#ml lore discussion

[seaeclipse]

I'm just gonna headcanon that in Sublimation, the reason Ladybug and Chat Noir's sublimation shields bounced off them was because of their miraculouses shielding them, or just that they were already volunteering as heroes.

Not inherently to salt on the characters or anything. Just because I don't think theres really a set-in-stone "best version" of themselves that can be detected by Lila's power, its not the rabbit miraculous or anything to judge when they'll peak in life. And like the show itself says, theres always room to evolve, and both Marinette and Adrien are gonna improve from here on out, so theres really no reason for the show itself to say they peaked 3/7th (or 6/14th) through the show.

That, and I don't actually believe Sublimation's power fundamentally changes a person. Just their behaviour and determination to suit her own standards of what a person should be like in regards to their actions. For example, how the stadium employees got motivated to do their job, or how Sublime's dad began acting like her mother towards her, instead of

Like if Marinette got hit by one, she'd be more determined to go forward with the lie because thats what she was already doing, and Adrien, if he got hit, would be determined put up an even faker persona to show that hes fine, without the power considering anything other than the quality of these actions themselves, because thats what these two were already doing.

Because the stadium workers getting more enthusiastic didn't inherently make them a better version of themselves. Just more determined. If they were now "better", wouldn't they be made into being some sorts of prodigies? Instant masters of the arts? Elite politicians with tons of charisma? Instead, they were only made to be more enthusiastic about the job they were already saddled with.

Likewise, Ladybug and Chat Noir are, as stated, in the episode, by themselves to Bob Roth, volunteers. They don't have to do their job. Adrien could've, in theory, just listened to Plagg and went to the cafeteria to eat snacks. Just like Marinette could've just left to go to safety, or just never shown up as Ladybug. Hell, they didn't have to do any of this this in the first place.

They have no legal bindings, no contracts, nothing. They're already more than willing to do the job, enjoy it regularly (at least for Chat), already put an extensive amount of their time into, even during nights to patrol, and they have the world's best success rate. They're already enthusiastic about this and sublime at what they do. They don't even need a paycheck to do it.

And isn't that how this started in the first place? Sublime's mother being disappointed that Bob Roth, a potential sponsor, wasn't willing to do his job? That he wasn't enthusiastic to be a sponsor for Sublime? That he couldn't be bothered to wait and push past her setback? That he was only concerned about money?

But thats just a theory. A miraculous theory. (Please get the reference)

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Speaking of how the heroes are chosen, the temp system might be one of the worst writing choices the writers ever made. I mean I get it, permanent heroes would require the show to have continuity and it makes for yet another parallel with Gabriel, but it just ends up being another one of those instances of the show trying to have its cake and eat it too, like. The new heroes eat up screen time that could've gone to the OG duo, but they also don't get to be heroes in their own right and are essentially Ladybug's Pokemon. It makes both people who liked the duo and people who like team-based shows unhappy for no real benefit.

It's also just a massive security risk. Fu says that it's dangerous for the Miraculous to be out in the open, but it's actually way less risky to put the Miraculous in circulation, because then Hawk Moth has to retrieve them by defeating every hero individually, which is a lot more effort. Keeping them all in one place and distributing them one at a time like this means Hawk Moth only has to figure out who's in charge of the distributing and follow that person right to the Miracle Box. Ferrying the Miraculous for every battle also creates more opportunities to lose them, which is how Queen Bee ended up happening.

Looking back, the problems of just about every season finale past S1 can be traced back to this system. It's almost like the writers are trying to set Marinette up to fail.

Ladybug's Pokemon

I love that phrasing! I've just called them her powerups, but this paints a much clearer picture of what I mean. They're not her autonomous teammates who feel vital to the story. They're her cute little friends who do whatever she says. All she has to do is pick which ones she wants for today's battle.

Fu says that it's dangerous for the Miraculous to be out in the open, but it's actually way less risky to put the Miraculous in circulation, because then Hawk Moth has to retrieve them by defeating every hero individually, which is a lot more effort.

Ferrying the Miraculous for every battle... creates more opportunities to lose them, which is how Queen Bee ended up happening.

These are two of my biggest issue with the temp heroes as a general concept. Fetching them every battle gives Gabriel endless chances to find out the temp heroes identities and/or where the guardian is hiding. I don't know why the show acts like the problem was Ladybug forgetting to detransform in Heart Hunter:

Ladybug: Master Fu, I need your help! Master Fu: (sees Ladybug, gasps) This costume is very cute, miss, but is it really fitting in this place? Ladybug: (gasps) I forgot to transform back. (Looks arounds enters the center of the merry-go-round trying to remain unseen) I haven't been followed Master, I'm sure of it.

Nathalie would have been able to track Ladybug either way. At least this way Marinette's identity stayed a secret!

It would make infinitely more sense for Fu to be the one to hand out the miraculous to the temp heroes for two reasons. The first one was laid out above. Having him or some other support character do it is the best way to keep his identity a secret. You should not have Ladybug leaving battles to do it. That's too easy to track because the villains know where she's going to be when she goes running off for help.

The other reason is because it's asinine to have Ladybug run off every time they face a major threat. Think about that logic for a second.

Ladybug: This akuma is too hard for us to fight as a duo! Chat Noir, you stay here and fight this super hard akuma alone while I go get reinforcements. I'll be back in half an hour or so. Chat Noir: Wait, what? How am I supposed to- Ladybug: Have fun! Don't die! Bye!

How did that never backfire on them? I get temp heroes being temp for a few fights, but they should have all been given their miraculous full time ages ago.

[habadoo]

My top Isekai/roFan webcomics (I have read far too many) (and will continue to do so)

Who made me a princess. Gorgeous art and gorgeous story.

The Fantasie of A Stepmother. Also gorgeous art, and a beautiful story. Focus on found family, with a smart protagonist. (I'm obsessed with Nora and Shuri).

The Wicked Tale of Cinderella's Stepmom. One of my favourites. MC wakes up in the body of Mildred, the mother of two daughters and her step-daughter Cinderella. The relationship between the girls and our MC is so well written, and the romance is *chef's kiss*. It's more Josie vibes, and has a realistic portrayal of aristocratic society. MC is a mama bear; don't get on her bad side!

Why Raeliana Left The Duke's Mansion. This now has an anime adaptation, for good reason. MC and ML are smart, and now writing this list I want to go re-read it haha.

The Perks of Being an S Class Heroine. This one is hilarious, and the plot and pacing is so good. It starts with a tutorial period with all the MC's as kids first, so the romance isn't central so far, but I love our FL and the plot and all the characters are interesting.

Wall of Glass. Okay this one is historical rather than fantasy BUT it is so good highly recommend if you want a more realistic portrayal of the class system (I think it's set in Victorian England). Our FL is a noble lady who gets a big wake up when her father sadly dies and their estate is bankrupt, so she has to work and earn money. ML is the opposite - he is a commoner who has worked his way up and hates the nobility. They first meet when she's a noble, then later when she's a governess. (If you happen to like the book North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell I recommend this comic & vice versa. If you like Austen then PLEASE read North and South!).

Villains Are Destined To Die. I absolutely love Penelope and Callisto's dynamic, and I really like our MC. They just work so well together. I like Callisto's sardonic personality. (Also, he's a major simp for her. Literally jumps blind into danger for her; and he feels safe with her because he knows she's got his back too.) CW for abusive parent/siblings - not physical, but emotional and neglectful, and I think the MC has an unhealthy relationship with food. Because of her abuse she is malnourished and has gut problems (mentioned in her past life), and when she's anxious/stressed she completely forgets to eat, but all of this is discussed in the novel. The fact that Penelope dismisses it as no big deal is questioned by other characters, such as our devastatingly handsome ML. The plot/world lore is hella also interesting.

[pruneunfair]

Why I think Claudine would be loved if she was a female lead. (More in-depth discussion)

Claudine was a very interesting character. Up until she got the usual villainess treatment of being flanderized as a jealous fiancé who wanted Layla dead, she didn't feel like a traditional villainess in the usual sense we think of.

Before the utter destruction of her character. Claudine at most would just pick on and even humiliate Layla on occasion but not through cartoony stunts like pouring wine all over her. More like inviting her to a ball knowing she can't really afford any nice dresses. Basic passive aggressive mean girl.

She was very classy about it too and outside of making fun of Layla, she had her own life with her family, friends, Matthias and of course her very own 2nd ML Riette.

