his true self. The fact that it would be later revealed that Adrien is the son of their arch enemy would hit them pretty hard. Especially if things happen that result in Adrien switching sides to help his father.

Also, since Adrien isn’t Chat, that means he never inspired or got a front row seat to Ladybug’s speech and never fell for her. So no love square. That means he’s able to explore possible feelings for any of the people interested in him. In particular, Marinette.

Now that she’s brought up, what role does Marinette play in this? Imagine if she gets drawn into the whole thing by accident?

Given Alya’s nature, she strikes me as a proactive hero—to the point where she would be trying to seek out Hawk Moth in her downtime. So she starts going over possible suspects, looking for clues to where the akuma are coming from, what all Hawk Moth would need for his lair, etc. And one of the people on the list is none other than Adrien Agreste.

Think about it! Monsters start attacking only after he first starts showing up. Their class have almost all been turned into akumas by this point. It’s like Hawk Moth is targeting them specifically. And Adrien is never around during an akuma fight (because he’s hiding like any sensible person)! And Adrien is one of the few people in class who hasn’t been akumatized! it can’t be coincidence!

So Alya pulls Marinette into her scheme to check out the Agreste mansion for clues. And they would find nothing since as it turns out, Adrien actually is innocent.

Except Nooroo in this version of events isn’t nearly as passive as his canon counterpart. The heroes are struggling and Gabriel is even more of an ass to his son and to Nooroo himself. Needless to say, he’s somewhat spiteful and feeling particularly passive aggressive.

So when a random school friend of Adrien’s just happens to visit (read: scope out the mansion for clues), Nooroo uses butterfly effect—which he IS the master and creator of thank you very much—to get the Peacock Miraculous into her bag in hopes that she can help in some way. Inform the heroes, get the Miraculous to Fu somehow, help Dusuu, just something more than the Peacock Miraculous staying trapped in the safe where Gabriel can use it.

So Marinette gets home unknowingly carrying a magical item in her bag. Later on, she discovers she now has a strange broach. And an even stranger creature attached.

Marinette: AH! IT’S A GIANT BIRD! A MOUSE! A-A BIRD-MOUSE!

Marinette is still pretty smart. She would figure out at some point that Alya is the Ladybug hero and want to help. But the Miraculous is damage and using it would cause her harm. So Marinette tries to avoid using the Peacock Miraculous while also trying to either find the Guardian or figure out some way to fix the broken magical artifact…to…some limited success.

Ultimately, Marinette is trying to help in her own way, but with the volatile situation, she tries to avoid transforming unless the heroes really need her to. Unfortunately, given the difficulty Alya and Nino are having as the heroes, as well as the changes with Adrien that are forcing Gabriel to push matters more quickly, Marinette ends up having to transform and help out on several occasions. And as she does, she gets weaker as the damaged Miraculous is taking its toll on her.

So let’s review:

We have Ladybug!Alya. Quick to action and struggling with thinking things through, with a Miraculous and kwami that are pushing her to become more of a leader and plan things out.

Black Cat!Nino. A follower and possible codependent, with a Miraculous and kwami that are prone to trouble and pushing him to act.

Fox!Adrien. More rebellious and passive aggressive. With a super villain father and much less inclined to simply sit by and let people hang on him or infringe upon him.

Peacock!Marinette. More shy but less anxious or overwhelmed due to not having the responsibility of Ladybug. Still creative and intelligent, enough to know who at least one of the superheroes is, and by pure happenstance ends up with the Peacock Miraculous.

This can only go well!

[enchantedsapphiresky]

WARNING: LOVEATER AND MIRACLE QUEEN SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!!

Do NOT click on the link if you do not want spoilers for the Miraculous Ladybug episode “Loveater” - the first part of the finale for season three. 

Also do NOT click on the link if you do not want spoilers for the Miraculous Ladybug episode “Miracle Queen” - the second part of the finale for season three. 

