#because it just feels like such a Marinette�� thing to do to me lol

[buggachat]

(random s5 finale musings) tbh I don't think Marinette chose to keep The Secrets™ from Adrien because Gabriel asked her to. I feel like Marinette keeping secrets like that is so consistent with her character; she hates giving people bad news, she hates rocking the boat, she hates upsetting people, she always chooses to keep any 'controversial' information to herself for as long as she can get away with (examples: bubbler scarf, telling Queen Bee she was benched, confessing to Adrien, warning Chat Noir about Scarabella or Rena Furtive, never told Chat Noir about Chat Blanc, etc) that I just totally believe she would've done it either way. She was even already having nightmares about Adrien hating her for finding out she defeated his father, so I feel like Gabriel's request was moreso giving her a go-ahead than it was a primary deciding factor, yknow?

[adastra-rising]

I’ve been rewatching episodes of miraculous because I finally got the family Disney Plus Password (was too lazy to ask) and I’ve been struck with thoughts.

I desperately want to rewrite the season 3 episode “Felix” because OH DEAR GOD I HATE IT. You only get the good shit when you read between the lines, what’s actually shown is ass.

So here’s my ideas for a rewrite

- Adrien definitively knows Colt Fathom was abusive, and alludes to it vaguely. He switched identities with Felix as a kid and has a good idea of what he went through at home.

- Adrien is less condescending in his taunts during the battle and shows a little more empathy towards his cousin. Less “boohoo bozo you have no friends” and more like, “dear god what happened to you bud?” Like he’s genuinely concerned over his wellbeing. Angry over what he did but genuinely concerned. Angry that his cousin never got a therapist lol.

- Marinette doesn’t try to confess her love to Adrien on the anniversary of his mother’s death because that’s literally so stupid.

- Felix is a bit more straightforward in his goals here, in that the audience is not led to believe he’s straight up evil. His behavior and general demeanor are more in-line with how he’s portrayed in season 4. He’s less obsessed with the GDV rings and more focused on outing his uncle as Hawkmoth or catching him in the act.

- He specifically chooses to mess with the videos to not only lure out Hawkmoth but because he’s extremely lonely and jealous. And that’s shown via subtle facial expressions and visual cues.

- His attempts to get Hawkmoth’s attention are more clearly shown to be an attempt to double-cross him and not just for the lols. Like, there’s certain things he does in the OG that are literally pointless, like the shit with Plagg’s cheese. Why? just, why?

- He is shown to be super competent at physical things (beating people up lol) but his social ineptitude is more clearly alluded to.

- No more SA scene I will burn that scene.

- Amelie actually gets to do stuff. She’s more straightforward about needing the GDV rings and actually makes an attempt to steal them herself. Auntie on a mission,

Canon Divergence Territory (aka rewrite)

✨MLB S3 Episode 23: Zelus✨

- If I wanted to do a bit more canon divergence, I’d shift focus from Felix being a trouble maker for the lols and instead focus on his jealousy. The feeling of being left behind by your only friend.

- His attempts to sabotage Adrien’s relationships is not to bait Hawkmoth but instead because he’s overcome with jealousy that Adrien has all these friends supporting him through his mothers passing, when Felix has never had anyone, both when his dad was dead and when he was alive. Nobody came to save him when he needed it and he’s gonna make that everybody’s problem.

- He thinks it’s unfair that Adrien seems to be so much happier than him and gets all of the things Felix wants (companionship) all the while getting to avoid the abuse he went through.

- Bro is genuinely super bitter and emotionally broken but hides it under a facade of showing no emotion at all until he snaps and gets akumatized into Zelus.

- Zelus (more commonly known as Phthonus) is the Greek personification of Jealousy.

- Maybe the ending could parallel the ending of Perfection, where other characters make an attempt to reach out and say “ur not alone <3” and while it works to defeat him, the message does NOT reach Felix and he goes home outwardly seeming better (it’s an act. One that Adrien believes) but remains just lonely.

- Like Kagami his trust issues run deep and one single episode is not gonna fix them. (They’ll heal together though, trust me!)

- His experience getting Akumatized proves to him that his uncle is Hawkmoth, he swipes the GDV ring on his way out to please his mother, and season 4 proceeds as written.

Dialogue Changes

Adrien: Listen, Plagg. Félix lost his dad not so long ago, he's probably not himself.

Plagg: I'm sorry, but there's just no excuse! You never touch my cheese, and yet, you just lost your mother not so long ago, right?

Adrien: My mom and his dad were nothing alike. It’s totally different.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Since reading that ask about Chloe where you linked Sara Z videos, I wanted to ask, if you'd be willing to share, what you plan for Chloé in your rewrite of the show. I'm not asking if you "think she should be redeemed" bc that is a child in a cartoon lol-but I mean to ask how you'd write, well, whatever happens in her story. Growth or not or a roller coaster of ups and downs.

Overall I really enjoyed your changes to the world and characters and I think about that version of Miraculous often. The scenes where Adrien tries to talk to Chloé about her behavior really stood out to me. I'm just curious to pick your brain a little lol.

(Post in question)

I am a total sucker for a good redemption arc. I like seeing people change for the better! However, just because I like a redemption arc doesn't mean that I'm going to throw one in for no reason. This is especially true for Chloé since redeeming Chloé is not something that you can do with ease. It eats up a lot of screen time because Chloé is not an easy character to redeem. She needs a lot of active attention. That's a problem because this isn't her story. It's Adrien and Marinette's, meaning that the only reason to redeem Chloé is if you want to tie her into one or both of their character arcs.*

That's why I don't blame anyone for ignoring Chloé or only hinting at redemption. Unless you're making her the main character or giving her a big role in the lead characters' story*, you really shouldn't redeem her. The show actively shows why! Felix, Sabrina, Nathalie, and Gabriel's "redemptions" all fall incredibly flat because those stories lacked substance. They needed a lot more screen time to work and a formula show is never going to be able to pull that off.

Now that I've given those disclaimers, let's talk about why I would absolutely take the time to redeem Chloé if the format allowed for that kind of story. The answer is quite simple: Adrien needs an arc focused around setting boundaries and learning that you can't live your life focused on making others happy. An arc where he learns how to decide when he wants to give someone a second chance and when he wants to give up on them. He also needs to learn that giving up on them is okay. That you can't set yourself on fire to keep others warm.

This arc cannot be about him and his father. Adrien is too young for that. The power balance is too stacked against him. He can't cut his father off at fifteen and the arc can't happen after the terrorist reveal makes cutting Gabriel off a possibility in spite of Adrien's youth. That's way too much way too fast. You need a less serious relationship to give this arc to so that it can take its time to be messy and complex. When you embrace the hinted at childhood friendship between Chloé and Adrien, she becomes the perfect fit for this kind of arc. A person who Adrien has equal power to and who he can muddle his way through things with, letting them both learn and grow into better people, setting the stage for Adrien to avoid completely falling apart when he learns the truth about his father. That's why Adrien so desperately needs an arc like this. His naive little sunshine self simply isn't ready to face the Gabriel reveal until he's done some major growing up.

Obviously you could use this setup to give Chloé a damnation arc, but as I said above, I'm a sucker for a good redemption. I want Chloé to be a better person and find happiness! There's also the fact that a damnation arc doesn't work as well as a redemption in this context. It's important for Adrien to be able to make the choice to give Chloé another chance and to have that choice be a struggle. Something he really has to work through. If he abandons Chloé and never looks back or welcomes her back without a second thought, then you're not setting him up to deal with the fallout of what's coming with his father. Chloé needs to feed like a proper proto Gabriel. You want her and Adrien's story to end in a way that makes you feel like he really is as ready as he could ever be to face his father.

