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captainn-hook · 18 days

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Character analysis on Prince Sidon (BOTW vs TOTK)

One thing I love about totk is how the game addresses Sidon’s trauma.

In botw you see how desperate he is for his father’s approval, it’s like Mipha set an impossible standard for dying not only for her domain and her people but for the whole kingdom of Hyrule. In their father’s eyes, she’s the perfect child, not only in personality but also in the way she’s honoured her family. Sidon sees how his father thinks of her, and although the king doesn’t do it consciously, he always put her on an impossibly high pedestal, and Sidon grew up believing that he HAD to meet that expectation, and that he would never, no matter how hard he tried.

When Link tames Vah Ruta and they both go to see the king, he tells his son:

“As your father, I am proud of you for fighting the Divine Beast alongside Link. You have grown much recently. I know you will be a worthy heir when your time comes.”

Then Sidon bows his head, as if he’s overcome with emotions because his dad tells him he’s proud of what he’s accomplished. King Dorephan isn’t a bad guy, don’t get me wrong, but the grief of losing his daughter (in this case, he thought she went missing and had been in the DB for 100 years, he didn’t know she died) made him sort of lose sight of Sidon’s achievements in those 100 years because he was so racked with worry and guilt. So although the king isn’t a bad father, he fails to reassure his son that he doesn’t need to do anything to make him proud (even though Sidon had definitely done stuff to make his dad proud over the years).

(Btw im pretty sure tripple digits in age is considered teens or early adulthood for Zora, so he’s still pretty young, I imagine around Link’s age if he were Hylian)

But that’s about all we get in botw.

So now we move on to totk. And oh boy do we get a load of Sidon angst. Some people might disagree with me but having read between the lines of what Lady Yona talked about (and just WHAT she actually said) in the first half of the water temple quest (before we find it, when we’re up in Mipha court), it really is angsty.

She’s aware of the fact that his sister’s death affected him a lot and still does despite knowing that her spirit moved on, and it (at this point) has started to affect their relationship.

Yona and Sidon have a disagreement before/after the battle with the Sludge Like, where they argue about him going with Link to this pillar of light that has suddenly appeared. It starts with Sidon saying: “Lady Yona! It is far too dangerous for you to be here” in reference to the sludge, but she has none of that.

She tells him that she wants him to go to the pillar with Link, and that: “For a long time, I have been concerned that you are holding yourself back and not acting as freely as I would have expected.” This has some credit because it’s mentioned somewhere how they were both childhood friends, and the Zora live long lives so it’s safe to assume their childhood is prolonged, which means that they’ve known each other for a very long time. Yona knows how he acts and behaves, his mannerisms and his fears, and that’s why she wants to push him to face them.

She tells him that if he goes with Link they’ll be able to overcome this problem, but he hesitates. She notices, asking him what is troubling him, and he hesitates again to speak what’s on his mind. This is when the Sludge Like comes in, and after the battle, the conversation continues.

Sidon hurries back to Yona and says: “Thank goodness. Lady Yona, if something had happened to you... I...” and there’s where it becomes clear just how terrified he is of losing her. He doesn’t finish the sentence, though, he changes the subject and tells her that she should go back to the domain in case more monsters show up. She tells him that he should focus on what Link said and that he can leave the court to them (Yona and the others that came with her). Sidon replies with: “W-well... Of course it would be best for me to accompany him. However, I cannot leave you alone in this dangerous place!” He’s ignoring what’s best and instead focusing on the safety of his betrothed, because of course he would! A monster just showed up and it took both Link and Sidon to take it down, imagine if neither of them were with her, what would happen? What would he do if she got hurt? And then the following dialogue happens (you dont need to read the whole thing, you can just skip to the bold parts):

Yona: “Did you not entrust this task to us already? We will not be on our own for long. We shall be just fine.”

Sidon: “But…”

Yona: “Sidon, my darling... I truly appreciate that you worry so for my safety. It speaks to the kindness in your heart.

But you are the prince of the Zora. One day, you will lead the people of your beloved domain.

I can see right through you, whether you want me to or not. You are yielding to the fear of losing someone you love again.

