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boysplanetrecaps · 5 months

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The Great Produce 48 Rewatch: Ep 2, Signal Song [Part 1]

In my previous post in this silly yet necessary project, we finished off the auditions, including the ones that weren't aired on MNET. It's time for the girls to move into their dorms and start practicing for their upcoming large-group performance to your favorite song and mine, Nekkoya! Let's do it.

In this second phase of the Produce 48 series, the 96 trainees (well, 94 -- 2 of them dropped out already) are asked to learn the lyrics, tune, and choreography of a song then get one chance to perform it in front of a video camera for their final grade. Did I mention that they have to learn the lyrics in both Korean and Japanese? Also, per AleXa in her interview with Grazy Grace, they had about a day and a half to learn the choreography and lyrics in both Korean and Japanese, and this was the very next day after they filmed the auditions for about 24 straight hours. Seems… like a bad idea. But what do I know?

So, the signal song is called Pick Me aka Nekkoya. The only signal song from any of the Produce series that I actually like is Nayana from Broduce101 -- I remember hearing it playing at Cafe Bene in K-town and just liking it without knowing what it was. But I’m not wild about Nekkoya, even if it is marginally better than Pick Me from Season 1. (I mean, “oh won’t you pick me up?” is the worst, ugh). I do enjoy the fact that Nekkoya sounds extra funny to the Japanese girls, because “neko” is the Japanese word for cat. You’d think that someone would have noticed that already…?

The girls are told that they’ll get to perform on MNET countdown. They’re so happy, despite the obvious fact that most of them aren’t going to get any camera time. They’re probably just giddy from lack of sleep. As in previous years, those in higher ranked groups will get more screen time -- but it’s even worse this year than in previous years, because rather than having the Bs and Cs flanking the As, they’ll all be stacked behind each other, so that it will probably be impossible to see even the members of the B group, much less the Ds.

The diagram at the top of the post shows the F ranked girls at the very back, but actually they won’t even be allowed on stage. The F-ranked girls, the majority of whom are Japanese, are heartbroken, notably the fashion challenged Mogi Shinobu in her blue furry sleeves. This girl is like a living meme.

We stan a relatable queen.

The judges remind them that all the grades will be reassigned, and that only someone from group A can be in the overall center, a very desirable position. I genuinely don’t remember who gets chosen, but it also seems obvious that it’s going to be 🌸Sakura🌸….?

Dorm Move In

The girls move in to their dorm room and find color-coded t-shirts waiting for them. I feel like I can feel the texture of these t-shirts through the screen. You know, those t-shirts that feel like steel wool and hang off you like a burlap sack? But despite being a full centimeter thick they somehow are also see-through and show the outlines of your bra? No thank you.

Miru is happy, but I think she is always happy. Honestly, I’m jealous.

Many of the girls like the colors, but the A girls are especially excited by their shirts, which feature a glittery A on a light pink background. Gyrui, the member of Fromis-9 who rocked a side-pony in her audition, is a bit salty that some of her roommates have pink shirts while she has to make due with orange.

Meanwhile, the F-ranked girls get gray, just to make sure they feel as bad as possible about their situation. SUFFER, the producers seem to be saying. SUFFER FOR YOUR DEFICIENCIES.

Suffer more, Ichikawa Manami! Your performance in What’s Your Name means you don’t deserve such a thing as “color”!

The F-ranked girls are joking that at least the F is on the back so they don’t have to see it themselves (unless they turn around really really fast). Goto Moe, who mysteriously seems to have completely recovered her voice, finds a white shirt she plans to wear instead. Doesn’t seem like a good idea, Moe.

Some of the girls find rules posted in their rooms. The rules, as translated by Google translate via my phone camera:

Adhere to the class schedule

Maintain cleanliness of accommodation and practice rooms.

Do not make noise while going to bed.

No unnecessary physical contact.

Compliance with writing a practice journal.

Prohibition of use of mobile phones and communication devices

Thorough management of the training center facilities

That fourth rule causes a lot of giggling and “touching” among the girls, and the editors play Knock from Broduce 101 in the background. Uh-oh, no skinship allowed! (Gossip online seems to imply that this is because of certain trainees, but I’m not sure that this is true and I don’t want to put anything out there like that without more confirmation.) This was a new rule for this season, but to the best of my knowledge had been kept in place for later seasons. For example, I remember that it was a rule in Boys Planet as well.

The girls have trouble communicating with each other, but some translation heroes step forward. Miyazaki Miho, who was in What’s Your Name and who I noticed writing in Korean at the beginning, can speak Korean reasonably well too, and serves as interpreter in one of the D-class dorms for Kim Minju.

Multi-lingual queen Miho!

Lee Chaejeong, future member of Alice who auditioned with Roller Coaster, has a little stuffie (that she calls her “chingu”) with her. Cho Ahyeong, who auditioned alongside future Cherry Bullet’s Haeyoon, has a stuffie that is sitting in for her mom. Kim Da Hye from Banana Culture (who auditioned with I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend) has a pink stuffie that is a gift from her mom. Wang Yiren (future Everglow) has a piggie. Strong approval on all that. My Christmas wish list is at least 50% Squishmallow. On the other hand, Sato Minami (who I continue to think of as Sailor Mars) has a terrifying doll named Lemon-Chan. No thank you.

NO THANK YOU

I SAID NO THANK YOU

1:05:35 Training Begins

Ok, we’re an hour into the episode, so it makes sense that it’s time to do something or another! The girls gather in the big studio wearing their Caste T-shirts (see what I did there? I spelled it caste not cast) and get ready to learn.

Kindly Soyou says, “You will be practicing the title track starting today. Since it’s the first time that the Japanese trainees are being trained in the Korean way, this may be quite difficult. But please trust in us, your trainers, and listen to us.” The girls are excited to learn new things -- we hear from Bibian, with her distinctive baby-doll face, and Nakanishi Chiyori, who had the fluffy pink skirt in What’s Your Name.

So the dance class, led by Psychopath, begins.

You can tell that he’s trying to break down the steps and give specific advice. I don’t know how it worked with the translations -- none of the Japanese girls seem to be wearing in-ear devices, so there must have been someone on a microphone, translating the information into Japanese or this would have been chaos. But it I had to learn a dance with someone speaking a language I don’t know, with a translation following a few moments later, it would be so hard to learn. It’s going really fast even for some of the Korean girls, and the Japanese girls look completely lost. Even Miru looks sad. Oh no! Protect Miru! Then after they suffer for a while, Dance Bae tells them the part they just learned is the “easiest part of the choreo.” Oh no!

It’s time for them to study in their groups. This is their class schedule, with the benefit of my google translate on my phone:

I think “consonant practice” should say “self-practice”.

The A group and B group both have Soyou for vocals and Psychopath for dance. The C group has Dance Bae for dance and Soyou for vocals. The D group has Mary J Lee for dance and Jeremy for vocals. The F group has Dance Bae for dance and Jeremy for vocals.

So, let’s start off with group C, in their yellow shirts, who apparently did the best at the big group dance instruction. Park Seo Young, the blonde individual trainee, has been elected leader and has the L sticker on her shoulder to prove it.

They are scared when Dance Bae comes in.

They go up to do the choreo in smaller groups, 5 or 6 at a time, and Dance Bae’s eagle eye picks out even the smallest mistakes. When they make mistakes, she tells them they have to try harder, which, like, lady, they ARE trying.

Then she picks out Son Eun Chae and Honda Hitomi to dance on their own -- one Korean girl and one Japanese girl to represent their respective groups.

They both look great, and Dance Bae compliments them. The other girls think they’ll both move up a rank.

Meanwhile, in class B…

B group has elected Park Minji -- future Secret Number -- as their leader, perhaps because she has experience from being on the first season of Produce 101.

AleXa is serving with a deep red lip. She understands the assignment.

When Psychopath comes in, they introduce themselves in unison, and he greets them impatiently. He watches them perform, then tells them they have to be more “bashful” in their dancing, mocking their more “powerful” attempts at the girlish choreography.

They all love him, saying that he’s a good dancer. Cho Ka Hyeon -- the Starship girl who isn’t Wonyoung or Yujin -- voice overs, “I stared at him shamelessly because he’s so good at dancing.”

Yoon Eunbin likes him a lot.

They might also think he’s handsome or cute, for all I know -- he was only 34 at the time of taping, so not necessarily too old for them to have crushes on (though obviously way too old for them to date, to be clear!). I know he’s being relatively nice to the girls and it must seem weird that I’m calling him Psychopath, but I DO NOT FORGIVE HIM FOR WHAT HE DID TO THE BOYS ON BOYS PLANET. It was full on psychological abuse.

Anyway, the dance practice continues. Miru-chan is trying to keep smiling, but she looks more like she’s crying. Psychopath scolds her, because that’s so helpful, and Jurina comes over to try to cheer her up.

This choreography is much harder than what any of them are used to.

Her training diary consists of this drawing and the words, “Today I had my first singing and dancing lesson in B class. I couldn’t follow the choreography during class B. I made the teacher worry. Is there no hope for me?” Aww, Miru-chan!!

We check in with Team A, who are having a vocal lesson with Soyou. Lee Gaeun from Pledis has been chosen as leader, probably on the strength of her already having debuted, and being the oldest in the group.

Soyou asks for a brave volunteer, and at first, no one steps forward.

Left to right: Lee Ga Eun, Jo Yu Ri, Park Hae Yoon, Kim Do Ah, Yu Min Young, Miyawaki Sakura, Takeuchi Miyu, Kim Cho Yeon, Lee Ha Eun, Lee Chae Yeon, Kim Da Hye, Hwang So Yeon, Choi Ye Na, Na Go Eun, Kwon Eun Bi

Finally, Na Go Eun (future Purple Kiss) volunteers. We’re reminded that at her audition, Soyou had said of her, “She’s the most promising trainee among the ones we’ve seen so far.” But Goeun, singing acapella, goes slightly off pitch, which is what happens to people who don’t have perfect pitch. I mean, most people don’t have perfect pitch! Soyou tells her that she’s going sharp, and that she sounds like she’s just reading a textbook. I would also find it difficult to put emotion into lyrics like:

From now on, you’re mine, mine, mine, only mine / Mine, mine, mine (Superstar) / From now on, you’re mine, mine, mine, only mine / Will you tell me? Pick me up

… but I guess that’s why I’m not cut out to be a K-idol. That’s literally the only reason, though.

Jo Yuri goes next, and has a bit of trouble with the high notes. Soyou tells her that she, Soyou, had fought for her, Yuri, to be in A group (no pressure!) and then tells her she’s disappointed. Kwon Eunbi is next to be insulted for her pronunciation and lack of, I don’t know, spirit (?).

🌸Sakura🌸 is next, and inspirational happy music plays as she talks about how she has studied the Korean lyrics -- amazing! She sings completely incorrectly, like the tune is only slightly an approximation of correct. Instead of insulting Sakura and/or expressing intense, soul-destroying disappointment, like she did with every other girl, Soyou kindly asks the talented Miyu to come forward to sing it correctly to help 🌸Sakura🌸 understand the melody. Finally, 🌸Sakura🌸 manages to sing a few notes correctly, and everyone applauds. I get it that the other girls like her, because she’s a nice girl, but even so. What. Is. This.

Next we check in with D group, who has chosen the multi-lingual Miyazaki Miho as their leader. Good call!

They are working with Mary J Lee, who many of them know from her Youtube dance videos. They seem a little star struck by her.

Sweet faced Motomura Aoi, who we met during the Never Ending Ferris Wheel performance, is in the back row and seems to have trouble seeing what’s going on. She knows the other girls are more skilled and is determined to do better.

Kim Minju, one of the Very Pretty Girls, is having a lot of trouble with the dancing. She’s self-conscious, looking at everyone instead of focusing on herself. She’s acutely aware that the others are better than her, and she’s taking it to heart, crying in the interview chair. We see her showing up in the dance practice room when no one else is there to practice some more.

In what may or may not be the next day, we check in again with the B girls at 1:21:48. Kim Sihyeon, future Everglow, and Lee Seunghyeon, who I’m going to just call Riina from H1-Key, interview that their group has Americans (AleXa), Chinese people (Wang Yiren from Everglow, Wang Ke of the red polka dots), Japanese people (Iwatate Saho, Miru from Dancing Hero, Juri, and Jurina), and of course, Koreans. So it can make communication tricky.

We see Jang Gyuri (future ex-Fromis9) and Lee Chaewon (future Le Sserafim) trying to get Jurina to understand that they want to practice the Japanese version of the lyrics together, using mostly English, but Jurina doesn’t seem to understand.

Husky-voiced Kim Hyuna (who did that excellent audition with My House by 2pm -- did you watch it yet?) encourages everyone to come watch the dance on the tablet, and the Japanese members, who don’t understand at first, come over later, when there’s already a big crowd.

Jurina interviews that the Koreans crowd around so much that the Japanese trainees can’t see at all. She is obviously frustrated.

What we see in the video, though, is that the Japanese trainees’ method of trying to see the video is to just stand there looking sad and wishing that the video will magically come closer. We don’t, for example, see them tapping anyone on the shoulder and pointing at the tablet with a hopeful facial expression. They just STAND THERE. I know it’s a cultural thing, but toxic passivity drives me nuts.

Quick story time. A few months back, I was flying somewhere for work, worried I’d miss my connecting flight which would cause serious issues with my job. I was seated in an aisle seat, and I noticed that boarding was taking a really long time. There was a woman standing in the aisle wearing a big backpack that kept smacking me in the face as she spun around trying to let people pass her. She apologized when I pointed that out, and I was like, it’s ok, but why don’t you just sit down? And she said, well, there’s someone sitting in my seat. I asked her which one was supposed to be her seat, and she pointed to the aisle seat in front of me. I was like, just say something, and the woman was like, oh no, I can’t, I don’t want to be rude. Meanwhile, people were still trying to board. The woman with the backpack was trying to duck into chairs that are open to let people pass, but there were hardly any open seats left and so she was really slowing down boarding, making everything really difficult for everyone. And all because she doesn’t have the chutzpah to either (a) tap the person on the shoulder and say “I think you’re in my seat” or (b) at least ask a flight attendant for help. So then I had to be the one to tap that person on the shoulder. Turned out she had sat in that seat KNOWING IT WAS THE WRONG SEAT because there was someone in HER seat, which was the window seat. So then I had to tell the person in the window seat that SHE was in the wrong seat. Like here I am just trying to get the plane to take off on time so I don’t miss my connection and no one has the ability to speak up about the simplest of things. The woman in the wrong window seat realized she had just made a mistake, and she apologized and moved up one row to the correct seat, and everyone got seated. But like, my GOD. What was your endgame, backpack woman? To just stay in the aisle the whole flight? URGH. I get it, some people are shy, but sometimes if you don’t speak up, it’s actually irresponsible and rude. And it’s even worse if you then make the other people out to be the bad guys.

Sorry, this is a pet peeve of mine. Deep breaths.

The four Japanese members sulk about how no one is “letting” them see the video, without ever, I don’t know, pointing to it? Walking over and gently taking it out of someone’s hands? ANY FUCKING THING? If I had to deal with people that passive I would evaporate. Just boil away into space.

Finally, husky-voiced Hyunah grabs Jurina by the arm, drags her over to the side of the room, and begins teaching her the choreo. Jurina realizes that the Korean girls who know how to dance learned the choreography first, so that they could teach it to the other girls, and regrets the misunderstanding.

H1-Key Riina helps Saho learn the choreo.

Saho interviews that in Japan, the girls typically work by themselves, but in Korea, the girls work together as a group, which makes her really happy. What I’m learning from this show is that Korean culture is superior to Japanese culture. Thanks, MNET editors! Thmeditors.

We see some of the Korean girls using English to talk to AleXa. Cute!

Choi So Eun interviews, “It feels like we’re communicating telepathically.”

We end the segment on this shot of the girls all crowded around Juri and Jurina -- looks like maybe Juri had been crying and then everyone in the whole class came over to cheer her up? Maybe? Anyway, it’s cute. They’re working together. This is my favorite thing about shows like this.

At 1:24:20, we switch over to watch the A girls at their dance practice. Gaeun shows off her dancing, and she looks great, of course. She’s so cute!

Behind her, you can see, left to right, little Lee Ha Eun, the “little Chungha” girl; Kwon Eunbi, looking a little different with her hair pulled back; Lee Da Hye from Banana Culture; behind Gaeun, you can see a tiny bit of the short, talented Miyu; Jo Yuri, of the yellow Chewing Gum; and Yu Minyeong of the mint green polka dots in the Celeb Five performance. (We’ll see Minyeoung dance in a little bit….)

As Gaeun finishes her performance, we get to see Hwang Soyeon, the “little Sunmi,” show off her teleportation skills! At 1:24:45 she’s standing by the wall next to 🌸Sakura🌸, calmly applauding for Gaeun.

Psychopath praises Gaeun, saying that all the details of her dancing are very neat and precise.

At 1:24:57, Soyeon has teleported to be sort of behind Gaeun. Dahye from Banana Culture is still near the wall -- but she’s out of breath and is pumping her t-shirt back and forth to cool herself down. Jo Yuri and Miyu seem to have disappeared. Soyeon has charged the part in her hair, and also seems out of breath. Gaeun’s hair is much messier, too.

And at 1:25:00, Soyeon has teleported back to her original position next to 🌸Sakura🌸, with her hair put back to its original part.

These are some talented girls, my friends.

Look, obviously this is just some bad editing, but it wasn’t an accident. For whatever reason, they wanted it to look like Psychopath was praising Gauen alone. Maybe he was, but maybe he wasn’t. This is all just to go back to one of my key points about this show: It is edited with such a purposefully heavy hand that it might as well be fiction.

In the next group, though the editing wants us to focus on Choi Yena, my eye kept getting drawn to Kim Doah, future Fanatics/GP999 contestant. She’s just so expressive there!

Left to right: Eunbi (권은비), Doah (김도아), Dahye, Yena (최예나), and Minyoung (유민영).

Psychopath reminds Yena not to let her fingers go in her mouth in the “tap near your mouth” part of the choreo. It’s interesting to think about those little details.

Many of the girls have their turn, and then he asks Yu Minyoung to come out to the center. He calls her “Celeb Five,” not by her name, even though she’s wearing a huge name tag. He called Gauen and Yena by their names, but not Minyoung! She makes quite a few mistakes. We see a flashback to the very first dance rehearsal, something we’ve never seen before -- Dance Bae pulling Psychopath aside and asking why on earth did Minyoung get an A. Honestly, I wondered that too at the time -- I said I would have given her a C. Psychopath reminds her that Minyoung was part of that Celeb Five performance. Back at the A-team’s dance rehearsal, Psychopath, showing his true nasty colors, says, “I think it was a really good idea to do Celeb Five back then. But you have no charisma now. You’ll end up in lower classes.” She just sort of says “Yes, I understand.” She wants to stay in A class, but I think she knows her skills are just not up to the task given her short training period.

This next segment, which begins at 1:27:35, is probably my favorite part of the whole episode. Jeremy just actually teaches the D-grade girls to sing. Instead of insulting them, or scolding them, or telling them that they have to “try harder,” or rolling his eyes and asking if they even want to be here, he just teaches them how singing works, physically. It’s a delight to watch. He has them do something that my vocal teacher taught me, an exercise to open up your palette. You start by being super super nasal, making a sound fully through your nose, then sort of make a “nnnngg-gga” noise that clears the sound out. It’s hard to explain in words, but it’s something I do before I sing a note, even alone in the shower. He even explains it to them in Japanese, since there are so many Japanese members of the class and the Japanese girls are especially nasal. Is he or is he not the most lovable of people?

He has Minami (owner of the Lemon-chan doll) lie flat on her back to learn how to engage her abs while she sings, and afterward, she can hold a note without wavering unpleasantly. You guys, this is what learning to sing is all about. The segment is only about 2 minutes long, which is a shame -- I could watch this for a long time. I like watching kindness in action! If you want to watch, here’s a Youtube clip.