It's also worth noting that, if Chloé really was Adrien's childhood friend, then she should have some sort of relationship with Gabriel and/or Emilie. She should know the Agreste's family dynamics way better than any of his new friends, which is another reason why I like redeeming her. I want Adrien to have someone who really gets it.

*If Miraculous was the kind of show where side characters consistently took center stage for a while, then Chloé being redeemed without a clear tie to the leads could work. It's a nice way to pad out the run time and is what I originally thought the show was doing with her. But Miraculous has no interest in giving anyone a proper story, not even the leads, so I'm still baffled by the choices the writers made with Chloé. I will never fully get what was going on there.

[flightfoot]

Isn't the target audience for the show little kids? Why is the heroic mc gaslighting? Why was THAT chosen to be her decision? Idk I feel like the fandom excusing this is focusing solely on the fanfiction side of things lol. I can't really see a conversation about boundaries like you've mentioned happening, for example. Marinette will cry about it for one scene, hugged by the guy she gaslighted, then the show will move on. All the implications of her actions, how toxic the love square is- those are not things that can be adressed respectfully in an episodic kids show. Especially not by these writers. We've seen the twitter takes. So just- idk, I wouldn't want a ten-year-old to watch this ngl. Especially because the kid watching might be an abuse victim themselves.

We have had some conversations about boundaries before, in Glaciator 2, when Ladybug was upset at Chat for keeping on hinting at wanting to be a couple, which means that such a conversation IS in the show's wheelhouse of what it can do.

Cat Noir: I guess I'm not your favorite cat at the moment, am I? (walks towards Ladybug) Can I take you to a movie to make up for it? Or how about a restaurant to celebrate our nomination as Couple of the Year? Ladybug: (yelling) We're not "Couple of the Year", we're not a couple at all! Cat Noir: Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to make you so mad. (Ladybug simply looks away from him, still mad.) I get it. You're sick of me. I might sound like a broken record expressing my affection for you over and over. I know I should stop but... I can't help it, you know? I have so many feelings welled up in this heart, and I don't know how to control them. Ladybug: (sighs) I know your heart's in the right place and that you don't mean any harm but— Cat Noir: (dejectedly) You're right. You shouldn't have to put up with this. I'll stop. I don't know how yet, but I'll figure it out. I promise. Ladybug: (smiles) I'm counting on you. Cat Noir: (frowns) I'll see you later. (vaults away, and Ladybug eventually to the other direction)

(Later)

Cat Noir: Nice to see you again, my... dear friend whom I respect and for whom I have no other feelings than true platonic friendship. Ladybug: Are you making fun of me? Cat Noir: Not at all! I'm... just getting my bearings. Ladybug: Lucky Charm! (uses her power as a car drops in front of them) Cat Noir: Oh, yeah! That lucky charm really revs my engine! (Ladybug closes her eyes, coming up with a plan to use her lucky charm. The scene zooms to the big exhaust in front of Gare du Nord.) Ladybug: Okay! Take the wheel. I got a plan. Glaciator: There you are! You think you can escape me like that? (Ladybug and Cat Noir step in the car. Cat Noir starts the car engine and drives away, escaping Glaciator as the villain comtinues to chase them.) Glaciator: (sing-song) I'm Glaciator, the mean ice-cream man, and I am your number 1 fan! Cat Noir: (while driving) That's enough! We're just friends! Ladybug: Okay. Let's go! (hurls her yo-yo, tying it around Glaciator and on her car seat) Pass me the wheel. Glaciator: You think you can escape me by attaching me to you? Cat Noir: Where are we going with this—? I mean, not the two of us. Just... where are we going, like, a direction? Ladybug: I got it. We're heading to the Gare du Nord. We'll stay in touch. (She continues to drive, escaping Glaciator.) Cat Noir, now! (Cat Noir jumps out of the car.) Ladybug: (through the ear-piece) You know what to do. I'll come back as soon as you're ready! Cat Noir: Drive safe. (He leaps to rooftop where a billboard of him and Ladybug is located. He drops it to the ground to use it as a ramp for Ladybug's car.) Ready, m'lady! Uh, do you mind me calling you "m'lady"? Ladybug: No, that's okay. (performs a drift) It's not that complicated, you know? If I tell you that something's annoying, you stop doing it, that's all!

I don't know that the show could go over all the implications of some of the things Marinette's done with Adrien, in all the identity versions, but it having Adrien lay down some boundaries and Marinette doing her best to abide by them so she doesn't accidentally hurt him is within the realm of what it can do, since it's done it before. Granted, there's more variance and a bigger scale with some of the lies Marinette's told Adrien and the secrets she's kept from him, but it's a similar idea at least.

[mlbigbang]

2023 Adrinette Fic Rec List

It’s the end of the year which means it’s finally time for the ML Big Bang’s yearly fic rec lists! We’re really excited to bring you our contributors’ favourite fics started this year to supply you with plenty of reading material while you’re waiting for the Big Bang fics’ publication in January.

Fate, Destiny... A Hamster by @mostmagical

After finally moving into his very first apartment per Ladybug’s suggestion, Adrien discovers something no movie or TV show could have ever prepared him for: someone else's hamster. Marinette was so excited to have her first pet. If only it would stop escaping! At least now there’s an excuse to talk to the new neighbor. (Adrinette Never Met AU)

This fic is peak adrinette identity shenanigans! Adrien and Marinette star as the next door neighbors losing and finding the titular hamster, falling in love, and avoiding an identity reveal like the plague.

If I Let Myself Love You by @uptoolateart

It’s hard to be a normal girl with a normal life when your mother has terminal cancer. And when fashion model Adrien Agreste moves back to Paris and wants to be Marinette’s friend – or maybe even more – her life is turned upside down again. How can she risk opening her heart to love when her whole world is falling apart? Especially when Adrien is hiding a dark secret of his own…. - COMPLETE FIC – updates on Sundays *** No kwamis AU - 100% Adrinette. About half of it is fluffy and half heavy. Please read tags for trigger warnings. ***

It is such an incredible balance of beautiful, heart-wrenching and funny! I adored the relationship between Adrien and Marinette, how it developed throughout, how natural it was, how they both helped each other through their grief. Just beautiful.

hearth by @asukiess

Because how do you describe a dream once you wake up, when it’s fleeting and slipping through the cracks in your mind like it’s a sieve? You can barely wrap your lips around the concepts and words before you realize it has slipped through like water, and what lay in your hands is just a pang in your chest? When every moment away from it clouds your mind just a little more, until the memories are threadbare? or: Adrien understands what it means to have a home.

call it even by @sha-nwa & @anna-scribbles

After a year of dating, there is one thing Marinette knows for certain: it's her and Adrien against the world. Through it all, Adrien is kind, patient, and endlessly understanding—even as she tries her best to keep her secret superhero identity hidden from him along with the rest of the world. Nothing could ruin it, not even the supervillains of Paris: Hawkmoth and Chat Noir. (adrinette dating // ladynoir enemies au)

A really well-written Adrienette fic featuring Ladynoir as enemies.

All the Missing Pieces by @uptoolateart

At 14, Adrien stepped into the time burrow and saw the truth no one could have guessed. When he came out, he was changed forever. And after defeating his father, he was finally free...or was he? At 37, Adrien has everything he ever dreamed of – married to Marinette, three kids, the hamster – but none of it has turned out as expected. Marinette’s career is such a success that she’s never home, Hugo is an angsty difficult teenager, and Adrien is still struggling with his secret identity as a sentimonster. And now, Lila Rossi is back after more than 20 years. But has time changed her? Or is she up to her old tricks?