You must overcome your past and face whatever the future holds with courage.”

Sidon: “But... I...”

Yona: “Enough is enough! You are not acting like yourself! You must leave this place to me!

Sweet Sidon... Do not get lost in the past. You must keep moving ever onward. Just follow your heart, as you always do!”

Sidon: “Like my old self... Like I always do...”

Yona: “It is all right. I swear it. I am not going anywhere.”

Sidon: “I see... And there it is, clear as day... I was giving in to my fear of once more losing someone I love... I… I…

You are right, Yona! I will not give in to this fear! Nor forsake my trust in you! I leave this place to you, my love.”

[skip]

Yona: “All this time he was clinging to regret over being unable to save his precious sister, Mipha... My poor, tormented Sidon.

And to think he was unknowingly paralyzed from taking action because he feared losing me as well...

Yet he has overcome this trial and placed his faith in me. At last, the Sidon I know and love has come back to me.”

During this conversation, Sidon hesitates more than once and you can see it starting to irritate Yona because she knows the potential he doesn’t see in himself, because it’s not just fear of losing a loved one, but it’s his own insecurity from not being able to save Mipha.

He doesn’t care that he was very young and wouldn’t have been able to anyway, he just cares that he couldn’t. In his eyes, he failed to save his sister. And I’m not going to go too deep into this point but it’s clear that she was playing both older sister and mother, because we can assume their mother died a while back (she’s never mentioned and it’s just the two of them and their father even as far back as age of calamity if you want to include that).

What I’m saying is that with technically both the loss of his mother and his sister, it’s safe to assume that he feels some sort of responsibility for not being able to help, even if he was too young to do so, his disregard for the age he was at the time shows how much weight was left on his shoulders after Mipha died.

He never expected to be the heir to the throne, the sole survivor of his family (along with his dad), sure he’s a prince and princes have responsibility, but Mipha was always going to be in the spotlight (not that I’d imagine him jealous of this, it’s simply just a fact, and I think he might have actually even been comfortable with that), she was always going to be the Zora Champion and then Queen one day, so to have all of that suddenly dumped on him after the calamity as a literal kid would’ve undoubtedly had its effect on him.

Yona understands this, she tells Link, knowing he’s probably caught on, how he was “clinging to regret over being unable to save his precious sister, Mipha...”.

She has to reassure her love that she’s okay. “It is all right. I swear it. I am not going anywhere.”, she comforts him because she knows he needs it, he needs her to say it to him because that’s the only way he will believe she is in fact okay.

But his character develops. Sidon realises that in fearing for Yona, he has made her feel as if she isn’t trusted. He recognises the position he’s put them both in, him worrying relentlessly and stressing out about his loved ones because of his trauma, and her having to watch him fall down this never ending rabbit hole and being unable to do much about it because all he tries to do is shelter and protect her, even when it’s unnecessary.

But she does what she can anyway, and it pays off, because he comes back to reality and understands that although there will always be the risk of losing her, he knows that she is more than capable of taking care of herself. He knows of her strength, it was just hard for him to see the situation from her point of view. But she pushes him to do so, and he betters himself for her.

I think he’ll always have some small hint of this trauma response hidden away, but after this discussion, he’s got a firm hold on it, and is willing to control his fears for the love of his life so that they can start to build a life together without the sense of utter doom and despair over his past looming over them both.

I’m glad the writers did this, and didn’t just make them seem like this perfect couple with no issues, it shows a real and healthy relationship, and it shows that Sidon isn’t this perfect person and that he indeed has faults of his own.

That’s my take on it, anyway.

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familyagrestefanblog · 11 months

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The importance of Marinette complimenting Mister Bug's eyes in "Passion", and regarding Marinette's love for Chat Noir from 5x07 to 5x12

I honestly have to say I genuinely, truly dislike how this moment is perceived as "Lady Noire hilariously catcalling Mister Bug because Marinette is so insanely thirsty for him" by the majority of the Fandom. That is the furthest thing from what I see in Marinette’s intentions here.

