#platonic adrinette

[kawaiichibiart]

Platonic Love square HCs pt.3 (?)

Continuing off my "Adrien loves to doodle..." HC, Marinette loves getting him new colors and replacing empty/used up supplies for his hobby. He goes through them faster than she does and she doesn't mind picking up a few things even if he insists that he can get them himself.

As LB and CN, they tend to take turns walking people home if they ever get into a situation (someone trying to assault them for instance) where they don't feel safe, where one of them is walking with the person and the other is on the roof keeping an eye out.

Whether she is in or out of the mask, Marinette will always jump to defend Chat Noir. He's not a villain, say that again and you'll see who you should really be scared of.

Adrien, in turn, whether or not he's wearing his mask, will jump to his Lady's side if people push her to do more. Stop pushing her to do your job, maybe if you'd help us/them, we'd get somewhere faster.

They play their version of Marco-Polo during patrol, which is literally just Ladybug going "Chat!" and Chat Noir going "Meow!"

Trash talk fashion shows, especially Audrey's after Gabriel shuts down (before it shut down they'd go after Gabriel hard).

One time they were late to an Akuma because Chat had decided to take a nap on Ladybug's lap. Alya caught the moment.

They have social media accounts for their hero IDs. Chat Noir has always leaned towards funny, wholesome and generally just random posts (in short, he's posting whatever he wants). Ladybug tries to keep things professional, but eventually she also begins to shift into a "I'm posting whatever I want" mindset. It's mostly pics of Chat Noir.

Marinette once got Adrien to transform into Mister Bug again so she could use him as a reference for body armor designs.

Marinette, on Twitter: Reasons you should sign my petition to get Adrien Agreste to quit Gabriel and start working for me, MDC, a 🧵: 1. Gabriel Agreste is a bitch. | 2. I wouldn't have Adrien wear the same outfit in different colors. | 3. I'll feed him. | 4. Gabriel is a bitch. | 5. I won't make him model with someone who doesn't know boundaries. | 6. I'll let him have a say in what he wears. | 7. Gabriel Agreste is a bitch. Thank you for reading! (Felix, replying: didn't bother to read the🧵, signed the petition because I hate my uncle and want his business to fail <3 | Marinette: one of two (for now) things we have in common: loving Adrien and hating Gabriel )

[kathrahender]

[wisteriasymphony]

psych ward au idea by @rwsdarw , la terreur flavored marinette belongs to @sillysiluriforme tweos flavored adrien belongs to me, we can make this shit absolutely radioactive

any connection these two have is out of begrudging desperation for human contact and not any like for the other as a person. in the beginning their only thing in common is their affinity for causing problems. and injuring themselves by accident let's not forget that.

oops i think they escaped

[frostedpuffs]

Adrien sat beside her on the bed, enveloping her hand in his. Their wedding bands gently clinked together. “It feels weird to be back here,” he said. “Weird in a good way or a bad way?” “A good way,” he said, smoothing his thumbs over her knuckles. “It feels like being transported back in time.” Marinette hummed in agreement, lying back against the soft white sheets. “Yeah. It feels like only yesterday we were ‘just friends.” The bed bounced lightly as Adrien settled beside her. “We can still be that.” A snort rose from her nose as she giggled. “Oh, god. Let the joke die.” “Never,” he laughed. Climbing over her, he rested his arms on both sides of her head before leaning down to peck her lips. “You’re my platonic wife.” “I am not!” she squealed. His lips tickled when they brushed her neck, and she squirmed. His laughter reverberated across her throat. “You are.” “No!” she said. He poked her side, and she squirmed away, laughing as his fingers dug into her most ticklish spots. “No, no!” “Admit it,” he teased, tickling her waist. “You like me as a friend.” She wheezed, out of breath. “That’s it, I’m officially putting you in the friendzone.”

it's finally completed! thank you everyone for going on this journey with me 💖 (this is not an april fool's joke, i promise! it's real!)

[mysticraven20]

It’s coming everyone!!! I can’t wait!!

Adrinette April 2024 is coming soon! We can't wait to celebrate these two lovebirds again! Major thank you as always to @chocoluckchipz for designing the calendar again this year! Send Lucky so much love!

Prompts were selected by the Adrinette April discord server! If you’d like to be part of prompt selection in the future, send @purrincess-chat a message for an invite! 

If you would like to participate, just use the prompts above during the month of April and tag your submissions with #adrinetteapril2024 and/or @ mention this blog! To make things easier on the mods, please spell it adrinette for the sake of this event. Misspelled tags may lead to your submission being missed.

A few ground rules:

This is a salt-free event. This includes any harsh or negative critique of the show, characters, ships, fandom, or creators.

Please center your submissions around Adrinette. Each side of the love square has a designated month, and there will be plenty of opportunity to create content for the other sides of the love square soon.

For the purposes of this event, the Shadybug universe Adrinette is valid for submissions. Create all of the emo children content you desire.

NSFW is allowed, but please put it under a read more and tag appropriately.

If your submission hasn’t been reblogged within 48 hours of you posting, feel free to reach out via ask or message @purrincess-chat privately. The mod team will do our best not to miss anyone, but sometimes things slip through. Please be patient and respectful. We are not skipping anyone on purpose. 

We can't wait to see all of your submissions for this year's event! Prompts are listed in order under the cut

Dating Sim

Truth or Dare

Virtual Reality

Passing Notes

Flirting

Red String

Shared Dreams

Soulmate Markers

Fantasy AU

Found Family

Made for Each Other

Reverse Crush

Sharing a Bed

Identity Reveal

Villains

What If

Future Plans

Confessions

Taking It Slow

Best Friends

Lucky Charms

First Kiss

In the Rain

Boyfriend and Girlfriend

Love Notes

London

Starlight

Wedding Dress

Safe

Emma, Louis, Hugo

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Idk if you already discussed this but how do you feel about Adrinette being canon when there wasn‘t a reveal yet? Because I think the show just took all the exciting aspects of the love square away by making one side canon and the others strictly platonic.

