#ml abuse apologism

[howhow326]

So, when Miraculous Ladybug Season 5 ends, can we all get together and do what the VLD fandom did to their show?

Like, just cancel it on Twitter or something???

[theerurishipper]

I just think it's so great that some parts of the fandom love to call Adrien spineless and cowardly because he was conditioned into being non-confrontational by his abusive father and believe that he should just stand up to Gabriel and grow a backbone, proving that they have no understanding of how abuse can affect people and are just perpetuating victim blaming and abuse apologism by downplaying Adrien's trauma and turning the effects of Gabriel's abuse into Adrien's deficiencies as a person, which is also what Gabriel does.

Guess the real Gabriel redemption arc was the fandom all along...

[fernsnouveau]

If the Miraculous writers want to make the point that abuse victims are immature and infantile and volatile and need to be controlled by an authority for the sake of their own and the greater good, and therefore Adrien simply cannot be treated as an equal to the Great Marinette, then... I don't think they should be writing the two of them as a romantic couple. The inherent power imbalance is just no good.

(Don't get me wrong, even more so I just think that they shouldn't have taken that stance on abuse victims to begin with.)

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

Oh, I'm so sorry!

I'm not accusing Marinette of being an abuse apologist piece of shit.

I'm saying you are.

Terribly sorry the writers had Marinette's relationship with Adrien mirror Gabriel's in every way.

Not my fault you can't engage with that at all.

Did I say shit about her? DID I SAY SHIT ABOUT HER!?

No, I fucking didn't.

I said shit about you. Fucking coward who can't even go off anon.

Learn some media literacy and shut the fuck up about how much lying to a child abuse victim is so good for his girlfriend's character development.

[goldensmilingbird]

I've been reading everyone's reactions to the finale for so long I feel like my brain is on fire

[jacquesthepigeon]

I’m always wondering if it was better or worse for BBT and Young Sheldon creators to say that Sheldon is NOT on the spectrum. But then I see how they treat neurodivergence on shows like Miraculous, and go probably better they keep away from stuff they don’t understand.

I suspect what happened with Sheldon’s character is that they probably modeled him after people they either didn’t know or didn’t care were on the spectrum and by the time everyone was like “hey this guy is obviously autistic” they’d made fun of him too many times to suddenly claim being pioneers of sitcom neurodivergent representation without also having to accept responsibility for their past attitudes towards him

I do, however, think the red itchy sweater episode was fantastic in delivering a message regarding some forms of neurosis

As for ML, it is, at its core, a tell don’t show series. These characters are in love, are close friends, are good at X and Y, are passionate about this and that, hate Z, so on and so forth. We rarely learn about characters and happenstances through actions, to the point where very clear irrefutable events are verbally retconned by random characters and we’re supposed to accept what they say as canon over what we saw. It doesn’t matter if characters are noticeably queer, neurodivergent, good/bad at something, biased about certain people/subjects, struggling with XYZ, etc. If someone doesn’t outright state it, it isn’t canon. This is where the crew loves to claim brownie points for representation but doesn’t actually do anything that might upset the Suits and their bigotry. They have an ethnically diverse character lineup but they’re all perfectly assimilated to white french culture and rarely acknowledge their own supposed heritage. They criticize police abuse but have the victims apologize to their assailants. They have queer characters but their relationships are mostly implied off-screen so they have plausible deniability. They have kids whose parents are clearly mistreating them to the point of leaving lifelong scars and affecting their ability to become functional members of society but it’s obviously not abuse.

I swear there’s some kind of disconnect between the dialogue and the action lines on the script, like no one member of the crew knows what the other is doing and everything is just taped together at the end with no revisions

[astr0exe]

hii! feel free to ignore this if you want i don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything! What about Pervy stepdad price unknowingly making Reader jelly?? n like when price finally acknowledges his sweet boy,Readers being huffy n puffy with him, pouting n crying at him. Pushing away his daddy when his only trying to make his baby feel better. maybe soft punishment?? soft yet stern stepdad price?? rough fucking but like his praising reader also?? maybe like, possessive but like not in a bad way?? for both reader n price?

