Dropping an obligatory disclaimer before I decide to start rambling about the MTS characters:
While I do have the occasional… grievance… with how the original Miraculous show handles its plots and characters, I don’t completely hate the show. There’s some aspects of it I rather enjoy. That’s kinda what got me started here, after all, being interested in the core concept/premise of Miraculous.
Don’t get me wrong, when we first started coming up with ideas for our own Miraculous show (which was referred to as Mirauclous: Rewritten at the time), it was kind of a “grrrrrr I hate the Miracubug, I bet I could write it SO MUCH BETTER” but I was being pretty immature at the time. Now it’s a lot less about one-uping the writers and far more about coming up with a compelling story using the main ideas of the original as a framework.
That’s why I might tag my posts as “miraculous rewrite” (because that’s the tag people use when they wanna see a different kind of Miraculous), but it’s actually far more akin to a miraculous reboot of sorts. That’s also why the characters will be a bit more different from their OG counterparts than they should in a miraculous rewrite, kinda like how the Turtles’ personalities change a bit in each TMNT reboot.
So yeah, if we didn’t end up keeping some element of the OG show, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we hated said element, it just wasn’t a part of the story we wanted to tell, or it simply wasn’t logical to include with the MTS context (for example, I think Alya becoming Ladybug’s confidant and a temp Ladybug was a really cool idea in the main show, but as you’ll end up seeing down the line, it would not work with the new story events and character dynamics that appear in MTS).
If there’s a particular part of the show you’re especially curious about, feel free to drop an ask about whether it’s included in Miraculous: The Series! If it’s not, I can explain what plot point occurs in its place. While I can’t guarantee that you won’t be disappointed by a few of the changes (quite a few popular aspects do get replaced), I also think that’s there’s quite a bit that you’ll enjoy.
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Gonna drop a bomb into the reactor but can someone tell me why "people just hate women/girls who are anything less than perfect" is exclusively a Marinette defense? Can someone tell me this defense has never been for Alya, a character who has gotten bashed to hell and back with salt as early as Season Three? Can someone tell me why misogyny is exclusively called out when it targets Marinette (or Chloe)?
(Small addition bc this post blew up more than I thought it would: I understand the impulse to hyperfocus on the racial elements to Alya's writing and—as is the focus of this post—her reception to the fandom, but I also don't think the gendered elements should be ignored either. This isn't me asking anyone to prioritize one over the over, but to point out that seeing Alya exclusively as a black character victimized for their blackness as opposed to a black girl victimized for her blackness and her femininity risks denying her gender and her treatment for her gender in a patriarchal world.
Alya deals with misogynoir, but only focusing on the second part and not the first falsely implies that she doesn't deal with the first, and thus isn't "actually a girl," the very mentality that this post is attempting to call out.)
I think the difference is who most people perceive as the main critics of these characters
Most people assume the Marinette critics are men so that leads to the assumption that her hate is mostly misogyny
Same with Chloe, especially with Austruc's behavior
Most Alya salt I personally see is from women, so it's easier to assume it's more racism than sexism
For comparison, Avatar Korra is also a dark-skinned woman and gets the "you just hate women" defense because her critics are mostly assumed male
So while Alya definitely gets sexist hate too, since her detractors are assumed female, people see the racism first and the sexism second despite both of them deserving equal attention
Alya gets dogpiled egregiously because her stereotype(Black Best Friend) puts her in a position that when she betrays(Read: Doesn't completely kowtow to) the custom made for Self-Insert Specialist Girl protagonist(Marinette) those who are doing as the show wishes and inserting themselves into Marinette's pace, feel that betrayal personally.
Once that happens it triggers reflexive lashing out in perceived 'Self Defense' Defending Marinette's position(It doesn't matter what the position is) becomes a self-preservation exercise for the psyche. In that animalistic response people revert to all the worst aspects of themselves. The -isms come flying fast and free because they are known to be powerful forbidden weapons. They are employed because it is Known they cause damage. Kill the target dead and bury it to prevent any future 'danger.'
It also matters that you are talking about very different groups of people. I don't think I've met a Chloe-enjoyer who was down on Alya ever. (If anything they often commiserate with how Alya gets treated in the fandom) Chloe is used as a weapon *against* Alya by the fandom, in a 'Even this worst person is better than bad friend Alya!' but that's not actual Chloe enjoyers doing that. It's the self-inserting Marinette fans(Who are only doing and being Exacty what the show has trained them to be) simply using Chloe as a tool.