Claudine is a perfect isekai-esque villainess to transmigrate to for those reasons: a jealous fiancé perceived to only love the man for his status and treats the poor FL poorly.

But a lot of COBYB fans hate her as most manhwa fandoms would hate the resident villainess even though she embodies all the traits that were beloved, why?

Well for the first and obvious answer: perspective. We only really see the perspective of Layla and Matthias. Layla is a humble orphan girl working alongside her uncle to stay afloat, she has Kyle as a close friend and possible love interest and it was said she was going to be a teacher when she graduated. Lot of people can relate to that over a wealthy woman who was born with all these benefits she didn't have to work for. And Matthias is well..Matthias but he's the male lead and most importantly, attractive. So in the eyes of the fandom, that means he has more leeway to do what he wants considering he also has an actual past thats fleshed out.

It's also because of the weird phenomenon that is young readers finding every reason to despise a female villian while trying to excuse the male villain because he's hot or because he had a very tragic backstory. It's a problem with a lot of fan bases out there, Helluva boss, Miraculous ladybug, Trolls 3, lore olympus etc. Obviously the problem isn't that the villainesses in these pieces of media aren't being 100% absolved of consequences. The problem is how they seem to be the ONLY ONES suffering fandom consequences even though there are plenty of male villains who are just as bad or worse.

Heres the thing, while a humble farm girl is definitely easier to relate to and care about. A majority of the manhwa that we have are all centered around really rich women, and what makes these women usually stand out when they have privilege and status is their personality to get shit done and are also very intelligent. These stories are often popular since a woman who only wants to get that bag and live a lavish life isn't frowned upon as it was. Claudine fits this description nicely given that she was really only interested in being the Duchess .

Another trope isekai villainess manhwas usually have is another male lead for the new protagonist to pair up with. Usually they are a second ml, someone equally/more powerful then the og husband, or in rare cases they're just the og male lead. Claudine has Riette for that who would be a great contrast for Matthias. Matthias likes watching Layla cry, he often emotionally and even sexually abuses her and doesn't seem to care how much damage he's inflicting on her or Claudine by cheating on her. Riette on the other hand genuinely loved Claudine and she unfortunately did not reciprocate until he was KIA. So if per say this was an isekai comic where Claudine was the FL then I could see one change being that she tried to ensure Riette survives. Plus Riette would basically fill the common OI male lead role of showing off how much of an improvement he is compared to the first guy.

What else? While a little more rare, some female leads in isekai/regression will relentlessly attack the og fl or anyone with og fl traits for a really misguided/contrived reason. It's unfortunately a possibility that a character like Layla would be villianized in order to quickly hash up a new white lotus but if we go on a less character assasination route and take examples out of revenge on the real one then Claudine making fun of Layla could be something you'd be expected to root for since Layla is the "mistress" (quotations considering she didn't even want to be a mistress)

Finally, it's the in general sassy villainess attitude that would win people over if she was the glorious lead. I mean look at Reilynn from today the villainess has fun again, a literal implied pedo with an awful personality and there's a lot of people who love her and her "money makes the word go round" attitude. A less negative example is Roxana Agriche, a true villainess who has killed people and has one of the most terrifying butterfly abilities I ever saw but she's still well loved for being absolutely iconic. Hell sometimes you don't even have to be the FL, Soleia Elard from seducing the villains father was more popular then the FL Yerenica to the point where most posts about that manhwa were centered around her.

would a story where Claudine is the protagonist be a good story? Depends if it's handled well, but I still believe it would have a loyal fanbase.

[laciefuyu]

//CN server spoilers & TW server stuffs

So the music solo ssr series that was announced is here and the starter is Marius!

Hahaha so there is a 3D doll and rhythm game mixed as gameplay

I can't wait to try it on the TW server! Ah also I heard this card is very good and his lore card, so I would say this is recommended for anyone who is interested in his lore (saw some bits in xhs and discord www) also I heard its the same dog from Dream of Thebes SR XD

As for the TW server, well Artem's event just finished!

I enjoy the event plenty, you could say the event story is basically a short continuation of Cozy Contentment because heavy on the call back to that card XD (They visited the cafe in the country of their first encounter), a nice read in general.

The card writing itself is very lovely, the EN title name being Multiversal Encounter is actually the perfect name to capture what is being discussed, after all "Chance Encounters" always been a vital element of their themes, and even if their meeting was just one-of-billion chances, this one is enough. Also his reassurance and treasuring things that already happened, and appreciation for his hobbies.

Also zuo ran really gives a lovely lines at the end of the card:

相爱的人, 会再相逢。

Hahaha gushing aside the badge for the event, very cute right XD I love them dearly

On the other hand, Free Sport MR currently rerunning, by my count the rerun should be also free but no schips or namecard XD

There are also dream notes updates and well, I love it a lot. I can't wait for this system to be in GLB tbh. The little insight with every ML is nice to read.

TW also announced the newest Marius SSR for March 30, and this one just speculation but Mo Yi 2nd Solo SSS should be early April before ZR birthday, but we'll see, and also Marius Angel MR rerun XD

This rounded post is supposed to be when the card is announced for the CN server but Ramadhan, so I am fasting and most of my brain power is for work and I've been busy wwww

Anyway I should be more active once Ramadhan passes and I recharge during the holiday.

See you later!

[kimberlyannharts]

LAST TIME ON POWER RANGERS PRIME:

Mark is in jail for the crime of being a refugee hybrid alien fighting racist police VR Troopers who want to use him as trading fodder to support the fascist Eltarian regime (excited for their upcoming series where you have to root for them???????) and as a bonus, we learn he has a Traumatic Past with Dead Mother and everything. Fun times! Now let's see if everyone else is having as fun a time as he is!

It's Power Rangers Prime #7!

= See? Fun times! True equality: both moms and dads can be terrible

= I understand they're going for a "Valentina and Jun are parallels" thing here but man do I wish Valentina can have some sort of development that isn't tied to her relationship with a man. It's happening both with her platonic AND romantic relationships.

= Meanwhile Lauren's fighting Rocksteady, I guess

= So yeah, the man (robot?) of the hour: Teezee! Clearly going to be the first of the Prime Zords. So as I said in a previous post the previews for this issue made it seem like Orion and Mark just randomly decided to build a robot T-Rex with no explanation, but apparently the FCBD had showed they simply FOUND him while snooping around the museum and I guess decided to reactivate him. Which I guess makes more sense, but sometimes this series drops its lore and revelations in ways that feels like you missed something. And not in like, a "well we're keeping it a mystery!" way - for instance, "where did Teezee come from?" is an intentional mystery - but more in like a "the story and characters expect you to accept everything that's happening and move on" way. I just feel like characters should be asking more questions, or things should be mapped out a little more clearly

= VALENTINA DUMP HIS ASS DUMP HIS ASS DUMP HIS ASS NEVER TRUST A BLOND MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

= where's your anger? where's your rage? RISE RISE RISE RISE

= I still think Orion should have said "can't pull off that shade of silver" here

= Anyway the Dino Mutant guy is hot and I wish we knew his name. Can HE be a Ranger

= Oh look, it's Safe Haven 2.0! Only instead of on another planet, it's underground. Cool. At least Dino Mutant Guy is hotter than Arkon

= ML's review had a bit of a discussion about how this just kinda thrown at you without giving you any time to really care, and I kinda agree. Like I'm sure they'll come back to this place and develop more of its cast (again, just like Safe Haven lol) but as of right now they're just kinda using the "look! more people the Eltarians/VR Troopers are oppressing! they help orphaned(?) kids!" narrative to do the legwork to win us over. Remember how Darkest Hour randomly gave Ari and Remi a kid out of nowhere? This is kind of the same thing

= With what I was saying earlier with the book just kinda dropping things on your lap, this technically IS an explanation, but again, nothing that actually explains Teezee's deal. Like I wouldn't have gotten "Orion and Mark found Teezee and decided to reactivate him" from this

= Also yeah Lauren's got her dad's Samuraizer now. Which I'll give props to maybe THAT'S how we'll get her alt-Samurai form, but at the same time....at this point, why even bother lol

= Nah Jun sorry it's cool to have semi-confirmation that you like Mark but conspiring with cops means you are banned from Pride

= eh doesn't look familiar

[princess-of-the-corner]

I had some idle ML thoughts that I thought were worth sharing.

