#they do marinette and luka's friendship so good

[rainbow-arrow]

i highly encourage people give miraculous a re-watch but through lukadrien lens bc holy fuck is it so good

[trickstermiraculous]

Miraculous Court Revived Au

This au is based off the idea of Marinette revving the guardians through her classmates.

Basic Facts:

Lila has been found out but the staff still believe her

Ladybug and Chat Noir has revealed their identities after Master Fu passed over guardianship

Miracle queen didn’t happen (Chloe gets a redemption)

Adrien and Marinette had a big conversation on boundaries (with Chat Noir constant confessions/refusal to listen to Ladybug and Marinette borderline stalking, it was desperately needed) and decided on friendship for now so their relationship is healthy

Think only s1 s2 s3

Story:

Both Marinette and Adrien agreed to lend out the miraculous permanently but they did it slowly over a year

Not every hero shows up to an akuma at first but most do now as hawkmoth keeps getting stronger the longer they have the miraculous

Which ironically is something happening to the heroes with them gaining effects outside their suits such as animal traits, super strength/speed and small amount of their powers

The Kwamis explained that this is not unusual and many past users who last longer ended up being tightly bonded to their miraculous which made them into demigods (the class being all true holders just made this happen sooner in the development unlike others who had this happen when they were adults)

Over time the class got more feral but not something that was insanely noticeable until another heroes day incident which ended up with class (plus Kagami and Luka) revealing their identities to each other in order to have a stronger support systems as shit was getting worse and worse with the akumas becoming more deadly and horrific

This cause the class to basically become feral in an actual noticeable manner (think Feralnette au vibes but with the whole class)

They also focused way more on the hero jobs, learning martial arts, weapons training, gymnastics, dance, first aid, civilian control tactics

It was Chloe who brought up the idea because while these classes were great, it was too public so why not get a secret base? Like other heroes do

Between her money and her dad’s complete refusal to go against her and never looking into what she was doing, it was a perfect way to hide a secret base and there are a lot of old warehouses/old buildings needing to be bought up so no would really notice

Even so Max and Alix pointed out that even if that was the case wouldn’t it look odd for a bunch of teenagers to keep visiting a random building/warehouse

It took a lot of brain storming but eventually it was surprisingly Kim that had a solution even if it would be complicated as fuck to accomplish

BUILD A BUSINESS

Confused at first, Adrien asked for an elaboration

Well Marinette wants her own fashion brand, Alya wants to be reporter, Nino wants a music/movie career, Kitty Section has started a career already and just needs to be sign to a label but also has their own job wants outside like Myleen/Ivan/Rose’s charity work and Julaka Modelling career, Marc/Nathaniel wants to make comics, Alix wants to expand her art career/sports career, he wants his own sports career as well, Max wants to build more inventions to improve technology for the world, Adrien wants to also work in science (if not work in food) and Chloe/Sabrina like business in general

so why not just combine all their talents and build a jack of all trades enterprise like other big corporations tend to do

It would also be a good cover to build up the Miraculous Guardians again like Marinette and Adrien wants because you can’t really build something like that out in open anymore without it sounding like a cult.

The Plan/Effects:

So that was the plan, it helped keep their parents off their case, could work on it during school because basically everyone there expect for Lula or Kagami (both helping on music and security branches)

It was a slow build as buying a hood building took a while so did all the legal issues but Chloe, Sabrina, Kagami, Adrien and Marinette helped due to the rich kid background, police father and Marinette’s small business that had been set up with the help of Jagged.

The business didn’t really come first though at least they were not openly promoting it.

First they worked on their hero reputation/brands by increased public interactions with more patrols (more heroes means easier ways to spread out patrols), working with the police for normal crimes like how many other heroes in America do (I’m thinking dc crossover not the canon ones), social media presence for better alerts/info to public/a way to see more down to Earth and relate to people (since come what teenager type hero is not going to shit post/meme about their lives)

And it worked more people support them, helping bring more hope as the new need for more heroes got people worried that hawkmoth was winning, the government was starting to help out more (double edged sword thou as that meant a bigger work load for other crimes) which made them express that even when hawkmoth was defeated they wouldn’t minds them sticking around to help Paris since most hero’s tend to stick to America

The main cover business started to become popular after making themselves more known openly with Ladyblog being officially under the company banner, Marc/Nathaniel’s comics also coming under the brand, Max’s new hero endorsed akuma alert app and Hero Website also coming under the company, Kitty Section joining with the start of company’s music records, famous jagged stone endorsed designer known as MDC also joining.

All these popular thing helped it grow quite fast and with the fact most of them being young teens helped make the media especially interested in how fast they were raising in popularity because it wasn’t everyday you see a group of teenagers build such a big company at their age.

That’s all I got so far to be honest.

Notes:

Adrien has to sneak around his father still but with the business he had chloe help him to threaten Gabriel to back off (threaten to go to the press about how he’s unfairly treated)

Kagami and Lula while out of the class have ended up close with most of them over time before the reveal

Parents are just happy their kids are having fun and building up their future careers

Kwamis are protective as hell with class while also are all really happy with being out after being stored into the box for so long

Teachers and the rest of the school tend to avoid or be more harsh on the akuma class (Lila being the cause for the staff issues)

They are now around the age of 16-17

The hero team is now known as the Miraculous Court due to how the public has heard them use their old titles that the guardians used to use such as Lady Of Luck, Duke of Destruction, Seers of Time, Knight Of The Elements, etc.

If you guys have an idea on what the Business should be comment below (currently only idea is Lucky Enterprise)

[maddascanbe-blog]

Finally! I will say now that the class girls will likely take a long time as well.

Kagami's first and second looks here are meant to be her pre and post character development outfits.

Buckle in, this is a long (haha) one

Kagami in cannon is clearly designsed to resemble Marinette in a lot of ways, both are of Asian decent and have blue-ish hair and blue eyes. Both have freckles and even their suits share a very similar color pallet. At least Luka was different from Adrien in more than personality.

I didn't want that for my Kagami. I wanted her too look like more than a Marinette clone. So she gets to keep her freckles since my Marinette doesn't have any. Her hair is a darker color instead of a blue, and her eyes take on a stormy grey color. And of course their body types are different, namely Kagami is both taller and ripped.

Ryuko's hair is more blue since I gave the miraculous blue, white, and gold accent to match the weather pattern on her chest. Her hair get's shorter, pinned back and is a bit more wild. It's probably got some static. Little horns and some armor to keep her extra safe as well as further resembling scales. Her suit is closer to an orange shade than Ladybug's cool red. I almost switched her to blue since I agree with the sentiment that the dragon should have been blue. But red looked good too.

I don't particularly like any of the akuma designs for Kagami. I like Oni-Chan in concept at least (hate the name) so I decided to combine that with Riposte to create her initial design. Than she gets a pallet swap and a few thorny details to represent the rose. And Bara-Oni, literally just 'Rose Demon' I ain't creative, when Lila pulls her stunt. Which would have less to do with "How could Adrien do this to me," to "That bitch is kissing Adiren when he is CLEARLY uncomfortable!"

Kagami's personality is very similar to cannon, however her character still has some pretty harsh changes. Kagami has come to realse through Adrien and Marinette's friendship that she isn't very happy with her life. Her mother is trying to live through her, forcing Kagami to participate in fencing and putting pressure on her to perform perfectly in every aspect of life.

This comes to a head when she is given Longg. While sitting in the akumatized mech her mother became, all because she had the audacity to make friends, she actually waits long (haha) enough for Longg to explain the miraculous. When Longg explains the weapon he points out that she must be thrilled to have a sword. At which point Kagami has an emotional breakdown and sobs that she doesn't even like sword fighting. That she would rather learn hand to hand combat and that she's wanted to switch for years but her mother refused to hear it.

Longg says her can change her weapon to better suit her, and she get's armor and the abilitly to summon gauntlets when her power activates.

After having this break she and Adrien sit down and try and find ways for Kagami to feel more like an individual without being disowned at 16. Cutting/dyeing your hair and getting a Tattoo are two of the results, and since Kagami already has short hair and doens't really want to go shorter she gets the tattoo instead. Subtly referencing her time as Ryuko but in blue (her favorite color). And of course her mother is blind and doesn't know

Is it kind of shitty to abuse your mother's disability to use her money and get a tattoo? Maybe. But that's what you get for mentally and emotionally warping your duaghter to the point where she lies about her favorite color to please you. She, Adrien, and Chloe are in the "Our mom's suck" club together. Chloe will be collecting her for new wardrobe shopping.

[marinettesaltprompts]

Here's an idea for a salt prompt:

When CatWalker replaces Chat Noir, Ladybug is initially ecstatic. He seems perfect. A total upgrade from Chat Noir.

