#ml fandom salt (just a bit)

[nerd-chocolate]

The Bourgeois Family’s and Zoé Lee’s colors symbolize, civilian and akuma analysis:

Okay, hear me out on this one! It will be real quick I promise. So let’s get started, shall we? Also sorry for not having more of a better introduction to this post, I’ll be better next time I promise.

The Akuma Designs:

After looking at all of the akuma designs that the bourgeois family and Zoé Lee had including their concept art, especially Sole Crusher’s first design, I concluded. They all share common colors. They are black and yellow, you could also say red as well since both Heart Hunter and Antibug share that color between them. But the only design that doesn’t have yellow and black is Sole Crusher’s concept art where she is all blue vs her final design and why I begin this up it all makes sense you see. You can see this with all the akuma designs in the show shown here.

Why Colors are so important:

You want to know why these mean something because it shows how connected they are and mainly means Chloé, André, and Audrey. I get to Zoé a bit but right now let’s focus on these three first.

Okay, Chloé’s first akuma which was Antibug had primarily red and black which doesn’t mean anything in season one since André didn’t akumatized in season one and Audrey didn’t even show up in that season but surprisingly red does come back in Malediktator and Heart Hunter’s designs (I’m not counting when scarlet moth akumatized them since every akuma was red in those episodes because Scarlet Moth himself by the way) so red does show up in two of Chloé’s akumas in season 4 it doesn’t have that big of an impact, unlike the blacks and yellows in their designs.

Because they all have yellow and black in them, Antibug’s all-black suit with the red polkas, Style Queens having the blacks on her weird hair thing and black edges on her suit, Malediktator having the black stripes on his shoulder pads Queen Wasp also having a all black-suit with yellow stripes since she just Queen Bee Akuma but her colors flipped, Queen Banana having black stripes on her design like hair, dress, weapon, mask, and shoes/legs, finally Penalteam having black jersey, black fingerless gloves, her having black on her boots, and her sunglasses having black shades. They all use black as an accent color well except Queen Wasp (and Miracle Queen but I didn’t mention her since she is the same design as Queen Wasp but has a crown and armor on her) but it is worth noting that they all have black and more importantly yellow on their designs especially after Style Queen started it in season and the other designs expect Heart Hunter, Sole Destroyer, and Mayor Chloé in season five (if anyone actually cares but I don’t) which is honestly kinda fits since black is symbolic for evil and power which makes sense for all these akumas, their motivations, and more importantly what the crew thinks of their character since the very beginning, they were also seen as bad by everyone in the show and the crew. They all made a person sad or mad enough to get akumatized even to each other most importantly Audrey, who caused Queen Bee to get akumatized and André (addition Chloé as well) to get akumatized in the same season and the Queen’s battle arc. But these characters’ akuma all want some sort of power or control over someone. Malediktator is self-explanatory I mean it’s in the name, Style Queen wanted to fire anyone that she thought was unexceptional or disrespectful to her in her opinion, and Chloé’s akumas always share this broad goal of power (wanting to be the only hero and prove to her mother, wanted to play a soccer in her way so she can win, want to change a movie because her sister is in it, and again wanted to prove that she a hero to her used to be idol, Ladybug) so yeah the black works knowing what black is symbolism most of the time. But now what does yellow have to do with this?

A whole lot and I’m not even gonna go in depth where the yellow is placed on all of these designs except the ones I mentioned that didn’t have the yellow so I just said what yellow is symbolic for. Yellow in a negative way is used for cowardice, impatience, betrayal, and egotism and that last one is fitting since the bourgeois family all have big egos even if they are not an akuma especially Audrey since she is never shown to be insecure about something on the screen where it noticeably unlike André and Chloé. Cowardice makes sense only for André and Chloé especially André, let’s face it the biggest coward in the whole show is next to Damocles and while Chloé can act brave, she can be cowardly especially if she is the one getting chased by an akuma which she caused which mostly happened in the first season but it never really went away. Betrayal is something I noticed when comes to these akuma’s actions, like Style Queen betray her daughter when Chloé was helping Ladybug, Malediktator did brainwash his wife to be more obey and later trying to do the same thing with Chloé in the same episode, and Chloé betrays Ladybug’s trust in Miracle Queen and turns on Sabrina when she presents during her akumas and didn’t care when she was Queen Banana and Sole Destroyer. But where they all share something in common is impatience. Their impatience where either wearing thin or just nonexistent most of the time, the most being Style Queen since she just fired anyone that didn’t do what she said immediately, Malediktator was wearing his thin when Chloé kept running away from him each time, and Chloé’s akuma kinda flipped flopped while some of akumas can have patience, they quickly become nonexistent when they get angry like Queen Banana and Antibug. So when they all lose patience it is when they’re losing to Ladybug and Chat Noir so patience becomes nonexistent when things don’t go their way especially Chloé’s. So yeah after breaking all of their designs down and how the blacks and yellow mean in their designs and characters where does Sole Crusher and her concept design stand? Well, I’m glad you asked since it leads to my next point.