Sure, they‘re cute and whatnot, but I don‘t think they‘re exactly interesting without the identity shenanigans and stuff? Especially because (to me at least) Adrinette always felt like the weakest side. It‘s a school crush romcom type of love, which is great and all, but like…. You have superheroes in your show?? Hello??? Why not combine the two elements more effectively???The others are either badass superhero couple (I loved the Ladynoir dynamic in the movie for example) or one superhero hangs out with the civilian and they bond. That‘s literally all of fanon Marichat, and I personally think it works with Ladrien too. There‘s different aspects of those relationships that can be explored and create problems that they have to overcome (like the power imbalance with the civilian x hero ships, how do you handle that while dating?)

I wish the writers would use the square more effectively

I'm not against pre-reveal dating, but I agree that Adrienette is the worst side to chose from a story telling perspective because - as you so rightly pointed out - it's arguably the side with the least identity shenanigans and the side that has the least ties to the superhero stuff that's supposed to be the show's main focus. Adrienette is the side you chose if you're focusing on civilian drama which, to be fair, was season five's main focus even though Gabriel had stolen the miraculous and we were all expecting that complication to be the focus of the season five plot.

Instead the focus was "will Marinette ever have the courage to say a kind word to Adrien's face instead of just telling others how much she loves him even though she knows that he explicitly returns her feelings, making this plot kind painful on every level" which was... a choice.... Five seasons and we're still doing this shit? Really?

This may mean that the writer's plan in season six is to continue to focus on civilian drama or it could mean that they didn't think further than season five and we're about to get a lot of awkward writing. Who knows? I have no idea how they're going to handle civilian dating plus secret identities for long since the writers chose the only side of the square where running off to fight akumas isn't a given thing that the couple-in-question knows will happen. My best guess is that the writers will probably just avoid putting Adrienette in the type of situations Adrigami and Lukanette were put in, I guess?

No matter how they handle it, I don't expect major identity shenanigans because the show has never done much with identity shenanigans probably because quality identity shenanigans require you to be able to draw out plots over multiple episodes and then resolve those plots. This show cannot have that kind of plot progression given it's formulaic nature and the "there must always be a secret between Adrien and Marinette" rule, thus the identity shenanigans being so limited.

This means that the side best suited to the show's writing is probably Ladynoir. Still room for the minor identity shenanigans that the show limits itself to, baked-in-yet-low-stakes tension from having to keep the relationship a complete secret, and a much more logical result of the writing in the first four seasons. While Adrien is far from perfect and has issues to rival Marinette's, his crush always felt like the stronger one given that he actually spent time with Ladybug and had a true relationship with her.

Marinette, on the other hand, barely talked to Adrien because the show literally has a rule that she can never successfully confess her crush, so they needed to keep her and Adrien from becoming close to make those continued failed confessions somewhat plausible. Given all that, it's hard for me to buy that Adrien's crush flipped to this girl that he barely knows. Meanwhile Ladybug's crush flipping had a pretty strong setup given that Chat Noir has been her loyal support in her darkest hours.

But that's not what they went with! Instead of having the secret be the low-stakes identities secret, the secret between them is, "Your father was a super villain whose minions killed you on multiple occasions and whose death you were arguably involved with. While were on the topic of your messed up family, you're an artificial being whose creation killed you mother. Oh, and we're also hero partners, which feels like a minor thing compared to all of that, but we might as well mention that, too."

...choice were made folks. Choices were made. This is so not how you write a formula show! You never go this serious!

Since you mentioned the Civilian/hero pairings, let's talk about those both to end on a lighter note and because that's where my personal favorite lies as I am here for identity shenanigans. That's right, folks, I am once again here to sell you on my Ladrien supremacy agenda.

While I have nothing against Marichat, it is not a good fit for canon. It's simply too limiting because Marinette is not a celebrity. There's a reason that of Marinette's canon hangouts with Chat Noir (and almost all Marichat fics) start on her balcony. That's really the only place they can meet up without drawing attention, which should be a major concern for them.

I physically cringed when the show had them go to the movies and on an ice cream date because Chat Noir was being so irresponsible! He cannot be shown to have a close relationship with a civilian, which is the excuse he should have given at the end Elation since that the episode included Gabriel discovering their relationship. The excuse Chat Noir actually gave feels pretty dismissive of his canon relationship with Marinette. She has canonically spent more time talking to Chat Noir then she's spent talking to Adrien and the same actually goes for the amount of time Ladynoir spends talking about non-hero things, so this feels off:

Cat Noir: I’m sorry about what happened, Marinette. You’re right, you have the right to love anyone you want. Even a superhero. But it’s easy for a person to mistake idolization of a superhero for love. So, even if I like this person very much, I could be taking advantage of the situation, and I just can’t do that. It would be wrong.

Evil Illustrator, their heartfelt talk in Glaciator, the movie date in Glaciator 2, and a bunch of other little moments add up to somehow make Marichat the deepest side of the square, which is painfully bad writing given how little screen time this side gets, but it's still what canon gave us. Marinette is not just a fan who only knows him from a distance. They are friends and even occasional teammates. The only reason this pairing doesn't work in canon is because there's nowhere for the relationship to go until a partial or total reveal happens.

Prior to that, it's just these two hanging out on her balcony or maybe going on secret dates around the city. Cute, but not suited to a silly superhero romcom aimed at kids where every story needs to be told in about 20 minutes. It's best left to long form fan content that is allowed to be more about drama and romance than the actual show and also a little more spicy than the actual show because - let's be real here - those rooftop dates would not just be talking. I don't know how you'd write this pairing in a way that's both genuine and well suited to the intended audience. It's simply way more suited to a teen drama than a kid's show.

Ladrien, on the other hand, could work if canon wanted to go there. I don't think it would be a good fit for more than a season*, so Ladynoir is still the better pick for canon's format, but Ladrien could be a nice bit of pre-reveal padding to draw out the reveal and add some fun comedy if the show were allowed to have a reveal.