The only problem is...

Well, she's on the other side of the unrequited love barrier now.

CatWalker is polite, but professional. He doesn't joke around. He doesn't make friends with anyone on the team. He does his job as efficiently and effectively as possible and goes home. He's not rude and he is an attentive partner workwise but he's not someone to do more than provide token comfort when needed or to hang out for the sake of it like Chat Noir once did.

Even when Ladybug carefully probes for the possibility Catwalker is quick to shut any possibility of a closer relationship down. Even Viperion can't get through the model-professional mask.

Meanwhile at school Adrien seems to be quietly withdrawing as well. In truth it took them a while to notice, but lately Adrien's always had a thing he had to do at home or for his Father when Nino asked. He hasn't even really been going to band with Luka and his group anymore either. There's no sign of sadness or stress though. Just that same model smile as always.

Finally the story goes to Adrien's perspective and the truth is revealed. The day that Plagg came back with the ring they had a hard conversation about why Adrien really gave it up: the disregard. The double standards about the identity rules that apparently on he had to follow. More importantly they discussed how the increasingly one-way affection and care in the relationship between him and Ladybug was hurting him. Once upon a time Ladybug had been his first friend outside of the house. Now he felt like her pet or worse.

He *knows* that whatever she called him to talk about before time was broken had been important. And he's pretty sure there was no good reason for Viperion to have been down there having *activated second chance* when he and Ladybug were supposed to have just been talking.

Plagg then spilled something that poisoned any chance of Adrien returning as Chat Noir. During the night that Ladybug had spent trying to figure out how to get a new Black Cat, Plagg had spoken with the other Kwamis and Sass let slip the truth about why Ladybug had called Chat Noir to the tower that night.

About her scummy plan. About how she'd chosen to manipulate him over trusting him in the slightest. About how in the end all Ladybug had to do was just yell at Su-Han to make him cave.

About how Viperion hadn't even said a word to try and convince her to stop but just when along with everything. Sure the other Kwamis aren't that bothered about it- human things aren't their specialty so it's not like they care that much when it's not a holder they like getting hurt- but the implications are clear.

And just like that something in Adrien finally breaks. The scales fall from his eyes and the desire for a bond between him and Ladybug withers away. The same for any idea of a friendship between him and Luka.

And from there so to do the other threads connecting him to others. Nino had *hated* Chat Noir. Sure a lot of it had been grief, but the contempt towards Chat Noir was real. Would they really still be friends if Nino knew who he really was?

Probably not.

Alya and him were only friends by association of Nino. And no one else in class was closer to him than that. Even the others in the band were people he'd gotten closer through Luka.

Marinette... well. He'd *thought* they were getting closer, but any time it seemed like they were making progress she'd act out and... well. He'd been trying to ignore it for a while but if he was honest he knew what a fangirl looked like. He just didn't want to admit what he saw in Marinette.

Even Chloe and Felix had fallen away in their own ways.

Maybe it was time to let them all go. It hurts to accept but less than he expected. It's kind of a sad relief. He'd dreamed of making friends and a life outside of the manor but much like being a superhero, things were harder in real life than in his fantasies.

But Plagg was different. Sure he wasn't perfect. He'd kept things from him, but they'd bonded. Adrien honestly couldn't say there was anyone closer to his heart than the little Kwami, not since Mom had "disappeared".

But he lose Plagg forever if he stopped being Ladybug's partner. And Plagg doesn't want to say goodbye to Adrien either- but he has responsibilities as well. He can't just stay with Adrien and ignore the fight in Paris- even if he didn't care much about humans he cared about poor Nooroo and Duusu!

So they concocted a way for them to stay together. Being Chat Noir had been freedom once, but it had been becoming more of an obligation to Ladybug anyway. Besides, he was decent at escaping now anyway and he could only really have fun with Plagg in the privacy of his room anyway. The relationship between him and Ladybug was a source of more pain and trouble than it was worth at this point, Adrien just couldn't be her emotional support anymore. So the new Cat would be strictly polite and distant with her to avoid even the possibility of that happening again. Chat Noir had been widely mocked and devalued for his approach, so his replacement would be a calm professional who never let his personal feelings touch his work.

And so Catwalker was born.

He's easy for Adrien to slip into. He's just the same model personality he practices every day after all, only now the distance between him and others is enforced. He's the perfect fighter. The perfect soldier. No one can fault him, and no one can say that he doesn't fit on the team even if he's not part of their friend group. Adrien's heart is protected, Ladybug the partner she wanted and Plagg gets to keep his favored holder.

Catwalker is perfect.

Too perfect really. He knows what a fangirl looks like after all, and the "subtle" looks Ladybug gives him when she thinks he won't notice tug at him with a mix of bitter longing and disappointment that she's infatuation by the same hollow mask as the rest of Paris. But Catwalker also doesn't owe Ladybug his shoulder like her 'friend' Chat Noir felt like he did when she's down, she has an entire team for that- when the job's done he can just go home instead.

And Adrien? It's all too easy to slip back into a comfortable loneliness. In hindsight, a lot of his relationships at school were shallower than he thought. Nino was nice enough guy, but they'd never been able to fully bond in the way he'd wanted- and Nino's priority had been Alya for nearly as long as they'd known each other anyway. Luka and the band were circumstantial friends and the others were less than that really.

But was comfortable. Familiar to be alone in a crowd. To put on a mask of friendliness and have nothing deeper than passing acquaintances. He'd been on sports teams growing up, fencing, basketball, Karate and yet he'd never been allowed to get close to anyone but Chloe and Felix. It was normal for him to be in solitude, it hurt less than he expected to let the others go.

But maybe that was because he still had a true friend now. A little, rambunctious Kwami who would deceive his own Guardian to stay with him. Someone who actually, fully accepted him in his entirely and who he could actually trust. The very kind of friendship he'd always dreamed of.

And that'd why he's able to live like this.

It wasn't the life he'd imagined or wanted as Chat Noir. But both Adrien and Catwalker found themselves content.

I love this Idea, but I also wanted to that it's perfectly ironic. Everyone in his class and life, from Marinette to Kagami, always did say that Adrien the Model is perfect, so he gives them exactly what they wanted. A flawless model that stands alone, away from them all.

Thank you for the prompt! New post should be coming soon!

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Protection

In this episode, Lila is once again going to test the boundaries of Marinette's bond with her best friend, Al—Kagami. Uh, yeah, it's Kagami, not Alya. Because it's not like we saw that four episodes ago, right?

Let's get into the sixteenth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Protection

We start off with Kagami hanging out with Lila to establish the fact that Kagami still trusts Lila over Marinette for some reason before cutting to scene where Marc and Nathaniel reveal a plan for Marinette and Adrien to have their first kiss. Somehow, they believe kissing will allow them to be more honest with how they feel about each other based on what they've seen in fairy tales, shoujou manga, and Hollywood romantic comedies. I'm not making this up. Marinette and Adrien go on the Ferris wheel to try and have a romantic moment as part of the plan, only for Nino's terrible guitar playing to ruin the mood.

Nathaniel: Nino, have you never touched a guitar before?

Nino: Uh, no dude. This is my very first time!

Nathaniel: Well, then why did you replace Luka?

Nino: Well, it didn't look so hard when he was playing it!

Hey, to be fair, I'm there's at least a few people think Nino and Luka are the same character.

After the plan fails, we cut to Gabriel and Tomoe having tea as they discuss moving up the date of something called the Diamonds Ball. Gabriel claims its a scheduling issue, but Tomoe is able to hear his heart beating erratically. Because like in every TV show ever made, being blind somehow gives Tomoe the powers of Daredevil. Also, check out what Tomoe compares Gabriel's heartbeat to.

Tomoe: Your heart beats louder than a taiko drum!

GET IT? IT'S BECAUSE SHE'S JAPANESE!

After Gabriel reveals that he doesn't have a lot of time left (even dramatically showing his Cataclysmed arm to Tomoe when she can't even see it), we see Adrien and Kagami talking about how long Adrien was in the dark about Marinette for. All due respect, this is actually a pretty good scene. I like how Adrien admits that he doesn't want to force anything while also admitting that this is something he has to do on his own. It shows off their friendship and how far both of them have come. Of course, it's ruined by the fact that somehow, Gabriel and Tomoe never learned that Adrien and Kagami broke up over a season ago. Marinette is invited to Adrien's house, and in another good scene, she decides to stop worrying about what to do around Adrien and plans to go there in her pajamas.

Meanwhile, Gabriel and Tomoe argue about how their children were supposed to be the perfect couple, neither of them acknowledging that they didn't even know they broke up in the first place.