You are correct in that it is both Alya's gender and her race that are utilized for abuse, though I would say if you read Maribat and the Chameleon Salt you'd find that Bully-Alya is definitely dipping much more into the 'Violent Black' racial stereotypes than any particular female negative stereotypes. People attack with all the weapons they have. If Alya were even remotely presented as being on the spectrum you know damn sure the R word would have been thrown around like confetti too.
Alya deserves better
The fandom needs to do better
The SHOW needs to do better
Yes, people are responsible for their own actions, but those conditioning the audience for years is not without guilt either.
To an extent I agree with all this, however there are some additions I would like to make:
While a lot of the antiblack stereotypes thrown at Alya seem neutral on a surface level, they tend to interact with her gender quite a bit. Alya's variant of the "black best friend" tends to relate more to the "mammy" and the "sassy black friend" stereotypes, which specifically harm black girls and black women (this is specifically in the sense that a huge part of Alya's character is dedicated to providing emotional support to Marinette, assisting her with things she can't or doesn't want to do, and helping her grow as a person, all of these things forcing her into the gendered role of the black caretaker/maternal figure). In contrast, Nino's variant tends to fall more into the trope of the "funny/goofy black friend," which is predominantly used for male characters (the difference between this role and the previous one is that these friends are not expected to provide significant physical or emotional support; in contrast, these friends tend to cause a lot of problems for their white friend—see: Rocketear and illusion—playing into the racist notion of black boys and men being amusing but incompetent). Even with a stereotype that hurts black people of both genders, the specifics of said stereotype tend to rely on gender roles and biases.
As for Alya's demonization in fanon, this too takes on a gendered lens. Yes, the "violent black person" is stereotype that harms black people of all genders and ages; however, Alya's portrayal specifically fall into the Sapphire stereotype, defined by the Jim Crow Museum (https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/antiblack/sapphire.htm) as framing black girls and women as "rude, loud, malicious, stubborn, and overbearing." Said source also identities this stereotype as the Angry Black Woman trope, another one that should be understood as misogynoir, not just anti-blackness.
The last major thing I'd like to touch on is what was mentioned about who these critics are. I agree that Alya's critics are predominantly female whereas Marinette and Chloe's critics tend to be more varied in gender (I am not going to describe them as predominantly male, as I personally dony find it consistent to what I've seen and witnessed from their critical communities). That said, I don't fully understand how this explains the discrepancy in misogyny allegations. This may come from my bias as a woman, but I've seen and heard of more than my fair share of women who participate in and have internalized misogyny. Perhaps it's not the more obvious kind fans are used to calling out, but women can be just as prone to centering male characters, hypocritically bashing female characters, policing identities and the expression of "gendered" traits, and most crucially, deciding what "type" of woman actually counts/is acceptable in fandom spaces. The last point in this list is yet another issue that harms black women and girls, as they are most likely candidates for not being considered the "right kind" of female. These behaviors are not suddenly feminist when they are perpetrated by women—if it disproportionately harms women, it's misogyny.
Alya's treatment and the hatred she receives is misogynistic because it:
- Punishes her for failing to meet the expectations of a stereotype (the sassy/mammy-coded black best friend) that hurts black women and girls despite the reasons that she "fails" often being because she was placed into this stereotype in the first place.
- Expresses that punishment through mischaracterizing her as another stereotype that hurts black women and girls (the violent Sapphire/Angry Black Woman).
- Comes from people (women or otherwise) who have internalized misogyny problems and are most prone to targeting black women and girls.
If this behavior is not recognized as misogyny (and thus not defended from a feminist standpoint), it is not because her mistreatment isn't appropriately related to sexism/gender bias, it is because the fandom has failed to recognize misogyny as something that affects black women just as much as nonblack women. As a result, I don't particularly find the people who overlook this issue in need of defending so much as in need of education.
Okay, so yesterday afternoon we had a double earthquake (7.2 and 7.5 with multiple aftershocks) in Venezuela. Fortunately, the place where I live wasn't affected, but Caracas and other states near the epicenter did suffer building collapses, and people are still missing.
You can see some pictures here (Instagram).
Many people lost their homes, and a state of alert was declared today (yesterday we even had the possibility of a tsunami, which thankfully is no longer present). Venezuela doesn't have the resources to recover, and the total losses are still unknown... please pray for us, we need it.
WAYS YOU CAN HELP VENEZUELA BY SHARING THIS INFORMATION:
My best friend helped me gather this information. If you have the time, we would greatly appreciate it if you could share it so it reaches the people who need it:
Gofundme: Emergency relief for Venezuela earthquake victims
(Argentina) Donations are being received here to send to those affected in Venezuela
Veterinary help for affected animals
More resources and information to help those affected by the earthquakes in Venezuela (images with information after the cut)
Most of this information is in Spanish, but we appreciate your help by sharing and donating if you have the opportunity.