Because Ladybug and Adrien are both celebrities, you can have them interact in diverse settings without anyone thinking twice. This allows for a good amount of hijinks where Ladybug is trying to protect her boyfriend at public events without revealing their relationship while Adrien is trying to get her to let him run off and transform.

You can also do things like the public seeing them together, thinking they're a couple, and having them both deny it because they aren't, leading to Ladynoir comedy where Ladybug cries because she wishes they were and Chat Noir is like, "Wait, what? You what? ...My Lady, as your loyal partner who is here to support you in all things, I will get you your man even if it kills me!" The thinking-they're-a-couple thing could also be solved via Ladynoir by Ladynoir going public while Adrien remains "single". There's just a lot of potential for the show's style of absurdist humor here.

*Ladrien does eventually fall into the same issues as Marichat where it feels like the reveal needs to happen otherwise you're just repeating the same plots or going too spicy for a kids show via bedroom-based meetups, thus me saying that it's only good for about a season. There's also the problem that Akuma fights and supervillains are endless fodder for Ladynoir issues, but the only issue Ladrien could possibly address is Gabriel and Marichat's got nothing save for maybe Lila? So if you don't want to let a reveal happen, Ladynoir really is the best pick by far. Adrienette can work, but it's way less fun since they have to keep all these secrets while Ladynoir really only has one major secret or, at least, Ladynoir should only have one major secret (the identities). Canon has really dropped the ball on this one.

Now that I've written all this out, maybe the spicy issue is why canon went Adrienette? It's a lot easier to limit their alone time than it is to limit the alone time of any other side. I maintain that you could get away with it in pre-reveal Ladynoir by just ignoring the issue and giving them things to fight any time they try to have a date. You could also end episodes on them starting their date, leaving everything to the imagination but also keeping the setting relatively public (rooftops and the like) unlike the civilian/hero sides whose dates are going to be way more private. I fully understand why a show aimed at 5-to-12-year-olds wouldn't want to go there. That is far more suited to the teen drama Miraculous so desperately wants to be based on the ill-suited plots the writers keep going with.

[kasienda]

Fanfiction Year in Review 2023

I fill this out every year. It’s become a bit of a tradition for me. Allows me to reflect on everything that I’ve written and kinda think about where I want to go next. And I like it better from the ask games because I don’t have to wait for asks to come in and can compare my answers from one year to the next. ^_^

1 List of fics completed this year in the order they were finished:

Displaced (Ladrien oneshot)

No Regrets (Ladynoir oneshot - smut)

You Don’t Have To Pretend With Me (Platonic Adrino oneshot)

Representation Reveal (S5 Adrinette oneshot)

Kisses in the Rain (S5 AU Love Square - technically multichapter, but it’s shorter than many of my one-shots)

Would Trust You With Everything (Adrino multichapter)

Just An Ordinary Girl (Marichat oneshot)

Love Remains (Ladynoir multichapter)

Spin the Bottle (OT4 with cour four - technically oneshot, but it’s longer than Kisses and has more kisses in it. Haha!)

2 Number of words written: 

Written: 166,114 words

Published: 151,018 words (more than twice 2022’s number!! Go me!!) 

Those numbers are incredibly close together because I haven’t been redrafting as much. Those numbers include six one shots, three completed multi chapters. And another four multi chapter WIPs saw at least one update.

And in another fun milestone! I broke a million words published on Ao3 just this last week!! (I've been writing fic since 2003 and everything I've ever written is on Ao3!)

3 Your most popular fic:

Not Part of the Plan - I suspect that this is mostly because being a teen pregnancy fic, it’s my most tropiest story this year. Haha! 

4 Your personal fav:

Aftermath - This story has usurped Right Behind You as my favorite. I’ve been able to connect to the raw hurt and grief in this story, and there’s something very raw and human about it that others seem to be able to connect to as well. I think it’s some of my best work, and that is also thanks to an amazing beta in @ladyofthenoodle who has lent her expertise in more than one way in making this one more true to lived experience. 

5 Your fav scene:

It’s so hard to pick a favorite!! I narrowed it down to my three favorites in no particular order. 

The last scene in Ch 5 Love Remains - Chat Noir give amnesiac Ladybug a geography lesson from space. It’s got Whole New World vibes, and I just loved the imagery of it.

Ch 4 of Aftermath - I’m particularly proud of Marinette’s panic attack when Adrien tells her she doesn’t have to keep coming over. Like it feels like it comes out of nowhere, but it just totally makes sense. And how it manifests and how she soothes herself (it’s not healthy, but it’s so GOOD!)

Ch 7 of Would Trust You With Everything - The scene where Chat Noir tries to tell Nino who he is, but inevitably doesn’t. And how Nino reassures him through all that. This scene feels so raw, but so heartwarming in light of Adrien’s fears. And I don’t know - it’s beautiful to me.

6 A fic or scene that challenged you:

I really struggled with Right Behind You this year, though it wasn’t for lack of trying! I had started out the year hoping to go back to an update a month here and I only updated it three times throughout 2023. 

This was incredibly frustrating because the initial drafts of scenes would come pretty easily, but I couldn’t seem to make them pop the way the earlier chapters did. The good news is I think I figured out what the issue was. Most of my writing this year has been speed writing. And a big part of that is just where I’ve been emotionally. I’m very very out of practice in editing and redrafting, which this story and Aftermath both definitely need. 

I’ve only been able to edit Aftermath because I’ve had a ton of help. (Thanks Noodles!) Sadly, it’s harder to find betas for rarepairs, but I have succeeded! (Thanks@coffeebanana!)

7 A line of writing you’re proud of: 

“She wanted to be there to see it. To see him.”

This line is way better in context, but I’ve made myself cry about three times with it. And I refuse to explain it because that would give its power away. Guess you’ll just have to go read Aftermath. 