Tomoe: All of our plans are falling apart! You were supposed to control your son, Gabriel!

Gabriel: And you, your daughter!

Tomoe: My daughter's so perfect she doesn't need me to control her!

Gabriel: Well, it appears she does.

Tomoe: It's not my child who's falling for someone completely wrong for her!

Gabriel: But she seems to be the one encouraging him!

Tomoe: Take control of your son, and she'll have nothing left to encourage. Organize the dance as soon as possible. Don't fail in capturing Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous. It is imperative that this situation be resolved before you... leave!

Where is he going to, the Shadow Realm?

After Tomoe leaves with Kagami, Gabriel talks with Adrien. He tries to convince him to get back together with Kagami because they're “Of the same design”, and when the camera shows Gabriel touching his ring, he forbids Adrien from continuing his relationship with Marinette.

Gee, I wonder how Gabriel is able to do this. I wonder what he means when he used the word “design” to describe Adrien and Kagami as if they weren't human. I wonder why we keep getting shots of Gabriel touching his ring whenever he orders Adrien around when this show has already established that creations of the Peacock Miraculous can be controlled with whatever object they were in and—Oh my God, just say Adrien and Kagami are Sentimonsters already!

We also get a scene where Tomoe tries to convince Kagami she still has feelings for Adrien, once again reminding us that she's Japanese.

Kagami: He loves Marinette, and Marinette is my friend. Some knots can't be undone.

Tomoe: When the knot cannot be undone, the samurai cuts right through it.

Ah, yes, just like the well-known Japanese legend of when Alexander the Great cut the Gordian Knot.

Adrien follows through on the order Gabriel gave him, until Nathalie gives him another order to do what he wants to do for his love life. For some reason, Gabriel is shocked even though I'm pretty sure Nathalie has had the ring since the end of Season 4, so this one's on you, dude. Meanwhile, Lila lies to Kagami about Marinette being a terrible friend, and once again, Kagami falls for it. Lila tips Gabriel off to what happened, and decides to send a Megakuma (and yes, I know the English dub always uses the term “Megakumas”, but this is the first time in a while where using one makes sense) towards Kagami, akumatizing her into Riposte Prime.

Riposte Prime is... literally just the same as Riposte, only now, she has a different sword, and not even a cool sword at that. Rather than the sword beams she used back in Season 2, Riposte Prime now has the Turtle Miraculous' Shelter power, which she uses by tapping people with her sword, trapping them in red spheres. Why they're red in the first place when the last time an Akuma used Shelter, it stayed green is beyond me. Even weirder, she can only use one Shelter at a time, and I don't even think she knows about this, since she uses it on Adrien and assumes he'll stay in one place. So to summarize, Riposte Prime looks about as creative as Sole Destroyer and needs the Turtle Miraculous to do something Penalteam had the ability to do with ease.

I also need to point out that the whole reason he did this was to ruin Marinette and Adrien's date. Because somehow, a near-death experience at the hands of Adrien's akumatized ex-girlfriend will convince him that he wants to get back together with Kagami. For comparison, there was an episode of Power Rangers Time Force where one of the villains, Nadira, fell in love with Lucas/The Blue Ranger thanks to a misunderstanding. Do you want to know how Ransik, her father, reacted? Not only was he willing to show mercy to one of his mortal enemies, he showed a level of dedication to his daughter and threatened Lucas to treat Nadira kindly, only going back to trying to kill him after the two broke up. The point I'm trying to make is that it says a lot when a mutant crime lord from the future is still a better father than Gabriel is.

Adrien tries to get Marinette to safety, only for him to be trapped in Riposte Prime's Shelter. The tension from that scene is resolved almost immediately as Marinette is then trapped in Riposte Prime's Shelter, giving Adrien the chance to transform into Cat Noir, who then frees Marinette with his Cataclysm. Marinette gets to a safe place and transforms into Ladybug.

Ladybug uses her Lucky Charm and gets a bottle of olive oil. Her master plan is to... just throw it at Riposte Prime. Yeah, all Ladybug does it throw the bottle of olive oil at Riposte Prime, Riposte Prime then cuts it in half, causing the olive oil to spill on her, leading to her losing her grip on her sword for Ladybug to break.

Ladybug de-evilizes the Megakuma, gives Kagami another useless Magical Charm, but she chooses not to accept it, so both Ladybug and Cat Noir head off to detransform so Marinette and Adrien can convince her that Lila lied to her, leading to her forgiving Marinette.

Marinette and Adrien get another chance to be together, but for some reason, Marinette decides to go home, so Gabriel and Lila call this a win. And so the episode ends with Kagami confronting Lila and telling her that she's not going to fall for her lies anymore.

Kagami: I'll still be your friend if your friendship is genuine.

Oh for fuck's sake...

This is the third time Lila has tricked Kagami, and she's still going to trust her? Why? She caused you to get akumatized three times! Yeah, Kagami claims she isn't going to be Lila's puppet, but it's hard to see this as character development when she was already made a complete idiot for no reason! Hell, for all we know, Lila's next plan is to trick Kagami into handing over her mother's social security number.

But I'm just kidding... because this is the end of the Kagami and Lila subplot for the season. Yeah, seriously. Once again, despite being built up a lot, just like with a lot of stuff last season, the writers decided to abruptly end this subplot, as Lila and Kagami have their own plotlines later on. You know what? Screw it, the episode's over anyway.

Like “Sentibubbler”, this episode actually started off pretty strong, but started to fall apart towards the end. I liked the character moments Marinette, Adrien, and Kagami all had, and it really highlights their friendship, and Marinette and Adrien continue to have some decent romantic chemistry. The problem came from how stupid the conflict was. Not only was it out of character for Kagami to be this gullible, but the entire conflict stemmed from Gabriel deciding to ruin his son's date. The Akuma was underwhelming, the resolution felt phoned in, and once again, the cliffhanger doesn't go anywhere for the rest of the season. It's not terrible like “Illusion” or “Derision” were, but it's still a pretty mediocre episode.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... GABRIEL

While Kagami came very, very close to getting the award, Gabriel ended up edging her out and became the first character to get the Biggest Idiot Award twice in a row. Not only did Gabriel have no idea his son broke up with Kagami, he didn't even know he started a new relationship with Marinette, forgot that he gave Nathalie one of the two things capable of overriding the orders he gives his son, decided to send an Akuma to ruin his son's date after he learned he and Marinette were dating, even though said Akuma was the girl he was trying to make Adrien develop feelings for again, and he did all of this right after the episode that ended with him vowing to be a better father to Adrien for what little time he has left before he dies. He's clearly spending what could be the last few weeks of his life well, isn't he?

[kaileedraws]

*+ Ships +*

So that there’s no surprises, here’s a running list of ships in this AU - it’s pretty much the same as canon and I’ll mention which ones end / what will be the endgame ships!

Main Characters ——————///

Ladybug & Adrien

Brief and innocent

Comfort and fluff

Not endgame nor dating - occurs briefly

Marinette & Chat Noir

Angst and rebellion (and more angst)

comfort/hurt

Heartbroken babies find unsuspecting comfort in each other

Always gave off “best friend” vibes — someone they can talk about their relationship problems to

Not endgame, nor do they date, but they have a sort of healing situationship for awhile

Marinette & Adrien

Sweet and healing

Forbidden love - it’s like the world doesn’t want them to work — especially because they have to lie to each other constantly.

Not endgame, but they do date for a while until they mutually agree, painfully, that it’s not in the cards for them - more angst

Ladybug & Chat Noir

Forbidden, secret love

Comfort/hurt

Endgame - they realize that the only people they can trust is each other

Adrien & Chloe

Trauma bond, emotional instability, situationship

Chloe craves the attention that her mother never gave her, Adrien is trying to escape from the grief of his mom’s death.

Ends early on: Adrien tells her that everything he was doing was just to make her happy. Chloe becomes upset because she wasn’t trying to take advantage of him and his emotional state, as she is broken too.

They both don’t have romantic feelings for each other and stay close friends. Chloe becomes protective of Adrien since she doesn’t want that to happen to him again.

Turns into a sibling-like relationship

Adrien & Kagami

Rebellion, understanding

Adrien is trying to run away from his feelings for Ladybug; Kagami finally finds the first person she can relate to and mistakes it for love.

They date for a little bit but Kagami is hurt about Adrien’s avoidance in the relationship. Kagami ends things but eventually returns in friendship once she figures out that she only loved the idea and perfection of Adrien — not Adrien himself (this would explain how she falls for Felix genuinely without it appearing like a rebound)

Marinette and Luka

Comfort/hurt

Marinette is running away from her feelings for Adrien, and Luka is there to catch her.

