Mirrors

Disclaimer: This was originally going to be much longer (and it is very long already) but since I might have overdone it, I will be cutting it in two. The second part will feature the similarities and differences between Marinette and Kagami and some final thoughts. 

Kagami’s name means ‘mirror’ in Japanese, and according to Thomas Astruc, that’s not a coincidence. Indeed, she’s supposed to be a reflection of the main characters. This trait is best seen through her role as an alternative love interest for Adrien, but she is also a reflection of Marinette’s own character; more specifically, her own relationship with Adrien.

However, the way Kagami works as a mirror changes from one character to the other. For Adrien, she’s a direct parallel to many of the traits that make him who he is, only that she adds more nuance to them. For Marinette, despite their many similarities, they are also opposites. 

In this analysis I will reflect (pun not-intended) on the way Kagami works as Adrien’s mirror, how she does the same for Marinette, and the way that affects her relationship with both of them. 

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Part 2

Unpopular opinion:

While I personally love both Kagami and Luka, introducing love rivals is a weak and unnecessary move that is only going to disappoint their fans because they're bound to be rejected in the end.

If they wanted to "shake things up a little" and include new love interests, they should've just reversed the Love Square.

Unpopular opinion:

While I personally love both Kagami and Luka, introducing love rivals is a weak and unnecessary move that is only going to disappoint their fans because they're bound to be rejected in the end.

If they wanted to "shake things up a little" and include new love interests, they should've just reversed the Love Square.

Reversing the love square would've added so much tension and would've added to the overall story when they finally begin falling for both sides of each other, and reversing everything could be the first step towards the actual endgame.

While I personally don't believe in the "two sides" opinion because, for me, they are the same person in and out of the suit and that helps balance their mistakes in terms of Marinette/Ladybug and Adrien/Chat Noir (a point for another post), I actually started thinking about alternatives the show could've taken if they'd decided to reverse the Love Square instead of introducing love rivals.

For starters, the writers wouldn't even have had to erase Kagami and Luka, they could've kept them as allies (because God knows Marinette will need allies since Lila's return, Mayura's involvement, Chloe's betrayal, and Shadow Moth's upcoming debut) while flexing their characters outside of Adrien and Marinette.

For example, they could've kept Kagami, without changing anything about Riposte —except, perhaps, the bubble effect from when she took off her helmet—, and make her Adrien's friend. Because until Party Crasher it looked like his only true friends were Ladybug, Nino, and Marinette. And Kagami needs them too. They could've even kept Marinette's animosity towards her under the false impression that the fencer was indeed after Adrien, and then having them become friends in Ikari Gozen, with the added dialogue where Kagami explains she and Adrien are just friends. And this would, in return, give Marinette a friend that is also close to Adrien. Because, let's face it, at this point Marinette shouldn't have to worry about being friends with a girl who loves the same boy she loves. No need to add more stress to the poor kid.

And as for Luka, Marinette could really benefit from having a friend like him, that is reliable, that is usually calm, and that is mature; to help her understand and solve her problems without having to worry about breaking his heart because hers is still set on Adrien. They could've had him concerned over his mother in Captain Hardrock (as he should have been!) and expanding his relationship with Juleka. And Silencer could have been pretty much the same: him getting akumatised for Marinette and his bandmates' sake because they're his friends and he cares about them, damn it!

Even the confession could have been pretty much the same! They only needed to change it so it sounded like words of encouragement from a good friend to another instead of a love confession!

And while we're on the topic of people getting akumatised out of concerned and protectiveness over someone they love... Freaking Oni-Chan!

If Kagami were just a friend of Adrien's, they could've made it so he had somehow opened up about this... "difficult" girl from his class and how he wanted to help her despite her flaws. Then, it would be Lila who would misunderstand Adrien and Kagami's connection and (much like in canon) send her the pic where she kissed him out of pettiness. Kagami would see Adrien's uncomfortable expression, she would be furious for what her friend was going through, and let herself be akumatised out of concern for him; not unexplained jealousy.

We could've had an overprotective friend concerned about Adrien! But noooooo, they had got to give us a freaking yandere!

I'm on mobile, rn. So I'll expand on how this change could've affected the love square's dynamics exclusively in another reblog.

Unpopular opinion:

While I personally love both Kagami and Luka, introducing love rivals is a weak and unnecessary move that is only going to disappoint their fans because they're bound to be rejected in the end.

If they wanted to "shake things up a little" and include new love interests, they should've just reversed the Love Square.

Kagami Concept Art

Miraculous Ladybug Concept Art

Adrien Agreste giving up his -as far as he knows- only chance to go to school in order to help a handicapped elderly stranger.