Why Sole Crusher’s current one doesn’t work at all:

Okay I know I said “I don’t think Sole Crusher’s design in the show is that bad and it was her poorly-written personality that made the akuma bad�� Well I lied since it was Zoé’s debut episode and I love Zoé since I have to admit she one of my comfort characters but doesn’t mean her akuma or debut get a free pass and both of them that made the akuma design pretty bad because aside the fact that it doesn’t feel like, look, or even hints to Zoé at all, it just cluttered mess. Sole Crusher has no reason to have horns on her back or shoes since they don’t even do or help the design whatsoever. She has way too many horns on her head, two or heck even four would be enough not fucking eight! The diamonds all over her don’t help at all, instead, they just make it look like a cluttered mess since she has diamonds on her forehead and the top of her eyebrows and don't even function as eyebrows since she still has them so what’s even the point? Because of this, her concept one looks so much cleaner and less cluttered than her canon one, there are some things I may not like but at least there isn’t as much as her canon character I found. And I know I sound dumb when saying this but the concept feels like Zoé to me than her current one ever did since it doesn’t feel like a Chloé or any of the Bourgeois family because of her color palette and I’ll explain that in the next paragraph. Overall I hate this design and this just makes me long for her concept even if it has its problems I have. It's just a cleaner design but that's beside the point and let’s talk about their color schemes, the concept art, and the canon one.

Sole Crusher’s color scheme in canon doesn’t make any sense since her personality didn’t fit what personality Sole Crusher was barely given. Since she isn’t cowardly, she never betrays anyone that we know of, she doesn’t have an ego, and most importantly she does have patience since she decided to wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir to get to the hotel rather than going after them immediately or throwing a tantrum. Which to me doesn’t fit with Sole Crusher’s or Zoé’s personality at all

since yellow was always portrayed as bad in this show since a few of our ‘good’ characters wore yellow in their actual designs you could say, I’m overthinking it but I’m not since I went to check and all the akuma class doesn’t wear yellow except Nino but he just wears a yellow bracelet. So why in the world put yellow on the girl if she isn’t even close to her family except for one member and it is the one that is a coward? And this is why I said light blue would work better for Sole Crusher’s design than yellow because it would show how she isn’t like them and is disconnected from them which isn’t a bad thing since let’s be honest who even wants to be related to the Bourgeois family. After all, I surely don’t. And light blue could work for her personality if she had any because she doesn’t have one that truly defines her. And yes I know maybe that was the point of her personality and writers probably thought that but I don’t think that executed well or not even at all and we’re giving these writers too much credit because these writers made Simpleman which is a dumb episode.

Anyway back to my point, Sole Crusher being all blue like her concept art would work better since it symbolizes how she isn’t a Bourgeois, and deep down she doesn’t want to be like any of them, she is a Lee, and knows it. Also light blue/blue color symbolizes unfriendliness, sadness, impersonal, passive, and emotionally unstable when it comes to personality, which does fit Malediktator and André and Chloé and her akumas pretty well I will admit but that would also fit with Sole Crusher since before getting akumatized Zoé was passive towards Chloé’s behavior and let her walk all over her and broke down into tears when she was alone and you could say Sole Crusher was trying to match Chloé’s unfriendliness and her lack of personality also helps but I don’t think that last one is a good idea for someone’s debut episode and Sole Crusher being impersonal could honestly work. There are not many examples for Sole Crusher where I could say for blue color works on her when it comes to personality when I try to think of one, unlike the Bourgeois family akumas I mentioned before since she doesn’t have one where is more defined like other akumas and that’s biggest problem with her akuma as a whole and that shouldn’t be fair to Zoé since this her only akuma she got ever since her debut episode. So why does she get the short end of the stick here? That isn’t fair even if that was to point to her personality, it just doesn’t work, I’m sorry it just doesn’t. But I should give these colors a more positive light since there are some positive meanings to these colors and which ones fit the Bourgeois Family and Zoé.

The Positive Meanings of Black, Yellow, and Blue:

I have been negative about these colors huh? Well, change that shall we? I can tell you now blue more positive meanings are a bit more fitting for Sole Crusher and Zoé.

Okay let’s start with the black meanings, black usually means elegance and sophistication which does fit with Audrey, André, and Chloé since they either are that way or they think they are that. But for Zoé those don’t fit her or Sole Crusher and since I forgot to mention this I feel someone will eventually do so might as well say it. Yes, Sole Crusher does black in her design but just like Queen Banana and Penalteam with their red eyes, it doesn’t matter and it is only on her eyelashes and pupils. But the black on Zoé’s leather jacket is worth mentioning and while elegant and sophisticated may not be that important to her rebellion which symbolizes honesty fits her since goes against Audrey’s and Chloé’s standards of being a Bourgeois. Another thing to note is that black is used to symbolize mystery which does fit Audrey and Zoé since no one knew who they were until meeting them in canon respectively in their debut episodes.

Okay the only thing yellow in a positive light when it comes to the Bourgeois family is probably happiness for Chloé since let’s be honest, she takes pleasure from bullying her peers and you said the same happens to Audrey and André when she is impressed by someone and him when he with his daughter or having his hotel be habitat by celebrities. But as for Zoé when it comes to yellow, it was harder for me when she can be happy with the people who truly care about her and friendship where she gets a lot of them (even though we see them on screen as much as I want) when she in Paris but even then yellow isn’t that fitting for her as much as the other Bourgeois family members. So sorry this isn’t a lot but I think the blue one would be interesting and heard me out on that one.

