#is this still a part of the lovesquare

[amarilke]

How do we feel about Misternoire? ❤️💛💚🖤

Close-ups:

It took me SO LONG to draw her braid (҂ ꒦ິヮ꒦ິ) spare a thought for my lost braincells ༄

Anyway, the backstory to this drawing is simply that I didn't know which side of the lovesquare to draw and so... I decided to do another one altogether. I must confess I had a really hard time drawing Mister Bug, the suit makes him look so... bulky? Still, it was a nice challenge! And I had fun doing Lady Noire, especially with this lighting .𖥔 ݁ ˖ I hope you'll like it ᡣ𐭩

Also, this makes me think of some of my favourite fictions with the reverse lovesquare (and sometimes switched Miraculous), so cheers to that!

Disclaimer: I’m sharing my art as fan work, with no commercial use or agenda. All credits for Miraculous’ characters go to the original creators and trademark owners.

[ladynoirjuly]

Ladynoir July 2024 is right around the corner! Special thanks to one of our mods @thenovelartist for making this year's artwork.

The Ladynoir July discord server came up with and voted on this year’s prompts. If you would like to be part of the prompt selection process in the future (or if you just want to hang out in a quiet, salt-free server that loves Ladynoir) feel free to reach out for an invite in DMs.

To participate in this event, use the prompts above/below during the month of July to create art, fanfiction, gifs, music, cosplay, etc! Just be sure to @ this blog and use the tag #ladynoirjuly2024. You do not have to do the prompts in order, nor do you have to do all of them. Do as many or as few as you’d like, and, most importantly, don’t forget to have fun!

That being said, please keep in mind a few rules:

This is a salt-free event. Please keep all of your submissions free of heavy critique/bashing of the show/characters/ships.

Please keep your submissions centered around Ladynoir. You may include other corners of the Lovesquare, but the majority of the work should be revolving around Ladynoir.

This event is open to people of all ages. NSFW submissions are allowed, but please put them under a Read More and tag appropriately.

Have fun!

Works that do not adhere to these rules will not be reblogged.

If your work hasn’t been reblogged within 48 hours, please check if you’ve mentioned this blog in your post ( @ladynoirjuly​ ) AND tagged your work with #ladynoirjuly2024. If everything is in order but your work was still not reblogged, please reach out to the mod team. We’ll do our bests not to miss anyone, but sometimes things slip through.

We can’t wait to see what you all come up with this year!

Prompts listed under the cut:

Spies

Holding Hands

Enemies

Kwagatama

Sunset

Better Late Than Never

I Told You So

Bad Idea

Totally Not a Date

Panic

Secret

Vacation

Lost

If Only

Soulmates

Amnesia

Empty

Reunion

Goodbye

For the Mission

Old Married Couple

Shhh

Not the Time

Freefall

Unraveling

Wishes

Remember

Footsteps

Loose Threads

One Last Chance

Partners

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

I’m curious to know what makes you like Ladrien. What’s the appeal? I have my reasons for why I dislike them, so I’m definitely interested to hear all about the other side.

Absolutely no hate, I’m just super curious

Hi! First of all, thank you for giving me an excuse to babble on about Ladrien 🥰

I just want to preface this by stating that it is my belief that people who don't like Ladrien, are those who don't really understand the ship and/or the beauty to the ship, so it would be my pleasure to talk about why I love them so much:

1. They are the pinnacle of Lovesquare mutual pining

I personally am a mutual pining fiend. If there is mutual pining in a ship, chances are you can find me onboard. Mutual pining is probably my favorite part of a ship timeline, I love the angst, the bitter-sweetness, the confused and pained but still loving interactions, and my friend, Ladrien has all that and a bag of chips.

The thing is, Adrien is in love with Ladybug, Ladybug is in love with Adrien, but there's a certain impossibility to their love. Ladybug doesn't know Adrien well enough to love him, so it would never cross his mind that she would even entertain him as a romantic interest. Adrien has hardly even interacted with Ladybug, so it certainly wouldn't make sense that he would have feelings for her, forget about being in love with her.

What cements these beliefs is the fact that they both know the other in very different circumstances. Chat Noir and Marinette both know that the person they are in love with is not fickle about their feelings and is not shallow about love, they aren't just going to fall in love with some random celebrity. What's even more so is the fact that Ladybug knows that Adrien is in love with someone (circa season 3) and Adrien knows that Ladybug is in love with someone (circa season 2), making it so that they believe that the others' affections are tied elsewhere, seemingly making them unavailable (hence the pining).

I also want to point out that Ladrien is also void of the friendships of Adrinette and Ladynoir, meaning the pining becomes even more powerful as they don't even have access to the comforts of friendship. They are apart in every painful way.

This all creates an environment where every interaction between the two is filled with this yearning tension of wanting to be closer, wanting to move closer, but having to stop themselves because it doesn't make sense, because they fear rejection, because they just can't.

2. They have amazing on-screen chemistry and interactions

If you don't watch any season 2 Ladrien scene with a giant smile on your face, then you are missing out. I chose to mention season 2 in particular, because it's the season with the most Ladrien interaction, but honestly, you can find amazing Ladrien in every season.