ONLY IF YOU WANT TO OFC!!!!! if you don’t feel like doing it or anything i completely understand!!!! have a great day/night ‼️‼️‼️

-🩷

OMG HI ML !!! hope this is how you wanted this ask, i kinda got caught into a rabbit hole of description but hey whtvr :] lots of pouty reader and some daddy Price

// CW ; tm!reader , step-dad Price , jealous reader , soft and rough , spanking , praise , lil bit of degradation

Stepson!Reader who is pouting all day, your arms crossed and brows furrowed, cause of his daddy’s new work friend.. Huffing and whining, feeling ignored and left out when Price brings you to work, only to talk to his new friend the entire time, paying no attention to his sweet boy.

Stepdad!Price who doesn’t even notice his poor baby is feeling jealous, just neglecting your needs unknowingly. You are upset all day, hunched up so people don’t approach you, even going home early without telling Price.

Stepdad!Price who follows you home not even 20 minutes later after noticing your absence, entering the home annoyed that you left without telling him,noticing you curled up on the couch. Rolling his eyes at your pouty lips and glassy eyes. He just sits on the couch next to you, pulling you close despite your protests and little pushes, placing his hand on your thigh. Staring into your eyes unamused at your little tantrum.

Stepson!Reader who just keeps huffing and being snarky, annoyed and unable to communicate properly. Being bratty with your pouty lips and puffy eyes, John who keeps rolling his eyes and letting out loud sighs of frustration, not knowing whats wrong. 

Stepdad!Price who just snaps, pulling you over his lip, rubbing his large hands over the backs of your thighs and arse, a resounding smack fills the room followed by whimpers tumbling out your mouth. John’s other hand moving between the wet spot between your legs, your cock rubbing against your pants in the most pleasurable way, just nudging the head whilst the fabric clings to your drenched cunt.

Stepson!Reader who can’t help but let out quiet apologies after the seventh spank, yelping and whining loudly, squirming as your daddy’s fingers explore your tight hole. “M-m sorry daddy..” you mumble, red in the face with tears running down your face whilst your pussy is also running but with your delicious juices.

Stepdad!Price who rewards your apologies by battering your insides with three of his sturdy fingers, your hole clenching around his digits tightly as you cum with a loud yell. Your legs shaking as your orgasm crushes you like waves, your breath shaky matching your legs. John pulls you up, groaning about how much of a bitch you have been all day, his voice conveying his annoyance as he manhandles you to be laying underneath him on the surprisingly soft couch.

Stepdad!Price who grinds his hard dick into your crotch, making your dicks rub together. Your eyes still glassy and wet as your daddy grips your hips tightly, pulling your pants down as he takes his hard cock out his pants, his precum dribbling from the red tip. Rubbing the head of his dick along your slit, your rim catching his tip. He places his hand on your cheek, a complete juxtaposition to the tight grip on your hip as his cock slips into your cunt.

Your puffy eyes release even more tears as your daddy’s cock starts pounding into you, abusing your walls as he groans in your ear “Fuckk sweet boy.. What's got you so bad today? You’re my-my good boy, what's wrong?” he asks softly, genuinely wanting to know what's up despite your inability to talk as the breath is stolen from you with each and every thrust from his bulbous cock. 

Your eyes rolling back and mouth opening in a silent shout as you clench around your daddy’s cock, your juices running down his dick and balls, his hips don’t even falter as he keeps battering your cervix with his head. Groaning as he calls you a good boy, ignoring the shake in your legs due to the overstimulation of two orgasms as his dick pulses into you. His cum spurting out in hot ribbons as he kisses your sweaty forehead and holds you close, keeping you plugged up on his cock as he murmurs in your ear “I’m yours baby boy.. All yours. And you’re mine, no one else's. You are mine.”

[satelitis]

in which johnny lawrence is in second place to daniel larusso yet again, but we all know boys don’t cry.

g/n reader x johnny lawrence / g/n reader x daniel larusso (he’s lowkey the villan in this lmfao—)

warnings: fighting,swearing,insecurity, toxic masculinity, emotional abuse in the household. ⚠️ANGST NO FLUFF HERE⚠️

based on the song boys don’t cry by the cure , thank you to spence ml @mictodii for the inspo <3

i would say i’m sorry if i knew that it would change your mind

verbal communication was not johnny lawrence’s strong suit. he tended to be a more action oriented human being. especially when he started bullying daniel larusso, soon after he first arrived in receda. all it took was one black eye to develop around daniels eye, for you to break things off with johnny.

it had only been 2 weeks since he had moved to receda but more fights had arose between you and johnny than you had ever had in your 9 and a half months of dating.