Adrien Agreste trusting Ladybug -a stranger he doesn't even know- in order to beat Stoneheart.

Adrien Agreste saving Alya in Origins (Twice!) at a detriment to himself.

Adrien Agreste trying to remove the gum from Marinette's seat.

Adrien Agreste comforting and reassuring Ladybug after she shows self-doubt.

Adrien Agreste apologizing for the gum incident even though it wasn't his fault.

Adrien Agreste not holding his classmates judging him for being Chloe's friend against them.

Adrien Agreste dying so Ladybug could live in Timebreaker.

Adrien Agreste complimenting Marinette's designs and encouraging her for the derby hat competition.

Adrien Agreste not finding out Ladybug's identity in Lady Wifi when he had the chance.

Adrien Agreste showing up to act as a last minute interpreter just because a friend asked.

Adrien Agreste standing up to Chloe for her treatment of Marinette's uncle.

Adrien Agreste easily complimenting Marinette's gaming skills.

Adrien Agreste giving up his place in the video game tournament even though he earned it because Marinette was the better player and Max wanted it more.

Adrien Agreste helping his best friend with his crush.

Adrien Agreste saving Ladybug from Reflekta by rallying the students.

Adrien Agreste asking Marinette for an autograph (recognizing her talent).

Adrien Agreste trusting Ladybug and staying to fight Simon Says even though his "Father" is going to jump off the roof.

Adrien Agreste making Marinette her own lucky charm as a thank you for the one she gave him.

Adrien Agreste acknowledging Kagami's superior sword skills in their match and going after her.

Adrien Agreste encouraging Kagami to have a rematch.

Adrien Agreste not opening his eyes even as Ladybug de-transformed right in front of him.

Adrien Agreste trusting Ladybug with his Miraculous by removing it even though they're trapped by Dark Owl.

Adrien Agreste taking Marinette to his rooftop surprise in order to cheer her up even though he's heartbroken.

Adrien Agreste putting aside his hurt feelings in order to fight Glaciator by following Ladybug's plan and apologizing for his attitude.

Adrien Agreste trusting Ladybug after she asks him to jump off a skyscraper.

Adrien Agreste holding off the kissing zombies so Ladybug can summon her Lucky Charm.

Adrien Agreste choosing to trust Marinette when she says she doesn't have a crush on him after the Troublemaker incident.

Adrien Agreste trusting Ladybug's plan to beat Reverser despite the fear curse and the blindfold.

Adrien Agreste prioritizing the civilians in Anansi.

Adrien Agreste forgiving Plagg for lying in Sandboy despite the nightmare he went through alone.

Adrien Agreste reassuring Marinette over her design during Fashion Week.

Adrien Agreste thanking Ladybug and not feeling belittled after she saved him from Style Queen.

Adrien Agreste encouraging Chloe to do the right thing after Queen Wasp.

Adrien Agreste shielding Marinette with his own body from the scarlet akuma swarm.

Adrien Agreste encouraging Ladybug after their teammates are akumatized.

Adrien Agreste not opening his eyes as they transform even though they're falling.

Adrien Agreste encouraging Lila to stop lying.

Adrien Agreste helping Kagami due to her "wardrobe trouble".

Adrien Agreste not commenting on Marinette asking him to buy constipation medicine.

Adrien Agreste saying: "I try to measure up to you." To Kagami.

Adrien Agreste standing up to Lila in Oni-chan.

Adrien Agreste continuing to fight despite his Cataclysmed ribs in Miraculer.

Adrien Agreste suggesting Luka for the Snake Miraculous.

Adrien Agreste not being jealous at all of Luka's success with the Snake Miraculous.

Adrien Agreste trusting Ladybug is alright after she gets hit by Kwami Buster.

Adrien Agreste trusting Ladybug's trust in a stranger by giving his Miraculous to Multimouse.

Adrien Agreste willingly fighting a sentimonster without superpowers.

Adrien Agreste trusting Ladybug by allowing himself to be eaten by Feast on her hunch.

Adrien Agreste forgiving Master Fu for taking Plagg without warning or explanation.

Adrien Agreste helping Ladybug relax so she can beat Gamer 2.0

Adrien Agreste trusting Ladybug when they're going to "surrender" to Timetagger.

Adrien Agreste trying his hardest to make Marinette comfortable around him in Puppeteer 2.

Adrien Agreste not hesitating to transform when there's an akuma heading for Maribug.

Adrien Agreste telling Gabriel that he would support his father moving on from his mother.

Adrien Agreste protecting his cousin from akuma villains despite Felix's actions.

Adrien Agreste standing up for Marinette: "It's not like Marinette to cheat."

