#anti ML

[starlight-bread-blog]

I am no longer in need for Adrienette to know each other's identities. They have made me wait for too long. I have a new passion now.

[skynapple]

I can't believe I still have friends IRL who watch ML but ykw it's nice cause I can poke them for update and they don't mind my salt they just laugh a lot and then we poke fun at it together. Cathartic really.

[plumsaffron]

As long as Adrien:

Is consistently deceived, he isn’t free. Is not aware that he’s still caged, he’s isn’t free. Crawls back towards a cage, he isn’t free.

[ultraericthered]

Narrator: But it was, in fact, objectively written better.

Listen, you don't like the movie better than the show because it was objectively written better, you like the movie because it has tropes you like that the show will not do and that doesn't mean it's objectively written better

[starlight-bread-blog]

When a there is an outside factor building up to romantic leads not ending up together, while also wrecking the pacing of the ship...

And the red herring's being toxic but the writers just hope you pick up on the vibe without holding anyone accountable...

Is when it's time to check your bias.

[plumsaffron]

Never forget. The smug statue is a reminder of what Buffoonette did.

[lc-holy]

Wedding

[ultraericthered]

Let's make this or next year the year we all get the fuck over all the Lila salt already. Shouldn't have to hate a person who isn't real (and I mean that applies in-universe just as much as it does out of it!)

Me in 2018: God, I hate Lila. How does ANYONE like this bitch?

Me in 2024: How does anyone still hate Lila instead of the writers? She's not even a character at this point. She deserves justice.

[jennrypan]

Really wish I could feel bad for Marinette and all but..this has been a plot point for what..two..three seasons now??

At this point..maybe you should idk..stop lying to the ones you love. Cuz at first you were scared Adrien would get akumatized or some shit but that doesn't seem to be the issue anymore??? Now you can't tell him cuz he'll be sad and alone?? That's completely forgetting the fact..he has fucking friends to help him?? Like. God.

Modern problems require modern solutions. I'm sick of Marinette making her own damn problems and everyone in this show as to coddle her and make her feel better for shit she did to her damn self cuz she can't think for one MOMENT outside of her intense love for Adrien.

Adrien should be given the grace to deal with his damn problems. So no I don't feel bad for Marinette, it was a choice she made and everyone else just let's her do it. Soo..if Adrien finds out, I hope he loses his damn shit. I hope he gets angry, I WANT him to get angry at her. Idc. If they break up..oh well. They weren't together that long anyways.

THIS COULD BE AN INTERESTING PLOT POINT. CHAT AND LADYBUG WORKING AGAINST EACH OTHER COULD BE SOOO GOOD.. lord. Marinette is acting a lot like Gabriel and if this was a better show..it'd be cool to see her deal with that and actually own up to it and apologize properly.

[starlight-bread-blog]

The Adrigami Breakup Was Hot Garbage.

This is the episode where Adrien and Kagami break up. The reason why they broke up is because Adrien is Cat Noir and will always have to hide things from Kagami, and she's not having it. It's an episode about how the job of a superhero demands sacrifices, about how Adrien lost his girlfriend to his duties.

But this entire thing falls apart due to both Adrien and Kagami acting from out of character to infuriating. Adrien isn't actually shown to face these struggles as Cat Noir. We don't see him "being a responsible superhero" he's just goofing around and getting Ladybug's attention.

Adrien: Finally! Free at last! Plagg, claws out!

And here when Ladybug doesn't show up to their daily patrol:

AdriCat: So, Mr. Banana! Life's peachy, huh? *gets ignored*Peachy? Banana? Get it?.. Forget it.

AdriCat: So! Mr. Ramier! It's been a while since you were akumatized, right? Kinda miss being Mr. Pigeon? You haven't been feeling depressed? Or desperate? Or angry? Annoyed maybe? Not even a little perturbe?

Mr. Ramier: Thank you for asking Cat Noir but I am in the best of spirits, really!

This is the face Adriem makes after he says he's feeling good and isn't gonna get akumatized:

AdriCat (disappointendly): Well I guess I'm out of here then.

Mr. Ramier: Say hello to the lovely Ladybug for me!

AdriCat: Sure thing! If I ever see her.

Literally, this entire first act is establishing that Cat Noir is sad and lonely without Ladybug to the point where he wants people to get akumatized. Like go back and watch the episode this is insane.

Only after that we get to Kagami. And the relationship is.. off. Kagami lies to both their parents to buy her and Adrien time alone in the art room. She asks him to pose for a sketch, he makes a couple model poses, and the bullshit begins.