They date casually for a little bit, before Luka becomes concerned with Marinette’s avoidance in the relationship.

They mutually end things, and Luka tries to be okay with this. He’s secretly hurt, but more than anything, he just wants Marinette to be happy. Marinette wants Luka to be with someone who deserves him, and she knows that in her state, she can’t be that person.

Felix and Kagami

Enemies to lovers to partners in crime

Yeah Kagami falls for the antihero because she admires how bold and rebellious he is. Felix falls for Kagami because he admires how ruthfully truthful she is

Endgame ship

Gabriel x Nathalie

All of the freaking angst

Nathalie devotes her life to him, his cause, and his son

Gabriel finds comfort in Nathalie as he goes through the grieving process

Don’t ask them, they’ll deny it (probably endgame but we’ll see)

Other Character Ships ———///

Ivan & Mylene

Power couple that’s going to make a greener earth

Juleka & Rose

Gave off a sister vibe at first and then figured out they were actually in love

Marc & Nathan

Will make a husband and husband’s comic book about Ladybug and Chat Noir

Kim & Ondine

The mermaid couple

Not endgame - Ondine deserves better

Luka & ??? — leaning towards Chloe

I really want this good lad to be happy because he deserves it, but I can’t figure out who he’d be happy with.

The ship Chloe/Luka is kind of growing on me — post-Chloe’s character arc of course. I kind of like the thought of him being the calm to her storm, and her aggressively sticking up for him because he’s too chill to correct the mistakes of others. Ie she would call over the waiter and complain they got his order wrong and he would just be in the corner like “hey I said it was fine you don’t have to do that for me.” And with her, she would be about to get super angry and frustrated, and he would just be like “shh, listen to the music in the room” or some shit, or even just grab her hand and ground her, helping her arc. She needs someone to calm her and give her affection, and he deserves a woman that’s going to fight for him.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Zoe & ????? — leaning towards Ondine (or Aurore)

I want to establish a side character for Zoe, leaning toward her having a relationship with Ondine just on the basis of listening to the song “boyfriend” by Dove Cameron—

Ondine saying “fuck you” to Kim and running away happily and gay. Fuck Kim lmao

[ilikekidsshows]

About you being harassed by Marinette fans. I don't know if me doing this is weird, but you being open bout that makes me want to open up more too. I've send you 4 anons by now (u probably could already tell they were from one person) because I don't have a miraculous Blog anymore since the hiatus before Destruction because Marinette fans found one of my posts criticizing Marinette's treatment of Cat Noir and her leadership and they went after me for i think almost an entire week. I ended up deleting my blog in panic and fear of it getting worse the more traffic it got amongst Mari stans.

I followed the show and Fandom til now from afar to see if any of my Marinette problems were getting the fixes everyone screamed about season 5 would deliver but I can't say that happened. I wholeheartedly agree that with alot of other people that it only got worse with the doubling down and her gettin less heroic underneath the surface.

So I'm still here and upset that I was bullied out of this fandom for things I was apparently right about to degrees I didn't even knew back then how right I'd end up being....

I found a couple of blogs to follow that share my opinions and you guys have been interwoven alot now so I thought sending anons to dip my toe back into being part of the discourse is a good idea. I hope I didn't cause any Mari stans getting angry at you for it, I've been worried bout that ngl.

I would like to ask bout one of the topics Marinette fans cyberbullied me for but I still think I'm right for questioning:

How much value does Marinette see in being friends with her love interests?

Oc im not doubting that she sees at least some worth in it, but it feels very shallow. Fandom is working the lion's share to take what little canon gives and run with it til they think their fanon is real.

Marinette values friendship, sure, but Zoe is the only love interest of hers for whom that feels right to say

Marinette in Canon has said many times that for her being friends with the one she loves is the worst thing she could possibly imagine. E. g. Psycomedian. And she was rewarded with Adrien being her devoted and desperate prince for her doing probably the most friendship related thing she did in all season 4. She had a basic little convo with him about understanding to have problems and that's where it ended. Where did Marinette ever even try to be rlly Adrien's friend? She said 500x that she's finally gonna put her romance feelings aside for a bit to focus on her job (which I hoped would mean she'd work on her weaknesses in the platonic Ladynoir team dynamic too... Silly me... )

But that never goes anywhere? Weren't Adrien and Kagami the ones literally having been created out of the feeling love or to love someone in particular and even THEY could overwrite their senti programming better than Marinette ever could get over her normal ass feelings for a week? Adrien and Kagami value the friendship with the one they love deeply, is that the difference? That Marinette can't ever move one from loving someone because friendship feels like an awful downgrade and torture to her so she stays the same? What does that say bout her?

Or that Luka and Cat Noir never caused her stalker paranoia to break out that Derision claims she does to protect herself. Why does it only apply to Adrien? And not even Cat Noir, too? In my other anons I brought up how awful I think it is that Marinette seemingly has no interest in leaning anything rlly about the boy underneath Cat Noir's mask, now she barely acts like she remembers that he's real and that they'll one day reveal where he'll then find out how many times she deliberately deceived him with her civilian identity in very hurtful ways.

How does that correspond to her being in love and more important for my question, what does that level of refusal to treat someone like a real person say about her willingness to be Cat's friend? Cause I can't see friendship in Ladynoir anymore. Marinette was the one who killed that in season 4 and then season 5 didn't improve her in much. Friends don't treat each other the way Marinette so easily uses, hurts ignores, silences and deceives Cat Noir without batting an eye.

The only effort she really made was before Kwamis choice. When she thought he was still in love with her and expected that s4 magically caused no damage to his feelings for her. she seemingly thought she could just allow him to dedicate himself to her for an overall easy way to sweep everything under the rug and make him "happy" again without her ever having to really try and do better herself because that was the comfort she was seeking at that time (shoutout to Familyagrestefanblog and erisluna35. I've been paraphrasing them alot and wanted mention that too. Didn't get to write out my own opinion in a while and I agree with them x})

This refusal to face her hurtful actions of s4 quickly developed into her craving for him to give her his easy love and not wanting to take anything less than precisely the endless devotion she wanted from him now. No matter what the price. No matter how much it put him too in danger (what even meant Cat Blanc?), and yet, still no interest in him as a person.

Once she had to take the no, she left and then she never again made a genuine effort in Ladynoir. Any effort to better herself was romance related. Determination may have been the episode where she rlly noticed her changed feelings for him, but she did try earlier than that. But it fully stopped with his no as did her changed feelings vanish as quickly as they showed up. So what does that say about her and how she views their "friendship"?

Season 4 has her already show that she doesn't want Ladynoir to be an actual friendship since she treats him barely better than a magical pet she rarely ever thinks about, which caught her off guard over and over that she isn't being the kindest and adoring person of all time to him. She treats him so much worse than her actual friends and in s5 she isn't trying to build a real connection beyond wanting him to shower her in his devotion and love.

What season 5 shows bout Marinette's view of the Ladynoir friendship is in my most generous reading her not getting to hide behind any romantic feelings from either side that she doesn't know how to be his friend, after she had to learn in season 4 that she was a really really bad one. But even with that generous reading, it would still mean that Marinette then went on prioritizing not having to feel any further discomfort or having to owe up for her actual mistakes in their bond over her finally being the friend she SHOULD think Cat Noir deserves. A friend he desperately needed but never got cause she called it a day with her personal needs being met my having her best friend Alya with her.

Friends don't do that. Marinette denied him any genuine friendship he obviously truly needed as Cat Noir because she personally didn't need it from him anymore cause of Alya. And he rejected her desire to now be adored by him so there was no purpose left anymore for him to fulfill in her life besides the easy partner she made clear cant ask shit from her.

That is so unbelievably selfish... How on earth is that supposed to be FRIENDSHIP?

Srry, for this being long. Last point.

Luka of course needs to be mentioned too. Sure, the show says they are friends. But are they really? Their friendship is built on him being her platonic therapist back-up boyfriend who doesn't ask shit of her either. This is still the same pattern as with Catrien. Luka does all the emotional labor and Marinette just takes and takes and that's what makes her so comfortable around him but she isn't interested in him either beyond what she sees day to day in front of her.

That doesn't count as friendship in my book. For Adrigami you can still feel their friendship after their breakup. But Lukanette is Luka being a platonic therapist boyfriend and Marinette being just as disinterested in him as with Cat Noir while being just as comfortable getting showered in emotional labor that she's unwilling to work on giving back the way she should.