I personally view this as Marinette realizing on the rooftop that this is now only the SECOND time that she's able to possibly see what Chat Noir's actual eyes look like and therefore she took the chance to comment on that, which merely came out as too directly and that made it awkward.

The following is not really what the rest of the post will be about underneath "Read more", but I just need to talk about this detail and it's implications because it's driving me crazy. It is part of the main points and the overal post's theme of Marinette's love though and will lead right into it while providing more context for it, so don't worry. Also, head-up, I had to get creative here and there to work around the 30 images limitation. I did not think that would get so complicated at times lol So, long post ahead x3

Unfortunately, the way this moment is shot in the end leaves out a crucial aspect of it and I don't understand WHY they did that:

When you watch this moment in normal speed and without being able to pause it then it looks like Adrien is reacting so uncomfortably/ irritated either only because Lady Noire is not moving and keeps looking at him OR because she IS doing something (negatively) he's uncomfortable with/ irritated by and we merely don't get to see it.

Also Adrien's head being placed in the upper right corner when he's alone on screen basically forces you to look at him next when the camera pans out, which means you are absolutely gonna miss where Lady Noire was before she quickly stands up.

And that's the thing:

THIS is what Adrien was reacting to. Instead of standing up to go into battle with him Lady Noire dreamily leaned forwards a solid bit to look at him more. But most importantly, especially regarding the "catcalling" line, Marinette is leaning forwards to see Mister Bug's FACE. His REAL eyes. You know, the part of his appearance she just complimented him for.

Looking into someone's eyes is the LEAST objectifying thing you could possibly do. In fact, other pieces of media deliberately utilize this method in scenes where a woman purposefully sexualizes herself and flirts with a man (for one reason or another, y'all know the trope) so the show/movie etc can showcase that the man is "not like the other men" and doesn't see her merely for her physical beauty by having him only look into her eyes.

It is BAFFLING to me that the show went out of its way to HIDE the actual reason for why Adrien is reacting like he does because by never letting us see that Marinette only leaned forwards because she wanted to she Chat Noir's real eyes and then got distracted by them and him, it really does Marinette no favor at all.

What she did in this moment was incredibly cute and wholesome and it's a shame the episode didn't used the wide shot earlier so the audience can properly put into perspective that, while Adrien's discomfort/irritation is valid because he is not at all used to Ladybug behaving like this towards him and doesn't know what to make of it or how to read it, WE at the very least would immediately know that Marinette did NOT just do something bad here that truly deserved such a reaction. But the way the episode basically hides that Marinette moved at all and HOW is giving room for understandable bad readings which in turn can be twisted into sexist double standards in both directions.

And I don't like that. I don't like it at all.

Because when you look at the overall situation and how Marinette now sees Chat Noir and so many things about him by the time of season 5, there are so MANY reasons for why her pointing out his eyes not only is incredibly wholesome, it also makes perfect sense WHY it's his eyes she points out and WHY this little compliment is actually very VERY meaningful in the wider context of how Marinette's love for Chat Noir develops in season 5:

With one exception, she has up until now only ever seen her partner as Chat Noir or in a miraculous unification that included the Black Cat miraculous, so he was never without the Green Cat eyes she knows him with. Never except for the one time in "Reflectdoll" where she didn't took notice of it and then it didn't happen again.

That one time she let go by without appreciating it because she probably didn't even pick up that there was something special she missed because for all it is nothing too much changed. Adrien still has green eyes and his regular blond Chat hair as Mister Bug.

But that is actually the point, in that her point of view changed.

By the time "Passion" comes around in season 5 Marinette let's herself embrace her feelings for Chat Noir and REALLY regrets having pushed him so far away until the end of s4, and yet she still has not a single clue if even any of the physical features she normally associates him with truly reflect his civilian apparence. She knows NOTHING.

