You’re Gonna Lose. BUG TIME.

Good lird these characters deserve better writing. I scream into the void about this (This is a miraculous sideblog btw so if I follow you back it won’t be from this account)

[miraculous-fatigue]

I used to do a lot of complaining on here. Now I only do a little complaining on here. I mostly just reblog fanworks and analysis/criticism I like

Oh btw: proshippers/anti-antis/whatever the fuck else you freaks call yourselves die instantly challenge. Why are you even here

Terfs and exclusionists can fuck off too

[bigfatbreak]

Speak of the Devil

part twenty-seven previous / next

[askr-deactivated20230503]

@professionalcoffeeaddict​ prompted me to check the gender balances of the ML script writers and hooo boy click the image to go the spreadsheet

(the missing spaces is Felix and Chat Blanc because we don’t have the writers credits for that yet)

Episodes with at least one female writer: 36 out of 76 currently aired episodes (this means 40 episodes with all-male writers)

Episodes with more than one female writer: 1 out 76 (Reflekta, and it’s also the only episode without any male writers)

Episodes with equal male and female writers: 3 out 76 (all in Season One)

Note, by Season 3, Mélanie Duval became a regular writer on the show, and as such she’s credited on all S3 episodes barring three.

Which means that in S1 and S2 combined, there were only 15 out of 52 episodes with a female writer on board.

It’s very telling when you have a majority of female writers. Reflekta is all about girls supporting each other, the Tales from Paris webisodes (all penned by Nolwen Pierre) are mostly about Marinette and her friends, and I honestly doubt that Marinette deciding to help Lila in her Secrets episode would have come off as naturally if it were written by one of the male writers on this show. (Nolwen Pierre wrote 10 of the 15 Secrets webisodes that have credited writers).

I’d like to cap all of this off with a reminder about this tweet Astruc posted a few weeks ago regarding hiring new writers for ML:

Nope. Writing on Miraculous requires a perfect knowledge of the universe only the original staff has.  (link)

Well gee, Astruc, I wonder how you’re gonna write a show about female-empowerment when you only have one (1) female writer out of the five.

spoiler alert: he didn’t.

[bigfatbreak]

No update this week, but I have requests open on Patreon. Here's a bee and turtle Marinette! I wanted Melipona to have Greek roots, but I did cheat a bit with the Minoan apiary symbol. Chelone I based off ming dynasty scale armor and specifically the Mata Mata turtle so I could give her bold spines.

I'll probably tweak Melipona a bit and give her more dynamic gloves later, but I already spent too long on her as is ^^;;;

[bigfatbreak]

Speak of the Devil part twenty-six

previous / next

[bigfatbreak]

Speak of the Devil part twenty-five

previous / next

[bigfatbreak]

Speak of the Devil part twenty-four

previous / next

[ml-salt-central]

The whole "Will Adrien find out the truth?" Thing is just the new love square btw, just another carrot on a stick that the show will dangle in front of the audience for as long as they can because they can't write a story that can organically make the audience want to stay and keep watching

[jacquesthepigeon]

Its been ten years (and, admittedly, quite a handful of poorly explained and petty posts) and people's refusal to play with the idea of how bigoted the show's writing is and how that in turn taints intended characterization still confounds me

Its as simple as "this character is not intended to be misogynistic" -> "the writing with this character reflects misogynistic attitudes" -> "the character is inevitably shown embracing and practicing misogyny"

Max's character wasn't supposed to be seen and misogynistic in Gamer for only blaming and targeting Marinette for beating him fair and square in a tournament despite Adrien also beating him, but the narrative's own misogyny makes it so that it can absolutely be read as Max being offended that a girl beat him instead of a guy

Same shit with adrichat's reckless, irresponsible, aggressive, and incel behavior

The argument was never that he was hellspawn

Its that the writing makes him act as such and frames it positively/sympathetically due to its own bigotry; the writing is trying to use bigotry in his character's favor

Then there's also the flip-side with bigotry tainting characters on the receiving end of discrimination

Marinette and the female cast have abundant shitty "traits" assigned to them solely because of the narrative's misogyny. They're catty, jealous, obsessive, possessive, etc. because they're girls and the narrative wants you to tut-tut them for it while, sometimes in the same episodes, expecting you to pity or support male characters for the same behaviors. The narrative's bigotry is not trying to benefit these female characters in any way.

That's not even getting started on the racism

Point is, its not about passing moral judgement on the characters, its about noticing what the narrative wants us to pull from them and refusing to embrace it when bigotry is involved

[basingstokemercury]

"character deserved better" (but they were never going to get it that's the stuff great tragedies are made of) vs "character deserved better" (but the writers really blew it)

[miraculous-fatigue]

You’re telling me we finally got akumanette after all those years, all those false alarms, all those Adrien akumas, and that’s IT????

[sillysiluriforme]

you are NOT JAMES BOND. you are NOT A GIRLBOSS. you are A 16 YR OLD BEING ABUSED BY THE DEEP STATE

[sillysiluriforme]

if i had to pick id say evillustrator's my favorite episode from s1 :3c

[sillysiluriforme]

@gunfr0st

imagine if you had to explain to :

multiple government employees

your parents

half of your school's staff

that you got possessed by super terrorist n°1 for 2 whole days because everyone knows you wrote self insert fan fiction about some girl in your class

[sillysiluriforme]

"The record for the longest akumatization is currently held by 15-year-old Nathaniel Kurtzberg who was under Hawkmoth's control for an extended 58 hours."