Adrien Agreste getting Marinette accepted back into school.

Adrien Agreste making a deal with Lila so she'll leave Marinette alone.

Adrien Agreste comforting Ladybug as she breaks down.

Adrien Agreste taking the lead against Miracle Queen.

Adrigami

I’ve been thinking for a while, and I think I finally understood one of the true reasons why Adrigami is not as famous as the Love Square or Lukanette.

Leaving aside the members of the fandom who just don’t like Kagami, either because of her characterisation or because she gets in the way of the Love Square, I think we’re forgetting a very important factor in the relationship: Adrien.

Before I go on, I must admit I don’t really ship Adrigami myself. Even if I do like Kagami and I understand that this type of drama is needed to keep the plot going. I just prefer to see their relationship as platonic. 

But back to the point.

What I believe is the other major reason why the ship is not as supported as, say, Lukanette, is because it lacks something crucial: Adrien’s POV.

As I see it, Lukanette is much more accepted in the fandom because we actually see Marinette suffer from her crush on Adrien: we see her pining for him, we see her getting her attempts crushed whenever she tries to confess to him, we see her being a mere spectator of her crush getting closer to another girl. 

A girl that she knows has way more chances of bonding with Adrien than her.

In other words, we are meant to empathise with Marinette’s heartbreak. To feel bad for her.

Something we do not experience through Adrien’s failed attempts at winning Ladybug over.

At least, not to the same degree we experience through Marinette.

And I insist, to make a fan more accepting of a new pairing, specially when said pairing gets in the way of a previous one that is very popular among the fandom, there needs to be some sort of reason why the fans would be happy to let go of the older ship. Namely, the character that’s moving forward to the new ship has to have suffered enough with their previous romantic interest, in the eyes of the fandom, for them to want said character to move on.

Again, we’ve had more than enough of that with Marinette’s crush on Adrien.

We’ve seen her being asked by her very crush if she could help him hook up with another girl.

We’ve seen her with no choice but to sit idly by, watching and being told that Adrien has basically found a kindred spirit with whom he can do things he’s barely been able to do with her.

Whenever Adrien hinted being in love with someone else, we could feel Marinette’s heart breaking a little bit more each passing day. And, at the end of the episode, there’s always this feeling of distance between the two; like Marinette knows she’s losing the battle and getting further and further away from Adrien, instead of closer.

We’ve seen her third-wheeling, which succedeeded at making her feel not only like she didn’t belong, but with even less chances than ever at winning Adrien’s heart. In Heart Hunter, she wasn’t a painful reminder of Adrien’s unsolved romantic issues (like Adrien would be if he, Marinette, and Luka were to hang out; as civilians, that is); Adrien and Kagami were so in sync that sometimes it was like Marinette wasn’t even there. 

And she knew it.

These are all instances when we feel bad for Marinette. Instances that make us want to see her with Luka, to move on. Because we want her to be happy with someone’s who’s approachable, with whom she doesn’t mess up by just trying to talk to him, and someone who’s available and understands her.

And we rarely see any of the aforementioned above when it comes to Adrien and his crush on Ladybug, if at all.

True, we’ve had episodes where he doubted his future with her; namely Glaciator and Frozer, but his pining never really reached the same level of hopelessness as Marinette’s.

In both episodes, instead of being down around Ladybug, he was bitter towards her. Even when she had never meant to toy with his feelings, going as far as sharing the fact that she already had someone she loved; nor wanted to hurt him, preferring to let him down gently instead of giving him false hope.

Moreover, at the end of the episode, he always remained hopeful of winning her heart in the future. Like his feelings for her and his hope had only been reassured despite everything, unlike Marinette, who, as stated above, seems to be losing hers [hope].

And I insist, that is because Adrien has no real competition against being Ladybug’s beloved. At least, not that he takes seriously. 

Because, sure, the way he talked about Marinette and Luka gave us hope and made us see that he’s just in denial of his feelings for the girl. But, still, it’s not the same.

Quite honestly, I believe this could’ve been dealed with in Desperada if the writers had actually made it a Luka-centric episode. After all, even if the episode attacked the Ladrien side of the Love Square, it had nothing to do with the way Oni-chan or Heart Hunter attacked the Adrienette and Ladynoir sides of the Love Square. That was not an outsider’s doing, that was Adrien’s. 

However, if they had made it Luka-centric; that is, let Luka handle the Snake Miraculous for more than the last five minutes of the episode, then we could’ve had moments where Chat took notice of Ladybug’s fondness of the new guy. Since her thoughts wouldn’t be clouded by Adrien’s presence and she could allow herself to enjoy the guitarist company, support, and skills. 