And that's as much as I can fit in one post, so I'll have to cut it off here! I hope you're at a temperature you like to be at, and that you have the right number of Squishmallows nearby. Take care and see you in the next one, when we finish off their preparations for the signal song evaluation!

#produce48 #produce 48 #bpr recaps p48 #sakura #le sserafim #akb48 #lee hongki #ft island #choi yena #alexa #lee chaewon #h1-key

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netmomplus · 9 months

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Touhou Ship Week Day 2: Sweet/Pride (yep, did both)

“Really? That’s what you’re most proud of?”

It wasn’t often that Minoriko Aki had visitors over to her home. It was a rather ramshackle place built on a field fairly recently, basically just had the basics for herself and her sister Shizuha, plus maybe one guest if they didn’t mind the small size. But, well, this wasn’t any other visitor. This was a rather cute maneki-neko that she’d recently hired to help with her sales, but… well, something just clicked. Maybe it was her savvy, their shared taste in warm colors, or maybe she was just pretty. But after a few days of working together, the pair couldn’t bear to keep their partnership strictly professional.

Of course, that didn’t mean they had to agree on everything.

“Yep. Once you see how much money I’ve been making from that card trade, you’d get it too.”

“Really, money of all things.” Minoriko rolled her eyes as she worked on baking something. “No wonder you call yourself a cat-pitalist. It’s always money with you.”

“Hey, I started from nothing, lived my life and eventually got to become something. It just so happens that money’s involved in it! And besides, don’t act like you weren’t also getting in on that card trade.”

“H-hey, I just… wanted to use it as an excuse to sell more sweet potatoes, okay?”

“Right, right.” Mike smiled as she moved to sit down. “But anyway, what are you proudest of?”

“Me? I can think of a few things.” Minoriko got to thinking as she placed the results of her work in a wood oven. “I’m proud of the work I do for the autumn season. As a deity of the harvest, I’m proud to be able to work with the few villagers who do worship me, to be able to grant them bountiful crops every year. Though…”

“Though… what?”

Minoriko stepped away from the oven and smiled. She moved to sit next to Mike and scratched behind the cat girl’s ears, prompting a murring noise from the latter.

“What I think I’m most proud of is my cooking. You’ve had my sweet potatoes and such, but I’d like to think I’m talented enough to be able to handle even non-autumn dishes perfectly.”

“Your cooking, huh?” Mike glanced over at the oven. “Well, we’re about to see how justified that pride of yours is, huh?”

“Don’t give me that competitive tone, we both know how you feel about my cooking. You know what they say,” Minoriko said as she held up a finger. “The best way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach.”

“Hah… haha… right.”

Mike blushed and went silent. Now it was just time to wait for this thing to finish baking. Using this silence as an opportunity, Minoriko stood back up and walked over to a small box on the floor. Inside the box was ice, and a lot of it, but more interestingly was a small container sitting on top of it. Reaching down, the goddess picked it up and set it atop a table, before opening it. Inside was something akin to cream, though it was lighter, almost airy.

“What’s that you got there?” Mike asked with visible intrigue.

“I just took some heavy cream and very quickly mixed it. It’s something that Western maid taught me about when I visited last autumn. Same with this dessert I’m about to give you. I sweetened it too to make it a bit more flavorful, I’m sure it’ll go great with it.”

“We’ll see about that.”

There Mike was with the teasing. That was the one annoying thing about her, she just kind of always insisted on being right. Maybe that card market was starting to give her a swelled head after all, but now probably wasn’t the time for that conversation. Now was the time to wait for food. So back and forth Minoriko would go, switching from checking on the oven to scratching Mike’s ears, on and off until…

“Aha, it looks done to me.”

Minoriko put on some mitts and slid the finished dessert out of the oven. The result was something resembling a bowl of an orange-ish custard, except between the custard and the bowl was a layer of browned pastry. Mike clearly didn’t recognize it.

“What’s that?”

“The person who told me about this called it ‘pumpkin pie’. Apparently it’s a popular dessert in the Outside World during the autumn months. The filling’s based on a type of squash you’d see out there too, I’ve started growing them as of last year as a matter of fact. Never hurts to expand your culinary tastes.”

“I guess so.”

Minoriko nodded and moved to cut out a slice from the pie. As she did so, she glanced down at Mike.

“So, just to be totally clear. Are you proud of the money you’ve earned, or, uh, or the work you put in to get there? Because if it’s the latter, you sure fixated on the former a lot.”

“Well, I’m… I’m… huh.” That seemed to catch Mike off guard. The maneki-neko leaned forward, hands on her face, and paused. “You know, when you put it like that, I’m… actually not sure?” I feel like… huh. Are my words and my thoughts just completely mismatched? I feel like…”

“Go ahead, think it over. I’ll give you time.”

The next minute or so was mostly quiet outside of a few grunts from Mike, as if they were the sound of the wheels turning in her head. Eventually, there was a nod.

“I think I was thinking of the latter. I’m proud of the work and the results of said work, not just the money itself.”

“Alright, alright. Thank you for the clarification, that’s a lot more understandable. Now, please try this.”

Minoriko finished slicing up the pie and placed one onto a plate. She dabbed some of the whipped cream on top and passed it off to Mike with some silverware; she was gifted some and found it was helpful for some of the more out-there foods she tried making, this being an example. She cut some for herself as well and moved to sit back down with her partner.

“Don’t have to wait for me to start,” Mike commented, “you can go ahead and eat.”

“Well gee, thanks.”

The pair both dug in at the same time, each taking a fairly small bite at first. The room fell silent with their chewing, neither knowing how the other would react. It wasn’t until Minoriko caught a small, rumbling noise coming from next to her that she had an idea of what her partner felt.

“Hey, are you… are you purring?”

“W-what? What? It’s good!” Mike leaned back and gave Minoriko the absolute most sheepish look the god could imagine; it even made said god chuckle. “It’s sweet, but it’s not super, uh, sugary. It’s one of the best desserts I ever had. I think the only thing that may beat it is your sweet potato stuff.”

“Oh, it’s that good? Thank you, I’m glad it’s up to par.” Minoriko finished her first bite and smiled, before taking another. “I wondered if I had the spices messed up, but no, it’s exactly how I wanted it.”

The couple would work on finishing their pie slices, not even bothering to take it slow given that they had another several slices for later. No time to savor the flavor when the flavor was that savor-able as it stood. Eventually they finished, leaving empty plates in front of them and their stomachs full. The pair sighed and leaned back, before Mike eventually spoke up.

“...y’know what, Minoriko?”

“Hmm?”

“...you know, I’d be way prouder of this if it were my talent.”

“Ah, don’t let yourself down. You’re a hard worker, Mike, you deserve credit there.”

“...yeah, you’re right.”

Minoriko got up to cover the pie and put it in the ice box, before moving back to sit near Mike and return to petting her. That conversation certainly ended better than expected, and they both felt remarkably cozy afterward. Sheesh, the deity thought, if only every conversation ended like that.

#touhou #touhou project #thshipweek #東方project #minoriko aki #mike goutokuji #slash

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nissakii · 2 years

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6 Anime Re-heat Your Mid Year Feeling This July/August 2022

There's no better way to kick off the summer season than by watching some of your favorite anime! Whether you're looking for something light and anime-centric to watch on a hot day, or something with a bit more substance to keep you entertained all summer long, these seven shows are sure to do the trick this month.

And since we already covered some July anime here, there are still some left at the end of July that we will put here as a nice transition between those two months!

July 24th: Saikin Yatotta Maid ga Ayashii

With a later appearance in July we have a Manga adaptation that many waited for.

The English title of this anime is The Maid I hired recently is Mysteriou, and tells us already a lot about what we can expect from this anime.

Yuuri is a young master whose father recently hired a maid without his knowledge or consent. When the beautiful Maid Lilith arrives at his mansion Yuuri is not only surprised but overly suspicious of the mysterious beauty that steps in.

A natural skeptical approach from Yuuri’s side lets him overthink and analyze every perfect move she makes and doesn’t trust neither her nor his father.

With a constant feeling of a scheme being planned behind his back, he keeps his eye on her to make sure the mysterious maid won’t confirm his bad feeling.

On the other hand Lilith grows fond of the young master and tries her best to overcome the obstacle of his first impression in order to get closer to him…

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July 28th: BanG Dream! Morfonication

This short special consists of only 2 Episodes.

Those two episodes focus on the Violin Rock Band Morfonica from the BanG Dream series.

It plays in the summer vacation of the band and their excitement for many planned live performances they had in mind.

Yet there is something strange arranged behind the others back by one member leading to a certain reunion that was not expected.

There isn’t much revealed about the plot, but since the trailer is short, matching the length of the special, we will just have to wait for the beautiful scenery to finally hit us completely.

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Aug 1st: Fuuto Tantei

Fuuto Tantei immediately makes you think that despite the stunning animation and art style this anime kind of has an old vibe, matching more of one of the retro anime from back then.

This is no surprise when we get to know that this is a sequel of the Kamen Rider W anime from 2009.

The plot takes place in Fuuto City, where so-called “Gaia Memories”, are used by criminals to gain supernatural powers transforming them into monsters, in order to wreak havoc.

A self-proclaimed detective, Shoutarou Hidai and his intelligent partner Phillip, they also use those powers for good. They transform into the city’s legendary hero Kamen Rider W and get to the bottom of the crimes.

Those who hurt Fuuto City are promised to pay up for their crimes in the name of justice, by a detective and his partner!

A heart-racing game of justice and evil, giving many people the long-awaited continuation of their nostalgic childhood.

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Aug 4th: Yoru wa Neko to Issho

With Action-filled crime scenes and heart-racing dreams this anime is a little bit more on the cozy and calmer side.

A series to enjoy when it’s time to wind-down and just silently watch heart-warming cat and owner daily activities unfold.

This cute comedy revolves around Fuuta who just wants to spend some time with his cat after coming home from an exhausting and tiresome day.

Yet cats tend to be a little bit on the mysterious side and are unpredictable at times, it’s hard to fully reproduce them but it shows how much we care about our fluffy furball.

Just like Fuuta and his little furball that will give us a little laugh this August.

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Aug 8th: Nanashi Kaidan

Since August is also often used in time-loop and horror stories we cannot rule out the possibility of another little scare this season.

Nanashi Kaidan also meaning Nameless Horror stories is an up-coming short-series consisting of 10 Episodes that will air.

The Episodes will air every day from August 8th to August 19th, each episode depicting the uneasy feeling of fear and sensing something out there, which children usually feel.

Character designs of the three revealed ones are very interesting and each have 2 versions.

Yet there is not much more revealed, nor a trailer that could give away anything about the series.

Aug 19th: D4DJ Double Mix

The last one on our list is an anime special Episode of the D4DJ series.

It revolves around the story of Merm4id and Rondo, two DJ groups who are supposed to have a joint performance together.

There is not much information beside that, but for the people who already enjoyed the game and the first season of the anime will rejoice in another special episode covering those two groups.

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Despite the fact that summer is reaching an end, this year is not over yet.

The end of July and August are still filled with heated anime series to enjoy, to make you feel the spark and motivation that may have decreased compared to spring.

And still we are wondering what will unfold this Fall season of 2022 as well?

Let’s find it out when the time comes and reach another heart thumping season together!

Makii

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tsuki-sennin · 9 months

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Hirogaru Sky! 29 and 30~!

Back on the wagon~! Or I suppose in this case, the plane. Or Elle-chan's weird crib gondola thing.

First, a story about a missing doll! Second, a Beach Episode! Just as summer winds down! Funsies!

Spoilers, I guess...

-Raaaaaaaain!

-Goddamn I am so sick of rain. Had my power knocked out this evening. Spent half of my cooking time totally in the dark.

-Who dat?

--nya? Hummy??

-Neko-san~!

-An alive neko-san!

-"Did you have fun in the rain? :)"

-"MASHIRO I WAS ALMOST DEVOURED BY A GHOST CAT SOMEBODY CALL THE JSDF-

-In shambles! Completely and totally spooked!

-"Sora, stuffed animals don't speak. Not like birds."

-Man, with all these huge European-style houses that're only occupied by ghosts or villains, a Pretty Cure Town's real estate market must be insane.

-...Hmmmm... I wonder how low the property values can get?

-For villains who live in the Cures' worlds, do you think somebody like Westar fires rent lowering gunshots? Or am I thinking a little too American?

-Ohhhhh, Tsubasa's a believer now.

-Obakeeeeee~!

-Gap moe! Sora's got phasmophobia~!

-Sealed the kitty.

-Elle-chan :)

-What a cute little fella, huh?

-The first step to overcoming one's fear is acknowledging it!

-Yoyo confirmed horsegirl.

-Speak to us, kitty.

-How sweet :)

-Sora had no time for such simple pleasures.

-...put it like that, you don't forget your first friend, huh Mashiro?

-A drone can be as cat-shaped as it wants, I'm knocking that bitch outta the sky.

-"D-don't mind me! My daughter's got a strong arm on her! She should try out for the baseball team~!"

-Ohhhhhhh, the kitty's a dream weaver.

-...man, something about a toy being abandoned and forgotten really hurts me. Doesn't matter if it's Toy Story or the Fresh PreCure movie or even that story TomSka told about that time he buried all his Thomas the Tank Engine toys on holiday in Fuerteventura. You wanna get me to cry, you give an artificial being abandonment issues.

-Neko-san... :(

-Minoton Spotted

-Enter

-"The game is afoot, Pretty Cures!"

-AN ENTIRE HOUSE

-THIS MAN TURNED AN ENTIRE FUCKING HOUSE INTO A MONSTER

-Step into the Hell House!

-This is badass, what the hell

-Oh!

-Breakin' out the colors early, huh Butterfly?

-Get clocked.

-Raaaaanborg!

-Oh shit

-Thanks, cat.

-Sky's athleticism is something to be admired.

-"Nigeteeeeeee!"

-Kick that bubble!

-Goodbye, Monster House.

-Oh man, I don't envy Tsubasa, it must hurt to pick that many splinters outta there.

-"Until we meet again, Pretty Cure."

-Marron-chan...

-Oh, that's sweet... That's too sweet...

-Hello, Summer~!

-...Hey wait a sec, you already got your cameo!

In the summertime, when the weather is hot~! You can stretch right up, and touch the sky~! When the weather's fine, you've got women on your mind. Have a drink, have a drive, go out and see what you can find.

-Anyways yeah, it's the ass end of August, it's been raining and thundering a shit-ton where I live when it isn't absolutely infernal, and apparently God himself.

-The ocean~!

-It's really FUCKING big!

-Very cute swimsuits.

-It'll be close to 90% ocean when climate change finally kills all of humanity for the sins of the 1%~!

-That run was the gayest fucking thing I've seen all month, and I just finished Season 2 of Good Omens. /j

-I see Tsubasa goes for the Sonia Nevermind wetsuit style. And Ageha... hoo...

-Brined like a fish.

-Beachy beachy~!

-Sora's got built in Iron Boots. She can do the Water Temple no problem.

-Lotta Sora focus these two episodes!

-...Tsubasa, are the Puni Birds supposed to be penguins?

-...is that why you can dance? Are you just Happy Feet?

-Idk how you expect her to do all that, but okay!

-Swimmer friend~!

-Wingless.

-Half an hour.

-Wipe that :3 off your :3, Mashiron!

-Ah don't worry Tsubasa, summer's practically over already.

-I suppose Mashiro's teaching would be much better by default, but goddamn. Sora really saw her gf in the water and dove right in.

-"My unconditional surrender is all but guaranteed!"

-Rubber ducky...

-Kani-san...

-I love the crabs, little dudes.

-Jesus, that's a shit ton of fish. Is Gran Ocean just a few nautical miles away?

-Floatieeees~!

-I love those.

-Watermelon energy~!

-Summer vacation, baby~!

-Now this is podracing!

-HOoooooooo

-Minoton about to make me unwise.

-I have to wonder how many hot single moms (and dads, of course) see Minoton and feel seen.

-"AH-!"

-Ah, I see Minoton put his clothes back on.

-Good thinking, I think it'd have gotten a little weird if he hadn't.

-Life preserven't!

-Game on!

-SKY-

-Immediately fell into the ocean.

-His ass is NOT fightin'.

-Get deflated, idiot.

-Ironically, I think if Sora asked Minoton to help teach her to swim, he'd have gone for it.

-Goddamn, the ocean's so terrifying. Even in relatively shallow waters like these.

-Sora says "My save!"

-Who needs floaties when you've got lifeguards on duty!

-Baywatch PreCure!

-...man, Mitch Buchannon would absolutely somehow have been a Cure in the past. And yet somehow still be both an armored skeptic debunking every Scooby Doo mystery he comes across and a foremost expert on paranormal investigation who has fought mutant alligators, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and even a climate change-induced apocalypse.

-Incidentally, if you're in dire need of some quality TV cheese analysis, might I recommend Allison Pregler's Baywatching?

-It's part critical commentary, part abridged series, all peak comedy.

-...something of an influence on this program, fun fact~!

-Sunset time~!

-What a fun summer~!

-Oh ye gods, it's raining again, better wrap this up soon.

-PRECIOUS

-Okay, guess we're getting all the previous cameos again. ...I'm not spoiled on anything coming up, I am a good boy, I like surprises, I haven't the damnedest justification to offer as to why Precious wouldn't show up again, shhhhhhhh.

-You are a good bean, Yuin. Sorry the only beach food highlighted was watermelon, but tbh you wouldn't mind at all.

-Right okay, we're done here, I gotta jet! Catch you later~!

#Hop! Step! Jump! Hero Gals Dream of the Everlasting Sky!#precure #pretty cure #hirogaru sky precure #hirogaru sky spoilers

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theorist-influencer-untitled · 1 year

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3.1.23 Wednesday

12:23 am

My body is in pain, my arms are aching....Just did my laundry manually with gloves coz we can't use our washing machine for awhile.... We need to lower our electric bill for now but we are working on it to go back even, every 2 weeks we can use the washing machine...

I still have the windblow trap... I wanna have a better future... I miss the old me time that we had enough budget for everything even for my own yaya....

1:02 am

I can't have sex if I have body pain like this angels.... I don't wanna be poorish angels... I want stability and pretty face.

I still wanna a career or will kill negative man...

6:48 am

Uncle Jun probably open the door in the living room but won't admit it... John accidentally went out again....Why, he did it? But there is no cctv here, if Uncle Jun did it intentionally...

I don't want John to be dirty...It is difficult to clean his fur...

8:14 am

Today is the some other day of this chicken teriyake should settle-up...

8:25 am

This is the first few minutes of this chicken teriyake must be settling-up...

9:23 am

I still have bitterness in me... I wanna do gluta and collagen shots... Wanna leave the hometown...

9:41 am

Mystery Lover's are here,facilitating their new house at the side of our old kitchen...

Hmm... I told them to get their house in avida or in Monderin's Subdivision if they wanna lift me up... If they are real...

Me? Angels? If I have the power or links to lift up my family or relatives, I will do it in a correct way... Even my friends... Hope God or angels can hear me... You know that I'm for real... I'm genuine...

If me and Uncle DD & Aunt Karen can exchange position, I will buy my own house first somewhere then will lift them up from a distance... Gets, angels? Not this way, hanging in the middle of nowhere and simply hanging like a stupid catz...

Monderin's are the famous sisters way back... They owned the foreign school and now they transformed it into subdivision... But I will get jealous if my bf's will flirt on them, I need to control that part... I know they are nice but I want decency on bf's and gf's thingy... Monderin's are 7 beautiful sisters... In a way Bratz daughter's of Monderin...

