I really cannot understand this fandom. One half of it has been complaining about Adrien's "just a friend” thing for 7 years, while the other half has been proving that friendship and platonic relationships are in no way worse than romance. But somehow this all has flown out of the window as soon as we got romantic pre-reveal Adrienette and platonic Ladynoir.

It's become increasingly obvious to me that some people in this fandom never truly understood the love square. The outrage I've seen operates as if they are separate people, but they're not. The "true selves" mindset is still a bullshit way to make one side seem better than all the rest and isn't rooted in canon no matter how many mental gymnastics people do to justify it. I mean how many times does canon have to say that they are the same people with or without the mask before it sticks for some people and they understand that the love square is ONE SHIP with 4 unique dynamics as a result of secrets. That has always been its appeal. If I see another "the love square is dead bc adrinette is canon now" post I'm gonna scream. The love square as a set of 4 dynamics comprising one ship isn't dead just because one side got together. There has always been platonic dynamics in the square, and saying the other sides are "dead" just because they're platonic is just evidence that people don't know how the square works. The only thing that will ever dissolve the love square is a reveal because that is the only reason we have the love square in the first place. If the kids always knew their identities, we wouldn't have had it. So as long as they don't know their secret identities, the love square dynamics still exist, they are just different now. Something finally changed and development happened, and now people are mad because it wasn't the side they wanted? As if the development of all sides aren't linked and one day going to morph into a unique post reveal dynamic that takes from each side? I mean, it's not like one side hates each other, damn. All sides are pretty much good with each other at this point.

As I've said numerous times, the Adrinette development needed to happen this season. Clearly, or they wouldn't have done it. Marinette's issues stemmed from loving Adrien, so the only way for her to work through them so they can have a healthy post reveal dynamic is for her and Adrien to work through their romantic issues together as a couple. She has no qualms being his friend. All of her stammering and fumbling was always linked to love. The panic she has felt around him this season was linked to love. And I'm glad they're addressing it and finally helping her become comfortable around him. That development is long overdue. Them dating is a good thing, some people in the fandom just never quite grasped the concept that they're all the same people, so they made up this version of canon in their heads where their favorite side was the star of the show and most correct while the rest were just for show. There is no "most correct" side, even with one of them dating. That mindset is reductive and stems from lack of understanding of the characters and their relationship. Even as an Adrinette stan, I'm not saying Adrinette is better than the other sides bc they're the side that has stuck romantically. All of the sides are important and have offered important key development for the ship as a whole. Adrinette couldn't have gotten where it is today without the other 3 sides and vice versa. All of the development is for the benefit of the post reveal dynamic. That is what this show has been building to since day 1.

Honestly, some people in this fandom love showing their ass too much. As someone who has actually watched all of the released eps, the plot this season is actually the best we've had. The development is great and believable (for the most part), the adrinette is simultaneously the sweetest and most angsty shit I've seen in canon thus far. I haven't enjoyed the show this much since s1, yall. Some people just don't value friendship/platonic dynamics and view them as lesser than romantic ones, and it shows. There's no reason to be outraged by the other sides being platonic while one side is dating unless they view platonic relationships as being lesser than romantic ones. It isn't a race, nor a competition, and platonic relationships have just as much value to add as the romantic. They are building to a full completed square where all of the sides dissolve into one dynamic that will be an amalgamation of all sides. Idk why that is hard to understand. RIP to everyone else, but I'm different I guess. 💅