That might’ve made Adrien realise that he is actually further away from “getting the girl” from what he previously thought.

Who knows? Maybe that could have reminded him of how comfortable Marinette is with Luka, something he never manages to experience with the girl, and made him feel his heart squeezing in an unpleasant way inside his chest. For whatever reason.

But see? 

This is what I mean. So far we didn’t get nearly enough moments that would make us want Adrien to move on from Ladybug and experience new things with Kagami!

He hasn’t third-wheeled for Luka and Marinette, seeing that the two would be just fine without him. 

He never really took Ladybug’s rejection as that, a rejection. It just made him think that he had to be a little more patient.

We weren’t given an Adrien whose both worlds, the girl he loves and the friend he cherishes, crumble. Leaving him behind as he becomes something less relevant in their lives…

This is why we need more episodes from Adrien’s point of view.

Thank you.

Miraculous Rambles (Warning: very VERY long rant ahead)

Now that we are halfway theough season 3, I just wanna say, the only characters I love and stan are Marinette first, Luka and Kagami second. No one else matters.

MARINETTE

Marinette deserves so much better. From the fandom and the writers. She is not being done justice. Yeah, her main characterisation is based on learning from her mistakes and amending them, but seriously, stop rebounding everything back to her and saying it’s her fault when, more than half the time, it isn’t. And I really wish she stops putting Adrien on a pedestal. It’s good and all to admire and respect his professionalism in fashion and his selflessness, and it was cute and funny at first, but now it is just cringey and second-hand embarrassment.

Also, I wish Alya would stop pushing her to confess. I’ve read a lot of salt against Alya and I’ll make my stand clear: I understand that Alya simply desires strongly to create an opportunity for Marinette to confess since Marinette is too shy and timid to do so, and she does this because she is Marinette’s best friend and is just being supportive. I respect that. What I don’t respect is how she is forcing Marinette out of her comfort zone and to do it when it is clear Marinette is uncomfortable with being put on the spot. We constantly see Marinette freak out (Puppeteer 2.0, Reflekdoll 2.0, etc) and very nearly fall into panic attacks at the mere thought of confessing. Clearly she isn’t ready, but Alya, as Marinette’s best friend, thinks she knows her best and believes it is just the normal anxiety of confessing (I mean, surely everyone can agree it isn’t easy confessing feelings of love). Alya doesn’t realise it runs much deeper than that.

Marinette doesn’t just fear rejection, she is traumatised by it. Why I use the term trauma, is because throughout the series so far we’ve seen Adrien ‘just-a-friend’ Agreste constantly friendzone her, and when Luka, another boy, begins to show romantic interest to her, her first worry as shown when she spoke to Tikki in the toilet cubicle in Frozer was ‘Do you think he is like Adrien, just a friend?’ It is borderline trauma for her to be friendzoned because that’s what Adrien has been doing (for a year in canon-time), and while she acknowledges her feelings for Luka, her first concern is being friendzoned.

I mean, she has only been in love with the same guy for so long, but throughout the entire time, not only is he completely clueless about her true feelings, he is constantly calling her ‘just a friend’ or ‘a great friend’, and personally, as someone who has had an unrequited crush of almost the exact same situation for five years, I know firsthand how much that hurts and how tiring it gets (I’ve lost interest in having a love life altogether, much to my mother’s chagrin). He doesn’t even consider her as anything more than a friend, and in fact, we saw him almost immediately shoot down the idea when Plagg suggested it in Frozer.

On that note, Adrien needs to get his head out of his ass. I understand that there are people who are like ‘Ladybug and Marinette are the same person, so no matter which one he likes more, it’s still the same.’ Hell no it is not. Ladybug is the mask, Marinette is the essence and heart of it all. Marinette is the reason why Ladybug is kind, caring, loving and considerate. Marinette is the reason why Ladybug is strong. The only difference is that the mask makes it easier to hide Marinette’s insecurities and weaknesses. Ladybug is the mask, Marinette is the human here.

If he likes Ladybug more than Marinette, he is in love with the mask, not the girl behind it. Only when he likes Marinette more than Ladybug, then can he say he is truly in love with the girl behind the mask. (For Adrien’s case, Chat Noir is the essence and Adrien is the mask. Adrien is the perfect golden child because he was raised that way, and forced to conduct himself as such, but Chat Noir is his true self, someone who desires freedom, friends, love, and a life outside of the name Adrien Agreste.) Neither of them are looking past each other’s mask. This is a big reason why I stopped rooting for the Love Square.