8 A comment that touched you: 

I can never answer this question without mentioning several!! 

Would Trust You With Everything - this story had a ton of enthusiastic followers - way more than rarepair work usually gets, and I wrote this story right after my life fell apart and all the commenters here made throwing this story together just that much more joyful during a time when I REALLY needed it. (I'm looking at you, @bittersweetresilience, @bbutterflies @flightfoot @coffeebanana and so many others that I don't know your tumblr name!!!) Not Part of the Plan Comments - I added sex ed lessons to the end of each chapter here because there’s so much about fertility and pregnancy that people don’t know if typical pregnancy fics are anything to go by, and this seemed to inspire so many people to share their pregnancy stories!!! And these have been so cool because I’ve learned that these stories just don’t often have an opportunity to be shared. And it’s neat that this story with its accompanying lessons could create a space for that!! Aftermath comments - lots of people who have really struggled with moderate to severe depression have apparently felt very seen by this fic. And that a story that is essentially about two characters who feel very alone and like no one can understand can help people feel LESS alone and MORE understood is simply amazing!! I love this story so much!! AHH!! Here's one from @neurovascular-entrapta that meant a lot to me.

9 Something that inspired your writing:

Grief and the need to feel things in a distant abstract-these-are-story-book-characters kind of way so I don’t have to feel my actual feelings as closely every moment of the day really kept me writing the whole year long.

10 Your proudest accomplishment (that one scene; finally finishing that one fic; posting your first fic; etc):

My writing has been really raw and messy this year, and I can’t keep tenses straight to save my life. But there’s something powerful about the rawness that I really like even as all the grammatical errors and the lack of effort on the technical side of most of my stories has driven me nuts. 

I am proud of myself for being able to get back into the big projects in these last few months after not being able to face them from April to October. And I’ve started participating in a few writing events here and there again in addition to working on my own pet projects. 

11 Do you have any writing goals for the next year?

Well, I wanted to finish Not Part of the Plan in 2023, which didn’t happen only barely! So hoping the last chapter and the epilogue make it out within the next month. Once that’s done I think I want to try and make Aftermath and Right Behind You my primary focus projects this year. And of course, I’m sure new plot bunnies and writing events will take over my brain on occasion. Last year, I said I wanted my writing to become a reliable mental health tool for me again, and I’m glad to say that it definitely was that for 2023. I hope I’m able to use my writing this year to continue my healing journey. 

And maybe go and proofread all of the fics I finished in 2023 to fix all the inconsistent tense issues to prepare them for being bound eventually!

12 Anyone you would like to thank?

SO MANY PEOPLE!

@jennagrinsoverml for being one of my oldest fandom friends! For becoming a real life friend for all that we haven't actually met in person. For all the times you vented to me and listened and sent me pictures of your family and gushed over pictures of mine. I'm lucky to know you!

@ladyofthenoodle - for showing up in my DMs, For being a most insightful beta, for dragging me into a larger community over and over again, for listening to both my real struggles and my first world problems, for being my friend!!

@thelibraryloser - I don't know how to put this into words. But I very much look up to you. For your resilience through difficult times - you are role-model for how to handle this world with grace and kindness. Thank you for your stories!

@coffeebanana - for being so enthusiastic in the creation process before and after! When I have a story that is getting no attention one comment from you makes it so it doesn't matter. You give me all I need.

@bittersweetresilience and @wackus-bonkus-maximus for just being so kind and enthusiastic and supportive of any idea I happen to be talking about in any given moment. I guess for enabling me. Haha!

@blur0se and @mila-beedoodling for sharing your ideas and inspiring me to create new things!!

@asukiess, @chocoluckchipz, @sariahsue, @miabrown007 for creating so many beautiful things and for being kind and engaging in so many conversations!

And now, I'm really nervous that I'm forgetting someone because this is the first time where I feel like I've had more than three fandom friends. Haha! It's a good problem to have I suppose. In general, thank you to the miraculous community for helping me to survive this year. <3 <3 <3

Happy New Year Everyone!!

I invite anyone who wants to, to fill this out! (Or something similar because I think it can be modified for artwork pretty easily). But if you do, please tag me, so I can be a cheerleader for all you've accomplished this year!

[seas-of-silver]

okay, but what if while marinette is laughing, chat's fuming and thinks well, if chat's not allowed to say it, adrien will!

and so the next day adrien's just full of restless energy as he waits for the right opportunity to bring it up in conversation, and he finds it and asks her "do you have any idea how gorgeous you are, marinette?"

marinette gets all flushed and flustered and her heart's aflutter when the wording sinks in and it's all too familiar and she does a cute lil frown pout and is like "chat noir put you up to this, didn't he?"

and so adrien's internally sulking as he tries to convince marinette for the rest of the lunch break that no, chat noir didn't tell him to tell her she's beautiful, and no, he's not lying to make her feel better, but by the end of lunch, he's unsuccessful because marinette simply can't believe that her crush actually thinks she's beautiful

marinette and chat noir having an emotional moment on her balcony because she's feeling really down about her dating life and how everyone around her seems to find it so easy to get into relationships and maybe there's something wrong with her, inherently, that she just doesn't know about. and chat noir cannot STAND to here his very good friend talk like this about herself so he cuts her off and immediately says "do you have any idea how gorgeous you are, marinette?"

for a moment, she doesn't know what to say. there's silence across the balcony.

and then suddenly she bursts into uncontrollable laughter, because "chat it's so weird to hear you say stuff like that to me please never do it again."

he is SO MAD

[lc-holy]

My other thoughts on season 5:

We all thought it was Marinette who was going to confess first, but it was actually Adrien who did. And we all thought it was Adrien who would confront his father in the end, but it was actually Marinette who did.

We learned that the reason Marinette couldn't confess to Adrien wasn't that she was afraid he'd reject her (although Marinette was afraid of that too), but rather that she couldn't confess because of her trauma-induced anxieties. (But I'll be honest, even without justifying Marinette's trauma in the derision episode, we know that Marinette has been harassed by Chloe for a long time and that she's a big part of the reason for Marinette's anxiety).