“i’m not dating a bully.” you told him forcefully, your y/c iris’ full of disappointment and animosity, were now trying to dig away at the guilt and hurt in his own.

but i know that this time i’ve said too much been too unkind.

“well it’s not my fucking fault that larusso always gets what he fucking wants! i have nothing left, so if your going to leave me for him that’s fucking fine with me i wouldn’t expect any less! just another brick in the fucking wall.” he spat, now making full eye-contact with you.

johnny immediately knew that he had fucked up but it was too late, your eyes once full of disappointment were now doused in confusion as you didn’t even know who you were talking to at this point. as you bit the inside of your cheek, you turned around and walked the other way not wanting to say another word to johnny as you ventured home.

the moon didn’t shine that night. nor did the stars. the plethora of clouds had made it hardly visible to view the only thing you could count on one hundred percent of the time.

i try to laugh about it , cover it all up with lies.i tried to laugh about it hiding the tears in my eyes.

the next day at school you didn’t look, nor speak to johnny lawrence. he gazed at you from across the halls and lunchroom but it didn’t fix anything.

“johnny what happened between you and y/n?” bobby asked, as he had noticed you hadn’t even acknowledged johnny. johnny laughed bitterly.

“nothing man, we’ve just been off lately, nothing major.” he told the blonde boy as he looked at you, a bright smile on your face as none other than daniel larusso was talking you. joking with you. making you laugh.

cause boys don’t cry, boys don’t cry.

johnny glared at the brunette, trying not to let tears form in his eyes.

i would break at your feet and beg for forgiveness, plead with you but i know that it’s too late and there’s nothing i can do.

johnny had came up with a plan to get you back and apologize. he had bought you your favorite flower and was going to surprise you. he even wrote out a thorough thought out apology in hopes that you would forgive him and he could get you back.

soon enough, every fiber in johnny was inflamed with resentment and anger. daniel larusso had his arm wrapped around your shoulder. he was kissing your cheek. and he was complimenting you.

so i tried to laugh about it, cover it all up with lies, i tried to laugh about it cover the tears in my eyes.

that night bobby had called johnny to see how it went.

“so johnny did you get the girl back?” he asked him. johnny chuckled.

“nah man it’s funny cause she wasn’t home. her mom said she was out with her friends so..yeah.” he lied straight through his teeth. the moments of you and daniel playing in your head again. tears soon began to spill uncontrollably.

“woah johnny man, are you crying? hey it’s okay man.” bobby tried to console once again over the phone. soon enough sid, johnny stepfather came up the stairs.

“boy would you quit that racket?! and stop crying like a little girl, cause boys dont cry! you hear me? boys don’t cry!”

i would tell you that i loved you if i knew that it would make you stay but i know that it’s no use and that you’ve already gone away.

johnny knew it from the day he met you, he loved you. he was just waiting for the right time to say it. however he never got to. daniel had taken you from him faster than a blink of an eye. it was too late. he wasn’t getting you back and he knew it. what was the point?

misjudged your limit, pushed you too far, took you for granted, thought that you needed me more.

johnny didn’t know when enough was enough. so when you broke up with him, he was distraught. he never really understood what he was missing till you were gone and far far from his reach and in daniels now. johnny truth be told couldn’t live without you, and unfortunately he had to find that out the hard way.

now i would do most anything to get you back by my side

johnny tried, and tried to get you to talk to him, and hear him out. but there was no use. you were happier with daniel. and he knew that and understood he had to come to terms with it as well. even if it was going to be hard. he valued your happiness over everything and if that happiness came from someone that wasn’t it, then so be it.

but i just keep on laughing, hiding the tears in my eyes

on the surface johnny seemed okay. he seemed as if he had moved on. sensei kreese had taught him to channel all his grief and anger into karate and cobra kai but within every laugh was hidden tears. because we all know. boys don’t cry.

fin.

AN: why did this lowkey suck. okay bye.

[dazed--xx]

🌘Rewriting Destiny (teaser) 🌒

Member: Duke! Chan x reader

Word count: 813

Trigger warnings: ANGST, Death (FL), psychological, trauma, poisoning, parental neglect/abuse, arranged marriage, anxiety, Nobility, engagement at a young age, regression, murder, revenge, mentions of magic, PTSD, manipulation, regretful ML, Resentment, betrayal, classism, 17th century ideals, homophobia(mentions), SOME!historical accuracy, LOTS! of historical inaccuracies, BREAK UP!, grief, mourning, denial, failure to let go, etc…

A/N: so I'm still transferring this story from my notebook onto tumblr but I wanted to get y'all excited for the new story so here is a little teaser of the story and don't worry its not too big of a spoiler 😂🤪

The family she had married into had lost use for her...

