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ninadove · 11 months ago

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Not to be that person but who am I kidding. I love being that person.

Upon her introduction to the series Kagami’s main weapon of choice is a foil, a sort of light weight blunted fencing rapier. This is however possibly also intended as a pun, because her purpose in the narrative is also a foil.

A word repeated changes it’s meaning.

Kagami means “mirror” in Japanese and as is often the case in fiction, that name gives us some insight to what the writers intended when imagining her. In this case, she’s a mirror/foil to both our main protagonists. But since Marinette and Adrien are already a Yin Yang couple, built on complimenting and contrasting each other all the way down to having their color schemes be each other’s negatives. So how does she manage to mirror them both?

Well, where is the mirror between you and your reflection? Right in the middle. She shows each of them themselves, but with a little bit reversed.

A foil exists to provide contrast; When Marinette’s too afraid to make a move Kagami’s bold and rushes straight ahead, when Adrien struggles to disobey his father her strong and stubborn will stands firm, when Marinette’s trying to self sabotage her best friends day contest Kagami’s making an earnest effort with Adrien’s quirky friend who he suggested she might like, when Adrien and Luka are too stunned to help up Marinette she makes her move, when Ladybug has a plan for a stealthy escape Ryuuko boldly attempts to fight Ikari Gozen, when Marinette’s clumsy and disoriented Kagami’s athletic and skilled, and when Adrien is unable to effectively comment why he can’t always be present for her Kagami is able to express why that lack of honesty won’t work for her.

A silvery foil is what gives a mirror it’s reflective surface, the things reflected on the other side will still match.

The Cat and Ladybug miraculouses always find each other through fate? Well Adrien and Kagami were literally made for each other.

She high society like Adrien.

She struggles to communicate and express herself like Marinette.

Adrien’s an anime nerd? Kagami reads manga and bases relationship advice off of them.

Marinette hates liars? Kagami’s reason for breaking up with Adrien also led to her becoming an Akuma that embodies her hatred for dishonesty.

She revels in tiny bits of rebellion with Adrien.

She tries to capture the world around her through art and even sketches and paints in her spare time like Marinette, she even paints with Marinette.

She tries to wingman for Adrien with Marinette like how Marinette tried to help her back together with him

She’s burdened by familial expectations like Adrien

She had a helmet removal scene that was literally copied for Marinette, both even happen at the front of the school

Ryuuko’s fighting style matches Chat’s, her main color scheme matches Ladybug’s, and her civilian attire has a white overcoat with a black under shirt like Adrien’s that give a perfect white/black futatsutomoe (☯️) with Marinette’s black jacket over a white shirt.

She’s obviously visually inspired by Marinette’s overall design with her hair and even her freckles are more prominent on the opposite side of her face than where Marinette’s are(Kagami has more overall but her’s are mainly on the left side of her face while Marinette’s are on the right)

When Adrien’s only parent is his father she’s left with only her mother

When Marinette has several friends to fall back on Kagami feels alone and when Adrien feels isolated Kagami’s there alongside his other friends

When we start to get clues about who is a senti-being we get scenes of both Kagami and Adrien

Both Marinette and Kagami have arcs about setting their own feelings aside to support the other

Both Adrien and Kagami have their image co-opted by their parents for a soulless ai assistant copy of themselves.

She even counterbalances their heroics by having some of the most akuma forms and by being one of the fastest to reveal her own identity

A foil has many uses in a narrative, and by letting her be a counterpart to two protagonists at once it has allowed her to become one of the most dynamic and fleshed out characters in the show, even if a lot of that was in service of fleshing out other characters. Heck she even mirrors herself in ways, just look at how Ryuuko’s symbol flows counter to the Tsurugi family crest, she’s a break from tradition and what was intended for her.

I know I’m probably still forgetting things but I just wanted to have a little rant about how I love these themes.

Kagami is a mirror, she is a foil, a word repeated.

#HE SEES HER #HE SEES THE THEMES #He sees the abuse the queerness the neurodivergence in her because he too experiences them #He sees their shared struggles and wants to help #But recognises her difference and is beginning to understand that she knows what she needs better than him #Which culminates in him getting her ring back for her and then following her lead in Representation #They’re so beautiful so important #miraculous ladybug #kagami tsurugi #felix graham de vanily #feligami #mlb spoilers #mlb pretension

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kiarabanetmi · 2 years ago

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UPDATE on Felix Analysis, now with episode “Pretension” spoilers:

In this episode we also learn more about Felix as a character and see his development. First, we see him stalking the adrigaminette trio. Then, we see him follow just Kagami and her mother. He overhears Kagami stand up to her mother, telling her how she feels and what she believes. However, her mother immediately gaslights her and puts her down by saying she has a responsibility to uphold the Tsurugi family and the responsibilities/desires of her ancestors. Make no mistake, what Tsurugi-San is doing to Kagami is textbook mental and emotional manipulation, not even giving her daughter the right to think for herself in this matter and putting down any emotion she feels. And Felix SEES that this is wrong, and decides to act immediately.