So I want to preface this by stating that these are my feelings as of watching “Miracle Queen.” I obviously have no idea how the writers plan to take things, so I will always be willing to watch and keep my opinions tamed. Because until we see the fallout and the entirety of the show, it really is hard to say one thing is ruined or another arc is completely dead.

However...

I personally am very confused about this finale insofar as a catapult to the rest of the story.

I don’t have much comment on the Love Square - I have a year to quell my whining and be on board with them growing apart so that they can - in a healthy manner - grow together. That’s me struggling with change and knowing I’ll grow to love Lukanette and Adrigami only to have another shift back to the Love Square. It’s not a bad thing - just something to get used to.

What I am concerned about are the storylines of Chloe and Gabriel.

CHLOE

I am fully prepared to be Boo Boo the Fool, but we still have two episodes that can explain why she went from being her own, independent hero to well...this. 

Should recovering from Chloe’s kind of raising be in a straight line? No.

Should we at least have some indication of that turmoil? Yes.

One thing that continues to be a little frustrating to me is the amount of focus on Marinette. I don’t mean this in a disparaging way to Marinette - it has quickly made her the most relatable characters in the show. While her role as protagonist demands that, I would argue that Adrien’s role as deuteragonist has been largely underutilized in this department. 

With Adrien, we have the opportunity to explore Chloe’s ascension from descension to corruption. Now I’m not saying that Adrien is beholden to solve all of Chloe’s problems - far from it. But there could have been moments of connection. I think of “Despair Bear” and how Chloe so desperately tried to appeal to Adrien’s sense of being kind. What does a Chloe who is genuinely trying to change look like in comparison to that? I’m not expecting this to be addressed in “Felix,” but how perfect of an opportunity would it be to see Felix being a smarmy git only for Chloe to be torn between being “in” with the rich mean kid and staying true to her changes? What about seeing Adrien react if Chloe does side with Felix? And what that means to Adrien and to Chloe, separately?

I do not have much faith that Chloe will be redeemed after this, but I would not be shocked if we saw her do a 180 further down the line. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised and the rumors of a new Bee holder will make her realize what her decisions have led her to both gain and lose. That Ladybug ever gave her the Miraculous after Chloe’s antics was a huge grace. Now our only hope left is for Chloe to recognize how to be a hero without that Miraculous. Can she? Time will see.

GABRIEL

Okay. There is a LOT to unpack here. The scenario that he set up - akumitizing Chloe, attacking Fu, revealing the identities of the secondary Miraculous holders - it should have held a lot of interest. But it just fell flat. Many others have better described how lackluster the fight was, but I am still bothered by how passive Hawkmoth was.

I understand that Dragonbug’s power probably made penetrating the area of the fight difficult. But having Hawkmoth stand on a roof like a spectator after our season two finale brought him into the ring felt flat as a pancake. Heck, we’ve seen him be a thousand times more active in “Ladybug” alone this season. Mayura we may be able to forgive for falling to the broken Miraculous, but when you put the main villain in the background and have a fight that isn’t as grand as it could be, there is going to be some frustration. 

So much could have been done with this. They had Snake Noir right there with the possibility of him losing the cat miraculous only for Ladybug to recognize him, stutter out Adrien’s name and cause Hawkmoth to falter. Only for Aspik to use his second chance. They had the possibility of using Rena Rouge’s illusion to make it seem like Fu had fallen and force Ladybug to choose between maintaining to fight with Miracle Queen or saving the Guardian. We could have had Lila on the scene for an extra all civilian turned villain punch. We could have had Hawkmoth having awareness enough to realize some Miraculous hadn’t been used and could be taken from the box without impact, thus leaving Marinette as the Guardian with yet more missing Miraculous in a parallel to Fu.

In short, between the scenario that was set up and the ability to rewind with the snake Miraculous actively in play, I needed to feel worried. I needed to cry, unsure of what was going to happen. I needed to be teased, to be worried about the future even knowing we have more seasons down the line. That is what a finale is about and yet what this finale struggled on the most in its fight scene.

