#my poor girl...she deserves better....

[purple--queen]

jeckis dead was a bigger surprise then the reveal of qimir being the sith master.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

In Defense of Marinette

I like Marinette. While there are many valid criticisms of her writing, the same can be said for literally every other character and she's actually doing pretty well given that she's the main character. After all, in a show where consistent characterization is an ongoing issue, the one with the most screen time will probably be the one who's the biggest victim of the issue.

This is heavily exacerbated by the rule that supposedly governs Miraculous. Namely that, in each story, Marinette must make a mistake. Or, at least, so says the head writer:

I really do not care what this guy says on Twitter or anywhere else. I only care about what's in the show because, if you have to go outside the text to understand the text, then you have no idea how to tell a good story.

However, unlike many of the tweets that I've seen, this one isn't some BS bit of lore. It's a writing rule and it has substantial backing in the text. It's extremely rare to have an episode where Marinette comes out smelling like roses and that's a problem because Miraculous has over 100 episodes. In other words, to follow this rule, the writers have to come up with over 100 ways for Marinette to be wrong so of course she's going to come across poorly. Why would you do this to your main character?

It's extremely common for kids shows to have a "lesson of the day" element to them. Someone always needs to learn something, but I've never seen a show misunderstand the assignment so badly. Learning a lesson is not the same as doing something wrong.

It's been a while since I watched the 2010 version of My Little Pony, but it really leaned into that whole "lesson of the day" thing and it actually knew what it was doing, so I'm going to talk about it briefly to discuss things that Miraculous should have done.

The first thing to note is that MLP had an unambiguous main character - Twilight Sparkle - but Twilight was not the one who learned all of the lessons. She had a pet dragon and a crew of five friends who would, occasionally, be the ones to learn the lesson because there were lots of lessons that simply didn't fit Twilight's character. Instead of warping Twilight to make the idea work (cough cough Ikari Gozen cough), the writers just let someone else have the spotlight for a bit.

This is an excellent way to build out your cast and Miraculous had plenty of opportunities to do it. For example, Lila should not have been Marinette's issue. The fact that Lila hates Marinette could have certainly stuck around, but the one who takes her down and learns to investigate her sources? That should have been Alya. A liar is the perfect enemy for an investigative journalist, but a poor enemy for someone who shines as a battlefield commander and overthinks when she's given too much time.

Another way that MLP would teach lessons was to have someone other than Twilight or the main crew cause the issue that they then had to deal with. This leads to one of the best moments in children's television:

And, frankly? Marinette deserves a moment like this. That poor girl has been through hell and is never allowed to make the right call when it really matters. The show will even completely rewrite its lore to make her fail (see: Strike Back). That is such an awful thing to do to your lead! Shows about female empowerment should include women feeling powerful and, no, Lila and Chloe don't count!

Also, the show is literally about Gabriel taking advantage of people who are upset. You don't need to have Marinette make a mistake to shoehorn in a life lesson. Akumas are life lesson fodder and season 1 actually seemed to get this. I'm not sure why they switched gears to "Marinette is the star and, therefore, must always be wrong."

The final way that MLP taught lessons was to have Twilight do something wrong because having your main character do something wrong is a totally valid way to teach lessons. It just shouldn't be your only way because you know who is always wrong in children's media?

Villains.

They wrote Marinette like a villain.

And a large part of the fandom hates her for it because of course they do.

You're not supposed to like villains.

[sweeetsh]

“So Rin kept a candle by her books, dripping hot wax on her arm if she nodded off. Her eyes would water in pain, she would wipe her tears away, and she would resume her studies. The day she took the exam, her arms were covered with burn scars.”

p.22 The Poppy War, R. F. Kuang

[beanghostprincess]

I think about this card of Pudding every day of my life. Sanji behind her. Her personality being split into pieces around the frame. He eyes sparkling. Crying. Holding her memories tight. I am so not normal about her.

[rexecutioner]

Sorry ive been so inactive recently, I have a life that I needed to get back to for a bit! I am returning with a new hyperfixation (i am seven years late)

I drew me and my friend’s favorite characters in a silly artstyle!! We are going through the game together and we are almost done with Chapter Four (i am so scared) (ignore how tiny Rantaro’s head is) (i rant in the tags beware)

[kindaasrikal]

So why did we casually never talk about how in Skylor’s room in the tournament there was a portrait of Chen that had eye holes? You know. The place she lived? And was her home? And what was probably her actual room? Had eye holes that she had no knowledge of?

Chen is a freak i hate him.

GUYS THE AMOUNT OF TIMES HE PROBABLY STALKED HER OR MADE SOMEONE WATCH HER THATS SO INVASIVE AND CREEPY

[thelesbianluthor]

Dale Lee fighting the angels at every chance to give his wife Sofia tax advice and watch the deers with her is the sweetest most heartbreaking thing ever.

[pushing500]

We built a marble sarcophagus for Brandy beside where the toxic wastepacks get stored. It's a lovely little spot, perfect for nostalgic reflections and a nice private cry.

Speaking of crying... Brandy liked to follow Mechi around while he did jobs, so I imagine he feels her loss a bit more strongly than he might have otherwise. We need a way to vent all this pent-up grief! Fortunately, Kwahu knows just how to get one...

A second diabolus is just what the doctor ordered! We need another signal chip anyway so that we can make the boys cool matching mechanitor gear.

A healthy way to vent emotions, I'm sure. Brandy would be so proud of us. Rest in peace, best girl 💔

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[myuiis]

i need taejin dead so bad right now you guys dont even understand

[moowithmidnight]

Don’t think about Elle desperately trying to self-soothe and stay grounded while she was waiting around for Lee

Don’t think about how of course Elle knew she fucked up but instead of being met with any sort of compassion she was mainly met with anger

Don’t think about how even with the full 4 months, you have to wait until 6 months to see if someone will actually develop PTSD (she did)

Don’t think about how despite his good intentions, Reid trying to soothe her by saying “you won” only confirmed that the others wouldn’t understand

Don’t think about Gideon calling Elle impatient, Elle talking about how seeing rapists walk made her want to explode, how Hotch said that feeling wasn’t that far off from murder

Don’t think about how Elle was genuinely trying so hard for so long and how she deserved so much better than to be the tragedy she is

[mythspy]

sheherazade the love of my life….

[valinoar]

jeyne makes me so sad like she probably believes she’s met the epitome of chivalry, florian come again etc etc and it’s literally theon. like oh my god

[unresurgeance]

"we need more complex women" you guys couldn't even handle Sally Acorn

[flugame-mp3]

what do you fucking mean that's how charlie dies. THAT'S HOW CHARLIE DIES??? i mean i know the show has a penchant for killing off every character who's not a winchester brother or an angel of thursday but good god. what the fuck. charlie was such a good and enjoyable recurring character, and she had such a fandom impact that i've seen, and she's only around for THREE SEASONS?? (sidebar: it's amazing she has the presence she does for only being around for a couple episodes in the long run!) but: was this necessary? and she just dies offscreen after her skills are utilized to progress the plot of decoding the book of the damned?? oh my god. what in the actual fuck. i'm finding myself getting genuinely very upset at her death. she did not fucking deserve that. and i can absolutely see why the fan response to her death is what it is now. completely fucking unjustified and throwaway and useless.

[hauntingblue]

Alucard becomes a father, belmont dies and hector and lenore have a tragic ending???? Alright

[lena-artz]

TW: SUICIDE

I've been thinking about this deleted scene a lot these days, so I decided to draw it