#i need more ladynoir banter

[iveoy]

they make me SICK

[heartfulselkie]

WIP Game

Thanks @coffeebanana and @rosie-b for the tag, and thank you @kasienda for coming up with this new game!

List the titles your top five priorities for WIP updates (link your fics for new readers!)

An upcoming scene, event, or detail in each fic that you're looking forward to writing

Bonus: make a poll for your followers to vote on which top 5 WIP they are most excited to see an update on!

Then tag 10 writer friends!

WIP TITLES

So I'm kind of cheating a bit with my choices here I guess since I have a lot of ideas but not so many actual active WiPs. So some of these aren't actually stuff that has been posted (or not posted in fic form) but they're all what my rodent brain is rotating right now.

Bell the Cat - Ladyblanc Knight AU. Enemies to Reluctant Allies to Lovers. Plenty of angst and trauma to be had in this one!

2. Sad Machine - Not currently available. I'm attempting aiming to have the fic more or less completed before I start posting. Futurist/Cyberpunk-type AU. No Miraculous but there's a dash of vigilantism and mysterious happenings to solve. And some questionable ethics (thanks Gabe).

3. Porceline Girl - Emonette and Badrien (post Paris Special) Oneshot that I'm hoping to finish soon. They're just angsty teens trying to figure out what is love how to be around each other.

4. Kaleidoscope - (not currently a posted fic so link leads to my tumblr tag) Kwami Swap AU with a dose of amnesia! Love Square is a mess in this with a Reunioned Ghostbug trying to solve all the problems. Adrien needs a coffee and a nap. Tikki needs a drink.

5. Citrus and Lavender - Enemies to Lovers AU with Chat Noir being deceived into being on Hawk Moth's side from the very beginning. The kids need therapy and Gabriel needs jail.

UPCOMING

There's is so much I'm looking forward to with Bell the Cat, but with the upcoming chapters I'm excited about introducing some more characters into this world! And of course all the Ladyblanc banter to be had!

2. This is my little pet project at the moment that I am slow roasting in the microwave. There are so many things that I am foaming at the mouth for that I want to just spit the fic out onto ao3 already but I'm trying to go slow with this one.

3. I'm just excited to feed myself more Toxigriffe, even if its in Adrinette form. I have so many ideas for these two but this oneshot is the closest to being finished. I'm excited to have it done (soon! hopefully!)!

4. Another one that's been slow roasting for a bit. I'll admit I'm still undecided with how I want to post this - do I go full fanfic on ao3 with it? Or a webcomic-style on tumblr? Perhaps a hybrid of both? I normally go with writing for longer stories, but this AU really got its interest and following through my random comics of it. It's exciting to think about my options as I could really challenge myself with it (even if opting for a more webcomic style is terrifying in its own way).

5. We're finally reaching the point in the story where Ladynoir are trying to transition from stalwart enemies to shy and unsure partners. All sides of the love square are standing on bambi legs right now as things are very new and scary - but at least they'll slowly learn they have each other to lean on!

I think most of my usual victims have been tagged already - so consider this an open invitation to anyone who wants to do it! I'm tagging you! Yes, you!

[theerurishipper]

I'm still so disappointed how season 4 handled Ladynoir and just settled it on "Ladybug owes Chat nothing and can't be asked to uphold basic respect when it doesn't benefit her or she just doesn't want to"

Like Wishmaker. There was no reason for the show to "settle" the problem of how badly Adrien's home life affects him in this particular akuma and makes him extra vulnerable by going "Chat has to learn that his life doesn't matter in akumas". The akuma very obviously hit home for him and he was also open to her about how much him not remembering any childhood dream bothers him but all the show episode did was having Ladybug go "I bet you just forgot, it doesn't matter because I said so <3 now go and stay all alone in hand-to-hand combat with the akuma since I decided that u have no problems in your life <3"

The entire season the excuse is either "Ladybug is the leader not his nanny" or "he's not telling her it's bothering him!" but here we had an episode where all Marinette had to do was for once listen to what he's saying and not just tell Chat Noir his problem doesn't exist and he has to just stop behaving like there is one because she doesn't like the thought of Chat having a life at all apparently.

I see no purpose in sugarcoating it. That was shit leadership once again only concerned about what she wants and then abandoning Chat on the battle field, after just telling him his problem doesn't exist and for her the topic is over. It's so frustrating that the show never ever went back to fixing that. It's just settled as her being flawless because she smiled and him being awful and having to learn the lesson to never ever bother Ladybug again with his life.

Those are just awful messages for leadership and partnership. Marinette doesn't need to know that Chat has an abusive home life to just listen for once in this damn partnership. He was more than open about how much it was bothering him, she was just written to disregard him anyway bc "she doesn't know"

Well, she certainly never tried listening either or acting like Chat exists at all as a civilian person the moment it requires effort or adjustments not being made for HER comfort.

How hard it is to not have Ladybug disregard everything about Chat Noir all the time and not have the show then claim it's GOOD FEMINIST leadership and can't be criticized bc girl?

You're so right anon. Honestly, I didn't actually mind Wishmaker on its own all too much. You know, it's understandable that Ladybug wouldn't be able to pick up on the fact that Chat Noir is being really vulnerable right now, and she's just trying to tease him/banter with him. For that reason, I didn't think too much of that scene before. I was very slightly uneasy about the way she just did not listen to him and take his concerns seriously, but I really did think it was unfair to blame her for not being able to pick up on his insecurities and to blame her for not being able to immediately offer him support. And I still do think that, but only to a little extent. Way, way less than when I first watched the episode.

Because I watched her unintentionally make light of Adrien's struggle in hopes that the show would, at some point in the future, have her actually understand and support him in a meaningful way. I felt like judging her based on this one scene where it's quite understandable that she wasn't able to support him the way he needs wasn't reasonable. But after the bullshit of the Season 5 finale, I've since become a lot less charitable to that scene. Because that scene doesn't seem like it was meant to show us that Ladybug didn't understand Chat Noir and that she would soon like I had originally assumed. That's literally just their whole dynamic now. Episodes like Kuro Neko which had Adrien learn not to inconvenience Ladybug with his emotions retroactively make that scene in Wishmaker seem bad. Because it pretty much confirms that all Adrien can ever expect in terms of emotional support from Ladybug is a few quips about him overreacting and another round of her not truly trying to listen to him, i.e., what happened in Wishmaker.

And I get that Adrien isn't open about his struggles. I do get that it is unfair to expect Marinette to instantly know exactly what he's going through if he doesn't vocalize it. But the fact remains that a part of the reason he isn't communicating with her is because she really has become more unapproachable. She's flipping out, she's having others outside of their duo learn things he doesn't get to know... doesn't paint a picture of someone who he might want to share his struggles with.

And honestly, she doesn't consider him much at all, not if it inconveniences her. All these elaborate plans to protect herself from Shadow Moth, and not a thought spared to Chat Noir. A whole plan to trick him into revealing his identity, not a thought spared to Chat Noir. All the secrets and lies, not a thought spared to Chat Noir. I get it, she's stressed and tired and traumatized, and I sympathize, but it's still poor leadership. Like, the entire end to the Ladynoir conflict of Season 4 happened by Adrien learning that he shouldn't bother her by asking for help and that he's not allowed to do so.

