#you could've had the Dragon and Tiger match up with them and still work

[imthepunchlord]

PS: Since we are on the subject, what would you do with the Miraculous that represent the Ying Yang (I think that's how it is written)? I remember that you also mentioned that the black cat and the ladybug did not quite fit together, especially if one takes into account that the miraculous supposedly have an Asian origin.

(Black) Cat and Ladybug worked well together when their concept was luck and they were more European oriented. Even more so that the "unlucky" black cat stems purely from Europe and the fear of witches and the rise of Christianity as witches were associated with the devil and black cats were associated with witches. This would also mean that what they would've had would have been very recent and new, as black cats became unlucky in the 17th century. And playing off this I realize that Plagg and Tikki would actually be 414 years old (with the show set in 2015 and assuming they were made in the year of 1601).

So for the Cat and Ladybug pair that they want, it works for Europe.

Now for a powerful duo tied to China and based on yin-yang, it's not so ideal.

I haven't really found anything on ladybugs in Chinese culture. The most there is to them is that ladybugs are red and that's a color of luck. But when you look up lucky animals in Chinese culture, ladybugs do not come up. What is lucky is the whole Zodiac, Carp, Crane, Elephant, Lion, Frog/Toad, Turtle, Duck, Bat, ect.. Almost everything pops up except for Ladybug.

And on Cat, cats are positively viewed in all of the east. They're known as guardians and to be watchful. They're welcomed as they keep pests under control and its believed that their gaze discourage evil spirits. As one of the pair that represents yin-yang, Cat is a little out of left field but you know what, you could tie in the Zodiac legend, the Cat lost being included but it got a higher rank.

But, they want this to be Creation and Destruction for the yin and yang pair. The best option for it would be Tiger and Dragon.

The whole thing about yin and yang is that they are opposites but are also similar. Best example to give is moon and sun. They are both sources of light, and have long been symbols of power and mythology and magic; but one comes with the day and one comes with the night.

For most ideal yin-yang pair, that is Tiger and Dragon.

They're both symbols of power and authority, beings to be respected and to admire/fear. They are equals, but they are opposites in what they are.

The Dragon represents the heavens, spirituality, order, tranquility, patience, and wisdom. It seeks for the world to be in order and to be peaceful, for things to have structure and definition.

The Tiger represents earth, matter (physical body), chaos, war, aggression, and action. The Tiger arises to bring change, to try and bring a new order to the world. This causes the Dragon to come down and face it, trying to keep the order of things. Neither can defeat the other and constantly circle each other in a battle of order and chaos, yet are unable to exist without the other. A world of nothing but order is lifeless, and a world of chaos is unlivable.

For the most ideal yin-yang pair, that's Tiger and Dragon. This is why you see the Dragon vs Tiger match up so much in anime/manga. They're that iconic of rivals. Alternatively, if you don't want Dragon to exist as a miraculous, Snake is a good option. Otherwise, it is reasonable to think of Dragon exists as a powerful miraculous and can be of the few if not only mythical creature to exist as a miraculous.

[imthepunchlord]

What do you think of the main duo's color schemes both having black? I've heard some people say that they how the duo's schemes not only share a color (black) but also have opposite colors (red for the ladybug and green for the cat), to it shows that well the two are different and opposites they are still linked. What do you think of that idea.

Honestly, visually Cat and Ladybug don't appeal to me as a duo color coding wise. I will give them that they are counterparts in terms of color in Chinese culture, for with Wu Xing, red represents Fire and black represents Water, which backs them as opposites; but it doesn't make for an appealing colored duo.

At least to me. The big thing about doing a colored duo is that it comes down to preferences, especially when doing something to represent yin-yang and you don't want to stick to that black-white color scheme or direct color opposites.

One good alternative that could've been done is the iconic red and blue, with Plagg being a very dark blue, which could've had him reference not only the Bombay cat, but a Russian blue.

Red and blue are an iconic visual match that represent opposites that are similar, warm vs cool, action vs thought, and both can be intense and work in similar ways but not exactly the same.

Otherwise, there are better visual counterparts to do.

With Plagg, white kwamis would've been aesthetically pleasing, specifically Rabbit or Mouse.

With Mouse, that can fully reflect them as opposites, as not only is Mullo more white/light grey to counter Plagg's dark body, but she has ruby pink eyes to counter his green. A color coding like this can reflect a more rivalry aspect to yin-yang, often portrayed between Dragon and Tiger; where they are equal in their rivalry and unable to defeat the other, but constantly circle each and keep balance in their strife, evening each other out. This also could work as a nice nod to the old Chinese Zodiac legend, adding history to this pair and reasoning for them as a duo.

Now Cat and Rabbit would visually be a yin-yang pair that could better reflect opposites that are similar, with them being black-white, but Fluff has minor blue details to her and Plagg has green, which in Chinese color meaning, are very similar. If you want to tie them to the west and for an extra bit of fun, they can also be tied to black and white magic, both of these animals tied to magic in different ways, black cats with witches and white rabbits with magicians. There's also a lot more symbolism to work off here too, rabbits are tied to Easter, new beginnings, and life; cats have been associated with spirits and the dead, escorting ghosts to the afterlife. Cats are independent and brave while rabbits are sociable and cautious. And you can even still tie that early theme of luck to them, with lucky rabbits foot.