Lastly, I wish the writers stop suddenly inserting Marinette’s jealousy of any girls around Adrien and resorting to drastic measures. For her following Lila and Adrien to the Agreste mansion in Onichan, that can sort of be justified by the fact that she is rightfully worried (it’s Lila we are talking about here), but the whole trying to scale the fence was a bit over the top. But during Ikari Gozen, her rash decision to try and sabotage hers and Kagami’s chances of winning the game just because she didn’t want to let Kagami and Adrien spend time together, that was so petty. And it was so immediate, and unlike her usual self. She didn’t even stop to consider why Kagami, being the serious girl and renowned ‘Ice Queen’, was actually participating in a game for forming new friendships. The normal Marinette would’ve considered the possibility of Kagami wanting friends, but lo and behold, the writers decide to portray her jealousy instead.

Seriously, that needs to stop. It wasn’t funny in Animaestro or Frozer, and it isn’t funny now. I still can’t believe that Marinette teamed up with Chloé to execute a petty plan of having Kagami accidentally sit on cake and possibly suggest it was an accident happening. That is Chloé behaviour, not Marinette. Marinette deserves to be portrayed better than that.

Going back. Remember what I said about rebounding everything back to her? Yeah. Let’s talk about that.

Biggest sore spot for me on that was Zombiezou and Chameleon. In Zombiezou, while it wasn’t mentioned, Marinette must’ve spent a lot of time and effort working on Ms Bustier’s gift, and not to mention the cost. But then Chloé goes and ruins it. Bad enough Ms Bustier didn’t tell Chloé to apologise, she has the nerve to bring Marinette out and tells her to set an example. She disregarded how Marinette must have felt, as a creator watching her creation be ruined by somone else, and put Chloé above her. Bad enough she prioritised the wrong person’s feelings, she dared lecture Marinette about being the bigger person. Yeah that is important, but what about how Marinette feels? She didn’t even consider that. She invalidated Marinette’s feelings to favour Chloé’s step-by-step progress to improvement. That shouldn’t happen. She wants to talk about setting the right examples, she should be the one doing that as the adult and teacher and lecture Chloé for doing something that was very clearly out of spite, because regardless of what reason she gave at the end of Zombiezou, it wasn’t like she ruined everyone’s presents, she ruined only Marinette’s, on purpose, to hurt her.

And then there’s Chameleon. Oh, god. It wasn’t just Ms Bustier, the whole class disregarded Marinette’s opinion and invalidated her feelings in deciding the seating arrangement. Yeah, Lila decided everything, but no one bothered to inform Marinette, the one person to which Lila didn’t tell about her seating plans. They all assumed Marinette wouldn’t mind. And then, when she voiced her displeasure, everyone had the nerve to turn on her, get upset with her, and accuse her of being selfish, when they were the selfish ones. They didn’t ask her, and didn’t bother even informing her. They decided how she’d feel for her. Forget about the fact that Lila was lying to stay in the front, Marinette wasn’t given the chance to have a say in the change in the seating arrangement. Nobody bothered to listen to her. Her opinions and feelings didn’t matter to them. (On a side note, do your damn job right, Ms Bustier. Lila is still a student, and no matter what ridiculous illness she’s got, you need to get a medical certificate from her or her parents before accepting it and agreeing to such things like changing seating arrangements.)

And shortly after that, her friends disregard her care and concern for them as mere jealousy. Seriously, Alya needs to stop assuming she knows best.

Marinette shouldn’t have to deal with this. Marinette deserves better than this.

Luka

Luka deserves better. When he was first introduced in season 2 (Captain Hardrock, Frozer and Mayura), there was an unbelievable amount of hate on this boy, in several groups, so I’m going to adress them one-by-one.

First, hate due to shipping. Okay, allow me to just state where I stand. I do ship Lukanette, to the point I almost wish time and time again it were the end ship instead of the Love Square. Reason being he appreciates and notices Marinette more than Adrien does (since our dense blondie has eyes for only the lady in red spandex), and she too does hold romantic feelings for him (albeit not as strong as those she held for Adrien). He respects and understands her feelings, for him and for Adrien. He doesn’t act out on jealousy (unlike a certain cat) and gives her space when she needs it, while doing what he can to cheer her up.

Luka is the best choice after Adrien (it pains me to put it this way, but it sounds a lot better than saying he is a good replacement or substitute). Luka is not a replacement for Adrien. No one can replace someone else, but I believe most Lukanette shippers see Luka as that boy who deserves being on the receiving end of Marinette’s affections should the Love Square not work out, because of his selflessness and kindness when it comes to her. Hating him just because he poses a possibly formidable threat to the Love Square doesn’t justify as a reason to hate him; that’s just spite. And let’s be honest: the fact that he is seen as a threat means you acknowledge the fact that Marinette likes him and that they deserve each other to a certain extent.

