up no more

you can call lestat MOTHER!

At this point in time, Gabriel has no idea whether or not LB and Chat have shared their identities—just as they don’t know he has revealed his to Nathalie/Mayura.

Gabriel achieved success by exploiting Adrien and Marinette’s civilian relationship. He was completely oblivious to either secret identity when he blackmailed Marinette into breaking up with his son.

“They can’t reveal their identities until Gabriel is defeated” is the wrong conclusion—a complete misconception.

PRPR with Hawkmoth still around? They can be tragically single, but hit them with an akuma and precedent says jackpot for him

i. They would threaten Gabriel’s authority/absolute control over him.

ii. Be a constant akumatization target.

(Kagami is an exception, since Gabriel has a vested business interest in the Tsurugis and she can be easily controlled through Tomoe. Though he may be desperate, messing with her would affect his financial bottom line, which rich men never like doing.)

If Marinette and Adrien were to start dating, it would unfold exactly like the “Chat Blanc” timeline. Gabriel would blackmail Marinette by holding Adrien’s freedom hostage and akumatize her. If he were to be successful, her identity would be revealed or Adrien would recklessly expose himself again.

If Ladybug were to date Adrien, Gabriel would use his son as leverage and force Marinette’s hand. We have canon evidence to support its success—she nearly revealed her identity to protect Adrien from Volpina. As such, ladrien would not work either.

As we know, Adrien can get sloppy/blinded when it comes to love. He’s impulsive and dives into situations headfirst (e.g. exposing his identity to Wishmaker to discover his childhood dream, exposing his identity to save Marinette etc.). Gabriel would more than likely discover Chat’s superhero/civilian relationship with Marinette and use the latter as leverage to expose the former’s identity (which Adrien would absolutely do to protect her). Marichat would, too, fall apart.

Dating as superheroes—again he would exploit one or the other. Ladynoir fails, just like the others.

Adrien and Marinette’s love for one another is their greatest weakness.

They absolutely can’t be together in any form—pre or post-reveal—so long as Gabriel is Hawkmoth.

Regarding identities, even though Gabriel is unaware of Rena Rouge/Rena Furtive/Alya being one in the same, he could still manipulate her into giving up Marinette’s identity—Adrien being aware of the fact poses the same level of risk.

I personally believe that an identity reveal would strengthen their partnership. Trust and communication would improve significantly between them—which would placate Adrien’s anxiety and abandonment issues. They’ve been frequent obstacles in the past—to the point where he’s nearly given up the black cat miraculous multiple times.

Although Chat has been a good partner and support system for Marinette in the past, it simply wasn’t enough with the extra burden of the guardianship. Keeping everyone out would have pulled her mental health under. She absolutely had to reveal her identity to someone.

We’ve seen how Alya’s knowledge has benefited Marinette immensely—and Adrien is just as intelligent, kind, and resourceful. He could fulfill that supporting role just as well. If they were more proactive, they could take it a step further and track Hawkmoth down together.