The way they both stare at each other in wonder, in the first ever Ladrien interaction might I add, in season one's episode "The Mime", was the perfect way to set the stage for what we were to expect from this ship. They love each other, they are amazed by each other, they make each other dizzy and distracted, it's beautiful and hopeful, and directly contrasts the very difficult interactions that Adrien has in the episode with his father. Whereas Adrien's family is a point of pain for him, Ladybug is the light, the hope for him

Just discussing my two favorite Ladrien scenes, their chemistry and brilliantly portrayed relationship is obvious. Firstly, there is the catch scene in "Gorizilla". I don't think this scene needs explanation, but my goodness it is one I like to talk/think about a lot. The way he portrays implicit trust in Ladybug, the way he fully believes that she will catch him, is just so djaskljdaksljdkals, it's so sweet to watch. But then, she catches him, and even without talking about the trope subversion (though it is important), the way that they stare at each other, how their sole focus is on each other, how the catch was fast and sudden, but then Ladybug slows down to make the descent more comfortable for Adrien, it's all just *chef's kiss*. Adrien is then so enamored and lovestruck, that he forgets where he is, he forgets who he is, and nearly exposes himself by using a term of endearment for his love, which is just the most Ladrien thing ever jdksadjaskld

Finally, I want to talk about my other favorite Ladrien scene, which is the panic attack scene at the end of "Strike Back". Here we see Ladybug coping with the worst betrayal she has ever endured, and at the hands of the person who looks identical to the boy standing in front of here. And with all that uncertainty and mistrust, he stays there, he comforts her, he talks her through her panic, through her next steps. And when he offers her to detransform in his bathroom, with only a door to prevent her reveal, despite being unsure and cautious, she ultimately decides to trust him. She puts her vulnerability into his hands and allows him to see her emotional vulnerability and potentially have access to her physical vulnerability.

(there are more scenes to talk about but for brevity's sake I will stop here)

3. They very obviously love and support each other, despite the circumstances of their relationship

Just drawing back to the episodes that were mentioned in the last point, just from viewing those two scene alone, it is obvious that though they both love each other, she also trusts him and he trusts her.

The truth of the matter is, no side of the lovesquare exists in a vacuum. The sides bleed and meld and create together some amalgamated item that will only feel whole when the full square is revealed. As such, the knowledge and feelings that they have as Adrinette and Ladynoir, are going to have some presence while they are Ladrien.

My point of mentioning this, is that trust and sensitivity for each other is going to be present in their relationship, even if they didn't necessarily reach that development as Ladrien. On paper, Ladrien is a superhero and a model who have only interacted a handful of times. And yet, to both of them, their relationship is so much deeper than that.

They know each other, they're familar with each other, and yet, they're not. Adrien knows how Ladybug will take a joke from Chat Noir, but he doesn't know how she'll take one from Adrien, or why there's a difference. Ladybug knows how Adrien will react to a gift from Marinette, but she doesn't know how he'll take one from Ladybug, nor why there might be a difference. Adrien might know Ladybug's favorite drink order, but he doesn't know her birthday, her parents' name, etc. And Likewise, Ladybug might know Adrien's favorite color, but she doesn't know what he does at night, where the ring on his finger is from.

And yet, despite all of this, despite only being familiar with half a person, they take that half and choose to love them whole-heartedly. They choose to take the information they have and trust that person blindly. Despite, the impossibility of their relationship, they choose to continue to hope.

Because they admire each other, they care for each other, they love each other, and they will do everything in their power to continue to do that. And I think that's beautiful.

There are more reasons, but these are the main three, and I doubt you want to hear me drone on, so hope this sufficed!

Thank you for the ask! <3

[ilikekidsshows]

seeing how you recommend shugo chara for ml alternative remind me of how vicious some part of the fandom is especially toward people who ship amuto, stating how problematic the ship is because Ikuto is sexual harasser and also pedophile and interestingly... I've also seen some people stating that cat noir is a sexual harasser and it just make me goes like wow... The cat boys never escape the allegation huh... And it's odd how some people can't seems to be separated fiction from reality

---

It's almost like fiction isn't a perfect reflection of reality but an exaggeration of one, especially when we're discussing a children's cartoon. It's almost like, sometimes, cartoon characters don't mind or might even like something you think they should hate. It's almost like part of the fantasy both Miraculous and Shugo Chara are selling you is the idea of a mysterious, hot guy being really into you, but respecting your boundaries enough to not push you for anything even when they remind you that they still find you attractive. This is the very point of the “hot mysterious older guy love interest” archetype we see in a lot of magical girl media that Ikuto also is an example of. The point is that nothing happens in the relationship unless the girl wants it. That safety that comes with deep, genuine respect is also exhibited by Cat Noir.

Yes, it’s a little unrealistic to expect a teenage boy with his first crush to know how to be that considerate, but that’s why it’s fiction. It's like, yeah, we can accept that this guy can turn into a cat boy with the help of a magical fairy, but we can't accept that he actually genuinely respects her enough to not push, and we definitely can’t accept that the girl rejecting him actually likes him flirting with her because she likes feeling attractive. It’s such a fantastical motivation for a teenage girl, am I right?