Apple Monderin was supposed to be the gf of my bro.RV... But RV was just a child way back... It seems supposed to be a blend with us coz we owned a karaoke bar but I was as well a child... Apple was the friend of my cousin Xyza and her classmate...

11:24 am

My chicken teriyake marinade is really yummy!!!

Done,watching the season 1... I love this series it is all about dogs!

One of my favorites is the last episode in Season 1! "Second Chances"...

We should have this kind of shelter here in Cavite. I really wanna join dog show one day with my baby John, the 2 of us and me as fur mom, a hot mamah...

12:06 noon

This Uncle Jun is super fake just like a plastics but recyclable....He is asking if Uncle DD went here and what time and if they eat here??? So, many questions...

I told him he went here around 11am and didn't enter here....Both are plastics! I said the usual thing they will never eat here coz they know our food is good for 4 including John and no extra food....What a question?!

I said am I maid here? Do I need to assist them? They are grown-up people,they have a car and I think matured!!!

I just said I just asked for money and collar for John and he said wait and that's it... Probably, they will go back...

Uncle Jun said if they brought this chicken, I said no! I made it! That was the chicken teriyake I marinade, yesterday!

3:07 pm

The plastics are here building their dreams.... There is so many space in the world,why there at the kitchen side...

I wanna leave the hometown... Still,having the windblow... Thinking of my own career... I need money and I need a career... I feel self-pity....Hating the cult of Manalo'Z?

I wanna leave the hometown...

4:54 pm

I got support to buy John his new substitute collar coz Neko got the blue old collar of John... Coming from Mystery Lover's particularly Uncle DD...

6:08 pm

Still,wanna leave the hometown...I feel self-pity... I wanna have career and money angels...

Kuya Peter gave me a small Royal soft-drink, extra bottle left awhile ago, he told me Uncle DD bought them merienda'Z...

7:39 pm

Chimbi the youngest daughter of ate Cha, reported to his boss my Uncle Jun that I bought an egg, 2 eggs... Coz Uncle Jun suddenly asked me if I have an egg then I gave him the extra egg coz I made a pancake... Fake Uncle Jun...

7:42 pm

I still have the windblow trap and I wanna have progress...Still, thinking of money and career... Wanna travel and see donkey and camel...

I still feel fat and ugly and I gained weight that I know, I have to diet...

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howmanyepsofmlseason6areleft · 2 years

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0 EPISODES LEFT !!!

Today, Strike Back (The Last Battle of Shadowmoth pt.2) aired, making 26 episodes that have aired so far and season 4 complete!

WE DID IT EVERYBODY!!! FAREWELL TO SEASON 4!!!

I have to say... I definitely had a lot more fun with this season than season 3, both viewing wise and blog wise! The follower jump was INSANE, and what with the ml waiting gang, regular anons, and silly little inside jokes, the community we built has made this blog all the more meaningful for me!! It’s been a blast as always, so... here’s to this blog’s third year running and 2nd completed season (and my personal 6th year with miraculous... I’ll never be free from this show huh). I cant wait for the many more seasons to come!

Anyway, enough with being senti-mental (haha… get it? No? Ok) As you may have guessed, my blog name WILL change to fit season 5, but only once the English Dub for Strike Back airs (March 12th at midnight EST, or 10:00 am if you’re watching it live on Disney Channel), and all season 4 business is, for the most part, therefore officially closed (we still got streaming site news to share after that!). As for what im doing during the hiatus... I'll make a FAQ and a pinned post soon! ;)

But now that we’ve come to a close, let me just leave you, for the last time, with the....

MIRACULOUS LADYBUG SEASON 4 CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

S4E01- Truth

S4E02- Lies

S4E03- Gang of Secrets

S4E04- Mr. Pigeon 72

S4E05- Psycomedian

S4E06- Furious Fu

S4E07- Sole Crusher

S4E08- Queen Banana

S4E09- Gabriel Agreste

S4E10- Mega Leech

S4E11- Guiltrip

S4E12- Crocoduel

S4E13- Optigami

S4E14- Sentibubbler

S4E15- Glaciator 2.0

S4E16- Hack-San

S4E17- Rocketear

S4E18- Wishmaker

S4E19- Simpleman

S4E20- Qilin

S4E21- Dearest Family

S4E22- Ephemeral (ep 100!)

S4E23- Kuro Neko

S4E24- Penalteam

S4E25- Risk - The Last Battle of Shadowmoth pt.1

S4E26- Strike Back - The Last Battle of Shadowmoth pt.2

So long season 4! It’s been a blast!

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edorazzi · 2 years

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Once again, it’s the post everyone’s been waiting for! Reviewing Part 1 of the Miraculous Season 4 finale.

This is a followup to my reviews of the “Felix” episode and “Gabriel Agreste”, so if you haven’t read those then you might like to! They’re not required but do contain my thoughts/opinions/screaming/crying about the Felix storyline up to this point.

I haven’t watched “Strike Back”/Part 2 yet so be gentle with me.

Sorry this one took such a long time, I just wasn’t emotionally ready for this journey (and caught Covid in the middle of editing). But hopefully everyone else is up to date and ready to watch me suffer, so I’ll throw the rest under a cut and let’s get going! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

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So to kick off, here are my pregame thoughts. Like previous episodes I went on total content lockdown once the finale aired so I’m only aware of a few spoilery things which slipped the net:

Felix gets hold of a Miraculous. Not sure how, why or which one; just that it’s orange. Also something about the Peacock brooch.

Whatever happens in this has radically changed the fandom’s opinion of Felix and not for the better.

Lila is featured somehow.

So I really have no clue where this is going. I recall Lila was working with Gabriel to control Adrien and seemed to ally with Chloe at the end of “Penalteam”; but Felix dislikes Chloe and outright hates his uncle - who he’s aware is Shadow Moth! - so I can’t see him joining this squad of villains.

I’ve talked about this before but at the end of the “Felix” episode I got the impression Felix really does like Adrien, he was just seething over feeling abandoned at his dad’s funeral (and trying to grab the family ring at the same time). In “Gabriel Agreste” the boys seemed on good terms, so I assume they consider that score settled and anything Felix is scheming from this point on is directed more at Uncle Gabe.

On the other hand, Felix’s relationship with the heroes isn’t great. In his debut episode he really messed around with them, appealed to Hawk Moth directly and looked genuinely hurt when Chat accused him of having no friends. However, they seemed fine in “Gabriel Agreste” when Felix was again in need of rescuing; and I can imagine him harbouring a long-term grudge like he had against Adrien but to sabotage the heroes in a way that benefits Shadow Moth/Uncle Gabe? Ehh. Unless Lila is finally staging an uprising and trying to take over as the big villain? MAYBE.

(And I will say - I think there was a HUGE difference in the writing quality of the previous two episodes. “Felix” was just a “fuck you” to PV fans, an incoherent mess which outrageously villainised this new character instead of telling a real story; while “Gabriel Agreste” was much more solid and portrayed Felix as an intelligent/morally grey figure. Like Chloe’s character assassination in “Miracle Queen”, I think Felix’s attitude in the Finale will heavily depend on which episode this draws more from.)

On my magic third hand, how about the increasing speculation of Felix and Adrien being Sentimonsters, or at least ‘more than human’ in some way? I wasn’t buying into the theory at first but at this point I’d believe it. Mostly because I’m genuinely nervous they’re going to “unalive” Felix; if they’ll basically kill Sentibug onscreen when she was a really sweet character then what makes Felix (the most hated one of all!) any safer??

I’m writing this all before going into the episode, obviously. Maybe all my speculation is useless and it’s just “Miracle Queen” Round 2 where they mess up an interesting morally grey character for no reason. Guess I’ll stop avoiding this and go see. :/

---

- Alright, I’m going in. Seeing a bunch of the heroes together is nice; I heartily disapprove of “Kuro Neko” downgrading Chat from ‘partner’ to ‘basic bitch backup’ but this isn’t the place to talk about that (OR IS IT?). There’s also nobody in this group I actively dislike Vesperia.

- How come Roi Singe and Carapace get a bro fistbump but not Chat? Are they EVER going to resolve the plot point of Nino revealing his identity to Adrien in “Rocketear”? He did apologise for beating Chat up in the street but have things been frosty since then or what? :/

- Everyone splits up before they detransform, and Ladybug won’t let Chat go with her to collect their Miraculous(eses) because she doesn’t trust him with their identities. And yeah, I’m glad Chat is going off about this, we’re like 10 seconds in and I’M MAD TOO. Ladybug let Viperion learn who Chat was without his consent (which could have led to a Luka/Adrien friendship arc but this series continues to starve me of the most basic sustenance!! >:0), and I’m glad Luka knows because someone has to keep an eye on both these magic idiots, but SHE CAN’T TRUST CHAT WITH WAY LESS VITAL INFO? GIRL...

- Also, doesn’t he at least know who Ryuko and Pigella are? Maybe he can’t admit knowing Carapace but I’m sure Chat was there for both Kagami and Rose getting their Miraculous. She could let him help a little! :(

- “Cat Noir will always be a holder like any other...” / “Yep!” LADYBUG. WHAT ON EARTH. Kissing him on the cheek and calling him your “favourite” does NOT make up for that!!! >:0

- I’m also gonna go down that road and say kissing Chat is a really messy thing to do right now. He clearly interpreted that as something romantic and haven’t we established a million times that Ladybug does not want that relationship with him? :/

One thing I want to talk about here is how “Glaciator 2″ includes a scene where Chat admits that he’s been ‘acting up’ out of desperation to maintain the relationship he has with Ladybug, but he’s so inexperienced with affection that he always ends up acting flirty or romantic and just makes her more frustrated with him.

I think Adrien (as an isolated, socially awkward celebrity heartthrob) has genuine problems knowing how to express platonic love - look at his failed relationship with Kagami! - and yes it’s his own job to deal with that but this kind of thing isn’t helping! What he needs is Ladybug trusting him with more responsibility as a partner to show she values him, not giving out misleading kisses to soften his rejection as a teammate.

Does that make sense? I do think Ladybug’s trying to be nice but this feels cruel to Chat after everything else this season. Where is Felix.

- CAN YOU BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT RENA WHEN I WAS GETTING MAD ABOUT LADYBUG TRUSTING VIPERION OVER CHAT. THE WHOLE SENTIBUBBLER/SCARABELLA MESS WHERE CHAT WASN’T ALLOWED TO BE IN THE LOOP ON ANYTHING, AND THEN GOT BLAMED FOR BEING DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH. OH MY GOD.

- Anyway, Rena Furtive makes sure the coast is clear as Ladybug reclaims the Miraculous from each holder. They do a synchronised dive into an alleyway and detransform amid some cute banter and a plan to go to the movies. This is really pushing the concept of Rena being Ladybug’s ideal partner and it’s making me feel super bad for Chat right now, especially when Rena does what I think is an imitation of him bowing to “Mademoiselle Ladybug”. Maybe it’s a coincidence but it’s very suspect when she’s currently filling Chat’s role as Ladybug’s trusted aide. It’s not funny if you’re punching down, ladies.

- I do apologise for being so nitpicky. I’m way too high strung for regular episode content. Just show me what Felix did and get it over with! >:0

- Cut to Gabriel in his butterfly cave.

Side note: I’m watching a TV series with my family (“Temple”) about a guy who’s keeping his comatose wife in a secret basement, trying to find a cure for her illness while lying to everyone else that she’s dead, and the LOOKS I received when I said it’s the same plot as Miraculous Ladybug. They know I draw a lot of stuff for this sparkly baby show but I’m not even sure they knew it had a plot. They just know I like the catboy. :/

- Ol’ Gabe starts monologuing to his unconscious wife as per usual, mainly about what an embarrassment he’s been this season; but this time he ends up sobbing over the coffin and cracking the glass by beating on it with his fist. Can’t help thinking that the “I am not worthy of our LOVE!” stage already came when he started throwing Adrien around in Season 1; how many akuma has this man unleashed on his own son??

- Gabe reels back in terror when he realises the damage - huge props to the voice acting here, it’s very good! - and immediately shuts the safety doors on the coffin and bolts outta there like a kid who just chipped mom’s best plate. If you put it back in the cupboard right away it’s like it didn’t happen!!

- ...And goes straight to throw a fit in Nathalie’s room, apparently. I know she loves this trainwreck of a man, but 1) why, and 2) is she getting paid extra for this? Adrien comes to cry in here too but at least he brought sandwiches. These emotionally damaged people just bust into her room whenever they want and Gabriel doesn’t even have snacks.

- NATHALIE, I’M SORRY, BUT PRETENDING GABRIEL HAS NEVER MADE MISTAKES IS SO FUNNY. MY BRAIN IS JUST FLASHING THROUGH ALL THE TIMES HE’S MESSED UP LIKE A COMEDY MONTAGE. The worst mistake was letting Felix into his house, not once but multiple times! And where is the little bastard anyway? :/

- Gabriel rushes to Nathalie’s aid when she starts coughing, looks despondent as she assures him she knew the risk she was taking with the Peacock Miraculous; then leaps up with a maniacal laugh as he realises LADYBUG NEVER TAKES RISKS and bolts out of the room still cackling. THE WHIPLASH HERE IS INCREDIBLE. GUESS NATHALIE’S GETTING HER OWN DINNER.

- Our regularly scheduled stop at the Butterfly Lair! But this time it’s all tinted red as Shadow Moth cooks up his plan to FORCE Ladybug to take enough risks that she eventually makes a mistake. I see we’re out of solid villainous plans and moving into Codename: Kids Next Door territory; this is something Knightbrace would do to increase traffic to his dental practice.

- I do like how Shadow Moth sifts through all the voices of people in Paris experiencing negative emotions; I think(?) it’s the first time they’ve illustrated exactly how he chooses his victims and confirmed that he only knows what he can hear; a nice dive into an otherwise staple sequence. :D

- He settles on a child who isn’t allowed to ride their bike without a helmet or training wheels. Classic Gabriel Agreste, here to start fights with children before getting dunked on by other children! Speaking of, where is Felix. It’s just occurred to me that I don’t even know if he’s in Part 1 of this finale. I better not be suffering through this for no reason. :/

- New child character! Frog Boy and his generic backgrounder parents! He’s zooming around at the zoo and wishing for sweet sweet adrenaline, the kind you only get on the razor edge of death. I guess not all characters need stories based around their visual theme but why is this child a frog when his story is (presumably) about taking risks? Why not a tiger? Are frogs particularly fearless bastards?

- So Shadow Moth’s plan is to remove everyone’s sense of fear, meaning the citizens of Paris will start taking risks and doing dangerous things. I’m reminded of “Simpleman” where he made everyone incapable of complex decision-making and the fallout was huge. But what kind of risks are we talking about; is Marinette going to fearlessly confess to Adrien or is someone getting hit by a car?

Now I’m theorising Felix gets a Miraculous because he’s already a sociopathic little bastard who knows no fear; and as such is the only one Ladybug and Chat Noir can trust to act level-headedly in this situation. I’m under the impression he steals this Miraculous though. Hmm.

- Frog Boy’s transformation just gives him a bigger hoodie and a very slow pedal bike, and an annoying song to top it off. No flames or spikes on the wheels? Underwhelming but the less I remember him the better, I guess. A megaphone on his bike spits out glowing orbs which zap everyone they find, including Alya (and her whole family), Marinette and Adrien. So that’s our three main protags compromised! There’s a mark left on each of their necks which I’m sure will be used to tell apart two suspiciously identical blond boys at some point.

- Adrien wakes up first! I appreciate that they scraped together enough leftovers from the budget to give him pajamas; four seasons in and we’re FINALLY allowed to see more of his fashion model closet. It’s taken equally as long for Marinette to get a blanket, she was sleeping on top of her sheets every night until recently! Alya isn’t allowed to sleep at all and Nino doesn’t even have a house (or parents), it just costs way too much. :/

- Nathalie video calls Adrien with his morning schedule, and I’m pleased to see the return of the Chinese lessons! They haven’t done much with that since Season 1, but between this and the Shanghai Special it’s becoming relevant to Adrien’s character again and that’s nice.

- “But first and foremost, the breakfast for two that my father’s been promising me for MONTHS!” SWEETHEART. OH NO. This breaks my heart because I already know Gabe’s going to cancel, I feel it in my bones. Please let Adrien tell his dad to get bent; the fear is gone, right?

- Okay, so Gabriel is deigning to set eyes on Adrien today, but in the study to discuss work instead of at breakfast. This old man can’t talk and eat at the same time, in the room literally JUST across the hall??

- I bet Gabriel’s invited Felix, hasn’t he. Is this ‘new project’ a twin fashion shoot thing? I don’t know why he’d let Felix in the house after what happened previously but maybe Uncle Gabe thinks he’s really got a grip on things this time. Either that or it’s a romantic photoshoot scheduled with Lila, and the test of the akuma’s powers is whether Adrien has the confidence to tell her to back off or not. I’m sorry for all these projections, I’m just trying to second guess this episode before it can get me first.

- PLAGG DECLARES THAT HE FOR ONE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE BREAKFAST WITH ADRIEN. That’s so sweet. This feels like a holdover from “Kuro Neko” where Plagg has realised just how emotionally vulnerable Adrien is - especially now Ladybug is pulling away from their partnership - and has really pitched in with supporting him! I love how their relationship is developing. :’)

- Oh I see, the frog-shaped Risk marks get activated when Frog Boy (who has apparently been out cycling around Paris ALL NIGHT) passes within earshot singing his annoying song. I guess that explains why there’s no widespread chaos yet. I’m sure we’ll be having MANY “well well, if it isn’t the consequences of my actions” moments if it comes and goes in waves!

- With a burst of fearlessness Adrien FLIPS OUT, HURLS his neatly-pressed shirt across the room, and yells that he’s fed up of being a model and just wants Gabriel to be a dad to him! SWEETIE, ME TOO! He stalks off in determination to “GO TALK TO HIM” and Plagg can’t stop him. I KNOW THIS IS GONNA GO SO BADLY BUT IT’S WHAT I’VE ALWAYS WANTED FOR ADRIEN, YOU GO HONEY!!!

- ADRIEN BURSTS INTO THE STUDY IN HIS PAJAMAS, ENRAGED, IN FRONT OF GABRIEL AND HIS COLLEAGUES. I’M IN TEARS.

- Lila is also here (so no Felix yet), and is either wearing all white or they forgot to texture her outfit. It’s happened before; never 4get Alix going a whole episode with grey hair because they just forgot to colour her model properly. Does anyone remember that Season 1 episode where Max’s hair and glasses ran away from the akuma without him?

- Gabriel shoots Adrien down and he immediately subdues and leaves. I guess the wave of fearlessness has passed but BABY NO, YOU WERE GONNA GET HIM! Even Plagg is encouraging him to give it another try! :’0

- “Rebellions are like cheese soufflés: just because they sometimes collapse doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again!” is my new favourite line from this show. It’s so uniquely baffling. I want it on my wall like a Live Laugh Love sign.

- Poor Adrien is stuck doing this romantic photoshoot with Lila, I guess. Is this all before school or did Gabriel pull him out of classes for this? Did they have a lot of time set aside for that breakfast they were supposed to have together? Has Adrien even HAD breakfast? LET ADRIEN EAT 2K22. >:0

- OOH, Adrien calls Lila out pretty viciously when she begins lying to him! Specifically claiming this photoshoot is nearly as romantic as a Hollywood movie she starred in. And that wasn’t even a “sure, Jan”, he went for the throat. Is he being affected by the akuma again or is this a holdover from last season where Adrien really told Lila where to shove it? I’m betting on the latter since he isn’t interrupting the shoot to yell at his dad like we know he wants.

- GABRIEL’S PLANNING TO SEND ADRIEN OFF FOR MONTHS ON AN INTERNATIONAL PHOTOSHOOT WITH LILA. MY GOD. Can’t blame him honestly; sucks for Adrien (who can’t even bring himself to argue, sweetheart!) but Gabriel’s the one trashing the city on a regular basis and making the Surprised Pikachu face when his son gets caught up in it! I’m amazed Adrien hasn’t been in a Swiss boarding school since Season 1.