Early on in season 5, Alya makes it clear to Marinette that Adrien is interested in her. And the Adrien's confession didn't really surprise Marinette. The important thing was to find out how Marinette will manage to face her fears so that she and Adrien can finally be together. Adrien's patience and kindness had a lot to do with it. He took the lead in their relationship to ensure Marinette's comfort until she was ready to confess.

In the final third of the season, it was Marinette who took matters into her own hands to free Adrien from his father. It's not that Adrien didn't do anything; on the contrary, he tried to talk to his father several times, but it was always to no avail, as Gabriel had such a hold on him. But we were still treated to the Representation episode where Adrien was able to tell his father everything that was on his mind. But in the end, even as Chat noir, Gabriel got the better of him. There could be no Monarch-Chat noir confrontation because of Adrien's nightmare. He was already very unstable at the start of the Conformation episode, so how could he face his father and discover all his secrets in this state?

Some may not like what I'm about to say, but I think it's great that Adrien didn't confront his father. We already see in many stories people who suffer abuse go directly to confront their abuser to free themselves, so why not tell the story of a victim who can't confront his abuser? Especially since Gabriel can easily control Adrien.

And I love how Adrien's friends were there to support him and helped Chat noir beat Gabriel in the Representation episode!

And Marinette managed to free Adrien, but not without consequences. It's not just "the knight who freed the princess from the evil dragon and happy ending!". Gabriel leaves her with all his heavy secrets. The idyllic ending we're shown at the end is just Adrien's vision. It's as if Gabriel has hidden all the horrors he's committed in a box wrapped in beautiful gift wrap. Only Marinette and a few others know the contents, but prefer not to say anything for Adrien's sake.

And please know that I don't blame Marinette at all for keeping the truth from him, it's extremely difficult to tell truths that could break the person you love. And I don't understand people who say she has to tell him the truth because otherwise she's a bad person. It's so much more complicated than that... Especially as Marinette also has the right to take a breather...

Still, I can't wait (and I'm afraid too) to see when the truth comes out.

 But there's very little room for Ladynoir, is there?

Er... yes. One of my main criticisms of this season is the cruel lack of Ladynoir ! There are very few Ladynoir moments, even platonic ones. Not even a discussion at the end of the two episodes of the kwamis choice. Or when Ladybug suddenly trusts Felix in Pretension. Chat Noir is just a little surprised, but that's all.

I can understand that Ladynoir is less present because Adrien and Marinette are much more focused on their relationship as Adrinette. And Ladybug and Chat Noir had no conflict this season. This is a season that was supposed to wrap up several arcs, but because the episodes are short and there are so many arcs to wrap up, ladynoir is sidelined. But honestly, apart from the few moments I mentioned above, I didn't find the absence of ladynoir all that bothersome. (Still, I'm sad I haven't seen much of them this season).

And as I said, this season was supposed to conclude several arc. So we have the end of the Chloe arc, the Lila arc, the Gabriel arc, the Ladynoir arc and the Adrinette arc, but the end of an arc doesn't mean it's really the end.

Chloé is far from Paris, but will surely return worse than ever. (or perhaps a redemption? but I don't think so), Lila no longer exists but she becomes Cerise and possesses the butterfly miraculous, Gabriel is dead but his statue is there to remind us that he's still here after all.

The Ladynoir arc concluded in the first third of the season.

Chat Noir abandons his feelings for Ladybug, as he realizes his feelings are not reciprocated, and focuses on his feelings for Marinette. Ladybug begins to have feelings for Chat Noir, but as he no longer has feelings for her, she decides to focus on her feelings for Adrien. In the final episode, Ladybug and Chat noir found a balance in their great superhero team. Chat noir and Ladybug stand next to each other in front of all the other superheroes following them.

Adrinette's arc :

Adrien managed to be more enterprising in his love relationship and to be a good support to Marinette. Marinette faced up to her fears and had the courage to confront her boyfriend's father several times before setting him free. They had their fairytale ending.

But some things don't add up, not only does the end of the lovesquare arc set us up for an Adrinette conflict over the secrets Marinette is keeping from Adrien, but the relationship between Chat Noir and Ladybug is also incomplete. For example, Ladybug has never confessed her feelings to Chat Noir. To me, Chat Noir and Ladybug's feelings haven't changed, they're just hidden for now.  

Cerise seems to have more rage against Marinette than Ladybug. Especially in the post-endcard re-creation. While Gabriel was very angry with Ladybug and Chat noir, is Cerise more likely to take it out on Adrien and Marinette's relationship? 

Although I was initially skeptical about Adrien and Marinette breaking up, Cerise could potentially be the cause of a future Adrinette separation. Maybe i’ll be totally wrong, but I think there will be a conflict between Marinette and Adrien that will relaunch the lovesquare in some way.

To sum up: like the end of Gabriel and that idyllic ending that feels more like a dream than reality, the conclusion of the lovesquare for this arc left a lot of people dubious. As if something were incomplete. An ending for Marinette and Adrien will only be satisfying if there's a reveal, so yes the story isn't over. Adrinette and Ladynoir will be confronting new issues and conflicts next seasons. It's a new beginning for everyone.

 One last thing about what Adrien said to Marinette in the garden: "I don't know if I'll ever manage to be like him [his father]". I saw a lot of people angry that Adrien had suddenly forgotten all the horrible things his father had done, and that this meant Gabriel had been redeemed. I'm sure Adrien still knows what his father did to him, especially when he tells Marinette that he feels freer when he's with her. I interpret this as a kind of guilt on Adrien's part. Adrien has always had a sense of sacrifice, especially in helping Ladybug, but the only time he refuses to go and fight for everyone's safety is when his father dies. He must have felt some guilt or perhaps admiration for his father at the time, but that doesn't mean he's forgotten all the horrible things his father did before.