It's my actual life (except I'm not good looking lol), and I vouch for how WILDLY accurate its treatment of the emotional issues of stay-at-home-dad stuff. I just cannot recommend highly enough how it handles jealousy, isolation, parenting struggles, etc. Not me in the comments every chapter telling the author how she got the feels so perfectly right.

If I Let Myself Love You by @uptoolateart

It’s hard to be a normal girl with a normal life when your mother has terminal cancer. And when fashion model Adrien Agreste moves back to Paris and wants to be Marinette’s friend – or maybe even more – her life is turned upside down again. How can she risk opening her heart to love when her whole world is falling apart? Especially when Adrien is hiding a dark secret of his own…

So absolutely sweet. So emotionally devastating. Gets meta by taking advantage of how AO3 works at one point. Next level in every way. I loved the developing Adrienette friendship. I loved Marinette and her father. I loved Marinette's feelings about her sick mother. Please everyone read this fic your face will melt with emotion, and you weren't really using your face, were you?

Our Tales are Endless (That's Why I Tell Them) by joonapeach

Marinette lives a simple life - one surrounded by pretty dresses, fresh macaroons, and the calming view of Paris. It's a life she thinks she has always fit in. And yet sometimes, when a certain boy comes by her shop with a flower and a new adventurous story, she can't help but wonder if there's something else she's missing.

you don't even know me at all (but i was made for loving you) by @ladyofthenoodle

They didn’t remember each other. The hospital told them there’d been an accident—brain damage—but Alya had told them the truth, later. Who’d they’d been to each other. What they’d given up, and why. But even with their memories of each other gone, Adrien and Marinette are still inextricably tied together—by law, by their social circles, and by their hearts. And in the apartment they share, there's only one bed.

If you like amnesia AUs, angst with a happy ending, married adrinette, and only one bed scenarios, you need to read this fic! It's beautifully bittersweet and will break your heart before putting it back together.

[wheredostarsgowhenyoudie]

Dear ML Fandom,

Do we have a list of funny Adrinette fics where Mari is emphasized as Adrien's VERY GOOD FRIEND and she retaliated for revenge/fun??? or where Adrien is talking about Buttercup and he's clueless it's him?? Basically fics where Adrien is an idiot but a very lovable one and you just cannot stop reading.

Something like the ones in the list below, and yes I realize I am just about to share my own list again LOL, so feel free to read if you're in the mood. But pretty please give me more suggestions to add to this list because I am currently in the need for more.

I wanna be amused/laugh at the silliness of fluffy things.

So here goes:

My list of Lovable idiot Adrien fanfics (in order of my latest nth reread/recollection)

1) Adrien Is A Dumb Blond by DracoGal - one shot where Marinette is a brave girl who confessed and flirts above and beyond (A++ really) and is still labelled a VERY GOOD FRIEND because Adrien is that clueless.

2) your keysmash says it all by Noukon - a very sweet friendship social media series fic where our Mari is a sweet friend who loves Buttercup but is still shipping Adrigami out of loyalty, and Adrien is having feelings/stirrings but he's also blind. This brought me a whole lot of big smiles but is also still ongoing.

3) words he only dreamed to hear by alizeh (maketea), maketea - where LB is the sweetest and they are officially dating (and kissing, yes your honor) but our boy is clueless, he doesn't know they're dating.

4) pretty lady, look at how he's smiling by Missnoodles - this is more sweet and romantic than funny but I wanna add it in this list anyway because well, it is SO cute and they fell in love because of camembert and etsy cards lol

[ilikekidsshows]

On one hand, Ive been saying ever since Kuro Neko that Marinette has a god and victim complex and thinks reality starts and ends with her which constantly leads to people ending up much worse for it (Adrichat in particular) and nothing significant getting fucking done because of how irrelevant Marinette herself is

So sure, you can bet your ass i feel validated by the "Ladybug will decide for the world what the truth is" development and how much worse everything is clearly about to get. In that sense, I'll sure have the time of my life now lol

But on the other hand, nah, I still never wanted this. I'll have my fun with it now that I'm proven right because of how awful the emotional journey was for me watching all this unfold. I wasn't even surprised by Kwamis Choice or the season 5 finale, that was imo obvious ever since season 4. At this point, I'll just enjoy it as a salty bitch. Fuck it, I earned that when I called these awful plot resolutions years ago and I only get further validated for what I "salted" on Marinette.

Or, wait. Is it even SALT when I continue to be proven right over and over again? Sounds like I'm reading it RIGHT while Marinette fans still go on disregarding 90% of the show and then call themselves FANS Lol

---

What a time for the fandom, when describing what happens in canon counts as salt. Every single time "non-salty" people describe the actual, canon episodes, they have to accompany it with constant refrains of “but Marinette is really stressed”, “but Marinette is in a really difficult spot”, “but Marinette isn’t the only one doing these things”, “but Marinette is too young to be in this situation” or my beloathed “but Marinette has good intentions”.

That's why I've decided to embrace the salt.

Here's a really salty take: if Marinette is so incapable of answering for her actions, then maybe she shouldn’t be taking on so many responsibilities to begin with. According to all these defenses of Marinette, these supposed good faith takes on her behavior, she is too incompetent or emotionally compromised to be expected to act in a moral way, too young to make sound decisions about anything, too paranoid or blinded by her own sense of moral superiority to take perspectives other than her own into account and too weak mentally to handle her boyfriend having emotional needs.

If Marinette really is this incompetent and incapable, maybe she shouldn’t be having everyone else lie to Adrien based on her judgment call. If she really is so mentally weak that she can’t handle the grieving and changing of his world view that her boyfriend needs to go through in order to live his life to the fullest (or as fullest as a remote control robot can get), maybe she should just leave that to the other people in the know. Kagami wants to tell Adrien the truth, let her. And let her deal with the aftermath, too. Meanwhile Marinette can just skip off to be worshiped by her parents, friends and ex boyfriend, now that he’s back in town.

Yeah, Marinette would be the most selfish girlfriend ever for just dumping Adrien until he stops being sad, but she’s being one regardless. The only thing different is that then Adrien would know and maybe he’d reconsider if such a one-sided relationship where he’s expected to give all the support while receiving none in return is what he really wants and needs. Maybe Adrien should know, not only what he is and who his dad really was, but who his girlfriend really is: someone too weak to be his partner not only for the better, but also the worse.

[ggomos-maribat]

NMWYCAM [bonus deleted chapter]

This is a scene i wrote out but couldn't fit into the current chapters :)

Originally Damian was going to find out that Marinette knows their secret in another way...lol he was gonna get badly injured as Robin and Marinette saves him but reveals she knows his identity

***

2:51 a.m. Marinette was still awake, despite the kwamis telling her off. She found herself having excess energy that night, so she decided on sketching under the yellow desk lamp with some music on. All was calm and peaceful until her phone buzzed.

Damian: Hello

Damian: Are you awake? Can I call you right now?

Her keyboard popped up for the reply, but more messages came in.

Damian: You're probably sleeping

Damian: ...

Damian: sorry

Damian: I shouldn't have bothered

Damian: sweet dreams, Marinette

Smiling, she went ahead and pressed the call button. When it took him several rings to answer, she pictured a panicked Damian fumbling to answer his phone.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Did I wake you?" His warm voice filled her ears. "Sorry . . ."