So I was thinking about how nothing in fanfiction has quite managed to capture the feeling I had when I was watching the first season of Miraculous. I've gotten a lot of other good feelings and really enjoy the fanfiction, but it is markedly different from the first time I watched it.

So I started wondering what was it about this show that made me keep coming back? Because currently it's a combination of morbid fascination, sunk cost fallacy, lingering emotional attachment, and hate-watching. But not in the early days.

Sure, it was cute and charming and adorably cheesy, but the overwhelming focus on the love square that was the hook of the whole series didn't actually interest me (aroace gremlin lol). So what did this show have that made me continue watching back when it was kinda good?

I think I've finally figured it out. The first is the fun, uniqueish concept of mashing together superhero comics and magical girl anime and seeing what you get, which has been discussed in other places. But the second is one I don't really see talked about much. And that was the mystery of it all! When I was watching the first season, my friends and family and I all had a LOT of fun theorizing and putting together the tiny lore crumbs and making conspiracy boards. Is Gabe Hawkmoth, or are they just sorta similar? We watched in the iconic bad release order, so we were also asking where the kwami and the miraculous came from and how they got this way. Who was the Butterfly kwami? How did Hawkmoth get it? What was Hawkmoth's endgame and goals? What were some of the other miraculous? How do these powers work?

The show was set up with so little information, that it was kinda fun to try to piece it together as we went. But that quickly turned into being strung along, plot twists that made no sense (coughs in senti-Kagami), overfocus on dumb shit like the characters being not allowed to satisfactorily develop or more lovesquare lunacy, a fuck ton of inconsistent writing,and a lot of really unsatisfying answers to our questions (Gabe's a man with many issues and also a horrible person, Fu and the Order's whole. . .thing, the Kwami being really bad at their jobs for supposedly immortal beings, etc.)

All this to say, I'd like to pitch a miraculous rewrite that reimagines the origins of the kwami and the lore system to actually make sense, but then treats that very lore system as a mystery that both the audience and the characters have to solve together! I think it would be cool and capture some of the original spirit of the show that I haven't seen replicated.

Honestly yeah bringing back some mystery for the audience would be fantastic

[laresearchette]

Wednesday, October 23, 2024 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES? INK MASTER (Season Premiere) (Paramount+ Canada) CATFISH (Season Premiere) (Paramount+ Canada)

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT BREATH OF FIRE (Premiering on October 24 on HBO Canada at 10:00pm)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

CBC GEM HARDER BETTER FASTER STRONGER SO YOU WANT TO BE A MUSLIM?

CRAVE TV BREATH OF FIRE

NETFLIX CANADA CAR MASTERS: RUST TO RICHES: (Season 6) THE COMEBACK: 2004 BOSTON RED SOX FAMILY PACK (FR) SCREAM 2 SCREAM 3 SCREAM 4 THIS IS THE ZODIAC SPEAKING

NBA BASKETBALL (SN) 7:30pm: Cavaliers vs. Raptors (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 7:30pm: Bucks vs. 76ers (SN360) 10:00pm: Warriors vs. TrailBlazers (TSN4) 10:00pm: Clippers vs. Suns

NHL HOCKEY (SN1) 7:30pm: Flyers vs. Capitals

BACK TO ROOTS (APTN) 7:00pm: Chef Denia surprises Perry with an elk tenderloin to cook together; they forage for wild cranberries, wild mushrooms and yarrow; Perry prepares a wild cranberry and yarrow mocktail for them to enjoy while discussing ingredients and recipes.

PAID IN FULL: THE BATTLE FOR BLACK MUSIC (CBC) 8:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): Black artists' fight for fair pay and ownership of their songs dates back to the 1920s, including Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Little Richard, TLC and more.

THE PASSIONATE EYE (CBC) 9:00pm: Harder Better Faster Stronger: Misinformation expert Timothy Caulfield investigates the purported "crisis in masculinity," debunks toxic men's health myths and meets with people challenging traditional masculine norms.

MARK MCKINNEY NEEDS A HOBBY (CTV) 9:02pm: Mark McKinney tries his hand at a cross section of aquatic sports; Mark learns some sailing basics and sings some sea shanties, learns bodyboarding techniques in the surf of Santa Monica, Cali. beach, and joins a synchronized swimming team.

SECRET HISTORY (APTN) 9:00pm: When a family discovers gold, a Tlingit woman's traditional knowledge is vital for navigating the Yukon wilderness and securing their fortune.

MLS SOCCER (TSN) 10:00pm: Vancouver vs. Portland

TALES FROM THE TERRITORIES (Much) 10:00pm: Tales from the Territories reunites wrestlings legends to relive their most jaw-dropping stories from in and out of the ring. One of the most infamous stories in wrestling lore, TV star Andy Kaufman traveled from Hollywood to Memphis to wrestle women, before facing off against King Jerry Lawler.

GOING NATIVE (APTN) 10:30pm: Drew travels down under to witness how Australia's first nations live, hunt and maintain their ancient traditions while taking in some of Australia's most beautiful sites; he even learns how to catch his own lunch while avoiding becoming lunch.

SO LONG, MARIANNE (Crave) 11:00pm: Leonard Cohen receives news of his grandmother's passing, plunging him into melancholy; pregnant with Axel's child, Marianne faces turmoil in her relationship due to Axel's infidelity.

[ourpickwickclub]

Re Blake and the state of current music discussion. Image and packaging have been important in pop music for a long time. LAMB is a good example of that before the streaming era where Gwen created this whole “world” around the album -Harajuku girls, the bright colorful quirky presentation that was supposed to represent her creative imagination. Following her lead you had people like Katy Perry, Gaga etc. Now you’ve got Taylor Swift who not only creates a whole universe and lore around her music but has a massive build up and tie ins. The thing is country music didn’t really lean into that so much before the streaming era. It always had “personas” or “characters” though that the artists leaned into for marketing purposes, think Johnny Cash man in black, Willie Nelson outlaw, etc. Think of Blake from 2005 on characterized as a hard drinking, flirty, bad boy with a romantic side. Blake played that up even on the Voice and it worked to sell his music. Now not only is he aging out of that persona, his personal life is vastly different so it doesn’t resonate. That’s why some of his recent Hardy, partying etc releases just didn’t hit. On top of all that, country music in the streaming era is starting to get into the more complex marketing like pop. (As much as it pains me to say it, ML’s WOTW did a good job-double album to get higher sales cert, different themes-verve/heart, etc). I’m just not sure if Blake is willing to put that much effort into it anymore, aside from the actual music itself.

.

[vulpiximisa]

Finally finished the game 

I’m mostly disappointed in the fact that I had pretty much predicted most of the major plot twists. Which again isn’t bad because it just means they left enough hints for anyone to be able to draw that conclusion. 

Oh, the Pink Blood though, that’s absolute genius. Not sure what that’s like to anyone that had not played DR, but it was so on the nose. I loved it. 

As for the Yuma past reveal, I’ve already said I wasn’t a big fan of the Specialist Boy reveal. But at the same time, I kind of hoped that there were some hints dropped about it during the game. I had the same problem with Hinata/Izuru but given that he was supposed to be reset, it was passable that Hinata wouldn’t randomly exert super skills. Yuma on the other hand, even though his memories were wiped, I feel like he never displayed any super critical thinking skills that went beyond a normal person’s, like none that would qualify being a supposedly most genius brain in the WDO. Not sure if because the cases were too simple or because of Shinigami’s “help” or that the ML we’re just not a good way to show it. (Having  muscle memory from holding a gun didn’t really count)

Was discussing the majority of the finale with my sis who was watching my playthrough and we both kind of agreed that even though Info Dump from the Villain is Not Fun, the constant QTRs were also not really fun in terms of gaining new information. I get that it was supposed to feel really fast paced but there wasn’t much room to think or any of the reveals weren’t mind blowing. 

Also discussing with sis, and hate to compare it to other games, but the MLs are just Not Fun. There never really felt like there was a triumphant moment, because even though you get the cool It Was You finger point moment, it doesn’t feel Good because it’s not even Real and Then They Die. I get it in terms of lore but gameplay wise I do not look forward to them. 

Not sure if because the last game I played was TotK but I honestly really wanted a scene of the Nocturnal crew to burst in through the Labyrinth to tell Yuma he wasn’t alone. Makes absolutely no sense, but I’m a sucker for that kinda stuff. 