Seriously, I can’t emphasize enough how important the fact that Adrien doesn’t actually expect anything from Ladybug is to the wish fulfillment fantasy of Miraculous. He loves you so much that he’s happy to be your friend and just values any time you spend around him with no expectation that you’ll love him back. Sure, that would be nice, because you’re just so amazing that anyone would want to be loved by you, but it isn’t required. The point of Cat Noir's archetype isn't "the pushy guy who won't take 'no' for an answer", it's "the genuinely nice guy who will love you no matter what".

I feel like people who complain about characters like Ikuto and Adrien take the term “Nice Guy” too literally. “Nice Guy” doesn’t mean “guy who acts nice to a girl he’s attracted to”. The stereotypical “Nice Guy” is an attitude that, if you do the right things, the other person will want to date you. It’s treating relationships as transactional and always includes entitlement. Yes, there is an entitled party in the Lovesquare who only hangs out with the other person in the hopes of scoring a romantic relationship, but it’s not Adrien. Hint: it’s the girl in pigtails who constantly hatches schemes to get Adrien to fall for her and whines like a three-year-old because Adrien friend-zoned her in ‘Riposte’.

[ninadove]

hi!

i’m so sorry if you’ve already made a post or answered an ask like this before, but i remember you saying a couple times how the lovesquare is queer-coded.

i think that’s such an interesting observation, and i was wondering if you’d be willing to elaborate on that a little more?

i’d love to hear your thoughts!! and thank you for taking the time to read this. :)

Absolutely Anon! Thanks for dropping by! ❤️🖤

I’m sure there are a lot of wonderful, more complete posts on the topic out there — my Sentikids tunnel vision means I don’t always grant other characters/relationships the attention they deserve. That being said, here are some things that popped into my head:

1. Secret identities

You know ‘em, you love ‘em. Secret identities are the core of the show — the very reason the Love Square is a square! Hiding part or the entirety of who you are for safety reasons is a theme most queer people unfortunately relate to, and the great thing is that we get two very different perspectives on the matter from our two protagonists.

For Adrien, Chat Noir means freedom: being away from his father’s grasp (read: from a power structure that tries to sculpt him into something perfect and bland — more on that later) allows him to become bolder, funnier, more like himself or at least more like the person he wants to be — which very prominently features being in love with Ladybug, aka exploring romantic connections outside of Kagami, the only acceptable option for Adrien.

And yet… Chat Noir is also something dangerous. When Chat Noir gets rejected, Adrien tries to renounce his Miraculous, aka to bury this part of himself as far down as possible; when Chat Noir gets unmasked by Ladybug, the object of his affections, IT’S THE LITERAL END THE WORLD (twice and a half now). There’s an entire post to be made about Cat Walker and Aspik and Adrien folding himself into what he thinks Ladybug’s perfect partner should be.

The point is: Adrien being himself puts him (and the people he loves) in harm’s way, both emotionally and physically. You see the themes, I see the themes, we cry together and hold hands.

Marinette, on the other hand, fucking hates being Ladybug for most of the series. She wants to be a normal girl (!) with a normal life (!!) and it’s just not happening. The reason? There’s something about her that no one knows yet (!!!) ‘cause she has a secret (!!!!).

If anything, being Ladybug keeps getting in the way of her romantic shenanigans: she can’t be with Adrien/Chat Noir because Apocalypse, she can’t be with Cat Walker because her Lucky Charm doesn’t like him, she can’t be with Luka because she has to lie all the time! Not only that, it endangers her friendships as well, as seen in The Gang of Secrets. Look at the wording of her talk with Alya in this episode:

“I won’t try to figure it out our force it out of you. If you can’t tell me what’s in your heart… it’s your right.”

“Will we still be friends?”

“Marinette, I’m your best friend, and I’ll always be. That’s why it kills me that I can’t help you with whatever’s making you feel so alone.”

[…] “You know why I broke up with Luka? Not because I don’t like him! He’s amazing! It’s because there’s something that I can’t tell him. You know why I have to forget Adrien? For the exact same reason. You’re right! I keep secrets, I lie all the time, I lie to my friends, to my parents, everyone, and the worst thing is I can’t do it any other way. […] I tell you, things will never be the same between us again, it will mess up everything — maybe even destroy it!

“Marinette, I’m your very best friend.”

“And I… I’m Ladybug.”

If this isn’t a coming out scene, I don’t know what is.

Of course, Marinette progressively steps into her role as a superheroine and learns to navigate her relationships accordingly — but she’s still carrying this secret that sets her apart from the rest of the world. It’s the othering, isolating part of queerness, and it’s really well portrayed throughout the seasons.

2. The Adrigaminette-to-Lukadrinette pipeline

I cannot not mention it, because what the hell was going on here.

Adrigaminette felt less like a love triangle and more like the girls voting themselves out of the polycule in quick succession. We got an entire episode of the three of them running around, holding hands and jumping in ballpits together. Both Adrien and Kagami went heart eyes over Marinette’s loose hair.

