Ok, but I really love how the dollhouse was used. Not just as a way to hide the Miracle Box, but as a visual metaphor.
At first, the dollhouse appears normal and is standing on itself, strong. The dollhouse has Marinette’s color scheme. Black roof, pink bottom, and white details. Just like Marinette’s outfit.
What others don’t see though is the interior. The dollhouse is a façade hiding the Miracle Box. Just like Marinette is hiding she is Ladybug to the world, even to her best friends. If fact, we can even question why Marinette pick a house design to hide the Miracle Box.
Dollhouses are a symbol of simulated reality. It is a representation of an ideal, of a dream, of an hope. It’s the reproduction and enactment of life but it is not the Reality. A house would be normal, ordinary, mundane. It’s an everyday thing and shouldn’t stand out, but in Marinette’s room, it does. We see the sewing machine next to it. Marinette is not being herself. She is acting as if everything is fine and that there is nothing to see. She simulates to be someone she isn’t in hope to keep the secret hidden. But that doesn’t go unnoticed, just like the dollhouse doesn’t go unnoticed.
This is going to be long, so due to major spoilers, I’ll put the rest of the analysis of the conflict under a read more.
You know what I find so cool about the zodiac miraculous’ within the show? There are alot of explicit ways in which they are used appropriately to their Chinese numbers meaning. Let me give you a couple of examples without elaborating too deep with others and please remember that I’m not of any chinese/asian heriantage myself, so my knowledge is limited to the research I can make. As per usual, if I made any mistakes feel free to correct me:
(btw, in the original Miracle box layout the Zodiac miraculous were indeed in the right order, they were merely upside down. So 12 (Pig) was the first from the top and 1 (Mouse; I know normally it’s a Rat but the show calls it Mouse so that’s what I’m using too) was at the bottom. But that’s something for a completely different post in the future)
The real life zodiac order is:
Mouse, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig
So for example the Rabbit is animal number 4 and in Chinese 4 is the number of bad luck, like 13 in the western world, because it sounds so much like the word for “death” (四, pinyin: sì; Cantonese Yale: sei). So fitting to that, not only is the Rabbit narratively directly linked to Chat Blanc and DEATH, it is also color-coded with the color white (and blue, which often comes alongside black and green - CN and CB, you get it). Which, as many probably already know, was/is the color of mourning in Chinese culture.
Or the Goat! The Goat is animal number 8 and that’s the luckiest number in China! And therefore in the show the goats power is like a light version of the Lucky Charm and concealed in the only other miraculous jewelry that is a two-piece pair - like Ladybugs earrings!
Or the Rooster as well, animal number 10. As far as my research could get me chinese people don’t talk too much about the number 10 in these regards because of its “intense” nature. Basically 10 symbolizes having reached your full potential, being at your very peak, but that also means that from this peak onwards there is nowhere to go but downhill. Like the rooster miraculous within the show. The rooster has the unlimited power of CHOOSING his power himself and yet he is highly limited by not getting to use it to fulfill a desire.
His power has the potential to be boundless, the very peak of the miraculous powers, and yet from this very peak the way he can actually manifeste his powers will inevitably always be significantly beneath the high point he and his powers stand for.
Then we have the Snake, miraculous number 6 which sounds like the manderin word for “ “flowing, smooth, or frictionless” (溜, pinyin: liū) which culturally indicates a smooth process in life. Just like the Snakes powers, which benefit everyone but themselves since from an outsider perspective the Snake just uses his powers once and thats it, the situation is solved/where is it, while from the insider perspective we of course know that there is MUCH more effort involved than that.
6 stands for an easy flow in life, just like the Snakes powers look like for everyone on the outside and this interestingly also applies to Luka himself. He is very easy going on the outside and wants to make life easier for everyone through his patience and help and yet season 4 also showed that not only are there more complex emotions underneath, the way he uses his methods as Luka and Viperion don’t automatically lead to morally flawless solutions or even anywhere close to the best ones (“Wishmaker” and “Ephemeral”). Lifes situation is just where it is now and he and therefore everyone else is going with the flow he created because no one but him is any wiser of what happened within his power usage or what he himself feels regarding certain things.