Blue symbolizes calm, reliability, patience, and bravery in a more positive light. And while Chloé does show some bravery when she becomes a superhero for a brief time during seasons 2-3 and André tries being calm and patient with his wife and daughter when they want something. They don’t show it as much and backtrack them more often than not, especially André since he is quick to panic and quick to make his wife and daughter happy even if someone suffers for it to make it happen as much as possible. And as for Chloé…. Well, she does have some bravery but I think that more of having a big ego and stupid writing in the later seasons (Yes I know that Audrey has blue eyes but so does the rest family and they are not as prominent as the others since she always wearing sunglasses in her appearances and while she does show calm and bravery, it reads more like she doesn’t give a shit about some situations most of the time, just wanted to mention that). But enough about them, these traits fit Zoé a lot more than the yellow did for her. Patience and calm are not only present in Zoé but in Sole Crusher as well since she decided to wait and get powerful before chasing after the heroes immediately and she looked pretty calm and sly when the heroes left to go to the hotel. Yeah, Zoé being associated with the color blue makes sense since she is a reliable friend when she shows up, is brave to stand up to her sister in Queen Banana (which I know isn’t much but still), she very patient when putting up with her family, and she has this calm demeanor in her character when she does show up. I know it doesn’t seem much to you but to me, it does even if I didn’t have that many examples of the things I was talking about and I still wanted to mention them.

My Personal Opinion/Conclusion:

In my opinion, Zoé should be associated with the color blue rather than yellow. I’m not saying get rid of the yellow entirely but make yellow a bit more of an accent color like Chloé having blue eyes and blue eyeshadow or André having the blue striped on his sash. Just make the yellow on Zoé’s design an accent rather than her main color heck just change the color of her pants to blue then just have her shoes have the yellow on them already. And I know what you guys going to say but shouldn’t she try to look connected to her family in some way while might be right about that, I say that her being disconnected from her family makes sense since she isn’t like them like I said before she is a Lee not a Bourgeois and that fine. Getting rid of the yellow entirely doesn’t make sense, making it her main color doesn’t either since yellow has been portrayed as a bad thing in this show rather than a good thing and she doesn’t fit in the yellow symbolism I mentioned.

Overall, the crew just didn’t care about Zoé and just wanted to create a replacement for Chloé so the fandom could stop complaining about her failed and probably nonexistent redemption arc but decided to be lazy and just rush Zoé out. This causes discourse in the fandom with some Chloé fans (the toxic ones not all of them but some) hating on Zoé even though it is not her fault for being this way it was the miraculous crew’s fault for this, not the character. This also caused a lot of potential not only with Zoé but with Chloé as well. And I don’t even like Chloé as much as other fans but even I think we missed an interesting dynamic with the two in multiple ways. So that is what I’m planning to do in my rewrite of Sole Crusher so maybe I can give Zoé some justice because she deserves better than what she gave from not only the crew but also some of the fandom (not salting anyone that doesn’t use Zoé, you do you my guy and I get it, just feel like people just kinda give up on Zoé and just uses her for Chloé’s development which can be frustrating to me). Please don’t take that to heart and I just want to let you know my opinion at the end of the day. So I hope you enjoy this post and are having a lovely day or night when you're reading or seeing this post, bye!!

[xhanisai]

every time i (a mixed race girl) come across a post that’s basically saying that Marinette, a mixed race girl, isn’t Chinese enough, my urge to set hellfire on this world increases by 100000000%.

[inke-ri]

So I had a different post up about the miraculous movie and how it wasn't perfect but - as someone who liked the series back when it was just Ladybug and Chat Noir against the world, and sorta naturally dropped it when the show started to introduce more heroes just bc it wasn't my thing - it felt nice and it gave me closure.

I was just gonna rewrite it in a way I liked better, but Jesus, whatever minor desire to pick the show back up again was very quickly snuffed out by how negative the a browse through the fandom tags felt. It's like people who like the movie are rubbing it in with a sort of arrogance, and the people who don't are almost gatekeepy with how "it's not the show" and how inferior it is bc of that. And I feel like wanting to talk about that instead.

Like. There are actual criticisms and praise going around but it gets lost in a sea of salt. It's kinda scary.

Personally, I liked it. It had some very cheesy lines, a couple scene transitions could have been better, What Have They Done To My Son, Plagg, and Adrienette's dynamic would have benefitted from a couple extra scenes (just a few tweaks showing him a little embarrassed or staring a little longer than usual in the Baddie Of The Day Montage(tm) would fix it, since I think they do a decent job of setting Marinette as special to Adrien given she's the only person we see him open up to about his mom, when we know he and Nino are friends and Nino already stated to always be there for him), to make the turning the ball invitation down + reveal hit harder, but overall it was fun. It was different.

What I truly cannot understand how this isn't Miraculous or how it doesn't really have a story. Sure, it's not The Series but in movie format, including the characterizations (they ARE different characters), but?? I feel like the core of who they are, or who they were back when the show began, still remains. Marinette still struggles with self confidence (which is in line with her season 1 self), and I particularly love how you can see how she HAS that spice bubbling underneath the surface, she just needed a push to embrace it and grow more confident (very Origins of her). Adrien is still closed off and quiet, and I love the implication that it was each other that gave them the push they needed to open up and be stronger and more social. I love how it was still Adrien's kindness that made Marinette fall for him, and Ladybug's bravery and selflessness that caught Chat Noir's eye.