Look at his face. He’s furious. And he KNOWS what’s happening to Kagami is wrong. So we learn that Felix can discern what is unhealthy/abusive. But him acting so rashly when hearing this, when usually he’s so cool headed and emotionless, that’s pretty big for him. So it’s obvious this sort of treatment and abuse affects him in a BIG way, hinting at him experiencing things similar. Later in the episode this is confirmed when he stated his father acted worse than Kagami’s mother.

He then kidnaps Kagami and tried to explain himself, but for the first time, we see him out of his element. He’s awkward when trying to explain himself to her. Since we first met him, he always seemed to be three steps ahead, always thinking of his next move and keeping his cards close to his chest. He even detransformed for her, in a way, for the first time, truly letting his guard down around someone other than his mother. And for the first time, we actually see him stammering over his words. Kagami says it best here:

This act on his part was unplanned. He admits that he’d been following Kagami in a misguided attempt to get to know her, but he genuinely seemed to not know how to approach her. Now, to be fair, the last time they interacted he had snapped away everyone in the world except for Adrien and Kagami herself, so I’m sure he must’ve felt awkward/ashamed to try to talk to her himself. HOWEVER, that does not excuse stalking young man, even for good purposes.

We then get confirmation that what he did was a rash decision based on emotion this time. He kidnapped Kagami in a spur of the moment. And he did it for one reason:

Then later, when he’s helping Kagami flee from Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Matari-Gozen, she asks about why he’s not using a sentimonster. And he asks her to not call them that. He then explains his views on it: creatures created with the Peacock miraculous are living things, and as their creator he has a responsibility to them. He doesn’t view them as monsters, further solidifying my statement about Red Moon and his views on Sentimonsters. Even if they aren’t humanoid or complex, he views every single one as a being to be taken care of and respected, not just to be created and discarded on a whim or to be used as tools.

Finally, at the end of the episode, we’re seeing him try to accomplish his goal in the “Emotion” episode, but in a new way. At the end of the episode, Tsurugi-San tells Kagami she is no longer worthy of carrying her clan ring and demands it back. Just because Kagami disagreed with her and asked for something she wanted. It’s heavily implied that this ring is where Kagami’s amok is hidden, and Tsurugi-San taking it back means Kagami would no longer be free at all, her will bound to the holder of the ring.

But Felix, again, is one step ahead. Kagami and him meet up at the movies, where he gives her her ring back, pulling the ring swapping trick he pulled on Gabriel in his debut episode.

He then tells Kagami that it’s not her ancestors and family that decide her choices, it’s herself. In this instance, he’s finally giving her TRUE freedom. He gave her the piece of herself that allows her to make her own choices, so she can be free like he wanted. He’s changed his approach now.

We can see he still wants to free people he cares about from oppressors, but now he’s trying to do it without harming others or taking his anger out on others. In this entire episode, outside of how he reacted when Tsurugi-San verbally bashed Kagami, he actively seek fights or try to harm others. In fact, he did everything he could to avoid confrontation this time, since last time it solved nothing and did more harm than good. Even when interacting with Ladybug and Cat Noir, he didn’t fight them, or EVEN TRY TO TAKE THEIR MIRACULOUS!

That’s also big! Last time he wanted to make a wish, and even when he learned of the price, he said there was no price too high for him. But this time? He doesn’t even mention taking their rings or even wanting to fight them. Perhaps he’s taken Ladybug’s words about the price to heart?

What’s the point of this analysis then? To further prove my point about Felix being gray and a dynamic, CHANGING character. He’s still making mistakes, but in this episode he’s taken his experience form Emotion and changed again. Or is trying to. No longer hostile or actively seeking confrontation or revenge or a selfish ulterior motive for himself. In this episode, we actually saw him act completely out of concern for someone else. This entire episode, his actions were to help Kagami, and though he has a long way to go, it seems like he’s making progress.

I think I’ve finally gotten my thoughts together about Felix.

People have genuine things to hate about him: in his debut episode he lied to Adrien, impersonated him to destroy his relationships with his friends and classmates, tried to force kisses on Marinette (as Ladybug) WITHOUT CONSENT, and stole from Gabriel with a sinister smirk. He did apologize to Adrien and promised to be better, but when that smirk was revealed it seemed like another lie.

Then, in Season 4, we got to see just a bit more of him. He was incredibly intelligent and cold towards others (he actively insulted Chloe, but he already knew her and didn’t like her). HOWRVER, one thing he didn’t do this time was try to manipulate Kagami, Adrien’s other friend. Granted he was more focused on ShadowMoth/Gabriel. But another thing: HE REJECTED AN OFFER OF POWER from ShadowMoth. That isn’t something to take lightly. Unlike other villains who would’ve happily taken the power (I.e. Chloe and Lila), he outright REFUSED and broke control. Then, he came back in the finale to get info on Gabriel while telling Adrien he would take his place on the tour. But here’s the thing: after he found the secret of Emelie, he didn’t just abandon his deal with Adrien. Even after Adrien said he was gonna follow through with the deal he made with his father and go on tour. Instead, Félix still stayed in his place, probably in his kind to free up his cousin and gave him he happy, or now. He could have just been using it to get away from Gabriel and make sure he was far enough away with the Peacock Miraculous he believed he had stolen, but he still honored his deal with his cousin and kept up the charade. But again, we don’t really know.