Which while it absolutely does NOT in any way excuse her almost turning into his enemy in "Elation" to demask him as akuma bc he didn't wanted to be with her as Marinette anymore or her being.. VERY hypocritically upset about him "keeping secrets":

It does in my opinion at least give a very understandable reason for why Marinette spiraled down so hard as she did until it all escalated in "Elation" and blew up; and why she then snapped back to put full effort into platonic love with Chat Noir in "Perfection":

Her ending up in a massive emotional extreme in "Elation" where by the time the date happens she.. well, basically completely stops acting in anyway in Chat's interest too so he isn't hurt or forced into something he doesn't want (her knowing he has no idea that she's Ladybug), her then giving up her earrings in "Kwamis Choice" and from then on not acting on her previous crush on him anymore, does come across as rough and kinda as her merely rebounding on him, but frankly, no, it is NOT at all "proof" that Marinette's love for her partner is not and was never genuine.

in "Passion" her love for him really is still pure but by "Elation" Marinette had to accept that 1) Chat Noir doesn't want to love her anymore, and 2) she isn't what he needs. He needs a (romantic) partner who is with him as civilian because it MATTERS absolutely who is underneath the mask MARINETTE:

The way the show handles Marinette's crush on Chat Noir in how "Elation" turns out in near the end through the emotional extremes, and all of that then leading into "Kwamis Choice" is.. we all know that it wasn't good for both parties, so I'll leave it at that.

"Elation" leads into one serious low for Marinette and in it comes Adrien to help her, which from then onwards has Marinette find the love and happiness she was really looking for. But the fact that Marinette then found her happiness and love with "someone else" and not Chat doesn't mean that her feelings for him were never real and that she in all of this never truly hoped for him to find his love and happiness too:

And that is were we go on from "Perfection" onwards. Marinette's love isn't meaningless rebounding and we didn't get here for no reason. Marinette's emotional extreme that escalated so hard was neither irrational selfishness nor was it justified blamelessness.

It was rooted in her genuine feelings for her partner, her fear of hurting him further, loosing him and her wanting the both of them to get closer, be bigger parts of each others lives after everything that happened in s4 and just be happy.

You know, the happiness that Adrien as Chat explicitly named towards Ladybug in "Passion" when they exchanged their miraculous' and he very openly asked her why they cant make a wish themselves to finally put the fighting behind them. And Marinette in turn treated her partner's feelings and ask for help with all the seriousness and care he deserved.

Marinette too wanted this for the BOTH OF THEM. And what set this off so badly by this point no doubt was her trauma copying mechanism of having to know everything about the person she loves to keep herself save, cause that clashes BADLY and in several ways with her realizing for good that she knows very little about Chate for sure. Not even how he actually looks like.

As if Marinette by now doesn't know exactly that a miraculous transformation can changed most of a person's appearance. She knows who every Miraculous holder in her team is and where this already occurs - most importantly Alya as Rena Furtive-

but of course we also have the obvious cases of Hawkmoth, Mayura and now Argos too where it's to be expected that they massively changed their appearance to hide their identities.

Plus, Marinette's own eyes and even CatWalker's that one time are the same as Chat Noir's (which are by default actually Plagg's eyes) and Zoe having the Tiger eyes (for some reason?) as Kitty Noire really would put it into perspective for Marinette that she actually doesn't know anything about her partner's appearance for sure.

Cause apparently the Black Cat miraculous automatically gives you Plagg's green cat eyes or let's you take on Roaar's Tiger eyes if you wanna spice it up.

And let's add the fact that Chat Noir has blond hair, CatWalker's were green and now Marinette saw that Kitty Noire had blonde hair with green highlights; while Kitty and herself as Lady Noire also have a leather outfit and CatWalker shared Chat Noir's chivalry tendencies and turned them up to an eleven & every single Black Cat miraculous holder (including Marinette herself now) has depicted the same flirty and or romantic tendencies for the Ladybug miraculous holder.

Man, at this point I would not at all doubt it if Marinette were to genuinely question if the things she always thought she knew about Chat Noir are actually truly like him as civilian at all. She has no real reverence to ANYTHING. The only Black Cat miraculous holder Marinette knows the identity of is herself but even she is very well aware that she is acting even more "unhinged" as she already did.

So yeah, tell me what is there NOT to appreciate for Marinette in "Passion" about seeing Mister Bug again?