Marinette is still clumsy and a little over excited, which we see in the first music, it just has a sense of WONDER to it instead of a frazzled energy like in the show, lol, poor baby. Adrien is still flirty and punny, he's still closed off, except show Adrien is trying to put up a brave face about it and trying to move on, and movie Adrien has lived with grief for longer and developed different coping mechanisms in regards to it. They're both very interesting in their own right, and I think the timing of Emilie's loss really explains the changes in him- movie Adrien is just past the meek attempts to be happy that show Adrien is still trying to do. He lost his mom and lived with an absent father for much longer than his show counterpart and it SHOWS. It's a different flavor of Adrien, but I think it's a neat choice, to have LB be the reason why he chose to open up. Show Adrien was interesting bc he chose to stand up to his dad in order to go to school, but he still felt alienated from his peers. The movie just makes that separation clearer but lets Adrien grow and hang out with his friends* and create actual bonds with them thanks to having first created a bond with Ladybug. It's a cool take on it.

I also really like what they did with Hawkmoth, though I don't think I can compare it to the show bc back when I watched it Gabriel was more or less just the absent father, mustache twirling villain that he was. This is where that * is inserted, I think the biggest change is that show Gabriel was more controlling of his son's life, and more demanding. Movie Gabriel straight up "lets" Adrien go missing for a whole night and only tries to talk to him the day after. He doesn't seem to mind Adrien spending time with his friends. He doesn't micromanage his son, though we still see hints of that control in how he talks about his designs, so its there, just a little hidden, that pride and arrogance. Again, it's a different flavor of Gabriel, but it works within the characterization of the movie and what they wanted for his character. Reminds me a bit of the Gabriel that wasn't willing to hurt Adrien (which apparently is an early series thing only, rip lmao) but was willing to go all out on Ladybug and Chat Noir.

So... yea. Maybe I'm just out of touch with the fandom and the show. Maybe it's because the characters have grown in ways I simply don't know bc I lost interest, and the modern MLB fandom understandably attaches those changes to the characters and wants to see it represented, which is valid. But tbh? I still love early MLB - not bc the "writing was better" or bc of Astruc v Zag shenanigans (are those still going? oh the war flashbacks) - just bc I vibed with the concept more. I love the show versions of these characters. And I think the movie is a different spin on them, but I think it does them justice. It has flaws, but the show also did, and I loved it anyway.

Speaking of just what I watched back then... I still think nothing in the movie tops the Umbrella Scene(tm), but I love that Ladynoir got a cute equivalent in the sparring one. I love the banter in both. I love the Adrienette moments in the show and I love how the movie expands on the inconditional trust between Chat and Ladybug, on how they're partners and always there for each other. I love Tikki in both. Show Plagg is my baby. I love what they did with Hawkmoth in both (movie and s1/some of s2). Master Fu as a cooky old man is hilarious. The cringe somehow got cringier in the movie. I think it's funny that movie Adrien gets to have his own "oh my god the second hand embarrassment, I want to cry" to balance out show Marinette lol. I love Chat still simping for LB and I love the cute little romance scenes, shipping fodder moments were always one of the strengths of the show, and we have it here in spades, so good for me.

It's just... as I said, it's different, but to me it's a love letter to the MLB that captivated me for years. It does its own thing, but I think I'm just gonna make a few tweaks in my head, mash Origins with the first half of the movie, then watch season 1 and a few select season 2 episodes, then go back to the movie to finish it up. I actually think that they complement each other quite well, even with the characterization changes, because, for example, the early seasons compensate for the movie's lack of Adrienette, while the show expands on the ladynoir side. If you use both, then the movie manages to effectively reverse the love square, allow Mari to grow past her awkward self, deal with the bits of insecurity in her that we still see sprinkled across the series, allow Adrien to stand up to and face his father, and give me a satisfying conclusion to the Hawkmoth plot and a cute little reveal.

I could go on over more talked about topics like the music (its fine. Christina inserts a certain breathlesness to Marinette that you feel Lou is trying to capture but she just can't. I got used to it tho, and Lou's voice is lovely) or the animation (gorgeous), like I did in the original version of this post, but to me what mattered most was the... For lack of a better word, the vibe of the movie. To me, it felt like a little time capsule bc it really embodies everything the fandom liked about the show during season 1 and its hiatus. I can't give it an objective score bc I think my 8.5/10 feels very biased, but I loved the nostalgia trip. I loved getting that closure. I'm still gonna go off and enjoy parts of both the show and the movie, because something something stronger together might just apply to them as well :)

[purrincess-chat]

People in this fandom really be like "Oh no we're not salting on Adrienette/Marinette, we're coming up with worst-case scenarios just for fun and then expecting them to happen in canon. The fact that we're the same people who used to whine about canon "killing off ladynoir" for months and that the funny break-up/cheating scenarios are always about Adrienette is just a coincidence, it's totally unrelated, no no you don't understand, it's different. We don't want Adrienette to break up for real, nobody wants it, but a breakup would be beneficial for them, so we'll be holding our breath.". ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As someone who was both around for the great Chameleon salt wars as well as a participant in them, at least the salters back then could admit that we were salty and owned up to it. We called shit writing way back then and people were like "no, the writing is great you guys are just so picky and don't understand the show" and now that canon has done something they don't like they're doing the same shit but insisting they're different and better 😂 like nah, babes, yall are salty. Say it with your chest.