It only made sense for Shinigami to be the one to have to knock some sense into him but I didn’t think it held a lot of weight. Her time with him always felt borrowed so her saying She Is With Him didn’t amount to much for me because they had a pact. Not saying that they were strictly business but it just felt like she wasn’t going to be there with him forever. (Not like the Kinomoto Sakura and Kero duet song called Zutto Zutto Zutto) Got just a little sad thinking about what would happen to her. Made me think of Death Note where the only way a Shinigami dies is if they fall in love. Not to say her bond to Yuma is romantic, even with the kiss, but I know that she has an attachment to him. 

Was hoping to get a “bad ending” by choosing to stay but I guess it turned out to be the right ending. Will go back and see what the other choice brings. I also have to get the rest of the Gabs, which I missed most of them in chapter 3 somehow. 

A little disappointed finishing the game didn’t unlock any new content like art or music gallery. I know since DR were ports and had lower graphics that they could cram all this extra stuff, while Rain Codes graphics were really good so I guess there was no room for anything else. 

Did solving the extra cases in Kanai Ward do anything at all? I was afraid I chose the wrong answers for some of them (the kid getting ghosted away, not telling the guy waiting for his dead gf) so I don’t know if there was any impact on the ending at all. 

Anyway, I don’t know how much I’ve craving content of the other characters because I don’t think I was going to get the DLCs if Yuma isn’t in it. 

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Sometimes I wonder why Adrien even got the black cat ring. What makes him a good holder for the miraculous of destruction?

We get somewhat of an answer with Marinette for the miraculous of creation. She's a creative person with a lot of creative hobbies, which allows her to use lucky charm very well.

But then, shouldn't Adrien be a destructive person in one way or another? Not him being toxic or hurting people. Just his personality having something to do with the concept of destruction.

I've seen some people argue that Adrien is a good black cat holder because he's not a destructive person and that the best holder for destruction is someone who isn't destructive, unlike with creation where the best holder is someone creative.

It's sound logic, so I can't really argue with it. However, on a thematic level it promotes a narrative of "creation is good, destruction is evil. Therefore we want as much of creation and as little of destruction." Which can work for some stories, but wouldn't fit with the imagery of mlb of how creation and destruction are a yin and yang thing rather than a good and evil. Both in how the miraculous are presented in the box, how Ladybug and Chat Noir are (supposed to be) equal partners and how the show never really explored or acknowledged much how destruction can be more dangerous than creation (other than Chat cataclysming people on accident/trying to when angry, but those are more for shock value than actually making a thematic point.)

The saddest thing is that as a character, Adrien is perfectly positioned to show the ways destruction can be good. His arc should be all about cutting off the toxic people in his life (namely his father), which is peak "destroying something bad so there can be good".

His establishing character moment in origins even plays into it, with how he rebels against Gabriel's control to run away to school. That's already a big action where he tries to destroys Gabriel total control of his life!

You mentioned in a recent ask how there's not much canonically to support that Adrien values freedom or that he uses Chat Noir as a way to gain freedom, which is correct. But I think the reason why it's such widespread fanon to the point it's confused with canon is that thematically Adrien should value freedom above all else.

His literal worst nightmare is being trapped in an ever shrinking cage, which he only escapes from by transforming to Chat Noir. His life is tightly controlled by his father, and Chat Noir allows him to both knowingly stand up to him (like in simon says) and unknowingly fight his father. Whenever he and Ladybug are trapped, cataclysm is the answer, not lucky charm.

But incorperating that into the narrative would require the show to engage with the themtics of having characters associated with specific concepts on... any level at all really. Or just have themes in the first place that more than accidental unfortunate implications.

Sometimes I wonder why Adrien even got the black cat ring. What makes him a good holder for the miraculous of destruction?

The show has done a terrible job with most of its power assignments. You can headcanon and rewrite ways to make them work, but in the context of canon, many of them make no sense. Like in what way is Nino a protector? And why was Alya given Illusions? Odd choice for a journalist. What even makes someone a good holder for Illusions? I go the storyteller route and fix Alya accordingly, but that's not canon. Canon clearly wants her to be an investigative journalist who is obsessed with truth, not good stories which would be a better match for something relating to revelations or investigation.

As you rightly pointed out, Adrien has similar issues. What makes him a good holder for Destruction? What does it even mean to be a good holder of Destruction? I'll give you my two cents, but you'll quickly see that none of this is canon. This is just what I think canon should have done. I also don't think there's a way to make Adrien's assignment work in canon as it's way too late in the game to make the kind of changes Destruction's power set needs for it to feel like a good Force. (Note: I don't think Destruction fits anyone in canon because of the following issues. I think it's got fundamental design flaws. I'm only focusing on Adrien since it's his assigned Force.)

The biggest issue with Destruction - and the reason some people think that the best holder is someone who isn't destructive - is the fact that canon has failed to show Destruction as a positive force even though Destruction can absolutely be a positive force! You wouldn't know that from canon, though. Canon shows Creation as good and Destruction as just kind of there.

Cataclysm is sometimes useful in a fight, but it doesn't add much value to the world. Another miraculous would often work just as well or even better as cataclysm has been known to cause trouble. For example, it's arguably the reason Adrien is an orphan, severely undermining my ability to look at it as something that benefits Adrien!

The newly introduced "Miraculous Chat Noir" ability isn't great either. So far, it's only been used to have Adrien unknowingly denying himself information because Alya would absolutely have caved and told him the truth if he hadn't erased her memory. What a wonderful way to introduce a new power! I'm so happy that Adrien finally got an upgrade! (That was sarcasm. Worst power introduction in the show.)

Tikki is seen as a good and positive Kwami while Plagg causes chaos and gets blamed for things like the loss of Atlantis and the death of the dinosaurs. Su-Han is even on record as saying that Plagg should never be out of the box because Destruction just isn't a good thing to set free. But Tikki being free? That's fine even though she's Plagg's equal.

All of this is why I will once again get on my soapbox and argue that Adrien should be the one purifying akumas, not Marinette. Purification is an act of Destruction. You are removing taint and restoring something to peace. Which is fitting because Adrien's life is full of things that he needs to remove in order to find peace. Marinette doesn't have that kind of plot line so her being the one with the purification power is both bad lore and just thematically bad. She's a creator, let her stick to creation!

Because Destruction can so easily cause harm, it should also be about self control. It's yet another one of the many ways that canon could have leaned into this idea of intent mattering. Over the course of the show, Adrien should have become better and better at targeting his cataclysms so that they only destroy the thing(s) he wants destroyed while leaving everything else intact. If that isn't a solid metaphor for things like emotional self-regulation, learning when to cut things from your life, and healthy boundary setting than I don't know what is.

All of this leads to my lore bible's list of what makes a person a good match for Destruction, none of which is canon, but my rewrite, my rules:

Someone who is capable of controlling their negative impulses to an absurd degree. They cannot be inclined to act out when angry or frustrated. It’s okay if they're emotional, the question is what they do with those emotions because a Chosen of Destruction cannot get upset and physically act out while transformed.

Destruction’s powers have to be perfectly honed in a way that the other powers don’t, so the ideal Chosen will be someone patient who doesn’t mind hours of practice.

While the first two traits in this list are the only essential ones, Plagg has found that his best kittens are those with kind, nurturing natures. In almost all of the strongest miraculous teams, Destruction is the team's heart. The one who encourages others and brings everyone together. (Destroying barriers between people?) Destruction needs kindness and selfless love to direct it properly.

You mentioned in a recent ask how there's not much canonically to support that Adrien values freedom or that he uses Chat Noir as a way to gain freedom, which is correct. But I think the reason why it's such widespread fanon to the point it's confused with canon is that thematically Adrien should value freedom above all else.

Also agree on this. That's why the post you mentioned had this bit:

it's pretty popular for people to say that Chat Noir is Adrien embracing freedom, a take that makes perfect sense given his backstory and the way he's played in Origins. However, it's hard to call this canon. Outside of Origins, there's not much in canon to back up this read.

Adrien wanting freedom makes so much sense for his character, but then they'd have to actually give him a character so of course canon won't go there. Imagine how much better his "I don't know what I want to be" arc would have been if his final note was about wanting to explore the world instead of about loving Marinette. Essentially take this:

I've been thinking a lot, and still not know what I would like to do later in life. The only thing I know for sure is that I love Marinette Dupain-Cheng. But I guess that doesn't really help you. I'm sorry. Adrien Agreste.

