miss-rosewell

[miss-rosewell]

Miraculous Ladybug & China

i’ve seen so much Discourse about how miraculous interacts with the east asian aspects of its characters and worldbuilding. and most of it is negative. while i agree that there are lots of things miraculous could do much, much better in terms of its representation of east asia, the show as a whole has been so validating for me as a half-chinese person living in the West and i thought i’d make a list of reasons why.

1. It shows that you don’t have to look or act stereotypically east Asian to be considered east Asian. Marinette doesn’t look completely Chinese - in my opinion, she looks very obviously mixed. When she stands next to her parents, she looks like a very even mix of them both (if not more like Sabine). Lots of mixed Asians don’t “look” Asian. But because mixed Asians often don’t conform to a “typical” Asian look, they might find it a lot harder to be accepted into Asian communities. Personally, while I recognise that i have a lot of privilege as a half-white Asian, I also was never white-presenting enough to be treated as white by white people. But when I tried to integrate into Asian communities, I often found myself having to ‘prove’ my Asianness - e.g. by speaking fluent Chinese. Seeing parts of the fandom invalidate Marinette’s Asianness just because she doesn’t “look” Asian has been super discouraging for me. Firstly, what does it even mean to “look” Asian? We don’t all look the same!!!! Secondly, she doesn’t have to “look” Asian or speak Chinese in order to be perfectly valid as an Asian character. She has nothing to prove. 

2. Details in the show make it obvious that the creators and writers have really done their research into Marinette’s background. I grew up in Shanghai (spent 14 years there). In fact, I grew up in the part of Shanghai that was shown most often in the Shanghai special (Former French Concession/Jing’an/Bund area). And when the Shanghai special aired, the level of detail that went into the design of the city brought me to tears. The signs were written in clearly legible Mandarin, the characters (except Adrien, lol) spoke completely correct Mandarin. I could recognise streets and areas because they were drawn so accurately that I instantly knew which part of town the characters were passing through. I was also very grateful that the Shanghai special showed Shanghai as it really is - a modern, cosmopolitan metropolis that still retains lots of traditional cultural influences. Too often, Asian metropolises are stereotyped as either cyberpunk, dystopian megacities, or ultra-traditional places full of pagodas and temples. Not only was the Shanghai special immaculate, there are details in the show that prove that the writers and animators have put a lot of thought into Marinette’s Chinese background. The paintings, little bamboo plant, and rice cooker clearly shown in her home! The qipao detail on her new Lucky Charm outfit! The jade details on her Marinette Lucky Charm bracelet! The flower embroidery on her self-designed T-shirt that clearly echoes Sabine’s qipao!  So many things that you will instantly recognise if you are Chinese. 

3. Marinette’s parents’ relationship is positively depicted. As a child of a white man and Asian woman, growing up I was exposed to mostly negative stereotypes about this type of couple. (Miss Saigon comes immediately to mind). These stereotypes are too often accurate. Lots of white men DO fetishise Asian females or act superior to them, and there are lots of mixed Asian children that are a product of such relationships or, even worse, of American imperialist invasions of Asian countries. These are all very important things that need to be addressed. But Tom & Sabine’s relationship is equal, loving, and faithful - and it was the first time i saw onscreen parents and family environments that resembled my own. This made me feel ‘normal’ in a way that other media that portray White male, Asian female couples certainly don’t.  Also, Sabine is pretty much the antithesis of a tiger-mother - which is the way Asian women have been negatively stereotyped for decades. I know that Kagami’s mother unfortunately falls into this stereotype, but Sabine is a much bigger, more representative character in the show. If anything, Sabine is even more tolerant and supportive than Tom, who can be a little over-protective. 