Honestly, he does so much emotional labor for her, and she barely returns the favor. If he has an issue, it's an inconvenience for her. It's so unequal at this point, and Season 5 only made it worse. Whenever Adrien needs something in the way of emotional support from Marinette, she is never made to give it to him. For a damning example, we spend Destruction, the episode where Adrien is so horrified about Cataclysming Monarch dealing with how awful Marinette feels about that having happened. She is never available to support him the way he does for her. He's just left to deal with his issues on his own, and if something goes wrong, then fuck him I guess, because Ladybug doesn't deserve to be inconvenienced by considering the safety and well-being of her supposed partner.

I'm sorry if this seems too harsh. I'm sorry if this seems like I'm being too nitpicky or too critical. At some point, I probably would have said this was too harsh too. But damn it, they really just went ahead and said that Adrien doesn't matter, and I have a lot of thoughts on that, none of which are good.

Thank you for your ask!

[howtotrainyouragents]

Agent H's Movie Reactions

Ladybug and Cat Noir the Movie

A reimagining of how Ladybug and Chat Noir, and their secret identities Marinette and Adrien, met, fell in love, and saved the world

-I was trying so hard to make this a non-comparison reaction and judge it on it's own basis, but there's just too little in the actual movie and too much to actually say so here we go lol

-Truly I think the weakest part of this movie is just the script. The dialogue is so generic, it's almost soulless. It has to directly say what the characters feel at all times and has to give the most basic children's movie messages as the answer. For ex, that scene where she meets Tikki, and Tikki just speedruns the explanations is so bad bc like, the reveal of the power is an important part of any superhero story, and them speedrunning it is like "lol, we don't care, you know the deal, let's just move past it" which is bad for immersing yourself in the story

-Marinette is so generic here, it was annoying to me. And she keeps talking about her dreams and fears but what are your dreams and fears?? All she is just timid and awkward here (which makes sense why people are goo gah over this version)

-Personally, I don't like the idea that your old self is bad and you have to get rid of it but that's just me

-Marinette wears a tank top underneath the jacket??? she’s just like me fr

-That poll going around that was like, What was the message of the movie? I thought that was a joke and there was obviously a correct answer. But oh no. They genuinely just changed the message of the movie like every twenty minutes

-What was the point of making the Ladybug and Cat rivals if Ladynoir immediately solve working together like the second time they meet. And what does the "stronger together" mean, like was it making their superpowers literally stronger or was it just teamwork is better?

-Everyone just felt mean to each other? Like Adrienette/Ladynoir, but also like Marinette wouldn't be so mean to her dad? And Alya teasing her about being friendless? And Chat Noir could be seen as joking around but they don't give that impression enough, so he comes off as kind of just a jerk.

-Chat Noir is adorable until he speaks. I love that little arms-flailing run from the gargoyle in the church

-Also I need that dialogue scene of "I have nine lives, razor-sharp sense, etc." to be like a meme picture set please

-HE HAS LITTLE GLITTER ON HIS MASK :(((

-Yeah, I have no idea why Marinette likes Adrien other than he's hot when they first meet. (And I have no idea what his deal is. Why was he sitting lonely in the library? How does he know Chloe? How does he know Nino and no one else? No explanations!!)

I have no idea why Chat Noir likes Ladybug other than she saved his life. Like, okay, and? This movie seems to think that the only good acts is saving someone from danger, and all the million good tiny acts that the characters do in the show that fundamentally are a part of who they are isn't important

-Some of the Ladynoir banter was a little more banter-is-cool-right-right? than characters-actually-talking-and-bantering

-That being said, I AM NOT IMMUNE TO LADYNOIR

-The animation is gorgeous HOLY FUCK. I could watch these scenes all day. And I don't really mind, with some exceptions (ALYA. MARINETTE'S DAD), the character designs

-I did scream at seeing Luka. But upon a closer look, wtf did they do to him

-I liked Chloe's design in the promos, but I don't actually like it that much here, her hair is too stringy

-*Me cradling show!Plagg and whispering* "Who did this to you? Who hurt you like this? I will kill them all for you." (No, but seriously, No Plagg's galaxy design? The fart jokes? The not-caring-about Adrien?)

-I can't believe they've made me say this, but I think I prefer Hawkmoth's show design? His face is a little too expressive here (esp when Gabriel's really isn't), and it weirds me out

-I do think it's cute to have all the classmates and side character cameos

-There was some shots that just felt confusing, like I'm not sure where they wanted my focus to be

-Some of the back and forth scenes could've been edited a little sharper

-Hahaha, I like that they unnecessarily amped up the yoyo design

-If they were really doing such big-budget animation, they should've gone for it and given the characters new outfits and all each day. I'd pay for it

-I was THIS close to just skipping all the songs. And honestly I should've, they (except maybe the Ladynoir falling in love song?) didn't add anything to the story.

-I always love Lou singing for Marinette, but the contrast between Cristina's speaking and Lou's singing is SO BAD WHO APPROVED THIS

-Girl, you can't have a self-realization song in the middle of a fair on fire

-This movie owes me money for making me watch Gabriel sing. It was a fun song, but you owe me reparations

-"A she-ro!" Boooo! Negative points for trying too hard! Haha, Also Ladybug literally wasn't doing anything atm when Alya said that

-Nino having a crush on Alya is so cute

-Adrien sad boi hours

-“Evil Miraculous” Nooroo doesn’t deserve this slander :(

-Master Fu was, uh, a lot

-Also, they keep harping on, You have to save the world!! (Oh my goodness why was Tikki so serious) Which like makes me appreciate how the show smartly keeps it's stakes reasonable and contained to Paris bc that's such an easy pitfall for superhero genres to fall into

-Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t even save the day??

-Sheesh, and you guys were mad thinking season 5 finale gave Gabriel a redemption (which it didn't)??

-YES YOU ARE RIGHT ADRIEN WOULD CRY LEARNING MARINETTE IS LADYBUG

-WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE THIS ENTIRE FUCKING FANFIC MOVIE AND THEY DON'T EVEN KISS

-Look, Adrien deserves to tell his dad off, but this Adrien doesn't because it doesn't feel built up or paid off at all

-Dude. The reveal of Emilie doesn’t mean anything in this version of the story

-People who love the show will hate the movie and people who hate the show will love the movie

[purrincess-chat]

I think ml fandom has the wrong idea of ladynoir. Their bond is not only about the flirting and the banter, it's also about unconditional trust and care for each other. So when they say ladynoir is dead, I think they are mourning the lighthearted side of their relationship, forgetting it's way more complex than just Chat Noir flirting with Ladybug. And that side of ladynoir they tend to overlook isn't gone. It's still there.

You are 100% correct, nonny. People are just butthurt that Chat will no longer be making passes at her every 30 seconds of a battle, and they refuse to accept that the love square evolved in s5. Development happened all around, and things have finally changed. It's called growth. At their core, LN are still partners who trust each other, despite Adrien's absence in the finale, which was entirely to prevent him from finding out Gabriel's secret and less about him not mattering as part of the hero team. The writers just really don't want him to know likely bc they don't want to deal with the fallout but thats neither here nor there.