"No, no, I was awake. Couldn't sleep." Marinette propped her legs up on her chair, tucking them to her chest. She saw a groggy Tikki peek out of her small blanket but she waved the kwami off to go back to sleep. "Is something the matter?"

"No, I . . . I was just lying in bed and got the sudden urge to talk to you," Damian recounted. "Is that strange?"

Marinette brought the back of her hand to her reddened cheek. This boy. "I think that means you miss me, Damian," she laughed. "How was patrol?"

"It went smoothly. We disrupted a smuggling operation and put Riddler back in Arkham. You? What were you doing?"

"Ah just drawing out some ideas. Nothing too important." Snuggled in her blanket under the calm night and talking to Damian was like a tight embrace, Marinette realized. "I hope you didn't push yourself too hard."

A scoff sounded out from Damian. "Father threatened to bench me when I chased after the Riddler. The others kept watching me like I'll disappear into thin air."

"They're just worried about you, you know. As they should be."

"I only need you to worry about me." A long pause. Then a long sigh. "Sorry, I . . . I don't know why I said that."

Marinette hummed, feeling more heat crawl under her skin. "It's alright. They say your inhibitions are looser at night, especially when you're tired. But it's okay to be vulnerable; it's just me."

"What do you mean by that? 'It's just you'?"

"I mean I understand that you're being honest about whatever you say to me right now. I won't judge you for it. I won't even bring it up tomorrow if that's what you want." She pressed her phone closer to her ear. "I don't want you to feel that you need to keep something to yourself just because it's me hearing your words."

". . . How come you always say the right thing?"

"I guess it's my forte?"

"What if I can't say the right things?"

"Just talking to you like this is enough for me," Marinette said. "I can be the one good with words, and you can be the one good with actions. You always are."

"That's not fair at all. You are also good with actions."

That elicited another laugh from her. "But you are very good at taking care of people through your gestures. Not a lot can do that."

"You're the only one who has ever said that."

"'Cause I'm the only one who notices."

Soon, whilst they talk, Marinette noticed that he was mumbling the ends of his words. Later on when she finished her amusing story about a deal with a client, she didn't hear a reply, but instead, light snoring at the other end of the line.

He sounds so relaxed. Now she had the urge to look at his sleeping face.

"Good night, Damian," she whispered. "I miss you too."

[familyagrestefanblog]

Sorry, I just need to get this off my chest.

You know what's shit?

That I always come back to work on my explanation posts on why Alya, Plagg, and Emonette being treated unfairly and being disregarded by Maribug's writing is by now pissing me off to similar degrees as her bad treatment of Chat Noir

But that always ends in a domino effect of me putting together more of the overall narrative that ticks me off so much cause my ADD brain can't NOT look for the continuous string of the writing pattern I follow once I'm at it.

You probably can imagine that this isn't very good for my mental health and the only reason why I'm still doing it is because I have a strong suspicion on what the new story arc will do with Cerise after this agonizing hiatus, and only once the actual new story arc proves me wrong can my ADD brain let this emotional investment of 7+ years in my "comfort show" since I was a 16 rest in peace.

Being neurodivergent is exhausting of FUCK...

So I always stop writing any of the posts about the other topics and come back to my Adrichat corner because that's the "safe space" my brain is the most familiar and comfortable with by now since season 4 to make a post AT ALL that isn't running the risk of leading me down 7 new rabbit holes I can't unsee anymore afterwards...

I MISS looking into several narrative threads in this show and voicing my opinions on them. In hindsight, I regret not having done it more when it was still possible, but I feel like it should have been alright in any other normally written show to have a fan blog dedicated to a specific part of the story. I feel like I shouldn't be the one in the WRONG for having done that.

Anyway, I honestly MISS the time where I knew that Maribug's benefit and comfort weren't the only things accepted as "valid" readings of the story. From both sides. Supporters and critics/salters.

Where saying anything that isn't immediately connected to Marinette's benefit and comfort didn't need a full-blown 20 page essay post going into any detail possible to fight for the right to even be taken seriously as a realistic reading of the story at all.

I know I'm not the only one upset at this, but I wonder how many people really realized by now how batshit insane this is right now. That only the most vanilla and vague-ass posts that do their best to not in anyway say something that would be "mean" and "non-validating" to Marinette can be posted now without it automatically being categorized as at least "critical" or running the risk of getting perceived as salt or wishful-thinking.

You can't point ANYTHING out anymore without at least one person running in and either saying "You just HATE Marinette and want to see her punished! You people never care about HERRRRRRRRRR (regarding a topic that isn't about her or is her fucking JOB as a narrative tool to DO)" or "Yeah, nah, the show would never let that happen because of the Marinette bias lol"

You can't even say anything anymore about Adrien's abuse without it being either undermined to all hell because of Marinette having been bullied and needing to be a girlboss who does to others what she's declared "tortured" for, or Félix "hypocrite and victim-blamer" Fathom. Gabriel being abusive was once the most basic ass thing to talk about, what the fuck happened?? (don't answer that, I know the answer...)

The whole analysis' side of this fandom that isn't catering to Marinette was either killed or basically exiled into the "critical" or outright "salt" tag because you can't even be interested in world-building anymore without having to fight for the post's right to be taken seriously under the crushing weight of Marinette's narrative benefits and comfort.

Because mademoiselle ain't fucking interested in ANYTHING lore wise beyond what's convenient for her (not to mention the retcons), so talking about the Guardian and Kwami lore for example counts as SALT now because it automatically implies for people that Marinette isn't all that matters and her flaws of not being interest in ANYTHING might actually COUNT as flaws she should work on. I know, the fucking HORROR! 😱

I MISS writing theories, analysis posts, and speculating about this shows future plots in even the most basic "set up and pay off" manner but I know I can't because my default approach is always complementary to the main character - meaning what challenges them and the narrative the most to grow, expand, and develop. This isn't a Marinette specific thing, I ALWAYS do this.

And contrary to popular belief in this fandom, I get by perfectly fine doing that for the majority of other pieces of media I consume. It is MIRACULOUS and this damn Fandom that now genuinely did it's best to convince themselves that this level of main character centric morality and revenge porn level writing is NORMAL when it's seriously NOT.

There is a REASON why this show hardly ever gets recommended on social media the way one would think despite its success. Or why the Fan backlash is so enormous despite a solid part of the Fandom already having left long ago and the young target demographic not uniformly having a voice in the social media discourse.

Or why people actively advise others AGAINST watching the show, AGAINST forming an emotional investment, and AGAINST going anywhere near the Fandom.

Cause no fucking shit, this isn't normal.

[shiori8]

Oh look! It's another redesign!

Here, have this little illustration based on my Ladybug/Chat Noir re-designs, that I've been slaving away at for the past month (we're just gonna ignore the fact that I started plotting out the costumes and sketched the pose a year ago lol). I know, I know. A redesign? Very original. But hey I haven't done it yet, so that makes it different ok😝!

(Gosh, I usually don't post sketches, I feel like this is exposing all my drawing weaknesses lol)

These are some of the first doodles I did. For Marinette I basically looked at some traditional Qui Pao and Hanfu dresses for inspiration and mixed and matched details I liked. I also gave her these little skirt flaps (?? whatever you want to call it) to symbolise the ladybug wings and kept the spots concentrated there. All in all I actually immediately knew what I wanted to do with her costume and pretty much just kept to my first draft, but what really gave me trouble was the hair somehow. I really wanted to incorporate actual antennae (I just think it's cute🤧!!!!) but it got too crowded up there so I had to let them go eventually🥺. In the end I settled for her twin tails pulled up instead of down. To make it look more distinct from her civilian form the idea was also that her hair colour changes to black after the transformation.

