I almost liked “Reflekta” better than “Antibug” in terms of Ladynoir development. In fact, I think it’s the perfect counterpoint to “The Puppeteer.” Let me explain:
I feel like Marinette is the kind of person who tends to fill the default “leader” role in her friend group. (Side note: but Alya is the Mom Friend.) See “Dark Blade” when she runs against Chloé for class president because no one else will, even this week when she stands up for Juleka. She’s more likely to embody “if something can’t be done right, then do it yourself” attitude. She knows she can always count on herself, knows if for whatever reason there’s slack, she’s the one who can and will pick it up. She has no lack of confidence in her own abilities.
I don’t think it’s conscious on her part that she also applies this to her relationship with Chat Noir.
(I also see the best progression of episodes, as far as the last couple weeks, going “The Puppeteer” –> “Reflekta” –> “Antibug” (sprinkle “The Gamer” and “Kung Food” and “Animan” in there however you please) in terms of Marinette’s development.
“The Puppeteer” proves to Marinette that she can survive a fight without Chat. “Reflekta” proves that she DOES need him, and we get a couple great conversations between Chat and Ladybug to this effect. “Antibug” is an affirmation of what was shown this week: Ladybug and Chat Noir are a team.)
So you’ve got Marinette, who is prone to resort to relying on herself when she sees weak links in the chain, telling Chat that she can handle this akuma on her own, because she sees that he’s lost his powers and she thinks that means he’s out of commission today (not necessarily that she can always beat the akuma without him, but that she thinks she must do it alone today, and she’s already proven to herself that she can). But THEN! You’ve got Chat reminding her that he just saved her butt without his powers just fine, thank you very much. That he doesn’t need his powers to be her partner, that he’s got good ideas, too.
So this was really, really important to me. This is so good for Marinette, to get this reminder that she doesn’t always have to rely on herself, that Chat will always stand with her even if he’s not at peak performance, that he’s just as competent and effective a partner when he’s not at peak performance. This is what healthy relationships are all about.
i tried really hard to find deception disgrace but the lk fandom is just not as insane about giffing as the rest
also some more unedited bullshit from our talk bc it’s important
So you’ve got Marinette, who is prone to resort to relying on herself when she sees weak links in the chain, telling Chat that she can handle this akuma on her own, because she sees that he’s lost his powers and she thinks that means he’s out of commission today
mc: …so it’s really important to me when Chat argues with her and reminds her that no no, they are equals
You’ve got Chat reminding her that he just saved her butt without his powers just fine, thank you very much. That he doesn’t need his powers to be her partner, that he’s got good ideas, too.
See the thing is we’ve already had proof that Ladybug is an independent unit /but she /will rely on chat because like he says, he does have good ideas. It’s a give and take and that’s a really important part of a healthy relationship. I’m so glad kids are gonna see this.
But do you understand what this fucking means? Adrien stood up to Ladybug. He literally, despite all his personal issues and lack of self esteem, stood up to her and said no, this is bullshit. I am perfectly capable of supporting you in my current form. My powers don’t make me me. I make me me and that still makes me your partner and I can still help. And I do get a tad emotional because //leans cheek on hand. Being Chat is just really fucking good for Adrien’s self esteem. A core part of recovering from shit like this is sometimes faking it till you make it and with the amount of time that he spends faking it he’s eventually going to value himself. Hopefully as not a throwaway, an expendable sidekick but a core part of a very important partnership.
I do struggle a bit though, because I was going to argue that in some ways, his character arc is progressing faster than Marinette’s, who as we saw, still draws boundary lines between herself and LB. But this is basically me judging off of the fact that Chat Noir has snorts character bleed from Adrien, and thus that the two are closer than Miranette/LB to being a cohesive whole.
We just don’t have confirmation on how separate Adrien views himself and Chat Noir.
Teeldeer I /fucked up because of my own goddamn diction by saying that Adrien stood up to LB, which he /did but he did it as /Chat. But because we’ve /seen his insecurities leak into Chat I’m more willing to treat them as the same unit than I am Marinette/LB, mainly because she herself believes them to be disparate. The joys of pov when storytelling. //draws a rainbow with hands
(to readmore or not to readmore)
OKAY, so:
Before Adrien was Chat, he was Adrien Agreste. That was the mask, the performance; the model and the son of Gabriel Agreste. He never had a chance to breathe. But there was another Adrien, a tiny secret inside Adrien who likes physics and anime and terrible amazing puns, that never had a chance to get out, because he was always under his father’s thumb.
So with the suit, with the ring, that tiny secret inside Adrien gets a chance to shed his layers and just be, for the first time ever. But Chat is also a mask, to some extent. It’s another layer, it’s just the one where he’s not pretending about who he is. (The irony of ironies.) And as Chat, Adrien gets to grow in ways he wasn’t allowed to as Adrien Agreste. He gets to challenge his friend and partner and not fear reprimand and he gets to save his city and get appreciation for his efforts. (If the city actually stepped out of Labybug’s spotlight for one damn second.)
I like to hope that he also gets a bit of a breather at school, especially with Nino. Maybe he still can’t relax with Nino the way he can with Ladybug, but there’s still hope that it can get better.
(Adrien really needs friends, and hugs. So many hugs. #GiveAdrienHugs2k16)
BUT, because of this tiny secret Adrien, and his experience with masks, Adrien is better at shifting between Chat and Adrien Agreste than Marinette is at shifting between Ladybug and Marinette.
Marinette has never had to deal with hiding parts of herself. Her parents have always encouraged her to express herself (evident via them letting her design her wardrobe), and she’s never had experience putting up a front for anyone before. She’s just always been herself.
Marinette’s lines between Ladybug and Marinette are more self-imposed than anything. Where Adrien can let himself be as Chat, where the dichotomy is not so drastic for him, she’s struggling to keep herself hidden. She’s forcing herself not to let Marinette bleed into Ladybug, and Ladybug not bleed into Marinette, because she’s so afraid that someone is going to figure out who she is.
Where Adrien has a tiny secret Adrien that gets to run free as Chat Noir, Marinette is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders in Ladybug’s mask.
(And this is almost hilarious, because I totally think that post-reveal, Adrien won’t have any trouble reconciling Marinette and Ladybug. Whereas Marinette will struggle to reconcile Adrien and Chat. These children need a b r e a k.)
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