Kagami: These are all modeling poses. Try something that's more neutral, more you.

Adrien: What about – meow! *Makes a Cat pose* I mean, now? *nervous chuckle*

Kagami: No. You're not at all neutral.

Adrien: Yes I am, I promise. This is me.

Kagami (intensively): No. That's you when you're being silly.

She's downright rejecting his true self and being a control freak. Where did this come from? They used to crack jokes and have genuine fun together (ie Desperada). This is extremely out of character. But it's not over..

Adrien: What if when I'm being silly, I'm really me?

Kagami: *Gets up closer to gently make him pose*

Adrien's expression is.. um-..

Kagami: There. This, is really you.

Adrien: Do you really think..

Kagami: Yes. You're... perfect. *Leans for a kiss*

What does this scene tell us about their relationship? It tells us that it's toxic, that Kagami is controlling, doesn't care for Adrien's boudries and refuses to see who he really is. Which as I mentioned, goes against her characterization in previous episodes.

After whatever that was Adrien keeps getting called to his duity as Cat Noir. This back and forth continues for a while. But as we established, it's not a meaingful sacrifice to leave Kagami because being a superhero is just professional (and not so proffesional) playtime for him. And the episode keeps on reminding you that all throughout. We cut from Kagami being alone at a party they were supposed to go to together, to this:

AdriCat: Ma'lady, it's been a while since I had this much fun.

Ladybug: *Laughs* If battling a super villian with 3 eyes and a giant monster budy is your idea of fun, I can't imagen what your other days are like.

And in the same conversation:

AdriCat: You can count on me, and my jokes, Bugaboo!

Ladybug: Well, you don't have to over-do it.

AdriCat: The truth is, I only ever have this much fun when I'm with you.

And then he comes back straight to Kagami like nothing's wrong. She confronts him about his lies to her and gets akumatized.

Even when he fights Akumatized Kagami to save her, they still make a point at showing you he's having fun.

AdriCat: I can't wait to see what you're gonna do with a drone.

And his reaction after Ladybug confronts him about sacrificing himself:

Ladybug: Seriously you've got to stop doing this to me!

AdriCat: Yeah, but I can't resist this angry little pout of yours when you bring me back.

Excuse me?

And then, I am not kidding, while still being with Kagami, this happens:

Adrien: *Stares into the sky* Oh, Ladybug...

Plagg: Aww how romantic! I get it, even if I do love every cheese on the plate, I always come back for my favorite.

After fencing class they have the conversation. The break up is caused by Kagami not being not being able to trust Adrien. And this is how thw show, including Adrien himself, frames it too.

AdriCat: You know the difference between us and the rest of the world, ma'lady? We can't be completely honest with each other. We keep secrets, and sometimes we have to lie.

Okay, let's sum everything up:

He emotionally cheats on Kagami and is willing to admit it out loud with no shame.

He loves that subject of infatuation so much to the point where he's openly sad about monsters not attacking Paris.

Shows no remorse to leaving his girlfriend every time they are together, and very explicitly enjoys his time with another girl he's in love with.

At the end of the episode him and the writers push all the bs under the rug and claim Adrien is just following his duties.

....Wow. I remembered Lies being a terrible episode for Adrien but it wasn't until I watched it again that I've realized how much Adrien sucks. I am trurly baffled. Top tier character assassination.

And let's not forget Kagami. What the hell was that? Why did she act like that? Why all the sudden she's toxic and controlling?

Well, all of this nonsense is done to serve a very obvious not-so-hidden hidden agenda: Ladynoir good, Adrigami bad. The writers pretended to tell a genuine story about the duties of being a superhero but couldn't help but sneak in this horseshit. They essentially wanted you to subconciously pick up on what this episode is really trying to say: Kagami doesn't know Adrien's true self, she forces him into the "perfect role" and is incompatible to him. While Ladybug knows his true self. Therefore, Adrien can only be happy with Ladybug.

Kagami isn't controlling and incompatible to him. But that didn't matter to the writers, they have a message to put out. They had retcon her characterization to create a contrast that didn't really exist.

And this applies to Adrien too. He needed to be happy to leave his girlfriend to push the... "message". He needed to emotionally cheat on her like he did to push the message. He sacrificed himself so it would show his so-called love for Ladybug. He wanted people to get akumatized so he could be his true self with his beloved Ladybug. But all of these things don't make him to be compatible with her and destined to be with her, they make him an a$$hole.