Now to Mayura in relation to Hawkmoth. I have NO WORDS as to how aggravated Gabriel makes me. In one breath, he swears never to make Nathalie transform again and in the next he keeps her transformed in broad daylight knowing she has straight up collapsed at least once this season while transformed just to attack Fu’s shield?

I’ll be frank - I am salty to death over the rumors of Mayura being Hawkmoth’s “boss” and making him look like a “baby” not coming true. Was it a language barrier? Misunderstanding? Misquoting? Really Emilie’s version of Mayura who fit this bill? Who knows. 

But what I do know is that seeing that ending without knowing what impact the fixed peacock Miraculous brings leaves me a little more miffed than satisfied. From translations, it seems like they translated the grimoire? Which had a cure for the Miraculous? After having had it for...who knows how long? Is this what Tomoe was doing for Gabriel?

It just feels hollow after spending a season worrying and wondering about Nathalie and Emilie’s conditions. Can they sell it to me in season four? Maybe. I’ll remain open to those possibilities. But this just seemed like the most safe of the options of showing us the Miraculous being healed. It’s tacked onto the end - it’s done offscreen and by means that we haven’t been privy to. It makes me lose that sense of wonder about what happens and leaves me wondering why we went through the grief in the first place.

None of these things mean that I hate the show - I’m still very excited for “Chat Blanc” and “Felix.” I’m still going to watch the show until the end and will be thrilled to see myself proven wrong in certain aspects. But just because all of that is true doesn’t mean I won’t have opinions about the show, albeit knowing its target audience is far younger than I am. It’s a good show and a good ride that I’m going on regardless. I have respect for Thomas Astruc even if I don’t understand every decision that is made. And I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that all the negatives that I and others have pointed out are for a reason - even if we can’t see them just yet. If I’m proven wrong, well, at least we have the highlights of the show to enjoy. And there are definitely more highlights than there are low.

[simplystefanie-rae]

out of curiosity, if you could give marinette an actual overall arc. what would it be? I know origins and most of the fandom likes to play with her insecurity but thats pretty over with by now.

There’s so much that could be done and that should have been done already, starting with giving Marinette her own conflict alongside Adrien’s to balance the two out. I’ll just work with what we have so far though and how it can be improved.

So first, Marinette’s character really needs to be taken out of this plot where she’s only focused on getting Adrien’s attention. It seems like nearly every episode with her a lot of her attention is on how she can get a date with Adrien. Nothing is wrong with that by itself, we know she has other goals and interests, but damn if this show doesn’t want to show us any of that lately. It’s honestly just too much because it seems like they have no idea what to do with her beyond being the show’s hero and developing her relationship with Adrien.

This is where I think Luka could actually be good for her. The situation is still heavily focused on romance unfortunately, but if Marinette decides to move forward with Luka, someone who’s potentially interested in her already, the pining for Adrien will be put on hold. That’s not to say she won’t be heavily conflicted, I think she will be, but if she’s in a committed relationship there doesn’t need to be all this focus on planning dates, and wondering if Adrien will ever like her back. There’ll be more of a security for her in a relationship with Luka, that opens up Marinette actually doing other things. 

This also will help Adrien and Marinette’s friendship I think. Let Marinette build up their relationship through being ‘just a good friend ;) ‘ and I think she’ll naturally shine more as a person for Adrien, and get to know him better too. It’ll be more natural this way. 

Setting romance aside so I can actually focus on how her arc could go from here on, if they honestly want to go with this idea that Marinette is a normal girl, they need to show how all these abnormalities going on is effecting her seemingly normal life. Her parents being much more involved than they are would be a good start. Marinette is balancing a lot in her life, we’ve seen this reflected through multiple episodes how being Ladybug conflicts with her obligations to school, her parents, etc etc. Her parents picked up on it in Jackady and this thread was never picked up on again. And it should be. They should be wondering where their daughter disappears to and why. It would also just help to learn more about them in general to flesh them out, that way we can honestly care about this family besides cooing ‘aww, so cute’, and moving on to how sad it is that Adrien doesn’t have this in his life. 