And make it something like this:

I've been thinking a lot and I still don't know what I would like to do later in life. The only thing I know for sure is that want to try out as many things as I can to try to find my passion. I'm not sure how much that helps you, though. I'm not even sure where to begin. Sorry. Adrien Agreste.

This? This is what a character arc looks like. We start with him having no idea what he wants, move to him accepting that fact, leading into him trying a bunch of things, ending with him finding happiness. His happiness being tied to his girlfriend is not a good message just because he's a boy and she's a girl. This is not what feminism looks like!

[anna-scribbles]

*manifesting you doing pjo x miraculous cross over art*

anon you can’t say stuff like this to me when you know i have no self control

[dorkwingdad]

I've never actually posted this, but I feel like it should be said with the fact toxicity in the fandom is on the rise again.

The reason people have trouble agreeing who is good or bad is the fact the writing is inconsistent.

[purrincess-chat]

I've had this discussion before with friends, but I wanted to delve into it more. In a meta mood today I guess, but I've been thinking while watching s4 (well, I've thought it for a while but it's glaringly obvious in s4), but ML has a huge pacing problem.

I know that s1 was more or less a pilot season. It introduced the concept and dynamics of the show, and they weren't exactly sure if it would get its feet off the ground yet, but seasons 2-4 so far have just had a lot of pacing issues.

And I'm going to preface this by saying that everyone who can't understand the difference between critical discussion and salt, feel free to leave. I don't care if you think the show is perfect the way it is. Go do that somewhere else. People can and should be able to look at the media they consume critically. It doesn't mean it's bad or that they hate it. They just fundamentally understand that it is flawed, and enjoy discussing the plot and its flaws on a deeper level. Refusing to see flaws where they exist isn't the positive power move you think it is.

Anyway, back to the pacing issues.

S2 and s3 had barely any plot. The plot we did get was trickled in. Crumbs. Now we got to s4 and Thomas has declared that every episode will have Chat Blanc levels of bombshells dropped as if that's a good thing. Don't get me wrong, s4 has been better than prior seasons, but I still leave every episode feeling like they rushed to cram in too much.

We all know how I feel about the love rivals, and setting aside personal feelings, the rivals from a writing standpoint were not necessary. At least not functioning as love rivals. Introduce Luka and Kagami, sure, but from a storytelling standpoint the purpose they served in s2 and 3 was just to be a cheap distraction. And they didn't have to be.

The big draw of this show is the love square and its subversion of the love triangle. Now people argue that it's realistic to explore other options before getting together, and while that might be true of real life, that isn't in line with the genre/style of this show. It wasn't a needed lesson, so to speak. They drew us in with the promise to subvert a specific trope in an interesting way, then immediately dragged out that very trope. And not even for any big reason. They just needed an excuse to keep the endgame ship split. And as we can see with how swiftly they dropped the rivals when they were no longer "necessary" as distractions, the writers were always using them as an excuse not to put the square together earlier. They knew the square's chemistry was too good and fans were going to be foaming at the mouth by s3 if they didn't do something. Then the second they have another excuse for the square not to get together, boom. Dropped the rivals.

You felt cheated because it was a cheap tactic, and honestly, it was so avoidable if they had just paced things better.

Honestly, I feel like Alya should have found out in s3. Granted, in order to do that they would have had to changed a lot. So this is what I personally (you are welcome to your opinions elsewhere if you disagree or enjoy canon the way it is) feel would have helped fix this pacing problem:

S1 was a bit unavoidable, and it works for what is is: a market tester.

S2 should have focused more extensively on the lore and Marinette's guardian training. We should have been introduced to Mayura earlier. They should have spent more time expanding Master Fu's story and the order's backstory. They could have created tension with the girls/Alya/Marinette's relationships by having her constantly sneaking around to either fight bad guys or train as a guardian which begins to harbor Alya's suspicion. They very well could have moved Master Fu passing his role onto Marinette to the s2 finale if they were more efficient with their time, leading into s3.

S3 could have had Alya finding out. Marinette becomes too overwhelmed with her new duties as guardian and being Ladybug just as she is in s4. S3 could have been her exploring her new role with her bff by her side for support while they begin to build up the Agreste plot more.

S4 then would have been free to expand the Agreste plot without having to crowd in so many other plotlines. Everything would have room to breathe. Marinette would have been busy enough in prior seasons to justify not dating anyone.

What the rivals effectively did was waste time that could have been utilized to develop the plot further in other areas. I get some people like them, but from an objective storytelling perspective, they were filler. When you write a story, like an honest to God professional story, everything has to serve a greater purpose for the plot and move it forward, and if you are experiencing pacing issues or a plot line isn't working, you have to make the executive decision to cut it or change it. I get that time constraints are a thing in TV. Executive meddling happens. Deadlines are tight, which doesn't always leave room for this kind of long game thinking. I also get that this is (I believe) the first time Thomas has been a head writer. Mistakes are bound to happen. It's how you learn and get better. I get that.

This post is more just me speculating what would have made things work better. For me. So backspace over your butthurt comments. Your precious canon is still untouched. I promise. This is just my opinion, shared on my own blog (and not even tagged). Go make your own meta post.

But that being said, I enjoy s4, but it still doesn't quite sit right with me because they are putting too many eggs in their basket now in an attempt to be epic and up the stakes, but in reality, it just leaves the show feeling really unbalanced. To me.

If you like ML the way it is, great. Go enjoy it, scamp. I wouldn't be here if I didn't glean some enjoyment from it too. I just like to think about things sometimes. And that's perfectly okay.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Analysis: The Miraculous. Marvelous or Ridiculous.

So I have been asked to make an analysis on the well known Magical Jewelry of the show. The miraculous. (No I will not be talking about the Shanghai special magical gems, I won't even be mentioning anything revealed after the NY special. This is solely knowledge on season 3 and prior.)

This will be a VERY long post in which I will be discussing the merits and demerits of the magical items in question.

Now for this analysis I will be doing my best to solely focus on the miraculous themselves, this is not an analysis on the Guardians or other miraculous holders. This is about the magical gems. I will be giving some background information on certain things. But I am going to focus on the miraculous.

I think in order to organize this post I will be splitting it up as follows.

A Miraculous Lore

Kwami: Personal Pals or Pain in the Butt

Potential and Drawbacks

Power Balance: The delicate dance

Final thoughts

So lets get to it

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A Miraculous Lore

To briefly explain, the 'Miraculous' are magical jewelry created by a powerful mage which allows the powers of Kwami to be harnessed and controlled by anyone who wields it and uses it to transform.

Now when it comes to magical items, its important that these items have sort of connection to the fictional world they are in. This connection acts as a means of world building. Now there are 3 main factors to keep in mind when connecting the mystical item of power to the world itself, the history, mystery, and Impact on the present. In this section I will be talking about how the miraculous are addressed in the series, from their historical significance as well as their mysterious powers that are yet to be truly revealed.

Now history is the talk of the events of the past, and in the world of miraculous ladybug, the miraculous have a rather interesting connection to world events. In the show, we learn that the miraculous were active in ancient china, in Egypt, in greek mythology (which makes the greek myths more of history) and even events as recent as the American revolution were impacted by the miraculous. Now these reveals are information provided in the show itself, there are also confirmations from the writers regarding other points in history where the miraculous were active, such as when Joan of Arc was fighting in the 100 year war. Now this aspect works well with the second trait of world building, mystery, but it also leaves a lot of gaps for the viewer, which is where the next part of the history connection comes in, the order of the guardians. The guardians of the miraculous work as the connecting point, giving the viewer the explanation on how the miraculous became a part of human history. The guardians connection lays the ground work for the miraculous lore as it allows us to understand that an ancient order dedicated to protecting the miraculous knew when to step in and help history along. Overall, the aspect of history when connected to the miraculous seems to work well for the world building, at least so long as we focus on the miraculous themselves.