And the Mouseisnumber 1, which isn’t too special of a number in China from what I can gather, but its meaning is culturally linked to being alone, but in first place and the winner. Just like the Mouse miraculous being portrayed as basically a lonely one person-army, for both its good and its bad implications:
Btw, 1 having the meaning of lonely also explains the DogMiraculous,the 11th zodiac animal:
11th of November is the Single’s day in Chinese culture, which is 1x4 (remember 4 being the unluckiest number?) and therefore connected directly to loneliness and bad luck especially in relationships. This perfectly corresponds with Sabrina and Félix using the Dog miraculous in their respective contexts.
Aaaaaaaand that’s it for now! I have wanted to point this and more out for a LONG while already, but I’m still waiting for a specific official confirmation in Canon that the s4 finale has now validated me in 100% that I’m right. I have much more to say in season 5 when we finally HAVE IT, but at this point I guess there is no need to not talk about a couple of things while we wait for s5.
Just a quick thought I didn’t mention in the post:
You know, the concept behind the Rooster/number 10, of being at ones highest peak but from there you can only go downhill, is REALLY making me nervous regarding season 5.
Because most of the episodes are named after the zodiac miraculous and wouldn’t you know it? The rooster is the last before leading into quite a few not-Kwami-named episodes right until the very last episode of the finale, which is Ladybug-named:
You know what I find so cool about the zodiac miraculous’ within the show? There are alot of explicit ways in which they are used appropriately to their Chinese numbers meaning. Let me give you a couple of examples without elaborating too deep with others and please remember that I’m not of any chinese/asian heriantage myself, so my knowledge is limited to the research I can make. As per usual, if I made any mistakes feel free to correct me:
(btw, in the original Miracle box layout the Zodiac miraculous were indeed in the right order, they were merely upside down. So 12 (Pig) was the first from the top and 1 (Mouse; I know normally it’s a Rat but the show calls it Mouse so that’s what I’m using too) was at the bottom. But that’s something for a completely different post in the future)
The real life zodiac order is:
Mouse, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig
So for example the Rabbit is animal number 4 and in Chinese 4 is the number of bad luck, like 13 in the western world, because it sounds so much like the word for “death” (四, pinyin: sì; Cantonese Yale: sei). So fitting to that, not only is the Rabbit narratively directly linked to Chat Blanc and DEATH, it is also color-coded with the color white (and blue, which often comes alongside black and green - CN and CB, you get it). Which, as many probably already know, was/is the color of mourning in Chinese culture.
Or the Goat! The Goat is animal number 8 and that’s the luckiest number in China! And therefore in the show the goats power is like a light version of the Lucky Charm and concealed in the only other miraculous jewelry that is a two-piece pair - like Ladybugs earrings!
Or the Rooster as well, animal number 10. As far as my research could get me chinese people don’t talk too much about the number 10 in these regards because of its “intense” nature. Basically 10 symbolizes having reached your full potential, being at your very peak, but that also means that from this peak onwards there is nowhere to go but downhill. Like the rooster miraculous within the show. The rooster has the unlimited power of CHOOSING his power himself and yet he is highly limited by not getting to use it to fulfill a desire.
His power has the potential to be boundless, the very peak of the miraculous powers, and yet from this very peak the way he can actually manifeste his powers will inevitably always be significantly beneath the high point he and his powers stand for.
Then we have the Snake, miraculous number 6 which sounds like the manderin word for “ “flowing, smooth, or frictionless” (溜, pinyin: liū) which culturally indicates a smooth process in life. Just like the Snakes powers, which benefit everyone but themselves since from an outsider perspective the Snake just uses his powers once and thats it, the situation is solved/where is it, while from the insider perspective we of course know that there is MUCH more effort involved than that.
6 stands for an easy flow in life, just like the Snakes powers look like for everyone on the outside and this interestingly also applies to Luka himself. He is very easy going on the outside and wants to make life easier for everyone through his patience and help and yet season 4 also showed that not only are there more complex emotions underneath, the way he uses his methods as Luka and Viperion don’t automatically lead to morally flawless solutions or even anywhere close to the best ones (“Wishmaker” and “Ephemeral”). Lifes situation is just where it is now and he and therefore everyone else is going with the flow he created because no one but him is any wiser of what happened within his power usage or what he himself feels regarding certain things.