Then André came in with his cart and clown shoes and said “Nah you can’t all share the Magical Ice Cream Of Romance. :( Yeah sorry my ice cream is for two people and two people only. :( Also I guess I could serve Marigami and Marigami only but the flavours would taste gross together. :( Don’t look into the subtext too much” HE JUST HAD TO RUIN IT FOR THEM DIDN’T HE

I’m really happy he ruined it for them, for bird reasons, but still. Adrigami is also the one time we get to see Chat Noir ruin Adrien’s love life, and most of the fuel for my aroace Adrien thoughts, but I digress — LUKADRINETTE

Luka is in the unique position of knowing both Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identities, aka the most secret part of their souls, and immediately went in repression mode in Wishmaker upon finding out his two crushes were basically soulmates. It pays off in Migration, when he becomes their de facto safe place, the one person they know has both of their backs no matter what. Just look at the way they all look at each other:

With Marinette knowing she does not have to lie to him anymore and Adrien being Adrien. I’m sorry but in my mind they both independently proposed to him right then and there. This is the timeline I live in now.

Parenthesis over. Let’s get back to business:

3. Feligami Adrinette

By which I mean the themes explored throughout their relationship.

Adrinette’s story has always been about rescuing Adrien from the abusive environment he grew up in, as Marc and Nathaniel so helpfully drove across through their delightful storyboards:

(Note the gender role reversal here, blurring the lines between Marinette and Ladybug as she takes on the role of the knight in shining armour, while Adrien is the princess locked away in her tower��� Adrien’s gender deserves another other essay in itself, but for today, let’s just agree that he is Not Cis.)

In S5, this theme escalates into a full-on Romeo and Juliet situation. Gabriel and Tomoe are of course the main obstacles to Adrinette’s happy ending: given A. Gabriel’s history of forcing his son into a mold, B. the strict expectations placed on Tsurugi women and C. the oppressive, uniformly white world they want to create through Perfect Alliance (Perfect!!! Alliance!!! Rings!!! Marriage!!!), it’s not a stretch to see them as the messengers of a certain vision of masculinity, femininity and relationships. You see it, I see it, Marinette doesn’t see it because she’s too busy sobbing on the floor, which finally brings me to my favourite thing ever:

“But Nina!” I hear you protest, “you’re making everything about Feligami again!” To which I reply: first of all, yes I am. Second of all, you can’t stop me. Third of all —

Third of all, characters don’t exist in a vacuum, and this is particularly true of the Adrinette & Feligami quartet. Kagami’s name literally means mirror; Felix is a foil to Adrien, of course, but also to Marinette (and Gabriel and Emilie and a bunch of other characters and I love him so much but let’s not stray too far from the point). Of course Feligami is going to parallel and contrast Adrinette, especially since Felix is Aware of the Themes and Motifs and has decided to make it everyone’s problem.

So in June (!) 2023, a little thing called Representation (!!) aired.

There are sooo many things to say about the queer-coding of the Senti-lore in general and of Felix and Feligami in particular. Today, though, I want to draw your attention to the way the kids talk about themselves at the end of the play, drawing clear narrative links to the Love Square (and most specifically Ladybug):

“You know what it’s like to not be able to love the one you want.”

“To constantly fight to save the people you love.”

“To have to lie all the time and never reveal who you truly are.”

[Wipes a single tear away] They grow up so fast…

At the end of the day, this is what both Feligami and the Love Square are all about: embracing who you are and the love you feel, no matter its form, in a world that perpetually tries to enslave and/or kill you for it. I don’t know about you, but I find it hella queer in nature.

Thank you for coming to my DUUSUTalk! 💙🦚

[flightfoot]

Any feligami fic recommendations?

Felix is Fine by SortaArtsy

Felix wakes up sick, but is determined to keep it under wraps. Kagami refuses to be fooled. Feligami fluff. Implied past trauma/ abuse, though nothing explicit. Set post S5 so there are SOME SPOILERS!

If you want a Felix sick fic, this story’s the fic for you! I like how Felix and Kagami actually talk about why Felix is so determined to keep the extent of his illness hidden, what caused him to feel like he needs to do that, and Kagami’s understanding about it. Colt sucks.

---

to assess the equation of you by ThisKwamiNeeds-aNap

“I’m not a wanted fugitive,” she said, dryly. “You could change that.” She wasn’t sure if he was joking. Wasn’t sure if she wanted him to be joking. She stared for a long second, as if she could read more into his intent in the pupils of his eyes. They stayed there for a long second, unblinking. OR: Félix and Kagami try to talk about that after credits scene in Pretension

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the awful felix saga by chivalrousamour

It should be noted that Félix was not exactly the most normal of people. He was idolized by others and popular, yet never had many friends. His social skills mostly amounted to knowledge of how to smile and speak politely enough that people let their guard down around him. As a result of his tendency to ignore or hate most people, he only had the few loved ones, and he'd commit murder for them. Like literally commit murder for them. Several murders, even. He did not have good knowledge of boundaries or restraint. So it should really say something that Félix, of all people, looked at Adrien's phone, and immediately said "oh, what's wrong with this guy." Because, like, dude. Why did Adrien have so many pictures of a girl he wasn't even dating? Even Félix knew that cropping group pics to be just the two of them was a weird thing to do.

So this is part of a series. I put that series on my top ten completed fics of 2023 list. I think you can mostly understand what's going on here without reading the other fics in the series, but I highly recommend you do read them, because they're hilarious! But this fic should at least give a taste of the tone of the rest of the series and give an idea whether you'd like to read the rest.