The mystery is the aspect of the unknown. What exactly are the secrets hidden about the miraculous. Now the part of the mystery is that the purpose of the miraculous and how the link between the god like beings that the Kwami are is still left up in the air. With the comics, we know that the Kwami are each based on an abstract concept like Creation, destruction and so on. We also find out that a wizard made the miraculous... for some reason. The mystery of the miraculous allows for rapid progress and power ups in the story. In the beginning we knew very little of the limitations and potential the miraculous had. We knew, Ladybug and Chat noir had 5 minutes after using their unique power and that the bad man wanted their miraculous for evil. As the mystery unveils, we find out that there are more miraculous, and that using certain miraculous together can allow for god-like power. We also learned about potions, techniques, and other such things that make the miraculous more enigmatic. What is the full potential of the miraculous? What more is there to this mystery? The miraculous brings the more interesting parts of ML to light because we as the viewer are invested in what more these jewelry sets can do.

The impact on the present. As the show's plot revolves around the two heroes that utilize the miraculous, it is easy to see how the miraculous are very crucial to the plot. The main villain wants the magical items because he wants to make his wish, the heroes need the power to fend off his villains that he creates and eventually take the miraculous back from him. Meanwhile the order that protected the miraculous are once again active thanks to Ladybug and Chat noir purifying the akumatized Sentimonster Feast (which had massive impact on the progression of story ).

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Kwami: Personal Pals or Pain in the Butt

Kwamis, best described as divine, spirit-like beings who embody "abstract" concepts. They give certain powers to people with Miraculouses, transforming them into animal-themed super beings. Kwami are the beings that make the Miraculous, well miraculous.

The Kwami have a rather fascinating role in the story as they act as they add character to this relatively cool jewelry piece. It isn't just a magical item, the Kwami are companions to their wielders and need to be judged as such. Now these beings are crucial because they play multiple roles in the show. For this part of the analysis, I will be focusing mainly on the Kwami that have had the most screen time, mainly Tikki, Plagg, Wayzz and Nooru. The other Kwami, while having personalities, do not have permanent owners or have not been out long enough to establish themselves. Now these four Kwami are important because they can be examined if they follow the indicators of a companion or specifically fit the trope known as Mentor Mascot. For this I have created 2 criteria Distinct criteria that these Kwami must meet in order to be considered good companions. These criteria are Cute Confidant and Wiser Advisor.

The Cute Confidant is an aspect that addresses two key components in the mentor mascot companion field. The first is obviously, cuteness. The Kwami must be cute, small and have tiny habits that make you want a plushy of them. In this regard, all of the Kwami pass the test because all of them are tiny and have little habits that make them adorable to the viewer. From Wayzz and his little Match box bed, to Plagg's chaotic cat tendencies, to Tikki's cute little assistant routine, and even Nooru's tiny bits of exposition and concern. The kwami capture cuteness. The second component to this is the Confidant portion. The Kwami must be entities that the wielder wants to tell things to, things that they would not tell anyone else. In short, the Kwami need to be beings that the user can trust whole heartedly. Now Tikki and Wayzz have both shown to be the most obedient confidants in this regard. Both have the best experience keeping secrets and their users trust them completely. Plagg is a bit more chaotic and it is true that Adrien does tell him everything and that he would never spill that info, Plagg has gone behind Adrien's back more times then any of the other swami (like in Sand boy, and in Kwamibuster). Though while not trust breaking, Plagg has caused his partner a bit of trouble (which actually makes him a better mascot, but less a mentor). Nooru is sort of forced to obey Gabriel so while not a willing confidant, he does listen to him monologue a LOT. In short, the Kwami do make for Cute Confidants.

The Wiser Advisor aspect comes into play in one very simple way. How do the Kwami help their wielders outside of their powers. The Advising role of the mascot mentor is truly important as with nearly every single magical girl/ superhero show, the character has an identity to keep secret and sometimes the only one that can be talked to when there is a problem is their mascot mentor. In this department, Tikki is technically the best advice giver as Marinette is suppose to learn the most lessons due to her being the main character, but I think Plagg better exemplifies the personal aspect of the wiser advisor role. Plagg goes out of his way to try and do what he thinks is best for Adrien. Plagg is seen more like the devil on the shoulder by the fandom, but Plagg is acting more like the voice of self worth for Adrien. Plagg is acting with Adrien's interests at heart. If one looks at Syren or Chat Blanc, there are times when Plagg advises AGAINST something and is often right in that regard. Plagg has a larger grasp of knowing when something is wrong more than something is right. The Kwami are still inhuman and can't relate to everything their 'Chosen' goes through, which we see more in the recent season, with Tikki's explaination. In this regard the Kwami learn just as much from the humans as the humans do from them. Though really, Tikki is suppose to be the wiser advisor but the problem comes into play when her answers are... not very helpful. Tikki has shown to either tell the lesson of the day and get ignored or have no idea how to fix a situation. There is no middle ground with her. But in the end the Wiser Advisor role is conveyed by the kwami and that is important.

The Kwami provide a very crucial aspect to the miraculous, it adds a personality to the ancient relic. We want our heroes to protect the miraculous because we want the kwami to be safe and away from evil people like Hawkmoth. The kwami add so much more to this normally typical magical item. Their roles as the cute confidant and the Wiser advisor allows for them to be crucial in the growth of the heroes as they continue down the path of heroism. And while i think the writing for the kwami can fluctuate, I think its fair to conclude that they are personal pals rather than pains in the butt.

_____________________________________________________________.

Potential and Drawbacks

So in this section of the analysis I will be covering the Potential of the Miraculous as well as the drawbacks. Does this potential make sense? Or is it simply another deus ex Machina. As for the drawbacks. Whats the price of utilization? Is their a fee? What are the limits? Do these limits make sense? Are there too many limits or not enough limits? Now let us progress.

As mentioned in the mystery aspect of the miraculous. The Miraculous have Kwami that represent concepts and their power relates to said concept. When we as the viewer are introduced to the Miraculous, we only know that the miraculous have a unique power and that when the ladybug and Cat miraculous are both used can have a power that the villain wants. Now as the seasons pass we see that the specific power that the villain wants is to use the two miraculous to make a wish. This concept alone make the miraculous (or at the very least the ladybug and Cat miraculous) immensely powerful. The potential of having a wish makes the two miraculous priceless. In a way, this reveal shows the max potential that the miraculous are capable of, the ability to shape the world in anyway the user desires. But that is only the case when BOTH the ladybug and Cat miraculous are utilized, what about the other miraculous? What are they capable of alone? Well by themselves, the miraculous are pretty much straightforward. They enhance the abilities of the user to super human levels and then allow the user to utilize the unique power of the miraculous, such as destruction, time travel, etc.

Now in season 2 we learn that there are potions that can be consumed to allow the heroes to traverse different environments, such as the vaccum of space, the ocean, and frozen plains, what this does is allow for the user to have an edge in any environment which makes the miraculous highly adaptable. It is unknown if potions can be stacked on top of one another, but that is debatable on whether or not that would even be useful.

In Season 3, we learn that miraculous can be used together, using unification. This allows the user to use 2 miraculous at the same time. While it is unclear if it improves the already enhanced abilities of the wearer, it is confirmed that they can use the kwami powers involved in the unification. We even see Marinette find a work around to this by using the mouse miraculous to make copies of herself and then use 4 different powers! Showing that there is a way to work around the two person ability of unification. It is also feasible that using more than two active miraculous at once in one form is possible, but that is yet to be discover.

In Season 4, we are given a reveal that embodiment of the concept of the miraculous can result in more abilities, or at the very least can be inferred from Alya's discovery. Ladybug created a new powered up form of her lucky charm and could now create Akuma/Amok warding charms thanks to this power. This aspect of the miraculous is rather new and it is unknown how far this concept can be taken. But the potential demonstrated gives the implication that the limitation of powers on the miraculous is mental.

The miraculous still seem to have more tricks that have yet to be revealed, but the potential from environmental potions, to 100's of unification combinations, and potential to push past limits gives the miraculous a massive pool of potential that make it fascinating.

When it comes to magical items, many always like to know the drawbacks with the magical item involved. The miraculous is no different. Now this is where I find the miraculous is a little murky. At the start the most well known issue with the miraculous was that after the miraculous wielder used the special power of the Kwami, the user only had around 5 minutes before they were forced back. Now with Hawkmoth we never really knew if he was subjected to that rule, since there were times he was off screen. Did he simply have a work around? Was it because he knew something the heroes didnt? That was the biggest mystery until season 3 when its revealed that adults can use the power multiple times without having to de-transform. This explanation was and is still a gripe many people have with the series. The creators gave explanations outside of the show on why that is but it was usually dismissed and still left people angry. However there were still plenty of other drawbacks that the miraculous had.