I for one am actually looking forward to the new love square dynamics the most in the coming seasons. It's everything else that has me concerned 🤣 I'm more worried about the threat that the 17 other permanent heroes pose to LN's screentime than canon Adrinette. Bc that was a big plot point in s4 that all of the extra heroes got in the way of LN. Lilamoth is whatever. Gabe's new world of madness is a little concerning, but I can already predict there are going to be too many fucking heroes around. It's Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir, not Tales of Ladybug, Chat Noir, Rena Rouge, Carapace, Pegase, Argos... Them being temporary for a mission or two every now and then was one thing, but I am not fond of the prospect that everyone is a hero now. Idk maybe it won't be as bad as s4, but I have low hopes. I just know it's going to eat LN's screentime during battles bc it already did.

But anyway. Yes. You are right. The core of pretty much all of the sides is still there (LN are still partners, MC can still have wacky hijinks, Ladrien can still have thirsty overprotective bug bc that is her man). Adrinette obviously had the biggest glow up, but I think now that s5 is over they may scale them back since now they are an established couple. They got a lot in s5 bc they needed to establish the relationship, but now they've done that so. Idk. We will see.

[monpetitchattriste]

People probably know this about me but

I LOVE LADYNOIR. TO AN UNHEALTHY LEVEL

I just Ugh! Them! I love them so much. They make me feel so many emotions and I just die everytime think about them

Their playful banter and just everything about them

When ladybug gets annoyed with Chat is the cutest thing think ever.

I need more ladynoir in my life

[ouatpancakes]

Here’s my personal opinions on the Miraculous movie:

So first of all I very much enjoyed the movie. I definitely like the show better and I have a lot of things to complain about the movie, but overall I think it did well for what it was trying to be.

Things I Liked:

Marinette/Ladybug’s design. I think she looked really pretty, and the texture/shine on her suit was amazing

General animation, everything looked really smooth and aesthetically pleasing

The songs, specifically You Are Ladybug and Courage In Me. I really wish they had let Cristina Vee sing, the voice change threw me off, but the songs still sounded great and worked really well with Marinette’s character.

Ladynoir dynamic and hangouts. I loved the banter, the play fighting, the watermelon comments. I like how Chat told her his mother died, I wish we had more genuine moments of friendship/connection like that in the show

The open ending with Natalie and Emilie. I’m very intrigued by where this is going. Emilie is wearing the peacock miraculous, so is this version going into the sentimonster Adrien angle too? Did Gabriel lie about what killed Emilie? Is Natalie going to become a villain and continue to try to bring Emilie back?

It’s also interesting that the story is going to continue after the reveal. I’m excited to see the dynamic of the next movie(s) when they know each other’s identities. I wonder if a reveal to Alya and Nino is in the cards?

Things I Didn’t Like:

My biggest gripe is how they changed the entire way the powers work. I really like the constant battle format of the show. I thought it was confusing how the akumas worked in the movie, going into the person themself and being defeated?? Through violence?? And I really missed the lucky charms and cataclysms.

On a similar note, the lack of the miraculous cure until the very end was weird. They caused a lot of serious damage to really important buildings, and if you’re not going to have it be fixed you need to at least acknowledge the damage in the narrative.

The kwamis. I found them to be annoying, especially Plagg. Neither of them really felt like they had any sort of bond with their chosen the way they do in the show.

Adrien/Chat Noir’s design. I think he looks too baby-faced, and his hair just looks,, off to me? And the fabric of his suit and mask looked really flat. The little sparkles on his mask just looked out of place without any texture behind it.

The reveal. It felt very anticlimactic, especially compared to the reveals I’ve seen in the show and in fanfics. The best part of the reveal to me is the reaction, and didn’t feel like we got any reaction from either of them.

Chloe and Adrien’s relationship? Not a huge deal, but it was weird how Chloe kept talking about him yet we literally did not see them interact even once. Are they childhood friends in this version? Is Chloe just obsessed from a distance? What’s up here.

Things I’m On The Fence About:

Adrien’s personality. It wasn’t necessarily bad, it was just different, which I found off putting. Maybe I’ll get more used to it if I rewatch the movie.

Adrien’s home life. Again, just different. Personally I find the controlling/neglectful/abusive father narrative more interesting than what they did here. Adrien not being able to leave his house whenever he wants adds an important layer to his chat regarding the freedom Chat Noir grants him, and I just felt like that entire dimension of his character was missing from the movie.

[miraculousstories]

Miraculous Ships

Alright so I wrote this at 2AM enjoy!!!

——————

What people Think the miraculous ships are:

Ladynoir: cute, flirty romance

Marichat: sin sin sin sin sin

Ladrien: one-time special

Adrienette: awkward fluff

What they really are.

Ladynoir: 

In this, Adrien fell in love with Ladybug because he saw her bravery, her courage. He saw her defeated, but when the real danger showed up, she stood up without thinking twice and fought. But Ladynoir is here to show Adrien that Ladybug isn’t the only one who can do that- Marinette does too.

And for Marinette, she didn’t love Chat Noir because she didn’t think he really loved her. All she heard was the playful banter and jokes that she had always heard. But as we see them more, she starts to notice the real Chat, the sincerity, the love behind the flirts.

Ladynoir is there so they can learn to see both sides of one another.

Marichat:

In this one, everyone sees the sin. Like, “this is wrong…” “but it’s sooo right.” But what’s its really about is the progression of Ladynoir.

We see the torment of Adrien, torn between Ladybug and Marinette. The truth is, Marichat is made to show him that, sometimes, you need to let go of someone when you realize they can’t love you. You need to go back, back to the person who’s been there for you the whole time. Adrien went back to Marinette.

And for Marinette, she had been protesting in Ladynoir that she couldn’t be in love with Chat. They didn’t know each other, not really, and they couldn’t be in love. Marichat helped Marinette realize that she needed to let go of all the rules and live a little- that she didn’t have to be so tunnel-visioned that she missed an opportunity.

Marichat helped them learn to let go.

Ladrien:

In Ladrien, both of them were in love with the other, something we didn’t get from the other ships, at least not right away. But in this, they both held back- they had too- or they might reveal something about themselves they never wanted to.

For Adrien, he might have acted like Chat. He might have ruined whatever he had with Ladybug as Adrien. So he waited.

For Marinette, she was too afraid to tell Adrien as herself. But with Ladybug, she would have had the courage. But she didn’t. She held back and she waited.

Which is why Ladrien didn’t really go anywhere.

Ladrien taught them patience.

Adrienette:

In this… we’ve seen everything about them.

We’ve seen them laugh, we’ve seen them cry, we see them heartbroken and lovesick, and we see them happy.

But more than that, we see them using everything they’ve learned from the other ships. We see them appreciate everything about one another- both flaws and perfections. We see them let go of their past (Kim & ladybug) and embrace each other. We see them have patience with each other, when Marinette stumbles or can’t move forward, and when Adrien is trapped in his box of a home.

In Adrienette, we see their characters develop and grow into something no one ever thought they could be.

But here’s what no one ever sees.

They could never be completely honest.

Marinette was so afraid of rejection and spite that she never told Adrien she loved him. She was too afraid to see, to let go, or to have patience.

Adrien was too afraid of letting go of his feelings for Ladybug that he couldn’t see what was right in front of him- his love for Marinette, which grew so large in the end it was larger than his love for Ladybug.

Adrienette is about letting go of the past and being honest with them, because you don’t know how the story ends. Because you don’t know if you’ll get your happily-ever-after. 

