Something I will never not be salty about is that Kwamis choice was Marinette's equivalent of Adrien's Kuro Neko, hitting their lowest points and "leaving bc they got rejected by their superhero partner"

which in Adrien's case wasn't even true, season 4 just had to suddenly pretend like it so Ladybug can get out of the conflict without learning anything and taking 0 accountability because that's the shows type of feminism, but Marinette in season 5 absolutely DID leave bc she couldn't have Chat Noir anymore. Oh how almost pathetically hypocritical.

Anyway, what I was getting to is that Kwamis choice part 1 is Marinette's Kuro Neko and MAN, that really shows off just how much Marinette is getting pampered senseless.

Loving parents who were worried about her, checked on her and baked her goods, Adrien and Alya checked on her, Miss Bustier had the homework being brought to her

And of course Adrien himself did everything in his power to be there for Marinette in the way NOT A SINGLE SOUL BESIDES PLAGG was there for him in "Kuro Neko"

I swear this show constantly pretends like no one had it ever worse than Marinette and she's oh so all alone and yet in comparison to Adrien/ Chat Noir she basically never is??

I WANT to be sympathetic towards Marinette's struggles and feeling of loneliness which has indeed gotten worse since the start of the show, but the show isn't LETTING ME because whatever Marinette thinks her loneliness and isolation are is simply nothing in comparison to the ACTUAL isolation and loneliness Adrien is being put through, in and outside the mask.

In comparing to Adrien in Kuro Neko, Marinette in Kwamis choice is simply being pampered senseless and it's so frustrating bc I hate that the show's writing has left me so unsympathetic towards Marinette in these cases. This IS normally a character story I highly sympathize with but the show is demanding of me to disregard the fact that Adrien/ Chat Noir has it worse and gets NON of the resources and support she has so, no?? I can't ? And that's the show's own fault.

Marinette is just as per usual crying harder and saying that no one will ever understand her pain when like.. gurl, Chat Noir is right tf THERE. Do u think he COULDN'T perfectly understand your struggle too? As if she doesn't know that unlike her HE ACTUALLY doesn't have anyone to confine in. Never had and continues to not get.

Gosh, I WISHED I could feel for Marinette in that episode and Elation too, but Jesus Christ is this hypocritical Towards Adrien/ Chat of season 4 in every possible way.

Like, I do get it. Trauma isn't a competition, and I understand the feeling of knowing that you have so much support around you, but still feeling like you're all alone. I understand that Marinette feels like she's living a lie and that she's all alone. I understand everything she's going through.

In fact, my problems with the way Marinette's struggles aren't because I think she's overplaying them or because I think they aren't valid. My gripe is that the show focuses on Marinette's struggles and Marinette's struggles alone. Like you said, at a certain point, it feels like the show is pushing the idea that Marinette is the epitome of human suffering and invented misery or something. Her struggles are valid, of course they are. But the show also doesn't seem to want to acknowledge Adrien's struggles in the same manner. And like you said, he doesn't even have a support system apart from Plagg the way Marinette does, and the narrative can't even be bothered to acknowledge that.

The show spends so much time on Marinette's struggles that it neglects to focus on Adrien's, or even other characters' in general. Adrien's struggles only matter when they relate to his relationship with Marinette or when they are beneficial to her in some way. Or else, it's just him being an inconvenience to her and he needs to stop being so sensitive and emotional, because that's not what emotional support partners are for. The show continually refuses to recognize how bad Adrien has it until it has something to do with Marinette. Adrien is being mind-controlled by his father and is living in an abusive home, and the abuse and mind-control are only treated as significant threats the moment they start threatening Adrienette.

Again, my problem with this isn't the fact that Marinette has struggles. My issue is that in order to deal with Marinette's struggles, Adrien's struggles are diminished and ignored by the narrative, and asking me to ignore that to focus solely on Marinette just ain't it for me. I wish I could feel sympathy for her, because her situation and her feelings are something I can greatly relate to. But I can't, not when the narrative is pushing her struggles forward at the expense of Adrien's. And Kwami's Choice even had Adrien be the one to bend over backwards to help and support her in ways she never does for him. All his struggles are made into the "Marinette is so sad because Gabriel is abusing her boyfriend" show, and I genuinely can't sympathize with her when this narrative is being shoved in my face.

I don't want Marinette to go "my struggles don't matter because Adrien has it worse!" I don't want the show to say Marinette's struggles are less worthy or less deserving of empathy than Adrien's. I just want Adrien to get some focus and get to deal with his problems outside of just being the perfect emotional support for her to lean on while he asks nothing of her. I want the show to stop pretending that Marinette is the end-all be-all of suffering. It really doesn't help me feel more sympathetic towards her.

Thank you for your ask!