And if you still have doubts about whether the writers gave Gabriel redemption at the end of the season, here's what Thomas has to say about it :

[flightfoot]

i think you rec fics if i'm wrong i'm so sorry. any fluffy fics with all 4 lovesquare sides? - though just ladynoir/adrienette would work too.

Yep I give those recs! This is actually one of the tricker cases, because on the one hand there's a lot of them and on the other hand they're interwoven with a lot of other things and often don't have specific tags to search with, so I'll see what I can do. I'm mostly just looking for fluff fics that have more than one side of the Lovesquare represented.

I Put A Spell On You by dazaimaru

Friday, October 25. 6 days until Halloween. It’s their first high school Halloween dance, and Marinette and Adrien are ready to throw on some non-superhero costumes for once--that is, until an akumatized witch spoils the party and threatens to reveal what lies underneath everyone’s disguise. With Hawkmoth taking full advantage of the spooky season, the days leading up to Halloween are certainly going to be thrilling! Especially considering Marinette’s growing feelings for a certain black cat…

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Fate, Destiny... A Hamster by @mostmagical

After finally moving into his very first apartment per Ladybug’s suggestion, Adrien stumbles upon something no movie or TV show could have ever prepared him for: someone else's hamster. At least now there’s an excuse to talk to the new neighbor. (Adrinette Never Met AU)

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Villainous Matchmaking by @nedjsmlfavs

When Chat Noir is tragically unable to attend an event with Ladybug, the mayor calls in a favor from a designer ‘friend’. Now she’s attending in style, on the arm of the hottest male model in Paris. Which would be fine if it weren’t for one, tiny issue: Paris’ favorite domestic terrorist now knows how Ladybug feels about his son. This leads him to his greatest plan yet, using Ladybug’s extremely obvious crush on Adrien Agreste to akumatize Chat Noir. A Ladrien/“platonic” Ladynoir fic

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Painted Canvas by @wehadabondingmoment

And then, Adrien would send her a selfie, acting as if he was some secret agent trying to not get caught and he was so ridiculous that Marinette’s heart ached at the thought of being away from him. Hushed phone calls, his voice sounding like honey; in moments like these, she wasn’t Ladybug, only a teenage girl drunk on love. Or: Adrien and Marinette are soulmates and it still takes them years until they finally meet. Also fencing.

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Professeure (of your love) by @mostmagical

“We should do it.” Her voice came out in a screech. “What?” “Just a fake wedding at graduation,” he said, like it wasn’t completely crazy. . . After ages of letting Paris believe their beloved superheroes are married and in love, Marinette's superhero partner turned fellow teacher wants to apply the same logic to their civilian lives and put on a fake wedding for their students. Only problem is, for Marinette, the being in love part is very much not an act.

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From School Bells to Wedding Bells by @linnieluna

When the superhero duo takes on another exhausting fight against an akuma, Chat Noir does what he never hesitates to do and takes a hit for his partner. The problem being: neither of them knew what power the akuma possessed. That is... until he is transported into the future. More specifically, to his friend Marinette's wedding.

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The Power of Love by @nedjsmlfavs

In which Ladybug announces that she’s pregnant via her long term boyfriend and Chat Noir is a supportive partner. After all, he can hardly be upset when he’s been dating his Princess for years! A different take on the show’s tagline (“The Power of Love Always so Strong”) written for Valentine’s day 2023.

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The Rules of Engagement by underworkedoverwhelmed

When tragedy sends Adrien Agreste racing back to Paris to run his father’s fashion house, Marinette doesn’t expect much from her very new, very rich boss. At least not until she is set up on a blind date with a very familiar face. Much to her surprise, Adrien Agreste was hiding far more secrets behind his stoic business-like mask of temporary CEO. Maybe as many secrets as she had been trying to hide for years. As they grow closer, Marinette fears her mask isn’t nearly as foolproof. Day after day, it gets harder for her to keep all her secrets well hidden from the surprisingly sweet man who insisted on staying by her side as often as possible. Only she couldn’t afford to fail. Not when her biggest secret could spell the end of the job she’d dreamed about for years.

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Dreams of You by @chocoluckchipz

Dreams had long been his only escape. Dreams of Ladybug, the girl who had always been there for him. If only in his dreams. And only while she was also sleeping. Because with the first rays of sunshine gliding over her skin, with the first fluttering of her eyelashes, from the moment she opened her eyes in the morning, memories of Adrien would vanish from her mind. She would go on living her life. He would always be the only one who remembered. At least until they meet in the real world and fall in love all over again, something that would’ve been easier to do if Adrien wasn't a prisoner in his own home.

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Tell Me Why You Love Me by @linnieluna

“Anyway, that piece of paper contains the name of this texting app. It’s completely anonymous, so you can download it, make your account with no attachments to your personal life, and communicate with me outside our suits. I included my username on the paper, too, so you can add me once you’re done." Her partner skimmed through the words on the paper and nodded his head. “Brilliant as always, M’lady. I’m surprised we didn’t figure this out sooner within our superhero careers.” “Yeah, it would’ve been nice to have this before, but hey, better late than never. Make sure not to have your phone screen on the messages if you’re going to leave it somewhere. We don’t want anyone reading our texts. Also, this is for emergencies only. No jokes or puns. I can only deal with you for so long.” “I don’t know if I can agree to that last one,” he said. Now 22 and working full-time, Marinette and Adrien seem to be getting busier and busier, which means fewer opportunities to keep track of akumas and show up on time. With the idea of using a messaging app to communicate with each other without revealing their identities, their lives immediately grew to be easier... until it wasn't.

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Soul Searching by LiquefiedStars

Marinette was devastated when her soulmate turned out to be Adrien Agreste and not her sweet, loving partner Chat Noir. Despite their misunderstandings, she is willing to give Adrien a chance, even if he doesn’t seem all that interested in her. After all, they are soulmates and the universe says they are meant to be together. A Soulmate AU.

