#tldr people calling for cheating are butthurt losers

[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.