How is that friendship? What value has friendship for Marinette once any romantic feelings are involved from either side and it isn't Zoé (feels like a homophobic backhanded compliment lmao)

That was very long, I apologize. But thanks to writing in anon I started becoming more comfortable with the idea of joining the Fandom discourse again. I've got alot I wanna say after all that time in silence but I'm not sure yet if I should put myself out there again with a blog. With how season 5 ended Marinette stans are gonna be vicious beasts to any criticism they come across and I don't want that to happen again :(

---

I hope this isn't a case of speak of the devil and he shall appear but lately things have been really quiet on the Marinette stan front. The worst I’ve gotten was this really unhinged one, but they were so unpleasant they didn't have any friends so the harassment was very one-note and stopped pretty quickly since they had to run it alone. It could be that now that season 5 confirmed that season 4 wasn't an outlier, that the show’s writing has gotten incredibly sloppy and nasty, the critical side of the fandom has become unified and we add to each other’s posts and kind of back each other up. It's harder for Marinette stans to target us one by one, and their preferred tactic is dogpiling a single blog. A lot of the Marinette stans protesting my posts now shut up right quick when they see more people agreeing with me adding to the reblog chain.

As for the question, I agree with your assessment. It really does appear that Marinette hates the idea of being friends with a love interest. She whined about Adrien seeing her as just a friend all the way back in Riposte. Adrien sung her praises to Kagami, while she spied on them, and she had the gall to whine that the boy she “loves” thinks so highly of her because it wasn't the kind of thinking she wanted.

There was this one thing I said in a previous post that I think is accurate: Marinette part-times being Cat Noir's friend. Even the part of time she acts as his friend, she ignores his feelings, insults him, pushes him away, refuses to give him emotional support in any way and lies to him about anything she possibly can. She only approaches him as Marinette when she wants to complain about Adrien not coming to the date he didn't know was a date, when she thinks she can score a date with him or so that she can practice confessing to Adrien on him. Marinette's “friendship” with Cat Noir is all take with no give when she isn't outright ignoring his existence.

She also ignores boys who have feelings for her in her civilian life. Nathaniel is very suspicious of her in Reverser, having to be convinced that she wasn't planning to humiliate him, implying he isn't part of her friend group since he doesn't know her well enough to know she only humiliates people when they're in her way of getting at Adrien. (Alix makes it sound like she wouldn't do that period, but we know the truth by now.) She also refused to come to Juleka and Luka's shared birthday party if Luka was present after they broke up. I bet if you tried to tell Marinette, or her writers, that your romantic partner should also be your best friend to make a healthy relationship, they just wouldn't compute. 

I don't want to say Marinette doesn't hold friendship in high regard period, because the amount of exceptions she makes for Alya shows that she at least values Alya’s friendship. I think she just doesn't value friendship with boys. I feel like Marinette is the kind of person who doesn't think boys and girls can really be friends, which would explain why she thinks Adrien considering her a friend is worse than anything else. If boys can't really be friends with girls, Adrien using the word “friends” means they aren't even that.

Consider this: how often does Marinette hang out with her guy classmates when it isn't 1) a whole-class outing or 2) more likely that Marinette just wanted to hang out with his girlfriend? Like, in Animan, Marinette had no idea Nino had a crush on her, but she still acted like an outing with him at the zoo was the worst thing ever. I get that she was disappointed Adrien wasn't there, but Nino is one of Marinette’s oldest classmates, yet she doesn't want to spend time with him, unless she's planning to use him to get closer to Adrien, since he's Adrien’s best friend.

Of course, she doesn't really value the time with her other friends for its own sake outside of Alya either. It seems like the only times they hang out together is to plot or participate in her get Adrien quick schemes. The only times the girls do something not Marinette related is when Marinette hasn't called them together, like when they were going to the pool in Gorizilla, something Marinette completely forgot until Alya called her. Marinette has poor memory but, despite her knowing she has poor memory, she apparently gave herself no reminder to hang out with her friends. You bet I write down every occasion I’ve agreed to see my friends specifically because I have bad memory as well.

It seems like, unless you're Alya, Marinette only cares about you for how able and willing you are to help her catch Adrien's attention. I keep saying Marinette treats her Adrien romancing problems as the most important thing going on at any given moment, and it's true for all areas of her life. Maybe that's the reason we didn't see Socqueline for four seasons despite her supposedly being such an important friend to Marinette, and why she never joined the friend group proper; Socqueline couldn't help her get with Adrien so she wasn't worth Marinette’s time.

This is a yet another thing where Miraculous is actually pretty sexist; girls and boys can't ever just be friends and girls care more about getting guys than they do about their friends. Another thing of course is this idea that boys just don't have as in-depth feelings as girls or should bury their feelings and never ask for emotional support, which is why all of Marinette's love interests are her emotional support dispensers whose opinions on anything don’t matter when their job is to simply mindlessly worship Marinette while their feelings are devalued by the narrative every time they dare to try to ask Marinette for some support back. Luka gets Akumatized which convinces him to break up with Marinette when he had emotional needs she wasn't willing to fulfill. Meanwhile Adrien goes through the travesty that is Kuro Neko

“Power of love always so strong” but only when it's Marinette's toxic idea of love and when it isn't platonic love. Unless you're Alya, I guess.

[libellule-saphique]

Miraculous Season 5: Luka & Kagami's Wasted Potential

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[verfound]

WIP Wednesday: 03.20.2024

The full scene from last Sunday 😇

Marinette had a soulmate.

Luka stared at the dark pink words on his arm, swallowing thickly as the words rattled around in his head.  It didn’t matter if she didn’t know them.  She had still found them, at least once, and they were out there, somewhere, waiting to find their fairy again.  She’d met them years ago.

…Luka didn’t even remember the last time he’d been in the city.  He had been what?  Three, four when they’d left?  Definitely not long enough to find his soulmate, and he’d only had his words for a few months now besides.

Still.

He had hoped…

That day had been so crazy.  It was only a few weeks into the school year, but there had been a delay and their flight had gotten in late.  The mayor’s daughter was supposed to show them around the school, but even though Chloé Bourgeois always seemed to be sniffing around for social clout apparently Jagged Stone’s kids had nothing on the model son of Gabriel Agreste, some big wig fashion somebody.  She had ditched them the moment she had spotted the model’s golden hair glinting in the sun, and Juleka and him had been left to figure out the bustling campus of Françoise Dupont themselves.

Which was fine.  They were used to being ditched.  Fending for themselves.  That’s what happened when your dad tended to be too famous to bother with you.

But just because Chloé hadn’t been interested in the Rock Giant’s kids didn’t mean others – nearly everyone else – wasn’t.  There had been so many people that day, and it had all been a little overwhelming.  They had been swarmed, because even though Penny had always done her best to keep them out of the spotlight everyone knew Jagged Stone’s kids.  Penny was good, but there was only so much even someone as good as Penny could do.

He’d lost track of how many people had spoken to him that day, vying for introductions and trying to suck up in the hopes of meeting his famous dad.  When they’d finally gotten home and he’d shrugged off his hoodie, he’d been shocked to find the words glimmering on his arm.

Thank you.

They were so…so…generic.  There was nothing special or unique about them, and they could have come from anyone.  There was nothing about them that made any one person stand out, even if one person that day had stood out.

The cute 5ème girl, the one he would later learn was friends with his sister’s soulmate, from the library.  He’d been waiting for the librarian at the desk when he’d seen her struggling to reach something on a top shelf, and he had gone to help.

“Here, let me help,” he’d said, laying a hand on her shoulder as he’d reached above them to snatch the book she’d wanted.

“Th-th-thank you,” she’d squeaked, staring up at him with impossibly blue eyes and the prettiest blush he’d ever seen dusting her cheeks.

He had hoped…he had really hoped…but he hadn’t said anything about fairies, so there was no way the thank you burned into his arm could be hers.  His first words had been an offer of assistance, not a greeting.

And now he knew she already had a soulmate.

Someone she had met long before he’d ever come into the picture.

…he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed.  Marinette was an amazing girl with a beautiful song.  He hadn’t been able to get her song – to get her – out of his head since that first day, and even if she was sometimes shy and anxious around him, they had struck up an easy friendship – one that had quickly turned into an easy crush, at least for him.

But Marinette, like Rose, was a romantic.  She firmly believed in all that soulmate stuff, and why shouldn’t she?  She’d had her words for years.

He was happy for her.  He was.

He tugged his hoodie back on, not really wanting to see those taunting pink words anymore.  Either way, their very existence let him know that his soulmate was somewhere in Paris.  At his new school.

…he just…was it so wrong, wishing that that someone was Marinette?

[artzychic27]

Inspired by your Canon!Marinette post with her worst moments with the Science Kids, I wonder something. Could you make a sequel post with the worst thing/moment Marinette had with the Akuma Class, with Luka and Kagami included?