And the Mouseisnumber 1, which isn’t too special of a number in China from what I can gather, but its meaning is culturally linked to being alone, but in first place and the winner. Just like the Mouse miraculous being portrayed as basically a lonely one person-army, for both its good and its bad implications:
Btw, 1 having the meaning of lonely also explains the DogMiraculous,the 11th zodiac animal:
11th of November is the Single’s day in Chinese culture, which is 1x4 (remember 4 being the unluckiest number?) and therefore connected directly to loneliness and bad luck especially in relationships. This perfectly corresponds with Sabrina and Félix using the Dog miraculous in their respective contexts.
Aaaaaaaand that’s it for now! I have wanted to point this and more out for a LONG while already, but I’m still waiting for a specific official confirmation in Canon that the s4 finale has now validated me in 100% that I’m right. I have much more to say in season 5 when we finally HAVE IT, but at this point I guess there is no need to not talk about a couple of things while we wait for s5.
Where is that anon who said how amazing Alix is? Cuz I have more to say on that subject
I just remembered Timetagger and when Bunnyx goes back to the future she’s like “I’m sorry Ladybug, I failed”
and she lowers her head and the way she’s speaking to Minibug is a lot more respectful than the way she’s speaking to anyone else, even Chat Noir, and she knows who they are, this is her friend, Marinette, she knows her since forever. But she’s so respectful and she’s always hyping her up like “you are Ladybug, you always find a solution”
and when she genuinely thought Minibug failed she hugged her and she was so understanding.
Either Alix hung out with Tikki a lot or she takes her job seriously or she has a lot more respect for Marinette and where is that anon who said that Alix will be the best companion for Marinette because she obviously will. I know this is far from today but the fact that Alix will grow up in such a great teammate and person in general is wonderful.
And you can tell from Marinette’s reaction in the future when she read the note and said “there is always hope, nothing is lost yet” that either she believes in her team with all her heart or she grew a lot more confident overtime and I don’t know which one is better. They are so mature and awesome and their relationship is based on so much trust and they are both grew up in great women. I bet they are even closer friends in future. I stan them.
Usually these types of spoilers have no meat to talk about, but a couple things caught my eye in the latest Penalteam one.
1) Didier Roustan is a guest star in this episode. This isn’t surprising to me because Astruc said there’d be a football/soccer episode with a special guest and he posted a cropped image of cartoon Didier’s concept art. French sports fans quickly figured out it was him from his style. Plus, he’s been in the special guest section of the s4 end credits this whole time along with Franck Dubosc, Philippe Candeloro, and Veronique Berecz.
2) I noticed something odd about the people present in this scene
Since Ms. Bustier is here, it seems like the soccer game is a class field trip, but some people are missing. I bet Lila’s just skipping as usual, but Kim, Max, and Nath aren’t here either. This wouldn’t be the first time Nath disappears when physical activity is involved, but according to Winny, he’s supposed to get a miraculous this episode, and you’d think a competitive, athletic game with a famous sports journalist is something Kim would never miss. I wonder where they and Max went. I’m guessing there will be an explanation because-
3) the number of people present is very convenient. A typical soccer team is comprised of nine people, and there are eighteen people in the collage part of the intro, perfect to play a full game. Subtracting Marinette and Adrien, there are nine kids on the field in the spoiler. There are also seven kids not present. If Shadowmoth’s villain(s) transform/mind-control etc everyone here except Mari and Adrien, who get away as usual, then there will be a perfect nine-on-nine game.
I predict that Chloe, Sabrina, Alya, Nino, Mylene, Juleka, Rose, Alix, and Ivan will be Penalteam. Ladybug and Chat Noir need an opposing team, so they’ll recruit Pegasus, King Monkey, Vesperia, Viperion, and Ryuko, but they’re short two players. This is where Ladybug gives Rooster Bold and Caprikid miraculous for the first time as Winny spoiled. That’s why Kim, Max, and Nath are conveniently elsewhere when the conflict goes down.
“But what about Minotaurox and Traquemoiselle?” I know right? I think Ivan will get his miraculous in Risk and Sabrina in Strike Back. I’m a bit nervous for their screen time, but I can see the ox miraculous helping Ladybug defeat some difficult villains like that big robot dude and the dog helping her physically locate the elusive Shadowmoth (spoilers indicate he’s hiding in the Louvre?). Ivan is part of the team in Strike Back, and we haven’t heard much about Sabrina, but her hero name implies a superpower like “detection”.
