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familyagrestefanblog · 5 months

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Clarification I definitely should have done ever since season 4 and the Ladynoir conflict started escalating, but hey, let's just get it out:

There are reasons why I'm harping down so badly on Miraculous' Girlboss feminism and defend Adrien as much as I do.

To get the feminist (in-universe) explaination out of the way first:

I would be lying if I said that I like the direction the show has taken Marinette's character and the story in general. But regarding her specifically I simply have to say that most of my problems with her are how she is written as Ladybug, Guardian, and especially leader & partner. Not in her civilian self. Hence why you won't find that alot on my blog, only when it contributes to the overarching double standards problem from s4 I take issue with.

I simply cant deny it, Ladybug is a kind of leader I just came to not be able to respect alot anymore in how she operates most things bc she doesn't really ever look passed how things look & stand for herself, and what SHE needs & wants. Marinette is a very low empathy person in the sense that she struggles putting herself in other people's positions, or remembers considering that at all.

But that's not the reason why I can't respect her as leader. I have ADD, that would be really hypocritical of me.

What leaves me unable to respect her as leader though (& honestly kinda even wanting Alya to take her position) is the fact that the show doesn't see much wrong with Maribug doing that.

They don't properly depict this as flawed leadership she actually NEEDS to grow out of by making up for her shortcomings by, for example, making other people her official co-leaders. Instead the show since s4 (& kinda s3) will proceed to put it's feminist foot down if Maribug isn't actually in the end 100% correct and "totally girlboss justified" in any given case - with CN & authorities specifically - no matter the context. Ergo she's barely ever truly improving her weakpoints in partnership skills for example & continues doing the same mistakes over n over.

like she genuinely would benefit from having Chat Noir as her co-leader too, not just Rena Rouge. But no. The neurodivergend low-empathy girl can't have a high-empathy boy co-leader bc apparently thats misogynistic now, huh ?

Again, I have ADD and I'm also a woman. In fact, I actually have alot in common with Maribug (hence why it hurt so much once s4 took her away from me), so forgive me when I still say: I am NOT going to lower my standards of my believe that neither of those aspects get to be an excuse on everyone else's expense regarding LEADERSHIP (which I do also am in the position of in my life).

And I repeat: LEADERSHIP. Not Marinette herself as a person necessarily & esp not her civilian life.

People always say that her critics wouldn't be so hard on her if she were a man, but I strongly disagree. In my experience, if Marinette were a boy people would actually draw a line nowadays and call out that Mariano is too stuck in his own head to be a good leader (& partner). And maybe even demand that he shouldn't be in that position anymore either at all or until he's in a better head space.

Bc with male characters people are actually drawing lines now in important factors when it comes to power & the accountability coming with it, bc in the end being in change means it ain't about you

Hence why e. g. Steve Rogers (Captain America) was then a fucking fugitive from the law when shit got real in the MCU. They had to do that bc of his leadership morality not being able to exist well within a corrupted & complex law system under fire and attack. My man's an amazing battle leader, but the MCU did VERY well leaving taking care of all kinds of social & political matters to Tony Stark. This kind of nuance ain't Steve's strength. Marinette & Steve are actually a EXTREMELY similar type of leader and it's interesting that I don't exactly vibe with him too much either in that regard, but like him as person the way I did Marinette. So for me it's definitely an issue with their type of leadership.

But the mainstream female leader characters are often still "too female" to get held to the same regular standards bc telling a female leader character in a complicated and not entirely beneficial situation & position 'yeah, it's sucks but you're not the center of the universe'' is now more often than not still "too mean/ sexist"

again, Steve was made an outlaw for a reason and you can bet if he had been a Stephanie people would have made all her struggles about sexism & called the 'outlaw leader' route after Civil War misogyny, merely bc "society doesnt respect women". This is whats happening with Maribug & it clashes with her leadership style.

Hence why there AREN'T ALOT of mainstream female leader characters. And if we get some, most of them are narratively defined by how powerful & in control they are for THEIR OWN BENEFIT and it being depicted as 100% right & just in general (like with Marinette) which goes against what a normal leader should be, so alot of people don't like them (ignoring the actual sexist people for a sec)

The first Wonder Woman movie for example was so well-received for a reason. They did it RIGHT (& may I please also recommend Wakanda Forever? Fuck, that movie was GOOD)

But yes, it's notably how Maribug treats Chat, who is supposed to be her partner and friend, that I take alot of issues with.

And yes, I would say the same if LB were male and CN female. Ladynoir is so rooted in toxic femininity that this "partnership" (or just the entire LS) the way it is could NOT exist today in gender bend. S4 and the s5 finale in particular are unthinkable in gender bend and they sold it as "justified female empowerment" & "unparalleled loving treatment" from Ladybug's side Chat Noir needed to learn to be GRATEFUL for.

All while, and I will never stop stressing this: the show has never stopped writing Marinette to treat Chat Noir as if he basically just spawns into existence once he puts on the mask. He's HALF a human being. Even once she falls in love with him in s5.

This is the fundamental and deep seeded problem of where my issues come from here. It never stands in question if Adrien views Marinette and Ladybug as full human beings, but the other way around that very much is the case. In whatever way it's depicted. Yes this is a line I draw, especially because of the whole Sentihuman thing.

I personally am alot more like Adrien regarding Friendship and partnership (or what his character initially started out). They are heavy & meaningful topics for me. So seeing Marinette being utilized to girlboss all that into the ground with Chat Noir, esp in s4, while she apparently barely ever even noticed anything wrong with how she treats him in the first place as she literally replaced him with Alya/ Rena in everything but name

cause buring him under a wall of secrets & lies meant she can still 100% benefit from his eternal devotion by letting him believe she's too alone to be a partner anymore AT ALL. (Kuro Neko onwards and then NEVER stopped letting him think she's just as alone as he is. NEVER. She's still doing it in s5 while leaving him 100% isolated which was then his demise in the s5 finale.)

and gives Alya the deluxe partnership entirely on his expense, while barely ever sparing him even the most basic thought in anything; & by "Risk" then literally having them switch status. Rena is her actual partner she fully treats that way and he's merely her favorite temp hero with no rights, which Rena was previously.

And the only reason why Chat was treated with something resembling to fairness or dignity again in season 5 (& finally wasn't a rag doll for her every little mood anymore...) was because Maribug plainly had no other choice and had her team & position of power taken away by force while Alya renounced for her own safety. And yet she's still treating him as half a human being even by the end of S5. AFTER her character development. He's Chat Noir and that's where his existence ends in her leadership & friendship. CN and Alya in s5 are literally 2 halves of ONE PARTNER.