- “At the end of the ad, using CG, they will meld together to become the perfume bottle. Two souls, one mind, one heart.” Several concerns. I’m VERY nervous about this Sentimonster thing. Not to keep bringing Felix up before he’s even got here but is this about the cousins somehow, or is Ol’ Gabe just monologuing blithely about missing his wife again? I’m not overlooking that camera angle of Emilie’s portrait right behind Gabriel’s shoulder as he stares at Adrien, either. Hashtag symbolism.

- GUESS ADRIEN’S OUTTA HERE. SORRY BABY. Marinette’s apparently watched this news clip 22 times and is FREAKING OUT.

At least Adrien gets to attend school one last time, that’s slightly better than nothing but isn’t the “adrenaline or death” akuma still on the loose? Is Gabriel just counting on this not being the incident which gets his son killed before he can ship him off to safety? :/

- Ah, we’re back to the strategic wheelie bins so Marinette can get around the school courtyard unseen! That’s a nice callback. And of course, despite Lila doing literally nothing this season until the previous episode, she’s suddenly commanding the class again and Mari can’t get near any of her friends. I sure hope Alya isn’t on Lila’s side any more, now she’s all in with Miraculous business can’t Mari explain what happened with Volpina? :/

- Nice to see Adrien with the guys too! I like that they’ve been pushing that friendship group a little more recently when we get so much of the Girl Squad already. I’m half sad to hear Adrien would be missing Nino’s birthday if this travel plan goes ahead (after all the trouble and property damage Nino went to for HIS birthday! :’0) but between episodes like “Rocketear” and “Penalteam” Nino’s been such an ass to him lately that I don’t know where they stand as best buddies. I’m still frustrated they haven’t addressed that! >:’0

- I will say, there’s no way this storyline will actually end with Adrien and Lila going on a months-long trip, so I’m not taking any of this very seriously. Season 4 has been better at updating the status quo but that’s way too big a change. It’s terrible that I expect them to kill Felix onscreen before sending Adrien off for an unspecified amount of time but here we are. :’)

- I’M GLAD MARINETTE’S NOTICED HOW UNHAPPY ADRIEN LOOKS. I thought she was just going to focus on Lila “stealing him away” or whatever but this is a good use of her infatuation. She’s literally the only classmate paying attention to his feelings right now! I’m more surprised a public photo of Adrien going “:(” hasn’t been analysed more closely but I gotta maintain my suspension of disbelief here. Mari loves him.

- Also, I’ll be really disappointed if this particular shot (shown above) isn’t a rehash of that Season 1 scene where Marinette shuts her locker and Adrien is right behind the door. It’s set up exactly the same way, please, that would be so funny--

- I expect nothing and I’m still disappointed.

- Anyway, Frog Boy chooses this moment to cycle past the school and Marinette’s Risk mark lights up, cementing her urge to confess her love before Adrien leaves FOREVER (or at least long enough to fall in love with Lila)! >:0

Where are this kid’s parents, by the way? They initially let him go because of his akuma power, but if people return to normal when he’s out of hearing range (and still recall what they did in their fits of fearlessness), shouldn’t they be looking for him? Calling the police to report their toddler missing??

- So is this, like... a class fencing lesson? Like the class soccer outing in “Penalteam”? I really wish they’d give these kids some sports kits, I know animation is expensive but they’re never dressed properly.

- Just like the soccer game, Lila fakes a complex and obscure medical condition to get out of this activity; but it backfires when Marinette (who arrives late after angsting in the locker rooms) gets to be Adrien’s partner and their teacher won’t let Lila step back in for safety reasons. Get rekt LOL.

- MARINETTE’S ABOUT TO CONFESS AND ADRIEN GETS NUTTED IN THE FACE WITH A BALL. GUESS THEY’RE NOT FENCING. I don’t know why I didn’t pick up on that when Lila was benched for “ball-ophobia” (there are no balls in fencing! >:0) but that was completely unexpected and SO funny. Is someone trying to get Adrien out of this modeling trip by smashing his face in?!

- IT WAS NINO!! HE’S CELEBRATING HIS STRIKE (I guess this is dodgeball?), ALYA’S LOOKING ON IN HORROR AND I’M CRYING WITH LAUGHTER. I DON’T KNOW IF HE’S BEING A GOOD FRIEND OR A DICK RIGHT NOW.

- Oh yeah, okay, they are playing dodgeball! Adrien gets smashed in the face and goes to the ‘dungeon’ behind the opposing team. Is this a metaphor for the way Gabriel treats him under the impression he’s keeping his son safe? And why is this the second episode in a ROW where nobody will explain team sports to this poor boy? :(

- Also I see Nathaniel didn’t get out of this one. Marc can save him from soccer workshops but not this!

- Alya tags Marinette WAY more gently to send her to the ‘dungeon’ with Adrien! A very generous move. I appreciate that it was just a little bump on the arm while Nino nearly fucking ended Adrien’s modeling career; as Certified Best Friends they’re both doing what needs to be done! :D

- Adrien and Mari have a little talk. It starts out awkward as they don’t know what to say, then gets really awkward when Adrien’s Risk mark flares up and he starts kicking off about how much he hates everything! The photoshoots, dumb ads, his celebrity status and now being expected to just drop everything and go do all this with Lila!! >:0 I REALLY enjoy his speech here; Adrien’s given hints in the past that he doesn’t enjoy the things Gabriel demands from him but this is the first time he’s been so open about it. Yet again the voice acting here is awesome!

- Marinette says she understands how Adrien feels; probably referring to all the pressure of the Miraculous Guardian stuff. Which would be less of a problem if she’d TRUST CHAT NOIR once in a while (or at least build a healthy Alya-Luka support system in the meantime!) but I digress. Adrien seizes the moment and holds her hand! :D

- Lila is getting SO mad. Does she really think she can win Adrien at this point, or are appearances all that matter and she just wants people to think Adrien’s into her via these situations Gabriel engineers? Adrien and Marinette’s emotional exchange continues, and it looks like Mari is about to confess her feelings when LILA BARGES IN AND DRAGS ADRIEN AWAY. SORRY KIDS, NOT TODAY.

- Everyone crowding in to say goodbye to Adrien is so cute! Albeit very frustrating that nobody is reading his emotions properly. His tutor lifting him up in a hug is adorable, between his dead mom and his emotionally constipated father (and Nathalie not being paid enough to actually touch him) have we EVER seen an adult hold Adrien like this?! I think he sees this as Adrien’s chance to escape - implying he’s noticed Adrien is unhappy at home - when tragically it’s the opposite and Gabriel is just locking him down harder! :’(

- So even Chloe is standing by and fine with all this? I know she and Lila got chummy in the previous episode but she wants Adrien too, right? And we’ve seen proof she genuinely cares about him. This would be a great moment for her to ally with Marinette for Adrien’s sake but I guess Chloe doesn’t get to have positive development any more. I’m sure Felix’s interesting character arc will be joining hers in the garbage soon.

- Oh, I see how it is. I should have waited two seconds for Chloe to hip-check Marinette across the street when she was just about to confess (AGAIN). Is she serious about being able to come visit Adrien whenever she wants, is that her agreement with Lila? They’re basically planning to hold Adrien prisoner between them? Jesus Christ.

- Adrien even tries to check on Marinette before he goes! GORILLA, HOW COULD YOU DRAG HIM AWAY. YOU NEVER SPOKE TO HIM BUT ADRIEN ASSUMED YOU WERE HIS FRIEND.

- Alya does come to assist Marinette while she’s lying wasted on the sidewalk, thank goodness. Is this another metaphor for the Rena/Ladybug/Chat triangle? Too bad it’s over Chloe’s nonsense; I want to know if Alya’s suspicious of Lila! >:0

- Marinette calls an emergency meeting with Nino, Rose, Kim and Alya. It’s not lost on me that this is the same group from the opening scene, minus Luka and Kagami who go to different schools. I wonder where Juleka’s got to?

- I enjoy Nino thoughtfully chewing on his juice box while Marinette lays out her wild Veggietales plan. Time is of the essence but she’s already wasted enough to make little cucumber glasses for the “Alya” juice box?? The life of an artist I guess, gotta put in the extra effort. :/

- Okay, I love this whole sequence with the panning camera as Mari explains she’s trying to save Adrien instead of hinder him; it’s an emotional speech (again, great voice acting!) and way more cinematic than the usual static shots!

- And of course the others don’t get it. Nino thinks Adrien deserves to travel (after his dodgeball assault plan failed, I guess); Alya thinks Marinette is overreacting to Lila’s involvement so I guess we know where she stands on this issue; Rose thinks this is Adrien’s dream for some reason; and Kim can’t fathom why anyone WOULDN’T want to be an international model. Again, why isn’t Juleka here? Isn’t it her dream to be a fashion model? She’d have more to say about this than Kim!

- “If (Adrien) didn’t wanna model any more, he woulda told ME! He’s my best bud!” NINO, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO BREAK THIS TO YOU, BUT THERE’S A CHAT-NOIR-SHAPED DENT IN A VAN OUT THERE WHICH IMPLIES YOU GUYS AREN’T REALLY BESTIES THESE DAYS.

- I was gonna say “why isn’t Marinette calling Luka? After Wishmaker he’s clearly the best choice to help Adrien!”, but it’s occurred to me that maybe that’s why Juleka isn’t here. Is the houseboat Mari’s next stop when her classmates won’t help? :0

- OOOH, OKAY! Alya gives a firm no, and in a flash of confidence Mari basically tells the whole table to go screw themselves and leaves to fix this herself! BETTER BE HEADING TO LUKA’S.

- Chaos is erupting all around Marinette as she strides down the street WITHOUT FEAR. This is more what I expected from this akuma! Spontaneous love confessions and other emotional outbursts are embarrassing but not exactly beneficial to Shadow Moth, I want to see Kim catching fifteen different diseases from trying to swim the length of the Seine! >:0

- Back at the Agreste mansion and Adrien is despondent. His final bids for freedom have been struck down, his bags are packed and--

- FELIX?

- MY BOY IS HERE, OH MY GOD. MY SON. I’m sure this is the only moment of genuine joy I’ll get in this entire finale but I adore him on SIGHT. He’s just chilling on top of Adrien’s suitcases, wearing Adrien’s clothes and messing with one of Adrien’s basketballs like a cat with yarn. How did he get in??

- Whichever way he broke in here, and whatever horrible nonsense he’s about to start, I appreciate that they kept his neater hairstyle this time. The “Felix” episode was terrible anyway but even worse since they just used Adrien’s character model for most of it. This time you can actually tell it’s our horrible little boy!

- I am so nervous to go beyond this point, honestly. This is such a nice scene. The music is soft, Felix is framed pleasantly in the afternoon sun, and I could just quit watching here and believe he’s shown up to take this bullet for Adrien because he knows how much it would mean to his cousin. WOULDN’T THAT BE NICE.

- AND IT’S RUINED. The music shifts and Felix leers at Adrien with a menacing “Hi there, my favourite cousin. :)”. WHAT’S ADRIEN DONE TO HIM THIS TIME. DIDN’T THEY MAKE UP? Is Felix the kind of guy who just decides he’s freshly mad about something that happened years ago?!

- LOVE Adrien’s first question being “HOW DID YOU GET IN”, which is basically confirmation Felix isn’t allowed in their house any more. Did the “Gabriel Agreste” episode just not happen? I’d understand these hostile attitudes if this only took place after “Felix”, but how have they instantly started off on the wrong foot?

Maybe it’s like Lilo and Stitch, where Adrien’s prayed for a nice and peaceful solution to his problems and here comes Felix as the most chaotic thing possible. The universe sent “the nicest angel it has” but stocks were low.

- I’m sure this will escalate into something nasty, but for now I adore Felix’s dramatic impression of Adrien as a helpless maiden, and Adrien’s annoyed insistence that that’s NOT how he talks. Felix trying to cause trouble and Adrien gently slapping it down every time is the dynamic I crave between these two. I know I won’t get it but I crave it. :(

- I also like the detail of Felix brushing his hair from neat to messy and back again when imitating Adrien. It makes his impressions funnier and (like I said before) is less of a cop-out than just using Adrien’s character model the whole time.

Adrien tiredly pacing around the room with no time for Felix’s nonsense is great; he’s got more important things going on and doesn’t have the energy to deal with his twin cousin lounging around like a supervillain.

- Also, do you think... are these suitcases a reference to Castle Vanily? Surely not. Felix just gives off that indulgent, catlike energy of sitting atop piles of things (which do not belong to him) like a dragon on gold, and I got there before the series did. Hmm.

- Alright, I KNOW Felix has nefarious intentions by claiming he’s here to “save” his cousin (unless he’s literally incapable of saying anything nice in a non-sinister way, which would be very funny), but I appreciate that he picked up on Adrien being upset from one single press photo on the internet. No one else but Marinette noticed and she’s literally obsessed with Adrien, while Felix has seen him all of twice since they were kids!

- Is it significant that Felix puts so much emphasis on describing Adrien’s “SUPER-cool, SUPER-nice friends”? Hmm.

- Another reference to Felix living in London. I already suspect he won’t be in the London Special (if he even survives this finale) since that’ll likely be a backdoor pilot for the Miss Rose series, but I’m very fond of these little nuggets of info nonetheless. :’)

- “Freedom is something you make, Adrien.” Ooooh, that line gives me shivers! I don’t know if we’ll get any more of Felix’s backstory at this stage but I’m REALLY curious about what’s going on with him. He’s so weird and edgy for a 14 year old, but it sounds like he had a breakdown alone at his dad’s funeral last year so maybe he’s earned that baggage.

- So Felix’s plan is to swap identities with Adrien like they did when they were kids; dressing Adrien up in his clothes so he can chill elsewhere while Felix fights his case and tells Gabriel where to shove it. He implies there may be a “hidden side” of Ol’ Gabe which Adrien hasn’t seen yet. I’m thinking it’s the side which tried to murder Felix in the study last time he visited! :V

- I HIGHLY doubt this is actually to help Adrien. I adore Felix shamelessly but I don’t trust him an inch. Is this a plot to distract Gabriel while Felix gets into the study again, this time undetected?

- Adrien’s Risk mark flares up at just the right (or wrong!) time, and he thinks Felix is on to something! Oh noooo. We’ve seen the kind of carnage that comes with Felix dressed as Adrien, but what about Adrien doing “whatever he wants” dressed as Felix? An untapped market of chaos. Is this all gonna go off the rails and Ladybug will give a Miraculous to the wrong guy?

- THE MESS BEGINS. “Adrien” approaches Gorilla in the courtyard for help carrying his bags, and “Felix” sneaks out the front doors while he’s distracted. This naming will be a little confusing but I’m sure you guys get it.

- Back upstairs, “Adrien” takes a moment to swipe Nathalie’s work tablet under the guise of helping close her suitcase, which she is too weak to do. I’m noticing she has a Risk mark too and I’m sure that’ll be relevant. So this IS a plot for Felix to dig deeper into Gabriel’s business, colour me completely unsurprised!

- Also, does this indicate Nathalie is going on this trip with Adrien? Bedridden Nathalie who needs an Avengers-style exosuit to move around the house?? Nathalie who was on the verge of death at the beginning of this very episode??? GABRIEL.

- Speaking of Ol’ Gabe, he catches “Adrien” at the door and... doesn’t seem to recognise him as Felix. Which is EXTREMELY funny, because at the beginning of this arc he made a huge fuss about the cousins pulling this prank when they were toddlers. “I won’t be fooled a second time!” he said, and has now been fooled a second time.

- Back downstairs, “Adrien” checks the coast is clear before ducking into the Forbidden Study. And he... apparently has a high-tech monocle which can scan the room and locate points of interest?

- No, seriously, what on Earth is this thing. Where did Felix get this? How does a teenager just whip out a piece of Phantom Thief technology, and why did he need it when he already had a hunch something was up with Emilie’s portrait? Is this another Magic Kaitou reference, like his magician tricks from the first episode?

- He has a codebreaking device too, which must be pretty complex if it can crack Gabriel’s top secret safe in a house with a ridiculous level of security. How did he get any of this past boarder control? DOES FELIX’S MOM KNOW WHERE HE IS.

- It’s an x-ray monocle and everything. OKAY, KAITO KUROBA.

- Ah, ALRIGHT. So Felix got the safe open and discovered what look to be the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous(es), but I’m guessing these aren’t the real deals. I think Miraculous lose their camouflage when they’re renounced instead of just removed (like Marinette losing her earrings in the Shanghai Special vs Adrien giving up his ring in “Kuro Neko”), and we saw Uncle Gabe putting the Peacock brooch away at the end of the previous episode while scheming up a “surprise” for Felix’s next visit. THIS IS A TRAP.

- Either that or the Peacock Miraculous is still damaged and will just outright kill him. I can’t believe how expectant I am that Felix is going to die; I just feel like if they’ll do it to Sentibug they’ll do it to him. :/

- So Felix takes the Miraculous(es), and manages to reset the whole system including security cameras exactly the way he found it. Even if this kid is evil you’ve got to respect how capable he is compared to literally every other character in this show. But his Phantom Thief monocle picked up more of Gabe’s fingerprints on the painting; is he going to figure out how to get to the butterfly lair or Emilie’s capsule? Are we finally going to see how that whole system works?! I’M LOSING IT.

- UH OH, HE WENT DOWN THE TUBE BUT LEFT HIS BAG BEHIND. Guess you can’t plan for everything. Felix was ready for a heist, not his uncle’s fucked-up carnival funhouse slides!

Yet again I wish this wasn’t all done using Adrien’s character model, but at least there’s a better setup for it this time.

- Upstairs, Gabriel takes off his wedding ring while talking about this being his “riskiest plan yet”. What does that mean, dude.

- OH SHIT, FELIX FOUND EMILIE’S CAPSULE. I guess this is my moment of truth about his characterisation this episode; he seemed really fond of his aunt (or at least her portrait) in “Gabriel Agreste” so will he give a shit or are we playing by “Miracle Queen” rules? I really have no idea if Gabe intended this to happen or not, what on Earth is the fallout going to be?!

- HE JUST TURNED TAIL AND RAN. IT GOT TOO REAL TOO FAST. Like I’m sorry, I know this was a really tense moment and huge for all characters involved, but I love this whole spy movie setup leading to Felix just BOLTING at the sight of his dead aunt in his uncle’s basement. HE FIGURED OUT GABE WAS SHADOW MOTH AND STILL DUG DEEPER, BUT THE FRIDGE WITH EMILIE’S CORPSE IN IT WAS THE LINE. GOOD LUCK ADRIEN, YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN.

- Back upstairs, Gabriel puts his wedding band on Nathalie’s ring finger as a memento “in case something goes wrong”. Buddy, this is on the line with Ladybug kissing Chat Noir on the cheek earlier, you can’t maintain that platonic boundary you’ve been complaining about for this whole arc?! PUT IT ON LITERALLY ANY OTHER FINGER, GOOD LORD.

- “I’m trusting you with my wife’s ring. And my son.” WORST PROPOSAL EVER. At least Adrien won’t take much work; just leaving him alone will be better than the nonsense Gabe’s been pulling with him for the whole series. Except “Adrien” is currently Felix and having a heart attack in the study. Uncle Gabe warned you not to dig any deeper, honey, it’s your own fault!!!

- FELIX DITCHES THE MONOCLE AND KICKS IT SOMEWHERE DISCREET IN THE STUDY. IT’S SHOWN HIM TOO MUCH. I’d say “why wouldn’t he just put it back in his bag where he got it from, which he’s currently holding?” but 1) I refuse to put the burden of common sense on my special boy; and 2) the kid just saw a corpse which looks exactly like his mom. He’s handling this pretty well all things considered.