---

The Peacock and the Dragon by TheVioletThread

kagami reflects on love, past and present, lost and won. felix destroys everything he has ever loved.

This is a three-chapter story, with the chapters being mostly independent, rather than naturally leading into each other.

The first chapter is from Kagami's POV, delving into the mindset she's grown up with due to Tomoe's parenting.

The second chapter, on the other hand, is from Felix's POV and mostly follows his horrific backstory, the abuse he suffered at Colt's hands, and his mindset even after Colt died.

The third chapter goes over Amelie's life, how she thinks of being the one left behind to deal with her parents' expectations, how she does, in fact, abide by them, basically being sold away to the highest bidder, and the despair as she's unable to do what she was "purchased" to do: provide an heir to Colt.

There's some beautiful prose here and exploration for Felix, Kagami, and Amelie, I highly recommend giving it a look!

---

one does not love breathing by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

All of Paris watched as Hawkmoth murdered Chat Noir, taking the Black Cat Miraculous for himself. Ladybug swears revenge, but her enemy—and every miraculous in his possession—disappear without a trace.

Six years later, a new team of villains launches an attack for the last remaining Miraculous: Volpina, armed with new powers; Queen Bee, with questionable loyalty; Argos, the new holder of the Peacock Miraculous; and Cat Walker, who Ladybug hates the most.

Takes place after S4 - Strike Back.

So this is mostly a Lovesquare fic, but there's lots of different perspectives here, including Felix's and Kagami's. They may not be the main couple, but they still have more focus and development here than you're likely to find in most other fics.

Which is especially impressive since Feligami was one of the major pairings in this fic even BEFORE the Miraculous season 5 bible got leaked. Wackus was clairvoyant on that front.

[sapphicfloyrid]

I am thinking so hard about Floyd's lab wear vignette rn.

Like, Jade asking Riddle if he misses Floyd's usually happy mood and teasing that comes with it and the latter trying to deny it is so cute when you think abt it. Like, it's pretty obvious that he misses that part of the day, but can't admit it, especially when Jade is the one who asks about it.

Or post this vignette, I bet Riddle found out from Adeuce that Floyd helped them with the colour changing spell.

It makes me think of a silly 'secret dating' scenario, where Florid actually date, but don't tell anyone because they know damn well Jade would absolutely tease the shit outta them. Ace too if he wouldn't be aware of the possibility of getting collared :'3

And in turn it makes everyone else just getting exasperated with these 2 because, to them, it's like these 2 keep circling the same bush.

Dunno... Just Florid trying to have a more peaceful relationship and literally everyone else not knowing and trying to get these 2 together because damn it's more frustrating than MLB's lovesquare U-Ub

They think it’s still a situation where they don’t know they’re obviously pining for each other and that would be a funny scenario like everyone around them going “GODDAMN JUST KISS ALREADY”

Meanwhile they are kissing, they just don’t know it yet.

Of course Jade would tease Floyd about it too so that’s why he doesn’t wanna tell him lmao

[anna-scribbles]

hey anna! the wait for kwami’s choice part 2 truly is abysmal and it’s so hard to navigate through the tag with all the leaks about, do you have any fic recs to tide us over until gloob puts us out of our misery?

not only do I have fic recs, I also have way too much to do rn and therefore will spend an inordinate amount of time crafting a detailed rec list for you 😘 (we can also just consider this my 2022 ao3 wrapped lol)

goes without saying perhaps, but ANYTHING by @peachcitt is gold and also uniquely devastating, some of my particular favorites being:

metamorphosis - 97k, enemies, sleepovers, you get it. i'm normal

those benevolent stars - 23k, ladrien thief/prince/soulmates au. what more do I even need to say

chat noir's white french man hit list for feminist purposes - 7k, hilarious and devastating, this fic is a child to me

double dare - 32k, ladrien, absolutely everything. cemented my friendship w/ peach bc I had to scream at her everyday abt it

I thought the plane was going down - 11k, attuned to my tastes specifically, adrinette having a History while on airplanes

@carpisuns also puts out banger after banger like it's her dayjob, specializing in understanding the ridiculous nature of the lovesquare to such a degree and also being the funniest person alive. some of my faves from her are:

tell me something I don't know - 120k, the marichat fic EVER, mar's dissertation on lovesquare and guess what she's right

pink - 14k wip, adrien loves marinette, SOFT

two idiots and a hamster (collab with @botherkupo) - 24k, adrinette roommates, makes me cry laugh

@picayunearts is a goddess on earth. she bends word and image flawlessly to her will. recently she has enraptured me with

final girl - 41k, marichat, au where marinette succeeds in giving up her miraculous to alya in origins. INCREDIBLE marinette character study