This is what Miraculous has taught us. Let go, and embrace the present. Embrace who you love, and let go of those you’ve lost. Remember them, but don’t cling so hard you lose sight of everything else. Make your own happily-ever-after. Make your Adrienette.

[gilbertscarrot]

I just finished watching the mlb movie, and I loved the animation and the Ladynoir fight scene! Those aspects stood out to me the most, and I just let myself enjoy the banter and pretty visuals. It was a solid film. Of course, pacing is an issue, but it's a clear result of the shorter runtime in comparison to the show. My main critique relates to how they wrote Adrien's character, especially in regards to his interactions with Marinette, so here's my take (plus other side notes).

Personally, him saying Marinette is weird is out of character, full stop. Even if he said it in a light-hearted tone, it wouldn't feel right for his character, because he would have found Marinette endearing, regardless of his emotions. That being said, I like how he processes/blocks out everything with music, as it adds another layer of depth to his character.

I would have loved to see Adrien take a liking to Marinette's awkwardness (help her put all of those books back!), and then disappear while reflecting on their interaction with a smile. Then he could be shown distancing himself once more after a nice interaction with Nino. That way, it would demonstrate Adrien's kindness and his desire to be social, but also the facade he feels he needs to put up while coping with his family life, which mirrors Marinette's desire to not mess up in front of others.

What truly irked me was Chat Noir's attitude towards Ladybug's clumsiness when they first meet, and this is why I couldn't fully accept the Adrienette portion of the love square: Ladybug's intial clumsiness is essentially Marinette's lack of confidence, and Chat Noir only took a liking to Ladybug after he believed she was "capable" and supposedly doing the hero thing for years. It's fine that he falls in love with Ladybug and not Marinette because of Ladybug's bravery, but by being unkind to Ladybug when she's still adjusting, his aversion to Marinette's clumsiness becomes apparent. If he makes jabs at Ladybug at the beginning, then is that what he thinks of Marinette's clumsiness? Maybe, as these opinions would line up ("She's so weird").

Alternatively, I might've felt better about Adrienette in this film if there were additional scenes between them and Adrien became more fond of her, even as just a friend. So, when Marinette revealed herself at the end, it felt off. There were no substantial scenes which exhibited Adrien's bond with Marinette other than a brief montage. The reason the show works is because Adrien likes Marinette at the very least / is oblivious to his feelings. Movie Adrien doesn't seem to like her much, essentially. He rejects her and...that's it until they see each other at the end? What about his relationship to Marinette moves him to tears when he connects her to Ladybug? Not much, from what we're given.

As for Marinette's impression of Adrien, she could've been curious about him first, then fall for him once she realizes he's not making fun of her for tipping over the library cart, since it's all she's ever known. This would give Marinette a solid reason to like him as opposed to love at first sight, though arguably maybe she fell for him because he started helping her? It was still a beautiful scene, however. It was giving "soulmates in every universe."

My last criticism is of Marinette's character arc. Her turning point — that is, making the decision to step into the shoes of Ladybug once and for all — could have been motivated by a more dire, personal consequence, such as saving Alya or her parents, specifically.

All in all, I enjoyed the film! It was super fun, and it was closer in tone to the original concept art, which I adore. Again, the animation was stunning and was probably my favourite part. Plus, I love the nuances they added to Marinette's character. I'll be thinking about it for the next few days, for sure. Sorry this was such an incoherent mess, but I'd love to hear any other opinions as well.

[ao3feed-ladynoir]

Love & Crime | Ladynoir

love & crime | ladynoir by wonhere

when hawk moth strikes, officer cat noir knew he'd need help, and who's better than the damn girl who wore a red suit with some black spots on... but what's worse is... she's the same thief he's been trying to catch for years

Words: 4629, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Additional Tags: Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, officer!catnoir, thief!Ladybug, Enemies to Lovers, more like enemies to partners to friends to lovers, Turtle Nino Lahiffe | Carapace, Fox Alya Césaire | Rena Rouge, she had a crush on cat noir but she won't admit it, Secrets, i wanted smut but they're minors so, I hate tagging, I Wrote This While Listening to Lady Gaga's Music, Bad Flirting, Adrinette | Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, hawkdaddy got no chill bruh, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Ships Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Needs a Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, adrien has a bet cactus, the cactus uses she/her pronouns and her name is catcus, Friends to Lovers, adrinette are friends to lovers, ladynoir are enemies to lovers, Bantering, Lots of it, adrien is rich, he pays her six million a day, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir-centric, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug-centric, I can't tag guys, okay no more cuz no spoilers

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46833316

[pisoprano]

Author’s commentary

This is unpolished and all over the place, but since this page is special to me, I wanted to make sure I actually wrote commentary this time before I rushed back into making the next comic.

In the Ladynoir section, I decided I wanted to have echoes of the very first page of the comic, where this time it’s Chat Noir waiting for Ladybug on a rooftop and she’s the face that you can’t see until they hug each other. (Also, “PLOP”)

If you’re looking, you might have seen that Rena is hiding behind the wall on Marinette’s balcony. She’s doing what she promised on the previous page and keeping an eye on things and has made an illusion to any outside observers that Ladybug and Chat Noir departed through a portal to somewhere far away. It’s obviously not necessary, but she takes her job very seriously.

The hug. I wanted to make this reunion extra special, so I brought back the highlights and shadows that I abandoned back on page 3 (I wanted to have fewer steps in my workflow). To my surprise, I realized that now that I was much more familiar with the functions of my art program, I had a much easier time and could make it look much nicer than it used to (that doesn’t mean I plan on using lighting going forward, it’s just nice to know I have the techniques in my toolbox if I need them). I dedicated a large space for the hug, but it still seemed like it needed something else to give it more oomph, so I decided to include more hug poses (some of which were reworked from my early sketches), so Chat could lift Ladybug up and spin her around and you could get a clearer look at their expressions. I played around with the background images being just two colors (one for Chat and one for Ladybug), but it looked weird so I let them have extra colors for hair and skin, but didn’t worry about any other suit details otherwise.

One of the biggest obstacles in this page was Chat’s hair. Like, over the course of the comic up until now, I could count all the panels I’ve drawn Chat Noir on my fingers (he’s only been in flashbacks and imagine spots, after all). In most of those cases, I drew him head-on, and if I do draw him in profile, his hair is tends to be partially obscured and/or heavily simplified. Now, though, I have to actually learn how to draw his hair from multiple angles. I still think I don’t entirely have a good grasp on how his hair is supposed to look, but at least it’s a step up from what it used to be.

All but two of the images on Nathalie’s tablet are pictures I’ve drawn before, with a bit of modification to remove Adrien from them (hooray for copy/paste!). Also, I debated on whether the picture of Adrien and Emilie would be one that Gabriel had on his computer, and had to rule that since Adrien has it on prominent display in high resolution in his room, it seemed very likely that it was professionally produced and that Gabe has a copy. Adrien’s probably going to regret losing that picture most of all, once he realizes.

Gabriel dancing around wasn’t something I had ever planned to happen in this comic, but when I remembered the scene in The Kwami’s Choice where he does just that, I decided it was in character for him to be a little extra when he believes he’s about to get the thing (in this case, Adrien) he wants and so used that scene as a reference.