Even now, in season 3, even after making an explicit and clear confession in Silencer, he respects her boundaries and doesn’t push for a reply anytime soon, because he is aware of her feelings for Adrien, and understands she needs time to come to a decision. He is satisfied with being able to spend time with her at all. He is someone who is actually looking at her, supportive of her, and respective of her boundaries. While Adrien/Chat only sees Ladybug, and is constantly pushing Ladybug to be his girlfriend/lover. He doesn’t see Marinette in a possible romantic light at all, and I’m supposed to be rooting for this guy??? I’m done with the Love Square, if Adrien doesn’t straighten up.

Second, hate due to his character. Okay, I don’t understand how anyone can hate his character. After Luka was first introduced in Captain Hardrock, I read so many posts on hating him, and I’m like, what’s there to hate? He is kind, caring and selfless. Whenever Marinette is feeling down, he knows not to pry too much in case bringing up the memory might hurt her, and know exactly what to do to cheer her up.

And then there were people who said he is spineless (or something of the like), and I’m just going to say, no he isn’t. At the end of Frozer, he let her go not because he was afraid he couldn’t win. He let her go because he believed that would make her happy. He didn’t force her to stay while knowing she wanted to go to Adrien. He was being a gentleman; a gentleman doesn’t force a lady. And while there’s love about holding on, there’s love about letting go (Beauty and the Beast, anyone? Beast let Belle go save her father despite being in love with her and wanting her to stay). If you love someone, you would be willing to let go of them for their happiness. That’s what happened at the end of Frozer. It’s not like he gave up on her or anything, he just didn’t force her to stay at where he wanted her against her own will. He prioritised her happiness over his own. If he had prioritised his own at that scene, that would have been selfish, and even seen as possessive or obsessive. and he knows Marinette doesn’t belong to him. He was making the right call in letting her go.

I don’t understand why people can’t see that. He is like, the purest character in the series so far. (Adrien’s pureness has been slightly tarred by the occurrences of his slightly selfish and entitled behaviour in season 2. He was willing to forgo the Black Cat Miraculous to be let in on a secret that wasn’t rightfully Ladybug’s to share while Paris was submerged underwater with people possibly drowning. If that isn’t selfish, I don’t know what is.)

Again, now in season 3, he has already confessed, but he isn’t forcing her to be with him, and pushing her for an answer. He is letting her take her time to come to a decision. He is so selfless, more than Adrien/Chat has been, and people hate him for that? Mistaking it for spinelessness?

As Chloé would say and I quote, ‘Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!’

His debut as Viperion did not do him justice. I hate how it further emphasizes how he is a second choice to both Marinette and Ladybug. But despite that, whether or not he knows it I can’t say for sure, but the fact that he doesn’t display any signs of disappointment about makes me proud of him. He isn’t so entitled as to believe that he should be someone’s first choice or only choice, and respected Marinette’s choice of choosing Adrien first each and every time.

And then that sibling moment between him and Juleka. Can I just say, best big brother ever? He knows exactly what to say to calm his sister down and encourage her without sounding even remotely troubled by it. He doesn’t see it as trouble, as he clearly truly cares and love Juleka as his sister. And while we don’t know what he is truly feeling underneath, watching his sister slowly approach her way towards anxiety, we do know that he is holding back his own feelings to help her process hers.

For both Marinette and Juleka, he keeps his feelings within, to respect theirs.

Third, hate due to his character design. Okay seriously, don’t hate him for that. He isn’t the one in control of his own character design. Blame the animators.

So yeah, Luka Couffaine, hands down best male character of Miraculous Ladybug to me. Absolutely love him, and support his love for Marinette.

Kagami

Let me make this clear, I have never hated Kagami. Got upset and disappointed at certain times, but never hated her.

When Kagami was first introduced in Riposte, I didn’t even care that she was a threat to the love square. I was looking forward to her becoming friends with Marinette. She was all, ‘I’ll be happy to get to know your friend Marinette’, and then when we see her again in Frozer, she is this ice queen that stared at Marinette from the other side of the rink with disdain.

What happened to wanting to become friends? I was really upset by this.

And then in Backwarder, Animaestro and Onichan, she is being displayed as a petty girl who got jealous easily. I seriously disliked that. Backwarder I have nothing much to say, other than the fact that I found her spying on Marinette giving Adrien the letter a little petty.

Animaestro though. That was so petty, when she turned up with her mother at the cinema, spotted Marinette and Chloé in the crowd, and then made a show of taking Adrien’s arm to spite them. And then when Marinette went over to give Adrien the macaron, she didn’t even regard Marinette or greet her, just glaring at her back the whole time.