4) what’s going on with the villain? Usually, in a guest episode, the guest star is the akuma, but not always. Veronique Berecz was just herself in The Puppeteer 2.0 while Manon was the villain. We know Chloe will be akumatized into Penalty, but that’s all we’ve seen of the villain. SM can only send one akuma at a time, but it can influence more than one person.
I’m thinking, since Penalty’s akumatized object is a whistle, her power will be controlling people by blowing into it, which is how she influences the rest of the team. It would be kind of like Darkblade and his knights. It’s possible that Didier will also be a villain, but I don’t know. Since he’s a journalist/commentator, I can see him narrating what’s happening in the fight and even helping Ladybug out that way, but maybe he plays a minor role as himself only outside of the fight like Veronique.
5) I don’t expect massive plot progression from this episode because there’s a guest star and two new heroes, and it’s The Soccer Episode, but I feel like there just miiight be some Chloe stuff. I mean, other than for comic relief, why put such an episode as the 24th? Usually the 24th episode is relevant in some way.
In the past, Chloe has been akumatized into powerful villains over serious things, but in season four she gets two new forms that are both silly and caused by random tantrums. I think that her anger over stupid stuff is indicative of some deeper negative emotions. In Queen Banana, she was akumatized over the movie group ignoring her instead of indulging her controlling ideas, but on a deeper level, she was jealous of the positive attention Zoe was getting. How easily the kids at school started liking her and showering her with stuff like lead roles in a film. This was also the episode where she “broke up” with Adrien at the end, but Zoe said she’d always love her.
I think we might see something similar in Penalteam. Chloe will be akumatized over something dumb and bratty like nobody wanting to play with her, her team having terrible chemistry and sucking while Marinette’s team thrives under her leadership, her getting second choice because of Marinette’s good luck and getting stuck with the less athletic kids, etc. But I think underneath it all, she’ll really be upset because she will once again feel left out. All her classmates are friends who can work well together, but nobody wants her there to spoil the fun, much less boss them around.
Maybe I’m being too ambitious here, but I think this might be the episode where she loses, or at least starts to lose, Sabrina. She lost Adrien in QB, and Sabrina’s all she really has left except Zoe whose attention she rejects. Since Sabrina will be receiving a miraculous, Ladybug needs a reason to trust her. She needs to think for herself and be ready to serve the greater good, not Chloe, and I don’t see how she can naturally have that change during an action-packed finale. Maybe Chloe will finally get to Sabrina and she’ll realize this is it. Maybe she’ll have time to sit on it, and only make her decision later. But it’d make sense if Chloe’s repeated poor actions cause her to lose another person, especially the one who’s the closest to her and who gives her the most power.
Without Sabrina, Chloe is kinda screwed. Sabrina carries her stuff, does her homework, organizes everything, plays all her games, backs her up, and most importantly, lets her feel powerful. If not for her, Chloe would just be some jerk that no one wants to be around who happens to have enough money and connections to have her way, but Sabrina is the one who hypes her up into the Queen B she is. If she turned her back on her, she’d lose confidence. That’s something that would truly make this episode 24 special, a development in Sabrina, and Chloe finally reaching that point where she has no one there for her except her detested half-sister, which finally creates the potential for actual development and learning a permanent lesson rather than putting on a good face to get Ladybug’s approval on occasion.
6) last thing, my guesses always change for these, and they’re usually impossible to guess, but I never stop making theories lmao. Now that we know what the tools are for the rooster and goat miraculous (pen and paintbrush respectively), my guess for the powers changes to “inspiration” and “passion”. That’s it, final answer. If I change my mind again, or if one of my old guesses was right, pretend this never happened, but I feel like we’ve gotten a lot of info/spoilers about them versus the other new heroes, so it’s nice to be able to have guesses actually based on something.