And like I'm not immensely pleased with the ending of s5, but Adrinette is not what went wrong last season. Adrinette was one of the only good parts of the latter half of s5. I still hold that their development in s5 was good, and I appreciate how they handled their relationship with going slow and building trust and understanding. Everything that happened with Gabriel that whole season is what was wrong with s5. But we don't see anyone talking about that shit. Everything is Adrinettes fault, or more specifically, Marinette's fault, and she needs to be punished and get dumped by the boy of her dreams so she can run into his arms again in a cat suit for comfort. That's not likely to fuck either of them up when a reveal happens. How could it? 🤡

Point blank, if yall are actively rooting for an Adrinette breakup solely bc you want LN to get together or want Marinette to be punished for keeping secrets, yall are salty. Own it.

[gentil-minou]

Hey, just wondering if you've read the ML season 5 show bible... I haven't and I've heard people talk about how it's going to be super bad and it makes me anxious... Do you think we should be worried if you have read it?

I haven't read it and I never will and I wouldn't trust the people who say that tbh.

For one thing, I think reading a rough outline of what's gonna happen without the full context is of course gonna lead to misconceptions and misunderstandings, and something that works when you see it but doesn't work in writing might be the same way. When we actually see it play out on screen it may be much more rewarding.

Another thing is salters are gonna find salt wherever they see it. And if it's not there, they will see it anyway. I've said it before and I'll say it again: if you going into something looking for reasons to hate it, you're gonna find it.

Finally, I think my biggest pet peeve is that people read it in the first place, and it instantly made me more upset with them. It was meant to be read by us and people read it anyway. Some of my dear friends and mutuals did and although I still love and cherish them, that's a decision that I completely disagree with. It takes the fun out of it, and ruins the experience. The Bible leak is honestly the main reason I fell out of this fandom for so many months, and tbh its one of my biggest disappoints for us as fans. I know a lot of folks were like "I'm gonna get spoiled anyways" but I didn't read it and avoided spoilers and I'm still here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ultimately what I have to say is this: love what you love, hate what you hate, and don't let anyone else tell you how you should feel.

Reminder that anyone who puts leaks or spoilers in the tags/reblogs of my posrs or in my inbox is instantly blocked. That includes vague details.

[frostedpuffs]

just wanted to say thank you for being a beacon of positivity in a largely negative space. whether its defending the show or just not talking about salt, writing super fluffy fics, or just reblogging things that are generally more positive, you've helped me feel less bleak, even by a little bit. thanks.

AW ANON THIS IS SO NICE!!! thank you for this message

also wow, has the ml salt gotten that bad? i like to think i do a pretty great job of curating my dash to not see any salt posts/salt blogs. i've heard about a lot of the ml salt and honestly, while it's valid to have criticism of a show, it's gotten to where salters are salting just for the fun of dunking on something other people enjoy rather than giving valid criticism out of a place of love.

(and i get it! sort of. i used to be part of that salty crowd in like 2019-2020 when i stopped watching ml! but then i realized that kind of behavior is stinky and huh, wait a minute, i still really like miraculous ladybug and it IS a good show. who knew!)

anyway

I LOVE MIRACULOUS LADYBUG !!! I LOVE ITS SILLINESS AND WEIRDNESS AND I ENJOY WATCHING NEW EPISODES AND CREATING ART AND STORIES ABOUT IT!!!!! I THINK IT'S A CUTE SHOW!!!! I LOVE THE CHARACTERS AND I AM INTERESTED TO SEE WHERE THE STORY GOES NEXT!!!!!! AND I AM EXCITED TO CREATE MORE ART AND FANFIC AND CONTINUE PARTICIPATING IN MY HAPPY LIL CORNER OF THE FANDOM!!!! 💖💗💖💗💖💗💗💗💖💖💗💖💖💖

[coffeebanana]

20 questions for Fic Writers

Omg it took me ages to get to this but better late than never! Thanks for the tags @rosie-b, @monpetitchattriste, @lesbitorte, @kasienda and @celestialtitania!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Um. 107*... It's possible that I have a problem 😂

(*one is on anon. more on that later adfdsd)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

801,972!!! (fun fact i was just below 800k the first time i got tagged in this game so i was like "oh well i'm posting a new chapter tomorrow...i'll do this game after that so i can pass that milestone!" and then i posted the chapter but it took me close to a week to do this ahaha)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

mostly just ml. i have a few spop fics too but i don't really write for that fandom anymore. or at least not right now.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Gah. okay. I'm going to answer this honestly but to do that I first need to explain that my most kudoed fic is on anon because I'm annoyed it's my most kudoed fic aksjfbksdb. Like. It's only so popular because there's a bit of lila salt? and really the fic isn't about that but i don't really write that kind of thing anymore and i don't want ppl coming to my profile and sorting by kudos and seeing that first. There are other things i'd do a lot differently in that fic now too ahaha.