4. The subtly subversive way in which Miraculous tries to disrupt racial stereotypes and educate children about race. For me, the episode Bakerix is most characteristic of this. Marinette’s grandfather broke with the family because he didn’t like how Marinette’s mother and father ‘mixed rice flour’ into traditional French bread. This metaphor is so obvious to me that I’m astonished it’s not more widely discussed. It’s SO CLEARLY referring to Tom marrying a Chinese woman and having a mixed-race child. In fact, they explicitly have Tom and Sabine’s wedding photo in frame multiple times during that episode. In the end, the lesson Marinette’s grandfather learns is that Marinette is not a traditional granddaughter, but she is loveable and valuable all the same.  Obviously Miraculous as a kid’s show can’t outright say, ‘mixed race marriages are valid’, but they pretty much said it in as obvious a way as they could without outright saying it.  Besides this, there are so many subtle subversive moments! I don’t want to overstep any boundaries and speak about races I don’t belong to, but another example that comes immediately to mind is Kim (the Asian) being the class ‘jock’, while Max (who’s Black) is the class ‘nerd’. And both of them being best friends instead of having a rivalry. 

5. Marinette can’t speak Chinese and finds it difficult to learn - but is actively trying. Lots of half Asians (and not just half Asians, but full Asians who grew up in the West), have the experience of not being able to speak their mother tongue, and not being able to communicate with parts of their family. This is a pretty integral part of the experience of being Asian in the West. Even as someone who is fluent in Chinese, I still find it difficult sometimes to communicate. One of my favourite scenes in Miraculous is the scene in Kung Food where Marinette tries really hard to speak to her uncle via a translator app.  The reason lots of us can’t speak our mother tongue well is because it wasn’t seen as something ‘cool’ to be able to do, growing up. For example, most Western schools don’t offer Chinese courses, even though all schools in China teach English. People get laughed at and called nicknames and racial jokes made for having a Chinese name instead of a Western one.  But in Miraculous, Marinette is really trying very hard to learn Chinese, even though growing up in France means that she hasn’t been able to access the resources she needs. Learning Chinese is framed as something ‘cool’ and ‘desirable’ - e.g. it’s a skill Gabriel wants Adrien to have.

So in summary, Miraculous Ladybug is certainly not perfect. But it depicts Chinese culture and the experience of growing up half Asian in a way that really resonated with me personally, as a half-Chinese girl growing up in the West. And I really think that the way they’ve shown this experience deserves more praise and recognition. 

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Umbrella Scene 3.0

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im sorry asuiofjklasjfkasljfaksljfas late night draws

kofi

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Gossip Girl AU but xoxo André lmao

Gossip Glacée ?

I bet this man knows everything.

#miraculous ladybug

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i am incapable of making relevant content

#congratulations i adore this

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my biggest problem with luka is that every time he plays his electric guitar, there is no amp in sight. it’s not plugged into anything and it still makes noise. 

i cannot stress enough how much electric guitars do not make an electric guitar sound when they’re not plugged in. this implies that either:

1. luka just makes guitar noises with his mouth when he strums and everyone is too polite to say anything, or

2. luka’s guitar is actually battery-powered and this whole time he’s been rocking one of these bad boys

[miss-rosewell]

Multimouse and Chat Noir enemies to lovers au but they act like Tom and Jerry and shenanigans ensue.

#i would die for this au

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Okay so I know this is meant to be senti!adrien evidence but the stuff about the ring being the thing that makes Adrien obey his father has me thinking (this is why im reblogging the original post sans extra content cus its the relevant bit to my choo choo train of thoughts)

Those images of the ring vs. Adrien have me leaning not towards sentimonster, but it being the power that the twin rings actually hold. I reckon if we really scour the series we might be able to find other examples of Gabriel's ring being foregrounded in instances where someone resigns to following his commands.

Potentially the twin rings have the power to bend people's will to your own. There's likely also to be an amplification meets balancing act, with great power comes great responsibility etc. catch to them.

As in, when used together, the rings have an indomitable power, maybe they even amplify or temper each other. So its probably ideal that they be split between two people who balance each other out - like a happily married couple - so that no one person can get overpowered in a dangerous way. This might explain part of why Amelie wanted her sister's ring back, maybe she grew up knowing the legends and cautionary tales and thought it best to split the rings until they could be worn by a balanced couple again.