In "Reflectdoll" she most likely didn't even notice that she just received confirmations about a few things she already assumed about Chat's appearance and therefore took it there for granted. But now in s5 it turned into a case of "Phew, I DO actually know the most BASIC things about Chat Noir. I'm so GLAD!"

The Ladybug miraculous on itself up til now (Monarque Bug doesn't count that's a unification) has always keep the holders normal eye color and even if Alya as Scarabella changed her hair style, her hair color stayed the same. If anything it merely got a bit more vibrant.

Meaning that Mister Bug IS the only possible reference Marinette has to draw some conclusions on how Chat would actually look like as civilian. And secret identitiy be damned, at this point I would want to have at least SOME clarity too.

Which btw, yes, this means Alya's statement in "Elation" was correct:

Just because Marinette says otherwise doesn't it mean that her behavoir also reflects that all the time, and when it does, it doesn't mean that Marinette is morally anywhere close to RIGHT.

Anyway. She may still not know for sure if Mister Bug's appearance can truly clue her in on how Chat looks like as a civilian but at least through seeing Mister Bug again Marinette had the opportunity to put things into new perspective and narrow down the chances.

Marinette now knows for example that even if Chat Noir's hair doesn't exactly look like this civilian hair style-wise, his blond hair does have to be/ most likely is an accurate reflection of his real hair.

Plus, another VERY nice detail in my opinion: Marinette may know through especially Alya as Scarabella (but also through alot of other miraculous transformations) that the hair styles can differ from their civilian counterpart, but the fact that the boy behind the mask chose the same hair style as he always wears as Chat Noir does tell Marinette that the hair she associates him with is the hair style he personally prefers the most because he always comes back to it over and over again without fail.

That IS information about him (as it also provides information for us the viewers that unlike Félix for example, Adrien genuinely LIKES to have his civilian hair more messy and would probably prefer to go even a bit further but knows better and remains in the middle about it) and in my opinion, it's very wholesome that Marinette now got a confirmation that she knows how her partner prefers to do his hair. Idk, I find that cute <3

And of course the aspect Marinette herself puts the most emphasis on because, duh, eyes are the doors to a person's soul:

I don't know about you, but I personally cannot see any thirsty "catcalling" intentions in Lady Noirs compliment. Even if she voiced it too bluntly and it therefore got a bit awkward.

Wouldn't YOU be happy to finally get as close to a non-verbal and non-reveal confirmation as possible that you indeed were always right about what you assumed your dear friend's (for whom you also have feelings for) EYES look like?

Isn't it rather SAD that this is something Marinette felt the need to point out and compliment him for, one year into their partnership?

Cause can you imagine how much it would have hit Marinette in the face if suddenly Mister Bug showed up the second time and out of nowhere he had brown eyes? Sure, it probably would have stung too if he suddenly had brown hair, but especially with a miraculous transformation that is a secondary priority.

Why WOULDN'T Marinette be gleaming and starring happily while commenting how the red outfit makes his eyes stand out? Thats literally the truth! The Mister Bug suit is the only one she has ever seen her partner wear that make his eyes stand out FOR HER. Chat Noir's regular transformation magic Cat eyes are just that for her, the regular Transformation Cat eyes she associates with him. Adrien's real eyes are the RARITY here.

And seemingly, Marinette realized this by the time they reached the rooftop and this second chance to make up for her obliviousness in "Reflectdoll" very clearly meant alot to her because if there is one thing I learned about Marinette's body language it's that if she can't or has trouble looking a person (especially Chat Noir and Adrien) into their eyes she either feels bad about something or for what she is currently doing.