Break a Leg

Cards Against Ladybug's Identity

Ladybug And The Tramp Stamp

Imaginary Friends

The Sun Will Rise Again

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do!! I reply to pretty much every comment--unless it's particularly rude/rubs me the wrong way. I know commenting takes time and I appreciate the effort ppl put into it so I like to give my thanks back!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably Every Teardrop is a Waterfall. Although I think Girl Is A Gun is a strong contender too?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uh...well, most of my fics have happy or at least hopeful endings. I don't think I can narrow this down to just a few haha.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I don't think I've ever gotten hate? Definitely some comments that aren't super nice but nothing too bad. (now i've probably gone and jinxed it 😂)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

um. a little tiny bit but not enough to have a particular kind LOL. i've only posted it once so far. but i also have Entangled, which will have smut in the next chapter--and that's angsty smut. which i suppose would be my brand of smut if i ever write any more

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

i haven't! i entertained the idea of an ml/spop crossover a couple years ago but i don't have any interest in it anymore. oh and i ALSO had an idea for a marigami spyxfamily crossover. but i don't know if i'll ever get around to that

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of! (*knocks on forehead since no wood is nearby*)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no, but that would be super cool!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

i have not! a few times i've planned to write things with other ppl but nothing that ever really made it to the writing stage ahaha. although the littlebug vday zine is a collab in the form of a series--not exactly co-written but similar vibes

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

to write for, definitely the love square. and then catradora is so special to me because it got me back into writing and also i started IDing as a lesbian in part because i binged spop.

aside from that i can't really decide because like. there are so many shows i've seen and books i've read and ships i've loved for so many different reasons asdfbk. and then i have OC ships that only live in my head but that i love to play with sometimes before i fall asleep at night. so please don't make me choose!!

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

uh. i would say none of them? because it's only when i completely lose interest in a fic that i lose the belief i'll finish it. and that's only happened with maybe two of my wips i can think of?

16. What are your writing strengths?

Depicting emotions! And using the setting to do that by establishing the mood/tone/etc...

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i guess like...self-doubt? not that i'm awful with it. in general i think i'm pretty good that way. but it's my biggest barrier to writing when i have periods where i get in my head about my writing, and it can make me overthink and not know if i LIKE my writing. and i think my writing is at its best when i'm having fun with it (which is probably true of most ppl), so...

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i think it makes sense when the characters are actually speaking that language for a short time but aren't speaking it for most of the fic? like i have one ml AU set in new york so they're speaking english for most of it and i used french for the first couple lines that were french (and weaved the translations into the narrative). so that's the only time i do that personally--aside for maybe one word lines like bonjour--but as a reader it doesn't usually bother me when i see it used other ways

19. First fandom you wrote for?

ahaha the Vampire Academy book series. and NO you won't find those fics anywhere, even though they are still out there somewhere

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

currently Say Something. and i very much wish i could finish writing it, but it'll happen when it happens!

I think most people I would have tagged have probably been tagged by this point...likely more than once 😂. So whoever else wants to play should do so!!

[flightfoot]

I don't understand, why writing "revenge fantasies" is a form of projection that can be really harmful and that can't really be justified? These people are just externalizing they feelings without any real repercussions. I don't understand the "can't really be justified", they are literally doing nothing, so what they should justifie something? You think people just have to live with suppressed bad feelings and only externalize good feelings? So people just have sit down and suffer in silence until they hurt themselves or worse, take their own life?

This is the post the anon is talking about, if anyone's wondering.

It's better than actually committing the revenge or self-harming. Mind you, I don't think that the level of revenge fantasies or the way that that group tends to actively push for extreme vengeance as being not only something that is permissible, but is in fact the morally correct option above attempting de-escalation and understanding, is particularly helpful.

The bit about it not really being something that can be justified refers more to the way that the revenge fantasies in ML fandom salt have taken on a decidedly racist tone, with the way that Alya's targeted in particular, and just how baked in some really nasty stuff is into the Saltdom in general. It gets pretty offensive, and makes me think of the "Finn tries to sexually assault Rey so that Kylo Ren can beat him up" kind of racist fics I've heard about with the Star Wars fandom.

It's not like it's just a few people or like it's been a short-term thing, there's been this entire mindset and worldview that's sustained its own separate vengeance-based fandom these past few years and that has been re-enforced over and over again, which does make me fear that, say, the people deeply embroiled in the saltdom genuinely think that if you're in a position of power and you're pissed that like, your friend didn't help you to attack someone you hate to the degree that you'd like, that you are totally within your rights to abuse your power in order to set it up so they get sexually harassed, knowing that they can't do anything about it, purely for your own satisfaction.

In the beginning, I shrugged off the saltfics because I thought it was just a few people venting and that they'd get it out of their system, that they were just being written to explore a plotline, but that they didn't mean anything deeper. I've been in a lot of fandoms for a long time, and I've read all sorts of fics, even things with questionable content.