A major drawback is that the Kwami's condition is related to the condition of the miraculous and vice versa. A broken/damaged miraculous results in the kwami also being damaged. We see this in season 3 with Duusu and the peacock miraculous. Using a damaged miraculous also has an impact on the wielder, slowly draining their life force (as seen with Nathalie) and it appears that overuse can kill the wielder. (which is what happened with Emilie). A Kwami is the reason the miraculous are powerful, without the kwami present, the miraculous is useless. So being too far from one's kwami would make transforming impossible. The kwami being affected by something would also affect the user. Like when Plagg couldnt see due to Chloé's jewlery it is implied if Adrien had transformed, He would have been blind. So the kwami needs to be taken care of, which is a drawback that makes sense.

Another Drawback of the miraculous is revealed in both Silencer and Miracle Queen. The transformation and special power are voice activated. In Silencer, when she had her voice stolen, Ladybug was unable to summon her lucky charm until Silencer used her voice to say the word Lucky charm. And in Miracle Queen, Chloé couldnt utilize the other miraculous because she didnt know the names of the kwami. Without the Kwami's name, the user cant activate the miraculous. It plays on the trope of a name giving the speaker power over the magical being. Using a name also gives a level of respect and it is an interesting drawback as well as a fail safe.

Another drawback that we learn about is that using too many miraculous at once can be dangerous. While this has only been shown in Kwamibuster, when Marinette wore at one point nearly every miraculous at once. Simply transforming caused her to feel a bit woozy. Though after that it did not seem to impact her. There has yet to be seen if abusing unify (like Shadowmoth) and Ladybug have been doing will result in similar effects. But it is something to look out for.

For the most part the potential of the miraculous is put on the user where it is the user figuring ways of utilizing the miraculous that make it more powerful while the drawbacks are mainly limited to the state of the Kwami. This allows for an interesting act of balance where caring for the miraculous would allow the user to evolve, which is something we are seeing in the show, and not taking care of the miraculous or abusing it results in damage, like we see with the villains. Its an interesting parallel that I do wish was explored more.

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Power Balance: The delicate dance

People dont really understand how important balancing power is when it comes to shows. The Hero must be strong enough to save the day, the villain must be a big enough threat for the hero to take seriously. Thats why superman has foes like Darkseid or Braniac. Why Goku fights Frieza, or why Sailor moon has to fight Galaxia.

The miraculous are very bizarre in terms of balance. The strongest miraculous are claimed to be the ladybug and Cat miraculous, the concepts of creation and destruction, Together they maybe the most powerful, but in reality, they are not the strongest. The strongest single miraculous is the Rabbit. A miraculous with the ability to travel through time, it is likely the closet miraculous to being the cat and Ladybug combined. It allows one to change the flow of time. Changing events that could have lead to disaster. And we know that time travel is not multiversal travel, that going to the past DOES impact the timeline. In fact thats the reason its so rarely used, the Rabbit miraculous is a last resort, and if something is a last resort, than its clearly the most powerful. There is also the snake miraculous which has nearly infinite uses regardless of age so long as it is within the 5 minute window. The Horse miraculous that can transport the user anywhere they have in mind, including sending someone into the vacuum of space.

The miraculous power balance also has issues when one considers the two main miraculous, the cat and the Ladybug. Both miraculous are considered crucial to giving someone maximum power and are illustrated like Yin and Yang. But in reality, the Ladybug miraculous is much more powerful than the cat miraculous in nearly every conceivable way. Ignoring the users and just taking their abilities at face value. The cat miraculous has one unique power while the ladybug miraculous has 3. The cat miraculous can destroy anything but the ladybug miraculous can fix any damage done with her miraculous cleansing. The cat miraculous has one piece of jewlery while the Ladybug has two, making it still possible to use with only one earring. Looking at the powers by themselves and not the wielders, one would believe one miraculous was superior to the other.

The power balance between the heroes and the villains seems to be the only one with some care and merit. The peacock and the Butterfly miraculous are at perfect odds with Ladybug and Chat noir. The peacock and the butterfly allow for any sort of power to be created and utilized by an individual or created monster, while the ladybug and cat miraculous are able to purify and fix the person possessed. This allows for a strong balance that means one side must try and out think the other in order to win. The one balance I do think the show captured correctly is the balance between the heroes and villains. Ladybug and Chat noir always managed to foil Shadowmoth's plans but shadowmoth gets more creative and does have small victories from time to time, but never actually wins the day. It is enough to keep the viewer on their toes and keeps the power balance from being too predictable.

The miraculous in terms of balance are... a mess, and I do think that the powers given to the miraculous in some cases were not well thought out. It is hard to say that the miraculous follow a proper balance of power or even dynamic. But the balance is hard to maintain when one is trying to have over a dozen different magical items, its natural that some would be more powerful than others.

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Final thoughts

The Miraculous are incredibly interesting magical items and its understandable how appealing they are to viewers. They arent just unobtanium or a generic magic powersource that villain can pursue. The miraculous have sentience and special unique characteristics that make them so much more. While the power balance is something I find problem with, the matters of lore and kwami help keep the user invested and I feel it makes the miraculous well... Miraculous. I find the miraculous fascinating and while at times ridiculous, the potential development has me marveling at their beauty.

(thanks for this commission and sorry it took months to make. Season 4 put a wrench in this and I needed to utilize what was learned to add to it)

[flightfoot]

Miraculous Ladybug Season 4 Episode rankings (As of Optygami’s release)

ML season 4 has knocked it out of the park so far! It’s been absolutely amazing, and I’ve greatly enjoyed every episode.

That being said, some episodes have still been better than others (or have contained elements I find more appealing at least), so what better way to show that than with a ranking?

9. Queen Banana

We got a new hero this episode, and she is awesome! Vesperia and Chat have a nice little interaction, and while Vesperia gets taken out, it’s for a good reason - distracting Queen Banana so Ladybug can put glue in her pocket, disarming her. It was a really nice way of showing Zoe’s humility and ability for teamwork, even when it meant giving up the starring role, in order to complete the group’s overall goal.

The mini-movie felt like foreshadowing, what with the “Superheroine of Creation” being an obvious Ladybug expy, while the “Supervillain of Destruction” was a Chat Noir expy, though with fewer connections. Interestingly, it’s also used to parallel Zoe’s and Chloe’s relationship, with Zoe even quoting from the movie at the end.

And Andre’s character development was top-notch! Bully him around to do material things as much as you like, but hurting Zoe is off-limits. She’s Andre’s daughter too.

So why is it so low down? Simply put, it didn’t feel like it changed things as much as Sole Crusher did, nor did it showcase Marinette’s and Adrien’s relationship as much. It was good, but there was less to talk about concerning it than I thought there’d be.

8. Furious Fu

The first episode of Season 4 aired (even though it was episode 6 in production order), we got some lore drop this episode! Su Han gave us a better idea of what to expect from the Guardians and what their relationship with the kwamis had been like overall. Poor Plagg especially, he’s just treated like a bomb that could go off at any moment.

I especially liked seeing Ladybug and Chat Noir’s relationship this episode, and their differing reactions to Su Han and his proposals. Ladybug was insecure about not having defeated Hawkmoth yet and thought Su Han might have a point about the Miraculous being better in other hands, and for this to be something for the Guardians to handle.

Chat Noir meanwhile didn’t give a crap about Su Han’s authority, about this random guy who just showed up and tried to boss them around; but he DOES respect Ladybug’s, and made that known. That he’d give up his Miraculous, his ticket to freedom and also the vessel for one of his closest friends, Plagg, but only at LADYBUG’S request, not this dude.

But it also showed the limits of that, with him refusing to go along with even that when it’d mean that Ladybug would get amnesia. That he’d not only lose his Miraculous, but his closest, dearest friend as well.

The episode was well done, but just didn’t feel like it either changed things as much or showcased character development as much as the other entries on this list, which is why it’s lower.

7. Sole Crusher

This was our first look at a new character, Zoe, and she did not disappoint! She was absolutely adorable and I really felt for her, with needing to pretend to be nasty in order to not be practically disowned from her family. 

It showcased how much Marinette had grown as well, with having Marinette see through Zoe’s Mean Girl act when they reunite and not jump to hasty negative conclusions, like she did with Adrien, instead considering that there may have been other factors involved with making Zoe act differently while with Chloe.

