red-balloon12

[red-balloon12]

Didn’t read the assignment carefully. Woops. Anyways. Ace people belong in safe spaces.

I'M DOING AN EXPERIMENT

To prove something to a friend, please

REBLOG IF YOU THINK ASEXUALS BELONG IN LGBTQ+ SPACES

LIKE IF YOU THINK ASEXUALS DON’T BELONG IN LGBTQ+ SPACES

[red-balloon12]

Or…hear me out…Zoe just shouldn’t have been introduced to begin with.

Re: zoe

I honestly don't mind having an episode focused on a character, it's just that zoes introduction is the FIRST time we have an episode so clearly dedicated to one character that it's over half the episode! "Mega Leech" does something similar with Mylene a few episodes later but it's strange to only have these side character focus eps all the way in s4!

Zoe is an obvious issue since it's 1. Her introduction. 2. The first time they go So Deep into a side character and 3. She's REPEATEDLY contrasted against Chloe! It's really easy to see her as a Chloe replacement! Especially since she gets her Miraculous in her SECOND EPISODE while most of the other zodiac miraculous haven't been distributed to the class yet.

I really think Sole Crusher could have worked as an intro episode for Zoe if they cut a bit of the total time spent on it. Cut out the whole long tourist intro at the start, cut out some of the parts with Chloe and sabrina, condense the section of her confessing her entire backstory to the class and the montage. If Queen Banana was placed a few episodes more after sole crusher where we got to see her (even if only in throwaway lines) getting along with everyone else, her getting the bee would less... like a patent replacement. Seriously we have no idea why Zoe is "perfect for the role" in that episode, did her intro mention her liking acting??

In the end, while Zoe is Nice, the show gave us Too Much at once for her. There's not really all that much interesting going on for her and it's all too easy to see her as just Better Chloe.

I fully agree. If canon had an established habit of giving the minor characters their own episodes, then Zoe's intro would probably have been fine. I'd still find her unnecessary without additional changes, but she would have fit the pattern and maybe even been somewhat needed if the other side characters were starting to feel too fleshed out. As is, she feels like she's hogging the screen and getting special treatment she's done nothing to deserve.

[red-balloon12]

Now that you mention it…that’s messed up. And it’s especially weird in a show/world where romance is put above all else and people are WEIRDLY invested in the love lives of 13 and 14 year old (including the adults).

This show weirdly does NOT prioritizes friendships even though friendship is another form of love. Anyone who isn’t romantically involved or involved in the romantics are casted aside because the show doesn’t know what to do with platonic love.

So yeah. The fact that Alix, someone who’s aro/ace, got the most isolating miraculous is weird.

Started to write a tweet but I prefer to ask tumblr first

Am I the only (aroace) person who feels off about Alix's writing? How she gets the most isolating miraculous where she spends years and years on her own (with sometimes over versions of herself) but it's not addressed how devastating that could be? Like I have the feeling she got that miraculous because she's the only character not interested in romance so they can justify her being "happy on her own"...

But friendships are still meaningful... She deserves a better life, or at least a more in depth exploration of her character

[red-balloon12]

I mean..Charlie mostly says hesitant things about non-consensual violence. Her biting Vaggie consensually would be such a non issue that I actually have trouble thinking Charlie would feel guilty for it.

Plus no matter what, Charlie definitely had a kink for Vaggie’s wings.

Given the tidbit of information we've gotten from the VAs and some hints in the show, what is your take on Chaggie's sex life?

A lot of my headcanons dont have very strong foundations(power bottom Vaggie/sub top Charlie etc), so im pretty open to getting proven wrong by the incoming episode that'll tackle their sex life, but I do have to say that I highly doubt Charlie and Vaggie are as kinky as a lot of fics and fanarts make them out to be.

Based on Charlie's reactions whenever Angel shows them some of the stuff from his job, I don't think they get on anything super hardcore in the bedroom. Idk about Vaggie, but Charlie is definitely vanilla. She's the type to go on for uh... seven rounds(Erika's words! Not mine!) in an "ideal date" apparently but still vanilla. Like, in the Valentino episode, it's kinda cute how she was voluntarily giving input for wholesome porn ideas lmao

The fics and fanarts where there's stuff like Charlie biting Vaggie or getting super rough are hot af and I will never complain over a good smut piece, but I can never see canon Charlie doin all that.