Chat Noir on the other hand was so difficult😭😭😭. I honestly like the original design soo much it was hard to think about alternatives. I wanted something that matched better with my new Ladybug, but I don't think I succeeded much. Also I hyperfocused on giving him this little scarf/oversized collar thing in my first doodles because I thought it looked cool and ended up scrapping it because the little bell is just too iconic not to keep lol. As you can tell from the final illustration there is actually not all that much that made it into the final version, except for the sheer sleeves, the shoes, the claw marks and some neon green details. I also ended up giving both of them some gold accents to make them match a bit more. As with Marinette, the idea is that Adrien's hair changes colour a bit after transforming too. So I envision Adrien having more of the smooth platinum blond in his civillian form and a more brown-ish dirty blond as Chat Noir, to go for the whole stray cat look lol.

I might come back to this one day, to re-do their civilian forms too or make these costumes more practical rather than just focusing on aesthetics (But hey if the show does this than I am allowed too😂!)

[buggachat]

seeing a lot of talk of the season 5 finale, which is fun, i get that it was controversial (honestly the fact it was really risky is kind of one of the things i like about it lol) and wanting to add my two cents but can't think of much i haven't already said before

but something i do want to emphasize is that season 5 ending on Marinette telling the biggest, boldest faced lie she's ever told (that goes far beyond "protecting her identity") to kick off the Lila arc is by far the coolest thing they could've done imo, because I was not at all excited for the Lila arc before but now I'm totally invested. Now Lila isn't the Evil Liar to be taken down by Good Marinette. Marinette is the liar to be taken down by the very liar that she took down. It's not a story of "defeat that freakishly evil girl" anymore, but instead a story of "Marinette's own actions and decisions coming back to bite her". And the lie itself (WHICH LILA KNOWS IS A LIE!!) only exists because, and is most impactful towards, her relationship with Adrien, which is the core of the series!! I CARE about their relationship, and that's the stakes!!!

I just cannot get over how cool that is, and how much I didn't expect it. I know we all were expecting a big fight with Ladybug and Chat Noir just defeating Gabriel and then watching Chat Noir cry or whatever in the few remaining minutes of screen-time and then it's all over and done with, but that's a series finale. This was a season finale. And they did something really unique and unexpected with it, while making sure it's a juicy season-finale conflict that leaves me actually excited about season 6

also, a side note— I think the framing of the finale made this confusing so I totally get why discussions about it are kind of all over the place, but... 90% of the post-wish stuff we saw had nothing to do with Gabriel at all. It was all Mayor Bustier, who was already running for mayor and wanted to enact green laws and projected to win (she was up against D'Argencourt, the character whose schtick is that nobody ever votes for him in elections). I don't think Gabriel's wish included "Please, Gimmi, I want my son's school teacher to win the mayoral election this year" lol. So a lot of talk of "why is Gabriel's World presented in such a positive light?" is kind of weird to me. That's not Gabriel's World. That's Caline Bustier's. All we know so far about Gabriel's World is that Nathalie is in it and he is not. And frankly, the fact everyone is so happy and cheerful and living it up after his death is more a roast than anything

( also, just a reminder that the presentation of Gabriel's statue— the only scene discussing Gabriel in a positive light by someone In The Know— was done by Tomoe Tsurugi, a series antagonist, vowing to continue his work, with a song in minor key playing in the background. i feel like the question of "was this meant to be unsettling or triumphant?" is pretty obvious. just wanted to remind everyone. also by definition characters cannot celebrate gabriel as a "hero" without in the same breath celebrating monarch's, aka gabriel's, death. yknow? )

[theerurishipper]

Hey I have a question I read some takes that Adrien is a supposedly good liar? How though are there any examples..I always just assumed people never put two and two together with his identity is because he doesn't connect much with the class nor does Gabriel so it made sense in my head. I'm sorry if I don't actually make sense I just assumed that if even one of the classmates kept getting closer with him maybe he'll open up. I thought that'd be Nino but like I feel that he's so much more closer to his girlfriend and with Kagami that scene where she backed him into the wall and she said that wasn't the real him when he did goofy poses made me uncomfortable and sad for him. Marinette kind of disappoints me as a love interest like that time he was in the park on the bench and she decided that this was the perfect time to give him a present made me annoyed like I understood she has such a huge admiration for the guy and will climb mountains for him but I thought she'd get past that and they'd have like a one on one you know a talk. Usually the love interest would start to bond and grow closer but like I feel she's more into the relationship for herself because of this whole fantasy she builds up in her head it's why their relationship kind of a bummer.

I don't think Adrien that hard to get him to open up to but again this is my own opinion. I don't know really I just feel if someone like a teacher, classmate or even Master Fu get him to open up more and more and they start to bond. I feel like all he wants is a relationship to not be so conditional if someone kind enough allowed him a shoulder to cry on or even acknowlege his habits or when he's in a bad mood I think it'd work I ain't sure though. I wish the dude had more male friends.

I don't really get why the classmates just think Gabriel a strict dude when he seems pretty abusive. Marinette especially she knows how strict he is especially in season 5 and the whole adrigami thing and even with Chloe mom lol I think abuse or parental abuse just doesn't register an actual thing in her mind which is weird lol.

I don't watch Miraculous religiously lol I just watch it sometimes so if my takes and memories are wrong please forgive me. I am so sorry for this being a long ask I ramble way to much.

No need to apologize anon! Feel free to ask me anything.

Personally, when I say that Adrien is a good liar, I don't mean lying in the traditional sense. He doesn't do a lot of actual lying (except when it comes to his secret identity), but it's more than he doesn't really reveal his true self to anybody. He doesn't fake his personality per se, but he only shows people the parts of himself that he thinks they will like because he's been conditioned to believe that he has to conform to everybody's expectations of him and be perfect for them. It's why Chat Noir is so different from Adrien Agreste™, because he's always performing in every part of his life. And putting on a mask at all times isn't the best way to connect on a deeper and intimate level with the people around him. I think Adrien's friendships with Nino and Kagami and everyone else is real, and whatever he shows them is genuine, but it's still not all of him, and he still feels the need to hide the parts of him that he feels they won't like. His relationship with Ladybug is an exception (obligatory until Season 4 disclaimer) because while he's still putting on a performance, it's not for the sake of pleasing her.

You mentioned his closeness with Nino, and I always felt that Adrien was more at ease with Nino than anyone save Plagg. He was more relaxed and at ease with Nino in like, Seasons 1 and 2, enough to show a little more of himself, and I got the sense that he was a little more open with Nino. Then Rocketear happened and Adrien pretty much shut down on that front and started to put on the mask even more, and their friendship never was the same after that.

The thing with Kagami is that she was right about Adrien. Chat Noir isn't his "true self," it's a persona based on him acting out in the way he's never allowed to as Adrien. And the model Adrien is a persona crafted based on the demands from his abusive father who expects him to be perfect. Kagami isn't able to see under Adrien's mask, but she's able to understand that he's putting on a front, and she wants him to quit it.

Marinette kind of disappoints me as a love interest like that time he was in the park on the bench and she decided that this was the perfect time to give him a present made me annoyed like I understood she has such a huge admiration for the guy and will climb mountains for him but I thought she'd get past that and they'd have like a one on one you know a talk. Usually the love interest would start to bond and grow closer but like I feel she's more into the relationship for herself because of this whole fantasy she builds up in her head it's why their relationship kind of a bummer.