And then, Onichan. She was upset in her own right, being suddenly sent a picture of a girl kissing the guy she likes (yeah, on the cheek, but still). I wasn’t too pleased with the reason for her akumatisation though, because like, sure she is a girl and can get emotional easily. But the thing is, she didn’t strike me as the type of person who would jump to the conclusion that Adrien is dating someone else or that someone took Adrien from her from a mere picture. Being upset is fine, angry even, but the fact she rashly concluded that from a mere picture and even cried because of it, was completely unlike her. I can’t say I liked how the writers portrayed her that way, to be so weak.

I was really upset with the writers for all these events that happened before Ikari Gozen.

God bless Ikari Gozen. It is what saved Kagami’s character. Here we have a lot more insight about her. So, going back, in Riposte, we learn that her family is one that doesn’t take failure well, seeing as how upset she had gotten from her one loss against Adrien in their first match. She even told Adrien that there was no such thing as second chances in her family. It tells us she was raised with the belief that failure is not an option, and must be avoided at all costs. And the fact that she was akumatised from one failure goes to show how much she fears it. Then, at the end of the episode, when Adrien insists once more on having a decisive match, she is surprised, but eventually accepts it, happy to be given a second chance. Since clearly she doesn’t receive that a lot. She was happy to find someone who could look past her flaws (her temper as displayed when she became Riposte) and failures (although it was only the first one seeing as they had just met), and I think that is partly why she is in love with Adrien and treasures him greatly as a friend. On a side note, I feel that Riposte is the manifestation of the side of her that fears failure and desires strongly for second chances.

In Frozer, she gives Marinette advice, saying that her hesitation is the reason why she can’t stay on her feet, and that she - Kagami - never hesitates. Now, this is just me; I know she wasn’t saying this as a friend, but perhaps that was her attempt of starting a friendship. She recognises that Marinette has much hesitation (although she probably doesn’t know it is due to both boys, and thinks its just Luka), and knows that it results in Marinette’s doubt. Kagami’s lack of hesitation is most likely another aspect resulted from her strict upbringing, and hence she probably dislikes it when people are so hesitant about everything (which happens to be Marinette in regards to love). There was so much hate, saying she was rude, but I saw it differently. I think Kagami was giving sincere advice, and it was also her way of telling Marinette to straighten up. Because while Marinette has received many chances, there are some things that have no second chances, and hence she has to make up her mind before it is too late.

In the recently released episode Desperada, we see Kagami first appear in the Couffaine’s houseboat for the first time, and was being playful with Adrien. It shows how she has loosened up over the series and is now quite open with Adrien, considering their close friendship. Later, she misunderstands Marinette’s and Luka’s friendship for a lover’s relationship, and unknowingly puts Marinette on the spot with her question of whether she was there to see her ‘boyfriend’ rehearse. At the end of the episode, she takes note of how Marinette stares at both Luka and Adrien and finally understands Marinette’s predicament. She approaches Marinette and pointedly states that she was mistaken about Marinette and Luka, acknowledging her mistake. And then proceeds to tell Marinette to quickly get over her hesitation and decide who she wishes to be with, saying there is no second chances in love.

Unlike her petty behaviour in Animaestro and Backwarder, she is being civil and almost friendly with Marinette. What’s more, we can see clearly here that she is respecting the fact that Marinette is still hesitating. While it is clear that Kagami likes Adrien, she has yet to make a clear cut move or confession, and is even telling Marinette to make up her mind. This means she is purposely holding her feelings back to respect Marinette’s. She talks about there being no second chances in love, and hence is letting Marinette carefully consider that one chance she has before she herself makes her move, regardless of the fact that it could mean she loses her one chance. Of course, there is no confirmation that she wouldn’t confess before Marinette decides who she wants, but as of this moment, she hasn’t, and is being considerate of Marinette.

Finally, Ikari Gozen. In this episode, we learn of how truly lonely Kagami is, as well as how insecure a person she is.

Near the beginning of the episode, she is seen training with her mother in the park and after falling (once to us watchers, probably many times canonically), she gets up and says that she is not strong enough and not worthy of sparring with her own mother. And then gets chastised for giving up so easily. During the game, when she accidentally opens Alya’s video message and finds out first hand how Marinette truly felt about her, said to Marinette she wasn’t worthy of her friendship. Then, when she receives the Dragon miraculous and Chat gets caught by her mother’s akumatised form, she immediately blames herself, saying she was rash, and decided she isn’t worthy of being a hero and fighting by Ladybug’s side. This actually reminded me of the Origins, where Marinette was quick to say she wasn’t suited to be a hero due to her klutzy nature and failure of capturing the akuma the first time. These two have almost the same amount of self-deprecation and insecurity issues, the only difference being Kagami is better at masking them.