Then, he betrayed Ladybug after he gave her the dog miraculous, and exchanged all her miraculous for the real Peacock for reasons we still didn’t know

But now, we’re learning more. In Emotion, he did kidnap Adrien and lie to Kagami. But again, he didn’t try to destroy Adrien’s relationship with her this time. In fact, he bonded with her (after realizing she’s probably a sentimonster too). Then, when Marinette comes and gives him a genuine confession and kind, supportive words, we see ACTUAL GROWTH. Remember, Félix saw the video of a Marinette saying she loved Adrien in his debut episode, and he hated her. But this time, instead, he didn’t try to make Adrien a bad guy. Even if he was acting, it seemed like he was genuinely happy with Marinette. Cause her words may have also gotten to him. He’s already been spying on their date, and I’m guessing he may have still had doubts about her being genuine. But her showing up at the dance changed that (at least in my mind).

Remember, in her speech, she said not only she loved Adrien, but she understood why he didn’t tell her about the dance, that she wasn’t mad, that he was going through a hard time, and that she was proud of him anyways for doing the best he could. And to him, that must’ve been something. He saw that unlike every other person he’s seen Adrien interact with (his father, his fans, Lila, Chloe), this girl seemed to genuinely care about Adrien’s happiness and for him as a person, not just some idol or prize or tool. Please note this time he didn’t try to sexually assault her or make any undue advances towards her either, although that can be argued since she thought he was Adrien. So, when he danced with her, and she called herself a monster (in regards to the other prissy rich kids staring in horror), he got angry. Because he saw one of the only genuinely good people he knew (aside from Adrien and his own Mother) beat themselves up cause of others prejudice.

Also, keep in mind, he transformed only after Chloe ATTACKED Marinette. Sure, it was a distraction to take advantage of, but I see it as also seeing the perfect moment to protect someone good and enact his plan to save Adrien and himself. Cause after he snapped everyone except Kagami away (cause he bonded with her and saw she was like him), he brought Marinette away to a place she’d be safe from his powers. A place where no light from his Red Moon sister would touch her, so she wouldn’t be at risk. He wasn’t just dumping her to get her out of the way. He could’ve just snapped her away and brought her back if he wanted to do that. BUT HE DIDNT.

Then, after confronting Ladybug and snapping her away and bringing back Kagami and Adrien, he reveals his desire to free himself and Adrien, and now Kagami, of their controllers and oppressors, to just make a world where they would be happy and free. And he knew Adrien wouldn’t be happy on this world without Marinette, that’s ANOTHER reason he protected her. He wanted Adrien to be happy AND saw she was a good person.

When he shows Adrien this to make her happy, and sees she isn’t there and his power to bring her back isn’t working, he genuinely starts to panic and apologize. When Kagami and Adrien demand they bring her back, he agrees WITHIUT HESITATION and doesn’t argue his mistake. He thought his powers hurt one of the people he car s about most, his Cousin, whom we now see he does seem to genuinely care about. When he sees the three of them reunite in relief, he looks genuinely guilty and worried.

Another thing to note: Félix regards his non-humanoid sentimonster as any other living being, speaking to it as it understands him. Mayura and Gabriel NEVER did that. Just saw them as mindless tools. He doesnt. He speaks to her as a person, despite that she can’t speak at all, nor has a face, or a discernible personality. And when he releases her from existence, he apologizes because he shouldn’t have created her with so much hate and used her powers to hurt people he cared about. He cried not only for her, but what he had done to hurt his cousin.

At the end of the episode, his mother confirms what his thoughts were at the beginning of the episode: that everyone except Adrien were just cruel monsters who didn’t care or weren’t good. But now, he’s taking back his stance on that. His feelings have changed. Not only is there another senti-being he can relate to now, but there’s a normal girl whom is so kind and genuine and makes his cousin happy. He now sees there are good people in the world other than his mom and cousin, and he doesn’t want to hurt them.

So yes, in the beginning he was an AWFUL person. I’m not going to excuse his actions in earlier seasons at all. But here’s the thing about him (and I’m not using this as an excuse, I’m going to use it as a reference guide): he’s a child. He’s a damaged, grieving, super intelligent but emotionally immature child. This does NOT excuse what he did in his debut episode AT ALL, but it does remind us of something: as children grow, they learn. And as they learn, THEY CAN CHANGE. And Félix seems to be doing that every time we see him. Sometimes those changes are good (I.e. rejecting HawkMoth’s powers, apologizing to Adrien) and sometimes they’re bad (I.e. betraying Ladybug). But he seems to be learning every time we see him.

So, is he a good guy or a bad guy? I think he’s a damaged kid who wants what’s best for those he lives and doesn’t know how to do it right. I think he was cruel and hurtful and cold and closed off, but now he’s learning other ways to be better.

The world is full of greys. Nothing is just as simple as hero and villain most of the time. I think that’s what Félix represents.

#mlb season 5 spoilers #mlb season 5 theory #felix fathom #mlb spoilers #mlb pretension #mlb kagami #mlb season 5

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