This is exactly the problem I have with canon Adrienette. Marinette literally doesn't even know that Adrien is putting on an act, and she literally thinks he's perfect. It was so funny to me when Pretension made Gabe out to be so wrong and evil when he accused Marinette of falling wholesale for Adrien's performance, because Gabe was fucking right, damn it.

The problem is that the show never challenges Marinette's view of Adrien. She doesn't have to learn to look past his masks and see him for who he really is, he just up and tells her thanks to an Akuma's influence, and then he spends the rest of the time in Season 5 pursuing her, so she just gets handed her trophy boyfriend without having to put in the effort of getting to know him as a person. The show never wants Marinette to be inconvenienced by *checks notes* learning to see Adrien as a person, and it just wants her to get her dream relationship without an effort on her part to truly understand him. She's not much different from the rest of her class or any of Adrien's fans, because they all just see what they want to see and what he shows them. By virtue of them being the endgame, Marinette should have been special in that she tried to look past the masks to understand the real Adrien once she realized his "perfection" was a front and an act, but she didn't. She remained as delusional about him as she always was and got the relationship dropped in her lap. Thanks, I hate it.

I don't think Adrien that hard to get him to open up to but again this is my own opinion. I don't know really I just feel if someone like a teacher, classmate or even Master Fu get him to open up more and more and they start to bond. I feel like all he wants is a relationship to not be so conditional if someone kind enough allowed him a shoulder to cry on or even acknowlege his habits or when he's in a bad mood I think it'd work I ain't sure though. I wish the dude had more male friends.

I don't think it's that simple for him to break out years of being conditioned to conform to other people's needs, but the fact remains that, you know, no one even cares. Kagami was literally the only one who cared enough to try and understand him, and even she was made to spend Season 4 as Adrien's bitter ex (not Kagami salt, I love Kagami, this is just writing salt). The rest of the class admits in Felix that they don't really know him, and they never really seem to try to get to know him either. They do care about him, but not that much, you know? Everyone is honestly content to keep seeing him as the perfect guy, and no one tries to see the real him. Like I said, I feel like he was a little more open with Nino in the earlier seasons, and he's more open with Plagg, but that's about it. He was a little more open with Ladybug, but that also went down the drain in Season 4 because of the Ladynoir conflict. It took an Akuma for him to open up to Marinette. I don't blame anyone for falling for his act, but they clearly don't really care to get to know him either. I think you're right in a way, that he would be a little more willing to drop the act if someone tried to understand him, like Nino and Plagg. But no one cares, unfortunately.

I don't really get why the classmates just think Gabriel a strict dude when he seems pretty abusive. Marinette especially she knows how strict he is especially in season 5 and the whole adrigami thing and even with Chloe mom lol I think abuse or parental abuse just doesn't register an actual thing in her mind which is weird lol.

Tbf they don't know much about what goes on inside the Agreste household, and they are just kids, so I understand that they wouldn't be able to completely recognize what's going on with Adrien. But the show itself doesn't think Audrey and Gabriel are abusive, and Marinette is basically the mouthpiece for all that, hence the solution is that apparently Chloe and Audrey should just bond, and Adrien should be fed a lie that Gabriel is not a bad guy actually. Marinette seems to have a pretty black and white view of the matter, and since she comes from a loving home, it doesn't really register to her that parents can be so awful. But the show frames Marinette as in the right to push Chloe and Audrey together when what Chloe needs is to get the hell away from that abusive person. It tries to frame her as right for gaslighting Adrien into loving his abuser. It's pretty nasty stuff.

But that's just my opinion. Honestly, I think the best meta on this subject is this excellent post by @fearlessinger. It's a wonderful analysis, I highly recommend it.

Thank you for your ask!

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

That last ask about Animaestro, about LB's cat phobia made me remember that this chapter, chronologically, is before Chat Blanc... So, now I can't help but wonder if that was supposed to be some type of foreshadowing and/or the creator giving us a bit of a low-key spoiler.

It would have been a nice touch, if Maribug really got some screen PTSD (that someone from the PR Team said on their twitter that she indeed has it?). Yes, I know there is that chapter where she has this nightmare about Alya betraying her, but there is nothing else.

Awesome blog, btw, I love your pov regarding this show. I don't really feel that you are aggressively salty, just dissappointed about the wasted potential (like some of us). Even your "salt" towards the writers is pretty tame, but still pretty sure That Guy would block you lol.

(Post in question)

That's an interesting theory. I wouldn't put money on it being intentional, but it is totally possible! Chat Blanc was probably in the writers' minds for a while.

And did someone really claim that she officially has PTSD? Oh boy... I don't want to imply that mental health conditions only present in one way because they absolutely don't! There are a wide variety of ways that they can present themselves! There's also not a tried and true way for someone with PTSD to be triggered. Triggers can be really weird and seemingly make no sense. Things that seemingly should be triggers can somehow not effect you in the slightest and things that seem benign can be massively triggering. Brains are weird like that.

However, this is a story, so I can evaluate Marinette as a tool used to rep someone suffering from PTSD and not as a real person with PTSD who has no obligation to meet any sort of arbitrary standard. In that context, I feel comfortable saying that Marinette was not good rep. You don't get over PTSD by talking to your boyfriend and it's usually not a minor condition that lies dormant most of the time, letting you go about your life without any need for professional help.

One of my biggest pet peeves is stories giving characters a disability that never actually effects their life in a meaningful way. (Yes, PTSD is considered a disability or at least it can be one depending on how it presents.) They're called disabilities for a reason! They can and do have massive impacts on peoples' lives. If you want to include rep, then do it right! Don't give Marinette this condition and then only let it effect her when it's convenient for the story! Figure out her triggers and then let them effect her throughout the narrative because that's how PTSD works! If you don't want to do that, then don't say that she has PTSD.

You can be traumatized without getting PTSD. That is a thing. PTSD is not a synonym for trauma. It's a specific type of trauma response. It's also a real medical condition that requires professional help and a lot of hard work to manage because PTSD never really goes away. You just hopefully learn how to live with it and, in the process, get your symptoms to a manageable state.

Here are some examples of moments when Marinette's PTSD could have triggered, keeping in mind that this is a fictional character and not a real person, meaning that we're looking at this from a "set up the reveal" perspective and not a "people with PTSD have to react to this kind of trigger" perspective.

These moments from Dark Cupid and Derision are a perfect opportunity to show Marinette randomly panicking and to then bring it back during the reveal:

[Image description: two pictures of Kim down on one knee holding out a gift. The first image is from Dark Cupid and the second is from Derision.]

Marinette falling into the same pool in Derision and Mr. Pigeon 72 is another good one:

[Image description: two pictures of Marinette falling off of the same diving board. The first image is from Mr. Pigeon 72 and the second is from Derision.]

These were prime moments to show off her PTSD in a way that fit the story, but they didn't. Yet her condition is so bad that she panics over a bowl of cereal at the start of Derision, implying that her PTSD is pretty darn extreme! If it's that bad, then we should see at least a few hints of it before Derision or even after Derision, but we don't unless we're counting the many, many, many jokes told at Marinette's expense. Hopefully no one is arguing that those should count because using a trauma response for jokes is not quality rep. It also feels like a total cop out because the panic attacks in Derision are played in a wildly different manner from all the times Marinette freaked out in a silly, over-the-top way. It's not intuitive to connect those moments and it should be if those were supposed to be a true setup for the PTSD reveal. They weren't even treated as foreshadowing where Marinette's actions made no sense! Just what are we even doing here, writers?

If the writers are claiming that her PTSD comes from Chat Blanc and not Derision, then we have many examples of Chat Noir getting a white makeover without bothering Marinette, once again begging the question of where her PTSD is? What are her triggers? How is she learning to handle it?

