people on instagram are complaining that marinette gets more merch than adrien and are demanding he be made the main focus of the show. Ok let’s take away a female role model in media for a younger audience. Do insta fans know how rare that is??
also the narrative COMPLETELY favours adrien at every possible turn by making marinette out to be the bad guy when he’s being pushy, so boo hoo she has more merch. It’s her show.
Marinette already is a half asian character that looks majorly white passing - if you didn’t know the character, you’d think she was white. the show does her a disservice practically every single episode
@lenoreofraven *Slips out of the fluff hanger back into the Angst rooms. Pulls out writing and hands it over* So on a discord, @gajer-1226 sent the prompt ‘What would happen if Marinette discovered Adrien's apology wasn't as genuine as she thought it was??? What would happen if she discovered, Adrien only apologized to her just because Nino told him to do it in order to be in good terms with the rest of the class??? What would happen that if it wasn't for Nino Adrien never would have apologized on the first place???’ And then asked an angst writer to write it.
It didn’t follow exactly, but ya’ll can’t just say something like that and not expect me to run with it.
Marinette had forgotten her notebook in her classroom. Or, she hoped she had. She had bolted once the bell rung, and then not noticed it was missing. She hoped it hadn’t actually been stolen by Lila or Chloe.
She paused when she spotted Adrien and Nino through the windows. She braced herself and neared the door. Hopefully Nino would be too focused on Adrien to notice she had come back.
“Sorry I pushed you to apologize to Marinette at the start of the year, Dude, I really thought it’d be better for you if you were on good terms with her. If I had known she was this mean, I wouldn’t have even suggested it.”
Marinette froze. What was Nino saying?
Lila had driven a stake between them, yeah, but was he telling Adrien that becoming her friend was a mistake? No. Nonononononono she couldn’t lose him too.
Adrien made a noncommital noise.
“I guess you were right at the start of the year when you didn’t want anything to do with her.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want anything to do with her,” Adrien replied. “And she’s been a good friend since! Excluding the Lila thing.”
“Eh, that’s just because she likes you.” Nino answered. “She duped you just like the rest of us.”
Marinette wanted him to defend her. Heck, she wanted to dash in there and defend herself, but her feet couldn’t move.
And then her heart shattered.
One word, one agreement from Adrien, and she suddenly felt like she was drowning. He said okay. He didn’t defend her, not even weakly.
“I guess she does have her moments of acting unacceptably.”
She was suddenly able to move again, but she ran the wrong way. She didn’t care about the notebook anymore. She just had to get out.
He had said he was on her side. He had said he had her back. That they could get through it together. He was the only one who had even listened in any semblance.
And he just…. Abandoned her. Stabbed her in the back, so to say.
A part of her said he might have just said it to appease Nino, but that hopeful piece was squashed by tears a moment later. Even if he had, he still- He’d said they were in it together. That wasn’t being in it together.
Marinette ran. She didn’t know how far she went, or where she stopped, just that it didn’t feel like it was far enough away.
She collapsed against an alley wall, and cried. Tikki flitted around her head, doing her best to help, but it wasn’t actually doing anything.
Had he even wanted to be her friend in the first place? Was he just by her side because he pitied her?
...and one more thing: unpopular opinion (?): Aspik was a shit hero. And I’m saying that as a lover of Time Loops/Time Travel, not as a Blueberry Stan.
I remember I used to really like Adrien. I was as Love Square-hyped as the next MLB fan. (ACB. I REMEMBER LOVING THOSE DORKS WHEN I WROTE IT.) But now I’m just....BLEGH. Like the more Hawkdaddy tries to stan Adrien as the Perfect Precious Sunshine Boi™ the more I’m just sitting back like, “...ok. But you see how frikkin’ Problematic he is, right? YOU SEE WHAT YOU’VE MADE HERE, RIGHT?”
I want to love Adrien again. But I swear the boy needs some MAJOR therapy, and I’m sorry but he’s gonna Snap. He has SO MANY underlying issues, and when the truth about Mayura and Hawkmoth come out (moreso Mayura than Hawkmoth, probably) he will SNAP. I don’t ship Adrienette anymore. I don’t even ship Adrigami or Lukadrien. Fam, I ship this boy with a straight jacket.
Also like Time Loops are one of my biggest tropes I love them so much and this is kinda why? Like boy. BOI. YOU WERE STUCK IN THAT LOOP FOR MONTHS BECAUSE YOU’RE A LITERAL EGGHEAD SHOWBOATING EEJIT. Ugh I can’t even articulate right now all the Feelings with this ep. I’m still so drained from this week it’s all just coming out KEYBOARD SMASH. Ugh. (I swear it’s the Star/Marco/Tom thing all over again and THIS is why adults shouldn’t watch shows for kids because I know they’re all teenagers and Teenagers Are Idiots but BOI. BOI.)
The Many Dates of Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Prologue
Summary: After Adrien proves himself a bad choice as a crush and she decides not to pursue Luka, Alya decides to get Marinette to sign up for a dating service. Though reluctant at first, Marinette eventually gives in, signs up...and gets far more than she bargained for.
(or, in which the author is about to indulge in far more crossover ships than what could be considered healthy)
Ao3 link
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Signing Up
“A dating service?”
