OKAY *cracks knuckles* time to get into WHY
just an fyi— i’m not claiming that these 3 getting together any other way is inherently unhealthy! i just think that this version of events leads into something very beautiful and soft and affirming for all 3 of them.
let me also preface this by saying absolutely none of the reasons have to do with jealousy. no.
a lot of the reason i think lukadrien is the best way to start the OT3 is actually because of adrichat’s dependence on maribug’s love.
adrien allows himself to be defined by marinette’s opinion as BOTH ladybug and marinette(see: chat walker, etc). he has made it a major facet of his personality. he doesn’t really have any goals or ambitions that don’t involve her at the end of the day, and he doesn’t even know what he’d want to grow up to be, he just knows he wants to be with her.
if you add a reveal into this; the problem is only exacerbated 10-fold.
and it’s not really adrien OR marinette’s fault that this is the case?? it just… is the case.
adrien clung to her because she was the first person to show him how to be brave and stand up for what is right. because she was the girl who gave him another chance after starting off on the wrong foot. maribug showed adrichat a taste of what healthy love is and he got addicted to that feeling. to the point where he lets his world revolve around her for just another whiff of that love he craves.
but…that’s not marinette’s fault! like at all! she is in no way controlling him or hanging that love over his head in an unhealthy way. adrien is the one that allows that love to define him; but it’s mostly because he doesn’t know any better. all he knows is that he loves how she makes him feel—and he has now structured his life around that feeling.
the problem with this is—it’s not exactly… healthy for him. it means that no matter how much growing he does, as long as he has her by his side, he may still subconsciously allow those feelings to fester and remain, even if he doesn’t intend them to. he may never let himself fully discover who he is without maribug.
and for someone like adrien, who has been sheltered for the first 14ish years of his life, discovering who he is is like. insurmountably important. he needs to have that time to define who he wants to be.
SO. allowing adrien to figure himself out with someone like luka BEFORE bringing marinette into the equation is SO. SO GOOD FOR HIM. it gives BOTH adrien and marinette the opportunity to grow out of their obsession over each other, discover what makes them and them alone tick, and then at the end of the day still choose to love one another because they WANT to. not because they feel as though that love is a linchpin for their quality of life; but purely because that love is what feels right.
adrien specifically getting that moment to understand he doesn’t NEED to love maribug, letting that realization transform him, and then still CHOOSING to love maribug is extremely sweet to me.
a lot of ships that involve luka also are very heavily based in how good of a bf he would be to his partner; but what i love sooooo much about lukadrien is that adrien would be throwing that energy back at 110%. adrien is literally luka’s perfect boyfriend idc!!
he’s always eager to go to concerts with luka; and will listen to him infodump about a band whilst they grab dinner before a show. but he’s not just listening, he’s asking questions and is genuinely interested in every word luka is saying. they mess around and have jam sessions in their living room together featuring endless giggling and stolen kisses. adrien would fight tooth and nail to go to every single one of luka’s gigs—whether it be a big show in a venue or just a little set in a coffee shop makes no difference. luka has tons of connections both through himself and his dad, but he never has to worry about adrien’s etiquette around musicians he looks up to because he’s just genuinely beyond nice, cool, and agreeable.
so SO many luka-featuring-ships don’t include this side of the coin nearly as strongly, but adrien’s love would be just as cathartic for luka as luka’s love for adrien is and that’s like…. sooooo important.
to add onto that; in this situation im guessing both adrien and luka would have been going after marinette all this time, and she is likely rejecting them because of the overbearing stress that being a leader of a superhero team and a guardian comes with.
but. that’s so valid?? let’s just say in this universe with lukadrienette endgame that marinette was never able to choose between the two, even after the NY special. she cannot afford to get tangled in romantic drama with her teammates when she has a miracle box to watch over and an entire superhero team to manage and a supervillain to defeat. so instead, she rejects love outright, even AFTER finding out adrien is chat, because she is terrified the world will go to pieces over it.
not to mention, in her opinion, neither of the boys have exclusively felt like “the right choice”. so, she has underlying confusing feelings about that too; and experimenting with those feelings could literally lead to all of their demise so she won’t allow herself to entertain it until at the very least the butterfly miraculous is back in her hands and she is sure there is no threat.
this makes it so when lukadrien does happen— their relationship is beyond affirming. when they are not only finally getting the chance to do the coupley-things they craved all along, but also getting sweet romantic surprises from each other!! they’ve gotten so used to rejection for so long that learning how to love someone else and having them RECIPROCATE is bordering on reverent for both of them.
this also presents one of the cutest ways for the OT3 to happen imo and that is!! two boys who were essentially running a race against one another for years, with the goal in question being marinette, now working as a team to win her love over. being over the moon to come up with plans on how they’re going to make her feel loved unconditionally. tag teaming her with compliments and gifts and gentle touches but also never pushing her over the edge of being uncomfortable because of it. absolutely zero jealousy to be found. just happy to make their special girl feel like the princess she is.
and on the flip side of that you have a marinette who’s touch starved, and probably a little nervous to go back on the rules she set for herself so many years ago, but still doing her best to ignore that and let them in because!! she can have them both now!! she doesn’t have to worry about hurting someone’s feelings by being cornered into choosing only one of them. and even after she rejected them for so long they are still ready to wrap her in warm arms, kiss her on the head, spoil and basically worship her the way she convinced herself she would never be able to attain.
it’s just so soft. so gentle. so GOOOOD.
n e ways sorry for rambling this may or may not turn into a fic but that is something to be seen
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