All that was painful to watch to say the least. Bc it's imo honestly a disgrace to friendship and partnership. I can't put into words how ashamed I would be of myself if I treated someone the way Marinette treats Chat Noir (again, HALF A HUMAN BEING).

Much less a friend I claim to love dearly and don't want to loose (another thing the MCU did better regarding Steve's fall-out with Tony over Bucky... I should really make that comparison post why Steve works for me & Marinette doesnt)

Just the mere fact that Marinette in "Elation" even told Chat "It doesn't matter who's underneath your mask" is honestly outrageous.

Because thats simply what it is for me. If s4 & 5 Marinette were portrayed from a similar morality angle to Emonette in the Paris special I would have much less issues with her. Cause thats ironically an angle female characters barely get & is mostly used to redeem the broken bad boys with a hidden heart of gold™.

Double irony: s1-s3 actually DID put civilian Marinette often into that angle, hence why I really liked her, but then s4 suddenly said "well, her methods & actions really dont matter. She's wrong, but actually not really; ergo she should get rewarded in the end. Always. But with a few exceptions. Here n there she loses to claim otherwise. But actually the world just needs to learn how right & amazing she is."

She makes countless mistakes but often either doesn't really learn from them anymore or they just don't "count" bc that's 'what makes her quirky & loveable', so having any issues with her now means you hate women. And she's a very flawed leader but actually never did anything wrong. Ever. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

I will be VERY blunt now: The moment you put a female character into the leader role the FEMALE aspect is supposed to be of secondary importance. And a leader, by the nature of the position, ALWAYS has to be questioned morally wise in my opinion bc of the fatal blindspots that will automatically occur in every leadership.

And it happened here too: Chat Noir's treatment. But they demanded that her being the (female) leader means she's OWED to treat him badly & gets to keep him as blindspot on HIS expense bc she doesn't like thinking about him existing as civilian person.

A leader is ALWAYS somebody who is NOT going to sit well with everybody regarding their approach. That's a normal instinct, and in fact it would be highly dangerous if that wouldnt happen at all. So if I, or other people, don't respect her as one that simply means she has an opposition the way every leader has & is being held to normal standards a leader should be held to, regardless of gender.

Sorry if you think thats sexist, but in my opinion that's a YOU problem. I personally respect female leaders too much to not acknowledge them as anything else but the potential threats they are. The same way I do with male leaders.

You're leader first, woman second. If you can't handle that get out of the leadership position (yes, oc that also applies the other way around). Feminism was about making sure that women cant be excluded from e. g. position of power just bc we're female. The goal wasn't to have yet another group of people stomp their foots, now claiming that they are OWED power once they wanna have it to feel powerful. But that's what Marinette was used to teach an entire generation of children, especially girls.

The last thing you will EVER get me to do is accept that I should be holding women - specifically for equality, female empowerment and leadership - to LOWER (moral) standards as I would the men in her position.

Buddy, I am NOT gonna fucking do that. Just the thought is pissing me tf off, and has ever since s4, cause it directly plays into the misogynistic thinking of:

"Women can't be given power, status or even too much focus as human beings because they're too irrational and immature to be able to then lay proper priorities & take rightful accountability for their shit like a man in power could; and not just scream and cry while playing the oppressed victim card the moment things don't work out & they aren't being given the special female treatment to let them mostly off the hook consequences wise.

Leading to everyone around them, especially the MEN, having to step up, do the work & basically babysit the women like children - while still having to give her the credit as person in charge - turning the women more or less into toddlers wearing a queen's crown"

Which, by all means, Adrichat in every dynamic of the love square by season 5, Gabriel at the end of "Recreation" and even Luka & Félix (& "thankfully" Alya too since s4) had to do for Maribug in alot of ways.

Pick up all of her slack in several major areas & catering to her while simultaneously having to still give most of the credit to HER or else they would be "mean to the female lead" (it's also telling that Alya is treated the best here, & goodness dont get me started on Su-Han...).

And with that out of the way, a few more meta reasons:

1) I'm NOT watching a damn documentary. Marinette is NOT a 14 year old, she doesnt exist & isnt based on a real person or story. She's a fictional main character and narrative tool, so forgive me for approaching this differently than a real life case.

and 2) in everything I watch I automatically look out for the narrative's blind spots and victims of the writings' favorites. I take it this seriously because this is career related for me.

Hence why I have barely ever liked a main character and ironically Marinette/ Ladybug was once one of the few exceptions (alongside Korra from Legend of Korra and Blitz from Helluva Boss)

Look, when I for example watch Helluva Boss or a Yugioh show I will automatically pay extra attention to how the female characters are being treated bc they are obviously treated worse by the writing and much more neglected and scapegoated than the male characters.

Meanwhile when I watch Miraculous and She-Ra, I do the opposite and pay attention to how the male characters are treated bc now they have the gender-biase against them.

And when I for example watch Avatar the last Airbender or Legend of Korra [and She-Ra, that show is great], then I actually get to be mostly fucking happy for once in my life jfc

I'm not going to elaborate too much more on this because I already named by my main point in the beginning: Chat Noir's - not even Adrien's, I mean CHAT NOIR - sometimes honestly awful treatment being the biggest moral and narrative blind spot of the entire show, and honestly where most of Maribug's problems then are also rooted in. Hence why I started focusing so much on Chat Noir since season 4. I look at the overall narrative and circumstances and look for the blind spots that needs to be solved to get to the core of the problem of this whole mess, to get effective results.

And that was and even by the end remained the fact that Adrichat is treated so badly, scapegoated in every possible way in the name of "feminism" and kicked out of the story where HE is at the core of most everything going on, just so the show can force Maribug into everything, make things about her that have no business being about her

Just so she can then be made to constandly turn around and scream, cry and stress about problems - and go about them in the least effective way - that wouldnt be there in the first place if she wasnt the main character of a story that isnt hers.

Mate, I dont know what to tell you here, but the fact that we are following Marinette Dupain-Cheng ,who has nothing to do with anything besides being the cool action girl, is and will always remain of the of core problems of this show. I WISHED that wasnt the case. But for the love of everything, Kagami would have made so much more sense as the female lead, but no.

Anyway, I will leave it at that now cause I already elaborate much further than I initially wanted to, I just wanted to finally have all this stated.

This Blog is not a full representation of how I lay priorities in (feminist) media in general, my view adjusts to the piece of media I'm watching.

And unfortunately, ever since season 4 Miraculous turned into a full blown extreme case and has only gotten better somewhat recently. So I will continue doing what I always do: focus on the fucking VICTIM whose bad treatment pulls down the whole show's quality, and here that's plain obviously Adrien Agreste/ Chat Noir.