And I'm not gonna buy into this message they snuck in there with retcons and infuriating behaviors.

[red-balloon12]

Hot Take:

We can argue about Chloe’s “scrapped” redemption forever. But I think Thomas and his thoughts towards Chloe about parental abuse should be talked about MUCH more.

[pagonmoon]

The ironic thing about ML is that they write the adults who wronged their own children ( Jagged Stone, Andre Bourgeois and Gabriel Agreste ) as the 'victims' ( in JS case, is his fight with his ex-wife ) and they somehow got 'redemption arcs' without any kind of effort to see that they have done something wrong and never seems to receive any consequences whatsoever.

This show could've just been targeted for incompetent 'parents' who want to feel like victims, so they won't be blamed for the wrong things they've done to save their own pride and ego.

"AnDrE iS a GoOd FaThEr!"

Newsflash: Disowning your child all because they're a brat that you refuse to discipline and help them, and forcing them to live with an abusive parent or family member, which FYI, she literally calls her own daughter "a loser" in the end, isn't good parenting.

Oh and to any Chloe haters that think this is karma for all the bullying she did, do it yourself a favor and fuck off from my page now.

Abuse isn't discipline. Get the fuck over it.

[gryficowa]

Let's be honest, Marinette and the rest of the characters put more effort into trashing Chloe herself than into actually helping (And they still have the nerve to say they were trying to help when in reality all they said was "Be nice" and nothing else, it's a strong attempt to avoid making an effort to help, which the person needs)

Yes, I'm pissed, that's why there are so many posts, but seriously, the fandom still believes that the characters tried to help Chloe and it's all her fault because she didn't accept "Help", too bad it wasn't even help (This song fits so well)

Yes, I get annoyed with people in the fandom who say that the characters tried, it's bullshit, they didn't do anything to help her (And that's why they put more effort into destroying her than actually helping her), and empty words are things anyone can say

[percki]

loveybug is too busy thinking about kissing to fight supervillains... anytime an akuma shows up she hits it with a comically large hammer harley quinn style until it's flat and she can go back to unsubtly flirting with chat noir

[angelshizuka]

How some people are capable of looking at a teenage boy crawling away in absolute terror from his own father (who's literally in the middle of physically, mentally AND emotionally abusing the superhero he now knows is his own son) and still think Adrien's the problem is totally beyond me...

It's like some of y'all WANT to victim blame.

[ultraericthered]

I would've much prefered Lila and Marinette had settled into being occasional frenemies at best, with Lila's supervillain antics making her just another villain to Ladybug. The actual narrative foil rivalry with Lila absolutely should've gone to Alya. I think Alya's character greatly suffered from not catching onto the truth about Lila and engaging with her as a rival, and Lila's character greatly suffered.... well, for a lot of reasons her character suffered, to the point where we now can't even say much of what we've seen of her IS her character.

The Real Lila Rivalry We Wanted

Here’s a good question: Why did Lila need to be Marinette’s rival?

If we were going for character foils, we already had that in the form of Chloe. It’s a bit of a reach in ways, but both Chloe and Marinette have been arguably selfish and both have caused people harm, and usually without realizing or in Chloe’s case comprehending just what they were doing. The major difference between the two has been that Marinette would do so while reacting emotionally while Chloe would act out with malevolence. The other aspect of note is that they both act out based on their emotional states, it’s just that Marinette would actually acknowledge the effects of her actions whereas Chloe needed a good few smacks from reality to finally get there. This is what makes them a good foil for one another: these similarities with the difference being based more in how they handle the situations they face.

But then they brought in Lila and all I can ask is “why?”

Lila lies. Marinette doesn’t. Lila is manipulative and self serving. Marinette is honest and helpful. Whatever Lila could offer in terms of a foil, Chloe already did. And better, because of the two, Chloe is the one who makes Marinette WANT to be a better person. Lila doesn’t offer that. If anything, the most she offers is yet another rival for Adrien’s affections, because clearly there aren’t enough “evil” girls interested in him.

If we’re looking at foils, why not have Alya be Lila’s rival?

Look at their akumas. LadyWifi was all about finding “truth”—from exposing the school’s blatant favoritism to attempting to reveal Ladybug. She may have been akumatized over being expelled, but even that only happened because she was looking for evidence that Chloe was Ladybug. She was looking for “truth”. Volpina, conversely, was all about illusions and lying—exactly what she was doing as her normal self as Lila. It was being exposed as a liar by someone she didn’t expect to intervene that caused her to become akumatized. She was all about hiding the truth, or rather making up her own.