@rosekasa invented ladynoir and i'm not afraid to say it. check out everything on her ao3 but just note the following

when things were good - 15k wip, breakup fic/post hawkmoth takedown, has been ruining me in a SPECIAL way

new marinette 12k, post-guardianship memory loss marinette, a classic

like poles of a magnet - 12k, enemies au, hurts my feelings

ya'aburnee - 13k, ladynoir, HURTS ME VERY MUCH. I'VE NOT RECOVERED

@buggachat's fics always feel like i'm attending a course on adrien and marinette's true characterizations explained to me by someone with a PhD in lovesquare and I walk away enlightened. she has an incredible gift for storytelling and just Getting It. anyway read

maintaining a professional distance - 43k, ladynoir hotel room shenanigans, god-tier characterization

when you're near 10k, ladynoir dating but adrinette have never met, a classic

@sha-nwa should honestly quit her career and write lovesquare fanfiction for me full time. proof:

the way I loved you - 68k, marichat break up fic, will be cemented into my mind forever

photograph - 1k, sweet adrinette, abby loves making me cry

things WOULD be amiss if I did not mention @officialratprince (carolinaa on ao3) bc their fics derailed my homework schedule on several occasions last semester, though I'll be honest that their fics are not for the faint of heart or those who wish adrien agreste to have a good time. my faves are

I will take it / it can't go wrong series - 3 fics at 16k, 25k, and 39k, adrien's journey through experiencing child abuse and his friends being there for him, culminating in gabriel's court trial

home sick - 14k wip, adrien gets pneumonia and Everything Is Really Bad

other various fics I love for various reasons:

how hawkmoth got his groove back series by @agrestenoir - 2 fics at 3k and 1k, one of my favorite crack fics i read last year. had me crying laughing

1 step forward, 3 steps back by agnes writes - 10k, breaks my heart every time I read it. also makes me legitimately angry at adrien while still keeping him in character which is a feat in and of itself

the last day on earth by reiaji - 10k, chat blanc keeps happening as marinette gets older, I am incapable of not recommending this fic

okay now go forth and don't do your work<3

[princess-of-the-corner]

I don't think referring to Marichat as their "true selves" is entirely inaccurate, because it's basically the only time Marinette and Adrien interact casually as true equals, and show their truest selves to each other. It's less that they are their "true selves" in those identities, and more that they are their "true selves" in that specific context.

I mean it is them at the most relaxed they can be around each other, but I don't like it as 'true selves' because this discounts the parts of themselves they show in the other identities, makes their original crushes feel even more shallow, and negates any option for the other three corners of the lovesquare to ever get to a point of togetherness.

Like yes, Marichat has an easier time relaxing around each other than Adrienette on baseline. But Adrienette /can/ get to a point where they relax a little and reveal those parts of themselves that still exist because neither identity is an Act.

[gee-arid]

Don't know if you've already explained it, but how does the lovesquare work in your AU?

I cant actually remember if i have either- so heres a run down of like the first 2 "seasons" or "arcs". I dont really got a time frame for this au.

Starting with the Origins "episode". Nath and Marc dont know eachother, they know vaguely of eachother from school- but theyve not met.

Their hero alter egos though... get off on the wrong foot. The bug is adamant he cant work in a team and the cat... is rubbed the wrong way. They reluctantly work together in part 2 after the bug absolutely fucks up his job. (Could've been avoided with a teammate lol)

Arc 1, Nath and Marc still havent met. They meet via art club later this season. (Marc being pushed by Plagg and Marinette to make new friends, how about that art kid you follow?).

Our bug and cat reluctantly help eachother figure out their hero names and work together to fight akumas. Rouges is trying his hardest to make up for his shitty first impression, and Vei is.. sarcastic and blunt about it.

Rouges and Marc would be the Mari-Chat equivilent ig. But less interest.

While Vei and Nath would be the Adri-Bug equivilent. Less romance focused right now though, and more wow theyre so cool.

Nath and Marc are friends now! They dont write a comic together, they dont have enough time for that. But they hang out alot, they really click after meeting.

Hurray, love square now!

Rouges has a thing for Vei. But is just friends with Marc (he is developing a crush though)

Vei is warming up to Rouges, but thinks of him as just about a friend. but has a thing for Nath.

Note that my "Arcs" probably go by faster than "Seasons" would, so Act 2 would probably end up being mid. season 1?

[bittersweetresilience]

sunny's year half year in review

because i am all about that self celebration 👏

achievements

🏅 joined a fandom 🏅 got married (🌖) 🏅 made friends (🏮🌺🌋🍜🍀🕊️🦌🧬💤🦎🦭☄️✍️🪨🪶🦚💝🎞️🪄🍞) 🏅 learned new things (📸🪡📑) 🏅 sunnyscrambles

creations

an ongoing amélie dissertation in sentitwin soulmate au. next chapter will be posted on new year's day and will feature art from @moonieratty!

félix and amélie webweaves. my favorites that i've made! all literature is from my graham de vanily reading lists.

ladynoir amv. so many episodes in this. my storage space...

multifandom webweave. the first one i made and still very important to me!

i entered a feverish haze after @nemaliwrites's remixes introduced me to a softer world and the result was Feelings.

my favorite fic i wrote this year. mind the trigger warnings.

recommendations

running in the shadow

i cannot describe how much this fic means to me. i left hundreds of messages during my liveread and i wept all through my comment and my reblog and still it's not nearly enough. it's one of my favorite gifts, one of my favorite fics, and one of my favorite works of art i've ever seen. thank you to @wackus-bonkus-maximus for being a role model, an inspiration, and my first fandom friend.

i love you (for senti-mental reasons)

as the head of the as time goes by pr team, i would be remiss not to recommend something from this series! félix in this universe makes me turn into dynamite. second recommendation is betcha on land (they understand). i'm a big fan of @redundant-lava, you see.