Marinette looked at the website apprehensively. “Alya, are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Look, girl,” Alya sighed. “Adrien sided with Lila-”
“He didn’t! He just doesn’t want to get in trouble with the rest of the class!”
“-no matter how much denial you’re in over it, you’ve already turned down Luka, and most of the other good boys we know are either fully wrapped around Lila’s finger or taken. This could be a good thing for you.”
Marinette twirled one of her pigtails nervously. “But what if I end up with a date and he’s a complete jerk, or a stalker, or-?”
Alya shook her head. “That only happens in bad sitcoms. Trust me, it’ll be fine! All you gotta do is sign up for an account. Simple as that!”
Marinette thought it over for a few more seconds, then sighed. “All right, I’ll do it. How does this work?”
Alya beamed. “Knew you’d say yes! And it’s all on the information page.”
Marinette nodded, then clicked on the link to said page.
The “Red String Teen Dating Service”, as it was called, was rather simple. For fifteen dollars, you could set up a month-long account – you would get a blind date every day for a month, then choose who you wanted to go on a second date with after the last one. If you were at all dissatisfied, they’d pay you back in full.
And who knows, she thought to herself. Maybe if I do end up getting a boyfriend this way, it would finally get Chat Noir to back off.
Her partner had started getting more pushy in his romantic pursuits over the last few months, insisting that she “owed” him a date for all the help he’d given her. She’d rejected him several times now, but he hadn’t backed down. Even worse, it was affecting his performance in their battles. She’s been meaning to talk to Master Fu about it, but hadn’t gotten the chance.
“Sounds promising,” Marinette said. “Oh! I should probably ask my parents first.”
Alya gave her a thumbs-up. “You do that, and if they say yes, we can start on making your account!”
Marinette nodded, then headed downstairs so she could ask them.
00000
Tom and Sabine had immediately agreed to let Marinette sign up for the service, once they checked to make sure it was legitimate. And so, after paying the 15 dollars needed, Marinette started writing up her profile.
She leaned back in her chair and stretched. “Right, that takes care of the easy stuff.” She then moved to fill out the rest of the required boxes.
Physical appearance: Petite, slim Chinese-Italian girl with black hair in pigtails, blue eyes, and freckles.
Personality: Kind, artistic, somewhat awkward and clumsy, hates liars and bullies
Likes and interests: Design work (especially fashion design), baking, video games, Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, helping friends out
The kind of person I’m interested in: I just want someone who’s nice and sweet, who will listen to and respect me.
Alya looked over the profile and nodded in approval. “Nice. But I think you’re forgetting something.”
“What?” Marinette asked, raising an eyebrow.
Alya pointed at a pair of empty boxes near the top of the screen. “Your username and email.”
Marinette groaned. “Thanks for pointing that out.”
She quickly filled out her email account, then thought for a few seconds, going over various usernames in her head. Eventually, she typed in MariDC, her usual chat handle when talking with friends online.
“Looks like you’re ready to go!” Alya said, smiling.
Marinette nodded and clicked on the “submit” button. After a few minutes, the sign-up screen was replaced with a video, which automatically started playing.
A young woman with short brown hair, brown eyes, and black-framed glasses came into view on the screen, smiling.
“Thank you for using the Red String Teens Dating Service!” she said cheerfully. “Within the next few hours, you should receive an email containing the profile of your first prospective date and the time and place your date will be!”
She then held up a red paper heart. “Remember to print one of these out and pin it to your shirt so your date will know who you are! You can find a link to the PDF for it on our main page!”
With that, the video ended, taking Marinette back to the main page.
“What now?” Alya asked.
Marinette shrugged. “I guess I’ll print out the PDF and wait for the first email to come in. Until then, what do you want to do?”
Alya immediately grinned and pulled out her phone. “I found some great videos earlier that I wanted to show you!”
As Alya pulled up said videos on her phone, Marinette thought about what she’d just done.
She had thirty-one dates to look forward to, but she didn’t know any of the people she was going to date. They could be perfectly nice and kind...or they could all be womanizing creeps. Either one seemed like a possibility.
But who knew? Maybe this would be a good thing for her in the long run.
Maybe.
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A/N: Partly inspired by a Danny Phantom fic I found with a similar premise, partly inspired by the several different crossover pairings I’ve seen Marinette end up in, I’ve decided to write this.
I am open to requests for guys Marinette could date, as I only have six lined up at the time of this writing. The only two rules I have are 1) they have to be within a set age limit (14-17), and 2) I have to be able to realistically fit them into the setting (I might take liberties with this one, but no characters from post-apocalyptic works or the distant past, for example). I also might not use a character if I’m not familiar with the series they’re from. If you have any questions about the setting, feel free to ask.
With that in mind, the next chapter should (hopefully) be up tomorrow, so stay tuned!
this person: has made the most valid point in the whole history of Miraculous Ladybug. I'm not even kidding, please check her out on the wiki page of Miraculous Ladybug
chat noir acknowledges that ladybug does all the work because it’s his job to be the ‘fun’ one. idk why that annoyed me so much but i’m glad i’m in the salt part of the fandom