Y/Ns blood ran cold as she came to the realization. The move to the annex, the maids becoming more and more ruthless, and the lack of guards around her annex becoming more frequent. Her time is slowly coming to an end. She wondered if there was a point to all of this. Would there be a point in running? Her mother would hunt her down and skin her alive if she did. ‘Die a respected Dutchess rather than run and be a divorced beggar’ she could hear her mother say. Y/N watches as the blue clear sky fades into a bright purple and orange hue.

A knock on her door pulls her attention away from her thoughts. “Yes?” She calls monotonously. “The Duke is in the receiving room, My lady.” Area calls softly. Y/N's eyebrows furrow in confusion. “My lady?” Area calls once again when she doesn't reply. “I-Im coming! I apologize, Aera.” Y/N replies as she shakily lifts herself from her seat. The whole walk to the receiving room Y/N worried.

Why was he here? He's never visited of his own accord. What could be happening? Would he cast her out himself? A petite hand grips her own pulling her out of her thoughts. Y/N stares at the owner, as Aera gives her a comforting smile. Y/N lets out a sigh, the butler pulls open the door. She hesitates for a moment, it had been a year—one full year, since she had last seen her husband. A lot could change in a single year. She feared how her husband had changed; it was never good for her. She entered the room, her heart sank into her stomach. There he sat, at the head of the room. A flurry of maids standing about waiting on baited breath for his every command. His hair was no longer the clean-cut style but overgrown, sitting raggedly over his forehead and disheveled. Evidence of his bath dripping onto his loose black shirt. He sat a scowl on his plush lips as he sipped his tea. “To what do I owe the honor, Your grace?” Y/N questioned monotonously. “Should I have a reason to visit my dear wife?” He states smugly as he places his tea on the table in front of him. “Especially when I do not receive her greetings after a year-long monster-hunting expedition and come to discover she no longer lives in the same house as me?” Y/N stares at him in bewilderment and confusion. “Your grace?” She stammered “Please, take a seat” He gestured to the loveseat in front of him, his face no longer containing any emotion.

Y/N sits nervously as she begins to question her husband. “I apologize, but what do you mean? I’ve received your letter and followed your instructions.” Chan furrowed his eyebrows as his ears perked up “What letter?” Y/N's attention is pulled away from him by the slight clink of a teacup being placed on the table in front of her. Y/N's eyes remained focused on the maid for a moment, she couldn't quite put her finger on it but something felt…off. “Have you gone deaf in the past 5 minutes?” Chan questions frustratedly. Y/N shakes her head taking hold of the teacup and taking a sip. “No, I apologize. I've not been feeling well today” Y/N states calmly. Her throat begins to feel a small burning sensation. “What letter? When did you receive a letter from me?” Chan asks stoically. Y/N coughs slightly “My apologies, I received your letter about one months time ago” She takes another sip of tea trying to alleviate the growing discomfort. Chan stares at her with his eyebrows raised “And you are sure it was addressed from me?” her throat begins to burn incessantly. Her eyes widen as her mouth fills with a coppery tast as she coughs again.

“My lady?!?!” Area exclaims worriedly “Y/N?!”

Only then does Y/N make the connection. The maid—She works in the main manor, and she’s Kari’s personal maid. Y/N stares at the teacup in her hand, dropping it in a panic. Her eyes meet Chan’s for a moment. He sat stoically, but his eyes never once left her. Y/N rushes to her feet, reaching out for her personal maid “Aera!” She calls. Her tone gurgles and hoarse as crimson cascades out of her mouth. Her legs give way beneath her as she feels arms around her. The room begins to grow blurry as she feels the life fading from her body.

No…No not yet, please God! Don't let me die! I didn't get away…I-I was never happy please! She prays God please let me be happy. “If I could do it all over again…Id have never married you. My biggest regret was walking down that aisle…” She croaks as everything fades to black.

Taglist: @yangbbokari @lovesunshinefelix @oddracha @msauthor @azazelstays @rylea08 @skzfelixlove @blondechannie @moonchildlv @kibs-and-bits @5starlee @pnutbutter-n-j-elyy @lizzetmv @hwanriri

[angelshizuka]

"Adrien can't know the truth because the world would turn against him when finding out he's the son of a terrorist" has got to be one of the stupidest arguments I've heard recently.