I'll end this section by noting that I do know people who are officially diagnosed with PTSD and I even discussed Marinette with one of them, which is why I feel so comfortable saying that this is bad rep, though obviously you should defer to real experts on this one. If they say that this is great rep and that Marinette is presenting in a way that I'm not familiar with, then ignore me! My sample size is very limited.

I'll finish this off with a quick thank you for the lovely complement:

I don't really feel that you are aggressively salty

My goal is to come across as giving a critical assessment of canon and not just angry ranting, so this was very nice to hear! I want this blog to make you think, I'm really not looking to be angry or to make other people angry. I can't say that I'd blame That Guy for blocking me, though! I've never found creators doing that to be some kind of bad sign. Who wants to read brutal, unsolicited take-downs of their work? That's a special kind of doom scrolling. I'm a big fan of the "reviews are for readers" stance.

[lukaslosteyelashes]

I really wanted to post this before the London Special, also I’m sorry in advance if anything is incoherent or not grammarly correct. I had a bit of a trouble collecting my thoughts and write this but I tried my best.

Anyways, let’s go!

*Edit: I was wrong lol

Tomoe Tsurugi was the main reason why people now view Gabriel Agreste as a hero of Paris

At first I haven’t thought much about the season 5 finale, overall I liked it, but then it started to bug me: why was it necessary to make Gabriel Agreste the hero of Paris, how did it happen and whose idea was it, who would benefit from it?

Ladybug/Marinette

She probably had to make a public announcement to the media at some point that Monarch was defeated, that’s a topic that cannot be avoided after all, and there is also the fact that Gabriel Agreste died at the end of that fight.

Gabriel is a famous fashion designer, a public figure who, even though spent the last bit of his life basically isolated, is known far and wide. His death would be something that shakes the rich and the poor alike. So what would happen if Marinette would reveal that their adored fashion designer was also the villain that kept the entire population of Paris in terror? Nothing good and his son, Adrien would suffer the most because of it.

If we’re at Adrien. There is also Gabriel’s final wish, which was to keep this a secret from his son, so Adrien could only remember the times when he was trying to be a good father to him [which happened like once or twice during the 5 seasons].

Would Ladybug call Gabriel a hero to the press?

I don’t think so, maybe not intentionally, the press could put a lot of pressure on people. I can imagine that Ladybug being confused of what happened and also distressed that she couldn’t find the butterfly miraculous, so she might said something that she didn’t meant or the press made her say things.

Marinette probably fulfilled Gabriel’s final wish because she wants Adrien to be happy and free and spilling the beans about everything would achieve the opposite. With Gabriel’s death there’s no Monarch anymore either, that’s what matters no one really needs to know that the two were the same (not even his son). It’s an end of an era and the beginning of a (not so promising) new one.

Side note: Do you remember that in "Conformation" Ladybug sent a message to Chat Noir that Gabriel Agreste is Monarch? Adrien still can learn about the truth from her IF the message came through.

Nathalie

She was Gabriel’s accomplice from the start who would have helped him as Mayura until the end if he didn’t went off from his original plan. But as Gabriel went more and more crazy and the videos about Emilie waked her up. Also during the time she was bedridden she had plenty of time reflecting on her wrong doings as well.

Although, she wasn’t able to do much to stop Gabriel because of the state that she was in near the end and if she revealed the truth about Monarch then she would also get found out.

Natalie was definitely shocked and confused but also happy to learn about Gabriel’s final choice, still she wouldn’t declare him as a hero after everything that he did, and she definitely feels guilty of what she did as well, but would play along for the sake of Adrien’s happiness.

Lila (or whatever her real name)

Since we yet to learn what her true motives are, I don’t have much of an idea what she would do and why, but she’d definitely benefit form this situation.

Lila figured out Hawkmoth's true identity much earlier than Marinette and she was also able to collect informations about him and his past and most certainly knows that Adrien is a sentimonster as well. And let's not forget that she was able to seize the butterfly miraculous and rumored to be the next Hawkmoth. Because of these she has some advantage and could reveal the truth to Adrien, to Paris and to the World at any moment. And for this reason, Gabriel being a celebrated hero, comes in handy for her.

Just imagine this situation: Lila wants Marinette to loose everything and become pitiful. And what would make Marinette more distressed than seeing her beloved boyfriend being miserable? So Lila would reveal the truth to Adrien with showing all of the information that she collected as a proof, Adrien starts to loose all trust in his late father and Nathalie, maybe even in his late mother as well. He had already shown signs of being emotionally unstable before and this would be the last straw, not even Marinette would be able to comfort him. Lila, of course would observe the situation carefully from afar, waiting for the right opportunity. Adrien because of all of this, became so careless that he transforms into Chat Noir which Lila saw and akumatize him. Then BOOM... Chat Blanc became the future that Ladybug wanted to avoided at all cost...

That’s one hell of a scenario, but seeing how Lila became so obsessed with completely destroying Marinette, I think she’d do something like that. Also with having an as powerful akumatized ally as Chat Blanc on her side she'd be unstoppable.

So what’s the deal with Tomoe Tsurugi?

At first I thought that she would be furious about Gabriel messing up their whole plan about gaining Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s miraculouses to create a new world with a wish, but Tomoe likely realized that she could very well use this to her advantage and created this image about Gabriel as the hero of Paris. But why would she needed to do that?

The Alliance rings

The Alliance rings basically were one of the biggest main issues in the 5th season. They were created by Gabriel and Tomoe which was known all across the Globe, there was a whole marketing campaign about it, featuring Adrien and Lila, later Kagami.

When the Alliance rings started to turn almost every users into a Ladybug and Chat Noir hunting robot, every sane person instantly thought about Monarch making all the mess. But how come no one seems to connect the whole ruckus to Gabriel and Tomoe? [It shouldn’t be a surprise since the majority of the characters are blind.] Even if no one suspects either to be Monarch, the happenings should connect Gabriel and Tomoe to him in some way.

So I think, Tomoe wanted to avert suspicion by creating this hero image.

The head of the Tsurugi Industries probably wasn’t pleased that her partner in crime changed his mind last minute, had a different wish than they agreed on and Ladybug was able to get back all the miraculouses (except Nooroo). Now she also has to face the possiblity of getting caught, that people would slowly [really slowly] start to realize that she also had something to do with all of this. So how could she be able to avert the suspicion?

By playing the victim.

Deceiving the public by saying that her and Gabriel were both used by Monarch and that they couldn’t do anything because they were threatened with Adrien’s and Kagami’s life, so their only choice was to help him hijack the Alliance rings. With that it was easy to see Gabriel’s action as heroic because in the eyes of the people he just wanted to save his son by sacrificing himself, and Tomoe is also able to continue her pursue for the miraculouses without people suspecting anything.

To make things worse, she’s now taken over the Agreste brand, and it also looks like all those inventions, to make Paris more eco friendly [you can see them at the end of the season 5 finale] are also products of the Tsurugi Industries. And let's be real, I'm certain that she wants to control Paris from the background by swamping the city with her machines. The statue of Gabriel, which was created from the remaining Alliance rings, looks suspicious as well.

I hope it's not a complete bs theory

[tikki-tokka-takka]

Just How I Am

Hey everybody! This is my first time EVER writing a fanfiction, on a public forum, and tumblr…so yeah! I'm excited, I have been feeling complicated teenage emotions lol (im 18 though, is that still a teenager? I mean, it is 8-TEEN not 8-ADULT), and why not get all of these silly feelings out by writing a sad little thing. (Does anyone even read an author’s note? I just want to rant without being judged by the people who I can barely even trust sometimes, lol). I’ll eventually start posting on ao3 when I finally get invited lol. ok bai. 