Marinette's eyes give her feelings away more often than not, even if she isn't ready to voice them out loud or face her mistake:

(I still find it remarkable how people are seemingly not picking up on how hard Marinette is projecting her guilt towards Chat Noir onto Kagami where most of it is badly missplaced and therefore caused the same problems as in the Ladynoir conflict [same with Luka in "Migration" but elaborating on that would implode this post that already starts lagging while writing and editing lol Kagami and "Perfection" are much more important imo]. So Marinette's/ Ladybug's dialogue that episode, especially around Chat Noir, more often than not very clearly doubles to appliy to both Kagami AND Chat. How else was especially the way Ladybug just pours her heart out about and TOWARDS Kagami/ Kagami's akuma form - who can't hear her ANYWAY - supposed to check out secret identity wise if the episode wasn't written in a way where Adrien understands that Ladybug is opening up about her s4 guilt towards him after they both left in "Kwamis Choice"? Like, the episode and Marinette's behavior, words and fears around Kagami don't make alot of sense in the intensity Marinette is displaying if you don't apply Ladynoir to it:

Sure, there is the obvious Chloè influence here, but Marinette's fear of her dear - but very blunt - friend she treated badly in the past calling her out and mocking her for not being able to face her love for Adrien and TALK when she basically got it served to her on a silver platter? [notice how without a pronoun you don't even know for sure if I just talked about Kagami or Chat. Hint: it's both.] And Marinette feeling extremely guilty about what Kagami had to put up with at the ugly end of her and Adrien’s love after Marinette treated her not exactly kindly until "Ikari Gozen" so she doesn't want to talk to Kagami at all until Marinette figures everything out?

Yeah, nah, this is clear-cut Marinette projecting her insecurities regarding Chat Noir onto Kagami. Kagami’s bluntness is what she fears from her and also from Chat - because she's doing the same hurtful communication inablility again with Adrien (or the boy she told Chat about in season 2, who she is in love with. Hence why the rebounding is hurtful bc Adrien knows that Ladybug loves someone else but is BAD at facing her feelings, so he's aware that she redirected her love to HIM as Chat because that's easier. Sorry, but that's what happened.) when it's very important, but she doesn't want Chat to know that [he knows though lol]- and combined with the similarities between Kagami and Chat Noir for Marinette in their history with her regarding treatment, love life [and an abusive/ bad home, which Marinette absolutely picked up on by now regarding Chat Noir, which is yet another thing “Passion” silently showcased aplenty, but that’s a topic for another post] yeah, Kagami ended up being the prime ‘target’ of having Marinette project all her CN insecurities on, which then escalated the situation in the Kagaminette friendship in a similar way Ladynoir did in s4.

That's straight up almost the entire episode.

You can't just say "That's Marinette's trauma talking" about everything and leave it at that. Trauma isn't irrational. If a traumatized person "overreacts" to something and it genuinely doesn't fit well at all to the situation at hand [like with Kagami] than that's because your emotional trauma is hooking itself onto a dynamic/ person similar enough as an outlet to deal with said emotions when you can't or don't want to channel your emotions at the person it is rooted in [for good or bad reasons]. Trauma on it's own is NEVER irrational and when it comes across that way that means the other person either IS doing something bad to you [intentionally or not] which merely doesnt look like that to other people from the outside, or your own trauma is misdireting itself to something/ someone else that shows a similar pattern that make your alarm bells go off)

So if Marinette struggling to look someone she hold dear in the eyes means she has hidden guilt, then the opposite applies for when she looks them (but particularly Chat Noir after season 4) deep into their eyes and holds the eye contact:

The key to Marinette's guilt and genuineness concerning vunerable topics is hidden in her eyes, if she dares to look and if yes, then how deeply, how long and how open to said vunerablity is she? Cause Marinette can, will and absolutely HAS dealt with emotionally important and vunerable topics while she herself didnt actually let it reach her own vunerable core and remained on defense.

So explain to me again what exactly was shallow and inconcidered catcalling about this moment:

Yeah, that's what I thought.

---

Oh. And do me a favor, will you?

Everything I just said, that it is understandable for Marinette to feel desperate at this point to know.. well, ANYTHING about Chat Noir as civilian because she loves him so much and he means so much to her - and especially her who has sworn in the past to know absolutely EVERYTHING about the person she loves to feel save falling in love - and at this point so many informations around them clash with each other that it would take away any certainty Marinette has about what she always thought she knew and liked about Chat Noir?

All of that and so much more I mentioned? Yeah, let's stop cherry-picking through double standards for a second and apply all of that good-will and understanding for Marinette literally even going so far and being willing to turn into Chat's ENEMY to demask him, get to know him and get his love and apply just HALF of that to Adrien.