Like, yeah, even IF we take into account the world is full of assholes who would react like that and blame a child for what their parent did, it's still such a victim blaming thing to say. These people basically just said "Adrien is responsible for how the rest of the world reacts to his personal life."

Also, there's a HUGE difference between Adrien finding out the truth and everyone finding out the truth. And might I remind you he's better at keeping his identiy as Cat Noir a secret than Marinette is at keeping hers as Ladybug... just saying. But of course, it's always Adrien who's the problem... /s

ML fandom stop victim blaming and apologing abuse challenge.

[howhow326]

I know I'm late but

This is actually diabolical.

I don't know if the person who threw this togather was an unpaid intern or not, but this is another example of the shows team gaslighting us about how bad Gabriel actually is.

[theerurishipper]

Every now and then I still see arguments about how "Chat Blanc and Ephemeral were meant to inform us that Adrien couldn't take part in the final battle," the implication here being that there is no possible way for Adrien to ever react in a convenient manner to this news, and that his only reactions could be "he loses control and goes berserk," or "he gets controlled by his dad." I have already expressed my views on these takes, which is that they are excuses and justifications for bad writing. But I still feel that in trying to insinuate that they are valid explanations for Adrien's inability to be part of the finale, the point of those episodes is missed, and I'll elaborate on why they aren't even good excuses now.

Despite what Thomas Astruc may suggest on Twitter, that the problem is not with Adrien in these episodes. As evidenced by episodes like The Collector and even the aforementioned Chat Blanc, Adrien is perfectly capable of fighting his father. The issue that presents itself in these scenarios isn't that Adrien can't control himself and can only react poorly, it's that Gabriel chooses to hurt his son. None of these situations happened because of anything Adrien did, they happened because Gabriel manufactured the situation into something that he could use to gain control over his son.

The issue here isn't that Adrien finding out makes him react poorly (which is a hot take of its own), the issue is with how he finds out. In both Chat Blanc and Ephemeral, Gabriel manipulates the situation to his advantage. He knows Adrien's identity before Adrien knows his or even knows that his own identity has been compromised. Gabriel is in control of all the information, and he engineers the situation to cause the most traumatic reaction in Adrien so that he can exploit it and take advantage of Adrien's distress. The issue here isn't Adrien's reactions, it's the fact that Gabriel is in control. By framing the message of Chat Blanc and Ephemeral as proof that Adrien can only react poorly to Gabriel's revelations and abuse and using that as an excuse to justify him sitting out the conclusion to his own arc is bafflingly weird to me.

And it just ends up sending the message that Adrien is apparently "too emotionally immature" or whatever the salters say, and therefore he can't ever find out about his father, or it'll only cause disaster. The blame for not being able to walk out of the situation and continue fighting the good fight with no negative effects whatsoever is placed on Adrien by insinuating that it's some inherent flaw in him that he'll never overcome, rather than acknowledge that things only happened the way they did because Gabriel specifically manipulated events and information to achieve his desired outcome. Rather than blame the abuser for his actions, the blame is placed on the victim for his reactions. That's not good.

And it ends up with the alarming implications that abuse victims are irrational and too emotional and are to blame for their reactions instead of it being the abuser's fault for driving them to this point, which is some gross abuse apologia. Indeed, the finale of Season 5 takes this one step further by having Marinette lie to Adrien about his father, because knowing would surely have him react in ways that are inconvenient for herself and everyone else to deal with (this is the writers' motivation, not Marinette's). And we can't have Adrien's trauma matter other than when it is beneficial to Marinette, now can we?

But I digress. Back to my point.

There is a simple solution to the problem of Gabriel taking advantage of Adrien. Since the issue is that Gabriel is able to manufacture the situation to his advantage because he gets to know all the information beforehand, have a reversal of that and have Adrien find out first. Have Adrien find out that his father is Monarch first, and that way, he'll have time to process everything and react to it with the support of his loved ones before he goes to fight his father with clarity and asserts his freedom. It would be a great extension of Adrien's arc of reclaiming his agency and freedom from Gabriel to have him be in control of the situation while Gabriel is blindsided.

A part of Adrien's arc is about finding relationships in which he has unconditional love and support. Have those come into play as he confronts Gabriel. Have them actually matter. There are so many ways to do this.