ANYWAYS… sorry for all that but basically this is the summary:

Sometime around the end of season 3 and beginning of season 4, when Kagami and Adrien were an item.

Aged up characters, all of them are 17

A very sad Marinnette POV about her view on K & A’s relationship and how she fits into it

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wonder if you’ve ever looked at her, and thought she was me. I wonder if you’ve ever looked at her glossy, pink lips, bluebell eyes and my beautiful short hair, and looked at my mirror image. Did you, Adrien Agreste, ever think I wouldn’t have realized? That I was never your first choice? 

I still lay up at night, remembering the long days we would spend together, as I helped you escape from your father, your rebellious smile shining right back at my burning cheeks. As we hid around the corner, you looked me straight in the eyes and softened your stupid smile, brushing a lock of my hair behind my ear. 

You softly said, “You must be tired from running.”

“Huh?”

“Your cheeks are red,” you breathed out. “Too bad, because I could run with you forever, Marinnette.” 

“Huh-h?”

"Your cheeks are red," you teased once again, brushing a lock of my hair behind my ear. "Marinette, you’re something else, you know that?"

I laughed nervously, burning under your gaze. And you laughed too—stupid, beautiful boy. You always did love the way I blushed. Making sure we were safe, you grabbed my hand and pulled me around town. It was one of the best days of my life, as we splashed each other with the gross fountain water, but I was too grossly in love with you to realize. Did you know that I got sick the next day after you dared me to drink it? Now I realize, you were just acting like all the other 17 year old immature boys our age, because you are all the same. 

You finally spotted Andre, and calmed your silly antics down, helping me up after you had tackled me down into the fountain. 

“Kagami’s right. Your hair is beautiful when it's down,” you remarked, gazing down at me, hand extended. I shivered. You, you thought my hair was beautiful. But, at the same time, a pushing, quiet thought bounced at the back of my head.

I should’ve known then. When did Kagami ever tell you that? I should’ve realized when Kagami smiled at me during our sleepover—her smile was not one of approval, but one of quiet confirmation. Kagami and I had just had a sleepover, as I tried to be the perfect, nice Marinnette, who despite jealousy, wanted to make her feel comfortable. In an attempt to help her break from Kagami’s perfect poised form, I told her all my girlish sentiments about you. I didn’t realize at the moment that her wacky ass smile wasn’t out of the pleasing humor of my silliness, but because it was confirming her growing feelings for you. I thought we were just being girls, giggling about our silly crushes. I didn’t see that she was already piecing together her feelings for you.

But you know what I did? I smiled back. I blushed at your words like a fool. I shivered, reaching for your hand. And we got lovers ice cream, which you willingly took, which we willingly ate, while we just looked at each other's eyes and let them talk for ourselves. Maybe, you saw her, and I was just your test trial. Because you know what’s funny? 

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS? IT MAKES ME GO QUITE INSANE HAHA! 

You stopped talking to me after that day, which keeps me up at night, by the way. You simply stopped, you would simply walk past me, as I extended my fingers to tap you on your shoulder, to chat about last night. We ended that day on the bank of the Seine, it was all quite cliche and sickly sweet, as the sky streaked with pinks that melted into the horizon like the ice cream on our hands. I stared at it, foolishly hoping it was a sign of something—of us.

“Today was amazing, Marinnette. I have to leave now, my father has been calling me, I’m sure my father is extremely angry right now. I wish we could do this again. See you tomorrow,” you stood up and said all of a sudden. It seemed strange to me, the sudden blunt end tooo….. whatever we had that day, but you know ignorant, mindless, foolish, love ridden girls, they don’t realize anything until it is too late! yay. 

So, Adrien Agreste, imagine how I felt when you would ignore me? I couldn’t tell Alya about all of this because I promised myself I would keep all of this to myself, my safe little secret of a foolish, beautiful bluebell haired girl. 

Then you went on and dated my mirror image. The same hair, eyes, but just ten times more perfect. She has straight A’s, is in various clubs, is rich, is of your social stature, and is pretty. She could model right next to you. Your father approves of this I know. And I know how much you secretly crave for your father’s validation underneath all your rebellion. You told me this on one of our escapades. Did I just pave the road for her? I am never enough, I fear. I don’t think I would've fit the shoes besides yours anyways. 

Did you know, Adrien? Did you know I was drowning that day? While you laughed, while we ran, while I fell so hopelessly for someone who’d already fallen for her.

So, Adrien, maybe you’ll keep chasing mirror images. But someday, someone will see me—not her reflection. And maybe by then, I won’t care if it’s you.

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Yay! Please give me criticism if you would like! I am no way a serious writer, I just have been having a really punching sense of writing and I want people to read and think about it :)) Should I write more things? I definitely want to revise maybe when I am free (upcoming Thanksgiving break might give me a chance too) and make it a bit longer. Now I understand why so many good writers go on hiatus or never finish their works. This piece, although short and amateur, really took a lot of time and brain power lol.

Does anyone have any suggestions/ideas for me to write? Does anyone have super duper good fanfics to read, thanks in advance

Also, this work and if I write any others are based on my real life feelings, except I maximize them 1000x because I am dramatic like that lol. Thanks for reading, love you all!!!!! <3

P.S. I was listening to both of Olivia Rodrigo’s albums while writing this, just wanted to say that lol. Ugh, I am feeling the song Lacy so badddd right nowwwww. Ok FR bye now, hope to hear from yall!!! I LOVE IT when people communicate, ok BYE!!

[colorful-horses]

How is Miraculous compared to High Guardian Spice?

I know I always lump them together when I'm talking about "poorly written shows that I unironically love," but in reality, they aren't really comparable.

High Guardian Spice is interesting to me because it has literally nothing going for it. No plot hooks, no unique concepts, generic characters, etc. I like it because it's like........ you'd think they would've stumbled across SOMETHING interesting at SOME POINT, even on accident, but they just never do. If you wanted to restructure HGS, you'd have to add some new ingredient to make it work.

Miraculous Ladybug is interesting to me because it has so many interesting plot hooks and unique concepts at all times and just absolutely refuses to elaborate on ANY OF THEM. Or, when it does get into them, it is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS reversed by the end of the episode. It's a wash, rinse, repeat kind of show. Their aversion to the general idea of Actions Having Consequences is just so funny to me, I've never seen a show try to stick so hard to the status quo while simultaneously trying to act like it Isn't doing that. Events rarely have any meaningful impact on the characters, and when they ARE impacted, it just becomes their entire personality (S5 Adrien literally only ever thinks about Marinette. She is his every waking thought. Its exausting.).

It's just strange to see all of these horrible things happen to these characters (Adrien), and the show will treat these horrible things with the huge magnitude they deserve (Cat Blanc), but they're always forgotten by the next episode. It turns what should've been a Major Character Turning Point into ......... nothing. Sometimes they TRY to follow up on major events, but they never have anything new or meaningful to say about them, so it just feels like the show is saying "yeah we remember that too. moving on".

My hot take is that I kind of love that ML does this, lol. I really enjoy The Episodic Drama of early ML; it's strange, ridiculous, and didn't take itself too seriously, and I'm honestly so here for it.

Tl;dr, High Guardian Spice is a glass of water that acts like its a full 3 course meal, and Miraculous Ladybug is a buffet of extremely unique ideas that all have absolutely 0 seasoning or flavor. Pick ur poison