Kim (Yeah. That’s right. Why don’t y’all sit the fuck down?):

Marinette was pissed at him for that prank, (which he was unsure of doing and asked Chloé a second time if he should still go along with it) that she decided to take revenge and hide some spiders in his locker

… Unfortunately, she just grabbed a random breed and Kim had to go to the hospital to get treated for a shit-ton of poisonous spider bites

Max:

Spread rumors online that he was sexist just because he got upset that he lost to her, subjecting him to a bit of online bullying

Ladybug criticized his video game because it made light of past Akuma victims’ experiences despite the fact he got permission from everyone who’s in the game to add them in, but she was adamant and got a ton of her followers to back her up

Myléne:

During one of Nino’s film projects, when Myléne as the female lead had to kiss Adrien, Marinette tripped Myléne and made her break her ankle so that she, the understudy, would get to kiss Adrien

Marinette was praised for her acting during the kiss scene, and Myléne got an honorable mention in the credits

Ivan:

Insinuated that Myléne could do much better than a “terrifying grunge rock wannabe.”

Claims she doesn’t have enough fabric to make him an outfit, but there’s a whole-ass role in her closet

Alya:

Marinette accused her of being a bad friend for suggesting that she should tone down her crush on Adrien, especially the schedule, and then the argument got heated when Alya yelled and called her a creep, then she got Akumatized

When she was cured, Ladybug basically gaslighted Alya into forgiving Marinette… Also, Laadybug makes sure the Ladyblog is scrubbed clean of Chat Noir because according to her, “He doesn’t do anything but flirt and joke.”

Nino:

Manipulates him into changing up his scripts for class film projects so that she can kiss Adrien despite it having no relevance to the film whatsoever

Marinette keeps trying to get him to tell her everything Adrien says so she can have more information about his life, but some things are private and Nino doesn’t feel comfortable sharing them

Nathaniel:

Continuously forgets to add him to group chats, hand him an invitation to a party, include him on the class roster, etc. And then claims that, “If you actually talked instead of drawing, maybe people would actually notice you.”

Ladybug criticized his and Marc’s comic just because it pointed out a few of her flaws, prompting her psychophants to boycott them and even vandalize their homes. She didn’t apologize until like two months later when they published a comic more to her liking where she’s perfect

Alix:

Continuously drags her into her stupid Adrinette plans despite Alix’s discomfort and protests on how her plans are creepy

When Alix said no once again, Marinette blamed it on her being Aromantic, Alix punched her, and that was the end of their friendship for good

Rose:

Marinette stole the hamster plushie her deceased grandmother gave to her so that she could give it to Adrien when she heard that he liked hamsters, too. Rose didn’t have the heart to say anything when she saw how happy Adrien looked

When Rose confronted Marinette, she guiltrips her and has the audacity to bring up her grandmother

Juleka:

Keeps fixing Juleka’s appearance when she offers to model for her, making her look like a completely different person and not like herself at all- Wig, eye contacts, intense contour, stuffing her bra, etc.

When the comments roll in on her website, Marinette doesn’t bother telling them who the model is and just compliments Juleka on how gorgeous she looks despite that girl in the picture not being her

Sabrina:

Let Sabrina do all the work for a group project while she had to do something as Ladybug… And it lasted well until the morning. By that time, Sabrina finished the whole thing, and all Marinette did was sign her name

When Sabrina confronted her about this, Marinette shrugged and asked what the big deal was. She does Chloé’s work all the time

Chloé:

Decided to rub it in Chloé’s face how Audrey has been offering her dozens of internships and even uses her actual name, just to “knock her down a few pegs” even when Chloé didn’t do anything today

Somehow managed to get a picture of Chloé hugging her teddy bear, and sent it to everyone in school. Chloé was so humiliated that she didn’t come to school for almost a month

Adrien:

The statue scene

Theft

Breaking and entering

Stalking

The schedule

… Anyway, Ladybug broke into his bedroom in the dead of night, sniffed his hair, and then kissed him while he was still asleep

Luka:

… Do I need to say it?

Vents all of her problems to him, makes it seem as though she was unhappy when they were dating, and rants about how “Adrien will never notice me! Help me, now!”

Kagami:

Spread rumors that she and her mother moved because she attacked her ex boyfriend back in Japan because she caught him talking to another girl

Sabotaged yet another contest Kagami was a part of where Adrien was the prize

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episode 3-21: The Puppeteer 2

Alright, this is a big episode! Maker-breaker! Do Alya and Nino care more about eachother than babysitting kids? Should Marinette date Adrien (definitely not, but I know damn well the statue scene is here.)

Oh my god! Pianist Plagg returns!

Alright, so Adrien tries to bring his best friend Nino to the wax museum with him, but Nino is currently on a date with Alya and so he has to bring his girlfriend along (must be a while after the Party Crasher incident. Alya didn't talk to him for a week!) and then Alya decides to bring Marinette along for the sake getting her and Adrien together (although she didn't want to, that's kinda rude.)

No. Please no. Marinette just babysit Manon. Say no. Be strong. Be resilient. Imagine it like if you go there Adrien will end up marrying Chloe.

Also Natalie's so understanding and lets all Adrien's friends and Manon come along! Points for her!

Thank you, Manon. Your innocence and bluntness will save this world from the calamity that is the Love Square.

Oh god. The spades thing was a good lie. She's getting better at this and I think Adrien's buying it. Bimbo.

The Adrien stalkers have gotten to the point of stealing his parts at the wax museum. At least it was just his arms. I could think of a lot worse parts to steal.

Ah yes, the wax museum. Where character models can be reused and not have to move!

The rewind was a nice transition, I'll admit.

Well, at least Alya's giving Marinette the choice.

Thanks for keeping Adrien company, Plagg. Even when Alya and Nino kinda ditch Marinette like that and Marinette panics, you're here for him.

Adrien cares so much about his friendship with Marinette. I love him.

Goddamn idiot teenagers forgetting about Manon.

So that was the statue scene. Marinette keeps on touching the fucking art. That's not allowed in museums. You'll smudge up the art. Except this time it was Adrien posing as a statue. Just more proof Marinette may not be the worst of the Adrien stalkers, but she's still an Adrien stalker.

They really didn't hesitate in that wax boss rush. Swag.

It feels like these resolutions are too short. Or maybe not. Iuno.

Honestly I won't just take Lukanette at this point. I'm fine with Kagaminette too. It'll take a lot of work and character development, but it'll be worth it if we get Lukadrien. Whatever. I would've preferred if this show was Miraculous: Tales of Crimson Experience and Nekokage. Or Miraculous: Tales of Tentomushi and whatever Luka's Black Cat name would be. Or just keep Chat Noir. I'm just tired of Marinette's shit. Maybe if she got consequences for her actions or something I'd be happy.

[generalluxun]

You say that 'Strong Female Characters' are rarely allowed to struggle. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? How much can a person struggle and still be called a “strong character”? Is the common standard in mainstream fiction different between men and women? Is Felix a strong character? Is Gabriel a strong character? What about Andre Bourgeois? I’ve got a feeling Astruc considers Andre a strong character.

Felix is not a strong character. He is a Wiley powerbroker, but we saw the moment things didn't go his way he folded like a deck of cards in front of Adrien and Kagami in Emotion and had a breakdown.

Andre is a sack of meat and little more.

Gabriel is... strong in a sense? the show is very inconsistent on this front. It has taken time, planning, willpower, and determination to preserve his wife and become hawkmoth in the first place. Facing setback after setback and continuing on, also takes strength. S5 kind of goes all over with him in a messy way though so in the end it's. 🤷‍♀️

Marinette is supposed to be the 'Strong Female Character' in the show. She has all the earmarks of the old stereotype. She is good at all things, she plows through and always ends up winning. Her mistakes are trivialized and her victories amplified. This is a shame because honestly, a Marinette who struggled a little more would be a heck of a lot more compelling(seen in the movie and in lots of fanfiction)

But wait! you say, she struggles a lot! Her struggles are all self-inflicted, and while self inflicted struggles are valid, they can't be the *only* struggles someone faces. No one was ever a serious 'threat' to her love story with Adrien. Kagami was allowed to get in the way for one whole episode (and this after Marinette herself had Luka waiting in the wings) Adienette was just waiting for the train to arrive at the station. On the super side there was some build up of tension early on, but when the main char's power is 'Win the battle with this thing' it's hard to heap too much tension. Not only that S5 very quickly turned losing all the Miraculous into just the status quo of one akuma at a time. *They were fighting Monarch with paintball guns and winning* No stakes.