And with all due respect: Die mad about it.

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theerurishipper · 9 months

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Ladynoir and (In)Equality

For me personally, the most important thing in any relationship is that both partners are equals in that dynamic. I think that's a reasonable expectation to have. And Ladynoir did fulfill that requirement for me in the first 3 seasons. Even though Ladybug did most of the leadership stuff by making the plans and directing Chat Noir on what to do, it was understood that this was a mutual agreement. They both understood what they were good at, and their dynamic evolved accordingly. Chat Noir was content to follow her lead and Ladybug was content to make the plans and direct Chat Noir.

Season 2 saw the introduction of the inequality that shattered this balanced dynamic between the two, and quite frankly the later seasons only made it worse. It started in Syren, as we all know, where Chat Noir first expressed his displeasure at being left out of the loop when Ladybug was privy to important information that was being kept from him. Of course, Master Fu arrived to barely smooth things over before the issue was dropped for the season and never brought up again. Their dynamic remained as it was, but the cracks began to form here.

The introduction of Ladybug being the Guardian in Season 4 changed this established dynamic, obviously, and Ladybug began to give the Miraculous out to other holders. Keeping Chat Noir out of the loop began to become her MO, and she effectively replaced him with Rena Furtive in all but name. The central conflict of the season was the cracks forming in their relationship because of her new responsibilities and her secret keeping. And the resolution to this, as stated in Kuro Neko and Risk, is that even if he's no longer her partner, she still likes him best.

Now, the previous Ladynoir dynamic was one of equality, where they knew their roles and acted upon them. They were equals, and Ladybug's leadership in their pair was an informal one, one that was mutually agreed upon by them. The introduction of the Guardian role for Ladybug changes this from a mutually agreed upon dynamic to one where Ladybug is, for all intents and purposes, his boss. She is officially his leader, in the sense that if she so wished, he would be obliged to hand his Miraculous over to her. In the sense that she would be well within her rights to replace him if she so desired (which she does do). She is his superior, and he is no more important than the other temporary holders, with the sole exception that he holds his Miraculous permanently (which has now been exacerbated by the fact that all of them are permanent holders now).

Chat Noir received a demotion for no fault of his own, which he did not want, and someone else was promoted to replace him in the position he once occupied. Rena Furtive is Ladybug's special partner. Chat Noir is not Rena Furtive's equal, and he is definitely not Ladybug's equal.

This is not about a woman making more money than a man. She isn't just more successful than him, and this isn't about him being insecure about her being better than him. The problem is that Ladybug is Chat Noir's direct superior, and she has power over him. She has the power to call him when she needs him, and if not him, she'll get someone else. She has the resources to figure out his identity without him being none the wiser. She has the power to replace him if she wishes. Far be it from him to allow her to lead of his own accord, now he is obliged to follow her orders. She has the power to control what he knows and how he acts, and she has the power to keep vital information from him.

None of this is inherently "bad." But when you look at it from the context of them being on a path to a romantic relationship with each other, that's where the problems begin. Two people in a relationship should not have a dynamic where one has so much power over the other. Ladybug has so much power that she is able to slide a third teammate into their partnership and slowly push him away from his role at her side. She, quite unfortunately, can and has abused his trust because she had the resources to do so. The only opportunity he had in Season 4 to make his own choices that were not dictated by Ladybug's rules was when he quit. The final takeaway from this Ladynoir conflict is that Chat Noir is her favorite subordinate now (because Rena Furtive has replaced him), and just because they aren't equals anymore doesn't mean she doesn't want him around.

And, no, this was not corrected in Season 5. Season 5 was a return to their original dynamic, not because Ladybug and Chat Noir worked around this new shift in their relationship to find a way to overcome this new power imbalance. It's because Ladybug's power was forcibly taken away from her by a third party, and the only reason Chat Noir is her special partner again is because there is no one else left. But the end of Season 5 sees everyone come back, as permanent holders no less, and Chat Noir is once again demoted to his role as "just another holder like any other."

With the establishment of the Ladybug and the Black Cat Miraculous as two halves of a duo, equals in power, you'd expect them to be, well, equals. Me being upset about the inequality of these characters isn't with regards to screentime, or my wish for Adrien to be the main character or anything. My wish is for Adrien to be a character of his own. My wish is for the show to stop promoting such unhealthy dynamics as cute and fine. If they had simply made Adrien's role out to be the love interest, if they had just literally made him Ken who is content with just being Barbie's trophy boyfriend from the very beginning, if that was all his role has ever been and was meant to be from the start, I wouldn't be complaining so much. But the one they reduced into the role of Marinette's prize, the one over whom she has so much power, is the abuse victim whose arc is about self-actualization. And it paints a very disturbing picture. That far be it from Chat Noir to expect any kind of equal treatment from Ladybug, he's going to have put aside any discomforts or issues he has with their relationship to settle for being her favorite by virtue of nostalgia.

And it's just... bad, on a narrative level. Despite its ambitious introduction of so many plot points, the focus of this show has always been its romance. The main narrative goal of the series is for Ladybug and Chat Noir to get together. So, when your narrative hinges on these two characters getting together, and you decide to introduce such a power dynamic into the mix, saying "I still like you," isn't the fix that it's cracked up to be. If they are supposed to be the relationship around which the show is built, Chat Noir should be Ladybug's special partner, he should be her equal and not just another holder whom she likes better than everyone else. Ladynoir's relationship is directly tied to their partnership, and their dynamic as partners is the basis for any future romantic relationship between them. Introducing such an inequality between them in their partnership does affect their ability to be able to get together, and not in a good way.

This isn't a bad plot point. I like Ladybug being the Guardian, I like that they didn't just brush off the fact that there would be some changes in their dynamic. What I dislike is the way it was resolved, with Ladybug essentially saying that they would never be equals but she still likes him. A power imbalance does not a healthy relationship make. Ladynoir do not have a relationship where they are both completely aware of everything they should know. Chat Noir really cannot do anything in their dynamic, because Ladybug has all the control over everything. It's Ladybug controlling this information and Chat Noir accepting that he'll never be treated the way he wants to be treated, because he's been conditioned to believe his feelings don't matter. And she never did end up correcting this, and the conflict as it is ended with him forgiving her for everything even though she never apologized, and accepting that this is how it's going to be.

And it's not good. This isn't the Ladynoir I signed up for, honestly. I signed up for the Ladybug who accepted Chat Noir unconditionally and the Chat Noir who supported Ladybug through everything. I did not sign up for Ladybug trying to pull a Gabe and Chat Noir only being her emotional support who suppresses his own needs for her. The Ladynoir conflict and its less than satisfying resolution caused irreparable damage to the Ladynoir dynamic (it's irreparable because the writers don't see a problem with it and so they'll never fix it), and this has only continued into Season 5, which said "why fix it when I can make it worse."