- I CAN’T HANDLE HOW GABRIEL BURSTS INTO THE STUDY AND FELIX INSTANTLY SAVES HIS ASS BY SNAPPING BACK TO THE “PRETEND TO BE ADRIEN AND TELL UNCLE HE DOESN’T WANT TO GO ON THE TRIP” PLAN. LIKE THAT HORROR SHOW DOWNSTAIRS DIDN’T HAPPEN. I don’t know if this is equal to or better than his immaculate “Oh I just wanted to get to know you, Uncle! :3″ save from the previous episode; this boy’s core talent is recovering from heart attacks in record time! >:0

- Okay, THIS is interesting. Gabriel tries to tell “Adrien” he won’t stand for this rebellion, but falters at the look in “Adrien’s” eyes and itches at the place his wedding ring should be - a habit we last saw in (I think) “Megaleech” when he banished the real Adrien upstairs for being defiant. Nathalie glances at Gabriel, adjusts her glasses with the ring visible on her hand, and tells “Adrien” it’s “time to go”. And “Adrien” just flinches wide-eyed and agrees?! BUT THIS IS FELIX.

OKAY. SIDEBAR. I HAVE THREE THEORIES HERE.

The first (and weakest) is that Felix is just obeying in order to get everyone out of the study, because every second they linger in here increases the risk of his Spy Kids mission being discovered - especially since he’s taken things from the safe and his Phantom Thief monocle is lying on the floor in easy sight. He got what he needed here and Adrien can fend for himself.

The second (and strongest) is that this is about the family rings again - now Felix knows Emilie is here he also knows there’s a second ring to be had, so he needs to stick close to Nathalie and the best way is by taking over this trip Adrien’s supposed to be going on, especially if Gabriel isn’t going to be there.

The third, returning to the Sentimonster theory, is that the ring actually did something to Felix. Maybe Gabriel just fidgets with it as comfort when he has to make tough calls with Adrien, but maybe it really does affect the fight Adrien has in him and forces him to be obedient, and if that’s the case then it might affect Felix too. I’m drawn back to “freedom is something you make” and how much trouble Felix went through to get hold of the first ring when Adrien has never touched this one. HMM.

- Full disclosure, it was very late so I went to bed after that scene. Couldn’t take any more excitement. Now I’m back for the last five minutes and HI MARINETTE, I NEARLY FORGOT ABOUT YOU. I really appreciate this arc being Agreste-centric; I’ve talked about it before but it’s refreshing for Mari to take a spectator position instead of getting crowbarred into the Adrien/Gabriel/Felix nonsense.

- ANYWAY. Marinette is back and with less than half an hour to save Adrien! We’re returning to the fairytale analogy from “Gabriel Agreste” and Mari’s taken two and a half hours to figure out that Adrien needs to be rescued by a knight, whatever that means. She’s also kept copies of those illustrations Nathaniel drew which is a cute bit of continuity.

- My brain wandered away from me for a second, and when Marinette says “The knight will be LLLLL--” I REALLY THOUGHT SHE WAS GONNA SAY LUKA, LIKE SHE GOT HIM IN ON THIS SOMEHOW. But nope, just Ladybug. There goes my OT3 dream. :( Her reasoning is “Nobody listens to Marinette, but EVERYONE listens to Ladybug!” which is actually very true, especially when Lila is around. If she’s willing to use Ladybug for environmental activism she can save Adrien too!

- Tikki starts the “you mustn’t use your powers to solve personal problems!” lecture, but I’m not taking any moral guidance from the Galette cake monster. Mari should totally do this. At any rate her Risk mark flares up again; she vetoes all Kwami concerns and forces Tikki to transform her! I’m sure this can only end well.

- Now we’re with Adrien, sitting on a park bench dressed as Felix. At least I get to see Felix’s character model in SOME form today. It’s like a glimpse into some alternate universe where Felix remained the deuteragonist instead of... whatever this is now. Sigh.

- Plagg is excited about Adrien’s newfound freedom, though he was VERY critical of Felix in the first part of this arc so it’s interesting he doesn’t suspect any mischief here. Though maybe Felix was serious about getting Adrien out of this mess; like yeah it’s an excuse to go raid his uncle’s stuff again but no harm no foul? I do believe he likes his cousin. Hmm.

- Adrien doesn’t want to risk taking advantage of this freedom (or isn’t in the right headspace to do anything except sit nervously) because he’s just waiting for Felix to call him. Kagami calls first and starts RAGING down the phone about not saying no to his dad. I guess this makes three people who noticed Adrien was unhappy about this situation! She asks how long he’s going to stay Gabriel’s “puppet”, and yet again I’m nervous about that choice of words. Is Felix okay right now?

- Uh oh, Kagami brought up their relationship. I don’t condone what happened there (and still think it’s a sign of Adrien having issues expressing platonic affection) but can Adrien get a break today? Everyone’s dunking on him. Though I think Kagami’s realised how unhealthy it was; she points out how between herself, Gabriel and Felix (and Ladybug) there’s always someone telling Adrien what to do. I’m getting increasingly concerned about this Sentimonster thing.

- Kagami yells some more, apologises for the harsh truths and hangs up, and Plagg just goes “wooooooow”. ME TOO BUDDY. KAGAMI IS GREAT.

- Adrien’s Risk mark flares up and he thinks Kagami is right, he should have stood up to his father a LONG time ago!! He texts Felix to stop the plan because he’s coming to confront Gabriel his damn SELF. All well and good but IS FELIX OKAY THOUGH.

- Felix (still dressed as Adrien) receives the text, reads it with narrowed eyes, then deletes it and gets into the car. Oh man.

- Both Adrien (in Felix’s clothes) and Ladybug see the car leaving. Adrien says “I should have known, he tricked me again!”, but like-- to what end? The car is heading to the station for an international trip Adrien doesn’t want to go on, right? Does he just assume Felix is tricking him even if he can’t figure out why this is bad? What is the plan here. He dashes off home with the intent of talking to Gabriel.

- Ladybug arrives at the station and sees “Adrien” and Lila about to board the train. Her Risk mark flares up and gives her the confidence to JUMP DOWN THERE IN FULL COSTUME AND TELL ADRIEN SHE “NEEDS” HIM. GIRL. IS SHE GOING TO SAVE FACE BY MAKING THIS A MIRACULOUS THING??

- Oh no, okay, she saved face with “Adrien Agreste is a national treasure and if he leaves Paris everyone will get akumatized from grief, so TURN AROUND RIGHT NOW AND TELL GABRIEL AGRESTE WHERE TO SHOVE IT”. Which is fair actually. “Adrien” says he doesn’t have the confidence because, unlike Ladybug, he’s “not a superhero”. This is like the third time Felix has used the word “super” today; is he actively gunning for a Miraculous after all?

- “ADRIEN” GETS ON THE TRAIN AND IT LEAVES. LADYBUG COLLAPSES IN GRIEF. DUDE WHAT IS GOING ON. I guess Felix doesn’t have to pay for his own ticket back home to London but I have no clue how to read his character right now; girl HELP--

- THE REAL ADRIEN BUSTS INTO THE MANSION. Does he have a door and gate key? I get the impression he’s not allowed to come and go as he pleases. Maybe Gabriel just didn’t lock up after all the capable household staff left. What does he MEAN he left the front door open for three days after Nathalie went on this trip, YES you have to close it yourself--!!

- Back on the train. Lila and “Adrien” take their seats. “Adrien” overhears Nathalie calling Gabriel to report his son is safe (lol no he isn’t).

- Gabriel answers his phone FROM THE TOP OF THE EIFFEL TOWER, WHERE HE TRANSFORMS INTO SHADOW MOTH IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, READY TO CAUSE WIDESPREAD CHAOS WITH A SENTIMONSTER.

- This is all very unnerving, but what I’m getting is that GABRIEL DEFINITELY DID NOT LOCK UP HIS HOUSE. THE REAL ADRIEN JUST WALKED IN THERE OFF THE STREET. If Felix had waited like 3 hours he could have wandered in and explored the place totally uninterrupted, but I guess hindsight is 20/20 (and maybe he’s more interested in the ring?). :/

- Shadow Moth creates Ultron. Between this and Nathalie’s Avengers exosuit he’s definitely been watching too many of his son’s movies.

- Ultron (or “Strikeback”, I guess?) begins stomping through the streets; and fearless Parisians start approaching/waving at/trying to take selfies with it. Which is honestly par for the course and I’m surprised the superheroes are only dealing with this NOW; if the influx of akuma haven’t destroyed the tourist economy they’ve just boosted it!

- Marinette has returned to the station roof and detransformed to lament about Adrien. Tikki tries to comfort her by describing Adrien simply going on a “voyage”, but Mari’s Risk mark flares up at the key word. IS SHE GONNA USE THE HORSE MIRACULOUS ON THE STARTRAIN AGAIN. “No magic portals” is the kind of sign you’d see in the train carriage and wonder what happened more than once to make it necessary.

- TIKKI IS NOT ON BOARD BUT MARINETTE IS THE CONDUCTOR OF THIS TRAIN. She didn’t even feed Tikki before re-transforming; I guess there’s no need to replenish her energy if she didn’t use Lucky Charm but isn’t it polite to provide a snack?!

- Back at the Agreste mansion, Adrien ventures into the study. Is he gonna find Felix’s Phantom Thief monocle and use it to discover Gabriel’s secrets too??

- Oooh YES. His Risk mark flares up at just the right time to deter him from stepping back out of the room and he spots the monocle; but the sound of Ultron stomping through the city distracts him!

AND THEN THE EPISODE ABRUPTLY ENDS. SHEESH, OKAY, BYE.

---

ALRIGHT, SO. GOODNESS. MY THOUGHTS SO FAR.

Realistically I know the “Adrien leaves Paris forever on an international photoshoot with Lila” thing isn’t going to happen, so I’m not too engaged with that (and only focused on it so much because I was nervous about whatever mess was about to happen with Felix, lmao); but as usual the Felix stuff is very interesting. I assume he’s going to do something horrible in the next episode which is why everyone’s been ominously telling me to “have fun :)”.

HOWEVER. This ring stuff. You guys know I wasn't totally buying the Sentimonster theory back in my "Gabriel Agreste" episode review, but with Felix's submissive reaction to Nathalie - especially right after challenging Gabriel for Adrien's freedom, and Gabriel's fumbling response as he went for a ring which wasn't there - I'm VERY suspicious of what's going on.

At this stage, I think Felix really DID intend to help Adrien out (as a fair trade for being able to get into Uncle Gabe's office again), but he wasn't prepared for how much he'd discover, AND the family ring had some kind of effect which led to him obeying Nathalie and deleting Adrien's text. Is it just because he wants to steal the ring for keepsies, like before, or does it have some other connection more deeply related to Adrien being Gabriel's "puppet"? Is this related to the "surprise" Gabriel planned for Felix's next visit which I'm sure involves the decoy Miraculous items? And where is Amilie in all this??

Can’t wait to see what happens in the next episode (which I’m planning to post a second review of sometime soon), I’m sure I’ll hate it! :D

#i cannot express how much of a nightmare the tumblr post editor is. apologies if this posts all messed up because idk WHAT it'll do next #anyway ENJOY WHATEVER THIS IS. a month late but i know you guys love me :V #josie talks about things #felix graham de vanily #felix agreste #miraculous ladybug

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ladyofthenoodle · 2 years

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okay so it’s time to explains my tags on @gentil-minou ‘s post because y’all asked for it (sorry for starting a new post but this is like. very tangential now)

okay so this is actually a theme in a lot of my fics because i actually feel like it’s that important to the show and to their characters and why i’m really interested to see “risk.” marinette and adrien are, in different ways, both risk averse. this shouldn’t be a big shock to anyone who regularly reads analysis of this show. adrien’s is a learned behavior mostly: as chat noir he takes risks more freely, but as adrien, he’s learned that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. to quote stephen schwartz as performed by idina menzel, “don't dream too far/ don't lose sight of who you are.”

we see adrien ask his father for things on occasion, but typically they’re either low risk, low reward (“will you have dinner with me father” would get adrien a small bit of happiness if fulfilled and is unlikely to be punished for asking) or they’re something adrien finds so important that he’s willing to risk it, and even then he does his best to minimize the risk (i.e., preparing a speech to ask to go to marinette’s birthday). but in general, adrien doesn’t ask for much and tries to be happy with what he gets, because maybe if he demands more he’ll end up losing what he does already have. this translates over to his relationship with ladybug and hesitancy to ask her directly to fulfill his emotional needs.

for marinette, i think this comes more naturally. she’s an anxious person. she’s terrified of rejection. being with adrien could make her so, so incandescently happy — but she’s not willing to risk what she already has with him. better to enjoy the scraps of friendship than to ask for more and risk ruining everything. sacrifice the possibility of romantic happiness because the process of going after it could leave your friendship in tatters. now, she’s made some progress here this season and is getting more self aware about it (especially in glaciator 2 and simpleman), but as much as she’s starting to accept that she can’t control the outcome, she still isn’t ready to actually face that in action.

as ladybug, it’s even more pronounced, since the risk isn’t just personal — she’s risking the safety of the world. so even if making changes to how things are done might be better for her, she doesn’t know if it’s safe. fu’s rules are safe so she’ll keep following them even if it’s making her and chat noir miserable. she bent them a bit to tell alya because she was at her absolute limit, because she couldn’t sustain it anymore. but after that she goes back to wait she was doing before. even though telling someone her identity made things easier, she’s not willing to take more risks like that, not unless it’s necessary, not even if she’d be happier (and we know from ephemeral that she would). and that still hasn’t changed by the end of kuro neko and i don’t know if everything can be resolved until it does.

but it DID change during ephemeral. her choosing to reveal herself was so huge and she was so nervous and tense but she’d finally realized that she wanted this, wanted chat noir, badly enough to take that risk, that this happiness was worth it. part of that i’m sure is the happiness finally felt within reach for her, but she’s still scared in that moment. and ephemeral ultimately does confirm that this is a huge risk. she’s not imagining things. telling chat noir her secrets very much can directly lead to shadowmoth winning. i don’t think it’s inevitable, but we see that her fear is well founded and the risk is real.

(sidebar but now that i’m thinking about “i’m not that girl” it’s officially going on the playlist for ephemeral: hands touch, eyes meet / sudden silence, sudden heat / hearts leap in a giddy whirl is like. that ladybug reveal moment. and then every so often we long to steal / to the land of what-might-have-been / but that doesn't soften the ache we feel / when reality sets back in UGH why don’t i know how to make amvs or gif sets. if you do please @ me i have ideas)

so “risk.” it’s scary for both of them. and it’s an episode title. in the finale. and we know that there’s some possibility of ladybug risking her identity, perhaps for adrien (not to him, i don’t think, but for his sake) — the very thing she’s most scared of risking, because like in the season premiere, she’s facing a point where not taking a risk is worse (especially if my prediction is right and adrien will be in more danger than just potentially leaving town). she couldn’t bear to lose alya’s friendship and she can’t bear losing adrien either. as for confessing her feelings, she might not be ready to take the risk of confessing if that means losing what she has with him, but if that might be lost anyway? well that changes things, doesn’t it?

and then on chat noir’s side, we see him in the ladynoir clip taking the risk of asking for more from ladybug, something he’s been avoiding all season. kuro neko has set him on this path already, though he might still need another push to really start bringing things up (perhaps ladybug thinking “adrien” is in danger and starting to make less rational decisions — certainly a good reason for chat noir to want to bring up a reveal). so i think he’s definitely taking that risk. but the summary of the episode asks us if he’ll take the even bigger risk of standing up to his father, and like with marinette, i think adrien might be finally moving into a position where the risk it worth it. because it’s no longer about reaching out blindly towards some intangible potential happiness with the possibility that you’ll lose balance and fall into a lava pit that you could’ve otherwise avoided. now they’re both being slowly lowered into the lava pit and they have to reach up if they want to survive. staying in place is no longer an option.

#sorry about the lava pit metaphor #i play ‘the floor is lava’ a significant amount #like almost daily #anyways i hope that is what y’all wanted #i probably have more thoughts on this but not tonight #miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #kuro neko #ml speculation #using my noodle

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standreamy · 2 years

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The issue with Ladybug in regards of LadyNoir’s partnership

Edit 24/04/2022

This post contains the infos about all the series released up until now, including season 4 finale and the first two episodes of season 5. The concept remains the same overall, being further deepened and strengthened by the new content. They only added more reasons to why the topic is messed up a lot.

PREMISE

First of all, I apologize for the length of this post and I clap to anyone who will be willing to read it and consider what I wrote with open mind, without jumping to the conclusion this is made just to express hate.

I have this analysis I wanted to share about the Ladybug/Marinette discourse that went all over the fandom because of the new Kuro Neko trailer, and that then I kept continuing after it aired…

I wanted to write this post some time ago, but I waited to see how season 4 would progress overall.

I’m aware that season 5 is still to be released and surely my opinion will grow and shift depending on what will happen, but we have enough material to talk about the situation NOW as this sub-plot was made to shape season 4 and part of season 3. Enough material is present to judge what was done in the progressing of the sub-plot in its dedicated seasons.

I wanted to express what currently I think are the problems with the protagonist’s treatment towards Chat Noir.

As much as on one hand I understand the frustration of Ladybug’s fans, and how some takes and aggressive attitudes by some people are way exaggerated and I absolutely do not condone (Seriously lamenting to the author won’t fix the problem at this point and there is a line between expressing opinions in the right places with good manners and herassement), I can’t also blame who is genuinely but moderately expressing exasperation over the situation.

I am a very HUGE fan of angst, miscommunication tropes, etc... but if those are portrayed and written well. Without forcing characters to just become mean, or act unnaturally incoherent.

As I often say, I am not really into the fandom anymore. I watch the show, criticize it, draw for some headcanons and AUS I have, I read fanfictions and look at fanart, but I don’t engage in the fandom discussions and I’m not super invested in it (aside Marichat). I try to take everything that comes with a grain of salt and be neutral, but in this situation it’s really difficult to not lean on the current opinion that Marinette is acting wrongly.

After years of defending this show, I eventually gave up on the eventuality that its writing is very flawed and not in a light and okay-ish way. This doesn’t mean no one can like it or feel addicted to it, speaking for myself, I still try to always face episodes keeping a neutral critical eye.

But there are some lines I think should be drawn and one is how much we can really excuse Marinette/Ladybug’s behavior, as her character in the show in writing and enjoyment but also for ethical reasons regarding the viewers.

What she is doing in the series to Chat, is entirely wrong. There’s no going around it, she is the one making the biggest mistakes and acting in a bad way and her actions shouldn't be justified so easily.

Basic respect for someone in our life is fundamental, mostly who we care about and is supposed to be a closed one. Without respect we go nowhere and what Ladybug expressed towards Chat has serious lacks of it.

I will go through this picking on the main “mistakes” she has made, from the very second season when all of this started (Yes, it’s not an issue born in season 4, it just exploded in such.) and expand on what’s wrong, plus proposing solutions that could have been taken.

Also, I’d like to remind that Chat has his own faults too and has big issues as character, but in regards of this subplot the problem lays more on Ladybug’s writing than him.

SEASON 2

Starting off with something small but important, she did not inform Chat Noir of a Guardian or explain to him how to reach him. If they talk regularly on patrols and are friends who relatively know each other, as the show pretends since they are supposed to do it enough to be “in love”, she would have been aware of Plagg’s not mentioning it to Chat (Which wasn’t told if it was a direct order from Fu), and the moment she started frequenting Fu she still should have made sure of it.

If Plagg got sick and couldn’t guide Adrien, or something happened, he would have no way to reach Ladybug or get infos about how to find the Guardian, serious issues could have been raised.

However, it’s true that before Syren, we weren’t aware that Fu apparently insisted on having Marinette not informing Chat about his existence, so we can blame part of this mostly to him.