i know there's been pain this year (but it's time to let it go)

what's there not to like about @ninadove's sentitwins? her christmas fic blew me away. i love her creative costume designs, her references to classics and video games, and her accompanying fic art. honorable mentions to la nuit, tous les chats sont gris and everything i did (i did for you).

bon voyage

one of the original highlights of my summer. the dream sequence in chapter four blew my mind. the way this fic was planned to end drives me nuts in the best way.

bell the cat

the single most amazing fantasy au i've read. i'm regularly awed by how incredible it is, and awed by @heartfulselkie's writing, art, and person in general. if i learned how to bind books, this would be at the top of my list. i keep saying it because it's true.

thirteen

our monthly dosage of pain, exquisite backstory exploration, and gorgeous @anna-scribbles prose. i'm always a sucker for pre-canon and this is The fic for adrien pre-canon fans. christmas félix will make me explode.

a rose by any other name

i love everything @asukiess makes but shoutout to loveybug au for being such a fun and creative time for the lovesquare fandom. this fic also comes with the loveyvelours art of all time. the other day i started thinking about kuro neko unprompted. autumn is in my brain...

phoenix félix

this isn't a fic, but i'll never miss a chance to scream about art by @luckychatons. phoenix félix is immortalized in my discord profile picture. i'm blessed to receive secret félix doodles and catsona designs on the down low!

moonie

just scroll through their entire art account. everything they make is an eye feast, and they haven't even posted the half of it. my partner and creative inspiration. the moon to my sun. buy them a coffee for always supporting dead girls club.

[ladyofthenoodle]

the attitude that, as a lovesquare stan, we should all be excited for whichever side becomes canon, is… kinda the point, actually. i should be excited for adrinette being canon—i want to be excited about it so badly! i’ve been waiting for this for years! their scenes are cute!

which is why it’s so frustrating that i am NOT enjoying it the way i want to, that the moment we’ve all been waiting for is being overshadowed by the fact that my favorite side is not only sunk romantically but also being completely glossed over and ignored in terms of their platonic relationship, as if their friendship and partnership never mattered at all. it’s the feeling of saving a chocolate bar for a special occasion and then when you sit down to finally eat it, you get an important phone call that you have to take and you can’t enjoy your chocolate but it’s already in your mouth.

i’m bitter right now because i do love adrinette as much as the rest of the square and i want to enjoy them getting together but it didn’t happen in a vacuum and the rest of the square should still matter. maybe this will be fixed by part 2. i hope so. but it shouldn’t have to be—this episode should’ve taken a minute to acknowledge ladynoir. for the writers, maybe it seemed unnecessary since they wrote part 2 immediately after, but there was always a possibility they wouldn’t air together. and now we’re stuck with this.

[ladynoirjuly]

Ladynoir July 2023 is almost here! We are very excited for this year’s event and hope you all are ready to create some content since we are missing it in canon right now! Super huge thanks again to one of our mods @chocoluckchipz for making this amazing calendar (with some assist from @ladyofthenoodle)!

The Ladynoir July discord server came up with and voted on this year’s prompts. If you would like to be part of the prompt selection process in the future, or if you just want to hang out in a quiet, salt-free server that loves Ladynoir, feel free to reach out for an invite in DMs.

To participate in this event, use the prompts (also written out below the cut) during the month of July to create art, fic, gifs, music, cosplay, anything you want! Just be sure to @ this blog and use the tag #ladynoirjuly2023. You do not have to do the prompts in order, nor do you have to do all of them. Do as many or as few as you’d like, and, most importantly, don’t forget to have fun!

That being said, please keep in mind a few rules:

1. This is a salt-free event. Please keep all of your submissions free of heavy critique/bashing of the show/characters/ships.

2. Please keep your submissions centred around Ladynoir. You may include other corners of the Lovesquare, but the majority of the work should be revolving around Ladynoir.

3. This event is open to people of all ages. NSFW submissions are allowed, but please put them under a Read More and tag appropriately.

4. Have fun!

Works that do not adhere to these rules will not be reblogged.

If your work hasn’t been reblogged within 48 hours, please, check if you’ve mentioned this blog in your post ( @ladynoirjuly​ ) AND tagged your work with #ladynoirjuly2023. If everything is in order but your work was still not reblogged, please, reach out to the mod team. We’ll do our bests not to miss anyone, but sometimes things slip through.

We can’t wait to see what you all come up with this year!

Wedding Bells

Emergency Contact

Truth or Dare

Cards

Shooting Stars

That Costume Suits You

My Boyfriend vs Your Girlfriend

In Another Life

I Lied

Trust Fall

Don’t Let Go

Trapped

In the Dark

Lingering Touch

Shared Dreams

Rewrite the Stars

Roses

Sunrise

Vigilante

Undercover

Masquerade

Entangled

If I Never Saw You Again

Out of Time

In the Rain

Oh… oh.

Name

You Still Have Me

Back to Back

Against the World

In Every Universe

[xhanisai]

Top 5 couples... In ML! (having more than one pairing for one character is very much accepted)

HEHEHEH LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to cheat a little and add six AND YOU WILL SEE WHY.

