Sometimes I Wonder If It Took The Citizens Of Paris Time To Adjust To Their New Superhero's Look.

You Found Rover!

Since I haven't been feeling very inspired in the Plance art area lately, I decided to post my first Plance drawing, which I did back when all I could do in terms of digital art was trace screenshots. Oh, and I used fancy blending modes instead of figuring out the colors myself.

Objectively, it probably looks better than anything I drew myself, but I still don't like it because it doesn't look like MY art, it just looks likes random Plance art. Oh well, here we go.

Holy cow, this is a HUGE file, what was past me THINKING?!

Rory!

She, she screams in silence

A sullen riot penetrating through her mind

Waiting for a sign

To smash the silence with the brick of self-control

- Green Day, "She"

fheskekkvrjkckec okay so the all left AU (courtesy of @sabertoothwalrus) would not leave me alone, so I wrote this fic.

I told myself that the first story I'd link to on here would be one I was confident in and proud of, but then this happened, and (as is becoming a trend in this AU) I had to get it out and share it.

It's so late where I live, I'm so tired, I have no idea how bad this is, but I wrote it and I'm sharing it and uh . . . yeah.

Edit: If you liked this, here's the "sequel"

Once again, Infinity Train has proven that apparently Owen Dennis has complete and unfettered access to my journal. Or maybe he's seen my memory tape.

Man, this is such a good show.

Sunrise

I tried to draw Lake from Infinity Train, and uh . . .

I am not happy at all with how this turned out. So, obviously, I'll have to redraw her fifty times until I am happy with the result!

This . . . this might be my favorite thing I've ever written. Well, of the things I've posted online, that is. I just . . . the music and the fluff and the cultural and synesthesia undertones, and the trust, and the singing . . . I'm actually really happy with how this turned out, which is a little unusual. I'm not sure if it'll be quite as heartwarming for other people, but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway.

I feel a need to bring this back in the wake of the canonical representation of Adrien as a princess and Marinette as his knight in shining armor

Gender Roles in Miraculous Ladybug

Miraculous Ladybug is filled with excellent subversions of gender stereotypes. And no, I'm not just going to say it's feminist, because what I'm talking about is much broader than that. The show is filled with characters that refuse to fit the standard roles their gender lays out for them, both for female and male roles.

Let's start with the most obvious example, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, or Ladybug. It's pretty clear that her character and function in the story revolts against stereotypes of femininity: she is a woman—well, a girl—but she leads her team, which is a traditionally male role. She is the decision-maker, the rationalist, the realist, the one who catastrophizes before she hopes—this is stark contrast to the traditional expectation that women follow and comfort, holding the team up with optism and joy. She is the head, not the heart (that's Adrien). She is driven, strong, determined, and self-assured.

Adrien, too, subverts stereotypes—perhaps more than Marinette, although it's not something you notice immediately like Marinette's subversions. (This is because we're familiar with the patterns of feminist characters, but not the anti-sexism found in Adrien.) At heart, Adrien is arguably the most clasically "feminine" character in the show. On the surface, it's easy to see—he is a model, objectified for his beauty, something that has been done to women for all of history and is still being done today. But it runs deeper, too. He is submissive, mild, willing to bend to other's will—both his father's and Ladybug's, as well as the desires of other people in his class like Chloe and Lila (both of whom are, interestingly, women). His kindness and sensitivity, as well as his role as the heart and support when suited up, all mirror traditionally feminine traits and roles.

And yet, despite all this subversion, neither of the main characters are simply a rebellion against stereotypes. It's clear in Chat Noir's tendency to flirt and his function as a protector, but it's especially evident in Marinette, who doesn't just subvert female stereotypes—she also fulfills them.

Marinette is a leader, a thinker, a pessimist, but she's also interested in fashion and art, both of which are considered feminine. More than that, she's incredibly kind, exemplifying that women can abandon the negative feminine stereotypes of submission and obedience without sacrificing the positives like kindness and selflessness. And finally, she's clearly not a "strong independent woman who don't need no man" because she wants a man. No, she doesn't need a boyfriend, but she wants one. True feminism doesn't mean women throwing aside all romantic relationships, it means not pressuring women either way, into or away from romance. Marinette can be strong and independent while still loving someone and wanting to be loved back.

The characters in Miraculous Ladybug are not governed by stereotypes. They were written to be good, nuanced characters, not feminist characters. Marinette has both feminine and masculine traits, proving that traditional "feminine" values are just as valuable as "masculine" ones. Adrien has both, but far more feminine than masculine traits, demonstrating that masculinity is not superior, and that toxic masculinity is just as harmful as classic sexism.

Miraculous Ladybug didn't say "We need to stop forcing women to be feminine," which is a common and harmful misinterpretation of the feminist vision. It didn't say "We should let women act like men!" or "Femininity is bad! Let's leave it all behind." It said, "Stereotypes—both for men and women—are harmful, and we should let people just be people instead of defining them by their genders." It created a world where there are no traditionally feminine and masculine traits, there are just people traits, and anyone can be anyone.