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"You know Amy, anytime someone says people "can't handle" a complex female character in a franchise that has multiple female characters who are far more neglected by the narrative in comparison, it ultimately undermines the concept of gender equality by implying that only certain women matter and not the female population as a whole."
After more than two years, my main account @DrDarine has been terminated. This account was not just a social media profile. It was the platform through which I shared my family's suffering with the world, especially Mariam's stories. It was my only way to connect with people, raise awareness about our situation, and make our voices heard.
In very brief summary:
● Many of our family members were killed during this war.
● We lost everything, especially our HOME, our heaven, and now we live in a tent with rent.
● Faced unimaginable displacements and famine, and we continue to suffer from illness caused by the harsh living conditions here in Gaza.
Before the war, we were ordinary people, living normal lives. But unfortunately, I don't feel that anymore. I don't even know who we've become. All I can see and feel is my life collapsing before my eyes.
I kindly ask everyone to stand by my side, and especially by Mariam's side. Please don't let the termination of my account, or any other action, become another burden that adds to our pain and suffering.
We've known Darine for more than two years now. What happened to her and the termination of her account are simply unacceptable.
For many of us, that account was how we followed Mariam's story and stayed connected to the family. Taking it away means cutting off their only direct line to hope and support.
Please share their blog as widely as you can, and if you're able, please consider making a donation today.
It's been five days with no donations. Do we deserve to be forgotten? I'm starting to feel overwhelmed with anxiety and hopelessness. Please help us and donate.. please 🙏
Darine's is one of so many longstanding accounts from Gaza that has been disappearing lately. It is a devastating loss to them, I assure you. These accounts are their only way to access the world outside of Gaza and find the support they need.
This means we must intensify our efforts to share their fundraisers, so that the loss they've suffered is compensated by our work!
From Gaza to Ireland: Survived but Nightmares Make me Wish to Die
Before I open my heart to you guys, please check out the vetting/verifications posts below.
1. @el-shab-hussein and @nabulsi # 151 on the spreadsheet of Vetted Gaza Fundraisers List
2. @riding-with-the-wild-hunt HERE.
3. My latest blog titled "Traumatized in Ireland While my Family is Facing Death and Starvation in Gaza" shared widely HERE
The short video will give you a quick glimpse of my story: 1. A young university lecturer in Gaza
2. Then displaced with my family and losing our house
3. Then traveled to Ireland to study and try to support and evacuate my family.
Every night I sleep in Ireland while my family sleeps under bombardment face starvation, fear and the cold of winter in tents.
People sleep to rest.
I sleep to see nightmares.
Every night feels like a horror movie I must live, not watch.
I wake up tired, shaken, and broken by the images my mind creates.
I had an amazing stable life with my family in Gaza before the war turned our world upside down.
I was a young, ambitious lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza, teaching English and linguistics. I loved to motivate and empower my students so they can reach their full potential.
When the war broke out, I was displacement with my family multiple times in places I did not know existed in the Gaza Strip. Sometimes we literally ran for our lives under heavy bombardment and learned what a near-death experience actually meant.
Five months into the war, my Irish university managed to get me out of Gaza. Ever since I evacuated and left my entire family in Gaza (parents, siblings, nephews, nieces), I woke up every day so tired from horrible horrible horrible nightmares, wishing to end my life.
But then I remember:
If I give up, who will help my family survive?
Who will help me get them out when the crossing opens again?
I saw the constant bombardment every day live in the news, and my family was dispersed in different places in the Gaza Strip, running for their lives, struggling to survive.
The misery and suffering continue until today after we lost our house and the cold of winter if freezing them all, especially my elderly parents and young nephews and nieces.
HOWEVER...
Hard times do not only create strong people; they also reveal the goodness and humanity in others.
And Gaza needs the world’s goodness now more than ever.
My family lost their home.
They now live in tents, shivering in the cold.
Rainwater enters every time it rains.
They have no electricity, no clean water, no cooking gas, and no safety.
Survival itself has become a battle.
I have been dedicating all my efforts to helping my family survive in the current situation in Gaza and apply for reunification visas with the support of my college and friends here in Ireland.
Every single member of my family counts the seconds until the day we all reunify in Ireland and live a safe, normal life like we have been dreaming for more than two years
This can only be possible with your kindness, support and humanity.
Please consider donating if you can, share our story, reblog our post, and amplify our voice. You have no idea how much you can help in getting my family out of the living hell of Gaza to safety.
When the world becomes numb to Palestinian suffering, please choose not to turn away.