Have Marinette be present alongside him and have her be able to support him in a meaningful way as he faces down his father.

Have Felix prove he cares for Adrien by telling him the truth about his father and his amok.

Have Nathalie actually support Adrien by letting him know important stuff and giving him his amok back.

This is a non-exhaustive list, but my point is that there are so many ways to override the very specific situations that were present in Chat Blanc and Ephemeral and tilt the scales in Adrien's favor. It would be a better way to deal with this than to just dismiss the point of those episodes by making it seem like the problem lies with Adrien and his reactions than the fact those things only happened because of Gabriel's specific manipulations.

But there is one very simple solution to this whole issue, and it is right there in Season 5 itself. There is proof written straight into the show that Chat Blanc and Ephemeral are not the status quo. See Marinette giving into Gabriel's threats in Chat Blanc and contrast that with her going up against him and defying him outright in Pretention in a way more personal confrontation. The difference between the two episodes is that Marinette is allowed to grow. She is allowed to develop as a character and prove that she is different from the Marinette who gave into Gabriel's threats. So if she is allowed to change and develop as a character and react differently, then why can't Adrien?

Adrien's major problem in any of these situations is that Gabriel is a controlling asshat. To ensure that these situations do not happen, Adrien needs to break free from Gabriel. I posit that the easiest way to allow Adrien to not react in ways that "don't end well," is to allow him to grow and develop as a character. It would allow him to start truly breaking free of his father in such a way that when the time comes for the final confrontation, Adrien is not so easily susceptible to his manipulations and can fight back against him. It would allow him to have agency in the situation that he did not have at the times Chat Blanc and Ephemeral took place.

But unfortunately, the writers did not want to give Adrien growth and development and agency, because that would mean making him something other than Marinette's prop and love interest. That also seems to be the point of the amok rings, since their only relevance in the story is to make up a reason so that Adrien cannot go against Gabriel and needs Marinette to do it for him, and the show presents this as some great quandary to which there is no discernable solution other than simply removing Adrien from the battle altogether so that Marinette can complete his arc for him. And it sucks.

In conclusion:

[fernsnouveau]

Chat Blanc and Ephemeral do NOT work as proof for why Adrien should never find out about Gabemoth, or why the love square identity reveal shouldn't happen.

They only demonstrate why Gabriel shouldn't find out that Adrien is Chat Noir.

Because he will then be able to plan and play out how to dump the Gabemoth and corpse mom reveal onto unsuspecting Adrien the most manipulative, traumatic way possible, with the explicit purpose and plan to akumatize him. And, at least in Ephemeral (Chat Blanc is unclear), he still needed to actually mind control Adrien too, it seemed like he would have resisted otherwise.

If the narrative allowed Adrien the growth to accept that his father is abusive, and capable of being a supervillain, if Adrien was allowed to have the character development to process this on his own terms, then he could have been the one to figure out Gabemoth's identity. It would have been more meaningful, and done more for his character arc, than anyone else making that discovery. It would have connected an important personal breakthrough (abuse victim starting to become a survivor by comprehending that they were abused) with an important plot breakthrough (ladynoir finding out who their enemy is). It would have meant that Adrien, who's been forcibly reduced towards blank, passive "perfection" and significantly denied agency and the capacity to have a meaningful impact, could contribute something even if he then wouldn't be able to directly fight against his father.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Honestly think about it. Thomas claiming that ML is "just a kids show" kinda bites him back in the butt for one specific reason, the lessons the show teaches. When you're making a kids show specifically aimed at young kids, you have a responsibility to make sure that the show doesn't portray any dangerous messages.

Here are some of the messages ML teaches:

Stalking is ok if it's for love. If you're a bully you can't be abused or deserve the abuse. If someone is being racist *you* have to apologize anyways. A parent has no bearing on how their child turns out. Ect.

Thomas should consider himself lucky that there hasn't been more of an outcry from parents.

I'm honestly amazed the show hasn't really received any backlash from people outside of the fandom, what with the bad lessons it teaches coupled with Astruc's activity on Twitter.

[goggles-mcgee]

What killed the show for you?

A lot, actually. But it wasn't all at once. It was like slowly creeping in, and then the rest hit me in the face with a loud, resounding BAM.

It started off with noticing how Marinette was being treated. Like I said before, she was being punished for basically everything she did. She could sneeze at the wrong moment and the show would 'punish' her for that behavior and basically show everyone that by sneezing she ruined the ambiance of whatever was going on.