I also have a private headcanon that the Graham de Vanilys are part of the English peerage (Amelie and Fèlix live in London right? though I'm not sure if that necessarily means Amelie and Emilie were English born. It is possible is all Im saying lol) and what better way of maintaining your noble inheritance than twin rings of will-bending powers that could be worn by the Lord and Lady of the manor in order to control their underlings?

Also, like someone said in the comments attached to this post, amoks generally only go into a single object, and while we have seen them multiplied like in Mega Leech it doesnt follow the same pattern. So unless the ring that has Adrien's amok in it was Emilie's in the first place, the ring theory doesn't necessarily hold up because Gabriel switches rings when Fèlix steals his.

Two Times Adrien Followed Gabriel's Commands and One Time He Didn't

In "Feast", he puts his ring hand on Adrien's shoulder and tells him stop worrying about Nathalie, and he immediately gets up and goes to his room:

In "Mega Leech", Gabriel silences Adrien with his ring hand, and sends him to his room:

In "Felix", Felix just left (with Gabriel's ring), and when Gabriel commands Adrien to come back inside, Adrien doesn't listen:

bonus - the end card for "Felix":

and the end card for "Ladybug":

#miraculous ladybug #ml theories #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #felix graham de vanily #amelie graham de vanily #emilie agreste #the graham de vanily twin rings #theory #headcanon #mlb #ml spoilers #s4 spoilers #i am here to derail this senti adrien post pls forgive me

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can't believe anybody actually likes using pinterest it's literally the most frustrating website in the world

i'm over it and i've been using it for 0.02 seconds

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Hawkmoth: There isn't anything worse than a child thinking they are not loved by their parent!

Adrien: [sneezes]

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Saw someone hypothesise that Luka will be trying to matchmake Adrinette in Wishmaker and I raise you:

This is how Lukagami becomes canon, they try to Parent Trap Adrinette into existence

#marichat #miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #ml spoilers #chat noir #miraculous #marinette dupain-cheng #adrinette #ladybug #mlb #lukagami #luka couffaine #kagami #kagami tsurugi #parent trap #imagine the shenanigans

[miss-rosewell]

Not Nino blowing bubbles like he's smoking a pipe please are you KIDDING me

he's so dramatic. and for what?

#nino lahiffe #rocketear #miraculous ladybug #s4 spoilers #mlb s4 spoilers #gif #carapace #adrien agreste #chat noir #ladybug #ladybug spoilers #spoiler #nino #adrinino #alya come get yo mans #bubbles #how does he even get that getup tho #who IS he

[miss-rosewell]

In love with the idea that Adrien has the Barney Stinson (from How I Met Your Mother) too-photogenic-for-a-bad-picture curse/blessing

Like any time someone takes a photo of him. No matter what he's doing. He somehow ends up perfectly posed in the final version.

And it frustrates the ever living daylights out of Nino in particular 😂

But on the flipside, Chat Noir has the opposite - every single photo he's in is chaotic or blurry or he's making an odd expression.

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #chat noir #miraculous #barney stinson #himym #headcanon #the curse of the photograph #miraculous au #it has potential for a crack fic or subplot ok i need more of it

[miss-rosewell]

Twitter @Ann_e7s @ann_e_adri

Instagram @Ann_e7s

[miss-rosewell]

powerful gf proud bf

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the “person A’s hair gets loose during battle and person B is like oh shit” trope with ladynoir except switched 

#long hair adrien/chat noir is top notch #ml fanart #ladynoir

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Does anybody else remember Astruc saying someone unexpected would turn out to be 'evil' in season 4

Cause I'm starting to think he meant Chat Noir

#miraculous ladybug #adrien agreste #ml spoilers #chat noir #miraculous #ladybug #mlb #s4 prediction #chat blanc