“I’ve missed me too” is one of those lines that has been floating around my head for a long time—it’s not quite honest enough for him to say he missed Ladybug (since he sees her just as often as always), it’s more that he misses Ladybug AND Chat Noir and what those two identities were when they were together. That it comes off as a joke just means there gets to be a little Ladynoir banter too.

Early drafts of this scene was going to involve multiple questions to prove identities (and even Chat threw a question at Ladybug), but ultimately, I decided that only one question mattered: the one that ends with Ladybug telling him she *never* wanted Chat Noir to go.

Part 30. The Return

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Description below the cut

Nathalie scrolls through photos on her tablet.  The pictures of Adrien have all been replaced by a white void.

Nathalie (internally): Aside from a few unprofessional photos, it seems Adrien has been wiped from the record.

Nathalie looks off to the side, frowning in anticipation.

Nathalie (internally): Gabriel won't be pleased.  Any moment, he's going to burst through that door and—

Gabriel bursts open the doors to Nathalie’s room.

Nathalie (internally): Nathalie!

Nathalie (aloud): *sigh* Yes, sir?

Gabriel: I need you to arrange an immediate flight!

Gabriel prances about in dancing delight.

Nathalie: A... flight?

Gabriel: My akuma found Adrien!  And then she immediately lost him, but I have my son's last known location now!  And!  We went near that area when we were all travelling the world!  It'll just be one quick trip to grab him, and he'll be back where he belongs!

Nathalie revolves what she knows around her head before coming to a decision.

Nathalie (internally): So, Adrien is retracing our footsteps?  He knows something about Emile, so is he just looking for answers?  Or is he seeking something we missed that could help her?  Regardless...

Nathalie (aloud): I'm coming with you.

Gabriel waves his hand indignantly.

Gabriel: Absolutely not!  You aren't fit for the expeditions we used to go on anymore!  You can't jeopardize your health traipsing up mountains!

Nathalie looks at him with steely resolve.

Nathalie: It's Adrien.  I'm coming, Gabriel.  You're going to have me there at your back whether you like it or not.

Gabriel adjusts his jacket in defeat.

Gabriel: Fine.  I won't waste any more time arguing with you.  You may come.

Nathalie: Very good, sir.  I'll make the call.

Gabriel looks down at Nathalie appreciatively.

Gabriel: Your loyalty is truly admirable, Nathalie.

Nathalie: ...  I do what I must.

Cut to the rooftop where Chat Noir once prepared a candlelit surprise for Ladybug.  A “Find Adrien” billboard is on display there (the spot where Adrien was once depicted replaced with white void), with all the lights that would illuminate it broken except for the one on the end.  At the dark end of the billboard, Chat Noir sits on the ground, waiting.

A close-up of Ladybug’s feet ‘plop’-ing to the ground.  Chat Noir turns his head to look behind him in excitement.

Chat Noir: M'lady!

Ladybug holds up a warding hand and holds tight to her yo-yo, making Chat stop his attempt to greet her in its tracks.

Ladybug: Stay back.

Chat Noir: M'lady?

Ladybug grips her yo-yo in her hands.

Ladybug: I need to know that you're not some sort of trick.  I need to know you're you.

Chat Noir looks at Ladybug with a need to fulfill her every request.  Ladybug’s head is shown from behind as the free parts of her hair blow in the wind.

Chat Noir: What do you need me to do?

Ladybug: I need you to remember.

Ladybug, eyes still obscured by blowing hair, holds up yo-yo defensively.

Ladybug: What conditions did you give the Celestial Guardian for relinquishing your miraculous?

Chat Noir: Hmm.  I don't remember giving him my conditions.

Ladybug: That's your answer?

Chat Noir holds out his hand invitingly.

Chat Noir: Well, I don't count telling Su-Han to 'come and get it'.  You're the one I gave my conditions to: That if I have to give up my miraculous, I will.  But only if you ask me to.

Ladybug rushes Chat Noir with a hug, throwing his arms around his neck, as he embraces her with a smile.  Images of them together are shown in the background: Ladybug smiling as she hugs Chat and he nestles his face in her hair; Chat holding Ladybug up in the air in front of him as she holds his face in her hands; Chat Noir swinging Ladybug in a circle as she grabs onto him and lets her legs fly outwards around them, Chat smiling as he holds Ladybug close.

Ladybug: That's right, Chat.  And I never asked you to.

Chat Noir: You would have.  I know you've given other heroes exceptions before, but me?  You'd never.  I knew it the moment Mayura recognized me: I'd have to go.

Ladybug and Chat cry in each other’s arms.

Ladybug: But I never even got the chance to say goodbye.  You were just gone and I had no idea if I'd ever see you again. I’ve missed you so much, Chat.

Chat Noir: I’ve missed me too.

Ladybug boops Chat’s nose with a teasing glint in her eye.  Chat gives her a playful grin.

Ladybug: Hold on... did you just say you missed you too?

Chat Noir: Hey, I'm very missable!

Ladybug: Ha!  You dork...

Chat Noir: Always your dork, m'lady.

Ladybug take’s Chat Noir’s hand and pulls him towards the railing, pointing behind herself at Marinette’s balcony.

Chat Noir: But shouldn't we be getting out of the open?

Ladybug: I'm already ahead of you: Marinette Dupain-Cheng is spending the night with a friend, so she’s letting us use her room.

Chat Noir pulls his hand out of Ladybug’s.

Chat Noir: Wait.  What are the odds that Marinette is actually Mayura?

Chat Noir looks away in panic, grabbing at his bell with one hand and touching the back of his neck with the other.

Ladybug: What?  None.  She can't be.

Chat Noir: 'Can't' in that you wouldn’t have expected it of her?  Or 'can't' as in you’ve seen Marinette and Mayura in the same room together?  And there wasn't a chance of it all being an illusion or a fake or—?

Ladybug: Kitty!

Ladybug holds Chat Noir’s hand in front of her (interlocking her fingers in his) and looks directly at the viewer with complete reassurance.

Ladybug: I am 100% paws-itive that Marinette is trustworthy.  Yes, she's not allowed to be a temporary hero anymore.  But she's safe.  I never would have entrusted her with saving our kwamis if I wasn’t absolutely sure she was on our side.

Chat Noir collapses into Ladybug’s arms as she looks at him with concern.

Chat Noir: Thanks for reassuring me.  I never wanted to doubt her.  It’s just... hard to go back to trusting people when I know I'm wrong about somebody.

Ladybug touches Chat’s face and shoulder comfortingly.  He holds onto her arm with both hands and looks into her eyes, comforted by her support.

Ladybug: I'm glad you still know that you can always trust me.  You ready now?

Chat Noir holds up the trapdoor to Marinette’s room, following Ladybug down as she holds his hand with both of hers, smiling up at him.

Chat Noir: After you, m'lady...

Below is the same image as above, only without text:

[radishearts]

Confession week: ladynoir july

it's still day 4 but it's part 12: hairstyles

Ao3

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9,  Chapter 10,  Chapter 11,

Ladybug groaned as the evillustrator, or at least this version of him tugged at her hand styling it according to the directions of style queen who was watching every move like a hawk.

This was almost worse than tourture.

He tugged at her locks again.

Never mind it was worse.

She couldn’t help but feel nervous as a troupe of akuma’s from previous battles, fussed over dresses shoes and other accessories.

It was rather confusing.

To see akuma’s working together on such a strange event.