#MLB #Marinette Salt #ML Salt #Meta #My meta #I know it's too late to be ranting about Season 4 when the Season 5 finale exists #But I needed to say it #Ladynoir conflict

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yueasuka · 3 months

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Marinette is a bad leader

There I say it...

As a leader, Marinette sure has... some trait that make her not fitted for a leader position. Namely :

Avoidant Low empathy Control freak

I don't care whatever character in universe preach about her being a great leader, the show show otherwise to me. Here some opinion :

Being a leader means she MUST communicate about pretty much anything necessary for the battle, her intend and strategy and also make sure her teamate have high morale. There's no "Follow me and guess what my plan is" and there's no planning behind someone's back, especially if that someone is an active participant in the battle. Being a leader also means she MUST keep your teamate in check, means asked about their well being, listened to their problem and being attentive to their need. She can't just "If you have a problem then good luck with it because I too have a problem" which is an occuring behaviour from her (NY Special, Destruction). As a leader she must put her teamate need first and foremost before her own because THEY'RE HER RESPONSIBILITY. Her avoidant trait make her literally avoiding all of it because she doesn't like "emotional talk". She's the type who's like "let's sleep and hope for all the problem just magically disappear tomorrow". She do this with Queen Bee problem, her delaying telling Chloe that she couldn't have miraculous anymore make Chloe thinking that she's still Queen Bee (her entitlement doesn't help). She do this again in s4 to Chat Noir and continue to do so in s5. Avoidant is basically the worst trait she has as a leader.

Having low empathy is probably not a big problem for a leader except, it is for Marinette. Her having low empathy caused her to make a plan without discussing it beforehand to her teamate, consent and boundaries tend to be forgotten and it is a problem as it make her forget that her teamate isn't just a pion in a chess game, they're human who have feelings and emotions. Her having low empathy make her freely do anything without discussing it before hand or, thinking about people around her. The recent case is her make a rain of rubble to fell down to Emilie's coffin, other cases is her bringing down Eifell tower (the Mime), make akuma destroy Arc de Triomphe (Anansi), and basically any plan that require her to throw Chat Noir to the akuma (Stone Heart, Backwarder, etc).

Her being control freak doesn't really help her to manage her team, which is also part of her role as a leader. Her "Follow me and just play along" is her being bad at delegating the role and communicating her intend, but that also her controlling her teamate so they're forced to focus on her and have no time to improvise beyond what she need them to. Control freak leader doesn't trust their teamate, they seek to control instead of guiding and this is what demoralise her teamate as seen in s4. Marinette control freak nature not only demoralising Chat Noir but also stunted his growth and performance in battle which resulting in LadyNoir conflict, she doesn't listen but people must listen to her, Her being control freak also what lead her to her decision in Ephemeral and s5 final, it has little to nothing to do with her being thoughtful of Chat Noir/Adrien, it's her with her way of thinking that her way is the only one right without thinking about Adrien's feeling. To put it simply, it's her way to control the information. Upset teamate is uncontrollable teamate after all.

That being said, I'm not saying she won't be able to be a great leader. She could, but only if she grow out those trait I mentioned. Try to communicate better, delegating role instead of controlling everything and mosre importantly, remember that her teamate is a human (or person) instead of just a pion. But as for now, I'd say she's the worst leader in the Mahou Shojo genre I've ever watch.

And also... someone can care and love someone else while also hurt them simultaneously, it's not separated thing. Just because she doesn't do it maliciously doesn't mean her action doesn't hurt the other people involved.

#I'm also blame the writers to refuse to give her a character growth #Instead it's the people around her who need to adjust themselves to her need #That's not empowering at all that's disappointing #I hate nerfing the other character is their way to make her shine #That make her being great leader status questionable #If the only way to make her shine is to nerf other that means it's a bad writing #Like what the heck writers 😂#Ml salt #I mean... I don't mean is as salt but just to be safe #Marinette salt

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abyssal-ali · 1 year

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The Terrifying Trio (T3)

Alright y'all this is my DP x DC x MLB crossover!

Masterlist here

A/N: Rereading this it's more of an outline than a story, oops. I do like this idea and have vague plans to flesh it out & turn it into an actual story, but that will likely be wayyy in the future, so feel free to be inspired by this or flesh it out for me😜 (just please tag me!)

Rating: G (? Mentions of death and experimentation but nothing graphic. Let me know if I should change/add warnings!)

Everyone knew about the T3, as they called themselves. No one imagined they were real until they met them, and then they wished they hadn't; the trio were far more terrifying than their tales.

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The T3 began with three completely normal teenagers forced to meet by their friends and family. Their origin was simply to make those who set up this meeting regret it and serve as a warning not to mess with scarily-well-trained teenagers. It worked better than they hoped and grew into a branch of the vigilante groups.

The group, as civilians, looked similar, with black hair and blue or green eyes, and appeared to be a normal teenage friend group.

Wrong.

Nothing about them was normal.

The oldest of the three, Damian Wayne, was the youngest son of multi-billionaire socialite Bruce Wayne, who happened to be a founding member of the Justice League and the original vigilante of Gotham, Batman. His mother was an assassin and the daughter of the League of Assassins' leader. Damian was the fifth user of the Robin mantle and now went by the moniker Phoenix.

Daniel Fenton was the second halfa and King of the Infinite Realms but preferred to be referred to by his hero persona, Phantom. He was Marinette's twin but had been separated at birth.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the Grand Guardian of the Miraculous and the true holder of both the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculi, going by Blackjack as a hero. She was treated as a queen by the other members of the trio, as Danny was her brother and Damian her boyfriend.

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Danny Fenton was 14 when he entered his parents' portal to the Ghost Zone and became half-human/half-ghost in a tragic accident. A couple years later he, as his hero alias Phantom, became the new Ghost King by defeating the old tyrant. He was discovered by Superman, who was flying home from Smallville one day and found a ghost boy fighting more ghosts. He became Danny's mentor and introduced him to the Justice League.

Damian was Robin when he was kidnapped by his mother to be part of an experiment, as Heir to the Demon. It didn't work immediately, and he was thrown into a Lazarus Pit to heal and revive him. The Pit bonded with the experimental serum and Damian awoke as a meta with regeneration/reanimation/healing powers similar to Deathstroke's. Damian also began learning basic magic from his brother Jason's girlfriend, Raven.