So with this in mind, they should be making it harder and harder for Marinette to keep up pretenses and explain where she goes and harder to balance out what she wants to do with what she needs to do. Give us ‘designer!’ Marinette again, only this time have her enter a competition but lose out on making the deadline because of her Ladybug duties getting in the way, piled on top of other obligations she has. Have her ditch her friends in the middle of hanging out. Maybe at some point even Luka is noticing she just disappears and this causes a strain on their relationship.

So this is the shape I want Marinette’s arc to begin to take. I’ll briefly go over some spoilery things we know are going to happen, starting with Chloe’s 3 episode arc with her family. Am I foolish for wanting Marinette to have involvement in Chloe’s arc when they already made her situation center around her family, as well as Adrien’s? Very. I have almost no expectations in this regard that Marinette/Ladybug will impact Chloe since it seems they’re going the way of Adrien being the best influence in her life. But if this were me writing it, I’d have the 4 years of bullying brought up between Marinette and Chloe as a huge point of contention with the idea of Chloe being a better person. Have Marinette’s feelings actually matter instead of trying to paint her as unreasonable for being suspicious of Chloe unlike what they did in Despair Bear, that way we can also revisit just how damaging the bullying was to her self esteem pre-Ladybug. It helps Marinette’s character be fleshed out some more, but also shows that Chloe really has to work for it if she wants to be a better person. How this plays out with her becoming Queen Wasp is up in the air, I can see Ladybug vehemently being against the idea of Chloe with a miraculous because, duh, and also because of past hurts, but mostly because it would be a terrible idea. This is how Chloe would be akumatized again. At the end of all this, maybe start to have things patch up between her and Chloe. 

Now, bigger plot things. AKA, the Agreste drama that just doesn’t end. Going back to that civil war poster Astruc posted, tbh now that I think about it I don’t know if this is speaking of bigger plot things, or maybe Astruc was alluding to the day of heroes special. Still don’t know what’s going on there. But let’s say this is for bigger plot things involving the Agrestes. Adrien learns Gabriel is Hawkmoth and he does some fantastic manipulation to get Adrien on his side on the grounds of getting his mom back, where ever she is. Obviously Chat fighting against Marinette would devastate her completely, and she’d have no idea why this was happening either so she’s just lost and confused. Here is where other miraculous heroes can take a more permanent role in helping her fight the good fight against the akuma + chat, meanwhile she’s trying to be strong through it but her heart is breaking. 

This show already established Marinette as a character that puts duty above everything, doesn’t matter what it is, and this aspect of her would be especially important in a situation like this. If something like this ever happened, they need to show just how much this is hurting Marinette to fight her partner, but she pushes through that hurt and gets the job done anyway. 

I also think it would be really cool to juxtapose this directly with Adrien’s situation. Family is what he might wind up taking precedence over, through no fault of his own, his dad is a manipulative dick. But Marinette should be shown as someone choosing duty above everything, above her friends, above boyfriends, above her parents worries, above her own partner, because she’s responsible for making sure Paris is safe. 

Look though! I wrote all that and none of it involved a super special family or super sad past. So if Marinette’s lack of interesting story line is on the grounds of this arbitrary idea that she has to be ‘normal’, they can do all that but still give her solid character development and plot involvement. 

[miraculously-fangirling]

Springtime Connection - Chapter 17

(A/N: I am so sorry for the wait. Life's a bitch at times ^^;. I hope to become more regular in the coming weeks and that you guys enjoy this chapter :))

The Gorilla glanced in the rear view mirror at Adrien who gazed out the window. Adrien rested his chin on his palm as he watched the passing people and buildings with a small smile. He thought about the afternoon he had shared with Marinette. It was possibly the most relaxed he had ever seen her. Maybe all this working together was doing her some good. That’s what Adrien thought. He thought maybe Marinette had finally stopped seeing him as this far-off being and instead saw him as a fellow classmate.