She, at least, tried to talk to Fu about including Chat more. If anything, we could blame that we didn’t get to see Fu explicitly telling her to not speak during their first encounter.

Another big flaw that got carried into the current season, even if not coherently, is Ladybug not revealing the identities of the temporary heroes to Chat.

On one hand, it’s normal to think that being their identity, it would be their right to decide, just like it’s normal to consider that Fu might have been a big reason why Ladybug didn’t think of informing Chat. But again, we were never shown Fu actively saying to Marinette to not tell Chat, at least not clearly when she started giving out the temporary miraculous to the holders. She assumed it, which is understandable, but if they are partners on the level of equals, he should be kept in loop as much as her.

If it was urgent and needed for him to find them, if he got into a situation where Ladybug was unavailable and he needed a back-up, he wouldn’t have been able to get help. Maybe, knowing where Fu is, he would get informed on their identities, but that would be only an exception, and it’s not said that Chat would have time to find Fu. Maybe Ladybug already got the Miraculous to give out, but she was trapped and Chat took it. At that point he would have to improvise.

This is generally most of what was wrong in season 2 regarding Ladybug’s attitude. It may not be as big and extreme as season 4, but here the roots were planted and there were barely efforts to fix them or deepen them to create a coherent plot point.

SEASON 3

Season 3 was more damaging as it seems under this perspective, because most of the plot holes that led to Chat being unfairly treated were introduced in this part of the show.

Let’s pick up again from Chat not knowing the temporary heroes.

Ladybug didn’t inform Chat that other members know each other. If one of them was akumatized, it’s an objective risk he should be aware about. Aside from the fact that the rules were broken of course. It’s not a problem that they knew, it’s a problem he wasn’t made aware of it.

Another big issue is how he wasn’t informed at the moment Hawk Moth/Papillon learnt the identities in Miracle Queen.

This could be more of a plot hole and it probably is, but it became a pretext to continue on the road of Chat being kept in the dark.

Maybe we can blame most of it on Fu again, but after Marinette became Guardian, even if trained by him, she still has to make her own choices and get responsibilities for them. She could have still realized that Chat needed to know these things.

Of course, there is a lack of good writing even on part of Chat. He isn’t stupid, he could have guessed once reached the battle ground and he could have easily questioned it to Ladybug. But still, Ladybug didn’t think of informing him and insisted on him not knowing (unless he was present already for other holders, but that’s a big incoherence). Either he shall know everyone’s or no one’s.

Shadow Moth knowing and not Chat, doesn’t hold logic or fairness.

It’s an urgent matter. Chat should be informed about it so to draw his own conclusions and act if needed.

And it’s also a morally wrong choice which Chat could have easily expressed if he wasn’t so forgiving and passive towards her (As I said, he has his own faults, but first and foremost he should be informed by her). If he was well written, he would have of course thought about how this would give the idea that Ladybug has a specifical worry against Chat in knowing ANY identity. Even more worried than HawkMoth knowing or putting at risk their working balance just to not let Chat know.

In his shoes, he could even think, in a situation of self-doubts, that she trusted HawkMoth more, and saw Chat more as a danger.

Which seems extreme, but it’s a fair thought seeing how she acts.

This is furthermore supported by Multimouse’s resolution. It’s understandable Ladybug needed to find an excuse, for obvious reasons, but also her excuses at this point could have raised a lot of doubts in Chat.

Aside that Marinette is his supposed dear and close friend and sadly he didn’t even question anything, after everyone’s being compromised to Hawk Moth, Ladybug didn’t really need to keep Marinette out of commission. Sure, it came out Chat didn’t find out the other heroes’ identities, but Marinette was the only one not compromised and substituting her with PolyMouse in season 4 on the basis that it was because of her revealing to Chat could as well make him think the whole problem wasn’t Hawk Moth or others knowing, but him in the specific.

Hawkmoth didn’t know her identity, only Chat, it made no sense for her to be replaced in Chat’s eyes. The minimum would have been to bring it up and have Ladybug find another excuse so to not let Chat think the worst about the situation. Perhaps taking advantage of her difficulty in justifying that Marinette cannot be called back, to make Chat understand that it is not a matter that depends on him, even if she insists not to tell him who the other members are. It would be a perfect trigger event.

One can say that since this didn’t happen, since the show (and Chat) didn’t bring it up, there’s no real reason to talk about it. But since we jump to assumptions on her care for Chat and justifications, even when they are not present in the show or not as they should, we can also add things that would surely count if the writing was good and coherent to the characters’ knowledge.

Couldn’t she come up with a better excuse? Like maybe the fact that since Marinette had to wear so many Miraculous together she had a magical overdose and was too drained of vital energy? So using a Miraculous again could affect her health? It would surely put at peace Chat Noir, it’s kind of realistic considering the rules and functioning of the jewels (ignoring that now characters wear 3 Miraculous together like nothing happens at all) and would have been perfect to either put the matter aside and not bring it up again or choose instead to work on it and make it a sub-plot, maybe giving chance also to develop more Marinette and Chat’s relationship or how he views her.

This is more a stretch in matters of how much it was shown, but apparently Chat is not informed on all the things about the Miraculous. If he was an ally like the others, it would be understandable, but he is Ladybug’s partner and equal. He should be informed on what is important. Like the Grimoire, why it was so important. Sure, it creates complications in how to not wrap the plot too quickly, but there are ways to still inform him enough but not to suspect, in a realistic way, about his father ahead of time.

Another stretch, but a topic we can link to her “caring” about Chat Noir the whole series and making him feel important at times… another big mistake was how the balance between her as LadyNoire and Mister Bug was handled. Her thinking that Chat’s role is easy to fill is okay at the start, it’s a common banter many shows used for their characters if working in teams. But the episode didn’t end with her learning he is important or has a difficult and valid role, it ended with her having some fun and having a very easy time with his Miraculous.

If he learnt her role is difficult, she didn’t do the same, so if we take the show’s writing and how she easily substitutes him or forget about his feelings or presence, she didn’t learn from it and still thinks his role is easier and lighter. What was the point of that episode then?

Other small bits of elements we can take in consideration are also how in Desperada she wonders where Chat is and then talks about how they don’t need him in front of Adrien. We can argue that in the end she did need Chat and his cataclysm and admitted it, but more so the focus was on the fact that she needed the right Snake holder. And Adrien or no Adrien, even not considering that she should be developed at least enough by season 3 to not let something so small feelings wise to complicate a mission, since she is excused in her actions because she has to be “professional”, Chat is still an important member and friend. She doesn’t love him? He is still close enough not to talk about him like that, even if she is blinded by Adrien (Which again, by season 3 out of 5 for the main arc, shouldn’t be anymore the case).

Now we go into the biggest point, the one that created most misconceptions in the fandom.

Chat Blanc.

Let’s start with something clear. Chat should have been made aware of what happened if there is a fair partnership or a fair treatment at all of his role. It involves him, it’s about him, he should have known.

Then, if we want to treat it as something that didn’t happen because Ladybug was traumatized from it, sure, it’s a possible road.

But if it was portrayed as such.

A trauma is shown through the series in acts and proofs, periodically, constantly. Marinette should have shown it when she talked, spoke, and thought about Chat and their partnership, or even having this experience getting in the way of her daily life.

We didn’t see during season 4 any of the real consequences of her stress as guardian. Lila didn’t create many issues, she didn’t lose friends, she wasn’t seen having bad time with school and grades, we didn’t see her parents doubting her, or her disappointing people’s expectations. We saw only her not being able to date Luka, a person she claimed to love and broke up with only because of her duties (Which says a lot about how her growth personally and as romantic relationships is treated. And how she is supposed to fall for Chat or really get to know Adrien. But it was said in a interview that Luka was supposed to create a bit of a mess by being the perfect guy to fall for, and Adrien being more than once listed as “perfect” in Marinette’s eyes about his qualities), but that was it.

And if THAT wasn’t well portrayed and didn’t solidify a reason to justify her during the season stress-wise, how could it be the trauma from Chat Blanc that received the same treatment?

Every single link from her being so snappy and unfair to trauma from Chat Blanc is suppositions made by the fans who want to excuse her actions as PTSD/Trauma. We could believe so, but she never showed real hints about it, clear and confirmed. She never really gave proof and acted accordingly.

We never saw her having constant nightmares (only once and a unique hint of it all in Sentibubbler), we never saw her regretting her decisions and feeling conflict over her actions towards Chat or decisions concerning him. She never showed regret for leaving him in the dark or keeping him at arm’s length. If she was hit by trauma, she would be aware at least that she is doing it or want to keep a distance. And this is never portrayed.

She never expressed fear of falling in love with him even, she was always sure that she wasn’t in love with him and had no real concern about it. “She doesn’t realize she loves him deep inside”: no.

This is just a supposition once again, it’s not a fact shown or stated. Her whole actions demonstrate the opposite. Someone who loves the other cares in every single action and act. Maybe they make mistakes but they care and suffer for them and for others and not just themselves (NY Special, which I’ll address later).

Words speak louder with actions. So she can’t be excused about not informing him about Chat Blanc and leaving him in the dark about everything because she is afraid of him getting akumatized. She never showed it, she never acted traumatized, she never showed to depend on it to determine her actions.

Suppositions don’t really go far when the show doesn’t go accordingly, it will be always more fans trying to convince themselves.

You can’t base it on her trauma unless you show it. Show her hesitant and in fear that telling him would lead him to being akumatized. Otherwise, as being directly involved, it’s his RIGHT to know and there are no excuses.

In real life Trauma can stay hidden and resurface later, but the signs are clear and surely there aren’t storytelling issues to take count of. If you’re writing a story, you have also some elements to portray to make the story flow with sense and coherence.

What kind of solution could have been found?

Remake Chat Blanc with other concepts in mind and other consequences.

Start from Glaciator, have Ladybug opening up bit by bit in what she can, have Marinette nurturing her friendship with Chat and eventually developing that surprise the heroine had into something more. Slowly getting more open minded and curious, she get also closer to him until, one day, she decides to give him the chance to try something together and she drops her transformation, hoping he still feels the same and perhaps he started liking her civilian self.

That, makes her big and first mistake, dropping a bomb on him who, even if happy, start feeling a lot of pressure to keep her secure. They are in a relationship, he may or not reveal, but still HawkMoth notices his stress and starts targeting Ladybug specifically. Or even, he could discover Chat sees Marinette. And eventually things escalate and Chat is akumatized for despair but he doesn’t give infos to the villain, and destroys him like in the canon episode. Same consequences, different progression and turning point. Then, Bunnix goes back in time and takes Marinette before she decides to drop her transformation and brings her into the future, with the same events happening.

When everything is fixed and she goes back to her own time, Marinette is even more hurt by the eventuality of being the cause of that, so even if she still has feelings for Chat, she needs to keep distance from him, even if suffering for it and blaming herself. She keeps doing so, substituting him, avoiding him, hurting him without really getting the consequences of her actions, keeps acting stressed, having nightmares, seeing Chat Blanc everywhere and having difficulties staying by her partner’s side, but faking to be okay. That all is okay.

At that point, it slowly goes down to her lashing out a bit (Not drastically, but still hurting him without meaning to) and the fracture is created in their partnership.

It could even use an eventual Sandboy 2.0 as a possible increment of their division or to use it to help them fix the partnership.

Or, another options to stay closer to canon’s events:

Adrien finds out exactly like in canon her identity, he decided to get to know Marinette better instead of jumping in a relationship and so he gets more and more enamored by her. To the point that Gabriel notices something has changed in his son, that he wants to spend more time out as a civilian, that he sneaks out to stay with Mari. Even Lila could inform Gabriel.

So he starts having someone spying on Adrien and eventually he finds out about Chat Noir and indirectly either he spies on Marinette and discovers her or he follows Chat Noir visiting her as hero (Implying Marinette could also get to know Chat and get closer to him) and uses her to akumatize him out of guilt and using other cards like his mother or his amok (It’s confirmed by now).

All this, permits to then give even the reason why the two shouldn’t get too close under any sense, instead of just not developing them but pretending they are.

The most important thing is also to focus on the real dangers of them knowing and getting in a relationship. Aka, not being ready emotionally or facing the dangers that are most concrete, not forcing Gabriel to find out with silly mistakes Adrien wouldn’t commit.

Their relationship and identities being discovered with their reveal to each other, it’s not a natural consequence. It’s a risk, but both in Chat Blanc and Ephemeral it was treated as something bound to happen if they shared their secret, which it isn’t.

It’s more risky one of them being controlled, but if they were careful as they always were the chances of HawkMoth discovering something changed between them is very very low.

The ones I offered are just a couple of the plenty options, but of course, it wouldn’t be enough to just change this episode, but still taking the development and smear it way earlier since season 2 and keeping doing it after Chat Blanc too.

That’s why consistency is very important in a show to have actual characters’ development and in this show it lacks a lot.

SEASON 4

This season takes most of the previous mistakes and acts upon them to give the situation an explosion.

This choice is not itself a bad decision for the show. Creating a conflict between LadyNoir based on Marinette’s mistakes because of stress and guardianship is a valid choice that can give angst and interesting developments.

The problem lies in how everything is treated and that there is no actual development, nor bases to take this road with coherence.

There is much to address but we will start from the very start and try to go over everything.

She reveals to Alya and doesn’t inform him.

Of course, Marinette’s identity is hers to do as she wishes. We didn’t really have a promise between the two that they would be each other’s first choice. Maybe it could have been implied but it wasn’t made a point of importance.

The problem is not much that she vented and revealed to Alya, if anything it should have been made way earlier in the show for writing reasons. The real issue is that she didn’t inform her partner of what happened. And she didn’t then tell him about Rena Furtive or Alya keeping her miraculous permanently.

It wouldn’t be a huge problem if he was a sidekick or general ally, but they are supposed to be equals and solid rules were established for them both to maintain.

The show didn’t address it, so we don’t have proof unfortunately to say that they cared about revealing (at least, not on Marinette’s side.) or felt the urge to do it, even after taking down their enemy. Chat surely did, but Ladybug never and they never made a promise between them. And she never has shown fear in him not liking her behind the mask and disappointing his expectations, even if I find it a very valid take fanon-wise to give her more character.

The rules spoke clearly, no reveals. But it’s a general rule. “No one has to know”, so if something happened, the problem is not really that Alya discovered before Chat. It would be if CN and LB promised each other something, or we can even suppose it would have been fairer towards Chat.

The problem is that her identity was compromised in the first place and he is to be informed to act as consequence and take precautions, or problems can rise like in Hack-San.

Marinette never had any intention to inform Chat about having told someone. She never showed regret about it aside in Hack-San when she was found out and Alya pushed her and Sentibubbler but more because of a sudden and casual fear of Alya betraying her. So, this isn’t about Chat being informed, she really didn’t think about it, if she did she gave no weight to it.

It was Alya telling her to talk to Chat in Hack-san, if she didn’t Ladybug wouldn’t have done anything. Alya, who was his partner only for a day, could see more how he was affected and consider his position.

And still regarding this episode, she left and didn’t inform him. Surely he made the same mistake in the NY Special and he paid for it, showing remorse and being nervous about not having informed her.

Marinette may have left him with a substitute, but she was able to. Chat wouldn’t have left his miraculous to someone else, since apparently he is the only one not spilling secrets around ironically.

Yet, when she made the same mistake she didn’t get the blame he did, he didn’t lash out on her like she did, even after how he had to find out such a thing.

And she didn’t feel sorry of not warning him, unlike he did all along.

A simple call would have been enough. A quick bathroom break to leave him a message and then tell him she would explain once she was back. Still wrong not telling him before about revealing to someone, but at least she would have shown consideration and efforts in fixing her mistake.

Marinette may have done a long list for Alya (Very scrupulous in this, but not in taking a minute to give him heads-up) and added to laugh at his jokes cause they make him happy, but if in the same episode she fails over and over again to consider really the impact of her actions, the most important and fundamental ones, how really can that be relevant?

In the end of the episode, she promised to never abandon him, but did she really take into account his fears?

Worrying about seeing someone important disappear without knowing what happened is terrifying. It happens in real life, on the internet… and if you care about said person it eats you alive.

Chat may be too forgiving, but he expressed a serious fear that should have been faced by Ladybug with consideration that goes beyond an empty promise she will break even.

She can promise that, of course, and break it as a plot point, but this is furthermore proof of how superficial the whole thing is and how difficult it is to excuse her.

How can you promise that you won’t end up in an accident? That something won’t happen? You fall sick? You can’t promise that will never happen. It’s cruel to do so, even if she doesn’t know that many people abandoned him in his life.

You may say that with optimism, but you need to also give some back-up to show you really got seriously his fear and share it.

Doesn’t Ladybug worry about seeing him vanish suddenly one day? Maybe learning something happened and he died without her never seeing him again, saying goodbye or revealing?

Did she offer a solution or compromise? Some sort of realistic element to make him feel better? Leaving a clue, a letter or something for her relatives, where she would ask to inform him if something happened. Write something to give him in case she wouldn’t be there anymore so he would know who she was and she cared even if she didn’t have the chance to tell him in person.

Encouraging that once all was over with Shadow Moth they could reveal, so to pump his spirits a bit, show she wanted to know as much as him, since she never showed fears about him being disappointed in Marinette.

None of this was made. How much can we say then that his worries really are taken into account?

Or even, why didn’t she think of giving him a chance to find someone to reveal too? As much as she doesn’t know about his home life (Which is more because she doesn’t let them open up, or the writers not giving space to know really how much they know each other personally without compromising infos in the way), on contrary to her beliefs and the show’s writing, his romance with her isn’t his only concern. He still is the bearer of the cat miraculous and it’s an objective weight.

Again, plot-wise it’s okay it passed from her mind, only if Chat showed to be bothered of having no one to open up to. This way, it only seems to lack her considerations or thinking.

This is small, but still important if we want to take everything into account: you tell your colleagues if you are not showing up for patrols. One thing is not showing up if the meeting is casual and more Chat hoping for her to appear and getting his hopes up. Another thing is having set patrols to which, even if you have other important duties, you didn’t stand up professionally. It’s important to inform you won’t show up, even more so if those patrols also hold the scope of spending time with someone important that you can’t frequent outside the mask.

She forgot? it’s okay, just think about it later, realize and feel a bit sorry! You made a mistake, you were careless and forgetful but at least you show you cared about it.

Chat isn’t seeked or waited most of the time, she doesn’t actively seek him anymore unless she needs at all costs his power. He is her last thought and need, she easily replaces him. Which of course, if case calls should be something to be ready to do, but not so often without worrying. Not so easily.

She makes plans for “two people” but doesn’t give him heads-up. It shouldn’t be something so easy to brush off. He may be very loyal and would back her up, she may trust him to adapt, but for now we don’t know if it’s that or just her not considering it.

So even her “joke” or sarcasm about not knowing each other or she would have seeked him out, it’s really uncalled for. A joke should be ironic at least, even if it doesn’t make you laugh. (Optigami)

She insists on not revealing while people, including herself, are breaking the rules all over… aside him.

Now, I know this is something people discussed plenty on, but I want to try addressing it anyway.

Glaciator 2 for me was one of the episodes with most potential, maybe it showed the deepest part of Marinette and Chat, when they interacted.

Sure, Marinette confessed something to him in the cinema that doesn’t really stand to how she actually acts, but it was a try to put a patch on her character mess. Their interactions in the episode were both funny and endearing (This is what happens when you make two characters actually act as friends and make them get to know each other truly).

But, Ladybug’s reaction was way over the top.

Gossip is a thing that exists, as a public figure it’s understandable that it can be pressuring, but it’s also something to get used to. She may be stressed, but lashing out like that remains exaggerated. She acted almost repulsively towards him.