Please 'follow' me to stay updated!
Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring.
Mahmoud
People say: "Family always comes First," and to that, I say: "Amen!".… Mahmoud Khalaf needs your support for Death chases my family in Gaza;
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like ok allegedly the white people in Northern Ireland terrorizing mainly Black people and poc are British loyalists and not “real Irish” but that video stating that is showing more concern for the white Irish people currently hiding in their homes “in fear” of harm, while real life Black people are actively being harmed lmao like??? get up! if you say you’re not like these white supremacists than show up in defense for the Black people currently being mobbed by people who look like you!
paying liberal lip service does nothing but make sure history doesn’t remember you as the “actual bad guys”, just the cowardly bystanders & it damn sure doesn’t make any moves to protect anyone Black!
You are absolutely right that more emphasis is being put on white fear than black lives, but I do want to bring to light some very important context for Belfast and Northern Ireland specifically.
I would believe wholeheartedly that people of color were also targeted both by Protestants and Catholics during The Troubles, but painting the painful and bloody past of Belfast over with US American history will not help our understanding of the history of communities of color in Belfast.
The Troubles only ended in the 90s, and people who lived through them remember them well.
Many of the white people who are hiding very likely lived through a time when the armed gangs were specifically looking for them. (My Aunt is a refugee from Iran, and though she had been in the US for years and years. And lived far away from New York. When 9/11 happened, she started having flashbacks and preparing for food shortages. This is a real trauma for people repeating in their own front gardens)
nigga in no where in my post did i “overwrite” anything by mentioning a Black American historical event this reminded me of. me reacting to a video i saw by a white irish woman and the videos of Black irish immigrants and citizens in tears and terrified over losing their homes still doesn’t erase the fact not enough of the self partitioned “good white Irish” are doing enough to show up and protect the Black people being terrorized!
how tf are you people incapable of holding multiple truths and historical realities at once? yall have a severe white euro chauvinism issue, my god.
Gonna drop a bomb into the reactor but can someone tell me why "people just hate women/girls who are anything less than perfect" is exclusively a Marinette defense? Can someone tell me this defense has never been for Alya, a character who has gotten bashed to hell and back with salt as early as Season Three? Can someone tell me why misogyny is exclusively called out when it targets Marinette (or Chloe)?
Marinette has been presented as and the narrative shaped to make her the ultimate self insert/my cool best friend character. Nothing she can ever do is wrong, because 'that's me/my best friend'. Any and all defenses will be employed in haphazard manner to flood the zone against all critique.
As someone who 'betrayed' Marinette(no she didn't) Alya gets no protection from those same fans.
Chloé fans are just so used to the show's BS they'll call out the blatant misogyny because it's being leveraged against them like a sledgehammer. These fans are not the same ones attacking Alya. Chloé is only ever used as a cudgel in Alya salt, it's never about Chloé as a character just a tool. (Very meta)
Keep in mind the writing has *trained* its audience this way from day 1. At 10yrs in, there are kids whose entire childhood was informed by ML.
Based on your response (I could be wrong tho) I think the point I'm making didn't come across correctly.
Putting a "read more" cuz admittedly I have a bad tendency towards long winded posts:
Tldr: what frustrates me is that not enough people talk about Alya also facing misogyny compared to these other two nonblack characters, and that tells me that not enough people truly see Alya as a girl, and thus don't find this point to be worth making. This view reflects anti-blackness, even if implicit/accidental.
I said this in a comment to someone else, but I'm not making this post to say that Chloe doesn't deserve sympathy, (or even Marinette for that matter) I just want more people to acknowledge that only these two characters really get "girl-based defenses" (aka that extreme hate for them is either misogynistic or failing to interact with the challenges of being a teenage girl).
My issue with only these two characters getting these defenses is just that: only these two characters getting these defenses. I respect people who make these points about Marinette and Chloe and don't salt Alya, but only not salting on her while not making the effort to address the double standards her criticism tends to entail is a problem.
Misogyny doesn't exclusively affect Marinette and Chloe, so frustration with the show's (and fellow fans') misogyny shouldn't be exclusively expressed in their favor. Despite this, only a select number of fans (such as the analyses made by the talented @flightfoot) actually address how the disproportionate hate Alya receives is rooted in misogyny.
If I'm dropping all pretenses of vagueness (which is admittedly necessary to prevent further miscommunications), Alya is specifically facing misogynoir. I am of the mind that the absurd volume of hate Alya receives is a product of sexism and racism/anti-blackness, and I am also of the mind that implicit racial biases are the primary reason why very few fans make posts appealing to Alya's girlhood as a defense, or even acknowledge her as a victim of misogyny when defending other characters (this matters because these aforementioned posts tend to give off the impression that the character being defended is the only victim of fandom misogyny in miraculous ladybug, thus making them the only "real girl").