And no, I don’t think it’s the fact that she was revealed to Adrien specifically that did it. I think it was the fact that she was revealed at all by anyone. She called Ladybug a “traitor”, as if Ladybug had actually betrayed her in some way by revealing her, or that she owed it to Lila somehow NOT to reveal her. Then the way she responded to Adrien and Marinette both in Chameleon, she seemed to take issue with anyone who called her out. When she was akumatized here, she didn’t go after Marinette who she previously seemed to cow, she went after ADRIEN, the boy she was interested in whom she had no control over. Because he was the bigger threat to her.

Alya and Lila are almost perfect foils for each other in terms of the very basis of their personalities, their ideologies, and their connection to the Fox Miraculous.

Imagine if you would, what Volpina would have been like if we had pulled the central character focus that episode from Marinette to Alya. As the resident Ladyblogger, Alya would of course be the investigator who would want to be all over any new information about Ladybug. And as a self-made reporter with good standing, she would want to ensure that she only had truthful information. Then imagine Lila coming in with her false claims, drawing everyone into her web with pretty lies. Since Alya is an investigative journalist who is always seeking truth, this would have to grate on her. And the worst part would be that for all her efforts, she wouldn’t be able to prove anything.

How does Alya know Lila’s lying about any of her claims? How does she know Lila ISN’T best friends with Laybug? Anything she could try to say to refute the claim would only be thrown back against her. Because of COURSE Lila can’t just pull out pictures or proof of their friendship, it would endanger Ladybug! Why would you want to put your own hero in danger, Alya? And it’s not like Alya could just call Ladybug down for an interview to confirm anything, either.

Sure, Marinette knows the truth. And sure, she’s kind of miffed about this new girl making false claims about her superhero identity to make herself look good, but she can’t just come out and SAY that because Marinette is supposed to have no way of knowing that Lila is lying about Ladybug. So she has to stay quiet as Lila continues lying and feeling guilty as heck because she wants nothing more than support Alya, but she can’t just come out and do so without a good reason unless she wants to risk revealing herself. This may be the episode that forces her to question if she should confide in someone and if Alya is the person she can confide in.

So Alya is frustrated because she KNOWS Lila is a liar but no one will believe her, and she just can’t call her out on her lies. So she starts to track her, and sure enough, she’s there to witness the interaction between Adrien and Lila. And more importantly, she sees the book about the Miraculous heroes. She trails Lila and records her going to the store she buys the fake Miraculous at and witnesses Lila throwing the book in the garbage. When Lila actually tries to claim to be a hero, that’s when she has enough and steps in, revealing Lila not only to Adrien but to the Ladyblog as well. And after Lila runs off “crying”, she’s the one to pull the book from the trash and look through it.

This is amazing. This is astounding! These are some major secrets she’s just stumbled across and Lila went and threw this in the trash? Not only is she a fake, she’s a fool too.

The first thing Alya does is look over the book and attempt to decipher its secrets. She doesn’t get very far, but she’s pleased with the find nonetheless. Naturally, the first person she’s going to share this find with is Marinette, which sets Tikki off in a panic to retrieve the book and get it to the Guardian. And this leaves Marinette in a difficult position. Her kwami is telling her this is important, but it’s Alya, her best friend who really needs her support right now. Can she really just go and steal from her? And how would she even try to?

She doesn’t get a chance to do anything before Lila bursts in as the “Fox Hero Volpina” and kidnaps Alya to attempt to prove on the Ladyblog that she is the true thing while getting revenge on Alya. Marinette quickly deduces Volpina is actually an akuma and transforms. Chat is not as inclined to agree, but quickly comes around. Alya is trapped in the middle of this akuma battle, but helps by revealing that Vopina’s power is based in illusions.

At the end, Ladybug confronts Alya on what happened and validates her feelings though not necessarily how she acted. Alya would decide at this point that some things are better left unknown and willingly gives the book to Ladybug. This would open Marinette to getting the book to Fu and to the start of Season 2 with the possibility of a return from Lila as well as introducing Alya to the world of the Miraculous and maybe making a step forward in eventually getting one of her own.

Then when Ladybug and Chat Noir are facing their nemesis of Hawk Moth and eventually Mayura, Alya as Rena Rouge would have to deal with her own rival/foil of Volpina.