#I tried to analyse the reasons beyond 'Kagami's a bitch' and 'Luka's a saint'

[zoe-oneesama]

I saw a poll on Instagram recently talking about rival ships in ML. The Marinette ships (Luka vs Adrien) were pretty evenly split. But the Adrien ships (Marinette vs Kagami) had the odds very high on Marinette's favor (around 80%). Why do you think people dislike Adrigami so much yet are okay with Lukanette?

Misogyny. Just kidding but only slightly kidding.

Well I can’t speak for everyone, but I can (and have) speak for myself. 

For one, Kagami has weird multiple characterizations, so if people envision her as her Onichan-self, then she’s on par with Chloe in terms of possessiveness and craziness, which doesn’t do her any favors. It’s hard to root for that kind of character. Animaestro Kagami was only marginally better, but she was just as up for being petty by rubbing it in Marinette and Chloe’s face that she was Adrien’s date. The Finale, Riposte, and Ikari Gozen Kagami is the only version of Kagami where you can’t put any blame on Kagami for how things play out in terms of the romance - it’s not her fault that she likes Adrien and Adrien likes her back. But unfortunately, for a long time the only good version of Kagami was from Riposte so the petty version and the crazy version were the only ones people had to go off of.

There’s also an argument that Adrien dating Kagami would be like dating his father - just another person telling him what to do and how to feel and where to go. The Finale gave a clearer image about what it would be like for them to be together, but before that most of Adrien and Kagami’s “dates” were about upholding their image and Kagami telling Adrien not to waste his time on the Ice Rink’s problems.

In contrast, Luka is just a really good guy who is willing to allow things to come naturally.

The other part of it is how ready Adrien/Marinette are to even be in a relationship with someone else. With Marinette, you get that everything and everyone is pointing to Adrien just not being interested in her. She didn’t have to be outright rejected to read the signs and Kagami definitely solidified that. And she’s proven to be mature enough to accept that and take that loss for the sake of letting Adrien be happy. It would hurt for a while, but you get the impression that she could move on. And Luka is willing to wait until she’s ready for him without pressure and without making demands of her. You know when Luka///nette happens that it will be because she’s really ready to give him a shot and is determined to put her focus on him.

You don’t get that impression with Adr///imi. Not only is Kagami very much pushing Adrien to nut up and make a choice already (super not here for waiting around until he’s ready for it) but Adrien is not giving himself the time to cool down from being rejected by Ladybug to accept her feelings and figure out what he wants. He literally asks Kagami on a date the same day that Ladybug turns rejects his rose. And his entire time on that date was spent ignoring her for someone else. It read very clearly as a rebound date and I’m baffled as to why Kagami wants to give him another shot when he’s proven he’s just Not Ready. And while I find it really annoying that Adrien thinks the way to be happy is to have a girlfriend instead of taking time to nurture his other relationships, like his friendships, he was perfectly honest about not being ready. You get the feeling that Adrien and Kagami will get together under her demands and he’ll just go into it half heartedly, whereas Luka and Marinette would get together when they’re both willing to give it a try.

I joke about misogyny, but it’s not entirely blameless. But what I think I’ve outlined isn’t fandom misogyny but rather writer misogyny. Luka is calm and chill and relaxed where Kagami is all over the place and uptight and demanding. The one keeping Luka and Marinette from being together is on Marinette for not being ready, which of course the BOY is perfectly okay with and it’ll just take Marinette getting her shit together to make the magic happen. The one keeping Adrien and Kagami from being together is on Adrien for not being ready, which of course the GIRL is very hurt and irritated by and will keep pushing him to make a decision before he’s ready to fully commit to her. 

Unfairness, unfairness for everyone.