Marinette knew she was a true Ladybug, but once she took back the ring from her ex-partner she discovered that she was also a true black cat. Her arch-nemesis Hawkmoth and his allies were swiftly defeated with her combined abilities and the support of her team. A previous Ladybug's daughter, who was a museum curator in Paris, recognized her energy and offered to become her mentor, introducing Ladynoir to the Justice League.

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Today was the day for the Leaguers to bring their mentees to the Watchtower to meet the other mentees/partners. Batman arrived first as always, accompanied by Robin. Superman arrived soon after with Superboy and Phantom, then Wonder Woman and Ladynoir.

Nightwing pushed Robin towards Phantom and Ladynoir, who were gazing out at the galaxy in awe.

“Go make some friends, Baby Bat!”

“Tt.” Robin stalked over to the other two, who barely acknowledged him. “If you do not want my company, do not hesitate to say so.” Please.

Ladynoir turned and scanned him critically. “Hm...were you forced to come and 'socialize' and 'make contacts, if not friends', too?”

“Unfortunately. I am perfectly happy with the small circle of friends I already have.”

Phantom turned from the stars to the conversation. “My sister keeps telling me I need more socializing for my mental health or whatever, but I'm perfectly fine with my girlfriend and guy in the chair.”

“Exactly!” exclaimed Ladynoir. “I have my team, why do I need civilians or more hero friends?”

“Why don't we show our mentors why they shouldn't encourage us to make friends, then,” suggested Robin.

Cheshire grins spread over the others' faces.

Across the room, deep in their own conversation, their mentors shivered.

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After that, the trio really did become friends. One day, during a visit to the Batcave to see Robin, an incident happened that forced Robin to find out that Phantom and Ladynoir's DNA showed their genetic similarity; both siblings had been adopted and hadn't known it. That was an awkward conversation. Ladynoir was glad she had a crush on Robin, not Phantom, which would have made it even worse.

Ladynoir was introduced to her brother's clone, Dani (her sister? Cousin?) The trio told each other their civilian identities several months into their friendship collaboration and started their own hero group, Styx.

(Dani and Jason were honourary members.)

Damian shed Robin and became Phoenix instead, and Ladynoir became Blackjack, but Danny decided to keep Phantom as his alias.

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Damian asked Marinette out while they were on a stakeout. When she happily responded, “It's a date!” he got a little flustered. Danny looked at him and grinned at his friend's awkwardness.

Having had years of practice as their alter egos, all three members of Styx were excellent fighters, but even as civilians, they were trained in martial arts, with their mothers being formidable women. Maddie Fenton was an eighth-degree black belt, Talia al Ghul was a leader of assassins, and Sabine Cheng was a former assassin/mercenary.

Damian discovered Sabine's old career on the stakeout and was struck by how similar he and Marinette were. Of course, Mari was usually a lot nicer (maybe softer was a better word?) than him, even after she toughened up, but they were similar in many other ways.

After the intel they needed was gathered they realized how close they were when they glanced up from reviewing the information. Damian froze and Marinette leaned in a tiny bit. “Is this an actual date?” she whispered.

He swallowed. “I hope so.”

Mari smiled softly. “Me too.”

He closed the distance tentatively and she inched closer.

Danny flew up just after his sister's and friend's lips met. “I called it! Jason owes me $20!”

They jerked apart, glaring daggers at him. “Danny!”

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T3, the civilian Styx, finally agreed to let their friends/teams meet each other. Phantom and Blackjack had interacted with the Bats and Titans on missions and JL gatherings before, but the Miraculous Court and Team Phantom hadn't met yet.

Yet again, a glowing portal opened in Amity Park, but his time it was connected to Paris. Danny's support trio (not to be confused with his abetting trio) stepped into the Miraculous Corut's HQ. Luka and Juleka Couffaine-Stone, Kagami Tsurugi, Chloe Bourgeois, Max Kante, and Alix Kubdel met Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, and Jazz Fenton. Max and Tucker became instant frenemies, battling over tech, while Sam and Juleka bonded surprisingly quickly over all things goth.

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The T3 waited in the shadows of the warehouse to apprehend the cultists intent on summoning a long-dead magician. When it was go time they transformed (Blackjack had figured out how to do it without a flash of light), becoming the cultists' nightmares, Styx.

Danny had glowing green eyes, weightless white hair, fangs, and Phantom's general ghostly presence for beginning intimidation.

Blackjack appeared as a white-haired, glowing green cat-eyed, fanged, clawed, and winged being: in short, terrifying.

Phoenix had glowing green eyes, white hair, sharper-than-should-be-normal teeth, a katana on his back and fireballs in his hand. (The Pit had whitened his hair completely, but he had a glamour spell on his civilian form to appear as before with black hair. The pyrokinesis was one of his favourite spells and one of the first Raven taught him, upon plenty of begging bribing.)

#Watch me shamelessly push my Jayrae agenda hehehe #ali writes #Dp x dc x MLB #Fic #Shoutout to the peeps in the Maribat server who made me reread this and type it up ig

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myrandomfandomramblings · 6 months

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A professional partnership and strong friendship that is built on such deep mutual trust, respect and admiration that it becomes “unique” and nearly “undefinable.” Although, those watching are quick to reduce it to romance.

The guy thinks and acts with his heart. His outgoing nature and incredible sense of humor make him so charismatic that it borders on cocky. Although his passionate nature can make him prone to irritation and acting before he thinks, it’s more commonly demonstrated in his kindness, generosity and empathy for others. His loyalty and unwavering confidence in his partner coupled with his humor truly define him.

The girl thinks and acts more with her head. She’s incredibly clever, resourceful and smart but can also get too much in her own head and struggle with self-doubt and self-confidence. Nevertheless, she exudes a bubbly cheerfulness, and her passions bring out her driven and entrepreneurial nature and a strong, confident, bravery. Although she’s more careful and cautious than her partner she can easily match his quick wit. She’s a born leader who seeks to lift up everyone around her with her generosity and kindness. Her intelligence, passion and humility truly define her.

Who am I talking about? If you’re a Canadian or figure skating fan it probably sounds like VirtueMoir. If you’re a Miraculous Ladybug fan you probably imagine LadyNoir (although, interestingly, probably not the other sides of the love square). If you’re both (like me) you’re probably amazed by the similarities between the two.

I got super into VirtueMoir in 2018 but didn’t start watching Miraculous until 2020 so I totally missed the similarities until I was watching Tessa and Scott’s Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame Induction the other day. Then I had to make this post. The matching colour schemes and the fact that Moir and Noir are spelt as if they should rhyme are fun bonuses.