And I'm not asking you to do that for no reason. Cause if you do that then

Voilà:

You also get your actual reason for why Marinette said this at the end of "Passion".

Cause this isn't just Marinette romanticizing Chat Noir seemingly being able to flawlessly do for her now what she herself has unsuccessfully tried putting her self through with Adrien two times already - entirely stop acting like she loves him to the point where Adrien or anyone else wouldnt pick up on any absolutely still existing feeling in her anymore. All so she isnt distracted or tempted anymore to do any kind of bad choices for romantical or emotional reasons -,

Nope

Cause this questionable moment at the end of "Passion" IS Marinette massively appreciating how strong her partner is. Even if she isn't properly there yet morally-wise.

Marinette's crush on Chat Noir is on full display from episode 6 til 9 and in these 4 episodes she is literally going further and spiraling down harder than Adrien ever did for Ladybug in 4 seasons. This questionable moment is later payed off by THIS in "Perfection":

At the end of "Passion" that was Marinette gushing over how Chat Noir is emotionally strong enough to not only pull something off she herself knows she could never do - fully stop acting like she love Adrien for the greater good - it's also her gushing over him BECAUSE she knows exactly that by the end of season 4 Marinette as Ladybug pretty much reduced the Ladynoir partnership and friendship down to "Chat Noir I want you around but don't ask anything of me, don't expect me to tell you anything or that you have any voice or status in my team besides being my favorite minion and MY emotional support."

Cool that YOU don't agree that that's bad, but Marinette herself is literally gushing and squealing in "Passion" while being in hard-core denial that her partner has actually already moved on from her (as she said he has to do) because she doesn't want to face the reality that it wasn't only bad, it was BAD and now Chat is trying to protect his heart while still wanting to be with her as friends but she was making that..really difficult for him:

It was a necessary development from episode 6 til 9 that Adrien as Chat Noir learned to assert himself against Marinette / Ladybug and reject her too and actually have it stick even if she is sad, because Marinette herself is indeed aware now how MUCH she asked of her partner to put up with, go through for her and to what little amount of certainty about anything around them and her - whom he loves/loved dearly and with all his heart - he had to settle and adjust to with no choice in the matter bc she didn't let him have any choices

(I swear, if you make all of the season 4 Ladynoir conflict out to be "just" about Adrien's LOVE for Ladybug and completely ignore how much her friendship and companionship means to Adrien I will break into your house at night time and eat your broomstick right in front of you while keeping eye contact. And I promise you, we are both not gonna get out of that one without receiving psychological damage)

Minimize and disregard it however you want. MARINETTE is at least emotionally fully aware of what she did and knows she - who has/ had to know everything about her crush and control as much as possible with barely any compromises - could not have gone through what she asked of Chat Noir while also leaving him all isolated. Which, again, is something she knows she couldn't do because she literally brought Alya/ Rena in fully on his expense while keeping it a secret (and 14 other team mates, bc that was oh so vitally necessary).

The difference between the end moment of "Passion" and the beginning of "Perfection" is that in the later Marinette is past her denial that her asking so much of him she couldn't go through herself actually caused him pain and that is costed him so much emotionally that it did leave him wanting to protect his heart from Ladybug romance-wise and look for his own happiness and love somewhere else for his own sake.

And for the record since I mentioned it earlier: Yes, Adrien noticed the entire time that Ladybug flirted with him ever since "Determination", how is this still a hot take? The development hardly makes any sense if he was just too oblivious to breath. Besides, the entire time Ladybug making a move on Chat Noir always resulted in him running and pulling away from her and Adrien making himself take the next steps in facing his love for Marinette and persue her. No, that wasn't a mere coincidence for like 7 episodes in a row. Gosh...

All of this is literally pay-off for season 4. Marinette's love for Chat Noir coming to light and compensating for her regrets for their partnership, friendship and especially romance-wise; him rejecting her too and persuing civilian Marinette as Adrien and Adrinette finding a healthy love while Ladynoir gets comfortable around each other again.

What have y'all been watching?

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