[sillysiluriforme]

alix baby don't make fun of him he was in custody for a week and a half come on

[jacquesthepigeon]

Had a Big Brain moment last night when I figured out Chat Blanc was better suited to be a Marinette akumatization episode

[jacquesthepigeon]

If the reason maribug getting akumatized isn’t a feasible plot line is bc then there’d be no one to save the day, then CB would have been the perfect setup to make it work. Getting an LB from another timeline to fix the problem bc the multiverse would get screwed otherwise would have been a perfectly acceptable solution. Instead, they used the setup for golden boy. I sigh.

[jacquesthepigeon]

Could you imagine Marinette having to face off against an equally smart but angry and unhinged version of herself that doesn’t care what damage she causes? Could you imagine all the things seeing herself and battling herself at her worst could do for character development? Having the power of love ultimately win against anger and hatred despite the odds? Marinette being absolutely terrified of becoming what she saw in the alternate timeline, afraid to let herself feel but ultimately accepting that she can’t do it on her own and reaching out for help?

[hawkeabelas]

most unrealistic thing about marinette dupain-cheng is that she would have a much bigger purse. that tiny little clutch bag thing could NOT hold a knitting project. not even a single skein of yarn. marinette dupain-cheng would carry a huge tote bag everywhere with an arsenal of who knows what including at LEAST two knitting wips and a third project from a craft she's learning and 3 lip balms, 2 crumpled homework assignments, 3 notebooks, and a sketchbook. There would always be cookie crumbs in the yarn. Tikki sleeps in a bed of crumpled receipts and yarn scraps.

[moonfly7]

Head cannon uploaded and accepted.

I'm just imagining all the possibilities, from a running gag among her friends that everything you need at any given moment is in Marinette's massive bag, and if it isn't, you don't need it, to Marinette in civilian form knocking the shit out of an Akuma by slamming them in the face with her bag when they try to run past her.

Marinette in civilian mode doesn't need lucky charm, there's definitely at least one item in the bag that will suffice to defeat an Akuma.

Speaking as someone who wore a big vest with 20+ pockets everyday for 10+ years just so I could have all my trinkets, odds, and ends with me: you really do have an answer for any problem if you stockpile enough crap.

You also jingle when you walk, but that just adds so much perfect vibes to Marinette honestly.

Alya just being like "listen, our girl is here"

And then you hear the faint jangling as she waddles down the hallway hauling a bag one step below a Duffle, entirely hand knitted.

[chocostrwberry]

Nino is loyal

“I got your back, bro!”

Since most of Nino’s friends are either extremely wealthy or their parents are popular, he might have a sense of inferiority. He’s attending the school on a scholarship, so he can’t afford to do things his friends can. But what he doesn’t know is that his friends can count on him when they need him the most.

MORE BELOW!!

Alya and Marinette knows Nino is always there when she needs him. Whether it’s taking pictures for Alya’s Ladyblog, or helping Marinette with her design projects, Nino is the friend you can always rely on. When no one, not even Alya, would back up Marinette’s accusations against Lila, he was the one to speak up for her, despite Marinette being known to lie as well.

He is also Adrien’s first real friend.

Adrien finally has a solid rock he can lean on when things get too heavy in his life, someone who won’t run when things get hard, betray him, or turn his back on him. And someone who will support him in anything he does, no matter what! I think Adrien got pretty lucky!!

That sort of quality is great for a turtle miraculous holder. Carapace is more fearful and anxious compared to the rest of the group. He freezes when he’s in trouble, and tends to prefer running away than fighting. He ends up feeling like a burden, and he thinks his shield is useless. However, when they need him the most, Carapace pulls through and gets over his fears in order to protect them. Even when he’s scared, Carapace always has their backs!

[chocostrwberry]

Chloe is confident.

Zoe is generous.

I put them both here since they both end up using the Bee miraculous!

DESCRIPTIONS BELOW!

“I know there’s nothing I cannot do!”

I feel like Chloe developed her ego as a defense mechanism against her mother’s abuse and her father’s neglect. No one around her told her she was worthy, or enough, or beautiful. She had to tell herself that. As her redemption is developed, her ego turns into a kind of confidence that inspires others. It’s so strong because of what she had to endure, it can’t be broken! You’ll never catch her casting doubt on her abilities, which inspires others to do the same!

As Queen Bee, she’d be the member of the group to remind them that they are talented, and they can do anything as long as they are a team. Even though she does a lot of things for attention, her confidence is what eventually keeps the group morale up. Unfortunately, since she does still have room to grow, she isn’t Queen Bee for long. But I think the experience would definitely leave a lasting impact on her character!

“We can do it, together!”

Zoe’s generosity would be similar to Chloe’s confidence. Zoe’s own self image is built on other people’s perception of her, so her confidence easily crumbles. But despite that, she uses the influence she has over others, unlike Chloe, to give what she has. She posts about Marinette’s bakery, and offers to promote Nino’s remixes. Zoe’s eagerness to help others is something Chloe can learn from, and what makes her such a great Bee miraculous holder!

As Vesperia, she follows instructions and is willing to put others first, another quality Queen Bee struggled with. She’s not selfish or seeks to feed her own ego, despite what people think of Zoe as a civilian. She follows what Ladybug says and does because she knows that is what is best!