P.S. The picture of Tessa and Scott when they were around Adrien and Marinette’s age (14/16) makes me so happy.

#adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #chat noir #ladybug #ladynoir #tessa virtue #scott moir #virtuemoir

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trainsinanime · 10 months

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Thoughts on representation and revolution

Spoilers. As always, there's speculation here, if you know the answer to any of my rhetorical questions, do not answer.

You know this blog post title would totally work for something political too, wouldn't it?

So pretty!

These episodes were really fun. I do hope this isn't the last we've seen of Chloé.

I am still uncertain about Feligami. It looks cute enough, but it also looks like Felix is the leader in their two-person crime ring and Kagami is just being carried along. I hope she gets to do more.

Kagami having actually known/strongly suspected that Marinette is Ladybug? That's a cheap retcon. I do not believe for one second that they planned this all this time. (Again, if you've seen the leaks and thus know whether it is a retcon or not, shut your damn mouth, I do not want to know. I know some people think "comparing the actual episodes to the leaks is fine", and they're wrong.)

That being said, Kagami going, "she's probably Ladybug, but that wasn't really relevant to anything that's been going on, so I just ignored that" is incredibly funny even before you think about the times she got akumatised.

I hope Gabriel has to suffer some more before he dies.

That kiss! That was really beautifully done. I also love the shot of Marinette crying on the runway.

I love that the solution to time limits and power usage limits was willpower. I think Adrien should get to break free of Gabriel's control through willpower as well. "Who has which ring" is fun and all, but if Adrien manages to break the ring's link because of his willpower and love for Marinette, that would really work thematically.

Politician Chloé is very carefully observed. I love her, and I love how the writers wrote her.

I do miss Ladynoir and big supervillain battles. I'm okay with them not being here, the episodes are great as they are. But I still miss them anyway. These episodes should all be one hour long to fit both the Adrinette story, the sentimonster story and the Ladynoir story in.

I love Alya attacking Gabriel like that.

I'm really looking forward to where this goes next.

#miraculous ladybug #ml season 5 spoilers #ml season 5 #ml s5 spoilers #ml s5 #ml revolution spoilers #ml revolution #revolution spoilers #ml representation spoilers #ml representation #representation spoilers

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literaphobe · 1 year

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I love your take on the wlw Love Square! Now I'm curious about your take on an mlm Love Square

ive actually never thought about mlm love square. but for you anon? okay!

ladynoir: ifl mlm ladynoir would spar so much and be a lot more competitive about whos in charge. boy ladybug is a bit of a dick about how Being the ladybug miraculous holder makes him the de facto leader and when master fu starts training him he rubs it in chat noirs face. chat noirs retort is always about how master fu clearly thinks he doesn’t NEED his hand held because he’s so obviously the more competent one. secretly he is very sad that master fu doesn’t gaf about him. boy ladybug also slowly stops bragging about all the responsibility because he realizes its not a title of honor but a heavy rock he’s been saddled with but he can’t look weak in front of chat or he won’t ever let him live it down. one day they get into a shouting match that ends with them passionately making out only to run away after because What The Fuck

adrienette: ifl boy marinette would be the perfect like. all rounder. good at gaming, good at sports, best grades in the class, extremely talented at fashion design. bro would be drowning in bitches and equally oblivious about the fact that everyone wants him so fucking bad. like without misogyny he would fly so high. adrien would have complicated feelings about him bc gabriel would weirdly compare them and be like if not for the inferiority of his birth, he would be a better son for myself than you <- or something else fucked up that cuts adrien deep. but then gabriel finds out that boy marinette is a mlm and never speaks of him again. even tells adrien not to hang around him OR imitate him in anyway. praises adrien for being a good straight son (without directly saying straight…? idk) and it only makes adrien more determined to become friends w marionette

marichat: chat noir sees marinette on his rooftop balcony and is like um Hey i know we barely know each other but i heard about u coming out recently and Uhhh i hope ur okay i heard the Agreste brand rejected you for their summer program because of it and that really sucks and hes like oh. thank you. i dont know how you heard about that but thats really nice. im okay really. my parents are really supportive and the fact that gabriel agreste is homophobic makes me not want to have anything to do with him or his brand. and chat is like oh… everything? even his… son? and boy marinette is like are u kidding? adriens one of the best people i know. i feel bad that he has to live with a father like that. and chat is like yeah. me too. and marinette is like confused like did u come here just to talk to me about adrien agreste? and chat is like oh um. i actually um. came here to ask for advice on coming out bc im gay…? its half an excuse because every night he thinks about the time he kissed boy ladybug but also he does not know what his sexuality is. hes like. its almost as if hes not allowed to like men. and yet… ANYWAY. marionette is like um. i guess coming out advice number one. don’t tell ur parents if ur dad is someone like gabriel agreste. and he laughs and chat is like haha! so funny! thank god im not adrien agreste! would suck to be him if he was gay! and boy marinette shrugs and is like eh. i doubt adrien’s gay anyway. i hope for his sake that he isn’t

ladrien: something happens that makes adrien’s identity as chat noir almost get compromised and he lies to boy ladybug and is like uh… i have the biggest crush on chat noir? he was um. my gay awakening? and ladybug gets a little jealous because hes in love w adrien and its like wow of fucking COURSE adrien likes chat noir. of course chat noir’s the hot sexy one who gets all the men he wants without even trying! his charms totally dont work on boy ladybug tho. of course not. them kissing that one time never happened. anyway in his annoyance he tells adrien hes free to go for chat noir because there’s no way he’d turn down Adrien Agreste™ and adrien is like hang on how did u know that chat noir’s gay????? and ladybug panics like FUCK did i just out chat based on what i know as boy marinette???? and he backtracks like WHAAAAAT no um i have no idea what chat noir’s sexuality is just um dont u think chat noir looks gay??? gives off such a gay vibe??????? and adrien is like WYM CHAT NOIR LOOKS GAY LIKE WHAT DID HE DO???? and its just a disaster all around

#ask #miraculous ladybug #mlbposting #mlm lovesquare #lovesquare

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residentmiddlechild · 2 years

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reasons you ship jeyna? :D maybe your second PJO/HoO ship??

Well I must say that I'm a very recent Jeyna shipper. I read HoO a long time ago when I was young so I don't think I was able to catch all the complexities of every character, Jason especially.

And then recently I realized that for some reason Jason became interesting to me when paired up with Reyna, and that just kinda sat for a while. I didn't really know why it appealed to me.

But now that I have jumped on the ship and seen some good posts about them, I think I can articulate it better.