As is typical ct-multifandom fashion, I’ll close out this post with a prediction that has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of the post or anything I discussed. Derailment time! I predict that the new character from the future, who I think will show up in the finale, probably Strike Back, is going to be future Max/Pegasus. Why? ‘Cause it makes sense to me and I want to see him. He’s one of Bunnyx’s closest friends, his miraculous would be one of the ones that’d get the biggest power boost from an adult user, and the two of them are probably a yin-yang pair (ask me about those btw). Also his name miiiight’ve been mentioned in a comedically bleeped-out spoiler Lindalee Rose interview about the s4 finale, saying “beep” is gonna be there to mess up SM’s plan, but maybe it was “Plagg” or someone else. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. Manifesting future Max. But seriously, ask me about yin-yang pairs.
I was gonna edit my long post (link below) full of all things episode nine: reaction, analysis, details, but I decided that there’s enough on there already so this gets its own post
Apparently the creators wanted people to pay attention to animation, and while DQ is DQ, what I found interesting was the juxtaposition between Marinette’s house and Adrien’s house, or rather Marinette’s daily life outside of school vs Adrien’s.
Room 33 is covered in loud art in all sorts of vibrant colors, and it has huge windows to let in the sun. Marinette’s room is all pink and homey. Both are covered in creative projects and pieces of self-expression. Marinette’s friends are also brightly colored, all dressed in their own candy-colored styles and congregated close together. They emanate support, warmth, and positivity.
Even in the evening, after Marinette loses connection with them, they’re worriedly clustered in the corner of her room, waiting for her to come home safe. At first Alix tried to reassure everyone that she’ll be fine, but as time passes they aren’t so sure anymore. The colors are muted here to represent their concern. This part passes so quickly, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that nobody’s talking about it, but it was so cute. They care about her sm.
On the other hand, Adrien’s life is the polar opposite. Everything is black and white with the occasional red accent, and the rooms are so spacious that everyone feels far apart. All of Gabriel’s guests wear black and hide their faces, and even Adrien’s family and friends don’t introduce anything more than an extra primary color.
Everything is so manufactured and performative, from the pretentious high society “clubbing” to the actual interactions between Adrien’s family and Gabriel’s inner circle. Even the creative work, Gabriel’s designs, feel uninspired and robotic.
Even tonally and plot-wise, the Marinette and Friends part of the episode was filled to the brim with comic relief as everyone played off each other while the Agreste part was pure serious lore, dark in tone, making the finer details of Adrien’s environment feel foreign.
What this episode shows us visually is how Marinette’s typical after-school life is full of warmth, vividness, and trust while Adrien’s is a dull and cold reality where everyone around him is hiding something behind a literal or metaphorical mask.
Fanbases tend to forget the characters of a show do not posses the same knowledge as the viewers. If and when the day comes when Adrien confronts Felix about how he tricked Ladybug, we must never forget that. 1. Adrien can nevertalk about witnessing Felix as Flairmidable because only Cat Noir knows about Flairmidable and his interactions with the miraculous team, Adrien is only supposed to know that Felix tricked Ladybug and unless Ladybug fills him in on the situation, Adrien will need to tread lightly, otherwise he may accidentally and unintentionally say something in a moment of anger that will reveal his identity to Felix and2. Although Ladybug will eventually come to the realization that Monarch is no longer in possession of the peacock miraculous and suspect Felix is connected to it all, Felix may have already planned ahead in the event that Ladybug tracks him down for question, and we know she will, sooner or later, after all, he couldn’t expect her to not find the real Adrien after he separated from the team and he most certainly could not expect Adrien to keep quiet once Ladybug confronted him about returning the dog miraculous.
Love how in S2-S3, it was teased to us there were alternatives for Gabriel. He could give up his quest and attempt to be a better father for his son instead (ep: Queen Wasp). Or that he could move on and find happiness with someone else (ep: Félix).
He could still find a new happiness.
But nope! Both times, Gabriel chose Émilie, a past that no longer exist, and returned to his quest of getting Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous for her sake, or so he says.
And the more Gabriel loses, the more it becomes personal. To the point it isn’t just a mean to get to his end anymore, it has turned into a form of revenge.
Gabriel won’t just content himself with getting their Miraculous anymore. As Shadow Moth and now Monarch, he will crush Ladybug and Chat Noir.
And now that he is deeper than ever, my theory is he will lose everything that he could have salvaged before S4.
The guy could have moved on and be better instead he is digging his own grave.
The last nail would be to hear that Émilie never would have wished for Gabriel to turn into this in his quest to save her.