Before Emotion/Pretension I would have said Kagami qualifies as a strong character. She struggles in love and friendship, but she works and tries to find a path through. Her greatest enemy in love is also one of her first friends. How's that for a challenge? Watching how she interacted with the adrienette dynamic from day 1 up to Protection was great. THEN she got foisted off onto Felix as a prize and sold out Ladybug. Girl deserved better.

There are plenty of strong female characters (which is different than 'Strong female character') in other media though. Adora, Luz, Willow just to name a couple off the top of my head.

The problem with finding them in ML is that the plot tends to jerk them around randomly. Like, I would like to say Ms. Bustier, because she holds to an ideal and does work to keep to it until the end. But she also ignored one of her students doing zero work in her class for multiple years. That's... not good. That is what makes you think the strength might be vapid apathy instead. See how hard this is?

Oh hey! Duh, Alya! Alya is definitely a strong character. I mean, she's the one who gets Marinette on her feet. She threads this path of upholding her morals while tempering them with reality. She doesn't hide behind 'identity rules' to avoid tough decisions. She *trusts* people, though it can be a risk. She helps those around her whenever she can. Yes she's stuck holding the idiot ball for plot purposes now and then, but it's so blatant when it happens I can't count it against her.

[saemi-the-writer]

If you're still doing the pairing meme: Tikki/Plagg, Alyanette, Felinette, Adrinino and Lukanino?

Oh wow, that's quite the list. *cracks knuckle* Here I go!!

Tikki/Plagg

Screw canon with "Kwami don't understand love or human's feelings", Tikki and Plagg are the oldest married couple ever around!!! The balance, opposite attracts, fun bickering, sweet nickname Plagg only has for Tikki? They're married, your Honour!

Alya/Marinette

Best friends to lovers is a go!! It's a shame the show is so inconstant with Alya's characterization, but let's forget it for a moment: Alya is the one who openly stood up to Chloé for Marinette when they didn't know one another, Alya keeps rooting for Marinette in everything she does and helps whenever she can, is her confident and keeps giving her pep talk... what's not to love? Sure, Alya isn't perfect, and she's still a teen learning subtility among other things. And I don't think I need to expand on what Marinette does for Alya and everyone else, the poor girl even needs a long vacation! Burn whatever Lila is doing to Alya's brain whenever she appears on screen, Alya is a good friend and potential GF for Marinette!

Felix/Marinette

I am glad Felix was replaced by Adrien, I don't care if the quality of the show dropped or is imitating a roller-coaster ride. I've seen enough "girl is infatuated with a (selfish) boy who's acting like an asshole to her, whilst drooling all over a persona of hers", and I am glad they went for the "classmates-friends-to-lovers" route. Felix isn't "a jerk with a heart of gold", that's fanon Felix, and while some creators have very good AUs for the pairing (some I even follow!), it got tarnished in my eyes by the too many salt fics where Felix comes around to "save Marinette from EvUlanDsTOopiD classmates and Adrien". UGH. I despise how they made Felix an asshole only to try and make me feel sorry for him afterwards, there are two kinds of assholes, and Felix in his first apparitions wasn't in the "likeable" one.

Adrien/Nino

Underrated, underdeveloped, wasted potential, WHY?! They would make a very cute couple!! Also, gimme more of their friendship on screen goddamnit!!!!! They would be so fun to follow, example: Nino is usually being chill and smiling yet he (internally or not) completely freak out when Adrien makes a social faux pas due to his upbringing or casually buys him some expensive stuff "DUDE PLEASE DON'T 😨" "Did I do something wrong?? Are you mad? 😢" "Nonononono I'm not mad but... next time, just follow my lead and keep your money, please??" (still he lets Adrien give him gifts though because it's one of his love languages)

Luka/Nino

Anon, either you've been through my main blog (respect, for it's so chaotic and mostly untagged) or you're a mind-reader because it's a rare pair that I'd love to see more!! I admit that the idea crossed my mind kind of randomly, mostly when I was working on my Miraculous Team AU, but then I couldn't stop thinking about it. With good development, these two could work well! They'd make a fun, cute and chill couple, both music lovers and artists in different fields. Nino could be the shoulder Luka could lean on, he who is so often the one to dry people's tears, the two would support each other in a calm, steady way. Nino's perseverance would inspire Luka, and Luka's hidden sneakiness would come in handy for Nino... so much potential!

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Perfection

This is another Lila episode, so get ready for dumb writing and lies only an infant would find convincing.

Let's get into the twelfth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Perfection

We start off with a sort of funny scene of Ladybug and Cat Noir doing heroic things while casually discussing the new relationships they're both in, unaware that they're talking about each other. It's less the irony that I like, but just the visuals showing how they're so experienced as superheroes at this point, they can casually chat while saving people.

Of course, even though the last scene confirmed that Marinette and Adrien are officially dating after four and a half seasons, the main conflict for the civilian plotline is that Marinette somehow isn't able to simply tell Adrien that she loves him. So basically, even though they're now in a relationship, the show is still going to rely on Marinette stuttering around Adrien like an idiot. Oh, thank God! I thought the writers were actually going to have Marinette and Adrien talk with each other like humans beings for a second there.

We then get a montage of Marinette struggling to get closer to Adrien, stumbling around and breaking stuff as if she was a character in an infomercial, culminating in a scene where Marinette attempts to confess to a picture of a cow, only to say “I love moo” instead. Get used to her saying this, because it's going to be a running gag.

During the aforementioned montage, we get a decent moment where Lila helps Chloe realize she needs to be more discreet when it comes to screwing with Marinette instead of her usual blunt attitude, which does a good job showing the one thing that sets Chloe and Lila apart: Their approaches to dealing with Marinette. It's not much, but it's something.

Meanwhile, the writers remembered Adrien is a musician, as he wrote a song for Marinette. A bunch of their friends come over to the Liberty, including Kagami.

Adrien: It's great to see you here, Kagami. You get to hear the song I wrote for Marinette.

Kagami: You made your feelings clear and you're dealing with them. That's good. I'm very proud of you.

Man, even the characters are glad the Love Square is finally going somewhere.

After another scene where Marinette once again tries to confess to the picture of a cow (the writers are really running with this gag, aren't they?), Adrien starts to perform the song he wrote for Marinette. Fun Fact: Adrien was originally going to sing a cover of that one song from Miami Connection, but Luka helped convince him that it would be better if he used his own song instead.

As for the song itself? Well, the music itself is nice, but the lyrics? They're decent, showing how Adrien doesn't want anything complex from his relationship with Marinette, but I'm just going to say it: I don't like the way Bryce Papenbrook sings. Like, I don't know how to describe it. It's not awful, but I just don't like the way he delivers the lyrics. He just sounds so monotone when he sings, which makes it hard to take this grand romantic gesture seriously.

Marinette once again struggles to tell Adrien she loves him, so we get even more of Marinette blaming other things for her hesitance, but not before we get more jokes about the cow picture.

Marinette: I'm just grabbing the cow to tell Adrien that I love him because I have the "I love" but not the “moo”. I know it's ridiculous. I'm ridiculous.

You know, at least C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa, a show full of cow puns, actually did more with the jokes instead of just saying the words “cow” and “moo”.

Kagami tries to talk to Marinette, only for her to essentially be ignored. After Marinette transforms into Ladybug as an excuse to get out of there, Kagami then decides to call Lila about Marinette failing some kind of “friendship test”.

Kagami: You were right, Lila. I checked every box on your friendship test. Marinette doesn't consider me her best friend. I'm not even sure she ever considered me a friend.

Lila: Oh, no, Kagami... I'm so sorry she didn't see all the effort you've been making to get closer to her. Someone as amazing as you deserves a more considerate friend and... I'd be honored to be that friend.

I know I used this clip last time, but this is essentially the same problem I had there. Lila only had a single line in this episode before this scene, and it was her talking to Chloe, and I don't think Lila and Kagami have even shared a scene together before this episode, much less exchange numbers. Yeah, Kagami had been checking off things on a sheet of paper earlier in the episode, but we never got any explanation as to where and when Lila even gave her the friendship test. While we know that Lila's test was obviously fake, it seems out of character for Kagami to be this gullible, given that she was able to easily see through Adrien's lies last season (Lies).

Kagami then decides to just give up on having friends entirely, deleting all of her contacts except her mother's. I'm not sure if it was an animation error, or if the writers forgot, but for some reason, Adrien wasn't listed in there. We then cut to Lila, cutting Marinette's face out of some random pictures she got.

The scene's clearly supposed to be menacing, but I'd be more invested if I actually knew why Lila was so obsessed with Marinette outside of Marinette telling her to stop being a liar.

Kagami goes somewhere so she can be alone where she cries, where Monarch senses this and akumatizes her into Ryukomori through her ring.