I also have to say, I'm not sure how much I could trust Stefanie's answers regarding Vaggie in interviews tho. NOTHING against her, she's great honestly, but she spends very very little time doin promotions for the show and is involved in a lot of other projects, so I'm not sure how well she actually knows her character(which is FINE. She isn't the writer anyway). That one interview where all she answered when asked what Vaggie used to do in heaven was self-pleasure was lowkey disappointing bcuz it felt like such an unserious answer. I wanted to know what she was up to up there 😭 But I've chalked it up to her either trying to jokingly avoid spoilers or playing along with the other actors jokin around with crude answers or both. So yeah, i dont consider THAT answer as any strong basis for canon Vaggie characterization. At least not right now.

[red-balloon12]

Like I said, Shipping really just comes down to vibes. Some past the vibe check for some while others don’t. And Chaggie is the only helliverse paring that passed my vibe check 100%.

"[x] ship is toxic" this and "[y] ship is bland" that.

I don't fucking care... all I need to know is wheter the ship makes my heart boner hard or not.

[red-balloon12]

What does it mean when there’s not a single saphhic ship in the “gay ship for gay people” caragory?

It means that this chart is contrived and subjective af.

my hot take

Then what does it say about me when I ship at least one of these out of every category...

[red-balloon12]

So…..who wants to bet that it’s clickbait and this is a late April fools joke?

[red-balloon12]

It’s because of two things.

1. People think that racism is the end all be all of someone’s capacity to better themselves. Just lie with racism, it can be unlearned (and this is coming from a POC).

2. Chloe’s racism was most likely merely something used to make her seem THAT much more evil. Notice how her racism comes up a sum of two times and they were both targeted at Marinette. All throughout S2 this factor about Chloe was forgotten about. In fact the reason why people don’t use it as a factor against her much more is because it’s such a forgettable and unnecessary thing about her. She already has done terrible things through out the show and plant people disliker her for it. No thought was put into making this part of Chloe beyond wanting people to hate her more.

And so when people bring it up, something so damning sounds arbitrary. In reality, Chloe being racist is a big problem. But because it was never addressed in show as a big problem, we flat out forget she IS racist. Because it feels so unnecessary to her character. Like were did she even learn it? The Internet? Her parents? Some guy on the street??

The spider prank she pulled on Marinette was more devastating than her being racist and that’s not good-

I don't know why fans bringing up the fact that Chloé is racist annoy me so much.

[red-balloon12]

When the deltarune is actually tomorrow and the Kirby is air riding-

[red-balloon12]

Am I other friends? Lol

@markthekng (I forgot who my mutuals were and I don’t think I have that many. Woops-)

Tag game!!

Do this picrew and share a couple songs you’ve been loving lately.

Tags /nf @scary-friend @porcelanitaa @sadder-piano @xxx-ang3l-w1th-a-sh0tgun-xxx @starchytart @mercury-blue-0330

[red-balloon12]

This is the only line of reasoning I’ll take when it comes to Alya not being qualified to be the next guardian-

I understand that Alya is Marinette's best friend and confidant.

But...

I think the most qualified person to be the new Guardian is someone who probably spent MONTHS training with a real Guardian (Luka)

I don't know, it's just an idea...

[red-balloon12]

I’m so sorry but fuck people who actually think Chloe deserved her fate in S5. That’s actually victim blaming and I will never give those people grace.

You know another thing I hate about Chloe's wasted potential? She had more connections to the Bee Miraculous than fucking Zoe ever did!

You guys know how the Bee Miraculous is meant to represent growth and hardwork, right? Well, that's exactly what Chloe was going through during Season 2! Yes, she fucked up a couple of times, but that was the point! Her arc in Season 2 was supposed to show that she can change, but with baby steps . Hell, it's not her fault no one told her that change takes time and it's hard to break old habits. Even Marinette said that it was gonna take baby steps to help her change.

But what change or growth does Zoe go through?