Before long, the Gorilla pulled into the Agreste Mansion’s garage. Adrien quickly got out of the car and wordlessly entered the house with a wistful smile on his face. Gabriel caught a glimpse of his son as walked down the hall.

Gabriel looked up from the mountains of papers that crowded his desk and walked to the threshold of his office. Adrien didn’t notice Gabriel watching as he walked up the stairs to his room. Gabriel stood with his hands behind his back as Adrien disappeared into his room. It was weird seeing Adrien so undoubtedly happy. He wondered what could have happened to make him so happy. Actually, he had been much happier than expected lately. He sighed. Maybe he didn’t need to worry about him. As if.

Gabriel didn't go back to Adrien’s room though. Going there would only wipe that smile off his face. Gabriel returned to his desk and picked up an old drawing Adrien had done when he was in elementary school. He just wanted Adrien to be happy like he was back when he had drawn the family portrait.

Adrien quietly closed his door behind him before flopping onto his bed. Plagg flew out of Adrien’s shirt and hovered over the boy’s eyes. Adrien stared at the ceiling while Plagg took his seat on top of the couch’s back.

“What was that about, kid?” he said, his foot impatiently tapping against the cushion. He needed to see if Adrien knew anything, get the kid the bed, then zip back to the Dupain-Cheng’s to talk to Tikki. Too much was going on at once. Too much was at stake. He needed to know how much Ladybug knew about Chat.

He was going to miss his beauty sleep for sure that night.

"What do you mean, Plagg?" Adrien said while glancing over at his kwami.

Plagg sighed and rolled onto his back. If he could, he would've face palmed. Sometimes he couldn't believe how dense his Chosen was. All the homeschooling in the world couldn’t teach common sense, he guessed. "You hugged her. What happened to not liking her?" Plagg said.

Adrien's gaze returned to the ceiling. His heart pounded as he thought about Plagg’s words. She was just his friend. Marinette was just his classmate. She just couldn't form a coherent sentence around him half of the time. Was a hug really all that bad? "Shut up, Plagg. She's just my friend," Adrien groaned. He got up and went to the bathroom. "I'm gonna take a shower. Your cheese is in its usual place," Adrien said over his shoulder before shutting the bathroom door behind him.

Adrien sat against the door and rubbed his face.

Plagg sighed. Adrien would stay in there and sulk for at least twenty minutes before showering and would most likely ignore Plagg for the rest of the evening. He only had a bit of time. Plagg quickly zipped out of the open window into the chill night air.

He didn't quite remember where Marinette lived, but he remembered it being near the school. He flew to the neighborhood and searched the vicinity for that terrace. He had seen it enough on Chat Noir’s patrols to recognize it. He always thought about Marinette when passing by.

Plagg had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he saw the terrace. He almost gagged with the memory of Adrien’s gushy thoughts. If only the kid knew the truth, then he’d always want to be ‘patrolling.’

Plagg flew over to Marinette’s window and peered in. Marinette sat in her office chair with a stupid grin spread across her face. Marinette covered her face with her hands and squealed for the tenth time that night. Tikki sat on her desk with a forced smile. She was glad to see Marinette so happy, but she also knew that Plagg saw her. Marinette had been so focused on the night’s events that she hadn’t quite noticed the reduced glimmer in Tikki’s eyes.

Tikki spaced out for a moment and stared out the window. In the emerging city lights, she caught the outline of Plagg’s form. She had a feeling that he would pull something like this. Tikki patted Marinette’s hand and pointed at the window. Plagg’s heart nearly stopped as Marinette got up and opened the window. So he really had been seen.

Plagg cautiously floated into the room, keeping a watchful eye on Marinette. Tikki quickly gathered him into her short arms and squeezed. “Plagg! It’s so good to see you.”

Plagg didn’t hug back, as he turned to Tikki. He couldn’t quite believe that he was with her so soon. Usually it would be several months or even years after reawakening before they would meet again. But this was not the time for reminiscing.