Ryukomori's design is simple, but I think the concept behind it and use of Miraculous power makes it work. Monarch gives her the power to make it hard for her to see or hear anyone (insert your own Helen Keller joke here), and thanks to the Dragon Miraculous's Wind/Lightning/Water Dragon, Ryukomori is now a giant cloud person who can shoot lightning. Yeah, you have to wonder why Monarch gave her powers that would make it harder to see people, much less get Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous, but this is the kind of stuff I wanted to see from the Miraculous powers used this season: Past heroes getting akumatized and having perverted versions of the powers they're familiar with.

Adrien sees this and transforms into Cat Noir, meeting up with Ladybug and showing her the friendship test he found earlier. Ladybug and Cat Noir try to talk with Ryukomori, but in her current state, it's hard to talk to her, so they'll need to find a different way to communicate. Ladybug and Cat Noir try arranging some cars into a kanji sign.

Hey, this is a French show! I'm supposed to be seeing french words I don't understand, not Japanese words I don't understand.

Ryukomori ignores the kanji, so now, the two have to come up with another plan while Monarch goads her into trying to kill them so she can finally be alone, whipping up a storm in anger.

Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm, a box of ironing beads, and gets an idea. Cat Noir goes to Socqueline's art shop (because I guess the animators really want to get their money's worth out of this character model and set) for supplies while Ladybug assembles a bunch of her friends and shows her a picture she made using the beads, wanting to make a bigger one for Ryukomori to see by holding up these panels to reveal it.

As simplistic as it is, it's a pretty cute visual, and it does the trick, causing Ryukomori to reject the Akuma. While I guess the Akuma was already de-evilized by Kagami, Ladybug hands her a Magical Charm as the students cheer for her.

Marinette apologizes to Kagami about how insensitive she was, but Kagami explains that she feels pressured to be perfect around others, which is meant to parallel Marinette's anxiety around Adrien. The two make up, and Marinette calls Kagami her best friend alongside Alya. Of course, Marinette somehow never asked about the friendship test, because that would actually clear everything up, and then we wouldn't have Kagami and Lila becoming friends again. Marinette and Alya talk about what exactly is keeping her from getting closer to Adrien, something that they'll figure out together. And so the episode ends with Tomoe storming into Gabriel's office that she endangered her daughter's life by akumatizing her... ignoring the last four times she's been akumatized (Riposte, Heroes' Day, Oni-Chan, Lies). In fact, if she's working with Gabriel, shouldn't she know Kagami was also Ryuko, and—okay, forget it, episode's over.

This episode was very hit or miss. The scenes with Ryukomori were well done. I like the way they called back to earlier episodes and how emotional the memories made Ryukomori, and the overall message of friendship was handled pretty well. But while I really like the way Ryukomori was handled, the road there was a pretty bumpy one. The subplot with Marinette wasn't funny, Adrien's song was really forgettable, and the writers just expect us to assume Kagami would fall for Lila's lies when earlier episodes have shown how perceptive she is. I get that the episode's probably setting up Kagami learning the truth in a later episode, it seems very out of character for her.

Overall, this episode just had a great Akuma fight, and a mediocre first half. Nothing too special, but it's still better than “Illusion” or “Determination”.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... KAGAMI

While Marinette came close thanks for her inability to say three basic words, Kagami ended up taking the award home. Not only did she fall for Lila's lies without even questioning her, she assumed that Marinette didn't care for her in the slightest, and after that, decided she had no other friends, not even Adrien, and after everything that happened, she still chose to believe Lila even though her test ended up being false when earlier episodes showed her being able to see through lies.

[dragonbugsuperior]

Miraculous Headcanons: LGBTQ+ edition

Marinette - chaotically bisexual

Marinette is obviously attracted to Adrien and has been mentioned to like other male characters romantically in the show but is seen in moments being flustered with female characters also (at one point I felt like she was queer coded) but she definitely gives me big bisexual energy.

Alya - straight ally

I cant really see Alya any other way, I think shes attracted to guys for the most part, thats not to say she wouldn’t make for a good bisexual or pansexual character but I see her as heterosexual.

Nino - straight ally

I can’t see him any other way either. He loves Alya.

Adrien - straight

Chloe - Sapphic (major comphet)

Chloe is a character I really want to touch on more, despite Thomas and the other writers basically saying, “fuck her” I believe she had potential with character development and progressing in the series but like with any side character in this show the writers decided to ship her off to NY with her abusive mother who rarely acknoweledges her existence. The only person we really see Chloe take romantic interest in is Adrien but it’s really stale as the only downright real reason she does like him is because he’s rich and a model not really anything else (like personality, if he even has one anyways...lol) but her interactions with Sabrina are interesting tho, I’d say while it’d be nice to see her as sapphic struggling to come to terms with that part of her identity, (this would make for good character development & personality shifts) both Audrey & Andre are definitely the type of parents to be homphobic.

Sabrina - straight (possibly bi?)

I simply don’t think Sabrina is into girls, with Chloe being an exception but theres difference between friendship and romantic feelings. She puts up with Chloe more than anybody in the show does and doesn’t show interest in any males (doesn’t automatically mean she’s into girls; alike Clawdeen) but she could still be straight and just really likes Chloe (though it’s not healthy because why would u want to put up with anyone like that? not unless she has really low self esteem issues.

Lila - Unlabeled

Lila’s the type of character that there are endless possibilities of who and what she is. I get the sense that she could fake her sexuality one day and be another the next (literally) her character is highly flexible and can fit whatever situation it calls for.

Kagami - Lesbian/Sapphic (comphet issues)

When Kagami was introduced, I liked her character she was characterized with high confidence, sharp wit, intelligence, grace, straight-forwardness, though socially inept she was ready to make friends and meet people. I could not. for the love of Christ see what she saw in Adrien. Hell, same with Chloe or Marinette. he has zero backbone, no passions other than the ones inflicted on him by his dad, and is described as literally “perfect” depsite not being so. For that reason, I could not see Adrien & Kagami as a couple. While i stopped watching the show a long time ago, I enjoyed the Marigami moments indefinitely.

Luka - Bisexual

Do I need to say anymore.

[critical-thinking-is-mandatory]

I find it so funny when stans say that Adrien and other rich kids in the show are "groundbreaking representation" or something because they're not. It's an overused trope that makes all of us appreciate how damn broke we all are because at least "we don't suffer like rich people do". What I mean is, you have Adrien, who's born super mega rich, but is trapped in this golden cage and isn't allowed to be himself. There's a clear link to his suffering and his status as a rich model. He also has an "emotional support poor", Marinette, who is "the only one who understands his pain" and is also "the only one who can ground him". Because unlike rich people, poor people don't have trouble with complicated relationships to their families. And this is very striking in miraculous, every poor person has a good relationship with their family (the biggest family issue was maybe the Luka/Jagged thing but even that got resolved immediately) while the rich kids all suffer abuse. And they do nothing about it not because the writers want to showcase how hard it can be for abuse victims but because they think that's the job of the poor friends they have, mainly Marinette. She is supposed to fix Adrien's family problems for him accordung to the bible, she was Kagami's first friend and had to talk to her mom to let her compete in the friendship game and she even tried to help Chloe's family situation! ... Sorry this got so long, it was just a thought I had and I felt like sharing.

Anon, you're literally so right.

Like, how many characters exist that are just like "privileged child of terrible parent feat. optional heroism or redemption"? I can think of at least 4 in Avatar: tla ALONE. (All of which were done miles and miles better than Adrien.)

Virtually every show, movie or book you point a stick at will have somebody from a privileged background with shitty parents/guardians do something that sets them apart from their background. Virtually every princess archetype is "wah, my parent is so mean by making me get married for the good of the kingdom (my only job). Being rich is terrible."

Like GIRL. "Rich character with sad background" is so overdone!

And Miraculous has got not one, not two, but at least 4 characters who are rich with sad backstories :((( Adrien, Felix, Kagami and Chloe. This isn't even including Lila, Prince Ali, Gabriel or Zoe. And, objectively, none of these characters have any compelling storyline. Kagami I have a soft spot for but objectively, she is also on this list.

None of them are compelling 'richy rich with sob story' characters. Sure, we can pity them, but they're not *compelling*. We're not inspired or moved or awed by them. None of them are original or interesting or unique.

But you're right, anon. They feel like a slap in the face. It's like, its almost like the creators are romanticising the working class. "Oh being rich is so hard, I wish I was like the normal people who work every single day and are so happy because money can't buy happiness."

it's really, really tone deaf, and honestly? Annoying. Like, at least if you're gonna make a rich kid with a sob story at least make them unique or compelling, like Batman or Zuko or Toph.