if i rebooted miraculous ladybug: a thread —

i want to say that this is only my own ideas or what i would do if i rebooted it. this is all my own opinions, and you're not entitled to agree with me. this is just how i would make the show better.

1. the show takes place in college/university.

i want the characters to be in college/university for multiple reasons. firstly, i think it would benefit the plot. adrien being in college allows for his modeling schedule to work around his classes, instead of him skipping class.

it also makes it easier for marinette and adrien to slip out of class to fight akumas as ladybug and chat noir, as no one is really going to care if they walk out. plus, it allows the characters to take classes that are more tailored to their interests.

another reason i want it to take place in college/university is that the characters would be more mature. in the original, marinette and adrien are around 14–15 years old. the weight of saving an entire city is way too much to put in the hands of kids, and the emotional toll...

having the characters be in college/university would allow them to have more experience, but still be a little naïve and still make dumb decisions. it also allows them to be more emotionally mature, so marinette wouldn't have a creepy crush and she would be more aware.

they would also have more critical thinking skills and would make better and decisions in battle, and they'll have more solutions than before.
also, i just feel like there aren't enough hero shows with main characters in college/university.

2. marinette would have a bigger focus on her fashion designing.

in the original show, marinette only does fashion designing once or twice, and it only pops up when it involves adrien in some way. in the reboot, marinette would be majoring in fashion design.

this would actually set up as "crush" on adrien as well. in my reboot, marinette wins a design contest for gabriel agreste and begins to work as an intern for the company. she's admired adrien for his modeling and for his father, and starts seeing him while at work.

i also think her focus on fashion design would even give her a better costume design as ladybug, considering tikki would take her fashion choices into consideration. maybe not on the first transformation, but marinette would design her own costume after for tikki to replicate.

plus, she could use her skills uniquely in battle. say the person's akumatized object is within a sewn pocket. she gets a seam ripper and has to get close to rip open the pocket. or her knowledge of different fabrics allows her to use them against the akumatized person.

3. everyone has better character design.

listen, i think we all know the character design in the original sucks. firstly, marinette will have black hair and brown eyes. there's no genetic way she could've had blue eyes in the original, and so she's going to have brown eyes.

i also want marinette to have different outfits she cycles through. it might be too hard for different outfits every episode, so cycling through different outfits might be nice. i also think she would really express herself through her fashion and wear a lot of different things.

adrien and gabriel would also dress a lot better, considering they're from a fashion luxury company. chloe would also dress better, probably with her hair down and in a dress.
i also think the overall transformation designs should be better.

marinette would have her hair in a bun as ladybug, to keep her hair out of her face. her outfit would still be easy to move in, but not a skintight suit. a lot of the fashion choices would also be more out there, since they have more freedom in college/university.

4. marinette realizes that she's been idolizing adrien, and adrien realizes he's been putting ladybug on a pedestal

marinette thinks she has a crush on adrien, that she loves him, but she can't, because the version of him she sees isn't the full version of adrien.

i want marinette to realize that adrien is not just gabriel agreste's son, that he's not happy like he is in the modeling photos. i want her to realize that he's flawed, especially after they become friends, because he is. adrien has had so much of his life taken away from him.

and because of that, he protects himself. he refuses to use his own power for good sometimes. when someone was slandering marinette and he knew, he didn't say anything to everyone else, he didn't stand up for her. he only told her that he believed her.

instead of defending marinette or using his power and status to bring people together, he stayed quiet. adrien might want to call himself a hero, but he's hardly a hero as adrien.
and marinette realizes that, realizes she's been making this man seem perfect and something he isn't

and, just like marinette, adrien realizes that he's been putting ladybug on a pedestal. he only sees her for battles, he's never fully seen every side of her. he saw her being clumsy on their first day, but he doesn't know what she's like outside of the suit.

he realizes that he knows ladybug, but not whoever ladybug is a part of. and she's not perfect like he thinks she is. she's stubborn and a little jealous, and sometimes dives into things headfirst. she's got her own flaws too.

5. they fall in love for each other's more true selves

ladybug is a part of marinette, just like adrien is a part of chat noir. they are separate, but they both are a part of each other. and so, of course it's easy for them to fall for the other.

eventually, marinette calls adrien out on his inability to stand up for others. and when she does, she finds chat noir out at night, seeming sad, and they just talk. and talk. and marinette finds herself being more aware of chat noir, as marinette and as ladybug.

he reminds her of adrien, kind and sweet. he's goofy and a little cocky, and he knows his own power and strength. but unlike adrien, he uses it. he has the confidence to stand up to people. but, it's also something different about him. he's never this vulnerable around ladybug.

but he's vulnerable around marinette. he comes to her when he's down, he talks to her about doubting himself as ladybug's partner, about how the new recruits are strong and he feels like backup, how he's not sure if he's doing anything right, and marinette just starts to fall.

and adrien, after realizing that ladybug isn't perfect, starts to see marinette more. marinette reminds him of ladybug, she's smart and quick to come up with plans. she's got knowledge about sewing and fashion.

but unlike ladybug, she's vulnerable. she laughs and jokes and smiles and hums a song. ladybug was worried about revealing herself, and marinette is always revealing something new about herself. like the fact that she's a leader.

if there's a crisis, she tries her best to lead the way and help people, to organize and rally the masses. she'll call out people on why they mess up, and won't back down from what she thinks is right. she makes mistakes, just like everyone else does. and adrien falls.

6. there's less miraculous users overall

even if there are a lot of miraculous, an abundance of them is suspicious. marinette wouldn't allow that to happen, and wouldn't want hawkmoth to know. she keeps the amount of miraculous users small.

the only people who have a miraculous are her, chat noir, alix, kagami, and luka. alix is being trained since their power is used mostly for emergencies, since they haven't developed the strength to use it frequently like future alix had.

plus, marinette only knows so many people, and that's the amount of people in her friend group. if one person was revealed, hawkmoth might suspect that ladybug or chat noir was among the people the user knew, and that would be dangerous. she couldn't risk it.

by keeping the amount of people involved small, she minimizes the risk of one getting caught, and one being able to be used to identify her. for more information about kagami, luka, alix, and the overall friend group and plot, read this thread! https://twitter.com/_keithtrash_/status/1283343675276144640?s=20

also, by minimizing the amount of miraculous users, it gives them more time to hone their skills and unlock new parts of their powers, or rather, use their powers in more inventive ways in order to create new things. each member gets more powerful this way.

7. not every episode has an akumatized person

yes, i know, the point of the show is for ladybug and chat noir to defeat them and get closer to hawkmoth. but, i think hawkmoth should be more careful, only akumatizing people with real potential.

having episodes without hawkmoth doesn't mean there isn't growth or tension, but there are just things that need to get done, and the over-arching need to find out who hawkmoth is would make for interesting episodes. i also think just learning about the characters is good.

they're constantly on their way to becoming better and achieving more and growing, and while hawkmoth is the main villain, everyone also has their own problems to deal with. they're in college after all, they have school and other problems. strengthening their bond helps the team