All these years later, with not only the fics, but the arguments I've seen pushing for punishment for people who simply doubted Marinette or fell for manipulation, I can't really say that it's just a bit of venting. I'm afraid that if I was one of the friends of someone who was advocating for Marinette to get to hurt anyone who got in her way, and I didn't agree to attack some random person they didn't like, that they'd turn around and try to make callout posts against me and try to dox me, while saying that I deserved it for not being a good enough friend to them, because that's the sort of argument I've seen pushed over and over again by the salter group.

[sunfoxfic]

Wait how do you only have 74 subs on AO3 I'd expect you to have at the very least 500

I'm semi new to this whole thing is that how that site works?????

User subscriptions are people who decided they liked me enough that they want to receive an email notification every time I post. I have nearly 600 work subscriptions, which are people who liked one of my stories enough that they want to be receive an email every time that specific story updates. The separation of those two things definitely means that people don't tend to subscribe to users as much as they might on another platform.

Before I say this next bit, I want to preface it by saying that 1) I write at bonkers speeds and therefore I really don't recommend anyone judge themselves off of me and 2) I'm not bent out of shape by any of my stats; I don't even see my stats unless I go out of my way to do so and I'm a lot happier that way.

When talking about what gets popular in the ML fandom, you gotta remember that realistically, the things that get the most popular are either love square or salt. I write my fair share of love square, don't get me wrong, but I don't write primarily love square - give or take half my fics are gen, and what's not gen is often rarepair. And I refuse to write salt.

(I don't generally recommend going into the Miraculous Ladybug tag, filtering out love square, and sorting by kudos, but doing so definitely illustrates a point: salt sells. Usually salt via Lukanette or Maribat.)

Because of that, I've had to come to terms with the fact that my own popularity is always going to be hindered by the fact that I don't write primarily love square. I periodically get the thought of "if I just wrote love square exclusively for a few months, I would boost my popularity so much," and I have to remind myself of why that's a dumb idea every single time.

And this is coming as someone who posts/updates frequently and, as far as I can tell, has a pretty decent writing style and a good grasp of character. I have privileges that others don't.

I only say all of this now because I think people tend to place this expectation that someone like me - who does post frequently, who does have an appealing style, and who has the benefit of every single type of fic you might think of - will get better stats than I do. And the truth is that non-love square fics in the ML fandom just don't get enough attention for that, and there's not a lot of open discussion about how non-love square fic writers are left behind. In the past, when I've brought this up, I've often been left with defensiveness from love square fic writers who think I'm blaming them, but more than anything I think we just need make it known.

It is not about quality or the so-called "AO3 algorithm." The fandom is just Like This. And while there is a lot to be said about how fandom interaction culture has evolved and how gift culture works and even how this suggests trends of amatonormativity in the fandom, I have to say that the only thing that worked for me and kept me posting is making peace with it. I will never be as popular as I would be if I wrote exclusively love square - but I have a small number of people who love seeing what I give next, and every new fic with a new pairing brings someone who was hunting down content for that pairing.

And that's plenty enough to make me happy. (Especially if I don't see how my hits to kudos ratio is looking.)

If it helps, though, I'm up to 78 subscribers now.

[none-of-your-biscuits]

everyone saying "CHAT NOIR DESERVED TO KNOW LADYBUG'S IDENTIFY FIRST" first of all, shut.

It wasn't about shipping, for once in this goddamned show it wasn't about shipping, this was about Marinette finally getting a support system because she was so stressed out.

And I'm seeing a lot of the word "deserved" Being thrown around and it's a horrible concept, nobody deserves your trust, and yeah ladybug does trust chat noir, but you have to be real, he's a little bit of a creep (probably not really his fault but I'm not getting into that)

Anyway point of rant, nobody deserves trust, trust is a choice.

[prompts-adrien-sugar]

The Special Hasn't Even Officially Premiered Yet And Y'all Are Already Salting.

[yueasuka]

Chat Noir a harasser? How, exactly? (・_・ヾ

[faunina]

okay cowards. which one of us is gonna write the Sibling Shenanigans heavy luka & juleka fanfic where they put on their nancy drew hats and find out that theyre the illegitimate children and thus Rock Heirs of jagged stone

obviously that is exactly what we need after that ep

[purrincess-chat]

I wonder, if for some reason Adrienette were to break up in the upcoming seasons (not necessarily due to a fight, but simply deciding to stop their relationship for a while), would you stop watching the show? Honestly, I think this might happen in the next seasons due to things related to their superhero lives (maybe even Lila influencing it to annoy Marinette and try to take Adrien for herself). Also, to achieve character development, they probably need to show that constantly keeping secrets can harm relationships, and the Love Square is structured in a way that one part of their lives affects the other. What happens on one side of the Love Square can impact the others. I don't think it would make them as a couple unworkable because: 1. It has also negatively affected their romantic relationships with other people; 2. Our hatrel to Gabriel Agreste will always be not enough. All the negative consequences could have been avoided if not for this guy who left kids with problems for several seasons ahead.