Holy matrimony, if lady wifi and style queen could stop bickering for two seconds about trends maybe she could have enough time to think of an escape plan.

She thought of calling her lucky charm, but it would be too hard to defeat a room of at least 10 akumas of different skill sets, they could easily take her down in a one shot.

She would have to wait...no pray that rena and carapace would be able to find chat and the rest of the heroes to bust her out of this mess.

Aka an arranged marriage between her and viperon.

Akumas had such weird tastes in shipping. ~ Rena and carapace walked hand in hand through the dark forest.

Splotchy patches of light were scattered all over the path, and they found it was easier- no safer to walk together.

After about 20 minutes of consistent walking on the path they heard the crunch of crisp leaves and a sing song voice, chorusing the reprise of a disney piece, which they couldn’t pinpoint.

The muffled voices moved closer, and rena and carapace, couldn’t help but step back in fear.

“When will my reflection show who i am insiiiiiiidddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!”

Roi singe cackled.

“for the love of miraculous, do shut up chanton.”

Rena looked as if she was about to explode as the trio turned down the path towards them, and carapace grabbed her wrist.

“No one flirts with chat noir, but his lady.”

“Rena-”

His sentence was cut off by chat noir running towards them embracing them in  hug.

“Thank the good lord, your alive," he broke it searching over their shoulders "where’s ladybug?”

“We need to hurry, she’s been captured.”

“What?!?”

“Yeah dude, she was taken by style queen.”

“There’s more of them?”

“Yeah, dude, like heaps, we have too save her come on!”

“Yeah, we’re probably too late, she’s probably already married to him.” he sighed

“Dude you seem way to enthusiastic about his.” carapace said sarcastically

“Yeah chat, go save your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend, and she probably likes him anyway.”

“Dude, i wasn’t supposed to tell you this, but like while me and LB were talking she told me how much she enjoyed spending time with you.”

“Yeah, like a friend.”

“No… not just like a friend, more than that.”

Chat and rena perked up.

“And you didn’t tell me about this why?”

“Because rena, it was supposed to be a secret, but the poor guy was so oblivious, I just had to tell him.”

“So,” he choked, “she likes me?”

“That's what I implied.”

“Go for it dude!” rena encouraged, “ don’t let some snake steal her, it’s confession week remember?”

“Right.”

“Go be her prince dude.”

Chat smiled.

“Thanks guys.”

“You think we just gonna let our otp get ruined because you have a lack of self confidence, nuh-uh, dude.”

“By the way, have you told her yet?”

“Yeah, what is your plan.”

“It’s a secret.”

“Can we leave?” the dragoness spoke with a sharp and fiery tone, which chat had to admit made him fear for his life.

“Sure…” - All of the akumas had cleared out of the room allowing her time to so called ‘admire’ her dress.

It was basically an ugly piece of bunched fabric.

“Ladybug!” a yellow striped heroine whispered from behind her.

“Chlo- i mean queen bee, what are you doing here?”

“Me and pegasus have been searching for you around the castle. The real question is why are you here? Did you just let yourself be captured?”

“I told rena and carapace to get help, and yes i let myself be captured.”

“Why you waiting on your prince charming to save you? Your perfectly capable of escaping and you and me could easily could take them down. Strong woman like us can stand on our own two feet.”

“Queen bee, I know this comes from the best in you, but I honestly think it’s better that we wait! Go find everyone else and then you can bust me and viperon out of here.”

“But…”

“I trust you.”

“Yes, ladybug.” - As the 5 heroes continued on the path way back it was made clear that the path, was bricked, and yellow.

Capace, rena, chat and roi singe exchanged glances, with no hesitation they linked arms.

“We’re off to see the wizard! The wonderful wizard of oz!”

The skipped off leaving the dragoness to shake her head in utter disappointment.

- Ladybug sludged as she walked down the aisle, following the enthusiastic footsteps of the puppeteer or at least this version.

If there was ever one day she was going to get married, she really didn’t expect it to be in the presence of akumas and to a guy she didn’t even know that well.

Viperon smiled as soon as he saw her, he leant into her and whispered in her ear.

“Don’t worry will escap-”

The akuma had made her first appearance since she had made them dissaperate and into this crazy fairy tale land.

It’s fairy tale book held open.

Ladybug leaned over to him.

“The akuma is in her book.”

“Gottcha.”

The akuma coughed awkwardly interrupting their conversation.

“No interrupting the ceremony with side chats.”

“No interrupting our side chats with your ceremony.” ladybug retorted, receiving a snicker from several in the audience and viper.

“Silence.”

The two heroes exchange glances of amusement draining out the akumas monologue.

“And now ...ladybug do you take viperon to be your lawfully wedded husband.”

“Wait what?” viperon exclaimed in disbelief

“Your getting married.” - The troupe was stopped by akuma.

weredad.

Who seemed to be searching for someone.

The monster  leaned in suspiciously at the trespassers.

“Trust me guys i got this!” chat murmured clearing his throat.

Well he didn’t, got this, got this, but if he could accomplish defeating a giant, he could surely ask the girl of his dreams, who may or not return his feelings out.  

“Fee, fi, fo,fum, where is jack? so i can take him up to my beanstalk.”

“I have no idea who dis jack is, but we are here for the ball.”

Chat plastered a fake smile on his face and to his surprise the giant let them pass through the gates.

As they made it to the door they found queen bee and pegasus standing in conversation at the doorway, seemingly arguing over something.

“You just let her go?”

“Well i couldn’t just kidnap her? Could i?”

She paused at the sight of them.

“Chat noir, rena rouge, carapace, roi singe and you….”

“Yeah, it’s us, where were you guys?”

“We’ve just been here, annoyed that ladybug insisted that she was going to wait for you to show up.”

“At least we did.”

“Time to crash a wedding.”

“Just another wednesday!”

 @ladynoirjuly2019

[buggachat]

Ngl I'm getting kinda tired of how much people are blaming Ladybug/Marinette for Chat Noirs/Adrians issues. It's like she's expected to be some mind reader. People act like she just completely dumps him but she has expressed her trust in him so much and asked about his well-being.

You can't just fault one character for a heap of miscommunication.

It's kind of messy, because on the one hand, Chat Noir isn't telling Ladybug that he's upset. She'll ask him if he's okay, and he'll say he's fine, and she trusts him. I also think it's important to note that Ladybug has been very kind to Chat Noir in the few interactions they've had this season— apologizing to him in Optigami (because on some level she knew that defeating the akuma without him would upset him, even without him expressing it), telling him he's the best partner she could've asked for in Guiltrip, Marinette validating Chat Noir with a "that's a great idea!" when he told her his plan to help out during Sentibubbler, and as discussed genuinely asking him if he's okay when he seemed a little upset in Rocketear.

But I also think.... on some level, this kindness to him is coming from a place of guilt, too. I mean, none of this stuff is necessarily strange for Ladybug (she's typically always nice to him, unless he's actively being annoying or they're teasing/bantering), but the fact that Marinette is having nightmares about Chat Blanc and emphasizing to Alya "not even Chat Noir can know!" signals to me that Marinette knows she's betraying Chat Noir, and she knows that the moment he finds out, he's going to be very hurt. Because.... there's no other reason to keep Rena Rouge a secret from him other than his feelings.

