#fatalix

[wisteriasymphony]

Talking about Adrien playing the damsel in distress role always makes me want to talk about the fact that Felix, interestingly enough, also embodies a traditionally female trope? He's the femme fatale lmfao:

Confident. Mysterious. Identical twin of a beautiful model- so, inherently, beautiful. Ambitious. Charming. Complex relationships. Morally ambiguous. Independent and manipulative. He's even a liar and a thief. A driving force of the narrative. Wreaks havoc. Divides the audience.

Yes he's pretending to be Adrien but it doesn't change the fact that he uses his wiles to seduce the protagonist into deadly traps and get what he wants <- this is the sticking point of the archetype, so Lila doesn't make the cut because although she tries this with Adrien, it ultimately fails every time, and she doesn't push it to the same degree Felix does.

Hence: both twins take on traditionally female tropes and this is kind of really funny to me. And these two particular tropes can juxtapose beautifully.

I mean, I wouldn't really call the shit Felix pulled "seduction", but your point is deeply hilarious to me. Gender-swapping-as-groundbreaking-feminism strikes again. God bless Zag.

[wisteriasymphony]

the 'twins both being assigned female stock characters' thing actually gets even funnier for me when you remember their current situations.

everyone is always forcing adrien into the role of the damsel! he's a trophy with no say in anything! if we actually gave him a choice, is this what he would say he wants? or does he want a chance to be the knight in shining armor himself?

meanwhile we're told that felix was completely different before colt died so i can only assume he's actively leaning into it: he grew up watching classic film noir movies, saw these women alongside the hardboiled detectives, and went "this is what i want to do with my life" to both of them. fully committed to playing the dual roles of modern sherlock and byronic heroine.

Every time Felix puts on hosiery he imagines Colt's appalled reaction to his son crossing the other side and he cackles to himself. Daddy can't stop his precious little man from wearing women's clothes now, can he? 'Cause he's DEAD!