"And they were partners-" "Oh my gosh they were partners" So basically I am a sucker for the partners to lovers vibe. (I'm a LadyNoir stan, so obviously.) I love the work-wife / work-husband thing and then all the constantly saving each other's lives, etc.

The tragedy of it all. I mean like I can't handle it- Like Reyna and Jason were so close, they were best friends, they led camp together, and they were totally getting closer and then that's all just ripped away from them. And Reyna's the only one who remembers. And all that past is just erased and that relationship never truly returns. Friendships that just "aren't like they used to be" break my heart. and now he's dead

They're just really similar. They're both very responsible people who always do what needs to be done. I like to think that they help each other carry the constant pressure that's on their shoulders as the leaders of New Rome.

They're past. They have a past. They're literally the Roman parallel to Percy and Annabeth. They went on quests together. They've had similar experiences and they've grown up together. There's a certain bond that's made through that which I love.

And I think that's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure there are other reasons.

As for another PJO/HoO ship I love... I mean... not to be basic here, but Percabeth? They're great, just a wonderful ship. The perfect slowburn, the best, they're my favourite, I love them <3

#thank you for the ask #i always feel so special when you talk to me :)#you're so famous in my mind #your blog is iconic #asks #my asks #ask #jeyna #pjo #hoo #jason grace #percabeth #reyna avila ramirez arellano

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ashes-555 · 9 months

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Okay so I have thoughts about the Miraculous Movie.

I want to begin by saying that, as a stand alone movie, it was enjoyable. The message was good, the songs were great (if weirdly timed) and the pacing, although feeling a bit rushed, was good for the length of the movie. I did like it. And because I have a four year old, I’ve seen it many times at this point and I can still watch it and enjoy it each time.

But here's the thing. It wasn’t Miraculous. Not to me.

Because to me, the characters are everything and while the movie characters had good personalities, they weren’t the same character’s I have known in the show. And maybe they did that on purpose. Maybe they are supposed to be as different from the show as the plot was. And that’s okay. It just wasn’t what I was expecting. And I was a little disappointed because I love Adrien and Marinette.

I love Marinette. I love her absolute lack of impulse control and her crazy ideas. I love that she will stand up for what’s right even if it makes her scared. I love how she is always there to fight for her friends. I love her chaos. To me, that is what makes Marinette. Marinette is the girl who was afraid to talk to Luka after they broke up, but came out of hiding to confront one of her idols about a perceived injustice to Julika anyway.

I love Adrien. I love his unabashed love for his friends and his quiet strength. I love that he is endlessly patient even when he doesn’t have to be. At his core, Adrien is kind. Despite everything he has been through, he cares about people even though he has been hurt in the past. To me, that is who Adrien is. Adrien is the boy who assured Marinette that even when she doesn’t make sense, he knows her heart. He says the things people need to hear, but most are too afraid to say.

I love Tikki. I love the way she balances Marinette’s chaos with a bit of caution. I love how gently supportive she is. I love how much she loves Marinette and isn’t afraid to show it. Tikki is a rule follower because Marinette isn’t. And I love that.

I love Plagg. I love the way he balances Adrien’s calm with his anarchy. I love how he gets Adrien to think about himself sometimes. I love how he tries to help Adrien when he’s down and his weird cheese analogies. Plagg breaks rules because Adrien doesn’t. And I love that.

I love Ladybug. I love that she is responsible. I love that she accepts her role as the leader, even though it scares her. I love how even when she is feeling less than confident and she is spiraling in self doubt, she fights anyway. I love how she can be cool and collected and think through solutions even when she is afraid. I love how smart she is.

I love Chat Noir. I love how reckless he is. I love that he wields his destructive powers as a tool rather than a weapon. I love how even when Ladybug doesn’t return his feelings, he doesn’t get mad at her. Of course he feels sad when she doesn’t love him the way he loves her, but not angry at her. And even though she doesn’t, he still cares about her anyway. He doesn’t leave her, because he knows that even if it’s not the way he wishes, she does love him, and more than that, she needs him. (He only gives up his miraculous when he feels unneeded or that he failed Ladybug in some way, and even then, he never abandons her, he leaves her his Miraculous so she can get a new partner, even though being Chat Noir is everything to him). I love how loyal he is.

I love the Ladynoir dynamic. I love how Chat Noir doesn’t feel like he has to compete with Ladybug. I love how Ladybug never feels like she is better than Chat Noir. I love how much they know they need each other. I love how they seamlessly pull off the most ridiculous things without having to talk about it, because they just know where the other needs them to be and what they need to do. I love the level of trust between the two of them.

And I understand why Marinette was timid and scared. I understand why they portrayed Adrien’s depression the way they did. I even liked Tikki’s extreme life coach attitude. (There is no excuse for what they did to Plagg). The changes they made to the characters made sense for the overall theme of the movie and made their growth more meaningful. The movie made characters that were realistic. The things they did were things real people would do. The journey they went on to become better versions of themselves was important and impactful. And I did enjoy watching it.

But

My Marinette would never throw a priceless ancient power-giving artifact out a window. She would never treat her parents like they were huge embarrassments to her. My Marinette would never encourage Chat Noir to make a grand confession of love that she knows she has to reject when he is obviously nervous about it (Because what else could that have been??)

My Adrien would never abandon his lady in an effort to get her to like him. He wouldn’t avoid his friends or try to get out of hanging out with them early. My Adrien wouldn’t just. literally walk away and leave the room when someone is visibly upset and ALSO STILL TALKING TO HIM.

Because the characters in the movie weren’t Marinette and Adrien, they were someone else. They weren’t the people I loved. They were strangers.

#I have a lot of feelings about Marinette and Adrien okay #I had to get this off my chest #I love them so much and the movie just didn't feel like them at all #ml movie spoilers #ML Movie #ml awakening

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familyagrestefanblog · 11 days

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The existence of the Ox miraculous is such an unnecessary ugly detail when you think about Ladynoir and how Chat Noir served as the punching bag and scapegoat for Ladybug, Alya as Marinette's actual partner in season 4, and the whole team in every single way pre-s5

The Ox gives the power of immunity even against any other Miraculous power. One would think with Adrichat's self-harming tendencies that canon had Marinette make entirely about herself because "they're haunting her so much", and her still narratively entirely unchallenged tendency of leaving Chat Noir behind on the battle field as sacrifice or bait to possibly have whatever the hell done to him so she can be save and sound while she and everyone else can look and be cool on his expense

With all that, one would have thought that if Canon Marinette truly loved Chat Noir "sooooooo much" and is oh so haunted by his self-harming behavior and him always getting hurt so she sidelined him "for his own good"

Then how come at no point did Marinette do the actually caring thing by giving Chat Noir the Ox miraculous since he's ALWAYS left behind BY HER so she can leave the battle field and execute her plans with the others save and soundly? If her Chaton's well-being was oh so important to her and it always "pained her so much" to see him getting hurt then why was the Ox only used 2 insignificant times by Ivan at the end of season 4 when it could have saved Chat Noir ALOT of suffering all the way through?