I think Marinette knows that what she's doing could hurt Chat Noir, she just doesn't realize that it already has. She doesn't realize that empty words of "I trust you" aren't enough when her actions imply otherwise. And she certainly doesn't realize the extent to which it'll hurt him. I think she's aware that Chat Noir can be insecure about his place on the team, but she doesn't know the extent of it or that a lot of those insecurities come from his awful home life. And she doesn't fully realize how much he relies on her and their relationship because of it.

But also, to be clear....... Marinette is so fucking stressed this season, like she has had so much dumped on her with the Guardian stuff and she's only 14! She's traumatized by a vision of the apocalypse, her crying partner in white, and her own corpse turned to ash.... and she has NO IDEA what lead to that event beyond a vague "we were in love and knew each other's identities" (she doesn't know the actual cause was just. child abuse. but that's another story). She's terrified! She doesn't know what she's doing! She can only do so much!

What's so sad about the Ladynoir conflict is that it's basically Ladybug and Chat Noir's traumas tripping over each other. Chat Noir is sensitive and bad at expressing his feelings because he fears abandonment and was raised by a neglectful father. He's so scared of losing her that he's scared telling her such will push her away even more. Ladybug is stressed out and traumatized by Chat Blanc and feels like she needs to carry the burden of everything, and in fearing hurting Chat Noir's feelings, she further pushes him away to "protect" him...... unknowingly hurting him in the process.

Like.... these poor kids.... someone just get them therapy please...........

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Reboot: Miraculous: Heroes of Miracles: The Lovesquare (Season 2)

-So after Fu is introduced, Ladybug and chat noir start getting trained by Fu.

-There are times they spend getting more in sync while not learning eachother’s identities. This allows for their trust in eachother to grow.

-As Civillians, Marinette is getting more ground in her class, she and Adrien are really hitting it off as friends. They have jokes and tease eachother a bit. (It would seem similar to ladynoir)

-Ladybug and Adrien have some moments that has them almost kiss. (And one where they do.)

-Marinette and Chat noir have a balcony scene, and it’s Chat noir asking Marinette for advice, without mentioning who it is.

-Chat noir confesses to Ladybug mid season. It’s a big moment and… she turns him down. Similar to canon, and it’s more heartbreaking because She encouraged Chat noir to confess.

-This causes some strain as Chat noir is trying to pretend that he is fine. Bottling it up like he did when his mother passed away. And it’s impacting his ability to save people. Its causing tension and chat noir refuses to acknowledge it. Simply dismissing and denying.

-Fu tries speaking to Adrien, saying he understands that he is struggling. He can take a break to sort himself out but Adrien assures that he is fine.

-Felix presses Adrien on it after noticing how weird his cousin is acting and… Adrien gets akumatized over an overload of emotion as there was apparently a LOT more emotional repression bursting at the seems. Becoming Emoticon

-Felix becomes Chat Walker… and almost gets murdered by Ladybug because she thinks her kitty was gone. (Not Litterally, but Felix was legit scared)

-Felix had to explain that the Original cat needed a break and gave him the okay for this.

-Through hard work and help from Carapace. They manage to save Adrien. Adrien tells Ladybug and the group he had been bottling up his pain that he thought he could ignore it… but he needs to address it.

-After that Chat noir came back to apologize about leaving a random replacement. Ladybug hugged her kitty. Saying that she never wants him disappearing like that again.

-Chat noir confesses that he was trying to pretend like the rejection didn’t hurt and that just made it worse. He isn’t expecting her to like him back, but asks that it will take some time for him to move on.

-Ladybug tells him that he is special to her, and that she doesn’t know what the future will bring. Maybe he finds a new girl to like and they can have double dates, or maybe the guy she likes doesn’t like her back and she finds herself drawn to a suave cat. Regardless, she wants him to know that she wants him by her side.

- Chat noir smiles and says “That is more than enough.”

-Chat noir isn’t flirty for a few episodes after that. It’s actually Ladybug that brings back the flirty banter.

-Chat noir does get a bit more romantic. Trying a bit more. Though Ladybug does comment that he thought he was moving on.

-“If that other guy doesn’t realize you are amazing, why waste an opportunity to try and change your mind?”

-Ladybug won’t deny she is flattered by the offers, just no date suggestions while fighting akuma or training. And if she does get that guy, he has to stop. Until then, he is free to try as long as he doesn’t get bummed when she says no.. Which Chat noir accepts.

-“It be great for building up a resistance to it.” He jokes

-Meanwhile I should say that Kagami does show up and Marinette is initially under the assumption that Adrien is into her. This is dismissed in an episode when Adrien mentions it’s actually his Cousin who is interested in Kagami, and that he is working as a middle man as they are both awkward. After this is cleared up, Kagami and Marinette become friends.

-Adrien even asks Marinette to be his ‘Date’ in my version of Frozer. Which is to help Nino and Alya get together.

-I should point out that there are no Main love rivals in this. The Adrigami is not a thing. No Lukanette. Sorry, there is no need for it outside or maybe an episode.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Sadly, I agree. I went into this looking for a different take on Origins and that's about it. Instead, I got the highlight reel for an AU without any of the meat that would make it its own thing.

The movie essentially relies on you knowing the show. It doesn't introduce the characters or the relationships or even the lore like you would in a normal movie. It just assumes that you already know all of that stuff. Take away the show and the movie falls apart, but the movie's different enough that you can't rely on the show. It needed to stand on its own two feet and develop this new world. Instead, it wasted time on largely mediocre songs that rarely felt needed.

This is a common issue with musicals that try to tell a complex story. They might have killer songs (ex: Greatest Showman), but when you actually look at the plot, it's nonsense. The best musicals are simple (ex: anything with fairy-tales) because the songs kill your run time.

There are several cute moments, but on the whole, I was not a fan. This would have been greatly improved by cutting most or all of the songs OR by having it be an origin story and saving this movie's ending for the sequel.

Highlights:

Elements of the Ladynoir banter

The Ladynoir song

Plagg & Tikki picking their Chosen

The idea of the ending, even if it wasn't earned here

Chloè being a more normal mean-girl bully without the insane power that she's granted in the show

Chat Noir's solo love song/singing voice

Gabriel being a good parent before the loss of Emilie. That's a personal headcanon that I always have and always will cling to as it makes his character far more interesting.

The power of love actually doing something positive for the good guys

The Ladybug and the Black Cat being treated as pair in terms of powers, even if the execution of that idea was odd

Lowlights:

No miraculous cure until the very end? We saw a lot of damage in those first two fights!

Whatever the heck they did with Plagg, especially when it came to his relationship with Adrien. Who approved the fart jokes? I know those are common in kids media, but they've never been a thing in Miraculous.

Adrienette being wildly underdeveloped

Tom following Marinette around/being a little too pushy, though I did like some of the dorky dad moments.

Chat Noir/Adrien being a bit of a jerk and never getting to show the kindness that defines him when he's being written well. Even the supposed Adrienette crush scene in the library is just basic human decency instead of him actually being kind.

Marinette's clumsiness. This is such a cliched way of giving a heroine a "flaw" without actually giving her a flaw, but at least the show uses it for humor and little else. The movie took it too far, making it feel like she needs medical intervention or something. She's not just mildly clumsy, she can't even walk to school!