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Love is Blind by @jennagrinsoverml

Tired of all of his potential girlfriends being blinded by his face, his fame and his name, Adrien takes a chance to compete on Love Is Blind: France, where he hopes that dating without seeing each other—or learning each other’s names—will finally help him to be lucky in love. What will he do when he realizes that his Lady is one of the contestants, however? And will he be able to win her heart where he’s never succeeded before? Meanwhile, Marinette is looking to meet the right guy after years of pining away for someone who has only ever seen her as a friend. She’s not entirely sure if she can fall in love with someone without seeing them, but the things that have always mattered to her most are the kinds of things that can’t be seen. What will she do when she realizes her heart is being pulled in two directions? And will she be ready to make a decision in time?

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Over and Over by stcrsquad

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has had the worst day possible. She's failed to confess to Adrien (again), made an embarrassment of herself, and got into a fight with Chat Noir. Adrien Agreste has had the worst day possible. He is tired of being pushed aside by everyone, including his crime-fighting partner Ladybug. Luckily, fate (and Bunnyx) works in mysterious ways because they wake up again on the same day. A do-over. Except it keeps happening. Can the two figure out what they need to fix to break the loop, or will they be stuck forever?

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Graine de toi by MireilleTanaka

Ladybug and Chat Noir think they’re close, until they begin waking up in one another’s skin. AU: Adrien is homeschooled, and he and Marinette have never met. Written for Adrinette April 2020, Day 17: Life Swap. The one prompt snowballed into a multi-chapter fic. Loosely inspired by Your Name (Kimi no na wa), but no need to have watched it to read, since there's no actual plot connection except the premise of swapping lives.

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Knight in Shining Amour by Cakedecorator

Marinette is the daughter of the castle bakers, and she herself is the royal seamstress. She lives her life making clothes, helping her parents, and generally living a simple life. However, she also laments the loss of her childhood friendship with Prince Adrien, and remembers the promise they made when they were five years old. Resigning herself to the reality that she would never be able to marry the prince, and assuming he'd forgotten their promise, Marinette tries to live her life without letting loss get to her. However, her love story begins a new chapter when she's approached by Cat Noir, a debonair new knight in the castle.

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Evergreen by tanyatakaishi

Everything was gone. The entire cityscape had been obliterated, leaving them in a valley of trees. Blue mountains, peaks dressed in snow, stretched tall in the distance and at their foot lay an array of vineyards, miles wide with no civilization in sight. AKA: two heroes lost alone in the woods with no cheese.

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Someone to Watch Over Me by @dfcfanfics

Adrien is used to his father taking him for granted and treating him poorly, especially since his mother's disappearance... but it's never been anywhere _near_ this bad before. Between that and trouble at school, his life is in quite the downward spiral. He's been putting on a brave face, but he's struggling... and his friends are starting to notice. One special friend in particular. Marinette is determined to help him, any way that she can -- with _and_ without her mask. But when Akumas fly towards Adrien, he soon finds himself more deeply entwined in Marinette's life AND Ladybug's private life than he'd ever imagined. Can Adrien possibly decide between the two angels who are making his life worth living again? Can Marinette process Adrien's crush on Ladybug AND his growing feelings for her? And can Gabriel stop laughing long enough to launch his master plan? A fluffy DFC - buggachat Ladrienette jam. 10/15: Our story is now complete with the posting of Chapter 24, the epilogue. Thank you so much for reading, as always.

[ilikekidsshows]

Adrinette 😇

The Ship Butterfly Effect Scale

Time to dunk on Adrinette again, huh? Look, I was never in the camp that the lovesquare should get together yesterday, because I could see how them being apart romantically served both of their character development better.

Marinette has serious issue with telling people what she's feeling, even when it's something positive like she likes them or wants them around. This shows in how, in Puppeteer 2, Adrien was surprised to discover that Marinette considered considered him even a friend. This problem persists in her other relationships, where Cat Noir thinks he's replaceable and Luka felt extremely neglected as her boyfriend. Marinette shouldn't date anyone until she gets a grip on that.

Meanwhile, Adrien needs friends more than he needs a romantic partner. All of Adrien's relationships come with an agenda. His father uses him as child labor, his primary caretakers are both paid to look after him, the only reason he met any kids his own age before running off to school was because they were either the children of his parents' friends or related to him. Having Adrien's primary relationship outside of all of this be one that comes with a lot of expectations creates for a toxic, codependent romantic relationship where Adrien would feel the need to constantly please his parther regardless of his own boundaries because he's used to all his relationships being conditional. That's why Adrien should focus on platonic relationships with no expectations first so that, by the time he gets into a romantic one, he'll have learned that people who care about him won't always expect things from him.

So, of course the show put them together without either of them learning anything, so Marinette went full control freak with Adrien just moving his fawning response from his controlling dad to his controlling girlfriend. Thanks. I hate it.

[frostedpuffs]

enjoy this ppu doodle from gartic phone last night

[purrincess-chat]

I’m quite out of the loop and haven’t seen the special yet but… why are some Ladynoir stans saying again that they’d like to see Marinette and Adrien cheating? Is there still a lot of people in the fandom seeing the sides as separate ships? Like, do they not realize that no side of the square really died since they’re the same two people in all sides? Adrinette dating means that Ladynoir are also dating even if they don’t know? What good would cheating even bring for their relationship…

I'm uncertain if the amount of people saying this has reduced after s5 or if I've just blocked everyone saying it bc my experiences lately have been rather quiet actually 😅 Gonna go with the latter in this case.

But here's the thing because you're absolutely right, and I think a lot of people need to realize that the love square as we knew it has changed. All of the dynamics have been flipped on their head and even then, they aren't the same as before.