She is almost as lonely as Adrien was before he began attending public school. The only person she can contact is her mother, and the only person she could truly call a friend was Adrien. Most of her time is spent with either her mother or at home, and the only time out of that is spent with Adrien at fencing classes (and possibly social gatherings as seen in Animaestro).

Now this is mere speculation/theorisation, but I think that Kagami, after making her first friend in Adrien, realises how happy she is and how much she hates being lonely and friendless, and develops a strong desire to have more friends. And seeing as she never hesitates, she immediately signs up for a game that allows forming new friendships (something the old her clearly wouldn’t have considered), and goes so far as to do so behind her mother’s back, then lie to her mother saying she didn’t, secretly record her mother’s vocal to playback to the AI system controlling her family’s car to bring her to the desination she was to meet her new friend. The old Kagami would never have defied her mother to this extent (or at all), which shows how she truly wanted a shot at friendship, and making friends by herself, not with help from anyone else, not even Adrien. This was something she wanted to do herself and for herself.

Even after finding out her partner was Marinette, she was not swayed and decided to press forward. Plus, she probably truly desired a friendship between herself and Marinette, I mean I assume she did, with what she said to Adrien in Riposte (‘I would be happy to get to know your friend Marinette’), and decided this was her chance to do so. Even though Marinette was a rival in love. (From what I know, Desperada is before Ikari Gozen, so I’m just gonna stick with that and assume she already knows. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.)

Then, Marinette snoops through Kagami’s phone and finds out the only contact she has is her mother’s. Which comes as a surprise to all of us. Considering how close Kagami and Adrien are, and how Tomoe seems to approve of their friendship, you’d think she’d at least have Adrien’s phone number. But nope. And then Marinette finds that app that gave advice on how to make friends. (And that’s when she realised she screwed up 😆)

Then, when Kagami returns after finding out how Marinette really felt about her after accidentally opening up that video message from Alya, Marinette quickly tries to make amends for that, by proclaiming herself to be Kagami’s friend to Tomoe and trying to defend Kagami upon finding out that she was apparently forbidden to play the game. As Kagami witnesses this, she slowly smiles, clearly touched by Marinette’s kindness and selflessness despite learning how Marinette originally felt about her. (Plus she probably knows firsthand how terrifying it must be to go up against her mother.)

At the end of the episode, Kagami confronted her mother, apologising for lying and confessing she wanted to try and make a friend. When Tomoe pointed out that she already had Adrien, Kagami states it isn’t the same. Adrien, while a dear friend, is also the man she is in love with. What Kagami desires is purely friendship with people of her age, and more importantly, with girls around her age. An obvious lack of, as seen from the people around her. And although her mother advises against it, stating it may lead to disappointment, instead of relenting like she usually would have, Kagami remains insistent on it. She desired the opportunity, regardless of what the outcome might have been.

At the end of the episode, Kagami was surprised when Marinette invited her for a deink together despite the game having ended. She admits that she was wrong about Marinette and is happy to finally get the opportunity to become friends. I actually squealed when I saw the end card. I wanted them to become friends for the longest time. This was the character development I had waited for.

Kagami does not deserve hate, man. She deserves love and appreciation.

(Let me be honest, Adrien? VERY MUCH on the fence. For some reason, his behaviour in season 2 and 3 has been rubbing me the wrong way - especially in Puppeteer 2.0 [yes, understandably Marinette is also to blame, but he really should’ve just carried out his prank after her first line, instead of stalling longer than necessary and then jumping away when she tried to kiss what she thought was his statue] - and he is on fucking thin ice now.)

(Chloé... I’m waiting for further character development (especially in season 3 finale). I do think she has improved slightly in Miraculer, but her behaviour in Stormy Weather 2.0 shows that she still has that bad habit of taunting/hurting others every chance she gets instead of trying to be the super heroine she is supposed to be and wants to be - like really, after all that talk in Malediktator about wanting to change and help others, she hasn’t really been showing it. So yeah, I have my eye on her, but I can’t really say outright that I like her that much. BUT I will defend her should ANYONE say she is just as bad or worse than motherfucking LILA.)

(Lila... is dead to me. Lila stans/protecters/apologists, you are free to like who you like, I won’t judge. I just don’t particulrly understand it. And please don’t comment to me saying I should like her or listing reasons/excuses why. I respect that you like her, so please respect that I DON’T. And absolutely don’t say you ship her with Luka. Till this day, I’m dumbfounded that anyone ships a godsend like Luka to a sinful **** like Lila.)