Marinette's lack of friends. This is kind of a thing in origins, but it's one of the flaws in that episode, imo. It's common for heroines to have no friends at the start of a magical girl series, but that's because most magical girl series have a "let's make friend/learn about friendship" element. Miraculous doesn't, so there's no reason to give Marinette this issue. This is exacerbated by Adrien's setup, which screams "has no friends and needs to learn about friendship". Why Marinette was also given this issue is beyond me. The no friend thing makes even less sense in the movie because the movie focuses on friendship even less than the show does! You could cut Alya and Nino and lose nothing.

A severe lack of identity shenanigans. This is Ladynoir's movie, not a love square movie. I do love Ladynoir, but a big part of the fun is the identity-related hi-jinks that you get from the other three sides. You could cut the square concept entirely and have this movie play the exact same way.

The butterfly is just the evil miraculous now, which disappoints me as someone who has put a lot of time into lore fixing.

Meh-Lights:

Adrien not being isolated. I really like this setup for him, but the show never explained it, so it's a bit of a mixed bag that leaves you scratching your head and wondering if you're supposed to view the Agreste's as terrible parents. Getting rid of this does remove that issue, but it also massively changes Adrien's character. He's no longer trapped in his home and new to the world. He's just... some guy. Chat Noir is no longer a way for him to be free. Like, is he even a model in this? I don't remember it ever being mentioned.

The Emilie teaser at the end, which was just confusing and made the ending make no sense. Does Gabriel not know about this? Is Nathalie the one who hid Emilie away? I don't think so, but that is kind of how it comes across.

No akuma multiplication when you don't purify them. I've never liked that concept as it makes no sense lore-wise, but getting rid of it and still doing the purification was odd. Especially since there are no longer akumatized objects, which begs the question of how akuma are truly defeated.

Chat Noir uses cataclysm all of once and Ladybug never uses lucky charm. That not a major disappointment, it was just weird. Same goes for the yo-yo letting her fly.

Marinette's fashion design getting more love was fun, but ate screen time that should have gone to other things since she doesn't actually design anything in the movie.

Changing how Gabriel gets the miraculous. The show never explains how Gabriel knew about the miraculous in the first place, so having it be something that he seeks out after Emilie is gone makes so much more sense than random treasure hunting because they're too rich to consider adoption or surrogacy. Only magical slave children will do. At the same time, this changes everything about Fu and the Guardians, which was a weak point of the show in many ways, but it's still a core element of the narrative. Changing it without explaining the new lore leave me with a lot of questions, but so does the show, so meh.

In summary, I enjoyed a lot of the moments in this movie, but on the whole it's a dud. It tried to do and change far too much given its runtime and status as a musical. I'll probably re-listen to some of the songs, but it wasn't the fun alternative to canon that I was hoping that it would be.

Last night I sat down with my 15 year old niece (also a ML fan) and finally watched the movie.

Friends, it's not good.

The Good:

The animation is really pretty

The background djwifi is cute

The akumatized villains are really cool

"Watermelon!" 😂

The Bad:

I hated Adrien. We don't see any of his series kindness and he's kind of a jerk actually??? And I really didn't appreciate his pity party after Ladybug's rejection or his making everything about that when PARIS IS LITERALLY ON FIRE. Also he was pretty callous in the way he rejected Marinette.

I could see the ladynoir angle at least but it wasn't clear at all why Marinette even liked Adrien. I didn't ship the square in this at all though.

The singing. I don't understand why they made it a musical, but it wasn't a good choice. And using different VAs for singing can work but for Marinette it was jarring. We go from soft English speaking voice to deep French-accented singing voice and just no.

The whole plot line just felt really underdeveloped??? Like what even happened with Gabriel after his reveal at the end??

The ???:

So we're just making the butterfly the evil miraculous, eh?

Fu was just...weird

I think I need to go rewatch Origins as a palette cleanser.

Have you watched the movie? What did you think?

[purrincess-chat]

This is Marichat

Yep

They were unambiguous platonic side of LS for a long time

Yep

And this was not considered a dead side of the LS and the LS itself was not dead because of it

That makes sense to me

So, with platonic Ladynoir, they're fine, right?

No, Ladynoir and LS are dead

No jokes, some of them consider the whole love square dead because LN is not canon. Although it wasn't even canon: it's just a one-sided love that was turned upside down for a short time until circumstances that were completely understandable from the point of view of the characters forced them to simply move on. Nothing, the main part of their life is spent in civilian personalities. It might just be me, but I don't think it's such an important part of Marinette's life that she plans to always be a superhero. We've never seen any clear relationship plans in canon with how she will balance her future with Adrien and her work as a superhero. Maybe she doesn't plan being the superhero, after she gets the Butterfly Miraculous. Maybe she'll give the Miraculous to Su-Han, maybe she'll just hide them or just wear them as jewelry until she needs them again. In general, it is difficult to say how it will be further in her opinion, because she, unlike her civilian life, did not plan anything, which already hints that this aspect of her life is not permanent, but let's say: "voluntary-forced". In addition, she strongly separates these two aspects of her life.

Considering that many of them consider Ladybug to be "true self" (with some of this ship criticizing the MC states for this theory) it seems that they only see the two as superheroes for the most part and nothing more. The whole "true selves" is purely "the part of their personality that I highly favor" and/and "the part of their personality that makes up my favorite dynamic, because I'm a big stan." Although even in the case of LN, it's just a version of the ship full of headcanons from season 1, which they will slowly throw in other points of their dynamics and try to make them canon, even if they are not.

I definitely agree that it's weird that people are up in arms over LN being platonic when MC has been fine for years. MC not being requited at all in canon prior to s5 didn't stop them and none of them ever thought their ship was less than or dead. Even after canon expressly said that their side can't be together on screen, MC stans focused on the kiss. They're built different, and also unhinged.

It's very weird to me. Like, I understand s4 was hard to watch for LN stans, but I think a lot of them blocked out what happened last season between them. LN has always had a bantering, flirtatious partner dynamic up until last season because that's a trope of the genre. But LN was always one-sided. The LS got flipped on its head finally, and the writers made a firm decision. We've been begging for the end of will-they-won't-they since s2. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I didn't actually care which side got together first. Or if it happened pre reveal. Like, if they had decided to go with LN this season I wouldn't have cried about it? Sure, I'm happy it's my favorite side, but I wouldn't have been mad if it wasn't. The kids are happy, why would I be mad?

As for Marinette and future plans, I mean, I don't think she dislikes being a hero. She has certainly been given more than she should have to handle, but I think she is fine being Ladybug. And we know from s3, that they are still LB and CN in the future as adults, likely still with their friends having other miraculouses since Bunnix said she was the last resort of the team. I think it's just something she hasn't had time to think about because she is too busy trying to not get her shit stolen again atm and also fighting her boyfriend's dad for custody.

The true selves shit does make me laugh though. It always has because it's not rooted in canon, and the fact that people believe with their whole chests that it is just makes it funnier. Like how many fucking times does canon have to say it before that theory dies? Watching things with your eyes open is hard, I guess 😂 Because you're right. True selves is nothing. It's just code for "this is my favorite side, so I think they're the best." But instead of just saying that, they do a lot of mental gymnastics to make their side seem like it's better than all the others when it's literally just the same shit in a different color. The true selves shit dissolves the second you start seeing the LS as one ship rather than 4 ships. Because there is no logical way to defend it after that. There just isn't.