“She knows?” he asked in a low voice. Tikki let go of him and nodded. Marinette sat down in her office chair while watching the two kwamis float over to her. “How long?” he whispered.

“A few weeks,” Tikki said while facing her chosen. Marinette sat still as she watched the small black cat. She hadn’t seen him since she caught him snacking on cheese in the school’s fridge. Admittedly he was cute, but his personality was a piece of work. She wondered how in hell he was supposed to balance with Tikki’s bubbly personality. “This is Plagg, Chat Noir’s kwami,” Tikki said, motioning to Plagg with her arms. “He’s been my partner for centuries.”

“A few too many, probably,” Plagg said. Tikki gave him the side eye, but Plagg just shrugged. “Anyways, you’ve got quite the interesting chosen this time. I think Wayzz is losing his touch.”

Tikki smacked him the back of the head, “Marinette is perfectly capable of being Ladybug. Your Chosen thinks so for sure,” she said with a mischievous grin that Marinette had never seen.

Plagg rolled his eyes. “Don’t get me started on the kid; he’s practically smitten with this one.”

Marinette blushed and looked away. That was one aspect of Chat Noir that she had been purposefully ignoring. The thought that Adrien liked Ladybug made her heart soar and her stomach sink. He liked the confident and cool her, not the clumsy nerd side.

Ladybug gave Marinette a quick glance before giving Plagg another side eye. He really did not know how to read a room. “Right, anyways, why are you here?”

“Always to the point,” Plagg said with a sigh, “but you’re right. I don’t have all night. Now that you two know who Chat is, what do you want to do?”

Marinette locked eyes with Tikki as they entered an awkward silence. It was only a few days until the festival; Marinette and Adrien were only going to be busy until then.

“We should tell him,” Tikki said after a moment.

Marinette looked away. She knew that was the right course of action. “I agree,” Marinette said, “but let’s wait until after the festival is over.”

Plagg lowered his arms and rested on the desk. “Glad to get that out of the way. He stretched a bit before jumping back into the air and flying over to the windowsill. “Anyways, I better head back before the kid realizes I’m gone.” He looked back at Tikki and gave her small smile. “It was nice seeing you, Tikki.” With that, he leapt into the night air and quickly flew back to the Agreste residence.

Adrien grumbled to himself as he stood and took his shower. He was sure that Plagg was just wolfing down his store of cheese without a care in the world. As the water heated up, he thought back to the past few weeks. They seemed to have flown by with the festival preparations amongst other things. He thought about how nice Marinette was that afternoon and how sharply her family contrasted with his own. He truly was the black cat, he guessed. He was ‘blessed’ with everything except for a warm and loving family. He stepped into the hot water and let it hit his face as he took himself back to that night with Ladybug where he just let everything out. He covered his face with his hands. That month had just been too much.

He quickly showered and stepped into his room. He draped his towel over his shoulders as he sat on the couch and turned on the television. He turned around to the cheese drawer and wondered why he didn't hear Plagg eating. Adrien sincerely didn't think that Plagg would be having table manners right then.

“Plagg?” Adrien called from the couch. When he still heard nothing, Adrien stood and faced the drawer. “Plagg, are you mad?” Adrien sighed before facing the TV again and turning on his latest anime series. If Plagg was going to be silent, so would he.

Adrien was on his third episode when Plagg flew in through the bathroom window. He quietly floated along the wall as an epically over dramatic fight scene playing out on the screen. Plagg rolled his eyes as one of the characters entered a long monologue while powering up some bodily weapon. Plagg never understood these shows, but he had seen weirder and thus never said anything about it. He smiled as he reached the cheese drawer and dropped into his precious stash. He didn’t think that a bakery would have camembert, so he had held on until he got home. It truly was a struggle.

He unwrapped a new piece of cheese and began digging in. He watched Adrien, who didn't hear him eating over the TV, and thought about how interesting the end of the week was going to be.