Chat surely was wrong in pushing just a few lines, we could even pretend he needed to give her more space and lay down with the flirting etc…

It was a lesson for him, but in the same episode she acted as badly towards Adrien, if not worse. She cared about cheering him up so he could fall for her, again fell in her obsession and acted superficial (The gifts weren’t even all handmade like everyone thought). It was shallow, the meanings behind an action count and her acting so furious and exaggerated with Chat was even more out of place with how she acted after.

But only Chat was the one who had to learn all the lessons of the episode.

I would also like to note that Ladybug never outright said to Chat she will never like him romantically or what he can’t or not do in her regards. She said there was another boy. So she could have fallen for Chat, she just didn’t in the show (Which makes Luka’s presence a bit more pointless romance-wise. She never showed thoughts of giving Chat a chance, even if it meant giving up on it for Chat Blanc. And she didn’t learn from her relationship with Luka on how to treat Adrien).

Yet she flirted back and acted in ways that can make a person still get hopes up. So, again, she holds part of blame if he insisted on it. You put the boundaries? Be clear on your intention, that you being affectionate and flirting back doesn’t mean anything. Otherwise, don’t react as harshly.

It’s okay getting mad for the timing, but aside that, there’s no reason to throw him in a trashcan. It’s not fun, it’s not a gag or a joke. You portray the scene differently if it was, not with “serious” implications and pressure for him to be wrong about his attitude. Not with how she was even freaking out in stopping the media, almost obsessed to stop the rumors. Is she frantic? It’s okay to do so, but again, show valid reasons. Show that she has flashbacks of Chat Blanc and freaks out because her viewing Chat romantically is possible and she is scared that it will lead to that event happening. Show her having fear, not seeming crazily obsessed with her anger. Otherwise, it just proves that she isn’t unaware of loving Chat, she just doesn’t for real and is almost repulsed to the idea.

And yes, it was a cute thing her asking him for practice, but this if their visits as Marichat friendos were regular and she didn’t just approach the whole situation with him as Ladybug like that.

Okay, he doesn’t know yet, but if she had the minimal intention to reveal someday she should worry that he would be hurt to know that in a day she pushed him away like that and also asked him to get her with someone else without him knowing. While he suffered over his feelings.

Now, onto Sentibubbler and Rocketear.

I mentioned before that Sentibubbler holds the only true hint of Ladybug having trauma due to Chat Blanc, but it happens only once and it’s due to her choice to trust someone who would betray her, not because of the fear of losing Chat directly.

This episode also introduces some of the signs of Chat’s feeling left out and how him not being aware of some fundamental infos can get in the way of the mission or lead to him being captured.

He should have been informed of Rena Furtive, if he was really still considered Ladybug’s equal.

The problem of his lack of knowledge re-presents in Rocketear, where he suddenly finds out that Rena and Carapace are Alya and Nino (and dealing with Nino’s lashing and more doubts for his self-confidence). Aside the fact that, as mentioned ahead, he should know the temporary heroes’ identities, at least he should have known that they are still called in case even if they were compromised.

This not only is a problem for his involvement in the team, but also can naturally find another link to the Multimouse case and the dangers of him knowing.

The holders who were compromised by HawkMoth, their villain, are still called in action, however the only one who didn’t, and was found only by Chat himself, is left out. Isn’t it normal to have doubts on everything? Where trust is really held about his regards?

Ladybug in the same episode says she trust him about not hitting on Alya knowing she is taken, but she also acts exasperated when she explains her why Chat was on her balcony. Does it take an akuma caused by the situation and Chat being beaten up for her to think he isn’t a playboy? She is supposed to know him by now. He jokes but his feelings are genuine.

Moving on to Ephemeral…

This episode was kind of a mess. Both in the rhythm, both is the fact that Ladybug says she loves Adrien and not Chat, ruining every small bit of possibility she would like Chat deep inside and developed a bit in 4 seasons.

Let’s not call it just her being unaware, she gave support to what she said the whole series. The only time she showed possible hints of starting to think about Chat differently was Glaciator in season 2 after seeing him in a new light and considering the whole picture… and a possible foreshadowing in Kagami’s quote about the manga ending up with the two people practicing falling for each other.

But this is never supported in the series, she was serious about not loving Chat. This shows how behind she is in her development as character and as relationships. She could have these doubts if Ephemeral happened in season 1, not in the second last.

Was it really necessary to wait until the end of season 4 to have her realizing that Adrien is not perfect, he is a normal person with flaws and that they never speak enough or properly, so to consider themselves close friends? If friends at all?

True is that he hides a lot of his feelings and natural attitudes as Adrien, but if that love she feels has at least some bases, has some genuinity, shouldn’t it be represented differently? With her maybe seeing through the attitude? Seeing he is not perfect and she likes him also for it?

By season 4, it’s like there was no progress at all between the two.

Then again, all I said about her feelings for him now is more to note how we can’t say for sure she likes him and acts badly because she cares. She didn’t show it.

Still in Ephemeral we have 2 more problems.

The first is how she brushed off Chat after insisting on talking to him, like if the matter wasn’t important. But this is the lesser grave between the two.

The other is about her plan to let SuHan know Chat’s identity.

I didn’t see many people talk about it, maybe because it didn’t seem a bit deal, but for me this is something extremely concerning.

Her being willing to find out Chat Noir’s identity with a trick and making him reveal it to other people without his consent or knowledge. Guardian or not, trying to have him revealing to someone else by using his trust for her is a very unfair and dishonest thing. Aside from forgetting herself, she wanted someone else to discover it and without him being aware. It’s his identity and he has the right to decide who to reveal to, even more than the temporary heroes, unless it’s a direct guardian order (then again, if they are also partners who are supposed to be equal, this is questionable).

Luka knowing already or not doesn’t matter (even if he did a mistake in agreeing and not confessing that he knows), the problem is the intentions Ladybug had. If he wasn’t Adrien, how would it have ended? Would the plan work? Couldn’t she just be honest with Chat? He surely would have helped find a solution.

Ladybug knew exactly where to hit to get Chat to give her his identity. She knew about how much he cares for her, she knew she had to use that to convince him, even knowing which words, addressing very valid points that support why they should know. Points he thinks and agrees on. She manipulated (let’s try to think it not maliciously, as much as possible) the situation, his feelings, his ideas, to her own advantage. This is a typical villain attitude, not one of a superheroine who is supposed to care about her partner and dear friend.

One thing would be if she showed remorse about it, another is not. Using someone’s deep feelings and vulnerability, a friend, against them without even considering to come off as honest... doesn’t seem a nice action.

They had Viperion resetting her attempts... why not coming clear in one and asking him directly explaining the situation? If you want to show that she really knows him well, that she was right about him not revealing unless she used a tricky tactic to hit the right spot of his heart and brain, why not just... prove it?

Now, let’s move to one of the biggest problems of this season.

Kuro Neko.

You can be stressed, traumatized, but that is NOT an excuse to lash out on people when they are not doing anything wrong. This is a basic point.

For no reason you should treat or lash out on someone like that.

Then, Chat in Glaciator 2 learnt to not push and even if the pun may wasn’t on spot as timing, he was genuine about his concern to help and was clear about it. She saw it even.

She was losing time, yes, but she had no reason to be so harsh because the situation wasn’t urgent. If she trusts the other heroes to do their job then she knows there is the possibility of needing to recharge before going to pick all the miraculouses back. She said it herself, she knew where they were, she could go to them a few minutes later after filling Chat in.

We can’t say she wasn’t pissed for him being late, say that she was aware he needed a break and that her words later to Plagg implied she was okay and understanding with him for not being present because her actions don’t go accordingly. She never showed genuine concern towards him for the matter, the few times she approached him in past was when it was clearly visible he was upset and one of the two it was Alya pressing her to do so. She didn’t even notice, as said earlier, that he needed to talk, in a situation where it’s only normal even if you don’t know the other’s feelings. Something so objectively plain and important to talk about, she didn’t consider.

That harshness is out of question, angry or not, understandable or less, you don’t lash out like that, if you do at least after realizing you apologize. Since he showed up she seemed pissed, at being so at the first occasion she sees him it's not really something that proves her “understanding” of his mental health.

And her reasons for feeling rushed to begin with were easy to fix.

She could have no idea of how long the fight would last, detransforming before picking back all the jewels is possible and I don’t think she wouldn’t trust the others to wait up a few minutes more. Some of them were still transformed, Chat could easily track down the miraculouses with his own baton and pick them up, or wait for her to recharge and explain to him the location of them as civilians. Or, if for Rena it was too complicated to watch out for both Ladybug and Chat, he still could have gone with her.

Rena Fortive was probably out looking and Ladybug could easily give the other heroes heads-up to wait a tiny bit more. Mylene even said she could feed her kwami herself.

Her phrase during the interview is another concerning fact.

You can be pissed but there is a basic respect for people, even more partners and friends. Not only she went against her own words and contradicted her bond with him, but also gravely treated him.

Under a certain perspective, calling him a “partner like any other” could be seen as defending him for his absence, but it’s clear this is not the case.

Let’s remember that Chat Noir is not like any other hero. He was chosen alongside Ladybug to be a permanent member, to work with her as other half and his presence is not optional. He is not like the others who can be called in, whether he is needed or not.

Cataclysm or not, he has to be there and be present because that is his asset, he is fundamental for the team and necessary alongside Ladybug. They are the team that fixes the problem. Master Fu chose both of them and their roles are still the same, bonus heroes or not. He was chosen to be THERE. Always.

And the people, civilians and viewers, know this very well. The journalist had a right to be worried and ask about Chat Noir’s absence cause he is the root of the team with Ladybug, he is fundamental even when he isn’t needed in terms of powers. He is supposed to be there and the civilians are no tdumb, they understand there was a shift. Downgrading Chat Noir to a partner like the others just reflects what Ladybug thinks about him.

Author, the show, the premises, keep telling that they are equal, a duo. But Ladybug doesn’t think so anymore. She said it in Ephemeral, how they are not anymore a duo and a team, she said it in Risk, that he is now just another holder (with the consolation of being her favourite) and now too. She doesn’t see him anymore as her equal or specific partner, she sees him like the other temporary heroes, just with a more powerful miraculous.

There’s a difference between her unknowingly sidelining Chat and being mean because of her trauma, but still caring about him like no one else and knowing he is impossible to replace... to her not thinking so anymore. It’s two opposite things that clash.

It would be okay if she made those mistakes with a solid background behind that proves she really thinks he is impossible to replace, they are a duo and she suffers from the distance between them, even if maybe she doesn’t realize her actions are putting him in a corner alone. But she isn’t doing it for this.

Her words need to be accompanied by actions and for her, he is a hero she can substitute anytime.

“Your friendship is the most important thing for me”. Chat said it clearly, for him Ladybug is important as friend and partner and she said previously she sees him as friend too, not just a partner.

And she jumped into blaming his romantic feelings without trying to understand that Chat cares about her fully as a friend and important person and not just for those (Even if aside from Glaciator and other few times maybe he wasn’t so skilled in showing it. Sometimes it’s indeed made it seem like he cares only for that, but it was done the same for Marinette in regards to Adrien, so it’s a problem in the portrayal of their feelings).

Marinette, the whole time, blamed his problems on his feelings and acted upon it, without fully considering his position. Plagg surely shouldn’t have remarked again that Chat loves her romantically, this is a very huge mistake from the writing. Pushing everytime only the romantical side of the situation when most of it isn’t related to the romance but to their partnership, friendship and Adrien’s family situation, is very damaging for this topic. And of course, Ladybug takes it as it’s only about romance. This again is a big mistake from Plagg but at this point of the series I’d like to think that Ladybug knows that Chat cares for her regardless of romantic feelings, as he told her more than once and as I think she would know not to make assumptions on someone’s private life. He, romance or not, cares about Ladybug as friend and partner, enjoys her company and would gladly do anything for her even if he wasn’t in love with her. Chat even told her in Hack-San, he is scared to lose her, he cares a whole lot even when she didn’t show to reciprocate the same worry.

Why did she assume he would be okay, without knowing his situation and without considering that he is still her main partner and friend. She was ready to just blame his feelings, be ready to give up on him with the excuse of not hurting him, but not even showing the will of keeping him in her life. She needed a Chat Noir, not her Chat Noir, and the episode never explains why it should be otherwise.

I’d like to note that I understand in this case, the general dialogues were not appropriately chosen and that Ladybug has more the fault of rushing into her decision and not thinking more about Chat’s reasons, rather than the assumption itself that romance in involved. It’s more a writing issue.

However, going on, we still face issues.

We assume Marinette cares because of seeing her stressed, but to have proof of it we need to see her feelings.

There was no focus on his absence as a person, but only as a holder. No tears, no panic, no pain, it was totally different than New York. Where was the desperation? Where were the doubts?

A first moment of anger is understandable, it’s also very understandable that she has a role so she needs to look out for what she has to do and not just what she wants. But there was no portrayal of her leaking feelings of pain.

It would have surely worked better to show her sorrow, her feelings in conflict, between wanting her Kitty back and needing to pick a new Cat holder as soon as possible.

Saying it was implied it’s not as addressing it. We can’t say her stress and “depression” were due to her missing Chat because so far, no feelings were shown about it clearly. And it wasn’t even addressed. If it’s not shown we can as well say it wasn’t there.

The only thing she showed was urgency in finding someone as substitute and her state of exhaustion didn’t portray desperation in the lack of her dear partner, but in the lack of a solution for her duty. She didn’t spend any second of the episode missing her partner specifically and wanting him back.

There was no thought about needing to seek him out as a civilian to know him outside her life, almost if she didn’t give importance to meeting him ever again at all. Doesn’t she want Chat in her life in future after all is over? Wouldn’t she want him as a friend in her normal life? Is she okay with just seeing him disappear forever? Was then his fear in Hack-San a one-sided feeling?

She didn’t see her mistakes, she didn’t consider her actions wrong until one single moment in which she thought she drove him to be akumatized.

(Which proved she is not traumatized of him being akumatized or fears for it as much it seems, not really showing any panic for the situation or remembering Chat Blanc. Her confusion while battling was the surprise of the situation, not about him being akumatized at all. Otherwise there would be more pressure over the fact that something she tried to “avoid”, she ended up doing anyway.)

But the first time she felt kind of guilty, she blamed it on him regretting leaving his miraculous and not on how she treated him. And even remarked how she knows him well, contradicting all her actions and beliefs the whole season.

She tried to “apologize” for not seeing how sad he was, commenting how he was probably pissed to see a substitute, but again not taking into account her actions or how she treated him until later, where however, she cares more about how she failed as “guardian” and not as “partner” or “friend”.

Once more, she proved she has a different view of their relationship and roles in the team. She didn’t see her actions as in her failing towards a special partner and friend, but only towards a simple asset to the team, no more than how she should treat any other hero.

But Chat isn’t.

And the worst problem is how she is excused and her doubts right away washed away by HIM.

The episode tries to focus on the moral that he should just accept the situation, that it was all about him and to shove down his feelings, in saying it’s okay as long as he self-appreciate.

“His feelings for you don’t mean you need to treat him differently” it’s a cute and right message if it was only about her unrequited feelings, but here we are talking about how she acted towards him all the season as friend and partner. Not just about a not reciprocated crush.

He was left out, treated differently and felt bad about it and as a partner, friend and human-being, it’s only natural and fair to think about it. To care. Because Chat is not a hero like the others, romance or not.

“You take care of everyone the same way”, it’s only proving that when she spoke about him being a partner as any other she meant exactly that and the episode, the writing, supports exactly that.

He is like the others and shouldn’t be treated as more, with more regard, as in his role isn’t anymore the one of before, as in now his importance is reduced.

Now even Chat is accepting it. But Chat was the one who convinced her to stay a hero, who supported her, who was there since the start and is supposed to be her best friend with the mask and main partner. Having more heroes doesn't imply his role is lowered down if she takes more instead. His treatment should be the same as before. He should be treated with the same amount of consideration, respect and care as before.

So his feeling left out does matter. She should treat him differently, or at least the same as the start. Because he has a different role professionally and emotionally wise than the others.

Let’s make an example, a bit stretched but that could make it more relatable:

You and another person are taken to work for a failing company and made the heads. You two become friends and partners, have the same importance, balances roles and work with the same goal and power. You are the one who gave courage to your partner to keep working with you and your partnership both emotionally and professionally is stronger than ever. This brings the company to be stable and improve.

The head then starts bringing in more of your partner into the higher department until they leave the ownership to them. Since then, you are no longer treated with the same regard, you don’t hold the same aspects of the partnership anymore and are shoved at the same level of the other workers, not being able to do the job you once did, to be consulted on the things you once were consulted for...

You are downgraded to a lower level and not told, you have to get it by yourself. Even if you are part of the reason the company survived, even if you worked very well, now you are not anymore in the same position as before and both professionally and relationship-wise you are treated as any other.

Your ex-partner says they care but they don’t treat you for the role you had and are supposed to hold.

And then, eventually, even if you feel like it’s unfair, you need to accept that you deserve to be included less, to have less recognition and take the same role of the others because as long as you know you are a good worker it’s alright.

It’s okay to shove all away as long as you know your work has value (maybe metaphorically even underpaid), to settle for less and discard what you’ve done in past and let people treat you less than what they did.

Why make the episode about Adrien’s self-worth when he acts totally opposite of it in the episode and one of the messages is exactly this? Why should Chat downgrade his feelings and role when the episode speaks about self-acceptance?

Isn’t it pretty similar to Adrien’s homelife situation? Settling for what his father wants? I’m not saying we shall hate Marinette, but we hate Gabriel and call his parenting abusive. Doesn’t then the writing of this situation hit too close? Doesn’t it give some weird messages?

Because the episode uses Chat understanding to treat himself fairly, to accept a situation where he is not treated fairly.

Another big problem is how the episode is not clear about its intentions in the meaning and how Ladybug reaches the conclusion about Chat Noir being better than Cat Walker.

Because literally, we have no explanation for it. Why is Chat Noir better? Why Imperfection is better than perfection? Does she want Chat Noir back because she feels like it’s the best thing to do for the job or because of her feelings? Why does she prefer Chat?

If at the end of the episode Ladybug says to him that even if he isn’t always needed he is needed (to her), it implies she already knows and it’s a lesson for him to learn. Then why during the episode it’s her learning it? And why is it not explained how she learns it?

What did she learn?

All we saw was that she was surprised by the new member, but she found him perfect all along, she was attracted to him and never once showed preference to Chat Noir. She said it herself, she “tried everything” to make the Lucky Charm work with Catwalker, because she genuinely wanted him as a partner. She wanted the perfection alongside her, someone who acts and doesn’t question, someone who doesn’t feel excluded. She wanted the perfect partner and tried anything to make it work.

And not only she did so, but she thought the Lucky Charm told her that the partner didn’t fit, she didn’t do it because she realized herself that it wasn’t meant to be. Let’s remember that the Lucky Charm is just an object and that it’s Ladybug figuring out how to use it, sometimes it has multiple ways to work and many of them she didn’t need the Cat power to make it work. Many times she did it by herself, so this case too she probably could have done it by herself (which she did), simply she wanted to include at all costs CatWalker, as much as possible, because she liked him and wanted to be right about having a better partner now. She wanted the thing to work.

So, does she prefer someone perfect or imperfect? And why the imperfect? Because the Lucky Charm pointed it out?

Was there a real reason portrayed as to why he was “too perfect”? On why the “imperfect” Chat Noir was better? Professionally and emotionally?

On a side her phrase to him a bit after “Do you feel upset? Don’t you feel sad and excluded?” when she says she doesn’t need him but the other Chat could imply she got that her ex-partner wasn’t to leave aside, but taking everything into account, it implies more how she worries about having someone who doesn’t lament on feeling excluded.

If she got Chat was indeed excluded why didn’t she apologize still at the end? Wasn’t it her mistake since she treated him differently and left him in the dark? So which mistakes was she supposed to realize or realized to work better?