Bringing up the meta behind Marinette (something better worth discussing in another post) or defending Chloe fans (who I'm not intending to invalidate, as that would also be invalidating myself) is admirable, but unfortunately it reflects attention away from the actual problem I want to discuss (the denial of Alya's femininity and how it directly parallels how black girls aren't truly seen as girls in real life).
Gonna drop a bomb into the reactor but can someone tell me why "people just hate women/girls who are anything less than perfect" is exclusively a Marinette defense? Can someone tell me this defense has never been for Alya, a character who has gotten bashed to hell and back with salt as early as Season Three? Can someone tell me why misogyny is exclusively called out when it targets Marinette (or Chloe)?
Gonna drop a bomb into the reactor but can someone tell me why "people just hate women/girls who are anything less than perfect" is exclusively a Marinette defense? Can someone tell me this defense has never been for Alya, a character who has gotten bashed to hell and back with salt as early as Season Three? Can someone tell me why misogyny is exclusively called out when it targets Marinette (or Chloe)?
(Small addition bc this post blew up more than I thought it would: I understand the impulse to hyperfocus on the racial elements to Alya's writing and—as is the focus of this post—her reception to the fandom, but I also don't think the gendered elements should be ignored either. This isn't me asking anyone to prioritize one over the over, but to point out that seeing Alya exclusively as a black character victimized for their blackness as opposed to a black girl victimized for her blackness and her femininity risks denying her gender and her treatment for her gender in a patriarchal world.
Alya deals with misogynoir, but only focusing on the second part and not the first falsely implies that she doesn't deal with the first, and thus isn't "actually a girl," the very mentality that this post is attempting to call out.)
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INCREDIBLY CONCERNING SPIKE IN ANTI-BLACKNESS IS HAPPENING RN.
Some of yall may have heard some of the shit that has been going on right now. I'm gonna give a quick run down of some of the stuff that has been happening. Note, this is not all, and it may never be all as much as I will try to update this.
(I am going to try and compile and briefly explain these as much as I can. There may be misinformation. Please inform me if I got something wrong.)
(This will also be updated with additional information and new topics added.)
1) Racist Chinese Dolls.
There are these dolls in China that are being called "Natasha" baby dolls. These dolls are not only very obvious caricatures of black people, but they are being advertised as a "stress relief" in which the people who buy these abuse it in various ways.
This links to a video of a compilation of the various "uses" of the doll. There are more in the replies of the tweet. (Another link to the same tweet just incase)
2) The Mocking, Abuse, and Dehumanization of Black Children.
Apart from the aforementioned doll, there are apparently people going around mocking, abusing, and dehumanizing black children.
Some people have compared black children to the doll.
Others have been going into African countries and have found ways to mock, abuse, and dehumanize black children for clout.
(Source 1 + Full Video) (Source 2)
There are more videos surfacing.
3) Black people are going missing.
Black people, especially children and teens have recently been going missing at an alarming rate. Some of these same people are turning up dead, deaths being ruled as "suicides."
While it generally unknown why many of these people are going missing, many suspect that their disappearances, deaths, and even lack of coverage is rooted in anti-blackness.
The following is a list of black people that have been reported missing as of recently. Please note that this is not a complete list (it may never be completed due to the fact that many of these disappearances will still occur as time passes) this may contain inaccurate information. Please inform me if that is the case.
By the time you see this, some of these people may have already been found either alive or deceased. This post will be updated overtime.
It is also heavily encouraged that you reblog this with more links to recent cases of missing black people if you are aware of any that aren’t included on this list.
My pregnant wife was shot in the chest as she prepared to receive our first child.
I never imagined that I would write these words or live this nightmare.
My wife is in her fifth month of pregnancy, and she was trying to live simple moments of joy in the midst of the war. I went out that day to see some of the children's clothes and prepare the needs of our first baby that we are waiting for impatiently.
But instead of returning home carrying clothes for our child, she returned to the hospital soaked in her blood after being shot in the chest.
In moments our dreams and joy turned into fear and terror. We ran to the hospital where she underwent emergency surgery to check on her life and the life of our unborn child. Due to difficult conditions and lack of medical capabilities, doctors have not been able to remove the bullet, and it is still stable inside its chest until now.
If you were able to help or share our story with others, you would have given our family hope at a time when hope has become scarce
My name is Mohammed ayesh from Gaza Recently, I started a new chapter in my li… Shelley Gordon needs your support for Support Ayesh’s family