We now have:

Mutual friendship LadyNoir

One-sided/secretly reciprocated MariChat and Ladrien (in that the heroes love the civilians but the civilians don't know that the hero is their bf/gf)

Openly dating Adrinette

None of those dynamics were present before in the love square. Or at least not present in the way they are now. LadyNoir have both moved on from each other (and the biggest and whole entire joke/point of the show is they moved on from each other WITH EACH OTHER). The entire crux of the love square is the fact that they are the same two people, but they don't know it. The dynamics just offer different perspectives and wacky scenarios for us as the audience to see them in. They help to characterize them at a deeper level to provide a more complete picture of not only their relationship but who Adrien and Marinette are as characters.

And ya know what? After 5 seasons, things are finally evolving. S6 is going to look and feel different than anything we've seen so far and not just because of the new animation. The characters are growing up and maturing. We can't expect them to stay the same forever, and when the characters evolve so too do their relationships. There is absolutely nothing wrong with platonic LadyNoir. Adrinette dating, yes, even with the secrets, is not toxic or wrong or bad or in need of fixing. And cheating, even if they are at a technical level, still romancing each other, is a really weird and high key gross thing to want. Because we know they're the same people but they don't. Because they don't exist in a vacuum, and especially after the events of the special/s5 why the absolute hell would they cheat?

SPOILERS FOR THE LONDON SPECIAL

Adrien lost his dad and is grappling with the fact that he wasn't there to stop it. He's going to cling to everyone he has left in his life, and that includes especially his girlfriend who he literally sprinted to see. Adrien, who stepped off the train with red, puffy eyes into the arms of someone he sees as a mother figure and still teared up because of how heartbroken he was but who immediately smiled and lit up the moment he saw his girlfriend, is really gonna cheat with the girl who rejected him for literal months? While he still actively blames himself for not being there to help her in the final battle? Nothing gets the party going like immense trauma, I guess???? Definitely puts me in the mood 🙄

If this special proved anything to me, it's that Adrinette isn't going anywhere any time soon. Marinette was literally planning to sacrifice herself if she had to so he could be happy. From her pov, she is protecting him by keeping the truth from him, and regardless of how you personally feel about that choice, she is doing it because she loves him and doesn't want him to have to digest the fact that his father was a literal terrorist while at the same time digesting the fact that he's an orphan. And in more ways than one, it's because of his existence that both of his parents are dead now, even if it was their choice and Adrien himself didn't do anything directly.

Marinette is willing to sacrifice anything and everything for him to keep him safe and happy. Yes, the secret is going to be a plot point for the love square, but I feel like it's going to have the opposite effect than most people expect in the long run. Marinette herself said the secret lives with Ladybug, which tells me she's going to carry on as Marinette with him as if everything Ladybug said is true. She may question her decision the entire time, but she at her core, doesn't want to hurt him. And I think that intent is and is going to be very important moving forward through this plot.

And I think the fandom as a collective, but especially people who just really don't get it, need to accept that things have changed and the show, characters, and dynamics we have come to know and love are different now. And that's okay. Just because Adrinette is together and the dynamics are different now does not mean we can't still enjoy the other sides. It doesn't automatically make things boring or perfect or without conflict. And it's possible to have conflict in two characters who are romantically involved without having either of them cheat or having them break up. They can weather conflicts together and strengthen their relationship, and to me, that is more satisfying than 5 more seasons of will-they-wont-they. They did. And we need to accept it.

[trainsinanime]

I've been putting this off for a long time because I fear it might attract the salty folks, which I absolutely don't want. But I figure I might say it anyway:

Adrinette in season 5 is weird as hell.

Season 5 starts really interesting. Ladybug is falling for Chat Noir! Adrien is falling for Marinette! Lady Noire is extremely confused! Marichat happens, kisses twice, and then immediately splits up again for heroic reasons! And then, the big point: The Kwamis leave, briefly, and Adrinette get closer…

…and they're now just plain dating. The trick to getting them together was just to wait until Adrien asked her out first, and that's it.

Well, okay, but what next? They're both still superheroes, there are still all these complicated feelings between Ladynoir. Adrien and Marinette can't be together without the reveal, everybody knows that, right? So surely, Ladynoir will become a problem for Adrinette, or something along these lines.

But no. Instead the problems of our new couple is that they can't figure out how to say "I love you" or kiss, or problems involving their friends, enemies and frenemies, like Kagami, Felix, Zoé, Kim and Chloé. Ladynoir is just plain platonic now, and that's it. Kissy-kissy meow-meow? Been there, done that, not a factor anymore. That's weird, right?

And I'm not trying to knock the second half of season 5 here at all, I had a lot of fun with it, and a lot of the episodes were really nice! Even though the swimming pool one answered questions that actually weren't questions in ways that didn't really make sense once you think about it, but that's a different issue.

So if you see people going, "I hope Adrinette break up in season 6", that's what they—we—mean. I'm all for Adrinette, but I want to see them work for it, and I want them to have a reveal, eventually, that is meaningful and changes their relationship, like it should.

[xhanisai]

Ooo elaborate on Felix crushing on Marinette (unrequited) pls

Heheh...

Honestly, it mainly stemmed from the fact that I wanted evil people to be crushing on Marinette. Especially since we had both Chloe and Lila (and at one point Kagami before she befriended Marinette) go after Adrien. I wanted Adrien to go up against evil people who were going after Marinette's/Ladybug's heart because it would have been DELICIOUS.

Sure, we had Adrien almost kill Kim in episode Derision for what he did to Marinette but Kim is a dumbass and not necessarily evil nor malicious.

But ANYWAYS.

I believe we should have had Felix crushing on Marinette and I would have loved to have seen an overprotective Adrien trying to shield her away from him, especially with how he caused nothing but trouble in his debut. It would have also been nice to see adrinette influence Felix to change for the better-- OR FOR THE WORSE LMAO.

Either way, it's just a fun wish I had. I do enjoy one-sided romance when it's done according to my tastes.

I also enjoy him and Marinette having a platonic rivalry-like relationship! I like to envision him third-wheeling adrinette dates and just being a menace.