Now on Tikki, visually, her best counterpart is Duusu.

They have the appealing red-blue colors, and everything about them visually is an opposite. Tikki has dark blue eyes while Duusu has light pink, Tikki has white sclera while Duusu has dark, Tikki has dark spots while Duusu has light spots. To add to it, Tikki even also has tail feathers as a reference to ladybird. So, to me, visually this is a peak color coded duo.

And there some things you can do to make them work as a pair. They would be coded as a he-she, with referring to Duusu as Peacock and Tikki as a Ladybug, which yin-yang does cover feminine and masculine traits. Um... tying them to Chinese culture and playing off ladybird, they could be a split up Fenghaung, which before it got tied to being a dragon's feminine counterpart, it was a bird duo to represent yin yang, one male and one female, a ruling pair over all birds. And in terms of powers, Tikki could represent the material plane while Duusu represents the spiritual, Tikki could also represent the mind and intellect while Duusu represents the heart and emotion.

The latter of that though is stretching things and just working off canon; unfortunately, in terms of symbolism and mythology, the Ladybug has the least amount going on with it out of all the animals tied to miraculouses, coming down to just luck and love. You can add divinity to it as the Ladybug has direct ties to the Virgin Mary (their names directly come from her as they were called the Lady's Beetles) and is thought to be a servant of God, both in service and in delivering divine intervention, but that gets a little dicey when it's supposed to be tied to Taoism and represent yin-yang.

But that's just coming down to my preference visually. Over all, not just visually, Cat and Ladybug just aren't appealing to me as a duo. Especially knowing that their creation is more based around the west and European views, with Ladybug being very present in European culture, and the Cat that's supposed to be more negative only really stems from Europe, and it's not even that old of a view for unlucky black cat (roughly 400 years ago).

[imthepunchlord]

I know you've had your own opinions on the miraculous powers, but have you ever had any thoughts about their weapons? Given the chance, I'd give the rabbit a huge pestle or mallet, in reference to the rabbit-in-the-moon stories in Asia.

Yeah some tools I'd change, I'd like them to be used either for power or for over all use, like Chat's baton he uses a lot despite the power not tied to it. Also tools that also act as tails I'd just rather replace cause when that's removed to be used they just look weird.

That or I add onto their capability.

Mouse I'd change up to have a ribbon wand instead of jumprope tail. The wand is tied to French culture viewing mice as fairies (tooth fairies in particular).

TIger's weapon I'd rather be a gauntlet than bolas tail weapon. It already has a unique enough look to separate it from the rest of the costume and is tied to the power which is about punching. So just let it officially be the tool for Tiger. Especially as that'd be one of the more wicked looking tools.

Now, Rabbit's umbrella has grown on me, but if it's to be changed up, it'd depend on the power, and as the umbrella acts a sword and shield, it may be better for a more offense based miraculous as rabbits aren't known for their offensive capability. If White Magic could have a hammer that sends out a white ring that restores and heals. Or if Burrow was more teleportation, have a trumpet that you blast to open the portal, which can give away your current location but when your enemy arrives, you gone.

Dragon's sword just felt like it was done because it was planned for Kagami, and personally, I thought umbrella would've been a better fit as this is a weather related miraculous. And we see that the umbrella acts as a sword and shield and this is more offense based miraculous. And what's extra nice is that most people would look at an umbrella and not think of it as a weapon, which would have been perfect for Dragon, while it's a powerful creature, it's known to be gentle and helpful. And you're more approachable with an umbrella than a sword. And my idea of just changing Dragon to be a Carp, umbrella can still work for it.

Now Snake's lyre, I wouldn't mind if it was for a music related power, like hypnosis through music. But it's not. Alternatively, I would reveal that the lyre can have potential hidden weapons to it, just like HM's cane has a sword. Have the lyre split in half to be twin sickles to wield, or it can have an unbreakable whip between them making it a long range sickle tipped weapon that can be use in battle or getting around. Otherwise the lyre is just a weight to carry around. Maybe as a reference to Father Time, the tool could've been a scythe, which you can get elaborate with in battle. It could also match snakes have a long fanged reached.

Horse would be the one I'd vote for a sword, not only as they are commonly war mounts, but you also have the kwami named Kaalki, one of the avatars of Vishnu who was known to conquest chaos. If you wanted to keep Horse as a portal based miraculous, imagine just slicing the air and that opens your portal. Or if going off my idea of Haywire instead, manipulate and even be electricity, imagine the sword becoming a literal bolt of lightning. If keeping horseshoe, then I'd have it be like the lyre and could have hidden capabilities to it, like divide in half to be twin lightsabers.

Rooster's quill I'd keep but give it a writing power like Chicken Scratch, otherwise, what do you even do with it? Can it sharpen enough to be a little knife? Or maybe it can multiply a lot and be throwing knives? It's a possibility as concept art wise, Mayura looked like she could split up her fan to be throwing knives or darts.

And that reminds me, so I am good with Peafowl having a fan, but I wish they kept this concept art for it than soft feather tips, cause that looked more like a war fan that could have edges to it. And to give it some limit with it's power of creation, every section of that fan makes a sentimonster, and make too many you have no more fan. Otherwise it can be divide into be twin war fans to wield or come together to be a shield.

Now everything else I'm pretty ok with. Definitely prefer tools that can have a versatile use in the field or are tied to the power. And many of them can cover that.