She had to apologize for things that weren't her fault but it was painted out like she was.

Made her crush/love for Adrien seem super creepy as opposed to his love for Ladybug.

Marinette has basically only been allowed temporary happiness. She had to see a future when the world ended all because she wanted to do something for Adrien and 'abused' her power as Ladybug... if that were an actual rule you would think that Gabriel would have been slapped in the face down into a grave with how he used his Miraculous.

From there is got worse, then other characters started to get terrible writing when Lila arrived. She was an interesting antagonist, but like they hammed her up so much. She would be on screen and the writing for the surrounding characters got worse. It was odd and it didn't make watching enjoyable anymore. It was frustrating! Like you mean to tell me no one else caught on to her ridiculous lies besides Marinette and Marinette only knows because of her creepy crush making her stalk Adrien? Wack.

And like the whole class fell for it? Nah, there would be some who don't, and the fact they decided no, everyone will believe her except Marinette is lazy and ridiculous. Maybe if her lies were more believable I'd tolerate it but from that point on the show just frustrated me.

There was nothing to look forward to despite me desperately clutching at the show and begging it to catch my attention and affection once more.

There's also the fact that the show has like no to little continuity. Even shows meant for younger audiences have SOME. And I know because my nephew watches so many shows, he is currently 5, so I think you can guess the kind of shows he watches. Even they have some levels of continuity and it make sense!

ML doesn't have that or didn't before I stopped watching.

They have a romance they are desperately trying to sell as true love.

They have a villain they tried to get you to see has doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

A villain they also tried to sell loved his son but it couldn't be more obvious that he doesn't.

They have the notion of friendship concurs all, but it's not really sticking, much like undercooked pasta to a wall.

And other reasons.

But hey, these are my reasons, and I am in no way saying other fans should stop watching. If they can still find things about the show enjoyable, then I'm happy for them! I hope they have a great time following the show as it continues.

It's just not for me anymore.

[jacquesthepigeon]

Thinking again about parental relationships in ML and how much they leave to be desired

Luka and Juleka had the deadbeat dada drama and it concluded with the father/son relationship being the only one that mattered and Juleka, who canonically was insecure about her relationship with Mr. Deadbeat, being not so much as a bullet note; not to mention having other characters ignore Anarka’s influence in their musical upbringing (ignoring moms becomes a running theme 🤪)

Chloé. Complete and total daddy’s girl except when she’s evil, in which case she’s her absentee mother’s daughter. Daddy’s responsible for the good, mommy for the bad. Excellent non sexist writing /s. Don’t wanna dwell on her.

With Marinette, I get the impression that she’s closer to her father than she is her mother, which by itself isn’t a problem, but then we compare the amount of individual characterization Tom and Sabine get (as in, when they’re not a monolith) and like. Tom gets all the personality while Sabine gets all the foreign mysticism and also is the emotionally stable/responsible one and apparently had 0 influence on Marinette’s upbringing whatsoever and I’m just tired of it. It’s a tired trope. Other salters can speak about the subject better. TL;DR: Tom is a character whereas Sabine is a caricaturistic space filler. Moving on.

That brings us to the most important parent/child relationship: Gabriel and Adrien. I’m gonna skip over most of the analysis for this one cuz it’s all been said already. Gabriel abuses Adrien. Adrien loves his father unconditionally. Emilie is somehow a nonfactor in all of this (see what I meant about a running theme?). Gabriel drops dead. Adrien still loves his father unconditionally and also is super chill with him being dead. Oh wait, did I say their relationship is the most important? My bad, I meant to say their relationship is completely inconsequential to the plot and that Gabriel’s motivations for pretty much everything could be explained through his obsession for his fridged wife and his perceived Ideal. These two could go the entire series without speaking to each other and nothing would change. In the grand scheme of things, these two don’t matter to each other’s alleged “arcs”; Gabriel is a selfish prick who supposedly redeemed himself… by being a selfish prick, and Adrien makes friends and allegedly grieves fantastically (if at all).

And it’s such a shame because each of these dynamics have so much to offer narratively but miss the mark by leagues. Dad = Good. Mom = inconsequential unless it’s Bad in which case it’s her fault entirely. It’s disappointing on its own for all the untapped potential and sexist as hell if you think about it for more than two seconds.

@ the men writing this show: text ur mom an apology and do better