Also character exploration and growth for Andre, of all characters! Very unexpected. I really wanted him to succeed in his original dream, and I was thrilled at him comforting Zoe, with him empathizing with her, with acting as a parent towards her, even with her being his stepdaughter and presumedly not knowing her very well before this.

Zoe’s ability to anticipate how she’d need to act in order to conform with her family’s expectations while still getting to do what she wanted (for the most part), like with her pretending to be all prissy and stuck up when interacting with Audrey, or pretending that her messaging with Marinette was a setup to betray and humiliate her, showed a great understanding of the people around her as well as some great acting ability. And her realization of how she’d been putting on acts like this for so long before this, of her people-pleasing and afterwards attempting to just be herself, felt like foreshadowing for Adrien’s own arc.

 And we got a few seconds of Marichat. Yay for crumbs!

6. Mr. Pigeon 72

This episode was PACKED. We got to see the followup to Gang of Secrets, with Ladybug freaking out and Alya trying to center her, as well as some followup to Lies, with Marinette trying to “help” Kagami get back together with Adrien. And on top of the stuff that forms the premise of the episode, we got to see Rena Rouge be badass again, Plagg and Ladybug team up, and even Umbrella scene 2, which I don’t think ANYONE saw coming!

Marinette was a lot of fun and we got to see some good stuff from Kagami and Alya here. It felt a little disjointed with how much was crammed into it and I missed Chat Noir, but overall it was really good!

5. Guiltrip

What an amazing episode! Rose is one of the least developed members of the class, mostly being known for being really sweet and being Juleka’s girlfriend, and not much else. Here, we got an inner look at her, at WHY she’s so positive, and how powerful that positivity can be. That she’s not innately positive just because, but that it’s a choice she makes.

Plus the class is AMAZING here. They care about their friends SO MUCH, even if they go about it the wrong way. We got to see Juleka and Rose caring about each other, and even though it went wrong, Rose understands why Juleka ended up spilling her secret and doesn’t blame her for it.

It also really showcased Marinette and Adrien, there different ways of dealing with serious issues, with Marinette jumping ahead and trying to do whatever she thinks will help immediately (help now, ask questions later) while Adrien tried to do the opposite, asking Juleka what she wanted first and trying to stick with that (ask questions first, then help). Both can be useful, depending on the circumstances.

Also got to see a bit more about Adrien’s turmoil, with him being borderline suicidal, and Nino feeling guilty that he wasn’t able to help Adrien with his father, hinting that something bad went down with Gabriel before this. 

There was just a LOT to unpack with this episode, but it all fit together neatly!

4. Lies

All of the “Truth” related episodes were amazing! Lies being no exception. Also our first (and so far only) Adrien-centric episode this season.

Lies catapulted discussion of Adrien’s looming identity crisis, as well as his deflections and near-suicidal behavior, stuff that becomes even more apparent in Guiltrip. The breakup was handled well, with it not being Adrien’s fault (he had to leave and lie for the same reasons Marinette did), but with Kagami’s reaction being totally understandable and valid. She was a very active participant in it, even testing to see whether Adrien had lied. And she was ALLOWED to be pissed afterwards, to not trust him, even though she could tell that he wasn’t just doing this for no reason. 

I wish we’d gotten more time with her as an akuma, but I can see why we didn’t. There just wasn’t that much time in the episode, and the emotional crux of the episode occurred between her and Adrien - there just wasn’t much she could do as an akuma that was gonna add much impact to the episode.

3. Optygami

Oh WOW did this episode make an impact. Major Wham episode in a season chockful of major revelations, status quo changes, and character progression.

 Nathalie and Gabriel actually had a pretty clever plan, spying on the revealed wielders this whole time using the “one sentimonster per wielder, but there can be multiple sentimonsters from different wielders out at the same time” loophole. It meant that Nathalie was actually doing something while she was benched, and I’m willing to bet that she’s the one who came up with the plan in the first place. Say what you will about her morality or her taste in men, but she is an effective supervillain who may be an assistant (and totally fine with that role, which isn’t so common), but one with a lot of agency. And using impostors and try to force a situation where Ladybug would have to give a Miraculous to one of them, and using that opportunity to plant a spy sentimonster in a Miraculous in order to discover Ladybug’s identity and the location of the other Miraculous? Was inspired!

We were baited on there being a Reveal, but that wasn’t exactly a shocker. In any case, we did have a bunch of OTHER cool, impactful stuff. 

Hawkmoth stepped up his game with his sentimonsters, making a couple of impostors to control the situation, with Senti Alec and Senti Nino. Seems like foreshadowing about there potentially being more sentimonsters in disguise...

The major developments everyone’s screaming about though, are:

1. Alya getting her Miraculous permanently, being the first “temporary” wielder to get that honor, and putting her in a greater position to help with any akuma that’s causing more trouble than usual.

2. And the one that’s gotten everyone theorizing, screaming, and writing fics: Chat Noir and Ladybug’s seemingly deteriorating relationship, with a special emphasis on how left out Chat is and just how much he’s being kept in the dark, and how he’s beginning to realize this, feeling unneeded. How much Chat’s hiding his hurt, and how that’s going to lead to some sort of emotional confrontation or breakdown down the line.

My ranking of Optygami may go up or down depending on whether future episodes follow through on what it sets up, especially with the foreshadowed Ladynoir confict.

Looks like we’re gonna have a hiatus after Optygami, considering that we don’t currently have airdates for any more episodes, but what a note to leave off on!

2. Truth

This episode was AMAZING. We got to see Luka and Marinette just hanging out casually, having fun together, like with the little trivia game they played on the way to the theater. Luka even showed a bit of a playful side, with setting up the last question so that the answer would end with “kiss me”. 

Luka was also allowed to feel negative emotions for reasons aside from protecting Marinette, with him feeling down and a little abandoned because of Marinette constantly ditching - something that was given more context, with how we learned that he never knew his father, and how much it bothers him that his mom won’t tell him who it was.

The revelation of Jagged Stone being Luka’s father was one that’d already been leaked way back in January, though few people believed it at the time and it got little attention. It gave Luka a plotline that had nothing to do with Marinette, something that was sorely needed and one that I’m hoping gets expanded on later.

Also had some great Ladynoir, with Chat Noir and Ladybug discussing their relationship during the akuma fight, when they were forced to be truthful to boot! Ladybug really does like Chat’s sense of humor, and Chat doesn’t have a problem with Ladybug’s status as Guardian, so long as it doesn’t interfere with their relationship.

1. Gang Of Secrets

Gang of Secrets was a great followup to Truth, showing Marinette attempting to cope with with breakup, and the subsequent realization that she has to lie to everyone always, and how little time and trust that leaves for her regular relationships.

Meanwhile, the people around Marinette worry and try to help and comfort her as best they can, even when they don’t really know what’s wrong or what to do. From the Girl Squad to Chat Noir to... kind of the kwamis (though with them it’s more lack of understanding of romantic relationships rather than lack of knowledge that holds them back), everyone attempts to help her, but it’s just not feasible under the circumstances for her to be helped the way she needs to be while keeping her secrets.

And in order to keep those secrets, she snaps, forcing all her friends away.

But they don’t take that easily. They want to be there for Marinette, they want to be friends, and become akumatized specifically in order to find out what was wrong, comfort her, fix whatever it was, and become friends again. They really care for her a lot.

And then- AND THEN-!

ALYA DEAKUMATIZES HERSELF

BECOMES RENA ROUGE AGAIN

AND MARINETTE EVEN CONFESSES THAT SHE’S LADYBUG TO HER.

It’s one of the biggest changes to the status quo we’ve had. Like, Master Fu being introduced changed what Marinette was doing, meaning that they could call on new heroes and she had someone to discuss Miraculous stuff with besides Tikki, and Master Fu renouncing his Guardianship and passing it on to Marinette changed what Marinette was doing on a day-to-day basis more, but... well, it didn’t represent as big of a change in themes, of things that had been built up for seasons. Breaking the Secret Identity Rule? DOES.

Also sets up for some potential LadyNoir conflict down the line, with her not having told Chat that she told her identity to someone else yet. I’m sure they’ll be okay in the end, but it could test their relationship and the rules they’ve lived by since they started being superheroes.

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So that’s my ranking with the episodes we’ve had released so far. We’re a third of the way through the season and I gotta say, I’m really happy with it so far! Can’t wait to see what the rest of the season has in store for us.