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

1 - Mariblanc (Marinette and Chat Blanc)

Come on. It's me. Haunting the narrative? Check. Caused the end of the world? Check. Shows the extremes one would go for the other? FUCKING CHECK. Genuinely, as soon as episode Chat Blanc aired I practically ascended because this is everything I have ever wanted and uGHhHh I can never properly convey cohesively how much I love, love, LOVE THEM.

THEIR LOVE DESTROYED THE WORLD.

THEIR LOVE DOOMED THEM ALL ONCE UPON A TIME.

AND YET THEY STILL CAN'T HELP BUT CONTINUE TO LOVE EACH OTHER AAAAAA!!!!

2 - Lovesquare (Marinette and Adrien in every form)

This is the reason why I had to extend the list to six instead of five LMAOOO!! I love every single side of lovesquare so FUCKING much. And all the sides would have taken up the spots so I had to compress them all here. Every side brings something fresh, something exciting and I can never get bored. I love you adrinette. I love you ladynoir. I love you marichat. I love you ladrien. I love you misternoire. I love you assmouse/snakemouse. I LOVE IT ALL!!!!!

They will stay rotating in my brain forever at 1000000 kilometres per hour for the rest of my life and I feel honoured.

3 - Chlolila (Chloe and Lila)

EVIL GIRLS! EVIL GIRLS!!! I LOVE EVIL GIRLS!!!! I hate bully x victim ships...but bully x bully?? YES PLEASE.

I want them to make each other WORSE. I want them to tango on the rooftops as they plot the downfall of the world whilst finding ways to get rid of each other. I don't want them to have any redemption arcs LET GIRLS BE EVIL.

They are ML's toxic yuri AND THEY DESERVE MORE RECOGNITION.

4 - Eminath (Emilie and Nathalie)

Nathalie was willing to terrorise Paris and ladynoir in order to bring Emilie back to life AND THAT IS PEAK ROMANCE TO ME. And then she stopped when she realised how mistreated Adrien was and saw the video that Emilie made??!??

THEY ARE MARRIED IN ANOTHER TIMELINE WITH A HAPPY ADRIEN WITH TWO LOVING MOTHERS IDFC.

5 - DJWifi (Alya and Nino)

I really, really REALLy love their dynamic! I love how confident and fiery Alya is and how chill and silly Nino is. I love that even these two subvert gender roles and we have him often jumping to conclusions and spilling secrets whilst she's there to kiss his worries away and ensure that she's there by his side 💓

They are actually really wholesome and I wish we got more pre-relationship goodness between them both before they got together because that's my favourite part when it comes to romance~!!!

6 - Plikki/Cheesecake (Plagg and Tikki)

I love them. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. JUST WEE LITTLE GODS until they show their fucking amazing cryptic love craftien true forms!!!! He calls her sugarcube and she calls him stinkysock I LOVE THEM.

Honourable mentions - Juleka and Rose, Gabriel and Emilie, Amelie and Nathalie, onesided Lila being obsessed with Marinette, onesided Felix crushing on Marinette, Alya and Marinette/Nino and Adrien (to an extent because I don't like any ships that break up the lovesquare), Gabriel and Harry Clown, Tom and Sabine, Gabriel and Nathalie and probably more but I can't remember LOL.

[blur0se]

WIP Reblog Game

(Thank you for the tag @kasienda)

If you're like me and you have a million WIPs and are anxious about updating them, play this 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!

My top 5 priorities are (only one of these has an actual title lol):

(The only reason crossed stars isnt on this list is because I'm trying to avoid drawing to rest my arm so I'd like to focus on other writing projects while I do this)

Eyes Shut tight

Toxigriffe one shot follow up

Loveylady

bone hurting juice

awkward first times

What I'm excited about:

chapter 2 has a scene with the core four coming up! Alya will get an interview with THE catwalker for the Ladyblog. Nino will talk about how cool it is that 3 of them are superheroes and Marinette is being 100% normal and not overthinking things at all.

I'm really excited to show how toxinelle's new crush is going for her after the first one shot.

these last ones are mostly in the brainstorming phase still but on this one I really want it to be marinette centric and explore how I see loveybug being part of her

angst and blood transfusions...................................

this one is supposed to be about lovesquare and djwifi having their own insecurities and hang ups surrounding sex and relationships! I really want to show alya and nino not as the ones who just dispense relationship advice but as peers that have their own problems that they might need the support of their friends for!

no pressure tags:

@mostmagical @bittersweetresilience @monpetitchattriste

[gitcheegitcheegoomeansily]

had an idea about my kwami swap au lovesquare dynamics:

already said this part in my last post, but miss fortune has the fattest crush on élytres but he just really fucking loves his partner and thinks she's super cool (but also all platonically).

meanwhile, adrien in real life is very much crushing on the confident, quippy marinette dupain-cheng (she's only a little shit and smooth with him), who genuinely kind of fucking hates him bc of the people he's actively choosing to be friends with (read: chloé).

élynette is full of a light, flirty back and forth that leaves adrien as a puddle of goo and marinette as a smug lil baby, and adrimissy (still workshopping both the ship names) is just miss fortune staring at adrien blankly wondering how to toss him off the eiffel tower before her lovely partner stops her and adrien staring at her in hero-worship and wondering if it's too much to ask her for an autograph for the missy fanclub