For me it would depend on the reason/how it was done. For instance, if the break up is something they're forced to do, but they're still very obviously madly in love with each other (i.e. Ben and Leslie from Parks and Rec), then maybe. 🤷‍♀️ What I don't want is some bullshit contrived reason if they are going to do it. Because after everything that went down in s5 and how hard they fought to stay together, it seems like kind of a waste, imo. If s5 had been different and their relationship a bit more shallow and rocky, then I could maybe see it, but they worked really hard at their relationship to make it work in s5. And I don't even know that secrets would be an issue because we've had an episode addressing that, and Adrien has shown that he doesn't fault Marinette for not telling him everything, he just doesn't want to hurt her. Because truthfully, it would make him a bit of a hypocrite bc he is also keeping a secret from her?? So, he really doesn't have a leg to stand on.

I think a lot of the push for them to break up comes from a couple of places, and they're both salty. 1. People will find any excuse to salt on Marinette and her knowing about Gabriel is just the latest excuse, so they feel she needs to be "punished" by losing her relationship, which ew. 2. People just really can't get over Adrinette being canon, and at this point, it's just kind of sad.

In my honest opinion, there is a lot that we don't yet know about future seasons, so it's not really possible to judge right now. I don't think we as a fandom realize how much shit just got flipped on its head when Gabriel made that wish. The world that we have been living in within the ML universe up to this point is GONE. Things are vastly different now. Yes, the characters may still be the characters we know and love, but we don't know how much control Gabriel exerted over this new world. We don't know everything that he changed and how it will affect the characters moving forward. Adrien might care that Marinette knows things he doesn't, or he might not. He may never even know she knows something he doesn't. It may never get brought up. Or it might. 🤷‍♀️ we don't know. The show may choose to explore a breakup, or it may not, and honestly, I'm just tired of people assuming it will happen or insisting that it has to happen. It's the Chloe redemption arc all over again, and if they don't go that route, people will bitch and complain about bad writing and a butchered story and how they should have done it another way and the writers are so stupid and bad. Then on the other hand if they do break up, people will be like see? Adrinette was bad, and I just...

I'm tired of seeing people root against the love square and be pissed about every little thing. And personally, I don't think the love square NEEDS to break up in order to be interesting or move forward. Those things aren't necessary in a relationship. It's not as realistic or interesting as people think it is, and I'm tired of people pretending it is. I vastly prefer seeing couples that overcome trials together and stay together. Those are the couples that can survive anything. If they break up over every little thing, that is not a healthy relationship model, and I don't want to root for it. Rip to everyone else, but I'm different. It may come as a shock to some people, but they can address secret keeping without breaking them up. It can definitely be a blow to their relationship, but they could work through it and come out the other end stronger without needing to totally end things. I just find it hard to believe that all of the cheerleaders for Adrinette's downfall are doing it innocently or because they think it's narratively necessary. I don't buy it.

I dunno. I've already said that whether or not I stick with ML will depend on how s6 goes up to mid-season. Thomas stepped down as head writer, so the writing of the episodes may feel different. The new world may be trash (it is Gabriel we are talking about). The new heroes might get too crowded and annoying. (I already wasn't a fan in s4, I didn't care for Penalteam at all). There are a lot of factors that could sway me in either direction, but honestly, I could forgive some of those if the love square interactions are still good. (I honestly think Adrinette hard carried s5, personally) But if you pair several of those with an Adrinette break up, then yeah, I don't see me having a reason to still watch. If I don't enjoy the show anymore, I'll stop watching. (A novel fucking concept for some, I know)

[gentil-minou]

When will people learn that saying "this season has bad writing cause they don't care about Adrien" and "I'm not salting on Adrien I just want him to be happy again" and all these things that imply that him being sad is BAD and he needs to be happy to be a fun character is invalidating as all hell????

Like essentially you're saying that the only worth he has is the comfort you find in him being happy sunshine funny boy?

Or that he doesn't have enough screentime but the reality is he has had the most character development screentime of any season but he's show emotions and so its bad because he's not happy all of the time

And its incredibly invalidating because as someone who always bottles her feelings up and is depressed like 75% of the time seeing a character do it on screen and isolate himself and hide his feelings is legitimately making me realize the way I do it and helping me want to change. But then seeing someone go he's too sad makes me revert back thinking oh i gotta be positive or no one will like me

And I guarantee there is someone in you're life doing the same things as he is and you would never tell them to stop being sad.

Please let this boy be sad.

Don't say the writers are being bullies for making him sad. Because no, they're not. They're making him more human. The way I see some folks acting is the way Gabe acts with the need to make his son be perfect. Don't be Gabe folks.

It's different if you say the show has writing inconsistencies because there are but people keep forgetting the season isn't over and they're setting things up and you watched out of order in a language you didn't understand and just please stop and just wait especially on my posts It's so dumb

Don't call it bad writing when we don't even know what the build up is leading to.

[simplystefanie-rae]

I really adore ML, especially their concept and their characters, but goodness what is going on with their writing? It just frustrates me, and tbh, the things that keeps me in the fandom are mainly the fan arts. I don't even think it is a good kid's show anymore since the message they get is to just act as bratty as you want and you will never face consequences and get whatever you want (Chloe, Max in the Games,...)

Yeah, at this point I’v having more issues than I am having things to enjoy in the show itself, the Chloe thing being on the bottom of the list, Marinette’s lack of an arc and the writers general disinterest in giving her a good story being my top complaint. Depending on how this season ends will determine if I’ll religiously keep up with the show or let it play out for a bit before coming back to see how things are going.