Zoe gets no development whatsoever! Her only "growth or change" is her saying "Hey family, fuck you! I ain't gonna bow down and kiss your asses no more! I'm a proud Pick Me girl, bitches!" UwU Okay, admittedly Zoe is far from a pick me. But still.

Basically, that's another main problem I had with her. Chloe actually shows that she is worthy of it despite her entitlement. She does want to change. She just doesn't know how. Zoe is just given the Miraculous because... nice girl.

[red-balloon12]

WAS NO ONE GONNA TELL ME THIS PARING EXISTED?!

Dr. Olivia Octavius

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

[red-balloon12]

I definitely recommend (I’d watch the trailer first)

Anyone here a fan of Murder Drones??

[red-balloon12]

As much as I want that (becuase there’s so many people here that are gods at fanart and I need fanart of them we cant be the only ones to do fan art aaaaAA)

There’s just too many people who headcanons them as siblings. I thought it could happen but…eeeh

we need to start indoctrinating the rest of the fandom for phanmare lol

ACTUALLY TRUE AND REAL

[red-balloon12]

Like I said, if you’re looking for positive Chaggie content, DON’T GO TO TWITTER! It’s a grim place over there with nothing but hate and anguish. Just stick to Tumblr or Instagram (maybe not Instagram actually-)

Also just genuinely don’t know where the whole “Vaggie is abusive to Charlie” shit came from. She is nothing but supportive of Charlie and believes in her dream (so much so that it might as well be her dream too). Chaggie isn’t perfect but this is one of the most bullshit takes I’ve seen coming from antis/critics.

This is a vent post, but im pissed off.

Chaggie antis piss me off so bad. Saying Vaggie just treats Charlie like a daughter and that she acts stupid or childish, when she’s with Vaggie. Trying to make up reasons why they’re soooo “toxic” for each other and that she is more “mature’ when she’s with a certain other character. It’s annoying. And they make it clear that they hate Charlie, when the discussion is not about their fave ship.

Charlie didn’t have anyone who believed in her, or cared for her, before she met Vaggie.. both her mother and father abandoned her and she was alone a lot. Vaggie was there to support her, and take care of her when it was needed. Vaggie doesn’t treat Charlie as a daughter, she just shows her softness because she loves her and it’s something Charlie barely had before they met. And to say Charlie is never mature, when she’s with Vaggie or that she’s just stupid around her infuriates me bc it’s not true. Charlie is a very playful and silly person, yes, but she’s also a badass when she needs to be. And Vaggie encourages her to be more badass and not as soft like in episode four.

It’s annoying that these same people love to claim that Chaggie’s only love the ship because it’s sapphic, and that we just like the ~representation~ and Chaggie is just fan service and nothing more, when they clearly only like Charlie when she’s with their favorite male character. 😒 sorry, but the fandom on Twitter is so toxic and annoying, I had to come here and vent all this out.

[red-balloon12]

Like you mentioned near the end, I’d have the failed cataclysm be much more impactful that it was in the canon episode. Have it be so that when Lady Noir fails to apply the cataclysm correctly, it results in a much more unstable and dangerous senti-monster. I’d also have it that Lady Noir would be the actual distraction (somehow) let her feel the humiliation and potential danger that being a distraction/decoy can potentially come with.

I think it's interesting that the shows problem of "marinette can and will do everything herself unless we decide to f her over" is clear pretty early, but esp in Reflekdoll back in s3... hell it worsened the problem of "cn is kind of a useless teammate" by making him start the ep interfering w lb and spending the rest of it actively struggling.

From what I understand when most shows do some form of "role swap" where the characters were previously dissing each other's roles, both characters in the swap are shown to struggle.

Reflekdoll, on rewatch, doesn't do that. Except I can't really think of a clear way to make Marinette struggle with the role of CN unless it's in her struggling to step back and let others do the work, which she can't do in the context of that episode since she spends all of it making sure Adrien doesn't F Up.

So if we redid reflekdoll to be a swap with a struggle on both sides, how could it be done?

