#I also head canon Chloe as aroace but let's not go down that rabbit hole here

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What do you think about the handling of the LGTBQ+ representation in ML (assuming you're comfortable talking about this subject) ?

There's not much to discuss since Miraculous is doing that thing where all the rep is small moments and lines that are easy to cut/change when airing in countries that aren't queer friendly. The little we do get seems fine. I'm especially a fan of the two adult couples as it's nice to see loving families where the parents are clearly queer.

I will not give Miraculous any credit for rep that only comes from Twitter. "Max is ace and Alix is aro" or "Marc and Nathaniel are totally dating!" Then put it in the show, you cowards. Nothing grinds my gears more than this BS where creators try to claim rep they didn't actually give. It's just another form of queer baiting. "You're totally represented in this show! I know we didn't say it, but it's there. I promise! Please give us money, views, and love!"

If you don't want to include "meaningful" rep in your show so that you can make as much money as possible by having a product that's viable in all markets, that's fine. I get it. TV Shows are incredibly expensive to make, but it's 2024, not 2014 (the year of Korrasamai via hand holding). Ambiguous and background rep is no longer the best anyone can do in mainstream TV. If anything, it's become the standard. The token effort done to appear progressive and appease those who want it without turning away larger audiences by being too progressive.

That's not to say that the little rep we see isn't noteworthy, progress is progress! The fact that they can include any sort of explicit rep is great and I'm pleased that they put something in as it makes background rep more standard. I want it to be the standard. I just wouldn't put Miraculous on a list of "great shows for queer kids" since all of the rep is ambiguous at best or of the blink-if-you-miss-it variety, which is what I meant by the term "meaningful" up above. I don't think the given rep has no value, I just don't think it's going to make anyone feel seen in the way shows like The Owl House did.

If they really wanted to get full marks from me, they would have done something to acknowledge that Adrien is aspec since he reads super aspec. It would have been an easy thing to add to the Adrigami arc, too, since it was pretty clear that he didn't actually have feelings for Kagami. At least, that was my read of that whole mess, but I am ace so it's my default. I have to actively remember allos are a thing when writing or else everyone will read as some flavor of aspec.