Ladybug blushed (And we leave out the values of her romantical tastes) and appreciated how CatWalker was okay with her choosing to not use him in her plan and when she was reassured he wasn’t feeling left out. Then what is really important for her? The feelings of her partner or not having issues with a partner feeling unsettled and giving her troubles?

It doesn’t make her seem someone who cares, if it was the intention, but someone who is shallow and uncaring.

She didn’t choose Chat because she wanted it or because she felt like her feelings asked for it. Nor because she worked better with him. She chose him because he is someone who does his job, who does everything she says and trusts her enough to follow her around and agree with her always with no buts. Her only problem with him is that he felt excluded, which was an issue for her habits in working.

Catwalker was too perfect because he may was even more professional than her and didn’t listen when she told him to trust her that the villain was akumatized Chat. Chat would have just gone with her convictions.

She wanted Catwalker as a partner and was ready to substitute Chat with him, and did everything to prove she could but eventually failed.

This is a very easy interpretation to take.

And this leads to the main problem of the episode. The ending.

She didn’t apologize in the end for anything. Not for how she treated him the whole season, not for what happened in the episode. HE apologized for having feelings, for not being treated fairly. He just settled with the situation as he always does.

He surely had part of blame for not speaking up more decisively to her, and is half of why they have miscommunication problems, but was it all on him? Most of this was on her.

We could try to say she regretted it, that she realizes needs him specifically, but if we can’t see the real motives on why, if we don’t even see an apology, if she doesn’t realize her mistakes… then what’s the point?

What is the point of saying “Only because sometimes I don’t need you it doesn’t mean I don’t need YOU”, if again it all comes down to him exaggerating and her not seeing what she has done all the season? If she doesn’t even say a simple sorry?

Aside that her words don't really fit the construction of the episode, how she implies that it was for him the lesson to learn when in the episode it was more up on her as demonstration. In the fight, it’s CatWalker opening up her eyes. So where does the final phrase come from? Why is it made once again about him?

Aside we don’t know what she learnt, it was about her learning too. In the end, all that Chat learnt was to adapt to the situation.

What was the point of the sub-plot again? If it was again all minimized? Then wasn’t it fair for people to worry that she wouldn’t work to fix her mistakes and issues? That she wouldn’t work hard for it?

Words are cute but they need actions to be proved, once again it was all pushed on him as if she didn’t commit anything.

A parallel of Hack-San where she went to him to apologize (pushed by Alya and not on her own, and not for all she has done), but with him apologizing for having fair feelings. The first time where he was understanding, while she acted like waiting for his apology and rubbed again her words of him being irreplaceable but with no explanation, proof or actions from her so far to confirm it.

“No one will, ever, replace you”

Someone was going to, she was ready to and was almost okay with it, even with the perspective of never seeing him again. And she didn’t show otherwise the whole season.

The episode just showed that if Chat didn’t have feelings for her, he could reach perfection even as a superhero and can be on par with Ladybug. Under all senses, even strategic wise.

This episode is the top of the messed up moralism and one of the most problematic and confusing as writing, which characters acting in conflicting ways and eventually, doesn’t wrap at all a big and full sub-plot of the season.

The problem isn’t only that she lashed out on him so excessively. It’s that we lack the development to it. And it concluded with nothing.

Marinette isn’t traumatized, she never showed in the series to be so affected. While her reaching this point of rocture with Chat, once again I think, is natural as a possible outcome, it’s not justified writing wise. She had no real big reasons shown to act like that. She showed no remorse the whole season in her actions or actual difficulty in approaching her partner. So this is objectively out of nowhere.

This repetitive attitude she had was never faced by her side with remorse.

You can’t, as stressed as you may be, treat someone like that more than once. If it was a few times with fair background supporting those mistakes, it would be okay. But not like this.

And in the end, this being portrayed as the episode that would resolve the sub-plot, everything was wrapped wrongly.

And even more confusing it gets if we look into the season finale...

Risk - Strike Back

The season finale brought up again the sub-plot even after it was “wrapped up” somehow, maybe not with the best message.

Let’s start with something fundamental we see at the start of the episode “Risk”, after Ladybug’s team defeats the newest victim, Chat Noir asks if he can come with her to take all the Miraculous and once again she has to deny (not by words, but her silence speaks enough to give him the answer). Since Chat already knows some of the identities and he is supposed to be Ladybug’s equal and partner, it’s only natural to think he could help out with this and know more about the temporary holders, because if needed he should know infos to act accordingly. It’s understandable that it’s risky now and Rena has to look out from distance for enemies, but wouldn’t Chat be only a bonus security?

But that aside, when he expresses his resignation, he confirms what was already suspected, to then be confirmed again by Ladybug who agrees. “Now I’m just a holder like any other”

“Yep, but you’ll always be my favourite”.

They just confirmed that they are not equal anymore, that they never were treated so and that when Ladybug spoke in Kuro Neko about Chat being a partner like any other, she was meaning exactly that, not defending him.

Chat was degraded all along without knowing, he had to face it himself by growing more and more disappointed, until he exploded. To then be told again he was exaggerating, it was all about his love and him not accepting himself.

This is already a big problem, because while on a side it’s understandable as angsty sub-plot, to drag on the dispute between the two heroes, it wasn’t treated as something wrong, or something unfair. And it wasn’t either something she was shown to feel guilty about, if not a little when he complained at the start of this episode.

But moving on...

With Chat affected by Risk’s powers (Which doesn’t help in the writing of any of the two characters. Is basic conversation a risk? Opening your heart a little? After so much time of apparently getting to know each other? This is for both Adrien and Marinette finally talking like normal and him sharing his worries, and also Chat and Ladybug facing the situation they are in. I think in this case the use of an akuma was greatly wrong, since they’re supposed to be close characters), he lets his anger and dissatisfaction speak aloud more and so he starts arguing with Ladybug.

We are shown, finally, her remembering about Chat Blanc, but this is only provoked by him addressing directly the topic of them being akumatized. It’s not brought up by her own fears, trauma or by the debate between the two, by the whole “keeping him at distance”. It’s once again related to the identities.

And once again, Chat reminds her that of course he can’t know, since she doesn’t speak to him about anything at all.

We can skip forward through Chat feeling left aside because she wants to protect his power, or him feeling excluded when he sees her so happy around Felix (don’t make me spell his hero name pls), but then we reach the most important point, that addresses the whole menaging of this sub-plot. It doesn’t resolve it, it doesn’t wrap it up, it just confuses more on the true intentions in handling it.

“I wanted to control everything. I didn’t listen to you, I lied to you, I kept you at distance”.

First note about her admitting her mistakes at the end of the episode, after being partially defeated; she isn’t apologising. This isn’t an apology, there are no words implying it and surely she isn’t saying it out loud. This is an admission of mistakes. Perhaps we can say it wasn’t the best situation, but if this was meant to wrap up the whole thing, then surely something big is lacking. Her apology is fundamental since she just admitted all along it was her own actions and mistakes the problem and that they were a willing choice.

But then we turn back and face Kuro Neko. That episode and this admission of the finale, contradict each other.

What was the point of Kuro Neko? The premise was that with Chat blowing up and giving up his Miraculous, it was set up to resolve or reach the highest moment of tension of the sub-plot... but it didn't. We didn’t get Ladybug realising her mistakes, we didn’t get an apology from her. We got one from him, who wasn’t in the wrong in the first place. The whole episode, aside focusing again on the point of his romantic feelings, which weren’t really supposed to be one of the focuses, gives the final message that she wasn’t in the wrong. He was.

Plagg accused her openly, even if again addressing the romantical feelings which aren’t even that important in the whole sub-plot and scheme of things. He said that she mistreated Chat, but she didn’t come off as guilty, as aware of her actions. “I’m sorry but I’m just doing my best to be a Guardian” She seemed surprised about it all, not even realising before she was making him feel excluded and vulnerable. Ladybug even admits to thinking it was a good break for him and it only seems natural overall for her to think he is now a member like any others, aside owning the Black Cat miraculous.

But if she wasn’t aware, how come in the finale she admits to keeping him at arm’s length? Surely, she could have realised later on, but we didn’t see her realising it, thinking about it, feeling guilty. She knows Chat, she also can put herself in his shoes, it would be so natural to know that he must be feeling bad about the situation. Then why we never saw her addressing it? Isn’t it a willing choice due to her “trauma”?

She used so easily his trust in her in Ephemeral, without even consulting him and never feeling a doubt until he revealed and surely because he was Adrien, not because of her actions, so why in all this she never showed regret or guilt or sadness in keeping him at distance?

If it was a willing choice as implied by this phrase, then what was the point of Kuro Neko? An episode that tells us the exact opposite? And treats it as the right answer? Where we are said she wasn’t aware of her actions and she wasn’t in the wrong in the first place?

It brings back to the main problem, she wasn’t shows being vulnerable or in difficulty because of her choices. Because it wasn’t even decided if she was willingly putting him at distance or if it was spontaneous.

Either she willingly sidelined him, or she just treated him badly naturally and in both cases, she wasn’t shown caring about it until she made an horrible mistake. and even then, she didn’t apologise for it.

Yes, this is very important, because apologizing is NOT the same of admitting mistakes. You could say “Oh yeah I made your birthday cake fall” or “Yes, I did that and I’m sorry”. Admitting you did something and showing sadness over it, it’s still not the act of apologizing. One could say you’re just sorry for youself or don’t even care really about doing what you did, or regret it.

And from the finale of season 4 and the first two episodes “Evolution” and “Moltiplication” of season 5, she still didn’t.

Here is why it’s all a problem.

She never apologized in New York for lashing out on him unfairly about not trusting him. She felt destroyed when he left, which at least is better than Kuro Neko’s situation, but she felt more sorry because she didn’t imagine herself as Ladybug without her Chat, not because she worried about him and how he felt after her lashing out. “He made his choice”. There wasn’t guilt, there was more so blame on him for leaving suddenly once again. He was the only one who apologized. As Kuro Neko once again…

(Note that New York being a cause of stress for her newer reaction to him giving up is to be taken with a grain of salt since so far even if it’s said to be canon, the show doesn’t give any single proof or evidence that the specials had influence on the series and happened).

Her actions, when it comes to her relationship with Chat Noir, never were taken accountable for real in the series. Aside from some sadness, guilt for exposing Master Fu at most, she never faced her mistakes when it regarded treating her partner unfairly or acting in a morally wrong way.

Yes, she did make apologies in various cases and tried to fix her mistakes after realising she was wrong, but they often don’t stick for the following episodes and in the first place, these things don’t apply when it comes to her relationship with Chat.

This is the same reason why Marinette never grows as a character for that regard, may it comes to Adrien and her crush on him or to Chat. All her attitudes and mistakes are more often than not excused or ignored, and treated as normal or not wrong, when there is plenty of alarming signals about how she acts.

Of course, many characters in the show have this problem. Chat/Adrien does surely, Alya does, Master Fu does, most does… but Marinette is the protagonist and the only one that is so excused.

A character being flawed and making mistakes is absolutely normal, yes teens make weird decisions and they have to make mistakes over and over again like adults to really learn at times, but they must be brought up as such and have the character working on them, not having them passed as nothing much because of this idea of girl-power and feminism the show has. And should show some work done in development at the end of the second last season.

Chat may have acted by impulse giving up, or maybe even he should have talked with her directly, but how would it have worked with her acting like that on a regular basis?

He had many reasons to act like he did, even more justified than her for her own actions.

Will the show really approach the situation by having her working hard to apologize and fix her attitude? Are we really sure they will when the show never has done it? Even with small moments and actions?

This is the real issue.

It's a thing that has been going on way before season 4. It just went all over the top now because it’s a choice the writers picked plot-wise, but it’s not written properly and with genuinity.

The problem is that this time too it was all minimized when the problems are far greater. With Chat taking part of blame in a situation he has almost none. Her actions don't show remorse in the trailers or previous episodes. She doesn’t realize things that are blatant. And it may be understandable if we had clear context and proof of her trauma. But she never showed to care in a healthy and deep way. The actions written for her to prove she cares about Chat can be easily considered superficial or forced to make minimal treatment, which would be only worse if she really did care a lot for him. She once used to care much more, in season 1, maybe even the second, even if she made mistakes there too. She once used to want to fix her mistakes, to improve herself. It’s been a long while since she threw that away in regards to Chat.Sure she may laugh at some jokes, play along, hug him, say she won’t abandon him, ask Alya to laugh at his puns, but how much does it count when there are other genuine and basic rules about respect and care she totally ignores? The basic things we have to show to everyone. A stranger, a friend, a partner…

How much does it count if she told Alya to play with Chat if in the same episode she didn’t even consider his feelings on her identity being compromised and her not telling him she had a substitute?

How much does it count if she acted stressed in Kuro Neko if it was barely about missing him?

How much does it count she chose Chat over Catwalker, imperfection over perfection, where there is no reason explained to why and it’s clear what she prefers?

How much does it count she told him once again he is irreplaceable when in the episode meant to show that it’s showed totally the opposite and never told why it’s otherwise?

How much does it count she may realized she did something wrong if she shows no remorse for his sake and doesn’t apologize?

How much does it count that she told him she wouldn’t abandon him if she wasn’t even going to address the situation if Alya didn’t remind her? If she didn’t even seriously consider those fears or share them?

How much can we base everything on suppositions? Supposedly she is hurt inside, she loves him, she is traumatized, but when the show barely acts to prove them and explain why the character’s act in a certain way?

How much can we suppose Ladybug cares right now so deeply when nothing supports it aside our own hopes and thoughts? Our own work of headcanons and fiction?

The important things are shown in how a person takes account of the other and Ladybug, even if Fu is heavily responsible, she is even more by herself.

Sure, he shares a big part of blame. He was the one who we can, in a very debatable way, say “trained” her. He was surely part of why Marinette got so strict with rules and such. But she is an independent person and she is the one who acted badly with Chat. She still holds most of the blame for her actions.

She's 14, but age works as an excuse up to a point. Of course, Thomas was the first to say that precise age doesn't matter, and I certainly disagree with that. It is very important, if you want to use age as an excuse, specify. (And it’s always important if your show has a structure that requires a linear storytelling and doesn’t fit entirely the filler writing). However, in these cases her age is abused to explain exaggerated behavior which, however, should be gradually corrected.

A character, regardless of the age they have and the target the show aims to, must be written with consistency, care and the desire to improve.

She needs to make mistakes.

But this does not mean that she can misbehave, not be held responsible and always get away with it, apart from a little sadness etc ...

She needs to pay, learn, be aware of her mistakes and be willing to apologize and work to fix them. Feeling inner conflict over time. Being seen as the one that is wrong at times despite being the protagonist and a supposed strong female representation.

Not to seem the one who doesn't matter what, will be in the right and fair light. Excusing her behavior constantly is what also supports the main problem of this show and why it was barely fixed.

Having a flawed character that acts by making mistakes and works to fix them is okay if it's written and built well. And with valid and shown explanations.

Miscommunication must be well written and supported by rights and wrongs in the character’s actions. Coherent ones.

Marinette is not a monster, I am sure she is a character supposed to make mistakes but cares. The problem, is that right now, everything written shows the exact opposite and no matter how much she might work later, how much she might feel guilty and really realise what she did wrong, it’s still too late. (And as of Kuro Neko, she didn’t do it). She hasn’t proven to do so since season 3. She is thought to care, but not written to do so properly.

We lack the whole road to this development, the proof of a trauma, showing her suffering but still caring. Marinette facing choices and doubts over how to act towards Chat. Her speaking and thinking about what to tell him or not. Her doubting. And mostly we lack her fixing her attitude.

Show her caring so much that she becomes cold and keep him at arm’s length because it’s the only way to protect him. Show her thinking genuinely about that, and suffering for it. Then, you can say she really has a trauma going on.

You have to show she cares with bigger acts, with consideration and care, even if in the end she makes the wrong choices.

This is not a character who is suffering trauma. Sure, there are many ways a person can react, but writing wise Marinette doesn’t show the real signs. She is just being mean and stressed, but overall, trauma or not, you don’t treat someone like that more than once. And surely, show’s blame, you don’t act like it’s fine or no big deal.

In the 5 seasons arc, we are at the fourth with no improvement in the matter.

The only hint was Glaciator but everything that episode made and introduced was then discarded for the worst.

There, Ladybug and Chat Noir had miscommunication, made assumptions, and saw they were wrong. There Ladybug apologized and explained, there she seemed to be open to change her attitude or open at the chance to get to know him more so to treat him not superficially.

Why was it all used for the wrong reasons then?

Age is a matter until we remember she is a character with a story arc that is supposed to have growth, constantly even in her fallouts and mistakes. There are way younger characters but they have a growth and development.

But ignoring, excusing her actions right now, making it seem like it's not something grave when there are millions of children following this series and taking example, is the worst thing of all.

Chat Noir has many writing problems himself, he is far from the perfect character and he too has had similar problems. He is resilient, he doesn’t react often to unfair things, he rearely loses his temper or show disappoint towards his situation, he let everyone decide for himself and lacked a “spine” for most part of the series. One can say that it’s the sentimonster thing, but it should apply only to his father. And if we go towards the topic of abuse, the effects in such a long series should have been reduced as he interacted more with his friends. We should have seen him more open to his feelings with his friends and at least see him trying more to rebel his father, only failing at the very end because of his amok. He should have improved a lot more and sooner.

But, as big as this problem is, he’s been far less the problem in the duos’ interactions, in every side of the square.

I agree that excessive hate is not the right way to go. For any character. Nor for Chat, not for Ladybug. But feeling anger and concern over the situation? Genuine ones? Criticizing her and the writing without blowing up? Seems fair enough to me.

We can’t really blame people for being angry over how she is acting and is written. Of course taking it to extremes is wrong.

Liking the show with its flaws, liking Marinette, it’s okay, it’s fair. Tastes exist and we are different because we have them.

But the genuine concern is more than understandable. People have the right to feel pissed and annoyed at this point.

Because how she acts is there to see, and ignoring it, excusing it, may be the problem why the authors kept making Marinette the character she is and will ever be in the main series.

I am not even saying all of this to defend Chat Noir because I’m an hardcore fan (I try to be neutral, it just happens right now I think he is less in the wrong. Besides, Plagg is my fav, despite his sometimes wrong choice of speech. It used to be Alya but I didn’t like her much in season 3) and I’m not saying this to defend Ladynoir rights. I couldn’t care right now about shipping what we see in canon, right now I wouldn’t see any of the love square working, aside maybe Marichat, but if they pick this road, it will be wayyy too late. My favorite ship is Marichat, I think it has the most potential, but it’s late to use it now and surely with the context of the series, my likes lays more on the fanon Marichat (which is natural, there’s almost no content even for the canon one).

I said it already also, but I LOVE Angst. This choice of the drama in the ship, of Chat Noir feeling left out, of Ladybug unknowingly OR willingly (picking one clear) sidelining him? It’s VERY good. Excellent twist. People may lament it because many don’t deal good with angst, but I adore the idea, I adore the potential.

But the problem is how it was executed. It’s not well developed, well structured. It will stay just potential used in the wrong way, like... most of the show’s best elements. People shouldn’t lament about the angst, but about the angst not being well portrayed.

Season 4 is probably the best season as ideas, better in structure than the third, but the worst still with the third as writing. Yes, there is still left material to judge and I will carefully analyze it, but it won’t change what we already got and how it was portrayed.

She didn’t work to fix her mistake, a whole plot-line was just left like that and yes, as I said, there is still season 5 to see that, but Kuro Neko and the finale only added a good bunch of problems and right now, so far into the series and in their partnership, seeing Ladybug not even realising she is hurting him, seems a bit stretched.

And definitely, waiting for the fourth season to face this kind of plot is too late.

This content fits season 2 or 3, now it’s way too late.

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