Trope Overview

The power-swap trope is all about learning to appreciate someone else's point of view. That can include the struggles they face, but that's not a requirement. One of the best power swap episodes out there is the Teen Titans episode Switched in which the characters Starfire and Raven switch bodies. This is a problem because Starfire's powers are all about feeling and embracing emotions while Raven's powers are all about controlling and repressing emotions as you can see from this clip that takes place right after the switch:

There is no failed fight to kick this episode off. The girls already fought well together. They don't need to understand each other's powers to be functional teammates. Understanding each other's powers just lets them be better friends and lets the audience get a deeper understanding of the two characters which is exactly what this trope is supposed to do.

Miraculous

Unlike Teen Titans, Miraculous failed the role-switch trope assignment. Adrien kind of learns a lesson in Reflekdoll, but it doesn't change his behavior in other episodes so it's hard to say that this moment of awareness did anything useful for his character. There's also the problem that Marinette learns nothing as we can see here:

Mister Bug: (looks around, trying to figure out how to use his Lucky Charm) Okay, I admit it. It's not easy being a super Ladybug. Lady Noire: (keeping Reflekdoll occupied) And I admit that I like wearing your costume. It's a lot lighter on the shoulders. (They hide behind a chimney)

And here:

Mister Bug: Honestly, I understand why you never have any time to make jokes, m'lady. Lady Noire: We both have our roles, huh Bugaboy? (They jump into separate alleyways.)

This highlights the exact issue anon brought up in their ask: if Adrien continues to joke around and be dismissive of how rough Ladybug has it, then what was the point of all this? if Marinette has nothing to learn, then does Chat Noir even matter? And is there a way to fix this episode to remove those issues?

To be frank, a true fix requires massive rewrites to the entire show because this episode is highlighting an actual issue with the writing. Chat Noir has not been given a clear or important role and he often doesn't take fights seriously enough as we once again see just five episodes later in Oblivio when Chat Noir's flirting and laidback attitude get them hit by the day's akuma:

Nadja:(from a helicopter) Looks like Ladybug and Cat Noir are struggling today. (Ladybug is rapidly spinning her yo-yo to deflect Oblivio's blasts while Cat Noir sits down casually.) Ladybug: And stop calling us a couple!

This means that there's not great option for what Ladybug needs to learn from Chat Noir. The best small change I can come up with is to have her struggle to fight Reflekdoll solo, helping her apricate her partner's fighting and distraction skills. That's no where near the level of lesson Adrien is learning since Ladybug already apricates those skills, but at least it's something.

You could also go the route of having her learn to have more fun, but that's not a great lesson for a superhero charged with defending the city. The fun lesson that would have actual depth is a body switch one where Marinette learns Chat Noir's identity and sees Adrien's life first hand, helping her understand why Chat Noir is so big on having fun. It wouldn't make his actions okay, but it could lead Marinette to better understand his needs to they take time to have fun out of battle. He becomes more serious in fights and she becomes more fun out of them. But then we have identity reveals and canon won't allow that so, while this is the best fix for canon as-is, it's not really one that canon could actually do.

While were on the topic, I'll note that there actually is a fix-it fic for Reflekdoll over on AO3 that you might enjoy. It stays pretty true to the episode, but does a better job of actually letting Adrien learn his lesson while also letting Marinette acknowledge her faults in the episode because she wasn't exactly perfect here. I don't think it solves the issues we were talking about above, but I do think this is probably the best canon could have done without major rewrites and/or an identity reveal.

In an ideal world where the show is fully rebooted and our leads both feel like vital parts of the team, this episode probably would have been something similar to the Teen Titans episode I discussed above. Ladybug and Chat Noir already canonically respect each other's skills, so it's hard to see the need for a lesson around that topic. It would be far more interesting to have an episode on Creation vs Destruction where we learn why Adrien is the best black cat and why Marinette is the best ladybug. An episode where Adrien can't figure out the lucky charm and where Marinette can't control cataclysms because it requires skills that she doesn't have like strong self control and focus. (No, Adrien doesn't really have those in canon, but they are the traits that should define a Destruction wielder. I will die on that hill.)

This new version of the episode wouldn't be about resolving a conflict so much as it would be about helping these two - and the audience - appreciate how they're the only ones who can do what they do.