Or the turtle. Or ANY OTHER Miraculous for that matter?

Why was Alya getting two miraculous in Hack-San perfectly fine with Marinette but heaven forbid Marinette is actually expected to ACT like she gives a damn about Chat Noir's well-being as his leader, guardian, partner, and friend and not just the show having her claim superficial words that hardly have anything to back them up once they actually have to mean something?

Its almost as if Canon inherently doubled down on having Marinette be the kind of leader who will only do things in a way that primarily benefit HER while everything else gets swept under the rug because she isn't maliciously intentioned and then never brought up again. And unfortunately it was her who was written to prioritize making an unnecessary team of 18 miraculous holders no one ever asked of her to form (Su-Han even told her NOT to give out the miraculous like candy),

so Marinette was just made to not consider Chat Noir either at all or simply not as worthy enough of any kind of consideration in her entire leadership/ guardianship or actual safety, support, or ANY KIND of resource since that wouldn't be narratively about her, now would it?

She can't have Chat have the Ox because she might need Ivan as Ox in 4 months and she doesn't want to have to ask Chat to get it back or end up NOT getting to use this ONE other Miraculous out of a whole ass box, because that would involve a basic ass conversation Marinette can't have apparently or her not getting to use all of the miraculous however she pleases at any given point

The horror. Now she would have only 14 miraculous to work with!

As per usual, count me fucking unimpressed by Marinette's writing. The negligence towards Chat Noir on even the most basic level is insane and she was declared the epitome of leadership and kindness for this.

Cool that Marinette already decided in her head that Ivan is suitable for the Ox miraculous and he should get it in future, but Chat Noir needing help and protection wasn't some theoretical case, it constantly happened right in front of her eyes and even by her own freaking orders too because she never thinks of him in ANYTHING and the show glorified the hell out of her as leader for doing all that

Why is looking into ANY detail only making Marinette's side of Ladynoir so much worse ever since season 4? There is no escaping this! Just don't add the Ox with this power or actually have Marinette be a good leader towards Chat Noir. But noooooooooo.

#ml writing critical #Ml Marinette critical #Ladynoir conflict salt #Marinette is unfortunately still an awful leader to Chat Noir but can't be called out for ANYTHING #No matter what price Adrien has to pay for it #Rip Ladynoir #And Rip Marinette I once loved so much #Ml season 4 salt #Ml season 4 critical

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theerurishipper · 8 months

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Personally I think there isn’t enough meta about Adricat being a girl coded character and you should make one too

Okay, so when I say "female coded," I mean that Adrien's character fulfils the role that female characters usually have done in media. He's the love interest, he's the emotional support. He's sensitive and he's emotional. He's the heart of the team. Marinette on the other hand is a "male coded" character. She's a leader, she comes up with strategies and plans, and she is the brains of the operation. I used to think that was really cool, the way they subverted gender roles and allowed the characters to shine as characters instead of putting them in a box. Marinette was a strong and determined person, but she also had moments of weakness and vulnerability. Adrien seemed like the usual trope of the damsel in distress, but he was also literally Chat Noir, who often escaped his own situation and whose arc was about him breaking of his father himself.

But then they leaned too far into it, and it just became a gender swapped version of the same tired tropes that we've all seen. Marinette became The Leader™ who can do no wrong and doesn't need to do that emotional support shit for her partner when he needs it. Adrien lost any and all agency in his own story, and effectively just became the damsel in distress who had to sit there and look pretty as he waited for Marinette the knight to come and save him. I mean, you can't get more on the nose than this.

(And yeah, this is supposed to be the class' fanfiction and not representative of what the show was building up to, but this is literally what ended up happening.)

His choices became more and more irrelevant, and his feelings became more and more unimportant, until the entire Ladynoir dynamic became Marinette being The Leader™ who doesn't need to tell Chat Noir anything and doesn't owe him anything, and Chat Noir became the emotional support who is always attentive and considerate of Ladybug's needs to the point of invalidating his own. His feelings of sadness at being left out of the loop and being pushed away by Ladybug ultimately did not matter.

And then Season 5 spent its time setting up a rivalry between Marinette and Gabriel over what's best for Adrien. The fight wasn't Ladybug and Chat Noir against Monarch, but Marinette vs. Gabriel, and whoever won got to take Adrien home as a prize. Adrien's agency was diminished throughout Season 5 and annihilated entirely in the Season 5 finale, where he spends the confrontation with his father locked away in a white room while Marinette has to take the fight to Gabriel and confront him on Adrien's behalf. And he is sound asleep far away from the conflict while Marinette and Gabriel fight over what's best for Adrien instead of him, you know, deciding that himself.

I mean, the finale could not have been clearer about it.

At least he's there in the dream lmao

And the end of Recreation reveals that Marinette is lying to Adrien about his father so as to protect him. Because apparently Adrien won't be able to control his emotions and needs someone else to make his decisions for him. Because clearly, he would be too emotional and wouldn't be able to make his own informed choices. And it's quite common for women to be told that they are too emotional and so the big strong man should make the decisions for them. So the female coded character is treated like his emotions are a weakness and a burden and like he requires other people to make his choices for him.

And so, Marinette the knight defeats the evil Gabriel, saves the helpless Adrien from his evil father, and they kiss in the sunset, and all is well. Except Adrien isn't being allowed to make informed choices about his own life and everyone around him is denying his autonomy, but he only exists to be the trophy for whoever won in the Marinette-Gabriel rivalry (which Marinette only won because Gabriel forfeited anyway), so he doesn't get to make choices and have any of those inconvenient emotions like anger or sadness, and all really is well.

Thomas Astruc even mentioned on Twitter that Chat Blanc was the reason why Adrien could not participate in the finale. And the implication is that he couldn't be there because he would be too emotional and would destroy the world. So Marinette had to do it for him, and Adrien had to be removed from his own story and put away in London with nightmares so that he wouldn't get in the way with his emotions. So yeah. The female coded character was reduced into being a damsel in distress and was told his emotions rendered him incapable of making his own choices because he wouldn't be able to control them.

Anyway, that's my take on it. Here are some other posts that discuss this.

Thank you for your ask!

#MLB #ML Salt #ML Writing Salt #ML Writers Salt #Meta #My meta #Asks #Marinette Salt #Not really but just in case #Sexism in ML

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